The Hilltop Boys

"I say, Art, let's take a run down to the train. There will be sure to be some of the old fellows on it and perhaps some new ones."

"Yes, for I heard the doctor tell Buck to have the coach and horses ready, as he expected several of the young gentlemen to come on the afternoon train. Why can't we go down with Buck instead of going alone?"

"Because Mr. Bucephalus, called Buck for short, objects to doing any more work than he is obliged to. We can ride back with him. That is vastly preferable to pedaling up the hill."

"So it is, Harry, but I don't mind coasting down. Come on, there is the train now, just leaving the station below."

Two bright looking boys of about fifteen, dressed in a half-military fashion, stood on a terrace in front of a rambling, two-story building overlooking the surrounding country, the Hudson River being seen in the distance at the foot of a mountain of considerable height, everything being most distinct in the clear Autumn air, the steamboats on the river, the roof of the little railroad station and the puff of smoke from the engine as it pulled out being seen very clearly.

The rambling, two-story building on the top of the hill was the Academy and the boys were two of the pupils who were here a little in advance of the rest to begin the new term, were, in fact, some of the Hilltop Boys as they were called by the people of the town on the river where the train on the branch road was now going at a fair speed, the incline increasing with the distance from the station.

Arthur Warren and Harry Dickson hurried off to the stables where the wheels of the boys were kept, selected their own, mounted quickly and set out along the Academy drive to the road leading to the station, this being a mile or more distant, although in a straight line it was much less.

From the river to the station nearest the Academy it was five miles, but on account of the grade and the numerous stops the two boys had plenty of time to reach the railroad before the train which they had seen leaving the river station could arrive.

"Did the Doctor say who was coming, Art?" asked Harry, as they reached the road, set their brakes and started down the hill. "Dick Percival generally comes at this time."

"Yes, I believe the black fellow said he expected Master Dick. He always likes to fetch Dick up and will go for him at any time, day or night."

"To be sure, for Dick always gives him a tip."

The hill down which the two boys were now gliding at a good rate was quite steep, there being a decided drop a few rods in advance and a number of sharp turns, the rounding of which required considerable dexterity and the coolest of heads.

They were two-thirds of the way down and had reached the steepest part of the hill when, in rounding a particularly sharp turn where they had to keep all their wits about them, they saw just ahead of them, in the middle of the road, a boy carrying a suitcase.

"Hi! get out of the road!" roared Harry, taking a tighter grip on his handle bars and apprehending trouble.

"Look out!" cried Arthur in shrill tones.

The boy in the middle of the road, not more than fifty feet distant at this moment, stood perfectly still and cried in a clear voice, sure to be heard above everything else:

"Swerve a bit to the side, both of you and there will be room enough."

Simultaneously, he made a quick signal to the right and to the left.

Arthur steered a little to the right while Harry went to the left, both whizzing past the boy in the middle of the road who held his suitcase in front of him and stood perfectly still.

Neither of the boys even grazed him but there was little room to spare and the wind of the two wheels caused his coat to flutter violently and almost took off his soft hat.

In a moment more both boys were speeding down the hill at a tremendous gait and in another were out of sight around another and less sharp turn.

"My word! but that was a close shave!" ejaculated Harry, with a sigh and a feeling of intense relief. "I made sure that we were going to get spilled, the three of us."

"Some cool head that!" returned Arthur. "Lots of fellows would have gone all to pieces. I came pretty near doing it myself."

"He knew just what to do and when to do it," Harry went on. "Only for that there would have been a bad mix-up."

"Well, there wasn't!" grunted Arthur, "so don't say any more about it. It gives me the creeps to think of it. That fellow has some nerve. Wonder what he was doing on our road? You can't get anywhere except to Hilltop Academy that way. If he's a new student why didn't he come with Bucephalus and the coach?"

"Can't tell you. Maybe he didn't know anything about it."

The boys reached the bottom of the hill without further incident and went on to the little railroad station, hearing the sound of the expected train as they dismounted and stacked their wheels.

The colored coachman of the Academy, who bore the high-sounding name of Bucephalus, but who was almost always called Buck by the boys and by the people of the town at the foot of the hill, sat on his box as if carved out of black marble and neither looked to the right nor the left, considering it beneath his dignity to converse with any one in the village while on duty and seeming to see no one.

"Did you meet a young fellow going up the hill as you were coming down, Buck?" asked Harry, stepping alongside the big coach. "A new fellow, do you think, Bucephalus?"

