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“All right, Landis,” the young Fortress skipper decided. “We’ll do that. And we’ll take Crayle along whether he wants to come or not. We can all testify that he is not behaving like a sane man. Drain off that gas, Mister, and let’s get away from here the minute it’s transferred to our tanks.” The crew of the stranded b...
“Look out!” yelled a member of his crew. “Here come the Japs—they’re on to us!” The droning of airplane engines swelled to a snarling roar. Over the treetops came a twin-engined _Mitsubishi_ bomber, but she was not heading toward the two B-26’s. Evidently she had just taken off from Tanimbar on patrol, with no idea tha...
Barry’s team was already inside. His Marauder’s engines bellowed. Like a startled seagull she swept down the long, straight beach. As Barry lifted her into the air he saw the Mitsubishi coming back. “Good grief!” he gasped. “She’s going over Crayle’s plane at a thousand feet.... She’s going to _bomb_ as well as strafe ...
Leaning hard on the controls, Barry fairly whipped his plane around. Already Chick Enders was firing his bow gun. The two weapons in the top turret were raving. “Riddle the Jap!” Barry shouted. “Don’t let him drop that egg—Oh-h-h!” The slender, deadly shape of a falling bomb had caught his eye. To the agonized nerves o...
“Catch the Nip before he loses himself in the clouds!” Chick Enders muttered, reaching for a new belt of ammunition. “He’s trying to run from us, and that’s his only chance.” “He won’t make it, Chick,” Barry replied through clenched teeth. “We’re more than a hundred miles faster.... You boys in the turret—start ripping...
All at once a great ball of flame appeared just behind the Jap’s wings, and his nose dropped seaward. Swathed in fire, he plummeted into the water. Barry banked sharply, turning back toward the island. The bombed B-26 was blazing on the beach. At the jungle’s edge a lone figure lay motionless. “They’re all dead, Skippe...
Barry swung away in a big circle and came in toward the end of the beach. The others of his team realized what he intended; he was going to land, regardless of risk, to save the neck of a coward who had deserted his fighting crew-mates. At best it meant that they all would fail to reach Port Darwin on the gas that woul...
“It _would_ be!” Chick bitterly exclaimed. “I always knew a hot pilot of his stripe would be a quitter when the real test came.” Barry Blake said nothing as he helped his crew turn the plane around for a quick take-off. He was wondering whether Crayle’s dazed manner was real or faked. A trickle of blood from the pilot’...
“Let me, Skipper!” Fred Marmon said, taking Barry’s place. “I’ve been feeling useless ever since that _Mitsubishi_ torched down.” Despite their awkward burden, they broke into a run, conscious that any second might bring the snarling of Zero engines overhead, and a hail of tracer bullets. Barry, first into the belly ha...
Again and again Barry’s plane was needled by bullets. Twice she received shell hits as she roared up toward the sheltering cloud ceiling. A second Zero fell away with his engine smoking. Then a shell hit Mickey Rourke’s tail gun. Barry heard the little Irishman’s yell over the intercom, and guessed its meaning. He zoom...
A moment later he gave the compass course. Barry, who was flying due southwest, made the necessary correction. “How far is the island we’re aiming at?” he asked. “About a hundred miles,” Curly told him. “It’s not one island, but a nest of little ones. The Japs are less likely to have them guarded.” “Good reasoning,” Ba...
“Skipper,” said Hap Newton solemnly, “I wish I had half of your brains. In your place, I’d probably have tried to land. Of course, the Japs would spot the plane sooner or later, and the hunt would be on. This way we’ll have a swell chance of foxing them.” “We’ll still be three hundred miles from Port Darwin,” Chick End...
There were no more wisecracks. Barry’s crew obeyed orders without wasting a motion, and waited quietly for the next development. Only Hap Newton spoke during those last minutes of flight. “I’ll take care of Crayle, Skipper,” he said. “He’ll be easy to handle, dazed as he is. I’ll inflate his lifejacket and boost him th...
