"I can"t give you any money, Cuffer," they heard Tad Sobber say.
"You"ll have to wait till my Uncle Sid gets here."
"When will he get to New York?"
"To-morrow."
"That fellow is Cuffer, the man who ran away from us at the old mill!"
cried d.i.c.k.
"Let us catch him and hand him over to the police," returned Tom.
In his excitement he talked rather loudly and this attracted the attention of Cuffer and Tad Sobber.
"The Rovers!" cried Sobber, leaping to his feet in consternation. "How did they get down to New York?"
"Who did you say?" questioned Cuffer, and then looking at the three youths his face blanched. "We must get away from here, and be quick about it!"
He started to run and d.i.c.k and Sam went after him. The chase led to the lower end of the little park, and then Cuffer crossed Fourteenth street, and amid the crowd bound homeward for the day, pushed his way in the direction of the Third Avenue elevated railroad station.
In the meantime Tad Sobber started to run in another direction. But before he had taken a dozen steps Tom was on him and had him by the arm.
"Stop, Sobber," he said shortly.
"I won"t! You let me go, Tom Rover."
"I"ll not let you go," answered Tom, firmly. "And if you don"t stand still I"ll call a policeman and have you arrested."
CHAPTER IX
A CHASE ON THE BOWERY
Tom"s threat to have Tad Sobber arrested caused the former bully of the school to pause and turn pale.
"You--er--you don"t mean that," he faltered. "You can"t have me arrested."
"We"ll see about that, Sobber."
"I haven"t done anything wrong."
"Then why did you run away from Putnam Hall?"
"I had a right to leave. Captain Putnam wasn"t treating me fairly."
"You ran away on account of that snake affair--you can"t deny it."
"Humph!"
"That snake nearly killed Nick Pell. He isn"t over it yet, altogether."
"Bah! It wasn"t the snake made Nick sick. He wasn"t feeling well some days before the snake bit him."
"It was the snake and nothing else put him in bed," answered Tom, warmly. "And that is not all. You are in league with your uncle, who robbed my uncle of those traction company bonds."
"I--er--I don"t know anything about that matter," answered Sobber, hastily.
"Well, I know all about it. You were with your uncle when he got away from us, and when he dropped the pocketbook containing the bonds."
"Did you get the bonds back?" asked Sobber, with sudden interest. It may be added here that Sid Merrick had gone back long after the chase to look for the pocketbook, but, of course, had been unable to get any trace of it.
"We did."
"My uncle didn"t steal them. Your uncle put them in his hands to sell,"
went on Tad Sobber, with sudden boldness. "It is all a cooked-up story about his running away with them. And it"s a cooked-up story about his having anything to do with those freight thieves. My uncle is an honest man."
"I know all about the freight affair, for I overheard him talking to some of the other thieves," answered Tom. "Where is your uncle now?"
"Do you think I"d be fool enough to tell you?"
"Perhaps you might--if I had you locked up."
"My uncle is a good long way from New York."
"I heard you tell that man your uncle would be in the city to-morrow."
"I didn"t say any such thing!" burst out Sobber, but his manner showed that he was very much disturbed.
"You did say it. Where are you stopping?"
"Nowhere--I only got in a few hours ago."
"Did you come here to meet Cuffer?"
"What do you know about Cuffer?"
"I know your uncle hired him and a man named Sh.e.l.ley to visit our farm and get some things belonging to my father."
"Why, you"re crazy! My uncle hardly knows Cuffer--and I never heard of a man named Sh.e.l.ley."
"I am not crazy, and you know I am speaking the truth," answered Tom, calmly. "Now you tell me where your uncle is or I"ll have you arrested."
"You"ll not arrest me!" exclaimed Tad Sobber, and with a sudden movement he twisted himself free from Tom"s grasp. "You follow me and you"ll get the worst of it!" he added, and darted across the park at top speed.
[Ill.u.s.tration: HE TWISTED HIMSELF FREE FROM TOM"S GRASP AND RAN.]
Tom made after the bully, but as luck would have it a nurse girl with a baby carriage got between them and before Tom could clear himself of the carriage Sobber was a good distance away. He turned to the eastward, down a side street where a large building was in the course of erection. He looked back and then skipped into the unfinished building.