The Hilltop Boys.

by Cyril Burleigh.

CHAPTER I

THE BEGINNING OF THE TERM

"I say, Art, let's take a run down to the train. There will be sure to be some of the old fellows on it and perhaps some new ones."

"Yes, for I heard the doctor tell Buck to have the coach and horses ready, as he expected several of the young gentlemen to come on the afternoon train. Why can't we go down with Buck instead of going alone?"

"Because Mr. Bucephalus, called Buck for short, objects to doing any more work than he is obliged to. We can ride back with him. That is vastly preferable to pedaling up the hill."

"So it is, Harry, but I don't mind coasting down. Come on, there is the train now, just leaving the station below."

Two bright looking boys of about fifteen, dressed in a half-military fashion, stood on a terrace in front of a rambling, two-story building overlooking the surrounding country, the Hudson River being seen in the distance at the foot of a mountain of considerable height, everything being most distinct in the clear Autumn air, the steamboats on the river, the roof of the little railroad station and the puff of smoke from the engine as it pulled out being seen very clearly.

The rambling, two-story building on the top of the hill was the Academy and the boys were two of the pupils who were here a little in advance of the rest to begin the new term, were, in fact, some of the Hilltop Boys as they were called by the people of the town on the river where the train on the branch road was now going at a fair speed, the incline increasing with the distance from the station.

Arthur Warren and Harry d.i.c.kson hurried off to the stables where the wheels of the boys were kept, selected their own, mounted quickly and set out along the Academy drive to the road leading to the station, this being a mile or more distant, although in a straight line it was much less.

From the river to the station nearest the Academy it was five miles, but on account of the grade and the numerous stops the two boys had plenty of time to reach the railroad before the train which they had seen leaving the river station could arrive.

"Did the Doctor say who was coming, Art?" asked Harry, as they reached the road, set their brakes and started down the hill. "d.i.c.k Percival generally comes at this time."

"Yes, I believe the black fellow said he expected Master d.i.c.k. He always likes to fetch d.i.c.k up and will go for him at any time, day or night."

"To be sure, for d.i.c.k always gives him a tip."

The hill down which the two boys were now gliding at a good rate was quite steep, there being a decided drop a few rods in advance and a number of sharp turns, the rounding of which required considerable dexterity and the coolest of heads.

They were two-thirds of the way down and had reached the steepest part of the hill when, in rounding a particularly sharp turn where they had to keep all their wits about them, they saw just ahead of them, in the middle of the road, a boy carrying a suitcase.

"Hi! get out of the road!" roared Harry, taking a tighter grip on his handle bars and apprehending trouble.

"Look out!" cried Arthur in shrill tones.

The boy in the middle of the road, not more than fifty feet distant at this moment, stood perfectly still and cried in a clear voice, sure to be heard above everything else:

"Swerve a bit to the side, both of you and there will be room enough."

Simultaneously, he made a quick signal to the right and to the left.

Arthur steered a little to the right while Harry went to the left, both whizzing past the boy in the middle of the road who held his suitcase in front of him and stood perfectly still.

Neither of the boys even grazed him but there was little room to spare and the wind of the two wheels caused his coat to flutter violently and almost took off his soft hat.

In a moment more both boys were speeding down the hill at a tremendous gait and in another were out of sight around another and less sharp turn.

"My word! but that was a close shave!" e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed Harry, with a sigh and a feeling of intense relief. "I made sure that we were going to get spilled, the three of us."

"Some cool head that!" returned Arthur. "Lots of fellows would have gone all to pieces. I came pretty near doing it myself."

"He knew just what to do and when to do it," Harry went on. "Only for that there would have been a bad mix-up."

"Well, there wasn't!" grunted Arthur, "so don't say any more about it.

It gives me the creeps to think of it. That fellow has some nerve.

Wonder what he was doing on our road? You can't get anywhere except to Hilltop Academy that way. If he's a new student why didn't he come with Bucephalus and the coach?"

"Can't tell you. Maybe he didn't know anything about it."

The boys reached the bottom of the hill without further incident and went on to the little railroad station, hearing the sound of the expected train as they dismounted and stacked their wheels.

The colored coachman of the Academy, who bore the high-sounding name of Bucephalus, but who was almost always called Buck by the boys and by the people of the town at the foot of the hill, sat on his box as if carved out of black marble and neither looked to the right nor the left, considering it beneath his dignity to converse with any one in the village while on duty and seeming to see no one.

"Did you meet a young fellow going up the hill as you were coming down, Buck?" asked Harry, stepping alongside the big coach. "A new fellow, do you think, Bucephalus?"

"Ah dunno, sah, Ah done paid no attention to anybody Ah met on de road, sah. Ah done had 'nuff to do to look aftah mah hosses witho't catechisin' or scrutinizin' strangers, sah."

The whistle of the train was heard again at that moment and in a short time it arrived and many of the pa.s.sengers alighted, among them being two or three boys who were warmly welcomed by the two students.

"h.e.l.lo, d.i.c.k, back again, eh? Glad of it. How are you, Billy, how do, Tom? Ready for work, of course?"

"And incidentally, a bit of fun," replied one of the newcomers. "Hope we will have a good crowd this term. Any new ones to put through their paces and make toe the mark?"

The boys chatted and laughed at a lively rate while their trunks and valises were being put on top and behind the coach and then all got inside, Bucephalus objecting when Harry and Arthur put their wheels on the rear rack and took their seats with the others.

"Yo' young ge'men am discommodin' de reg'lah pa.s.sengers an' taking up mo' room dan Ah sp.e.c.k.e.rlated on," he muttered. "Whyn't yo' go back de same way yo' come?"

"Walk and wheel our bikes?" cried Harry. "Not much. There's room for all of us and I want to talk with d.i.c.k."

"That's all right, Buck," said d.i.c.k Percival, one of the newcomers, a handsome boy of sixteen, strong, well built and st.u.r.dy, slyly pa.s.sing something to the coachman. "Come up on the box, Harry. I have a lot to tell you. Come on, there's lots of room."

The two boys sat on the box alongside the coachman who set off up the hill for the Academy and d.i.c.k at once began to tell of an adventure which had happened to him during the vacation.

"I was taking a hike up in the fruit country," he began, "and in making my way across lots lost my bearings and came out in a peach orchard where I could not see the road nor a house nor anything. Two rough-looking fellows, fruit pickers, and they are not the best men to meet even if they are sober, and these were not, came up and looked rather hostile and threatening. I had considerable money with me and although I could have met either one of the men singly, did not feel like engaging both of them. It was either a case of run or be outmatched, and I was puzzled what to do."

"What did you do?" asked Harry, interested. "They must have been pretty husky fellows for you to decline meeting them."

"A young fellow in overalls and a rough shirt who was picking peaches in a tree, I had not seen him at first, suddenly appeared and ordered the men to get to work and then the boss happened up and sent them away. The boy went back to his picking and the man gave me directions how to reach the road. I suppose the boy was a picker just like the rest but at any rate he had some idea of fairness. He spoke well and I was astonished to see him with the rest but you can't always tell."

"Art and I had a close call this afternoon," said Harry. "We were coming down the Academy hill on our bikes when, at one of the worst places in it, we came upon a young fellow. It looked as if we would run him down but he stood stock still and with all the nerve in the world, whisked his arm first to the right and then to the left as a signal to us. We just flew past but did not hit him and it was a mercy we didn't. Only for his coolness there would have been a bad upset for the lot of us."

"It was very fortunate that there wasn't. Did you know him?"

"No, never saw him before."