THE ABDUCTION OF "BONES"
"What's that?" demanded Buster Billings, who happened to be
nearby.
"Goodness, they are saying poor Bones Shadduck has been
kidnapped!" exclaimed a shuddering girl, and the news was flashed
all through the several groups.
The singing for the evening was done. The Columbia High School
Glee Club had never before been so well attended. Time was when it
consisted of a baker's dozen of students, but there were an
unusually large number of good voices in the various classes this
year.
Frank was, of course, much worried by the news.
"Are you sure, Lanky? Perhaps he's just stepped out to saunter
around with one of the girls, like some of the others have done,"
he observed.
"Well, we thought of that, and hunted high and low. Why, even
Allie Sawyer, who generally takes up so much of his time, hasn't
seen him for ten minutes."
"So long as that?" answered Frank, with a smile; "but we must get
busy, and learn if any one saw Bones go out."
"I did!" spoke up a girl just then.
"When was this?" asked Frank, turning on her quickly.
"Not more than seven or eight minutes ago. I was standing in the
doorway, and had to move aside for him. And he spoke to me, too,"
came the reply. "And what did he say?" continued the other.
"Why, you know Bones has a dog?"
"Yes, a bulldog named Kaiser."
"He brought him along to the hall to-night," continued the girl.
"That's a fact, Frank; for the ugly brute came near taking a hunk
out of my leg when, by the merest chance in the world, I happened
to rub up against him!" declared Tom Budd, the boy gymnast, who
was constantly doing stunts, as though possessed of an insatiable
desire to stand on his head, walk on his hands, or throw
somersaults.
"The dog was howling, oh, so mournfully," continued the girl. "I
heard him, and it really got on my nerves. Well, I guess it acted
the same way with Bones, for he said that he was going out and
remonstrate with Kaiser."
Frank and Lanky exchanged glances.
"Told you so!" declared the latter, triumphantly.
"Well, it certainly looks as though there might be something in
it. Bones must have forgotten the warning, in his sudden desire to
stop the howling of the dog. He went out, and as he hasn't come
back, we'd better be looking after him. Come along, some of you
fellows. If they've carried him off, it's up to us to rescue our
right guard!"
There was an immediate rush made for the door of the hall.
Dyckman's was situated just on the outskirts of the town. It had
once been some sort of church, and was now used for a variety of
purposes connected with the life of the community, from political
meetings to dancing classes.
As the stream of boys poured out of the building, the howling of
the bulldog nearby became more furious than ever. It immediately
attracted the attention of the observant Frank.
"Hark!" he said, holding up his hand to indicate that silence
would be necessary if they hoped to succeed in accomplishing
anything worth while.
"What is it?" demanded Lanky, eagerly; "do you see Bones, or did
you hear him shout for help?"
"Neither. I was thinking of his dog," was the reply.
"What of old Kaiser, Frank? How does he come in this game?" asked
Buster.
"You can tell from the way he's acting that Bones has never been
near him. More than that, I believe the smart dog knows that
something has happened to his master, for he's just wild to get
free!" declared Frank.
"Sure as you live! Just listen to him growl and bark. I never
heard a bulldog do that before!" cried Ralph.
"Oh, Kaiser is only a half-breed mongrel, but looks like a full-blooded
bull. But an idea just occurred to me, fellows."
"Then let's have it, Frank. We're short of ideas at present, just
as we are of a bully good football player needed in to-morrow's
game. What is it?" asked Molly Manners, unduly excited by these
strange occurrences.
"Perhaps the dog might lead us to where Bones is!" said Frank.
"Say, now, that's just a crackerjack suggestion. Of course, he
will, if someone could only hold him in by his leash!" exclaimed
Lanky, with the light of anticipation shining on his face.
"Come on, let's try it!" shouted another fellow.
"But who's going to unfasten Kaiser, and hold him?" asked Frank,
always practical, even at such moments as this.
"Here's Buster, he knows the dog better than anyone else," said
Jack Eastwick, pushing the fat boy forward.
"Oh, yes, I've had an intimate acquaintance with him. He's tasted
of me three different times," declared the unwilling candidate for
honors.
"Still, he knows you?" said Jack, in a wheedling voice.