The ocean, Barry noted with thankfulness, was calm, except for a long, smooth ground swell. He must time his landing so as to set his ship down in the middle of a watery valley. Thus he could kill her forward motion against the waning slope of the swell ahead, and the shell-torn bomber might float for a good many secon...
Every man in the plane except Crayle held his breath. The next seconds seemed age-long. Then came the shock. Fixtures flew from the bulkhead above the radio panel. Green water poured in through the shell holes in the bomb bay. It roused the half-stunned men to desperate action. Hap Newton had already sprung the rubber ...
Chick Enders was the fourth man out, Curly Levitt the fifth. They crouched on the slippery, rolling fuselage, and reached down to take Crayle’s limp weight from Hap Newton and Barry. “Hurry, you two!” Chick shouted. “This crate’s sinking fast.” Salt water was already three feet deep in the cockpit, as Barry turned shar...
For the first and only time, Hap Newton was guilty of an act of mutiny. He seized Barry in a gorilla-like grip and literally hurled him through the opening overhead. “You’re worth three of me, Skipper,” he panted, “in everything but pounds!” On top of the waterlogged plane, Barry twisted himself around like a cat, to f...
“My feet!” the co-pilot gasped. “They’re tangled in a parachute harness or something. Don’t wait for me, Skipper!” Barry grabbed the bigger man beneath the arms. His feet found a purchase on the hatch combing. With every muscle of his body straining, he added his strength to Hap Newton’s. “Now,” the thought wrenched at...
They broke surface together, gasping, not far from one of the rafts. Fred Marmon’s whoop of joy blended with the splash of paddles. “The plane—where’d it go?” Hap Newton gulped. “To Davy Jones’s locker!” Fred answered as he reached past Crayle to grasp the co-pilot’s hand. “We thought it had sucked you and the Skipper ...
CHAPTER NINETEEN THE CATAMARAN Chick Enders and Curly Levitt pulled Barry onto their raft. “Great guns, Skipper!” the little bombardier exclaimed. “I never was so glad to see anything as I was to spot your headgear poking up out of that swell!”
“Chick cut our line just in time,” Curly remarked, “or the ship’s plunge would have spilled us into the pond, too. And, speaking of water, I hope we find a spring on that island when we reach it tonight. Nobody ever thought to bring along anything to drink, unless Mickey Rourke has a canteen in that bundle of his.” “I ...
Rourke pulled the little oilskin-wrapped container from his bundle and handed it to Barry. “Here it is, sir,” he said with a grin. “I’m sorry I’m not a real sleight-of-hand artist, so I could produce a glass of ice water just as easy.” Barry’s left eyelid flickered in a mysterious wink. Pulling out his water-soaked aut...
While the others watched, open mouthed, Barry turned to a small, waterproofed case attached to the side of the raft. Opening it he drew out an object that looked like a small alcohol stove built on futuristic lines. “Here’s our water supply,” he said, holding it up. “You put seawater in _there_ and a little can of fuel...
Reaching into the case again he brought out a sealed, three-pound can. Under the amazed eyes of his three companions, he opened it to show a complete fishing outfit of hooks, lines and dried bait. There was even a small steel spearhead for gaffing large fish. “We’ll use this right away,” the young skipper declared. “Si...
“We couldn’t be so wasteful, out of sight of land,” Curly Levitt observed. “We’d have to learn to eat our fish raw and like it.” “Which might not be so hard, after all, sir,” Mickey Rourke responded. “A sailor once told me he’d drifted for three weeks on a big raft with six other lads, and eaten raw fish three times a ...
“Haw, haw, haw!” howled Hap Newton, whose raft had drifted closer. “You bit, all right, Chick. You ought to know better than to match wits with an Irishman. So they _drank_ more fish when they got thirsty, huh! That’s the best joke I’ve heard since I was a dodo. How about it, Barry?” Barry Blake’s smile was not sympath...
“Now hold the can under this muslin while we wring out a fresh fish cocktail, Mickey,” he directed. From the cloth, strongly twisted by Barry and the little sergeant, a stream of watery liquid dribbled into the bait can. When no more would come, Barry threw out the squeezed fish meat and put in more diced pieces. The f...
