Scanned by Sean Pobuda (jpobuda@adelphia.net)


THE ROVER BOYS OUT WEST

Or

The Search for a Lost Mine

By  Arthur M. Winfield





INTRODUCTION

My Dear Boys: This book, "The Rover Boys Out West," forms the
fourth volume of the "Rover Boys Series," a line of up-to-date
stories for Young Americans.  Like the other books of the series,
this tale's complete in itself.

In "The Rover Boys at School" we were introduced to Dick, Tom, and
Sam, and their amusing and thrilling adventures at Putnam Hall, a
military academy for boys situated in the heart of Now York State;
in "The Rover Boys on the Ocean" we followed our young heroes
during a most daring rescue; and in "The Rover Boys in the jungle"
we learn what true American courage can do, even in the heart of
the Dark Continent.

In the present tale our young herm are taken at first back to dear
old Putnam Hall, and then to the heart of the great mining district
of Colorado.

All trace of a valuable mine has been lost, and the boys start out
on a hunt for the property, little dreaming of the many perils
which await them on their quest.  How they overcome one obstacle
after another, and get the best of their various enemies, will be
found in the story itself.

The success of the first Rover Boys books has gratified me beyond
measure, and my one hope is that my numerous readers will find this
and future volumes of equal interest.

Affectionately and sincerely yours,

                ARTHUR M. WINFIELD.

June 20, 1900






CHAPTER I

RETURNING FROM A GREAT GAME



"Zip! Boom! Ah!"

"Hurrah for Putnam Hall!"

"Let her go, Peleg, lively now, and mind you don't upset us, or
we'll use you worse than we did the football."

"All right, young gents.  All in?  Hold fast, everybody, or I won't
be responsible, nohow, if you drop off.  Git along, Jack; up with
ye, Sally!"

And with a crack of the whip, a tooting of tin horns, and it mad
yelling and cheering from the students, the long Putnam Hall stage
left the football enclosure attached to the Pornell Academy grounds
and started along the lake road for Putnam Hall.

The stage was packed, inside and out, with as merry and
light-hearted a crowd of boys as could be found anywhere; and why
should they not be merry and light-hearted, seeing as they had just
won a great football match by a score of 16 to 8?  Tom Rover, who
was on the top of the stage, actually danced a jig for joy.

"That's the third time we have done them up, fellows!" he cried.
"My, but won't there be gloom around Pornell Academy to-night!  It
will be thick enough to cut with a knife."

"They were never in it from the start," piped up Sam Rover.  "And
they were all heavier than our team, too," he added, proudly.

"It was science, not weight, that won the match," said Frank
Harrington.

"Yes, it was science," broke in Larry Colby.  "And for that science
we have to thank Dick Rover.  Oh, but didn't that rush to the left
fool them nicely!"

Dick Rover's handsome face flushed with pleasure.  "We won because
every player did his full duty," he said.  "If we--"  He broke off
short.  "Great Scott, what a racket on top!  Who's that capering
around?"

"It's me, thank you!" yelled Tom, with more force than good
grammar.  "I'm doing an Indian war dance in honor of the victory.
Want to join in, anybody?"

"Stop it; you'll be coming through the roof.  We had only one man
hurt on the field; I don't want a dozen hurt on the ride home."

"Oh, it's safe enough, Dick.  If I feel the roof giving way I'll
jump and save myself," and Tom began a wilder caper than ever.  But
suddenly George Granbury, who sat nearby, caught him by the foot,
and he came down with a thump that threatened to split the stage
top from end to end.

"It won't do, nohow!" pleaded Peleg Snuggers, the general utility
man attached to Putnam Hall Military Academy.  "Them hosses is
skittish, and--"

"Oh, stow it, Peleg," interrupted George.  "You know those horses
couldn't run away if they tried.  You only want us to act as if we
were a funeral procession coming--"

A wild blast of horns from below drowned out the remainder of his
speech, and this finished, the football team and the other cadets
began to sing, in voices more forceful than melodious:

     "Putnam Hall!  Putnam Hall!
     What is wrong with Putnam Hall?
     Nothing, boys!  Nothing, boys!
     She's all RIGHT!
     Right! right! Right!  Right!  RIGHT!"

Through the woods and far across the clear waters of Cayuga Lake
floated the words, followed by another blast from the horns and
then continued cheering.  And their cheering was answered by others
who passed them, some in carriages and others oil bicycles.  It was
a clear, sunshiny day, and nearly all of the inhabitants of
Cedarville, as well as of other villages along the lake, were out
in honor of the occasion.  It had been a general holiday both at
Putnam Hall and at Pornell Academy, and the whole neighborhood had
taken advantage of it.

"I believe Captain Putnam is as proud as any of us," remarked Dick
Rover, when the excitement had calmed down a bit.  "When Tom kicked
that final goal I saw him rise up and nearly pound the life out of
the railing with his gold-headed cane.  I'll wager the cane is
split into a dozen pieces."

"Oh, that's nothing," put in Harry Blossom slyly.  "When Tom did
his little act I saw Nellie Laning actually throw him a kiss from
the grand stand.  If she--"

"Hi, below there!  Who's taking my name in vain?" came from Tom,
and suddenly his head appeared at the top of one of the openings on
the side of the stage.

"I was just telling what Nellie Laning did, Tom.  When you made
that splendid kick--"

"Stow it, you moving-picture camera!" cried Tom, his face growing
suddenly red.  "You see altogether too much."

"Do I?" drawled Harry dryly.  "Maybe.  And then when Dick made his
run, pretty Dora Stanhope just put out her arms as if she wanted to
hug--  Whow!"

Harry Blossom's banter came to a sudden ending, for, as red in the
face as his brother, Dick Rover reached forward and thrust a banana
he was eating into the tormenter's half open mouth.  Harry gulped
once or twice, then the fruit disappeared as if by magic.