"Ah dunno, sah, Ah done paid no attention to anybody Ah met on de road, sah. Ah done had 'nuff to do to look aftah mah hosses witho't catechisin' or scrutinizin' strangers, sah."

The whistle of the train was heard again at that moment and in a short time it arrived and many of the passengers alighted, among them being two or three boys who were warmly welcomed by the two students.

"Hello, Dick, back again, eh? Glad of it. How are you, Billy, how do, Tom? Ready for work, of course?"

"And incidentally, a bit of fun," replied one of the newcomers. "Hope we will have a good crowd this term. Any new ones to put through their paces and make toe the mark?"

The boys chatted and laughed at a lively rate while their trunks and valises were being put on top and behind the coach and then all got inside, Bucephalus objecting when Harry and Arthur put their wheels on the rear rack and took their seats with the others.

"Yo' young ge'men am discommodin' de reg'lah passengers an' taking up mo' room dan Ah speckerlated on," he muttered. "Whyn't yo' go back de same way yo' come?"

"Walk and wheel our bikes?" cried Harry. "Not much. There's room for all of us and I want to talk with Dick."

"That's all right, Buck," said Dick Percival, one of the newcomers, a handsome boy of sixteen, strong, well built and sturdy, slyly passing something to the coachman. "Come up on the box, Harry. I have a lot to tell you. Come on, there's lots of room."

The two boys sat on the box alongside the coachman who set off up the hill for the Academy and Dick at once began to tell of an adventure which had happened to him during the vacation.

"I was taking a hike up in the fruit country," he began, "and in making my way across lots lost my bearings and came out in a peach orchard where I could not see the road nor a house nor anything. Two rough-looking fellows, fruit pickers, and they are not the best men to meet even if they are sober, and these were not, came up and looked rather hostile and threatening. I had considerable money with me and although I could have met either one of the men singly, did not feel like engaging both of them. It was either a case of run or be outmatched, and I was puzzled what to do."

"What did you do?" asked Harry, interested. "They must have been pretty husky fellows for you to decline meeting them."

"A young fellow in overalls and a rough shirt who was picking peaches in a tree, I had not seen him at first, suddenly appeared and ordered the men to get to work and then the boss happened up and sent them away. The boy went back to his picking and the man gave me directions how to reach the road. I suppose the boy was a picker just like the rest but at any rate he had some idea of fairness. He spoke well and I was astonished to see him with the rest but you can't always tell."

"Art and I had a close call this afternoon," said Harry. "We were coming down the Academy hill on our bikes when, at one of the worst places in it, we came upon a young fellow. It looked as if we would run him down but he stood stock still and with all the nerve in the world, whisked his arm first to the right and then to the left as a signal to us. We just flew past but did not hit him and it was a mercy we didn't. Only for his coolness there would have been a bad upset for the lot of us."

"It was very fortunate that there wasn't. Did you know him?"

"No, never saw him before."

"What was he doing on the Academy hill?"

"I'm sure I don't know. That's what bothered Art and me."

The coach went on up the hill and at last stopped in front of the Academy and the boys began to alight.

Dr. Theophilus Wise, the principal, was standing on the front veranda with a good-looking boy in a brown suit and soft hat.

"This is a new pupil, young gentlemen," said the doctor, coming forward with the strange boy. "Let me make you acquainted with John Sheldon. I trust that you will make him at home."

"Why, that's the boy that Art and I met on the road," whispered Harry to his companion as they were descending.

"It is? Why, that is the first picker I was telling you of."

"Oh!" said Harry in a tone of disappointment.

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Dick Percival was the son of wealthy parents, was made much of at home and at school was admired and flattered by the boys of his own set and looked up to by the younger ones who took him as their model and regarded him as a hero.

He was the leading spirit in the school and, being high in his studies, and first in all the athletic sports indulged in by the boys, ranked well with both professors and students, so that whatever he did was considered to be about right.

What he did now was, therefore, a salve to the wounded pride of Harry Dickson, who resented having a mere berry picker enrolled among the students of the Academy and taking equal rank with boys of wealth and position.

As soon as he was down from the coach, Dick went straight to the new boy, extended his hand cordially and said in his most agreeable voice and with a smile on his handsome face:

"I am glad to see you again. Welcome to the ranks of the Hilltop boys. You remember me? You did me a great service a short time ago and I am not likely to forget either that or yourself. My name is Dick Percival. Shake hands, Jack, if you will let me call you so."