“I take it all back, gentlemen,” he said. “I’ll never doubt your word again, Mickey, unless I see you wink behind my back. But please don’t ask me to guzzle your fish cocktail while I have a perfectly good still to make my own moonshine water. Pass me a match, Fred, and let’s get the thing started. I want to wet my whi...
As a matter of fact, the clouds thinned as evening approached. A stiff breeze sprang up, drifting the rafts so rapidly toward land that the paddles were no longer needed. As the last daylight faded a faint glow above the eastern horizon told that the moon was up. The rafts had been tied together all afternoon, to avoid...
“Sure, I knew me little tommy-gun would come in handy, Lieutenant,” Mickey Rourke muttered. “I’ll take the oilskin bag off and be ready when yez say, ‘Open fire!’” Tense moments passed. A patch of darkness blacker than the surrounding water moved into Barry’s range of vision. Mickey had seen it, too. He snuggled lower ...
Gusty sighs of relief went up from the bomber’s crew. “A girl! From the States!” they chorused. “So they want to look us over,” remarked Fred Marmon’s voice sententiously. “Well, _I’m a monkey’s uncle_!” Feminine laughter pealed in the darkness. There were two women in the strange boat and at least one white man, to ju...
“We’re the crew of an American bomber, forced down by lack of fuel this afternoon,” he explained. “We nearly turned a sub-machine gun on you people a minute ago, thinking you were Japs. If we hadn’t heard one of the ladies speak—” “That was Dora Wilcox,” another girl broke in. “She and her father had a mission station ...
There was no resisting the girl’s logic. Barry Blake quickly introduced his crew by name as they lifted Crayle into the native boat. He himself came aboard last, carrying his precious still and fishing tackle. The two rubber rafts were left to float ashore and mystify any Jap patrol that might find them. Dora Wilcox, h...
“Let us take the paddles, Miss Wilcox,” he said. “My crew will relieve your native boys until it’s time to hoist sail. Then perhaps we can figure out a way to beat the leeward drift.” “We’re at your orders from now on, Lieutenant,” the girl replied. “None of us is a navigator. If an American bomber crew can’t take us t...
The two native couples were quite young, in their ’teens or early twenties. As they sat relaxed, balancing with the boat’s dip and sway, their shapely black bodies would have thrilled any sculptor. Barry could imagine what capture by the Japs would mean to these children of nature—slavery, degradation, living death! Th...
“I’ll show you,” the young skipper smiled, looking straight into her eyes. “But please leave off the handle and call me Barry, won’t you?” “All right,” Dora Wilcox answered, with a twinkle in her eyes. “It’s easier to say.... Oh, Nanu! Hand me that coil of rope you’re sitting on.” With the help of his crew, Barry tied ...
“Splendid!” cried Claire Barrows. “All we need now is a chart and a compass to set the course. Which way is Port Darwin, anyway, Lieutenant Newton?” “I’ll be just plain ‘Hap’ to you, if you want me to live up to my nickname,” the big co-pilot retorted. “When it comes to finding directions, Curly Levitt is the lad to co...
CHAPTER TWENTY FLOATING WRECKAGE For the rest of the night, most of the catamaran’s company dozed or slept. The craft was amazingly steady for its size. Although low to the water, she was not particularly “wet.” The raised central platform on which her crew sat or sprawled caught only a feather of spray from time to ti...
“Every mile that we cover lessens our danger,” he declared, “and every unnecessary hour we spend in enemy waters increases it. I think it’s worth the risk to keep moving—especially in perfect sailing weather like this.” His companions agreed. There was risk, whichever way they turned, and to know that every hour cut th...
Thirty-caliber bullets peppered the catamaran. A few pierced the camouflage matting. Three or four, by some freak, chewed the mast half through at a point four feet above the decking. One struck the leg of Nanu, the steersman. The rest of the little slugs struck the log hulls or missed entirely. Glenn Crayle, who had r...
