The Boy Scout Treasure Hunters | Page 8

he shouted. "I've changed my mind. I don't like being in here
and I believe I'll take my chance with you on the front seat."
Mr. J. Jervice paid no attention.
CHAPTER III
JOLLY BILL IS CONSIDERABLY UPSET
The treachery of Mr. J. Jervice was now very clear. He had decided that
he himself would hand Glen over to the authorities and receive the ten
dollars reward. Since Glen was almost as big as he, there had been
some question how he should restrain the boy. He thought this all
settled by his clever scheme, and the ten dollars practically in his
pocket. No wonder he chuckled.
But it is well for those who cage wild animals to be sure that the cage is
properly prepared. Glen looked around in the gloom of the car. He
knew it was useless to bump against those solid doors. The way out lay
through Mr. J. Jervice, and the time for getting out was very brief. On a
shelf lay a bundle of sticks. He pulled on one and found on the other
end a flag. It was an emblem. The flag should bring him freedom.
Glen found that the flag stick would just poke through the ventilator
railing. Being effectively poked it struck Mr. J. Jervice neatly in the
back of the neck, and the poke being vigorous, it aroused his attention
quite thoroughly.
"Stop that," he cried, hastily dodging. "Them flags is worth a quarter
apiece, and you'll break the handle."

"Stop and let me out," cried Glen.
"I can't stop now. I just made this change to accommodate you,
remember. Stopping and starting is awfully expensive--takes as much
gasoline as running a mile. We'll be in town in five minutes."
"And then you think you will sell me for ten dollars. You'll lose money
on it, Mr. Jervice. I have a sharp, open knife in my hand. I'm going to
turn loose on everything in--"
"Don't you dare," shouted Mr. Jervice.
"But I will if you don't stop. You want to send me back to the reform
school. All I'll get will be a little longer sentence. Will that pay you for
your goods?"
Mr. J. Jervice reluctantly stopped his car. He saw ten dollars vanishing
into the atmosphere. Whether Glen would have been as destructive as
he threatened does not enter into this record. We are obliged to admit
that at this time he was a wilful lad, and he was especially provoked at
this man because he had dragged him from the counsel and aid of Mr.
Gates for the sole purpose of his personal gain. It is enough for us to
know that Mr. J. Jervice quite believed that a reform school boy with a
knife was equal to anything.
"Everything in here is in just as good order as when I came in," said
Glen, when the doors were opened. "I earned this ride, so I don't owe
you anything. Now you stand away off and let me get out."
There was no need to be so emphatic. Mr. J. Jervice was neither a big
man nor a brave man, and had no idea of offering any opposition. He
stood well aside as Glen jumped from the car and ran away through the
fields.
One thing was very clear to Glen. Mr. J. Jervice would certainly reach
town in a few minutes and just as certainly would advise the authorities
to look out for him. He might even come back with the officer,
knowing that the boy would have but a short start. Glen was standing

by an abandoned stone quarry as these thoughts came to him. It
contained many nooks and corners in which a boy might hide, and
would be far safer for the present than tramping along the road or in the
fields. So he picked out a secluded nook and lay there until evening. He
watched eagerly for signs of an officer or Mr. J. Jervice, but also
fruitlessly. Had he but known it he was perfectly safe, for Mr. J. Jervice
was again having troubles of his own. Perhaps this was his day for
trouble.
Spending a whole day cooped up in a little niche about ten feet long by
three wide, even though it be as high as the heavens, is dreary work for
a boy. The time dragged terribly. In his work on the school farm Glen
had learned to use the sun for a clock quite accurately, so there was no
deceiving himself as to time. He had eaten a good breakfast before
leaving the Gates' home so there was no occasion for excessive hunger,
but he did get very thirsty. Looking down through the old quarry he
fancied he saw a pump, and when the sun reached its noon