THE AMBUSH.
"I seehim, Elmer," whispered Toby.
"Couldn't be anybody else," chuckled Nat, "because Lil Artha is as tall as a house, you know."
The contestant representing the Hickory Ridge scouts was standing there in the middle of the road, waiting for them to come up.
"Is it time, Elmer?" he asked, anxiously, as the other three joined him.
The gloaming was about them; indeed, since the heavens were beginning to be overshadowed by clouds, the dusk had already commenced to settle, earlier than usual in the end of August.
It had been a pretty fair day, but there was no telling what the night might bring forth; and Lil Artha, wisely looking ahead to a possible thunder-storm about midnight, was determined to complete his long hike as early as possible.
"Yes," replied the leader of the Wolf Patrol, quietly. "We're going to hide our machines somewhere about here, where we can find them when we need them a little later."
"And you want me to hold up till you're ready?" asked Lil Artha.
"That's the programme," came the reply. "You see, we expect that the four hold-up fellows must be hidden only a little farther along; and we want to have our partof the game fixed. Just sit down here, Lil Artha, and we'll be back again in a jiffy."
"Well, if it's all the same to you, Elmer, I think I'll keep on standing," replied the tall boy, with a chuckle.
"Oh, all right," replied Elmer; "you're the doctor, and ought to know what's best for your own case. Just wait for us here. Come along, fellows, and bring your motorcycles with you."
Of course there was no mystery about the refusal of Lil Artha to sit down. He knew from past experiences how difficult it is to get in working order again at such a stage in a long hike should he give way to the temptation and drop upon the ground. It was better to keep moving, and not allow any of his muscles to get stiffened.
Following Elmer, the others pushed into the woods on the right, where the scout leader seemed to think the conditions looked best for the hiding of the three machines.
It was not a hard task to secrete them in the bushes.
"Hope it don't rain before we come back again," remarked Toby, as he came out from the thicket where he had placed his motorcycle as carefully as though it were a brand-new one; for on account of its recent fairly decent performances the boy began to feel a return of his former affection for the wheel.
"We'll have to take the chances on that," replied Elmer. "These clouds may not stand for anything, after all."
"Often tries a big bluff like that," remarked Nat; "so we ain't going to worry about it. Besides, if the little circus is soon over, we can come here to get the bunch before long."
"Back to the road then, fellows," Toby observed, leading off with confidence.
A minute later Nat broke out again:
"Say, what d'ye know about this?" he remarked. "Don't seem a bit familiar to me along here. What're you laughing at, Elmer? Has Toby led us the wrong way?"
"Rats!" exclaimed that worthy, bristling up in indignation. "Don't you suppose I know what I'm about? Of course this is the right way to the road, ain't it, Elmer?"
"You might get there, if you kept on long enough!" admitted the other.
"But how far would we have to go?" demanded the incredulous Nat.
"Oh, about twenty-five thousand miles, more or less," chuckled Elmer.
"Gee, he's turned right around and is headingawayfrom the road, that's what," declared Nat, laughing softly. "A nice guide you'd be, Toby, old chum. Think of us floundering deeper and deeper into these blessed old woods, when every minute is worth a heap to us right now!"
"But what did you let me do it for, Elmer?" complained the culprit.
"Well, you started off as if you wanted to show us what you know about woodcraft; and I thought the chance to open your eyes a little too good to be lost," Elmer replied.
"But we've wasted time by it," declared Toby, feeling disheartened.
"Only a minute or two, and that doesn't count much beside the lesson it may be to a couple of scouts I know," said Elmer.
"Tell us just how you know which way the road lies," said Nat.
"Oh, that is as easy as falling off a log," came the crushing reply. "I just kept my eyes about me when we were coming in, and noted that we were moving due east at the time, with the breeze exactly on our right, and you remember it was coming out of the south a bit ago. If it had been daylight I'd have known the points of the compass from the direction of the sun; or, that failing, by the moss that nearly always grows on the north side of the trunks of forest trees. There are many ways for a wide-awake boy to find out these things; but only when he keeps his wits about himallthe time, and his eyes and ears open."
"I guess you're right, Elmer," grunted Toby. "Time I woke up and began to do some tall thinking, if ever I'm going to get out of the greenhorn class."
While the three were talking after this fashion, in low, cautious tones, Elmer had been leading the way in a confident fashion through the gloomy woods.
Both the others were now more than a little curious to ascertain just how near the point where they had left Lil Artha their guide would fetch up. So far as they themselves were concerned it was by this time all a confused jumble. If asked to point out the proper direction neither could have done better than shut his eyes and thrust out a hand at random; for they were very much turned around, now that the clouds had rendered it impossible for them to even decide which direction was west.
"Well, I declare!" ejaculated Toby, presently, "here's the bally old road, as sure as you're born, Nat!"
"Elmer!" said a low voice, as some object moved near by.
"And better still, here's Lil Artha!" declared Nat, lost in wonder as to how Elmer could have done such a remarkable stunt, and with hardly an effort, too.
"Sure," came in the same low tone. "Where else should he be but here just where you left him? But say, Elmer, you were gone a long time."
