The Rover Boys on the Farm; or, Last Days at Putnam Hall
They moved on, and soon reached a larger opening. Here they found a bit
of old harness and, further on, where the ground was soft, the tracks of
wagon wheels.
"Somebody has been in the habit of driving right in here!" exclaimed
Tom. "We are sure to get out!" and his face showed his relief.
"Hark! what's that?" cried Sam, and shrank back as a strange rumbling
was heard. "Is it an earthquake, or a landslide?"
"It's thunder, that's all," said Dick, a minute later, as they listened.
"To be sure--the storm was on us when we fell into the first hole,"
answered the youngest Rover.
"Perhaps we can be glad we are under shelter--if the storm is going to
be a bad one," came from Tom. "But, come on, I want to see daylight
again."
He moved on and then gave a cry of astonishment.
"Look!"
His brothers did so. On one side of the cave were piled thirty or forty
packing cases. The majority of them were empty, but three, directed to
one Jackson Dwight, Carwell, were full and nailed up.
"Well, I never!" murmured Sam. "Dick----"
"The freight thieves!" ejaculated the eldest Rover. "Don't you remember
what was in the paper before we went south, and what was in again only
yesterday? They have been missing freight from Carwell and Boxton and
half a dozen other stations for over a year. The thieves must have
brought their stuff here and then taken some of it from the packing
cases and carted it away again."
"It certainly looks like it," answered Tom. "Only three full cases left.
I wonder when these were taken?"
"Most likely only a short time ago," said Dick. "The cases look new."
"Do you suppose any of the freight thieves are around? If they are we
want to keep out of their way--if they are desperate characters."
They moved on, and then Dick called a sudden halt.
"I can see daylight ahead," he said. "And somebody is moving around. Let
us put out the torches."
His suggestion was speedily followed, and the three Rover boys advanced
with caution. At its outer end the cave became broader while the roof
was only about ten feet high.
"Hullo, here's another surprise," whispered Dick, as they came closer to
the opening. "Look at that!"
He pointed to one side of the cave and there the others saw an
automobile runabout standing and on the seat two men dressed for a tour.
They were talking to a third man, who was lounging against a front
wheel, smoking a brier-root pipe.
"Maybe they are the freight thieves," whispered Tom. "Let us get out of
sight and listen to what they have to say."
It was an easy matter to keep out of sight, for the walls of the cave
were very uneven at this point. They got behind a projection, and by
crawling up a rocky ledge managed to reach a point above and to one side
of the runabout and not over a dozen feet from it.
"Then you weren't going to stop here, Merrick?" asked the man leaning
against the wheel.
"Not now, Dangler," was the reply of the man with the pipe. "The storm
drove us in here."
"When do you expect to meet this Randolph Rover?"
"Very soon."
"He ought to be easy--he is so simple minded."
"Oh, I think we can work him right enough," put in the third man, who
was tall and thin-cheeked.
"Well, if you do, don't forget that I get my share, Pike," said the man
called Dangler.
"Haven't you always gotten your share?" demanded Pike.
"I suppose I have."
"And haven't we given you the information whenever any valuable freight
was coming this way?" put in the man called Merrick.
"Yes, and got your full share of the proceeds, while I ran the risk,"
growled Dangler. "It's getting dangerous--I'm going to quit--after the
next big haul," went on the man with the pipe.
"All right--as you wish," answered Merrick. "I wish this storm would let
up. The road will be something fierce for our runabout."
"And bad for my wagon," growled Dangler in return.
The boys listened to the conversation with deep interest. The reference
to their uncle amazed them, and they wondered what the two men in the
runabout had in mind to do. By their talk it was evident they meant to
accomplish something unlawful.
"They are going to play Uncle Randolph some trick," whispered Sam. "We
must get home and warn him."
"What we ought to do is to have the whole crowd arrested," answered Tom.
"They are all implicated in the theft of freight."
"That's the talk," said Dick. "The question is, How can we do it? We are
no match for those three men, and more than likely they are armed."
After this the three men conversed in such a low tone the boys could not
hear a quarter of what was said. But they learned enough to know that
Merrick and Pike were going to meet their uncle and play him false in
some way, and they heard the words "traction bonds" and "coupons"
several times.
"Uncle Randolph had ten thousand dollars' worth of traction company
bonds," said Dick. "He bought them only a short while ago. They pay five
and a half per cent. interest and he thought them a first-class
investment."
"Oh, we'll have to warn him," said Sam. "He is so open-hearted he would
trust most anybody."
Merrick had descended from the runabout and gone out of the cave. Now he
came back, said something to the others, and started up the auto. In
another moment he had the machine turned around. Then it spun out of the
cave and down a fairly good road in the direction of Carwell. The man
named Dangler followed the runabout to the road and watched it disappear
around a turn bordered by trees. The storm was now rolling away to the
westward and the rain had ceased.
"They have gone!" cried Tom. "Where to?"
"Perhaps to our farm--to see Uncle Randolph," answered Sam. "We ought to
follow them as quickly as we can."
"I think we had better capture the fellow left behind," said Dick. "We
ought to be able to do it."
"That's the talk," said Tom. "Sure we can do it, being three to one."
Dangler watched the runabout and then gazed up and down the mountain for
several minutes. Then of a sudden he started in a direction opposite to
that taken by the machine.