"I have no objection," said the other, taking the boy's hand with as much cordiality as it was offered. "I remember you now but what I did was nothing. You are very kind and I will endeavor to repay you in any way I can."

The other boys now pressed forward and Harry was as cordial as Dick himself in welcoming the new boy to the school.

"You saved us a bad accident, old chap," he said, shaking Jack Sheldon's hand. "If it had not been for your coolness I would have gone all to bits in a moment. I am obliged to you and if I can do anything for you at any time just let me know."

"It was a ticklish moment," answered Jack, "but you two boys sized up the situation as quickly as I did and acted just as you should have acted so that as much credit belongs to you as you are ready to give to me. I am glad that all came out so well."

Harry introduced Arthur and in a short time the new boy was acquainted with all the boys then at the Academy and apparently on good terms with all of them, Dick Percival's advances toward the newcomer having given the others their cue, so to speak.

More boys came that afternoon and in the early evening, some by train or boat and some in private conveyances, the greater part of those expected to enter upon the new term being on hand that night.

There were nearly a hundred of the Hilltop boys, the majority hailing from New York but many other states were represented, the Academy having a national reputation and being considered one of the best schools for boys to be found anywhere.

It was conducted under military rules and had besides a retired army officer to drill the boys, a corps of competent instructors in many branches, sending its graduates to the leading colleges and universities of the land.

As the boys' duties would not begin until the next day they were at liberty to do as they pleased that evening and after supper, which was had in the great dining hall, Jack took a stroll with Dick, Harry and one or two others of his new acquaintances.

"Dick told us how you helped him out of a scrape," said Harry, as they were entering a bit of woods in the rear of the Academy. "He took you for a berry picker. That was funny, wasn't--"

"But I was one," said Jack. "I picked all summer, strawberries, raspberries and currants and then peaches and some grapes. I made enough to pay my schooling for--"

"Yes, but you were not one of the regulars," broke in Harry. "They are nothing but a lot of tramps, I believe."

"There are tramps that do the work, of course, but the regulars, as you call them are not. They work up from the south and go as far as the western part of the state and into Pennsylvania before the season is over. Many of the boys and girls, too, in our part of the state earn money that way and I don't see that there is anything--"

"Wrong in it?" interrupted Dick, who noticed the prejudice of the other boys. "Of course there isn't. Be careful about this place, Jack. There is a ravine which is very steep and a fall would not be a pleasant adventure. Stick close to me and you will be all right."

Nothing more was said about the manner in which the new boy had earned money for his schooling but even a casual observer would have noticed that neither Harry nor Arthur were as cordial in their treatment of him after that and he and Dick did all the talking.

The greater part of the boys slept in big dormitories on the upper story of the Academy building, a few especially favored ones having rooms to themselves either there or in one of the cottages adjoining, Dick Percival being one of these.

Jack was assigned to one of the large dormitories and found himself associated with Harry Dickson and a number of boys whom he had seen very little of when it came time to go to bed at ten o'clock that night.

His suitcase had been brought up and one of a number of lockers was assigned to him in which he could keep his clothes, there being a small portable iron washstand in front of it at the head of his bed which was about ten feet distant from the next on either side.

There was a row of beds running along two sides of the room with a space of ten feet between the rows, so that there was plenty of room for every one and yet the boys were near enough to converse with each other if they chose before the lights were put out, this being done outside by one of the professors.

Jack saw four or five boys gathered in a knot while he was undressing and caught a few words of their conversation which was carried on in low tones, paying no attention to it, however, and not seeming to have heard it.

"We must give him a welcome to the Academy," said Harry.

"As soon as the lights go out, make a rush and be sure and get the water jug before he gets up," put in Arthur.

"Oh, we know where everything is, all right," muttered Billy Manners, a lively young fellow whom Jack had noticed at the supper table, who seemed to be always making jokes at something or other. "We have done this before, you know."

"It was just as well that I thought there might be something of this sort and got ready for it," thought Jack, but as far as any of the boys could see he was entirely unsuspicious of their pleasant intentions.

He undressed himself quietly, now and then saying something to one or another of the boys who addressed him, and then, just before he got into bed, quietly dropped something on the floor on each side of the bed without being noticed.

