Bobby Blake on the School Nine; Or, The Champions of the Monatook Lake League

by Frank A. Warner

  CHAPTER V

  THE TRAMPS' RETREAT

  The boys needed no second invitation. Even Pee Wee shook off his usuallaziness. With a single impulse they sprang from their chairs andtrooped out into the dining room.

  It seemed to the hungry boys as though nothing had ever looked so goodas the meal that their hostess had provided for them. There was a hugedish of bacon and eggs, plates piled high with snowy, puffy biscuit,which, as Mrs. Wilson told them, she had "knocked together" in a hurry,smoking hot from the oven, a great platter of fried potatoes, and, tocrown the feast, mince and apple and pumpkin pies whose flaky crustsseemed to fairly beg to be eaten.

  A simultaneous "ah-h" came from the boys, as they looked at the store ofgood things set before them, and the way they plunged into the meal wasthe sincerest tribute that could be paid to the cookery of theirhostess. It brought a glow of pleasure into her kindly eyes and a happyflush to her cheeks. She fluttered about them like a hen over herchicks, renewing the dishes, pressing them to take more--a thing whichwas wholly unnecessary--and joining in their jokes and laughter. It issafe to say that a merrier meal had not been enjoyed in that oldfarmhouse for many a day.

  But even a meal like that had to come to an end at last, and it was witha sigh of perfect satisfaction that the boys finally sat back in theirchairs and looked about at the complete wreck they had made of theviands.

  "Looks as if a whirlwind had passed this way," remarked Mouser.

  "I never enjoyed a meal so much," said Pee Wee.

  "Well, you're certainly a judge," laughed Fred. "When you say a meal'sthe limit you know what you're talking about. And this time I agree withyou."

  "I'm glad you liked things," put in Mrs. Wilson. "It does me good to seethe way you boys eat."

  "I'm afraid you wouldn't make much money if you had us as steadyboarders," smiled Bobby.

  "Come right back to the living room and get yourselves warm as toastbefore you start out again in this wind," urged their hostess.

  "We'd like to ever so much," replied Bobby. "But I guess we'd better begetting along. Perhaps that snow plough will get down sooner than wethought, and everything's been so good here that I'm afraid perhapswe've stayed too long already."

  They wrapped themselves up warmly, and then Bobby as spokesman turned totheir hostess.

  "How much do we owe you?" he asked, taking out his pocketbook, while theothers prepared to do the same.

  "You don't owe me a cent!" declared Mrs. Wilson with emphasis.

  "Oh, but yes," rejoined Bobby, somewhat startled. "We couldn't think ofletting you go to all that trouble and expense without paying for it."

  "I won't take a penny, bless your hearts," Mrs. Wilson repeated. "It'sbeen a real joy to have you here. I haven't any children of my own, andthe old place gets a bit lonesome at times. I haven't had such a goodtime for years as I've had this morning, seeing you eat so hearty andlistening to your fun. I feel that I owe you a good deal more than youdo me."

  She was firm in her determination, although the boys pressed the matteras far as they could without offending her. So they were forced at lastto yield to her wishes and return the money to their pockets.

  It was with the warmest thanks that they left their kind-hearted hostessand went down the steps, Tiger accompanying them to the gate. He seemedto want to go further and whined softly when Mouser patted him good-bye.

  "Isn't she a prince?" said Pee Wee admiringly, as they waved their handsin farewell.

  "A princess you mean," corrected Mouser.

  "Have it your own way," retorted Pee Wee. "Whichever name's the best,she's that."

  They were in a high state of elation as they ploughed their way acrossthe snowy fields. They were blissfully conscious of being, as Mouser putit, "full to the chin," and little else was needed at their age to maketheir happiness complete.

  But they were sharply awakened by the sound of a whistle.

  "That must be our train," cried Fred in alarm.

  "That's what it is," assented Bobby, quickening his pace. "We stayed along time at the table, and the snow-plough must have come along soonerthan they thought it would. Hurry, fellows, hurry!" and he tried tobreak into a run.

  The others followed his example, but the snow was too deep for that. Itclung about their feet and legs until they felt that they were moving ina nightmare.

  "She's going, fellows!" shouted Mouser in despair, as a stream of smokebegan to stretch out behind the moving train.

  "And all our bags and things are on board!" wailed Fred.

  "Now we're in a pretty mess," gasped Pee Wee, slumping down in the snow.

