BACK TO THE SCHOOL
They waved frantically to the person on the shore, and he waved frantically in return, and at last all were convinced that it must really be their missing chum.
“He must think I am Jerry,” said Dave. “Won’t he be surprised to see me!”
“He will be, unless he was at the cabin last night and read the note,” returned Buster.
“The note wasn’t touched,” said Ben. “I noticed that it was exactly as we left it.”
All gave a parting wave and pointed to the shore, and then left the hill. They made their way down to the cabin, and told the camp-worker what they had seen.
“It must be Lawrence,” said Jerry Blutt. “Maybe he’ll come over here, instead of waiting for us to go to him.”
“Gracious, I never thought of that!” cried Buster.
“We’ll be like the men in one of Shadow’s stories,” said Ben. “One was upstairs in a big 250 office building and one downstairs. The man upstairs went down, and the downstairs man went up, and they kept that up until both stopped, tired out, one upstairs and one down.” And the others had to smile at the brief yarn.
All journeyed to the lower shore of the island, where they could get a better view of the spot where the person they thought was Phil had been. They saw the party walking up the river bank, looking for a good place to ford. All shouted loudly and waved their hands to keep him where he was, and he nodded his head deeply, to show that he understand.
“It must be Phil,” said Dave. “Oh, how thankful I am that he wasn’t carried away by the flood!”
The boys were impatient to get back to the shore, and Jerry Blutt did not blame them. To carry any of the stuff over was still out of the question, and they did not attempt it.
“You can come and get it some day, Jerry,” said Buster. “You can ship it to us by express, and we’ll pay you for your trouble;” and so it was arranged.
It was as hard to gain the shore as it had been to reach the island, and all were well-nigh exhausted when they finally left the water, not to return again. Phil saw them coming, and when he made out Dave he was almost dumfounded. 251
“Where in the world did you come from?” he demanded, as he caught our hero by the hand.
“From Oakdale, Phil.”
“Did you run away, too?” demanded the shipowner’s son.
“Hardly,” answered Dave, with a grin. “I came to bring you fellows back. But first tell us, how did you get out of the flood last night?”
“Oh, I had a fierce time of it. I tried to get back to the camp, but stumbled over some tree-roots and went down in a hole and hurt my ankle. When I got up I couldn’t see the others, and I must have lost my way. Then it began to rain and get dark, and I didn’t know which way to turn. I yelled dozens of times, but I didn’t hear any answer. I tried to locate the cabin, but I must have been completely turned around, for I came out on the shore. Then the flood came along, and before I knew it I was floating down the river. I hit a tree and clung to that, and we drifted a mile or more before the tree got stuck on a sandbar. I stayed there, in the rain and darkness, until morning and then waded and swam ashore. I was so tired out I had to rest for awhile, and then I came up here, to try to find out something about our crowd. I was thinking of getting over to the island again when I saw you on the top of the hill. Of course, I thought Dave was Jerry.” 252
“We were scared to death, thinking you had been drowned,” said Ben.
“Well, I came pretty close to it,” was the serious reply. “No more such flood for me!”
All turned towards the cabin where four of the party had spent the night, and there Jerry was called on to prepare the best meal their limited stores afforded. On the river-bank they had picked up some fish cast up by the flood, and these were broiled, making a welcome addition to the meal.
While the meal was being prepared, and after it had been eaten, Dave had a serious talk with Phil and the others, and all realized the folly they had committed in running away from Oak Hall. Phil in particular, was much disturbed and said he had been thinking of coming back.
“But we saw that article in the newspaper, and it scared us,” went on the shipowner’s son. “Of course, it didn’t mention any names, but we knew it was meant for us. I know now, just as well as the others, that it was a mistake to run away.”
“Then, you’ll go back with me?” questioned Dave, eagerly.
“Yes.”
“And you’ll go back, too, Ben and Buster?”
“Yes.”
“I am mighty glad to hear it—and I feel that 253 this thing will come out all right in the end,” returned Dave.
“By the way, there is one thing I haven’t told you, Dave,” said Buster, a minute later. “The general excitement drove it clean out of my head. We know who it was that spoiled the feast Phil got up for the crowd.”
“You do?” asked our hero, with interest.
“Yes. It was Nat Poole. He went to Rockville and sent those telephone messages to Jason Sparr and that musical professor, calling the whole affair off. He did it because he wasn’t invited to take part.”
“How did you learn this?”
“I heard it the night I went to the Hall to get our baggage. When I was in hiding, waiting for a chance to go to the dormitory, I saw Nat Poole come in, along with that new student, Will Fasey. They had been out somewhere having a good time, and Nat was telling Fasey how he had sent the telephone messages and queered the feast. I would have pitched into him then and there only I didn’t dare expose myself,” went on the stout youth.
