Dave Porter and His Rivals/Chapter 26
CHAPTER XXVI
A DASH FOR LIBERTY
When Dave regained his senses he found himself in the tonneau of a big automobile that was speeding swiftly over a dark country road. On either side of him sat a person who was masked, and in front were two persons whose faces he could not see. His hands were tied behind him, and his ankles were made fast to the foot-rest in the bottom of the tonneau.
He wondered where he was being taken, but knew it would be useless to ask any questions. How long he had been unconscious he did not know, but felt it must have been a considerable time, for it was now night, and whenever they passed a farmhouse it was without lights, showing the occupants had gone to bed.
Dave fully realized that he was in a position of peril. His enemies had treated him in an outrageous fashion, and what they proposed to do next there was no telling. He felt that he must escape if it could possibly be accomplished.
He had roused up a little, but now deemed it best to let the others think he was still unconscious. Accordingly, he uttered a deep sigh, and then slipped further down on the seat, and let his head fall forward on his breast.
"Pretty well dosed," he heard one of the party murmur, and now he was sure he recognized Nick Jasniff's voice.
"Say, Shime, I hope you didn't give him too much of the drug," said another of the party, and Dave felt certain it was Link Merwell who was speaking. "If he shouldn't recover"
"Oh, he'll come around all right enough," growled the man called Shime. He was running the automobile, and now Dave was able to place him as a fellow who worked around a livery stable and garage in Rockville. Shime was a drinking man, and his reputation was far from an enviable one.
"How much further have we to go?" asked Jasniff, after a few minutes of silence.
"Not far," answered the driver of the automobile. "We'll take to the side road now. Hold fast, it's pretty rough," and then the touring car turned off the main highway and began bumping over the rocks and ruts of a narrow wood road. The way was uphill, and the driver had to throw in his second speed to gain the top of the rise. Then the car made a sharp turn, and halted in front of a stone building.
"Is this the place?" asked Jasniff.
"Yes," answered Shime. "Wait till I light a lantern, and then you can bring him in."
"I shall have to care for him when we are in the house," said the fourth person of the party who had carried Dave off. It was Doctor Montgomery, and his breath was thick from liquor.
Still thinking he might get a chance to escape if he made out that he was unconscious, Dave hung limp in the automobile, and allowed his captors to lift him out and place him on the ground. Then he was carried into the stone building and placed on a bench.
"You certainly dosed him strongly," said Hooker Montgomery. "I had better make an examination. Loosen up his hands and feet."
A little bit alarmed, Jasniff and Merwell set to work and released Dave from his bonds. In the meantime Shime had lit a lantern, and placed it on a rough table. Doctor Montgomery got out a medicine case, and began to mix up a potion in a glass.
"This ought to bring him around," he said, in a thick, unsteady voice.
Dave did not dare to look around, but by the draught in the room he knew that the door must have been left open, probably to give him more air. He did not think the disreputable physician was in any condition to administer his medicines, and he did not propose to swallow any if he could avoid it.
"I must escape," he thought, and with a moan, as if in great pain, he twisted around, and opened his eyes for an instant.
That instant was long enough for him to locate the doorway, and beyond he made out a stretch of woodland, lit up by the lamps of the automobile. Between him and the doorway stood Merwell and Jasniff, with Shime and the doctor on the other side.
"Shall I hold his head, doctor?" asked Merwell. "Maybe he won't be able to swallow if"
Merwell got no further, for just then Dave leaped to his feet with an agility that surprised even himself. Stiff though he was, he ran at Merwell, hurling him flat. Then he bumped into Jasniff, who made a weak attempt to stop him. The two swung around, and Jasniff was sent crashing into the table, knocking over the lantern. Then Dave leaped for the doorway.
"Stop him!"
"He must not get away!"
"Ouch! Don't step on me!" came from Link Merwell. He was on his back, and Jasniff's foot had landed on his stomach.
The four rascals had been taken completely by surprise. As the lantern fell it went out, and in his endeavor to get to the doorway, Shime bumped into Jasniff. The doctor ran into the bench, and his glass of medicine went splashing into Merwell's face, eliciting another protest from that bully.
Dave did not care about what happened in the building. His one thought was to get away, for he fully realized that in a hand-to-hand encounter he would be no match for his four enemies.
Had he had time he might have jumped into the automobile, and started up the machine. But he was afraid to risk this, and so ran down the wood road a short distance, and then plunged into the bushes. He did not stop there, but kept on, until he calculated that he was a full quarter of a mile from the stone building.
"I don't think they can follow me to here, at least not in the darkness," he told himself.
He stopped to rest and to consider what he had best do next. The effects of the drug were now entirely gone, and he felt once more like himself.
"I ought to have the whole crowd locked up," he reasoned. "But it would be the testimony of one against four, and they would most likely deny everything."
