Dave Porter and the Runaways Part 48

"He has been to your place again?"

"Yes, sir, last night. He was in the barn, and he jumped out at my wife and said he was going to blow the fort to pieces! She got so scared she dropped her pailful of milk and ran to the house. I got mad and got my shotgun, but the fellow had skipped out before I could catch sight of him."

"What time was this?"

"Just about six o'clock. But that ain't all. This morning I started for town, intending to tell the constable and the justice about it, when all of a sudden, when I was pa.s.sing the end of your property, I see the wild man down there, behind a tree."

"Just now?" asked Dave, eagerly.

"Not more'n a quarter of an hour ago. That's why I stepped in here.

He's a dangerous man, Doctor Clay, and I think he ought to be rounded up!" went on Henry Morrison, earnestly.

"You are right, he certainly ought to be put under restraint,"

answered the master of Oak Hall. "I will see to this at once. Will you a.s.sist in the hunt, Mr. Morrison?"

"Of course--if I don't have to go alone. I don't think it is safe for anybody to tackle him alone, he's that wild and dangerous."

"Can we take part in the search?" asked Phil, eagerly. "Oh, do let us do it, Doctor Clay!" he pleaded.

"I suppose so, if you will promise to be careful. Mr. Morrison, can you point out the exact spot where you saw the man?"

"Of course I can."

"Then we will at once make up a searching party."

Doctor Clay could act quickly when the occasion demanded, and inside of ten minutes a searching party was made up, composed of Dave and his chums, Mr. Dale, Horsehair, and several men who chanced to be working around the grounds.

"Oh, I hope we catch him and are able to prove that he blew up the hotel dining-room," said Phil to Dave.

"So do I, Phil."

Henry Morrison led the way, and it was not long before the spot was gained where he had seen Wilbur Poole. From that point a path ran from the river back into the woods.

"Maybe he took that path," suggested our hero, and several thought the same.

"I think we had better scatter," suggested Mr. Dale, who had been placed in charge by the doctor. "By doing that we can cover a wide range of territory in a comparatively short s.p.a.ce of time. And keep as quiet as possible, for should he hear us he will most likely start and run."

"If he didn't run when he saw Mr. Morrison," murmured Buster. "He may be miles away already."

The crowd separated into pairs, Dave and Phil going together and Roger going with Ben, and Buster with Horsehair. All had armed themselves with sticks, and Mr. Dale carried a pair of handcuffs, and one of the hired men had a rope.

Deeper and deeper into the woods went the party, spread out in a long line. They had examined the river-front and felt fairly certain that the wild man had not left by boat.

"Looks like a wild-goose chase," remarked Phil, with a sigh, after a half an hour had pa.s.sed.

"Oh, we don't want to give up yet," answered Dave. "Why, it isn't much after ten o'clock. We can stay out till noon, at least."

"I'd stay out all day, if I thought we could catch him," returned the s.h.i.+powner's son, promptly.

Presently the boys espied a small stone house, standing beside a brook which flowed through the woods into the river. In the house lived an old man who made his living by making baskets and fancy articles of birch bark.

"Let us see if old Herick is around," suggested Dave. "He may be able to tell us something."

They found the old man hard at work on a fancy basket. He looked surprised when thus suddenly confronted by the students.

"Did I see a wild man?" he queried, in reply to their question. "I guess I did,--at least he acted queer enough. He danced up here, made a deep bow, and told me the army would be along in four minutes. Then he made another bow and walked off, as stiff as a drum-major."

"When was this?" demanded Dave.

"About half an hour ago."

"And which way did he go?" put in Phil, eagerly.

"That way," and the old basket-maker pointed up the brook. "Walked right in the water, too. I was going to follow him at first but then I didn't think it was any use."

The boys waited to hear no more, but telling old Herick to watch for the other searchers and tell them about the wild man, they set off up the brook as fast as they could travel.

As the chums progressed they looked to the right and left, wondering if Wilbur Poole had kept to the tiny watercourse or taken to the woods, which were now exceedingly dense.

"I see his footprints!" cried Phil, as they pa.s.sed a sandy stretch.

"Anyway, those marks look fresh."

"I fancy you are right, Phil, and if so, he can't be very far ahead of us."

They went on, following the windings of the stream until it became less than a foot wide. It came to an end at a number of springs among the rocks.

"Fine, cold water," announced Dave. "Here is a chance for a good drink, Phil."

Both were drinking their fill when a loud voice suddenly challenged them.

"Ha! What are you doing at my fountain?"

Both looked up hurriedly and saw the wild man standing on the highest of the rocks. He had his arms folded and was glaring at them sternly.

"Oh!" murmured Phil. "Say, Dave, there he is! What shall we do?"

"Let us try to make friends with him," suggested Dave. "If we don't, he may run away, and he can easily do that in these thick woods."

"If we could only notify the others!"

"You can go back if you wish, while I talk to him."

"Aren't you afraid?"

"Oh, I reckon I can take care of myself," answered Dave.

"Do you not know I gave a million dollars for these fountains?" went on the wild man.

"Well, they are worth it," answered Dave, calmly. "It is very good water. Why don't you have it bottled, Mr. Poole?"