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 THE STEEL HOBSE 
 
 OR 
 
 THE RAMBLES OF A BICYCLE 
 
 BY 
 
 HARRY CASTLEMON 
 
 AUTHOB OF " GUNBOAT SERIES," HOUGHING IT SEBIES," 
 " BOD AND GUN SERIES," ETC. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA 
 HENRY T. COATES & CO.
 
 FAMOUS CASTLEMON BOOKS. 
 
 GUNBOAT SERIES. By HARKY CASTLEMON. 6 vols. 12mo. 
 
 FRANK THE YOUNG NATURALIST. FRANK ON A GUNBOAT. 
 
 FRANK IN THE WOODS. FRANK BEFORE VICKSBURG. 
 
 FRANK ON THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI. FRANK ON THE PRAIRIE. 
 
 ROCKY MOUNTAIN SERIES. By HARRY CASTLEMON. 3 vols. 12ino. 
 Cloth. 
 
 FRANK AMONG THE RANCHEROS. FRANK AT DON CARLOS' RANCH. 
 FRANK IN THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 SPORTSMAN'S CLUB SERIES. By HARRY CASTLEMON. 3 vols. 12mo. 
 
 Cloth. 
 
 THE SPORTSMAN'S CLUB IN THE SADDLE. 
 THE SPORTSMAN'S CLUB AFLOAT. 
 THE SPORTSMAN'S CLUB AMONG THE TRAPPERS. 
 
 FRANK NELSON SERIES. By HARRY CASTLEMON. 3 vols. 12mo. 
 
 Cloth. 
 SNOWED UP. FRANK IN THE FORECASTLE. THE BOY TRADERS. 
 
 BOY TRAPPER SERIES. By HARRY CASTLEMON. 3 vols. 12mo. Cloth. 
 THE BURIED TREASURE. THE BOY TRAPPER. THE MAIL-CARRIER. 
 
 ROUGHING IT SERIES. By HARRY CASTLEMON. 3 vols. 12mo. Cloth. 
 GEORGE IN CAMP. GEORGE AT THE WHEEL. GEORGE AT THE FORT. 
 
 ROD AND GUN SERIES. By HARRY CASTLEMON. 3 vols. 12mo. Cloth. 
 DON GORDON'S SHOOTING Box. ROD AND GUN CLUB. 
 
 THE YOUNG WILD FOWLERS. 
 
 GO-AHEAD SERIES. By HARRY CASTLEMON. 3 vols. 12ino. Cloth. 
 TOM NEWCOMBE. GO-AHEAD. No Moss. 
 
 FOREST AND STREAM SERIES. By HARRY CASTLEMON. 3 vols. 12mo. 
 
 Cloth. 
 JOE WAYRING. SNAGGED AND SUNK. STEEL HORSE. 
 
 WAR SERIES. By HARRY CASTLEMON. 5 vols. 12mo. Cloth. 
 TRUE TO HIS COLORS. RODNEY THE PARTISAN. 
 
 RODNEY THE OVERSEER. MARCY THE BLOCKADE-RUNNER. 
 
 MARCY THE REFUGEE. 
 
 Other Volumes in Preparation. 
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1888, BY PORTER & COATES.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 484063 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 ?z 
 1 
 
 CHAPTER PAOB 
 
 I. IN WHICH I MAKE MY Bow, . . .1 
 
 II. THE STRANGE WHEELMAN, . . .25 
 
 III. A CASE OF MISTAKEN IDENTITY, . . 50 
 
 IV. ROWE SHELLY, THE RUNAWAY, . . 74 
 V. ROY IN TROUBLE, . . . .98 
 
 VI. ANOTHER SURPRISE FOR ROY, . . 121 
 
 VII. SOME STARTLING NEWS, . . . 145 
 
 VIII. ON BOARD THE WHITE SQUALL, . . 169 
 
 IX. A SWIM IN ROUGH WATER, . . . 194 
 
 X. THE BOY WHO WOULDN'T BE PUMPED, . 219 
 
 XI. ON THE ROAD AGAIN, . 243 
 
 XII. JOE'S WILD RIDE, .... 266 
 
 XIII. GOING INTO A HOT PLACE, . . .289 
 
 XIV. ARTHUR'S READY RIFLE, . . .311 
 XV. MR. HOLMES'S WARNING, . . .333 
 
 XVI. Two NARROW ESCAPES, . . . 355 
 
 XVII. AN UNEXPECTED MEETING, . . . 375 
 
 XVIII. CONCLUSION, ..... 399
 
 THE STEEL HORSE ; 
 
 OB, 
 
 THE RAMBLES OF A BICYCLE. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 IN WHICH I MAKE MY BOW. 
 
 U Q GOTLAND'S a-burning ! Look out, fel- 
 k3 lows ! Put on the brakes, or you will 
 be right on top of it the first thing you 
 know." 
 
 "On top of what?" 
 
 "Why, can't you see? If it hadn't been 
 for my kmp I should have taken the worst 
 header anybody ever heard of. How some 
 fellows can run around on their wheels after 
 dark without a light, and take the chances of 
 breaking their necks, beats my time, J 
 wouldn't do it for any money."
 
 V THE STEEL IIOESE. 
 
 "Great Scott! How do you suppose that 
 pile of things came on the track \ " 
 
 " It isn't a pile of things. It is a big rock 
 which has rolled down from the bank above, 
 and we have discovered it in time to prevent a 
 terrible railroad disaster." 
 
 " The rains loosened it, probably." 
 
 "Well, what are we standing here for? 
 Let's take hold, all hands, and roll it off before 
 the train comes along." 
 
 " We can't roll it off. It's half as big as 
 Rube Royall's cabin. It seems strange to me 
 that it stopped so squarely in the middle of 
 the track. I should think it ought to have 
 gathered headway enough during its descent 
 to roll clear across the roadbed, and down into 
 the gulf on the other side." 
 
 The speakers were your old friends Joe Way- 
 ring and his two chums, Roy Sheldon and Ar- 
 thur Hastings ; and I am one of the Expert 
 Columbias who were introduced to your notice 
 in the concluding chapters of the second vol- 
 ume of this series of books. I have been urged 
 by my companions to describe the interesting 
 and exciting incidents that happened during
 
 IN WHICH I MAKE MY BOW. 3 
 
 our vacation run from one end of the State to 
 the other and back again, on which we set out 
 just a week ago to-day. I have begun the task 
 with many misgivings. This is my iirst appear- 
 ance as a story-teller ; but then my friends, 
 Old Durability and the Canvas Canoe, labored 
 under the same disadvantage. When I am 
 through it will be for you to decide which one 
 of us has interested you the most. 
 
 You will remember that when the Canvas 
 Canoe's adventures were ended for the season 
 and he was "laid up in ordinary" (by which 
 I mean the recess in Joe Wayring's room), it 
 was midwinter. The ponds and lakes were 
 frozen over, and the hills surrounding the little 
 village of Mount Airy were covered with snow. 
 The canoe had just been hauled up from the 
 bottom of Indian Eiver, where he had lain for 
 four long, dismal months, wondering what was 
 to become of him and the six thousand dollars 
 lie had carried down with him when he was 
 " Snagged and Sunk" by the*big tree that was 
 carried out of Slier win's Pond by the high 
 water. You know that Roy Sheldon discov- 
 ered him with the aid of his " water-scope,"
 
 4 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 that Joe got His canoe back (a little the worse 
 for his captivity, it must be confessed, for there 
 was a gaping wound in his side), and that the 
 money quickly found its way into the hands 
 of the officers of the Irvington bank, from whom 
 it had been stolen by the two sneak-thieves 
 who were finally captured by Mr. Swan and 
 his party. 
 
 Before this happened Matt Coyle's wife and 
 boys had been shut up in the New London jail 
 to await their trial, which was to come off as 
 soon as Matt himself had been arrested. The 
 truth of the matter was, the Indian Lake 
 guides were so incensed at Matt for his daring 
 and persistent efforts to break up their busi- 
 ness and to ruin the two hotels at the lake, 
 that they threatened to make short work of 
 him and all his worthless tribe ; and as the 
 guides were men who never said a thing of this 
 sort unless they meant it, the authorities were 
 of opinion that the old woman and the boys 
 would be safer in the New London lock-up 
 than they would be if confined in the tumble- 
 down calaboose at Irvington. But now it 
 appeared that Matt Coyle could not be arrested
 
 IN WHICH I MAKE MY BOW. 5 
 
 and brought to trial, for the good and sufficient 
 reason that he was dead. He was drowned 
 when the canvas canoe was snagged and sunk. 
 Joe Wayring and his chums declared, from 
 the first, that if the squatter had attempted to 
 run out of the river into Sherwin's Pond dur- 
 ing the freshet that prevailed at the time of his 
 flight, he had surely come to grief. If three 
 strong boys, who were expert with the oars, 
 could not pull a light skiff against the current 
 that ran out of the pond, how could Matt Coyle 
 hope to stem it in a heavily-loaded canoe and 
 with a single paddle ? If he had been foolish 
 enough to try it, he would never be heard of 
 again until his body was picked up somewhere 
 in the neighborhood of the State hatchery. The 
 finding of the canoe and his valuable cargo at 
 the bottom of the river led others to Joe's way 
 of thinking, and it was finally conceded on all 
 hands that the squatter would never again rob 
 unguarded camps, or renew his attempts to 
 " break up the business of guiding." Nothing 
 remained, then, but to remove his wife and 
 boys to Irvington and hold them for trial at 
 the next term of the circuit court. The grand
 
 6 THE STEEL IIOESE. 
 
 jury first took the matter in hand, and Joe 
 Wayring and his chums, much to their dis- 
 gust, were summoned to appear before it as 
 witnesses. 
 
 When Tom Bigden and his cousins, Loren 
 and Ralph Farnsworth, heard of that, they 
 shook in their boots. And well they might ; 
 for, as you know, Tom was accessory to some 
 of Matt' s violations of the law. More than that, 
 rumor said that the old woman had told all she 
 knew, and that she had even gone so far as to 
 assure the officers of the Irvington Bank that 
 she and her family would not have been half 
 so bad as they were, if one Tom Bigden had not 
 advised and urged them to commit crime. 
 
 "It's all over with me, boys," groaned Tom, 
 when one of his school-fellows incidentally re- 
 marked in his hearing that lie had seen Joe 
 Wayring and his two friends take the train for 
 Irvington that morning to testify before the 
 grand jury. " You know Joe is jealous of 
 me and that he will do anything he can to in- 
 jure me." 
 
 " Well, " said Ralph, plunging his hands 
 deep into his pockets and looking thoughtfully
 
 IN WHICH I MAKE MY BOW. 7 
 
 at the ground, "what would you do to a fel- 
 low who was the means of having you tied to 
 a tree with a fair prospect of a good beating 
 with hickory switches on your bare back ? 
 Would you be friendly to him or feel like 
 shielding him from punishment?" 
 
 " But I didn't tell Matt to tie Joe Wayring 
 to a tree and thrash him, " retorted Tom. " I 
 never thought of such a thing." 
 
 " I didn't say you did, " replied Ralph. " I 
 said you were the cause of it, and so you were ; 
 for you told Matt that you had seen the valises 
 that contained the six thousand stolen dollars 
 in Joe's camp-basket." 
 
 "Matt was a fool to believe it," said Loren. 
 "One little camp-basket wouldn't hold both 
 those gripsacks." 
 
 "That doesn't alter the facts of the case," 
 answered Ralph. ' ' Matt did believe the story, 
 ridiculous as it was, and Tom's fate is in the 
 hands of a boy whom we have abused and 
 bothered in all possible ways ever since we 
 have been here." 
 
 "And we didn't have the slightest reason 
 or excuse for it," added Loren.
 
 8 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 " So you're going back on me, are you ? " ex- 
 claimed Tom. 
 
 "Not at all. We are simply telling you the 
 truth." 
 
 "Perhaps Joe doesn't know that Tom 
 put it into Matt's head to follow him and 
 his friends to No-Man's Pond," suggested 
 Loren. "I haven't heard a word said 
 about it." 
 
 "Neither have I ; but that's no proof that 
 Joe doesn't know all about it," answered 
 Ralph. 
 
 "Who do you think told him ? " asked Tom. 
 " It couldn't have been Matt Coyle, for I told 
 him particularly not to mention my name in 
 Joe's hearing, or drop a hint that would lead 
 him to suspect that Matt had seen me in the 
 Indian Lake country." 
 
 " The squatter didn't care tliat for your in- 
 junctions of secrecy," said Ralph, snapping 
 his fingers in the air. " What he said to you 
 during those interviews you held with him 
 ought to convince you that he would just as 
 soon get you into trouble as anybody else. 
 Being a social outcast, Matt believes in mak-
 
 IN WHICH I MAKE MY BOW. 9 
 
 ing war upon every one who is higher up in 
 the world than he is." 
 
 "Well," said Tom, with a sigh of resigna- 
 tion, " if Joe knows as much as you think he 
 does, my chances of getting out of the scrapes 
 I've got into are few and far between. He'll 
 tell everything, and be glad of the chance. 
 I wish from the bottom of my heart that we had 
 never seen or heard of Mount Airy." 
 
 ' ' Joe Wayring will tell nothing unless it is 
 forced out of him," said Ralph stoutly ; and 
 for the first time in his life Tom did not scowl 
 and double up his fists as he had been in the 
 habit of doing whenever either of his cousins 
 said anything in praise of the boy he hated 
 without a cause. If Joe was as honorable as 
 Ralph seem to think he was, Tom thought 
 he saw a chance to escape punishment for his 
 wrong-doing. "He'll not commit perjury nor 
 even stretch the truth to screen you," contin- 
 ued Ralph, as if he read the thoughts that were 
 passing in Tom's mind. "But he'll not vol- 
 unteer any evidence ; I am sure of that." 
 
 If Ralph had been one of Joe Wayring' s most 
 intimate friends he could not have read him bet-
 
 10 THE STEEL IIOESE. 
 
 ter. The latter was very much afraid that he 
 would be compelled to say something that 
 would criminate Tom, but to his surprise and 
 relief the members of the grand jury did not 
 seem to know that there was such a fellow in 
 the world as Tom Bigden, for they never once 
 mentioned his name. If the old woman and 
 her boys had tried to throw the blame for their 
 misdeeds upon his shoulders, they hadn't 
 made anything by it. All the jury cared for 
 was to find out just how much Joe and his 
 friends knew about the six thousand dollars 
 that had been stolen from the Irvington Bank ; 
 and as the boys knew but little about it, it did 
 not take them long to give their evidence. Fi- 
 nally one of the jurymen said : 
 
 " Matt Coyle bothered you a good deal by 
 stealing your canvas canoe and other property,, 
 I believe." 
 
 Joe replied that that was a fact. 
 
 * k Would you prosecute him for it, if you 
 had a chance ?" 
 
 Joe said he never expected to have a chance, 
 because Matt was dead. 
 
 " Perhaps he is, and perhaps he isn't," said
 
 IN WHICH I MAKE MY BOW. 11 
 
 the juryman, with a laugh. " Matt Coyle is a 
 hard case, if all I hear about him is true, and 
 it sorter runs in my mind that he will turn up 
 again some day, as full of meanness as he ever 
 was." 
 
 "You wouldn't think so if you could see 
 Indian River booming as it was on the day we 
 came home," said Joe, earnestly. "It must 
 have been a great deal worse when Matt saw 
 it, but he had the hardihood to face it." 
 
 " And went to the bottom," added Roy. 
 
 "Would you have the law on him for tying 
 you to a tree and threatening to wallop you 
 with switches ? " asked the juryman. 
 
 " No sir, I would not," said Joe, truthfully. 
 " All we ask of Matt Coyle or any other tramp 
 is to keep away from us and let us alone." 
 
 "Do you believe any one told Matt that you 
 had the bank's money and sent him to No- 
 Man's Pond to whip it out of you ? " 
 
 "No, I don't." 
 
 "Matt's boys stick to it that such is the 
 fact." 
 
 "I don't care what Matt's boys say or what 
 they stick to," answered Joe. "You can
 
 12 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 imagine what the evidence of such fellows as 
 they are amounts to. Folks who will steal are 
 not above lying, are they ? " 
 
 " That juryman isn't half as smart as he 
 thinks he is," said Roy, when he and his com- 
 panions had been dismissed with the informa- 
 tion that they might start 'for Mount Airy as 
 soon as they pleased. "I was awfully afraid 
 that his next question would be : ' Did you 
 ever hear that Tom Bigden was accessory to 
 Matt Coyle's assault upon you at ISTo-Man's 
 Pond?' You could not have wiggled out of 
 that corner, Mr. Wayring." 
 
 "I didn't wiggle out of any corner," an- 
 swered Joe. " I made replies to all the ques- 
 tions he asked me, didn't I ? That juryman 
 knew his business too well to ask me any such 
 question as that. My answer would have been 
 simply hearsay, and that's not evidence. See 
 the point?" 
 
 "Why, didn't Jake Coyle declare in your 
 hearing that Tom Bigden told his father that 
 the money was in your camp-basket?" de- 
 manded Arthur. 
 
 "Well, what's that but hearsay? Do you
 
 IN WHICH I MAKE MY BOW. 13 
 
 expect me to take Jake's word for anything? 
 I didn't hear Tom tell him so." 
 
 "K"o; but you have as good proof as any 
 sensible boy needs that Tom did it. If not, 
 why did Matt fly into such a rage at the men- 
 tion of his name, and cut Jake's face so un- 
 mercifully with that switch ? " 
 
 "I don't believe that would pass for evi- 
 dence, although it might lead the jury to put 
 a little more faith in Jake's story and Sam's," 
 answered Joe. " We didn't come here to get 
 Tom into trouble. Didn't they say at the 
 start that all they wanted of us was to tell 
 what we knew about that money? We've 
 done that, and my conscience is clear. I think 
 Tom will take warning and mind what he is 
 about in future." 
 
 "I'll bet you he won't," Roy declared. 
 " He'll get you into difficulty of some sort the 
 very first good chance he gets." 
 
 " If he does, and I can fasten it on him, I'll 
 give him such a punching that his cousins 
 won't know him when they see him. I'm get- 
 ting tired of this sort of work, and I'll not put 
 up with it any longer. If Tom will not leave
 
 14 THE STEEL HOUSE. 
 
 off bothering us of his own accord, I'll make 
 him." 
 
 In due time the jury returned a "true bill" 
 against Jake Coyle for burglary. Mr. Has- 
 kins had little difficulty in proving that Jake 
 broke the fastenings of his door before he 
 robbed the cellar, gave a list of the things he 
 had lost, and Rube Roy all, the watchman at 
 the hatchery, testified that those same articles 
 appeared on Matt Coyle' s table on the follow- 
 ing morning. Jake went to the House of 
 Refuge for five years ; but nothing could be 
 proved against Sam and the old woman, and 
 they were turned over to a justice of the 
 peace to be tried for vagrancy. They got 
 ninety days each in the New London work- 
 house. 
 
 "There, Ralph," said Tom, when he read 
 this welcome news in his father's paper. 
 "You said Matt Coyle didn't care the snap of 
 his finger for my wishes, but now you see that 
 you were mistaken, don't you? Matt never 
 told Joe Wayring that I sent them to his camp 
 after that money, and his boys didn't blab it, 
 either. If they had, Joe would have said some-
 
 IN WHICH I MAKE MY BOW. 15 
 
 thing about it when lie was brought before the 
 grand jury." 
 
 "Well, what are you going to do to Joe 
 now?" inquired his cousin. "I mean, what 
 kind of a scrape are you going to get into 
 next?" 
 
 "I do not intend to get into any scrape," 
 answered Tom ; and when he said it he meant 
 it. "I shall treat Joe and everybody who 
 likes him with the contempt they deserve. I 
 wish I might never see them again. I tell you, 
 fellows, I feel as if a big load had been taken 
 from my shoulders. Matt will never again de- 
 mand that I shall act as receiver for the prop- 
 erty he steals, his vagabond family are safe 
 under lock and key, I am free from suspicion, 
 and what more could I ask for ? For once in 
 my life I am perfectly happy." 
 
 But, as it happened, Tom was not long per- 
 mitted to live in this very enviable frame of 
 mind not more than a couple of hours, to be 
 exact. Of late he had stayed pretty close 
 around the house when he was not at school. 
 He could not bear to loaf about the village, as 
 he used to do, for fear that he might hear
 
 16 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 something annoying. But on this particular 
 day (it was Saturday) he was so light of heart 
 that he could not keep still, so he proposed a 
 walk and a cigar. He and his cousins did not 
 mind smoking on the streets now, for they had 
 long ago given up all hope of ever being ad- 
 mitted to the ranks of the Toxoph elites. But 
 their desire to belong to that crack and some- 
 what exclusive organization was as strong as 
 ever. Another thing, they were not on as 
 friendly terms with the drug-store crowd as 
 they used to be. A decision rendered by um- 
 pire Bigden during a game of ball excited the 
 ire of George Prime and some of his friends, and 
 as the weeks rolled on the dispute waxed so 
 hot that on more than one occasion the ad- 
 herents of both sides had been called on to 
 interfere to keep George and Tom from coming 
 to blows over it. Ralph reminded his cousin 
 of this when the latter proposed a walk and a 
 cigar. 
 
 "Oh, Prime has forgotten all about it before 
 this time," said Tom confidently. "He has 
 had abundant leisure to recover his good- 
 nature, for the fuss began last fall."
 
 IN WHICH I MAKE MY BOW. 17 
 
 " Don't you owe him something ? " 
 
 " Yes ; about fifty cents or so. But George 
 isn't mean enough to raise a row about a little 
 thing like that," 
 
 Ralph and Loren had their own ideas on that 
 point ; and when they walked into the drug 
 store and looked at the face Prime brought 
 with him when he came up to the cigar-stand, 
 they told themselves that if the clerk had had 
 opportunity to recover his good-nature, he 
 certainly had not improved it. He looked as 
 sour as a green apple. 
 
 "Hallo, George," said Tom, cordially. 
 
 " How are you ! " was the gruff reply. 
 
 ' ' Fine day outside, ' ' continued Tom. ' * Been 
 sleigh-riding much ? " 
 
 " A time or two. What do you want ? " 
 
 " Some cigars, please." 
 
 Prime languidly reached his hand into the 
 show-case and brought out a box. 
 
 "Chalk these, will you ?" said Tom, after 
 he and his cousin had made their selections. 
 
 Without saying a word the clerk turned 
 and walked toward the prescription counter 
 at the back part of the store. Tom evidently
 
 18 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 thought the matter settled, for he gave Ralph 
 the wink, lighted his cigar and was about to 
 go out when Prime called to him. Tom faced 
 around, and saw that he held in his hand 
 something that looked like a package of bills. 
 
 "I'll chalk this, because you've got the 
 cigars and I can't very well help myself," said 
 Prime, as he came up. " But the next time 
 you want anything in our line you had better 
 come prepared to settle up. Do you know 
 how much you owe the house ? " 
 
 "I've kept a pretty close run of it," said 
 Tom shortly, "and I guess seventy-five cents 
 will foot the bill. These weeds are three for a 
 quarter, I suppose ? " 
 
 "That's the price; but you owed me just 
 four times seventy-five cents before you got 
 these last three. There's your bill 1 " 
 
 Tom opened his eyes when he heard this. 
 He picked up the paper that Prime tossed upon 
 the show-case before him r and saw that, if the 
 figures on it told the truth, he had smoked 
 much oftener than he supposed. 
 
 "George, "said he, as soon as he could 
 speak, " I don't owe you three dollars."
 
 IN WHICH I MAKE MY BOW. 19 
 
 " You owe me three dollars and a quarter, 
 counting in the three you just got," was 
 Prime's reply. 
 
 "I say I don't; and what's more to the 
 point, I won't pay it. If you want to impose 
 upon somebody and make him pay for cigars 
 that you have smoked yourself, try some one 
 else. You can't come it over me." 
 
 " You mean to repudiate your honest debts, 
 do you ? " said Prime hotly. " Well, I don't 
 know that I ought to have expected anything 
 else of you. A fellow who will associate with 
 tramps and thieves, as you have done ever 
 since you poked your meddlesome nose into 
 Mount Airy, is capable of anything.'' 
 
 " Look here," said Tom, his face growing 
 red and pale by turns. "Step out from 
 behind the counter and say that again, will 
 you?" 
 
 " I can talk just as well from where I stand," 
 was Prime's answer ; and then he clenched one 
 of his hands and pounded lightly upon the 
 top of the show-case while he looked fixedly at 
 Tom. "Perhaps you think because you were 
 in the woods when these things happened that
 
 20 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 the folks in Mount Airy don' t know all about 
 them," lie went on. 
 
 "What things?" Tom managed to ask, 
 while Ralph and Loren nerved themselves for 
 what was coming. 
 
 " What things ! " repeated Prime, in a tone 
 that almost drove Tom frantic. "Don't you 
 suppose I know as well as you do that when 
 Matt Coyle stole Joe Wayring's canvas canoe 
 a year ago last summer, he did it with your 
 knowledge and consent ? I will say more than 
 that. You urged him to take it." 
 
 " Why why, you 1 ' Tom began, and then 
 he paused. There was a look on Prime's face 
 which told him that there was more behind ; 
 and now that he was in for it, Tom thought it 
 would be a good plan to iind out just how 
 much the Mount Airy people knew of his 
 dealings with the squatter. 
 
 "It has all come out on you," continued 
 Prime. "And I know, too, that it was 
 through the information you gave him that 
 Matt followed Wayring to No-Man's Pond and 
 committed that assault upon him." 
 
 " The idea ! " exclaimed Tom, trying to look
 
 IIST WHICH I MAKE MY BOW. 21 
 
 surprised, though inwardly he quaked with 
 fear. ' ' I never told Matt to follow Joe Way- 
 ring to No-Man's Pond. I never saw him 
 while I was in the woods, did I, boys?" he 
 added, appealing to his cousins. 
 
 "I know a story worth half a dozen of that," 
 said the clerk, before either Ralph or Loren 
 could collect their wits for a reply. "Some of 
 the sportsmen who were stopping at one of the 
 Indian Lake hotels saw you wait for him at a 
 certain place for more than an hour ; and when 
 at last Matt arrived, you held quite a lengthy 
 consultation with him." 
 
 Tom was so amazed that he could not utter 
 a word. Prime seemed to have the story pretty 
 straight so straight, in fact, that Loren did 
 not think it best for him to deny it ; so he 
 hastened -to say: 
 
 " If all these ridiculous things which you say 
 you have heard are true, how does it happen 
 that they did not come before the Grand 
 Jury?" 
 
 "There were two good reasons for it," 
 answered Prime. "In the first place, there 
 was no one to appear against Tom ; and in the
 
 22 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 second, Jake Coyle, who was the only one of the 
 family tried before the Circuit Court, was not 
 accused of stealing the canoe or of making an 
 assault upon Joe Wayring. He was charged 
 with breaking open the door of Haskins's 
 cellar, and for that he received his sentence. 
 If Matt Coyle had been on trial, there would 
 have been other and more interesting develop- 
 ments. I tell you, Mr. Bigden, it was a lucky 
 thing for you that he was drowned." 
 
 "Now, let me say a word in your private 
 ear," said Tom, who had had time to take a 
 hasty review of the situation. " There is such 
 a thing as wagging your tongue too freely, 
 and it constitutes an offense of which the law 
 sometimes takes notice. You don't want to 
 publish the outrageous stories you pretend to 
 have heard of me. They are false from be- 
 ginning to end." 
 
 "Why, bless your heart, I can't publish 
 them," answered the clerk, with a most pro- 
 voking laugh. "The facts are as well known 
 to other folks as they are to me. Every man. 
 boy, and girl you meet on the street knows 
 them by heart."
 
 IN WHICH I MAKE MY BOW. 23 
 
 This astounding piece of news fairly stag- 
 gered Tom. While he was trying to frame a 
 suitable rejoinder a party of ladies came into 
 the store, and the clerk hastened away to at- 
 tend to them. This gave Tom and his cousins 
 an opportunity to escape, and they were prompt 
 to avail themselves of it. 
 
 ''Worse and worse !" exclaimed Loren, as 
 soon as he could speak freely without fear of 
 being overheard. "Tom, Tom, what have you 
 brought upon yourself ! " 
 
 * ' I was afraid that something of this kind 
 would be sprung upon me sooner or later," 
 groaned the guilty boy. "Every girl I meet 
 on the street knows all about it," he added, 
 recalling the clerk's last words. "I don't be- 
 lieve it. Or, if they have heard about it, they 
 don't take any stock in it, for I have received 
 just as many invitations and gone to as many 
 parties as I ever did. Can you two raise three 
 dollars and a quarter between you ? Then lend 
 it to me, and I will get Prime's debt off my 
 mind without a moment's delay." 
 
 "That's the idea," said Ralph, approvingly. 
 " Go now while those ladies are in the store,
 
 24 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 and lie can't say anything more to annoy 
 you." 
 
 Loren had a five-dollar bill which he handed 
 over, and Tom got it broken at the most con- 
 venient place, because he did not want to wait 
 for Prime to make change. He laid the exact 
 amount of his indebtedness upon the counter, 
 pocketed his receipted bill, and left the store 
 firmly resolved that he would never cross its 
 threshold again.
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE STRANGE WHEELMAN. 
 
 LOREN and Ralph often declared that if 
 Tom Bigden's "cheek" had not been 
 " monumental," he never could have lived 
 through the winter as he did. He went every- 
 where, and although, to quote from the 
 Canvas Canoe, he did not " shoot off his chin " 
 qutte as much as he formerly did, or take as 
 deep an interest in things, he did not by any 
 means keep in the background, as most boys 
 would have done under like circumstances. 
 As time wore on, he and his cousins began tell- 
 ing one another that Prime did not confine 
 himself to the truth when he said that every 
 one in the village knew how intimate -Tom and 
 Matt Coyle had been during the two last sum- 
 mers, for certainly he was as well treated and 
 as cordially received wherever he went as he 
 ever was. Joe Wa}*ring and his friends always
 
 26 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 had a good word for him, and that went far 
 toward satisfying Tom that they did not be- 
 lieve he had anything to do with the loss of 
 the canvas canoe or with the No-Man's Pond 
 affair. It was not long before their example 
 and silent influence began to tell upon Tom, 
 who more than once astonished his cousins by 
 saying, in their hearing, that he believed it 
 would be worth while for him to turn over a 
 new leaf and try to lead a better life. 
 
 Meanwhile Joe and his chums thoroughly 
 enjoyed themselves in a quiet way, as boys 
 always do when they have abounding health, 
 clear consciences, and plenty of things around 
 them to make life pleasant. In company with 
 some of their school-fellows, of whom Tom 
 Bigden and his cousins generally made three, 
 they paid several visits to Indian River to fish 
 through the ice for pickerel, going Friday 
 night and returning Saturday. They saw any 
 amount of sport during these short outings, 
 and always brought home a fine string of fish ; 
 but they never drew so valuable a prize from 
 the river as Joe and his friends did when they 
 went there during the winter vacation. JSToth-
 
 THE STRANGE WHEELMAN. 27 
 
 ing ever happened to mar their pleasure 
 during these encampments, not even when 
 Roy took Tom Bigden to task somewhat 
 sharply for shooting a grouse after the first of 
 January. Tom pleaded ignorance of the law, 
 promised never to do it again, and so the 
 offense was overlooked. 
 
 But winter with its storms and drifts and 
 sports passed away, and spring came with the 
 usual alternations of driving rains and high 
 winds which quickly cleared the lake of ice, 
 and made the huge limbs of the grand old 
 trees on the lawn sway about in every direc- 
 tion. Finally the croaking of frogs was heard 
 from the marshes and the maple buds ap- 
 peared ; whereupon sleds, skates and tobog- 
 gans were tumbled unceremoniously into some 
 convenient corner, to be taken care of when 
 other duties were not quite so pressing, and Joe 
 and his inseparable companions shouldered their 
 double-barrels and sallied out in search of 
 snipe. But in due time hunting gave way to 
 trout-fishing ; and I have heard it said that 
 Old Durability held his own, and captured 
 quite as many fish as any rod that was brought
 
 28 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 into competition with him. Occasionally I 
 heard Joe boast over some extra fine strings 
 Fly-rod had taken for him ; but as I was kept 
 closely confined to my quarters I did not see 
 them. 
 
 At last my time came. As soon as the spring 
 rains ceased and the mud disappeared and the 
 roads became ridable, I was taken out for a 
 spin. At first Joe rode with considerable cau- 
 tion, for he was afraid (so he told his chums) 
 that I might "kick up and throw him"; but 
 his skill came back with practice, and before a 
 week had passed we were on exceedingly good 
 terms. He devoted nearly all his leisure time 
 to me, and although he kept up his member- 
 ship with the various organizations to which 
 he belonged, he was not unfrequently called 
 upon to hand over a fine that had been im- 
 posed upon him for non-attendance of drills 
 and parades. Of course the annual review of 
 the Mount Airy Fire Department was not for- 
 gotten, but the canoe meet was, and for the 
 first time in years the summer passed without 
 a single struggle for the championship of 
 Mirror Lake. The boys who were enthusiastic
 
 THE STRANGE WHEELMAN. 29 
 
 canoeists twelve months ago were earnest 
 wheelmen now. 
 
 As soon as the weather became settled a new 
 question presented itself to Joe Wayring and 
 his friends, and it was one that could not be 
 decided at a moment's notice. Up to ihis time 
 it had been understood that there was but one 
 place at which their summer vacation could be 
 passed, and that place was Indian Lake ; but 
 four weeks of comparative inactivity were not 
 to be thought of this year. 
 
 "Of course if we go to the lake we shall 
 have more fishing and see less excitement than 
 we did last year and the year before, because 
 Matt Coyle will not be there to trouble us," 
 said Arthur. " But rolling about on a blan- 
 ket under the shade of an evergreen is slow 
 work compared with a brisk run over good 
 roads on a horse who never tires, and who asks 
 nothing but a good rubbing, and no oats, when 
 his day's task is done, to keep him in good 
 trim. Camping out makes a fellow too lazy 
 for any use ; and I am not as much in favor of 
 being lazy as I used to be." 
 
 "It is quite the fashion for wheelmen to
 
 30 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 start Gff singly or in small parties, and travel 
 through the country and see what they can 
 find that is worth looking at," said Roy. 
 "Let's send for a guide-book and go some- 
 where/' 
 
 "That's what I say," replied Joe. "But 
 what guide-book shall we send for, and where 
 shall we go? " 
 
 "Through our own State, of course. Uncle 
 Joe Wayring says that a fellow ought not to 
 visit foreign countries until he has seen the 
 wonders of his own." 
 
 " Of course it is a settled thing that we three 
 spend this vacation on the road," said Joe. 
 "And when we start, I propose that we go 
 prepared to stop wherever night overtakes us. 
 Then if we can't find a hotel, or if the farmers 
 object to taking in strangers who have no let- 
 ters of introduction, we can camp by the 
 road- side, and snap our fingers at people 
 who live in houses and sleep under shingle 
 roofs." 
 
 " How about the grub ? " said Arthur. 
 
 " Oh, that'll be all right. We do not intend 
 to go outside of a fence, and consequently we
 
 THE STRANGE WHEELMAN. 31 
 
 can purchase supplies anywhere along the 
 road." 
 
 "We mustn't forget to take our pocket 
 fishing- tackle cases with us and say, fellows," 
 exclaimed Roy, suddenly interrupting him- 
 self, "I saw an advertisement the other day, 
 of a Stevens rifle furnished with a bicycle 
 case, and it struck me at once that it would be 
 a nice thing to have along on a trip of this 
 kind. If we have one or two of those handy 
 little weapons in the party, we can shoot a 
 mess of young squirrels as often as we get 
 hungry between times." 
 
 " I wish we had just one more year on our 
 shoulders," said Arthur, " for then we could 
 apply for admittance to the League of Ameri- 
 can Wheelmen. No doubt we would find 
 friends in it who could give us pointers." 
 
 " The year will pass soon enough, and when 
 it has gone you may wish it back again," re- 
 plied Joe. " It makes no difference if we are 
 not in the League. Wheelmen are always 
 good to one another, and I shall make it my 
 business to bounce every strange bicyclist 
 who comes to town, if I can catch him. If he
 
 32 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 lias been on the road I will get some ideas out 
 of him before I let up." 
 
 Roy and Arthur said that was a suggestion 
 worth acting upon, and the three made such 
 good use of the opportunities that were con- 
 stantly presented that by the time the school 
 term was ended and the long vacation came, 
 they considered themselves fully posted on all 
 important matters relating to their proposed 
 run across the State and back. The strange 
 wheelmen who now and then ran into Mount 
 Airy for a day or two .proved to be a jolly, 
 companionable lot of fellows, and full of 
 stories of the road which they were as 
 ready to tell as the boys were to listen to 
 them. 
 
 "Let me give you one word of warning," 
 said a bronzed bicyclist, who had come all the 
 way from Omaha on his wheel: "Do not 
 neglect your training for a single day. "I've 
 no doubt that you can run all round this little 
 burg without feeling any the worse for it, but 
 you will find that three or four days in the 
 saddle will test your endurance. I remember 
 of hearing of a couple of wheelmen who started
 
 THE STRANGE WHEELMAN. 33 
 
 to run from Cleveland to Buffalo. They made 
 no special preparation for the journey, believ- 
 ing, no doubt, that their short daily runs had 
 sufficiently hardened their muscles ; but when 
 they reached their destination they were in a 
 somewhat demoralized. condition. They hung 
 around the Genesee House for a day or two, 
 and took the cars when they wanted to go 
 home." 
 
 "We'll never do that," said Arthur. "If 
 our wheels take us away from home they must 
 bring us back." 
 
 "Well," said the Veteran, "you will find 
 that it will take a good many motions with 
 the pedals to carry you over a journey of seven 
 hundred miles ; but get yourselves in good 
 trim before you start, inquire your way at 
 every place you stop, steer clear of tramps, 
 look out for skittish horses, keep off the tow- 
 path, don't get mad if you meet some old 
 curmudgeon who will not give you your share 
 of the road, and you will come out all right 
 and have a splendid time besides. You'll 
 sleep as you never slept before, eat every 
 crumb placed within your reach on the table,
 
 34 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 and handle things as though there was no 
 break to them." 
 
 " Why should we give the tow-path a wide 
 berth?" inquired Roy. "Our guide-book 
 says that the road from New London to 
 Blooming-dale is knee-deep in sand, and ad- 
 vises all wheelmen going that way to take to 
 the tow-path." 
 
 "You'll find the unspeakable mule there," 
 replied their new friend, "and he'll get you 
 into trouble with the canalers. Now, a mule 
 doesn't care any more for a bike than he does 
 for the boat he is towing; but he pretends 
 that he is very much afraid of it. I have seen 
 them turn like a flash and run as if they were 
 scared half to death : but it was all put on, for 
 they were always careful to stop before they 
 took up all the slack in the tow-line, and got 
 themselves jerked off off the path into the 
 canal. Of course that makes the steersman 
 mad, and he tells you what he thinks of you 
 and your wheel in the first words that come 
 into his mind. Besides, a fellow on a bike 
 offers so tempting a mark that no canal boy I 
 ever saw can resist firing a stone at him. If
 
 THE STKANGE WHEELMAN. 35 
 
 he don' t throw at you, it will be because he 
 can't find anything before you get out of 
 
 range." 
 
 f 
 ' If a fellow should try that on me I'd run 
 
 him down and give him such a thrashing that 
 he'd not trouble the next wheelman who came 
 along,'' said Tom Bigden, who happened to 
 come up while the conversation was in prog- 
 ress. 
 
 " I wouldn't advise you to try it," said the 
 stranger, with alight laugh. " In the first place 
 you couldn't catch him, for as soon as he 
 saw that you were overhauling him, he would 
 leave the tow-path and take to the rocks ; and 
 while you were following him, if you were fool- 
 ish enough to do it, some of his companions 
 would run up and tumble your machine into 
 the canal. The easiest way is the best." 
 
 " I suppose we shall find the country people 
 all right ? " said Joe. 
 
 " W-e-1-1, yes ; the majority of them are 
 all right, but no\v and then you will find a 
 mean one even among the farmers, who will 
 tell you that your machines are a nuisance be- 
 cause they scare the horses ; and if you meet
 
 36 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 such a man as that on the road, he'-ll take par- 
 ticular pains to crowd you off into the ditch. 
 Take it by and large, the road is an admirable 
 school for young fellows like you. You've 
 got to take the bad with the good in this world, 
 and make up your mind's that what can't be 
 cured must be endured." 
 
 " So it seems that even 'cycling has its shad- 
 owy side," said Roy, as he and his friends 
 walked homeward after thanking the Omaha 
 wheelman for the advice and information he 
 had given them. " Tramps and conalers must 
 be avoided, and we mustn't get angry when 
 some crusty old fellow pushes us off the 
 road." 
 
 "And there are the dogs," said Arthur. 
 But he didn't say anything about them, did 
 he?" 
 
 "No; but other wheelmen have, and I 
 should think that in some places (in the South, 
 for instance, where every granger keeps half 
 a dozen or more worthless curs around him) 
 they would be a big source of annoyance," 
 said Joe. " But others have gone through all 
 right, and we are going, too."
 
 THE STRANGE WHEELMAN. 37 
 
 " I wonder if Tom Bigden and his cousin are 
 going anywhere," said Arthur. " If they are 
 I hope they will take some route that will 
 lead them out of our line of travel." 
 
 The others hoped so, too. While they tried 
 to live in peace with Tom, they did not care 
 to have him for a traveling companion. 
 
 Joe and his chums thought it best to heed 
 the Omaha man's friendly word of caution, 
 and if they had ridden hard before, they rode 
 harder now. A ten-mile spin in the cool of 
 the evening was an every-day occurrence. Of 
 course they did not ride on Sunday, and, fur- 
 thermore, they did not think much of a fellow 
 who did. 
 
 The morning set for the start dawned clear 
 and bright, and after an early breakfast Joe 
 AVuyring waved his adieu to the family who 
 had assembled on the porch to see him off, and 
 wheeled gaily out of his father's grounds just 
 in time to meet Arthur Hastings. Picking up 
 Roy Sheldon a few minutes later, the three 
 set olf at a lively pace over a good road, their 
 long journey being fairly begun. The trunks 
 which contained most of their luggage had
 
 38 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 been forwarded to the wheelmen's headquar- 
 ters at New London, with the request that 
 they might be held until called for ; but several 
 handy little articles, which they might need 
 at any time, were made up into neat bundles 
 and tied to their safely-bars. Of course their 
 lamps and cyclometers were in their places, 
 and so were their Buffalo tool-bags ; and each 
 boy carried slung over his shoulder a bicycle 
 gun-case containing a fourteen-inch pocket 
 rifle. They were innocent-looking little pop- 
 guns, but "spiteful things to shoot," and one 
 of them came very near bringing the boys 
 into serious trouble. 
 
 "I wouldn't take a oTollar for my chance of 
 enjoying myself this trip," said Roy, as he 
 wheeled into line behind his companions. 
 " During our two last outings Matt Coyle and 
 his interesting family made things quite too 
 lively to suit me, but they'll not bother us any 
 more. Now isn't this glorious? I remember 
 of reading somewhere that if one has a han- 
 kering for wings, and feels as if he would like 
 to glide out into space and leave the world 
 with its cares and troubles behind, all he
 
 THE STRAXGE WHEELMAN. 39 
 
 has to do is to buy a bicycle, and learn to 
 ride it." 
 
 Roy's companions must have felt a good 
 deal as he did, for both of them had something 
 to say about the "joys that no one but a 
 wheelman knows," but their exuberance of 
 spirit did not lead them to commit the blunder 
 of riding hard at the start. When they drew 
 up in front of wheelman's headquarters in 
 New London that night, their cyclometers 
 registered thirty-six miles ; not a very speedy 
 run, to be sure, but then they had not set out 
 with any intention of trying to break the 
 record. In accordance with their request the 
 hotel clerk assigned them to rooms "as close 
 together as he could get them," and after 
 seeing their wheels safely stored, the boys 
 disappeared for a while to remove all travel- 
 stains from their hands, faces and clothing. 
 Then they ate a hearty supper, and adjourned 
 to the reading-room to decide where they 
 wo.uld spend the evening. A long time had 
 elapsed since they last visited New London, 
 and they had planned to remain in the city 
 until they had taken a look at all the new
 
 40 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 things there were to be seen. That would take 
 three or four days, they thought ; but, as it 
 hoppened, some strange events occurred which 
 prolonged their stay, and threatened at one 
 time to bring their trip to an inglorious close. 
 
 "What's going on to-night, any way?" 
 said Arthur, picking up a paper and glancing 
 at the advertisements that appeared under 
 the heading " Amusements ! " " Some pianist, 
 with an unpronounceable name, assisted by a 
 celebrated baritone, is to hold forth at the 
 Academy of Music." 
 
 "Let's take that in," said Joe; and the 
 matter was settled, for all the boys liked to 
 listen to good music. 
 
 Having plenty of time at their disposal Joe 
 and his companions strolled leisurely along, 
 taking note of all that passed in their imme- 
 diate vicinity, and now and then stopping to 
 look in at a show-window, especially if it 
 chanced to be one in which bicycle goods or 
 hunting and fishing equipments were dis- 
 played. That, I believe, is characteristic of 
 people, both old and young, who are not ac- 
 customed to the sights of a big city a sort of
 
 THE STRAKGE WHEELMAN". 41 
 
 distinguishing trait, so to speak. At any rate 
 the interest that Joe and his chums seemed to 
 take in the well-filled windows attracted the 
 attention of a spruce young fellow, who after 
 following them for an entire block, and look- 
 ing up and down the street as if to make sure 
 that his movements were unobserved, stepped 
 up to the nearest of the boys and tapped him 
 on the shoulder. 
 
 "Beg pardon," said he, smilingly, as Arthur 
 Hastings turned and faced him. "You young 
 gentlemen are wheelmen, I take it." 
 
 Arthur replied that the stranger had hit 
 center the very first time trying. 
 
 "Members of the L. A. WJ" 
 
 " K"o, but we hope to be next year. You 
 see we are not quite eighteen yet. Do you 
 ride?" 
 
 " Certainly. Owned a bike ever since I was 
 knee-high to a duck. Wouldn't know how to 
 exist without it. Going anywhere ? If you 
 are, perhaps some of us can be of assistance to 
 you." 
 
 "You're very kind, and I'm sure we are 
 obliged to you," said Arthur. "We've
 
 42 THE STEEL HOUSE. 
 
 always found wheelmen ready to tell us any- 
 thing we wanted to know." 
 
 "Best lot of fellows in the world," replied 
 the stranger, with enthusiasm. "And the 
 best of it is, you will find them wherever you 
 you go. A wheel is a passport to the best 
 society in the land. You don't live in the 
 city ? I thought not. You are from the 
 country." 
 
 "What makes you think that?" inquired 
 Joe. 
 
 "Didn't we get it all off ?" exclaimed Roy, 
 turning first one side, then the other, and giv- 
 ing his uniform a good looking-over. "I'm 
 sure I used my brush the best I knew how." 
 
 "Yes, it is pretty dusty, that's a fact," said 
 the stranger. "I ought to know, for I have 
 been on the road myself to-day. There's 
 nothing about you or your uniforms to attract 
 attention, but I knew you were from the 
 country the minute I put my eyes on you, 
 because you are so careless with your money. 
 Look at that. If it hadn' t been for me you 
 would have lost it, beyond a doubt." 
 
 So saying he held out his hand and exhibited
 
 THE STRANGE WHEELMAN. 43 
 
 a well-filled purse ; whereupon all the boys 
 instinctively thrust their hands into their 
 pockets. 
 
 "If it wasn't so full I should think it was 
 mine. No, it does not belong to me, although 
 it looks enough like my purse to be its twin 
 brother," said Joe, after he had made sure 
 that his modest sum of pocket-money was safe. 
 
 "It doesn't belong to me, either," added 
 Roy. 
 
 "And I am sure it isn't mine," chimed in 
 Arthur. " Where did you find it ? " 
 
 " Right down there, close to your feet," re- 
 plied the stranger, indicating the exact spot. 
 "It must belong to one of you, for I know it 
 wasn't there when I stopped at this window 
 not two minutes ago to look at those bicycle 
 stockings. What shall I do with it ? I've got 
 to leave town on the first train." 
 
 "Give it to a policeman," suggested Roy. 
 "He'll take care of it and find the owner, too." 
 
 " Well, you are a greeny, that's a fact," ex- 
 claimed the stranger, in tones that were very 
 different from those he had thus far used in 
 addressing the boys. " Can't jou see that the
 
 44 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 purse is chuck full, and don' t you know that 
 the owner will be willing to give something 
 handsome to get it back ? There'll be a big re- 
 ward offered for it in to-morrow's papers, 
 and" 
 
 " I don't know who would be mean enough 
 to demand a reward for restoring lost prop- 
 erty," said Roy, with a slight accent of con- 
 tempt in his voice. 
 
 " I fail to see where the meanness comes in. 
 What is there to hinder me from keeping the 
 whole of it? But I was taught to be honest, 
 and if I had time to stop over and take this 
 money to the owner to-morrow, I should thank- 
 fully pocket the fifty or hundred dollars that 
 he would be sure to give me, and think none 
 the less of myself for doing it. "Say," added 
 the stranger, sinking his voice to a confidential 
 whisper, "I'll tell you what I'll do with you 
 fellows, seeing you're wheelmen. I'll give the 
 purse into your keeping for twenty-five dollars, 
 and in the morning you can claim the reward. 
 I haven't the least doubt' that you will make a 
 hundred dollars by it. Why, just look here," 
 he continued, lifting the catch and exposing to
 
 THE STRANGE WHEELMAN. 45 
 
 view a big roll of greenbacks. ' ' There' s money, 
 I tell you, and the reward you will receive for 
 restoring it will pay all your expenses during 
 a pretty long bicycle tour. I wouldn't think 
 of trusting every one as I am willing to trust 
 you, but seeing that you belong to the frater- 
 nityeh?" 
 
 Roy and Arthur were plainly becoming dis- 
 gusted with their new acquaintance. They 
 opened their lips to utter an indignant refusal 
 of his generous offer ; but before they could 
 say a word, Joe Wayring spoke up. 
 
 "I'll take you," said he, quietly. 
 
 " All right," said the stranger briskly, while 
 Roy and Arthur were struck dumb with amaze- 
 ment. "You are the most sensible man in 
 your party meaning no offense to your friends, 
 of course." 
 
 "Why. Joe," began Roy, as soon as he 
 found his tongue. 
 
 But Joe shook his head and waved his open 
 hands up and down in the air, indicating by 
 this pantomime that his mind was made up, 
 and it would be of no use for his friends to 
 argue the matter.
 
 46 THE STEEL IIOESE. 
 
 "It's all right," said lie, when he had suc- 
 ceeded in silencing them. "If there are a 
 hundred dollars to be made honestly, I don't 
 know why we should turn our backs upon it. 
 We've a long run before us, our expenses will 
 be heavy 
 
 "That's the idea ! " exclaimed the now smil- 
 ing stranger. "I don't suppose that your 
 fathers are as liberal with you as they might 
 be. I know mine wasn't, and that my supply 
 of pocket-money was mighty slim when I had 
 to depend upon him for it. Where's the 
 cash?" 
 
 " Hand over the purse," replied Joe. 
 
 "Let me see first that you have twenty-five 
 dollars to give me," was the answer. 
 
 "I'm a wheelman," said Joe, severely. 
 "And my machine is a passport to the best 
 society in the land eh ? " 
 
 "Of course ; of course. But you see 
 
 "And would I be admitted to the best society 
 in the land if I were untruthful or dishonest \ " 
 continued Joe, while his two friends wondered 
 what in the world he meant by addressing the 
 stranger in his own words. " Hand over what
 
 THE STRANGE WHEELMAN. 47 
 
 you have found, if you want me to make a 
 deal with you. We're from the country, you 
 know, and consequently we are suspicious of 
 every stranger we meet in the city. If you had 
 your passport I mean your wheel with you 
 now, why then I shouldn't be afraid of you." 
 
 " Haven't I showed you that I am perfectly 
 willing to trust you to return this big wad of 
 greenbacks to the owner ? Of course if I had 
 the faintest suspicion that you would not give 
 it to him 
 
 " I was taught to be honest, the same as you 
 were. Being a wheelman, I have no more in- 
 tention of taking advantage of you in any way 
 than you have of taking advantage of me." 
 
 So saying, Joe thrust his hand into his 
 pocket. Observing this movement, which 
 seemed to be indicative of a desire on the 
 young wheelman's part to have the negotia- 
 tions brought to a close, the stranger stepped 
 closer to him and slyly passed over the 
 purse. 
 
 " Be quick," said he, in a cautious whisper. 
 "Some one might see us." 
 
 "What if they do? " replied Joe, speaking
 
 48 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 in his usual tone of voice. "This is a fair, 
 square and honest transaction, as I under- 
 stand it. "If it isn't" 
 
 ' ' Of course ; of course it is. But don' t pub- 
 lish it. Be in a hurry, for a policeman might 
 happen along." 
 
 " Let him happen. We haven't done any- 
 thing to make us afraid of a policeman." 
 
 "There it is. Now hand out the twenty- 
 five dollars." 
 
 As soon as the fingers of Joe Wayring's 
 right hand closed about the article in ques- 
 tion, he took the other hand out of his 
 pocket ; but he brought it forth empty. 
 
 "I am very glad to see that you are not 
 afraid to trust a humble member of the noble 
 fraternity of wheelmen," said he, as he lifted 
 the catch and opened the purse. "Now, when 
 I take this money to its owner in the morn- 
 ing, he will pay the reward out of what it 
 contains, won't he? Well, I'll do the same 
 by you, and you may trust me to tell him (I 
 am a wheelman, you know) that I have 
 already paid twenty-five dollars to Hallo 1 
 Where are you going ? A bargain is a bar-
 
 THE STRANGE WHEELMAN. 49 
 
 gain. Come back and get your money. Moses 
 Taylor ! Where did he go in such haste ? " 
 
 Joe might well ask that. The place whereon 
 the strange wheelman had stood a second 
 before was vacant, and he had disappeared 
 from view.
 
