CHAPTER X WHEN THE CANNON WENT OFF
The boys went down to the railroad station in the new touring car to meetMrs. Laning and the three girls, and possibly Mrs. Stanhope. The car wasa fine seven-seat affair, of forty-horse power, and Dick ran it.
"It's the slickest thing in cars I've seen!" cried the eldest Rover boy,enthusiastically. "A tour in it would be great."
"Well, we'll have to take a tour in it before the summer is over,"returned Sam.
The train was late and the boys waited impatiently for it to put in anappearance. When it did arrive they were delighted to see that Mrs.Laning had induced Mrs. Stanhope to come along.
"I wanted her to come for two reasons," whispered Dick to Dora, after thefirst greetings were over. "I wished her here, and I was afraid, if sheremained behind, Josiah Crabtree might try to visit her."
"He did try, Dick," answered the girl.
"What, again?"
"Yes, and what do you think? We had another visit from Tad Sobber."
"And what did he say?"
"He wanted us to give him half of the fortune. Said that if we didn't hewould never rest until he got the money."
"What did your mother do?"
"She had two hired men, who happened to be at the house, put him out."
"Good! That's the best way to treat him."
"Mamma was very much upset, as you can imagine. And the very next dayJosiah Crabtree called, and what do you think he said? He sent word bythe maid that he had called not alone on his own behalf, but also onbehalf of Sobber."
"Oh, so that's the way the wind blows, eh? They are going to form a sortof partnership, to see if they can't get hold of your money, by one wayor another."
"It looks that way, Dick, and I am worried to death."
"I'd like to run Sobber down and put him in prison. He has done a numberof things for which he might be arrested."
"I am trying to get mamma to take a trip somewhere. I want her to go insecret, so that Sobber and Mr. Crabtree can't follow her."
"That might be a good thing, Dora," answered Dick, and then he had toturn his attention to running the touring car. Although the automobilewas built for but seven, all had crowded in, Sam sitting in front onTom's lap, and the ladies and girls occupying the tonneau.
The run to the farm took but a few minutes, Dick "letting the machineout" in a manner that made the ladies gasp.
"Never rode so fast in my life, on a country road!" declared Mrs. Laning,on alighting. "It was like a train!"
"Oh, that was nothing," answered Tom. "We can go twice as fast if we wantto."
"Not with me in the car!" declared the lady, firmly.
"It's a splendid automobile," said Mrs. Stanhope. "But I shouldn't careto travel at racing speed in one."
The visitors were warmly welcomed by Mrs. Rover and her husband and bythe boys' father, and soon all were made to feel at home. The best roomsin the farmhouse were given over to the guests, and Mrs. Rover had placeda beautiful bunch of June roses in each apartment.
"What lovely roses!" cried Mrs. Stanhope. "We have some, but not as grandas these!" And her face showed her satisfaction.
"It's great to have you girls here!" declared Sam. "What a jolly familywe would be if we all lived together!"
"Oh, what an idea!" cried Grace, but she smiled even as she spoke.
Of course the boys had to show the girls all over the farm, and UncleRandolph took the ladies around, showing them the big barns and thecattle, the chickens, the horses, the pigs, and the orchards, and broadfields of corn, wheat, and other products. Then they came back to look atthe neat vegetable garden, and Mrs. Rover's flower plots, and also at thebees.
"I hope for great things from my bees," announced Randolph Rover. "I havetaken up the study of them with care, and I think I can produce a varietythat will give us extra fine clover honey."
"I thought you had your bees all in one place, Uncle Randolph," saidDick, as he noticed a hive set apart from the others.
"That is a new family I bought last week," was the explanation. "I amkeeping them apart for the purpose of studying them. But they are ratherwild as yet, and I do not dare to disturb them very much."
"Oh, I can't bear bees!" whispered Nellie to Tom. "Let's get out ofhere," and she walked away, and the others followed.
Although the young folks remained up rather late on the night before theFourth, Tom, Dick and Sam arranged among themselves to get up early thenext day, to fire a salute from the old cannon.
"We'll surprise them all," said Tom. "We'll show 'em we can make a noiseeven if we are in the country."
The boys crept downstairs at five o'clock and hurried out to the shedwhere the powder had been left. Bringing the box forth they took it towhere the old cannon had been placed on the lawn. The piece was pointedtowards an apple orchard, so that it might do no damage.
"Now, fill her up good!" cried Tom. "We want to make as much noise as wecan with the first shot."
"Don't put in such a load that she bursts," cautioned Dick.
The powder was measured out and put in, and then this was followed by awad of paper Sam brought from the kitchen. They rammed the paper in goodand tight.
"Now, I guess she's ready to set off," said Tom.
"Tom, don't you stand too close," said Dick. "That cannon might explode.Light the slow match and then run behind a tree, or the corner of thepiazza."
"All right, Dick. But I don't think she'll explode," was the reply.
"Hello, goin' to fire her off, eh?" came a voice from the fence, and JackNess appeared.
