CHAPTER XIII
COLONEL ELLISON TAKES A HAND
“Look here, boys,” exclaimed Colonel Ellison, in a voice that plainly indicated the ruffled state of his feelings, “have you seen a house-boat with a party of rascally young scamps on board?”
Quite startled at the situation in which they so unexpectedly found themselves, neither Jack nor Joe answered for an instant.
Each was sure that the fiery Colonel would recognize them, and pour forth his vials of wrath upon their heads.
But the gathering dusk and the Colonel’s short-sightedness came to their rescue.
“What’s the matter—can’t you speak?” demanded Colonel Ellison, impatiently.
“No, we haven’t seen any rascally boys,” answered Jack, in a voice so unlike his own that Joe narrowly escaped a laugh.
Colonel Ellison did not seem to notice the evasion of his question.
“A party of young scoundrels and a rascally tutor, whom I recently discharged, had the audacity to induce my nephew to run away,” he stormed, angrily.
Jack and Joe exchanged swift glances at this piece of news.
“And it will go hard with them,” went on the Colonel, with a vigorous movement of his arm. “How far is the river from here?”
“Only a short distance,” answered Jack, scorning, even at the risk of possible consequences, to mislead the angry gentleman.
“But monsieur the Colonel,” put in the chauffeur, eagerly, “ze boat-house must be near. Ma foi! ze man just back, he see it pass in ze afternoon, en route; and we shall catch ze scamp before it makes ze night. Ha! Vat ees this?”
“Rah, rah, Thornton!That’s the name;And it’s the greatest, just the same;And its teachers are the best;And it beats out all the rest.Rah, rah, Thornton!”
“Rah, rah, Thornton!That’s the name;And it’s the greatest, just the same;And its teachers are the best;And it beats out all the rest.Rah, rah, Thornton!”
“Rah, rah, Thornton!That’s the name;And it’s the greatest, just the same;And its teachers are the best;And it beats out all the rest.Rah, rah, Thornton!”
“Rah, rah, Thornton!
That’s the name;
And it’s the greatest, just the same;
And its teachers are the best;
And it beats out all the rest.
Rah, rah, Thornton!”
“Sounds like a squeaky wheelbarrow and about nine croaking frogs,” said Joe.
“Ripley, R-i-p-l-e-y!Tear-able name;We’ll rip ’em to bits—That’s what we claim.Poor, p-o-o-r R-i-p-l-e-y.”
“Ripley, R-i-p-l-e-y!Tear-able name;We’ll rip ’em to bits—That’s what we claim.Poor, p-o-o-r R-i-p-l-e-y.”
“Ripley, R-i-p-l-e-y!Tear-able name;We’ll rip ’em to bits—That’s what we claim.Poor, p-o-o-r R-i-p-l-e-y.”
“Ripley, R-i-p-l-e-y!
Tear-able name;
We’ll rip ’em to bits—
That’s what we claim.
Poor, p-o-o-r R-i-p-l-e-y.”
A half dozen boys were swinging along the road, singing as if every note gave them the greatest possible enjoyment.
They were solid, lusty-looking chaps, and the house-boat boys watched them approach with interest. So did Colonel Ellison and his chauffeur.
“Good-evening, boys,” said the former, abruptly. “Have you seen a house-boat in this vicinity?”
“A queer-looking pile of logs?” queried one of the students, as the group stopped short and surrounded the automobile.
“Yes, that ees it!” cried Pierre, quickly. “You see him—where?”
“He was on the river,” replied the spokesman, with a laugh. “Can’t be very far from here. Your private yacht?”
Colonel Ellison glared very sternly over the rim of his glasses at the author of this audacious speech.
“Ah!” he said; and the tone was so ominous that the students were interested at once.
“If you young men will lead the way to the place, I’ll pay you for the service,” continued Colonel Ellison, coldly. “My nephew is aboard that boat, associating with a parcel of young rascals, who have no better way of using their time than to be cavorting along the river in a shackly mud-scow.”
“Awful—terrible—frightful,” murmured the student, nudging his neighbor in the ribs. “Run away from home, has he? Hello, you two chaps! Thought you were a couple of statues—you stood so still.”
“Hello yourself,” came in Jack’s weak falsetto.
“Same here,” said Joe, in his heaviest tones.
“Belong around these parts?”
“Belong where our feet find us,” said Joe.
“But ze boat-house,” interrupted Pierre. “Ma foi—if you no hurry, Monsieur le Colonel, ze scamp have ze time to give you what you call it, ze slip—ees that not it?”
“You are right, Pierre,” said ColonelEllison, with dignity. “We are fortunate to have met these young gentlemen. That rascally tutor will find that he made a mistake. If it is possible, I shall make an example of him. Show us the house-boat, please.”
“I say,” whispered Joe, “did you ever hear of such mean luck? These chaps are going to get us in a peck o’ trouble. What’s to be done?”
“Face the music and toot a little, to help it along,” said Jack, calmly.
“It’s going to be a lively tune while it lasts, I’ll bet,” grinned Joe. “Let’s make a flank movement, and by the time they get there, we’ll be out in the river a bit.”
“But how about George and the others?” asked Jack, in perplexed tones.
“You’ve got me there, Jack; but come on, or that crowd will be away ahead of us in no time.”
Already Colonel Ellison’s tall form was following the students.
Pierre Dufour, leaning back on the cushioned seat, rubbed his hands with satisfaction, and murmured, “Ma foi, we have it, zis boat-house, yes.”
The academy boys had again taken up their jolly refrain; and soon their forms were lost to view in the dim and silent woods.
Jack and Joe found that their plan of executing a side movement was much more difficult than they had imagined. Neither was sure of the way, and the woods were now very dark. An astonishing number of obstructions seemed to spring up on all sides. Joe tripped over a fallen log and fell in the midst of a mass of bushes; Jack ran full tilt against a low-hanging branch, and soon they were floundering about in such a dense growth of underbrush that Jack halted.
“What silly chumps to come in here!” he exclaimed, impatiently. “If those mean lobsters weren’t nearly yelling their heads off, I’d never know what direction they took.”
“Fierce lot of trees and stuff,” grumbled Joe. “Come within a foot of these vines and they make a grab for a fellow.”
“And that branch swooped down and banged me on purpose,” grinned Jack. “Aren’t we in a mess, all tangled up in thewoods? Redfern’s going to catch fits; and I guess George will be yanked back to Nyack.”
“And just on account of those silly rah-rahs,” growled Joe. “Say, did you notice that chap, Bates?”
“Who could help it, with such a looking face?”
“Like that smile of his?”
“I’ve seen scowls I liked better.”
Joe laughed.
“So have I,” he said. “But, by jinks, look!”
“What at?”
“Why, don’t you see? There’s the river—the wide, wet river, and just back of those trees, too.”
“I believe you’re right.”
“Of course I am.”
And Joe, in desperation, literally forced his way through a mass of bushes, with Jack close at his heels.
Breathing hard, and bearing numerous scratches, as a result of their encounter with twigs, brambles and stickers, the two at length reached the shore, and saw, to their great satisfaction,that it extended on either hand in a clear stretch.
“And there’s the ‘Gray Gull,’” cried Jack. “Redfern has lighted the lanterns. Run like the dickens, Joe; and we may get there by the time the row starts.”
Both boys were good runners; and they dashed ahead pell-mell.
Soon they saw seven dusky figures emerge from the woods just ahead and make straight toward the house-boat. Colonel Ellison was now stalking pompously in the lead.
Another hard spurt; and Jack and Joe dashed up just as the Colonel’s stentorian voice rang out.
“Hey, you on board that scow, step outside! I have a few words to say to you.”