  There was no use in hurrying now, and they looked blankly at each otheras they came to a full stop.

  "Scubbity-_yow_!" howled Fred as the only way to relieve his feelings.

  "Well, I'll be jiggered!" exclaimed Mouser.

  Pee Wee was too tired out from his exertion to say anything, and Bobby,too, kept silent, though for a different reason. He was busy thinking ofthe best way to get out of the tangle.

  "There's no use in worrying about our baggage, fellows," he said atlast. "Probably the conductor will take good care of that. And we may beable to send a telegram from some place telling the conductor to put ourthings off at Rockledge and leave them in care of the station agentthere. What we've got to worry about is ourselves. We can't stay here,and we've got to find some way to get another train as soon as we can.Have any of you fellows got a time table?"

  "I had one," replied Mouser, "but it's in my bag on the train."

  None of the others had one and Bobby came to a quick decision.

  "There's no other way," he announced. "We'll have to go back and askMrs. Wilson. She'll know all about the trains and what's the beststation for us to go to."

  They trudged back rather forlornly and explained their plight to Mrs.Wilson, who was full of sympathy.

  "I'd like to have you stay here all night," she volunteered, "and Mr.Wilson will take you over to the station in a rig to-morrow morning."

  They thanked her heartily, but explained that this was out of thequestion. They would be missed from the train, telegrams would be flyingback and forth and their parents would be anxious and excited. They mustget to some place where they could either telegraph or, better yet, geta train that would land them in Rockledge that afternoon or evening.

  "I'll tell you what to do," she suggested, as a thought struck her. "Youcan't get a train on this line you've been traveling on until very lateto-night. But there's another road that crosses this at a junction abouttwo miles from here and connects with the main line that goes on toRockledge. There's an afternoon train on that line that you'll haveplenty of time to make, and it will land you in Rockledge before night.There's a telegraph office there too, and you can send any messages youlike before you board the train."

  "That's just the very thing," cried Bobby with enthusiasm.

  "Just what the doctor ordered," chuckled Mouser.

  She gave them very careful directions for finding the station, and asthere was none too much time and the walking was bound to be slow theyset out at once, after thanking their friend for having come a secondtime to their relief.

  Their path led for the most part through a wood and they passed no otherhouses on their way. Even in summer it was evident that the locality waswild and deserted. Now with the snow over everything it was especiallydesolate.

  "You might almost think you were up in the Big Woods," commented Mouser.

  "That's what," agreed Fred. "It would be a dandy place for train robbersand that kind of fellows."

  "I'd hate to be wandering around here at night," remarked Pee Wee, whowas panting with the exertion of keeping up with the others.

  "It would give one a sort of creepy feeling, like being in a cemetery,"assented Bobby.

  Suddenly Fred uttered an exclamation.

  "There's a little house right over in that hollow," he cried, pointingto the rig
ht.

  "More like a hut or a shack than a regular house, seems to me," gruntedMouser.

  "I don't believe there's any one living there," commented Pee Wee.

  "Yes, there must be," declared Bobby. "I can see the light of a fireshining through the window."

  The hut in question was a dilapidated structure of only one story thatstood in a little hollow just off the road. It was in the last stages ofdecay and looked as though a strong wind would blow it to pieces. Therewere no fences nor barn nor any wagon or farm implement in sight.

  Yet that some one lived in the crazy shack was evident, as Bobby hadsaid, by the red light that came flickeringly through the only windowthat the cabin possessed.

  "Let's stop there for a minute and get warm," suggested Fred. "Then,too, we can make sure that we're still on the right road to thestation."

  "What's the use?" cautioned Bobby. "We got left once to-day by stoppingtoo long."

  "It will only take a minute," urged Fred.

  As the others also wanted to stop, and Bobby did not wish to insist toomuch, they all went down into the hollow together.

  The snow of course deadened their footsteps, so that whoever was in thecabin had no notice of their approach.

  Fred, who was in advance, rapped on the door.

  There was silence for a moment and then the door swung open and a roughlooking man appeared on the sill.

  "What do you want?" he asked gruffly.

  "We wanted to ask directions about the road," said Fred, a littledismayed by the fellow's surly manner.

  The man looked them over for a moment, noticed that they were welldressed and hesitated no longer.

  "Come in," he said briefly, and stood aside for them to pass.