THE RACER BOYS ON THE PRAIRIES
Or
The Treasure of Golden Peak
BY CLARENCE YOUNG
AUTHOR OF "THE RACER BOYS," "THE RACER BOYS AT
BOARDING SCHOOL," "THE MOTOR BOYS SERIES,"
"THE JACK RANGER SERIES," ETC.
NEW YORK
CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY
Copyrighted 1913, by
CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY
THE RACER BOYS ON THE PRAIRIES
CONTENTS
I. "WHAT IS HE AFRAID OF?"
II. PLANNING THE HAZING
III. A NEEDLESS ALARM
IV. A MYSTERIOUS MAN
V. A STRANGE ATTACK
VI. BILLY TELLS SOMETHING
VII. NEWS FROM THE WEST
VIII. A THRILLING RESCUE
IX. THE INVITATION
X. OFF FOR THE WEST
XI. A RAILROAD SMASH
XII. THE MAN WHO LIMPED
XIII. THE RELIEF TRAIN
XIV. FORWARD AGAIN
XV. ON THE PRAIRIES
XVI. "WE ARE BEING FOLLOWED!"
XVII. AT THE RANCH
XVIII. MR. THORNTON IS WORRIED
XIX. WARNED AWAY
XX. THE BLACK CLOUD
XXI. THE INJURED MAN
XXII. THE MISSING PAPER
XXIII. THE CHASE
XXIV. OFF TO GOLDEN PEAK
XXV. CAMPING OUT
XXVI. THE CLOUDBURST
XXVII. GETTING OUT THE GOLD
XXVIII. THE RISING WATER
XXIX. MAROONED
XXX. THE END OF GOLDEN PEAK
THE RACER BOYS ON THE PRAIRIES
CHAPTER I
"WHAT IS HE AFRAID OF?"
"Say, there are the Racer boys back!"
"That's great! Now the fun will start!"
"It sure will. I was afraid they weren't coming here this term."
"Say, Riverview Hall wouldn't know how to get along without 'em."
"Guess you're right."
"Hello, Andy!"
"Hi, there, Frank!"
A group of students who had been skylarking about the boarding school
campus, made a rush for the two lads who were slowly advancing across
the green stretch.
It was early in the year, and the weather, which had been wet and
rather cold, was now turning into balmy spring, with the feeling of
baseball in the air. The Easter vacation was over, and the new term
at Riverview Hall would open in a few days. Some of the students had
already arrived, and more were coming. Among those who had made their
appearance were Andy and Frank Racer, whose advent caused such delight
to their chums.
"Now we'll have some baseball!" exclaimed Ward Platt, who could not
seem to get along without some form of athletics. "Andy and Frank will
just make up enough so we can have two nines," he added.
"And we'll do something else besides play ball," declared Jack
Sanderson.
"What?" asked John North.
"We've got to turn in, and get up some new kind of hazing for the
Freshmen. There'll be a lot of 'em here this term, I understand."
"Good! The more the merrier!" exclaimed Duke Yardly.
"Well, come on and see what news Andy and Frank have," suggested Donald
Burgess. "They're always doing something different, and there's no
telling what it will be this time."
"That's right," agreed his chums, and they soon surrounded the two lads
whose coming seemed to so liven up matters at Riverview Hall.
"How about you, Frank?" asked Ward Platt, as he grasped the elder of
the two brothers by the hand.
"Fine," was the rather quiet answer. "And how about you and the other
fellows?"
"Slick as axle grease," was the jolly answer.
"What have you been doing with yourself, Andy?" inquired Jack
Sanderson, as he clapped the younger Racer lad on the back with such
force that Andy gave forth a sound like a small bass drum.
"Prac-practicing!" gasped Andy, as soon as he could get his breath.
"Just--practicing, Jack."
"Practicing what, you old mush-eater?" demanded the other. "Have you
some new kind of baseball dope, or is it some place to go camping up at
the North Pole?"
"Just practicing," replied Andy, who seemed to be trying to get in a
certain position in regard to Jack. "Practicing this, old man!" he
suddenly exclaimed, and with a quick push, a motion of his foot, and a
shove, he sent Jack sprawling backward in the grass.
"That's one for you, Jack!" exclaimed Ward.
"Now will you be good?" demanded Donald Burgess.
"Did you say you wanted gravy on your eggs?" innocently inquired John
North.
There was a general laugh as Jack slowly arose, looking rather dazed,
for his fall had been a sudden one. He glanced sharply at Andy Racer.
"What did you say you had been doing?" he asked.
"Practicing," replied Andy, with just the suspicion of a grin on his
face, that was still tanned from much out-of-door life. "Practicing
that trip-up. It's a form of Japanese wrestling, and a fellow back
home showed it to me. I've been practicing up on it during the Easter
vacation, and I wanted to see if I could work it."
"Oh, you can work it all right!" exclaimed Jack, carefully feeling his
elbow. "Let's see how it's done."
"All right," agreed Andy with a readiness that was all too apparent.
"Stand up just as you did before, and----"
"Not on your life!" exclaimed Jack, backing away. "No you don't! Once
in a day is enough. I meant just show me the motions."
"It's impossible to demonstrate it without a subject to work on,"
replied the younger Racer lad, while his brother and some of his chums
were quietly laughing off to one side. "Come on; I won't throw you
hard."
"No, you don't!" went on Jack, still backing away. "Try it on someone
else for a change."
"All right," readily agreed Andy. "This is how it's done," and before
John North was aware of what was about to happen, Andy turned on him
suddenly, and, in an instant, though he tried to save himself by
grappling with Andy, John, too, went down.