"All right, Dick, I accept the bribe and will henceforth be
silent," he said solemnly, as soon as he could speak.

"That's right, tie up your tongue, unless you want to be lifted
from the stage," said Tom.

"It's all right," put in Dave Kearney, another cadet.  "Dora
Stanhope and the Laning girls are nice folk and I don't blame
anybody for being sweet on them."

"Yes, but you keep out of their cornfield, or you'll have all three
of the Rovers after you," came from Harry warningly.

"What are we going to do to-night?" asked Dick abruptly, and in
such a tone that the others felt the bantering must come to an end.
"Is it feast, or fireworks, or both?"

"Make it both!" came in chorus from a dozen cadets.  "Captain
Putnam is just in the humor to let us do anything to-night.  And
Mr. Strong's in the same good humor.  Let us make the best of it."

"All right; feast and fireworks it is," said Dick.  "But both will
cost money.  Who'll pass around the hat?"

A groan went up, as is generally the case when an academy boy is
asked to part with some of his spending money.  But the groan
counted for nothing, and the passing of the hat brought in over ten
dollars.

"Ten-sixty for this load," announced the cadet who had made the
collection.  "And there are two other loads following, besides
those who were on their wheels.  We ought to be able to collect at
least thirty dollars, and that will buy out half of Cedarville."

"If only old Carrick has some of his Fourth of July fireworks
left," said Sam.

"Chust so!" grinned Hans Muelle, the German cadet who had joined
the academy the season before.  "Vot is von celebration midowit
firevorks, hey?  He vos chust noddings!"

"Do you want another pistol explosion?" asked one of the others,
referring to an incident between Tom Rover and Hans which had
nearly ended in a tragedy.

"Mine cracious, no!" howled the German lad.  "I go me not py a
hundred feet mid an old pistol again alrietty!  I vould radder sit
town on von can of dynamite to sleep, yes I vould!"  And he shook
his curly head earnestly.

"We won't have any pistols in this," broke in Tom, who felt like
shuddering every time the incident was mentioned.  "We'll just have
skyrockets, and Roman candles, and pin-wheels, and all of the rest
of the good old-fashioned things--that is for the celebration on
the outside."

"And for the celebration on the inside let us have cake, ice-cream,
fruits, and nuts," put in Larry.  "At this minute I feel hungry
enough to eat the captain out of house and home."

"Ditto myself," came from another student.

"Perhaps the captain will be glad enough to have us celebrate--at
our own expense," suggested a cadet in one corner, yet he did not
mean what he said, knowing that bluff Captain Putnam, the owner and
headmaster of Putnam Hall was whole-souled and generous to the
core.

The stage had already covered over a mile of the road, and now the
turnout left the lake shore and began to climb a long hill leading
to the heights upon which the academy was located.  But there was
still a little valley to cross, at the bottom of which dashed a
rocky mountain torrent on its way to the placid waters beyond.

At the top of the first long rise Peleg Snuggers stopped the team
for a few minutes' rest.  Here the view was magnificent, and many a
cadet stopped his idle talk to gaze at the mountains to the
westward and the sparkling lake winding along in the opposite
direction.  It was early fall, and nearly every tree was tinted
with red and gold, while here and there the first frosts had
covered the ground with leaves and nuts.

"Don't wait too long, Peleg," urged Tom impatiently.  "It will take
some time to get ready for our celebration to-night, you know."

"I'm hurrying as fast as I can, Master Tom," was the reply.  "Git
up, Jack! git up, Sally!"  And once more they moved off, and again
some of the boys tooted their horns.  At this Sally picked up her
ears and gave a little start to one side of the narrow road,
dragging her mate along.

"Whoa!  Steady there!" cried Peleg Snuggers, and tried to pull the
team in.  Failing in this He grabbed the brake handle and pushed it
back vigorously.  He was so nervous that he gave the handle a
mighty wrench, and in a twinkle the brake bar snapped off, close to
the wheel.  Onward bounded the stage, hitting the team in the
flanks, and away leaped both horses on a dead run!

"The brake is broke!"

"Stop the team, Peleg, or they'll upset us sure!"

"Whoa, there, Jack!  Whoa, Sally!  Don't you know enough to stop?"

Such were some of the cries which rang out.  Peleg Snuggers grasped
the lines and pulled with might and main.  But then came an awful
bump, and away flew the driver into a bush along the roadside, and
the reins fell to the horses heels, scaring them worse than ever.

"We are in for it!" gasped Tom.  "I don't see how we are going to
stop them now."

"The bridge!  The bridge across the gully!" screamed another cadet,
in terror-stricken tones.  "They were mending it this morning.
Supposing they haven't the new planking down?"

"There is the bridge!" burst out another, pointing ahead.  "Oh,
Heavens, boys, we are lost!"

All strained their eyes ahead to see what he meant, and then every
face grew pale.  The bridge was torn up completely, not a single
plank of the flooring remained.





CHAPTER II

SOMETHING ABOUT THE ROVER BOYS


The Rover boys were three in number, Dick being the oldest, Tom
coming next, and Sam the youngest.  In their younger days they had
resided with their parents in New York, but after the death of
their mother and the disappearance of their father they had gone to
live with their uncle, Randolph Rover, and their Aunt Martha, on a
farm called Valley Brook, near the village of Dexter Corners, on
the Swift River.

Those who have read the previous volumes of this series, entitled
respectively, "The Rover Boys at School." "The Rover Boys on the
Ocean," and "The Rover Boys in the jungle," know that our three
heroes had already passed through many trying experiences and
thrilling adventures.  From home they had been sent to Putnam Hall,
a military academy of high standing, and here they had made many
friends, including those already mentioned, and several enemies,
among the latter being one Dan Baxter, who was known as the school
bully, and John Fenwick, better known as Mumps, the bully's toady.
They had also made a bitter enemy of Josiah Crabtree, the
headmaster of the Hall.

