A QUARREL IN THE SNOW
The snow lay on the ground to the depth of four inches and was still
coming down thickly. It was the first fall of the season, and was
late,--so late, in fact, that the boys had been afraid there might
come no fall at all. Fast and furiously flew the snowballs and each
lad was hit many times.
"How is that?" sang out Whopper, as he planted a snowball directly in
Snap's ear.
"And how's that?" returned Snap quickly, and sent a chunk of soft snow
down Frank's collar.
"Wuow!" spluttered Whopper. "Hi! that isn't fair! Oh, my poor
backbone!"
"Here you are, Giant!" called out Shep, and hit the little lad in the
back. "Sorry, but it can't be helped. I--Oh, my!" and Shep bent double
as a snowball thrown by Giant with much force took him directly in the
stomach.
"Just to remember me by!" sang out Giant. "Here's another," and the
ball struck Shep in the elbow. "Small favors thankfully received and
big ones granted in return. There you are!" And still another snowball
landed on Shep's neck.
Five other boys had come up, and now the contestants were lined up on
both sides of the street not far from a corner, where there was a turn
running down to the depot. As the snowballing went on a distant
locomotive whistle sounded out and the afternoon train from the East
rolled into the station. Several passengers alighted and among the
number was Andrew Felps, of the Felps Lumber Company, the man who had
caused the boy hunters so much trouble the summer previous.
Mr. Andrew Felps was in a bad humor. He had gone to the city on
business and matters had not turned out as he had expected. Now he had
gotten back, dressed in his best, and wearing a new silk hat, and he
had no umbrella with which to protect himself from the snow-storm.
More than this, his coachman, who generally met him when he came in on
the train, was not in sight.
"Bah! I'll have to walk I suppose," muttered the saw mill owner, as he
looked around for a carriage and found none. "Just the time you want a
rig you can't find one. I'll discharge Johnson as soon as I reach
home."
With his coat buttoned up around his neck, and his head bent low to
escape the scudding snow, Andrew Felps hurried away from the depot and
up to the main street of Fairview. Then he made another turn,
presently reaching the spot where our heroes and the other lads were
having their sport.
"Hi! here comes old Felps!" cried Giant. "We ought to give him
something to remember us by!"
"Don't you do it!" returned Snap quickly. "He doesn't know what fun
is, and he'd be sure to make trouble."
Some other boys were coming up, and the snowballs began to fly more
furiously than ever. Snap, Shep, Whopper and Giant were on one side,
and a boy named Carl Dudder and five other town lads on the other
side. In the midst of the rallies came a yell of alarm, followed by
several loud cries of rage.
"Hullo! look there!" exclaimed Whopper. "Old Felps has been knocked
into the middle of next month. There goes his hat in the snow too! Who
threw at him?"
"I didn't," answered Giant, promptly.
"Neither did I," came from Snap.
"Nor I," added Shep.
The saw mill owner was flat on his back, his silk hat on one side of
him and a package of books and papers on the other.
"Maybe he slipped on some ice," suggested Snap.
"Hi! hi! who threw that snowball!" roared Andrew Felps, savagely, as
he arose to his feet. "You young villains! I'll have the law on you
for this!"
He scrambled to his feet and glared around him. All of the boys had
stopped throwing at once and gazed at him curiously.
"Ha! I know you!" went on Andrew Felps, striding up to Snap. "It was
you who hit me in the ear and knocked me down!"
"No, sir, I did not," answered Charley.
"I know better! I saw you do it!"
"You are mistaken, Mr. Felps! I was throwing across the street."
"Don't tell me! I know better, Dodge. You hit me and you did it on
purpose."
At this Snap merely shrugged his shoulders.
"I'll have the law on you," fumed Andrew Felps.
"Snap didn't hit you," said Shep.
"Ha! then perhaps you threw the snowball," said the saw mill owner
suspiciously.
"I did not."
"I know you boys, and I have not forgotten your work against me last
summer," growled Andrew Felps.
