A DASH FOR LIBERTY
When Dave regained his senses he found himself in the tonneau of a big
automobile that was speeding swiftly over a dark country road. On either
side of him sat a person who was masked, and in front were two persons
whose faces he could not see. His hands were tied behind him, and his
ankles were made fast to the foot-rest in the bottom of the tonneau.
He wondered where he was being taken, but knew it would be useless to
ask any questions. How long he had been unconscious he did not know, but
felt it must have been a considerable time, for it was now night, and
whenever they passed a farmhouse it was without lights, showing the
occupants had gone to bed.
Dave fully realized that he was in a position of peril. His enemies had
treated him in an outrageous fashion, and what they proposed to do next
there was no telling. He felt that he must escape if it could possibly
be accomplished.
He had roused up a little, but now deemed it best to let the others
think he was still unconscious. Accordingly, he uttered a deep sigh, and
then slipped further down on the seat, and let his head fall forward on
his breast.
"Pretty well dosed," he heard one of the party murmur, and now he was
sure he recognized Nick Jasniff's voice.
"Say, Shime, I hope you didn't give him too much of the drug," said
another of the party, and Dave felt certain it was Link Merwell who was
speaking. "If he shouldn't recover----"
"Oh, he'll come around all right enough," growled the man called Shime.
He was running the automobile, and now Dave was able to place him as a
fellow who worked around a livery stable and garage in Rockville. Shime
was a drinking man, and his reputation was far from an enviable one.
"How much further have we to go?" asked Jasniff, after a few minutes of
silence.
"Not far," answered the driver of the automobile. "We'll take to the
side road now. Hold fast, it's pretty rough," and then the touring car
turned off the main highway and began bumping over the rocks and ruts of
a narrow wood road. The way was uphill, and the driver had to throw in
his second speed to gain the top of the rise. Then the car made a sharp
turn, and halted in front of a stone building.
"Is this the place?" asked Jasniff.
"Yes," answered Shime. "Wait till I light a lantern, and then you can
bring him in."
"I shall have to care for him when we are in the house," said the fourth
person of the party who had carried Dave off. It was Doctor Montgomery,
and his breath was thick from liquor.
Still thinking he might get a chance to escape if he made out that he
was unconscious, Dave hung limp in the automobile, and allowed his
captors to lift him out and place him on the ground. Then he was carried
into the stone building and placed on a bench.
"You certainly dosed him strongly," said Hooker Montgomery. "I had
better make an examination. Loosen up his hands and feet."
A little bit alarmed, Jasniff and Merwell set to work and released Dave
from his bonds. In the meantime Shime had lit a lantern, and placed it
on a rough table. Doctor Montgomery got out a medicine case, and began
to mix up a potion in a glass.
"This ought to bring him around," he said, in a thick, unsteady voice.
Dave did not dare to look around, but by the draught in the room he knew
that the door must have been left open, probably to give him more air.
He did not think the disreputable physician was in any condition to
administer his medicines, and he did not propose to swallow any if he
could avoid it.
"I must escape," he thought, and with a moan, as if in great pain, he
twisted around, and opened his eyes for an instant.
That instant was long enough for him to locate the doorway, and beyond
he made out a stretch of woodland, lit up by the lamps of the
automobile. Between him and the doorway stood Merwell and Jasniff, with
Shime and the doctor on the other side.
"Shall I hold his head, doctor?" asked Merwell. "Maybe he won't be able
to swallow if----"
Merwell got no further, for just then Dave leaped to his feet with an
agility that surprised even himself. Stiff though he was, he ran at
Merwell, hurling him flat. Then he bumped into Jasniff, who made a weak
attempt to stop him. The two swung around, and Jasniff was sent crashing
into the table, knocking over the lantern. Then Dave leaped for the
doorway.
"Stop him!"
"He must not get away!"
"Ouch! Don't step on me!" came from Link Merwell. He was on his back,
and Jasniff's foot had landed on his stomach.
The four rascals had been taken completely by surprise. As the lantern
fell it went out, and in his endeavor to get to the doorway, Shime
bumped into Jasniff. The doctor ran into the bench, and his glass of
medicine went splashing into Merwell's face, eliciting another protest
from that bully.
Dave did not care about what happened in the building. His one thought
was to get away, for he fully realized that in a hand-to-hand encounter
he would be no match for his four enemies.
Had he had time he might have jumped into the automobile, and started up
the machine. But he was afraid to risk this, and so ran down the wood
road a short distance, and then plunged into the bushes. He did not stop
there, but kept on, until he calculated that he was a full quarter of a
mile from the stone building.
"I don't think they can follow me to here, at least not in the
darkness," he told himself.
He stopped to rest and to consider what he had best do next. The effects
of the drug were now entirely gone, and he felt once more like himself.
"I ought to have the whole crowd locked up," he reasoned. "But it would
be the testimony of one against four, and they would most likely deny
everything."