He had taken whatever it was from his suitcase and had not been observed, his motions being quick and with no appearance of stealth or a suspicion of the other boys' designs.

All the boys were in bed a few minutes before the electric lights were extinguished and talked among themselves on matters of little importance, Jack saying little, however, but calculating how long it would take the nearest boy to reach him and fixing the position of the water jug well in his mind without turning to look at it.

The lights were extinguished from a switch-board in the doctor's room as soon as the clock struck, so that it was not necessary to go up to the dormitories at all.

There would be no one in the hall outside, therefore, and so whatever noise the boys might make would not be heard by the doctor or any of the professors.

The clock struck ten and as the last stroke sounded the lights went out and in a moment all was dark in the dormitory.

Then there was a sudden rush and Jack sat up in bed, turned and reached for the water jug which was just behind him.

Swift but light footsteps were heard approaching the bed on three sides and then there was a sudden howl, or chorus of howls from all sides.

"Wow! what's that?"

"Ouch! who left tacks on the floor?"

"Gee whiz! stop that!"

Jack had strewn a few small tacks on the floor and the boys who had meant to give him a little hazing had stepped upon them in the dark.

One of the invaders fell against the bed and at once the water jug tumbled over upon him or at any rate that was what he supposed had happened in his confusion.

"What's the matter, boys?" asked Jack, quietly, and then a flash of light from a pocket searchlight shone from the bed.

"Tacks!" exclaimed one.

"Waterspouts!" ejaculated another, he who had been drenched by the contents of the jug.

"Do you often have these little affairs, boys?" asked Jack, with provoking coolness. "Do you enjoy them?"

Two of the boys were sitting on the edge of their beds taking tacks out of their feet while another was looking for a dry night shirt in his locker.

The others looked rather sheepish and no attempt was made to rush in upon Jack who said with the least suspicion of a laugh:

"Better go to bed, boys. Some one might have heard the noise and be coming up to investigate."

Then the light suddenly went out as steps were heard in the hall outside and all was still within.

Whoever was outside was evidently unsuspicious of what had happened within for the footsteps passed the door and went on down the hall and not a word was heard.

"I guess that was one on us," muttered Billy Manners when all was quiet again, "and we'd better let it go at that and score a point for the new fellow."

Evidently, his advice was taken for there was no more disturbance in the dormitory for the rest of the night and in the morning when the bell sounded for the boys to get up Jack was out of bed before any of his new companions.

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The boys were awakened at six o'clock, went into chapel at half past six, had breakfast at seven, went through a drill from eight to nine and then went into the general schoolroom and were busy till noon, when they were dismissed to get ready for dinner.

Nothing was said about the event of the night before but several of the boys gave Jack sly winks and it was quite evident that there would be no repetition of the hazing.

When they went out to drill, Dick Percival said to Jack:

"Well, my boy, it seems to me as if you showed just as cool a head last night as you did in the afternoon when you stood in the road and directed the two fellows who were rushing down upon you on their bikes. I would have liked to seen the fun."

"If they had not talked about it I would not have known anything of it," replied Jack, "but how did you hear of it?"

"Oh, Billy Manners thought it was too good a joke to keep even if you did soak him with the contents of the water jug," laughed Dick. "I don't think he upset it as some of the boys think."

Jack said nothing and the subject was dropped for the time.

Later, Billy Manners himself came to Jack and said, good-naturedly:

"That was one on us, Sheldon, but I don't hold it up against you. I would like to know how you suspected us, however. Have you been to other schools where they practised this sort of thing?"

"No, I have never been away to school before but if fellows will talk of their plans they need not be astonished if somebody overhears."

"True enough!" rejoined Billy, with a chuckle. "I never thought of that. I supposed we were speaking low, however."

"You spoke in whispers and you can hear a whisper farther than you can hear a low tone."

"H'm! I never knew that. That's something to remember."

After dinner and before they went back to the school room several of the boys, Jack among the rest, were standing in front of the main building when Peter Herring, a big, brawny fellow with a disagreeable face and manner said brusquely to the new boy:

"I say, Sheldon, who are you anyhow? Who's your father?"

Jack flushed crimson and then turned pale and for a moment seemed greatly agitated but he quickly gained his composure and said quietly:

"My father is dead."

"Well, what was he then?" pursued the other in the same disagreeable tone he had before used.

"A gentleman," answered Jack, pointedly, and then turned away and spoke to Harry and Arthur.

