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diff --git a/39799-0.txt b/39799-0.txt index 62cac90..0d295c1 100644 --- a/39799-0.txt +++ b/39799-0.txt @@ -1,28 +1,4 @@ - BOBBY BLAKE AT ROCKLEDGE SCHOOL - - - - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost -no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it -under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this -eBook or online at http://www.gutenberg.org/license. - - - -Title: Bobby Blake at Rockledge School - or Winning the Medal of Honor -Author: Frank A. Warner -Release Date: June 03, 2013 [EBook #39799] -Language: English -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BOBBY BLAKE AT ROCKLEDGE -SCHOOL *** - - - +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 39799 *** Produced by Al Haines. @@ -6914,378 +6890,4 @@ good-by for the present to Bobby Blake and his friends. 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You may copy it, give it away or re-use it -under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this -eBook or online at http://www.gutenberg.org/license. - - - -Title: Bobby Blake at Rockledge School - or Winning the Medal of Honor -Author: Frank A. Warner -Release Date: June 03, 2013 [EBook #39799] -Language: English -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BOBBY BLAKE AT ROCKLEDGE -SCHOOL *** - - - - -Produced by Al Haines. - - - BOBBY BLAKE - - at Rockledge School - - - _By_ - FRANK A. WARNER - - _Author of_ - "BOBBY BLAKE AT BASS COVE" - "BOBBY BLAKE ON A CRUISE," Etc. - - - - WHITMAN PUBLISHING CO. - RACINE, WISCONSIN - - - - - Copyright, MCMXV, by - BARSE & CO. - - - - Printed in the United States of America - - - - - CONTENTS - -CHAPTER - - I. "The Overland Limited" - II. Apples and Applethwaite Plunkit - III. Fred in Trouble - IV. An Eventful Afternoon - V. The Tale of a Scarecrow - VI. A Fish Fry and a Startling Announcement - VII. Financial Affairs - VIII. The Peep-Show - IX. Off for Rockledge - X. New Surroundings - XI. Getting Acquainted - XII. In the Dormitory - XIII. The Poguey Fight - XIV. The Honor Medal - XV. Getting Into Step - XVI. Hot Potatoes - XVII. Lost at Sea - XVIII. The Bloody Corner - XIX. The Result - XX. On the Brink of War - XXI. Give and Take - XXII. What Bobby Said - XXIII. Good News Travels Slowly - XXIV. Red Hair Stands for More Than Temper - XXV. The Winner - - - - - BOBBY BLAKE AT ROCKLEDGE SCHOOL - - - - CHAPTER I - - "THE OVERLAND LIMITED" - - -A boy of about ten, with a freckled face and fiery red hair cropped -close to his head, came doubtfully up the side porch steps of the Blake -house in Clinton and peered through the screen door at Meena, the -Swedish girl. - -Meena was tall and rawboned, with very red elbows usually well -displayed, and her straw-colored hair was bound in a tight "pug" on top -of her long, narrow head. Meena had sharp blue eyes and she could see -boys a great way off. - -"Mis' Blake--she ban gone out," said Meena, before the red-haired boy -could speak. "You vant somet'ing? No?" - -"I--I was looking for Bobby," said the visitor, stammeringly. He and -Mrs. Blake's Swedish girl were not on good terms. - -"I guess he ban gone out, too," said Meena, who did not want to be -"bothered mit boys." - -The boy looked as though he thought she was a bad guesser! Somewhere -inside the house he heard a muffled voice. It shouted: - -"Whoo! whoo! whoo-whoo-who-o-o-o!" - -The imitation of a steam whistle grew rapidly nearer. It seemed to be -descending from the roof of the house--and descending very swiftly. -Finally there came a decided bang--the landing of a pair of well-shod -feet on the rug--and the voice rang out: - -"All out! All out for last stop! All out!" - -"_That's_ Bobby," suggested the boy with the red hair, looking wistfully -into Meena's kitchen. - -"Vell!" ejaculated the girl. "You go in by the dining-room door, I -guess. You not go to trapse through my clean kitchen. Vipe your feet, -boy!" - -The boy did as he was bade, and opened the dining-room door. A steady -footstep was thumping overhead, rising into the upper regions of the -three-story house. - -The red-haired youngster knew his way about this house just as well as -he knew his own. Only he tripped over a corner of the dining-room rug -and bumped into two chairs in the darkened living-room before he reached -the front hall. - -This was wide and was lighted above by ground-glass oval windows on all -three flights of stairs. The mahogany balustrade was in a single smooth -spiral, broken by no ornament. It offered a tempting course from garret -to ground floor to any venturesome small boy. - -"All aboard!" shouted the voice overhead. - -"The Overland Limited," said the red-haired boy, grinning, and squinting -up the well. - -"Ding-dong! ding-dong! All aboard for the Overland Limited! This way! -No stop between Denver and Chicago! All aboard!" - -There was a scramble above and then the exhaust of the locomotive was -imitated in a thin, boyish treble: - -"Sh-h! sh-h! sh-h! Choo! choo! choo! Ding-dong-ding! We're off--" - -A figure a-straddle the broad banister-rail shot into view on the upper -flight. The momentum carried the boy around the first curve and to the -brink of the second pitch. Down that he sped like an arrow, and so -around to the last slant of the balustrade. - -"Next stop, Chi-ca-_go_!" yelled the boy on the rail. "All o-o-out! all -out for Chicago!" - -And then, bang! he landed upon the hall rug. - -"How'd you know the board wasn't set against you, Bobby?" demanded the -red-haired one. "You might have had a wreck." - -"Hello, Fred Martin. If I'd looked around and seen your red head, I'd -sure thought they'd flashed a danger signal on me--though the Overland -Limited is supposed to have a clear track, you know." - -Fred jumped on him for that and the two chums had a wrestling match on -the hall rug. It was, however, a good-natured bout, and soon they sat -side by side on the lower step of the first flight, panting, and grinned -at each other. - -Bobby's hair was black, and he wore it much longer than Fred. To tell -the truth, Fred had the "Riley cut," as the boys called it, so that his -hair would not attract so much attention. - -Fred had all the temper that is supposed to go with red hair. Perhaps -red-haired people only seem more quick tempered because everybody "picks -on them" so! Bobby was quite as boisterous as his chum, but he was more -cautious and had some control over his emotions. Nobody ever called -Bobby Blake a coward, however. - -He was a plump-cheeked, snub-nosed boy, with a wide, smiling mouth, -dancing brown eyes, and an active, sturdy body. Like his chum, he was -ten years old. - -"Thought you had to work all this forenoon, cleaning the back yard?" -said Bobby. "That's why I stayed home. 'Fraid some of the other -fellows would want me to go off with them, and we agreed to go to -Plunkit's Creek this afternoon, you know." - -"You bet you!" agreed Fred. "I got a dandy can of worms. Found 'em -under that pile of rubbish in the yard when I hauled it out." - -"But you haven't cleared up all that old yard so soon?" determined -Bobby, shaking his head. - -Fred grinned again. "No," he said. "I caught Buster Shea. He's a good -fellow, Buster is. I got him to do it for me, and paid him a cent, and -my ten glass agates, and two big alleys, and a whole cage-trap full o' -rats--five of them--we caught in our barn last night. He's goin' to -take 'em home and see if he can tame 'em, like Poley Smith did." - -"Huh!" snorted Bobby, "Poley's are _white_ rats. You can't tame reg'lar -rats." - -"That wasn't for me to tell him," returned Fred, briskly. "Buster -thinks he can. And, anyway, it was a good bargain without the rats. -He'll clean the yard fine." - -"Then let's get a lunch from Meena and I'll find my fish-tackle, and -we'll start at once," exclaimed Bobby, jumping up. - -"Ain't you got to see your mother first?" - -"She knows I'm going. She won't mind when I go, as long as I get back -in time for supper. And then--she ain't so particular 'bout what I do -just now," added Bobby, more slowly. - -"Jolly! I wish my mother was like that," breathed Fred, with a sigh of -longing. - -"Huh! I ain't so sure I like it," confessed Bobby. "There's somethin' -goin' on in this house, Fred." - -"What do you mean?" demanded his chum, staring at him. - -"Pa and mother are always talkin' together, and shutting the door so I -can't come in. And they look troubled all the time--I see 'em, when -they stare at me so. Something's up, and I don't know what it is." - -"Mebbe your father's lost all his money and you'll have to go down and -live in one of those shacks by the canal--like Buster Shea's folks," -exclaimed the consoling Fred Martin. - -"No. 'Tain't as bad as that, I guess. Mother's gone shopping for a lot -of new clothes to-day--I heard her tell Pa so at breakfast. So it ain't -money. It--it's just like it is before Christmas, don't you know, Fred? -When folks are hiding things around so's you won't find 'em before -Christmas morning, and joking about Santa Claus, and all that." - -"Crickey! Presents?" exclaimed Fred. "'Tain't your birthday coming, -Bob?" - -"No. I had my birthday, you know, two months ago." - -"What do you s'pose it can be, then?" - -"I haven't a notion," declared Bobby, shaking his head. "But it's -something about me. Something's going to happen me--I don't know what." - -"Bully!" shouted Fred, suddenly smiting him on the shoulder. "Do you -suppose they're going to let you go to Rockledge with me this fall?" - -"Rockledge School? No such luck," groaned Bobby. "You see, mother -won't hear of that. Your mother has a big family, Fred, and she can -spare you--" - -"Glad to get rid of me for a while, I guess," chuckled the red-haired -boy. - -"Well, my mother isn't. So I can't go to boarding school with you," -sighed Bobby. - -"Well," said the restless Fred, "let's get a move on us if we're going -to Plunkit's." - -"We must get some lunch," said Bobby, starting up once more. "Say! has -Meena got the toothache again?" - -"She didn't have her head tied up. But she's real cross," admitted -Fred. - -"She'll have the toothache if I ask for lunch, I know," grumbled Bobby. -"She always does. She says boys give her the toothache." - -Nevertheless, he led the way to the kitchen. There the tall, angular -Swede cast an unfavorable light blue eye upon them. - -"I ban jes' clean up mine kitchen," she complained. - -"We just want a lunch to take fishing, Meena," said Master Bobby, -hopefully. - -"You don't vant loonch to fish mit," declared Meena. "You use vor-rms." - -Fred giggled. He was always giggling at inopportune times. Meena -glared at him with both light blue eyes and reached for the red flannel -bandage she always kept warm back of the kitchen range. - -"I ban got toothache," she said. "I can't vool mit boys," and she -proceeded to tie the long bandage around her jaws and tied it so that -the ends--like long ears--stood right up on top of her head. - -"But you can give us just a little," begged Bobby. "We won't be back -till supper time." - -This seemed to offer some comfort to the hard-working girl, and she -mumbled an agreement, while she shuffled into the pantry to get the -lunch ready. She did not speak English very well at any time, and when -her face was tied up, it was almost impossible to understand her. - -Sometimes, if Meena became offended, she would insist upon waiting on -table with this same red bandage about her jaws--even if the family had -company to dinner! But in many ways she was invaluable to Mrs. Blake, -so the good lady bore Meena's eccentricities. - -By and by the Swedish girl appeared with a box of luncheon. The boys -dared not peek into it while they were under her eye, but they thanked -her and ran out of the house. Fred was giggling again. - -"She looks just like a rabbit--all ears--with that thing tied around her -head," he said. - -"Whoever heard of a rabbit with red ears?" scoffed Bobby. - -He was investigating the contents of the lunch box. There were nice ham -sandwiches, minced eggs with mayonnaise, cookies, jumbles, a big piece -of cheese, and two berry tarts. - -"Oh, Meena's bark is always worse than her bite," sighed Bobby, with -thanksgiving. - -"And _this_ bite is particularly nice, eh?" said Fred, grinning at his -own pun. - -"Guess we won't starve," said Bobby. - -"Besides, there is a summer apple tree right down there by the -creek--don't you know? If the apples are all yellow, you can't eat -enough to hurt you. If they are half yellow it'll take a lot to hurt -you. If they're right green and gnarly, about two means a hurry-up call -for Dr. Truman," and Fred Martin spoke with strong conviction, having -had experience in the matter. - - - - - CHAPTER II - - APPLES AND APPLETHWAITE PLUNKIT - - -Bobby found the little grape basket in which he kept his fishing-tackle -on a beam in the woodshed. Clinton was an old fashioned town, and few -people as yet owned automobiles. There were, therefore, not many -garages, but plenty of rambling woodsheds and barns. When all the barns -are done away with and there are nothing but garages left, boys will -lose half their chance for fun! - -The Blakes' shed, and the stable and barn adjoining, offered a splendid -play-place in all sorts of weather for Bobby and his friends. There -were a pair of horses and a cow in the stable, too. Michael Mulcahey was -the coachman, and he liked boys just as much as Meena, the Swedish girl, -disliked them. This fact was ever a bone of contention between the old -coachman and Meena. Otherwise Michael and Meena might have gotten -married and gone to housekeeping in the little cottage at the back of -the Blake property, facing on the rear street. - -"He ban _in_-courage them boys in their voolishness," accused Meena. -"Me, I don't vant no boys aroundt. Michael, he vould haf the house -overrun mit boys. So ve don't get married." - -Just now Michael was not at the barn. He had driven Mrs. Blake to the -neighboring city in the light carriage, on her shopping trip. Bobby and -Fred trailed through the back gate and down the lane, leaving the gate -open. Later Meena had to run out and chase the chickens out of the -tomato patch. Then she tied the red bandage in a harder knot and -prepared to show herself a martyr to her mistress when it came supper -time. - -Back of the Blake house the narrow street cut into a road that led right -out into the country. There were plenty of houses lining this road at -first, but gradually the distance between them became greater. - -Likewise the dust in the road grew deeper. It was not a way attractive -to automobiles, and it had not been oiled as were many of the Clinton -streets. - -"Let's take off our shoes and stockings and save our shoes," suggested -Fred. "We'll go in swimmin' before we come back, so we'll be all -clean." - -"Let's," agreed Bobby, and they sat down at once and accomplished the -act in a few moments. They stuffed their stockings into their shoes, -tied the laces together and slung them about their necks. The shoes -knocked against their shoulder-blades as they trotted on, their bare -feet scuffing up little clouds of dust. - -"We raise a lot of dust--just like the Overland Limited," said Bobby, -looking back. Bobby had once travelled west with his parents, and they -had come back by way of Denver. He had never forgotten his long ride in -that fast train. - -"Go ahead!" declared Fred. "_I'm_ the Empire State. You got to get up -some speed to beat _me_." - -A minute later two balloons of dust could have been seen hovering over -the road to the creek--the boys were shrouded in them. They ran, -scuffing, as hard as they could run, and kicked up an enormous cloud of -dust. - -They stopped at the stile leading into Plunkits' lower pasture. The -boys from town never went near the farmhouse. Plunkits' was a big farm, -and this end of it was not cultivated. If they went near the truck -patches, somebody would be sure to chase them. There always had been a -feud between the Clinton boys and the Plunkit family. - -But there wasn't a swimming hole anywhere around the town--or a fishing -stream--like the creek. The Plunkits really had no right to drive -anybody away from the stream, for the farm bordered only one side of it. -The city boys could go across and fish from the other side all they -wanted to. That had been long since decided. - -The best swimming hole was below the boundary of the Plunkit land, -anyway, but this path across the pasture was a short-cut. - -"If we see that Applethwaite Plunkit and his dog, what are we going to -do?" asked Fred, as they trotted along the sidehill path, white with -road dust from head to foot. - -"Nothing. But if he sees us, that's another matter," chuckled Bobby. - -"All right. You're the smart one. But what will we do?" - -"Run, if he isn't too near," said Bobby, practically. - -"And suppose he _is_ too near?" - -"Guess we'll have to run just the same," returned Bobby, thoughtfully. -"He can lick either of us, Fred. And with the dog he can lick us both -at once. That dog is real savage. He's made him so, Ap Plunkit has." - -"I bet we could pitch on Ap and fix him," said the combative Fred. - -"Now, you just keep out of trouble if you can, Fred Martin," advised -Bobby, cautiously. "You know--if you get into a fight, you'll catch it -when you get home. Your father will be sure to hear of it." - -"Well! what am I going to do if they pitch on me?" demanded Fred. - -"'Turn the other cheek,'" chuckled Bobby, "like Miss Rainey, our -Sunday-school teacher, says." - -"Huh! that's all right. A fellow's got two cheeks; but if you get a -punch in the nose, you can't turn your other nose--you haven't one! So -now!" declared the very literal and pugnacious Fred. - -Just then they came close enough to the creek to see the willows along -the hank. At the corner of the Plunkit fence there stood a big apple -tree--a "summer sweetnin'" as the country folk called it. - -"Scubbity-_yow_!" ejaculated Fred Martin. "See those apples? And -they're _yellow_!" - -"Some of them are," admitted his chum. - -"More'n half of them, I declare. Say! we're going to have a feast, Bob. -Come on!" - -Bobby grabbed him by the sleeve. "Hold on! don't go so fast, Fred," -exclaimed the brown-eyed boy. "Those apples aren't ours." - -"But they're going to be," returned Fred, grinning. - -"Now, you don't mean that," said Bobby, seriously. "You know you -mustn't climb that tree, or pick apples on _this_ side of the fence. -Here's where we crawl through. Now! lots of the limbs overhang this -other side of the fence--and there's a lot of ripe apples on the -ground." - -"Pshaw! the Plunkits would never know," complained Fred. But he -followed Bobby through the break in the pasture fence, just the same. - -Bobby was just as much fun as any boy in Clinton; Fred knew _that_. Yet -Bobby was forever "seeing consequences." He kept them both out of -trouble very often by seeing ahead. Whereas Fred, left to himself, never -would stop to think at all! - -They had come two miles and a half. Where were there ever two boys who -could walk as far as that without "walking up an appetite"? - -"My goodness me, Fred!" exclaimed Bobby, as they came to the clear-water -creek in which the pebbles and sand were plainly visible on the bottom. -"My goodness me, Fred! aren't you dreadfully hungry?" - -"I could eat the label off this tomato can--just like a goat!" declared -Fred, shaking the can which held the fishworms before his chum's face -and eyes. - -"Then let's eat before we bait a hook," suggested Bobby. "I don't care -if Meena _does_ have the toothache. She makes de-lic-ious sandwiches." - -"Scubbity-_yow_! I should say she did," agreed Fred, sitting down -cross-legged on the grass under a spreading oak that here broke the -hedge of willows bordering the stream. - -The boys soon had their mouths full. It was not yet noon, but the sun -was high in the heavens, and it twinkled down at them between the -interlacing leaves and twigs of the oak. A little breeze played with -the blades of grass. A thrush sang his heart out, swinging on a cane -across the stream. A locust whirred like a policeman's rattle in a tall -poplar a little way down the creek. In the distance a crow cawed lazily -as he winged his way across a field, early plowed for grain. - -"This is a fine place," said Bobby. "I just love the country." - -"This is the way it is at Rockledge," declared Fred, proudly. - -"How do you know? You've never been there." - -"But Sam Tillinghast, who comes to see us once in a while, went to -Rockledge before he went to college. He says Rockledge is right up on a -bluff overlooking Monatook Lake, and that a fellow can have more fun -there than a box of monkeys!" - -"I never had a box of monkeys," said Bobby, grinning, and with his mouth -full. - -"That's all right. I wish you were going," said Fred, wagging his head. -"Don't you suppose that's what's the matter at your house--what your pa -and your mother are thinking about?" - -"No," said Bobby, wagging his head, sadly. "I guess it ain't nothing as -good as going to boarding school. You see, they look so solemn when I -catch them staring at me." - -"Maybe you've done something and they are thinking of punishing you?" -suggested Fred. - -"No. I haven't done a thing. I really haven't! I'd thought of that, -and I just went back over everything I've done this vacation, and I -can't think of a thing," decided Bobby, reflectively. - -"Well, if it's something bad, you'll find out soon enough what it is," -said Fred, playing a regular Job's comforter. - -"And if it is something _good_, I suppose they'll worry me to death--or -pretty near--too, eh!" - -"Mebbe if we could find a Gypsy woman she'd tell your fortune and you'd -know," said Fred. - -"Yah! I don't believe in such stuff," declared Bobby. "You remember -that old woman that came around selling baskets last spring and wheedled -that ten cents out of you? She only told you that you were going to -cross water and have a great change on the other side." - -"Well, she knew!" exclaimed Fred, earnestly. "Didn't I fall into the -canal the very next day and have to swim across it; and you brought me a -change of clothing from home? Huh! I guess that old woman hit it about -right," declared the red-haired boy, with conviction. - -Bobby chuckled a long time over this. It amused him a great deal. He -and his chum had eaten up nearly the whole of Meena's luncheon--and she -had not been niggardly with it, either. - -"I'm going to have some of those apples," declared Fred. "Come on." - -"All right," agreed Bobby, who had no compunctions about taking the -apples on this side of the fence. He believed that the Plunkits had no -claim upon the fruit that overhung somebody else's land! That is the -usual belief of small boys in the country, whether it is legally -correct, or not. - -When the chums bit into the yellow apples on the ground they found that -almost every one had been seized by a prior claimant. Fred bit right -through a soft, white worm! - -"Oh! oh! oh!" exclaimed the red-haired boy, and ran down to the creek's -edge to rinse his mouth. "Isn't that awful?" - -"Don't bite blindly," advised Bobby, chuckling. "You were too eager." - -"I'm going to have a decent apple," declared Fred, coming back. - -He jumped up, seized one of the lower branches of the apple tree, and -scrambled up to a seat on a strong limb. Several tempting looking -"summer sweetnin's" were within his reach. He seized one, looked it all -over for blemishes and, finding none, set his teeth in it. - -"How is it?" asked Bobby, biting carefully around a wormy apple. - -"Fine," returned his chum, and tossed Bobby an apple he plucked. - -At that very moment a voice hailed them from a distance, and a dog -barked. "There's that Applethwaite Plunkit and his dog," gasped Bobby. - -"Sure it is," said Fred, turning his gaze upon the lanky boy of twelve, -or so, and the big black and brown dog that were running together across -the pasture. - -"Now we're in for it!" exclaimed Bobby, somewhat worried. - - - - - CHAPTER III - - FRED IN TROUBLE - - -Fred sat kicking his bare heels together and grinning over the fence at -the Plunkit boy and his dog. - -"Get down out of that tree--you!" exclaimed the Plunkit boy. - -"Who says so?" demanded Fred. - -"_I_ do." - -"Well, say it again," responded Master Fred, in a most tantalizing way. -"I like to hear you." - -Applethwaite Plunkit was not a nice looking boy at all. He had -perfectly white hair, but he wasn't an albino, for albinoes have -pink-rimmed eyes. His eyes were very strange looking, however, for they -were not mates. One was one color, and one was another. - -There are many such afflicted people in the world; usually they have one -gray eye and one brown one. But Ap Plunkit had one eye that was of a -sickly brown color, while the other was of a sickly green. That means -that the "whites" of his mismated eyes were yellowish in hue. - -Perhaps, because of this misfortune, the other boys plagued him, and -that had soured his temper. He was very angry with Fred. - -"Get out of that tree, you red-headed monkey!" he shouted, "or I'll set -my dog on you!" - -"I won't do it, you white-headed donkey--and your dog can't get me; not -unless he can climb a tree," added Fred, grinning again. - -"I'll come over there and knock you out of it," threatened Ap. - -"I'd like to see you do it," responded Fred, swinging his feet again. - -"I'll show you!" cried Ap, and he started for the hole in the fence. -"Come on, Rove!" he called to the dog. - -The big dog followed his master. He was part Newfoundland and would -have made a fine playmate for any boy, if he had not been trained to be -ugly with all strangers. When he got through the fence and saw Bobby -standing idly by, he growled at him. - -"Look out, Bob!" shouted Fred. "He'll bite you." - -"I'm not doing anything," said Bobby Blake. "And you had better not set -your dog on me, Plunkit." - -"You fellers are too fresh," said the farm boy. "My father says you're -not to come around here--" - -"Your father doesn't own this land, and your father doesn't own this -creek," whipped in Fred, from the branch. - -"You fellers came across our land to get here," declared Ap. - -"How do you know _that_, Mr. Smartie?" asked Fred. He had just finished -eating an apple. He threw the core at the dog and hit him on the nose. -Rover growled and then jumped up and snapped at Master Fred's bare -heels. - -"Scubbity-_yow_!" shrieked the daring Fred, kicking up his heels -excitedly. "Didn't get me that time, did you? I'm not _your_ meat." - -"You stop that, Ap," ordered Bobby. "Call off your dog." - -He had not been altogether idle. There was a heavy club of hard wood -lying nearby, and he seized it. - -"He'd better get down out of that tree or Rove will eat him up," said -Ap, boastfully. - -"Those branches overhang this land. The apples don't belong to you any -more than they do to us," said Bobby, and he thought he was quite right -in saying so. - -"Yah!" scoffed Ap. "He had to climb the tree-trunk to get there, and -the tree's on _our_ side of the fence." - -"Didn't neither, Mr. Smartie!" cried Fred, in delight. "I jumped up and -grabbed a limb, and pulled myself up. Have an apple?" and he aimed one -of the hard, green ones at Ap. - -"Don't you do that, Fred!" called up Bobby, in haste. - -"Well, then, I'll give it to the dog," said Fred, throwing the apple to -Rover. - -"You come down out of that tree, and you stop pelting my dog!" commanded -Applethwaite Plunkit. - -"Yes--I--will!" responded Fred, biting into another apple. - -"Well! I'll lick one of you, anyway!" exclaimed Ap, who had been slily -stepping nearer. - -And immediately he threw himself on Bobby. He caught the latter so -unexpectedly that he couldn't have used the club had he wished to. - -"Come on, Rove!" shrieked Ap. "Bite him, boy--bite him!" - -"You stop that!" shouted the red-haired boy in the tree. "Bobby hasn't -done a thing--" - -The dog growled and ran around the two struggling boys. Perhaps he was -looking for a chance to bite his master's antagonist. At least, it -looked so. - -Bobby Blake, although never a quarrelsome lad, was no mollycoddle. -Attacked as he had been, he struggled manfully to escape the bigger boy. -He dropped the club, but he tore off Ap's hat and flung it into the -creek. - -"Go for it, sir! After it!" he screamed, and Rover heard him and saw -the hat. That was one of the dog's accomplishments. He was a -Newfoundland, and retrieving articles from the water was right in his -line. - -He barked and bounded to the edge of the steep bank. He evidently -considered that, after all, his master and Bobby were only playing, and -this part of the play he approved of. - -The instant Bobby heard the splash of the big dog into the water, he -twisted in Ap's grasp, tripped him, and fell on top of the larger boy. - -"Oh! oh! oh!" gasped Ap. "You're hurtin' me--you're killin' me! I -can't breathe--" - -"Scubbity-_yow_!" yelled Fred, giving voice to his favorite battle-cry, -and he dropped from the apple tree, running to Bobby's help. - -But Bobby got up and released the bawling farm-boy at once. "Come on, -Fred," he said. "Let's get out o' here." - -"Why, you got the best of him!" cried Fred, in disgust. "Let's duck -him! Let's throw him in after his old dog." - -"No you don't," declared Bobby, seizing Fred's hand. "We're going to -get out while we have the chance. I only tripped him and got the dog -out of the way so you could escape." - -"Huh!" exclaimed Fred. "I didn't get as many apples as I wanted." - -"I don't care. You come on," said his chum. - -"Whoever heard of the winning side giving way like this?" grumbled the -red-haired boy. "Anyway," he added, picking up the club Bobby had lost, -"if that dog comes after us, I'll hit him." - -Bobby picked up the box containing the remainder of their luncheon, and -led the way through the bushes. The dog had come ashore, and it and Ap -Plunkit were quickly out of sight. Fred was still grumbling about -leaving the foe to claim "the best of it." - -"He'll pitch on us next time, just the same," he declared. "Why didn't -you punch him when you had him down, Bob?" - -"Aw, come on!" said his chum. "Always wanting to get into a fight. You -keep that up when you get to Rockledge School, and you'll be in hot -water all the time." - -"Shucks!" grinned Fred. "I'd like to be in _cold_ water right now. The -swimming hole isn't far away. Let's." - -"We can't go in but once--you know we can't," said Bobby. - -"Why not?" demanded Fred, quickly. - -"Because we promised our mothers we wouldn't go in but once a day this -vacation." - -"Huh! That ain't saying but what we can take off our clothes and put on -our swimming trunks, and stay in all day long." - -"That would be just as dishonest as going in two or three times, Fred," -exclaimed Bobby. "And you wouldn't do it. Besides," he added, grinning; -"you know you tried that _last_ summer, and 'member what you got for -it?" - -"You bet you!" exclaimed the red-haired one. "I got sunburned something -fierce! No. I won't do _that_ again. That's the day we built the raft -on Sanders' Pond, and oh, how I hurt! I guess I do remember, all -right." - -"No," said Bobby, after a minute. "We'll go fishing first, and then -take a swim before we go home. That'll clean us up, and make us feel -fresh. There's that old stump again, Fred. I believe there's a big -trout lives under that stump. Don't you 'member! We've seen him jump." - -"Ya-as," scoffed Fred. "But that old fellow won't jump for a worm. -He's had too many square meals this summer, don't you know? It'll take -a fancy fly, like those my Uncle Jim uses when he goes fishing, to coax -Mr. Trout out of the creek." - -"I'm going to try," said Bobby, who could be obstinate in his opinion. - -"I'll be satisfied if I catch a shiner," declared Fred. "I'll try off -that rock yonder. Come on! There's a couple of dandy fishpoles." - -Like real country boys, Bobby and Fred cut poles each time they went -fishing. No need to carry them back and forth to their homes in Clinton -and it did not take five minutes to cut and rig these poles. - -"What nice, fat worms," said Bobby, when Fred shook up the tomato can. - -"That's what the robin said," chuckled Fred. "Know what my sister, -Betty, said yesterday morning? You know it rained the night before and -the robins were picking up worms on the lawn right early--before -breakfast. - -"Bet was at the window and one fat robin picked up a worm, swallowed it, -and flew right up into a tree where he began to sing like sixty! Bet -says: - -"'Oh! that robin gives me the _squirms_; how can he sing that way when -he's all full of those crawly things?'" - -"Now hush!" ordered Bobby, the next moment. "I'm going to drop this nice -fellow right down beside that stump and see if I can coax Mr. Trout up." - -But Mr. Trout did not appear. Bobby, with exemplary patience, tried it -again and again. He changed his bait and dropped a fresh worm into the -brown, cloudy water where he believed the trout lay. - -"You're not fishing," chuckled Fred, from his station on the rock, a few -yards away. "You're just drowning worms." - -"Huh!" returned Bobby. "I don't see any medals on _you_. You haven't -caught anything." - -"But I'm going to!" whispered Fred, swiftly, and holding his pole with -sudden attention. - -Then, with a nervous jerk, he flung up the pole. Hook and sinker came -with it, and a tiny, wriggling, silver fish, about a finger long, shot -into the air. But Fred had not been careful to select his stand, and he -drove his line and fish up among the branches of a tree. - -"Now you've done it--and likely scared my trout," exclaimed Bobby. - -Fred, in his usual impulsive fashion, tried to jerk back his line. The -hook and sinker were caught around a branch. The shiner dropped off the -hook and rested in a crotch of the branch. No fish ever was transformed -into a bird so quickly since fishing was begun! - -And while Bobby laughed, and held his sides, Fred jerked at the -entangled line again and again until, stepping too far back, and pulling -too hard, the line chanced to give a foot or two, Master Fred fell -backwards and--_flop!_ into the deep pool below the rock he went! - - - - - CHAPTER IV - - AN EVENTFUL AFTERNOON - - -"On! oh! oh!--gurgle! gurgle! _blob_! Help! Give us a hand--" - -Down Master Fred went again, and, his mouth being open, he swallowed -more of the murky water of the creek than was good for him. He came up, -coughing and blowing. - -Bobby, although forced to laugh, extended the butt of his own fish pole -and Fred seized it. In half a minute he was on the bank, panting and -"blowing bubbles," as Bobby said. - -"You can laugh--" - -"I hope so," returned Bobby, turning to give his attention to his own -hook and line. "Oh!" - -Something was the matter down under that stump; the water was agitated. -The taut line pulled in Bobby's hands. - -"Oh! A bite!" cried he, picking up his pole. "Oh, Fred! I've hooked -that old trout!" - -Master Martin was too much taken up with his own affairs just then to -pay much attention. Bobby, all of a tremble (for he had never caught a -trout over a finger long), began to "play" the fish cautiously. It -seemed to be sulking down in its hole under the old stump. Bobby pulled -on the line gently. - -Meanwhile Fred, getting his breath, began to remove his saturated -garments. - -"I guess," he grunted, "we might as well go in swimming right now. Gee! -I'm wet. And these things will have to dry before I start home. Oh!" - -Bobby's line "gave" suddenly. Bobby uttered a yell, for he thought the -trout had jumped. - -Whatever was on his hook shot to the surface of the brown pool. Bobby -went over backward on the grass. The point of his pole stood straight -up, and the hook was snapped out of the water. - -There was a long, black, _squirmy_ thing on the hook. As Bobby -squealed, the eel flopped right down into his face! - -"Aw! ouch! take him off!" shouted Bobby, and flung away his pole. - -In a second the eel was so tangled in the fishline that one might have -thought it and the line had been tied into a hard knot! Fred was -rolling with laughter on the bank, his wet shirt half over his head. - -"Scubbity-_yow_!" he shrieked. "Now you got it. You laughed at _me_, -Bobby Blake. See how you get it yourself." - -Bobby began to laugh, too. He could see that the joke was, after all, -on him. - -"And that's your big trout--ho, ho!" shouted Fred. "An old eel. Kill -him with a club, Bobby. You'll never get him untangled if you don't." - -"And he'll wiggle _then_ till the sun goes down. Just like a snake," -declared Bobby, repeating a boyish superstition held infallible by the -boys of Clinton. - -"Oh, dear!" sighed Fred, at last pulling the wet shirt off. "I'm aching -for laughing. What a mess that line's in." - -"And how about your own!" demanded Bobby, on a broad grin again, and -pointing into the branches of the tree where Fred had flung his shiner. - -"We're a pair of fine fishermen--I don't think!" admitted Fred, in some -disgust. - -He got off the remainder of his wet clothing, and slipped on his trunks. - -"You might as well do the same, Bobby," he advised, while he laid his -clothing over the low bushes back from the bank of the creek, where the -sun could get at them nicely. "Look at your shirt. All slime from that -old eel." - -"I wish he'd keep still a minute," said Bobby, with some impatience. -"_What_ were eels ever made for?" - -"They're good eating, some folks think. But I'd just as lief eat -snakes." - -"Some savages eat snakes," said Bobby, trying to keep one foot on the -tail-end of the eel, and unwinding the fishline. - -But the next moment the squirmy creature wound itself up in the line -again into a harder knot than before. - -"Looks just like the worm he swallowed," chuckled Fred. "There! he's -got the hook out of his mouth. Fling him back, Bobby!" - -Bobby did so, pitching eel and line into the water. There was a flop or -two and the wriggling fish got free. Then Bobby hauled in his line and -began to rebait the hook. - -"I guess I'll try fishing somewhere else," he said. "I won't try here. -If there ever _was_ a trout under that stump, he's scared away." - -"There never was a trout where an old eel made his nest," scoffed Fred, -struggling with his own line. - -"That eel didn't belong here," announced Bobby, with confidence. "What -do you bet I don't catch a trout to-day?" - -"Never mind. I've landed _one_ fish," chuckled Fred. - -"Fish! what's it doing roosting in that tree, then!" demanded Bobby, -giggling. "It's a bird." - -Fred managed to untangle his own line, and in doing so he shook the -shiner out of the branches. - -"Catch it!" he shouted. "There it goes!" - -"Plop!" the fish went right into the pool, and with a wiggle of its tail -disappeared. - -"We're a couple of healthy fishermen," scoffed Bobby. "We land them, -and then lose them." - -"Le's go farther down stream. We've made so much noise here that we -couldn't catch anything but deaf fish--that's sure." - -Bobby was quite agreed to this, and Fred in his bathing trunks, leaving -his wet clothing to dry on the bushes, led the way along the creek bank. -Bobby followed with the can of worms. - -They found another quiet place and this time both took pains to cast -their lines where no overhanging branches would interfere with the tips -of their poles. The creek was well stocked with sunfish, yellow perch, -shiners, and small brook trout. Once--"in a dog's age," Fred's Uncle Jim -said--somebody landed a big trout out of one of the deeper holes in the -stream. - -The boys fished for an hour, and both landed perch and shiners. - -"If we get enough of them we can have a fish supper," declared Fred. - -"At home?" - -"Sure. We can clean them--" - -"Who'll cook them? Our Meena won't," declared Bobby, with confidence. - -"And I don't suppose our girl will, either. Besides, we'd have to catch -a bushel to give the crowd at our house a taste, even," for there were -five young Martins at Fred's house, besides himself, ranging from the -baby who could just toddle around, to Fred's fourteen year old sister, -Mary. There was another girl older than Fred, who was the oldest boy. - -"Just wish Michael Mulcahey would light a fire in his stove and pan them -for us," said Bobby, wistfully. "'Member, he did once!" - -"Yes. But we haven't caught enough yet." - -"Hush!" murmured Bobby. "I got another bite." - -In a minute he had landed a nice, big sunfish. He cut a birch twig then, -with a hook on the end of it, and strung his three fish. Fred did the -same for his two, and the fish were let down into the cool water, and -were thus kept alive. - -They moved farther down the creek after a bit, and tried another pool. -The strings of fish grew steadily. It looked, really, as though they -would have enough for supper--and it takes a right good number of such -little fish to make a meal for two hungry boys. - -Not that they wanted food again so soon. During the afternoon they ate -the rest of the lunch and some apples to stave off actual hunger! - -"I bet you get sunburned again," said Bobby. - -"No, I won't. I'm in the shade all the time." - -"The wind will burn as well as the sun." - -"But I'm not in and out of the water all the time, like I was that day -at Sanders' Pond. Just the same," added Fred, "I'm going into the creek -now. There's a dandy place for fish just across there." - -"There's some stepping stones below. I'll go over with you," declared -Bobby, winding up his line. - -Fred was not afraid of splashing himself. He ran across the stones laid -in the bed of the creek. Bobby came more cautiously, but he did not see -the wide grin on Fred's face as he stood on the far side and watched his -chum. - -Bobby stepped on the rock in the middle of the stream. Just as it bore -his full weight, and he had his right foot in the air, stepping to the -next dry-topped rock, the one under him rolled! - -The red-haired boy had felt that stone "joggle" when he came across but -he had leaped lightly from it. Bobby was caught unaware. - -He yelled, and tried to jump, but the stepping stone, under which the -action of the water had excavated the sand, turned clear over. -"Splash!" went Bobby into the water. - -He stood upright, but he was in a pool over his knees, and the agitated -water splashed higher. His knickerbockers were as wet as Fred's clothes -had been when he waded out. - -"Oh, oh, oh!" shouted Fred, writhing on the grass. "Aren't you clumsy? -Now you'll have to take off _your_ clothes to dry, Bobby." - -"You might have told a fellow that rock was loose," grumbled Bobby. - -"And you might have told _me_ that I was stepping off into the old creek -when I was jerking at my line," retorted Fred. "I got it worse than you -did." - -Bobby removed his trousers and wrung them out. Then he put them on -again. "They'll dry as good on me, as off," he said. "Now, come on. -Let's go up along and see if we can't get some more fish." - -They whipped the creek for half a mile up stream, and were successful -beyond their hopes. Both boys had a nice string of pan-fish when they -came to the deep swimming hole, which was only a few yards below the -corner of Plunkit's farm Sphere the apple tree stood. - -The sun was then sliding down toward the western horizon. Bobby's -trousers were pretty well dried. He put on his bathing trunks, and -followed Fred into the pool. - -Both boys were good swimmers. There was a fine rock to dive from and a -soft, sandy bottom. No danger here, and for an hour the chums had a most -delightful time. - -Then Bobby brought his own clothes across to the side of the creek where -they had begun to fish. Fred brought the fishing-tackle and the two -strings of fish. Then he trotted down the bank to get his own clothes -and their shoes and stockings. - -Bobby was half dressed when he heard his chum shouting. "Bobby! -Bobby!" shrieked the red-haired boy. - -Fearing that his chum was in trouble, Bobby started for the sound of -Fred's voice, on a hard run. - -"I'm coming, Fred! Hold on!" he shouted, as loudly as he could. - -In a few moments he came out into the open place where Fred had -carefully arranged his clothing on the low bushes. There wasn't a -garment there, and Fred came out of the brush, his face very red and -angry. - -"What's the matter?" asked Bobby. - -"Matter enough!" returned his chum. "Don't you _see_?" - -"Not--not your clothes gone?" gasped Bobby. - -"Yes they are. Every stitch. And your shoes, too. What do you think -of _that_?" - -"Why--why--Somebody's taken them?" - -"Of course somebody has. And it's your fault," said Fred, very much -provoked. "If you had helped me pitch in and lick that Ap Plunkit, he -wouldn't have dared do this." - -"Maybe--maybe he'd have licked us," stammered Bobby. - -"He'll--he'll just have to lick me when I meet up with him next time, or -else he'll take the biggest licking _he_ ever took," threatened the -wrathful Master Martin, wiping a couple of angry tears out of his eyes -with a scratched knuckle. - - - - - CHAPTER V - - THE TALE OF A SCARECROW - - -"My goodness! you can't go home that way," said Bobby Blake, faintly. - -He did not laugh at all. The situation had suddenly become tragic -instead of comic. Fred could not walk back to Clinton in his -bathing-trunks--that is, not until after dark. - -"I wish I had hold of that Ap Plunkit," repeated Fred Martin. "_He_ did -it," he added. - -"Oh, we don't know--" - -"Of course we do. He sneaked along there after us and found my clothes, -and ran away with them--every one. And your shoes and stockings, too!" - -"No he didn't, either!" cried Bobby, suddenly, staring up into the tall -tree over their heads. - -"Eh?" - -"There are the shoes and stockings--shoes, anyway," declared Bobby, -pointing. - -It was a chestnut tree above their heads. It promised a full crop of -nuts in the fall, for the green burrs starred thickly the leafy -branches. - -Whoever had disturbed the chums' possessions had climbed to the very -tip-top of the chestnut and hung the two pair of shoes far out on a -small branch. - -"That's Ap Plunkit's work--I know," declared Fred, with conviction. "He -climbs trees like a monkey. You see how long his arms are. I've seen -him go up a taller tree than this." - -"Maybe he's taken your clothes up there, too," said Bobby, going to the -trunk of the tree. - -"The mean scamp!" exclaimed Fred. "How'll we get them, Bob? I--I can't -climb that tree this way." - -"Neither can I," admitted his friend. "But wait till I run and get my -clothes on--" - -"And you'd _better_ run, too!" exclaimed Fred, suddenly, "or you won't -find the rest of _your_ clothes." - -Thus advised, Bobby Blake set out at once for the spot where he had been -dressing. There was no sign of Applethwaite Plunkit about--or of any -other marauder. Just the same, when Bobby was dressed and went down the -creek side again to Fred, he carried all their possessions with him. - -That chestnut was a hard tree for Bobby to climb--especially barefooted. -There were so many prickly burrs that had dropped into the crotches of -the limbs, and, drying, had become quite stiff and sharp. He had to -stop several times as he mounted upward to pick the thorns from his -feet. - -But he got the shoes and stockings, and, hanging them around his neck, -came down as swiftly as he could. Both boys at once sat down and put on -this part of their apparel. Fred was almost tempted to cry; but then, -he was too angry to "boo-hoo" much. - -"I'll catch that Ap Plunkit, and I'll do something to him yet," he -declared. "I'll have him arrested for stealing my clothes, anyway." - -"How can we prove he took them? We didn't see him," said Bobby, -thoughtfully. - -"Well!" - -"I tell you what," Bobby said. "Let's go up to his house and tell his -mother. We _know_ he did this, even if we didn't see him. Of course, -we got him mad first--" - -"We didn't have to get him mad," declared Fred. "He's mad all the -time." - -"Well, we plagued him. He just was getting square." - -"But such a mean trick to steal a fellow's clothes!" - -"Maybe his folks will see it that way and make Applethwaite give them -back." - -"But I can't go up there to the house with only these old tights on!" -said Fred. - -"No," and Bobby couldn't help grinning a little. "You wear my jacket." - -"And if I have lost my clothes," wailed Fred, "and have to go home this -way, my father will give it to me good! Come on!" - -"Let's each find a good club. That dog, you know," said Bobby. - -"Sure. And if we meet up with Ap, I'll be likely to use it on him, -too!" growled Fred, angrily. - -Bobby decided that it was useless to try to pacify his chum at the -moment. It seemed to relieve Fred to threaten the absent Ap Plunkit, -and it did that individual no bodily harm! - -So the boys found stout clubs and started up the bank of the creek. -Fred was feeling so badly that he did not pick more of the "summer -sweetnin's" when they came to the apple tree. - -They crawled through the hole in the boundary fence of the Plunkit Farm -and kept on up the creek-side. First they crossed the pasture, then -they climbed a tight fence and entered a big cornfield. The corn was -taller than their heads and there were acres and acres of it. It was -planted right along the edge of the creek bank, and they had to walk -between the rows. - -"If old Plunkit sees us in his corn, he'll be mad," said Fred, at last. - -"This is the nearest way to the house, and we've got to try and get your -clothes," said Bobby, firmly. - -After that, he took the lead. The nearer they approached the farmhouse, -the more Fred lagged. But suddenly, in the midst of the long cornfield, -Master Martin uttered a cry. - -"Look there, Bob!" - -"What's the matter with you? I thought it was the dog." - -"No, sir! See yonder, will you?" - -"Nothing but a scarecrow," said Bobby. - -"Yes. But it has clothes on it. I'm going to take them. I'm not going -up to that house without anything more on me than what I've got." - -Bobby began to chuckle at that. It seemed too funny for anything to rob -a scarecrow. But Fred was pushing his way through the corn toward the -absurd figure. - -Suddenly Fred uttered another yell--this time his famous warwhoop: - -"Scubbity-_yow_! I got him!" - -"You got who?" demanded Bobby, hurrying after his chum. - -"This is some o' that Ap Plunkit's doings--the mean thing! Look here!" -and he snatched the cap off the scarecrow's head of straw. - -"Why--that looks like _your_ cap, Fred," gasped Bobby. - -"And it _is_, too." - -"That--that's just the stripe of your shirt!" - -"And it is my shirt. And it's my pants, and all!" cried Fred. "I'll -get square with Ap Plunkit yet--you see if I don't. There's the old -ragged things this scarecrow wore, on the ground. And he's dressed it in -_my_ things. Oh, you wait till I catch him!" - -Meanwhile Fred was hastily tearing off the garments that certainly were -his own. They were all here. Bobby kept away from him, and laughed -silently to himself. It was really too, too funny; but he did not want -to make Fred angry with _him_. - -"Now I guess we'd better not go to the farmhouse--had we?" demanded -Bobby. - -"Let's go home," grunted Fred, very sour. "It's almost sundown." - -"All right," agreed his chum. - -"He tore my shirt, too. And we might never have found these clothes. -I'm going to get square," Fred kept muttering, as they struck right down -between the corn rows toward the distant roadside fence. - -Just as they climbed over the rails to leap into the road they were -hailed by a voice that said: - -"Hey there! what you doin' in that cornfield?" - -There was the Plunkit hopeful--otherwise Applethwaite, the white-headed -boy. He sat on the top rail near by and grinned at the two boys from -town. - -"There you are--you mean thing!" cried Fred Martin, and before Bobby -could stop him, he rushed at the bigger fellow. - -He was so quick--or Ap was so slow--that Fred seized the latter by the -ankles before he could get down from his perch. - -"Git away! I'll fix you!" shouted the farm boy. - -He kicked out, lost his balance, and Fred let him go. Ap fell backward -off the fence into the cornfield, and landed on his head and shoulders. - -He set up a terrific howl, even before he scrambled to his feet. By his -actions he did not seem to be so badly hurt. He searched around for a -stone, found it, and threw it with all his force at Fred Martin. -Fortunately he missed the town boy. - -Immediately Fred grabbed up a stone himself and poised it to fling at -his enemy. Bobby threw himself upon his chum and seized his raised arm. - -"Now you stop that, Fred!" he commanded. - -"Why shouldn't I hit him? He flung one at me," declared the angry boy. - -"I know. But he didn't hit you. And you might hit him and do him harm. -Suppose you put his eye out--or something? Come on home, Fred--don't be -a chump." - -"Aw--well," growled Fred, and threw the stone away. - -"You know you are always getting into a muss," urged Bobby, hurrying his -chum along the road toward town. "What'll you do when you go to -Rockledge--" - -"You got to go with me, Bob," declared Fred, grinning. - -"Oh! I wish they'd let me," murmured his friend. - -But as far as he could see then, no circumstances could arise that would -make such a wished for event possible. - - - - - CHAPTER VI - - A FISH FRY AND A STARTLING ANNOUNCEMENT - - -They got home at early supper time, fish and all. But one look into the -kitchen assured Bobby that it was useless to expect Meena to pan their -catch for them. - -The "rabbit ears" stuck up on top of her head at a more uncompromising -angle than ever. Mr. and Mrs. Blake had not returned from town. At a -late hour Michael Mulcahey had come back with the carriage and announced -that his mistress would stay in town for dinner with Mr. Blake and they -were to be met at the 10:10 train. - -Michael had just finished cleaning the carriage and now sat with his -pipe beside the stable door. He was a long-lipped Irishman, with kindly, -twinkling eyes, and "ould counthry" whiskers that met under his chin, -giving his cleanly shaven, wind-bitten face the look of peering out -through a frame of hair. - -"'Tis a nice string of fish ye have, byes," he said. - -"And I s'pose we got to give them to the cats," complained Fred. "They -won't cook 'em at my house, and Meena's got the toothache." - -Michael grinned broadly, puffing slowly at his pipe. "Clane the fish, -byes. There's a pan jest inside the dure. Get water from the hydrant. -Have ye shar-r-rp knives?" - -"Oh, yes, Michael!" cried Bobby. - -"Scale thim fish, then. I'll start a fire in my stove. An' I've a pan. -Belike Meena, the girl, will give ye a bit of fat salt por-r-rk and some -bread. Tell her she naden't bother with supper. We'll make it -ourselves--in what th' fancy folks calls 'ally-frisco'--though _why_ so, -I _dun_-no," added Michael. - -He knocked the dottle out of his pipe and washed his hands. The boys, -meanwhile, were cleaning the little fish rapidly, and whispering -together. They were delighted with the coachman's suggestion. It was -just what they had been hoping for. Fred even forgot his "grouch" -against Applethwaite Plunkit. - -Bobby ventured to the kitchen door. Meena was just untying the red -bandage, but the moment she caught sight of him she hesitated. She may -have felt another slight twinge of "face ache." - -"Vat you vant?" she demanded. - -Bobby told her what they were going to do. Michael had his own plates, -and knives and forks. He had "bached it" a good many years before he -came to work for Bobby's father. Meena saw a long, quiet evening ahead -of her. - -"Vell," she said, ungraciously enough, for it was not her way to -acknowledge her blessings--not in public, at least. "Vell, I give you -the pork and bread. But that Michael ban spoil you boys. I vouldn't -efer marry him." - -"What did she say?" asked the coachman when Bobby returned to the room -over the harness closets in which Michael slept--and sometimes cooked. - -"She says she won't marry you because you spoil us," declared Bobby, -winking at Fred. - -"Did she now?" quoth Michael. "So she has rayfused me again--though it -wasn't just like a proposal _this_ time. Still--we'll count it so's to -make sure." - -He gravely walked to a smooth plank in the partition behind the door, -and picked up the stub of a pencil from a ledge. On this board was a -long array of pencil marks--four straight, up and down marks, and a -fifth "slantingdicular" across them. There were a great many of these -marks. - -Each of these straight, up and down, marks meant "No," and the slanting -mark meant another "No"; so that Meena's refusals of the coachman's -proposal for her hand were grouped in fives. - -"The Good Book says Jacob sarved siven years for Rachael, and then -another siven. He didn't have nawthin' on me--sorra a bit! When -Meena's said 'No' a thousan' times, she'll forgit some day an' say -'Yis.'" - -He went back to shaking the pan on the stove, in which the cubes of salt -pork were sputtering. He mixed some flour and cornmeal in a plate, with -salt and pepper. Wiping each of the little fish partly dry, he rolled -them in the mixture, and then laid them methodically in rows upon a -board. When the fat in the skillet was piping hot, he dropped in the -fish easily so as not to splash the hot fat about. Then with a fork he -turned them as they browned. - -As he forked them out of the hot fat, all brown and crispy, he laid them -on a sheet of brown paper for a bit to drain off the fat. Then the -boys' plates and his own were filled with the well fried fish. - -"There's just a mess for us," said Michael, as they sat down. "For what -we are about to rayceive make us tr-r-ruly grateful! Pass the bread, -Master Bobby. 'Tis the appetite lends sauce to the male, so they say. -Eat hearty!" - -Bobby and Fred had plenty of the "sauce" the coachman spoke of. After -the excitement and adventures of the afternoon they had much to tell -Michael, too, and the supper was a merry one. - -Fred had to go home at eight o'clock and an hour and a half later it was -Bobby's bedtime. But the house seemed very still and lonely when he had -gone to bed, and he lay a long time listening to the crickets and the -katydids, and the other night-flying insects outside the screens. - -He heard Michael drive out of the lane to go to the station and he was -still awake when the carriage returned and his father and mother came -into the house. They came quietly up stairs, whispering softly, but the -door between Bobby's room and his mother's dressing-room was ajar and he -could hear his parents talking in there. They thought him asleep, of -course. - -"But Bobby's got to be told, my dear. I have bought our tickets--as I -told you," Mr. Blake said. "We can't wait any longer." - -"Oh, dear me, John!" Bobby heard his mother say. "_Must_ we leave him -behind?" - -"My dear! we have talked it all over so many times," Mr. Blake said, -patiently. "It is a long voyage. Not so long to Para; but the -transportation up the river, to Samratam, is uncertain. Brother Bill -left the business in some confusion, I understand, and we may be obliged -to remain some months. It would not be well to take Bobby. He must go -to school. I am doubtful of the advisability of taking _you_, my -dear--" - -"You shall not go without me, John," interrupted Mrs. Blake, and Bobby -knew she was crying softly. "I would rather that we lost all the money -your brother left--" - -"There, there!" said Bobby's father, comfortingly. "You're going, my -dear. And we will leave Bobby in good hands." - -"But _whose_ hands?" cried his wife. "Meena can look after the house, -and Michael we can trust with everything else. But neither of them are -proper guardians for my boy, John." - -"I know," agreed Mr. Blake, and Bobby, lying wide awake in his bed, knew -just how troubled his father looked. He hopped out of bed and crept -softly to the door. He did not mean to be an eavesdropper, but he could -not have helped hearing what his father and mother said. - -"We have no relatives with whom to leave him," Mrs. Blake said. "And -all our friends in Clinton have plenty of children of their own and -wouldn't want to be bothered. Or else they are people who have _no_ -children and wouldn't know how to get along with Bobby." - -"It's a puzzle," began her husband, and just then Bobby pushed open the -door and appeared in the dressing-room. - -"I heard you, Pa!" he cried. "I couldn't help it. I was awake and the -door was open. I know just what you can do with me if I can't go with -you to where Uncle Bill died." - -"Bobby!" exclaimed Mrs. Blake, putting out her arms to him. "My boy! I -didn't want you to know--yet." - -"He had to hear of the trip sometime," said Bobby's father. - -"And I'm not going to make any trouble," said Bobby, swallowing rather -hard, for there seemed to be a lump rising in his throat. He never -liked to see his mother cry. "Why, I'm a big boy, you know, Mother. -And I know just what you can do with me while you're gone." - -"What's that, Bobs?" asked his father, cheerfully. - -"Let me go to Rockledge School with Fred Martin--do, _do_! That'll be -fun, and they'll look out for me there--you know they are _awfully_ -strict at schools like that. I can't get into any trouble." - -"Not with Fred?" chuckled Mr. Blake. - -"Well," said Bobby, seriously, "you know if I have to look out for Fred -same as I always do, _I_ won't have time to get into mischief. You told -Mr. Martin so yourself, you know, Pa." - -Mr. Blake laughed again and glanced at his wife. She had an arm around -Bobby, but she had stopped crying and she looked over at her husband -proudly. Bobby was such a sensible, thoughtful chap! - -"I guess we'll have to take the school question into serious -consideration, Bobs," he said. "Now kiss your mother and me goodnight, -and go to sleep. These are late hours for small boys." - -Bobby ran to bed as he was told, and this time he went to sleep almost -as soon as he placed his head upon the pillow. But how he _did_ dream! -He and Fred Martin were walking all the way to Rockledge School, and -they went barefooted with their shoes slung over their shoulders, -Applethwaite Plunkit and his big dog popped out of almost every corner -to obstruct their way. Bobby had just as exciting a time during his -dreams that night as he and his chum had experienced during the -afternoon previous! - -Nothing was said at the late Sunday morning breakfast about his parents' -journey to South America. Bobby knew all about poor Uncle Bill. He -could just remember him--a small, very brown, good-tempered man who had -come north from his tropical station in the rubber country four years, -or so, before. - -Uncle Bill was Mr. Blake's only brother, and most of Bobby's father's -income came from the rubber exporting business, too. Uncle Bill had -lived for years in Brazil, but finally the climate had been too much for -him and only a few months ago word had come of his death. He had been a -bachelor. Mr. Blake had positively to go to Samratam to settle the -company's affairs and Bobby's mother would not be separated from her -husband for the long months which must necessarily be engaged in the -journey. - -Bobby felt that he _must_ talk about the wonderful possibility that had -risen on the horizon of his future, so, long before time for Sunday -School, he ran over to the Martin house and yodled softly in the side -lane for Fred. - -Fred put his head out of a second-story window. "Hello!" he said, in a -whisper. "That you, Bobby?" - -"Yep. Come on down. I got the greatest thing to tell you." - -"Wait till I get into this stiff shirt," growled Fred. "It's just like -iron! I just _hate_ Sunday clothes--don't you, Bobby?" - -Bobby was too eager to tell his news to discuss the much mooted point. -"Hurry up!" he threw back at Fred, and then sat down on the grassy bank -to wait. - -He knew that Fred would have to pass inspection before either his mother -or his sister Mary, before he could start for Sunday School. He heard -some little scolding behind the closed blinds of the Martin house, and -grinned. Fred had evidently tried to get out before being fully -presentable. - -He finally came out, grumbling something about "all the girls being -nuisances," but Bobby merely chuckled. He thought Mary Martin was -pretty nice, himself--only, perhaps inclined to be a little "bossy," as -is usually the case with elder sisters. - -"Never mind, Fred," Bobby said, soothingly. "Let it go. I got something -just wonderful to tell you." - -"What is it?" demanded Fred, not much interested. - -"I believe something's going to happen that you've just been _hoping_ -for," said Bobby, smiling. - -"That Ap Plunkit's got the measles--or something?" exclaimed Fred, with -a show of eagerness. - -"Aw, no! It isn't anything to do with Ap Plunkit," returned Bobby, in -disgust. - -"What is it, then?" - -So Bobby told him. - - - - - CHAPTER VII - - FINANCIAL AFFAIRS - - -Two boys in Clinton did not go to Sunday School that day with minds much -attuned to the occasion. Fred could scarcely restrain himself within -the bounds of decent behavior as they walked from Merriweather Street, -where both the Blakes and the Martins lived, to Trinity Square, where -the spire of the church towered above the elms. - -The thought that Bobby was going with him to Rockledge (Fred had jumped -to that conclusion at once) put young Martin on the very pinnacle of -delight. - -"Of course, it would be great if your folks would take you to South -America," admitted Fred, after some reflection. "For you could bring -home a whole raft of marmosets, and green-and-gray parrots, and iguanas, -and the like, for pets. And you'd see manatees, and tapirs, and jaguars -and howling monkeys, and all the rest. But crickey! you wouldn't have -the fun we'll have when we get to Rockledge School." - -_Fun_ seemed to be all that Fred Martin looked forward to when he got to -boarding school. Lessons, discipline, and work of any kind, never -entered his mind. - -That evening Mr. and Mrs. Blake, with Bobby, went up the street to the -Martin house, and the parents of the two chums talked together a long -time on the front porch, while the children were sent into the back -yard--that yard that Buster Shea had cleaned so nicely the day before, -being partly paid in rats! - -When the Blakes started home, it had been concluded that Bobby was to -attend school with Fred, and that if Mr. and Mrs. Blake did not return -from their long journey in season, Bobby was to be under the care of the -Martins during vacation. - -"Another young one won't make any difference here, Mrs. Blake," said -easy-going Mrs. Martin. "Really, half the time I forget how many we -have, and have to go around after they are all abed, and count noses. -Bobby will make us no trouble, I am sure. And he always has a good -influence over Fred--we've remarked that many times." - -This naturally made Mrs. Blake very proud. Yet she took time to talk -very seriously to Bobby on several occasions during the next few days. -She spoke so tenderly to him, and with such feeling, that the boy's -heart swelled, and he could scarcely keep back the tears. - -"We want to hear the best kind of reports from you, Bobby--not only -school reports, but in the letters we may get from our friends here in -Clinton. Your father and I have tried to teach you to be a manly, -honorable boy. You are going where such virtues count for more than -anything else. - -"Be honest in everything; be kindly in your relations to the other boys; -always remember that those weaker than yourself, either in body or in -character, have a peculiar claim upon your forbearance. Father would -not want you to be a mollycoddle but mother doesn't want you to be a -bully. - -"You will go to church and Sunday School up there at Rockledge just as -you have here. Don't be afraid to show the other boys that you have -been taught to pray. I shall have your father find out the hour when -you all go to bed, and at that hour, while you are saying your prayers -and thinking of your father and me so far away from you, I shall be -praying for my boy, too!" - -"Don't you cry, Mother," urged Bobby, squeezing back the tears himself. -"I will do just as you tell me." - -It was arranged that Mr. Blake should take the boys to school when the -time came, but there was still a fortnight before the term opened at -Rockledge. Bobby and Fred had more preparations to make than you would -believe, and early on Monday morning Fred came over to the Blake house -and the chums went down behind the garden to have a serious talk. - -"Say! there's fifty boys in that school," Fred said. "There's another -school right across Monatook Lake. They call it Belden School. There's -all sorts of games between the two schools, you know, and we want to be -in them, Bobby." - -"What do you mean--games?" asked Bobby. - -"Why, baseball, and football, and hockey on the ice in winter, and -skating matches, and boating in the fall and spring--rowing, you know. -Lots of games. And we want to be in them, don't we?" - -"Sure," admitted his chum. - -"It's going to cost money," said Fred, decidedly. "We'll have to get -bats, and good horse-hide balls, and a catcher's mask and glove, and a -pad, and all that. We want to get on one of the ball teams. You know I -can catch, and you've got a dandy curve, Bobby, and a fade-away that -beats anything I've ever seen." - -"Yes. I'd like to play ball," admitted Bobby, rather timidly. "But -will they let us--we being new boys?" - -"We'll make them," said the scheming Fred. "If we show them we have the -things I said--mitt, and bats, and all--they'll be glad to have us play, -don't you see?" - -"But we haven't them," suddenly said Bobby. - -"No. But we must have them." - -"Say! they'll cost a lot of money. You know I don't have but a dollar a -month," said Bobby, "and I know Mother won't let me open my bank." - -"Of course not. That's the way with mothers and fathers," said Fred, -rather discontentedly. "They get us to start saving against the time -we'll want money awfully bad for something. And then we have to buy -shoes with it, or Christmas presents, or use it to pay for a busted -window. _That's_ what cleaned out my bank the last time--when I threw a -ball through Miklejohn's plate-glass window on the Square." - -"Well," said Bobby, getting away from _that_ unpleasant subject, "I have -most of my dollar left for this month, and Pa will give me another on -the first day of September." - -"I haven't but ten cents to my name," confessed Fred. - -"Then how'll we get new bats, and the mask, and pad, and all?" - -"That's what we want to find out," Fred said, grimly. "We'll have to -think up some scheme for making money. I wish I'd cleaned our yard -Saturday instead of hiring Buster Shea." - -"_That_ didn't cost you much," chuckled Bobby. "Only a cent--and you -couldn't have sold the five rats for anything." - -"Aw--well--" - -"Let's start a lemonade stand," suggested Bobby. - -"No. It's been done to death in Clinton this vacation," Fred declared, -emphatically. "Besides, the sugar and lemons and ice cost so much. And -you're always bound to drink so much yourself that there's no profit -when the lemonade's gone." - -Bobby acknowledged the justice of this with a silent nod. - -"Got to be something new, Bobby," urged Fred, with much belief in his -chum's powers of invention. "_You_ think of something." - -"Might have a show," said Bobby. - -"Aw--now--Bobby! you know that's no good," declared Fred. "We'd have to -let a lot of the other fellows into it. Can't run a circus--not even a -one-ring one--without a lot of performers. And they'd want the money -split up. We wouldn't make anything." - -"A peep-show," said Bobby, still thoughtfully chewing a straw. - -"Aw, shucks! that's worse. The kids will only pay pins, or rusty nails, -to see _that_ kind of a show." - -"No. That's not just what I mean," Bobby said, thoughtfully. "Let's -have a show that will only need us two to run it, Fred. Then we won't -have to divide the money with anybody else. And let's have a show that -grown up folks will want to see." - -"Great, Bobby! That's a swell idea--if we could do it." - -"I believe we _can_ do it." - -"Tell a fellow," urged Fred, excitedly. "Grown folks have money. We -could charge them a nickel--maybe a dime--" - -"No. A penny show," said Bobby, still chewing the straw. "Of course, -it's got to be worth a penny--and then, it'll have to be sort of a joke, -too--" - -"Whatever are you trying to get at, Bobby Blake?" demanded his chum in -wonder. - -"Listen here. Now--don't you tell--" - -He pulled Fred down beside him and whispered into his ear. The -red-haired boy looked puzzled at first. Then he caught the meaning of -his chum's plan, and his eyes grew big and he began to grin. Suddenly -he flung his cap into the air and seized Bobby round the neck to hug -him. - -"Scubbity-_yow_!" he yelled. "That's the greatest thing I've ever -heard, Bob! And we can have it right down 'side of my father's store." - -Mr. Martin kept a grocery store on Hurley Street, in a one-story -building on one side of which was an open lot belonging to the store -property. There was a side-door to the store-building opening upon this -lot, but not far back from the street. - -For the next two or three days Bobby and Fred were very busy indeed at -this place and, with some little help, they managed to erect a structure -that was made partly of old fence-boards and partly of canvas. - -The half-tent, half-shack was about ten feet wide. It had a sloping -canvas roof. It ran back from the sidewalk far enough to mask the -side-door into Mr. Martin's store. - -Mr. Martin was not in the secret of the nature of the boys' proposed -"show," but he was a good natured man and made no objection to his son -and Bobby utilizing his side door. - -"You see, we must have an 'entrance' and an 'exit'," Bobby explained. -"Folks can pass out through the store after seeing our show." - -"Sure," chuckled Fred. "As long as we don't call it 'egress,' nobody -will be scared that it's some strange and savage animal. All right. -'Exit' it is," and he proceeded to paint the sign, per Bobby's -instructions. - -And that was not the only sign to be painted. Fred was rather handy with -a brush, and when all the sign-painting was done, Bobby pronounced the -work fine. - -In front of the tent, Bobby had built a little platform with a box, -waist high, before it. Bobby was to be the lecturer, or "ballyhoo," and -was, likewise, to sell the tickets. The other boys were eaten up with -curiosity about the show, but neither Bobby nor Fred would give them a -chance to get a look inside the shelter after the roof was on. - -There was a canvas wall in the front, with a very narrow entrance. -Inside that was a canvas screen so that nobody peeking into the doorway -could see much of what lay beyond. They had one kerosene lamp to light -the interior. - -They made several other arrangements for the opening of the show, and -then there was nothing to do but wait for Saturday to arrive. On that -day many people from out-of-town came into Clinton to market, and the -Hurley Street stores were well patronized all day long. Bobby and Fred -knew they would not lack a curious company outside the tent, whether -they tolled many within or not. - - - - - CHAPTER VIII - - THE PEEP-SHOW - - -Very early on Saturday morning Bobby and Fred went down to Hurley Street -and hung the painted banners upon the front of the show tent. As to -their beauty, there might have been some question, but Fred had painted -the words clearly, and there could be no mistaking their meaning. - -The sheets on which the signs were painted stretched across the width of -the tent, and the upper line read: - - FOUR MARVELS OF THE WORLD - -Underneath this startling statement, in no less emphatic letters, -appeared the following: - - _ON EXHIBITION:_ - _The Strongest Man in the World_ - _The Handsomest Woman in the World_ - _The Prettiest Girl in the World_ - _The Smartest Boy in the World_ - -The surprising nature of these signs began to draw a crowd almost at -once--even before breakfast. The early comers were mostly boys, and -Bobby and Fred were not yet ready to admit the curious. - -The chums kept perfectly serious faces and refused to answer any of the -questions, or respond much to the raillery of their young friends. - -"You know that ain't so, Bobby Blake!" exclaimed one boy. "You can't -have all those people in that tent. And where'd you get them? Huh! -'Strongest man in the world.' Who's that? Sandow, or John L. Sullivan? -Bet you jest got a picture of Samson throwin' down the pillars." - -"That's what it is--just pictures!" agreed the other curious ones. - -Fred grinned at them and was--wonderful to relate!--as silent as his -chum. They had agreed to say nothing in response to the chaffing. - -"And who was the handsomest woman in the world?" scoffed another boy, -who was rather better informed than most of his mates. "Cleopatra, -maybe! And she was blacker than our Phoebe who washes for my mother. -All Egyptians are black." - -"I'd just like to know who you think is the prettiest girl, Bobby -Blake?" demanded one of the bigger girls who went to school with the -chums, her nose tip tilted to show her scorn. "What do you know about -pretty girls?" - -"If you want to see her, you can do so by paying your penny by and by," -said Bobby politely. - -"Humph! I'd like to see myself!" snapped the young lady--and at once -went home and secured a penny for that very purpose! - -"I s'pose you've got a photograph of your own self in there for the -smartest boy, Reddy Martin!" suggested one of the big fellows who dared -give Fred this hated nickname. - -"Well," drawled Fred, his eyes sparkling, "if it lay between you and me -who was the smartest, I don't believe _you'd_ get any medal." - -The boys took turns breakfasting on crackers and cheese in Mr. Martin's -store. Fred's father was greatly amused by the signs in front of the -tent and he wanted a private view of the wonders. But he was politely -refused. - -"We can't begin the show till Bobby's made the lecture, Dad," declared -Fred. "And we're not going to begin till there's a crowd on the street. -We'll pass them right into the store here, and I bet you and the clerks -will be too busy waiting on customers to see the show at all," and he -chuckled. - -In only a single matter did the boys have help in the arrangements for -the show. Mr. Blake, without being in the secret of the show itself, -had written the lecture which Bobby was to deliver outside the tent -every time a crowd gathered. - -Bobby put on a shabby drum-major's coat, with one epaulet, which had -been found in the Martins' attic. On his head he perched an old silk -hat belonging to his father, with the band stuffed out so that it would -not slip down over his ears and hide his face entirely. - -He beat upon a tin pan with a padded drum-stick, and thus brought -together the first crowd before the show-tent at about nine o'clock. -His ridiculous figure and the noise of the drumming soon collected -twenty or thirty grown people--mostly men at that hour--beside a crowd -of boys, and a few timid girls who fringed the crowd. - -Having called his audience together, Bobby, with a perfectly serious -face, began his speech which he had learned by heart, and spoke as well -as ever he recited "a piece" on Friday afternoons at school: - -"Kind Friends: - -"This wonderful exhibition has been arranged for the sole purpose of -extracting money from your pockets and putting it into ours. We make -this frank announcement at the start so that there may be no -misunderstanding. - -"This marvelous Museum is not a charitable institution nor is it for the -benefit of any philanthropic cause. - -"It is merely an effort and an invention to promote good humor; any -person unable to appreciate a joke on himself, or herself, is -respectfully requested not to patronize our stupendous and surprising -entertainment. - -"Where before, in any conglomeration of Wonders of the World, have four -such marvelous creatures been placed simultaneously on exhibition? - -"Now, kind friends, but one person is admitted to our entertainment at a -time, and but one of these advertised marvels will be exhibited to each -visitor. This is a positive rule that cannot be broken. - -"The charge for our educational and startling exhibit is but a penny--a -cent--the smallest coin of the realm. It will not make you, and it -cannot break you. - -"In addition, it is understood that the person paying his, or her, -entrance fee to this Museum of Marvels, agrees to keep silent regarding -what is shown within, for at least twenty-four hours. On that, and on no -other terms, do we accept your penny. - -"If one should not be satisfied that a penny's worth is given in -exchange for the entrance fee, the same will be cheerfully refunded. - -"Now, kind friends, one at a time," concluded Bobby, stepping down from -the rostrum to the narrow entrance to the tent. "Form in line at the -right, please. Have your pennies ready; we cannot make change. Doctor -Truman is the first to enter the Hall of Marvels. Thank you, Doctor!" -as the cheerful, chuckling physician, bag in hand, on his morning rounds -to see his patients, pushed forward to the entrance of the tent. - -There was a good deal of hanging back at first. Bobby had expected that. -And Fred might have lost hope had he been outside where he could see the -crowd that began to dwindle away when Bobby's funny speech was finished. - -But in a moment the doctor's roar of laughter from within the tent -brought some of the suspicious ones back. The doctor appeared at the -store door, his plump sides shaking with laughter, and wiping the joyous -tears from his eyes. - -"What is it, Doc?" asked an old farmer. "What's them 'tarnal boys doin' -in that tent?" - -"Pay your penny and go in and see," exclaimed Doctor Truman, hurrying -away. "If a laugh like that isn't worth a cent, I don't know what is!" - -Fred's whistle had announced the departure of the first visitor by way -of the shop door, and Bobby urged up another: - -"Don't crowd, kind friends. The performance will continue all day and -this evening--or until everybody desiring to do so has seen one of these -four Wonders of the World." - -Jim Hatton, the harness maker, followed the doctor. He didn't laugh, -but the curious ones heard him exclaim, a moment after his -disappearance: - -"Well, I'll be jiggered!" which was Mr. Hatton's favorite expression, -and he came out of the front door of Mr. Martin's shop, grinning -broadly. - -"What was it, Jim?" asked the same curious farmer. - -"Can't tell ye, Jake. See it yourself--'nless you're afraid o' riskin' -a penny to find out just how smart our boys here in Clinton be," and Mr. -Hatton went off to his shop still grinning. - -Somebody pushed forward the very girl who had sharpened her wit on Bobby -before the exhibition opened. She had her penny clutched tightly in her -hand. - -"Don't you let go of that cent, Susie," advised Bobby, grinning at her, -"if you think you'll want it again for anything. For you won't be -pleased by what you see--maybe." - -Susie tossed her head and went inside. In just a minute Fred blew his -whistle and Susie, with flaming cheeks, appeared at the front door of -the store. - -"What was it, Susie?" demanded one of her friends. - -"Which did you see--the strong man, or the handsome lady, or the pretty -girl, or the smart boy?" cried another. - -But Susie shut her lips tightly, glanced once at Bobby, who was letting -the curious old farmer pass into the tent, and then she ran home. The -curiosity of the boys and girls mounted higher and higher. - -The old farmer popped out almost as quick as he popped in. He was -chewing a straw vigorously, and his face was flushed. It was hard to -tell for a moment whether he was mad, or not. - -"Wal, Neighbor Jake, did yet git your money's wuth?" demanded another -rural character. - -The bewhiskered old fellow turned on the speaker, and gradually a grin -spread over his face. - -"Say, Sam!" he drawled. "You never had none too much schoolin'. Your -edication was frightfully neglected. You pay that there boy a cent and -go in there, and you'll l'arn more in a minute than you ever did before -in a day! You take it from me." - -Thus advised his neighbor pressed forward and was the next "victim." -When he came out his face was red likewise, while Jake burst into a -mighty roar of laughter and rocked himself to and fro on the horseblock -in front of the store door. - -Soon the second farmer joined in the laughter, and thereafter, for an -hour, the two stood about and urged everybody from out of town whom they -knew to enter the peep-show. - -Occasionally Bobby mounted the platform, banged on the pan, and lifted -up his voice in the speech Mr. Blake had written for him. It coaxed the -people to stop before the show every time. And between whiles, Bobby -kept repeating: - -"It is only a cent--and your money back if you are not satisfied! If it -is a joke, keep it to yourself and let the next one find it out. Come -on! Have your pennies ready, please, kind friends. See one of the four -greatest wonders of the world." - -At first none of the ladies who were out shopping did more than stop and -listen and wonder among themselves "what that Blake boy was up to now." -But the girl who worked in Mr. Ballard's real estate office ran across -the street to see what the crowd was about, and was tempted to enter the -tent. - -She came out giggling, and greatly delighted, and pretty soon the girls -who worked in the offices and stores along Hurley Street, were attracted -to the show. They all seemed to be highly delighted, when they came out -through the store. - -"I declare!" exclaimed Mrs. Hiram Pepper, to a neighbor, as they passed -the peep-show again. "I've a mind to see what that means." - -"It's some foolishness," said her friend, who was a rather vinegary -maiden lady named Miss Prissy Craven. "I wonder what that boy's mother -can be thinking of!" - -"Why, Mrs. John Blake is as nice a lady as there is in town," declared -Mrs. Pepper. "And I must say for Bobby that he's never in any mischief. -He's full of fun--like any boy. But there ain't a _smitch_ of meanness -in him." - -"Humph!" exclaimed the other lady, sourly. - -"Now, you wait. I'm going in," declared Mrs. Pepper, fumbling in her -purse for a penny. - -She marched up to Bobby, eyeing him rather sternly. To tell the truth, -for the first time the young showman quailed. - -"Maybe you'd--you'd better not go in, Mrs. Pepper," he mumbled. - -"Why not? Ain't it fit for a lady to see?" demanded she, with -increasing sternness. - -"Oh, yes!" and Bobby _had_ to giggle at that. "But--but--Well, anyway, -you mustn't tell, and you can have your money back if you don't like the -show." - -"Ha!" exclaimed Mrs. Pepper, "as though I was worried about the loss of -a penny," and she went into the tent with her back very straight. - -She came out shaking with laughter. The tears rolled down her face and -she had to sit down on Mr. Martin's steps to get her breath. Miss -Prissy Craven demanded, sharply: "What under the sun is the matter with -you, Mis' Pepper? I never seen you behave so. What is it in that tent -them boys have got? I sh'd think it was a giggle ball full o' tickle!" - -"Ha, ha, ha!" chuckled the amused Mrs. Pepper. "You go in yourself, -Prissy, and see what you think of it. I can't tell you." - -"I'm going!" announced the maiden lady, nodding her head. "But lemme -tell you," she added to Bobby, "if it's anything I don't like, you'll -hear about it when I come out." - -Bobby looked across at Mrs. Pepper doubtfully, but he had to grin. The -lady who was laughing nodded to him vigorously, and he let Miss Craven -through. - -In less than a minute she flounced through the store and demanded, in -her high, rasping voice: - -"What did you mean by trickin' me that-a-way, Mis' Pepper? I never was -so disgusted in all my life. A perfec' swindle--" - -"You can get back your penny if you didn't like it," suggested Bobby, -trying hard not to laugh. - -"Well, I--" - -But Mrs. Pepper broke in upon the angry spinster's possible tirade: -"Jest what did you see, Prissy?" she asked the angry one, with emphasis. -Miss Craven's mouth remained open for fully half a minute, but no sound -came forth. The blood mounted into her face, and then she shut her lips -and started off hastily for her own home. _Evidently she did not want to -tell_! - -This incident excited the curiosity of the bystanders more than ever. -So far every person seeing the show had "played fair" and had refused to -say what he or she had seen on the inside of the tent. - -Bobby had refused to let the smaller boys or girls into the show, -telling them that late in the day they might see it for nothing. That -had been agreed upon with Fred, for the proprietors of the entertainment -were afraid that the little folk would be tempted to talk the matter -over among themselves and thus spoil the fun--as well as reduce the -receipts. - -And the pennies came in faster than Bobby or Fred had dared hope. -During the morning those people who had business on Hurley Street came -to see the show, and to listen to Bobby as "bally-hoo," and by noon-time -wind of the peep-show had gone all over town. - -Bobby's mother, and Fred's, too, heard of it from their husbands at -luncheon, and they decided to see what their young hopefuls were about. -Bobby was just a little bit scared when he saw his mother; he didn't -know whether she would see the joke as his father had, earlier in the -day--for Mr. Blake had come out of the tent roaring with laughter. - -"It beats anything how those two youngsters have got the whole town -guessing," he had said to Mr. Martin. "And they have hit on a positive -human failing that shows more sober thought than I believed either of -them capable of." - -"Dare you let your mother in to see this show, Bobby Blake?" asked Mrs. -Blake, seriously, when the boy's lecture--which he now rattled off -glibly enough--was finished. - -"There's no 'free list'," said Bobby, his eyes twinkling. "Pa told me -to be sure not to let you in unless you paid. And I am sure, Mother, -that you will see the handsomest woman in the world, if you want to, -when you go inside." - -"I declare! you have _me_ puzzled, Bobby Blake," said easy going Mrs. -Martin. - -"Just a minute, please!" urged Bobby, detaining his chum's mother. -"You'll have to take your turn. But one person is allowed to enter at a -time. This way! this way, kind friends! The line forms on the right. -Only a penny--a cent--the smallest coin of the realm. It won't make you -and it can't break you!" - -The two mothers joined each other afterward outside of Mr. Martin's -store. They looked into each other's faces wonderingly. - -"What do you think of those boys?" demanded Mrs. Martin. "What will -they do next?" - -"I--I don't know," admitted Mrs. Blake, with a sigh. "But I _do_ fear -that they will turn that school they are going to this fall -topsy-turvy!" - - - - - CHAPTER IX - - OFF FOR ROCKLEDGE - - -Trade at the peep-show was brisk until mid-afternoon. Bobby and Fred -had been able to get only a bite of luncheon from the store "in their -fists," and had compared notes but seldom. - -Bobby's trouser-pockets were borne down with the weight of pennies. In -refusing to make change it soon became very hard along Hurley Street to -obtain pennies at all. All the copper money in the town was fast coming -the way of the proprietors of the peep-show. - -Neither Bobby nor Fred realized this fact--nor what it meant to -them--until after the First National and the Old Farmers' Banks had -closed their doors for the day. The storekeepers then began running -around to borrow copper money, and it was some time before anybody knew -what made the scarcity of pennies in the storekeepers' tills! - -Meanwhile the financial adventure of Bobby Blake and Fred Martin was -prospering. - -Bobby suddenly saw the long-armed, white-headed Applethwaite Plunkit -standing in the crowd eying him while he delivered his talk. The crowd -before the rostrum laughed as usual, and those who had been in to see -the show urged their friends to venture likewise. - -The white-headed farm boy from Plunkit's Creek was pushing forward to -enter the show. Bobby had hoped he would not venture, but when Ap -approached, Bobby made up his mind quickly. - -"You can't go in, Applethwaite," he said, decidedly. "We don't want -you." - -"Why not!" - -"Never mind why not," said Bobby, firmly, looking straight into the -flushed face of the boy who had treated him and Fred so meanly just a -week before. "But you can't go in." - -"Ain't my cent just as good as anybody else's?" - -"Not here it isn't," declared Bobby, who knew very well that if the -white head appeared in the tent where the red head was, there would be -an explosion! Besides, he did not trust Ap. He believed Ap would do -all he could to break up the show after he had seen it. - -Ap began to bluster and threaten, but there were too many grown folk -around for him to dare attack Bobby. "You jes' wait," he whispered. -"I'll fix you some time." - -Bobby did not know what Applethwaite might try to do, and when he saw -him a little later with a group of boys who were pretty rough looking, -he was worried. These boys stood across the street from the show and -Bobby was afraid they were waiting for some slack time, when there were -no grown folk about, to "rush" the tent. - -He called Fred out and told him what he feared and Fred went through and -told the biggest clerk in his father's store. The clerks were -interested in the two young showmen, for they had been into the tent and -were delighted with what they had seen. - -The big fellow promised, therefore, to come running and bring the other -clerks to help, if the boys whistled for assistance. This plan quieted -Bobby's fears, and he gave his mind to the lecture, and to coaxing the -audience into the show, one by one. - -Suddenly the young lecturer saw Mr. Priestly in the crowd. He flushed -up pretty red when he saw him, for Mr. Priestly was the minister at the -church the boys attended, and Bobby thought he was about the finest man -in town. - -The clergyman was a young man who had made a name for himself in -University athletics, and he had the biggest Boys' Club in town. Bobby -and Fred were particular friends of the young minister, and for a moment -Bobby wondered if Mr. Priestly would approve of the peep-show. - -The gentleman's ruddy, smoothly shaven face was a-smile as he listened -to Bobby's speech, and his blue eyes twinkled. He was the first to -reach the tent entrance when Bobby stepped down from the platform. - -"Which wonder am _I_ to see, Bobby?" he asked, as he presented his penny -to the youthful showman. - -"We--we favor the clergy, Mr. Priestly," said Bobby, hesitatingly, yet -with an answering smile. "_You_ shall see two wonders." Then he called -in to his partner: "Hey, Fred!" - -"Hullo!" returned the red-haired one, coming to the entrance. - -"Here's Mr. Priestly," said Bobby, in a low voice. "I want you to show -_him_ the strongest man in the world, and the very best man in Clinton!" - -"Oh-ho!" cried Mr. Priestly. "_That's_ the way of it, eh?" and he -pinched Bobby's cheek as he went into the tent. "I believe I can guess -your joke, boys." - -"Never mind! nobody else has guessed it," chuckled Fred, going before -him. "Stand right there, Mr. Priestly." - -The oil lamp was in a bracket screwed to a post in the back of the tent. -Just where its light shone best was a narrow red curtain. Fred became -preternaturally solemn as he stepped forward and laid his hand upon the -cords that manipulated the curtain. - -"We will show you, Mr. Priestly," he said, "the Strongest Man in the -World--and as Bobby says, the very _best_ man in Clinton!" - -He pulled aside the curtain and Mr. Priestly saw his own reflection in a -long mirror that had been borrowed from the Martin attic. - -"Well, well!" exclaimed the minister, nodding. "And is this all your -show?" - -"Anybody who is not satisfied with what he _sees_," returned Fred, -chuckling, "can have the entrance fee refunded." - -At that the clergyman burst into a great laugh. "You boys! you boys! -You certainly have them _there_. One must be dissatisfied with himself -to ask for the return of his penny. I--I am not altogether sure that -this doesn't smack of a swindle; but it certainly _is_ smart. You -should show your own face in the glass, Fred, when the younger victims -come in to see the Smartest Boy in the World." - -"No, sir," grinned Fred. "Every fellow that comes in is better -satisfied to see his own reflection, I reckon." - -The clergyman went out, laughing. That the joke had kept up all day was -the wonder of it. The audience became smaller as supper time drew near. - -Then came Mr. Harrod, who kept the variety and ice cream store down the -street. "Say," he said to Bobby. "You boys must have cornered all the -pennies in town. I've got to have some. I'll give you a dollar bill for -ninety cents, Bobby Blake." - -"All right, sir," cried Bobby. "Is a dollar's worth all you want? I'll -send them down to your store in a few moments." - -"Send two dollars' worth," returned Mr. Harrod, hurrying away. - -"Hi, Betty Martin!" shouted Bobby to Fred's "next oldest sister," who -was on the fringe of the crowd. "Come here and count pennies--do, -please!" - -"Hi Betty Martin" stuck out her tongue promptly and did not stir. "Call -me by my proper name, Mister Smartie!" she said, sharply. - -"Oh, me, oh, my! I beg your pardon," laughed Bobby. "Miss Elizabeth -Martin, will you please count some of these pennies and roll them into -papers--right there on the box, please?" - -"All right," said Betty, who did not like to be called after any Mother -Goose character. - -She was a bright girl and she counted the pennies correctly into piles -of thirty, rolled them up that way, carried six of the rolls down to the -variety store, and brought back a two dollar bill. - -Then Mr. Martin needed copper money, and Betty counted a dollars' worth -out for him--at the rate of exchange established by Mr. Harrod. - -"Wow, Bobby!" murmured Fred, at the door of the tent. "We get them -coming and going, don't we? Ten cents on the dollar, too! We're -getting rich." - -But the peep-show had had its run. Not many could be coaxed in after -supper, and the boys were tired, too. They had not eaten a proper meal -all day, and Mr. Martin advised them to shut up shop. - -They took down the signs, put out the lamp, and went into the back room -of the grocery to count the receipts. The amount was far beyond their -expectations, and naturally Bobby and Fred were delighted. - -"It takes you to think up the bright ideas, chum," said Fred, -admiringly. - -But Bobby looked thoughtful. "I wonder if Mr. Priestly thought it was -just right?" he murmured. "I suppose we _did_ fool them all," and he -sighed. - -"Shucks!" exclaimed Fred. "They didn't have to be fooled if they didn't -want to. And even Prissy Craven didn't come back for her penny, did -she?" - -Only a few days more before they would start for Rockledge School. The -chums bought the bats and mask and other things they craved. They packed -their trunks two or three times over. They carried the books they liked -best, and many treasures for which their troubled mothers could see no -reason whatsoever. - -"Now, this can of pins and nails, Bobby," urged Mrs. Blake, helplessly. -"What _possible_ good can they be? I do not see how I am to get your -clothing into the trunk." - -"Aw--Mother!" gasped Bobby. "Don't throw them away. A fellow never can -tell when he'll want a pin--or a nail--or a button--or something. Never -mind putting in so many stockings. Leave the can--do, Mother!" - -All the Clinton boys who had been the chums' particular associates at -school were greatly interested in what they termed Bobby's and Fred's -"luck." They all had to be told, over and over again, of the expected -wonders of Rockledge School. - -"And I bet you and Fred turn things upside down there," said "Scat" -Monroe, with an envious sigh. - -"I bet we don't!" responded Bobby, quickly. "Dr. Raymond is awfully -strict, they say. We'll have to walk a chalk line." - -"Well, if Fred Martin ever walks a chalk-line," scoffed another of the -fellows, "it'll be a mighty crooked one!" - -However, the night before the boys were to start for Rockledge, the good -natured groceryman gave his son a long talk, and Fred went to bed -feeling pretty solemn. For the first time, he began to realize that he -was not going away to boarding school merely for the fun there was to be -got out of it! - -"You haven't made much of a mark for yourself in the Clinton Public -School, Frederick," said Mr. Martin, sternly; "but I do not believe that -is because you are either a dunce, or stubborn. You have been -frittering away your opportunities. - -"I am tired of seeing your name at the foot of your class roster--or -near it. Inattention is your failing. You are going where they make -boys attend. And if you do not work, and keep up with your mates, you -will be sent home. Do you understand that? - -"And if you are sent home, you shall be sent to another school where -you'll have very little fun at all for the rest of your life. I mean -the School of Hard Experience! - -"You shall be set to work in my store half of each day, like a poor -man's son, and go to the public school the other half day, and your name -will be on the truant officer's list." - -"And I guess he meant it," said Fred to Bobby the next morning. "Father -doesn't often scold, but he was mad at me for being so low in my classes -last term." - -The boys started for the railroad station with Mr. Blake, gayly enough, -however. When Bobby had parted from his mother, he had to swallow a big -lump in his throat, and he hugged her around the neck _hard_ for a -minute. But he had forced back the tears by the time they got to the -Martins' house. - -There the other children were all out on the front porch to bid their -brother and Bobby good-by. "Hi Betty Martin" threw an old shoe after -them. - -"For luck," she said. "That's what they do when folks get married." - -"But Bobby and I aren't getting married," complained Fred, rubbing his -right ear where the shoe had landed. "And, anyway, no girl's got a -right to shut her eyes tight and throw an old boot like _that_. How'd -you know you wouldn't do some damage?" - -"That's the luck of it," chuckled Bobby. "It's lucky she didn't hurt -you worse." - - - - - CHAPTER X - - NEW SURROUNDINGS - - -The boys were so eagerly looking ahead that they scarcely gave a -backward glance at Clinton, as the train rolled away. Mr. Blake had his -paper and a whole seat to himself. Bobby and Fred occupied a seat ahead -of him, and laughed and chattered as they pleased. - -"This is only Friday," said Fred, "and classes don't begin at Rockledge -until Monday. We'll have two whole days to get acquainted in. Do you -s'pose there will be some of the boys at the Rockledge station to meet -us?" - -"And a brass band, too, maybe--eh?" chuckled Bobby. "I guess nobody but -the principal of the school knows we're coming, Fred. We'll be new -boys, and the bigger fellows will boss us around at first." - -"Huh! they can't boss _me_ if I don't want to be bossed," declared the -pugnacious Fred. - -"Don't you begin to talk that way," advised his chum. "We'll have to be -pretty small potatoes at first." - -"I don't see why," grumbled Fred. - -"You'll find out. My father went to a boarding school when he was a -boy, and he told me," Bobby explained. - -They did not have to wait until reaching Rockledge to learn something -about the temper of the boys with whom they would be associated. At -Cambwell several students got aboard and came into their car. They were -all older than Bobby and Fred, and they were very noisy and -self-assertive. - -They sang, and joked together in the seats up front. Finally they spied -the two boys from Clinton sitting in the middle of the car. - -"Hullo!" exclaimed a tall, thin, yellow-haired boy who seemed to be a -leader in the fun. "There's a couple of kids who look as though they'd -just left home and mamma. Bet they're going with us." - -One of the other boys said something in a low tone, and then he and the -yellow-haired one got up and came down the aisle. - -"Say!" said the second boy, who was short and stocky and squinted his -eyes up in a funny way when he talked. "Goin' to school, sonnies?" - -"Yes, we are," said Fred, sharply. - -"Rockledge or Belden?" - -"Rockledge, if you please," said Bobby, politely. - -"Huh!" said the tall boy, grinning. "I don't know whether it pleases us -any to have you go to Rockledge. But it's lucky you're not bound for -Belden." - -"Why?" asked Fred. - -"We'd have to chuck your hats out of the window. We don't allow any -Belden boys to ride in this train with their hats on." - -"And do the Belden boys throw the Rockledge boys' hats out of the -window?" asked Bobby, innocently enough. - -"If they're able. But they ain't. You sure you are going to -Rockledge?" - -"You can wait till we get off the train and then find out whether we -tell the truth, or not," said Fred, rather crossly. - -"Say, young fellow! we don't like fresh fish at Rockledge," warned the -yellow-haired boy. "If you're going there, you want to walk Turkey." - -Bobby pinched Fred warningly, and both the chums remained silent. - -"I never did like the looks of red hair, anyway--did you, Bill?" -suggested the squinting chap, grinning. - -"No. We'll have to dye it for him," said the yellow-haired boy. "What -color do you prefer instead of red?" he asked Fred Martin. - -"Well, I wouldn't like it to be straw-colored," responded Fred, -promptly, and with a meaning glance at his interrogator's hair. "Any -other will suit me better." - -The yellow-haired boy flushed and his pale eyes sparkled. Fred stared -back at him quite boldly, for the ten year old was no coward, whatever -else he might be. - -"Fresh fish--just as I told you," muttered the other strange boy, -scowling and squinting at the same time. He was a very ugly boy when he -did this. "Both of them." - -"Well!" began Bill, and then stopped. - -The train had halted at another station the moment before. Somebody -entered the front door of the car, and at once the group of boys going -to Rockledge School set up a shout. - -"Hi, Barry!" - -"See who's come in with the tide! Hey, Captain!" - -"Hullo, Barry Gray!" - -"Captain! Captain! How-de-do!" - -Even the yellow-haired boy and his comrade turned to look. Bobby and -Fred saw a handsome, brown haired fellow coming down the aisle. He was -fourteen or older. He carried a light overcoat over his arm and he was -very well dressed. - -He tossed his coat and bag into one of the racks, and began shaking -hands. Everybody seemed glad to see him. As he quickly glanced down -the aisle his look seemed to quell Bill and the squinting boy. - -"He's going to butt in, of course," growled the first named. - -"Sure. Feels his oats--" - -The fellow with the squint said no more. The handsome fellow, whose -name seemed to be Barry Gray, came down the aisle almost at once. - -"Hullo, Bill Bronson," he said, with some sharpness. "Up to your usual -tricks?" - -"It isn't any business of yours, Barry, what Jack and I do," growled the -yellow-haired boy. - -"I'll make it my business, then," said Barry Gray, laughing. Then he -turned directly to Bobby and Fred. - -"You kids going to Rockledge this term?" he asked. - -"Yes, sir," said Bobby, quickly. - -Barry Gray was not as tall as Bill Bronson, and perhaps not as old, but -he evidently was not afraid of either of the bullies. - -"Where are you from?" - -"Clinton, sir," pronounced Bobby, again taking the lead. - -"What's your name--and your chum's?" asked Barry. - -"My name is Bob Blake, and this is Fred Martin," said Bobby. - -"Glad to know you," said the older boy, shaking hands with both of them, -and even Fred began to forgive him for calling them "kids." - -"Ever been to school before?" asked Barry. - -"Not to boarding school," Fred said. - -"Come on up and I'll introduce you to the other fellows. Don't mind -Bill Bronson and Jack Jinks, here," added Barry Gray, grinning at the -two retiring bullies. "If they bother you much, come to me. I'm -captain of the school this year, and Dr. Raymond expects me to keep all -of the fellows straight. Being a captain is like being a monitor. You -understand!" - -"Oh, yes, sir," said Bobby. - -"And you needn't 'sir' me so much," said the kindly captain. "Come on, -now--" - -Bobby turned to ask permission of his father. Barry at once saw that Mr. -Blake was with the chums from Clinton. - -"Who's this, Bob? Your father, or Fred's?" - -"This is my father," said Bobby, politely. - -The frank school captain stepped forward and offered his hand. "Glad to -meet you, Mr. Blake," he said. "You trust the boys with me. I'll see -that they get in right with the other fellows, and that they're not put -upon too much." - -"I'm sure of it," said Mr. Blake, smiling. "I shall feel better about -leaving Bobby and Fred at Rockledge, knowing that you will have an eye -on them." - -"Oh, you can be easy about them," said Captain Gray who, despite his -natural conceit, seemed a very nice fellow. "Of course, they'll have to -take a few hard knocks, and the boys will 'run' them some. But they -sha'n't be hurt." - -"Huh!" muttered Fred. "I guess we can take care of ourselves." - -Barry looked down at him and grinned. "Yes, I see you own red hair," he -observed, and Mr. Blake laughed outright. - -Fred followed his chum and Barry Gray up the aisle with rather a lagging -step. He felt his own importance considerably, and he did not see why -he should be as respectful as Bobby was to the captain of Rockledge -School. - -In a very few minutes Master Martin felt better. The other boys were a -lot more friendly than Bill Bronson and Jack Jinks, who the chums -learned later, were two of the most troublesome boys at the school. Not -many of the others liked the bullies. - -There were some fellows quite as young as Bobby and Fred, but none of -them were "greenies," like the chums from Clinton. - -"Sure you'll have to be hazed!" explained a fat, genial boy, named Perry -Wise--called "Pee Wee" because of his initials and his size. "Every -fellow has to, that comes to the school. But Barrymore Gray won't let -them go too far. He's a nice fellow, he is." - -"I think he is fine," said Bobby, enthusiastically. - -"He's pretty fresh, I guess," grumbled Fred. - -"We don't call the captain of the school fresh," said Pee Wee. "He has -a right to boss us. The Doctor lets him. Next to the teachers, Barry's -got more to say about things in the school than anybody else." - -This did not please Master Martin much. He wanted to be of some -importance himself, and he had never been used to giving in to other -boys, unless it was to Bobby Blake. - -However, there was so much to hear, and so many new people to get -acquainted with that Fred had little time to worry about Barry Gray. -The chums found the time passing so quickly that they were surprised -when the train slowed down and the brakeman shouted, "All out for -Rockledge!" - -There was no crowd of boys and no band. Rockledge was a busy town, with -oak-shaded streets, great bowlders thrusting their heads out of the -vacant lots, and much blasting going on where new cellars were being -excavated. - -There was an electric car line through the middle of High Street, which -turned off at the shore of the lake (they learned this afterward) and -went as far as Belden. - -Bobby and Fred, with Mr. Blake, took a car on this line and crossed the -railroad, finally bringing up within sight of the grounds of Rockledge -School. - -It was not a large school, and there were only four buildings, including -the gate-keeper's cottage where all of the outside servants slept. It -had once been a fine private estate, and Dr. Raymond had made of it a -most attractive and homelike institution. - -The doctor and his family, and his chief assistant, lived in a handsome -house connected with the main building of the school by a long, roofed -portico. This last building was of brick and sandstone, and held -classrooms, dining-rooms, the kitchen department in one end of the -basement, and a fine gymnasium in the other. - -In the upper stories were a hall, two large dormitories in each of which -were beds for twenty boys, and five small dormitories for two boys each. -The ten highest scholars occupied these small rooms, and from them was -chosen the captain of the school each June. - -The junior teachers slept in this big building, too. - -There were beautiful lawns, fine shrubs, winding, shaded walks, and a -large campus on which were a baseball diamond, a football field, and -courts for tennis, basket-ball, and other games. - -These facts Bobby and Fred gradually absorbed. At first they were too -round-eyed to appreciate much but the fact that the place seemed large, -and that there positively was an immense number of boys! Fifty boys -seemed to have swelled to a hundred and fifty--and they all stared at -the newcomers. - -Mr. Blake went immediately to the doctor's study, taking Bobby and Fred -with him. Dr. Raymond was a tall, big-boned man, wearing very loose -garments and a collar a full size too large. The big doctor had bushy -side-whiskers, and his chin and lip were very closely shaved. He had -white, big teeth, and he showed them all when he smiled. - -His eyes were kindly, and wrinkles appeared around them when he smiled, -in a most engaging fashion. When he shook hands with Bobby and Fred, -some magnetic feeling passed from the big man to the boys, so that the -latter decided on the instant that they liked Dr. Raymond! - -"Manly little fellows--both," said the doctor, to Mr. Blake, as the two -gentlemen walked toward the big windows at the end of the room, leaving -Bobby and Fred marooned, like two castaway sailors, on a desert isle of -rug near the door. - -The doctor's study was enormously long, with a high ceiling, and lined -with books, save where a fireplace broke into the bookshelves on one -side. There was a very large flat-topped desk, too, several deep chairs, -and a number of smaller tables at which the older boys sometimes did -their lessons. - -"You'll find them just as full of fun and mischief as a couple of -chestnuts are of meat," said Mr. Blake, with a chuckle. "But I don't -think there is a mean trait in either of them. My boy has had, we -think, rather a good influence over Freddie Martin. The latter's red -hair is apt to get him into trouble." - -"I understand," said the doctor, nodding and smiling. "I try to leave -the boys much to themselves in the matter of deportment. The bigger -boys are supposed to set the standard of morals, and I am glad to say -that I have never yet had occasion to be sorry for beginning that way. - -"We run Rockledge School on honor, sir. Every year--in June--we present -to the boy who earns it, a gold medal stating that for the past year he -has shown himself to be worthy of distinction above his fellows in a -strictly honorable way. - -"This medal is not given for scholarship--yet none but a fairly studious -boy may earn it. It is not given for deportment strictly--though no boy -who is not gentlemanly and of manly bearing and action, can win it. The -medal is not given for mere popularity, for a boy may sometimes be -popular with his fellows, without having many of the fundamental virtues -of character which we hope to see in our boys. - -"The boy who won it last year, and is gone from us now, stood ninth in -his class only, and was not much of an athlete--which latter tells -mightily among the boys themselves, you know. Yet my teachers and -myself, as well as the school, were practically unanimous in the -selection of Tommy Wardwell as the recipient of the Medal of Honor." - -The gentlemen talked some few minutes longer. Then Mr. Blake came to bid -Bobby and Fred good-by. He shook hands gravely with his own son and -then took Fred's hand. - -"You've got some trouble, some fun, and a lot of work before you, Master -Fred," he said. "I expect your father and mother will be anxiously -waiting for good reports about you." - -Then he looked at Bobby again. That youngster was having great -difficulty in "holding in." His father was going away--and going to a -far country. Thousands of miles would separate them before they would -meet again. - -"You got anything to say to me, Bobs?" asked 'Mr. Blake, briskly. - -"Ye--yes, sir!" gasped Bobby. "I--I got to kiss you before you go, Pa!" -and he flung his arms around Mr. Blake's neck and for a minute was a -baby again. - -He knew that Fred would think such a show of emotion beneath him, and he -saw the doctor looking at him curiously. Just the same, Bobby Blake was -glad--oh, how glad!