"And we haven't forgotten you," answered Snap, coldly. "You have no
right to accuse me of something I didn't do."
"Bah! If I find out who hit me I'll make it warm for him!" And having
thus delivered himself Andrew Felps picked up his silk hat and his
bundle and went on his way, in a worse humor than ever.
"Isn't he a darling?" observed Whopper sarcastically. "How I would
love to own him for a brother!"
"I wonder who did hit him?" mused Snap. "The snowball couldn't have
come from over here."
"I know who hit him," said a little boy named Benny Grime.
"Who was it, Benny?"
"Ham Spink."
"Ham Spink!" cried Snap and Shep in concert.
"Yes."
"Why, he isn't here," said Whopper.
"He just came up, threw one snowball, and ran away. I guess he meant
to hit somebody else and the snowball hit Mr. Felps instead," went on
the small boy. "Don't let him know I told you, or he'll wax me good
for it."
"I shan't tell Ham," said Snap. "But this is strange," he continued.
"Thought Ham was too much of a dude to throw snowballs," was Whopper's
comment. "Why, he wears a new necktie every day now, and new patent
leather shoes, and new gloves, and--"
"Don't pile it on too thick, Whopper," laughed Shep. "But I admit, he
is a dude and no mistake."
"And a sneak--to run away as soon as he hit old Felps," finished
Giant.
There was no time to say more, for the snowball battle was again
raging, more furiously than ever. The balls flew on all sides, and
grown folks, coming in that direction, kept out of the way as much as
possible.
"Here comes old Mammy Shrader!" cried Snap, presently. "We must be
careful not to hit her."
The woman he referred to was old and feeble and very short sighted.
She had a faded shawl over her shoulders and carried a market basket
on one arm. She went out nursing among the poor people and was well
known throughout the entire neighborhood.
As the old woman came on a snowball was thrown at her from the other
side of the street.
"Say, don't do that!" called out Snap, angrily. "Leave Mammy Shrader
alone!"
He has scarcely uttered the words when another snowball was thrown at
the aged female. This hit her on the cheek and caused her to utter a
cry of pain. She tried to save herself from falling, but could not,
and went down in a heap.
"For shame!" ejaculated Shep and ran to help the old woman to arise.
In the meantime Snap, with flashing eyes, hurried across the street
and confronted Carl Dudder. As my old readers know, Carl Dudder was a
close crony to Ham Spink and had done his full share in making our
young friends uncomfortable during the summer outing.
"Dudder, aren't you ashamed of yourself?" said Snap.
"What are you talking about?" demanded Carl Dudder, although he
trembled a little as he spoke.
"You threw those snowballs at Mammy Shrader."
"I didn't."
"You did--I saw you."
"That's correct--I saw him too," put in Giant, who had followed Snap.
In the meantime Whopper had followed Shep, and both were doing what
they could for the old woman.
"See here, Snap Dodge, I don't want you to talk to me," blustered Carl
Dudder. "I know my own business."
"You ought to be knocked down for throwing at Mammy Shrader."
"You can't knock me down!" growled Carl, doubling up his fists.
"A fight! a fight!" cried several boys, always ready for an affair of
that sort.
There was an awkward pause. Snap did not wish to fight, and yet he
wanted Dudder to understand that he was not afraid.
"I think I owe you something from last summer," said Dudder, coming
closer and sticking his chin in Snap's face. "I haven't forgotten
that."
"Yes, but you seem to have forgotten that we about kept you from
starving to death," answered Snap calmly.
"And that's no joke," came softly from Giant.
"You keep your oar out, little one," grunted Dudder, turning to glare
at Will.
"You and your crowd acted very meanly last summer and you know it,
Dudder," said Giant, not in the least abashed. "Your treatment of
Mammy Shrader is on a par with your other actions."
"Shut up!" roared the other boy, and made a quick pass at Giant's
head. But the small boy dodged and the fist struck Snap on the
shoulder.
The next instant Snap hauled off, struck out, and Carl Dudder measured
his length in the snow.