“I don’t believe it is necessary,” answered Tom. “Nobody will disturb us up there.”
The fire was allowed to die down, so that it might not set fire to any surrounding objects, and one after another the boys turned in. Hans was soon snoring, and presently Fred, Dick and Sam dropped asleep. For some reason Tom could not compose himself, and he turned restlessly from side to side.
“Guess I must have eaten too hearty a supper,” he murmured to himself. But at last he dozed off, to dream of college and a rousing game on the baseball field.
Dick slept for about an hour. Then, of a sudden, he awoke with a start. He felt a pain in his ankle.
“Wonder what’s the matter?” he murmured and sat up. As he did so a weird groan reached his ears. He listened intently, and soon the groan was repeated.
“Hi! what’s that?” he asked aloud. But no answer came to his question. Then came another groan, and now thoroughly alarmed, Dick leaped to his feet in the darkness.
CHAPTER XIV
THE HAPPENINGS OF A NIGHT
“What’s the matter?”
It was Sam who asked the question. Dick’s question had aroused him.
“That is what I want to know.”
“What woke you up?”
“I felt something on my ankle—and then I heard several groans.”
“Vos somepody call me?” asked Hans, sleepily. “It can’t pe morning yet, it’s too dark.”
“We didn’t call you, Hans.”
“Hello, what is it?” And now Fred roused up. “What is going on?”
“We don’t know,” answered Sam, who had been sleeping behind him. “We are trying to find out.”
Dick had gone to a post of the tent. Here a box of matches had been placed in a holder and he took one out, struck it, and held it up.
“Why, Tom is gone!” he cried, seeing that the place his brother had occupied was vacant.
“So he is!” murmured Sam. He raised his voice: “Tom! Tom! where are you?”
There was no reply to this call, and all in the tent gazed at each other questioningly. Then the match went out, leaving them in darkness as before.
“I don’t like this,” muttered Dick, and he made his way outside, followed by the others. Fred had loaded a shotgun and he caught up the piece. Hans walked to the smouldering fire and threw on some dry brushwood which soon caused a glare.
All looked around the tent, but failed to catch sight of Tom. Then they hurried to the edge of the lake, but nobody was there.
“Tom! I say Tom!” yelled Sam. “Where are you?”
All listened, but no reply came back. But they heard a curious noise at a distance up the lake shore.
“Maybe he is in trouble!” cried Dick. “Spread out and look for him!”
One of the boys ran up the shore and one down, and Fred and Hans walked towards the woods, the former carrying the shotgun.
“Do you dink a—a bear cotched him?” asked the German youth, in a tragic whisper.
“I don’t know what to think,” answered Fred.
Dick had gone up the shore, where the rocks were rather rough. As he came out on the point he heard a peculiar noise and then a yell.
“A home run! A home run!” reached his ears. “Everybody in the game!” And then, to his utter amazement, Tom appeared, running in a queer fashion. He was headed directly for the lake.
“He’s asleep! He’s got a nightmare!” thought Dick, and as Tom attempted to pass him he caught his brother by the arm.
“Let go—I want to reach home plate!” growled the sleepwalker, and tried to break away.
“Tom! Tom! wake up!” cried Dick, and retaining a firm grip on his brother’s arm he shook him vigorously.
“Oh!” groaned Tom at last. “I—what—stop shaking me!” he added, in confusion.
“Wake up, Tom! Wake up!”
“I—er—I am awake! What are you shaking me for?” demanded the fun-loving Rover. He could see no fun in the present proceedings.
“Tom, you’ve been walking in your sleep,” said Dick. He raised his voice. “This way, fellows; I’ve found him!”
“Where is he?” and Sam came running, followed by Fred and Hans.
“Have I—er—really been walking in my sleep?” asked Tom, sheepishly.
“Doesn’t this look like it?”
“Why, where am I?”
“Up the lake shore. We missed you and hurried out to find you. You were just going to run into the lake when I grabbed you.”