“We’ll all be k-killed,” she sobbed. “Like rats in a c-cage. I’m g-going to jump overboard and—” SMACK! Dora Wilcox slapped her friend hard across the mouth. “Stop it, Claire, this instant!” she commanded. “A fine example you’re setting Alua and Lehu. For shame!”
As Claire’s sobs quieted, Mickey’s voice reached the others from outside the shelter of mats. “The Jap is comin’ in low to see what he did to us,” the little sergeant reported. “I’ll play dead till the last second, and then pour it into him. He’s a _Nakajima_ single-engine job, equipped with floats.” The hum of the Jap...
“I hit him!” came Mickey’s whoop. “He’s zoomin’.... He’s goin’ into a stall.... His engine’s smokin’ and he’s goin’ to crash!” Without waiting for more, the catamaran’s company threw aside the concealing mats. They were just in time to see the _Nakajima_ end her tail-spin in a great splash and a burst of flame, less th...
“What’s that?” Barry cut in. “You wounded, Dora? Let me see what’s under that cloth!” The girl shook her head. Her face was pale, but the hand with which she pressed a folded towel to her left arm was perfectly steady. “See to Nanu first,” she replied. “Hurry—or I’ll do it myself. He’s lost too much blood already. You’...
The native boy’s wound was a clean puncture. The small-caliber, steel-jacketed bullet had passed through his thigh muscles just above the knee. Fortunately it had missed the larger artery and the blood had already begun to clot. Barry applied a cloth pad to each bullet hole, binding them tightly in place with strips of...
“We can go ashore there tonight, Barry,” he said. “With the sail hanging on the stump of the mast as it is now, we’ll drift toward that island at the rate of about one knot per hour. Everybody can keep out of sight under the mats and wreckage. We’ll tie the steering oar in place and let the wind do the rest....” “No!” ...
“Look there, Crayle,” he said, pointing to a black triangular fin that showed above the oncoming wave. “That shark is hungry. He smells blood. He’ll probably trail this boat till it lands—unless one of us falls overboard. Be quiet and behave yourself, or _you’ll be that one_!” Crayle’s mouth fell open. In sudden terror...
“Everybody under the mats!” he ordered. “There’s no telling when the next Jap plane will show up. Once we’re out of sight we can relax and eat a bit of lunch, if the ladies care to break into their supplies now.” Cocoanuts, bananas, smoked chicken and taro bread had been stored in the catamaran’s hollow hulls—enough to...
For a tense thirty seconds Barry’s party waited, and wondered if more bullets would come slashing through their thin fiber mats. Then the engines’ snarl faded to a distant droning. Their camouflage had worked! Not so pleasant was the thought that they would have to land on a beach patrolled by the enemy. If this island...
The sun was low in the west when two squadrons of heavy bombers approached at 20,000 feet. Even before the Jap ack-ack on the island cut loose, Barry’s party recognized them—_American Flying Fortresses and Liberators_! Peering up through the cracks in the camouflage, everyone aboard the catamaran raised a wild cheer. F...
When the two squadrons re-formed and wheeled majestically away into the evening sky, not a single shellburst followed them. The Jap antiaircraft was wiped out. Instead of ack-ack a vast pillar of smoke and flame mushroomed up from the smitten jungle. For some moments afterward no word was spoken aboard the drifting boa...
The night came swiftly, with no clouds to reflect the sun’s afterglow. This night there would be a brief interval between sunset and moonrise—just enough to let the catamaran paddle ashore unseen. The strong arms of Barry and his teammates made the most of it. Just as the moon’s silver rim peeped over the eastern horiz...
“If we were all fighting men, I’d agree with you, Dora,” he said. “As it is, you have no right to risk the lives of your people in order to stand by me and my crew. If a Jap patrol spots the catamaran while we’re gone, your job, and Mickey Rourke’s, is to fight clear of the beach and push out to sea. Never mind the res...
