Cyril Burleigh

“ Half an hour later Bucephalus called Percival to the edge of the camp, telling him that he was wanted, Jack and Billy going with Dick.
"Did you want to see me?" he asked, seeing Jenkins and Calthorpe.
"Yes, I guess so," stammered Jenkins. "You're at the head of the ingineers, ain't ye?"
"I am with them," Percival replied. "You are one of the men who tried to stop us, aren't you? You are Jenkins, I believe?" ”

“ Just let me look around a bit, Dick."
"All right, I'll let you do all the looking you want, but I'd like to buy you a boat just the same."
"No doubt you would, and so would Jesse W. and Harry and Arthur and a dozen other boys, but I am going to get one myself, and it will not cost me much either, and will give me all the service I want. We don't go into camp under a week, and that will give me all the time I want to build—-"
"You are not going to build you a motor-boat, are you, Jack Sheldon?" asked Dick Percival in the greatest surprise. ”

“ He can't bully the colonel if he can bully the small boys."
"He can't bully all of them either," said Harry, "for some of them won't take it from him even if they can't fight him."
As it happened to be pleasant in the afternoon, and many of the boys were out on the river in boats, Herring felt the effect of his foolish boasting, and was greatly chagrined that he was cut off from a very enjoyable sport.
Jack took Percival's boat out and made very good speed with it so that Dick said with a grin:
"Well, the boat is all right, I see, and I am the fellow that needs to take a lesson, not the boat. ”

“ I have enough friends among the boys of
Hilltop, and the faculty, not to mind the rest."
"True enough, Jack. Hello! there are some of those fellows now looking for a race if not trouble."
Herring and Merritt just now appeared in their boat off the railroad dock, and waited till Jack and Percival came up when Herring shouted:
"Come on if you want to race. We'll meet you on the way back."
"Race 'em, Jack, just to show them you can beat 'em!" whispered
Dick hoarsely.
"No, Dick, I won't," said Jack with emphasis. "I'll race any one else for the fun of it, but I will not race with those fellows." ”

“ The smaller boy was taking Jack's advice by this time, and there was need of it, for there was a squall coming and all the boys were making for the shore.
"Huh! you fellows are all afraid!" shouted Herring. "What's a little blow to fellows like us? Go on shore, you weaklings."
"There is danger, isn't there, Jack?" asked Percival, as Jack was running for shore, having seen that young Smith was safe.
"Yes, there is," shortly, "and those fellows will find it out before long. They should be told of it."
"Yes, and get abuse for our trouble," snapped Dick. "I won't do it for one." ”

“ Why, she's a beauty and no mistake. And you did all the work on her yourself?"
"I did not build the boat, Dick, but I fixed her up, caulked, painted, and decked her over forward, put the rail around the standing room, and put in the seats, installed the engine, set the propeller, and got her in the shape you see her now. She's all right?"
"All right? Well, I should say she was. I'd never believe that you hadn't just got her brand new from the shop. No wonder you get along, Jack. A fellow who shows a knack for doing things that you do and goes ahead in spite of all obstacles is bound to get on. ”

“ One of the big river steamers was coming up, but Jack kept far enough away from her and managed his head so that her wash did not affect him, and the boat passed without causing him any trouble.
"That was well done, Jack," said Percival when the boat was well up the river, and Jack went in nearer shore. "I would not be afraid to trust myself in any boat with you. Run 'em before, have you?"
"Not this sort, Dick, but a boat is a boat whether you run her by gas or pull the oars or have sails. You must look out for yourself." ”

“ What is he, pork merchant or something like that?"
"Pretty good, Jack," said Percival with a grin. "He was a butcher at one time, but don't mention it if you don't want to earn his everlasting scorn. It is never spoken of. He is one of the wealthiest men along the river, and employs a man to do nothing but cut off his stock coupons. They may invite us to the house, although they are a very exclusive sort and are supposed to associate only with millionaires, and the descendants of the oldest and best families." ”

“ Wise does not care anything about genealogy, Father," spoke up Miss Margaret, daughter of the proud descendant of the Van der Donks, "and you should not have spoken of the Academy boys as boarding school boys. They attend a military Academy, the fame of which is as great as that of your ancestors. Everybody along the Hudson valley knows the Hilltop boys and any young gentleman might be proud to be one of them." ”

“ They said you were strong and wiry, and I expected to see a giant. Why, you are no bigger than I am. And you can run a motor-boat?"
"Certainly he can," replied Dick. "Size does not count in a thing like that. Why, I am bigger than Jack, but he can beat me running a boat. Then there is little Jesse W. Smith, who is the smallest thing in the way of a boy in the Academy, and he has beaten boys twice his size."
"And you will be down?" to Jack himself.
"If I am chosen to represent the Hilltop boys, I will certainly be on hand," Jack replied. "I should like nothing better." ”

“ I believe you could get speed out of a canal-boat," said Dick, as they sped along. "There's a nasty looking cloud coming down from Thunder Mountain, Jack. Are you afraid of it?"
"No, not much, although I wouldn't like to see some of those boys too far out if it cuts up rough on the river. There's young Smith out in his boat, by the way. I think we had better warn him."
At that moment Herring and Merritt came along in their boat, and
Herring said in a tone of disdain:
"That boat of yours is pretty enough to look at, Percival, but she's of no more use than a society girl in the kitchen. ”

