It was no easy matter to get down to the ground with one hand still fastened behind him, and Dick made rather slow work of it. The rain beat in at the window, and soon he was soaked to the skin.
Where to go next he did not know. To journey far in such a storm was entirely out of the question.
Dick had hardly gotten to the edge of the woods when a blinding flash of lightning and a ripping crash of thunder fairly lifted him from his feet.
“Oh!” he gasped, and staggered to a tree for support. “My, but that was close!”
It was not until a moment later that he realized what had occurred. The lightning had struck the cottage, ripping off a corner of the roof and descending into the room below. The structure was now a mass of flames.
“The cottage is on fire!” murmured the youth. “Wonder if the Baxters have been struck?”
The wind quickly drove the fire in all directions until the cottage was in flames almost from end to end.
Staggering from the effects of the shock, Dick drew closer to the building and then tried the door, to find it locked.
“Help!” came faintly, in Arnold Baxter’s voice. “Help!”
“Open the door,” returned Dick, forgetting that it was an enemy who was calling for assistance.
“I—I cannot. I—I am helpless!”
Again Dick tried the door, but without success. Then he leaped for the window. Some of the glass was broken, and with his naked fist he drove in the whole sash, and tore down the flapping curtain.
The sight which met his gaze filled him with horror. The room was on fire in several places and in a corner, near the chimney piece, rested Arnold Baxter, pinned down by a section of brick and stonework that had fallen. He had been hit in the head, and from the wound the blood was flowing.
“Rover, is that you?” he cried faintly. “Don’t desert me!”
Without replying, Dick began to crawl in through the broken window. The air was filled with smoke and he could scarcely see what he was doing. The sparks, too, were flying in all directions and only the wetness of his garments kept them from catching fire.
He was soon at Arnold Baxter’s side, and with his one free hand hurled the bricks and stones in all directions. As he worked the fire kept coming closer, until his face was fairly blistered by the conflagration.
At last the man was free. But he could not raise himself up, and when Dick did it Arnold Baxter fell a limp form in his arm. He had fainted.
Mustering up all the strength that remained to him, Dick dragged the unconscious man to the door. There was a bar to be flung aside and then Dick threw the barrier wide open. It was none too soon, for now the fire was swirling in all directions. Staggering beneath his burden the youth hurried into the open and then fell flat, with Arnold Baxter beside him.
“What a close call!” murmured Dick, when he was able to rise. He felt weak in the knees, and his hands and face smarted from the blistering received. He looked at Arnold Baxter. The man had not yet recovered and looked to be more dead than alive.
Dick remembered having crossed a brook but a short distance away, and to this he went and bathed his burns and brought some water back for Arnold Baxter. His other hand had now become free, so he could work to much better advantage.
“He has been seriously hurt, that is certain,” thought the youth. “Perhaps he breathed in some of the flames. If he did that he may never get over it.”
Left to itself the cottage burnt to the ground and then the falling rain put out the hissing embers. In the meantime Dick did what he could to restore Arnold Baxter to consciousness, and at last had the satisfaction of seeing the man open his eyes.
“Oh!” murmured the man. “The fire—”
“You are out of it,” answered Dick soothingly.
“Did you—did you haul me out?”
“Yes.”
“It was good of you to do it, Rover,” said Arnold Baxter, and then he fainted once more.
CHAPTER XXX
TURNING A NEW LEAF—CONCLUSION
The night was a long one for Dick Rover and he was glad when the storm cleared away and the first streaks of dawn began to show themselves in the eastern sky.
Arnold Baxter had recovered consciousness, but was evidently in great pain, for he moaned almost constantly. Dick was willing to aid the sufferer, yet could do little or nothing.
“Tell me the way to our camp and I will get help,” said Dick at last. And Arnold Baxter gave him the directions as best he could.
“I must have a doctor,” whispered the man hoarsely. “If not, I’ll surely die. And I don’t want to die yet, Rover!”
