LITMIR.BIZ

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      "Well, it was worth it--losing that time," answered Dave. "It saved Mr. Wadsworth from ruin, and that's a good deal."

      "If the baseball nine----" commenced Buster, and then broke off short. "What was that?" he demanded, as a cry from a distance broke on the ears of all.

      "It's a woman's voice!" cried Dave, quickly. "She is calling for help! Come on and see what is the matter!" And he started off on a run, with his school chums at his heels.

      CHAPTER IX

      THE KING OF SUMATRA

      The boys had been traveling along a broad highway that ran to a town on the other side of the woods. The trees were thick and so were the bushes, with here and there a big rock, covered with the dead vines of the summer previous.

      At one point some distance ahead was an old stone house, standing where another road ran in the direction of the river. This house had not been inhabited for years, and the doors and windows were gone, and the falling of the chimney had smashed in a large portion of the sloping roof.

      It was from in front of the old house that the cries for assistance came, and now the boys heard two voices, both somewhat girlish in tones.

      "Oh, let me go! Please, let me go!" came, wildly.

      "You have no right to touch us!" was added, in another voice.

      "What's the matter?" called out Dave, as loudly as he could. But in his mind there had already flashed an inkling of what was going on. For some time past the wild man of that locality had not shown himself. Now, perhaps, he was again at his old tricks.

      "Oh, make him go away!" screamed a girlish voice, and then, as our hero made a turn of the road, he caught sight of two girls standing near the old stone house. Back of them was another figure, that of a tall, powerful man, but this figure disappeared as if by magic, behind the ancient building.

      "Why, Miss Rockwell!" exclaimed Dave, as he recognized a young lady from town whom he knew well. "And you, too, Miss Feversham! What is the matter?"

      "That man--the wild man!" panted Vera Rockwell. "He--he--stopped us!"

      "He wanted our purses!" added Mary Feversham, the other young lady.

      "Where is he?" asked Roger and Phil, in a breath.

      "He just ran behind the house--I saw him," answered Dave. "Did he hurt you any?" he went on, anxiously, for he and Vera and Mary were good friends.

      "No, but he--he scared us so!"

      "Let us go after him!" put in Phil, quickly. He had taken Mary Feversham out a number of times and the two were well acquainted. "Come on!" and he started around the house.

      All of the others were not slow to follow. Behind the building they came upon a mass of weeds and bushes and in their midst the remains of an old well, long since caved in. What had once been a path led to the side road before mentioned.

      "That's the way he must have gone--down the side road!" cried the shipowner's son.

      "Supposing we see if we can catch him?" suggested Dave. "But somebody ought to go back, and stay with the girls," he added thoughtfully.

      "I'll go back," answered Phil. He was only too glad of a chance to talk to Mary, not having seen her for a long time.

      "If that fellow comes back, whistle for us," advised Roger.

      Dave was already on the side road with Buster and Gus beside him, and the senator's son quickly followed.

      "Don't go too fast or I--I can't ke--keep up with you!" panted Buster.

      "Do you see anything of him, Dave?" queried Roger.

      "Not yet, but there is a turn just ahead. When we make that we'll be able to see almost to the river."

      All of the students sped on, the stout lad doing his best to keep up with the others. They reached the turn with Dave a step or two in advance.

      "There he is!"

      "I see him! Say, he's wild-looking enough!"

      "He is making for the river!"

      "We ought to be able to catch him. We are four to one."

      Dave and Roger pressed forward with increased speed and poor Buster fell somewhat behind.

      "I'm coming as fa--fast as I ca--can!" blurted out the fat youth. "Go on--I'll get there sooner or later!"

      "Pick up a stick, if you see one," cried Dave, to Roger and Gus. "We may have a hot fight on our hands. That man ought to be in jail, or in an asylum."

      As they sped along, the three kept their eyes open and each presently armed himself with a fair-sized club. The wild man was running like a deer, pausing occasionally to turn and brandish his long arms at them savagely. They could see that his clothing was in tatters and that his hair and beard were long and unkempt.

      "Hi! stop!" called out Dave, although he had but little hope of causing the man to halt. "We want to talk to you."

      "Go back! Beware! Go back, or it will be the worse for you!" called the wild man. "Leave the King of Sumatra alone!"

      "The King of Sumatra?" repeated Roger. "Say, he's crazy sure enough, to imagine himself that!"

      The boys continued after the wild man and urged him to stop. But instead of heeding them, he ran on the faster.

      "He's an athlete, when it comes to running," remarked Dave, as he tried in vain to get closer to the man.

      "They say crazy people are always strong," answered the senator's son.

      "I've go--got to gi--give up!" panted Gus, and came to a halt. "Go--got a pa--pain in my side!" And he put his hand over his hip.

      "All right, we'll manage alone!" cried Roger. "I don't think we can catch that fellow anyway," he added, half under his breath.

      Another turn of the woodland road brought the Leming River into plain view, at a point where the stream was both wide and deep. The wild man kept sprinting along and it was impossible for the boys to draw any closer to him.

      "Shall we threaten to shoot him if he won't stop?" asked Roger. Neither of the lads carried firearms.

      "No, he might do some shooting on his own account,--if he is armed. Come on, he may fall, or something like that."

      Inside of three minutes more the wild man gained the shore of the river and disappeared around a point of rocks and brushwood.

      "Be careful, Dave," warned Roger. "He may spring out at you with a club."

      "I've got my eyes open," was the ready reply.

      Both advanced with caution, and soon came up to the nearest of the rocks. With clubs ready for use, the two youths continued to move forward. Then they came to a sudden halt. The wild man was no longer in sight. What had become of him?

      "Maybe he ran into the woods," suggested Roger.

      "Perhaps, but--hark!" And our hero held up his hand. From a distance came a scraping sound, like something sliding over a rock.

      "Look!" called out the senator's son. "He's got a boat! There he goes!"

      Dave turned in the direction pointed out by his chum. Both saw a small rowboat sweep out from under some brushwood. In it stood the wild man, using an oar as a pole on the rocks.

      "Stop!" cried Dave. "Stop, or you may be sorry for it."

      "You can't catch the King of Sumatra!" yelled the wild man, and flourished his arms

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