Frank Allen

“ Frank tried the door very gingerly. To the boys’ great surprise it opened when the latch was lifted.
Inside it was as dark as pitch. As the day was almost gone, but little light fell through the door to give any indication of what was within. Frank felt certain two men were inside, yet there came no sound. It was all very strange. His decision was made, though.
With a bound, his strong, athletic body thrown [Page 149] forward with all the agility of which he was capable, Frank Allen leaped to the center of the shack. His feet struck leaves and twigs, going through them. ”

“ Frank Allen and Paul Bird had been asked to become members of the party, and Minnie Cuthbert, the prettiest and most sensible girl in all Columbia—at least so Frank was firmly convinced—was along to keep Mrs. Wallace company.
A man by the name of Nash Yesson had tried to buy the property from the new owner. That failing, he had, with the assistance of Lef Seller, known as the bully and worst boy in Columbia, tried to get possession of a treasure he knew to be buried in a cellar under the ranch pantry. ”

“ And I'm just as sure it isn't Lef Seller," came from Frank Allen, referring to the bully of Columbia, Frank's home town.
The scene was the living room of Rockspur Ranch in the far West, where so many exciting things had already happened to Frank Allen and his chums, Lanky Wallace—whose folks owned the ranch—and [Pg 2] Paul Bird. Paul was slumbering peacefully, totally unaware of what was taking place outside.
"There! You can see him plainer now, Frank!" went on Lanky. "He seems to be a runt of a man, with a big head and bushy hair. An ugly customer, I'd say. ”

“ Go back home, and put away your helmets for another day. You’ve lost your job, boys! Frank Allen and his high-school fire brigade put it all out! Three cheers for Frank and his bunch! Everybody yell now.”
It was the loud-voiced cheer captain who shouted these words; and it seemed as if a thousand people joined Herman Hooker in the cheers he called for, that made the ears of Frank Allen and his comrades burn, even as their eyes had smarted with the smoke of the fire in the basement of the high school. ”

“ Four energetic lads, Frank Allen, Lanky Wallace, Paul Bird and Buster Billings, had packed everything they needed on board the Rocket, swaying gently to and fro in the Allen boathouse on the Harrapin River, at the foot of Main street in Columbia. ”

“ Frank looked down. His eyes being accustomed to the sunlight he could not see anything but darkness there. But even as he was trying to pierce this, a match flamed up, and he discovered his chum kneeling on a pile of dirt, holding up his improvised torch as though curious to look around.
"What is this place, Jerry?" demanded the one above.
"Why, Will must remember if he once gets his mind off that miserable old camera of his. It's the shaft of what was intended to be a mine," replied Jerry, with disgust plainly marked in his tones. ”

“ Lanky's face lighted up with joy. He threw his hat into the air and gave a whoop that would have shamed almost any reckless, care-free puncher.
"That's bully news, Frank Allen!" he burst out. "When dad saps a thing he sticks to it like a leech. My stuff is all packed, and I've even knocked off [Pg 64] nearly half I laid out in the start to pack along. Dad told me we'd have to go light, as only one pack horse would be taken."
Great excitement followed, particularly among the younger element at Rockspur Ranch. Minnie hovered around and listened to everything the boys said. ”

“ The mention of Minnie Cuthbert’s name along with Cunningham’s was not at all pleasing to Frank Allen, and a little frown stole across his face. There was silence between the two boys while the Rocket [Pg 4] continued up the river at a medium pace, taking them on an errand for Frank’s father.
“Well,” Frank broke into the put-put of the exhaust, “I guess it’s just a strange face and new ways and new words and lots of great things he has done, and all of that. They say a woman’s intuition is unerring, but I believe that you and I have better intuition in this case than the girls have. ”

“ It had not occurred to Frank to bring along the two folding stools aboard the Rocket, but this did not alter the fact that it was a rather nervy thing for Fred Cunningham to step aboard the little boat shortly afterward and take both of them, using one for himself and one for Minnie as they took seats alongside the tennis court to watch.
“What do you think of that?” Lanky asked Frank.
“I think if whatever nerve he has continues to develop, he ought to be able to get along in this world,” [Pg 81] was Frank Allen’s very apt reply. ”