But since those first days at the school many things had happened
and many changes had occurred.  It was discovered that Dan Baxter
was the son of one Arnold Baxter, a rascal who had, years before,
tried to swindle the Rover boys' father out of some valuable mining
property in the West, and that the son was little better than his
parent.  Dan had left the school in a hurry, and soon after this
his father had been arrested in Albany for a daring office robbery,
and was now in jail in consequence.

The disappearance of Dan, and Josiah Crabtree's yearning for
wealth, had led to further complications.  Near Putnam Hall resides
the widow Stanhope and her pretty daughter Dora, and Crabtree, who
exerted a sort of hypnotic power over the widow, tried to get the
lady to marry him, so that he might obtain the fortune she held in
trust for her daughter.  But how the Rover boys fooled the grasping
teacher, and how Dora was saved from the plot Crabtree and Dan
Baxter hatched up against her, has already been told in "The Rover
Boys on the Ocean."

Anderson Rover had gone to Africa to locate certain mines in that
country, and when many years passed and no word came from him the
three boys grew worried and wanted to go in search of him.  At last
came a strange letter written by a sea captain, containing some
important information, and acting on this the Rover boys,
accompanied by their Uncle Randolph, set out for the heart of the
Dark Continent to find the long-lost.  On the way they fell in with
one Alexander Pop, who had formerly been a waiter at Putnam Hall,
who proved a valuable friend when it came to dealing with men of
his own ebony hue.  In this hunt they likewise ran across Josiah
Crabtree, who was out with an exploring party from Yale, and with
Dan Baxter, and both of these rascals tried to do them much harm.
But the schemes of the rascals fell through, and Crabtree only
escaped after a severe whipping at the hands of Dick Rover, while
Dan Baxter fared little better.  Soon after this Mr. Rover was
found, as a prisoner of a savage African tribe, and rescued, and
then the entire party returned to the United States.  Alexander Pop
remained in the employ of the two elder Rovers, and the three boys
returned to finish the term at Putnam Hall.

These are a few of the things that had happened.  But there were
countless others, which space will not permit being mentioned here.
There had been many contests, in baseball, football, and other
sports, and jokes that seemed to have no end, and there had also
been a disastrous fire, which none of the Putnam Hall cadets were
likely ever to forget--a fire as thrilling as the scene now being
enacted on the road.  But I am afraid I have already left the boys
in the runaway stage too long, so we will return to them without
further delay.

"The bridge is down!" The cry rang through the stage, bringing
every cadet to his feet on the instant.

"Don't jump!" cried Dick, as he saw several preparing to leap.
"You will break your necks!" For now the bushes were left behind,
and on either side of the road were jagged rocks, covered here and
there with withered vines.

As Dick spoke he pushed his way to the front of the stage and
crawled out on the driver's seat.

"The back--drop off at the back!" came from Frank Harrington, and
he showed how it could be done.  But the road was now rougher than
ever, and he landed on his knees and his face, giving himself an
ugly cut on the chin.

Dick was trying to reach the reins when Tom came down beside him.

"Can you make it?" asked Tom.

"I can try," was the desperate answer.  "If only we could block
those wheels!"

"Block the wheels!" came from half a dozen, and one boy, who
happened to have a stout cane with him, thrust it out between
several of the spokes of the wheel on the left, in the rear.  For
an instant the stick held, then it snapped, and the wheel went
around as before.

The bridge was now less than two hundred feet away, and whatever
was to be accomplished must be done quickly.  At last Dick had the
reins, and he began to pull upon them with all of his strength, at
the same time calling upon Tom to hold him to the seat.

"To the right--turn 'em to the right!" sang out Sam, as he saw a
narrow opening between the rocks.

"Yes, the right!" added Fred Garrison.  "It is our only hope!"

Dick did as requested, and at the last instant the heavy stage
swung around.  There was a grinding and a splitting of wood as the
front wheels met the rocks and went to pieces, and then Dick came
down on the horses, with Tom on top of him--and the elder Rover
knew no more.

"Dick's hurt!" gasped Sam, as he scrambled out of the side window
of the turnout.  "Don't let the horses kick him."

For the runaway team were struggling wildly, amid the rocks and the
wreck of the harness.  But Tom was already up, and he and Larry
Colby dragged Dick to a place of safety.  In the meantime some of
the other cadets who were used to managing horseflesh took care of
the team and led them away and tied them fast to a tree.

"Dick, Dick! are you badly hurt?" The question came from Tom, as he
gazed anxiously into his brother's face.  There was a nasty cut on
the left check from which the blood was flowing.

Dick did not answer, and Tom asked somebody to run down to the
stream for some water.  When this was brought he and Sam bathed
Dick's face, and presently the latter opened his eyes and stared
around him in bewilderment.

"A touchdown--I claim--" he began, and then stopped.  "Wha--what
has happened?" he stammered.  "Oh, I remember now!"  And he feel back
again.

"He thinks he's still in the football game," whispered Harry
Blossom.  "Oh, but he's a plucky one."

All of the other lads had been severely shaken up, but nobody had
been hurt excepting Frank, as before mentioned.  Soon he came
limping up, followed by Peleg Snuggers.

"I missed it by jumping," he observed ruefully.  "Hullo, is Dick
knocked out?"

"So ye stopped 'em, eh?" cried the general utility man.  "It was
prime plucky to do it, so it was!  Poor Dick, hope he ain't bad."

By this time Dick was opening his eyes once more, and this time he
kept them open.

"I--I--that was a nasty tumble, wasn't it?" he muttered.  "I'm glad
I didn't go under the horses' feet."

