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diff --git a/42102-0.txt b/42102-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..62ba5a2 --- /dev/null +++ b/42102-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6264 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 42102 *** + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 42102-h.htm or 42102-h.zip: + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/42102/42102-h/42102-h.htm) + or + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/42102/42102-h.zip) + + + Images of the original pages are available through + the the Google Books Library Project. See + http://books.google.com/books?id=1pEXAAAAYAAJ + + + + + +THE BOY SCOUTS' MOUNTAIN CAMP + +by + +LIEUT. HOWARD PAYSON + +Author of "The Boy Scouts of the Eagle Patrol," +"The Boy Scouts on the Range," +"The Boy Scouts and the Army Airship," etc. + +With Four Original Illustrations by R. M. Brinkerhoff + + + + + + + +New York +Hurst & Company +Publishers + +Copyright, 1912, +by +Hurst & Company + + + + +CONTENTS + + + CHAPTER PAGE + I. A Typical Boy Scout 5 + II. Two Mysterious Men 16 + III. The Major Explains 30 + IV. The Narrative Continued 39 + V. A Midnight Auto Dash 51 + VI. In Direst Peril 66 + VII. Adrift in the Storm 76 + VIII. Eagles on the Trail 86 + IX. What Scout Hopkins Did 97 + X. A Rescue and a Bivouac 109 + XI. The Mountain Camp 121 + XII. Captured 132 + XIII. Rob Finds a Ray of Hope 144 + XIV. A Thrilling Escape 155 + XV. Out of the Frying Pan 167 + XVI. Into the Fire! 177 + XVII. "We Want You." 187 + XVIII. Jumbo Earns $500.00--and Loses It 197 + XIX. The Forest Monarch 206 + XX. The Canoes Found 216 + XXI. "The Ruby Glow." 225 + XXII. The Buccaneer's Cave 238 + XXIII. Trapped in a Living Tomb 248 + XXIV. Two Columns of Smoke 264 + XXV. The Heart of the Mystery--Conclusion 276 + + + + + The Boy Scouts' Mountain Camp. + + + + + CHAPTER I. + A TYPICAL BOY SCOUT. + + +"Hullo, Rob; what's up?" + +Merritt Crawford stopped on his way past the Hampton post-office, and +hailed Rob Blake, the leader of the Eagle Patrol, of which Merritt was +corporal. Both lads wore the natty scout uniform. + +"Not a thing is up or down, either," rejoined Rob, with a laugh; "it +looks as if things had stopped happening in Hampton ever since that +schooner was blown up." + +"And Jack Curtiss's hopes of a fortune with it," added Merritt. "Well, +I'm off home. Going that way?" + +"Yes, I'll be with you in a---- Hullo, what's happening?" + +From farther up the street, at one end of which lay the glistening sheet +of water known as Hampton Inlet, there came excited shouts. Then, +suddenly, into the field of vision there swept, with astonishing +rapidity, a startling sight. + +A large automobile was coming toward them at a rapid rate. On the +driver's seat was a white-faced young girl, a cloud of fair hair +streaming out about her frightened countenance. She was gripping the +steering wheel, and seemed to be striving desperately to check the onrush +of the machine. But her efforts were vain. The auto, instead of +decreasing its rate of progress, appeared every minute to be gaining in +speed. + +It bumped and swayed wildly. A cloud of yellow dust arose about it. +Behind the runaway machine could be perceived a crowd of townsfolk +shouting incoherently. + +"Oh, stop it! I shall be killed! Stop it, please do!" + +The young girl was shrilly screaming in alarm, as the machine approached +the two boys. So rapidly had events progressed since they first sighted +it, that not a word had been exchanged between them. All at once, Merritt +noticed that he was alone. Rob had darted to the roadway. As the auto +dashed by, Merritt saw the young leader of the Hampton Boy Scouts give a +sudden flying leap upon the running-board. He shot up from the road as if +a steel spring had projected him. + +For one instant he hung between life and death--or, at least, serious +injury. The speed with which the auto was going caused the lad's legs to +fly out from it, as one of his hands caught the side door of the tonneau. +But in a jiffy Rob's athletic training triumphed. By a supreme effort he +managed to steady himself and secure a grip with his other hand. Then he +rapidly made his way forward along the running-board. + +But this move proved almost disastrous. The already panic-stricken girl +took her attention from the steering-wheel for an instant. In that +molecule of time, the auto, like a perverse live thing, got beyond her +control. It leaped wildly toward the sidewalk outside the Hampton candy +store. A crowd of young folks--it was Saturday afternoon--had been +indulging in ice cream and other dainties, when the shouts occasioned by +the runaway machine had alarmed them. + +Instantly soda and candy counters were neglected, and a rush for the +sidewalk ensued. But, as they poured out to see what was the matter, they +were faced by deadly peril. + +The auto, like a juggernaut, was careening straight at them. Its exhausts +roared like the nostrils of an excited beast. + +Young girls screamed, and boys tried to drag them out of harm's way. But +had it not been for the fact that at that instant Rob gained the wheel, +there might have been some serious accidents. + +The lad fairly wrenched it out of the hands of the girl driver, who was +half fainting at the imminence of the peril. A quick, savage twist, and +the car spun round and was on a straight course again. That danger, at +least, was over. But another, and a deadlier, threatened. + +Right ahead lay the spot where the road terminated in a long wharf, at +which occasional steamers landed. Every second brought them closer to it. +If Rob could not stop the machine before it reached the end of the wharf, +it was bound to plunge over and into the sea. All this flashed through +the boy's mind as he strove to find some means of stopping the car. But +the auto was of a type unfamiliar to him. One experiment in checking its +motion resulted instead in a still more furious burst of speed. + +Like objects seen in a nightmare, the stores, the white faces of the +alarmed townsfolk, and the other familiar objects of the village street, +streaked by in a gray blur. + +"I must stop it! I must!" breathed Rob. + +But how? Where had the manufacturer of the car concealed his emergency +brake? The lever controlling it seemed to be mysteriously out of sight. +Suddenly the motion of the car changed. It no longer bumped. It ran +terribly smoothly and swiftly. + +From the street it had passed out upon the even surface of the planked +wharf. Only a few seconds now in which to gain control of it! + +"The emergency brake!" shouted Rob aloud in his extremity. + +"Your foot! It works with your foot, I think!" + +The voice, faint as a whisper over a long-distance telephone, came to the +ears of the striving boy. It belonged to the girl beside him. Glancing +down, Rob now saw what he would have observed at first, if he had had +time to look about him--a metal pedal projected through the floor of the +car. With an inward prayer, he jammed his foot down upon it. Would it +work? + +The end of the pier was terribly close now. The water gleamed blue and +intense. It seemed awaiting the fatal plunge overboard. + +But that plunge was not taken. There was a grinding sound, like a harsh +purr, the speed of the car decreased, and, finally, it came to a +stop--just in time. + +From the landward end of the pier a crowd came running. In front were two +or three khaki-uniformed members of the Eagle Patrol. Behind them several +of the Hawks were mingled with the crowd. + +Beyond all the confusion, Rob, as he turned his head, could see another +automobile coming. It had two passengers in it. As the crowd surged about +the boy and the girl, who had not yet alighted, and poured out questions +in a rapid fusillade, the second car came "honking" up. + +A murmur of "Mr. Blake" ran through the throng, as a tall, ruddy-faced +man descended, followed by a military-looking gentleman, whose face was +strongly agitated. Mr. Blake was Rob's father, and, as readers of other +volumes of this series know, the banker and scout patron of the little +community. It was his car in which he had just driven up with his +companion. + +The latter hesitated not a moment, but in a few long strides gained the +side of the car which Rob's efforts had stopped just in time. + +"Bravely done, my lad; bravely done," he cried, and then, to the girl, +"good heavens, Alice, what an experience! Child, you might have been +killed if it had not been for this lad's pluck! Mr. Blake," as the banker +came up, "I congratulate you on your son." + +"And I," rejoined the banker gravely, "feel that I am not egotistical in +accepting that congratulation. Rob, this is my friend, Major Roger +Dangerfield, from up the State." + +"And this," said the major, returning Rob's salutation and turning to the +girl who was clinging to him, "is my daughter, Alice, whose first +experience with the operation of an automobile nearly came to a +disastrous ending." + +Rob Blake, whose heroic action has just been described, was--as readers +of The Boy Scout Series are aware--the leader of the Eagle Patrol, an +organization of patriotic, clean-lived lads, attracted by the high ideals +of the Boy Scout movement. + +The patrol, while of comparatively recent organization, had been through +some stirring adventures. In _The Boy Scouts of The Eagle Patrol_, for +instance, we read how Rob and his followers defeated the machinations of +certain jealous and unworthy enemies. They repaid evil with good, as is +the scout way, but several despicable tricks, and worse, were played on +them. In this book was related how Joe Digby in the camp of the Eagles, +was kidnaped and imprisoned on a barren island, and how smoke signaling +and quick wit saved his life. The boys solved a mystery and had several +exciting trials of skill, including an aeroplane contest, which was +almost spoiled by the trickery of their enemy, Jack Curtiss. + +In the second volume, _The Boy Scouts on the Range_, we followed our +young friends to the Far West. Here they distinguished themselves, and +formed a mounted patrol, known as _The Ranger Patrol_. The pony riders +had some exciting incidents befall them. These included capture by +hostile Indians and a queer adventure in the haunted caves, in which +Tubby almost lost his life. + +In this volume, Jack Curtiss and his gang were again encountered, but +although their trickery prevailed for a time, in the end they were +routed. A noteworthy feature of this book was the story of the career and +end of Silver Tip, a giant grizzly bear of sinister reputation in that +part of the country. + +_The Boy Scouts and the Army Airship_, brought the lads into a new and +vital field of endeavor. They met an army officer, who was conducting +secret tests of an aeroplane, and were enabled to aid him in many ways. +In all the thrilling situations with which this book abounds, the boys +are found always living up to the scout motto of "Be prepared." + +How they checkmated the efforts of Stonington Hunt, an unscrupulous +financier, to rob a poor boy of the fruits of his inventive genius--a +work in which he was aided by his unworthy son, Freeman Hunt--must be +read to be appreciated. In doing this work, however, they earned Hunt's +undying hatred, and, although they thought they were through with him +when he slunk disgraced out of Hampton, they had not seen the last of +him. + +As the present story progresses, we shall learn how Stonington Hunt and +his son tried to avenge themselves for their fancied wrongs at the hands +of the Boy Scouts. + + + + + CHAPTER II. + TWO MYSTERIOUS MEN. + + +"Tell us all about it, Rob!" + +The Eagles and the Hawks pressed close about Rob, as, after the two +machines had driven off, the scouts stood surrounded by curious townsfolk +on the wharf. + +"Not much to tell," rejoined Rob, with a laugh. "Major Dangerfield is, it +appears, an old friend of my father. He comes from Essex County, or +rather, he has a summer place up there. On an automobile trip from +Albany, to take his daughter to visit some friends down on Peconic Bay, +he decided to stop over at Hampton and see the governor. + +"He entered the bank to give dad a surprise, leaving his daughter outside +for a few minutes, in the machine. She became interested in its mechanism +and pulled a lever, and--the machine darted off. And--and that's all," he +concluded modestly. + +"Except that the leader of the Eagles covered himself with laurels," +struck in Bob--or Tubby--Hopkins, another member of the Eagles. + +"Better than being covered with fat," parried Rob, who didn't relish this +open praise. + +"Three cheers for Rob Blake!" yelled Fylan Fobbs, a town character. + +"Hip! hip! hooray!" + +The cheers rang out with vim, the voices of the young scouts sounding +shrill and clear among them, giving the patrol call: + +"Kree-ee-ee-e!" + +Rob, coloring and looking embarrassed, made his way off while the +enthusiasm was at its height. With him went Merritt Crawford, Tubby +Hopkins and tall, lanky Hiram Nelson, the New England lad, who had +already gained quite a reputation as a wireless operator and mechanical +genius of the all-round variety. + +"Reckon that was a right smart piece of work," drawled Hiram in his nasal +accents, as the four of them trudged along. + +"Al-ice, where art thou?" hummed Tubby teasingly, with a sharp glance at +Rob. "Say, what a romance for the newspapers: Gallant Boy Scout rescues +bee-yoot-i-ful girl at risk of his life, and----" + +He got no further. The tormented Rob grabbed the rotund youth and twisted +his arm till Tubby yelled for mercy. With a good-natured laugh, Rob +released him. + +"Bet-ter sue him for damages, if he's broke your arm," grinned the +practical-minded Hiram, in consolatory tones. + +"No, thanks; I've got damages enough, as the fellow said who'd been +busted up in a railroad accident and was asked if he intended to sue," +laughingly rejoined Tubby; "but"--and he dodged to a safe distance--"that +was a mighty pretty girl." + +As he spoke, they were passing by the railroad station. A train had just +pulled out of it, depositing two passengers on the platform. But none of +the boys noticed them at the moment. Instead, their attention was +attracted by the strange action of Merritt, who suddenly darted to the +center of the roadway. + +The next instant his action was explained, as he bent and seized a big +leather wallet that lay there. Or, rather, he was just about to seize it, +when one of the two men who had alighted from the train also dashed from +the small depot, in front of which they had been standing. + +He was a broad-shouldered, rough-looking fellow, with a coarse beard and +hulking shoulders. His clothes were rather poor. + +"What you got there, boy?" he demanded, as the other Boy Scouts and his +own companion came up. + +"A wallet," said Merritt, examining his find; "it's marked 'R. D.--U. S. +A.'" + +A strange light came into the rough-looking man's eyes. His comrade, too, +appeared agitated, and gripped the bearded fellow's arm, whispering +something to him. + +"Let's have a look at that wallet, young chap," quoth the bigger of the +two strangers, almost simultaneously. + +"I don't know that I will," rejoined Merritt; "it's lost property, and +may contain valuables. I had better turn it over to the proper +authorities." + +But the rough stranger, without ceremony, made a snatch for it. Merritt, +however, was too quick for him, and the fellow missed his grasp. He +growled something, and then, apparently thinking the better of his +ill-temper, said in a comparatively mild voice: + +"Guess that's my wallet, boy. I must have dropped it coming across the +street. My name's Roger Dangerfield, Major Roger Dangerfield, of the +United States Army, retired." + +"Then there must be two of them," exclaimed Rob sharply. + +"How's that? What are you interfering for?" growled the rough-looking +man, while his companion--a much younger individual than himself, though +quite as ill-favored--edged menacingly up. + +"Because," said Rob quietly, "I had the pleasure of talking to Major +Dangerfield a few minutes ago. Moreover, there's no doubt in my mind that +the wallet is his. He probably dropped it on the way up the street." + +The bigger and elder of the two strangers looked nonplussed for an +instant, but he speedily recovered himself. Making a snatch for the +wallet, which Merritt for an instant had allowed to show from behind his +back, he upset the lad by the sheer weight of his attack. Flat on his +back fell Merritt, the bearded man toppling over on top of him. + +But, as they fell, the Boy Scout's assailant seized the wallet from him +and tossed it hastily to his companion, as one might pass a football. +This action was unnoticed by the Boy Scouts, and the younger man of the +two strangers darted off instantly, with the pocketbook in his +possession. + +In the meantime, Merritt, by a wrestling trick, had glided from under the +bearded fellow, and, despite his struggles, the man found himself held in +the firm grip of four determined pairs of young arms. He was remarkably +strong, however, and the situation speedily assumed the likeness of an +uneven contest, when another detachment of the Eagles, headed by little +Andy Bowles, the bugler of the Patrol, came up the street on their way +from the exciting scene on the wharf. + +Aided by these reënforcements, the man was compelled, despite his +strength, to give in. All about him surged his excited young captors. At +this moment an individual came hurrying up. He wore a semi-official sort +of dress, adorned with a tin badge as big and shiny as a new tin +pie-plate. It was Si Ketchum, the village constable. + +"Hoppin' watermillions!" he gasped, "what's all this here?" + +It took only a few words to tell him. Si assumed his most terrific +official look, which consisted of partially closing his little reddish +eyes and screwing up his mouth till his gray goatee pointed outward +horizontally. + +"Ef so be as you've got that thar contraption uv a wallet, in ther name +uv ther law I commands yer to surrender said property," he ordered +ponderously. + +The bearded man, still panting from his struggle, rejoined with a grin. + +"Surely you're not going to believe a pack of irresponsible boys, +constable. I know nothing about the wallet, except that I saw that lad +there pick it up." + +"Um--hah," said Si, wagging his head sagely, "go on." + +"Naturally, I was anxious to see what it was. I demanded to have a look +at it, thinking it might be some of my property that I had dropped. What +was my astonishment, when this young ruffian attacked me. In +self-defense, I resisted, and then they all set on me." + +"That story is a fabrication from start to finish," cried Merritt, while +the others shouted their angry confirmation of his denial. "Let me----" + +For the second time he was about to relate the true circumstances. But Si +interrupted him. + +"Only one way ter settle this," he said. + +"Any way you like, officer," said the bearded man suavely, "anything that +you say, I'll agree to." + +"Air yer willin' ter be searched?" + +"Certainly. But not here in the public street." + +"All right, then; at the calaboose, ef that'll suit yer better." + +"It will. Let's proceed there," said the man, with a sidelong look at the +boys, who began to wonder at his assurance. + +Followed by a small crowd, Si and his prisoner led the way to the +"calaboose," a small, red-brick structure on a side street not far from +the station. The boys waited eagerly outside, while within the walls of +Si's fortress the search went on. Before long, the constable emerged with +an angry face, and very red. The stranger, cool and smiling, was beside +him. + +"What kind uv an April fool joke is this?" demanded Si loudly, while the +boys, and the townspeople, who had been attracted by curiosity, looked at +him in astonishment. + +"You boys ain't tole me the truth," he went on, waxing more furious. + +"You--you haven't found the wallet?" demanded Merritt. "Why, I distinctly +felt him snatch it from my hand." + +"Wall, it ain't on him." + +"The other man!" cried Rob, suddenly recalling the bearded man's +companion, and perceiving, likewise, for the first time since Merritt's +adventure, that the fellow had vanished. + +"He's gone!" cried half a dozen voices. + +In the same instant, they became aware that the bearded man had also +vanished in the excitement. Almost simultaneously, Major Dangerfield put +in an unexpected appearance. He was out of breath, as if from running. + +"Is this the police station?" he demanded of Si, and, receiving a nod +from that stupefied official, he hastened on: + +"I wish to report the loss of a pocketbook. I must have dropped it on +Main Street. Has it been found?" + +"It wuz found all right," grunted Si, "but--it's bin lost agin." + +"Corporal Crawford here, found it, sir," struck in Rob, seeing the +major's evident agitation at Si's not over-lucid explanation, "but while +he still had it in his hand, a man--a rough-looking customer--demanded to +see it. As soon as Merritt told him of the initials on it, he----" + +"Tried to seize it," exclaimed the major excitedly. + +"Why, yes," rejoined Rob, wondering inwardly how the major guessed so +accurately what had occurred, "there was a scuffle, and in it the man who +had attacked Merritt must, in some way, have found a chance to pass the +pocketbook to his companion." + +"Was the man who first inquired about the book a big, bearded man, with +sun-burned face and rather shabby clothes?" inquired the major. + +Rob's astonishment increased. Evidently this was no ordinary case of +ruffianism. It would seem now that the men were known to the major, and +had some strong object in taking the book. + +The boy nodded in reply to the major's question. + +"Do you mind stepping aside with me a few minutes, my lad? I'd like to +ask you some questions," continued the retired officer. + +He and Rob conversed privately for some moments. Then the major strode +off, after authorizing Si to offer a reward of five hundred dollars for +the return of the wallet. + +"He asked me to thank all you fellows for the aid you gave in trying to +hold the man," said Rob when he rejoined his comrades, "he added that it +would not be forgotten." + +Nor was it, for it may be said here, that a few days later a fine launch, +named _Eagle_, was delivered at Hampton harbor with a card from the +major, begging the Eagle Patrol to accept it as their official craft. But +we are anticipating a little. + +As Rob walked away with Merritt, Tubby and Hiram, the lanky youth spoke +up: + +"It beats creation what there could have been in that wallet to upset him +so," he commented; "he doesn't look like a man who's easily excited, +either." + +"Well, whatever it was," rejoined Rob, "we are likely to learn this +evening. I rather think the major has some work on hand for us." + +"Hooray! some action at last," cried Merritt enthusiastically. + +"Haven't had enough to-day, eh?" inquired Tubby sarcastically. "I should +think that seeing a runaway auto stopped, being knocked down and plunged +into a mystery, would----" + +"Never mind him, Merritt; the heat's sent the fat to his head," laughed +Rob. + +"I was going to say," he continued, "that Major Dangerfield has invited +us to the house this evening to hear something interesting." + +"All four of us?" + +"Yes. I rather think then we shall learn some more about that wallet." + +Soon after, the boys, following some talk concerning patrol matters, +separated. Each went to his home to await, with what patience he might, +the coming of evening, when it appeared likely that some light would be +shed on what, to them, seemed an interesting puzzle. Rob, on his return +home, found that the major had motored on to his friend's with his +daughter, but he had promised to return in time to keep his appointment. + + + + + CHAPTER III. + THE MAJOR EXPLAINS. + + +"Well," began the major, "I suppose you are all naturally curious +concerning that wallet of mine." + +The four lads nodded attentively. + +"I must admit we are," volunteered Rob. + +They were gathered in the library of Mr. Blake's home. The banker was +seated in his own pet chair, while the major stood with his back to a +bookcase, a group of eager-eyed Boy Scouts surrounding him. + +"In the first place," continued the major, "I think you would better all +sit down. The story is a somewhat lengthy one." + +The boys obeyed, and the major began: + +"I shall have to take you back more than a century," he said, "to the +days when the first settlers located adjacent to the south banks of Lake +Champlain. Among the colonists were my ancestors, Chisholm Dangerfield +and his family. Chisholm Dangerfield was the eldest son of the +Dangerfield family, of Chester, England. He had been left an ample +fortune, but having squandered it, decided, like many others in a similar +case, to emigrate to the new country. + +"On arrival here, he and his family went up the river to Albany, and +there, hearing of new settlements along the lake, decided to take up land +there. They went most of the way by water, being much harassed by Indians +on the journey. But without any serious mishaps, they finally arrived at +their destination, and, in course of time, established a flourishing +farm. But Chisholm Dangerfield had a younger brother, a harum-scarum sort +of youth, to whom, nevertheless, he was much attached. When quite young, +this lad had run away to sea, and little had been heard of him since that +time. + +"But while his family had remained in ignorance of his whereabouts, he +had joined a band of West Indian pirates, and in course of time amassed a +considerable fortune. Then a desire to reform came over him, and he +sought his English relatives. They would have nothing to do with him, +despite his wealth, and in a fit of rage he left England to seek his +brother--the only being who ever really cared for him. In due time he +arrived at the farm with quite a retinue of friendly Indians and +carriers. + +"He was warmly welcomed. Possibly his money and wealth had something to +do with it. I don't know anything about that, however. At any rate, for +some years, he lived there, till one day he fell ill. His constitution +was undermined by the reckless, wild life he had led, and he died not +long after. He left all his gold and jewels to his brother. + +"Indians were many and hostile in those days, so in order to be secure in +case of an attack, the elder brother had no sooner buried his kin with +due reverence, and received his legacy, than he decided to secrete the +entire amount of the old pirate's treasure in a cave in a remote part of +the Adirondacks." + +"Gee!" exclaimed Tubby, who was hugging his knees, while his eyes showed +round as saucers in his fat cheeks. + +"Did the Indians get it?" asked Hiram. + +"Wait a minute, and you shall hear," continued the major. "Well, as I +said, the treasure was buried in a cave so securely hidden that nobody +would be able to find it again, except by a miracle, or by aid of the +chart of the spot, which Chisholm Dangerfield carefully made. A few +nights after that, a tribe went on the warpath, landed in canoes near to +the Dangerfield farm, and massacred every soul on the place but one--a +young boy named Roger Dangerfield, who escaped. + +"This Roger Dangerfield was my great-great-grandfather. With him, when he +fled from the burning ruins, he took a paper his father had thrust into +his hands just before the Indian attack came. All this he wrote in his +diary, which did not come into my hands till recently. Well, Roger +Dangerfield, left to his own resources, proved so able a youth that he +was, before very long, a prosperous merchant in Albany. But in the +meantime he made several expeditions to the mountains to try to find the +hidden wealth. + +"I should have told you that the paper was in cipher, and a very +elaborate one, so that it had never been completely worked out. This, no +doubt, accounts for Roger Dangerfield's failure. + +"Well, in course of time, the cipher became a family relic along with +Roger Dangerfield's diary. His descendants moved to Virginia, where I was +born. I recollect, as a youngster, being enthralled by the story of the +old piratical Dangerfield's hidden gold, and resolving that when I grew +up I would find it. We had, in our employ at that time, a butler named +Jarley. I was an only child, and he was my confidant. I naturally told +him about the cipher and what its unraveling would mean. + +"This happened when I was about eighteen and home on a vacation. Jarley +seemed much interested, but after both he and I had puzzled in vain over +the cipher, we gave it up. When I came home on my next vacation, I +learned that Jarley had left. His mother and father had died, he +declared, and he was required at his home in Maine. Well, I thought no +more of the matter, and forming new acquaintances in our neighborhood, +which was rapidly settling, I soon forgot Jarley. But one day a notion +seized me to look at the cipher and the diary again. + +"But when I came to look for them, they had gone. Nor did any search +result in my finding them. It at once flashed across my mind that Jarley +might have taken them. So fixed an idea did this become, that I visited +the place in Maine to which he said he had gone, only to find that he had +removed soon after his return from Virginia. However, pursuing the trail, +I found that he--or a man resembling him--had visited the spot on the +lake where the old-time house had stood, and had made a mysterious +expedition into the mountains. The spot was at that time known as +Dangerfield, and was quite a flourishing little town, with a pulp mill +and a few other local industries. In that quiet community they +recollected the mysterious visitor well. + +"However, as I learned, Jarley had left the town without paying his +guides or the man from whom he had hired the horses, I concluded that the +expedition had not been successful. Then I advertised for the man, but +without success. Then I was appointed to West Point, and for a long time +I thought no more of the matter. In fact, for years it lay dormant in my +mind, with occasional flashes of memory; then I would advertise for +Jarley or his heirs, but without success. + +"The last time I advertised was about a year ago. After six months' +silence I received a letter, asking me to call at an address near the +Erie Basin in Brooklyn, if I was interested in the long-lost Jarley. All +my enthusiasm once more at fever heat, I set out for the place. The +address at which I was to call I found to be a squalid sailors' +boarding-house. On inquiring there for James Jarley, the name signed to +the letter, I was conducted into a dirty room, where lay a rough-looking +sailor, evidently just recovering from the effects of a debauch. + +"So dulled was his mind, that it was some time before I could explain my +errand, but finally he understood. He frankly told me he was out for +money, and wanted to know how much I would give him for some papers he +had which his father--our old butler, it transpired--had left him. His +father, he said, had told him that if ever he wanted to make money with +them he was to seek out a Major Dangerfield, who would be likely to pay +him well for them. + +"But it appeared that his father had also told him that he stood a chance +of arrest if he did so, and that it might be a dangerous step. However, +he told me that he had at length decided to take that chance, and on a +return from a long voyage, during which he had encountered my +advertisement in an old newspaper in a foreign port, he had made up his +mind to find me on his return. + +"His father, it appeared, had always kept track of me, but fear and shame +had kept him from trying to arrange a meeting. The son, I gathered, both +from his conversation and the situation in which I found him, had always +been a ne'er-do-well. Well, the matter ended with my paying him a sum of +money for the papers, which as I suspected, proved to be the yellow-paged +old diary and the well-thumbed, tattered cipher. Then I had him removed +to a hospital, where a few days later he died in an attack of delirium." + + + + + CHAPTER IV. + THE NARRATIVE CONTINUED. + + +"But it appeared that even while on his deathbed the man had been playing +a dishonest game. Before he had made his bargain with me, he had revealed +the secret and tried to sell it to a certain money-lender at a seaport in +Maine. This man had refused to have anything to do with what he thought +was a chimerical scheme, but later confided the whole thing to a friend +of his by name Stonington Hunt--a former Wall Street man, who had been +compelled to quit in disgrace the scene of his financial operations." + +"Stonington Hunt!" gasped Rob, leaning forward in his chair, while the +others looked equally amazed. + +"Yes, that was the name. Why, do you know him?" + +"Know him, Major!" echoed Mr. Blake. "He was concerned in some rascally +operations in this village not so long ago. That he left here under a +cloud, was mainly due to activities of the Boy Scouts, whose enemy he +was. We heard he had gone to Maine. Is he engaged in new rascality?" + +"You shall hear," pursued the major. "Well, as I said, this seaport +money-lender told Stonington Hunt of the chart and cipher and the old +diary recording the burial of the treasure. Hunt, it would seem, placed +more importance on the information than had the money-lender, for he +agreed, provided the latter would help to finance an expedition, to try +to solve the cipher, or else have some expert translate it. He set out at +once for Brooklyn, arriving there, as I subsequently learned, just after +I had departed with the diary and the papers which young Jarley had +carried in his sea-chest for some years. + +"He lost no time in tracing me, and offered me a large sum for the +papers. But my interest had been aroused. For the sake of the adventure +of the thing, and also to clear up the mystery, I had resolved to go +treasure hunting myself. With this object in view, I rented a bungalow on +a lake not far from the range in which I suspected the treasure cave lay, +and devoted days and nights trying to solve the cipher. At this time a +college professor, an old chum of mine, wrote me that his health was +broken down, and that he needed a rest. I invited him to come and visit +me in Essex County, at the same time suggesting that I had a hard nut for +him to crack. Professor Jeremiah Jorum arrived soon after, and his health +picked up amazingly in the mountain air. One day he asked about 'the hard +nut.' I produced the cipher, and told him something of its history. +Perhaps I should have told you that Professor Jorum has devoted a good +deal of his life to what is known as cryptology--or the solving of +seemingly unsolvable puzzles. He had translated Egyptian cryptograms and +inscriptions left by vanished tribes on ruins in Yucatan and Old Mexico. + +"He worked for several days on the cipher, and one day came to me with a +radiant face. He told me he had solved it. No wonder I had failed. It was +a simple enough cipher--one of the least complex, in fact--but the +language used had been Latin, in which my ancestor, as a well-bred +Englishman of that day, was proficient. As he was telling me this, I +noticed a man I had hired some days before, hanging about the open +windows. I ordered him away, and he went at once. But I had grave +suspicions that he had overheard a good deal more than I should have +wished him to. However, there was no help for it. I dismissed the matter +from my mind, and we--the professor and I--spent the rest of the day +discussing the cipher and the best means for recovering the treasure. We +agreed it would be dangerous to take men we could not absolutely trust, +and yet, we should require several people to organize a proper +expedition. + +"But, as it so happened, all our plans had to be changed that night. I +was awakened soon after midnight by a noise in my room. In the dim light +I saw a figure that I recognized as our gardener, moving about. The lamp +beside my bed had, for some reason, not gone out when I turned it down on +retiring, and I soon had the room in a blaze of light. The intruder +sprang toward me, a big club in his hand. I dodged the blow and grappled +with him. In the struggle his beard fell off, and I recognized, to my +amazement, that our 'gardener' was Stonington Hunt himself. + +"The shock of this surprise had hardly been borne in upon me when the +fellow, who possessed considerable strength, forced me back against the +table. In the scuffle the lamp was upset. In a flash the place was in a +blaze. Hunt was out of the room in two bounds. He seized the key, as he +went, and locked the door on the outside, thus leaving me to burn to +death, or chance injury by a leap from the window, which overhung a cliff +above the lake. I had just time to throw on a few clothes and grab the +papers, which I had luckily placed under my pillow, before the flames +drove me out. The wood of the door was flimsy, and without bothering to +try to force the lock, I smashed out a panel. Crawling through, I aroused +my friend Jorum and my old negro servant, Jumbo. + +"We saved nothing but the precious papers, but as the bungalow was +roughly furnished, I did not much care. We made our way to a distant +house and stayed there the night. The next day we took a wagon to the +shore of the lake and went by boat to Whitehall. There we embarked on a +train for Albany, where my daughter was at the home of friends. I, too, +have a residence there, but, having received an invitation from friends +to visit them on Long Island, I decided to give my little girl a motor +trip. + +"But while in Albany I perceived I was being followed, and by the two men +whom you have described to me as taking part in the filching of the +wallet. I thought I had thrown them off, however, but your adventure +to-day proves that I have not been as successful as I hoped. The most +unfortunate part of it is that the cipher was in that wallet." + +"And it's gone," groaned Tubby dolorously. + +"I'm not so sure of that. I am hopeful that we may recover it," said the +retired officer. "I have wired my friend Jorum, who, with Jumbo, is now +in New York, and I am in hopes that he can recollect something of his +translation of the cipher. If not--well, there's no use crossing bridges +till we come to them." + +"If you do recover it?" asked Rob. + +"If I do, I am going to ask your parents to let me borrow a patrol of Boy +Scouts to aid in the treasure hunt," smiled the major. + +"My dear Major," cried Mr. Blake, holding up his hands, "Mrs. Blake would +never consent to----" + +"But there would be such a lot of fun, dad," urged Rob. "Think of a camp +in the mountains. We'd have to camp, wouldn't we, Major?" + +"Certainly. It would be a fine opportunity for you to perfect yourselves +in----" + +"Woodcraft," said Tubby. + +"Signaling," put in Merritt. + +"I've got a field wireless apparatus I'd like to try out," put in Hiram, +his voice a-quiver with eagerness. + +"Well, the first thing to be done is to recover that cipher," said the +major; "at present all we know of it is that it is in the hands of two +rascals." + +"In the employ of another rascal, Stonington Hunt," put in Rob. + +"Well, we can do nothing more to-night," said the major. + +"No. We were so interested in your story that I think none of us noticed +how the time flew by," said Mr. Blake, and Mrs. Blake, entering just +then, announced that there was supper ready for the party in the +dining-room. Tubby's eyes glittered at this news. + +Soon after the sandwiches, cakes and lemonade had been disposed of, the +Boy Scouts set out for home, agreeing to meet the major next morning +after breakfast. + +They had not gone many steps from the house when Tubby stopped as +suddenly as if he had been shot. + +"Gingersnaps!" he exclaimed. "I've just thought of something." + +"Goodness! Must hurt," jeered Merritt unsympathetically. + +"No--that is, yes--no, I mean," sputtered the fat boy. "Say, fellows, I +heard this afternoon that Sam Phelps from Aquebogue told a fellow in the +village that he had seen Freeman Hunt over there this morning." + +"You double-dyed chump," exclaimed Rob, who was walking a way with them, +"and you never said anything about it. If Freeman was there, I'll bet his +father was, too, and that's where those two men have gone." + +"Gee whiz, if they have they must be there yet, then!" exclaimed Merritt, +excitedly, "unless they left by automobile." + +"How's that?" demanded Rob. + +"It's this way. There was no train after those chaps took the wallet, +till almost eight o'clock. They must have hidden in the woods and caught +it some place below, unless Si arrested them." + +"He'd have been at the house to get the reward if he had," rejoined Rob. + +"Very well, then. He didn't catch them, and if the Hunts are at +Aquebogue, that's where they've gone." + +"Yes, but what's to prevent them leaving there?" + +"No train after nine-thirty till to-morrow morning, and the eight o'clock +from here doesn't get to Aquebogue till after that time; so they must be +stranded there, unless they have a car." + +"Cookies and cream cakes! That's right!" cried Tubby, "let's phone the +police at Aquebogue to look out for them." + +But the lads found that the wire between Hampton and Aquebogue wasn't +working. The telegraph office was closed. They exchanged blank glances. + +"What are we going to do?" demanded Tubby. + +"What all good scouts ought to do--the best we can,"--rejoined Rob. + +"And that is, under the present circumstances?" questioned Merritt. + +"To go to our garage--Blenkinsop's--on Main Street, and get out the car." + +"It'll be closed," rejoined Tubby. + +"I've got a key," replied Rob; "I'll 'phone the house that I'm going for +a night spin. We can get there, notify the police, and be back in two +hours." + +"Forward, scouts!" ordered Merritt, in sharp, "parade-ground" tones, "and +'Be Prepared' for whatever comes along." + +Rob found that the telephone to his home was also out of order, owing to +repairs which were being rushed through by night. So ten minutes later, +when the car glided out of the garage on Main Street and slipped silently +through the sleeping town, there was nobody in Hampton who knew the Boy +Scouts' night mission. + + + + + CHAPTER V. + A MIDNIGHT AUTO DASH. + + +The auto, a fast and heavy machine, plunged along through the night at a +great rate. Its bright searchlight cast a brilliant circle of radiance +far ahead into the darkness. Occasionally frightened birds could be seen +flying out of the inky hedges, falling bewildered in the path of the +white glare. + +It was exhilarating, blood-stirring work, all the more keenly delightful +from the sense of adventure with which it was spiced. + +Rob was at the wheel, steering straight and steady. He knew the road +well. Part of it had been the scene of that thrilling night ride +described in _The Boy Scouts and the Army Airship_, when the boys had +overtaken the two thieves who had stolen the aeroplane documents. On that +occasion, it will be recalled, an accident had been narrowly averted by a +soul-stirring hair's breadth, as a train dashed across the tracks. + +Rob's three companions sat back in the tonneau and conversed in low +tones. Only the irrepressible Tubby was not duly impressed with the +momentousness of the occasion. From time to time a snicker of laughter +showed that he was cracking jokes in the same old way. + +"Say," he remarked, as they bumped across the railroad tracks, "even if +we do find out where these fellows are, I don't know just what we're +going to do with them at this time of night. Reminds me----" + +"Oh, for goodness' sake, Tubby," groaned Merritt. + +"Let him go ahead," struck in Hiram, "the sooner he blows off all his +steam the sooner he'll shut up for good." + +"Reminds me," went on the unruffled Tubby, "of what a little girl said to +her mother when the kid asked her what sardines were. The mother +explained that they were small fish that big ones ate. Then the little +girl wanted to know how the big fish got them out of the tins." + +There was a deathly silence, broken only by a low groan from Merritt. + +"Call that a joke?" he moaned. + +"Don't spring any more. My life ain't insured, by heck," put in Yankee +Hiram. + +"Well, that got a laugh in the minstrel show where I heard it," responded +the aggrieved joke-smith. + +Before long, lights flashed ahead of them, and, descending a steepish +hill, they chugged into the town of Aquebogue. It was a fairly large +town, and here and there lighted windows showed that some of the low +resorts were still open for business. Far down the street shone two green +lights, which marked the police station. The auto glided up to this, and +Rob jumped out, accompanied by Merritt, leaving Tubby and Hiram in the +car. + +"Let's get out and stretch our legs a bit," said Tubby presently. It was +taking some time for Rob to explain his errand to a sleepy police +official. + +"All right, my boy," drawled Hiram. "I'm not averse to a bit of +leg-stretching." + +The two lads got out and strolled as far as the street corner. + +"H's'h!" exclaimed Tubby suddenly, as they reached it. He seized Hiram's +arm with every appearance of excitement. + +"Wa-al, what is it now?" asked the down-east boy; "more jokes and +didoes?" + +"No. See that chap just sneaking down the street from the opposite +corner?" + +"Yes; what of it? Are you seeing things?" + +"No. But it's Freeman Hunt--I'm sure of it." + +"By ginger, I believe you are right! It does look like him, for a fact. +But what can he be doing here?" + +"I've no more idea than you. But he must be up to some mischief." + +"Reckon that's right." + +"I tell you that where Freeman Hunt is, his father is not far off, and +the rest of the gang must be about here, too. I guess it was a good thing +we came out here." + +"Well, what shall we do? Go back and tell the police?" + +"No. While we were gone he'd sneak away, and we might miss him +altogether. I've got a better plan." + +"Do tell!" + +"We'll follow him at a distance and see where he goes. Then we can come +back and report." + +"Sa-ay, that's a good idea. Come on." + +Freeman Hunt was almost out of sight now. But as the two scouts took up +the trail, they saw him pause where a flood of light streamed from the +window of a drinking-place. He paused here for an instant and gave a low +whistle; presently the boys' hearts gave a bound. From the doors of the +resort issued three figures, one of which they recognized, even at that +distance, as Stonington Hunt. With him were the two men who had played +such a prominent part in the filching of the wallet belonging to Major +Dangerfield. + +"Keep in the shadow," whispered Tubby, crouching in a convenient doorway; +"they haven't seen us. Hullo, there they go. Keep a good distance +behind--as far back as we can, without losing them." + +The men the scouts were trailing struck into a lively pace. They seemed +to be conversing earnestly. Through the shadows the two boys crept along +behind them. Presently they were traversing a residence street, edged +with elms and lawns and white picket fences. It was deserted and silent. +The occupants of the houses were wrapped in sleep. + +"Maybe they're going to turn into one of these houses," whispered Hiram. + +But the men didn't. Instead, they kept right on, and before long the last +electric light had been passed and they were in the open country. + +"Hadn't we better turn back?" murmured Hiram. "It looks as if we were +going too far for safety." + +"Let's keep on," urged Tubby. "There's no danger. If we gave up the chase +now we'd have had all our work for nothing." + +Hiram made no reply, and the two boys, taking advantage of every bit of +cover--as the game of "Hare and Hounds" had taught them--kept right on +dogging the footsteps of their quarry. All at once Tubby began sniffing +the air. + +"We're getting near the sea," he proclaimed. "I can smell the salt +meadows." + +Aquebogue lay some distance back from the open waters of the ocean. It +was situated, like Hampton itself, on an inlet. In the dim light of the +stars, the two boys presently perceived that they were traversing a sort +of dyke or raised road leading across the marshes. + +"Where can they be going?" wondered Hiram. + +"Don't know. But there are lots of fishermen's huts and shacks dotted +about in the marshes. Maybe they are making for one of them." + +"Maybe," opined Hiram, "but if you weren't so all-sot on following them, +I'd be in a good mind to turn back." + +"Not yet," persisted Tubby, and the chase continued. + +But it was soon to end. All at once the faint glimmer of a watercourse, +or inlet from the sea, shone dimly in front of them. Upreared, too, +against the star-spangled sky, they could see the inky outlines of a +structure of some kind. + +"Crouch down here," said Tubby suddenly, as the men ahead of them came to +a halt. + +A bunch of marsh grass offered a convenient hiding place, and behind it +the two boys lay flat. Pretty soon they heard the scratch of a match, and +then the grating of a lock, as the door of the dark building they had +remarked was opened. The men entered the place and slammed the door to. A +few instants later, from the solitary window of the shack, a light shone +out. The window was toward the creek, and the glare from it showed the +two watching boys the mast and rigging of a large sloop. At least, from +her spars, they judged her to be of considerable size. + +"Gee whiz!" exclaimed Tubby, "we've found the place, all right. They must +have come in that sloop. Maybe that's the way the two men who took the +wallet got out of Hampton unobserved." + +"But the wind's against the sloop, and she couldn't have beaten her way +down here in that time," objected Hiram. + +"She might have an engine, mightn't she?" whispered Tubby in scornful +tones. + +"That's so. Lots of boats do have gasoline motors. I guess you're right, +Tubby. What are you going to do now? Go back?" + +"Not much," rejoined the fat boy. "We'll just have a look into that hut +and see what's going on. We might even get a chance to get that wallet +back." + +"Say, you're not going to take such a chance! If you looked through that +window----" + +"Did I say I was going to look through the window, stupid? Don't you see +that chimney on the roof? Now, the roof comes down low, almost to the +ground. I'm going to climb up on it, and, by leaning over the chimney, I +can hear what is said." + +"But they'll hear your feet on the roof," objected the practical Hiram. + +"I'm going to take my shoes off." + +"It's awfully risky, Tubby." + +"Say, look here, Hiram," sputtered the fat boy, "if this country was to +go to war, you'd want to go to the front and fight for Old Glory as a Boy +Scout, wouldn't you?" + +"Of course." + +"Well, then, don't you suppose that if you were scouting after an enemy +you'd have to take bigger chances than this?" + +Hiram said no more. Kicking their shoes off, and leaving them by the +grass hummock, the two boys crept forward as silently as two cats. In the +yielding sand their feet made no noise. + +As Tubby had surmised, at the rear of the house the roof came almost to +the ground, for the sand was heaped up against that particular wall, +being driven in big dunes by the winds off the ocean. + +"Up with you," whispered Tubby, giving Hiram a "boost." The Yankee boy's +long legs carried him onto the roof in a jiffy. Then came Tubby. Already +the two boys could hear below them the low hum of voices, Freeman Hunt's +sharp, boyish tones mingling with the bass drone of the elder men's +conversation. + +The roof was formed of driftwood and old timbers, and was as easy to +climb as a staircase. Before many seconds, the boys were at the chimney. +With beating pulses and a heart that throbbed faster than was altogether +comfortable, in spite of his easy-going disposition, Tubby raised himself +and peered down the flue. It was of brick. But to his astonishment, as he +peered over the edge, he found he had a clear view of the room below. + +The chimney, as is often the case in rough dwellings, did not go all the +way down to the floor. Instead, it was supported on two beams, so that, +peering down it, the boy could command a view of the room below, just as +if he had been looking down a telescope. + +Round a table were seated Stonington Hunt, the two rough-looking men who +had stolen the wallet, and Freeman Hunt. A smoky glass lamp stood on the +rough box which served for a table. Spread out on the table, too, was +something that almost made Tubby let go his hold of the chimney and go +sliding down the roof. It was the wallet, and beside it lay the paper +covered with figures and markings, which, the boy had no doubt, was the +precious document of the major. + +"We'll have to get out of here early in the morning," Stonington Hunt was +saying. "I don't fancy having the police on my heels." + +"No. And Jim here says that those pesky Boy Scouts are mixed up in the +search for the wallet," struck in Freeman Hunt. + +"Well, this is the time we give those brats the slip," growled his +father. "Come on, let's turn in. We'll get the motor going and drop down +the creek before daylight." + +"Better leave the light burning then," said one of the men who had been +in Hampton that afternoon. + +This was done, and presently snores and heavy breathing showed the men +were asleep. Tubby could not see what resting places they had found, but +assumed that there must be bunks around the edge of the hut, as is usual +in such fishermen's shelters. + +Before retiring, the men had shoved the paper into the wallet, but for +some reason, probably they didn't think of it during their preparations +for sleep, the wallet had been left on the table. It was almost directly +below the chimney. As Tubby looked at it, he had a sudden idea. + +"Got a bit of wire, Hiram?" he asked, knowing that the mechanical genius +of the Eagle Patrol usually carried such odds and ends with him. + +"Guess I've got a bit of brass wire right here," rejoined Hiram, "but it +isn't very long." + +"Long enough," commented Tubby, scrutinizing the bit handed to him, "now, +if you had some string----" + +"Got a bit of fish line." + +"Couldn't be better. Give it to me." + +Much mystified, Hiram watched the fat boy bend the bit of wire and tie it +to the string. + +"Going fishing?" he asked in a sarcastic tone. + +"Yes," replied Tubby quite seriously. + +His quick eye had noted that the straps that closed the wallet had not +been placed round it but lay in a loose loop on the table. If only he +could entangle his improvised line in the loop, it would be an easy +matter to fish up the wallet. If only he could do it! + +Very cautiously, for he knew the risk he was running, Tubby lowered his +line. Then he waited. But the breathing below continued steady and +stentorian. Swinging his hook, which was quite heavy, the stout boy +grappled cautiously for the wallet. It was tantalizing and delicate work. +But after taking an infinity of pains, he finally succeeded in getting it +fast. + +Tubby at this moment had difficulty in suppressing a shout of "hooray!" +But he mastered his emotions, and slowly and delicately began to haul in +his "catch." Hiram, fascinated, crept close to his side. Perhaps it was +this fact that was responsible for the disaster that occurred the next +instant. + +Without the slightest warning, save a sharp, cracking sound, the roof +caved in under their feet. In a flash, both boys were projected in a heap +into the room below. As they hurtled through the rotten covering of the +hut, shouts and cries resounded from the aroused occupants. + + + + + CHAPTER VI. + IN DIREST PERIL. + + +The wildest confusion ensued. Fortunately, the drop was a short one, and +beyond a few scratches and bruises, neither boy was hurt. The lamp, by +some strange fatality, was not put out, but rolled off the table. As +Stonington Hunt sprang at him, Tubby seized it. He brandished it +threateningly. + +"The Boy Scouts!" shouted Stonington Hunt, the first to recover from his +stupefaction at the sudden interruption to their slumbers. + +He dashed at Tubby, who swung the lamp for an instant--it was his only +weapon--and then dashed it, like a smoky meteor, full at the advancing +man's head. + +It missed him by the fraction of an inch, or he would have been turned +into a living torch. + +Crash! + +The lamp struck the opposite wall, and was shattered into a thousand +fragments. Instantly the place was plunged in darkness, total and +absolute. At the same instant a sharp report sounded. It seemed doubly +loud in the tiny place. The fumes of the powder filled it reekingly. + +"Don't shoot!" roared Stonington Hunt. "Guard the door and window. Don't +let them get away." + +"All right, dad," the boys heard Freeman Hunt cry loudly, as he scuffled +across the room. + +"Keep the doorway and the window," shouted Stonington Hunt. "I'll have a +light in a jiffy. We've got them like two rats in a cage." + +As he struck a match and lit a boat lantern that stood on a shelf, a low +groan came from one corner of the room. Hiram was horrified to perceive +that it was Tubby who uttered it. The shot must have wounded him, fired +at haphazard, as it had been. The man who had aimed it, the bearded +member of the gang, stood grimly by the doorway. + +Almost beside himself at the hopelessness of their situation, Hiram gazed +about him. All at once he noticed that on Tubby's chest a crimson stain +was slowly spreading. The stout boy lay quite still except for an +occasional quiver and groan. Without a thought as to his danger, Hiram +disregarded Stonington Hunt's next injunction: "Don't move a step." + +Swiftly he crossed to his wounded comrade. He sank on his knees beside +him. + +"T-T-T-Tubby," he exclaimed, "are you badly hurt, old man?" + +To his amazement, the recumbent Tubby gave him a swift but knowing wink, +and then, rolling over on his side again, resumed his groaning once more. +Mystified, but comforted, Hiram was rising, when a rough hand seized him +and sent him spinning to an opposite corner. It was the burly form of the +bearded man that had propelled him. + +"Not so rough, Jim Dale," warned Stonington Hunt. "We've got them where +they can't escape. Lots of time to get what we want out of them." + +"The pesky young spies," snorted Jim Dale, "I wonder how much they +overheard of what we said." + +"It don't matter, anyhow," put in his beardless companion of the +afternoon. "They won't have no chance to tell it." + +"Guess that's right, Pete Bumpus," struck in the bearded man. Suddenly +Hiram felt a stinging slap across the face. He turned and faced young +Freeman Hunt. + +"How do you like that, eh?" snarled the youth viciously. "Here is where I +pay you out for what you Scout kids did to me when we lived in Hampton." + +He was stepping forward to deliver another blow, when Hiram ducked +swiftly, and put into execution a maneuver Rob had shown him. As Freeman, +a bigger and heavier lad, rushed forward, Hiram's long leg and his long +left arm shot out simultaneously. The leg engaged Freeman's ankle, and +the Yankee lad's fist encountered the other's chin with a sharp crack. +Freeman Hunt fell in a heap on the floor. Hiram braced himself for an +attack by the whole four. But it didn't come. Instead, they seemed to +think it a good joke. + +"That will teach you to keep your temper," laughed the boy's father +roughly; "plenty of time to punch him and pummel him when we have them +tied up." + +"Maybe I won't do it, too," promised Freeman, gathering himself up, with +a crestfallen look. + +Stonington Hunt stepped up to Hiram. + +"Tell me the truth, you young brat," he snarled; "are the police after +us?" + +Hiram pondered an instant before answering. Then he decided on a course +of action. Possibly it was a bad one, judging by the immediate results. + +"Yes, they are," he said boldly, "and if you don't let us loose, you'll +get in trouble." + +Stonington Hunt paused irresolutely. Then he said: + +"Get the sloop ready, boys. We'll get out of here on the jump." + +A few moments later Hiram's hands were bound and he was led on board the +craft the boys had noticed lying in the creek. A plank connected it with +the shore. Tubby, still groaning, was carried on board and thrown down in +the bow beside Hiram. + +"We'll attend to him after a while," said Hunt brutally; "if he's badly +wounded it's his own fault, for meddling in other folks' affairs." + +One of the men went below. Presently there came a sharp chug-chug, and +the anchor being taken in, the sloop began to move off down the creek. As +Tubby Hopkins had surmised, she had an engine. Hunt, Jim Dale and Peter +Bumpus stood in the bow. Hiram leaned disconsolately against a stay, and +Tubby lay at his feet on a coil of rope. + +The shores slipped rapidly by, and pretty soon the creek began to widen. + +Freeman Hunt was at the wheel, and from time to time Jim Dale shouted +directions back at him. + +"Port--port! Hard over!" or again, "Hard over! Starboard! There's a shoal +right ahead!" + +A moon had risen now, and in the silvery light the darker water of the +shoals, of which the creek seemed full, showed plainly. + +"This crik's as full of sand-bars as a hound dorg is uv fleas," grunted +Jim Dale. "It won't be full tide for two hours or more, either. If----" + +There came a sudden, grinding jar. + +"Hard over! Hard over!" bellowed Jim Dale. + +Freeman Hunt spun the wheel like a squirrel in its cage. But it was too +late. The sloop had grounded hard and fast. Leaving Peter Bumpus to guard +the boys, Jim Dale and the elder Hunt leaped swiftly aft. They backed the +motor, but it was no use. The sloop was too hard aground to be gotten off +till the water rose. + +"Two hours to wait till the tide rises," grumbled Jim Dale; "just like +the luck." + +Slowly the time passed. But never for an instant was the watch over the +boys relaxed. Tubby lay still, and Hiram, almost carried out of himself +by the rapid rush of recent events, leaned miserably against the stay. + +At last, just as a faint, gray light began to show in the east, they +could feel the sloop moving under their feet. With reversed motor, she +was backed off the sand-bar, or mud-shoal, and the journey resumed. As +the light grew stronger, Hiram saw that they were dropping rapidly down +toward the sea. Right ahead of them could now be seen the white foam and +spray, where the breakers of the open sea were shattering themselves on +the bar at the mouth of the creek. + +The channel was narrow and intricate, but Jim Dale, who seemed to be a +good pilot, and who had assumed the wheel, brought the sloop through it +in safety. Before long, under her keel could be felt the long lift and +drive of the open Atlantic. + +By gazing at the sun, Hiram saw that the sloop's head was pointed west. +By this he judged that her navigators meant to head down the Long Island +shore toward New York. + +The sunrise was red and angry. Hiram, with his knowledge of scout-lore, +knew that this presaged bad weather. But the crew of the sloop did not +seem to notice it. After a while they began to make preparations to hoist +sail, as the breeze was freshening. + +"Take those kids below," ordered Stonington Hunt suddenly. Under the +escort of Jim Dale, who had relinquished the wheel to Freeman Hunt and +Pete Bumpus, the lads--Tubby being carried--were presently installed in a +small, dark cabin in the stern of the sloop. This done, the companionway +door was closed, and they heard a key grate in a lock. They were +prisoners, then, at sea, on this mysterious sloop? + +"What next?" groaned Hiram to himself, sinking down on a locker. + +"Why, I guess the next thing to do is for me to come to life, my valiant +downeaster," cried Tubby, springing erect from the corner into which he +had been thrown. The apparently badly wounded lad seemed as active and +chipper as ever. + + + + + CHAPTER VII. + ADRIFT IN THE STORM. + + +At the same instant the sloop staggered and heeled over, sending Hiram +half across the dingy cabin. He caught at a stanchion and saved himself. +Then he turned his amazed gaze afresh on Tubby. The stout youth stood by +the companion stairs, regarding him with a grin. Presently he actually +began to hum: + + "A life on the ocean wave! + A home on the rolling deep! + +"Yo ho, my hearties," he added, with a nautical twitch at his breeches, +"we're going to have a rough day of it." + +As if in answer, the sloop heeled over to another puff. A tin dish, +dislodged from the rusty stove, went clattering across the inclined cabin +floor. But still Hiram stood gaping vacantly at Tubby. + +"Well, what's the matter?" inquired that individual cheerfully, "have you +lost that voice of yours?" + +"No, b-b-b-but I thought you were badly wounded!" Hiram managed to +sputter. + +"So I was, but in reverse English only," said Tubby cheerfully; "the +bullet just nicked me and knocked the breath out of me for a minute. When +I came to, I saw that the best thing I could do was to act like Br'er +Rabbit and lay low." + +Hiram looked his admiration. + +"Wa-al," he drawled, dropping, as he seldom did even in emotional +moments, into his New England dialect, "ef you ain't ther beatingist! + +"But, say," he added quickly, "what about that red stain on your shirt? +Look, it's all over the front of your uniform." + +"Jiggeree, so it is. I guess that fountain pen of mine must have been +busted cold by that bullet. I had it filled with red ink, because I'd +been helping Rob fill out some reports to mail to Scout headquarters. Ho! +ho!" the fat boy broke into open mirth, "it certainly does look as if +some one had tapped my claret. Yo-ho! that was a corker!" + +The sloop lurched and dipped deeper than ever. They could see the green +water obscure the port hole for an instant. + +"That sea's getting up right along," said Tubby presently, as he unbound +Hiram's hands. "Say, Hiram," he added anxiously, "you don't get seasick +easily, do you?" + +"N-n-n-no, that is, I don't think so," sputtered Hiram rather dubiously. + +"Well, don't, I beg from my heart! Don't get seasick till we get on land +again." + +"I'll try not to," said the downeast boy seriously, ignoring the fine +"bull" which Tubby's remark contained. + +"Reminds me," said Tubby presently, "of what the sea captain said to the +nervous lady. She went up to him and told him that her husband was scared +of getting seasick. 'My husband's dreadfully liable to seasickness, +captain,' she said. 'What must I tell him to do if he feels it coming +on?' 