THE BOYS AND A BULL
"Wonder what Sam wants?" said Dave, as the shouting continued. "I guess
I'll have to go and see."
He ran over the rocks in the direction of the cries, and soon came in
sight of his chum.
"Hurry up!" cried Sam. "I want you!"
"What is it, Sam?" questioned Dave.
"We are going to have trouble."
"What, have Jasniff and those others come here?"
"No, but maybe it's just as bad, Dave. Just look toward the autos."
Dave did as requested, and his face became a study. He was half inclined
to laugh, yet, having been brought up in the country, he well knew the
seriousness of the situation.
The two automobiles stood side by side, about three yards apart. Between
them was a big and angry-looking bull, tramping the ground and snorting
viciously. The bull had a chain around his neck, and to the end of this
was a small-sized tree stump, which the animal had evidently pulled
from the ground in his endeavor to get away from his pasture. The tree
stump had become entangled in the wheel of one of the automobiles, and
the bull was giving vicious jerks, first one way and then another,
causing the machine to "slew around" in an alarming fashion.
"Sam, we'll have to get him out of there!" cried Dave. "If we don't he
may break that wheel--or do worse."
"I'm afraid he'll run off with the car!" gasped Sam. He was almost out
of breath from running and calling.
By this time the others were coming up. At the sight of the savage bull
several of the girls commenced to scream.
"Oh, we'll be killed!"
"Can't somebody drive him away!"
"Look! look! He is dragging one machine into the other!"
"You girls had better keep back," warned Dave. "If he breaks loose he
may come for you."
"Oh, Dave, do be careful!" cried Jessie.
"Yes, yes, don't go too close," added his sister.
"What do you suppose we can do?" questioned the senator's son, as the
boys gathered in a group at a little distance, and the girls got behind
them.
"If I had a hooked pole I'd soon fix him," answered Dave.
"How?" asked Phil, who knew little or nothing about bulls.
"See that ring in his nose? I'd hook him in that and then keep him at
the end of the pole. That always brings 'em to terms."
"But we haven't got any hook," said Ben. "We might make one, though," he
added.
A small hatchet had been brought along--with which to chop firewood--and
securing this the boys quickly cut two slender but strong saplings, and
trimmed them of their branches.
"There is a hook in our car," said Jessie. "If you could only get that!"
"Don't you try it," said Ben. "I've known a bull to leap into a wagon,
and this one might leap right into the auto and wreck everything--and
hurt you in the bargain."
"I'll use a tree root for a hook," said Dave, and quickly found what he
wanted, and bound it fast to one of the poles by means of a fishing line
he happened to be carrying.
"Now, Ben, you stand by to prod him, if he gets too rambunctious," went
on Dave, as he handed the second pole to his chum.
"All right," answered Ben. He, too, had been brought up on a farm, and
knew a little about bulls.
The animal had quieted down for a moment, and was grazing on some grass
between the automobiles. But, as the lads approached, he raised his
head, pawed with his hoof, and gave a vicious snort.
"He means to fight, Dave!" cried Ben. "We've got to be on our guard."
"Oh, do be careful!" cried Belle. To her this beast of the farm looked
more terrifying than those she had seen on the ranch.
With great caution Dave approached the bull from one side while Ben
approached from the other. The animal snorted again, and lowered his
horns. All the girls began to scream.
"Better be quiet," called out Dave. "You'll only excite him more."
"Oh, be careful!" answered Jessie, in a horrified whisper.
At that moment the bull backed up against one of the automobiles, and
then moved forward again. This action released the tree stump, so that
the beast was now free to go where he pleased. He started straight for
Ben.
"Prod him!" yelled Dave, and Ben promptly did as requested, catching the
bull in the mouth with his stick. Then, as the animal turned aside, Dave
jumped closer, put out his stick, and caught the improvised hook in the
nose ring.
"Good! you've got him!" shouted Phil. "Can we help you any?"
"I don't think so--keep quiet," was the reply.
The bull snorted wildly for a moment, and Dave had all he could do to
keep the animal at the pole's length. But he knew how to twist the ring,
and this speedily brought the beast to terms. The snorting ceased, and
the bull stood still, glaring viciously at his captor, but not daring to
attempt an attack.
"Come, gee haw!" cried Dave, presently; and with caution commenced to
pull on the pole. Slowly the bull stepped after him, dragging the chain
and stump behind him.
"What are you going to do with him?" called out Roger.
"Tangle him up in the bushes--if I can," was the answer, and Dave turned
in the direction of the brushwood lining the watercourse.
At this point there were a good many sharp rocks and twisted roots of
bushes and trees, and it was not long before the loose stump caught on
them.
"Come on, we'll fasten him good and hard!" cried Phil, dashing up behind
the bull, and as quickly as it could be done he and the others piled
some loose rocks against the tree stump, so that it would be next to
impossible for the bull to work it free.