"Not a bit over five or six minutes," replied the leader, immediately; "and even then, we've had quite a lesson in woodcraft. Besides, Felix is half an hour behind, and there's little danger of his catching up, yet awhile."
"Do we start on again now?" asked Nat, who was opening and shutting his hands nervously in a way that might have excited the scout leader's suspicions had he been able to notice the movement.
"Yes, we're going to set the stage now for the last little scene in this act of the drama entitled the Great Hike Conspiracy," chuckled Elmer.
"That sounds good to me," murmured Nat.
"Go on, Elmer, and tell us just what you want us all to do," urged Lil Artha.
"First of all, you are to start on again, just as before, Lil Artha."
"Yes, I get that all right," replied the tall lad.
"And the rest of us will shadow you," Elmer continued.
"I don't quite understand what you mean, Elmer; will you keep a certain distance behind me all the time?" Lil Artha asked.
"You can make up your mind that we'll be close enough every minute to hear you whistle steadily as you trudge along," came the reassuring reply.
"And that means you'll get on to what they say to me when they show their hand: eh, Elmer?"
"Just what it does, Lil Artha," the leader answered.
"Fact is, I want to hear that little dialogue or conversation the worst way. Because, you see, we may have to repeat this story a few times later on, and we'd like to be able to have it all down pat."
"Well, what happens then after they show their teeth?" questioned the tall boy.
"You make up your mind which one of the lot you like best, and hang on to him with tooth and nail, as if you thought he was your long-lost brother. Get that, Lil Artha?" Elmer continued.
"Iunderstand," came the reply. "You want me to count for one hold-up, so as to leave the other three to you fellows?"
"Well, you wouldn't be greedy, would you, and cheat us out of all the fun, after we've come all this long way, and risked breaking out necks time and time again?" remarked Nat, reproachfully.
"He understands, Nat," remarked Elmer, pouring oil on the troubled waters as he frequently did when little frictions arose in the khaki troop. "And there's no need of wasting any more time. Be off, Lil Artha, and success to you."
"Same here, fellows," came the merry reply; "and more power to your elbow, Nat"; from which last remark it was very evident that Lil Artha knew full well the impulsive character of the Scott boy, and how his desire to engage in "scraps" had not as yet been wholly tamed down by his becoming a scout in good standing.
Nat's father was the principal of the public schools in Hickory Ridge; and from the time that Nat started to attend he had possibly given the professor as much trouble as any lad in the whole town. Not that Nat was naturally bad, but his quick temper, and readiness to use his fiststo settle argument, had drawn him into innumerable scrapes.
Accordingly, Lil Artha once more started along the darkening road, swinging out with those long strides which his length made possible.
Elmer calculated to a nicety just how far they ought to allow their chum to get before starting to follow. It was important that they should be concealed from the eyes of the four in ambush; and yet, on the other hand, he did not want to drop back to such a distance that they might be cheated out of hearing what happened when the surprise came.
In order to maintain a certain distance in the rear he had instructed the one ahead to keep up a steady whistle. Lil Artha was known to be a whistler, and often amused his chums by his accomplishment in this line. It was a gift, such as an occasional boy finds himself in possession of. And more than once had Elmer told his friend that he would make a good woodsman if only he turned his talent toward imitating the various clear sweet notes of wild birds.
They could hear him easily now, and Elmer fixed the sound in his mind. As he had cautioned Lil Artha to keep up a steady flow, it would become apparent that they were either diminishing the distance or adding to it, if that whistle became louder or softer in volume.
Five minutes passed.
Elmer caught a big sigh close beside him, which he knew must proceed from the impetuous Nat. Doubtless every sixty seconds that dragged by seemed like an age to the Scott boy; who fancied that after all their trouble perhaps they were going to be cheated out of their fun, and that the plotters had weakened at the last round.
Not so Elmer, who estimated things at their true value, and not by the rapid pulsations of an excited heart.
"Cheer up, Nat," he whispered in the ear of the other; "it's going to come pretty soon now."
"Oh, I hope so!" sighed the one who loved action above all things.
"He's stopped whistling, Elmer!" whispered Toby, excitedly.
"No, there he starts again," replied the leader, who in truth suspected what the little break in Lil Artha's melody might signify.
Possibly he had caught some suspicious rustling sound, and unconsciously held his breath for just five seconds in order to listen better.
Was it a false alarm, or would the music begin immediately? Warned by this suggestive hint, Elmer waited, fully expecting to hear a loud voice suddenly break forth from some point ahead. Since this was not "Out West" where lawless desperadoes held sway, it would hardly come in a hoarse demand to "throw up your hands," but in some milder fashion.
And presently Elmer realized that his guess had hit the mark. The whistle suddenly ceased. Then they heard a voice call out in the most familiar way possible:
"Hello, there, Lil Artha! Hold up a bit, won't you?"
FRIENDS IN TIME OF NEED.
A nervoushand gripped the sleeve of Elmer's jacket.