'You needn't tell him anything, ma'am,' said the captain; 'no need +to tell him what to do--he'll do it.'" + +But somehow this bit of humor did not bring even a wan smile to Hiram, +willing as he usually was to laugh at Tubby's whimsical jokes. Instead, +he turned a pale face on his companion. + +"I--I--do feel pretty bad, for a fact!" he moaned. + +"Oh, Jiminy Crickets!" wailed Tubby, "he's going to be seasick!" + +Hiram, with a ghastly face of a greenish-yellow hue, sank down on one of +the lockers, resigning himself to his fate. The sloop began to plunge and +tumble along in a more lively fashion than ever. Overhead Tubby could +hear the trample of feet, as her crew ran about trying to weather the +blow. + +Suddenly, above the howling of the wind, Tubby heard a sharp click at the +companionway door. The next instant the companionway slide was shoved +back and a gust of fresh, salt-laden air blew into the close cabin. +Stonington Hunt's form was on the stairway the next moment, and Tubby, +with a quick dive, threw himself on the floor in a corner, carrying out +once more his rôle of the badly wounded scout. + +Lying there, and breathing in a quick, distressed way, Tubby, out of the +corner of his eye, watched the man as he moved about. Hunt's first idea +was evidently to rouse Hiram. Perhaps he needed him to help in navigating +the storm-buffeted craft. But he soon gave up the task of instilling the +seasick lad with ambition or life. Then came Tubby's turn, but after +bending over the fat boy for an instant, Hunt muttered: + +"He's no good," and without offering to aid the supposedly injured boy, +moved away. He ascended the steps and presently the companion slide +banged to, and the padlock clicked once more. + +Tubby arose, as soon as he was convinced the coast was clear, and, +despairing of arousing Hiram, sat on a locker and began to think hard. +Rather bitterly he went over in his mind the circumstances leading to +their present predicament. In the first place, he could not but own he +had had no business to embark on such an enterprise at all without a +bigger force. In the second place, if he had lived up to the Scouts' +motto of "Be Prepared," there was a strong possibility that they would +not have been so disastrously precipitated through the roof of the lonely +hut. However, before long, Tubby's naturally buoyant temperament asserted +itself. As became a boy who had won a first-class scoutship, he did not +waste any further time on vain regrets. Instead of crying over spilled +milk, he began to figure on finding a way out of their predicament. + +Casting his eyes about the cabin, he suddenly became aware of a small +door in the bulkhead at the forward end of it. Curious by nature, Tubby +opened it, and peered into a dark, cavernous space. A strong odor of +gasoline saluted his nostrils, and presently--his eyes becoming used to +the light--he could make out the occasional glint of metal. In a flash he +realized that this was the engine-room of the sloop, and housed her +auxiliary motor. + +A button-switch being made out by the boy at this moment, he turned it. +Instantly two incandescent lights shone out, illuminating the place. By +their light Tubby made out another door beyond the motor. Determined to +investigate the sloop thoroughly--come what might--he thrust it open, and +found himself in what seemed to be the hold. But it was too dark to +perceive much. Besides, the sloop was pitching and rolling so terribly +that the lad had all he could do to hold on. + +Returning to the engine-room, he almost stumbled across an electric torch +secured to a bracket on the bulkhead. It was evidently used for examining +the motor without exposing an open light to the fumes of the gasoline. +Armed with this, Tubby once more investigated the hold. It was a +capacious place. Stanchions, like a forest of bare trees, supported the +deck above. So far as the boy could make out, the place was empty. Far +forward was a ladder leading up to a hatchway. Tubby, following out his +naturally inquiring bent of mind, was about to examine this, when his +heart gave a great bound and then stood still. + +He had not thought to cast a glance behind him in his eagerness to +examine the hold. + +This had proved to be a fatal bit of oversight on his part, for +Stonington Hunt and his son, descending to the cabin for some purpose, +had observed his absence. A brief investigation showed them the open door +into the engine-room and thence they had glimpsed the flash of Tubby's +torch. + +The boy turned, warned by some instinct, just as they tiptoed up behind +him. Freeman Hunt, with a grin on his face, rushed straight at the Boy +Scout. But Tubby was prepared this time, at any rate. He dashed the +torch, end down, on the floor of the hold, extinguishing it instantly. At +almost the same instant, he rushed straight at the place where he had +last seen Freeman Hunt. + +To his huge satisfaction, he felt the other go down in a sprawling heap +under his onrush. As he fell, Freeman gave a shout of: + +"He ain't wounded at all, dad! He was fooling us!" + +"Yes, the brat! He was!" shouted Stonington Hunt, blundering about in the +black hold and striving to keep his footing on the pitching, heaving +floor. + +Tubby, guided by instinct, dashed forward toward the spot, as nearly as +he could judge its location, where he had noticed the ladder. He found +it, and had placed his foot on the bottom rung, when there was a sudden +shock. + +The motion of the sloop seemed to cease, as if by magic. Tubby felt +himself hurled forward into darkness by the shock. His head crashed +against something, and a world of brilliant constellations swam in a +glittering array before his eyes. Then something in his head seemed to +give way with a snap, and young Hopkins knew no more. + + + + + CHAPTER VIII. + EAGLES ON THE TRAIL. + + +"Hullo! Wonder what's become of those two fellows?" + +Merritt voiced the inquiry, as he and Rob emerged from the police +station. The sergeant in charge had promised to do all he could to +apprehend the stealers of the pocketbook if they were anywhere within +striking distance of Aquebogue. + +Rob looked about him. There stood the automobile. But of the two lads +they had left to guard it there was no sign. After waiting a reasonable +time, the two Boy Scout leaders began to feel real alarm. + +"Somehow I feel as if Hunt and his gang have got something to do with +this," murmured Rob uneasily. + +"It does seem queer," admitted Merritt. "Let's look around a bit more, +and then, if we find no trace of them, we'll go back to the police +station and look for aid." + +"All right; I guess that's the best thing to do." + +But, as we know, it was impossible that their search could terminate in +anything but failure. Not a little worried, Rob informed their friend, +the sergeant, of what had occurred. That official at once galvanized into +action. Before this, he had not seemed to take much interest in their +affairs. But now he really moved quickly. By telephone he summoned two +detectives, and the lads soon put them in possession of the facts in the +case. + +"Pretty slim grounds to work on," remarked one of them with a shrug. + +Rob could not but feel that this was true. After their consultation with +the detectives, who at once set out to scour the place for some trace of +Hunt and his crew, the two lads, much dispirited, and with heavy hearts, +set out for home. They arrived there in the early morning, and turned in +for a brief sleep. As Rob had expected, his father was not at all pleased +when he learned of the nocturnal use made of his car, and of the serious +consequences which had ensued. But Major Dangerfield, who had listened to +the lad's story with interest--it was related at the breakfast table--was +inclined to take a less serious view of the matter. + +"After all, Mr. Blake," he said, "the boys behaved like true Boy Scouts. +It was their duty to try to aid in the matter of the pocketbook, and they +did their best. I think that it was cleverly done, too." + +"But young Hopkins and Hiram are missing," protested Mrs. Blake. "What +will their parents say?" + +"I don't think, from my observation of Master Hopkins, that he is the +kind of lad to get into serious difficulties," said the major. "In fact, +I am convinced that he has stumbled across some clew and is following it +up." + +"I hope it may be so, and that both of them are safe," said Mrs. Blake +fervently. + +The first duty, after the morning meal, was to call on Mrs. Hopkins, who +was a widow, and also on Hiram's parents, and explain the case. It was +not a pleasant task, but Rob saw it through with Spartan courage. He +succeeded in quelling the first vivid alarm of the lads' parents, +however, and promised to return with news of them before the day was +over. This done, Major Dangerfield, Merritt and Rob set out in the Blake +car for Aquebogue. + +"It is your duty as Boy Scouts to find your missing comrades," said Mr. +Blake, as the car started off. + +"We'll do it, if it's possible----" began Merritt dolefully. + +"We'll do it, anyway," said Rob stoutly. + +"That's the right Scout way to talk," said the major commendingly, "that +is the spirit that will win." + +No news greeted them on their arrival in Aquebogue. The two detectives +were still out on the case, and the officials in charge had nothing to +report. This was discouraging, but before long one of the detectives +arrived with an important clew. He carried in his hand a paper package. +On being opened, it proved to contain two pairs of shoes, of Boy Scout +pattern. Rob and Merritt immediately identified them as belonging to +Hiram and young Hopkins. The major seemed much impressed by the value of +this bit of evidence, and before many minutes had passed they were all in +the auto and spinning toward the spot where the articles of apparel had +been discovered. + +The detectives, it transpired, had not yet explored the hut, and Rob's +keen eyes were the first to spy the jagged hole in its roof. He at once +set his scout training to work. The first thing he observed was that the +hole had been freshly torn. An investigation of the inside of the hut +showed the traces of the fight between Hiram and young Hunt. + +All at once Rob gave a sharp exclamation, and pounced on some object in a +corner of the place. Its bright glitter, as the light fell on it through +the hole in the roof, had attracted him at first. True Scout as he was, +Rob did not allow even the minutest object to escape his scrutiny. In +this case, he was richly rewarded, for what he had seen turned out to be +a Scout button. It was one that had been torn from Hiram's coat in the +struggle. + +"This is conclusive evidence that the two lads were here," decided the +major. "What else can you deduce from what you have seen, Rob?" + +The leader of the Eagle Patrol pondered a moment. Then he spoke. + +"In the first place," he said decidedly, "it is evident that Tubby and +Hiram in some way got on the track of our enemies in the town. They +followed them here. That is proved by the finding of their shoes on that +dune near the hut. They took their shoes off for some object, of course. +Evidently it must have been to silently observe the men who occupied this +shanty. By looking at the footmarks in the sand outside, I traced them to +the wall of the place. The steps did not turn in at the door, therefore, +obviously, they must have climbed on the roof, for the steps ended at the +low-hanging eaves, and they do not go back. + +"An examination of the roof shows that it must have given way under their +combined weight. See, that beam is as brittle as match-wood, from dry +rot. They could not have been hurt--at least, I don't think so--or this +button, which must have been torn off in a struggle, for they are tightly +sewn on, would not have been found." + +"Very good," approved the major. "I have seen Indian scouts on the border +who could not have done much better. But what is the next step?" + +"To find out what has become of them, of course," put in Merritt. + +"Well, let's see how close we can come to deciding that," said the major, +with a side glance at the detectives, who seemed puzzled and bewildered +at the swift deductive work of the young Scout. + +Merritt left the hut and made a hasty examination of the numerous tracks +without. He then scrutinized the muddy banks of the inlet closely. The +tide was not yet full, and the marks of the sloop's keel still showed. +Also sand had been tracked on to the little wharf. It was evident that a +vessel of some sort had lain there between tides. Equally plain did it +appear, that the two missing lads had been carried on board her. Merritt +lost no time in communicating his discoveries to his companions. + +"You have done well," commended the former army officer, "I am convinced +that your deductions are, in the main, correct. But now the thing is to +get some craft to go in pursuit of these fellows." + +"Ike Menjes, up the creek a little way, has a big gasoline launch he lets +out," volunteered one of the detectives. + +"We'll get it if possible," said the major instantly. "Is she a fast +boat?" + +"None quicker hereabouts," said the other arm of the law. + +Ten minutes later a bargain had been struck, and with Ike Menjes at the +engine, and Rob at the wheel, the swift launch _Algonquin_ was dashing +off down the winding creek headed for the open sea. As she tumbled and +rolled through the rough waters of the bar at the creek's mouth, Rob's +eye swept the sky. + +"Bad weather coming," he remarked. + +"No need to worry in this craft," declared Ike; "she's weathered the +worst we ever get off here." + +"I expect so," agreed the major, with an approving glance at the craft's +broad lines and generous beam. + +Before many moments had passed, Rob's prediction came true. The +_Algonquin_, without any diminution of speed, was being pushed along +through a rapidly rising sea, while the wind howled about her, growing +stronger every moment. Rob caught himself wondering what sort of a craft +the kidnappers of the boys possessed. He hoped it was staunch, for in his +judgment the blow was going to be a bad one. + +"It'll get worser before it gets betterer," opined Ike Menjes, coming +forward from his engines and peering ahead at the tumbling masses of +green water. The rising wind caught their tops and feathered them off in +masses of snowy spume. Overhead, dark, ragged clouds raced along. So low +did they hang that they seemed almost to touch the crests of the angry +waves. + +Each time the _Algonquin_ topped a roller and then staggered down into a +deep trough, Rob scanned the surrounding sea eagerly. But no sign, had, +so far, appeared, of any craft resembling the one which they knew must +have left the creek. Seaward some sails showed, but they were all those +of large coasting schooners. + +The craft they were in search of was, no doubt, a smallish vessel, +otherwise she could not have negotiated the narrow, winding creek, with +its innumerable bends and shallow places. + +"Keep more in shore," advised Ike. "They may have hugged the land to get +the benefit of the weather shore." + +Rob headed closer in toward the low-lying coast. He could see the waves +breaking angrily in white masses on the sandy beach. All at once, above a +distant point of land, he sighted the gray shoulder of a sail. The next +instant it had vanished. + +Had it found an opening through which to slip into an inlet in the bleak +coast, or had it foundered in the wild breakers? + +The question agitated Rob hugely. Some intuition told him that the craft +he had glimpsed had been the one they were in search of, but of its fate +they could have no immediate knowledge. + + + + + CHAPTER IX. + WHAT SCOUT HOPKINS DID. + + +When young Hopkins came to himself, he was dimly conscious that the +driving motion of the sloop had ceased. Instead, lying there in the +pitchy darkness of the hold, he could feel the vessel being struck with +what appeared to be mighty blows from a Titanic hammer. Tubby guessed +instantly, from the sensations, that they were aground, and that what he +felt was the terrific bombardment of enormous breakers. + +A swift "overhauling" of himself soon showed the lad that he was not +hurt, although the blow on his head, when he had been hurled from the +ladder, had stunned him. Of how long he had been unconscious, he had, of +course, no knowledge. Worse still, he could not form any idea of how to +get out of his dark prison, and he realized that he had no time to lose +if he wanted to save Hiram and himself. + +Risking the chance that their enemies were prowling about, waiting for +the lad to declare himself, Tubby set up a shout. + +"Hiram! Oh, Hiram!" + +In the intervals of the crashing blows that shook the frail sloop from +stem to stern, Tubby listened intently. But for some time no answering +cry came to greet him. Then all at once he thought he caught a feeble +shout. He responded, and the cry came more distinctly. Guided by it, he +made his way aft with considerable difficulty. Presently a dim, gray +light, filtering through the blackness, apprised him that he was nearing +the door in the bulkhead through which he had blundered into the hold. A +moment more and he had passed through the engine-room and was in the +cabin. Hiram, looking pale and wild, was clinging to a stanchion. Water +had come into the cabin through a broken port, and was washing about the +floor. + +"Oh, Tubby, I'm so glad you've come. Where have you been?" breathed the +unfortunate Hiram, weak and shaky from his bout with seasickness. "What +is happening?" + +"I guess we're aground somewhere," rejoined Tubby. "I'm going to see." + +He made for the companionway and rattled the door at the top. As he had +dreaded, it was locked. They were prisoners on board a doomed vessel. For +an instant even young Hopkins' resourcefulness came to a standstill. His +heart seemed to stop beating. His head swam madly. Was this to be the end +of them, to be drowned miserably, like two captive rats? + +But the next instant the thought of their plight acted as a stimulus. "A +true Scout should never say die," thought the boy, and then, retracing +his steps, he joined Hiram. + +"What's become of Hunt and his outfit?" he asked. + +"Why, Stonington Hunt and Freeman passed through the cabin a few minutes +ago," replied Hiram, "right after that terrible bump----" + +"When the sloop struck," thought Tubby. Aloud he said: + +"Well?" + +"I heard them say that you were done for, and that I could be left to +drown." + +"Yes, yes, Hiram; but did they say anything about escaping themselves?" + +"Yes. I heard them shouting on deck to cut loose the boat. Then I heard a +lot of noise. I guess they launched her. That's all, till I heard you +shouting back in there." + +"Humph!" ejaculated Tubby; "so they left us to perish on this old sloop, +eh? Well, Hiram, we'll fool 'em. We'll get away yet in spite of them." In +talking thus, young Hopkins assumed a confidence he was far from feeling, +but he deemed it best to stimulate Hiram with hope. + +"Got any matches?" was his next question. + +Hiram nodded, and presently handed out a box. + +"Good. Now follow me. By the way, how's the seasickness?" + +"Oh, better, but I feel shaky yet. I can manage, though." + +"That's the stuff--wough!" + +A heavier blow than usual had been dealt the sloop. The two lads could +feel her quiver and quake under the concussion like a live thing. + +"Come on, we've got to move quick," said Tubby. Striking a match, he set +off into the hold. Hiram followed. Before long they stood at the foot of +the ladder from which Tubby had been so violently flung a short time +before. + +The stout youth darted up it with an agility one would not have expected +in a boy of his girth. With the strongest shove of which he was capable, +he pushed up the scuttle above. + +To his great joy, it gave, swinging back on hinges. But, as he opened it +fully, Tubby came nearly being hurled from the ladder for the second +time. A great mass of green water swept across the deck at that instant, +and the full force of the torrent descended into the hole through the +open hatch. Luckily, Tubby had seen it coming in time to warn Hiram, and +the downeast lad clung on tightly enough to avoid being carried from his +foothold. + +In a jiffy young Hopkins clambered through, shouting to Hiram to follow +him. It was a wild scene that met both boys' eyes when they emerged on +the deck of the stranded sloop. She lay in a small inlet which, though +partially sheltered, in hard storms was swept by the seas from outside. +The sloop was heeled over to one side at so steep an angle that standing +on her wet decks was impossible without clinging to something. + +About three hundred yards away lay the shore, a wild, uninhabited expanse +of wind-swept sand dunes, overgrown with dull, green and prickly +beach-grass. No sign of a human habitation could be discerned. Outside on +the beach the big seas thundered, flinging masses of white foam skyward. +It seemed almost impossible that she could have been navigated through +the narrow inlet leading into the small bay where she had stranded. As a +matter of fact, it had been more by luck than by design that she had +accomplished the passage. + +All at once, as the two castaways stood looking about them, a figure +bobbed up from behind one of the sand hills. It was instantly recognized +by Tubby as Stonington Hunt. The lad now saw that a boat lay on the +beach; evidently then, that was how they had reached the shore, as Hiram +had surmised. Hunt had apparently been seeking shelter from the storm +behind the dune, with the rest of his band. As his eyes fell on the +figures of the two Boy Scouts standing on the deck of the stranded sloop, +he beckoned toward the dune. Instantly there appeared the rest of the +lads' enemies. + +They stood staring for a few minutes, as if amazed to see the Boy Scouts. +But before they had time to take any action, an astonishing thing +happened. + +The sloop began to move. + +The incoming tide, which had been steadily rising, had floated her, and +she gradually reeled off the sand bank, on which she had struck, into +open water. As she did so, Tubby suddenly ducked low, and something +whistled by his head. Above the wind came the crack of a firearm's +report. Gazing toward Stonington Hunt, Tubby saw that the man held a +revolver in his hand. It was from this weapon, evidently, that the +projectile had been discharged. + +"Get out of the way, Hiram, quick!" exclaimed the stout lad, for he now +saw that the others were preparing to discharge pistols at them. It was +apparent that they did not mean the boys to escape if they could avoid +it. + +But Tubby had suddenly thought of a plan. It had been born in his mind +when the sloop rolled off the shoal into deep water. He knew something of +gasoline engines from his experiences on board the _Flying Fish_. Why +would it not be possible to get out of the little and dangerous bay under +motor power? The shots hastened his decision. Clearly if they remained +where they were, destruction swift and certain threatened. Stonington +Hunt did not mean to let them land, so much was only too apparent. + +Before the men left the sloop they had hauled down the canvas, probably +in an effort to keep her from grounding. It was the work of an instant +for Tubby to dash below and give a turn to the rear starting device on +the engine. It worked perfectly. Then he turned on the gasolene, easily +finding the connection, and threw on the switch. A blue spark showed that +the current was on. Then, with a beating heart he turned the starting +device once more. + +Bang! + +The engine moved. To the lad's delight it worked steadily. This done, he +darted back on deck and took the wheel. He was not a moment too soon, +for, with no one at the helm, the craft was heading once more for the +sand bank. Crouching beneath the stern bulwarks, and ordering Hiram to do +the same, young Hopkins navigated the sloop skilfully ahead, steering +straight for the open sea. Tempestuous as it was, the sloop seemed still +staunch, and he felt they were safer there than in such close proximity +to Hunt. Especially since they were followed by an unceasing fire from +the pistols of the gang. But although some of the shots splintered the +bulwarks, sending showers of slivers about the two crouching lads, +neither were hit. + +At last, after a dozen hair-raising escapes on the choppy bar, the sloop +gained the outside, and throwing showers of spray high over her bluff +bows, began to breast the sweep of the seas. + +"Go below and take a look at the glass oil cups," ordered Tubby as soon +as they were safe from the firing, "if any of them are empty fill them. +There is an oil can on a shelf beside the motor." + +Glad to do anything to help out, Hiram hastened on this errand. He was +below about ten minutes. When he returned on deck his face was white, and +he was breathing quickly. Tubby's quick eye noted, too, that the lad was +wet to the waist. + +"What's up below?" he demanded. + +"The cabin's half full of water, and it seems to be rising every minute;" +was the disquieting reply. + +At the same instant the sloop's motion stopped and she began rolling in a +sickening fashion in the troughs of the mighty seas. + +"Jehoshaphat!" exclaimed Scout Hopkins, "we're in for it now. The water's +reached the engine and it's stopped!" + +As he spoke a gigantic mountain of green water suddenly towered right +above the helpless sloop. Its crest seemed to overtop the mast tip. +Automatically Tubby crouched low and reached out a hand for Hiram. + +The next instant the wave swept down on them enveloping the lads in a +turmoil of salt water. The two boys were swept away in the liquid +avalanche like feathers before a gale. + +When the wave had passed, the wreck of the sloop could be seen staggering +and wallowing like a stricken thing. But of her two recent occupants +there was no trace upon the wilderness of heaving waters. + + + + + CHAPTER X. + A RESCUE AND A BIVOUAC. + + +From the bow of the _Algonquin_ Rob kept his eyes riveted on the spot at +which he had seen the sloop vanish. But for some time he could see +nothing but the billowing crests of the waves. Suddenly, to his +astonishment, from the midst of the combing summits, there was revealed +the swaying mast of the sloop, cutting great arcs dizzily across the +lowering sky. + +As the _Algonquin_ climbed to a wave top the entire length of the sloop +was disclosed to the lad's gaze. On her deck he could now plainly see two +figures. + +"Got a glass?" he inquired of Ike. + +"Sure," responded that individual, floundering forward with a pair of +binoculars. + +Rob clapped them to his eyes. The figures of Hiram and Tubby Hopkins swam +into the field of vision. At the same instant, or so it seemed, Rob made +out the wall of green water rushing downward upon the sloop. + +While a cry of alarm still quivered upon his lips, the sloop rallied an +instant, and then--was wiped out! + +The others had pressed forward too, and the _Algonquin_ had, by that +time, gotten close enough for them all to witness the marine tragedy. + +"Steady, Rob," exclaimed the major, his hand on Rob's shoulder, "they may +be all right yet." + +Rob's face was white and set, but he nodded bravely. It seemed impossible +that anything living could have escaped from the overwhelming avalanche +of water. + +Merritt seized the glasses as Rob set them down to take the wheel again. +He peered through them with straining eyes. + +"Hullo, what's that off in the water there?" he shouted suddenly, +pointing. + +The next instant the object he had descried had vanished in the trough of +a sea. + +"Could you make out anybody?" asked the major anxiously. + +"It looked like a spar with--Yes, there are two figures clinging to it." + +"Here, let me look!" Rob snatched the glasses out of his comrade's hand. + +"Hooray!" he cried the next instant, "it's Tubby and Hiram!" + +"Are you sure?" asked the major, "perhaps it's some members of Hunt's +crew." + +"No, it's Tubby and Hiram. I can make out their uniforms," cried Rob. As +he spoke he swung the wheel over, and the _Algonquin's_ head was turned +in the direction of the spot where a spar with two objects clinging to it +had last been seen. + +"Wonder what can have become of Hunt and his crowd?" said Merritt +presently. + +"Maybe they've met with a watery grave," conjectured one of the +detectives, "and from what you've told me it would be a good end for +them." + +"If they hain't taken that pocket-book with them," put in his companion, +"the kidnapping of those boys was as desperate a bit of work as I've ever +heard tell of." + +In a brief time the two lads, none the worse apparently for their +immersion, had been hauled on board the _Algonquin_, and were being plied +with eager questions. + +"I guess I caught on to that boom more by instinct than anything else," +explained Tubby, "when I got the water out of my lungs I looked about me +and saw that Hiram had grabbed it too." + +"That's what I call luck," said one of the detectives in a wondering +tone. + +"It surely was," agreed Hiram, "but I guess there's a bigger bit coming." + +"What do you mean?" asked the major, struck by something odd in the lad's +tone. + +For answer Tubby thrust a hand into an inside pocket of his coat and drew +forth something that, dripping with water as it was, could be easily +recognized as--the missing pocket-book! + +"I guess they forgot to search me for it in the excitement following the +collapse of the roof. I'm sorry it got wet, major," he added. + +But the major and the others could only regard the fat boy with wondering +eyes. Suddenly the major, the first to recover his senses, spoke: + +"I don't know how I'm ever to thank you for this, Hopkins----," he began. + +"Tell you how you can," spoke the irrepressible Tubby swiftly. + +"How, my boy?" + +"By taking us some place where we can get something to eat," quoth Tubby, +"I'm so hungry I could demolish the left hind leg of a brass monkey +without winking." + + * * * * * * * * + +From the tumbling waves of an angry sea to the cool shadows of a +magnificent forest of chestnut and oak may be a long distance to travel, +but such is the jump over time and space that we must make if we wish to +accompany our Boy Scouts to their Mountain Camp. The evening sun, already +almost touching the peaks of the nearest range, was striking level shafts +of light through the forest as our party came to a halt, and Major +Dangerfield ordered the canoes, by which they had traversed the smooth +stretches of Echo Lake, hauled ashore. + +It was more than three days since the party had left the shores of Lake +Champlain. The passage of the lake from its lower end had been made by +canoes. The same craft they were now using had transported them. There +were three of the frail, delicate little vessels. One was blue, another a +rich Indian red, and the third a dark green. + +The canoes had been purchased by Major Dangerfield at Lakehead, a small +town at which they left the railroad. They had been stocked with +provisions and equipment for their long dash into the solitudes of the +Adirondacks. Reaching Dangerfield, the canoes had been transported +overland till the first of a chain of lakes, leading into the interior, +had been reached. Here, to the boys' huge delight, they once more took to +the water. + +In the party were Rob, Merritt, young Hopkins, Hiram and little Andy +Bowles, the bugler of the Eagles. Andy had been brought along because, as +Rob had said, he was so little he would tuck in anywhere. Of course there +had been keen regret on the part of the lads who were, of necessity, left +behind. But they had borne it with true scout spirit and wished their +lucky comrades all the good fortune in the world, when they embarked from +Hampton. + +Travel had bronzed the lads and stained and crumpled their smart +uniforms. But they looked very fit and scout-like as they bustled about, +making the various preparations for the evening's camp. Two members of +the party have not yet been mentioned. One of these was a tall, lanky man +with a pair of big horn-rimmed spectacles set athwart his nose, and +arrayed in a queer combination of woodsman's clothes and a pedant's +immaculate dress. He had retained a white lawn tie and long black coat, +but his nether limbs were encased in corduroys and gaiters, with a pair +of big, square-toed shoes protruding beneath. On his head was an +odd-looking round, black hat, which was always getting knocked into the +water or caught on branches and swept off. This queer figure was +Professor Jeremiah Jorum. + +The second addition to the party was the major's factotum, Christopher +Columbus Julius Pompey Snaggs. But for purposes of identification he +answered to the name of Jumbo. Jumbo was a big-framed negro, intensely +black and with a sunny, child-like disposition. He had a propensity for +coining words to suit his convenience, deeming the King's English +insufficient in scope to express his emotions. + +Standing on the sandy strip of beach as he emerged from the red canoe, +with a load of "duffle," Jumbo gazed about him in an interested way. + +"Dis sutt'in'ly am a glumpferiferous spot to locate a camp," he remarked, +letting his big eyes roll from the tranquil expanse of lake, fringed with +feathery balsams and firs, to the slope above him clothed in its growth +of fine timber, some of it hundreds of years old. + +"Here you, Jumbo, hurry up with that bedding and then clean those fish!" + +The voice was the major's. It hailed from a level spot a short distance +above the sandy beach. On this small plateau, the canvas "tepees" the Boy +Scouts carried were already erected, and a good fire was burning between +two green logs. + +"Yas, sah, yas, sah! I'se a comin'," hailed the negro, lumbering up among +the loose rock, and almost spilling his load in his haste, "I'se a coming +so quintopulous dat you all kain't see muh fer de dus' I'se raisin'." + +Before long the fish, caught by trolling as they came along, were +frizzling in the pan, and spreading an appetizing odor abroad. The aroma +of coffee and camp biscuit mingled with the other appetizing smells. + +"Race anybody down to the lake for a wash!" shouted Rob suddenly. + +In a flash