A USELESS PURSUIT
Half an hour later Tom awoke with a start. For the moment he could not
tell what had aroused him. Then he remembered hearing the slam of a
door or a window sash.
"Must have been the storm," he told himself, and was about to turn over
and go to sleep when he heard a gun-shot from the direction of the
barn.
"Something is wrong, that's certain!" he cried. "Sam, wake up!"
"What's the row, Tom?" questioned the youngest brother sleepily.
Before Tom could reply they heard Dick getting up, and also their Uncle
Randolph and Aunt Martha.
"What did that shot mean?" demanded Randolph Rover, coming toward the
boys' rooms. "Did any of you fire it?"
"No, it came from outside," returned Torn. "Hark!"
"Hullo, in the house!" came in the voice of Jack Ness. "Wake up,
everybody! Something is wrong!"
After this it did not take long for those upstairs to slip into some
clothing, and go below. Randolph Rover ran to the side door, to find it
wide open. Dick lit the hall lamp.
"Saw a man running across the garden," said Jack Ness, who had his
shot-gun with him. "I yelled to him to stop, and then fired the gun. I
think he came from the house."
"How did you happen to be up?" asked Sam.
"One of the horses is sick, and I was attending to him."
By this time some of the others were looking into the various rooms.
"The desk has been broken open!" cried Dick. "And the pantry in the
corner, too!"
"Mercy, save us!" shrieked Mrs. Rover, from the kitchen. "Come here at
once. Poor Anderson has been killed!"
"Killed!" gasped Tom; and then all ran to the kitchen as quickly as
they could.
They found Anderson Rover lying where he had fallen, and still
unconscious. There was a lump on his forehead, and a thin stream of
blood trickled down one side of his face.
"Thank heaven, he is not dead!" murmured Dick, as he knelt beside his
father. "But he has been struck some cruel blows. Somebody fetch water
and a bandage."
The water was procured, and also a bandage, and under skillful
treatment, Anderson Rover was presently restored to consciousness.
"Where--where is he?" he questioned, when he could speak.
"Do you mean the person who struck you down?" asked Dick.
"Ye--yes."
"I don't know. Got away, I guess."
"The villain! He attacked me most foully!"
"I saw him running across the garden," put in the hired man. "Did he
steal anything?"
"To be sure he stole something," said Sam. "He ransacked the whole
lower floor, by the looks of things."
"Wonder who it was?" put in Tom.
"It was Arnold Baxter," answered his father.
"Arnold Baxter!" cried the others in chorus.
"Are you certain?" asked Dick.
"Yes. He struck me down, and then lit the bit of tallow candle you see
lying there. Then we struggled, and he hit me again, and that is all I
know. But I am sure it was Baxter, for I spoke to him. He accused us of
having robbed him of that mine out West."
"Was he alone?" asked Randolph Rover.
"I saw no one else."
"We ought to follow him up," declared Tom, now that he realized his
father was not so badly hurt as at first feared.
"That's the talk!" ejaculated Dick. "Wait till I get my pistol."
"Boys, do keep out of harm," pleaded Mrs. Rover. "Remember that this
Arnold Baxter is a desperate criminal."
"We are not afraid of him," answered Tom.
"We'll show him that he can't
come here and attack father," added Sam.
Leaving their father in the care of their Aunt Martha, the three Rover
boys armed themselves and sallied forth, accompanied by their uncle and
Alexander Pop, the latter carrying a horse-pistol of the old-fashioned
variety.
"Dat dar Baxter am a rascal of de fust water," was Aleck's comment. "He
deserbes to be shot full ob holes, an' I am de boy to do dat same, if
only I gets de chance."
Jack Ness was closely questioned, and he described the spot where he
had last seen the unwelcome midnight visitor.
"He had a bag of something over his shoulder," he declared.
"Most likely the stuff taken from the house," declared Dick.
The party crossed the garden patch and then took to the path which ran
down toward the river.
Here all was intensely dark, although it had stopped raining, and the
wind was trying its best to scatter the heavy clouds that obscured the
stars.
"Not a thing to see," observed Randolph Rover. "We may as well go
back."
"Let us scatter and make a search," came from Dick, and his idea was
carried out. But though they tramped the locality for a good half hour
the pursuit of Arnold Baxter proved useless.
"He is probably making good use of his time," was Tom's comment. "He
knew we would be after him hot-footed, just as soon as we heard of his
being here."
"I'm going to drive over to the railroad station," said Dick. "He may
hang around and get aboard of the first morning train."
"Take me along with you," said Sam, and Dick agreed. They got Aleck to
drive them and took the fastest team the stable afforded.
But at the depot all was dark and deserted, and if Arnold Baxter was
anywhere near he took good care not to show himself, nor was anything
seen of him in Oak Run later on.
"He has left the neighborhood by some other way," said Randolph Rover,
and his surmise was correct.
When the boys reached home again they found their parent sitting up in
an easy-chair, with his forehead still bandaged. The blows he had
received were painful, but by no means serious, and when the doctor was
called in he said the patient would speedily recover.
"But you had a narrow escape," said the doctor. "Had you been struck a
little harder your skull might have been broken."
"Well, I don't think Arnold Baxter would have cared if he had broken my
skull," answered Anderson Rover. "He is a thoroughly bad man."
It was broad daylight before a complete examination of the house was
made, and then it was learned that Baxter had run away with some silver
knives, forks, and spoons, some gold napkin rings, a silver and gold
water pitcher, and half a dozen similar articles. From the desk he had
taken a pocketbook containing three hundred dollars in cash, and from
Anderson Rover's person his watch and chain, and a diamond stud. He
had also tried to rob the unconscious man of his diamond ring, but as
the ring would not come off had pried out the stone and taken that.
"He is at his old tricks again," said Dick. "Evidently his term in
prison has done him no good."
"Guess it has made him worse," added Sam. "Oh, how I would like to lay
my hands on him!" And Tom said the same.
The authorities were notified, including the sheriff of the county, and
later still Anderson Rover hired a New York detective to take up the
case. But it was of no avail. Arnold Baxter did not show himself, and
not a trace of him was to be found anywhere.
"I shouldn't be surprised if he disguised himself as soon as he got
away from here," remarked Tom. "He could easily put on a false
mustache, and a wig would fit capitally over that almost bald pate of
his."
"But where would he get the mustache and wig, Tom?" asked Dick.
"He may have bought them before he came here. I have heard that some
robbers prepare themselves for all sorts of emergencies. Only last week
I was reading about a fellow who went to a ball, and between the dances
went out and robbed a gentleman on the street of his watch. When he was
arrested, he tried to prove that he hadn't been outside of the ballroom
all night, and it was by the merest accident that the authorities found
out his story wasn't true."
"Tom is right; some criminals are very shrewd," said his father. "And I
fancy Arnold Baxter is about as slick as any of them."
"Well, I hope we run across him some day," said Dick.
With so much to occupy their minds the days flew by swiftly, and almost
before they knew it Monday was at hand, and the three boys set out to
return once more to Putnam Hall.