 CHAPTER 111. 
 
 A CASE OF MISTAKEN IDENTITY. 
 
 r I THE expression that came upon Arthur's 
 JL face and Roy's when the sleek and 
 plausible stranger hurried away from them, 
 without waiting for the money that Joe was 
 getting ready to give him, was a study. Joe 
 gave them one quick glance, and then, utterly 
 heedless of the fact that he was drawing the 
 amused attention of many of the passing 
 crowd,, placed his hands upon his hips and 
 laughed not boisterously, as he would if he 
 had been in the woods or even in Mount Airy, 
 but none the less heartily. 
 
 " Was was it a bite ? " inquired Arthur, as 
 soon as he could speak. 
 
 "I should say it was," replied Joe, wiping 
 the tears from his eyes. "And you fellows 
 thought I was taken in by it. Don't you read 
 
 the papers,, you two ? Why, that game is old 
 50
 
 A CASE OF MISTAKEN IDENTITY. 51 
 
 enough to be gray-headed. No one ever tried 
 to play it on me before, but I recognized it in 
 a minute." 
 
 " I confess that I don't see where the trick 
 comes in," said Roy. 
 
 "Don't you? Well, look here. The reason 
 that fellow gave for turning the purse over to 
 us was because he couldn't wait until morning 
 to claim the reward that would surely be 
 offered for its recovery, being obliged to leave 
 town by the first train. Some folks would be- 
 lieve that story. The purse is fat enough to 
 excite the cupidity of a dishonest man, who, 
 nine times out of ten, will pay the sharper 
 out of his own pocket, rather than open the 
 purse and let him see what there is in it. 
 Now, suppose I had given that fellow twenty- 
 five good and lawful dollars of the Republic ; 
 let's see what I would have received in re- 
 turn." 
 
 As Joe said this he turned out the contents 
 of the purse, and Roy and Arthur discovered, 
 to their no small astonishment, that what they 
 had taken for a greenback was nothing more nor 
 less than the advertisement of a quack medi-
 
 62 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 cine, warranted to cure every conceivable form 
 of disease. It was wrapped around a roll of 
 brown paper, the ends being turned over to 
 hide it from view. 
 
 "He thought I would give him the money 
 he wanted out of my own pocket, 1 ' continued 
 Joe. "But when he found that I was not 
 quite so green, and that his little game would 
 be exposed in a minute more, and perhaps 
 in the presence of a policeman, he took him- 
 self off." 
 
 Yes, that was one reason why the sharper 
 left without taking time to say good-by, but 
 there was another that the boys knew nothing 
 about. I must speak of it here so that you 
 will be able to understand what happened 
 afterward. 
 
 Just as Joe Way ring was about to open the 
 purse, the sharper cast a furtive glance over 
 his shoulder and saw standing within a few 
 paces of him, and intently watching his every 
 movement, a short, thick-set man, dressed in a 
 plain gray suit. It was evident that the two 
 were not strangers to each other, for when the 
 man in gray scowled and jerked his thumb
 
 A CASE OF MISTAKEN IDENTITY. 3 
 
 over his shoulder, the sharper lost no time in 
 getting out of sight. At the same instant Roy 
 Sheldon turned his face that way, and the man 
 in the gray suit, as if afraid of being seen and 
 recognized, promptly wheeled about and looked 
 toward the street. But he did not lose sight 
 of the boys. He followed them to the Acad- 
 emy of Music, and sat within a few feet of 
 them during the whole of the performance. 
 
 "I'll chuck these things down there so that 
 they can never be used to fool anybody," said 
 Joe, when he and his friends had examined 
 the purse and its contents to their satisfaction, 
 and with the words he tossed the unlucky 
 sharper's stock in trade into an opening be- 
 tween the grating on which they stood and the 
 bottom of the store window. "I wonder what 
 he thinks of country wheelmen by this time." 
 
 " He was a pretty sleek talker, wasn't he ?" 
 said Roy. " Do you suppose he rides ? " 
 
 " No," answered Arthur, emphatically. ' ' He 
 is a professional swindler, and has no time to 
 devote to riding. Besides, such chaps don't 
 get into the L. A. W. Well, we've made a 
 very fair beginning ; only twelve hours from
 
 54 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 home, and one adventure to our credit already. 
 I hope if we have any more they will all turn 
 out as well as this one has." 
 
 Having been shown to their seats in the 
 Academy of Music, the boys devoted them- 
 selves to the business of the hour and forgot 
 all about the sharper and his disappointment. 
 Their quiet demeanor evidently excited the 
 surprise of the gentleman in gray, and drew 
 from him some remarks which were addressed 
 to one who came in and took a seat beside him 
 just as the entertainment was about to begin. 
 
 "Takes it most too cool, don't he?" said 
 the man in gray. "You're quite sure that 
 there's no mistake about it? Bear in mind 
 that I haven' t seen him since his last escapade 
 two years ago, and he has had time to change 
 a good deal since then." 
 
 "How in the world can there be any mistake 
 about it ? " asked the other, in reply. "Don't 
 I see him every day, and oughtn't I to know 
 him if anybody?" 
 
 The first speaker drew a photograph from 
 the inside pocket of his coat and looked at it 
 intently, now and then raising his eyes to com-
 
 A CASE OF MISTAKEN IDENTITY. 55 
 
 pare it with the profile of one of the boys in 
 front, which was occasionally turned toward 
 him. At length he appeared to be satisfied 
 with his examination, for he replaced the pic- 
 ture, at the same time remarking, with some- 
 thing like a sigh of resignation : 
 
 " It' s a go if you insist upon it ; but I want 
 you to understand very distinctly that if any 
 trouble follows the arrest, I am not the one to 
 stand the brunt of it." 
 
 " How is there going to be any trouble about 
 it ? Didn't the old man stand by you before ? 
 He did, and paid you well into the bargain. 
 He'll do the same this time, and you may de- 
 pend upon it." 
 
 " But you say he isn't at home now." 
 
 " I know it ; but I am simply obey- 
 ing orders, and my word is good till he 
 comes." 
 
 "If the boy has everything he wants, in- 
 cluding all the money he can spend, and is as 
 kindly treated and as well cared for as you 
 say he is, I don't for the life of me see why he 
 should run away from home," said the man in 
 gray. "Boys don't generally desert home
 
 56 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 and friends without a cause. At least they 
 didn't the first time I was on earth." 
 
 " Well, this foolish fellow will do it every 
 chance he gets, because he is determined to find 
 his father. His uncle always tried to make 
 him believe that his parents were both dead ; 
 but some gossip or another had to go and tell 
 him different, and the old man hasn't seen a 
 days' s peace of mind since. He lives in con- 
 stant fear that the boy will give him the slip. 
 This is the second time he has tried it, and 
 some day he'll get off. Then there will be a 
 time, I tell you." 
 
 "Why doesn't his uncle tell him where his 
 father is, and let him go and see him ? " 
 
 "Oh, that would never do. Don't you 
 know that the money goes with the boy ? His 
 father isn't fit to handle it, for he is a worth- 
 less scamp who would squander the last dime 
 of it in less than no time. The law gave him 
 to his uncle, who is also his guardian, and he 
 intends to hold fast to him." 
 
 "And the money, too, I suppose. Well, all 
 I have to say is, that if I were in that boy's 
 place my uncle would have to keep a double
 
 A CASE OF MISTAKEN IDENTITY. 57 
 
 guard over me night and day. If I wanted to 
 see my father I'd see him in spite of every- 
 body. Besides, the boy is pretty near old 
 enough to choose his own guardian." 
 
 "Don't say that," whispered the other, 
 hastily. "Whatever you do, don't say that 
 where he can hear it. That's a point of law 
 that he doesn't know anything about, and 
 his uncle wouldn't like to have him posted." 
 
 "Pooh! I shan't say anything. If I am 
 employed to catch him as often as he runs 
 away, so much the better for my pocket-book. 
 I am too old to quarrel with my bread and 
 butter." 
 
 When the entertainment was ended Joe 
 Wayring and his chums left with the others, 
 and close behind them in the aisle came the 
 man in gray and his companion. In the hall 
 they encountered two dense living streams 
 that came pouring down from the galleries, 
 and in the crush that followed the boys be- 
 came separated. Joe and Arthur found each 
 other again on the sidewalk, but nothing was 
 to be seen of Roy. As Arthur locked arms 
 with his friend to prevent a second separation,
 
 68 THE STEEL HOUSE. 
 
 they noticed a little knot of curious people 
 gathered by the curbstone, and saw a close 
 carriage driven rapidly away. 
 
 " Move on ! " exclaimed a burly policeman. 
 " It's nothing at all except a fellow resisting 
 arrest. Move on, please." 
 
 The two boys would have been glad to wait 
 for Roy ; but as the guardian of the night 
 emphasized his order by resting his club 
 lightly against Joe's back, they concluded that 
 they had better move on. They walked the 
 length of the block and then returned, but no 
 Roy Sheldon was in sight. There were but 
 few people coming out of the hall now, but 
 there was the watchful policeman with his 
 ready club and his stereotyped command : 
 
 "Move on, please. Don't block up the 
 walk." 
 
 " Roy has certainly come out before this 
 time, and that blue-coat has driven him away," 
 said Joe. "He knows the road to the hotel, 
 and there's where we shall find him." 
 
 The boys turned about and went down the 
 street again, and the first thing that attracted 
 their attention when they entered their hotel
 
 A CASE OF MISTAKEN IDENTITY. 59 
 
 was the familiar uniform which they had 
 adopted for their own dark blue tights, 
 white flannel shirt with blue trimmings, and 
 white helmet. The boy who wore it was 
 standing with his back to them, examining the 
 register. 
 
 " I never noticed before that Roy was so fine 
 a figure," whispered Arthur. "Look at the 
 muscles on his legs. He fills out those tights 
 as though he had been melted and poured into 
 them." 
 
 Without* saying or doing anything to attract 
 the boy's notice, the two friends slipped up 
 behind him, and Arthur threw his arms over 
 his shoulders. 
 
 "Now, you runaway, give an account of 
 yourself ! " he exclaimed. 
 
 The effect produced by these innocent words 
 was surprising in the extreme. In less than a 
 second the supposed Roy Sheldon proved that 
 he was quite as muscular as he looked to be. 
 Uttering a cry of surprise and alarm he doubled 
 himself up like a jack-knife and lunged for- 
 ward with all his strength, and then almost as 
 quickly jerked himself backward. By the first
 
 60 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 movement he came within a hair's breadth of 
 throwing Arthur Hastings heavily on his head; 
 and by the second he slipped out of his grasp 
 like an eel. Then he straightened up and 
 faced him with clenched hands and flashing 
 eyes. 
 
 "Don't touch me!" he began, fiercely. 
 "If you or any of your hirelings lay an ugly 
 finger on me again 
 
 When he had said this much he stopped and 
 looked hard at Arthur and then at Joe, while 
 an expression of great astonishment settled on 
 his face. My master and his friend were 
 equally amazed. That was Roy Sheldon's 
 uniform, if they ever- saw it, but it- wasn't Roy 
 who was in it, although he looked almost ex- 
 actly like him. There were the same clear-cut 
 features, hazel eyes and wavy brown hair, and 
 the same faint suspicion of a mustache ; but 
 they did not belong to Roy Sheldon. A second 
 look showed them that. 
 
 " Who are you ? " demanded the young fel- 
 low, at length. 
 
 " I think that is a proper question for us to 
 ask you," replied Arthur, who, having never
 
 A CASE OF MISTAKEN IDENTITY. 61 
 
 before been handled so easily by any boy of 
 Ms size, felt disposed to resent it. "What 
 are you doing in our uniform, we'd be pleased 
 to have you tell us." 
 
 "Your uniform!" exclaimed the stranger 
 eagerly. "Are you from Jamestown ? " 
 
 "No. Never heard of such a place about 
 here. Don't even know where it is. We are 
 from Mount Airy." 
 
 "Then we are even," said the stranger, in a 
 disappointed tone," for I don't know where 
 Mount Airy is." 
 
 " Then of course you live a good way from 
 here." 
 
 "Not so very far; not more than twenty 
 miles, but it might as well be a thousand for 
 all I know about this city. But you are wheel- 
 men, of course. Well, now I wish but say," 
 added the speaker, as if something had just 
 occurred to him. " Why did you grab me and 
 call me a runaway ? ' ' 
 
 " Because we thought you were. I mean we 
 took you for a runaway from our party," said 
 Joe ; and then he wondered why it was that 
 the stranger exhibited so much anxiety and
 
 62 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 even alarm at the words. "There is another 
 fellow in our party, but we have lost him in 
 some unaccountable manner." 
 
 " Does he look anything like me ? " 
 
 "He does, indeed; so very much like you 
 that when we saw you with our uniform on we 
 took you for our missing friend. You are a 
 little stouter than he is. That's all the differ- 
 ence there is in your figures ; but to look at 
 your faces a little distance away, any one not 
 well acquainted with you would take you for 
 twin brothers. How did you happen to choose 
 that uniform ? What club do you belong to ?" 
 
 "I don't belong to any club. How does it 
 come that you happened to choose it when 
 there w r ere so many more that you might have 
 taken?" 
 
 " We made it up all out of our own heads," 
 replied Arthur. 
 
 "I can't say that I did. I copied it. The 
 Jamestown boys wear it, and I have seen a 
 good many bicyclists running along the road 
 past our island dressed in the same way." 
 
 " Your island ! " repeated Joe. 
 
 "Yes; my island prison, for that is just
 
 A CASE OF MISTAKEX IDENTITY. 63 
 
 what it is to me. Let's go into the reading- 
 room," said the stranger, seeing that the hotel 
 clerk was becoming interested in their con- 
 versation. "I don't care to have everybody 
 hear what I say." 
 
 He moved away from the desk as he said 
 this, and Joe and Arthur followed, lost in 
 wonder. If there wasn't a mystery in this 
 young fellow's life he was out of his head. 
 That was plain to both of them. 
 
 " My real name is Howe Shelly/' began the 
 stranger, taking possessing of a chair at one 
 of the tables and drawing two others alongside 
 of him, "but when I registered I signed my- 
 self Robert Barton, and gave Baltimore as my 
 home." 
 
 " What made you do that ? What have you 
 been up to ? " inquired Joe, while Arthur be- 
 gan to wonder if they had fallen in with an- 
 other sharper who would presently make an 
 effort to cheat them out of some money. 
 
 " I haven't done anything that either of you 
 would not do if you were in my place," an- 
 swered young Shelly, if that was really his 
 name. u To make a long story short, money is
 
 64 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 at the bottom of all my trouble. My grand- 
 father, when he died, willed the most of his 
 large property to my father, who was his only 
 child, on condition that he quit the sea and 
 settled down on shore with his family, mother 
 and me. There was a stepson, \vlio had as- 
 sumed the family name in the hope of getting 
 some of the money, but he was left without a 
 dollar. Our home at that time was near some 
 southern seaport whose name I do not remem- 
 ber, for I was too young to know anything. 
 This step-son, who had been dubbed "colo- 
 nel" on account of his supposed wealth, hap- 
 pened to be at home when grandfather died, 
 and what did he do but get possession of the 
 will, spread the report that father had been 
 lost at sea, take out letters of administration, 
 turn mother out of the house, and have himself 
 appointed my guardian. I don't pretend to 
 know w T hat trickery he resorted to, to bring all 
 this about, but I kno\v he did it." 
 
 "Humph ! I wouldn't live with such a vil- 
 lain," exclaimed Joe, who was deeply inter- 
 ested. He believed this strange story, and so 
 did Arthur, who told himself that he must
 
 A CASE OF MISTAKEN IDENTITY. 65 
 
 have been about half crazy when he suspected 
 a boy who bore so close a resemblance to Roy 
 Sheldon of being a sharper. 
 
 "I don't live with him any more," replied 
 Eowe. "I have left him for good; but of 
 course I did not take the trouble to ask his 
 consent." 
 
 "Oh, that's what made you jump and look 
 frightened when I caught hold of you and 
 called you a runaway, was it ? " said Arthur. 
 " If your guardian finds you can he make you 
 go back against your will ? ' ' 
 
 ' ' Certainly. He has often given me to un- 
 derstand that he will have full control of my 
 actions as well as of my property until I am 
 twenty-one years old." 
 
 " Then he told you what isn't so," declared 
 Joe. 
 
 "I guess not," answered Howe doubtfully. 
 "At any rate, when I ran away from him two 
 years ago he gobbled me with the aid of a 
 policeman and took me back." 
 
 " But you are older now than you were 
 then," said Joe. " How old are you, if it is a 
 fair question?"
 
 66 THE STEEL IIOESE. 
 
 " I was eighteen last month." 
 
 "Then snap your fingers at that guardian 
 of yours, and tell him you are done with 
 him." 
 
 "That wouldn't make a particle of differ- 
 ence to him," replied Rowe. "He would 
 have detectives after me, and I don't know 
 but there are some on my track this very min- 
 ute. That's why I registered under a ficti- 
 tious name, and adopted this uniform. It is 
 worn by so many wheelmen around here that 
 it will not be likely to attract attention. But 
 I am going to change it the first thing in the 
 morning, trade off my Rudge safety for an- 
 other wheel, and then put for the country and 
 stay there as long as my money lasts." 
 
 "Say, Joe," said Arthur suddenly, "he 
 looks a good deal like Roy Sheldon, doesn't 
 he?" 
 
 " He is the very picture of him," answered 
 Joe, surprised. 
 
 "And you say," added Arthur, this time 
 addressing himself to Rowe Shelly, " that 
 your guardian put detectives on your track 
 when you ran away from him two years ago,
 
 A CASE OF MISTAKEN IDENTITY. 67 
 
 and that he has probably got them on your 
 track to-night?" 
 
 ' ' I don' t think I tised those words, but that 
 was what I meant," replied Howe. "Why 
 do you ask the question, and what makes 
 you glare at me in that fashion?" 
 
 "I didn't know that I was glaring at you," 
 said Arthur. "But I wish from the bottom 
 of my heart that you had changed that 
 uniform for another a hundred years ago, 
 or else that you had never adopted it, 
 for it has been the means of getting one 
 of the best fellows that ever lived into 
 trouble." 
 
 "Art," exclaimed Joe, starting up in his 
 chair, "do you think do you mean to 
 say ' ' 
 
 "Doesn't everything go to show it?" ex- 
 claimed Arthur, who was very highly excited. 
 " His uniform is the counterpart of ours ; he 
 looks so much Roy that a stranger couldn't 
 tell one from the other if he were to see them 
 together ; he has the best of reasons for believ- 
 ing that his guardian has put detectives on 
 his track, and who knows "
 
 68 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 "Good gracious !" cried Joe, starting up in 
 his turn ; "I never once thought of that." 
 
 " What are you afraid of ? " inquired Rowe, 
 whose face betrayed the keenest anxiety and 
 apprehension. " I hope you don't think that 
 my resemblance to your friend has brought him 
 into difficulty." 
 
 " That is just what we are afraid of," replied 
 Joe soothingly, while Arthur Hastings paced 
 the room like a caged tiger. "But, of course, 
 nobody can blame you for it. If one of the 
 detectives you spoke of saw him, he probably 
 mistook him for you, just as Arthur and I mis- 
 took you for Roy Sheldon. It's a case of mis- 
 taken identity, and that's all that can be 
 made of it." 
 
 "Nonsense!" exclaimed Arthur; "it is a 
 clear case of abduction." 
 
 " We'll have to see a lawyer about that." 
 
 "Then let's be about it. What are we 
 wasting time here for ? " 
 
 " Let us first make sure that Roy has been 
 spirited away by somebody who thought he 
 was Rowe Shelly. Say, Art, you remember the 
 carriage that was driven away just as we came
 
 A CASE OF MISTAKEN IDENTITY. 69 
 
 out of the Academy of Music, don't you? 
 Well how do we know but Roy was in it, and 
 that he was the fellow who resisted arrest ?" 
 
 " That's so," exclaimed Arthur. " Suppose 
 we go right back and interview that policeman 
 if we can find him." 
 
 When Arthur proposed this plan Howe Shel- 
 ly' s face grew white again. 
 
 "That will be a dead give-away on me, won't 
 it?" said he. 
 
 "'I don't see why it should be," replied Joe. 
 " We're not going to tell any one that we have 
 seen you. If you are afraid of it, go some- 
 where while we are gone, and then we can 
 say, if we are asked questions we don't care 
 to answer, that we don't know where you are." 
 
 The young stranger evidently thought this 
 a suggestion worth heeding, for when Joe and 
 his companion left the room he followed slowly 
 after them, first carefully reconnoitering the 
 office to make sure there was no one there he 
 did not want to meet. 
 
 "What's your opinion of that fellow, any 
 way?" asked Joe, as he and Arthur hurried 
 along the street toward the Academy of Music.
 
 70 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 "He tells a queer story, but I really believe 
 there are some grains of truth in it." 
 
 " So do I," answered Arthur. "And if it 
 turns out that Roy has been kidnapped, 1 
 shall believe it is all true. I wish that Shelly 
 boy had been in Guinea before he adopted our 
 uniform." 
 
 "Or else that we had been there," added 
 Joe. "He's got as much right to it as we have. 
 Look here, Art. We mustn't let the Mount 
 Airy folks know anything about this." 
 
 " Not by a long shot. They'd order us home 
 as they did when they read in the papers that 
 Matt Coyle had tied you to a tree in the 
 woods. If Roy is in a scrape we'll help him 
 out of it and get well on our way beyond 
 Bloomingdale before we say a word about it." 
 
 The boys were not obliged to go all the way 
 to the hall in which they had passed the even- 
 ing, for they met the officer of whom they were 
 in search at the lower end of his beat. Arthur 
 thought he looked at them rather sharply as 
 they came up, but he answered their questions 
 civilly enough. 
 
 "Policeman," said Joe, "will you please
 
 A CASE OF MISTAKEN IDENTITY. 71 
 
 tell us what sort of a looking fellow it was who 
 was put into a carriage in front of the Academy 
 of Music, and driven away just as the perfor- 
 mance ended ? You were on duty there at the 
 time." 
 
 " Aw ! go on now ! " replied the officer good- 
 naturedly. " He must have been one of your 
 own crowd, for he wore the same kind of 
 clothes." 
 
 "What was his name? "asked Arthur, 
 whose heart seemed to sink down into his 
 boots when he heard this answer. 
 
 "Aw, now ! " said the officer again, "what's 
 the use of my wasting my time with you ? 
 You know more about him than I do ; but 
 I will tell you one thing: you had better 
 keep clear of him, or he will bring you into 
 trouble. He's a bad nation. He stole a pile of 
 money from his guardian before he ran away." 
 
 " Not the boy who was put into the carriage, 
 if it was the one we think it was, " said Joe 
 earnestly. " In the first place, he has no guar- 
 dian, and he never stole a cent, for his father 
 gives him all the money he needs. There's 
 been a big mistake made here, Mr. Officer."
 
 72 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 "Haw, haw ! " laughed the policeman. He 
 turned on his heel and started back along his 
 beat, but he did not shake off the boys. They 
 wanted to learn something before they left him, 
 so they kept close to him, one on each side. 
 
 "But I assure you there has been the biggest 
 kind of a blunder made,'" Joe insisted. " The 
 wrong boy has been arrested. His name is 
 Roy Sheldon, and he left Mount Airy with us 
 this morning. Everybody there knows him 
 and us, too." 
 
 "No, I guess not," replied the policeman, 
 with another laugh. "Bab's been in the busi- 
 ness too long to make a mistake that might 
 get him into trouble." 
 
 "Who's Bab?" 
 
 "Why, Bab Babcock, the detective," an- 
 swered the officer, in a tone which implied that 
 he had no patience with a boy who could ask 
 him so foolish a question. "The youngster 
 had the cheek to appeal to me for protection, 
 but I told him he had better go along peaceable 
 and quiet, for it would only make matters 
 worse for him if he didn't. I knew Bab, you 
 see."
 
 A CASE OF MISTAKEN IDENTITY. 73 
 
 "Well, this is a pretty state of affairs, I 
 must say," exclaimed Arthur, his anger getting 
 the better of his prudence. "Of course Roy 
 resisted, as any other decent fellow would have 
 done under the same circumstances ; and when 
 he asked for protection from one of whom he 
 had a right to expect it, he was told that he 
 had better go along if he wanted to keep out 
 of worse trouble." 
 
 "That's enough from you, young man," said 
 the officer, shortly. " If you give me any more 
 of your insolence I Avill run you in to keep 
 company with that runaway and thief. Move 
 on, now." 
 
 Arthur didn't wait for a second order. He 
 faced about at once and started back toward 
 his hotel ; but Joe stayed behind. He wanted 
 to ask another question or two, although he 
 hardly expected that the policeman would an- 
 swer them.
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 ROWE SHELLY, THE RUNAWAY. 
 
 " ~T~UST one more word, Mr. Officer," con- 
 
 <J tinned Joe Wayring, when he had seen 
 his discomfited friend Arthur vanish in the 
 crowd, " and then I will cease troubling you." 
 
 "Be in a hurry, then," was the gruff rejoin- 
 der. " Don't say anything to confirm the sus- 
 picion I have that you are trying to make 
 game of me, for if you do you will spend the 
 rest of the night ruder lock and key, sure 
 pop." 
 
 " I assure you that my only desire is to gain 
 some reliable information regarding my miss- 
 ing friend," answered Joe, choking back his 
 wrath. " What precinct does this man Bab- 
 cock belong to ? " 
 
 " He doesn't belong to any. He is a private 
 detective, and works wherever he is called." 
 
 11 What agency does he belong to ? " 
 74
 
 EOVVE SHELLY, THE RUNAWAY. 75 
 
 " Wilcox's ; two-tliirty-four Bank street." 
 
 " Thank you. That's one point gained. I 
 suppose he will report the arrest at Ms own 
 headquarters, will he not ?" 
 
 "Very likely he will, and I'll report it to my 
 captain." 
 
 "I wasn't aware that a private detective 
 could make an arrest without a warrant, ex- 
 cept in cases where there is a fight or some 
 other violation of the public peace. I thought 
 he was obliged to call upon a policeman." 
 
 " Well, wasn't I here ? " exclaimed the offi- 
 cer, with some indignation in his tones. "I 
 want you to understand that I know my busi- 
 ness, and that you nor nobody like you can 
 teach it to me. Move on. I've had enough 
 of you." 
 
 "All right," replied Joe cheerfully. "But 
 first allow me to apologize for troubling you, 
 and to thank you for your courteous answers 
 to my questions." 
 
 If this was intended for sarcasm it had no 
 effect whatever upon the policeman, who 
 walked off with a very dignified step, while 
 Joe moved on to find Arthur Hastings. He dis-
 
 76 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 covered Mm in the reading-room of the hotel, 
 holding an earnest conversation with a young 
 fellow in citizen's clothes. It was Howe Shel- 
 ley ; but when he left his uniform in his room 
 he seemed to have left with it nearly all the re- 
 semblance he had once borne to Roy Sheldon. 
 Joe could see now that the two boys did not 
 look so very much alike after all. 
 
 "I want to assure you of one thing, Way- 
 ring," said Howe, as Joe seated himself in a 
 chair by his side ; "what that policeman told 
 you about my stealing a lot of money before I 
 left home, is utterly false. The little I have 
 with me is what I have managed to save during 
 the last two years out of my regular allowance. 
 I have the best of reasons for believing that 
 every cent there is in that house rightfully be- 
 longs to me, but I have never touched any of 
 it except when it was given to me." 
 
 " Are there any stores on the island ? " in- 
 quired Joe. 
 
 Rowe replied that there were not. The en- 
 tire island was claimed by his guardian, who 
 said he was Rowe's uncle, although he was no 
 relation to him. Besides the family mansion,
 
 KOWE SHELLY, THE RUNAWAY. 77 
 
 and the barns and other out-buildings that be- 
 longed to it, there were four tenement houses 
 that were occupied by his guardian's hired 
 help. 
 
 " And I know they are not hired simply to 
 work the place and keep the grounds in order," 
 said Howe bitterly. "They are employed to 
 keep an eye on me, although they do not seem, 
 to pay any attention to me. When I had saved 
 a little money and began laying my plans to 
 skip out, there was not one among them to 
 whom I could go for help, or whom I dared 
 take into my confidence. I had to depend 
 upon myself." 
 
 ' ' Then what was the use of a regular allow- 
 ance of money if you couldn't spend it?" 
 inquired Arthur. 
 
 *** I could save it for an emergency like this, 
 couldn' 1 1 ? Besides, whenever I wanted any- 
 thing, I could send for it by some one who was 
 coming to the city. Did you learn anything 
 more about your missing friend? Hastings 
 tells me that there is no doubt he was 
 mistaken for me and sent away in that 
 carriage."
 
 78 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 "That is what I think," answered Joe. " I 
 know the name of the detective who arrested 
 him, as well as the agency to which the detec- 
 tive belongs. It's Wilcox's, two-thirty-four 
 Bank street, and there's where we must go the 
 first thing in the morning." 
 
 " Great Scott !" cried Arthur. "Can't we 
 do anything for Roy before morning? Must 
 he be put in a cell and 
 
 "By no means," exclaimed Rowe. "Your 
 friend will fare as well at my home as you will 
 here at a hotel. Beyond a doubt my guardian' s 
 steam yacht was in waiting at one of the piers 
 along the river side, and Roy is probably half 
 way to the island by this time. Of course the 
 detective will stay with him till he gets there, 
 for fear that Roy will jump overboard or do 
 some other desperate thing to escape from 
 Willis." 
 
 "Who is Willis?" 
 
 "He is my guardian's superintendent and 
 my jailer. At least, that is what I call him, 
 although he is very friendly to me, and has 
 seldom interfered with me. AA 7 hen I ran away 
 two years ago, he followed me up and put the
 
 ROWE SHELLY, THE RUNAWAY. 79 
 
 detectives on my track. I'd got away sure, if 
 it hadn't been for him." 
 
 " Of course if Babcock goes to the island he 
 can' t report the arrest to his superior before 
 morning," said Joe, turning to Arthur. "So 
 what's the use in going there (to the agency, 
 I mean) before we can learn something? " 
 
 ' ' I don' t see why you should go to the agency, 
 or give yourselves the least uneasiness about 
 the matter," said Rowe. "As soon as Willis 
 has taken a good look at Roy, he will know 
 that the detectives has made a mistake, and 
 then he will lose no time in setting his prisoner 
 at liberty and sending him back to the city." 
 
 " We'll call upon Mr. Wilcox the first thing 
 in the morning," said Joe, decidedly. "At 
 least Art and I will, and you had best pack 
 your bundle and dig out before day-light. As 
 soon as your guardian finds out that 
 
 "He isn't at home," interrupted Rowe. 
 " He has gone away somewhere on business, 
 and that's why I am here. I took advantage 
 of his absence." 
 
 "At any rate the search for you will be re- 
 newed when it becomes known that a mistake
 
 80 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 has been made, and if I were in your place I 
 would not stay here. I think you were very 
 imprudent to come to the city at all." 
 
 "That's because you don't know what ex- 
 traordinary precautions I took to make every- 
 body think I was going the other way," re- 
 plied Howe. 
 
 "But it seems that the tricks to which you 
 resorted, whatever they were, did not work," 
 said Arthur. ' ' This man Willis, who probably 
 runs things during your guardian's absence, 
 must have come to the city or sent word to 
 some one to be on the watch for you. If he 
 didn't do one or the other, how does it come 
 that Roy was molested ? Joe, what course are 
 you going to follow when you get to the 
 agency?" 
 
 "I'm simply going to tell the man in charge 
 that one of his detectives has made a blunder 
 and arrested Roy Sheldon when he thought 
 he was arresting some one else, and ask him to 
 undo his night's work and bring our friend 
 back to us as quick as he knows how." 
 
 " But he'll want evidence, won't he ? " 
 
 "I shall be provided with the evidence,"
 
 HOWE SHELLY, THE RUNAWAY. 81 
 
 replied Joe quietly. " Howe, you wouldn't 
 mind writing a couple of letters, one to your 
 guardian's superintendent and the other to the 
 detective, stating the facts, would you?" 
 
 "Why why, I don't see howl can do it 
 without putting the detectives on my own 
 track," stammered Howe, who was very much 
 astonished at this proposition. "I'd have to 
 sign my right name to the letters, wouldn't I ? " 
 
 "Certainly. A fictitious name would be of 
 no use to us, and we'll see that you don't get 
 into trouble by it. Write the letters contain- 
 ing a full statement of the case, make yourself 
 scarce about here without telling us where you 
 are going, and then we can't answer any ques- 
 tions that may be asked us. If he don' t do it," 
 added Joe mentally, " the only thing I can do 
 is to bring in some of father's business friends 
 and Uncle Joe's to vouch for us, and add weight 
 to our story. I am opposed to that, and I 
 believe Roy himself would kick against it ; for 
 of course those friends would write the full 
 particulars to the folks at home, and that 
 would knock our trip across the State into a 
 cocked hat." 
 
 6
 
 82 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 "If he doesn't do it," said Arthur to him- 
 self, seeing that Rowe still hesitated, "he will 
 find that we are not to be trifled with. I'll 
 denounce him as soon as I can find anybody to 
 denounce him to. He got Roy into this scrape, 
 and it is no more than fair that he should help 
 get him out." 
 
 " Is there no other way in which I can 
 assist you?" inquired Rowe, after a long 
 pause. 
 
 " There is none that occurs to me just now,* J 
 answered Joe. " Can you think of any ? " 
 
 "I can't think of anything. My mind ia 
 in a whirl, and has been ever since I left the 
 island." 
 
 "I thought as much," said Arthur, drily. 
 " Otherwise you would never come to the city 
 and put up at wheelmen's headquarters. Don't 
 you know that this is the very hotel of all 
 others that you ought to have shunned ? " 
 
 " I thought the very boldness of the thing 
 would throw my pursuers, if I had any, off 
 the track ; and I believe it did, for I have 
 seen no one to be afraid of since I came here. 
 Do you think the chief detective will be ready
 
 KOWE SHELLY, THE RUNAWAY. 83 
 
 to undo this work when you ask him ? " added 
 Howe, addressing himself to Joe. 
 
 " I think he will. I would, if I were in his 
 place, for it would hurt my business to have it 
 get out. If people knew that Wilcox kept 
 such a blunderhead as that Babcock about, 
 they would not be apt to give him much 
 to do." 
 
 "All right. It shall be as you say," ex- 
 claimed Rowe, getting upon his feet and 
 hastening into the office, whence he presently 
 returned with a couple of envelopes and as 
 many sheets of paper in his hand. ' ' Have you 
 any influential friends in town ? " he asked, as 
 he seated himself at the table. 
 
 "We've enough to make it exceedingly 
 uncomfortable for those people on the island 
 if they don't turn that boy loose in a little 
 less than no time," replied Arthur, with 
 emphasis. "Tell your man Willis to put 
 that in his pipe." 
 
 "He'll not need any such threat to quicken 
 his movements," said Howe, with a smile, the 
 first one Joe had seen on his face that evening. 
 "When he discovers that Babcock has not
 
 84 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 brought him the right boy, he will be only too 
 glad to get rid of him, But I'll put it in." 
 
 After a few minutes spent in rapid writing 
 Howe handed Joe the following, which was 
 addressed to George Willis, Shelly' s Island, 
 New London Harbor : 
 
 " You have probably found out by this time 
 that the man Babcock, whom you notified to 
 be on the lookout for me, has made a mistake 
 that is likely to get him and every one con- 
 cerned in it into serious difficulty. He has 
 made a prisoner of Roy Sheldon, who lives in 
 Mount Airy. He has friends there, as well as 
 in this city, who will make it hot for you if 
 you don't treat him well while he is on the 
 island, and sent him back with the least possi- 
 ble delay. Tell my guardian, when he returns, 
 that I have grown weary of waiting for him to 
 tell me where my father and mother are, and 
 have set out to find them. I know I shall 
 succeed this time, and then there will be a 
 change of administration on Shelly' s Island, 
 or I shall miss my guess. 
 
 "Now I should like to know what you mean 
 by spreading the report that I stole a lot of 
 money before I went away. You know it to 
 false. If any of my money has disappeared
 
 ROWE SHELLY, THE RUNAWAY. 85 
 
 (it is my money, mind you, and not my 
 guardian's) I would as soon think you took it 
 as to accuse anybody else. 
 
 "If you haven't sent that boy back already, 
 do it as soon as you read this, if you don't 
 want to have some papers served on you." 
 
 "Is that satisfactory?" inquired Rowe, as 
 Joe passed the letter to Arthur. 
 
 "Perfectly. If Willis fails to understand 
 it, it will not be your fault. But why don't 
 you get another guardian and put it out of 
 this man's power to harass you with detectives 
 every time you leave the island ? " 
 
 "I wish to goodness I could; but I can't. 
 The law put him where he is." 
 
 " And the law can take him out. When he 
 was appointed your guardian he must have 
 perjured himself if he swore that he was 
 your next of kin. But here's a question : 
 Do you know that your parents are still 
 alive?" 
 
 "No ; I don't know it, but I think so. I do 
 know, however, that my father was not lost at 
 sea, as my guardian reported. Since that time 
 people who know him have seen and talked
 
 86 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 with him. He was alive when I tried to find 
 him two years ago." 
 
 "Where does he live ? " 
 
 " Somewhere in the State of Maryland. On 
 the coast, I suppose, for he is fond of the water, 
 and has been a sailor all his life." 
 
 " Now just think a moment," said Joe, 
 earnestly. "Can't you see that you show a 
 wonderful lack of something in starting off on 
 your wheel to hunt a needle in a haystack ? 
 You must remember that Maryland has an 
 area of more than eleven thousand square miles, 
 not counting in the bay, which has a coast line 
 three hundred and eighty miles in length. 
 You have set yourself something of a job, old 
 fellow." 
 
 "So I have," said Rowe nervously. "Do 
 you know, I nover once thought of that ? There 
 was but one idea in my mind, and that was to 
 get safely off the island and away from New 
 London, so that I could hide myself among 
 strangers. Then, after the excitement had had 
 time to die away, and my guardian had given 
 up looking for me, I thought it would be the 
 easiest thing in the world to run down into
 
 ROWE SHELLY, THE RUNAWAY. 87 
 
 Maryland and find my parents. It wouldn't 
 be too long a run, would it ? I think I have 
 heard of a man who went from San Francisco 
 to Boston on his wheel." 
 
 " No doubt you did ; and that man, if you 
 are thinking of the same one I am, is now on 
 his way around the world. The run wouldn't 
 trouble you, but finding the objects of your 
 search would not be so easy as you seem to 
 think. You have gone about it in the wrong 
 way." 
 
 "How would you act, if you were in my 
 place 2 " 
 
 ' ' My first hard work would be to rid myself 
 of that guardian," exclaimed Joe. 
 
 " Haven't I told you that he was appointed 
 by the court?" 
 
 " Of course he was, or else he could not have 
 slipped into the position. But you were too 
 young to have any voice in the matter. You 
 are older now than you were tnen, and have 
 reached an age when the law says you are 
 capable of choosing your own guardian." 
 
 Howe became greatly excited when he heard 
 this. He threw his pen upon the table, jumped
 
 88 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 to his feet, and paced the floor with long and 
 rapid strides. 
 
 "I hope you know what you are telling 
 me," said he, as soon as he could say any- 
 thing. 
 
 Joe replied that he was sure of his ground. 
 
 "How shall I go to work?" continued 
 Eowe. " What shall I do first ? " 
 
 " Go to some honest lawyer, tell him your 
 story just as you have told it to us, going 
 rather more into details, and he will tell you 
 what to do. If you give the case into his 
 hands, he will probably advertise for your 
 people. He'll not start off alone to hunt them 
 up, unless he knows pretty near where they 
 are ; I can tell you that much." 
 
 "And will the law really help me to rid 
 myself of that man?" cried Howe, as if lie 
 could hardly believe it. "And will I have my 
 father and mother to live with me, and be 
 free to come and go, as other felloAvs do ? It 
 seems too good to be true. Why didn't you 
 tell me this long ago ? " 
 
 "I have been on the point of telling you 
 a dozen times," answered Joe, "but
 
 HOWE SHELLY, THE RUNAWAY. 89 
 
 somehow I always got switched off on another 
 track. You know it now, and if you remain 
 shut up any longer deprived of your rights, it 
 will be your own fault." 
 
 "I shall not let the grass grow under my 
 feet, I assure you," said Rowe, seating him- 
 self at the table and once more taking up his 
 pen. "I shall not leave the city until this 
 thing has been settled. How would it do to 
 add a line to the letter I have written to 
 Willis?" 
 
 "Telling him what you intend to do ?" ex- 
 claimed Joe. "I wouldn't. Spring it on 'em 
 and take them by surprise before they have a 
 chance to run away with any of the money. If 
 the man who claims to be your uncle got his 
 position by fraud, he wouldn't be above cheat- 
 ing you if he saw an opportunity to do it 
 without detection." 
 
 It was much harder work for Howe to write 
 this letter than it was to write the first, be- 
 cause he was so nervous and excited that he 
 could scarcely hold his pen steady. But he 
 finished it at last, and handed it over to Joe to 
 read. It was much the same as the other, ex-
 
 90 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 cept that there was no allusion made to the 
 story that Willis or somebody else had spread 
 abroad, that Rowe had appropriated a sum of 
 his guardian's money to help him in his runa- 
 way scheme. Then the letters were sealed, 
 stamped and addressed, and Joe went out to 
 put them into the box. He wanted them to 
 reach their destination as soon as possible ; 
 and furthermore, he intended to allow the one 
 that was addressed to the detective ample 
 time to have an effect before he called at the 
 agency on the following morning, They had 
 done all that could be done that night, and 
 when Joe went back to the reading-room he 
 announced his intention of going to bed. 
 
 "Then I will bid you good-by, for it is not 
 at all likely that I shall be here when you 
 come down in the morning," said Rowe, shak- 
 ing each of them cordially by the hand. " If 
 you only knew what a terrible load you have 
 lifted from my heart by the friendly encour- 
 agement and advice you have given me, you 
 would believe me when I say that I am glad to 
 have met you, and sorry indeed that your 
 friend got into trouble through me. Please
 
 EOWE SHELLY, THE BUN A WAY. 91 
 
 say as much to him when yon see him, and 
 add that I shall live in hopes of some day 
 making his acquaintance. I suppose you can' fc 
 tell me where to address you in case I should 
 have anything interesting to communicate? " 
 
 Joe was sorry to say that he could not ; for 
 although their proposed route had been marked 
 out in their road-book before they left home, 
 there was no certainty that they would stick 
 to it. But he and his friends would like much 
 to know how Howe succeeded in his efforts to 
 assert his rights, and a letter addressed to them 
 at Mount Airy would follow them until it caught 
 them. There were their cards. Good-night 
 and good luck ! 
 
 "He's a simple-hearted fellow and totally 
 unused to the ways of the world ; and although 
 he hasn't got much sense to boast of in some 
 things, he can sling ink better than I can," 
 said Arthur, as he and Joe ascended to their 
 rooms. " Do you suppose he has ever been to 
 school?" 
 
 "No, I don't. He had a private teacher." 
 
 "Then why didn't he make a confidant of 
 him?"
 
 92 THE STEEL HOKSE. 
 
 "Because lie was afraid to. Perhaps his 
 teacher was some poverty-stricken scholar, who 
 was told to keep his mouth, eyes and ears 
 closed as long as he remained on the island, 
 and was well paid for doing it. More than 
 that, the guardian was careful to tell his side 
 of the story first, so that the tutor would be 
 likely to take anything Howe said to him with 
 a grain or two of allowance." 
 
 "It does not seem possible that such things 
 can happen in this day and age of the world," 
 said Arthur reflectively. " That fellow told us 
 a strange story, and I shall do as I please about 
 believing it until we hear from Roy Sheldon. 
 Well, good-night. Call me when you get up." 
 
 The first thing the two friends did when they 
 went down to the office in the morning was to 
 inquire for Robert Barton ; for you will remem- 
 ber that that was the name the runaway signed 
 to the register. 
 
 " He left a message for you to the effect that 
 he had decided to take the night boat for 
 Bloomingdale," replied the clerk. "He will 
 put in the time visiting friends there until you 
 arrive."
 
 ROWE SHELLY, THE RUNAWAY. 93 
 
 " That means that Howe Shelly has gone into 
 hiding somewhere in the city," said Joe, as he 
 followed Arthur into the dining-hall. "Of 
 course he wouldn't be foolish enough to say 
 that he was going up the river on a steamer if 
 he really meant to do it." 
 
 "I don't know whether he would or not," 
 answered Arthur, doubtfully. "He acknowl- 
 edges to doing a great many foolish things. 
 Putting up at this hotel was one of them." 
 
 After eating a very slender breakfast the 
 boys inquired the way to Bank street, and left 
 the hotel to obtain an interview with Mr. Wil- 
 cox. About half an hour later a carriage was 
 driven up to the sidewalk, and a boy clad in a 
 bicycle uniform got out and hurried into the 
 hotel ; but I doubt if such a boy and such a 
 uniform had ever been seen in the Lafayette 
 House before. He seemed anxious to escape 
 observation, for it was not until he had con- 
 cealed himself behind one of the wide front 
 doors that he stopped to pay his hackman. 
 Then he stepped up to the desk and looked at 
 the astonished clerk with his right eye. He 
 wore a handkerchief over the other one, and
 
 94 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 there was a suspicion of blood on the handker- 
 chief. One sleeve of his shirt had disappeared, 
 and so had his cap ; and when the clerk came 
 to take a second look at him, he saw that, 
 although his uniform was dry, it looked as 
 though it had been dumped in the harbor as 
 indeed it had. 
 
 "Well, well," exclaimed the clerk, as soon 
 as he had in some measure recovered from his 
 astonishment. " What in the world have you 
 been doing to yourself, Mr. ah er Barton? " 
 he added, consulting the register to make 
 sure of the name. " Did the steamer sink or 
 burn up? " 
 
 "What steamer? I don't know anything 
 about a steamer." 
 
 "Why, didn't you tell the clerk whom I re- 
 lieved that you were going to take the night 
 boat for Bloomingdale ? " 
 
 "Not much I didn't. I wasn't here last 
 night, and furthermore, my name isn't Barton. 
 There's my name, Roy Sheldon ; and I came 
 to town yesterday afternoon in company with 
 that fellow and that one," said the new-comer, 
 pointing out Joe's name and Arthur's.
 
 ROWE SHELLY, THE RUNAWAY. 95 
 
 " Then, who was the chap who left a message 
 for Wayring and Hastings?" exclaimed the 
 puzzled clerk. 
 
 "I'm sure I don't know. Did he beat you 
 out of anything?" inquired Roy, thinking of 
 the swindler who had tried to palm off those 
 bogus greenbacks upon him and his friends. 
 
 " Oh, no ! He settled up all fair and square, 
 and said he would wait for Wayring and Hast- 
 ings at Bloomirigdale. It couldn't have been 
 your brother, could it ? He looked like you." 
 
 " Don't own any brother. Say," cried Roy, 
 an idea striking him. "Wasn't it Rowe 
 Shelly?" 
 
 The clerk backed away from his desk and 
 looked at Roy without speaking. 
 
 " I don't know who else it could have been, 
 for I was mistaken for him, kidnapped, and 
 carried over to the island, and just escaped 
 being taken to sea by the skin of my teeth," 
 continued Roy, growing excited as he thought 
 of it. " Rowe must have been here and scraped 
 an acquaintance with my friends, or he 
 wouldn't have left a message for them. I did 
 say I would make trouble for somebody if I
 
 96 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 ever got ashore, but since I have had time to 
 think the matter over, I am not as mad as I 
 was. Did it blow much here last night and 
 early this morning? Well, I was out in the 
 whole of it." 
 
 " Do you mean to say that that fool Rowe 
 Shelly has run away from home again ? " said 
 the clerk, as if he could hardly believe the 
 story. 
 
 "He has run away, but I don't know 
 whether he's a fool or not. I am inclined to 
 think he isn't. Where are those friends of 
 mine?" 
 
 The clerk didn't know. They left the hotel 
 after inquiring the way to Bank street, but he 
 couldn't tell what business they had on hand, 
 or how long they would be gone. 
 
 "They'll show up when they get ready," 
 said Roy. " In the meantime, if you will give 
 me the key to forty-seven, I will go up and try 
 to make myself a little more presentable." 
 
 " What have you been doing to get yourself 
 into such a plight?" asked the interested 
 clerk. 
 
 "The story is too long to be told in detail,
 
 ROWE SHELLY, THE RUNAWAY. 97 
 
 and all I can say just now is that I have had 
 a time of it. But if Rowe got away I don't 
 care. I would go through as much more to 
 help him, although he is a perfect stranger to 
 me. Don't say anything about this, please, 
 for I positively decline to be interviewed. I 
 don't want my folks to hear of it, for fear 
 they will order me home," added Roy to 
 himself. "That's the plain English of the 
 matter." 
 
 So saying he took his key and went up to 
 his room.
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 ROY IN TROUBLE. 
 
 ~TT~OU will remember that it was during the 
 -I- crush which occurred at the Academy of 
 Music when the "gallery gods" came pouring 
 down into the main hall from both sides, that 
 Roy Sheldon became separated from his friends 
 Joe and Arthur. While he was making his 
 way slowly toward the door, he felt a hand 
 laid upon his arm, and without turning his 
 head to see who it was, supposing, of course, 
 that one of his companions was close at his 
 side, Roy took hold of the hand and drew it 
 through his arm. When he reached the side- 
 walk he looked around to say something un- 
 complimentary regarding the rough fellow who 
 had elbowed him rather too sharply in his 
 haste to get out, and then he found that it was 
 not a boy who had hold of him, but a man 
 whom he had never seen before a brown-whis-
 
 ROY IN TROUBLE. 99 
 
 kered man dressed in gray clothes. Thinking 
 of the swindler whom he and his friends had 
 encountered during the early part of the even- 
 ing, Roy made an effort to twist himself out of 
 the stranger's grasp, but found that he could 
 not do it. The man had a grip like a vise. 
 
 "Softly, softly," said he, in a low tone. 
 " The game's up, and you might as well give 
 in. You know me, and you know, too, that I 
 wouldn't see you harmed. The carriage is 
 ready and waiting." 
 
 "I don't know you, either," said Roy, 
 greatly astonished. "Let go my arm, or I'll 
 black your eye for you." 
 
 "If you strike me," said the man, who 
 seemed rather surprised at this display of 
 spirit, "I shall have to put the irons on you 
 right here, and you don't want to make a scene 
 before all these people. It wouldn't look well 
 for a young fellow of your standing." 
 
 Roy, too amazed to speak again, looked 
 around for his friends ; but they seemed to 
 have disappeared very mysteriously. He was 
 surrounded by strange people, the majority of 
 whom seemed to be paying no sort of attention
 
 100 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 to him, while others looked on in Avouder, and 
 the rest laughed at him. An arrest in the 
 crowded streets of New London was too com- 
 mon an occurrence to attract more than a pass- 
 ing notice. 
 
 All this while Roy was being led slowly but 
 surely toward a carriage, whose door was held 
 invitingly open by a rather genteel-looking 
 man who carried a heavy cane in his hand. 
 When Roy saw that preparations had been 
 made to convey him away secretly, he recov- 
 ered his power of action and the use of his 
 tongue at the same instant. He resisted with 
 all his strength, and finally appealed to a 
 policeman who, for a wonder, chanced to 
 appear at that opportune moment. 
 
 "What do you mean, anyway?" he ex- 
 claimed, giving his arm a sudden wrench, but 
 with no other effect than to cause the man in 
 gray to tighten his grasp until Roy could 
 scarcely endure the pain. " Mr. Officer, do 
 you see what this villain is doing ? I ask you 
 to interfere for my protection." 
 
 Roy, in his simplicity, supposed that the 
 guardian of the city's peace would rush up and
 
 ROY IN TROUBLE. 101 
 
 knock his assailant down with his club, or else 
 take him into custody ; but he did nothing of 
 the sort. He strolled leisurely up to the car- 
 riage, saying, in a drawling tone : 
 
 " I suppose it is all right, Bab ? " 
 
 " Of course it is," replied the man in gray, 
 " or I wouldn't be in it. I am too old a dog to 
 bark up the wrong tree." 
 
 "It's all right, sonny," said the policeman, 
 soothingly. "Go along quiet and peaceable 
 and you won' t get into trouble with Bab. He'll 
 take good care of you." 
 
 "But who is he, and by what authority does 
 he commit this outrage ? " demanded Roy, who 
 was so angry and astonished that he hardly 
 knew what he was saying. 
 
 But his indignant words met with no verbal 
 response. The policeman, who, according to 
 Roy's way of thinking, ought to have helped 
 him, lent effective assistance to his assailant by 
 taking the boy by the other arm and gently 
 pushing him into the carriage. The minute 
 the two men released their hold of him, Roy 
 jumped for the other side of the vehicle, in- 
 tending to open the door and take to his heels,
 
 102 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 but the man who carried the heavy cane was 
 there before him. 
 
 "What's the use of cutting up like this?" 
 said he, with a cunning smile that exasperated 
 the prisoner to the highest degree. "One 
 would think, from your actions, that you were 
 going to prison, instead of to the pleasantest 
 home that any boy of your size ever had. Why 
 can't you stay there and be contented ? There's 
 many a youngster in this city who would be 
 glad to be in your boots." 
 
 As the man said this he mounted to a seat 
 on the box beside the driver, and at the same 
 moment his companion, who had got into the 
 carriage and closed the door behind him, seized 
 Roy by the arm and drew him away from the 
 window." 
 
 " Sit down and take it easy," said he, pleas- 
 antly. The game is up, as I told you, and you 
 might as well give in and Avait until you see 
 another chance to run away." 
 
 "Run away!" repeated Roy. "Where 
 from?" 
 
 " Oh, come now. What's the use of playing 
 off in that way? I know it's quite a while
 
 EOY IN TROUBLE. 103 
 
 since I saw you, but I knew you the minute I 
 put eyes on you. That chap didn't fool you, 
 did he?" 
 
 "What chap?" 
 
