AT THE WIDOW FAIRCHILD'S HOUSE
"Are you dead certain the money is in the house?" were the first words
that Dave heard distinctly. They came in rather a hoarse voice.
"Yes, I saw Mrs. Fairchild draw the money from the bank. She put it in
a black bag and started straight for her home." The reply came in a
voice that was also hoarse, almost guttural.
"It would certainly be a dandy haul."
"Just what I've said all along."
"But the risk. If that hired man sleeps in the house----"
"I don't think he does. The widow don't like men folks around. I heard
that from one of the neighbors, the day I went to price some chickens."
"Well, we might go over to her place and take a look around," came
after a pause, and then followed some conversation that Dave could not
catch. A few minutes later the two men walked away, and the youth heard
no more of them.
Dave was amazed and with good reason. If he understood the situation
at all the two men intended to rob the house of a widow who lived about
half a mile up the road. They had seen her draw some money from a bank
somewhere and intended to take the amount from her.
"They must be the very chaps who robbed Mr. Lapham and also the place
in Oakdale," he thought. "I must get out and do what I can to outwit
them!"
In feverish haste he climbed the chain again and pushed on the plank of
the roof. By hard work he managed to loosen one end, but the other end
seemed to be tight and refused to budge.
"If I only had something to pry it off with," he mused, but could find
nothing. Then, almost in desperation, he dropped to the ground again
and began to pound on the door, at the same time shouting at the top of
his lungs.
For a good five minutes this brought forth no response, but presently
Mike Marcy came forth from the farmhouse, lantern in hand, and stalked
over to his barn. When he came out he carried a long rawhide whip in
his hand.
"Say, boy, quit that noise, or I'll tan ye well!" he cried, wrathfully,
as he came up to the smokehouse and set the lantern on the ground.
"Mr. Marcy, is that you?" queried Dave, quickly.
"Yes, 'tis, and I want ye to stop that racket."
"Let me out at once--it is very important," went on Dave.
"Important, is it?" sneered the Irish-American farmer. "'Tis more
important ye stop that noise, so it is!"
"Mr. Marcy, listen to me," said Dave. "I have something very important
to tell you. If you won't listen there will be big trouble. You must
let me out, and both of us must catch two burglars."
"Sure, and what is the lad talkin' about?" exclaimed the farmer.
"I am telling you the truth. Let me out instantly."
"'Tis a trick, I'm after thinkin'----"
"No, sir, I give you my word of honor it is not. Let me out and I will
explain. Please hurry up."
Dave's earnestness at last impressed the farmer to the extent that he
opened the door cautiously for the space of a foot. As the youth came
forth the man caught him by the arm.
"Now don't try to run, or 'twill be the worse for ye!"
"Mr. Marcy, listen!" cried Dave. "Only a short while ago two men were
here. They stopped close to the smokehouse to talk. They spoke of the
Widow Fairchild having money in her house which she had just gotten
from the bank. They talked of robbing her, and they went off to do the
job."
The farmer listened and his jaw dropped slightly.
"Is it a fairy story ye are after tellin'?"
"No, sir, it is the absolute truth. I think they were the same chaps
who robbed Mr. Lapham and robbed that house in Oakdale. They seem to be
doing their best to loot this whole neighborhood."
"They were here?" faltered Mike Marcy. At last he began to believe Dave.
"Yes, sir, not over quarter of an hour ago."
"Did they speak of robbing my place?" went on the Irish-American farmer
suspiciously.
"No, sir, I am sure they started directly for Mrs. Fairchild's place."
"And ye want me to go with ye and catch them?"
"Isn't it our duty to catch them if we can?"
"Sure. But can we do it alone?"
"We can call up somebody else on the way."
"So we can. Well, I'll go--but first I'll take a look around my own
place," added Mike Marcy.
He took his lantern and walked around the house and then told his wife
of Dave's discovery. Mrs. Marcy began to tremble as she listened, and
she shook her head when her husband said he proposed to go after the
robbers.
"It is not meself is going to stay here all alone, wid robbers floatin'
around in the dark," said Mrs. Marcy. "Let the boy call up the
constable, or somebody else."
"It will take too long," said Dave, impatiently. "Even now it may be
too late."
"Ye'll be safe enough with the doors and windows locked," said Mike
Marcy. "Ye can use the shotgun if they come back. I'll take the
pistol."
He was a man used to having his own way, and soon he set off with his
pistol in his pocket and a good-sized club in his hand. Dave armed
himself with another club, and set a good stiff pace, once they were on
the road.
"We can stop at Brown's house and call him up," said Mike Marcy. He
referred to Farmer Brown, who occupied a house directly on the road
they were traveling. Reaching the place they knocked loudly on the door
and presently the owner stuck his head out of an upper window.
"What's wanted?"
"Come down here," shouted Mike Marcy. "We want ye to help capture two
robbers."