"Yes, Jack," answered Sam. "But keep still--we want to surprise thefolks."
"Good enough," murmured the hired man. "You'll do it right enough. Thetold cannon always was a snorter fer noise." And he backed away towardsthe orchard to get behind a tree, out of the way of possible harm.
All being ready, Tom lit a match and applied it to the slow match of thecannon. Then he ran for the corner of the piazza, to join his brothers.
A few seconds passed--they seemed unusually long just then--but nothinghappened.
"The slow match must have gone out," murmured Tom.
"Don't go back!--it may go off, yet," answered Dick. "Sometimes----"
Bang! went the cannon, and the tremendous report echoed and re-echoedthroughout the hills surrounding Valley Brook. The charge had been so bigthat the piece had "kicked back" about a yard.
"Say, that was a noise!"
"If that didn't wake the folks up nothing will!"
"I'm glad she didn't burst."
"So am I."
"By gum, you're celebratin' all right!" came from Jack Ness, as he pokedhis head from behind a tree. "I guess they must have heard that cleardown to the Corners."
"Further than that!" replied Tom.
"Oh, Tom, did you do that?" came a voice from an upper window, and Nellieshowed her face.
"What an awful noise!" came from another window, as Dora appeared.
"Did it wake you up?" cried Tom.
"It made me bounce right out of bed!" declared Nellie. "I thought I wasshot."
"I thought the house had been hit," said Dora.
"Did your cannon burst?" questioned Grace, as she appeared beside Nellie.
"Not a bit of it!" declared Tom. "Just listen, while we fire anothershot."
"Oh, Tom, wait till I put some cotton in my ears!" cried Mrs. Rover, asshe showed herself, followed by the others.
"Boys, you didn't shoot off anything in the cannon, did you?" askedRandolph Rover, nervously.
"Nothing but powder and paper, Uncle," answered Sam.
"That ain't so!" suddenly shouted Jack Ness. "By gum! You hit the beehive, an' here come the bees! Gee, shoo! Git out! Oh, my! I'm stung!" Andhe started to run from the orchard.
The boys stared for a moment. Down in the orchard was the hive whichtheir uncle had set apart from the others. It seemed to be torn at thetop, and a swarm of angry bees were flyi
ng around. Part of the swarm hadmade for Jack Ness, and now the hired man was running for his life.
"Why, I don't see how we hit the hive----" commenced Dick, when a yellfrom Sam interrupted him.
"The bees! The bees! Some of 'em are heading this way!"
"Hi! hi! don't let 'em fly away!" screamed Randolph Rover. "They are veryvaluable! Stop them! Make them go back in the hive!"
"Excuse me from touching any bees!" murmured Tom. "I'm going to get outof here!" And he started to run.
"Don't go to the house!" cried Dick. "We don't want the ladies and thegirls to get stung. Head for the barn!"
His brothers understood, and they scampered at top speed for the nearestbarn. In the meantime they could see poor Jack Ness slashing aroundwildly with a coat he was carrying.
"Git out o' here, you troublesome critters!" screamed the hired man."Lemme alone, consarn ye! Oh, my nose! Oh, my eye!" And then he peltedfor the vegetable garden. Here he fell over a hot-bed frame and wentsprawling. But he soon picked himself up, and then he streaked it downthe garden to a patch of corn, gradually outdistancing his littletormentors.
"Say, this is the worst yet!" groaned Tom, and he and his brotherswatched the bees from a distance. "However did we happen to hit thathive?"
"I'm sure I don't know," replied Dick, "unless you put something in thecannon. Did you use stones?"
"No. Did you, Sam?"
"Not a thing but that paper. But we rammed that down rather hard."
"I don't think paper would reach to the orchard. Maybe there wassomething in it. Did you look?"
"No. Come to think of it, it did feel a little hard," answered Sam.
In a few minutes Randolph Rover appeared, followed by the boys' father.The man who was making a study of bees had placed a net over his head anddonned gloves, and thus equipped he went down to look at the hive. Asmall corner of the top had been torn away.
"I fancy the bees will settle down before a great while," said he. "Thehive is not much damaged."
"I am glad to hear that, Uncle Randolph," said Tom. "I didn't think thatshot would reach so far."
"Next time you had better point the cannon into the air," replied theuncle.
"That's a good idea; we will."
The cook slept at the top of the house, and awakened by the noise camedown to the kitchen to start up the fire. She heard the others discussingthe discharge of the cannon and mention the damage done to the bee hive.Then she looked around the kitchen and suddenly gave a scream.
"My pocketbook! Where is my pocketbook?"
"Your pocketbook?" asked Sam, who had come around to the kitchen to washhis hands. "Where did you leave it?"
"I had it on that side table. It was wrapped in an old newspaper. I wasgoing to take it up to my room last night and hide it, but I forgot."
"That newspaper!" ejaculated Sam, and turned slightly pale. "If you hadit in that newspaper it was your pocketbook that shot the top off thatbee hive!"