, spoke to his horse, and whirled on down the
road in the direction of Rockville.

"Talk about a peppery individual!" cried Ben. "He certainly is one."

"I don't think the hat was damaged at all," said Dave. "It will simply
be a hold-up--if he tries to get a new one out of us. That hat is quite
old and rusty-looking."

"He was a rusty-looking fellow all the way through," commented Buster.
"Wonder who he is?"

"He's some kind of a doctor," answered the carryall driver, who had left
his turnout to join the boys. "He came to Oakdale and Rockville this
summer, and he gives lectures on how to git well and strong, an' then he
sells medicine. I know a feller got a bottle from him, but it didn't do
him no good. He calls himself Doctor Montgomery,--but I reckon he ain't
no real doctor at all."

"Must be one of these quacks who go around the country trying to rope
people in," said Dave. "If he is, he ought to be run out of the
neighborhood."

"Maybe we'll never hear from him again," said Luke. But the boys were
destined to hear from Hooker Montgomery again, and in a manner to
surprise them.

Returning to the carryall, the boys took in the colors, so that they
might do no further damage, and then the journey to Oak Hall was
resumed. The encounter on the road had sobered them a little, and this
did not wear away until they came in sight of the school buildings.

"Hurrah! I see Phil and Roger!" cried Dave, as the carryall swung in
between the large oak trees that gave the place its name. "Hello!" he
shouted. "Here we are again!"

"Dave!" returned the senator's son, running forward, while Phil did the
same. "How are you all?" he added, waving his hand to the crowd in
general.

A number of other boys were present, and soon Dave was surrounded by his
old friends, all eager to shake hands. They wanted to know all about his
trip, and he in return wanted to know what they had been doing. So there
was a perfect babble of voices as the crowd walked into the main school
building, where good old Doctor Hasmer Clay, the head of the
institution, stood to welcome each new arrival.

"Glad to see you back, Porter," he said, kindly. "And I must thank you
in person for the skin you sent from the ranch. We have placed it on the
floor of the reception room. I am quite proud to think one of my pupils
is such a good shot."

"Roger and Phil are good shots, too," answered Dave, anxious that his
chums should have all the credit due them.