Tom Fairfield's Hunting Trip; or, Lost in the Wilderness Read online

  CHAPTER IV

  HOLIDAY FUN

  "Jolly times to-night, fellows!" exclaimed Jack Fitch as he, with Tomand the other chums, walked along the snowy road on their way back toElmwood Hall. "No boning to do, and we can slip away with some eats onthe side and have a grub-fest."

  "That's right," chimed in Bert Wilson. "Maybe you'd better put offtelling us about the hunting trip, Tom, until we all get together.Suppose we meet in my room--it's bigger."

  "All right," agreed Tom. "Anything suits me as long as you fellowsdon't grab all the crackers and cheese before I get there."

  "We'll save you a share," promised Morse Denton.

  "I've got part of a box of oranges my folks sent me," volunteeredGeorge Abbot.

  "Bring 'em along," advised Jack. "They'll come in handy to throw at thefellows if any of 'em try to break in on us."

  "What! Throw my oranges!" cried George. "Say, they're the finestIndian Rivers, and----"

  "All right. If they're rivers, we'll let 'em swim instead of throwing'em," conceded Bert. "Anything to be agreeable."

  "Oh, say now!" protested George, who did not always know how, or when,to take a joke.

  "It's all right, don't let 'em fuss you," advised Tom in a low voice."But, fellows, we'd better hustle if we're going to have doingsto-night."

  "That's right!" chorused the others, and they set off at a rapid pacetoward Elmwood Hall, which could be seen in the distance, the redsetting sun of the December day lighting up its tower and belfry. Theskates of the students jangled and clanked as they hurried on, makinga musical sound in the frosty air, for it was getting colder with theapproach of night.

  "Seasonable weather," murmured Jack. "It'll be a lot colder than thisup in the Adirondacks, when we start hunting deer and bear."

  "What's all this?" asked Morse, with a sudden show of interest.

  "Some of Tom's schemes," answered Jack. "We're going on a hunting trip."

  Morse looked to Tom for confirmation.

  "That's the idea," Tom said, briefly sketching his plan. "Bert, Jackand George are going with me. Like to have you come along."

  "I'd like to, first rate, old man," was the answer, given with a shakeof the head, "but the governor has planned a trip to Palm Beach for thewhole family, over Christmas, and I have to go along to keep order."

  "I'm sorry," voiced Tom, but his words were lost in a gale of laughterfrom his chums as they sensed the final words of Morse.

  "You keep order! You're a fine one for that!"

  "The fellow who tied the cow to Merry's back stoop!"

  "Yes, and the lad who put the smoke bomb in the furnace room! A finechap to keep things straight!"

  "Oh, well, you don't have to believe me!" said Morse, with an air ofinjured innocence that ill became him.

  "They evidently don't," commented Tom dryly.

  "Say, what was the row about just before I came back with that horse?"asked Morse, as though he wanted to change the subject.

  "Snowball and old Skeel," explained Tom briefly. "It was sort of a caseof a perfectly irresistible force coming in contact with a perfectlyimmovable body--but not quite," and he went more into the details ofthe accident on the ice.

  "Humph! He must have been pretty mad," commented Morse.

  "He was. Threatened arrest and all that. But Tom calmed him down,"said Jack with a chuckle. "I guess Skeel didn't want to see the policevery badly."

  "What gets me, though," spoke George, in his perpetually questioningvoice, "was what Skeel was doing around here."

  "I'd like to know that myself," voiced Tom. But he was not to knowuntil later, and then to his sorrow.

  As the group of lads progressed, they were joined, from time to time,by other students from Elmwood, who had been out enjoying the dayeither by skating, coasting or sledding, and it was a merry party thatapproached the gate, or main entrance to the grounds, passing throughthe quadrangle of main buildings, and scattering to their variousdormitories.

  The holiday spirit was abroad. It was in the air--everywhere--theglorious spirit of Christmas, the day of which was not far distant.The boys seemed to know that the school discipline would be somewhatrelaxed, though they did not take too much advantage of it.