"How do you feel?"

"I guess I had the wind knocked out of me, that's all." He tried to
get up, but his legs refused to support him.  "I'll have to keep
quiet awhile."

"Yes, don't you move," said Sam.  "We can't get across the stream
anyway, now the bridge is down.  We'll have to go around to the
other bridge."

"It's queer the workmen didn't put up some sort of a sign as a
warning," said Fred Garrison.  "I believe they can be held liable
for this disaster."

"To be sure they can be held liable," burst out Peleg Snuggers.

"But a sign wouldn't have kept the brake from breaking," said Tom.

"True, lad, but ye must remember that it was their duty to put the
sign up at the beginning of this road, which is on the top of the
hill.  If the sign had been there we would never have started to
come down this way."

"Perhaps we missed the sign," put in another cadet.

"Of dot is so, ve besser run pack und stop udder carriages from
comin' dis vay," broke in Hans Mueller quickly.  "Listen to dot!"

They all listened, and heard merry cries of laughter and carriage
wheels rapidly approaching.

"A carriage--with ladies!" gasped Sam.  "Come on and stop them!"
And away he, dusted up the hill, as well as his short legs would
carry him.  Hans, Larry, and several others followed.  They had
barely gained the top of the hill when a large carryall belonging
to John Laning appeared.  In the carryall were the farmer and his
two charming daughters, and, Mrs. Stanhope, who was his
sister-in-law, and her daughter Dora.  Mrs. Laning was also
present, along with several neighbors.

"Hi, whoa! stop!" yelled Sam.  "Stop!"

"Hurrah for Putnam Hall!" cried Grace Laning, waving a tiny flag
toward Sam, which made the younger Rover blush.

"Glad to be able to congratulate you, Sam!" said Dora Stanhope.
"Where are the other members of the football team?"

"Just ahead--down by the gully.  You mustn't drive down here, for
the bridge is down."

"Bridge down!" ejaculated John Laning.  "Darwell said he was going
to mend it this week, but I saw no sign up at the cross-roads."

"Neither did we, and we came near to going overboard.  As it is, we
had a pretty bad smash up!"

"Indeed!" came from Mrs. Stanhope, in alarm.  "And was anybody
hurt?"

"Dick was thrown out and knocked unconscious, and Frank Harrington
had his chin cut, while the rest of us were pretty well shaken up.
Peleg the driver was thrown into some brushwood and that most
likely saved his life."

Mrs. Stanhope grew pale, for she remembered only too well that
fateful ride she had once taken with Josiah Crabtree, which had
almost cost both of them their lives.

"I will go to the poor boy!" she said, and leaped to the ground,
followed by Dora and the two Laning girls.  Soon the carryall was
led to the side of the road, and the others alighted, to see what
damage had been done.





CHAPTER III

THE MISSING DANGER SIGNAL


When Sam came back he found Dick sitting on a rock with his cut
plastered up from the out kit taken along to the football match.
Frank had likewise been attended to.

"I am so glad you are not hurt seriously," said Mrs. Stanhope, as
she sat down beside Dick, with Dora close at hand.  "All of you
have had a very narrow escape."

"It is a shame that no danger signal was display," said Dora.
"When they are fixing a bridge  they usually put a bar across the
road with the sign: 'Danger!  Road Closed,' on it."

"Exactly," put in Peleg.  "But I haint seen no sign, an' that I can
swear to."

"In that case Contractor Darwell will be responsible for this smash
up," said John Laning.  "Are the horses hurt?"

"They are pretty well scratched up around the legs."

"Humph!  And the two front wheels of the stage are a total wreck.
I reckon it will take the best part of fifty dollars to fix matters
up."

"Anyway, I don't calculate as how I'm responsible," grumbled the
general utility man, fearing he saw trouble ahead, when Captain
Putnam should hear of the affair.

A creaking on the road was heard, and presently a lumber wagon hove
into sight, piled high with the new planking for the bridge.  On
the front sat Darwell the contractor and two of his workmen.

"Hullo, what does all this mean?" cried the contractor, as he
brought his wagon to a standstill, and viewed the wrecked stage.

"It means that Captain Putnam will have a little account to settle
with you, Mr. Darwell," put in Harry Blossom promptly.

"With me?  What for?"

"For this wreck."

"And for this cut chin," added Frank.

"And my being knocked out," said Dick.

"I'm not responsible for any wreck," replied Joel Darwell.  "I put
up the bar with the danger signal on it, up at the cross-roads."

"We didn't see no sign," interrupted Peleg Snuggers.  "Not a bit of
a sign."

"There was no sign when I came along," said John Laning.

"I put the sign up not over three hours ago," insisted Joel
Darwell.  "I can show you just where Sandy Long and I dug the post
holes for it."

"Then some rascal took the sign down," said Tom.  "What for?"

"Must have done it to wreck the stage," answered Larry Colby.  "But
could anybody be so cold-blooded?"

"Yes, there are several people who would do that," answered Dick
promptly.  "But I don't think they are within a hundred miles of
Cedarville just now."

"You mean Dan Baxter for one," said Sam.

"And Josiah Crabtree for another," put in Tom.  "They are both down
on everybody around here."

"How about Mumps?" asked Larry.

"Oh, he reformed after that chase on the ocean, and I've heard he
is now out West," said Sam.  "There's another rascal, though--Mr.
Arnold Baxter.  But he is in jail in Albany--he and that tool of
his, Buddy Girk."

"Well, certainly somebody is responsible," said Frank.  "Supposing
we go back and try to find some clew?"

"And find the danger sign and put it up again," said Joel Darwell.

A dozen of the boys went back, and with them Tom and Sam, leaving
Dick with the Stanhopes.  As soon as the crowd had left, Dora
Stanhope motioned the elder Rover to one side.

