The boy who looked ahead

Front matter

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ClasslEM

XXIII The Struggle Begins

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Contents

CHAPTER page

XXIV One Way to Pay Debts . . . .147

XXV The False Foot 15 1

XXVI Some Changes . . . . . . .15^

XXVII The First Trick ....... 160

XXVIII A Constant Friend 164

XXIX Temptation . . .169

XXX The Exposure . . . ... . 173

XXXI Happy Hours ....... 178

XXXII The Last Scenes . l.. .. . . 183

Chapter I The Rescue

W AWAYANDA sat down for a breathing spell on a rock at the base of the cliff, the most exhausted brave in his tribe. The hunters and trappers of the wild region of the Mohawk were on his trail, close at hand. Perhaps he had ten minutes to rest, and ten more to climb the steep path up the cliff, before the enemy caught up

with him. If he could reach the thicket above the

Falls, there was a chance for escape; if he could not, then he must die by fire, as many a white man had

died under him. That was the law, and he did not

complain. He breathed so hard that the wild things in the bushes fled into secret places. After a little he recovered and could look about him.

What a wild place! The banks of the river rose a hundred feet into the air, straight as a wall ; the river-bed was dry, except in the middle where a cut carried a narrow, deep stream; and above him were the Falls of the Mohawk, in winter a terrible sight, just now as dry as the bed of the river, except in the very center, where a few streams of muddy water trickled down into a basin. He knew that basin well ; for there his tribe disported in the pleasant summer days, fishing and swimming. Tall pines grew along the high banks, and deep thickets under them offered shelter to hunted warriors.

When he had got breath again, he started to climb the path which ran slantwise along the face of the cliff. To a “paleface” it looked like a desperate climb; but to Wawayanda it was easy, except for the way it used his clothes. His beautiful feather headdress, which he had fashioned himself in the winter, fell off twice, got in his eyes every minute, and almost perished; and his suit of deerskin was a sight with dirt when he got to the top. He was a very particular Indian, and stopped to brush himself off before diving into the thicket. Fatal moment! The pursuing party was nearer than he had dreamed, and caught sight of him from below. He answered their wild shouts of triumph with the war-whoop of his tribe, fixed an arrow to his bow and let fly at them as they gathered about the foot of the cliff. They promptly scattered, concealing themselves in the bushes ; but he kept them at bay a long time, by rolling rocks down on them whenever they attempted to scale the cliff. And he laughed heartily to see them dodge the missiles.

It took the party of whites some time to learn that while Wawayanda held his position they could not cope with him. The only plan left was for them to divide into two parties, — one to ascend the Falls to the north, the other to climb up lower down to the south, and then close in on him. The moment they divided, Wawayanda gave a war-whoop of ridicule and plunged into the thicket. They were free to mount by the path, which the second division took, while the first rushed on to the Falls to head off the fugitive that way. But now Wawayanda had his second wind, and snapped his fingers at the pursuit. He said to himself in the peculiar language of the Mohawk tribe:

“ Those yaps couldn’t catch up with a mud-turtle 1 ”

Clearly he scorned his pursuers, and therein he blundered. He felt too sure of himself. The underbrush grew so densely about him that a hunted In-

The Rescue dian might hide forever in it. Wawayanda did not intend to hide while his wind remained. He would pretend to hide, and leave the pursuers to wait for him as long as they felt like waiting. They did not number more than ten stalwart hunters and trappers of the Mohawk country; but they had chased him so often and so vainly that their spirit was up this time to put an end to his sneering triumph forever. He knew that, and yet he did a foolish thing. Instead of hiding in the underbrush until dark, when he could have stolen away easily, he crawled through it to the river.

