OFF ON A HUNT
"Say, as soon as we are outdoors let us give him the ha-ha and run
away," whispered Fred to the others.
"Oh, no! Let's have some more fun," pleaded Randy. "Why! the sport has
just begun!"
"That's it!" came from his twin.
"Don't forget we are due at the Hall," remonstrated Jack.
"Now then, show me them tramps!" cried Elias Lacy, as the whole crowd
went outdoors and towards the front gate.
"Oh, protect us! Please protect us!" shrieked Randy, and caught hold of
the old man's coat-tails.
"Don't let the tramps abduct us! I don't want to live with any tramp! I
want to marry a millionaire!" screamed Andy, and began to cling so
close to Elias Lacy that the old man could hardly move forward.
The twins cut up so that the others had all they could do to keep from
laughing. One boy began to snicker, but promptly clapped his hand over
his mouth.
"Don't hang on to me," ordered the old farmer. "I can't use my gun if
you clutch my arm like that," and he tried to shake the twins off.
"Oh, there they are--behind the bushes!" screamed Randy, suddenly,
pointing off to the left.
"Where?" demanded the old man, holding his lantern over his head. "I
don't see nothin'."
"There they are!" screamed Andy. "They've got pistols, too! Oh, save
us! Save us!"
"Drat the pesky rascals! I'll fix 'em!" snarled Elias Lacy, and,
shaking loose the clinging boys, he ran off, lantern in one hand and
shotgun held up to his shoulder with the other.
"Now is our time to skip out!" cried Jack.
"Right you are!" added another of the crowd. And then without waiting
for the rest, this cadet let up a cry: "Sold! Mr. Lacy, you are sold!"
"Sold! With the compliments of the Colby Hall cadets!" cried another.
And then, seeing that the disguise was at an end, the boys began to
shout a variety of things not at all complimentary to the old farmer.
Elias Lacy was thunderstruck by the sudden turn of affairs, and,
wheeling around, he stared in open-mouthed wonder at the retreating
girlish figures.
"What's that?" he shrilled. "What are you runnin' away fur?"
"Good-bye, Mr. Lacy!" sang out Randy. "We're only having a little fun."
"Don't you know it's Hallowe'en?" queried Andy; and then started to
walk off on his hands, but the dress he wore fell down around him and
caused him to tumble over on his back. In the gloom, Fred stumbled and
fell on top of him.
"Fun! Hallowe'en!" bellowed Elias Lacy, and of a sudden he became
filled with rage. "You ain't gals at all! You're only playin' a trick
on me!" he snarled.
"Good-bye and pleasant dreams!" shouted Randy.
"Don't tell any of your friends about the young ladies who called on
you," advised Jack.
And then the other cadets made various taunting remarks. They had come
to a halt to enjoy the old farmer's discomfiture and at the same time
to give Andy and Fred a chance to regain their feet.
"Halt!" suddenly commanded Elias Lacy, and set down his lantern on a
fence post. "Halt! or I'll shoot some of you!" and he aimed his shotgun
at them.
"Don't shoot!" cried several of the cadets in alarm, for they could see
that the old man was in a frame of mind to do almost anything.
"Stop! Don't you dare stir a step or I'll shoot as sure as you're
standin' there!" continued the old man. And then, as all of the boys
halted he went on: "Now come up here where I kin git a good look at
you, but don't you come too clost or try to play any more tricks. If
you do, somebody'll sure git shot."
There was no help for it, and rather sheepishly the crowd of cadets
came forward as he had ordered.
"It was only a bit of Hallowe'en fun. We didn't mean any harm," pleaded
Randy.
"Take them bunnets an' things off so I kin see your faces," ordered the
old man, at the same time keeping the crowd covered with his shotgun.
With great reluctance one after another the cadets took off their veils
and hats. The old man came a step or two closer, looking at each face
sharply. His countenance grew even more hateful when he recognized the
Rovers.
"Ha! you're the same fellers who robbed my chestnut tree," he snarled.
"Didn't I tell you to keep off my premises? I've a good mind to have
you locked up."
"Oh, come, Mr. Lacy, it was only a bit of fun," pleaded one lad.
"Didn't you go out on Hallowe'ens when you were a boy?"
"No, I didn't! I stayed home an' done my work," was the harsh reply.
"Nowadays boys cut up altogether too much."
Had it not been for the shotgun the boys would have taken to their
heels; but with the old man thus armed none of them wanted to take any
chances. But then came a lucky interruption. From back on the farm came
a wild bellowing as if a cow was in trouble. This was followed by the
squealing of a number of pigs.
