[Illustration: The _Snowbird_ continued to forge ahead.--_Page 265_.]
Dave Porter Series
DAVE PORTER'S RETURN TO SCHOOL
OR
WINNING THE MEDAL OF HONOR
BY
EDWARD STRATEMEYER
Author of "Dave Porter at Oak Hall," "Dave Porter in the South
Seas," "Old Glory Series," "Pan-American Series,"
"Colonial Series," "American Boys' Life of
Theodore Roosevelt," etc.
_ILLUSTRATED BY CHARLES NUTTALL_
[Illustration]
BOSTON
LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO.
Published, March, 1907
COPYRIGHT, 1907, BY LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO.
_All rights reserved_
DAVE PORTER'S RETURN TO SCHOOL
Norwood Press
BERWICK & SMITH CO.
Norwood, Mass.
U. S. A.
PREFACE
"DAVE PORTER'S RETURN TO SCHOOL" is a complete story in
itself, but forms the third volume in a line issued under the general
title of "Dave Porter Series."
In the initial volume of this series, entitled "Dave Porter at Oak
Hall," I took pleasure in introducing to my readers a typical American
lad, of strong moral qualities, and told of many of the things which
happened to him during a term at an American boarding school of to-day.
Such a school is a little world in itself, and Dave made both friends
and enemies, and aided one weak and misguided youth to a realization of
his better self.
The great cloud over Dave's life was the question of his parentage. His
enemies called him "a poorhouse nobody," which hurt him to the quick.
At length he made a discovery which led him to begin a search for his
missing relatives, and in the second volume of this series, entitled
"Dave Porter in the South Seas," we followed the lad on a most unusual
voyage, in a quarter of our globe but little known. Here Dave met his
uncle, and learned something of himself and his father and sister,
which pleased him immensely.
In the present volume the scene is shifted back to Oak Hall, where Dave
goes to finish his preparation for college. His friends are still with
him, and likewise his enemies, and what the various students do I leave
for the pages that follow to relate. In all his trials Dave stands up
for what is honest and true, and in this his example is well worth
following.
Again I thank the many young people who have taken an interest in my
efforts to amuse and instruct them. I hope this volume may prove to
their liking and do them good.
EDWARD STRATEMEYER.
_Washington's Birthday, 1907._
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. AT THE RAILROAD STATION 1
II. SOMETHING OF THE PAST 11
III. DAVE'S RETURN TO OAK HALL 20
IV. IN THE DORMITORY 29
V. SOMETHING OF A MYSTERY 38
VI. JOB HASKERS'S BAD NIGHT 47
VII. A CHALLENGE ACCEPTED 57
VIII. THE RIVALS OF OAK HALL 66
IX. THE END OF THE GAME 76
X. ALL ON ACCOUNT OF A KITE 86
XI. AT THE WIDOW FAIRCHILD'S HOUSE 95
XII. AT WORK IN THE DARK 105
XIII. IN THE HANDS OF THE ENEMY 115
XIV. CARRIED OFF 125
XV. OFF FOR THE GAME 134
XVI. THE GREAT FOOTBALL GAME 143
XVII. HOW THE GAME ENDED 153
XVIII. A FUNNY INITIATION 163
XIX. ALMOST SCARED TO DEATH 173
XX. A STUDENT'S STRANGE DISAPPEARANCE 182
XXI. THE CAVERN IN THE WOODS 191
XXII. A BOY AND A MOTOR CYCLE 201
XXIII. WHAT A RUNAWAY LED TO 211
XXIV. MORE PLANS THAN ONE 220
XXV. THE FIGHT IN THE GYMNASIUM 229
XXVI. THE DISAPPEARANCE OF NICK JASNIFF 239
XXVII. WHAT HAPPENED AT ROCKVILLE 249
XXVIII. AN ICE-BOAT RACE 259
XXIX. THE CABIN ON THE ISLAND 269
XXX. DAVE'S HEROISM 279
XXXI. GUS PLUM'S CONFESSION 289
XXXII. THE MEDAL OF HONOR--CONCLUSION 297
ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE
The Snowbird continued to forge ahead. Frontispiece
Dave began to mount the improvised rope. 50
Carl was made to bow until his nose touched the floor. 166
He made one wild leap forward. 288
DAVE PORTER'S RETURN TO SCHOOL
CHAPTER I
AT THE RAILROAD STATION
"Here comes the train, fellows!"
"I hope Dave Porter is on board."
"He will be, and Ben Basswood too. Ben wrote to me that they were
coming to-day."
"I wonder if Dave will be glad to get back to Oak Hall, Lazy?"
