WHAT BECAME OF TOM
To go back to Tom at the time when he left Dick and the Stanhopes,
and started to return to Putnam Hall.
He went away whistling gayly, for he thought that all danger was
over.
"What a shame I had to miss the celebration," he murmured. "And
after my success on the football field, too!"
Soon the Stanhope grounds were left behind, and he struck the main
road leading to the academy.
He had advanced a distance of several hundred feet along this road
when, on looking ahead, he observed some person coming slowly
toward him.
Wondering who the individual could be, and thinking of Crabtree, he
stopped short.
At the same time the other person also halted, and then of a sudden
slipped out of sight behind the nearest trees.
"Hullo, that's queer," murmured the youth. "Evidently he doesn't
want to be seen. Can it be Crabtree?"
He was unarmed, and had some hesitancy about advancing, not knowing
what to expect.
But he did not wish the former teacher to escape, and so casting
around he espied a sharp stone and picked it up.
"Hi, there, come out of that!" he called, as he ran forward and
held the stone ready for use.
No reply was vouchsafed, and he called again. By this time he was
directly opposite the spot where the mysterious individual had
disappeared.
"Look here, Josiah Crabtree, you might as well come out and give
yourself up," he called sharply.
Still there was no answer, and now Tom did not know what to do.
Under the trees it was so dark that he could scarcely see a yard in
front of him.
Yet he advanced several paces, still holding the stone up as a
weapon of offense or defense, as the case might prove. But nobody
appeared in sight, and at last he returned to the road.
He was in a quandary whether to return to the cottage or continue
on his way to the Hall.
"I suppose I may as well go on," he concluded. "Neither Dick nor I
can do much in the woods in the dark."
So he went on, but this time more slowly, wondering if Josiah
Crabtree would follow him, and never dreaming that the person who
had slipped him was not the former teacher, but Dan Baxter.
For Baxter it was, who had been waiting around to be joined by
Crabtree, for the pair of evil-doers had come to the vicinity of
the Stanhope cottage together.
"It's Tom Rover," muttered Baxter, on hearing the boy's voice. "I
was lucky to get out of the way."
He remained as motionless as a statue while Tom passed within a
dozen feet of him. Then When Tom went out on the road again Baxter
ran forth, too, but in the opposite direction.
Down on a side road Baxter had that day run across a tramps'
encampment. In the camp were three hoboes, as they are sometimes
called rascals who were willing to do almost anything but work for
a living.
They had demanded money of the bully, and he gave them a dollar,
fearing violence if he refused them.
Baxter now thought of the tramps, and as he did so an evil look
crossed his face.
"If only I can pay off Tom Rover," he muttered. "I'll do it if I
can."
Soon the tramps' encampment was reached, and he found two of the
men dozing before a tiny fire, with an empty liquor bottle between
then the third tramp had gone to Cedarville for more liquor.
"Wake up here," cried Baxter, catching first one and then the other
by the shoulder.
"What do yer want, young feller?" demanded the leader of the party,
who rejoiced in the name of Stumpy Nuggs.
"I want you two men to help me lay a boy out," answered Dan Baxter,
feeling that there was no use in mincing matters, for he knew that
the tramps were a bad crowd.
"Lay a boy out?" repeated the second tramp, who was called
Longback.
"Yes, he is an enemy of mine, and just passed on the road yonder.
If you will help me thrash him and make him a prisoner, I'll give
you each five dollars."
"Say, yer talkin' big," said Stumpy Nuggs.
"I mean what I say. I know you are not above doing such work by
the way you tackled me."
"Is de boy alone?"
"Yes."
"An' yer want to whip him and den make him a prisoner?"
"Yes."
"Wot yer goin' ter do wid him after dat?"
"I don't know yet."
"Who is de boy?"
"A cadet up at the military academy above here."
Stumpy Nuggs scratched his head of tangled hair.
"Maybe yer gittin' us into a trap fer askin' yer fer dat dollar,"
he observed suspiciously.
"No, I am not. This boy is an old enemy of mine, and I want to get
square with him. We can easily catch him before he gets to the
academy, if you hurry up."