 "Why, the fellow who tried to play the 
 pocket-book game on you and those two wheel- 
 men you picked up somewhere." 
 
 "Did you see that operation?" exclaimed 
 Roy, forgetting for the moment that he was 
 being taken somewhere against his will, and 
 that there might be disagreeable things in store 
 for him. 
 
 " I saw it all. I followed you from the La- 
 fayette House say, Rowe, don't you think 
 you were foolish to go to that hotel where all 
 the wheelmen stop ? That was the very first 
 place I went to find you when Willis told me 
 that you had skipped again. What made you 
 go there?" 
 
 " Who is Willis ? " asked Roy, in reply. 
 
 "Oh, get out!" exclaimed his companion, 
 in a tone of disgust. " If you want me to talk 
 to you, you must talk sense." 
 
 "Well, then, where are you going to take 
 me?"
 
 104 THE STEEL HOESE. 
 
 " That isn't sense, either, /might be liable 
 to make a mistake, seeing it's two years and 
 better since I last met you, but Willis ought 
 to know you." 
 
 "Who does he think I am ? " 
 
 "Oh, quit your nonsense. I am in no 
 humor for foolishness. I was up all last night 
 working on a case, and now I've got to stay up 
 till I see you safe at home. I'm cross for want 
 of rest." 
 
 " You don't talk as if you were cross," said 
 Roy. "I'll stop bothering you if you will tell 
 me who you are, who you think lam, and why 
 you kidnapped me as you have done." 
 
 " Bless your heart, you won't bother me if 
 you will only talk sense. I didn't kidnap you. 
 I arrested you for a runaway, and there's my 
 authority for doing it." 
 
 As the man said this he squared around on 
 his seat, drew back the lappel of his coat, and 
 the light of a street lamp, which streamed in 
 through the window at that moment, fell full 
 upon a detective's shield. 
 
 " My name is Babcock," he continued. " Of 
 course you remember me now. Bab, you
 
 ROY IN TROUBLE. 105 
 
 know ; the same man who arrested you when 
 you lit out two years ago. Bab, you recol- 
 lect." 
 
 "Never heard your name before, and never 
 saw you, till you bounced me back there in the 
 hall," said Roy, who told himself that he was 
 learning something every minute." 
 
 "Oh, come now," replied the detective, in 
 an injured tone. "Everybody knows Bab." 
 
 "Everybody except me, perhaps. But you 
 never arrested me for the simple reason that I 
 never ran away from home. It's much too 
 pleasant a place for me to leave voluntarily, I 
 can tell you. It is plain enough to me that 
 you have mistaken me for somebody else." 
 
 "But there's Willis," said the detective; 
 and if Roy could have seen his face distinctly 
 he would have had the satisfaction of knowing 
 that he had aroused a train of disagreeable 
 thoughts in that official's mind. 
 
 "Who's Willis?" asked Roy, again. 
 
 " Your uncle's superintendent ; the man on 
 top with the driver. He has known you all 
 your life, and he says you are Rowe Shelly." 
 
 "Well, I am not. I am Roy Sheldon, and
 
 106 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 my home is in Mount Airy. If you don't 
 want to take my word for it, tell your hack- 
 man to drive us to the Lafayette House. You 
 will find a couple of my friends there, and 
 in an hour I can bring a hundred more from 
 among 'New London's best businessmen." 
 
 " If you have so many acquaintances in the 
 city, why did you put up at a hotel? That 
 statement will hardly wash." 
 
 "It's the truth whether it will wash or not," 
 Roy insisted. "Having just so much time at 
 our disposal, we made all our arrangements 
 before we left home, and we didn't want our 
 friends to interfere with our plans in any way. 
 You may save yourself trouble by going to my 
 hotel." 
 
 "No; I don't guess I would," replied the 
 detective, with a yawn. "I'd a little rather 
 trust Willis than you, for you know that you 
 are full of tricks, and that you came within 
 one of giving me the slip two years ago. Re- 
 member it, don't you 2 " 
 
 Roy replied that it had slipped his mind 
 entirely, and then went back to the point 
 from which he started, hoping that by setting
 
 HOY IN TROUBLE. 107 
 
 out on a new tack lie could induce the detec- 
 tive to tell him who Howe Shelly was, where he 
 lived, and why he had run away from home. 
 
 " If you are an officer, as you pretend to be, 
 what is the reason you did not arrest that 
 fellow when he was trying to play the pocket- 
 book game on my friends and me ? " said he. 
 *' You say you saw it all." 
 
 "And I say so yet; but I didn't want to 
 have anything to do with him just then, for I 
 had bigger game in sight. That was you, and 
 I was afraid you would recognize me if I 
 showed you my face. So I just nodded to the 
 swindler to let him know that I was on to his 
 little performance, pointed down the street, 
 and he took the hint and cleared out." 
 
 "Oh, that's the reason he went off in such 
 a hurry, was it?" exclaimed Roy. "We 
 thought it was because he was afraid his game 
 was about to be exposed. Now that I think 
 of it, I believe 1 did see you standing near by, 
 but your back was turned toward us." 
 
 " No doubt. And you saw me when I took 
 you in at Peach Grove two years ago, didn' t 
 you? Come, now, be honest."
 
 108 THE STEEL IIOKSE. 
 
 "I don't know where Peach Grove is, and 1 
 tell you I never saw you before to-night," 
 replied Roy. u How far do you intend to 
 take me in this close carriage ? ' ' 
 
 "Not much farther. We're most to the 
 pier now." 
 
 " Then I've got to go the rest of the way by 
 water, have I?" said Roy. " Why don't you 
 let down the windows? It's suffocating in 
 here." 
 
 "It's pretty warm, that's a fact," assented 
 the detective, taking off his hat and drawing 
 his handkerchief across his forehead. "You'd 
 holler if I put the windows down." 
 
 "No, I wouldn't," protested the boy. 
 
 " And that wouldn't be pleasant ; because it 
 would attract attention," continued the' de- 
 tective. " You'd be sorry enough for it after 
 you'd had time to cool off, and, besides, your 
 uncle wouldn't like to have so much publicity 
 given to this matter. He wants everything 
 done on the quiet, and I promise you it shall 
 be, if you will do just as I say." 
 
 "Who's my uncle?" asked Roy, believing 
 that he had got upon the right track at last.
 
 ROY IN TROUBLE. 109 
 
 " Why, your uncle ; Colonel Shelly ; the man 
 who owns the island where you live," answered 
 the detective. And then, as if he was angry 
 at himself for giving his questioner this much 
 satisfaction, he added : "I declare, if Job was 
 here in my place he'd lose patience and be 
 tempted to shake you. But go on with your 
 foolishness. I've got to keep awake some- 
 how." 
 
 t 
 
 "Then let down the windows so that a 
 fellow can breathe," said Roy, prompt to take 
 advantage of this permission. "If I speak 
 louder than my ordinary tone of voice it will 
 not take you long to put them up again. 
 There, now. That's better. You say you are 
 going to take me to an island. Are there any 
 people on it?" 
 
 "A dozen, or such a matter, I should say." 
 
 "Have they bean long in Colonel Shelly' s 
 employ ?" 
 
 " Some have been there always, and some 
 ain't." 
 
 " That's all I want to know on that point," 
 said Roy, who was greatly relieved. "Of 
 course the minute those old-timers see me
 
 110 THE STEEL HOESE. 
 
 they will know that you have made a mis- 
 take." 
 
 "Of course, they won't know nothing of the 
 kind," replied the detective, angrily. "They 
 know, and so does everybody else, that Bab 
 understands his business and is not in the 
 habit of making mistakes. Don't you build 
 any hopes on that." 
 
 "Colonel Shelly will know that I am not 
 his nephew, won't he ? I can at least build 
 some hopes on that." 
 
 " He ain't at home, and you know it as well 
 as I do. If he was, you and I wouldn't be 
 here in this carriage. You waited until he 
 went off somewhere on business, and then you 
 skipped." 
 
 "Oh, that was the way of it. The colonel 
 must be rich if he can afford to own a whole 
 island so near a big city like New London, 
 mustn't he?" 
 
 "Aw! Go on now," replied the detective. 
 "He's awful rich, and so are you. At least 
 you will be one of these days." 
 
 "That's news to me. I've seen the time 
 when I thought I was well off if I had fifteen
 
 HOY IN TROUBLE. Ill 
 
 cents in my pocket. What's the matter?" 
 inquired Roy, seeing that his companion was 
 twisting uneasily about on his seat. " Don't 
 I talk fast enough to keep you awake ? " 
 
 "You make me tired," answered the de- 
 tective. "But I'll tell you one thing, young 
 man. If Willis has made a mistake and 
 you are not Eowe Shelly, you're a trifle the 
 coolest customer I have seen for many a day." 
 
 "I don't deny that I was frightened at 
 first," said Roy, "but I don't feel at all un- 
 easy now. Of course I know that you have 
 made a mistake, for there's nothing that you 
 or any one else can gain by running me off 
 in this way." 
 
 " Well, look here," said the detective ear- 
 nestly. "If there's been a blunder made, 
 you mustn't blame me for it. Blame Willis." 
 
 " What's the name of the boy you took me 
 for Rowe Shelly? Do I look much like 
 him?" 
 
 "That's another question that makes me 
 tired," answered Babcock. "Look like him! 
 You are him, other wise you wouldn't be here." 
 
 " But I say I am Roy Sheldon and nobody
 
 112 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 else, as I can prove if you will give me a 
 chance. When we get to some place where we 
 can borrow a light, I want you to take a 
 good look at my face. You never saw a 
 boy who looked exactly like me, and I'll bet 
 on it." 
 
 This was just what the detective had deter- 
 mined to do. The boy was altogether too 
 much at his ease to suit him ; he did not act at 
 all as a disappointed runaway ought to act, 
 and the fear that, for once, he had committed 
 a blunder was almost enough to drive Babcock 
 frantic. If he had made a prisoner of the 
 wrong boy he could look for nothing but a 
 prompt discharge from his employer, who 
 would not be likely to recommend him to any 
 other private detective bureau. But then he 
 never would have made the arrest if Willis 
 had not urged it, and repeatedly declared 
 that he knew Howe Shelly when he saw him, 
 and that there was no chance for a mistake. 
 And besides, there was the money that Rowe 
 was said to have stolen from his guardian! 
 To do the detective justice he did not believe 
 that part of the story, but told himself that
 
 ROY IN TROUBLE. 113 
 
 the superintendent had concocted it in order to 
 make the case against the runaway as bad as 
 it could be. 
 
 " I don't much like this private detective 
 business, and never did," thought Babcock. 
 "If there is a mean piece of work to be done, 
 something so low down that the city officers 
 won't touch it, we are called upon to do it. 
 I'll have a good look at this boy's face as soon 
 as we reach the pier, and if I am not entirely 
 satisfied with what I see there, I'll wash my 
 hands of the whole business, and leave Wil- 
 lis to take him to the island and get out 
 of the scrape afterwards as well as he can. 
 That's what I'll do." 
 
 Seeing that his companion had suddenly 
 grown very unsociable, Roy settled back on 
 his seat and thought over the situation. What 
 would Joe and Arthur think when they missed 
 him, and what would they do about it? 
 When they found that he had not returned 
 to the hotel would they become frightened, 
 report the matter at police headquarters, and 
 write to the folks in Mount Airy about it ? 
 The bare thought of such a thing alarmed
 
 114 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 Roy, who was almost tempted to burst open 
 the door and take to his heels. 
 
 " But that plan wouldn't work at all," 
 said he to himself. " Babcock would have 
 me hard and fast before I could get fairly 
 on my feet. I must wait until we reach the 
 pier, and then I'll make a dash, if they give 
 me the least show. If Joe and Arthur write 
 home about it, that will be the end of our 
 trip, and I'll pick a quarrel with the pair of 
 them as soon as I can find them." 
 
 But, after all, Roy did not borrow a great 
 deal of trouble on this score. His friends 
 had never yet " gone back on him," and Roy 
 did not believe they would do it now, when 
 there was so much at stake. 
 
 While these thoughts were passing through 
 his mind, the carriage, which had been driven 
 at as high a rate of speed as the hackman 
 thought he could venture upon without at- 
 tracting the attention of the police, turned off 
 the main thoroughfare into a narrow street, 
 then into another, and finally into a third, 
 which was so dark and gloomy that the street 
 lamps looked as though they were shining
 
 ROY IN TROUBLE. 115 
 
 through a fog. Presently it came to a stand- 
 still. 
 
 " Here we are," said Babcock, with alacrity. 
 "Jump out. Not that side, but this one. 
 Aha ! You'll bear watching, won't you ? " 
 
 But Roy could not have made his exit 
 through the door toward which he turned, 
 without bringing on a useless struggle with his 
 captors ; for the minute the carriage stopped, 
 the man Willis clambered down from the box 
 and appeared at the window. 
 
 " Howe Shelly must be a slippery fellow," 
 thought Roy, as he faced about and followed 
 the detective, "and no doubt he has given 
 these two men a lesson that they will not soon 
 forget. They won't let me have the ghost of 
 a chance to run." 
 
 When Roy got out of the carriage he saw 
 that it had stopped at the end of a pier which 
 jutted out into the harbor for a hundred feet 
 or more. There was no possible chance for 
 escape, unless he were reckless enough to jump 
 into the water and trust himself to the tide, 
 which was running out at a rapid rate, but his 
 captors were so very much afraid of him, that
 
 116 THE STEEL HOKSE. 
 
 they kept fast hold of both his arms while they 
 marched him to the farther end of the pier, 
 where they found a natty little yacht with 
 steam up, ready for a start. 
 
 "Do you intend to take me away on this 
 thing?" inquired Roy. "Well, before you 
 do it, hadn't you better get a lantern and sat- 
 isfy yourselves that you have made no mistake 
 in the boy ? I tell you I am not Howe Shelly. 
 If he has any good reason for running away 
 from his uncle, I hope he is a thousand miles 
 from here at this moment, and that you will 
 never catch him. But if you don't quit fool- 
 ing with me here and now, I'll make trouble 
 for you as sure as I live to get ashore." 
 
 "I'm used to such talk as that," said Willis, 
 with a laugh. " Yes," he added, in reply to a 
 low question from a man on the forecastle who 
 proved to be the captain of the yacht, " we've 
 found him already. Had no trouble at all in 
 tracking him. Are you ready ? Then cast off 
 and" 
 
 "Hold on," interrupted the detective. "I 
 want to say a few words to you in private, 
 Willis. Captain, can this boy be locked in the
 
 ROY IN TROUBLE. 117 
 
 cabin with any certainty that we shall find him 
 there when we want him ? " 
 
 The man appealed to said he was sure of it ; 
 whereupon Roy was conducted down the com- 
 panion ladder, and into an elegantly furnished 
 little room in the stern of the yacht. The 
 hanging lamp gave out a brilliant light, and 
 Roy, believing that the detective would never 
 have a better opportunity to take a good look 
 at his face, placed his hands on his hips and 
 stood in such a position that the rays from the 
 reflector fell full upon him. 
 
 " JN"o\v what do you think ? " said he. "Can 
 you truthfully say that you ever saw me be- 
 fore?" 
 
 " Why, what's the matter ? " inquired Wil- 
 lis, while Roy was sure he looked somewhat 
 concerned and anxious. " What are you talk- 
 ing about, Rowe \ You don't pretend to deny 
 yourself, do you? If that's your scheme, it 
 won't work." 
 
 "Of course I do not mean to deny my iden- 
 tity," replied Roy. "But I do say I am not 
 Rowe Shelly." 
 
 "W r hat nonsense!" exclaimed Willis.
 
 118 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 "Shove off, captain. We are wasting time 
 here. Mr. Babcock will go to the island with 
 us, as he did before." 
 
 "Don't be in a hurry, captain," interposed 
 the detective. "It is possible that I shall 
 want to stay ashore. Now, Willis, come on 
 deck and tell me who is to pay me for this 
 night's work." 
 
 Willis knew, and so did Roy Sheldon, that 
 this was simply a ruse on Babcock' s part to 
 take the superintendent out of the prisoner's 
 hearing so that he could speak his mind to him 
 without fear of being overheard. I afterward 
 learned all about that rather stormy interview, 
 and so I will tell of it here in its proper place. 
 
 "Look here," said Babcock, as soon as he 
 and Willis had gained the deck. " You have 
 brought me into a pretty mess, and I am going 
 to get out of it with the least possible delay. 
 I am as near the island as I am going to- 
 night." 
 
 "You you don't suppose ' began Willis. 
 
 " Yes ; I mean to say that you have made 
 me arrest the wrong boy," exclaimed the de- 
 tective, as if he read the thoughts that were
 
 EOT IN TROUBLE. 119 
 
 passing in his companion's mind ; "and if you 
 don't know it, too, your face belies you. 
 What do you say, captain? Who is that boy 
 we just left in the cabin?" 
 
 "Why, it's Howe Shelly, of course. Who 
 else should it be?" 
 
 *' Did you take a good look at him ? " 
 
 "I did. I would know him if I had met 
 him in Europe." 
 
 " There, now," said Willis, angrily, " I hope 
 you're satisfied. I've heard 'that boy talk. 
 He can almost make one believe that black is 
 white, and I can see plain enough that he tried 
 his blarney on you while you were in the car- 
 riage with him. You wouldn't have made the 
 arrest if it hadn't been for me." 
 
 " You're right, I wouldn't. I believed you 
 when you said you knew the boy. and now I've 
 got into a nice pickle by it. I hope the colo- 
 nel will give you your walking-papers the 
 minute he hears of it." 
 
 " Oh, he dassent do that. I know too much 
 about " began Willis, and then he stopped, 
 frightened at what he had said. 
 
 "You know too much about him and his
 
 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 affairs, do you ? " exclaimed Babcock, finishing 
 the sentence for him. "That's what I have 
 thought for a long time." 
 
 "I didn't say so," replied Willis, hastily, 
 at the same time taking the detective by the 
 arm and leading him out of earshot of the 
 captain of the yacht. "You ought not to 
 have spoken so plainly in the presence of a 
 third party. I tell you it's all right." 
 
 "And I tell you I am sure it isn't. If you 
 will take my advice, you will bring that boy 
 out of the cabin and show him the way to his 
 hotel at once. If he is a stranger in town he 
 could not find his way there alone on a dark 
 night like this." 
 
 "I wouldn't do that for no money," said 
 Willis, alarmed at the mere mention of such 
 a thing. " Just see the trouble I'd get into." 
 
 "You'll get into more if you don't do as I 
 say. Well, good-by. I'm off." 
 
 " Won't you see Howe safe to the island ? " 
 
 "Not by a great sight. I'll have no more 
 to do with the case." 
 
 So saying the detective jumped ashore, and 
 Willis was left to his own discretion.
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 ANOTHER SURPRISE FOR ROY. 
 
 ^ ~T~YTELL, this is a pretty way to treat a 
 VY fellow, I do think," soliloquized the 
 puzzled and anxious superintendent, as he 
 stood on the yacht's deck and watched the 
 retreating form of the detective until it was 
 swallowed up in the darkness. ' ' He gets me 
 into difficulty and then clears out, leaving me 
 to sink or swim, he don't care which. What 
 do you say, captain?" he added, turning to 
 the master of the yacht, who came up when 
 he saw Babcock spring ashore. " You're quite 
 positive that the boy below is Rowe Shelly, 
 and nobody else?" 
 
 "What's the matter with you and Bab- 
 cook ? " asked the captain, testily. "You act 
 like a couple of I don't know what." 
 
 " And that's the way I feel," replied Willis. 
 "Babcock has been worked upon in some mys-
 
 122 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 terious way, and now he's gone away and left 
 me to bear the brunt of the whole thing 
 alone." 
 
 "Well, wasn't that what you expected to 
 do when you got back to the island?" in- 
 quired the captain. "His guardian being 
 absent, you will have to take full charge of 
 Howe until he returns. That's what you did 
 the last time he ran away, and you never made 
 any fuss over it. I know it is disagreeable 
 business, this standing guard over an uneasy 
 fellow who won't stay where he is put, but 
 seeing that we are well paid for it, and know 
 that it is for the boy's best good, where' s the 
 harm?" 
 
 "But Babcock sfeems to think that Howe 
 has slipped through our fingers, and that we 
 have brought back the wrong boy." 
 
 The captain made a gesture of impatience 
 but said nothing. 
 
 "Air right," exclaimed Willis. "Cast off 
 the fasts and get under way as quickly as pos- 
 sible." 
 
 "Where's his wheel?" inquired the captain. 
 " I didn't see you bring it aboard."
 
 ANOTHER SURPRISE FOR ROY. 123 
 
 " We didn't stop for it," answered Willis, 
 " for the youngster was in fighting humor, and 
 would have drawn a crowd about us if we 
 hadn't hustled him into the carriage just as we 
 did. We'll have to send for it when he gets 
 ready to tell us where he left it." 
 
 "Don't he feel inclined to talk? That 
 isn't at all like Rovve, who usually has gab 
 enough." 
 
 " Bless you, he's nothing but talk ; but the 
 trouble is, he won' t tell the truth. He has hit 
 upon a new plan this time. He says he is some- 
 body else, and sticks to it. But you know 
 him and I know him, even if Babcock doesn't ; 
 so it's all right. Now get underway. It must 
 be all right, although I confess that Babcock 
 frightened me by talking and acting as he did," 
 said Willis, as the master of the yacht hast- 
 ened forward to take his place at the wheel. 
 "I had a good view of him while he stood in 
 front of that window with those two young 
 wheelmen ; I sat almost within reach of him 
 during the entire evening ; and I've bad several 
 good looks at him since. Babcock had all the 
 chances he wanted to compare his face with
 
 124 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 the photograph I gave him, and he didn't think 
 there was anything wrong until after Howe had 
 had opportunity to talk to him. I'd give 
 something handsome to know what passed be- 
 tween them while I was on the box with the 
 driver ; then, perhaps I should know what to 
 do. I ought to have stayed with them, but I 
 never dreamed of anything like this. However, 
 I shall be prepared for any emergencies. I'll 
 take Tony into my confidence just as soon as I 
 can get Howe into the house and up to his 
 room." 
 
 So saying, the superintendent faced about 
 and went into the cabin to see what the pris- 
 oner thought of the situation. To his surprise 
 he found him reading a paper he had taken 
 from the table. According to Willis's way of 
 thinking, that was a bad sign. Why didn't he 
 walk the floor and shake his fists in the air and 
 utter threats, and in various other ways act as 
 if he had taken leave of his senses ? That was 
 the way he did the last time he was captured, 
 and Willis could not understand why he didn' t 
 do so now. 
 
 "Well," said Roy, laying down his paper
 
 ANOTHER SURPRISE FOR ROY. 125 
 
 and squaring around in his chair. "What 
 conclusion did you and Babcock come to ? " 
 
 " What conclusion ? " repeated Willis, inno- 
 cently. 
 
 " Yes. You went on deck to hold a private 
 confab, and I should like to know what came 
 of it. It is a matter in which I am somewhat 
 interested." 
 
 "I don't see how you can be. Bab wanted 
 to know who was to pay him for interfering 
 with your plans, and I told him he would have 
 to go to your uncle for that. There was noth- 
 ing private about it." 
 
 " I suppose I am at liberty to believe that or 
 not," replied Roy. "Babcock knows that 
 when he caught me he didn' t get the boy he 
 wanted, and you know it, too. I don't say 
 you knew it when you took me away from my 
 friends in front of the hall, but you do now ! " 
 
 Roy said this at a venture, and, no doubt, 
 would have been greatly amazed if he had 
 known just how close he had shot to the mark. 
 He was sitting a little to one side of the reflec- 
 tor, so that the rays from the hanging lamp 
 fell squarely upon him, and now that Willis
 
 126 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 liad leisure to look at him without fear of in- 
 terruption from a crowd of curious by-stand- 
 ers, the cold chills began creeping over him. 
 There was a wonderful resemblance, it is true, 
 between the prisoner and Howe Shelly, and 
 yet Willis could not help seeing that they were 
 different in a good many particulars. Roy had 
 a way of holding his head, and even of sitting 
 in his chair, which were unlike anything the 
 superintendent had ever noticed in Howe. 
 How earnestly he wished that Roy would own 
 up, confess that he was the runaway, and thus 
 put an end to his suspense ! 
 
 " Where's Babcock now ?" asked Roy, after 
 a short pause. 
 
 " On deck," answered Willis, who did not 
 think it would be good policy to tell the pris- 
 oner just what had passed bet ween himself and 
 the detective. "It always makes him sea-sick 
 to remain in a close cabin when on the water, 
 and so he stayed where he could get the 
 breeze." 
 
 "It works that way with me, too," said Roy ; 
 but Willis could not be made to believe it. 
 
 "It won't do, Rowe," said he, with some-
 
 ANOTHER SURPRISE FOR ROT. 
 
 thing that was intended for a good-natured 
 smile. "I've seen you on the water too often, 
 and you can't crowd any such story down me. 
 I wouldn ; t mind allowing you to go on deck if 
 I could trust you ; but I have learned that I 
 can't. Your word isn't good for anything." 
 
 " Your remarks may apply to Howe Shelly, 
 but I want you to understand that they don't 
 hit me. My word is always good. But what's 
 the use of talking?" said Roy, again, picking 
 up the paper. "I've told my story to the de- 
 tective, who probably told it to you, and in a 
 few hours you will learn that it is a true one. 
 Where has Colonel Shelly gone, and when is 
 he expected to return I " 
 
 Willis answered that he didn' t know. 
 
 "It's immaterial," said Roy. "When my 
 friends come to the island after me. as they 
 surely will as soon as they find out where I 
 have been taken, I shall go ashore with them, 
 no matter whether the colonel is there or not." 
 
 It was right on the point of Roy's tongue to 
 add : "And you will go also, for I don't in- 
 tend to submit to treatment of this sort." But 
 he did not utter the words. It came into his
 
 128 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 mind like a flash, that possibly this man Willis 
 might have it in his power to shut him up in 
 some strong room on the island, and if that 
 was the case Roy did not wish to make him 
 angry. 
 
 ''You still stick to it that you are not Howe 
 Shelly, do you?" exclaimed Willis, trying to 
 look and speak as if he were becoming indig- 
 nant, though the effort was a sorry failure. 
 He was frightened, and Roy saw it plain 
 enough. " You might as well give up, for 
 everybody who has ever seen you knows who 
 you are/' 
 
 " Oh, I'll give up because I can't well help 
 myself," replied Roy. " In fact I have a curi- 
 osity to see the thing out, and to know what 
 you and Babcock will do when you find that 
 you have put your feet in it. So long as I get 
 good treatment, a soft bed to sleep in I have 
 been in the saddle nearly all day, and conse- 
 quently I feel rather tired and plenty to eat, 
 I would just as soon indeed, I would rather 
 stay on an island to-night than sleep at my 
 hotel. I never did like a city hotel, and if I 
 were sure that my friends are not worrying
 
 ANOTHER SURPRISE FOR ROY. 129 
 
 about me, my mind would be quite at rest. 
 Hal-lo ! What have I said now, I wonder." 
 
 ' ' By the piper that played before Moses, that 
 ain't Rowe Shelly," said Willis, to himself, as 
 he sprang from his chair and bolted up the 
 companion-ladder. "Babcockwas right, and 
 I' m in for it, sure enough. Rowe' s got sublime 
 cheek, but it can't compare with this fellow's. 
 Now what shall I do ? " 
 
 It was plain as daylight to me, when I heard 
 of it, that there was but one course of action 
 open to the superintendent, and that was the 
 honest and manly one. When he became con- 
 vinced, or even suspected, that he had made a 
 blunder, the best thing he could do was to 
 order the yacht back to the pier and conduct 
 Roy Sheldon to his hotel with such apologies 
 as he could think up on the spur of the moment. 
 But, unfortunately, Willis had never been 
 known to do an honest and manly thing. Prob- 
 ably he never thought of it. He wasn't above a 
 mean act, and when detected in it generally did 
 something meaner to cover it up. And that 
 was what he decided to do in this case. He 
 did not go into the cabin again, but paced the 
 
 9
 
 130 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 deck, lost in thought. He turned over in his 
 mind a dozen wild schemes for ridding himself 
 of the prisoner in case he did not prove to be 
 the boy he wanted, but through it all he clung 
 to the hope that he was Rowe Shelly, and no- 
 body else. It couldn't be possible, he told 
 himself, that there was a boy in the world who 
 looked enough like the runaway to deceive 
 everybody at iirst sight. At any rate, it would 
 not take long to settle the matter now, for here 
 was the island close at hand. There were sev- 
 eral people on the jetty awaiting the yacht's 
 return, and every one of them would be able to 
 tell at a glance whether or not he had brought 
 Rowe Shelly with him. 
 
 "I'll not so much as drop a hint that I am 
 afraid there is something wrong," said Willis, 
 to himself. "I'll just walk him ashore as if 
 it was all right, and leave them to find a dif- 
 ference between him and the runaway, if they 
 can. If they don't say anything, I shall know 
 that I have been a fool for allowing Babcock' s 
 words to have so much weight with me." 
 
 When the yacht whistled for the landing, 
 Willis stuck his head down the companion-way
 
 ANOTHER SURPRISE FOR ROY. 131 
 
 and told Roy he might come on deck ; a privi- 
 lege of which the weary prisoner was prompt 
 to avail himself. He had been asleep, with his 
 head resting on the table, and now all he cared 
 for was to get to bed. It would be time 
 enough, he thought, to look into his sur- 
 roundings and inquire about Howe Shelly and 
 his reasons for leaving home, after he had had 
 a good night's rest. But by the time the yacht 
 was stopped at the jetty and the lines made 
 fast and the gang-plank shoved out, he was 
 wide awake. 
 
 "He's come," said somebody on the jetty. 
 "Don't you see his white shirt and cap? 
 That' s him. That' s Ro we. ' ' 
 
 "Now this is mighty strange," said Roy to 
 himself. "These folks appear to be friendly 
 to the boy I am supposed to be, and yet they 
 don't want to have him run away, although he 
 must have good reasons for it, having tried it 
 twice. When they get a closer view of my 
 face we'll see how quick they will sing another 
 tune." 
 
 But, to Roy's surprise, they didn't do any- 
 thing of the sort. They crowded about him,
 
 132 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 as he walked down the staging by the superin- 
 tendent's side (for a wonder the man did not 
 take hold of his arm, as Roy expected him to 
 do), all eager to shake him by the hand. They 
 even gazed into his face, which was plainly vis- 
 ible, owing to the bright light emitted by the 
 blazing torch that was standing among the 
 rocks at the end of the jetty. The climax was 
 reached when a motherly-looking woman, who 
 was waiting for them at the shore end of the 
 jetty, threw her arms around the neck of the 
 startled boy and kissed him on the nose before 
 he knew what she was going to do. 
 
 " Bless his heart, has he come back again ? " 
 she exclaimed, holding him off at arm's length 
 so that she could get a good view of him. 
 " Come right into the house and get a good 
 supper before you go to bed. I know you must 
 be tired to death, and don' t suppose you have 
 had a bite to eat since you went away, seeing 
 that you did not take any money with you." 
 
 "Let us go in, Mrs. Moffat," interrupted 
 Willis, who grew nervous when the house- 
 keeper began talking about money. 
 , "I'll tell you what's a fact: this is getting
 
 ANOTHER SURPEISE FOR ROY. 133 
 
 serious," soliloquized Roy, as he moved toward 
 the house in company with Willis and Mrs. 
 Moffat, one walking on each side of him. "But 
 I don't know that I care so very much. I'll 
 see how it looks in the morning." Then aloud 
 he said : "I don't want anything to eat, Mrs. 
 beg pardon, I didn't quite catch the name." 
 
 " Good laws ! Just listen at the child," ex- 
 claimed the housekeeper, throwing up her 
 hands and looking the picture of astonishment. 
 
 "He's been going on that way ever since we 
 found him, Mrs. Moffat," said Willis in a low 
 tone. "He don't know me nor Babcock nor 
 the captain nor nobody. He acts as if he had 
 lost all his senses." 
 
 " That's just what I have been afraid of for 
 a longtime," answered the housekeeper in a 
 loud, shrill whisper. " No boy who was in his 
 right mind would want to run away and leave 
 a kind uncle and a beautiful home like this. 
 I've suspected it, and so have others whose 
 names I could mention." 
 
 Willis started when he heard this, and so 
 did Roy. The woman's words suggested an 
 idea to both of them.
 
 134 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 "I've sense enough to know that I am not 
 hungry," said Roy. "All I ask is to get to 
 bed and be left alone for the rest of the night. 
 I'm tired and sleepy ; and besides, I want a 
 chance to think about this business," he added, 
 to himself. 
 
 The housekeeper hastened to assure him that 
 it should be just as he said, and a few minutes 
 later Roy was conducted up the front steps 
 and into a wide hall from which winding stairs 
 led to the floor above. Fortunately, his guides 
 did not leave him here, for if they had, Roy 
 would not have known what to do. No doubt 
 he would have confirmed the housekeeper's 
 suspicions by requesting her to show him to 
 his room. But she and Willis did that with- 
 out being asked. They led him upstairs to a 
 handsomely furnished apartment, and even 
 accompanied him into it. There was a stu- 
 dent lamp on the center- table, a bright wood- 
 iire burning in the grate (although it was sum- 
 mer, the breeze that came off the Sound was 
 raw and chilly), and everything looked cheer- 
 ful and inviting. 
 
 '' I haven't touched the room since you went
 
 ANOTHER SURPRISE FOR ROY. 135 
 
 away, except to slick it up a little," said Mrs. 
 Moffatt. "Now, is there anything I can do 
 for you before I say good-night ? Hadn't you 
 better let me bring up a little lunch for fear 
 that you may get hungry before morning ? " 
 
 ' ' I don' t care for any, because I never eat 
 during the night. When I once fall asleep, I 
 don't know any thing more till daylight comes. 
 There's nothing you can do, thank you," re- 
 plied Roy. 
 
 The motherly housekeeper was evidently dis- 
 appointed because the boy did not make some 
 complaints or order something, for she lingered 
 as if waiting for him to speak again, while 
 Willis walked the floor with his hands behind 
 his back. He was lost in a brown study from 
 which he presently aroused himself to say : 
 
 " Very well. If there is nothing we can do 
 for you, we'll bid you good-night If you 
 want anything you know how to get it." 
 
 'Til be shot if I do," said Roy, mentally. 
 ' ' Rowe Shelly must be a queer chap if he 
 has to be waited on during the night. If 
 that' s the way he has been brought up he had 
 better stay at home as long as he can, for he'll
 
 136 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 have to take hard knocks when he gets out 
 into the world. I declare, he lives in clover, 
 does he not ? " added Roy, glancing around at 
 the expensive furniture, the pictures on the 
 walls, the ornaments on the mantel, which in- 
 cluded the model of a full-rigged ship, and the 
 well-filled book-cases that stood on each side 
 of the fire-place. Through an open door at 
 the farther end of the apartment, Roy caught 
 a glimpse of the runaway's bed-room. 
 
 "But I'll not go in there," said he, to him- 
 self. "I'll move this sofa pillow to the lounge, 
 borrow a book, if I can find one to suit me, 
 and read myself to sleep. So long as I am 
 treated like one of the masters of the house 
 instead of an interloper, I don't see why I 
 shouldn't make the best of the situation. Of 
 course Joe and Art will be along in the morn- 
 ing, and they will be able to prove to Willis's 
 satisfaction that I don't belong here. I knew 
 it would be of no use to argue the matter with 
 Mrs. Moffatt after Willis told her I was out of 
 my head." 
 
 While Roy talked to himself in this way he 
 ran his eye over the volumes in one of the
 
 ANOTHER SURPRISE FOR ROY. 137 
 
 book-cases, took out "Gulliver's Travels," and 
 lay down upon the lounge ; but before he had 
 read half a page the hand that held the book 
 gradually fell away from his face until the 
 volume rested on the floor by his side. There 
 was no sham about his weariness. His thirty- 
 six mile ride had tired every muscle in his 
 body, and Roy was fast asleep. Would his 
 slumber have been as peaceful as it was if he 
 he had known what was going on outside the 
 house ? 
 
 When Roy awoke it was with a start and 
 the indescribable feeling that sometimes comes 
 over a sleeper when a stranger unexpectedly 
 enters his room. He looked around, and sure 
 enough he was not alone. Willis was stand- 
 ing a little distance away, and Roy was almost 
 certain that he saw him turn and signal to 
 another man, who whisked out of the door 
 before he could obtain a fair view of him. It 
 might have been nothing but the vagary of a 
 dream, but still Roy thought it worth while to 
 speak of it. 
 
 " What do you want now ? " he demanded. 
 "Why do you come in without awaking me,
 
 138 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 and who was that fellow who just went 
 out?" 
 
 "What fellow V asked Willis, answering 
 the last question first, and at the same time 
 facing about and looking at the door, which 
 was still slowly and softly closing. 
 
 "That's what I asked you" replied Roy, 
 springing off the lounge, jerking the door wide 
 open and looking out into the hall. There 
 was no one there. If there had been Roy 
 certainly would have seen him, for the lamps 
 were still burning. 
 
 "Why, what's the matter?" inquired 
 Willis, as if he thought this a very strange 
 proceeding on Roy's part. " What are you 
 afraid of I" 
 
 " I don't know that I am afraid of anything ; 
 but I'd like to have you to tell me who came 
 into this room with you, and why you are here. 
 I told you I shouldn't want anything to-night." 
 
 "I thought you might, and that's why I 
 came," replied the man. "There is no one 
 with me. I am alone." And then, as if he 
 had just thought of the object of his visit, he 
 continued: "I was sure you would like to
 
 ANOTHER SURPRISE FOE EOT. 139 
 
 hear some word from your friends the two 
 who were with you when that bunco-steerer 
 tried to cheat you out of some money. I know 
 I might have waited until morning, and since 
 you were sleeping so soundly, I am sorry I 
 didn't. I have found out " 
 
 * Great Scott, man ! " interrupted Roy, who 
 could scarcely believe that he heard aright. 
 "Don't talk about waiting till morning when 
 you have good news to tell. Where are my 
 friends ? Are they here on the island ? How 
 did you get word from them \ Go on, please, 
 and tell me what you have found out." 
 
 If Willis had not already received as good 
 evidence as he wanted that the boy before him 
 was not Rowe Shelly, he had it now. The 
 real runaway could not have talked and acted 
 as Roy did at that moment. 
 
 " I heard of them through Babcock," Willis 
 began. 
 
 " Then he didn't come to the island with us, 
 did he ? I wondered why I did not see him." 
 
 "No. He left me at the pier and went to 
 the city to make inquiries about you. He 
 went straight to the the '
 
 140 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 "Lafayette House," prompted Roy, when 
 the man hesitated. 
 
 " That's the place. The Lafayette House, 
 and saw your name on the register. Let me 
 see ; what did he say it was ? " 
 
 " Was it Roy Sheldon ?" 
 
 "Yes, it was. Sounds a good deal like 
 Ro we Shelly, don' tit? He found your name 
 there, and also the names of 
 
 Here Willis hesitated again, for he was not 
 quite sure of his ground. You must remember 
 that he did not know as much about the pris- 
 oner as Babcock did, for Roy had not had the 
 same chance to talk to him. So he stopped as 
 of ten as he needed posting, and, strange to say, 
 Roy never suspected that there was anything 
 wrong. He afterward had occasion to take 
 himself to task for his stupidity. 
 
 ' ' My two friends, Joe Wayring and Arthur 
 Hastings?" again prompted Roy. "Did 
 Babcock see them, and what did they have to 
 say about my disappearance ? I hope they 
 haven't thought of writing home about it. I 
 wouldn't have them do that for anything." 
 
 This was something that Roy ought to have
 
 ANOTHER SURPRISE FOR ROY. 141 
 
 kept to himself ; but he said it, and Willis 
 was quick to make a note of it. 
 
 "I don't know about that," he replied. 
 "Babcock didn't see 'em to speak to 'em, 
 and they didn't come off with him." 
 
 "Now why didn't they?" exclaimed the 
 disappointed Roy, who had secretly cherished 
 the hope that the fellow who so suddenly dis- 
 appeared through the door was one of his 
 chums. It would have been just like Art 
 Hastings to play a trick of that kind on 
 him. 
 
 "I'll tell you why he didn't speak to 
 what's their names ? " answered Willis. " He 
 spoke to the clerk instead, because he did 
 not want to raise a row, and he told him 
 all about you." 
 
 "The clerk did?" said Roy. "Why, he 
 doesn't know anything about me. He never 
 saw me until. I went into his hotel in company 
 with my friends." 
 
 " That's what he told Bab ; but he knew you 
 were from what is the name of that place 
 again ?" 
 
 "Mount Airy?"
 
 142 THE STEEL IIOESE. 
 
 " That's it. He knew you came from there, 
 and more than that, he saw the genuine Howe 
 Shelly." 
 
 "There, now," cried Roy. "That's evi- 
 dence worth having. Did he catch him \ " 
 
 "No; but he is close on his trail. He 
 brought this news over to me just now, Bab- 
 cock did, and then went back to follow him 
 up." 
 
 "I hope he'll not catch him," said Roy. 
 "I'm sure I can't understand why a boy as 
 well fixed and as kindly treated as young 
 Shelly seems to be should want to run away 
 from home, but I suppose he has good reasons 
 for it." 
 
 " Not the first ; not the smallest shadow of a 
 reason," protested Willis. 
 
 "Then he's crazy; that's flat." 
 
 "Now you have hit it. That's what's the 
 matter with him, and you heard Mrs. Moffatt 
 say she had suspected it for a long time. You 
 look surprisingly like Rowe, or else all those 
 folks who met us on the jetty wouldn't have 
 taken you for him. You've got the same hair, 
 eyes, and mustache, and your clothes are ex-
 
 ANOTHER SURPRISE FOR ROY. 143 
 
 actly like his-; but when I had a chance to 
 exchange a word with you, I knew that Bab 
 had made a big mistake." 
 
 "Bab says you are the one who made the 
 mistake, and that if I blame anybody for what 
 has happened to me to-night, I must blame 
 you." 
 
 " Well, you wouldn't blame anybody if you 
 could see Ro we Shelly," said Willis, deprecat- 
 ingly. " Of course any amends that " 
 
 ''Oh, I don't ask any amends," interposed 
 Roy. "I've had an agreeable adventure, and 
 I shall not make any trouble on account of it. 
 All I ask is that you will send me to the city 
 at once, so that I may relieve the anxiety of 
 my friends. Now, what do you want me to do ? 
 Are you going to send me off in the yacht ? " 
 
 "I'd like to, but I can't," answered Willis. 
 "The captain's asleep, and steam' has gone 
 down, so that it would take an hour to get 
 ready for the start. I'll have to send you 
 ashore in a boat, if you don' t mind going that 
 way." 
 
 "Any way to get there," said Roy, picking 
 up his cap. "I'm ready if you are."
 
 144 THE STEEL HOUSE. 
 
 "Willis left the room at once, and Roy fol- 
 lowed him downstairs and out of the house. 
 Did the man move with cautious footsteps as 
 if he were afraid of disturbing somebody ? Roy 
 was sure he did, and thought it looked sus- 
 picious.
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 SOME STARTLING NEWS. 
 
 T DON'T much like the idea of sneaking 
 -L out as if I were a thief," said Roy, in- 
 voluntarily following the guide's motions and 
 speaking in a low and guarded tone. ' ' What's 
 the object of so much secrecy ? I know I have 
 no right here, but since I was brought against 
 my will, I have a perfect right to go out open 
 and above board." 
 
 "Easy, easy," whispered Willis, raising his 
 hand with a warning gesture. "We don't 
 want to disturb Mrs. Moffatt for nothing. 
 The timid old soul lives in constant fear of a 
 visit from New London burglars, and if we 
 should wake her up she would be scared to 
 death." 
 
 Roy did not think to ask himself whether 
 or not this was a good reason for Willis's 
 stealthy movements, for his mind was too busy 
 
 10 145
 
 146 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 with other matters. He wanted to see the 
 boat that was to take him across to the city, 
 and fervently hoped it might prove to be a 
 large and seaworthy one ; for when he got out 
 of the house he saw that the sky was overcast, 
 that the wind was rising, and that the surface 
 of the bay looked dark and threatening. 
 
 "Isn't it going to be an ugly night ?" said 
 he, as he accompanied his guide down one of 
 the broad carriageways that had been laid out 
 along the beach. " What a lovely road for a 
 wheel," he went on, without giving Willis a 
 chance to reply. "It is as hard as rock and 
 level as a floor." 
 
 "Yes ;. here's where Howe learned to ride," 
 said Willis. " We have twenty miles of just 
 such roads on the island." 
 
 " Then that was what you meant when you 
 said Howe's clothes were just like mine ; he is 
 a wheelman," said Roy. "He has a nice place 
 for his regular runs, and I should much like to 
 see it by daylight ; but I should think he 
 would get lonely and long to take a spin on the 
 mainland now and then. I tell you it's going 
 to blow," he added, as a strong gust of wind
 
 SOME STARTLING NEWS. 147 
 
 shook the branches of the trees that shaded 
 the road on both sides. "Are you going to 
 the city with me ? " 
 
 "I can't leave the island until I put the 
 hands to work in the morning," replied Willis. 
 "But I will give you a good crew and a 
 stanch boat. You' 11 go over all right. You 
 are not afraid of a capful of wind, I hope ? " 
 
 " No, but I am afraid of a gale. I am used 
 to smooth water, and don't at all relish the idea 
 of being out in a storm." 
 
 "Oil, it isn't going to storm. But if you 
 get frightened after you are out a little way, 
 tell the men to bring you back or to put 
 you aboard some coaster, bound in. Here 
 we are." 
 
 As Willis said this he turned off the road 
 and led the way down the bank and to the 
 beach, where Roy found a boat and two men 
 who were evidently waiting for him. 
 
 " Here he is." said Willis, laying his hand 
 on the boy's shoulder. "He doesn't much 
 like the idea of going out in this breeze 
 
 "The breeze don't blow to hurt anything," 
 growled one of the men, pulling his sou' wester
 
 148 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 lower over his forehead and turning the collar 
 of his pea-jacket up around his ears. 
 
 "That's what I told him ; but of course his 
 wishes must be respected, and I want you to 
 mind this : If it gets too heavy for you, you 
 will either bring him back, or put him aboard 
 some larger craft, bound in. If you will step 
 this way a minute,- Tony, I will give you an 
 order for some goods I want brought from the 
 city." 
 
 The superintendent drew off on one side out 
 of earshot, and one of the muffled figures fol- 
 lowed him. 
 
 " Me and Bob hain't yet made up our minds 
 whether we'll have a hand in this business or 
 not," said he, in a hoarse whisper. "Looks 
 most too risky, don't it?" 
 
 "There isn't a particle of risk about it," re- 
 plied Willis. "Do you think I would put the 
 colonel's nephew in danger for the sake of 
 a paltry five hundred dollars ? I tell you, 
 there's nothing to fear. The colonel told me 
 to attend to this business for him, and when 
 he finds 'I've not done it, what shall I say to 
 him ? Do you want me- to tell him that you
 
 SOME STAETLING NEWS. 149 
 
 wouldn't obey orders because you were 
 afraid?" 
 
 "Well, I am afraid, and that's flat," said 
 Tony, doggedly. "I have heared of Cap'n 
 Jack, and I'm scared to trust myself on board 
 his ship." 
 
 " You needn't be, for the colonel will pro- 
 tect you. Give him this the minute you get 
 aboard, and it will see you through," said 
 Willis, slipping an envelope into the pocket of 
 Tony's pea-jacket. "Now, hurry up, for the 
 captain is in a great taking to go to sea, and 
 he's liable to run out at any moment. He's 
 been waiting a long time 
 
 " He's been waiting long enough to get good 
 and mad, and I wouldn't be one of the crew 
 he takes to sea with him this trip for all the 
 money there is in the broad world," said Tony, 
 with a shudder. "He'll haze 'em till they'll 
 be glad to jump overboard." 
 
 " You and I have nothing whatever to do 
 with the way Captain Jack Eowan sees fit to 
 treat his crew, ' ' said Willis impatiently. 
 "All you and Bob have to do is to set this boy 
 on board the White Squall, so that he can get
 
 150 THE STEEL HOUSE. 
 
 that money. But mind you : You are not to 
 tell him where you are going. He's as much 
 afraid of the White Squall as you seem to be, 
 and wouldn't put a foot over her rail if he 
 knew it. He thinks he going into the city, 
 and that you are to take him straight to a hack- 
 stand. Say yes or no, and be quick about it. 
 The wind is rising every moment, and if you 
 don't start pretty soon you'll not be able to get 
 away from the beach." 
 
 "All right, Mr. Willis. We'll tend to the 
 business for you." 
 
 Tony spoke these words in a tone loud 
 enough to reach the ears of Koy Sheldon, who 
 remained near the boat in company with the 
 man Bob. The former supposed the words had 
 something to do with the "order" of which 
 Willis had spoken, but Bob knew they were 
 intended to convey to him the information that 
 the job on hand was to be carried out just as it 
 had been planned. 
 
 "Jump aboard, lad," said he, motioning 
 Roy to get into the boat. " Holler good-by to 
 the old man, and that will do just as well as 
 shaking hands with him."
 
 SOME STARTLING NEWS. 151 
 
 But Roy had no opportunity to "holler" 
 his farewell, even if he had thought of it ; for 
 by the time the boat was fairly afloat, the crew 
 in their places, and the oars shipped, the thick 
 darkness of the on-coming storm closed down 
 over them, and the beach was shut out from 
 view. 
 
 "I reckon that's the last of this scrape for 
 one while," soliloquized Willis, as he pulled his 
 hat down over his ears and retraced his steps 
 to the house. "If there ever were two born 
 fools in the world, they are me and Babcock. 
 How we managed to make such a blunder, I 
 can't for the life of me imagine. Now Howe 
 Shelly can cut his lucky and go and find his 
 father and mother, for all me. I'll never try 
 to catch him, for my cue now is to make folks 
 believe I've had him here, and that he gave me 
 the slip and cleared out. Is that you, Benny? 
 You don't know how you startled me." 
 
 Just then some one stepped out into the 
 road and confronted the superintendent. It 
 was his son ; and all I know about him is that 
 he was called " a chip of the old block," so he 
 must have been a rascal. The first words the
 
 152 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 young man spoke proved that this was not the 
 first interview they had had that night. 
 
 ' Well, how is it ?" said he. 
 
 "They've gone," replied his father shortly. 
 
 " Then we've seen them for the last time ; 
 for when they get back we'll not be here. 
 Captain Jack will be sure to carry them off 
 with him." 
 
 "Ain't you kinder sorry to treat Tony and 
 Bob that way ? They' ve been good, faithful 
 fellows, and I hate to think of their being 
 kicked and knocked about by those mates." 
 
 " They're used to it, " replied Benny indif- 
 ferently. "Besides, what else could you do? 
 You couldn't keep the boy, for he was not Rowe 
 Shelly ; and if you had let him go, he would 
 have had the law on you for abduction. You 
 couldn't have hired Bob and Tony to take him 
 aboard the White Squall and leave him there, 
 because they wouldn't have done it, and they 
 would have blabbed about it into the bargain. 
 By doing as I said, you've got rid of the whole 
 of them at once, and they'll never come back 
 to trouble you." 
 
 The superintendent groaned
 
 SOME STARTLING NEWS. 153 
 
 "I know what you're afraid of," continued 
 Benny. " You're scared that the ship will go 
 to the bottom with all hands. Well, .then, 
 what made you be such a dunce as to capture 
 the wrong boy ? You got into the scrape and 
 you had to get out, didn't you? Now I'm 
 going to bed." 
 
 "There's going to be the biggest kind of a 
 commotion on this island, and before long, 
 too," said Willis dolefully. " I have warning 
 of it in every breath of wind that comes off 
 the bay." 
 
 I do not suppose that Willis closed his eyes 
 in slumber that night. It would have been a 
 wonder if he had slept, with so guilty a con- 
 science for company. He arose at an early 
 hour, saw the yacht when she put off through 
 the white-caps shortly after daylight to bring 
 the morning's mail from the city, and waited 
 with what patience he could for her return. 
 She did not bring any of Roy Sheldon's 
 friends with her, but she landed a larger sup- 
 ply of mail than usual, and in it the superin- 
 tendent found a letter addressed to himself 
 in Rowe Shelly' s well-known handwriting.
 
 154 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 Its contents were enough to drive one frantic, 
 Willis told himself. He had hoped that the 
 runaway would be satisfied now that he had 
 got off the island, and that he would quietly 
 disappear and never "turn up 1 ' again; but 
 here he was threatening the superintendent 
 with the terrors of the law if he did not at 
 once release the boy who had been mistaken 
 for himself. 
 
 " Somebody put him up to that," groaned 
 Willis, " for Kowe never would have thought 
 of such a thing himself. I wish I could send 
 that boy back where he belongs, and if I had 
 ever dreamed of this, I would have done it. I 
 made a mistake in taking Benny's advice and 
 sending Roy Sheldon away to be " shanghaed," 
 for instead of getting out of trouble, I have 
 only pulled myself deeper into it. What is it, 
 Jobson ? " he added, addressing himself to 
 one of the hired men who just then appeared 
 at the door. 
 
 " I came in to see if you could tell me any- 
 thing about Tony and Bob Bradley," was the 
 reply ; and the words added big weight to 
 the superintendent's heavy load of anxiety.
 
 SOME STARTLING NEWS. 155 
 
 "They are not on the island, and a boat that 
 looks wonderfully like theirs is being driven 
 ashore from the Sound. I didn't know but 
 you might have sent them to the city for 
 something." 
 
 "In all that storm?" exclaimed Willis. 
 "Say, Jobson," he continued, changing the 
 subject, for it was one he did not like to dwell 
 
 was it severe enough to keep vessels from 
 going and coming ? " 
 
 "Oh, no. I see the White Squall has left 
 her anchorage. She must have gone out in 
 the height of it, for she was there when I went 
 to bed." 
 