Nat was trembling with suspense; and doubtless Toby, on the other hand, was almost as badly off. Elmer had come to a halt as the sound of that voice reached them; but it was for only a fraction of a minute. He knew that it was policy on their part to creep up, foot by foot; because, when Lil Artha wanted help he would need it in a hurry. If they were too far away perhaps those energetic Fairfield plotters might be able to throw the tall lad into the car, and start going; when, as Nat might have expressed it, "the fat would be in the fire."
"Why, hello! Who's that?" they heard Lil Artha reply, in the most natural tone any fellow could display.
Of course he ought to show surprise at being suddenly hailed from the bushes so far away from home, and by some one familiar with his name.
Evidently the quartette at that came out of hiding and surrounded the tall lad; for his next exclamation seemed to announce this fact.
"Four of you, hey? Well, this is nice of you, boys, to come all this way just to give me a good word of cheer!" he remarked.
"Hold up, don't be in such a hurry to get along, Lil Artha," said one who seemed to be the leader of the lot.
"But how do I know how close some other fellow may be on my heels!" remarked the tall lad; although he evidentlydid not make any further attempt to brush past them.
"Say, that's just it!" declared the unknown, who, no doubt, had his hat pulled down over his face, and depended on this, as well as the gathering gloom of approaching night, to conceal his identity. "There is a Fairfield fellow hot on your trail, and he's bound to beat you out, because he's got his second wind."
"Yes," spoke up another, quickly, chuckling at the same time; "that's what we're bothered about, Lil Artha. We just can't bear the idea of you being beat to a frazzle by Felix Wagner."
"But I don't mean to be, you know, boys," expostulated the tall boy. "Little Falls ain't mor'n nine miles ahead; and if Felix has got his second wind, I'm in the same boat myself. Count on me to get there ahead of him, fellows!"
"But you might have an accident, stub your toe or something like that," declared the leader of the opposition.
"So might Felix," remarked Lil Artha, cheerfully.
"Yes, that's so," came the reply; "but you don't know the luck of that Dutchman. Everything comes his way, Lil Artha."
"Well, this hike won't, bet you a cookey!" remarked the other, stubbornly.
"He's right behind you, and coming like a house afire."
"Then what in the dickens are you keeping me waiting here for?" demanded Lil Artha, indignantly.
"I'll tell you," replied the leader of the four, mysteriously.
"Hurry up, then, and let me go ahead," ordered the tall lad.
"We've been talking it over, you see," began the other.
"It's plain enough that talking is something in yourtrade," commented Lil Artha, bitterly; and Elmer heard Toby alongside him chuckle softly, as though he might be enjoying these caustic remarks of their tall chum mightily.
"And we've come to a conclusion, Lil Artha," went on the other, as though he was not to be moved by any thrusts from the tongue of the contestant.
"All right. Glad you've come to something. Hurry up and spit it out, and then give me a clear road, won't you?" the one who was being held up remarked, sharply.
"The honor of good old Hickory Ridge is at stake," continued the unknown, in a solemn tone that suggested graveyards and all that sort of thing, Chatz Maxfield would have declared.
"Sure it is, and if you don't let up on this business it'll go aglimmering. I want to walk, I tell you," declared Lil Artha.
"Hold on, now. Easy, Lil Artha. We represent a committee of the Hickory Ridge boys, and have been sent out to make dead sure that you win this big hike; d'ye get on to that, now?"
"Well, it sounds all right, but for the life of me I can't place you among all the fellows I know," returned Lil Artha, suspiciously.
"Never mind about that; it don't cut any figure in the matter at all. Fact is, none of us want you to know us. Then you won't be able to give the game away."
"Game? What's that mean?" demanded the other. "Open up here, and show your hand, won't you?"
"We want to help you on your weary way, Lil Artha."
"With cheery words and all that?" queried the one addressed, with something of a sneer showing in his tone.
"Shucks! Something that counts better than cheerywords. We've got a bully old car right here, Lil Artha. You can see it if you look."
"Well, I see it all right," returned the Hickory Ridge scout; "but what's that got to do with a fellow that's on a long walk, and anxious to get to the end of his journey, tell me that?"
"Huh, a heap, Lil Artha; and you must be silly not to see through a grindstone that's got such a big hole in it. What's a car made for, anyway?" demanded the leader of the ambushing party, while his comrades laughed harshly.
"Look here, what're you hinting at?" asked Lil Artha. "You don't want me to get in there with you, I hope?"
"Plenty of room for six, and there's only four along, Lil Artha."
"But I don't need any help that way," protested the tall boy, angrily. "I tell you I'm good for hours of hard grind yet. Not one chance in sixty of me losing out to that Felix Wagner. I don't care what sort of a hustle he's got on him. Just you clear the track, and watch my smoke, that's all."
"But we fellows of Hickory Ridge don't want to take the chances. Here's a bully opening for you to be carried along five miles in as many minutes. Then we'll set you down, and you can finish the hike into Little Falls as fresh as a daisy. You'll do it, Lil Artha, of course you will?"
"Of course I won't, and you hear me warble at that!" roared the tall boy, furiously. "What's more, I don't believe a single one of you live in Hickory Ridge. Just let me strike a match and have a look at your faces. Then perhaps I'll believe you mean honest, even if I can't take up your offer."
