SNEAK AGAINST SNEAK
It was a time of extreme peril for the boys in the sawdust pit at the
bottom of the wooden slide, and nobody realized this more thoroughly
than did Dave. In some manner the wooden bracings had become loosened,
and the ponderous slide was in danger of coming down with a mighty crash
on their heads. If it did this, more than likely some of the lads would
be seriously injured, if not killed.
"Jump from the pit!" yelled Dave, and caught Phil by one hand and Roger
by the other. All made a wild scramble, kicking the sawdust in all
directions.
"Let me get out of here!"
"Confound this robe, I'm all tangled up in it!"
"My foot is caught! Help me, won't you?"
Such were some of the cries that arose, as, in a bunch, the boys tried
to get out of the sawdust pit. All succeeded but Buster Beggs, who,
while on the rim of the pit, slipped and fell back,--just as another
brace snapped, and the ponderous wooden slide sagged still more.
"Help me!" yelled Buster. "Don't leave me, fellows!"
"Here, give me your hand!" cried Dave, turning back, and as the hand was
thrust towards him, he gave a jerk that brought Buster out in a hurry.
By this time most of the boys had run to a safe distance, and Dave and
Buster lost no time in following.
"All here?" demanded Ben. The lanterns had been left behind, so that
they could see only with difficulty.
A rapid count was made, and it was learned that all were safe. One
student had scratched his face, and another had wrenched his ankle, but
in the excitement these minor injuries were scarcely noticed.
"Thank fortune we are out of that!" panted Phil.
"I'm mighty glad I wasn't killed," added Luke.
"I wonder if the slide is really coming down after all," remarked Sam.
"It doesn't seem to be moving any more."
All peered forth in the semi-darkness at the big wooden affair. It had
sagged in the middle, and the top had twisted several feet to one side.
Another brace looked as if it was on the point of breaking and letting
it down still further.
"Better get out of here," said Nat Poole. "If the owner of the
ice-houses finds this out he'll make you pay for the busted slide."
"Well, I think we ought to pay for it, anyway," answered Dave, quickly.
"We broke it."
"Huh! I wouldn't pay a cent unless I had to," grumbled the
money-lender's son.
"What about our lanterns?" asked Roger.
"That's so!" exclaimed Ben. "They are all up in the ice-house, or down
in the sawdust pit."
"We can't leave them there,--they may set fire to something," said Phil.
"We'll have to get them," decided Dave.
"Oh, but that's dangerous!" cried one of the students who had just been
initiated. "Why, the slide might come down just as we were getting the
lanterns!"
"Yes, and I don't want to be killed for the sake of four or five
lanterns," added another.
"It's not a question of the worth of the lanterns," said Dave. "We
mustn't leave them here because of the danger of fire. If we left them,
and the ice-houses burnt down, we'd have a nice bill to pay!"
"Oh, don't croak so much!" growled Nat Poole. "I'm going back to school.
It's cold here."
"You stay where you are, Nat!" cried Ben, catching him by the arm.
"You'll go back with the rest of us, and not before."
With caution Dave, followed by Phil and Shadow, approached the
ice-house, and climbed up one of the ladders nailed to the side of the
building. Then they ventured out on a corner of the slide, and secured
two of the lanterns.
"We'll have to go down part of the slide for that other," said the
shipowner's son.
"No, don't do that, for your weight may bring the slide down," returned
Dave. "I'll get a long stick and see if I can't get the lantern with
that."
A stick was handy, and fixing a bent nail in the end, Dave reached down,
and after a little trouble secured the lantern. Then the boys went below
and secured the lanterns in the sawdust pit.
"Hi! what are you boys doing here?" demanded an unexpected voice from
out of the darkness, and by the light of the lanterns the students saw a
man approaching. He had a stick in one hand and an old-fashioned
horse-pistol in the other.
"Who are you?" questioned Buster, as leader of the Gee Eyes.
"Who am I? I am Bill Cameron, the owner of these ice-houses, that's who
I am! And I know you, in spite of them tomfoolery dresses you've got on.
You're boys from Oak Hall."
"You've hit the nail on the head, Mr. Cameron!" cried Phil. "Glad to see
you!" And he walked forward and held out his hand.
"Who be you?" demanded Bill Cameron, and peered at the shipowner's son
curiously. "Well, I declare, if it ain't the young man as stopped the
runaway hoss fer my wife! Glad to see you!" And the ice-house man shook
hands cordially. "Up to some secret fun, I suppose."
"Yes, sir."
"I thought I heard a yellin' around the ice-houses, and I told my wife
I'd dress and come over and see what it meant. Hope you ain't done no
damage," the man continued, somewhat anxiously.
"We have done a little damage, I am afraid," answered Phil. "But we are
willing to pay for it."
"What did ye do?"
In as few words as possible Phil and some of the others explained the
situation. They were afraid Bill Cameron would be angry, but instead he
broke into a laugh.
"Ain't it the greatest ever!" he cried. "You ain't done no damage at
all. The carpenters put that wooden slide up wrong, and I told 'em
they'd have to take it down, and they started to-day. That's what made
them bracin's bust. The hull thing is comin' down,--so what you did
don't hurt, nohow."