 "If those two men went away last night 
 they did it without any orders from me," said 
 Willis. "It's nothing to worry over. No 
 doubt they will come around presently. So 
 the White Squall has gone at last ! " he added, 
 as Jobson left to continue his search for 
 Bob and Tony. "She has been anchored out 
 there in the bay for more than two weeks, 
 waiting for a chance to drug and steal a crew, 
 and if she has sailed, that interloper must
 
 156 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 hare sailed with her. In that case it will be a 
 long time before he shows up again, for he'll 
 not touch land this side of Cape Town. This is 
 too damaging a thing to lay around loose, so I 
 will chuck it in there," he added, tossing 
 Howe's letter into the grate. "Those people 
 from the city will be along in the course of 
 an hour or so, and I know what I am going to 
 say to them. Now, why doesn't Mrs. Moffatt 
 come in and tell me that Howe has run away 
 again?" 
 
 Willis picked up one of the papers which 
 the yacht had brought from the city, and the 
 minute it was opened his eye fell upon this 
 startling paragraph : 
 
 "MUTINY IN THE HARBOR. 
 
 AN INFAMOUS VESSEL AND A REBELLIOUS 
 
 CREW. A SAILOR PREFERS DEATH TO 
 
 A VOYAGE IN THE WHITE SQUALL. 
 
 "Pilot-boat No. 29, Caleb Rogers master, 
 which was driven into the harbor by the gale, 
 reports a suicide committed under peculiarly 
 distressing circumstance. When off the light- 
 ship bound in, Captain Rogers passed the 
 White Squall going out. As the readers of
 
 SOME STARTLING NEWS. 157 
 
 TJie Tribune have often been told, this inter- 
 esting ship had lain at anchor in the outer bay 
 for nearly three weeks, waiting for a crew ; 
 but no man who sails out of this port, so long 
 as he kept a level head on his shoulders, could 
 be induced to affix his name to her shipping 
 articles. Now and then a few foreigners, 
 under promise of big pay, plenty to eat and 
 kind treatment, have been coaxed aboard of 
 her, but they always deserted when they 
 found out where they were and who the captain 
 was. With the aid of shipping agents, or in 
 some other underhanded way, the captain at 
 last succeeded in mustering crew enough to 
 handle his vessel, and this morning she went out 
 in the teeth of the storm that forced Captain 
 Rogers to seek shelter. When off the light- 
 ship a man was seen to spring upon her rail and 
 deliberately throw himself into the water. At 
 the same time a white fishing-boat was cut 
 loose from her starboard quarter, and the wind 
 blew it out of sight. This, Captain Rogers 
 thinks, -made it evident that the crew had laid 
 their plans to desert in a body, and that the 
 plot was discovered and thwarted by the of- 
 ficers. Captain Rogers at once rounded to, 
 lowered a boat, and made diligent search for 
 the poor fellow who preferred to die rather 
 than trust himself to the tender mercies of
 
 158 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 Captain Jack Rowan and liis brutal mates, but 
 he must have sunk immediately, for he was 
 not seen after striking the water. At certain 
 stages of the tide, heavy vessels like the White 
 Squall are obliged to pass quite close to the 
 ledge that bounds the northern side of the 
 channel, and in ordinary weather a fair swim- 
 mer might succeed in reaching the lightship ; 
 but under the circumstances Captain Rogers 
 thinks there was no chance for this unfortu- 
 nate man's life. The White Squall kept on 
 her way without making the least effort to pick 
 him up. Now what is the use of having any 
 law, we should like to know, if it is not in- 
 tended to reach just such ruffians as this Cap- 
 tain Jack and his officers ? If that sailor made 
 way with himself in his desperate efforts to 
 escape their brutality, they ought to be pun- 
 ished with the utmost severity." 
 
 Willis read this paragraph with eyes that 
 seemed ready to start from their sockets, and 
 long before he finished the paper was shaking 
 so violently in his hands that the noise it made 
 could have been heard across the room. He 
 understood some portions of the paragraph as 
 well as though he had stood upon the White 
 Squall's deck and witnessed the thrilling
 
 SOME STARTLING NEWS. 159 
 
 scenes that must have taken place there before 
 that unhappy sailor gave himself up to the 
 mercy of the waves. But was it a sailor who 
 jumped overboard? Might it not have been 
 some one else ? How did he know but 
 it was The exclamations that fell from the 
 superintendent's lips when this thought 
 came into his mind can not be expressed 
 in words, for I do not know how to spell 
 them. 
 
 " Benny's plan worked too well," said Wil- 
 lis, throwing down the paper and getting upon 
 his feet. "Why didn't he stay here and see 
 me through, instead of going off in the yacht 
 the first thing in the morning \ They were all 
 shanghaied, as we meant they should be ; but 
 was there any one in the white fishing-boat 
 that was cast adrift from the ship and which 
 Jobson says is now coming toward the island ? 
 And who was the fellow who jumped over- 
 board \ That is a question that will haunt me 
 till I go ashore and learn the truth. I do not 
 think Tony or Bob would do a thing like that, 
 for they are used to hard treatment at the 
 hands of shipmasters ; and if it was Roy
 
 160 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 Gracious Peter ! I'm in a worse scrape than I 
 thought." 
 
 Willis did not have time to follow out this 
 train of thought, for just then Mrs. Moffat 
 came into the room. The man knew well 
 enough what she was going to say, for the 
 look of anxiety her face wore could be easily 
 interpreted. 
 
 "Good morning, Mr. Willis," said she, with 
 a sorry attempt to appear as cheerful as usual. 
 "Have you seen Rowe since we left him in his 
 room last night?" 
 
 "I have not," replied the superinten- 
 dent, resuming his seat and once more un- 
 folding the paper. "What makes you 
 ask?" 
 
 "Why, I went up just now to tell him 
 breakfast would soon be ready, and he wasn't 
 there," answered the housekeeper. "More 
 than that, his bed was not slept in." 
 
 "That doesn't signify. He took to the 
 lounge probably, and went out before any of 
 us were up for his usual morning's spin on his 
 wheel." 
 
 " But he took his wheel when he went to the
 
 SOME STARTLING NEWS. 161 
 
 city, and you did not bring it back," Mrs. 
 Moffatt reminded him. 
 
 " That's so. I had forgotten about it. I'll 
 send for it as soon as he is ready to tell 
 me where he left it. Then he took his 
 pony." 
 
 "The pony hasn't been out this morning. 
 The hostler told me so. Mr. Willis," said the 
 housekeeper, becoming earnest, "I'm afraid 
 he's gone." 
 
 "Again?" exclaimed Willis, as if the 
 thought had just been suggested to him. 
 " Why, we only brought him back last night." 
 
 " I can't help that. I don't believe he is on 
 the island." 
 
 The man knew he must make a stir about it, 
 for any lukewarmness or show of indifference 
 on his part would be reported when the colonel 
 returned, and Willis was not yet ready to give 
 up his lucrative position. He wanted to make 
 a little more money out of it first. So he hur- 
 ried from the house, making a great show of 
 nervousness and apprehension ; and every man 
 lie met he sent off to make inquiries about 
 
 Howe Shelly, 
 ll
 
 162 THE STEEL IIOESE. 
 
 "If he has run away again I shall surely 
 think he is out of his head," he took occasion 
 to remark, in Mrs. Moffatt's hearing. "He 
 couldn't go back to the city without crossing 
 the bay, and no boy, or man either, would 
 think of trying that in such a gale as we had 
 last night and this morning, unless he was 
 clean gone crazy. Have you brought any 
 news, Jobson?" 
 
 "The little I've got is bad enough," replied 
 the hired man. "The boat I was telling you 
 about a while ago has come ashore down there 
 in the cove " 
 
 "And there's nobody in it," exclaimed the 
 superintendent. "Mrs. Moffatt, I fear the 
 worst. Howe tried to reach the city in that 
 boat, and the storm capsized him. I am afraid 
 we shall never see him again." 
 
 "If Rowe went off in that boat Bob and 
 Tony must have gone with him," said Jobson, 
 "for they ain't either one of them to be found 
 on the island, and their folks don't know any- 
 thing about them." 
 
 "Do you think it possible that Howe could 
 have bribed them to take him across to the
 
 SOME STARTLING NEWS. 163 
 
 mainland?" said Willis anxiously. "If lie 
 did, then they have all gone to their death." 
 
 "How could he have bribed anybody when 
 he had no money ?" cried Mrs. Moffatt. 
 
 "Madam," replied the superintendent im- 
 pressively, "he had money, and plenty of it, 
 too." 
 
 " When and how did he get it ? " 
 
 " You tell. All I know is, that every dollar 
 of the funds the colonel left in my hands to pay 
 expenses during his absence has disappeared." 
 
 "I don't care if it is," snapped the house- 
 keeper. "Howe Shelly never took it. He 
 isn't capable of such a thing." 
 
 To an inexperienced rascal it would have 
 seemed as though the situation was about as 
 bad as it could be, and even Willis trembled 
 when he tried to look far enough into the 
 future to see what the outcome was likely to 
 be. But, as it happened, he was saved from 
 the consequences of his folly and wickedness 
 (for the present, at least), by one of those un- 
 expected freaks of fortune that sometimes hap- 
 pen in this world. He did not want to talk 
 about the stolen money, especially to a person
 
 164 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 as sharp of tongue and as firmly convinced of 
 Howe's innocence as Mrs. Moffatt was, so lie 
 sent word to the captain of the yacht to get 
 ready for an immediate return to the city, and 
 hastened to his room. His first care was to 
 make some important changes in his wearing 
 apparel, and his second to hide the morning 
 papers and take possession of a well-filled 
 pocketbook he found in his bureau. 
 
 "I don't know as there is any sense in 
 putting those papers out of Mrs. Moffatt' s 
 sight," said he to himself, "but somehow I 
 don' t want her to see the account of that sui- 
 cide until I am away from here and out of 
 reach of her tongue. I thought, by the way 
 she looked at me, that she rather suspected 
 me of stealing that money ; and didn't Rowe 
 say in his letter that if there was any money 
 gone, he'd sooner think I took it than accuse 
 anybody else? Well, here it is, and more 
 besides, and into my pocket it goes. It sort of 
 runs in my head that I am going to see and 
 hear something before I get back ; and if it 
 should be anything unpleasant, I shall be pre- 
 pared to take the train."
 
 SOME STAKTLING NEWS. 165 
 
 Having arranged things so that he could 
 run or stay, as circumstances seemed to re- 
 quire, Willis hurried to the jetty and ordered 
 the captain of the yacht to shove off. Of 
 course the strange events that had taken place 
 on board the White Squall were in the mouths 
 of all the yacht's crew, for they had heard all 
 about them during their first trip to the city, 
 and besides they had read the Tribune. 
 Wherever Willis went, into the pilot-house, 
 the engine-room, or on the forecastle, he was 
 sure to hear them discussed ; and after repeat- 
 edly declaring that he didn't know anything 
 about them, and that he was going to New 
 London to see if he could learn any additional 
 particulars, Willis finally retreated to the cabin 
 and tried to interest himself in a paper. 
 
 What it was that induced him to jump 
 ashore the minute the yacht landed, and draw 
 a bee-line for the Lafayette House, the super- 
 
 tintendent could not have told. But he went, 
 * 
 
 as if impelled by some impulse he could not 
 resist, and the first person he saw when he en- 
 tered the reading-room was the very one he 
 did not want to see. It was Hoy Sheldon.
 
 166 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 He wore a bandage over one eye, the other was 
 slightly discolored, and Willis noticed that 
 when he moved his right arm he did it with 
 some difficulty. It had evidently been injured 
 in some way. He had on different clothes, a 
 dress suit, in fact, consisting of blue broad- 
 cloth knickerbockers and shirt, black silk 
 stockings, low shoes, and new white helmet. 
 If Willis had never seen him before, he would 
 have rushed up and called him Howe Shelly ; 
 but he knew it wasn't Howe. He took just 
 one glance at him, then wheeled about to re- 
 tire without attracting his notice, when Roy, 
 who was impatiently waiting for Joe and 
 Arthur, looked up and saw him. In an in- 
 stant he was on his feet and coming toward 
 the man, who could not retreat. Roy had but 
 to say a word to bring in the policeman who 
 was standing in front of the hotel. But, to 
 the superintendent's great surprise, he did not 
 say it. On the contrary he held out his hand, 
 and even tried to smile. What in the world 
 did it mean ? Willis asked himself. 
 
 " Good -morning," said Roy, in cheery tones. 
 "I made it, as you see, but I had a tight
 
 SOME STARTLING NEWS. 167 
 
 squeak for it. Say ! I am sorry for Tony and 
 his friend. The waves and wind got so heavy 
 they couldn't make headway against them ; 
 they dared not round to and go back to the 
 island for fear of a capsize, so they hailed a 
 ship that was getting under way. We sup- 
 posed that she was going to pull farther into 
 the harbor for shelter ; in fact, one of her 
 officers told us so. But, by gracious ! the min- 
 ute we got aboard what did that scoundrel of 
 a captain do but Sit down, and 1 will tell you 
 all about it. It's a little ahead of anything I 
 ever heard of. Seen this morning' s Tribune ? ' ' 
 
 4 'No; that is to say, yes. I've seen the 
 Tribune, but no other paper," replied Willis, 
 who was so astounded that he hardly knew 
 what he said. 
 
 " Then, of course, you know about the poor 
 sailor-man who preferred death to a voyage in 
 the White Squall," continued Roy. "Well, 
 there wasn't any suicide. The fellow who de- 
 liberately threw himself into the water was I ; 
 and I tell you Why don' t you sit down ? I' m 
 as lame as though I had been pounded with a 
 club, although I know I was struck only twice,
 
 168 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 once in each eye, and almost had my arm 
 jerked out of place. I can't stand long at a 
 time." 
 
 Willis mechanically seated himself and lis- 
 tened like one in a dream, while Roy related 
 the following story of his adventure.
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 O1ST BOAKD THE WHITE SQUALL. 
 
 JUST one word before you begin your story, " 
 said Willis, who was not entirely satis- 
 fied with Roy's friendly speech and manner, 
 believing, as he did, that the boy might have 
 some sinister object in view. He was afraid to 
 trust anybody, knowing full well that he could 
 not be trusted himself. 
 
 "As many words as you please," replied 
 Roy, resuming his seat and placing his injured 
 arm in a comfortable position on the table at 
 his side. " I told the clerk when I first came 
 back that I wouldn't be interviewed ; but I 
 know he has sent three reporters after me. All 
 they learned didn't do them much good. You 
 see I don't want my name to appear in the 
 papers, for my folks would be sure to see it ; 
 then good-by to all my fine plans for the sum- 
 mer. Of course you'll not say a word." 
 
 "Not I," replied Willis. "I don't want 
 169
 
 170 THE STEEL HOUSE. 
 
 everybody to know what fools Babcock and I 
 made of ourselves. By the way, have you seen 
 Bab this morning ? " 
 
 Roy said he hadn't. 
 
 "That's all right, " said Willis to himself ; 
 and he was so immensely relieved that he could 
 scarcely keep still in his seat. "Then of 
 course you don't know that I didn't tell you 
 the truth when I said Bab had warned me that 
 you were not Howe Shelly. That's all right. 
 Now, how much does this boy know or sus- 
 pect, I wonder ? " Then aloud he added : " I am 
 sorry you haven't seen Bab, for he would show 
 you a photograph of Rowe Shelly he has in his 
 possession ; and after you had taken one look 
 at it, you would see how we came to mistake 
 you for our runaway. I hope you don't bear 
 me any ill-will for 
 
 " Of course I don't," interrupted Roy. " I 
 don't feel hard toward you or Babcock either. 
 I came within an ace of losing my life (I don't 
 see how I managed to save it, having never 
 swum a stroke in so rough water before), but 
 here I am, safe if not sound, and all's well that 
 ends well."
 
 ON BOARD THE WHITE SQUALL. 171 
 
 "You and Howe are as much alike as two 
 peas," began Willis. 
 
 " I can easily believe that, for when I walked 
 up to the desk the clerk began asking me 
 questions I couldn't understand ; but I can see 
 the drift of some of them now, for those three 
 reporters have been at me since then, and I 
 know Kowe Shelly was here in this hotel last 
 night, and that he went somewhere on a 
 steamer. When I came in all bunged up, the 
 clerk wanted to know if the boat had burst her 
 boiler.'' 
 
 " Which way did Rowe go ? " asked Willis, 
 who was deeply interested. 
 
 " I don't know, and you wouldn't expect me 
 to tell you if I did, would you? I have seen 
 how nicely he is fixed over there on the island, 
 and I am sure that if there wasn't some good 
 reason for it, he would never leave a home like 
 that and go out among strangers." 
 
 "He might if he was crazy," suggested 
 AVillis. 
 
 "And where's the boy who would not go 
 crazy after years of solitary confinement, no 
 matter if his prison was furnished like a pal-
 
 172 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 ace ? " exclaimed Roy. "I'll bet you that you 
 could not keep me shut up in any such place 
 as that. I would find some way to open com- 
 munication with a lawyer, who would call 
 upon that uncle of mine to show cause for 
 detaining me against my will." 
 
 "I believe you would," thought Willis, 
 who, as he gazed into the boy's flashing eyes, 
 told himself that money would not tempt him 
 to take charge of such a prisoner as Roy would 
 be likely to prove. He knew too much, was 
 altogether too wide-awake, and the desperate 
 measures he had adopted to escape from the 
 White Squall, after he had been fairly kid- 
 napped, showed that he was by no means 
 lacking in courage. 
 
 Willis wondered if any of those rebellious 
 ideas had been put into Rowe Shelly 's head 
 since he ran away. If so, the next time his 
 guardian saw him he would probably have an 
 attorney at his back, and then there would be 
 fun on the island. Willis really wanted in- 
 formation on this point, and while he was 
 wondering how he could get it without asking 
 questions that might excite Roy's suspicions,
 
 ON BOARD THE WHITE SQUALL. 173 
 
 the matter was settled in a most unexpected 
 way. All on a sudden Roy staggered to his 
 feet with an exclamation of surprise and pleas- 
 ure on his lips, and darted forward to fall into 
 the arms of two new-comers, namely Arthur 
 Hastings and Joe Wayring. 
 
 " Where have you been ?" said Roy, as soon 
 as he could speak. "I have waited and 
 watched for the last seven hours, and you 
 don't know how lonely I have been without 
 you.' 5 
 
 " Haw ! " laughed Joe. " We haven't been 
 gone from the hotel more than an hour, and 
 you were not here when we went away." 
 
 " We've been up on Bank Street to call 
 upon Mr. Wilcox," replied Arthur, with a 
 sidelong glance at Willis. " Where have you 
 been to get mussed up in this way ? You are 
 a nice looking specimen, I must say. Who's 
 been at you ?" 
 
 u I can't let everything out at once, so you 
 must ask your questions one at a time," said 
 Roy, motioning to his chums to seat them- 
 selves. " In the first place, this is Mr. Willis, 
 Colonel Shelly' s superintendent. My two
 
 174 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 friends, Joe Wayring and Arthur Hastings, 
 Mr. Willis." 
 
 To Roy's great surprise his companions did 
 not seem particular] y pleased to make the ac- 
 quaintance of Mr. Willis. They nodded, but 
 did not offer to shake hands with him. 
 
 "Babcock has made his report and told 
 everything just as it happened,'' said Arthur. 
 ' ' We have seen him, and he says he never 
 would have made the mistake he did if Willis 
 had not insisted that you were the boy they 
 were looking for." 
 
 " Then Babcock told you what wasn't so," 
 exclaimed Willis. 
 
 "That's what he told us, anyhow," said 
 Joe. "He's outside now waiting for us. 
 and you can speak to him about it, if you 
 want to." 
 
 "Waiting for you?" repeated Roy. 
 "Where are you going?" 
 
 " We intended to hire a tug and go over to 
 the island after you," answered Arthur. 
 
 " But you see there's no need of it, don't 
 you ? Mr. Willis attended to that as soon as he 
 became satisfied that I wasn't Rowe Shelly."
 
 ON BOARD THE WHITE SQUALL. 175 
 
 "All! That puts a different look on the 
 matter," said Joe. "But where did you get 
 those black eyes if you didn't get them while 
 escaping from the island ? " 
 
 " I got them on the White Squall," replied 
 Roy, "and that brings me to the story I was 
 getting ready to tell Mr. Willis when you came 
 in. But before I begin, go out and ask that 
 detective to come here. I should like to see 
 the photograph he's got in his pocket. I am 
 told it looks just like me." 
 
 " And so it does, at first glance," said Ar- 
 thur, rising from his seat. "But the more 
 one gazes upon it, the less it looks like you. 
 You shall see for yourself." 
 
 "Let me go after Babcock, please," Willis 
 interposed, "and you stay here and talk to 
 your friends. I will bring him right in." 
 
 There was nothing strange in this proposi- 
 tion, so Arthur sat down again, while Willis 
 went out to make things straight with the de- 
 tective. He didn't want him to come into 
 Roy's presence until he had opportunity to 
 post him, 
 
 "So that's the scamp who got you into so
 
 176 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 much trouble, is it?" said Arthur, in tones of 
 disgust. "We meant to have him arrested if 
 he didn't talk pretty smoothly to us, and yet 
 we find you and him here as thick as a couple 
 of thieves." 
 
 "Now, what's the sense in going on like 
 that?" demanded Roy. "If I am satisfied 
 with his story, I'm sure you ought to be. 
 Willis is all right. The minute he learned 
 that I wasn't Howe Shelly, he woke me up in 
 the middle of the night, put me into a boat 
 with two good men to row it, and sent me over 
 to the city. He was as anxious to be rid of me 
 as I was to find you. Now see if you can't 
 treat him decently when he comes back." 
 
 How Willis would have hugged himself if 
 he could have heard Roy Sheldon say this! 
 There was not the faintest suspicion in the 
 boy's mind that the superintendent had been 
 guilty of treachery, and that he had sent him 
 on board the White Squall intending that he 
 should be "shanghaied" and carried so far 
 away from America that he would not get back 
 for six months or a year. If Roy had mis- 
 trusted that there was anything wrong, his
 
 ON BOARD THE WHITE SQUALL. 177 
 
 fears on that score would have vanished when 
 he saw Bob and Tony driven forward to do 
 duty before the mast, and their boat given 
 up to the mercy of the waves. He thought 
 they had unwittingly brought themselves and 
 him into serious trouble. That was all there 
 was of it. 
 
 I never heard just how Willis went to work 
 to put himself on a friendly footing with the 
 detective, but my impression is that he told 
 him the whole truth, and offered Babcock a 
 bonus if he would back up anything he might 
 say in the hearing of Roy and his friends. At 
 all events that was what the detective did. 
 When he entered the reading-room he took a 
 photograph from his pocket, and after spend- 
 ing a minute or two in comparing it with the 
 face of the boy before him, he stepped up and 
 handed it to Roy. 
 
 " So that's the way I look when I haven't a 
 black eye and a lame arm, is it? " said the lat- 
 ter, as his gaze rested on the picture. "I 
 know something now 1 never knew before." 
 
 " What is it ? " asked Joe. 
 
 "That I am the handsomest and most 
 
 12
 
 178 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 stylish looking chap in our party," replied 
 Roy. 
 
 "We haven't time for any more nonsense of 
 that sort," said. Arthur. ''Mr. Babcock, our 
 missing friend has turned up, as you see, and 
 so we shall not be obliged to go to the island. 
 How much do we owe you ? " 
 
 "Not a red cent," said the detective, who 
 was glad indeed that his mistake and Willis' s 
 seemed in a fair way to straighten itself out, 
 and that he wasn' t going to get into difficulty 
 through the blunder he had made the night 
 before. "I am heartily sorry that I caused 
 you and your friend so much trouble and 
 anxiety." 
 
 "But he did his best to undo it," chimed in 
 Willis. "He went over to the island and told 
 me to set the boy ashore as soon as I could, 
 and give him a guide to show him to his hotel, 
 and that was the way I came to send him off 
 in the boat that was caught in the storm. I 
 might have waited until morning, but Roy 
 wouldn't hear of it." 
 
 "Of course not," assented Roy. " I wanted 
 to see my friends and relieve their suspense."
 
 ON BOAKD THE WHITE SQUALL. 179 
 
 "I guess we have asked questions enough 
 for the present," said Arthur, who was im- 
 patient to know how Roy came to have those 
 black eyes, "and now we'd like to have you 
 tell us why you didn't come ashore in better 
 shape, when you had a boat and two good men 
 to manage it for you." 
 
 Roy's story was none the less interesting 
 because it had been so long delayed. I have 
 told you how he left the island without oppor- 
 tunity to shout his adieu to the superintend- 
 ent, even if he had thought of it ; but he 
 didn't. The waves made a fearful noise as 
 they broke upon the beach, and came with 
 such force that Bob and Tony were obliged to 
 wade in until the water reached to their waists 
 before they could launch the boat and ship the 
 oars. By the time this had been done, dark- 
 ness closed down upon them and shut the 
 island from view. 
 
 When they got out from under the cliffs 
 where the wind had a fair sweep, the way the 
 boat began to pitch and toss about was alarm- 
 ing, and Roy lived in momentary expecta- 
 tion of seeing her come about and start back
 
 180 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 for the island. But lie was a canoeist instead 
 of a deep-water sailor, and perhaps that was 
 the reason he was frightened. For he was 
 frightened, as he was afterwards free to con- 
 fess ; more so than he would have been if he 
 could have had a hand in the management of 
 the boat. But there were only two oars, and 
 no rudder to steer by, and all Roy could do 
 was to sit still in the stern-sheets and wish the 
 trip was at an end. 
 
 " What are you holding so far to the right 
 for?" Roy demanded at length, shouting at 
 the top of his voice in order to make himself 
 heard. "The city is off there, more to the 
 left." 
 
 "There's a hack-stand where we are headin' 
 for," came a hoarse voice, in reply, "and 
 there you can get a carriage to take you 
 straight to your hotel . More' n that, we dassent 
 run afore the waves with only two oars, for 
 fear that one of 'em will come in over the 
 starn an' sink us. We have to run kinder 
 criss-cross of 'em." 
 
 "But you don't take them quartering," 
 protested Roy. ' ' You are holding so that they
 
 OX BOARD THE WHITE SQUALL. 181 
 
 strike almost broadside. I'd rather you'd 
 round to and go back. That's what Mr. Willis 
 told you to do in case you found the wind and 
 sea too heavy for you." 
 
 "I'd like mighty well to do it," Tony made 
 answer, "but I dassent. Now that we've got 
 this fur, we've got to go on. If we should 
 turn around the sea would come pourin' in 
 over the side an' take all hands to the bottom 
 afore you could say ' hard-a-starboard ' with 
 your mouth open. Do you see that bright 
 light dead ahead ? Well, there's where the 
 pier is, if we can keep afloat till we get there." 
 
 Roy may have been mistaken, but he was 
 positive he heard the man add, in a lower tone, 
 as if the words were intended only for his 
 companion's ears : 
 
 "Cap'n Jack must be a-lookin' for a crew 
 to-night, else he wouldn't have that light out 
 so open and suspicious like. Well, it's the 
 best kind of a night for that sort of work, but 
 I'm sorry for the poor chaps he gets." 
 
 The next time Tony faced about on his seat to 
 make sure of the course he was pursuing, the 
 bright light had disappeared ; and when the
 
 182 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 wind lulled for a moment, the faint clanking 
 of a capstan came to his ears. The sound 
 seemed to nerve him and Bob to greater exer- 
 tion. 
 
 "Pull, ye rascal," shouted Tony, so that 
 Roy could hear it. " It's comin' harder every 
 blessed minute, an' the wind an' tide together 
 is takin' us out to sea as fast as they can. 
 Pull, why don't ye ? Do you see a ship or a 
 coaster anywheres, I don' t know ? If you do. 
 sing out an' ask 'em can we come aboard of 
 her till the wind dies down a bit." 
 
 "Look out!" yelled Roy, as something 
 black and huge loomed out of the darkness 
 directly in their course. "We're running into 
 a block of houses." 
 
 But it was a heavy ship that barred their 
 way, as Roy found when they got a little 
 closer to her. She was weighing anchor, and 
 the clanking of the capstan came from her 
 forecastle. 
 
 "On deck there ! " shouted Tony. " Goin' 
 to change your berth, or what you goin' to 
 do?" 
 
 Some answer came back, but, although the
 
 ON BOARD THE WHITE SQUALL. 183 
 
 words were plain enough, Roy could not un- 
 derstand it. It was evident, however, that 
 Tony could, for he called out : 
 
 " Goin' to pull farther in for shelter, are 
 you? All right. Will you let some tired 
 sailor-men aboard of you to ride in? We' 11 be 
 glad to lend a hand." 
 
 This time there was no mistaking the 
 answer. 
 
 " You're as welcome as the flowers in May," 
 said a deep voice. ' ; Drop around under our 
 lee and come up." 
 
 "Be in a hurry, Bob," cried Tony, as he 
 dropped back upon his seat and gave way on 
 his oar. * ' The staysail is fillin' , an' if she 
 falls off much she'll run us under." 
 
 That was a moment of fearful suspense to 
 the inexperienced Roy, who, dark as it was, 
 could see that the immense ship was gradually 
 swinging around toward the boat, slowly, to 
 be sure, but with a power that seemed irre- 
 sistible. But his crew were equal to the occa- 
 sion. They easily got out of her reach, 
 dropped around under her stern, and when 
 Tony gave the word, Bob seized the painter
 
 184 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 and tossed it up to some one on deck, who 
 promptly made it fast. 
 
 " Up you come with a jump," said a com- 
 manding voice, as Bob went up the painter 
 hand over hand, while Tony lingered to stow 
 the oars so that the waves would not wash 
 them out of the boat. 
 
 "Toddle for' ard and lend a hand with the 
 head-sails, if you know enough to find the 
 ropes in the dark. Do you?" added the 
 voice, as Bob tumbled over the side and stood 
 upon the deck facing the speaker, who held up 
 a lighted lantern so that he could have a good 
 view of the sailor's features. His own features 
 were revealed as well, and Bob stared hard at 
 them. 
 
 " Well, if you are Cap'n Jack Rowan," was 
 his mental reflection, " you are as fine a speci- 
 men of a sea-tiger as I ever looked at ; 
 an' I wish Tony an' Willis an' that young 
 monkey who brought me into your den 
 was all sunk a hunderd fathoms deep, so 
 I do." 
 
 "Here's another and another," exclaimed 
 the man with the lantern, as Roy and Tony
 
 ON BOARD THE WHITE SQUALL. 185 
 
 came over the rail. " Is that all of you ? Go 
 for'ard and lend a hand." 
 
 "Hold hard, sir," said Tony. "I've got a 
 letter for you." And after considerable fumb- 
 ling in the pocket of his pea-jacket with his 
 hand, Tony drew it out and gave it to the cap- 
 tain, who said " All right," and hurried to his 
 cabin to read it ; for the light of the lantern 
 was so dim that he could not even decipher the 
 writing on the envelope. 
 
 "A letter for him!" thought Roy. "It's 
 very strange. That looks as though Tony ex- 
 pected to find this ship here, and that he was 
 holding straight for her when he declared he 
 was heading for a hack-stand. But what's the 
 odds? I'd rather have a good ship under me 
 than be out in this wind in a cranky little 
 boat." 
 
 Having never been aboard a seagoing vessel 
 before, Roy Sheldon would have taken the 
 deepest interest in all that was going on around 
 him if there had only been light enough for 
 him to see plainly ; but he made some observa- 
 tions in spite of the darkness. He found that 
 the deck under his feet seemed to be as solid
 
 186 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 as the ground ; that the waves which had 
 tossed Tony's boat like a chip in a inill-pond 
 had but little effect upon the ship's huge bulk ; 
 and he gave it as his private opinion that she 
 was big enough and strong enough to ride out 
 any storm that ever swept the ocean. But 
 there was one thing Roy did not know, and he 
 was two or three hundred miles from New 
 London harbor when he found it out. Strong 
 as she appeared to be, the ship was unsea- 
 worthy, her timbers were decayed, and the un- 
 derwriters wouldn't look at her. The owner 
 was taking his personal risk in sending her 
 abroad with a valuable cargo, and that was 
 one reason why she had found it so hard to 
 ship a crew. 
 
 " Lay for'ard an' lend a hand with the head- 
 sails," said Tony, when the man with the lan- 
 tern disappeared down the companion-Avay. 
 "Come along, lad, and we'll make a sailor-man 
 of you." 
 
 Nothing loth, Roy stumbled forward in 
 Tony's wake, laid hold of a rope when his 
 guide did, and pulled with all his strength, 
 although he had not the slightest idea what he
 
 ON BOARD THE WHITE SQUALL. 187 
 
 and the rest were pulling for. As often as the 
 flashes of lightning illumined the scene, he 
 improved the opportunity to take a survey of 
 his surroundings ; but all he saw was that 
 there was a heavy sail slowly rising over his 
 head, and that there were a goodly number of 
 men on deck, all of whom were working at 
 something. He was so deeply occupied with 
 his own thoughts, wondering how he would 
 feel if he were going to sea on that ship as one 
 of the crew, and be required to scrub decks, 
 tug at wet ropes, go aloft in all sorts of 
 weather, and submit to hard fare and hard 
 treatment besides. Roy's mind was so busy 
 with these reflections that he did not hear the 
 command, '"Vast heavin'. Slack away on 
 that halliard," nor did he dream that the 
 order was addressed to himself, until the rope, 
 at which he was still pulling with all his might, 
 was jerked from his hands with such force 
 that Roy was sent headlong to the deck. He 
 scrambled to his feet as quickly as he could, 
 but before he reached a perpendicular some 
 enraged sailor gave him a hearty kick. 
 
 "I guess they don't want me around,"
 
 188 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 thought Roy, "and no doubt I am in the way 
 so I'll go aft. Is that that the way they use a 
 foremast hand, I wonder kick him when he 
 falls down through no fault of his own ? I am 
 glad I am not a sailor." 
 
 When Roy had a chance to look about him, 
 as he did as often as the lightning flashed over 
 the deck, he saw that a good many things had 
 been done during the few minutes that had 
 elapsed since he boarded the vessel. Besides 
 the sailors who were busy with the head-sails, 
 a second party of men, under another officer, 
 had been equally active on the quarter-deck ; 
 another huge sail had been given to the breeze, 
 and a man sent to the wheel. The vessel was 
 gathering rapid headway, and, what seemed 
 strange to Roy, she was not rounding to in 
 order to go up the harbor, because the lights 
 which pointed out the position of the piers in 
 the lower end of the city were still on the left 
 hand, and one by one they danced away out 
 of sight over the port quarter. The ship was 
 holding straight for the entrance to the bay, 
 through which she would soon pass to the 
 open sea.
 
 ON BOARD THE WHITE SQUALL. 189 
 
 it 
 
 By gracious ! We shall be in a pretty fix 
 if we don't get off immediately," soliloquized 
 Roy, holding fast to the rail and looking in 
 vain for Tony and Bob. "What can those 
 men be thinking of? If they delay much 
 longer I shall cast off in that boat and do the 
 best I can by myself." 
 
 "Lay aloft and loose to'gallantsails, " 
 shouted a voice, almost in Eoy's ear. " Up 
 you go, ye young sea-monkey ! ' ' 
 
 " I don't belong here," replied Roy, turning 
 about and finding himself face to face with one 
 of the mates, who emphasized his order by 
 waving his arm toward the topsail yard. 
 "But I'll do the best I can if you think you 
 can trust me. How long before you are going 
 to run into the harbor?" 
 
 If the mate heard and understood the ques- 
 tion he did not take the trouble to reply to it. 
 He simply shouted, "Lay aloft and be quick 
 about it ! " and then backed up against the rail 
 so that he could watch the movements of the 
 men who had already responded to the com- 
 mand to loose topgallant-sails. 
 
 " Iknow I'll not be of the least use up there,"
 
 190 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 said Roy, as lie scrambled up the ratlines, 
 " but I'll have something to talk about when I 
 get ashore." 
 
 Roy worked his way upward until his pro- 
 gress was stopped by something that frightened 
 him. It was the f uttock-shrouds, the terror of 
 every greenhorn. -Above his head was a sort 
 of platform, with an opening through it large 
 enough to admit of the passage of an ordinary 
 sized man, and over the edge of it ran a rope 
 ladder to a second series of shrouds leading to 
 a similar platform still higher up. That was 
 the way Roy described the situation to himself, 
 and it is the only way I can describe it, for an 
 Expert Columbia is not supposed to know any 
 thing about ships. 
 
 "Great Scott!" panted Roy; "do the 
 sailors, every time they go aloft, have to creep 
 around the outer edge of that platform, and hang 
 with their backs downward, like flies on a ceil- 
 ing? or do they go through that opening close 
 to the mast? I wonder if that isn't the 'lub- 
 ber's hole' I have so often read of? I don't 
 care what it is ; I'll stay here. But why don't 
 the ship come about and go toward the harbor,
 
 ON BOARD THE WHITE SQUALL. 191 
 
 if she's going to? I wonder if that light off 
 there, which blazes up so brightly every min- 
 ute or two and then disappears, isn't on the 
 lightship. If it is, this ship's going to sea, 
 and we'll go with her if we don't get off 
 directly." 
 
 While the boy was talking to himself in this 
 way he did not permit any thing that transpired 
 within the range of his vision to escape his 
 notice. He might never again have opportun- 
 ity to see sail made aboard ship, and now was 
 the time for him to learn something. He 
 heard an almost constant scurrying of feet be- 
 low, mingled with a chorus of unintelligible 
 commands, some of which were addressed to 
 the dozen or more men who were clinging to a 
 swaying yard over his head, and finally an an- 
 swering u Ay, ay, sir," came out of the darkness 
 and the men began to "lay down from aloft." 
 Before Roy knew what they meant to do, they 
 were crowding past him on their way to the 
 deck. Tha last to go by him was Tony. 
 
 " What you doin' here, lad ? " he exclaimed. 
 " Why didn't you come up higher an' lend a 
 hand with the topsail ?"
 
 192 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 11 The mate or some other officer told me to 
 come, and here I am ; although I assured him 
 I wouldn't be of any use," replied Roy. "I 
 was afraid to go any higher. Look here ; 
 isn't it about time we were going ashore? I 
 don't believe this ship means to go up the har- 
 bor at all." 
 
 Tony made some reply under his breath, but 
 Roy did not understand it. 
 
 " What's that flash I see every little while 
 off the port bow ? " he continued. " It comes 
 from the lightship which is anchored at the 
 mouth of the harbor, doesn't it? We're going 
 as close to her as we can lie in this wind, and 
 when we pass her we'll be outside, won't we ? 
 You had better find out whether or not the 
 captain wants to send any word off in response 
 to the letter you gave him, and then we'll 
 go ashore." 
 
 Roy was not a little surprised by the way. 
 Tony acted while he was talking to him. He 
 clung to the shrouds with one hand, holding 
 his hat on with the other, all the time uttering 
 the most incomprehensible ejaculations, and 
 glaring wildly around as if he were trying to
 
 ON BOARD THE WHITE SQUALL. 193 
 
 get his bearings. At last he seemed to recover 
 his power of speech by a mighty effort, and 
 something he said sent a thrill of horror all 
 through Roy Sheldon. 
 
 " She's a-goin', easy enough, an', lad, me an' 
 you an' Bob is shanghaied," stammered Tony. 
 
 Roy did not grasp the full meaning of the 
 last word. It was the sailor's manner that 
 impressed and frightened him. 
 
 13
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 A SWIM IN KOUGH WATER. 
 
 *~"VT~ES, sir, we're shanghaied," repeated 
 JL Tony, looking over his shoulder at 
 the lights on shore, which appeared to be 
 moving away from the ship, and going faster 
 and faster as the minutes flew by. "That's 
 what's the matter of me an' you an' Bob. 
 We've been stole from our homes an' friends 
 an' tooken to sea agin our will." 
 
 " No ! " gasped Roy, who was almost para- 
 lyzed by these ominous words. " It can't be 
 possible." 
 
 " That's what the matter of us, an' you'll 
 find it so." 
 
 "But I' 11 not go. I don't belong aboard 
 this ship, and the captain has no business to 
 take me to sea against my will." 
 
 " Small odds it makes to the likes of him 
 whether he's got any business to do it or not," 
 
 194
 
 A SWIM Itf ROUGH WATER. 195 
 
 answered Tony, who, far from showing the 
 least sign of anger over the outrage of which 
 he was the victim, seemed disposed to accept 
 his fate with as much fortitude as he was able 
 to command. " Where have you lived all your 
 life, that you don't know that that's the way 
 shipmasters sometimes do when they can't 
 raise a crew as fast as they want to ? They 
 get men aboard their vessels an' run away with 
 'em. That's what they are doin' with us." 
 
 "But I'll not do duty, I tell you," exclaimed 
 Eoy, fairly dazed by the gloomy prospect be- 
 fore him. "I can't, for I am not a sailor. 
 Let's go down and tell the captain to luff and 
 let us off." 
 
 " 'T won't do no good," answered Tony, with 
 a sigh of resignation. "He'll only swear at 
 you an' say that the mates will very soon 
 break you in an' larn you your duty. We're 
 in for a long, hard voyage, an' might as well 
 give up all thoughts of gettin' ashore first as 
 last." 
 
 "Never!" said Eoy, wrathfully. "If 
 there is such a thing " 
 
 "Lay down from aloft!" shouted a voice
 
 196 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 from the deck, following up the command with 
 a volley of oaths and threats that were enough 
 to make a landsman shudder. 
 
 "Ay, ay, sir," replied Tony. "Why don't 
 you say the same, lad? You've got to come 
 to it, for it will be worse for you if you don 1 1. 
 There ain't the least use in kickin', for Cap'n 
 Jack has got us hard an' fast." 
 
 Roy, who could plainly hear the beating of 
 his heart above the howling of the gale, which 
 seemed to be increasing in fury every moment, 
 followed Tony to the deck, and immediately 
 made his way aft to demand an interview with 
 the captain. He found him easily at least he 
 found the man who went below with the lan- 
 tern and thus addressed him : 
 
 "Captain, I thought you were going into 
 the harbor for shelter, but I find you are going 
 to sea. Will you luif long enough to let me 
 and my crew get into our boat and shove oif \ " 
 
 To Roy's surprise and indignation the cap- 
 tain did not appear to be listening to him at 
 all. He kept his gaze fastened upon something 
 ahead of the ship, and now and then turned to 
 give an order to the man at the wheel. If Roy
 
 A SWIM IN ROUGH WATER. 197 
 
 had only known it, he was forcing himself 
 upon the captain's notice at a most critical 
 time. The latter was trying to take his vessel 
 out of the bay without the aid of a pilot, and 
 of course his attention was so fully occupied 
 that he had neither the leisure nor the 
 inclination to listen to any requests or com- 
 plaints. 
 
 " Starboard a spoke or two. Steady at that. 
 Mr. Crawford," shouted the captain, address- 
 ing one of his mates, ' ' if that man with the 
 lead can't speak so that I can hear him, knock 
 him overboard and put somebody else in his 
 place. How close to the light-ship can I run 
 in this tide?" 
 
 "If you don't run in closer than you are 
 now you'll be aground in a minute more," was 
 the reply that was shouted aft. " Quarter less 
 three on the port bow." 
 
 Roy paid little attention to this conversa- 
 tion, though he thought of it afterward, for it 
 was a most fortunate thing for him that the 
 vessel was obliged to run within a stone's 
 throw of the light- ship. He wanted the skip- 
 per to speak to him.
 
 198 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 " Captain," said he in a louder tone, at the 
 same time drawing a step nearer and taking 
 the unwarrantable liberty to pluck him by the 
 coat-sleeve. "Captain, will you please " 
 
 " What do you want here ? " thundered the 
 angry skipper, kicking at the boy with his 
 heavy boot. But the words, which came just 
 a second or two before the kick, served as a 
 warning of what might be expected, and when 
 the captain's boot got where he had been, Roy 
 wasn't there. He dodged out of the way very 
 cleverly, and raised his voice in useless remon- 
 strance. 
 
 "Do you know who you are kicking at?" 
 he exclaimed. " I am not one of your crew to 
 be driven about in this fashion. I came aboard 
 under a misapprehension, and want to go 
 ashore. My boat is alongside." 
 
 What the skipper would have said or done 
 if it had not been for something that happened 
 just then, I don't pretend to know. Beyond a 
 doubt he would have made the free-spoken Roy 
 sup sorrow with a big spoon, if Tony and Bob 
 had not unwittingly created a diversion in his 
 favor. When they saw Roy standing so near
 
 A SWIM IN ROUGH WATER. 199 
 
 the captain they took heart, and came aft to 
 say a word for themselves, but repented of it 
 when the enraged skipper undertook to drive 
 the boy forward with a kick. But then it was 
 too late for them to escape punishment for 
 their assurance in venturing into the captain's 
 presence without being asked. One of the 
 mates saw them when they went aft, and made 
 it his business to follow them with a piece of 
 rope in his hand. Roy saw him swing it in 
 the air and knew what he meant to do with it ; 
 but before he had time to shout a warning to 
 the men for whose backs it was intended, the 
 rope fell twice in quick succession, and with 
 such force that Tony and Bob staggered under 
 the blows. 
 
 "Lay for'ard, where you belong, and come 
 on the quarter-deck when you've got business 
 here " shouted the mate. He raised the rope 
 to give emphasis to his order, but the two men 
 hurried out of his reach. Then the mate 
 looked at Roy. 
 
 " Give him a dose, too, Mr. Crawford," said 
 the captain. "He's no right to come here 
 bothering me at this juncture. You might
 
 200 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 as well teach him his place one time as 
 another." 
 
 Roy opened his lips to protest against such 
 an outrage, but seeing the mate advancing 
 upon him, he turned and took to his heels. In 
 half a minute more he was hauling at a rope 
 in company with somebody whom he took to 
 be Tony ; but it proved to be a sailor who was 
 posted in regard to the vessel and her contem- 
 plated movements. 
 
 11 What ship is this ?" whispered Roy, try- 
 ing hard to swallow a big lump that seemed to 
 be rising in his throat. 
 
 " The White Squall," was the answer. 
 
 " Is she going to sea ? " 
 
 The sailor prepared to give a profane re- 
 sponse to the question, which was so simple 
 that a blind boy ought to have been able to 
 answer it for himself, but when he came to 
 look at Roy he hesitated, and choked back the 
 words that arose to his lips. 
 
 "Yes, she's bound out, and you haven't any 
 call to go with her, have you ? ' ' said he. " It' s 
 a hard case, but I don't see what you can do 
 about it."
 
 A SWIM IN ROUGH WATER. 201 
 
 " Isn't there any law to punish a captain for 
 taking men to sea against their will ? " asked 
 Roy. 
 
 "Not on the high seas," was the reply. 
 "The only law there is outside is the cap'n's 
 will. How come you aboard here in the first 
 place?" 
 
 Roy explained the situation as briefly as he 
 could, whereupon the sailor laughed incred- 
 ulously. 
 
 "That crew of your'n must be into the 
 plot," said he. 
 
 " What plot ? " inquired Roy. 
 
 "Why, isn't there somebody ashore who 
 don't want you there, and who would be glad 
 to have you carried so far away that you would 
 never get back again ? ' ' 
 
 "Of course there isn't," said Roy, amazed 
 at the idea. 
 
 "Then it's mighty strange," continued the 
 sailor, reflectively. " The wind don't blow to 
 hurt anything, and that crew of your'n could 
 have taken you to the city if they had been so 
 minded." 
 
 "You're mistaken there. They dared not
 
 202 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 turn about for fear our boat would be capsized. 
 It isn't likely that they would have come 
 aboard this ship if they had known that 
 they were going to be kidnapped, would 
 they?" 
 
 "Aha!" exclaimed the sailor. "So they 
 have been shanghaied too, have they ? Then 
 I can't understand the matter at all. No, 
 they wouldn't have come here if they had 
 known that, for I have heard that the cap'n 
 is one of the worst brutes that any poor chap 
 ever sailed under." 
 
 "Then why do you sail with him? Were 
 you shanghaied, too 2 " 
 
 "Oh no ; I \vas shipped all straight enough, 
 but, bless you, I never knew what sort of a 
 craft I was getting onto till it was too late to 
 back out. But I never expect to reach Canton 
 alive." 
 
 "Canton?" cried Roy. "Is that where 
 this ship is bound 2 " 
 
 "It's the port the old man intends to bring 
 up in if he can keep afloat that long. Being 
 as I'm here, I'm going to do an able seaman's 
 duty as long as I am on top of water. You
 
 A SWIM IN ROUGH WATER. 203 
 
 say you came off in a boat. Where is she 
 now?" 
 
 Roy replied that she was towing along- 
 side. 
 
 "Well, look here," said the sailor hastily. 
 " Do you see that flash ahead \ It comes from 
 the light-ship. If you know when you are 
 well off, you will jump into that boat of your'n 
 and pull for that light the best you know how. 
 It's your only chance, for I don't believe this 
 old tub will ever see port again." 
 
 "So I can," said Roy joyfully. "Will 
 you go with me ? and I can tip Tony and Bob 
 the wink and have them go too ? " 
 
 "Not by no means," said the sailor, as if 
 the idea of such a thing was enough to frighten 
 him. " Take care of yourself, and let the rest 
 do the same. Are you going to try it?" he 
 added, when Roy let go his hold upon the rope 
 and looked around to see what had become of 
 the mate. " Then make a sure thing of it the 
 first time trying. Don't allow yourself to be 
 brought back, for if you do you'll wish you 
 had never been born. You'd better sink right 
 here in the harbor than trust yourself to this
 
 204 THE STEEL IIOESE. 
 
 ship and her officers. It don't matter about 
 me, for I am used to hard knocks." 
 
 The sailor's earnest words frightened Roy, 
 but did not deter him from carrying out the 
 bold plan he had suddenly formed in his mind. 
 Casting his eye around the deck to make sure 
 that the mate with the rope's end was nowhere 
 in sight, he moved swiftly along the weather 
 rail, until he thought he saw a chance to dart 
 over to the other side without being seen. He 
 crossed the deck with a few quick steps and 
 looked over into the water. There was the 
 boat, still right side up, and her painter was 
 within easy reach of his hand. More than 
 that, as if to encourage him in his desperate 
 resolve, the flash from the light-ship, now close 
 aboard, burst through the gloom, and showed 
 him everything as plainly as though it had 
 been broad daylight. The dark waves with 
 their white caps looked very threatening, but 
 so did the prospect he had before him of 
 making a long voyage under brutal officers and 
 in an unseaworthy vessel. 
 
 "It's now or never," thought Roy, shutting 
 his teeth hard and calling all his courage to
 
 A SWIM IN ROUGH WATER. 205 
 
 his aid. '* In five minutes more that lightship 
 will be so far out of reach " 
 
 Just then something took him full in the 
 eye, and Roy, who had bent over while work- 
 ing at the boat's painter, straightened up with 
 a jerk, and flopped down upon his back. 
 Scarcely realizing what had happened to him, 
 the boy scrambled to his feet only to receive a 
 blow in the other eye, and to hear the mate 
 shout at him, in tones of suppressed fury : 
 
 "Going to desert, were you? I expected 
 it, and have had my gaze fastened on you all 
 along. Take that and that, and see if it will 
 do you until I can get a better chance at you." 
 
 Did the enraged officer intend to kill him 
 where he lay ? Roy wondered, as he raised his 
 arm to ward off the heavy blows from the 
 rope's end that were aimed at his head. It is 
 quite possible that the brute would have dis- 
 abled him had not the captain, who had wit- 
 nessed the whole proceeding, called out : 
 
 "Cast the boat adrift, Mr. Crawford. That 
 will put an end to all such nonsense." 
 
 The officer turned to obey the order, and in 
 an instant Roy was on his feet. At the same
 
 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 instant, too, the sailor's warning words came 
 into his mind like an inspiration: "Don't 
 allow yourself to be brought back, for if you 
 do you will wish you had never been born. 
 You'd better sink right here in the harbor 
 than trust yourself to this ship and her 
 officers," and something the mate said while 
 he was striking at him with the rope's end 
 satisfied Roy that there was more punishment 
 of some sort coining as soon as the officer could 
 find time to administer it. 
 
 " Another such a beating as that would lay 
 me up sure," thought Roy, drawing his hand 
 across his face and looking around to see where 
 he was. " I can't stand it and I won't." 
 
 Roy sprang away from the rail, but quick as 
 the action was, the movement the vigilant 
 officer made to defeat it was almost as quick. 
 His brawny hand shot out like a flash, and by 
 the merest chance missed a hold upon Roy's 
 arm. His strong fingers fastened into the 
 boy's shirt-sleeve, and during the brief but 
 furious struggle that followed either the 
 stitches or cloth gave away. At any rate when 
 the mate straightened up he was holding the
 
 A SWIM IN ROUGH WATER. 207 
 
 sleeve of Roy's shirt in his grasp, and Roy 
 himself, having cleared the deck in two or 
 three jumps, was standing upon the lee rail. 
 
 "Come back here, you villain," roared the 
 mate, starting forward, "or I' 11 haze you till 
 you'll be glad to go overboard in mid-ocean." 
 
 But the boy preferred to go overboard in 
 the harbor, where he stood a chance a bare 
 chance of rescue. He did not see the pilot- 
 boat that dashed by just then, but he saw the 
 light-ship riding at her anchorage a short dis- 
 tance away, and without pausing to take 
 another look at the angry waters, for fear that 
 the sight of them would be too much for his 
 courage, he sprang into the air. The mate 
 reached the side just a minute too late. The 
 deserter was well out of his way. 
 
 " That's the end of him, sir," said he, turn- 
 ing to the captain. 
 
 "Let the pilot-boat take care of him," said 
 the latter gruffly. " I can't stop to bother 
 with him." 
 
 This was all that was said aboard the White 
 Squall, and nothing whatever was done to aid 
 the deserter ; but the pilot-boat officers had
 
 208 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 more humanity. As soon as their vessel could 
 be thrown up into the wind a boat was put 
 into the water, and for half an hour or more the 
 crew pulled about in various directions, look- 
 ing for Roy, who was swimming for the light- 
 ship with slow and easy strokes. He was by 
 all odds the best swimmer in Mount Airy, and 
 his skill and long wind stood him well in hand 
 now. He was badly frightened at first when 
 the waves broke over his head and bore him 
 under, but he always came to the surface in 
 time to catch the next one, which not only 
 carried him rapidly toward his haven of 
 refuge, but kept him afloat long enough to 
 get his breath and fill his lungs for the next 
 plunge. 
 
