d.i.c.k"s laugh had anything but a merry sound. None of the boys had a truly jovial look, nor was it to be expected of them. Tom was solemn as an owl, Harry fussy; Dan was grinning in a sickly sort of way, as was Dave Darrin. Greg Holmes, utterly silent, stood with his fists clenched, thinking how he would like to be able at this moment to pounce upon Ted Teall.
"It"s an outrage!" sputtered Hi Martin, white to the roots of his hair. He was walking about, stamping with his bare feet on the ground, the fingers of both his hands working nervously.
"Oh, well, you won"t get any sympathy in this crowd," Tom a.s.sured Hi glumly. "You were party to this, and all that disturbs you is that any one should dare take the same kind of a liberty with you. We don"t care what happens to you, now, Martin."
"What shall we do with Martin, anyway?" demanded Dan Dalzell.
"Nothing," returned d.i.c.k crisply. "He isn"t worthy of having anything done to him."
"Let"s call "Ted" with all our might," proposed Harry.
"You can, if you want to," d.i.c.k rejoined. "I doubt if he is now near enough to hear you. Even if he did hear, he"d only snicker and run further away."
After a few moments more d.i.c.k and his chums, as though by common consent, squatted on the sand near the edge of the pond. It was warmer for them that way. Martin edged over close to them. Not one member of d.i.c.k & Co. did the captain of the North Grammar nine really like, but in his present woeful plight Hi wanted human company of some kind, and he could not very well go in search of people who wore all their clothing.
While the swimmers had been occupied in the water at the lower end of the pond, Ted Teall had been wonderfully busy.
First of all, Ted had loaded himself with about half the clothing belonging to d.i.c.k & Co. The shoes he had carried by tying each pair by means of the laces and swinging three pair around his neck. The first load be carried swiftly through the woods until be came to a thicket where he hoped he would find concealment.
Then he had gone back for the other half of the clothing. This, upon arrival at the thicket, Ted dropped in on top of the first installment.
"Now, I guess I ought to hide somewhere where there won"t be the least danger of them finding me. Then I can see the fun when those fellows come ash.o.r.e," chuckled Teall. "Hold on, though!
There"s one more debt to pay. That confounded Hi Martin called the South Grammar a "mucker" school. I believe I"ll hide his clothes, too, for his saying what he did. But I"ll have to go carefully, and see whether the fellows are still out of sight."
Ted returned with a good deal of caution. Then he discovered, by the sound of voices, that the swimmers were still at the lower end of the pond.
"Plenty of time to get Hi"s duds, too," chuckled the pleased joker.
He slipped down close to the beach, gathering up all of Martin"s garments and the hat and shoes.
"Say, it must be fine to have a pretty well fixed father," murmured Ted wistfully. "All these duds of Hi"s are of the best quality.
I wonder if I"ll be able to wear clothes like these when I"m earning my own money?"
Then he started off, going more slowly than on his two previous trips, for he felt that he had plenty of time. But at last the nearing voices of the returning swimmers warned him.
"They can"t see me," chuckled Ted. "If any of "em chase me, I can make a quick dash for the road and they won"t dare follow me there. They"d be afraid of running into other people."
So Ted even dallied for a while. Some of the angry words uttered reached his ears and delighted him.
"Hi Martin is hot with wrath, and I"m glad of it," chuckled Ted to himself. "So he thought I"d spare him, did he! Huh! The next time he"d better be a little more careful over his remarks about "mucker" schools!"
Then Ted walked on again leisurely.
"I believe I"ll let these fellows stay here until about dark, hunting for their clothes, and not finding "em," reflected Teall.
"Then I"ll have Ed Payne drop around and tell "em just where to look. They can"t thump Payne, for he won"t be guilty of anything but helping "em. Then maybe d.i.c.k Prescott will pitch dynamite again for me to bat at!"
Teall gained the thicket that concealed the other clothing. Just as he was about to cast Martin"s belongings after the other wardrobes, he was disturbed by a sound close at hand.
With a start Ted looked up. Then he felt uneasy; frightened, in fact. At his side stood a shabbily dressed man of middle age.
The man"s cheeks were sunken, though they burned with an unhealthy glow. There was, in the eyes, also a light that made Ted creepy.
"S-s-say, wh-what do you want?" stammered Teall.
"So you are a thief, and at work?" inquired the man, who had rested a thin but rather strong hand on Ted"s shoulder.
"A thief?" Teall repeated indignantly. "No, sir! And nothing like it, either."
"Is all the clothing in there yours?" demanded the stranger sternly.
"No, sir," Ted answered promptly.
"Then-----"
"You see," Ted went on more glibly, and trying to conceal the fact that he was very uneasy under those burning eyes, "it"s just a joke that I"m playing on some fellows who are swimming."
"You consider that sort of a joke humorous?" demanded the stranger, tightening the grip of his hand on Teall"s shoulder until the boy squirmed.
"It"s not a bit worse than what one of them did to me this morning,"
Ted a.s.serted, strongly on the defensive now. "And I don"t know what business it is of yours, mister. Who are you, anyway?"
"My name," replied the other quietly, "is Amos Garwood."
"Amos Gar---wood?" Ted repeated. At first the name conveyed no information to him. But suddenly he remembered the name that had been on everyone"s tongue a few days before.
"The crazy man?" cried Ted, his voice shaking. Then the woods rang with his startled combination of whoop and prayer.
"This is no place for me!" gasped Teall huskily, as, frantically, he tore himself free of that grip on his shoulder.
Without more ado Ted Teall broke through cover for the road.
Never before had he realized how fast it was possible for him to sprint. Terror is an unexcelled pacemaker at times.
That whoop, followed by the yell of fear, traveled until it reached the boys at the lakeside. The distance and the breeze must have robbed the voice of some of its terror, for d.i.c.k sprang to his feet like a flash.
"That was Ted Teall"s fine voice!" he cried, running up the slight slope. "Come on, fellows! We"ll travel straight in that direction---and we"ll find our clothing."
Nor were any of the boys very far behind d.i.c.k in the mad race.
Though two or three of them stepped on stones on the way, no one gave a thought to so slight an accident.
Nor was it long ere they burst from cover and came upon Amos Garwood, standing as though lost in thought, for Garwood was trying to comprehend Teall"s words, "the crazy man."
All in a flash d.i.c.k recognized the man. So did his chums. Hi Martin alone was in the dark.
"Good afternoon," was Garwood"s greeting, as he looked up as though coming out of a trance. "You are looking for your clothing, I imagine?"
"Marvelous what a good guesser you are, sir," gasped Tom.
"You"ll find your clothing in this thicket," announced Garwood, indicating the spot with a wave of one arm.
d.i.c.k and Tom piled into the thicket, pa.s.sing out the mixed-up articles to the other boys. A quick sorting was made and each item claimed.