"Two robbers?" said Farmer Brown.
"Mercy sakes alive!" burst out the farmer's wife. "Are robbers around?
We'll all be murdered in our beds!"
"They ain't here--they be over to the Widow Fairchild's," answered
Mike Marcy. "Come on. Is Bill around?"
"Yes, here I am," said the farmer's son, from another window. "I'll be
down in a minit, with my gun."
There was a short argument after this, but in the end Farmer Brown and
his son Bill, a tall, wiry youth of nineteen, agreed to accompany Mike
Marcy and Dave. Mrs. Fairchild's home was less than a quarter of a mile
away, and to cut off a bend of the highway they took to an open field
which came to an end at the edge of the widow's orchard.
"There is the house," whispered Mike Marcy, at last. "Better go slow
now."
"Yes, we don't want them to get away," answered Dave.
"Let us spread out around the house," advised Farmer Brown. "The first
one to spot the rascals can give the alarm."
So it was agreed, and while Dave went to the rear of the dwelling the
others passed to the front and sides. The place was pitch dark on the
inside and lit up only by the light of the stars from without.
Dave's heart was beating rather rapidly, for there was no telling
when he would find himself face to face with the two robbers, and he
realized that they must be desperate characters. He clutched the club
tightly, resolved to do his best, should it come to a hand-to-hand
encounter.
Several minutes passed and slowly the four outside walked completely
around the building. Only one window was open, that to the dining room.
"See anybody?" whispered Mike Marcy, coming up to Dave.
"No."
"Sure ye didn't make any mistake?"
"I didn't see a soul. Maybe they haven't come up yet."
"That is so."
"We can wait a while and see," suggested Bill Brown. "If we wake the
widder we may scare 'em off."
They waited after that for another spell, but nobody appeared, nor did
they hear any sound out of the ordinary. Then it was resolved to arouse
Mrs. Fairchild and wait in the house for the coming of the robbers.
"That is, if they are coming," said Farmer Brown. "Maybe the boy made a
mistake."
"I am certain I made no mistake," answered Dave, positively. "But they
may have changed their plans."
"Humph!" muttered Mike Marcy. "If it's a trick--But we'll talk that
over later."
The door had an old-fashioned knocker, and this Farmer Brown used
lightly at first and then with vigor. To the surprise of all in the
party nobody answered the summons.
"The widder must be away!" cried Farmer Brown. "Funny,--she was home at
sundown. Where would she go after dark?"
"Perhaps she's been murdered," suggested Bill.
"Murdered!" exclaimed the others, and Dave's blood seemed to run cold.
"A regular robber wouldn't stop at murder, if he was caught in the
act," said the farmer.
"Maybe we ought to break in the door."
"Or git in through the window," suggested Mike Marcy.
While they were deliberating they heard the sounds of carriage wheels
on the road. The turnout was coming along at smart speed and all ran
towards the road to see who was driving. To their surprise they saw the
Widow Fairchild alight, followed by a farmer named Burr and a hired man
called Sandy.
"How do ye do, widder!" called out Farmer Brown. "Been away long?"
"Why, what does this mean?" stammered Mrs. Fairchild, who was a woman
of forty and weighed at least two hundred pounds. She often went out to
do nursing throughout the Oakdale district.
"We came here lookin' fer robbers," explained Mike Marcy. "We thought
they was comin' to visit you."
"By gum!" came from the farmer named Burr. "Reckon you are right, Mrs.
Fairchild."
"Right? How?" asked Dave, quickly.
"I'll tell you," answered the widow. "About an hour ago somebody
knocked on the door. I opened the window upstairs and asked what was
wanted. A man was there muffled up in an overcoat. Says he, 'Is that
you, Mrs. Fairchild?' 'Yes,' says I. 'Well,' says he, 'you're wanted
over to Mrs. Burr's house right away. The baby is dying. I've got to
go for a doctor,' says he, and runs away. I didn't hardly know what
to do, but I hurried into my clothes and locked up and almost run to
Mr. Burr's place. When I got there they was all to bed and the baby
as healthy as ever. Then I got suspicious, for I've got four hundred
dollars in the house that I got out of the bank at Rayfield to pay off
on that new house I'm building in Oakdale. Mr. Burr hitched up at once
and brought me over. So you know about the fellow, do you?"
"I know two men started for this place to rob your house," said Dave.
"Better go in and see if the money is safe," suggested Farmer Brown.
"Did you leave that window open?" he added.
"Window open? No indeed!" shrieked Mrs. Fairchild, and without further
ceremony she brought forth her key and opened the front door. Then she
lit the lamp and began to make a search of the premises.
"They have been in here!" she wailed. "See how everything is upset!"
She ran to a china closet. "Oh, dear, look at the dishes! Some of 'em
broken! Oh!" She gave a wild scream. "The money is gone! They have
robbed me of the four hundred dollars!"