bell notificationshomepageloginedit profileclubsdmBox

Read Ebook: Four Afoot: Being the Adventures of the Big Four on the Highway by Barbour Ralph Henry Relyea C M Charles M Illustrator

More about this book

Font size:

Background color:

Text color:

Add to tbrJar First Page Next Page

Ebook has 2131 lines and 64505 words, and 43 pages

FACING PAGE

"Leaped excitedly at the counter." 74

"'Why! Hello, Jerry Hinkley!'" 104

"Suddenly the boat's head swirled around." 242

FOUR AFOOT

IN WHICH THE BIG FOUR SET OUT FOR JERICHO

"On to Jericho!"

Dan Speede took the car steps at a bound and was out on the station platform looking eagerly about him before the other three boys had struggled through the car door. Swinging his pack to his shoulders, he waved an imaginary sword about his head and struck an attitude in which his right hand pointed determinedly toward the country road.

"Forward, brave comrades!" he shouted.

The brave comrades, tumbling down the steps, cheered enthusiastically, while the occupants of the car in which the quartet had traveled from Long Island City looked wonderingly out upon them. But as the present conduct of the boys was only on a par with what had gone before, the passengers soon settled back into their seats, and the train puffed on its way. Tom Ferris waved gayly to the occupants of the passing windows and then followed the others along the platform. The station was a small one, and save for a farmer who was loading empty milk cans into a wagon far down the track, there was no one in sight.

"Which way do we go?" asked Nelson Tilford.

For answer Bob Hethington produced his "Sectional Road Map of Long Island, Showing the Good Roads, with Description of Scenery, Routes, etc.," and spread it out against the side of the station.

"Here we are," he said. "Locust Park. And here's our road."

"That's all right," answered Nelson, following the other's finger. "I see the road on your old map, but where is it on the landscape?"

"Why, down there somewhere. It crosses the track just beyond the station."

"Certainly, but you don't happen to see it anywhere, do you?" asked Dan.

Bob had to acknowledge that he didn't.

"Come on; we'll ask Mr. Farmer down here," said Tom.

So they went on down the track to the little platform from which the milk was loaded on to the cars and hailed the farmer.

"Good morning," said Dan. "Which is the road to Jericho, please?"

The farmer paused in his task and looked them over speculatively. Finally,

"Want to go to Jericho, do you?" he asked.

"Yes," answered Dan.

"Are you in a hurry?"

"Why--no, I don't suppose so. Why?"

"'Cause there's a train in about an hour that'll take you to Hicksville, and it's about two miles from there by the road."

"But we just got off the train," objected Nelson.

"So I seen," was the calm response. "Why didn't you stay on? Didn't you have no money?"

"Yes, but we wanted to walk," answered Bob. "Which way do we go?"

"Want to walk, eh? Well, you won't have no trouble, I guess. Pretty fair walkers, are you?"

"Bully!" answered Dan.

"Fond of exercise, I guess?"

"Love it!"

"That so? Well, there's lots of good walkin' around here; the roads is full of it."

"Oh, come on," said Tom impatiently. "He's plumb crazy!"

"Hold on," interposed the farmer. "I'm tellin' you just as fast as I know how, ain't I?"

"Thought you said you weren't in no hurry," objected the farmer.

"Well, I'd oughter, seems to me. I live on it. Are you all going?"

"Every last one of us," answered Nelson.

"Well, there's four of you, eh?"

"I think so." Bob made pretense of counting the assembly with much difficulty. "Stand still, Tom, till I count you. Yes, sir, that's right; there are four of us."

"Well, two of you could sit on the seat with me and two of you could kind of hang out behind, I guess."

"Oh, much obliged," said Bob. "But really we'd rather walk. We're taking a walking trip down the island."

"You don't say! Well, you go back there about a half a mile and you'll find a road crossing the track. You take that until you fetch the country road going to your right. Keep along that and it's about nine miles to Jericho."

"Thanks," said Dan.

"You're welcome. That's the best way if you're real fond of walking."

"Oh," said Bob suspiciously. "And supposing we aren't?"

"Then you'd better go the shorter way and save about two miles," answered the farmer gravely.

"Which way's that?"

"Right down the track here for a quarter of a mile till you come to a road going to the left. Take that for half a mile and then turn to your right on the country road."

"Thanks again," said Bob. "You've had a whole lot of fun with us, haven't you?"

Add to tbrJar First Page Next Page

 

Back to top