“Hi, what’s this, a hold-up?” exclaimed the old farmer, and then of a sudden he reached between the barrels of potatoes and brought forth a long horse-pistol and pointed it at them.

“Don’t shoot!” cried Pepper, thinking the old fellow might be just scared enough to pull the trigger of his ancient weapon.  “This isn’t any hold-up.”

“Who be you?” and the farmer peered forth anxiously in the darkness.

“We are cadets from Putnam Hall.”

“Oh!  I see!  Waal, don’t ye try to play no trick on Ezra Cole, or I’ll let fly with this hoss-pistol, sure ez you’re born!”

“We don’t want to play any tricks, Mr. Cole,” answered Jack.  “We are in trouble, and I was wondering if you could help us out.”

“Wot’s the trouble?”

In as few words as possible the young major and his chums explained the difficulty.  The old farmer listened with interest.

“I know Mr. Ford; he buys garden sass from me,” he said.

“We don’t know how we are going to get to the Lodge, unless we can find somebody to drive us over,” said Pepper.  “Could you do it, if we paid you?”

“Wot, with this load o’ potatoes?  Not much!”

“Couldn’t you leave your potatoes here?” asked Andy.  “I’ll give you fifty cents to drive me over.”

“And so will I,” added Pepper.

“That will be a dollar and a half for the three of us, Mr. Cole,” put in Jack.

“Hum!” The old farmer began to look interested.  “It’s a putty stiff drive to Point View, an’ I’d have to come back fer the potatoes.”

“Make it two dollars!” cried Jack.  “And do it as quickly as you can.”

“Hum!  Got the cash with you, young man?”

“Yes, here it is!” And the young major held up two one-dollar bills.

“All right, I’m your man!” cried Ezra Cole.  “I ain’t in no hurry to git to hum, an’ two dollars ain’t picked up every day.  Jest wait till I drive in an’ leave my potatoes where they will be safe.”

“Might leave ’em with our bicycles,” said Jack.

“So I will.”

It did not take the old farmer long to unload his barrels of potatoes.  Then he swept out his farm-wagon and spread some horse-blankets for the boys to sit upon.  They leaped in and he took up the lines once more.

“G’lang!” he shouted to his team and cracked his whip, and off they went along the road at a good gait.

“Great Julius Caesar!” cried Andy, after a quarter of a mile had been passed.  “Talk about bumping the bumps!  This road has ’em beaten to a frazzle!”

“Getting your money’s worth, Andy?” asked The Imp, with a grin.

“Ain’t no springs on this wagon!” said Ezra Cole, with a grin.  “But don’t you mind; it will give you a fine appetite fer that dinner when you git there!”

“It will, if it doesn’t knock out our teeth so we can’t chew!” murmured Jack.

On and on they rattled at a good pace until the lights of Point View Lodge shone in the distance.