CHAPTER VI
FIRST CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS
Jerry and Ned looked at Bob quickly, and then darted glances after theman who had so rudely pushed out of the door, almost upsetting Jerry onhis way.
“Did he really have a crooked nose?” asked Ned.
“He sure did! I had a good view of his side face, and his nose lookedas though he had been a football player most of his life, and hadfallen on his nose instead of on the pigskin.”
Ned darted out to the sidewalk, and looked up and down the street. Hecame back to report.
“The man, Crooked Nose or not, isn’t in sight,” he said. “But if youthink it’s worth while postponing the meal----”
“No, don’t!” hastily begged Bob. “Maybe after we caught up to him itwouldn’t be the right man.”
“I’m inclined to agree with you there,” said Jerry. “We have only thisFrenchman’s word for it, and there is probably more than one man witha crooked nose in Cresville. We can’t go up to the first chap we meetwho’s decorated that way and accuse him of taking money and jewelry orsetting fire to a house. It won’t do.”
“No,” assented Ned. “We might properly call him down for his manner ofcolliding with us, but that isn’t criminal. I guess we’ll just haveto let him go, and second Bob’s motion to hold a grub-fest. I have anappetite, even with all the smoke I swallowed.”
“Same here,” said Jerry. “That Frenchman may have been dreaming. But hetells a funny story, and Crooked Nose, as we’ll call him until we thinkof a better name, did seem to want to get off without being recognized.”
“He actually seemed afraid of us,” went on Ned. “He came out of herelike a shot as soon as he saw us. I’m sure there’s something wrongabout him, and there may be more in the Frenchman’s story than has yetcome out.”
“We can go and see him to-morrow,” suggested Jerry. “But we’d betterlook after Professor Snodgrass a little now. He may be at one of ourhouses expecting us; that is, if he hasn’t found a new colony of bugs.”
So the boys proceeded with their meal, talking meanwhile about theevents of the night.
“I wonder how the patriotic meeting made out?” asked Ned.
“We can pass there on our way home,” said Jerry. “I guess there will beplenty of such from now on, since Uncle Sam has decided to take a fallout of the Kaiser.”
But as the boys, in their automobile, rode past the auditorium, itwas closed and dark, showing that the meeting was over. That it was asuccess they heard from several persons to whom they spoke as they rodethrough the streets of the small city on their way to Jerry’s house,since it was decided to stop there first, to see if Professor Snodgrasswas visiting Mrs. Hopkins.
And it was there they found him, talking to Jerry’s mother, who wasentertaining the little scientist, meanwhile wondering what was keepingthe boys.
“Well, how does it feel to be a hero?” asked Ned, as he greeted theprofessor.
“A hero?” murmured Mr. Snodgrass, wonderingly.
“Yes. Didn’t he tell you, Mother?” inquired Jerry. “He stopped the teamthat was running away with the fire engine and----”
“And you never mentioned it, Professor!” exclaimed Mrs. Hopkins.
“Too modest!” murmured Jerry.
“Really, I never gave it a thought,” said the visitor. “In fact, Ididn’t notice anything about the vehicle in question. I only saw somehorses coming down the road, and I didn’t want them to step on acolony of bugs I wished to investigate. That is all there was to it.But did the fire amount to anything, boys?”
“Yes, it was some fire,” answered Bob. “And, what’s more, Jerry and Neddid a bit of hero work themselves,” and he related the incident of therescue of the Frenchman.
“Oh, it wasn’t anything!” declared Jerry, as he saw his mother lookingproudly at him. “Bob was in it, too. If he hadn’t been so fat hecouldn’t have kept the ladder from slipping.”
“That’s right!” chimed in Ned. “I guess we can all congratulateourselves.”
“How was the meeting?” asked Mrs. Hopkins.
“We didn’t hear much of it,” answered Jerry. “Came out when it was lessthan half over, to see about the fire, and we’ve been busy ever since.But say, Professor, what do you think about this declaration of warwith Germany?”
“I think it was the only thing the people of the United States coulddo with honor and with a regard for their own rights and the cause ofhumanity,” was the quick answer. “We’ll all have to get into the fightsooner or later, and in one way or another. I think there are stirringtimes ahead of us, boys.”
The talk became general, and Professor Snodgrass told of having heardfrom a fellow scientist that a certain kind of insect was to be foundin the vicinity of Cresville, and so he had decided to come on a littleexpedition in the few days that remained of the Easter vacation.
“We’re glad to see you,” declared Jerry. “Are you counting on goinganywhere else after bugs?”
“Not just at present,” answered the scientist. “I have found just whatI want right here, so it won’t be necessary to get out the airship orthe submarine this time.”
