Allen Chapman

“ There was a rush for the gate, but when Bart and his friends reached it they found it was fastened. All the Upside Down boys had disappeared. A dark mass of them could be seen hurrying across the fields, seeming to bear some burden in their midst.
"They've got Ned!" cried Bart. "After them!"
"Wait!" shouted Fenn. "Maybe it's only a trick to get us away from the barn, so they can steal the dinner!"
"That's so!" agreed Bart, much excited. "Are you sure they have Ned, Frank?"
"Sure! We both came in together, and they grabbed us. But it was Ned they wanted, because he was to be toastmaster. ”

“ They made a hasty breakfast, and then, taking their guns, and putting up a light lunch, they started off to search for Frank.
"Which way had we better go?" asked Fenn. "Shall we try separate ways, or all keep together?"
"Better keep together," replied Bart. "We have a compass, and can find our way back, but if we straggle off alone some of us may get lost, and none of us knows these woods well enough to chance that."
"But which way are we to go?" asked Ned. "There's no such thing as finding Frank's trail in these woods." ”

“ At that hour the night watch went on, and the sanitarium was more quiet.
"Let's get the ladder out and lay it along the edge of the grass plot," suggested Ned. "No one can see us, and it will be something to do."
They followed this advice, and the ladder was placed in readiness at the edge of the asylum grounds. Once more they resumed their waiting. How the rain pelted down! The wind too, had increased, and it blew through the trees with a mournful sound. It was dark and chilly in the woods, and, in spite of their raincoats, the boys were anything but comfortable. ”

“ It appeared as though something, that had been troubling him, had been settled to his satisfaction.
"Glad you waited," were Frank's first words as he joined his chums. "I've got an idea."
"What is it?" asked Bart.
"We ought to get right to work and play a trick on the Upside Down boys. We haven't much time left this term."
"Good!" exclaimed Fenn. "That's what I say. But what shall we do?"
"I think I have a plan," said Frank. "You know Judge Benton's son belongs to that crowd."
"Does he?" asked Ned, for this was news to himself and his two chums. ”

“ Frank was about to advance toward the front of the institution, up a path that led from the edge of the woods where he stood, when he saw a line of men leave the sanitarium, and start to walk around the paths about the building. At the first glance Frank knew what they were.
"They are the patients out for exercise," he decided. "I must get closer. They're coming this way. I'll hide in the woods," and, getting behind a big oak, the boy awaited the oncoming of the line of sad-faced men. ”

“ The boys were, at first, too surprised to know what to do, but, at a rallying cry from someone, they started after the mice. However, they had no weapons to kill the rodents with, and had to be content with taking kicks at them as they darted past, seeking means of escape.
"Couldn't have worked better!" exclaimed Bart, as he and his chums watched the scene from where they were hidden.
"I hope none of the girls faint," said Fenn.
"Oh, Stumpy's getting worried about Jennie, I s'pose," remarked Ned.
"No danger of any of 'em fainting," said Bart. "They're too much afraid a mouse would bite 'em." ”

“ They listened to Ned's suggestion, and the more they talked of it the more enthusiastic they grew over it.
"This'll beat their breaking-up of our dinner all to pieces," said Fenn. "It's all to the merry. They'll wish they'd let us alone."
"There's one point we almost overlooked," said Frank, just as the chums were about to disperse.
"What is it?" asked Fenn.
"To make the plan work right we've got to get on the floor where the dance is going on, and I don't believe we can. Those fellows will have every entrance guarded."
"Leave that to me," spoke Ned. "I know that old dance hall like a book. ”

“ He did not finish his sentence, and his three chums looked at one another, for Frank seemed to be dreaming of something far removed from the ball game.
"He's getting stranger than ever," remarked Bart to Ned in a low tone. "We'll have to get his mind off of whatever it is that's troubling him."
"That's right," agreed Ned.
"We ought to celebrate this victory in some way," suggested Fenn, as a crowd of boys, including several members of the ball team, joined the chums. "We ought to get up a dinner and have speeches and things like that." ”

“ They sat around under the trees, and, for the twentieth time, talked over the situation in regard to their missing comrade.
"It looks as if the Darewell Chums would number three instead of four, after this," said Fenn rather mournfully, on the morning of the third day of Frank's absence.
"Don't be a calamity howler!" exclaimed Ned. "Frank will come back to us. The chums can't be separated."
"I hope that's true," put in Bart, from where he was sitting under a tree, smoothing one of the canoe paddles. "All our fun will be spoiled if we have to break up the quartette. ”

