Page:Dave Porter at Oak Hall.djvu/306

282 and away the whole party started for Rockville, arriving there towards the close of the short winter day. At the town the prisoner was locked in jail and the sufferer was taken to a hospital supported by one of the local churches. This done, Roger telegraphed to his father, and then the boys skated back to Oak Hall.

The news the party brought caused a sensation, and again Dave was hailed as a hero. But he denied that he had done anything wonderful, and said the evildoer would never have been captured had it not been for the others. Later on it was learned that the man's right name was Taggart Dutch, and that he was wanted for half a dozen robberies. He was tried and sentenced to prison for several years, and a portion of the jewelry stolen by him was recovered.

Senator Morr was warm in his praise of Dave, and insisted upon making the youth a present of a fine ring. This Dave prized highly and he was very proud of the gift.

At Taggart Dutch's trial it came out that the sailor, Bill Dill, had had nothing to do with the rascal's evil doings. Bill Dill had come home from a long ocean trip only a few weeks before, and had traveled to the vicinity of Rockville to look up some friends. The friends were dead, and Dill had fallen in with Taggart Dutch, who had borrowed money from the old tar and tried to make a tool of