"Hello! Those town boys must have come over after your cattle after
all!" cried Jack, struck by a sudden idea.
"My cattle! What do you know about my cattle?" questioned Elias Lacy,
quickly.
"That's it! The town boys are after the cows and pigs!" broke in Fred,
quick to catch Jack's idea.
"You'll lose them all if you don't look out, Mr. Lacy!" put in Randy.
"They sha'n't tech my cows, nor my pigs neither!" snarled the old
farmer; and, taking up his lantern, he left the cadets and ran off
towards the rear of the premises. Fortunately, nothing serious had
happened to his stock.
"Now's the time to skip out!" cried Jack, and led the way, and the
others lost no time in following. The cadets had to hold their skirts
high to keep from tripping as they sped along. They reached Colby Hall
in safety, and lost no time in rejoining their friends. A little later
the Hallowe'en celebration came to an end.
"Old Lacy will remember us," was Andy's comment, in speaking of the
affair the next day. "He'll have it in for us."
"I'm afraid so," replied Jack, seriously.
The main topic of conversation at the school now was the football game
which was to take place with the eleven of the Clearwater Country Club
on the following Saturday. This was another gala occasion for the
school, and once more the boys had the pleasure of escorting the girls
to and from the conflict.
"I hope we can do them up as we did Hixley High," remarked Jack. But
this was not to be. The Clearwater Country Club eleven were much older
than the cadets and much heavier, and all the Colby Hall team could do
was to hold them down to a score of 16 to 10.
"Well, that's not so bad but what it might be worse," remarked Gif,
when the defeated eleven had returned to Colby Hall. "I did hope,
however, that we might hold them to at least a tie."
"They carried too much weight for us," replied Jack. "Even Slugger
Brown couldn't do anything against them." For Slugger had been used as
a substitute in the third and fourth quarters. But the big cadet had
failed to show either form or efficiency. He had been warned by the
umpire, because of an unfair tackle, and this had put him in anything
but a good humor.
"I won't play again so long as Gif Garrison is captain!" cried Slugger
to Nappy Martell; and that evening he sent in his resignation, which
Gif promptly accepted.
The game with Columbus Academy was not to take place until two weeks
later, so that, although they kept at their practice, the football
players had considerable time for other things. Jack and his cousins
had continued their target practice, and their shooting was now so
accurate that Captain Dale complimented them upon it.
"The hunting season opens to-morrow," announced Jack one day, as he
came back from an errand to the town. "How I'd like to go out and try
my luck!"
"I'd like to go myself," spoke up Fred.
A number of the senior cadets had received permission to go hunting and
Jack spoke to one of these youths about the prospects.
"I'd like first rate to have you come with me, Rover," said the cadet,
Frank Newberry by name; "and if your cousin Fred wants to come along,
he can do so."
"We'd have to get permission first, and also permission to use a couple
of the shotguns," answered Jack. The gun rack at Colby Hall boasted a
number of these weapons, but none of them could be taken out and used
without special permission from Captain Dale.
It was no easy matter for Jack and Fred to gain the desired permission,
but when Colonel Colby heard from Captain Dale what good shots the boys
had proved to be, he said they might go out, along with Frank Newberry
and some of the others.
"But I want you to be very careful," said the colonel impressively. "I
wouldn't have an accident happen to you for the world. Don't fire a
charge until you are absolutely sure of what you're firing at. Never
point your gun at anybody else; and be very careful how you handle your
weapon in climbing a fence or leaping over rocks or brushwood."
The twins were a bit envious over the prospects for their cousins, but
they wished Jack and Fred the best of luck. All of the cadets who were
to go out had lessons in the morning, but they departed directly after
dinner, and were told that they could remain out as long as they
pleased.
"Now, don't forget to bring back a deer or a bear," cried Andy.
"And if you can, bag a buffalo or a hippopotamus," added his twin.
"We'll be lucky if we bag some rabbits and a squirrel or two or some
woodcock," answered Jack. "Big game doesn't exist around here any more.
The farms are too thick."
"Well, be sure and bring down a pink canary bird, anyway," advised
Andy; and at this there was a general laugh.
Frank Newberry had been out the year before, and consequently knew much
about the lay of the land.
"We'll go down into the woods directly back of Haven Point," he
announced. "Last year the hunting there was much better than it was up
the Rick Rack River."
And then off the cadets started on the hunt. Much that was unusual lay
in store for them.