he was off, followed by Merritt, Hiram and Tubby. Little Andy +Bowles, with his bugle suspended from his shoulders by a cord of the +Eagle colors, hurried along behind on his stumpy little legs. + +"I win!" shouted Rob as he, with difficulty, paused on the brink of the +lake. But hardly were the words out of his mouth before Merritt flashed +up beside him. + +"Almost a dead heat," laughed Rob, "I----But hullo, what's all this?" + +Above them came a roar of sliding gravel and stones that sounded like an +avalanche. In the midst of it was Tubby, his rotund form dashing forward +at a great rate. His legs were flashing like the pistons of a racing +locomotive as he plunged down the hillside. + +"Here, stop! stop!" shouted Rob, "you'll be in the lake in a minute!" + +But the warning came too late. Tubby's heavy weight could not be checked +so easily. Faster he went, and faster, striving in vain to stop himself. + +"He's gone!" yelled Merritt the next instant, as a splash announced that +Tubby had plunged into the lake water. + +In a flash the fat boy was on the surface. But he was "dead game," and +while his comrades shouted with laughter he swam about, puffing like a +big porpoise. + +"Come on in, the water's fine," he exclaimed. + +"Even with your uniform on?" jeered Hiram. + +"Sure! Oh-ouch! what's that?" + +The fat boy had perceived a queer-looking head suddenly obtrude from the +water close to him. It was evident that he was not the only one to enjoy +an evening swim that day. A big water snake was sharing his involuntary +bath with him. + +Tubby struck out with might and main for shore, and presently reached it, +dripping profusely. The major, when he heard of the occurrence, ordered a +change of clothes. When this had been made, Andy's bugle sounded the +quick lively notes of the mess call, and the Boy Scouts and their elders +gathered round the table which the boys' deft hands had composed of flat +slabs of birch bark supported on trestles of green wood. They sat on camp +stools which they carried with them. How heartily they ate! They had the +appetites that are born of woods and open places. + +"Mah goodness, dose boys mus' have stumicks lak der olyphogenius +mammaothstikuscudsses!" exclaimed Jumbo as he hurried to and from his +cooking fire in response to constant demands for "more." + + + + + CHAPTER XI. + THE MOUNTAIN CAMP. + + +Supper concluded, the talk naturally fell to the object of their +expedition. The chart or map of the treasure-trove's location was brought +out and pored over in the firelight, for the nights were quite sharp, and +a big fire had been lighted. + +"How soon do you think we will be within striking distance of the place?" +inquired Rob. + +"Within two or three days, I should estimate," replied the former +officer, "but of course we may be delayed. For instance, we have a +portage ahead of us." + +"A-a--how much?" asked Tubby. + +"A portage. That means a point of land round which it would not be +practicable to canoe. At such a place we shall have to take the canoes +out of the water and carry them over the projection of land to the next +lake." + +"Anybody who wants it can have my share of that job," said Tubby, "I +guess I'll delegate Andy Bowles to carry out my part." + +There was a general laugh at the idea of what a comical sight the +diminutive bugler would present staggering along under the weight of a +canoe. + +"Andy would look like a little-neck clam under its shell," chuckled +Merritt. + +"Well, you can't always gauge the quality of the goods by the size of the +package they come in," chortled Andy, "look at Tubby, for instance. +He----" + +But the fat boy suddenly projected himself on the little bugler. But +Andy, though small, was tough as a roll of barbed wire. He resisted the +fat lad's attack successfully and the two struggled all over the level +place on which the camp had been pitched. + +Finally, however, they approached so near to the edge that Rob +interfered. + +"You'll roll down the slope into the lake in another minute," he said. +"Two baths a day would be too much for Tubby. Besides, he'd raise the +water and swamp the canoes." + +The fat youth, with a pretence of outraged dignity, sought his tepee and +engaged himself in cleaning his twenty-two rifle. After a while, though, +he emerged from his temporary obscurity, and joined the group about the +fire, who were happily discussing plans. + +"One good thing is that we have plenty of arms," volunteered Hiram, "in +case Hunt and his gang attack us we can easily keep them off." + +"Good gracious!" exclaimed the professor, "surely you don't contemplate +any such unlawful acts, major?" + +"As shooting at folks you mean," laughed the major. "No indeed, my dear +professor. But if those rascals attack us I hope we shall be able to +tackle them without any other weapons than those nature has given us." + +"I owe Freeman Hunt a good punch," muttered Tubby. "I'd like to make the +dust fly around his heels with this rifle." + +"Goodness, you talk like a regular 'Alkali Ike'," grinned Hiram. + +"Bet you I could hit an apple at two hundred yards with this rifle, +anyway," asserted the stout youth. + +"Bet my hunting knife you can't." + +"All right, we'll try to-morrow. This rifle is a dandy, I tell you." + +"Pooh! It won't carry a hundred yards." + +"It won't, eh? It'll carry half a mile, the man who sold it to me said +so." + +"Minds me uv er gun my uncle had daown in Virginny," put in Jumbo who had +been an interested listener, "that thar gun was ther mos' umbliquitos gun +I ever hearn' tell uv." + +"It was a long distance shooter, eh?" laughed the major, scenting some +fun. + +"Long distance, sah! Why, majah, sah, dat gun hadn't no ekil fo' long +distancenessness. Dat gun 'ud shoot--it 'ud shoot de eye out uv er lilly +fly des as fur as you could see." + +"It would, really, Jumbo?" inquired Andy Bowles, deeply interested. + +"It sho' would fer sartain shuh, Massa Bowles." + +"Pshaw, that's nothing," scoffed Tubby, with a wink at the others. The +fun-loving youth scented a joke. "My uncle had a gun that once killed a +deer at three miles." + +"At free miles, Massa Hopkins?" + +"Yes. It sounds incredible I know, but they had the state surveyor +measure off the ground and sure enough it was three miles." + +"Um-ho!" exclaimed Jumbo, blinking at the fire, "dat's a wun'ful gun shoh +'nuff. But mah uncle's gun hed it beat." + +"Impossible, Jumbo!" exclaimed the major. + +"Yas, sah, it deed. Mah uncle's gun done cahhey so fah dat mah uncle he +done hed ter put salt on his bullets befo' he fahed dem." + +"Put salt on his bullets before he fired them, Jumbo! What on earth for?" +demanded Rob while the others bent forward interestedly. + +"Jes' becos of de distance at which dat rifle killed," explained Jumbo. +"Yo' see, and especially in warm weather, dat salt was needed, 'cos it +took mah uncle such a time te git to it after he done kill it dat if +those bullets weren't salted the game would hev spoiled. Yes, sah, da's a +fac', majah." + +A dead silence fell over the camp at the conclusion of this interesting +narrative. You could have heard a pin drop. At last the major said, in a +solemn voice: + +"Jumbo, I fear you are an exaggerator." + +"Ah specs' ah is, majah. I specs' ah is, but you know dat zaggerators is +bo'n and not made, lak potes." + +Then the laughter broke loose. The hillside echoed with it, and Jumbo, +who deemed that he had been called a most complimentary term by the +major, gazed from one to the other in a highly puzzled way. + +"Reminds me of old Uncle Hank who keeps a grocery store near my uncle's +farm up in Vermont," put in Hiram. "One night in the store they were +talking about potato bugs. One old fellow said he had seen twenty potato +bugs on one stalk. + +"''Pshaw!' said an old man named Abner Deene, 'that's nothing. Why, up in +my potato patch they've eaten everything up and now when I go outdoors I +kin see 'em sitting around the lot, on trees and fences, waitin' fer me +ter plant over ag'in.' + +"Then it came the turn of an old fellow named Cyrus Harper. Cyrus laughed +at Abner. + +"'Sittin' roun' on fences,' he sniffed, 'that's nuffin'. Nuffin' at all. +Why whar I come from the potato bugs come right into the kitchen, open +the oven doors and yank the red hot baking potatoes out of the stove.' + +"My uncle hadn't said a thing all this time, but now he struck in. + +"'Gentlemen,' he said, 'all these potato-bug stories don't begin to +compare with the breed they had down near Brattleboro, where I come from. +Down there I used to clerk in Si Toner's grocery and general store. Well, +the potato bugs used to come into the store in the spring and look over +Si's books to see who'd been buying potato seed.'" + +"Funny thing your uncle never met the wonderful rifle shot, Philander +Potts," said the professor musingly, after the laughter over Hiram's yarn +had subsided. + +"Philander Potts," exclaimed the boys, "never heard of him." + +"Too bad," said the professor musingly, "he was the best shot in the +world, too, I guess. Why, once he undertook to fire at a rubber target +2,000 times in two minutes. The way he did it was this. He had a +repeating rifle and kept firing as fast as he could at the india-rubber +target. The bullets would bounce off and he caught them in the muzzle of +his rifle as they flew back and fired them over again." + +"But what about the bullets that were coming out? Didn't they collide +with the ones coming back?" asked Andy Bowles in all seriousness. + +"No," said the professor gravely, "you see, Philander was so swift in his +movements that he was able to fire and catch alternately." + +"I'll have to practice that," laughed Tubby. + +Soon after the narration of this surprising anecdote, the major looked at +his watch. + +"Bless my soul!" he exclaimed, "nine o'clock. Time for lights out. Andy, +sound 'Taps' and we'll post the sentries for the night." + +Tubby and Hiram were selected for the first watch. The major and young +Andy were to stand the second vigil while the third period of sentry duty +fell to Merritt and Rob. It seemed to the latter that they had not been +asleep half an hour when the major entered their tepee and aroused them +for their tour of duty. He reported all quiet, and a clear moonlight +night. + +Hastily throwing on their uniforms the Boy Scouts turned out. For some +time they paced their posts steadfastly without anything occurring to mar +the stillness of the night. The moon shone down brightly, silvering the +surface of the lake which could be glimpsed through the dark trees. + +Suddenly Rob, who had reached the limit of his post, which was not far +from where the canoes had been hauled up, was startled by a slight sound. +It ceased almost instantly, but presently it occurred again. + +Cautiously the boy crept through the forest toward the water's edge. He +took every advantage of his scout training and carefully avoided treading +on twigs or anything that might cause a sound of his approach to be made +manifest. + +Gliding from tree trunk to tree trunk he soon arrived at the spot in +which the canoes had been dragged ashore. At the same instant he became +aware of several dark figures moving about among them. Suddenly, right +behind him, a twig snapped. In the stillness it sounded as loud as the +report of a pistol. Rob wheeled round swiftly, but not before a figure +leaped toward him from behind a tree trunk. Before Rob could raise a hand +in self-defense another form sprang at him. + +The lad tried to cry out and discharge his rifle, but before he could +accomplish either act he was felled by some heavy instrument, and a gag +thrust into his mouth. The next instant, bound and incapable of uttering +a sound, he was borne swiftly toward the canoes. + + + + + CHAPTER XII. + CAPTURED. + + +But silently as the attack upon Rob had been made, it had not taken place +without causing some disturbance. Moreover, the sharp crack of the +snapping twig which had attracted Rob's attention to his trailers, had +also reached Merritt's sharp ears. In the silence of the night-enwrapped +forest sounds carry far. + +Merritt was all attention in a flash. The snap of the twig might have +been caused by some prying animal or---- + +"Gee whiz! That's the scuffling of feet!" exclaimed the young sentry the +next moment as the sounds of the tussle came to him. + +His first act was to fire a shot. It should have been aimed in the air, +but in his excitement Merritt fired low. The bullet whizzed in the +direction of the camp, struck a tin kettle which was piled up with a +number of other tin utensils, and brought the whole pile down with a +crash. Now Jumbo's chosen sleeping place was right behind this barricade +of tin hardware. When it fell it came crashing about the colored man in +an ear-splitting avalanche. Jumbo leaped to his feet with a howl. He was +attired in his shirt, trousers and shoes, not having bothered to remove +these when he retired. + +"Fo' de lan's sake what dat gum gophulous racket?" he yelled. In a flash +his long legs began to move. + +"Ah'll bet a pint uv peanuts dat's Injuns!" he shouted as he sped along, +"mah goodness, ah wish ah had mah uncle's gun. But as ah ain't ah's jes' +a gwine te trus' ter mah laigs." + +Jumbo, in great leaps and strides, arrived at the lake-side in a few +instants. In the meantime, the camp behind him was in an uproar of +excitement over the midnight alarm. + +The negro had already reached the waterside before he felt himself +knocked flat by a heavy blow on the head. Now Jumbo's head, like all +negroes', was about as hard as a bit of adamant. But the cowardly fellow +deemed it better to lie perfectly still when he was knocked flat. +Presently he felt himself being picked up and thrown into something that +the next instant began to move off. He realized in a flash that he was +lying in the bottom of one of the canoes. + +"Hailp! Hailp!" he began to yell, but was silent instantly as a harsh +voice breathed in his ear: + +"You shut up if you don't want a bullet in your black head." + +Jumbo lay silent after that. But his thoughts were busy. + +"Bullet in mah haid, eh?" he mused, "mah goodness, ah don't want nuffin' +lak dat. Mah cocoanut feels now laik ah'd done tried ter butt a +locusmocus off'n de track. Wondah what deportentiousness uv all dis +unusualauness done mean?" + +His meditations were interrupted by a shout from the shore. + +"Bring back those canoes at once!" + +"Mah goodness, dat am de majah," exclaimed Jumbo, but to himself. "He +shuh am po'ful mad. Wondah if dem boys is playin' pranks. If dey is +dey'll be sorry fer it." + +The black ventured to raise his head a little and peep up to see who was +in the canoe with him. In doing so his eyes fell on another figure lying +beside him. In the moonlight he could see the cords that bound it. The +radiance of the moon also revealed the Boy Scout uniform. + +"Gabriel's Ho'hn! Dat's one of dem Boy Scrouts!" he exclaimed, "an' mah +gracious, ah wondah who dat fierce lookin' man am whose paddlin' dis yar +boat. Reckon ah'd better lay quiet. He looks pretty frambunctious." + +In the meantime, the aroused inmates of the camp had rushed to the shore. +They reached it just in time to see their entire flotilla of canoes being +paddled swiftly off across the smooth, moonlit waters. Tubby and Hiram +raised their rifles when a hoarse laugh of defiance greeted the major's +command to the marauders to halt. But in a flash the officer saw what +they were about to do. + +"None of that, boys," he ordered sharply, "put down those rifles." + +"No use for them now," grumbled Tubby, "see, they've disappeared round +that point." + +"Let's get after them," suggested Hiram. + +The major shook his head. + +"Over this rough ground they could easily outdistance us," he said, "is +anyone missing?" + +It took but a few minutes to ascertain that both Rob and Jumbo were not +among them. + +"This is even more serious than the theft of the canoes," exclaimed the +professor, "do you suppose that it was Hunt's gang that took them?" + +"I don't doubt it," said the major, "who else would be interested in +annoying us? But let's hear Merritt's story. What did you hear, my boy?" + +Merritt soon told his narrative of the crackling twig and the struggle. A +visit to the beach showed that there had, indeed, been a struggle before +Rob had been landed in the canoe. A disconsolate silence fell on the +little party. + +"What are we to do now?" wondered Hiram. + +"Get in pursuit of them as quick as possible, I should think," opined +Tubby. + +The major shook his head. + +"Not much use in that," he decided, "we would not be likely to find them. +No, the best plan is to wait right here. If Rob escapes he will be able +to find his way back again." + +"Do you think they mean him harm?" inquired little Andy Bowles +tremulously. + +"I hardly think so," responded the major, "they wouldn't dare to do much +more than keep him prisoner. But even that's bad enough." + +"But what object can they have in all this except to annoy us?" asked the +professor. + +"Simple enough," said the major, rather bitterly, "I guess they are going +to hold Rob as a hostage." + +"What do you mean?" + +"That if they manage to keep him prisoner we shan't see him again till I +have given them the plans to the location of the Dangerfield treasure +cave." + +"They wouldn't dare----" began the professor. But the major interrupted +him. + +"We have already had a proof of what they will dare," he said, "they are +as desperate a band of ruffians as I have ever heard of." + +"I guess that's right," agreed Tubby, "but I'll bet," he added stoutly, +"that Rob will find a way out of it yet." + +In the meantime the canoes sped on through the night. Rob mentally tried +to keep some track of the distance traversed, but he was totally unable +to do so. He judged, however, when the paddles finally ceased their +splashing, that they must have come some distance, for it was day-break +when the canoes came to a halt. + +Rob was roughly jerked to his feet and then, for the first time, became +aware of Jumbo. For his back had been toward the negro in the canoe. + +"Mah goodness, Marse Blake," exclaimed the black, "ain' dis de mostes' +parallelxillus sintuation dat you ever seen. Ah declar'----" + +But further remarks on Jumbo's part were roughly checked by the man who +had paddled the two prisoners to their present situation. He was none +other than the big-limbed rascal, Jim Dale, who had played such a +prominent part in the theft of the pocket-book. + +"Shut your black head, nigger," he ordered gruffly. + +"Ah ain't no niggah. Ah's a 'spectabilious colored gent"; protested +Jumbo, "'nd I kain't shut mah haid nohow 'cos it keeps openin' an' +shuttin' of its own accord whar you busted me on it." + +But a fierce look from the man made even the garrulous negro subside. As +for Rob, he disdained to talk to the fellow, or bandy words with him. +Instead, he gazed around while the other canoes, filched from the Boy +Scout camp, were coming up. He noted that one was paddled by Peter +Bumpus, while the third one contained Stonington Hunt and his son +Freeman, the lad who had already given the Boy Scouts so much trouble. + +It was a curious place in which the boy found himself. But Rob, with his +scout instinct, could not but admire the skill with which it had been +chosen as a retreat. + +The spot was like a large basin with steep rock walls on all sides but +one. On the open side a narrow neck of the lake led into this natural +fortress. Great trees and luxurious water growth masked the entrance and +anybody, not knowing of it, might have passed by it on the lake side a +hundred times without noting its presence. The canoes had been paddled +through this natural screen of water maples and rank growth of all kinds, +which had closed like a curtain behind them. + +A beach, narrow except at the far end of the cove, ran round the water's +edge at the foot of the rocky walls. A small tent was pitched there, and +a fire was smoldering. Evidently the place had been occupied for some +little time as a camp. Rob found himself wondering how the men, in whose +power he now was, had ever found the place. He did not know then that Jim +Dale and Pete Bumpus had once been associated with a gang of moonshiners, +whose retreat this had been before the officers of the revenue service +broke the gang up and scattered them far and wide. + +Hunt had gleaned enough knowledge from the plan, during his brief +possession of it, to divine which route the party would take to the +hidden treasure trove. He had, therefore, sought out this place when Dale +and Bumpus told him of it. The boys' enemies had made straight for it, +and had been encamped there some days awaiting the arrival of the party. +The notes of Andy Bowles' bugle floating out across the lake the night +before had apprised them of the arrival of the party, and plans had +immediately been made for a hasty descent on the Boy Scouts' mountain +camp. How successful it had proved we already know. But of course, to +Rob, all this was a mystery. + +The canoes were grounded at the end of the cove on the broad strip of +beach. Rob and Jumbo were at once ordered to get out, and Rob's leg-bonds +being loosened and gag removed, he followed Jumbo on to the white sand. +Hardly had their feet touched it before Stonington Hunt and his rascally +young son, the latter with a sneer on his face, also landed. + +"Fell neatly into our little trap, didn't you?" jeered Stonington Hunt, +staring straight at Rob with an insolent look. + +"Yo' alls kin hev yo' trap fo' all I wants uv it"; snorted Jumbo +indignantly, as Rob disdained to answer. + +"Be quiet, you black idiot!" snapped Hunt, "we didn't want you, anyhow. +I've a good mind," he went on with a brutal sort of humor, "to have you +thrown into the lake." + +"By golly yo' jes bring on de man to do it," exclaimed the negro with +great bravado, "ah reckon ah kin tackle him. Ah'm frum Vahgeenyah, ah is, +an----" + +But Hunt impatiently checked him. He turned to Peter Bumpus. "Cook us up +a meal," he ordered. + +"For them, too?" asked Bumpus, jerking his thumb backward at Rob and +Jumbo. + +"Of course. You may as well get used to it. I expect they'll make quite a +long stay with us." + +Rob's heart sank. He was a lad who always schooled himself to look on the +brightest side of things. But no gleam of hope lightened the gloom of +their present situation. Things could not have been much worse, he felt. + + + + + CHAPTER XIII. + ROB FINDS A RAY OF HOPE. + + +The meal, a sort of stew composed apparently of rabbits, partridges and +other small game, was despatched and then Rob, who had been released from +his bonds while he ate, was tied up once more. + +"These fellows don't think much of breaking the game laws," he thought as +he ruminated on the contents of the big iron pot from which their +noon-day meal had been served. Then came another thought. If they so +openly violated the laws, the country was surely a lonely one, and +seldom, or never, visited. Indeed, the thick forest of hemlock and other +coniferous trees that fringed the cliff summits, would seem to indicate +that the spot was well chosen. + +Jumbo was not confined. The gang seemed to esteem him as more or less +harmless for, although a sharp watch was kept on him, he was not +fettered. Once or twice he caught Rob's eye with a knowing look. But he +said nothing. One or another of the men kept too close and constant a +watch for that. And so the hours wore on. Tied as Rob was, the small +black flies and other winged mountain pests made life almost intolerable. +With infinite pains the lad dragged himself to a spot of shade under a +stunted alder bush. He lay here with something very like despair +clutching coldly at his heart. The canoes had been anchored, with big +stones attached to ropes, at some distance out in the little bay. Only +one remained on shore, and by that Jim Dale kept an unrelaxing vigil. + +Jim and Peter were talking in low voices. Rob overheard enough to know +that their talk was of the old lawless days when the moonshine gang made +the hidden cove their rendezvous. + +"Those were the days," Dale said with a regretful sigh, "money was plenty +then. By the way, Pete, did you ever hear what became of Black Bart and +the others after the revenues broke us up?" + +"No, I never wanted to take a chance of inquiring," rejoined Peter, +puffing at a dirty corn cob. "I did hear, though, that they had resumed +operations some place around here." + +"They did, eh? I suppose they figgered that lightning don't never strike +twice in the same place." + +"Just the same, they are taking a long chance. With revenues against you +it's all one sided--like the handle of a jug." + +"That's so. But there's good money in it, and Black Bart would risk a lot +for that." + +The conversation was carried on in low tones. Rob, intent though he was, +could not catch any more of it. But he pondered over what he had heard. +If what Jim Dale and Peter had said was correct, a gang of moonshiners +still made the mountains thereabouts their habitat. + +"It's a strange situation we've stumbled into," thought the boy. + +Then he fell to observing Stonington Hunt and his son, Freeman. The man +and the boy were talking earnestly at some distance from Peter and Jim +Dale. From their gestures and expressions Rob made out that the +conversation was an important one. From the frequent glances which they +cast in his direction he also divined that he himself, was, in all +probability, the subject of it. + +All at once Stonington Hunt arose and came toward him. Freeman followed +him. They came straight up to Rob and stood over him. + +"Well, Rob Blake," sneered young Hunt, "I guess things are different to +what they were the time you drove me out of Hampton and forced my father +to profess all sorts of reformation." + +"I don't know," rejoined Rob coolly and contemptuously, "you seem to me +to be very much the same sort of a chap you were then." + +The inference, and Rob's unshaken manner, appeared to infuriate the +youth. + +"We've got you where we want you now," he snarled, "it would serve you +right if I took all the trouble you've caused us out upon your hide. You +and that patrol of yours cost us our social position, then that Hopkins +kid lost our sloop for us----" + +"The sloop in which you meant to decamp with the major's papers," put in +Rob in the same calm tones, "don't try to assume any better position than +that of a common thief, Freeman." + +With a quick snarl of rage the boy jumped on the helpless and bound boy. +He brought his fist down on Rob's face with all his force. Then he +fastened his hands in Rob's hair and tugged with all his might. But +suddenly something happened. Something that startled young Hunt +considerably. + +Rob gave a quick twist and despite his bonds managed to half raise +himself. In this position he gave the other lad such a terrific "butt" +that Freeman was sent staggering backward, with a white face. Unable to +regain his balance he presently fell flat on the sand. He scrambled to +his feet and seized a big bit of timber, the limb of a hemlock that lay +close at hand. He was advancing, brandishing this with the intention of +annihilating Rob when Stonington Hunt, who had hitherto been an impassive +observer, stepped between them. + +"Here, here, what's all this?" he snapped angrily. "This isn't a fighting +ring. Put down that stick, Freeman, and you, young Blake, listen to me." + +"I'm listening," said Rob, in the same cold, impassive way that had so +irritated Freeman. + +"You want to regain your freedom and rejoin your friends, don't you?" was +the next question. + +"If it can be done by honorable means--yes. But I doubt if you can employ +such, after what I've seen of you." + +"Hard words won't mend matters," rejoined Hunt with a frown, "after all, +I've as much right to this hidden treasure as anyone else--if I can get +it." + +"Yes, if you can get it," replied Rob with meaning emphasis, wondering +much what could be coming next. + +"Your liberty depends on my getting it," resumed Hunt. + +"My liberty?" echoed the boy, "how is that?" + +"I want you to write a note to Major Dangerfield. He thinks a good deal +of you, doesn't he?" + +"I hope so," responded Rob, mightily curious to know what Hunt was +driving at. + +"He's responsible, too, in a way, for your safety, isn't he? I mean your +parents rely on him to bring you back safe and sound?" + +"I suppose so. But why don't you come to the point. Tell me what it is +you want." + +"Just this: You write to the major. I'll see that the note is delivered. +You must tell him to give my messenger the plan and map of the treasure's +hiding place. If he does so you will be returned safe and sound. So will +the nigger and the canoes. We didn't want that nigger anyhow. In the +darkness we mistook him for the major." + +Rob could hardly repress a smile at the idea of the dignified major being +confused with the ubiquitous Jumbo. + +"Are you willing to write such a letter?" + +"You mean am I willing to stake my safety against the major's hopes of +recovering his relative's hidden fortune?" + +"That's about it--yes." + +Rob's mind worked quickly. It might be dangerous to give a direct +negative and yet he certainly would have refused to do as the rascal +opposite to him suggested. + +"I--I--Can you give me time to think it over?" he hesitated, assuming +uncertainty in decision. + +"Yes, I'll give you a reasonable period. But mind, no shilly-shallying. +Don't entertain any idea of escape. You'll be guarded as closely here as +if you were in a stone-walled prison." + +"I know that," said Rob, feeling an inward conviction that Hunt's words +were literally true. The cliff-enclosed cove was indeed a prison. Hunt +turned away, followed by his son. The latter cast a malevolent look back +at Rob as he went. + +"My! His father must be proud of that lad," thought Rob. + +Hunt and his followers fell to playing cards. Rob was left to his +reflections. Jumbo sat gloomily apart and yet in full view of the card +players. After a while Rob's thoughts reverted to the conversation he had +overheard between Dale and Peter Bumpus. In this connection he suddenly +bethought himself of something. Jim Dale had spoken of the revenue +officers raiding the moonshiners' plant. If that was the case, and the +miscreants had all escaped, how did they go? + +The revenue officers probably attacked the place from the lake side of +the cove. This would have effectually shut off all hope of escape in that +direction. The only conclusion left, to account for the freedom of the +gang was a startling one. + +The cove must have some secret entrance or exit. If such were the case it +could only be by a passage or by steps cut in the seemingly solid rock. +Rob's heart began to beat a bit faster. There might be a chance of escape +after all, if only he could discover the means of exit he was now certain +must exist somewhere in the cove. + +But a careful scrutiny failed to show any indications of such a device as +he was looking for. The walls were bare and clean as cliffs of marble. +Not more than two or three stunted conifers grew out of an occasional +crevice. The enclosing walls would not have afforded footing to a fly. + +"Guess I was wrong," thought Rob to himself and lying back on the sand he +closed his eyes the better to concentrate his thoughts. But what with the +strain of the early hours and the warm, sultry atmosphere, the lad found +his ideas wandering. Presently, without knowing it, he had dropped off +into a sound slumber. + +When he awoke it was with a start. The long shadows showed him that the +day was far spent. All at once voices near at hand struck in upon his +half awakened senses. + +Rob heard a few words and then, with wildly beating pulses, he fell to +simulating sleep with all his might. From what he had heard of the +conversation he believed that a hope of escape lay in the words of the +talkers. + + + + + CHAPTER XIV. + A THRILLING ESCAPE. + + +It was Peter Bumpus and Jim Dale who were talking. From their first words +Rob gathered that Stonington Hunt and his son had gone fishing, and that +Jumbo, like himself, was asleep. + +"You're sure that kid is off good and sound, too?" asked Dale. + +"Soon find out," rejoined Bumpus. + +Rob felt the man bend over him, his hot breath fanning his ear. It was a +hard job not to open his eyes, but Rob came through with flying colors. + +"He's sound as a top," decided Pete, "and old Hunt and the kid won't be +back for half an hour anyway. Now's our time to see if the old rope +ladder is still there." + +"It sure did us a good turn the night the revenues came," said Jim Dale. + +"Let's see, it was over this way, wasn't it? Right under that big hemlock +on the top of the cliff?" + +"That's right." + +Rob heard them cross the sandy strip of beach. Luckily, he was lying with +his face toward that side, and by half-opening his eyes could observe +their movements without danger of being discovered. + +They approached a clump of bushes and fumbled about in it for a brief +time. Peter did most of the searching, for that was what it seemed to be, +while Dale stood over him. + +"Well?" demanded Dale at length, "is it there?" + +"Is what there?" wondered Rob. + +"It's here, all right," responded Peter Bumpus and in triumph he held up +something which only by great straining of his eyes Rob was able to +recognize as a strand of wire. It was so slender that if his attention +had not been drawn to it he would never have seen it. + +"I'd like to give it a yank and bring the rope ladder down," said Dale. + +"I wouldn't mind a run in the old woods myself," said