WHEN THE CHALLENGE CAME.
A SILENCE so dense that, as Elmer afterward said, it could almost be
felt gripped that library when the colonel made his astonishing
declaration.
The two boys stared at each other in dismay. Then Mark once more looked
down at the cap he held in his hand, as though he expected it to be
given speech in order to indignantly deny the accusation. Twice he
opened his mouth to say something, but no sound followed.
"Please remember, Mark, that I am not accusing you of having done this
miserable thing," continued the gentleman in a softer tone; "I cannot
find it in my heart to believe that you would be guilty of doing an old
friend such an unkindness. But I found the cap just where I stated; it
bore those initials, and I sent for you to see if you claimed it. And
now, could you tell me how it chanced to come there under my prize peach
trees that were robbed last night?"
Mark shook his head slowly.
"I'm sure I can't do that, sir, because I don't know," he said.
Elmer opened his mouth to explain under what circumstances the cap had
been lost at twilight on the preceding evening, then he thought better
of it and held his tongue. It might be as well for the gentleman to
conduct the examination after his own fashion. The truth was bound to
come out shortly, at any rate.
"Since you admit that the cap is yours, Mark, will you please tell me
when you saw it last, for if I am right in judging what Elmer just said,
you claim to have lost it?" Colonel Hitchins continued.
"Why, yes, sir, I wore it yesterday afternoon when a party of us went
fishing away over to the old hole where the Sunflower runs into the
Sweetwater," Mark began.
"Don't I know it as well as any lad," remarked the old gentleman, with a
faint smile. "I was brought up here, and came back home after many
years' wandering, partly on account of those recollections of my boyhood
days. Well, you did your fishing in the afternoon, you say. And if those
bass act just the same now as they used to many years ago, they began
biting just when you thought of starting back home--how about that,
Mark?"
"Just what they did, sir; and we caught nearly all we had, a good string
apiece, from that time up to after six. Then we couldn't stay any longer
and started home. On the road, when we were about a mile or so away, and
just going to leave the little Sunflower stream, Lil Artha got to
cutting up with me, and I lost my cap."
"Just so, as I have done many a time in the long ago. That Sunflower
River has memories for me I can never forget," declared the colonel,
sighing.
"I stopped to hunt for it, sir," Mark continued, "but the evening was
on, and there were more or less bushes around. Besides, the fellows were
drawing farther away all the time, and I didn't care much for the cap
after all. So I began to think it might have just fallen into the river,
and I gave it up, chasing after the rest of the bunch."
"Was that the last you thought of the cap?"
"Why, no, sir," Mark went on. "This morning I ran over there on my wheel
and gave another hunt, but it was no use. That made me all the more sure
it must have gone sailing down the river. And you can imagine my
surprise when you hauled it out just now."
"Strange how it came to be under my peach tree, isn't it?" asked Colonel
Hitchins.
"Perhaps some fellow found it, sir, and wore it last night," suggested
Elmer.
"Ah, I had quite forgotten about you, Elmer," remarked the other. "I
suppose, now, you were along with your friend last evening, and knew
about him losing his cap?"
"I was, sir, and besides there were three others--Landy Smith, Arthur
Stansbury, and Chatz Maxfield. And more than that, colonel, I went over
to Mark's house after supper, and we sat up till nearly eleven o'clock,
arranging things about our scouts' baseball club; for you see we expect
a challenge from Fairfield troop any day now."
The look of distress left the bearded face of the colonel. He thrust out
a hand in his customary hearty manner.
"I want you each to shake hands with me," he said; "and Mark, I hope you
will not feel badly because with suspicion pointing so strongly toward
you, I wanted to ask you a few questions about this cap. As Elmer said,
no doubt some boy picked it up and left it under the tree, either
accidentally or in the hope of turning suspicion toward you."
"Oh, I hope not that!" said Mark, who could not believe in his heart
that any boy in all Hickory Ridge could be so mean and tricky as to want
to get one of his schoolmates in trouble.
"No matter, I am now absolutely sure it could not have been you, and I
shall not give the matter another thought. I would advise you to forget
it also, if you can, my boy," and he laid a hand caressingly on Mark's
shoulder.
"I'll certainly try to, sir," returned the boy, looking up with a smile
and meeting the eyes of the gentleman squarely, as was always his wont,
"but sometimes it's hard to forget things like this. I suppose I'll just
bother my head about how my cap got under your tree when I lost it a
mile away, up to the end of the chapter. And I reckon it will never be
cleared up."
"As your ten minutes are about up, Mark, I won't detain you any longer,"
said the old traveler, "but promise me that you will come over with
Elmer next Saturday night, and look over some of my curios. I like to
have boys around me, and there's an interesting story connected with
some of the strange things I've rounded up in various unfrequented
quarters of this old world. You'll come, won't you, Mark?"
"I sure will, colonel, and be mighty glad of the chance. Shall I take my
old cap away with me, or do you want to place it among your curios as an
unsolved mystery?" and Mark laughed as he said this.
"I think you had better carry it off, Mark," replied the gentleman. "But
unless I am lucky enough to catch the rascals who robbed me of my prize
peaches last night, I'm afraid the truth will never be known. What
puzzles me most of all is the fact that Bruno was loose last night and
never gave the alarm. He must have been off roaming, as he does whenever
he manages to slip his collar and chain."
He shook hands with both of them again, and when Mark felt the pressure
of the old gentleman's fingers, as well as saw the kindly look on his
face, he felt positive that Colonel Hitchins had eradicated all
suspicion of his guilt from his mind.
Sam was waiting for them, scolding his restless horses the while. And no
sooner did the two boys jump into the carriage before the driver gave
the word, and they were being carried out of the grounds in great
style.
