CHAPTER III
A MIDNIGHT VISITOR
The next day, shortly after noon, it began to rain, and the stormincreased in violence until the wind blew almost a gale.
The rain kept the boys indoors, at which Tom was inclined to grumble.
"No use of grumbling, Tom," said Dick cheerfully. "Let us improve thetime by looking over our school books. That will make it easier to slipinto the grind again when we get back to the Hall."
"That is excellent advice, Richard," said Randolph Rover. "Whatever youdo, do not neglect your studies."
"By the way, Uncle Randolph, how is scientific farming progressing?"said Tom, referring to something that had been his uncle's hobby foryears--a hobby that had cost the gentleman considerable money.
"Well--ah--to tell the truth, Thomas, not as well as I had hoped for."
"Hope you didn't drop a thousand or two this year, uncle?"
"Oh, no--not over fifty dollars."
"Then you got off easy."
"I shall do better next year. The potatoes already show signs ofimprovement."
"Good! I suppose you'll be growing 'em on top of the ground soon. Thenyou won't have the bother of digging 'em, you know," went on thefun-loving boy innocently.
"Absurd, Thomas! But I shall have some very large varieties, I feelcertain."
"Big as a watermelon?"
"Hardly, but--"
"Big as a muskmelon, then?"
"Not exactly, but--"
"About the size of a cocoanut, eh?"
"No! no! They will be as large as--"
"I mean a little cocoanut," pleaded Tom, while Sam felt like laughingoutright.
"Well, yes, a little cocoanut. You see--"
"We saw some big potatoes in California, Uncle Randolph."
"Ah! Of what variety?"
"_Cornus bustabus_, or something like that. Sam, what was the name, doyou know?"
"That must be something like it, Tom," grinned the youngest Rover.
"Took two men to lift some of those potatoes," went on Tom calmly.
"Two men? Thomas, surely you are joking."
"No, uncle, I am telling nothing but the strict truth."
"But two men! The potatoes must have been of monstrous size!"
"Oh, not so very big. But they did weigh a good deal, no question ofit."
"Think of two men lifting one potato!"
"I didn't say one potato, Uncle Randolph. I said some of thosepotatoes."
"Eh?"
"The men had a barrel full of 'em."
"Thomas!" The uncle shook his finger threateningly. "At your oldtricks, I see. I might have known it." And then he stalked off to hidehis chagrin.
"Tom, that was rather rough on Uncle Randolph," said Sam, after alaugh.
"So it was, Sam. But I've got to do something. This being boxed up,when one might be fishing or swimming, or playing baseball, is simplydreadful," answered the other.
Just before the evening meal was announced Jack Ness came up from thebarn, and sought out Randolph Rover.
"Found a man slinking around the cow-shed a while ago," he said. "Helooked like a tramp. I wanted to talk to him, but he scooted indouble-quick order."
"Humph! We haven't had any tramps here in a long time," came fromRandolph Rover. "Where did he go to?"
"Down toward the berry patch."
"Did you follow him up?"
"I did, sir, but he got away from me."
"You must keep a close watch for those fellows," said Randolph Roverbluntly. "I don't want any of them getting in our barn and burning itdown to the ground."
"You are right, Randolph," said Anderson Rover. "Make them keep awayfrom the place by all means, Jack."
"I'll keep my eye peeled for 'em," answered the hired man.
The wind was now blowing a gale, causing the trees near the farmhouseto creak and groan, and banging more than one shutter. But the boys didnot mind this, and went to bed promptly at the usual hour.
"A storm like this on land is nothing to one on the sea," was the wayTom expressed himself. "I don't like anything better than to listen tothe whistling of the wind when I am snug in bed."
For the time being Sam and Tom were occupying a room in the L of thefarmhouse, and Dick had a small bedchamber adjoining. The boys weresoon undressed, and, having said their prayers, hopped into bed, andwere soon sound asleep.
It was not until half an hour later that the older folks retired.Anderson Rover was the last to leave the sitting room, where he hadbeen busy writing some letters at the desk that stood there.
As he was about to retire he fancied he heard a noise outside of one ofthe windows. He drew up the curtain and looked through the glass, butcould see nothing.
"It must have been the wind," he murmured. "But, somehow, it didn'tsound like it."
As he stepped into the dark hallway an uneasy feeling took possessionof him--a feeling hard to define, and one for which he could notaccount.
"I think I had better go around and see that all the doors and windowsare properly locked," he told himself. "Brother Randolph may haveoverlooked one of them."
He walked the length of the hallway, and stepped into the kitchen andover to a side window.
As he had his hand on the window-latch he heard a quick step directlybehind him.
He started to turn, but before he could do so he received a blow on thehead from a club that staggered him. Then he was jerked backward to thefloor.
"Silence!" muttered a voice close to his ear. "Don't you dare to make asound!"
"What does this mean--" he managed to gasp.
"Silence, I tell you!" was the short answer. "If you say another word,I will hit you again!"
Having no desire to receive a blow that might render him totallyunconscious, or, perhaps, take his life, Anderson Rover said no more.He heard a match struck, and then a bit of a tallow candle was lit andplaced on the edge of the kitchen table.
By this dim light the father of the Rover boys saw standing over him atall man, beardless, and with his head closely cropped. One glance intothat hardened face sufficed to tell him who the unwelcome visitor was.
"Arnold Baxter!"
"I see you recognize me," was the harsh reply. "Not so loud, please,unless you want that crack I promised you."
"What brings you here, and at such an hour as this?"
"I find it more convenient to travel during the night than in thedaytime."
"The police are on your track."
"I know that as well you, Rover."
"What do you want here?"
"What does any man want when he has been stripped of all hisbelongings? I want money."
"I have none for you."
"Bosh! Do you think I have forgotten how you and your boys swindled meout of my rights to that mine in the far West?"
"We did not swindle you, Baxter. The claim was lawfully mine."
"I can't stop to argue the question, and I don't want you to talk soloud, remember that. No, don't try to get up," went on the midnightvisitor, as Anderson Rover attempted to rise. "Stay just where youare."
He was feeling in his pocket, and now he brought forth a strip ofcloth, with a knot tied in the middle.
It was a gag, and he started to place it in Anderson Rover's mouth,when the latter leaped up and began to struggle with all the force hecould command.
"Stop, I tell you!" cried Arnold Baxter softly.
"Stop!" And then, catching up his club once more, he dealt AndersonRover another blow, this time directly across the temple. The gentlemanwavered for an instant, gave a deep groan, and fell like a log to thefloor.