“If that’s so, I’m going to get out!” cried another, and slid from the milk cans in a hurry.
“Say, you don’t suppose he put dynnymite in it, do you?” asked Ricks, fearfully. “He might blow up the whole station. He blew up a fire once I was building,” he added, referring to a joke Tom had once played on him, the particulars of which have already been set forth in “The Rover Boys at School.”
“Better put the cigar in a pail of water,” suggested one farmer.
“You do it, Snell.”
“Do it yourself, if you want it done,” answered Snell, and very gingerly Ricks gathered up the cigar and its “worms” on a shovel and cast them into a tub of rain water that was handy. The others gathered around, joked the station master unmercifully and he vowed that he would get square with Tom sooner or later.
In the meantime the Rover boys lost no time in leaving the railroad station. They had Jack Ness urge on the team, and soon they were crossing the Swift River and driving through the village of Dexter’s Corners. Several folks of the village saw them and waved them a welcome, for the lads were great favorites. Then they started along the country road leading to Valley Brook farm.
“And how are all the folks, Jack?” asked Dick.
“All fairly well, sir,” answered the hired man. “Your uncle, he got ’em rather bad last week.”
“What do you mean?”
“Some of his new bees stung him—and they stung me, too.”