Dave Porter and the Runaways Part 30

Dave was alone when he entered the dining-hall and he was surprised to see that neither Phil nor Roger was present. Ben was also absent and likewise Shadow.

"Didn't some of them come in with you?" he asked of Buster.

"Gus and Luke did," was the reply. "I don't know where the others are."

The meal was almost at an end when Phil, Ben, and Roger made their appearance. They had but little to say, but Dave could see that something was wrong.

"Had another wrangle with Jason Sparr," explained Phil, after the meal. "He followed me to one of the stores, and I told him just what I thought of him."

"And he threatened to have Phil arrested for defamation of character,"

added Ben.

"But he didn't dare to do it," declared the s.h.i.+powner's son.

"Better let him alone," advised Dave. "You'll gain nothing by keeping in hot water over it, Phil."

That night all of the boys had to study hard, and consequently they retired to their dormitories early. The only exception was Polly Vane, who had to go to Oakdale to meet a relative who would stop off but who was going away again on the midnight train.

The boys studied until ten o'clock and then retired. Dave was completely tired out and his head had hardly touched the pillow when he was sound asleep.

He was awakened about two hours later by the sounds of excited talking. He opened his eyes to behold Polly Vane standing in the dormitory fully dressed, while Phil was sitting on the edge of the bed, and Ben and Roger and some others were just rousing up.

"What's going on?" Dave asked, sleepily.

"A whole lot, if what Polly says is true," answered the s.h.i.+powner's son.

"But it is true, upon my word!" cried the girlish student. "I heard the explosion myself."

"What explosion?" asked several.

"An explosion in Oakdale, to-night," answered Polly. "Somebody tried to dynamite Jason Sparr's hotel!"

CHAPTER XVII

A SERIOUS ACCUSATION

Instantly there was great excitement in the dormitory, and all of the students crowded around Polly, to learn what he might have to say.

"It was this way, don't you know," said the scholarly youth. "I went to Oakdale to see my uncle, who stopped off on his trip from Portland to St. Louis. He wanted to ask me about some family matters, and he didn't have time to come to the Hall. I went down in the buggy----"

"Oh, never mind that, Polly, tell about the explosion," interrupted Roger.

"Well, I had just seen my uncle to the midnight train and was getting into the buggy to come back when I heard a low boom! coming from the direction of Sparr's hotel. The station-master and I were the only people around, and I asked him what the noise meant, but he said he didn't know. Then he jumped into the buggy with me to find out. We drove to the hotel, and there was excitement enough, I can tell you.

The girls and women folks were screaming wildly and Mr. Sparr and some men were running around, not knowing what to do. Soon a crowd began to collect, and then we found out that a wing of the building--where the dining-room is--had been blown up. Some men from the railroad said it had been done by dynamite--the kind used for blowing up that old bridge."

"Was anybody hurt?" asked Dave.

"n.o.body but an old man who was sleeping in the house next to the addition. He got so scared he jumped from an upper window and sprained his ankle. Oh, that dining-room is a sight, I can tell you! One end is completely gone--the wall away from the main house--and all the tables and chairs and ornaments smashed! And the roof is full of holes!"

"How was it done?" questioned Gus.

"The dynamite was placed at the side of the dining-room foundation, according to the railroad men, and it was set off by some sort of clockwork," answered Polly.

"And who did it?" asked Shadow.

"They don't know, yet. But Sparr suspects Phil. That is why I woke him up as soon as I came in," continued the girlish student.

"Suspects me!" exclaimed the s.h.i.+powner's son.

"Yes. He says you are the only one who would do such a thing--you and the crowd who have been backing you up."

"Well, I never!"

"Maybe he means me, too," murmured Ben.

"He does, and all the others in the crowd, too. He thinks it's a plot to get square because he wouldn't give Phil his dinner money back."

"I had nothing to do with it," declared Phil, stoutly.

"Nor I," added Ben.

"Well, I am sure I wasn't in it," said Dave. "I didn't dream of such a thing."

"Nor did I," added Roger and some others.

The news soon spread through several dormitories, and the boys discussed the startling happening in whispers. Phil was greatly disturbed.

"I didn't do it, but I know he'll try to fasten it on me," he told Dave. He did not add that he had written to his father about the affair of the feast and his parent had sent a warning letter back, ordering his son to have nothing more to do with Jason Sparr.

The next morning the news was all over the school. Nat Poole heard of it, and he and some of his cronies declared it as their opinion that Phil and some others were to blame. This brought on a fistic encounter between Ben and the money-lender's son, and the latter got a black eye in consequence.

"You sha'n't say I did it--or had anything to do with it," said Ben, when Nat backed away, having had enough of the battle.

"Humph! just wait till the law has its say!" retorted Nat. "Then maybe you'll get what is coming to you!"

Some of the boys wanted to go to town--to see the damaged hotel--but Doctor Clay would not permit this. In the meantime the wreckage was being cleared away, and the authorities and Jason Sparr were doing their best to locate the author or authors of the crime.

Then came a great surprise, in the shape of a letter delivered in a mysterious way to the hotel-keeper. He was seated in the hotel office in the evening, talking to one of the town constables, when a missive was hurled at him through an open window. He dodged at first, fearing more dynamite, but when he saw it was only a letter, he picked it up and turned it over. It was addressed to him and marked "Private and Personal."

"Wonder what this is?" he mused, and walked over to the light to read the letter. It was written on a single sheet of paper, in lead pencil, and evidently in a disguised hand. It contained but a few lines, as follows:

"If you want to catch the fellows who blew up your hotel have these boys of Oak Hall school arrested at once, Philip Lawrence, Benj. Ba.s.swood, David Porter, Roger Morr, and Joseph Beggs. They were together when it was done, and one or more of them surely did it.

"One Who Knows."

The hotel-keeper read this letter several times and then stuffed it into his pocket. Then he went into the next room and drew from a drawer several things wrapped up in a newspaper.