“But he’ll get what is coming to him from me, when I get back to the school,” put in Phil. “It was a contemptible piece of business, and I want everybody to know it. Besides, he has got to pay for what I lost by the transaction.” 254
“If it wasn’t for that, maybe we wouldn’t have been suspected of blowing up the hotel,” said Ben. “Then you really think the wild man did it, Dave?”
“Yes.”
“But what of that letter Jason Sparr got, saying our crowd was guilty?”
“I don’t know what to make of that, Ben. I don’t think the wild man could write that.”
“Would Nat Poole be bad enough to do it?”
“Maybe. But it was an awful thing to do. I didn’t think Nat would be as mean as that.”
The boys had dried and pressed their clothing as best they could, and put on clean collars, cuffs, and neckties, and therefore looked quite presentable once more.
“As soon as we get to town we can get cleaned up a little better,” said Dave. “So we won’t look quite like tramps when we return to the Hall.”
“I hate to face Doctor Clay,” remarked Phil, dubiously.
“So do I,” added Ben and Buster.
“Well, it has got to be done,” answered Dave. “So make the best of it. The doctor understands the situation, so I don’t think he’ll be hard on you.”
“I hope they have got the wild man, and that they prove he blew up the hotel,” said Phil, wistfully. 255 “That is the only thing that will really clear us.”
“Oh, they are bound to get the wild man sooner or later,” answered Dave, hopefully.
It was decided to take the one afternoon train from Camptown Falls, and at the proper time the boys walked to the little depot, Dave with his suit-case, and the others with some hand baggage. Instructions were left with Jerry Blutt regarding the other baggage, and the man was paid for his services. He said he was glad that nobody had been drowned in the flood, and added that he was going up to the broken-away dam later on to see how matters looked.
It was a rather quiet crowd that got aboard the train when it came along. The conductor wanted to know how they had fared in the flood, and they told him. At Lumberport the boys had to wait an hour for the next train to Oakdale Junction, and they spent the time in getting a good supper, and in having their shoes shined, and in brushing up generally.
“I’ll be glad to get back late at night,” said Phil to Dave. “I’d hate to have the whole crowd staring at us when we came in.”
At the Junction they waited but a few minutes, and the run to Oakdale did not take long. They were the only ones to get off at the depot, and the spot was all but deserted. But they had telegraphed 256 ahead, and Horsehair was on hand, with a carriage, to meet them.
“Glad to see you young gents back, indeed I am,” said the school driver.
“Any news, Horsehair?” asked Dave, as they piled into the carriage.
“Not as I know of.”
“Have they got that wild man yet?” questioned Phil.
“No, sir. But they seen him—along the river—day before yesterday. He was sleepin’ in a barn. But he got away before the farmer and his man could git him.”
“Where was that?” questioned Ben.
“Up to the Morrison place.”
“The Morrison place,” mused Buster. “I know that family. When I get a chance I am going to ask them about this,” he added.
When the boys arrived at Oak Hall they found Doctor Clay sitting up to receive them. He smiled at Dave, but was somewhat cold towards the others.
“It is too late to listen to what you have to say to-night,” said he. “All of you may report in my office directly after our opening exercises in the morning.”
When the boys went upstairs there were a good many exclamations of surprise, and Roger and the others wanted to ask innumerable questions. But 257 a monitor cut all talk short, and Dave and the runaways got to bed as quickly as possible.
All were up early, and Dave, Phil, and the others had to tell their story before going down to breakfast. Roger and those who had been left behind with him listened eagerly to the tale of the flood and the other happenings.
“I guess Dave got there just in time,” said the senator’s son. “How about it, Buster?”
“He sure did,” said the stout lad, and shuddered to think how close he had been to drowning.
It can well be imagined that Phil, Ben, and Buster did not have much appetite for breakfast. Phil looked around for Nat Poole, but the money-lender’s son had not yet returned to the school.
“Now, tell me everything,” said Doctor Clay, when the boys at length filed into his office. “As they say in court, we want the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.”
“And that is what I’m going to give you, Doctor Clay,” answered Phil. “I made a big mistake in running away, and I am glad Dave came to bring us back. I haven’t done anything wrong, and I am here to face the music, as the saying goes.”
“And so am I,” came from Ben and Buster.
Then the boys told their story in detail, omitting nothing, and Dave related how he had gone to Camptown Falls, and how the flood had caught 258 him. In the midst of the narrative came a sharp knock on the door.
“Come in,” said the doctor, and one of the servants entered.
“A man to see you, sir,” said the servant. “He says it is very important—something about that wild man, sir! He’s terribly excited, sir!”
“The wild man again!” murmured the master of the school, while the boys looked at him and the servant with interest. “Show the visitor in and I will hear what he has to say.”