CHAPTER XXIV
CONCLUSION
At heart young Prescott was frightened enough. Yet he was also aroused to a fury of resistance.
With an ugly growl Driggs started in to shake the lad once more. Just at this moment, however, Dick found a chance on which he had been doing some frenzied calculating.
As he hung from Driggs's outstretched hand Dick's foot was just about on a level with one of the fellow's knees. Dick drew his foot back like a flash, delivering a lusty kick.
The blow glanced. Even at that Driggs's knee-cap suffered. With a groan of pain Driggs let go and stood by to rub his injured knee.
"You young fiend!" hissed Ab. Dexter, grabbing Dick by the collar.
Driggs tried two or three limping steps.
"Anything broken there?" demanded Ab. anxiously.
"No; but I've got to have cold water to bandage it with, right away," replied Driggs. "Give me hold of the young pest's collar, and I'll hold him all right until you get in again. But hustle with the water."
By this time Driggs had sunk into one of the chairs. Ab. dragged the boy to him and the other ruffian took vindictive hold.
"I'll settle with you, you little varmint, after I get my knee attended to," growled Driggs. "If you try any more tricks I'll let even my knee go and choke the life out of you."
Dexter hurried from the room. Dick, who felt that seconds must be made to count now, turned like a flash, sinking his teeth in the wrist of the hand that gripped his collar.
"You young----" began Driggs, in a wild temper, starting to rise from the chair as the pain forced him to let go of Dick's collar.
But Prescott, moving only two steps, caught up the other chair, bringing it down on the head of the ugly rascal.
"Dexter! Dexter--quick!" roared Driggs. "The boy's getting away!"
It was dark now, in the lower hall, as Dick, darting down the stairs, made out the form of Ab. Dexter as the latter hastened in through the outer door.
"Out of the way, or I'll hurt you with Driggs's knife!" panted the fleeing boy.
In that instant Abner Dexter proved Dick's suspicion that he was at bottom a coward. Ab. drew up close to the wall, and Dick, with the speed of the hunted deer, dashed from the house.
[Illustration: Dick Caught Up the Other Chair.]
"It may take Ab. a little while to find that I haven't got Driggs's knife," grinned the boy.
For more than a quarter of a mile Dick Prescott ran at the best speed that he could summon. Then, after glancing back, he slowed down to a walk, breathing hard. It was fortunate that he knew these forests so well, or he might have been at a loss to find the path leading in the most direct way to Gridley.
Finally he came out on a more traveled road. After keeping along for another half mile or so he heard a horse behind him and the sound of wheels as well.
"I won't take any chance on that," muttered the boy. Bounding over a stone wall he lay low until the vehicle came up. Peering between the stones of the wall Dick made out an unmistakable farmer.
"Hey, there!" cried Dick, leaping up and bounding over the wall. "Give me a ride, please, mister!"
"Well, I swan! Who are ye--dropping from the skies that-a-fashion?" demanded the astounded driver, reining up.
"Grammar School boy from Gridley," Dick replied. "Going that way?"
"I guess I've seen you before," murmured the farmer, as Prescott went closer. "Your pa runs a bookstore, don't he?"
"Yes. Are you going to Gridley?"
"Straight."
"Then please take me."
Not waiting for an answer Dick climbed up to the seat.
"How do you come so far out of the way?" asked the farmer, as he started the horse.
"I'd tell you, but for one thing," Dick laughed.
"What's that, son?"
"You wouldn't believe me."
"Wouldn't believe old Prescott's boy?" demanded the farmer. "Well, I would if the boy is half as square as his dad."
Thus encouraged Dick began to tell his story. Some past events the farmer already knew. This inclined him very strongly to believe Dick's strange tale.
Once in Gridley the farmer drove the Grammar School boy straight to the police station.
"Dick Prescott?" shouted the chief. "Boy, your parents are crazy over your disappearance. What part of the skies did you drop from? And I've four of my men out trying to track you! Tell me what has happened."
"I will if you'll walk around to the store with me," Dick offered, smiling. "But the first thing I'm going to start to do is to show my father and mother that I'm safe."
The farmer good-naturedly offered to drive them both around to the Prescott store. On the way Dick told some of his story. The rest had to wait until he had shown himself to his parents. Then Mr. and Mrs. Prescott heard the story, too.
"This isn't really a case for me," said the chief of police. "It's for the sheriff. I must get him on the 'phone."
The news spread with great rapidity. Dave Darrin, Greg Holmes and all the other chums of Dick & Co. were on hand by the time that Dick had finished a belated supper with splendid appetite.
"May I go out on the street with the fellows?" Dick asked his mother.