“Jap talk!” muttered the little bombardier. “Look! Isn’t that the mouth of a creek just beyond us? I think that’s where they are.” “You’re right, old Eagle-eye!” the skipper exclaimed. “Follow me, and don’t make a sound. I want to see what’s going on.” The voices grew louder as they advanced. The Japs, it appeared, wer...
This looked like a general exodus from the island. If that were the case it could mean only one thing: The bombing raid had smashed every installation of value at the air base, including the radio. It must have killed most of the personnel, too. These thirty or forty men could be only a small part of the air field’s gr...
------------------------------------------------------------------------ CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE PATCHED WINGS IN THE DAWN The trail was easy to follow in the moonlight. It followed the creek for about a mile, and ended at the edge of a huge open space. This had been, a few hours before, the Jap airfield. Now, in the dim li...
“There,” said Soapy Babbitt, pointing to a heap of coral blocks and rubble, “must be what’s left of the operations building. Probably the radio was there, too.” “What happened to the planes?” queried Chick Enders. “There must have been a lot of ’em caught on the ground, but I can’t see more than two or three wrecks fro...
Blasted, leafless trees that rimmed the field bore ghastly witness to the size of the bombs. Moonlight made the scene of destruction more horrible, with shadows that both concealed and exaggerated. Several times the searchers stumbled on fragments of bomb-torn corpses. One end of the field showed fewer bomb craters. It...
The planes, too, were unguarded. On closer inspection they proved to be hopeless wrecks. Fragmentation bombs had riddled the bombers with shrapnel holes, torn off wings, ripped the thin-skinned fuselages. Strangely enough, only two ships at one end of the line had burned. “No wonder the Nip survivors cleared out!” Curl...
“Curly,” he said soberly, “you’ve given me an idea. We _can_ build a plane with these parts, if the Japs will give us time. A few shell holes are nothing if the crate will fly. You fellows beat it back to the beach and bring the others here. We’ll rig up sleeping quarters for tonight and begin work at crack of dawn.......
“Humph!” snorted the bigger man. “It might be—if you could find somebody else to fly it. But even then I have a hunch the girls would make trouble. Claire wouldn’t leave without her father, and Dora wouldn’t leave without Claire. Of course neither Chick nor Curly nor I would leave without you, and nobody else except Cr...
The next four days and nights were one long, frantic battle against time, heat, and mechanical difficulties that only desperate men could have solved. The men snatched an hour or two of sleep when they could no longer keep awake. Even Crayle worked at filling in shell holes to make a runway—not willingly, but in fear o...
At last the repair job was finished—even the radio which they dared not test. The weary mechanics filled the big bomber’s gas tanks with fuel from other wrecks. They tested her engines and that of the _Kawasaki_ fighter. It was planned that Hap Newton should fly alone in the latter. Reaching Darwin a little ahead of th...
“We’ll lay off for an hour, friends,” Barry Blake croaked, as he wiped a dirty hand across his forehead. “Can’t afford to break down with success almost in sight. A cool drink and a rest will help us to finish the job by night....” He broke off as a distant hum of engines grew on the air. “Planes coming!” he yelled. “T...
Probably, Barry thought, they were scanning the island for signs of enemy activity. He wondered if they would notice the smooth strip at the edge of the bomb-pocked field. He was not left long in doubt. Three of the bombers peeled off and circled down in wide, slow spirals. They were wary, those Jap pilots, of another ...
Their progress was maddeningly slow, yet they dared not leave the bush. Once the enemy planes guessed their identity bullets would fly, and bombs would fall. “Crayle’s grabbed the tommy-gun, I’ll bet,” Chick Enders gasped as he fought to keep up with Barry. “The idiot _would_ pick a time like this. Oh-oh! There he is—i...
Nanu, sweating with the pain of his injured leg, grasped the _Kawasaki’s_ propeller and leaned his weight on it. Off balance, he slipped to his knees. The fall probably saved his life, for at that moment the engine coughed into life. Crayle did not wait for the engine to warm up.... Scarcely had Nanu dragged himself ou...