As well as he was able, Dick set off for the lake shore and then began to move in the direction of Bass Island.
He had not gone very far when he heard somebody calling his name.
“Rover! Dick Rover!” was the cry. “Dick Rover!”
“It must be a searching party,” he thought, and he was right. The party contained Tom and Sam, and Mr. Strong, and they said that two other parties were out, one headed by Captain Putnam and the other by an assistant.
“Where in the world have you been?” asked Tom. “We have been scared almost to death over your absence.”
“It’s a long story,” answered Dick. “What I want just now is a doctor and a lot of salve. Just look at me, will you?”
“Blisters!” ejaculated Sam. “Where did you get those?”
“In a fire that nearly burnt Arnold Baxter to death. I want the doctor for him.”
And then Dick had to tell the particulars of how he had run across the cottage in the woods and of what had followed.
“And Dan Baxter is here!” ejaculated Tom. “It doesn’t seem possible.”
“He ought to be locked up,” put in Sam.
It was decided by Mr. Strong that Arnold Baxter should be removed to the camp on a stretcher, and four boys, including Sam and Tom, volunteered for the service. In the meantime Dick went to camp, to attend to his hurts, and a cadet was sent to Oakville for a doctor.
“Hullo, here comes Rover!” whispered Lew Flapp to Pender, as Dick appeared. “Wonder what sort of a story he will have to tell?”
“One thing is certain, we made a mess of our plans,” muttered Pender.
“Perhaps Rover won’t give us away,” put in Rockley hopefully.
On returning to camp word had been sent to Captain Putnam that Dick Rover was at the den in a condition not fit to be seen.
Mr. Strong and another teacher had gone to the place mentioned in the anonymous communication only to find the den empty.
A general alarm was sent out, and the search for the missing captain of Company A was begun as recorded. Captain Putnam also began to investigate on his private account, with results that were as surprising as they were dismaying. He learned the several cadets had left camp early in the night and among them Ben Hurdy, Lew Flapp, Pender, and Jackson. Without delay he summoned Ben Hurdy to his private tent and made the young cadet undergo a strict cross-examination.
At first Hurdy would not talk, but soon he became frightened and broke down utterly. He told of the plot against Dick, and of how Flapp and the others had carried it out.
“I didn’t want to go into it,” he whined. “But Flapp said he would thrash me if I didn’t do my share. They wanted to get square with Captain Rover because he had won at the athletic contests and at the drill.”
“I see,” said Captain Putnam grimly, and then he ordered Ben Hurdy to keep absolutely silent until called on to speak. “If you say a word now I’ll dismiss you at once,” he concluded.
When Dick arrived Captain Putnam saw to it that his blisters were dressed with care, and then he asked the eldest Rover to tell his whole story.
“I do not know as I can do that, Captain Putnam,” said the young captain, blushing. “I don’t care to become a
tale-bearer.”
“Did you leave camp of your own free will, Rover?”
“I did not, sir.”
“You were carried away to be hazed, then?”
“Yes, sir; but I would prefer not to speak of that part of my adventures.”
“Those who carried you off drugged you.”
“How do you know that?” asked Dick, in surprise.
“Never mind that now, Rover. Did they drug you or not?”
“No, sir.”
“What!”
“They tried to drug me, but I threw the liquor over my shoulder when they weren’t looking.”
“Oh, I see,” and Captain Putnam smiled. “They tried to trick you and you ended by tricking them, is that it?”
“That’s about the size of it, sir. They thought I was in a stupor when they left me, but as soon as they were gone I began to shift for myself. But I don’t understand how you know about this, Captain Putnam.”
“One of the party to this outrage has confessed, so I know all about it, Rover. The leader, I believe, was Lew Flapp, and his main supporters were Pender, Rockley, and Jackson.”
To this Dick did not say a word.
