The girls had brought a tablecloth with them to spread on the ground, and the entire lunch was placed in this and then wrapped in a newspaper and placed on a flat rock.
“I wonder if the squirrels will bother the lunch?” questioned Fred. They had noted several of the frisky little animals flitting from tree to tree as they walked along.
“The squirrels want nuts. I don’t think they care for mustard sandwiches and onion cake,” cried Andy. “Gee! but it feels good to be out here,” he went on, and, leaping up, he grasped the limb of a low-growing tree and went through the performance generally known as “skinning the cat.”
“Oh, Andy, do be careful!” called out his cousin Mary. “First thing you know you’ll twist your arms off.”
“Oh, I do this every morning before I wake up,” answered the fun-loving Rover cheerfully.
“I’ll get him down!” cried Randy, and, taking up a handful of dead leaves, he threw them at his twin. Andy promptly gave a swing, let go of the tree, and landed on his brother’s shoulders, and both went down to the ground, there to roll over and over, kicking the dead leaves in all directions.
“Hi, you!” cried Jack sternly. “What sort of a ladies’ exhibition is this! Get up there before I yank you up!”
“You’ll have those beautiful suits ruined,” came from Annie Larkins.
The search for the rare ferns then began in earnest, and this led them through the woods and around a great number of sharp rocks and a considerable distance away from where the things to eat had been left.
“Here is one,” called Ruth presently, and pointed it out.
The girls had brought trowels with them, and now Jack lost no time in digging up the fern and placing it in the corner of one of the boxes. Several other plants were located nearby, and all the boys and girls were soon busy. Some of the ferns were quite small, but others were of good size, and all showed up well when grouped together.
“We have a little fernery at home,” explained Ruth. “Last winter the plants did not do so well, and these will therefore come in very nicely. I’m sure my folks will be pleased to see them.”
“I suppose Uncle Barney is now living with you, Ruth,” said Jack.
“Oh, yes. And he is very thankful for all you Rovers did for him that Winter,” answered the girl, referring to the happenings which have been related in detail in “The Rover Boys on Snowshoe Island.”
“Here is a different kind of fern,” announced Martha, a minute later.
“Let me get it for you!” cried Gif, pressing forward to assist her.
“It’s right down there between those big rocks, Gif. Be careful that you don’t push one of the stones over on your fingers.”
“Don’t ruin the whole island getting up one fern, Gif!” exclaimed Andy, as the athletic student pushed away a couple of rocks which prevented his getting at the fern.
There was another rock in the way—one that rested partly over the roots of the fern, which looked like an unusually healthy plant. Gif tugged at this rock and Fred bent forward to assist him. Then, all of a sudden, the rock came out from the split in which it lay, and both cadets slipped and fell on their backs.
“Oh, do be careful! You’ll have one of those rocks on your toes, sure!” cried Ruth.
She had scarcely spoken when there came a scream from May Powell and Alice Strobell.
“A snake! A snake!”
“He’s coming for us!”
“Run! Run, everybody, before the snake bites you!”
Such were some of the cries that rent the air as all of the young people fell back.
A black snake at least three feet long had suddenly appeared from a hollow under the last rock to be dislodged, and this was quickly followed by a second snake equally large.
“Hit ‘em, boys! Hit ‘em!” exclaimed Jack, as soon as he had recovered from his surprise, and as he spoke he caught up a stone and flung it at the nearest snake.
The action of the oldest Rover boy was quickly seconded by the other cadets, and a dozen or more stones were hurled at the two snakes. One of the reptiles was quickly killed, but the second received only a bruise on its tail, and it switched around angrily and then made a dash toward the fleeing and screaming girls.
“Gee! if we only had a pistol or a gun!” exclaimed Randy.
The snake still left alive was but a few feet from Martha and Ruth when Jack and Spouter hurled two more stones. Each of these reached its mark, and with its back crushed the reptile whipped around on the rocks for a moment more and then lay still.