There was a slight scuffle at this. Evidently Lil Arthahad attempted to put his suggestion into practice; but a ready hand had knocked the match out of his grasp just as he struck it. There was a sudden gleam of light, and then darkness again.
"No, you don't, old fellow," said a voice that was now tinged with anger. "None of that funny business goes with us, does it, boys?"
"Nixey, not this time," replied one.
"Quit kidding, and make him be good," growled another, who plainly had tired of the game as far as it had gone and wanted to be on the move.
"What's this mean?" demanded Lil Artha, just as though he could not as yet get the true facts through his fuddled brain.
"The bird that can sing and won't, must be made to sing, they say," growled the fellow who seemed to take the lead in the abduction game.
"Grab him, boys, and jam him in the car; that's the only way!" burst out a second of the quartette.
"Hold on here, do you know what this means?" asked the one who was being threatened in this fashion. "It's an outrage to stop me like this. And when you say you're from Hickory Ridge, you lie, that's what! You're a bunch of Fairfield cowards, and you're only trying to make me break the rules of the game so that I can't win! I'm on to your dodge, and don't you forget it!"
A series of scornful laughs greeted these words. Evidently the hold-up fellows felt so very sure that they had things in their hands that they could afford to delay a little; just as the cat, not feeling particularly hungry, will play with the mouse that has been maimed.
"Listen to him, will you?" jeered one.
"He's on, all right, fellows," exclaimed another; "hesees through the dodge, does Lil Artha. Oh, ain't it a great thing to be a scout, and use your brains! But all the same, we don't expect to let our big friend have his way, do we, boys?"
Of course they were clustered around the Hickory Ridge scout, cutting off all avenues of escape, even if Lil Artha should conceive the idea of running away.
"Not much, we don't," echoed another.
"Keep your hands off me now, I warn you all!" shouted the tall boy, aggressively; but in reality his words were intended to inform Elmer, Toby and Nat just how far events had progressed, so that they might arrange their movements accordingly.
"Are you going to get aboard?" demanded the leader, harshly.
"You mean of my own free will?" asked Lil Artha, fighting for a little time, so that he could make sure of having his chums come up for the crisis.
"Yes, climb in, Lil Artha!"
"I refuse; and defy the whole bunch of you. I'm going to stick to the rules of the game; and you can't make me change my mind. Bah!" the tall scout shouted.
"Tackle him, and if he fights back, don't be too gentle with the big cub. He's going to be carried five miles and more, whether he wants to go or not!"
As the leader snapped this out there were heard sounds of a scuffle. No need of daylight to tell those who were crouching so close at hand what was taking place.
Grunts and low exclamations told that Lil Artha was doing his level best to resist the onslaught of the four Fairfield rowdies.
Still, the tall scout from the Ridge was only a boy after all; and if those opposed to him were less lengthy, that wasno reason they lacked in physical powers. And left to himself, there could have been no doubt in the world but that after a gallant resistance Lil Artha would have found himself bundled into the car, possibly bearing numerous cuts and contusions on his body as mute witnesses to the fight he had put up.
And once they had him in the tonneau, three could hold him tight while the other fellow started the machine. After that it would have been "one, two, three," in the language of Lil Artha himself, so far as his right to claim the prize of the great hike was concerned.
There could be no doubt but that the boy who was thus attacked was following out the suggestions given by his patrol leader. This was made evident by the loud cries of the fellow whose voice proclaimed him as being the leader of the attacking squad.
"Pull him off, there, can't you?" he yelled. "He's hugging me like fun, and got his long arms twisted around my neck. Hi, there! somebody give him a jerk before he chokes me! Knock him in the ribs, and make him let go, fellows!"
Nothing could hold Nat Scott back after that. The sound of battle acted on him just as the smoke of burnt powder is said to affect a horse that is accustomed to the roar of mighty conflict.
Nor did Elmer have the slightest idea of trying to keep either of his chums in restraint longer. The crisis had arrived, and Lil Artha needed their help, lest he be bodily kidnaped and carried away in that car.
So they swiftly bore down upon the scene of the fracas. In the gathering darkness they could just manage to distinguish a group of wildly struggling figures; for Lil Artha had one of the ambushing party in his embrace,and the other three were vainly endeavoring to make him break his hold.
"Remember, one apiece!" Elmer said, as they arrived on the spot.
Up to that second none of the Fairfield fellows had the slightest suspicion that their miserable game had reached a snag. One happened to discover the coming of a single figure, and apparently the only thought that flashed through his mind was that the next nearest contestant had somehow managed to arrive on the spot ahead of scheduled time; for he immediately began to shout aloud:
"Keep your hands off, Felix; this is our job, and you don't want to know anything about it. Go right along the road now, and close your eyes and ears. You've got a snap, and a soft one at that. Here, let go of me, you fool! We're your friends, d'ye hear! Quit it, I tell you! Wow! What's this mean, fellows?" And the one who was making all this outcry suddenly changed his tune from indignation to fright, as he noticed other vigorous forms attacking his companions.
HOW THE PLOT FAILED.