"Yes; if you'll keep on the lighted parts of the streets," smiled his mother. "Although I'm not very much afraid of any more trouble overtaking you when you have all your friends with you."
Later that night a party of sheriff's searchers came upon Driggs, not far from the old mill site. The fellow, fearing prompt pursuit, had endeavored to get away, but the pain in his stiffening knee had prevented his going very far. Ab. Dexter had started with his injured confederate, but had finally played the sneak and fled. However, Dexter, too was caught later that night, while endeavoring to board a train two stations away from Gridley.
Mrs. Dexter, of course, was notified as to what had happened.
For this latest outrage against Dick the rascally pair were not tried. This was for the very simple reason that Dick would have furnished the sole evidence for the prosecution, and the law would have required another witness to corroborate young Prescott's testimony.
However, both men were held as fugitives from justice, for having jumped their bail on their original trial. Both were now held without bail and were presently tried before the higher court.
Both were found guilty, of course. As it is the privilege of the court of resort to impose a heavier punishment than the original one appealed from, Dexter and Driggs were both sent to jail for a year--the highest penalty possible under the circumstances.
"That man will bother me worse than ever as soon as he gets out," complained Mrs. Dexter to Dick and Dave one day.
"If he finds you," added Dick, by way of a hint.
"If he finds me? What you mean by that?"
"Mrs. Dexter, you're not obliged to live in Gridley. Why don't you slip away from here, one of these near days, without letting a soul know where you and your little girl are going. With all your money you could go to Europe or to the Pacific Coast. At a great distance from here you can live securely. Dexter will never have any money if he has to earn it. Go a few thousand miles from here, and, even if Dexter found out where you were, he wouldn't be able to reach you. No--don't tell even us where you are going."
Mrs. Dexter followed that very sensible advice. She and Myra vanished completely one day not long after.
Before that good but timid woman went away, however, she did her best to provide some suitable reward for the Grammar School boys who had proved her staunchest friends and protectors, but they refused to consider any reward.
Dexter, when at last at liberty, must have known of his wife's flights to parts unknown, for he never revisited Gridley, and was not again heard of there.
Dick Prescott's last and greatest adventure placed him securely on the pinnacle of local fame. Where, in all the world, was there another Grammar School boy who had been through as much, or shown as much daring?
Even that shrewd and rather dryly spoken judge of boys and girls Old Dut, took the latest happenings as the text for a little address to the members of his class. He wound up by saying:
"In a few months more this present class will have passed on, some going to High School and many more to their life employment. This present class will be gone, and another class here in its place. Yet I believe I can say in all truthfulness that I shall remember this present class always with pride as the class containing the bravest and brightest boys--and the finest girls--of any class that has been graduated from the Central Grammar School."
It is not our purpose, however, to take leave of Dick Prescott and our other young friends. There was too much yet ahead of them--absorbing happenings that merit being recorded in other volumes. We shall meet Dick, Dave, Greg, Tom and all of the chums once more in the next volume, which is published under the title: "The Grammar School Boys Snowbound; Or, Dick & Co. at Winter Sports." Here we shall find them amid stranger and even more thrilling adventures.
The End
HENRY ALTEMUS COMPANY'S CATALOGUE OF The Best and Least Expensive Books for Real Boys and Girls
Really good and new stories for boys and girls are not plentiful. Many stories, too, are so highly improbable as to bring a grin of derision to the young reader's face before he has gone far. The name of ALTEMUS is a distinctive brand on the cover of a book, always ensuring the buyer of having a book that is up-to-date and fine throughout. No buyer of an ALTEMUS book is ever disappointed.
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Every dealer in books carries the ALTEMUS books.
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Sold by all booksellers or sent postpaid on receipt of price.
Henry Altemus Company
1326-1336 Vine Street, Philadelphia
The Motor Boat Club Series
By H. IRVING HANCOCK
The keynote of these books is manliness. The stories are wonderfully entertaining, and they are at the same time sound and wholesome. No boy will willingly lay down an unfinished book in this series.
1 THE MOTOR BOAT CLUB OF THE KENNEBEC; Or, The Secret of Smugglers' Island.
2 THE MOTOR BOAT CLUB AT NANTUCKET; Or, The Mystery of the Dunstan Heir.
3 THE MOTOR BOAT CLUB OFF LONG ISLAND; Or, A Daring Marine Game at Racing Speed.
4 THE MOTOR BOAT CLUB AND THE WIRELESS; Or, The Dot, Dash and Dare Cruise.
5 THE MOTOR BOAT CLUB IN FLORIDA; Or, Laying the Ghost of Alligator Swamp.
6 THE MOTOR BOAT CLUB AT THE GOLDEN GATE; Or, A Thrilling Capture in the Great Fog.
7 THE MOTOR BOAT CLUB ON THE GREAT LAKES; Or, The Flying Dutchman of the Big Fresh Water.
Cloth, Illustrated Price, per Volume, 50c.