--many and many a time thereafter that he had bade -his father good-by in just this way. - - - - - CHAPTER XI - - GETTING ACQUAINTED - - -Pee Wee was the boy who first "took up" the chums from Clinton. The fat -boy sat on the steps of the doctor's house, idly whistling and twiddling -his fingers when Bobby and Fred came out. Perry Wise never stood when -he could sit, and never walked when he could stand, and never ran when -walking would get him to his goal just as well. He was the picture of -peace just now. - -"Hello, fellows!" he said. - -"Hello!" returned Bobby. - -"Is the Old Doc goin' to let you stay?" grinned the fat boy. - -"Huh! why shouldn't he?" demanded Fred, quick to take offense. - -"Cause you're so terrible green," chuckled Pee Wee. "They let the sheep -loose sometimes to crop the lawn, and they might eat you." - -"Aw--you're too smart," said the abashed Fred. - -Bobby only laughed. He was glad to have his mind taken up by something -beside the fact of his father's going away. - -"Say!" said Pee Wee, cordially. "Don't you want to look over the -place?" - -"We'd be very glad to," admitted Bobby. - -Pee Wee made no effort to rise at first. He merely bawled after another -boy who was some distance away: - -"Hey, Purdy! Don't you want to beau the greenhorns around?" - -Fred Martin doubled his fist again and scowled at the placid fat boy, -but Bobby warned him by a shake of the head. The boy addressed, who was -smaller than Pee Wee, but who was well out of his reach, turned and made -a face at the fat boy, saying: - -"Do your own work, Fatty. Don't try to put it off on me." - -Pee Wee was quite unmoved by this rough retort. He looked around and -hailed another lad: - -"Jimmy Ailshine! come on and show the newsies all the lions, will you?" - -"For why?" demanded the boy addressed. - -"Aw--well--I have a stone bruise," explained Pee Wee, hesitatingly. - -"You must have it from sitting so much, then," declared Jimmy, with a -loud laugh. "You better take them around yourself, or the captain will -be after you." - -"You needn't show us about if it is very, very painful," suggested -Bobby, beginning to understand the fat boy now. - -"Guess we can find our way around alone," grunted Fred. - -"Aw well! we won't row about it," said Pee Wee, getting up slowly. "But -that stone bruise--" - -However, the trouble in question seemed, later, to be of a shifting -nature, for first Pee Wee favored his right foot and then his left. - -It must be confessed that Perry Wise was a very lazy boy, but he was a -good natured one, and when once the exploration party was started, he -played the part of show-master very well indeed. - -They went through the school rooms and up to the dormitories first. In -the second dormitory, where the smaller boys slept, in a pair of twin -beds in one corner, Bobby and Fred were billeted. - -"And no pillow fights, or other ructions, after 'lights out,' unless you -ask the captain first," warned Pee Wee. - -"Seems to me this captain has a lot to say around here," growled Fred. - -"You bet he has. And what he says he means. And it's not healthy for -anybody to do a thing when he says '_don't_.'" - -"Why not?" queried Master Fred. - -Pee Wee grinned. "You try it if you like," he said. "Then you'll find -out. Dr. Raymond says experience is the surest, if not the best, -teacher." - -The dormitory was a big, light room, cheerfully furnished, with a locker -beside each bed for the boy's clothes and personal possessions, and a -chair at the head of the bed. - -That wall-space over the heads of the beds was considered the private -possession of each couple, for the flaunting of banners, photographs, -strings of birds-eggs, shells, pine-cone frames, and a hundred other -objects of virtu dear to boyish hearts. - -"You see, we can hang up a lot of stuff, too, when our trunks come," -whispered Fred to Bobby, pointing to the blank spaces over their beds, -lettered only with the names: "Blake" and "Martin." - -"You can see clear across the lake from the window here," drawled Pee -Wee, lolling on a sill. - -The chums came to see. Lake Monatook was spread before them--a -beautiful, oval sheet of water, with steep, wooded banks in the east, -and sloping yellow beaches of sand at the other end. - -Where the Rockledge School stood, a steep sandstone cliff dropped right -down to a narrow beach, more than fifty feet below. A strong, -two-railed fence guarded the brink of this cliff the entire width of the -school premises, save where the stairs led down to the boat-house. - -In the middle of the lake were several small islands, likewise wooded. -The lake was quite ten miles long, and half as wide in its broadest -part. - -Across from Rockledge School was the village of Belden. On a high bluff -over there the new boys saw several red brick buildings among the trees. - -"That's Belden School," explained Pee Wee. "We have to beat them at -football this fall. We did them up at baseball in the spring. They're -a mean set of fellows anyway," added the fat boy. "Once they came across -here and stole all our boats. We'll have to get square with them for -that, some time." - -"Come on," said Fred, who had begun to enjoy pushing the fat boy, -now--knowing that he had been set the task of showing them around--and -was determined to keep their guide up to the mark. "We don't want to -stay here till bedtime, do we?" - -"Aw-right," returned Pee Wee, with a groan. "That's my bed next to -yours, Blake. Mouser Pryde is chummed on me this year. We call him -Mouser because he brought two white mice with him to school when he -first came. - -"Shiner and Harry Moore have the beds on your other side. Shiner's the -chap you saw down stairs--Jimmy Ailshine. He's a good fellow, but -awfully lazy," remarked the fat boy, with a sigh. - -"What do you call yourself?" demanded Fred, rather impolitely. - -"Oh, _me_? I'm not well--honest. And that stone bruise--" - -It was then he began to favor the other foot, and Bobby giggled. Pee -Wee looked at him solemnly. "What are you laughing at?" he asked. - -Bobby pointed out that the stone bruise seemed to have shifted. - -"Aw, well! it hurts so bad I feel it in both feet," returned the fat -boy, grinning. "Come on." - -They went down to the gymnasium. It was a dandy! Bobby and Fred saw -that it was a whole lot better than the one Mr. Priestly had for his -Boys' Club in the Church House at home. - -Then they inspected the outside courts, the ball field, and the cinder -track--which was an oval, on the very verge of the cliff. - -They met boys everywhere, and Pee Wee told them the names of some of -them, while a few of about their own age stopped to speak to Bobby and -Fred. - -Jack Jinks and the yellow-haired youth, Bill Bronson, came up to the -trio of smaller boys as they stood by the railing that defended the -cliff's brink. - -"So you're showing the greenies around, are you, Fatty?" proposed Jack. -"Shown them the stake where the Old Doctor ties up fresh kids and gives -them nine and thirty lashes if they as much as whisper in class?" - -"Yes," said Pee Wee, nodding. "And I showed them the straps there where -_you_ were tied up last term, Jinksey." - -"Aw--smart, aren't you?" snarled the squint-eyed boy, while Bill Bronson -grinned. - -"This red-headed chap's going to be a favorite--I can see that," said -Bill, rolling the cap on Fred's head with one hand, but pressing hard -enough to hurt. - -"Let go of me!" cried Fred, hotly, jerking away. - -"Don't you get too presumptuous, sonny," advised the yellow-haired -youth. "There's lots of chance for you to get into trouble here." - -"If I get into trouble with _you_," snapped Fred, "it won't all be on -one side." - -"Keep still, Fred!" said Bobby. "Let's come on away," and he tugged at -his chum's sleeve. - -"That's a pretty fresh kid, too," said Jack, eyeing Bobby with disfavor. - -But the trio of younger boys withdrew. "Those fellows," said Pee Wee, -"are always picking on fellows they think they can lick. If you don't -toady to them, they'll treat you awfully mean!" - -"I won't toady to anybody--not even to that captain," declared Fred. - -"What! Barry Gray?" cried Pee Wee, in surprise. - -"Yes. I don't like him--much," confessed the belligerent Fred. - -"You'll be dreadfully lonesome, then," chuckled the fat boy. "For 'most -every fellow in the school likes Barry. He's captain of the baseball -team, and center in the football team. He can do anything, Barry can. -And the Old Doctor thinks he is about right. He was next choice after -Tommy Wardwell last year for the Medal of Honor, and he'll likely get it -this year." - -"What's the Medal of Honor?" asked Fred, curiously. - -Pee Wee grinned. "It's something that no red-headed boy ever won," he -declared, mysteriously. - - - - - CHAPTER XII - - IN THE DORMITORY - - -By supper time Bobby and Fred knew ten boys to speak to--without -counting Jack Jinks, Bill Bronson, and the school captain, Barrymore -Gray. The latter they did not see at all again until they beheld him -sitting at the doctor's right hand at the head of the "upper table," as -they soon learned to call the one around which the head scholars and the -assistant master sat with Dr. Raymond. The junior teachers sat at the -heads of the other tables and kept order. - -Rockledge was divided into the Upper School and the Lower School. Bobby -and Fred would of course be in the Lower, but just how they would be -placed in classes they would not know until the real business of the -school opened on Monday. - -The supper was plentiful, but plain. Bobby missed Meena's sweet cakes -and hot tea-biscuit, and Fred whispered that there was hayseed in the -strawberry jam, so he knew it was not "home made." - -Pee Wee sat across the table from them and ate steadily, showing beyond -peradventure that his plumpness arose from a very natural cause! - -Until eight o'clock the boys were allowed to frolic outside as they -wished, no tasks being set them as yet. Bobby noticed that one of the -junior teachers was always within sight, while Captain Barry Gray, and -some of the older fellows, were grouped on the main steps of the -dormitory building, swapping vacation experiences. - -Bobby noticed that Barry was always very well dressed--indeed, richly -dressed, beside many of the boys--so he made up his mind that the school -captain must come from a wealthy home. - -Bill Bronson jingled money in his pockets and wore a handsome gold watch -and a diamond pin in his tie. Most of the smaller boys, however, were -no better dressed than Bobby and Fred. - -Taken altogether, the boys who appeared at the supper table were a -bright and interesting looking crowd. Bobby was sure he was going to be -happy here, and Fred was already on terms of intimacy with half a dozen -of the chaps about their own age. - -The boys from Clinton chanced to be the only new ones to enter Rockledge -this semester. There was usually a long waiting list, but Mr. Martin's -influence had gained Bobby the chance to attend with Fred, because the -two boys were chums. - -Before they left the supper table the doctor arose and walked down the -line of smaller tables and shook hands with each boy, called him by -name, and welcomed him again to the school. - -To some he said a word of warning, but all in a cheerful way that took -the sting out of the admonition. He evidently knew the failings of each -boy, and had studied their characters carefully. - -When he came to Bobby and Fred he placed a hand on each boy's shoulder -and said, so that all the school could hear: - -"Our two new friends. I hope all of you will welcome them kindly. Make -them feel at home." - -This was before the evening run outside. Bobby and Fred were taken into -a noisy game of "relievo," and the great clock in the tower chiming -eight was all that brought the fun to a close. - -The students filed into the library and general study-room on the first -floor of the main building. For an hour every night the boys were -allowed to read or play quiet games here. It was a cheerful, bright -room, with rugs on the floor, and pretty hangings, and comfortable -chairs. Although one of the teachers was always present, there was a -feeling of freedom among the boys, and they could talk or read, as they -pleased--just so they were not noisy. - -When nine struck in the tower, they filed upstairs to bed. There was -plenty of time to undress and prepare for bed before the half hour -struck. Bobby and Fred found that the older boys in the small rooms -were allowed to remain up a half hour longer than those occupying the -big dormitories. - -Captain Gray came in and advised the small boys to lay their clothing -carefully on their chairs as they removed the garments. - -"Part of the fire drill, you know," he said, cheerfully. "Coat and vest -over the back of the chair. Pants folded nicely and laid across the -back, too. Here, Pee Wee! None of that! Shake out your stockings and -hang them on the chair-round. Shoes each side of the chair as you take -them off--right and left. That's it." - -He walked up and down between the rows of beds. He told Bobby and Fred -just how to distribute the remainder of their garments so that they -would be easily at hand if there came an alarm. - -"Of course, there's no danger, and there are plenty of fire escapes and -all that," said the big boy, cheerfully. "But the Old Doctor insists -upon our being ready for any emergency. Some night you'll be waked up -by the fire bell and find drill is called. Want to be ready for it." - -Then he glanced again at Fred's chair. "Hi, Ginger!" he said. "Put -your boots straight. Your left one's on your right side, and vice -versa." - -There was a good deal of fun at Fred's expense when Barry had gone. -"Hi, Ginger!" resounded from all parts of the room; Fred Martin had won -a distinctive nickname on the spot, and he didn't like it much. - -"I knew I shouldn't like that big fellow," he confessed to Bobby. "And -I'll lick some of these kids yet, if they keep on calling me Ginger." - -"No, you won't," declared Bobby. "You know you won't. They all have -nicknames, too. Yours is no worse than 'Pee Wee,' or 'Shiner,' or -'Buck,' or 'Skeets.' They'll stick me with one yet." - -"But 'Ginger'--" - -"Aw, stop your kicking," advised his chum. "It won't get you anywhere." - -There was still a buzz of voices as the twenty boys finished getting -ready for bed. The door opened and Bill Bronson and Jack Jinks, from -their room across the hall, looked in. - -"Sleep with an eye open, you kids," Bill ordered, in a shrill whisper. -"Something doing by and by." - -"Oh, what, Bill?" cried Purdy, near the door. - -"Somebody's got to ride the goat," chuckled the squint-eyed boy, looking -over his chum's shoulder. - -At that several of the others looked at Bobby and Fred, and chuckled. -The two Clinton boys did not hear this by-play. Bill and his chum -looked over at the newcomers with wide grins. - -Just at this moment Bobby was completely ready for bed and he dropped -upon his knees before his chair at the head of the bed and proceeded to -say his prayers as he always did at home. Fred, after a moment's -hesitation, followed suit. - -Instantly a hush fell upon the room. The boys who had been gabbling -together stopped because they saw the facial expression of those boys -grouped at the doorway. Everybody turned to look at the corner occupied -by the chums from Clinton. - -The silence was but for a moment. Then Bill laughed and took one long -stride to the nearest bed. He snatched up a pillow and sent it with -unerring aim and considerable force at the back of Bobby's head. - -The pillow reached its mark, and Bobby jumped. But he did not rise until -his prayer was completed. A second pillow came his way, while Jack and -some of the other spectators laughed immoderately. - -Fred Martin jumped up with an angry exclamation. Perhaps he did not -finish his prayer at all. He grabbed one of the pillows which had struck -his chum and made for Bill Bronson at the other end of the room. - -"You big bully!" he exclaimed, all the rage which he had bottled up that -day boiling over in an instant, "You big bully! Can't you leave a -peaceable fellow alone?" - -He slammed the yellow-haired youth over the head, and struck him so hard -that the pillow-case burst and the feathers began to fly. Bill uttered -a roar of rage, and tried to seize him. - -"Don't, Fred! Stop! Stop!" called Bobby, from the other end of the -room. - -Fred Martin had gone too far to stop now. He expected to take a -thrashing for his boldness, but meanwhile he was filling Bronson's eyes -and mouth with feathers. - -Jack Jinks put out his foot and tripped the smaller boy up. Fred fell -with Bill on top of him. The bigger boy began to use his fists. - -"No fair! Let him up, Bill!" cried two or three. - -"Shut up!" ordered Jack, putting his back against the closed door. "You -kids that holler will get all that's coming to you." - -Bobby came running up the room to help his chum, and at just that -instant the door knob was turned and the door was burst in, sending Jack -sliding half way across the room. - -"Cheese it!" squealed Pee Wee, jumping into bed with his trousers on. - -But it was only Barry Gray who appeared. - -"Hello! Can't keep quiet the first night, eh?" demanded the captain. -"What you doing in here, Jack?" - -Then he saw Bill Bronson on top of the struggling Fred. Bill had got in -one savage punch and there was blood flowing from Fred's nose upon the -burst pillow. - -Captain Gray seized Bill by the back of his collar and with both hands -jerked him to his feet. Bill squealed like a rat, thinking the Old -Doctor himself had come to Fred's rescue. - -"Ow! Ow! Ouch!" he squealed. "Aw--_you_! Let me alone, Barry Gray. -This isn't any of your business." - -"All right. I'll pass it up to the teachers if you say so," snapped the -captain. - -"Aw--well--" - -"Hold on!" commanded Barry, stepping in front of Jack who was sneaking -out of the room "_You're_ in this, too." - -"No, I'm not," said Jack. - -"You were holding the door," said Barry. "Stop here till we hear what's -the trouble." - -Half a dozen shrill voices tried to tell him at once. But Barry pointed -at Fred. "_You_ tell," he said. - -"I hit him with the pillow," growled Fred, ungraciously enough. - -Barry glanced down the room toward Fred's bed. "It isn't your pillow," -he said. "Did he shuck the pillow at you first?" - -"No," said Fred, determined not to "snitch." - -But Howell Purdy didn't feel that way about it. He said to the captain: - -"Bill Bronson began it. He fired a couple of pillows at Bobby Blake -when Bobby was saying his prayers. Then Fred went for him." - -Barry looked from Fred's flushed and bloody face to Bobby's pale one. -He said nothing for a moment to either of them, but turned on Bill -Bronson. - -"You know the rules. You had no business in this dormitory--neither you -nor Jack." - -"I suppose you'll tell on us," snarled Bill. "Of course! I knew what a -tattle-tale you'd be just as soon as the Old Doc appointed you captain -last June. He did it so that he'd be sure to have somebody to run to -him with every little thing." - -"Maybe," returned Barry, flushing. "But he doesn't call it a little -thing for two boys to fight in a dormitory." - -"Yah!" snarled Bill. - -"Give me a fair chance and I'll fight him anywhere!" declared the -belligerent Fred, sopping the blood with a handkerchief that Bobby had -brought him. - -"You are one plucky kid," said Barry, quickly. "But if there has got to -be a fight, it must be between two fellows more evenly matched. I leave -it to the room: Is a fight fair between Bronson and Martin!" - -"No!" cried the boys in chorus. - -"But Bill Bronson started the fight, so he ought to be accommodated," -Captain Gray said. "Isn't that right?" - -Some of the boys giggled. Fred muttered: "Let me fight him. I'm not -afraid." - -"If Bill doesn't want me to go to the Doctor with this, he'll have to -abide by my decision, won't he?" proceeded Barry, his eyes twinkling. - -"Sure!" cried the crowd, led by Pee Wee, now delighted by what they saw -was coming. - -"Aw, you're too fresh," grumbled the bully. - -"That's not the question," said Barry. "Do you agree?" - -"To what?" - -"To have me set the punishment for this infraction of the rules, instead -of putting it up to the Old Doctor?" - -"Well!" - -"You, too, Jack?" demanded Barry of the squinting fellow. - -"Yes," muttered the latter. - -"All right. Then I announce that as Bill wants to fight, he shall be -accommodated. Jack is a good match for him. Isn't that so, boys?" - -There was a storm of giggling. The two bullies looked at each other and -grinned. The idea of them fighting each other was preposterous--or, so -it seemed. - -"And for fear," said the captain, his eyes twinkling, "that they won't -play fair, if they are matched in a regular fight, we'll make it a -'poguey fight' to-morrow morning at nine--in the gym. Now, you two -fellows run to your rooms--and show up at nine in the gym, or I'll come -after you." - -He drove the bullies out of the room before him, and then went himself. -There was a subdued whispering and giggling all over the dormitory. - -"What's a 'poguey fight'?" demanded Bobby, of Pee Wee, in some alarm. - -The fat boy was rocking himself to and fro on the bed in huge delight, -and could scarcely answer for laughing. - -"You wait and see," he finally chuckled, "It's more fun than the -Kilkenny cats!" - - - - - CHAPTER XIII - - THE POGUEY FIGHT - - -Fred staunched his bleeding nose at the basin in the corner, and then -exchanged pillows with Howell Purdy. Fred slept on the burst one. - -"I'll get into trouble anyway over this," Fred growled in Bobby's ear. -"I wish I could have hit that mean bully just once with something hard." - -Bobby hadn't the heart to scold. Fred had attacked a much bigger boy -than himself just because that bully had flung a pillow at Fred's chum. -That was the impulsive way of Fred Martin. Bobby knew that his chum was -going to have a hard row to hoe here at Rockledge, unless he learned to -control his temper. - -Bobby Blake had some difficulty in getting to sleep that night--and that -was not usually the case with him. The plan of Bill and Jack to haze -the two newcomers to Rockledge had evidently been stopped. The -dormitory was not disturbed until morning, save that once in the night -Pee Wee had a nightmare and groaned and fought, until the next fellow to -him punched him and woke him up. - -"Wow!" said the fat boy, "I thought I was up in a balloon and they -wanted to put me out instead of dropping sandbags." - -"Don't eat so much at supper; then you won't dream such stuff," growled -Mouser Pryde, punching his pillow and settling down again. - -The rising bell at half past six got everybody but Pee Wee out of bed. -Mouser pulled off the bed clothes, but that did not start the fat boy, -and finally, when the others were half dressed, Mouser tiptoed over from -the basins with a glass of water, and let the drops trickle down, one by -one, upon Perry's fat neck. - -"Ow! ow! ouch!" bawled Pee Wee. "Something's sprung a leak. Let me up -before I drown!" - -He struck the floor before he was half awake and landed in his bare feet -upon a set of "jacks" that Shiner had conveniently dropped on the rug. - -"Ow! what are these things? Wow! I'll bet I can't walk at all now." - -"They hurt worse than the stone bruise, eh?" asked Bobby, grinning. - -"These fellows are always playing jokes on me," grumbled Pee Wee. "And -I never do a living thing to hurt them." - -The fat boy _was_ a tempting subject for a joke, and he probably was the -butt more often than anybody else. - -While they were dressing, Fred almost got in a fight with Shiner because -the latter called him "Ginger." Bobby took his chum aside. - -"Now, Fred, that name's bound to stick," he said. "What's the use of -getting mad at it? They all like you; no use in making enemies. Take it -laughingly." - -"That's because of Smartie Gray," grumbled Fred. "_He_ called me -'Ginger' first." - -"That isn't as bad as 'Bricktop'," suggested Bobby, smiling. "You ought -to be glad it's no worse. I expect they'll find a nickname for me -pretty soon, that will be a corker!" - -At seven the bell rang again and they all marched down to breakfast. -Bill Bronson and Jack Jinks scowled at Bobby and Fred on the stairs, but -the captain was near and they did not say a word to the chums. - -Before the boys separated, the first master, Mr. Leith, said: - -"Young gentlemen: Doctor Raymond will see you all in the hall at eleven. -Nobody is to be out of bounds this morning. Be prompt at eleven, -remember. You are excused." - -Bobby thought Mr. Leith a very grim and serious gentleman indeed. - -As the smaller boys scurried out of the hall to the porch, they found a -steady stream of boys going down the basement steps to the gymnasium. -Howell Purdy and Shiner were set, one on either side of the doorway, -where they whispered to those who passed: - -"Poguey fight in the gym at nine. Don't forget the poguey fight." - -"What _is_ that, Shiner?" asked Bobby. - -"You don't want to miss it," grinned Shiner. "You and your chum are at -the bottom of it." - -"But we're not going to fight," declared Bobby. - -"No. But Bill and Jack are. No fear!" - -Bobby and Fred did not go down into the basement at once. There was -still an hour before the time set by Captain Gray, the evening before, -for the mysterious "poguey fight." Nobody whom the chums asked would -tell them any particulars. - -"I expect I'll get into trouble over bloodying that pillow," said Fred. -"What shall I tell them if they ask me?" - -"Say your nose bled," returned Bobby. "If they ask you _how_ it came to -bleed, that's another question." - -"Well, that's the question I'm afraid of." - -"Wouldn't you tell on that Bill Bronson?" - -"No. The other boys would say I snitched. I hate him, but I won't -snitch on him," declared Fred. - -"Maybe nobody will ask you. And Barry Gray will take your side." - -"I don't want him to take my side," growled Fred. "He's a big fellow, -too, and expects to be toadied to." - -"You're making a mistake about him, I think," said Bobby, mildly. He -knew it was no use to argue the matter with his chum. - -They walked out across the campus to the railing that bordered the edge -of the bluff. They were standing there looking across the beautiful -lake, and talking, when there was a sudden scrimmage over on one of the -tennis courts. - -"Hello! a fight!" exclaimed Fred, with lively interest. - -"Pshaw!" said Bobby, with some disgust. "You're always looking for a -fight!" - -"I'm not either! What do you call that?" denied and demanded Fred in -the same breath. - -"It's the captain," said Bobby, slowly. "And some of the big fellows--I -know! they're dragging Bill Bronson and Jack Jinks away to the gym. -There's going to be something doing--" - -Just then Pee Wee appeared at the corner of the main building and yodled -for the Clinton boys, beckoning them across the campus with excited -gestures. - -"Come o-o-on!" bawled the fat boy. - -Fred grabbed Bobby's hand and started running. The chums were at the -gym steps almost as quickly as the big fellows and their captives. - -"You let me alone, Barry Gray!" yelled Bill, as he was shoved down the -steps. "I'll fix you for this." - -"Thanks, Billy Bronson. I can do my own fixing. You agreed to this, and -you'll go through with it," Barry said, firmly. - -"_I_ didn't do a thing," Jack was urging. - -"Ah! but you're going to," chuckled Barry, who seemed to have answers -ready for both objectors. - -The bullies were dragged below. The smaller boys followed. Every boy -in the school was waiting in the gymnasium, and no teacher--not even the -athletic instructor--was present. - -Some of the boys had been at work on the bars, or the ladder, or -otherwise using the gymnastic paraphernalia. They all gathered around -in interest to see what the big boys were going to do with the bullies. - -Bill Bronson and his chum kicked and struggled for a time. But there -were enough to help Barry, so that their struggles were useless. The -bullies' shoes were quickly removed, despite their kicking. Then a sort -of harness made of straps was buckled around both boys under their arms. -There was a steel ring sewed into the crosspiece of each harness at the -back. - -Somebody produced eight objects that looked like huge -boxing-gloves--only they were made of cotton cloth stuffed with -cotton-batting. One of these clumsy things was strapped on each foot, -and another on each hand. The victims of the joke were now unable to -hurt any of their captors when they struck out at them, and the crowd -was greatly amused as well as excited. - -"Come on, now!" panted Barry. "Boost them up here. Throw the rope over -a couple of rungs of the ladder, Max. That's it." - -The rope in question was a strong manilla, about four feet long. At -each end was a snap, such as is spliced upon the ends of hitch-ropes. - -Two boys lifted each of the embarrassed prisoners, and held them under -the ladder. The snaps were fastened in the rings back of their -shoulders. - -There they hung, kicking and sprawling. At first Barry Gray and Max -Bender, one of the other big boys, held the victims. - -"Here you are now," said Captain Gray, sternly. "You wanted to fight a -fellow much smaller than yourself last night, Bill; and you agreed to -take on a fellow nearer your size. Here's Jack willing to accommodate -you. Now, go to it, you chaps, and may the best man win!" - -He and Max both stepped back, dragging their prisoners with them, and -then they let the two helpless ones swing together. - -Their heads bumped. Bill let out a roar and tried to kick Max with one -of his muffled feet. In doing so his other foot caught Jack above the -knee. - -"Look out what you're doing--you chump!" exclaimed Jack. "Keep still, -can't you?" - -"Keep still yourself," growled Bill, as his gyrating friend collided -with him again with some force. He tried to push Jack away. At once -the latter put out his mittened hand and punched Bill between the eyes. - -"Look out what you're doing!" yelled Bill, striking madly at his -opponent. - -In a moment they were at it! The poguey fight was on. The two -erstwhile chums swung over the rungs of the horizontally laid ladder, -like the famous Kilkenny cats, punched and kicked and batted at each -other in a most ridiculous manner. - -They couldn't hurt each other very much, save when they bumped heads, -and that was not often. But they grew madder every moment. - -The spectators were delighted, and the harder the combatants tried to -strike each other, the more ridiculous the whole thing appeared. - -Why it was called "poguey" nobody seemed to know, but Bobby discovered -that it had long been practiced at Rockledge School, and that usually -the two victims accepted the situation philosophically and did not -really get mad. - -The two bullies, however, had never learned to control their tempers. -Besides, both considered that the other was somewhat to blame for their -predicament. - -The battle continued, fast and furious. Bill Bronson's face was -blazing. Jack Jinks' was very ugly indeed to look at. If they could -have torn the gloves off their hands they would have done so and struck -each other with their bare fists. - -Suddenly Jack drew up his knee as they swung together, and he caught -Bill right in the belt. It was a solid blow and the victim uttered a -cry of anger and pain. Captain Gray stepped forward and stopped the two -from swinging together again. - -"Foul blow," he said, decidedly. "You know the penalty well enough, -Jack. When you're let down, Bill's got the right to punch you with his -bare fist--if he likes." - -"And if he does, I'll hand him all he's looking for," declared the -squint-eyed youth, glaring at the boy who had been his chief friend. - -"Do it, and you'll get what's coming to you!" threatened Bill, just as -angrily. - -Barry winked at Max Bender. "Let's take them down. I guess they won't -be half so thick hereafter--and then maybe some of the little fellows -will have a better time." - - - - - CHAPTER XIV - - THE HONOR MEDAL - - -Bill Bronson and Jack Jinks were released from their harnesses, and the -"pillows" were taken off their feet and hands, they went to opposite -ends of the gymnasium and had nothing to say to each other. - -Barry did not mention the foul blow and its punishment, and none of the -smaller boys dared speak of it. It was certain, however, that the -intimacy of the only two boys in the school inclined to bully the -smaller ones had taken a decided set back. - -The fun of the "poguey fight" was not to end so quickly, however. Some -of the bigger boys caught Pee Wee and Mouser Pryde, and fastened them -into the harness and put the mufflers on their feet and hands. - -The fat boy and his chum made no decided remonstrance, and when they -were swung up, they made an earnest endeavor to give the fellows all the -fun they were looking for. Their gyrations certainly were amusing, and -Bobby and Fred laughed as loudly as any of the other boys. - -But when the fat boy and Mouser were let down, and Max and Barry grabbed -the chums from Clinton, for a moment, Fred was inclined to cut up rough. - -"Aw, be a sport, Fred!" said Bobby, earnestly. "If Pee Wee can stand it, -_we_ can." - -So Fred thought better of "getting mad" and for a while the two friends -swung in the air and punched and kicked at each other to the delight of -the other boys. Bobby was very careful not to anger the red-haired lad, -and they came through the poguey fight with smiling faces. It was borne -in upon Bobby's mind more and more that Fred Martin was going to have -difficulty in keeping out of trouble in this new environment. - -At eleven o'clock the whole school filed up to the hall on the second -floor. None of the teachers were present and there was some little -confusion and noise at first. - -Barry stepped forward and held up a hand for silence. "You fellows -better take a tumble to yourselves," he said calmly. "You want to show -the Doctor that you don't have to be watched all the time. You all -know--at least, all of you but Bobby Blake and Fred Martin, and they are -not making the noise--that _this_ isn't the place for skylarking. - -"We had our fun downstairs. I hear the Doctor coming now. Let's give -him a Rockledge cheer when he comes in and then--silence!" - -The door opened as he ceased speaking and the tall, heavy-set principal -with his quiet smile and pleasant eyes peering through the thick lenses -of his glasses, appeared. - -Captain Gray raised his hand again. The roomful of boys sprang to their -feet. Bobby noted that many of them placed their left hands upon the -little blue and white enameled button that they wore on the lapels of -their coats, as they shouted in unison: - - "One, two, three--_boom_! - Boom--Z-z-z--ah! - Rockledge! Rockledge! - Sword and star! - Who's on top? - We sure are-- - _Rock_-ledge!" - - -Bobby and Fred had both noticed the blue and white buttons with the star -and sword upon them, but they did not know what they meant. Now Bobby -guessed that there was some society, or inner circle at Rockledge School -that they, as newcomers, knew nothing about. - -All the boys did not belong to it. Pee Wee did not wear a button, nor -did many of the fellows from their dormitory. Bill Bronson and Jack -Jinks did not possess the badge, either. - -Meanwhile, Doctor Raymond, smiling and bowing, approached the rostrum. -Bobby--his mind always on the alert--noted the little blue and white -spot against the dead black of the doctor's coat. - -"Well, boys! I am extremely obliged to you, I am sure," said the -Doctor, bowing again. "I am just as sensitive to compliments as the -next person. I hope you will always be as glad to see me as you appear -to be at this moment. - -"Now, I shall not detain you for long. You know my little lectures have -usually the saving grace of brevity. We have come together once more to -face a year of study. Let us face it like real men! Star and sword, my -boys! The star we are aiming for, and the Sword of Determination will -hew our way to the goal. - -"There! I will give you no homilies. There are but two new boys with -us this year--Robert Blake and Frederick Martin. Give them a warm -welcome. They only do not understand about our Medal of Honor." - -He suddenly opened his large hand and displayed in its palm a -five-pointed gold star, at least two inches across, and with a beautiful -blue-velvet background. - -"Here it is--all ready for the engraving. At the close of the school -year, this medal will be presented to the one among you who has won it -by studiousness, good conduct, manliness and general popularity. - -"It is not always the boy who sets out to win the medal who really -_does_ win it. You, who are older, know _that_. We teachers try not to -influence the opinion of the school in the choice of the recipient of -the Honor Medal. - -"The winner must stand well in his classes, or he cannot have the -faculty vote. His deportment must be good, or we teachers cannot vote -for him. But you boys yourselves must--after all--choose the winner. - -"There are fifty of you in Rockledge School. You have each, -individually, a better chance to understand your neighbors' characters -than anybody else. You are quick to find out if there is something -_fine_ in a lad's temper. You will soon learn the one who restrains -himself under provocation, who bears insult, perhaps, with confidence in -his own uprightness; who keeps straight on his way without turning aside -because of any temptation. - -"_That_ is the sort of a lad who will win this Medal of Honor," -concluded the Doctor, very seriously. "Any boy--even the youngest--may -secure it. It does not have to go to the boy at the top of his class, -nor to the oldest boy in the school. You little chaps stand just as good -a chance for it as Captain Gray," and he rested his hand upon Barry -Gray's shoulder for an instant as though there was some secret -understanding between him and the captain of the school. - -"Now, I have talked enough. School will begin in earnest on Monday. -Remember, bounds are as usual. You little fellows, see Barrymore, or -some of the masters, if you are not sure of a thing. And remember that -my office door is never locked." - -He went out quickly at the door behind the platform. Somehow, the boys -felt rather serious, and there was no shouting or fooling as they filed -out and down the stairs to the open air. - -"Say! that was a handsome gold medal he showed us," said Fred, with -enthusiasm, to Bobby. - -"Wasn't it?" returned his chum, with sparkling eyes. - -"I'd like to get that myself," admitted the red-haired one. - -"Didn't I tell you, you'd have no chance at _that_, Ginger?" chuckled -Pee Wee's voice behind them. - -"I see it," admitted Fred, without getting angry. "But it would be fine -to win it, just the same." - -So Bobby thought. He remembered what his mother had said to him on one -occasion, and wondered if it were possible for _him_ to win the gold -medal and present it to her when she returned from that far journey -which she and his father were soon to take. - -"She certainly would be proud of me then," thought Bobby Blake. "I -guess she'd think after _that_, it would be safe to leave me alone -anywhere--yes, sir! And I certainly would like to own such a medal." - -This set his mind to thinking upon the fact that at daybreak the very -next morning the ship on which his parents had bought their stateroom -would sail from New York. They were already on the train which would -bear them to the coast. - -After they sailed it would be a long time before he could even expect a -picture post-card from them--a month, at least. And _then_, they would -be thousands of miles away! - -He slipped away from Fred and Pee Wee and went into one of the -schoolrooms. There was a big globe there, and he timidly turned this -around and around until he found the pink splotch of color which marked -Brazil. - -There was the gaping mouth of the Amazon, with the big island dividing -it, and the river on the south side, against which was the black dot -marking the city of Para--where his parents would land. - -He thought of all he had ever heard or been taught about the -Amazon--"that Mighty River." He knew how the current of the vast stream -met the ocean tides and fought with them for supremacy. He knew how the -river overflowed its banks in the rainy seasons and covered vast areas -of forest and plain. - -The trader's station, to which his parents were bound, was a thousand -miles up the Amazon, and then five hundred miles more up another river. -Why--why, if he fell ill, or anything-- - -He never realized until this moment just what it would mean to have his -mother and father so far away. It had been great fun to come to -Rockledge to school. He liked it here. He hoped he would learn, and -advance, and win his way with both the boys and the teachers. - -But to have a mother and father so many, many miles away--especially to -have a mother going away from one just as fast as steam could take her-- - -Bobby Blake put his arm on the big globe, and laid his face against his -jacket-sleeve. His shoulders shook. - - - - - CHAPTER XV - - GETTING INTO STEP - - -The routine of the school did not really begin, as Dr. Raymond had said, -until Monday morning. Yet by that time Bobby Blake and Fred Martin felt -as though they were really old members of the Rockledge Fifty. - -They had learned many of the stock stories of school--legends of great -fights with the boys of Belden School, or of mighty games at football or -baseball or some other sport, in which victory had perched upon the -banners of Rockledge. - -The loyalty of boarding school boys is second only to family feeling or -patriotic love for one's country. Bobby and Fred and the other boys of -Dormitory Two were just at that age when the mind and heart are both -most impressionable. - -The new boys learned the school yell, or cheer, which they had first -heard given in eulogy of Dr. Raymond. They thought it the finest yell -they had ever heard. - -They were told about the Sword and Star, too. It was indeed an honor to -wear the little blue and white button. One had to be at least one year -at Rockledge, to stand at a certain mark in recitations, and to have a -pretty clean record in deportment, to gain entrance into the Order of -the Sword and Star. - -It was true that such chaps as Pee Wee, and the Mouser, as well as -Shiner and Howell Purdy, were rather skeptical about the value of -membership in the school secret society. Dr. Raymond was a member and -that "looked bad" to those boys who were out for fun. And "f-u-n" -spelled--in their minds--"mischief," and vice versa! - -Those first few weeks of the new school year, however, passed without -any very wild outbreak upon the part of either the merely mischievous, -like Pee Wee and his mates, or by the really disturbing element (which -was small) headed by Billy Bronson and Jack Jinks. - -Those two worthies had, after a time, joined forces again; but they were -not as good friends and co-workers as they had been before the poguey -fight. - -Bobby and Fred really gave most of their attention to studies. The -school at Clinton had been graded so differently from this preparatory -institution, that the chums had to work hard to pick up in some studies, -while they were well advanced beyond their mates in others. - -Fred was inspired by Bobby's example to win good marks for himself. -Even the stern master, Mr. Leith, who looked over the work of the -smaller boys fortnightly, commented favorably upon what the chums had -accomplished. - -In play hours the Lower School kept together for the most part. Here -was where Fred Martin's plans were proven smart. The baseball outfit -that he and Bobby had purchased with their peep-show money was welcomed -with great approval by the boys of Number Two Dormitory. - -Bobby and Fred won their places on the Second Nine at once. They played -the First Dormitory Nine on Saturday of the first week of school, and -won. Bobby's "fade-away," as Fred had prophesied, puzzled the other -nine's battery splendidly. - -The next Saturday the victorious nine played against a team of town boys -and again won. Captain Gray then began to take notice of the victorious -nine. He coached them a little and then they challenged a nine -belonging to the Belden School across the lake. - -It was after the first of October when this match occurred, and the -Rockledge boys went across in their own boats. Although visiting a -hostile camp, the boys of Rockledge were very nicely received by the -older Belden boys. Naturally, the home team had the crowd with them, -but Bobby held the enemy down to ten hits and only six runs, and the -Rockledge nine won by two runs. - -Although their hosts remained polite to the visitors, Bobby and Fred saw -very plainly that the rivalry between the two schools was deep-seated. -They heard Captain Gray and Max Bender talking to some of the big -fellows of Belden, and both sides were boasting of what the rival -football teams would do to each other on Thanksgiving Day. - -On that day the Belden crowd would come over to Rockledge, and from this -time on, there was little more baseball played by the Rockledge boys. -They were deeply interested in football. - -In this game Bobby and Fred did not shine so brightly, but they went -into hard training with the second junior team and under Captain Gray, -who coached the smaller boys as well as the first team, learned a whole -lot about football. - -Meanwhile, not a word had come to Bobby from his parents after they had -sailed from New York. He heard from Clinton every week, for Michael -Mulcahey painfully indited a scrawly letter to him, enclosing sometimes -a note from Meena. Michael, having crossed from Ireland in a sailing -ship years before, was considered by Bobby a marvel of sea-lore. One -time he wrote: - - -"DERE BOBBY:-- - -"It ain't nawthin alarmin that we don't here yet from Mistur Blake an -his good lady an so I tell Meena whos got the face ache most of the time -now and is just as good compny as a mad cat. She's rayfused to marry me -agin, an I do be thinkin thats struck in an worries her face a lot. -Howsomever 'tis about your feyther and mother Id write to cheer you up a -bit. I well remember the long passage we made from the Ould Sod when I -kem to this counthry. Twas head winds we had, an its like head winds -that has held the big ship back thats takin Mistur Blake an his good -lady to these Brazils. An tis a mortal far ways they do be goin. -Mistur Martin says the offices in New York hav had no wareless telegraf -despatches (what iver they be) from the ship since she was off Hattie -Ross--an whoever she is I dunnaw. But if she's like most females, she's -cranky, an that accounts for the delay. - -"Be good an ye'll be happy, aven if ye don't have so much fun, from your -friend and well wisher, rayspectfully, - -"MICHAEL MULCAHEY." - - -This letter--and similar epistles--cheered Bobby some, and Mr. Martin -wrote him a jolly little note, enclosed in a longer letter to Fred. But -Bobby could not help feeling worried about the silence of his parents, -especially at night. - -When he knelt to say his prayers (and most of the other boys in -Dormitory Two did likewise), he remembered what his mother had said -about her praying for him at the same time every evening, and sometimes -he had to squeeze his eyes shut tight to keep back the tears. - -That the time on board the great steamship going south to the Tropics, -and the time in New England was vastly different, did not enter Bobby's -mind. It just seemed to him as though his mother was very near him -indeed as he knelt before his chair. - -For a sturdy, busy boy, however, there was not much time for worriment. -Every day there was something new; one could not be lonesome at -Rockledge. - -The boys went from their beds to breakfast, from their meals to work in -the schoolroom, from their lessons to play--a continual round of -activities. - -The athletic instruction interested the chums from Clinton immensely, -and until the real cool weather set in, the boys of the school enjoyed -swimming in the lake every day. - -Dr. Raymond hoped that, before long, he would be able to build a -gymnasium with a swimming pool in a special building by itself. This -was something to look forward to, however. - -All aquatic sports did not stop when the frost came. There were plenty -of boats belonging to the school--from light, flat-bottomed skiffs which -the little fellows could not possibly tip over, to a fine eight-oared -shell manned by the bigger boys. In this they raced the Belden School -every June before Commencement. - -Wednesday and Saturday afternoons were holidays, but without special -permission the boys of the Lower School could not go out of bounds. On -Saturdays the bigger boys went to town if they so desired, or took long -tramps through the woods, or rowed to the upper end of the lake. - -If the smaller fellows wanted to go out of bounds, usually a teacher -went with them. There was a picnic of the Lower School on one of the -islands in the lake, however, that Bobby and Fred were not likely to -forget for a long time. - -Pee Wee and Mouser got it up. They first got permission to take a cold -dinner on Saturday and row to the island. There was a farmer whose land -joined the school property on the east. From him they obtained several -dozen ears of late greencorn--nubbins, but sweet as sugar--and some new -potatoes. - -They were excused from lessons that day at eleven--all but Pee Wee -himself. He had been lazy, as usual, and was behind in his work. It -looked, for a time, as though the picnic had to be delayed. - -But urged on by the others, Bobby faced Mr. Carrin, who had Pee Wee's -class in history, and begged the fat boy off. - -"_Do_ let him do the extra work to-night, sir, after supper," begged -Bobby. "We were going to have such a nice time, and Pee--I mean -Perry--got the picnic up, and--" - -"It is a pity that Perry cannot spend a little of his mind and effort on -his lessons," said Mr. Carrin, with a smile. - -"Yes, sir. I know, sir," said Bobby, eagerly, "but he doesn't seem to -be able to think of two things at once." - -"I guess that is right," chuckled Mr. Carrin, who was a much more -pleasant gentleman than Mr. Leith. "Tell him he may go, but I shall -expect a perfect recitation on Monday morning, first thing." - -"Huh!" growled Pee Wee, who had overheard some of this. "I'm glad -enough to get off, Bobby Blake. But you needn't have told him I was -weak-minded." - -Bobby grinned at him. "What do you care if you _are_ a little bit -crazy? And I didn't tell him anything new. He was on to it." - -The crowd rowed off in three boats. There were seventeen of them. They -went to the upper island, which was the biggest, in an hour and a half, -and as soon as they landed they set to work to build a fire and make the -picnic dinner. - -Of course, they were too hungry to wait until the potatoes were baked, -but as soon as the light wood had burned down to ashes and coals, they -thrust the potatoes under the bed of the fire to bake slowly. - -Meanwhile they ate the sandwiches and cake they had brought from school, -and each boy cut a stick, on the end of which he stuck an ear of corn. -These ears they roasted in the flames. - -Of course, they were scorched a little, but they had butter and pepper -and salt with which to dress the corn and it _did_ taste mighty nice! - -"And there's pretty near a bushel of the potatoes," said Fred, happily. -"After the fire dies down again, we can rake them out and eat them. -There's a big dab of butter left and plenty of salt and pepper. -Crickey! I could eat a peck of them myself." - -"We ought to have brought more potatoes and corn along," suggested Pee -Wee, licking his fingers, "and hidden the stuff here somewhere. Then we -could come another day and have a bake like this." - -"Say! the corn wouldn't be much good," Bobby said. - -"Scubbity-_yow_!" yelled Fred, suddenly. "I have it." - -"Gee! you must have it bad," responded Mouser. "What kind of a -battlecry _is_ that?" - -"Say!" went on Fred, without paying the least attention to Mouser's -question, "I've got the dandy idea." - -"Let's have it?" proposed Bobby. - -"Let's build a shack, or a cabin, or something, up there in the thick -trees. Nobody would ever see it from the lake. Then we can bring -things over to furnish it--on the sly, you know--" - -"Why on the sly?" demanded his chum. - -"Aw--well--if the other fellows knew it, they'd come and bust it up, -wouldn't they?" - -"Not our fellows," declared Shiner. - -"But you bet the kids from Belden would," urged Pee Wee. - -"We could keep still about it, I s'pose," admitted Bobby. - -"Well, then!" returned Fred. "Now, we'd fit it up, and store stuff in -it for winter--nuts, and popcorn, and 'taters, and turnips--" - -"You can't bake turnips," objected Howell Purdy. - -"Well! they're good raw, aren't they?" demanded the eager Fred. - -"It's a great old scheme," declared Jimmy Ailshine, otherwise "Shiner." -"Let's get at it at once. Skeets Brody has his ax. Come on!" - -And the excited boys trooped away from the beach and left the potatoes -under the coals of the campfire to finish cooking. - - - - - CHAPTER XVI - - HOT POTATOES - - -Bobby and Fred had already become leaders to a degree, with the boys of -their own age at Rockledge School. This suggestion of the red-haired -one about building a hut was accepted with enthusiasm by the fifteen -others in the present crowd. - -They trooped up into the thick grove that crowned the summit of the -rocky island. Bobby and Fred had been on many camping expeditions at -home, along the banks of Plunkit Creek. They wasted no time in -discussing _how_ they should build a shelter with the materials at hand. - -"Leave it to us, and we'll go ahead and show you how to make a nice -shack," promised Bobby, when the others began to gabble as to how it -should be done. - -"Good idea!" cried Pee Wee. "Let's elect Bobby Blake, captain. - -"And Fred Martin, lieutenant," said Shiner. "They both know what to do -and we don't." - -This was agreed to without a word of objection from any of the fifteen. -Bobby took charge at once. - -"Here are four trees," he announced, pointing to four that stood almost -in a square, some twelve feet apart, and with nothing but saplings in -the square made by them. "These will be our posts. First we want to -clean out all the small trees and brush inside these big trees, and for -some feet around the outside--so we can work." - -"Wish we had more axes," said Fred. - -"We all have knives. Those with knives can cut off the smaller brush. -Skeets is really our only woodsman. Come on, Skeets, and let's find -four good trees for the cross-timbers." - -They were all soon very busy. Bobby did little but show the others what -to do and make measurements with a piece of fishline. Fred gave his -attention to cutting spruce boughs for walls and roof. - -Skeets cut the four trees needed, they were measured and notched at the -ends and then lifted into place--each end in a crotch of the low -branching trees Bobby had selected for the corner posts of the hut. - -The roof would not be exactly flat, for one crotch was somewhat higher -than the others, but the four timbers lay firm, being lashed together -with black-birch withes. - -Soon the other boys began to bring the spruce boughs; but first Bobby -laid several good sized saplings across the string-pieces, to strengthen -the roof. - -They worked so hard and with such enthusiasm that they really forgot the -potatoes under the bonfire. In two hours a heavy roofing of boughs lay -upon the poles, and the boys could all stand up under it and be -sheltered. - -Suddenly Fred exclaimed: "Crickey! Let's see if those potatoes are -done. I'm as hungry as a hound right now." - -This set them all on a run. It does not take much to put an edge on a -boy's appetite. Just the suggestion of the potatoes was enough. - -"First at the fire!" yelled Howell Purdy, as he hurried down through the -grove, and over the rocks. - -"Bet you I make it first!" declared Shiner, vigorously following the -leader. - -It was a stampede. With whoops and shouts the seventeen scrambled down -the descent to the shore. - -Suddenly they halted. Shiner and Howell, who had been wrestling to put -each other behind, looked, too. There was a crowd of boys around their -campfire on the shore. - -"Who are they?" demanded Bobby, in amazement. - -"Say! they're raking out our potatoes!" gasped Fred Martin. - -"They're Beldenites!" declared Pee Wee, panting, and on the high ground -behind. "There's their boats. And there's half as many more of them as -there are of _us_." - -"I don't care if they're two to one!" cried Fred in anger. "Those are -our potatoes." - -"Suppose they beat us and take away our boats?" demanded Howell Purdy, -falling back. "You know--those Belden fellows can fight." - -"Well! can't _we_?" demanded Fred Martin, panting and doubling his -fists. "What are we--babies?" - -"We won't fight--yet," put in Bobby, calmly. "Perhaps they don't realize -that that is our fire and our potatoes." - -"What'll we do?" asked Pee Wee, by no means anxious to advance. - -"Come on," said Bobby; feeling dreadfully shaken inside, but too proud -to show it. "Let's talk to them." - -"Better get some clubs and _go_ for them," growled Fred. - -"No. They haven't clubs," declared Bobby. "Let's not start any fight." - -He and Shiner and Mouser proceeded along the beach. They saw the Belden -fellows scrambling for the hot potatoes, and shouting and skylarking. - -"That's Larry Cronk--that fellow with the curly hair. Don't you -remember, Bobby? He pitched for their club when we went over to beat -them that day." - -"I remember. And that's their first baseman--Ben Allen." Then Bobby -raised his voice so the Belden crowd could hear him: "I say! that's our -fire and those are our potatoes. We were just coming down to get them." - -"Is that so?" sneered Larry Cronk, standing up and laughing at the -Rockledge boys. "Well, you came too late--do you see?" - -"I'll throw a rock at him!" growled the belligerent Fred. - -"Keep still!" commanded Bobby. Then to the Beldenites he said: "That's -not fair--or honest. Those are our potatoes--" - -Larry swung back his arm, and poised one of the potatoes. The next -moment he flung it with all his force at Bobby. The latter just escaped -it by dodging. - -"Mean thing!" yelled Fred, and he picked up a stone on the instant -(there were plenty of pebbles on the beach) and flung it at the Belden's -captain. - -"That's right! let's drive them off!" cried Pee Wee, from the rear. - -Fred's stone was flung true and Larry Cronk received it in the shoulder. -He yelled and dodged, and at once the Belden boys let go a flight of -_hot potatoes_! - -The potatoes burst wherever they struck--and not a few of them landed -upon the boys who had hoped to feast upon the tubers. This was adding -insult to injury, and the Rockledge boys were greatly enraged. - -"They're spoiling all our 'taters!" cried Pee Wee--almost wailing, in -fact. "There! there's another busted." - -He had turned just in time to get the potato in the back instead of in -the chest. Mouser and Howell were jumping about and rubbing their -cheeks. The hot potatoes burned as well as stung, and although they -were mealy enough to fly all about when they burst--like miniature -bombs--when flung by a vigorous arm, they hurt more than a little. - -The Rockledge crowd broke before the flight of hot potatoes, and seemed -about to run back to the woods. But Bobby and Fred could not stand -_that_. - -"Hold on, fellows!" yelled Fred. "We can lick those chaps--I know we -can! Get some stones! They can't hurt more than hot potatoes." - -Bobby did not delay in joining in the return fusillade of stones. Some -of the pebbles landed heavily. Although outnumbering the Rockledge boys -by considerable, the Belden crowd began to retreat toward its boats. - -"Come on! push them!" yelled Fred, running ahead. - -The others, thus encouraged, ran after him. They reached their own boats -and felt safe, then. The Beldens could not get their craft away from -them. - -At the fire there were a lot of the potatoes scattered about and -trampled into the sand. Pee Wee began yelling: - -"Use the stones! use the stones! Don't fling those potatoes--we want -them!" - -This brought about some laughter, and the Rockledge boys did not throw -their missiles so viciously thereafter. The Beldens had gotten enough, -anyway. Two of them were nursing bad bruises on their heads, and were -crying. Bobby was glad the battle was so soon over, for he was afraid -somebody would be seriously hurt. - -The Belden youngsters scrambled into their boats and pushed off from the -island, while the Rockledge boys collected all the potatoes they could -find, that had not burst, and enjoyed their delayed feast with the sauce -of having won it by force of arms. - -They did not finish the hut on the island that day, but agreed to come -back to complete it the next half holiday--if they could gain -permission. - - - - - CHAPTER XVII - - LOST AT SEA - - -And then there came an unhappy time indeed for Bobby Blake. In the back -of his mind, for weeks, had been the uncertainty about his father and -mother. Now that uncertainty suddenly developed into a great and -lingering horror--a horror from which not even the elasticity of youth -could easily rebound. - -One morning Dr. Raymond sent a note into Mr. Carrin's school. Had not -Bobby been so busy at his work, he would have seen the pale faced -teacher grow still more pallid, and look at him. - -Mr. Carrin arose and walked up and down the room. The boys soon -discovered that he was not watching them. Occasionally he stole a -glance at Bobby, but he noticed no other boy. - -Then, without saying another word, he went out, and in a minute came -back with Barry Gray. Barry looked startled himself, and very serious. -He stood in the doorway and said: - -"Blake! Doctor Raymond wants you in his office. You are to come with -me." - -Bobby got up quickly, and with a suddenly beating heart. He believed he -must have done something to bring down upon his head the wrath of the -good Doctor. He could not imagine what it was, but he was frightened. - -You see, Bobby had gotten it into his head that possibly he _might_ have -a chance at the Medal of Honor. He was trying to be an exemplary -scholar for that reason--and because he knew it would delight his absent -father and mother, if he gained such an honor. - -Now, this sudden and unexpected call shocked him. Fred grabbed his hand -secretly as he passed his seat and squeezed it. Bobby knew that his -chum, thoughtless as Fred usually was, appreciated his present feelings. - -When he reached the door, his own face was aflame. He knew all the boys -of the Lower School were looking at him. Mr. Carrin, too, seemed to be -staring at Bobby in a strange way. - -Barry put his arm across the smaller boy's shoulder just as soon as the -classroom door closed behind them. - -"Buck up, old man!" he said, with a funny choke in his voice. "Things -are never so hard as they seem at first. And there's such a lot of -uncertainty about such reports--" - -"What reports, sir?" asked Bobby, breathlessly. - -"Didn't Carrin tell you a _thing_?" gasped Barry, stopping short. - -"No! What have I done? What's Doctor Raymond going to do with me?" - -"Why, you poor little kid!" ejaculated the big boy, grabbing Bobby -tightly again. "You mustn't be afraid of the Old Doc. He wouldn't hurt -a fly. And you're not in bad with him--don't think it!" - -"But what is the matter, then?" demanded Bobby. - -"It's your folks, Bob," blurted out Barry. "There's uncertain news about -them--" - -"They're not sick--not _dead_?" cried Bobby, shaking all over. - -"No, no! Of course not," returned Barry, heartily. "Nothing as bad as -that." - -"What is it, then?" - -"Why, it's only a shipwreck, or something like that. Of course they've -been rescued; folks always are, you know. And they'll have lots of -adventures to write you about." - -Bobby was speechless. His pretty, delicate mother _shipwrecked_! Of -course, his father would save her, but she might get wet and catch cold; -that was the first thought that took form in his mind. - -"News has come about the big ship they sailed away on," Barry Gray went -on, cheerfully. "Another ship has found part of the deckworks of your -father's steamship, all scorched and burned. There must have been a -fire at sea." - -"Well, don't you s'pose they could put the fire out with so much water -around?" asked Bobby, seriously. - -"That's right!" exclaimed Barry. "But perhaps the machinery was hurt, -so the ship couldn't be made to go. There wasn't any sails to her, of -course." - -"I see," said Bobby, gravely, nodding. - -"So they had to take to the boats. You know how it is: Women and -children first! The sailors are always so brave. And the officers -stand by to the last--and if the ship sinks, the captain always goes -down with her, standing on the quarter deck, with the flags flying. -You've read about it, Bobby!" - -"Sure!" choked Bobby. - -"Of course there are always boats enough for the passengers--and -life-rafts. And they float about for a while and are either picked up -by other ships, or the natives row out in their canoes and save them." - -"Yes!" gasped Bobby, letting out the great fear at his heart. "But--but -suppose she should get cold? You know she has a weak throat. The -doctor always tells her to look out for bron--bron-_skeeters_, or -somethin' like that." - -"_Who_ has bronchitis?" demanded Barry, rather puzzled. - -"My mother." - -"Oh! don't you know it's a warm climate down there? Sure! It's in the -Tropics. No chance of catching cold--not at all." - -"Oh!" murmured Bobby, and he felt somewhat relieved. - -"And they've been picked up by some ship bound around the world, -maybe--that is why you haven't heard from them. You won't hear till -they touch at some port clear across the world, from which they can send -mail. - -"Or perhaps," said the comforting captain, "they have gone to some -tropic island, where boats don't often touch. And the sailors will -build shelters for the passengers against the coming of the rainy -season, and then a boat-load of volunteers will hike out looking for a -civilized port, and it will be months and months before help comes to -the island. - -"Meanwhile," said the imaginative youngster, his eyes glowing and his -cheek flushed, "your mother and the other ladies will get well and -strong, and all brown like Indians. And the men will have to dress in -goat-skins, for their clothes will wear out, and they'll learn to make -fire by rubbing two sticks together, and they'll have fights with -jaguars--But no!" exclaimed the big boy, suddenly; "of course, there -will be no harmful creatures on an _island_. - -"Say! I guess they're having fun all right. Don't you worry, Bobby." - -They halted at the doctor's door, and Barry rapped. The voice of the -big principal told them to "Enter!" and the bigger boy pushed open the -door. - -"Here he is, sir," said Barry, winking fast over the head of the smaller -boy at Dr. Raymond. "I have just been telling him what a jolly good time -his folks are likely having right now. It must be _so_ interesting to -be shipwrecked." - - - - - CHAPTER XVIII - - THE BLOODY CORNER - - -The news went over the school at noon, of course, and most of the -smaller boys eyed Bobby Blake askance. The boy himself seemed walking -in a kind of cloud; his mind was stunned, and it was lucky that Dr. -Raymond had said to him, kindly: - -"You are excused from recitations to-day, Robert." - -The good doctor had spoken to him quite cheerfully of the probable loss -of the steamship on which Mr. and Mrs. Blake had sailed from New York. -The principal seemed to have taken his cue from Barrymore Gray. - -To tell the truth, what Barry had said cheered Bobby more than anything -else. Even Fred Martin was a trifle depressing. Fred wanted to give -him his share in the bats and mask and other baseball paraphernalia, and -turn over to him, in fact, most of his personal property, likely to be -dear to a boy's heart. - -This was the red-haired boy's way of showing sympathy. But it did not -help much. - -The roseate picture Barry had drawn of the shipwreck stuck in Bobby's -mind. He was very glad his mother could not take cold down there, even -if she got her feet wet. - -For several days the other boys were very gentle with Bobby. It did not -make Bobby feel very comfortable, but he knew they meant it kindly. - -Soon, however, their awkwardness wore off, and they were as rough and -friendly as ever, and he liked it better. Deep in his heart he kept -thinking all the time of his parents, and the possibilities arising out -of the wreck of the steamship. Outwardly he was much the same as ever. - -Only one thing Bobby Blake desired now more than before. He longed--oh! -how he _did_ long--to win the Medal of Honor. If his parents were -shipwrecked, and there was any suffering for them in it, it seemed to -Bobby that if he won the Honor Medal at Rockledge School, that fact -would alleviate their misery, wherever they were! - -Yet there was nothing of the mollycoddle about Bobby. Fun appealed to -him just as strongly as it ever did to any ten year old boy. - -There were certain set rules of Rockledge School that he would not break -and that he kept Fred from breaking. - -"There's no fun in getting caught and held up to the whole school as -dishonorable," he told Fred. "We're expected to keep in bounds. We -know the bounds well enough. And if we want to go out of them, we have -only to ask, and give a good reason, to get permission to go farther." - -"Aw, they treat us as if we were a lot of babies," growled Fred Martin. - -"They do nothing of the kind," Bobby replied. "Doctor Raymond treats us -as though we were gentlemen. He trusts to our _honor_. I wouldn't -disappoint him for a farm!" - -"We-ell!" sighed Fred. "I suppose you're right, Bobby. I--I almost -wish he didn't treat us just this way. There'd be some fun in busting -up the old rules!" - -And that was where Dr. Raymond showed his wisdom. He knew how to manage -boys with the least amount of friction. - -Weeks passed, full of work and play, and no further news came of the -lost steamship on which Mr. and Mrs. Blake had sailed for Brazil. The -wreckage had been sighted off the Orinoco, and the name of the steamship -was plain upon the wreck. But it might have drifted a long way after -the catastrophe. Just _where_ the ship had been burned, nobody could -guess. - -No boat from her, no word from her captain or crew, came to the owners -in New York. She had been a freight boat, carrying on that trip -scarcely a score of passengers. - -Much of this Bobby did not hear, or understand. He clung like a limpet -to the imaginative idea of a shipwreck that Barrymore Gray had drawn for -him. And it was well that this was so. - -Thanksgiving came and went. The Belden school came over in the forenoon -to Rockledge and its football team was nicely thrashed by the Rockledge -eleven. The Lower School went almost mad with delight; and Fred Martin -and Larry Cronk, the Belden boy, came almost to blows on the campus. - -Neither of the Lower Schools had forgotten the hot potato fight on the -island. Ere this, Bobby and his friends had completed their camp and -had begun to furnish it, but they hoped the youngsters from Belden would -learn nothing about the hideout. - -One thing pleased Bobby and Fred immensely at Thanksgiving. A big box -came to them from Clinton. In it were all sorts of good things made by -Meena and Mrs. Martin, fall apples and pears picked by Michael Mulcahey, -candy from Mr. Martin's store, and gifts from Fred's sisters and smaller -brothers. - -The Second Dormitory had a great feast after hours one night, of which -even Captain Gray knew nothing. Bill Bronson and Jack Jinks got onto -it, and the small boys had to bribe the two bullies with some of the -choicest of their stores. Nevertheless, the midnight feast went off very -smoothly. - -There were a few more cases for the medical attendant to see to at -Rockledge School after Thanksgiving than usual. The midnight feast -coming so soon after the big Thanksgiving dinner, played havoc in the -ranks of the smaller boys. - -Pee Wee had what Bobby declared to be "internal, or civil war," and went -to the hospital in Dr. Raymond's house for three days. He came out wan -and interesting looking, declaring that he had lost pounds of flesh! -But he proceeded to get his avoirdupois back again very promptly. - -It was a full week before the school was back on its usual working -basis--and the midwinter holidays only a month away. The teachers -spurred the lazy scholars, and helped the dull ones, and out of this -pushing in classes arose the trouble that became a very serious affair -indeed for both Fred Martin and Bobby Blake. - -Fred was not always bright in arithmetic. One morning he made a -ridiculous blunder, and the whole class laughed at him. Mr. Carrin -reprimanded Fred for his inattention, and as they filed out for -recreation before dinner, Sparrow Bangs--named so because he had a whole -cage-full of tame sparrows down at the gatekeeper's cottage--made fun of -the red-haired boy. - -Fred had been angered by the teacher's sharpness. Now he turned on -Sparrow in a terrible passion. - -"What's that you say? I'll give you a punch you'll remember." - -"Aw, no you won't!" returned Sparrow. "And I'll say it again, Ginger! -You've no time to play catch--you'll have to study the multiplication -table, like Mr. Carrin said." - -Fred rushed at the teasing lad, but Pee Wee and Howell Purdy came -between them. - -"Cheese it!" said the fat boy. "You two fellows want to get into -trouble? Right under the schoolroom windows, too!" - -"Well, he's got to stop nagging me," cried Fred, very red, and puffing -very hard. - -"Who are you, Ginger, that I should be so awfully careful of?" sneered -Sparrow. "You're not so much!" - -"I'll show you--" - -"Stop it! stop it, Fred!" advised Bobby, catching his chum by the arm. -"Come on, I want to throw you a few fast ones. We mustn't get out of -practice, even if we _can't_ play a regular game until next spring." - -"There he goes!" cried Sparrow. "His boss takes him away. Great lad, -that Ginger is. Afraid to say his soul's his own. Bobby Blake just -bosses him around--" - -It was all over, then! Fred flung off Bobby's hand and rushed at his -tormentor. Smack! his fist shot into Sparrow's face. - -Half a dozen of the boys then got between the antagonists. - -"You want to get us all into trouble?" growled Mouser, one of those who -held Fred Martin. "Cut it out. If you've got to fight, there's the -'bloody corner.' Do it right." - -The chums had heard of "the bloody corner," but since their appearance -at Rockledge School there had been no real pugilistic encounter between -any of their mates. - -Down in the far corner of the grounds--oh! a long way from the -buildings--behind a tall hedge of hemlock, there had once been a -toolshed. It had been removed and the corner was just a heap of soft -sand. No matter how hard the frost was, this sand did not freeze. - -And here, from time immemorial, had been arranged the school fights. -Whether the good Doctor was aware that in this arena was fought out such -feuds as could not be otherwise settled, nobody knew. Usually the -fights were arranged by the older fellows, and the captain of the school -was supposed to be present and see fair play. - -It spoke well for Barrymore Gray that thus far under his rgime, not a -fight had occurred in "bloody corner." - -The belligerents--Fred and Sparrow--were separated for the time, but as -Bobby and his friend started to run to dinner when the big gong rang, -Shiner stopped them. - -"Hey, Ginger," said he. "Are you game to fight Sparrow?" - -"I'm going to fight him," declared the red-haired boy, showing his -teeth. "He can't get out of it." - -"Oh! he's not trying to," said Shiner. "In fact, he told me to put it -up to you. He wants to knock your head off." - -"He'll have a fine time trying it," declared Fred, hotly. "I'll show -him--" - -"Aw, drop it!" begged Bobby. "You don't want to fight Sparrow--and he -doesn't want to fight you." - -"Better keep out of this, Bobby Blake," advised Shiner, importantly. -"Sparrow says Fred's afraid, anyway--" - -"I'll show him!" cried the maddened red-haired boy. - -"Bluffing's all right," sneered Shiner. "But will you _fight_?" - -"Give me a chance!" - -"Aw-right. We'll put it up to the captain and you and Sparrow can get -together down in the corner." - -"With gloves? and have Barry Gray boss it? No, I won't," declared the -pugnacious Fred. "Sparrow's trying to get out of it. I'll box him in -the gym. But if he's got the pluck of a flea, he'll come down to the -corner with his bare fists--and you and Bobby here are enough to see -fair play." - -"Whew!" whistled Shiner, his eyes dancing. "Do you mean it?" - -"You'll find out that I do," threatened Fred, wagging his head. - -"You sha'n't fight that way, Fred!" cried Bobby. "The School won't -stand for it." - -"You mean that bully, Barry Gray, won't stand for it. He always wants -to boss." - -"You game to see them through, Bobby?" demanded Shiner. - -"If you don't want to come with me, I'll get Pee Wee," growled Fred. - -"No," said Bobby, in great trouble. "If you mean to fight Sparrow, of -course I'm going to stand by you." - -"And keep your mouth shut about it?" snapped Shiner. - -"Bobby's no snitch," exclaimed Fred, hotly. "If we're caught, it won't -be because either Bobby or I tell." - -"Nuff said," declared Shiner, shortly. "I'll see Sparrow again and put -it up to him. We'll find a time when nobody else will be around. Be -ready," and Shiner went off whistling, evidently feeling his importance -in the matter. - -Bobby felt pretty badly. He did not want to see Fred fight at all. And -he certainly did not want him to meet Sparrow Bangs in this way. A -sparring match was one thing, but a fist fight, deliberately arranged, -and held in secret, was an entirely different matter. - -"You can't do it!" he said to Fred, greatly disturbed. "Dr. Raymond -might send you home." - -"I don't care if I'm sent home twice!" exclaimed the hotheaded Fred. "I -am going to thrash that fellow, or he'll thrash _me_." - -Bobby wanted to shake Fred--he could have hit his chum himself! And -yet--he couldn't desert him. They had come here to this school, -strangers. They had agreed to stand by each other, through thick and -thin--of course without a word being said about it! Boys do not talk -about their friendships like girls. - -If Fred were wrong, Bobby could be angry with him, but he could not -desert him. If his chum intended to fight Sparrow Bangs in this -disgraceful way, Bobby would "second" him--of course he would! - -If Dr. Raymond should hear of it and suspend them both from school, it -could not be helped. He knew very well that he was running a risk of -losing all chance for the Medal of Honor; yet he would stick to his -chum. - -He was unhappy that night--very, very unhappy. Fred and he said little -when they were alone. Shiner came to him and whispered, at bedtime, -that there would be a chance to "pull off" the fight the next noontime -after dinner. They could cut the mid-day study hour to do it, without -being caught. - -Beyond his determination to stand by Fred, right or wrong, Bobby wanted -his chum--as long as he _would_ fight--to win! He advised him in the -morning: - -"Now, Fred, eat a good breakfast--a _big_ breakfast. But you're going to -go light on dinner." - -"I know," grunted the red-haired one. - -"Don't drink much water at dinner time, either. If you think you'll be -tempted too much, keep out of the dining-room." - -"No," growled Fred. "They'll think I'm afraid." - -"All right. But eat lightly," urged Bobby. - -For once something was going on in the Lower School that the whole crowd -of boys was not "on to." Shiner and Sparrow had been as mum as Fred and -Bobby. - -The two combatants did not even scowl at each other; they kept apart. -They did not want any of the other boys to suspect. - -Howell Purdy asked Bobby if "Ginger wasn't going to knock Sparrow's head -off?" and Bobby dodged the question adroitly. - -It seemed to Bobby as though that forenoon would never come to an end. -At half past eleven the Lower School was let out. Bobby took Fred into -the gymnasium and they put on the gloves together for a little practice. - -With the experience they had had before, and the instruction of the -Rockledge athletic teacher, for boys of their size, Bobby and Fred were -quite proficient in the so-called manly art. - -Sparring, as a game like baseball or tennis, is splendid exercise and -good training for mind and temper. It may, or may not, lead to -fisticuffs among boys. Certainly boys who spar together in a gymnasium -are much less likely to have rude fights as the outgrowth of sudden -temper. They respect each other's prowess too much. - -Fred was careful at dinner. As soon as they could, he and Bobby slipped -out, and made their way to the distant corner, and by a roundabout way -so that they could not be seen. Five minutes later Sparrow and Jimmy -Ailshine appeared. - - - - - CHAPTER XIX - - THE RESULT - - -Just who would have won in that battle between Fred Martin and Sparrow -Bangs remains one of the unsolved mysteries of Rockledge School. - -It was never finished. The quartette of boys had made one mistake. -They should have taken a fifth youngster into their confidence and set -him on watch. - -Mr. Leith, the head master under Dr. Raymond, always took a -constitutional around the grounds after the midday meal. Not often did -he cross the campus, for he was not a man given to spying upon his young -charges. - -But this day the campus seemed to be deserted. It was a cold day, and -most of the boys had remained indoors to take advantage of the hour of -study before afternoon lessons. - -He came down the railing that defended the cliff's edge, and he heard, -as he approached the notorious "bloody corner," boyish voices. - -"That's it, Sparrow! Hit him again!" shrieked one voice. - -"Let him hit me--I'll give him as good as he sends!" spoke up another -voice. - -There was the instant sound of blows interchanged. The teacher could not -doubt what was going on. - -"Boys! boys! how dare you fight?" he demanded, and strode toward the -hedge of hemlock trees, his coattails flapping behind him. - -The fight had not continued long. Both boys had removed their coats and -vests and caps. They were hard at it indeed when Mr. Leith's voice smote -upon their ears. - -"Cheese it!" gasped Shiner. "Leith's onto us!" - -With the fear of being apprehended in all their minds, the four boys -sprang for the underbrush, on the other side of the corner. They knew -which way the teacher was coming. - -The two belligerents had picked up their discarded clothing, but as they -got under cover Fred gasped: - -"Scubbity-_yow_! I've dropped my cap." - -"Keep on!" exclaimed Bobby. "I'll get it." - -He was so earnest to shield his chum from the result of his wrong doing, -that he forgot his own danger. If Fred's cap were found, Mr. Leith -would know it, and Fred would be called upon to explain. - -Bobby darted back while the other boys scudded through the bushes. He -saw the cap on the ground just inside the open space. He sprawled all -over it, grabbed it up, and then was stricken motionless and dumb by the -voice of the master who stepped into view: - -"Robert! What does this mean?" - -Bobby shook all over, but he stuffed the cap into the breast of his -jacket. - -"Robert, stand up!" commanded the teacher. - -Bobby did so. He looked timidly across at the gentleman. Certainly Mr. -Leith was a very stern looking man! - -"Come here, Robert," said Mr. Leith. - -Bobby crossed the sandlot at a slow crawl. Mr. Leith cleared his -throat, removing his eyeglasses to wipe them. On the instant, as the -boy reached the fence, he flung Fred's cap through the rails and out -over the edge of the cliff. It disappeared like a shot. - -"What was that, sir?" demanded Mr. Leith, putting on the eyeglasses and -looking at Bobby again. - -The boy hesitated. The gentleman repeated: - -"What was it? I saw you throw something away." - -"It--it was a cap," said Bobby. - -"A cap? Not your own cap?" exclaimed the teacher, in surprise. "You -have your own cap on." - -"No, sir. Not my own cap," admitted Bobby. - -"Whose cap was it, then?" - -Bobby was silent. He looked up at Mr. Leith pleadingly. That gentleman -knew well enough what was in the boy's mind. He, too, understood boys -pretty well, but he did not believe in handling them just as the old -Doctor did. - -"Do you hear me, young man?" he asked, harshly. - -"Yes, sir." - -"Why do you not answer me?" - -Bobby wanted to cry out and plead with him. Mr. Leith had no _right_ to -ask such a question! That is the way the boy looked at it. The teacher -was tempting him to do the meanest thing in a boy's catalog of sins. - -He was asking Bobby to _snitch_! - -"I--I can't tell you, sir," stammered the boy. - -"You mean you are determined not to tell me?" repeated Mr. Leith. - -Bobby was silent, but still looked straight into his face. No frown -could make Bobby Blake drop his eyes in shame. - -"Two boys were fighting here just now," said the teacher, slowly and -sternly. "Isn't that so?" - -"Yes, sir," said Bobby, quietly. - -"Barrymore Gray was not here?" asked the other, sharply. - -"Oh, no, sir. Barry knew nothing about it, sir," cried Bobby. - -"Ah! Indeed? Then this fight was a strictly private affair?" - -Bobby looked miserable, but said nothing. - -"How many boys were here?" - -Bobby wagged his head negatively. "I--I can't tell you, sir." - -"Nor the names of the boys who fought?" - -"No, sir." - -"You know who they are?" - -"Oh, yes, sir." - -"And you refuse to tell me?" - -"I--I can't tell!" gasped Bobby, both hands clutched tightly upon the -breast of his jacket. It seemed to him as though the teacher must see -the pounding of his heart. - -"Robert," said Mr. Leith, "I do not like such actions as this. I will -not allow a boy to refuse me answers to perfectly proper questions. Go -to your class-room. You must not go to the gymnasium, nor out of doors -at all, until I bid you. When you are not in classes, remain in your -dormitory. - -"I am disappointed in you, Robert. You have shown yourself to be a -studious boy heretofore and not a ruffian." - -"Oh, sir--" - -"Silence! You may not have been one of the boys fighting; but you were -aiding and abetting a ruffianly encounter between two of your -schoolmates. It cannot be overlooked. - -"I had hopes of you, Robert. We all had. Dr. Raymond himself had -commended your course since you came to Rockledge. But no boy who -wishes to stand in the honor class can break the rules of the school and -then refuse to stand the full punishment for his act." - -"Oh, Mr. Leith!" cried Bobby, brokenly. "I am not trying to get out of -anything. Truly I'm not! Punish me all you want to, sir, but _don't_ -ask me to tell on the other boys. I can't do that." - -"We shall see, Robert," said the teacher, grimly. "Return to your -class-room." - -Now began a very terrible time for Bobby Blake--or so it seemed to the -heartsick boy. He held a secret that he could not speak of, and his -refusal to reveal it broke down his chances of gaining that Honor Medal -on which he had set his hopes. - -Of course, it never entered his mind for a moment that he _could_ -tell--even though the other boys did not realize what he had been -through with Mr. Leith, and what his punishment was. - -Fred and Sparrow, made friends by the emergency, with Jimmy Ailshine, -waited for Bobby in a secure hiding place known to all four; but Bobby -did not come. When they got back to the classroom at half past one, -Bobby was there ahead of them. - -His face was very red; he may have been crying, but Fred could not tell. -The latter slipped a brief note to him: - -"Did he catch you?" - -Bobby nodded, but did not write back. Fred, after a while, slipped over -another written question: - -"Where's my cap?" - -This time Bobby replied: "At the foot of the cliff. He doesn't know any -of you. Keep still." - -"Good old sport, Bobby," quoth Fred to Sparrow, when recitations were -over and they filed out. "Scubbity-_yow_! that was a soaker you gave me -on the jaw. It's sore yet." - -"I believe I'm going to have a black eye," revealed Sparrow, with pride. - -They went off together, inseparable friends for the time being. Bobby -remained behind, taking his books into the big study. - -Mr. Leith did not speak to him again. In fact, nobody came near him -before supper. When the boys came in, giggling and talking, just as -unable as usual to settle down quietly to the meal until an adult eye -was turned threateningly upon them, Bobby entered, too, but with such a -lump in his throat that he felt that he could scarcely swallow a -mouthful. - -Nobody noticed his condition but Pee Wee, and he only to seize upon the -pudding that Bobby could not touch. "You act as if you had the mumps -and couldn't swallow," whispered the fat boy. "But what you can't eat -I'll get rid of for you, Bobby." - -Three wistful days passed. Bobby remained indoors, and the boys knew -that he was being punished. Only three knew what for, and they did not -know how much. - -"Good old scout, Bobby!" said Shiner, clapping him on the shoulder. -"Wild horses wouldn't get anything out of you, eh!" - -Fred began to eye his chum askance. Thoughtless as the red-haired one -usually was, he began to worry. - -Then Mr. Leith called Bobby to him again. - -"Will you tell me who was fighting down there at the corner?" he asked. - -"Please--please do not ask me, sir!" begged the boy. - -"Ahem! you are still stubborn, are you!" - -"Ye--yes, sir," said Bobby, not knowing what else to say. - -"Very well. I shall keep you indoors no longer. I see that gentle means -will not cure _your_ trouble. At the last, I should have been tempted to -keep the matter to myself and give you a chance for the medal. But I -see leniency is wasted upon you. - -"You may have your freedom, Robert. Nothing you can do now will wipe -out the fact that you have deliberately refused to answer my questions. -That is all." - -_And Bobby Blake forgot the Doctor's office door was unlocked!