 Roy afterward said that that long swim in 
 rough water was more like a dream than a real- 
 ity. When he found that he had no trouble 
 in keeping on top the water long enough to 
 breathe fully and freely, but two ideas filled his 
 mind. One was to reach the light-ship before 
 his strength gave out ; the second to lose no 
 time, after he got ashore, in doing something 
 for Bob and Tony who were being carried away
 
 A SWIM IN ROUGH WATER. 209 
 
 in that unseaworthy ship. He was afterwards 
 sorry that he wasted so much sympathy upon 
 them. 
 
 About the time the pilot-boat's crew began 
 to despair of picking up the deserter, and 
 filled away to the city to tell the story of 
 his "deliberate suicide" to eager reporters, 
 who published it in their papers the next 
 morning, and Roy was becoming weary of buf- 
 feting the waves, the swim was ended and help 
 speedily came. A friendly billow threw him 
 against one of the swaying hawsers that kept 
 the light- ship in place, and the boy held fast 
 to it. 
 
 "Boat ahoy!" yelled Roy, with all the 
 strength of his lungs. 
 
 An instant later the sagging of the cable 
 soused him under; but the wind caught, up his 
 voice and carried it across the intervening 
 space to the deck of the light-ship, and when 
 Roy came up again he saw a couple of tar- 
 paulins above her rail, and as many lanterns 
 hanging over the side. 
 
 " Where away ? " shouted a voice, that some- 
 what resembled the deep bass of a fog-horn. 
 
 14
 
 210 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 "Here I am; holding fast to the anchor 
 rope," replied Roy. " Can't you see me 
 now?" 
 
 The boy's hand instinctively Avent to his 
 head ; but the cap he intended to wave in the 
 air to show the light-ship's men where he was, 
 had been left aboard the White Squall to keep 
 company with his shirt-sleeve. But if the 
 men couldn't see him they heard his words, 
 for the wind brought them plainly to their 
 ears ; and instead of stopping to ask him what 
 he was doing in the water and how he got 
 there in the first place, they pulled up their 
 lanterns and hurried away. 
 
 "Hurrah for mel" said Roy to himself. 
 "They've gone to lower a boat and I am all 
 right" 
 
 Just then another wave broke over his head ; 
 but when he came up again, Roy continued 
 his soliloquy as if nothing had happened. 
 
 "Or shall be in a few minutes," said he. 
 "I've learned a good many things to-night, 
 and one of them is, that a wind that would 
 keep our Mount Airy people ashore don't 
 bother these deep-water fellows at all. I call
 
 A SWIM IN ROUGH WATER. 211 
 
 this a gale ; but these watermen, who are used 
 to such things, run around in small boats as 
 fearlessly as we take to Mirror Lake when 
 there isn't a capful of wind to ruffle the sur- 
 face." 
 
 Roy was plunged under a good many times 
 while he waited for the men to come and take 
 him off, but presently their boat hove in sight. 
 She looked too large and heavy for two men to 
 row, but she was built for just the work she 
 was doing now, and Roy Sheldon was not the 
 only one who owed his life to her and the gal- 
 lant fellows who manned her. She came over 
 the waves like a duck, and almost before Roy 
 knew it he was sitting in her stern-sheets with 
 a heavy coat around him. The men uttered 
 exclamations of astonishment when they saw 
 how he was dressed, but not a question did 
 they ask until they had taken him safe aboard 
 the light-ship and into a warm, well-lighted 
 cabin. 
 
 "Pull off them wet duds and put on these 
 here," said one of the men, laying some dry 
 clothing on a chair near the stove. 
 
 " I am sorry to occasion you so much
 
 212 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 trouble," began Roy, who saw that the oil- 
 skin suits his rescuers wore were dripping with 
 spray. " I have given you a long, hard pull." 
 
 "Oh, that's nothing," was the reply. 
 "We're used to picking up folks, specially 
 during the racing season when a yacht turns 
 bottom side up now and then. But what made 
 you get sick of your bargain so soon ? Why 
 didn't you let yourself go down, like you'd 
 oughter?" 
 
 " What bargain ?" exclaimed Roy. "And 
 why ought I to let myself go down ? " 
 
 "Why, you jumped off that there ship on 
 purpose, 'cause me and my pardner seen you 
 when you done it. We've been kinder look- 
 ing for you ever since. 'We didn't go out after 
 you, 'cause number 29' s boat struck the water 
 most as soon as you did." 
 
 " Who bunged your eyes for you?" asked 
 the man who had not spoken before, and who 
 was getting ready to give Roy a pot of hot 
 coffee. 
 
 " Are they black? " said the boy angrily. 
 
 He glanced around the cabin, and seeing a 
 small mirror fastened against the bulkhead on
 
 A SWIM IN ROUGH WATER. 213 
 
 the other side, he walked over and looked into 
 it. Yes, his eyes were black. 
 
 ' ' The ship I deserted from was the White 
 Squall," said Roy ; whereupon the lightship 
 men nodded, as much as to say that the whole 
 matter had been made clear to them. "I 
 didn't belong to her. I was what do you call 
 it ? shanghaied ? Yes ; that was what was 
 done to me, and also to the two men who 
 started to row me from Shelly' s Island to New 
 London. One of the sailors told me I had 
 better get off if I could see half a chance, 
 and that was the way I came to be in the 
 water. One of the mates knocked me down 
 twice while I was working at the painter of 
 our boat, and pounded me with a piece of rope 
 till well, look at that," added Roy, who, 
 when he came to pull off his wet shirt, found 
 that he could not do it without assistance. 
 His arm pained him, and he could not use it 
 as readily as usual. This led him to make an 
 examination, and he found that the arm was 
 bruised and discolored from shoulder to 
 elbow. 
 
 "Yas," remarked one of the men, as if he
 
 214 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 were speaking of an every-day occurrence, 
 "I've seen a good many such whacks in my 
 time." 
 
 "Do all officers pound their men in this 
 fashion, and do you fellows submit to it?" 
 cried Roy, in great surprise. " Well, I won't, 
 I bet you. I'll have those two men arrested ; 
 the captain for kidnapping me, and the mate 
 for using me up in this way." 
 
 "Drink this coffee and tell us when 
 you're going to do all that," said one of 
 the men. 
 
 "Yas," said the other. "And while I am 
 helping you rub them bruises with this arnica, 
 tell us how you're going to do it." 
 
 "When and how?" repeated Roy, as he 
 submitted to the old sea-dog's rough but 
 kindly administrations. 
 
 "Yas. You can't get ashore before morn- 
 ing, and by that time the White Squall will be 
 miles and miles at sea. It'll be two years, 
 mebbe three, before she makes this port again, 
 and like as not there won't be a single man in 
 her crew that she took away with her. Then 
 where' 11 your witnesses be to prove that you
 
 A SWIM IN ROUGH WATER. 215 
 
 was shanghaied, and that the mate knocked 
 you down and beat you. with a rope's end ? " 
 
 Roy backed toward the nearest bunk, sat 
 down upon it and took a long and hearty drink 
 of the hot coffee before he made any reply. 
 He had comforted himself with the mental 
 assurance that it would be an easy matter for 
 him to bring the master of the White Squall 
 to justice, but now he discovered that there 
 were difficulties in the way. 
 
 " Law ain't made for the poor chaps that 
 sail the high seas, but for landsmen," said the 
 one who gave him the coffee. " Sailor-men 
 ain't got no use for it, for nobody cares for 
 them. I've heard enough about that ship and 
 her cap'n to know that I shouldn't like to sail 
 on her, and I tell you that you was mighty 
 lucky to get away with a whole skin. The 
 mate knocked you over while you was trying 
 to cast off your boat ; then what happened ? " 
 
 "I made a dash for the other side of the ship 
 and went overboard," answered Roy. "The 
 mate made a grab for me, and besides tearing 
 the sleeve out of my shirt he must have given 
 my arm an awful wrench, for I can hardly lift
 
 216 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 that pot of coffee with it. There isn't any 
 danger that she will stop and take me off this 
 boat, is there? " 
 
 The lightship men chuckled and winked at 
 each other as though they thought Roy had 
 said something amusing. 
 
 " Bless your simple heart ! She's hull down 
 before this time," one of them remarked. 
 "You don't think that a ship that has been 
 loaded and waiting for two or three weeks 
 would stop to pick up a deserter, do you ? and 
 him a landsman that don' t know one side of 
 the deck from t'other? You'll never see the 
 White Squall again less'n you stay here and 
 look for her. What sort of clothes is them, 
 any way, that you just took off? Looks some- 
 thing like a rowing rig, but 'tain't." 
 
 Roy replied that it was a bicycle uniform, 
 and then went on to tell his story, hoping that 
 the mention of Rowe Shelly' s name might lead 
 the men to give him some information concern- 
 ing the runaway. They lived but a short dis- 
 tance from his island home, and Roy thought 
 it possible they might know him ; but he very 
 soon became satisfied that they didn't. They
 
 A SWIM IX ROUGH WATER. 217 
 
 held little communication with the people on 
 the neighboring islands, all their supplies, as 
 well as the limited number of papers they 
 read, being received from the mainland, and 
 they did not act as though they had ever 
 heard of Howe Shelly before ; but they showed 
 Roy very plainly that there were some portions 
 of his narrative they found it hard to believe, 
 One of them turned on his heel with the 
 remark that the wind didn't "blow to do any 
 hurt," that there was no need of anybody 
 "going aboard a ship for shelter on such a 
 night" as that one was, and went on deck to 
 see how things were going there ; while the 
 other, with the suspicion of a smile about his 
 mouth, said to Roy : 
 
 "You're getting kinder white around the 
 gills. Hadn't you better lay down in that 
 there bunk before it gets worse on you? 
 That's my advice." 
 
 " I do feel rather queer, that's a fact," 
 answered the boy. "I suppose the pounding 
 and swim together were too much for me." 
 
 "Yas; I reckon they were. But you'll be 
 all right after a while."
 
 218 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 The man followed his companion to the 
 deck, and Roy lay down upon the bunk ; but 
 very gradually a suspicion crept into his mind 
 that the beating he had received and his long 
 swim in rough water had little to do with his 
 miserable feelings. 
 
 "I am seasick," groaned Roy. "That's 
 what's the matter with me. Being shut up in 
 this warm, close cabin has done the business 
 for me." 
 
 The boy made a shrewd guess. Many along 
 hour dragged its weary length away before he 
 was " all right " again.
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE BOY WHO WOULDN'T BE " PUMPED." 
 
 ALL the rest of the night Roy Sheldon, 
 who was ill indeed, rolled and tossed in 
 his bunk without once closing his eyes in 
 sleep. At first he was very much afraid that 
 the light-ship would go down, she pitched so 
 furiously ; and as his malady grew upon him, 
 he wished from the bottom of his heart that 
 she would spring a leak and sink, and so put 
 him out of his misery. To make matters worse, 
 his rescuers never came near to sympathize 
 with him, or ask if there was anything they 
 could do to relieve him. They left him to fight 
 the battle alone, and their neglect made Roy 
 so indignant that he resolved he would not 
 speak to them again, not even to thank them 
 for the important service they had rendered 
 him. Shortly after daylight, however, he fell 
 into a refreshing slumber, and when he awoke 
 
 219
 
 220 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 two hours later his sickness was all gone, and 
 he was as hungry as a wolf. 
 
 " Well, my hearty," was the cordial way in 
 which he was greeted when he rolled out of his 
 bunk, "you don't look quite as blue about 
 the gills as you did when you turned in. Feel 
 any better ? Set down and take another pot of 
 coffee." 
 
 "Thank you. I feel a good deal more like 
 myself," was Roy's reply. " I can't begin to 
 tell you how grateful I am to you, or how glad 
 I am that I went overboard when I did, and 
 that I succeeded in laying hold of that anchor- 
 rope before my wind and strength gave out. I 
 was getting tired, I tell you. If I were aboard 
 that ship now how far at sea would I be ? " 
 
 " A hundred miles, or such a matter, in this 
 wind, and with a fair chance of seeing furrin 
 countries before you come back." 
 
 " I would have stood a better chance of be- 
 coming food for the sharks, if all I heard 
 about her is true," said Roy, as he seated him- 
 self at one end of the mess -chest which served 
 as a table. "The sailor who advised me to 
 desert said he never expected to reach Canton
 
 WOULDN'T BE "PUMPED." 221 
 
 alive. Now, how soon can I get ashore to re- 
 lieve tlie anxiety of my friends ? " 
 
 That was a matter that was settled with half 
 a dozen words. He was given to understand 
 that he would be carried over to the nearest 
 pier as soon as he had eaten his breakfast ; 
 and his mind being set at rest, he ate a hearty 
 one. When he thanked the men for their 
 kindness they laughed and said " that was all 
 right," and showed some curiosity to know 
 why Roy was so careful to take their names 
 and address. 
 
 " I like to keep track of my acquaintances," 
 said the boy ; I may want to call upon you at 
 some future time, and if I do, I shall know 
 where to find you." 
 
 Breakfast being over, Roy, who had put on 
 his own clothes when he left his bunk, climbed 
 into the boat and was palled ashore. There 
 was a hack-stand near the pier on which he 
 was landed, and although Roy did not know it 
 at the time, Tony and Bob could have put him 
 ashore there the night before if the instructions 
 they received from Colonel Shelly' s superinten- 
 dent had not led them to follow a different
 
 222 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 course. Being anxious to escape observation 
 Roy took a hurried leave of the light-ship's 
 men, hastened toward the hack-stand, and dived 
 into the h'rst carriage he came to. 
 
 "Pull up the windows, put down the cur- 
 tains so that no one can see me, and go for the 
 Lafayette House at your very best licks," said 
 Roy to the astonished driver, who looked criti- 
 cally at the boy's sleeveless shirt and bandaged 
 eye, and seemed in no particular hurry to 
 obey. 
 
 "Been in a fight ? " said he. 
 
 "Yes; been in half a dozen. Whipped 
 more than forty men, and swam in from a hun- 
 dred miles out at sea," replied Roy, impatient- 
 ly. "I've money in my pocket and more 
 at the hotel, if that is what you want to 
 know. Hurry up, and I will give you double 
 fare." 
 
 That was something the hackman could un- 
 derstand. Looking curiously at his passenger 
 the while he hastened to obey his orders, and 
 in a few seconds had made the carriage as close 
 as an oven. But Roy did not care for that. 
 He settled back in the corner, and wondered
 
 WOULDN'T BE "PUMPED." 223 
 
 what Arthur and Joe would say when he 
 walked into their presence. 
 
 "I know I am a nice looking object," was 
 his mental reflection, " but I should like to see 
 either one of those fellows go through what I 
 did and come out in better shape. I tell you 
 I have had a narrow escape, and Howe Shelly, 
 whoever he may be, can thank his lucky stars 
 that he was not in my place. I can't do any- 
 thing for Bob and Tony, but I can bear those 
 light-ship men in mind, and I will too." 
 
 With the prospect of a double fare before 
 him the hackman drove as rapidly as he dared, 
 and when he drew rein in front of the hotel to 
 which he had been directed, Eoy threw open 
 the door and jumped out, crossed the wide 
 sidewalk with a few swift steps, and sought 
 concealment behind one of the front doors, 
 every move he made being closely followed by 
 the driver, who wanted to make sure of his 
 money before he let his strange passenger out 
 of sight. Then came that hurried interview 
 with the hotel clerk, who could hardly be 
 made to believe that Roy Sheldon was not 
 Robert Barton, after which the new-comer
 
 224 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 went to his room to change his clothes and 
 send the porter out for a new helmet to take 
 the place of the one he had left on board the 
 White Squall. 
 
 "There," said Roy, as he stood before the 
 mirror and tied a clean handkerchief over his 
 left eye, " that looks a little more respectable, 
 but not much. I must have a pretty hard 
 head or that mate would have knocked me 
 senseless. Suppose he had, and that I had 
 been kicked out of the way or carried down 
 into the forecastle, and never come to myself 
 until this morning ! I'd been a hundred miles 
 or more at sea, and in a rotten old ship that is 
 liable to go to pieces in the very first storm 
 she encounters. It makes me shudder to 
 think of it." 
 
 Having fixed himself up as well as he could, 
 Roy went downstairs and into the reading- 
 room to wait for Joe and Arthur to "show 
 up." At the same time a sharp-looking gen- 
 tleman, whose eyes were everywhere at once, 
 walked briskly up to the clerk's desk and 
 leaned upon it. 
 
 "What do you know ? " said he. "I must
 
 WOULDN'T BE "PUMPED." 225 
 
 make out a column some way or other, and if 
 you don't help me out, I shall always think 
 you ought to." 
 
 "I don't know a thing," roplied the clerk. 
 "Go into the reading-room and pump that fel- 
 low with the bunged-up eye. He's a wheelman 
 from Mount Airy. Came in yesterday with 
 two others, and got into trouble before he had 
 fairly eaten his supper. That's his name right 
 there," added the clerk, as the sharp-looking 
 man, who was a newspaper reporter, pulled a 
 note-book from his pocket and wrote some- 
 thing in it in short-hand. " He just as good as 
 told me that he was mistaken for Howe Shelly, 
 kidnapped and taken over to the island, and 
 barely escaped being carried to sea." 
 
 "On what vessel ? " exclaimed the reporter, 
 showing some excitement and no little in- 
 terest. 
 
 "Don't know. Didn't think to ask him, 
 for he was in a great hurry to go to his room." 
 
 " So Kovve Shelly has skipped again, has 
 he?" said the reporter. "That won't do me 
 any good, for Shelly owns some of our stock 
 and we can't dip into his private affairs. 
 
 15
 
 226 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 Don't tell anybody else of it, there's a good, 
 fellow, for I want to get a scoop on this whole 
 business. Did this what's his name Sheldon, 
 look as though he had been in the water \ " 
 
 " Come to think of it, he did. His uniform 
 was shrunk and mussed, one sleeve of his shirt 
 was missing, and both his eyes were blacked. 
 At least one was, for I saw it. He kept the 
 other covered up." 
 
 "I'll bet it's the same chap. Haven't you 
 seen this morning's Tribune? Well, there's 
 an article in it, with the blackest kind of head- 
 lines, entitled, ' Mutiny in the Harbor. A 
 Sailor prefers Death to a Voyage in the White 
 Squall,' and so forth and so on, etcetera. One 
 of our fellows wrote that up, and now you 
 just watch me get the sequel. Hoop-la ! My 
 column's safe. How' 11 I know him by his 
 bunged-up eyes ? " 
 
 " Look right through the door. That's him, 
 with the blue uniform on and a paper in his 
 hand. But hold on a minute," said the clerk, 
 as the reporter turned away. "If you mean 
 to get anything out of him you'll have to be 
 sly about it, for he says he won't be pumped."
 
 WOULDN'T BE "PUMPED." 227 
 
 "Oh, won' t he ? We' 11 see about that. ' ' 
 
 Boy Sheldon, who was deeply interested in 
 that article in the Tribune, and congratulating 
 himself on the fact that his name was not men- 
 tioned in it, and that consequently his father 
 and mother would never hear of his adventure 
 until he was ready to tell them about it, did 
 not so much as raise his eyes when the reporter 
 came in and sat down near him. He went on 
 with his reading until he heard a pleasant 
 voice say : 
 
 "Good morning, Mr. Sheldon. You have 
 had a pretty rough experience, have you not ? " 
 
 If the chair in which he was sitting had 
 suddenly given away and let him down on the 
 floor, Roy would not have been half as much 
 astonished as he was when he heard himself 
 addressed in this way by a man whom he had 
 never seen before. He looked at him over 
 the top of his paper, and then drew his head 
 down behind it ; whereupon the reporter pulled 
 out his handkerchief and mopped his face to 
 conceal the smile that came to his lips. 
 
 " Of course you don't mind what those light- 
 ship men said to me" he continued. 

 
 223 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 "Oh! did they tell you about it?" ex- 
 claimed Roy, and that was all the reporter 
 wanted to show him that he was on the right 
 track. Being shrewd and experienced in his 
 profession, he had already made up his mind 
 just what that 'sequel' was going to be. The 
 sailor, who was seen by the captain of pilot-boat 
 number twenty-nine to jump into the harbor, 
 was not a seafaring man, but a wheelman. He 
 had succeeded in reaching the light-ship, whose 
 crew rescued him, brought him ashore in the 
 morning, and here he was. Roy had told the 
 clerk he would not be interviewed ; but that 
 did not worry the reporter. 
 
 " Yes ; I have heard all about it," said he. 
 "You see, I am the fellow who supplies those 
 light-ship men with some of their reading- 
 matter." 
 
 "Oh," said Roy again, " I was afraid you 
 might be a reporter." 
 
 "My dear sir, do I look as if I were that 
 low down in the world? What's the reason 
 you don't want to see any news-gatherers? 
 You have been the hero of an adventure, and 
 most boys would like to see it in print."
 
 WOULDN'T BE " PUMPED." 229 
 
 "It's in print already, but fortunately the 
 man who wrote about it did not know my 
 name," replied Roy. " There's a long account 
 of it in the Tribune?" 
 
 " And is that account correct ? " 
 
 ''Perfectly. But my father takes the Tri- 
 bune, and if he had seen my name in that 
 article he would have ordered me home in 
 short order." 
 
 "And you don't want to go, I suppose ? " 
 
 "Certainly not," answered Roy, who then 
 went on to tell where he did want to go ; and 
 to prove that his father would be likely to tell 
 him to come home if he got into trouble, he 
 related what Mr. Wayring had done when he 
 learned through the New London papers that 
 Matt Coyle had tied Joe to a tree and threat- 
 ened to beat him with switches. 
 
 "I remember of reading about that," said 
 the reporter. " One of the Tribune 1 s staff was 
 stopping at the Sportsman's Home at the time, 
 and he was the one who wrote it up. I don't 
 blame you for not wanting your name men- 
 tioned in connection with that little episode 
 in the harbor last night, and you are wise in
 
 230 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 keeping your weather eye open for reporters. 
 That's the only one you can keep open, isn't 
 it ? Who shut up the other one for you ? " 
 
 It was by such ingenious and apparently 
 disinterested questions as these, that the re- 
 porter gradually led Roy Sheldon on to tell 
 his story from beginning to end. He was 
 really astonished when the boy brought his 
 narrative to a close, and told himself that he 
 was master of some secrets that would eventu- 
 ally bring Colonel Shell}?- and his superintend- 
 ent into trouble, and the runaway Rx>we into 
 his rights. More than one reporter has run to 
 earth criminals whom the best detectives could 
 not track, and Roy's visitor suddenly resolved 
 that he would do a little in that line himself. 
 He would have given something handsome to 
 know where Rowe was at that minute and 
 what he intended to do ; but Roy could not 
 enlighten him. On the other hand, he asked 
 the reporter to tell him what he knew about 
 Rowe himself. 
 
 "That boy is well fixed over there on the 
 island," said he. "Everybody is kind to him, 
 he has everything money can buy, and he
 
 WOULDN'T BE "PUMPED." 231 
 
 wouldn't run away unless there was good 
 cause for for it," said Roy. I wasn't on the 
 island long enough to learn much about him ; 
 can't you tell me something? " 
 
 " I am sorry to say I can't," said the reporter, 
 as he arose from his chair. ' ' I have never been 
 on the island, and don't know the first thing 
 about Howe Shelly and his family relations, ex- 
 cept what I have heard in a roundabout way. 
 Look here," he added, sinking his voice al- 
 most to a whisper; "do you see those three 
 fellows talking with the clerk ? Look out for 
 them. They are reporters for evening papers. 
 Tell 'em you're busy that your eyes are so 
 black you can't talk to 'em tell 'em anything 
 you can think of, for if you don't, they will 
 have you in print sure pop. So-long, and a 
 pleasant trip if I don't see you again before 
 you leave the city." 
 
 So saying the reporter winked at Roy, and 
 hurried away to write up the " sequel " for the 
 evening edition of his paper, while Roy hid 
 behind his copy of the Tribune. The three 
 men against whom he had been warned came 
 in at last, but if they wanted information they
 
 232 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 did not get much. Roy was very unsociable, 
 and they finally departed with the conviction 
 that the Tribune 1 s man had been too sharp for 
 them this time. 
 
 Roy's next visitor was Willis, and the next 
 two were Joe Wayring and Arthur Hastings, 
 who would scarcely have recognized him if it 
 had not been for his uniform. They listened 
 in great amazement to his story, which I after- 
 ward heard just as I have tried to tell it, and 
 never once said a word to interrupt him. 
 Arthur's indignation was almost unbounded ; 
 while the clear-sighted Joe saw two or three 
 things in the narrative which proved to his 
 satisfaction that Roy's visit to the White 
 Squall was not purely accidental. But the 
 trouble was, Roy himself did not think so, and 
 he had not really said anything that was 
 calculated to throw suspicion upon the super- 
 intendent. It was plain, however, that Willis 
 was afraid he might say something, for as soon 
 as Roy's story was finished he got upon his 
 feet and put on his hat. 
 
 "As you remarked a little while ago, 'all's 
 well that ends well,'" said he. "I am
 
 WOULDN'T BE "PUMPED." 233 
 
 heartily glad you got safely out of that scrape, 
 Mr. Sheldon, and hope you will speedily 
 recover from the effects of your treatment at 
 the hands of that brutal mate. I wish he might 
 be punished for it ; but it is just as those men 
 on the lightship told you. The White Squall 
 will not return for two or three years, and by 
 that time the men who now comprise her crew 
 may be scattered to the ends of the globe. I 
 wish you good-morning, and a pleasant run 
 across the State." 
 
 So saying, Willis bowed himself out of the 
 reading-room, and Babcock went with him, 
 leaving the three friends alone. 
 
 " Say, old fellow," exclaimed Joe, settling 
 back in his chair and looking at Roy, " you've 
 more pluck than I ever gave you credit for, 
 but not half as much mother- wit." 
 
 "What has gone wrong with you now?" 
 asked Roy, in reply. 
 
 "Nothing whatever; but if you don't find 
 that something has gone wrong with you, I 
 shall miss my guess. And you are the boy 
 who wouldn't be pumped, are you? Well, 
 you are a good one."
 
 234 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 " I tell you I didn't give those three reporters 
 the first grain of information," said Roy, 
 bridling up. 
 
 " No ; but you gave the first one who gained 
 your ear all the information he wanted. That 
 fellow who came his Oily Gammon over you 
 and told you that he supplied the lightship's 
 crew with a portion of their reading matter, 
 was a reporter. He' 11 have the whole thing in his 
 paper to night, and you will have to go home." 
 
 4 'And that means all of us," added Arthur. 
 
 " 'No ! " gasped Roy, alarmed by the thought. 
 " Let's get away from the city without an 
 hour's delay. If we do that, we can prolong 
 our run as far as Bloomingdale ; for you know 
 that was the first place at which we were to 
 stop for letters." 
 
 " But you can't ride," said Joe. 
 
 "What's the reason I can't?" inquired Roy. 
 " I know my arm is almost useless, but my 
 legs are all right, as I will show you when we 
 are fairly on the road again. Say, fellows, 
 let's make the pace hot enough to reach Bloom- 
 ingdale and get beyond it before any return 
 orders can catch us."
 
 WOULDN'T BE "PUMPED." 235 
 
 ."Why not avoid the place altogether?" 
 suggested Arthur. "Have you had your arm 
 examined by a surgeon ? " 
 
 Roy said he hadn't thought of it, and Arthur 
 continued: "Then we'll have it done at once. 
 If he says you can ride, we'll take to the 
 road at once. If he says you can't, that 
 settles it." 
 
 Great was their relief when the medical man, 
 to whom they were directed, told Roy that, 
 although he had received a pretty severe fall 
 (he thought Roy had taken a header and the 
 latter was quite willing to have it so), he would 
 be able to continue the run provided he could 
 manage his wheel with one hand, and would 
 promise not to run too fast. 
 
 " But/' added the doctor, " it's a little the 
 queerest hurt I ever saw from a header. I 
 don't quite see how you managed to black 
 both your eyes and injure your arm in one fall. 
 If you had been in a fight with the canalers I 
 could understand it. You mustn't think of 
 going on for at least two or three days. Lie 
 still to-morrow and next day, take a short run 
 on Saturday, stop over somewhere in the
 
 236 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 country on Sunday, and make a fresh start on 
 Monday." 
 
 When the boys heard this their countenances 
 fell; but, as Arthur had said, "that settled 
 it." All they could do was to make them- 
 selves miserable for the rest of the day and the 
 whole of the two succeeding ones. They could 
 not even visit their friends in the city, for if 
 they did, every one would want to know where 
 Roy Sheldon was, and why he didn't show 
 himself. 
 
 " I'm a pretty looking fellow to go calling, 
 am I not?" said the latter dolefully. "It 
 can't be done, boys. I'd have to tell the truth, 
 and I might as well go home at once as to do 
 that. I'm going to hug my room the best I 
 know how, and you'll have to see that I don't 
 starve ; for now that I have found you, I am 
 not going to exhibit myself in that reading- 
 room again. Now, come up-stairs and tell me 
 all you know about Howe Shelly." 
 
 The story his friends had to tell was not near 
 as long as his own, but it was fully as in- 
 teresting. It required but a few words from 
 them to make everything clear to Roy's com-
 
 WOULDN'T BE "PUMPED." 237 
 
 prehension. The man who claimed to be 
 Colonel Shelly and Howe's guardian was a 
 fraud, the boy's parents were still living, and 
 he was determined to find them in spite of all 
 the obstacles that could be thrown in his way. 
 That was all there was of it. 
 
 " I hope from the bottom of my heart that 
 he will succeed," said Roy earnestly. " When 
 I was in the water swimming for the lightship, 
 I felt bitter toward everybody ; but now that 
 I have come safely out of the worst scrape I 
 ever was in, I don't feel so. The clerk, who 
 evidently knows a little about Rowe and his 
 affairs, declared that he was a fool for running 
 away, but somehow I couldn't believe it. Now 
 I know he isn't. If one of us was in his place 
 they'd have to put guards all around that 
 island to keep him there." 
 
 " How far was it from the White Squall to 
 the lightship?" 
 
 " About twice as far as Mirror Lake is wide. 
 The swim wasn' t anything to be afraid of, but 
 the rough water 
 
 "And the sharks," interposed Arthur. 
 
 "By gracious!" exclaimed Roy, jumping
 
 238 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 up from the bed on which he had but a moment 
 before laid himself down. "I never thought 
 of sharks, and I'm glad I didn't. It would 
 have made a coward of me sure, and I was 
 near enough to that as it was. But they do 
 have them around that lightship, don' t they \ 
 I have seen the fact stated in the papers before 
 now. It took all the pluck I had to face the 
 waves, and if I had thought of sharks I don't 
 believe you ever would have seen me again." 
 
 " Howe wouldn't have had the courage to do 
 what you did," observed Arthur. 
 
 " I don't think he would," said Joe. "But 
 then he never would have been called upon to 
 do it, for that man Willis would not have sent 
 him aboard the White Squall to be carried to 
 sea." 
 
 "You don't think Willis got Tony and Bob 
 and me shanghaied on purpose, do you ? " ex- 
 claimed Roy, who had not dreamed of such a 
 thing. "You are surely mistaken. I saw 
 those men driven to duty with a piece of 
 rope." 
 
 "I don't say they knew they were going to 
 be kidnapped when they took you aboard that
 
 WOULDN'T BE "PUMPED." 239 
 
 vessel, but that it was a part of the superinten- 
 dent' s plan for getting rid of the whole of 
 you," replied Joe, who then went on to tell why 
 he thought so. Three different sailor men with 
 whom Roy had conversed assured him that the 
 wind didn' t blow to hurt anything, that there 
 was no need that anybody in a small boat 
 should seek shelter on a vessel on such a night 
 as last night was, and if Hoy could not see that 
 that proved something, he was by no means as 
 bright as Joe thought he was. 
 
 " I can see it now," said Roy. " If I could 
 only bring it home to him wouldn't I 
 
 " No doubt you would : but there's the trou- 
 ble. You can't prove anything. I am sorry 
 you let that reporter bamboozle you into tell- 
 ing him all about your adventure. The fellows 
 he told you to look out for were on rival papers, 
 and it was his business to keep them from get- 
 ting any information out of you if he could. 
 I wish the evening papers were out." 
 
 The others wished so too, but four long hours 
 passed before the voice of the newsboy was 
 heard in the street, and then Arthur made a 
 rush for the door. When he returned he had
 
 240 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 a copy of all the evening papers on sale, but 
 the Tribune was the only one Roy cared to see, 
 and it was promptly passed over to him. 
 
 " Here it is in black and white," he groaned, 
 almost as soon as he opened the sheet. '"A 
 Plucky Wheelman. Something that might 
 have been a Tragedy. The Truth about it.' 
 Read it out and then go and pound that re- 
 porter.'' 
 
 Arthur complied with many misgivings, but 
 as he read he often paused to look at his chums, 
 who stared at him and at each other in turn. 
 Everything that happened on board the White 
 Squall was truthfully described, the brutality 
 of the ship's officers was denounced in no 
 measured terms, Roy's short but desperate 
 struggle with the mate was told in graphic lan- 
 guage, but the only ones whose real names were 
 mentioned were the two lightship men, Cap- 
 tain Jack Rowan and the scoundrel Crawford. 
 Roy Sheldon was called Peter Smith without a 
 word of excuse or apology, while Rowe Shelly, 
 his guardian, and Willis, the superintendent, 
 were not spoken of at all. The boys could not 
 understand it ; but then they did not know
 
 WOULDN'T BE " PUMPED." 241 
 
 that Howe's guardian was part owner of the 
 Tribune and had influence enough to cause the 
 discharge of any man on it who did not write 
 to suit him. As soon as Arthur finished the 
 article they all went to work to examine the 
 other papers ; but there was nothing in them 
 about the ' ' Plucky Wheelman." The Tribune 
 had a "scoop" on all its competitors. 
 
 " That bangs me," said Roy, at length. 
 
 " It suits you, does it not? " 
 
 "Perfectly. It's better than I thought it 
 could be. Of course our folks will read it, but 
 they'll never dream that one of us had any- 
 thing to do with it. That reporter is a brick. 
 You needn't mind pounding him, boys." 
 
 " Thank you," said Joe, drily. " I had no 
 intention of trying anything of the kind. I 
 have heard of fellows going out to thrash news- 
 paper men and coming home on a shutter. It 
 might have been so in this case." 
 
 Arthur Hasting voiced the sentiments of his 
 companions when he said he felt as if a big load 
 had been taken off his shoulders. Their run 
 wasn't "blocked" after all.
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 ON THE ROAD AGAIN. 
 
 A LTHOUGH Roy Sheldon and his friends 
 JLJL were greatly relieved, and felt duly 
 thankful to the reporter who had concealed the 
 "plucky wheelman's*" identity under a ficti- 
 tious name, and thus prevented their trip from 
 being brought to a sudden end, they were none 
 the less impatient to take the road again, and 
 their two days of enforced inactivity hung heav- 
 ily on their hands. It would not be prudent for 
 them to call upon their friends in the city, for, 
 as Roy ruefully affirmed, they would have to 
 tell them the truth, and they might as well go 
 home as to do that. Concealment was the only 
 thing left to them, but reading and sleeping, 
 with an occasional discussion of their recent 
 experience, were monotonous ways for healthy 
 boys to pass the time. Roy's bruises de- 
 manded a little of their care and attention, and 
 before long he had the satisfaction of knowing 
 
 242
 
 ON THE ROAD AGAIN. 243 
 
 that his arm was not as lame as it had been, 
 and that his eyes were slowly resuming their 
 natural color. But it was two weeks before 
 the wondering rustics ceased to turn and gaze 
 after him as he wheeled swiftly along the road. 
 
 Saturday morning came at last, and after 
 a light breakfast the three Columbias were 
 brought from their dark closet and set in mo- 
 tion again. Of course we that is, my two 
 companions and I knew nothing of the strange 
 things that had taken place on the night we 
 were put into our closet for safe-keeping, and 
 we were on the road at least a week before we 
 heard as much of the story as I have already 
 told you. We were fully two hundred miles 
 from New London when we, most unexpect- 
 edly, heard more of it, and back in Mount 
 Airy when we heard the conclusion ; so you 
 see I am not yet through with the events that 
 grew out of Roy Sheldon's visit to the city. 
 
 Saturday's run was short, for my master in- 
 sisted that the doctor's orders should be im- 
 plicitly obeyed, but still it was a hard one. 
 Before they were fairly out of the city limits 
 the sand that was u knee-deep" obstructed
 
 244 THE STEEL HOESE. 
 
 their way, and made the young wheelmen cast 
 longing glances toward the towpath which was 
 in plain view. But the sight of several groups 
 of ragged urchins, some of whom tried hard 
 and perseveringly to get a stone up to them, 
 and the knowledge that one of their number 
 was in no condition for a fight, if one was 
 forced upon them, made them keep to the 
 highway. 
 
 "But I tell yo a we'll not do it on Monday 
 for all the canalers in the State," said Roy that 
 night, when he and his companions dismounted 
 before the little inn that was to be their stop- 
 ping place. " We are so far out of the city 
 now that we shall not see very many boats, and 
 as often as we come in sight of a settlement of 
 shanties, we'll climb up to the road and go 
 around it." 
 
 The proprietor of the inn said he was used 
 to the company of wheelmen, and the bounti- 
 ful supper he set before the boys proved that 
 he was. He gave them comfortable beds too, 
 and on Monday morning shoAved them a path 
 by which they could take their wheels down to 
 the bank of the canal. It was much easier rid-
 
 ON THE EOAD AGAIN. 245 
 
 ing there than it was on the highway, but, as 
 the Omaha wheelman said, they found the 
 " unspeakable mule " there. They met a good 
 many boats going into the city, and nearly 
 every one of them was towed by a span of 
 these interesting creatures. The boys dis- 
 mounted and got out of the way as often as 
 they saw them coming, but the mules were not 
 to be deceived or cheated out of a stampede by 
 any such shallow artifice as that. They saw 
 the glittering wheels, and that was enough for 
 them. They invariably turned like a flash and 
 tore back along the path as though they were 
 frightened out of their wits, but always 
 stopped their headlong flight just in time to 
 avoid being jerked into the canal. It seemed 
 to me that reasonable persons would have been 
 satisfied with the precautions taken by the 
 boys to avoid trouble, but I soon learned that 
 the boatmen were not reasonable. They swore 
 lustily, hurling their oaths at mules and cy- 
 clists with perfect impartiality, and now and 
 then a very angry captain would order his 
 steersman to "hold her clost in to the bank 
 so't he could jump ashore an' pitch them
 
 246 THE STEEL HOESE. 
 
 nuisances into the drink"; but when the boys 
 heard such talk as that they mounted and 
 sped lightly along, leaving the captain to re- 
 cover his good-nature as soon as he got ready, 
 and the driver to manage the mules in any way 
 he could. By following this course, and by 
 making a flank movement on every "settle- 
 ment of shanties" that hove in sight, they 
 finally reached Bloomingdale without doing 
 very much riding in the sand. 
 
 They were now about a hundred and forty 
 miles from home, and considered their journey 
 fairly begun. Leaving out their first night in 
 New London, they were more than pleased 
 with their experience. Their health was per- 
 fect, their brains, to quote from Roy Sheldon, 
 were "as clear as whistles," and they felt equal 
 to any amount of hard work either on the road 
 or at the table. Taking timid women, skittish 
 horses, foolish mules, peppery canal-boat cap- 
 tains, combative boys and ugly dogs into con- 
 sideration, a trip like this had just enough of 
 the exciting and perilous in it to make it in- 
 teresting. 
 
 Although my master and his chums longed
 
 OX THE ROAD AGALN". 247 
 
 to hear from home, they opened the letters 
 they found waiting for them in Bloomingdale 
 with some fear and trembling. As I looked at 
 it, it did not seem possible that adventures 
 like Roy Sheldon's, and an exploit such as he 
 had performed, could be kept covered up for 
 any length of time (I have been told that such 
 things have a way of "leaking out some- 
 where"), nor was it at all probable that every 
 one who heard of them would be as considerate 
 of Roy's wishes as the Tribune reporter had 
 shown himself to be. I awaited the result 
 with as much excitement as Roy Sheldon ex- 
 hibited when he seated himself on the porch 
 in front of the hotel and opened one of his 
 mother's letters the one that bore the latest 
 date. I saw him run his eyes over the closely 
 written pages, and when he laid that letter 
 aside and picked up another, intending to read 
 them in the order in which they were written, 
 I knew before he said a word that his fears 
 were groundless and that no return orders had 
 been received. 
 
 "My folks don't suspect anything ; how is 
 it with yours ? " said he, gleefully. "Mother
 
 248 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 doesn't say a word about Peter Smith who was 
 shanghaied and jumped overboard to escape 
 being carried to sea, and that' s all the evidence 
 I want that she does not think I am that iden- 
 tical Peter." 
 
 Thanks to the thoughtful reporter, who did 
 not want Roy to be called home although he 
 did want all the news the boy had it in his 
 power to give him, the truth was never sus- 
 pected, and after a short rest the young wheel- 
 men turned their backs upon the towpath and 
 the pugnacious youngsters who lived beside it, 
 and struck out again, this time running through 
 a fine farming country, with just enough tim- 
 ber along the road to break the monotony of 
 the scenery, and afford them shade as often as 
 they felt inclined to take a breathing spell. 
 They were not the only cyclists on the road, 
 as they found before they had left Blooming- 
 dale a dozen miles behind. They were wheel- 
 ing along in Indian file at a moderate pace, 
 when Joe Wayring, who brought up the rear, 
 was surprised to hear a voice close to him say : 
 
 " If you have a mind to listen to it, I believe 
 I can give you young gentlemen a word of
 
 ON THE ROAD AGAIN. 249 
 
 advice that may some day be of use to you." 
 And before Joe could turn his head, a tall 
 stranger on a big wheel rode up beside him. 
 " Where have you come from and where are 
 you going, if it is a fair question ? " he contin- 
 ued, after returning Joe's greeting. " I judge 
 from your bundles that you are on a trip ; but 
 I guess you haven't been out very long, or 
 else you followed a different route from mine, 
 for you are not half as dirty as I am." 
 
 This broke the ice, and in a few minutes the 
 boys were on the best of terms with the strange 
 wheelman, who could not, however, give them 
 any "pointers" regarding their route, for he 
 was going another way, and besides he was de- 
 pending entirely upon his road-book. He had 
 been out four weeks, but was on the way home 
 now, weighed twenty pounds more than he did 
 when he set out, and felt strong enough to tackle 
 any dinner that was set before him. My mas- 
 ter expressed his regrets because the stranger 
 was not going their way, and asked him what 
 that word of advice was he said he could give 
 them. 
 
 "You wobble too much," said the wheel-
 
 250 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 man, coming to the point at once. "I have 
 been following behind for the last mile or so, 
 and took notice of the fact that an eighteen- 
 inch plank would scarcely be wide enough to 
 cover your tracks." 
 
 "I've noticed that too," replied Roy, "but 
 never thought it worth while to take the trou- 
 ble to ride any differently. What's the odds so 
 long as one has the whole road to wobble in?" 
 
 " None whatever," said the stranger, with a 
 laugh, " only experts who come on your track 
 will think you are not at all careful as to 
 your style, or else they will put you down as 
 new hands at the business. But suppose you 
 should come to a railroad bridge with only a 
 single plank laid down for one to walk upon. 
 If you tried to run over it you would go off 
 sure ; and it would be a job to dismount and 
 carry your wheels. Besides, when you got 
 home you wouldn't like to confess that you 
 had done such a thing." 
 
 " But you see we haven't found any bridges 
 of that sort in our way yet, and we don't mean 
 to," replied Joe. "Our plan is to follow the 
 road and keep clear of the tracks."
 
 ON THE ROAD AGAIN. 251 
 
 "That's the resolve I made when I set out, 
 but I haven't held to it. I am pretty well 
 satisfied now that you are not very far from 
 home." 
 
 " What makes you think so ? " 
 
 " Because you don' t seem to care anything 
 for distance ; but wait until you have been in 
 the saddle a week at a stretch, and you will be 
 glad to cut off all the miles you can. You will 
 find that the railroad generally follows the 
 shortest route between two points, and if you 
 have made up your minds to stop for the night 
 at a certain place, you will want to get there 
 the easiest way you can. That's the time you 
 will probably take to the track and find some 
 of the bridges I spoke of a minute ago." 
 
 The boys traveled several miles in company 
 with the pleasant stranger who, to quote once 
 more from Roy Sheldon, ''was just chuck full 
 of good stories and advice," and it was with 
 much regret that they took leave of him, saw 
 him turn off from their route and continue his 
 journey alone. How often it happens that lit- 
 tle things bring about great events ! You shall 
 presently see what grew out of this short in-
 
 252 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 terview which happened by the merest acci- 
 dent. 
 
 " From this day forward I mend my style of 
 riding," said Joe Wayring, when their chance 
 companion had been left out of sight. "I 
 never knew before that a wheelman left traces 
 by which an expert could judge of his skill, 
 but I know it now, and by this time next week 
 I bet you I'll be steady enough to ride a six- 
 inch plank on top of the highest railroad bridge 
 in the country." 
 
 The others said the same, and from that 
 moment began exercising more care in the 
 management of their wheels. If that stranger 
 could have come up behind thejn now, he 
 w r ould not have seen so many zig-zag tracks 
 in the road. But no doubt he would have 
 laughed at them for so quickly forgetting their 
 resolve to "stick to the highway and steer 
 clear of the railroad tracks "; for that was just 
 what they did. Before a week had passed 
 over their heads they began to realize that it 
 required a good many motions with the pedals 
 to take them a day's journey, and bring them 
 to the place at which they had beforehand de-
 
 ON THE ROAD AGAIN. 253 
 
 cided to pass the night, that there was a good 
 deal of sameness in wheeling, in spite of the 
 new scenes and new faces that were constantly 
 coming before them, and they were not so very 
 long in learning by actual test that "the rail- 
 road usually follows the shortest route between 
 two points." But, strange to say, they en- 
 countered but few cattle-guards, no bridges or 
 trestle-works, and the culverts were so well 
 covered that they scarcely knew when they 
 passed over them. Except when following 
 these short cuts they adhered rigidly to the 
 instructions laid down in their road-book, but 
 one day even that guide, which ought to have 
 been infallible, led them astray ; and here is 
 the passage that did the mischief : 
 
 "After a good nooning among the Bergen 
 shades a bee-line can be struck for Dorchester, 
 over a road with occasional patches of sand. 
 Luckily these patches can be avoided by mak- 
 ing use of portages in the shape of the ever- 
 welcome cow-path, which winds off to the side 
 of the road most conveniently. The cow fig- 
 ures most usefully in touring as a path-maker 
 in districts where the road commissioners are 
 derelict. Also as a dispenser of a beverage
 
 254 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 which is the best of all drinks anywhere, and 
 especially on the road." 
 
 The guide-book also went on to say that at 
 one place along the route a cow-path led di- 
 rectly to a brook, at which the weary and 
 hungry wheelman might stop and cast a 
 line with a more than reasonable expecta- 
 tion of catching a good-sized trout for his 
 dinner. 
 
 "We've struck it," said Arthur, who had 
 read aloud the route for that particular day be- 
 fore the three left their hotel in the morning. 
 " Here's the sand, and it's knee-deep too, as 
 sand always is. Now, where is the cow-path 
 that leads to the brook ? " 
 
 "Here's a path, but whether it goes to the 
 brook or not, I can't guess," answered Joe. 
 "Let's try it, and see if it will take us to a 
 dispenser of that beverage, whatever it is, the 
 book speaks of." 
 
 "It's milk," said Roy, smacking his lips. 
 "I'd a little rather have it off the ice, but I 
 wouldn't refuse it warm just now, for I am 
 thirsty and hungry besides." 
 
 "That's nothing new," retorted Joe.
 
 OX THE ROAD AGAIX. 255 
 
 "You've been that way ever since we left 
 home. Come on, fellows. Somebody has been 
 through here, for the most of the branches 
 have been removed, and a log or two cut out of 
 the path." 
 
 " What is that welcome sound that comes 
 faintly to my ears?" said Roy, in a heavy 
 voice, as he mounted his wheel and followed 
 his leader through the woods. "Is it what 
 By ron calls the tocsin of the soul, the dinner 
 bell ? No ; it is a cow bell. Push on, Joe. 
 Who's got a cup handy ? " 
 
 Their first hard work was to locate the cow 
 which wore the bell, and their second to ascer- 
 tain whether or not she would permit the boys 
 to approach her on short acquaintance. They 
 had no trouble at all in going straight to the 
 little glade from which the bell sounded, for 
 the path took them to it. There were half a 
 dozen cows in sight, but they were evidently 
 accustomed to having wheelmen intrude upon 
 them, for they merely looked at the boys and 
 went on with their feeding. The three bicycles 
 were leaned against convenient trees, the cup 
 Roy wanted was quickly brought to light, and
 
 256 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 then Joe and Arthur began a cautious stalking 
 of the nearest cow. 
 
 " That's no way to do business," said Roy, 
 who brought up the rear with the cup in his 
 hand. " Go straight up to her as if you had a 
 secret to tell her, for if you go to sneaking 
 she'll get suspicious and dig out. That's the 
 way to do it, Joe. Now scratch her on the 
 neck or behind the horns, and I'll soon have a 
 cupful of that beverage which is the best of all 
 drinks anywhere, and especially on the road. I 
 declare, she's as gentle as an old cow, and it's 
 going to be a good deal easier than I thought. 
 Art, you had better lumber back to the bikes 
 and bring two more cups. We'll have a jolly 
 tuck-out on milk while we are about it." 
 
 In a few minutes more three hungry and 
 tired boys, each with a brimming cup of rich 
 country milk in one hand and a sandwich in 
 the other, were sitting on the ground under 
 the shade of a spreading beech, enjoying a 
 substantial lunch and fervently thanking the 
 author of their road-book for his timely sug- 
 gestions regarding cow-paths and the kindly 
 animals which made them. Of course it was
 
 ON THE KOAD AGAIN. 257 
 
 much better than any lunch they ever had at 
 home, and they had but one fault to find with 
 it ; there wasn't enough of it. 
 
 "I move that we let that trout brook alone," 
 said Joe. " We are not so hungry but that 
 we can stand it until we reach the end of our 
 day's run, and besides, we can find better ang- 
 ling nearer home when we havfe more time at 
 our disposal." 
 
 "That's what I say," chimed in Arthur. 
 " We've twelve miles farther to go, and I am 
 in favor of setting out at once ; for the longer 
 we stay here the lazier we'll get. Let's follow 
 the path until we get on the other side of 
 those patches of sand, and then make the pace 
 hot and get to Dorchester as soon as we can. 
 We'll have to lie by to-morrow, for it's going 
 to rain." 
 
 The clouds certainly looked threatening, and 
 the prospect of being caught in a smart 
 shower before they could reach the shelter of 
 the hotel at which they intended to stop for 
 the night, was enough to put energy even 
 into Roy Sheldon, who was called the laziest 
 boy in the party. He didn't want to be put
 
 258 THE STEEL IIOESE. 
 
 to the trouble of cleaning the mud off his fine 
 wheel before he went to bed ; so he led the 
 way at a brisk gait, paying little or no atten- 
 tion to where he was going so long as the path 
 was smooth and plain, and the first thing he 
 knew he was brought up standing by a brush 
 pile in front of him. 
 
 "This bangs me; now where' s the trail?" 
 was all he had to say about it. 
 
 "It has ended as nearly all trails do," 
 replied Joe, quoting from one of his favorite 
 authors and trying to get a glimpse at the 
 clouds through the net-work of branches 
 above his head. "It branched off to right 
 and left, grew dimmer and slimmer, degen- 
 erated into a rabbit path, petered out in a 
 squirrel track, ran up a tree and lost itself in 
 a knot-hole." 
 
 "But I don't think I shall go up to find it," 
 answered Roy. " It will be easier to take the 
 back track." 
 
 And it was easier to say that than it was to 
 do it, as Arthur Hastings found when he came 
 to make the attempt. When the line faced 
 about he became the leader, and before he had
 
 ON THE ROAD AGAIN. 259 
 
 gone a dozen yards he , found himself at fault. 
 The ground was so hard and so thickly 
 covered with leaves that their wheels left no 
 trail that could be followed, and as the bell 
 had been left out of hearing they could not 
 find the glade. To make matters worse, all 
 the signs seemed to indicate that the cows 
 which were pastured there had done nothing 
 during the past year but travel about from 
 one end of the wood-lot to the other ; for the 
 trails they had made were numerous, and 
 twisted about in the most bewildering way. 
 In sheer desperation Arthur turned into every 
 one he came to, trundling his wheel beside 
 him, and his companions blindly followed in 
 his wake. 
 
 "This will begin to get interesting if we 
 don't get out pretty soon," said Joe, glancing 
 at his watch. "Night is coming on apace and 
 we're twelve miles from shelter." 
 
 "But we are within easy reach of our 
 blankets, matches and camp-axes," replied 
 Arthur, "and if we have to sleep in the 
 woods, it will not be the first time we have 
 done it."
 
 260 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 "But we haven't a bite to eat," groaned the 
 hungry boy of the party. 
 
 At last Arthur fell back to the rear and gave 
 place to Joe Wayring, who in his turn gave 
 way to Roy ; but one guide was about as good 
 as another, for all the best of them did was to 
 lead his companions farther from the road 
 they wanted to find and deeper into the woods. 
 There were paths enough, otherwise they 
 would have found it impossible to walk as far 
 as they did, for the bushes on each side were so 
 thick that they could not have carried their 
 wheels through them. But the difficulty was, 
 those paths ran in every direction, and did not 
 tend toward any particular point of the com- 
 pass. The woods grew darker every minute, 
 and at last, when they were beginning to talk 
 seriously of making a camp and going supper- 
 less to bed, Roy Sheldon shouted out that he 
 could see daylight before him, and pres- 
 ently the three boys emerged from the 
 woods. 
 