"Help, help! he's choking me! Pull him off, you fools, can't you?" shouted the valiant leader of the four, who had planned to have all this fun with Lil Artha, and now found that the shoe was on the other foot, since it seemed to be the tall scout who was enjoying a monopoly of the sport.
But instead of his mates obeying, he found that they had suddenly ceased in what efforts they were putting forth. The mystery was not difficult to solve, because every fellow had enough to do defending himself against an assailant who had apparently sprung from the darkness.
It was a lively scene for a short time. The Fairfield fellows understood that in some miserable way their scheme must have become known to the Hickory Ridge scouts. Perhaps they heard Toby call out the name of Elmer when asking what he was to do with the fellow on whose back he had lodged with the tenacity that the Old Man of the Sea exhibited when he refused to let Sinbad the Sailor put him down.
They struggled hard, but it was no longer with the idea of completing their cowardly plan. All thought of carrying Lil Artha off in the car was now abandoned, and each and every Fairfield fellow only considered his individual chances for making what Nat called a "get-away."
Speaking of Nat, that worthy was really and truly happy. Old times had come back again, and once morewere his muscles being allowed to play their part in a struggle for the mastery.
He had early picked out the victim whom he felt called upon to punish. If pugnacious Nat could only have had his sweet way about the matter, that party would undoubtedly have been the leader of the four Fairfield schemers; but since Lil Artha already had that worthy "in chancery," as it is called when one gets his opponent's head under his arm and in a position of abject helplessness, Nat had to content himself with selecting a less prominent foeman.
What happened just then and there it would be hardly fair to state, because of the fact that Nat was a scout in good standing. But there were several loud thumps heard, and somebody seemed to pick himself up from the road twice, only to suddenly sit down again, with more grunts and finally decline to get up at all. Upon which Nat danced around him, making threatening gestures, and actually daring the alarmed plotter to try and get on his feet again.
Elmer, on his part, had happened to lay hold of a very slippery customer. The Hickory Ridge scout did not want to hurt the fellow any more than he could help; but at the same time he was bound to do all in his power to hold him; for he meant to take a look at every one of their faces, so that he could tell them again.
Twice the other had come close to slipping out of his clutches, despite the grip Elmer had upon him. The second occasion was when with some sort of movement, which he had possibly practiced until he had it down fine, the boy suddenly drew his arms out of the sleeves of his coat, and was in the act of darting away when Elmer threw out a foot and tripped him.
Again he pounced on the other, and this time managed to get a good grip, so as to be able to exert himself. The consequence was that he spun the Fairfield chap around on his back and was able to place a knee on his chest.
"Now, lie still, you, unless you want to get hurt!" Elmer exclaimed; and being by this time of the opinion that he had run up against a buzz-saw in action, the panting and defeated plotter gave in.
The clamor had for the most part ceased. Only Nat seemed to be doing an Indian war dance around his prostrate foeman and shaking his fist every little while in the fellow's face.
"Don't hit me!" yelled the alarmed one. "I'm all in, don't you see? I cave! I'm a prisoner, and scouts don't dare hit a defenseless fellow, do they?"
"Aw, you make me think of a coward that would hide behind a woman's skirts!" declared Nat, in disgust, because his enjoyment had been so suddenly cut short by the collapse of his opponent. "Why don't you stand up and take your medicine like a little man? Just because I belong to the scouts I ain't allowed to hand you what you'd give me if you had the upper hand. It's tough, that's what."
Possibly Nat might have been tempted beyond his powers of resistance but for the fact of the patrol leader's presence.
"Hold up there, Nat, Toby, Lil Artha!" called out Elmer just then. "How is the world treating you, fellows?"
"All to the good here," chuckled Toby, who was still clinging to the back of his capture and showed no inclination to let go.
"My pig looks like thirty cents!" said the tall scout who, left to himself, had speedily reduced his opponent.
"And mine is on the blink, too," declared Nat.
"Shucks, I ain't had hardly a mite of fun out of it all! He laid down on me, that's what he did, Elmer."
"'Taint so," bawled the fellow, indignantly. "He just went and knocked me down two times, and here he goes now waving his old fist under my nose like he wanted to do it some more. Call him off, Elmer, the game's all up and we cave!"
"All right, boys, glad to hear it," sang out the patrol leader; "but before we let you go we're bound to have a look at every one of your faces, so we can know you again."
There was more or less muttering at this, for the Fairfield boys began to see that they were doubtless in for considerable unenviable publicity on account of the affair. But beggars can seldom be choosers. They found themselves helpless in the hands of their enemies, and must do exactly what they were told.
So Elmer took out his match-safe and prepared to strike a light.
"See if you know the fellow you've got hold of, boys," he called.
Then the little illumination flared up.
"I know this duck all right!" called out Toby. "He's Dick Rawlings who used to play center field on the Fairfield nine."
"And I've got Eddie Johnston, just as I expected!" announced Lil Artha who, it will be remembered, had seized upon the leader of the quartette by whom he had been stopped on the road with the demand that he ride, whether he wanted to do so or not.
