Page:Dave Porter and his Classmates.djvu/316

290 him warning to mend his ways, but he doesn't seem to care. Well, if he won't do what is right he must take the consequences."

Dave, Roger, and Phil had run down to Oakdale on their bicycles and now they had to return to the school—to get dinner and leave for the baseball grounds at Hilltop.

"Let us go around by way of the Chedwick road," suggested the senator's son. "It's much better riding than on the main road and we can make better time."

The others were willing, and off they sped at a speed which soon took them to the outskirts of the town. Then they came to a crossroad, on the corner of which was situated a roadhouse kept by a man named Rafferty. Rafferty's reputation was none of the best, and it was reported that the resort was used by many who wished to gamble. Doctor Clay had warned his pupils not to stop there under any circumstances.

Phil and Roger were somewhat in advance of Dave, whose front tire was soft and needed pumping up. Passing the roadhouse, Dave came to a halt at the roadside.

"Going to pump up!" he called out. "Go ahead—I'll catch up with you." And so the others went on, leaving him alone.

He was at work with a small hand pump he carried when he heard a murmur of voices in the