“I wish we could,” sighed Ned. “It seems a shame that all our goodtimes have to be curtailed for a while, and that we have to go back toBoxwood Hall.”
“That’s the place for you boys, for some years yet,” said Mrs. Hopkins.“You have had your share of fun, and you must now be content to do alittle serious work.”
“That is right,” chimed in Professor Snodgrass. “But I have not givenup all hope of making other trips with you boys. I haven’t forgottenthe stirring times we have had. There may be more ahead of us, thoughwhen the country actually gets into war every one will have to give upsome pleasures.”
The boys related the incidents of the fire, incidentally speaking ofthe Frenchman’s real or fancied loss of his money and the jewelry andabout the man with the crooked nose.
“Oh, I think I know that crippled Frenchman!” cried Mrs. Hopkinssuddenly. “He does work for Mr. Martley, the jeweler. Oh, I wonder ifit can be true,” and she gave a gasp.
“What is it, Mother?” demanded Jerry, who saw that something was wrong.
“I sent that new diamond brooch I bought last month at Martley’s backto be engraved. Perhaps Mr. Martley let that Frenchman have it.”
“He mentioned a diamond brooch.”
“If it is mine and it is gone!” Mrs. Hopkins clasped her hands. “Itcost eight hundred dollars!”
“In that case Martley will have to pay for it,” added Jerry quickly.
“Yes, Jerry. But it will make a lot of trouble,” sighed his mother.
“Was that man’s nose bent to the left?” asked Professor Snodgrass,looking up from a dried bug he was inspecting, for he carried specimensin almost every pocket, and looked at them whenever he had a chance.
“Yes, and it was quite a bend, too,” said Bob. “Why do you ask, Mr.Snodgrass?”
“Because I think I saw the same man shortly after you boys left me togo to the fire, dragging the engine with your auto. I was in the middleof the road, getting some of the insects into my specimen box, when Iwas almost trodden on by a man who was hurrying past. I looked up toremonstrate with him, and then I saw that he had a very crooked nose.Before I had a chance to say all I wanted to about his manners, or,rather, lack of them, he hurried on.”
“It must have been the same chap,” declared Jerry. “His rudeness showsthat. He did the same thing to us. We must keep our eyes open, and, ifwe see him around town, we’ll find out who he is.”
Professor Snodgrass not only spent the night at Mrs. Hopkins’ house,but his visit extended over several days.
During that time some highly interesting facts came to light.
It was learned that at the time of the fire the old crippled Frenchjeweler had had a great number of things in his possession to engrave,entrusted to him by two of the local jewelers, Mr. Martley and Mr.Jackson.
Among the things
given to him by Mr. Martley were the diamond broochbelonging to Mrs. Hopkins and also a gold watch which was the propertyof Mr. Baker, Bob’s father. Both of these valuable articles were nowmissing--and even when the ruins of the fire were searched they werenot brought to light.
Of course both Mrs. Hopkins and Mr. Baker were much disturbed, and sowas Mr. Martley. The jeweler was in a bad way financially, and thismade matters worse than ever for him. His creditors came down on himimmediately and the next day he had to make an assignment. The otherjeweler was better fixed and settled up promptly for his losses.
“It looks as if my father would be out his watch,” said Bob to hischums. “And such a fine timepiece too! It cost a hundred and sixtydollars!”
“That isn’t as bad as my mother’s loss,” returned Jerry. “That diamondbrooch cost eight hundred dollars!”
“Martley was a fool to trust the old Frenchman with the things.”
“He knows that--now. Not but what I guess the old man was honestenough. But it was a careless thing to do.”
“Maybe Crooked Nose got the things.”
“If he did, I hope we get Crooked Nose.”
“So do I. I don’t think we’ll get much out of Martley. He’s too deeplyin debt, so I’ve heard.”
Professor Snodgrass was still at the Hopkins home and the boys wentwith him on one or two short trips, looking for bugs. But there was, ontheir part, not much interest in the work. They were, as was every oneelse in town, too much absorbed in the exciting events that followedthe entrance of the United States into the war against Germany.
It was about a week after the fire, when Ned, Bob and Jerry were outin their automobile, discussing what they would do at the coming termof school, that they passed a newspaper office and stopped to read thebulletin.
“Look at that, fellows!” cried Jerry.
“What is it?” asked Bob, whose view was obstructed by Ned.
“It’s a call for volunteers to fight the Kaiser,” was the answer.“There may be a draft, later, fellows, and the volunteers are the boyswho go first!” Jerry rose in his seat to read the bulletin over theheads of the crowd.
“The first call for volunteers,” he murmured. Then, with a suddennessthat was startling, he exclaimed:
“Fellows, this hits us! I’m going to offer myself to Uncle Sam! Are youwith me?”