"I am very glad to hear that!" cried Phil, and the others said
practically the same. Then they bade good-night to the ice-houses'
owner, and hurried in the direction of Oak Hall.
"It's a good thing, Phil, that you knew Mr. Cameron," said Dave, on the
way. "But you never told me about stopping a runaway horse for Mrs.
Cameron."
"Oh, it wasn't much!" answered the shipowner's son, modestly. "It
happened last June, just before we started for Star Ranch. The horse was
running along the river road, and I got hold of him and stopped him,
that's all. Mrs. Cameron was going to tell Doctor Clay about it, but I
got her to keep quiet."
"Phil, you're a hero!" And Dave gave his chum's arm a squeeze that made
Phil wince, but with pleasure.
Murphy, the monitor, was on the watch for them, and let them in by a
back door. All lost no time in getting to their dormitories and in
undressing and going to bed. Everybody in the crowd was satisfied over
the initiations but Nat Poole. His plot to expose Dave and his chums had
failed, and he was correspondingly sour.
"But I'll fix them yet," muttered the money-lender's son, to himself.
"Just wait till they start to play Rockville, that's all!" And the
thought of what he had in mind to do made him smile grimly.
It must be confessed that some of the football players felt rather
sleepy the next morning. Dave was sleepy himself, and this alarmed him
not a little.
"If we lose the game with Rockville to-day it will be our own fault," he
said, to the crowd that had participated in the Gee Eyes' doings. "We
should have gotten home at least an hour earlier than we did last
night--or rather this morning." And then he made each player take a good
rubbing down and just enough exercise to limber up his muscles.
Dave had not forgotten what had been said about Nat Poole, and directly
after breakfast he called Chip Macklin to one side. As my old readers
know, Chip had once been the sneak of the school, and he knew well how
to hang around and take notice of what was going on.
"Chip, I've got some work for you," said Dave, in a low voice. "I may be
mistaken--in fact, I hope for the honor of the school that I am. But I
don't trust Nat Poole. He is down on some of us because we have gotten
back on the eleven, and you'll remember how chummy he used to be with
Jasniff and Merwell, who are now going to Rockville,--and with Rand and
Frapley, and they are now going to the academy also. I am afraid that
Nat----"
"That Nat will try to sell you out?" finished Chip, his little eyes
snapping expectantly.
"Yes. He may give our signals away, or something like that."
"I see. And you want me to watch--and report, if I see anything wrong?"
"Yes."
"I'll do it. I'd like to catch him--for he never treats me decently,"
added Chip.
It had been decided that some of the boys should go to Rockville by
boats and others by carriages and on their bicycles and motor-cycles.
The eleven were to go in the school carryall, and Mr. Dodsworth and
Andrew Dale were to go with them.
Owing to the change in the academy management, but little had been done
to the athletic field, and when the Oak Hall club arrived, they found
the grounds rather uneven and poorly marked.
"Bad for really good playing," remarked Dave.
"You'll have to be on your guard," warned Andrew Dale. "This field
should have been rolled down after the last storm."
The grandstand was rather a small affair, and it speedily became filled
with visitors, for the annual football game between the two schools was
always a great drawing card. Flags and banners were much in evidence,
and so were horns and rattles.
"I wonder if any outsiders we know are present?" remarked Roger to his
chums, as they walked across the field.
"Somebody is waving from the corner of the stand," answered Phil. "I
think it is Miss Rockwell."
"It is, and Miss Feversham is with her, and so is Mr. Rockwell,"
answered Dave, and then the boys took off their caps in salutation. And
then they recognized a number of other friends.
The eleven had just turned into its dressing-room, to prepare for the
game, when Chip Macklin came running in all out of breath.
"I want to see Dave!" he gasped, and then, as soon as the pair had
walked to a corner, he went on: "I caught Nat."
"What doing?" demanded Dave, quickly.
"Giving all of your signals away to Merwell, Jasniff, and one of the
Rockville football players. He started to tell about your trick plays
when he saw me standing near, and shut up."
"Where is he now?"
"In the grandstand, with some girl."
"I will attend to this at once, Chip. Come with me."
Dave led the small student out of the dressing-room, and called Andrew
Dale and Mr. Dodsworth. Quickly the situation was explained. The school
teacher looked shocked, and the gymnastic instructor was disgusted.
"I will take care of Poole," said Mr. Dale, in a strained voice. "Mr.
Dodsworth, you had better arrange for a change of signals."
"I will," answered the gymnastic instructor. And then Andrew Dale
hurried off, and Dave returned to the dressing-room, accompanied by Mr.
Dodsworth. The signals were re-arranged, and so were the signs for some
of the new trick plays.
"Now then, boys, let me give you a bit of advice," said Mr. Dodsworth,
when they were ready to go out on the field for practice. "From what I
have heard Rockville has good staying powers, and will try to tire you
out. Your move is to go at them with a jump and make your points early
in the game--and then hold them down. Now do your best--and don't give
in until the last whistle blows!"