Above the Falls, the bank sloped gently to the river-bed, which was just as dry here as below. About a quarter of a mile north, there was a bathing-pool known to the tribe as the Sand Bar, a pretty place shut in by willow bushes, with deep water and a sandy bottom. Wawayanda determined to reach this pleasant spot and have a comfortable swim, instead of hiding in the dark, damp, stifling underbrush. He moved swiftly and cautiously to the place, waited in the bushes ten minutes, looked all around for signs of his foes, listened with his ear to the ground. All was quiet and peaceful, and he laughed to himself at the thought of the white men watching the bushes farther down, in the hope of seeing him crawl out of his hiding-place. With great care he took off his feather headdress and hung it on a tree, also his deerskin suit with the fringe, which he placed tenderly on a bough, and slipped into the cool water.

He made no sound, no splash, and kept near the bank, just enjoying himself. Twice he had to hug himself to keep from laughing out loud at the hunters and trappers watching for him. He could see them stationed at different points, and hear Red Mike, the leader of the band, giving instructions. After kicking around for half an hour or more, he tried floating. How pleasant to lie in the water, as if on an lo The Boy Who Looked Ahead air cushion, arms outstretched, nose and mouth just over the surface, feeling like a bird going to sleep! When tired of this, he stood up and rubbed the water from his eyes. Was he dreaming, or had he rubbed some spell into his eyes? On the bank stood eight solemn forms in the costumes of white men. One of them had just seized his clothes and headdress, and the eight stood like statues grinning at him, waiting for him to come to shore. All was not lost yet, and Wawayanda had sworn never to be taken alive. He turned about and dashed for the dry bed of the river. Too late I Two hunters had slipped out of their clothes and into the stream while he was doing the floating act, and were waiting for him. He was trapped! With a yell of defiance he shouted in the language of his tribe:

“ You yaps will have to fight for it!

They were ready for his challenge, and fell upon him as he made a dash for the far side of the pool. By just grabbing his heels and pulling him under water, they soon subdued him, and loud was their laughter as he was dragged ignominiously ashore. In their laughing the white men seemed to have no dignity; for they lay down on their backs, rolled over, beat the air with their hands, screamed and danced, in their joy at his capture. It took four men to hold him. Wawayanda submitted to being bound to a tree with a rope, which first circled his waist, then gripped his arms behind him, travelled to his ankles and bound them, and then went three times around the tree.

“ As he’s going to burn before noon,” said Red Mike, the leader, a coarse creature, “ he doesn’t need any clothes. Good clothes too. We’ll put them up at auction.”

“ I must die in my clothes,” said Wawayanda with dignity; “ otherwise I won’t die.”

'' Well, I suppose a chief must die in his whole out-

The Rescue

II fit, so give him his togs,” Red Mike commanded with much grumbling. '' But all of you fellows stand about, and at the first sign of an attempt to escape kill him.”

When he was dressed and tied again, the band went in swimming to take off the dust and weariness of the long pursuit, and to prepare themselves for burning the captive later on. They treated the poor Indian with ridicule, dancing about the tree and poking his ribs, while Red Mike recounted Wawayanda’s boastings about never being captured, and never going to be captured.

What have you got to say now ? Weren’t you caught like.a fool-turkey at Thanksgiving?”

“ I had to become foolish for you to catch me,” said the Indian.

“ Oh, give him twenty for that ! ” the band cried in chorus; and they danced about the tree, slapping and thumping him.

But Wawayanda neither dodged nor spoke a word. He stood against the tree, a hero even in his bonds.

When the hunters and trappers had dressed again, they ate a comfortable lunch; and each one stepped up to the captive, holding a sandwich or a cake under his nose, saying:

“ Wouldn’t you like to have it? ”

When the lunch was over, the hunters and trappers gathered in a circle around the tree, and looked at the silent captive. They were a ferocious set, in their red shirts and trousers, their slouch hats and pistol belts. Red Mike looked like a pirate. A black whisker covered his face, and his red nose stuck out above it like a street lamp, so that even his men joked him on its color and size. He was the spokesman of the crowd.