"I don't seem to know this cowardly cub," declared Nat, who had lighted a match on his own account, and bent low over his prisoner. "He makes the worst faces you eversaw, just to keep me from knowing him again. Here, stop your throwing your head around that way, or else you'll get burned! Hey! what did I tell you? Got a little dose of it then, did you? And one of your eyebrows singed right off! Well, youwillbe a beaut for a while now, and I reckon I can put my finger on you any time I want."
"You did that apurpose!" shouted the fellow on the ground, glaring at the grinning Nat. "You just wanted to mark me, that's what!"
"Oh, rats! Close your trap now and see how you can run," laughed Nat, as he took a firm grip on the collar of the other, and started to drag him up off the ground, the fellow whimpering all the while as though he really expected that he was going to be badly treated.
"Who's your bug, Elmer?" cried Lil Artha.
"I think his name is Sandy Coons; anyhow he's got cross-eyes and that ought to mark him, if ever we want to prove that he was here," replied the patrol leader, as he assisted the fellow to get up.
"That's O. K., Elmer," declared Lil Artha. "Sandy Coons has got a pair of the crookedest eyes ever; and if you look close you'll see he's got a notch in his right ear. I remember when he got that, too; a fellow he was with pinned his ear to a tree with an arrow he fired, when they were playing Buffalo Bill's Wild West, and when Sandy tore loose it left a dent. Is it there, Elmer?"
"Sure as you live," laughed the other, as he looked.
"Then we know the whole cahoot of 'em," declared Lil Artha, "And now, please hurry up and get 'em on the jump, Elmer, because it's time I was hiking out again, you understand."
"What're you going to do with us, fellows?" asked the leader, as they were being ranged in line.
"We're going to start you down the road to meet Felix and tell him the game's all up," said Toby, who seemed to believe the Fairfield competitor must be aware of the scheme by means of which he was to be benefited; though Elmer on his part thought better of the rival scout.
"But—our car is here," expostulated one of the prisoners.
"Then come back and get it later on; we don't mean to run away with it. But if you take my advice, you'll cut for home right away, because this thing has gone to the limit. And anyone trying to hamper Lil Artha any further is liable to get himself seriously hurt. Understand that, all?" and Elmer allowed his voice to express the indignation that surged through his soul.
"Aw, let us loose! You know we've thrown up the sponge, and it's to the tall timber for the lot," grumbled the leader.
Nat suddenly made a rapid movement. There was a cry, and then a fellow started at a rapid pace along the road. Nat, unable to hold in any longer, had given his prisoner the start he promised, which, of course, meant a hearty kick.
Elmer let his captive go scot-free, which fact so aroused the indignation of Nat that he darted after the fleeing Sandy Coons, and by rapid work succeeded in placing his number seven in the place where it would do the most good. At least the others judged this from the agonized shriek that floated back to their ears.
Lil Artha was quick to see a good thing and show his appreciation. In his mind imitation was the sincerest flattery; and accordingly the successor in the bully line to Matt Tubbs was heard to loudly declare that he would never, never cease to remember the long-legged scout; butupon hearing the aggressive Nat making in his direction he, too, faded away.
That left only one to be treated, and this the chap whom Toby had been riding as he might a horse. This fellow, understanding that he was in for a good dose of the same kind of medicine, began struggling again, hoping to upset his captor and in some way make off without submitting to that humiliating experience.
It was of no use, however. Lil Artha took hold of him, and then told Toby to let go. There was some littleconfusion, and then the fellow galloped madly up the road, bellowing as though in pain.
"Did you get him?" asked Toby, eagerly.
"Well, I nearly broke my toe, because you see I'm wearing light walking shoes on this hike. And how about you, Toby?" laughed the tall one.
"Dick Rawlings won't play ball for a little while; till he gets over his limp, anyway," answered the other.
"Field's clear now, Elmer, ain't it?" asked Lil Artha, turning to the patrol leader for further orders.
"Yes, and the sooner you're off again the better, Lil Artha," replied Elmer. "You see, that Felix has been coming along all this while, and perhaps he may be nearer than we think. How is it with you now; ready to put in your best licks on the home stretch?"
"I'm just feeling as fresh as a daisy, Elmer," replied the other. "This little business seems to have given me a new appetite. You watch me just eat up the miles. Nine of 'em, do you say? Shucks, I'll be in Little Falls before two hours!"
"Bully for Lil Artha!" exclaimed Nat, clapping his hands.
"Well, we'll put it out of the power of these fellows topursue you any farther, by taking their spark plug along. Ten to one they haven't got an extra plug with them. And, Toby, Nat, we mustn't forget that we've got machines a ways back here."
"That's right, Elmer. Do we get a move on us, and go for 'em now?" asked Nat.
Lil Artha had already waved his hand at them, and started off along the road at a stiff pace, which seemed to emphasize the truth of what he had just said about feeling as "fresh as a daisy."
"That's just what we're going to do," replied the other; "so come along boys."
"Gee! I hope we happen to run foul of one of them fellers again," laughed Nat.
"Don't be a hog, Nat," admonished Toby. "You had ought to remember that now you belong to the scouts you've got to be merciful."