_ - -He accepted the punishment of Mr. Leith as final. He knew he had lost -all chance of winning the Medal of Honor. Young as he was, it seemed to -him as though his punishment was almost too great for him to bear! - - - - - CHAPTER XX - - ON THE BRINK OF WAR - - -To everybody else, affairs at Rockledge School seemed to go on as ever. -There were hard lessons, and easy lessons (the former predominating, the -boys thought) and there were many, many good times as the season -advanced. - -Monatook Lake froze completely over. At first the boys were not allowed -upon it; but when a team of horses, hitched to a pung, had been driven -from shore to shore--from the edge of Rockledge town to Belden--word was -given from the teachers' desks that skating on the lake within so many -yards of the boathouse, would be allowed. - -The gate-keeper set stakes, to which little red flags were attached, at -the corners of the ice-bounds, and for a few days, at least, the -Rockledge boys were satisfied with the restrictions. - -They saw the Belden boys skating on their side of the lake, too, and -other boys, from the two villages, who did not go to either school, -skated where they pleased. - -On half holidays bounds were released, but if the boys wished to skate -the length of the lake a teacher went along. Owing to the feeling -between the boys of the two schools, Dr. Raymond did not even test the -Lower School with Barry Gray for monitor. - -Bobby, of course, entered into all these sports. Even Fred thought that -his chum's punishment had ended, and likely enough the red-haired boy -had forgotten all about his interrupted fight with Sparrow Bangs. - -Fred and Sparrow were the best of friends. To tell the truth, Bobby -Blake was somewhat gloomy these days--he was not as much fun as usual. - -Fred put it down to the fact of the mystery regarding Mr. and Mrs. -Blake. Of course, a fellow could not be very jolly when he did not know -for sure whether his father and mother were dead or alive! - -However, Fred did not see how he could help his chum. He did his best -to liven Bobby up; but was not very successful at it. It did really -seem to Fred as though Bobby "gloomed about" altogether too much. - -"It's all right for a fellow to feel badly about his folks," said Ginger -to Sparrow, who had become his confidant for the time being, "but you -can't get him out of his grouch." - -"He's trying to be too good," scoffed Sparrow. "I bet he's aiming to get -the medal." - -"Scubbity-_yow_!" ejaculated Fred. "That would be great!" - -"Pshaw! he can't get it. No Lower School boy ever got it. I expect -Barry Gray will be medal man _this_ year." - -"He won't get _my_ vote," declared Fred, shaking his head. - -"Why not, Ginger?" - -Fred was used to this nickname now, and did not get mad at it, but he -shook his head, and said: - -"Just for _that_. Barry nicknamed me. He's too fresh." - -"Aw, pshaw! you're prejudiced," laughed Sparrow. - -None of the boys realized what the matter was with Bobby. And he would -not tell Fred that he had anything to do with forming the cloud under -which Bobby suffered. - -The silence of his father and mother--the uncertainty about them--_did_ -trouble Bobby continually. Yet he had a deep-seated hope that all would -come out right about them. Barry Gray's comforting words regarding the -shipwreck had fired his imagination. - -The thought, however, that no matter how well he stood in his classes, -or how high his marks of deportment were, he could not win the Medal of -Honor, disturbed the boy's mind. - -Christmas week came. Bobby and Fred had intended to go home to Clinton -for the short holiday, but the very day the term closed a great -snowstorm set in. It snowed so heavily the first night that the -railroads were blocked. Dr. Raymond would not let any of the boys leave -the school, save two or three who lived near and whose people came for -them in sleighs. - -The good doctor telegraphed to the parents of his boys instead, and -great preparations were made for a dinner and celebration at the school -which would make the boys forget their disappointment. - -Presents could arrive by express, too, by New Year's, and Dr. Raymond -said that the actual distribution of gifts at Rockledge would be -advanced one week. New Year's should be celebrated like Christmas. - -The two and a half days' snow covered the lake two feet deep on a level. -The ice had been more than a foot thick when it began to snow. In fact, -the Rockledge and Belden icemen had been getting ready to cut, but would -now have to put it over until after New Year's, because of the scarcity -of labor. - -There was no danger on the ice. There was not one airhole anywhere -between the shore-fronts of the two schools--a stretch of nearly four -miles of level, glistening snow. - -The boys of the Rockledge Lower School had had much fun, on half -holidays, up the lake at the island where the winter camp had been -built; but that was a long way to go over the snow. Nobody had ever -tried snowshoeing and skiing, and the authorities at the school rather -frowned upon these sports. However, the field of snow between the -bluffs on which the rival schools were built was a vast temptation for a -hundred active boys. - -There was a snowball skirmish between the larger boys of the two schools -the very first day after the storm ceased. Captain Gray and his crowd -had met a bunch of Beldenites ("Bedlamites," the Rockledge boys called -their rivals) near the first island--a little, rocky cone, now a snowy -mound, and with only a few trees upon it. - -The fight had been fast and furious as long as it lasted, but it was -rather a good-natured one, after all. Finally Captain Gray and the -captain of the Belden School met for a few minutes' conversation. In -that few minutes a challenge was given and accepted. Unless the -teachers interfered, it was arranged to have a general snow battle -between the schools. - -Free from lessons, and with most of the ordinary rules relaxed, Captain -Gray could plan a coup that the enemy would not possibly expect. It had -been agreed that the coming battle should be fought near the island, -which was about in the middle of the lake between the two schools. - -That night, after supper, Captain Gray picked a dozen boys to help -him--and not all big boys, for Bobby and Fred were among them--and they -slipped out of the house. - -"We'll get the bulge on those Bedlamites," chuckled the captain. "Come -on, now. Run!" and he set off in the lead. - -He would not tell what was afoot, but every boy was excited enough to -follow and obey. - -They crossed the campus and went down the long flight of stairs to the -boathouse. The cold was so intense, and the wind had blown so hard -while it was snowing, that they crunched along right on top of the -drifts, and the walking was easy. - -There was no moon, but the stars gave them light enough. Besides, it is -never really dark when the snow covers the ground. - -The twelve boys speeded across the white expanse. Bobby and Fred were -proud that they had been chosen by the bigger fellows to take part in -this mysterious adventure. - -Captain Gray insisted upon several snow-shovels being brought along, and -as soon as they reached the island, he put them all to work. The idea -was to fortify the islet and hold it against the expected attack next -day of the Belden School. - -"This will be a surprise to them," declared Gray, proudly. "I saw right -off that whichever side could get this island and hold it, would have an -advantage. - -"Building breastworks down on the pond is all right, but from this -height we can throw snowballs right into any breastworks that those -fellows can build. - -"A bunch of us will come out here to-morrow morning with our breakfasts -in our hands (I've fixed it all up with Mary, the cook) and we'll hold -this island till the crowd on both sides gets here." - -Two hours' work under the direction of Barry turned the island (which -was barely ten yards long) into a veritable fort. Within that time, the -twelve boys had built the fortress, partly of bowlders that had been -well placed by Nature, and pieced out the rock buttresses with thick -walls of snow. - -The party got back to school just before the retiring bell rang, and -escaped a scolding only because the rules were relaxed for the holidays. -In the cold, chilly dawn, half a dozen of the boys of Dormitory Two were -awakened by the bigger fellows. Bobby and Fred were among them. - -"Aw, crickey!" gaped Fred, burrowing in the pillow. "I don't want to -get up now." - -Bobby was out of bed in a moment. "Come along! It's going to be fun, -Fred," he said. - -Fred was lazy. He burrowed deeper. In about thirty seconds a large, -juicy snowball, scooped off the window sill by Max Bender, was thrown -into the back of Fred Martin's neck. - -"Yee-ow!" yelled the startled Ginger, and rose up to fight back. The -big boy ran, however, chuckling, and all Fred could do was to dress, -grumblingly. - -"All these big fellows are fresh," he confided to Bobby. - -"I wonder what _we'll_ be when we are as big as they are, and boss the -school?" returned his more thoughtful chum. - -That feazed Fred a little. By and by--as he finished his dressing--he -admitted: - -"Well, Bobby, I'd never thought of that!" - -The guard thus called to duty by Captain Gray gathered, shivering, in -the kitchen. Good natured Mary had risen an hour earlier than usual and -made a big can of coffee, and there were sandwiches and doughnuts. - -"Worth getting up early for, that's sure," announced Fred, becoming more -content. "Won't Pee Wee be sore because he's not in this?" - -They marched away with shovels and sleds. Overnight the smaller boys had -made a lot of snowballs and they had been packed in boxes and put on the -sleds. But before the early procession started, Barry examined all the -boxes, and finding that somebody had made "soakers," he dumped them out. - -"Let me catch any of you boys icing the ammunition, and I'll tend to -you," he promised, angrily. - -"Aw, those Bedlamites busted Frankie Doane's head open with a soaker -last winter," complained Sparrow Bangs. - -"We won't be mean just because they've been," declared Captain Gray. -"You see that you're not guilty, Sparrow." - -"Gosh!" muttered Fred, in Sparrow's ear, "don't that sound just like -Bobby?" - -"You bet! They're a pair. Guess Bobby's a copy-cat. He's following in -Barry's 'feet-prints.'" - -"Don't you say that!" flamed up Ginger, at once. "Bobby has _always_ -been like that. He's the fairest chap that ever was. If anybody's the -copy-cat, it's old Captain Gray!" - -Neither of the boys in question beard this, and it was just as well -perhaps that they didn't. - -It was scarcely daylight when the party reached the island. They did -not see a Belden boy stirring on the farther bank of the lake. After -setting the tasks to be done by these guards, Barry went back to the -school, leaving Max Bender in charge of the fortress. - -Max was rather a lazy fellow, and he always let the smaller boys do his -work--if they would agree. He was good natured enough about it. - -He sat down in a sheltered place, and had Bobby and Fred cut the under -branches of the firs for firewood, and they soon had a nice little fire -going. - -This might attract the attention of the enemy to the fort, but Max did -not care for that. - -"You boys keep on making snowballs. You'll have to make them outside -the fort--down on the ice, there, and then you can draw them in on the -sleds. Get busy now." - -"What are _you_ going to do?" demanded Ginger Martin, rather perkily. - -"Never you mind, youngster," returned Max. "You never read of the -officers in authority getting on the firing line, do you? I've got to -stay up here and keep watch, and plan the defense of the island." - -"Oh, crickey!" exclaimed Ginger, scornfully. "You're a regular -Napoleon--_not_!" - -And it was a fact that, had the younger boys holding the fort depended -upon Bender's watchfulness, the Beldenites would have been upon them -unannounced. - -Naturally the boys making snowballs did so on the side of the island -facing Rockledge School. The island hid from them the Belden side of the -lake. - -But suddenly Bobby, who had dragged in a heavy sled load of snowballs, -and was packing them securely in a pile behind an upper fortification, -chanced to stand up to stretch his limbs and looked over the breastwork. - -"Oh, look here!" he yelled. "Here's the Bedlamites right onto us!" - -And it was true. The captain of the rival school had seen what the -Rockledge boys were about--or he had suspected it, seeing the smoke of -Max Bender's fire. - -He had brought out his whole crew, and the vanguard of Belden boys was -now but a few yards from the shore of the snow-covered and embattled -island. They were making the attack in silence, and hoped to take the -garrison of the fort by surprise. - - - - - CHAPTER XXI - - GIVE AND TAKE - - -Bobby was scared at first by his sudden discovery. Here the Belden boys -were coming on the rush, and there was only a handful of Rockledge -boys--ten in all--at the island, to stand the unexpected charge. - -Hi Letterblair, the captain of the Belden School, was at the head of the -charging column. He and eight of the biggest boys of Belden were very -near the island already. - -Directly in the rear of the vanguard were a dozen smaller boys with -schoolbook bags over their shoulders. Bobby knew by the bulky -appearance of these receptacles, that they were full of snowballs. - -Some distance behind were the rest of the Belden boys, dragging sleds -heaped with ammunition. The entire force of the enemy was approaching. - -Bobby wheeled about, even before he cried out, save for that first -exclamation of surprise, to look at the Rockledge shore. There was not -another Rockledge boy in sight save those at the island. - -"What's the matter!" lazily demanded Max Bender, warming his hands over -the tiny blaze. - -"Look! Look!" repeated Bobby, turning to point again. "Here they -come!" - -"Here _who_ come?" asked Bender, jumping up. - -He shuffled up to the place where Bobby stood. One look he gave and then -vented his amazement in a long whistle. - -"My goodness!" he muttered. "They've got us beaten before we even -begin." - -"Aren't we going to fight?" demanded Bobby, with energy. - -"What! fight the whole bunch--just us few?" - -"Of course. We've got the island--" - -"And a fat time we'd have trying to keep it," grunted Max. - -"Why, you're a quitter!" exclaimed the smaller boy, under his breath. -He whirled and waved his hands to the boys below, busy making snowballs. -"Get up here, fellows--in a hurry!" he cried. "Here come the -Bedlamites." - -"Scubbity-_yow_!" was Ginger Martin's response, and the red head came on -the run. A fight was meat and drink to Fred. - -The other boys hurried up the slope, too. Bobby yelled to them to bring -in the sleds and all the ammunition. - -In making the fortress the evening before, and in rolling "snow bombs" -to fling down upon the heads of the enemy should they get to close -quarters, the island itself had been for the most part swept clean of -snow. The bulwarks of the fortress were as tall as most of the boys -defending it at the present moment. - -"We're going to get licked," muttered Max Bender again. - -Sparrow grinned at Ginger. "I always believed Bender was a softie," he -whispered. Ginger nodded, but he looked at Bobby. - -"We've _got_ to hold on here till Captain Gray gets over with -reinforcements," the boy from Clinton was saying, eagerly. - -"Sure we have!" agreed most of the ten, in chorus. - -"And the way to do it is not to let those Belden fellows see how few in -numbers we are," said Bobby, thoughtfully. "We have heaps of -ammunition. We'll beat them off till Captain Gray comes." - -"We can't do it," declared Max Bender, with conviction. - -Fred turned on him with his face as well as his hair aflame: "You're a -healthy lieutenant, you are!" he snarled. "Why didn't Captain Gray -leave a baby in command? Come on! you can fling snowballs, can't you, -like Bobby says?" - -"Well--But these fellers will surround the island and then they'll get -us," croaked Max. - -Sparrow laughed sneeringly. It was Bobby who replied. - -"If you propose to run, you start now before the fight begins," he said, -gravely. "Then they'll think we're sending a messenger for -renforcements, not that one of our side is a coward and is running -away." - -"Hurrah!" yelled Sparrow. - -"Scubbity-_yow_!" exclaimed Ginger. "Now he's got it." - -Max Bender was actually pale. He was scared to fight and he was scared -to run! In truth his position was pitiable. - -But Bobby Blake gave the big fellow very little attention. The other -boys just naturally looked to Bobby to lead them. - -"Don't show yourselves, fellows, if you can help it. Don't throw too -quickly; we don't want to waste ammunition. Let's all line up along -here now, and one of us peek over and give the word to fire--" - -"I'll do that!" cried the excited Mouser Pryde. - -"Yes you will!" sneered Fred. "I'd like to see you. Bobby's bossing -this." - -"That's right!" exclaimed Sparrow, generously. "If this big simpleton, -Bender, won't take the lead, let Bobby do it." - -"Sure! let Bobby do it!" shouted the others. - -Bobby, his eyes flashing, his cheeks red with excitement, did not argue -the point. Of course he wanted to lead--what boy would not? - -Besides, he believed they could hold the Beldenites off until -reinforcements came. Max Bender stood beside him, packing a snowball -tighter, and said nothing. Bobby jumped up and looked over the high -parapet. It was almost two feet across at the top, and lots thicker at -the bottom. The inside was cut straight up and down, but outside it -sloped. - -Bobby could stand upon a rock and see over the top of the wall. Hi -Letterblair and his crowd was now quite near. When Bobby popped up Hi -saw the Rockledge boy. - -"Hurrah!" yelled the Belden leader. "Come on, fellows! Charge!" - -"Let's fire at them, Bobby!" gasped Fred, fairly dancing up and down in -his eagerness. - -"No. They're too far away yet. Hold your fire." - -"Till we see the whites of their eyes--just like Bunker Hill!" exclaimed -Sparrow Bangs. - -"They'll hammer the life out of us if they get up here," grumbled Max. - -Bobby turned on him suddenly. Big as Bender was, he was doing all he -could to scare the rest of the garrison. - -"You be still!" commanded Bobby. "If you won't fight, run; but if you -stay with us, you keep your mouth shut and throw snowballs as hard as -you can!" - -And actually, big as he was, the pale faced Max did not reply! - -Bobby whirled back to look over the parapet. His eyes danced and he was -so excited that he could scarcely keep still. - -"Now!" he cried. "Up and at them! Fire three each, and then drop down. -And take aim--_do_ take aim!" - -Most of the boys obeyed him. The snowballs flew in a shower upon the -advancing enemy. With the advantage of their position, the Rockledge -boys pelted the on-comers well. - -Belden's leader brought up his whole force before he attempted to reply -to the fusillade. Letterblair knew that they would have to get nearer to -pelt their missiles at the garrison with any precision. - -Behind the wall of snow and rock, Bobby said: - -"Now, three more snowballs. Get ready!" Each boy could hold two -missiles in his left hand while he threw the third. The idea was to get -in the fusillade and then drop out of sight before the enemy could -return the compliment. - -"All ready?" cried Bobby again. "Come on, now! Let them have it!" - -Up jumped the nine youngsters and saw that Hi Letterblair and his crew -was now very near the island. - -"Shoot!" yelled the captain of the Belden boys. - -They were at a disadvantage, however. They had to throw up, while the -Rockledge garrison threw down. - -The missiles from the island-fortress descended upon the charging enemy -with considerable force. Before the Beldens could return the fire, Bobby -and his crowd dropped out of sight again. - -The Beldens cheered. Bobby popped up, saw that they were still -advancing, and gave the order for another volley. - -"At them again!" he shouted. - -Fred was yelling his battle-cry like a crazy boy, and Shiner and Sparrow -were scarcely less excited. In the midst of one of Fred's vociferous -shouts, _slam_ came a snowball right into his mouth! - -"Oh! oh! that was a soaker!" cried Sparrow. - -Fred was hopping mad. He wanted to keep on firing at the enemy when -Bobby gave the command to dip down for another supply of ammunition. - -"Obey the captain!" bawled Howell Purdy. - -"Get ready!" called Bobby, steadily. "Don't throw so wild. They are -getting too near for comfort." - -"They'll just give us _fits_ when they get up here," murmured the -shaking Max. - -"I never _did_ see such a lump of uselessness," grumbled Mouser. "Did -you, Bobby?" - -"Come on!" shouted the young leader of the defenders. "Give them as -good as they send--and take what they send us laughing." - -The Rockledge boys popped up again. Their last volley had stopped the -Belden boys. Some of the youngsters had run away with the ammunition. -Hi Letterblair had halted his party to make new snowballs. - -"Give it to them!" shouted Bobby, and down upon the attacking party -hurtled another well-aimed volley. - -They drove the besiegers back several yards, but now Hi Letterblair saw -that there was but a small garrison on the island. He saw only boys -from the Rockledge Lower School, and it was evident that Captain Gray -was not present. - -He called a council of war, and soon the Belden party began to spread -out and quickly surrounded the island. Bobby and his crowd were -completely hemmed in. - -"What did I tell you?" whined Max Bender. "Now we _can't_ get away at -all." - -"You had your chance to go," Bobby said, with scorn. "We can beat the -whole crowd off--for awhile, at least. We have plenty of snowballs." - -"But there's not much snow to make any more," said Howell Purdy. - -"We should worry!" exclaimed Sparrow. "We'll throw them just as fast as -we can, as long as they last." - -"No use in trying to throw so far," advised Bobby. "We have the -advantage of them, anyway. They have to throw higher than we do." - -Soon a shower of snowballs was flung at every head which appeared above -the ramparts. Nor could Bobby and his friends remain in hiding all the -time. If they did so, the Beldens would soon charge and rout them by -the weight of superior numbers. - -It was only by returning the enemy's fire with vigor and precision that -the Rockledge boys held the fort at all. Hi Letterblair had ten or a -dozen big boys massed to make a charge; Bobby could see that. - -Therefore the young leader of the defending party urged his followers to -concentrate their attack upon the captain of the Belden School. - -"Keep them off! we've _got_ to keep them off till Captain Gray gets -here," panted Bobby. - -"Hurrah! here they come!" yelled one of the smaller boys, suddenly. - -Bobby shot a glance toward the Rockledge shore. Indeed, there they did -come! With Captain Gray and the school flag at their head, the bulk of -the Rockledge boys were coming across the snow-covered lake towards the -island. - -"Keep still! don't wake them up!" begged Bobby, before anybody else -could cheer. "If the Bedlamites don't know they're coming till they get -here--why, all the better." - -The appearance of renforcements put pluck into Max Bender. He began to -hurl snowballs with more precision and with more force. He became very -active. Hi Letterblair's crew of big boys charged only half heartedly. - -The boys behind the ramparts almost smothered them before the attacking -party got upon the island. They had chosen the easiest ascent, but only -one of the attackers reached the snow-wall. - -Instantly half a dozen hands reached for this plucky enemy, and it was -Max who hauled him over into the fort and sat on him. - -"Hurrah! we've got a prisoner!" yelled Howell Purdy, dancing up and -down. - -"What'll we do with him, Bobby?" demanded Fred. - -"Huh! _I_ captured him," grumbled Max. "I guess I'll do what I please -with him." - -"While we're fooling with that fellow, the others will get up here," -declared Shiner. - -"Come on! here they come!" shouted Bobby, who was ever on the watch. - -The second charge of Hi and his cohorts was resultless to either party. -And then, almost immediately, Captain Gray and the rest of the Rockledge -boys came upon the Beldens. - -Hi Letterblair ordered his party to face about, and brought up the -smaller boys from the other side of the island. At once the garrison of -the fort leaped upon the ramparts and drove down a withering fire upon -the enemy. - -Thus held between two fires, the Beldenites were driven back around the -island, and out of shot from the fortress. Captain Gray ordered his -army to spread out and hold them at bay. - -They had dragged out from the shore thousands of snowballs. The -Rockledge party had ammunition enough to last for hours, both in the -fort and on the sleds. - -Captain Gray hurried into the fort. Max had let the prisoner up and the -boys were all dancing about excitedly. - -"You fellows did fine!" cried Barry Gray, his eyes shining. "Max! -you're all right! You held them off in fine shape." - -"They gave us a hard rub, Barry," said the big fellow, coolly. "And I -yanked this chap inside when they charged." - -His statement was perfectly correct--as far as it went; but for Max to -accept praise for the defense of the fort struck most of the smaller -boys dumb. Not Fred Martin, however. - -"Well I never!" gasped the red-haired boy. "Will you listen to _that_? -Talk about the brass cheek of him!" - -"What's the matter with you, Ginger?" demanded Max, scowling. - -"Say! do you think you can get away with it?" shouted Fred. "_You_ -getting thanked for holding this island? Why, Barry," he cried, turning -on the captain, with blazing eyes, "that big simpleton wanted to give up -the fort and run away when he saw the Bedlamites coming. Yes he did! -I'll leave it to Sparrow and the rest of the boys." - -Sparrow shouldered his way to the front. "That's right, captain," he -said. "Max was having a fit of shivers here, and wouldn't give orders. -Bobby fought us." - -"Sure he did!" cried Shiner and Howell Purdy together. "It was Bobby -who did it. We'd have been whipped, if it hadn't been for Bobby." - -"Well, did I say he _didn't_ do his share?" snarled Max Bender, the wind -all taken out of his sails. "I--I had a headache, anyway. And I _did_ -grab this fellow prisoner." - -He looked around for the boy in question. But while they had been -arguing, the Belden boy had slipped out of the fort and made his escape. - - - - - CHAPTER XXII - - WHAT BOBBY SAID - - -The battle between the Rockledge and the Belden Schools continued -furiously until noon. The former had the advantage because of their -entrenchments on the island, but Hi Letterblair was not a bad general, -and Barry and his helpers were often put to it to hold the enemy in -check. - -At one time when the Rockledge troops made a sally, four of them were -captured and were held prisoners for an hour. Then they were rescued, -Bobby and Fred being of the rescuing party. - -Altogether the snow-battle was carried on in good temper, but there -could not help being some rough work, especially when it came to -hand-to-hand encounters. - -Fred Martin and Ben Allen, one of the Lower School boys on the other -side of the lake, had a short and vigorous fist fight in one scrimmage, -and the captains put them out of the battle and sent them back to their -respective schools in disgrace. - -Noon came and an armistice was declared until the next morning at nine -o'clock. It was agreed that the battle should begin just as it left -off--with Rockledge holding the island against Belden. - -The masters of both schools had begun to take an interest in the snow -fight and that afternoon Dr. Raymond gave a pleasant talk to his boys in -the big study, on the science of battle formation and military -maneuvers. - -The boys were interested. Captain Gray tried to put into execution in -the next forenoon's fighting some of the advice the Old Doctor had given -them. But Hi Letterblair had been advised by his instructors, too. - -The teachers from both schools walked over to the island to watch the -fight. It was a less rough-and-tumble affair than that of the previous -day's battle, and in the end Rockledge lost the fort and island to the -enemy. - -Time was called, and both sides retired to renew the battle on the third -morning. Captain Gray instructed his followers just what to do, and, at -the beginning of the third morning's attack, Rockledge had recovered the -fort, and captured half the Belden School in less than an hour! - -It was great fun, and the boys learned to keep their tempers better as -the fighting continued on more scientific lines. A storm came on and -spoiled the fun, however, for the rest of the week. - -Captain Gray came to Bobby and said: "You're all right! I've been -getting the facts about that fight you put up at the island, holding off -the Belden crowd, and it was smart of you. - -"I thought Max Bender had more gumption in him. But he's a big bluff. -Well! we won't talk about him. But I've told the Old Doctor what you -did--" - -"I didn't do any more than the other fellows," said Bobby, rather -sheepishly. "They all put up a good fight." - -"Sure! But they all say you did it--you kept them at it, and told them -what to do. And Hi Letterblair says he'd have taken the fort right -then, if it hadn't been for you. Oh, you can't escape the credit for -it, old chap!" - -Bobby knew that, although the boys might praise him, and even the Old -Doctor himself might be his friend, there was one member of the faculty -who did not approve of him. Mr. Leith seldom spoke to him, save when it -was necessary in class-room. - -New Year's Day came, and the presents from home were given out in the -big hall after breakfast. It was a time of great hilarity and fun; but -Bobby had hard work to keep back the tears when there were put into his -hands presents addressed in his mother's and his father's -writing--presents prepared far back in the summer before they had gone -on that fatal voyage, and left in the care of Mrs. Martin. - -Michael Mulcahey and Meena had not forgotten the boy, either. Their -little presents breathed of love and friendship. Meena had a tender -place in her heart for Bobby, after all. Michael wrote that she had -refused to marry him on Christmas day, for the seven hundred and -fifteenth time! - -It was hard work by this time for Bobby Blake to believe that Gray's -imaginary shipwreck was the real truth. Surely, if his parents were -alive, some word must come from them. - -The owners of the steamship that had been lost had never heard from any -survivor. The newspapers had ceased to speak of the affair. It had -become one of the many marine mysteries recorded within the last few -years. - -"S'pose you shouldn't ever hear about them till you grew up, Bobby?" -suggested Fred, with awe. "They'd come home, and find you grown up and -living in the same house, and--" - -"I wouldn't be living there," declared Bobby, choking back that big lump -that _would_ rise in his throat. - -"Where'd you be?" demanded Fred, in wonder. - -"When I'm big enough, I'll go off and look for them." - -"You will? Way down to Brazil?" - -"I'd search all over South America. Maybe some bad tribe of natives has -them. I'll find and rescue them," said Bobby, nodding his head. - -"Scubbity-_yow_!" cried the ever enthusiastic Fred. "That'll be great. -I'll go with you, and we'll hide in the jungle, and catch a native and -make him show us the way to the village where the captives are held. - -"Crickey, Bobby! you'd make out you were a magician, and you'd have a -storage battery, and things, and you'd show them blackies more magic -than they ever saw before, and they'll kill their old medicine man and -make you chief of the tribe. - -"And then we can get into the temple where your folks are held -prisoners, and release them. We'll all get out through the secret -passage and take enough gold and precious stones with us to load a -donkey, and come home as rich as mud! Say! it's a great idea." - -"Well! what do you think of _that_?" was Bobby's comment. "You must -have been reading some of Sparrow's story-papers." - -"Huh! they're jolly good stories." - -"Wait till the Old Doctor catches him at it," said Bobby. "Those are -just foolish stories. Nothing ever really happens like it says in those -stories." - -"Aw--well," said Fred, grinning, "it would be great if they _did_ -happen, wouldn't it?" - -Lessons began right after New Year again, and it seemed harder than ever -to buckle down to them because of the fun that week between Christmas -and the first of the year. - -"Wish it would be vacation all the time," grumbled Pee Wee, who had -spent several days in bed because of the way he had abused his stomach. - -"Goodness, Pee Wee!" exclaimed Bobby. "If every day was a holiday, -you'd be sick all the time." - -"No I wouldn't," returned the fat boy, who had figured the thing all -out. "If we had holiday dinners every day, I'd get used to them and -wouldn't get sick. See?" - -Although Bobby had concluded that he had no chance at all for the Medal -of Honor, he tried to stand as well as he could in his classes, and -never again did Mr. Leith, or anybody else, catch him in an infraction -of the rules of the school. - -Not that he refused to go in for any legitimate fun, but he kept out of -mischief, and did his best to keep his chum and the other boys of the -Lower School out of trouble, too. - -After that first snow-ball fight with Belden at the island, Bobby Blake -became quite an influence among the smaller boys of Rockledge. The -story of his taking charge of the defense of the island, after the -defection of Max Bender, was common property, although Bobby himself -would never discuss the matter. - -Off and on, there was both snow and ice for two months following the -great battle, but the boys had only the two half holidays a week in -which to play on the frozen lake. - -By and by the lake became unsafe, too, and, after a time came the spring -thaw, the ice went out, and the boys could get into the boats again. - -Every morning when he got up, Bobby ran to the window first of all and -sniffed the moist, sweet air. Spring was on the way. And spring sets -the blood to coursing more swiftly in the veins of every healthy boy. - -For two months the boys of the Second Dormitory had not seen their camp -in the woods on the larger island at the other end of Lake Monatook. -When it was whispered around that there was a chance for a trip there -the next Saturday, all were agreed. - -Bobby and Pee Wee were the committee to "rustle up" the necessities for -a feast at the camp. No potatoes and corn this time of year; the school -commissary department had to be approached. - -No boy in the school, save Barry Gray himself, had more influence with -Mary, the head cook, than Bobby Blake. Like the other servants about -Rockledge, the good woman knew all about the loss of Bobby's parents at -sea. Besides that, he was always polite and friendly, and never -mischievously tried to raid the pantry. - -Pee Wee's influence lay in his inordinate love for sweet cakes and the -like, for which he was always willing to spend his pocket-money. Many -of the fat boy's dimes and quarters reached Mary's palm for "bites" -between meals. - -It chanced to be a good day with Mary, and the committee of two got the -promise of a big hamper of good things for the first picnic of the year. -Bobby had refused to be one of those who asked for the privilege of -going up the lake. He knew that the request would have to be made to -Mr. Carrin or Mr. Leith, and neither of them, he feared, were favorably -inclined to him. - -The permission was granted, however, and the crowd of nearly twenty boys -raced down to the boathouse immediately after they were released from -study at eleven o'clock on Saturday morning. - -They had three boats, four boys at the oars in each. Some of the big -fellows were going to get out the shells and begin practicing for the -June regatta, but Bobby and his friends were eager to see their old -camp. - -"If those Bedlamites haven't found it and busted the camp all up," -grumbled Pee Wee, pulling at an oar. "'Member how they pelted us with -hot potatoes that time?" - -"I hope they'll keep on their own side of the lake this spring," said -Mouser. - -"I expect they have as much right at the islands as we have," ventured -Bobby. "Only it ought to be 'first come, first served.'" - -"We'll serve them out nicely, if they bother us this spring," grunted -Fred, who was likewise pulling. - -"We'll beat them as we did in the snowball fight," cried Shiner. - -"If we can spell 'able,'" laughed Bobby. - -"Aw, we'll spell it all right, won't we, Ginger?" demanded Sparrow -Bangs. - -"Let me at them--that's all," boasted Fred. - -When they got to the upper island, there was nobody there. They pulled -their boats ashore and went up into the wood. There was the shack they -had built the previous fall, almost as good as new. - -Of course, the roof was rotting and wet, but it was pretty dry inside -and they patched up the walls and roof in a little while. - -Then they built a fire, made cocoa, opened a can of condensed milk, and -spread out the sandwiches and pie that Mary had furnished. In the midst -of the picnic, a chunk of sod popped right into the tin cup out of which -Pee Wee was drinking. - -"Oh! who did that?" demanded the fat boy. - -In a moment a big sod came slap into the fire, and scattered the burning -brands. Then followed a fusillade from the woods on two sides of the -camp! - -"The Bedlamites! I see that Larry Cronk!" yelled Howell Purdy. - -The feast was spoiled. The boys from the rival school had pulled up a -lot of soft, wet turf, and they bombarded the boys from Rockledge -nicely. - -It was an uneven fight at first, for the picnickers had been totally -unprepared for such an attack. - -Nobody wanted to run, however, and Bobby and Sparrow stemmed the tide of -defeat with pine-cones, until their mates could cut clubs and come to -close quarters. - -The Rockledge boys were driven out of their camp. With great hilarity, -Larry Cronk and his mates held the camp, and drove off their antagonists -every time they attacked. - -"They're too many for us," growled Fred, when the Rockledge crew finally -retired. "Why! there are four boatloads of them." - -"I tell you," whispered Shiner, "let's get back at them." - -"Crickey! we've been back at them enough," complained Pee Wee. "I'm -beaten black and blue. And look at our clothes--all mud! We'll hear -about this, when we get back to the school." - -In fact, it was a sorrowful and angry group that went down to the boats. -These were on one side of the island, while those belonging to the -Belden boys were beached on the other side. - -Shiner had whispered his bright idea to Bobby and some of the others. -Bobby was a little slow to accept it, but finally was convinced. The -Beldens were watching them from the summit of the rocks. - -Only one of the Rockledge boats was pushed into the water. Bobby, -Shiner, Sparrow and Skeets Brody got in and took up the oars. They -rowed away around the island. - -Meanwhile the other boys collected a lot of pebbles as though they -proposed to attack the Beldenites again. This would have been foolish, -however, for the enemy had much the better position. - -The two gangs were not above threats shouted to each other and -make-believe dashes from either side. With volleys of stones and sod -they kept up the interest in the fight for half an hour. - -Then suddenly there came a shriek from some boy left on the other side -of the island as a sentinel. He came flying, yelling his distress. - -"Into the boats, boys!" Fred Martin commanded. "Bobby's got them." - -They pushed off the two remaining boats and jumped in. At that moment -the absent Rockledge boat appeared around the end of the island, and -strung behind it, in one, two, three, four order were the boats -belonging to the Belden boys. The latter were marooned. - -"We've beaten them this time!" yelled Howell Purdy, with delight. - -"You bet!" agreed Pee Wee. "We've been more'n a year getting them fixed -just right. 'Member, Ginger, I told you and Bobby how those Bedlamites -stole _all_ our boats once? How about it now?" - -There was great hilarity indeed. The boys from Rockledge manned the -Belden boats and the whole flotilla pulled toward the south shore. At -this place the lake was quite five miles wide and the island was in the -middle. So the pull was quite arduous. - -Besides, the wind had come up and there was a threatening black cloud -mounting the sky. Soon thunder began to mutter in the distance, and the -lightning tinged the lower edge of this cloud. - -The first heavy thunder shower of the season was approaching. - -As they rowed to the mainland, the Rockledge boys could see their -enemies standing disconsolately on the shore, and wistfully looking -after their boats. - -"They'll get a nice soaking," declared Shiner. "Oh! maybe I'm not glad!" - -"So am I," said Fred. "And we'll hide these boats--eh?" - -"Sure," agreed Sparrow Bangs. "I know a dandy place right down at the -edge of Monckton's farm. They wouldn't find them in a week of Sundays -in the mouth of that creek." - -The rain had begun to fall before the boys reached the shore. It was a -lashing, dashing rain, with plenty of thunder and the sharpest kind of -lightning. Several of the Rockledge boys were afraid of thunder and -lightning, but they all took shelter in an old tobacco barn--the farmers -of the Connecticut Valley raise a certain quality of tobacco. - -For an hour the storm continued. Then the thunder died away, and the -rain ceased. By that time it was almost dark, and the boys stood a good -chance of being belated for supper. - -They hid the stolen boats and went home in their own. As they rowed -steadily down the edge of the lake, they looked out across the darkening -water to the island, and did not see a spark of light there. - -"Maybe they haven't a match," said Bobby, suddenly, after a little -silence. - -"I should hope not!" snapped Fred. - -"Anyway, there's no dry wood after this rain," said his chum. - -"Good!" repeated the red-haired one. - -"They're going to have a mighty bad time," ruminated Bobby. Fred only -grunted, and Bobby fell silent. - -Just the same, there was a troublesome thought in Bobby Blake's mind. -He had little to say after they got to the school, and remained silent -all through supper. - -The boys had changed their clothes. The clouds had blown away and it -was a starlit evening. They had their choice of playing outside for a -while, or going to the big study until retiring hour. - -"I say," said Shiner, going about quickly among the Second Dormitory -lads, "Bobby wants us all in the gym. Something doing." - -Jimmy Ailshine was a good Mercury. He got most of the boys who had been -to the island together, in five minutes. - -Bobby looked dreadfully serious; Fred was scowling; Sparrow looked as -though he did not know whether to laugh, or not. - -"Go on, Bobby!" advised Pee Wee, yawning. "What's doing!" - -"I'll tell you," shot in Bobby, without a moment's hesitation. "We've -done an awfully mean thing, and we've got to undo it." - -"What's _that_?" demanded Howell Purdy, in amazement. - -"What we did to those Bedlamites," said Bobby, firmly. "We mustn't let -them stay there all night. Some of us have got to take their boats back -so that they can get ashore." - - - - - CHAPTER XXIII - - GOOD NEWS TRAVELS SLOWLY - - -The crowd of scatterbrained youngsters were smitten speechless for the -moment. They stared at Bobby Blake, and then looked at each other -curiously. Pee Wee was the first to find his voice. - -"Aw, cheese it, Bobby!" he drawled. "You're kidding us." - -"No. We've done a mean thing. We'll get them into trouble over to -their school--" - -"Good enough!" cried Howell Purdy, in delight. - -"And maybe we'll get into trouble because of it, too," went on Bobby, -seriously. "But whether we do, or we don't, we oughtn't to leave those -fellows over there on the island all night. It's a mean trick." - -"Say! haven't they played many a mean trick on us?" demanded Pee Wee, -excitedly. - -"That has nothing to do with it," said Bobby, still seriously. "It's -cold and wet on that island. Maybe they are all soaking wet from the -rain-storm. Suppose they should get cold--all of them--some of -them--only _one_ of them?" - -This was rather a grave way to put it. Bobby was not much more -thoughtful than other boys of his age--and he not eleven; but the thing -had gripped him hard. - -"I tell you," he said, quietly, "if none of you will go back with me, -I'll go alone." - -"Shucks!" exclaimed Pee Wee, "you couldn't row up there alone, Bobby -Blake, let alone tugging those four boats after you." - -"Well! and he doesn't have to--see?" snapped Fred Martin, dragging on -his cap over his red hair. "I guess _two_ of us can do something." He -grinned rather sheepishly at Bobby. - -"Three," said Sparrow Bangs, briefly. - -"Me, too," said the Mouser. "You can stay home, if you want to, Pee -Wee. _I'm_ going." - -"Oh--very well!" groaned the fat boy. "You can count me in." - -"And me! And me!" cried several. - -In the end there were two boats full of volunteers who left the -Rockledge boathouse, known only to the man who had charge of it, and -rowed up to Monckton's farm. There they dragged the four Belden boats -out of the mud, and towed them across to the island. - -It was pretty dark, for there was no moon. The marooned youngsters -heard them coming and began to shout, believing that it was a rescue -party from their own school. - -Bobby and Fred stood up and yelled to them to come down to the shore for -their boats. There was a good deal of bandying talk, and the two sets -of boys said some sharp things to each other, but they separated without -a fight. - -"They'll tell, of course, and the Old Doctor will make an -investigation," said Fred, as they pulled for home. - -"Sure!" groaned Shiner. - -"But it won't be so bad for us as it would have been if we'd left them -there for their own folks to find, and kept their boats hid," Pee Wee -observed, with more thoughtfulness than he usually showed. - -"And the Belden boys will be a deal more comfortable, eh?" chuckled -Bobby. - -There _was_ an investigation. The Doctor conducted it himself. He went -"back to the year one," as Barry Gray said, and considered all the -causes of the rivalry between the two schools, and what each had done to -the other. - -The hot potato fight was taken into consideration, as well as the fact -that the Belden schoolboys had once stolen every boat the Rockledge boys -possessed, and hidden them for a week. - -Then he rendered his decision: No party of boys without a teacher was to -go to any of the islands. None of the boys were to venture across the -lake to the Belden shore. - -These decisions were repeated by the head of the Belden School, and from -that time on there was less friction between the two institutions. - -But, meanwhile, Dr. Raymond had heard all about Bobby Blake's action in -the matter of the return of the boats to the marooned boys. He said -nothing to Bobby about it, but he talked with his assistants. - -This, too, made Bobby more popular with his mates. It had been the -right thing to do, and, after all, boys respect a boy who is willing to -do the right thing, even if it may make him unpopular for the time -being. - -The popularity that Bobby was winning at Rockledge School, however, was -of a lasting kind. If Bobby said a thing, he meant it. If he made a -promise, he stuck to it. He was no shirk, and no "goody-goody," and it -began to be whispered around (goodness only knows how the story started) -that Bobby might have a chance for the Medal of Honor if it was not for -"Old Leith." - -"What's Leith got it in for him for?" demanded the hot-headed Fred -Martin. "What's Bobby ever done to him?" - -"Something about Bobby's not giving away a fight," said Pee Wee, who had -got the news pretty straight from a waitress, who had heard Mr. Leith -and Mr. Carrin talking about it. - -"Aw, get out!" muttered Fred, rather abashed. He suddenly remembered the -fight he had started with Sparrow. - -"Never was a Lower School boy yet that won the medal," said How Purdy. - -"But we'd all pull for him--wouldn't we?" demanded Mouser. "I like Bob -all right." - -"I do, too," said Skeets Brody. "He was the only fellow that would stay -in and play checkers with me, when I had the sore throat." - -"He's done a lot of things for me," admitted Howell. "I haven't -forgotten them." - -"Well!" sighed Pee Wee. "I couldn't count the times Bobby's given me -his pudding at supper." - -"I guess we all like him," Sparrow said. "He's square as he can be. Old -Leith hasn't anything against him, I don't believe. It's just his -meanness." - -"No," said Pee Wee. "It's because Bobby wouldn't tell on somebody. I -put it up to Bobby myself, and he got mad and told me to mind my eye," -and the fat boy grinned. - -"Well! it gets me," said Shiner. "There haven't been many fights this -year that Bobby could have been in. And he's not quarrelsome." - -Fred said nothing. He was thinking hard, and from the expression on his -face, it was apparent that his thoughts were not of a pleasant nature. - -Bobby Blake certainly would have been surprised, had he known how his -mates were talking about him. He went on his usual course now-a-days -without much thought for the Medal of Honor. - -Only, he did his best. For his absent mother's and father's sake, he -did his best. - -Where were they? The question was with him always. Deadened somewhat -by time, the pain of his loss smarted just the same. He seldom -mentioned the mystery, even to Fred. Nevertheless, there was at least -one time in every day when he remembered it. - -He was as earnest in his prayers at night for his parents' safety as -ever he had been. He believed that some time he should hear good news. - -It is famous that bad news travels quickly, while good news has leaden -feet. It was so in this case. - -The spring advanced. Mr. and Mrs. Blake had sailed from New York early -in September, and nine months had nearly gone since then. The discovery -of burned wreckage from the ship on which they had sailed was all the -news that had ever come back to the United States regarding it. - -There arrived in the port of Baltimore one day a bluff-bowed, -frowsy-looking old two-stick schooner, with a tarnished figure-head -under her patched bowsprit, dirty sails, and a bottom undoubtedly thick -with barnacles. - -She was the _Ethelina_, and she loafed into her dock as though she had -never hurried within the knowledge of her owners. One of her owners -stood upon her deck and gave orders--Captain Adoniram Speed. - -His crew was partly made up of South American half-breeds, and the bulk -of the crew of the steamship on which the Blakes had sailed, so long -before, from New York. - -The captain brought letters for various people from a trading station -far up a tributary of the Amazon. Had not a sharp reporter, nosing -about for news on the Baltimore docks, gotten into conversation with -Captain Speed, it is likely that the newspapers would never have -obtained the full story of the loss of the steamship in question. - -She had burned only a few hundred miles off the mouth of the Amazon. It -was rough weather at the time and two of the boats' crews and most of -the passengers had lost their lives before the _Ethelina_ came loafing -along and had taken the remainder of the survivors aboard. - -The _Ethelina_ was bound for an up-river station. She had no reason for -touching at Para or any other big city of Brazil. She kept right on her -course, and her course chanced to be the route to be followed by Mr. and -Mrs. Blake, who were among the few passengers rescued. - -The old hooker sailed up the Amazon, and several hundred miles up the -tributary on which was situated the town of Samratam, which was the -Blakes' goal. - -The Blakes left letters for the captain of the _Ethelina_ to bring back -to civilization. Captain Speed had not considered it necessary to hurry -these letters along. - -He had waited to bring them himself, to mail at Baltimore. Good news -surely had traveled slowly in this case. Almost at the time the old -schooner was being warped into her dock at Baltimore, Mr. and Mrs. -Blake, in good health, expected to leave Samratam for the United States! - -The letters came in good time to Clinton, and to Rockledge School. Dr. -Raymond sat before his great, flat-topped desk one warm May morning -staring at a letter written on thin notepaper, with a packet of similar -letters, wrapped in an oiled-paper wrapper, before him on the desk. - -Somehow his spectacles were clouded, and he had to take them off and -wipe them twice before he could finish reading the business-like lines. - -The second time he wiped the glasses and set them astride his big nose, -he saw a small figure standing in the open doorway. - -"Ha! Robert!" he exclaimed. - -"Yes, sir." - -"I sent for you, Robert," said the master of Rockledge School, in a very -gruff voice--gruffer than usual, in fact. - -"Yes, sir?" returned Bobby, timidly. - -In spite of everything, he could not help being more than a little -frightened of Dr. Raymond. He was so big, and he was so gruff when he -spoke, and he had such searching eyes--usually--when he looked at one. - -But stop! There was something entirely different about Dr. Raymond's -eyes on this occasion. If Bobby Blake had not known that it was -impossible, he would have believed that there were tears in the Doctor's -eyes. - -"Robert," the gentleman said, finally, seeming to have some difficulty -in getting his words out. "Robert, did you ever hear the old saying that -'no news is good news'?" - -Bobby had no answer. His lips opened. He really _thought_ he said -"Yes, sir." But there was such a roaring in his ears, and his heart -suddenly pounded so hard, that he could scarcely hear. - -The furniture began to go around him in a sort of stately dance--and the -good doctor went with the furniture! It was very curious. Bobby tried -to rub his eyes free of the water that welled up, with his coat sleeves. - -"Yes, Robert; 'no news is good news.' We haven't heard for months from -those whom we wished to hear from. But always I have told you to keep -up heart--" - -Bobby could stand no more. He flung himself forward, around the corner -of the great desk. He grabbed at the Doctor's coatsleeve before he could -swim away from him again. - -"My mother! my father! You've heard--?" - -"They're all right, Robert! they're all right!" exclaimed the -Doctor--and did his voice break strangely as he said it? "There, there, -my boy! They're safe as can be and here's a whole packet of letters for -you from them. Don't cry, my boy--" - -But Bobby wasn't crying. It seemed to him that he never should cry -again. - -"Tell me!" he gasped, still clinging to the Doctor's arm. "Did--did she -get her feet wet? Or is she all right? She didn't get the--the -bron-skeeters, did she? Father was always afraid of that, if she got -cold." - - - - - CHAPTER XXIV - - RED HAIR STANDS FOR MORE THAN TEMPER - - -June had come. The regatta on Monatook Lake was but a few days away; -Commencement followed. Even the boys of the Lower School were working -hard to make up lost lessons these days. - -Captain Gray was to graduate, and with him Max Bender and five of the -other big boys. There would be at least seven new scholars to come to -Rockledge the next September, for there were never less than fifty boys -at the school and--as has been said--Dr. Raymond always had a waiting -list. - -Mr. Leith devoted most of his time to the older boys; but every -fortnight, at least, he went over the reports of the entire school. He -was a stiff and stern master, but he considered himself just. For that -reason he called Bobby Blake to his desk one day and said: - -"Robert, I am sorry there is a serious fault marked against you. In -recitations you have done better than any boy in the Lower School and -better than most in the Upper. But I do not like a stubborn boy; we can -none of us--we teachers, I mean--excuse such a fault as that. I hear -good reports of you in every direction, and your name has been mentioned -among the few who stand a chance of winning the Medal of Honor. - -"It is a most serious matter for a boy to refuse to answer proper -questions put to him by those who have him in charge. You must learn -this _now_. To obey is your duty. Do you realize that?" - -"Yes, sir," said Bobby in a low tone, and swallowing hard. "I -understand, sir." - -What he understood was that, if he had been willing to tell on his chum, -and Shiner, and Sparrow, he might have won the medal. _But he could not -do that_! - -He had never thought of taking the matter up with Dr. Raymond. An older -boy--Captain Gray, for instance--might have gone to the Doctor and -stated his side of the case. But Bobby did not question for a moment -the right of Mr. Leith to put in that report against him. - -It was pretty hard for the boy to bear. He wanted so much to write his -parents that he had won the distinction of the gold medal Dr. Raymond -had shown them on that first day of school. The Lower School was solid -for Bobby and many of the older lads admired the pluck and good humor of -the boy from Clinton. His strongest partisans were Fred Martin and -Sparrow Bangs, who admired him so much because he was so different from -themselves, perhaps. - -Pee Wee was Bobby's staunch champion, too. The fat boy boldly declared -his admiration for the Clinton boy in any company. - -"There isn't another boy like him," Pee Wee said in gymnasium one day, -when Bobby was absent. "Say! there's not one of you big fellows but -what he's done a favor for--and more than once. I say--" - -"Come! you needn't froth at the mouth over it," growled Max Bender. - -"Huh! _you_ haven't anything to say against Bobby," declared Pee Wee. - -"I know I haven't," returned Max, red to his ears. "I'd vote for him -right now. Barry can't get the medal anyway. - -"He doesn't stand well enough in Latin and physics for one thing," -pursued Max. "He knows it. Barry's a good fellow, and the Old Doc. is -proud of him, I reckon; but he never was a bone for work." - -Pee Wee was inspired by this statement to "root" all the harder for -Bobby Blake. - -"He can get it, I know!" the fat boy kept saying. "There isn't another -boy in the school stands as good a chance." - -"But if Mr. Leith is bound not to vote for him, what chance is there for -Bobby? Tell me that, now?" demanded Fred Martin. - -"What's Old Leith got against him?" asked one of the other boys. - -"Oh, it's that fight," said Pee Wee, with a side glance at Fred. - -"You've said that before," Skeets Brody observed. "I don't know about -any fight Bobby's been in since he came here." - -"Oh, _he_ wasn't in it," returned Pee Wee. - -Fred's face colored deeply. He waited his chance and got the fat boy -aside. "What's all this about Bobby fighting?" he demanded. "You know -something more than you're telling." - -"_You_ know," said the fat boy. - -"No, I don't!" - -"Yes, you do; and Sparrow knows, and Shiner knows--" - -"That old thing!" exclaimed Fred. "Who told you about it? And it -happened months ago." - -"Old Leith doesn't forget easily. You and Sparrow had a scrap, didn't -you?" - -"Who told you so?" - -"Never you mind. I know you are as thick as thieves now," grinned Pee -Wee. "But there was a time when you and Sparrow were going to knock -each other's heads off. Isn't that so?" - -"Aw--it wasn't a fight," growled Fred. - -"And Bobby was in it." - -"What if he was?" - -"Leith knows. He caught Bobby somehow. And Bobby wouldn't tell on the -rest of you," said Pee Wee. "That's how he got in bad with Mr. Leith, -and it's what is going to keep him out of winning that medal--yes, it -is!" - -"Wow! I didn't know it was like that," gasped the red-haired boy. -"Bobby ran back for my cap. I remember now. I thought Leith only -punished him by keeping him shut in for three days." - -"Huh! that's the _how_ of it, is it?" - -"He never said a word about it," declared Fred, gulping. "He's never -peeped that Old Leith was holding it up against him." - -"I know," declared Pee Wee, nodding. "He tried to make Bobby tell on -you fellows, and Bobby wouldn't. So that busted up his chance of -getting the medal." - -"Why!" murmured Fred, "he's been working just as hard for it all the -time." - -The fat boy seemed to have a little better appreciation of Bobby's -character than his own chum. "Why!" he said. "I reckon Bobby would do -his best anyway. He's that kind of a fellow." - -Fred went to the dressing room and slowly got out of his gymnasium suit -and stood under the shower. He was puzzled and disturbed. It was not -his way to think very deeply. - -But red hair stands for something besides a quick temper. Such hair -usually belongs to a warm heart. Fred, if thoughtless, was as loyal to -his chum as Damon was to Pythias, and all boys have read the story of -those famous friends. - -Fred had taken it for granted that Bobby's punishment, on that long-past -occasion, was completed when he had remained indoors at Mr. Leith's -command. Fred did not suppose it had gone farther. - -Bobby had never said a word. Of course, he _would not_ have! that was -Bobby's way. - -It smote Fred Martin hard that if Bobby lost his chance to win the -medal, it would be partly his fault. And Bobby had tried to keep him -out of the fight with Sparrow, in the first place! - -The fight had not done him, or Sparrow, or Shiner, a bit of harm. He -and Sparrow had been the best of friends ever since that day in the -"bloody corner"! But poor Bobby-- - -"It's a mean shame," Fred muttered to himself. "Old Leith's not fair. -What business has he got holding that against Bobby! He's punishing -Bobby for _our_ sins. It's a shame!" - -Thinking about it, or talking about it, was not going to help his chum -in the least. Fred had been a little afraid that some of the reports -that had gone home to his father would call forth from Mr. Martin sharp -criticism. He knew he did not stand any too well in his own classes, -and in deportment. - -He had not been caught in any great fault. However, if Mr. Leith knew -that he had been fighting that day in the corner, it would mean a big, -black smear on his report for the year. That was just as sure as could -be. - -"And Dad said if I didn't show up good this year, he'd take me into the -store and make me run errands, and send me back to public school," -thought Master Fred. - -"Gracious! that would leave Bobby here alone. Not to come back to -Rockledge next fall--" - -The red-haired boy could not bear to think of such a calamity. It was -certainly most awful to contemplate. - -He got into his clothing and wandered out of the gymnasium. Nobody -chanced to speak to him and he stood on the school steps for some -minutes turning a very hard problem over in his mind. - -And then a thought, like a keen-bladed rapier, stabbed Fred right in his -most vulnerable point--his conscience! - -"What does it matter if Bobby _does_ appear cheerful? _You're wrong_! - -"Oh, crickey!" groaned the red-haired boy, and he turned square around -and climbed the steps. With dragging footsteps he made his way to Mr. -Leith's class-room, where he knew he should find the master correcting -examination papers. - - -Pee Wee, having gotten hold of one end of the thread, unraveled the -whole piece in short order. He soon had the truth out of Sparrow and -Shiner about the long-forgotten fight in "bloody corner." - -The fat boy was something more than a gossip, however. He, whose mind -seemed usually interested mainly in food, proved that he could think of -something else. - -He wasted little time on the Lower School but it was not long before -every other boy at Rockledge knew how Bobby had pluckily--and -silently--suffered for the wrong three other boys had done. - -Pee Wee knew that the threat of the loss of the medal had hung over -Bobby all the time. He--and the other boys, too--knew that Bobby's -record was otherwise clean. - -"Vote for Bobby Blake--he's all right!" became the rallying cry all over -the school, and even Captain Gray took it up. - -"You know, fellows," he said to his particular chums, "I haven't a ghost -of a show for the medal. I'd like to get it, but your votes wouldn't -win it for me. And I declare! beside Bobby, I don't think I deserve -it." - -The boys had a chance to express their individual opinion about the -winner of the medal by secret ballot, several days before the actual -vote was taken. In this way the teachers learned just who was most -popular with the boys at large. - -A slip was given each boy in class, on which was printed "First Choice," -"Second Choice," "Third Choice." Every fellow in the Lower School wrote -Bobby's name against each choice! - -And when the teachers, Mr. Leith and Mr. Carrin, came to count the votes -from the other boys, Bobby's name predominated by a good majority. There -were still some faithful to Barry Gray, and one or two other boys were -named for the medal; but on every slip save two, Bobby's name appeared -as either first, second, or third choice. Those two particular slips -did not have Barry Gray's name on them, either, and the astute teachers -recognized the handwriting of Bill Bronson and Jack Jinks! - -If, after this first ballot, there were names voted for, whose owners -could not possibly win the medal, because of their standing with the -teachers, the fact was to be made known by the Doctor. The whole school -waited, most anxiously, for Dr. Raymond's decision in this case. - -The regatta came in between. That was the great sporting event of the -spring between the two schools which faced each other on opposite sides -of Lake Monatook. - -There were two-oared races, four-oared races, and then the big race of -the day--the trial of speed between the eight-oared shells. The -Rockledge boys thought Captain Gray and the others, in their white -jerseys with a crimson "R" on each side, were "a pretty nifty crew," -when they entered their boat and pushed out to the starter's place. - -The Belden crew had rowed over from their side of the lake. The course -was laid on the Rockledge side and was two miles in length--a mile -straight away, then round the post and return to the starting point. - -The younger boys forgot all other things and rooted for Gray and his -crew with all the strength of their lungs. They were massed on a part -of the bluff where they could see the whole race, and their friends and -parents and the townspeople were on hand in force to add to the -excitement of the occasion. - -Clinton was too far away for Mr. and Mrs. Martin to come to the closing -exercises of the school. Mr. Martin could not leave his store long -enough for that, and there were too many children at home for Fred's -mother to leave for over night. - -The chums got warm letters from them, and there were presents for both -Fred and Bobby. When the latter saw his mother's handwriting on his -package, and knew that she had thought of this time so long ahead, and -prepared for it, he was more touched than he had been by the Christmas -presents that had reached him from the same source. - -Fred was rather woebegone these last few days. "Wow! wait till Dad sees -my report," he said, hopelessly. "He'll be sorry he sent me this watch -and chain." - -Nevertheless, both lads wore their watches very proudly. They were just -what they had longed for, and although the timepieces were not very -valuable, they were good, practical instruments. - -The boys held them now, as they watched the racing shells, and came -pretty close to knowing by how many seconds the Rockledge crew beat the -Belden, when the shells raced down to the starter's boat. - -There was an extra supper that night. Mary baked an enormous cake, with -candles on it, and the date of the winning of the boat race traced in -pink frosting. This was set down in the middle of the upper table, and -Captain Gray had the honor of cutting it. A good-sized piece was sent -around to each boy, and Gray was called on for a speech. - -The handsome, well-dressed lad was not afraid to speak in public. He -was a bit forward but goodhearted. Yet perhaps the Doctor was just as -well suited that Barrymore Gray should not be in line for the Medal of -Honor. - -There was a certain conceit about his character which had always -troubled the good doctor; yet Barry had carried off the duties of his -captaincy with success. - -Frank Durrock was appointed captain for the coming year, and _he_ was -called on for a speech, too, having rowed bow in the winning shell. -Frank was another sort of a boy. He could only nod his thanks and sit -down in confusion. - -The youngsters cheered Barry and laughed at Frank; yet they all liked -the latter pretty well, too. - -The Doctor himself covered Frank Durrock's confusion by making a little -speech. His last words were: "And now, boys, to-morrow we decide upon -the winner of the Medal of Honor. All electioneering must cease -to-night, you know. Be prepared to-morrow to settle for yourselves who -is the most popular candidate. You are dismissed." - - - - - CHAPTER XXV - - THE WINNER - - -Pee Wee was so full of tickle that he was not sleepy! His father and -mother had been up for the regatta, and were staying at the Rockledge -Hotel until the school closed for the year. - -Mr. Wise was a rich man and he could afford to do about anything that -Pee Wee wanted him to do. There was something now on Pee Wee's mind -and, as Fred said, "he'd have to get it out of his system or he couldn't -go to sleep." - -"Wait till the other boys are asleep," whispered the fat boy. "I'm -going to keep pinching Mouser so he'll keep awake. You fellows pinch -each other." - -The beds of Bobby and Fred, and Pee Wee and Mouser Pryde, were side by -side. It rather tickled Bobby and Fred to think they should keep each -other awake in the way the fat boy suggested; but that he carried it out -in Mouser's case was very evident from the occasional grunts and -objections from the latter. - -The chums from Clinton kept themselves awake by asking each other -riddles, and telling stories. Fred had one "giggly" joke that went as -follows: "Say, Bobby, do you know they're going to close the public -library down town?" - -"What for?" demanded his chum. - -Just then Pee Wee's shrill whisper reached them: "Cheese it! Come here, -fellows. I have something to tell you--honest!" - -The dormitory was quite silent, save for the four boys in the corner. -Fred slipped out of bed and Bobby followed him. Pee Wee and Mouser were -sitting up in their own beds. - -"Now listen," whispered the fat boy. "Just as soon as school's out, my -folks are going to Bass Cove. We go there every summer. It's a dandy -place--you bet!" - -"All right. We've heard about that before," said Mouser, yawning. "You -might let a fellow go to sleep and wait till morning to tell us your -chestnuts." - -"I've a good mind not to tell _you_ at all," grunted Pee Wee. - -"Say! you're not telling any of us very fast," whispered Fred, giving -the fat boy a poke. "Get busy! some of the others will wake up." - -"I'll tell you," whispered Perry Wise, earnestly. "I have the grandest -father! He says I can have you three down to Bass Cove, if your folks -will let you come. What do you know about _that_?" - -"Oh--fine!" gasped Fred, when he could get his breath. - -All three of the boys had heard about that summer place. Pee Wee was -never weary of talking about it. - -"Sure he'll let us come?" demanded Mouser, wide awake on the instant. - -"That's what I said. I've been asking him in my letters. And he saw -you to-day--and mother, too--and he said 'yes.' He liked you -all--'specially Bobby--and he says you all can come." - -"Say!" gasped Fred. "That'll be great. Won't it, Bobby?" - -"I should say," admitted his chum. "And I was wondering what would -become of me before my folks got home again." - -"We'll go clamming, and crabbing, and fishing, and sailing--oh, -crickey!" gasped Fred, with his head under the bedclothes, "what won't -we do?" - -"It will be great," admitted Bobby, with a sigh of longing. "I just -hope your folks will let us go." - -This hope was realized, as my readers may learn if they meet Bobby and -Fred in the next volume of this series, entitled: "Bobby Blake at Bass -Cove; Or, The Hunt for the Motor Boat _Gem_." - -The four giggled, and whispered, and talked the matter over for another -hour before they could close their eyes. The outlook for the summer -vacation was first in their mind, too, when they awoke in the morning. - -But this was an important day at Rockledge School. Even the expected -pleasures of a summer at Bass Cove must be put temporarily in the -background. - -In the afternoon the graduating exercises were to be held--called at -Rockledge "the commencement exercises." In the evening the boys -entertained socially all their friends and relatives who could or would -come to the school. - -There was something else--something that loomed almost as big to some of -them as the graduation of the seven head boys. - -After breakfast the whole school filed up to the big hall. It was a -serious occasion, and even Fred Martin was not "cutting up" this -morning, and was one of those who most solemnly reached their seats. - -All the teachers were sitting on the platform with Dr. Raymond. The old -captain of the school, and the new captain, each stood at a door in the -back of the room to see that nobody slipped out, and to collect ballots -when the time came. - -"Now, boys," said the good Doctor, rising and smiling at the fifty. -"This is a serious occasion yet it is a happy one, too. It should be -happy for you all, because your teachers have found among you at least -one boy who is worthy of the high honor of receiving the medal," and he -displayed the gold star as he had on that first day, nine months before. - -"It is happy for us on the platform," and he made a little bow to the -gentlemen with him, "because you have found one among you whom so many -seem to admire. And we know what you admire him for. - -"It is unhappily impossible for every boy voted for to win the medal. -That is understood. Not alone must he be popular with you all, but he -must have stood high in every study and in his deportment as well. -Several of those voted for the other day in the informal balloting by -the school, cannot possibly receive the approval of myself and the other -masters. - -"Master Gray, unfortunately, is not eligible; neither is Masters -Durrock, Converse, or Spelt. There is no dishonor attached to the -records of these boys, but there are other reasons--reasons connected -with their standing in class--that make it impossible for us teachers to -agree on either of these names. - -"Now, boys, on the ballot now handed around, you will have but one -choice. And it looks as though your choice had already been indicated. -Let me assure you that, if that is so, your teachers are, one and all, -in favor of your choice." - -There was a murmur of approval--almost a cheer--when the doctor had done -speaking. Lots of the boys turned to smile at Bobby. He suddenly found -himself very red in the face. Fred looked delighted. Pee Wee could -scarcely keep in his seat. - -Barry Gray and Frank Durrock passed the papers swiftly, and gathered -them again in a few minutes. That the school was almost unanimous could -not be doubted. - -Mr. Leith and Mr. Carrin counted the slips. There was a bunch of them on -one side of the table and only a few on the other side. The doctor -rose, smiling with satisfaction. - -"My dear boys!" he said, ringingly. "It is a joy to me to find you so -nearly unanimous. And you have chosen the boy of whom, above all -others, we approve. - -"Robert Blake! stand up." - -_Then_ they cheered. It was impossible to silence the Lower School, at -least, for fully three minutes. Bobby stood, blushing and trembling -during this "unseemly riot." - -"Robert," said Dr. Raymond, quietly, at last, "you have been a good boy -here, and an exceptionally faithful scholar. I have watched your course -for the year with interest. You have won out under circumstances that -were most trying. - -"You boys have a code of morals of your own. I know it. 'Thou Shalt Not -Tell Tales' seems greater to you than any other commandment. And I -confess I do not uphold the tale-bearer. - -"If a boy does wrong, he should tell on himself. _That_ is being -honorable. Especially if he knows that because of his wrong-doing any -other fellow is suffering. - -"You all know that Robert bore a burden of punishment for months which -he did not really deserve. There is another among you, however--and I'm -proud of him!" and the doctor flashed a single glance toward Fred -Martin's red hair and red face, "who came forward when he understood, -and did his all to remove the black mark from Robert's record. - -"It makes me happy to know that I have such boys as these in Rockledge -School. I do not believe there are fifty boys anywhere--in any -school--any finer than _my_ boys," declared the Doctor, with growing -enthusiasm. - -"And I have never presented the Medal of Honor to any of my boys with -greater pride than I shall feel when I pin this star upon Robert Blake's -coat this afternoon." - -The school cheered again. Even Mr. Leith smiled at the enthusiasm -displayed by the youngsters. They formed in line, Barry and Frank -Durrock lifted Bobby to their shoulders, and the procession marched down -stairs and out, and around the campus. - -Bobby felt terribly disturbed. It seemed to him as though his ears -would never stop burning. - -They made too much of it. He was delighted that he could tell his -mother and father of his success, and show them the gold star. But he -could not see just how he had won it, nor how he had won the boys' -enthusiastic approval. - -There was another honor for him, too. He was selected as one of the new -members of the school secret order--The Sword and Star. _That_ went -with the winning of the medal without question. - -"Wow!" sighed Pee Wee, "he can hit as hard as any fellow in the Lower -School, when he boxes. And he's good fun, and is not afraid to get into -a game of fun, even if the teachers scowl on it a little." - -"Huh! I guess not," grunted Fred. "That's right about Bobby. He's not -afraid of _any_thing. That is, he's not afraid to do anything that isn't -mean." - -And that being a most just expression of his character, we will say -good-by for the present to Bobby Blake and his friends. - - - - - THE END - - - - - - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BOBBY BLAKE AT ROCKLEDGE SCHOOL -*** - - - - -A Word from Project Gutenberg - - -We will update this book if we find any errors. - -This book can be found under: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/39799 - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no one -owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation (and -you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without permission -and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth in the -General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to copying and -distributing Project Gutenberg(tm) electronic works to protect the -Project Gutenberg(tm) concept and trademark. 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-
-.. meta::
- :PG.Id: 39799
- :PG.Title: Bobby Blake at Rockledge School
- :PG.Released: 2013-06-03
- :PG.Rights: Public Domain
- :PG.Producer: Al Haines
- :DC.Creator: Frank \A. Warner
- :DC.Title: Bobby Blake at Rockledge School
- or Winning the Medal of Honor
- :DC.Language: en
- :DC.Created: 1915
- :coverpage: images/img-cover.jpg
-
-===============================
-BOBBY BLAKE AT ROCKLEDGE SCHOOL
-===============================
-
-.. clearpage::
-
-.. pgheader::
-
-.. container:: titlepage center white-space-pre-line
-
- .. class:: x-large
-
- BOBBY BLAKE
-
- .. class:: large
-
- at Rockledge School
-
- .. vspace:: 1
-
- .. class: medium
-
- or
- Winning the Medal of Honor
-
- .. vspace:: 2
-
- .. class:: medium
-
- *By*
- FRANK A. WARNER
-
- .. vspace:: 1
-
- .. class:: small
-
- *Author of*
- "BOBBY BLAKE AT BASS COVE"
- "BOBBY BLAKE ON A CRUISE," Etc.
-
- .. vspace:: 3
-
- .. class:: medium
-
- WHITMAN PUBLISHING CO.
- RACINE, WISCONSIN
-
- .. vspace:: 4
-
-.. container:: verso center white-space-pre-line
-
- .. class:: small
-
- Copyright, MCMXV, by
- BARSE & CO.
-
- .. vspace:: 3
-
- .. class:: small
-
- Printed in the United States of America
-
- .. vspace:: 4
-
-.. class:: center large
-
- CONTENTS
-
-.. vspace:: 1
-
-.. class:: noindent small
-
- CHAPTER
-
-.. class:: noindent medium white-space-pre-line
-
-I. `"The Overland Limited"`_
-II. `Apples and Applethwaite Plunkit`_
-III. `Fred in Trouble`_
-IV. `An Eventful Afternoon`_
-V. `The Tale of a Scarecrow`_
-VI. `A Fish Fry and a Startling Announcement`_
-VII. `Financial Affairs`_
-VIII. `The Peep-Show`_
-IX. `Off for Rockledge`_
-X. `New Surroundings`_
-XI. `Getting Acquainted`_
-XII. `In the Dormitory`_
-XIII. `The Poguey Fight`_
-XIV. `The Honor Medal`_
-XV. `Getting Into Step`_
-XVI. `Hot Potatoes`_
-XVII. `Lost at Sea`_
-XVIII. `The Bloody Corner`_
-XIX. `The Result`_
-XX. `On the Brink of War`_
-XXI. `Give and Take`_
-XXII. `What Bobby Said`_
-XXIII. `Good News Travels Slowly`_
-XXIV. `Red Hair Stands for More Than Temper`_
-XXV. `The Winner`_
-
-.. vspace:: 4
-
-.. _`"THE OVERLAND LIMITED"`:
-
-.. class:: center x-large
-
- BOBBY BLAKE AT ROCKLEDGE SCHOOL
-
-.. vspace:: 3
-
-.. class:: center large
-
- CHAPTER I
-
-.. class:: center medium
-
- "THE OVERLAND LIMITED"
-
-.. vspace:: 2
-
-A boy of about ten, with a freckled face and
-fiery red hair cropped close to his head, came
-doubtfully up the side porch steps of the Blake
-house in Clinton and peered through the screen
-door at Meena, the Swedish girl.
-
-Meena was tall and rawboned, with very red
-elbows usually well displayed, and her straw-colored
-hair was bound in a tight "pug" on top of
-her long, narrow head. Meena had sharp blue
-eyes and she could see boys a great way off.
-
-"Mis' Blake—she ban gone out," said Meena,
-before the red-haired boy could speak. "You
-vant somet'ing? No?"
-
-"I—I was looking for Bobby," said the visitor,
-stammeringly. He and Mrs. Blake's Swedish girl
-were not on good terms.
-
-"I guess he ban gone out, too," said Meena,
-who did not want to be "bothered mit boys."
-
-The boy looked as though he thought she was a
-bad guesser! Somewhere inside the house he
-heard a muffled voice. It shouted:
-
-"Whoo! whoo! whoo-whoo-who-o-o-o!"
-
-The imitation of a steam whistle grew rapidly
-nearer. It seemed to be descending from the roof
-of the house—and descending very swiftly.
-Finally there came a decided bang—the landing of a
-pair of well-shod feet on the rug—and the voice
-rang out:
-
-"All out! All out for last stop! All out!"
-
-"*That's* Bobby," suggested the boy with the red
-hair, looking wistfully into Meena's kitchen.
-
-"Vell!" ejaculated the girl. "You go in by the
-dining-room door, I guess. You not go to trapse
-through my clean kitchen. Vipe your feet, boy!"
-
-The boy did as he was bade, and opened the
-dining-room door. A steady footstep was thumping
-overhead, rising into the upper regions of the
-three-story house.
-
-The red-haired youngster knew his way about
-this house just as well as he knew his own. Only
-he tripped over a corner of the dining-room rug
-and bumped into two chairs in the darkened
-living-room before he reached the front hall.
-
-This was wide and was lighted above by ground-glass
-oval windows on all three flights of stairs.
-The mahogany balustrade was in a single smooth
-spiral, broken by no ornament. It offered a
-tempting course from garret to ground floor to
-any venturesome small boy.
-
-"All aboard!" shouted the voice overhead.
-
-"The Overland Limited," said the red-haired
-boy, grinning, and squinting up the well.
-
-"Ding-dong! ding-dong! All aboard for the
-Overland Limited! This way! No stop between
-Denver and Chicago! All aboard!"
-
-There was a scramble above and then the
-exhaust of the locomotive was imitated in a thin,
-boyish treble:
-
-"Sh-h! sh-h! sh-h! Choo! choo! choo!
-Ding-dong-ding! We're off—"
-
-A figure a-straddle the broad banister-rail shot
-into view on the upper flight. The momentum
-carried the boy around the first curve and to the
-brink of the second pitch. Down that he sped
-like an arrow, and so around to the last slant of
-the balustrade.
-
-"Next stop, Chi-ca-*go*!" yelled the boy on the
-rail. "All o-o-out! all out for Chicago!"
-
-And then, bang! he landed upon the hall rug.
-
-"How'd you know the board wasn't set against
-you, Bobby?" demanded the red-haired one.
-"You might have had a wreck."
-
-"Hello, Fred Martin. If I'd looked around and
-seen your red head, I'd sure thought they'd flashed
-a danger signal on me—though the Overland
-Limited is supposed to have a clear track, you know."
-
-Fred jumped on him for that and the two chums
-had a wrestling match on the hall rug. It was,
-however, a good-natured bout, and soon they sat
-side by side on the lower step of the first flight,
-panting, and grinned at each other.
-
-Bobby's hair was black, and he wore it much
-longer than Fred. To tell the truth, Fred had the
-"Riley cut," as the boys called it, so that his hair
-would not attract so much attention.
-
-Fred had all the temper that is supposed to go
-with red hair. Perhaps red-haired people only
-seem more quick tempered because everybody
-"picks on them" so! Bobby was quite as
-boisterous as his chum, but he was more cautious and
-had some control over his emotions. Nobody ever
-called Bobby Blake a coward, however.
-
-He was a plump-cheeked, snub-nosed boy, with
-a wide, smiling mouth, dancing brown eyes, and an
-active, sturdy body. Like his chum, he was ten
-years old.
-
-"Thought you had to work all this forenoon,
-cleaning the back yard?" said Bobby. "That's
-why I stayed home. 'Fraid some of the other
-fellows would want me to go off with them, and we
-agreed to go to Plunkit's Creek this afternoon,
-you know."
-
-"You bet you!" agreed Fred. "I got a dandy
-can of worms. Found 'em under that pile of
-rubbish in the yard when I hauled it out."
-
-"But you haven't cleared up all that old yard so
-soon?" determined Bobby, shaking his head.
-
-Fred grinned again. "No," he said. "I
-caught Buster Shea. He's a good fellow, Buster
-is. I got him to do it for me, and paid him a cent,
-and my ten glass agates, and two big alleys, and
-a whole cage-trap full o' rats—five of them—we
-caught in our barn last night. He's goin' to take
-'em home and see if he can tame 'em, like Poley
-Smith did."
-
-"Huh!" snorted Bobby, "Poley's are *white*
-rats. You can't tame reg'lar rats."
-
-"That wasn't for me to tell him," returned
-Fred, briskly. "Buster thinks he can. And,
-anyway, it was a good bargain without the rats.
-He'll clean the yard fine."
-
-"Then let's get a lunch from Meena and I'll
-find my fish-tackle, and we'll start at once,"
-exclaimed Bobby, jumping up.
-
-"Ain't you got to see your mother first?"
-
-"She knows I'm going. She won't mind when
-I go, as long as I get back in time for supper.
-And then—she ain't so particular 'bout what I do
-just now," added Bobby, more slowly.
-
-"Jolly! I wish my mother was like that,"
-breathed Fred, with a sigh of longing.
-
-"Huh! I ain't so sure I like it," confessed
-Bobby. "There's somethin' goin' on in this
-house, Fred."
-
-"What do you mean?" demanded his chum,
-staring at him.
-
-"Pa and mother are always talkin' together,
-and shutting the door so I can't come in. And
-they look troubled all the time—I see 'em, when
-they stare at me so. Something's up, and I don't
-know what it is."
-
-"Mebbe your father's lost all his money and
-you'll have to go down and live in one of those
-shacks by the canal—like Buster Shea's folks,"
-exclaimed the consoling Fred Martin.
-
-"No. 'Tain't as bad as that, I guess.
-Mother's gone shopping for a lot of new clothes
-to-day—I heard her tell Pa so at breakfast. So it
-ain't money. It—it's just like it is before
-Christmas, don't you know, Fred? When folks are
-hiding things around so's you won't find 'em before
-Christmas morning, and joking about Santa Claus,
-and all that."
-
-"Crickey! Presents?" exclaimed Fred.
-"'Tain't your birthday coming, Bob?"
-
-"No. I had my birthday, you know, two months ago."
-
-"What do you s'pose it can be, then?"
-
-"I haven't a notion," declared Bobby, shaking
-his head. "But it's something about me.
-Something's going to happen me—I don't know what."
-
-"Bully!" shouted Fred, suddenly smiting him
-on the shoulder. "Do you suppose they're going
-to let you go to Rockledge with me this fall?"
-
-"Rockledge School? No such luck," groaned
-Bobby. "You see, mother won't hear of that.
-Your mother has a big family, Fred, and she can
-spare you—"
-
-"Glad to get rid of me for a while, I guess,"
-chuckled the red-haired boy.
-
-"Well, my mother isn't. So I can't go to
-boarding school with you," sighed Bobby.
-
-"Well," said the restless Fred, "let's get a
-move on us if we're going to Plunkit's."
-
-"We must get some lunch," said Bobby,
-starting up once more. "Say! has Meena got the
-toothache again?"
-
-"She didn't have her head tied up. But she's
-real cross," admitted Fred.
-
-"She'll have the toothache if I ask for lunch,
-I know," grumbled Bobby. "She always does.
-She says boys give her the toothache."
-
-Nevertheless, he led the way to the kitchen.
-There the tall, angular Swede cast an unfavorable
-light blue eye upon them.
-
-"I ban jes' clean up mine kitchen," she complained.
-
-"We just want a lunch to take fishing, Meena,"
-said Master Bobby, hopefully.
-
-"You don't vant loonch to fish mit," declared
-Meena. "You use vor-rms."
-
-Fred giggled. He was always giggling at
-inopportune times. Meena glared at him with both
-light blue eyes and reached for the red flannel
-bandage she always kept warm back of the kitchen
-range.
-
-"I ban got toothache," she said. "I can't vool
-mit boys," and she proceeded to tie the long
-bandage around her jaws and tied it so that the
-ends—like long ears—stood right up on top of her
-head.
-
-"But you can give us just a little," begged
-Bobby. "We won't be back till supper time."
-
-This seemed to offer some comfort to the
-hard-working girl, and she mumbled an agreement,
-while she shuffled into the pantry to get the lunch
-ready. She did not speak English very well at
-any time, and when her face was tied up, it was
-almost impossible to understand her.
-
-Sometimes, if Meena became offended, she
-would insist upon waiting on table with this same
-red bandage about her jaws—even if the family
-had company to dinner! But in many ways she
-was invaluable to Mrs. Blake, so the good lady
-bore Meena's eccentricities.
-
-By and by the Swedish girl appeared with a box
-of luncheon. The boys dared not peek into it
-while they were under her eye, but they thanked
-her and ran out of the house. Fred was giggling
-again.
-
-"She looks just like a rabbit—all ears—with
-that thing tied around her head," he said.
-
-"Whoever heard of a rabbit with red ears?"
-scoffed Bobby.
-
-He was investigating the contents of the lunch
-box. There were nice ham sandwiches, minced
-eggs with mayonnaise, cookies, jumbles, a big piece
-of cheese, and two berry tarts.
-
-"Oh, Meena's bark is always worse than her
-bite," sighed Bobby, with thanksgiving.
-
-"And *this* bite is particularly nice, eh?" said
-Fred, grinning at his own pun.
-
-"Guess we won't starve," said Bobby.
-
-"Besides, there is a summer apple tree right
-down there by the creek—don't you know? If the
-apples are all yellow, you can't eat enough to hurt
-you. If they are half yellow it'll take a lot to
-hurt you. If they're right green and gnarly,
-about two means a hurry-up call for Dr. Truman,"
-and Fred Martin spoke with strong conviction,
-having had experience in the matter.
-
-
-
-
-
-.. vspace:: 4
-
-.. _`APPLES AND APPLETHWAITE PLUNKIT`:
-
-.. class:: center large
-
- CHAPTER II
-
-
-.. class:: center medium
-
- APPLES AND APPLETHWAITE PLUNKIT
-
-.. vspace:: 2
-
-Bobby found the little grape basket in which
-he kept his fishing-tackle on a beam in the
-woodshed. Clinton was an old fashioned town, and
-few people as yet owned automobiles. There
-were, therefore, not many garages, but plenty of
-rambling woodsheds and barns. When all the
-barns are done away with and there are nothing
-but garages left, boys will lose half their chance
-for fun!
-
-The Blakes' shed, and the stable and barn
-adjoining, offered a splendid play-place in all sorts
-of weather for Bobby and his friends. There
-were a pair of horses and a cow in the stable, too.
-Michael Mulcahey was the coachman, and he liked
-boys just as much as Meena, the Swedish girl,
-disliked them. This fact was ever a bone of
-contention between the old coachman and Meena.
-Otherwise Michael and Meena might have gotten
-married and gone to housekeeping in the little
-cottage at the back of the Blake property, facing
-on the rear street.
-
-"He ban *in*-courage them boys in their
-voolishness," accused Meena. "Me, I don't vant no boys
-aroundt. Michael, he vould haf the house overrun
-mit boys. So ve don't get married."
-
-Just now Michael was not at the barn. He had
-driven Mrs. Blake to the neighboring city in the
-light carriage, on her shopping trip. Bobby and
-Fred trailed through the back gate and down the
-lane, leaving the gate open. Later Meena had to
-run out and chase the chickens out of the tomato
-patch. Then she tied the red bandage in a harder
-knot and prepared to show herself a martyr to her
-mistress when it came supper time.
-
-Back of the Blake house the narrow street cut
-into a road that led right out into the country.
-There were plenty of houses lining this road at
-first, but gradually the distance between them
-became greater.
-
-Likewise the dust in the road grew deeper. It
-was not a way attractive to automobiles, and it
-had not been oiled as were many of the Clinton
-streets.
-
-"Let's take off our shoes and stockings and save
-our shoes," suggested Fred. "We'll go in swimmin'
-before we come back, so we'll be all clean."
-
-"Let's," agreed Bobby, and they sat down at
-once and accomplished the act in a few moments.
-They stuffed their stockings into their shoes, tied
-the laces together and slung them about their
-necks. The shoes knocked against their
-shoulder-blades as they trotted on, their bare feet scuffing
-up little clouds of dust.
-
-"We raise a lot of dust—just like the Overland
-Limited," said Bobby, looking back. Bobby had
-once travelled west with his parents, and they had
-come back by way of Denver. He had never
-forgotten his long ride in that fast train.
-
-"Go ahead!" declared Fred. "*I'm* the
-Empire State. You got to get up some speed to
-beat *me*."
-
-A minute later two balloons of dust could have
-been seen hovering over the road to the creek—the
-boys were shrouded in them. They ran, scuffing,
-as hard as they could run, and kicked up an
-enormous cloud of dust.
-
-They stopped at the stile leading into Plunkits'
-lower pasture. The boys from town never went
-near the farmhouse. Plunkits' was a big farm,
-and this end of it was not cultivated. If they went
-near the truck patches, somebody would be sure
-to chase them. There always had been a feud
-between the Clinton boys and the Plunkit family.
-
-But there wasn't a swimming hole anywhere
-around the town—or a fishing stream—like the
-creek. The Plunkits really had no right to drive
-anybody away from the stream, for the farm
-bordered only one side of it. The city boys could go
-across and fish from the other side all they wanted
-to. That had been long since decided.
-
-The best swimming hole was below the boundary
-of the Plunkit land, anyway, but this path across
-the pasture was a short-cut.
-
-"If we see that Applethwaite Plunkit and his
-dog, what are we going to do?" asked Fred, as
-they trotted along the sidehill path, white with
-road dust from head to foot.
-
-"Nothing. But if he sees us, that's another
-matter," chuckled Bobby.
-
-"All right. You're the smart one. But what
-will we do?"
-
-"Run, if he isn't too near," said Bobby, practically.
-
-"And suppose he *is* too near?"
-
-"Guess we'll have to run just the same,"
-returned Bobby, thoughtfully. "He can lick either
-of us, Fred. And with the dog he can lick us both
-at once. That dog is real savage. He's made him
-so, Ap Plunkit has."
-
-"I bet we could pitch on Ap and fix him," said
-the combative Fred.
-
-"Now, you just keep out of trouble if you can,
-Fred Martin," advised Bobby, cautiously. "You
-know—if you get into a fight, you'll catch it when
-you get home. Your father will be sure to hear
-of it."
-
-"Well! what am I going to do if they pitch on
-me?" demanded Fred.
-
-"'Turn the other cheek,'" chuckled Bobby,
-"like Miss Rainey, our Sunday-school teacher, says."
-
-"Huh! that's all right. A fellow's got two
-cheeks; but if you get a punch in the nose, you
-can't turn your other nose—you haven't one! So
-now!" declared the very literal and pugnacious
-Fred.
-
-Just then they came close enough to the creek
-to see the willows along the hank. At the corner
-of the Plunkit fence there stood a big apple tree—a
-"summer sweetnin'" as the country folk called it.
-
-"Scubbity-*yow*!" ejaculated Fred Martin.
-"See those apples? And they're *yellow*!"
-
-"Some of them are," admitted his chum.
-
-"More'n half of them, I declare. Say! we're
-going to have a feast, Bob. Come on!"
-
-Bobby grabbed him by the sleeve. "Hold on! don't
-go so fast, Fred," exclaimed the brown-eyed
-boy. "Those apples aren't ours."
-
-"But they're going to be," returned Fred, grinning.
-
-"Now, you don't mean that," said Bobby,
-seriously. "You know you mustn't climb that tree,
-or pick apples on *this* side of the fence. Here's
-where we crawl through. Now! lots of the limbs
-overhang this other side of the fence—and there's
-a lot of ripe apples on the ground."
-
-"Pshaw! the Plunkits would never know," complained
-Fred. But he followed Bobby through the
-break in the pasture fence, just the same.
-
-Bobby was just as much fun as any boy in
-Clinton; Fred knew *that*. Yet Bobby was
-forever "seeing consequences." He kept them both
-out of trouble very often by seeing ahead.
-Whereas Fred, left to himself, never would stop
-to think at all!
-
-They had come two miles and a half. Where
-were there ever two boys who could walk as far as
-that without "walking up an appetite"?
-
-"My goodness me, Fred!" exclaimed Bobby, as
-they came to the clear-water creek in which the
-pebbles and sand were plainly visible on the
-bottom. "My goodness me, Fred! aren't you
-dreadfully hungry?"
-
-"I could eat the label off this tomato can—just
-like a goat!" declared Fred, shaking the can which
-held the fishworms before his chum's face and
-eyes.
-
-"Then let's eat before we bait a hook,"
-suggested Bobby. "I don't care if Meena *does* have
-the toothache. She makes de-lic-ious sandwiches."
-
-"Scubbity-*yow*! I should say she did," agreed
-Fred, sitting down cross-legged on the grass
-under a spreading oak that here broke the hedge
-of willows bordering the stream.
-
-The boys soon had their mouths full. It was not
-yet noon, but the sun was high in the heavens, and
-it twinkled down at them between the interlacing
-leaves and twigs of the oak. A little breeze played
-with the blades of grass. A thrush sang his heart
-out, swinging on a cane across the stream. A
-locust whirred like a policeman's rattle in a tall
-poplar a little way down the creek. In the distance a
-crow cawed lazily as he winged his way across a
-field, early plowed for grain.
-
-"This is a fine place," said Bobby. "I just love
-the country."
-
-"This is the way it is at Rockledge," declared
-Fred, proudly.
-
-"How do you know? You've never been there."
-
-"But Sam Tillinghast, who comes to see us once
-in a while, went to Rockledge before he went to
-college. He says Rockledge is right up on a bluff
-overlooking Monatook Lake, and that a fellow can
-have more fun there than a box of monkeys!"
-
-"I never had a box of monkeys," said Bobby,
-grinning, and with his mouth full.
-
-"That's all right. I wish you were going,"
-said Fred, wagging his head. "Don't you
-suppose that's what's the matter at your
-house—what your pa and your mother are thinking
-about?"
-
-"No," said Bobby, wagging his head, sadly.
-"I guess it ain't nothing as good as going to
-boarding school. You see, they look so solemn
-when I catch them staring at me."
-
-"Maybe you've done something and they are
-thinking of punishing you?" suggested Fred.
-
-"No. I haven't done a thing. I really haven't!
-I'd thought of that, and I just went back over
-everything I've done this vacation, and I can't
-think of a thing," decided Bobby, reflectively.
-
-"Well, if it's something bad, you'll find out soon
-enough what it is," said Fred, playing a regular
-Job's comforter.
-
-"And if it is something *good*, I suppose they'll
-worry me to death—or pretty near—too, eh!"
-
-"Mebbe if we could find a Gypsy woman she'd
-tell your fortune and you'd know," said Fred.
-
-"Yah! I don't believe in such stuff," declared
-Bobby. "You remember that old woman that
-came around selling baskets last spring and
-wheedled that ten cents out of you? She only
-told you that you were going to cross water and
-have a great change on the other side."
-
-"Well, she knew!" exclaimed Fred, earnestly.
-"Didn't I fall into the canal the very next day and
-have to swim across it; and you brought me a
-change of clothing from home? Huh! I guess
-that old woman hit it about right," declared the
-red-haired boy, with conviction.
-
-Bobby chuckled a long time over this. It
-amused him a great deal. He and his chum had
-eaten up nearly the whole of Meena's luncheon—and
-she had not been niggardly with it, either.
-
-"I'm going to have some of those apples,"
-declared Fred. "Come on."
-
-"All right," agreed Bobby, who had no
-compunctions about taking the apples on this side of
-the fence. He believed that the Plunkits had no
-claim upon the fruit that overhung somebody else's
-land! That is the usual belief of small boys in the
-country, whether it is legally correct, or not.
-
-When the chums bit into the yellow apples on
-the ground they found that almost every one had
-been seized by a prior claimant. Fred bit right
-through a soft, white worm!
-
-"Oh! oh! oh!" exclaimed the red-haired boy,
-and ran down to the creek's edge to rinse his
-mouth. "Isn't that awful?"
-
-"Don't bite blindly," advised Bobby, chuckling.
-"You were too eager."
-
-"I'm going to have a decent apple," declared
-Fred, coming back.
-
-He jumped up, seized one of the lower branches
-of the apple tree, and scrambled up to a seat on
-a strong limb. Several tempting looking "summer
-sweetnin's" were within his reach. He seized
-one, looked it all over for blemishes and, finding
-none, set his teeth in it.
-
-"How is it?" asked Bobby, biting carefully
-around a wormy apple.
-
-"Fine," returned his chum, and tossed Bobby
-an apple he plucked.
-
-At that very moment a voice hailed them from a
-distance, and a dog barked. "There's that
-Applethwaite Plunkit and his dog," gasped Bobby.
-
-"Sure it is," said Fred, turning his gaze upon
-the lanky boy of twelve, or so, and the big black
-and brown dog that were running together across
-the pasture.
-
-"Now we're in for it!" exclaimed Bobby,
-somewhat worried.
-
-
-
-
-
-.. vspace:: 4
-
-.. _`FRED IN TROUBLE`:
-
-.. class:: center large
-
- CHAPTER III
-
-
-.. class:: center medium
-
- FRED IN TROUBLE
-
-.. vspace:: 2
-
-Fred sat kicking his bare heels together and
-grinning over the fence at the Plunkit boy and
-his dog.
-
-"Get down out of that tree—you!" exclaimed
-the Plunkit boy.
-
-"Who says so?" demanded Fred.
-
-"*I* do."
-
-"Well, say it again," responded Master Fred,
-in a most tantalizing way. "I like to hear you."
-
-Applethwaite Plunkit was not a nice looking boy
-at all. He had perfectly white hair, but he wasn't
-an albino, for albinoes have pink-rimmed eyes.
-His eyes were very strange looking, however, for
-they were not mates. One was one color, and one
-was another.
-
-There are many such afflicted people in the
-world; usually they have one gray eye and one
-brown one. But Ap Plunkit had one eye that was
-of a sickly brown color, while the other was of a
-sickly green. That means that the "whites" of
-his mismated eyes were yellowish in hue.
-
-Perhaps, because of this misfortune, the other
-boys plagued him, and that had soured his temper.
-He was very angry with Fred.
-
-"Get out of that tree, you red-headed monkey!"
-he shouted, "or I'll set my dog on you!"
-
-"I won't do it, you white-headed donkey—and
-your dog can't get me; not unless he can climb a
-tree," added Fred, grinning again.
-
-"I'll come over there and knock you out of it,"
-threatened Ap.
-
-"I'd like to see you do it," responded Fred,
-swinging his feet again.
-
-"I'll show you!" cried Ap, and he started for
-the hole in the fence. "Come on, Rove!" he called
-to the dog.
-
-The big dog followed his master. He was part
-Newfoundland and would have made a fine playmate
-for any boy, if he had not been trained to be
-ugly with all strangers. When he got through the
-fence and saw Bobby standing idly by, he growled
-at him.
-
-"Look out, Bob!" shouted Fred. "He'll bite you."
-
-"I'm not doing anything," said Bobby Blake.
-"And you had better not set your dog on me, Plunkit."
-
-"You fellers are too fresh," said the farm boy.
-"My father says you're not to come around here—"
-
-"Your father doesn't own this land, and your
-father doesn't own this creek," whipped in Fred,
-from the branch.
-
-"You fellers came across our land to get here,"
-declared Ap.
-
-"How do you know *that*, Mr. Smartie?" asked
-Fred. He had just finished eating an apple. He
-threw the core at the dog and hit him on the nose.
-Rover growled and then jumped up and snapped
-at Master Fred's bare heels.
-
-"Scubbity-*yow*!" shrieked the daring Fred,
-kicking up his heels excitedly. "Didn't get me
-that time, did you? I'm not *your* meat."
-
-"You stop that, Ap," ordered Bobby. "Call
-off your dog."
-
-He had not been altogether idle. There was a
-heavy club of hard wood lying nearby, and he
-seized it.
-
-"He'd better get down out of that tree or Rove
-will eat him up," said Ap, boastfully.
-
-"Those branches overhang this land. The
-apples don't belong to you any more than they do to
-us," said Bobby, and he thought he was quite right
-in saying so.
-
-"Yah!" scoffed Ap. "He had to climb the
-tree-trunk to get there, and the tree's on *our* side
-of the fence."
-
-"Didn't neither, Mr. Smartie!" cried Fred, in
-delight. "I jumped up and grabbed a limb, and
-pulled myself up. Have an apple?" and he aimed
-one of the hard, green ones at Ap.
-
-"Don't you do that, Fred!" called up Bobby, in
-haste.
-
-"Well, then, I'll give it to the dog," said Fred,
-throwing the apple to Rover.
-
-"You come down out of that tree, and you stop
-pelting my dog!" commanded Applethwaite
-Plunkit.
-
-"Yes—I—will!" responded Fred, biting into
-another apple.
-
-"Well! I'll lick one of you, anyway!"
-exclaimed Ap, who had been slily stepping nearer.
-
-And immediately he threw himself on Bobby.
-He caught the latter so unexpectedly that he
-couldn't have used the club had he wished to.
-
-"Come on, Rove!" shrieked Ap. "Bite him,
-boy—bite him!"
-
-"You stop that!" shouted the red-haired boy in
-the tree. "Bobby hasn't done a thing—"
-
-The dog growled and ran around the two struggling
-boys. Perhaps he was looking for a chance
-to bite his master's antagonist. At least, it looked
-so.
-
-Bobby Blake, although never a quarrelsome lad,
-was no mollycoddle. Attacked as he had been, he
-struggled manfully to escape the bigger boy. He
-dropped the club, but he tore off Ap's hat and flung
-it into the creek.
-
-"Go for it, sir! After it!" he screamed, and
-Rover heard him and saw the hat. That was one
-of the dog's accomplishments. He was a Newfoundland,
-and retrieving articles from the water
-was right in his line.
-
-He barked and bounded to the edge of the steep
-bank. He evidently considered that, after all, his
-master and Bobby were only playing, and this part
-of the play he approved of.
-
-The instant Bobby heard the splash of the big
-dog into the water, he twisted in Ap's grasp,
-tripped him, and fell on top of the larger boy.
-
-"Oh! oh! oh!" gasped Ap. "You're hurtin'
-me—you're killin' me! I can't breathe—"
-
-"Scubbity-*yow*!" yelled Fred, giving voice to
-his favorite battle-cry, and he dropped from the
-apple tree, running to Bobby's help.
-
-But Bobby got up and released the bawling
-farm-boy at once. "Come on, Fred," he said.
-"Let's get out o' here."
-
-"Why, you got the best of him!" cried Fred, in
-disgust. "Let's duck him! Let's throw him in
-after his old dog."
-
-"No you don't," declared Bobby, seizing Fred's
-hand. "We're going to get out while we have the
-chance. I only tripped him and got the dog out
-of the way so you could escape."
-
-"Huh!" exclaimed Fred. "I didn't get as
-many apples as I wanted."
-
-"I don't care. You come on," said his chum.
-
-"Whoever heard of the winning side giving way
-like this?" grumbled the red-haired boy.
-"Anyway," he added, picking up the club Bobby had
-lost, "if that dog comes after us, I'll hit him."
-
-Bobby picked up the box containing the remainder
-of their luncheon, and led the way through
-the bushes. The dog had come ashore, and it and
-Ap Plunkit were quickly out of sight. Fred was
-still grumbling about leaving the foe to claim "the
-best of it."
-
-"He'll pitch on us next time, just the same," he
-declared. "Why didn't you punch him when you
-had him down, Bob?"
-
-"Aw, come on!" said his chum. "Always
-wanting to get into a fight. You keep that up
-when you get to Rockledge School, and you'll be
-in hot water all the time."
-
-"Shucks!" grinned Fred. "I'd like to be in
-*cold* water right now. The swimming hole isn't
-far away. Let's."
-
-"We can't go in but once—you know we can't,"
-said Bobby.
-
-"Why not?" demanded Fred, quickly.
-
-"Because we promised our mothers we wouldn't
-go in but once a day this vacation."
-
-"Huh! That ain't saying but what we can take
-off our clothes and put on our swimming trunks,
-and stay in all day long."
-
-"That would be just as dishonest as going in
-two or three times, Fred," exclaimed Bobby.
-"And you wouldn't do it. Besides," he added,
-grinning; "you know you tried that *last* summer,
-and 'member what you got for it?"
-
-"You bet you!" exclaimed the red-haired one.
-"I got sunburned something fierce! No. I won't
-do *that* again. That's the day we built the raft on
-Sanders' Pond, and oh, how I hurt! I guess I do
-remember, all right."
-
-"No," said Bobby, after a minute. "We'll go
-fishing first, and then take a swim before we go
-home. That'll clean us up, and make us feel
-fresh. There's that old stump again, Fred. I
-believe there's a big trout lives under that stump.
-Don't you 'member! We've seen him jump."
-
-"Ya-as," scoffed Fred. "But that old fellow
-won't jump for a worm. He's had too many
-square meals this summer, don't you know? It'll
-take a fancy fly, like those my Uncle Jim uses
-when he goes fishing, to coax Mr. Trout out of the
-creek."
-
-"I'm going to try," said Bobby, who could be
-obstinate in his opinion.
-
-"I'll be satisfied if I catch a shiner," declared
-Fred. "I'll try off that rock yonder. Come on!
-There's a couple of dandy fishpoles."
-
-Like real country boys, Bobby and Fred cut
-poles each time they went fishing. No need to
-carry them back and forth to their homes in
-Clinton and it did not take five minutes to cut and
-rig these poles.
-
-"What nice, fat worms," said Bobby, when
-Fred shook up the tomato can.
-
-"That's what the robin said," chuckled Fred.
-"Know what my sister, Betty, said yesterday
-morning? You know it rained the night before
-and the robins were picking up worms on the lawn
-right early—before breakfast.
-
-"Bet was at the window and one fat robin picked
-up a worm, swallowed it, and flew right up into a
-tree where he began to sing like sixty! Bet says:
-
-"'Oh! that robin gives me the *squirms*; how can
-he sing that way when he's all full of those crawly
-things?'"
-
-"Now hush!" ordered Bobby, the next moment.
-"I'm going to drop this nice fellow right down
-beside that stump and see if I can coax
-Mr. Trout up."
-
-But Mr. Trout did not appear. Bobby, with
-exemplary patience, tried it again and again. He
-changed his bait and dropped a fresh worm into
-the brown, cloudy water where he believed the
-trout lay.
-
-"You're not fishing," chuckled Fred, from his
-station on the rock, a few yards away. "You're
-just drowning worms."
-
-"Huh!" returned Bobby. "I don't see any
-medals on *you*. You haven't caught anything."
-
-"But I'm going to!" whispered Fred, swiftly,
-and holding his pole with sudden attention.
-
-Then, with a nervous jerk, he flung up the pole.
-Hook and sinker came with it, and a tiny, wriggling,
-silver fish, about a finger long, shot into the
-air. But Fred had not been careful to select his
-stand, and he drove his line and fish up among the
-branches of a tree.
-
-"Now you've done it—and likely scared my
-trout," exclaimed Bobby.
-
-Fred, in his usual impulsive fashion, tried to
-jerk back his line. The hook and sinker were
-caught around a branch. The shiner dropped off
-the hook and rested in a crotch of the branch.
-No fish ever was transformed into a bird so quickly
-since fishing was begun!
-
-And while Bobby laughed, and held his sides,
-Fred jerked at the entangled line again and again
-until, stepping too far back, and pulling too hard,
-the line chanced to give a foot or two, Master Fred
-fell backwards and—*flop!* into the deep pool below
-the rock he went!
-
-
-
-
-
-.. vspace:: 4
-
-.. _`AN EVENTFUL AFTERNOON`:
-
-.. class:: center large
-
- CHAPTER IV
-
-
-.. class:: center medium
-
- AN EVENTFUL AFTERNOON
-
-.. vspace:: 2
-
-"On! oh! oh!—gurgle! gurgle! *blob*! Help!
-Give us a hand—"
-
-Down Master Fred went again, and, his mouth
-being open, he swallowed more of the murky
-water of the creek than was good for him. He came
-up, coughing and blowing.
-
-Bobby, although forced to laugh, extended the
-butt of his own fish pole and Fred seized it. In
-half a minute he was on the bank, panting and
-"blowing bubbles," as Bobby said.
-
-"You can laugh—"
-
-"I hope so," returned Bobby, turning to give
-his attention to his own hook and line. "Oh!"
-
-Something was the matter down under that
-stump; the water was agitated. The taut line
-pulled in Bobby's hands.
-
-"Oh! A bite!" cried he, picking up his pole.
-"Oh, Fred! I've hooked that old trout!"
-
-Master Martin was too much taken up with his
-own affairs just then to pay much attention.
-Bobby, all of a tremble (for he had never caught a
-trout over a finger long), began to "play" the fish
-cautiously. It seemed to be sulking down in its
-hole under the old stump. Bobby pulled on the
-line gently.
-
-Meanwhile Fred, getting his breath, began to
-remove his saturated garments.
-
-"I guess," he grunted, "we might as well go in
-swimming right now. Gee! I'm wet. And these
-things will have to dry before I start home. Oh!"
-
-Bobby's line "gave" suddenly. Bobby uttered
-a yell, for he thought the trout had jumped.
-
-Whatever was on his hook shot to the surface of
-the brown pool. Bobby went over backward on
-the grass. The point of his pole stood straight
-up, and the hook was snapped out of the water.
-
-There was a long, black, *squirmy* thing on the
-hook. As Bobby squealed, the eel flopped right
-down into his face!
-
-"Aw! ouch! take him off!" shouted Bobby, and
-flung away his pole.
-
-In a second the eel was so tangled in the fishline
-that one might have thought it and the line had
-been tied into a hard knot! Fred was rolling with
-laughter on the bank, his wet shirt half over his
-head.
-
-"Scubbity-*yow*!" he shrieked. "Now you got
-it. You laughed at *me*, Bobby Blake. See how
-you get it yourself."
-
-Bobby began to laugh, too. He could see that
-the joke was, after all, on him.
-
-"And that's your big trout—ho, ho!" shouted
-Fred. "An old eel. Kill him with a club, Bobby.
-You'll never get him untangled if you don't."
-
-"And he'll wiggle *then* till the sun goes down.
-Just like a snake," declared Bobby, repeating a
-boyish superstition held infallible by the boys of
-Clinton.
-
-"Oh, dear!" sighed Fred, at last pulling the wet
-shirt off. "I'm aching for laughing. What a
-mess that line's in."
-
-"And how about your own!" demanded Bobby,
-on a broad grin again, and pointing into the
-branches of the tree where Fred had flung his
-shiner.
-
-"We're a pair of fine fishermen—I don't think!"
-admitted Fred, in some disgust.
-
-He got off the remainder of his wet clothing,
-and slipped on his trunks.
-
-"You might as well do the same, Bobby," he
-advised, while he laid his clothing over the low
-bushes back from the bank of the creek, where the
-sun could get at them nicely. "Look at your shirt.
-All slime from that old eel."
-
-"I wish he'd keep still a minute," said Bobby,
-with some impatience. "*What* were eels ever
-made for?"
-
-"They're good eating, some folks think. But
-I'd just as lief eat snakes."
-
-"Some savages eat snakes," said Bobby, trying
-to keep one foot on the tail-end of the eel, and
-unwinding the fishline.
-
-But the next moment the squirmy creature
-wound itself up in the line again into a harder knot
-than before.
-
-"Looks just like the worm he swallowed,"
-chuckled Fred. "There! he's got the hook out of
-his mouth. Fling him back, Bobby!"
-
-Bobby did so, pitching eel and line into the
-water. There was a flop or two and the wriggling
-fish got free. Then Bobby hauled in his line and
-began to rebait the hook.
-
-"I guess I'll try fishing somewhere else," he
-said. "I won't try here. If there ever *was* a
-trout under that stump, he's scared away."
-
-"There never was a trout where an old eel made
-his nest," scoffed Fred, struggling with his own
-line.
-
-"That eel didn't belong here," announced
-Bobby, with confidence. "What do you bet I don't
-catch a trout to-day?"
-
-"Never mind. I've landed *one* fish," chuckled
-Fred.
-
-"Fish! what's it doing roosting in that tree,
-then!" demanded Bobby, giggling. "It's a bird."
-
-Fred managed to untangle his own line, and in
-doing so he shook the shiner out of the branches.
-
-"Catch it!" he shouted. "There it goes!"
-
-"Plop!" the fish went right into the pool, and
-with a wiggle of its tail disappeared.
-
-"We're a couple of healthy fishermen," scoffed
-Bobby. "We land them, and then lose them."
-
-"Le's go farther down stream. We've made
-so much noise here that we couldn't catch
-anything but deaf fish—that's sure."
-
-Bobby was quite agreed to this, and Fred in his
-bathing trunks, leaving his wet clothing to dry on
-the bushes, led the way along the creek bank.
-Bobby followed with the can of worms.
-
-They found another quiet place and this time
-both took pains to cast their lines where no
-overhanging branches would interfere with the tips of
-their poles. The creek was well stocked with
-sunfish, yellow perch, shiners, and small brook trout.
-Once—"in a dog's age," Fred's Uncle Jim
-said—somebody landed a big trout out of one of the
-deeper holes in the stream.
-
-The boys fished for an hour, and both landed
-perch and shiners.
-
-"If we get enough of them we can have a fish
-supper," declared Fred.
-
-"At home?"
-
-"Sure. We can clean them—"
-
-"Who'll cook them? Our Meena won't,"
-declared Bobby, with confidence.
-
-"And I don't suppose our girl will, either.
-Besides, we'd have to catch a bushel to give the
-crowd at our house a taste, even," for there were
-five young Martins at Fred's house, besides
-himself, ranging from the baby who could just toddle
-around, to Fred's fourteen year old sister, Mary.
-There was another girl older than Fred, who was
-the oldest boy.
-
-"Just wish Michael Mulcahey would light a fire
-in his stove and pan them for us," said Bobby,
-wistfully. "'Member, he did once!"
-
-"Yes. But we haven't caught enough yet."
-
-"Hush!" murmured Bobby. "I got another bite."
-
-In a minute he had landed a nice, big sunfish.
-He cut a birch twig then, with a hook on the end
-of it, and strung his three fish. Fred did the same
-for his two, and the fish were let down into the cool
-water, and were thus kept alive.
-
-They moved farther down the creek after a bit,
-and tried another pool. The strings of fish grew
-steadily. It looked, really, as though they would
-have enough for supper—and it takes a right good
-number of such little fish to make a meal for two
-hungry boys.
-
-Not that they wanted food again so soon. During
-the afternoon they ate the rest of the lunch
-and some apples to stave off actual hunger!
-
-"I bet you get sunburned again," said Bobby.
-
-"No, I won't. I'm in the shade all the time."
-
-"The wind will burn as well as the sun."
-
-"But I'm not in and out of the water all the
-time, like I was that day at Sanders' Pond. Just
-the same," added Fred, "I'm going into the creek
-now. There's a dandy place for fish just across
-there."
-
-"There's some stepping stones below. I'll go
-over with you," declared Bobby, winding up his
-line.