“ So Frank buoyed their spirits up in his accustomed cheery way. One could easily see that he belonged to the optimist family, and never looked on the gloomy side of things.
They had not gone half a mile away from the camp before they discovered some one moving through the bushes ahead.
"There he is!" exclaimed Bluff, eagerly, as he raised his hand to his mouth, as if about to give a "cooie."
"Hold on! I don't believe it is. There, you see, it's a man, and a hunter, too, I expect, for he's carrying a gun," interrupted Frank.
"Perhaps he may have seen Jerry. Shall we ask him?" demanded Will. ”

“ There was an immediate rush on the part of the rustlers, and Frank, on noting their scantiness of attire, could not keep from chuckling. He felt positive he would never see the equal of that picture again, and its memory would always bring a laugh to his lips.
Of course no vigorous search could be made, for many reasons. In the first place, none of the punchers were more than half clad; besides, chasing over the wide stretches of the prairie after such a will-o'-the-wisp as that unknown but slippery runt, was out of the question. ”

“ Not once did Frank catch the slightest sound, as of the spade striking a root or a possible stone. Indeed, in a way it was uncanny. Lanky, being gifted with a lively imagination, could easily picture the queer little man as a ghostly grave-digger, plying his trade at this hour approaching midnight. ”

“ Frank, between stiff lips. "Keep a grip on yourself, Lanky. It will pass. I guess we'll pull through all right."
There is nothing more apt to carry a feeling of panic to the human heart than to feel the solid earth, which all his life he had deemed staple, quiver and writhe as if in agony. Small wonder then that stout-hearted Lanky Wallace found himself gripped with increasing fear.
Frank caught hold of his chum's arm. He knew that the touch of reassuring fingers was more apt to steady Lanky than any cheering words he might utter. ”

“ Frank spoke clearly, enunciating plainly so that he would be perfectly understood, “there’s a bear between us and yourself. Make a noise and attract his attention. But don’t shoot. Just make a loud noise so that he will look away.”
Buster let out a howl as if a wild ghost had gotten loose from some age-old graveyard. It had the required effect. The animal turned to see what was the cause for the noise, whereupon all three of the boys within the cave, led by Frank, charged at it with a set of wild howls and cries, all calculated to scare the animal before it could get ready to fight. ”

“ The first one whose mattress is filled with air will be proclaimed the victor,” said Frank.
Jerry and Bluff threw themselves prostrate instantly, eager for the trial, and each filled with a determination to settle the matter for all time. They did not see the sly wink Frank gave Will, nor hear the chuckling sound of amusement that escaped from the lips of that camper as he half turned his head away.
“Go!”
Frank stood there as referee and timed the contestants, who puffed and blew with all the vigor of their young lungs, until both mattresses stood out just as full as they could stand. ”

“ Two different voices sounded this time.
“Helen and Minnie!” cried Frank, as he took a firmer grip on his rifle and leaped for the opening up the right side of the ravine, from which direction the cries, mingled now with another voice, had come.
“And in trouble!” came from Lanky. “Come on, fellows, make it snappy! They may need us the worst way!” ”

“ And, besides being slippery, I suppose he is a little to be feared, too.”
“I’ve no fear of him, dad” said Frank. “I have found that when a man does a whole lot of threatening he isn’t dangerous in the open.”
“That’s just it, my boy,” quietly replied the elder Allen. “If he were dangerous in the open he would have made you promise to pay for the dog right then—or fought.”
“There’s Mr. Van Kirk!” ”

“ Shall I take this one with me, Frank?"
"Yes, we ought to have some evidence to show we're not bluffing when we reel off the story of our adventures. Each of us might put a few in our pockets. But go slow, and don't load yourself down, Lanky, became you might start another landslide, you know."
They were actually on their last sliver of torch-wood when they turned their backs on the queer five-fingered cave and plunged into a narrow passage. Frank, after a close examination, decided this must be the one the old prospector had used during his periodical visits to his secret claim. ”

