CHAPTER VI FIRST CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS

Jerry and Ned looked at Bob quickly, and then darted glances after the man who had so rudely pushed out of the door, almost upsetting Jerry on his way.

“Did he really have a crooked nose?” asked Ned.

“He sure did! I had a good view of his side face, and his nose looked as though he had been a football player most of his life, and had fallen on his nose instead of on the pigskin.”

Ned darted out to the sidewalk, and looked up and down the street. He came back to report.

“The man, Crooked Nose or not, isn’t in sight,” he said. “But if you think it’s worth while postponing the meal——”

“No, don’t!” hastily begged Bob. “Maybe after we caught up to him it wouldn’t be the right man.”

“I’m inclined to agree with you there,” said Jerry. “We have only this Frenchman’s word for it, and there is probably more than one man with[43] a crooked nose in Cresville. We can’t go up to the first chap we meet who’s decorated that way and accuse him of taking money and jewelry or setting fire to a house. It won’t do.”

“No,” assented Ned. “We might properly call him down for his manner of colliding with us, but that isn’t criminal. I guess we’ll just have to let him go, and second Bob’s motion to hold a grub-fest. I have an appetite, even with all the smoke I swallowed.”

“Same here,” said Jerry. “That Frenchman may have been dreaming. But he tells a funny story, and Crooked Nose, as we’ll call him until we think of a better name, did seem to want to get off without being recognized.”

“He actually seemed afraid of us,” went on Ned. “He came out of here like a shot as soon as he saw us. I’m sure there’s something wrong about him, and there may be more in the Frenchman’s story than has yet come out.”

“We can go and see him to-morrow,” suggested Jerry. “But we’d better look after Professor Snodgrass a little now. He may be at one of our houses expecting us; that is, if he hasn’t found a new colony of bugs.”

So the boys proceeded with their meal, talking meanwhile about the events of the night.

“I wonder how the patriotic meeting made out?” asked Ned.

[44]

“We can pass there on our way home,” said Jerry. “I guess there will be plenty of such from now on, since Uncle Sam has decided to take a fall out of the Kaiser.”

But as the boys, in their automobile, rode past the auditorium, it was closed and dark, showing that the meeting was over. That it was a success they heard from several persons to whom they spoke as they rode through the streets of the small city on their way to Jerry’s house, since it was decided to stop there first, to see if Professor Snodgrass was visiting Mrs. Hopkins.

And it was there they found him, talking to Jerry’s mother, who was entertaining the little scientist, meanwhile wondering what was keeping the boys.

“Well, how does it feel to be a hero?” asked Ned, as he greeted the professor.

“A hero?” murmured Mr. Snodgrass, wonderingly.

“Yes. Didn’t he tell you, Mother?” inquired Jerry. “He stopped the team that was running away with the fire engine and——”

“And you never mentioned it, Professor!” exclaimed Mrs. Hopkins.

“Too modest!” murmured Jerry.

“Really, I never gave it a thought,” said the visitor. “In fact, I didn’t notice anything about the vehicle in question. I only saw some horses[45] coming down the road, and I didn’t want them to step on a colony of bugs I wished to investigate. That is all there was to it. But did the fire amount to anything, boys?”

“Yes, it was some fire,” answered Bob. “And, what’s more, Jerry and Ned did a bit of hero work themselves,” and he related the incident of the rescue of the Frenchman.

“Oh, it wasn’t anything!” declared Jerry, as he saw his mother looking proudly at him. “Bob was in it, too. If he hadn’t been so fat he couldn’t have kept the ladder from slipping.”

“That’s right!” chimed in Ned. “I guess we can all congratulate ourselves.”

“How was the meeting?” asked Mrs. Hopkins.

“We didn’t hear much of it,” answered Jerry. “Came out when it was less than half over, to see about the fire, and we’ve been busy ever since. But say, Professor, what do you think about this declaration of war with Germany?”

“I think it was the only thing the people of the United States could do with honor and with a regard for their own rights and the cause of humanity,” was the quick answer. “We’ll all have to get into the fight sooner or later, and in one way or another. I think there are stirring times ahead of us, boys.”

The talk became general, and Professor Snodgrass told of having heard from a fellow scientist[46] that a certain kind of insect was to be found in the vicinity of Cresville, and so he had decided to come on a little expedition in the few days that remained of the Easter vacation.

“We’re glad to see you,” declared Jerry. “Are you counting on going anywhere else after bugs?”

“Not just at present,” answered the scientist. “I have found just what I want right here, so it won’t be necessary to get out the airship or the submarine this time.”

