Part 13 (1/2)

Not wis.h.i.+ng to keep anyone waiting, and suspecting that it must be either Colon or Bristles who had some sort of communication to make, Fred hurried down to the lower hail where the 'phone hung.

”h.e.l.lo!” he called.

Evidently the other party was waiting, for immediately there came an answer.

”That you, Fred?”

”Yes,” replied Fred, at the same time wondering who it could be, because there did not seem to be anything familiar about the half m.u.f.fled tones.

”This is Bristles!” came the voice.

”What's that?” exclaimed Fred, wondering if his friend could be trying to play some trick on him by pretending to change his voice.

”Bristles, don't you know? Wait a minute till I cough,” and then followed a series of explosive barks that sounded wonderfully realistic over the wire, after which the m.u.f.fled voice continued: ”Seem to have taken a beastly cold somehow, after school. Sneezing to beat the band, in the bargain. But I want to see you, the worst way, Fred. Can't you come over to my house, for I oughtn't to go out in the night air with this cold?”

”Now, you mean, Bristles?”

”Sure, right away. It's only eight o'clock, and I've got something to tell you that'll make you sit up and take notice. Excuse me while I bark a few times, Fred,” which he accordingly did in a way that made the other remove the receiver from close contact with his ear.

”Well, you do seem to have a good dose of it, Bristles,” Fred remarked, laughingly, when the bombardment had finally ceased. ”I'm almost afraid that cold will be catching over the wire. Hope it won't be anything serious, old fellow.”

”Oh! I'm not bothering about that, Fred,” he was told, ”but I'm just aching to tell you something great. You'll be tickled half to death when you hear what it is. Never mind asking me, either, because I won't whisper a word over the wire.”

”All right, then, Bristles.”

”You'll sure come, Fred?” anxiously asked his unseen chum.

”Why, of course I will,” Fred hastened to a.s.sure him. ”I meant to run over to your place to-night, anyway, because I've got a little news you ought to hear.”

”And Fred, you'll take the short-cut, of course?”

”It's mighty seldom I go any other way, Bristles. Why do you ask?”

”I was only afraid you might have some errand down-town that'd take you the long way around, that's all, Fred. Now, hurry up, because I'll bust if I have to hold this great thing in much longer. So long, Fred!”

As the thick voice ceased to come over the wire Fred put the receiver on the hook, and there was a little frown on his face.

”Now I wonder if he's happened to learn about that Corny Ludson, and means to explode it on me?” Fred was saying, as he picked up his hat.

As he did so, his glance happening to fall upon a heavy cane with a crooked handle belonging to his father, he took possession of it.

Perhaps it was the recollection of what pretty Flo Temple had said when jokingly telling him that he would presently be needing a walking stick, if he kept on dieting for the Marathon race, that suddenly tempted Fred to take this cane, for he had certainly never done it on any previous occasion.

Later on he was inclined to believe there might be some truth in that fable of the sea, to the effect that there is a ”little cherub aloft, looking after the affairs of poor Jack,” and keeping him in times of sudden peril. At any rate the sudden whim of Fred's, when he thought to play a joke on Bristles, and pretend that he needed a crutch or a cane, since he was becoming lame and decrepit, was fated to turn out one of the finest things he ever did.

When Fred stepped out of the front door, he found that it was fairly dark, as the moon happened to be past its full, and consequently had not as yet appeared above the eastern horizon.

When Fred and Bristles wished to exchange visits they were in the habit of taking a short-cut, that saved considerable distance. It wound in and out over the open lots, though there was only one fence to climb. So frequently had the boys made use of this way, in their endeavor to save themselves from needless steps, that they knew every foot of it like a book. Indeed, a plain trail had been worn by these innumerable trips.

Bristles had often declared he could go from his house to that of Fred with his eyes bandaged, and never once get off the track. No doubt it was the same way with the Fenton boy, who had impressed every little peculiarity of that short-cut on his mind.