"Oh, Dick, it makes me shiver to hear Josiah Crabtree spoken of,"
she said in a whisper.

"Why, Dora, you don't mean to say that he has turned up again?" he
questioned quickly.

"No--but--but--last night I heard a strange noise on our side
porch, as if somebody was trying the side window.  I went to the
door and asked to know who was there.  At once I heard somebody or
some animal leave the porch and climb over the side fence of the
garden.  I am almost certain it was some person trying to get into
the house."

"Did you tell your mother?"

"No, she had one of her nervous headaches, and I thought it would
do no good.  But I couldn't sleep all night, and I laid with a big
stick in one hand and papa's old revolver in the other.  The
revolver wasn't loaded, but I thought I might scare somebody with
it."

"The revolver ought to be loaded, Dora.  Do you know what caliber
it is?"

"No; you know I know little or nothing about firearms."

"Then I'll find out for you, and get some cartridges.  If Josiah
Crabtree is around you ought to shoot him on the spot."

"Oh, I couldn't do that--even though I do know how dreadfully he
treated you while you were in the heart of Africa."

"You must be very careful of your movements, especially after dark.
Crabtree may be around, with some new scheme against you or your
mother.  I wish he could have been left behind in Africa."

"Oh, so do I! but he and Dan Baxter both came back to America,
didn't they?"

"So we heard in Boma.  But don't get worked up too much, Dora, for
it might have been only a cat,--or a common tramp looking for
something to eat.  We have had lots of tramps around the Hall
lately."

"I have asked Grace Laning to pay us a visit, and she is coming
over to-morrow."

"Then you will have somebody in the house besides your mother and
yourself.  I wish I could stay with you folks."

"How long are you going to remain at the Hall, Dick?  When you came
back you said something about going out West with your father to
look up that mining claim in Colorado."

"We shan't start for the West until next spring.  Father was going
right away at first, but after he found out that Arnold Baxter was
safe in jail and couldn't bother him any more, he concluded to
remain with Uncle Randolph and Aunt Martha until next spring so as
to give himself the chance to get back his old-time strength.  His
sufferings in Africa pulled him down a good bit."

"I suppose.  Well, I am glad you will be around during the winter.
Next summer mamma has promised to go with me on a trip to Buffalo
and then around the Great Lakes.  I trust the lake air will do her
much good, and that we won't hear or see anything of Mr. Crabtree
while we are on the water."

"I'd like to go with you on that trip," answered Dick.  "I have no
doubt you will have a grand time."

Little did he dream of all the perils that trip was to lead to, and
of how he and his brothers would be mixed up in them.

In the meantime the others had journeyed up the hill to where the
road branched off in three directions.  At this point Joel Darwell
pointed out two newly-made holes in the earth, about fifteen feet
apart.

"See them?" he cried.  "Well, that is where I placed the danger
sign, and I am willing to swear to it."

"And so am I," added the workman who was along.

"Well, there is no danger signal here now," returned Tom, glancing
around.  Some bushes torn up beside the road attracted his
attention, and he hurried toward them.  "Here you are!"

He pointed to a cleared spot behind the bushes and there, on the
ground, lay the torn-up posts and boards.  Evidently somebody had
dragged them thither in great haste.

"It's the work of some thorough rascal!" cried Sam.  "Somebody who
meant mischief to our stage."

"Maype dis vos der vork of dem Pornell Academy fellers," suggested
Hans.

"No, they are gentlemen, not scoundrels," replied Tom.  "They may
feel cut up, but they wouldn't play such a dastardly trick as
this."

The spot was one commanding a good view of the back road, so that
anybody standing there could have seen the stage coming while it
was still a quarter of a mile off.

All hands began a search for some clew leading to the identity of
the evil-doers--that is, all but Joel Darwell and his helper.
These two dragged the posts and boards into position again, and
this time set them down so firmly that a removal would be out of
the question without tools.

"Hullo, here's something!" cried one of the cadets presently.  "Did
you just drop this, Tom?"

As he spoke he held up a round, flat coin of coppery metal,
engraved with several circles and a rude head.

"No, I didn't drop it," replied Tom, his face growing serious.
"Did you, Sam?"

Sam gave a look, placed his hand in his pocket and brought out a
similar piece.  "No, there is mine," he said.  "Where in the world
did that come from?"

Then Tom and Sam looked at each other.  The same idea crossed the
mind of each.  The coin was similar to those they had handled while
on their way through Africa.  They had brought home several as
pocket-pieces.

"I'll wager Dan Baxter dropped that!" cried Tom.  "He, or--"

"Josiah Crabtree!" finished Sam.  "Yes, I am sure of it, for Dick
brought none to Putnam Hall; I heard him tell the Captain so, when
they were talking about coins one day."

"Then in that case, either Baxter or Crabtree is responsible for
this smash-up!" came from one of the other cadets.

"Right you are.  The question is, which one?"

"Perhaps both vos guilty," suggested the German student.

"That may be true, Hans," came from Tom.  "I wonder if one or the
other of the rascals is in hiding around here?"

"We'll begin a search," said Sam.  "Hans, go and call the others,"
and at once the German cadet started off on his errand.





CHAPTER IV

A TRAIL IS FOUND AND LOST


By this time several carriages had come up, also a number of folks
on bicycles and on foot, and to all of these the situation had to
be explained.  Among the last to put in an appearance was Captain
Putnam, and he was at once all attention, and desired to know how
seriously Dick and Frank were injured.

"It was an outrageous piece of work," he said.

"Still, to be fair, we must admit that the broken brake is largely
responsible for what happened, after the start down hill was made."

"But I couldn't help the brake breaking," pleaded the general
utility man.  "I did my best, and was thrown out--"

"I am not finding fault with you, Snugger," cut in the captain,
shortly.  "Let it pass, and leave the stage to be taken care of by
the Cedarville blacksmith.  But I wish we might lay hands on the
rascal who is responsible for the start of the mishap."

