CHAPTER XXV
WHAT AN AUTOMOBILE DID
"Dave Porter, Doctor Clay wishes to see you in his private office immediately."
It was Murphy the monitor who spoke, and he addressed Dave just as the latter was getting ready to retire for the night. He had already called Phil and Gus Plum.
"What does he want, Jim?" questioned Dave.
"I don't know, I'm sure. He and Mr. Dale just came in, and he is as mad as a hornet."
Without delay Dave put on the coat he had taken off, and went below, accompanied by Phil and Gus. The door to the private office stood open and inside were the master of Oak Hall, Mr. Dale, and Job Haskers.
"Come in, young gentlemen," said the doctor, somewhat grimly. "I want to ask you a few questions."
They walked in and stood in a row, facing the master. Certainly Doctor Clay was angry, and Andrew Dale looked far from pleased.
"All of you were on Bush Island this afternoon," went on Doctor Clay. "When you went away, did you do anything to the rowboat that Mr. Dale and myself took there?"
"No, sir," answered Dave, promptly.
"We didn't see your boat—at least, I didn't," answered Plum.
"I didn't see it either," came from Phil.
"Porter, did you see the boat?"
"No, sir."
"All of you are positive of this?" went on the master of the school, sternly.
"The only time I saw the boat was when you and Mr. Dale were on the river rowing—before we got to the island," said Dave.
"That boat was taken by somebody. We tied it to a tree and when we went for it, it was gone. We had to remain on the island, in the dark and cold, until Mr. Haskers came with Poole's motor boat and took us off."
"Excuse me, Doctor, may I ask a question?" said Andrew Dale.
"Certainly."
"Did you boys see anybody else on the island?"
"No, sir," returned Dave.
"Was anybody near there, so far as you know?"
"Not very near. We met a number of the fellows on the river, while we were rowing toward the island."
"Who were some of those boys?" asked Doctor Clay.
Dave remembered that one of the boats had contained Roger, Ben, Sam Day, and Messmer, and remained silent.
"Don't any of you remember who were in the other boats?" asked the doctor, and his voice was sharper than ever.
"Nat Poole and Link Merwell were out in the motor boat," answered Phil.
"Yes, I know that, but both declare they were not near the island."
"Roger Morr, Sam Day, and a lot of others were out, but they were near the boathouse, and I don't think any of them went near Bush Island," answered Gus Plum.
"Well, somebody was there, and took our boat," said Doctor Clay. "If I find out who was guilty of the trick I shall punish him severely." He knew that many of the boys would laugh behind his back, and he hated to be the butt of such a joke.
After being questioned for quarter of an hour the boys were told they could go, and returned to their dormitory. Hardly had they left the office when Siller, the boatman, came in.
"The boat you had is at the dock," he announced. "It was tied up around a corner, where I didn't see it before."
"That proves some boys from this school took it from the island," said the doctor. "Is the boat all right?"
"Yes, sir. I looked her over, and in the bottom I found this case."
As Siller spoke he handed over a small leather case, which was empty but smelt strongly of tobacco.
"A cigarette case!" cried the master of the school. "Could any pupil here have had that? They know that smoking is forbidden." He turned the case over in the light. "Here is a letter painted on the side. It is rather worn."
"It is an M," said Andrew Dale, after an examination. "Let me see, what pupils' names begin with M?" He mused for a moment. "Morrison, Morr, Merwell"
"Morrison went home yesterday, to be gone a week. Merwell said the motor boat was not near the island, and I certainly did not hear it."
"Plum just said Morr and some others were out in a rowboat," added Andrew Dale, quickly. "This may be his cigarette case."
"We'll question him."
Thereupon Roger was made to visit the office and put through a course of questions. He denied being near Bush Island and also denied owning the cigarette case. He felt angered to think he was suspected and answered the doctor so sharply that he was told to translate ten pages of Cæsar the next afternoon—a task he hated. And there the whole matter rested for the time being. Merwell missed his cigarette case, sent to him by a friend for his birthday, and he warned Poole not to breathe a word about it.
"We have told the doctor we were not near the island," said the bully. "Now, if he finds out that we were, he'll punish us severely, and maybe he'll expel us." This fairly terrorized Nat, and he wished he had never seen Bush Island or listened to Merwell's plan to rob Dave and his chums of their rowboat.