"Ain't I?" protested the pugnacious one. "Didn't I just kick that feller with the singed eyebrow, when I might have punched his head? Guess I know my duty, Toby Jones!"
VICTORY—SISS! BOOM! HURRAH!
Elmerwas as good as his word. He knew how to cripple the car, and in almost no time he had secured the vital plug without which the machine was valueless for following after Lil Artha, and making him any more trouble.
Then he and his two chums hurried back along the road, meaning to look up their motorcycles; and once mounted upon these they could speedily overtake Lil Artha; to form a guard of honor about him while he covered the last few miles of his long and adventurous hike, that was to bring new glory to the khaki troop of Hickory Ridge.
Nat ran on ahead. They knew full well that it was not any eagerness to be the first to discover the marked spot near which the machines had been secreted that influenced him to do this, but some other motive, possibly not quite so worthy of commendation.
But even Elmer did not say a word. In the first place he did not think Nat would be successful in overtaking one of the Fairfield schemers; and then again, Elmer was not feeling any too kindly toward fellows who could try to put through such a mean plot for defeating the ambitions of the leader in the great hike.
"Hold on, there; come back, Nat!" called Toby, presently. "You've gone and overrun the place. It's lucky Elmer here took note of this big oak tree; or a pretty time we'd have finding our wheels again."
Nat did return, but with a bad grace. He was mumbling something about "hard lines when everything goes against a fellow," and all that sort of stuff; but no one appeared to pay any attention to his complaint.
They quickly found the three motorcycles, just as they had left them; and again Toby started out to lead the way, only to make a mess of it.
"What's wrong this time, Elmer?" he asked, when the patrol leader gave him to understand that they would be a long time getting out of the woods if they kept on the route he, Toby, had started to follow. "I made sure to notice that the wind was on the same side as when you led us out before."
"Yes, but since then the wind's taken a sudden shift. You should have paid attention to that just when we left the road," remarked the other. "A woodsman never goes by what it was a while ago. He knows changes are liable to come around most any old time; and that's what happened here. Wind whipped around about ten degrees, and is heading from the southwest quarter now. That may mean rain before long, boys."
"Let her come if she wants," declared Toby, who was something of a philosopher at times. "Can't do any more than soak us through, and at this time of year that's nothing. I've fallen into a pond more times than I've got fingers on both hands. They just can't drown me, and that goes, boys."
"So long as Lil Artha comes in well to the front, and the Hickory Ridge scouts win the big hike, what do we care?" Nat spoke up. "Besides, we've had a little mite of fun, you know, fellows."
"Fun for the boys, but how about the frogs?" laughedElmer, as he pushed his machine through the low brush, heading for the road again.
"Let the bullfrogs look out for themselves, that's all," declared Nat. "Any silly gump who will duck his head about, when a feller's holdin' a lighted match close to his nose, just ought to get burnt. Say, think of that guy minus one of his eyebrows; and he's got big ones too, at that! Won't he be the sight, though!"
So, joking and laughing, they pushed on. Presently the road being reached, they proceeded to get a start. Fortunately the incline was downhill, if anything, which promised to make it easier for a mount. Had the opposite been the case one or more of the boys might have had some difficulty in getting started.
Elmer was away first, with a merry splutter of explosive sounds; but he quickly shut off most of his power in order to wait for the others. Toby came along after two efforts at mounting; but Nat seemed to be having one of his old troubles. This time, however, the fault apparently lay in Nat, and not in his motor, for they could hear the racket the engine kept up.
"Here he comes like a skyrocket!" announced Toby, as the character of the sounds from the rear changed; and sure enough they quickly heard Nat whooping it up.
"Clear the track, there! Get out of the road everybody, and give me room. Hi! My old ice wagon's taken the bitt in her mouth; she's running away with me, Elmer! Look out there!"
Luckily Elmer had insisted that each of them light the acetylene gas lamps belonging to their motorcycles before attempting to make a start. Hence they were able to see Nat bearing down upon them with a rush, and get to one side of the road in a hurry.
He went whizzing past amid a rattle and confusion, for, as usual, Nat had paid no attention to his muffler.
"Somebody head me off!" came floating back, as the runaway machine went whirling along the road leading to Little Falls.
"Good gracious! What can we do?" gasped Toby.
"You stick by Lil Artha!"
Even as he shouted these words Elmer was giving his machine its head, and quickly he vanished from the view of the other around a bend.
It was no easy task that now presented itself to the young patrol leader. Had it been a runaway horse there might have been some hope of the rider controlling it; but with a motorcycle that took what seemed to be a fiendish pleasure in doing just the things its owner did not want done, the case was a different matter.
Something had become jammed, so that poor Nat, having opened his engine up wide on starting, was unable to shut off power. And there he was, rushing along at a reckless speed, headed for Little Falls by the most direct route.
Somebody shouted out something as Elmer sped along. He guessed it must be Lil Artha, who had discreetly sought the side of the road upon seeing that fierce light bearing down upon him. But Elmer could not find time to reply. Besides, there was Toby, who would be along presently, and in a condition to tell the tall scout just what was taking place.