"He is going away!" cried Sam.
"Come on after him!" called his big brother, and ran from the cave with
the others at his heels. Just as he did this Dangler glanced back and
saw them.
"Hey, you!" he cried in consternation.
"Stop!" called out Dick. "We want you."
At this command Dangler was more amazed than ever. But of a sudden he
appeared to realize something of what had happened and commenced to run.
"Stop!" cried Tom and Sam, but at this the man only ran the faster.
"Come on--we've got to catch that rascal!" exclaimed Dick, and started
to sprint. The others followed as quickly as they could, and a rapid
chase along the mountain road ensued. But if the boys could run so could
the freight robber, and he made the best possible use of his legs until
he gained a side trail. Then he darted into this, and when the Rover
boys came up he had disappeared.
"Where is he?" panted Sam.
"He took to this path, but he isn't in sight," answered Dick. He was
almost winded himself.
"Come on, he must be somewhere around," put in Tom, and ran down the
path several hundred feet. Then he tripped over a fallen log and went
headlong in the bushes and wet grass. He got up looking tired out and
cross.
"We've missed him," announced Dick, rather dismally. "It's a pity, too.
He deserves to be put under arrest."
"I think we had better get home and warn Uncle Randolph," returned Sam.
"If we don't there is no telling what that fellow Merrick and that Pike
may do."
CHAPTER IV
AT THE FARM
The others considered Sam's advice good, and after another look around
for Dangler, they turned in the direction of home. They were a good
three miles from the farm and had to cross the river above the falls,
thus adding half a mile more to the journey. It was wet and muddy
walking and they had not covered over a mile when Tom called a halt.
"I am about fagged out," he announced. "Wonder if we can't hire a buggy
at the next farmhouse."
"We can try anyway," answered Dick.
Directly after crossing the river they came to a small farmhouse, and
walked around to the kitchen, where they saw an old woman shelling peas.
"We can't let you have any carriage," she said. "The men folks are to
town and they've got the horses."
The boys were about to turn away when Dick thought of something.
"By the way, do you know a man named Dangler?" he asked.
"Sure, I do," was the answer.
"Does he live around here?"
"I guess he lives where he pleases. He is an old bachelor and comes and
goes as he likes. He used to have a cottage down the pike, but it burnt
down last winter."
"Then you haven't any idea where he is stopping now?"
"No."
"Do you know a man named Merrick and another man named Pike?" went on
the eldest Rover boy.
At this the old woman shook her head.
"Never heard tell of them," she said.
"Has this Dangler any relatives around here?" asked Tom.
"None that I know of."
"Do you know what kind of man he is?" asked Sam.
"I never talk about my neighbors," answered the old woman, and drew up
her thin lips and went on shelling peas.
Feeling it would be useless to ask any more questions, the three boys
journeyed wearily on to the next farmhouse. This belonged to a fat
German named Gus Schmidt, who knew the Rovers fairly well.
"Yah, I let you haf a carriage alretty," said Gus Schmidt. "Put you must
pring him back to-morrow, hey?"
"We will," answered Dick.
"I vos hear some putty goot stories apout you Rofer poys," went on Mr.
Schmidt, while he was hooking up his horse. "You vos on der Mississippi
Rifer, hey?"
"We were," answered Sam.
"Und you vos go owid on der blains und catch some counterfeiters, hey?"
"Yes, we had something to do with it," came from Tom.
"Und den you vos go py der Gulluf of Mexico alretty und find a steampoat
vos has nopotty got on it," pursued Gus Schmidt. "Ach, it vos vonderful
vot vos habben to somepody, ain't it?"
"Didn't you ever have anything happen to you, Mr. Schmidt?" asked Sam.
"Only vonce, und dot vos enough. I peen in New York, und der poys call
me names. Den I run after dem, und da vos go py a cellar full of vater.
I vos run on a poard, und der poys turn dot poard----"
"And you fell into the water," finished Tom.
"Not much! I chumped back to der sidevalk," answered Gus Schmidt, and
then laughed heartily at his little joke.
The three Rover boys were soon in the carriage and on the way to the
farm. The horse that had been loaned to them was a speedy animal and
they made good time despite the muddiness of the road. The brief storm
had been a severe one, and in one spot the roadbed was considerably
washed out.
The boys took the carriage around to the barn and left it in charge of
Jack Ness, the man of all work. Then they hurried to the house.
"Oh, boys, I am so glad that you are back!" exclaimed Mrs. Rover, on
seeing them. "I suppose you are wet through. Better dry your clothing at
once, or change them, and I'll get you some hot tea to drink."
"We are all right, Aunt Martha," answered Dick. "We were under shelter
during the worst of the storm. Is Uncle Randolph around?"
"No, he went to Carwell on business. I am worried about him, for I am
afraid he got caught in the storm, for he drove over."
"What did he go for?" questioned Tom, quickly.
"Oh, it was a private matter."
"About some traction company bonds?" asked Sam, who could not hold back
his curiosity.
"Yes. But how do you happen to know about it?" demanded his aunt, in
astonishment.
"We found something out to-day, aunty," said Dick. "It's a queer piece
of business. Do you know where Uncle Randolph was going?"
"You mean in Carwell?"
"Yes."
"I think to the hotel."