“Oh, dear! is it dead?” questioned Martha, and her voice trembled a little as she spoke.
“Dead as a doormat,” announced her brother, after a hasty examination. Then he took a stick and, placing it under the reptile, threw the remains from the rocks into the lake. Fred and Andy speedily disposed of the other reptile in the same way.
“Maybe there are more snakes around here!” cried Alice Strobell nervously.
“If there are, I’m sure I don’t want to stay here any longer,” added Annie Larkins.
“Who would dream of digging up snakes on this island?” murmured Martha. “Oh, it takes away all the fun of gathering ferns.”
“Nevertheless, I am going to get that fern for you,” announced Gif.
“But, Gif, there may be more snakes around that hole.”
“Well, I’ll take a chance. I don’t think they are very dangerous, anyhow,” answered the athletic cadet.
“Be on your guard, Gif,” warned Jack, and then armed himself with several stones, and the other cadets did the same.
Gif approached the spot with caution and began to dig up the fern Martha had wanted. The other boys came quite close, but the girls kept their distance. No other snakes appeared, and soon Gif had the fern, which he took pleasure in presenting to Jack’s sister.
“Thank you, Gif,” she said politely. “It certainly is a beautiful fern, and I’ll do my best to preserve it. But I think every time I look at it I’ll remember those snakes.”
“Oh, you mustn’t mind anything like that, Martha. Why, we’ve met dozens of little snakes on our tours. I don’t believe they’d hurt you.”
“Maybe not, Gif; but they’re such awful crawly things!”
“I’m afraid I’d die if a snake touched me,” added Alice Strobell, with a shudder.
For a while the snake episode put a damper on the outing. But the boys did their best to make the girls forget it, and after a while all were hunting as diligently as before for ferns. They found a varied collection, and took delight in filling the shoeboxes with the plants, filling in the tops of the boxes with moss.
“Oh, my! Half-past three already!” declared Ruth presently, as she consulted her pretty little wrist-watch.
“As late as that?” returned Martha.
“Perhaps we had better go back and have our lunch,” suggested Mary.
All were willing, for climbing around the rocks had made the young folks hungry. Mary and Spouter led the way back, with the others straggling behind.
“What are you going to do this summer, Jack?” questioned Ruth on the way.
“We haven’t made any plans yet, Ruth. I want to see my father first of all.”
“I don’t blame you for that. You must be glad to think he is coming back safe and sound. And just to think that he won a medal! Isn’t it perfectly wonderful!” and her eyes beamed with pleasure.
“It sure is! Oh, my dad’s a wonderful man—the best in the world!” answered the young captain enthusiastically. And then he added: “Have your folks decided to go down on the Jersey shore?”
“It’s about settled. I’ll know for sure when I get home next week.”
“You mustn’t forget to write, Ruth.”
“And how about yourself?”
“Oh, you’ll hear from me, don’t
worry about that,” answered Jack quickly.
“If you go up to Valley Brook Farm this summer——” began Ruth, when a sudden cry ahead made her pause. “What was that, Jack?” she asked quickly.
“I don’t know, but I guess something has gone wrong.”
“Maybe the squirrels or a fox or some other wild animal got at the lunch.”
“Phew! that would be too bad! Come on and see what is wrong.”
The pair had fallen behind the others, and now they ran forward through the woods and around the rocks as rapidly as they could. As they did this there came a call from Andy:
“Hi, there, Jack! Where are you? Look out for Gabe Werner and Bill Glutts! Don’t let them get away!”
“Werner and Glutts!” repeated the young captain. “What brought them to this island?”
“Catch them! Catch them!” came in a scream from Martha. “They are making off with all our lunch!”
“Drop that stuff, Werner!” Jack heard Randy call out.
“Come on after them, everybody!” yelled Gif. “They sha’n’t get away with those good things—not if I know it!”
There was a rush through the trees, and the calls and cries increased. The girls did not take part in the chase, feeling that the two former bullies of Colby Hall might do them harm.