"H'm! you got it that time, Pete!" roared Ernest Merritt, Herring's chum and a boy with a reputation for bullying and also of toadying to the richer boys and snubbing the poor ones. "That hit you. Did you hear how he said 'a gentleman,' my boy? Your father is something dif--"

"Mind your business!" snapped Herring, darting a look at Jack which boded no good for the latter and then walking away with a sulky air.

"Did you notice how Jack flushed when Herring asked him who his father was?" asked Harry of Arthur when Jack had left them. "There is some mystery there."

"I don't see it. Jack would naturally be angry when spoken to in that tone. Herring is a bully and no gentleman, as Jack indicated."

"That's true enough, but Jack turned red and then white and was evidently under a considerable agitation. There is some mystery, take my word for it."

"Well, suppose there is?" rejoined Arthur. "It is certainly no business of ours and I am not going to meddle with it."

"Well, neither am I," with a little snap, "but I can have my opinion, can't I?"

"Certainly," and there was nothing more said, the boys being good friends and though having little differences at times, never quarreled.

While Arthur and Harry were having this conversation Herring said angrily to Merritt:

"What did you want to say that for? My father is as good as yours. I'll give it to Sheldon for talking back to me."

"You started it," growled Merritt. "You're always picking on the new fellows."

"So are you," snapped Herring. "You're a regular bully. Never mind, though. There is something crooked about Sheldon or his family and I'm going to find it. I don't associate with tramp berry pickers and the rest of the boys won't when I find out things."

"Dick Percival goes with him," muttered Merritt, pointing to where the rich man's son and Jack Sheldon were walking together arm in arm. "Percival is a swell and his father is richer than yours and a lot more--"

"A lot more what?" snarled Herring, clenching his fist.

"Respectable!" snapped Merritt, hastily retreating.

"Don't mind what a fellow like Herring says, Jack," said Dick Percival, kindly, putting his arm in the new boy's. "No one of any account pays any attention to him. A fellow that can show the nerve you can has nothing to fear from Pete Herring."

"I am not afraid of him, Dick," Jack answered, "but--" and then he stopped and went on in silence.

"It's all right," said Dick, at length. "A boy that stands as high as you do in your classes need not be afraid of Pete Herring's condemnation. I believe I shall have to hustle or you will be up to me before I know it."

"That's what I'm here for, to get ahead as fast as I can," laughed the other, who in his examination that morning had showed that he was by no means a backward scholar.

The first day of the new term was spent mostly in getting things into shape for the days that were to come and the regular routine was not as strictly observed as it would be later, new boys being tried out, new methods experimented upon and everything being made ready for the fall and winter.

There were several new boys in addition to Jack Sheldon and one or two of these were as advanced as he was but the greater part went into the lower classes and would make the material of which the Academy would be composed at a later period, Dr. Wise taking them under his particular care and forming their characters for the future as he put it.

In the course of two or three days the machinery of the school was running as smoothly as if it had been in operation for a month, the boys knowing what was expected of them and the professors keeping them rigidly to their work and attending to their own duties with unflagging zeal.

Jack took an interest in his work and was stimulated by knowing that much was expected of him and that there were others who desired to overtake him in his studies, this very emulation helping him to do his best.

The greater part of the boys were his friends and he gave little attention to those who were not, keeping on good terms with them while not having much to do with them.

As far as he was concerned, however, the boys knew no more of him at the end of the week than they had known at the beginning and many of them decided that it was as well to let him remain a mystery until he chose to further enlighten them.

Without being churlish or obstinate, Jack was reserved and all they knew, which could have been obtained outside as well as from him was that he lived in another county, some ten miles distant, that he was the only child of a worthy widow and that he was paying for his schooling out of money that he had earned or would earn from his own efforts in one line or another.

"At any rate if he does have to earn the money to carry him through," said Billy Manners to a number of the boys one afternoon when school was over for the day, "he is not mean and contributes what he can to the legitimate fun of the Hilltops and does not waste his coin on foolish things. If he is poor he is not a miser and if he has to work for his schooling that is his business. If Dick Percival, the acknowledged head of the school in studies as well as in athletics, can associate with him and be proud of his company, the rest of us have nothing to say and I, for my part, certainly have not."

"Neither has any decent fellow among the Hilltops," added Harry, enthusiastically, and the majority echoed his sentiment, the few that remained silent and indulged in black looks being unobserved amid the general acceptance of the new scholar.

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