‘‘ Well, boys,” he began, ** we’ve caught this tamal critter at last, after he has killed and scalped the settiers of the Mohawk valley for many years. His doom is now at hand. I vote that he be stripped of his headdress, scalped, and then burned, right where he stands.”

I don’t see why you take my headdress,” Wawayanda protested with anger. ‘‘ It is the sign of my tribe and the sign of my victories.”

“ Oh, let him have the headdress ! ” said some of the hunters.

“ No, sir ! ” Red Mike shouted. “ Didn’t Li Hung Chang lose the peacock feather when he lost his job? We must treat this Indian just the same as the Empress of China treated Li Hung Chang. All in favor say * Aye.’ ”

The entire band supported Red Mike ; and the proud head of the Indian drooped as the executioner snatched the feathered headdress from his brow and planted it firmly on the red locks of the leader. Red Mike laughed fiercely.

“ Now get the wood and start the fire! ” he cried.

It was a painful scene, except that the hunters and trappers laughed as they ran about gathering wood and piling it in a half circle about the doomed chief. They pinched him and poked him as they piled, and showed him how the flames would reach out for his legs first, and so roast him slowly. Red Mike directed the work, talking at the top of his voice, abusing some and praising others; smoothing his black whiskers and fixing his red nose as if it threatened to come off ; and then laughing as if his sides would give way. And through all the cruel uproar Wawayanda gave no sign, uttered no protest: simply waited for the terriWe end with the composure of his race.

When all was ready for the match. Red Mike sang out:

‘‘ Wawayanda, have you anything to say why sentence of death by fire shall not be carried out according to the customs of the nation?

The band cheered their leader, but the Indian remained silent with bowed head.

Let her go ! '' shouted Red Mike ; and almost immediately the pile leaped into flame, hiding the form of the poor victim from sight.

Red Mike looked with some anxiety at the blaze; but as it died down soon to a regular flame, they could see the Indian behind it. He had lost his attitude of firmness, and was gazing beyond them toward the woods. At the same moment a hunter yelled:

“ Look out ! Here comes McGinnis ! ”

There must have been some magic in the name, for without an instant’s delay Red Mike and the band fled into the thicket and disappeared. And on their heels came a shouting man, behind him a silent man; and while one followed the band into the underbrush, the other kicked away the Are and snatched at the rope which bound the captive to the tree, exclaiming wildly as he did so at the horror of the scene.

But Wawayanda just pulled the rope off his form and threw it aside.

“ There’s no danger. Father Flemii^,” said he. ‘‘ I’m not really tied, and the boys were just playing Injun and hunters. But now it’s a real chase, I guess; for McGinnis knows the woods, and he’s anxious to get hold of Red Mike before all the others.”

Chapter II

F ather Fleming’s face seemed rather stem as he looked at Wawayanda, and even the shrewd glance of the make-believe Indian could not see the twinkle in his eyes. He was still a young man, spare in form, sharp and forceful in features, and his under lip pouted as if he were going to find fault severely. But he had a very kindly temper, which blazed up suddenly and died away as suddenly; and all the boys of the town feared him and loved him together. Still they never felt quite sure of him.

“If you will wash the war-paint off your face, I will know to whom I am talking,” he said sharply.

“ Fm Eddie Travers, Father,” said the boy politely.

“ But I can not be sure of that till I see the real face.”

So Wawayanda found a piece of soap in his clothes, and washed the last trace of red skin and war-paint from a face which he turned to Father Fleming for inspection. It was a nice face, rather thoughtful for its age, with clear black eyes and a sweet mouth.

“ I see you are Eddie Travers,” the priest said gravely ; “ and will you please explain all this dangerous playing? I find you on the point of being bpmed to death, and a crowd of boys invading the gardens of Mr. McGinnis. It is this kind of work which usually ends in jail.”