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The Range and Grange Hustlers
By FRANK GEE PATCHIN
Have you any idea of the excitements, the glories of life on great ranches in the West? Any bright boy will "devour" the books of this series, once he has made a start with the first volume.
1 THE RANGE AND GRANGE HUSTLERS ON THE RANCH; Or, The Boy Shepherds of the Great Divide.
2 THE RANGE AND GRANGE HUSTLERS' GREATEST ROUND-UP; Or, Pitting Their Wits Against a Packers' Combine.
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4 THE RANGE AND GRANGE HUSTLERS AT CHICAGO; Or, The Conspiracy of the Wheat Pit.
Cloth, Illustrated Price, per Volume, 50c.
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Submarine Boys Series
By VICTOR G. DURHAM
1 THE SUBMARINE BOYS ON DUTY; Or, Life on a Diving Torpedo Boat.
2 THE SUBMARINE BOYS' TRIAL TRIP; Or, "Making Good" as Young Experts.
3 THE SUBMARINE BOYS AND THE MIDDIES; Or, The Prize Detail at Annapolis.
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5 THE SUBMARINE BOYS' LIGHTNING CRUISE; Or, The Young Kings of the Deep.
6 THE SUBMARINE BOYS FOR THE FLAG; Or, Deeding Their Lives to Uncle Sam.
7 THE SUBMARINE BOYS AND THE SMUGGLERS; Or, Breaking Up the New Jersey Customs Frauds.
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By H. IRVING HANCOCK
1 THE SQUARE DOLLAR BOYS WAKE UP; Or, Fighting the Trolley Franchise Steal.
2 THE SQUARE DOLLAR BOYS SMASH THE RING; Or, In the Lists Against the Crooked Land Deal.
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The College Girls Series
By JESSIE GRAHAM FLOWER, A.M.
1 GRACE HARLOWE'S FIRST YEAR AT OVERTON COLLEGE.
2 GRACE HARLOWE'S SECOND YEAR AT OVERTON COLLEGE.
3 GRACE HARLOWE'S THIRD YEAR AT OVERTON COLLEGE.
4 GRACE HARLOWE'S FOURTH YEAR AT OVERTON COLLEGE.
5 GRACE HARLOWE'S RETURN TO OVERTON CAMPUS.
* * * * *
Dave Darrin Series
By H. IRVING HANCOCK
1 DAVE DARRIN AT VERA CRUZ; Or, Fighting With the U. S. Navy in Mexico.
* * * * *
All these books are bound in Cloth and will be sent postpaid on receipt of only 50 cents each.
Pony Rider Boys Series
By FRANK GEE PATCHIN
These tales may be aptly described the best books for boys and girls.
1 THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN THE ROCKIES; Or, The Secret of the Lost Claim.
2 THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN TEXAS; Or, The Veiled Riddle of the Plains.
3 THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN MONTANA; Or, The Mystery of the Old Custer Trail.
4 THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN THE OZARKS; Or, The Secret of Ruby Mountain.
5 THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN THE ALKALI; Or, Finding a Key to the Desert Maze.
6 THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN NEW MEXICO; Or, The End of the Silver Trail.
7 THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN THE GRAND CANYON; Or, The Mystery of Bright Angel Gulch.
Cloth, Illustrated Price, per Volume, 50c.
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The Boys of Steel Series
By JAMES R. MEARS
Each book presents vivid picture of this great industry. Each story is full of adventure and fascination.
1 THE IRON BOYS IN THE MINES; Or, Starting at the Bottom of the Shaft.
2 THE IRON BOYS AS FOREMEN; Or, Heading the Diamond Drill Shift.
3 THE IRON BOYS ON THE ORE BOATS; Or, Roughing It on the Great Lakes.
4 THE IRON BOYS IN THE STEEL MILLS; Or, Beginning Anew in the Cinder Pits.
Cloth, Illustrated Price, per Volume, 50c.
* * * * *
The Madge Morton Books
By AMY D. V. CHALMERS
1 MADGE MORTON--CAPTAIN OF THE MERRY MAID.
2 MADGE MORTON'S SECRET.
3 MADGE MORTON'S TRUST.
4 MADGE MORTON'S VICTORY.
Cloth, Illustrated Price, per Volume, 50c.
