Various - "Scientific American Supplement, No. 795, March 28, 1891"

Donald Ferguson - "The Chums of Scranton High Out for the Pennant"

Honore De Balzac - "Lost Illusions"

Various - "The German Classics of The Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, Vol. IX"

Review: Gritty debut novel 'Nowhere' follows a teen runaway to some very real places
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The Chums of Scranton High at Ice Hockey written by Donald Ferguson

D >> Donald Ferguson >> The Chums of Scranton High at Ice Hockey




They struck town, and people turned to stare upon seeing Hugh
whipping his horse so unmercifully. They could not understand it,
and rubbed their eyes. Surely that was Hugh Morgan in the sleigh,
but why should _he_ be pounding his horse, and half standing erect?
If it had been a fire chief going to a blaze he could hardly have
excited more comment.

A boy who was walking briskly along the street with a package under
his arm came to a full stop, and stared as though he thought he had
taken leave of his seven senses. It was Thad Stevens, and no wonder
he was amazed, having recognised his chum in the frantic driver.

Thad gave vent to a whistle to relieve his pent-up feelings. Then he
started on a gallop after Hugh. He could not rest easy until he had
learned just what might have happened to cause his usually collected
chum to act in this strange fashion.

When he arrived at the Morgan home it was to find Hugh had landed the
child on the little porch in front of the door. This latter was
open, and his mother, together with the hired girl, stood there,
trying to comprehend what Hugh was saying.

Thad came panting up, and was immediately seized upon by Hugh.

"Great luck! Just in time to give me a helping hand, Thad!" cried
the other.

"What with--the Murphies?" asked the astonished Thad; for he had
known Hugh expected to go out to the farm after a sack of potatoes.

"Not this time," snapped the other; "it's a poor woman who fainted
from cold and exhaustion while she was trying to ask me the way
somewhere. That child is hers. Come, give me a hand, Thad, and
we'll carry her into the house. Mother says she must be put to bed
right away, and won't hear of my taking her over to the hospital."

That aroused Thad, and between them the two stout lads had little
difficulty in carrying the still unconscious young woman into the
warm house. Up the stairs Mrs. Morgan and the girl led them, and
into the neat spare-room, reserved for favored company.

Once she had been laid on the bed, after the blankets and coverings
had been turned down, and the little boy was being soothed by Hugh's
mother, she told the boys they could now go downstairs again, and she
would report later as to what next should be done.

"First carry in the potatoes, Hugh, for they are too expensive this
season to let the frost get them," she went on to say, patting the
little fellow, whose tears had by now ceased to run down his chubby
cheeks; "then call up Doctor Cadmus, and tell him to come around
immediately. I'm sorry your father is away from home just now, but I
can depend on my son."

The boys went out again and lugged the heavy sack of potatoes around
to the cellar door, by means of which they were taken in where they
would be safe from the bitter air of the winter. Then Thad was sent
around to the neighbor's with the horse and sleigh, while Hugh meant
to get the good physician on the wire, and hasten his coming on an
urgent call.

"If Mr. Jones notices that old Bill is wheezing a bit, as if he'd had
a warm run of it, please explain how it happened, Thad. I wouldn't
like him, after all his kindness, to think I'd whip up his horse for
nothing, or just in a spirit of sport."

As it was an hour when Doctor Cadmus was through with his day's
calls, Hugh had the good luck to hear the physician's voice on the
wire.

"Mother wants you to come right over, Doctor!" Hugh told him.

"Who's sick?" demanded the other, being very fond of all the Morgan
family; "not your good mother, I hope, Hugh?"

"No, neither of us, Doctor," the boy continued. "I ran upon a young
woman and a small child when on the road after potatoes in Mr. Jones'
sleigh. She fainted dead away before she could tell me who she was,
or where she was going. I managed to get them both aboard, and
fetched them here. Mother has put her to bed; but she is afraid a
fever is coming on, and it worries her. You'll be here right away,
Doctor, won't you, please?"

"As fast as I can get there, my son!" came the prompt reply.

If there was a touch of pride in the voice one could not wonder at
it; for like a good many other people of Scranton Doctor Cadmus had
conceived a great liking for Hugh; and thought there had never been
another boy fashioned after his model, which, of course, was all
nonsense, as Hugh often protested indignantly when he heard any such
talk.

Only a short time elapsed before the doctor and Thad reached the
front door at the same minute.

