“Indeed!  I hope we do get clear of him —­ and I wish you could get clear of him too.”

“It doesn’t seem as if I could,” sighed Dora.  “He has wound my mother right around his finger, so to speak.  But what are those other boys going to do?” And she pointed to the balance of the cadets, who were following closely upon the wheels of the carriage, which had turned into the highway leading to Cedarville.

“I’ll go after them and see,” said Dick, and turned to leave.  Then he came to a halt and turned back.  “Dora, I am awfully sorry for you,” he whispered.  “If I can ever do anything for you, don’t hesitate to call on me.”

“I’ll remember that, Dick,” she replied gratefully, but never dreamed of how much she would one day require his aid.

When Dick joined the crowd he found it on all sides of the carriage, shouting and hurrahing wildly.  At first Josiah Crabtree pretended to pay no attention, but presently he spoke to the driver, and the turnout came to a halt.

“Students, what doe’s this unseemly conduct mean?” he demanded harshly.

“Why, Mr. Crabtree, is that you!” exclaimed Frank Harrington in pretended surprise.

“Yes, Harrington.  I say, what does it mean?”

“We are out playing hare and hounds, sir.”

“But you are following this carriage.”

“Oh, no, sir, we are following the paper scent, sir,” answered
Larry Colby, and pointed to the pieces of paper, which Fred
Harrison was slyly dropping just in front of the horses.

“Then our carriage is on the trail,” sighed Josiah Crabtree.  “It is very annoying.”

“Oh, it doesn’t bother us much, sir,” answered Frank coolly.

“Bother you!  It is myself and Mrs. Stanhope to whom I referred.  Make the hares take another course.”

“Can’t do that, sir, until we catch them.”

“But why must you keep so close to this carriage?”

“I don’t know, sir.  Perhaps it is the carriage which is keeping close to us.”

Josiah Crabtree looked more angry than ever.  He spoke to the driver, with a view to increasing the speed of the team, but Borgy had entered into the spirit of the fun at hand, and he was, moreover, a great friend of Dora, and he shook his head.  “Couldn’t do it sir,” he said.  “I wouldn’t want to run the risk of winding them.”

“Do you mean to say they cannot outrun these boys?” demanded the head assistant at Putnam Hall.

“Hardly, sir —­ the lads is uncommonly good runners,” answered Borgy meekly.

“I will show you how to manage them!” ejaculated Josiah Crabtree, and stepped over to the front seat. 
                I
“Oh, Josiah, be careful!” pleaded Mrs. Stanhope.

“I know how to drive horses, so don’t worry,” answered Crabtree, and took up both reins and whip.  Before Borgy could stop him he had given one of the horses a smart cut on the flank.