CHAPTER XVII.CAUGHT NAPPING.
“It is false!” cried Clara. “How dare you accuse my father of crime?”
“It’s true,” persisted Mudd; “and now that the cat is out of the bag, I’m going to tell the whole story, so that Dick Darrell can see what sort of cattle he is dealing with when he comes to deal with old Tom Eglinton and his brood.”
“Hold your tongue or I’ll pull it out for you!” exclaimed Dick; “you have no right to insult this young lady so. Never mind him, Clara. We know what he is. Don’t pay the least attention to him. He is talking the same way he got shot—through his hat.”
“Oh, all right, then,” retorted Mudd. “I’ll hold my tongue. Stick to your friends, the Eglintons, young feller, only let me tell you one thing, it was old Tom Eglinton who hired me to kill you—that’s straight.”
It was a most awkward situation for Dick.
Poor Clara was terribly overcome by the charge brought against her father, and it took all Dick’s tact and shrewdness to put her at her ease again.
Charley took it all in and said but little, reserving his comments until they had reached the hut and disposed of their prisoner.
The sun was now sinking behind the hills and night coming on.
Dick scanned the opposite shore of the lake through his glass, but could see nothing of Doctor Dan.
Things at the hut were exactly as they had left them, and as there was no possibility of leaving it before morning, Dick proceeded to make his arrangements accordingly.
Mudd was put in the loft and his feet tied as well as his hands.
The wily schemer made a vigorous protest against it all, but Dick would not listen to him, and he closed the trapdoor, which communicated with the loft, and left him to himself.
As Clara was very much fatigued, Dick suggested that she take possession of one of the bunks in the lower room and lie down, which she did shortly after dark.
As for the boys themselves, they had no other idea than to stand guard until morning.
The night was just perfect; the air soft and balmy and every star seemed to be out for business.
Arm in arm, Dick and Charley walked up and down the shore in front of the hut discussing the singular adventures which had befallen them, but it remained for Charley to bring the conversation back to Martin Mudd.
“You don’t say much about that wild talk he made, Dick,” Charley began. “Don’t take any stock in it, I suppose?”
“Why, of course not,” laughed Dick. “It’s mere bluff.”
“I don’t feel so sure about that,” said Charley, musingly. “I believe that there is something under it all.”
“Guess not,” replied Dick, carelessly. “The mean wretch! He wanted to make poor Clara feel bad, that’s all. To-morrow, just as soon as it is light, we must all start down the mountain and get around to the other side of the lake. Doctor Dan shall decide whether we go back to Node Ranch with our prisoner or not, but I think it’s the best thing we can do.”
“Suppose we build a big fire and let the Doctor know we are here?” suggested Charley.
“Yes, and let that scoundrel Tony know, too, and perhaps half a dozen others. No, thank you. I don’t care about that. We’ll let well enough alone.”
For a few moments the boys continued to pace the shore in silence and then Charley broke out again.
“I can’t get away from it, Dick,” he said. “I think you ought to listen to what Mudd has to tell.”
“Oh, I’ll listen all right,” repliedDick. “Trouble is he won’t talk now.”
“No; you’ve got him mad. Say, Dick, you never told me much about your folks. I know your father and mother are both dead, but——”
“But you still persist in thinking that I may turn out to be a millionaire. No,Charley, I’m just nobody. My father was a mining engineer and poor as a church mouse. He used to operate out in this section, but he never made much more than a living. When I was about ten years old he was killed in a fight in Cheyenne and my mother died soon afterward. She always claimed that father owned mining lands out West, but she had no papers to prove it, so I guess there was nothing in it after all.”
“Now there you are!” cried Charley. “Who knows but what Mudd might have been acquainted with your father?”
“Might be so, of course, but, come. We have gone too far away from the hut. Let’s get back. We mustn’t do it again.”
“Let’s go ahead to the Boiling Pot; it’s only a few steps further. Hark! Don’t you hear? It has got down to business again.”
The surging of the waters over at the pot could be distinctly heard as the boys drew nearer and when they reached the point on the shore opposite to it the noise seemed louder than when they had heard it before.
Charley bent over the edge of the bank watching the movement of the water intently.
Just then the same familiar bellow was heard out on the lake and the Plesiosaurus rose to the surface at a considerable distance from shore.
“By gracious, old P. D. again!” shouted Charley.
Dick turned to look, when all at once there was a splash and Charley went headlong into the lake, pushed by a man who had stolen noiselessly up behind them, while Dick was seized by two others and swung violently around.
“Throw him after the other one!” cried one of the men. “Let ’em both go down into the pot!”