BUSTED!
Bi broke the silence. "I'm getting mad," he said. "It's almost as though somebody was trying to keep us from playing that Belden game. Well, I'm going to Belden, even if I have to walk."
"Walking is cheap, anyhow," sympathized Specs. "By the way, Mr. Gillen, don't you think you might loan us the hand car just this once, so we can get to Deerpark—or whatever its name is?"
The station master laughed "You couldn't pump it there on time if I did let you try, and I won't. But I will tell you boys what you can do."
"What's that?" queried Bunny, feeling very much as if a spark of sunshine had just shoved its way through some particularly black clouds.
"Some of the farmers around here own automobiles. Now, a motor car would get you to Belden just as quick as going on the R. A. & S. to Deerfield and then waiting for a 'bus. Why don't you try? They can't do any more than say 'no' to you."
"It's the only thing we can do now," agreed Bunny.
"No, it isn't," Roundy interrupted. "There's one other thing we can do, and that is—eat! We don't know when we'll be ready to tuck our legs under a table. So if nobody wants any of this truck I bought at Harrison City, I'll take care of it myself."
But the Scouts, with something like an Indian war-whoop, made it clear that they had no intention of being left out when it came to sandwiches and sweet crackers. Even Mr. Gillen, after some urging, ate a handful of ginger snaps and told them the story of the big wreck in '96. When the lunch ended, indeed, the boys were rather sorry to part with the station master, whose last words were a promise to let them all ride in an engine cab the next time they reached Harrison City.
"You will find the road just beyond that little hill," he said. "There is at least one farmhouse not more than a half mile from here. Now, don't forget that I am going to take you all riding on one of the R. A. & S.'s biggest engines when I see you again."