 " I knew I could bring you out if you would 
 trust to my superior knowledge of woodcraft," 
 said Roy complacently. "I tell you, you
 
 ON THE ROAD AGAIN. 261 
 
 can't lose me in any little piece of woods like 
 this." 
 
 "But what sort of a place have you brought 
 us to with your superior knowledge?" ex- 
 claimed Arthur. " This isn't our road." 
 
 " I didn't say it was, my friend," was Roy's 
 reply. " I simply said I had brought you out 
 of the woods." 
 
 "Only to lose us again," chimed in Joe. 
 "This is a railroad." 
 
 "And a one-track concern at that," said 
 Arthur. "Crooked as a ram's horn, so that 
 we can't see a train until it is close upon us, 
 and consequently dangerous. It' s been raining 
 hard here. The ditches on each side are full 
 of water." 
 
 " Which means muddy wheels to clean 
 to-night in case a train drives us off the track. 
 Shall we try it ?" 
 
 ' ' Of course. But which end of the road will 
 take us to our destination? That's what I 
 should like to know." 
 
 "Ask us something easy," answered Joe, 
 as he lifted his wheel over the ditch and placed 
 it upon the track. "Dorchester must be at
 
 262 THE STEEL HOESE. 
 
 one end or the other, but we'll have to go it 
 blind. Which way shall we start?" added 
 Joe, who while he was speaking kept turning 
 his wheel first up and then down the track. 
 " The majority rules." 
 
 "That way," said Roy. 
 
 " Come on then. Let's cover as many miles 
 as we can while daylight lasts. We'll have 
 to touch a match to our lamps pretty soon." 
 
 It was fine wheeling on the hard road-bed, 
 and Joe Wayring made the pace hot enough 
 to satisfy anybody but a professional racer ; 
 but fast as he went, the darkness traveled 
 faster, and when they had gone about three 
 miles, he suggested that the lamps ought to be 
 lighted. 
 
 "These thick woods and high banks on each 
 side shut out what little light there is," said 
 he, "and it is darker where we are than it 
 ought to be. We have never been this way 
 before, and no one knows how soon we may 
 blunder into a cattle-guard and get a brok- 
 en head without a chance to see what 
 hurt us." 
 
 Another start at a more moderate pace was
 
 ON THE KOAD AGAIN. 263 
 
 made as soon as the lamps had been lit, and 
 by the time the fourth mile had been left 
 behind, it was as dark as a pocket. This was 
 a new experience, and the boys did not like it. 
 Although they had often seen wheelmen run- 
 ning about the streets when it was so dark 
 they could not tell where they were going, Joe 
 and his chums had never tried to do it them- 
 selves, because they did not like to trust so 
 much to luck. A small stone or a stick which 
 some careless boy had left in the track might 
 send them to the ground, and my master was 
 not fond of taking headers. Thus far he and 
 his friends had been very fortunate in avoiding 
 any very serious falls, and they did not care 
 to run any risk of spoiling their record. But 
 Joe came within a hair's breadth of scoring a 
 bad fall on this particular night. Although 
 he thought he was paying especial attention to 
 the road close in front of him. he was really 
 paying more to the rippling of a brook that 
 flowed through a yawning gulf on his right 
 hand, and at the same time he was keeping 
 a bright lookout for a locomotive head- 
 light.
 
 264 THE STEEL HOESE. 
 
 u That's an awful pokerish place over in 
 there," Arthur remarked, jerking his head 
 sideways toward the ravine of which I have 
 spoken, "and the railroad seems to have been 
 built on the very brink of it. Why didn't the 
 engineers cut out more of the hill on the op- 
 posite side and put it farther eh ? " 
 
 A warning shout from Joe Wayring cut 
 short Arthur's criticism, and brought him and 
 Roy to a sudden halt. There was a rock lying 
 on the track, and it was so large that it covered 
 the rails on both sides. Then followed that 
 hurried consultation which I have recorded at 
 the beginning of my story. While it was 
 going on Joe, with the aid of his lamp, ex- 
 amined the face of the bluff, and could dis- 
 tinctly trace the path made by the bowlder 
 when it rolled down from the top, and the 
 others took a good look at the rock itself. 
 Two things were plain to them : The rock 
 was on the track, and they could not muster 
 force enough to get it off. The first train that 
 came along would find it there, as well as a 
 gulf of unknown depth ready to receive all the 
 cars that were tumbled into it.
 
 ON THE EOAD AGAIN. 265 
 
 " Suppose it should be a passenger train ? " 
 gasped Roy. 
 
 " Or an excursion ? " added Arthur. 
 
 Something must be done, and that, too, with- 
 out the loss of a moment.
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 JOE'S WILD KIDE. 
 
 we've got to stop that train," 
 said Joe, speaking rapidly but calmly. 
 
 "But how do we know which way it is com- 
 ing from?" asked Roy, who did not show 
 half as much pluck now as he did while he 
 was struggling with the mate on board the 
 White Squall. 
 
 "We don't know," answered Joe. "It's 
 our business to find out. Art, you go back 
 along the way we have come, and I'll go 
 ahead. Roy, you stay here and be ready to 
 signal either way in case anything happens to 
 us and we don't succeed in stopping the train. 
 Raise your lamp as high in the air as you can 
 and lower it suddenly. That's 'down brakes' 
 on the Mount Airy road, and I suppose the 
 signal is the same the world over. At any rate 
 an engineer with half sense will understand it. 
 Off we go now. Don' t be reckless of headers, 
 Art, but speed along lively." 
 
 266
 
 JOE'S WILD EIDE. 267 
 
 In two seconds more my master and Arthur 
 Hastings were hurrying away in different 
 directions, and Roy, having carried his wheel 
 across the ditch and placed it against the face 
 of the bluff, was sitting on the rock with his 
 lamp in his hand. In another two seconds Joe 
 and I whirled around a sharp bend and were 
 out of sight of everybody. 
 
 That was the wildest and most reckless run 
 I ever undertook, for my master did not by 
 any means follow the advice he had given 
 Arthur Hastings. When Joe Wayring went 
 into a thing he went in with his whole heart. 
 I went ahead faster that I had ever been driven 
 before, but a tricycle could not have run with 
 more steadiness. Joe did not need the whole 
 road-bed to travel in as he would if he had at- 
 tempted a fast gait a week before, but held me 
 firmly in one track. I could plainly see the way 
 for a short distance in front of me, catch the 
 glimmering of the wet rails on each side, and 
 hear the faint " swishing " sound made by the 
 rubber tires as they spurned the ground under 
 them ; but all on a sudden this sound ceased 
 or, rather, it gave way to a very low rumble,
 
 268 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 such as I had never heard before. The high 
 bank on the left sank out of sight ; the gur- 
 gling of the stream far below became a roar ; 
 solid walls of blackness surrounded us on all 
 sides, relieved only by that little streak of 
 light in front ; and to my inexpressible horror 
 I discovered that we no longer had the firm 
 road-bed beneath us. We had left it, and 
 were rushing with almost breathless speed over 
 a trestle-work whose height could only be 
 guessed at. An eight-inch plank nailed to 
 the timbers between the tracks was our path- 
 way. It was plenty wide enough for Joe, now 
 that he had "mended his style of riding," if 
 the plank had only been on the ground, and 
 he had had daylight to show him where he 
 was going ; but there was plenty of room for 
 accident. Suppose the plank should not ex- 
 tend entirely across the trestle, which was so 
 long that I began to wonder if there was any 
 other end to it ! Or what if a tire should come 
 off ? Such accidents sometimes happen to the 
 most careful bicyclists, and when I pictured to 
 myself Joe Wayring lying stunned and bleed- 
 ing among those timbers, and in danger of
 
 JOE'S WILD KLDE. 269 
 
 slipping through, into the rocky bed of the 
 stream beneath while I toppled over the edge 
 when I thought of these things, I shivered 
 so violently that my nickel-plated spokes 
 would have rattled if they had not been tan- 
 gent and tied together. 
 
 As for Joe Wayring, there was not the 
 faintest exclamation from him to show that 
 he realized his danger, although I knew well 
 enough that he couldn't help seeing it. If his 
 nerves had not been in perfect health, some- 
 thing disastrous would surely have happened. 
 He struck the plank and passed over thirty 
 feet of its length before he had time to 
 take in the situation. Once started along the 
 trestle he had to go on ; there was no help for 
 it. The light from the lamp was all thrown 
 ahead, and an effort to dismount in the dark- 
 ness might have resulted in a disabling fall 
 among the timbers with me on top. Then 
 what would become of the train, if it ap- 
 proached from the direction in which he was 
 going ? Plainly his only chance was to keep in 
 motion ; and Joe not only did that, but he laid 
 out extra power on the pedals, and sent me
 
 270 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 ahead with increased speed. The rails looked 
 like two continuous streaks of light, and the 
 timbers passed behind with such rapidity that 
 they presented the appearance of a solid floor. 
 So great was our speed that by the time I had 
 thought of all this, and become so badly 
 frightened that I would have tumbled over if 
 my momentum had not kept me right side up, 
 that low rumbling sound ceased as suddenly 
 as it had begun, the graveled road-bed, trodden 
 smooth in the middle, shot into view and came 
 rushing under the wheels, two high bluffs 
 came out of the darkness and shut us in on 
 both sides, and the trestle and its terrors were 
 left behind. At the same instant, as if by a 
 preconcerted signal, a bright light appeared 
 far up the track, which at this point was per- 
 fectly straight, and another still nearer. The 
 first was from the head light of the approach- 
 ing train, and the second was emitted by a 
 lantern in the hands of a man who seemed to 
 be searching for something, for he held his light 
 first toward one rail and then toward the other. 
 He was moving away from us. 
 
 "It's the track- walker," gasped Joe, as he
 
 JOE'S WILD RIDE. 271 
 
 sounded his bell ; and those were the first 
 words I had heard him speak since we left the 
 rock. " Suppose I had run onto him while I 
 was scooting along that narrow plank ! I' d be 
 dead now, sure." 
 
 The moment the man with the lantern heard 
 the bell he faced about ; but, to my surprise, 
 he did not appear to be at all alarmed. The 
 orders he straightway began shouting at us 
 showed conclusively that he was used to wheel- 
 men and their methods. 
 
 " Git aff the track, ye shpalpeen," he 
 yelled, frantically flourishing his lantern in the 
 air. " Don't ye see the kyars coming forninst 
 ye, an' haven't I towled ye times widout num- 
 ber, that if ye gets killed ye can't get no dam- 
 ages from the company ? Will yees git aff the 
 track?" 
 
 "Stop that train," shouted Joe, in reply. 
 " There's an obstruction on the track just be- 
 yond the trestle." 
 
 " What for lookin' abstraction is it? " in- 
 quired the track-walker, incredulously. 
 
 " A big rock," replied Joe ; and seeing at 
 once that he had a stupid, and no doubt an
 
 272 THE STEEL HOUSE. 
 
 obstinate, man to deal with, he did not neglect 
 to make preparations to stop the train himself. ' 
 He promptly got me out of the way and de- 
 tached the lamp ; and when he bent over so 
 that the light fell upon his face, I started in 
 spite of myself. He was as white as a sheet. 
 
 "Aw ! GPlong wid ye now," said the track- 
 walker. " Don't I be goin' down beyant there 
 onct or twicst bechune trains iv'ry blessed day 
 of me loife for three years an' better ? An' 
 don't I know " 
 
 "I don't care what you have done during 
 the last three years, or what you know," inter- 
 rupted Joe, as he ran back to the track and 
 signaled "down brakes" with his lamp. 
 " There's a rock on the track What are you 
 trying to do, you loon ? " exclaimed Joe, hotly,, 
 as the man made an eifort to push him away 
 and take his lamp from him. "Let me alone 
 or I will report you. There'll be a wreck here 
 in a minute more, and you will lose your place 
 on the road." 
 
 Although the man didn't like the idea of 
 allowing an outsider to interfere with his busi- 
 ness, Joe's words had just the effect upon him
 
 JOE'S WILD KIDE. 273 
 
 that the boy intended they should have, and 
 after a little hesitation he began signaling with 
 his own light. Between them they succeeded 
 in attracting the attention of the engineer, who 
 called for brakes, and stopped his train within 
 a few feet of the place where Joe and the track- 
 walker stood. 
 
 "What's the trouble?" he asked from his 
 cab window ; and while Joe was explaining, 
 the conductor came up and listened. The lat- 
 ter looked first at my master and then at me, 
 and presently said : 
 
 " You didn't ride across the trestle, of 
 course." 
 
 "Of course I did," replied Joe, " I couldn't 
 have got across any other way. I would have 
 been afraid to walk that narrow plank in the 
 dark. How high is it above the water ? ' ' 
 
 " Sixty feet in some places, and the trestle 
 is just half a mile long," answered the con- 
 ductor. " Here, boys, put that wheel into the 
 baggage car. Young man, you come with me, 
 and I will take you to Dorchester." 
 
 "That's where we want to go," said Joe, 
 surprised to learn that he and his friends had
 
 274 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 been riding on the back track ever since they 
 struck the railroad. 
 
 In obedience to the conductor's order I was 
 hoisted into the baggage car, placed against a 
 pile of trunks so that I could see through the 
 wide-open door and the engineer pulled slowly 
 ahead. I had little idea how far we had run 
 after leaving the trestle, but we were fully five 
 minutes in getting back to it, and much longer 
 in crossing it. There seemed to be no bottom 
 to the gulf it spanned. It was so deep that I 
 could see nothing but the tops of the trees 
 that grew in it. About the time we got to the 
 other end of it the baggage-master, who had 
 been leaning half-way out the opposite door, 
 drew in his head long enough to remark 
 to some one whom I took to be his assis- 
 tant : 
 
 " There's a chap out there calling for brakes 
 the best he knows how," and I straightway 
 made up my mind that it must be Roy 
 Sheldon. "This would be a bad place for an 
 accident with such a trainful of passengers as 
 we've got. There's the rock," he added, a mov 
 ment later, "and it's as big as this car.'*
 
 JOE'S \VILD HIDE. 275 
 
 It wasn't quite as large as that, nor do I sup- 
 pose it was even half as large as Rube Roy- 
 all's cabin ; but it was big and heavy enough 
 to tax the strength of all the men who could 
 get around it, including the engineer, fireman, 
 cond actor, all the brakemen, some of the pas- 
 sengers and two wheelmen. With the aid of 
 levers and much lifting and pushing they got 
 it started at last, and it went down into the 
 gulf with a terrific crash. I heard the engineer 
 say, as he climbed back into his cab, that 
 if he had struck that rock going as fast as 
 he usually did at that place, he would have 
 demolished his train so completely that it 
 would have taken a microscope to find the 
 wreck. 
 
 " All clear," shouted the conductor. " All 
 aboard. Pass along that other wheel." 
 
 " One moment, please. There's another man 
 in our party who went down that way be- 
 cause we didn't know where to look for the first 
 train," said Joe, waving his hand in the direc- 
 tion in which Arthur Hastings had disappeared. 
 " He'll be back directly, and as we don't care 
 to be separated, perhaps you had better leave
 
 276 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 us here. We're just as much obliged to you, 
 however." 
 
 "Has the other man got a lamp ? All right. 
 Jake," said the conductor, addressing the en- 
 gineer, " keep a lookout for another wheelman 
 a mile or so down the road. That'll be all 
 right. Pile in." 
 
 Joe and Roy went into one of the passenger 
 cars, while the latter' s wheel was placed at my 
 side against the trunks. The first words he 
 uttered were : 
 
 " It's just dreadful to think of, isn't it ? " 
 
 "Not so much so as it might be," said I. 
 " If I had broken Joe Wayring's head for him 
 while he was driving me at top speed across 
 that trestle, then you might have had some- 
 thing to talk about." 
 
 "We've enough as it is. I know it might 
 have been worse, and some unknown villains 
 meant it should be. Roy Sheldon showed the 
 marks to the engineer as soon as he got out of 
 his cab." 
 
 "What marks?" 
 
 "Why, the marks on the rock. The engi- 
 neer called the conductor's attention to them,
 
 JOE'S WILD RIDE. 277 
 
 and together they made it up not to say a word 
 about it in the hearing of the passengers for 
 fear of frightening them." 
 
 " What in the world did the passengers 
 have to be frightened about so long as Joe and 
 I stopped the train and averted the disaster ? 
 They ought to be tickled." 
 
 " Well, they wouldn't be if they knew how 
 that rock came to be on the track. You prob- 
 ably did not see the conductor when he 
 threw some pieces of round wood over the 
 brink into the ravine, but I did, and I know 
 that they were the rollers that were used to 
 bring that bowlder into place after it had been 
 tumbled down from the bluff. There's train- 
 wreckers in this country, I tell you." 
 
 Roy's bike was so excited over what might 
 have happened if we had found that railroad 
 half an hour later, that he could not tell a 
 straight story ; but this is what I managed to 
 draw from him after much patient and ingeni- 
 ous questioning : 
 
 When Joe and I disappeared in one direc- 
 tion and Arthur Hastings and his wheel sped 
 swiftly away in the other, Roy Sheldon seated
 
 278 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 himself upon the rock with his lamp in his 
 hand, and whistled softly, keeping time with 
 his heels, for a full minute ; then he grew 
 tired of doing nothing, jumped off the rock 
 and made a circuit of it, looking closely at it 
 on all sides. It had cut a deep gash in the 
 bluff as it came down, but Roy thought the 
 ditch ought to have stopped it, because it was 
 lower than the track. Somehow Roy could 
 not bring himself to believe that it had come 
 down with speed enough to run across a three 
 foot ditch, up a hill that was eighteen inches 
 high and six feet long, and stop so squarely in 
 the middle of the track. 
 
 "There's something rather queer about it," 
 soliloquized the young wheelman, as he moved 
 around the obstruction. "Now, then, what' s 
 that?" 
 
 Just then something attracted his attention, 
 and he bent over to examine it. It was the 
 print of a foot in the soft earth at the end of 
 one of the sleepers. Roy placed his own foot 
 within it, and found, to his consternation, 
 that it was at least a third larger than his 
 shoe. Then he made another impression be-
 
 JOE'S WILD RIDE. 279 
 
 side it, and the difference in size satisfied him 
 beyond all doubt that he had not made that 
 suspicious track himself. There were hob- 
 nails in the track, and that proved that none 
 of Roy's party could have stepped in that 
 particular spot, for there were no nails of that 
 sort in their foot-gear. 
 
 "This rock was put here for a purpose," 
 said Roy ; and when the thought passed 
 through his mind the cold chills crept all over 
 him. " There must have been a good many of 
 them in the gang, for half a dozen men 
 couldn't roll so heavy a weight out of the 
 ditch unless they had something to work with. 
 What's this and this, and those pieces of tim- 
 ber over there ? ' ' 
 
 The longer the boy continued his investiga- 
 tions, the more he found to confirm the alarm- 
 ing suspicions that had arisen in his mind. 
 The objects that now attracted his notice 
 were several pieces of round wood, with the 
 bark scratched and torn from them, and as 
 many sticks of timber that were likewise cov- 
 ered with wounds and abrasions. There were 
 other large foot-prints too in abundance in
 
 280 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 fact the ground about looked as though a 
 large party of men had been at work there for 
 a long time and presently the boy discovered 
 marks upon the bowlder itself which might 
 have been made with a spade or crowbar. 
 
 " Were we all blind that we didn't notice 
 these things when we first came here ? " said 
 Roy to himself. "Probably we were so 
 highly excited that we couldn't notice any 
 thing except the rock. The fiends who put 
 this thing on the track with the intention of 
 wrecking the train ought to be hanged with- 
 out judge or jury, lam glad I didn't know 
 what I know now, for I wouldn't have had the 
 courage to stay here alone." 
 
 Just then the thought flashed through Roy's 
 mind that perhaps the would-be train- wreck- 
 ers were concealed somewhere in the vicinity 
 waiting for the time when they could descend 
 into the gulf and complete their work, and 
 that their evil eyes might at that very moment 
 be fastened upon him, while they were discuss- 
 ing plans for getting him out of their way. 
 If Joe and Arthur had known all this, would 
 they have been so ready to dash oif into the
 
 JOE'S WILD KIDE. 281 
 
 darkness to warn the unsuspecting engineer of 
 his peril ? How easily one of those concealed 
 villains could have tumbled both his friends 
 out of their saddles with a shot from a re- 
 volver ! And what had prevented them, when 
 the boys first started away, from throwing 
 from the top of the bluif an obstruction upon 
 the track that would have sent both the 
 wheelmen to the ground ? ]STo doubt it was 
 because Roy and his friends acted with so 
 much promptness that they did not have time 
 to think of it ; but hadn't they had plenty of 
 time since then to recover from their surprise 
 and plan vengeance ? This fear almost un- 
 nerved Roy. He took one step toward his 
 wheel, but the thought that passed through 
 his mind was driven out as quickly as it came. 
 Come what might, he would not desert his 
 post. He would stay there and warn the 
 train, if one of his companions did not suc- 
 ceed in doing it, and in the mean time if those 
 scoundrels wanted a fight, they could have it. 
 Roy's first care was to put his lamp behind 
 the rock out of sight, and his second to pull 
 his bicvcle case off his shoulder and take out
 
 282 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 the rifle it contained. He had done considera- 
 ble shooting with it since he had been on the 
 road, although it had not yet brought him a 
 young squirrel for his dinner. As often as he 
 and his companions halted for a rest their lit- 
 tle weapons were brought out, and Roy had 
 learned by actual test that the one he owned 
 could be depended on to shoot " right where it 
 was held." 
 
 "Now I am ready for them," said Roy, tak- 
 ing his stand behind the rock outside the circle 
 of light that came from the lamp. "If they 
 advance along the road they had better make 
 sure work of me at the start, for if they don't, 
 some of them will get hurt." 
 
 If the train-wreckers were hidden where 
 they could see him (and it was reasonable to 
 suppose they were), they must have taken note 
 of Roy's movements, and perhaps they saw 
 that he had a weapon of some sort in his hands 
 and was ready to defend himself. Be that as 
 it may, they did not molest him, and the boy 
 stuck to his post until the glare of the locomo- 
 tive headlight fell upon him. The train was 
 moving slowly, and that was proof enough that
 
 JOE'S WILD EIDE. 283 
 
 Joe Wayring had warned it ; but to make sure 
 of it, Roy caught up his lamp and " called for 
 brakes the best he knew how." The engineer 
 was the first man to speak to him, and when 
 Roy called his attention to the marks on the 
 rock, the big footprints on the ground and the 
 timbers that were scattered about, the brave 
 fellow turned so white that it showed through 
 the black on his face. He in turn told the 
 conductor, and the latter at once threw the 
 timbers into the ditch, and pitched the pieces 
 of round wood into the gulf. 
 
 "Don't lisp a word of it," he said, earn- 
 estly. "We've got a heavy, packed train, 
 and the folks would be scared to death. Young 
 fellow," he added, turning to give Joe Way- 
 ring a hearty slap on the shoulder, "you have 
 been the means of preventing a slaughter. I'll 
 bet there isn't another wheelman in the State 
 who can ride over that trestle." 
 
 " Haw, haw ! " laughed Joe. " I guess you 
 haven't seen many wheelmen, have you ? " 
 
 " Or who would have the courage to attempt 
 it in daylight, let alone a dark night like 
 this," continued the conductor. " Why, man
 
 284 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 alive, it's a very narrow plank that was put 
 there for the convenience of the track- walker, 
 and the trestle is sixty feet high and half a 
 mile long." 
 
 " I am glad I didn't know that when I was 
 going over it," was all Joe had to say in reply. 
 
 This is what I meant when I said a while ago 
 that little things often bring about great 
 events. I now know that my master was 
 frightened out of a year's growth when he 
 found himself on that trestle, but he had con- 
 fidence and nerve enough to go ahead without 
 attempting to dismount. It was that short in- 
 terview with the strange wheelman that did it, 
 and made Joe Wayring the steady rider he 
 was that night. He knew as well as anybody 
 that he " wobbled too much," but he supposed 
 that was something every novice did, and that 
 the fault would correct itself without any care 
 or trouble on his part. But as soon as his 
 attention was called to it he promptly set 
 about "mending his style," and this was the 
 result. He was glad of it now. It was the 
 only thing that put it in his power to save 
 /the train, for on the day he encountered
 
 JOE'S WILD RIDE. 285 
 
 that strange wheelman he could not have 
 ridden fifty feet on an eight-inch plank at full 
 speed without falling off. 
 
 By this time all the trainmen had come for- 
 ward, accompanied by some of the wakeful 
 passengers who wanted to inquire into the 
 cause of this second stoppage, and by their 
 united efforts the rock was tumbled harmlessly 
 over the brink of the gulf and the engineer 
 pulled out for Dorchester, keeping watch along 
 the way for Arthur Hastings. He found him 
 about two miles farther on, but the boy was not 
 signaling, because the appearance of the train 
 was proof enough that Joe had met and 
 warned it. Arthur was surprised to see it come 
 to a stop at the place where he got off the 
 track, and to hear the engineer shout at him to 
 chuck his bike into the baggage car and get 
 aboard, for he was half an hour behind already. 
 But he lost not a moment in thinking about it 
 after he saw Joe and Roy beckoning to him 
 from the platform of one of the passenger cars, 
 and the train once more started on its way, 
 this time moving at a rate of speed that gave 
 me a faint idea of the crash that would have
 
 286 THE STEEL HOUSE. 
 
 followed and the fearful loss of life that would 
 have taken place if it had come in contact with 
 that bowlder. 
 
 This is the substance of the story Roy's 
 wheel told me during the run to Dorchester, 
 and the one to which Joe and Arthur listened 
 while perched upon the wood-box in one of 
 the crowded cars. The conductor could not 
 give them a seat, for every one was filled with 
 weary travelers who had slumbered serenely 
 through it all, and who when they awoke at 
 intervals, and looked with sleepy eyes toward 
 the three dusty, white-faced boys behind the 
 stove-pipe, never dreamed that one of them, a 
 short half -hour before, held all their lives in 
 his hand. The conductor knew it and could 
 hardly find words with which to express his 
 gratitude, although he tried hard enough. 
 The young wheelmen conversed in whispers and 
 looked frightened, as indeed they were ; and 
 Joe Wayring hoped from the bottom of his 
 heart that no such responsibility would ever 
 devolve upon him again. 
 
 " I don't know what you fellows want to go 
 to Dorchester for," said the conductor, who
 
 JOE'S WILD RIDE. 287 
 
 came into their car as soon as the train was 
 fairly under way. " The place has a big name, 
 but there are only three houses in it. There's 
 no hotel at which you can stop. There is a 
 boarding-house, but I tell you plainly that it 
 will be of no use to go there, for old man Kane 
 won't let you in. He says he can eat anybody 
 who conies along, but he can't and won't 
 sleep 'em." 
 
 "That's queer," said Joe. " The author of 
 our road-book has been through here, and says 
 he got the best kind of treatment at Kane's 
 boarding-house." 
 
 "Oh, the old fellow sets a good table, and 
 can be civil and obliging enough when he feels 
 like it ; but he won't get up after he has gone 
 to bed. It's against his principles." 
 
 " Why do you stop at such an out-of-the-way 
 place?" 
 
 "Because there's a horse railroad there that 
 connects with a little town a few miles back in 
 the country, and there are some people aboard 
 who want to get off. The depot is always kept 
 locked at night, and I am afraid you will have 
 to bunk on the platform unless you will
 
 288 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 go on with me. Will you? I'll bring yon 
 back." 
 
 The boys thanked him, but said they didn't 
 think that was the best thing they could do. 
 Their route ahead was laid out, and they 
 wanted to stick as closely to it as they could. 
 They were used to camping out, had warm 
 blankets in their bundles, and would just as 
 soon sleep on the platform as in abed, provided 
 old man Kane could be prevailed upon to give 
 them a good breakfast in the morning. 
 
 "But there's one thing about it," said Joe. 
 " Every wheelman in the State ought to be 
 warned that if he intends to travel this route, 
 he had better time his runs so as to pass 
 through this contemptible little Dorchester in 
 daylight, unless he is prepared to camp out." 
 
 Arthur Hastings thought it would be a good 
 plan for one of them to state the facts of the 
 case to the man who wrote the guide-book, so 
 that he could have the warning put in subse- 
 quent editions.
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 GOING INTO A HOT PLACE. 
 
 "TTTHERE have you started for, any- 
 V V way? " inquired the conductor, af- 
 ter a little pause. 
 
 Joe replied that they had set out from 
 Mount Airy to run across the State, and that 
 when they reached the farther end of their 
 route they would be about three hundred 
 miles from home. 
 
 "I suppose your object is to have fun and 
 see the country, isn't it ? " said the conductor. 
 "Now of course I don't know anything about 
 wheeling, but I should say that you could not 
 have selected a worse route. You'll see the 
 wildest bit of country there is, but how much 
 fun you'll have I don't know. After you leave 
 Dorchester you'll get into the mountains, and 
 then your road will be all up-hill." 
 
 "But the ascent is so gradual that we can 
 
 19 289
 
 290 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 easily accomplish it," said Roy. " Our road- 
 book tells us it is so very gradual that we will 
 hardly know we are going up. We under- 
 stand that there is plenty of sport in the way 
 of hunting and trout fishing in the neighbor- 
 hood of Glen's Falls, and we intend to take 
 our first rest there, if we can find any one who 
 is willing to board us for a few days." 
 
 " And if we can't do that, we shall camp 
 out," added Joe. "We came prepared to 
 do it." 
 
 "I don't know much about hunting and fish- 
 ing either," said the conductor. "All I do 
 know is railroading : but some of my friends 
 used to spend a month or so about the Glen 
 every year, and always came back with the 
 report that they had had the best kind of a 
 time. But I notice they don't go there any 
 more." 
 
 " What's the reason ^hey don't ? " 
 
 "Doesn't your guide-book warn you that 
 there are some fellows up that way you had 
 better keep clear of ? " asked the conductor in 
 reply. 
 
 "It doesn't hint at such a thing."
 
 GOING INTO A HOT PLACE. 291 
 
 "It ought to. How long since it was 
 written?" 
 
 " Two years ; but it has been revised since 
 then." 
 
 " Couldn't it be possible that no change was 
 made in this particular route I mean the one 
 you are now taking?" inquired the official. 
 "A good many things have happened at the 
 Glen during the last two years. To begin with, 
 the town had over a thousand inhabitants, and 
 now it has hardly a quarter as many. Take 
 'em as a class, they're a rough set up there. 
 They are lazy and shiftless, hate work as bad 
 as so many tramps, and would be called 
 tramps if it \vere not for the fact that they 
 have permanent abodes most of the year. The 
 rest of the time they are in the woods shooting 
 game in violation of the law." 
 
 "Are there no officers in the vicinity?" 
 asked Arthur. 
 
 " Oh, there are officers enough, but they are 
 afraid to do anything toward bringing the law- 
 breakers to justice. You see the latter are in 
 the majority. They steal timber as often as 
 they feel like it, go through every logging
 
 THE STEEL IIOKSE. 
 
 camp they find unguarded, and if you lodge a 
 complaint against one of them, the whole band 
 will turn in to clear him by false swearing, and 
 then they will take satisfaction out of you by 
 burning your mill, barn or house, and by 
 shooting or poisoning your cattle. They're a 
 fine lot, I assure you. and I shouldn't think 
 you would like to go among them." 
 
 " What a splendid place that would be for 
 Matt Coyle if he were on deck now ! " ex- 
 claimed Roy. " Why didn't he hunt up that 
 band did you say there was a band of 
 them?" 
 
 " Yes ; and I have heard it is regularly 
 organized, and that when one of them has to 
 stand trial or give bonds to keep the peace 
 with those he has threatened, he gets help 
 from all over the county." 
 
 " Why didn't Matt hunt up that band and 
 live among them instead of going to such a 
 place as Indian Lake ? ' ' said Roy. 
 
 "Perhaps he wouldn't have got any inde- 
 pendent guiding in that part of the State," 
 suggested Joe. 
 
 " There are, or used to be, plenty of guides
 
 293 
 
 up there," said the conductor, "but I don't 
 suppose they get much to do now. A man who 
 goes into the woods for fun doesn't pick 
 guides from among a lot of fellows who will 
 rob him the first chance they get. Of course 
 there are some nice people about the Glen, and 
 they will be glad to take you in if the Buster 
 band will let them do it." 
 
 "What has the Buster band to say about 
 it?" demanded Joe. 
 
 "Who are they, and where did they get 
 that name ? " added Roy. 
 
 " They are the ones I have been telling you 
 about the lawless people in the Glen's Falls 
 neighborhood, ' ' replied the conductor. ' ' They 
 'bust up ' property when things don't go to suit 
 them, and that's the reason they call them- 
 selves the Buster band." 
 
 " But what's the reason they will not allow 
 any of the nice folks in town to board us if 
 they want to ? " asked Arthur. 
 
 "Of course I am not sure that they will 
 object to any arrangements you may be able 
 to make with the family whose name I shall 
 presently give you, but I think they will,"
 
 294 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 answered the conductor. "You see, Dave 
 Daily, the leader of the band, was indicted for 
 arson, and there's a warrant out for him now. 
 He and a companion were arrested for steal- 
 ing timber ; but they got out of jail somehow 
 (every one says they must have had help from 
 the outside in order to do it), and that night 
 the man who complained of them lost every- 
 thing he had in the world. Everything that 
 would burn went up in smoke, and his stock 
 was either poisoned or shot. After that Daily 
 and his friend took to the woods, and Daily is 
 there yet, or was the last I heard of him ; but 
 the friend was run down by a Middleport of- 
 ficer who went up there for that purpose." 
 
 "That was all right," said Joe, when the 
 conductor paused. "I wish he had caught 
 Daily also." 
 
 "So do I; but it seems he didn't. What I 
 was going to say is this : That officer went up 
 to Glen's Falls on his wheel." 
 
 "Ah! That explains it, and the matter is 
 perfectly clear to me now," said Arthur. 
 "You think that Daily or his friends will 
 think we are officers too, and that they will
 
 GOING INTO A HOT PLACE. 295 
 
 tell this man to whom you are going to direct 
 us what did you say his name is ? " 
 
 "I didn't say," answered the conductor, 
 with a laugh. " But his name is Holmes, and 
 he lives on the road you will have to take to 
 reach the town. I don't know him personally, 
 but my friends who have been there say he 
 keeps the best house, and that he is the best 
 guide for that neck of the woods. Yes ; that 
 is what I was thinking of. Some of the band 
 will be sure to see you if you stop there, and 
 they may mind I don't say they will, but 
 they may send him word to get rid of you in 
 short order. He'll have to do it, for the board 
 you would be likely to pay him wouldn't rec- 
 ompense him for the loss of his cow, horse, or 
 barn." 
 
 ' ' Of course it wouldn' t," replied Joe. ' ' We' 11 
 state the case to him as plainly as we know 
 how, if we can find him, and if we learn that 
 your suspicions are well-grounded, we'll not 
 ask him to shelter us." 
 
 " Well, if this isn't a pretty state of affairs 
 I wouldn't say so," exclaimed Arthur, who 
 was very much disgusted. " They must be a
 
 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 brave lot up there to let a few lawless people 
 keep them so completely under their thumbs." 
 
 1 'But don't you know that they are in the 
 minority?" demanded Joe. 
 
 "Yes ; and a big one, too," added the con- 
 ductor. 
 
 " If the members of that Buster band don't 
 work, how do they live?" inquired Roy. 
 
 " They don't live ; they just stay. They all 
 own a little land, and work it enough to raise 
 a few vegetables, like turnips and potatoes, 
 and a little corn. Their meat they get out of 
 the woods. They will steal timber, and then 
 walk up and sell it to the man to whom it be- 
 longs, and who is generally the owner of a 
 saw-mill he can't afford to have burned down. 
 They sell their pigs, and by various other 
 shifts make out to keep themselves in tobacco 
 and clothes. And between you and me," added 
 the conductor, sinking his voice to a whisper, 
 " I believe they had something to do with the 
 rock you young gentlemen found on the 
 track." 
 
 "Is that the sort of folks they are?" ex- 
 claimed Joe.
 
 GOING INTO A HOT PLACE. 297 
 
 1 'Of course I can't prove anything against 
 them, but I bet you that when I make my re- 
 port, there'll be a detective sent up there to 
 look into the matter. I understand that there 
 are spies in that band now, working in the in- 
 terests of law and order, and if the detective 
 can only strike one of them, he may learn 
 something. There's Dorchester," he con- 
 tinued, as a long whistle from the engine 
 awoke the echoes of the woods, "and I must 
 say good-by. I don' t want you to forget that 
 you have made a friend of every man on the 
 road by " 
 
 "We should think you a mighty queer set 
 if we hadn't," J6e interposed. "It's all right. 
 Any decent fellows in the world would do the 
 same, of course, but it happened to come in our 
 way. We are greatly obliged for the informa- 
 tion and warning you have given us." 
 
 "You will change your route then? "re- 
 plied the conductor, and the boys thought he 
 looked relieved when he said it. "I was sure 
 you would, when you knew what sort of folks 
 they are in that section of the country. Good- 
 by and good luck to you."
 
 298 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 When the young wheelmen stepped upon 
 the platform they shook hands with all the 
 trainmen, who wished them a pleasant trip 
 and no end of fun while it lasted, and then 
 leaned their wheels under the eaves of the little 
 building that served as warehouse, operator's 
 office and waiting-room, and looked about them. 
 The light that shone from the conductor's lan- 
 tern, and from the windows of the horse-car 
 standing upon the branch track, gave them a 
 clear view of their surroundings, which were so 
 cheerless that the boys wondered how any 
 road-book maker could advise wheelmen to come 
 that way, unless he wanted to have them fooled 
 as he had been fooled himself. At least that 
 was the way Arthur Hastings expressed it. 
 
 " He probably came through here in the day- 
 time, when old man Kane had a good dinner 
 ready for him, and everything looked dif- 
 ferent," said Joe. " He wouldn't have had 
 so much to say in favor of Dorchester's board- 
 ing-house if he had passed through in the night 
 and been shut out of doors." 
 
 " Are we going to let what the conductor 
 said about that Buster band induce us to change
 
 GOING INTO A HOT PLACE. 299 
 
 our route ? " inquired Roy, who, as soon as the 
 train palled out and the horse-car disappeared 
 down the branch track, began untying his bun- 
 dle and taking out his blankets as if it were a 
 settled thing that he and his companions were 
 to camp right where they stood. "That's the 
 question now before the house." 
 
 " I stand ready to yield to the majority, but 
 for myself I say ' lS"o,' " answered Joe. 
 
 " Hear, hear ! " cried Arthur. " But it does 
 look dark now that the lights have gone, don' t 
 it ? To tell the truth, I wish that detective had 
 not gone up there on his wheel. Somehow it 
 brings to my mind all the stories I have read 
 about the sudden and mysterious disappearance 
 of men who have been foolish enough to wear 
 blue blouses through the regions where the 
 moonshiners hang out. Those interesting peo- 
 ple think that every one who dresses in blue 
 must be a revenue officer, and make it a point 
 to shoot him from the bushes without troub- 
 ling him with any questions." 
 
 "That's a cheerful way to talk to homeless 
 boys who have nearly sixty miles of mountain 
 travel before them," said Joe, driving his
 
 300 THE STEEL HOUSE. 
 
 knife into the side of the building and hanging 
 his lighted lamp upon it. " That makes things 
 look a little pleasanter, doesn't it? I don't 
 know how it is with you, but I am tired and 
 sleepy, and I'm going to lie down." 
 
 After fastening their wheels together with a 
 couple of chains and padlocks, so that if any 
 light-footed prowler happened along and car- 
 ried one of them off he would have to take all, 
 the boys spread their blankets upon the plat- 
 form, and went to sleep. Just before he closed 
 his eyes Arthur said he knew he would dream 
 of that rock and a train tumbling over into the 
 gulf, but he slept too soundly to dream about 
 anything until he was aroused by the stentorian 
 voice of old man Kane, the man who would eat 
 anybody who came that way but wouldn't sleep 
 him. As soon as he opened his doors he saw 
 the wheels resting against the station-house, 
 and came over to ask the boys if they didn't 
 think it about time to get up to breakfast. 
 
 "All right," replied Arthur. "We'll be 
 there directly. It was that jolly, good-natured 
 face of his that deceived the author of our 
 road-book, and made him think Kane was a
 
 GOING INTO A HOT PLACE. 301 
 
 bully landlord," he added, as the man turned 
 away to hurry up the breakfast. " If we had 
 a piece of bread as big as a walnut I'd see him 
 happy before I would show my face inside the 
 house he keeps locked against belated wheel- 
 men. No one will ever come this route by my 
 advice." 
 
 But after he had bathed his hands and face in 
 the cold water that came from the spring behind 
 the house, drank two big cups of coffee, and 
 eaten two boys' share of the excellent breakfast 
 that was placed before him, Arthur did not feel 
 quite so much disposed to growl at old man 
 Kane. He voted him a number one caterer, 
 and that was more than could be said of every 
 boarding-house keeper. 
 
 "While they were at the table they heard a 
 train stop at the station-house, and after what 
 seemed a long delay, they saw the horse-car 
 pass the window with a lot of passengers 
 aboard ; but they thought nothing of it until 
 they went into the office, which was also the 
 sitting and loafing room, and stepped up to 
 the desk to pay their bill. 
 
 "Put that back! Put that money back,"
 
 302 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 exclaimed the landlord, almost fiercely. ' 'Bless 
 my heart ! I've a good notion to come out from 
 behind the desk and shake the last one of you 
 boys, and I can do it too, old as I am. I've 
 just heard about it. Why didn't you wake 
 me up last night, instead of going to bed there 
 on the platform?" 
 
 Roy tried to explain that they did not want 
 to disturb him after he had gone to bed (he 
 didn't say why), and that their blankets 
 afforded them as soft a bed as they cared for, 
 but the old man did so much talking himself 
 that Roy finally gave it up. He listened while 
 the landlord told that the men on the up-train, 
 as well as the passengers they had seen go by 
 the dining-room window, had brought a full 
 report of last night's doings, and he wanted to 
 give them a breakfast to pay them for it, be- 
 cause he would have felt bad if that train had 
 run into the rock and been smashed up. 
 
 " I always did look upon wheelmen as a 
 nuisance," said he, with refreshing candor. 
 "They eat you out of house and home, and 
 the fifty cents you charge 'em for it don't begin 
 to pay for the damage they do ; but now I
 
 GOIXG INTO A HOT PLACE. 303 
 
 know that they ain't a nuisance. I've seen 
 that trestle, and I say that the boy who can 
 ride over it in the dark has got the right kind 
 of pluck to make a man out of him some 
 of these days. No, sir, I won't tax you a cent 
 for that breakfast ; but I want to see the 
 chap that went over that plank. Which one 
 was it 2" 
 
 "It's nothing to make a fuss about," an- 
 swered Joe, who knew that if he did not speak 
 Roy and Arthur would. He thought the man 
 would have something complimentary to say 
 to him ; but instead of that he pushed the 
 register toward him with the request that Joe 
 would draw a line under his name so that 
 he (Kane) would know it the next time he 
 saw it. 
 
 "Do you know what I am going to do?" 
 said he, when the boy handed back the pen. 
 "I'm going to show that name to every wheel- 
 man who comes along, and double-dare him to 
 go up to the trestle and ride over that plank. 
 If he'll do it, and prove that he does it, I'll 
 give him all he can eat as long as he has a 
 mind to stay."
 
 304 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 It was right on the point of Roy Sheldon's 
 tongue to inquire : " And will you expect him 
 to sleep on the platform of nights ?" But in- 
 stead of that he said: "Then you will be 
 bankrupt in less than six months if many 
 wheelmen come this way." 
 
 Old man Kane declared that he didn't be- 
 lieve a word of it, and the boys went out on 
 the porch and sat down to read over the day's 
 route, and fix it firmly in their minds, so that 
 they would not be obliged to refer constantly 
 to the guide-book. It was a short one, only 
 twenty-six miles, but it was all they would 
 want to do in one day, because it was the worst 
 part of the sixty-mile mountain road that lay 
 before them. The next day's run would take 
 them to Glen's Falls, which, so the book said, 
 was just the place for a brain- weary wheelman 
 to stop and take a few days' rest. But in order 
 to reap the full benefit of it, he ought to go at 
 once, before telegraph communication was 
 opened with the rest of the world, as it cer- 
 tainly would be next year. 
 
 "As the book was written two years ago 
 that means last year," said Joe. " Unless that
 
 GOING INTO A HOT PLACE. 305 
 
 conductor was greatly mistaken, the town is 
 as much secluded now as it was then." 
 
 " More so, and further away from telegraphic 
 communication with the rest of the world," 
 said Roy, "because that Buster band has 
 driven every one away from there. Who 
 knows but it will drive us away too ? Let's 
 get there and see." 
 
 Having taken leave of old man Kane and 
 thanked him for the good breakfast he had 
 given them, the boys mounted and rode away. 
 Joe Wayring was right when he said that 
 Dorchester probably looked more cheerful in 
 broad daylight than it did in the dark. Al- 
 though there were but few people stirring, and 
 they were mostly section hands, and there was 
 little business done except at train time, it was 
 a pleasant spot, and one that many a swelter- 
 ing city boy would be glad to get away to 
 during his summer vacation. The guide-book 
 said there was fine fishing in the neighboring 
 ponds, and the boys knew that squirrels were 
 abundant, for they heard them barking on all 
 sides as they crossed the railroad and wheeled 
 
 away among the trees on the other side. 
 
 20
 
 306 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 This proved to be the hardest day's run 
 so far, but the boys "took it easy," stopped 
 beside every babbling brook they found, and 
 long before the hands on their watches told 
 them it was twelve o'clock, every crumb of the 
 generous lunch that old man Kane put up for 
 them had disappeared. The road was steeper 
 than they expected to find it, the log bridges 
 over the streams were not in the best of repair, 
 and there were so many stones on the hill that 
 any attempt at coasting would have been 
 perilous. The house at which they intended 
 to stop for the night, provided the owner did 
 not object to the company of strangers, looked 
 very cool and inviting when they came within 
 sight of it. It was nestled among the trees at 
 the farther end of a long bridge, there was a 
 neat mill beside it, and the rumble of the ma- 
 chinery was just dying away as the boys drew 
 up in front of the open door. 
 
 "Hallo 1" said a voice from the interior, re- 
 moving all doubts from their minds at once. 
 " How many of you fellows are there, any- 
 way? Went down to New London t'other 
 day and saw as many as seventy-five or thirty
 
 GOING INTO A HOT PLACE. 307 
 
 of you, all going somewhere, but you're the 
 first to come our way this season. Alight and 
 hitch." 
 
 " Thank you ; but our horses stand without 
 hitching," replied Arthur. "Will it be con- 
 venient for you to keep us to-night ? " 
 
 The dusty miller, following his voice to the 
 door, said it would not only be quite convenient, 
 but he would be glad to do it, for he was lonely 
 up there in the hills, and he and his family were 
 always pleased to see new faces. The first 
 wheelman who ever came that way stopped 
 with him for a week, and promised to tell any 
 who came after him to do the same. The 
 miller was surprised when Arthur produced 
 the road-book, showed him his name, and told 
 him that they had had him and his house in 
 mind ever since they left Mount Airy. 
 
 "And do you mean to say that you have 
 come that distance with nothing but a book to 
 guide you \ " he exclaimed. " Now that is the 
 neatest kind of a trick, ain't it ? Well, come 
 in and we'll get some of the dust off." 
 
 That night after supper, while they were 
 sitting on the porch, the boys told Mr. Hudson
 
 308 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 (that was the miller's name) that they were 
 going on to Glen's Falls with the intention of 
 taking a few days' rest there, and to their sur- 
 prise and relief he did not say a word to turn 
 them from their purpose, as they were sure he 
 would have done if the people in that neigh- 
 borhood had been the desperate lot that the 
 conductor represented them to be. This led 
 Joe to believe that the conductor had been mis- 
 informed, and I heard him say as much to his 
 chums when the miller went into the house 
 after his pipe. 
 
 "And don't you believe in the existence of 
 the Buster band either ? " I heard Roy ask him. 
 
 " Oil, there may be lawless men about Glen's 
 Falls, and where in the world will you go amiss 
 of them ? " answered Joe. " But I don't, and 
 never have, put any faith in that story about 
 an organized band of outlaws who terrorize the 
 country, and roam around destroying build- 
 ings and stock when things do not go to please 
 them. Why, just think of the absurdity of 
 it ! How long would it be before the whole 
 power of the State would be put forth to bring 
 them to justice ?"
 
 GOING INTO A HOT PLACE. 309 
 
 "I never placed much faith in the tales I 
 have heard and read of men being shanghaied 
 and taken to sea against their will," said Roy, 
 with a wink at Arthur ; " but I do now." 
 
 "I don't blame you," answered Arthur, 
 "and we may be quite as willing to swallow 
 all we have heard about that Buster band 
 before we are a week older. I don't think that 
 conductor meant to fool us, but he certainly 
 did exaggerate things and make mountains 
 out of mole-hills." 
 
 I had hoped so all along, and now I began to 
 be sure of it. You can imagine, then, how 
 astounded and frightened I was when I heard 
 the miller say to his wife, after Joe and his 
 friends had gone upstairs to bed : 
 
 " I really wish those boys would keep away 
 from Glen's Falls, for I am afraid they will get 
 into trouble if they do not. I suppose I ought 
 to tell them about the Buster band, who make 
 targets of the officers of the law, and destroy 
 the houses of those who complain of them, but, 
 Mollie, I am afraid to do it. Every dollar I 
 have in the world is invested right here beside 
 this little stream of water, and if I tried to put
 
 310 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 the boys on their guard, and they should go 
 up to the Falls and repeat what I said to them, 
 how long do you think my buildings would 
 stand? They're strangers to me, and I don't 
 know how far to trust them." 
 
 " And don't you remember that the de- 
 tective who arrested that friend of Dave 
 Daily's came up here on a wheel?" said Mrs. 
 Hudson. "And haven't the band said that 
 every man who comes into the country on a 
 wheel can make up his mind to go out of it on 
 foot? I think myself that your safest plan is 
 to keep still. If you knew the boys could be 
 depended on, the case would be different. I'm 
 almost sorry you agreed to keep them all 
 night," 
 
 " So am I," said the miller. " I don't believe 
 I shall ever do the like again." 
 
 I shivered all over as I leaned against the 
 side of the house and listened to this con- 
 versation. If my master had heard it, I am 
 sure he would have turned back and given 
 Glen's Falls a wide berth.
 
 CHAPTER XIY. 
 ARTHUR'S READY RIFLE. 
 
 nothing of the fears that dis- 
 i \. turbed the minds of the miller and his 
 wife Joe and his friends slept soundly, and after 
 an early breakfast resumed their journey with 
 light hearts ; but there was something in Mr. 
 Hudson's manner, more than in his words, 
 when he bade them good-by that made the 
 boys wonder if he had anything on his mind 
 that he was keeping from them. 
 
 " You' ve had the best kind of luck so far and 
 I hope it may continue ; but I don't know," 
 said he, kicking a pebble out of the path. 
 " Looks to me as though wheeling through a 
 country that you are not acquainted with, and 
 going among people you don't know anything 
 about, is mighty risky business. If I was 
 your folks, I'd be sort o' uneasy till I saw you 
 safe back." 
 
 311
 
 312 THE STEEL HOKSE. 
 
 " I don't know whether we've had the best 
 kind of luck so far or not," said Arthur, as the 
 three lifted their caps to the miller's wife and 
 wheeled away. "What would he say if he 
 knew about Roy's long swim in New London 
 harbor?" 
 
 ' ' Or about Joe's wild ride over that trestle ? " 
 chimed in Roy. " Of course he had good luck 
 in getting over without a broken head, but 
 it was bad luck that brought him into the 
 scrape." 
 
 "Mr. Hudson probably had reference to the 
 dangers of wheeling, and not to anything 
 else," replied Joe. "I wouldn't give a cent 
 to go on a trip of this kind if we did not pass 
 through a strange country and see new faces at 
 every mile of the way. Now for a coast ; the 
 first we have had since we struck this lovely 
 road. Look out for heads everybody." 
 
 "And for the corduroy bridge at the bottom 
 of the hill," added Arthur, quoting from the 
 guide-book. 
 
 The latter faithfully warned them of all the 
 bad places that were to be found in the road 
 when its author passed that way two years
 
 ARTHUR'S READY RIFLE. 313 
 
 before, but it was silent on the subject of some 
 things that were more to be feared than sticks, 
 stones, and corduroy bridges. They encoun- 
 tered two of them about three o'clock that 
 afternoon, when they thought they ought to 
 be within a mile or two of Glen's Falls. Joe 
 Wayring, who was leading the way, was the 
 first to discover them. They were vagabond 
 dogs which came slowly out of the thick 
 bushes on one side of the road, dragging after 
 them something that proved to be the carcass 
 of a freshly slaughtered sheep. 
 
 Now if there was anything in the world that 
 Joe was afraid of it was an ugly dog ; and that 
 these brutes were ugly as well as bold (if they 
 hadn't been bold they would not have killed 
 that sheep in broad daylight) was quickly 
 made apparent. The minute Joe came within 
 sight of them he sounded his bell, whereupon 
 the dogs dropped their prey and raised their 
 heads ; but instead of taking themselves off, 
 as my master thought they would, they stood 
 their ground, snarling and showing their 
 white, gleaming fangs as a welcome to the 
 advancing wheelman.
 
 314 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 "By gracious! They want a fight!" ex- 
 claimed Joe. 
 
 ' ' All right. They can have it," replied Roy. 
 " Sheep-killing dogs have no rights that any 
 one is bound to respect, and these villains 
 have been caught in the act." 
 
 " Down with them," cried Arthur, whipping 
 his ready rifle from its case before his wheel 
 fairly came to a standstill. "We've more 
 right to the road than they have, and if they 
 won't let us go by " 
 
 "Don't do anything hasty," interrupted 
 Joe. " Think of the reputation of the people 
 to whom these brutes undoubtedly belong, 
 and bear in mind that we've got to go through 
 Glen's Falls or turn back." 
 