"They have found a coin such as we used when as we were in Africa,"
said Dick.  "I think that furnishes a clew."

"In what way, Rover?"

"Those coins were also used by Dan Baxter and Josiah Crabtree."

"And you think one or the other, or both, are in this neighborhood
again?"

"It looks plausible, doesn't it?"

"Yes, but--it would be very strange.  I should think they would
give this locality a wide berth."

"Hardly.  Josiah Crabtree isn't done with the Stanhopes, to my
mind, and Baxter will get square with us if he can."

While this talk was going on Sam and Tom were following some
footprints leading from the clearing where the signal board had
been found down a small path toward the lake.  The footprints were
clearly defined.

"The prints are not very large," observed Tom, as he and his
brother measured them.  "It looks to me as if Dan Baxter's feet
might have made them."

"Certainly they weren't made by old Crabtree," said Sam.  "He had a
very long foot and always wore square-toed boots."

They followed the prints down to the lake shore, and then along the
rim of the lake for nearly half a mile.

Here there was a little cove, and under some bushes they discovered
some marks in the wet dirt of the bank, as if a rowboat had been
moored there.  In this dirt the footprints came to an end.

"That's the wind-up of this trail," sighed Tom.  "Water leaves no
trail."

"That's so.  But supposing we skirt the lake some more."

They went on, and did not give up until the declining sun told them
the day was done.

When they reached the Hall they found that all of the others had
come in, and that preparations were already going forward for the
feast in the evening.  For once Captain Putnam and George Strong,
his main assistant, were going to allow the cadets to have their
own way.  Secretly the captain was tremendously pleased over the
showing his pupils had made on the football field, for this
happened to be a year when college athletics were in the ascendancy
in all of the States.

But the regular evening drill must not be neglected, and soon the
sound of the drum was heard, calling the members of companies A and
B to the parade ground.  A rush was made for uniforms, swords, and
guns, and soon the boys come pouring forth, Dick as a captain, and
his two brothers as under officers.

"Attention!" shouted the major of the command.  "Forward! march!"

"Boom! boom! boom, boom, boom!" went the drums, and then the fifers
struck up a lively tune, and around the academy marched the two
companies at company front.  Then they went around again by column
of fours, and then marched into the messroom, where they stacked
arms and sat down at the long mess tables.  The movements were
patterned after those at West Point, and could not have been
improved upon.

"Well, what of the hunt," asked Dick, as soon as he got the chance
to talk to Tom.

"We followed it to the lake and then lost the trail," answered his
brother.  "But I am convinced that the rascal was Dan Baxter."

"I believe you are right, Tom," answered Dick, and related what
Dora Stanhope had told him.  Of course Tom listened with keen
interest.

"We made a mistake in letting old Crabtree and Baxter go when we
had them in Africa.  We should have handed them over to the
authorities."

"I am not worried about Baxter so much," went on Dick.  "But I hate
to think of Crabtree being around to molest the Stanhopes."

"And especially Dora," grinned Tom.

"Right you are, Tom, and I am not ashamed to admit it to you.  But
please don't--don't well, make fun of it to me any more."

"I won't, Dick."  Tom gave his brother's hand a squeeze under the
table.  "Dora is all right, and if some day I get her for a
sister-in-law I won't complain a bit." This plain talk made Dick's
face flush, but he felt tremendously pleased, nevertheless, and
loved Tom more than ever.

Directly after supper the boys were given until eleven o'clock to
do as they pleased.  At once some old barrels were piled high at
one end of the campus, smeared with tar, stuffed with wood, and set
on fire, and the blaze, mounting to the sky, lit up the
neighborhood to the lake on one side and the mountains on the
other.

Four cadets had gone down to Cedarville to buy the fireworks and
the things to eat, and by nine o'clock these returned, loaded down
with their purchases.  Among the crowd was Larry Colby, who sought
out Dick as soon as he arrived.

"I've got news," he exclaimed.  "Whom do you suppose I saw down in
Cedarville?  Josiah Crabtree!"

"You are certain, Larry?"

"Yes."

"Where did you meet him?"

"Down at the restaurant where he went for some ice cream.  He was
just paying for a lunch he had had when I came in."

"Did you speak to him?"

"No; I wanted to do so, but as soon as he saw our crowd coming in
he dusted out of a side door."

"Was he alone?"

"Yes."

"Humph!" Dick's brow clouded.  He was inclined to think that Dora
had been right concerning the noise she had heard on the side
porch.

"You haven't any idea where he went?"

"No; I wanted to follow him, but it was dark on the street and he
slipped me."

This was all Larry had to tell, and he hurried to arrange the
fireworks.

The celebration was a grand success, and lasted until almost
midnight.  The boys had brought along a lot of Roman candles and
skyrockets, and these they set off from the top of one of the
tallest trees on the grounds.

"So that the Pornell fellows can see them," said Sam.  "I know they
will enjoy the show," and then he closed one eye suggestively.  The
Pornell players had chaffed him on account of his size, and now
that the victory was won, he did not mean to let them forget their
defeat too quickly.

At about ten o'clock Dick went to Captain Putnam and asked
permission to leave the grounds for an hour or two.

"Where do you wish to go?" asked the captain.

"To Mrs. Stanhope's, sir," and he related what Dora had told him,
and of what news Larry Colby had brought.

"I am afraid you may get into trouble, Rover," said the captain
seriously.

"I will be very careful, sir.  I am not afraid of Mr. Crabtree,
should he turn up."

"I don't believe you are afraid of anyone," said the master with a
smile, for he admired Dick's courage.

"Then you will let me go?"

"Wouldn't you rather have somebody with you?"