In some way Roger became convinced that Dave was responsible for his being hauled up before Doctor Clay, and as a consequence he grew colder and colder toward his former chum, something that hurt Dave very much. Phil, in a roundabout way, tried to patch up the matter, but Roger would not listen. He spent his entire time in company with Shadow, Buster, and some others, and only spoke to Dave when the baseball nine did its practicing.
About six miles from Oak Hall was a private park known as Hilltop. This belonged to a gentleman named Richard Mongrace, who had a brother, a man who had once been a college football player, but who was now an invalid and could not leave the estate. Mr. Mongrace had a fine field for all sorts of outdoor sports at Hilltop, with a grand stand and bleachers, and, to please his brother, he frequently invited local clubs to use his grounds for their contests.
In the past both Oak Hall and Rockville Military Academy had played at Hilltop, and now they had been invited to do so again, and it had been arranged that the baseball series should be played there. It may be as well to state here that the contest was to consist of two games out of a possible three. If either side won the first two games the third was not to be played.
The day for the first game proved cloudy and windy, yet the Oak Hall boys went to the grounds in high spirits. Some went on bicycles, some in the carryall, and a few walked, just for the exercise.
Dave was in the carryall, along with Phil, Shadow, and ten others. They were a jolly crowd, and as the turnout bowled along over the road they sang, gave the school yell, and cut up generally. The athletic yell was very popular, as follows:
"Baseball!
Football!
Oak Hall!
Has the call!
Biff! Boom! Bang! Whoop!"
"This is the day we rip Rockville up the back!" cried one of the students.
"And poke holes in the sky with raps for home runs," added another.
"And strike out three men every inning!" cried a third. "Dave, how is our pitcher to-day?"
"Able to sit up and eat pie," answered Dave, with a smile.
"Talking about pitchers puts me in mind of a little story I heard yesterday" began Shadow. "A little girl"
"Hello, Shadow has hit the story trail once more!" sang out Phil. "Thought there must be something wrong with him. He hasn't told a story for an hour and ten minutes."
"He's thinking of all the outs he is going to make," put in Plum, slyly.
"Not an out for yours truly," returned the story-teller. "But to get back to the little girl. Says she to her papa, 'Papa, did you say a baseball club has a pitcher?' 'Yes, my dear,' says papa. 'Well, do they have a sugar-bowl too?'" And at this anecdote the boys smiled.
Jackson Lemond was driving the carryall. He had a team of horses which the doctor had purchased only a few weeks before. They were a mettlesome pair, and the Hall driver did not altogether understand them. At times they went along very well, but at others they "cut up simply awful," to use Horsehair's way of expressing it.
"Why don't you let the team out, Horsehair?" asked one of the boys, presently. "We don't want to take all day to get to Hilltop."
"I hate to give 'em too much headway," answered the driver. "The road ain't none of the best along here, and there ain't no telling what they might do."
"We'll have to hurry some," said Dave. "I want some time to warm up, and so do the others."
"Maybe it will rain and the game will have to be called off," was Phil's comment, with an anxious look at the overcast sky.
"Oh, it's not going to rain just now," answered Henshaw.
They had just reached the top of a long hill and were preparing to go down the other side, when they heard a tooting behind them.
"Here comes an automobile!" cried Phil, looking back.
"I know that machine," answered Buster. "It belongs to some of the students at Rockville—two cousins, I think. They brought it down from Portland, Maine, where they come from."
"It is full of Rockville fellows," said Sam. "They want to pass us," he added, as the tooting sounded louder.
"It's a narrow road to pass on," grumbled Horsehair. "Whoa, there!" he cried to his team. "Whoa, I say!"
For the horses had begun to prick up their ears and dance about at the sound of the automobile horn.
"Clear the road, for we are coming!" came the cry from behind, and then with a tooting of the horn, a puffing from the engine, and a wild yelling from the occupants, the big touring car shot past the carryall with less than three inches to spare, and plunged down the hill at a speed that soon carried it out of sight in a cloud of dust.
It was enough to scare anybody, and the hearts of some of the boys beat wildly for the moment.
"That's taking a fearful risk," was the comment of one lad. "If they don't look out, they'll break their necks."
There was little time to say more, for the students now realized that Horsehair was having his hands full with the new team. One horse was plunging with might and main to break away and the other was shying to the left. Then came a sudden snap, as a portion of the harness gave way, and the next moment the carryall was sweeping down the hill on the very heels of the team that was running away.