 " We haven't come almost fifty miles over 
 the worst road in the United States to be 
 turned back now," answered Roy. " Did any- 
 body ever see uglier looking things, I wonder ? " 
 he added, as the two yellow, stump-tailed dogs, 
 with their dripping lips raised, and their 
 short ears laid back close to their heads, 
 crouched' upon the body of the sheep like 
 panthers preparing for a spring. "Let's see
 
 ARTHUR'S READY RIFLE. 315 
 
 what effect a stone will have upon their cour- 
 age." 
 
 By this time the young wheelmen had dis- 
 mounted ; they had to, for the savage beasts 
 had possession of the road. There was room 
 enough on one side to run by them, and Joe 
 and his friends would have made the attempt 
 if they had had any reason to suppose that 
 the dogs would remain close to the sheep while 
 they were doing it ; but that would be taking 
 too much risk. If the dogs jumped at them 
 while they were going by, no matter whether 
 they succeeded in laying hold of one of their 
 number or not, they would be pretty certain to 
 throw somebody from his saddle, and then 
 there would be trouble. The unfortunate 
 sheep's throat looked as though it had been cut 
 with a knife, and that proved that their long 
 teeth were sharp. Joe and Authur were not in 
 favor of beginning a fight with the dogs, hop- 
 ing that if they were left alone they would drag 
 the sheep across the road and into the woods 
 on the other side ; but before they could say 
 or do anything to prevent it, Roy Sheldon made 
 one of his sure, left-hand shots ; a heavy stone
 
 316 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 took one of the canine vagabonds plumb in the 
 mouth and tumbled him over backward. 
 
 "Whoop-pee! That was a bully shot, 
 Jakey," yelled Roy, recalling some of the 
 incidents of the first battle he and his chums 
 had with Matt Coyle and his family. "Throw 
 another, Jakey. Great Scott ! They're com- 
 ing for us." 
 
 That was plain enough to boys who could 
 see as well as Joe and Arthur could. The 
 stone certainly had an effect upon them, for 
 they no longer stood on the defensive. They 
 charged at once, the stricken brute leading the 
 way, and his companion keeping close at his 
 heels. I tell you the sight they presented was 
 enough to frighten anybody, unless his nerves 
 were made of steel, as mine were, but we did 
 not run. I couldn't without help, and Joe and 
 his chums wouldn't. In less time than it 
 takes to tell it one of the charging brutes was 
 knocked flat by a second stone from Roy's 
 unerring hand, and the other fell with a bullet 
 in his brain, shot fairly in the eye by Arthur 
 Hastings' s pocket rifle. But the death of his 
 companion and the crack of the cartridge did
 
 ARTHUR'S READY RIFLE. 317 
 
 not take the fight out of the surviving dog. 
 Almost stunned as he was, he sprang up again 
 in an instant, only to be floored by Joe Way- 
 ring. A second later Arthur's little rifle spoke 
 again, and this time the dog did not get up. 
 He was as dead as the sheep he had helped pull 
 out of the bushes. 
 
 "This is rather ahead of my time," said 
 Joe, who was the first to speak. "I never 
 dreamed that domestic dogs could be so sav- 
 age. Why, a couple of wild-cats or panthers 
 couldn' t have made a worse fight, nor fright- 
 ened me more," he added, lifting his cap and 
 wiping the big drops of perspiration from his 
 forehead. "I hope this is the last of it, but 
 I'm afraid it isn't." 
 
 Before Joe's friends had time to ask him 
 what he meant, or to recover from the nervous- 
 ness into which they had been thrown by the 
 sudden onset of the sheep-killers, they heard 
 a great crashing in the bushes, which were so 
 thick on both sides of the road that one could 
 not see an-y object in them at the distance of 
 ten feet, and a heavy voice called out : 
 
 "So you've come again, have you? Three
 
 318 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 on you this time 'stead of one. All right. I'll 
 be there directly. I'm coming jest as fast as 
 the bresh'n let me." 
 
 " There comes the owner of these dogs," 
 said Joe. "Now we are in for it sure." 
 
 "Who cares?" replied Roy. "If he thinks 
 we are going to stand still and let his fero- 
 cious dogs eat us up, he don't know us; 
 that's all." 
 
 Meanwhile the noise in the bushes grew 
 louder, and now a tall, heavily built man 
 forced his way out and stepped into the mid- 
 dle of the road. 
 
 " Come again, have you ? " was the way in 
 which he greeted the boys. " And brung two 
 fellers with you to help. Wai, you'll need 
 'em all. Take me, if you want to. See ! " he 
 went on rapidly, laying his rifle upon the 
 ground and standing erect with his arms spread 
 out as if to show that he had no other weapon 
 about him. "I'll put my shooting-iron outen 
 my hands and ask you again to take me if you 
 have come here for that purpose. I double- 
 dare you to lay a finger on me. Come now ! " 
 
 A blind man could have told by the tones of
 
 ARTHUR'S READY RIFLE. 319 
 
 his voice that the new-comer was "as full of 
 mad as he could hold"; so very angry in 
 fact, that he scarcely took two looks at the 
 boys to whom he was talking until after he 
 had laid down his rifle and spread out his 
 arms. When he saw that he was confront- 
 ing a trio of boys, and not bearded men, he 
 dropped his hands and gave utterance to two 
 emphatic words ; but as they were swear-words 
 I don't repeat them. 
 
 "Who did you think we were?" inquired 
 Joe, who saw at once that the broad-shouldered 
 backwoodsman had make a mistake. 
 
 " I took you for jest what I thought you 
 was the detective that come up here on one 
 of them two-wheeled wagons and run my pard- 
 ner to earth like a woodchuek in his hole," 
 said the man, nodding at the bicycles. " But 
 you ain't, be you ?" 
 
 " Of course we are not officers," answered 
 Roy. " We are tourist-wheelmen traveling 
 for pleasure." 
 
 " Oh," said the man, in a rather doubtful 
 tone, as if he did not quite understand what 
 the boys were, after all. Then he turned his
 
 320 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 head over his shoulder and shouted at the 
 woods : "It is all right, boys, and you can 
 come along without shooting. You see," he 
 w y ent on, as another crashing in the bushes 
 told Joe and his friends that there were more 
 men coming, " I seen you from my place up 
 there on the mounting when you crossed over 
 the brook below, and I was kinder laying for 
 you. Understand ? These here fellers are 
 pardners of mine," he continued, as two stal- 
 wart woodsmen presented themselves to view. 
 " They was laying back there in the bresh 
 where they had a fair squint at you ; if you'd 
 a put a finger on to me when I dropped my rifle 
 and told you to come on, some of you would 
 have been deader no\v than them dogs you 
 plumped over. What did you do it with ? I 
 beared something pop like a gun-cap, and over 
 them dogs went." 
 
 Arthur Hastings handed over his rifle be- 
 cause he held it in plain sight, and did not 
 think it would be prudent to do anything else. 
 The man seemed to grow friendly as soon as he 
 was satisfied that the boys were not detectives 
 who had come to the mountains for the purpose
 
 ARTHUR'S READY RIFLE. 321 
 
 of arresting him, and Arthur was afraid that 
 if anything were done to .excite his rage, he 
 might become as savage as the dogs from 
 whose fangs he and his chums had been saved 
 by his good shooting. 
 
 The man took the pocket rifle with many 
 exclamations of wonder and amusement, and 
 while he and his ' ' pardners' ' were giving it a 
 good looking-over, Arthur and his friends 
 improved the opportunity to take an equally 
 close survey of the mountaineers ; but there 
 was some apprehension mingled with their 
 curiosity, for they knew, as well as they knew 
 anything, that they were in the presence of 
 some of the Buster band. The first one who 
 showed himself was Dave Daily, the leader 
 of the band, who had been in hiding for a year 
 or so to escape arrest. 
 
 " That's a mighty cute little trick of a gun," 
 said the latter, when he handed back the pock- 
 et rifle. "But you wouldn't like to bet a 
 dollar that she can beat my deer-killer at the 
 distance of a hundred yards, would you ? No, 
 I don't reckon you would, because you would 
 be certain sure to lose your dollar, Do you 
 
 21
 
 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 know who's talking to you?" he added, ab- 
 ruptly. 
 
 Joe replied that they not only knew his 
 name, but that they had heard something 
 about him down at Dorchester ; and then he 
 wondered why the man did not say something 
 about the dogs that were lying in plain sight. 
 Did they belong to him, and was he going to 
 raise a fuss with his friend Arthur for shooting 
 them ? If he did, there would be but one way 
 out of the scrape, and that was to pay the man 
 every cent he chose to demand for the worth- 
 less brutes. 
 
 "I'll bet you didn't hear nothing good about 
 us down Dorchester way," said Daily, for it 
 was he. "But I'll tell you what is a fact: 
 We're not the terrible chaps that some folks 
 would try to make you think we are. So long 
 as everybody minds their own business and 
 lets us alone, so long do we mind our business 
 and let other folks be. Set down a while," he 
 added, growing communicative, ' ' and I' 11 tell 
 you jest how the fuss commenced in the first 
 place." 
 
 There was nothing for it but to comply with
 
 ARTHUR'S READY RIFLE. 323 
 
 this request, for Daily did not look or speak 
 like a man who would take "no" for an 
 answer unless he felt like it. So the boys 
 leaned their wheels against convenient trees, 
 seated themselves by Daily's side under the 
 shade of another, while his two friends 
 stretched their heavy frames upon the leaves 
 close by, and the leader went on with his 
 story. 
 
 " Us and our folks was raised right here in 
 this neck of woods, we've always lived here, 
 and we don't know no other country outside," 
 said he. " We never had no fuss with nobody 
 so long as we was let alone. We cultivated 
 our little craps, shot our meat in the woods 
 when we wanted it, ketched our trout in the 
 brooks, sot lines through the ice for pickerel 
 in winter, went to school when we wanted to, 
 and were happy like the Injuns was before the 
 white man come to this country and drove 
 them out. First thing we knew, some fellers 
 down in Washington, wherever that is, kicked 
 up a war with somebody else, and sent word to 
 our folks that they'd got to come and help 
 fight it out. Well, they wouldn't do it, our
 
 324 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 folks wouldn't, because it wasn't their fight, 
 they hadn't no hand in getting it up, they 
 didn't care which one whipped, and so they 
 said they'd stay to home. Then what does 
 them big fellers in Washington do but send an 
 officer of some sort up here to take down the 
 names of all of us, except the little boys, so't 
 they could be drafted into the army. Our 
 folks told him he wasn't wanted here and that 
 he'd better go home, but he wouldn't, and so 
 they run him out and everybody like him who 
 came here afterwards." 
 
 "In short, you resisted the. draft," said 
 Joe. 
 
 "You're right we did, and we'll do it 
 again," said Daily, in savage tones. " When- 
 ever we raise a fight amongst ourselves, we 
 stick to it till one or t'other gets licked ; but 
 we don't take up outsiders' quarrels. Well, 
 that was where the fuss commenced, and for 
 as much as four years our folks had to keep 
 hid in the mountings so't them drafting offi- 
 cers couldn't get a hold of 'em. When the 
 war was over we thought we should have peace 
 and be let alone like we was before ; but we
 
 ARTHUR'S READY RIFLE. 325 
 
 wasn't. Some smart Alecks, who had been 
 elected to go to the Capital, and who had never 
 been up here, passed a law without once ask- 
 ing us, mind you that deer shouldn't be 
 killed at such and such times ; that trout 
 mustn' t be ketched only jest when they said 
 so ; and that if we didn't give some heed to 
 them laws, they would take us up and put us 
 in jail. Well, they tried it, and how did they 
 come out ? Tell me that, will you ?" 
 
 "At the little end of the horn," said one 
 of the "pardners," who had thus far kept 
 silent. 
 
 " You're right they did, Spence ; at the lit- 
 tle end of the horn," exclaimed Daily. "And 
 that's the way everybody will come out who 
 takes it upon himself to make laws for us. 
 We're free Amerikin citizens and we mean to 
 keep so. We don't ask no outsiders to make 
 laws for us, because we can take care of our- 
 selves. We kept right along jest as we had 
 always been doing, shooting deer whenever we 
 wanted the meat (violating the law they called 
 it), and one night Zeb Harris and me was took 
 outen our beds and slapped into the jail down
 
 326 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 at Macliias. You see we didn't have no jail 
 up here at Glen's Falls, because we never 
 needed such a thing. We knew well enough 
 who it was that complained of us, for our 
 friends kept us posted ; so I writ him a little 
 letter telling him what Zeb and me allowed to 
 do as soon as we got out. We did get out 
 pretty quick, and somehow everything hap- 
 pened to him jest as we said it would. While 
 I was in jail I writ to the papers about it, so't 
 the folks outside could know how we had been 
 treated and trod upon, and all my pieces was 
 published jest as I writ 'em. Don't believe it, 
 do you?" said Daily, thrusting his hand into 
 an inside pocket and pulling out a greasy note- 
 book. " I want you to understand that I can 
 write as well as anybody, even if I haven't had 
 much schooling, and when it comes to poetry, 
 I don't give in to no living man on top of the 
 broad earth. Look at that, and see if you can 
 beat it with all your education." 
 
 As Daily said this he placed in Roy Shel- 
 don's hands a clipping from a newspaper, 
 with the request that he would " read her out 
 loud so't everybody could hear it." The boy
 
 ARTHUR'S READY RIFLE. 327 
 
 found that it was going to be a task to >ead it 
 at all, for the paper had been so often and so 
 roughly handled that in some places the words 
 were quite obliterated. The poem, if that was 
 the right name for the chief law-breaker's effu- 
 sion, was nearly a column in length, and it re- 
 quired no little effort on Roy's part to make out 
 the first two verses of it They ran as follows : 
 
 " it was in the town of glens fals 
 as you shal understand 
 thair lived a crowd of young men 
 thay was cald the buster band 
 and thay was accused of menny 
 a bad deed let them be gilty or not 
 but thay hunted deer the year round 
 and for the wardens made it hot 
 
 thair was one young man among them 
 
 the wardens all knew wel 
 
 and by this felows rifl 
 
 thair was menny a fine deer fel 
 
 he hunted upon an old stream 
 
 i would have you all to know 
 
 and sed that that was one place 
 
 the wardens dast not go " 
 
 ** What was the reason the wardens dared 
 not go there?" inquired Arthur, when Roy 
 handed back the paper declaring that the 
 letters were so dim he could not make sense
 
 328 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 out of the rest of it. "What were they afraid 
 of?" 
 
 "Of me. I was up there," answered Daily, 
 who seemed to think he had done something 
 very brave when he concealed himself in the 
 woods and sent word back to the settlement 
 that he would fire upon the first officer who 
 came along his trail to arrest him. "I tell 
 you it wasn't healthy around where I was 
 about that time for anybody but me and my 
 friends. If you don't believe it, read that." 
 
 With the words another choice bit of compo- 
 sition was thrust into Roy's hand. It proved 
 to be a warning to one of the recently ap- 
 pointed wardens that the Buster band, having 
 "commenced the fun" by burning the house 
 of the man who had dared to enter complaint 
 against Dave Daily and his friend Zeb Harris, 
 would keep it up by visiting the home of the 
 warden if he did not at once throw up his 
 office and let unlawful deer-hunters alone. 
 There was still a third clipping which proved 
 of more interest to the boys than either of the 
 others, for it related to the detective who had 
 come to Glen's Falls on his wheel. It was
 
 ARTHUR'S EEADY RIFLE. 329 
 
 addressed to the very man whose house they 
 had intended to make their headquarters dur- 
 ing their stay at the Falls. It ran thus : 
 
 "Mr. Jon Homes : if you keep that black 
 whiskered felow with the nee britches about 
 your house any longer you will have roast pig 
 to and in short order we know he is a detek- 
 tive be cause he has been talking with one of 
 our boys who he thinks is a spy on us in the 
 pay of what you call the law and order sosi- 
 ation but thair ant no spies amongst our crowd 
 i want you to understand git rid of him for if 
 you dont you will be burnt out before a week 
 goes by we have started the fun and we will 
 keep it up we mean bisness git rid of him and 
 your all rite if you dont down she comes by 
 the time you git this we shal have taken some 
 of your stock as proof that we mean bisiness. 
 from a frind remember." 
 
 By the time Roy Sheldon had finished read- 
 ing this precious document he and his two 
 friends were so angry that they could scarcely 
 refrain from telling Dave Daily what they 
 thought of so mean and cowardly a villain as 
 these productions of his proved him to be. 
 Joe Wayring showed very plainly that he
 
 330 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 had had quite enough of this nonsense. He 
 got upon his feet, brushed the leaves from 
 his clothes, and remarked that it was high 
 time he and his chums were moving. 
 
 "What's your hurry?" inquired Dave. 
 " You can't find no better company than we be 
 anywhere about the Falls. Where do you 
 stop when you get there, seeing there ain't no 
 hotel to put up at ? " 
 
 "We're not going to put up at the Falls," 
 replied Joe. "We shall stop there just long 
 enough to buy a glass of milk or beg a drink 
 of water of somebody, and then we shall 
 take to the road for a ten-mile run before 
 dark." 
 
 "Those dogs over there," said Roy, jerking 
 his head toward the prostrate animals, " dis- 
 puted the right of way with us, and when I 
 tried to drive them out of the road they came 
 at us with such fury that we had to shoot 
 them in self-defense. I hope they don't be- 
 long to any of you ? " 
 
 Roy said this, not because he cared a straw 
 who owned the worthless curs, but for the rea- 
 son that he felt some curiosity to know why
 
 ARTHUR'S READY RIFLE. 331 
 
 Daily and his companions were so very indif- 
 ferent regarding them and their fate. He had 
 looked for a row the minute the men saw the 
 bodies of the four-footed vagabonds ; but 
 instead of that, the woodsmen had not re- 
 ferred to the matter since they asked to 
 see the weapon with which the shooting was 
 done. 
 
 "N~o; the dogs don't belong to none of us 
 nor the sheep, neither," answered Daily. 
 "Do you see them letters on the critter's head 
 all mixed up together? That's Holmes' s 
 mark, and them dogs or any others are wel- 
 come to kill all the sheep he's got, for all we 
 care. We don't like him none too well, for he 
 harbored that detective till we told him to 
 shove him out, and he would be one of the 
 wardens if he wasn' t afraid. Matt' 11 be staving 
 blind mad when he hears of it, and mebbe 
 you'd best keep outen his way when you get 
 started, for he'll make you pay ten times what 
 the critters was fairly worth. He sets a heap 
 of store by them, for he brought 'em up here 
 for watch-dogs to tell him when there was 
 anybody coming to his shanty."
 
 332 THE STEEL IIOKSE. 
 
 " Did you say Matt would be mad ? 
 Joe, with a strange look on his face. 
 w T ho ? What is his other name ? " 
 
 "His whole name is Matt Coy le," replied 
 Daily.
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 MR. HOLMES' s WARNING. 
 
 was a surprise, and for some reasons 
 it was a most disagreeable one. Of 
 course Joe Wayring and his chums were not 
 sorry that their old enemy, Matt Coyle, had 
 escaped with his life when the canvas canoe 
 was snagged and sunk in Indian River, but 
 they were sorry that they had stumbled upon 
 him in this unexpected way. Beyond a doubt 
 Matt's failure to make himself master of the 
 six thousand dollars that had been stolen from 
 the Irvington bank, taken in connection with 
 the loss of all his worldly goods and the im- 
 prisonment of his wife and boys, had had an 
 effect upon him, and if such a thing were possi- 
 ble, Matt hated Joe and his friends with greatly 
 increased hatred. The fact that the boys were 
 in no way to blame for his misfortunes would 
 not make the least difference to Matt Coyle. 
 His bad luck began on the very day he made 
 
 333
 
 334 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 the acquaintance of the Wayring family, he 
 looked upon Joe as his evil genius, and the 
 young wheelmen knew well enough that unless 
 they got out of the Glen's Falls neighborhood 
 before Matt learned they were there, they would 
 surely find themselves in trouble of some sort. 
 "His whole name is Matt Coyle," repeated 
 Daily. " He was the best guide, boatman and 
 hunter down the Injun Lake w r ay, but for some 
 reason or other the rest of the men who were in 
 that business didn't take to him, and so they 
 clubbed together and drove him out. That 
 wouldn't have been so very hard on Matt, for 
 Ameriky is a tolerable big country and there's 
 plenty of places for a guide and hunter to go ; 
 but they had to go and smash up everything 
 he had so 't he couldn't stay. They even took 
 all his money and his rifle and clothes away 
 from him, and turned him out to starve. He 
 made his way up here by accident, and he's 
 been living with us ever since. He's a good 
 chap, and when he told me his story, I said to 
 him that if I was in his place, I wouldn't sleep 
 sound till every man and boy who had had a 
 hand in mistreating me was burned outen
 
 MR. HOLMES' s WARNING. 335 
 
 house and home. Why, he lost six thousand 
 dollars in hard money, Matt did ; all the 
 savings of years of honest work." 
 
 " But he knows a way to get it all back and 
 more too," said one of Dave's partners. " We 
 expect him home with some of the boys to-day, 
 and when he comes we'll all be rich." 
 
 " Spence, you talk too much for a little 
 man." said Dave, sternly. " Matt won't take it 
 kind of you telling all his secrets. He warned 
 us all not to say anything about it." 
 
 "Fellows, we muse be going," exclaimed 
 Joe. " I know that everything these men 
 have to say is full of interest, but listening to 
 stories will not take us to our journey's end. 
 By the way, how far is the railroad from here ? 
 1 mean the one that runs through Dor- 
 chester?" 
 
 "Fifteen miles, or such a matter," answered 
 Daily. "But you couldn't never get there. 
 The woods is so thick you couldn't take them 
 wagons through. Your best plan is to stick to 
 the road. Where did you say you was going 
 to stop to-night ? " 
 
 " If we stay here much longer we'll have to
 
 336 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 stop in town," replied Joe. " We don't want 
 to do that, so we shall keep going and get as 
 close to a level country as we can before the 
 dark overtakes us. Good-by." 
 
 This was a moment that all the boys had 
 been looking forward to with many misgiv- 
 ings. Would Daily and his men permit them 
 to leave when they got ready ? was a question 
 that had often shaped itself in their minds, and 
 which would now be answered in a very few 
 seconds. To their immense relief the men 
 who had been ready to shoot them half an hour 
 before, showed no disposition to molest them 
 or their property. They might be thieves and 
 law-breakers, but they were not highwaymen. 
 They said " So-long" very cordially, and saw 
 the boys mount and ride away. 
 
 "Now here's a mess, or will be if we don't 
 make the best time we know how before 
 night comes," said Arthur, when the first turn 
 in the road took them out of sight of Dave 
 Daily and his friends. "I don't know when I 
 have been more astounded than I was when 
 that outlaw pronounced Matt Coyle's name." 
 
 " Didn't that juryman say that he believed
 
 MR. HOLMES' s WARNING. 337 
 
 Matt would some day turn up alive and as full 
 of mischief as ever?" said Roy Sheldon. 
 "And didn't we say that the Glen's Falls 
 neighborhood would be just the place for him 
 if he were on deck? Well, he's here. He 
 must have had a time of it tramping all the 
 way from Sherwiii's Pond through the woods. 
 But then I suppose he is used to such things." 
 
 "He is at home wherever night overtakes 
 him," said Arthur. " But I shouldn't think 
 he would stick to the woods when there were 
 so many roads handy." 
 
 " Wouldn't he want to keep out of sight of 
 the officers who were looking for the money 
 he was known to have in his possession ? So 
 those six thousand dollars were the fruits of 
 his honest toil, were they ? And Matt was the 
 best guide, boatman, and hunter in the Indian 
 Lake country ? That's news to me." 
 
 "It's news to all of us," answered Joe; 
 "but, to my notion, there's worse behind it. 
 Where has Matt been with those men who are 
 going to make the Buster band rich when they 
 return?" 
 
 "That's so," exclaimed Arthur. "Where 
 
 22
 
 338 THE STEEL HOUSE. 
 
 has he ? I noticed you inquired the distance 
 to the railroad, and that made me think 
 you were disturbed by the same suspicions I 
 was. Do you believe Matt and his crowd were 
 down there, and that they had anything to 
 do with the rock we found on the track ? " 
 
 " I don't know what else to think," replied 
 Joe. "It was the way those men acted rather 
 than what they said that aroused my suspi- 
 cions. Matt has been rich once, that is to say, 
 he has had the handling of more money than 
 he will ever make by his own labor, and isn' t 
 it natural to suppose that when he lost it he 
 set his wits at work to conjure up some plan to 
 get more ? A man who will do the things Matt 
 Coyle has done and threatened, will do worse 
 if he gets the chance. It's time that fellow 
 was shut up. The next time he tries to wreck 
 a train he may be successful." 
 
 This was all the boys had to say on the sub- 
 ject, but it was easy enough to see that they 
 had resolved to put an officer on the squatter's 
 track at the first opportunity. But then there 
 was Tom Bigden, with whose doings I was 
 by this time pretty well acquainted. Would
 
 ME. HOLMES' s WARNING. 339 
 
 they want him disgraced by the revelations 
 Matt would be sure to make if he were brought 
 before a court to be tried for his crimes ? As 
 Roy Sheldon afterward remarked, a big load 
 would have been taken off Tom Bigden's shoul- 
 ders if Matt Coyle had never been born. 
 
 As soon as Daily and his men had been left 
 out of sight Arthur Hastings began making the 
 pace ; and he made it so rapid that scarcely 
 twenty minutes elapsed before they passed 
 through an open gate and drew up before the 
 back door of Mr. Holmes' s house. They knew 
 it when they saw it ; and as they looked at all 
 the evidences of thrift and comfort with which 
 it was surrounded, they wished most heartily 
 that Daily and all the rest of the Buster band 
 might be brought to justice and that speedily. 
 
 "Boys, we'll not put this fine property in 
 jeopardy by stopping here," said Joe, in alow 
 tone. ' ' We' d be worse than heathen if we did, 
 and Mr. Holmes ought to kick us off the place 
 for hinting at such a thing. Good-evening, 
 sir," he added, touching his cap to a gray- 
 headed man in his shirt sleeves who just then 
 came around the corner with a bucket of water
 
 340 THE STEEL HOESE. 
 
 in his hand. "Have you a pitcher of milk to 
 spare, and can you give us a good big lunch to 
 eat along the way ? " 
 
 " Oh, yes, I can do that," replied the man, 
 whose countenance grew clouded when he saw 
 the boys getting off their wheels, but brightened 
 again at once when he learned that they did 
 not intend to ask him for lodgings. "Plenty 
 of milk and provender to spare, but no beds 
 made up." 
 
 " Mr. Holmes, we understand you perfectly," 
 Joe hastened to reply. " We know just how 
 you are situated, we sympathize with you, and 
 we wouldn't stay in your house to-night if we 
 knew your doors were open to us. We met 
 Daily up the road a piece." 
 
 " You did ? " exclaimed Mr. Holmes. " And 
 did you tell him you were going to stop here ? " 
 
 " We simply told him we should stop some- 
 where in town long enough to buy a glass of 
 milk or beg a drink of water, and he raised no 
 objection to it. I think you ought to know 
 that Matt Coyle's dogs have been on the war- 
 path again, and you have lost another sheep. 
 Daily said it was in your mark."
 
 ME. HOLMES' s VTAENING. 341 
 
 " That's too bad; too bad," said the old man, 
 who had long ago ceased to hope for better 
 times. " If they keep on they will kill all my 
 stock. The members of the Buster band don't 
 always go into the woods after meat now. The 
 pastures are handier, and a sheep, calf, or 
 nice young heifer is easier to shoot than deer. 
 We can't prove anything against them, and 
 are afraid to prosecute if we could." 
 
 " Those dogs will never kill any more sheep 
 for you," said Roy. " They wouldn't give us 
 the road and we shot them. They're deader 
 than herrings." 
 
 I noticed that Roy always said "we" when 
 speaking of this little circumstance. If any- 
 thing unpleasant grew out of it, he did not 
 mean that his friend Arthur should bear all 
 the blame or take all the punishment. Mr. 
 Holmes' s face grew bright again, but he showed 
 a little anxiety when he asked : 
 
 "Did Daily see you do it, or does he know 
 anything about it ? Then I am surprised that 
 he didn' t make you pay for the dogs. Say," 
 he went on, in a more guarded tone, "where 
 are you going to stop to night?"
 
 342 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 Joe answered that they intended to camp in 
 the woods, and hoped he could furnish them 
 grub enough for supper and breakfast the 
 next morning. 
 
 "Of course I'll do that," said Mr. Holmes. 
 " But take my advice and don't light a fire. 
 The owner of the dogs you shot is a savage. 
 He gets around at night as well as in the day- 
 time, and since he came here last fall, he has 
 put more mischief into the Buster band than 
 they ever had in them before, and that was 
 quite unnecessary. They never thought of 
 shooting stock for their own use before he went 
 among them, but they often do it now. They 
 seem to take delight in breaking open every 
 door that is fastened of nights, no matter 
 whether they want to steal anything or not. 
 I'd give something to know positively what 
 that man Coyle intended to do with the 
 spades, crowbar and axes he took out of my 
 tool-house the other night." 
 
 " What do you think he meant to do with 
 them?" inquired Arthur, who thought from 
 the way the man spoke that he had his sus- 
 picions.
 
 MR. HOLMES' s WARDING. 343 
 
 "I'm almost afraid to speak it out loud, for 
 it don't seem possible that any man can be so 
 wicked," replied Mr. Holmes. "The lawless 
 acts of the Buster band have driven nearly 
 everything away from us. but we've got the 
 post-office left, and last night I got my weekly 
 papers out of it. In one of them I read that a 
 terrible railroad accident had been averted by 
 the coolness and courage of a wheelman who 
 rode across a trestle in the dark to warn the 
 engineer of an approaching train that there 
 was a rock on the track." 
 
 "He rode over a trestle in the dark?" ex- 
 claimed Roy, who, impatient as he was to hear 
 what else Mr. Holmes had to say, could not 
 resist the temptation to torment Joe Wayring. 
 " Now that's what I call pluck." 
 
 "That is what the papers call it too," said 
 Mr. Holmes. " Well, when the trainmen came 
 to look into things they found that that rock 
 didn' t get upon the track by accident, but had 
 been dug out of its bed on the top of the bluff 
 and rolled there. Since then that bluff has 
 been examined by detectives in the employ of 
 the railroad, who found there a couple of
 
 344 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 spades, an axe and a crowbar all marked J. H. 
 Those are the initials of my name, and they 
 are on every tool I've got. They're in New 
 London now, and if I thought anything would 
 come of it, I would run down and look at them. 
 If they are mine, that man Coyle was the 
 leader of the gang who tried to wreck the 
 train. At least he stole the tools, and I say 
 he is the leader because the Buster band never 
 would have thought of such a thing if he had 
 not put it into their heads." 
 
 " How do you know he stole your tools?" 
 asked Roy, in some excitement. 
 
 "Because I saw the prints of his feet in 
 front of the door of the shop. They're as big 
 as all out-doors, and his shoes are so nearly 
 torn to pieces that it is a wonder to me how he 
 can keep them on. Mebbe it's a little thing to 
 build so much upon, but I know I am right," 
 said the old man, earnestly. "If you could 
 see that track once you would recognize it 
 again the minute you saw it." 
 
 Now, when it was too late to make amends 
 for the oversight, Roy Sheldon proceeded to 
 take himself severely to task for not making a
 
 MR. HOLMES' s WARNING. 345 
 
 closer examination of those big footprints he 
 had seen about the rock. If Matt Coyle's 
 track was there he could have picked it out 
 from among the rest, for hadn't he and his 
 companions taken a good look at it on the 
 night Mr. Swan "surrounded" Matt's camp, 
 and Matt crept up in their rear and stole all 
 their boats? That "hoof" of his, as Mr. 
 Swan called it, had " given the squatter 
 away" on one occasion, and seemed in a fair 
 way to do it again. Evidence that Matt was 
 one of those who had tried to wreck the 
 train was accumulating with encouraging 
 rapidity. No doubt he and his gang had ex- 
 pected to bring a rich harvest out of that gulf 
 after the sleeping passengers had been plunged 
 into it, and that was what Daily's companion 
 meant by saying that Matt would make them 
 all wealthy when he came back. But what 
 would they say when they learned that he had 
 not brought a cent with him ? 
 
 " Of course it is not my place to offer advice, 
 Mr. Holmes," said Arthur, at length, "but I 
 really think it would be a good plan for yon to 
 go to the city and look at those tools. If they
 
 346 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 are yours you can say so, and may be the 
 means of breaking up this nest of ruffians. 
 There'll be a detective sent up." 
 
 "But I don't want one sent here," ex- 
 claimed Mr. Holmes. "I'd be afraid to have 
 him around, for the minute he went away I'd 
 lose everything I've got." 
 
 "He need not come near you," replied 
 Arthur. 
 
 " And he need not come on a wheel, either," 
 added Joe. "If he does, he may get some in- 
 nocent tourist into trouble. Let him be a tramp 
 or a fugitive from justice, if you please." 
 
 " That's the idea," interrupted the old man, 
 excitedly. " Young fellow, your head's level. 
 That would be his game, if he would only con- 
 sent to play it, for fugitives and tramps are 
 the ones the Buster band always receive with 
 open arms." 
 
 " That is what I thought. Well, they have 
 a good one now, and what's more, they must 
 like him, for Daily said Matt was a fine fellow ; 
 or something like that," soliloquized Joe He 
 did not utter the words aloud, for he wasn' t sure 
 it would be prudent to tell Mr. Holmes that he
 
 MR. HOLMES' s WARNING. 347 
 
 and his two friends were better acquainted 
 with Matt Coyle than anybody in the Glen's 
 Falls country. If they could help it, the boys 
 did not mean to tell who they were or where 
 they came from, for fear that the information 
 might reach Matt's ears in a roundabout way. 
 He was glad when Roy said : 
 
 " Haven' t we stayed here about long enough ? 
 If we want this to be our last night in the 
 mountains we had better take to the road 
 again." 
 
 "I guess you had," replied Mr. Holmes, re- 
 luctantly. "I never was guilty of so inhos- 
 pitable an act before, except when I showed 
 Daily's letter to the detective who was stopping 
 with me and asked him what I had better do 
 about it, and I would not be guilty of it now if 
 I could do as I pleased. Remember my advice 
 and go to bed in the dark ; for if you don' t 
 I am afraid you will have visitors before 
 morning." 
 
 The boys promised to bear the matter in 
 mind, at the same time assuring the old man 
 that it was no hardship for them to sleep out 
 of doors, and Mr. Holmes hurried away to get
 
 348 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 the pitcher of milk and have a supper and 
 breakfast put up for them. Being apprehen- 
 sive that some of the Buster band might be on 
 the watch, hoping to collect some damaging 
 evidence against the farmer that would war- 
 rant them in burning his house, Joe Wayring 
 and his friends did not once venture across the 
 threshold, although often urged, but ate a 
 lunch and drank their fill of milk while sit- 
 ting on the back steps. When the boys offered 
 to pay for being so royally entertained, Mr. 
 Holmes would not listen to it. By putting it 
 out of the power of those sheep-killing dogs to 
 do any more mischief, they had done him and 
 all the rest of the law-abiding men in the set- 
 tlement a kindness, and he wished they could 
 stay there for a week so that he and his neigh- 
 bors might show them how grateful they were 
 for it. If any citizen of that region had shot 
 those dogs, he would have been homeless be- 
 fore another week had passed over his head. 
 
 " I hope that Matt will not think that a cit- 
 izen did do it, and proceed to wreak vengeance 
 upon some one against whom he happens to 
 hold a grudge," said Roy, as they moved swift-
 
 ME. HOLMES' S WARNING. 349 
 
 ly out of the gate and turned down the road. 
 " I still think that if Mr. Holmes and a few 
 determined men would wake up and go about 
 it in earnest, they could put an end to this 
 reign of terror. I can 1 1 see why they don' t try 
 it." 
 
 But there was one thing that Roy and his 
 friends did not know, and Mr. Holmes had 
 forgotten to speak of it. There was not a 
 single building in Glen's Falls that had a dol- 
 lar's worth of insurance upon it. The risks 
 had all been canceled at the breaking out of 
 the war of the Rebellion, and there had been 
 none taken there since. This was one thing 
 that made Mr. Holmes and his neighbors so 
 very timid. 
 
 The town of Glen's Falls was a dreary look- 
 ing spot, as the boys found when they came to 
 ride through it. There was a forest of fine 
 shade-trees on each side of the w r ide principal 
 thoroughfare, but there was grass instead of 
 walks under them, and the buildings behind 
 were rapidly falling to pieces. The evidences 
 of former prosperity that met their eyes on 
 every hand proved that there had once been
 
 350 THE STEEL IIOESE. 
 
 money and brains in the place, and that it would 
 have amounted to something before this time if 
 Dave Daily and the rest of the Buster band had 
 been out of the way. They slaked their thirst 
 at a pump on the corner of a cross-road and 
 continued on their way without meeting a single 
 person. If it had not been for an occasional 
 head they saw through the windows of some 
 of the houses they passed, they would have 
 said that the town was deserted. 
 
 Their guide-book told them that the road 
 that led from Glen's Falls through the moun- 
 tains to the low country beyond was so plain it 
 could not be missed, and perhaps it was when 
 the man who wrote the book passed that way 
 on his wheel ; but it was not so now. Roads 
 there were in abundance, and they all ran down 
 hill in the direction the boys wanted to go ; but 
 they were filled with obstructions, and no par- 
 ticular one of them showed more signs of travel 
 than another. 
 
 "I'd like to see the fellow who says he had 
 a mile of the best of coasting along this road 
 try his hand at it now," said Roy, seating him- 
 self on a log and cooling his flushed face with
 
 MR. HOLMES' s WARIS T I]S T G. 351 
 
 his cap while he waited for one or the other of 
 his friends to go ahead and take the lead. 
 "I'm tired out, and if I was sure it would 
 be quite safe to do so, I should be in favor of 
 going into camp," 
 
 "I don't believe he ever came along this 
 road," said Joe. " We've got a little out of 
 our reckoning, that' sail." 
 
 " And not only are there no cows near by to 
 give us a drink of milk, but we wouldn't dare 
 go after it if there were, for fear of that villain 
 Matt Coyle," groaned Roy. " Doesn' t it beat 
 you how that fellow keeps turning up ? " 
 
 "And at the very time he isn't wanted, " 
 chimed in Arthur. "If you want to stop, all 
 right; but don't let's stop here. I think it 
 would be safer to go into the bushes and hide. 
 I don't much like the idea of passing the night 
 without a fire, but I confess that what Mr. 
 Holmes said frightened me. I wish we might 
 get a hundred miles away before Matt comes 
 home and hears that his watch-dogs have been 
 shot." 
 
 The others wished so too, but they hadn't 
 energy enough to go any farther that night,,
 
 352 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 and besides the appearance of the road ahead 
 of them was discouraging. It ran down a steep 
 bank until it was lost among the trees and 
 bushes as its foot, and probably there was 
 another bank just as rough and steep on the 
 other side of the brook which ran through the 
 gully. They made the descent, and there they 
 found a stream of water so sparkling and cold 
 that the sight of it was more than they could 
 resist. They carried their wheels into the 
 bushes, making as little trail as possible, and 
 at the distance of ten or fifteen yards from the 
 road found a camping place ; or, rather, a 
 thicket that would be a nice spot for a camp 
 when some of its interior was cut away so 
 that they could spread their blankets. They 
 did not use their camp-axes for fear that the 
 noise they would necessarily make in chopping 
 away the brush would serve as a guide to some 
 one they did not care to see. They worked 
 silently with their knives, and at the end of half 
 an hour had as comfortable a camp as a tired 
 boy would wish to see, if there had only been 
 a cheerful fire to light it. They ate' their sup- 
 per in the dark, took a refreshing bath in the
 
 MR. HOLMES' s WARNING. 353 
 
 brook, and then lay down with their blankets 
 about them and their loaded pocket rifles close 
 at hand. This was the first time they had found 
 it necessary to adopt this precaution, and they 
 hoped it would be the last. 
 
 About an hour after my master's regular 
 breathing told me that he had fallen fast asleep, 
 I was startled by hearing voices a little distance 
 away. I could not tell which direction they 
 came from, but I knew they were men's voices, 
 and that they were angrily discussing some 
 point on which there seemed to be a difference 
 of opinion. I was still more startled when 
 Arthur Hastings raised himself upon his 
 elbow, shook Joe Wayring roughly by the 
 shoulder, and whispered in his ear : 
 
 "Wake up, here. Matt Coyle's coming." 
 
 " Where 3 " asked Joe, who was wide awake 
 in an instant. 
 
 " Coming along the very road we'd had to go 
 up if we'd climbed the hill on the other side of 
 the brook," replied Arthur. " Do you hear 
 that? They're stopping fora drink. Reach 
 over and give Roy a shove. Be careful to put 
 
 23
 
 354 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 your hand on his mouth for he is apt to speak 
 out when he is suddenly aroused." 
 
 Be careful maneuvering on Joe's part Roy 
 was awakened without betraying his presence 
 to the men, who had by this time halted at the 
 brook, and then the three boys sat up on their 
 blankets and listened.
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 TWO NARROW ESCAPES. 
 
 I * -T- TELL you I feel so savage that I could 
 -L bite a nail in two an' not half try," were 
 the first words that came to the ears of the lis- 
 tening wheelmen. They were preceded by a 
 long-drawn sigh of satisfaction, such as a 
 thirsty boy sometimes utters when he has 
 taken a hearty drink of water. " Seems to 
 me that I can't turn in no direction no way 
 but I find them oneasy chaps at my heels to 
 pester the life out of me. They're to blame 
 for me losin' them six thousand dollars of 
 mine that I worked hard fur, dog-gone 'em." 
 How the boys trembled when that harsh 
 voice grated on their ears. It was Matt 
 Coyle's, sure enough. They had heard it so 
 often that there could be no mistake about it. 
 "They was the ones that blocked this little 
 game of mine, an' sent me an' the fellers hum 
 empty-handed when we thought to come back 
 
 355 -
 
 356 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 rich," Matt went on, growing angrier and 
 raising his voice to a higher key as he pro- 
 ceeded. "I seen 'em as plain as daylight; 
 an' now I come hum to find that they've been 
 here an' shot them two dogs that I was de- 
 pendin' on to keep the constable away from 
 my shanty. Did anybody ever hear of sich 
 pizen luck?" 
 
 "If you saw them there at the rock, what 
 was the reason you did not drive them off so't 
 the train could run into it ? " inquired another 
 familiar voice, in point of fact, the voice 
 of Dave Daily. The boys were surprised to 
 know that he was there, and wondered if he 
 had come out to meet Matt and put him on 
 their trail. If he had, what was his object in 
 doing it ? Did he want to see them punished 
 for shooting those savage dogs, or did he want 
 to have them robbed ? 
 
 " You say you and your crowd worked hard 
 to get that rock down the bluff and onto the 
 track, and yet you sot there in the bresh and 
 let one single boy turn you from your pur- 
 pose, which was to bust up the train," con- 
 tinued Daily. "He must have been alone,
 
 TWO NARROW ESCAPES. 357 
 
 for you say yourself that one of his friends 
 went one way and t'other went t'other to tell 
 the engineer to watch out. Why didn't you 
 go down and pitch him into the ravine ? " 
 
 " What would have been the good of doin' 
 that, seein' that Joe an' Arthur had already 
 went off?" demanded the squatter, with some 
 show of spirit. "An' don't I tell you that he 
 had a pistol or something in his hand." 
 
 Daily uttered an exclamation of impatience. 
 
 "'Twasn't a pistol nor nothing of the 
 sort," said he. " It was a little pop-gun that 
 wouldn't hit the side of a barn nor shoot 
 through a piece of card-board. Before I 
 would say that I was scared by a little thing 
 like that I would go off and hide myself ; 
 wouldn't you, Spence ? " 
 
 "Them pop-guns was big enough an' ugly 
 enough to kill them two dogs of mine, an' I 
 ain't got no call to face sich we'pons," re- 
 torted Matt, who, as you know, always took 
 care to look out for number one. "An' here 
 we've been hidin' around in the bresh fur most 
 a week, fearin' the officers, when we might 
 as well come hum to onct. That's another
 
 358 THE STEEL IIOESE. 
 
 thing that makes me mad. I do wish I could 
 get my two hands onto them boys fur a little 
 while, an' you fellers here to help me. I'd 
 larrup 'em so't they wouldn't ever come nigh 
 here agin, I bet you." 
 
 " I don't know whether you would or not," 
 replied Daily. "I kinder liked 'em, and as 
 long as they ain't officers " 
 
 ''That's so," interrupted Matt. " But 
 they're jest the chaps to put the constables 
 onto your trail an' mine. That's their best 
 holt. Didn't you say that if you was in my 
 place you wouldn't rest easy till everybody 
 who had had a hand in mistreatin' you had 
 been burned outen house an' home? Well, 
 them are three of 'em." 
 
 " Now why didn't you say so ? " demanded 
 the chief of the Buster band. 
 
 "If we'd only knowed that, we'd a kept 
 'em for you," added Spence's voice. 
 "Wouldn't we, Dave? Now that I come to 
 think of it, the youngsters never told us who 
 they was or where they come from, and we 
 didn't think to ask them." 
 
 "They'd a lied to you if you had," said
 
 TWO NAEKOW ESCAPES. 359 
 
 Matt, and the boys judged by the sound of 
 crunching gravel that he was pacing back and 
 forth across the road like some caged wild 
 animal. " That's the kind of fellers they be ; 
 an' now I'll tell you what's a fact : If you 
 don't help me ketch them fellers an' hold 'em 
 so't they can't get away till we get ready to 
 let 'em, this country of your'n will be thick 
 with officers afore two weeks more has gone by. 
 That's the way it was down to Injun Lake." 
 
 " And this is what we get by taking you in 
 and feeding you when you was nigh about 
 dead, is it? " exclaimed Daily, in angry tones. 
 ' ' I bet you that the next tramp who comes this 
 way will be kicked out before he has time to 
 tell his story. You've brought some of our 
 boys into trouble by talking them big notions 
 of your'n into their heads, and telling how 
 easy it was to smash a train and get thousands 
 of dollars outen the pocket of the folks Ugh ! 
 I can't bear to think of what fools we made of 
 ourselves by listening to you. Now you clear 
 yourself, before we make an end of you for 
 good." 
 
 "I come here 'cause I had to go somewhere,
 
 360 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 didn't I? " said Matt, in tones that were fully 
 as angry and fierce as Daily's. "I'm sorry 
 enough I done it, for you're not the men I 
 took you for. You're willin' to stand here 
 with your hands in your pockets an' let them 
 rich folks tell you what an' when you shall 
 eat." 
 
 "No, we ain't," roared Daily. "We're free 
 Amerikin citizens, and we don't allow nobody 
 to tell us what we shall do." 
 
 "Well, then, what makes you talk to me 
 that-a-way?" cried Matt. "I come here to 
 help, an' I've told you of more ways to bother 
 the folks who want to make laws for you than 
 you would have thought of in ten years' time. 
 As fur puttin' that rock on the track, nobody 
 suspicions who done it, an' we laid around in 
 the bresh so't the officers, if any happened 
 to be here, shouldn't see us comin' from 
 t' wards the railroad. I'm free to say that I 
 didn't want to go down to the track alone an' 
 face the we'pon that Sheldon boy had in his 
 hand (I knowed him dark as it was), but I of- 
 fered to go if any one would go with me ; an' 
 they wouldn't. Ask 'em if it ain't so."
 
 TWO NARROW ESCAPES. 361 
 
 This proved to Roy Sheldon's entire satisfac- 
 tion that he had done the right thing when he 
 pulled his pocket rifle from its case, shoved a 
 cartridge into it, and prepared to defend him- 
 self if the train- wreckers thought it best to at- 
 tack him. It seems that they did watch him 
 and discuss plans for getting him out of their 
 way, but some of the timid ones among them 
 saw the light reflected from the nickel-plated 
 ornaments on his rifle, and could not muster 
 courage enough to show themselves. 
 
 "Nobody don't suspicion that we put the 
 rock on the track," repeated Matt, "an' that 
 ain't why the officers will come here. You're 
 the one who done the mischief you, your- 
 self. As soon as one of them boys began to 
 let on that they knowed who you was, you 
 showed them all the letters an' things vou 
 
 <j tf 
 
 writ for the papers, an' talked to 'em like they 
 was friends of your'n. You will find yourself 
 in trouble all along of that nonsense, if you 
 don't do what I say." 
 
 " That puts a different look on the matter," 
 said Daily, in a much milder tone, " and, 
 Matt, I'm sorry I jawed you that-a-way. Fact
 
 362 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 of it is, I couldn't help it. We've been in a 
 power of trouble and trib'lation ever since 
 them rich folks down to Washington sent for 
 us to go and fight their war for 'em, and then 
 went and made laws against shooting deer and 
 ketching trout, and we've got pretty well riled 
 up. What do you think we had best do ? " 
 
 "N"ab them boys fust an' foremost," said 
 the squatter emphatically. "That's the fust 
 thing ; then, after I have had my satisfaction 
 outen 'em, by tyin' 'em to a tree an' larrupin' 
 'em with hickories, like I would have done 
 with that there pizen Joe Wayring if them 
 friends of his' n hadn't come up an' rescooed 
 him after I've done all that, I'll take a day 
 off an' think what we'll do next. One thing is 
 sartin : them boys must not be let go out of 
 these mountings till their mouths has been 
 shut about the Buster band in some way or 
 'nuther." 
 
 * ' Ketching of ' em is going to be the hardest 
 part of the whole business," remarked Spence. 
 "They skum along right peart after we let 
 them go, and I b'lieve they are plumb outen 
 the mountings by this time. If they are "
 
 TWO NARROW ESCAPES. 363 
 
 " But they ain't, I tell you," Matt Coyle in- 
 terposed. "It don't lay in no steam injun, 
 let alone a bisickle, to get outen these mount- 
 ings betwixt five o'clock an' dark. They're 
 camped summers between here an' Ogden, 
 an' all we' ve got to do is to circle round to our 
 usual lookin'-out place an' stay there till we see 
 'em comin'; then we'll run down an' stop 'em. 
 When I get my hands onto 'em they'd best 
 watch out, fur I feel jest like poundin' 'em 
 plumb to death to pay 'em fur stickin' that in- 
 nercent ole woman of mine in jail. An' the 
 boys too ; the very best, honestest an' hardest 
 workin' boys that any pap ever had. They're 
 likewise shut up all along of that pizen Joe 
 Way ring an' his rich friends." 
 
 These words were followed by the strangest 
 sounds the boys had ever heard. If they had 
 not known Matt Coyle as well as they did, they 
 would have been sure he was crying. 
 
 All this while the men (and there seemed to 
 be a large party of them) had been taking 
 turns drinking at the brook ; and having 
 quenched their thirst they started on again 
 with a common impulse, not along the road,
 
 364 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 but up the stream on whose right-hand bank 
 the boys were encamped. There could be no 
 doubt of it, for there was no longer any 
 crunching of gravel under the heels of their 
 heavy boots, but the bushes snapped and 
 swayed, and the voices came more distinctly 
 to their ears. Matt Coyle was the one who 
 did most of the talking. He did not seem to 
 take his failure to wreck the train so very 
 much to heart, but he bewailed the loss of his 
 dogs, whose good qualities could not be enum- 
 erated by any one man, and asked who would 
 warn him now if the officers came to his shanty 
 some dark night to arrest him. 
 
 " They are coming this way as sure as the 
 world," whispered Roy, drawing his feet 
 closer to him and placing an elbow on each 
 knee so that he could have a dead rest with 
 his rifle. "Why don't the fools stick to the 
 road? It's easier walking there than it is in 
 the bushes." 
 
 ' ' This is no doubt a short cut to their 
 hiding-place," replied Joe. " Stand together, 
 fellows, and we'll show them what we are 
 made of. We'll give them fair warning, and
 
 TWO NARKOW ESCAPES. 365 
 
 if they are foolish enough to disregard it, they 
 will have to take the consequences." 
 
 " That's what's the matter," whispered Ar- 
 thur, cautiously moving a little closer to his 
 friends. "I'm afraid, but I'll never be tied 
 to a tree and whipped ; they can bet on that." 
 
 I can not begin to tell you how frightened I 
 was as I stood there and listened to the voices 
 and footsteps of those desperate men who were 
 every minute drawing nearer to our place of 
 concealment. Eemember, I was utterly help- 
 less. However good my will may have been, 
 I did not possess the power to do the first thing 
 to aid my master in the fight which I firmly 
 believed would be commenced in less than ten 
 seconds. And bear another thing in mind : If 
 the young wheelmen \vere found there, and 
 were overpowered and taken captive, the shoot- 
 ing of Matt Coyle's worthless dogs was not the 
 only thing for which they would be punished. 
 They knew Matt's secret. They knew that he 
 and some of his party had tried to wreck a 
 train. They had talked about it where the 
 boys could plainly hear every word they ut- 
 tered. Of course Matt would know it, if he
 
 366 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 found them there in the bushes, and what 
 would he do ? How would he go to work to 
 " shut up their mouths," as he had spoken of 
 doing ? I assure you this thought was enough 
 to make even my steel nerves shake ; and I 
 believe it must have passed through Joe Way- 
 ring's mind and frightened him, for I heard 
 him say, in a scarcely audible whisper : 
 
 "It's do or die, fellows. That villain will 
 be wild with rage if he learns that we heard all 
 he said to Dave Daily. If the worst must 
 come, be sure of your man before you shoot." 
 
 That moment's terrible suspense is some- 
 thing I never shall forget ; then the reaction 
 came, and I felt as if I were going to fall 
 in a heap like a piece of wet rope. There was 
 a tolerably well-beaten path along the bank of 
 the brook, but it was on the other side. Dave 
 Daily and his gang of villains followed it, and 
 that was all that saved us. If there had been 
 a spark of fire on our side the brook as big as 
 the end of your finger, I should have had a 
 different story to tell. I was so confused that 
 I could not pay any attention to their conver- 
 sation, but I counted them as they passed
 
 TWO NAKROW ESCAPES. 367 
 
 along in Indian file, and when at last they 
 were out of hearing and Roy Sheldon spoke, I 
 knew his count agreed with mine. 
 