“Was he really walking in his sleep?” asked Sam.
“Yes, unless he was shamming,” answered his elder brother.
“I wasn’t shamming,” stammered poor Tom. “I—er—I was dreaming about a ball game, and I was—er—trying to make a home run! Say, this is punky, isn’t it?” he added, staring at the crowd, blankly.
“It’s a good thing Dick came up in time,” said Sam. “Supposing you had run into the lake.”
“Oh, I guess the bath would have woke him up,” said Dick. “But I am mighty glad I stopped him,” he added.
“You’re not more glad than I am,” said Tom. “I guess I ate too much supper. I couldn’t sleep at all at first.”
“I guess you had better chain yourself fast in the tent after this,” remarked Fred. “Dick, it was lucky you woke up.”
“Something pressed me on the ankle. It’s a little sore yet. I guess Tom stepped on it when he left the tent—but I didn’t wake up fast enough to catch him then.”
All walked back to the tent and sat down around the campfire to talk the matter over. But nothing new was learned and presently they retired again; and this time all slept soundly until morning.
“First in the lake for a morning plunge!” shouted Sam, as he rushed out. “Come on, everybody, it will wake you up!”
“I’m with you, Sam!” answered Fred, and side by side the pair ran down to the water and plunged in.
“Phew! as cold as Greenland!” spluttered Fred, as he came up.
“It’s only the first plunge,” answered the youngest Rover. “You’ll soon get used to it.”
The others followed, Hans being the last to go in. The German youth was on the point of backing out, as the water looked so cold, when Sam came up behind him and sent him in with a rush.
“Wow! wow!” spluttered Hans. “Say, maype dot ain’t cold, py chiminy! I vos dink I fell into an ice-house alretty!”
“Swim around and you’ll soon get warm,” was Dick’s advice.
The boys remained in the water less than ten minutes and then lost no time in dressing. Then came a hot breakfast, to which all paid every attention.
It had been decided that they should spend the day in fishing and in resting up, so they took it easy. Some went out in the boat and took a short sail, for a fair breeze was blowing.
“This puts me in mind of the times we used to camp out with the Putnam Hall cadets,” remarked Tom. “Only there used to be more of a crowd.”
For dinner they had more fish, and also some beans which had been brought along. They also made a pot of chocolate—something that suited Hans especially—and the cookies were not forgotten.
Two days passed, and the boys enjoyed every minute of the time. They took a tramp through the woods back of the camp and found a blackberry patch where the luscious fruit was growing in profusion.
“We’ll take all we can carry back to camp with us!” cried Sam, and this was done, and then the youngest Rover took it upon his shoulders to make a huckleberry roly-poly pudding, “just like Aunt Martha’s.” Perhaps the pudding was not as good as those turned out by Mrs. Rover, but it was good enough, and the boys ate it to the last scrap. Then Fred tried his hand one morning at flapjacks and these they also ate with a relish.
“I dink I makes you some Cherman coffee cake alretty,
” said Hans, on the day following, and in the afternoon he set to work. Soon he had several kettles, pans and pails filled with flour and water and other things. His hands were full of a pasty mess, and he had some of the stuff on his nose.
“How are you getting on?” asked Dick, when he saw the German youth stop and stare around in perplexity.
“I dink I need anudder dish,” said Hans, slowly.
“Great Scott, Hans! You now have about all in the camp.”
“Is dot so! Vell, I must but dis stuff someveres, ain’t it?” And Hans proceeded to dump the mass in one bowl with that in another. The other lads watched him work with keen interest.
“Want more sugar, Hans?” asked Sam.
“How about salt?” questioned Fred.
“Maybe you want a little more flour?” came from Dick.
“Want to flavor it with peppermint?” asked Tom. “I saw a lot of the stuff growing back of the spring.”
“You chust leave me alone!” cried Hans. “Ton’t you podder me, oder I makes some mistake.”
“I guess he has made several mistakes already,” whispered Dick to Fred, as they turned away.