“Oh, dear, Jack! do you really think that they made off with all that lunch?” sighed Ruth.
“Sounds like it,” he answered. “I wonder where they are?” He ran around some high rocks which cut off a view of what was beyond, and then leaped over some low bushes. Not to be left alone in the woods, Ruth followed close at his heels.
The next instant Jack saw Bill Glutts running in one direction and Gabe Werner legging it in another. Bill Glutts carried the tablecloth with a good portion of the things to eat still in it, while Gabe Werner held the newspaper with the remaining things.
“Stop!” ordered Jack, and then, as he saw Gif and Randy chase Glutts, he made a wild dash after Gabe Werner.
CHAPTER XIII
WERNER’S ATTACK
“Hold on, Bill Glutts!” cried Randy, as he ran after the youth whom he had not seen since the Winter before.
“You leave me alone!” returned Glutts, and then, in order to run faster, he dropped the bundle he was carrying.
“Don’t let him get away!” burst out Fred, and made a wild dash over some low bushes in Glutts’s direction. In a moment more he had caught Glutts by the arm.
“Let go of me!” screamed the former cadet, and in alarm he tried to push Fred away. But the youngest Rover boy clung fast, and then Glutts aimed a blow with his fist at Fred’s face.
Had the blow landed as intended, it would have hurt severely; but the youngest Rover ducked, and then hit Glutts a stinging blow on the chin.
By this time Randy and Gif were coming up, and almost before he knew it Bill Glutts was surrounded. Gif caught the former bully of the Hall by the shoulder.
“This is a nice way to act, Glutts,” he said sternly. “What business had you to touch our lunch?”
“How did I know it belonged to you?” whined Glutts, much crestfallen over the sudden turn affairs had taken. “We found the stuff on the rocks.”
“You can’t play the innocent that way,” broke in Randy. “You and Gabe Werner must have followed us to this island. Gee!” he added quickly, “where is Werner?”
“Jack went after him,” answered Fred; “and so did Andy and Spouter.”
“We didn’t follow you at all,” answered Bill Glutts. “We have as much right on this island as anybody. We ran across that lunch by accident. We didn’t know that anybody was coming back to get it,” he added lamely.
In the meanwhile Jack was hurrying after Gabe Werner, and, strange as it may seem, Ruth followed close behind him, at the same time calling to the others for help. She remembered the anonymous note which had been delivered, and she was afraid that Gabe Werner might try to do the young captain serious injury.
Gabe Werner was legging it among the trees. He was trying to reach the shore of Bluebell Island, but became confused among the rocks and bushes and presently had to swing around in something of a semicircle, and this soon brought him face to face with Ruth.
“Oh!” cried the girl, in increased alarm. “Don’t you dare touch me, Gabe Werner! Don’t you dare!”
“Get out of my way!” roared the bully, and then, as he heard Jack crashing through the brushwood directly behind him, he brushed Ruth rudely to one side.
“Jack! Jack! Here he is!” the girl screamed.
The young captain did not need to be told this, for he saw Gabe Werner just ahead of him. He made a flying leap forward, and was barely able to catch Werner by the tail of his coat.
“You can’t get away! You might as well give it up,” he said, and as the bully kicked out savagely, he caught Werner by the foot and sent him headlong.
“Oh, Jack! Jack! Do be careful!” cried Ruth in increasing alarm, and then she set up a call for assistance.
“I’m not afraid of Gabe Werner, and he knows it,” answered the young captain.
“I’ll fix you for this!” roared Werner. “I owe you a lot for the way you’ve been treating me.” And with these words he scrambled to his feet and aimed a blow at Jack’s face.
The young captain moved to one side so that the blow struck him on the shoulder. He came back quickly with one on Werner’s right ear, and followed this up with another on the bully’s nose, which made that organ bleed profusely.
By this time there was more noise in the under-brush, and Andy and Spouter could be heard calling.
“This way! This way!” answered Ruth.