-
-Fred was not afraid of splashing himself. He
-ran across the stones laid in the bed of the creek.
-Bobby came more cautiously, but he did not see
-the wide grin on Fred's face as he stood on the far
-side and watched his chum.
-
-Bobby stepped on the rock in the middle of the
-stream. Just as it bore his full weight, and he
-had his right foot in the air, stepping to the next
-dry-topped rock, the one under him rolled!
-
-The red-haired boy had felt that stone "joggle"
-when he came across but he had leaped lightly
-from it. Bobby was caught unaware.
-
-He yelled, and tried to jump, but the stepping
-stone, under which the action of the water had
-excavated the sand, turned clear over. "Splash!"
-went Bobby into the water.
-
-He stood upright, but he was in a pool over his
-knees, and the agitated water splashed higher.
-His knickerbockers were as wet as Fred's clothes
-had been when he waded out.
-
-"Oh, oh, oh!" shouted Fred, writhing on the
-grass. "Aren't you clumsy? Now you'll have
-to take off *your* clothes to dry, Bobby."
-
-"You might have told a fellow that rock was
-loose," grumbled Bobby.
-
-"And you might have told *me* that I was stepping
-off into the old creek when I was jerking at
-my line," retorted Fred. "I got it worse than
-you did."
-
-Bobby removed his trousers and wrung them
-out. Then he put them on again. "They'll dry
-as good on me, as off," he said. "Now, come on.
-Let's go up along and see if we can't get some
-more fish."
-
-They whipped the creek for half a mile up
-stream, and were successful beyond their hopes.
-Both boys had a nice string of pan-fish when they
-came to the deep swimming hole, which was only
-a few yards below the corner of Plunkit's farm
-Sphere the apple tree stood.
-
-The sun was then sliding down toward the
-western horizon. Bobby's trousers were pretty well
-dried. He put on his bathing trunks, and followed
-Fred into the pool.
-
-Both boys were good swimmers. There was a
-fine rock to dive from and a soft, sandy bottom.
-No danger here, and for an hour the chums
-had a most delightful time.
-
-Then Bobby brought his own clothes across to
-the side of the creek where they had begun to
-fish. Fred brought the fishing-tackle and the two
-strings of fish. Then he trotted down the bank
-to get his own clothes and their shoes and stockings.
-
-Bobby was half dressed when he heard his chum
-shouting. "Bobby! Bobby!" shrieked the red-haired boy.
-
-Fearing that his chum was in trouble, Bobby
-started for the sound of Fred's voice, on a hard run.
-
-"I'm coming, Fred! Hold on!" he shouted, as
-loudly as he could.
-
-In a few moments he came out into the open
-place where Fred had carefully arranged his
-clothing on the low bushes. There wasn't a garment
-there, and Fred came out of the brush, his face
-very red and angry.
-
-"What's the matter?" asked Bobby.
-
-"Matter enough!" returned his chum. "Don't
-you *see*?"
-
-"Not—not your clothes gone?" gasped Bobby.
-
-"Yes they are. Every stitch. And your shoes,
-too. What do you think of *that*?"
-
-"Why—why—Somebody's taken them?"
-
-"Of course somebody has. And it's your
-fault," said Fred, very much provoked. "If you
-had helped me pitch in and lick that Ap Plunkit,
-he wouldn't have dared do this."
-
-"Maybe—maybe he'd have licked us," stammered Bobby.
-
-"He'll—he'll just have to lick me when I meet
-up with him next time, or else he'll take the
-biggest licking *he* ever took," threatened the
-wrathful Master Martin, wiping a couple of angry tears
-out of his eyes with a scratched knuckle.
-
-
-
-
-
-.. vspace:: 4
-
-.. _`THE TALE OF A SCARECROW`:
-
-.. class:: center large
-
- CHAPTER V
-
-
-.. class:: center medium
-
- THE TALE OF A SCARECROW
-
-.. vspace:: 2
-
-"My goodness! you can't go home that way,"
-said Bobby Blake, faintly.
-
-He did not laugh at all. The situation had
-suddenly become tragic instead of comic. Fred
-could not walk back to Clinton in his
-bathing-trunks—that is, not until after dark.
-
-"I wish I had hold of that Ap Plunkit,"
-repeated Fred Martin. "*He* did it," he added.
-
-"Oh, we don't know—"
-
-"Of course we do. He sneaked along there
-after us and found my clothes, and ran away with
-them—every one. And your shoes and stockings,
-too!"
-
-"No he didn't, either!" cried Bobby, suddenly,
-staring up into the tall tree over their heads.
-
-"Eh?"
-
-"There are the shoes and stockings—shoes,
-anyway," declared Bobby, pointing.
-
-It was a chestnut tree above their heads. It
-promised a full crop of nuts in the fall, for the
-green burrs starred thickly the leafy branches.
-
-Whoever had disturbed the chums' possessions
-had climbed to the very tip-top of the chestnut
-and hung the two pair of shoes far out on a small
-branch.
-
-"That's Ap Plunkit's work—I know," declared
-Fred, with conviction. "He climbs trees like a
-monkey. You see how long his arms are. I've
-seen him go up a taller tree than this."
-
-"Maybe he's taken your clothes up there, too,"
-said Bobby, going to the trunk of the tree.
-
-"The mean scamp!" exclaimed Fred. "How'll
-we get them, Bob? I—I can't climb that tree this
-way."
-
-"Neither can I," admitted his friend. "But
-wait till I run and get my clothes on—"
-
-"And you'd *better* run, too!" exclaimed Fred,
-suddenly, "or you won't find the rest of *your*
-clothes."
-
-Thus advised, Bobby Blake set out at once
-for the spot where he had been dressing. There
-was no sign of Applethwaite Plunkit about—or of
-any other marauder. Just the same, when Bobby
-was dressed and went down the creek side again
-to Fred, he carried all their possessions with him.
-
-That chestnut was a hard tree for Bobby to
-climb—especially barefooted. There were so
-many prickly burrs that had dropped into the
-crotches of the limbs, and, drying, had become
-quite stiff and sharp. He had to stop several
-times as he mounted upward to pick the thorns
-from his feet.
-
-But he got the shoes and stockings, and, hanging
-them around his neck, came down as swiftly as
-he could. Both boys at once sat down and put on
-this part of their apparel. Fred was almost
-tempted to cry; but then, he was too angry to
-"boo-hoo" much.
-
-"I'll catch that Ap Plunkit, and I'll do something
-to him yet," he declared. "I'll have him
-arrested for stealing my clothes, anyway."
-
-"How can we prove he took them? We didn't
-see him," said Bobby, thoughtfully.
-
-"Well!"
-
-"I tell you what," Bobby said. "Let's go up
-to his house and tell his mother. We *know* he did
-this, even if we didn't see him. Of course, we got
-him mad first—"
-
-"We didn't have to get him mad," declared
-Fred. "He's mad all the time."
-
-"Well, we plagued him. He just was getting square."
-
-"But such a mean trick to steal a fellow's clothes!"
-
-"Maybe his folks will see it that way and make
-Applethwaite give them back."
-
-"But I can't go up there to the house with only
-these old tights on!" said Fred.
-
-"No," and Bobby couldn't help grinning a
-little. "You wear my jacket."
-
-"And if I have lost my clothes," wailed Fred,
-"and have to go home this way, my father will give
-it to me good! Come on!"
-
-"Let's each find a good club. That dog, you
-know," said Bobby.
-
-"Sure. And if we meet up with Ap, I'll be
-likely to use it on him, too!" growled Fred, angrily.
-
-Bobby decided that it was useless to try to
-pacify his chum at the moment. It seemed to
-relieve Fred to threaten the absent Ap Plunkit, and
-it did that individual no bodily harm!
-
-So the boys found stout clubs and started up the
-bank of the creek. Fred was feeling so badly that
-he did not pick more of the "summer sweetnin's"
-when they came to the apple tree.
-
-They crawled through the hole in the boundary
-fence of the Plunkit Farm and kept on up the
-creek-side. First they crossed the pasture, then
-they climbed a tight fence and entered a big
-cornfield. The corn was taller than their heads and
-there were acres and acres of it. It was planted
-right along the edge of the creek bank, and they
-had to walk between the rows.
-
-"If old Plunkit sees us in his corn, he'll be
-mad," said Fred, at last.
-
-"This is the nearest way to the house, and we've
-got to try and get your clothes," said Bobby,
-firmly.
-
-After that, he took the lead. The nearer they
-approached the farmhouse, the more Fred lagged.
-But suddenly, in the midst of the long cornfield,
-Master Martin uttered a cry.
-
-"Look there, Bob!"
-
-"What's the matter with you? I thought it
-was the dog."
-
-"No, sir! See yonder, will you?"
-
-"Nothing but a scarecrow," said Bobby.
-
-"Yes. But it has clothes on it. I'm going to
-take them. I'm not going up to that house
-without anything more on me than what I've got."
-
-Bobby began to chuckle at that. It seemed too
-funny for anything to rob a scarecrow. But Fred
-was pushing his way through the corn toward the
-absurd figure.
-
-Suddenly Fred uttered another yell—this time
-his famous warwhoop:
-
-"Scubbity-*yow*! I got him!"
-
-"You got who?" demanded Bobby, hurrying
-after his chum.
-
-"This is some o' that Ap Plunkit's doings—the
-mean thing! Look here!" and he snatched
-the cap off the scarecrow's head of straw.
-
-"Why—that looks like *your* cap, Fred," gasped
-Bobby.
-
-"And it *is*, too."
-
-"That—that's just the stripe of your shirt!"
-
-"And it is my shirt. And it's my pants, and
-all!" cried Fred. "I'll get square with Ap
-Plunkit yet—you see if I don't. There's the old
-ragged things this scarecrow wore, on the ground.
-And he's dressed it in *my* things. Oh, you wait
-till I catch him!"
-
-Meanwhile Fred was hastily tearing off the
-garments that certainly were his own. They were
-all here. Bobby kept away from him, and laughed
-silently to himself. It was really too, too funny;
-but he did not want to make Fred angry with *him*.
-
-"Now I guess we'd better not go to the
-farmhouse—had we?" demanded Bobby.
-
-"Let's go home," grunted Fred, very sour.
-"It's almost sundown."
-
-"All right," agreed his chum.
-
-"He tore my shirt, too. And we might never
-have found these clothes. I'm going to get
-square," Fred kept muttering, as they struck
-right down between the corn rows toward the
-distant roadside fence.
-
-Just as they climbed over the rails to leap into
-the road they were hailed by a voice that said:
-
-"Hey there! what you doin' in that cornfield?"
-
-There was the Plunkit hopeful—otherwise
-Applethwaite, the white-headed boy. He sat on the
-top rail near by and grinned at the two boys from
-town.
-
-"There you are—you mean thing!" cried Fred
-Martin, and before Bobby could stop him, he
-rushed at the bigger fellow.
-
-He was so quick—or Ap was so slow—that Fred
-seized the latter by the ankles before he could get
-down from his perch.
-
-"Git away! I'll fix you!" shouted the farm boy.
-
-He kicked out, lost his balance, and Fred let
-him go. Ap fell backward off the fence into the
-cornfield, and landed on his head and shoulders.
-
-He set up a terrific howl, even before he scrambled
-to his feet. By his actions he did not seem to
-be so badly hurt. He searched around for a
-stone, found it, and threw it with all his force at
-Fred Martin. Fortunately he missed the town boy.
-
-Immediately Fred grabbed up a stone himself
-and poised it to fling at his enemy. Bobby threw
-himself upon his chum and seized his raised arm.
-
-"Now you stop that, Fred!" he commanded.
-
-"Why shouldn't I hit him? He flung one at
-me," declared the angry boy.
-
-"I know. But he didn't hit you. And you
-might hit him and do him harm. Suppose you put
-his eye out—or something? Come on home,
-Fred—don't be a chump."
-
-"Aw—well," growled Fred, and threw the
-stone away.
-
-"You know you are always getting into a muss,"
-urged Bobby, hurrying his chum along the road
-toward town. "What'll you do when you go to
-Rockledge—"
-
-"You got to go with me, Bob," declared Fred,
-grinning.
-
-"Oh! I wish they'd let me," murmured his friend.
-
-But as far as he could see then, no circumstances
-could arise that would make such a wished
-for event possible.
-
-
-
-
-
-.. vspace:: 4
-
-.. _`A FISH FRY AND A STARTLING ANNOUNCEMENT`:
-
-.. class:: center large
-
- CHAPTER VI
-
-
-.. class:: center medium
-
- A FISH FRY AND A STARTLING ANNOUNCEMENT
-
-.. vspace:: 2
-
-They got home at early supper time, fish and
-all. But one look into the kitchen assured Bobby
-that it was useless to expect Meena to pan their
-catch for them.
-
-The "rabbit ears" stuck up on top of her head
-at a more uncompromising angle than ever.
-Mr. and Mrs. Blake had not returned from town. At
-a late hour Michael Mulcahey had come back with
-the carriage and announced that his mistress
-would stay in town for dinner with Mr. Blake and
-they were to be met at the 10:10 train.
-
-Michael had just finished cleaning the carriage
-and now sat with his pipe beside the stable door.
-He was a long-lipped Irishman, with kindly,
-twinkling eyes, and "ould counthry" whiskers that met
-under his chin, giving his cleanly shaven,
-wind-bitten face the look of peering out through a frame
-of hair.
-
-"'Tis a nice string of fish ye have, byes," he said.
-
-"And I s'pose we got to give them to the cats,"
-complained Fred. "They won't cook 'em at my
-house, and Meena's got the toothache."
-
-Michael grinned broadly, puffing slowly at his
-pipe. "Clane the fish, byes. There's a pan jest
-inside the dure. Get water from the hydrant.
-Have ye shar-r-rp knives?"
-
-"Oh, yes, Michael!" cried Bobby.
-
-"Scale thim fish, then. I'll start a fire in my
-stove. An' I've a pan. Belike Meena, the girl,
-will give ye a bit of fat salt por-r-rk and some
-bread. Tell her she naden't bother with supper.
-We'll make it ourselves—in what th' fancy folks
-calls 'ally-frisco'—though *why* so, I *dun*-no,"
-added Michael.
-
-He knocked the dottle out of his pipe and washed
-his hands. The boys, meanwhile, were cleaning
-the little fish rapidly, and whispering together.
-They were delighted with the coachman's suggestion.
-It was just what they had been hoping for.
-Fred even forgot his "grouch" against
-Applethwaite Plunkit.
-
-Bobby ventured to the kitchen door. Meena
-was just untying the red bandage, but the moment
-she caught sight of him she hesitated. She may
-have felt another slight twinge of "face ache."
-
-"Vat you vant?" she demanded.
-
-Bobby told her what they were going to do.
-Michael had his own plates, and knives and forks.
-He had "bached it" a good many years before
-he came to work for Bobby's father. Meena saw a
-long, quiet evening ahead of her.
-
-"Vell," she said, ungraciously enough, for it
-was not her way to acknowledge her blessings—not
-in public, at least. "Vell, I give you the pork
-and bread. But that Michael ban spoil you boys.
-I vouldn't efer marry him."
-
-"What did she say?" asked the coachman when
-Bobby returned to the room over the harness
-closets in which Michael slept—and sometimes
-cooked.
-
-"She says she won't marry you because you
-spoil us," declared Bobby, winking at Fred.
-
-"Did she now?" quoth Michael. "So she has
-rayfused me again—though it wasn't just like a
-proposal *this* time. Still—we'll count it so's to
-make sure."
-
-He gravely walked to a smooth plank in the
-partition behind the door, and picked up the stub of a
-pencil from a ledge. On this board was a long
-array of pencil marks—four straight, up and down
-marks, and a fifth "slantingdicular" across them.
-There were a great many of these marks.
-
-Each of these straight, up and down, marks
-meant "No," and the slanting mark meant
-another "No"; so that Meena's refusals of the
-coachman's proposal for her hand were grouped
-in fives.
-
-"The Good Book says Jacob sarved siven years
-for Rachael, and then another siven. He didn't
-have nawthin' on me—sorra a bit! When
-Meena's said 'No' a thousan' times, she'll forgit
-some day an' say 'Yis.'"
-
-He went back to shaking the pan on the stove,
-in which the cubes of salt pork were sputtering.
-He mixed some flour and cornmeal in a plate, with
-salt and pepper. Wiping each of the little fish
-partly dry, he rolled them in the mixture, and then
-laid them methodically in rows upon a board.
-When the fat in the skillet was piping hot, he
-dropped in the fish easily so as not to splash the
-hot fat about. Then with a fork he turned them
-as they browned.
-
-As he forked them out of the hot fat, all brown
-and crispy, he laid them on a sheet of brown paper
-for a bit to drain off the fat. Then the boys'
-plates and his own were filled with the well fried
-fish.
-
-"There's just a mess for us," said Michael, as
-they sat down. "For what we are about to rayceive
-make us tr-r-ruly grateful! Pass the bread,
-Master Bobby. 'Tis the appetite lends sauce to
-the male, so they say. Eat hearty!"
-
-Bobby and Fred had plenty of the "sauce" the
-coachman spoke of. After the excitement and
-adventures of the afternoon they had much to tell
-Michael, too, and the supper was a merry one.
-
-Fred had to go home at eight o'clock and an
-hour and a half later it was Bobby's bedtime.
-But the house seemed very still and lonely when
-he had gone to bed, and he lay a long time listening
-to the crickets and the katydids, and the other
-night-flying insects outside the screens.
-
-He heard Michael drive out of the lane to go to
-the station and he was still awake when the
-carriage returned and his father and mother came
-into the house. They came quietly up stairs,
-whispering softly, but the door between Bobby's
-room and his mother's dressing-room was ajar
-and he could hear his parents talking in there.
-They thought him asleep, of course.
-
-"But Bobby's got to be told, my dear. I have
-bought our tickets—as I told you," Mr. Blake said.
-"We can't wait any longer."
-
-"Oh, dear me, John!" Bobby heard his mother
-say. "*Must* we leave him behind?"
-
-"My dear! we have talked it all over so many
-times," Mr. Blake said, patiently. "It is a long
-voyage. Not so long to Para; but the transportation
-up the river, to Samratam, is uncertain.
-Brother Bill left the business in some confusion, I
-understand, and we may be obliged to remain some
-months. It would not be well to take Bobby. He
-must go to school. I am doubtful of the
-advisability of taking *you*, my dear—"
-
-"You shall not go without me, John," interrupted
-Mrs. Blake, and Bobby knew she was
-crying softly. "I would rather that we lost all the
-money your brother left—"
-
-"There, there!" said Bobby's father, comfortingly.
-"You're going, my dear. And we will
-leave Bobby in good hands."
-
-"But *whose* hands?" cried his wife. "Meena
-can look after the house, and Michael we can trust
-with everything else. But neither of them are
-proper guardians for my boy, John."
-
-"I know," agreed Mr. Blake, and Bobby, lying
-wide awake in his bed, knew just how troubled his
-father looked. He hopped out of bed and crept
-softly to the door. He did not mean to be an
-eavesdropper, but he could not have helped
-hearing what his father and mother said.
-
-"We have no relatives with whom to leave him,"
-Mrs. Blake said. "And all our friends in Clinton
-have plenty of children of their own and wouldn't
-want to be bothered. Or else they are people who
-have *no* children and wouldn't know how to get
-along with Bobby."
-
-"It's a puzzle," began her husband, and just
-then Bobby pushed open the door and appeared in
-the dressing-room.
-
-"I heard you, Pa!" he cried. "I couldn't help
-it. I was awake and the door was open. I know
-just what you can do with me if I can't go with you
-to where Uncle Bill died."
-
-"Bobby!" exclaimed Mrs. Blake, putting out
-her arms to him. "My boy! I didn't want you to
-know—yet."
-
-"He had to hear of the trip sometime," said
-Bobby's father.
-
-"And I'm not going to make any trouble," said
-Bobby, swallowing rather hard, for there seemed
-to be a lump rising in his throat. He never liked
-to see his mother cry. "Why, I'm a big boy, you
-know, Mother. And I know just what you can do
-with me while you're gone."
-
-"What's that, Bobs?" asked his father, cheerfully.
-
-"Let me go to Rockledge School with Fred
-Martin—do, *do*! That'll be fun, and they'll look out
-for me there—you know they are *awfully* strict at
-schools like that. I can't get into any trouble."
-
-"Not with Fred?" chuckled Mr. Blake.
-
-"Well," said Bobby, seriously, "you know if I
-have to look out for Fred same as I always do, *I*
-won't have time to get into mischief. You told
-Mr. Martin so yourself, you know, Pa."
-
-Mr. Blake laughed again and glanced at his wife.
-She had an arm around Bobby, but she had
-stopped crying and she looked over at her
-husband proudly. Bobby was such a sensible,
-thoughtful chap!
-
-"I guess we'll have to take the school question
-into serious consideration, Bobs," he said.
-"Now kiss your mother and me goodnight, and go
-to sleep. These are late hours for small boys."
-
-Bobby ran to bed as he was told, and this time
-he went to sleep almost as soon as he placed his
-head upon the pillow. But how he *did* dream!
-He and Fred Martin were walking all the way to
-Rockledge School, and they went barefooted with
-their shoes slung over their shoulders,
-Applethwaite Plunkit and his big dog popped out of
-almost every corner to obstruct their way. Bobby
-had just as exciting a time during his dreams that
-night as he and his chum had experienced during
-the afternoon previous!
-
-Nothing was said at the late Sunday morning
-breakfast about his parents' journey to South
-America. Bobby knew all about poor Uncle Bill.
-He could just remember him—a small, very brown,
-good-tempered man who had come north from his
-tropical station in the rubber country four years,
-or so, before.
-
-Uncle Bill was Mr. Blake's only brother, and
-most of Bobby's father's income came from the
-rubber exporting business, too. Uncle Bill had
-lived for years in Brazil, but finally the climate
-had been too much for him and only a few months
-ago word had come of his death. He had been a
-bachelor. Mr. Blake had positively to go to
-Samratam to settle the company's affairs and
-Bobby's mother would not be separated from her
-husband for the long months which must necessarily
-be engaged in the journey.
-
-Bobby felt that he *must* talk about the wonderful
-possibility that had risen on the horizon of his
-future, so, long before time for Sunday School, he
-ran over to the Martin house and yodled softly in
-the side lane for Fred.
-
-Fred put his head out of a second-story
-window. "Hello!" he said, in a whisper. "That
-you, Bobby?"
-
-"Yep. Come on down. I got the greatest
-thing to tell you."
-
-"Wait till I get into this stiff shirt," growled
-Fred. "It's just like iron! I just *hate* Sunday
-clothes—don't you, Bobby?"
-
-Bobby was too eager to tell his news to discuss
-the much mooted point. "Hurry up!" he threw
-back at Fred, and then sat down on the grassy
-bank to wait.
-
-He knew that Fred would have to pass inspection
-before either his mother or his sister Mary,
-before he could start for Sunday School. He
-heard some little scolding behind the closed blinds
-of the Martin house, and grinned. Fred had
-evidently tried to get out before being fully
-presentable.
-
-He finally came out, grumbling something about
-"all the girls being nuisances," but Bobby merely
-chuckled. He thought Mary Martin was pretty
-nice, himself—only, perhaps inclined to be a little
-"bossy," as is usually the case with elder sisters.
-
-"Never mind, Fred," Bobby said, soothingly.
-"Let it go. I got something just wonderful to tell
-you."
-
-"What is it?" demanded Fred, not much interested.
-
-"I believe something's going to happen that
-you've just been *hoping* for," said Bobby, smiling.
-
-"That Ap Plunkit's got the measles—or something?"
-exclaimed Fred, with a show of eagerness.
-
-"Aw, no! It isn't anything to do with Ap
-Plunkit," returned Bobby, in disgust.
-
-"What is it, then?"
-
-So Bobby told him.
-
-
-
-
-
-.. vspace:: 4
-
-.. _`FINANCIAL AFFAIRS`:
-
-.. class:: center large
-
- CHAPTER VII
-
-
-.. class:: center medium
-
- FINANCIAL AFFAIRS
-
-.. vspace:: 2
-
-Two boys in Clinton did not go to Sunday
-School that day with minds much attuned to the
-occasion. Fred could scarcely restrain himself
-within the bounds of decent behavior as they
-walked from Merriweather Street, where both the
-Blakes and the Martins lived, to Trinity Square,
-where the spire of the church towered above the
-elms.
-
-The thought that Bobby was going with him to
-Rockledge (Fred had jumped to that conclusion
-at once) put young Martin on the very pinnacle
-of delight.
-
-"Of course, it would be great if your folks
-would take you to South America," admitted
-Fred, after some reflection. "For you could
-bring home a whole raft of marmosets, and
-green-and-gray parrots, and iguanas, and the like, for
-pets. And you'd see manatees, and tapirs, and
-jaguars and howling monkeys, and all the rest.
-But crickey! you wouldn't have the fun we'll have
-when we get to Rockledge School."
-
-*Fun* seemed to be all that Fred Martin looked
-forward to when he got to boarding school.
-Lessons, discipline, and work of any kind, never
-entered his mind.
-
-That evening Mr. and Mrs. Blake, with Bobby,
-went up the street to the Martin house, and the
-parents of the two chums talked together a long
-time on the front porch, while the children were
-sent into the back yard—that yard that Buster
-Shea had cleaned so nicely the day before, being
-partly paid in rats!
-
-When the Blakes started home, it had been
-concluded that Bobby was to attend school with Fred,
-and that if Mr. and Mrs. Blake did not return
-from their long journey in season, Bobby was to
-be under the care of the Martins during vacation.
-
-"Another young one won't make any difference
-here, Mrs. Blake," said easy-going Mrs. Martin.
-"Really, half the time I forget how many we have,
-and have to go around after they are all abed, and
-count noses. Bobby will make us no trouble, I
-am sure. And he always has a good influence over
-Fred—we've remarked that many times."
-
-This naturally made Mrs. Blake very proud.
-Yet she took time to talk very seriously to Bobby
-on several occasions during the next few days.
-She spoke so tenderly to him, and with such
-feeling, that the boy's heart swelled, and he could
-scarcely keep back the tears.
-
-"We want to hear the best kind of reports from
-you, Bobby—not only school reports, but in the
-letters we may get from our friends here in
-Clinton. Your father and I have tried to teach you
-to be a manly, honorable boy. You are going
-where such virtues count for more than anything else.
-
-"Be honest in everything; be kindly in your
-relations to the other boys; always remember that
-those weaker than yourself, either in body or in
-character, have a peculiar claim upon your
-forbearance. Father would not want you to be a
-mollycoddle but mother doesn't want you to be a
-bully.
-
-"You will go to church and Sunday School up
-there at Rockledge just as you have here. Don't
-be afraid to show the other boys that you have
-been taught to pray. I shall have your father find
-out the hour when you all go to bed, and at that
-hour, while you are saying your prayers and
-thinking of your father and me so far away from
-you, I shall be praying for my boy, too!"
-
-"Don't you cry, Mother," urged Bobby, squeezing
-back the tears himself. "I will do just as
-you tell me."
-
-It was arranged that Mr. Blake should take the
-boys to school when the time came, but there was
-still a fortnight before the term opened at
-Rockledge. Bobby and Fred had more preparations
-to make than you would believe, and early on
-Monday morning Fred came over to the Blake
-house and the chums went down behind the garden
-to have a serious talk.
-
-"Say! there's fifty boys in that school," Fred
-said. "There's another school right across
-Monatook Lake. They call it Belden School. There's
-all sorts of games between the two schools, you
-know, and we want to be in them, Bobby."
-
-"What do you mean—games?" asked Bobby.
-
-"Why, baseball, and football, and hockey on
-the ice in winter, and skating matches, and
-boating in the fall and spring—rowing, you know.
-Lots of games. And we want to be in them, don't we?"
-
-"Sure," admitted his chum.
-
-"It's going to cost money," said Fred,
-decidedly. "We'll have to get bats, and good
-horse-hide balls, and a catcher's mask and glove, and a
-pad, and all that. We want to get on one of the
-ball teams. You know I can catch, and you've
-got a dandy curve, Bobby, and a fade-away that
-beats anything I've ever seen."
-
-"Yes. I'd like to play ball," admitted Bobby,
-rather timidly. "But will they let us—we being
-new boys?"
-
-"We'll make them," said the scheming Fred.
-"If we show them we have the things I said—mitt,
-and bats, and all—they'll be glad to have us
-play, don't you see?"
-
-"But we haven't them," suddenly said Bobby.
-
-"No. But we must have them."
-
-"Say! they'll cost a lot of money. You know
-I don't have but a dollar a month," said Bobby,
-"and I know Mother won't let me open my bank."
-
-"Of course not. That's the way with mothers
-and fathers," said Fred, rather discontentedly.
-"They get us to start saving against the time
-we'll want money awfully bad for something.
-And then we have to buy shoes with it, or
-Christmas presents, or use it to pay for a busted
-window. *That's* what cleaned out my bank the
-last time—when I threw a ball through Miklejohn's
-plate-glass window on the Square."
-
-"Well," said Bobby, getting away from *that*
-unpleasant subject, "I have most of my dollar left
-for this month, and Pa will give me another on the
-first day of September."
-
-"I haven't but ten cents to my name,"
-confessed Fred.
-
-"Then how'll we get new bats, and the mask,
-and pad, and all?"
-
-"That's what we want to find out," Fred said,
-grimly. "We'll have to think up some scheme
-for making money. I wish I'd cleaned our yard
-Saturday instead of hiring Buster Shea."
-
-"*That* didn't cost you much," chuckled Bobby.
-"Only a cent—and you couldn't have sold the five
-rats for anything."
-
-"Aw—well—"
-
-"Let's start a lemonade stand," suggested Bobby.
-
-"No. It's been done to death in Clinton this
-vacation," Fred declared, emphatically. "Besides,
-the sugar and lemons and ice cost so much.
-And you're always bound to drink so much yourself
-that there's no profit when the lemonade's gone."
-
-Bobby acknowledged the justice of this with a
-silent nod.
-
-"Got to be something new, Bobby," urged Fred,
-with much belief in his chum's powers of
-invention. "*You* think of something."
-
-"Might have a show," said Bobby.
-
-"Aw—now—Bobby! you know that's no
-good," declared Fred. "We'd have to let a lot
-of the other fellows into it. Can't run a circus—not
-even a one-ring one—without a lot of performers.
-And they'd want the money split up. We
-wouldn't make anything."
-
-"A peep-show," said Bobby, still thoughtfully
-chewing a straw.
-
-"Aw, shucks! that's worse. The kids will only
-pay pins, or rusty nails, to see *that* kind of a
-show."
-
-"No. That's not just what I mean," Bobby
-said, thoughtfully. "Let's have a show that will
-only need us two to run it, Fred. Then we won't
-have to divide the money with anybody else. And
-let's have a show that grown up folks will want to
-see."
-
-"Great, Bobby! That's a swell idea—if we
-could do it."
-
-"I believe we *can* do it."
-
-"Tell a fellow," urged Fred, excitedly.
-"Grown folks have money. We could charge
-them a nickel—maybe a dime—"
-
-"No. A penny show," said Bobby, still chewing
-the straw. "Of course, it's got to be worth a
-penny—and then, it'll have to be sort of a joke,
-too—"
-
-"Whatever are you trying to get at, Bobby
-Blake?" demanded his chum in wonder.
-
-"Listen here. Now—don't you tell—"
-
-He pulled Fred down beside him and whispered
-into his ear. The red-haired boy looked puzzled
-at first. Then he caught the meaning of his
-chum's plan, and his eyes grew big and he began
-to grin. Suddenly he flung his cap into the air
-and seized Bobby round the neck to hug him.
-
-"Scubbity-*yow*!" he yelled. "That's the greatest
-thing I've ever heard, Bob! And we can have
-it right down 'side of my father's store."
-
-Mr. Martin kept a grocery store on Hurley
-Street, in a one-story building on one side of which
-was an open lot belonging to the store property.
-There was a side-door to the store-building opening
-upon this lot, but not far back from the street.
-
-For the next two or three days Bobby and Fred
-were very busy indeed at this place and, with some
-little help, they managed to erect a structure that
-was made partly of old fence-boards and partly of
-canvas.
-
-The half-tent, half-shack was about ten feet
-wide. It had a sloping canvas roof. It ran back
-from the sidewalk far enough to mask the
-side-door into Mr. Martin's store.
-
-Mr. Martin was not in the secret of the nature
-of the boys' proposed "show," but he was a good
-natured man and made no objection to his son and
-Bobby utilizing his side door.
-
-"You see, we must have an 'entrance' and an
-'exit'," Bobby explained. "Folks can pass out
-through the store after seeing our show."
-
-"Sure," chuckled Fred. "As long as we don't
-call it 'egress,' nobody will be scared that it's some
-strange and savage animal. All right. 'Exit'
-it is," and he proceeded to paint the sign, per
-Bobby's instructions.
-
-And that was not the only sign to be painted.
-Fred was rather handy with a brush, and when all
-the sign-painting was done, Bobby pronounced the
-work fine.
-
-In front of the tent, Bobby had built a little
-platform with a box, waist high, before it. Bobby
-was to be the lecturer, or "ballyhoo," and was,
-likewise, to sell the tickets. The other boys were
-eaten up with curiosity about the show, but neither
-Bobby nor Fred would give them a chance to get a
-look inside the shelter after the roof was on.
-
-There was a canvas wall in the front, with a
-very narrow entrance. Inside that was a canvas
-screen so that nobody peeking into the doorway
-could see much of what lay beyond. They had one
-kerosene lamp to light the interior.
-
-They made several other arrangements for the
-opening of the show, and then there was nothing
-to do but wait for Saturday to arrive. On that
-day many people from out-of-town came into
-Clinton to market, and the Hurley Street stores were
-well patronized all day long. Bobby and Fred
-knew they would not lack a curious company outside
-the tent, whether they tolled many within or not.
-
-
-
-
-
-.. vspace:: 4
-
-.. _`THE PEEP-SHOW`:
-
-.. class:: center large
-
- CHAPTER VIII
-
-
-.. class:: center medium
-
- THE PEEP-SHOW
-
-.. vspace:: 2
-
-Very early on Saturday morning Bobby and
-Fred went down to Hurley Street and hung the
-painted banners upon the front of the show tent.
-As to their beauty, there might have been some
-question, but Fred had painted the words clearly,
-and there could be no mistaking their meaning.
-
-The sheets on which the signs were painted
-stretched across the width of the tent, and the
-upper line read:
-
-.. vspace:: 1
-
-.. class:: center
-
-FOUR MARVELS OF THE WORLD
-
-.. vspace:: 1
-
-Underneath this startling statement, in no less
-emphatic letters, appeared the following:
-
-.. vspace:: 1
-
-.. class:: center white-space-pre-line
-
- *ON EXHIBITION:*
- *The Strongest Man in the World*
- *The Handsomest Woman in the World*
- *The Prettiest Girl in the World*
- *The Smartest Boy in the World*
-
-.. vspace:: 1
-
-The surprising nature of these signs began to
-draw a crowd almost at once—even before
-breakfast. The early comers were mostly boys, and
-Bobby and Fred were not yet ready to admit the
-curious.
-
-The chums kept perfectly serious faces and
-refused to answer any of the questions, or respond
-much to the raillery of their young friends.
-
-"You know that ain't so, Bobby Blake!"
-exclaimed one boy. "You can't have all those
-people in that tent. And where'd you get them?
-Huh! 'Strongest man in the world.' Who's
-that? Sandow, or John L. Sullivan? Bet you
-jest got a picture of Samson throwin' down the
-pillars."
-
-"That's what it is—just pictures!" agreed the
-other curious ones.
-
-Fred grinned at them and was—wonderful to
-relate!—as silent as his chum. They had agreed to
-say nothing in response to the chaffing.
-
-"And who was the handsomest woman in the
-world?" scoffed another boy, who was rather
-better informed than most of his mates. "Cleopatra,
-maybe! And she was blacker than our
-Phoebe who washes for my mother. All
-Egyptians are black."
-
-"I'd just like to know who you think is the
-prettiest girl, Bobby Blake?" demanded one of the
-bigger girls who went to school with the chums,
-her nose tip tilted to show her scorn. "What do
-you know about pretty girls?"
-
-"If you want to see her, you can do so by
-paying your penny by and by," said Bobby politely.
-
-"Humph! I'd like to see myself!" snapped
-the young lady—and at once went home and
-secured a penny for that very purpose!
-
-"I s'pose you've got a photograph of your own
-self in there for the smartest boy, Reddy
-Martin!" suggested one of the big fellows who dared
-give Fred this hated nickname.
-
-"Well," drawled Fred, his eyes sparkling, "if
-it lay between you and me who was the smartest,
-I don't believe *you'd* get any medal."
-
-The boys took turns breakfasting on crackers
-and cheese in Mr. Martin's store. Fred's father
-was greatly amused by the signs in front of the
-tent and he wanted a private view of the wonders.
-But he was politely refused.
-
-"We can't begin the show till Bobby's made the
-lecture, Dad," declared Fred. "And we're not
-going to begin till there's a crowd on the street.
-We'll pass them right into the store here, and I
-bet you and the clerks will be too busy waiting on
-customers to see the show at all," and he chuckled.
-
-In only a single matter did the boys have help
-in the arrangements for the show. Mr. Blake,
-without being in the secret of the show itself, had
-written the lecture which Bobby was to deliver
-outside the tent every time a crowd gathered.
-
-Bobby put on a shabby drum-major's coat, with
-one epaulet, which had been found in the Martins'
-attic. On his head he perched an old silk hat
-belonging to his father, with the band stuffed out
-so that it would not slip down over his ears and
-hide his face entirely.
-
-He beat upon a tin pan with a padded drum-stick,
-and thus brought together the first crowd
-before the show-tent at about nine o'clock. His
-ridiculous figure and the noise of the drumming
-soon collected twenty or thirty grown people—mostly
-men at that hour—beside a crowd of boys,
-and a few timid girls who fringed the crowd.
-
-Having called his audience together, Bobby,
-with a perfectly serious face, began his speech
-which he had learned by heart, and spoke as well
-as ever he recited "a piece" on Friday afternoons
-at school:
-
-"Kind Friends:
-
-"This wonderful exhibition has been arranged
-for the sole purpose of extracting money from
-your pockets and putting it into ours. We make
-this frank announcement at the start so that there
-may be no misunderstanding.
-
-"This marvelous Museum is not a charitable
-institution nor is it for the benefit of any
-philanthropic cause.
-
-"It is merely an effort and an invention to
-promote good humor; any person unable to appreciate
-a joke on himself, or herself, is respectfully
-requested not to patronize our stupendous and
-surprising entertainment.
-
-"Where before, in any conglomeration of
-Wonders of the World, have four such marvelous
-creatures been placed simultaneously on exhibition?
-
-"Now, kind friends, but one person is admitted
-to our entertainment at a time, and but one of
-these advertised marvels will be exhibited to each
-visitor. This is a positive rule that cannot be
-broken.
-
-"The charge for our educational and startling
-exhibit is but a penny—a cent—the smallest coin
-of the realm. It will not make you, and it cannot
-break you.
-
-"In addition, it is understood that the person
-paying his, or her, entrance fee to this Museum
-of Marvels, agrees to keep silent regarding what
-is shown within, for at least twenty-four hours.
-On that, and on no other terms, do we accept your
-penny.
-
-"If one should not be satisfied that a penny's
-worth is given in exchange for the entrance fee,
-the same will be cheerfully refunded.
-
-"Now, kind friends, one at a time," concluded
-Bobby, stepping down from the rostrum to the
-narrow entrance to the tent. "Form in line at
-the right, please. Have your pennies ready; we
-cannot make change. Doctor Truman is the first
-to enter the Hall of Marvels. Thank you,
-Doctor!" as the cheerful, chuckling physician, bag in
-hand, on his morning rounds to see his patients,
-pushed forward to the entrance of the tent.
-
-There was a good deal of hanging back at first.
-Bobby had expected that. And Fred might have
-lost hope had he been outside where he could see
-the crowd that began to dwindle away when
-Bobby's funny speech was finished.
-
-But in a moment the doctor's roar of laughter
-from within the tent brought some of the
-suspicious ones back. The doctor appeared at the
-store door, his plump sides shaking with laughter,
-and wiping the joyous tears from his eyes.
-
-"What is it, Doc?" asked an old farmer.
-"What's them 'tarnal boys doin' in that tent?"
-
-"Pay your penny and go in and see," exclaimed
-Doctor Truman, hurrying away. "If a laugh like
-that isn't worth a cent, I don't know what is!"
-
-Fred's whistle had announced the departure of
-the first visitor by way of the shop door, and
-Bobby urged up another:
-
-"Don't crowd, kind friends. The performance
-will continue all day and this evening—or until
-everybody desiring to do so has seen one of these
-four Wonders of the World."
-
-Jim Hatton, the harness maker, followed the
-doctor. He didn't laugh, but the curious ones
-heard him exclaim, a moment after his disappearance:
-
-"Well, I'll be jiggered!" which was Mr. Hatton's
-favorite expression, and he came out of the
-front door of Mr. Martin's shop, grinning broadly.
-
-"What was it, Jim?" asked the same curious farmer.
-
-"Can't tell ye, Jake. See it yourself—'nless
-you're afraid o' riskin' a penny to find out just
-how smart our boys here in Clinton be," and
-Mr. Hatton went off to his shop still grinning.
-
-Somebody pushed forward the very girl who
-had sharpened her wit on Bobby before the exhibition
-opened. She had her penny clutched tightly
-in her hand.
-
-"Don't you let go of that cent, Susie," advised
-Bobby, grinning at her, "if you think you'll want
-it again for anything. For you won't be pleased
-by what you see—maybe."
-
-Susie tossed her head and went inside. In just
-a minute Fred blew his whistle and Susie, with
-flaming cheeks, appeared at the front door of the
-store.
-
-"What was it, Susie?" demanded one of her friends.
-
-"Which did you see—the strong man, or the
-handsome lady, or the pretty girl, or the smart
-boy?" cried another.
-
-But Susie shut her lips tightly, glanced once at
-Bobby, who was letting the curious old farmer
-pass into the tent, and then she ran home. The
-curiosity of the boys and girls mounted higher
-and higher.
-
-The old farmer popped out almost as quick as
-he popped in. He was chewing a straw vigorously,
-and his face was flushed. It was hard to
-tell for a moment whether he was mad, or not.
-
-"Wal, Neighbor Jake, did yet git your money's
-wuth?" demanded another rural character.
-
-The bewhiskered old fellow turned on the
-speaker, and gradually a grin spread over his
-face.
-
-"Say, Sam!" he drawled. "You never had
-none too much schoolin'. Your edication was
-frightfully neglected. You pay that there boy a
-cent and go in there, and you'll l'arn more in a
-minute than you ever did before in a day! You
-take it from me."
-
-Thus advised his neighbor pressed forward and
-was the next "victim." When he came out his
-face was red likewise, while Jake burst into a
-mighty roar of laughter and rocked himself to and
-fro on the horseblock in front of the store door.
-
-Soon the second farmer joined in the laughter,
-and thereafter, for an hour, the two stood about
-and urged everybody from out of town whom they
-knew to enter the peep-show.
-
-Occasionally Bobby mounted the platform,
-banged on the pan, and lifted up his voice in the
-speech Mr. Blake had written for him. It coaxed
-the people to stop before the show every time.
-And between whiles, Bobby kept repeating:
-
-"It is only a cent—and your money back if you
-are not satisfied! If it is a joke, keep it to
-yourself and let the next one find it out. Come on!
-Have your pennies ready, please, kind friends.
-See one of the four greatest wonders of the world."
-
-At first none of the ladies who were out shopping
-did more than stop and listen and wonder
-among themselves "what that Blake boy was up
-to now." But the girl who worked in Mr. Ballard's
-real estate office ran across the street to
-see what the crowd was about, and was tempted
-to enter the tent.
-
-She came out giggling, and greatly delighted,
-and pretty soon the girls who worked in the
-offices and stores along Hurley Street, were
-attracted to the show. They all seemed to be highly
-delighted, when they came out through the store.
-
-"I declare!" exclaimed Mrs. Hiram Pepper, to
-a neighbor, as they passed the peep-show again.
-"I've a mind to see what that means."
-
-"It's some foolishness," said her friend, who
-was a rather vinegary maiden lady named Miss
-Prissy Craven. "I wonder what that boy's
-mother can be thinking of!"
-
-"Why, Mrs. John Blake is as nice a lady as
-there is in town," declared Mrs. Pepper. "And
-I must say for Bobby that he's never in any
-mischief. He's full of fun—like any boy. But there
-ain't a *smitch* of meanness in him."
-
-"Humph!" exclaimed the other lady, sourly.
-
-"Now, you wait. I'm going in," declared
-Mrs. Pepper, fumbling in her purse for a penny.
-
-She marched up to Bobby, eyeing him rather
-sternly. To tell the truth, for the first time the
-young showman quailed.
-
-"Maybe you'd—you'd better not go in, Mrs. Pepper,"
-he mumbled.
-
-"Why not? Ain't it fit for a lady to see?"
-demanded she, with increasing sternness.
-
-"Oh, yes!" and Bobby *had* to giggle at that.
-"But—but—Well, anyway, you mustn't tell, and
-you can have your money back if you don't like
-the show."
-
-"Ha!" exclaimed Mrs. Pepper, "as though I
-was worried about the loss of a penny," and she
-went into the tent with her back very straight.
-
-She came out shaking with laughter. The tears
-rolled down her face and she had to sit down on
-Mr. Martin's steps to get her breath. Miss
-Prissy Craven demanded, sharply: "What under
-the sun is the matter with you, Mis' Pepper? I
-never seen you behave so. What is it in that tent
-them boys have got? I sh'd think it was a giggle
-ball full o' tickle!"
-
-"Ha, ha, ha!" chuckled the amused Mrs. Pepper.
-"You go in yourself, Prissy, and see what
-you think of it. I can't tell you."
-
-"I'm going!" announced the maiden lady, nodding
-her head. "But lemme tell you," she added
-to Bobby, "if it's anything I don't like, you'll hear
-about it when I come out."
-
-Bobby looked across at Mrs. Pepper doubtfully,
-but he had to grin. The lady who was laughing
-nodded to him vigorously, and he let Miss Craven
-through.
-
-In less than a minute she flounced through the
-store and demanded, in her high, rasping voice:
-
-"What did you mean by trickin' me that-a-way,
-Mis' Pepper? I never was so disgusted in all
-my life. A perfec' swindle—"
-
-"You can get back your penny if you didn't
-like it," suggested Bobby, trying hard not to
-laugh.
-
-"Well, I—"
-
-But Mrs. Pepper broke in upon the angry
-spinster's possible tirade: "Jest what did you see,
-Prissy?" she asked the angry one, with emphasis.
-Miss Craven's mouth remained open for fully
-half a minute, but no sound came forth. The
-blood mounted into her face, and then she shut
-her lips and started off hastily for her own home.
-*Evidently she did not want to tell*!
-
-This incident excited the curiosity of the
-bystanders more than ever. So far every person
-seeing the show had "played fair" and had
-refused to say what he or she had seen on the inside
-of the tent.
-
-Bobby had refused to let the smaller boys or
-girls into the show, telling them that late in the
-day they might see it for nothing. That had been
-agreed upon with Fred, for the proprietors of the
-entertainment were afraid that the little folk
-would be tempted to talk the matter over among
-themselves and thus spoil the fun—as well as
-reduce the receipts.
-
-And the pennies came in faster than Bobby or
-Fred had dared hope. During the morning those
-people who had business on Hurley Street came
-to see the show, and to listen to Bobby as
-"bally-hoo," and by noon-time wind of the peep-show
-had gone all over town.
-
-Bobby's mother, and Fred's, too, heard of it
-from their husbands at luncheon, and they
-decided to see what their young hopefuls were about.
-Bobby was just a little bit scared when he saw his
-mother; he didn't know whether she would see the
-joke as his father had, earlier in the day—for
-Mr. Blake had come out of the tent roaring with
-laughter.
-
-"It beats anything how those two youngsters
-have got the whole town guessing," he had said
-to Mr. Martin. "And they have hit on a positive
-human failing that shows more sober thought than
-I believed either of them capable of."
-
-"Dare you let your mother in to see this show,
-Bobby Blake?" asked Mrs. Blake, seriously, when
-the boy's lecture—which he now rattled off glibly
-enough—was finished.
-
-"There's no 'free list'," said Bobby, his eyes
-twinkling. "Pa told me to be sure not to let you
-in unless you paid. And I am sure, Mother, that
-you will see the handsomest woman in the world,
-if you want to, when you go inside."
-
-"I declare! you have *me* puzzled, Bobby
-Blake," said easy going Mrs. Martin.
-
-"Just a minute, please!" urged Bobby, detaining
-his chum's mother. "You'll have to take your
-turn. But one person is allowed to enter at a
-time. This way! this way, kind friends! The
-line forms on the right. Only a penny—a cent—the
-smallest coin of the realm. It won't make
-you and it can't break you!"
-
-The two mothers joined each other afterward
-outside of Mr. Martin's store. They looked into
-each other's faces wonderingly.
-
-"What do you think of those boys?" demanded
-Mrs. Martin. "What will they do next?"
-
-"I—I don't know," admitted Mrs. Blake, with
-a sigh. "But I *do* fear that they will turn that
-school they are going to this fall topsy-turvy!"
-
-
-
-
-
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-
- CHAPTER IX
-
-
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-
- OFF FOR ROCKLEDGE
-
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-
-Trade at the peep-show was brisk until
-mid-afternoon. Bobby and Fred had been able to get
-only a bite of luncheon from the store "in their
-fists," and had compared notes but seldom.
-
-Bobby's trouser-pockets were borne down with
-the weight of pennies. In refusing to make
-change it soon became very hard along Hurley
-Street to obtain pennies at all. All the copper
-money in the town was fast coming the way of the
-proprietors of the peep-show.
-
-Neither Bobby nor Fred realized this fact—nor
-what it meant to them—until after the First
-National and the Old Farmers' Banks had closed
-their doors for the day. The storekeepers then
-began running around to borrow copper money,
-and it was some time before anybody knew what
-made the scarcity of pennies in the storekeepers'
-tills!
-
-Meanwhile the financial adventure of Bobby
-Blake and Fred Martin was prospering.
-
-Bobby suddenly saw the long-armed, white-headed
-Applethwaite Plunkit standing in the
-crowd eying him while he delivered his talk.
-The crowd before the rostrum laughed as usual,
-and those who had been in to see the show urged
-their friends to venture likewise.
-
-The white-headed farm boy from Plunkit's
-Creek was pushing forward to enter the show.
-Bobby had hoped he would not venture, but when
-Ap approached, Bobby made up his mind quickly.
-
-"You can't go in, Applethwaite," he said,
-decidedly. "We don't want you."
-
-"Why not!"
-
-"Never mind why not," said Bobby, firmly,
-looking straight into the flushed face of the boy
-who had treated him and Fred so meanly just a
-week before. "But you can't go in."
-
-"Ain't my cent just as good as anybody else's?"
-
-"Not here it isn't," declared Bobby, who knew
-very well that if the white head appeared in the
-tent where the red head was, there would be an
-explosion! Besides, he did not trust Ap. He
-believed Ap would do all he could to break up the
-show after he had seen it.
-
-Ap began to bluster and threaten, but there
-were too many grown folk around for him to dare
-attack Bobby. "You jes' wait," he whispered.
-"I'll fix you some time."
-
-Bobby did not know what Applethwaite might
-try to do, and when he saw him a little later with
-a group of boys who were pretty rough looking,
-he was worried. These boys stood across the
-street from the show and Bobby was afraid they
-were waiting for some slack time, when there were
-no grown folk about, to "rush" the tent.
-
-He called Fred out and told him what he feared
-and Fred went through and told the biggest clerk
-in his father's store. The clerks were interested
-in the two young showmen, for they had been into
-the tent and were delighted with what they had seen.
-
-The big fellow promised, therefore, to come
-running and bring the other clerks to help, if the boys
-whistled for assistance. This plan quieted
-Bobby's fears, and he gave his mind to the lecture,
-and to coaxing the audience into the show, one by one.
-
-Suddenly the young lecturer saw Mr. Priestly
-in the crowd. He flushed up pretty red when he
-saw him, for Mr. Priestly was the minister at the
-church the boys attended, and Bobby thought he
-was about the finest man in town.
-
-The clergyman was a young man who had made
-a name for himself in University athletics, and he
-had the biggest Boys' Club in town. Bobby and
-Fred were particular friends of the young
-minister, and for a moment Bobby wondered if
-Mr. Priestly would approve of the peep-show.
-
-The gentleman's ruddy, smoothly shaven face
-was a-smile as he listened to Bobby's speech, and
-his blue eyes twinkled. He was the first to reach
-the tent entrance when Bobby stepped down from
-the platform.
-
-"Which wonder am *I* to see, Bobby?" he asked,
-as he presented his penny to the youthful showman.
-
-"We—we favor the clergy, Mr. Priestly," said
-Bobby, hesitatingly, yet with an answering smile.
-"*You* shall see two wonders." Then he called in
-to his partner: "Hey, Fred!"
-
-"Hullo!" returned the red-haired one, coming
-to the entrance.
-
-"Here's Mr. Priestly," said Bobby, in a low
-voice. "I want you to show *him* the strongest
-man in the world, and the very best man in Clinton!"
-
-"Oh-ho!" cried Mr. Priestly. "*That's* the way
-of it, eh?" and he pinched Bobby's cheek as he
-went into the tent. "I believe I can guess your
-joke, boys."
-
-"Never mind! nobody else has guessed it,"
-chuckled Fred, going before him. "Stand right
-there, Mr. Priestly."
-
-The oil lamp was in a bracket screwed to a post
-in the back of the tent. Just where its light shone
-best was a narrow red curtain. Fred became
-preternaturally solemn as he stepped forward and
-laid his hand upon the cords that manipulated the
-curtain.
-
-"We will show you, Mr. Priestly," he said, "the
-Strongest Man in the World—and as Bobby says,
-the very *best* man in Clinton!"
-
-He pulled aside the curtain and Mr. Priestly
-saw his own reflection in a long mirror that had
-been borrowed from the Martin attic.
-
-"Well, well!" exclaimed the minister, nodding.
-"And is this all your show?"
-
-"Anybody who is not satisfied with what he
-*sees*," returned Fred, chuckling, "can have the
-entrance fee refunded."
-
-At that the clergyman burst into a great laugh.
-"You boys! you boys! You certainly have them
-*there*. One must be dissatisfied with himself to
-ask for the return of his penny. I—I am not
-altogether sure that this doesn't smack of a swindle;
-but it certainly *is* smart. You should show your
-own face in the glass, Fred, when the younger
-victims come in to see the Smartest Boy in the
-World."
-
-"No, sir," grinned Fred. "Every fellow that
-comes in is better satisfied to see his own
-reflection, I reckon."
-
-The clergyman went out, laughing. That the
-joke had kept up all day was the wonder of it.
-The audience became smaller as supper time drew
-near.
-
-Then came Mr. Harrod, who kept the variety
-and ice cream store down the street. "Say," he
-said to Bobby. "You boys must have cornered
-all the pennies in town. I've got to have some.
-I'll give you a dollar bill for ninety cents, Bobby
-Blake."
-
-"All right, sir," cried Bobby. "Is a dollar's
-worth all you want? I'll send them down to your
-store in a few moments."
-
-"Send two dollars' worth," returned Mr. Harrod,
-hurrying away.
-
-"Hi, Betty Martin!" shouted Bobby to Fred's
-"next oldest sister," who was on the fringe of the
-crowd. "Come here and count pennies—do, please!"
-
-"Hi Betty Martin" stuck out her tongue
-promptly and did not stir. "Call me by my
-proper name, Mister Smartie!" she said, sharply.
-
-"Oh, me, oh, my! I beg your pardon," laughed
-Bobby. "Miss Elizabeth Martin, will you please
-count some of these pennies and roll them into
-papers—right there on the box, please?"
-
-"All right," said Betty, who did not like to be
-called after any Mother Goose character.
-
-She was a bright girl and she counted the
-pennies correctly into piles of thirty, rolled them
-up that way, carried six of the rolls down to the
-variety store, and brought back a two dollar bill.
-
-Then Mr. Martin needed copper money, and
-Betty counted a dollars' worth out for him—at
-the rate of exchange established by Mr. Harrod.
-
-"Wow, Bobby!" murmured Fred, at the door
-of the tent. "We get them coming and going,
-don't we? Ten cents on the dollar, too! We're
-getting rich."
-
-But the peep-show had had its run. Not many
-could be coaxed in after supper, and the boys
-were tired, too. They had not eaten a proper
-meal all day, and Mr. Martin advised them to
-shut up shop.
-
-They took down the signs, put out the lamp,
-and went into the back room of the grocery to
-count the receipts. The amount was far beyond
-their expectations, and naturally Bobby and Fred
-were delighted.
-
-"It takes you to think up the bright ideas,
-chum," said Fred, admiringly.
-
-But Bobby looked thoughtful. "I wonder if
-Mr. Priestly thought it was just right?" he
-murmured. "I suppose we *did* fool them all," and he
-sighed.
-
-"Shucks!" exclaimed Fred. "They didn't
-have to be fooled if they didn't want to. And
-even Prissy Craven didn't come back for her
-penny, did she?"
-
-Only a few days more before they would start
-for Rockledge School. The chums bought the
-bats and mask and other things they craved.
-They packed their trunks two or three times over.
-They carried the books they liked best, and many
-treasures for which their troubled mothers could
-see no reason whatsoever.
-
-"Now, this can of pins and nails, Bobby," urged
-Mrs. Blake, helplessly. "What *possible* good can
-they be? I do not see how I am to get your
-clothing into the trunk."
-
-"Aw—Mother!" gasped Bobby. "Don't throw
-them away. A fellow never can tell when he'll
-want a pin—or a nail—or a button—or something.
-Never mind putting in so many stockings. Leave
-the can—do, Mother!"
-
-All the Clinton boys who had been the chums'
-particular associates at school were greatly
-interested in what they termed Bobby's and Fred's
-"luck." They all had to be told, over and over
-again, of the expected wonders of Rockledge
-School.
-
-"And I bet you and Fred turn things upside
-down there," said "Scat" Monroe, with an envious sigh.
-
-"I bet we don't!" responded Bobby, quickly.
-"Dr. Raymond is awfully strict, they say.
-We'll have to walk a chalk line."
-
-"Well, if Fred Martin ever walks a chalk-line,"
-scoffed another of the fellows, "it'll be a mighty
-crooked one!"
-
-However, the night before the boys were to
-start for Rockledge, the good natured groceryman
-gave his son a long talk, and Fred went to bed
-feeling pretty solemn. For the first time, he
-began to realize that he was not going away to
-boarding school merely for the fun there was to be got
-out of it!
-
-"You haven't made much of a mark for yourself
-in the Clinton Public School, Frederick," said
-Mr. Martin, sternly; "but I do not believe that is
-because you are either a dunce, or stubborn. You
-have been frittering away your opportunities.
-
-"I am tired of seeing your name at the foot of
-your class roster—or near it. Inattention is your
-failing. You are going where they make boys
-attend. And if you do not work, and keep up with
-your mates, you will be sent home. Do you
-understand that?
-
-"And if you are sent home, you shall be sent to
-another school where you'll have very little fun at
-all for the rest of your life. I mean the School
-of Hard Experience!
-
-"You shall be set to work in my store half of
-each day, like a poor man's son, and go to the
-public school the other half day, and your name will
-be on the truant officer's list."
-
-"And I guess he meant it," said Fred to Bobby
-the next morning. "Father doesn't often scold,
-but he was mad at me for being so low in my
-classes last term."
-
-The boys started for the railroad station with
-Mr. Blake, gayly enough, however. When Bobby
-had parted from his mother, he had to swallow a
-big lump in his throat, and he hugged her around
-the neck *hard* for a minute. But he had forced
-back the tears by the time they got to the Martins'
-house.
-
-There the other children were all out on the
-front porch to bid their brother and Bobby
-good-by. "Hi Betty Martin" threw an old shoe
-after them.
-
-"For luck," she said. "That's what they do
-when folks get married."
-
-"But Bobby and I aren't getting married,"
-complained Fred, rubbing his right ear where the
-shoe had landed. "And, anyway, no girl's got a
-right to shut her eyes tight and throw an old boot
-like *that*. How'd you know you wouldn't do some
-damage?"
-
-"That's the luck of it," chuckled Bobby. "It's
-lucky she didn't hurt you worse."
-
-
-
-
-
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-.. _`NEW SURROUNDINGS`:
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- CHAPTER X
-
-
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-
- NEW SURROUNDINGS
-
-.. vspace:: 2
-
-The boys were so eagerly looking ahead that
-they scarcely gave a backward glance at Clinton,
-as the train rolled away. Mr. Blake had his
-paper and a whole seat to himself. Bobby and
-Fred occupied a seat ahead of him, and laughed
-and chattered as they pleased.
-
-"This is only Friday," said Fred, "and classes
-don't begin at Rockledge until Monday. We'll
-have two whole days to get acquainted in. Do
-you s'pose there will be some of the boys at the
-Rockledge station to meet us?"
-
-"And a brass band, too, maybe—eh?" chuckled
-Bobby. "I guess nobody but the principal of the
-school knows we're coming, Fred. We'll be new
-boys, and the bigger fellows will boss us around
-at first."
-
-"Huh! they can't boss *me* if I don't want to be
-bossed," declared the pugnacious Fred.
-
-"Don't you begin to talk that way," advised his
-chum. "We'll have to be pretty small potatoes at
-first."
-
-"I don't see why," grumbled Fred.
-
-"You'll find out. My father went to a boarding
-school when he was a boy, and he told me," Bobby
-explained.
-
-They did not have to wait until reaching
-Rockledge to learn something about the temper of the
-boys with whom they would be associated. At
-Cambwell several students got aboard and came
-into their car. They were all older than Bobby
-and Fred, and they were very noisy and self-assertive.
-
-They sang, and joked together in the seats up
-front. Finally they spied the two boys from
-Clinton sitting in the middle of the car.
-
-"Hullo!" exclaimed a tall, thin, yellow-haired
-boy who seemed to be a leader in the fun.
-"There's a couple of kids who look as though
-they'd just left home and mamma. Bet they're
-going with us."
-
-One of the other boys said something in a low
-tone, and then he and the yellow-haired one got
-up and came down the aisle.
-
-"Say!" said the second boy, who was short and
-stocky and squinted his eyes up in a funny way
-when he talked. "Goin' to school, sonnies?"
-
-"Yes, we are," said Fred, sharply.
-
-"Rockledge or Belden?"
-
-"Rockledge, if you please," said Bobby, politely.
-
-"Huh!" said the tall boy, grinning. "I don't
-know whether it pleases us any to have you go to
-Rockledge. But it's lucky you're not bound for
-Belden."
-
-"Why?" asked Fred.
-
-"We'd have to chuck your hats out of the
-window. We don't allow any Belden boys to ride in
-this train with their hats on."
-
-"And do the Belden boys throw the Rockledge
-boys' hats out of the window?" asked Bobby,
-innocently enough.
-
-"If they're able. But they ain't. You sure
-you are going to Rockledge?"
-
-"You can wait till we get off the train and then
-find out whether we tell the truth, or not," said
-Fred, rather crossly.
-
-"Say, young fellow! we don't like fresh fish
-at Rockledge," warned the yellow-haired boy.
-"If you're going there, you want to walk Turkey."
-
-Bobby pinched Fred warningly, and both the
-chums remained silent.
-
-"I never did like the looks of red hair, anyway—did
-you, Bill?" suggested the squinting chap,
-grinning.
-
-"No. We'll have to dye it for him," said the
-yellow-haired boy. "What color do you prefer
-instead of red?" he asked Fred Martin.
-
-"Well, I wouldn't like it to be straw-colored,"
-responded Fred, promptly, and with a meaning
-glance at his interrogator's hair. "Any other will
-suit me better."
-
-The yellow-haired boy flushed and his pale eyes
-sparkled. Fred stared back at him quite boldly,
-for the ten year old was no coward, whatever else
-he might be.
-
-"Fresh fish—just as I told you," muttered the
-other strange boy, scowling and squinting at the
-same time. He was a very ugly boy when he did
-this. "Both of them."
-
-"Well!" began Bill, and then stopped.
-
-The train had halted at another station the
-moment before. Somebody entered the front door
-of the car, and at once the group of boys going to
-Rockledge School set up a shout.
-
-"Hi, Barry!"
-
-"See who's come in with the tide! Hey, Captain!"
-
-"Hullo, Barry Gray!"
-
-"Captain! Captain! How-de-do!"
-
-Even the yellow-haired boy and his comrade
-turned to look. Bobby and Fred saw a handsome,
-brown haired fellow coming down the aisle. He
-was fourteen or older. He carried a light
-overcoat over his arm and he was very well dressed.
-
-He tossed his coat and bag into one of the racks,
-and began shaking hands. Everybody seemed
-glad to see him. As he quickly glanced down the
-aisle his look seemed to quell Bill and the
-squinting boy.
-
-"He's going to butt in, of course," growled the
-first named.
-
-"Sure. Feels his oats—"
-
-The fellow with the squint said no more. The
-handsome fellow, whose name seemed to be Barry
-Gray, came down the aisle almost at once.
-
-"Hullo, Bill Bronson," he said, with some
-sharpness. "Up to your usual tricks?"
-
-"It isn't any business of yours, Barry, what
-Jack and I do," growled the yellow-haired boy.
-
-"I'll make it my business, then," said Barry
-Gray, laughing. Then he turned directly to
-Bobby and Fred.
-
-"You kids going to Rockledge this term?" he asked.
-
-"Yes, sir," said Bobby, quickly.
-
-Barry Gray was not as tall as Bill Bronson, and
-perhaps not as old, but he evidently was not afraid
-of either of the bullies.
-
-"Where are you from?"
-
-"Clinton, sir," pronounced Bobby, again taking
-the lead.
-
-"What's your name—and your chum's?" asked Barry.
-
-"My name is Bob Blake, and this is Fred Martin,"
-said Bobby.
-
-"Glad to know you," said the older boy, shaking
-hands with both of them, and even Fred began
-to forgive him for calling them "kids."
-
-"Ever been to school before?" asked Barry.
-
-"Not to boarding school," Fred said.
-
-"Come on up and I'll introduce you to the
-other fellows. Don't mind Bill Bronson and Jack
-Jinks, here," added Barry Gray, grinning at the
-two retiring bullies. "If they bother you much,
-come to me. I'm captain of the school this year,
-and Dr. Raymond expects me to keep all of the
-fellows straight. Being a captain is like being a
-monitor. You understand!"
-
-"Oh, yes, sir," said Bobby.
-
-"And you needn't 'sir' me so much," said the
-kindly captain. "Come on, now—"
-
-Bobby turned to ask permission of his father.
-Barry at once saw that Mr. Blake was with the
-chums from Clinton.
-
-"Who's this, Bob? Your father, or Fred's?"
-
-"This is my father," said Bobby, politely.
-
-The frank school captain stepped forward and
-offered his hand. "Glad to meet you, Mr. Blake,"
-he said. "You trust the boys with me. I'll see
-that they get in right with the other fellows, and
-that they're not put upon too much."
-
-"I'm sure of it," said Mr. Blake, smiling. "I
-shall feel better about leaving Bobby and Fred at
-Rockledge, knowing that you will have an eye on
-them."
-
-"Oh, you can be easy about them," said Captain
-Gray who, despite his natural conceit, seemed a
-very nice fellow. "Of course, they'll have to take
-a few hard knocks, and the boys will 'run' them
-some. But they sha'n't be hurt."
-
-"Huh!" muttered Fred. "I guess we can take
-care of ourselves."
-
-Barry looked down at him and grinned. "Yes,
-I see you own red hair," he observed, and
-Mr. Blake laughed outright.
-
-Fred followed his chum and Barry Gray up the
-aisle with rather a lagging step. He felt his own
-importance considerably, and he did not see why
-he should be as respectful as Bobby was to the
-captain of Rockledge School.
-
-In a very few minutes Master Martin felt better.
-The other boys were a lot more friendly than
-Bill Bronson and Jack Jinks, who the chums
-learned later, were two of the most troublesome
-boys at the school. Not many of the others liked
-the bullies.
-
-There were some fellows quite as young as
-Bobby and Fred, but none of them were "greenies,"
-like the chums from Clinton.
-
-"Sure you'll have to be hazed!" explained a
-fat, genial boy, named Perry Wise—called "Pee
-Wee" because of his initials and his size. "Every
-fellow has to, that comes to the school. But
-Barrymore Gray won't let them go too far. He's a
-nice fellow, he is."
-
-"I think he is fine," said Bobby, enthusiastically.
-
-"He's pretty fresh, I guess," grumbled Fred.
-
-"We don't call the captain of the school fresh,"
-said Pee Wee. "He has a right to boss us. The
-Doctor lets him. Next to the teachers, Barry's
-got more to say about things in the school than
-anybody else."
-
-This did not please Master Martin much. He
-wanted to be of some importance himself, and he
-had never been used to giving in to other boys,
-unless it was to Bobby Blake.
-
-However, there was so much to hear, and so
-many new people to get acquainted with that Fred
-had little time to worry about Barry Gray. The
-chums found the time passing so quickly that they
-were surprised when the train slowed down and
-the brakeman shouted, "All out for Rockledge!"
-
-There was no crowd of boys and no band.
-Rockledge was a busy town, with oak-shaded
-streets, great bowlders thrusting their heads out
-of the vacant lots, and much blasting going on
-where new cellars were being excavated.
-
-There was an electric car line through the middle
-of High Street, which turned off at the shore
-of the lake (they learned this afterward) and went
-as far as Belden.
-
-Bobby and Fred, with Mr. Blake, took a car on
-this line and crossed the railroad, finally
-bringing up within sight of the grounds of Rockledge
-School.
-
-It was not a large school, and there were only
-four buildings, including the gate-keeper's cottage
-where all of the outside servants slept. It had
-once been a fine private estate, and Dr. Raymond
-had made of it a most attractive and homelike
-institution.
-
-The doctor and his family, and his chief
-assistant, lived in a handsome house connected with
-the main building of the school by a long, roofed
-portico. This last building was of brick and
-sandstone, and held classrooms, dining-rooms, the
-kitchen department in one end of the basement,
-and a fine gymnasium in the other.
-
-In the upper stories were a hall, two large
-dormitories in each of which were beds for twenty
-boys, and five small dormitories for two boys each.
-The ten highest scholars occupied these small
-rooms, and from them was chosen the captain of
-the school each June.
-
-The junior teachers slept in this big building, too.
-
-There were beautiful lawns, fine shrubs, winding,
-shaded walks, and a large campus on which
-were a baseball diamond, a football field, and
-courts for tennis, basket-ball, and other games.
-
-These facts Bobby and Fred gradually absorbed.
-At first they were too round-eyed to appreciate
-much but the fact that the place seemed
-large, and that there positively was an immense
-number of boys! Fifty boys seemed to have
-swelled to a hundred and fifty—and they all stared
-at the newcomers.
-
-Mr. Blake went immediately to the doctor's
-study, taking Bobby and Fred with him.
-Dr. Raymond was a tall, big-boned man, wearing very
-loose garments and a collar a full size too large.
-The big doctor had bushy side-whiskers, and his
-chin and lip were very closely shaved. He had
-white, big teeth, and he showed them all when he
-smiled.
-
-His eyes were kindly, and wrinkles appeared
-around them when he smiled, in a most engaging
-fashion. When he shook hands with Bobby and
-Fred, some magnetic feeling passed from the big
-man to the boys, so that the latter decided on the
-instant that they liked Dr. Raymond!
-
-"Manly little fellows—both," said the doctor,
-to Mr. Blake, as the two gentlemen walked toward
-the big windows at the end of the room, leaving
-Bobby and Fred marooned, like two castaway
-sailors, on a desert isle of rug near the door.
-
-The doctor's study was enormously long, with
-a high ceiling, and lined with books, save where a
-fireplace broke into the bookshelves on one side.
-There was a very large flat-topped desk, too,
-several deep chairs, and a number of smaller tables
-at which the older boys sometimes did their lessons.
-
-"You'll find them just as full of fun and mischief
-as a couple of chestnuts are of meat," said
-Mr. Blake, with a chuckle. "But I don't think
-there is a mean trait in either of them. My boy
-has had, we think, rather a good influence over
-Freddie Martin. The latter's red hair is apt to
-get him into trouble."
-
-"I understand," said the doctor, nodding and
-smiling. "I try to leave the boys much to
-themselves in the matter of deportment. The bigger
-boys are supposed to set the standard of morals,
-and I am glad to say that I have never yet had
-occasion to be sorry for beginning that way.
-
-"We run Rockledge School on honor, sir.
-Every year—in June—we present to the boy who
-earns it, a gold medal stating that for the past
-year he has shown himself to be worthy of
-distinction above his fellows in a strictly honorable
-way.
-
-"This medal is not given for scholarship—yet
-none but a fairly studious boy may earn it. It is
-not given for deportment strictly—though no boy
-who is not gentlemanly and of manly bearing and
-action, can win it. The medal is not given for
-mere popularity, for a boy may sometimes be
-popular with his fellows, without having many of the
-fundamental virtues of character which we hope
-to see in our boys.
-
-"The boy who won it last year, and is gone from
-us now, stood ninth in his class only, and was not
-much of an athlete—which latter tells mightily
-among the boys themselves, you know. Yet my
-teachers and myself, as well as the school, were
-practically unanimous in the selection of Tommy
-Wardwell as the recipient of the Medal of Honor."
-
-The gentlemen talked some few minutes longer.
-Then Mr. Blake came to bid Bobby and Fred
-good-by. He shook hands gravely with his own son
-and then took Fred's hand.
-
-"You've got some trouble, some fun, and a lot
-of work before you, Master Fred," he said. "I
-expect your father and mother will be anxiously
-waiting for good reports about you."
-
-Then he looked at Bobby again. That youngster
-was having great difficulty in "holding in." His
-father was going away—and going to a far
-country. Thousands of miles would separate
-them before they would meet again.
-
-"You got anything to say to me, Bobs?" asked
-'Mr. Blake, briskly.
-
-"Ye—yes, sir!" gasped Bobby. "I—I got to
-kiss you before you go, Pa!" and he flung his arms
-around Mr. Blake's neck and for a minute was a
-baby again.
-
-He knew that Fred would think such a show of
-emotion beneath him, and he saw the doctor
-looking at him curiously. Just the same, Bobby Blake
-was glad—oh, how glad!—many and many a time
-thereafter that he had bade his father good-by in
-just this way.
-
-
-
-
-
-.. vspace:: 4
-
-.. _`GETTING ACQUAINTED`:
-
-.. class:: center large
-
- CHAPTER XI
-
-
-.. class:: center medium
-
- GETTING ACQUAINTED
-
-.. vspace:: 2
-
-Pee Wee was the boy who first "took up"
-the chums from Clinton. The fat boy sat
-on the steps of the doctor's house, idly whistling
-and twiddling his fingers when Bobby and Fred
-came out. Perry Wise never stood when he could
-sit, and never walked when he could stand, and
-never ran when walking would get him to his goal
-just as well. He was the picture of peace just now.
-
-"Hello, fellows!" he said.
-
-"Hello!" returned Bobby.
-
-"Is the Old Doc goin' to let you stay?" grinned
-the fat boy.
-
-"Huh! why shouldn't he?" demanded Fred,
-quick to take offense.
-
-"Cause you're so terrible green," chuckled Pee
-Wee. "They let the sheep loose sometimes to
-crop the lawn, and they might eat you."
-
-"Aw—you're too smart," said the abashed Fred.
-
-Bobby only laughed. He was glad to have his
-mind taken up by something beside the fact of his
-father's going away.
-
-"Say!" said Pee Wee, cordially. "Don't you
-want to look over the place?"
-
-"We'd be very glad to," admitted Bobby.
-
-Pee Wee made no effort to rise at first. He
-merely bawled after another boy who was some
-distance away:
-
-"Hey, Purdy! Don't you want to beau the
-greenhorns around?"
-
-Fred Martin doubled his fist again and scowled
-at the placid fat boy, but Bobby warned him by a
-shake of the head. The boy addressed, who was
-smaller than Pee Wee, but who was well out of his
-reach, turned and made a face at the fat boy, saying:
-
-"Do your own work, Fatty. Don't try to put
-it off on me."
-
-Pee Wee was quite unmoved by this rough retort.
-He looked around and hailed another lad:
-
-"Jimmy Ailshine! come on and show the newsies
-all the lions, will you?"
-
-"For why?" demanded the boy addressed.
-
-"Aw—well—I have a stone bruise," explained
-Pee Wee, hesitatingly.
-
-"You must have it from sitting so much, then,"
-declared Jimmy, with a loud laugh. "You better
-take them around yourself, or the captain will be
-after you."
-
-"You needn't show us about if it is very, very
-painful," suggested Bobby, beginning to
-understand the fat boy now.
-
-"Guess we can find our way around alone,"
-grunted Fred.
-
-"Aw well! we won't row about it," said Pee
-Wee, getting up slowly. "But that stone
-bruise—"
-
-However, the trouble in question seemed, later,
-to be of a shifting nature, for first Pee Wee
-favored his right foot and then his left.
-
-It must be confessed that Perry Wise was a
-very lazy boy, but he was a good natured one, and
-when once the exploration party was started, he
-played the part of show-master very well indeed.
-
-They went through the school rooms and up to
-the dormitories first. In the second dormitory,
-where the smaller boys slept, in a pair of twin
-beds in one corner, Bobby and Fred were billeted.
-
-"And no pillow fights, or other ructions, after
-'lights out,' unless you ask the captain first,"
-warned Pee Wee.
-
-"Seems to me this captain has a lot to say
-around here," growled Fred.
-
-"You bet he has. And what he says he means.
-And it's not healthy for anybody to do a thing
-when he says '*don't*.'"
-
-"Why not?" queried Master Fred.
-
-Pee Wee grinned. "You try it if you like," he
-said. "Then you'll find out. Dr. Raymond says
-experience is the surest, if not the best, teacher."
-
-The dormitory was a big, light room, cheerfully
-furnished, with a locker beside each bed for the
-boy's clothes and personal possessions, and a
-chair at the head of the bed.
-
-That wall-space over the heads of the beds was
-considered the private possession of each couple,
-for the flaunting of banners, photographs, strings
-of birds-eggs, shells, pine-cone frames, and a
-hundred other objects of virtu dear to boyish hearts.
-
-"You see, we can hang up a lot of stuff, too,
-when our trunks come," whispered Fred to Bobby,
-pointing to the blank spaces over their beds,
-lettered only with the names: "Blake" and "Martin."
-
-"You can see clear across the lake from the
-window here," drawled Pee Wee, lolling on a sill.
-
-The chums came to see. Lake Monatook was
-spread before them—a beautiful, oval sheet of
-water, with steep, wooded banks in the east, and
-sloping yellow beaches of sand at the other end.
-
-Where the Rockledge School stood, a steep sandstone
-cliff dropped right down to a narrow beach,
-more than fifty feet below. A strong, two-railed
-fence guarded the brink of this cliff the entire
-width of the school premises, save where the stairs
-led down to the boat-house.
-
-In the middle of the lake were several small
-islands, likewise wooded. The lake was quite ten
-miles long, and half as wide in its broadest part.
-
-Across from Rockledge School was the village
-of Belden. On a high bluff over there the new
-boys saw several red brick buildings among the
-trees.
-
-"That's Belden School," explained Pee Wee.
-"We have to beat them at football this fall. We
-did them up at baseball in the spring. They're a
-mean set of fellows anyway," added the fat boy.
-"Once they came across here and stole all our
-boats. We'll have to get square with them for
-that, some time."
-
-"Come on," said Fred, who had begun to enjoy
-pushing the fat boy, now—knowing that he had
-been set the task of showing them around—and
-was determined to keep their guide up to the
-mark. "We don't want to stay here till bedtime,
-do we?"
-
-"Aw-right," returned Pee Wee, with a groan.
-"That's my bed next to yours, Blake. Mouser
-Pryde is chummed on me this year. We call him
-Mouser because he brought two white mice with
-him to school when he first came.
-
-"Shiner and Harry Moore have the beds on
-your other side. Shiner's the chap you saw down
-stairs—Jimmy Ailshine. He's a good fellow, but
-awfully lazy," remarked the fat boy, with a sigh.
-
-"What do you call yourself?" demanded Fred,
-rather impolitely.
-
-"Oh, *me*? I'm not well—honest. And that
-stone bruise—"
-
-It was then he began to favor the other foot,
-and Bobby giggled. Pee Wee looked at him
-solemnly. "What are you laughing at?" he asked.
-
-Bobby pointed out that the stone bruise seemed
-to have shifted.
-
-"Aw, well! it hurts so bad I feel it in both feet,"
-returned the fat boy, grinning. "Come on."
-
-They went down to the gymnasium. It was a
-dandy! Bobby and Fred saw that it was a whole
-lot better than the one Mr. Priestly had for his
-Boys' Club in the Church House at home.
-
-Then they inspected the outside courts, the ball
-field, and the cinder track—which was an oval, on
-the very verge of the cliff.
-
-They met boys everywhere, and Pee Wee told
-them the names of some of them, while a few of
-about their own age stopped to speak to Bobby
-and Fred.
-
-Jack Jinks and the yellow-haired youth, Bill
-Bronson, came up to the trio of smaller boys as
-they stood by the railing that defended the cliff's
-brink.
-
-"So you're showing the greenies around, are
-you, Fatty?" proposed Jack. "Shown them the
-stake where the Old Doctor ties up fresh kids and
-gives them nine and thirty lashes if they as much
-as whisper in class?"
-
-"Yes," said Pee Wee, nodding. "And I
-showed them the straps there where *you* were
-tied up last term, Jinksey."
-
-"Aw—smart, aren't you?" snarled the squint-eyed
-boy, while Bill Bronson grinned.
-
-"This red-headed chap's going to be a favorite—I
-can see that," said Bill, rolling the cap on
-Fred's head with one hand, but pressing hard
-enough to hurt.
-
-"Let go of me!" cried Fred, hotly, jerking away.
-
-"Don't you get too presumptuous, sonny,"
-advised the yellow-haired youth. "There's lots of
-chance for you to get into trouble here."
-
-"If I get into trouble with *you*," snapped Fred,
-"it won't all be on one side."
-
-"Keep still, Fred!" said Bobby. "Let's come
-on away," and he tugged at his chum's sleeve.
-
-"That's a pretty fresh kid, too," said Jack,
-eyeing Bobby with disfavor.
-
-But the trio of younger boys withdrew. "Those
-fellows," said Pee Wee, "are always picking on
-fellows they think they can lick. If you don't
-toady to them, they'll treat you awfully mean!"
-
-"I won't toady to anybody—not even to that
-captain," declared Fred.
-
-"What! Barry Gray?" cried Pee Wee, in surprise.
-
-"Yes. I don't like him—much," confessed the
-belligerent Fred.
-
-"You'll be dreadfully lonesome, then," chuckled
-the fat boy. "For 'most every fellow in the
-school likes Barry. He's captain of the baseball
-team, and center in the football team. He can do
-anything, Barry can. And the Old Doctor thinks
-he is about right. He was next choice after
-Tommy Wardwell last year for the Medal of
-Honor, and he'll likely get it this year."
-
-"What's the Medal of Honor?" asked Fred, curiously.
-
-Pee Wee grinned. "It's something that no
-red-headed boy ever won," he declared, mysteriously.
-
-
-
-
-
-.. vspace:: 4
-
-.. _`IN THE DORMITORY`:
-
-.. class:: center large
-
- CHAPTER XII
-
-
-.. class:: center medium
-
- IN THE DORMITORY
-
-.. vspace:: 2
-
-By supper time Bobby and Fred knew ten
-boys to speak to—without counting Jack Jinks,
-Bill Bronson, and the school captain, Barrymore
-Gray. The latter they did not see at all again
-until they beheld him sitting at the doctor's right
-hand at the head of the "upper table," as they
-soon learned to call the one around which the head
-scholars and the assistant master sat with
-Dr. Raymond. The junior teachers sat at the heads
-of the other tables and kept order.
-
-Rockledge was divided into the Upper School
-and the Lower School. Bobby and Fred would
-of course be in the Lower, but just how they
-would be placed in classes they would not know
-until the real business of the school opened on Monday.
-
-The supper was plentiful, but plain. Bobby
-missed Meena's sweet cakes and hot tea-biscuit,
-and Fred whispered that there was hayseed in
-the strawberry jam, so he knew it was not "home made."
-
-Pee Wee sat across the table from them and ate
-steadily, showing beyond peradventure that his
-plumpness arose from a very natural cause!
-
-Until eight o'clock the boys were allowed to
-frolic outside as they wished, no tasks being set
-them as yet. Bobby noticed that one of the junior
-teachers was always within sight, while Captain
-Barry Gray, and some of the older fellows, were
-grouped on the main steps of the dormitory
-building, swapping vacation experiences.
-
-Bobby noticed that Barry was always very well
-dressed—indeed, richly dressed, beside many of
-the boys—so he made up his mind that the school
-captain must come from a wealthy home.
-
-Bill Bronson jingled money in his pockets and
-wore a handsome gold watch and a diamond pin in
-his tie. Most of the smaller boys, however, were
-no better dressed than Bobby and Fred.
-
-Taken altogether, the boys who appeared at the
-supper table were a bright and interesting looking
-crowd. Bobby was sure he was going to be happy
-here, and Fred was already on terms of intimacy
-with half a dozen of the chaps about their own age.
-
-The boys from Clinton chanced to be the only
-new ones to enter Rockledge this semester.
-There was usually a long waiting list, but
-Mr. Martin's influence had gained Bobby the chance
-to attend with Fred, because the two boys were
-chums.
-
-Before they left the supper table the doctor
-arose and walked down the line of smaller tables
-and shook hands with each boy, called him by
-name, and welcomed him again to the school.
-
-To some he said a word of warning, but all in a
-cheerful way that took the sting out of the
-admonition. He evidently knew the failings of each boy,
-and had studied their characters carefully.
-
-When he came to Bobby and Fred he placed a
-hand on each boy's shoulder and said, so that all
-the school could hear:
-
-"Our two new friends. I hope all of you will
-welcome them kindly. Make them feel at home."
-
-This was before the evening run outside.
-Bobby and Fred were taken into a noisy game of
-"relievo," and the great clock in the tower
-chiming eight was all that brought the fun to a close.
-
-The students filed into the library and general
-study-room on the first floor of the main building.
-For an hour every night the boys were allowed to
-read or play quiet games here. It was a cheerful,
-bright room, with rugs on the floor, and pretty
-hangings, and comfortable chairs. Although one
-of the teachers was always present, there was a
-feeling of freedom among the boys, and they could
-talk or read, as they pleased—just so they were
-not noisy.
-
-When nine struck in the tower, they filed
-upstairs to bed. There was plenty of time to
-undress and prepare for bed before the half hour
-struck. Bobby and Fred found that the older
-boys in the small rooms were allowed to remain up
-a half hour longer than those occupying the big
-dormitories.
-
-Captain Gray came in and advised the small
-boys to lay their clothing carefully on their chairs
-as they removed the garments.
-
-"Part of the fire drill, you know," he said,
-cheerfully. "Coat and vest over the back of the
-chair. Pants folded nicely and laid across the
-back, too. Here, Pee Wee! None of that!
-Shake out your stockings and hang them on the
-chair-round. Shoes each side of the chair as you
-take them off—right and left. That's it."
-
-He walked up and down between the rows of
-beds. He told Bobby and Fred just how to
-distribute the remainder of their garments so that
-they would be easily at hand if there came an alarm.
-
-"Of course, there's no danger, and there are
-plenty of fire escapes and all that," said the big
-boy, cheerfully. "But the Old Doctor insists
-upon our being ready for any emergency. Some
-night you'll be waked up by the fire bell and find
-drill is called. Want to be ready for it."
-
-Then he glanced again at Fred's chair. "Hi,
-Ginger!" he said. "Put your boots straight.
-Your left one's on your right side, and vice versa."
-
-There was a good deal of fun at Fred's expense
-when Barry had gone. "Hi, Ginger!" resounded
-from all parts of the room; Fred Martin had won
-a distinctive nickname on the spot, and he didn't
-like it much.
-
-"I knew I shouldn't like that big fellow," he
-confessed to Bobby. "And I'll lick some of these
-kids yet, if they keep on calling me Ginger."
-
-"No, you won't," declared Bobby. "You know
-you won't. They all have nicknames, too. Yours
-is no worse than 'Pee Wee,' or 'Shiner,' or 'Buck,'
-or 'Skeets.' They'll stick me with one yet."
-
-"But 'Ginger'—"
-
-"Aw, stop your kicking," advised his chum.
-"It won't get you anywhere."
-
-There was still a buzz of voices as the twenty
-boys finished getting ready for bed. The door
-opened and Bill Bronson and Jack Jinks, from
-their room across the hall, looked in.
-
-"Sleep with an eye open, you kids," Bill ordered,
-in a shrill whisper. "Something doing by
-and by."
-
-"Oh, what, Bill?" cried Purdy, near the door.
-
-"Somebody's got to ride the goat," chuckled
-the squint-eyed boy, looking over his chum's
-shoulder.
-
-At that several of the others looked at Bobby
-and Fred, and chuckled. The two Clinton boys
-did not hear this by-play. Bill and his chum
-looked over at the newcomers with wide grins.
-
-Just at this moment Bobby was completely
-ready for bed and he dropped upon his knees
-before his chair at the head of the bed and
-proceeded to say his prayers as he always did at
-home. Fred, after a moment's hesitation,
-followed suit.
-
-Instantly a hush fell upon the room. The boys
-who had been gabbling together stopped because
-they saw the facial expression of those boys
-grouped at the doorway. Everybody turned to
-look at the corner occupied by the chums from
-Clinton.
-
-The silence was but for a moment. Then Bill
-laughed and took one long stride to the nearest
-bed. He snatched up a pillow and sent it with
-unerring aim and considerable force at the back
-of Bobby's head.
-
-The pillow reached its mark, and Bobby jumped.
-But he did not rise until his prayer was
-completed. A second pillow came his way, while Jack
-and some of the other spectators laughed immoderately.
-
-Fred Martin jumped up with an angry exclamation.
-Perhaps he did not finish his prayer at all.
-He grabbed one of the pillows which had struck
-his chum and made for Bill Bronson at the other
-end of the room.
-
-"You big bully!" he exclaimed, all the rage
-which he had bottled up that day boiling over in
-an instant, "You big bully! Can't you leave a
-peaceable fellow alone?"
-
-He slammed the yellow-haired youth over the
-head, and struck him so hard that the pillow-case
-burst and the feathers began to fly. Bill uttered
-a roar of rage, and tried to seize him.
-
-"Don't, Fred! Stop! Stop!" called Bobby,
-from the other end of the room.
-
-Fred Martin had gone too far to stop now. He
-expected to take a thrashing for his boldness, but
-meanwhile he was filling Bronson's eyes and
-mouth with feathers.
-
-Jack Jinks put out his foot and tripped the
-smaller boy up. Fred fell with Bill on top of
-him. The bigger boy began to use his fists.
-
-"No fair! Let him up, Bill!" cried two or three.
-
-"Shut up!" ordered Jack, putting his back
-against the closed door. "You kids that holler
-will get all that's coming to you."
-
-Bobby came running up the room to help his
-chum, and at just that instant the door knob was
-turned and the door was burst in, sending Jack
-sliding half way across the room.
-
-"Cheese it!" squealed Pee Wee, jumping into
-bed with his trousers on.
-
-But it was only Barry Gray who appeared.
-
-"Hello! Can't keep quiet the first night, eh?"
-demanded the captain. "What you doing in here,
-Jack?"
-
-Then he saw Bill Bronson on top of the struggling
-Fred. Bill had got in one savage punch and
-there was blood flowing from Fred's nose upon the
-burst pillow.
-
-Captain Gray seized Bill by the back of his
-collar and with both hands jerked him to his feet.
-Bill squealed like a rat, thinking the Old Doctor
-himself had come to Fred's rescue.
-
-"Ow! Ow! Ouch!" he squealed. "Aw—*you*!
-Let me alone, Barry Gray. This isn't any of your
-business."
-
-"All right. I'll pass it up to the teachers if
-you say so," snapped the captain.
-
-"Aw—well—"
-
-"Hold on!" commanded Barry, stepping in
-front of Jack who was sneaking out of the room
-"*You're* in this, too."
-
-"No, I'm not," said Jack.
-
-"You were holding the door," said Barry.
-"Stop here till we hear what's the trouble."
-
-Half a dozen shrill voices tried to tell him at
-once. But Barry pointed at Fred. "*You* tell,"
-he said.
-
-"I hit him with the pillow," growled Fred,
-ungraciously enough.
-
-Barry glanced down the room toward Fred's
-bed. "It isn't your pillow," he said. "Did he
-shuck the pillow at you first?"
-
-"No," said Fred, determined not to "snitch."
-
-But Howell Purdy didn't feel that way about it.
-He said to the captain:
-
-"Bill Bronson began it. He fired a couple of
-pillows at Bobby Blake when Bobby was saying
-his prayers. Then Fred went for him."
-
-Barry looked from Fred's flushed and bloody
-face to Bobby's pale one. He said nothing for a
-moment to either of them, but turned on Bill Bronson.
-
-"You know the rules. You had no business in
-this dormitory—neither you nor Jack."
-
-"I suppose you'll tell on us," snarled Bill.
-"Of course! I knew what a tattle-tale you'd be
-just as soon as the Old Doc appointed you captain
-last June. He did it so that he'd be sure to have
-somebody to run to him with every little thing."
-
-"Maybe," returned Barry, flushing. "But he
-doesn't call it a little thing for two boys to fight in
-a dormitory."
-
-"Yah!" snarled Bill.
-
-"Give me a fair chance and I'll fight him
-anywhere!" declared the belligerent Fred, sopping
-the blood with a handkerchief that Bobby had
-brought him.
-
-"You are one plucky kid," said Barry, quickly.
-"But if there has got to be a fight, it must be
-between two fellows more evenly matched. I leave
-it to the room: Is a fight fair between Bronson
-and Martin!"
-
-"No!" cried the boys in chorus.
-
-"But Bill Bronson started the fight, so he ought
-to be accommodated," Captain Gray said. "Isn't
-that right?"
-
-Some of the boys giggled. Fred muttered:
-"Let me fight him. I'm not afraid."
-
-"If Bill doesn't want me to go to the Doctor
-with this, he'll have to abide by my decision, won't
-he?" proceeded Barry, his eyes twinkling.
-
-"Sure!" cried the crowd, led by Pee Wee, now
-delighted by what they saw was coming.
-
-"Aw, you're too fresh," grumbled the bully.
-
-"That's not the question," said Barry. "Do
-you agree?"
-
-"To what?"
-
-"To have me set the punishment for this infraction
-of the rules, instead of putting it up to the Old
-Doctor?"
-
-"Well!"
-
-"You, too, Jack?" demanded Barry of the
-squinting fellow.
-
-"Yes," muttered the latter.
-
-"All right. Then I announce that as Bill wants
-to fight, he shall be accommodated. Jack is a
-good match for him. Isn't that so, boys?"
-
-There was a storm of giggling. The two bullies
-looked at each other and grinned. The idea of
-them fighting each other was preposterous—or, so
-it seemed.
-
-"And for fear," said the captain, his eyes
-twinkling, "that they won't play fair, if they are
-matched in a regular fight, we'll make it a 'poguey
-fight' to-morrow morning at nine—in the gym.
-Now, you two fellows run to your rooms—and
-show up at nine in the gym, or I'll come after
-you."
-
-He drove the bullies out of the room before him,
-and then went himself. There was a subdued
-whispering and giggling all over the dormitory.
-
-"What's a 'poguey fight'?" demanded Bobby,
-of Pee Wee, in some alarm.
-
-The fat boy was rocking himself to and fro on
-the bed in huge delight, and could scarcely answer
-for laughing.
-
-"You wait and see," he finally chuckled, "It's
-more fun than the Kilkenny cats!"
-
-
-
-
-
-.. vspace:: 4
-
-.. _`THE POGUEY FIGHT`:
-
-.. class:: center large
-
- CHAPTER XIII
-
-
-.. class:: center medium
-
- THE POGUEY FIGHT
-
-.. vspace:: 2
-
-Fred staunched his bleeding nose at the basin
-in the corner, and then exchanged pillows with
-Howell Purdy. Fred slept on the burst one.
-
-"I'll get into trouble anyway over this," Fred
-growled in Bobby's ear. "I wish I could have hit
-that mean bully just once with something hard."
-
-Bobby hadn't the heart to scold. Fred had
-attacked a much bigger boy than himself just
-because that bully had flung a pillow at Fred's
-chum. That was the impulsive way of Fred
-Martin. Bobby knew that his chum was going to have
-a hard row to hoe here at Rockledge, unless he
-learned to control his temper.
-
-Bobby Blake had some difficulty in getting to
-sleep that night—and that was not usually the
-case with him. The plan of Bill and Jack to haze
-the two newcomers to Rockledge had evidently
-been stopped. The dormitory was not disturbed
-until morning, save that once in the night Pee Wee
-had a nightmare and groaned and fought, until
-the next fellow to him punched him and woke him up.
-
-"Wow!" said the fat boy, "I thought I was up
-in a balloon and they wanted to put me out instead
-of dropping sandbags."
-
-"Don't eat so much at supper; then you won't
-dream such stuff," growled Mouser Pryde, punching
-his pillow and settling down again.
-
-The rising bell at half past six got everybody
-but Pee Wee out of bed. Mouser pulled off the
-bed clothes, but that did not start the fat boy, and
-finally, when the others were half dressed, Mouser
-tiptoed over from the basins with a glass of water,
-and let the drops trickle down, one by one, upon
-Perry's fat neck.
-
-"Ow! ow! ouch!" bawled Pee Wee. "Something's
-sprung a leak. Let me up before I drown!"
-
-He struck the floor before he was half awake
-and landed in his bare feet upon a set of "jacks"
-that Shiner had conveniently dropped on the rug.
-
-"Ow! what are these things? Wow! I'll bet I
-can't walk at all now."
-
-"They hurt worse than the stone bruise, eh?"
-asked Bobby, grinning.
-
-"These fellows are always playing jokes on
-me," grumbled Pee Wee. "And I never do a
-living thing to hurt them."
-
-The fat boy *was* a tempting subject for a joke,
-and he probably was the butt more often than
-anybody else.
-
-While they were dressing, Fred almost got in
-a fight with Shiner because the latter called him
-"Ginger." Bobby took his chum aside.
-
-"Now, Fred, that name's bound to stick," he
-said. "What's the use of getting mad at it?
-They all like you; no use in making enemies.
-Take it laughingly."
-
-"That's because of Smartie Gray," grumbled
-Fred. "*He* called me 'Ginger' first."
-
-"That isn't as bad as 'Bricktop'," suggested
-Bobby, smiling. "You ought to be glad it's no
-worse. I expect they'll find a nickname for me
-pretty soon, that will be a corker!"