"Now you can let him go, Dave," said Ben, who had stood guard with his
pole. "We've got him as fast as he ever was." And then Dave let loose
from the ring, much to the animal's relief, for he chanced to have a
tender nose, and the twisting of the ring hurt him a good deal.
"Are you sure he won't get away and come for us?" questioned Laura, as
all drew to a safe distance.
"He won't get away very soon," answered Ben. "But we ought to notify his
owner of what we have done."
"Whose bull is it?" asked one of the girls.
"I give up--I never saw him before."
"I think the bull belongs to the Hook Stock Farm," said Dave, mentioning
a farm located about a mile away. "I don't know of anybody else around
here who would own a bull. When we go home we can stop at the farm and
tell them of what has happened."
Leaving the animal quietly grazing among the bushes, the boys and girls
walked over to the automobiles, to learn if any damage had been done. In
his movements the bull had scratched some paint from the wheels and the
mudguards, but that was all, for which they were thankful.
"Well, it's about time to start for home," said Dave, consulting his
watch. "Remember, we are to go the long way around,--and stop at the
Hook place in the bargain."
"I'm ready to go," answered Jessie. The presence of the bull still
disturbed her.
Yet it was some little time before they started, for the things had to
be packed, and several of the boys and girls wanted to get photographs
of the picnic party. Then Dave cranked up, and Roger did the same. All
piled in, and the start for home was begun.
"I'll wager that Nat Poole, Link Merwell, and Nick Jasniff are the
maddest boys in this State," was Phil's comment, as the first car rolled
on, with he and Dave on the front seat.
"I believe you, Phil," answered the driver of the machine. "And if
Jasniff and Merwell really do go to Rockville Academy you can make up
your mind that they will cause us all the trouble possible."
"I don't believe the better class of fellows at the military academy
will take to those chaps."
"Neither do I. But there are some mean boys at that school--you remember
them--and Merwell and Jasniff will flock with that bunch. Oh, they'll
try their best to down us, you see if they don't!" declared Dave.
On the road beyond the picnic ground they came to a spot where some
rocks and logs had been piled up and then taken away again. All gazed at
the spot with interest.
"I guess Pete Barnaby did this--under directions from Nat Poole," said
Ben.
"Yes, and Jed Sully made him, or the Poole crowd, clear it away again,"
answered Dave. "They'll not close this road as long as Sully is
roadmaster."
"Be on your guard, Dave!" sang out Roger. "Those rascals will play some
trick on us, if they can."
"I'm on the watch!" answered Dave.
As they bowled along all kept their eyes on the alert, and it was well
that they did so, for at a turn they suddenly came upon some broken
bottles thrown down just where the machines had to pass. Dave gave a
yell of warning, and turned off the power and applied the brakes just in
time, and, as before, Roger had to turn into the bushes, to avoid
striking the turnout ahead.
"They thought they'd make us cut our tires," said Dave.
"Right you are," answered Phil. "Phew! If we had gone over that glass we
might have had some nasty punctures or blow-outs."
"They ought to be arrested for this!" said Sam, wrathfully. "It's
against the law to put glass on a public highway."
"We can't prove they did it," answered Ben. "If we accused them, of
course they would deny it. But it shows their meanness."
The boys got out and picked up some of the glass, and swept the rest
aside as well as they could. Then the machines were started up once
more, and soon they came in sight of the Hook Stock Farm, and Dave
beckoned to a man who stood near the gateway.
"Have you lost one of your bulls?" he asked.
"We sure have!" answered the man, quickly. "What do you know about him?"
"We know he tried to run off with our autos," returned Dave, with a
grin, and then told the man the story, and described where the animal
could be found. While he was speaking two other stock farm hands came
up. They had been looking for the bull since early morning.
"He's a valuable beast," said one of the men. "I hope he ain't hurt
none."
"He isn't hurt--and we are mighty glad he didn't hurt us," said Phil.
"Oh, he won't hurt nobody--if he's left alone," said the man.
"How can he hurt anybody, if he is left alone?" was Roger's dry query.
But the man was too dull to see the joke.
From the stock farm hands, the boys found out which were the best roads
to take, and then passed on again, up hill and down dale for a distance
of six miles, when they came out on a broad and well-kept highway.
"Good! This is what I like!" cried Dave, and turned on the power until
the touring car was moving along at a lively rate. Roger "hit her up,"
as he called it, also, and before long they had covered an additional
ten miles. Then they had to go over a hill, beyond which lay the village
of Lester.
"Let us stop at Lester for some ice-cream soda," whispered Phil to Dave,
and the latter agreed.
At the foot of the hill there was a turn, and Dave slowed up to make
this, and Roger did likewise. Then, as they passed a deep and muddy
ditch, Dave gave a cry and came to a stop.
"Look there!" he called out, pointing down into the ditch.
All gazed to where he pointed. There, in the water and mud, rested the
racing car belonging to Pete Barnaby. And standing in the mud up to his
knees was the sporty man himself, looking the picture of woeful
despair.