 "Thirteen," was all he said; and then he 
 lay down on his blanket and probably looked 
 as nerveless as I felt. 
 
 " And at least half of them must have been 
 with Matt," added Arthur Hastings. "I 
 know it took six or seven men to roll that 
 bowlder out of the ditch and place it on the 
 track. Great Scott ! Wasn' t that a narrow 
 escape ! " 
 
 "I'd like to know how we shall come out 
 to-morrow," said Joe, anxiously. ' ' That ' look- 
 ing-out place ' that Matt spoke of "must com- 
 mand a view of the road along which we will 
 have to go to get to Ogden, and if we do not 
 mind what we are about, Matt will meet and 
 stop us there." 
 
 This was another thing the young wheelmen 
 had to worry over, and taken in connection 
 with the vivid recollection of the exciting 
 scene through which they had just passed, it 
 effectually banished sleep from their eyes for 
 the rest of the night. And daylight was a
 
 368 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 long time coming, as it always is when anx- 
 iously waited and watched for. They ate 
 breakfast as they had eaten supper in the 
 dark and when the birds began singing picked 
 up their wheels and struck out for the road, 
 which they found to be quite as bad as it 
 looked on the previous evening. The first hill 
 they encountered was a hard one, as they 
 knew it was going to be, and when they gained 
 the top they had to go down again on the 
 other side. Of course the woods were about 
 as dark as they could be, and it was anything 
 but pleasant for the leading boy to feel his way 
 while trundling his wheel beside him. But 
 the fear of Matt Coyle's wrath and the hope of 
 passing his "looking-out place" before the 
 sun arose, drove them on, and to such good 
 purpose that, by the time they could see to 
 ride, they found themselves on a smooth, well- 
 traveled highway. They did not stop to ask 
 one another whether or not it was the road 
 they wanted to find. It led away from the 
 mountains, and that was all they cared to 
 know. 
 
 "Away we go on our wheels, boys," sang
 
 TWO NARROW ESCAPES. 369 
 
 Joe ; and suiting tlie action to the word he 
 sprang into his saddle and set out at a lively 
 pace. "Now, Matt Coyle, come on. It would 
 take a better horse than you ever did or ever 
 will own to stop us." 
 
 " But a stick thrown into the road might do 
 the business for us," suggested Roy. 
 
 "You don't suppose Matt knows that, do 
 you?" said Arthur. "Does anybody see 
 anything that looks as though it might be 
 used for a look-out station \ " 
 
 Nobody did. There was nothing to be seen 
 but a cultivated field on the right hand, a 
 thickly wooded hill-side on the left, and a farm 
 house in the distance. True there was a high, 
 bald peak a little to the left of the hill over 
 which the road disappeared, but it was all of 
 ten or fifteen miles away, and a man stationed 
 on its summit would have needed a good glass 
 to make us out. At least that was what Joe 
 Way ring said, and then he dismissed all fears 
 of Matt Coyle from his mind, and made a 
 motion with his hand as if to throw open the 
 breech of his pocket rifle, which he had thus 
 far carried in readiness for any emergency that 
 
 24
 
 370 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 might arise, and remove the cartridge ; but, on 
 reflection, he decided to wait a little longer. 
 It was lucky he did so, and that his compan- 
 ions followed his example. 
 
 If the Buster band really had a "looking- 
 out place" anywhere within sight of the road 
 I don't know it, but I do know that by taking 
 short cuts through the mountains they managed 
 to reach the highway in advance of us, for 
 when we reached the top of the hill of which I 
 have spoken, and the wheelmen were about to 
 stow the rifles in their cases preparatory to a 
 coast, Matt Coyle and Dave Daily suddenly 
 stepped out of a thicket on one side of the road, 
 and as many more ruffians arose from behind 
 the fence on the other. They were about 
 thirty yards away, and although all except 
 Matt carried guns in their hands, I was relieved 
 to see that there was not a club or stone among 
 them. They supposed that all they had to do 
 was to form across the road, call upon the 
 boys to halt, and they would be obeyed. 
 
 "Them's the fellers the very chaps I've 
 been a-lookin' fur," yelled the squatter, shak- 
 ing his fists in the air and striking up a war-
 
 TWO NARROW ESCAPES. 371 
 
 dance in the middle of the road. "Now Til 
 have the whole on you, an' there won't be no- 
 body to interfere when I " 
 
 " Fall speed, boys," said Joe, in a low tone. 
 " Hold fast to your guns and be ready to stop 
 if anybody gets unhorsed. It's our only 
 chance. Get out of the way," he cried, flour- 
 ishing his cocked rifle above his head with one 
 hand while he guided me with the other. 
 " Get out of the way or we will run you down. 
 If we strike you, you are dead men." 
 
 It never occurred to Matt and Dave to ask 
 each other what would become of the boys 
 themselves if their headlong progress were 
 suddenly stopped, and neither did they linger 
 to try the experiment. The three Columbias 
 fairly whistled through the air ; and when 
 Matt saw that his peremptory orders to halt 
 were disregarded, and that we were charging 
 down upon him with apparently irresistible 
 force, he scuttled out of the way with the 
 greatest haste, and Dave Daily, the terrible 
 man who hid in the woods and shot at officers 
 unawares, was not an inch behind him. 
 
 "Look out for them pop-guns," he yelled.
 
 372 THE STEEL HOUSE. 
 
 "Yes, look out for them," shouted Ar- 
 thur. "They're death on all sorts of var- 
 mints." 
 
 In less time than it takes to tell it the danger 
 was over. Moving abreast and going at almost 
 railroad speed we flew down the hill, and the 
 way was clear. I caught just one glimpse of 
 Matt Coyle's scowling and astonished face as 
 we sped by, and that was the first and last 
 time I ever saw him. After that I did not 
 wonder that my master and his friends were 
 resolved to fight to the death and take any 
 risks rather than fall into his power, for if I 
 ever saw an evil face I saw it then. But the 
 man who carried it around with him was a 
 coward, and so was the leader of the Buster 
 band, who was afraid of the pocket rifles. If 
 those handy little weapons had brought their 
 owners into difficulty, they had also assisted 
 in getting them out of it. 
 
 Being afraid to apply the brakes the boys 
 regulated their speed with the pedals as well 
 as they could, and when the foot of the hill 
 was reached they stopped and looked behind 
 them. There was no one in sight.
 
 TWO NARROW ESCAPES. 373 
 
 "That was another tight squeak," said Roy, 
 holding fast to his wheel with one hand and 
 fanning himself with the other, as he always 
 did when a halt was made, " and nothing but 
 Matt's ignorance arid Dave's brought us 
 through. Well, I don't know that we are 
 to blame if they didn't have sense enough 
 to throw something in the road in front 
 of us." 
 
 The excitement for that day was all over 
 now, and I was very glad of it. The road 
 being good and the coasting places frequent, 
 we bowled along at a lively pace, and at four 
 o'clock in the afternoon rode into the village 
 of Ogden, where we halted for the night. One 
 of the loungers on the porch was reading 
 aloud from a weekly paper which had but just 
 arrived with news that was no news to city 
 people by this time. Of course the work of 
 the train-wreckers was given a prominent 
 place, as well as a lengthy notice. As I leaned 
 against the porch and listened, I asked myself 
 what those loungers would have said if some 
 one had told them that the three dusty boys 
 who had just disappeared through the door-
 
 374 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 way were the ones who brought the efforts of 
 the train-wreckers to naught. . Roy and Arthur 
 respected Joe's wishes, and never, in any one's 
 hearing, spoke of what he had done that 
 night.
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 AN UNEXPECTED MEETING. 
 
 FROM the morning Joe Wayring and his 
 friends left Ogden up to the time they 
 wheeled over the old familiar road that led 
 into Mount Airy, not a single thing happened 
 to mar the pleasure of their trip. I do not 
 mean to say that the roads were always good, 
 or that they were never weather-bound ; for 
 those petty annoyances fall to the lot of every 
 tourist, he expects them, and knows how to 
 make the best of them. But they found no 
 more train-wreckers along the route, nor were 
 there any Buster bands or Matt Coyles to be 
 afraid of. They spent many a night in camp ; 
 their pocket rifles brought them all the young 
 squirrels they cared to eat ; they encountered 
 tramps on nearly every mile of the way, and 
 although they never had the least trouble with 
 these social outcasts, they listened to a story 
 from the lips of two of them that interested 
 
 375
 
 376 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 them exceedingly, and proved to Roy Sliel- 
 don's entire satisfaction that the clear-sighted 
 Joe Wayring had hit pretty close to the mark 
 when he declared that Roy's presence aboard 
 the White Squall had not been brought about 
 by accident. 
 
 Their destination was Plymouth, a little sea- 
 port town situated on a bay of the same name. 
 They spent a day roaming about the wharves, 
 looking at everything there was to be seen, 
 especially the ships, which would hardly have 
 attracted more than a passing notice from 
 them, had it not been for Roy's experience in 
 New London harbor. They went aboard of 
 one, looked all over it, marveled at its strength 
 and more at the power of the winds and waves 
 which could so easily make a wreck of man's 
 best handiwork. They turned up their noses 
 at the dingy forecastle, smelling of tar and 
 bilgewater, and wondered how any one could 
 bring himself to bunk in it during a long 
 voyage. 
 
 "I would much rather sleep on a bed of hem- 
 lock boughs," said Joe, " and go out in the 
 morning and catch my own breakfast from the
 
 AN UNEXPECTED MEETING. 377 
 
 sparkling waters of a lake or brook, and serve 
 it up on a piece of clean bark. If I had been in 
 love with the sea when I came here, I would be 
 all over it now." 
 
 "It's rough, isn't it?" said Roy, as he and 
 his companions went down the gangplank to 
 the wharf ; and he trembled all over when he 
 thought how near he had come to being carried 
 to distant countries against his will. "The 
 little I saw of a sailor's life while I was on the 
 White Squall convinced me that the officers 
 are more to be dreaded than the forecastle. 
 They can be as brutal as they please when they 
 are out of sight of land, and there's no law to 
 touch them." 
 
 "There's law enough," answered Joe, "but 
 the trouble is, a sailor man can't use it. Sup- 
 pose he has the officers of his vessel arrested 
 for cruelty while he has the rest of the crew at 
 hand to prove it against them. They are put 
 under bonds, but the case is postponed on one 
 pretext or another, and while that is being 
 done, how is Jack going to live ? Of course 
 the minute he gets ashore he makes haste to 
 spend his wages, and when his last dollar is
 
 378 - THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 gone what recourse has he but to ship for 
 another voyage ? Then the case is called, and 
 there being no one to prosecute, the captain 
 and his mates are discharged and go aboard 
 their vessel to play the same game over 
 again." 
 
 " That's about the way those lightship men 
 put it when I threatened to have Captain Jack 
 punished for kidnapping me," said Roy. 
 "That may be law, but it isn't justice. I 
 wonder where the White Squall and Tony and 
 Bob are now." 
 
 " I shouldn't think you would care," replied 
 Arthur. "I know 1 shouldn't if I had been 
 treated as you have." 
 
 "I don't much care what becomes of the 
 ship and her officers, but I am sorry for the 
 crew. I tell you that Tony and Bob were 
 shanghaied the same as I was," 
 
 Becoming weary of Plymouth and its sur- 
 roundings at last, the boys took the road again, 
 this time with their faces turned toward Mount 
 Airy. They went back by a different route, 
 as they intended to do when they set out ; but 
 they had another reason for it now. Money
 
 AN UNEXPECTED MEETING. 379 
 
 would not have hired them to return across the 
 mountains and take their chances of capture by 
 Matt Coyle and the Buster band. Now that 
 they could think over their adventures with 
 calmness, they were surprised at the ease with 
 which they had slipped through those ruffians' 
 fingers. They knew they couldn't do it again, 
 and they would have gone home by rail rather 
 than try the mountain route a second time. 
 There was one thing about it, Arthur repeat- 
 edly declared : The man who wrote their guide- 
 book must be posted so that he could warn 
 wheelmen to keep away from Glen's Falls until 
 the mischief -making squatter and his new allies 
 had been arrested and lodged in jail. 
 
 On the afternoon of the second day after 
 leaving Plymouth, the boys came suddenly 
 upon a couple of tramps who had halted under 
 the shade of a tree by the roadside to eat the 
 bread and meat they had begged at the nearest 
 farmhouse. But these men were not like the 
 other tramps they had seen. They were sailors 
 on the face of them, and looked out of place 
 there in the country so far from salt water. 
 Roy Sheldon was sure there was something
 
 380 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 familiar about them, and hardly knowing why 
 he did so, he called out, as he moved past 
 them, "Bob, Tony," whereupon the men 
 jumped to their feet and stared hard at him 
 without saying a word. They were evidently 
 frightened, and would have taken to their heels 
 if they had seen the least chance for escape. 
 
 "I declare, I believe they are Tony and 
 Bob," said Roy, who was utterly amazed at the 
 effect his words had produced upon the tramps; 
 and turning about, he rode back to the tree 
 under which they stood. "How in the name 
 of all that's wonderful did you get stranded 
 here ?" 
 
 "Is is it Howe Shelly?" one of the men 
 managed to ask. 
 
 "Yes, sir, they are Tony and Bob," ex- 
 claimed Roy, getting off his wheel and nod- 
 ding at his companions. " Dusty as they are, 
 I know them. What's the matter ? " he added, 
 as the men began backing away as if they did 
 not want him to come any nearer. " You are 
 not afraid of me, are you ? I am not a ghost, 
 and neither am I Rowe Shelly, although my 
 name sounds somewhat like his, and I have
 
 AN UNEXPECTED MEETING. 381 
 
 been told that I look like him. I am a different 
 boy altogether. Now let's have the straight of 
 this thing before we go any farther. I saw 
 you carried to sea on the White Squall. How 
 did you escape from her, and where is she 
 now? " 
 
 "At the bottom of the ocean," replied one 
 of the men ; and the boys thought from the 
 way he spoke he was glad to be able to say it. 
 
 "At the bottom of " began Roy, incredu- 
 lously. " Serves her just right. She had no 
 business to but everything goes to show that 
 you took me aboard of her on purpose to have 
 me kidnapped. What have you to say about 
 it ? Sit down and eat your dinner. You can 
 talk just as well, and you act as though you 
 were very hungry." 
 
 " So we are, sir," said the one whom Roy 
 had picked out, and who he afterward ad- 
 dressed as Tony. " We never done such a 
 thing before, sir, but we had to come to it. 
 It's no use trying to hide the truth any longer, 
 for it has come out on us. Yes, sir ; me and 
 Bob did take you aboard that ship on pur- 
 pose."
 
 382 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 "There, now," cried Joe, indignantly, while 
 Arthur Hastings looked and acted as though 
 he wanted to fight. 
 
 "But what object did you have in doing 
 it?" continued Roy. " Who put you up to 
 it Willis?" 
 
 "He's the very chap, sir: but we've been 
 punished for it, and we hope 
 
 " You've nothing whatever to fear from me, 
 if that is what you want to say," interposed 
 Roy, who was impatient to get at the bottom 
 of what was to him a deep mystery. "You 
 know how I got away, and here I am, safe and 
 sound. Your actions proved that you did not 
 think you were going to be shanghaied your- 
 selves what are you looking for ? " 
 
 "You're right we didn't know it, sir," an- 
 swered Tony, who pulled out his ditty-bag, 
 and after a little fumbling in it drew forth a 
 piece of soiled paper which he handed to Roy. 
 "That, sir, is the letter I took to Cap'n Jack 
 that night. If I had only known what was 
 writ onto it, me and Bob would have kept 
 clear of that ship, you may be sare. The cap'n 
 dropped it on deck shortly after you went
 
 AN UNEXPECTED MEETING. 383 
 
 overboard, and I made bold to pick it up with- 
 out saying a word to him about it. I thought 
 it would come handy some day. Read it for 
 yourself, sir, and you will see that me and 
 Bob was innocent of any intention of doing the 
 least harm to you, sir." 
 
 "Didn't you know that I was going to be 
 kidnapped?" exclaimed Roy, almost fiercely. 
 " You did. Everything goes to prove it ; but 
 you thought you could get me into trouble 
 and slip off the ship without getting into trouble 
 yourselves." 
 
 "Not a bit of it, sir," said Tony, with so 
 much earnestness that Roy was almost ready 
 to believe him. " Read that paper, and then I 
 will tell you just what was said and done in 
 my house on the beacli while you was fast 
 asleep upstairs." 
 
 The letter, which bore neither date nor sig- 
 nature, ran as follows : 
 
 "CAPTAIN JACK ROWAN: Knowing that 
 you have been delayed nearly three weeks wait- 
 ing for a crew, I send you three men who, I 
 think, will be of use to you. Two of them 
 used to be sailors, but the other is green and 
 will have to be broken in. Ask no questions, 
 but take them along. A FRIEND."
 
 384 THE STEEL IIOKSE. 
 
 Roy Sheldon was so surprised that he could 
 not speak again immediately. He leaned his 
 wheel against the tree, looked first at Tony and 
 then at his friends, and finally sat down on a 
 convenient bowlder. 
 
 " Seems to me that there letter clears me and 
 Bob of everything except taking you aboard 
 the White Squall when we didn't want to do 
 it," said Tony, after a pause. "We was as 
 innocent as babbies of what happened after- 
 wards." 
 
 "If you didn't want to do it what made 
 you?" demanded Joe. 
 
 This brought Tony to the story he had to 
 tell ; and as I believe I can make it clearer to 
 you than he did to Joe and his friends, I will 
 tell it in my own language. 
 
 Howe Shelly' s guardian, who was fond of 
 the water, kept a swift sailing-vessel as well 
 as a steam yacht, and Tony and Bob Bradley 
 belonged to it. The colonel furnished them a 
 house, gave them regular employment during 
 the yachting season, and in the winter time 
 permitted them to make what money they could 
 by shooting water-fowl at the lower end of the
 
 AN UNEXPECTED MEETING. 385 
 
 island for the New London markets. They 
 knew nothing whatever of the colonel's private 
 affairs. They had heard a good many rumors. 
 
 " I want to say a word right there," inter- 
 rupted Roy. " Where did those rumors come 
 from?" 
 
 The boys had seated themselves on the 
 ground on each side of the sailors, who ate 
 their dinner as they talked. Tony acted as 
 spokesman, but his brother jogged his memory 
 with a word now and then. The former could 
 not say where the rumors came from, but the 
 mischief was all done by an old sailor, who 
 settled on one of the uninhabited islands in the 
 harbor and went to fishing for a livelihood. 
 Rowe Shelly chanced to run athwart his hawse 
 one day while sailing about in his boat. He 
 talked with the old fellow for more than two 
 hours, and when he came home he exploded a , 
 bomb -shell in his guardian's ear. In other 
 words, he told the colonel that there was no 
 relationship between them ; that he had no 
 business with the money he was squandering ; 
 that his father had not been lost at sea, as the 
 colonel affirmed ; that he was still alive, and 
 
 25
 
 386 THE STEEL HOKSE. 
 
 so was liis mother ; that they lived in Chelsea, 
 Maryland ; and that he was going to them as 
 soon as he could get off the island. 
 
 "I know that was a sassy way for him to 
 talk to the man who had always been so good 
 to him, seeing that he hadn't no better evi- 
 dence than an old sailor-man's unsupported 
 word to back him up," said Tony, "but the 
 way the colonel acted satisfied Howe at onct 
 that there was more'n a grain of truth in what 
 he had heard. The first thing he done was to 
 take away the boy' s boat, and shut him up on 
 the island as close as if it had been a jail, and 
 his second, to get rid of the fisherman. How 
 he done it nobody seems to know; but he 
 wasn't never seen again, nuther by Howe Shelly 
 nor nobody else. But the mischief had been 
 done, and the first thing we knowed, Howe 
 Shelly couldn't be found. How he got off the 
 island nobody couldn't tell, but he and his 
 bisickle was gone. They was gone for more'n 
 two weeks ; but Willis, who acts like he was 
 as big a man on the island as the colonel him- 
 self, follered him up and ketched him with the 
 help of detectives."
 
 AN UNEXPECTED MEETING. 387 
 
 "How did this fisherman happen to know 
 so much about Ro we' s father and mother?" 
 inquired Arthur. 
 
 "He was shipmates with 'em; lived next 
 door to them in some town down South," re- 
 plied Tony. "He knowed the little boy, 
 Howe Shelly, and used to trot Mm on his 
 knee and tell him stories of furrin parts, and 
 he knowed well enough that there was some 
 sort o' hocus-pocus about it, or the colonel 
 wouldn' t never had that money the old grand- 
 father left. You see it sorter hurt the old fel- 
 ler when Cap'n Shelly, who was his only child, 
 married a widderwitha gro wed-up son against 
 his will, and it hurt him, too, to have the cap'n 
 keep on going to sea when he didn't want him 
 to ; and so he said that the cap'n shouldn't 
 never have a red cent of his money. But 
 when Grandfather Shelly found that he'd got 
 to pass in his checks, and that the dark 
 river was waiting for him, he gives in and 
 willed all the money to the cap'n, provided 
 he would settle down on shore." 
 
 When this happened, as you have already 
 heard, Captain Shelly was at sea. Eis ship,
 
 388 THE STEEL HOUSE. 
 
 the Mary Ann Tolliver, was lost, and as 
 nothing was heard from him or any of the crew 
 everybody supposed that all hands had been 
 lost with her. This was the opportunity for 
 the rascally step-son, and straightway he was 
 up and doing. With his mother's full and free 
 consent heVas appointed Howe's guardian and 
 administrator of the property that had fallen to 
 him, and then he was in clover. Finding that 
 the boy's mother was in his way, and that 
 she was strenuously opposed to any squander- 
 ing of Howe's money, he proceeded to rid him- 
 self of her presence. He did not exactly turn 
 her out of doors, as Rowe thought he did, but 
 he lost her sent her away on a visit, and when 
 she returned he wasn't to be found. He and 
 Rowe were in Europe, and there they stayed 
 until the guardian thought she had had ample 
 time to die or forget him. Then he came 
 back, bought an island in New London harbor, 
 so that he could not readily be intruded upon 
 and Rowe could not easily slip out of bis 
 grasp if he wanted to, and set himself up for 
 a gentleman of wealth and leisure. 
 In the mean time Captain Shelly and some
 
 AN UNEXPECTED MEETING. 389 
 
 of his men, who had been picked up and car- 
 ried to some distant port, returned, and the 
 captain and his wife were reunited ; but the 
 former, being broken in health and spirits and 
 ruined financially (every dollar he owned in 
 the world went down with his ship), did not 
 and could not make any very persevering ef- 
 fort to find out what had become of his scape- 
 grace stepson and the little boy who was worse 
 than orphaned. After a year or two spent in 
 useless search he gave them up for lost ; but 
 others interested themselves in the matter, not 
 for the purpose of aiding in restoring Captain 
 Shelly to his rights, but simply to benefit their 
 own pockets, and two of them, who succeeded 
 in learning enough to keep Ho we' s guardian in 
 constant fear of exposure, were Willis and his 
 son, Benny, who were given a home and pay- 
 ing situations on the island. 
 
 "If that isn't the biggest piece of villainy I 
 ever heard of I wouldn't say so," exclaimed 
 Joe, his face flushing with honest indignation. 
 " Did yon ever talk to Howe Shelly about 
 these things ?" 
 
 "Who? Me?" cried Tony, in surprise.
 
 390 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 " Not by a great sight, sir. If I had, I would 
 have been bundled off that there island so quick 
 that I couldn't have told what my name was. 
 I had a good home, and didn't want to lose it 
 by meddling in things that didn't concern me." 
 
 " Well, your story agrees with the one Howe 
 told us on the night our friend was kidnapped 
 and taken to the island, and I, for one, am in- 
 clined to believe it." 
 
 " I give it to you, sir, just as I got it," an- 
 swered Tony. " You asked what them rumors 
 was that we heard, and I have told you. If 
 there wasn't no truth in 'em, what made the 
 colonel act as he did take the boy's boat away 
 from him and keep him close about home, with 
 orders to all of us from Willis to watch out for 
 him?" 
 
 " That also confirms Howe's story," said Ar- 
 thur. " You know he told us he thought every 
 one on the island was hired to keep an eye on 
 him. We are all satisfied so far," he contin- 
 ued, turning to the old sailor. "Now, go 
 ahead and tell us how you came to take Roy 
 Sheldon over to that ship when you didn't 
 want to ? "
 
 AN UNEXPECTED MEETING. 391 
 
 " Me and Bob never served aboard that ship 
 till we was shanghaied on her," answered 
 Tony, ' ' but we had heard enough about her to 
 make our hair stand on end. She was so rot- 
 ten in some places that you could jab a knife 
 into her timbers the whole length of the blade, 
 and the companies wouldn't put a cent of in- 
 surance on her, and nobody but such reckless 
 men as Cap'n Jack and his mates would sail on 
 her. They got good pay for doing it, and for 
 shipping crews against their will and holding a 
 still tongue about the vessel's condition. But 
 she's gone now," said Tony, rubbing his horny 
 hands together almost gleefully, " and nobody 
 will ever be fooled with her again. She sprung 
 a leak in less'n half a gale 'bout two hunderd 
 miles off the Cape, and went down like a log 
 spite of all we could do at the pumps. We 
 kept her afloat for seventy- two hours, and just 
 as we were nigh going down, the brig Sarah 
 West took us off and brung us into Ply- 
 mouth." 
 
 " Where are you going now?" asked Roy. 
 
 " Back to the island where our families is," 
 replied Tony. "We ain't got no place else to
 
 392 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 go, but we ain't going to stay there. We'll 
 take our dunnage and go somewheres else, for 
 fear that the island may sink into the harbor 
 with such men aboard of it. We dassent stay 
 there no longer. If Rowe has got safe off, 
 knowing what he does, he'll kick up a row 
 there, and if they'll let me into court, I'd just 
 like to shove this paper at the judge and ask 
 him will he take a squint at it, if he wants to 
 see what sort of a landshark that man Willis 
 is. We are powerful glad to see you again," 
 he added, extending his hand to Roy, who 
 shook it cordially, ''and to know you didn't 
 come to no harm all along of our taking you 
 aboard the White Squall." 
 
 After this Tony went on with his story, to 
 which, in order to make it plain to you, I will 
 add a few things that he did not know. They 
 came out months afterward, but this is the 
 place to speak of them. 
 
 Although the housekeeper and all the people 
 who were on the jetty when the yacht arrived 
 were willing to believe that Roy Sheldon was 
 really Rowe Shelly, Willis himself was per- 
 fectly well satisfied that he and Babcock had
 
 At* UNEXPECTED MEETING. 393 
 
 made the biggest kind of a blunder. The 
 question was: How should he get out of his 
 difficulty ? Willis looked everywhere for 
 Benny, who was his right-hand man in all emer- 
 gencies ; but that worthy had gone over to the 
 city that afternoon, and would probably return 
 on a hired tug some time in the morning. You 
 will remember that while Mrs. Moffatt was 
 talking to Roy, and urging him to let her send 
 up a lunch to that he might have a bite handy 
 in case he became hungry before morning, the 
 superintendent paced the room lost in thought. 
 As he looked at the matter, it was absolutely 
 necessary that Roy should be got rid of before 
 daylight, and so effectually that no trace of 
 him could be discovered. The superintendent's 
 first thought was to drug him, put him into a 
 boat, and shove him out into the harbor in time 
 for the storm, which was already muttering in 
 the distance, to blow him to sea. But that 
 would involve too many risks of a rescue, 
 and Willis at last decided to hold to his orig- 
 inal plan and "take Tony into his confi- 
 dence." 
 When he went downstairs with Mrs. Moffatt
 
 394 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 he left the house and hurried to Tony's cabin 
 on the beach. 
 
 " The minute he come into the door I knew 
 there was something the matter of him," said 
 the sailor, " for I had never seen him look so 
 queer and wild before ; but how he ever made 
 out to pull the wool over my eyes and Bob's 
 as he done by the ridikilis tale he told us, is 
 something I can't now get through my head. 
 Nuther can Bob, and we've talked about it a 
 hunderd times or more. Seems now that we'd 
 oughter known it wasn't so, but we didn't. 
 * Boys,' says he, mighty .soft and palavering 
 like, but all the while acting as though there 
 wasn' t nothing wrong, * I want you to do 
 something for me. Two weeks ago Cap'n Jack 
 Rowan of the White Squall borrered five 
 hundred dollars of the old man (that was 
 Colonel Shelly, you know), and the old man 
 told me to be sure and get it of him before he 
 sailed. While I was in the city I got a letter 
 from the cap'n stating that if I would send for 
 the money to-night, I could have it ; so I want 
 you and Bob to take Howe and go and get it. 
 I'll give him an order for it. Be lively, for
 
 AN UNEXPECTED MEETING. 395 
 
 there'll be a gale on in an hour or so.' That 
 was what Willis said to me and Bob ; and 
 although we didn't much like the idef5 of going 
 aboard the White Squall, knowing what sort 
 of a chap Cap'n Jack was, we told him we'd 
 go, like a couple of fools. 'All right,' says 
 he. 'You get the boat ready, and I'll go and 
 tell Howe to hurry up. But mind, you 
 mustn't say one word to him where you're 
 going. If you do, he'll stay ashore and I 
 won't get that money.' And then what does 
 that old scamp do," exclaimed Tony, with 
 rising indignation, "but runup to the house 
 and write this here letter to Cap'n Jack, telling 
 him that hero was three men for him, and he'd 
 best take us along without asking no questions." 
 
 " Then he came into the room where I was 
 and told me a funny story, too," said Roy, 
 who was listening with all his ears. " I should 
 like to know who came in with him, and what 
 the pair of them would have done if I had not 
 awakened just as I did." 
 
 " I guess it was Benny," said Bob ; and he 
 guessed right. ' ' Them two is both tarred with 
 the same stick."
 
 396 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 Benny was ashore, as I told you, and by the 
 merest chance met the detective Babcock, who 
 made a clean breast of the whole business ; 
 whereupon Benny hired a tug, and started for 
 home. By the time he got there he was as 
 frightened as was his father, whom he met 
 setting out for Tony's house. 
 
 "You needn't waste words with me," said 
 the dutiful son, the minute he saw that his 
 sire was about to begin a lengthy explana- 
 tion. " I saw Bab, and he told me all about 
 it. You are a pretty pair, I must say. Who 
 is this chap who looks so much like Rowe, and 
 what are you going to do with him ? " 
 
 "His name is Roy Sheldon, and he is a 
 Mount Airy wheelman," replied Willis. "I 
 am going to send him to sea on the White 
 Squall." 
 
 "The very plan I had in my own head," 
 saie Benny, approvingly. "Who's going to 
 take him there's" 
 
 "I thought of asking Tony and Bob. I'll 
 offer" 
 
 "Don't offer them a cent," interrupted 
 Benny. "Tell them to go and get five him-
 
 AN UNEXPECTED MEETING. 397 
 
 clred dollars that Cap'n Jack borrowed of the 
 old man, and send this wheelman along as 
 Howe Shelly, to get it. Understand \ " 
 
 No ; the superintendent did not quite grasp 
 his son's meaning, and he was afraid Roy 
 might not be willing to personate Howe Shelly. 
 It took Benny a long time to explain, but he 
 succeeded at last, and then he asked his father 
 if there was not some way in which he could 
 get a glimpse of Roy so that he could satisfy 
 himself that a mistake had been made. This 
 was the way he came to be introduced into 
 the presence of the young wheelman, who was 
 fast asleep. The moment Benny's eyes rested 
 upon the boy's face he knew he had never 
 seen him before. 
 
 " You've done it as sure as the world," said 
 lie, in a savage whisper. "Get rid of him. 
 Send him to the White Squall, and have Tony 
 and Bob shanghaied at the same time, or they 
 will get you into deeper trouble. Wake him 
 up, tell him you have found out who he is, and 
 say that you're going to send him back to his 
 friends. In that way you can get him off 
 without any fuss, and "
 
 398 THE STEEL IIOESE. 
 
 Just then Roy stirred in his sleep, and 
 Benny took to his heels, barely having time to 
 close the door behind him before the boy was 
 wide-awake.
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 u -J3 ENNY is old man Willis's son," Tony 
 I s hastened to explain. " If you was to 
 shake 'em both up in a hat, it is hard to tell 
 which one of 'em would come out first for 
 meanness. That's our story, sir. You know 
 what happened after we got aboard the White 
 Squall." 
 
 " What did Willis mean when he called you 
 off on one side saying that he had an order for 
 you ? " inquired Roy. " Did he want me to 
 believe that he was about to send you to the 
 city for goods ? " 
 
 "I don't know what he meant you should 
 believe ; he jest wanted to give me a few part- 
 ing instructions. He said you didn't much 
 like the idee of going out in that wind, and 
 that if you raised a fuss about it after we got 
 started, we must quiet you by saying that we 
 dassent turn around for fear of of a capsize.
 
 400 THE STEEL IIOKSE. 
 
 He said, furder, that we mustn't talk to you 
 more'n we could help, for you'd kick if you 
 found you was going aboard the White Squall. 
 He said you had the order for the money in 
 your pocket, and what was writ on the paper 
 he give me was meant to hurry Cap'n Jack up, 
 so't we could get back to the island before the 
 wind riz any higher. But t' wasn't no such 
 thing," continued Tony, wrathful! y. " It 
 told Cap'n Jack to take us to sea and say 
 nothing about it." 
 
 "And were you stupid enough to believe 
 that our friend Roy was Howe Shelly ? You 
 stood within arm's-length of him, and it looks 
 to me as if you ought to have seen at a glance 
 that it wasn't any one you knew," said Arthur, 
 forgetting that he had once stood within less 
 than arm's-length of Howe Shelly, and never 
 suspected that he wasn' t Roy Sheldon until he 
 had come pretty near being thrown on his 
 head. 
 
 " We never knew the difference," said Tony, 
 earnestly, " for the reason that we didn't know 
 there was anything wrong. We knew Rowe 
 had run away, and as me and Bob supposed
 
 CONCLUSION. 401 
 
 that he had been ketched and brung back, like 
 he was before, \ve didn't ask no questions. Of 
 course we thought it was Howe that we were 
 going to take off to the ship after that money, 
 and why should we not ? How could we tell 
 one from t'other when the night was so dark, 
 and they were both dressed alike and the wind 
 bio wed so loud that we couldn't recognize his 
 voice ? " 
 
 " What did you think when you saw him 
 jump into the harbor \ " inquired Joe. 
 
 " Well, sir, we was scared to death, and 
 there isn't no manner of sense in saying we 
 wasn't. We wouldn't never dared to show 
 our faces in New London again if I hadn't 
 found this letter, 'cause we'd been afraid that 
 we might be tooken up for trying to make way 
 with Howe, though Lord knows we wouldn't 
 a raised a finger against him. What's writ 
 onto this here paper will clear us, won't it, 
 sir?" 
 
 " I think it will ; but if you need any more 
 evidence, drop a line to me. I will give you 
 my address," said Roy. "What made you 
 back away from me when I got off my wheel 
 
 26
 
 402 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 and walked toward you ? Did you think I 
 was a ghost?" 
 
 " I ain't quite sure that there is such things 
 as ghosts in the world," replied Tony, ' ' though 
 in my time I've talked to more'n one who has 
 seen 'em ; but wouldn't you feel kinder oneasy 
 under them circumstances? We took you 
 aboard the ship a purpose, like we told you, 
 but we didn't do it to get you used like you 
 was." 
 
 "Then you knew that ship was the White 
 Squall, and that she was not going into the 
 harbor for shelter ? " said Joe. 
 
 " Course we did, sir. What would any craft 
 want to run from a fair sailing wind like that 
 for ? We knew she was going to sea, and was 
 in a hurry to get you aboard so't you could 
 get the money we thought you wanted. We 
 thought it kinder queer 'cause you didn't give 
 the cap'n the order when I give him the letter, 
 but Ave didn't mistrust anything till we seen 
 you go overboard. Of course we knew before 
 that, that we had all been shanghaied ; but 
 what I mean is, that we never mistrusted till 
 then that mebbe you wasn't Kowe Shelly.
 
 CONCLUSION. 403 
 
 We didn't think he'd have the pluck to jump 
 overboard, for he isn't much of a boy forgoing 
 a swimming. When we was running into 
 Plymouth some of them Bethel fellers flung 
 a lot of papers aboard of us, and me and Bob 
 happened to get hold of one that told us all 
 about it, only it didn't say anything about 
 Rowe Shelly. Ain't your name Peter Smith ? " 
 
 "Not much," replied Roy, with a laugh. 
 " But I am the fellow who jumped overboard, 
 all the same. Now, what induced you two to 
 tramp back to New London instead of ship- 
 ping on some vessel that would take you 
 there?" 
 
 "There are two reasons for it," answered 
 Tony. "In the first place, there wasn't no 
 ship in port that was going where we wanted 
 to go ; and in the next, we've had enough of 
 the water and thought we'd like to stay on 
 shore for a spell. You see, we ain't by no 
 means as young as we used to be, and can't 
 stand the hard knocks as well. We never got 
 a blow after we was drove for'ard that night, 
 'cause we know what a sailor man's duty is 
 and we done it ; but them was a rough lot of
 
 404 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 officers, I tell you. Do you know where Howe 
 Shelly is now ?" 
 
 " I am sorry to say we don't," replied Ar- 
 thur. " We hoped to hear from him before 
 this time, but if he has written us, the letter 
 hasn't caught up with us. But we can tell you 
 one thing : when you get back to the island 
 you'll not find matters as they were when you 
 left. My two friends here saw Rowe, mistook 
 him for me just as Willis and Babcock mistook 
 me for Rowe, had a long talk with him, and 
 put some ideas into his head. Colonel Shelly 
 will have to give up Rowe's money and get 
 out of that you'll see ; and if Captain Shelly 
 is still alive, he will come to that island and 
 take possession." 
 
 Joe Wayring and his friends spent the best 
 part of the afternoon in Tony's company and 
 Bob's, and did not take leave of them until 
 they had learned as much of Rowe Shell y's 
 history as the men were able to tell them. They 
 also asked after Captain Jack ; but that worthy 
 and his mates had disappeared the moment the 
 Sarah West had reached the wharf at Ply- 
 mouth, and Tony could not say where they
 
 CONCLUSION. 405 
 
 were. No doubt they had gone to New Lon- 
 don on the cars, while the foremast hands, hav- 
 ing no money at their command, had to ship 
 again as soon as they could, or turn tramps for 
 a season as Tony and Bob had done. Roy gave 
 them his address, advised them to use all the 
 means in their power to open communication 
 
 9 
 
 with Howe when they reached the city, and 
 stand by to aid him in getting his rights ; and 
 then he and his friends shared their small stock 
 of money with them, and once more turned 
 their faces toward Mount Airy." 
 
 4 'Didn't I tell you that you were taken 
 aboard the White Squall on purpose ? " said 
 Joe, as they shot around the first bend in the 
 road and left the sailers out of sight. " I guess 
 you are willing to believe it now." 
 
 " And I think you are equally willing to be- 
 lieve that I was right when I said that Tony 
 and Bob were shanghaied the same as I was," 
 retorted Roy. " That man Willis is a schemer 
 from way back. I shall always think that the 
 easiest way for him to get out of his difficulty 
 would have been to sencl me ashore, as I 
 thought he was going to do. I never would
 
 406 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 have made Mm trouble, for up to the time I 
 was sent aboard that ship I was treated as well 
 as I wanted to be." 
 
 " I think Willis was afraid he would lose his 
 situation if he told the colonel that he had 
 made a mistake, captured the wrong boy, and 
 given Howe a chance to get away," said Ar- 
 thur. 
 
 "I don't see why he should be, for if I un- 
 derstand the situation, his employer would not 
 dare discharge him," continued Roy. " For 
 some reason or other Willis made up his mind 
 that the only thing he could do was to get rid 
 of me ; he was afraid to hire Tony and Bob to 
 take me aboard that ship and leave me there, 
 for that would give them a hold upon him ; 
 so he thought the best way was to get rid of 
 the whole of us in a lump. I will say this 
 much for Willis : he came pretty near doing 
 it. I felt tolerable mad at Tony and Bob when 
 you fellows suggested that they had been hired 
 to have me kidnapped, and here I've gone and 
 divided my last dollar with them." 
 
 " And we felt just as angry at Howe for get- 
 ting you into a scrape, and yet we are ready to
 
 CONCLUSION. 407 
 
 standby Mm," said Joe. "On the whole, I 
 am satisfied with wat we have done on this 
 trip." 
 
 I thought he had reason to be. There was 
 no one along the route who knew what Joe had 
 done to avert that railroad disaster, but the 
 folks at home had been posted before this time. 
 On the day they left Plymouth Arthur and 
 Roy mailed the full details of Joe's "Wild 
 Ride," but the latter knew nothing of it until 
 a week had passed, and they stopped for the 
 night at a railway station where they found 
 their trunks and a package of mail waiting 
 for them. When Joe glanced at his mother's 
 letter beginning: "My dear boy, how could 
 you do it ? I am frightened every time I think 
 of it," and the first line of Uncle Joe's, which 
 ran: "I am proud of my brave namesake. 
 You have covered yourself with glory enough 
 for one summer, and had better come home and 
 relieve your mother's anxiety," he knew just 
 what had been going on, and congratulated 
 himself on having escaped return orders until 
 his face was toward Mount Airy. All he said 
 to his friends was :
 
 408 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 " You fellows spread ink a trifle too freely 
 while we were in Plymouth. If I had sus- 
 pected it, I would have dropped the pair of 
 you over the end of the pier like a couple of 
 kittens." 
 
 "Perhaps that wouldn't have been so easy, 
 either," replied Arthur. "More than twenty 
 days' steady wheeling has brought us a toler- 
 able muscle, I want you to remember. But 
 what's the odds? It was bound to come out, 
 and Roy and I kept still about it until we were 
 homeward bound. When you write all you've 
 got to do is to tell Uncle Joe we're coming." 
 
 Joe wrote that very night, and his letter 
 contained a complete history of Roy's doings 
 in New London harbor, and told how Arthur 
 had come near getting them into serious trou- 
 ble by shooting Matt Coyle's watch-dogs. He 
 omitted nothing, and when he finished, he 
 flattered himself that he had described the 
 thing in language so graphic that Roy and 
 Arthur would be invited to expedite their 
 return. 
 
 The next time they came up with their let- 
 ters, they also found papers containing some
 
 CONCLUSION. 409 
 
 surprising as well as gratifying intelligence. 
 Every man in the Buster band, including Matt 
 Coyle and his gang of train -wreckers, had been 
 arrested and put under lock and key. Acting 
 upon the advice given him by the young 
 wheelmen, Mr. Holmes had gone to New Lon- 
 don and identified his property ; that is, the 
 implements that had been used to force that 
 big rock from its bed and roll it upon the 
 track. It was by his suggestion (which in the 
 first place came from one of our three friends, 
 as you will remember) that a couple of officers, 
 disguised as tramp hunters, came to Glen's 
 Falls and proceeded to "spot" every man 
 they wanted. More strange tramps came in at 
 intervals, and when the officers, for that was 
 what they really were, were nearly equal in 
 number to the law-breakers, they "corralled 
 the whole business and ran them in." To 
 quote from Roy Sheldon, who was so highly 
 excited that he wanted to yell, it was a 
 "pretty slick scheme," and by the time Matt 
 was through serving the sentence that would 
 surely be passed upon him, they would no 
 longer stand in any fear of him, for they
 
 410 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 would be big enough to punch his head if he 
 didn't let them alone. 
 
 " But I am really afraid our friend Bigden 
 will see fun now," said Roy, in conclusion. 
 "If Matt gets half a chance he will tell all he 
 knows." 
 
 "I don't believe the things he did in the 
 Indian Lake country will be brought against 
 him," said Joe." "He'll come in for trying 
 to wreck the train ; and by the time he has 
 been punished for that, he won' t want to get 
 into any more scrapes," 
 
 "And where will we come in? Look here, 
 Bub," exclaimed Roy, shaking his finger at 
 Joe. "When you took that unworthy revenge 
 upon Art and me, and told your mother what 
 we have done and suffered since we have been 
 on the road, you told her that we laid in the 
 bushes and heard all Matt and his fellow 
 rascals had to say, didn' t you ? I thought as 
 much. Well, that will be sure to come out, 
 with all the rest of the things, and the last one 
 of us will be subpoenaed. If any one of us 
 spread ink too freely, you are the man." 
 
 "I didn't see Matt that night," protested
 
 CONCLUSION. 411 
 
 Joe, "for it was so dark I couldn't see any- 
 body." 
 
 "No matter, you heard his voice. You will 
 be called upon to tell how you knew it was his 
 voice, and all that, and the first thing you 
 know there'll be something wormed out of you 
 that you don't mean to tell." 
 
 Joe Wayring did not like to think about 
 that, but still he did not eat or sleep any the 
 less for fear of it. He enjoyed the homeward 
 run and so did his friends, for they had done 
 what they set out to do, and more too. 
 They stopped for one night at the Lafayette 
 House, and spent the evening at the Academy 
 of Music ; but there was no detective waiting 
 to take one of them by the arm when they 
 came out, and neither did they meet any one 
 who could give them any information concern- 
 ing Rowe Shelly. They sent a despatch to 
 their parents, telling where they were, and 
 when they would be home, and the result was 
 that about three miles out of Moun Airy they 
 found a delegation of wheelmen waiting for 
 them. Of course the drug-store crowd was not 
 represented, but Tom Bigden and his cousins
 
 412 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 were there. Joe thought he knew what Tom 
 had come for, and was made sure of it when 
 Tom ranged alongside of him, after a short 
 halt had been made and the hand-shaking was 
 over, and in a roundabout way began making 
 inquiries concerning Matt Coyle. Joe was 
 sorry he couldn't tell much about him, but he 
 said enough to set Tom's fears at rest. He 
 declared not as if he thought Tom had the 
 least interest in the matter, but merely as an 
 item of news that he would not prosecute 
 Matt for stealing his canoe or tying him to a 
 tree, because he would have enough to answer 
 for when he was brought up for putting that 
 rock on the railroad track. Joe was not 
 revengeful, but he did want to see the squatter 
 punished for that. 
 
 It is hardly necessary to add that Tom Bigden 
 breathed easier after his talk with Joe, and 
 when he left the latter at his gate and told him 
 he was glad he and his friends had had an en- 
 joyable run and come safely home, in spite of 
 everybody and everything that had tried to 
 hinder them, the words came from his heart. 
 Tom had been on nettles ever since he read in
 
 CONCLUSION. 413 
 
 the papers that Matt was still alive, and in a 
 fair way to be brought to justice, and although 
 he felt relieved, he knew he would not sleep 
 soundly until Matt' s trial was over and prison 
 doors had closed upon him. 
 
 " Six hundred and forty -two miles in thirty- 
 five days," said Joe, when he had kissed his 
 mother and shaken hands with every one who 
 was on the back porch. "A little over eigh- 
 teen miles a day. That wouldn't be anything 
 to brag of if the roads had been good all the 
 way ; but when you take the mountains and 
 long patches of sand into consideration " 
 
 " And Matt Coyle and the train-wreckers," 
 added Uncle Joe. 
 
 " They didn't delay us any to speak of," re- 
 plied the young wheelman, " but that Roy 
 Sheldon, with his black eyes and lame arm, did. 
 Well, I' m glad to get back, and why don' t you 
 say you are glad to see me ? " 
 
 Every one of them had said so more than 
 once, for I had heard them, and besides, they 
 showed it very plainly by their actions. Every- 
 body in town was glad to see him, and he had 
 so much visiting to do that for a time I was
 
 414 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 entirely neglected. One morning I had a 
 chance to say "hello!" to the Canvas Canoe 
 and Fly-rod as they were carried across the 
 porch and down the path that led to the lake, 
 and when they returned at dark I exchanged a 
 few words with them before they were taken up- 
 stairs. In as few words as possible I told them 
 where I had been and what I had seen during 
 my long absence, and in return Fly-rod told 
 me that he had that day seen two old acquaint- 
 ances ; or as he expressed it, "the whole of 
 one and a part of the other." 
 
 "In the show-case in which I stood before 
 Joe Wayring bought me, were a couple of 
 high-priced lads, a split-bamboo and a double- 
 barrel shot-gun, who wouldn't say a civil word 
 to me because I was worth only six dollars and 
 a half," said Fly-rod, with a ring of triumph 
 in his tones. " The gun was purchased by a 
 dude who went into the woods because it was 
 fashionable, and the bamboo became the prop- 
 erty of one of the handsomest little girls you 
 ever saw. Well, I saw that rod to-day lying 
 flat in the mud, while his owner was paddling 
 in the water Avith bare feet. He was rusted all
 
 CONCLUSION. 415 
 
 over where there was anything to rust, and you 
 could see daylight between his ribs where they 
 had been glued together. He was ashamed to 
 speak to me, for he had boasted that he was 
 going to Canada to do battle with the lordly 
 salmon. A little while afterward we heard a 
 booming up the lake and saw a commotion in 
 a boat whose crew were engaged in shooting 
 wood-ducks. The Canvas Canoe took us up 
 there in a hurry, and we found that a gun had 
 burst in the hands of one of the part} 7 the very 
 dude who bought that double- barrel shot-gun. 
 There wasn 1 1 much left of the gun, nothing but 
 the stock and locks, in fact, but I knew him. 
 The dude wasn't hurt, for a wonder, but he 
 was mad, and the minute he recovered from 
 the fright into which he had been thrown, he 
 grabbed the wreck of that gun and sent it as 
 for as he could into the bushes. Here / am, 
 sound as a dollar, thanks to the good treatment 
 I have received, supple as ever and ready to 
 catch another black bass any time I am called 
 upon." 
 
 The next thing that interested me was hear- 
 ing a letter from Howe Shelly read on the
 
 416 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 porch. He hadn't written before for the very 
 good reason that he had nothing to say; and 
 although he had plenty now, lie had no time 
 to say it, for he was going after his father and 
 mother who were alive and well, but poor 
 owing to ill health. He went into hiding, as 
 Joe said he did, and found a lawyer to interest 
 himself in his case ; but although the latter 
 went to work very quietly, Colonel Shelly and 
 Willis and Benny had taken the alarm and 
 cleared out. His parents had been advertised 
 for and found, and Howe was going to them 
 by the first train. He would have more to tell 
 them in .his next letter, and wanted them, one 
 and all, to get ready to visit him the minute he 
 sent them word. He owed them everything 
 he had, or was going to have, and they would 
 see that he wasn't the boy to forget such 
 things. 
 
 And neither did Roy Sheldon forget those 
 men on the lightship. Of course they did 
 nothing more than their duty when they pulled 
 Roy out of the water and took care of him, but 
 that did, not lessen the boy's gratitude nor his 
 father's, either. Mr. Sheldon made it his busi-
 
 CONCLUSION. 417 
 
 ness to drop into a bank shortly after Roy 
 came home, and when he left it those old sea 
 dogs had a handsome sum of money to draw 
 on, though they were advised to let it accu- 
 mulate so that they would have something to 
 fall back upon when they became too old to 
 attend to the lightship. 
 
 Before I went into winter quarters I had the 
 satisfaction of knowing that everything had 
 turned out just as Joe Wayring and his friends 
 wished. Howe Shelly found his parents and 
 easily established their identity, with his law- 
 yer' s help, and the rascally guardian, as well 
 as those who aided him in keeping the boy out 
 of his rights, w T ere overhauled before they had 
 left the city many miles behind; but they were 
 not brought to trial. They simply surren- 
 dered their ill-gotten gains, Captain Shelly 
 took quiet possession of his island home, and 
 that was the end of the matter so far as they 
 were concerned; but the gossips had some- 
 thing to talk about for weeks afterward. Joe 
 Wayring and his friends were not needed 
 when Matt Coyle was brought before the court 
 in Bloomingdale, for those tramp detectives 
 
 27
 
 4l8 THE STEEL HORSE. 
 
 had all the evidence they wanted to send him 
 and his gang to prison. Then Tom Bigden 
 felt safe, and I hope he has turned over a new 
 leaf as he has often promised to do. Although 
 every one in Mount Airy heard of the things 
 that George Prime threw up to him, there were 
 few who believed them, thanks to the way Joe 
 and his chums stuck to him through thick and 
 thin. 
 
 A few days ago Howe Shelly wrote that he 
 was ready and waiting for Joe and the "rest 
 of his crowd," and the sooner they came to see 
 him the better he would like it. They will 
 accept the invitation for the coming holidays; 
 and if I am any judge of boys' tastes they will 
 find few topics of conversation that will be of 
 more interest to them than the incidents I 
 have attempted to describe in my story, and 
 which happened during THE RAMBLES OF A 
 BICYCLE. 
 
 THE END.
 
 FAMOUS STANDARD 
 JUVENILE LIBRARIES, 
 
 'ANY VOLUME SOLD SEPARATELY AT $1.00 PER VOLUME 
 
 (Except the Sportsman's Club Series, Frank Nelson Series and 
 
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 Each Volume Illustrated. J2mo. Cloth. 
 
 HORATIO ALGER, JR. 
 
 THE enormous sales of the books of Horatio Alger, Jr., 
 show the greatness of his popularity among the boys, and 
 prove that he is one of their most favored writers. I am told 
 that more than half a million copies altogether have been 
 sold, and that all the large circulating libraries in the country 
 have several complete sets, of which only two or three vol- 
 umes are ever on the shelves at one time. If this is true, 
 what thousands and thousands of boys have read and are 
 reading Mr. Alger's books ! His peculiar style of stories, 
 often imitated but never equaled, have taken a hold upon the 
 young people, and, despite their similarity, are eagerly read 
 as soon as they appear. 
 
 Mr. Alger became famous with the publication of that 
 undying book, "Ragged Dick, or Street Life in New York." 
 It was his first book for young people, and its success was so 
 great that he immediately devoted himself to that kind of 
 writing. It was a new and fertile field for a writer then, and 
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 boys. "Ragged Dick" first appeared in 1868, and ever since 
 then it has been selling steadily, until now it is estimated 
 that about 200,000 copies of the series have been sold. 
 
 Pleasant Hours for Boys and Girls,
 
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