-
-At seven the bell rang again and they all
-marched down to breakfast. Bill Bronson and
-Jack Jinks scowled at Bobby and Fred on the
-stairs, but the captain was near and they did not
-say a word to the chums.
-
-Before the boys separated, the first master,
-Mr. Leith, said:
-
-"Young gentlemen: Doctor Raymond will see
-you all in the hall at eleven. Nobody is to be out
-of bounds this morning. Be prompt at eleven,
-remember. You are excused."
-
-Bobby thought Mr. Leith a very grim and
-serious gentleman indeed.
-
-As the smaller boys scurried out of the hall to
-the porch, they found a steady stream of boys
-going down the basement steps to the gymnasium.
-Howell Purdy and Shiner were set, one on either
-side of the doorway, where they whispered to those
-who passed:
-
-"Poguey fight in the gym at nine. Don't
-forget the poguey fight."
-
-"What *is* that, Shiner?" asked Bobby.
-
-"You don't want to miss it," grinned Shiner.
-"You and your chum are at the bottom of it."
-
-"But we're not going to fight," declared Bobby.
-
-"No. But Bill and Jack are. No fear!"
-
-Bobby and Fred did not go down into the basement
-at once. There was still an hour before the
-time set by Captain Gray, the evening before, for
-the mysterious "poguey fight." Nobody whom
-the chums asked would tell them any particulars.
-
-"I expect I'll get into trouble over bloodying
-that pillow," said Fred. "What shall I tell them
-if they ask me?"
-
-"Say your nose bled," returned Bobby. "If
-they ask you *how* it came to bleed, that's another
-question."
-
-"Well, that's the question I'm afraid of."
-
-"Wouldn't you tell on that Bill Bronson?"
-
-"No. The other boys would say I snitched. I
-hate him, but I won't snitch on him," declared Fred.
-
-"Maybe nobody will ask you. And Barry Gray
-will take your side."
-
-"I don't want him to take my side," growled
-Fred. "He's a big fellow, too, and expects to be
-toadied to."
-
-"You're making a mistake about him, I think,"
-said Bobby, mildly. He knew it was no use to
-argue the matter with his chum.
-
-They walked out across the campus to the
-railing that bordered the edge of the bluff. They
-were standing there looking across the beautiful
-lake, and talking, when there was a sudden
-scrimmage over on one of the tennis courts.
-
-"Hello! a fight!" exclaimed Fred, with lively
-interest.
-
-"Pshaw!" said Bobby, with some disgust.
-"You're always looking for a fight!"
-
-"I'm not either! What do you call that?"
-denied and demanded Fred in the same breath.
-
-"It's the captain," said Bobby, slowly. "And
-some of the big fellows—I know! they're dragging
-Bill Bronson and Jack Jinks away to the gym.
-There's going to be something doing—"
-
-Just then Pee Wee appeared at the corner of
-the main building and yodled for the Clinton boys,
-beckoning them across the campus with excited
-gestures.
-
-"Come o-o-on!" bawled the fat boy.
-
-Fred grabbed Bobby's hand and started
-running. The chums were at the gym steps almost
-as quickly as the big fellows and their captives.
-
-"You let me alone, Barry Gray!" yelled Bill,
-as he was shoved down the steps. "I'll fix you for
-this."
-
-"Thanks, Billy Bronson. I can do my own fixing.
-You agreed to this, and you'll go through
-with it," Barry said, firmly.
-
-"*I* didn't do a thing," Jack was urging.
-
-"Ah! but you're going to," chuckled Barry,
-who seemed to have answers ready for both objectors.
-
-The bullies were dragged below. The smaller
-boys followed. Every boy in the school was
-waiting in the gymnasium, and no teacher—not even
-the athletic instructor—was present.
-
-Some of the boys had been at work on the bars,
-or the ladder, or otherwise using the gymnastic
-paraphernalia. They all gathered around in
-interest to see what the big boys were going to do
-with the bullies.
-
-Bill Bronson and his chum kicked and struggled
-for a time. But there were enough to help Barry,
-so that their struggles were useless. The bullies'
-shoes were quickly removed, despite their kicking.
-Then a sort of harness made of straps was buckled
-around both boys under their arms. There was a
-steel ring sewed into the crosspiece of each
-harness at the back.
-
-Somebody produced eight objects that looked
-like huge boxing-gloves—only they were made of
-cotton cloth stuffed with cotton-batting. One of
-these clumsy things was strapped on each foot,
-and another on each hand. The victims of the
-joke were now unable to hurt any of their captors
-when they struck out at them, and the crowd was
-greatly amused as well as excited.
-
-"Come on, now!" panted Barry. "Boost them
-up here. Throw the rope over a couple of rungs
-of the ladder, Max. That's it."
-
-The rope in question was a strong manilla, about
-four feet long. At each end was a snap, such as is
-spliced upon the ends of hitch-ropes.
-
-Two boys lifted each of the embarrassed prisoners,
-and held them under the ladder. The snaps
-were fastened in the rings back of their shoulders.
-
-There they hung, kicking and sprawling. At
-first Barry Gray and Max Bender, one of the other
-big boys, held the victims.
-
-"Here you are now," said Captain Gray,
-sternly. "You wanted to fight a fellow much
-smaller than yourself last night, Bill; and you
-agreed to take on a fellow nearer your size.
-Here's Jack willing to accommodate you. Now,
-go to it, you chaps, and may the best man win!"
-
-He and Max both stepped back, dragging their
-prisoners with them, and then they let the two
-helpless ones swing together.
-
-Their heads bumped. Bill let out a roar and
-tried to kick Max with one of his muffled feet.
-In doing so his other foot caught Jack above the
-knee.
-
-"Look out what you're doing—you chump!"
-exclaimed Jack. "Keep still, can't you?"
-
-"Keep still yourself," growled Bill, as his
-gyrating friend collided with him again with some
-force. He tried to push Jack away. At once the
-latter put out his mittened hand and punched Bill
-between the eyes.
-
-"Look out what you're doing!" yelled Bill,
-striking madly at his opponent.
-
-In a moment they were at it! The poguey fight
-was on. The two erstwhile chums swung over the
-rungs of the horizontally laid ladder, like the
-famous Kilkenny cats, punched and kicked and
-batted at each other in a most ridiculous manner.
-
-They couldn't hurt each other very much, save
-when they bumped heads, and that was not often.
-But they grew madder every moment.
-
-The spectators were delighted, and the harder
-the combatants tried to strike each other, the
-more ridiculous the whole thing appeared.
-
-Why it was called "poguey" nobody seemed to
-know, but Bobby discovered that it had long been
-practiced at Rockledge School, and that usually
-the two victims accepted the situation
-philosophically and did not really get mad.
-
-The two bullies, however, had never learned to
-control their tempers. Besides, both considered
-that the other was somewhat to blame for their
-predicament.
-
-The battle continued, fast and furious. Bill
-Bronson's face was blazing. Jack Jinks' was
-very ugly indeed to look at. If they could have
-torn the gloves off their hands they would have
-done so and struck each other with their bare
-fists.
-
-Suddenly Jack drew up his knee as they swung
-together, and he caught Bill right in the belt. It
-was a solid blow and the victim uttered a cry of
-anger and pain. Captain Gray stepped forward
-and stopped the two from swinging together again.
-
-"Foul blow," he said, decidedly. "You know
-the penalty well enough, Jack. When you're let
-down, Bill's got the right to punch you with his
-bare fist—if he likes."
-
-"And if he does, I'll hand him all he's looking
-for," declared the squint-eyed youth, glaring at
-the boy who had been his chief friend.
-
-"Do it, and you'll get what's coming to you!"
-threatened Bill, just as angrily.
-
-Barry winked at Max Bender. "Let's take
-them down. I guess they won't be half so thick
-hereafter—and then maybe some of the little
-fellows will have a better time."
-
-
-
-
-
-.. vspace:: 4
-
-.. _`THE HONOR MEDAL`:
-
-.. class:: center large
-
- CHAPTER XIV
-
-
-.. class:: center medium
-
- THE HONOR MEDAL
-
-.. vspace:: 2
-
-Bill Bronson and Jack Jinks were released
-from their harnesses, and the "pillows"
-were taken off their feet and hands, they went
-to opposite ends of the gymnasium and had
-nothing to say to each other.
-
-Barry did not mention the foul blow and its
-punishment, and none of the smaller boys dared
-speak of it. It was certain, however, that the
-intimacy of the only two boys in the school inclined
-to bully the smaller ones had taken a decided set
-back.
-
-The fun of the "poguey fight" was not to end
-so quickly, however. Some of the bigger boys
-caught Pee Wee and Mouser Pryde, and fastened
-them into the harness and put the mufflers on
-their feet and hands.
-
-The fat boy and his chum made no decided
-remonstrance, and when they were swung up, they
-made an earnest endeavor to give the fellows
-all the fun they were looking for. Their
-gyrations certainly were amusing, and Bobby and
-Fred laughed as loudly as any of the other boys.
-
-But when the fat boy and Mouser were let down,
-and Max and Barry grabbed the chums from Clinton,
-for a moment, Fred was inclined to cut up rough.
-
-"Aw, be a sport, Fred!" said Bobby, earnestly.
-"If Pee Wee can stand it, *we* can."
-
-So Fred thought better of "getting mad" and
-for a while the two friends swung in the air and
-punched and kicked at each other to the delight of
-the other boys. Bobby was very careful not to
-anger the red-haired lad, and they came through
-the poguey fight with smiling faces. It was borne
-in upon Bobby's mind more and more that Fred
-Martin was going to have difficulty in keeping out
-of trouble in this new environment.
-
-At eleven o'clock the whole school filed up to
-the hall on the second floor. None of the teachers
-were present and there was some little confusion
-and noise at first.
-
-Barry stepped forward and held up a hand for
-silence. "You fellows better take a tumble to
-yourselves," he said calmly. "You want to show
-the Doctor that you don't have to be watched all
-the time. You all know—at least, all of you but
-Bobby Blake and Fred Martin, and they are not
-making the noise—that *this* isn't the place for
-skylarking.
-
-"We had our fun downstairs. I hear the
-Doctor coming now. Let's give him a Rockledge
-cheer when he comes in and then—silence!"
-
-The door opened as he ceased speaking and the
-tall, heavy-set principal with his quiet smile and
-pleasant eyes peering through the thick lenses of
-his glasses, appeared.
-
-Captain Gray raised his hand again. The
-roomful of boys sprang to their feet. Bobby
-noted that many of them placed their left hands
-upon the little blue and white enameled button
-that they wore on the lapels of their coats, as they
-shouted in unison:
-
- | "One, two, three—*boom*!
- | Boom—Z-z-z—ah!
- | Rockledge! Rockledge!
- | Sword and star!
- | Who's on top?
- | We sure are—
- | *Rock*-ledge!"
- |
-
-Bobby and Fred had both noticed the blue and
-white buttons with the star and sword upon them,
-but they did not know what they meant. Now
-Bobby guessed that there was some society, or
-inner circle at Rockledge School that they, as
-newcomers, knew nothing about.
-
-All the boys did not belong to it. Pee Wee did
-not wear a button, nor did many of the fellows
-from their dormitory. Bill Bronson and Jack
-Jinks did not possess the badge, either.
-
-Meanwhile, Doctor Raymond, smiling and bowing,
-approached the rostrum. Bobby—his mind
-always on the alert—noted the little blue and
-white spot against the dead black of the doctor's
-coat.
-
-"Well, boys! I am extremely obliged to you, I
-am sure," said the Doctor, bowing again. "I am
-just as sensitive to compliments as the next
-person. I hope you will always be as glad to see me
-as you appear to be at this moment.
-
-"Now, I shall not detain you for long. You
-know my little lectures have usually the saving
-grace of brevity. We have come together once
-more to face a year of study. Let us face it like
-real men! Star and sword, my boys! The star
-we are aiming for, and the Sword of Determination
-will hew our way to the goal.
-
-"There! I will give you no homilies. There
-are but two new boys with us this year—Robert
-Blake and Frederick Martin. Give them a warm
-welcome. They only do not understand about our
-Medal of Honor."
-
-He suddenly opened his large hand and displayed
-in its palm a five-pointed gold star, at least
-two inches across, and with a beautiful
-blue-velvet background.
-
-"Here it is—all ready for the engraving. At
-the close of the school year, this medal will be
-presented to the one among you who has won it by
-studiousness, good conduct, manliness and general
-popularity.
-
-"It is not always the boy who sets out to win
-the medal who really *does* win it. You, who are
-older, know *that*. We teachers try not to influence
-the opinion of the school in the choice of the
-recipient of the Honor Medal.
-
-"The winner must stand well in his classes, or
-he cannot have the faculty vote. His deportment
-must be good, or we teachers cannot vote for him.
-But you boys yourselves must—after all—choose
-the winner.
-
-"There are fifty of you in Rockledge School.
-You have each, individually, a better chance to
-understand your neighbors' characters than
-anybody else. You are quick to find out if there is
-something *fine* in a lad's temper. You will soon
-learn the one who restrains himself under
-provocation, who bears insult, perhaps, with confidence
-in his own uprightness; who keeps straight on
-his way without turning aside because of any
-temptation.
-
-"*That* is the sort of a lad who will win this
-Medal of Honor," concluded the Doctor, very
-seriously. "Any boy—even the youngest—may
-secure it. It does not have to go to the boy at the
-top of his class, nor to the oldest boy in the school.
-You little chaps stand just as good a chance for it
-as Captain Gray," and he rested his hand upon
-Barry Gray's shoulder for an instant as though
-there was some secret understanding between him
-and the captain of the school.
-
-"Now, I have talked enough. School will
-begin in earnest on Monday. Remember, bounds
-are as usual. You little fellows, see Barrymore,
-or some of the masters, if you are not sure of a
-thing. And remember that my office door is never
-locked."
-
-He went out quickly at the door behind the
-platform. Somehow, the boys felt rather serious,
-and there was no shouting or fooling as they filed
-out and down the stairs to the open air.
-
-"Say! that was a handsome gold medal he
-showed us," said Fred, with enthusiasm, to Bobby.
-
-"Wasn't it?" returned his chum, with sparkling eyes.
-
-"I'd like to get that myself," admitted the
-red-haired one.
-
-"Didn't I tell you, you'd have no chance at
-*that*, Ginger?" chuckled Pee Wee's voice behind them.
-
-"I see it," admitted Fred, without getting
-angry. "But it would be fine to win it, just the
-same."
-
-So Bobby thought. He remembered what his
-mother had said to him on one occasion, and
-wondered if it were possible for *him* to win the gold
-medal and present it to her when she returned
-from that far journey which she and his father
-were soon to take.
-
-"She certainly would be proud of me then,"
-thought Bobby Blake. "I guess she'd think after
-*that*, it would be safe to leave me alone
-anywhere—yes, sir! And I certainly would like to own
-such a medal."
-
-This set his mind to thinking upon the fact that
-at daybreak the very next morning the ship on
-which his parents had bought their stateroom
-would sail from New York. They were already
-on the train which would bear them to the coast.
-
-After they sailed it would be a long time before
-he could even expect a picture post-card from
-them—a month, at least. And *then*, they would
-be thousands of miles away!
-
-He slipped away from Fred and Pee Wee and
-went into one of the schoolrooms. There was a
-big globe there, and he timidly turned this around
-and around until he found the pink splotch of
-color which marked Brazil.
-
-There was the gaping mouth of the Amazon,
-with the big island dividing it, and the river on
-the south side, against which was the black dot
-marking the city of Para—where his parents
-would land.
-
-He thought of all he had ever heard or been
-taught about the Amazon—"that Mighty River." He
-knew how the current of the vast stream met
-the ocean tides and fought with them for supremacy.
-He knew how the river overflowed its banks
-in the rainy seasons and covered vast areas of
-forest and plain.
-
-The trader's station, to which his parents were
-bound, was a thousand miles up the Amazon, and
-then five hundred miles more up another river.
-Why—why, if he fell ill, or anything—
-
-He never realized until this moment just what
-it would mean to have his mother and father so
-far away. It had been great fun to come to
-Rockledge to school. He liked it here. He hoped he
-would learn, and advance, and win his way with
-both the boys and the teachers.
-
-But to have a mother and father so many, many
-miles away—especially to have a mother going
-away from one just as fast as steam could take
-her—
-
-Bobby Blake put his arm on the big globe, and
-laid his face against his jacket-sleeve. His
-shoulders shook.
-
-
-
-
-
-.. vspace:: 4
-
-.. _`GETTING INTO STEP`:
-
-.. class:: center large
-
- CHAPTER XV
-
-
-.. class:: center medium
-
- GETTING INTO STEP
-
-.. vspace:: 2
-
-The routine of the school did not really
-begin, as Dr. Raymond had said, until Monday
-morning. Yet by that time Bobby Blake and Fred
-Martin felt as though they were really old
-members of the Rockledge Fifty.
-
-They had learned many of the stock stories of
-school—legends of great fights with the boys of
-Belden School, or of mighty games at football or
-baseball or some other sport, in which victory had
-perched upon the banners of Rockledge.
-
-The loyalty of boarding school boys is second
-only to family feeling or patriotic love for one's
-country. Bobby and Fred and the other boys of
-Dormitory Two were just at that age when the
-mind and heart are both most impressionable.
-
-The new boys learned the school yell, or cheer,
-which they had first heard given in eulogy of
-Dr. Raymond. They thought it the finest yell they
-had ever heard.
-
-They were told about the Sword and Star, too.
-It was indeed an honor to wear the little blue and
-white button. One had to be at least one year at
-Rockledge, to stand at a certain mark in
-recitations, and to have a pretty clean record in
-deportment, to gain entrance into the Order of the
-Sword and Star.
-
-It was true that such chaps as Pee Wee, and the
-Mouser, as well as Shiner and Howell Purdy, were
-rather skeptical about the value of membership in
-the school secret society. Dr. Raymond was a
-member and that "looked bad" to those boys who
-were out for fun. And "f-u-n" spelled—in their
-minds—"mischief," and vice versa!
-
-Those first few weeks of the new school year,
-however, passed without any very wild outbreak
-upon the part of either the merely mischievous,
-like Pee Wee and his mates, or by the really
-disturbing element (which was small) headed by
-Billy Bronson and Jack Jinks.
-
-Those two worthies had, after a time, joined
-forces again; but they were not as good friends
-and co-workers as they had been before the
-poguey fight.
-
-Bobby and Fred really gave most of their
-attention to studies. The school at Clinton had
-been graded so differently from this preparatory
-institution, that the chums had to work hard to
-pick up in some studies, while they were well
-advanced beyond their mates in others.
-
-Fred was inspired by Bobby's example to win
-good marks for himself. Even the stern master,
-Mr. Leith, who looked over the work of the smaller
-boys fortnightly, commented favorably upon what
-the chums had accomplished.
-
-In play hours the Lower School kept together
-for the most part. Here was where Fred
-Martin's plans were proven smart. The baseball
-outfit that he and Bobby had purchased with their
-peep-show money was welcomed with great
-approval by the boys of Number Two Dormitory.
-
-Bobby and Fred won their places on the Second
-Nine at once. They played the First Dormitory
-Nine on Saturday of the first week of school, and
-won. Bobby's "fade-away," as Fred had prophesied,
-puzzled the other nine's battery splendidly.
-
-The next Saturday the victorious nine played
-against a team of town boys and again won.
-Captain Gray then began to take notice of the
-victorious nine. He coached them a little and then they
-challenged a nine belonging to the Belden School
-across the lake.
-
-It was after the first of October when this match
-occurred, and the Rockledge boys went across in
-their own boats. Although visiting a hostile
-camp, the boys of Rockledge were very nicely
-received by the older Belden boys. Naturally, the
-home team had the crowd with them, but Bobby
-held the enemy down to ten hits and only six runs,
-and the Rockledge nine won by two runs.
-
-Although their hosts remained polite to the
-visitors, Bobby and Fred saw very plainly that the
-rivalry between the two schools was deep-seated.
-They heard Captain Gray and Max Bender talking
-to some of the big fellows of Belden, and both
-sides were boasting of what the rival football
-teams would do to each other on Thanksgiving Day.
-
-On that day the Belden crowd would come over
-to Rockledge, and from this time on, there was
-little more baseball played by the Rockledge boys.
-They were deeply interested in football.
-
-In this game Bobby and Fred did not shine so
-brightly, but they went into hard training with
-the second junior team and under Captain Gray,
-who coached the smaller boys as well as the first
-team, learned a whole lot about football.
-
-Meanwhile, not a word had come to Bobby from
-his parents after they had sailed from New York.
-He heard from Clinton every week, for Michael
-Mulcahey painfully indited a scrawly letter to
-him, enclosing sometimes a note from Meena.
-Michael, having crossed from Ireland in a sailing
-ship years before, was considered by Bobby a
-marvel of sea-lore. One time he wrote:
-
-.. vspace:: 2
-
-.. class:: noindent
-
-"DERE BOBBY:—
-
-.. vspace:: 1
-
-"It ain't nawthin alarmin that we don't here
-yet from Mistur Blake an his good lady an so I
-tell Meena whos got the face ache most of the time
-now and is just as good compny as a mad cat.
-She's rayfused to marry me agin, an I do be
-thinkin thats struck in an worries her face a lot.
-Howsomever 'tis about your feyther and mother
-Id write to cheer you up a bit. I well remember
-the long passage we made from the Ould Sod when
-I kem to this counthry. Twas head winds we had,
-an its like head winds that has held the big ship
-back thats takin Mistur Blake an his good lady to
-these Brazils. An tis a mortal far ways they do
-be goin. Mistur Martin says the offices in New
-York hav had no wareless telegraf despatches
-(what iver they be) from the ship since she was
-off Hattie Ross—an whoever she is I dunnaw.
-But if she's like most females, she's cranky, an
-that accounts for the delay.
-
-"Be good an ye'll be happy, aven if ye don't
-have so much fun, from your friend and well
-wisher, rayspectfully,
-
-.. vspace:: 1
-
-.. class:: noindent
-
-"MICHAEL MULCAHEY."
-
-.. vspace:: 2
-
-This letter—and similar epistles—cheered
-Bobby some, and Mr. Martin wrote him a jolly
-little note, enclosed in a longer letter to Fred.
-But Bobby could not help feeling worried
-about the silence of his parents, especially at
-night.
-
-When he knelt to say his prayers (and most of
-the other boys in Dormitory Two did likewise),
-he remembered what his mother had said about
-her praying for him at the same time every
-evening, and sometimes he had to squeeze his eyes
-shut tight to keep back the tears.
-
-That the time on board the great steamship
-going south to the Tropics, and the time in New
-England was vastly different, did not enter
-Bobby's mind. It just seemed to him as though
-his mother was very near him indeed as he knelt
-before his chair.
-
-For a sturdy, busy boy, however, there was not
-much time for worriment. Every day there was
-something new; one could not be lonesome at
-Rockledge.
-
-The boys went from their beds to breakfast,
-from their meals to work in the schoolroom, from
-their lessons to play—a continual round of activities.
-
-The athletic instruction interested the chums
-from Clinton immensely, and until the real cool
-weather set in, the boys of the school enjoyed
-swimming in the lake every day.
-
-Dr. Raymond hoped that, before long, he would
-be able to build a gymnasium with a swimming
-pool in a special building by itself. This was
-something to look forward to, however.
-
-All aquatic sports did not stop when the frost
-came. There were plenty of boats belonging to
-the school—from light, flat-bottomed skiffs which
-the little fellows could not possibly tip over, to a
-fine eight-oared shell manned by the bigger boys.
-In this they raced the Belden School every June
-before Commencement.
-
-Wednesday and Saturday afternoons were holidays,
-but without special permission the boys of
-the Lower School could not go out of bounds. On
-Saturdays the bigger boys went to town if they
-so desired, or took long tramps through the woods,
-or rowed to the upper end of the lake.
-
-If the smaller fellows wanted to go out of
-bounds, usually a teacher went with them. There
-was a picnic of the Lower School on one of the
-islands in the lake, however, that Bobby and Fred
-were not likely to forget for a long time.
-
-Pee Wee and Mouser got it up. They first got
-permission to take a cold dinner on Saturday and
-row to the island. There was a farmer whose
-land joined the school property on the east.
-From him they obtained several dozen ears of late
-greencorn—nubbins, but sweet as sugar—and
-some new potatoes.
-
-They were excused from lessons that day at
-eleven—all but Pee Wee himself. He had been
-lazy, as usual, and was behind in his work. It
-looked, for a time, as though the picnic had to be
-delayed.
-
-But urged on by the others, Bobby faced Mr. Carrin,
-who had Pee Wee's class in history, and
-begged the fat boy off.
-
-"*Do* let him do the extra work to-night, sir,
-after supper," begged Bobby. "We were going
-to have such a nice time, and Pee—I mean
-Perry—got the picnic up, and—"
-
-"It is a pity that Perry cannot spend a little of
-his mind and effort on his lessons," said Mr. Carrin,
-with a smile.
-
-"Yes, sir. I know, sir," said Bobby, eagerly,
-"but he doesn't seem to be able to think of two
-things at once."
-
-"I guess that is right," chuckled Mr. Carrin,
-who was a much more pleasant gentleman than
-Mr. Leith. "Tell him he may go, but I shall
-expect a perfect recitation on Monday morning, first
-thing."
-
-"Huh!" growled Pee Wee, who had overheard
-some of this. "I'm glad enough to get off, Bobby
-Blake. But you needn't have told him I was
-weak-minded."
-
-Bobby grinned at him. "What do you care if
-you *are* a little bit crazy? And I didn't tell him
-anything new. He was on to it."
-
-The crowd rowed off in three boats. There
-were seventeen of them. They went to the upper
-island, which was the biggest, in an hour and a
-half, and as soon as they landed they set to work
-to build a fire and make the picnic dinner.
-
-Of course, they were too hungry to wait until
-the potatoes were baked, but as soon as the light
-wood had burned down to ashes and coals, they
-thrust the potatoes under the bed of the fire to
-bake slowly.
-
-Meanwhile they ate the sandwiches and cake
-they had brought from school, and each boy cut
-a stick, on the end of which he stuck an ear of
-corn. These ears they roasted in the flames.
-
-Of course, they were scorched a little, but they
-had butter and pepper and salt with which to
-dress the corn and it *did* taste mighty nice!
-
-"And there's pretty near a bushel of the potatoes,"
-said Fred, happily. "After the fire dies
-down again, we can rake them out and eat them.
-There's a big dab of butter left and plenty of salt
-and pepper. Crickey! I could eat a peck of them
-myself."
-
-"We ought to have brought more potatoes and
-corn along," suggested Pee Wee, licking his
-fingers, "and hidden the stuff here somewhere.
-Then we could come another day and have a bake
-like this."
-
-"Say! the corn wouldn't be much good," Bobby said.
-
-"Scubbity-*yow*!" yelled Fred, suddenly. "I
-have it."
-
-"Gee! you must have it bad," responded
-Mouser. "What kind of a battlecry *is* that?"
-
-"Say!" went on Fred, without paying the least
-attention to Mouser's question, "I've got the
-dandy idea."
-
-"Let's have it?" proposed Bobby.
-
-"Let's build a shack, or a cabin, or something,
-up there in the thick trees. Nobody would ever
-see it from the lake. Then we can bring things
-over to furnish it—on the sly, you know—"
-
-"Why on the sly?" demanded his chum.
-
-"Aw—well—if the other fellows knew it, they'd
-come and bust it up, wouldn't they?"
-
-"Not our fellows," declared Shiner.
-
-"But you bet the kids from Belden would,"
-urged Pee Wee.
-
-"We could keep still about it, I s'pose," admitted Bobby.
-
-"Well, then!" returned Fred. "Now, we'd fit
-it up, and store stuff in it for winter—nuts, and
-popcorn, and 'taters, and turnips—"
-
-"You can't bake turnips," objected Howell Purdy.
-
-"Well! they're good raw, aren't they?" demanded
-the eager Fred.
-
-"It's a great old scheme," declared Jimmy
-Ailshine, otherwise "Shiner." "Let's get at it at
-once. Skeets Brody has his ax. Come on!"
-
-And the excited boys trooped away from the
-beach and left the potatoes under the coals of the
-campfire to finish cooking.
-
-
-
-
-
-.. vspace:: 4
-
-.. _`HOT POTATOES`:
-
-.. class:: center large
-
- CHAPTER XVI
-
-
-.. class:: center medium
-
- HOT POTATOES
-
-.. vspace:: 2
-
-Bobby and Fred had already become leaders
-to a degree, with the boys of their own age at
-Rockledge School. This suggestion of the
-red-haired one about building a hut was accepted with
-enthusiasm by the fifteen others in the present
-crowd.
-
-They trooped up into the thick grove that
-crowned the summit of the rocky island. Bobby
-and Fred had been on many camping expeditions
-at home, along the banks of Plunkit Creek. They
-wasted no time in discussing *how* they should build
-a shelter with the materials at hand.
-
-"Leave it to us, and we'll go ahead and show
-you how to make a nice shack," promised Bobby,
-when the others began to gabble as to how it
-should be done.
-
-"Good idea!" cried Pee Wee. "Let's elect
-Bobby Blake, captain.
-
-"And Fred Martin, lieutenant," said Shiner.
-"They both know what to do and we don't."
-
-This was agreed to without a word of objection
-from any of the fifteen. Bobby took charge at once.
-
-"Here are four trees," he announced, pointing
-to four that stood almost in a square, some twelve
-feet apart, and with nothing but saplings in the
-square made by them. "These will be our posts.
-First we want to clean out all the small trees and
-brush inside these big trees, and for some feet
-around the outside—so we can work."
-
-"Wish we had more axes," said Fred.
-
-"We all have knives. Those with knives can
-cut off the smaller brush. Skeets is really our
-only woodsman. Come on, Skeets, and let's find
-four good trees for the cross-timbers."
-
-They were all soon very busy. Bobby did little
-but show the others what to do and make measurements
-with a piece of fishline. Fred gave his
-attention to cutting spruce boughs for walls and roof.
-
-Skeets cut the four trees needed, they were
-measured and notched at the ends and then lifted
-into place—each end in a crotch of the low
-branching trees Bobby had selected for the corner
-posts of the hut.
-
-The roof would not be exactly flat, for one
-crotch was somewhat higher than the others, but
-the four timbers lay firm, being lashed together
-with black-birch withes.
-
-Soon the other boys began to bring the spruce
-boughs; but first Bobby laid several good sized
-saplings across the string-pieces, to strengthen
-the roof.
-
-They worked so hard and with such enthusiasm
-that they really forgot the potatoes under the
-bonfire. In two hours a heavy roofing of boughs lay
-upon the poles, and the boys could all stand up
-under it and be sheltered.
-
-Suddenly Fred exclaimed: "Crickey! Let's
-see if those potatoes are done. I'm as hungry as
-a hound right now."
-
-This set them all on a run. It does not take
-much to put an edge on a boy's appetite. Just
-the suggestion of the potatoes was enough.
-
-"First at the fire!" yelled Howell Purdy, as he
-hurried down through the grove, and over the
-rocks.
-
-"Bet you I make it first!" declared Shiner,
-vigorously following the leader.
-
-It was a stampede. With whoops and shouts
-the seventeen scrambled down the descent to the
-shore.
-
-Suddenly they halted. Shiner and Howell, who
-had been wrestling to put each other behind,
-looked, too. There was a crowd of boys around
-their campfire on the shore.
-
-"Who are they?" demanded Bobby, in amazement.
-
-"Say! they're raking out our potatoes!" gasped
-Fred Martin.
-
-"They're Beldenites!" declared Pee Wee, panting,
-and on the high ground behind. "There's
-their boats. And there's half as many more of
-them as there are of *us*."
-
-"I don't care if they're two to one!" cried Fred
-in anger. "Those are our potatoes."
-
-"Suppose they beat us and take away our
-boats?" demanded Howell Purdy, falling back.
-"You know—those Belden fellows can fight."
-
-"Well! can't *we*?" demanded Fred Martin,
-panting and doubling his fists. "What are
-we—babies?"
-
-"We won't fight—yet," put in Bobby, calmly.
-"Perhaps they don't realize that that is our fire
-and our potatoes."
-
-"What'll we do?" asked Pee Wee, by no means
-anxious to advance.
-
-"Come on," said Bobby; feeling dreadfully
-shaken inside, but too proud to show it. "Let's
-talk to them."
-
-"Better get some clubs and *go* for them,"
-growled Fred.
-
-"No. They haven't clubs," declared Bobby.
-"Let's not start any fight."
-
-He and Shiner and Mouser proceeded along the
-beach. They saw the Belden fellows scrambling
-for the hot potatoes, and shouting and skylarking.
-
-"That's Larry Cronk—that fellow with the
-curly hair. Don't you remember, Bobby? He
-pitched for their club when we went over to beat
-them that day."
-
-"I remember. And that's their first baseman—Ben
-Allen." Then Bobby raised his voice so
-the Belden crowd could hear him: "I say! that's
-our fire and those are our potatoes. We were
-just coming down to get them."
-
-"Is that so?" sneered Larry Cronk, standing
-up and laughing at the Rockledge boys. "Well,
-you came too late—do you see?"
-
-"I'll throw a rock at him!" growled the
-belligerent Fred.
-
-"Keep still!" commanded Bobby. Then to the
-Beldenites he said: "That's not fair—or honest.
-Those are our potatoes—"
-
-Larry swung back his arm, and poised one of
-the potatoes. The next moment he flung it with
-all his force at Bobby. The latter just escaped it
-by dodging.
-
-"Mean thing!" yelled Fred, and he picked up a
-stone on the instant (there were plenty of pebbles
-on the beach) and flung it at the Belden's captain.
-
-"That's right! let's drive them off!" cried Pee
-Wee, from the rear.
-
-Fred's stone was flung true and Larry Cronk
-received it in the shoulder. He yelled and
-dodged, and at once the Belden boys let go a
-flight of *hot potatoes*!
-
-The potatoes burst wherever they struck—and
-not a few of them landed upon the boys who had
-hoped to feast upon the tubers. This was adding
-insult to injury, and the Rockledge boys were
-greatly enraged.
-
-"They're spoiling all our 'taters!" cried Pee
-Wee—almost wailing, in fact. "There! there's
-another busted."
-
-He had turned just in time to get the potato in
-the back instead of in the chest. Mouser and
-Howell were jumping about and rubbing their
-cheeks. The hot potatoes burned as well as stung,
-and although they were mealy enough to fly all
-about when they burst—like miniature bombs—when
-flung by a vigorous arm, they hurt more than
-a little.
-
-The Rockledge crowd broke before the flight of
-hot potatoes, and seemed about to run back to
-the woods. But Bobby and Fred could not stand *that*.
-
-"Hold on, fellows!" yelled Fred. "We can
-lick those chaps—I know we can! Get some
-stones! They can't hurt more than hot potatoes."
-
-Bobby did not delay in joining in the return
-fusillade of stones. Some of the pebbles landed
-heavily. Although outnumbering the Rockledge
-boys by considerable, the Belden crowd began to
-retreat toward its boats.
-
-"Come on! push them!" yelled Fred, running ahead.
-
-The others, thus encouraged, ran after him.
-They reached their own boats and felt safe, then.
-The Beldens could not get their craft away from
-them.
-
-At the fire there were a lot of the potatoes
-scattered about and trampled into the sand. Pee Wee
-began yelling:
-
-"Use the stones! use the stones! Don't fling
-those potatoes—we want them!"
-
-This brought about some laughter, and the
-Rockledge boys did not throw their missiles so
-viciously thereafter. The Beldens had gotten
-enough, anyway. Two of them were nursing bad
-bruises on their heads, and were crying. Bobby
-was glad the battle was so soon over, for he was
-afraid somebody would be seriously hurt.
-
-The Belden youngsters scrambled into their
-boats and pushed off from the island, while the
-Rockledge boys collected all the potatoes they
-could find, that had not burst, and enjoyed their
-delayed feast with the sauce of having won it by
-force of arms.
-
-They did not finish the hut on the island that
-day, but agreed to come back to complete it the
-next half holiday—if they could gain permission.
-
-
-
-
-
-.. vspace:: 4
-
-.. _`LOST AT SEA`:
-
-.. class:: center large
-
- CHAPTER XVII
-
-
-.. class:: center medium
-
- LOST AT SEA
-
-.. vspace:: 2
-
-And then there came an unhappy time indeed
-for Bobby Blake. In the back of his mind, for
-weeks, had been the uncertainty about his father
-and mother. Now that uncertainty suddenly
-developed into a great and lingering horror—a
-horror from which not even the elasticity of youth
-could easily rebound.
-
-One morning Dr. Raymond sent a note into
-Mr. Carrin's school. Had not Bobby been so busy at
-his work, he would have seen the pale faced teacher
-grow still more pallid, and look at him.
-
-Mr. Carrin arose and walked up and down the
-room. The boys soon discovered that he was not
-watching them. Occasionally he stole a glance at
-Bobby, but he noticed no other boy.
-
-Then, without saying another word, he went
-out, and in a minute came back with Barry Gray.
-Barry looked startled himself, and very serious.
-He stood in the doorway and said:
-
-"Blake! Doctor Raymond wants you in his
-office. You are to come with me."
-
-Bobby got up quickly, and with a suddenly
-beating heart. He believed he must have done
-something to bring down upon his head the wrath of
-the good Doctor. He could not imagine what it
-was, but he was frightened.
-
-You see, Bobby had gotten it into his head that
-possibly he *might* have a chance at the Medal of
-Honor. He was trying to be an exemplary
-scholar for that reason—and because he knew it
-would delight his absent father and mother, if he
-gained such an honor.
-
-Now, this sudden and unexpected call shocked
-him. Fred grabbed his hand secretly as he passed
-his seat and squeezed it. Bobby knew that his
-chum, thoughtless as Fred usually was, appreciated
-his present feelings.
-
-When he reached the door, his own face was
-aflame. He knew all the boys of the Lower School
-were looking at him. Mr. Carrin, too, seemed to
-be staring at Bobby in a strange way.
-
-Barry put his arm across the smaller boy's
-shoulder just as soon as the classroom door
-closed behind them.
-
-"Buck up, old man!" he said, with a funny
-choke in his voice. "Things are never so hard as
-they seem at first. And there's such a lot of
-uncertainty about such reports—"
-
-"What reports, sir?" asked Bobby, breathlessly.
-
-"Didn't Carrin tell you a *thing*?" gasped
-Barry, stopping short.
-
-"No! What have I done? What's Doctor
-Raymond going to do with me?"
-
-"Why, you poor little kid!" ejaculated the big
-boy, grabbing Bobby tightly again. "You
-mustn't be afraid of the Old Doc. He wouldn't
-hurt a fly. And you're not in bad with him—don't
-think it!"
-
-"But what is the matter, then?" demanded Bobby.
-
-"It's your folks, Bob," blurted out Barry.
-"There's uncertain news about them—"
-
-"They're not sick—not *dead*?" cried Bobby,
-shaking all over.
-
-"No, no! Of course not," returned Barry,
-heartily. "Nothing as bad as that."
-
-"What is it, then?"
-
-"Why, it's only a shipwreck, or something like
-that. Of course they've been rescued; folks
-always are, you know. And they'll have lots of
-adventures to write you about."
-
-Bobby was speechless. His pretty, delicate
-mother *shipwrecked*! Of course, his father would
-save her, but she might get wet and catch cold;
-that was the first thought that took form in his
-mind.
-
-"News has come about the big ship they sailed
-away on," Barry Gray went on, cheerfully.
-"Another ship has found part of the deckworks
-of your father's steamship, all scorched and
-burned. There must have been a fire at sea."
-
-"Well, don't you s'pose they could put the fire
-out with so much water around?" asked Bobby,
-seriously.
-
-"That's right!" exclaimed Barry. "But perhaps
-the machinery was hurt, so the ship couldn't
-be made to go. There wasn't any sails to her, of
-course."
-
-"I see," said Bobby, gravely, nodding.
-
-"So they had to take to the boats. You know
-how it is: Women and children first! The
-sailors are always so brave. And the officers stand
-by to the last—and if the ship sinks, the captain
-always goes down with her, standing on the
-quarter deck, with the flags flying. You've read about
-it, Bobby!"
-
-"Sure!" choked Bobby.
-
-"Of course there are always boats enough for
-the passengers—and life-rafts. And they float
-about for a while and are either picked up by
-other ships, or the natives row out in their canoes
-and save them."
-
-"Yes!" gasped Bobby, letting out the great fear
-at his heart. "But—but suppose she should get
-cold? You know she has a weak throat. The
-doctor always tells her to look out for
-bron—bron-*skeeters*, or somethin' like that."
-
-"*Who* has bronchitis?" demanded Barry, rather
-puzzled.
-
-"My mother."
-
-"Oh! don't you know it's a warm climate down
-there? Sure! It's in the Tropics. No chance of
-catching cold—not at all."
-
-"Oh!" murmured Bobby, and he felt somewhat
-relieved.
-
-"And they've been picked up by some ship
-bound around the world, maybe—that is why you
-haven't heard from them. You won't hear till
-they touch at some port clear across the world,
-from which they can send mail.
-
-"Or perhaps," said the comforting captain,
-"they have gone to some tropic island, where
-boats don't often touch. And the sailors will
-build shelters for the passengers against the
-coming of the rainy season, and then a boat-load of
-volunteers will hike out looking for a civilized
-port, and it will be months and months before
-help comes to the island.
-
-"Meanwhile," said the imaginative youngster,
-his eyes glowing and his cheek flushed, "your
-mother and the other ladies will get well and
-strong, and all brown like Indians. And the men
-will have to dress in goat-skins, for their clothes
-will wear out, and they'll learn to make fire by
-rubbing two sticks together, and they'll have fights
-with jaguars—But no!" exclaimed the big boy,
-suddenly; "of course, there will be no harmful
-creatures on an *island*.
-
-"Say! I guess they're having fun all right.
-Don't you worry, Bobby."
-
-They halted at the doctor's door, and Barry
-rapped. The voice of the big principal told them
-to "Enter!" and the bigger boy pushed open the
-door.
-
-"Here he is, sir," said Barry, winking fast over
-the head of the smaller boy at Dr. Raymond.
-"I have just been telling him what a jolly good
-time his folks are likely having right now. It
-must be *so* interesting to be shipwrecked."
-
-
-
-
-
-.. vspace:: 4
-
-.. _`THE BLOODY CORNER`:
-
-.. class:: center large
-
- CHAPTER XVIII
-
-
-.. class:: center medium
-
- THE BLOODY CORNER
-
-.. vspace:: 2
-
-The news went over the school at noon, of
-course, and most of the smaller boys eyed Bobby
-Blake askance. The boy himself seemed walking
-in a kind of cloud; his mind was stunned, and
-it was lucky that Dr. Raymond had said to him,
-kindly:
-
-"You are excused from recitations to-day, Robert."
-
-The good doctor had spoken to him quite
-cheerfully of the probable loss of the steamship on
-which Mr. and Mrs. Blake had sailed from New
-York. The principal seemed to have taken his
-cue from Barrymore Gray.
-
-To tell the truth, what Barry had said cheered
-Bobby more than anything else. Even Fred
-Martin was a trifle depressing. Fred wanted to
-give him his share in the bats and mask and other
-baseball paraphernalia, and turn over to him, in
-fact, most of his personal property, likely to be
-dear to a boy's heart.
-
-This was the red-haired boy's way of showing
-sympathy. But it did not help much.
-
-The roseate picture Barry had drawn of the
-shipwreck stuck in Bobby's mind. He was very
-glad his mother could not take cold down there,
-even if she got her feet wet.
-
-For several days the other boys were very
-gentle with Bobby. It did not make Bobby feel
-very comfortable, but he knew they meant it
-kindly.
-
-Soon, however, their awkwardness wore off, and
-they were as rough and friendly as ever, and he
-liked it better. Deep in his heart he kept
-thinking all the time of his parents, and the
-possibilities arising out of the wreck of the steamship.
-Outwardly he was much the same as ever.
-
-Only one thing Bobby Blake desired now more
-than before. He longed—oh! how he *did*
-long—to win the Medal of Honor. If his parents were
-shipwrecked, and there was any suffering for
-them in it, it seemed to Bobby that if he won the
-Honor Medal at Rockledge School, that fact would
-alleviate their misery, wherever they were!
-
-Yet there was nothing of the mollycoddle about
-Bobby. Fun appealed to him just as strongly as
-it ever did to any ten year old boy.
-
-There were certain set rules of Rockledge
-School that he would not break and that he kept
-Fred from breaking.
-
-"There's no fun in getting caught and held up
-to the whole school as dishonorable," he told
-Fred. "We're expected to keep in bounds. We
-know the bounds well enough. And if we want to
-go out of them, we have only to ask, and give a
-good reason, to get permission to go farther."
-
-"Aw, they treat us as if we were a lot of
-babies," growled Fred Martin.
-
-"They do nothing of the kind," Bobby replied.
-"Doctor Raymond treats us as though we were
-gentlemen. He trusts to our *honor*. I wouldn't
-disappoint him for a farm!"
-
-"We-ell!" sighed Fred. "I suppose you're
-right, Bobby. I—I almost wish he didn't treat
-us just this way. There'd be some fun in busting
-up the old rules!"
-
-And that was where Dr. Raymond showed his
-wisdom. He knew how to manage boys with the
-least amount of friction.
-
-Weeks passed, full of work and play, and no
-further news came of the lost steamship on which
-Mr. and Mrs. Blake had sailed for Brazil. The
-wreckage had been sighted off the Orinoco, and
-the name of the steamship was plain upon the
-wreck. But it might have drifted a long way after
-the catastrophe. Just *where* the ship had been
-burned, nobody could guess.
-
-No boat from her, no word from her captain or
-crew, came to the owners in New York. She had
-been a freight boat, carrying on that trip scarcely
-a score of passengers.
-
-Much of this Bobby did not hear, or understand.
-He clung like a limpet to the imaginative idea of
-a shipwreck that Barrymore Gray had drawn for
-him. And it was well that this was so.
-
-Thanksgiving came and went. The Belden
-school came over in the forenoon to Rockledge
-and its football team was nicely thrashed by the
-Rockledge eleven. The Lower School went
-almost mad with delight; and Fred Martin and
-Larry Cronk, the Belden boy, came almost to
-blows on the campus.
-
-Neither of the Lower Schools had forgotten the
-hot potato fight on the island. Ere this, Bobby
-and his friends had completed their camp and had
-begun to furnish it, but they hoped the youngsters
-from Belden would learn nothing about the hideout.
-
-One thing pleased Bobby and Fred immensely
-at Thanksgiving. A big box came to them from
-Clinton. In it were all sorts of good things made
-by Meena and Mrs. Martin, fall apples and pears
-picked by Michael Mulcahey, candy from Mr. Martin's
-store, and gifts from Fred's sisters and
-smaller brothers.
-
-The Second Dormitory had a great feast after
-hours one night, of which even Captain Gray
-knew nothing. Bill Bronson and Jack Jinks got
-onto it, and the small boys had to bribe the two
-bullies with some of the choicest of their stores.
-Nevertheless, the midnight feast went off very
-smoothly.
-
-There were a few more cases for the medical
-attendant to see to at Rockledge School after
-Thanksgiving than usual. The midnight feast
-coming so soon after the big Thanksgiving dinner,
-played havoc in the ranks of the smaller boys.
-
-Pee Wee had what Bobby declared to be "internal,
-or civil war," and went to the hospital in
-Dr. Raymond's house for three days. He came
-out wan and interesting looking, declaring that he
-had lost pounds of flesh! But he proceeded to get
-his avoirdupois back again very promptly.
-
-It was a full week before the school was back
-on its usual working basis—and the midwinter
-holidays only a month away. The teachers
-spurred the lazy scholars, and helped the dull
-ones, and out of this pushing in classes arose the
-trouble that became a very serious affair indeed
-for both Fred Martin and Bobby Blake.
-
-Fred was not always bright in arithmetic. One
-morning he made a ridiculous blunder, and the
-whole class laughed at him. Mr. Carrin reprimanded
-Fred for his inattention, and as they filed
-out for recreation before dinner, Sparrow
-Bangs—named so because he had a whole cage-full of
-tame sparrows down at the gatekeeper's
-cottage—made fun of the red-haired boy.
-
-Fred had been angered by the teacher's
-sharpness. Now he turned on Sparrow in a terrible
-passion.
-
-"What's that you say? I'll give you a punch
-you'll remember."
-
-"Aw, no you won't!" returned Sparrow.
-"And I'll say it again, Ginger! You've no time
-to play catch—you'll have to study the
-multiplication table, like Mr. Carrin said."
-
-Fred rushed at the teasing lad, but Pee Wee and
-Howell Purdy came between them.
-
-"Cheese it!" said the fat boy. "You two
-fellows want to get into trouble? Right under the
-schoolroom windows, too!"
-
-"Well, he's got to stop nagging me," cried
-Fred, very red, and puffing very hard.
-
-"Who are you, Ginger, that I should be so
-awfully careful of?" sneered Sparrow. "You're
-not so much!"
-
-"I'll show you—"
-
-"Stop it! stop it, Fred!" advised Bobby,
-catching his chum by the arm. "Come on, I want to
-throw you a few fast ones. We mustn't get out
-of practice, even if we *can't* play a regular game
-until next spring."
-
-"There he goes!" cried Sparrow. "His boss
-takes him away. Great lad, that Ginger is.
-Afraid to say his soul's his own. Bobby Blake
-just bosses him around—"
-
-It was all over, then! Fred flung off Bobby's
-hand and rushed at his tormentor. Smack! his
-fist shot into Sparrow's face.
-
-Half a dozen of the boys then got between the
-antagonists.
-
-"You want to get us all into trouble?" growled
-Mouser, one of those who held Fred Martin.
-"Cut it out. If you've got to fight, there's the
-'bloody corner.' Do it right."
-
-The chums had heard of "the bloody corner,"
-but since their appearance at Rockledge School
-there had been no real pugilistic encounter
-between any of their mates.
-
-Down in the far corner of the grounds—oh! a
-long way from the buildings—behind a tall hedge
-of hemlock, there had once been a toolshed. It
-had been removed and the corner was just a heap
-of soft sand. No matter how hard the frost was,
-this sand did not freeze.
-
-And here, from time immemorial, had been
-arranged the school fights. Whether the good
-Doctor was aware that in this arena was fought out
-such feuds as could not be otherwise settled,
-nobody knew. Usually the fights were arranged by
-the older fellows, and the captain of the school
-was supposed to be present and see fair play.
-
-It spoke well for Barrymore Gray that thus far
-under his régime, not a fight had occurred in
-"bloody corner."
-
-The belligerents—Fred and Sparrow—were
-separated for the time, but as Bobby and his friend
-started to run to dinner when the big gong rang,
-Shiner stopped them.
-
-"Hey, Ginger," said he. "Are you game to
-fight Sparrow?"
-
-"I'm going to fight him," declared the red-haired
-boy, showing his teeth. "He can't get out of it."
-
-"Oh! he's not trying to," said Shiner. "In
-fact, he told me to put it up to you. He wants to
-knock your head off."
-
-"He'll have a fine time trying it," declared
-Fred, hotly. "I'll show him—"
-
-"Aw, drop it!" begged Bobby. "You don't
-want to fight Sparrow—and he doesn't want to
-fight you."
-
-"Better keep out of this, Bobby Blake,"
-advised Shiner, importantly. "Sparrow says
-Fred's afraid, anyway—"
-
-"I'll show him!" cried the maddened red-haired boy.
-
-"Bluffing's all right," sneered Shiner. "But
-will you *fight*?"
-
-"Give me a chance!"
-
-"Aw-right. We'll put it up to the captain and
-you and Sparrow can get together down in the
-corner."
-
-"With gloves? and have Barry Gray boss it?
-No, I won't," declared the pugnacious Fred.
-"Sparrow's trying to get out of it. I'll box him
-in the gym. But if he's got the pluck of a flea,
-he'll come down to the corner with his bare
-fists—and you and Bobby here are enough to see fair
-play."
-
-"Whew!" whistled Shiner, his eyes dancing.
-"Do you mean it?"
-
-"You'll find out that I do," threatened Fred,
-wagging his head.
-
-"You sha'n't fight that way, Fred!" cried
-Bobby. "The School won't stand for it."
-
-"You mean that bully, Barry Gray, won't stand
-for it. He always wants to boss."
-
-"You game to see them through, Bobby?" demanded
-Shiner.
-
-"If you don't want to come with me, I'll get
-Pee Wee," growled Fred.
-
-"No," said Bobby, in great trouble. "If you
-mean to fight Sparrow, of course I'm going to
-stand by you."
-
-"And keep your mouth shut about it?" snapped
-Shiner.
-
-"Bobby's no snitch," exclaimed Fred, hotly.
-"If we're caught, it won't be because either
-Bobby or I tell."
-
-"Nuff said," declared Shiner, shortly. "I'll
-see Sparrow again and put it up to him. We'll
-find a time when nobody else will be around. Be
-ready," and Shiner went off whistling, evidently
-feeling his importance in the matter.
-
-Bobby felt pretty badly. He did not want to see
-Fred fight at all. And he certainly did not want
-him to meet Sparrow Bangs in this way. A sparring
-match was one thing, but a fist fight, deliberately
-arranged, and held in secret, was an entirely
-different matter.
-
-"You can't do it!" he said to Fred, greatly
-disturbed. "Dr. Raymond might send you home."
-
-"I don't care if I'm sent home twice!"
-exclaimed the hotheaded Fred. "I am going to
-thrash that fellow, or he'll thrash *me*."
-
-Bobby wanted to shake Fred—he could have hit
-his chum himself! And yet—he couldn't desert
-him. They had come here to this school,
-strangers. They had agreed to stand by each other,
-through thick and thin—of course without a word
-being said about it! Boys do not talk about their
-friendships like girls.
-
-If Fred were wrong, Bobby could be angry with
-him, but he could not desert him. If his chum
-intended to fight Sparrow Bangs in this
-disgraceful way, Bobby would "second" him—of course
-he would!
-
-If Dr. Raymond should hear of it and suspend
-them both from school, it could not be helped. He
-knew very well that he was running a risk of
-losing all chance for the Medal of Honor; yet he
-would stick to his chum.
-
-He was unhappy that night—very, very
-unhappy. Fred and he said little when they were
-alone. Shiner came to him and whispered, at
-bedtime, that there would be a chance to "pull
-off" the fight the next noontime after dinner.
-They could cut the mid-day study hour to do it,
-without being caught.
-
-Beyond his determination to stand by Fred,
-right or wrong, Bobby wanted his chum—as long
-as he *would* fight—to win! He advised him in the
-morning:
-
-"Now, Fred, eat a good breakfast—a *big* breakfast.
-But you're going to go light on dinner."
-
-"I know," grunted the red-haired one.
-
-"Don't drink much water at dinner time,
-either. If you think you'll be tempted too much,
-keep out of the dining-room."
-
-"No," growled Fred. "They'll think I'm afraid."
-
-"All right. But eat lightly," urged Bobby.
-
-For once something was going on in the Lower
-School that the whole crowd of boys was not "on
-to." Shiner and Sparrow had been as mum as
-Fred and Bobby.
-
-The two combatants did not even scowl at each
-other; they kept apart. They did not want any
-of the other boys to suspect.
-
-Howell Purdy asked Bobby if "Ginger wasn't
-going to knock Sparrow's head off?" and Bobby
-dodged the question adroitly.
-
-It seemed to Bobby as though that forenoon
-would never come to an end. At half past eleven
-the Lower School was let out. Bobby took Fred
-into the gymnasium and they put on the gloves
-together for a little practice.
-
-With the experience they had had before, and
-the instruction of the Rockledge athletic teacher,
-for boys of their size, Bobby and Fred were quite
-proficient in the so-called manly art.
-
-Sparring, as a game like baseball or tennis, is
-splendid exercise and good training for mind and
-temper. It may, or may not, lead to fisticuffs
-among boys. Certainly boys who spar together
-in a gymnasium are much less likely to have rude
-fights as the outgrowth of sudden temper. They
-respect each other's prowess too much.
-
-Fred was careful at dinner. As soon as they
-could, he and Bobby slipped out, and made their
-way to the distant corner, and by a roundabout
-way so that they could not be seen. Five minutes
-later Sparrow and Jimmy Ailshine appeared.
-
-
-
-
-
-.. vspace:: 4
-
-.. _`THE RESULT`:
-
-.. class:: center large
-
- CHAPTER XIX
-
-
-.. class:: center medium
-
- THE RESULT
-
-.. vspace:: 2
-
-Just who would have won in that battle
-between Fred Martin and Sparrow Bangs remains
-one of the unsolved mysteries of Rockledge School.
-
-It was never finished. The quartette of boys
-had made one mistake. They should have taken a
-fifth youngster into their confidence and set him
-on watch.
-
-Mr. Leith, the head master under Dr. Raymond,
-always took a constitutional around the grounds
-after the midday meal. Not often did he cross
-the campus, for he was not a man given to spying
-upon his young charges.
-
-But this day the campus seemed to be deserted.
-It was a cold day, and most of the boys had
-remained indoors to take advantage of the hour of
-study before afternoon lessons.
-
-He came down the railing that defended the
-cliff's edge, and he heard, as he approached the
-notorious "bloody corner," boyish voices.
-
-"That's it, Sparrow! Hit him again!"
-shrieked one voice.
-
-"Let him hit me—I'll give him as good as he
-sends!" spoke up another voice.
-
-There was the instant sound of blows interchanged.
-The teacher could not doubt what was going on.
-
-"Boys! boys! how dare you fight?" he
-demanded, and strode toward the hedge of hemlock
-trees, his coattails flapping behind him.
-
-The fight had not continued long. Both boys
-had removed their coats and vests and caps.
-They were hard at it indeed when Mr. Leith's
-voice smote upon their ears.
-
-"Cheese it!" gasped Shiner. "Leith's onto us!"
-
-With the fear of being apprehended in all their
-minds, the four boys sprang for the underbrush,
-on the other side of the corner. They knew which
-way the teacher was coming.
-
-The two belligerents had picked up their
-discarded clothing, but as they got under cover Fred
-gasped:
-
-"Scubbity-*yow*! I've dropped my cap."
-
-"Keep on!" exclaimed Bobby. "I'll get it."
-
-He was so earnest to shield his chum from the
-result of his wrong doing, that he forgot his own
-danger. If Fred's cap were found, Mr. Leith
-would know it, and Fred would be called upon to
-explain.
-
-Bobby darted back while the other boys scudded
-through the bushes. He saw the cap on the
-ground just inside the open space. He sprawled
-all over it, grabbed it up, and then was stricken
-motionless and dumb by the voice of the master
-who stepped into view:
-
-"Robert! What does this mean?"
-
-Bobby shook all over, but he stuffed the cap into
-the breast of his jacket.
-
-"Robert, stand up!" commanded the teacher.
-
-Bobby did so. He looked timidly across at the
-gentleman. Certainly Mr. Leith was a very stern
-looking man!
-
-"Come here, Robert," said Mr. Leith.
-
-Bobby crossed the sandlot at a slow crawl. Mr. Leith
-cleared his throat, removing his eyeglasses
-to wipe them. On the instant, as the boy reached
-the fence, he flung Fred's cap through the rails
-and out over the edge of the cliff. It disappeared
-like a shot.
-
-"What was that, sir?" demanded Mr. Leith,
-putting on the eyeglasses and looking at Bobby
-again.
-
-The boy hesitated. The gentleman repeated:
-
-"What was it? I saw you throw something away."
-
-"It—it was a cap," said Bobby.
-
-"A cap? Not your own cap?" exclaimed the
-teacher, in surprise. "You have your own cap on."
-
-"No, sir. Not my own cap," admitted Bobby.
-
-"Whose cap was it, then?"
-
-Bobby was silent. He looked up at Mr. Leith
-pleadingly. That gentleman knew well enough
-what was in the boy's mind. He, too, understood
-boys pretty well, but he did not believe in
-handling them just as the old Doctor did.
-
-"Do you hear me, young man?" he asked,
-harshly.
-
-"Yes, sir."
-
-"Why do you not answer me?"
-
-Bobby wanted to cry out and plead with him.
-Mr. Leith had no *right* to ask such a question!
-That is the way the boy looked at it. The teacher
-was tempting him to do the meanest thing in a
-boy's catalog of sins.
-
-He was asking Bobby to *snitch*!
-
-"I—I can't tell you, sir," stammered the boy.
-
-"You mean you are determined not to tell me?"
-repeated Mr. Leith.
-
-Bobby was silent, but still looked straight into
-his face. No frown could make Bobby Blake drop
-his eyes in shame.
-
-"Two boys were fighting here just now," said
-the teacher, slowly and sternly. "Isn't that so?"
-
-"Yes, sir," said Bobby, quietly.
-
-"Barrymore Gray was not here?" asked the
-other, sharply.
-
-"Oh, no, sir. Barry knew nothing about it,
-sir," cried Bobby.
-
-"Ah! Indeed? Then this fight was a strictly
-private affair?"
-
-Bobby looked miserable, but said nothing.
-
-"How many boys were here?"
-
-Bobby wagged his head negatively. "I—I can't
-tell you, sir."
-
-"Nor the names of the boys who fought?"
-
-"No, sir."
-
-"You know who they are?"
-
-"Oh, yes, sir."
-
-"And you refuse to tell me?"
-
-"I—I can't tell!" gasped Bobby, both hands
-clutched tightly upon the breast of his jacket. It
-seemed to him as though the teacher must see the
-pounding of his heart.
-
-"Robert," said Mr. Leith, "I do not like such
-actions as this. I will not allow a boy to refuse
-me answers to perfectly proper questions. Go to
-your class-room. You must not go to the
-gymnasium, nor out of doors at all, until I bid you.
-When you are not in classes, remain in your dormitory.
-
-"I am disappointed in you, Robert. You have
-shown yourself to be a studious boy heretofore
-and not a ruffian."
-
-"Oh, sir—"
-
-"Silence! You may not have been one of the
-boys fighting; but you were aiding and abetting
-a ruffianly encounter between two of your
-schoolmates. It cannot be overlooked.
-
-"I had hopes of you, Robert. We all had.
-Dr. Raymond himself had commended your course
-since you came to Rockledge. But no boy who
-wishes to stand in the honor class can break the
-rules of the school and then refuse to stand the
-full punishment for his act."
-
-"Oh, Mr. Leith!" cried Bobby, brokenly. "I
-am not trying to get out of anything. Truly I'm
-not! Punish me all you want to, sir, but *don't*
-ask me to tell on the other boys. I can't do that."
-
-"We shall see, Robert," said the teacher,
-grimly. "Return to your class-room."
-
-Now began a very terrible time for Bobby
-Blake—or so it seemed to the heartsick boy. He
-held a secret that he could not speak of, and his
-refusal to reveal it broke down his chances of
-gaining that Honor Medal on which he had set his
-hopes.
-
-Of course, it never entered his mind for a
-moment that he *could* tell—even though the other
-boys did not realize what he had been through with
-Mr. Leith, and what his punishment was.
-
-Fred and Sparrow, made friends by the emergency,
-with Jimmy Ailshine, waited for Bobby in a
-secure hiding place known to all four; but Bobby
-did not come. When they got back to the classroom
-at half past one, Bobby was there ahead of them.
-
-His face was very red; he may have been crying,
-but Fred could not tell. The latter slipped a
-brief note to him:
-
-"Did he catch you?"
-
-Bobby nodded, but did not write back. Fred,
-after a while, slipped over another written
-question:
-
-"Where's my cap?"
-
-This time Bobby replied: "At the foot of
-the cliff. He doesn't know any of you. Keep
-still."
-
-"Good old sport, Bobby," quoth Fred to Sparrow,
-when recitations were over and they filed
-out. "Scubbity-*yow*! that was a soaker you gave
-me on the jaw. It's sore yet."
-
-"I believe I'm going to have a black eye,"
-revealed Sparrow, with pride.
-
-They went off together, inseparable friends for
-the time being. Bobby remained behind, taking
-his books into the big study.
-
-Mr. Leith did not speak to him again. In fact,
-nobody came near him before supper. When the
-boys came in, giggling and talking, just as unable
-as usual to settle down quietly to the meal until
-an adult eye was turned threateningly upon them,
-Bobby entered, too, but with such a lump in his
-throat that he felt that he could scarcely swallow
-a mouthful.
-
-Nobody noticed his condition but Pee Wee, and
-he only to seize upon the pudding that Bobby
-could not touch. "You act as if you had the
-mumps and couldn't swallow," whispered the fat
-boy. "But what you can't eat I'll get rid of for
-you, Bobby."
-
-Three wistful days passed. Bobby remained
-indoors, and the boys knew that he was being
-punished. Only three knew what for, and they did
-not know how much.
-
-"Good old scout, Bobby!" said Shiner, clapping
-him on the shoulder. "Wild horses wouldn't get
-anything out of you, eh!"
-
-Fred began to eye his chum askance. Thoughtless
-as the red-haired one usually was, he began to
-worry.
-
-Then Mr. Leith called Bobby to him again.
-
-"Will you tell me who was fighting down there
-at the corner?" he asked.
-
-"Please—please do not ask me, sir!" begged
-the boy.
-
-"Ahem! you are still stubborn, are you!"
-
-"Ye—yes, sir," said Bobby, not knowing what
-else to say.
-
-"Very well. I shall keep you indoors no longer.
-I see that gentle means will not cure *your* trouble.
-At the last, I should have been tempted to keep the
-matter to myself and give you a chance for the
-medal. But I see leniency is wasted upon you.
-
-"You may have your freedom, Robert. Nothing
-you can do now will wipe out the fact that you
-have deliberately refused to answer my questions.
-That is all."
-
-*And Bobby Blake forgot the Doctor's office door
-was unlocked!*
-
-He accepted the punishment of Mr. Leith as
-final. He knew he had lost all chance of winning
-the Medal of Honor. Young as he was, it seemed
-to him as though his punishment was almost too
-great for him to bear!
-
-
-
-
-
-.. vspace:: 4
-
-.. _`ON THE BRINK OF WAR`:
-
-.. class:: center large
-
- CHAPTER XX
-
-
-.. class:: center medium
-
- ON THE BRINK OF WAR
-
-.. vspace:: 2
-
-To everybody else, affairs at Rockledge School
-seemed to go on as ever. There were hard
-lessons, and easy lessons (the former predominating,
-the boys thought) and there were many, many
-good times as the season advanced.
-
-Monatook Lake froze completely over. At first
-the boys were not allowed upon it; but when
-a team of horses, hitched to a pung, had been
-driven from shore to shore—from the edge of
-Rockledge town to Belden—word was given from
-the teachers' desks that skating on the lake within
-so many yards of the boathouse, would be allowed.
-
-The gate-keeper set stakes, to which little red
-flags were attached, at the corners of the
-ice-bounds, and for a few days, at least, the
-Rockledge boys were satisfied with the restrictions.
-
-They saw the Belden boys skating on their side
-of the lake, too, and other boys, from the two
-villages, who did not go to either school, skated where
-they pleased.
-
-On half holidays bounds were released, but if
-the boys wished to skate the length of the lake a
-teacher went along. Owing to the feeling
-between the boys of the two schools, Dr. Raymond
-did not even test the Lower School with Barry
-Gray for monitor.
-
-Bobby, of course, entered into all these sports.
-Even Fred thought that his chum's punishment
-had ended, and likely enough the red-haired boy
-had forgotten all about his interrupted fight with
-Sparrow Bangs.
-
-Fred and Sparrow were the best of friends.
-To tell the truth, Bobby Blake was somewhat
-gloomy these days—he was not as much fun as
-usual.
-
-Fred put it down to the fact of the mystery
-regarding Mr. and Mrs. Blake. Of course, a fellow
-could not be very jolly when he did not know for
-sure whether his father and mother were dead or
-alive!
-
-However, Fred did not see how he could help
-his chum. He did his best to liven Bobby up; but
-was not very successful at it. It did really seem
-to Fred as though Bobby "gloomed about"
-altogether too much.
-
-"It's all right for a fellow to feel badly about
-his folks," said Ginger to Sparrow, who had
-become his confidant for the time being, "but you
-can't get him out of his grouch."
-
-"He's trying to be too good," scoffed Sparrow.
-"I bet he's aiming to get the medal."
-
-"Scubbity-*yow*!" ejaculated Fred. "That
-would be great!"
-
-"Pshaw! he can't get it. No Lower School boy
-ever got it. I expect Barry Gray will be medal
-man *this* year."
-
-"He won't get *my* vote," declared Fred,
-shaking his head.
-
-"Why not, Ginger?"
-
-Fred was used to this nickname now, and did
-not get mad at it, but he shook his head, and said:
-
-"Just for *that*. Barry nicknamed me. He's
-too fresh."
-
-"Aw, pshaw! you're prejudiced," laughed Sparrow.
-
-None of the boys realized what the matter was
-with Bobby. And he would not tell Fred that he
-had anything to do with forming the cloud under
-which Bobby suffered.
-
-The silence of his father and mother—the
-uncertainty about them—*did* trouble Bobby
-continually. Yet he had a deep-seated hope that all
-would come out right about them. Barry Gray's
-comforting words regarding the shipwreck had
-fired his imagination.
-
-The thought, however, that no matter how well
-he stood in his classes, or how high his marks of
-deportment were, he could not win the Medal of
-Honor, disturbed the boy's mind.
-
-Christmas week came. Bobby and Fred had
-intended to go home to Clinton for the short
-holiday, but the very day the term closed a great
-snowstorm set in. It snowed so heavily the first
-night that the railroads were blocked. Dr. Raymond
-would not let any of the boys leave the
-school, save two or three who lived near and whose
-people came for them in sleighs.
-
-The good doctor telegraphed to the parents of
-his boys instead, and great preparations were
-made for a dinner and celebration at the school
-which would make the boys forget their disappointment.
-
-Presents could arrive by express, too, by New
-Year's, and Dr. Raymond said that the actual
-distribution of gifts at Rockledge would be advanced
-one week. New Year's should be celebrated like
-Christmas.
-
-The two and a half days' snow covered the lake
-two feet deep on a level. The ice had been more
-than a foot thick when it began to snow. In fact,
-the Rockledge and Belden icemen had been getting
-ready to cut, but would now have to put it over
-until after New Year's, because of the scarcity of
-labor.
-
-There was no danger on the ice. There was not
-one airhole anywhere between the shore-fronts of
-the two schools—a stretch of nearly four miles of
-level, glistening snow.
-
-The boys of the Rockledge Lower School had
-had much fun, on half holidays, up the lake at the
-island where the winter camp had been built; but
-that was a long way to go over the snow. Nobody
-had ever tried snowshoeing and skiing, and the
-authorities at the school rather frowned upon
-these sports. However, the field of snow between
-the bluffs on which the rival schools were built
-was a vast temptation for a hundred active boys.
-
-There was a snowball skirmish between the
-larger boys of the two schools the very first day
-after the storm ceased. Captain Gray and his
-crowd had met a bunch of Beldenites ("Bedlamites,"
-the Rockledge boys called their rivals) near
-the first island—a little, rocky cone, now a snowy
-mound, and with only a few trees upon it.
-
-The fight had been fast and furious as long as
-it lasted, but it was rather a good-natured one,
-after all. Finally Captain Gray and the captain
-of the Belden School met for a few minutes'
-conversation. In that few minutes a challenge was
-given and accepted. Unless the teachers
-interfered, it was arranged to have a general snow
-battle between the schools.
-
-Free from lessons, and with most of the
-ordinary rules relaxed, Captain Gray could plan a
-coup that the enemy would not possibly expect.
-It had been agreed that the coming battle should
-be fought near the island, which was about in the
-middle of the lake between the two schools.
-
-That night, after supper, Captain Gray picked
-a dozen boys to help him—and not all big boys,
-for Bobby and Fred were among them—and they
-slipped out of the house.
-
-"We'll get the bulge on those Bedlamites,"
-chuckled the captain. "Come on, now. Run!"
-and he set off in the lead.
-
-He would not tell what was afoot, but every boy
-was excited enough to follow and obey.
-
-They crossed the campus and went down the
-long flight of stairs to the boathouse. The cold
-was so intense, and the wind had blown so hard
-while it was snowing, that they crunched along
-right on top of the drifts, and the walking was
-easy.
-
-There was no moon, but the stars gave them
-light enough. Besides, it is never really dark
-when the snow covers the ground.
-
-The twelve boys speeded across the white
-expanse. Bobby and Fred were proud that they
-had been chosen by the bigger fellows to take part
-in this mysterious adventure.
-
-Captain Gray insisted upon several snow-shovels
-being brought along, and as soon as they
-reached the island, he put them all to work. The
-idea was to fortify the islet and hold it against
-the expected attack next day of the Belden School.
-
-"This will be a surprise to them," declared
-Gray, proudly. "I saw right off that whichever
-side could get this island and hold it, would have
-an advantage.
-
-"Building breastworks down on the pond is all
-right, but from this height we can throw snowballs
-right into any breastworks that those fellows
-can build.
-
-"A bunch of us will come out here to-morrow
-morning with our breakfasts in our hands (I've
-fixed it all up with Mary, the cook) and we'll hold
-this island till the crowd on both sides gets here."
-
-Two hours' work under the direction of Barry
-turned the island (which was barely ten yards
-long) into a veritable fort. Within that time, the
-twelve boys had built the fortress, partly of
-bowlders that had been well placed by Nature,
-and pieced out the rock buttresses with thick
-walls of snow.
-
-The party got back to school just before the
-retiring bell rang, and escaped a scolding only
-because the rules were relaxed for the holidays.
-In the cold, chilly dawn, half a dozen of the boys
-of Dormitory Two were awakened by the bigger
-fellows. Bobby and Fred were among them.
-
-"Aw, crickey!" gaped Fred, burrowing in the
-pillow. "I don't want to get up now."
-
-Bobby was out of bed in a moment. "Come
-along! It's going to be fun, Fred," he said.
-
-Fred was lazy. He burrowed deeper. In
-about thirty seconds a large, juicy snowball,
-scooped off the window sill by Max Bender, was
-thrown into the back of Fred Martin's neck.
-
-"Yee-ow!" yelled the startled Ginger, and rose
-up to fight back. The big boy ran, however,
-chuckling, and all Fred could do was to dress,
-grumblingly.
-
-"All these big fellows are fresh," he confided
-to Bobby.
-
-"I wonder what *we'll* be when we are as big as
-they are, and boss the school?" returned his more
-thoughtful chum.
-
-That feazed Fred a little. By and by—as he
-finished his dressing—he admitted:
-
-"Well, Bobby, I'd never thought of that!"
-
-The guard thus called to duty by Captain Gray
-gathered, shivering, in the kitchen. Good natured
-Mary had risen an hour earlier than usual and
-made a big can of coffee, and there were
-sandwiches and doughnuts.
-
-"Worth getting up early for, that's sure,"
-announced Fred, becoming more content. "Won't
-Pee Wee be sore because he's not in this?"
-
-They marched away with shovels and sleds.
-Overnight the smaller boys had made a lot of
-snowballs and they had been packed in boxes and
-put on the sleds. But before the early procession
-started, Barry examined all the boxes, and finding
-that somebody had made "soakers," he dumped
-them out.
-
-"Let me catch any of you boys icing the
-ammunition, and I'll tend to you," he promised,
-angrily.
-
-"Aw, those Bedlamites busted Frankie Doane's
-head open with a soaker last winter," complained
-Sparrow Bangs.
-
-"We won't be mean just because they've been,"
-declared Captain Gray. "You see that you're not
-guilty, Sparrow."
-
-"Gosh!" muttered Fred, in Sparrow's ear,
-"don't that sound just like Bobby?"
-
-"You bet! They're a pair. Guess Bobby's a
-copy-cat. He's following in Barry's 'feet-prints.'"
-
-"Don't you say that!" flamed up Ginger, at
-once. "Bobby has *always* been like that. He's
-the fairest chap that ever was. If anybody's the
-copy-cat, it's old Captain Gray!"
-
-Neither of the boys in question beard this, and
-it was just as well perhaps that they didn't.
-
-It was scarcely daylight when the party reached
-the island. They did not see a Belden boy
-stirring on the farther bank of the lake. After
-setting the tasks to be done by these guards, Barry
-went back to the school, leaving Max Bender in
-charge of the fortress.
-
-Max was rather a lazy fellow, and he always
-let the smaller boys do his work—if they would
-agree. He was good natured enough about it.
-
-He sat down in a sheltered place, and had Bobby
-and Fred cut the under branches of the firs for
-firewood, and they soon had a nice little fire going.
-
-This might attract the attention of the enemy
-to the fort, but Max did not care for that.
-
-"You boys keep on making snowballs. You'll
-have to make them outside the fort—down on the
-ice, there, and then you can draw them in on the
-sleds. Get busy now."
-
-"What are *you* going to do?" demanded Ginger
-Martin, rather perkily.
-
-"Never you mind, youngster," returned Max.
-"You never read of the officers in authority
-getting on the firing line, do you? I've got to stay
-up here and keep watch, and plan the defense of
-the island."
-
-"Oh, crickey!" exclaimed Ginger, scornfully.
-"You're a regular Napoleon—*not*!"
-
-And it was a fact that, had the younger boys
-holding the fort depended upon Bender's watchfulness,
-the Beldenites would have been upon them
-unannounced.
-
-Naturally the boys making snowballs did so on
-the side of the island facing Rockledge School.
-The island hid from them the Belden side of the
-lake.
-
-But suddenly Bobby, who had dragged in a
-heavy sled load of snowballs, and was packing
-them securely in a pile behind an upper
-fortification, chanced to stand up to stretch his limbs and
-looked over the breastwork.
-
-"Oh, look here!" he yelled. "Here's the
-Bedlamites right onto us!"
-
-And it was true. The captain of the rival
-school had seen what the Rockledge boys were
-about—or he had suspected it, seeing the smoke
-of Max Bender's fire.
-
-He had brought out his whole crew, and the
-vanguard of Belden boys was now but a few yards
-from the shore of the snow-covered and embattled
-island. They were making the attack in silence,
-and hoped to take the garrison of the fort by surprise.
-
-
-
-
-
-.. vspace:: 4
-
-.. _`GIVE AND TAKE`:
-
-.. class:: center large
-
- CHAPTER XXI
-
-
-.. class:: center medium
-
- GIVE AND TAKE
-
-.. vspace:: 2
-
-Bobby was scared at first by his sudden
-discovery. Here the Belden boys were coming on
-the rush, and there was only a handful of
-Rockledge boys—ten in all—at the island, to stand the
-unexpected charge.
-
-Hi Letterblair, the captain of the Belden School,
-was at the head of the charging column. He and
-eight of the biggest boys of Belden were very near
-the island already.
-
-Directly in the rear of the vanguard were a
-dozen smaller boys with schoolbook bags over
-their shoulders. Bobby knew by the bulky
-appearance of these receptacles, that they were full
-of snowballs.
-
-Some distance behind were the rest of the
-Belden boys, dragging sleds heaped with
-ammunition. The entire force of the enemy was
-approaching.
-
-Bobby wheeled about, even before he cried out,
-save for that first exclamation of surprise, to
-look at the Rockledge shore. There was not
-another Rockledge boy in sight save those at the
-island.
-
-"What's the matter!" lazily demanded Max
-Bender, warming his hands over the tiny blaze.
-
-"Look! Look!" repeated Bobby, turning to
-point again. "Here they come!"
-
-"Here *who* come?" asked Bender, jumping up.
-
-He shuffled up to the place where Bobby stood.
-One look he gave and then vented his amazement
-in a long whistle.
-
-"My goodness!" he muttered. "They've got
-us beaten before we even begin."
-
-"Aren't we going to fight?" demanded Bobby,
-with energy.
-
-"What! fight the whole bunch—just us few?"
-
-"Of course. We've got the island—"
-
-"And a fat time we'd have trying to keep it,"
-grunted Max.
-
-"Why, you're a quitter!" exclaimed the smaller
-boy, under his breath. He whirled and waved his
-hands to the boys below, busy making snowballs.
-"Get up here, fellows—in a hurry!" he cried.
-"Here come the Bedlamites."
-
-"Scubbity-*yow*!" was Ginger Martin's
-response, and the red head came on the run. A
-fight was meat and drink to Fred.
-
-The other boys hurried up the slope, too.
-Bobby yelled to them to bring in the sleds and all
-the ammunition.
-
-In making the fortress the evening before, and
-in rolling "snow bombs" to fling down upon the
-heads of the enemy should they get to close
-quarters, the island itself had been for the most part
-swept clean of snow. The bulwarks of the
-fortress were as tall as most of the boys defending it
-at the present moment.
-
-"We're going to get licked," muttered Max
-Bender again.
-
-Sparrow grinned at Ginger. "I always
-believed Bender was a softie," he whispered.
-Ginger nodded, but he looked at Bobby.
-
-"We've *got* to hold on here till Captain Gray
-gets over with reinforcements," the boy from
-Clinton was saying, eagerly.
-
-"Sure we have!" agreed most of the ten, in
-chorus.
-
-"And the way to do it is not to let those Belden
-fellows see how few in numbers we are," said
-Bobby, thoughtfully. "We have heaps of
-ammunition. We'll beat them off till Captain Gray
-comes."
-
-"We can't do it," declared Max Bender, with
-conviction.
-
-Fred turned on him with his face as well as his
-hair aflame: "You're a healthy lieutenant, you
-are!" he snarled. "Why didn't Captain Gray
-leave a baby in command? Come on! you can
-fling snowballs, can't you, like Bobby says?"
-
-"Well—But these fellers will surround the
-island and then they'll get us," croaked Max.
-
-Sparrow laughed sneeringly. It was Bobby
-who replied.
-
-"If you propose to run, you start now before
-the fight begins," he said, gravely. "Then they'll
-think we're sending a messenger for reënforcements,
-not that one of our side is a coward and
-is running away."
-
-"Hurrah!" yelled Sparrow.
-
-"Scubbity-*yow*!" exclaimed Ginger. "Now
-he's got it."
-
-Max Bender was actually pale. He was scared
-to fight and he was scared to run! In truth his
-position was pitiable.
-
-But Bobby Blake gave the big fellow very little
-attention. The other boys just naturally looked
-to Bobby to lead them.
-
-"Don't show yourselves, fellows, if you can help
-it. Don't throw too quickly; we don't want to
-waste ammunition. Let's all line up along here
-now, and one of us peek over and give the word
-to fire—"
-
-"I'll do that!" cried the excited Mouser Pryde.
-
-"Yes you will!" sneered Fred. "I'd like to
-see you. Bobby's bossing this."
-
-"That's right!" exclaimed Sparrow, generously.
-"If this big simpleton, Bender, won't take
-the lead, let Bobby do it."
-
-"Sure! let Bobby do it!" shouted the others.
-
-Bobby, his eyes flashing, his cheeks red with
-excitement, did not argue the point. Of course
-he wanted to lead—what boy would not?
-
-Besides, he believed they could hold the
-Beldenites off until reinforcements came. Max Bender
-stood beside him, packing a snowball tighter, and
-said nothing. Bobby jumped up and looked over
-the high parapet. It was almost two feet across
-at the top, and lots thicker at the bottom. The
-inside was cut straight up and down, but outside
-it sloped.
-
-Bobby could stand upon a rock and see over the
-top of the wall. Hi Letterblair and his crowd was
-now quite near. When Bobby popped up Hi saw
-the Rockledge boy.
-
-"Hurrah!" yelled the Belden leader. "Come
-on, fellows! Charge!"
-
-"Let's fire at them, Bobby!" gasped Fred,
-fairly dancing up and down in his eagerness.
-
-"No. They're too far away yet. Hold your fire."
-
-"Till we see the whites of their eyes—just like
-Bunker Hill!" exclaimed Sparrow Bangs.
-
-"They'll hammer the life out of us if they get
-up here," grumbled Max.
-
-Bobby turned on him suddenly. Big as Bender
-was, he was doing all he could to scare the rest of
-the garrison.
-
-"You be still!" commanded Bobby. "If you
-won't fight, run; but if you stay with us, you keep
-your mouth shut and throw snowballs as hard as
-you can!"
-
-And actually, big as he was, the pale faced Max
-did not reply!
-
-Bobby whirled back to look over the parapet.
-His eyes danced and he was so excited that he
-could scarcely keep still.
-
-"Now!" he cried. "Up and at them! Fire
-three each, and then drop down. And take
-aim—*do* take aim!"
-
-Most of the boys obeyed him. The snowballs
-flew in a shower upon the advancing enemy.
-With the advantage of their position, the
-Rockledge boys pelted the on-comers well.
-
-Belden's leader brought up his whole force
-before he attempted to reply to the fusillade.
-Letterblair knew that they would have to get nearer
-to pelt their missiles at the garrison with any
-precision.
-
-Behind the wall of snow and rock, Bobby said:
-
-"Now, three more snowballs. Get ready!" Each
-boy could hold two missiles in his left hand
-while he threw the third. The idea was to get in
-the fusillade and then drop out of sight before the
-enemy could return the compliment.
-
-"All ready?" cried Bobby again. "Come on,
-now! Let them have it!"
-
-Up jumped the nine youngsters and saw that Hi
-Letterblair and his crew was now very near the
-island.
-
-"Shoot!" yelled the captain of the Belden boys.
-
-They were at a disadvantage, however. They
-had to throw up, while the Rockledge garrison
-threw down.
-
-The missiles from the island-fortress descended
-upon the charging enemy with considerable force.
-Before the Beldens could return the fire, Bobby
-and his crowd dropped out of sight again.
-
-The Beldens cheered. Bobby popped up, saw
-that they were still advancing, and gave the order
-for another volley.
-
-"At them again!" he shouted.
-
-Fred was yelling his battle-cry like a crazy boy,
-and Shiner and Sparrow were scarcely less
-excited. In the midst of one of Fred's vociferous
-shouts, *slam* came a snowball right into his mouth!
-
-"Oh! oh! that was a soaker!" cried Sparrow.
-
-Fred was hopping mad. He wanted to keep
-on firing at the enemy when Bobby gave the
-command to dip down for another supply of ammunition.
-
-"Obey the captain!" bawled Howell Purdy.
-
-"Get ready!" called Bobby, steadily. "Don't
-throw so wild. They are getting too near for
-comfort."
-
-"They'll just give us *fits* when they get up
-here," murmured the shaking Max.
-
-"I never *did* see such a lump of uselessness,"
-grumbled Mouser. "Did you, Bobby?"
-
-"Come on!" shouted the young leader of the
-defenders. "Give them as good as they
-send—and take what they send us laughing."
-
-The Rockledge boys popped up again. Their
-last volley had stopped the Belden boys. Some
-of the youngsters had run away with the ammunition.
-Hi Letterblair had halted his party to make
-new snowballs.
-
-"Give it to them!" shouted Bobby, and down
-upon the attacking party hurtled another
-well-aimed volley.
-
-They drove the besiegers back several yards,
-but now Hi Letterblair saw that there was but a
-small garrison on the island. He saw only boys
-from the Rockledge Lower School, and it was
-evident that Captain Gray was not present.
-
-He called a council of war, and soon the Belden
-party began to spread out and quickly surrounded
-the island. Bobby and his crowd were completely
-hemmed in.
-
-"What did I tell you?" whined Max Bender.
-"Now we *can't* get away at all."
-
-"You had your chance to go," Bobby said,
-with scorn. "We can beat the whole crowd off—for
-awhile, at least. We have plenty of snowballs."
-
-"But there's not much snow to make any
-more," said Howell Purdy.
-
-"We should worry!" exclaimed Sparrow.
-"We'll throw them just as fast as we can, as
-long as they last."
-
-"No use in trying to throw so far," advised
-Bobby. "We have the advantage of them,
-anyway. They have to throw higher than we do."
-
-Soon a shower of snowballs was flung at every
-head which appeared above the ramparts. Nor
-could Bobby and his friends remain in hiding all
-the time. If they did so, the Beldens would soon
-charge and rout them by the weight of superior
-numbers.
-
-It was only by returning the enemy's fire with
-vigor and precision that the Rockledge boys held
-the fort at all. Hi Letterblair had ten or a dozen
-big boys massed to make a charge; Bobby could
-see that.
-
-Therefore the young leader of the defending
-party urged his followers to concentrate their
-attack upon the captain of the Belden School.
-
-"Keep them off! we've *got* to keep them off till
-Captain Gray gets here," panted Bobby.
-
-"Hurrah! here they come!" yelled one of the
-smaller boys, suddenly.
-
-Bobby shot a glance toward the Rockledge
-shore. Indeed, there they did come! With
-Captain Gray and the school flag at their head, the
-bulk of the Rockledge boys were coming across
-the snow-covered lake towards the island.
-
-"Keep still! don't wake them up!" begged
-Bobby, before anybody else could cheer. "If the
-Bedlamites don't know they're coming till they
-get here—why, all the better."
-
-The appearance of reënforcements put pluck
-into Max Bender. He began to hurl snowballs
-with more precision and with more force. He
-became very active. Hi Letterblair's crew of big
-boys charged only half heartedly.
-
-The boys behind the ramparts almost smothered
-them before the attacking party got upon the
-island. They had chosen the easiest ascent, but
-only one of the attackers reached the snow-wall.
-
-Instantly half a dozen hands reached for this
-plucky enemy, and it was Max who hauled him
-over into the fort and sat on him.
-
-"Hurrah! we've got a prisoner!" yelled Howell
-Purdy, dancing up and down.
-
-"What'll we do with him, Bobby?" demanded Fred.
-
-"Huh! *I* captured him," grumbled Max. "I
-guess I'll do what I please with him."
-
-"While we're fooling with that fellow, the
-others will get up here," declared Shiner.
-
-"Come on! here they come!" shouted Bobby,
-who was ever on the watch.
-
-The second charge of Hi and his cohorts was
-resultless to either party. And then, almost
-immediately, Captain Gray and the rest of the
-Rockledge boys came upon the Beldens.
-
-Hi Letterblair ordered his party to face about,
-and brought up the smaller boys from the other
-side of the island. At once the garrison of the
-fort leaped upon the ramparts and drove down a
-withering fire upon the enemy.
-
-Thus held between two fires, the Beldenites
-were driven back around the island, and out of
-shot from the fortress. Captain Gray ordered his
-army to spread out and hold them at bay.
-
-They had dragged out from the shore thousands
-of snowballs. The Rockledge party had ammunition
-enough to last for hours, both in the fort and
-on the sleds.
-
-Captain Gray hurried into the fort. Max had
-let the prisoner up and the boys were all dancing
-about excitedly.
-
-"You fellows did fine!" cried Barry Gray, his
-eyes shining. "Max! you're all right! You held
-them off in fine shape."
-
-"They gave us a hard rub, Barry," said the big
-fellow, coolly. "And I yanked this chap inside
-when they charged."
-
-His statement was perfectly correct—as far as
-it went; but for Max to accept praise for the
-defense of the fort struck most of the smaller boys
-dumb. Not Fred Martin, however.
-
-"Well I never!" gasped the red-haired boy.
-"Will you listen to *that*? Talk about the brass
-cheek of him!"
-
-"What's the matter with you, Ginger?"
-demanded Max, scowling.
-
-"Say! do you think you can get away with it?"
-shouted Fred. "*You* getting thanked for
-holding this island? Why, Barry," he cried, turning
-on the captain, with blazing eyes, "that big
-simpleton wanted to give up the fort and run away
-when he saw the Bedlamites coming. Yes he did!
-I'll leave it to Sparrow and the rest of the boys."
-
-Sparrow shouldered his way to the front.
-"That's right, captain," he said. "Max was
-having a fit of shivers here, and wouldn't give orders.
-Bobby fought us."
-
-"Sure he did!" cried Shiner and Howell Purdy
-together. "It was Bobby who did it. We'd have
-been whipped, if it hadn't been for Bobby."
-
-"Well, did I say he *didn't* do his share?"
-snarled Max Bender, the wind all taken out of his
-sails. "I—I had a headache, anyway. And I
-*did* grab this fellow prisoner."
-
-He looked around for the boy in question. But
-while they had been arguing, the Belden boy had
-slipped out of the fort and made his escape.
-
-
-
-
-
-.. vspace:: 4
-
-.. _`WHAT BOBBY SAID`:
-
-.. class:: center large
-
- CHAPTER XXII
-
-
-.. class:: center medium
-
- WHAT BOBBY SAID
-
-.. vspace:: 2
-
-The battle between the Rockledge and the
-Belden Schools continued furiously until noon. The
-former had the advantage because of their
-entrenchments on the island, but Hi Letterblair was
-not a bad general, and Barry and his helpers were
-often put to it to hold the enemy in check.
-
-At one time when the Rockledge troops made a
-sally, four of them were captured and were held
-prisoners for an hour. Then they were rescued,
-Bobby and Fred being of the rescuing party.
-
-Altogether the snow-battle was carried on in
-good temper, but there could not help being some
-rough work, especially when it came to hand-to-hand
-encounters.
-
-Fred Martin and Ben Allen, one of the Lower
-School boys on the other side of the lake, had a
-short and vigorous fist fight in one scrimmage,
-and the captains put them out of the battle and
-sent them back to their respective schools in disgrace.
-
-Noon came and an armistice was declared until
-the next morning at nine o'clock. It was agreed
-that the battle should begin just as it left off—with
-Rockledge holding the island against Belden.
-
-The masters of both schools had begun to take
-an interest in the snow fight and that afternoon
-Dr. Raymond gave a pleasant talk to his boys in
-the big study, on the science of battle formation
-and military maneuvers.
-
-The boys were interested. Captain Gray tried
-to put into execution in the next forenoon's
-fighting some of the advice the Old Doctor had given
-them. But Hi Letterblair had been advised by
-his instructors, too.
-
-The teachers from both schools walked over to
-the island to watch the fight. It was a less
-rough-and-tumble affair than that of the previous day's
-battle, and in the end Rockledge lost the fort and
-island to the enemy.
-
-Time was called, and both sides retired to renew
-the battle on the third morning. Captain Gray
-instructed his followers just what to do, and, at
-the beginning of the third morning's attack,
-Rockledge had recovered the fort, and captured half
-the Belden School in less than an hour!
-
-It was great fun, and the boys learned to keep
-their tempers better as the fighting continued on
-more scientific lines. A storm came on and
-spoiled the fun, however, for the rest of the week.
-
-Captain Gray came to Bobby and said:
-"You're all right! I've been getting the facts
-about that fight you put up at the island, holding
-off the Belden crowd, and it was smart of you.
-
-"I thought Max Bender had more gumption in
-him. But he's a big bluff. Well! we won't talk
-about him. But I've told the Old Doctor what
-you did—"
-
-"I didn't do any more than the other fellows,"
-said Bobby, rather sheepishly. "They all put up
-a good fight."
-
-"Sure! But they all say you did it—you kept
-them at it, and told them what to do. And Hi
-Letterblair says he'd have taken the fort right
-then, if it hadn't been for you. Oh, you can't
-escape the credit for it, old chap!"
-
-Bobby knew that, although the boys might praise
-him, and even the Old Doctor himself might be his
-friend, there was one member of the faculty who
-did not approve of him. Mr. Leith seldom spoke
-to him, save when it was necessary in class-room.
-
-New Year's Day came, and the presents from
-home were given out in the big hall after breakfast.
-It was a time of great hilarity and fun; but Bobby
-had hard work to keep back the tears when there
-were put into his hands presents addressed in his
-mother's and his father's writing—presents
-prepared far back in the summer before they had
-gone on that fatal voyage, and left in the care of
-Mrs. Martin.
-
-Michael Mulcahey and Meena had not forgotten
-the boy, either. Their little presents breathed of
-love and friendship. Meena had a tender place
-in her heart for Bobby, after all. Michael wrote
-that she had refused to marry him on Christmas
-day, for the seven hundred and fifteenth time!
-
-It was hard work by this time for Bobby Blake
-to believe that Gray's imaginary shipwreck was
-the real truth. Surely, if his parents were alive,
-some word must come from them.
-
-The owners of the steamship that had been lost
-had never heard from any survivor. The newspapers
-had ceased to speak of the affair. It had
-become one of the many marine mysteries recorded
-within the last few years.
-
-"S'pose you shouldn't ever hear about them
-till you grew up, Bobby?" suggested Fred, with
-awe. "They'd come home, and find you grown
-up and living in the same house, and—"
-
-"I wouldn't be living there," declared Bobby,
-choking back that big lump that *would* rise in his
-throat.
-
-"Where'd you be?" demanded Fred, in wonder.
-
-"When I'm big enough, I'll go off and look for
-them."
-
-"You will? Way down to Brazil?"
-
-"I'd search all over South America. Maybe
-some bad tribe of natives has them. I'll find and
-rescue them," said Bobby, nodding his head.
-
-"Scubbity-*yow*!" cried the ever enthusiastic
-Fred. "That'll be great. I'll go with you, and
-we'll hide in the jungle, and catch a native and
-make him show us the way to the village where the
-captives are held.
-
-"Crickey, Bobby! you'd make out you were a
-magician, and you'd have a storage battery, and
-things, and you'd show them blackies more magic
-than they ever saw before, and they'll kill their
-old medicine man and make you chief of the tribe.
-
-"And then we can get into the temple where
-your folks are held prisoners, and release them.
-We'll all get out through the secret passage and
-take enough gold and precious stones with us to
-load a donkey, and come home as rich as mud!
-Say! it's a great idea."
-
-"Well! what do you think of *that*?" was
-Bobby's comment. "You must have been reading
-some of Sparrow's story-papers."
-
-"Huh! they're jolly good stories."
-
-"Wait till the Old Doctor catches him at it,"
-said Bobby. "Those are just foolish stories.
-Nothing ever really happens like it says in those
-stories."
-
-"Aw—well," said Fred, grinning, "it would be
-great if they *did* happen, wouldn't it?"
-
-Lessons began right after New Year again, and
-it seemed harder than ever to buckle down to
-them because of the fun that week between
-Christmas and the first of the year.
-
-"Wish it would be vacation all the time,"
-grumbled Pee Wee, who had spent several days in
-bed because of the way he had abused his stomach.
-
-"Goodness, Pee Wee!" exclaimed Bobby. "If
-every day was a holiday, you'd be sick all the
-time."
-
-"No I wouldn't," returned the fat boy, who had
-figured the thing all out. "If we had holiday
-dinners every day, I'd get used to them and wouldn't
-get sick. See?"
-
-Although Bobby had concluded that he had no
-chance at all for the Medal of Honor, he tried to
-stand as well as he could in his classes, and never
-again did Mr. Leith, or anybody else, catch him in
-an infraction of the rules of the school.
-
-Not that he refused to go in for any legitimate
-fun, but he kept out of mischief, and did his best
-to keep his chum and the other boys of the Lower
-School out of trouble, too.
-
-After that first snow-ball fight with Belden at
-the island, Bobby Blake became quite an influence
-among the smaller boys of Rockledge. The story
-of his taking charge of the defense of the island,
-after the defection of Max Bender, was common
-property, although Bobby himself would never
-discuss the matter.
-
-Off and on, there was both snow and ice for two
-months following the great battle, but the boys
-had only the two half holidays a week in which to
-play on the frozen lake.
