Page:Dave Porter and his Rivals.djvu/271

Rh the automobile whizz by, with his enemies in it.

"They are going back," he reasoned. "I suppose now I have gotten away from them, Merwell and Jasniff will return to the academy as fast as they can, and Shime and the doctor will return to Rockville; and they'll all play the innocent."

As he walked on, Dave wondered what the plot against him was. He felt convinced that carrying him off was only the beginning of it.

"Well, whatever it was, I nipped it in the bud," he thought. "Perhaps some day I'll find out all about it,—some day when I can corner one or another of that rascally bunch. I take it that Shime and Montgomery are simply in the employ of Jasniff and Merwell. Both of them are hard drinkers and willing to do almost anything to get a few dollars."

Not far down the highway Dave passed a signboard which told him that Rockville was ten miles away.

"I can't walk ten miles," he thought. "I had better see if I can't get accommodations at some farmhouse, and then drive over to the school after breakfast."

With this idea in view he kept on, until he reached a spot where the railroad crossed the highway. As he did this he saw a freight train standing near a siding where a milk car was to be taken on.