“I wish we could,” sighed Ned. “It seems a shame that all our good times have to be curtailed for a while, and that we have to go back to Boxwood Hall.”

“That’s the place for you boys, for some years yet,” said Mrs. Hopkins. “You have had your share of fun, and you must now be content to do a little serious work.”

“That is right,” chimed in Professor Snodgrass. “But I have not given up all hope of making other trips with you boys. I haven’t forgotten the stirring times we have had. There may be more ahead of us, though when the country actually gets into war every one will have to give up some pleasures.”

The boys related the incidents of the fire, incidentally speaking of the Frenchman’s real or fancied loss of his money and the jewelry and about the man with the crooked nose.

[47]

“Oh, I think I know that crippled Frenchman!” cried Mrs. Hopkins suddenly. “He does work for Mr. Martley, the jeweler. Oh, I wonder if it can be true,” and she gave a gasp.

“What is it, Mother?” demanded Jerry, who saw that something was wrong.

“I sent that new diamond brooch I bought last month at Martley’s back to be engraved. Perhaps Mr. Martley let that Frenchman have it.”

“He mentioned a diamond brooch.”

“If it is mine and it is gone!” Mrs. Hopkins clasped her hands. “It cost eight hundred dollars!”

“In that case Martley will have to pay for it,” added Jerry quickly.

“Yes, Jerry. But it will make a lot of trouble,” sighed his mother.

“Was that man’s nose bent to the left?” asked Professor Snodgrass, looking up from a dried bug he was inspecting, for he carried specimens in almost every pocket, and looked at them whenever he had a chance.

“Yes, and it was quite a bend, too,” said Bob. “Why do you ask, Mr. Snodgrass?”

“Because I think I saw the same man shortly after you boys left me to go to the fire, dragging the engine with your auto. I was in the middle of the road, getting some of the insects into my specimen box, when I was almost trodden on by[48] a man who was hurrying past. I looked up to remonstrate with him, and then I saw that he had a very crooked nose. Before I had a chance to say all I wanted to about his manners, or, rather, lack of them, he hurried on.”

“It must have been the same chap,” declared Jerry. “His rudeness shows that. He did the same thing to us. We must keep our eyes open, and, if we see him around town, we’ll find out who he is.”

Professor Snodgrass not only spent the night at Mrs. Hopkins’ house, but his visit extended over several days.

During that time some highly interesting facts came to light.

It was learned that at the time of the fire the old crippled French jeweler had had a great number of things in his possession to engrave, entrusted to him by two of the local jewelers, Mr. Martley and Mr. Jackson.

Among the things given to him by Mr. Martley were the diamond brooch belonging to Mrs. Hopkins and also a gold watch which was the property of Mr. Baker, Bob’s father. Both of these valuable articles were now missing—and even when the ruins of the fire were searched they were not brought to light.

Of course both Mrs. Hopkins and Mr. Baker were much disturbed, and so was Mr. Martley.[49] The jeweler was in a bad way financially, and this made matters worse than ever for him. His creditors came down on him immediately and the next day he had to make an assignment. The other jeweler was better fixed and settled up promptly for his losses.

“It looks as if my father would be out his watch,” said Bob to his chums. “And such a fine timepiece too! It cost a hundred and sixty dollars!”

“That isn’t as bad as my mother’s loss,” returned Jerry. “That diamond brooch cost eight hundred dollars!”

“Martley was a fool to trust the old Frenchman with the things.”

“He knows that—now. Not but what I guess the old man was honest enough. But it was a careless thing to do.”

“Maybe Crooked Nose got the things.”

“If he did, I hope we get Crooked Nose.”

“So do I. I don’t think we’ll get much out of Martley. He’s too deeply in debt, so I’ve heard.”

Professor Snodgrass was still at the Hopkins home and the boys went with him on one or two short trips, looking for bugs. But there was, on their part, not much interest in the work. They were, as was every one else in town, too much absorbed in the exciting events that followed the entrance[50] of the United States into the war against Germany.

It was about a week after the fire, when Ned, Bob and Jerry were out in their automobile, discussing what they would do at the coming term of school, that they passed a newspaper office and stopped to read the bulletin.

“Look at that, fellows!” cried Jerry.

“What is it?” asked Bob, whose view was obstructed by Ned.

“It’s a call for volunteers to fight the Kaiser,” was the answer. “There may be a draft, later, fellows, and the volunteers are the boys who go first!” Jerry rose in his seat to read the bulletin over the heads of the crowd.

“The first call for volunteers,” he murmured. Then, with a suddenness that was startling, he exclaimed:

“Fellows, this hits us! I’m going to offer myself to Uncle Sam! Are you with me?”