“I know you would speak if I were accusing anybody wrongly, Rover. In one way I can appreciate your silence. But this affair was carried too far. It was not an ordinary hazing. The plot was one to blast your honest name and bring you into disgrace. Such things cannot be permitted at any school of which I am the head. I will hear the rest of your strange tale.”
In as few words as possible Dick told how he had wandered around until he had reached the cottage, and what had happened afterward.
“It was assuredly a remarkable adventure,” said Captain Putnam. “I thought I had about seen the last of Daniel Baxter.”
“Perhaps Dan Baxter will keep shady when he finds out what has happened.”
“Perhaps. And you think Arnold Baxter is in a bad way?”
“Yes, sir. He came pretty close to being burnt up.”
“We will do our best for him, and notify the authorities without delay.”
An hour later the disabled man was brought into camp and the doctor came to attend him.
Under the physician’s directions Arnold Baxter was made fairly comfortable in one of the tents of the camp.
“He is in a bad way,” said the doctor. “He will probably recover, but it will take weeks and perhaps months.”
Arnold Baxter asked for Dick and the eldest Rover went in to see him.
“I—I want to thank you for what you did, Rover,” said the criminal in a low voice. “It—it was noble, very noble. I shan’t forget it.”
“Mr. Baxter, why don’t you try to turn over a new leaf?” questioned Dick. “Haven’t you found out that it doesn’t pay to be bad?”
“Yes, I have found it out, and the lesson has been dearly bought,” said Arnold Baxter with a sigh. “In the future I shall try to—to do better. Here, I want you to give these to your father, and tell him I—I am sorry that I visited your house some time ago,” went on the disabled man.
He gave Dick an envelope containing some pawn tickets which called for the things stolen from the Rover homestead, and also a pocketbook with some money in it.
“That is all I have left of the cash,” he said. “I’m sorry I haven’t every cent of it. Tell him he can do as he pleases about me. I deserve no pity.”
“I think he’d like to see you turn over a new leaf, too. He hates to see people on the downward path, Mr. Baxter.”
“You are a good boy, Dick Rover. I am sorry that my son Dan isn’t like you. Has he been caught yet?”
“I believe not.”
“If he is caught, let me know,” concluded Arnold Baxter, and there the talk ended.
“I imagine he really intends to turn over a new leaf,” said Dick to Tom and Sam, a little later.
“Hope he does,” replied Tom.
“So do I,” added Sam.
Let me add a few words more and then bring this story of life in camp to a conclusion.
On the day following Dick’s return to camp Captain Putnam summoned Lew Flapp, Pender, Rockley, and Jackson before him.
“I presume you know why I have sent for you,” said the captain briefly. “Since the disappearance of Captain Rover I have been making an investigation. Rover himself would not talk, but others have spoken, and Rover has not denied the truth. All of you have been guilty of such serious misconduct that to overlook it would be almost criminal on my part.”
“What have I done?” asked Lew Flapp brazenly.
“You have earned your dismissal from Putnam Hall, Flapp, and you leave this camp as soon as arrangements can be made.”
“Going to fire me out, eh?”
“You are dismissed. I will not allow such a boy as you to mingle longer with the rest of my pupils.”
“What are you going to do with the others? I wasn’t to blame alone.”
“Pender, Rockley, and Jackson shall go, too. The others, including Hurdy, shall have another chance, for I believe they were dragged into the affair unwillingly by you and your particular cronies.”
“If we have got to go, don’t let’s listen to any more gas,” growled Rockley, and stalked away with a very white face, followed by Flapp. Pender and Jackson pleaded for another chance, but Captain Putnam would not listen, and in the end the evil-minded cadets had to leave the school, never to return.
“Putnam Hall is well rid of that crowd,” said Songbird Powell, and the majority of the students agreed with him.
Munro Staton, the local constable, was much chagrined to think that he had not had a hand in finding Arnold Baxter, and he at once set out to locate Dan. But Dan Baxter knew enough to leave the vicinity, and that was the last heard of him for some time.