“ We were just playing Injun,” said Eddie. “ We play it every other week, and each fellow in turn takes the part of Wawayanda. It’s the same thing as hare and hounds, only we put on suits like this and take other names. I never got caught yet. Red Mike wanted bad to catch me this time, because I caught him last time.”

“Red Mike? Was that the fellow with the nose and the whiskers? ”

“ He’s Vin Radley,” said Eddie; “ and he’s called Red Mike because that is the name of a bad man in a story. I was to blame for bringing the boys into Mr. McGinnis’ garden. I didn’t want to hide in the bushes for hours; so I stole up here to have a swim by myself, never thinking that the hunters and trappers would catch on to the trick and follow me. That’s how I got caught.”

** But they really would not have burned you to death ? ” said Father Fleming.

‘‘Oh, no! It was all just fun. We’ve all been burned to death — that is, all the good runners, I mean, — but we’re alive yet. If Mr. McGinnis catches us to-day though, I guess there’ll be some kind of murder.”

At that moment the owner of the garden came out of the woods, puffing and snorting with feeling and exhaustion.

“ It was no use,” said he : “ they all got away, and the divil himself would not have the wind or the tricks to catch that crowd. Father Fleming, I’ve laid for them all summer, set traps for them, tried everything, and I never come any nearer than this to the villains. Who’s this boy? ”

“ The one they were burning to death,” answered the priest.

“ I’d have let him burn,” said Mr. McGinnis, with contempt. “ Since your Reverence saved him, I suppose you would object to me taking him into the bam and warming up his hide in imitation of a real fire? ”

“ I shall take him away with me, Mr. McGinnis, and therefore I object. But, as this is the honorable president of the Lookahead Club, I would like to know what you have against him, that you suggest a severe and disgraceful punishment.”

“ He can’t have anything against me,” said Eddie, calmly, “ except that I come here to swim on the sandy bar. I never touched his garden, and I wouldn’t eat a thing that grows in it if he gave me the whole outfit.”

“ Why wouldn’t you? ” the priest asked.

“ Because he’s too mean with his garden truck,” said the boy. “ He lets tomatoes rot, and apples and plums and pears lie on the ground, rather than give them away. TheyVe no use to him and no use to any one else.’’

‘‘ Hoity-toity ! ” exclaimed Mr. McGinnis, getting red in the face. ‘‘ I don’t need to let anything lie on the ground a minute, for you spalpeens pick them off the trees and the vines before they get ripe. I’d let you have the windfalls, if you’d take the trouble to ask for them. I’d agree to give you half the stuff that grows on the place, if you’d wait till they ripen ; but you won’t wait, and you steal what’s no use to you and no use to any one else.”

“ I never stole anything but a swim,” said Eddie ;

and even that you have to steal from the owner of this place.”

Mr. McGinnis burst into a fit of laughter, and even Father Fleming smiled. The boy did not know just what they laughed at, so he remained quiet.

I think,” said the priest, that I will make an arrangement with you, Mr. McGinnis, to let the members of our club use this Sand Bar as a bathing place during the summer. We will hire it from you, and then see to it that no outsiders invade the premises. What do you think of that idea, Mr. President? ”

“ It would be just fine to have our own bathing beach,” said Eddie, with joy.

‘'And could you keep the other fellows out?” said the gardener, who saw at once his own release from eternal guardianship over the fruits and vegetables.

“ I am sure we could,” said Eddie.

“ Then here’s a bargain,” said Mr. McGinnis. “ I’ll let you have the Sand Bar all summer, and I’ll let your boys have all the windfalls and the stuff I don’t use or sell, if they will keep all other boys off the premises.”

‘‘Except as their guests,” Father Fleming hinted.

“Why, of course, except as their guests; for the guests will behave like themselves,” said Mr. McGin-

The bargain was struck on the spot; the gardener went back to his house ; the priest and Eddie took the path that led to the town. There was no sign of the hunters and trappers anywhere. They had lost no time in putting a long distance between themselves and Mr. McGinnis. Under Red Mike’s directions, they scattered through the underbrush as best they could, with orders to meet in Partridge’s lot by noon. They were all in the lot by the time the priest and Eddie set out for the town.

