A GLIMPSE OF ENEMIES
“Slugger Brown!”
“What does that rascal want around here?”
“Where did he go to?”
“Come on and see if he’s still outside!”
Such were some of the remarks made by the Rover boys after Martha and
Mary had announced that they had seen Slugger Brown peering in at the
parlor window of the old farmhouse.
My old readers will remember Slugger Brown well. He had attended Colby
Hall while the Rovers were cadets there, and he and his crony, Nappy
Martell, had done many things to make life unpleasant for our friends.
Then, when Slugger and Nappy were exposed and had departed, these two
unworthies, along with their fathers, had continued to cross the Rover
boys’ path. During the World War Mr. Brown and Mr. Martell had been
put in prison as German sympathizers and Slugger and Nappy had been
placed in a detention camp in the South. Later on the Browns and the
Martells had gone down into Texas and Oklahoma and there aided Carson
Davenport and his gang in an endeavor to take away oil claims belonging
to Dick Rover. These rascals, as well as another evildoer named Werner,
overreached themselves, and as a result sunk all their money in wells
which produced but little oil, and in the end the rascals left the
fields practically penniless.
“It’s queer Slugger Brown should come up here,” was Jack’s comment, as
the boys searched around the house in the semi-darkness. It had stopped
raining but the grass and bushes were still wet.
“I often wondered what became of him,” returned Randy. “With his money
gone, I supposed he had had to go to work.”
“I’ll wager he and his father and the Martells, as well as the Werners,
are as bitter as can be,” was Fred’s comment. “They would do almost
anything to down us for the way things panned out in the oil fields.”
“Well, we weren’t responsible for their wells running dry,” asserted
Andy. “They spent their money in their own way.”
“Yes, but they’ll always lay their failure at our door,” said Jack.
“All of those chaps think their downfall due entirely to us.”
Most of this conversation took place after the boys had run around the
farmhouse several times and looked behind various trees and bushes. Not
a sign of a lurker could be found.
“Wait until I get a searchlight,” suggested Randy, and ran into the
house for that article. When he reappeared the light was flashed on the
sill of the window where the face of the intruder had appeared and also
on the soft ground below.
“There are fingerprints on the wet sill!” cried Jack. “They must
have been made since the rain stopped――otherwise they wouldn’t be so
distinct.”
“And here are fresh footprints, too!” added Randy. “Some one was here,
that’s sure.”
“If we were only fingerprint experts perhaps we could tell from them
who the fellow was,” declared Fred.
“What’s the use of that? Martha and Mary both say it was Slugger Brown;
and they certainly ought to know, they met Slugger often enough.”
The boys visited the barn and other outbuildings, then they flashed the
light to a distance. They thought they saw a figure hurrying across one
of the fields, but it was very indistinct and they concluded a further
investigation would be useless.
The girls had gathered on the piazza and asked numerous questions when
the boys returned. Ruth was as concerned as the Rovers, for in the
past she had had several unpleasant experiences with Slugger Brown.
“With such a rascal around there is no telling what may happen,”
said Martha anxiously. “Why, he might even set the house on fire――or
something like that!”
“Oh, don’t get so scared, Martha!” burst out her brother. “We’ll take
care of Slugger Brown, if he shows himself again.”
“Maybe you girls were mistaken. It might have been nobody but some
farmhand or a tramp who looked a little like Slugger,” suggested Fred.
“No, it was Slugger, I’m sure of it!” declared Martha, and on this
point Mary firmly agreed.
The young folks discussed the subject a few minutes longer, and then,
as there seemed nothing further to do concerning the mysterious
appearance and disappearance of their enemy, the boys went back to the
printing of the photographic films.
The picture taken by Martha was worthless and those taken by Mary and
the boys little better. But when Ruth’s picture was printed it came out
with especial clearness.
“Hurrah! Here we are!” exclaimed Andy, after a close inspection. “This
shows Jack nearly a foot ahead!”
“That’s right!” said Fred. “Jack won the race, after all!”
“Good for you, Jack! I knew you could do it!” exclaimed Randy, patting
his cousin on the shoulder.
“Well, we’ll have to see what the other photographs show before we
crow too much,” announced the oldest Rover boy cautiously. “You know a
photograph depends entirely on the angle from which it was taken. Some
of the other pictures may show up differently.”
Of course the girls were equally interested, and Ruth was proud to
think that she had been able to snap such a rapid scene so well.
“It’s a good advertisement for this make of camera,” the girl declared.
“I really ought to send a copy of the picture to the manufacturers.
Maybe they might give me a prize for it.”
“Why don’t you do it, Ruth?” cried Mary. “They often pay good prices
for pictures like that, and then reproduce them in the magazine
advertising.” And thereupon the girls became quite interested in this
new subject and Ruth finally agreed to take an extra copy of the
picture and send it to the maker of the camera with a letter stating
how the photograph had been taken.