Through the pawn tickets given to Dick, Mr. Anderson Rover recovered the spoons, napkin rings and other things taken from the homestead by Arnold Baxter. Mr. Rover visited Baxter before the latter was returned to the hospital from which he had escaped.
“I believe the man really intends to reform,” said Anderson Rover afterwards. “But he is in a bad condition physically and may die before his term of imprisonment is at an end.”
“I hope he lives,” said Sam. “I’d like to see him lead an upright, honest life.”
“I don’t think we’ll be bothered much with Dan Baxter after this,” said Tom, but he was mistaken, Dan Baxter bothered them a great deal, and so did Lew Flapp, and how will be told in the next volume of this series, to be entitled, “The Rover Boys on the River; Or, The Search for the Missing Houseboat,” in which we shall meet our old friends in a series of adventures as interesting as those already related.
As was the custom at Putnam Hall the encampment came to an end on the Fourth of July. This was a gala day for the cadets and they were allowed to invite both friends and relatives to the affair.
The Rover boys had the Statons over and also had their father and their Uncle Randolph and Aunt Martha participate.
“Never saw such a time in my life!” declared Aunt Martha. “Music and marching, and such fireworks! And such a spread out under the trees! No wonder our boys like to go to Putnam Hall.”
“It’s a good place for them,” came from the father of the boys. “It is making good men of them.”
After the fireworks big bonfires were lit, and the cadets were allowed to do pretty much as they pleased. As they gathered around the largest of the fires all joined hands in a big circle, and it was Tom who started the Putnam Hall cheer:
“Zip, boom, bang! Ding, dong! Ding, dong!
Boom, bang, bang! Hurrah for Putnam Hall!”
“Hurrah! hurrah! hurrah!” came from all sides; and here let us say good-by.
THE ROVER BOYS ON THE RIVER
CHAPTER I
PLANS FO
R AN OUTING
“Whoop! hurrah! Zip, boom, ah! Rockets!”
“For gracious’ sake, Tom, what’s all the racket about? I thought we had all the noise we wanted last night, when we broke up camp.”
“It’s news, Dick, glorious news,” returned Tom Rover, and he began to dance a jig on the tent flooring. “It’s the best ever.”
“It won’t be glorious news if you bring this tent down on our heads,” answered Dick Rover. “Have you discovered a gold mine?”
“Better than that, Dick. I’ve discovered what we are going to do with ourselves this summer.”
“I thought we were going back to the farm, to rest up, now that the term at Putnam Hall is at an end.”
“Pooh! Who wants to rest? I’ve rested all I wish right in this encampment.”
“Well, what’s the plan? Don’t keep us in ‘suspenders,’ as Hans Mueller would say.”
“Dear old Hansy! That Dutch boy is my heart’s own!” cried Tom, enthusiastically. “I could not live without him. He must go along.”
“Go along where?”
“On our outing this summer?”
“But where do you propose to go to, Tom?”
“For a trip on the broad and glorious Ohio River.”
“Eh?”
“That’s it, Dick. We are to sail the briny deep of that river in a houseboat. Now, what do you think of that?”
“I’d like to know what put that into your head, Tom,” came from the tent opening, and Sam Rover, the youngest of the three brothers, stepped into view.
“Uncle Randolph put it into my head, not over half an hour ago, Sam. It’s this way: You’ve heard of John V. Black of Jackville?”
“The man that owed Uncle Randolph some money?”
“Exactly. Well, Black is a bankrupt, or next door to it. He couldn’t pay Uncle Randolph what was coming to him, so he turned over a houseboat instead. She’s a beauty, so I am told, and she is called the Dora—”
“After Dora Stanhope, of course,” interrupted the youngest Rover, with a quizzical look at his big brother Dick.
“Now look here, don’t you start in like that, Sam,” came quickly from Dick, with a blush, for the girl mentioned was his dearest friend and had been for some years. “Tell us about this houseboat, Tom,” he went on.
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