A MIDNIGHT VISITOR
The next day, shortly after noon, it began to rain, and the storm
increased in violence until the wind blew almost a gale.
The rain kept the boys indoors, at which Tom was inclined to grumble.
"No use of grumbling, Tom," said Dick cheerfully. "Let us improve the
time by looking over our school books. That will make it easier to slip
into the grind again when we get back to the Hall."
"That is excellent advice, Richard," said Randolph Rover. "Whatever you
do, do not neglect your studies."
"By the way, Uncle Randolph, how is scientific farming progressing?"
said Tom, referring to something that had been his uncle's hobby for
years--a hobby that had cost the gentleman considerable money.
"Well--ah--to tell the truth, Thomas, not as well as I had hoped for."
"Hope you didn't drop a thousand or two this year, uncle?"
"Oh, no--not over fifty dollars."
"Then you got off easy."
"I shall do better next year. The potatoes already show signs of
improvement."
"Good! I suppose you'll be growing 'em on top of the ground soon. Then
you won't have the bother of digging 'em, you know," went on the
fun-loving boy innocently.
"Absurd, Thomas! But I shall have some very large varieties, I feel
certain."
"Big as a watermelon?"
"Hardly, but--"
"Big as a muskmelon, then?"
"Not exactly, but--"
"About the size of a cocoanut, eh?"
"No! no! They will be as large as--"
"I mean a little cocoanut," pleaded Tom, while Sam felt like laughing
outright.
"Well, yes, a little cocoanut. You see--"
"We saw some big potatoes in California, Uncle Randolph."
"Ah! Of what variety?"
"_Cornus bustabus_, or something like that. Sam, what was the name, do
you know?"
"That must be something like it, Tom," grinned the youngest Rover.
"Took two men to lift some of those potatoes," went on Tom calmly.
"Two men? Thomas, surely you are joking."
"No, uncle, I am telling nothing but the strict truth."
"But two men! The potatoes must have been of monstrous size!"
"Oh, not so very big. But they did weigh a good deal, no question of
it."
"Think of two men lifting one potato!"
"I didn't say one potato, Uncle Randolph. I said some of those
potatoes."
"Eh?"
"The men had a barrel full of 'em."
"Thomas!" The uncle shook his finger threateningly. "At your old
tricks, I see. I might have known it." And then he stalked off to hide
his chagrin.
"Tom, that was rather rough on Uncle Randolph," said Sam, after a
laugh.
"So it was, Sam. But I've got to do something. This being boxed up,
when one might be fishing or swimming, or playing baseball, is simply
dreadful," answered the other.
Just before the evening meal was announced Jack Ness came up from the
barn, and sought out Randolph Rover.
"Found a man slinking around the cow-shed a while ago," he said. "He
looked like a tramp. I wanted to talk to him, but he scooted in
double-quick order."
"Humph! We haven't had any tramps here in a long time," came from
Randolph Rover. "Where did he go to?"
"Down toward the berry patch."
"Did you follow him up?"
"I did, sir, but he got away from me."
"You must keep a close watch for those fellows," said Randolph Rover
bluntly. "I don't want any of them getting in our barn and burning it
down to the ground."
"You are right, Randolph," said Anderson Rover. "Make them keep away
from the place by all means, Jack."
"I'll keep my eye peeled for 'em," answered the hired man.
The wind was now blowing a gale, causing the trees near the farmhouse
to creak and groan, and banging more than one shutter. But the boys did
not mind this, and went to bed promptly at the usual hour.
"A storm like this on land is nothing to one on the sea," was the way
Tom expressed himself. "I don't like anything better than to listen to
the whistling of the wind when I am snug in bed."
For the time being Sam and Tom were occupying a room in the L of the
farmhouse, and Dick had a small bedchamber adjoining. The boys were
soon undressed, and, having said their prayers, hopped into bed, and
were soon sound asleep.
It was not until half an hour later that the older folks retired.
Anderson Rover was the last to leave the sitting room, where he had
been busy writing some letters at the desk that stood there.
As he was about to retire he fancied he heard a noise outside of one of
the windows. He drew up the curtain and looked through the glass, but
could see nothing.
"It must have been the wind," he murmured. "But, somehow, it didn't
sound like it."
As he stepped into the dark hallway an uneasy feeling took possession
of him--a feeling hard to define, and one for which he could not
account.
"I think I had better go around and see that all the doors and windows
are properly locked," he told himself. "Brother Randolph may have
overlooked one of them."
He walked the length of the hallway, and stepped into the kitchen and
over to a side window.
As he had his hand on the window-latch he heard a quick step directly
behind him.
He started to turn, but before he could do so he received a blow on the
head from a club that staggered him. Then he was jerked backward to the
floor.
"Silence!" muttered a voice close to his ear. "Don't you dare to make a
sound!"
"What does this mean--" he managed to gasp.
"Silence, I tell you!" was the short answer. "If you say another word,
I will hit you again!"
Having no desire to receive a blow that might render him totally
unconscious, or, perhaps, take his life, Anderson Rover said no more.
He heard a match struck, and then a bit of a tallow candle was lit and
placed on the edge of the kitchen table.
By this dim light the father of the Rover boys saw standing over him a
tall man, beardless, and with his head closely cropped. One glance into
that hardened face sufficed to tell him who the unwelcome visitor was.
"Arnold Baxter!"
"I see you recognize me," was the harsh reply. "Not so loud, please,
unless you want that crack I promised you."
"What brings you here, and at such an hour as this?"
"I find it more convenient to travel during the night than in the
daytime."
"The police are on your track."
"I know that as well you, Rover."
"What do you want here?"
"What does any man want when he has been stripped of all his
belongings? I want money."
"I have none for you."
"Bosh! Do you think I have forgotten how you and your boys swindled me
out of my rights to that mine in the far West?"
"We did not swindle you, Baxter. The claim was lawfully mine."
"I can't stop to argue the question, and I don't want you to talk so
loud, remember that. No, don't try to get up," went on the midnight
visitor, as Anderson Rover attempted to rise. "Stay just where you
are."
He was feeling in his pocket, and now he brought forth a strip of
cloth, with a knot tied in the middle.
It was a gag, and he started to place it in Anderson Rover's mouth,
when the latter leaped up and began to struggle with all the force he
could command.
"Stop, I tell you!" cried Arnold Baxter softly.
"Stop!" And then, catching up his club once more, he dealt Anderson
Rover another blow, this time directly across the temple. The gentleman
wavered for an instant, gave a deep groan, and fell like a log to the
floor.