“ Why not bring him here?"
"It would be too long a journey through the woods," objected Fenn. "Especially if he isn't well, and it's raining."
"I have it!" cried Frank. "The canoe!"
"The canoe isn't built for land travel," remarked Bart.
"No, but it can go on the creek and river all the way to the sanitarium," said Frank. "I know, for I tried it." Then he told his chums of the night journey he had made.
"I was right then," commented Ned, and he related how he suspected Frank had made a journey in the craft.
"One of us might paddle the canoe to the foot of the cliff," went on Frank. ”

“ Frank wondered if the dogs had barked at the stranger who had been at the Dent house a little while before, but he said nothing about it, and, soon went to bed.
As the chums had anticipated, the breaking-up of the Upside Down Club dance created more talk among the High School pupils than had anything else in the line of sports and fun since the institution was built. The members of the ball team, and their friends, who had been let into the secret, preserved a discreet silence about the affair, and would answer no questions. ”

“ The person or animal who comes in last, after making five circuits, wins."
"Are there going to be animals in this?" demanded Lem.
"Of course there are. This is free-for-all. Here is my entry," and Ned, turning over the box he had been standing on, disclosed a big mud turtle, that started to crawl away as soon as it got into the light.
"A mud turtle race!" cried Lem.
"Certainly! Why not?" demanded Ned, "This turtle has been trained against Jim Morton, champion lazy racer of the Darewell High School!" he went on in a loud voice, to make himself heard above the shouts of laughter. ”

“ The only pupils who seemed angry over the matter were the boys on the dance committee, who were incensed at the breaking up of the affair.
"I know those Darewell Chums had the most to do with it," said Denny Thorp, who was the leader of the crowd that had captured Ned. "I'll get even with them."
"It looks to me as though they had gotten even with us," remarked Peter Enderby, Denny's chum. "They paid us back, good and proper."
"That's all right. What we did wasn't half as mean as letting those mice loose and spoiling the dance."
"Oh, get out!" exclaimed Peter. "It's all in sport. ”

“ Monday morning, following the sensational winning of the game by Ned Wilding, saw the four chums assembled on the school campus, waiting for the ringing of the gong that would call all the pupils to their classes. It was almost time to go in, when Sandy Merton, a former enemy of the chums, but who had become a friend because of a favor received, approached Bart. Sandy had left school because of a dispute he and Bart had had over a ball game, but had returned for the spring term. ”

“ But, as he went on he noticed that the stream was becoming wider and deeper, and he had no fear but that he might continue on for many miles.
"If only it goes in the right direction," he murmured. "It may be an altogether different creek than this which flows past the cliff. If it is I've had all my trouble for nothing. I want to get back before the boys wake up, if I can." ”

“ They made some inquiries the next day and learned that by going to Lockport they could enter the woods by an old trail, seldom used, and could travel much more easily than if they worked their way in by the corduroy road.
"That's what we'll do," decided Ned. "Then, Frank, maybe you can have a chance to find your friend, Mr. Hardman."
"I don't believe I'll look for him," Frank replied. "We'll not have much time in Lockport anyhow. I have another plan now," but he did not tell his chums what it was. ”

“ He knew how to act now, and, to further his plans, determined to let his chums believe he had been gone a short time only.
"Did you get the worm?" inquired Fenn.
"What worm?" Frank retorted.
"The one the early bird always gets."
"No, someone else was ahead of me," answered Frank, as Fenn's question confirmed his belief that his companions did not know of his night trip. "I was just out for a little paddle on the creek."
"How does she ride?" asked Bart, looking the canoe over.
"Fine; like a cork."
"You look as though you were pretty tired," commented Ned, with a curious look at his chum. ”

“ There was a hasty search for them, but the first year boys had apparently hidden in some place that defied the efforts of the ball crowd to locate it.
"This is a pretty pickle!" exclaimed Bart, as he came to a halt in the middle of the big field that stretched out behind the Masterson barn. "They've beaten us all right enough. I wonder where they could have taken Ned?"
"I guess it's up to us to find out," replied Fenn. "Come on. We haven't half looked yet."
"Maybe that's just what they want us to do," put in Lem Gordon. "They think we'll let the dinner slide." ”

“ This Dr. Hardman is one of the chief conspirators. It's lucky I wore the glasses so he didn't recognize me at first or I'd never have gotten as far along as I did. I guess he didn't have a good look at me that day in the woods."
"I wonder what his game was, having us take him to the forest?" asked Bart.
"Probably he wanted to be sure that none of his patients could escape from the sanitarium and get to Darewell that way," suggested Frank. "I believe Dr. Hardman had an idea my father might try to find me, and wanted to be assured that if he tried it he would get lost in the forest." ”

“ I believe you are—"
"Who's there?" called the angry voice of one of the attendants, as he caught the sound of the voices in the summer house.
"You must go," the man pleaded with Frank. "You will only make trouble for yourself and me." He spoke in a whisper, and the guard who was running on the gravel path could not hear above the sound of his own footsteps. ”