While she was calling, and while Andy and Spouter were doing their best to brush aside some thorny bushes which held them back, the struggle between Jack and Werner continued. The bully landed on Jack’s shoulder again and then on his chest, and in return received a crack on the chin which all but keeled him over.
“I said I’d get you, Jack Rover, and I will!” spluttered Werner, after this last attack. And then, as Jack made a move as if to strike him again, the bully stepped around to one side, bringing himself once more close to Ruth. His right hand had gone down into his coat pocket, and now he brought out something in a small paper bag.
“I said I’d fix you, and this is how I’m going to do it! Look there, if you dare!” called out Werner, and pointed to a tree limb just over their heads.
Fearing some trick, Jack gave only the faintest of glances upward, but Ruth, more innocent, gazed wide-eyed at the limb pointed out. As he spoke, Werner broke open the paper bag and hurled its contents forward.
“There! Take that, Jack Rover!” he shouted triumphantly. “Take that, and see how you like it!”
It was a package of pepper which Gabe Werner had carried. As it was thrown forward a small portion of it went in Jack’s face, but the most of it was sent in a spray over the young captain’s shoulder and hit poor Ruth.
“Oh! Oh!” screamed the girl. “Oh, I am blinded! He threw pepper in my eyes!”
“You hound, you!” exclaimed Jack, and even though his eyes smarted not a little from the few grains of pepper that had entered, he managed to leap upon the bully and give him a swinging crack in the jaw. But then Werner threw the young captain backward over a rock, and just as Andy and Spouter put in an appearance he dodged in among some heavy brushwood and quickly disappeared.
“What did he do?” demanded Spouter.
“He threw something in our eyes. Ruth got the worst of it,” answered Jack. “Go on after him; we’ll have to attend to our eyes.”
Jack’s eyes were bad enough, but Ruth’s were much worse. The girl could hardly keep from screaming with pain, and Jack was just then in no condition to assist her. Seeing this, Andy and Spouter set up a yell for some of the others to go after Werner, and then did what t
hey could to relieve the sufferers.
“Come on down to the lake,” advised Spouter. “I guess water will be about the best thing you can use. Anyhow, you can wash out the pepper if there is any left.”
Both cadets assisted Ruth to the water’s edge, and Jack stumbled after them. Here the eyes, which had already begun to inflame, were washed out carefully, and then, as Ruth continued to complain of the pain, they bound up her eyes with their handkerchiefs.
“I think mine will be all right after a while,” said Jack. “They smart a little, but that’s all.”
“Don’t you think Ruth had better see a doctor?” suggested Spouter.
“By all means. We’ll get back to town just as soon as we possibly can. He can probably give her some sort of ointment that will relieve the pain and take away the inflammation.”
By this time the others were coming up. The news that Ruth had received a dose of pepper in her eyes excited everybody.
“Gabe Werner ought to be put in jail for this,” said Martha.
“Isn’t it the most dreadful thing you ever heard of!” came from May.
The excitement was so intense that for the time being the boys forgot all about Bill Glutts. As a consequence when they turned to where they had left that unworthy, Glutts had disappeared.
“Well, he got a good beating, anyhow,” said Randy. “I think that will teach him to leave our stuff alone after this.”
At first some of the boys were inclined to make another hunt for Werner and Glutts. They knew the bullies must have come to the island in some kind of a boat.
“If we can find their boat we can take it with us,” said Spouter. “Then they can either stay on the island or try to swim ashore.”
“We can’t waste any more time,” declared Jack. “We must get Ruth to a doctor. And I’d like to see a doctor myself. My eyes feel terribly scratchy.”
“Yes, yes! I want to see a doctor at once,” said Ruth. “My eyes hurt dreadfully.”
Some of the boys gathered up what was left of the lunch, and all made their way to the water’s edge, where the rowboats had been left. As they did this they heard the sudden put-put of a motor-boat, and a few seconds later they saw the craft shoot out of a tiny cove at the upper end of the island and head for the eastern shore of Clearwater Lake.
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