"Say, that's a dandy trip, all right!" exclaimed Henry Walker. "Come
on now, Andy, show us how it's done without sending us head over heels."
"No, the price of admission is one fall!" insisted Andy, who was quite
proud of his accomplishment.
"Up to his old tricks; isn't he?" asked Jack of Frank, who was quietly
regarding his younger brother.
"Yes, I'm afraid he'll never get over 'em. Andy sees a joke in
everything, or, if it isn't there, he'll make it."
"Oh, that's all right. It's a good thing. What's the use of being
gloomy? I'm going to get him to show me how it's done."
"Why are you so anxious to learn?"
"Oh, it'll come in mighty useful when we start hazing some of the
Freshmen. There are some husky ones here this term, and we'll have our
hands full making them walk the chalk line."
"Many here yet?" asked Frank.
"Yes, quite a few, and more are coming."
"Any nice fellows?"
"Yes, lots; to judge by the looks. Since the school has been renovated,
thanks to you and Andy, we get a better class of fellows. Yes, there
are some nice chaps here, and one fellow who seems to have something of
a mystery about him."
"A mystery?" asked Frank, wonderingly.
"Yes, he acts just as if he----"
But Jack suddenly interrupted himself by exclaiming:
"There, Andy's showing how he does that tripping act. I must get next
to how it's done. Come on--though I suppose you know," and he started
away from Frank.
"No, I don't know the secret of it," admitted the elder Racer lad.
"Andy fooled me with it once or twice until I invented a new way to
stand him on his head, and then he quit."
"I see!" laughed Jack. "But come on over," and he led the way toward
where Andy stood, surrounded by a group of admiring lads.
"But you started to say something about a mysterious Freshman,"
suggested Frank, who liked to follow up matters.
"Tell you about it later," promised Jack, and he pushed his way into
the throng about Andy. "I want to see this first."
Andy was demonstrating his famous
"double-hammer-grip-half-Nelson-three-quarter-leg-lock-hold-trip," as
it was afterward christened.
"You just put up your right arm so," said Andy to John North, "and
then you stick out your left foot, and then you take hold of the other
fellow's left hand. Then you take a long breath, lean against him,
draw back your other foot and--there you are!"
As Andy spoke John was forced to execute a twist, and found himself
sitting on the grass, looking at his companions with such a strange
expression that they couldn't help laughing.
"That's how it's done," said Andy, with just a trace of a laugh.
"So--so I see," grunted John, as he arose.
"Oh, rats!" exclaimed Jack. "I thought you were going to do it slow, so
we could see the different motions."
"That's the trouble with it," went on Andy. "It has to be done quickly,
or it won't work, proving to you that I have nothing up my sleeves," he
went on, in the tone of a professional magician; "and that the hand is
quicker than the eye. Ahem!"
"Oh, cut it out!" yelled several.
"Yes, show us how it's done. We're all friends of yours," went on Jack.
"We may need it in our business when it comes to hazing the Freshmen."
"All right, I'll show you," and with that Andy proceeded to demonstrate
slowly, and with much explanation, how the trick fall was brought
about. It was really a knack of making the other lad trip himself, by
pulling him forward, and then suddenly compelling him to change his
center of gravity; and Andy had it down to perfection.
"Say, that's all to the fried eggs!" exclaimed John North, admiringly,
when the explanation was completed.
"It sure is," agreed Jack. "I wonder if I can do it?"
He tried, but was not very successful, and then some of the others
began imitating it, with Andy standing by and giving words of advice.
"Say, haven't you had enough of this?" asked Frank Racer after a while.
"Come on, Andy; we've got to see about our room, and get our things in
shape. I want the trunks brought up from the station."
"All right, I'm coming," replied his brother. "No, that's not the way
to put out your foot, Jack," and he started toward his chum.
"No, you don't!" exclaimed the latter, backing away. As he did so
he glanced across the campus, and at the sight of a solitary figure
advancing toward one of the dormitories he uttered an exclamation. Then
Jack glided to the side of Frank Racer and whispered to him:
"There he is!"
"Who?"
"That strange Freshman I was telling you about. Just watch him, and see
how queer he acts."
The two watched while Andy once more went through his little wrestling
lesson. The lad to whom Jack had pointed was about the build of Frank
Racer, though slightly larger, and he seemed to be of athletic mould.
Yet there was a curious air about him, and, as he walked on, he glanced
over his shoulder from time to time, as though to make sure that he was
not being followed.
"That's queer," commented Frank.
"It sure is," agreed Jack.
"Does he do that often?"
"All the while since he's been here."
"And how long is that?"
"Three days now. He arrived the day after I came. How does he strike
you?"
"Why, just as if he was looking for someone to come up behind him, and
hit him with a brick," said Frank.
"That's it, exactly."
"And yet, what is he afraid of?" went on the elder Racer lad. "What's
going to happen to him here, I'd like to know?"
"And I don't know. That's the mystery of it. Ever since he's been here
he's acted as though he was afraid of something going to happen, or as
if someone was going to attack him. I've been watching him, trying to
find out what it means, but I can't."
"What sort of a fellow is he otherwise?"
"Oh, good enough."
"What's his name, and where does he come from?"
"Chase--William Chase. I s'pose we'll call him Bill when we get to know
him better. But at present it's William. And he comes from some place
out west--I don't just know where--on the prairies, I fancy, from one
or two remarks he's made."
By this time the strange lad had reached the dormitory. As he entered
the doorway he wheeled about quickly as if to make sure that no one was
following him, and, even at that distance, Frank and Jack could see a
look of fear on his face.
"That _is_ mighty queer," murmured Frank. "What is he afraid of? We'll
have to look into this."