  Various engagements were made for surreptitious parties to meet hereand there, to enjoy forbidden, and, therefore, all the more delightful,midnight lunches. The lads had been saving part of their allowances forsome time, just for this occasion, and some had even arranged to bringaway with them, from the refectory, some of their supper that night.

  In due time a merry little party had gathered in the room of BertWilson in one of the larger and newer dormitories. The boys slid in,one by one, taking reasonable care not to meet with any prowlingprofessor or monitor. But they knew that unless the rules wereflagrantly violated, little punishment would be meted out. Each lad whocame brought with him a more or less bulky package, until Bert's roomlooked like the headquarters of some war, earthquake or flood-reliefsociety, as Tom said.

  "And are these the oranges George boasted of?" asked Jack, taking upone and sampling it.

  "Aren't they dandies?" demanded George.

  "Whew! Oh, my! Who put orange skins on these lemons?" demanded Jack,making a wry face.

  "Lemons?" faltered George, a look of alarm spreading over hisexpressive countenance.

  "Lemons?" cried Tom. "Let me taste. Whew! I should say so," he added."They're as sour as citric acid."

  "And he said they came from Indian River," mocked Morse.

  "Let's throw 'em out the window," proposed Joe Rooney.

  "And him after them!" added Lew Bentfield.

  "No, let's save them to fire at Merry in chapel in the morning," wasanother suggestion.

  "I say, you fellows," began the badgered one, "those oranges----"

  "They're all right--the boys are only stringing you," whispered Tom."Don't get on your ear."

  The advice came in good time. The arrival of other revelers turned thetopic of conversation.

  "Oh, here's Hen Watson. What you got, Hen?"

  "A cocoanut cake!" cried someone who looked in the box Hen carried."Where'd you get that?"

  "Bought it--where'd you s'pose?" asked Hen. "Here, keep your fingersout of that!" he cried, as Jack took a sample "punch" out of the top ofthe pastry.

  "I wanted to see if it was real," was the justifying answer.

  "Oh, it's real all right."

  "Here's Sam Black. What you got, Sam?"

  "Why, he's all swelled up as though he had the mumps."

  Sam did indeed bulge on every side. He did not speak, but, enteringthe room, began to unload himself of bottled soda and root beer. Fromevery pocket he took a bottle--two from some--and others from variousnooks and corners of his clothes, until the bed was half covered withbottled delight.

  "Say, that's goin' some!" murmured Jack enviously.

  "It sure is," agreed Tom. "We won't die of thirst from my olives now,"for Tom had brought a generous supply of those among other things.

  Someone leaned against the bed, and the bottles rolled together withmany a clatter and clash.

  "Easy there!" cautioned Bert. "Do you want to bring the whole buildingup here? Remember this isn't the dining-hall. Go easy!"

  "I didn't mean to," spoke George, the offending one.

  Gradually the room filled, until it was a task to move about in it, butthis was no detriment at all to the lads. Then in the dim light of afew shaded candles, for they did not want the glimmer of the electricsto disclose the affair to some watching monitor, the feast began.

  It was eminently successful, and the viands disappeared as if by magic.The empty bottles were set aside so their accidental fall would notmake too much noise.

  Gradually jaws began to move more slowly up and down in the process ofmastication, and tongues began to wag more freely, though in guardedtones.

  "This sure is one great, little Christmas feed!" commented Jack.

  "All to the horse-radish," agreed Tom. "But it's
nothing to what we'llhave when we get up in the Adirondack camp, fellows. I wish you wereall coming."

  "So do we!" chorused those who were not going, for various reasons.

  "Hark! What's that?" suddenly cried George. Instantly there was silence.

  "Nothing but the wind," said Tom. "Say, fellows," he went on, "I havean idea."

  "Chain it!" advised Jack. "They're rare birds these days."

  "Let's hear what it is," suggested Bert. "If it's any good, we'll doit."