On the way they met Lil Artha returning home. The tall fellow stared at
seeing his two chums seated so delightfully in the elegant carriage
which he, of course, recognized as belonging to Colonel Hitchins. He
shouted something after them, but Elmer only waved his hand out of the
vehicle as they went on.
"How about it, Mark?" he asked; "Lil Artha will never rest until he
tries to pump it all out of you. Will you tell him about the cap, and
how it was found?"
"Why not?" demanded Mark, instantly. "I haven't anything I want to hide
that I know of. And perhaps, if all the fellows learn about it some one
may be able to give me a pointer about who could have taken this cap
that I lost on the bank of the Sunflower last night, and left it where
the colonel found it this morning."
"I see by the way you talk that there's small danger of you not
bothering your brain about that mystery," laughed Elmer.
"Well, who wouldn't, just tell me that? I'll never feel easy till I'm
able to patch up some sort of an explanation, Elmer. If some fellow
picked my cap up, did he leave it there on purpose to get me in trouble,
or was it only an accident? That's the point, you see."
"Oh, well, I hope you find out sooner or later," remarked Elmer, who
knew from previous experience how such little things worried his chum,
and would have liked very well to have influenced Mark to cross it off
entirely. "Now, let's talk about other things--that coming great game
with Fairfield, for instance, and what chances we have with our poor
pitching staff."
"Rats!" cried Mark. "When everyone believes that you're stronger than
ever this year, and that break of yours works like a charm. I tell you
Fairfield will have her hands full trying to hit some of those Christy
Matthewson slow floaters you can waft up to the rubber. They'll nearly
break their necks trying, and it's going to be the greatest fun watching
'em."
Talking in this vein they were soon dropped in front of Elmer's home. As
Mark lived close by he chose to leave the vehicle at the same time.
"Why, whatever do you suppose my folks would think?" he declared, "if
they saw the Cummings hope and heir driving up with a carriage and pair?
Not that I don't expect to tell all about this cap racket, for I've
always been in the habit of letting my mother know all I do, and many
the time she's advised me as no other person could."
Elmer sighed. He had no mother himself, and always envied this chum who
was lucky enough to be possessed of such an adviser. And fortunate
indeed is the boy who can go to his mother, or father, either, for that
matter, to seek advice in some of the puzzling little problems that are
apt to arise in the life of a lad.
So the two chums separated for the time being.
"See you this afternoon, then, Mark?" called Elmer, as the other started
to hurry away, for it was very near the time he had promised to be home;
and one of Mark's strong points was a scrupulous regard for his word, no
matter to whom given.
"That's right, Elmer; call for me, and we'll go down for a practice
game. Most of the fellows are going to come out, and perhaps we can get
a scrub team to bat against us," and waving his hand once more Mark
hurried off.
Elmer looked after him. There was the light of a sincere affection in
his eyes, as he shook his head while muttering to himself:
"No wonder Colonel Hitchins knew that cap was no indication of guilt,
once he looked in the face of my chum. There isn't the faintest streak
of double dealing about Mark Cummings, and his face shows it. Even if
things looked ten times blacker than they do, and he said he didn't do
it, everybody would just have to believe his simple word. I'd sooner
take it than lots of people's bond, that's what"; and with this eloquent
tribute to the honesty and fair-play qualities of his friend, Elmer
turned into his own place.
About two o'clock Elmer dropped in at Mark's home. He always liked being
there, for Mrs. Cummings was very fond of the motherless boy and made
much of him. Indeed, she never ceased being thankful that Mark had found
a chum with such high principles; for while Elmer was a boy all over,
full of fun and ready to take a joke with the rest, he had drawn a line
for himself, beyond which nothing could ever tempt him to pass.
"Ready?" he asked, upon bursting into Mark's den, where he found the
other engaged in some sort of sketching.
He immediately threw everything aside. With the call of the diamond in
the air what boy, who loved baseball, could resist or allow any other
pursuit to hold him in check?
So together they presently went out, Mark having hastily donned his
baseball suit. It was the regulation Hickory Ridge uniform, and had been
carried by the players of the town for years past, long before such a
thing as Boy Scouts had ever been thought of.
Possibly the only real mark that distinguished the members of the troop
when on the diamond was, first their badge with the significant words:
"Be prepared," such as all scouts in good standing are entitled to wear;
and second the little totem telling that they were members of the Wolf,
the Eagle, or the Beaver Patrol.
Once they reached the field where the games were held they found fully
fifty of the town fellows on hand, some tossing the ball, others batting
flies for a host of catchers.
It was soon arranged. Among the fellows who did not, for various
reasons, belong to the scouts there happened to be some pretty good
timber for the several positions on the field. And Johnny Kline was the
one to act as captain. Johnny was a good player, but addicted so much to
strong slang that he despaired of ever being able to make good in the
troop, and kept putting off the day when his application for membership
would go in.
"Now we're all ready, Elmer," said Mark, who caught for the regular
team.
"Yes, let's get down to business," remarked Lil Artha, who, besides
being a cracking good first baseman, was also a field captain.
"Just wait a minute, please," said little Jasper Merriweather, "for here
comes Mr. Garrabrant, and he looks like he might be bringing us some
great news."
"Hey! bet you that old challenge has arrived!" shouted Red Huggins.
"And you win, hands down, Red," declared the fine-looking young man who
gave more or less of his time to the affairs of the troop, on account of
the deep interest he had in boys in general, "because you see that is
just what I am holding in my hand. So close in and listen while I read
it to you!"
"Hurrah! now will you be good, Fairfield?" shouted Lil Artha, waving his
cap.