CHAPTER XXVIII
THE ESCAPE
After the first shock of surprise was over Tom struggled against beingtaken away by his captors. He almost succeeded in breaking loose, but somany came at him, crowding close around him, that by sheer weight ofnumbers they formed an impassable barrier.
"It's all right, freshie, you're hooked good and proper, so don't try toget away," advised a tall youth whom he recognized as Battersby.
"All right," agreed Tom good-naturedly, though he by no means intendedto give up trying to escape. But he would bide his time. "Where are yougoing to take me?" he asked.
"Oh, a good place. You'll have plenty of company. Take him along,fellows. I'll go back and help capture some more. The idea of thesefreshies thinking they could pull off a dinner without us getting on toit. The very idea!" and Battersby laughed sarcastically. He and Gladdushad fully recovered from the electric shocks and were probably glad ofa chance to make trouble for the freshmen.
Tom, in the midst of half a dozen sophomores, was half led, half pushedalong a dark path, over the bridge and then down a walk which extendedthrough the woods. He recognized that he was being taken toward a littlesummer resort on the shores of the lake.
Once he thought he saw a chance to break loose as the grips on his armsloosened slightly, but when he attempted it he was handled so roughlythat he knew the sophomores had made up their minds to hold on to him atany cost.
"You're our first prisoner," explained one lad, "and for the moraleffect of it we can't let you get away. You'll have company soon."
A little later Tom was thrust into a small shanty. He recognized theplace as one that had been used for a soda water and candy booth at thepicnic grounds, but which shack had not been opened this season yet,though others near it were in use. There was nothing doing at thegrounds on this night and the resort was deserted.
"Lock the door," exclaimed some one as Tom was thrust inside. "Then afew of us will have to stand guard and the others can go back and helpbring up the rest."
Tom staggered against some tables and chairs in the dark interior ofthe shack. He managed to find a place to sit down.
"We're a bright lot of lads," thought the scrub pitcher, "to be taken inafter this fashion. We should have stuck together and then we could havefought off the sophs. But it's too late now. I wonder if Sid was caught?"
He listened and could hear the retreating steps of his captors. That allhad not gone and that some were left on guard was indicated by the lowtalk that went on outside and by the tramping about the shack of severallads.
"Can he get out?" Tom heard some one ask.
"No. The place is nailed up tight."
"Maybe I can't and maybe I can," mused Tom. "Anyhow I'm going to have alook. Wait until I strike a match."
Holding his hat as a protection, so that no gleams would penetratepossible cracks in the door, Tom struck a light and examined the walls ofhis prison. The shack consisted of only one room and was cluttered upwith chairs, tables, benches, counters and other things. Tom at onceeliminated from his plan of escape the front, as there he knew thesophomores would remain on guard. He must try either the sides or theback. The sides, he saw, were out of the question, as they contained onlysmall windows, hardly big enough for him to get through. In addition thecasements were closed by heavy wooden shutters, nailed fast.
"No use trying them," thought Tom. "The back is the only place."
This he examined with care, and to his delight he saw what he thoughtwould enable him to get out. This was an opening near the top, and itwas closed by a thin wooden shutter swinging on a hinge.
"It's nailed fast," Tom remarked when, by dint of lighting many matchesinside his hat, he had examined the shutter. "But I can reach it bystanding on two chairs, and if I can get it open, I can crawl out anddrop to the ground. But how am I going to pull out those big nails?"
Indeed it did seem impossible, but Tom was ingenious. His fingers, whenhe had thrust his hands into his pockets, had touched his keen-bladedknife, the one that had gotten him into trouble about the wire and whichhad been returned to him by the proctor.
"I can cut away the wood around the nails," he thought, and at once heput his plan into operation. He managed to get two chairs, one on top ofthe other, and mounting upon this perch, he attacked the shutter.Fortunately the wood was soft, and working in the darkness by means offeeling with his fingers around the nails, Tom soon had one spike cutfree of the shutter. Then he began on the others, and in half an hourhe could raise the solid piece of wood. A breath of the fresh night aircame to him.
"No glass in it," he exclaimed softly. "That's good. Now to get away andshow up at the dinner. I hope they didn't get any other fellows. Theyhaven't brought any more here, that's sure."
He listened at the door a moment.
"I wish some of our fellows would come back," he heard one of the guardssaying.
"Yes, it's lonesome here. I wonder if Parsons is still there?"
"Sure he is. How could he get away?"
"That's so. He couldn't."
"Wait a bit," whispered Tom.
He again mounted the chairs, and pulling himself up by the edge of theopening, after fastening up the shutter, he prepared to crawl throughand drop down outside.
"I hope it isn't much of a fall and that the ground is soft," hemurmured.
Just then he heard a commotion in front of the shack.
"They're bringing up some more of our class," he reasoned. "Maybe I canhelp 'em. Had I better stay in?" He was undecided, and he remained onthe edge of the window, partly inside and partly outside the shanty. Heheard the door open, and looking back in the semi-darkness, saw that astruggle was going on. He guessed that the sophomores were trying tothrust inside one or more freshmen. Then another shout told Tom that hisescape was discovered.
"I'll drop down outside," he decided, "and see what I can do toward arescue."
He looked down. In the gloom below the high window was a figure.
"Look out, soph, I'm going to drop on you!" cried Tom warningly. Heheard a half-smothered exclamation and then he let go, prepared todefend himself against recapture.
The fall was longer than he anticipated, for there was a depressionat the back of the cabin. He toppled in a heap, and before he couldstraighten up, he saw some one rushing toward him. Then around thecorner of a shack came two figures, one carrying a lantern.
"What's up?" they cried together.
Tom was aware that the dark figure which he had seen underneath thewindow was jumping toward him. The light of the lantern shone full onTom's face. He was in the act of struggling to his feet when he feltsome one kick him in the side, and as the toe of a heavy shoe cameagainst his right elbow with crushing force the pain made Tom cry out.
The lantern swung in a circle and by the light of it Tom, glancing up,saw Langridge standing over him. It was he who had administered thekick. Then the light appeared to fade away, and Tom felt a strangelydizzy feeling. He seemed to be sinking into a bottomless pit.