Peter. He seemed +half inclined to pull the wire, which Rob judged, though he could not +distinguish it against the dull background of rock, must lead to the +cliff summit. On that cliff summit the boy also assumed, from what he had +heard, there must lie a rope ladder. The mystery of the escape of the +rascals from the revenue officers was solved. They had mounted by the +rope ladder on the first alarm and pulled it up after them. Rob could +hardly help admiring the strategy that had conceived such a scheme. + +Suddenly, while Peter Bumpus still hesitated, there came the sharp +"splash" of a paddle. + +"Here comes the boss," warned Dale. + +Instantly the two men strolled aimlessly across the beach, as if their +minds were vacant and idle. Evidently then, Hunt was not aware of the +existence of the rope ladder, and the two men had some strong object in +wishing to hide it from him. + +The two Hunts brought back several fish, perch and pickerel, which were +cooked for supper. After that meal the men sat about and talked a while, +and then preparations were made for bed. Jumbo was tied hand and foot, +much as Rob was. But not content with these precautions, Dale was +stationed to watch the captives. From what Rob could hear he was to be +relieved by Bumpus at midnight. + +That Dale took his duty seriously was evident by the fact that, beside +him, as he crouched by the fire, he laid out a ready cocked rifle, and +kept one eye always upon the two prisoners. To amuse himself during his +vigil he drew out a big case knife and began whittling a bit of driftwood +into the likeness of a ship--a reminder of his old seafaring days. Rob, +watching the ruffian at this innocent employment while the firelight +played on his rough features, caught himself wondering what sort of +childhood such a man could have had, and how he came to drift into his +evil courses. + +"I'll bet that the Boy Scout movement in big cities is keeping hundreds +of lads out of mischief," he thought, "and helping to make good men out +of them. After all, or so dad says, most bad boys are only bad because +they have no outlet but mischief for their high spirits." + +After a while, Dale finished his carving. Then he darted a cautious look +about him. + +"Wonder if any of that old moonshine is still in the hiding place?" he +muttered. + +For a while he remained still. Then he once more cast a scrutinizing look +around him. Rob interpreted this as a meaning that Dale was anxious to +see if everything was quiet. The boy lay still and silent and Dale +evidently assumed he was asleep. After a careful inspection of the spot +where the others slumbered, the fellow cautiously made for the base of +the cliff near the clump of bushes where he and Bumpus had investigated +the wire that afternoon. Reaching toward a stone he pulled it aside, and +thrust his arm into a recess which was suddenly revealed. When he drew +his hand out it clasped a demijohn. The recess was the hiding place +formerly used by the moonshiners to conceal their product. + +With a swift glance about, to make sure he was not observed, Dale raised +the demijohn to his lips. It stayed there a long time. He set it down and +looked about him furtively once more. Then he raised the jug again and +took another long swig of the poisonous stuff. Rob, through lowered lids, +watched him with a shudder of disgust. + +When Dale finally thrust back the jug into its hiding place and returned +to the firelight, his step was unsteady and his eyes had a strange, +glassy light in them. He sank down on the log which served him as a seat, +and once more drew out his knife. His intention, apparently, was to +resume his whittling. But after a few unsteady strokes at the bit of wood +he had selected, he gave over the attempt. + +His head lolled limply forward and the corners of his mouth drooped. One +by one his fingers relaxed their grip on the knife, and, resting his head +on his hands, he allowed himself to sink into oblivion. + +Instantly the Boy Scout's faculties were alert and at work. The firelight +played temptingly on the knife the liquor-stupefied man had dropped. Very +cautiously the fettered Rob rolled over upon his stomach and, slowly as a +creeping snail, began a tedious progress toward the weapon. How he +blessed the days he had spent practicing such stealthy means of advance. +It was the old scouting crawl of the Indians he used. A means of approach +as silent as that of a marauding weasel. + +It was ticklish, scalp-tightening work, though. But Rob did not dare to +hurry it. The rattle of a misplaced stone, the snap of a twig, might +spoil all. To add to the peril at any moment, either the drowsy man by +the fire, or one of the sleeping men beyond, might awaken. + +But at last, without a single accident, Rob reached the proximity of the +precious knife. It was a heavy weapon and lay on the rock-strewn ground +with its blade upward. The boy noted this with a quick gulp of +thankfulness. For, fettered as he was, he could not have manipulated it +till he got his hands free. + +With infinite caution he rolled his body so that his wrists were close to +the keen blade. Then he began sawing at the ropes, rubbing them back and +forth against the blade. At length one of the strands parted. Then +another was severed, and, with a strong jerk, Rob tore loose the rest. +Then, cautiously picking up the knife in his freed hand, he slashed his +leg-bonds. In less time than it takes to tell it he was free. + +His next task was to liberate Jumbo. And then---- + +Rob had allowed his thoughts to dwell on the daring possibility of +recovering the canoes and paddling away with them. But on second thoughts +he deemed this too risky. Instead he determined to trust to the rope +ladder. It had flashed across his mind in this connection, that the +strands of the ladder might be too weak to support his weight, or the +much greater avoirdupois of Jumbo. But the lad felt that they must risk +it. + +Jumbo very nearly ruined everything. For, as Rob bent over him, he +awakened with a start. + +"Oh, fo' de lan's sake, massa, don' you go to confustigate dis yar----" + +But in a flash Rob had clapped his hand over the garrulous black's +capacious mouth. Jumbo's first fear that his last hour had come was +speedily relieved as he saw who it was. + +Rob, after a quick look about, assured himself that Jumbo's words had not +aroused any of the sleepers. Then, taking his hand from the negro's lips, +he quickly slashed his bonds. In another instant Jumbo, too, was at +liberty. + +"Wha' you go fo' ter do now, Marse Blake?" he whispered. + +"Hush! Not a word. Follow me," breathed the boy. + +"Dis suttingly am a pawtuckitus state of affairs," muttered the black, +"don' see no mo' how we can git out uv this lilly place dan er fly kin +git out of a mo'lasses bar'l." + +However, he followed Rob, who, on tip-toe, approached the clump of bushes +where he knew the wire he had observed that afternoon lay hidden. With +beating pulses he poked about in the scrub-growth till, suddenly, his +fingers encountered the filament of metal. The most dangerous step of +their enterprise still lay before him. What would happen when he pulled +it? Would the ladder come down with a crash that would awaken their foes, +or---- + +Rob lost no time in further indulging his nervous thoughts, however. He +gave the wire a good hard tug. Simultaneously, from out of the blackness +above them, something came snaking down. Rob dodged to avoid it. + +He could have cried aloud with joy as, in the faint glow cast by the +fire, he saw that, right in front of him were the lower rungs of a rope +ladder. It was padded at the bottom so that its descent, abrupt as it had +been, was almost noiseless. Rob noted, too, with inward satisfaction, +that the ropes seemed strong and in good condition. + +"Up with you, Jumbo," he ordered in a tense, low whisper. + +The black turned almost gray with apprehension. + +"Ah got ter clim' dat lilly ladder lak Massa Jacob in de Bibul?" he +whimpered. + +"You certainly have, or----" + +Rob made an eloquent gesture toward the camp of Hunt and his gang. The +hint conveyed proved effectual. + +"Mah goodness, dis am suffin' dis coon nebber thought he hab to do," +muttered Jumbo, "but all things comes to him who waits--so heah goes!" + +He set his foot on the ladder and, rapidly ascending it, soon disappeared +in the darkness above. As soon as the slackness of the appliance showed +Rob that the negro was at the cliff summit, the boy prepared to follow +him. + +But as he set his foot on the lower rung the man by the fire awakened +with a start. Before Rob, climbing like a squirrel, could mount three +more steps he became aware that his prisoners were missing. + +Snatching up his rifle he ran straight toward the rope ladder. The next +instant Rob, with a hasty glance backward, saw that the weapon was aimed +straight at him. His blood chilled as he recollected having heard Dale +that afternoon boasting of his ability as "a dead shot." + + + + + CHAPTER XV. + OUT OF THE FRYING PAN. + + +For only an instant did Rob remain motionless. Then, as if by instinct, +he suddenly crouched. It was well he did so. A bullet sang above his head +as he clung, swinging on his frail support, and flattened itself with an +angry "ping!" against the rock wall above him. + +The report brought the rest of the sleeping camp to its feet. In an +instant voices rang out and hastily lighted lanterns flashed. Rob, taking +advantage of even such a brief diversion, sprang upward. But with a roar +of fury, Dale sprang to the foot of the ladder. Desperation gave Rob +nimble feet. He literally leaped upward. + +In his mind there was a dreadful fear. The ladder was hardly strong +enough to bear two. By placing his weight on the lower part of it, it was +Dale's intention to bring him down to the ground. That in such an event +he could escape with his life, seemed highly improbable. + +But fast as he went, he felt the ladder quiver as Dale's hold was laid +upon it from below. At this critical instant a sudden diversion occurred. +From right above Rob's head, or so it seemed, a voice roared out through +the night. + +"Tak' yo' dirty paws off'n dat ladder, white man, or, by de powers, it's +de las' time you use 'em!" + +It was Jumbo's voice. But Dale answered with a roar of defiance. He shook +the ladder violently. Rob felt himself dashed with sickening force +against the cliff-face. But all at once there was a warning shout. +Something roared past his ears, just missing him. + +"Haids below!" sung out Jumbo as he watched the huge rock he had +dislodged go crashing downward. + +It missed Dale by the fraction of an inch. But his narrow escape unnerved +the fellow for an instant. In that molecule of time Rob gained the summit +of the ladder, and Jumbo's strong arms drew him up to safety beside him. + +"Well done, Jumbo," he exclaimed. + +"Oh, dat wasn' nuffin'," modestly declared Jumbo, "if dat no-account +trash hadn't uv leggo I'd have flattened him out flatter'n dan a hoe +cake. Yas, sah." + +"I guess you would, Jumbo. But there's no time to lose. Come, we must be +getting on." + +"One ting we do firs' off wid alacrimoniousness, Marse Blake," said +Jumbo. + +"What's that?" + +"Jes' len' me dat lilly knife you take frum dat pestiferous pussonage +below an' I shows yoh right quick." + +Rob had thrust the knife into his scout belt. He now withdrew it and +handed it to the negro. With two swift slashes, Jumbo severed the top +strands of the ladder. A crash and outcry from below followed. Rob, +peeping over, saw that Dale, who had just begun to mount after them, was +the victim. He was rolling over and over, entangled in the strands of the +ladder, while Stonington Hunt stood over him in a perfect frenzy of rage. + +"Now den, Marse Blake, ah reckin' we done cook de goose of dem +criminoligous folks," snorted Jumbo as he gazed. "He! he! he! dey is sure +having a mos' fustilaginal time down dere." + +"I guess they'll have plenty to think over for a time," said Rob, rather +grimly; "come, let's set out. Have you any idea in which direction the +camp lies?" + +"No, sah. But I raickon if we des foiler de lake we kain't go fur wrong." + +"We must go toward the south, then. See, there's the Scout's star, the +north one. The outer stars in the bucket of the dipper point to it." + +"Wish ah had a dippah full ob watah. I'm po'ful thirsty," grunted Jumbo. + +"We'll run across a stream before very long, no doubt," said Rob. + +With these words the lad struck off through the forest of juniper and +hemlocks. The moon had not yet risen, and it was dark and mysterious +under the heavy boughs. Jumbo held back a minute. + +"Come on. What's the matter, Jumbo?" exclaimed Rob. + +"It look powerful spooky in dar, Marse Blake." + +"Well, I guess the spooks, if there are any, will do us less harm than +that gang behind us," commented Rob. + +Jumbo, without more words, followed him. But he rolled his eyes from side +to side in evident alarm at every step. On and on they plunged, making +their way swiftly enough over the forest floor. From time to time they +stopped to listen. But there was no sound of pursuit. In fact, Rob did +not expect any. With the ladder destroyed, there was not much chance of +the Hunt crowd clambering over the cliff tops. + +At such moments as they paused, Rob felt, to the full, the deep +impressiveness of the forest at night. Above them the sombre spires of +the hemlocks showed steeple-like against the dark sky. The night wind +sent deep pulsations through them, like the rumbling of the lower notes +of a church organ. All about lay the deeper shadows of the recesses of +the woods. They were shrouded in a rampart of impenetrable darkness. + +"I hope we're keeping on the right track," thought Rob, as it grew +increasingly difficult, and finally impossible, to see the north star +through the thick mass of foliage above them. + +The boy knew the danger of wandering in circles in the untracked waste of +forest unless they kept constantly in one direction. Without the stars to +guide him, it grew increasingly difficult to be sure they were doing +this. + +"Golly! Ah suttinly hopes we gits out of dis foliaginous place befo' +long," breathed Jumbo stentorously, stumbling along behind Rob over the +rough and stony ground that composed the floor of the Adirondack forest. + +All at once, as Rob strode along, he stopped short. Some peculiar +instinct had caused him to halt. Just why he knew not. But he was brought +up dead in his tracks. + +"Wha's de mattah, Marse Blake?" quavered Jumbo, "yo' all hain't seein' +any hants or conjo's, be yoh?" + +Rob replied with another question. + +"Got a match, Jumbo?" he asked. + +"Yas sah, Marse Blake, I done got plenty ob dem lilly lucilfers." + +He dived in his pocket and produced a handful of matches, which he handed +to Rob. The boy struck one, and, as the yellow flame glared up, he +uttered a little cry and stepped back with a perceptible shrinking +movement. + +No wonder he did so. At the young Scout's feet the flare of the match had +revealed a yawning abyss. One more step and he would have been over it. +Gazing into the ravine he could hear the subdued roar of a stream +somewhere far, far below. A cold blast seemed to strike upward against +his face. + +"Gracious, what a narrow escape!" he exclaimed. Then, stirring a small +stone with his foot he dislodged it and sent it bounding over the edge. +Bump! bump! tinkle! tinkle! plop! plop!--and then--silence. + +"Golly, goodness, dat hole mus' be as deep as de bad place itself!" +exclaimed Jumbo, shrinking back in affright, "dat hole mus' go clean +frough de middle of de world an' come out de odder side in China." + +"It certainly does seem as if it might," agreed Rob; "at any rate, if +we'd gone over it we'd have had no time to investigate--ugh!" + +Rob gave a shudder he could not subdue as he thought of their narrow +escape. + +The only thing to be done under the circumstances, was to turn aside and +keep on slowly, awaiting the daylight to see where they were, and the +nature of their surroundings. They had progressed in this fashion perhaps +half a mile or so, when Jumbo gave a sudden cry: + +"Look, Marse Blake! Wha' dat froo de trees dere? Look uncommon lak a +light." + +"It is a light. Although I don't know what any habitation can be doing in +this part of the world," answered Rob. + +"Maybe even ef it's only er camp we kin git suffin' ter eat dar," +suggested Jumbo hopefully, "ah'm jes' nacherally full ob nuttin' but +emptiness." + +"You'd never make a Scout, Jumbo." + +"Don' belibe I wants ter be no Skrout nohow," retorted Jumbo, "dar's too +much peregrinaciusness about it ter suit me." + +Rob did not reply. But a moment later he cautioned Jumbo to progress as +cautiously as possible. The boy could see now that the light proceeded +from the open doorway of a hut. Within the rude structure he could make +out a masculine figure in rough hunting garb bending over a stove at one +end of the primitive place. + +All of a sudden Rob's foot encountered something. He tripped and fell, +sprawling on his face. At the same instant the sharp report of a gun rang +out close at hand. + +The wire over which the boy had tripped, and which was stretched across +the pathway, had discharged the alarm signal. As the echoes went roaring +and flapping through the forest, the man who had been bending over the +stove, straightened as if a steel spring had suddenly sprung erect. + +He was a small, dwarfish-looking fellow, with a clay-colored skin, beady, +black eyes, shifty as a wild beast's. The animal-like impression of his +face was heightened by a shaggy beard of black that fell in unkempt +fashion almost to his waist. He wore blue jean trousers, moccasins and a +thick blue flannel shirt. + +With a swift, panther-like movement, he snatched up a rifle that stood in +one corner of the hut. His next move was to extinguish the light with a +sharp puff. Then, with every sense wire-strung, he stood listening. + + + + + CHAPTER XVI. + INTO THE FIRE! + + +The moon had just risen. Her light silvered the dark hemlock tops, and, +by bad luck, fell in a flood full upon Rob and Jumbo. The man who had +sprung into such sudden activity was, on the contrary, completely +shrouded in the black shadow of the hut. + +Even had they had weapons they would, situated as they were, have been +completely in his power. To use a slang term, but one full of +expressiveness, he had "the drop" on them. + +"Who are you?" rasped out the inmate of the hut in a harsh, startled +voice. "Speak quick, for I'm right smart on the trigger." + +"We are two wanderers who have lost our way," rejoined Rob, "we have no +weapons and have no wish to harm you." + +"Come forward a bit while I look you over," said the man, his suspicion +mollified a bit by the boyish tone. But the next instant, as his eyes +fell on Rob's uniform, he seemed to bristle with suspicion again. + +"What's that uniform?" he demanded; "be you some new-fangled revenue?" + +"I'm a Boy Scout," rejoined Rob, and then, thinking it best not to relate +his whole story at once, he added, "I got lost on a scouting expedition. +Our camp is not far from here on the other side of the lake. All we want +is some food, drink and shelter." + +"Boy Scout, eh?" said the man, eyeing him curiously, "um, ay, I've read +of 'em. To my mind you'd be best at home instead of gallivanting around +the country and getting lost. But who's that black fellow?" + +"Ah'se a 'spectable colored gen'ulman, suh," began Jumbo indignantly in +his usual formula. But the black-bearded man checked him with a gesture. + +"You're just a nigger, nigger, don't forget that. I come from south of +the Mason and Dixon line." + +"Yas, sah, yas, sah," grinned Jumbo. The big black shivered and showed +all the gleaming white of his teeth and eyes in his alarm at the bearded +little man's fierce looks and gestures. + +"S'pose I feed yer," was the bearded one's next question, "kin you pay? +I'm a poor woodsman and----" + +"Oh, we can pay," Rob assured him. Foolishly he drew out a rather +well-filled purse. The next moment he wished he hadn't. For a brief +instant the hut-dweller's keen, serpent-like black eyes had kindled with +an avaricious flame. + +But he cleverly masked whatever emotion it was that had swept over him at +sight of the money receptacle. + +"Guess that'll be all right," he said, "come on in." + +Rather troubled in his mind, but deciding that it was best to accept the +situation as it unfolded, Rob followed his conductor into the hut. Jumbo +ambled along behind, his black face expanded in a grin of wonderment. The +hut, within, proved to be a roughly constructed affair of raw logs. The +chinks were plastered with clay, mixed with grass to give it consistency. +A few skins hung on the walls and some rough, home-made furniture stood +about. + +At one end of the place was a huge, open fireplace, with a big +hearthstone. It was not used, however, the cookery being done upon the +stove, which also provided the heat. + +At the end of the hut opposite to the chimney a rough flight of steps led +to an attic. After the two half-famished wanderers had concluded a hearty +meal, washed down by strong, hot, black coffee, their host motioned to +the steps. + +"Ef you want a shake-down you'll find straw up thar," he said. + +Rob thanked him civilly and he and Jumbo climbed the stairway and found +themselves in a low-ceiled loft. The floor was of unnailed boards. +Through the chinks between them the ruddy lamplight below could be seen. + +"Dere's wusser beds in dis wale ob tears dan nice clean straw," observed +Jumbo philosophically as he threw himself on his heap. Rob agreed with +him. The straw did, indeed, seem soft and grateful after their recent +hard knocks and experiences. Following Jumbo's example, the lad made for +himself a kind of nest. Curling up in it he was soon off in the deep, +dreamless slumber of healthy boyhood. + +Voices awakened Rob. He sat up sharply. They were coming from below. The +sounds of the conversation floated up through the wide chinks in the +rough floor. + +Rob rolled on his side and peered through the most convenient crack. +Three men were now in the room below him. As he gazed he was amazed to +see the hearthstone swing bodily backward, on some concealed hinges, and +a fourth man emerge from some secret passage. + +"Wall," said the newcomer, a huge figure of a man with a big, blond +viking-like beard, "the last keg is headed and fixed up. We've finished +our work. To-morrow----" + +But the black-bearded man checked him with a sharp gesture. + +"Shut up, Sims," he warned, "not so loud. Go ahead, Watkins," he went on, +turning to one of the men with whom he had been talking. + +"What I ses is," resumed this fellow, a squatty-built, loosely-hung +little fellow, with close-cropped sandy hair, and a bristly growth on his +chin, like the stubble on an old tooth brush, "what I ses is, don't take +no risks." + +He paused impressively and then added in a lowered voice, but one that +reached Rob, nevertheless, with thrilling clearness: + +"Fix 'em." + +"Great Abraham Lincoln!" gasped the boy, "this is a nice nest of hornets +we've stumbled into. 'Fix 'em,' that must mean us." + +But the talk went on, and Rob strained his ears for the continuation. + +"But if they was guvn'ment men they wouldn't hev walked in like they +done, I reckon," put in another man, a pallid, sickly-looking chap, with +pink-rimmed eyes and a ferrety, furtive manner. + +"Best be on the safe side," counselled the black-bearded man, who had +introduced the travelers to the hut, "they've got money, too." + +"Money?" questioned the blonde-bearded man. + +"Yes. The boy has. And they haven't got any weapons. I guess we'll have +an easy time of it with them." + +"That nigger looks pretty hefty, and the kid's no weakling." + +It was the pink-eyed man who spoke. Rob felt a shiver run through him. So +they had been observed while they were asleep and never knew it! + +"Oh, I'm a fine Scout!" thought the lad bitterly. + +"Seems kind of tough on the kid," said the blonde-bearded man, "but you +never did have no sense of pity, Black Bart." + +Black Bart! Rob's heart stood still and then beat furiously. These men +then, were the moonshiners of whom Dale had spoken that afternoon. It +seemed, too, from their talk, that they suspected him and Jumbo of being +government spies. In that case they would stop at nothing. And they were +four to one. The Boy Scout felt for the knife he had filched from Dale, +but in their passage through the woods it must have been lost, for he +could not find it on him. + +"Kid or no kid," retorted Black Bart, viciously, "he can tell the +revenues a story jes' as well as anybody else, can't he?" + +"That's so," agreed the red-headed man, "and if they get us this time +they'll make it hot for us." + +This argument seemed to extinguish all regrets in the blond-bearded man's +mind. + +"When air you goin' ter do it?" he asked. His voice was perfectly +matter-of-fact and cold-blooded. + +"No time like the present. But it's best to get 'em asleep. We don't want +no noise," said Black Bart, with deliberation. "Pinky," to the pink-eyed +man, "jes' take a look upstairs and see if they are asleep." + +Rob laid down and crouched still as a mouse while he heard Pinky ascend +the creaking stairs, satisfy himself that the intended victims were +asleep, and retreat again. + +Then the boy awakened Jumbo. In a few words he apprised him of the +situation. To Rob's great relief, the negro, in this dire emergency, +seemed to be as self-possessed as he was cowardly in minor matters. Many +natures are so constituted. + +"What we gwine ter do, Marse Rob?" he breathed, crawling noiselessly +about on his straw. + +"There's a window over there," whispered Rob; "we'll have to drop through +it and chance coming out safely." + +"Lawsy sakes! S'posin' it looks out on one ob dem bottomless pitses lak +yo' all near fell inter ter-night?" + +"Can't be helped, it's the only way we can escape. Hark! They're coming +now. Get over to the window with as little noise as you can." + +"How 'bout you alls?" + +"I'll follow. You get it open first." + +Without another word the negro noiselessly wriggled across the floor to +the window--a mere opening in the wall--that Rob had observed. At the +same instant there came the "creak! creak!" of the staircase as one of +the men below began to ascend the stairway. + +There was a big bit of loose timber lying near Rob's straw. With a sudden +flash of anger at the thought of the men's treachery, the lad snatched it +up. + +"They shan't get off scot free, anyhow," he decided within himself. + +With the bulk of timber clutched in both his hands, ready poised for a +blow, Rob waited by the opening at the head of the rickety stairway as +the midnight assailant ascended. + + + + + CHAPTER XVII. + "WE WANT YOU." + + +A stubbly red-head protruded itself through the opening. The crucial +moment had come. + +"Take that!" cried Rob bringing down the bulk of timber with a resounding +crack on the fellow's pate. He grunted, clutched at the sill of the +opening for an instant, and then went toppling down the stairway in a +heap. + +A roar of fury and a rush of feet from below followed. But Rob did not +wait for the sequel. + +"Hope I haven't seriously injured the chap," he thought, as he sprinted +for the window, "I hit a bit harder than I meant to." + +But the next instant, when red-head's voice was added to the uproar +below, Rob knew that he had, at least, not impaired the miscreant's +talent for profanity. + +All need of concealment was gone now. Rob's heart leaped to the +adventure. Jumbo was half way through the window as the lad reached it. +Rob hastened him with a shove and a quick word. The black held for an +instant, clutching the sill, and then he dropped. The next moment Rob had +followed him. He fell in a sprawling heap on top of the black. Both were +up in a jiffy. + +"Which way?" gasped out Jumbo. + +"Any way--this!" cried Rob, dashing across a moonlit strip toward a dark +belt of woods. + +A fusillade of shots rang out behind them. Rob heard the bullets screech +as they spun by. + +"Law'sy, Marse Rob, dem bullets talk ter me mighty plain," gasped Jumbo +as they gained the comparative security of the dark hemlocks. + +"What did they say?" asked Rob, breathlessly. + +"Dey say Jum-bo, we'se ah lookin' fo' you, chile!" + +Whatever Rob's reply might have been it was forestalled the next instant +by an entirely unsuspected and startling happening. From the woods +_ahead_ of them, came a sudden trampling of feet. + +"Quick, Jumbo. Down in here!" exclaimed the Boy Scout, dragging the +quaking negro down into a clump of bushes. They were just in time. The +next moment half-a-dozen dark figures rushed by them through the woods, +going in the direction of the hut they had just vacated so summarily. + +"What on earth does this mean?" gasped Rob, half aloud in his utter +astonishment. Parting the bushes a bit, he could perceive the dark +outlines of the hut and the newcomers deploying across the moonlit strip +in front of it. + +A loud crash echoed through the sleeping woods as the door of the hut was +suddenly slammed shut. + +Almost simultaneously, the walls of the hut and the space in front of it +seemed to spit vicious flashes of fire. + +"Gee whiz!" cried Rob, excitedly, "they're attacking the hut, Jumbo! What +under the sun does this mean?" + +"Dunno," said the negro, "but mah hopes is dat dey jes' nachully +exterminaccouminicate each other like dem Killarney cats." + +"Kilkenny cats, you mean, don't you?" + +"It's all de same," retorted Jumbo, "but say, Marse Rob, we'd bettah be +clearing out ob here." + +"No, let's stay awhile. We're in no danger here. In fact I've an idea +that this may all turn out to be a good thing for us." + +The attacking party now dropped back a bit. + +"They're well armed and desperate," Rob heard one of them say, "better +breathe a bit, boys, and then we'll go for 'em again." + +"Let's get a log and smash the door down," said a voice. + +"Good idea, O'Malley," was the response, "here's an old hemlock trunk. +It's just the thing. Lay hold, boys, and we'll smoke out that nest of +rats in a jiffy." + +Willing hands laid hold of the big stick of timber, and the next instant +they were staggering with it toward the hut. There was a low word of +command and a sudden dash. The log was poised for an instant and then: + +Smash! crash! + +The massive door stood for a moment and then toppled inward, falling with +a splintering crash. But a dead silence followed the fall of the door. No +more pretence of defense was made by the inmates of the hut. Could they +be going to give up so tamely? + +Then a sudden voice floated through the night. The voice of one of the +attacking party. + +"Say! There's nobody here, boys!" + +"Confound them! Have they escaped us again?" came another voice. + +"Look's like it. Scatter and find them--back for your lives, all of you!" + +The warning cry was followed almost instantly by a deafening explosion. A +vivid flash of blue flame occurred simultaneously. + +"Gollyation!" gasped Jumbo, "de end ob de worl' am comin'." + +The whole hut seemed to burst into flame at once. Lurid, vivid fire +seemed to gush from every window and opening in the place. In color it +was an intense blue. + +"Shades ob Massa George Wash basin!" yelled Jumbo, "all de debils in dat +pit we see back dar is on de job! Come on, Marse Rob. Let's git out ob +here in double quick jig time." + +"Nonsense," said Rob sharply, "I see it all, now, Jumbo. That place was a +moonshine joint--an illegal distillery. Those men who just attacked it +are revenue officers. The explosion was caused by hundreds of gallons of +spirits. I guess the moonshiners set it on fire to destroy the evidence." + +Each instant the blaze rose higher. The hut, within its four walls, was a +mass of flames. It glowed like a red hot furnace. Rob watched it with +fascinated eyes. The whole clearing was bright as day. The dark woods +beyond were bathed in a blood-red glare from the flames. + +The intense heat fairly blistered the trunks of the nearest hemlocks. +Resin ran from them freely. + +"Let's get further back, Jumbo, it's too hot here," said Rob presently. + +"Golly goodness! It am dat," declared Jumbo in awed tones, "dat fire dere +puts me in mo' fear ob dat bottomless pit dan all de preachifying I ever +listened to." + +But their retreat into the woods was checked in a strange manner. Rob, +who was in advance, recoiled suddenly. A whole section of the woodland +floor seemed to uprear itself before his eyes, and a wild figure, with a +tangled black beard and shifty, wicked eyes, emerged. Rob realized in a +flash that it was a trapdoor cleverly concealed by brush and earth that +had just opened. Simultaneously he recognized the figure that was +crawling from it as that of Black Bart himself. + +The man was too much perturbed to notice their nearness to him. But +suddenly his eyes fell on them. With a furious oath he dashed at Rob. + +"You young fiend! You're responsible for this!" he yelled in a frenzy. + +A knife glittered in his hand, but before he could use it Jumbo's black +fist collided with his jaw. Black Bart fell sprawling back upon the trap +door which he had just opened. + +"Reckon Jack Johnson himself couldn't hev done no bettah!" grinned the +negro. + +"Oh, no you don't, sah!" he exclaimed the next instant as Black Bart +struggled to rise; "ah reckon you can repose yo'self right dar fo' a +peahriod ob time." + +So saying he pinioned the ruffian's arms to his sides and held him thus. + +As he did so, violent knockings began to resound from under