“Shouldn’t wonder. But wait and see what he turns out.”
They all waited and watched Hans from a distance. The poor German youth worked hard for two hours, baking his stuff over the roaring fire. His face was flushed and he looked far from happy. At last he declared that his coffee cake must be done.
“It certainly looks like coffee,” said Tom, as he gazed at the mass, which was shaped like a flower pot and was the color of roasted coffee beans.
“All right, Hans, cut it up and let us try it!” cried Fred, cheerfully.
“Dick, you cut him up,” answered Hans, rather faintly.
Dick took the carving knife and set to work. The knife went into the “cake” with ease, but there it stuck.
“What’s the matter, Dick?” asked Sam.
“I don’t know—the knife is stuck.”
“Better let me cut it.”
“Go ahead and try your luck, Sam.”
The youngest Rover came around and took hold of the knife. He tried to draw the blade free but merely succeeded in raising the “cake” into the air.
“Hello, it sticketh closer than a brother!” exclaimed Tom. “Hans, did you put a porous plaster in that cake?”
“Not much I tidn’t!” snapped the German lad. “Here, you gif me dot cake! I cut him ub for you, so quick like neffer vas!”
Very valiantly Hans took the “cake” and the knife and set to work. He had no more success than had Dick and Sam. Finally, in a rage, he lifted knife and “cake” on high and brought them down on a stone with a bang. The “cake” bounced back like a rubber ball and all but struck him in the face.
“Hello, Hans has been manufacturing a football!” cried Tom.
“Vot’s der madder mit dot ennahow!” roared the German youth. “I make him chust like mine mudder make him in der old country.”
“Hans, did you make the coffee cake with glue?” asked Dick.
“I ton’t know how I make him!” groaned poor Hans. “I got me all mixed up, mit eferybody around me! Say, can’t you vos got dot knife owid somehow?” he questioned anxiously.
“I’ll try a new way,” said Dick, and placed the “cake” under his feet. Then he drew on the knife, and it came up between his feet with a sucking sound.
“I guess you can sell that coffee cake for rubber,” said Sam.
“Don’t you want a slice, Sam?” asked Tom.
“Not today, thank you.”
“I dink I drow him into der vater!” cried Hans, and picked up the glue-like mass. Then he ran down to the lake front and balanced it on one of his hands. He gave a throw, but the “cake” did not land in the water as he had intended. Instead it remained stuck to his fingers.
“Can’t get rid of it so easily!” cried Dick. “Be careful, Hans, or that cake will be the death of you!”
“Du meine zeit!” groaned the German youth, and then he pulled at the mass until he had it free from his fingers. Then he gave it a kick with his foot, and it went into the lake with a splash.
And that was the first and last time Hans tried to make German coffee cake.
CHAPTER XV
STRANGE NEWS
Several days passed and during that time the lads amused themselves hugely, hunting, fishing, swimming and knocking around generally. Once they had a snake scare. The reptile got in the tent and held possession for nearly an hour, when Dick dislodged it with a stick and Sam ended its life with a stone.
“Say, I ton’t like dot!” cried Hans, when the excitement was at an end.
“I don’t believe any of us do,” answered Dick, dryly.
“I’ll be almost afraid to sleep in the tent tonight,” added Fred, with a shiver.
“Oh, I guess there was only one snake,” said Sam. “But we can look around for more.” Which they did, in as thorough a manner as possible. But no more reptiles were brought to light.
On Saturday it rained and the rain kept up all day Sunday. This was not so nice, and the boys remained under shelter most of the time.
“I guess I am a fair-weather camper,” observed Fred. “I don’t like this a bit.”
“Oh, let’s have a song!” cried Tom. “And then each fellow can tell a story.”
“And then we can play a little music,” added Sam. He had brought along a mouth harmonica, and Hans had a jews-harp.
Sunday evening it began to clear, and by midnight the stars were shining brightly.