-
-By and by the lake became unsafe, too, and,
-after a time came the spring thaw, the ice went
-out, and the boys could get into the boats again.
-
-Every morning when he got up, Bobby ran to
-the window first of all and sniffed the moist, sweet
-air. Spring was on the way. And spring sets
-the blood to coursing more swiftly in the veins of
-every healthy boy.
-
-For two months the boys of the Second Dormitory
-had not seen their camp in the woods on the
-larger island at the other end of Lake Monatook.
-When it was whispered around that there was a
-chance for a trip there the next Saturday, all were
-agreed.
-
-Bobby and Pee Wee were the committee to
-"rustle up" the necessities for a feast at the camp.
-No potatoes and corn this time of year; the school
-commissary department had to be approached.
-
-No boy in the school, save Barry Gray himself,
-had more influence with Mary, the head cook, than
-Bobby Blake. Like the other servants about
-Rockledge, the good woman knew all about the loss
-of Bobby's parents at sea. Besides that, he was
-always polite and friendly, and never mischievously
-tried to raid the pantry.
-
-Pee Wee's influence lay in his inordinate love
-for sweet cakes and the like, for which he was
-always willing to spend his pocket-money. Many
-of the fat boy's dimes and quarters reached
-Mary's palm for "bites" between meals.
-
-It chanced to be a good day with Mary, and the
-committee of two got the promise of a big hamper
-of good things for the first picnic of the year.
-Bobby had refused to be one of those who asked
-for the privilege of going up the lake. He knew
-that the request would have to be made to
-Mr. Carrin or Mr. Leith, and neither of them, he
-feared, were favorably inclined to him.
-
-The permission was granted, however, and the
-crowd of nearly twenty boys raced down to the
-boathouse immediately after they were released
-from study at eleven o'clock on Saturday morning.
-
-They had three boats, four boys at the oars in
-each. Some of the big fellows were going to get
-out the shells and begin practicing for the June
-regatta, but Bobby and his friends were eager to
-see their old camp.
-
-"If those Bedlamites haven't found it and
-busted the camp all up," grumbled Pee Wee,
-pulling at an oar. "'Member how they pelted us
-with hot potatoes that time?"
-
-"I hope they'll keep on their own side of the
-lake this spring," said Mouser.
-
-"I expect they have as much right at the islands
-as we have," ventured Bobby. "Only it ought to
-be 'first come, first served.'"
-
-"We'll serve them out nicely, if they bother us
-this spring," grunted Fred, who was likewise pulling.
-
-"We'll beat them as we did in the snowball
-fight," cried Shiner.
-
-"If we can spell 'able,'" laughed Bobby.
-
-"Aw, we'll spell it all right, won't we,
-Ginger?" demanded Sparrow Bangs.
-
-"Let me at them—that's all," boasted Fred.
-
-When they got to the upper island, there was
-nobody there. They pulled their boats ashore
-and went up into the wood. There was the shack
-they had built the previous fall, almost as good as
-new.
-
-Of course, the roof was rotting and wet, but it
-was pretty dry inside and they patched up the
-walls and roof in a little while.
-
-Then they built a fire, made cocoa, opened a can
-of condensed milk, and spread out the sandwiches
-and pie that Mary had furnished. In the midst
-of the picnic, a chunk of sod popped right into the
-tin cup out of which Pee Wee was drinking.
-
-"Oh! who did that?" demanded the fat boy.
-
-In a moment a big sod came slap into the fire,
-and scattered the burning brands. Then followed
-a fusillade from the woods on two sides of the camp!
-
-"The Bedlamites! I see that Larry Cronk!"
-yelled Howell Purdy.
-
-The feast was spoiled. The boys from the rival
-school had pulled up a lot of soft, wet turf, and
-they bombarded the boys from Rockledge nicely.
-
-It was an uneven fight at first, for the picnickers
-had been totally unprepared for such an attack.
-
-Nobody wanted to run, however, and Bobby and
-Sparrow stemmed the tide of defeat with pine-cones,
-until their mates could cut clubs and come
-to close quarters.
-
-The Rockledge boys were driven out of their
-camp. With great hilarity, Larry Cronk and his
-mates held the camp, and drove off their
-antagonists every time they attacked.
-
-"They're too many for us," growled Fred,
-when the Rockledge crew finally retired.
-"Why! there are four boatloads of them."
-
-"I tell you," whispered Shiner, "let's get back
-at them."
-
-"Crickey! we've been back at them enough,"
-complained Pee Wee. "I'm beaten black and
-blue. And look at our clothes—all mud! We'll
-hear about this, when we get back to the school."
-
-In fact, it was a sorrowful and angry group
-that went down to the boats. These were on one
-side of the island, while those belonging to the
-Belden boys were beached on the other side.
-
-Shiner had whispered his bright idea to Bobby
-and some of the others. Bobby was a little slow
-to accept it, but finally was convinced. The
-Beldens were watching them from the summit of the
-rocks.
-
-Only one of the Rockledge boats was pushed
-into the water. Bobby, Shiner, Sparrow and
-Skeets Brody got in and took up the oars. They
-rowed away around the island.
-
-Meanwhile the other boys collected a lot of
-pebbles as though they proposed to attack the
-Beldenites again. This would have been foolish,
-however, for the enemy had much the better position.
-
-The two gangs were not above threats shouted
-to each other and make-believe dashes from either
-side. With volleys of stones and sod they kept up
-the interest in the fight for half an hour.
-
-Then suddenly there came a shriek from some
-boy left on the other side of the island as a
-sentinel. He came flying, yelling his distress.
-
-"Into the boats, boys!" Fred Martin
-commanded. "Bobby's got them."
-
-They pushed off the two remaining boats and
-jumped in. At that moment the absent Rockledge
-boat appeared around the end of the island, and
-strung behind it, in one, two, three, four order
-were the boats belonging to the Belden boys. The
-latter were marooned.
-
-"We've beaten them this time!" yelled Howell
-Purdy, with delight.
-
-"You bet!" agreed Pee Wee. "We've been
-more'n a year getting them fixed just right.
-'Member, Ginger, I told you and Bobby how those
-Bedlamites stole *all* our boats once? How about
-it now?"
-
-There was great hilarity indeed. The boys
-from Rockledge manned the Belden boats and the
-whole flotilla pulled toward the south shore. At
-this place the lake was quite five miles wide and
-the island was in the middle. So the pull was
-quite arduous.
-
-Besides, the wind had come up and there was a
-threatening black cloud mounting the sky. Soon
-thunder began to mutter in the distance, and the
-lightning tinged the lower edge of this cloud.
-
-The first heavy thunder shower of the season
-was approaching.
-
-As they rowed to the mainland, the Rockledge
-boys could see their enemies standing disconsolately
-on the shore, and wistfully looking after
-their boats.
-
-"They'll get a nice soaking," declared Shiner.
-"Oh! maybe I'm not glad!"
-
-"So am I," said Fred. "And we'll hide these
-boats—eh?"
-
-"Sure," agreed Sparrow Bangs. "I know a
-dandy place right down at the edge of Monckton's
-farm. They wouldn't find them in a week of
-Sundays in the mouth of that creek."
-
-The rain had begun to fall before the boys
-reached the shore. It was a lashing, dashing rain,
-with plenty of thunder and the sharpest kind of
-lightning. Several of the Rockledge boys were
-afraid of thunder and lightning, but they all took
-shelter in an old tobacco barn—the farmers of the
-Connecticut Valley raise a certain quality of
-tobacco.
-
-For an hour the storm continued. Then the
-thunder died away, and the rain ceased. By that
-time it was almost dark, and the boys stood a good
-chance of being belated for supper.
-
-They hid the stolen boats and went home in
-their own. As they rowed steadily down the edge
-of the lake, they looked out across the darkening
-water to the island, and did not see a spark of
-light there.
-
-"Maybe they haven't a match," said Bobby,
-suddenly, after a little silence.
-
-"I should hope not!" snapped Fred.
-
-"Anyway, there's no dry wood after this rain,"
-said his chum.
-
-"Good!" repeated the red-haired one.
-
-"They're going to have a mighty bad time,"
-ruminated Bobby. Fred only grunted, and Bobby
-fell silent.
-
-Just the same, there was a troublesome thought
-in Bobby Blake's mind. He had little to say after
-they got to the school, and remained silent all
-through supper.
-
-The boys had changed their clothes. The
-clouds had blown away and it was a starlit evening.
-They had their choice of playing outside for
-a while, or going to the big study until retiring
-hour.
-
-"I say," said Shiner, going about quickly
-among the Second Dormitory lads, "Bobby wants
-us all in the gym. Something doing."
-
-Jimmy Ailshine was a good Mercury. He got
-most of the boys who had been to the island
-together, in five minutes.
-
-Bobby looked dreadfully serious; Fred was
-scowling; Sparrow looked as though he did not
-know whether to laugh, or not.
-
-"Go on, Bobby!" advised Pee Wee, yawning.
-"What's doing!"
-
-"I'll tell you," shot in Bobby, without a
-moment's hesitation. "We've done an awfully
-mean thing, and we've got to undo it."
-
-"What's *that*?" demanded Howell Purdy, in
-amazement.
-
-"What we did to those Bedlamites," said
-Bobby, firmly. "We mustn't let them stay there
-all night. Some of us have got to take their boats
-back so that they can get ashore."
-
-
-
-
-
-.. vspace:: 4
-
-.. _`GOOD NEWS TRAVELS SLOWLY`:
-
-.. class:: center large
-
- CHAPTER XXIII
-
-
-.. class:: center medium
-
- GOOD NEWS TRAVELS SLOWLY
-
-.. vspace:: 2
-
-The crowd of scatterbrained youngsters were
-smitten speechless for the moment. They stared
-at Bobby Blake, and then looked at each other
-curiously. Pee Wee was the first to find his
-voice.
-
-"Aw, cheese it, Bobby!" he drawled. "You're
-kidding us."
-
-"No. We've done a mean thing. We'll get
-them into trouble over to their school—"
-
-"Good enough!" cried Howell Purdy, in delight.
-
-"And maybe we'll get into trouble because of
-it, too," went on Bobby, seriously. "But whether
-we do, or we don't, we oughtn't to leave those
-fellows over there on the island all night. It's a
-mean trick."
-
-"Say! haven't they played many a mean trick
-on us?" demanded Pee Wee, excitedly.
-
-"That has nothing to do with it," said Bobby,
-still seriously. "It's cold and wet on that island.
-Maybe they are all soaking wet from the
-rain-storm. Suppose they should get cold—all of
-them—some of them—only *one* of them?"
-
-This was rather a grave way to put it. Bobby
-was not much more thoughtful than other boys
-of his age—and he not eleven; but the thing had
-gripped him hard.
-
-"I tell you," he said, quietly, "if none of you
-will go back with me, I'll go alone."
-
-"Shucks!" exclaimed Pee Wee, "you couldn't
-row up there alone, Bobby Blake, let alone
-tugging those four boats after you."
-
-"Well! and he doesn't have to—see?" snapped
-Fred Martin, dragging on his cap over his red
-hair. "I guess *two* of us can do something." He
-grinned rather sheepishly at Bobby.
-
-"Three," said Sparrow Bangs, briefly.
-
-"Me, too," said the Mouser. "You can stay
-home, if you want to, Pee Wee. *I'm* going."
-
-"Oh—very well!" groaned the fat boy. "You
-can count me in."
-
-"And me! And me!" cried several.
-
-In the end there were two boats full of
-volunteers who left the Rockledge boathouse, known
-only to the man who had charge of it, and rowed
-up to Monckton's farm. There they dragged the
-four Belden boats out of the mud, and towed them
-across to the island.
-
-It was pretty dark, for there was no moon. The
-marooned youngsters heard them coming and
-began to shout, believing that it was a rescue party
-from their own school.
-
-Bobby and Fred stood up and yelled to them
-to come down to the shore for their boats. There
-was a good deal of bandying talk, and the two
-sets of boys said some sharp things to each other,
-but they separated without a fight.
-
-"They'll tell, of course, and the Old Doctor
-will make an investigation," said Fred, as they
-pulled for home.
-
-"Sure!" groaned Shiner.
-
-"But it won't be so bad for us as it would have
-been if we'd left them there for their own folks
-to find, and kept their boats hid," Pee Wee
-observed, with more thoughtfulness than he usually
-showed.
-
-"And the Belden boys will be a deal more
-comfortable, eh?" chuckled Bobby.
-
-There *was* an investigation. The Doctor
-conducted it himself. He went "back to the year
-one," as Barry Gray said, and considered all
-the causes of the rivalry between the two schools,
-and what each had done to the other.
-
-The hot potato fight was taken into consideration,
-as well as the fact that the Belden schoolboys
-had once stolen every boat the Rockledge
-boys possessed, and hidden them for a week.
-
-Then he rendered his decision: No party of
-boys without a teacher was to go to any of the
-islands. None of the boys were to venture across
-the lake to the Belden shore.
-
-These decisions were repeated by the head of
-the Belden School, and from that time on there
-was less friction between the two institutions.
-
-But, meanwhile, Dr. Raymond had heard all
-about Bobby Blake's action in the matter of the
-return of the boats to the marooned boys. He
-said nothing to Bobby about it, but he talked with
-his assistants.
-
-This, too, made Bobby more popular with his
-mates. It had been the right thing to do, and,
-after all, boys respect a boy who is willing to do
-the right thing, even if it may make him
-unpopular for the time being.
-
-The popularity that Bobby was winning at
-Rockledge School, however, was of a lasting kind.
-If Bobby said a thing, he meant it. If he made a
-promise, he stuck to it. He was no shirk, and no
-"goody-goody," and it began to be whispered
-around (goodness only knows how the story
-started) that Bobby might have a chance for the
-Medal of Honor if it was not for "Old Leith."
-
-"What's Leith got it in for him for?"
-demanded the hot-headed Fred Martin. "What's
-Bobby ever done to him?"
-
-"Something about Bobby's not giving away a
-fight," said Pee Wee, who had got the news pretty
-straight from a waitress, who had heard
-Mr. Leith and Mr. Carrin talking about it.
-
-"Aw, get out!" muttered Fred, rather abashed.
-He suddenly remembered the fight he had started
-with Sparrow.
-
-"Never was a Lower School boy yet that won
-the medal," said How Purdy.
-
-"But we'd all pull for him—wouldn't we?"
-demanded Mouser. "I like Bob all right."
-
-"I do, too," said Skeets Brody. "He was the
-only fellow that would stay in and play checkers
-with me, when I had the sore throat."
-
-"He's done a lot of things for me," admitted
-Howell. "I haven't forgotten them."
-
-"Well!" sighed Pee Wee. "I couldn't count
-the times Bobby's given me his pudding at supper."
-
-"I guess we all like him," Sparrow said.
-"He's square as he can be. Old Leith hasn't
-anything against him, I don't believe. It's just
-his meanness."
-
-"No," said Pee Wee. "It's because Bobby
-wouldn't tell on somebody. I put it up to Bobby
-myself, and he got mad and told me to mind my
-eye," and the fat boy grinned.
-
-"Well! it gets me," said Shiner. "There
-haven't been many fights this year that Bobby
-could have been in. And he's not quarrelsome."
-
-Fred said nothing. He was thinking hard, and
-from the expression on his face, it was apparent
-that his thoughts were not of a pleasant nature.
-
-Bobby Blake certainly would have been
-surprised, had he known how his mates were talking
-about him. He went on his usual course now-a-days
-without much thought for the Medal of
-Honor.
-
-Only, he did his best. For his absent mother's
-and father's sake, he did his best.
-
-Where were they? The question was with him
-always. Deadened somewhat by time, the pain
-of his loss smarted just the same. He seldom
-mentioned the mystery, even to Fred. Nevertheless,
-there was at least one time in every day
-when he remembered it.
-
-He was as earnest in his prayers at night for
-his parents' safety as ever he had been. He
-believed that some time he should hear good news.
-
-It is famous that bad news travels quickly,
-while good news has leaden feet. It was so in
-this case.
-
-The spring advanced. Mr. and Mrs. Blake had
-sailed from New York early in September, and
-nine months had nearly gone since then. The
-discovery of burned wreckage from the ship on
-which they had sailed was all the news that had
-ever come back to the United States regarding
-it.
-
-There arrived in the port of Baltimore one day
-a bluff-bowed, frowsy-looking old two-stick
-schooner, with a tarnished figure-head under her
-patched bowsprit, dirty sails, and a bottom
-undoubtedly thick with barnacles.
-
-She was the *Ethelina*, and she loafed into her
-dock as though she had never hurried within
-the knowledge of her owners. One of her owners
-stood upon her deck and gave orders—Captain
-Adoniram Speed.
-
-His crew was partly made up of South American
-half-breeds, and the bulk of the crew of the
-steamship on which the Blakes had sailed, so long
-before, from New York.
-
-The captain brought letters for various
-people from a trading station far up a tributary of
-the Amazon. Had not a sharp reporter, nosing
-about for news on the Baltimore docks, gotten
-into conversation with Captain Speed, it is likely
-that the newspapers would never have obtained
-the full story of the loss of the steamship in question.
-
-She had burned only a few hundred miles off
-the mouth of the Amazon. It was rough weather
-at the time and two of the boats' crews and most
-of the passengers had lost their lives before the
-*Ethelina* came loafing along and had taken the
-remainder of the survivors aboard.
-
-The *Ethelina* was bound for an up-river
-station. She had no reason for touching at Para
-or any other big city of Brazil. She kept right
-on her course, and her course chanced to be the
-route to be followed by Mr. and Mrs. Blake, who
-were among the few passengers rescued.
-
-The old hooker sailed up the Amazon, and
-several hundred miles up the tributary on which was
-situated the town of Samratam, which was the
-Blakes' goal.
-
-The Blakes left letters for the captain of the
-*Ethelina* to bring back to civilization. Captain
-Speed had not considered it necessary to hurry
-these letters along.
-
-He had waited to bring them himself, to mail
-at Baltimore. Good news surely had traveled
-slowly in this case. Almost at the time the old
-schooner was being warped into her dock at
-Baltimore, Mr. and Mrs. Blake, in good health,
-expected to leave Samratam for the United States!
-
-The letters came in good time to Clinton, and
-to Rockledge School. Dr. Raymond sat before his
-great, flat-topped desk one warm May morning
-staring at a letter written on thin notepaper, with
-a packet of similar letters, wrapped in an
-oiled-paper wrapper, before him on the desk.
-
-Somehow his spectacles were clouded, and he
-had to take them off and wipe them twice before
-he could finish reading the business-like lines.
-
-The second time he wiped the glasses and set
-them astride his big nose, he saw a small figure
-standing in the open doorway.
-
-"Ha! Robert!" he exclaimed.
-
-"Yes, sir."
-
-"I sent for you, Robert," said the master of
-Rockledge School, in a very gruff voice—gruffer
-than usual, in fact.
-
-"Yes, sir?" returned Bobby, timidly.
-
-In spite of everything, he could not help being
-more than a little frightened of Dr. Raymond.
-He was so big, and he was so gruff when he spoke,
-and he had such searching eyes—usually—when
-he looked at one.
-
-But stop! There was something entirely
-different about Dr. Raymond's eyes on this occasion.
-If Bobby Blake had not known that it was impossible,
-he would have believed that there were tears
-in the Doctor's eyes.
-
-"Robert," the gentleman said, finally, seeming
-to have some difficulty in getting his words out.
-"Robert, did you ever hear the old saying that 'no
-news is good news'?"
-
-Bobby had no answer. His lips opened. He
-really *thought* he said "Yes, sir." But there was
-such a roaring in his ears, and his heart suddenly
-pounded so hard, that he could scarcely hear.
-
-The furniture began to go around him in a sort
-of stately dance—and the good doctor went with
-the furniture! It was very curious. Bobby tried
-to rub his eyes free of the water that welled up,
-with his coat sleeves.
-
-"Yes, Robert; 'no news is good news.' We
-haven't heard for months from those whom we
-wished to hear from. But always I have told you
-to keep up heart—"
-
-Bobby could stand no more. He flung himself
-forward, around the corner of the great desk.
-He grabbed at the Doctor's coatsleeve before he
-could swim away from him again.
-
-"My mother! my father! You've heard—?"
-
-"They're all right, Robert! they're all right!"
-exclaimed the Doctor—and did his voice break
-strangely as he said it? "There, there, my boy!
-They're safe as can be and here's a whole packet
-of letters for you from them. Don't cry, my boy—"
-
-But Bobby wasn't crying. It seemed to him
-that he never should cry again.
-
-"Tell me!" he gasped, still clinging to the
-Doctor's arm. "Did—did she get her feet wet? Or
-is she all right? She didn't get the—the
-bron-skeeters, did she? Father was always afraid of
-that, if she got cold."
-
-
-
-
-
-.. vspace:: 4
-
-.. _`RED HAIR STANDS FOR MORE THAN TEMPER`:
-
-.. class:: center large
-
- CHAPTER XXIV
-
-
-.. class:: center medium
-
- RED HAIR STANDS FOR MORE THAN TEMPER
-
-.. vspace:: 2
-
-June had come. The regatta on Monatook
-Lake was but a few days away; Commencement
-followed. Even the boys of the Lower School
-were working hard to make up lost lessons these days.
-
-Captain Gray was to graduate, and with him
-Max Bender and five of the other big boys.
-There would be at least seven new scholars to
-come to Rockledge the next September, for there
-were never less than fifty boys at the school
-and—as has been said—Dr. Raymond always had a
-waiting list.
-
-Mr. Leith devoted most of his time to the older
-boys; but every fortnight, at least, he went over
-the reports of the entire school. He was a stiff
-and stern master, but he considered himself just.
-For that reason he called Bobby Blake to his
-desk one day and said:
-
-"Robert, I am sorry there is a serious fault
-marked against you. In recitations you have
-done better than any boy in the Lower School
-and better than most in the Upper. But I do not
-like a stubborn boy; we can none of us—we
-teachers, I mean—excuse such a fault as that. I hear
-good reports of you in every direction, and your
-name has been mentioned among the few who
-stand a chance of winning the Medal of Honor.
-
-"It is a most serious matter for a boy to
-refuse to answer proper questions put to him by
-those who have him in charge. You must learn
-this *now*. To obey is your duty. Do you realize
-that?"
-
-"Yes, sir," said Bobby in a low tone, and
-swallowing hard. "I understand, sir."
-
-What he understood was that, if he had been
-willing to tell on his chum, and Shiner, and
-Sparrow, he might have won the medal. *But he could
-not do that*!
-
-He had never thought of taking the matter up
-with Dr. Raymond. An older boy—Captain
-Gray, for instance—might have gone to the
-Doctor and stated his side of the case. But Bobby
-did not question for a moment the right of
-Mr. Leith to put in that report against him.
-
-It was pretty hard for the boy to bear. He
-wanted so much to write his parents that he had
-won the distinction of the gold medal Dr. Raymond
-had shown them on that first day of school.
-The Lower School was solid for Bobby and
-many of the older lads admired the pluck and
-good humor of the boy from Clinton. His
-strongest partisans were Fred Martin and Sparrow
-Bangs, who admired him so much because he was
-so different from themselves, perhaps.
-
-Pee Wee was Bobby's staunch champion, too.
-The fat boy boldly declared his admiration for
-the Clinton boy in any company.
-
-"There isn't another boy like him," Pee Wee
-said in gymnasium one day, when Bobby was
-absent. "Say! there's not one of you big fellows
-but what he's done a favor for—and more than
-once. I say—"
-
-"Come! you needn't froth at the mouth over
-it," growled Max Bender.
-
-"Huh! *you* haven't anything to say against
-Bobby," declared Pee Wee.
-
-"I know I haven't," returned Max, red to his
-ears. "I'd vote for him right now. Barry can't
-get the medal anyway.
-
-"He doesn't stand well enough in Latin and
-physics for one thing," pursued Max. "He
-knows it. Barry's a good fellow, and the Old
-Doc. is proud of him, I reckon; but he never was
-a bone for work."
-
-Pee Wee was inspired by this statement to
-"root" all the harder for Bobby Blake.
-
-"He can get it, I know!" the fat boy kept
-saying. "There isn't another boy in the school
-stands as good a chance."
-
-"But if Mr. Leith is bound not to vote for him,
-what chance is there for Bobby? Tell me that,
-now?" demanded Fred Martin.
-
-"What's Old Leith got against him?" asked
-one of the other boys.
-
-"Oh, it's that fight," said Pee Wee, with a side
-glance at Fred.
-
-"You've said that before," Skeets Brody observed.
-"I don't know about any fight Bobby's
-been in since he came here."
-
-"Oh, *he* wasn't in it," returned Pee Wee.
-
-Fred's face colored deeply. He waited his
-chance and got the fat boy aside. "What's all
-this about Bobby fighting?" he demanded. "You
-know something more than you're telling."
-
-"*You* know," said the fat boy.
-
-"No, I don't!"
-
-"Yes, you do; and Sparrow knows, and Shiner
-knows—"
-
-"That old thing!" exclaimed Fred. "Who
-told you about it? And it happened months ago."
-
-"Old Leith doesn't forget easily. You and
-Sparrow had a scrap, didn't you?"
-
-"Who told you so?"
-
-"Never you mind. I know you are as thick
-as thieves now," grinned Pee Wee. "But there
-was a time when you and Sparrow were going
-to knock each other's heads off. Isn't that so?"
-
-"Aw—it wasn't a fight," growled Fred.
-
-"And Bobby was in it."
-
-"What if he was?"
-
-"Leith knows. He caught Bobby somehow.
-And Bobby wouldn't tell on the rest of you," said
-Pee Wee. "That's how he got in bad with Mr. Leith,
-and it's what is going to keep him out of
-winning that medal—yes, it is!"
-
-"Wow! I didn't know it was like that," gasped
-the red-haired boy. "Bobby ran back for my
-cap. I remember now. I thought Leith only
-punished him by keeping him shut in for three days."
-
-"Huh! that's the *how* of it, is it?"
-
-"He never said a word about it," declared
-Fred, gulping. "He's never peeped that Old
-Leith was holding it up against him."
-
-"I know," declared Pee Wee, nodding. "He
-tried to make Bobby tell on you fellows, and Bobby
-wouldn't. So that busted up his chance of
-getting the medal."
-
-"Why!" murmured Fred, "he's been working
-just as hard for it all the time."
-
-The fat boy seemed to have a little better
-appreciation of Bobby's character than his own chum.
-"Why!" he said. "I reckon Bobby would do his
-best anyway. He's that kind of a fellow."
-
-Fred went to the dressing room and slowly got
-out of his gymnasium suit and stood under the
-shower. He was puzzled and disturbed. It was
-not his way to think very deeply.
-
-But red hair stands for something besides a
-quick temper. Such hair usually belongs to a
-warm heart. Fred, if thoughtless, was as loyal
-to his chum as Damon was to Pythias, and all
-boys have read the story of those famous friends.
-
-Fred had taken it for granted that Bobby's
-punishment, on that long-past occasion, was
-completed when he had remained indoors at
-Mr. Leith's command. Fred did not suppose it had
-gone farther.
-
-Bobby had never said a word. Of course, he
-*would not* have! that was Bobby's way.
-
-It smote Fred Martin hard that if Bobby lost
-his chance to win the medal, it would be partly
-his fault. And Bobby had tried to keep him out
-of the fight with Sparrow, in the first place!
-
-The fight had not done him, or Sparrow, or
-Shiner, a bit of harm. He and Sparrow had been
-the best of friends ever since that day in the
-"bloody corner"! But poor Bobby—
-
-"It's a mean shame," Fred muttered to himself.
-"Old Leith's not fair. What business has
-he got holding that against Bobby! He's
-punishing Bobby for *our* sins. It's a shame!"
-
-Thinking about it, or talking about it, was not
-going to help his chum in the least. Fred had
-been a little afraid that some of the reports that
-had gone home to his father would call forth from
-Mr. Martin sharp criticism. He knew he did not
-stand any too well in his own classes, and in deportment.
-
-He had not been caught in any great fault.
-However, if Mr. Leith knew that he had been
-fighting that day in the corner, it would mean a
-big, black smear on his report for the year.
-That was just as sure as could be.
-
-"And Dad said if I didn't show up good this
-year, he'd take me into the store and make me
-run errands, and send me back to public school,"
-thought Master Fred.
-
-"Gracious! that would leave Bobby here alone.
-Not to come back to Rockledge next fall—"
-
-The red-haired boy could not bear to think of
-such a calamity. It was certainly most awful to
-contemplate.
-
-He got into his clothing and wandered out of
-the gymnasium. Nobody chanced to speak to him
-and he stood on the school steps for some minutes
-turning a very hard problem over in his mind.
-
-And then a thought, like a keen-bladed rapier,
-stabbed Fred right in his most vulnerable
-point—his conscience!
-
-"What does it matter if Bobby *does* appear
-cheerful? *You're wrong*!
-
-"Oh, crickey!" groaned the red-haired boy,
-and he turned square around and climbed the
-steps. With dragging footsteps he made his way
-to Mr. Leith's class-room, where he knew he
-should find the master correcting examination
-papers.
-
-.. vspace:: 2
-
-Pee Wee, having gotten hold of one end of
-the thread, unraveled the whole piece in short
-order. He soon had the truth out of Sparrow and
-Shiner about the long-forgotten fight in "bloody
-corner."
-
-The fat boy was something more than a gossip,
-however. He, whose mind seemed usually interested
-mainly in food, proved that he could think
-of something else.
-
-He wasted little time on the Lower School but
-it was not long before every other boy at
-Rockledge knew how Bobby had pluckily—and
-silently—suffered for the wrong three other boys had
-done.
-
-Pee Wee knew that the threat of the loss of
-the medal had hung over Bobby all the time.
-He—and the other boys, too—knew that Bobby's
-record was otherwise clean.
-
-"Vote for Bobby Blake—he's all right!"
-became the rallying cry all over the school, and
-even Captain Gray took it up.
-
-"You know, fellows," he said to his particular
-chums, "I haven't a ghost of a show for the
-medal. I'd like to get it, but your votes wouldn't
-win it for me. And I declare! beside Bobby, I
-don't think I deserve it."
-
-The boys had a chance to express their
-individual opinion about the winner of the medal by
-secret ballot, several days before the actual vote
-was taken. In this way the teachers learned just
-who was most popular with the boys at large.
-
-A slip was given each boy in class, on which
-was printed "First Choice," "Second Choice,"
-"Third Choice." Every fellow in the Lower
-School wrote Bobby's name against each choice!
-
-And when the teachers, Mr. Leith and Mr. Carrin,
-came to count the votes from the other boys,
-Bobby's name predominated by a good majority.
-There were still some faithful to Barry Gray, and
-one or two other boys were named for the medal;
-but on every slip save two, Bobby's name appeared
-as either first, second, or third choice. Those two
-particular slips did not have Barry Gray's name
-on them, either, and the astute teachers recognized
-the handwriting of Bill Bronson and Jack Jinks!
-
-If, after this first ballot, there were names
-voted for, whose owners could not possibly win
-the medal, because of their standing with the
-teachers, the fact was to be made known by the
-Doctor. The whole school waited, most anxiously,
-for Dr. Raymond's decision in this case.
-
-The regatta came in between. That was the
-great sporting event of the spring between the
-two schools which faced each other on opposite
-sides of Lake Monatook.
-
-There were two-oared races, four-oared races,
-and then the big race of the day—the trial of speed
-between the eight-oared shells. The Rockledge
-boys thought Captain Gray and the others, in
-their white jerseys with a crimson "R" on each
-side, were "a pretty nifty crew," when they
-entered their boat and pushed out to the starter's
-place.
-
-The Belden crew had rowed over from their
-side of the lake. The course was laid on the
-Rockledge side and was two miles in length—a
-mile straight away, then round the post and
-return to the starting point.
-
-The younger boys forgot all other things and
-rooted for Gray and his crew with all the strength
-of their lungs. They were massed on a part of
-the bluff where they could see the whole race,
-and their friends and parents and the townspeople
-were on hand in force to add to the excitement
-of the occasion.
-
-Clinton was too far away for Mr. and Mrs. Martin
-to come to the closing exercises of the
-school. Mr. Martin could not leave his store
-long enough for that, and there were too many
-children at home for Fred's mother to leave for
-over night.
-
-The chums got warm letters from them, and
-there were presents for both Fred and Bobby.
-When the latter saw his mother's handwriting on
-his package, and knew that she had thought of
-this time so long ahead, and prepared for it, he
-was more touched than he had been by the Christmas
-presents that had reached him from the same
-source.
-
-Fred was rather woebegone these last few days.
-"Wow! wait till Dad sees my report," he said,
-hopelessly. "He'll be sorry he sent me this watch
-and chain."
-
-Nevertheless, both lads wore their watches very
-proudly. They were just what they had longed
-for, and although the timepieces were not very
-valuable, they were good, practical instruments.
-
-The boys held them now, as they watched the
-racing shells, and came pretty close to knowing
-by how many seconds the Rockledge crew beat the
-Belden, when the shells raced down to the
-starter's boat.
-
-There was an extra supper that night. Mary
-baked an enormous cake, with candles on it, and
-the date of the winning of the boat race traced
-in pink frosting. This was set down in the
-middle of the upper table, and Captain Gray had the
-honor of cutting it. A good-sized piece was sent
-around to each boy, and Gray was called on for a
-speech.
-
-The handsome, well-dressed lad was not afraid
-to speak in public. He was a bit forward but
-goodhearted. Yet perhaps the Doctor was just
-as well suited that Barrymore Gray should not
-be in line for the Medal of Honor.
-
-There was a certain conceit about his
-character which had always troubled the good doctor;
-yet Barry had carried off the duties of his
-captaincy with success.
-
-Frank Durrock was appointed captain for the
-coming year, and *he* was called on for a speech,
-too, having rowed bow in the winning shell.
-Frank was another sort of a boy. He could only
-nod his thanks and sit down in confusion.
-
-The youngsters cheered Barry and laughed at
-Frank; yet they all liked the latter pretty well, too.
-
-The Doctor himself covered Frank Durrock's
-confusion by making a little speech. His last
-words were: "And now, boys, to-morrow we
-decide upon the winner of the Medal of Honor. All
-electioneering must cease to-night, you know.
-Be prepared to-morrow to settle for yourselves
-who is the most popular candidate. You are dismissed."
-
-
-
-
-
-.. vspace:: 4
-
-.. _`THE WINNER`:
-
-.. class:: center large
-
- CHAPTER XXV
-
-
-.. class:: center medium
-
- THE WINNER
-
-.. vspace:: 2
-
-Pee Wee was so full of tickle that he was not
-sleepy! His father and mother had been up for
-the regatta, and were staying at the Rockledge
-Hotel until the school closed for the year.
-
-Mr. Wise was a rich man and he could afford
-to do about anything that Pee Wee wanted him
-to do. There was something now on Pee Wee's
-mind and, as Fred said, "he'd have to get it out
-of his system or he couldn't go to sleep."
-
-"Wait till the other boys are asleep," whispered
-the fat boy. "I'm going to keep pinching
-Mouser so he'll keep awake. You fellows pinch
-each other."
-
-The beds of Bobby and Fred, and Pee Wee and
-Mouser Pryde, were side by side. It rather
-tickled Bobby and Fred to think they should keep
-each other awake in the way the fat boy suggested;
-but that he carried it out in Mouser's case was
-very evident from the occasional grunts and
-objections from the latter.
-
-The chums from Clinton kept themselves awake
-by asking each other riddles, and telling stories.
-Fred had one "giggly" joke that went as
-follows: "Say, Bobby, do you know they're going
-to close the public library down town?"
-
-"What for?" demanded his chum.
-
-Just then Pee Wee's shrill whisper reached
-them: "Cheese it! Come here, fellows. I have
-something to tell you—honest!"
-
-The dormitory was quite silent, save for the
-four boys in the corner. Fred slipped out of bed
-and Bobby followed him. Pee Wee and Mouser
-were sitting up in their own beds.
-
-"Now listen," whispered the fat boy. "Just
-as soon as school's out, my folks are going to Bass
-Cove. We go there every summer. It's a dandy
-place—you bet!"
-
-"All right. We've heard about that before,"
-said Mouser, yawning. "You might let a fellow
-go to sleep and wait till morning to tell us your
-chestnuts."
-
-"I've a good mind not to tell *you* at all,"
-grunted Pee Wee.
-
-"Say! you're not telling any of us very fast,"
-whispered Fred, giving the fat boy a poke. "Get
-busy! some of the others will wake up."
-
-"I'll tell you," whispered Perry Wise, earnestly.
-"I have the grandest father! He says I
-can have you three down to Bass Cove, if your
-folks will let you come. What do you know about
-*that*?"
-
-"Oh—fine!" gasped Fred, when he could get his
-breath.
-
-All three of the boys had heard about that
-summer place. Pee Wee was never weary of talking
-about it.
-
-"Sure he'll let us come?" demanded Mouser,
-wide awake on the instant.
-
-"That's what I said. I've been asking him in
-my letters. And he saw you to-day—and mother,
-too—and he said 'yes.' He liked you all—'specially
-Bobby—and he says you all can come."
-
-"Say!" gasped Fred. "That'll be great.
-Won't it, Bobby?"
-
-"I should say," admitted his chum. "And I
-was wondering what would become of me before
-my folks got home again."
-
-"We'll go clamming, and crabbing, and fishing,
-and sailing—oh, crickey!" gasped Fred, with his
-head under the bedclothes, "what won't we do?"
-
-"It will be great," admitted Bobby, with a sigh
-of longing. "I just hope your folks will let us go."
-
-This hope was realized, as my readers may
-learn if they meet Bobby and Fred in the next
-volume of this series, entitled: "Bobby Blake at
-Bass Cove; Or, The Hunt for the Motor Boat *Gem*."
-
-The four giggled, and whispered, and talked
-the matter over for another hour before they could
-close their eyes. The outlook for the summer
-vacation was first in their mind, too, when they
-awoke in the morning.
-
-But this was an important day at Rockledge
-School. Even the expected pleasures of a
-summer at Bass Cove must be put temporarily in the
-background.
-
-In the afternoon the graduating exercises were
-to be held—called at Rockledge "the commencement
-exercises." In the evening the boys entertained
-socially all their friends and relatives who
-could or would come to the school.
-
-There was something else—something that
-loomed almost as big to some of them as the
-graduation of the seven head boys.
-
-After breakfast the whole school filed up to the
-big hall. It was a serious occasion, and even
-Fred Martin was not "cutting up" this morning,
-and was one of those who most solemnly reached
-their seats.
-
-All the teachers were sitting on the platform
-with Dr. Raymond. The old captain of the school,
-and the new captain, each stood at a door in the
-back of the room to see that nobody slipped out,
-and to collect ballots when the time came.
-
-"Now, boys," said the good Doctor, rising
-and smiling at the fifty. "This is a serious
-occasion yet it is a happy one, too. It should be
-happy for you all, because your teachers have
-found among you at least one boy who is worthy
-of the high honor of receiving the medal," and
-he displayed the gold star as he had on that first
-day, nine months before.
-
-"It is happy for us on the platform," and he
-made a little bow to the gentlemen with him,
-"because you have found one among you whom so
-many seem to admire. And we know what you
-admire him for.
-
-"It is unhappily impossible for every boy voted
-for to win the medal. That is understood. Not
-alone must he be popular with you all, but he
-must have stood high in every study and in his
-deportment as well. Several of those voted for
-the other day in the informal balloting by the
-school, cannot possibly receive the approval of
-myself and the other masters.
-
-"Master Gray, unfortunately, is not eligible;
-neither is Masters Durrock, Converse, or Spelt.
-There is no dishonor attached to the records of
-these boys, but there are other reasons—reasons
-connected with their standing in class—that make
-it impossible for us teachers to agree on either
-of these names.
-
-"Now, boys, on the ballot now handed around,
-you will have but one choice. And it looks as
-though your choice had already been indicated.
-Let me assure you that, if that is so, your
-teachers are, one and all, in favor of your choice."
-
-There was a murmur of approval—almost a
-cheer—when the doctor had done speaking. Lots
-of the boys turned to smile at Bobby. He
-suddenly found himself very red in the face. Fred
-looked delighted. Pee Wee could scarcely keep
-in his seat.
-
-Barry Gray and Frank Durrock passed the
-papers swiftly, and gathered them again in a few
-minutes. That the school was almost unanimous
-could not be doubted.
-
-Mr. Leith and Mr. Carrin counted the slips.
-There was a bunch of them on one side of the
-table and only a few on the other side. The
-doctor rose, smiling with satisfaction.
-
-"My dear boys!" he said, ringingly. "It is a
-joy to me to find you so nearly unanimous. And
-you have chosen the boy of whom, above all others,
-we approve.
-
-"Robert Blake! stand up."
-
-*Then* they cheered. It was impossible to
-silence the Lower School, at least, for fully three
-minutes. Bobby stood, blushing and trembling
-during this "unseemly riot."
-
-"Robert," said Dr. Raymond, quietly, at last,
-"you have been a good boy here, and an
-exceptionally faithful scholar. I have watched your
-course for the year with interest. You have won
-out under circumstances that were most trying.
-
-"You boys have a code of morals of your own.
-I know it. 'Thou Shalt Not Tell Tales' seems
-greater to you than any other commandment.
-And I confess I do not uphold the tale-bearer.
-
-"If a boy does wrong, he should tell on himself.
-*That* is being honorable. Especially if he
-knows that because of his wrong-doing any other
-fellow is suffering.
-
-"You all know that Robert bore a burden of
-punishment for months which he did not really
-deserve. There is another among you, however—and
-I'm proud of him!" and the doctor flashed
-a single glance toward Fred Martin's red hair
-and red face, "who came forward when he
-understood, and did his all to remove the black mark
-from Robert's record.
-
-"It makes me happy to know that I have such
-boys as these in Rockledge School. I do not
-believe there are fifty boys anywhere—in any
-school—any finer than *my* boys," declared the Doctor,
-with growing enthusiasm.
-
-"And I have never presented the Medal of
-Honor to any of my boys with greater pride than
-I shall feel when I pin this star upon Robert
-Blake's coat this afternoon."
-
-The school cheered again. Even Mr. Leith
-smiled at the enthusiasm displayed by the
-youngsters. They formed in line, Barry and Frank
-Durrock lifted Bobby to their shoulders, and the
-procession marched down stairs and out, and
-around the campus.
-
-Bobby felt terribly disturbed. It seemed to
-him as though his ears would never stop burning.
-
-They made too much of it. He was delighted
-that he could tell his mother and father of his
-success, and show them the gold star. But he
-could not see just how he had won it, nor how
-he had won the boys' enthusiastic approval.
-
-There was another honor for him, too. He was
-selected as one of the new members of the school
-secret order—The Sword and Star. *That* went
-with the winning of the medal without question.
-
-"Wow!" sighed Pee Wee, "he can hit as hard
-as any fellow in the Lower School, when he boxes.
-And he's good fun, and is not afraid to get into
-a game of fun, even if the teachers scowl on it
-a little."
-
-"Huh! I guess not," grunted Fred. "That's
-right about Bobby. He's not afraid of *any*\thing.
-That is, he's not afraid to do anything that isn't
-mean."
-
-And that being a most just expression of his
-character, we will say good-by for the present to
-Bobby Blake and his friends.
-
-.. vspace:: 4
-
-.. class:: center medium
-
- THE END
-
-.. vspace:: 6
-
-.. pgfooter::
diff --git a/39799-rst/images/img-cover.jpg b/39799-rst/images/img-cover.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 79da857..0000000 --- a/39799-rst/images/img-cover.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/39799.txt b/39799.txt deleted file mode 100644 index f4f62a5..0000000 --- a/39799.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,7304 +0,0 @@ - BOBBY BLAKE AT ROCKLEDGE SCHOOL - - - - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost -no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it -under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this -eBook or online at http://www.gutenberg.org/license. - - - -Title: Bobby Blake at Rockledge School - or Winning the Medal of Honor -Author: Frank A. Warner -Release Date: June 03, 2013 [EBook #39799] -Language: English -Character set encoding: US-ASCII - - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BOBBY BLAKE AT ROCKLEDGE -SCHOOL *** - - - - -Produced by Al Haines. - - - BOBBY BLAKE - - at Rockledge School - - - _By_ - FRANK A. WARNER - - _Author of_ - "BOBBY BLAKE AT BASS COVE" - "BOBBY BLAKE ON A CRUISE," Etc. - - - - WHITMAN PUBLISHING CO. - RACINE, WISCONSIN - - - - - Copyright, MCMXV, by - BARSE & CO. - - - - Printed in the United States of America - - - - - CONTENTS - -CHAPTER - - I. "The Overland Limited" - II. Apples and Applethwaite Plunkit - III. Fred in Trouble - IV. An Eventful Afternoon - V. The Tale of a Scarecrow - VI. A Fish Fry and a Startling Announcement - VII. Financial Affairs - VIII. The Peep-Show - IX. Off for Rockledge - X. New Surroundings - XI. Getting Acquainted - XII. In the Dormitory - XIII. The Poguey Fight - XIV. The Honor Medal - XV. Getting Into Step - XVI. Hot Potatoes - XVII. Lost at Sea - XVIII. The Bloody Corner - XIX. The Result - XX. On the Brink of War - XXI. Give and Take - XXII. What Bobby Said - XXIII. Good News Travels Slowly - XXIV. Red Hair Stands for More Than Temper - XXV. The Winner - - - - - BOBBY BLAKE AT ROCKLEDGE SCHOOL - - - - CHAPTER I - - "THE OVERLAND LIMITED" - - -A boy of about ten, with a freckled face and fiery red hair cropped -close to his head, came doubtfully up the side porch steps of the Blake -house in Clinton and peered through the screen door at Meena, the -Swedish girl. - -Meena was tall and rawboned, with very red elbows usually well -displayed, and her straw-colored hair was bound in a tight "pug" on top -of her long, narrow head. Meena had sharp blue eyes and she could see -boys a great way off. - -"Mis' Blake--she ban gone out," said Meena, before the red-haired boy -could speak. "You vant somet'ing? No?" - -"I--I was looking for Bobby," said the visitor, stammeringly. He and -Mrs. Blake's Swedish girl were not on good terms. - -"I guess he ban gone out, too," said Meena, who did not want to be -"bothered mit boys." - -The boy looked as though he thought she was a bad guesser! Somewhere -inside the house he heard a muffled voice. It shouted: - -"Whoo! whoo! whoo-whoo-who-o-o-o!" - -The imitation of a steam whistle grew rapidly nearer. It seemed to be -descending from the roof of the house--and descending very swiftly. -Finally there came a decided bang--the landing of a pair of well-shod -feet on the rug--and the voice rang out: - -"All out! All out for last stop! All out!" - -"_That's_ Bobby," suggested the boy with the red hair, looking wistfully -into Meena's kitchen. - -"Vell!" ejaculated the girl. "You go in by the dining-room door, I -guess. You not go to trapse through my clean kitchen. Vipe your feet, -boy!" - -The boy did as he was bade, and opened the dining-room door. A steady -footstep was thumping overhead, rising into the upper regions of the -three-story house. - -The red-haired youngster knew his way about this house just as well as -he knew his own. Only he tripped over a corner of the dining-room rug -and bumped into two chairs in the darkened living-room before he reached -the front hall. - -This was wide and was lighted above by ground-glass oval windows on all -three flights of stairs. The mahogany balustrade was in a single smooth -spiral, broken by no ornament. It offered a tempting course from garret -to ground floor to any venturesome small boy. - -"All aboard!" shouted the voice overhead. - -"The Overland Limited," said the red-haired boy, grinning, and squinting -up the well. - -"Ding-dong! ding-dong! All aboard for the Overland Limited! This way! -No stop between Denver and Chicago! All aboard!" - -There was a scramble above and then the exhaust of the locomotive was -imitated in a thin, boyish treble: - -"Sh-h! sh-h! sh-h! Choo! choo! choo! Ding-dong-ding! We're off--" - -A figure a-straddle the broad banister-rail shot into view on the upper -flight. The momentum carried the boy around the first curve and to the -brink of the second pitch. Down that he sped like an arrow, and so -around to the last slant of the balustrade. - -"Next stop, Chi-ca-_go_!" yelled the boy on the rail. "All o-o-out! all -out for Chicago!" - -And then, bang! he landed upon the hall rug. - -"How'd you know the board wasn't set against you, Bobby?" demanded the -red-haired one. "You might have had a wreck." - -"Hello, Fred Martin. If I'd looked around and seen your red head, I'd -sure thought they'd flashed a danger signal on me--though the Overland -Limited is supposed to have a clear track, you know." - -Fred jumped on him for that and the two chums had a wrestling match on -the hall rug. It was, however, a good-natured bout, and soon they sat -side by side on the lower step of the first flight, panting, and grinned -at each other. - -Bobby's hair was black, and he wore it much longer than Fred. To tell -the truth, Fred had the "Riley cut," as the boys called it, so that his -hair would not attract so much attention. - -Fred had all the temper that is supposed to go with red hair. Perhaps -red-haired people only seem more quick tempered because everybody "picks -on them" so! Bobby was quite as boisterous as his chum, but he was more -cautious and had some control over his emotions. Nobody ever called -Bobby Blake a coward, however. - -He was a plump-cheeked, snub-nosed boy, with a wide, smiling mouth, -dancing brown eyes, and an active, sturdy body. Like his chum, he was -ten years old. - -"Thought you had to work all this forenoon, cleaning the back yard?" -said Bobby. "That's why I stayed home. 'Fraid some of the other -fellows would want me to go off with them, and we agreed to go to -Plunkit's Creek this afternoon, you know." - -"You bet you!" agreed Fred. "I got a dandy can of worms. Found 'em -under that pile of rubbish in the yard when I hauled it out." - -"But you haven't cleared up all that old yard so soon?" determined -Bobby, shaking his head. - -Fred grinned again. "No," he said. "I caught Buster Shea. He's a good -fellow, Buster is. I got him to do it for me, and paid him a cent, and -my ten glass agates, and two big alleys, and a whole cage-trap full o' -rats--five of them--we caught in our barn last night. He's goin' to -take 'em home and see if he can tame 'em, like Poley Smith did." - -"Huh!" snorted Bobby, "Poley's are _white_ rats. You can't tame reg'lar -rats." - -"That wasn't for me to tell him," returned Fred, briskly. "Buster -thinks he can. And, anyway, it was a good bargain without the rats. -He'll clean the yard fine." - -"Then let's get a lunch from Meena and I'll find my fish-tackle, and -we'll start at once," exclaimed Bobby, jumping up. - -"Ain't you got to see your mother first?" - -"She knows I'm going. She won't mind when I go, as long as I get back -in time for supper. And then--she ain't so particular 'bout what I do -just now," added Bobby, more slowly. - -"Jolly! I wish my mother was like that," breathed Fred, with a sigh of -longing. - -"Huh! I ain't so sure I like it," confessed Bobby. "There's somethin' -goin' on in this house, Fred." - -"What do you mean?" demanded his chum, staring at him. - -"Pa and mother are always talkin' together, and shutting the door so I -can't come in. And they look troubled all the time--I see 'em, when -they stare at me so. Something's up, and I don't know what it is." - -"Mebbe your father's lost all his money and you'll have to go down and -live in one of those shacks by the canal--like Buster Shea's folks," -exclaimed the consoling Fred Martin. - -"No. 'Tain't as bad as that, I guess. Mother's gone shopping for a lot -of new clothes to-day--I heard her tell Pa so at breakfast. So it ain't -money. It--it's just like it is before Christmas, don't you know, Fred? -When folks are hiding things around so's you won't find 'em before -Christmas morning, and joking about Santa Claus, and all that." - -"Crickey! Presents?" exclaimed Fred. "'Tain't your birthday coming, -Bob?" - -"No. I had my birthday, you know, two months ago." - -"What do you s'pose it can be, then?" - -"I haven't a notion," declared Bobby, shaking his head. "But it's -something about me. Something's going to happen me--I don't know what." - -"Bully!" shouted Fred, suddenly smiting him on the shoulder. "Do you -suppose they're going to let you go to Rockledge with me this fall?" - -"Rockledge School? No such luck," groaned Bobby. "You see, mother -won't hear of that. Your mother has a big family, Fred, and she can -spare you--" - -"Glad to get rid of me for a while, I guess," chuckled the red-haired -boy. - -"Well, my mother isn't. So I can't go to boarding school with you," -sighed Bobby. - -"Well," said the restless Fred, "let's get a move on us if we're going -to Plunkit's." - -"We must get some lunch," said Bobby, starting up once more. "Say! has -Meena got the toothache again?" - -"She didn't have her head tied up. But she's real cross," admitted -Fred. - -"She'll have the toothache if I ask for lunch, I know," grumbled Bobby. -"She always does. She says boys give her the toothache." - -Nevertheless, he led the way to the kitchen. There the tall, angular -Swede cast an unfavorable light blue eye upon them. - -"I ban jes' clean up mine kitchen," she complained. - -"We just want a lunch to take fishing, Meena," said Master Bobby, -hopefully. - -"You don't vant loonch to fish mit," declared Meena. "You use vor-rms." - -Fred giggled. He was always giggling at inopportune times. Meena -glared at him with both light blue eyes and reached for the red flannel -bandage she always kept warm back of the kitchen range. - -"I ban got toothache," she said. "I can't vool mit boys," and she -proceeded to tie the long bandage around her jaws and tied it so that -the ends--like long ears--stood right up on top of her head. - -"But you can give us just a little," begged Bobby. "We won't be back -till supper time." - -This seemed to offer some comfort to the hard-working girl, and she -mumbled an agreement, while she shuffled into the pantry to get the -lunch ready. She did not speak English very well at any time, and when -her face was tied up, it was almost impossible to understand her. - -Sometimes, if Meena became offended, she would insist upon waiting on -table with this same red bandage about her jaws--even if the family had -company to dinner! But in many ways she was invaluable to Mrs. Blake, -so the good lady bore Meena's eccentricities. - -By and by the Swedish girl appeared with a box of luncheon. The boys -dared not peek into it while they were under her eye, but they thanked -her and ran out of the house. Fred was giggling again. - -"She looks just like a rabbit--all ears--with that thing tied around her -head," he said. - -"Whoever heard of a rabbit with red ears?" scoffed Bobby. - -He was investigating the contents of the lunch box. There were nice ham -sandwiches, minced eggs with mayonnaise, cookies, jumbles, a big piece -of cheese, and two berry tarts. - -"Oh, Meena's bark is always worse than her bite," sighed Bobby, with -thanksgiving. - -"And _this_ bite is particularly nice, eh?" said Fred, grinning at his -own pun. - -"Guess we won't starve," said Bobby. - -"Besides, there is a summer apple tree right down there by the -creek--don't you know? If the apples are all yellow, you can't eat -enough to hurt you. If they are half yellow it'll take a lot to hurt -you. If they're right green and gnarly, about two means a hurry-up call -for Dr. Truman," and Fred Martin spoke with strong conviction, having -had experience in the matter. - - - - - CHAPTER II - - APPLES AND APPLETHWAITE PLUNKIT - - -Bobby found the little grape basket in which he kept his fishing-tackle -on a beam in the woodshed. Clinton was an old fashioned town, and few -people as yet owned automobiles. There were, therefore, not many -garages, but plenty of rambling woodsheds and barns. When all the barns -are done away with and there are nothing but garages left, boys will -lose half their chance for fun! - -The Blakes' shed, and the stable and barn adjoining, offered a splendid -play-place in all sorts of weather for Bobby and his friends. There -were a pair of horses and a cow in the stable, too. Michael Mulcahey was -the coachman, and he liked boys just as much as Meena, the Swedish girl, -disliked them. This fact was ever a bone of contention between the old -coachman and Meena. Otherwise Michael and Meena might have gotten -married and gone to housekeeping in the little cottage at the back of -the Blake property, facing on the rear street. - -"He ban _in_-courage them boys in their voolishness," accused Meena. -"Me, I don't vant no boys aroundt. Michael, he vould haf the house -overrun mit boys. So ve don't get married." - -Just now Michael was not at the barn. He had driven Mrs. Blake to the -neighboring city in the light carriage, on her shopping trip. Bobby and -Fred trailed through the back gate and down the lane, leaving the gate -open. Later Meena had to run out and chase the chickens out of the -tomato patch. Then she tied the red bandage in a harder knot and -prepared to show herself a martyr to her mistress when it came supper -time. - -Back of the Blake house the narrow street cut into a road that led right -out into the country. There were plenty of houses lining this road at -first, but gradually the distance between them became greater. - -Likewise the dust in the road grew deeper. It was not a way attractive -to automobiles, and it had not been oiled as were many of the Clinton -streets. - -"Let's take off our shoes and stockings and save our shoes," suggested -Fred. "We'll go in swimmin' before we come back, so we'll be all -clean." - -"Let's," agreed Bobby, and they sat down at once and accomplished the -act in a few moments. They stuffed their stockings into their shoes, -tied the laces together and slung them about their necks. The shoes -knocked against their shoulder-blades as they trotted on, their bare -feet scuffing up little clouds of dust. - -"We raise a lot of dust--just like the Overland Limited," said Bobby, -looking back. Bobby had once travelled west with his parents, and they -had come back by way of Denver. He had never forgotten his long ride in -that fast train. - -"Go ahead!" declared Fred. "_I'm_ the Empire State. You got to get up -some speed to beat _me_." - -A minute later two balloons of dust could have been seen hovering over -the road to the creek--the boys were shrouded in them. They ran, -scuffing, as hard as they could run, and kicked up an enormous cloud of -dust. - -They stopped at the stile leading into Plunkits' lower pasture. The -boys from town never went near the farmhouse. Plunkits' was a big farm, -and this end of it was not cultivated. If they went near the truck -patches, somebody would be sure to chase them. There always had been a -feud between the Clinton boys and the Plunkit family. - -But there wasn't a swimming hole anywhere around the town--or a fishing -stream--like the creek. The Plunkits really had no right to drive -anybody away from the stream, for the farm bordered only one side of it. -The city boys could go across and fish from the other side all they -wanted to. That had been long since decided. - -The best swimming hole was below the boundary of the Plunkit land, -anyway, but this path across the pasture was a short-cut. - -"If we see that Applethwaite Plunkit and his dog, what are we going to -do?" asked Fred, as they trotted along the sidehill path, white with -road dust from head to foot. - -"Nothing. But if he sees us, that's another matter," chuckled Bobby. - -"All right. You're the smart one. But what will we do?" - -"Run, if he isn't too near," said Bobby, practically. - -"And suppose he _is_ too near?" - -"Guess we'll have to run just the same," returned Bobby, thoughtfully. -"He can lick either of us, Fred. And with the dog he can lick us both -at once. That dog is real savage. He's made him so, Ap Plunkit has." - -"I bet we could pitch on Ap and fix him," said the combative Fred. - -"Now, you just keep out of trouble if you can, Fred Martin," advised -Bobby, cautiously. "You know--if you get into a fight, you'll catch it -when you get home. Your father will be sure to hear of it." - -"Well! what am I going to do if they pitch on me?" demanded Fred. - -"'Turn the other cheek,'" chuckled Bobby, "like Miss Rainey, our -Sunday-school teacher, says." - -"Huh! that's all right. A fellow's got two cheeks; but if you get a -punch in the nose, you can't turn your other nose--you haven't one! So -now!" declared the very literal and pugnacious Fred. - -Just then they came close enough to the creek to see the willows along -the hank. At the corner of the Plunkit fence there stood a big apple -tree--a "summer sweetnin'" as the country folk called it. - -"Scubbity-_yow_!" ejaculated Fred Martin. "See those apples? And -they're _yellow_!" - -"Some of them are," admitted his chum. - -"More'n half of them, I declare. Say! we're going to have a feast, Bob. -Come on!" - -Bobby grabbed him by the sleeve. "Hold on! don't go so fast, Fred," -exclaimed the brown-eyed boy. "Those apples aren't ours." - -"But they're going to be," returned Fred, grinning. - -"Now, you don't mean that," said Bobby, seriously. "You know you -mustn't climb that tree, or pick apples on _this_ side of the fence. -Here's where we crawl through. Now! lots of the limbs overhang this -other side of the fence--and there's a lot of ripe apples on the -ground." - -"Pshaw! the Plunkits would never know," complained Fred. But he -followed Bobby through the break in the pasture fence, just the same. - -Bobby was just as much fun as any boy in Clinton; Fred knew _that_. Yet -Bobby was forever "seeing consequences." He kept them both out of -trouble very often by seeing ahead. Whereas Fred, left to himself, never -would stop to think at all! - -They had come two miles and a half. Where were there ever two boys who -could walk as far as that without "walking up an appetite"? - -"My goodness me, Fred!" exclaimed Bobby, as they came to the clear-water -creek in which the pebbles and sand were plainly visible on the bottom. -"My goodness me, Fred! aren't you dreadfully hungry?" - -"I could eat the label off this tomato can--just like a goat!" declared -Fred, shaking the can which held the fishworms before his chum's face -and eyes. - -"Then let's eat before we bait a hook," suggested Bobby. "I don't care -if Meena _does_ have the toothache. She makes de-lic-ious sandwiches." - -"Scubbity-_yow_! I should say she did," agreed Fred, sitting down -cross-legged on the grass under a spreading oak that here broke the -hedge of willows bordering the stream. - -The boys soon had their mouths full. It was not yet noon, but the sun -was high in the heavens, and it twinkled down at them between the -interlacing leaves and twigs of the oak. A little breeze played with -the blades of grass. A thrush sang his heart out, swinging on a cane -across the stream. A locust whirred like a policeman's rattle in a tall -poplar a little way down the creek. In the distance a crow cawed lazily -as he winged his way across a field, early plowed for grain. - -"This is a fine place," said Bobby. "I just love the country." - -"This is the way it is at Rockledge," declared Fred, proudly. - -"How do you know? You've never been there." - -"But Sam Tillinghast, who comes to see us once in a while, went to -Rockledge before he went to college. He says Rockledge is right up on a -bluff overlooking Monatook Lake, and that a fellow can have more fun -there than a box of monkeys!" - -"I never had a box of monkeys," said Bobby, grinning, and with his mouth -full. - -"That's all right. I wish you were going," said Fred, wagging his head. -"Don't you suppose that's what's the matter at your house--what your pa -and your mother are thinking about?" - -"No," said Bobby, wagging his head, sadly. "I guess it ain't nothing as -good as going to boarding school. You see, they look so solemn when I -catch them staring at me." - -"Maybe you've done something and they are thinking of punishing you?" -suggested Fred. - -"No. I haven't done a thing. I really haven't! I'd thought of that, -and I just went back over everything I've done this vacation, and I -can't think of a thing," decided Bobby, reflectively. - -"Well, if it's something bad, you'll find out soon enough what it is," -said Fred, playing a regular Job's comforter. - -"And if it is something _good_, I suppose they'll worry me to death--or -pretty near--too, eh!" - -"Mebbe if we could find a Gypsy woman she'd tell your fortune and you'd -know," said Fred. - -"Yah! I don't believe in such stuff," declared Bobby. "You remember -that old woman that came around selling baskets last spring and wheedled -that ten cents out of you? She only told you that you were going to -cross water and have a great change on the other side." - -"Well, she knew!" exclaimed Fred, earnestly. "Didn't I fall into the -canal the very next day and have to swim across it; and you brought me a -change of clothing from home? Huh! I guess that old woman hit it about -right," declared the red-haired boy, with conviction. - -Bobby chuckled a long time over this. It amused him a great deal. He -and his chum had eaten up nearly the whole of Meena's luncheon--and she -had not been niggardly with it, either. - -"I'm going to have some of those apples," declared Fred. "Come on." - -"All right," agreed Bobby, who had no compunctions about taking the -apples on this side of the fence. He believed that the Plunkits had no -claim upon the fruit that overhung somebody else's land! That is the -usual belief of small boys in the country, whether it is legally -correct, or not. - -When the chums bit into the yellow apples on the ground they found that -almost every one had been seized by a prior claimant. Fred bit right -through a soft, white worm! - -"Oh! oh! oh!" exclaimed the red-haired boy, and ran down to the creek's -edge to rinse his mouth. "Isn't that awful?" - -"Don't bite blindly," advised Bobby, chuckling. "You were too eager." - -"I'm going to have a decent apple," declared Fred, coming back. - -He jumped up, seized one of the lower branches of the apple tree, and -scrambled up to a seat on a strong limb. Several tempting looking -"summer sweetnin's" were within his reach. He seized one, looked it all -over for blemishes and, finding none, set his teeth in it. - -"How is it?" asked Bobby, biting carefully around a wormy apple. - -"Fine," returned his chum, and tossed Bobby an apple he plucked. - -At that very moment a voice hailed them from a distance, and a dog -barked. "There's that Applethwaite Plunkit and his dog," gasped Bobby. - -"Sure it is," said Fred, turning his gaze upon the lanky boy of twelve, -or so, and the big black and brown dog that were running together across -the pasture. - -"Now we're in for it!" exclaimed Bobby, somewhat worried. - - - - - CHAPTER III - - FRED IN TROUBLE - - -Fred sat kicking his bare heels together and grinning over the fence at -the Plunkit boy and his dog. - -"Get down out of that tree--you!" exclaimed the Plunkit boy. - -"Who says so?" demanded Fred. - -"_I_ do." - -"Well, say it again," responded Master Fred, in a most tantalizing way. -"I like to hear you." - -Applethwaite Plunkit was not a nice looking boy at all. He had -perfectly white hair, but he wasn't an albino, for albinoes have -pink-rimmed eyes. His eyes were very strange looking, however, for they -were not mates. One was one color, and one was another. - -There are many such afflicted people in the world; usually they have one -gray eye and one brown one. But Ap Plunkit had one eye that was of a -sickly brown color, while the other was of a sickly green. That means -that the "whites" of his mismated eyes were yellowish in hue. - -Perhaps, because of this misfortune, the other boys plagued him, and -that had soured his temper. He was very angry with Fred. - -"Get out of that tree, you red-headed monkey!" he shouted, "or I'll set -my dog on you!" - -"I won't do it, you white-headed donkey--and your dog can't get me; not -unless he can climb a tree," added Fred, grinning again. - -"I'll come over there and knock you out of it," threatened Ap. - -"I'd like to see you do it," responded Fred, swinging his feet again. - -"I'll show you!" cried Ap, and he started for the hole in the fence. -"Come on, Rove!" he called to the dog. - -The big dog followed his master. He was part Newfoundland and would -have made a fine playmate for any boy, if he had not been trained to be -ugly with all strangers. When he got through the fence and saw Bobby -standing idly by, he growled at him. - -"Look out, Bob!" shouted Fred. "He'll bite you." - -"I'm not doing anything," said Bobby Blake. "And you had better not set -your dog on me, Plunkit." - -"You fellers are too fresh," said the farm boy. "My father says you're -not to come around here--" - -"Your father doesn't own this land, and your father doesn't own this -creek," whipped in Fred, from the branch. - -"You fellers came across our land to get here," declared Ap. - -"How do you know _that_, Mr. Smartie?" asked Fred. He had just finished -eating an apple. He threw the core at the dog and hit him on the nose. -Rover growled and then jumped up and snapped at Master Fred's bare -heels. - -"Scubbity-_yow_!" shrieked the daring Fred, kicking up his heels -excitedly. "Didn't get me that time, did you? I'm not _your_ meat." - -"You stop that, Ap," ordered Bobby. "Call off your dog." - -He had not been altogether idle. There was a heavy club of hard wood -lying nearby, and he seized it. - -"He'd better get down out of that tree or Rove will eat him up," said -Ap, boastfully. - -"Those branches overhang this land. The apples don't belong to you any -more than they do to us," said Bobby, and he thought he was quite right -in saying so. - -"Yah!" scoffed Ap. "He had to climb the tree-trunk to get there, and -the tree's on _our_ side of the fence." - -"Didn't neither, Mr. Smartie!" cried Fred, in delight. "I jumped up and -grabbed a limb, and pulled myself up. Have an apple?" and he aimed one -of the hard, green ones at Ap. - -"Don't you do that, Fred!" called up Bobby, in haste. - -"Well, then, I'll give it to the dog," said Fred, throwing the apple to -Rover. - -"You come down out of that tree, and you stop pelting my dog!" commanded -Applethwaite Plunkit. - -"Yes--I--will!" responded Fred, biting into another apple. - -"Well! I'll lick one of you, anyway!" exclaimed Ap, who had been slily -stepping nearer. - -And immediately he threw himself on Bobby. He caught the latter so -unexpectedly that he couldn't have used the club had he wished to. - -"Come on, Rove!" shrieked Ap. "Bite him, boy--bite him!" - -"You stop that!" shouted the red-haired boy in the tree. "Bobby hasn't -done a thing--" - -The dog growled and ran around the two struggling boys. Perhaps he was -looking for a chance to bite his master's antagonist. At least, it -looked so. - -Bobby Blake, although never a quarrelsome lad, was no mollycoddle. -Attacked as he had been, he struggled manfully to escape the bigger boy. -He dropped the club, but he tore off Ap's hat and flung it into the -creek. - -"Go for it, sir! After it!" he screamed, and Rover heard him and saw -the hat. That was one of the dog's accomplishments. He was a -Newfoundland, and retrieving articles from the water was right in his -line. - -He barked and bounded to the edge of the steep bank. He evidently -considered that, after all, his master and Bobby were only playing, and -this part of the play he approved of. - -The instant Bobby heard the splash of the big dog into the water, he -twisted in Ap's grasp, tripped him, and fell on top of the larger boy. - -"Oh! oh! oh!" gasped Ap. "You're hurtin' me--you're killin' me! I -can't breathe--" - -"Scubbity-_yow_!" yelled Fred, giving voice to his favorite battle-cry, -and he dropped from the apple tree, running to Bobby's help. - -But Bobby got up and released the bawling farm-boy at once. "Come on, -Fred," he said. "Let's get out o' here." - -"Why, you got the best of him!" cried Fred, in disgust. "Let's duck -him! Let's throw him in after his old dog." - -"No you don't," declared Bobby, seizing Fred's hand. "We're going to -get out while we have the chance. I only tripped him and got the dog -out of the way so you could escape." - -"Huh!" exclaimed Fred. "I didn't get as many apples as I wanted." - -"I don't care. You come on," said his chum. - -"Whoever heard of the winning side giving way like this?" grumbled the -red-haired boy. "Anyway," he added, picking up the club Bobby had lost, -"if that dog comes after us, I'll hit him." - -Bobby picked up the box containing the remainder of their luncheon, and -led the way through the bushes. The dog had come ashore, and it and Ap -Plunkit were quickly out of sight. Fred was still grumbling about -leaving the foe to claim "the best of it." - -"He'll pitch on us next time, just the same," he declared. "Why didn't -you punch him when you had him down, Bob?" - -"Aw, come on!" said his chum. "Always wanting to get into a fight. You -keep that up when you get to Rockledge School, and you'll be in hot -water all the time." - -"Shucks!" grinned Fred. "I'd like to be in _cold_ water right now. The -swimming hole isn't far away. Let's." - -"We can't go in but once--you know we can't," said Bobby. - -"Why not?" demanded Fred, quickly. - -"Because we promised our mothers we wouldn't go in but once a day this -vacation." - -"Huh! That ain't saying but what we can take off our clothes and put on -our swimming trunks, and stay in all day long." - -"That would be just as dishonest as going in two or three times, Fred," -exclaimed Bobby. "And you wouldn't do it. Besides," he added, grinning; -"you know you tried that _last_ summer, and 'member what you got for -it?" - -"You bet you!" exclaimed the red-haired one. "I got sunburned something -fierce! No. I won't do _that_ again. That's the day we built the raft -on Sanders' Pond, and oh, how I hurt! I guess I do remember, all -right." - -"No," said Bobby, after a minute. "We'll go fishing first, and then -take a swim before we go home. That'll clean us up, and make us feel -fresh. There's that old stump again, Fred. I believe there's a big -trout lives under that stump. Don't you 'member! We've seen him jump." - -"Ya-as," scoffed Fred. "But that old fellow won't jump for a worm. -He's had too many square meals this summer, don't you know? It'll take -a fancy fly, like those my Uncle Jim uses when he goes fishing, to coax -Mr. Trout out of the creek." - -"I'm going to try," said Bobby, who could be obstinate in his opinion. - -"I'll be satisfied if I catch a shiner," declared Fred. "I'll try off -that rock yonder. Come on! There's a couple of dandy fishpoles." - -Like real country boys, Bobby and Fred cut poles each time they went -fishing. No need to carry them back and forth to their homes in Clinton -and it did not take five minutes to cut and rig these poles. - -"What nice, fat worms," said Bobby, when Fred shook up the tomato can. - -"That's what the robin said," chuckled Fred. "Know what my sister, -Betty, said yesterday morning? You know it rained the night before and -the robins were picking up worms on the lawn right early--before -breakfast. - -"Bet was at the window and one fat robin picked up a worm, swallowed it, -and flew right up into a tree where he began to sing like sixty! Bet -says: - -"'Oh! that robin gives me the _squirms_; how can he sing that way when -he's all full of those crawly things?'" - -"Now hush!" ordered Bobby, the next moment. "I'm going to drop this nice -fellow right down beside that stump and see if I can coax Mr. Trout up." - -But Mr. Trout did not appear. Bobby, with exemplary patience, tried it -again and again. He changed his bait and dropped a fresh worm into the -brown, cloudy water where he believed the trout lay. - -"You're not fishing," chuckled Fred, from his station on the rock, a few -yards away. "You're just drowning worms." - -"Huh!" returned Bobby. "I don't see any medals on _you_. You haven't -caught anything." - -"But I'm going to!" whispered Fred, swiftly, and holding his pole with -sudden attention. - -Then, with a nervous jerk, he flung up the pole. Hook and sinker came -with it, and a tiny, wriggling, silver fish, about a finger long, shot -into the air. But Fred had not been careful to select his stand, and he -drove his line and fish up among the branches of a tree. - -"Now you've done it--and likely scared my trout," exclaimed Bobby. - -Fred, in his usual impulsive fashion, tried to jerk back his line. The -hook and sinker were caught around a branch. The shiner dropped off the -hook and rested in a crotch of the branch. No fish ever was transformed -into a bird so quickly since fishing was begun! - -And while Bobby laughed, and held his sides, Fred jerked at the -entangled line again and again until, stepping too far back, and pulling -too hard, the line chanced to give a foot or two, Master Fred fell -backwards and--_flop!_ into the deep pool below the rock he went! - - - - - CHAPTER IV - - AN EVENTFUL AFTERNOON - - -"On! oh! oh!--gurgle! gurgle! _blob_! Help! Give us a hand--" - -Down Master Fred went again, and, his mouth being open, he swallowed -more of the murky water of the creek than was good for him. He came up, -coughing and blowing. - -Bobby, although forced to laugh, extended the butt of his own fish pole -and Fred seized it. In half a minute he was on the bank, panting and -"blowing bubbles," as Bobby said. - -"You can laugh--" - -"I hope so," returned Bobby, turning to give his attention to his own -hook and line. "Oh!" - -Something was the matter down under that stump; the water was agitated. -The taut line pulled in Bobby's hands. - -"Oh! A bite!" cried he, picking up his pole. "Oh, Fred! I've hooked -that old trout!" - -Master Martin was too much taken up with his own affairs just then to -pay much attention. Bobby, all of a tremble (for he had never caught a -trout over a finger long), began to "play" the fish cautiously. It -seemed to be sulking down in its hole under the old stump. Bobby pulled -on the line gently. - -Meanwhile Fred, getting his breath, began to remove his saturated -garments. - -"I guess," he grunted, "we might as well go in swimming right now. Gee! -I'm wet. And these things will have to dry before I start home. Oh!" - -Bobby's line "gave" suddenly. Bobby uttered a yell, for he thought the -trout had jumped. - -Whatever was on his hook shot to the surface of the brown pool. Bobby -went over backward on the grass. The point of his pole stood straight -up, and the hook was snapped out of the water. - -There was a long, black, _squirmy_ thing on the hook. As Bobby -squealed, the eel flopped right down into his face! - -"Aw! ouch! take him off!" shouted Bobby, and flung away his pole. - -In a second the eel was so tangled in the fishline that one might have -thought it and the line had been tied into a hard knot! Fred was -rolling with laughter on the bank, his wet shirt half over his head. - -"Scubbity-_yow_!" he shrieked. "Now you got it. You laughed at _me_, -Bobby Blake. See how you get it yourself." - -Bobby began to laugh, too. He could see that the joke was, after all, -on him. - -"And that's your big trout--ho, ho!" shouted Fred. "An old eel. Kill -him with a club, Bobby. You'll never get him untangled if you don't." - -"And he'll wiggle _then_ till the sun goes down. Just like a snake," -declared Bobby, repeating a boyish superstition held infallible by the -boys of Clinton. - -"Oh, dear!" sighed Fred, at last pulling the wet shirt off. "I'm aching -for laughing. What a mess that line's in." - -"And how about your own!" demanded Bobby, on a broad grin again, and -pointing into the branches of the tree where Fred had flung his shiner. - -"We're a pair of fine fishermen--I don't think!" admitted Fred, in some -disgust. - -He got off the remainder of his wet clothing, and slipped on his trunks. - -"You might as well do the same, Bobby," he advised, while he laid his -clothing over the low bushes back from the bank of the creek, where the -sun could get at them nicely. "Look at your shirt. All slime from that -old eel." - -"I wish he'd keep still a minute," said Bobby, with some impatience. -"_What_ were eels ever made for?" - -"They're good eating, some folks think. But I'd just as lief eat -snakes." - -"Some savages eat snakes," said Bobby, trying to keep one foot on the -tail-end of the eel, and unwinding the fishline. - -But the next moment the squirmy creature wound itself up in the line -again into a harder knot than before. - -"Looks just like the worm he swallowed," chuckled Fred. "There! he's -got the hook out of his mouth. Fling him back, Bobby!" - -Bobby did so, pitching eel and line into the water. There was a flop or -two and the wriggling fish got free. Then Bobby hauled in his line and -began to rebait the hook. - -"I guess I'll try fishing somewhere else," he said. "I won't try here. -If there ever _was_ a trout under that stump, he's scared away." - -"There never was a trout where an old eel made his nest," scoffed Fred, -struggling with his own line. - -"That eel didn't belong here," announced Bobby, with confidence. "What -do you bet I don't catch a trout to-day?" - -"Never mind. I've landed _one_ fish," chuckled Fred. - -"Fish! what's it doing roosting in that tree, then!" demanded Bobby, -giggling. "It's a bird." - -Fred managed to untangle his own line, and in doing so he shook the -shiner out of the branches. - -"Catch it!" he shouted. "There it goes!" - -"Plop!" the fish went right into the pool, and with a wiggle of its tail -disappeared. - -"We're a couple of healthy fishermen," scoffed Bobby. "We land them, -and then lose them." - -"Le's go farther down stream. We've made so much noise here that we -couldn't catch anything but deaf fish--that's sure." - -Bobby was quite agreed to this, and Fred in his bathing trunks, leaving -his wet clothing to dry on the bushes, led the way along the creek bank. -Bobby followed with the can of worms. - -They found another quiet place and this time both took pains to cast -their lines where no overhanging branches would interfere with the tips -of their poles. The creek was well stocked with sunfish, yellow perch, -shiners, and small brook trout. Once--"in a dog's age," Fred's Uncle Jim -said--somebody landed a big trout out of one of the deeper holes in the -stream. - -The boys fished for an hour, and both landed perch and shiners. - -"If we get enough of them we can have a fish supper," declared Fred. - -"At home?" - -"Sure. We can clean them--" - -"Who'll cook them? Our Meena won't," declared Bobby, with confidence. - -"And I don't suppose our girl will, either. Besides, we'd have to catch -a bushel to give the crowd at our house a taste, even," for there were -five young Martins at Fred's house, besides himself, ranging from the -baby who could just toddle around, to Fred's fourteen year old sister, -Mary. There was another girl older than Fred, who was the oldest boy. - -"Just wish Michael Mulcahey would light a fire in his stove and pan them -for us," said Bobby, wistfully. "'Member, he did once!" - -"Yes. But we haven't caught enough yet." - -"Hush!" murmured Bobby. "I got another bite." - -In a minute he had landed a nice, big sunfish. He cut a birch twig then, -with a hook on the end of it, and strung his three fish. Fred did the -same for his two, and the fish were let down into the cool water, and -were thus kept alive. - -They moved farther down the creek after a bit, and tried another pool. -The strings of fish grew steadily. It looked, really, as though they -would have enough for supper--and it takes a right good number of such -little fish to make a meal for two hungry boys. - -Not that they wanted food again so soon. During the afternoon they ate -the rest of the lunch and some apples to stave off actual hunger! - -"I bet you get sunburned again," said Bobby. - -"No, I won't. I'm in the shade all the time." - -"The wind will burn as well as the sun." - -"But I'm not in and out of the water all the time, like I was that day -at Sanders' Pond. Just the same," added Fred, "I'm going into the creek -now. There's a dandy place for fish just across there." - -"There's some stepping stones below. I'll go over with you," declared -Bobby, winding up his line. - -Fred was not afraid of splashing himself. He ran across the stones laid -in the bed of the creek. Bobby came more cautiously, but he did not see -the wide grin on Fred's face as he stood on the far side and watched his -chum. - -Bobby stepped on the rock in the middle of the stream. Just as it bore -his full weight, and he had his right foot in the air, stepping to the -next dry-topped rock, the one under him rolled! - -The red-haired boy had felt that stone "joggle" when he came across but -he had leaped lightly from it. Bobby was caught unaware. - -He yelled, and tried to jump, but the stepping stone, under which the -action of the water had excavated the sand, turned clear over. -"Splash!" went Bobby into the water. - -He stood upright, but he was in a pool over his knees, and the agitated -water splashed higher. His knickerbockers were as wet as Fred's clothes -had been when he waded out. - -"Oh, oh, oh!" shouted Fred, writhing on the grass. "Aren't you clumsy? -Now you'll have to take off _your_ clothes to dry, Bobby." - -"You might have told a fellow that rock was loose," grumbled Bobby. - -"And you might have told _me_ that I was stepping off into the old creek -when I was jerking at my line," retorted Fred. "I got it worse than you -did." - -Bobby removed his trousers and wrung them out. Then he put them on -again. "They'll dry as good on me, as off," he said. "Now, come on. -Let's go up along and see if we can't get some more fish." - -They whipped the creek for half a mile up stream, and were successful -beyond their hopes. Both boys had a nice string of pan-fish when they -came to the deep swimming hole, which was only a few yards below the -corner of Plunkit's farm Sphere the apple tree stood. - -The sun was then sliding down toward the western horizon. Bobby's -trousers were pretty well dried. He put on his bathing trunks, and -followed Fred into the pool. - -Both boys were good swimmers. There was a fine rock to dive from and a -soft, sandy bottom. No danger here, and for an hour the chums had a most -delightful time. - -Then Bobby brought his own clothes across to the side of the creek where -they had begun to fish. Fred brought the fishing-tackle and the two -strings of fish. Then he trotted down the bank to get his own clothes -and their shoes and stockings. - -Bobby was half dressed when he heard his chum shouting. "Bobby! -Bobby!" shrieked the red-haired boy. - -Fearing that his chum was in trouble, Bobby started for the sound of -Fred's voice, on a hard run. - -"I'm coming, Fred! Hold on!" he shouted, as loudly as he could. - -In a few moments he came out into the open place where Fred had -carefully arranged his clothing on the low bushes. There wasn't a -garment there, and Fred came out of the brush, his face very red and -angry. - -"What's the matter?" asked Bobby. - -"Matter enough!" returned his chum. "Don't you _see_?" - -"Not--not your clothes gone?" gasped Bobby. - -"Yes they are. Every stitch. And your shoes, too. What do you think -of _that_?" - -"Why--why--Somebody's taken them?" - -"Of course somebody has. And it's your fault," said Fred, very much -provoked. "If you had helped me pitch in and lick that Ap Plunkit, he -wouldn't have dared do this." - -"Maybe--maybe he'd have licked us," stammered Bobby. - -"He'll--he'll just have to lick me when I meet up with him next time, or -else he'll take the biggest licking _he_ ever took," threatened the -wrathful Master Martin, wiping a couple of angry tears out of his eyes -with a scratched knuckle. - - - - - CHAPTER V - - THE TALE OF A SCARECROW - - -"My goodness! you can't go home that way," said Bobby Blake, faintly. - -He did not laugh at all. The situation had suddenly become tragic -instead of comic. Fred could not walk back to Clinton in his -bathing-trunks--that is, not until after dark. - -"I wish I had hold of that Ap Plunkit," repeated Fred Martin. "_He_ did -it," he added. - -"Oh, we don't know--" - -"Of course we do. He sneaked along there after us and found my clothes, -and ran away with them--every one. And your shoes and stockings, too!" - -"No he didn't, either!" cried Bobby, suddenly, staring up into the tall -tree over their heads. - -"Eh?" - -"There are the shoes and stockings--shoes, anyway," declared Bobby, -pointing. - -It was a chestnut tree above their heads. It promised a full crop of -nuts in the fall, for the green burrs starred thickly the leafy -branches. - -Whoever had disturbed the chums' possessions had climbed to the very -tip-top of the chestnut and hung the two pair of shoes far out on a -small branch. - -"That's Ap Plunkit's work--I know," declared Fred, with conviction. "He -climbs trees like a monkey. You see how long his arms are. I've seen -him go up a taller tree than this." - -"Maybe he's taken your clothes up there, too," said Bobby, going to the -trunk of the tree. - -"The mean scamp!" exclaimed Fred. "How'll we get them, Bob? I--I can't -climb that tree this way." - -"Neither can I," admitted his friend. "But wait till I run and get my -clothes on--" - -"And you'd _better_ run, too!" exclaimed Fred, suddenly, "or you won't -find the rest of _your_ clothes." - -Thus advised, Bobby Blake set out at once for the spot where he had been -dressing. There was no sign of Applethwaite Plunkit about--or of any -other marauder. Just the same, when Bobby was dressed and went down the -creek side again to Fred, he carried all their possessions with him. - -That chestnut was a hard tree for Bobby to climb--especially barefooted. -There were so many prickly burrs that had dropped into the crotches of -the limbs, and, drying, had become quite stiff and sharp. He had to -stop several times as he mounted upward to pick the thorns from his -feet. - -But he got the shoes and stockings, and, hanging them around his neck, -came down as swiftly as he could. Both boys at once sat down and put on -this part of their apparel. Fred was almost tempted to cry; but then, -he was too angry to "boo-hoo" much. - -"I'll catch that Ap Plunkit, and I'll do something to him yet," he -declared. "I'll have him arrested for stealing my clothes, anyway." - -"How can we prove he took them? We didn't see him," said Bobby, -thoughtfully. - -"Well!" - -"I tell you what," Bobby said. "Let's go up to his house and tell his -mother. We _know_ he did this, even if we didn't see him. Of course, -we got him mad first--" - -"We didn't have to get him mad," declared Fred. "He's mad all the -time." - -"Well, we plagued him. He just was getting square." - -"But such a mean trick to steal a fellow's clothes!" - -"Maybe his folks will see it that way and make Applethwaite give them -back." - -"But I can't go up there to the house with only these old tights on!" -said Fred. - -"No," and Bobby couldn't help grinning a little. "You wear my jacket." - -"And if I have lost my clothes," wailed Fred, "and have to go home this -way, my father will give it to me good! Come on!" - -"Let's each find a good club. That dog, you know," said Bobby. - -"Sure. And if we meet up with Ap, I'll be likely to use it on him, -too!" growled Fred, angrily. - -Bobby decided that it was useless to try to pacify his chum at the -moment. It seemed to relieve Fred to threaten the absent Ap Plunkit, -and it did that individual no bodily harm! - -So the boys found stout clubs and started up the bank of the creek. -Fred was feeling so badly that he did not pick more of the "summer -sweetnin's" when they came to the apple tree. - -They crawled through the hole in the boundary fence of the Plunkit Farm -and kept on up the creek-side. First they crossed the pasture, then -they climbed a tight fence and entered a big cornfield. The corn was -taller than their heads and there were acres and acres of it. It was -planted right along the edge of the creek bank, and they had to walk -between the rows. - -"If old Plunkit sees us in his corn, he'll be mad," said Fred, at last. - -"This is the nearest way to the house, and we've got to try and get your -clothes," said Bobby, firmly. - -After that, he took the lead. The nearer they approached the farmhouse, -the more Fred lagged. But suddenly, in the midst of the long cornfield, -Master Martin uttered a cry. - -"Look there, Bob!" - -"What's the matter with you? I thought it was the dog." - -"No, sir! See yonder, will you?" - -"Nothing but a scarecrow," said Bobby. - -"Yes. But it has clothes on it. I'm going to take them. I'm not going -up to that house without anything more on me than what I've got." - -Bobby began to chuckle at that. It seemed too funny for anything to rob -a scarecrow. But Fred was pushing his way through the corn toward the -absurd figure. - -Suddenly Fred uttered another yell--this time his famous warwhoop: - -"Scubbity-_yow_! I got him!" - -"You got who?" demanded Bobby, hurrying after his chum. - -"This is some o' that Ap Plunkit's doings--the mean thing! Look here!" -and he snatched the cap off the scarecrow's head of straw. - -"Why--that looks like _your_ cap, Fred," gasped Bobby. - -"And it _is_, too." - -"That--that's just the stripe of your shirt!" - -"And it is my shirt. And it's my pants, and all!" cried Fred. "I'll -get square with Ap Plunkit yet--you see if I don't. There's the old -ragged things this scarecrow wore, on the ground. And he's dressed it in -_my_ things. Oh, you wait till I catch him!" - -Meanwhile Fred was hastily tearing off the garments that certainly were -his own. They were all here. Bobby kept away from him, and laughed -silently to himself. It was really too, too funny; but he did not want -to make Fred angry with _him_. - -"Now I guess we'd better not go to the farmhouse--had we?" demanded -Bobby. - -"Let's go home," grunted Fred, very sour. "It's almost sundown." - -"All right," agreed his chum. - -"He tore my shirt, too. And we might never have found these clothes. -I'm going to get square," Fred kept muttering, as they struck right down -between the corn rows toward the distant roadside fence. - -Just as they climbed over the rails to leap into the road they were -hailed by a voice that said: - -"Hey there! what you doin' in that cornfield?" - -There was the Plunkit hopeful--otherwise Applethwaite, the white-headed -boy. He sat on the top rail near by and grinned at the two boys from -town. - -"There you are--you mean thing!" cried Fred Martin, and before Bobby -could stop him, he rushed at the bigger fellow. - -He was so quick--or Ap was so slow--that Fred seized the latter by the -ankles before he could get down from his perch. - -"Git away! I'll fix you!" shouted the farm boy. - -He kicked out, lost his balance, and Fred let him go. Ap fell backward -off the fence into the cornfield, and landed on his head and shoulders. - -He set up a terrific howl, even before he scrambled to his feet. By his -actions he did not seem to be so badly hurt. He searched around for a -stone, found it, and threw it with all his force at Fred Martin. -Fortunately he missed the town boy. - -Immediately Fred grabbed up a stone himself and poised it to fling at -his enemy. Bobby threw himself upon his chum and seized his raised arm. - -"Now you stop that, Fred!" he commanded. - -"Why shouldn't I hit him? He flung one at me," declared the angry boy. - -"I know. But he didn't hit you. And you might hit him and do him harm. -Suppose you put his eye out--or something? Come on home, Fred--don't be -a chump." - -"Aw--well," growled Fred, and threw the stone away. - -"You know you are always getting into a muss," urged Bobby, hurrying his -chum along the road toward town. "What'll you do when you go to -Rockledge--" - -"You got to go with me, Bob," declared Fred, grinning. - -"Oh! I wish they'd let me," murmured his friend. - -But as far as he could see then, no circumstances could arise that would -make such a wished for event possible. - - - - - CHAPTER VI - - A FISH FRY AND A STARTLING ANNOUNCEMENT - - -They got home at early supper time, fish and all. But one look into the -kitchen assured Bobby that it was useless to expect Meena to pan their -catch for them. - -The "rabbit ears" stuck up on top of her head at a more uncompromising -angle than ever. Mr. and Mrs. Blake had not returned from town. At a -late hour Michael Mulcahey had come back with the carriage and announced -that his mistress would stay in town for dinner with Mr. Blake and they -were to be met at the 10:10 train. - -Michael had just finished cleaning the carriage and now sat with his -pipe beside the stable door. He was a long-lipped Irishman, with kindly, -twinkling eyes, and "ould counthry" whiskers that met under his chin, -giving his cleanly shaven, wind-bitten face the look of peering out -through a frame of hair. - -"'Tis a nice string of fish ye have, byes," he said. - -"And I s'pose we got to give them to the cats," complained Fred. "They -won't cook 'em at my house, and Meena's got the toothache." - -Michael grinned broadly, puffing slowly at his pipe. "Clane the fish, -byes. There's a pan jest inside the dure. Get water from the hydrant. -Have ye shar-r-rp knives?" - -"Oh, yes, Michael!" cried Bobby. - -"Scale thim fish, then. I'll start a fire in my stove. An' I've a pan. -Belike Meena, the girl, will give ye a bit of fat salt por-r-rk and some -bread. Tell her she naden't bother with supper. We'll make it -ourselves--in what th' fancy folks calls 'ally-frisco'--though _why_ so, -I _dun_-no," added Michael. - -He knocked the dottle out of his pipe and washed his hands. The boys, -meanwhile, were cleaning the little fish rapidly, and whispering -together. They were delighted with the coachman's suggestion. It was -just what they had been hoping for. Fred even forgot his "grouch" -against Applethwaite Plunkit. - -Bobby ventured to the kitchen door. Meena was just untying the red -bandage, but the moment she caught sight of him she hesitated. She may -have felt another slight twinge of "face ache." - -"Vat you vant?" she demanded. - -Bobby told her what they were going to do. Michael had his own plates, -and knives and forks. He had "bached it" a good many years before he -came to work for Bobby's father. Meena saw a long, quiet evening ahead -of her. - -"Vell," she said, ungraciously enough, for it was not her way to -acknowledge her blessings--not in public, at least. "Vell, I give you -the pork and bread. But that Michael ban spoil you boys. I vouldn't -efer marry him." - -"What did she say?" asked the coachman when Bobby returned to the room -over the harness closets in which Michael slept--and sometimes cooked. - -"She says she won't marry you because you spoil us," declared Bobby, -winking at Fred. - -"Did she now?" quoth Michael. "So she has rayfused me again--though it -wasn't just like a proposal _this_ time. Still--we'll count it so's to -make sure." - -He gravely walked to a smooth plank in the partition behind the door, -and picked up the stub of a pencil from a ledge. On this board was a -long array of pencil marks--four straight, up and down marks, and a -fifth "slantingdicular" across them. There were a great many of these -marks. - -Each of these straight, up and down, marks meant "No," and the slanting -mark meant another "No"; so that Meena's refusals of the coachman's -proposal for her hand were grouped in fives. - -"The Good Book says Jacob sarved siven years for Rachael, and then -another siven. He didn't have nawthin' on me--sorra a bit! When -Meena's said 'No' a thousan' times, she'll forgit some day an' say -'Yis.'" - -He went back to shaking the pan on the stove, in which the cubes of salt -pork were sputtering. He mixed some flour and cornmeal in a plate, with -salt and pepper. Wiping each of the little fish partly dry, he rolled -them in the mixture, and then laid them methodically in rows upon a -board. When the fat in the skillet was piping hot, he dropped in the -fish easily so as not to splash the hot fat about. Then with a fork he -turned them as they browned. - -As he forked them out of the hot fat, all brown and crispy, he laid them -on a sheet of brown paper for a bit to drain off the fat. Then the -boys' plates and his own were filled with the well fried fish. - -"There's just a mess for us," said Michael, as they sat down. "For what -we are about to rayceive make us tr-r-ruly grateful! Pass the bread, -Master Bobby. 