"An' you will give us five dollars each?"
"Yes--and perhaps more. The boy carries a watch, and must have
some money in his pocket. He also wears a gold ring."
At the mention of jewelry and money the tramps' eyes glistened.
"If you are tellin' de truth, dis is all right," cried Stumpy
Nuggs, as he arose and stretched himself.
"I am telling the truth, and you can easily prove it for
yourselves. Only hurry up, or it will be too late."
The two tramps consulted together, and asked a few more questions.
Then they agreed to follow Baxter, and do whatever he desired of
them, providing they were allowed their fair share of plunder, if
there was any.
In the meantime Tom went on in deep thought. He still held the
stone in his hand. He wished he had a club, but the stick he had
formerly picked up had been left at the cottage.
The hall grounds had just come into sight in the dim distance when
the boy heard the patter of footsteps behind him.
He turned around, but could see nobody, and at that instant the
sounds ceased.
"Somebody is following me," he thought. "Can it be the same party
I spotted before?"
An instant later he found himself confronted by two men and a boy,
each with a bit of cloth tied over his face, into which two holes
had been cut for eyes.
"Is dat him?" asked one of the men.
"Yes," answered the boy, in a strangely unnatural voice. "Give it
to him."
All three of the party carried sticks, and they at once fell upon
Tom, hitting him over the shoulders and the head.
He did his best to defend himself, and hit Baxter in the arm with
the stone, inflicting a wound that made the bully shriek with pain.
"So it is you, Baxter!" cried Tom, recognizing the voice. "What do
you mean by this?"
"Knock him down," yelled the bully. "Don't let him get away from
you!"
Thus urged, the two tramps closed in, and while one caught Tom by
the arm, the second tried to pull his feet from under him.
It was a fierce, but unequal struggle, and though the boy struck
out right and left, inflicting not a little injury, in the end he
found himself on his back, with Stumpy Nuggs sitting on his chest.
"You rascals, let up," he gasped. "Do you mean to kill me?"
"Lay still, or you'll catch it worse," growled Nuggs. "Where's dat
rope, Longback?"
A rope had been brought along, and it was quickly produced, and
then Tom was rolled over and his hands were bound behind him. His
legs were also bound together in such a fashion that he might walk
but not run.
"Now get up," ordered Dan Baxter, with a wicked scowl.
Not caring to remain on the ground, Tom did so. He noted that the
two men with Baxter were tramps, and he came to the conclusion that
he had a hard crowd with whom to deal.
"March!" went on Baxter, taking Tom by the shoulder.
"March? Where to?"
"You'll find out fast enough."
"Suppose I refuse."
"You had better not, Tom Rover. You know I'm not to be trifled
with."
"I am not afraid of you," answered Tom boldly. "You were always a
bully, Dan Baxter, and a bully is a coward."
"Is your name Baxter?" asked asked Stumpy Nuggs, curiously.
"Never mind what it is," growled Baxter.
"I used ter have a friend wot knowed a feller named Baxter," went
on the tramp. "Me friend's name was Buddy Girk."
"I know your friend," cried Tom. "He once stole my brother Dick's
watch. He is this boy's father's tool, and both of them are now in
jail in Albany for robbery."
"Wot!" cried Nuggs, in astonishment. He turned to the other tramp.
"Longback, I reckon we have struck an odd crowd, hey?"
"Dat's wot," answered Longback. "But say, we didn't go through de
young gent's pockets yet."
"Wait until we are off the road," interrupted Dan Baxter.
"Somebody may come along and make trouble for us."
"Right ye are," answered Stumpy Nuggs. "Don't let's stay here
anudder minit."
With Baxter on one side of him, Nuggs on the other, and Longback
bringing up the rear, Tom was forced to march along. Once he
resisted, and received a punch in the side that took nearly all of
the wind out of him. He started to cry for help, but his captors
threatened if he did this that they would place a gag of dirty
cloth in his mouth.
In days gone by Baxter had often visited a deserted dwelling on the
lake shore, and to this spot the party now directed their steps. In
the dark their course was uncertain, and they made slow progress,
so it was after three o'clock in the morning when the dilapidated
building was reached.