Fairview Boys and Their Rivals; or, Bob Bouncer's Schooldays

“WELL, fellows,” said Frank Haven, “the long vacation is over at last.”

“And now for school and study,” added Sammy Brown.

“And fun!” echoed Bob Bouncer.

He was well named, was this Bob Bouncer. On this bright September morning, Bob looked full of vim and go. He skipped along the pretty village road like the active lad he was, bounding through life with a laugh and a cheer, and getting out of it plenty of fun and frolic.

“Don’t look so glum, Sammy!” he cried. “If any fellows had a grand old vacation to brag of, it’s us three.”

“Yes, that’s so, and no mistake,” replied Sammy. “I’m not grumbling. I was just wishing that the boating, and the swimming, and getting wrecked on Pine Island, and that dandy time in the mountains, could last forever.”

“Well,” said Bob, “school isn’t going to be a prison, is it? Especially this school. I found something this morning, and they say it’s a sign that things will be stirring right along.”

“What is it, Bob?” asked Sammy, eagerly.

“A lucky stone,” replied Bob, with a chuckle, producing the object in question.

“Maybe it means that you’re going to be put into a higher class,” spoke Frank, with a smile.

“Or that we’re going to get half-holiday Fridays,” said Bob.

“Or that Jed Burr is going to leave school,” put in Sammy, with a wry grimace.

“Huh! no fear of Jed leaving,” said Bob. “He’ll stick on till he’s too old to stick any longer, and pester the life out of every one he meets.”

“Are you afraid of him, Bob?” asked Sammy, slyly.

“Afraid?” cried Bob. “I guess not! He’s just like a gnat or a hornet.”

“I’m not going to play with him,” said Sammy.

“You’ll have to, in the football game,” replied Frank.

“Well, I won’t at other times. He got me in trouble last term in a mean, sneaky way, and I won’t give him a chance again. Tell you one thing, fellows.”

“And what’s that, Sammy?”

“If Jed Burr tries any of his sly tricks on me this term, he’ll find me ready for him.”

“How ready, Sammy?” asked Bob, with a sharp look at his comrade.

“That’s a secret,” chuckled Sammy. “But you wait and see.”

“There’s the half-past bell,” sang out Bob. “Let’s hurry and see what’s going on before school begins.”

The Fairview schoolhouse was about half a mile from Bob’s home. He, Frank and Sammy lived near together. They had taken the bluff road lining Rainbow Lake. Just beyond the curve they were turning, the schoolhouse would come into view.

Bob broke into a run, swinging his books at the end of a strap gaily. Just past the stone wall and the line of trees shutting out the view, he halted dead short.

“What’s he staring at, I wonder?” said Frank.

“Don’t know. Let’s find out,” replied Sammy, and both hurried on.

“The mischief!” shouted Sammy.

He, too, halted. Frank joined them, and the three lads for a moment stood looking in wonder down the slanting road.

“It’s a runaway automobile,” cried Sammy.

“And a boy in it,” added Frank.

“Whew! there’s a tumble,” shouted Bob, dancing up and down in a state of great excitement.

Not fifty feet away from them, near a vacant house, an automobile was coming towards them. A boy in its front seat seemed to have been trying to turn around. When Bob and his chums first caught sight of the machine, they saw that this boy was trying to stop it, but he did not seem to know how to go about the task.

In some way he had gotten mixed up on the steering gear, and the auto crossed the road sideways. As it reached the edge of the road, its front wheels struck a fallen tree. As the auto passed over the log, there was a big jolt. The boy in the machine was lifted up in his seat, and either jumped or fell flat into a great puddle of mud.

“Frank,” cried Bob, “see where it’s headed!”

“Say, it’s a goner!” gasped Sammy.

Frank was the only one of the three who knew much about an automobile, and that was very little. An uncle of his owned a machine, and he had spent a day or two lately with his relatives at Fairview. Frank had gone on several runs with his uncle. He had noticed how his relative had handled the automobile, but in a general way only. As he ran towards the machine now, he hardly knew what he should do to stop it.

The runaway automobile was not going very fast. It was the way it was headed that made Frank realize that something must be done. The machine was tearing up the earth, and running against rocks, and bumping past trees, directly at the edge of the bluff road.

“If it keeps on that way,” said Frank to himself, “it will go over the edge of the bluff.”

If that happened the auto would be wrecked. It would roll over and over down quite a steep slant until it reached Rainbow Lake.