'Tis the appetite lends sauce to the male, so they say. -Eat hearty!" - -Bobby and Fred had plenty of the "sauce" the coachman spoke of. After -the excitement and adventures of the afternoon they had much to tell -Michael, too, and the supper was a merry one. - -Fred had to go home at eight o'clock and an hour and a half later it was -Bobby's bedtime. But the house seemed very still and lonely when he had -gone to bed, and he lay a long time listening to the crickets and the -katydids, and the other night-flying insects outside the screens. - -He heard Michael drive out of the lane to go to the station and he was -still awake when the carriage returned and his father and mother came -into the house. They came quietly up stairs, whispering softly, but the -door between Bobby's room and his mother's dressing-room was ajar and he -could hear his parents talking in there. They thought him asleep, of -course. - -"But Bobby's got to be told, my dear. I have bought our tickets--as I -told you," Mr. Blake said. "We can't wait any longer." - -"Oh, dear me, John!" Bobby heard his mother say. "_Must_ we leave him -behind?" - -"My dear! we have talked it all over so many times," Mr. Blake said, -patiently. "It is a long voyage. Not so long to Para; but the -transportation up the river, to Samratam, is uncertain. Brother Bill -left the business in some confusion, I understand, and we may be obliged -to remain some months. It would not be well to take Bobby. He must go -to school. I am doubtful of the advisability of taking _you_, my -dear--" - -"You shall not go without me, John," interrupted Mrs. Blake, and Bobby -knew she was crying softly. "I would rather that we lost all the money -your brother left--" - -"There, there!" said Bobby's father, comfortingly. "You're going, my -dear. And we will leave Bobby in good hands." - -"But _whose_ hands?" cried his wife. "Meena can look after the house, -and Michael we can trust with everything else. But neither of them are -proper guardians for my boy, John." - -"I know," agreed Mr. Blake, and Bobby, lying wide awake in his bed, knew -just how troubled his father looked. He hopped out of bed and crept -softly to the door. He did not mean to be an eavesdropper, but he could -not have helped hearing what his father and mother said. - -"We have no relatives with whom to leave him," Mrs. Blake said. "And -all our friends in Clinton have plenty of children of their own and -wouldn't want to be bothered. Or else they are people who have _no_ -children and wouldn't know how to get along with Bobby." - -"It's a puzzle," began her husband, and just then Bobby pushed open the -door and appeared in the dressing-room. - -"I heard you, Pa!" he cried. "I couldn't help it. I was awake and the -door was open. I know just what you can do with me if I can't go with -you to where Uncle Bill died." - -"Bobby!" exclaimed Mrs. Blake, putting out her arms to him. "My boy! I -didn't want you to know--yet." - -"He had to hear of the trip sometime," said Bobby's father. - -"And I'm not going to make any trouble," said Bobby, swallowing rather -hard, for there seemed to be a lump rising in his throat. He never -liked to see his mother cry. "Why, I'm a big boy, you know, Mother. -And I know just what you can do with me while you're gone." - -"What's that, Bobs?" asked his father, cheerfully. - -"Let me go to Rockledge School with Fred Martin--do, _do_! That'll be -fun, and they'll look out for me there--you know they are _awfully_ -strict at schools like that. I can't get into any trouble." - -"Not with Fred?" chuckled Mr. Blake. - -"Well," said Bobby, seriously, "you know if I have to look out for Fred -same as I always do, _I_ won't have time to get into mischief. You told -Mr. Martin so yourself, you know, Pa." - -Mr. Blake laughed again and glanced at his wife. She had an arm around -Bobby, but she had stopped crying and she looked over at her husband -proudly. Bobby was such a sensible, thoughtful chap! - -"I guess we'll have to take the school question into serious -consideration, Bobs," he said. "Now kiss your mother and me goodnight, -and go to sleep. These are late hours for small boys." - -Bobby ran to bed as he was told, and this time he went to sleep almost -as soon as he placed his head upon the pillow. But how he _did_ dream! -He and Fred Martin were walking all the way to Rockledge School, and -they went barefooted with their shoes slung over their shoulders, -Applethwaite Plunkit and his big dog popped out of almost every corner -to obstruct their way. Bobby had just as exciting a time during his -dreams that night as he and his chum had experienced during the -afternoon previous! - -Nothing was said at the late Sunday morning breakfast about his parents' -journey to South America. Bobby knew all about poor Uncle Bill. He -could just remember him--a small, very brown, good-tempered man who had -come north from his tropical station in the rubber country four years, -or so, before. - -Uncle Bill was Mr. Blake's only brother, and most of Bobby's father's -income came from the rubber exporting business, too. Uncle Bill had -lived for years in Brazil, but finally the climate had been too much for -him and only a few months ago word had come of his death. He had been a -bachelor. Mr. Blake had positively to go to Samratam to settle the -company's affairs and Bobby's mother would not be separated from her -husband for the long months which must necessarily be engaged in the -journey. - -Bobby felt that he _must_ talk about the wonderful possibility that had -risen on the horizon of his future, so, long before time for Sunday -School, he ran over to the Martin house and yodled softly in the side -lane for Fred. - -Fred put his head out of a second-story window. "Hello!" he said, in a -whisper. "That you, Bobby?" - -"Yep. Come on down. I got the greatest thing to tell you." - -"Wait till I get into this stiff shirt," growled Fred. "It's just like -iron! I just _hate_ Sunday clothes--don't you, Bobby?" - -Bobby was too eager to tell his news to discuss the much mooted point. -"Hurry up!" he threw back at Fred, and then sat down on the grassy bank -to wait. - -He knew that Fred would have to pass inspection before either his mother -or his sister Mary, before he could start for Sunday School. He heard -some little scolding behind the closed blinds of the Martin house, and -grinned. Fred had evidently tried to get out before being fully -presentable. - -He finally came out, grumbling something about "all the girls being -nuisances," but Bobby merely chuckled. He thought Mary Martin was -pretty nice, himself--only, perhaps inclined to be a little "bossy," as -is usually the case with elder sisters. - -"Never mind, Fred," Bobby said, soothingly. "Let it go. I got something -just wonderful to tell you." - -"What is it?" demanded Fred, not much interested. - -"I believe something's going to happen that you've just been _hoping_ -for," said Bobby, smiling. - -"That Ap Plunkit's got the measles--or something?" exclaimed Fred, with -a show of eagerness. - -"Aw, no! It isn't anything to do with Ap Plunkit," returned Bobby, in -disgust. - -"What is it, then?" - -So Bobby told him. - - - - - CHAPTER VII - - FINANCIAL AFFAIRS - - -Two boys in Clinton did not go to Sunday School that day with minds much -attuned to the occasion. Fred could scarcely restrain himself within -the bounds of decent behavior as they walked from Merriweather Street, -where both the Blakes and the Martins lived, to Trinity Square, where -the spire of the church towered above the elms. - -The thought that Bobby was going with him to Rockledge (Fred had jumped -to that conclusion at once) put young Martin on the very pinnacle of -delight. - -"Of course, it would be great if your folks would take you to South -America," admitted Fred, after some reflection. "For you could bring -home a whole raft of marmosets, and green-and-gray parrots, and iguanas, -and the like, for pets. And you'd see manatees, and tapirs, and jaguars -and howling monkeys, and all the rest. But crickey! you wouldn't have -the fun we'll have when we get to Rockledge School." - -_Fun_ seemed to be all that Fred Martin looked forward to when he got to -boarding school. Lessons, discipline, and work of any kind, never -entered his mind. - -That evening Mr. and Mrs. Blake, with Bobby, went up the street to the -Martin house, and the parents of the two chums talked together a long -time on the front porch, while the children were sent into the back -yard--that yard that Buster Shea had cleaned so nicely the day before, -being partly paid in rats! - -When the Blakes started home, it had been concluded that Bobby was to -attend school with Fred, and that if Mr. and Mrs. Blake did not return -from their long journey in season, Bobby was to be under the care of the -Martins during vacation. - -"Another young one won't make any difference here, Mrs. Blake," said -easy-going Mrs. Martin. "Really, half the time I forget how many we -have, and have to go around after they are all abed, and count noses. -Bobby will make us no trouble, I am sure. And he always has a good -influence over Fred--we've remarked that many times." - -This naturally made Mrs. Blake very proud. Yet she took time to talk -very seriously to Bobby on several occasions during the next few days. -She spoke so tenderly to him, and with such feeling, that the boy's -heart swelled, and he could scarcely keep back the tears. - -"We want to hear the best kind of reports from you, Bobby--not only -school reports, but in the letters we may get from our friends here in -Clinton. Your father and I have tried to teach you to be a manly, -honorable boy. You are going where such virtues count for more than -anything else. - -"Be honest in everything; be kindly in your relations to the other boys; -always remember that those weaker than yourself, either in body or in -character, have a peculiar claim upon your forbearance. Father would -not want you to be a mollycoddle but mother doesn't want you to be a -bully. - -"You will go to church and Sunday School up there at Rockledge just as -you have here. Don't be afraid to show the other boys that you have -been taught to pray. I shall have your father find out the hour when -you all go to bed, and at that hour, while you are saying your prayers -and thinking of your father and me so far away from you, I shall be -praying for my boy, too!" - -"Don't you cry, Mother," urged Bobby, squeezing back the tears himself. -"I will do just as you tell me." - -It was arranged that Mr. Blake should take the boys to school when the -time came, but there was still a fortnight before the term opened at -Rockledge. Bobby and Fred had more preparations to make than you would -believe, and early on Monday morning Fred came over to the Blake house -and the chums went down behind the garden to have a serious talk. - -"Say! there's fifty boys in that school," Fred said. "There's another -school right across Monatook Lake. They call it Belden School. There's -all sorts of games between the two schools, you know, and we want to be -in them, Bobby." - -"What do you mean--games?" asked Bobby. - -"Why, baseball, and football, and hockey on the ice in winter, and -skating matches, and boating in the fall and spring--rowing, you know. -Lots of games. And we want to be in them, don't we?" - -"Sure," admitted his chum. - -"It's going to cost money," said Fred, decidedly. "We'll have to get -bats, and good horse-hide balls, and a catcher's mask and glove, and a -pad, and all that. We want to get on one of the ball teams. You know I -can catch, and you've got a dandy curve, Bobby, and a fade-away that -beats anything I've ever seen." - -"Yes. I'd like to play ball," admitted Bobby, rather timidly. "But -will they let us--we being new boys?" - -"We'll make them," said the scheming Fred. "If we show them we have the -things I said--mitt, and bats, and all--they'll be glad to have us play, -don't you see?" - -"But we haven't them," suddenly said Bobby. - -"No. But we must have them." - -"Say! they'll cost a lot of money. You know I don't have but a dollar a -month," said Bobby, "and I know Mother won't let me open my bank." - -"Of course not. That's the way with mothers and fathers," said Fred, -rather discontentedly. "They get us to start saving against the time -we'll want money awfully bad for something. And then we have to buy -shoes with it, or Christmas presents, or use it to pay for a busted -window. _That's_ what cleaned out my bank the last time--when I threw a -ball through Miklejohn's plate-glass window on the Square." - -"Well," said Bobby, getting away from _that_ unpleasant subject, "I have -most of my dollar left for this month, and Pa will give me another on -the first day of September." - -"I haven't but ten cents to my name," confessed Fred. - -"Then how'll we get new bats, and the mask, and pad, and all?" - -"That's what we want to find out," Fred said, grimly. "We'll have to -think up some scheme for making money. I wish I'd cleaned our yard -Saturday instead of hiring Buster Shea." - -"_That_ didn't cost you much," chuckled Bobby. "Only a cent--and you -couldn't have sold the five rats for anything." - -"Aw--well--" - -"Let's start a lemonade stand," suggested Bobby. - -"No. It's been done to death in Clinton this vacation," Fred declared, -emphatically. "Besides, the sugar and lemons and ice cost so much. And -you're always bound to drink so much yourself that there's no profit -when the lemonade's gone." - -Bobby acknowledged the justice of this with a silent nod. - -"Got to be something new, Bobby," urged Fred, with much belief in his -chum's powers of invention. "_You_ think of something." - -"Might have a show," said Bobby. - -"Aw--now--Bobby! you know that's no good," declared Fred. "We'd have to -let a lot of the other fellows into it. Can't run a circus--not even a -one-ring one--without a lot of performers. And they'd want the money -split up. We wouldn't make anything." - -"A peep-show," said Bobby, still thoughtfully chewing a straw. - -"Aw, shucks! that's worse. The kids will only pay pins, or rusty nails, -to see _that_ kind of a show." - -"No. That's not just what I mean," Bobby said, thoughtfully. "Let's -have a show that will only need us two to run it, Fred. Then we won't -have to divide the money with anybody else. And let's have a show that -grown up folks will want to see." - -"Great, Bobby! That's a swell idea--if we could do it." - -"I believe we _can_ do it." - -"Tell a fellow," urged Fred, excitedly. "Grown folks have money. We -could charge them a nickel--maybe a dime--" - -"No. A penny show," said Bobby, still chewing the straw. "Of course, -it's got to be worth a penny--and then, it'll have to be sort of a joke, -too--" - -"Whatever are you trying to get at, Bobby Blake?" demanded his chum in -wonder. - -"Listen here. Now--don't you tell--" - -He pulled Fred down beside him and whispered into his ear. The -red-haired boy looked puzzled at first. Then he caught the meaning of -his chum's plan, and his eyes grew big and he began to grin. Suddenly -he flung his cap into the air and seized Bobby round the neck to hug -him. - -"Scubbity-_yow_!" he yelled. "That's the greatest thing I've ever -heard, Bob! And we can have it right down 'side of my father's store." - -Mr. Martin kept a grocery store on Hurley Street, in a one-story -building on one side of which was an open lot belonging to the store -property. There was a side-door to the store-building opening upon this -lot, but not far back from the street. - -For the next two or three days Bobby and Fred were very busy indeed at -this place and, with some little help, they managed to erect a structure -that was made partly of old fence-boards and partly of canvas. - -The half-tent, half-shack was about ten feet wide. It had a sloping -canvas roof. It ran back from the sidewalk far enough to mask the -side-door into Mr. Martin's store. - -Mr. Martin was not in the secret of the nature of the boys' proposed -"show," but he was a good natured man and made no objection to his son -and Bobby utilizing his side door. - -"You see, we must have an 'entrance' and an 'exit'," Bobby explained. -"Folks can pass out through the store after seeing our show." - -"Sure," chuckled Fred. "As long as we don't call it 'egress,' nobody -will be scared that it's some strange and savage animal. All right. -'Exit' it is," and he proceeded to paint the sign, per Bobby's -instructions. - -And that was not the only sign to be painted. Fred was rather handy with -a brush, and when all the sign-painting was done, Bobby pronounced the -work fine. - -In front of the tent, Bobby had built a little platform with a box, -waist high, before it. Bobby was to be the lecturer, or "ballyhoo," and -was, likewise, to sell the tickets. The other boys were eaten up with -curiosity about the show, but neither Bobby nor Fred would give them a -chance to get a look inside the shelter after the roof was on. - -There was a canvas wall in the front, with a very narrow entrance. -Inside that was a canvas screen so that nobody peeking into the doorway -could see much of what lay beyond. They had one kerosene lamp to light -the interior. - -They made several other arrangements for the opening of the show, and -then there was nothing to do but wait for Saturday to arrive. On that -day many people from out-of-town came into Clinton to market, and the -Hurley Street stores were well patronized all day long. Bobby and Fred -knew they would not lack a curious company outside the tent, whether -they tolled many within or not. - - - - - CHAPTER VIII - - THE PEEP-SHOW - - -Very early on Saturday morning Bobby and Fred went down to Hurley Street -and hung the painted banners upon the front of the show tent. As to -their beauty, there might have been some question, but Fred had painted -the words clearly, and there could be no mistaking their meaning. - -The sheets on which the signs were painted stretched across the width of -the tent, and the upper line read: - - FOUR MARVELS OF THE WORLD - -Underneath this startling statement, in no less emphatic letters, -appeared the following: - - _ON EXHIBITION:_ - _The Strongest Man in the World_ - _The Handsomest Woman in the World_ - _The Prettiest Girl in the World_ - _The Smartest Boy in the World_ - -The surprising nature of these signs began to draw a crowd almost at -once--even before breakfast. The early comers were mostly boys, and -Bobby and Fred were not yet ready to admit the curious. - -The chums kept perfectly serious faces and refused to answer any of the -questions, or respond much to the raillery of their young friends. - -"You know that ain't so, Bobby Blake!" exclaimed one boy. "You can't -have all those people in that tent. And where'd you get them? Huh! -'Strongest man in the world.' Who's that? Sandow, or John L. Sullivan? -Bet you jest got a picture of Samson throwin' down the pillars." - -"That's what it is--just pictures!" agreed the other curious ones. - -Fred grinned at them and was--wonderful to relate!--as silent as his -chum. They had agreed to say nothing in response to the chaffing. - -"And who was the handsomest woman in the world?" scoffed another boy, -who was rather better informed than most of his mates. "Cleopatra, -maybe! And she was blacker than our Phoebe who washes for my mother. -All Egyptians are black." - -"I'd just like to know who you think is the prettiest girl, Bobby -Blake?" demanded one of the bigger girls who went to school with the -chums, her nose tip tilted to show her scorn. "What do you know about -pretty girls?" - -"If you want to see her, you can do so by paying your penny by and by," -said Bobby politely. - -"Humph! I'd like to see myself!" snapped the young lady--and at once -went home and secured a penny for that very purpose! - -"I s'pose you've got a photograph of your own self in there for the -smartest boy, Reddy Martin!" suggested one of the big fellows who dared -give Fred this hated nickname. - -"Well," drawled Fred, his eyes sparkling, "if it lay between you and me -who was the smartest, I don't believe _you'd_ get any medal." - -The boys took turns breakfasting on crackers and cheese in Mr. Martin's -store. Fred's father was greatly amused by the signs in front of the -tent and he wanted a private view of the wonders. But he was politely -refused. - -"We can't begin the show till Bobby's made the lecture, Dad," declared -Fred. "And we're not going to begin till there's a crowd on the street. -We'll pass them right into the store here, and I bet you and the clerks -will be too busy waiting on customers to see the show at all," and he -chuckled. - -In only a single matter did the boys have help in the arrangements for -the show. Mr. Blake, without being in the secret of the show itself, -had written the lecture which Bobby was to deliver outside the tent -every time a crowd gathered. - -Bobby put on a shabby drum-major's coat, with one epaulet, which had -been found in the Martins' attic. On his head he perched an old silk -hat belonging to his father, with the band stuffed out so that it would -not slip down over his ears and hide his face entirely. - -He beat upon a tin pan with a padded drum-stick, and thus brought -together the first crowd before the show-tent at about nine o'clock. -His ridiculous figure and the noise of the drumming soon collected -twenty or thirty grown people--mostly men at that hour--beside a crowd -of boys, and a few timid girls who fringed the crowd. - -Having called his audience together, Bobby, with a perfectly serious -face, began his speech which he had learned by heart, and spoke as well -as ever he recited "a piece" on Friday afternoons at school: - -"Kind Friends: - -"This wonderful exhibition has been arranged for the sole purpose of -extracting money from your pockets and putting it into ours. We make -this frank announcement at the start so that there may be no -misunderstanding. - -"This marvelous Museum is not a charitable institution nor is it for the -benefit of any philanthropic cause. - -"It is merely an effort and an invention to promote good humor; any -person unable to appreciate a joke on himself, or herself, is -respectfully requested not to patronize our stupendous and surprising -entertainment. - -"Where before, in any conglomeration of Wonders of the World, have four -such marvelous creatures been placed simultaneously on exhibition? - -"Now, kind friends, but one person is admitted to our entertainment at a -time, and but one of these advertised marvels will be exhibited to each -visitor. This is a positive rule that cannot be broken. - -"The charge for our educational and startling exhibit is but a penny--a -cent--the smallest coin of the realm. It will not make you, and it -cannot break you. - -"In addition, it is understood that the person paying his, or her, -entrance fee to this Museum of Marvels, agrees to keep silent regarding -what is shown within, for at least twenty-four hours. On that, and on no -other terms, do we accept your penny. - -"If one should not be satisfied that a penny's worth is given in -exchange for the entrance fee, the same will be cheerfully refunded. - -"Now, kind friends, one at a time," concluded Bobby, stepping down from -the rostrum to the narrow entrance to the tent. "Form in line at the -right, please. Have your pennies ready; we cannot make change. Doctor -Truman is the first to enter the Hall of Marvels. Thank you, Doctor!" -as the cheerful, chuckling physician, bag in hand, on his morning rounds -to see his patients, pushed forward to the entrance of the tent. - -There was a good deal of hanging back at first. Bobby had expected that. -And Fred might have lost hope had he been outside where he could see the -crowd that began to dwindle away when Bobby's funny speech was finished. - -But in a moment the doctor's roar of laughter from within the tent -brought some of the suspicious ones back. The doctor appeared at the -store door, his plump sides shaking with laughter, and wiping the joyous -tears from his eyes. - -"What is it, Doc?" asked an old farmer. "What's them 'tarnal boys doin' -in that tent?" - -"Pay your penny and go in and see," exclaimed Doctor Truman, hurrying -away. "If a laugh like that isn't worth a cent, I don't know what is!" - -Fred's whistle had announced the departure of the first visitor by way -of the shop door, and Bobby urged up another: - -"Don't crowd, kind friends. The performance will continue all day and -this evening--or until everybody desiring to do so has seen one of these -four Wonders of the World." - -Jim Hatton, the harness maker, followed the doctor. He didn't laugh, -but the curious ones heard him exclaim, a moment after his -disappearance: - -"Well, I'll be jiggered!" which was Mr. Hatton's favorite expression, -and he came out of the front door of Mr. Martin's shop, grinning -broadly. - -"What was it, Jim?" asked the same curious farmer. - -"Can't tell ye, Jake. See it yourself--'nless you're afraid o' riskin' -a penny to find out just how smart our boys here in Clinton be," and Mr. -Hatton went off to his shop still grinning. - -Somebody pushed forward the very girl who had sharpened her wit on Bobby -before the exhibition opened. She had her penny clutched tightly in her -hand. - -"Don't you let go of that cent, Susie," advised Bobby, grinning at her, -"if you think you'll want it again for anything. For you won't be -pleased by what you see--maybe." - -Susie tossed her head and went inside. In just a minute Fred blew his -whistle and Susie, with flaming cheeks, appeared at the front door of -the store. - -"What was it, Susie?" demanded one of her friends. - -"Which did you see--the strong man, or the handsome lady, or the pretty -girl, or the smart boy?" cried another. - -But Susie shut her lips tightly, glanced once at Bobby, who was letting -the curious old farmer pass into the tent, and then she ran home. The -curiosity of the boys and girls mounted higher and higher. - -The old farmer popped out almost as quick as he popped in. He was -chewing a straw vigorously, and his face was flushed. It was hard to -tell for a moment whether he was mad, or not. - -"Wal, Neighbor Jake, did yet git your money's wuth?" demanded another -rural character. - -The bewhiskered old fellow turned on the speaker, and gradually a grin -spread over his face. - -"Say, Sam!" he drawled. "You never had none too much schoolin'. Your -edication was frightfully neglected. You pay that there boy a cent and -go in there, and you'll l'arn more in a minute than you ever did before -in a day! You take it from me." - -Thus advised his neighbor pressed forward and was the next "victim." -When he came out his face was red likewise, while Jake burst into a -mighty roar of laughter and rocked himself to and fro on the horseblock -in front of the store door. - -Soon the second farmer joined in the laughter, and thereafter, for an -hour, the two stood about and urged everybody from out of town whom they -knew to enter the peep-show. - -Occasionally Bobby mounted the platform, banged on the pan, and lifted -up his voice in the speech Mr. Blake had written for him. It coaxed the -people to stop before the show every time. And between whiles, Bobby -kept repeating: - -"It is only a cent--and your money back if you are not satisfied! If it -is a joke, keep it to yourself and let the next one find it out. Come -on! Have your pennies ready, please, kind friends. See one of the four -greatest wonders of the world." - -At first none of the ladies who were out shopping did more than stop and -listen and wonder among themselves "what that Blake boy was up to now." -But the girl who worked in Mr. Ballard's real estate office ran across -the street to see what the crowd was about, and was tempted to enter the -tent. - -She came out giggling, and greatly delighted, and pretty soon the girls -who worked in the offices and stores along Hurley Street, were attracted -to the show. They all seemed to be highly delighted, when they came out -through the store. - -"I declare!" exclaimed Mrs. Hiram Pepper, to a neighbor, as they passed -the peep-show again. "I've a mind to see what that means." - -"It's some foolishness," said her friend, who was a rather vinegary -maiden lady named Miss Prissy Craven. "I wonder what that boy's mother -can be thinking of!" - -"Why, Mrs. John Blake is as nice a lady as there is in town," declared -Mrs. Pepper. "And I must say for Bobby that he's never in any mischief. -He's full of fun--like any boy. But there ain't a _smitch_ of meanness -in him." - -"Humph!" exclaimed the other lady, sourly. - -"Now, you wait. I'm going in," declared Mrs. Pepper, fumbling in her -purse for a penny. - -She marched up to Bobby, eyeing him rather sternly. To tell the truth, -for the first time the young showman quailed. - -"Maybe you'd--you'd better not go in, Mrs. Pepper," he mumbled. - -"Why not? Ain't it fit for a lady to see?" demanded she, with -increasing sternness. - -"Oh, yes!" and Bobby _had_ to giggle at that. "But--but--Well, anyway, -you mustn't tell, and you can have your money back if you don't like the -show." - -"Ha!" exclaimed Mrs. Pepper, "as though I was worried about the loss of -a penny," and she went into the tent with her back very straight. - -She came out shaking with laughter. The tears rolled down her face and -she had to sit down on Mr. Martin's steps to get her breath. Miss -Prissy Craven demanded, sharply: "What under the sun is the matter with -you, Mis' Pepper? I never seen you behave so. What is it in that tent -them boys have got? I sh'd think it was a giggle ball full o' tickle!" - -"Ha, ha, ha!" chuckled the amused Mrs. Pepper. "You go in yourself, -Prissy, and see what you think of it. I can't tell you." - -"I'm going!" announced the maiden lady, nodding her head. "But lemme -tell you," she added to Bobby, "if it's anything I don't like, you'll -hear about it when I come out." - -Bobby looked across at Mrs. Pepper doubtfully, but he had to grin. The -lady who was laughing nodded to him vigorously, and he let Miss Craven -through. - -In less than a minute she flounced through the store and demanded, in -her high, rasping voice: - -"What did you mean by trickin' me that-a-way, Mis' Pepper? I never was -so disgusted in all my life. A perfec' swindle--" - -"You can get back your penny if you didn't like it," suggested Bobby, -trying hard not to laugh. - -"Well, I--" - -But Mrs. Pepper broke in upon the angry spinster's possible tirade: -"Jest what did you see, Prissy?" she asked the angry one, with emphasis. -Miss Craven's mouth remained open for fully half a minute, but no sound -came forth. The blood mounted into her face, and then she shut her lips -and started off hastily for her own home. _Evidently she did not want to -tell_! - -This incident excited the curiosity of the bystanders more than ever. -So far every person seeing the show had "played fair" and had refused to -say what he or she had seen on the inside of the tent. - -Bobby had refused to let the smaller boys or girls into the show, -telling them that late in the day they might see it for nothing. That -had been agreed upon with Fred, for the proprietors of the entertainment -were afraid that the little folk would be tempted to talk the matter -over among themselves and thus spoil the fun--as well as reduce the -receipts. - -And the pennies came in faster than Bobby or Fred had dared hope. -During the morning those people who had business on Hurley Street came -to see the show, and to listen to Bobby as "bally-hoo," and by noon-time -wind of the peep-show had gone all over town. - -Bobby's mother, and Fred's, too, heard of it from their husbands at -luncheon, and they decided to see what their young hopefuls were about. -Bobby was just a little bit scared when he saw his mother; he didn't -know whether she would see the joke as his father had, earlier in the -day--for Mr. Blake had come out of the tent roaring with laughter. - -"It beats anything how those two youngsters have got the whole town -guessing," he had said to Mr. Martin. "And they have hit on a positive -human failing that shows more sober thought than I believed either of -them capable of." - -"Dare you let your mother in to see this show, Bobby Blake?" asked Mrs. -Blake, seriously, when the boy's lecture--which he now rattled off -glibly enough--was finished. - -"There's no 'free list'," said Bobby, his eyes twinkling. "Pa told me -to be sure not to let you in unless you paid. And I am sure, Mother, -that you will see the handsomest woman in the world, if you want to, -when you go inside." - -"I declare! you have _me_ puzzled, Bobby Blake," said easy going Mrs. -Martin. - -"Just a minute, please!" urged Bobby, detaining his chum's mother. -"You'll have to take your turn. But one person is allowed to enter at a -time. This way! this way, kind friends! The line forms on the right. -Only a penny--a cent--the smallest coin of the realm. It won't make you -and it can't break you!" - -The two mothers joined each other afterward outside of Mr. Martin's -store. They looked into each other's faces wonderingly. - -"What do you think of those boys?" demanded Mrs. Martin. "What will -they do next?" - -"I--I don't know," admitted Mrs. Blake, with a sigh. "But I _do_ fear -that they will turn that school they are going to this fall -topsy-turvy!" - - - - - CHAPTER IX - - OFF FOR ROCKLEDGE - - -Trade at the peep-show was brisk until mid-afternoon. Bobby and Fred -had been able to get only a bite of luncheon from the store "in their -fists," and had compared notes but seldom. - -Bobby's trouser-pockets were borne down with the weight of pennies. In -refusing to make change it soon became very hard along Hurley Street to -obtain pennies at all. All the copper money in the town was fast coming -the way of the proprietors of the peep-show. - -Neither Bobby nor Fred realized this fact--nor what it meant to -them--until after the First National and the Old Farmers' Banks had -closed their doors for the day. The storekeepers then began running -around to borrow copper money, and it was some time before anybody knew -what made the scarcity of pennies in the storekeepers' tills! - -Meanwhile the financial adventure of Bobby Blake and Fred Martin was -prospering. - -Bobby suddenly saw the long-armed, white-headed Applethwaite Plunkit -standing in the crowd eying him while he delivered his talk. The crowd -before the rostrum laughed as usual, and those who had been in to see -the show urged their friends to venture likewise. - -The white-headed farm boy from Plunkit's Creek was pushing forward to -enter the show. Bobby had hoped he would not venture, but when Ap -approached, Bobby made up his mind quickly. - -"You can't go in, Applethwaite," he said, decidedly. "We don't want -you." - -"Why not!" - -"Never mind why not," said Bobby, firmly, looking straight into the -flushed face of the boy who had treated him and Fred so meanly just a -week before. "But you can't go in." - -"Ain't my cent just as good as anybody else's?" - -"Not here it isn't," declared Bobby, who knew very well that if the -white head appeared in the tent where the red head was, there would be -an explosion! Besides, he did not trust Ap. He believed Ap would do -all he could to break up the show after he had seen it. - -Ap began to bluster and threaten, but there were too many grown folk -around for him to dare attack Bobby. "You jes' wait," he whispered. -"I'll fix you some time." - -Bobby did not know what Applethwaite might try to do, and when he saw -him a little later with a group of boys who were pretty rough looking, -he was worried. These boys stood across the street from the show and -Bobby was afraid they were waiting for some slack time, when there were -no grown folk about, to "rush" the tent. - -He called Fred out and told him what he feared and Fred went through and -told the biggest clerk in his father's store. The clerks were -interested in the two young showmen, for they had been into the tent and -were delighted with what they had seen. - -The big fellow promised, therefore, to come running and bring the other -clerks to help, if the boys whistled for assistance. This plan quieted -Bobby's fears, and he gave his mind to the lecture, and to coaxing the -audience into the show, one by one. - -Suddenly the young lecturer saw Mr. Priestly in the crowd. He flushed -up pretty red when he saw him, for Mr. Priestly was the minister at the -church the boys attended, and Bobby thought he was about the finest man -in town. - -The clergyman was a young man who had made a name for himself in -University athletics, and he had the biggest Boys' Club in town. Bobby -and Fred were particular friends of the young minister, and for a moment -Bobby wondered if Mr. Priestly would approve of the peep-show. - -The gentleman's ruddy, smoothly shaven face was a-smile as he listened -to Bobby's speech, and his blue eyes twinkled. He was the first to -reach the tent entrance when Bobby stepped down from the platform. - -"Which wonder am _I_ to see, Bobby?" he asked, as he presented his penny -to the youthful showman. - -"We--we favor the clergy, Mr. Priestly," said Bobby, hesitatingly, yet -with an answering smile. "_You_ shall see two wonders." Then he called -in to his partner: "Hey, Fred!" - -"Hullo!" returned the red-haired one, coming to the entrance. - -"Here's Mr. Priestly," said Bobby, in a low voice. "I want you to show -_him_ the strongest man in the world, and the very best man in Clinton!" - -"Oh-ho!" cried Mr. Priestly. "_That's_ the way of it, eh?" and he -pinched Bobby's cheek as he went into the tent. "I believe I can guess -your joke, boys." - -"Never mind! nobody else has guessed it," chuckled Fred, going before -him. "Stand right there, Mr. Priestly." - -The oil lamp was in a bracket screwed to a post in the back of the tent. -Just where its light shone best was a narrow red curtain. Fred became -preternaturally solemn as he stepped forward and laid his hand upon the -cords that manipulated the curtain. - -"We will show you, Mr. Priestly," he said, "the Strongest Man in the -World--and as Bobby says, the very _best_ man in Clinton!" - -He pulled aside the curtain and Mr. Priestly saw his own reflection in a -long mirror that had been borrowed from the Martin attic. - -"Well, well!" exclaimed the minister, nodding. "And is this all your -show?" - -"Anybody who is not satisfied with what he _sees_," returned Fred, -chuckling, "can have the entrance fee refunded." - -At that the clergyman burst into a great laugh. "You boys! you boys! -You certainly have them _there_. One must be dissatisfied with himself -to ask for the return of his penny. I--I am not altogether sure that -this doesn't smack of a swindle; but it certainly _is_ smart. You -should show your own face in the glass, Fred, when the younger victims -come in to see the Smartest Boy in the World." - -"No, sir," grinned Fred. "Every fellow that comes in is better -satisfied to see his own reflection, I reckon." - -The clergyman went out, laughing. That the joke had kept up all day was -the wonder of it. The audience became smaller as supper time drew near. - -Then came Mr. Harrod, who kept the variety and ice cream store down the -street. "Say," he said to Bobby. "You boys must have cornered all the -pennies in town. I've got to have some. I'll give you a dollar bill for -ninety cents, Bobby Blake." - -"All right, sir," cried Bobby. "Is a dollar's worth all you want? I'll -send them down to your store in a few moments." - -"Send two dollars' worth," returned Mr. Harrod, hurrying away. - -"Hi, Betty Martin!" shouted Bobby to Fred's "next oldest sister," who -was on the fringe of the crowd. "Come here and count pennies--do, -please!" - -"Hi Betty Martin" stuck out her tongue promptly and did not stir. "Call -me by my proper name, Mister Smartie!" she said, sharply. - -"Oh, me, oh, my! I beg your pardon," laughed Bobby. "Miss Elizabeth -Martin, will you please count some of these pennies and roll them into -papers--right there on the box, please?" - -"All right," said Betty, who did not like to be called after any Mother -Goose character. - -She was a bright girl and she counted the pennies correctly into piles -of thirty, rolled them up that way, carried six of the rolls down to the -variety store, and brought back a two dollar bill. - -Then Mr. Martin needed copper money, and Betty counted a dollars' worth -out for him--at the rate of exchange established by Mr. Harrod. - -"Wow, Bobby!" murmured Fred, at the door of the tent. "We get them -coming and going, don't we? Ten cents on the dollar, too! We're -getting rich." - -But the peep-show had had its run. Not many could be coaxed in after -supper, and the boys were tired, too. They had not eaten a proper meal -all day, and Mr. Martin advised them to shut up shop. - -They took down the signs, put out the lamp, and went into the back room -of the grocery to count the receipts. The amount was far beyond their -expectations, and naturally Bobby and Fred were delighted. - -"It takes you to think up the bright ideas, chum," said Fred, -admiringly. - -But Bobby looked thoughtful. "I wonder if Mr. Priestly thought it was -just right?" he murmured. "I suppose we _did_ fool them all," and he -sighed. - -"Shucks!" exclaimed Fred. "They didn't have to be fooled if they didn't -want to. And even Prissy Craven didn't come back for her penny, did -she?" - -Only a few days more before they would start for Rockledge School. The -chums bought the bats and mask and other things they craved. They packed -their trunks two or three times over. They carried the books they liked -best, and many treasures for which their troubled mothers could see no -reason whatsoever. - -"Now, this can of pins and nails, Bobby," urged Mrs. Blake, helplessly. -"What _possible_ good can they be? I do not see how I am to get your -clothing into the trunk." - -"Aw--Mother!" gasped Bobby. "Don't throw them away. A fellow never can -tell when he'll want a pin--or a nail--or a button--or something. Never -mind putting in so many stockings. Leave the can--do, Mother!" - -All the Clinton boys who had been the chums' particular associates at -school were greatly interested in what they termed Bobby's and Fred's -"luck." They all had to be told, over and over again, of the expected -wonders of Rockledge School. - -"And I bet you and Fred turn things upside down there," said "Scat" -Monroe, with an envious sigh. - -"I bet we don't!" responded Bobby, quickly. "Dr. Raymond is awfully -strict, they say. We'll have to walk a chalk line." - -"Well, if Fred Martin ever walks a chalk-line," scoffed another of the -fellows, "it'll be a mighty crooked one!" - -However, the night before the boys were to start for Rockledge, the good -natured groceryman gave his son a long talk, and Fred went to bed -feeling pretty solemn. For the first time, he began to realize that he -was not going away to boarding school merely for the fun there was to be -got out of it! - -"You haven't made much of a mark for yourself in the Clinton Public -School, Frederick," said Mr. Martin, sternly; "but I do not believe that -is because you are either a dunce, or stubborn. You have been -frittering away your opportunities. - -"I am tired of seeing your name at the foot of your class roster--or -near it. Inattention is your failing. You are going where they make -boys attend. And if you do not work, and keep up with your mates, you -will be sent home. Do you understand that? - -"And if you are sent home, you shall be sent to another school where -you'll have very little fun at all for the rest of your life. I mean -the School of Hard Experience! - -"You shall be set to work in my store half of each day, like a poor -man's son, and go to the public school the other half day, and your name -will be on the truant officer's list." - -"And I guess he meant it," said Fred to Bobby the next morning. "Father -doesn't often scold, but he was mad at me for being so low in my classes -last term." - -The boys started for the railroad station with Mr. Blake, gayly enough, -however. When Bobby had parted from his mother, he had to swallow a big -lump in his throat, and he hugged her around the neck _hard_ for a -minute. But he had forced back the tears by the time they got to the -Martins' house. - -There the other children were all out on the front porch to bid their -brother and Bobby good-by. "Hi Betty Martin" threw an old shoe after -them. - -"For luck," she said. "That's what they do when folks get married." - -"But Bobby and I aren't getting married," complained Fred, rubbing his -right ear where the shoe had landed. "And, anyway, no girl's got a -right to shut her eyes tight and throw an old boot like _that_. How'd -you know you wouldn't do some damage?" - -"That's the luck of it," chuckled Bobby. "It's lucky she didn't hurt -you worse." - - - - - CHAPTER X - - NEW SURROUNDINGS - - -The boys were so eagerly looking ahead that they scarcely gave a -backward glance at Clinton, as the train rolled away. Mr. Blake had his -paper and a whole seat to himself. Bobby and Fred occupied a seat ahead -of him, and laughed and chattered as they pleased. - -"This is only Friday," said Fred, "and classes don't begin at Rockledge -until Monday. We'll have two whole days to get acquainted in. Do you -s'pose there will be some of the boys at the Rockledge station to meet -us?" - -"And a brass band, too, maybe--eh?" chuckled Bobby. "I guess nobody but -the principal of the school knows we're coming, Fred. We'll be new -boys, and the bigger fellows will boss us around at first." - -"Huh! they can't boss _me_ if I don't want to be bossed," declared the -pugnacious Fred. - -"Don't you begin to talk that way," advised his chum. "We'll have to be -pretty small potatoes at first." - -"I don't see why," grumbled Fred. - -"You'll find out. My father went to a boarding school when he was a -boy, and he told me," Bobby explained. - -They did not have to wait until reaching Rockledge to learn something -about the temper of the boys with whom they would be associated. At -Cambwell several students got aboard and came into their car. They were -all older than Bobby and Fred, and they were very noisy and -self-assertive. - -They sang, and joked together in the seats up front. Finally they spied -the two boys from Clinton sitting in the middle of the car. - -"Hullo!" exclaimed a tall, thin, yellow-haired boy who seemed to be a -leader in the fun. "There's a couple of kids who look as though they'd -just left home and mamma. Bet they're going with us." - -One of the other boys said something in a low tone, and then he and the -yellow-haired one got up and came down the aisle. - -"Say!" said the second boy, who was short and stocky and squinted his -eyes up in a funny way when he talked. "Goin' to school, sonnies?" - -"Yes, we are," said Fred, sharply. - -"Rockledge or Belden?" - -"Rockledge, if you please," said Bobby, politely. - -"Huh!" said the tall boy, grinning. "I don't know whether it pleases us -any to have you go to Rockledge. But it's lucky you're not bound for -Belden." - -"Why?" asked Fred. - -"We'd have to chuck your hats out of the window. We don't allow any -Belden boys to ride in this train with their hats on." - -"And do the Belden boys throw the Rockledge boys' hats out of the -window?" asked Bobby, innocently enough. - -"If they're able. But they ain't. You sure you are going to -Rockledge?" - -"You can wait till we get off the train and then find out whether we -tell the truth, or not," said Fred, rather crossly. - -"Say, young fellow! we don't like fresh fish at Rockledge," warned the -yellow-haired boy. "If you're going there, you want to walk Turkey." - -Bobby pinched Fred warningly, and both the chums remained silent. - -"I never did like the looks of red hair, anyway--did you, Bill?" -suggested the squinting chap, grinning. - -"No. We'll have to dye it for him," said the yellow-haired boy. "What -color do you prefer instead of red?" he asked Fred Martin. - -"Well, I wouldn't like it to be straw-colored," responded Fred, -promptly, and with a meaning glance at his interrogator's hair. "Any -other will suit me better." - -The yellow-haired boy flushed and his pale eyes sparkled. Fred stared -back at him quite boldly, for the ten year old was no coward, whatever -else he might be. - -"Fresh fish--just as I told you," muttered the other strange boy, -scowling and squinting at the same time. He was a very ugly boy when he -did this. "Both of them." - -"Well!" began Bill, and then stopped. - -The train had halted at another station the moment before. Somebody -entered the front door of the car, and at once the group of boys going -to Rockledge School set up a shout. - -"Hi, Barry!" - -"See who's come in with the tide! Hey, Captain!" - -"Hullo, Barry Gray!" - -"Captain! Captain! How-de-do!" - -Even the yellow-haired boy and his comrade turned to look. Bobby and -Fred saw a handsome, brown haired fellow coming down the aisle. He was -fourteen or older. He carried a light overcoat over his arm and he was -very well dressed. - -He tossed his coat and bag into one of the racks, and began shaking -hands. Everybody seemed glad to see him. As he quickly glanced down -the aisle his look seemed to quell Bill and the squinting boy. - -"He's going to butt in, of course," growled the first named. - -"Sure. Feels his oats--" - -The fellow with the squint said no more. The handsome fellow, whose -name seemed to be Barry Gray, came down the aisle almost at once. - -"Hullo, Bill Bronson," he said, with some sharpness. "Up to your usual -tricks?" - -"It isn't any business of yours, Barry, what Jack and I do," growled the -yellow-haired boy. - -"I'll make it my business, then," said Barry Gray, laughing. Then he -turned directly to Bobby and Fred. - -"You kids going to Rockledge this term?" he asked. - -"Yes, sir," said Bobby, quickly. - -Barry Gray was not as tall as Bill Bronson, and perhaps not as old, but -he evidently was not afraid of either of the bullies. - -"Where are you from?" - -"Clinton, sir," pronounced Bobby, again taking the lead. - -"What's your name--and your chum's?" asked Barry. - -"My name is Bob Blake, and this is Fred Martin," said Bobby. - -"Glad to know you," said the older boy, shaking hands with both of them, -and even Fred began to forgive him for calling them "kids." - -"Ever been to school before?" asked Barry. - -"Not to boarding school," Fred said. - -"Come on up and I'll introduce you to the other fellows. Don't mind -Bill Bronson and Jack Jinks, here," added Barry Gray, grinning at the -two retiring bullies. "If they bother you much, come to me. I'm -captain of the school this year, and Dr. Raymond expects me to keep all -of the fellows straight. Being a captain is like being a monitor. You -understand!" - -"Oh, yes, sir," said Bobby. - -"And you needn't 'sir' me so much," said the kindly captain. "Come on, -now--" - -Bobby turned to ask permission of his father. Barry at once saw that Mr. -Blake was with the chums from Clinton. - -"Who's this, Bob? Your father, or Fred's?" - -"This is my father," said Bobby, politely. - -The frank school captain stepped forward and offered his hand. "Glad to -meet you, Mr. Blake," he said. "You trust the boys with me. I'll see -that they get in right with the other fellows, and that they're not put -upon too much." - -"I'm sure of it," said Mr. Blake, smiling. "I shall feel better about -leaving Bobby and Fred at Rockledge, knowing that you will have an eye -on them." - -"Oh, you can be easy about them," said Captain Gray who, despite his -natural conceit, seemed a very nice fellow. "Of course, they'll have to -take a few hard knocks, and the boys will 'run' them some. But they -sha'n't be hurt." - -"Huh!" muttered Fred. "I guess we can take care of ourselves." - -Barry looked down at him and grinned. "Yes, I see you own red hair," he -observed, and Mr. Blake laughed outright. - -Fred followed his chum and Barry Gray up the aisle with rather a lagging -step. He felt his own importance considerably, and he did not see why -he should be as respectful as Bobby was to the captain of Rockledge -School. - -In a very few minutes Master Martin felt better. The other boys were a -lot more friendly than Bill Bronson and Jack Jinks, who the chums -learned later, were two of the most troublesome boys at the school. Not -many of the others liked the bullies. - -There were some fellows quite as young as Bobby and Fred, but none of -them were "greenies," like the chums from Clinton. - -"Sure you'll have to be hazed!" explained a fat, genial boy, named Perry -Wise--called "Pee Wee" because of his initials and his size. "Every -fellow has to, that comes to the school. But Barrymore Gray won't let -them go too far. He's a nice fellow, he is." - -"I think he is fine," said Bobby, enthusiastically. - -"He's pretty fresh, I guess," grumbled Fred. - -"We don't call the captain of the school fresh," said Pee Wee. "He has -a right to boss us. The Doctor lets him. Next to the teachers, Barry's -got more to say about things in the school than anybody else." - -This did not please Master Martin much. He wanted to be of some -importance himself, and he had never been used to giving in to other -boys, unless it was to Bobby Blake. - -However, there was so much to hear, and so many new people to get -acquainted with that Fred had little time to worry about Barry Gray. -The chums found the time passing so quickly that they were surprised -when the train slowed down and the brakeman shouted, "All out for -Rockledge!" - -There was no crowd of boys and no band. Rockledge was a busy town, with -oak-shaded streets, great bowlders thrusting their heads out of the -vacant lots, and much blasting going on where new cellars were being -excavated. - -There was an electric car line through the middle of High Street, which -turned off at the shore of the lake (they learned this afterward) and -went as far as Belden. - -Bobby and Fred, with Mr. Blake, took a car on this line and crossed the -railroad, finally bringing up within sight of the grounds of Rockledge -School. - -It was not a large school, and there were only four buildings, including -the gate-keeper's cottage where all of the outside servants slept. It -had once been a fine private estate, and Dr. Raymond had made of it a -most attractive and homelike institution. - -The doctor and his family, and his chief assistant, lived in a handsome -house connected with the main building of the school by a long, roofed -portico. This last building was of brick and sandstone, and held -classrooms, dining-rooms, the kitchen department in one end of the -basement, and a fine gymnasium in the other. - -In the upper stories were a hall, two large dormitories in each of which -were beds for twenty boys, and five small dormitories for two boys each. -The ten highest scholars occupied these small rooms, and from them was -chosen the captain of the school each June. - -The junior teachers slept in this big building, too. - -There were beautiful lawns, fine shrubs, winding, shaded walks, and a -large campus on which were a baseball diamond, a football field, and -courts for tennis, basket-ball, and other games. - -These facts Bobby and Fred gradually absorbed. At first they were too -round-eyed to appreciate much but the fact that the place seemed large, -and that there positively was an immense number of boys! Fifty boys -seemed to have swelled to a hundred and fifty--and they all stared at -the newcomers. - -Mr. Blake went immediately to the doctor's study, taking Bobby and Fred -with him. Dr. Raymond was a tall, big-boned man, wearing very loose -garments and a collar a full size too large. The big doctor had bushy -side-whiskers, and his chin and lip were very closely shaved. He had -white, big teeth, and he showed them all when he smiled. - -His eyes were kindly, and wrinkles appeared around them when he smiled, -in a most engaging fashion. When he shook hands with Bobby and Fred, -some magnetic feeling passed from the big man to the boys, so that the -latter decided on the instant that they liked Dr. Raymond! - -"Manly little fellows--both," said the doctor, to Mr. Blake, as the two -gentlemen walked toward the big windows at the end of the room, leaving -Bobby and Fred marooned, like two castaway sailors, on a desert isle of -rug near the door. - -The doctor's study was enormously long, with a high ceiling, and lined -with books, save where a fireplace broke into the bookshelves on one -side. There was a very large flat-topped desk, too, several deep chairs, -and a number of smaller tables at which the older boys sometimes did -their lessons. - -"You'll find them just as full of fun and mischief as a couple of -chestnuts are of meat," said Mr. Blake, with a chuckle. "But I don't -think there is a mean trait in either of them. My boy has had, we -think, rather a good influence over Freddie Martin. The latter's red -hair is apt to get him into trouble." - -"I understand," said the doctor, nodding and smiling. "I try to leave -the boys much to themselves in the matter of deportment. The bigger -boys are supposed to set the standard of morals, and I am glad to say -that I have never yet had occasion to be sorry for beginning that way. - -"We run Rockledge School on honor, sir. Every year--in June--we present -to the boy who earns it, a gold medal stating that for the past year he -has shown himself to be worthy of distinction above his fellows in a -strictly honorable way. - -"This medal is not given for scholarship--yet none but a fairly studious -boy may earn it. It is not given for deportment strictly--though no boy -who is not gentlemanly and of manly bearing and action, can win it. The -medal is not given for mere popularity, for a boy may sometimes be -popular with his fellows, without having many of the fundamental virtues -of character which we hope to see in our boys. - -"The boy who won it last year, and is gone from us now, stood ninth in -his class only, and was not much of an athlete--which latter tells -mightily among the boys themselves, you know. Yet my teachers and -myself, as well as the school, were practically unanimous in the -selection of Tommy Wardwell as the recipient of the Medal of Honor." - -The gentlemen talked some few minutes longer. Then Mr. Blake came to bid -Bobby and Fred good-by. He shook hands gravely with his own son and -then took Fred's hand. - -"You've got some trouble, some fun, and a lot of work before you, Master -Fred," he said. "I expect your father and mother will be anxiously -waiting for good reports about you." - -Then he looked at Bobby again. That youngster was having great -difficulty in "holding in." His father was going away--and going to a -far country. Thousands of miles would separate them before they would -meet again. - -"You got anything to say to me, Bobs?" asked 'Mr. Blake, briskly. - -"Ye--yes, sir!" gasped Bobby. "I--I got to kiss you before you go, Pa!" -and he flung his arms around Mr. Blake's neck and for a minute was a -baby again. - -He knew that Fred would think such a show of emotion beneath him, and he -saw the doctor looking at him curiously. Just the same, Bobby Blake was -glad--oh, how glad!--many and many a time thereafter that he had bade -his father good-by in just this way. - - - - - CHAPTER XI - - GETTING ACQUAINTED - - -Pee Wee was the boy who first "took up" the chums from Clinton. The fat -boy sat on the steps of the doctor's house, idly whistling and twiddling -his fingers when Bobby and Fred came out. Perry Wise never stood when -he could sit, and never walked when he could stand, and never ran when -walking would get him to his goal just as well. He was the picture of -peace just now. - -"Hello, fellows!" he said. - -"Hello!" returned Bobby. - -"Is the Old Doc goin' to let you stay?" grinned the fat boy. - -"Huh! why shouldn't he?" demanded Fred, quick to take offense. - -"Cause you're so terrible green," chuckled Pee Wee. "They let the sheep -loose sometimes to crop the lawn, and they might eat you." - -"Aw--you're too smart," said the abashed Fred. - -Bobby only laughed. He was glad to have his mind taken up by something -beside the fact of his father's going away. - -"Say!" said Pee Wee, cordially. "Don't you want to look over the -place?" - -"We'd be very glad to," admitted Bobby. - -Pee Wee made no effort to rise at first. He merely bawled after another -boy who was some distance away: - -"Hey, Purdy! Don't you want to beau the greenhorns around?" - -Fred Martin doubled his fist again and scowled at the placid fat boy, -but Bobby warned him by a shake of the head. The boy addressed, who was -smaller than Pee Wee, but who was well out of his reach, turned and made -a face at the fat boy, saying: - -"Do your own work, Fatty. Don't try to put it off on me." - -Pee Wee was quite unmoved by this rough retort. He looked around and -hailed another lad: - -"Jimmy Ailshine! come on and show the newsies all the lions, will you?" - -"For why?" demanded the boy addressed. - -"Aw--well--I have a stone bruise," explained Pee Wee, hesitatingly. - -"You must have it from sitting so much, then," declared Jimmy, with a -loud laugh. "You better take them around yourself, or the captain will -be after you." - -"You needn't show us about if it is very, very painful," suggested -Bobby, beginning to understand the fat boy now. - -"Guess we can find our way around alone," grunted Fred. - -"Aw well! we won't row about it," said Pee Wee, getting up slowly. "But -that stone bruise--" - -However, the trouble in question seemed, later, to be of a shifting -nature, for first Pee Wee favored his right foot and then his left. - -It must be confessed that Perry Wise was a very lazy boy, but he was a -good natured one, and when once the exploration party was started, he -played the part of show-master very well indeed. - -They went through the school rooms and up to the dormitories first. In -the second dormitory, where the smaller boys slept, in a pair of twin -beds in one corner, Bobby and Fred were billeted. - -"And no pillow fights, or other ructions, after 'lights out,' unless you -ask the captain first," warned Pee Wee. - -"Seems to me this captain has a lot to say around here," growled Fred. - -"You bet he has. And what he says he means. And it's not healthy for -anybody to do a thing when he says '_don't_.'" - -"Why not?" queried Master Fred. - -Pee Wee grinned. "You try it if you like," he said. "Then you'll find -out. Dr. Raymond says experience is the surest, if not the best, -teacher." - -The dormitory was a big, light room, cheerfully furnished, with a locker -beside each bed for the boy's clothes and personal possessions, and a -chair at the head of the bed. - -That wall-space over the heads of the beds was considered the private -possession of each couple, for the flaunting of banners, photographs, -strings of birds-eggs, shells, pine-cone frames, and a hundred other -objects of virtu dear to boyish hearts. - -"You see, we can hang up a lot of stuff, too, when our trunks come," -whispered Fred to Bobby, pointing to the blank spaces over their beds, -lettered only with the names: "Blake" and "Martin." - -"You can see clear across the lake from the window here," drawled Pee -Wee, lolling on a sill. - -The chums came to see. Lake Monatook was spread before them--a -beautiful, oval sheet of water, with steep, wooded banks in the east, -and sloping yellow beaches of sand at the other end. - -Where the Rockledge School stood, a steep sandstone cliff dropped right -down to a narrow beach, more than fifty feet below. A strong, -two-railed fence guarded the brink of this cliff the entire width of the -school premises, save where the stairs led down to the boat-house. - -In the middle of the lake were several small islands, likewise wooded. -The lake was quite ten miles long, and half as wide in its broadest -part. - -Across from Rockledge School was the village of Belden. On a high bluff -over there the new boys saw several red brick buildings among the trees. - -"That's Belden School," explained Pee Wee. "We have to beat them at -football this fall. We did them up at baseball in the spring. They're -a mean set of fellows anyway," added the fat boy. "Once they came across -here and stole all our boats. We'll have to get square with them for -that, some time." - -"Come on," said Fred, who had begun to enjoy pushing the fat boy, -now--knowing that he had been set the task of showing them around--and -was determined to keep their guide up to the mark. "We don't want to -stay here till bedtime, do we?" - -"Aw-right," returned Pee Wee, with a groan. "That's my bed next to -yours, Blake. Mouser Pryde is chummed on me this year. We call him -Mouser because he brought two white mice with him to school when he -first came. - -"Shiner and Harry Moore have the beds on your other side. Shiner's the -chap you saw down stairs--Jimmy Ailshine. He's a good fellow, but -awfully lazy," remarked the fat boy, with a sigh. - -"What do you call yourself?" demanded Fred, rather impolitely. - -"Oh, _me_? I'm not well--honest. And that stone bruise--" - -It was then he began to favor the other foot, and Bobby giggled. Pee -Wee looked at him solemnly. "What are you laughing at?" he asked. - -Bobby pointed out that the stone bruise seemed to have shifted. - -"Aw, well! it hurts so bad I feel it in both feet," returned the fat -boy, grinning. "Come on." - -They went down to the gymnasium. It was a dandy! Bobby and Fred saw -that it was a whole lot better than the one Mr. Priestly had for his -Boys' Club in the Church House at home. - -Then they inspected the outside courts, the ball field, and the cinder -track--which was an oval, on the very verge of the cliff. - -They met boys everywhere, and Pee Wee told them the names of some of -them, while a few of about their own age stopped to speak to Bobby and -Fred. - -Jack Jinks and the yellow-haired youth, Bill Bronson, came up to the -trio of smaller boys as they stood by the railing that defended the -cliff's brink. - -"So you're showing the greenies around, are you, Fatty?" proposed Jack. -"Shown them the stake where the Old Doctor ties up fresh kids and gives -them nine and thirty lashes if they as much as whisper in class?" - -"Yes," said Pee Wee, nodding. "And I showed them the straps there where -_you_ were tied up last term, Jinksey." - -"Aw--smart, aren't you?" snarled the squint-eyed boy, while Bill Bronson -grinned. - -"This red-headed chap's going to be a favorite--I can see that," said -Bill, rolling the cap on Fred's head with one hand, but pressing hard -enough to hurt. - -"Let go of me!" cried Fred, hotly, jerking away. - -"Don't you get too presumptuous, sonny," advised the yellow-haired -youth. "There's lots of chance for you to get into trouble here." - -"If I get into trouble with _you_," snapped Fred, "it won't all be on -one side." - -"Keep still, Fred!" said Bobby. "Let's come on away," and he tugged at -his chum's sleeve. - -"That's a pretty fresh kid, too," said Jack, eyeing Bobby with disfavor. - -But the trio of younger boys withdrew. "Those fellows," said Pee Wee, -"are always picking on fellows they think they can lick. If you don't -toady to them, they'll treat you awfully mean!" - -"I won't toady to anybody--not even to that captain," declared Fred. - -"What! Barry Gray?" cried Pee Wee, in surprise. - -"Yes. I don't like him--much," confessed the belligerent Fred. - -"You'll be dreadfully lonesome, then," chuckled the fat boy. "For 'most -every fellow in the school likes Barry. He's captain of the baseball -team, and center in the football team. He can do anything, Barry can. -And the Old Doctor thinks he is about right. He was next choice after -Tommy Wardwell last year for the Medal of Honor, and he'll likely get it -this year." - -"What's the Medal of Honor?" asked Fred, curiously. - -Pee Wee grinned. "It's something that no red-headed boy ever won," he -declared, mysteriously. - - - - - CHAPTER XII - - IN THE DORMITORY - - -By supper time Bobby and Fred knew ten boys to speak to--without -counting Jack Jinks, Bill Bronson, and the school captain, Barrymore -Gray. The latter they did not see at all again until they beheld him -sitting at the doctor's right hand at the head of the "upper table," as -they soon learned to call the one around which the head scholars and the -assistant master sat with Dr. Raymond. The junior teachers sat at the -heads of the other tables and kept order. - -Rockledge was divided into the Upper School and the Lower School. Bobby -and Fred would of course be in the Lower, but just how they would be -placed in classes they would not know until the real business of the -school opened on Monday. - -The supper was plentiful, but plain. Bobby missed Meena's sweet cakes -and hot tea-biscuit, and Fred whispered that there was hayseed in the -strawberry jam, so he knew it was not "home made." - -Pee Wee sat across the table from them and ate steadily, showing beyond -peradventure that his plumpness arose from a very natural cause! - -Until eight o'clock the boys were allowed to frolic outside as they -wished, no tasks being set them as yet. Bobby noticed that one of the -junior teachers was always within sight, while Captain Barry Gray, and -some of the older fellows, were grouped on the main steps of the -dormitory building, swapping vacation experiences. - -Bobby noticed that Barry was always very well dressed--indeed, richly -dressed, beside many of the boys--so he made up his mind that the school -captain must come from a wealthy home. - -Bill Bronson jingled money in his pockets and wore a handsome gold watch -and a diamond pin in his tie. Most of the smaller boys, however, were -no better dressed than Bobby and Fred. - -Taken altogether, the boys who appeared at the supper table were a -bright and interesting looking crowd. Bobby was sure he was going to be -happy here, and Fred was already on terms of intimacy with half a dozen -of the chaps about their own age. - -The boys from Clinton chanced to be the only new ones to enter Rockledge -this semester. There was usually a long waiting list, but Mr. Martin's -influence had gained Bobby the chance to attend with Fred, because the -two boys were chums. - -Before they left the supper table the doctor arose and walked down the -line of smaller tables and shook hands with each boy, called him by -name, and welcomed him again to the school. - -To some he said a word of warning, but all in a cheerful way that took -the sting out of the admonition. He evidently knew the failings of each -boy, and had studied their characters carefully. - -When he came to Bobby and Fred he placed a hand on each boy's shoulder -and said, so that all the school could hear: - -"Our two new friends. I hope all of you will welcome them kindly. Make -them feel at home." - -This was before the evening run outside. Bobby and Fred were taken into -a noisy game of "relievo," and the great clock in the tower chiming -eight was all that brought the fun to a close. - -The students filed into the library and general study-room on the first -floor of the main building. For an hour every night the boys were -allowed to read or play quiet games here. It was a cheerful, bright -room, with rugs on the floor, and pretty hangings, and comfortable -chairs. Although one of the teachers was always present, there was a -feeling of freedom among the boys, and they could talk or read, as they -pleased--just so they were not noisy. - -When nine struck in the tower, they filed upstairs to bed. There was -plenty of time to undress and prepare for bed before the half hour -struck. Bobby and Fred found that the older boys in the small rooms -were allowed to remain up a half hour longer than those occupying the -big dormitories. - -Captain Gray came in and advised the small boys to lay their clothing -carefully on their chairs as they removed the garments. - -"Part of the fire drill, you know," he said, cheerfully. "Coat and vest -over the back of the chair. Pants folded nicely and laid across the -back, too. Here, Pee Wee! None of that! Shake out your stockings and -hang them on the chair-round. Shoes each side of the chair as you take -them off--right and left. That's it." - -He walked up and down between the rows of beds. He told Bobby and Fred -just how to distribute the remainder of their garments so that they -would be easily at hand if there came an alarm. - -"Of course, there's no danger, and there are plenty of fire escapes and -all that," said the big boy, cheerfully. "But the Old Doctor insists -upon our being ready for any emergency. Some night you'll be waked up -by the fire bell and find drill is called. Want to be ready for it." - -Then he glanced again at Fred's chair. "Hi, Ginger!" he said. "Put -your boots straight. Your left one's on your right side, and vice -versa." - -There was a good deal of fun at Fred's expense when Barry had gone. -"Hi, Ginger!" resounded from all parts of the room; Fred Martin had won -a distinctive nickname on the spot, and he didn't like it much. - -"I knew I shouldn't like that big fellow," he confessed to Bobby. "And -I'll lick some of these kids yet, if they keep on calling me Ginger." - -"No, you won't," declared Bobby. "You know you won't. They all have -nicknames, too. Yours is no worse than 'Pee Wee,' or 'Shiner,' or -'Buck,' or 'Skeets.' They'll stick me with one yet." - -"But 'Ginger'--" - -"Aw, stop your kicking," advised his chum. "It won't get you anywhere." - -There was still a buzz of voices as the twenty boys finished getting -ready for bed. The door opened and Bill Bronson and Jack Jinks, from -their room across the hall, looked in. - -"Sleep with an eye open, you kids," Bill ordered, in a shrill whisper. -"Something doing by and by." - -"Oh, what, Bill?" cried Purdy, near the door. - -"Somebody's got to ride the goat," chuckled the squint-eyed boy, looking -over his chum's shoulder. - -At that several of the others looked at Bobby and Fred, and chuckled. -The two Clinton boys did not hear this by-play. Bill and his chum -looked over at the newcomers with wide grins. - -Just at this moment Bobby was completely ready for bed and he dropped -upon his knees before his chair at the head of the bed and proceeded to -say his prayers as he always did at home. Fred, after a moment's -hesitation, followed suit. - -Instantly a hush fell upon the room. The boys who had been gabbling -together stopped because they saw the facial expression of those boys -grouped at the doorway. Everybody turned to look at the corner occupied -by the chums from Clinton. - -The silence was but for a moment. Then Bill laughed and took one long -stride to the nearest bed. He snatched up a pillow and sent it with -unerring aim and considerable force at the back of Bobby's head. - -The pillow reached its mark, and Bobby jumped. But he did not rise until -his prayer was completed. A second pillow came his way, while Jack and -some of the other spectators laughed immoderately. - -Fred Martin jumped up with an angry exclamation. Perhaps he did not -finish his prayer at all. He grabbed one of the pillows which had struck -his chum and made for Bill Bronson at the other end of the room. - -"You big bully!" he exclaimed, all the rage which he had bottled up that -day boiling over in an instant, "You big bully! Can't you leave a -peaceable fellow alone?" - -He slammed the yellow-haired youth over the head, and struck him so hard -that the pillow-case burst and the feathers began to fly. Bill uttered -a roar of rage, and tried to seize him. - -"Don't, Fred! Stop! Stop!" called Bobby, from the other end of the -room. - -Fred Martin had gone too far to stop now. He expected to take a -thrashing for his boldness, but meanwhile he was filling Bronson's eyes -and mouth with feathers. - -Jack Jinks put out his foot and tripped the smaller boy up. Fred fell -with Bill on top of him. The bigger boy began to use his fists. - -"No fair! Let him up, Bill!" cried two or three. - -"Shut up!" ordered Jack, putting his back against the closed door. "You -kids that holler will get all that's coming to you." - -Bobby came running up the room to help his chum, and at just that -instant the door knob was turned and the door was burst in, sending Jack -sliding half way across the room. - -"Cheese it!" squealed Pee Wee, jumping into bed with his trousers on. - -But it was only Barry Gray who appeared. - -"Hello! Can't keep quiet the first night, eh?" demanded the captain. -"What you doing in here, Jack?" - -Then he saw Bill Bronson on top of the struggling Fred. Bill had got in -one savage punch and there was blood flowing from Fred's nose upon the -burst pillow. - -Captain Gray seized Bill by the back of his collar and with both hands -jerked him to his feet. Bill squealed like a rat, thinking the Old -Doctor himself had come to Fred's rescue. - -"Ow! Ow! Ouch!" he squealed. "Aw--_you_! Let me alone, Barry Gray. -This isn't any of your business." - -"All right. I'll pass it up to the teachers if you say so," snapped the -captain. - -"Aw--well--" - -"Hold on!" commanded Barry, stepping in front of Jack who was sneaking -out of the room "_You're_ in this, too." - -"No, I'm not," said Jack. - -"You were holding the door," said Barry. "Stop here till we hear what's -the trouble." - -Half a dozen shrill voices tried to tell him at once. But Barry pointed -at Fred. "_You_ tell," he said. - -"I hit him with the pillow," growled Fred, ungraciously enough. - -Barry glanced down the room toward Fred's bed. "It isn't your pillow," -he said. "Did he shuck the pillow at you first?" - -"No," said Fred, determined not to "snitch." - -But Howell Purdy didn't feel that way about it. He said to the captain: - -"Bill Bronson began it. He fired a couple of pillows at Bobby Blake -when Bobby was saying his prayers. Then Fred went for him." - -Barry looked from Fred's flushed and bloody face to Bobby's pale one. -He said nothing for a moment to either of them, but turned on Bill -Bronson. - -"You know the rules. You had no business in this dormitory--neither you -nor Jack." - -"I suppose you'll tell on us," snarled Bill. "Of course! I knew what a -tattle-tale you'd be just as soon as the Old Doc appointed you captain -last June. He did it so that he'd be sure to have somebody to run to -him with every little thing." - -"Maybe," returned Barry, flushing. "But he doesn't call it a little -thing for two boys to fight in a dormitory." - -"Yah!" snarled Bill. - -"Give me a fair chance and I'll fight him anywhere!" declared the -belligerent Fred, sopping the blood with a handkerchief that Bobby had -brought him. - -"You are one plucky kid," said Barry, quickly. "But if there has got to -be a fight, it must be between two fellows more evenly matched. I leave -it to the room: Is a fight fair between Bronson and Martin!" - -"No!" cried the boys in chorus. - -"But Bill Bronson started the fight, so he ought to be accommodated," -Captain Gray said. "Isn't that right?" - -Some of the boys giggled. Fred muttered: "Let me fight him. I'm not -afraid." - -"If Bill doesn't want me to go to the Doctor with this, he'll have to -abide by my decision, won't he?" proceeded Barry, his eyes twinkling. - -"Sure!" cried the crowd, led by Pee Wee, now delighted by what they saw -was coming. - -"Aw, you're too fresh," grumbled the bully. - -"That's not the question," said Barry. "Do you agree?" - -"To what?" - -"To have me set the punishment for this infraction of the rules, instead -of putting it up to the Old Doctor?" - -"Well!" - -"You, too, Jack?" demanded Barry of the squinting fellow. - -"Yes," muttered the latter. - -"All right. Then I announce that as Bill wants to fight, he shall be -accommodated. Jack is a good match for him. Isn't that so, boys?" - -There was a storm of giggling. The two bullies looked at each other and -grinned. The idea of them fighting each other was preposterous--or, so -it seemed. - -"And for fear," said the captain, his eyes twinkling, "that they won't -play fair, if they are matched in a regular fight, we'll make it a -'poguey fight' to-morrow morning at nine--in the gym. Now, you two -fellows run to your rooms--and show up at nine in the gym, or I'll come -after you." - -He drove the bullies out of the room before him, and then went himself. -There was a subdued whispering and giggling all over the dormitory. - -"What's a 'poguey fight'?" demanded Bobby, of Pee Wee, in some alarm. - -The fat boy was rocking himself to and fro on the bed in huge delight, -and could scarcely answer for laughing. - -"You wait and see," he finally chuckled, "It's more fun than the -Kilkenny cats!" - - - - - CHAPTER XIII - - THE POGUEY FIGHT - - -Fred staunched his bleeding nose at the basin in the corner, and then -exchanged pillows with Howell Purdy. Fred slept on the burst one. - -"I'll get into trouble anyway over this," Fred growled in Bobby's ear. -"I wish I could have hit that mean bully just once with something hard." - -Bobby hadn't the heart to scold. Fred had attacked a much bigger boy -than himself just because that bully had flung a pillow at Fred's chum. -That was the impulsive way of Fred Martin. Bobby knew that his chum was -going to have a hard row to hoe here at Rockledge, unless he learned to -control his temper. - -Bobby Blake had some difficulty in getting to sleep that night--and that -was not usually the case with him. The plan of Bill and Jack to haze -the two newcomers to Rockledge had evidently been stopped. The -dormitory was not disturbed until morning, save that once in the night -Pee Wee had a nightmare and groaned and fought, until the next fellow to -him punched him and woke him up. - -"Wow!" said the fat boy, "I thought I was up in a balloon and they -wanted to put me out instead of dropping sandbags." - -"Don't eat so much at supper; then you won't dream such stuff," growled -Mouser Pryde, punching his pillow and settling down again. - -The rising bell at half past six got everybody but Pee Wee out of bed. -Mouser pulled off the bed clothes, but that did not start the fat boy, -and finally, when the others were half dressed, Mouser tiptoed over from -the basins with a glass of water, and let the drops trickle down, one by -one, upon Perry's fat neck. - -"Ow! ow! ouch!" bawled Pee Wee. "Something's sprung a leak. Let me up -before I drown!" - -He struck the floor before he was half awake and landed in his bare feet -upon a set of "jacks" that Shiner had conveniently dropped on the rug. - -"Ow! what are these things? Wow! I'll bet I can't walk at all now." - -"They hurt worse than the stone bruise, eh?" asked Bobby, grinning. - -"These fellows are always playing jokes on me," grumbled Pee Wee. "And -I never do a living thing to hurt them." - -The fat boy _was_ a tempting subject for a joke, and he probably was the -butt more often than anybody else. - -While they were dressing, Fred almost got in a fight with Shiner because -the latter called him "Ginger." Bobby took his chum aside. - -"Now, Fred, that name's bound to stick," he said. "What's the use of -getting mad at it? They all like you; no use in making enemies. Take it -laughingly." - -"That's because of Smartie Gray," grumbled Fred. "_He_ called me -'Ginger' first." - -"That isn't as bad as 'Bricktop'," suggested Bobby, smiling. "You ought -to be glad it's no worse. I expect they'll find a nickname for me -pretty soon, that will be a corker!" - -At seven the bell rang again and they all marched down to breakfast. -Bill Bronson and Jack Jinks scowled at Bobby and Fred on the stairs, but -the captain was near and they did not say a word to the chums. - -Before the boys separated, the first master, Mr. Leith, said: - -"Young gentlemen: Doctor Raymond will see you all in the hall at eleven. -Nobody is to be out of bounds this morning. Be prompt at eleven, -remember. You are excused." - -Bobby thought Mr. Leith a very grim and serious gentleman indeed. - -As the smaller boys scurried out of the hall to the porch, they found a -steady stream of boys going down the basement steps to the gymnasium. -Howell Purdy and Shiner were set, one on either side of the doorway, -where they whispered to those who passed: - -"Poguey fight in the gym at nine. Don't forget the poguey fight." - -"What _is_ that, Shiner?" asked Bobby. - -"You don't want to miss it," grinned Shiner. "You and your chum are at -the bottom of it." - -"But we're not going to fight," declared Bobby. - -"No. But Bill and Jack are. No fear!" - -Bobby and Fred did not go down into the basement at once. There was -still an hour before the time set by Captain Gray, the evening before, -for the mysterious "poguey fight." Nobody whom the chums asked would -tell them any particulars. - -"I expect I'll get into trouble over bloodying that pillow," said Fred. -"What shall I tell them if they ask me?" - -"Say your nose bled," returned Bobby. "If they ask you _how_ it came to -bleed, that's another question." - -"Well, that's the question I'm afraid of." - -"Wouldn't you tell on that Bill Bronson?" - -"No. The other boys would say I snitched. I hate him, but I won't -snitch on him," declared Fred. - -"Maybe nobody will ask you. And Barry Gray will take your side." - -"I don't want him to take my side," growled Fred. "He's a big fellow, -too, and expects to be toadied to." - -"You're making a mistake about him, I think," said Bobby, mildly. He -knew it was no use to argue the matter with his chum. - -They walked out across the campus to the railing that bordered the edge -of the bluff. They were standing there looking across the beautiful -lake, and talking, when there was a sudden scrimmage over on one of the -tennis courts. - -"Hello! a fight!" exclaimed Fred, with lively interest. - -"Pshaw!" said Bobby, with some disgust. "You're always looking for a -fight!" - -"I'm not either! What do you call that?" denied and demanded Fred in -the same breath. - -"It's the captain," said Bobby, slowly. "And some of the big fellows--I -know! they're dragging Bill Bronson and Jack Jinks away to the gym. -There's going to be something doing--" - -Just then Pee Wee appeared at the corner of the main building and yodled -for the Clinton boys, beckoning them across the campus with excited -gestures. - -"Come o-o-on!" bawled the fat boy. - -Fred grabbed Bobby's hand and started running. The chums were at the -gym steps almost as quickly as the big fellows and their captives. - -"You let me alone, Barry Gray!" yelled Bill, as he was shoved down the -steps. "I'll fix you for this." - -"Thanks, Billy Bronson. I can do my own fixing. You agreed to this, and -you'll go through with it," Barry said, firmly. - -"_I_ didn't do a thing," Jack was urging. - -"Ah! but you're going to," chuckled Barry, who seemed to have answers -ready for both objectors. - -The bullies were dragged below. The smaller boys followed. Every boy -in the school was waiting in the gymnasium, and no teacher--not even the -athletic instructor--was present. - -Some of the boys had been at work on the bars, or the ladder, or -otherwise using the gymnastic paraphernalia. They all gathered around -in interest to see what the big boys were going to do with the bullies. - -Bill Bronson and his chum kicked and struggled for a time. But there -were enough to help Barry, so that their struggles were useless. The -bullies' shoes were quickly removed, despite their kicking. Then a sort -of harness made of straps was buckled around both boys under their arms. -There was a steel ring sewed into the crosspiece of each harness at the -back. - -Somebody produced eight objects that looked like huge -boxing-gloves--only they were made of cotton cloth stuffed with -cotton-batting. One of these clumsy things was strapped on each foot, -and another on each hand. The victims of the joke were now unable to -hurt any of their captors when they struck out at them, and the crowd -was greatly amused as well as excited. - -"Come on, now!" panted Barry. "Boost them up here. Throw the rope over -a couple of rungs of the ladder, Max. That's it." - -The rope in question was a strong manilla, about four feet long. At -each end was a snap, such as is spliced upon the ends of hitch-ropes. - -Two boys lifted each of the embarrassed prisoners, and held them under -the ladder. The snaps were fastened in the rings back of their -shoulders. - -There they hung, kicking and sprawling. At first Barry Gray and Max -Bender, one of the other big boys, held the victims. - -"Here you are now," said Captain Gray, sternly. "You wanted to fight a -fellow much smaller than yourself last night, Bill; and you agreed to -take on a fellow nearer your size. Here's Jack willing to accommodate -you. Now, go to it, you chaps, and may the best man win!" - -He and Max both stepped back, dragging their prisoners with them, and -then they let the two helpless ones swing together. - -Their heads bumped. Bill let out a roar and tried to kick Max with one -of his muffled feet. In doing so his other foot caught Jack above the -knee. - -"Look out what you're doing--you chump!" exclaimed Jack. "Keep still, -can't you?" - -"Keep still yourself," growled Bill, as his gyrating friend collided -with him again with some force. He tried to push Jack away. At once -the latter put out his mittened hand and punched Bill between the eyes. - -"Look out what you're doing!" yelled Bill, striking madly at his -opponent. - -In a moment they were at it! The poguey fight was on. The two -erstwhile chums swung over the rungs of the horizontally laid ladder, -like the famous Kilkenny cats, punched and kicked and batted at each -other in a most ridiculous manner. - -They couldn't hurt each other very much, save when they bumped heads, -and that was not often. But they grew madder every moment. - -The spectators were delighted, and the harder the combatants tried to -strike each other, the more ridiculous the whole thing appeared. - -Why it was called "poguey" nobody seemed to know, but Bobby discovered -that it had long been practiced at Rockledge School, and that usually -the two victims accepted the situation philosophically and did not -really get mad. - -The two bullies, however, had never learned to control their tempers. -Besides, both considered that the other was somewhat to blame for their -predicament. - -The battle continued, fast and furious. Bill Bronson's face was -blazing. Jack Jinks' was very ugly indeed to look at. If they could -have torn the gloves off their hands they would have done so and struck -each other with their bare fists. - -Suddenly Jack drew up his knee as they swung together, and he caught -Bill right in the belt. It was a solid blow and the victim uttered a -cry of anger and pain. Captain Gray stepped forward and stopped the two -from swinging together again. - -"Foul blow," he said, decidedly. "You know the penalty well enough, -Jack. When you're let down, Bill's got the right to punch you with his -bare fist--if he likes." - -"And if he does, I'll hand him all he's looking for," declared the -squint-eyed youth, glaring at the boy who had been his chief friend. - -"Do it, and you'll get what's coming to you!" threatened Bill, just as -angrily. - -Barry winked at Max Bender. "Let's take them down. I guess they won't -be half so thick hereafter--and then maybe some of the little fellows -will have a better time." - - - - - CHAPTER XIV - - THE HONOR MEDAL - - -Bill Bronson and Jack Jinks were released from their harnesses, and the -"pillows" were taken off their feet and hands, they went to opposite -ends of the gymnasium and had nothing to say to each other. - -Barry did not mention the foul blow and its punishment, and none of the -smaller boys dared speak of it. It was certain, however, that the -intimacy of the only two boys in the school inclined to bully the -smaller ones had taken a decided set back. - -The fun of the "poguey fight" was not to end so quickly, however. Some -of the bigger boys caught Pee Wee and Mouser Pryde, and fastened them -into the harness and put the mufflers on their feet and hands. - -The fat boy and his chum made no decided remonstrance, and when they -were swung up, they made an earnest endeavor to give the fellows all the -fun they were looking for. Their gyrations certainly were amusing, and -Bobby and Fred laughed as loudly as any of the other boys. - -But when the fat boy and Mouser were let down, and Max and Barry grabbed -the chums from Clinton, for a moment, Fred was inclined to cut up rough. - -"Aw, be a sport, Fred!" said Bobby, earnestly. "If Pee Wee can stand it, -_we_ can." - -So Fred thought better of "getting mad" and for a while the two friends -swung in the air and punched and kicked at each other to the delight of -the other boys. Bobby was very careful not to anger the red-haired lad, -and they came through the poguey fight with smiling faces. It was borne -in upon Bobby's mind more and more that Fred Martin was going to have -difficulty in keeping out of trouble in this new environment. - -At eleven o'clock the whole school filed up to the hall on the second -floor. None of the teachers were present and there was some little -confusion and noise at first. - -Barry stepped forward and held up a hand for silence. "You fellows -better take a tumble to yourselves," he said calmly. "You want to show -the Doctor that you don't have to be watched all the time. You all -know--at least, all of you but Bobby Blake and Fred Martin, and they are -not making the noise--that _this_ isn't the place for skylarking. - -"We had our fun downstairs. I hear the Doctor coming now. Let's give -him a Rockledge cheer when he comes in and then--silence!" - -The door opened as he ceased speaking and the tall, heavy-set principal -with his quiet smile and pleasant eyes peering through the thick lenses -of his glasses, appeared. - -Captain Gray raised his hand again. The roomful of boys sprang to their -feet. Bobby noted that many of them placed their left hands upon the -little blue and white enameled button that they wore on the lapels of -their coats, as they shouted in unison: - - "One, two, three--_boom_! - Boom--Z-z-z--ah! - Rockledge! Rockledge! - Sword and star! - Who's on top? - We sure are-- - _Rock_-ledge!" - - -Bobby and Fred had both noticed the blue and white buttons with the star -and sword upon them, but they did not know what they meant. Now Bobby -guessed that there was some society, or inner circle at Rockledge School -that they, as newcomers, knew nothing about. - -All the boys did not belong to it. Pee Wee did not wear a button, nor -did many of the fellows from their dormitory. Bill Bronson and Jack -Jinks did not possess the badge, either. - -Meanwhile, Doctor Raymond, smiling and bowing, approached the rostrum. -Bobby--his mind always on the alert--noted the little blue and white -spot against the dead black of the doctor's coat. - -"Well, boys! I am extremely obliged to you, I am sure," said the -Doctor, bowing again. "I am just as sensitive to compliments as the -next person. I hope you will always be as glad to see me as you appear -to be at this moment. - -"Now, I shall not detain you for long. You know my little lectures have -usually the saving grace of brevity. We have come together once more to -face a year of study. Let us face it like real men! Star and sword, my -boys! The star we are aiming for, and the Sword of Determination will -hew our way to the goal. - -"There! I will give you no homilies. There are but two new boys with -us this year--Robert Blake and Frederick Martin. Give them a warm -welcome. They only do not understand about our Medal of Honor." - -He suddenly opened his large hand and displayed in its palm a -five-pointed gold star, at least two inches across, and with a beautiful -blue-velvet background. - -"Here it is--all ready for the engraving. At the close of the school -year, this medal will be presented to the one among you who has won it -by studiousness, good conduct, manliness and general popularity. - -"It is not always the boy who sets out to win the medal who really -_does_ win it. You, who are older, know _that_. We teachers try not to -influence the opinion of the school in the choice of the recipient of -the Honor Medal. - -"The winner must stand well in his classes, or he cannot have the -faculty vote. His deportment must be good, or we teachers cannot vote -for him. But you boys yourselves must--after all--choose the winner. - -"There are fifty of you in Rockledge School. You have each, -individually, a better chance to understand your neighbors' characters -than anybody else. You are quick to find out if there is something -_fine_ in a lad's temper. You will soon learn the one who restrains -himself under provocation, who bears insult, perhaps, with confidence in -his own uprightness; who keeps straight on his way without turning aside -because of any temptation. - -"_That_ is the sort of a lad who will win this Medal of Honor," -concluded the Doctor, very seriously. "Any boy--even the youngest--may -secure it. It does not have to go to the boy at the top of his class, -nor to the oldest boy in the school. You little chaps stand just as good -a chance for it as Captain Gray," and he rested his hand upon Barry -Gray's shoulder for an instant as though there was some secret -understanding between him and the captain of the school. - -"Now, I have talked enough. School will begin in earnest on Monday. -Remember, bounds are as usual. You little fellows, see Barrymore, or -some of the masters, if you are not sure of a thing. And remember that -my office door is never locked." - -He went out quickly at the door behind the platform. Somehow, the boys -felt rather serious, and there was no shouting or fooling as they filed -out and down the stairs to the open air. - -"Say! that was a handsome gold medal he showed us," said Fred, with -enthusiasm, to Bobby. - -"Wasn't it?" returned his chum, with sparkling eyes. - -"I'd like to get that myself," admitted the red-haired one. - -"Didn't I tell you, you'd have no chance at _that_, Ginger?" chuckled -Pee Wee's voice behind them. - -"I see it," admitted Fred, without getting angry. "But it would be fine -to win it, just the same." - -So Bobby thought. He remembered what his mother had said to him on one -occasion, and wondered if it were possible for _him_ to win the gold -medal and present it to her when she returned from that far journey -which she and his father were soon to take. - -"She certainly would be proud of me then," thought Bobby Blake. "I -guess she'd think after _that_, it would be safe to leave me alone -anywhere--yes, sir! And I certainly would like to own such a medal." - -This set his mind to thinking upon the fact that at daybreak the very -next morning the ship on which his parents had bought their stateroom -would sail from New York. They were already on the train which would -bear them to the coast. - -After they sailed it would be a long time before he could even expect a -picture post-card from them--a month, at least. And _then_, they would -be thousands of miles away! - -He slipped away from Fred and Pee Wee and went into one of the -schoolrooms. There was a big globe there, and he timidly turned this -around and around until he found the pink splotch of color which marked -Brazil. - -There was the gaping mouth of the Amazon, with the big island dividing -it, and the river on the south side, against which was the black dot -marking the city of Para--where his parents would land. - -He thought of all he had ever heard or been taught about the -Amazon--"that Mighty River." He knew how the current of the vast stream -met the ocean tides and fought with them for supremacy. He knew how the -river overflowed its banks in the rainy seasons and covered vast areas -of forest and plain. - -The trader's station, to which his parents were bound, was a thousand -miles up the Amazon, and then five hundred miles more up another river. -Why--why, if he fell ill, or anything-- - -He never realized until this moment just what it would mean to have his -mother and father so far away. It had been great fun to come to -Rockledge to school. He liked it here. He hoped he would learn, and -advance, and win his way with both the boys and the teachers. - -But to have a mother and father so many, many miles away--especially to -have a mother going away from one just as fast as steam could take her-- - -Bobby Blake put his arm on the big globe, and laid his face against his -jacket-sleeve. His shoulders shook. - - - - - CHAPTER XV - - GETTING INTO STEP - - -The routine of the school did not really begin, as Dr. Raymond had said, -until Monday morning. Yet by that time Bobby Blake and Fred Martin felt -as though they were really old members of the Rockledge Fifty. - -They had learned many of the stock stories of school--legends of great -fights with the boys of Belden School, or of mighty games at football or -baseball or some other sport, in which victory had perched upon the -banners of Rockledge. - -The loyalty of boarding school boys is second only to family feeling or -patriotic love for one's country. Bobby and Fred and the other boys of -Dormitory Two were just at that age when the mind and heart are both -most impressionable. - -The new boys learned the school yell, or cheer, which they had first -heard given in eulogy of Dr. Raymond. They thought it the finest yell -they had ever heard. - -They were told about the Sword and Star, too. It was indeed an honor to -wear the little blue and white button. One had to be at least one year -at Rockledge, to stand at a certain mark in recitations, and to have a -pretty clean record in deportment, to gain entrance into the Order of -the Sword and Star. - -It was true that such chaps as Pee Wee, and the Mouser, as well as -Shiner and Howell Purdy, were rather skeptical about the value of -membership in the school secret society. Dr. Raymond was a member and -that "looked bad" to those boys who were out for fun. And "f-u-n" -spelled--in their minds--"mischief," and vice versa! - -Those first few weeks of the new school year, however, passed without -any very wild outbreak upon the part of either the merely mischievous, -like Pee Wee and his mates, or by the really disturbing element (which -was small) headed by Billy Bronson and Jack Jinks. - -Those two worthies had, after a time, joined forces again; but they were -not as good friends and co-workers as they had been before the poguey -fight. - -Bobby and Fred really gave most of their attention to studies. The -school at Clinton had been graded so differently from this preparatory -institution, that the chums had to work hard to pick up in some studies, -while they were well advanced beyond their mates in others. - -Fred was inspired by Bobby's example to win good marks for himself. -Even the stern master, Mr. Leith, who looked over the work of the -smaller boys fortnightly, commented favorably upon what the chums had -accomplished. - -In play hours the Lower School kept together for the most part. Here -was where Fred Martin's plans were proven smart. The baseball outfit -that he and Bobby had purchased with their peep-show money was welcomed -with great approval by the boys of Number Two Dormitory. - -Bobby and Fred won their places on the Second Nine at once. They played -the First Dormitory Nine on Saturday of the first week of school, and -won. Bobby's "fade-away," as Fred had prophesied, puzzled the other -nine's battery splendidly. - -The next Saturday the victorious nine played against a team of town boys -and again won. Captain Gray then began to take notice of the victorious -nine. He coached them a little and then they challenged a nine -belonging to the Belden School across the lake. - -It was after the first of October when this match occurred, and the -Rockledge boys went across in their own boats. Although visiting a -hostile camp, the boys of Rockledge were very nicely received by the -older Belden boys. Naturally, the home team had the crowd with them, -but Bobby held the enemy down to ten hits and only six runs, and the -Rockledge nine won by two runs. - -Although their hosts remained polite to the visitors, Bobby and Fred saw -very plainly that the rivalry between the two schools was deep-seated. -They heard Captain Gray and Max Bender talking to some of the big -fellows of Belden, and both sides were boasting of what the rival -football teams would do to each other on Thanksgiving Day. - -On that day the Belden crowd would come over to Rockledge, and from this -time on, there was little more baseball played by the Rockledge boys. -They were deeply interested in football. - -In this game Bobby and Fred did not shine so brightly, but they went -into hard training with the second junior team and under Captain Gray, -who coached the smaller boys as well as the first team, learned a whole -lot about football. - -Meanwhile, not a word had come to Bobby from his parents after they had -sailed from New York. He heard from Clinton every week, for Michael -Mulcahey painfully indited a scrawly letter to him, enclosing sometimes -a note from Meena. Michael, having crossed from Ireland in a sailing -ship years before, was considered by Bobby a marvel of sea-lore. One -time he wrote: - - -"DERE BOBBY:-- - -"It ain't nawthin alarmin that we don't here yet from Mistur Blake an -his good lady an so I tell Meena whos got the face ache most of the time -now and is just as good compny as a mad cat. She's rayfused to marry me -agin, an I do be thinkin thats struck in an worries her face a lot. -Howsomever 'tis about your feyther and mother Id write to cheer you up a -bit. I well remember the long passage we made from the Ould Sod when I -kem to this counthry. Twas head winds we had, an its like head winds -that has held the big ship back thats takin Mistur Blake an his good -lady to these Brazils. An tis a mortal far ways they do be goin. -Mistur Martin says the offices in New York hav had no wareless telegraf -despatches (what iver they be) from the ship since she was off Hattie -Ross--an whoever she is I dunnaw. But if she's like most females, she's -cranky, an that accounts for the delay. - -"Be good an ye'll be happy, aven if ye don't have so much fun, from your -friend and well wisher, rayspectfully, - -"MICHAEL MULCAHEY." - - -This letter--and similar epistles--cheered Bobby some, and Mr. Martin -wrote him a jolly little note, enclosed in a longer letter to Fred. But -Bobby could not help feeling worried about the silence of his parents, -especially at night. - -When he knelt to say his prayers (and most of the other boys in -Dormitory Two did likewise), he remembered what his mother had said -about her praying for him at the same time every evening, and sometimes -he had to squeeze his eyes shut tight to keep back the tears. - -That the time on board the great steamship going south to the Tropics, -and the time in New England was vastly different, did not enter Bobby's -mind. It just seemed to him as though his mother was very near him -indeed as he knelt before his chair. - -For a sturdy, busy boy, however, there was not much time for worriment. -Every day there was something new; one could not be lonesome at -Rockledge. - -The boys went from their beds to breakfast, from their meals to work in -the schoolroom, from their lessons to play--a continual round of -activities. - -The athletic instruction interested the chums from Clinton immensely, -and until the real cool weather set in, the boys of the school enjoyed -swimming in the lake every day. - -Dr. Raymond hoped that, before long, he would be able to build a -gymnasium with a swimming pool in a special building by itself. This -was something to look forward to, however. - -All aquatic sports did not stop when the frost came. There were plenty -of boats belonging to the school--from light, flat-bottomed skiffs which -the little fellows could not possibly tip over, to a fine eight-oared -shell manned by the bigger boys. In this they raced the Belden School -every June before Commencement. - -Wednesday and Saturday afternoons were holidays, but without special -permission the boys of the Lower School could not go out of bounds. On -Saturdays the bigger boys went to town if they so desired, or took long -tramps through the woods, or rowed to the upper end of the lake. - -If the smaller fellows wanted to go out of bounds, usually a teacher -went with them. There was a picnic of the Lower School on one of the -islands in the lake, however, that Bobby and Fred were not likely to -forget for a long time. - -Pee Wee and Mouser got it up. They first got permission to take a cold -dinner on Saturday and row to the island. There was a farmer whose land -joined the school property on the east. From him they obtained several -dozen ears of late greencorn--nubbins, but sweet as sugar--and some new -potatoes. - -They were excused from lessons that day at eleven--all but Pee Wee -himself. He had been lazy, as usual, and was behind in his work. It -looked, for a time, as though the picnic had to be delayed. - -But urged on by the others, Bobby faced Mr. Carrin, who had Pee Wee's -class in history, and begged the fat boy off. - -"_Do_ let him do the extra work to-night, sir, after supper," begged -Bobby. "We were going to have such a nice time, and Pee--I mean -Perry--got the picnic up, and--" - -"It is a pity that Perry cannot spend a little of his mind and effort on -his lessons," said Mr. Carrin, with a smile. - -"Yes, sir. I know, sir," said Bobby, eagerly, "but he doesn't seem to -be able to think of two things at once." - -"I guess that is right," chuckled Mr. Carrin, who was a much more -pleasant gentleman than Mr. Leith. "Tell him he may go, but I shall -expect a perfect recitation on Monday morning, first thing." - -"Huh!" growled Pee Wee, who had overheard some of this. "I'm glad -enough to get off, Bobby Blake. But you needn't have told him I was -weak-minded." - -Bobby grinned at him. "What do you care if you _are_ a little bit -crazy? And I didn't tell him anything new. He was on to it." - -The crowd rowed off in three boats. There were seventeen of them. They -went to the upper island, which was the biggest, in an hour and a half, -and as soon as they landed they set to work to build a fire and make the -picnic dinner. - -Of course, they were too hungry to wait until the potatoes were baked, -but as soon as the light wood had burned down to ashes and coals, they -thrust the potatoes under the bed of the fire to bake slowly. - -Meanwhile they ate the sandwiches and cake they had brought from school, -and each boy cut a stick, on the end of which he stuck an ear of corn. -These ears they roasted in the flames. - -Of course, they were scorched a little, but they had butter and pepper -and salt with which to dress the corn and it _did_ taste mighty nice! - -"And there's pretty near a bushel of the potatoes," said Fred, happily. -"After the fire dies down again, we can rake them out and eat them. -There's a big dab of butter left and plenty of salt and pepper. -Crickey! I could eat a peck of them myself." - -"We ought to have brought more potatoes and corn along," suggested Pee -Wee, licking his fingers, "and hidden the stuff here somewhere. Then we -could come another day and have a bake like this." - -"Say! the corn wouldn't be much good," Bobby said. - -"Scubbity-_yow_!" yelled Fred, suddenly. "I have it." - -"Gee! you must have it bad," responded Mouser. "What kind of a -battlecry _is_ that?" - -"Say!" went on Fred, without paying the least attention to Mouser's -question, "I've got the dandy idea." - -"Let's have it?" proposed Bobby. - -"Let's build a shack, or a cabin, or something, up there in the thick -trees. Nobody would ever see it from the lake. Then we can bring -things over to furnish it--on the sly, you know--" - -"Why on the sly?" demanded his chum. - -"Aw--well--if the other fellows knew it, they'd come and bust it up, -wouldn't they?" - -"Not our fellows," declared Shiner. - -"But you bet the kids from Belden would," urged Pee Wee. - -"We could keep still about it, I s'pose," admitted Bobby. - -"Well, then!" returned Fred. "Now, we'd fit it up, and store stuff in -it for winter--nuts, and popcorn, and 'taters, and turnips--" - -"You can't bake turnips," objected Howell Purdy. - -"Well! they're good raw, aren't they?" demanded the eager Fred. - -"It's a great old scheme," declared Jimmy Ailshine, otherwise "Shiner." -"Let's get at it at once. Skeets Brody has his ax. Come on!" - -And the excited boys trooped away from the beach and left the potatoes -under the coals of the campfire to finish cooking. - - - - - CHAPTER XVI - - HOT POTATOES - - -Bobby and Fred had already become leaders to a degree, with the boys of -their own age at Rockledge School. This suggestion of the red-haired -one about building a hut was accepted with enthusiasm by the fifteen -others in the present crowd. - -They trooped up into the thick grove that crowned the summit of the -rocky island. Bobby and Fred had been on many camping expeditions at -home, along the banks of Plunkit Creek. They wasted no time in -discussing _how_ they should build a shelter with the materials at hand. - -"Leave it to us, and we'll go ahead and show you how to make a nice -shack," promised Bobby, when the others began to gabble as to how it -should be done. - -"Good idea!" cried Pee Wee. "Let's elect Bobby Blake, captain. - -"And Fred Martin, lieutenant," said Shiner. "They both know what to do -and we don't." - -This was agreed to without a word of objection from any of the fifteen. -Bobby took charge at once. - -"Here are four trees," he announced, pointing to four that stood almost -in a square, some twelve feet apart, and with nothing but saplings in -the square made by them. "These will be our posts. First we want to -clean out all the small trees and brush inside these big trees, and for -some feet around the outside--so we can work." - -"Wish we had more axes," said Fred. - -"We all have knives. Those with knives can cut off the smaller brush. -Skeets is really our only woodsman. Come on, Skeets, and let's find -four good trees for the cross-timbers." - -They were all soon very busy. Bobby did little but show the others what -to do and make measurements with a piece of fishline. Fred gave his -attention to cutting spruce boughs for walls and roof. - -Skeets cut the four trees needed, they were measured and notched at the -ends and then lifted into place--each end in a crotch of the low -branching trees Bobby had selected for the corner posts of the hut. - -The roof would not be exactly flat, for one crotch was somewhat higher -than the others, but the four timbers lay firm, being lashed together -with black-birch withes. - -Soon the other boys began to bring the spruce boughs; but first Bobby -laid several good sized saplings across the string-pieces, to strengthen -the roof. - -They worked so hard and with such enthusiasm that they really forgot the -potatoes under the bonfire. In two hours a heavy roofing of boughs lay -upon the poles, and the boys could all stand up under it and be -sheltered. - -Suddenly Fred exclaimed: "Crickey! Let's see if those potatoes are -done. I'm as hungry as a hound right now." - -This set them all on a run. It does not take much to put an edge on a -boy's appetite. Just the suggestion of the potatoes was enough. - -"First at the fire!" yelled Howell Purdy, as he hurried down through the -grove, and over the rocks. - -"Bet you I make it first!" declared Shiner, vigorously following the -leader. - -It was a stampede. With whoops and shouts the seventeen scrambled down -the descent to the shore. - -Suddenly they halted. Shiner and Howell, who had been wrestling to put -each other behind, looked, too. There was a crowd of boys around their -campfire on the shore. - -"Who are they?" demanded Bobby, in amazement. - -"Say! they're raking out our potatoes!" gasped Fred Martin. - -"They're Beldenites!" declared Pee Wee, panting, and on the high ground -behind. "There's their boats. And there's half as many more of them as -there are of _us_." - -"I don't care if they're two to one!" cried Fred in anger. "Those are -our potatoes." - -"Suppose they beat us and take away our boats?" demanded Howell Purdy, -falling back. "You know--those Belden fellows can fight." - -"Well! can't _we_?" demanded Fred Martin, panting and doubling his -fists. "What are we--babies?" - -"We won't fight--yet," put in Bobby, calmly. "Perhaps they don't realize -that that is our fire and our potatoes." - -"What'll we do?" asked Pee Wee, by no means anxious to advance. - -"Come on," said Bobby; feeling dreadfully shaken inside, but too proud -to show it. "Let's talk to them." - -"Better get some clubs and _go_ for them," growled Fred. - -"No. They haven't clubs," declared Bobby. "Let's not start any fight." - -He and Shiner and Mouser proceeded along the beach. They saw the Belden -fellows scrambling for the hot potatoes, and shouting and skylarking. - -"That's Larry Cronk--that fellow with the curly hair. Don't you -remember, Bobby? He pitched for their club when we went over to beat -them that day." - -"I remember. And that's their first baseman--Ben Allen." Then Bobby -raised his voice so the Belden crowd could hear him: "I say! that's our -fire and those are our potatoes. We were just coming down to get them." - -"Is that so?" sneered Larry Cronk, standing up and laughing at the -Rockledge boys. "Well, you came too late--do you see?" - -"I'll throw a rock at him!" growled the belligerent Fred. - -"Keep still!" commanded Bobby. Then to the Beldenites he said: "That's -not fair--or honest. Those are our potatoes--" - -Larry swung back his arm, and poised one of the potatoes. The next -moment he flung it with all his force at Bobby. The latter just escaped -it by dodging. - -"Mean thing!" yelled Fred, and he picked up a stone on the instant -(there were plenty of pebbles on the beach) and flung it at the Belden's -captain. - -"That's right! let's drive them off!" cried Pee Wee, from the rear. - -Fred's stone was flung true and Larry Cronk received it in the shoulder. -He yelled and dodged, and at once the Belden boys let go a flight of -_hot potatoes_! - -The potatoes burst wherever they struck--and not a few of them landed -upon the boys who had hoped to feast upon the tubers. This was adding -insult to injury, and the Rockledge boys were greatly enraged. - -"They're spoiling all our 'taters!" cried Pee Wee--almost wailing, in -fact. "There! there's another busted." - -He had turned just in time to get the potato in the back instead of in -the chest. Mouser and Howell were jumping about and rubbing their -cheeks. The hot potatoes burned as well as stung, and although they -were mealy enough to fly all about when they burst--like