CHAPTER XV
THE FOREST PATH
Dick Halliard was kept unusually late at Mr. Hunter's store thatevening, for the busy season was approaching, when the merchant wasobliged to ask for extra work at the hands of his employees. Dickshowed such aptitude at figures that he often gave valuable aid to thebookkeeper, one of the old-fashioned, plodding kind, who found theexpanding accounts too much for him to keep well in hand.
Reaching his home, he was met by his mother, who always awaited hiscoming, no matter how late he might be. A light never failed to beshining from the window for the only son, and a warm welcome and adelicious meal were sure to greet him.
After kissing his mother and taking his seat at the table, he glancedaround and asked: "Did father become tired of sitting up for me?"
"He retired some time ago; he wished to wait, but I advised him not todo so."
The lad paused in his meal, and looking at his mother, who was tryingto hide her agitation, asked:
"Why do you try to keep anything from me? Father is worse, as I cansee from you face."
"Yes," replied the mother, the tears filling her eyes; "he is not aswell to-night as usual."
Dick shoved back his chair.
"I will go for Dr. Armstrong; it's too bad that he could not have beencalled long ago."
"I would have gone, but I feared to leave him alone, and we wereexpecting you every minute. You must eat something and swallow a cupof tea."
Poor Dick's vigorous appetite was gone, but partly to please hisparent, and partly because he knew it was best, he ate and drank alittle. Then he ran up-stairs to see his father, who was sufferingfrom a fevered condition which made him slightly delirious. The braveboy spoke a few cheerful words, and then, promising to return as soonas he could, hastened down-stairs and donned his hat and coat.
"You can go quite fast on your bicycle, Dick," said the mother, "andyou know we shall count the minutes till the doctor comes."
"You can depend on me to do my best; I will take my bicycle, though itisn't very far."
He had kissed her good-night, and was out-of-doors. The machine hadbeen left just within the gate, where he always leaned it against thetrunk of a short, thick cedar. He advanced to take it, as he had doneso many times, but to his dismay it was gone.
The door had closed behind him before he had made the discovery, sothat his mother knew nothing of his loss.
Dick was dumbfounded. Nothing of the kind had ever befallen himbefore. He had been in the house less than fifteen minutes, yet duringthat interval his property had vanished.
"Some one must have followed me," was his conclusion, "and while I wasin the house stole my bicycle."
Had the circumstances been different, he would have set a mostvigorous investigation on foot, for he prized the wheel above all hispossessions; but, with his sick parent up-stairs, the minutes were tooprecious to be spent in looking after anything else.
"I'll find out who took that," he muttered, as he passed through thegate to the highway, "and when I do, he'll have to settle with me."
He studied the ground closely in the hope of discovering the trail, asit may be called, of his machine, but the light of the moon was toofaint to show any signs, unless in the middle of the highway, and ifthe thief had followed that direction, he took care to keep at theside of the road, where there was a hard path over which he couldreadily travel.
It was three-fourths of a mile to the home of Dr. Armstrong, who wasone of those hard-worked humanitarians--a country physician--subject tocall at all hours of the day and night, with many of them requiring ajourney of several miles during the worst seasons of the year.
Dick was fortunate in not only finding him at home, but in his office.He had received a summons to a point beyond Mr. Halliard's, and was inthe act of mounting his horse to ride thither. Since he had to passthe house of Dick on his way, he promised to go at once, so that not aminute would be lost.
The brief interview with the physician was satisfactory in the highestdegree to the youth, for the medical man explained that, singular asit might seem, the fever which he described as affecting his parentwas a very favorable sign. It showed that the remedies already usedwere doing the work intended, and there was more ground for hope ofhis ultimate recovery than before.
With this burden lifted from his heart, the boy's thoughts returned tohis bicycle.
"I would give a good deal to know who took it," he murmured, as he setout on his return; "I never knew of such a thing. Why didn't I thinkof it!" he suddenly asked himself, as he recalled that he had a littlerubber match-safe in his pocket.
Bringing it forth, he struck one of the bits of wood, and shading thetiny flames from the slight breeze, stooped over and attentivelyexamined the road and paths at each side.
He discovered nothing to reward his search, and resumed his walkhomeward. "The thief must have taken the other road," he concluded,walking more rapidly.
Only a little way farther he came to the big stretch of woods whichsurrounded the immense reservoir of water behind the dam that wasbuilt years before. Dick was familiar with the locality, and knew of apath which left the main highway and entered the woods, breaking intotwo routes, one of which led to the mill-pond, while the other, iffollowed, conducted a person to the wooded hilly region beyond.
Upon reaching the point where the path turned off from the highway,Dick again paused and struck a second match. This was for the purposeof studying the ground, for somehow or other he had formed the beliefthat the thief would take to the woods with the property, until hecould find time to dispose of it without attracting attention.
There it was!
The ground, although quite hard, showed the imprint of the large andsmall wheel distinctly. Upon turning into the wood the change ofdirection necessarily threw the wheels out of alignment for a shortdistance, and there could be no mistake about the prints that wereleft in the earth.
"There's where the thief went!" exclaimed the lad, straightening upand striving to peer into the impenetrable gloom; "but he must havewalked and pushed the bicycle, for no one would dare to ride throughthere in the nighttime. I don't go home till I find out somethingabout the rogue that took it from the front of our house."
It was a source of regret that, in his haste to go to the physician,he forgot the precaution he had resolved to take, whenever he found itnecessary to go abroad at night. His father was the owner of a finerevolver that had lain in the house for weeks without being used. Ifthe youth had it with him now, he would have felt double the assurancethat was his when he began making his way along the forest path.Nevertheless, his resolution to recover his property was none the lessbecause of his forgetfulness.
The Campers Out; Or, The Right Path and the Wrong Page 15