"Wait for me in the library, Thad, if you don't mind being late for
your supper. Doctor, I'll show you the way upstairs," and with this
remark Hugh preceded the stout little physician up to the second
floor.

As for Thad, he never once dreamed of "breaking away" at that most
interesting stage. Suppers occurred three hundred and sixty-five
times a year, with an extra one thrown in for good measure when
leap-year came around; but exciting events like the one happening to
Hugh were of rare occurrence. Catch him thinking of eating when
there was a chance right at his door to have a hand in a thrilling
drama that beat the "movies" all hollow!

So Thad sat down.

Hugh soon joined him. He was immediately pounced upon by his curious
chum, and plied with all manner of questions. By degrees Thad
"pumped him dry," and there was nothing more to tell.

"We'll have to wait until she comes back to her senses," Hugh finally
remarked sagely, "before we'll be able to learn anything definite
about them, mother and the doctor both say."

"And she's actually out of her head, is she, right now?" Thad
demanded.

"Yes, and keeps on saying the same thing over and over, just as if it
might have been in her mind so much lately. She keeps on pleading
with someone she calls grandfather, and begging him not to put them
out of his heart and home, for little Joey's sake--it's always little
Joey she's worrying about and not herself. The doctor says she was
utterly exhausted by want of sustaining food, added to anxiety and
the exposure she had suffered."

"But where could she have come from, Hugh? She has never been in
Scranton, you said that, and I never saw her before either. You told
me the little boy can only say his name is Joey Walters; and honest
to goodness, Hugh, there isn't a single family of that name in or
around this town that I ever heard of."

"They've been trying to get some clues out of the little chap,"
continued Hugh, "but without much success. All he's said so far is
that they've come ever so far, and that he liked riding on the cars
first-rate, only mommy cried so much and wouldn't eat every time he
did. From the way he talked they suspect that the young woman may
have come from the West somewhere."

"She _is_ young then, Hugh?"

"Yes, not over twenty-five or so, the doctor says, but frail-looking.
He thinks there is nothing serious the matter with her, only that
she's been underfed for a long time, and has suffered. Perhaps she's
denied herself proper food so as to save up enough money to make this
trip."

Thad shook his head as if feeling sad over the happening; for the boy
had a tender heart.

"Well, I certainly hope she'll be better tomorrow, and able to tell
something about herself," he went on to say, as he prepared to leave.
"And, Hugh, it was fine of your mother to refuse to let her be taken
over to the Scranton Hospital, when the doctor proposed such a thing."

"My mother wouldn't hear of it," Hugh told him proudly. "Why,
already she's in love with that little chap, and he's enough of a
darling to make any woman with a heart want to mother him. Both of
us seem to think we may have seen him before somewhere; or else he
resembles someone we've known once on a time; but, so far, we can't
imagine who or where it was. But once she comes to her senses,
whether to-morrow, or some days afterwards, of course the truth will
be known."

"And Hugh," said the other, with one of his smiles, "if you feel that
you can't wait for her to tell, suppose you start out to-morrow
afternoon and try to strike a clue on your own account. That
wonderful faculty you possess for investigating things ought to put
you on the track."

"Perhaps I may, that is, if I have time to-morrow," chuckled Hugh;
"because, you know, we have our last practice at hockey before
meeting those Keyport experts."

"You said you felt sure she must have come out of that side road near
where you met them," continued the persistent Thad.

"Yes, but only because I hadn't seen them when going out to the
farm," his chum explained. "They may have come out of that road; and
then again it's barely possible they were trying to make a fire
somewhere among the trees to keep them from freezing."

"By going along that same road, and inquiring at every house you came
to," Thad continued, "like as not you'd get word of them, if so be
they stopped to ask directions, or a warm cup of coffee. People
around here never refuse anyone who comes to their doors. Well, see
you in the morning then, Hugh. Good-night!"




CHAPTER XI

A MOTHER'S SACRIFICE

Friday afternoon had come, and the game at the park was over.
Although the scratch team organized by Mr. Leonard to oppose the
Regulars put up a strong fight, they were virtually "snowed under" by
the splendid playing of Hugh and his six comrades.

The experienced coach seemed very well satisfied. He openly
complimented the lads after the contest had been carried to its
finish.

"You are doing splendid work, fellows," he told them, with a look of
pride on his face; "and the way you played this afternoon was worthy
of any Montreal Seven that ever toured the East to show how they do
things up there in Canada at their favorite winter sport. And the
boys who fought tooth and nail to hold you back, I congratulate them
also; for they did excellent work. It was no disgrace to be beaten
in that game; few hockey teams could have held their own against such
fine play. Keep it up to-morrow, and there need be no doubt as to
who the winners will be."

