The Rover Boys Down East: or, The Struggle for the Stanhope Fortune

The powder was measured out and put in, and then this was followed by a wad of paper Sam brought from the kitchen. They rammed the paper in good and tight.

“Now, I guess she’s ready to set off,” said Tom.

“Tom, don’t you stand too close,” said Dick. “That cannon might explode. Light the slow match and then run behind a tree, or the corner of the piazza.”

“All right, Dick. But I don’t think she’ll explode,” was the reply.

“Hello, goin’ to fire her off, eh?” came a voice from the fence, and Jack Ness appeared.

“Yes, Jack,” answered Sam. “But keep still – we want to surprise the folks.”

“Good enough,” murmured the hired man. “You’ll do it right enough. Thet old cannon always was a snorter fer noise.” And he backed away towards the orchard to get behind a tree, out of the way of possible harm.

All being ready, Tom lit a match and applied it to the slow match of the cannon. Then he ran for the corner of the piazza, to join his brothers.

A few seconds passed – they seemed unusually long just then – but nothing happened.

“The slow match must have gone out,” murmured Tom.

“Don’t go back! – it may go off, yet,” answered Dick. “Sometimes – ”

Bang! went the cannon, and the tremendous report echoed and re-echoed throughout the hills surrounding Valley Brook. The charge had been so big that the piece had “kicked back” about a yard.

“Say, that was a noise!”

“If that didn’t wake the folks up nothing will!”

“I’m glad she didn’t burst.”

“So am I.”

“By gum, you’re celebratin’ all right!” came from Jack Ness, as he poked his head from behind a tree. “I guess they must have heard that clear down to the Corners.”

“Further than that!” replied Tom.

“Oh, Tom, did you do that?” came a voice from an upper window, and Nellie showed her face.

“What an awful noise!” came from another window, as Dora appeared.

“Did it wake you up?” cried Tom.

“It made me bounce right out of bed!” declared Nellie. “I thought I was shot.”

“I thought the house had been hit,” said Dora.

“Did your cannon burst?” questioned Grace, as she appeared beside Nellie.

“Not a bit of it!” declared Tom. “Just listen, while we fire another shot.”

“Oh, Tom, wait till I put some cotton in my ears!” cried Mrs. Rover, as she showed herself, followed by the others.

“Boys, you didn’t shoot off anything in the cannon, did you?” asked Randolph Rover, nervously.

“Nothing but powder and paper, Uncle,” answered Sam.

“That ain’t so!” suddenly shouted Jack Ness. “By gum! You hit the bee hive, an’ here come the bees! Gee, shoo! Git out! Oh, my! I’m stung!” And he started to run from the orchard.

The boys stared for a moment. Down in the orchard was the hive which their uncle had set apart from the others. It seemed to be torn at the top, and a swarm of angry bees were flying around. Part of the swarm had made for Jack Ness, and now the hired man was running for his life.

“Why, I don’t see how we hit the hive – ” commenced Dick, when a yell from Sam interrupted him.

“The bees! The bees! Some of ’em are heading this way!”

“Hi! hi! don’t let ’em fly away!” screamed Randolph Rover. “They are very valuable! Stop them! Make them go back in the hive!”

“Excuse me from touching any bees!” murmured Tom. “I’m going to get out of here!” And he started to run.

“Don’t go to the house!” cried Dick. “We don’t want the ladies and the girls to get stung. Head for the barn!”

His brothers understood, and they scampered at top speed for the nearest barn. In the meantime they could see poor Jack Ness slashing around wildly with a coat he was carrying.

“Git out o’ here, you troublesome critters!” screamed the hired man. “Lemme alone, consarn ye! Oh, my nose! Oh, my eye!” And then he pelted for the vegetable garden. Here he fell over a hot-bed frame and went sprawling. But he soon picked himself up, and then he streaked it down the garden to a patch of corn, gradually outdistancing his little tormentors.

“Say, this is the worst yet!” groaned Tom, and he and his brothers watched the bees from a distance. “However did we happen to hit that hive?”

“I’m sure I don’t know,” replied Dick, “unless you put something in the cannon. Did you use stones?”

“No. Did you, Sam?”

“Not a thing but that paper. But we rammed that down rather hard.”

“I don’t think paper would reach to the orchard. Maybe there was something in it. Did you look?”

“No. Come to think of it, it did feel a little hard,” answered Sam.

In a few minutes Randolph Rover appeared, followed by the boys’ father. The man who was making a study of bees had placed a net over his head and donned gloves, and thus equipped he went down to look at the hive. A small corner of the top had been torn away.

“I fancy the bees will settle down before a great while,” said he. “The hive is not much damaged.”

“I am glad to hear that, Uncle Randolph,” said Tom. “I didn’t think that shot would reach so far.”

“Next time you had better point the cannon into the air,” replied the uncle.

“That’s a good idea; we will.”

The cook slept at the top of the house, and awakened by the noise came down to the kitchen to start up the fire. She heard the others discussing the discharge of the cannon and mention the damage done to the bee hive. Then she looked around the kitchen and suddenly gave a scream.

“My pocketbook! Where is my pocketbook?”