the +trap-door. Evidently somebody was imprisoned there. + +"Hey! Let us out! Let us out!" came sharp cries from below, albeit they +were considerably muffled by the trap-door. + +"Yo' all come an' sit on hyah too, Marse Rob," urged Jumbo. "Ah reckon +den dey kain't git dat door open till we am willing dat dey should +conmerge inter terrier firmer." + +Rob guessed at once what had happened. The moonshiners, following the +attack of the revenue officers, had realized that continued resistance +would be useless. They had, therefore, made their escape by the secret +passage, led into by the swinging hearthstone. Its outlet evidently being +by the trap door on which they were then stationed. But first, with +wicked craft, they had ignited their whole stock of spirituous liquors, +hoping in the consequent explosion, that the revenue men would perish. +This much seemed clear. Indeed, it was confirmed afterward, and--but we +are anticipating. + +The Boy Scout had just reached these conclusions when a sudden stir in +the brush behind him made him look up. Two men stood there, the light of +the conflagration showing every detail of their figures and countenances +plainly. They were regarding the group on the top of the trap-door with +peculiar interest. + +Rob started up toward them but was abruptly checked as two rifles were +jerked to two shoulders, and aimed straight at him. + +"Don't move a step!" warned one of the men, "I guess we want you." + + + + + CHAPTER XVIII. + JUMBO EARNS $500.00--AND LOSES IT. + + +"Guess you do want us, but not exactly in the same sense as you mean," +retorted Rob with a chuckle. + +"What do you mean, boy?" asked one of the men sharply, as several others +of the revenue officers--as Rob had guessed them to be--came up. + +"I mean that we've got the whole gang you were after bottled up in a +tunnel under this trap door," rejoined Rob breezily. + +"Yas sah, Misto Arm-ob-de-Law," grinned Jumbo, "ah reckin no coon up a +tree was eber moh completely obfusticated dan dose same chill'uns." + +"What does all this mean?" asked another of the group, a gray-moustached +man of stern appearance, "this boy is either one of the gang or he has +been reading dime novels." + +"Nebber read a bit ob dat classification ob literachoor in mah life," +snorted Jumbo indignantly, "ef yo' alls don' want dese men we got +obfusticated under hay'ah, why we jes' gits off dis yar trap door an' +lits dem skeedaddle." + +"Who's that you're sitting on, nigger?" demanded the gray moustached man, +who seemed to be in authority. + +"Why, dis am a genelman what answers to de ufoinious name ob Black Bart," +grinned Jumbo amiably, "an' ah's not a nigger, ah's a 'spectable----" + +"Do be quiet, Jumbo," exclaimed Rob, as the inevitable protest came into +evidence. "The case is just this, gentlemen," he continued. "I am a Boy +Scout. This man is attached to our camp. We wandered away and got lost." + +Rob did not tell all that happened, for he foresaw that such a procedure +might lead to questions which would bring out the fact of their treasure +hunt. + +"I see that you wear a Scout uniform now," said the gray-moustached man. + +"Yes, and Boy Scouts don't lie," put in another man, "my sons are both in +the organization." + +"What troop?" asked Rob. + +"The Curlews of Patchogue." + +"Why, we've met them in water games at Patchogue," exclaimed Rob, "my +name is Rob Blake." + +"And mine's Sam Taylor," said the man, advancing, "glad to meet you, Rob +Blake, I've heard of you. This lad is all right," he said, turning to the +leader. "I'll vouch for him." + +"All right," rejoined the gray-moustached revenue officer, "but we can't +be too careful. Well, Rob Blake, what's your story? Go ahead." + +"As I said, we lost our way," went on Rob. "We stumbled on that hut. We +were tired and faint, and for pay this man, on whom Jumbo is sitting, +took us in. I awoke in time to overhear a plot to rob us. We escaped and +while hiding in the brush--not just knowing who you were, friend or foe, +we saw that trap-door open and nailed that man--Black Bart. At least +Jumbo did." + +"Then it looks as if Jumbo gets five hundred dollars reward for the +capture of Black Bart, and more may be in store. You say that the rest +are in that passage?" + +"Yes." + +"Some of you fellows tie Black Bart," ordered the leader. + +When this was done, the sullen prisoner not uttering a word, the order to +open the trap-door was issued. + +"No monkey tricks, you fellows," warned the revenue officer, as it swung +back, "we'll take stern measures with you." + +One by one the occupants of the hut crawled out and were promptly made +prisoners. They were almost exhausted, and could not have put up a fight +had they been so inclined. + +"Glad to get out," said the blonde-bearded man as he submitted to being +handcuffed, "it was hot enough in thar to roast potatoes." + +"So you got scorched by the same fire you intended should destroy us," +said the chief revenue officer dryly. + +"Young man," he went on, turning to Rob, "I shall bring this bit of work +to the attention of the government. In the meantime, I may tell you, that +besides the five hundred dollars offered for Black Bart's capture, there +was a reward of two thousand dollars for the apprehension of the gang as +a whole. I shall see that you and your companion get it." + +"But--but----" stammered Rob, "you had all the trouble and risk----" + +"Hush, Marse Rob! don' be talkin' dat way. Dey may take dat reward away +ag'in," whispered Jumbo, whose eyes had been rolling gleefully. He could +hardly credit his good fortune. + +"We're paid for our work," said the revenue man briefly, "I'm not saying +that we always get much credit for the risks we take. Half the time they +don't even mention our raids in the papers. But we do our duty to Uncle +Sam and that's enough." + +Soon after, a search having been made of the ruins of the hut, the +revenue men set out with their prisoners for the lake, where they had a +boat and two small bateaus. Rob and Jumbo accompanied them. Jumbo walked +like one in a trance. He saw money fairly hanging to the trees. + +"What will you do with all that money, Jumbo?" asked Rob amusedly as they +strode along. Under the skilled leadership of the revenue men the path to +the lake was a simple matter to find. + +"Ah reckon's ah'll buy a 'mobile, Marse Rob, an' a pair ob patent lebber +shoes--dem shiny kind, an' some yaller globes (gloves) an'--an' what's +lef' ober ah'll jes' spend foolishly." + +"If I were you I'd put some of it in a savings bank," advised Rob, +smiling at the black's enumeration of his wants. "You get interest there, +too, you know." + +"Wha' good dem safety banks, Marse Rob? Dey calls dem safety but dey's +plum dangerous. Fus' ting yo' know dey bus' up. Ah had a cousin down +south. Some colored men dey start a bank down dere. Mah cousin he puts in +five dollars reposit. 'Bout a munf afterward he done go to draw it out +and what you think dat no-good black-trash what run de bank tole him?" + +"I don't know, I'm sure, Jumbo," answered Rob. + +"Why, dey said de interest jes' nacherally done eat dat fibe dollars up!" + +As Rob was still laughing over Jumbo's tragic tale there came a sudden +shout from ahead. + +Then a pistol shot split the darkness. It was followed by another and +another. They proceeded from the knot of revenue men who, with their +prisoners, were a short distance in advance. + +"Gollyumptions! Wha's de mattah now?" exclaimed Jumbo, sprinting forward. + +A dark form flashed by him and vanished, knocking Jumbo flat. Behind the +fleeing form came running the revenue men. + +"It's Black Bart! He's escaped!" cried one. + +Rob joined the chase. But although they could hear crashing of branches +ahead, the pursuit had to be given over after a while. In the woods he +knew so well the revenues were no match for the wily Black Bart. With +downcast faces they returned to where the other prisoners, guarded by two +of the officers, had been left. + +"I'd rather have lost the whole boiling than let Black Bart slip through +my fingers," bemoaned the leader, "wonder how he did it?" + +"Here's how," struck in one of the officers, holding up a strand of rope, +"he slipped through the knots." + +"Serves me right for taking chances with such an old fox," muttered the +leader, self-reproachfully. + +"Anyhow we got the rest of them," said the man who had recognized Rob, +"better luck next time." + +"Dere ain't agoin' ter be no next time," muttered Jumbo disconsolately, +"dat five hundred dollars and dat gas wagon I was a-gwine ter buy hab +taken de wings ob de mawning!" + +The lake was reached shortly before dawn. True to their promise, the +revenue men put Rob and Jumbo ashore at the Boy Scouts' camp. The +amazement and delight their arrival caused can be better imagined than +set down here. Anyhow, for a long time nothing but confused fusillades of +questions and scattered answers could be heard. Much hand-shaking, +back-slapping and shouting also ensued. It was a joyous reunion. Only one +thing marred it. The canoes were still missing, and without them they +could not proceed. + + + + + CHAPTER XIX. + THE FOREST MONARCH. + + +"Say, what's that up yonder--there, away toward the head of the lake?" + +Tubby, standing on a rock by the rim of the lake where he had just been +performing his morning's ablutions, pointed excitedly. + +"I can't see a thing but the wraiths of mist," rejoined Merritt, who was +beside him. The lads were stripped to the waist. Their skin looked pink +and healthy in the early morning light. + +"Well, you ought to consult an oculist," scornfully rejoined Tubby, +"you've got fine eyes for a Boy Scout--not." + +"Do you mean to tell me you saw something, actually?" + +"Of course. You ought to know me better than to think I was fooling." + +"What were they then--mud hens?" + +"Say, you're a mud rooster. No, what I saw looked to me uncommonly like +our missing canoes." + +"You don't say so," half mockingly. + +"But I do say so,--and most emphatically, too, as Professor Jorum says," +rejoined the stout youth, "there they've gone now. That morning mist's +swallowed 'em up just like I mean to swallow breakfast directly." + +"But what would the canoes be doing drifting about?" objected Merritt. +"From Rob's story yesterday, Hunt and his gang had them in that cove. Do +you suppose they'd have let them get away?" + +"Maybe not, willingly," rejoined Tubby sagely, who, as our readers may +have observed, was a shrewd thinker, "but it blew pretty hard last night. +The canoes may have broken loose from their moorings." + +"Jimminy! That's so," exclaimed Merritt, "I'll go and tell----" + +"No, you won't do anything of the kind," said Tubby, half in and half out +of his Boy Scout shirt. + +"Why not?" + +"Because if they did turn out to be mud hens we'd never hear the last of +it." + +"H'um that's so. What do you advise, then?" + +"We'll wait till after breakfast. Then we'll say we're going to take a +tramp and sneak off toward the head of the lake. If they are the canoes +they'll still be there." + +"And if not----" + +"We'll have had a tramp." + +"Say," exclaimed Merritt as a sudden idea struck him, "how do you propose +to get them, even if they do turn out to be the canoes. Stand on the bank +and call 'come, ducky! ducky!'" + +Tubby looked at his corporal with unmixed scorn. + +"We can swim, can't we?" + +"I see you have every objection covered, like a good Scout, Tubby. Well, +we'll try after breakfast. If they're not the canoes there's no harm +done, anyhow." + +"Except to our shoe leather," responded Tubby finishing dressing. + +The morning meal over, and Jumbo washing the tin plates in silence--he +was still regretting that five hundred dollars--the two lads, in +accordance with their plan, got ready for their tramp. + +They buckled on their belts, saw that their shoe-laces were stout and +well laced, and equipped themselves with two scout staves. It was against +the rules to carry firearms unless the major or one of the leaders was +along. No objection was interposed to their going. In fact, the major, +worried as he was over the vanished canoes, was rather glad to have an +opportunity for a quiet talk with the professor. Rob was still rather +fagged by his experiences of the preceding night and day, and Hiram and +Andy Bowles had decided to indulge in signal practice. + +"Well, good-bye," called the major as the young Scouts strode off. + +"Bring back the canoes with you," mockingly hailed Rob. + +"Sure. We'll look in all the tree tops. I'm told they roost there with +the gondolas," cried the irrepressible Tubby, with a wave of his hand. + +The next instant the two adventurers had vanished over the ridge. + +"Say, what a laugh we'll have on them if we really do bring the canoes +back," chuckled Tubby merrily, as they plodded along. + +Distances in the mountains are deceptive. From the camp it had not looked +so very far to the head of the lake. But the two lads found that, what +with the innumerable ridges they had to cross, and the rough nature of +the ground before them, it was considerably more of a tramp than they had +bargained for. + +Of the canoes too, there was no sign. The mists had now vanished and the +sun beat down on the smooth surface of the lake as if it had been a +polished mirror. + +"Maybe they've drifted ashore," said Tubby, hopefully. + +"If they have I'll bet they chose the other one," said Merritt, "it's +what they used to call at school 'the perversity of inanimate things.'" + +"Phew!" exclaimed Tubby, "don't spring any more like that. I didn't bring +a dictionary." + +It was about noon when they came to a halt in a ravine near the lake +shore and sat down on a log to rest. + +"Gee, I wish we had something to eat," groaned Merritt. + +"Ever hear of a fairy godmother?" inquired Tubby, gazing abstractedly up +through the tree tops. + +"Well, if you aren't the limit, Tubby. What on earth have fairy +godmothers to do----" + +"They were always on the job with what was most wanted, I believe," +pursued Tubby. + +"Oh, don't talk rot. Let's---- Gee whiz! I'll take it all back, Tubby. +You are a real, genuine, blown-in-the-glass fairy godmother." + +Merritt's exclamation was called forth by the fact that Tubby had +produced, with the air of a necromancer, two packets of sandwiches and +ditto of cake. + +"There's water in that spring, I guess," he said laconically ignoring +Merritt's open compliments. + +The two lads munched away contentedly. They were seated at the head of +the little ravine which ran back from the shore of the lake. Above them +towered a rocky cliff from which flowed the spring. Ferns of a brilliant +green and almost tropical luxuriance festooned its edges. The water made +a musical tinkling sound. It was a pleasant spot, and both boys enjoyed +it to the full. They would have appreciated it more though, if they could +have stumbled across the canoes which Tubby was beginning to believe were +a figment of his imagination. + +"Wonder if there were ever Indians through here?" said Merritt, after a +period of thought. + +"Guess so. They used to navigate most of these lakes," said Tubby, +stuffing some remaining crumbs of cake into his mouth. + +"Why?" he added, staring at Merritt, with puffed out cheeks. + +"I was just thinking that if we were early settlers and an Indian +suddenly appeared in the opening of this canyon or ravine or whatever you +like to call it, that we'd be in a bad way." + +"Yes, we couldn't get out. That's certain," said Tubby, looking around, +"I guess the red men would bury the hatchet--in our heads." + +"I'm glad those days are gone," said Merritt, "I should think that the +early settlers must have--Hark! What's that?" + +A sudden crunching sound, as if someone was leisurely approaching had +struck on his ear. + +"Sounds like somebody coming," rejoined Tubby. + +His heart began to beat a little faster than was comfortable. What if +some of the Hunt gang were prowling about. + +"What do you think it is?" he asked, the next moment, in rather a +quavering tone. + +"Jiggered if I know," said Merritt; "let's go toward the beach and +investigate." + +"Better do that than stay here," agreed Tubby. + +Picking up their scout staves both boys cautiously tip-toed toward the +mouth of the ravine. But before they could reach it a sudden shadow fell +across the white strip of sand at the outlet. + +The next moment a huge body came into view. Its great bulk loomed up +enormously to the eyes of the excited boys. + +"It's a big deer!" exclaimed Tubby; "what a beauty! Look at those horns!" + +The deer, a fine antlered beast that was moving leisurely along the +beach, looked up at the same instant. It gazed straight at the boys for a +moment. Then it began pawing the ground angrily, and tossing its head. + +"What can be the matter with it?" said Merritt in a whisper. + +"Bothered if I know," rejoined Tubby, "it looks kind of mad, doesn't it? +Maybe we'd better try to climb up that cliff." + +"I think so, too," said Merritt, as the stag buck lowered its head and +its big eyes became filled with an angry fire. + +"Quick, Tubby!" he cried the next instant, "it's going to charge!" + +Hardly had he voiced the warning before, with a furious half-bellow, +half-snort, the buck rushed at them at top speed, its antlers lowered +menacingly. + + + + + CHAPTER XX. + THE CANOES FOUND. + + +Merritt made a spring up the side of the steep-walled little ravine. He +succeeded in grabbing an outgrowing bush and drawing himself up to a +ledge about ten feet above the ground. Tubby followed him. But the fat +boy's weight proved too much for the slender roots of the plant. It +ripped out of the cleft in which it grew, and Tubby, with a frightened +cry, went rolling over and over down the steep acclivity. He fell right +in the path of the advancing stag. The creature saw him and prepared to +gore him with its horns. But just as Tubby was giving himself up for +lost, an inspiration seized Merritt. + +A big stone lay close at hand. He grabbed it up and hurled it with all +his might at the buck. The lad's experience on the baseball diamond stood +him in good stead at this trying moment. + +The rock, with all the power of Merritt's healthy young muscles behind +it, struck the buck between the eyes. The animal staggered and snorted. +For one critical instant it hesitated, its sharp forefeet almost on the +recumbent fat boy. Then, with a shrill sort of whinny of terror, it +swung, as swiftly and gracefully as a cat, and clattered off, running at +top speed. + +Merritt lost no time in clambering down to Tubby, who was sitting up and +looking about him in a comical dazed way. + +"H-h-h-has it gog-g-g-gone?" he stammered. + +"I should say so," laughed Merritt, "it stood not on the order of its +going, but--got! as they say in the classics." + +"I'm glad of that," remarked Tubby, getting up slowly, "I could almost +feel those antlers investigating my anatomy. Let's see how far he's run." + +The two boys made for the entrance of the ravine. Gaining it they had a +good view up and down the beach in either direction. On a distant +projection of rock stood the buck. He was looking back. As he saw the +boys he wheeled abruptly and dashed into the forest. + +"Too bad," said Tubby shaking his head with a serious air. + +"What's too bad?" asked Merritt, struck by the other's pensive air. + +"Why, if he'd stood still a little longer and we'd had a gun we might +have shot him," rejoined Tubby with a perfectly serious face. + +They turned, and as they did so a shout burst from the lips of both. + +Bobbing about serenely on the placid water, not half a mile in the other +direction, was the red canoe. + +"I'll bet the others are ashore right there, too," cried Tubby. + +As he spoke the stout boy dashed off at surprising speed for one of his +build. It was all Merritt could do to keep up with him. + +It was as Tubby had suspected. The blue and the green canoes lay on the +beach, their bows just resting on the sand. The paddles were in them and +it was an easy task to embark and capture the red craft. This was made +fast to the one Tubby paddled and the boys, congratulating each other +warmly, set out for the camp. As they glided along Tubby uplifted his +voice. + + "R-o-o-w, brothers, row! + The stream runs fast! + The rap--ids are ne-ar + And the day--light's past." + + "Ro-o-w----" + +"But it isn't rowing, it's paddling," objected Merritt. + +"Whoever heard of a rhyme to paddling?" demanded Tubby, "you might as +well expect one to motor boating," and he resumed his song. + +As they drew near to the spot where the camp had been pitched they saw +the black figure of Jumbo on the beach. Tubby hailed him in a loud voice. +Instantly the negro looked up, and as his eyes fell on the canoes he +tossed the frying pan he was scouring high into the air. It descended on +his head again with a resounding whack. + +But that African head seemed hardly to feel it. Bounding and snapping his +fingers in joy, Jumbo raced up to the camp, electrifying everybody with +the glad news that the canoes had been found. + +"How on earth did you discover them, boys?" demanded the major, as the +prows grated on the beach and a glad rush of excited feet followed. + +"Simple," said Tubby, with a grand air and a sweep of his hands, "simple. +They were up in a tree, just as I suspected." + +Before long Merritt had to tell the real story. But when they looked +about for Tubby to congratulate him that modest youth had slipped away. +He was found later, devouring a raisin pie of Jumbo's baking. + +"You deserve pie and anything else you fancy," said the major warmly. + +"There's only one thing I'd fancy right now," rejoined Tubby. + +"What is that?" + +"I'd like to have hold of Freeman Hunt for about ten minutes." + +An examination of the canoes showed that, as Tubby had guessed, their +mooring ropes had chafed through during the wind storm of the night +before. This set them wondering how Hunt and his companions could have +escaped from the cove. The next day on resuming their journey they +examined the place--the entrance to which was not found without +difficulty--but of Hunt and his gang no trace was found but the embers of +the camp fire. Rob and Jumbo viewed with interest the rope ladder which +lay in a heap at the foot of the cliff, just as it had fallen on the +night that they made their escape. Further investigation showed that, by +walking along the lake shore, the rascals who had harried the Boy Scouts +must have managed to find a place to climb up to the forests above. + +"I'm sorry they got away," said Merritt. + +"So are we all, I expect," said the professor. "I don't suppose we shall +ever see them again now." + +"I hardly think so," agreed the major. + +"Dere's only one man ah'd lak ter see ag'in," put in Jumbo. + +"Who is that?" inquired Rob. + +"Dat five hundred dollah baby wid de black whiskers," was the prompt +rejoinder; "de nex' time ah gits mah han's on him ah'm gwine ter fin' de +bigges' chain ah can, den ah'm gwine ter fasten dat to de bigges' rock ah +kin fin' an' den ah's gwine ter k'lect!" + +"I hope for your sake and for that of law and order that you succeed," +said the major, "liquor is vile stuff, anyhow. It's bad enough that it is +made legally in this country. It is ten thousand times worse when laws +are broken to distil it. I'm afraid, however, that all the rascals have +slipped through our fingers. We shall hardly set eyes on them again." + +How wrong the major was in this supposition we shall see before long. +Such men as Stonington Hunt and his chosen companions are not so easily +thrown off the trail for a rich prize. The thought of the treasure was in +Hunt's avaricious mind day and night, and already he was plotting fresh +means of wresting the secret from its rightful possessors. + +Possibly, if the major had seen an encounter which took place in the +woods not so many hours before our party landed in the hidden cove, he +might have felt less easy in his mind. Black Bart, in his flight, had +encountered Hunt's party. Creeping through the woods he had seen the +light of their camp fire. He had approached it cautiously. But as he +neared it, keeping in careful concealment, he recognized his erstwhile +comrades, Dale and Pete Bumpus. Hesitating no longer to declare himself +in his half-famished condition, he had come forward and been greeted +warmly. What he had to tell of his meeting with Rob and Jumbo, held, as +may be imagined, the deepest interest for Hunt and the others. The +consultation and plan of campaign that resulted therefrom, were fraught +with important results for our party. + +What these were we must save for the telling in future chapters. But +stirring events were about to overtake the Boy Scouts and their friends. + + + + + CHAPTER XXI. + "THE RUBY GLOW." + + +Camp, that night, was made at the portage of which the major had spoken. +Although strict watch was kept all night nothing unusual occurred. Bright +and early the work of the portage was commenced. The Major, Jumbo and +Professor Jorum, each burdened themselves with a canoe, which they +carried across their shoulders, turned bottom up and resting on a wooden +"yoke." + +The lads carried the "duffle" and provisions. The portage, connecting the +lake they had traversed with the one beyond, was over rough ground. In +fact, at one place, they had to clamber up quite a ridge. It was rocky +and grown with coarse undergrowth interspersed with scanty trees. Further +on the trail ran beside quite a deep ravine. + +Tubby, with his load of duffle, was slightly in advance of the other +lads, and humming a song as he trudged along. With the curiosity natural +to the stout youth, he could not refrain from wandering from the path to +peer over into the depths of the gulch. + +"My goodness!" he exclaimed to himself, as he gazed interestedly, "it +would be no joke to fall in there." + +As he spoke he drew closer to the edge of the rift and craned his short +neck to obtain a still better view of the abyss below him. At this +juncture the others, laboring along the trail, caught up with him, and +Rob gave the stout Scout a hail. + +"Better come away from there, Tubby," he warned, "you know what happened +out west, when you went rubbering about the haunted caves." + +"It's all right," retorted the fat boy, "it looks nice and cool down in +there. I'd like to----" + +The rest of his speech was lost in an alarmed exclamation from the +onlookers. + +As Tubby uttered his confident remark he seemed to vanish suddenly, like +an actor in a stage spectacle who has dived through a trap door. Only a +cloud of dust and a roar of stones sliding into the ravine told of what +had happened to the over-confident youth. Standing too close to the edge +he had stepped on an overhanging bit of ground and had been precipitated +downward. + +"Good gracious!" cried Rob, in real alarm, "he's gone over!" + +With a swift fear that Tubby's accident might have resulted fatally, Rob +was at the edge of the ravine in two jumps. The rest were not far behind +him. + +Rob experienced a feeling of intense relief, however, as he gazed into +the depths. Some time before, a tree had become dislodged and slid into +the rift. It lay upon the bottom of the place. Tubby, luckily for +himself, had fallen into its branches and was, except for a few +scratches, apparently unhurt. + +"Are you injured?" demanded Rob, anxiously, nevertheless. He wanted to +hear from Tubby's own lips that he was all right. + +"Nothing hurt but my feelings," the stout youth assured him. "Say, it +_is_ cool down here." + +"Well, if nothing's hurt but your feelings you're all right," cried +Merritt; "you couldn't hurt those with an axe." + +"Just you wait till I get out of here," yelled Tubby from his leafy seat. + +"Well, how are we going to get you up?" demanded Merritt. "Guess you'll +have to stay there till we get a ladder." + +"Tell you what we'll do," said Rob, "we'll take the ropes off the packs +and join them together. Then we can knot one end to one of the staves and +haul Tubby up." + +"That's a good idea," called the stout youth, who had overheard, "and +hurry up, too." + +"Gracious, it needs an elephant to haul your fat carcass out of there," +scoffed Merritt. "I guess we'll take our time over it." + +"Take as long as you like, so long as you get me out," parried Tubby, +"you always were slow, anyhow, as the fellow said when he threw his +dollar watch into the creek." + +It did not take long to rig up an extemporized life-line with the pack +ropes. This done, one end was made fast to the staves, and the other +lowered to Tubby. At Rob's orders the rope was passed round a tree trunk, +and when Tubby had adjusted the rope under his arm pits the young Scouts +began to haul. As Merritt had said, Tubby was no lightweight. Once they +had to stop, and the rope ran back quite a way. A yell from Tubby ensued. + +"Hey! Keep on hauling there!" he roared, "what do you think I am, a sack +of potatoes?" + +"You feel like a sack of sash weights!" shouted Rob, "keep still now, and +we'll have you out in a jiffy." + +A few minutes later Tubby's fat face, very red, appeared above the edge +of the rift over which he had taken his abrupt plunge. Rob seized him by +the shoulders and dragged him into safety. + +"There now, for goodness sake don't fall in again," he said. + +"As if you aren't always telling me to fall in," scoffed Tubby. + +"When, pray?" + +"Every time we drill," said the stout youth solemnly, flicking some dust +off his uniform with elaborate care. + +Owing to the length of time occupied by extricating Tubby from his +difficulties, the canoe bearers had become apprehensive of harm to the +following body and had halted. Of course questions ensued when the rear +guard came up. + +"What happened?" demanded the major, noting the suppressed amusement on +the lads' faces. + +"Oh, Tubby fell in again," answered Merritt. + +"Fell in?" asked the professor in an astonished tone. + +"I went hunting for botanical specimens at the bottom of a ravine, +professor," said Tubby gravely. + +"For botanical specimens? Most interesting. Pray did you find any?" + +"Nothing but a Bumpibus Immenseibus," replied Tubby with perfect gravity. +The other boys had to turn aside and stuff their fists in their mouths to +keep from laughing outright. + +Even the major's lip quivered. But the professor displayed immense +interest. As for Jumbo, he was lost in admiration. + +"Dat suttinly am de mos' persuasive word I've done hearn in a long time," +he exclaimed. "Blumpibusibus Commenceibus. What am dat, fish, flesh or +des corned beef?" + +"It's a pain," rejoined Tubby, "and usually follows a fall. But not a +fall in temperature, or----" + +"Ah, Hopkins, I fear you are making merry at my expense," exclaimed the +professor, good-naturedly. + +"Well, I took a tumble, anyhow," said Tubby. + +"About time you did," came in Merritt's voice. + +In the chase that ensued a wave of merriment burst loose. But time +pressed, and the march was speedily resumed, with but a short +interruption for lunch. + +Late that afternoon they emerged on the shores of the other lake. It was +a beautiful sheet of water, narrow and hemmed in by high hills which shot +up abruptly on every side. At the far end could be seen a series of three +peaks, jagged and sharp against the sky. The major turned to the +professor, and both consulted the map and the translation of the cipher. + +"When the ruby mound masks the Three Brothers take a course by the great +dead pine. Four hundred to the west, three hundred to the north, and +below the man of stone." + +Such were the words which the major read aloud from the professor's +translation. + +"How do you interpret that, professor?" he asked. + +"Why, plainly enough: the three brothers referred to are those three +similar peaks," said the professor; "the map indicates them. The ruby +mound is not quite so clear. But I don't doubt that we shall stumble +across its meaning, and also that of 'the man of stone,' which, I +confess, I cannot make out." + +"May be it's some mass of rock that looks like a man," volunteered Rob, +who, like the others, had listened with eager attention while the major +read. + +"An excellent idea, my boy. That is possibly the correct meaning, +although the old buccaneer may have spoken in riddles. Such men +frequently did. However, we are at the gateway of our venture. To-morrow +we shall know if it meets with success or failure." + +"To-morrow!" echoed the Boy Scouts. + +"Ef ah could cotch dat five-hundred-dollah-pusson to-morrow dat would be +all de treasure ah'd want," mumbled Jumbo as he set down his canoe. He +had kept it on his back up to now, like a shell on a black turtle. + +"Ah don' lak dis business ob interfussin' wid a dead man's belongin's. No +good ain't gwine ter come uv it." + +"What are you mumbling about, Jumbo?" asked the major, overhearing some +of this last. + +"Why, majah, I was jes' a communicatin' to myself mah pussonal +convictions on de subjec' ob dead men's gold." + +"Why, Jumbo, are you superstitious?" inquired the professor. + +"No, sah. Ah's bin vaccinated an' am glad to say it _took_. We ain't +neber had no supposishishness in our fam'bly. But dis yar meddlin' an +monkeyin' wid what belongs to dem as is daid and buried is bad bis'nis, +sah--bad bis'nis." + +"I thought that you had more courage than that," said the professor +seriously. + +"Ah got lots ob dat commodity, too, sah. Ah dassay dat ah is de bravest +man in de--Oh! fo' de law's sake, wha' dat? Oh, golly umptions! Majah! +You Boy Scrouts, help!" + +Jumbo suddenly cast himself down on the ground and began rolling over and +over, trying to seize the major's feet in his paroxysm