“The weather will be all right by tomorrow,” said Dick, who had been out to look around.
“But the woods will be wet,” grumbled Fred.
“Never mind, let us go out in the boat. I’d like to explore the creek running in from the other shore.”
“That will suit me, Dick. Maybe we can get an extra lot of nice fish over there.”
All of the boys slept soundly and it was nearly eight o’clock when they commenced to get breakfast, and it was almost ten before they were ready to start in the sailboat for the other shore of the lake.
“Hello, here comes a boat!” exclaimed Dick, as he looked down Lake Nasco.
“Two men in it,” added Tom. “They seem to be in a hurry, too, by the way the fellow at the oars is rowing.”
“Why, it’s Jack Ness in the back of the boat!” exclaimed Sam, as the craft drew closer. “That is Pete Hawley rowing.”
“Jack must have a message,” came from Dick. “Wonder what it can be?”
“Hello, boys!” yelled the Rovers’ hired man, as soon as he was within hailing distance. “Got a very particular letter fer you!” And he waved the communication in the air.
“What is it, Jack?” demanded Dick, quickly.
“You jess read the letter, and you’ll find out as quick as I kin tell you,” answered the man.
“Anybody sick or hurt?” asked Sam.
“Nobuddy hurt—leas’wise not in body, an’ nobuddy sick nuther, in the ordinary way. But I reckon your friends from Cedarville is putty sick all the way through, when they think of their loss.”
Dick snatched the letter and glanced at it. It was in his father’s handwriting and bore only a few lines, as follows:
“Just received a telegram from Mrs. Stanhope, wanting to know if I had received her money, as asked for? Telegraphed back that I had not asked for money and had received none. Then she telegraphed that she had sent money to a certain place at my request. I don’t understand this at all. I fear something is wrong, and I am going to Cedarville without delay. Better come home and wait to hear from me.”
“Mrs. Stanhope’s money?” mused Dick, as he handed the letter to his brothers. “Can she mean the fortune from Treasure Isle?”
“More than likely,” answered
Tom. “Before we came away father told me she has said something about investing it through him. He was to let her know when he wanted the money.”
“But he says in this letter that he didn’t send for the money,” put in Sam.
“If the money had been obtained under false pretenses I guess it is Sobber’s work,” murmured Dick.
“More than likely,” returned Tom. “Oh, this is the worst yet—and just when we were getting ready to enjoy ourselves, too!”
“Well, we’ll have to go back, Tom. Father may need us.”
“Sure we’ll go back. I couldn’t stay here and enjoy myself while I knew that fortune was gone.”
“It’s too bad on you fellows,” said Dick, turning to Fred and Hans. “But you can see how it is.”
“Oh, that’s all right,” answered Fred quickly.
“I dink I got enough of camping owid annaway,” came from the German youth. “Maype of we stay here much longer von of dem snakes comes and eats us up alretty, ain’t it!”
“The telegrams came yesterday, but I waited until this morning to come here,” said Jack Ness. “Your father left for Cedarville on the first train today.”
“We’ll pack right up and get back,” answered Dick.
Although he tried not to show it, he was greatly excited. He was sure that the Stanhope fortune had in some manner fallen into the hands of Tad Sobber, and he wondered if that rascal would be able to get away with it.
“If he does it will be a sad blow to both the Stanhopes and the Lanings,” he said to his brothers. “They were planning to get much good out of that money.”
“It will be especially hard on the Lanings,” said Tom, soberly. “For they are not as wealthy as the Stanhopes.”
All of the boys worked with a will, and Jack Ness and the man who had rowed him to camp aided as much as they could. As a consequence in less than an hour the tent was down and packed, and the rest of the camping outfit placed aboard the sailboat. Then the journey for home was begun.
The wind was in their favor, so those in the little sailboat had to do little rowing, and they helped the other boat along. Arriving at the landing on Swift River, they found the farm wagon awaiting them and also a carriage with the best team of horses the Rover farm afforded.
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