DAVE'S HEROISM
As the ice-boat swept along Dave revolved in his mind all that he had
heard at the old cabin.
He could place but one meaning on the words spoken by the two criminals
regarding two schoolboys. They must refer to Nick Jasniff and Gus Plum.
"Can it be that those two are in with such rascals?" he asked himself.
"I might think it of Jasniff, but I never dreamed Plum could be quite
so bad. And yet last season he did some pretty crooked work with the
valuable postage stamps that disappeared."
On and on swept the _Snowbird_, through the darkness of the night. It
was growing colder each moment, and the cutting wind made each of the
lads shiver. Dave wanted to tell Roger his tale in full, but now was no
time for connected conversation.
Suddenly out of the darkness loomed a strange object, moving in almost
the same direction as the _Snowbird_. It was the ice-boat belonging to
the Rockville cadets.
"Look out!" yelled Henshaw, while Messmer gave a scream of fright.
Then both ice-boats appeared to turn toward each other, there came a
grinding, rending crash, and in a twinkling Dave found himself spinning
on his back over the ice with Roger beside him.
Fortunately for Dave he landed in such a fashion that he received
little more harm than a thorough shaking up. He slid a distance of two
hundred feet and then came to a stop in a small ridge of snow.
"Hello, I wonder if anybody is hurt?" he asked himself, and got to
his feet as quickly as possible. He walked back to the scene of the
collision and soon ran into the senator's son.
"Are you all right, Dave?"
"Yes, Roger; how about you?"
"Got shaken up, that's all."
"Help! help!" came faintly from one of the ice-boats, and running back
Dave and Roger saw Henshaw on the ice, with the overturned _Snowbird_
on top of him. Close at hand lay the second ice-boat, and it was plain
to see that both craft were much damaged.
Messmer was near, suffering from a cut on his hand, yet he was willing
to go to Henshaw's assistance. The bow end of the _Snowbird_ was raised
and Henshaw dragged himself forth.
"Are you badly hurt?" asked Dave, anxiously.
"My left leg got a pretty good squeeze," answered Henshaw, trying to
limp around on the member. "I am afraid I can't walk on it." And he sat
down on the edge of the overturned ice-boat.
In the meanwhile the Rockville cadets were pulling themselves together.
All had been bruised and scratched a little, but that was all. Their
ice-boat, too, had gone over, and the runners were partly broken.
"That was your fault!" growled one of the cadets, striding over to the
students of Oak Hall.
"No more our fault than yours," answered Dave.
"You ran right into us."
"You did as much of the running in as we did," answered Roger.
"Do you suppose I got my leg hurt for fun?" growled Henshaw.
"Are you hurt?" questioned another of the cadets.
"I am."
"Well, I am sorry for that."
The fact that Henshaw was hurt caused the Rockville boys to become a
little more friendly, and two of them said they would do what they
could for the sufferer. No more was said about the cause of the
accident, which was in reality the fault of both parties equally.
Nothing much could be done for Henshaw. It pained him to stand on the
injured leg and so he remained sitting down. The other boys began to
inspect both ice-boats. It was found that they were badly broken at the
bow and both masts were loosened. As a consequence, while they could be
used, progress on the river, even before the wind, would be slow.
"This is too bad," observed Dave. "We ought to get back to Oak Hall as
soon as possible, and tell the doctor what we have learned."
After a good deal of tugging both ice-boats were righted and each party
boarded its own craft. On they went in the darkness and soon separated,
the craft from Rockville doing a little better than that containing our
friends.
"I don't think we'll get back to the Hall much before midnight," said
Dave, and this proved to be the case. It lacked just ten minutes of
that time when they tied up at the boathouse. Henshaw's leg was now
stiff and the others had to carry him to the door.
"Ha! so I have caught you!" exclaimed Job Haskers, as he suddenly
showed himself. "What do you mean by coming in at this late hour?"
"We've had an accident--Henshaw is hurt," answered Roger.
At this announcement the teacher's face took on a sour look.
"An accident, eh? You are quite sure?" he demanded, with a suspicious
look at Henshaw.
"Yes, I'm sure," grumbled the hurt one. "We had a collision with
another ice-boat, and when our craft turned over I was caught
underneath."
"What is the trouble there?" came in Dr. Clay's voice, and he showed
himself at the top of the stairs and then came down. After asking a
few questions he had Henshaw taken to a private bed-chamber, where the
injured limb was carefully examined and then bathed with liniment.
"I wish to see you in private, Dr. Clay," said Dave. "Perhaps Morr and
Messmer will want to see you too."
"Very well, come into the office," answered the master of Oak Hall, and
led the way. He made a light and then faced the three students who had
followed him.
In a plain, straightforward manner Dave told of the visit to the rocky
island and the old cabin, and of what the two men had said. He did not
mention the talk about the two schoolboys, although strongly tempted
to do so. He said the two men expected to go to the old mill, near
Nabill's farm, the next day.
"This is very important," exclaimed the doctor, when he had finished.