He went on again, and presently came out on the main highway. As he did
this he saw the flash of some lamps in the distance. He crouched down
behind some bushes, and a minute later saw the automobile whizz by,
with his enemies in it.
"They are going back," he reasoned. "I suppose now I have gotten away
from them, Merwell and Jasniff will return to the academy as fast as
they can, and Shime and the doctor will return to Rockville; and they'll
all play the innocent."
As he walked on, Dave wondered what the plot against him was. He felt
convinced that carrying him off was only the beginning of it.
"Well, whatever it was, I nipped it in the bud," he thought. "Perhaps
some day I'll find out all about it,--some day when I can corner one or
another of that rascally bunch. I take it that Shime and Montgomery are
simply in the employ of Jasniff and Merwell. Both of them are hard
drinkers and willing to do almost anything to get a few dollars."
Not far down the highway Dave passed a signboard which told him that
Rockville was ten miles away.
"I can't walk ten miles," he thought. "I had better see if I can't get
accommodations at some farmhouse, and then drive over to the school
after breakfast."
With this idea in view he kept on, until he reached a spot where the
railroad crossed the highway. As he did this he saw a freight train
standing near a siding where a milk car was to be taken on.
"Does this train go to Oakdale?" he asked, of one of the hands.
"Yes, but it isn't a passenger train," was the reply.
"Can't you take me along?" questioned Dave. "I wish to get to Oakdale
very much, and without delay."
The train hand looked Dave over by the light of his lantern. He saw that
the youth was no tramp.
"All right, get in the caboose," he said. "But it will cost you a
smoke."
"I haven't any cigars, but you can buy yourself some," answered Dave,
and passed over a quarter of a dollar, which the train hand pocketed
with satisfaction.
Soon the train was under way, and in less than half an hour they reached
the siding at Oakdale, and there Dave jumped off. By his watch the lad
saw that it was three o'clock Sunday morning. Without delay he struck
off on foot for the school.
As he hurried on he wondered what he had best do on arriving at Oak
Hall. Should he rouse up Doctor Clay and tell the master the whole
story, or would it be better to say nothing and await developments?
"If I say anything there will be a great hullabaloo, but it won't prove
anything," he reasoned. "Merwell and Jasniff will deny everything, and
so will Shime, and that fake doctor might take it into his head to sue
me for slander. No, I'll fight my own battles, and see if I can't corner
them on my own hook. But I'll tell Phil and Roger."
Arriving at the school grounds, Dave wondered how he was going to get in
without being observed. He tried all the doors, to find each locked.
"If I ring the bell I'll have to explain matters," he said to himself.
"I'll see if I can't rouse up some of the fellows."
He walked around to the window of No. 11, and threw several handsful of
gravel up against the glass. At first there was no response, but
presently the window was raised, and Roger's head appeared.
"Is that you, Dave?" asked the senator's son, in a low voice.
"Yes, Roger. Will you slip down and let me in."
"Sure thing. Will the side door do?"
"Yes."
No more was said, and the window was closed. Dave hurried to the door
mentioned, and a moment later Roger opened it, and he entered. Then both
hurried upstairs, making as little noise as possible.
"What kept you so long?" asked the senator's son, while Dave was
undressing.
"I'll tell you and Phil in the morning," was Dave's reply. "I've got a
yarn to spin you will hardly believe." And then he went to bed. But it
was a long time before he was able to drop asleep, and then his dreams
were little short of a nightmare.
It was not until Sunday afternoon that Dave got a chance to tell his two
chums the particulars of what had occurred. They listened with keen
attention to all he said, and the face of each plainly expressed his
amazement.
"That's the worst ever!" was Roger's comment. "What were they going to
do with you, Dave?"
"I don't know."
"I believe it was some deep-laid plot," said Phil. "Your getting away
spoiled it all."
"For them, yes,--but not for me," answered Dave, with something of a
grin. "I don't know what I escaped, but I am mighty glad I got away."
"What about your bicycle?" asked the senator's son. "Aren't you going to
try to get that back?"
"Certainly,--and I am going to interview that Doctor Montgomery,
too,--if I can catch him. But I want you two to go along," answered
Dave.
He was glad to take it easy for the rest of the day. On Monday, after
school, the three boys went to Rockville on bicycles, Dave borrowing a
wheel belonging to Buster. They rode straight to the Dunn house, to
find it locked up tightly. In the yard was Dave's machine, standing
against the tree as he had left it.
"I guess the doctor has come and gone," said Dave, after trying all the
doors. "Most likely he'll make himself scarce for a while."
"Why not interview that fellow Shime?" suggested Phil.
"I will," answered Dave, and taking the extra wheel along, the three
students rode around to the Rockville livery stable and garage. Here
Dave asked the proprietor about Shime.
"He has gone," said the man, sourly. "Day before yesterday he took one
of my best autos for a joy ride. When he came back this morning I
discharged him. He took his things and got out--and I don't know where
he went to."
This was as much as the garage owner could tell, and with it Dave had to
be content. He and his chums turned away; and a little later set out on
the return to Oak Hall.