Dave Porter and the Runaways Part 15

Dave was already on the side road with Buster and Gus beside him, and the senator's son quickly followed.

"Don't go too fast or I--I can't ke--keep up with you!" panted Buster.

"Do you see anything of him, Dave?" queried Roger.

"Not yet, but there is a turn just ahead. When we make that we'll be able to see almost to the river."

All of the students sped on, the stout lad doing his best to keep up with the others. They reached the turn with Dave a step or two in advance.

"There he is!"

"I see him! Say, he's wild-looking enough!"

"He is making for the river!"

"We ought to be able to catch him. We are four to one."

Dave and Roger pressed forward with increased speed and poor Buster fell somewhat behind.

"I'm coming as fa--fast as I ca--can!" blurted out the fat youth. "Go on--I'll get there sooner or later!"

"Pick up a stick, if you see one," cried Dave, to Roger and Gus. "We may have a hot fight on our hands. That man ought to be in jail, or in an asylum."

As they sped along, the three kept their eyes open and each presently armed himself with a fair-sized club. The wild man was running like a deer, pausing occasionally to turn and brandish his long arms at them savagely. They could see that his clothing was in tatters and that his hair and beard were long and unkempt.

"Hi! stop!" called out Dave, although he had but little hope of causing the man to halt. "We want to talk to you."

"Go back! Beware! Go back, or it will be the worse for you!" called the wild man. "Leave the King of Sumatra alone!"

"The King of Sumatra?" repeated Roger. "Say, he's crazy sure enough, to imagine himself that!"

The boys continued after the wild man and urged him to stop. But instead of heeding them, he ran on the faster.

"He's an athlete, when it comes to running," remarked Dave, as he tried in vain to get closer to the man.

"They say crazy people are always strong," answered the senator's son.

"I've go--got to gi--give up!" panted Gus, and came to a halt.

"Go--got a pa--pain in my side!" And he put his hand over his hip.

"All right, we'll manage alone!" cried Roger. "I don't think we can catch that fellow anyway," he added, half under his breath.

Another turn of the woodland road brought the Leming River into plain view, at a point where the stream was both wide and deep. The wild man kept sprinting along and it was impossible for the boys to draw any closer to him.

"Shall we threaten to shoot him if he won't stop?" asked Roger.

Neither of the lads carried firearms.

[Ill.u.s.tration: "STOP!" CRIED DAVE.--_Page 87._]

"No, he might do some shooting on his own account,--if he is armed.

Come on, he may fall, or something like that."

Inside of three minutes more the wild man gained the sh.o.r.e of the river and disappeared around a point of rocks and brushwood.

"Be careful, Dave," warned Roger. "He may spring out at you with a club."

"I've got my eyes open," was the ready reply.

Both advanced with caution, and soon came up to the nearest of the rocks. With clubs ready for use, the two youths continued to move forward. Then they came to a sudden halt. The wild man was no longer in sight. What had become of him?

"Maybe he ran into the woods," suggested Roger.

"Perhaps, but--hark!" And our hero held up his hand. From a distance came a sc.r.a.ping sound, like something sliding over a rock.

"Look!" called out the senator's son. "He's got a boat! There he goes!"

Dave turned in the direction pointed out by his chum. Both saw a small rowboat sweep out from under some brushwood. In it stood the wild man, using an oar as a pole on the rocks.

"Stop!" cried Dave. "Stop, or you may be sorry for it."

"You can't catch the King of Sumatra!" yelled the wild man, and flourished his arms and made a hideous face at them. Then he sat down on the middle seat of the craft, placed the oars in the rowlocks, and commenced to row rapidly down the stream.

"Well, that's the end of the chase," remarked Dave, in some disgust.

"That's right, since we haven't any boat," returned Roger. "Wonder where he got that craft? I don't think he bought it."

"It isn't likely. Probably he saw it somewhere along the river and simply appropriated it." And this proved to be true.

The boys watched the wild man until a bend of the stream hid rower and craft from view. Then they turned back in the direction of the old stone house.

"Did you get him?" demanded Buster, who was waiting with Gus at the point where he had dropped out of the race.

"No," answered Roger, and told why.

"He sure is a cute one," went on the stout youth. "Say, if they don't catch him soon, he'll have this whole neighborhood scared to death."

The students soon reached the old house. Here they found the two girls and Phil, the latter with a heavy stick in his hand, ready for any emergency. The girls had calmed down a little, but were still much agitated.

"We were to come home in my uncle's carriage," said Mary Feversham.

"But the horse got a lame foot and so we decided to walk. We had heard of the wild man, but did not think we would meet him. Oh, it was dreadful!"

"He didn't hurt you, did he?" asked Dave.

"Oh, no, but he frightened us so! He danced around us and caught us by the arms, and he wanted us to give him money! Oh, it was dreadful!"

"He ought to be in an asylum," said Dave. And then he and Roger related how the wild man had escaped.

"I sha'n't go out alone again," said Vera Rockwell. "That is, not until that man is captured."