It can be easily understood that Hugh and Thad were feeling in a
particularly good humor then, as they started to walk to town after
the game, having an errand there before going home.

"I haven't had a fair chance to say a word with you to-day, Hugh,"
the latter broke out with, once they were alone; "and I'm awfully
anxious to hear how that poor young woman at your house is coming
along. Has she spoken yet, and told who she is, and where she came
from?"

Hugh shook his head in the negative.

"Never a word as yet, Thad. Fact is, Doctor Cadmus says she mustn't
be worried by questions for several days, possibly."

"Then she's still wandering in her mind, is she, Hugh?"

"Yes, and saying all sorts of things about her girlhood days, as well
as about her husband, who, mother thinks, must have come to his death
in some accident. She calls him Joey, too, just like the boy. It
must be a family name, we imagine. So mother is content to wait
until she is better, when she will tell all she wants us to know."

"Then you didn't bother taking that wise tip I gave you, Hugh?" and
Thad's voice had a little ring of disappointment about it.

"Oh! I was up early this morning, and, as the road out there seemed
so hard and firm, the snow being packed down solid, I just jumped on
my wheel, and took a little run up in that direction. It wasn't so
easy, once I struck in on that side road, but I managed to pedal
along somehow."

"There are a number of houses on that road, I chance to know, Hugh;
the Simms live there, likewise the Thompsons and the Garrabrants."

"I managed to reach those three houses," Hugh continued; "but it
didn't pay me, so far as results went, though I enjoyed the run all
right."

"From that I imagine nobody had seen the woman and child yesterday
afternoon coming along that particular road, eh, Hugh?"

"No one could remember having met or seen such a person," Hugh told
him; "and as strangers are uncommon in these parts they would surely
have noticed her if she passed their doors. So I came to the
conclusion, as I couldn't even find the marks of her shoes in the
snow along the road, that she must have come over from Belleville
way, and was in the woods at the time I first went by, which would
account for my not meeting her."

"To change the subject, Hugh, I notice that Nick still fights shy of
the rest of the crowd these days. He was skating on the ice to-day;
but absolutely declined to take part in the game; though Mr. Leonard,
wanting to make the opposition as strong as possible so as to put us
to our best licks, went over and talked with him, trying to coax Nick
to join the line-up. What makes him act that way, Hugh? One would
think Nick'd be glad of the chance to play."

"He would, Thad, he certainly would, because he enjoys hockey as much
as you or myself; but I reckon Nick, for the first time in all his
life, finds himself afflicted with shyness. You see, he knows people
don't, as a rule, believe in this sudden reformation. They can't
have any faith in a fellow who's fooled them so often before. And
that makes him want to keep away. Nick is fighting it out all by
himself. If we knew all the wonderful things that he's grappling
with these days I imagine we'd sympathize with the poor fellow, Thad."

"Hugh, you may be right. Already I'm beginning to feel sorry for
saying some of the mean things I did when first we guessed Nick was
trying to turn over a new leaf. It must be terrible hard for a boy
who's always been bad to change around and face the other way."

"Stop and think, Thad. Take the case of that Jean Valjean, for
instance. Now, he underwent a complete change of heart, and from
being a beast, hating humanity, he grew to love other people, and be
ready to sacrifice himself to save another. You remember how he
voluntarily gave himself up to the law in that courtroom scene, just
to save a miserable wretch who was about to be punished under the
belief that he was the genuine Jean Valjean."

"Yes, but Hugh, he was unknown when he fought his battle, and won
out. Besides, he had the money he received for the silver the priest
gave him, with which to get a start in the world. But Nick here is
known, and people point their fingers at him with scorn, and talk
openly about his playing another of his pranks."

"That was just what I had in mind when I spoke, Thad. Nick has the
harder row of the two to hoe. And if he wins out he'll deserve a lot
of praise, I tell you. But see who's coming along here in a rig,
will you?"

"Why, it's good old Deacon Winslow, the blacksmith weather prophet;
and, Hugh, isn't he beckoning to us right now?"

"Just what he is; let's cross over and see what he wants with us,"
Hugh immediately went on to say; for, as has been intimated before in
these pages, he had come to feel a great interest in the brawny
smith, and wanted to cultivate a closer acquaintance with him; there
was something so genial, so wholesome about the owner of the
crossroads smithy.

