The Rover Boys on the Farm; or, Last Days at Putnam Hall
"I brought a lariat along," said Sam.
"A lariat?" queried the others.
"Sure,--the one I bought when we were out west. I thought we might use
it for climbing purposes. It is light but strong, and we can lasso a
tree or stump up there with it."
"Hurrah! Sam has solved the problem of how the Rover boys shall rise in
the world!" exclaimed Tom, gaily. "Sam, try your skill by all means."
"Show me the tree or stump and I will," answered his brother readily.
As well as they were able, they crawled from one part of the hole to a
spot that was somewhat higher. Then they found a projecting rock above
them and Sam threw the noose of his lariat over this.
"Will it hold?" queried Dick. "You don't want to try to climb up and
fall."
With caution Sam pulled on the lariat. It held, and he went up hand over
hand, for he was a fair athlete. Then his brothers followed. They now
stood on a ledge of rock, and the top of the hole was still twelve feet
above them.
"There is a small tree, Sam," said Tom, looking upward. "If you can
lasso that I think we'll be all right."
Once more the youngest Rover started to use the lariat. As it swung
upward it missed the tree and swished out of sight over the edge of the
hole.
"Ouch!" came the unexpected cry from above. "Oh, my eye!"
"Hullo! you've lashed somebody!" ejaculated Dick.
"I didn't know there was anybody up there," answered Sam, as the noose
of the lasso slipped downward.
The three Rover boys looked upward. They heard a hasty movement in the
bushes and caught a brief glimpse of a man's face. On the instant the
man disappeared, muttering something to himself.
"It was Dangler!" ejaculated Dick.
"Are you sure?" asked both of the others, in a breath.
"Almost positive."
Dick had scarcely spoken the last words when down into the hole came a
shower of dirt and stones, shoved over the edge above. The boys were
struck by the stones and got some of the dirt in their eyes. Then down
came a second mass of the same sort.
"Sto--stop that!" spluttered Tom, when he could speak. "Do you want to
kill us?"
There was no answer, but down came more dirt and stones, until the boys
were almost covered. What to do they did not know, until Dick suggested
they drop from the ledge and seek safety in the cave. As they went down,
a fair-sized rock followed, scraping Tom's shoulder and causing him to
utter a sharp cry of pain.
"Are you hurt, Tom?" asked his two brothers.
"Oh, it isn't much," panted Tom. "But I wish I could get my hands on
that rascal, that's all!"
"I am sure now that it must be Dangler," said Dick. "Nobody else around
here would try to injure us. He is mad because we have exposed him. He
must know the officers of the law are looking for him."
"I wish we could catch the rascal," muttered Tom.
"Supposing we climb the mountain from the outside?" suggested Sam. "It
is a perfectly clear day and is early yet. We'll know enough to look out
for pitfalls. If we can catch this Dangler the three of us ought to be
able to manage him."
"If we are going to try anything like that we want to hurry," returned
Dick. "He won't remain in this locality long--now he knows he is
discovered."
"Maybe he thinks we didn't see him," came from Tom.
"Well, that will be in our favor. But he'll know somebody will be after
him, for throwing down the dirt and stones."
Having eaten a hasty lunch and washed it down with water from a nearby
spring, the three lads began the ascent of the mountain. This was hard
work and caused them to perspire freely.
"I'm glad I'm not fat," said Tom. "If I was I'd be winded sure."
"I think we'd better keep quiet as soon as we reach the vicinity of the
holes," cautioned Dick.
Half an hour of hard climbing brought the boys to the vicinity where
they had first fallen into the holes leading to the cave, and then they
advanced cautiously and in almost absolute silence. They stopped to
listen several times, but heard nothing but the calls of some birds and
the trickling of water over the rocks.
Arriving at the top of the hole from where the dirt and stones had been
thrown, they gazed around with interest. Where the soil was soft they
could see the footprints of shoes much larger than those they themselves
wore.
"Here is his trail, going away," said Dick, after a close examination.
"There is your tin box!" cried Sam, pointing to the object, still
dangling from a distant tree.
"Wait till I see what is in it," answered his big brother. "It won't
take but a minute or two."
"Beware of holes!" cautioned Tom.
Feeling his way through the brushwood, Dick approached the dangling tin
box. It was a small affair and now hung open. He felt certain in his
mind that when he had seen it before it had been closed.
The box proved to be empty and Dick was, somehow, disappointed. He
glanced on the ground and saw a number of bits of paper, some old
looking and some new. He picked up some of the bits and saw they had
been written on in pencil, but the words or parts of words were
undecipherable.
"Well, what do you make of it?" questioned Sam, as he and Tom came up.
"I think I know what this is," answered Dick.
"What?"
"A sort of a private post-office. Somebody was in the habit of leaving
messages here, and Dangler or somebody else got the messages from time
to time."
CHAPTER VIII
LAST DAYS ON THE FARM
"I believe you are right," said Tom, after he, too, had looked over some
of the bits of paper strewn around. "Here is the word 'box' and here is
the word 'Saturday.'"
"Yes, and here are the words, 'fast freight,'" added Sam. "This was
nothing more than a letter box for the freight thieves."
"But why was it placed here?" questioned Dick. "It's a very
out-of-the-way place and hard to get to."