“ Sandy promised; and then the gong rang and the boys and girls hurried into the school. All that morning Bart was wondering what Sandy had to tell him. That it had to do with the dinner the nine intended to hold was his belief, but he did not see how the first-year lads had found out about it so soon.
"If they're up to any tricks," said Bart softly, "I think we can play two to their one. Let 'em try; it's all in the game."
"Let's go for a swim, Bart," proposed Ned, when school had been dismissed for the day. "Frank and Fenn are going." ”

“ Attending which institution our story finds them.
There was Ned Wilding, whose mother was dead, and their father was cashier of the Darewell Bank.
Bart Keene was a stout-hearted youth, more fond of sports than he was of eating or sleeping, his father used to say. As for Stumpy, he was just the sort of a lad his name indicated. Happy, healthy, hearty and with a fund of good nature that nothing could daunt.
Frank Roscoe was rather different from his chums, but they were very fond of him. Spite of his occasional fits of strangeness. Frank had lived with his uncle as long as he could remember. ”

“ Meanwhile the mice, bewildered by the lights, the noise and the strange place, were running about, squealing as loudly as they could. Every time one of the frightened creatures came near a girl, or a group of them, the cries of the damsels drowned the squeaks of the rodents. ”

“ As Ned had suggested, this did serve to take Frank's mind off his troubles to a certain extent. He inquired about the contest, and, when he was sufficiently interested, his three chums took him to one side and explained that it was gotten up for the benefit of Jim Morton.
"Do you think you can get him to enter?" asked Frank.
"I guess so, if I talk to him right," Ned replied. Then he set to work to get Jim to become one of the contestants.
"Why, you know I can't run," Jim complained, when Ned broached the matter to him. "Besides, I don't believe in races. It takes too much time and strength. ”

“ They picked up the ladder and looked toward the asylum building. It was dark, save where a faint light showed through one window, and Frank knew this was in a corridor.
"Do you know which is the window of his room?" asked Ned.
"Yes," replied Frank. "It's the third one from the right hand end of the building, in the second story. The ladder will more than reach, as the windows are low ones." ”

“ Fenn hastened to add.
"Where could we have it?" asked Lem.
"In our barn," replied Fenn. "There's lots of room, and we don't keep horses any more. It's nice and clean. We could put some boards over saw-horses to make tables, and have a fine time. We can make all the noise we want, and no one would say a word."
"That's the stuff!" cried Bart. "The very thing! Stumpy, you're a committee of one to see about it."
"I'm not going to do all the work!" objected Stumpy.
"I'll help," put in Ned. "Where'll we get the stuff?"
"I guess there's enough in the club treasury for a little spread," said Bart. ”

“ He must have turned off into the woods. What is his name? How did you fellows come to be out with him? What made him run back as soon as he saw me?"
"One at a time," suggested Ned. "We can't answer all those questions at once. What made you run after him?"
"Because I believe him to be a man who knows something I should know," Frank replied, for, though he did not tell his chums, he recognized in Mr. Hardman's voice the tones of the stranger who had been at his uncle's house one night and who had warned the boy back when Frank had attempted to follow. ”

“ They kept on for some time, but saw no signs of their chum.
"I wonder where he stayed all night?" asked Fenn.
"Trust Frank to look out for himself," remarked Bart. "He found a good warm place, I guess. But I don't see why he is staying away. If he was caught out after dark, and couldn't find his way back, he could see the trail by this time. I wonder why we don't meet him?"
"Maybe he's hurt," suggested Fenn.
"Nonsense!" exclaimed Ned. "There's nothing in these woods to hurt a fly. I don't believe there's even a fox." ”

“ The canoe, loaded down as it was, answered to the strokes of the sturdy arms of the boys. It shot forward, breasting the current, and was soon well away from the cliff.
"They'll never catch us now," Frank said. "They'll not think of looking toward the river. We're safe."
And so it would seem, for they heard no sound of pursuit. Afterwards Ned and Frank told their chums that the guards scoured the woods, but did not come upon those in hiding, nor did they find the ladder. It was well that the donkey had been taken back to camp. ”

“ It now lacked but a few weeks to vacation time, and every boy in the school, including the four chums, was counting the hours until the classes would close for the summer.
"We haven't made our vacation plans yet," said Fenn one afternoon, when the boys were out on the river in their boat. "What are we going to do?"
"Let's take another boating trip, away up the river," suggested Ned.
"I was going to propose a walking trip, taking in the whole county and lasting three weeks," Bart put in.
"That's too much work," commented Fenn.
"You're getting so fat you're lazy," remarked Ned. ”