"I must notify the authorities at once, and we must do everything we
can to capture the rascals."
"Can I do anything?" asked Roger.
"I think not. As you say one man is very tall and the other very short,
it ought not to be a very difficult matter to recognize them if they
show themselves. The old mill is also well known, so there can be no
mistake."
"Of course, they may not go to the mill now," went on Dave.
"That is true. But I will have the authorities keep a close watch all
around this district and also at the railroad stations. As he has been
in prison this Pud Frodel must be known."
After that the doctor told the boys they had better go to bed, and they
did so. But it was an hour before Dave could get to sleep. Once he
thought of getting up and visiting Gus Plum's dormitory, but gave up
the idea, knowing that all the others would want to know what was doing.
In the morning the weather changed. It was not so cold, but the
snow was coming down thickly and the wind sent it swirling in all
directions. Already the ground was covered to a depth of several
inches, and there was no telling when the storm would cease.
"This will make it hard to track those men," observed Roger, as he and
Dave came down for breakfast.
"Roger, I want to tell you something," said Dave, and as the pair
walked to a secluded corner of a hallway Dave told his chum what had
been on his mind since the visit to the lonely cabin.
"Oh, Dave! can this be true?" cried the senator's son, in horror. "Can
Jasniff and Plum really be mixed up in this?"
"It looks like it to me, Roger," was Dave's slow reply. "And yet I
shouldn't want to say a word until I was certain. Jasniff I know is
bad,--and so is Plum, for the matter of that. But there is a difference
between them."
"I know it, Dave. Jasniff is wicked at heart, while Gus is more a bully
and headstrong." The senator's son paused. "What do you propose to do?"
"I've been thinking of having a straight talk with Plum. Of course, if
he is really in with those robbers I'll have to expose him."
The chums talked the matter over for several minutes and then went
in to breakfast. Plum was there, but Dave noticed that the bully
ate little. Soon Plum arose and left the dining room abruptly. Dave
followed, why he could hardly tell. But he had a feeling that he must
follow Plum then and there.
The bully of Oak Hall passed from the hall to the coat room, and there
donned his overcoat, hat, and rubbers. Then he walked to a side door,
and opening it cautiously, stepped out into the howling storm.
Dave was now certain something unusual was in the wind, for the school
session would begin in twenty minutes and he knew Plum would not go out
in such a storm without good reason. Quickly he donned his own coat,
hat, and rubbers and followed to the outside of the school building.
He saw Plum running across the campus and he followed. Then the bully
leaped the boxwood hedge and came out on a road leading to a village
called Bagor, a short distance from Rockville.
"Perhaps he is going to meet Jasniff," Dave reasoned. "He must be
pretty well upset. I don't believe he even got permission to leave."
The road led through a wood and then up a long hill. The snow was so
thick that Dave had all he could do to keep Plum in sight. The bully of
the Hall walked rapidly, his head bent low and his hands rammed well
down in his overcoat pockets.
The high ground at the top of the hill gained, Plum struck off to the
southeast, in the direction of the railroad tracks. Inside of five
minutes he reached a point where the tracks ran through a deep cut. On
either side were tall trees, and the sloping banks of the cut ran down
almost to the rails, now covered with snow.
At the edge of the cut Plum paused again. He looked up and down
the opening, as if undecided in what direction to turn. Far away a
locomotive whistle sounded and a freight train appeared in sight,
rolling forward rapidly on a slight down-grade.
As the freight train came closer Plum prepared to climb down the steep
slope of the cut. All was covered with ice and snow, and he had taken
but a dozen steps when he lost his footing and his hold and rolled
over and over. Then he struck a projecting rock and the next instant
pitched forward on his head, rolled over and over once more, and landed
squarely on the tracks below!
Dave was close to the edge of the cut and saw the whole occurrence.
When Plum struck on his head he uttered a deep groan, showing that he
was injured. Then, as he lay on the tracks, he did not move.
"He is unconscious!" thought Dave, and a chill of horror swept over
him. He looked along the cut. The freight train was sweeping forward,
directly for the unconscious youth. In half a minute more it would
reach Plum and run over him. He heard a fierce whistle, as the
locomotive engineer gave the signal for brakes, and the engine itself
was reversed. But the grade was too great and the train too heavy for a
sudden stop.
Dave's heart leaped into his throat. Was Plum to be ground up under his
very eyes? He had no great love for the bully, but at that moment his
heart went out to him as if he were a brother.
"I must save him--if I can!" he told himself. "He must not be killed
if I can help it!" And then, throwing himself face downward, he slid
over the ice and snow to the bottom of the cut. His hands and face were
scratched, but he paid no heed. As he touched the bottom he leaped up.
The train was less than fifty feet away, the wheels grinding sharply on
the tracks. He made one wild leap forward, caught Plum by the feet and
dragged him out of harm's way. Then the train rolled on, coming to a
stop a few seconds later.
[Illustration: He made one wild leap forward.--_Page 288._]