Barry turned around to find Dora and Claire Barrows bandaging Nanu’s re-opened wound. They appeared far more concerned over the suffering native boy than about Glenn Crayle’s flaming death. “How soon do you think we can get Nanu to a hospital, Barry?” the girl missionary queried anxiously. “This new loss of blood is li...
At breakfast time the next morning an excited radio officer telephoned the O.C. at Port Darwin airfield. “Message just received for you, sir,” he reported. “It purports to be sent by Lieutenant Barry Blake of the United States Army Air Forces, who’s been missing since the raid on Amboina. He says he is flying a _Mitsub...
Without warning Tex O’Grady’s voice rang in the crew’s earphones. “Dawg-gone you, Barry,” it said. “Where did you Fortress men get the idea that you could desert _Sweet Rosy O’Grady_ and go gallivanting off with a silly little B-26? No wonder you-all had to come home in a Jap crate! What happened, anyway?” “_Skipper!_”...
“Captain!” yelped Fred Marmon. “How are you, sir? And what’s the good news?” “Reef back, boys!” Tex O’Grady’s humorous drawl answered them. “I’m not answering questions until you come in and we have a chance to talk. But the news is this: Your part in finding and helping to smash the big Jap flotilla off New Guinea has...
Barry’s head felt queerly light, and the mention of “home” had brought a lump to his throat that would not go down. As if from a great distance he heard a strange voice speaking. “Permission to land is herewith granted,” the Australian O.C. said. “And may all your future landings be as happy as this one, _Captain_ Barr...
------------------------------------------------------------------------ NEW STORIES OF ADVENTURE AND MYSTERY Up-to-the-minute novels for boys and girls about Favorite Characters, all popular and well-known, including— INVISIBLE SCARLET O’NEIL
LITTLE ORPHAN ANNIE and the Gila Monster Gang BRENDA STARR, Girl Reporter DICK TRACY, Ace Detective TILLIE THE TOILER and the Masquerading Duchess
BLONDIE and Dagwood’s Adventure in Magic BLONDIE and Dagwood’s Snapshot Clue BLONDIE and Dagwood’s Secret Service JOHN PAYNE and the Menace at Hawk’s Nest
BETTY GRABLE and the House With the Iron Shutters BOOTS (of “Boots and Her Buddies”) and the Mystery of the Unlucky Vase ANN SHERIDAN and the Sign of the Sphinx JANE WITHERS and the Swamp Wizard
------------------------------------------------------------------------ The books listed above may be purchased at the same store where you secured this book. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ WHITMAN AUTHORIZED EDITIONS
JANE WITHERS and the Phantom Violin JANE WITHERS and the Hidden Room BONITA GRANVILLE and the Mystery of Star Island ANN RUTHERFORD and the Key to Nightmare Hall
POLLY THE POWERS MODEL: The Puzzle of the Haunted Camera JOYCE AND THE SECRET SQUADRON: A Captain Midnight Adventure NINA AND SKEEZIX (of “Gasoline Alley”): The Problem of the Lost Ring GINGER ROGERS and the Riddle of the Scarlet Cloak
SMILIN’ JACK and the Daredevil Girl Pilot APRIL KANE AND THE DRAGON LADY: A “Terry and the Pirates” Adventure DEANNA DURBIN and the Adventure of Blue Valley DEANNA DURBIN and the Feather of Flame
GENE AUTRY and the Thief River Outlaws RED RYDER and the Mystery of the Whispering Walls RED RYDER and the Secret of Wolf Canyon ------------------------------------------------------------------------
The books listed above may be purchased at the same store where you secured this book. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ THE EXCITING NEW FIGHTERS FOR FREEDOM SERIES Thrilling novels of war and adventure for modern boys and girls
Kitty Carter of the CANTEEN CORPS Nancy Dale, ARMY NURSE March Anson and Scoot Bailey of the U.S. NAVY Dick Donnelly of the PARATROOPS
Norma Kent of the WACS Sally Scott of the WAVES Barry Blake of the FLYING FORTRESS Sparky Ames and Mary Mason of the FERRY COMMAND
------------------------------------------------------------------------ The books listed above may be purchased at the same store where you purchased this book. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Transcriber’s note:
Some punctuation errors and minor spelling errors have been corrected without mention. A table of illustrations has been added immediately after the table of contents. page 11 - changed "goodnatured" to "good-natured" and page 22 - changed "good natured" to "good-natured" - other books in this series use "good-natured"...