of real alarm. + +"Get up!" ordered the major curtly, "get up at once, you cowardly +creature. What's the matter?" + +"Oh, mah goodness, majah, you didn't see it. You had yo' back to der +bushes. So did de odders. But ah seed it." + +"Saw what, sir?" + +"Oh, golly gumptions! De ugliest lilly face wid black whiskers an' eyes +dat I ebber seed. It was lookin' frough de bushes an' listening to you +alls." + +"Where? Show me the place at once." + +The major's tone was curt and fraught with a deeper meaning. + +"Right hyah, sah, majah. Right hyah, dis am whar I seen dat homely lilly +face. Yas sah." + +But although they made a thorough search of the vicinity no trace of a +concealed listener could be found. + +"I'd be half-inclined to put it down to Jumbo's foolishness if it wasn't +that we know we have enemies in the mountains," said the major, after +supper that night. + +"But as it is, sir?" asked Rob. + +"As it is," replied the major, "I think we had better keep a sharp look +out and 'Be Prepared.' Jumbo's description of that face seems to tally +pretty closely with the countenance of Black Bart." + +"Just what I think," rejoined Rob; "if he hadn't got so frightened Jumbo +might have secured that five hundred dollars after all." + +"Marse Rob," said Jumbo, who had been listening intently, "you ebber hyah +dat lilly story 'bout de man wot caught de wild cat?" + +"No; heave ahead with the yarn, Jumbo," said the major. + +"Well, sah, onct upon a time two men was campin'. One went to der spring +ter git watah. Pretty soon de one lef' behin' hearn de awfullest racket +and caterwaulin' by dat spring you ever hearn tell ob. + +"'What de mattah?' he call. + +"'I got a wild cat!' holler de man by de spring. + +"'Kain't you hole him?' hollers his fren'. + +"'I kin hole him all right,' hollered de udder feller, 'but I don't know +how ter let him go ag'in'." + +After the laughter excited by this narration had subsided, Jumbo rolled +his eyes solemnly and cleared his throat. Then he spoke: + +"An' dat lilly nanny-goat (anecdote) applies sah, dat applies ter me and +dis yar Black Bart or whateber his name am." + + + + + CHAPTER XXII. + THE BUCCANEER'S CAVE. + + +"The three peaks are in line, but no trace of the 'ruby glow' the cipher +speaks of." + +The speaker was Rob Blake. He and Merritt, in the red canoe, were in +advance of the other craft. The first level rays of the early sun were +slanting down over the precipitous hills surrounding the lake and gilding +the placid sheet of water with a glittering effulgence. The canoes seemed +to hang on the clear water as if suspended. + +Right ahead of the adventurers, the three jagged peaks seen the previous +evening had gradually swung into line, until the first and nearest one +veiled the other two. + +"Let's run the canoe ashore. May be we shall come across something to +make the meaning of the cipher plainer," suggested Merritt. + +Presently the bow of the canoe grazed the beach, and the two active young +uniformed figures sprang out. For an instant they looked about them. Then +suddenly Merritt gripped Rob's arm with such a tight pressure that it +actually pained. + +"Look!" he cried, "look!" + +Rob followed the direction of Merritt's gaze and was tempted to echo his +cry. Through the trees a rectangular mound of rock, with a dome-like +summit, had just caught the rays of the sun. + +In the early morning light it glittered as redly as if bathed in blood. + +"The ruby glow!" breathed Rob poetically, gazing at the wonderful sight. + +"Must be some sort of mica or crystal in the rock that catches the +sunlight," said the practical Merritt; "good thing we didn't come here on +a dull, cloudy day." + +"I guess so," rejoined Rob; "we might easily have missed it." + +"Let's get the others!" exclaimed Merritt. "See, the ruby glow is masking +the Three Brothers." + +"That's so," agreed Rob, "this is the place, beyond a doubt." + +By this time the other canoes had been beached and their occupants were +presently gazing in wrapt wonder at the spectacle. As the sun rose higher +they could see the glow diminishing. + +"Your ancestor chose his hiding place well," said the professor to Major +Dangerfield, "only at sunrise and at sunset can the glow be visible. At +any other hour of the day there would be nothing unusual about that rock +but its shape." + +Suddenly Tubby broke into song. He caught at the others' hands. In a +jiffy the Boy Scouts were dancing round in a joyous circle, singing at +the top of their lungs: + + "Ruby glow! ruby glow! + We have sought you long, you know! + Now you're found we won't let go + Till we get the treasure--ruby glow!" + +"Rather anticipating, aren't you, boys?" asked the major, "there is still +quite a lot to be done before we discover the cavern where the treasure +is supposed to be buried." + +But despite his calm words they could see that the major was quite as +much excited as themselves at the idea of being on the threshold of great +discoveries. + +"Suppose we press forward," suggested the professor presently; "I think +that the base of the ruby mound is the place to start from." + +The canoes were hauled up on the beach and concealed in a high growth of +tangled water plants. They did not wish to risk having them stolen for a +second time. Then they struck forward into the gloom of the woods lying +between the ruby mound and the lake. As they went the Boy Scouts hummed +Tubby's little song. Even Jumbo seemed to have cast off his gloom. His +great eyes rolled with anticipation as they pressed on, ambition to find +the treasure cavern lending wings to their feet. + +Before long they were at the base of the ruby mound. It was quite bare, +and rose up almost as if it had been artificially formed. The professor +declared it to have been of glacial origin. Certain markings on it he +interpreted as being Indian in design. + +"They seem to indicate that at one time the Indians, who formerly roamed +these mountains, used this mound as a watch tower," he said. "It must +have made a good one, too." + +"Too high colored for me," said Tubby in an undertone. + +But by this time the glow had fled from the conical-shaped top of the +mound. It was a dull gray color now, and, except for its shape and +barrenness, looked just like any other rock pile. + +"There's the dead pine!" cried Hiram suddenly. + +"So it is!" exclaimed the major, as his gaze fell on an immense blasted +trunk soaring above the rest of the trees, "boys, we are hot on the +trail." + +"Looks so," agreed Rob. + +"Now, then," exclaimed the professor, as they stood at the base of the +pine, which appeared to have been blasted by lightning at some remote +period, "now then, one of you boys pace off four hundred feet to the +west." + +Rob drew out his pocket compass and speedily paced off the distance. This +brought them into a sort of clearing. It was small, and circular in +shape, and dense growth hedged it in on all sides. By this time the boys +were fairly quivering with excitement, and their elders were not much +behind them in eager anticipation. + +"Now, three hundred to the north," ordered the major. + +"We'll have to plunge right into the brush," said Rob. + +"All right. Go ahead. In a few minutes now we shall know if we're on a +fool's errand or not." + +The former army officer's voice was vibrant with emotion. + +Followed by the others, Rob pushed into the brush, pacing off the +required three hundred feet as accurately as he could. All at once he +came to a halt. + +"Three hundred," he announced. + +As they looked about them a feeling of keen disappointment set in. Tall +brush was hemming them in on all sides. No trace of a stone man, or +anything else but the close-growing vegetation, could be seen. + +"Fooled again!" was the exclamation that was forcing itself to Tubby's +irrepressible lips when he stopped short, struck by the look of keen +disappointment on the major's face. + +"It looks as if we had had all our trouble for nothing, boys," he began, +when Rob interrupted. + +"What's that off there, major, through the bushes yonder. You can see it +best from here." + +The major hastened to the young leader's side. + +"It's a sort of cliff or precipice," he cried. + +"Maybe the man of stone is located there," suggested Rob; "it's worth +trying, don't you think so, sir?" + +"By all means. This growth may have sprung up since the treasure was +hidden away, and so have concealed the place." + +Once more the party moved on. A few paces through the undergrowth brought +them to the foot of a steepish cliff of rough, gray stone. It appeared to +be about thirty feet or more in height. Above it towered the rugged peak +of the first of the Three Brothers. + +"Now, where's the man of stone?" asked the professor in a puzzled tone, +gazing about him. + +"There's certainly no indication of a man of that material or any other," +opined the major, likewise peering in every direction. + +"What's that mass of rock on the cliff top?" asked Merritt suddenly; "it +looks something like a human figure." + +They all gazed up. A big mass of rock was poised at the summit of the +cliff. There was a large rock with a smaller one perched on the top of +it. To a vivid imagination it might have suggested a body and a head. + +"It's worth investigating, anyway," decided the major; "we'll look at the +face of the cliff directly beneath it. Maybe there is an opening there." + +But this decision was more easily arrived at than carried out. Thorny +brush and thick, tall weeds shrouded the base of the cliff for a height +of eight or ten feet. But the Boy Scouts had their field axes with them, +and before long the blows of the steel were resounding. In a few minutes +they had cleared away a lot of the brush directly beneath the two poised +stones. + +The major and the professor, with Jumbo looking rather awe-stricken at +the major's side, stood watching. + +"These balanced stones prove my theory that all this is of glacial +origin," the professor was saying. "Some antediluvian water course must +have left them there. Why, it wouldn't take much of a push to shove them +over." + +"That is true," agreed the major; "in that case, supposing that an +entrance does exist at this spot, they would block it effectually." + +"Very much so," agreed the professor dryly; "in fact----" + +"Hoo-r-a-y!" + +The shout rang gladly through the silent woods. The boys had thrown down +their axes and stood with flushed, triumphant faces turned toward the +elder members of the party. The major was quick to guess the cause of +their excitement. + +"They've found it!" he cried, springing forward. + +The professor and Jumbo followed. As they came up Rob was pointing to an +opening at the base of the cliff which the cleared brush had revealed. + +"The entrance to the cavern of Ruby Glow!" he exclaimed dramatically, +while the rest of the Boy Scouts swung off into Tubby's extemporized song +of triumph. + + + + + CHAPTER XXIII. + TRAPPED IN A LIVING TOMB. + + +After the first excitement and confusion had quieted down a bit, the +major and the professor began discussing ways and means for exploring the +cavern. + +"When shall we start?" asked Merritt. + +"At once, I think," said the major. + +"I agree with you," said the professor; "no time like the present." + +"That being the case," declared the major with a smile, "Jumbo had better +set out for the canoes at once, and bring some provisions and the +lanterns." + +The lanterns referred to were of the variety used by miners, which had +been brought along for the special purpose in which they were now to be +employed. + +But Jumbo was not allowed to set off alone on his expedition. The eager +Boy Scouts raced off with him. They soon returned with a supply of canned +goods, plenty of matches and some firearms and the lanterns. The latter +were quickly lighted and, each member of the party shouldering a burden, +the dash into the cave was begun. + +It was a creepy, mysterious sensation. The light seemed to go out with a +sudden snap as they passed the portals of the cave entrance. Only the +yellow light of the lanterns, pale after the bright sunshine, illumined +the damp walls. A queer, dead, musty smell was in the air. + +"Better proceed carefully," said the professor; "we may encounter a +pocket of poisonous air before long." + +"I thought we were looking for a pocket full of money," whispered Tubby +to Merritt, behind whom he was pacing. + +The party had to advance in single file, for beyond the entrance of the +cave was a narrow passage. + +"I wonder how your ancestor ever located this place?" said Rob, +wonderingly, as they proceeded cautiously. + +"The family legend has it that he came in here in pursuit of a wounded +wild animal he had shot, and which sought refuge here," said the major. + +It was a strange, rather uncanny feeling to be treading the long unused +path leading into the bowels of the cliff. They talked in whispers and +low tones. A loud voice would go rumbling off in a weird way, not +altogether comfortable to listen to. + +"Gee! I wouldn't much care to be trapped in here," said Tubby, as they +pressed on. + +All at once the path they had been following took a sudden dip. Right +under their feet was a narrow chasm. If they had not had lights they +might have been precipitated into it, but luckily their lanterns showed +them the peril just in time. + +For a short time it looked as if the treasure hunt would have to end +right there. There seemed to be no means of crossing the chasm, and they +had brought none with them. + +"So near and yet so far," breathed Merritt. + +But presently the major discovered a stout plank resting against the wall +of the passage. It was worm-eaten and old, but a test showed it would +support them. It had evidently been left there by the old buccaneer. It +caused an odd thrill to shoot through Rob, as he stepped upon it, to +reflect that the last foot to press it had been in the tomb for many +scores of years. + +On the other side of the chasm the cave widened out. In fact, it +developed into quite a spacious chamber. The rock walls, imbedded with +mica, glistened brightly in the yellow glow of the lanterns. + +"We look like a convention of lightning bugs," commented Tubby, gazing +about him at the unusual scene. The professor drew out a paper. He and +the major bent over it, while the others listened breathlessly to +ascertain the outcome of this inspection of the plan of the long lost +treasure trove. + +"According to the plan the treasure is located in this chamber," said the +major at length. + +"At any rate," added the professor, "the plan does not give any further +details of the cave." + +"Do you think it extends further?" inquired Merritt. + +"Impossible to say. Some of these caves and their ramifications extend +for many miles. When the major has concluded his quest, I think it would +be of scientific interest to explore the subterranean thoroughfares at +length." + +All agreed with this view. But the present business speedily banished all +other thoughts from their minds. Like so many hounds on the scent, the +boys ran about the place, seeking for clews to the hiding place. But to +their bitter disappointment all their efforts resulted in nothing. No +trace of any hoarded stock of precious articles could be found. + +"We had better have something to eat and then we can determine on our +further course," said the major, looking at his watch; "I am convinced +that the treasure is here, however, and equally positive we shall find +it." + +When they sat down to their meal it was discovered that, in their haste, +they had forgotten to bring any water. Tubby, Hiram and Jumbo at once +volunteered to fetch some in the canteens which had been left in the +canoes. + +"Ah'm jes' pinin' ter see dat ole Massa Sol once mo';" confessed the +negro. + +"All right," said the major, "you can be one of the party, Jumbo. But +hurry back, Hopkins, for I am anxious to waste no more time than +necessary." + +"We'll hurry," Tubby assured him. + +The trio, the two boys and the black, hastened off, retracing their steps +through the dark passage of the cavern. It was a distinct relief to +regain the sunlight and open air. So much so that perhaps they lingered +by the concealed canoes rather longer than they should have done. + +"Come on. We've wasted enough time," said Tubby at length; "let's hurry +back." + +They set out at a good pace. But as they pushed through the brush +separating them from the cliff; in the face of which was situated the +cave entrance, a sudden sound brought them to an abrupt standstill. +Tubby, who was in the lead, raised his hand for silence. + +In the hush that followed they could distinctly catch the sound of voices +ahead of them. At first Tubby thought that they were those of some of the +party in the cave who had come out to see what had become of them. But he +was speedily undeceived. + +One of the voices struck suddenly on his ear with an unpleasant shock. It +was a harsh, grating voice, and Tubby, to his dismay, recognized it in a +flash as being that of Stonington Hunt. He had heard it too often to be +mistaken. + +"Are you all ready?" Hunt was saying. + +A sort of growl of assent followed these words. + +"What can they be up to?" asked Hiram, who was also aware now of the +identity of the voices in front of them. + +"I don't know," rejoined Tubby in the same low tones; "as well as I can +see, they are all on that cliff top alongside those balanced stones." + +"Wonder what they are doing up there?" mused Hiram; "I suppose that----" + +His voice was drowned in a loud crash as the larger of two stones was +pushed over the edge of the cliff. In a flash Tubby perceived the +fiendish object of Stonington Hunt and his followers. + +The great rock fell directly in front of the opening of the cave. The way +in or out of the underground chamber was effectually blocked, unless the +obstruction was blasted with dynamite. + +Cold chills ran up and down Tubby's spine. Hiram shuddered and turned +white, and Jumbo groaned. + +"Oh lawsy! lawsy! I knowed no good 'ud come uv meddling wif dat ole dead +teef's money." + +"Be quiet," ordered Tubby, sternly. With every nerve on the alert he +watched Hunt peer over the cliff-face. The next moment their enemy +retreated with a chuckle of laughter. + +"They're all sealed up good and tight," he said. "We'll let them stay in +there a day or two and then we'll blast the rock away." + +"Gee, that fat kid will be thinner when he gets out," Tubby heard Freeman +Hunt say as his father rejoined the group. + +"Ho! ho!" thought the lad, "'that fat kid' as you call him is on the +outside, Master Hunt. And it's a good thing he is, for the outside is +where help will have to come from." + +The watchers concealed in the brush below saw a new figure join the group +on the cliff summit, a man with a great, bushy, black beard and shifty +black eyes. + +"Mah goodness!" exclaimed Jumbo; "dat am de pussonage who peeked frough +dem bushes las' night. I thought I knowed him. Dat's Black Bart, the +sun-shiner." + +The party at the cliff summit turned and vanished. Apparently they had a +camp up there from which they had observed every movement of the Boy +Scout party. It was plain enough now, since Jumbo's recognition, how they +came to be there. Black Bart must have overheard the major discussing the +plan the night before. By making a forced march by night the rascals had +arrived ahead of the rightful searchers for the old buccaneer's hoard. + +"We'd better get back toward the boats before they take a notion to +investigate," said Tubby. "I don't fancy sticking around here much +longer." + +"Nor I," said Hiram; "come on." + +"Golly knows ah'm willin'," breathed Jumbo. + +Snugly hidden in the thick growth into which the canoes had been dragged, +the two Scouts and the negro discussed the situation. It was a desperate +one. For the present, at least, Hunt and his party dominated it. One +unpleasant thought, too, kept obtruding itself. The party in the cave had +no water. + +"And Hunt says he won't blast it open for two days, anyhow," put in +Hiram; "I suppose he figures that the major would be too weak to oppose +him then." + +"Guess that's it. What a rascal that Hunt is! But what are we going to do +to help them? We can't move that rock, and we've got nothing to blast it +away with." + +Tubby's face showed the dismay, the almost despair, that he felt. + +"Tell you what, Hiram," he said at length, "you'll have to take one of +the canoes and get off down the lake. When you reach the foot of it make +a dash to the westward, where there is a village. I'll wait here with +Jumbo till you return." + +"But it will take two days, at least, maybe a week," objected Hiram. + +"Can't be helped. We've got to do something. You are lighter and can +travel quicker than I. Take food and a rifle and get through as quick as +you can." + +Ten minutes later the red canoe, well stocked with food, and paddled by +the young Scout, shot out from the shore. By hugging the rim of the lake +the boys had figured that he would be able to undertake the first stage +of his journey without running much risk of being seen by their enemies. +Besides, it was unlikely that Hunt or his cronies would be keeping a very +keen lookout as they evidently believed that all the party was imprisoned +in the cave. + +Tubby and Jumbo watched the canoe while it remained in sight, and then +returned to their hiding place. Toward the middle of the afternoon they +saw smoke on the cliff top and well back from the edge. + +"At any rate," thought Tubby, "they are camped at a good distance back +from us. I reckon there's no danger of their seeing us moving about." + +With great caution the lad wormed his way through the brush, leaving +Jumbo to guard the canoes. He had formed a daring determination to +examine the rock and see if it was not possible in some miraculous way to +move it. But an examination confirmed his worst fears. + +The great stone was as immovable as if it had formed a part of the living +rock. Tubby actually gave a groan of despair. + +"There's not a thing we can do," he moaned disconsolately. A sudden +footfall above him made him dive into the brush. He flattened out, +immovable, in a flash. The next instant Hunt strode into the glade, +followed by his son. They also examined the stone. + +"If they won't come to our terms," said Hunt, as they turned away again, +"we can immure them in a living tomb." + +Tubby Hopkins, lying as quiet as a rabbit in his place of concealment, +could not but feel the bitter truth the words held. + + * * * * * * * * + +"Those fellows are a long time getting that water, and I'm as dry as a +jar of salt," said Merritt, as they munched on their provisions. + +"I guess we're all pretty thirsty," said the major. "Perhaps you'd better +go and hurry them up, my boy." + +Merritt sprinted off on this errand. He had almost reached the ravine and +was about to step on the narrow bridge across it when there was a sudden +crashing jar that shook the earth. + +Though, of course, he did not know it, the noise was occasioned by the +falling rock dislodged by Hunt and his followers. + +"Wonder what that was?" thought the boy, little guessing the real cause. + +"If we were in the west I should think it was an earthquake. But I never +heard of any in the Adirondacks." + +Before long he gained a point in the passage where he knew he should have +seen a disc of daylight ahead of him. Puzzled by its absence, the boy +pushed on. Every minute he expected to see the light, but the darkness +continued to prevail. Sorely perplexed, he took a few steps more, when he +was abruptly confronted by a mass of solid rock. The passage appeared to +have terminated. + +It was several moments before the meaning of this conveyed itself to the +boy's mind. When he mastered the situation it was with a sense of shock +that for an instant almost deprived him of his senses. + +Recovering his wits he lost no time in communicating his alarming +intelligence. Incidentally, the cause of the noise he had heard was +abundantly explained. + +It required but a brief examination by the major, to make known the full +extent of their calamity. + +"We are walled in," he said hoarsely. + +"Is there no hope of escape?" gasped the professor. The boys were too +much overcome to speak. + +The major shook his head. Unconsciously he repeated Tubby's words. + +"Help, if it is to come, must come from the outside," he said. + +His words rang hollowly in the musty, subterranean passage. + + + + + CHAPTER XXIV. + TWO COLUMNS OF SMOKE. + + +Through the deep woods a boyish figure was creeping. It was Hiram, +footsore, sick and despondent. It was the second day since he had left +the scene of the Boy Scouts' misfortune. Behind him lay the lake. And +that was about all he knew definitely of his situation. + +For the last hour of his slow progress over the cruelly rough ground, the +lad's heart had almost failed him. But he had kept pluckily on. At last, +though, he was compelled, from sheer exhaustion, to sink down under a big +hickory tree. He was lost, hopelessly lost in the midst of the Adirondack +wilds. + +Few men or boys who have ever been in a similar fix will not realize the +extreme danger of Hiram's position. There are still vast tracks in these +mountains untrodden, except, perchance, at long intervals, by the foot of +man. The predicament of one who misses his way in their lonely stretches +is serious indeed. Hiram was a nervous, sensitive boy, moreover, and, as +the dark shadows of late afternoon began to steal through the woods, he +felt a sense of keen fear, and alarm. He even thought he could make out +the forms of savage beasts prowling about him. + +At last the boy determined, by a brave effort, to make the best of it. He +ate a meal of bread and salt meat from his haversack and washed it down +with water from his canteen. Then he set himself to thinking about a way +out of his position. + +But as is often the case with those hopelessly lost in the wilderness, +his brain refused to work coherently. A sort of panic had clutched him. +To his excited, overwrought imagination it appeared that it was his fate, +his destiny to die alone in these great, silent woods, stretching, for +all he knew, to infinity on every side of him. + +"I must brace up and do something," thought Hiram desperately; "maybe I +haven't wandered as far as I think. Perhaps a signal fire might be seen +by somebody. I'll try it, anyhow." + +The thought of doing something cheered him mightily. The task of +gathering wood and bark to make his fire also helped to keep his mind off +his predicament. + +The young Scout built his fire on the summit of the highest bit of ground +he could find. It was a bare hillock, rocky and bleak, rising amid the +trees. + +The fire Hiram constructed was, properly speaking, composed of two piles +of sticks and dry leaves and bark. Close at hand he piled a big armful of +extra fuel to keep it going. For he had determined to watch by the fires +all night, if necessary. It was, he felt, his last hope. + +The fires arranged to his satisfaction, the boy set a match to each pile +in turn. From the midst of the forest two columns of smoke ascended. The +afternoon was still. Not a breath of wind ruffled a leaf. In the calm air +the columns of smoke shot up straight. Hiram piled green leaves on his +blazing heaps and the smoke grew thicker. + +The message the two smoke columns spelled out, in Scout talk, was this: + +"I am lost, help!" + +Hiram knew if there were any Scouts within seeing distance of the two +smoke columns, that he would be saved. If not--but he did not dare to +dwell on that thought. + +The late afternoon deepened into twilight, and still Hiram sat on, +feeding his fires, although the flames of hope in his heart had died out +into gray ashes of despair. As the darkness thickened and a gloom spread +through the woods, his fears and nervousness increased. It is one thing +to have a companion in the woods and the surety of a camp fire and +comfort at night, and quite another pair of shoes to be lost in the +impenetrable forest. Anybody who has experienced the dilemma can +appreciate something of poor Hiram's state of mind. + +It grew almost dark. The two fires glowed in the twilight like two red +eyes. + +All at once Hiram almost uttered a shout of alarm. Then he grew still, +his heart beating till it shook his frame. Somewhere, close to him, a +twig had cracked. He was certain, too, that he had seen a dark form dodge +behind a tree. + +"Who's there," he cried shrilly. + +As if in reply, from behind the surrounding trees, a dozen dark forms +suddenly emerged and started toward him. Half beside himself with alarm, +Hiram, his mind full of visions of moonshiners, Indians and desperadoes, +leaped to his feet and started to run for his life. + +But he had not gone a dozen steps before he stumbled and fell. As he did +so his head struck a rock and the blow stunned him. + +The men who had emerged with such suddenness from behind the trees +hastened up. + +"We needn't have feared a trap," said one; "it was a genuine Scout +signal. I'm glad my boys taught them to me or we might have been too late +to save this boy." + +The speaker was the same man who had recognized Rob Blake, and whose two +sons were members of the Curlew Patrol. He picked Hiram up. + +"Lost and half scared to death," he said tenderly; "and just to think +that we crept up on him like a bunch of prowling Indians." + +"Well, we've got to look out for traps, you know," put in the leader, the +gray-moustached man; "those two smoke columns that you knew the meaning +of might have been a trick to decoy us. I'm glad we approached +stealthily, but I'm sorry we scared this poor kid so badly." + +"Oh, he'll be all right directly," was the easy reply. "Sam, you and Jim +get a kettle boiling and make coffee. We'll camp here to-night," said +Rob's friend. + +He set Hiram down at the root of a big tree just as the lad opened his +eyes and gazed with astonishment on the group of stalwart, kind-eyed men +gathered in wonderment about him. + + * * * * * * * * + +It was moonlight, and almost midnight, before Tubby deemed it safe to +reconnoitre the vicinity of the cave mouth. Followed by Jumbo, who was +quaking with fear, but accompanied the stout youth in preference to being +left alone, Tubby cautiously made his way through the undergrowth. A spot +of bright light above showed him the location of the camp fire of Hunt's +gang. It was hardly likely that they would be patroling the entrance to +the cave, effectually blocked as it was. But Tubby took no chances. With +the skill and silence of an Indian he wormed his way along. + +He had almost reached the open space where they had chopped down the +brush when, without an instant's warning, the figure of Stonington Hunt +strode into view. + +At the same unlucky instant Jumbo, lumbering along quite silently, +stubbed his toe against an out-cropping rock. He fell headlong with a +crash. + +"Gollygumptions! I'm killed dead!" he yelled at the top of his lungs, +utterly regardless of consequences. + +Tubby turned and was about to dodge back into the shelter of the dense +growth when Hunt espied him. With an angry oath he sprang at him, +pointing a pistol. But Tubby, in a flash, changed his tactics +surprisingly. Converting himself into a human battering ram, he lowered +his head and rushed full tilt at Hunt. + +Completely taken by surprise by Tubby's onslaught, Hunt stopped and +hesitated. The fat boy, at the same instant, rushed between the man's +legs, seizing them in a firm grip as he did so. The unexpected assault +resulted in hurling Hunt violently forward. He fell sprawling in a heap. +At the same instant his pistol was discharged in the air. + +As the report rang out from close at hand half a dozen figures sprang +into being. They were those of his followers who had been behind him at +some distance on this nocturnal visit of inspection. + +Dale and Bumpus instantly recognized Tubby. + +"That's the fat kid who wrecked our sloop!" cried Dale. + +"A hundred dollars to the one that gets him!" shouted Hunt from the +ground where he still lay. + +"How under the sun did he escape?" shouted Freeman Hunt, taking up the +chorus of cries and exclamations. + +But before Dale, agile as he was, could reach him, Tubby had darted +nimbly off. He was heading for the bushes. In another instant he would +have reached them but a second figure suddenly dodged into the moonlight +and blocked his way. It was Black Bart. He outspread his long arms to +catch the hunted youth. + +The next instant he had shared Hunt's fate. Tubby, for the second time +that night, executed his skillful tackle. Black Bart, with a string of +bad words accompanying his fall, was upset without ceremony. But Dale was +close on Tubby's nimble heels. As the lad dodged from his fallen foe Dale +reached out, and his big hand grabbed the fleeing lad's collar. Tubby +gave a dive and a twist but he could not get away. + +"Good boy, Dale. Hold him!" came Freeman Hunt's voice. + +Suddenly another figure appeared. The newcomer sprang out of the shadows +behind them. With one blow this personage knocked Dale sprawling beside +Black Bart, and the next instant, as Pete Bumpus essayed to take part in +the fray, he was sent to join the other two. + +Tubby felt himself snatched up and carried swiftly off into the darkness +of the friendly brush. + +"Gollygumptions!" chuckled Jumbo, for it was he, as he ran, "but it shuah +did feel good to swat dem no-good trash." + +"Hullo, Jumbo, is that you?" asked Tubby as he heard; "I'll forgive you +for almost getting us captured." + +"Tank you, Marse Hopkins," rejoined Jumbo gravely; "but we bes' keep