* * * * *
West Point Series
By H. IRVING HANCOCK
The principal characters in these narratives are manly, young Americans whose doings will inspire all boy readers.
1 DICK PRESCOTT'S FIRST YEAR AT WEST POINT; Or, Two Chums in the Cadet Gray.
2 DICK PRESCOTT'S SECOND YEAR AT WEST POINT; Or, Finding the Glory of the Soldier's Life.
3 DICK PRESCOTT'S THIRD YEAR AT WEST POINT; Or, Standing Firm for Flag and Honor.
4 DICK PRESCOTT'S FOURTH YEAR AT WEST POINT; Or, Ready to Drop the Gray for Shoulder Straps.
Cloth, Illustrated Price, per Volume, 50c.
* * * * *
Annapolis Series
By H. IRVING HANCOCK
The Spirit of the new Navy is delightfully and truthfully depicted in these volumes.
1 DAVE DARRIN'S FIRST YEAR AT ANNAPOLIS; Or, Two Plebe Midshipmen at the U. S. Naval Academy.
2 DAVE DARRIN'S SECOND YEAR AT ANNAPOLIS; Or, Two Midshipmen as Naval Academy "Youngsters."
3 DAVE DARRIN'S THIRD YEAR AT ANNAPOLIS; Or, Leaders of the Second Class Midshipmen.
4 DAVE DARRIN'S FOURTH YEAR AT ANNAPOLIS; Or, Headed for Graduation and the Big Cruise.
Cloth, Illustrated Price, per Volume, 50c.
* * * * *
The Young Engineers Series
By H. IRVING HANCOCK
The heroes of these stories are known to readers of the High School Boys Series. In this new series Tom Reade and Harry Hazelton prove worthy of all the traditions of Dick & Co.
1 THE YOUNG ENGINEERS IN COLORADO; Or, At Railroad Building in Earnest.
2 THE YOUNG ENGINEERS IN ARIZONA; Or, Laying Tracks on the "Man-Killer" Quicksand.
3 THE YOUNG ENGINEERS IN NEVADA; Or, Seeking Fortune on the Turn of a Pick.
4 THE YOUNG ENGINEERS IN MEXICO; Or, Fighting the Mine Swindlers.
Cloth, Illustrated Price, per Volume, 50c.
* * * * *
Boys of the Army Series
By H. IRVING HANCOCK
These books breathe the life and spirit of the United States Army of to-day, and the life, just as it is, is described by a master pen.
1 UNCLE SAM'S BOYS IN THE RANKS; Or, Two Recruits in the United States Army.
2 UNCLE SAM'S BOYS ON FIELD DUTY; Or, Winning Corporal's Chevrons.
3 UNCLE SAM'S BOYS AS SERGEANTS; Or, Handling Their First Real Commands.
4 UNCLE SAM'S BOYS IN THE PHILIPPINES; Or, Following the Flag Against the Moros.
(_Other volumes to follow rapidly._)
Cloth, Illustrated Price, per Volume, 50c.
* * * * *
Battleship Boys Series
By FRANK GEE PATCHIN
These stories throb with the life of young Americans on to-day's huge drab Dreadnaughts.
1 THE BATTLESHIP BOYS AT SEA; Or, Two Apprentices in Uncle Sam's Navy.
2 THE BATTLESHIP BOYS FIRST STEP UPWARD; Or, Winning Their Grades as Petty Officers.
3 THE BATTLESHIP BOYS IN FOREIGN SERVICE; Or, Earning New Ratings in European Seas.
4 THE BATTLESHIP BOYS IN THE TROPICS; Or, Upholding the American Flag in a Honduras Revolution.
(_Other volumes to follow rapidly._)
Cloth, Illustrated Price, per Volume, 50c.
* * * * *
The Meadow-Brook Girls Series
By JANET ALDRIDGE
Real live stories pulsing with the vibrant atmosphere of outdoor life.
1 THE MEADOW-BROOK GIRLS UNDER CANVAS.
2 THE MEADOW-BROOK GIRLS ACROSS COUNTRY.
3 THE MEADOW-BROOK GIRLS AFLOAT.
4 THE MEADOW-BROOK GIRLS IN THE HILLS.
5 THE MEADOW-BROOK GIRLS BY THE SEA.
6 THE MEADOW-BROOK GIRLS ON THE TENNIS COURTS.
Cloth, Illustrated Price, per Volume, 50c.
* * * * *
High School Boys Series
By H. IRVING HANCOCK
In this series of bright, crisp books a new note has been struck.
Boys of every age under sixty will be interested in these fascinating volumes.