miniature -bombs--when flung by a vigorous arm, they hurt more than a little. - -The Rockledge crowd broke before the flight of hot potatoes, and seemed -about to run back to the woods. But Bobby and Fred could not stand -_that_. - -"Hold on, fellows!" yelled Fred. "We can lick those chaps--I know we -can! Get some stones! They can't hurt more than hot potatoes." - -Bobby did not delay in joining in the return fusillade of stones. Some -of the pebbles landed heavily. Although outnumbering the Rockledge boys -by considerable, the Belden crowd began to retreat toward its boats. - -"Come on! push them!" yelled Fred, running ahead. - -The others, thus encouraged, ran after him. They reached their own boats -and felt safe, then. The Beldens could not get their craft away from -them. - -At the fire there were a lot of the potatoes scattered about and -trampled into the sand. Pee Wee began yelling: - -"Use the stones! use the stones! Don't fling those potatoes--we want -them!" - -This brought about some laughter, and the Rockledge boys did not throw -their missiles so viciously thereafter. The Beldens had gotten enough, -anyway. Two of them were nursing bad bruises on their heads, and were -crying. Bobby was glad the battle was so soon over, for he was afraid -somebody would be seriously hurt. - -The Belden youngsters scrambled into their boats and pushed off from the -island, while the Rockledge boys collected all the potatoes they could -find, that had not burst, and enjoyed their delayed feast with the sauce -of having won it by force of arms. - -They did not finish the hut on the island that day, but agreed to come -back to complete it the next half holiday--if they could gain -permission. - - - - - CHAPTER XVII - - LOST AT SEA - - -And then there came an unhappy time indeed for Bobby Blake. In the back -of his mind, for weeks, had been the uncertainty about his father and -mother. Now that uncertainty suddenly developed into a great and -lingering horror--a horror from which not even the elasticity of youth -could easily rebound. - -One morning Dr. Raymond sent a note into Mr. Carrin's school. Had not -Bobby been so busy at his work, he would have seen the pale faced -teacher grow still more pallid, and look at him. - -Mr. Carrin arose and walked up and down the room. The boys soon -discovered that he was not watching them. Occasionally he stole a -glance at Bobby, but he noticed no other boy. - -Then, without saying another word, he went out, and in a minute came -back with Barry Gray. Barry looked startled himself, and very serious. -He stood in the doorway and said: - -"Blake! Doctor Raymond wants you in his office. You are to come with -me." - -Bobby got up quickly, and with a suddenly beating heart. He believed he -must have done something to bring down upon his head the wrath of the -good Doctor. He could not imagine what it was, but he was frightened. - -You see, Bobby had gotten it into his head that possibly he _might_ have -a chance at the Medal of Honor. He was trying to be an exemplary -scholar for that reason--and because he knew it would delight his absent -father and mother, if he gained such an honor. - -Now, this sudden and unexpected call shocked him. Fred grabbed his hand -secretly as he passed his seat and squeezed it. Bobby knew that his -chum, thoughtless as Fred usually was, appreciated his present feelings. - -When he reached the door, his own face was aflame. He knew all the boys -of the Lower School were looking at him. Mr. Carrin, too, seemed to be -staring at Bobby in a strange way. - -Barry put his arm across the smaller boy's shoulder just as soon as the -classroom door closed behind them. - -"Buck up, old man!" he said, with a funny choke in his voice. "Things -are never so hard as they seem at first. And there's such a lot of -uncertainty about such reports--" - -"What reports, sir?" asked Bobby, breathlessly. - -"Didn't Carrin tell you a _thing_?" gasped Barry, stopping short. - -"No! What have I done? What's Doctor Raymond going to do with me?" - -"Why, you poor little kid!" ejaculated the big boy, grabbing Bobby -tightly again. "You mustn't be afraid of the Old Doc. He wouldn't hurt -a fly. And you're not in bad with him--don't think it!" - -"But what is the matter, then?" demanded Bobby. - -"It's your folks, Bob," blurted out Barry. "There's uncertain news about -them--" - -"They're not sick--not _dead_?" cried Bobby, shaking all over. - -"No, no! Of course not," returned Barry, heartily. "Nothing as bad as -that." - -"What is it, then?" - -"Why, it's only a shipwreck, or something like that. Of course they've -been rescued; folks always are, you know. And they'll have lots of -adventures to write you about." - -Bobby was speechless. His pretty, delicate mother _shipwrecked_! Of -course, his father would save her, but she might get wet and catch cold; -that was the first thought that took form in his mind. - -"News has come about the big ship they sailed away on," Barry Gray went -on, cheerfully. "Another ship has found part of the deckworks of your -father's steamship, all scorched and burned. There must have been a -fire at sea." - -"Well, don't you s'pose they could put the fire out with so much water -around?" asked Bobby, seriously. - -"That's right!" exclaimed Barry. "But perhaps the machinery was hurt, -so the ship couldn't be made to go. There wasn't any sails to her, of -course." - -"I see," said Bobby, gravely, nodding. - -"So they had to take to the boats. You know how it is: Women and -children first! The sailors are always so brave. And the officers -stand by to the last--and if the ship sinks, the captain always goes -down with her, standing on the quarter deck, with the flags flying. -You've read about it, Bobby!" - -"Sure!" choked Bobby. - -"Of course there are always boats enough for the passengers--and -life-rafts. And they float about for a while and are either picked up -by other ships, or the natives row out in their canoes and save them." - -"Yes!" gasped Bobby, letting out the great fear at his heart. "But--but -suppose she should get cold? You know she has a weak throat. The -doctor always tells her to look out for bron--bron-_skeeters_, or -somethin' like that." - -"_Who_ has bronchitis?" demanded Barry, rather puzzled. - -"My mother." - -"Oh! don't you know it's a warm climate down there? Sure! It's in the -Tropics. No chance of catching cold--not at all." - -"Oh!" murmured Bobby, and he felt somewhat relieved. - -"And they've been picked up by some ship bound around the world, -maybe--that is why you haven't heard from them. You won't hear till -they touch at some port clear across the world, from which they can send -mail. - -"Or perhaps," said the comforting captain, "they have gone to some -tropic island, where boats don't often touch. And the sailors will -build shelters for the passengers against the coming of the rainy -season, and then a boat-load of volunteers will hike out looking for a -civilized port, and it will be months and months before help comes to -the island. - -"Meanwhile," said the imaginative youngster, his eyes glowing and his -cheek flushed, "your mother and the other ladies will get well and -strong, and all brown like Indians. And the men will have to dress in -goat-skins, for their clothes will wear out, and they'll learn to make -fire by rubbing two sticks together, and they'll have fights with -jaguars--But no!" exclaimed the big boy, suddenly; "of course, there -will be no harmful creatures on an _island_. - -"Say! I guess they're having fun all right. Don't you worry, Bobby." - -They halted at the doctor's door, and Barry rapped. The voice of the -big principal told them to "Enter!" and the bigger boy pushed open the -door. - -"Here he is, sir," said Barry, winking fast over the head of the smaller -boy at Dr. Raymond. "I have just been telling him what a jolly good time -his folks are likely having right now. It must be _so_ interesting to -be shipwrecked." - - - - - CHAPTER XVIII - - THE BLOODY CORNER - - -The news went over the school at noon, of course, and most of the -smaller boys eyed Bobby Blake askance. The boy himself seemed walking -in a kind of cloud; his mind was stunned, and it was lucky that Dr. -Raymond had said to him, kindly: - -"You are excused from recitations to-day, Robert." - -The good doctor had spoken to him quite cheerfully of the probable loss -of the steamship on which Mr. and Mrs. Blake had sailed from New York. -The principal seemed to have taken his cue from Barrymore Gray. - -To tell the truth, what Barry had said cheered Bobby more than anything -else. Even Fred Martin was a trifle depressing. Fred wanted to give -him his share in the bats and mask and other baseball paraphernalia, and -turn over to him, in fact, most of his personal property, likely to be -dear to a boy's heart. - -This was the red-haired boy's way of showing sympathy. But it did not -help much. - -The roseate picture Barry had drawn of the shipwreck stuck in Bobby's -mind. He was very glad his mother could not take cold down there, even -if she got her feet wet. - -For several days the other boys were very gentle with Bobby. It did not -make Bobby feel very comfortable, but he knew they meant it kindly. - -Soon, however, their awkwardness wore off, and they were as rough and -friendly as ever, and he liked it better. Deep in his heart he kept -thinking all the time of his parents, and the possibilities arising out -of the wreck of the steamship. Outwardly he was much the same as ever. - -Only one thing Bobby Blake desired now more than before. He longed--oh! -how he _did_ long--to win the Medal of Honor. If his parents were -shipwrecked, and there was any suffering for them in it, it seemed to -Bobby that if he won the Honor Medal at Rockledge School, that fact -would alleviate their misery, wherever they were! - -Yet there was nothing of the mollycoddle about Bobby. Fun appealed to -him just as strongly as it ever did to any ten year old boy. - -There were certain set rules of Rockledge School that he would not break -and that he kept Fred from breaking. - -"There's no fun in getting caught and held up to the whole school as -dishonorable," he told Fred. "We're expected to keep in bounds. We -know the bounds well enough. And if we want to go out of them, we have -only to ask, and give a good reason, to get permission to go farther." - -"Aw, they treat us as if we were a lot of babies," growled Fred Martin. - -"They do nothing of the kind," Bobby replied. "Doctor Raymond treats us -as though we were gentlemen. He trusts to our _honor_. I wouldn't -disappoint him for a farm!" - -"We-ell!" sighed Fred. "I suppose you're right, Bobby. I--I almost -wish he didn't treat us just this way. There'd be some fun in busting -up the old rules!" - -And that was where Dr. Raymond showed his wisdom. He knew how to manage -boys with the least amount of friction. - -Weeks passed, full of work and play, and no further news came of the -lost steamship on which Mr. and Mrs. Blake had sailed for Brazil. The -wreckage had been sighted off the Orinoco, and the name of the steamship -was plain upon the wreck. But it might have drifted a long way after -the catastrophe. Just _where_ the ship had been burned, nobody could -guess. - -No boat from her, no word from her captain or crew, came to the owners -in New York. She had been a freight boat, carrying on that trip -scarcely a score of passengers. - -Much of this Bobby did not hear, or understand. He clung like a limpet -to the imaginative idea of a shipwreck that Barrymore Gray had drawn for -him. And it was well that this was so. - -Thanksgiving came and went. The Belden school came over in the forenoon -to Rockledge and its football team was nicely thrashed by the Rockledge -eleven. The Lower School went almost mad with delight; and Fred Martin -and Larry Cronk, the Belden boy, came almost to blows on the campus. - -Neither of the Lower Schools had forgotten the hot potato fight on the -island. Ere this, Bobby and his friends had completed their camp and -had begun to furnish it, but they hoped the youngsters from Belden would -learn nothing about the hideout. - -One thing pleased Bobby and Fred immensely at Thanksgiving. A big box -came to them from Clinton. In it were all sorts of good things made by -Meena and Mrs. Martin, fall apples and pears picked by Michael Mulcahey, -candy from Mr. Martin's store, and gifts from Fred's sisters and smaller -brothers. - -The Second Dormitory had a great feast after hours one night, of which -even Captain Gray knew nothing. Bill Bronson and Jack Jinks got onto -it, and the small boys had to bribe the two bullies with some of the -choicest of their stores. Nevertheless, the midnight feast went off very -smoothly. - -There were a few more cases for the medical attendant to see to at -Rockledge School after Thanksgiving than usual. The midnight feast -coming so soon after the big Thanksgiving dinner, played havoc in the -ranks of the smaller boys. - -Pee Wee had what Bobby declared to be "internal, or civil war," and went -to the hospital in Dr. Raymond's house for three days. He came out wan -and interesting looking, declaring that he had lost pounds of flesh! -But he proceeded to get his avoirdupois back again very promptly. - -It was a full week before the school was back on its usual working -basis--and the midwinter holidays only a month away. The teachers -spurred the lazy scholars, and helped the dull ones, and out of this -pushing in classes arose the trouble that became a very serious affair -indeed for both Fred Martin and Bobby Blake. - -Fred was not always bright in arithmetic. One morning he made a -ridiculous blunder, and the whole class laughed at him. Mr. Carrin -reprimanded Fred for his inattention, and as they filed out for -recreation before dinner, Sparrow Bangs--named so because he had a whole -cage-full of tame sparrows down at the gatekeeper's cottage--made fun of -the red-haired boy. - -Fred had been angered by the teacher's sharpness. Now he turned on -Sparrow in a terrible passion. - -"What's that you say? I'll give you a punch you'll remember." - -"Aw, no you won't!" returned Sparrow. "And I'll say it again, Ginger! -You've no time to play catch--you'll have to study the multiplication -table, like Mr. Carrin said." - -Fred rushed at the teasing lad, but Pee Wee and Howell Purdy came -between them. - -"Cheese it!" said the fat boy. "You two fellows want to get into -trouble? Right under the schoolroom windows, too!" - -"Well, he's got to stop nagging me," cried Fred, very red, and puffing -very hard. - -"Who are you, Ginger, that I should be so awfully careful of?" sneered -Sparrow. "You're not so much!" - -"I'll show you--" - -"Stop it! stop it, Fred!" advised Bobby, catching his chum by the arm. -"Come on, I want to throw you a few fast ones. We mustn't get out of -practice, even if we _can't_ play a regular game until next spring." - -"There he goes!" cried Sparrow. "His boss takes him away. Great lad, -that Ginger is. Afraid to say his soul's his own. Bobby Blake just -bosses him around--" - -It was all over, then! Fred flung off Bobby's hand and rushed at his -tormentor. Smack! his fist shot into Sparrow's face. - -Half a dozen of the boys then got between the antagonists. - -"You want to get us all into trouble?" growled Mouser, one of those who -held Fred Martin. "Cut it out. If you've got to fight, there's the -'bloody corner.' Do it right." - -The chums had heard of "the bloody corner," but since their appearance -at Rockledge School there had been no real pugilistic encounter between -any of their mates. - -Down in the far corner of the grounds--oh! a long way from the -buildings--behind a tall hedge of hemlock, there had once been a -toolshed. It had been removed and the corner was just a heap of soft -sand. No matter how hard the frost was, this sand did not freeze. - -And here, from time immemorial, had been arranged the school fights. -Whether the good Doctor was aware that in this arena was fought out such -feuds as could not be otherwise settled, nobody knew. Usually the -fights were arranged by the older fellows, and the captain of the school -was supposed to be present and see fair play. - -It spoke well for Barrymore Gray that thus far under his regime, not a -fight had occurred in "bloody corner." - -The belligerents--Fred and Sparrow--were separated for the time, but as -Bobby and his friend started to run to dinner when the big gong rang, -Shiner stopped them. - -"Hey, Ginger," said he. "Are you game to fight Sparrow?" - -"I'm going to fight him," declared the red-haired boy, showing his -teeth. "He can't get out of it." - -"Oh! he's not trying to," said Shiner. "In fact, he told me to put it -up to you. He wants to knock your head off." - -"He'll have a fine time trying it," declared Fred, hotly. "I'll show -him--" - -"Aw, drop it!" begged Bobby. "You don't want to fight Sparrow--and he -doesn't want to fight you." - -"Better keep out of this, Bobby Blake," advised Shiner, importantly. -"Sparrow says Fred's afraid, anyway--" - -"I'll show him!" cried the maddened red-haired boy. - -"Bluffing's all right," sneered Shiner. "But will you _fight_?" - -"Give me a chance!" - -"Aw-right. We'll put it up to the captain and you and Sparrow can get -together down in the corner." - -"With gloves? and have Barry Gray boss it? No, I won't," declared the -pugnacious Fred. "Sparrow's trying to get out of it. I'll box him in -the gym. But if he's got the pluck of a flea, he'll come down to the -corner with his bare fists--and you and Bobby here are enough to see -fair play." - -"Whew!" whistled Shiner, his eyes dancing. "Do you mean it?" - -"You'll find out that I do," threatened Fred, wagging his head. - -"You sha'n't fight that way, Fred!" cried Bobby. "The School won't -stand for it." - -"You mean that bully, Barry Gray, won't stand for it. He always wants -to boss." - -"You game to see them through, Bobby?" demanded Shiner. - -"If you don't want to come with me, I'll get Pee Wee," growled Fred. - -"No," said Bobby, in great trouble. "If you mean to fight Sparrow, of -course I'm going to stand by you." - -"And keep your mouth shut about it?" snapped Shiner. - -"Bobby's no snitch," exclaimed Fred, hotly. "If we're caught, it won't -be because either Bobby or I tell." - -"Nuff said," declared Shiner, shortly. "I'll see Sparrow again and put -it up to him. We'll find a time when nobody else will be around. Be -ready," and Shiner went off whistling, evidently feeling his importance -in the matter. - -Bobby felt pretty badly. He did not want to see Fred fight at all. And -he certainly did not want him to meet Sparrow Bangs in this way. A -sparring match was one thing, but a fist fight, deliberately arranged, -and held in secret, was an entirely different matter. - -"You can't do it!" he said to Fred, greatly disturbed. "Dr. Raymond -might send you home." - -"I don't care if I'm sent home twice!" exclaimed the hotheaded Fred. "I -am going to thrash that fellow, or he'll thrash _me_." - -Bobby wanted to shake Fred--he could have hit his chum himself! And -yet--he couldn't desert him. They had come here to this school, -strangers. They had agreed to stand by each other, through thick and -thin--of course without a word being said about it! Boys do not talk -about their friendships like girls. - -If Fred were wrong, Bobby could be angry with him, but he could not -desert him. If his chum intended to fight Sparrow Bangs in this -disgraceful way, Bobby would "second" him--of course he would! - -If Dr. Raymond should hear of it and suspend them both from school, it -could not be helped. He knew very well that he was running a risk of -losing all chance for the Medal of Honor; yet he would stick to his -chum. - -He was unhappy that night--very, very unhappy. Fred and he said little -when they were alone. Shiner came to him and whispered, at bedtime, -that there would be a chance to "pull off" the fight the next noontime -after dinner. They could cut the mid-day study hour to do it, without -being caught. - -Beyond his determination to stand by Fred, right or wrong, Bobby wanted -his chum--as long as he _would_ fight--to win! He advised him in the -morning: - -"Now, Fred, eat a good breakfast--a _big_ breakfast. But you're going to -go light on dinner." - -"I know," grunted the red-haired one. - -"Don't drink much water at dinner time, either. If you think you'll be -tempted too much, keep out of the dining-room." - -"No," growled Fred. "They'll think I'm afraid." - -"All right. But eat lightly," urged Bobby. - -For once something was going on in the Lower School that the whole crowd -of boys was not "on to." Shiner and Sparrow had been as mum as Fred and -Bobby. - -The two combatants did not even scowl at each other; they kept apart. -They did not want any of the other boys to suspect. - -Howell Purdy asked Bobby if "Ginger wasn't going to knock Sparrow's head -off?" and Bobby dodged the question adroitly. - -It seemed to Bobby as though that forenoon would never come to an end. -At half past eleven the Lower School was let out. Bobby took Fred into -the gymnasium and they put on the gloves together for a little practice. - -With the experience they had had before, and the instruction of the -Rockledge athletic teacher, for boys of their size, Bobby and Fred were -quite proficient in the so-called manly art. - -Sparring, as a game like baseball or tennis, is splendid exercise and -good training for mind and temper. It may, or may not, lead to -fisticuffs among boys. Certainly boys who spar together in a gymnasium -are much less likely to have rude fights as the outgrowth of sudden -temper. They respect each other's prowess too much. - -Fred was careful at dinner. As soon as they could, he and Bobby slipped -out, and made their way to the distant corner, and by a roundabout way -so that they could not be seen. Five minutes later Sparrow and Jimmy -Ailshine appeared. - - - - - CHAPTER XIX - - THE RESULT - - -Just who would have won in that battle between Fred Martin and Sparrow -Bangs remains one of the unsolved mysteries of Rockledge School. - -It was never finished. The quartette of boys had made one mistake. -They should have taken a fifth youngster into their confidence and set -him on watch. - -Mr. Leith, the head master under Dr. Raymond, always took a -constitutional around the grounds after the midday meal. Not often did -he cross the campus, for he was not a man given to spying upon his young -charges. - -But this day the campus seemed to be deserted. It was a cold day, and -most of the boys had remained indoors to take advantage of the hour of -study before afternoon lessons. - -He came down the railing that defended the cliff's edge, and he heard, -as he approached the notorious "bloody corner," boyish voices. - -"That's it, Sparrow! Hit him again!" shrieked one voice. - -"Let him hit me--I'll give him as good as he sends!" spoke up another -voice. - -There was the instant sound of blows interchanged. The teacher could not -doubt what was going on. - -"Boys! boys! how dare you fight?" he demanded, and strode toward the -hedge of hemlock trees, his coattails flapping behind him. - -The fight had not continued long. Both boys had removed their coats and -vests and caps. They were hard at it indeed when Mr. Leith's voice smote -upon their ears. - -"Cheese it!" gasped Shiner. "Leith's onto us!" - -With the fear of being apprehended in all their minds, the four boys -sprang for the underbrush, on the other side of the corner. They knew -which way the teacher was coming. - -The two belligerents had picked up their discarded clothing, but as they -got under cover Fred gasped: - -"Scubbity-_yow_! I've dropped my cap." - -"Keep on!" exclaimed Bobby. "I'll get it." - -He was so earnest to shield his chum from the result of his wrong doing, -that he forgot his own danger. If Fred's cap were found, Mr. Leith -would know it, and Fred would be called upon to explain. - -Bobby darted back while the other boys scudded through the bushes. He -saw the cap on the ground just inside the open space. He sprawled all -over it, grabbed it up, and then was stricken motionless and dumb by the -voice of the master who stepped into view: - -"Robert! What does this mean?" - -Bobby shook all over, but he stuffed the cap into the breast of his -jacket. - -"Robert, stand up!" commanded the teacher. - -Bobby did so. He looked timidly across at the gentleman. Certainly Mr. -Leith was a very stern looking man! - -"Come here, Robert," said Mr. Leith. - -Bobby crossed the sandlot at a slow crawl. Mr. Leith cleared his -throat, removing his eyeglasses to wipe them. On the instant, as the -boy reached the fence, he flung Fred's cap through the rails and out -over the edge of the cliff. It disappeared like a shot. - -"What was that, sir?" demanded Mr. Leith, putting on the eyeglasses and -looking at Bobby again. - -The boy hesitated. The gentleman repeated: - -"What was it? I saw you throw something away." - -"It--it was a cap," said Bobby. - -"A cap? Not your own cap?" exclaimed the teacher, in surprise. "You -have your own cap on." - -"No, sir. Not my own cap," admitted Bobby. - -"Whose cap was it, then?" - -Bobby was silent. He looked up at Mr. Leith pleadingly. That gentleman -knew well enough what was in the boy's mind. He, too, understood boys -pretty well, but he did not believe in handling them just as the old -Doctor did. - -"Do you hear me, young man?" he asked, harshly. - -"Yes, sir." - -"Why do you not answer me?" - -Bobby wanted to cry out and plead with him. Mr. Leith had no _right_ to -ask such a question! That is the way the boy looked at it. The teacher -was tempting him to do the meanest thing in a boy's catalog of sins. - -He was asking Bobby to _snitch_! - -"I--I can't tell you, sir," stammered the boy. - -"You mean you are determined not to tell me?" repeated Mr. Leith. - -Bobby was silent, but still looked straight into his face. No frown -could make Bobby Blake drop his eyes in shame. - -"Two boys were fighting here just now," said the teacher, slowly and -sternly. "Isn't that so?" - -"Yes, sir," said Bobby, quietly. - -"Barrymore Gray was not here?" asked the other, sharply. - -"Oh, no, sir. Barry knew nothing about it, sir," cried Bobby. - -"Ah! Indeed? Then this fight was a strictly private affair?" - -Bobby looked miserable, but said nothing. - -"How many boys were here?" - -Bobby wagged his head negatively. "I--I can't tell you, sir." - -"Nor the names of the boys who fought?" - -"No, sir." - -"You know who they are?" - -"Oh, yes, sir." - -"And you refuse to tell me?" - -"I--I can't tell!" gasped Bobby, both hands clutched tightly upon the -breast of his jacket. It seemed to him as though the teacher must see -the pounding of his heart. - -"Robert," said Mr. Leith, "I do not like such actions as this. I will -not allow a boy to refuse me answers to perfectly proper questions. Go -to your class-room. You must not go to the gymnasium, nor out of doors -at all, until I bid you. When you are not in classes, remain in your -dormitory. - -"I am disappointed in you, Robert. You have shown yourself to be a -studious boy heretofore and not a ruffian." - -"Oh, sir--" - -"Silence! You may not have been one of the boys fighting; but you were -aiding and abetting a ruffianly encounter between two of your -schoolmates. It cannot be overlooked. - -"I had hopes of you, Robert. We all had. Dr. Raymond himself had -commended your course since you came to Rockledge. But no boy who -wishes to stand in the honor class can break the rules of the school and -then refuse to stand the full punishment for his act." - -"Oh, Mr. Leith!" cried Bobby, brokenly. "I am not trying to get out of -anything. Truly I'm not! Punish me all you want to, sir, but _don't_ -ask me to tell on the other boys. I can't do that." - -"We shall see, Robert," said the teacher, grimly. "Return to your -class-room." - -Now began a very terrible time for Bobby Blake--or so it seemed to the -heartsick boy. He held a secret that he could not speak of, and his -refusal to reveal it broke down his chances of gaining that Honor Medal -on which he had set his hopes. - -Of course, it never entered his mind for a moment that he _could_ -tell--even though the other boys did not realize what he had been -through with Mr. Leith, and what his punishment was. - -Fred and Sparrow, made friends by the emergency, with Jimmy Ailshine, -waited for Bobby in a secure hiding place known to all four; but Bobby -did not come. When they got back to the classroom at half past one, -Bobby was there ahead of them. - -His face was very red; he may have been crying, but Fred could not tell. -The latter slipped a brief note to him: - -"Did he catch you?" - -Bobby nodded, but did not write back. Fred, after a while, slipped over -another written question: - -"Where's my cap?" - -This time Bobby replied: "At the foot of the cliff. He doesn't know any -of you. Keep still." - -"Good old sport, Bobby," quoth Fred to Sparrow, when recitations were -over and they filed out. "Scubbity-_yow_! that was a soaker you gave me -on the jaw. It's sore yet." - -"I believe I'm going to have a black eye," revealed Sparrow, with pride. - -They went off together, inseparable friends for the time being. Bobby -remained behind, taking his books into the big study. - -Mr. Leith did not speak to him again. In fact, nobody came near him -before supper. When the boys came in, giggling and talking, just as -unable as usual to settle down quietly to the meal until an adult eye -was turned threateningly upon them, Bobby entered, too, but with such a -lump in his throat that he felt that he could scarcely swallow a -mouthful. - -Nobody noticed his condition but Pee Wee, and he only to seize upon the -pudding that Bobby could not touch. "You act as if you had the mumps -and couldn't swallow," whispered the fat boy. "But what you can't eat -I'll get rid of for you, Bobby." - -Three wistful days passed. Bobby remained indoors, and the boys knew -that he was being punished. Only three knew what for, and they did not -know how much. - -"Good old scout, Bobby!" said Shiner, clapping him on the shoulder. -"Wild horses wouldn't get anything out of you, eh!" - -Fred began to eye his chum askance. Thoughtless as the red-haired one -usually was, he began to worry. - -Then Mr. Leith called Bobby to him again. - -"Will you tell me who was fighting down there at the corner?" he asked. - -"Please--please do not ask me, sir!" begged the boy. - -"Ahem! you are still stubborn, are you!" - -"Ye--yes, sir," said Bobby, not knowing what else to say. - -"Very well. I shall keep you indoors no longer. I see that gentle means -will not cure _your_ trouble. At the last, I should have been tempted to -keep the matter to myself and give you a chance for the medal. But I -see leniency is wasted upon you. - -"You may have your freedom, Robert. Nothing you can do now will wipe -out the fact that you have deliberately refused to answer my questions. -That is all." - -_And Bobby Blake forgot the Doctor's office door was unlocked!_ - -He accepted the punishment of Mr. Leith as final. He knew he had lost -all chance of winning the Medal of Honor. Young as he was, it seemed to -him as though his punishment was almost too great for him to bear! - - - - - CHAPTER XX - - ON THE BRINK OF WAR - - -To everybody else, affairs at Rockledge School seemed to go on as ever. -There were hard lessons, and easy lessons (the former predominating, the -boys thought) and there were many, many good times as the season -advanced. - -Monatook Lake froze completely over. At first the boys were not allowed -upon it; but when a team of horses, hitched to a pung, had been driven -from shore to shore--from the edge of Rockledge town to Belden--word was -given from the teachers' desks that skating on the lake within so many -yards of the boathouse, would be allowed. - -The gate-keeper set stakes, to which little red flags were attached, at -the corners of the ice-bounds, and for a few days, at least, the -Rockledge boys were satisfied with the restrictions. - -They saw the Belden boys skating on their side of the lake, too, and -other boys, from the two villages, who did not go to either school, -skated where they pleased. - -On half holidays bounds were released, but if the boys wished to skate -the length of the lake a teacher went along. Owing to the feeling -between the boys of the two schools, Dr. Raymond did not even test the -Lower School with Barry Gray for monitor. - -Bobby, of course, entered into all these sports. Even Fred thought that -his chum's punishment had ended, and likely enough the red-haired boy -had forgotten all about his interrupted fight with Sparrow Bangs. - -Fred and Sparrow were the best of friends. To tell the truth, Bobby -Blake was somewhat gloomy these days--he was not as much fun as usual. - -Fred put it down to the fact of the mystery regarding Mr. and Mrs. -Blake. Of course, a fellow could not be very jolly when he did not know -for sure whether his father and mother were dead or alive! - -However, Fred did not see how he could help his chum. He did his best -to liven Bobby up; but was not very successful at it. It did really -seem to Fred as though Bobby "gloomed about" altogether too much. - -"It's all right for a fellow to feel badly about his folks," said Ginger -to Sparrow, who had become his confidant for the time being, "but you -can't get him out of his grouch." - -"He's trying to be too good," scoffed Sparrow. "I bet he's aiming to get -the medal." - -"Scubbity-_yow_!" ejaculated Fred. "That would be great!" - -"Pshaw! he can't get it. No Lower School boy ever got it. I expect -Barry Gray will be medal man _this_ year." - -"He won't get _my_ vote," declared Fred, shaking his head. - -"Why not, Ginger?" - -Fred was used to this nickname now, and did not get mad at it, but he -shook his head, and said: - -"Just for _that_. Barry nicknamed me. He's too fresh." - -"Aw, pshaw! you're prejudiced," laughed Sparrow. - -None of the boys realized what the matter was with Bobby. And he would -not tell Fred that he had anything to do with forming the cloud under -which Bobby suffered. - -The silence of his father and mother--the uncertainty about them--_did_ -trouble Bobby continually. Yet he had a deep-seated hope that all would -come out right about them. Barry Gray's comforting words regarding the -shipwreck had fired his imagination. - -The thought, however, that no matter how well he stood in his classes, -or how high his marks of deportment were, he could not win the Medal of -Honor, disturbed the boy's mind. - -Christmas week came. Bobby and Fred had intended to go home to Clinton -for the short holiday, but the very day the term closed a great -snowstorm set in. It snowed so heavily the first night that the -railroads were blocked. Dr. Raymond would not let any of the boys leave -the school, save two or three who lived near and whose people came for -them in sleighs. - -The good doctor telegraphed to the parents of his boys instead, and -great preparations were made for a dinner and celebration at the school -which would make the boys forget their disappointment. - -Presents could arrive by express, too, by New Year's, and Dr. Raymond -said that the actual distribution of gifts at Rockledge would be -advanced one week. New Year's should be celebrated like Christmas. - -The two and a half days' snow covered the lake two feet deep on a level. -The ice had been more than a foot thick when it began to snow. In fact, -the Rockledge and Belden icemen had been getting ready to cut, but would -now have to put it over until after New Year's, because of the scarcity -of labor. - -There was no danger on the ice. There was not one airhole anywhere -between the shore-fronts of the two schools--a stretch of nearly four -miles of level, glistening snow. - -The boys of the Rockledge Lower School had had much fun, on half -holidays, up the lake at the island where the winter camp had been -built; but that was a long way to go over the snow. Nobody had ever -tried snowshoeing and skiing, and the authorities at the school rather -frowned upon these sports. However, the field of snow between the -bluffs on which the rival schools were built was a vast temptation for a -hundred active boys. - -There was a snowball skirmish between the larger boys of the two schools -the very first day after the storm ceased. Captain Gray and his crowd -had met a bunch of Beldenites ("Bedlamites," the Rockledge boys called -their rivals) near the first island--a little, rocky cone, now a snowy -mound, and with only a few trees upon it. - -The fight had been fast and furious as long as it lasted, but it was -rather a good-natured one, after all. Finally Captain Gray and the -captain of the Belden School met for a few minutes' conversation. In -that few minutes a challenge was given and accepted. Unless the -teachers interfered, it was arranged to have a general snow battle -between the schools. - -Free from lessons, and with most of the ordinary rules relaxed, Captain -Gray could plan a coup that the enemy would not possibly expect. It had -been agreed that the coming battle should be fought near the island, -which was about in the middle of the lake between the two schools. - -That night, after supper, Captain Gray picked a dozen boys to help -him--and not all big boys, for Bobby and Fred were among them--and they -slipped out of the house. - -"We'll get the bulge on those Bedlamites," chuckled the captain. "Come -on, now. Run!" and he set off in the lead. - -He would not tell what was afoot, but every boy was excited enough to -follow and obey. - -They crossed the campus and went down the long flight of stairs to the -boathouse. The cold was so intense, and the wind had blown so hard -while it was snowing, that they crunched along right on top of the -drifts, and the walking was easy. - -There was no moon, but the stars gave them light enough. Besides, it is -never really dark when the snow covers the ground. - -The twelve boys speeded across the white expanse. Bobby and Fred were -proud that they had been chosen by the bigger fellows to take part in -this mysterious adventure. - -Captain Gray insisted upon several snow-shovels being brought along, and -as soon as they reached the island, he put them all to work. The idea -was to fortify the islet and hold it against the expected attack next -day of the Belden School. - -"This will be a surprise to them," declared Gray, proudly. "I saw right -off that whichever side could get this island and hold it, would have an -advantage. - -"Building breastworks down on the pond is all right, but from this -height we can throw snowballs right into any breastworks that those -fellows can build. - -"A bunch of us will come out here to-morrow morning with our breakfasts -in our hands (I've fixed it all up with Mary, the cook) and we'll hold -this island till the crowd on both sides gets here." - -Two hours' work under the direction of Barry turned the island (which -was barely ten yards long) into a veritable fort. Within that time, the -twelve boys had built the fortress, partly of bowlders that had been -well placed by Nature, and pieced out the rock buttresses with thick -walls of snow. - -The party got back to school just before the retiring bell rang, and -escaped a scolding only because the rules were relaxed for the holidays. -In the cold, chilly dawn, half a dozen of the boys of Dormitory Two were -awakened by the bigger fellows. Bobby and Fred were among them. - -"Aw, crickey!" gaped Fred, burrowing in the pillow. "I don't want to -get up now." - -Bobby was out of bed in a moment. "Come along! It's going to be fun, -Fred," he said. - -Fred was lazy. He burrowed deeper. In about thirty seconds a large, -juicy snowball, scooped off the window sill by Max Bender, was thrown -into the back of Fred Martin's neck. - -"Yee-ow!" yelled the startled Ginger, and rose up to fight back. The -big boy ran, however, chuckling, and all Fred could do was to dress, -grumblingly. - -"All these big fellows are fresh," he confided to Bobby. - -"I wonder what _we'll_ be when we are as big as they are, and boss the -school?" returned his more thoughtful chum. - -That feazed Fred a little. By and by--as he finished his dressing--he -admitted: - -"Well, Bobby, I'd never thought of that!" - -The guard thus called to duty by Captain Gray gathered, shivering, in -the kitchen. Good natured Mary had risen an hour earlier than usual and -made a big can of coffee, and there were sandwiches and doughnuts. - -"Worth getting up early for, that's sure," announced Fred, becoming more -content. "Won't Pee Wee be sore because he's not in this?" - -They marched away with shovels and sleds. Overnight the smaller boys had -made a lot of snowballs and they had been packed in boxes and put on the -sleds. But before the early procession started, Barry examined all the -boxes, and finding that somebody had made "soakers," he dumped them out. - -"Let me catch any of you boys icing the ammunition, and I'll tend to -you," he promised, angrily. - -"Aw, those Bedlamites busted Frankie Doane's head open with a soaker -last winter," complained Sparrow Bangs. - -"We won't be mean just because they've been," declared Captain Gray. -"You see that you're not guilty, Sparrow." - -"Gosh!" muttered Fred, in Sparrow's ear, "don't that sound just like -Bobby?" - -"You bet! They're a pair. Guess Bobby's a copy-cat. He's following in -Barry's 'feet-prints.'" - -"Don't you say that!" flamed up Ginger, at once. "Bobby has _always_ -been like that. He's the fairest chap that ever was. If anybody's the -copy-cat, it's old Captain Gray!" - -Neither of the boys in question beard this, and it was just as well -perhaps that they didn't. - -It was scarcely daylight when the party reached the island. They did -not see a Belden boy stirring on the farther bank of the lake. After -setting the tasks to be done by these guards, Barry went back to the -school, leaving Max Bender in charge of the fortress. - -Max was rather a lazy fellow, and he always let the smaller boys do his -work--if they would agree. He was good natured enough about it. - -He sat down in a sheltered place, and had Bobby and Fred cut the under -branches of the firs for firewood, and they soon had a nice little fire -going. - -This might attract the attention of the enemy to the fort, but Max did -not care for that. - -"You boys keep on making snowballs. You'll have to make them outside -the fort--down on the ice, there, and then you can draw them in on the -sleds. Get busy now." - -"What are _you_ going to do?" demanded Ginger Martin, rather perkily. - -"Never you mind, youngster," returned Max. "You never read of the -officers in authority getting on the firing line, do you? I've got to -stay up here and keep watch, and plan the defense of the island." - -"Oh, crickey!" exclaimed Ginger, scornfully. "You're a regular -Napoleon--_not_!" - -And it was a fact that, had the younger boys holding the fort depended -upon Bender's watchfulness, the Beldenites would have been upon them -unannounced. - -Naturally the boys making snowballs did so on the side of the island -facing Rockledge School. The island hid from them the Belden side of the -lake. - -But suddenly Bobby, who had dragged in a heavy sled load of snowballs, -and was packing them securely in a pile behind an upper fortification, -chanced to stand up to stretch his limbs and looked over the breastwork. - -"Oh, look here!" he yelled. "Here's the Bedlamites right onto us!" - -And it was true. The captain of the rival school had seen what the -Rockledge boys were about--or he had suspected it, seeing the smoke of -Max Bender's fire. - -He had brought out his whole crew, and the vanguard of Belden boys was -now but a few yards from the shore of the snow-covered and embattled -island. They were making the attack in silence, and hoped to take the -garrison of the fort by surprise. - - - - - CHAPTER XXI - - GIVE AND TAKE - - -Bobby was scared at first by his sudden discovery. Here the Belden boys -were coming on the rush, and there was only a handful of Rockledge -boys--ten in all--at the island, to stand the unexpected charge. - -Hi Letterblair, the captain of the Belden School, was at the head of the -charging column. He and eight of the biggest boys of Belden were very -near the island already. - -Directly in the rear of the vanguard were a dozen smaller boys with -schoolbook bags over their shoulders. Bobby knew by the bulky -appearance of these receptacles, that they were full of snowballs. - -Some distance behind were the rest of the Belden boys, dragging sleds -heaped with ammunition. The entire force of the enemy was approaching. - -Bobby wheeled about, even before he cried out, save for that first -exclamation of surprise, to look at the Rockledge shore. There was not -another Rockledge boy in sight save those at the island. - -"What's the matter!" lazily demanded Max Bender, warming his hands over -the tiny blaze. - -"Look! Look!" repeated Bobby, turning to point again. "Here they -come!" - -"Here _who_ come?" asked Bender, jumping up. - -He shuffled up to the place where Bobby stood. One look he gave and then -vented his amazement in a long whistle. - -"My goodness!" he muttered. "They've got us beaten before we even -begin." - -"Aren't we going to fight?" demanded Bobby, with energy. - -"What! fight the whole bunch--just us few?" - -"Of course. We've got the island--" - -"And a fat time we'd have trying to keep it," grunted Max. - -"Why, you're a quitter!" exclaimed the smaller boy, under his breath. -He whirled and waved his hands to the boys below, busy making snowballs. -"Get up here, fellows--in a hurry!" he cried. "Here come the -Bedlamites." - -"Scubbity-_yow_!" was Ginger Martin's response, and the red head came on -the run. A fight was meat and drink to Fred. - -The other boys hurried up the slope, too. Bobby yelled to them to bring -in the sleds and all the ammunition. - -In making the fortress the evening before, and in rolling "snow bombs" -to fling down upon the heads of the enemy should they get to close -quarters, the island itself had been for the most part swept clean of -snow. The bulwarks of the fortress were as tall as most of the boys -defending it at the present moment. - -"We're going to get licked," muttered Max Bender again. - -Sparrow grinned at Ginger. "I always believed Bender was a softie," he -whispered. Ginger nodded, but he looked at Bobby. - -"We've _got_ to hold on here till Captain Gray gets over with -reinforcements," the boy from Clinton was saying, eagerly. - -"Sure we have!" agreed most of the ten, in chorus. - -"And the way to do it is not to let those Belden fellows see how few in -numbers we are," said Bobby, thoughtfully. "We have heaps of -ammunition. We'll beat them off till Captain Gray comes." - -"We can't do it," declared Max Bender, with conviction. - -Fred turned on him with his face as well as his hair aflame: "You're a -healthy lieutenant, you are!" he snarled. "Why didn't Captain Gray -leave a baby in command? Come on! you can fling snowballs, can't you, -like Bobby says?" - -"Well--But these fellers will surround the island and then they'll get -us," croaked Max. - -Sparrow laughed sneeringly. It was Bobby who replied. - -"If you propose to run, you start now before the fight begins," he said, -gravely. "Then they'll think we're sending a messenger for -reenforcements, not that one of our side is a coward and is running -away." - -"Hurrah!" yelled Sparrow. - -"Scubbity-_yow_!" exclaimed Ginger. "Now he's got it." - -Max Bender was actually pale. He was scared to fight and he was scared -to run! In truth his position was pitiable. - -But Bobby Blake gave the big fellow very little attention. The other -boys just naturally looked to Bobby to lead them. - -"Don't show yourselves, fellows, if you can help it. Don't throw too -quickly; we don't want to waste ammunition. Let's all line up along -here now, and one of us peek over and give the word to fire--" - -"I'll do that!" cried the excited Mouser Pryde. - -"Yes you will!" sneered Fred. "I'd like to see you. Bobby's bossing -this." - -"That's right!" exclaimed Sparrow, generously. "If this big simpleton, -Bender, won't take the lead, let Bobby do it." - -"Sure! let Bobby do it!" shouted the others. - -Bobby, his eyes flashing, his cheeks red with excitement, did not argue -the point. Of course he wanted to lead--what boy would not? - -Besides, he believed they could hold the Beldenites off until -reinforcements came. Max Bender stood beside him, packing a snowball -tighter, and said nothing. Bobby jumped up and looked over the high -parapet. It was almost two feet across at the top, and lots thicker at -the bottom. The inside was cut straight up and down, but outside it -sloped. - -Bobby could stand upon a rock and see over the top of the wall. Hi -Letterblair and his crowd was now quite near. When Bobby popped up Hi -saw the Rockledge boy. - -"Hurrah!" yelled the Belden leader. "Come on, fellows! Charge!" - -"Let's fire at them, Bobby!" gasped Fred, fairly dancing up and down in -his eagerness. - -"No. They're too far away yet. Hold your fire." - -"Till we see the whites of their eyes--just like Bunker Hill!" exclaimed -Sparrow Bangs. - -"They'll hammer the life out of us if they get up here," grumbled Max. - -Bobby turned on him suddenly. Big as Bender was, he was doing all he -could to scare the rest of the garrison. - -"You be still!" commanded Bobby. "If you won't fight, run; but if you -stay with us, you keep your mouth shut and throw snowballs as hard as -you can!" - -And actually, big as he was, the pale faced Max did not reply! - -Bobby whirled back to look over the parapet. His eyes danced and he was -so excited that he could scarcely keep still. - -"Now!" he cried. "Up and at them! Fire three each, and then drop down. -And take aim--_do_ take aim!" - -Most of the boys obeyed him. The snowballs flew in a shower upon the -advancing enemy. With the advantage of their position, the Rockledge -boys pelted the on-comers well. - -Belden's leader brought up his whole force before he attempted to reply -to the fusillade. Letterblair knew that they would have to get nearer to -pelt their missiles at the garrison with any precision. - -Behind the wall of snow and rock, Bobby said: - -"Now, three more snowballs. Get ready!" Each boy could hold two -missiles in his left hand while he threw the third. The idea was to get -in the fusillade and then drop out of sight before the enemy could -return the compliment. - -"All ready?" cried Bobby again. "Come on, now! Let them have it!" - -Up jumped the nine youngsters and saw that Hi Letterblair and his crew -was now very near the island. - -"Shoot!" yelled the captain of the Belden boys. - -They were at a disadvantage, however. They had to throw up, while the -Rockledge garrison threw down. - -The missiles from the island-fortress descended upon the charging enemy -with considerable force. Before the Beldens could return the fire, Bobby -and his crowd dropped out of sight again. - -The Beldens cheered. Bobby popped up, saw that they were still -advancing, and gave the order for another volley. - -"At them again!" he shouted. - -Fred was yelling his battle-cry like a crazy boy, and Shiner and Sparrow -were scarcely less excited. In the midst of one of Fred's vociferous -shouts, _slam_ came a snowball right into his mouth! - -"Oh! oh! that was a soaker!" cried Sparrow. - -Fred was hopping mad. He wanted to keep on firing at the enemy when -Bobby gave the command to dip down for another supply of ammunition. - -"Obey the captain!" bawled Howell Purdy. - -"Get ready!" called Bobby, steadily. "Don't throw so wild. They are -getting too near for comfort." - -"They'll just give us _fits_ when they get up here," murmured the -shaking Max. - -"I never _did_ see such a lump of uselessness," grumbled Mouser. "Did -you, Bobby?" - -"Come on!" shouted the young leader of the defenders. "Give them as -good as they send--and take what they send us laughing." - -The Rockledge boys popped up again. Their last volley had stopped the -Belden boys. Some of the youngsters had run away with the ammunition. -Hi Letterblair had halted his party to make new snowballs. - -"Give it to them!" shouted Bobby, and down upon the attacking party -hurtled another well-aimed volley. - -They drove the besiegers back several yards, but now Hi Letterblair saw -that there was but a small garrison on the island. He saw only boys -from the Rockledge Lower School, and it was evident that Captain Gray -was not present. - -He called a council of war, and soon the Belden party began to spread -out and quickly surrounded the island. Bobby and his crowd were -completely hemmed in. - -"What did I tell you?" whined Max Bender. "Now we _can't_ get away at -all." - -"You had your chance to go," Bobby said, with scorn. "We can beat the -whole crowd off--for awhile, at least. We have plenty of snowballs." - -"But there's not much snow to make any more," said Howell Purdy. - -"We should worry!" exclaimed Sparrow. "We'll throw them just as fast as -we can, as long as they last." - -"No use in trying to throw so far," advised Bobby. "We have the -advantage of them, anyway. They have to throw higher than we do." - -Soon a shower of snowballs was flung at every head which appeared above -the ramparts. Nor could Bobby and his friends remain in hiding all the -time. If they did so, the Beldens would soon charge and rout them by -the weight of superior numbers. - -It was only by returning the enemy's fire with vigor and precision that -the Rockledge boys held the fort at all. Hi Letterblair had ten or a -dozen big boys massed to make a charge; Bobby could see that. - -Therefore the young leader of the defending party urged his followers to -concentrate their attack upon the captain of the Belden School. - -"Keep them off! we've _got_ to keep them off till Captain Gray gets -here," panted Bobby. - -"Hurrah! here they come!" yelled one of the smaller boys, suddenly. - -Bobby shot a glance toward the Rockledge shore. Indeed, there they did -come! With Captain Gray and the school flag at their head, the bulk of -the Rockledge boys were coming across the snow-covered lake towards the -island. - -"Keep still! don't wake them up!" begged Bobby, before anybody else -could cheer. "If the Bedlamites don't know they're coming till they get -here--why, all the better." - -The appearance of reenforcements put pluck into Max Bender. He began to -hurl snowballs with more precision and with more force. He became very -active. Hi Letterblair's crew of big boys charged only half heartedly. - -The boys behind the ramparts almost smothered them before the attacking -party got upon the island. They had chosen the easiest ascent, but only -one of the attackers reached the snow-wall. - -Instantly half a dozen hands reached for this plucky enemy, and it was -Max who hauled him over into the fort and sat on him. - -"Hurrah! we've got a prisoner!" yelled Howell Purdy, dancing up and -down. - -"What'll we do with him, Bobby?" demanded Fred. - -"Huh! _I_ captured him," grumbled Max. "I guess I'll do what I please -with him." - -"While we're fooling with that fellow, the others will get up here," -declared Shiner. - -"Come on! here they come!" shouted Bobby, who was ever on the watch. - -The second charge of Hi and his cohorts was resultless to either party. -And then, almost immediately, Captain Gray and the rest of the Rockledge -boys came upon the Beldens. - -Hi Letterblair ordered his party to face about, and brought up the -smaller boys from the other side of the island. At once the garrison of -the fort leaped upon the ramparts and drove down a withering fire upon -the enemy. - -Thus held between two fires, the Beldenites were driven back around the -island, and out of shot from the fortress. Captain Gray ordered his -army to spread out and hold them at bay. - -They had dragged out from the shore thousands of snowballs. The -Rockledge party had ammunition enough to last for hours, both in the -fort and on the sleds. - -Captain Gray hurried into the fort. Max had let the prisoner up and the -boys were all dancing about excitedly. - -"You fellows did fine!" cried Barry Gray, his eyes shining. "Max! -you're all right! You held them off in fine shape." - -"They gave us a hard rub, Barry," said the big fellow, coolly. "And I -yanked this chap inside when they charged." - -His statement was perfectly correct--as far as it went; but for Max to -accept praise for the defense of the fort struck most of the smaller -boys dumb. Not Fred Martin, however. - -"Well I never!" gasped the red-haired boy. "Will you listen to _that_? -Talk about the brass cheek of him!" - -"What's the matter with you, Ginger?" demanded Max, scowling. - -"Say! do you think you can get away with it?" shouted Fred. "_You_ -getting thanked for holding this island? Why, Barry," he cried, turning -on the captain, with blazing eyes, "that big simpleton wanted to give up -the fort and run away when he saw the Bedlamites coming. Yes he did! -I'll leave it to Sparrow and the rest of the boys." - -Sparrow shouldered his way to the front. "That's right, captain," he -said. "Max was having a fit of shivers here, and wouldn't give orders. -Bobby fought us." - -"Sure he did!" cried Shiner and Howell Purdy together. "It was Bobby -who did it. We'd have been whipped, if it hadn't been for Bobby." - -"Well, did I say he _didn't_ do his share?" snarled Max Bender, the wind -all taken out of his sails. "I--I had a headache, anyway. And I _did_ -grab this fellow prisoner." - -He looked around for the boy in question. But while they had been -arguing, the Belden boy had slipped out of the fort and made his escape. - - - - - CHAPTER XXII - - WHAT BOBBY SAID - - -The battle between the Rockledge and the Belden Schools continued -furiously until noon. The former had the advantage because of their -entrenchments on the island, but Hi Letterblair was not a bad general, -and Barry and his helpers were often put to it to hold the enemy in -check. - -At one time when the Rockledge troops made a sally, four of them were -captured and were held prisoners for an hour. Then they were rescued, -Bobby and Fred being of the rescuing party. - -Altogether the snow-battle was carried on in good temper, but there -could not help being some rough work, especially when it came to -hand-to-hand encounters. - -Fred Martin and Ben Allen, one of the Lower School boys on the other -side of the lake, had a short and vigorous fist fight in one scrimmage, -and the captains put them out of the battle and sent them back to their -respective schools in disgrace. - -Noon came and an armistice was declared until the next morning at nine -o'clock. It was agreed that the battle should begin just as it left -off--with Rockledge holding the island against Belden. - -The masters of both schools had begun to take an interest in the snow -fight and that afternoon Dr. Raymond gave a pleasant talk to his boys in -the big study, on the science of battle formation and military -maneuvers. - -The boys were interested. Captain Gray tried to put into execution in -the next forenoon's fighting some of the advice the Old Doctor had given -them. But Hi Letterblair had been advised by his instructors, too. - -The teachers from both schools walked over to the island to watch the -fight. It was a less rough-and-tumble affair than that of the previous -day's battle, and in the end Rockledge lost the fort and island to the -enemy. - -Time was called, and both sides retired to renew the battle on the third -morning. Captain Gray instructed his followers just what to do, and, at -the beginning of the third morning's attack, Rockledge had recovered the -fort, and captured half the Belden School in less than an hour! - -It was great fun, and the boys learned to keep their tempers better as -the fighting continued on more scientific lines. A storm came on and -spoiled the fun, however, for the rest of the week. - -Captain Gray came to Bobby and said: "You're all right! I've been -getting the facts about that fight you put up at the island, holding off -the Belden crowd, and it was smart of you. - -"I thought Max Bender had more gumption in him. But he's a big bluff. -Well! we won't talk about him. But I've told the Old Doctor what you -did--" - -"I didn't do any more than the other fellows," said Bobby, rather -sheepishly. "They all put up a good fight." - -"Sure! But they all say you did it--you kept them at it, and told them -what to do. And Hi Letterblair says he'd have taken the fort right -then, if it hadn't been for you. Oh, you can't escape the credit for -it, old chap!" - -Bobby knew that, although the boys might praise him, and even the Old -Doctor himself might be his friend, there was one member of the faculty -who did not approve of him. Mr. Leith seldom spoke to him, save when it -was necessary in class-room. - -New Year's Day came, and the presents from home were given out in the -big hall after breakfast. It was a time of great hilarity and fun; but -Bobby had hard work to keep back the tears when there were put into his -hands presents addressed in his mother's and his father's -writing--presents prepared far back in the summer before they had gone -on that fatal voyage, and left in the care of Mrs. Martin. - -Michael Mulcahey and Meena had not forgotten the boy, either. Their -little presents breathed of love and friendship. Meena had a tender -place in her heart for Bobby, after all. Michael wrote that she had -refused to marry him on Christmas day, for the seven hundred and -fifteenth time! - -It was hard work by this time for Bobby Blake to believe that Gray's -imaginary shipwreck was the real truth. Surely, if his parents were -alive, some word must come from them. - -The owners of the steamship that had been lost had never heard from any -survivor. The newspapers had ceased to speak of the affair. It had -become one of the many marine mysteries recorded within the last few -years. - -"S'pose you shouldn't ever hear about them till you grew up, Bobby?" -suggested Fred, with awe. "They'd come home, and find you grown up and -living in the same house, and--" - -"I wouldn't be living there," declared Bobby, choking back that big lump -that _would_ rise in his throat. - -"Where'd you be?" demanded Fred, in wonder. - -"When I'm big enough, I'll go off and look for them." - -"You will? Way down to Brazil?" - -"I'd search all over South America. Maybe some bad tribe of natives has -them. I'll find and rescue them," said Bobby, nodding his head. - -"Scubbity-_yow_!" cried the ever enthusiastic Fred. "That'll be great. -I'll go with you, and we'll hide in the jungle, and catch a native and -make him show us the way to the village where the captives are held. - -"Crickey, Bobby! you'd make out you were a magician, and you'd have a -storage battery, and things, and you'd show them blackies more magic -than they ever saw before, and they'll kill their old medicine man and -make you chief of the tribe. - -"And then we can get into the temple where your folks are held -prisoners, and release them. We'll all get out through the secret -passage and take enough gold and precious stones with us to load a -donkey, and come home as rich as mud! Say! it's a great idea." - -"Well! what do you think of _that_?" was Bobby's comment. "You must -have been reading some of Sparrow's story-papers." - -"Huh! they're jolly good stories." - -"Wait till the Old Doctor catches him at it," said Bobby. "Those are -just foolish stories. Nothing ever really happens like it says in those -stories." - -"Aw--well," said Fred, grinning, "it would be great if they _did_ -happen, wouldn't it?" - -Lessons began right after New Year again, and it seemed harder than ever -to buckle down to them because of the fun that week between Christmas -and the first of the year. - -"Wish it would be vacation all the time," grumbled Pee Wee, who had -spent several days in bed because of the way he had abused his stomach. - -"Goodness, Pee Wee!" exclaimed Bobby. "If every day was a holiday, -you'd be sick all the time." - -"No I wouldn't," returned the fat boy, who had figured the thing all -out. "If we had holiday dinners every day, I'd get used to them and -wouldn't get sick. See?" - -Although Bobby had concluded that he had no chance at all for the Medal -of Honor, he tried to stand as well as he could in his classes, and -never again did Mr. Leith, or anybody else, catch him in an infraction -of the rules of the school. - -Not that he refused to go in for any legitimate fun, but he kept out of -mischief, and did his best to keep his chum and the other boys of the -Lower School out of trouble, too. - -After that first snow-ball fight with Belden at the island, Bobby Blake -became quite an influence among the smaller boys of Rockledge. The -story of his taking charge of the defense of the island, after the -defection of Max Bender, was common property, although Bobby himself -would never discuss the matter. - -Off and on, there was both snow and ice for two months following the -great battle, but the boys had only the two half holidays a week in -which to play on the frozen lake. - -By and by the lake became unsafe, too, and, after a time came the spring -thaw, the ice went out, and the boys could get into the boats again. - -Every morning when he got up, Bobby ran to the window first of all and -sniffed the moist, sweet air. Spring was on the way. And spring sets -the blood to coursing more swiftly in the veins of every healthy boy. - -For two months the boys of the Second Dormitory had not seen their camp -in the woods on the larger island at the other end of Lake Monatook. -When it was whispered around that there was a chance for a trip there -the next Saturday, all were agreed. - -Bobby and Pee Wee were the committee to "rustle up" the necessities for -a feast at the camp. No potatoes and corn this time of year; the school -commissary department had to be approached. - -No boy in the school, save Barry Gray himself, had more influence with -Mary, the head cook, than Bobby Blake. Like the other servants about -Rockledge, the good woman knew all about the loss of Bobby's parents at -sea. Besides that, he was always polite and friendly, and never -mischievously tried to raid the pantry. - -Pee Wee's influence lay in his inordinate love for sweet cakes and the -like, for which he was always willing to spend his pocket-money. Many -of the fat boy's dimes and quarters reached Mary's palm for "bites" -between meals. - -It chanced to be a good day with Mary, and the committee of two got the -promise of a big hamper of good things for the first picnic of the year. -Bobby had refused to be one of those who asked for the privilege of -going up the lake. He knew that the request would have to be made to -Mr. Carrin or Mr. Leith, and neither of them, he feared, were favorably -inclined to him. - -The permission was granted, however, and the crowd of nearly twenty boys -raced down to the boathouse immediately after they were released from -study at eleven o'clock on Saturday morning. - -They had three boats, four boys at the oars in each. Some of the big -fellows were going to get out the shells and begin practicing for the -June regatta, but Bobby and his friends were eager to see their old -camp. - -"If those Bedlamites haven't found it and busted the camp all up," -grumbled Pee Wee, pulling at an oar. "'Member how they pelted us with -hot potatoes that time?" - -"I hope they'll keep on their own side of the lake this spring," said -Mouser. - -"I expect they have as much right at the islands as we have," ventured -Bobby. "Only it ought to be 'first come, first served.'" - -"We'll serve them out nicely, if they bother us this spring," grunted -Fred, who was likewise pulling. - -"We'll beat them as we did in the snowball fight," cried Shiner. - -"If we can spell 'able,'" laughed Bobby. - -"Aw, we'll spell it all right, won't we, Ginger?" demanded Sparrow -Bangs. - -"Let me at them--that's all," boasted Fred. - -When they got to the upper island, there was nobody there. They pulled -their boats ashore and went up into the wood. There was the shack they -had built the previous fall, almost as good as new. - -Of course, the roof was rotting and wet, but it was pretty dry inside -and they patched up the walls and roof in a little while. - -Then they built a fire, made cocoa, opened a can of condensed milk, and -spread out the sandwiches and pie that Mary had furnished. In the midst -of the picnic, a chunk of sod popped right into the tin cup out of which -Pee Wee was drinking. - -"Oh! who did that?" demanded the fat boy. - -In a moment a big sod came slap into the fire, and scattered the burning -brands. Then followed a fusillade from the woods on two sides of the -camp! - -"The Bedlamites! I see that Larry Cronk!" yelled Howell Purdy. - -The feast was spoiled. The boys from the rival school had pulled up a -lot of soft, wet turf, and they bombarded the boys from Rockledge -nicely. - -It was an uneven fight at first, for the picnickers had been totally -unprepared for such an attack. - -Nobody wanted to run, however, and Bobby and Sparrow stemmed the tide of -defeat with pine-cones, until their mates could cut clubs and come to -close quarters. - -The Rockledge boys were driven out of their camp. With great hilarity, -Larry Cronk and his mates held the camp, and drove off their antagonists -every time they attacked. - -"They're too many for us," growled Fred, when the Rockledge crew finally -retired. "Why! there are four boatloads of them." - -"I tell you," whispered Shiner, "let's get back at them." - -"Crickey! we've been back at them enough," complained Pee Wee. "I'm -beaten black and blue. And look at our clothes--all mud! We'll hear -about this, when we get back to the school." - -In fact, it was a sorrowful and angry group that went down to the boats. -These were on one side of the island, while those belonging to the -Belden boys were beached on the other side. - -Shiner had whispered his bright idea to Bobby and some of the others. -Bobby was a little slow to accept it, but finally was convinced. The -Beldens were watching them from the summit of the rocks. - -Only one of the Rockledge boats was pushed into the water. Bobby, -Shiner, Sparrow and Skeets Brody got in and took up the oars. They -rowed away around the island. - -Meanwhile the other boys collected a lot of pebbles as though they -proposed to attack the Beldenites again. This would have been foolish, -however, for the enemy had much the better position. - -The two gangs were not above threats shouted to each other and -make-believe dashes from either side. With volleys of stones and sod -they kept up the interest in the fight for half an hour. - -Then suddenly there came a shriek from some boy left on the other side -of the island as a sentinel. He came flying, yelling his distress. - -"Into the boats, boys!" Fred Martin commanded. "Bobby's got them." - -They pushed off the two remaining boats and jumped in. At that moment -the absent Rockledge boat appeared around the end of the island, and -strung behind it, in one, two, three, four order were the boats -belonging to the Belden boys. The latter were marooned. - -"We've beaten them this time!" yelled Howell Purdy, with delight. - -"You bet!" agreed Pee Wee. "We've been more'n a year getting them fixed -just right. 'Member, Ginger, I told you and Bobby how those Bedlamites -stole _all_ our boats once? How about it now?" - -There was great hilarity indeed. The boys from Rockledge manned the -Belden boats and the whole flotilla pulled toward the south shore. At -this place the lake was quite five miles wide and the island was in the -middle. So the pull was quite arduous. - -Besides, the wind had come up and there was a threatening black cloud -mounting the sky. Soon thunder began to mutter in the distance, and the -lightning tinged the lower edge of this cloud. - -The first heavy thunder shower of the season was approaching. - -As they rowed to the mainland, the Rockledge boys could see their -enemies standing disconsolately on the shore, and wistfully looking -after their boats. - -"They'll get a nice soaking," declared Shiner. "Oh! maybe I'm not glad!" - -"So am I," said Fred. "And we'll hide these boats--eh?" - -"Sure," agreed Sparrow Bangs. "I know a dandy place right down at the -edge of Monckton's farm. They wouldn't find them in a week of Sundays -in the mouth of that creek." - -The rain had begun to fall before the boys reached the shore. It was a -lashing, dashing rain, with plenty of thunder and the sharpest kind of -lightning. Several of the Rockledge boys were afraid of thunder and -lightning, but they all took shelter in an old tobacco barn--the farmers -of the Connecticut Valley raise a certain quality of tobacco. - -For an hour the storm continued. Then the thunder died away, and the -rain ceased. By that time it was almost dark, and the boys stood a good -chance of being belated for supper. - -They hid the stolen boats and went home in their own. As they rowed -steadily down the edge of the lake, they looked out across the darkening -water to the island, and did not see a spark of light there. - -"Maybe they haven't a match," said Bobby, suddenly, after a little -silence. - -"I should hope not!" snapped Fred. - -"Anyway, there's no dry wood after this rain," said his chum. - -"Good!" repeated the red-haired one. - -"They're going to have a mighty bad time," ruminated Bobby. Fred only -grunted, and Bobby fell silent. - -Just the same, there was a troublesome thought in Bobby Blake's mind. -He had little to say after they got to the school, and remained silent -all through supper. - -The boys had changed their clothes. The clouds had blown away and it -was a starlit evening. They had their choice of playing outside for a -while, or going to the big study until retiring hour. - -"I say," said Shiner, going about quickly among the Second Dormitory -lads, "Bobby wants us all in the gym. Something doing." - -Jimmy Ailshine was a good Mercury. He got most of the boys who had been -to the island together, in five minutes. - -Bobby looked dreadfully serious; Fred was scowling; Sparrow looked as -though he did not know whether to laugh, or not. - -"Go on, Bobby!" advised Pee Wee, yawning. "What's doing!" - -"I'll tell you," shot in Bobby, without a moment's hesitation. "We've -done an awfully mean thing, and we've got to undo it." - -"What's _that_?" demanded Howell Purdy, in amazement. - -"What we did to those Bedlamites," said Bobby, firmly. "We mustn't let -them stay there all night. Some of us have got to take their boats back -so that they can get ashore." - - - - - CHAPTER XXIII - - GOOD NEWS TRAVELS SLOWLY - - -The crowd of scatterbrained youngsters were smitten speechless for the -moment. They stared at Bobby Blake, and then looked at each other -curiously. Pee Wee was the first to find his voice. - -"Aw, cheese it, Bobby!" he drawled. "You're kidding us." - -"No. We've done a mean thing. We'll get them into trouble over to -their school--" - -"Good enough!" cried Howell Purdy, in delight. - -"And maybe we'll get into trouble because of it, too," went on Bobby, -seriously. "But whether we do, or we don't, we oughtn't to leave those -fellows over there on the island all night. It's a mean trick." - -"Say! haven't they played many a mean trick on us?" demanded Pee Wee, -excitedly. - -"That has nothing to do with it," said Bobby, still seriously. "It's -cold and wet on that island. Maybe they are all soaking wet from the -rain-storm. Suppose they should get cold--all of them--some of -them--only _one_ of them?" - -This was rather a grave way to put it. Bobby was not much more -thoughtful than other boys of his age--and he not eleven; but the thing -had gripped him hard. - -"I tell you," he said, quietly, "if none of you will go back with me, -I'll go alone." - -"Shucks!" exclaimed Pee Wee, "you couldn't row up there alone, Bobby -Blake, let alone tugging those four boats after you." - -"Well! and he doesn't have to--see?" snapped Fred Martin, dragging on -his cap over his red hair. "I guess _two_ of us can do something." He -grinned rather sheepishly at Bobby. - -"Three," said Sparrow Bangs, briefly. - -"Me, too," said the Mouser. "You can stay home, if you want to, Pee -Wee. _I'm_ going." - -"Oh--very well!" groaned the fat boy. "You can count me in." - -"And me! And me!" cried several. - -In the end there were two boats full of volunteers who left the -Rockledge boathouse, known only to the man who had charge of it, and -rowed up to Monckton's farm. There they dragged the four Belden boats -out of the mud, and towed them across to the island. - -It was pretty dark, for there was no moon. The marooned youngsters -heard them coming and began to shout, believing that it was a rescue -party from their own school. - -Bobby and Fred stood up and yelled to them to come down to the shore for -their boats. There was a good deal of bandying talk, and the two sets -of boys said some sharp things to each other, but they separated without -a fight. - -"They'll tell, of course, and the Old Doctor will make an -investigation," said Fred, as they pulled for home. - -"Sure!" groaned Shiner. - -"But it won't be so bad for us as it would have been if we'd left them -there for their own folks to find, and kept their boats hid," Pee Wee -observed, with more thoughtfulness than he usually showed. - -"And the Belden boys will be a deal more comfortable, eh?" chuckled -Bobby. - -There _was_ an investigation. The Doctor conducted it himself. He went -"back to the year one," as Barry Gray said, and considered all the -causes of the rivalry between the two schools, and what each had done to -the other. - -The hot potato fight was taken into consideration, as well as the fact -that the Belden schoolboys had once stolen every boat the Rockledge boys -possessed, and hidden them for a week. - -Then he rendered his decision: No party of boys without a teacher was to -go to any of the islands. None of the boys were to venture across the -lake to the Belden shore. - -These decisions were repeated by the head of the Belden School, and from -that time on there was less friction between the two institutions. - -But, meanwhile, Dr. Raymond had heard all about Bobby Blake's action in -the matter of the return of the boats to the marooned boys. He said -nothing to Bobby about it, but he talked with his assistants. - -This, too, made Bobby more popular with his mates. It had been the -right thing to do, and, after all, boys respect a boy who is willing to -do the right thing, even if it may make him unpopular for the time -being. - -The popularity that Bobby was winning at Rockledge School, however, was -of a lasting kind. If Bobby said a thing, he meant it. If he made a -promise, he stuck to it. He was no shirk, and no "goody-goody," and it -began to be whispered around (goodness only knows how the story started) -that Bobby might have a chance for the Medal of Honor if it was not for -"Old Leith." - -"What's Leith got it in for him for?" demanded the hot-headed Fred -Martin. "What's Bobby ever done to him?" - -"Something about Bobby's not giving away a fight," said Pee Wee, who had -got the news pretty straight from a waitress, who had heard Mr. Leith -and Mr. Carrin talking about it. - -"Aw, get out!" muttered Fred, rather abashed. He suddenly remembered the -fight he had started with Sparrow. - -"Never was a Lower School boy yet that won the medal," said How Purdy. - -"But we'd all pull for him--wouldn't we?" demanded Mouser. "I like Bob -all right." - -"I do, too," said Skeets Brody. "He was the only fellow that would stay -in and play checkers with me, when I had the sore throat." - -"He's done a lot of things for me," admitted Howell. "I haven't -forgotten them." - -"Well!" sighed Pee Wee. "I couldn't count the times Bobby's given me -his pudding at supper." - -"I guess we all like him," Sparrow said. "He's square as he can be. Old -Leith hasn't anything against him, I don't believe. It's just his -meanness." - -"No," said Pee Wee. "It's because Bobby wouldn't tell on somebody. I -put it up to Bobby myself, and he got mad and told me to mind my eye," -and the fat boy grinned. - -"Well! it gets me," said Shiner. "There haven't been many fights this -year that Bobby could have been in. And he's not quarrelsome." - -Fred said nothing. He was thinking hard, and from the expression on his -face, it was apparent that his thoughts were not of a pleasant nature. - -Bobby Blake certainly would have been surprised, had he known how his -mates were talking about him. He went on his usual course now-a-days -without much thought for the Medal of Honor. - -Only, he did his best. For his absent mother's and father's sake, he -did his best. - -Where were they? The question was with him always. Deadened somewhat -by time, the pain of his loss smarted just the same. He seldom -mentioned the mystery, even to Fred. Nevertheless, there was at least -one time in every day when he remembered it. - -He was as earnest in his prayers at night for his parents' safety as -ever he had been. He believed that some time he should hear good news. - -It is famous that bad news travels quickly, while good news has leaden -feet. It was so in this case. - -The spring advanced. Mr. and Mrs. Blake had sailed from New York early -in September, and nine months had nearly gone since then. The discovery -of burned wreckage from the ship on which they had sailed was all the -news that had ever come back to the United States regarding it. - -There arrived in the port of Baltimore one day a bluff-bowed, -frowsy-looking old two-stick schooner, with a tarnished figure-head -under her patched bowsprit, dirty sails, and a bottom undoubtedly thick -with barnacles. - -She was the _Ethelina_, and she loafed into her dock as though she had -never hurried within the knowledge of her owners. One of her owners -stood upon her deck and gave orders--Captain Adoniram Speed. - -His crew was partly made up of South American half-breeds, and the bulk -of the crew of the steamship on which the Blakes had sailed, so long -before, from New York. - -The captain brought letters for various people from a trading station -far up a tributary of the Amazon. Had not a sharp reporter, nosing -about for news on the Baltimore docks, gotten into conversation with -Captain Speed, it is likely that the newspapers would never have -obtained the full story of the loss of the steamship in question. - -She had burned only a few hundred miles off the mouth of the Amazon. It -was rough weather at the time and two of the boats' crews and most of -the passengers had lost their lives before the _Ethelina_ came loafing -along and had taken the remainder of the survivors aboard. - -The _Ethelina_ was bound for an up-river station. She had no reason for -touching at Para or any other big city of Brazil. She kept right on her -course, and her course chanced to be the route to be followed by Mr. and -Mrs. Blake, who were among the few passengers rescued. - -The old hooker sailed up the Amazon, and several hundred miles up the -tributary on which was situated the town of Samratam, which was the -Blakes' goal. - -The Blakes left letters for the captain of the _Ethelina_ to bring back -to civilization. Captain Speed had not considered it necessary to hurry -these letters along. - -He had waited to bring them himself, to mail at Baltimore. Good news -surely had traveled slowly in this case. Almost at the time the old -schooner was being warped into her dock at Baltimore, Mr. and Mrs. -Blake, in good health, expected to leave Samratam for the United States! - -The letters came in good time to Clinton, and to Rockledge School. Dr. -Raymond sat before his great, flat-topped desk one warm May morning -staring at a letter written on thin notepaper, with a packet of similar -letters, wrapped in an oiled-paper wrapper, before him on the desk. - -Somehow his spectacles were clouded, and he had to take them off and -wipe them twice before he could finish reading the business-like lines. - -The second time he wiped the glasses and set them astride his big nose, -he saw a small figure standing in the open doorway. - -"Ha! Robert!" he exclaimed. - -"Yes, sir." - -"I sent for you, Robert," said the master of Rockledge School, in a very -gruff voice--gruffer than usual, in fact. - -"Yes, sir?" returned Bobby, timidly. - -In spite of everything, he could not help being more than a little -frightened of Dr. Raymond. He was so big, and he was so gruff when he -spoke, and he had such searching eyes--usually--when he looked at one. - -But stop! There was something entirely different about Dr. Raymond's -eyes on this occasion. If Bobby Blake had not known that it was -impossible, he would have believed that there were tears in the Doctor's -eyes. - -"Robert," the gentleman said, finally, seeming to have some difficulty -in getting his words out. "Robert, did you ever hear the old saying that -'no news is good news'?" - -Bobby had no answer. His lips opened. He really _thought_ he said -"Yes, sir." But there was such a roaring in his ears, and his heart -suddenly pounded so hard, that he could scarcely hear. - -The furniture began to go around him in a sort of stately dance--and the -good doctor went with the furniture! It was very curious. Bobby tried -to rub his eyes free of the water that welled up, with his coat sleeves. - -"Yes, Robert; 'no news is good news.' We haven't heard for months from -those whom we wished to hear from. But always I have told you to keep -up heart--" - -Bobby could stand no more. He flung himself forward, around the corner -of the great desk. He grabbed at the Doctor's coatsleeve before he could -swim away from him again. - -"My mother! my father! You've heard--?" - -"They're all right, Robert! they're all right!" exclaimed the -Doctor--and did his voice break strangely as he said it? "There, there, -my boy! They're safe as can be and here's a whole packet of letters for -you from them. Don't cry, my boy--" - -But Bobby wasn't crying. It seemed to him that he never should cry -again. - -"Tell me!" he gasped, still clinging to the Doctor's arm. "Did--did she -get her feet wet? Or is she all right? She didn't get the--the -bron-skeeters, did she? Father was always afraid of that, if she got -cold." - - - - - CHAPTER XXIV - - RED HAIR STANDS FOR MORE THAN TEMPER - - -June had come. The regatta on Monatook Lake was but a few days away; -Commencement followed. Even the boys of the Lower School were working -hard to make up lost lessons these days. - -Captain Gray was to graduate, and with him Max Bender and five of the -other big boys. There would be at least seven new scholars to come to -Rockledge the next September, for there were never less than fifty boys -at the school and--as has been said--Dr. Raymond always had a waiting -list. - -Mr. Leith devoted most of his time to the older boys; but every -fortnight, at least, he went over the reports of the entire school. He -was a stiff and stern master, but he considered himself just. For that -reason he called Bobby Blake to his desk one day and said: - -"Robert, I am sorry there is a serious fault marked against you. In -recitations you have done better than any boy in the Lower School and -better than most in the Upper. But I do not like a stubborn boy; we can -none of us--we teachers, I mean--excuse such a fault as that. I hear -good reports of you in every direction, and your name has been mentioned -among the few who stand a chance of winning the Medal of Honor. - -"It is a most serious matter for a boy to refuse to answer proper -questions put to him by those who have him in charge. You must learn -this _now_. To obey is your duty. Do you realize that?" - -"Yes, sir," said Bobby in a low tone, and swallowing hard. "I -understand, sir." - -What he understood was that, if he had been willing to tell on his chum, -and Shiner, and Sparrow, he might have won the medal. _But he could not -do that_! - -He had never thought of taking the matter up with Dr. Raymond. An older -boy--Captain Gray, for instance--might have gone to the Doctor and -stated his side of the case. But Bobby did not question for a moment -the right of Mr. Leith to put in that report against him. - -It was pretty hard for the boy to bear. He wanted so much to write his -parents that he had won the distinction of the gold medal Dr. Raymond -had shown them on that first day of school. The Lower School was solid -for Bobby and many of the older lads admired the pluck and good humor of -the boy from Clinton. His strongest partisans were Fred Martin and -Sparrow Bangs, who admired him so much because he was so different from -themselves, perhaps. - -Pee Wee was Bobby's staunch champion, too. The fat boy boldly declared -his admiration for the Clinton boy in any company. - -"There isn't another boy like him," Pee Wee said in gymnasium one day, -when Bobby was absent. "Say! there's not one of you big fellows but -what he's done a favor for--and more than once. I say--" - -"Come! you needn't froth at the mouth over it," growled Max Bender. - -"Huh! _you_ haven't anything to say against Bobby," declared Pee Wee. - -"I know I haven't," returned Max, red to his ears. "I'd vote for him -right now. Barry can't get the medal anyway. - -"He doesn't stand well enough in Latin and physics for one thing," -pursued Max. "He knows it. Barry's a good fellow, and the Old Doc. is -proud of him, I reckon; but he never was a bone for work." - -Pee Wee was inspired by this statement to "root" all the harder for -Bobby Blake. - -"He can get it, I know!" the fat boy kept saying. "There isn't another -boy in the school stands as good a chance." - -"But if Mr. Leith is bound not to vote for him, what chance is there for -Bobby? Tell me that, now?" demanded Fred Martin. - -"What's Old Leith got against him?" asked one of the other boys. - -"Oh, it's that fight," said Pee Wee, with a side glance at Fred. - -"You've said that before," Skeets Brody observed. "I don't know about -any fight Bobby's been in since he came here." - -"Oh, _he_ wasn't in it," returned Pee Wee. - -Fred's face colored deeply. He waited his chance and got the fat boy -aside. "What's all this about Bobby fighting?" he demanded. "You know -something more than you're telling." - -"_You_ know," said the fat boy. - -"No, I don't!" - -"Yes, you do; and Sparrow knows, and Shiner knows--" - -"That old thing!" exclaimed Fred. "Who told you about it? And it -happened months ago." - -"Old Leith doesn't forget easily. You and Sparrow had a scrap, didn't -you?" - -"Who told you so?" - -"Never you mind. I know you are as thick as thieves now," grinned Pee -Wee. "But there was a time when you and Sparrow were going to knock -each other's heads off. Isn't that so?" - -"Aw--it wasn't a fight," growled Fred. - -"And Bobby was in it." - -"What if he was?" - -"Leith knows. He caught Bobby somehow. And Bobby wouldn't tell on the -rest of you," said Pee Wee. "That's how he got in bad with Mr. Leith, -and it's what is going to keep him out of winning that medal--yes, it -is!" - -"Wow! I didn't know it was like that," gasped the red-haired boy. -"Bobby ran back for my cap. I remember now. I thought Leith only -punished him by keeping him shut in for three days." - -"Huh! that's the _how_ of it, is it?" - -"He never said a word about it," declared Fred, gulping. "He's never -peeped that Old Leith was holding it up against him." - -"I know," declared Pee Wee, nodding. "He tried to make Bobby tell on -you fellows, and Bobby wouldn't. So that busted up his chance of -getting the medal." - -"Why!" murmured Fred, "he's been working just as hard for it all the -time." - -The fat boy seemed to have a little better appreciation of Bobby's -character than his own chum. "Why!" he said. "I reckon Bobby would do -his best anyway. He's that kind of a fellow." - -Fred went to the dressing room and slowly got out of his gymnasium suit -and stood under the shower. He was puzzled and disturbed. It was not -his way to think very deeply. - -But red hair stands for something besides a quick temper. Such hair -usually belongs to a warm heart. Fred, if thoughtless, was as loyal to -his chum as Damon was to Pythias, and all boys have read the story of -those famous friends. - -Fred had taken it for granted that Bobby's punishment, on that long-past -occasion, was completed when he had remained indoors at Mr. Leith's -command. Fred did not suppose it had gone farther. - -Bobby had never said a word. Of course, he _would not_ have! that was -Bobby's way. - -It smote Fred Martin hard that if Bobby lost his chance to win the -medal, it would be partly his fault. And Bobby had tried to keep him -out of the fight with Sparrow, in the first place! - -The fight had not done him, or Sparrow, or Shiner, a bit of harm. He -and Sparrow had been the best of friends ever since that day in the -"bloody corner"! But poor Bobby-- - -"It's a mean shame," Fred muttered to himself. "Old Leith's not fair. -What business has he got holding that against Bobby! He's punishing -Bobby for _our_ sins. It's a shame!" - -Thinking about it, or talking about it, was not going to help his chum -in the least. Fred had been a little afraid that some of the reports -that had gone home to his father would call forth from Mr. Martin sharp -criticism. He knew he did not stand any too well in his own classes, -and in deportment. - -He had not been caught in any great fault. However, if Mr. Leith knew -that he had been fighting that day in the corner, it would mean a big, -black smear on his report for the year. That was just as sure as could -be. - -"And Dad said if I didn't show up good this year, he'd take me into the -store and make me run errands, and send me back to public school," -thought Master Fred. - -"Gracious! that would leave Bobby here alone. Not to come back to -Rockledge next fall--" - -The red-haired boy could not bear to think of such a calamity. It was -certainly most awful to contemplate. - -He got into his clothing and wandered out of the gymnasium. Nobody -chanced to speak to him and he stood on the school steps for some -minutes turning a very hard problem over in his mind. - -And then a thought, like a keen-bladed rapier, stabbed Fred right in his -most vulnerable point--his conscience! - -"What does it matter if Bobby _does_ appear cheerful? _You're wrong_! - -"Oh, crickey!" groaned the red-haired boy, and he turned square around -and climbed the steps. With dragging footsteps he made his way to Mr. -Leith's class-room, where he knew he should find the master correcting -examination papers. - - -Pee Wee, having gotten hold of one end of the thread, unraveled the -whole piece in short order. He soon had the truth out of Sparrow and -Shiner about the long-forgotten fight in "bloody corner." - -The fat boy was something more than a gossip, however. He, whose mind -seemed usually interested mainly in food, proved that he could think of -something else. - -He wasted little time on the Lower School but it was not long before -every other boy at Rockledge knew how Bobby had pluckily--and -silently--suffered for the wrong three other boys had done. - -Pee Wee knew that the threat of the loss of the medal had hung over -Bobby all the time. He--and the other boys, too--knew that Bobby's -record was otherwise clean. - -"Vote for Bobby Blake--he's all right!" became the rallying cry all over -the school, and even Captain Gray took it up. - -"You know, fellows," he said to his particular chums, "I haven't a ghost -of a show for the medal. I'd like to get it, but your votes wouldn't -win it for me. And I declare! beside Bobby, I don't think I deserve -it." - -The boys had a chance to express their individual opinion about the -winner of the medal by secret ballot, several days before the actual -vote was taken. In this way the teachers learned just who was most -popular with the boys at large. - -A slip was given each boy in class, on which was printed "First Choice," -"Second Choice," "Third Choice." Every fellow in the Lower School wrote -Bobby's name against each choice! - -And when the teachers, Mr. Leith and Mr. Carrin, came to count the votes -from the other boys, Bobby's name predominated by a good majority. There -were still some faithful to Barry Gray, and one or two other boys were -named for the medal; but on every slip save two, Bobby's name appeared -as either first, second, or third choice. Those two particular slips -did not have Barry Gray's name on them, either, and the astute teachers -recognized the handwriting of Bill Bronson and Jack Jinks! - -If, after this first ballot, there were names voted for, whose owners -could not possibly win the medal, because of their standing with the -teachers, the fact was to be made known by the Doctor. The whole school -waited, most anxiously, for Dr. Raymond's decision in this case. - -The regatta came in between. That was the great sporting event of the -spring between the two schools which faced each other on opposite sides -of Lake Monatook. - -There were two-oared races, four-oared races, and then the big race of -the day--the trial of speed between the eight-oared shells. The -Rockledge boys thought Captain Gray and the others, in their white -jerseys with a crimson "R" on each side, were "a pretty nifty crew," -when they entered their boat and pushed out to the starter's place. - -The Belden crew had rowed over from their side of the lake. The course -was laid on the Rockledge side and was two miles in length--a mile -straight away, then round the post and return to the starting point. - -The younger boys forgot all other things and rooted for Gray and his -crew with all the strength of their lungs. They were massed on a part -of the bluff where they could see the whole race, and their friends and -parents and the townspeople were on hand in force to add to the -excitement of the occasion. - -Clinton was too far away for Mr. and Mrs. Martin to come to the closing -exercises of the school. Mr. Martin could not leave his store long -enough for that, and there were too many children at home for Fred's -mother to leave for over night. - -The chums got warm letters from them, and there were presents for both -Fred and Bobby. When the latter saw his mother's handwriting on his -package, and knew that she had thought of this time so long ahead, and -prepared for it, he was more touched than he had been by the Christmas -presents that had reached him from the same source. - -Fred was rather woebegone these last few days. "Wow! wait till Dad sees -my report," he said, hopelessly. "He'll be sorry he sent me this watch -and chain." - -Nevertheless, both lads wore their watches very proudly. They were just -what they had longed for, and although the timepieces were not very -valuable, they were good, practical instruments. - -The boys held them now, as they watched the racing shells, and came -pretty close to knowing by how many seconds the Rockledge crew beat the -Belden, when the shells raced down to the starter's boat. - -There was an extra supper that night. Mary baked an enormous cake, with -candles on it, and the date of the winning of the boat race traced in -pink frosting. This was set down in the middle of the upper table, and -Captain Gray had the honor of cutting it. A good-sized piece was sent -around to each boy, and Gray was called on for a speech. - -The handsome, well-dressed lad was not afraid to speak in public. He -was a bit forward but goodhearted. Yet perhaps the Doctor was just as -well suited that Barrymore Gray should not be in line for the Medal of -Honor. - -There was a certain conceit about his character which had always -troubled the good doctor; yet Barry had carried off the duties of his -captaincy with success. - -Frank Durrock was appointed captain for the coming year, and _he_ was -called on for a speech, too, having rowed bow in the winning shell. -Frank was another sort of a boy. He could only nod his thanks and sit -down in confusion. - -The youngsters cheered Barry and laughed at Frank; yet they all liked -the latter pretty well, too. - -The Doctor himself covered Frank Durrock's confusion by making a little -speech. His last words were: "And now, boys, to-morrow we decide upon -the winner of the Medal of Honor. All electioneering must cease -to-night, you know. Be prepared to-morrow to settle for yourselves who -is the most popular candidate. You are dismissed." - - - - - CHAPTER XXV - - THE WINNER - - -Pee Wee was so full of tickle that he was not sleepy! His father and -mother had been up for the regatta, and were staying at the Rockledge -Hotel until the school closed for the year. - -Mr. Wise was a rich man and he could afford to do about anything that -Pee Wee wanted him to do. There was something now on Pee Wee's mind -and, as Fred said, "he'd have to get it out of his system or he couldn't -go to sleep." - -"Wait till the other boys are asleep," whispered the fat boy. "I'm -going to keep pinching Mouser so he'll keep awake. You fellows pinch -each other." - -The beds of Bobby and Fred, and Pee Wee and Mouser Pryde, were side by -side. It rather tickled Bobby and Fred to think they should keep each -other awake in the way the fat boy suggested; but that he carried it out -in Mouser's case was very evident from the occasional grunts and -objections from the latter. - -The chums from Clinton kept themselves awake by asking each other -riddles, and telling stories. Fred had one "giggly" joke that went as -follows: "Say, Bobby, do you know they're going to close the public -library down town?" - -"What for?" demanded his chum. - -Just then Pee Wee's shrill whisper reached them: "Cheese it! Come here, -fellows. I have something to tell you--honest!" - -The dormitory was quite silent, save for the four boys in the corner. -Fred slipped out of bed and Bobby followed him. Pee Wee and Mouser were -sitting up in their own beds. - -"Now listen," whispered the fat boy. "Just as soon as school's out, my -folks are going to Bass Cove. We go there every summer. It's a dandy -place--you bet!" - -"All right. We've heard about that before," said Mouser, yawning. "You -might let a fellow go to sleep and wait till morning to tell us your -chestnuts." - -"I've a good mind not to tell _you_ at all," grunted Pee Wee. - -"Say! you're not telling any of us very fast," whispered Fred, giving -the fat boy a poke. "Get busy! some of the others will wake up." - -"I'll tell you," whispered Perry Wise, earnestly. "I have the grandest -father! He says I can have you three down to Bass Cove, if your folks -will let you come. What do you know about _that_?" - -"Oh--fine!" gasped Fred, when he could get his breath. - -All three of the boys had heard about that summer place. Pee Wee was -never weary of talking about it. - -"Sure he'll let us come?" demanded Mouser, wide awake on the instant. - -"That's what I said. I've been asking him in my letters. And he saw -you to-day--and mother, too--and he said 'yes.' He liked you -all--'specially Bobby--and he says you all can come." - -"Say!" gasped Fred. "That'll be great. Won't it, Bobby?" - -"I should say," admitted his chum. "And I was wondering what would -become of me before my folks got home again." - -"We'll go clamming, and crabbing, and fishing, and sailing--oh, -crickey!" gasped Fred, with his head under the bedclothes, "what won't -we do?" - -"It will be great," admitted Bobby, with a sigh of longing. "I just -hope your folks will let us go." - -This hope was realized, as my readers may learn if they meet Bobby and -Fred in the next volume of this series, entitled: "Bobby Blake at Bass -Cove; Or, The Hunt for the Motor Boat _Gem_." - -The four giggled, and whispered, and talked the matter over for another -hour before they could close their eyes. The outlook for the summer -vacation was first in their mind, too, when they awoke in the morning. - -But this was an important day at Rockledge School. Even the expected -pleasures of a summer at Bass Cove must be put temporarily in the -background. - -In the afternoon the graduating exercises were to be held--called at -Rockledge "the commencement exercises." In the evening the boys -entertained socially all their friends and relatives who could or would -come to the school. - -There was something else--something that loomed almost as big to some of -them as the graduation of the seven head boys. - -After breakfast the whole school filed up to the big hall. It was a -serious occasion, and even Fred Martin was not "cutting up" this -morning, and was one of those who most solemnly reached their seats. - -All the teachers were sitting on the platform with Dr. Raymond. The old -captain of the school, and the new captain, each stood at a door in the -back of the room to see that nobody slipped out, and to collect ballots -when the time came. - -"Now, boys," said the good Doctor, rising and smiling at the fifty. -"This is a serious occasion yet it is a happy one, too. It should be -happy for you all, because your teachers have found among you at least -one boy who is worthy of the high honor of receiving the medal," and he -displayed the gold star as he had on that first day, nine months before. - -"It is happy for us on the platform," and he made a little bow to the -gentlemen with him, "because you have found one among you whom so many -seem to admire. And we know what you admire him for. - -"It is unhappily impossible for every boy voted for to win the medal. -That is understood. Not alone must he be popular with you all, but he -must have stood high in every study and in his deportment as well. -Several of those voted for the other day in the informal balloting by -the school, cannot possibly receive the approval of myself and the other -masters. - -"Master Gray, unfortunately, is not eligible; neither is Masters -Durrock, Converse, or Spelt. There is no dishonor attached to the -records of these boys, but there are other reasons--reasons connected -with their standing in class--that make it impossible for us teachers to -agree on either of these names. - -"Now, boys, on the ballot now handed around, you will have but one -choice. And it looks as though your choice had already been indicated. -Let me assure you that, if that is so, your teachers are, one and all, -in favor of your choice." - -There was a murmur of approval--almost a cheer--when the doctor had done -speaking. Lots of the boys turned to smile at Bobby. He suddenly found -himself very red in the face. Fred looked delighted. Pee Wee could -scarcely keep in his seat. - -Barry Gray and Frank Durrock passed the papers swiftly, and gathered -them again in a few minutes. That the school was almost unanimous could -not be doubted. - -Mr. Leith and Mr. Carrin counted the slips. There was a bunch of them on -one side of the table and only a few on the other side. The doctor -rose, smiling with satisfaction. - -"My dear boys!" he said, ringingly. "It is a joy to me to find you so -nearly unanimous. And you have chosen the boy of whom, above all -others, we approve. - -"Robert Blake! stand up." - -_Then_ they cheered. It was impossible to silence the Lower School, at -least, for fully three minutes. Bobby stood, blushing and trembling -during this "unseemly riot." - -"Robert," said Dr. Raymond, quietly, at last, "you have been a good boy -here, and an exceptionally faithful scholar. I have watched your course -for the year with interest. You have won out under circumstances that -were most trying. - -"You boys have a code of morals of your own. I know it. 'Thou Shalt Not -Tell Tales' seems greater to you than any other commandment. And I -confess I do not uphold the tale-bearer. - -"If a boy does wrong, he should tell on himself. _That_ is being -honorable. Especially if he knows that because of his wrong-doing any -other fellow is suffering. - -"You all know that Robert bore a burden of punishment for months which -he did not really deserve. There is another among you, however--and I'm -proud of him!" and the doctor flashed a single glance toward Fred -Martin's red hair and red face, "who came forward when he understood, -and did his all to remove the black mark from Robert's record. - -"It makes me happy to know that I have such boys as these in Rockledge -School. I do not believe there are fifty boys anywhere--in any -school--any finer than _my_ boys," declared the Doctor, with growing -enthusiasm. - -"And I have never presented the Medal of Honor to any of my boys with -greater pride than I shall feel when I pin this star upon Robert Blake's -coat this afternoon." - -The school cheered again. Even Mr. Leith smiled at the enthusiasm -displayed by the youngsters. They formed in line, Barry and Frank -Durrock lifted Bobby to their shoulders, and the procession marched down -stairs and out, and around the campus. - -Bobby felt terribly disturbed. It seemed to him as though his ears -would never stop burning. - -They made too much of it. He was delighted that he could tell his -mother and father of his success, and show them the gold star. But he -could not see just how he had won it, nor how he had won the boys' -enthusiastic approval. - -There was another honor for him, too. He was selected as one of the new -members of the school secret order--The Sword and Star. _That_ went -with the winning of the medal without question. - -"Wow!" sighed Pee Wee, "he can hit as hard as any fellow in the Lower -School, when he boxes. And he's good fun, and is not afraid to get into -a game of fun, even if the teachers scowl on it a little." - -"Huh! I guess not," grunted Fred. "That's right about Bobby. He's not -afraid of _any_thing. That is, he's not afraid to do anything that isn't -mean." - -And that being a most just expression of his character, we will say -good-by for the present to Bobby Blake and his friends. - - - - - THE END - - - - - - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BOBBY BLAKE AT ROCKLEDGE SCHOOL -*** - - - - -A Word from Project Gutenberg - - -We will update this book if we find any errors. - -This book can be found under: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/39799 - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no one -owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation (and -you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without permission -and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth in the -General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to copying and -distributing Project Gutenberg(tm) electronic works to protect the -Project Gutenberg(tm) concept and trademark. 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