"Jump in and go along with me, lads," sang out Mr. Winslow, as they
came up. "I'm bound around to the home of Mrs. Disney on a little
errand; and, since you two are interested, I thought you might like
to help me explain to the poor woman that I want to go on her boy's
bail. It's a shame he has to stay in the lockup all this time,
waiting for his trial to come off."

The chums exchanged quick looks.

"How about it, do we go along, Hugh?" asked Thad.

For answer the other hopped up alongside the deacon, and, of course,
Thad did likewise. Since the Disney home was not far away they were
quickly at the door, and knocking for admittance.

Leon's mother answered the summons. She looked frightened at seeing
the huge bulk of the blacksmith there, and the two boys with him.
But no sooner had he spoken in his kindly fashion than the anxious
expression fled from her pale face.

"Please excuse me for dropping in on you, Mrs. Disney," said the
deacon, after they had been ushered into the humble sitting-room,
where a wood-fire burned on the hearth; "but I just couldn't stand it
any longer. I want to stand bail for your boy, so you can have him
home again with you till his trial comes off."

Leon's mother looked embarrassed. She twisted her apron in her
nervous fingers, and seemed very near the point of tears.

"Oh! it's kind of you, Deacon Winslow, indeed it is!" she finally
exclaimed, as she looked up at the smiling, sympathetic big man;
"but, after all I think it is better that Leon remained where he is
though it almost breaks my heart to say it."

Thad looked astonished, but Hugh nodded his head, as though he could
understand what was back of those words so strange for a mother to
speak. Deacon Winslow was also considerably surprised, it seemed.

"But the bail bond is only for a thousand dollars, madam," he said;
"and I can afford to put that up for his appearance in court later."

"Thank you again and again for your kindness to a poor woman, and a
mother, sir!" she exclaimed with a half-suppressed sob in her voice;
"but there does not seem to be any doubt about my boy's guilt, much
as I hate to acknowledge it. His association with that Lang boy has
been his ruin. And he would be likely to run away, to try and escape
his just punishment, so that the bail bond would be forfeited."

"But even so it wouldn't ruin me, Mrs. Disney," continued the deacon;
"and I hate to think of you sitting here, and crying your eyes out
because he is locked up."

She looked straight at him then, as she went on to say bravely:

"But, sir, I am thinking of what will eventually become of my boy.
If he runs away now he will sink lower and lower, until he commits
some terrible crime, it may be. But Dominie Pettigrew tells me that
if he goes to the Reform School there is a chance that he may come
out later on completely changed in heart, and ready to play his
honest part in the world. No, I have thought it all over, and prayed
to be led to do what is best for my Leon. I cannot accept your
offer, though you mean it in all kindness. For his sake I will wait
until his time has expired, and continue to hope it may be the making
of my poor boy."

Deacon Winslow did not attempt to urge her. Indeed, he could hardly
say anything, for he was half choking with emotion. But he squeezed
her hand, and gave her a look that must have carried some comfort to
her poor distracted heart.

Once outside, the boys shook hands with the big man. Hugh was
feeling more drawn towards him than ever.

"I'm coming out to visit you soon, Deacon," he told the other; "I
want to know you better. There are a lot of things I mean to ask you
about the habits of those little animals from which you get your
hints about the weather; and you told me to drop in any time I felt
like it, you remember."

"You'll be doubly welcome, both of you, lads!" the big blacksmith
assured Hugh, as he drove away, more or less disappointed because his
little plan to assist a sorrow-stricken mother had fallen through.

"Say, his heart must be as big as a bushel-basket, Hugh," admitted
Thad, as they walked along, heading for the open square in the center
of the town.

Two minutes later and Thad gave vent to an ejaculation.

"It's all up now, Hugh!" he said, in a half-disappointed tone.

"What is?" demanded his comrade wonderingly.

"The Chief has arrested Tip Slavin, I mean. He must have heard what
Owen Dugdale had to say about meeting Tip Slavin smoking a cigarette
on the road to the mill-pond, and set a trap for him. He's just
stopped his big car in front of Headquarters, and one of his men is
lifting out a load of stuff, doubtless the plunder Tip cached in the
woods up there. And the Chief has his hand on Tip's shoulder as they
get out. I notice that Tip has lost his arrogant look, and seems
badly scared, too!"