This was all perhaps as it should have been, and no one noticed
anything unusual but Jack. He could not help but note that Ruth had
not said one word to him about winning the race. Had she rather hoped
that Joe Sedley would come out ahead?
In the morning two copies of the photograph Ruth had taken were
dispatched to the judges of the race, and then the Rover boys prepared
to fix the radio aërial. But while they were getting out a ladder and
some tools the telephone rang and Jack was called by his Uncle Randolph
to answer it.
“Hurrah! What do you know about this?” cried Jack, after the call had
come to an end. “Who do you suppose are coming this way? They’ll get
here in time for dinner!”
“Some of the folks from New York?” questioned Mary quickly.
“No. Gif and Spouter! They’re on a little tour, and they told me to
tell you girls that they have a surprise for you.”
“A surprise! What can that be?” questioned Martha.
“They didn’t say――only said that it was a complete surprise,” answered
Jack.
“Which way are they coming?” questioned Fred.
“They’re driving this way from Albany in the Powell’s sedan. They said
they would strike the new highway at Margot.”
“Say, what’s the matter with going out to meet them?” cried Randy.
“This aërial can wait. Perhaps they’ll be glad to help us adjust it.
Gif knows more about radio than any of us――he’s a regular bug on it.”
“Oh, I’d like an auto ride this morning! Let’s go!” exclaimed Martha.
“The air is just lovely after yesterday’s rain.”
“And maybe by the time we’re coming back we can hear how they decided
about the race,” said Fred.
The Rover boys had not seen their old military academy chums for a long
time, and it was quickly agreed that they should take two of the autos
and all of the young people should go.
During the other times they had been out in the cars Ruth had always
sat on the front seat beside Jack, who usually drove. Now, however,
when they were getting ready to go there was an awkward pause. Martha
expected Jack to say something to Ruth, but he did not and Ruth held
back while the others got in.
“Hurry up, Ruth! Get into your place!” cried Mary. “We ought to be off
and see what sort of a surprise Gif and Spouter have for us.”
“Oh, I was thinking perhaps some one else would like to sit in front
for a change,” declared Ruth.
“You’re welcome to sit here if you want to,” said Jack, but somehow the
words did not sound very urgent. Jack still remembered that Ruth had
not congratulated him on winning the race.
“Well, Jack, if you don’t want me――――” murmured the girl in a low tone.
“What?” he stammered, and then, of a sudden, he caught her arm. “Get
in, and hurry up. The first thing you know Gif and Spouter will be here
and we’ll have no ride at all,” and the next moment Ruth was in her
usual seat and Jack had run around the car and taken his place at the
wheel. The other auto was already off, and the second auto speedily
followed.
As Martha had said, it was a glorious day after the shower and soon all
of the young people were in good spirits as the two automobiles rushed
along over the smooth surface of the new highway. In a twinkling they
had passed through Dexter’s Corners and beyond the railroad station and
then began to climb the first of the long hills leading eastward.
“What do you suppose that surprise they have can be?” questioned Ruth,
as they sped along.
“I’ve got my own idea,” answered Jack, in a little bit more friendly
tone than he had used before. “But I don’t think I ought to tell you,
Ruth.”
“Why not?” she pouted.
“It wouldn’t be fair to Gif and Spouter. But I’ll say this――I think it
will interest Fred almost as much as it will you girls.”
“Oh!” And then Ruth grew suddenly thoughtful. Then she presently
glanced slyly at Jack and smiled, and, glancing back, he grinned in
return; and thus the thin ice that had been forming between them
dissolved.
Mile after mile was covered, and in less than an hour they reached
Margot and there brought the cars to a halt.
“It won’t be safe to go any further,” explained Randy, who was driving
the other car. “There are two roads from Albany coming in here, and
we don’t know which one they are taking. They didn’t know themselves,
because when they got to Jackville they were going to ask which one was
in the better condition and then take that.”
While waiting at Margot they entered a drug store and had some
ice-cream soda. They had just finished this treat when Fred, who had
gone out to see if their friends were yet in sight, came back hurriedly
and motioned to the other boys.
“Come out here, quick!” cried the youngest Rover. “I’ve got a surprise
for you! Hurry!”
Grabbing up the change the druggist was giving him, Jack dashed out of
the place, followed by the twins. Fred was on the sidewalk pointing in
the direction of a side road leading southward from the town.
“See that auto?” exclaimed the youngest Rover excitedly.
“Yes. What of it?” questioned Jack.
“It just came up the roadway we have been traveling,” answered Fred.
“There were two people in it. The minute the driver saw me standing by
the machines he put on all speed, went around that corner, and now he’s
streaking it for all he’s worth.”
“Well, what of that?” asked Randy. “Who was the driver?”
“The driver of that car was Slugger Brown,” answered Fred. “And do you
know who the fellow with him was?” he went on earnestly. “It was Nappy
Martell!”