I think we made a pretty good bargain, Eddie,” said Father Fleming.

The best I ever heard of,” said Eddie, with enthusiasm. ‘‘ Why, it makes our club as swell as the yacht club! And, besides, we get enough tomatoes and pears and things to feed the crowd.”

It doesn’t look as if Mr. McGinnis was quite as mean as you thought, does it?”

‘‘ I never thought he was that kind of a fellow. It seemed mean though, those fine apples and pears and plums — oh, such ripe plums. Father ! — rotting on the ground, and our mouths just watering for them. Some of the boys took them anyway, and got a bad pinching.”

“ You see, it’s the way one does things that counts. The boys invaded his garden and made him very angry. He lost a lot of stuff ; but they got green fruit, rotten fruit, sometimes a walloping, and often jail. Now our bargain is fair and pleasant for both sides. You get a beach and plenty of fruit; he gets rid of the toughs and loafers, and the fights with them.”

“ It is the thing that counts, — the way that one does things,” said Eddie. Now, all this trouble to-day would never have happened if I had just stuck to my old plan of hiding in the bushes along the river. They run back to the canal, and a hundred men might beat them for a month and never catch you. But I had to choose another way; I had to play another trick ; and so we all got into trouble.’’

But out of the trouble came the bargain,” said the priest. ‘‘ How do you make that out? ”

‘‘ Because you were there, Father,” said Eddie promptly and with admiration. “We chumps could never think of such a plan ; and Mr. McGinnis would laugh at us, even if we did think of it.”

“ In this life good will come out of evil, if we set ourselves to look for it. God has so arranged. So we must never be discouraged over our blunders or our troubles, but set to work to find a way out of them.”

“ Oh, but that’s true ! ” said Eddie. “ And yet how long it takes to see how true it is ! ”

He fell to thinking of this strange thing — that out of evil good should be able to come; and the priest watched him as they walked, pleased to find the lad so thoughtful and sensible. When they had come in sight of Partridge’s lot, he said :

“ And how about the meeting to-night ? Do you think it will be as bright and useful as the last one? ” “ It ought to be,” Eddie replied. “ There will be two or three new candidates, and Harold Sullivan is ready to make his choice of a career; and then the visitor, who will make a speech; and the singing. I think it will turn out all right.”

“ The visitor will be there,” said Father Fleming. “ He is very much interested in the Lookahead Club, and wants to see how it works. If you have your part of the program sure, you may count on mine. And where do you go now ? ”

“ I think the band will meet in the lot,” said Eddie; “and I must report with the others. After the chase and the burning or whatever the wind-up is, we meet in some place and fix up everything for the next time.”

“ Good-bye, then ! ” said Father Fleming.

He turned off into the main road, while Eddie took a short cut to the meeting-place. Had he watched the priest for a few minutes, he would have seen a strange thing. Father Fleming walked on until he came to a little grove, into which he suddenly dodged, found a path that led to the river, and in a few minutes was standing within twenty feet of Red Mike and the band, with a screen of vines and bushes to keep him hidden. The mighty hunters and trappers had thrown aside their costumes, and were now everyday boys of Fallville. Red Mike had dropped his nose and whiskers, and was plain Vincent Radley, a tall boy with a large head, shock yellow hair, sharp blue eyes, a flat nose, and a wide mouth. He was making a speech to defend the capture of Wawayanda, because Eddie Travers would surely claim a foul, since McGinnis had rescued him, and had driven them away.

In the midst of his passionate argument Eddie Travers dashed into the circle with a ringing hurrah.

‘‘ No foul, no foul, no foul! ’’ yelled Vincent.

“ Fair, fair, fair I ” replied Eddie. “ Fm not going to claim a foul, but I ought to. Listen! What do you think ? Guess three times what’s happened.”