"I wouldn't mind having Tom along."

"I meant some grown person--like, for instance, Mr. Strong."

"No, sir."

"Well, then, take Tom.  But mind and be careful, and don't stay too
late if everything is right, down there."

Having received this permission, Dick hurried to Tom.  Soon the two
brothers were on the way, Tom eating some cake and peanuts as they
hurried along.  The latter hated to miss the feast, but did not
wish to see his brother under take the mission alone.

It was a clear night, and although there was no moon, the stars
twinkled overhead like so many diamonds.  Both knew the short cut
to Mrs. Stanhope's cottage well, and made rapid progress.  "Shall
you ring the bell if everything appears to be right?" asked Tom, as
they came in sight of the modest dwelling, set in the widow's
well-kept garden.

"I guess not, Tom.  It's so late.  Both Mrs. Stanhope and Dora have
probably gone to bed."

They had almost reached the gate to the garden when Dick caught his
brother by the sleeve and drew him back into the shadow of a large
maple tree.

"What is it, Dick?"

"I think I saw somebody moving around the corner of the house just
now."

Both boys strained their eyes, but could see nothing that resembled
a human form.

"I don't see a thing, Dick."

"Come, we'll move around to the outside of the garden," returned
the older brother.

The flower garden was not large, and was separated from the
vegetable laths.  As they made their way along this, both caught
the sound of a window sliding up.

"Hark!  Did you hear that?" whispered Dick excitedly.

"I did.  It came from the back of the house."

"Somebody must be trying to get into the kitchen window!"

Dick broke into a run, with Tom at his heels.  Entering the garden
by a rear gate, they soon reached the vicinity of the kitchen.  A
window stood wide open, and through this they beheld somebody
inside the apartment with a blazing match in his hand trying to
light a candle.

"Hi, there, who are you?" cried Tom, before Dick could stop him.

At the sound of the call the man in the kitchen jumped as though
stung by a bee.  Then he wheeled around, with the lighted candle in
his hand, and both boys saw that it was Josiah Crabtree.





CHAPTER V

A STRUGGLE IN THE DARK


"Crabtree, you rascal!" ejaculated Dick.

"Who--who is that?" spluttered the former teacher of Putnam Hall,
in dismay.

"It is I--Dick Rover.  What are you doing here?"

"I--I came to call upon the Widow Stanhope," stammered Josiah
Crabtree.  He was so astonished he knew not what to say.

"You came to rob her, more likely," sneered Tom.  "You just broke
in at the window."

"No, no--it--it is all a mistake, Rover.  I--I am stopping here
for the night."

"Indeed!" gasped Dick, almost struck dumb over the man's show of
"nerve," as he afterward expressed it.

"Yes, I am stopping here."

"With Mrs. Stanhope's permission of course."

"Certainly.  How could I stop here otherwise?"

"What are you doing in the kitchen all alone?'"

"Why, I--er--I was up in my room, but I--er--wanted a glass
of water and so came down for it."

"Then Mrs. Stanhope and Dora have gone to bed?"

"Yes, they just retired."

"Have you become friends again?" asked Dick, just to learn what
Josiah Crabtree might say.

"Yes, Rover, Mrs. Stanhope is once more my best friend."

"Then she doesn't know what a rascal you were out in Africa."

"My dear Richard, you are laboring under a great delusion.  I was
never in Africa in my life."

"What!" roared Dick aghast at the man's audacity.

"I speak the truth.  I have made an investigation, and have learned
that somebody went to Africa under my name, just to take advantage
of my--ahem--of my exalted rank as a professor."

"Great Scott! how you can draw the long bow!" murmured Tom.

"I speak the plain truth.  I can prove that for the past six months
I have been in Chicago and other portions of the West.

"Well, if you are a guest here, just stay with Tom while I call the
Stanhopes," said Dick, and leaped in at the window.

"Boy, you shall do nothing of the kind," cried Josiah Crabtree, his
manner changing instantly.

"Why not?  If you are friends, it will do no harm."

"Mrs. Stanhope is--er--is not feeling well, and I will not have her
disturbed by a headstrong youth like you."

"We'll see about that.  If you--"

Dick broke off short, for just then a voice he knew well floated
down into the kitchen from upstairs.

"Who is talking down there?  Is that you, Dick?"  It was Dora
speaking, in a voice full of excitement.

"Yes, Dora, it is I--and Tom.  We have caught Josiah Crabtree here
in your kitchen."

"Oh!"  The girl gave a little scream.  "What a villain!  Can you
hold him?"

"We can try," answered Dick.  He turned to Crabtree.  "I reckon
your game is up, old man."

"Let me go!" growled the former teacher fiercely, and as Dick
advanced upon him he thrust the lighted candle full into the
youth's face.  Of course Dick had to fall back, not wishing to be
burnt, and a second later the candle went out leaving the room in
total darkness.

But now Tom sprang forward, bearing Crabtree to the floor.  Over
and over rolled the pair, upsetting first a chair and then a small
table.

At the sound of the row Dora Stanhope began to scream, fearing one
of her friends might be killed, and presently Mrs. Stanhope joined
in.  But the cottage was situated too far away for any outsiders to
hear, so the boys had to fight the battle alone.

At length Josiah Crabtree pulled himself clear of Tom's hold and
made for the open window.  But now Dick had recovered and he hurled
the man backward.

The movement kept Crabtree in the room, but it was disastrous to
Tom, for as the former teacher fell back his heel was planted on
Tom's forehead, and for the time being the younger Rover lay
stunned and unable to continue the contest.

Finding himself unable to escape by the window, Josiah Crabtree
felt his way to the door and ran out into the hall.  Because of his
former visits to the house he knew the ground plan well, and from
the hall he darted into the parlor and then into the sitting room.