page 159 - changed “Fortresses were now on the seene” to “Fortresses were now on the scene” page 225 - changed “Dora Wilcox had pointed their top surfaces” to “Dora Wilcox had painted their top surfaces” page 232 - changed “island were the sight of” to “island were the site of”
= = = PG38254 = = = BART KEENE'S HUNTING DAYS; OR, THE DAREWELL CHUMS IN A WINTER CAMP Produced by Donald Cummings and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net BART KEENE'S HUNTING DAYS
Or The Darewell Chums in a Winter Camp BY ALLEN CHAPMAN AUTHOR OF "BART STIRLING'S ROAD TO SUCCESS," "WORKING HARD TO WIN," "BOUND TO SUCCEED," "THE YOUNG STOREKEEPER," "NAT BORDEN'S FIND," ETC.
[Illustration: _The_ GOLDSMITH _Publishing Co._ CLEVELAND OHIO MADE IN U.S.A.]
COPYRIGHT, 1911, BY CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY CONTENTS BART KEENE'S HUNTING DAYS CHAPTER I
A MIDNIGHT EXPEDITION "Hold on there! Go easy, now, fellows," cautioned Bart Keene to his two chums, as they stole softly along in the darkness. "What are you making all that racket for, Ned?" "It wasn't me; it was Frank." "I couldn't help it," came from Frank Roscoe in a whisper. "I stumbled on a stone."
"Well, don't do it again," retorted Bart. "First thing you know some one will hear us, and the jig will be up." "And then we can't play the joke on Stumpy," added Ned Wilding. "Of course not," went on Bart. "Easy now. Come on. Keep behind me in a line, and walk in the shadows as much as possible. We're almost there." T...
"Are you coming?" asked Bart, as he turned around to observe what progress his companions were making. He saw Ned and Frank standing still, crouched in the shadow of a leafless tree. "What's the matter?" he continued, somewhat anxiously. "Thought I heard a noise in the building," whispered Frank, hoarsely. "You're drea...
Once more the two advanced, and joined Bart. The three were now in the shadow of one of the wings of the school, and, as far as they knew, had not been seen. "Which way are you going in?" asked Ned, of Bart, who was leading this midnight expedition. "Through the side court, and in at the girls' door. That's most always...
"Cut it out," advised Bart sharply. "This is no time to spout Shakespeare stuff." Once more the three advanced. Suddenly Bart stopped, and Ned, who was close behind, collided with him. "What's wrong now?" whispered Ned, as soon as he caught his breath. "Hush!" cautioned Bart. "I saw a man just then! He was right by the...
"A man," murmured Ned. "Probably it was Riggs, the janitor." "No, he was too tall for Riggs," answered Bart. "Besides, he didn't limp, as Riggs does, from a leg that was once broken. No, this man wasn't Riggs." "What was he doing?" asked Frank. "Standing near the front door, as if he was going in. Then he seemed to cha...
At the same instant Ned and Frank caught sight of the man. The stranger approached the front door as if afraid of being seen, and, every now and then, he turned about, as the boys could notice to take an observation. As they looked on they saw him suddenly open the front door, after fumbling about the lock, and enter t...
"No, wait a minute," advised Bart, putting restraining hands on his two chums. "Don't tell the police." "Why not?" Ned wanted to know. "Because they might ask what we were doing around the school at night, and we don't want to tell--do we?" "That's so," agreed Frank. "Maybe that chap isn't a burglar, after all."
"You're right," came from Ned. "What could a burglar steal in the school?" "Books, and instruments from the laboratory," was Bart's contribution to the opinions. "But I, myself, don't believe he is a burglar. Possibly he is some one whom Riggs hired to help out with the sweeping and dusting." "Let's wait and see," sugg...