“ To all of this conversation old Luther seemed to enjoy listening greatly. He would sit there without saying a word, and taking it all in; while a queer little smile would occasionally cross his face, of which the observing Frank could make nothing.
During the day Frank managed to remove the pelt of his prize, and it was fastened with nails against the cabin wall, in a place where the sun could seldom strike it; for skins must always be dried in the shade. And every time he looked at it, in days to come, doubtless Frank would always see the strange picture of the flooded river ”

“ Frank had a sensation almost of panic, hardly knowing what had happened. Paul, on his part, involuntarily ducked down, as if under the impression that the runt outside had hurled his spade through the window and would possibly follow it with other things still more dangerous.
Lanky, who was himself the culprit, appeared to grasp the situation and its undoubted disastrous consequences better than either of his companions. This was proved when he made a vigorous bolt for the exit of the room, leading outdoors. ”

“ On a ledge forming a step in a steep incline of a hill stood Minnie Cuthbert, Frank’s best girl friend. She was frantically trying to grasp the limb extending downward from a tree in an effort to swing out on it. Further along the ledge stood two other girls, one of them Helen Allen, Frank’s sister, the other Dora Baxter.
Rushing toward Minnie, and now only a few yards from where she stood on the lower part of the ledge, its mouth issuing foam and its head covered with it, flecks of foam flying over its back, came a beautiful dog—evidently mad! ”

“ And amid a shrieking of hundreds of voices the train started that was to bear the four chums to their homes in Centerville.
“There’s your dear friend, Oswald Fredericks, Frank!” said Will, as the party hung partly out of a couple of windows in the car they occupied.
“And he’s got his eye glued on you, too; don’t forget,” remarked Jerry.
“Oh! he’s a good hater, all right,” said Bluff. “If he didn’t have any reason to wish you all sorts of bad luck before, that souse in the river settled it. From now on he’ll never hear the name of Frank Langdon without getting mad, you mark me. ”

“ On looking up to find just how far above him the surface might be, what was his delight to see a bright star peeping in between the sides of the cleft in the rocks.
When three minutes afterwards Frank crept out of his "Jacob's Ladder," as he meant to call the friendly fissure, he found that the clouds had begun to roll away to leeward and many stars dotted the heavens overhead. ”

“ All of these happenings have been narrated in the pages of the book just preceding this, under the title of "Frank Allen at Rockspur Ranch."
Lanky's uneasiness concerning the possible continued efforts of Yesson and Lef to steal the valuable paper and chart that, with gold nuggets, had lain in the iron box so many years, accounted for his suspicions that the mysterious nightly visits of the [Pg 15] man with the big head were connected in some way with the long-buried treasure. ”

“ Nearer came the booming voice, heard despite all the clamor around him. Now the boy could glimpse [Pg 29] a moving figure, pushing in a beeline for the quarter where he chanced to be.
"Jerry! is it you?" Frank shrilled, somehow touched by this evidence of affection on the part of the old rustler who did not hesitate to risk his own life in the endeavor to save that of his young friend.
"It sure is, Frank! I'm comin' to git yuh out o' this hot box. Hain't got much time to waste neither, 'case the hull pesky roof is shore to drap in on us right quick." ”

“ He was a bluff chap, not much older than Frank, a very good steamboatman, only that he seemed apt to lose his head in a crisis, which after all, must be a grave fault.
“Bully for you, Frank! Your coming saved the boat, I believe. I’ll never forget it, I tell you. Was just about to lay hold of those fire extinguishers when your crowd forestalled me. It was a rough deal all around. With those women shrieking, and holding on to me, begging me to save them, a fellow might be excused for being a little slow to do the right thing. And you, too, Jerry and Bluff—shake hands!” ”

“ Frank! Where are you?" whooped the exultant artist, capering around in his pajamas, as he hugged his camera to his breast.
"Here," answered the sentry, appearing at that juncture.
"A pretty guard, you are, old boy, to let all those chaps creep up on the camp while we slept in unconscious innocence," said Bluff, in pretended indignation.
"Unconscious innocence is good! Tell me about that, will you? Take a good look at Bluff, fellows. He's expecting to sprout wings soon."
"I was awake, and watching all the time, boys, believe me. I saw the farmer as he crept up, followed by his man. ”