Arriving at the school grounds, Dave wondered how he was going to get in without being observed. He tried all the doors, to find each locked.
"If I ring the bell I'll have to explain matters," he said to himself. "I'll see if I can't rouse up some of the fellows."
He walked around to the window of No. 11, and threw several handsful of gravel up against the glass. At first there was no response, but presently the window was raised, and Roger's head appeared.
"Is that you, Dave?" asked the senator's son, in a low voice.
"Yes, Roger. Will you slip down and let me in."
"Sure thing. Will the side door do?"
"Yes."
No more was said, and the window was closed. Dave hurried to the door mentioned, and a moment later Roger opened it, and he entered. Then both hurried upstairs, making as little noise as possible.
"What kept you so long?" asked the senator's son, while Dave was undressing.
"I'll tell you and Phil in the morning," was Dave's reply. "I've got a yarn to spin you will hardly believe." And then he went to bed. But it was a long time before he was able to drop asleep, and then his dreams were little short of a nightmare.
It was not until Sunday afternoon that Dave got a chance to tell his two chums the particulars of what had occurred. They listened with keen attention to all he said, and the face of each plainly expressed his amazement.
"That's the worst ever!" was Roger's comment. "What were they going to do with you, Dave?"
"I don't know."
"I believe it was some deep-laid plot," said Phil. "Your getting away spoiled it all."
"For them, yes,--but not for me," answered Dave, with something of a grin. "I don't know what I escaped, but I am mighty glad I got away."
"What about your bicycle?" asked the senator's son. "Aren't you going to try to get that back?"
"Certainly,--and I am going to interview that Doctor Montgomery, too,--if I can catch him. But I want you two to go along," answered Dave.
He was glad to take it easy for the rest of the day. On Monday, after school, the three boys went to Rockville on bicycles, Dave borrowing a wheel belonging to Buster. They rode straight to the Dunn house, to find it locked up tightly. In the yard was Dave's machine, standing against the tree as he had left it.
"I guess the doctor has come and gone," said Dave, after trying all the doors. "Most likely he'll make himself scarce for a while."
"Why not interview that fellow Shime?" suggested Phil.
"I will," answered Dave, and taking the extra wheel along, the three students rode around to the Rockville livery stable and garage. Here Dave asked the proprietor about Shime.
"He has gone," said the man, sourly. "Day before yesterday he took one of my best autos for a joy ride. When he came back this morning I discharged him. He took his things and got out--and I don't know where he went to."
This was as much as the garage owner could tell, and with it Dave had to be content. He and his chums turned away; and a little later set out on the return to Oak Hall.
CHAPTER XXVII
A GAME OF ICE HOCKEY
"I reckon you scared them pretty thoroughly, Dave."
"I am glad of it if I did," answered Dave. "I hope I scared them so much that they never bother me again."
Several days had passed, and in that time Dave had learned many things. From Rockville had come the news that Doctor Montgomery had left rather suddenly, without stating where he was going, and Dave had likewise learned that Shime had not shown himself since his discharge by the garage owner. And now from the military academy came word that Merwell and Jasniff had obtained leave of absence for a week.
"They say Doctor Montgomery must have been getting ready to leave," said Phil, who had been to Rockville. "He owes a board bill at the hotel as well as at his boarding-house. Mrs. Dunn is back, and is very angry to think the doctor got away during her absence."
"I suppose Merwell and Jasniff think the affair will blow over by the time they return," said Roger. "Well, Dave, you can do as you please, but if I were you I'd try to corner them."
"If I did that, Roger, they'd try to squirm out of it somehow. What I'd like to do best of all would be to give Merwell and Jasniff a good thrashing."
"Well, they deserve that, Dave."
"I believe they were going to place you in some kind of an awkward position," came from Phil. "Maybe they were going to commit some crime and try to fasten it on you."
"Well, whatever it was, they got left," declared Dave.
"By the way, did you see the notice Nat Poole posted up in the gym.?" asked Roger, during a pause.
"No. What is it?"
"He has lost a watch-chain charm, and he offers a dollar reward for its return."
"As if the fellows wouldn't return it without a reward, if it was found!" exclaimed Phil. "That just shows Nat's natural meanness of mind!"
"Nat is busy organizing his ice-hockey team," said Roger. "They are going out to practice this afternoon."
"Which puts me in mind that we were going to organize a hockey team also," returned Dave. "I guess the sooner we get at it the better."
The ice on the river was clear and smooth, ideal for hockey playing, and that season ice hockey was taken up in earnest at both Oak Hall and Rockville. Nat Poole had little difficulty in organizing a team, he being the captain and playing rover. The others on his team were made up of those who had played with him on the football eleven and some new students at the Hall.
Dave had studied the play and the players with care, and he finally made up a team as follows:
_Goal_, Sam Day. _Point_, Dave Porter, _captain_. _Cover Point_, Phil Lawrence. _Center_, Roger Morr. _Rover_, Gus Plum. _Left Wing_, Maurice Hamilton. _Right Wing_, Ben Basswood. _Substitutes_: Tom Atwood, Luke Watson, and Henry Babcock.
"You have got to play as if you meant it, if you want to win any games," said Dave to his fellow-players, and so much in earnest did he become that, between ice hockey and his studies, he completely forgot about the adventure which had followed his visit to Doctor Montgomery.
Nat Poole could not help but boast of what his team could do, and when a challenge came to Oak Hall from Rockville to play a game he wanted to accept it without delay. But before he could do so, Mr. Dodsworth interfered.
"We have two hockey teams in this school," said the instructor. "Your seven, and that of which Dave Porter is captain. I think it would be no more than fair that you play a game between you, and that the winner be permitted to accept the Rockville challenge."
This did not suit Nat at all, as he wanted matters entirely his own way. But nearly every boy in the school sided with Mr. Dodsworth, so at last the money-lender's son had to agree to play the game with Dave's team, and it was decided that this game should take place, weather permitting, the following Saturday, and that the game with Rockville should come off one week later.
"To hear Nat Poole talk you would think he had won the game already," said Roger,