"Sure, and I think he likes me, which shows Kaiser has good taste.
But I'm willing to be the victim, if you'll all promise to see
that my remains are gathered up and given a fitting burial.
Everyone who likes a good show, this way, now. The only and
original dog-tamer is about to give an exhibition of how not to do
it."
Kaiser was acting in a very ugly way, as they approached the spot
where he had been tied up by his master, upon reaching the hall.
He jumped up and out in a furious manner, always in the one
direction, Frank noticed.
"You see, fellows, he pays no attention to us. His growls are for
someone else, and he is trying to break loose, in order that he
may chase after them. I shouldn't be surprised if we had some
success, after all. Do it, Buster. The whole world is looking to
you now as the hero of the occasion."
Buster gave Frank a plaintive look, as he bent down, and began to
speak soothingly to the furious dog.
"Listen to his soft soap talk, would you!"
"Buster knows how to lay it on; he's kissed the blarney stone!"
"Pat him, why don't you, old fellow; he likes the taste of you all
right!"
But to none of these suggestions did Buster pay the least heed. He
was working with the end of the rope all the time he talked so
soothingly to the brute. Frank suspected what might happen if this
suddenly came free when the dog was making one of his frantic
plunges. Consequently, he made sure to be ready to seize hold, so
as to assist the fat boy.
It was just as he thought. Only for the quick clutch he made, the
dog must have sped away like the wind, and they would have been as
badly off as before. But with the weight of the two boys on the
rope, even the powerful Kaiser was not able to go faster than the
crowd could follow.
"Ralph, keep close beside me!" called out Frank, who did not want
a second disaster to overtake them while trying to remedy the
first.
It was really a curious sight to see that crowd of boys rushing
over the territory adjoining Dyckman's Hall, following the pair
who pooled their strength in order to restrain the wildly eager
dog.
Frank quickly took note of a certain fact.
"We're heading for the water, fellows!" he exclaimed, as well as
he was able, while being tugged along by the erratic rushes of
Kaiser.
Nearly everyone knew what he meant. It was that the abductors of
Bones meant to duck him in the river, and treat him so harshly that
he would be in no condition to play in the morrow's game.
Still, that did not surprise anyone. They might easily have
expected just such an ending to the affair, knowing as they did
what conscienceless scamps were in all probability engineering the
kidnapping affair.
The dog had led them in almost a bee line for the river. Several
hundred yards had already been covered, without the least sign
being seen of those whom they fully believed must be ahead
somewhere.
"Ain't this fierce?" gasped Buster, as he held on to the rope
with a desperate clutch; indeed, but for the sustaining hand of
the more agile Frank, the fat boy must have fallen flat on his
face more than once as he tripped over obstacles in the way.
"Kaiser'll eat 'em alive if he gets half a chance! Listen to him
growl, will you? Don't let him loose, Frank, on your life, or
he'll just murder some of them!" exclaimed Jack Eastwick, who was
running alongside the two who gripped the leash.
"If Buster ever falls flat I'll never be able to hold on alone. Be
ready, somebody, to take hold!" was what Frank cried in return, as
he was dragged along by the furious rush of the dog, more eager
now than before.
But no one appeared to be particularly anxious to extend a helping
hand. The appearance of Kaiser was not at all reassuring, and
none of the boys fancied being "liked," as Buster admitted he was.
"Listen!" called Molly Manners, suddenly.
Everyone strained his ears. It required some effort to catch any
sound from beyond. Kaiser was making such terrible noises as he
ran, and the rush of many feet over the ground rather deadened
anything else. Still, between times they caught what seemed to be
boisterous laughter, accompanied by a loud splashing, as of
somebody being cast into the river, to be hauled out again, only
to have the operation repeated.
"They're ducking Bones, that's what!" coughed Buster, in real
indignation.
Just then he struck some sort of obstacle that caused him to fall
flat on his stomach with a fierce grunt. Of course, the rope was
torn from his hands. And as the shock was too much for Frank to
stand, he, too, was compelled to release his clutch in order to
save himself from a bad tumble.
There was a furious burst of savage satisfaction from the tugging
dog at the end of the leash, and then he vanished from their
sight, running like mad!