"Why not?" returned Sam Day, a big, round-faced youth, with a shock of
curly hair hanging over his forehead. "Didn't we have fine times when
he was here last term?"
"Yes, but----" Maurice Hamilton paused to glance at the train that had
rolled into the Oakdale station. "There they are, sure enough! Hurrah!"
The train had come to a stop and a dozen or more passengers alighted.
In the crowd were two boys, each carrying a dress-suit case. Both were
tall, well-built, and manly-looking. The one in the lead had a face
full of merriment and earnest eyes that were rather out of the ordinary.
"Dave!" cried Maurice Hamilton, rushing up and catching the youth
addressed by the hand. "You don't know how glad I am to see you!"
"Same here, Shadow," responded Dave Porter, and gave the other boy's
hand a squeeze that made the lad wince.
"Whoa, Dave! I want to use that hand again!" cried Shadow, as he was
familiarly called. "Not so hard."
"And how are you, Lazy?" went on Dave Porter, turning to the other boy
on the platform. "Active as ever?" And he smiled brightly.
"No, it has been dead slow since you and Roger and Phil went away,"
answered Sam Day. "How are you, Ben?" he added, to the second youth
from the train. "I hope you've come back to stir things up."
"Oh, Dave will stir 'em up, don't you worry," replied Ben Basswood. "He
feels like a two-year-old colt since--well, you know," he added, in a
lower voice.
"Any one would," responded Sam Day, heartily. "My, but what a trip you
must have had to the South Seas!" he added, to Dave. "Wish I had been
along!"
"Every one of our crowd has been wishing that," said Shadow Hamilton.
"When you're settled down, and have time, you must tell us all about
it, Dave."
"I certainly will. Have you seen anything of Phil and Roger yet?"
"They are coming to-morrow."
"Good. All the others here?"
"All but Polly Vane and Luke Watson. Polly had to go to his aunt's
wedding, and Luke had to go around by way of Albany, on business for
his father. But the whole crowd will be on hand by the end of the week."
"And what of Gus Plum and Nat Poole and that crowd?" asked Ben
Basswood, with a shade of anxiety in his voice.
"Oh, they are around, as lordly as ever. But say, wasn't Plum taken
down when he heard that Dave had found some relatives and was rich! He
wouldn't believe it at first; said it was a fake."
"But it is true," cried Ben Basswood, his face glowing. "Dave's folks
are rich. I don't know but that Dave is the richest boy at Oak Hall
now."
"Oh, come, let us talk about something else," said Dave, blushing in
spite of himself. "Where's the carryall?"
"Here you are, gents!" cried a voice from the end of the platform, and
Jackson Lemond, the driver from Oak Hall, appeared. He got down on
one knee and made a profound bow to Dave. "Hope I see you well, Lord
Porter," he went on, humbly.
"Lord Porter?" queried Dave, in bewilderment.
"Hush!" whispered Sam Day, quickly. "Some of the fellows told Horsehair
you were a real, live lord now, and he believes it."
"But I am not," cried Dave, and burst out laughing. "Up with you,
Horsehair, or you'll get your knee dirty."
"Yes, sir, yes, sir," answered the driver, nervously. "Will--er--will
Lord Porter sit on the front seat, or----"
"A lord always drives himself," answered Shadow Hamilton, with a grin.
"Horsehair, you'll have to sit on the back spring."
"Yes, sir, but--er----" The driver of the carryall paused. "Any more
boys?"
"Look here, fellows," interrupted Dave, throwing his dress-suit case on
the top of the carryall. "I like fun as well as anybody, but making out
I'm a lord is--well, it's something I don't like. Even though my folks
may have a little money I want to be just as I used to be."
"Ain't you no lord?" gasped the carryall driver.
"Of course not--I'm a plain, everyday American boy."
"Well, I'll be switched! Them young gents told me as how you was a real
lord, an' was coming to the school with four colored servants, an' a
whole lot more."
"And now Dave has spoiled it all," said Shadow Hamilton, with a
ponderous sigh. "Puts me in mind of a story I once heard about a----"
"Yarn No. 1," interrupted Ben. "I thought you'd begin to tell 'em as
soon as we arrived. You have 'em bottled up, and unless you pulled the
cork now and then I suppose you'd explode."
"Which puts me in mind of another story, about a----"
"Wait till we are on our way to the Hall," cried Sam Day. "All in!"
And one after another the schoolboys piled into the big carryall which
was to take them to Oak Hall. The turnout was just about to start when
there came a cry from the other end of the station, and two youths
appeared, each loudly dressed, one somewhat after the manner of a dude
and the other in the style of a sport. Each carried a small parcel,
showing he had come down to the town to do some shopping.
