ut the
money-lender's son had not yet returned to the school.

"Now, tell me everything," said Doctor Clay, when the boys at length
filed into his office. "As they say in court, we want the truth, the
whole truth, and nothing but the truth."

"And that is what I'm going to give you, Doctor Clay," answered Phil.
"I made a big mistake in running away, and I am glad Dave came to
bring us back. I haven't done anything wrong, and I am here to face
the music, as the saying goes."

"And so am I," came from Ben and Buster.

Then the boys told their story in detail, omitting nothing, and Dave
related how he had gone to Camptown Falls, and how the flood had
caught him. In the midst of the narrative came a sharp knock on the
door.

"Come in," said the doctor, and one of the servants entered.

"A man to see you, sir," said the servant. "He says it is very
important--something about that wild man, sir! He's terribly excited,
sir!"

"The wild man again!" murmured the master of the school, while the
boys looked at him and the servant with interest. "Show the visitor in
and I will hear what he has to say."

CHAPTER XXVII

THE TRAIL THROUGH THE WOODS

In a minute the servant ushered in a farmer whom the boys recognized
as Henry Morrison, a man who had a farm along the river-front, about a
mile from Oak Hall.

"Good-morning, sir," said the farmer, bowing to the doctor and then to
the boys. "Excuse me for being in such a hurry, but I thought you
would like to know."

"I'll be glad to hear what you have to say, Mr. Morrison," replied the
master of the school. "Sit down," and he pointed to a handy chair.

"It's about that wild man, Doctor Clay!" exclaimed the farmer,
dropping into the seat and mopping his forehead with his handkerchief.
"It's something terribul, the way he carries on. He 'most scared my
wife to death!"

"He has been to your place again?"

"Yes, sir, last night. He was in the barn, and he jumped out at my
wife and said he was going to blow the fort to pieces! She got so
scared she dropped her pailful of milk and ran to the house. I got
mad and got my shotgun, but the fellow had skipped out before I could
catch sight of him."

"What time was this?"

"Just about six o'clock. But that ain't all. This morning I started
for town, intending to tell the constable and the justice about it,
when all of a sudden, when I was passing the end of your property, I
see the wild man down there, behind a tree.