"Maybe somebody had to come this way," answered Tom. "See, here is
something of a trail."
"Yes, and here are those same big footprints!" exclaimed Sam. "For all
we know they may lead to some house or hut on the mountainside."
Having picked up the majority of the bits of paper and put them in their
pockets for future examination, the three Rover boys followed the path
or trail they had discovered. It led along the mountainside to where
there was a small clearing, backed up by a series of rocks from which a
spring gushed forth, sparkling brightly in the sunshine.
"I'd like to get another drink," said Sam; "I am terribly thirsty
to-day."
"Wait!" warned Dick, and caught his youngest brother by the arm.
"What's up, Dick?"
"I see a log cabin--over yonder, among the trees."
"Yes, and I see Dangler!" yelled Tom, suddenly. "There he goes, with a
big bundle over his shoulder!" And he pointed to the rear of the log
cabin. A man was just disappearing behind a fringe of brushwood. The
bundle he carried appeared to be tied up in a horse blanket. He was
running as hard as he could.
For a moment the boys did not know what to do. Then they ran to the
cabin and entered. It contained but one room, and this they soon
discovered was deserted. In the chimney a fire was smouldering, and the
remains of a meal lay scattered over a box that did duty as a table.
"This must have been Dangler's hangout," was Dick's comment. "He must
have come back for his things."
"Yes, and this explains why the queer letter box was stationed back
there," said Tom.
"Aren't you going to try to catch him?" asked Sam, impatiently.
"To be sure," answered Dick, and rushed out, and the others after him.
"Keep back there!" they heard Dangler cry, as they appeared on the trail
back of the log cabin. "Keep back, or it will be the worse for you!"
"Stop!" called Dick. "You might as well give up Dangler; you are bound
to be caught some time."
"Not much! I am armed and I warn you to keep back," answered the freight
thief, and then a bend of the trail hid him from view.
"Do you think he'd dare to shoot?" asked Tom.
"There is no telling what a desperate man will do," replied Dick. "We
had better be cautious."
After that they advanced with care. Presently the trail came out on a
mountain road and this passed over some rocks and crossed two other
roads. They saw no more of Dangler, and the footprints had disappeared.
"He has slipped us," said Tom, coming to a halt and resting on a fallen
tree. "Hang the luck anyway!"
"He came back to the cabin for his things," mused Sam. "I guess he is
going to leave the neighborhood, and maybe for good."
Chagrined over their failure to catch the freight thief, the boys looked
around that neighborhood for awhile and then retraced their steps to the
log cabin. Here they found several old articles of wearing apparel and a
few newspapers.
"Here is an envelope," said Sam, fishing the object out from behind the
box that had done duty as a table. "It is addressed to William Dangler.
Must have been some letter he got."
"Anything in it?"
"No."
"What is the postmark?"
"It is almost blurred out," said Sam. He took the envelope to the light.
"Well, I declare! Ithaca!"
"Ithaca!" cried Tom.
"Why, that's the city we stop at to take the boat for Putnam Hall,"
exclaimed Dick.
"I know it."
"This is interesting, to say the least," was the comment of the oldest
Rover boy. "Wonder if Dangler has friends or confederates in Ithaca?"
"We must notify the police of this," said Tom. "And the sooner the
better."
Satisfied that they could learn nothing more by remaining around the log
cabin, the boys departed, and inside of an hour were on their buckboard
and bound for the farm. From that place they called up the authorities
and informed them of what they had learned. Another search was at once
instituted for Bill Dangler, but the rascal was not captured.
The next day Mr. Anderson Rover came home, and the boys and Randolph
Rover had to acquaint him with all that had taken place. He shook his
head when he heard of the unregistered bonds.
"I am afraid you will never see them again, Randolph," he said to his
brother.
"I am afraid so myself," was the mournful reply.
Anderson Rover had come home to see his boys off to school.
"I want you to make the most of your opportunities while at Putnam Hall
this term," he said, "for it is to be your last."
"Yes, I know that," answered Tom. "But after that, what?"
"We will talk that over later, Tom. You must either go to college or get
ready to go into business."
"I'd like to go to college!" put in Dick.
"So would I--if I knew what kind of a place it was," added Tom.
"If it was as fine a place as Putnam Hall I'd jump at it," came from
Sam.
The next few days flew by quickly. During that time Dick received a
letter from Dan Baxter, the former bully of Putnam Hall, which
interested him not a little. This letter ran, in part, as follows:
"I am glad to say that I am now doing fairly well. I tried several
positions and am now a traveling salesman for a large carpet house. I
get fifteen dollars per week, all my expenses, and a commission on
sales, so I consider myself lucky.
"When I look back on what I once was, Dick, I can scarcely realize what
a change has come. But I feel happier than I ever was, and I am in hopes
that I shall live to make a man of myself yet. I am trying to give up
all my bad habits, and I haven't smoked, or drank a glass of liquor,
since I left you in the south."
* * * * *
"That's the kind of a letter I like to get," said Dick, as he let his
brothers peruse the communication. "It does a fellow's heart good,
doesn't it?"
"I am glad we let him have that hundred dollars," said Sam. "Do you
think he'll pay it back?"
"Here is a postscript in which he says he will send a money order next
week."
"He certainly means to pull himself together," said Tom. "Well, now he