Dick tried to catch him, and once caught his arm.  But Crabtree
broke loose and placed a large center table between them.

 "Don't dare to stop me, Rover," hissed the man desperately.  "If
you do you will be sorry.  I am armed."

"So am I armed, Josiah Crabtree.  And I call upon you to
surrender."

"What, you would shoot me!" cried the former teacher, in terror.

"Why not?  Didn't you try to take my life in Africa?"

"I repeat, you are mistaken."

"I am not mistaken, and can prove my assertion by half a dozen
persons."

"I have not been near Africa."

"I won't argue the point with you.  Do you surrender or not?"

"Yes, I will surrender," replied Josiah Crabtree meekly.

Yet he did not mean what he said, and as Dick came closer he gave
the lad a violent shove backward, which made the elder Rover boy
sit down in an easy chair rather suddenly.  Then he darted into a
small conservatory attached to the sitting room.

"Stop!" panted Dick, catching his breath.

"Tom, he is running away!"

Crash! jingle! jingle! jingle!  Josiah Crabtree had tried the door
to the conservatory and finding it locked and the key gone, had
smashed out some of the glass and leaped through the opening thus
afforded.

By this time Dora was coming downstairs, clad in a wrapper and
carrying a lamp in her hand.  The first person she met was Tom, who
staggered into the hall with his hand to his bruised forehead.

"Oh, Tom, are you hurt?" she shrieked.

"Not much," he answered.  "But Dick--Dick, where are you?"

"Here, in the conservatory.  Crabtree just jumped through the
glass!"

Dora ran into the little apartment, which Mrs. Stanhope had just
begun to fill with flowers for the coming winter.  Tom came behind
her, carrying a poker he had picked up.

"Is he out of sight?" asked Tom.

"Yes, confound the luck," replied his brother.  "Which way did he
go?"

"I don't know."

"We ought to follow him."

"We will."  Dick turned to Dora.  "After we are gone you had better
lock up better than ever, and remain on guard until morning."

"I will, Dick," she answered.

The key to the conservatory door was hanging on a nearby nail, and
taking it down they unlocked the door, and the two boys passed into
the darkness of the night outside.

"Please take care of yourselves!" cried Dora after them, and then
turned to quiet her mother, who had come downstairs in a state of
excitement bordering on hysteria, for, as old readers know, Mrs.
Stanhope's constitution was a delicate one.

Running into the garden, Dick made out a dim form in the distance,
on the path leading to the lake.

"There he is!" he cried.  "Come, Tom, we must catch him, if we
can!"

"I am with you," answered Tom.  "But take care what you do.  He may
be in a desperate frame of mind."

"He is desperate.  But I am not afraid of him," returned the elder
Rover, with determination.

Josiah Crabtree was running with all the speed of his long legs,
and the two lads soon found that they had all they could do to keep
him in sight.

"Stop!" yelled Tom, at the top of his voice, but to this command
the former, teacher paid no attention.  If anything, he ran the
faster.

"He is bound for the lake," said Dick.  "He must have a boat."

But Dick was mistaken, for just before the water came into view
Josiah Crabtree branched off onto the road leading into Cedarville.
Then of a sudden the shadows of a patch of woods hid him from view.

"He's gone!" came from Tom, as he slackened his speed.

"He didn't turn down to the lake."

"That's so.  He must have gone toward Cedarville."

The Rover boys came to a halt and looked about them searchingly.
On one side of the road lay a tilled field, on the other were rocks
and trees and bushes.  They listened intently, but only the
occasional cry of a night bird broke the stillness.

"We are stumped!" groaned Dick dismally.

"What, you aren't going to give up the hunt already, are you?"
demanded Tom.

"No, but where did he go?"

"Perhaps he went back to the house."

"I don't believe he would dare to do that.  Besides, what would he
go for?"

"What made him go in the first place?"

"I am sure I don't know.  Perhaps he was going to abduct Dora--or
Mrs. Stanhope."

"If he was going to do that alone, he would have had his hands
full."

The two boys advanced, but with great caution.  They peered into
the woods and behind some of the larger rocks, but discovered
nothing.

"That is the second time we have lost our game to-day," remarked
Tom soberly.  "First it was Dan Baxter or somebody else, and now it
is Josiah Crabtree."

"It must have been Baxter who tried to wreck the stage.  He and old
Crabtree always did hang together."

"If they are stopping anywhere in Cedarville we ought to put the
police on their track."

"I'll do that sure.  We can easily hold both on half a dozen
charges--if we can catch them."





CHAPTER VI

AN INTERESTING LETTER


But to catch Josiah Crabtree was not easy.  The former teacher of
Putnam Hall was thoroughly alarmed, and once having taken to the
woods, he plunged in deeper and deeper, until to find him would
have been almost an impossibility.  Indeed, he completely lost
himself, and when the boys had left the vicinity he found himself
unable to locate the road again, and so had to remain in the cold
and damp woods all night, much to his discomfort.  He could not
keep warm, and sat chattering on a rock until daylight.

Finding it of no use to continue the search, Dick and Tom retraced
their steps to the Stanhope homestead.  They found Dora on guard,
with every window and door either locked or nailed up.  The girl
had persuaded her feeble mother to lie down again, but Mrs.
Stanhope was still too excited to rest comfortably.

"Did you catch him?" Dora asked anxiously, after she had admitted
them.

"No, he got away in the darkness," answered Dick.

"It is too bad.  What do you suppose he was up to?"

"That is what we would like to find out, Dora.  Certainly he was up
to no good."

"Perhaps he wished to rob us."

"He must know that you do not keep much money in the house."

"Day before yesterday mother had me draw four hundred dollars out
of the bank, to pay for the new barn we have had built.  The
carpenter, however, went to Ithaca on business, so as yet we have
not been able to pay him the money."