He went on again, and presently came out on the main highway. As he did this he saw the flash of some lamps in the distance. He crouched down behind some bushes, and a minute later saw the automobile whizz by, with his enemies in it.
"They are going back," he reasoned. "I suppose now I have gotten away from them, Merwell and Jasniff will return to the academy as fast as they can, and Shime and the doctor will return to Rockville; and they'll all play the innocent."
As he walked on, Dave wondered what the plot against him was. He felt convinced that carrying him off was only the beginning of it.
"Well, whatever it was, I nipped it in the bud," he thought. "Perhaps some day I'll find out all about it,—some day when I can corner one or another of that rascally bunch. I take it that Shime and Montgomery are simply in the employ of Jasniff and Merwell. Both of them are hard drinkers and willing to do almost anything to get a few dollars."
Not far down the highway Dave passed a signboard which told him that Rockville was ten miles away.
"I can't walk ten miles," he thought. "I had better see if I can't get accommodations at some farmhouse, and then drive over to the school after breakfast."
With this idea in view he kept on, until he reached a spot where the railroad crossed the highway. As he did this he saw a freight train standing near a siding where a milk car was to be taken on.
"Does this train go to Oakdale?" he asked, of one of the hands.
"Yes, but it isn't a passenger train," was the reply.
"Can't you take me along?" questioned Dave. "I wish to get to Oakdale very much, and without delay."
The train hand looked Dave over by the light of his lantern. He saw that the youth was no tramp.
"All right, get in the caboose," he said. "But it will cost you a smoke."
"I haven't any cigars, but you can buy yourself some," answered Dave, and passed over a quarter of a dollar, which the train hand pocketed with satisfaction.
Soon the train was under way, and in less than half an hour they reached the siding at Oakdale, and there Dave jumped off. By his watch the lad saw that it was three o'clock Sunday morning. Without delay he struck off on foot for the school. As he hurried on he wondered what he had best do on arriving at Oak Hall. Should he rouse up Doctor Clay and tell the master the whole story, or would it be better to say nothing and await developments?
"If I say anything there will be a great hullabaloo, but it won't prove anything," he reasoned. "Merwell and Jasniff will deny everything, and so will Shime, and that fake doctor might take it into his head to sue me for slander. No, I'll fight my own battles, and see if I can't corner them on my own hook. But I'll tell Phil and Roger."
Arriving at the school grounds, Dave wondered how he was going to get in without being observed. He tried all the doors, to find each locked.
"If I ring the bell I'll have to explain matters," he said to himself. "I'll see if I can't rouse up some of the fellows."
He walked around to the window of No. 11, and threw several handsful of gravel up against the glass. At first there was no response, but presently the window was raised, and Roger's head appeared.
"Is that you, Dave?" asked the senator's son, in a low voice.
"Yes, Roger. Will you slip down and let me in."
"Sure thing. Will the side door do?"
"Yes."
No more was said, and the window was closed. Dave hurried to the door mentioned, and a moment later Roger opened it, and he entered. Then both hurried upstairs, making as little noise as possible.
"What kept you so long?" asked the senator's son, while Dave was undressing.
"I'll tell you and Phil in the morning," was Dave's reply. "I've got a yarn to spin you will hardly believe." And then he went to bed. But it was a long time before he was able to drop asleep, and then his dreams were little short of a nightmare.
It was not until Sunday afternoon that Dave got a chance to tell his two chums the particulars of what had occurred. They listened with keen attention to all he said, and the face of each plainly expressed his amazement.
"That's the worst ever!" was Roger's comment. "What were they going to do with you, Dave?"
"I don't know."
"I believe it was some deep-laid plot," said Phil. "Your getting away spoiled it all."
"For them, yes,—but not for me," answered Dave, with something of a grin. "I don't know what I escaped, but I am mighty glad I got away."
"What about your bicycle?" asked the senator's son. "Aren't you going to try to get that back?"
"Certainly,—and I am going to interview that Doctor Montgomery, too,—if I can catch him. But I want you two to go along," answered Dave. He was glad to take it easy for the rest of the day. On Monday, after school, the three boys went to Rockville on bicycles, Dave borrowing a wheel belonging to Buster. They rode straight to the Dunn house, to find it locked up tightly. In the yard was Dave's machine, standing against the tree as he had left it.
"I guess the doctor has come and gone," said Dave, after trying all the doors. "Most likely he'll make himself scarce for a while."
"Why not interview that fellow Shime?" suggested Phil.
"I will," answered Dave, and taking the extra wheel along, the three students rode around to the Rockville livery stable and garage. Here Dave asked the proprietor about Shime.
"He has gone," said the man, sourly. "Day before yesterday he took one of my best autos for a joy ride. When he came back this morning I discharged him. He took his things and got out—and I don't know where he went to."
This was as much as the garage owner could tell, and with it Dave had to be content. He and his chums turned away; and a little later set out on the return to Oak Hall.