“ Why, he is full of it!"
"Somehow he never seems to lose his head when it is most required," added Percival, "although to look at him you would not suppose that he had such a command over himself. It's when you get to know him that you find these things out."
"Why, he would as soon jump into a flying machine as get in a motor-boat," said Billy, "provided there was something to be done. He is a bird as well as a fish, and just as good at either."
The sports were closed by a tub race, every one being desirous of seeing Billy Manners in another of these amusing contests. ”

“ Herring saw him and he saw the boys.
"Huh! you made me fall into the river!" Merritt snorted, "and I had to buy a suit of clothes. You'll have to pay for them."
"And for the doctor's prescription?" said Percival pointedly, for the bully's breath smelled of something stronger than milk or lemonade. "Spirits may be good to prevent a chill, Merritt, but you want to be careful how you use them."
"Come on, Pete," snarled Merritt, turning red. "They aren't worth wasting time on," and the bullies went one way while Jack and Dick went another. ”

“ Just now the doctor was offering a prize for a poem to be written by one of the boys, not to exceed a certain length, and to be written upon some historical event, preferably one connected with the Hudson.
The poem must be entirely original, but must be unsigned and accompanied by a sealed envelope containing the writer's name, this not to be opened until the prize had been awarded to the best poem, at which time the name of the winner would be made known.
"That makes it fair for everybody," declared Percival. "I am not much of a poet, Jack, but you might try for this." ”

“ I've got to get this!" exclaimed Billy, pointing his camera at the group and giving the bulb a squeeze. "This'll be the second exhibit, trouble on the line. I wonder what it is all about?"
The arrival of the other party was somewhat of a surprise to the men and they fell back a pace, Jack hurrying toward Percival and asking:
"What is the matter, Dick? What do these men want?"
"They say that we are going to ruin their farms by running a road through them," replied Percival. "I'd like to know where they are. I never heard of any farms through here, nor any one else." ”

“ Jack laughed, and told how the detective had tried to get the watch from him, and how and why Dr. Wise had refused to give it up.
"Higgins always struck me as being a bit too zealous," said the lady. "I do not wonder that the doctor refused to deliver it after the man's poor account of you. You seem to be a great favorite both with the doctor and with the Hilltop boys."
"And deservedly so," echoed Percival. "We won't hear a word against
Jack, and it has not spoiled him either." ”

“ Percival has hired Sheldon to run his boat for him. It's all he's good for, and Dick don't know any more about boats than a cat."
"Gets him to run his auto, too," said the other. "He'd drive Dick's carriage if he had one. Blacks his boots and brushes his clothes, too, I'll bet. He's nothing but a valet anyhow."
Percival flushed crimson at these insults to Jack, the boys being two of the most disliked in the Academy, and said hotly:
"I'll come and throw you two brutes in the river if you say any more. ”

“ Jack replied, "but being in one——-"
"As Shakespeare says you stick it out," and Percival laughed again. "I think it ought to be known that Herring and Merritt tried to give you a black eye, Jack. It is no more than right."
"But they did not give it to me, Dick, and there is no use in stirring up trouble. Let it go. Both Herring and Merritt must know by this time that the Hilltop boys in general will not believe their lies."
"Well, if they do not they must be very stupid," grunted Percival, and by this time the boys were in the camp.
"Pete Herring and Erne Merritt saw a ghost!" ”

“ Herring was not only smarting under not being allowed to go out with the rest, but also from the knowledge that Jack was a better boatman than he was, and that the boat which he had made himself, for this was known to all the boys now, could make better time than the expensive one his father had bought him and he said to Merritt, who had no one to go out with him, and was not allowed to run Herring's boat:
"I'd like to fix that boat of Sheldon's so that he couldn't run it. He'll be crowing over me all the time, and that is something I won't stand. It'll be an easy thing to get at it at night." ”

“ Sheldon," said the foreman. "I saw you going up the river. You made a good ten-mile gait, I shouldn't wonder."
"Yes, and I can do better yet," said Jack, smiling. "I was just warming her up a bit. She'll do better when she gets seasoned."
All this time Jack had said nothing to Percival about his boat, which certainly did not look like a made-over affair now that she was painted and decked over, had her lights and all her appurtenances, an engine in her hold and a flagstaff at her bow, meaning to give his friend a surprise. ”

“ Herring started off at a good pace, expecting that Jack would follow, and when they had a good lead, Jack having turned and gone up the river, Billy Manners and young Smith in the latter's boat set off after them.
"We'll give you a race, Pete!" shouted Billy. "Whoop her up, J.W., and see how we'll leave 'em behind!"
Young Smith was managing the boat and doing it well, and now, anxious to show off, he shot ahead, and soon began to gain on the other boat.
"You can watch the fun even if you don't race, Jack," chuckled
Percival. "Turn around, old man, and follow." ”

“ You're as clumsy as a cow in a boat, you are. Get out of here, or
I'll hit you! Keep away, I tell you!"
"There is a rowboat coming," said Percival, turning his head. "He will be all right, but he'll have to go back to the Academy in wet clothes. No danger of catching cold now, but he'll be a sight all the same, and serves him just right." ”

“ Van der Donk called with his daughter to compliment the boys on their services of the night before, and to thank them personally for what they had done.
The doctor asked him if he had missed a valuable watch, and showed him the one which Jack had found.
"It does not belong to any of us," said the gentleman.
"I would very much like to have one like it," said Margaret, "but it does not belong to me. You say it was found last night at our house?"
"The young gentleman found it in his pocket, but, of course, it got there by accident. It is very singular." ”