CHAPTER XII

TIP SATISFIES HIS CRAVING--AND LOSES

"Let's step over and see how it happened, Hugh!"

As Hugh himself was not averse to picking up some information along
that same line, the two chums entered the station-house just after
the Chief and his man. The latter officer had placed the large
package done up in a burlap bag on the floor. He was grinning, as
though considerably pleased with the final results of the raid.
Chief Wambold, too, was indulging in a smile as the boys entered; he
even winked one eye at Thad, as though in a particularly good humor.

But there was one person present who did not seem to be in a happy
frame of mind. That was Tip. He looked "in the dumps," as Thad
expressed it; and on seeing the boys enter dropped his chin upon his
breast in shame. All the bravado was gone from his demeanor now; he
knew that with that evidence against him he was headed for the House
of Refuge on a fast train.

The man took him through a door into another room, the Chief's
private office. From this Hugh guessed that Tip was about to be
questioned at length, in the hope of his possibly implicating still a
third party in the theft.

"So you found his secret cache, did you, Chief?" remarked Thad
boldly. "When Owen Dugdale left us he said he was going straight to
you, to tell about meeting Tip on the road smoking a cigarette; and
he showed us that it bore the same trademark as those stolen from
Paul Kramer's place."

Thad went into detail so as to let the tall Chief understand they
already knew all about the discovery, and had been told, in fact,
even before he was.

"Yes, we took a hunt up there in the woods this morning," explained
the other, with a broad smile; "and ran across some tracks that
looked like Tip's. When we followed the trail it led us direct to a
big tree that was hollow; and inside the cavity lay that bundle,
wrapped in a burlap sack. It was almost too easy. An experienced
crook would never have committed such a blunder, and left so plain a
trail. Why, it looked as if we were being taken by the hand and led
there."

"But I guess you didn't carry away the stuff right then, did you,
Chief?" Thad went on to say, a wise look on his face.

"Hardly, son, hardly," replied the other, with a gesture of his
hands. "That would have been too silly for anything. What we did
was to back away, and cover our own footprints as well as we could.
Then we hid to await developments. I left my man up there while I
came back to town to conduct my business. Later in the day I once
more joined him. I expected the boy might be getting hungry for a
smoke about the same time Owen met him on the road. Well, he came,
and we pounced down on him just when he had opened the pack, and was
lighting a weed with his trembling, tobacco-stained fingers; because,
just like Leon Disney, and that slick Nick Lang, Tip is a confirmed
cigarette fiend, you know."

"Well, for one, Nick has cut the habit out, Chief, I happen to know,
for he told me so," Hugh ventured to say.

The big police officer sneered, as though he refused to believe there
could any good come out of the boy who bore that detested name of
Nick Lang. During the whole of the time he occupied his present
exalted position, Chief Wambold had been plagued by the pranks of
Nick and his cronies; and, in spite of all his efforts, up to now he
had been unable to fasten anything serious upon them, although he
gave them credit for every piece of maliciousness practiced in
Scranton during that period.

"Well, perhaps some people may believe Nick didn't have a hand in
this outrage," he went on to say, "but I'll never think otherwise
than that it was his genius for organizing raids that was responsible
for the robbery. At the least, he may have changed his mind, seeing
things getting too warm in police circles here. But never forget to
keep one eye open when dealing with such a slippery customer, for his
repentance is only skin-deep at the best."

Hugh made no reply. He knew it would have been utterly useless,
because the Chief was not only a very stubborn man, but inclined to
be a narrow-minded one in the bargain. So he and Thad walked out.
The last they heard the officer call after them was:

"Make up your minds, boys, Scranton is going to be purged now as
never before. We've made a good beginning, and it'll be pretty
unhealthy for anybody to start a racket from now on. Tip and Leon
will be going to the Reform School inside of a few days, after
they've had their trial before the Justice; and the town will be well
rid of a pair of scapegraces. And thank you for what assistance you
may have given us, boys."

As they walked along Thad vented his feelings in the matter.

"It looks as if that episode might be called closed, eh, Hugh? The
evidence is so powerfully strong that neither of the boys can put up
anything like a half-way decent defense. They're going to be sent
away, and we'll not be bothered with the bunch again. With Nick on
the mourners' bench, the old town is going to be pretty orderly for a
while, until some fresh spirits break loose."

"Let's hope it may be a long time before Nick has a successor," said
Hugh. "This whole thing is going to be a lesson to such fellows as
were inclined to run around with the street gangs, and play practical
jokes nights."