1 THE HIGH SCHOOL FRESHMEN; Or, Dick & Co.'s First Year Pranks and Sports.
2 THE HIGH SCHOOL PITCHER; Or, Dick & Co. on the Gridley Diamond.
3 THE HIGH SCHOOL LEFT END; Or, Dick & Co. Grilling on the Football Gridiron.
4 THE HIGH SCHOOL CAPTAIN OF THE TEAM; Or, Dick & Co. Leading the Athletic Vanguard.
Cloth, Illustrated Price, per Volume, 50c.
* * * * *
Grammar School Boys Series
By H. IRVING HANCOCK
This series of stories, based on the actual doings of grammar school boys, comes near to the heart of the average American boy.
1 THE GRAMMAR SCHOOL BOYS OF GRIDLEY; Or, Dick & Co. Start Things Moving.
2 THE GRAMMAR SCHOOL BOYS SNOWBOUND; Or, Dick & Co. at Winter Sports.
3 THE GRAMMAR SCHOOL BOYS IN THE WOODS; Or, Dick & Co. Trail Fun and Knowledge.
4 THE GRAMMAR SCHOOL BOYS IN SUMMER ATHLETICS; Or, Dick & Co. Make Their Fame Secure.
Cloth, Illustrated Price, per Volume, 50c.
* * * * *
High School Boys' Vacation Series
By H. IRVING HANCOCK
"Give us more Dick Prescott books!"
This has been the burden of the cry from young readers of the country over. Almost numberless letters have been received by the publishers, making this eager demand; for Dick Prescott, Dave Darrin, Tom Reade, and the other members of Dick & Co. are the most popular high school boys in the land. Boys will alternately thrill and chuckle when reading these splendid narratives.
1 THE HIGH SCHOOL BOYS' CANOE CLUB; Or, Dick & Co.'s Rivals on Lake Pleasant.
2 THE HIGH SCHOOL BOYS IN SUMMER CAMP; Or, The Dick Prescott Six Training for the Gridley Eleven.
3 THE HIGH SCHOOL BOYS' FISHING TRIP; Or, Dick & Co. in the Wilderness.
4 THE HIGH SCHOOL BOYS' TRAINING HIKE; Or, Dick & Co. Making Themselves "Hard as Nails."
Cloth, Illustrated Price, per Volume, 50c.
* * * * *
The Circus Boys Series
By EDGAR B. P. DARLINGTON
Mr. Darlington's books breathe forth every phase of an intensely interesting and exciting life.
1 THE CIRCUS BOYS ON THE FLYING RINGS; Or, Making the Start in the Sawdust Life.
2 THE CIRCUS BOYS ACROSS THE CONTINENT; Or, Winning New Laurels on the Tanbark.
3 THE CIRCUS BOYS IN DIXIE LAND; Or, Winning the Plaudits of the Sunny South.
4 THE CIRCUS BOYS ON THE MISSISSIPPI; Or, Afloat with the Big Show on the Big River.
Cloth, Illustrated Price, per Volume, 50c.
* * * * *
The High School Girls Series
By JESSIE GRAHAM FLOWER, A. M.
These breezy stories of the American High School Girl take the reader fairly by storm.
1 GRACE HARLOWE'S PLEBE YEAR AT HIGH SCHOOL; Or, The Merry Doings of the Oakdale Freshman Girls.
2 GRACE HARLOWE'S SOPHOMORE YEAR AT HIGH SCHOOL; Or, The Record of the Girl Chums in Work and Athletics.
3 GRACE HARLOWE'S JUNIOR YEAR AT HIGH SCHOOL; Or, Fast Friends in the Sororities.
4 GRACE HARLOWE'S SENIOR YEAR AT HIGH SCHOOL; Or, The Parting of the Ways.
Cloth, Illustrated Price, per Volume, 50c.
* * * * *
The Automobile Girls Series
By LAURA DENT CRANE
No girl's library--no family book-case can be considered at all complete unless it contains these sparkling twentieth-century books.
1 THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS AT NEWPORT; Or, Watching the Summer Parade.
2 THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS IN THE BERKSHIRES; Or, The Ghost of Lost Man's Trail.
3 THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS ALONG THE HUDSON; Or, Fighting Fire in Sleepy Hollow.
4 THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS AT CHICAGO; Or, Winning Out Against Heavy Odds.
5 THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS AT PALM BEACH; Or, Proving Their Mettle Under Southern Skies.
6 THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS AT WASHINGTON; Or, Checkmating the Plots of Foreign Spies.
Cloth, Illustrated Price, per Volume, 50c. */