He was so excited that the band caught the excitement and began to clamor wildly for the news. It seemed as if it would never be told, — the bargain with Mr. McGinnis, through the suggestion of Father Fleming. But somehow, amid indescribable noise, it came out, and the band went fairly mad. The one intelligible utterance of feeling came from Eddie, who managed to roar a motion and to have it carried unanimously.

“ I move that hereafter and forever the gardener be known to our members as Mister McGinnis,’ and so called on all private as well as public occasions.”

Father Fleming had to run deeper into the woods in order to laugh at his ease.

Chapter III

J UST as it grew dark that evening the members of the Lookahead Club assembled at the door of the hall, waiting for the sexton to light up and give the signal for admission. Every member was present long before the appointed hour, because a very distinguished gentleman had been invited to address the meeting ; no less a personage than the Hon. James Sullivan, president of the Amateur Athletic Union of America, the greatest athletic authority in the nation. The boys were awed at the presence of such greatness in their small town, and at the power of Father Fleming which could secure it for his boys. Not far off, other boys lingered in the hope of an invitation to the meeting.

Vincent Radley wandered by and cast a scornful look at the crowd, because he did not believe in the Lookahead Club. The boys began to sing to him:

Don’t you wish you could come in, —

Don’t you wish you could come in?

He disdained to answer ; but with half an eye you could see how he longed to get in, if only to feast his eyes upon the great man. But no stranger was admitted on this exceptional night.

Eddie Travers, as president, took the chair and called the meeting to order. Then he appointed a committee of three to go to Father Fleming’s house and act as escort to the priest and the guest. When they returned, all the boys stood up and stretched their necks to see the visitor. Oh, what a splendid man! Tall and broad and well shaped, dressed in a gentleman’s evening costume (which was rarely seen in Fallville), with grayish hair, a ruddy, handsome, smiling face, and a dark mustache, he looked all that the boys had fancied him, and they greeted him with loud and long applause.

“ Now, members of the Lookahead Club,’" said Father Fleming, “ as our honored visitor is here for the special purpose of seeing how this club is managed, and what good it intends to do in the world, everything must go on as at any other meeting and at the end he will tell us just what he thinks of it.”

So Eddie Travers called the meeting to order once more; and it was simply fine to see how cool that boy was right under the eyes of the visitor. Then the roll was called, the regular business transacted, and the new members called up for initiation. They numbered three, and ranged themselves in front of the platform, studying the visitor so hard that they forgot their part in the form.

Eddie Travers said:

Is there any objection among the members to the admission of Brothers Cooke, Hanlon and Toolan, who have fulfilled the ordinary period of probation ? ”

No objection was made, and after a pause Eddie asked :

Brothers, have you made up the account of your debt to your parents ? ”

“ We have,” said the three, taking each a document from their pockets.

‘‘ Read, Brother Cooke,” said the president.

“ Twelve years’ support, clothes, medicine, doctor’s bills and cash, amount to $550,” read Master Cooke from his paper. ‘‘ Then $300 more for the next three years before I go to work, which makes it $850. Father says he won’t take any interest, nor charge for rent and light and heat. He’ll be satisfied with a note for $850.”

“ Read, Brother Hanlon,” said Eddie.

Father said I could make out the same bill as Brother Cooke,” replied the boy; but he doesn’t think ril ever remember to pay it, Fm so forgetful.”

“ The club will remind you regularly,” said Father Fleming.

“ Read, Brother Toolan,” continued the president.

Fm nearly fourteen,” said Brother Toolan, unrolling a paper filled with items ; “ and father says he charges me double because Fve been sickly. Fourteen years’ board and lodging, $450; clothes, $300; doctors and medicine, $200; cash $10 for picnics and fireworks; and interest to date, $130. He wanted to add the cost of collecting — about $500, — but mother said no. Total, $1090.”