"Gus Plum and Nat Poole!" whispered Ben, and his face fell. "I hope
they don't want to ride with us."
"That is what they are going to do," answered Dave. "I am sorry myself,
but it can't be helped."
"Jump in if you are going along," cried the Hall driver.
"Who have you got?" sang out Gus Plum, rather roughly. He came closer
with his companion and stared at those in the carryall. "Humph!"
"How do you do, Plum?" said Dave, politely. He knew Gus Plum to be the
bully of the school, but he had determined to be perfectly fair to all.
"Humph!" murmured the bully again. "Got back, eh?"
"I have."
"Humph!"
"Going to cut a fearful swath, I presume," said Nat Poole, who was the
bully's close crony.
Dave's face flushed. He had anticipated trouble, but had not expected
it to come so soon. A sharp answer came to his lips, but he suppressed
it and remained silent.
"Don't start in now, Plum!" cried Ben. "If you are going to the Hall
say so and get in."
"I'll go to the Hall when I feel like it," growled the bully. It was
plain to see that he was in an unusually bad humor.
"Well, we are not going to wait for you to make up your mind," said
Shadow Hamilton. As we shall learn later, he had good reasons for
counting Gus Plum his enemy. "Are you going, or are you not?"
"See here, Hamilton, you can't boss me!" roared the bully. "I'll get in
when I please."
"The carryall has got to wait for us," added Nat Poole, maliciously.
"Dr. Clay said we could come back in it."
"Then come on," said Sam Day.
"We are not through with our errands yet," answered Gus Plum, and
winked in secret at his crony.
"That's it--and the carryall has got to wait till we are through,"
added Nat Poole, quickly.
"How long?" asked Dave, looking sharply at Plum and Poole.
"Oh, about half an hour," answered the bully, carelessly.
"This is a shame," muttered Sam Day. "Horsehair, can't you come back
for them?"
"Certainly," answered the driver.
"Then off we go!" cried Shadow Hamilton. "I'd rather ride without them
anyway," he whispered.
"Hi! stop!" roared Gus Plum. "If you drive to the Hall you won't be
back for an hour and a half or more. You've got to wait for us."
At this bold announcement there was silence all around. The students in
the carryall looked at Dave, as he was their natural leader.
"There are four of us who want to get to the Hall without unnecessary
delay," said Dave, steadily. "Either you can go along now, or wait till
Horsehair comes back."
"That's the talk," came promptly from Dave's chums.
"So you are going to play the master, are you?" blustered Gus Plum.
"Going to rule the roost, eh? and make everybody bow low to you, eh?"
"Nothing of the kind, Plum. I merely wish----"
"Oh, I know! You've talked soft to me before, and soft to Nat, too! I
suppose you think now you have money you can do anything here. Well, it
don't go--not with me anyway, and I want to give you fair warning right
now, at the very start. I want you to understand----"
"Plum, don't talk so loud, you are drawing a crowd," whispered Ben.
"Dave is all right, and you know it."
"Humph! I want him to understand----"
"Plum, listen to me," said Dave, leaning out of the carryall and facing
the bully squarely. "I intended to have a talk with you later, but
since you are so insistent we may as well have it out right now. When
it was decided that I should come back to Oak Hall I made up my mind to
do my best to keep out of trouble and stick closely to my lessons. I
also made up my mind to steer clear of you, and Nat Poole, and all the
others of your crowd, and I was going to ask you to leave me alone. I
want absolutely nothing to do with any of you, and I don't want any of
you to go around talking behind my back, as you have been doing in the
past. You know I could do some talking on my own account if I wanted
to, but I prefer to keep silent. Now then, are you willing to meet me
on those terms or not?"
"Humph!"
"That is no answer."
"You can't bully me."
"You are the bully and always have been, and you know it."
"That's the truth," said Sam Day.
"Plum, you've got to take a back seat, and the sooner you do it the
better off you'll be," added Shadow.
"Exactly what I say," was Ben's comment.
"All against me, just as you always were!" cried Gus Plum, savagely.
"But never mind! Just you wait, that's all!" And he shook his fist as
he backed away.
"You're a set of sneaks!" murmured Nat Poole, as he too retreated. But
he was careful to speak in such a low tone that nobody in the carryall
understood him.
"I don't want to ride with you; I'd rather walk," went on the bully.
"I'll come back for you two," said the driver, as he took up the
reins again. "Git up there!" he cried to his team and snapped his
whip. "Looks to me like there was trouble in the air," he continued,
glancing first at the students left behind and then at those in the
carryall.
"I am afraid you are right," answered Dave, soberly.