Elmer was keeping a bright lookout ahead. He knew that, given a fair field, he could easily overtake the runaway motorcycle; but this thing of rushing along in the darkness was no child's play. At any second he might bang into some obstacle that would give him a nasty tumble.
Besides, he had to keep watch over the leading machine, so that he might not run into Nat; which would be the worst sort of calamity that could happen to them both.
At least he was gaining fast now; he could tell that by the glow from the other lamp which lighted up the road ahead.
Presently he found himself within speaking distance. He could just barely see Nat humped there in his saddle, giving his entire attention to keeping his runaway machine in the road.
"Hello, Nat ahoy!" he called aloud, so that the sound of his voice might reach the other above the clattering of his "cantankerous" motor, as Nat himself was fond of calling his engine, which was now on such a wild plunge.
"Hey, that you, Elmer?" came back to him; and the patrol leader imagined there was a trace of alarm as well as vexation in the voice.
"Yes, can't you keep over on the left side of the road? I want to come closer to you so we can talk," Elmer called.
"All right. Half is good enough for me; so come right along, Elmer."
In another minute they were nearly abreast, each striving to keep to his side of the thoroughfare as best he could.
"Steady, now, Nat," said Elmer. "Be careful how you let her yaw this way, for I'm only a length behind you; and a mix-up wouldn't be the nicest thing going."
"I'm holding her steady, Elmer. Now, tell me how I'm going to get the curb on her, won't you?"
So Elmer began by asking questions concerning what seemed to have become jammed; and in this way he quickly understood the situation. A few suggestions followed, which, upon being put into practice, brought fortha loud cheer from the relieved owner of the runaway motorcycle.
"It's all right now, Elmer! That last move did the business for her! She minds her head now; see, I can slow down just as I please. But, wow, that was a lively dash as long as it lasted. I sure began to think I'd bump into Little Falls like a falling comet, and run up against a stone wall; when good-by to my neck."
"Well, suppose then we turn around, and see if we can pick up the others. Try it first, and see if things work smooth," and Elmer jumped from his saddle as he said this, assisting Nat make the test.
Having made sure of this they returned along the road, though at a much less rapid pace than they had recently shown in covering it. The light from Toby's lamp told them when they were nearing the walking Lil Artha; and presently the four Hickory Ridge scouts were together.
"I tell you what," remarked Toby, heaving a sigh, "I'll be awful glad to get you safe back home again, Nat Scott. What you haven't tried the last few hours ain't worth telling. And now that your old huckleberry of a machine has taken to cutting up monkey shines a feller's life ain't safe nohow."
Lil Artha seemed to be in the best of humor. Things were, as he himself remarked, "breaking all right for a fellow of his size," and he had no cause for complaint.
"Just a few little incidents to liven up the last quarter of a pokey hike, boys," he observed, as he strode along, with those lengthy legs covering a yard at each and every step. "Why, I'll be entering Little Falls like a conquering hero, with a guard of honor around me. Shouldn't wonder but what we'll run across Mr. Garrabrant there, keeping company with the other scout master."
"That's just what you'll do," remarked Elmer over his shoulder as he rode slowly along in the van of the procession; "because he went ahead with that idea in view, to be on hand to receive the first contestant who showed up."
They enlivened the journey with all sorts of conversation and jokes. Wearied as Lil Artha must certainly be, after coming all these long miles since sunup, his chums sought to make him forget the fact by keeping him in high spirits.
Nothing happened to interfere with their plans. Those who were inclined to act ugly toward the possible winner were a long way in the rear, and only concerned about getting home again with the car that belonged to the father of one of the quartette.
It was not a great while after nine o'clock when the lights ahead told that they were approaching a town.
"That's Little Falls, brother!" called Elmer, cheerily.
"Well, honest now, I ain't sorry to know it," declared Lil Artha; "though, if I had to do it, I reckon I could crawl along a little farther, p'raps a dozen or two miles. If anything's won this walk for me, fellows, it's just been pluck. You can tell me all you want to about athletes and such, but in my opinion that's what counts above condition and everything else. As long as you keep up heart you've got a look-in; but when the sinking spell comes, good-by."
Ten minutes later they entered among the houses. Immediately some boys in khaki who were posted along the road as a sort of vedette corps, began to call out to one another, uttering cries like the fox and the bear, which doubtless denoted the nature of their patrols.
Presently there was quite a crowd accompanying LilArtha as he headed for the church where the local troop of Boy Scouts had their headquarters.
Here there were many lights, and a lot of people assembled. When Lil Artha passed through the open doorway a tremendous outburst of applause greeted his appearance. He doubtless felt something of the thrill of victory that used to come to the Grecian victor in those old days of the Marathon races.
Mr. Garrabrant beamed with pleasure when he saw that it was a Hickory Ridge boy who had come in first. Heartily did he shake hands with Lil Artha and congratulate him on his pluck in making the entire distance with hours to spare.
And when a little later on, while waiting to see if Felix came in before the storm broke, the scout master listened with the greatest possible interest while Elmer related what was known about the evil intentions of those four scheming lads from Fairfield; and also laughed when he heard how their designs had been signally defeated by the bravery and intelligence of Lil Artha's faithful chums.