CHAPTER XI
TOM HICKSLEY REAPPEARS
The housekeeper carried out the principal's order to the letter. And shedid it with the better grace because she herself was fond of the boys.She bustled about and in a very short time, which seemed long enough,however, to the hungry boys, had a smoking hot meal on the table. Theboys gathered around and pitched into the good things like so manyhungry wolves, while the housekeeper watched them with a genial smile onher good-natured face.
"Some feed," pronounced Fred, with a sigh of satisfaction, when at lastthey were through.
"We've had a tough day in some ways," declared Pee Wee, "but a mightylucky one in another. Just think of the three cooks we've come upagainst. Meena for breakfast, Mrs. Wilson for dinner, and Mary here forsupper. Yum-yum!"
"Sounds as if you were a cannibal," commented Mouser, with a grin.
"Oh, Pee Wee hasn't got to that yet," mocked Fred, "but there's notelling when he will if that appetite of his holds out."
"I'd hate to be out on a raft with Pee Wee in the middle of the ocean,if we were short of grub," chuckled Mouser. "Just think of the hungrylooks he'd be throwing at me."
"I'd like nothing better than to have Pee Wee along," put in Bobby. "Wecould live off him for a month."
The chaff flew back and forth for a while, and then the call of sleepbegan to make itself felt.
Bobby yawned and reached for his watch.
"I wonder what time--" he began, and then stopped short in chagrin.
"No use, Bobby," said Mouser. "The chances are that you'll never seethat watch again."
"Maybe it's in some pawnshop by this time," was the cold comfort thatFred had to offer.
"No loss without some gain," chimed in Pee Wee. "I won't have thetrouble of unfastening my sleeve buttons anyway."
"That's looking on the bright side of things all right," laughed Bobby."Come along, fellows, and let's get to bed."
There was no dissenting voice, and they made their way upstairs to theold familiar dormitory.
This was one of the brightest and most cheerful rooms in the school andnot the least of its charm was that it commanded a splendid view of thelake. There was ample space for the twenty beds that the room contained.A locker stood beside each bed for the exclusive use of the occupant,and there was a chair at the head of each bed on which the regulationsof the school demanded that clothing should be carefully folded andarranged each night upon retiring.
Most of the boys had already arrived for the beginning of the term, andthe room was full of noise and the clatter of tongues. Later on, alittle more quiet would be insisted upon, but the regular school coursewas not in full swing yet and the boys were allowed a little morelatitude than usual.
The other occupants of the room clustered instantly about Bobby and hisparty, who were general favorites. They had already learned almost allthere was to be told about the adventures of the day, but they werekeenly interested in the exploits of the party during their winterholiday in the Big Woods.
"Shiner"--the nickname that had been bestowed on Jimmy Ailshine--HowellPurdy and "Sparrow" Bangs, had also been on that memorable trip, but asthey too had reached school but a little earlier in the day, they hadbeen able to tell only enough of their adventures to whet the appetitefor more. The newcomers were pleased at this, as they had feared thatall the wind would be taken out of their sails and that the trip wouldbe an old story when they arrived upon the scene.
"Sparrow says that you killed a big bear up in the woods," said SamThompson, one of the younger boys.
"And to hear Sparrow tell it, it must have been a twenty-foot bear atleast," laughed Frank Durrock.
"No," grinned Fred. "It had only four feet, just like any other bear."
"Smarty!" Frank shot back at him.
"But it seemed like twenty feet when he reared up at us," explainedBobby.
"He was an old sockdolager, all right," added Mouser.
"I don't want to see any bear so close again," remarked Pee Wee.
"I've seen him in my sleep once or twice since," said Fred, "and I'vewaked up all in a sweat."
"Just which one of you was it that killed it?" asked Sam, his eyes asbig as saucers.
"That's something we can't tell," answered Bobby. "We all fired at it,but I guess it was Gid Harple, the guide, who did the trick. He was adandy shot, all right."
"Gid's going to fix up the claws and teeth and send 'em down to us,"said Mouser. "Then you can see for yourself just what a big fellow thatbear was."
"I heard that you had a shot at a wildcat too," put in "Skeets" Brody.
"Yes," said Fred, "and that was a fool stunt too. We didn't have muchchance of getting him, and that left our guns empty when we saw the bearthe first time. My! but we had a run for it that day. Talk about aMarathon!"
"How did Pee Wee manage to make it?" asked Frank skeptically. "I can'timagine him putting on speed."
"Pee Wee wasn't with us that time," explained Bobby. "The rest of thefellows walked down to the station, but Pee Wee came behind in thesleigh with Gid."
"I had more sense than the rest of the gang," put in Pee Wee, with asuperior air.
"I hear you got a lot of muskrats by stunning them through the ice,"said Skeets. "How did you make out with training them, Mouser?"
"Not very well," confessed Mouser. "They're too wild. Gid said Icouldn't train 'em, and I guess he knew what he was talking about."
The finding of Pat's father in the little shack, and the story of thehunting lodge, completely buried in the big snowslide, and the greatfight they had to get out alive were also subjects of which theiraudience could not have enough. The listeners kept clamoring for moredetails and still more, until in sheer self-defense the boys had to calla halt.
"Have a heart, fellows," said Bobby. "I'm so dead tired that I canhardly keep my eyes open."
"Yes," added Fred, "we'll have all the term to tell you about the restof it."
Their hearers had to be content with this, and in a few moments more theboys had undressed and were in bed. But it is safe to say that in theirdreams that night enough bears and wildcats were seen to stock amenagerie.
"Say, Fred," was Bobby's last remark that night, as he slipped betweenthe sheets, "isn't it bully to be back in the old dormitory again? Justsuppose the tramps had tied us up in that old shack while they slippedout and left us there."
"Ugh!" shuddered Fred, as he snuggled still deeper in his bed. "It givesme the cold shivers just to think of it."
It was a hard thing for the boys to get out of their warm beds when therising bell sounded the next morning. But there was no help for it, andthey washed and dressed in a hurry, cheered by the thought of breakfastwaiting for them.
Several tables were spread in the large bright dining-room. One of themwas reserved for Dr. Raymond and his family, together with the headteachers. The boys were ranged about the others, with a juniorinstructor sitting at the head of each to keep order. But his dutieswere light, for the boys were so intent upon dispatching their food thatthey had little time left for mischief. Each kept a wary eye on hisplate, however, for special dainties had a way sometimes of vanishingmysteriously, and "eternal vigilance" was the price of pie.
The morning was frosty but sunny, and after they had finished theirmeal, the boys lost no time in getting outdoors. There was little to bedone on the first day except to gather in the classrooms for a fewminutes and have their lessons assigned for the following day.
"Any new fellows here this term, Skeets?" Bobby asked, as the latterstrolled with him and Fred on the hard snowy path in front of the mainbuilding.
"Two or three came in yesterday, I heard," answered Skeets, "but I'veonly met one of them so far. His name's Tom Hicksley."
"What kind of fellow does he seem to be?" asked Fred.
"I don't care for him very much," replied Skeets. "That is, judging byhis looks. But you can't always tell by that. There he is now," headded, as a b
oy approached them.
Fred and Bobby looked first at the newcomer and then at each other.
"My! it's the fellow we squelched for teasing the old soldier on thetrain!" gasped Bobby.