Jack did not seem to have heard and gave all his attention to the car, managing it so well that d.i.c.k was astonished and said to himself:

"He handles the thing better than I can do it myself. It's a wonder how many things that boy can do. He may have driven a car, but what of that?

That's no disgrace."

When they were out of sight of the buildings and going at a good speed down the hill Jack said quietly:

"I used to drive a motor truck with fruit to the railroad station and steamboat landing. Most shippers use horses but my man had a big motor truck and I used to drive it. That's how I know about cars."

"That's all right," laughed d.i.c.k. "You are a constant surprise to me. I am all the time finding out the things you can do. Don't mind that fellow Herring. Honestly, I feel safer with you at the wheel than if I were driving myself."

"I have had to do some pretty awkward driving. You know the Hudson River hills? We have some hard ones up my way and I have driven a car down them without an accident."

"There's where your cool head comes in. I wish I had it."

They whizzed around one sharp turn and another, down steep grades and along level stretches at a rapid pace, going smoothly, however, and with never a jar or a jolt and reached the little station in an incredibly short time, Percival being delighted at the masterly manner in which his companion had handled the car.

There was a knot of men and boys around the station and the agent was telling the story of the robbery of the night before for the fiftieth time.

"Anything new, Jones?" asked Percival.

"Not much. There's a lot of stamps missing and a package of registered mail what I hadn't opened. I can't tell what was in it. Maybe much and maybe little. The fellows went over the creek by the bridge and on, 'stead of coming back as folks said. Guess they knew where they was going. Smart fellows them."

"Did you see them plain enough to know them again?"

"Guess I did, one of 'em, anyhow. He had a big white mustache and black eyebrows and hair. Guess his mask must have dropped off."

"How many were there in the car?" and then d.i.c.k saw that Jack seemed greatly agitated about something and stopped short.

"Two, that's all. They got some money out of the drawer and dropped a package near the bridge. Guess they was in a hurry. Smart trick that, cutting the telephone wires. I couldn't get connection with no place, up or down. This morning, though, I heard that they broke into the office at Cedar Bush and got fifty dollars in stamps besides some money. Guess they was making a trip of it."

"Did they make a good haul at Riverton?"

"Guess they did and it was lucky they didn't get more. They got into the bank all right but was scared away before they got much."

"Buck said they got nothing from the bank."

"Well, they did but not all they might have. Folks don't want to say too much down there."

"I'd like to show you the country around here, Jack," said d.i.c.k. "Jump in. There are all sorts of stories about this affair and we won't get the truth of it for some time. I'll show you the creek and the bridge and you may get an idea of the risks these fellows ran unless they knew the region well, which I imagine they did."

They took the road for a quarter of a mile back from the station and then saw the banks of the creek ahead of them.

An eighth of a mile farther on the road turned sharply and ran along the creek but at a short distance from it, making a sudden turn again at the end of two or three hundred yards and crossing where the banks were steep and high and the creek itself quite tumultuous.

"This is the same creek that you reach from the ravine back of the Academy in the woods," said Percival. "The banks there are quite high and rough. There is a descent from here to the river and there the creek does not make much trouble. Here, however it is all the time roaring and tumbling. They tell a number of stories about it. During the American Revolution it had considerable fame I believe."

"It makes stir enough now to call attention to itself at any rate,"

laughed Jack. "It certainly is a noisy little stream. Here is where the robbers crossed over? I can see auto tracks close to the rail. They did go over and back, d.i.c.k, although the agent says they did not."

"The stories are greatly confused and you won't find out what really happened for some time, I don't think. That man with the white mustache and black hair ought to be readily recognized. If he is a professional some ought to know him."

"Yes, probably they will," and d.i.c.k once more noticed that his companion seemed agitated.

He asked Jack to turn and go back as he did not feel quite equal to the task, the road being a bad one so Jack took the wheel and got them back to the station with little trouble.

Stopping here a few minutes and listening to the talk but learning nothing new, they went through the little village, made a few trifling purchases and then returned to the Academy, Jack managing the car and quite exciting d.i.c.k's admiration by the cool manner in which he took the trying hills, sharp turns and steep ascents.

"I'd like to have you with me whenever I go to the station, Jack," d.i.c.k said. "I fancied I could run a car anywhere but you can beat me all to bits. Herring can say what he likes but a fellow that can run a car as steadily and coolly as you can is good enough to a.s.sociate with the president himself."

"I am glad you like it," said Jack, smiling, "but long use has made me well accustomed to our Hudson valley hills and I really do not mind them nor think them so bad as a stranger would."

The story of the robbery was added to the next day and many conflicting accounts were related so that one could not readily find out what was true and what was not.

The man that Jones had seen was identified as a former prisoner in one of the State inst.i.tutions but whether he had escaped or had served his term was very much in doubt.

On the second afternoon succeeding Jack's visit to the station he was taking a stroll through the woods in the rear of the Academy, expecting Percival to join him, the two often taking walks together.

He suddenly observed that he was quite near to the bank of the ravine and was about to turn when all at once a form flew out of the bushes close at hand, rushed violently against him and sent him in an instant off his feet and down the steep incline.

CHAPTER VIII

WHAT JACK FOUND IN THE RAVINE

Jack Sheldon uttered a startled cry as he found himself darting through s.p.a.ce and then he struck on his back and went sliding down the bank toward the creek below unable to stop himself.

Many thoughts pa.s.sed rapidly through his mind as he went on down the bank, narrowly missing great rocks, stumps of fallen trees and clumps of thorn bushes, feeling no pain but wondering where he would land.

What occurred to him with the most startling distinctness, however, was the fact that he had not lost his footing through his own carelessness but that some one had pushed him from the bank.

Speculation as to who this person might be seemed absolutely useless for he had not seen him and had not known of his presence until the very instant before he had fallen.

What might eventually happen to him did not occupy his thoughts so much as the ident.i.ty of this person and it seemed as if he must have turned this thought over in his mind a thousand times during his descent of the bank.

His progress was so rapid that he could tell nothing of the objects he pa.s.sed nor how long he was in descending, the only thing that was definite being the fact that the creek lay below and he might or might not be thrown into it.

At last when it seemed as if he must have slid a thousand feet or more, although it was much less than that distance, he was suddenly brought up sharply by his feet striking a great ma.s.s of moss, decayed wood and rich loam at the foot of a short stump almost on the brink of the roaring creek tumbling over the rocks in its bed.

He was thrown half across this stump by the violence of the contact but quickly realized that he was not hurt although nearly out of breath and with a rapidly beating heart.

His coat was about his neck, he had no hat, his shoes were badly sc.r.a.ped and his trousers had many holes in them but he was alive and evidently not seriously bruised or scratched by his rapid slide over the rough ground and coa.r.s.e gra.s.s.

But for his having been stopped by the stump he would have gone into the water which at this point was right up to the bank.

Standing up and arranging his clothing as much as was possible at the moment, he took a deep breath or two and looked about him.