CHAPTER XII
THE CROSS MAN
"Come on! Come on!" whispered Tom to Bunny and Sue, as he led them stilldeeper back in among the bushes. "Don't let him hear you! Come on, andwe'll hide!"
"Who is it? What's the matter?" Bunny wanted to know.
"Hush!" whispered Tom. "It's that man! He's after me, I guess. I'll tellyou about it when we get away. He's coming! Hurry!"
Certainly someone, or something, was coming along the path from whichTom and the two children had just stepped to go in among the bushes. Tomwas in such a hurry that he pulled Bunny and Sue along with him harderthan he meant to. Finally Bunny said:
"Oh, Tom, I'm spilling the milk!"
Bunny was carrying the pail of milk they had bought at the farmhouse,and, though the pail had a cover on it, some of the milk had splashedout, and was running down Bunny's stocking.
"Set the pail down here, and we'll get it when we come back--after thatman goes," Tom said, in a whisper.
Bunny put the pail down on the ground, near a big stone, so he wouldknow where to look for it again. Then, to hide, they all squeezed as farback in the bushes as they could, and waited.
"Is he coming after us?" asked Sue in a whisper.
"No, I guess he's only after me," answered Tom. "He won't touch you orBunny."
"Is it a Gypsy man?" Bunny wanted to know.
"No, he isn't a Gypsy," replied Tom. "He's just a cross, bad man; and Idon't want him to see me. Keep your heads down."
Bunny and Sue did so. Like frightened rabbits they crouched among thebushes. Tom kept hold of their hands, and though the children knew thatTom was afraid, for he had said so, still Bunny and Sue were not verymuch frightened, as long as the man was not a Gypsy and did not wantthem.
"There! He's gone past!" exclaimed Tom, as he stood up to look over thetops of the bushes. "He's gone, and we can come out. He didn't seeus--he won't get me this time."
"But who was he?" Bunny wanted to know. Tom, however, did not seem tohear him. Still holding Bunny and Sue by the hand, Tom led them back tothe path. Bunny picked up the pail of milk.
"I'll carry it for you," Tom said. "We've got to hurry back to camp."
"Why?" asked Sue. "I can't hurry very much, for my legs hurt."
"I'll carry you," said Tom, "if Bunny will take the milk pail."
"Yes, I'll do that," said the little boy.
Once more he took the pail, while Tom hoisted Sue up onto his shoulder.
"Give me a piggy-back!" Sue begged, so Tom carried her pickaback, whileSue held tightly to her doll. Tom marched ahead along the path, and soonthey were safely at the tent. Before Tom could say anything, Bunny andSue, seeing their father and mother, called out:
"Oh, Tom saw a man, and we hid!"
Mr. and Mrs. Brown did not know what this meant.
"What sort of man was he?" asked Mrs. Brown quickly.
"He wasn't a Gypsy man," Bunny said.
"But he was after Tom, only he didn't see us," added Sue. "And I had apiggy-back ride home, and some milk got spilled on Bunny's stocking, butnot much, and I'm hungry!"
Sue believed in telling everything at once, to have it over with.
"What is it all about?" asked Mr. Brown of Tom. "Did you and thechildren really, hide from a man?"
"Yes, sir."
"What man was it? I hope there aren't any tramps in these woods."
"Oh, no, he wasn't a tramp. He was the farmer I told you about--the oneI worked for, and from whom I ran away. I guess he was looking for me,"Tom answered.
"Hum," said Mr. Brown. "Well, I suppose we'll have to wait and see whathe wants. Was he coming this way?"
"No, he seemed to be wandering through the woods, as if he didn't knowwhere to go."
"Oh, well, maybe he won't find you," said Mrs. Brown.
"I hope he doesn't," returned Tom, looking over his shoulder.
No strange man came to camp that night, and Bunny and Sue soon forgotall about the little fright Tom had had. But two days later, just asdinner was finished, there came a man rowing in a boat to the littlewooden camp-dock Bunker Blue had built out into the lake.
Out of the boat climbed a man with black whiskers. He had on big, heavyboots, and in one hand he carried a whip. He walked up the path from thelake, and when he saw Mr. Brown and his family at the table, under thetent, which was wide open, the man stood still.
"Camp Rest-a-While, eh?" he said in rather a rough voice, as he read thesign. "Well, maybe this is the place I'm looking for. Have you seen aboy--a ragged boy--about fifteen years old in these woods?" he asked.
Before Mr. Brown could answer, Tom Vine, who had gone to the spring fora pail of water, came back. At the sight of the man Tom dropped thepail, spilling the water. At the same time the "ragged boy" cried out:
"There he is! There's the man! He's after me! Oh, please don't let himtake me away!"
Tom turned to run back into the woods, but Mr. Brown called to him:
"Stay right where you are, Tom! This man won't hurt you. Stay where youare."
Though he was much frightened, Tom stood still.
"Now then, what do you want?" asked Mr. Brown of the man with the whip.
"I want that boy!" answered the man, pointing the whip at poor Tom. "Ihired him to work for me, but he ran away. I want him back, and I'mgoing to have him!"
And oh, what a rough, cross voice the man had! He wasn't at all nice,Bunny and Sue thought.
"I've been looking for that boy, and now I've found him. I want to takehim back with me," the cross man went on. "I was hunting all throughthese woods for him, and yesterday I heard that a boy like him was in acamp over here. So I came for to find out about it, and I've found him!"
"Is that the man you saw in the woods, when we went after milk the otherday, Tom?" asked Bunny in a whisper.
"Yes," nodded Tom.
"Well, if this boy doesn't want to go with you I'm not going to makehim," said Mr. Brown. "He came to us, and said you had not treated himwell. I'll not send him back to you. Are you the farmer who hired him?"
"Yes, I'm that farmer," said the man, scowling. "Jake Trimble is myname, and when I want a thing I get it! I want that boy!"
"Oh, please don't make me go back to work for him!" begged Tom. "He beatme, and he didn't give me enough to eat!"
"Don't be, afraid," said Mr. Brown. "He shan't have you!"
"I say I will!" cried the cross man. "That boy hired out to work forme, and I want him!"
"You can't have him," said Mr. Brown quietly. "And I want you to go awayfrom here. This is my camp, and it is a private one. Go. You can't havethis boy."
"But he ran away from me!" said the cross man.
"Perhaps he did. He said he could not stand the way you treated him. Anyboy would have run away," replied Mr. Brown. "I'm looking after this boynow, and I say you can't have him."
"Well, I'll get him, somehow, you see if I don't!" cried the cross man,as he turned to go back to his boat. And he shook his whip at Tom. "I'llget you yet!" he said. "And when I do I'll make you work twice as hard.You'll see!"
"Don't be afraid, Tom," said Mr. Brown, when the unkind man was gone. "Iwon't let him hurt you."
Tom picked up the overturned pail, and went again to the spring forwater. When he came back he said:
"That was the farmer I met in the city. He took me out to his place, andwas very mean to me. I just had to run away. I didn't think he'd try tofind me. But I knew he must be looking for me when we saw him in thewoods that day. I hid away from him then, but now he knows where I am."
"Don't you care," said Sue. "My daddy won't let him hurt you; will you,Daddy?" and she put her arms around her father's neck.
"We'll take care of Tom," said Mr. Brown. "I guess that man won't comeback."