our +words till we get furder away. Hark!" + +Behind them they could hear angry voices, and shouts and trampling in the +brush. + +The strong-muscled black, bent almost double, ran swiftly with his burden +for some distance further. Then he set Tubby down and rested, breathing +heavily. The sounds of the chase came from afar to them, much fainter +now. + +"Ha! ha!" chortled Jumbo; "dey look an' look, but dey no find us." + +"That's all right, too, Jumbo," said Tubby, sitting down on a decayed +log; "but it doesn't help to get the major and the rest out of that hole +in the ground." + +"Maybe Marse Hiram got frough," suggested Jumbo hopefully. + +"I hope so, I'm sure," said Tubby with a mournful intonation; "it looks +now as if that was our only chance of saving them. + +"Where are we?" added Tubby, suddenly gazing about him. There was +something familiar about the scenery. Especially about a tall, +cone-shaped rock that loomed up close at hand. + +"That's Ruby Glow!" he exclaimed the next instant. + +"And gollygumptions, ef dere ain't a spook or suthin' on top of it," +cried Jumbo. + +He pointed to a dark figure standing upright in the white moonlight that +flooded the isolated mass of rock. + + + + + CHAPTER XXV. + THE HEART OF THE MYSTERY--CONCLUSION. + + +We left the major and his party marooned in the cave, and overcome by the +suddenness of the disaster that had overtaken them like a bolt from a +clear sky. We must now return to them. + +After the first shock of the discovery the major suggested that they +retreat to the chamber and talk things over as calmly as possible. Each +one of the party, with a strong effort to master his feelings, followed +the advice. A long consultation followed, the result of which was that +they determined that the first thing to be done was to institute a search +for water. + +The far end of the cavern had not yet been explored and it was decided to +begin with that. Headed by the major, they started for what seemed a +blank wall at the end of the chamber. But on nearing it, it proved that +its appearance of blankness was chiefly caused by a sort of screen of +rock that masked an opening as effectually as if it had been placed there +by someone anxious to conceal it. + +"We'll penetrate beyond this," announced the major, and holding his +lantern high, was stepping forward when he stopped. One word came to his +lips: + +"Water!" + +From a tiny rift in the rock, sure enough, a small but blessed stream of +clear water was flowing. The delight with which the imprisoned party +hailed the discovery may be imagined. For a short time, while they +assuaged their pangs of thirst, already painful, they almost forgot the +seriousness of their situation. + +While the others drank, Andy Bowles, who had been one of the first to +taste the cool water, strayed further into the passage. Presently his +voice was borne back to the others. + +"Say!" he cried; "there's a funny sort of box in here." + +"What kind of a box?" hailed the major, alert in an instant. + +"Why, it's awful old by the looks of it. It's all bound with iron, and +nails are stuck all over it. And--say! There are two more back beyond +it." + +"The treasure trove!" gasped the professor. + +"Beyond a doubt," said the major. Then he added gloomily, "but what good +is it to us now? If we cannot escape from here before long we shall +perish miserably, and nothing but dynamite can release us." + +"At any rate we must not give up hope," counselled the professor; +"suppose we investigate these boxes. At any rate it will give us +something to do. It is better than doing nothing." + +"That is right," declared the major; "it may keep us from dwelling on the +situation." + +Merritt's axe was called into requisition, and, as the others stood round +with upraised lanterns, the boy swung the weapon down on the iron lock of +the first of the old chests. It was old and rotten, and, after a few +blows, it gave way. + +With trembling, nervous hands the lid of the box was pushed back. But a +surprise greeted the fortune hunters. Instead of a mass of gold objects +or coins meeting their eyes only a faded piece of red velvet, covering +the contents of the box, met their gaze. + +"Pull it off!" ordered the major. + +Merritt and the professor raised the bit of fabric and then started back +with startled faces. Under the velvet was a picture. A grim portrait of a +tall man in black garments holding a skull in his hands, while he knelt +beside an open grave. Under it was painted in old fashioned letters: + + "The End Of The Quest for Riches." + +"Good heavens," exclaimed the major, who had paled a little under his +tan, "that seems almost like a warning." + +Mastering a feeling of dread, Merritt helped the professor to raise the +picture. Under it was an old sea cloak, a brass spy glass of antique +make, and an old-fashioned compass and--that was all. + +"It begins to look as if my ancestor had played a grim joke on +posterity," said the major; "however, let us see what is in the other two +boxes." + +Crash! + +Down came Merritt's axe on the first of the remaining two chests. The lid +flew open with such suddenness that it startled them. It was operated by +concealed springs. + +As the light of the lanterns fell on the contents of this box, however, +all doubt as to the success of the quest was removed. It was filled to +the brim with golden candlesticks, vases, plates and cups of priceless +value. Some of them flashed with gems. The hoarded treasure of the wicked +old pirate of the Spanish seas lay before them. + +"Now the other," said the professor in a faint voice, "I can hardly +believe my eyes." + +"It does seem incredible," commented the major. + +The contents of the other chest, which was speedily opened, proved to be +of the same nature as that of the second one rifled. On the interior of +the lid, however, there had been a secret chamber. The spring of this, +rotten with age, gave way as the cover was lifted. A niagara of coins of +all nations, Spanish doubloons, French crowns, English Rose nobles and +florins, and queerly-marked Oriental wealth, flowed out. + +"What should you think was the value of all this, professor?" asked the +major when he recovered his voice. + +"At least two million dollars," was the rejoinder in tones the man of +science tried in vain to render steady. + +"I'd give half of it now if we could get out of here," said the major. + +"Perhaps there is a way." + +It was Merritt who spoke. + +"What makes you think so, my boy?" + +"Why, while we've been standing here I've noticed a draught. Look at the +lantern flames flicker in it. It comes from further down the passage. We +might explore it, anyway." + +"I think so, too," said the major, and followed by the others, still +dazed by the sight of the hoarded fortune, he struck out into the +darkness. For some distance the passage into which he had plunged was +level. Then his feet encountered rough steps. Calling to the others to +follow him the major mounted them. + +Up and up they climbed, the wind blowing more freshly in their faces +every instant. All at once, without any warning, the major emerged into +the open air. He looked about him amazed. The others, as they joined him, +heard his astonishment. They seemed to be on the summit of a small island +in the midst of a sea of woods. + +Gazing over the edge, they soon ascertained that they were at the summit +of a high cone-shaped mass of rocks. The sides were steep as church +walls, and offered no foothold. + +All at once the explanation burst upon the major. "We are at the summit +of Ruby Glow!" he cried. + +Astonishing as it appeared, this was the truth. The professor regarded it +as a proof of his theory that the place had been used as an Indian watch +tower. + +"I know now what puzzled me before," he said, "and that was the manner in +which they gained the summit of the cone." + +"But that doesn't help us to get down," said Merritt, "it looks as if we +are as badly off as before." + +"I'm afraid you're right," said the major; "no living being could scale +those walls." + +"And no living being could move that rock from the entrance to the cave," +echoed Rob miserably. + +They retraced their steps. The hours passed slowly in the cavern. But in +order to employ them somehow they made an inventory of the contents of +the treasure boxes. + +Supper was eaten from their fast diminishing store of eatables. Nobody +talked much. They did not feel inclined for conversation. At length +nature asserted itself. Rob actually began to feel sleepy. Andy and the +professor had already flung themselves down and were fast asleep. + +"Guess I'll take one more look out from Ruby Glow before I turn in," +thought Rob to himself. + +With this intention in mind he left the cave. He did not take long to +reach the top of the cone. Moonlight flooded it, and the surrounding +forest. Rob looked about him. It was a lovely scene, but somehow its +beauty didn't impress him much just then. All at once he became aware of +two figures below the cone gazing curiously up at it. One was oddly +familiar to him. In fact they both were. + +"Who is it?" he asked, feeling that there was no danger in speaking +clearly. + +"Hush!" came up the answer in Tubby's voice, in a low, but penetrating +whisper, "it's me, Tubby. Jumbo's with me. How under the canopy did you +get up there?" + +"It's a long story," responded Rob, in the same cautious tones; "the +question is how are we going to get down again?" + +"Gee whiz! that's so. There's no way of clambering down the sides. If +only we had a rope." + +"We've got one. The canoe ropes joined together would be long and strong +enough," said Rob, "but how could you get them up to us? No trees grow +close enough. I don't see how----" + +He stopped short. Tubby had suddenly begun to execute a grotesque sort of +war-dance. His figure capered oddly about in the moonlight. + +"Wait there till I come back!" he exclaimed, and suddenly darted off, +followed by Jumbo. + +"Well, if that isn't just like Tubby," said Rob; "what in the world is he +up to now?" + +But Rob knew Tubby well enough to divine that the lad would not have told +him to wait if there had not been some good reason for it. So he sat down +with what patience he could. It was some time before Tubby reappeared. +When he did, he had something in his hands. + +"Watch out!" he cried to Rob. + +The leader of the Eagle Patrol watched his Scout carefully. Suddenly he +realized what Tubby was doing. He had made a bow and arrow out of springy +wood. Then he had attached one end of a light string to the arrow. To the +other extremity of the string, which was long enough to reach the summit +of the cone, was attached the knotted lengths of canoe and pack rope. Rob +had hardly time to take in the details of this clever trick before the +arrow came whizzing by his ear. He grabbed the string as it followed and +began hauling in. + +Before long he had reached its end, and started pulling on the rope. He +made one end fast about a projecting pinnacle of rock, and then called +down his congratulations to Tubby in a low but hearty voice. + +"I always told you I could do something else than fall in," was the +message Tubby sent back as he strutted about below. + +Rob's next act was to arouse the sleepers and Major Dangerfield. They +were all naturally warm in praise of Tubby's clever device. It was tested +by Rob who slid down it in perfect safety, but landed with barked shins +and scraped hands. That was a cheap price to pay for deliverance, though, +and the others, when they followed him, felt the same way about it. + +"Now what are we going to do?" said the major as they all stood in a +group on the ground. + +"I think----" began the professor. + +But the words were taken out of his mouth. Rob made a hasty sign to the +others to conceal themselves. A sudden heavy rumbling sound had echoed +through the air. It was followed by a red flash from the direction of the +mouth of the cave. + +"They've blown the rock up!" cried the major. + +"That's why they were all prowling around there to-night, I suppose," +exclaimed Tubby. + +"Let's get to the canoes and arm ourselves," said the major; "we can +catch them all red-handed." + +First the rope by which they had escaped was cut as high as possible from +the ground, and then the major's suggestion was carried out. They reached +the entrance of the cave just in time to hear footsteps approaching down +the passage. + +They crouched quietly till Dale emerged from the cavern entrance, +stumbling over the shattered fragments of the big rock that had blocked +it. His arms were full of plunder from the chests, and he was able to +offer little resistance. He was seized and bound and gagged without his +having any opportunity to make an outcry. One after another, as they came +out, the rest of Hunt's gang were served the same way. Hunt and his son, +however, in some manner became alarmed as they neared the entry. They +dashed back, outfooting the lads who pursued them. Down the passage they +fled and stumbled blindly, in their fear, along the further passage and +up the steps to the top of the Ruby Glow peak. + +Arriving here they spied the rope. In a flash they were over the edge and +down it. Although they had bad tumbles when they reached the part where +it had been cut off, they managed to make good their escape. It would +have been folly to pursue them in the woods at night. + +Black Bart's capture deserves some mention. It was effected by Jumbo, who +literally threw himself on the black-bearded man as he emerged. It was +probably the noise of this scuffle that alarmed Hunt and his son. + +"You looks like five hundred dollahs to muh," grinned Jumbo, as Black +Bart, sullen and defiant as a wild cat, was manacled. + +The remainder of that night was spent in the cave, the prisoners being +closely guarded. The next day Dale was induced to tell how they had +stolen the explosive from the hut of an eccentric old character who did +some experimental mining not far away. + +"We figgered we'd find some use for it," he said cheerfully. + +That day was occupied in packing the precious articles, in bags brought +for the purpose. By evening all was complete. If they had known how Hiram +was faring they would have felt perfectly content. It was decided, if he +did not reappear, to leave some of the party in camp to await his return, +while the others pushed on to give the prisoners up to the proper +authorities. + +But at midnight that night they had a great surprise. Rob, who was on +watch, heard a sudden hail out of the darkness: + +"K-r-r-r-e-e-e-e!" + +It was the cry of the Eagle Patrol. + +"Who can be giving it, I wonder," he exclaimed. + +The next minute he knew. Hiram and the revenue officers, who had made a +night march of it, burst in upon the camp. Hiram had, in his wanderings, +retraced much of his way back toward the camp so that they had not had so +very far to tramp. The officials were delighted to learn of the clever +manner in which the moonshiners had been apprehended. They had been +searching for Black Bart, when they sighted Hiram's signal fires. + +Jumbo was assured that his five hundred dollars would be awarded to him +at the earliest opportunity. + +Had we space, or opportunity, we would like to tell of the journey back +to civilization, of the share that each Boy Scout, much against his +inclination, was forced to accept of the treasure, and of Alice +Dangerfield's thanks to the Boy Scouts for the brave way in which they +stood by her father in time of peril. They really valued this--like true +Scouts--more than the monetary reward. + +But further adventures impend in the Boy Scouts' eventful +lives,--exciting, as well as amusing, incidents "by flood and field." If +our readers care to follow further the careers of our young friends, they +can find them set forth in detail in the next volume of this series: + + THE BOY SCOUTS FOR UNCLE SAM. + + + THE END. + + + + + Reasons why you should obtain a Catalogue of our Publications + + + _A postal to us will place it in your hands_ + +1. You will possess a comprehensive and classified list of all the best +standard books published, at prices less than offered by others. + +2. You will find listed in our catalogue books on every topic: Poetry, +Fiction, Romance, Travel, Adventure, Humor, Science, History, Religion, +Biography, Drama, etc., besides Dictionaries and Manuals, Bibles, +Recitation and Hand Books, Sets, Octavos, Presentation Books and Juvenile +and Nursery Literature in immense variety. + +3. You will be able to purchase books at prices within your reach; as low +as 10 cents for paper covered books, to $5.00 for books bound in cloth or +leather, adaptable for gift and presentation purposes, to suit the tastes +of the most critical. + +4. You will save considerable money by taking advantage of our Special +Discounts, which we offer to those whose purchases are large enough to +warrant us in making a reduction. + + + HURST & CO., _Publishers_, + 395, 397, 399 Broadway, New York. + + + OAKDALE ACADEMY SERIES + + Stories of Modern School Sports + By MORGAN SCOTT. + + Cloth Bound. Illustrated. Price, 60c. per vol., postpaid + + BEN STONE AT OAKDALE. + + Under peculiarly trying circumstances Ben Stone wins his way at + Oakdale Academy, and at the same time enlists our sympathy, interest + and respect. Through the enmity of Bern Hayden, the loyalty of Roger + Eliot and the clever work of the "Sleuth," Ben is falsely accused, + championed and vindicated. + + BOYS OF OAKDALE ACADEMY. + + "One thing I will claim, and that is that all Grants fight open and + square and there never was a sneak among them." It was Rodney Grant, + of Texas, who made the claim to his friend, Ben Stone, and this story + shows how he proved the truth of this statement in the face of + apparent evidence to the contrary. + + RIVAL PITCHERS OF OAKDALE. + + Baseball is the main theme of this interesting narrative, and that + means not only clear and clever descriptions of thrilling games, but + an intimate acquaintance with the members of the teams who played + them. The Oakdale Boys were ambitious and loyal, and some were even + disgruntled and jealous, but earnest, persistent work won out. + + OAKDALE BOYS IN CAMP. + + The typical vacation is the one that means much freedom, little + restriction, and immediate contact with "all outdoors." These + conditions prevailed in the summer camp of the Oakdale Boys and made + it a scene of lively interest. + + THE GREAT OAKDALE MYSTERY. + + The "Sleuth" scents a mystery! He "follows his nose." The plot + thickens! He makes deductions. There are surprises for the + reader--and for the "Sleuth," as well. + + NEW BOYS AT OAKDALE. + + A new element creeps into Oakdale with another year's registration of + students. The old and the new standards of conduct in and out of + school meet, battle, and cause sweeping changes in the lives of + several of the boys. + + + Any volume sent postpaid upon receipt of price. + HURST & COMPANY -- Publishers -- NEW YORK + + + BUNGALOW BOYS SERIES + + LIVE STORIES OF OUTDOOR LIFE + By DEXTER J. FORRESTER. + + Cloth Bound. Illustrated. Price, 50c. per vol., postpaid + + THE BUNGALOW BOYS. + + How the Bungalow Boys received their title and how they retained the + right to it in spite of much opposition makes a lively narrative for + lively boys. + + THE BUNGALOW BOYS MAROONED IN THE TROPICS. + + A real treasure hunt of the most thrilling kind, with a sunken + Spanish galleon as its object, makes a subject of intense interest at + any time, but add to that a band of desperate men, a dark plot and a + devil fish, and you have the combination that brings strange + adventures into the lives of the Bungalow Boys. + + THE BUNGALOW BOYS IN THE GREAT NORTH WEST. + + The clever assistance of a young detective saves the boys from the + clutches of Chinese smugglers, of whose nefarious trade they know too + much. How the Professor's invention relieves a critical situation is + also an exciting incident of this book. + + THE BUNGALOW BOYS ON THE GREAT LAKES. + + The Bungalow Boys start out for a quiet cruise on the Great Lakes and + a visit to an island. A storm and a band of wreckers interfere with + the serenity of their trip, and a submarine adds zest and adventure + to it. + + + Any volume sent postpaid upon receipt of price. + HURST & COMPANY -- Publishers -- NEW YORK + + + BORDER BOYS SERIES + + Mexican and Canadian Frontier Series + By FREMONT B. DEERING. + + Cloth Bound. Illustrated. Price, 50c. per vol., postpaid + + THE BORDER BOYS ON THE TRAIL. + + What it meant to make an enemy of Black Ramon De Barios--that is the + problem that Jack Merrill and his friends, including Coyote Pete, + face in this exciting tale. + + THE BORDER BOYS ACROSS THE FRONTIER. + + Read of the Haunted Mesa and its mysteries, of the Subterranean River + and its strange uses, of the value of gasolene and steam "in running + the gauntlet," and you will feel that not even the ancient splendors + of the Old World can furnish a better setting for romantic action + than the Border of the New. + + THE BORDER BOYS WITH THE MEXICAN RANGERS. + + As every day is making history--faster, it is said, than ever + before--so books that keep pace with the changes are full of rapid + action and accurate facts. This book deals with lively times on the + Mexican border. + + THE BORDER BOYS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS. + + The Border Boys have already had much excitement and adventure in + their lives, but all this has served to prepare them for the + experiences related in this volume. They are stronger, braver and + more resourceful than ever, and the exigencies of their life in + connection with the Texas Rangers demand all their trained ability. + + + Any volume sent postpaid upon receipt of price. + HURST & COMPANY -- Publishers -- NEW YORK + + + MOTOR RANGERS SERIES + + HIGH SPEED MOTOR STORIES + By MARVIN WEST. + + Cloth Bound. Illustrated. Price, 50c. per vol., postpaid + + THE MOTOR RANGERS' LOST MINE. + + This is an absorbing story of the continuous adventures of a motor + car in the hands of Nat Trevor and his friends. It does seemingly + impossible "stunts," and yet everything happens "in the nick of + time." + + THE MOTOR RANGERS THROUGH THE SIERRAS. + + Enemies in ambush, the peril of fire, and the guarding of treasure + make exciting times for the Motor Rangers--yet there is a strong + flavor of fun and freedom, with a typical Western mountaineer for + spice. + + THE MOTOR RANGERS ON BLUE WATER; or, The Secret of the Derelict. + + The strange adventures of the sturdy craft "Nomad" and the stranger + experiences of the Rangers themselves with Morello's schooner and a + mysterious derelict form the basis of this well-spun yarn of the sea. + + THE MOTOR RANGERS' CLOUD CRUISER. + + From the "Nomad" to the "Discoverer" from the sea to the sky, the + scene changes in which the Motor Rangers figure. They have + experiences "that never were on land or sea," in heat and cold and + storm, over mountain peak and lost city, with savages and reptiles; + their ship of the air is attacked by huge birds of the air; they + survive explosion and earthquake; they even live to tell the tale! + + + Any volume sent postpaid upon receipt of price. + HURST & COMPANY -- Publishers -- NEW YORK + + + MOLLY BROWN SERIES + + College Life Stories for Girls + By NELL SPEED. + + Cloth Bound. Illustrated. Price, 60c. per vol., postpaid + + MOLLY BROWN'S FRESHMAN DAYS. + + Would you like to admit to your circle of friends the most charming + of college girls--the typical college girl for whom we are always + looking but not always finding; the type that contains so many + delightful characteristics, yet without unpleasant perfection in any; + the natural, unaffected, sweet-tempered girl, loved because she is + lovable? Then seek an introduction to Molly Brown. You will find the + baggage-master, the cook, the Professor of English Literature, and + the College President in the same company. + + MOLLY BROWN'S SOPHOMORE DAYS. + + What is more delightful than a re-union of college girls after the + summer vacation? Certainly nothing that precedes it in their + experience--at least, if all class-mates are as happy together as the + Wellington girls of this story. Among Molly's interesting friends of + the second year is a young Japanese girl, who ingratiates her + "humbly" self into everybody's affections speedily and permanently. + + MOLLY BROWN'S JUNIOR DAYS. + + Financial stumbling blocks are not the only things that hinder the + ease and increase the strength of college girls. Their troubles and + their triumphs are their own, often peculiar to their environment. + How Wellington students meet the experiences outside the class-rooms + is worth the doing, the telling and the reading. + + + Any volume sent postpaid upon receipt of price. + HURST & COMPANY -- Publishers -- NEW YORK + + + MOTOR MAIDS SERIES + + Wholesome Stories of Adventure + By KATHERINE STOKES. + + Cloth Bound. Illustrated. Price, 50c. per vol., postpaid + + THE MOTOR MAIDS' SCHOOL DAYS. + + Billie Campbell was just the type of a straightforward, athletic girl + to be successful as a practical Motor Maid. She took her car, as she + did her class-mates, to her heart, and many a grand good time did + they have all together. The road over which she ran her red machine + had many an unexpected turning,--now it led her into peculiar danger; + now into contact with strange travelers; and again into experiences + by fire and water. But, best of all, "The Comet" never failed its + brave girl owner. + + THE MOTOR MAIDS BY PALM AND PINE. + + Wherever the Motor Maids went there were lively times, for these were + companionable girls who looked upon the world as a vastly interesting + place full of unique adventures--and so, of course, they found them. + + THE MOTOR MAIDS ACROSS THE CONTINENT. + + It is always interesting to travel, and it is wonderfully + entertaining to see old scenes through fresh eyes. It is that + privilege, therefore, that makes it worth while to join the Motor + Maids in their first 'cross-country run. + + THE MOTOR MAIDS BY ROSE, SHAMROCK AND HEATHER. + + South and West had the Motor Maids motored, nor could their education + by travel have been more wisely begun. But now a speaking + acquaintance with their own country enriched their anticipation of an + introduction to the British Isles. How they made their polite + American bow and how they were received on the other side is a tale + of interest and inspiration. + + + Any volume sent postpaid upon receipt of price. + HURST & COMPANY -- Publishers -- NEW YORK + + + GIRL AVIATORS SERIES + + Clean Aviation Stories + By MARGARET BURNHAM. + + Cloth Bound. Illustrated. Price, 50c. per vol., postpaid + + THE GIRL AVIATORS AND THE PHANTOM AIRSHIP. + + Roy Prescott was fortunate in having a sister so clever and devoted + to him and his interests that they could share work and play with + mutual pleasure and to mutual advantage. This proved especially true + in relation to the manufacture and manipulation of their aeroplane, + and Peggy won well deserved fame for her skill and good sense as an + aviator. There were many stumbling-blocks in their terrestrial path, + but they soared above them all to ultimate success. + + THE GIRL AVIATORS ON GOLDEN WINGS. + + That there is a peculiar fascination about aviation that wins and + holds girl enthusiasts as well as boys is proved by this tale. On + golden wings the girl aviators rose for many an exciting flight, and + met strange and unexpected experiences. + + THE GIRL AVIATORS' SKY CRUISE. + + To most girls a coaching or yachting trip is an adventure. How much + more perilous an adventure a "sky cruise" might be is suggested by + the title and proved by the story itself. + + THE GIRL AVIATORS' MOTOR BUTTERFLY. + + The delicacy of flight suggested by the word "butterfly," the + mechanical power implied by "motor," the ability to control assured + in the title "aviator," all combined with the personality and + enthusiasm of girls themselves, make this story one for any girl or + other reader "to go crazy over." + + + Any volume sent postpaid upon receipt of price. + HURST & COMPANY -- Publishers -- NEW YORK + + + MOTOR CYCLE SERIES + + Splendid Motor Cycle Stories + By LIEUT. HOWARD PAYSON. + Author of "Boy Scout Series." + + Cloth Bound. Illustrated. Price, 50c. per vol., postpaid + + THE MOTOR CYCLE CHUMS AROUND THE WORLD. + + Could Jules Verne have dreamed of encircling the globe with a motor + cycle for emergencies he would have deemed it an achievement greater + than any he describes in his account of the amusing travels of + Phileas Fogg. This, however, is the purpose successfully carried out + by the Motor Cycle Chums, and the tale of their mishaps, hindrances + and delays is one of intense interest, secret amusement, and + incidental information to the reader. + + THE MOTOR CYCLE CHUMS OF THE NORTHWEST PATROL. + + The Great Northwest is a section of vast possibilities and in it the + Motor Cycle Chums meet adventures even more unusual and exciting than + many of their experiences on their tour around the world. There is + not a dull page in this lively narrative of clever boys and their + attendant "Chinee." + + THE MOTOR CYCLE CHUMS IN THE GOLD FIELDS. + + The gold fever which ran its rapid course through the veins of the + historic "forty-niners" recurs at certain intervals, and seizes its + victims with almost irresistible power. The search for gold is so + fascinating to the seekers that hardship, danger and failure are + obstacles that scarcely dampen their ardour. How the Motor Cycle + Chums were caught by the lure of the gold and into what difficulties + and novel experiences they were led, makes a tale of thrilling + interest. + + + Any volume sent postpaid upon receipt of price. + HURST & COMPANY -- Publishers -- NEW YORK + + + Harry Castlemon Books + +The popularity enjoyed by Harry Castlemon as a writer of interesting +books for boys is second to none. His works are celebrated everywhere and +in great demand. We publish a few of the best. + + BOY TRAPPERS + FRANK AT DON CARLOS RANCHO + FRANK BEFORE VICKSBURG + FRANK IN THE WOODS + FRANK ON A GUNBOAT + FRANK ON THE PRAIRIE + FRANK, THE YOUNG NATURALIST + + +Sent to any address, postage paid, upon receipt of Fifty Cents. + +We send our complete catalogue free. + + + HURST & CO., Publishers, NEW YORK + + + Works of J. T. Trowbridge + +Here is an author who is famous--whose writings delight both boys and +girls. Enthusiasm abounds on every page and interest never grows old. A +few of the best titles are given: + + COUPON BONDS. + CUDJO'S CAVE. + THE DRUMMER BOY. + MARTIN MERRYVALE, HIS X MARK. + FATHER BRIGHT HOPES. + LUCY ARLYN. + NEIGHBOR JACKWOOD. + THE THREE SCOUTS. + + +Price, postage paid, for any of the above books, Fifty Cents. + + Have You Seen Our Complete Catalogue? + Send For It + + HURST & CO. Publishers NEW YORK + + + Oliver Optic Books + +Few boys are alive to-day who have not read some of the writings of this +famous author, whose books are scattered broadcast and eagerly sought +for. Oliver Optic has the faculty of writing books full of dash and +energy, such as healthy boys want and need. + + ALL ABOARD; or, Life on the Lake. + BOAT CLUB; or, The Bunkers of Rippleton. + BRAVE OLD SALT; or, Life on the Quarter Deck. + DO SOMETHINGS; a Story for Little Folks. + FIGHTING JOE; or, The Fortunes of a Staff Officer. + IN SCHOOL AND OUT; or, The Conquest of Richard Grant. + LITTLE BY LITTLE; or, The Cruise of the Flyaway. + LITTLE MERCHANT; a Story for Little Folks. + NOW OR NEVER: or, The Adventures of Bobby Bright. + POOR AND PROUD; or, The Fortunes of Katie Redburn. + PROUD AND LAZY; a Story for Little Folks. + RICH AND HUMBLE; or, The Mission of Bertha Grant. + SAILOR BOY; or, Jack Somers in the Navy. + SOLDIER BOY; or, Tom Somers in the Army. + TRY AGAIN; or, The Trials and Triumphs of Harry West. + WATCH AND WAIT; or, The Young Fugitives. + WORK AND WIN; or, Noddy Newman on a Cruise. + THE YANKEE MIDDY; or, The Adventures of a Naval Officer. + YOUNG LIEUTENANT; or, The Adventures of an Army Officer. + + Any of these books will be mailed, postpaid, upon receipt of 50c. + + Get our complete catalogue--sent anywhere. + + + HURST & CO., Publishers, NEW YORK + + + Log Cabin to White House Series + +A famous series of books, formerly sold at $2 00 per copy, are now +popularized by reducing the price less than half. The lives of these +famous Americans are worthy of a place in any library. A new book by +Edward S. Ellis--"From Ranch to White House"--is a life of Theodore +Roosevelt, while the author of the others, William M. Thayer, is a +celebrated biographer. + + FROM RANCH TO WHITE HOUSE; Life of Theodore Roosevelt. + FROM BOYHOOD TO MANHOOD; Life of Benjamin Franklin. + FROM FARM HOUSE TO WHITE HOUSE; Life of George Washington. + FROM LOG CABIN TO WHITE HOUSE; Life of James A. Garfield. + FROM PIONEER HOME TO WHITE HOUSE; Life of Abraham Lincoln. + FROM TANNERY TO WHITE HOUSE; Life of Ulysses S. Grant. + SUCCESS AND ITS ACHIEVERS. + TACT, PUSH AND PRINCIPLE. + +These titles, though by different authors, also belong to this series of +books: + + FROM COTTAGE TO CASTLE; The Story of Gutenberg, Inventor of Printing. + By Mrs. E. C. Pearson. + CAPITAL FOR WORKING BOYS. By Mrs. Julia E. M'Conaughy. + +Price, postpaid, for any of the above ten books, 75c. + +A complete catalogue sent for the asking. + + + HURST & CO. Publishers, NEW YORK + + + + + * * * * * * * * + + + + +Transcriber's note: + + +--Obvious typographical errors were corrected without comment. + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 42102 *** |