"What can we do about it?" asked Will, looking alarmed.
"It's up to Mr. Smithson," remarked Frank, in a low tone.
"Look here, boys, you understand that I want to capture the gentleman very much indeed. Are you willing to give me a little assistance?" asked the warden.
"Why, to be sure we will. It looks as though we might have some interest in his capture, too, judging by the way old Toby is loading up our good grub in those frying pans to suit his appetite. He threatens to eat us out of house and home unless something desperate is done. We'll help capture the escaped lunatic, eh, fellows?"
"Sure we will, Frank. Let Mr. Smithson tell us what to do, that's all," said Bluff, readily.
"Well, I hardly think he'll take the alarm at sight of any strangers, so long as he doesn't get a glimpse of me. Now, if you three just saunter easily into camp, and pretend to treat him in a friendly way, you'll find he can be a fine gentleman. Humor his failing as much as you can, boys."
"And what else, sir?" asked Frank, who was listening intently.
"Meanwhile I'll be creeping closer all the while. After he has been fed he may feel sleepy, because he must have been up all night. The heat of the fire and a good feed will make his eyes heavy," continued Mr. Smithson.
"I guess you're right, sir."
"Very good. Suppose you propose that he lie down by the fire and take a nap. Rig him up a sort of military bed. He imagines that Bismarck is with the old emperor, off in France on the war campaign. When he's fast asleep I'll creep into camp and get him secure. It will be easy, boys, believe me."
"Say, is he the only one loose?" asked Will, just then, his voice showing alarm.
"Why, yes, so far as I know. Why do you ask?" demanded the warden.
"Because there's some one else crawling through the bushes over yonder."
"Are you sure?" asked Mr. Smithson.
"I saw his head pop up. He's looking in at our camp. Get your gun ready, Frank. Some of these crazy people are said to be dangerous," continued Will.
"Humbug! If you saw any one at all it must have been a scout from AndyLasher's camp, snooping around," commented Bluff, disdainfully.
"Well, perhaps it might be another keeper from the asylum," remarked Smithson.
"There it is again; what did I tell you, fel—"
Will stopped speaking in a whisper and gaped. True enough a human head had bobbed up above the tops of the bushes, as the owner of the same endeavored to get a better view of the camp.
"It's Jerry!" ejaculated Bluff, in excitement.
Mr. Smithson dropped out of sight, thinking that the stranger in camp might look that way, being attracted by the clamor of boyish tongues. Jerry had caught the words of Bluff and immediately turned his head.
"Hello, fellows! Howdye? And who under the sun is the new manager you've got to run the camp?" he asked, pushing out to greet them each in turn, and eyeing Mr. Smithson in some curiosity.
"How are you, Jerry? Guess you know me all right, eh? Why, I'm up here looking for an escaped lunatic, you see," said that worthy, without rising.
"Talk to me about your coincidences—and that's him right there in our camp, ordering poor old scared Uncle Toby around with the air of an emperor. I see it all, boys," exclaimed Jerry, shaking hands around as though he had been gone for a full week instead of one night.
"Well, he believes himself a bigger man than any emperor, for he makes and unmakes kings. That is Bismarck you see, young man. And we have just been laying a plan to capture him. Suppose you all saunter into camp now. Somebody tell Jerry what we have decided to do. He's looking this way, and ready to either run or hold his ground according to how the wind blows."
"Come on, Jerry. You can tell us all that happened later. We must get rid of this unwelcome visitor first," said Frank.
"We had just started out to learn what had become of you when we met Mr. Smithson, and he advised us to return to our camp, as he rather expected the gentleman he was looking for would drift that way. Awful glad you got through that terrible storm safe, old chap," remarked Will.
"What are those things tied in a bunch at your belt—scalps?" queriedBluff, as they walked along together.
"The tails of four wild dogs that tackled me in the big timber after I had shot a deer which they wanted," remarked Jerry, trying to speak naturally.
"What!" exclaimed the others in concert.
"Oh, it's a positive fact, boys. I can take you to where the critters lie, if you want to see them later. I was told about them ranging that section, by Jesse, who warned me to look out for them. I met the pack all right, and I guess they wished I hadn't. Here's some of the fresh venison. I hung up most of it so we could get it later. Then we made a breakfast on part of what I was lugging home," Jerry went on.
"We?" remarked Frank, inquiringly.
"Of course. Andy Lasher and myself."
"Andy Lasher! Where did you run acrosshim, and how did it come that you let that miserable skunk eat breakfast with you?" demanded Bluff.
"Well, he was in a bad way, you see. I just happened to get him out from under the branches of a fallen tree that had him pinned tight to the ground. His arm was bruised, and we bunked together until morning. Andy's got a repentant mood on him. He vows he's done playing nasty tricks on our club. 'Course I don't know how it will pan out, boys."
"Say, did he tell you anything about my gun?" asked Bluff, eagerly.
Jerry turned and looked at the questioner.
"No, he didn't. Suppose he confessed to everything he ever did? But here we are, fellows, and our guest looks as if he didn't know whether to run for it or hang by that breakfast Toby is cooking."
Frank advanced toward the man, bowing, and assuming, as he believed, something of a military air.
"Welcome to our camp, Prince Bismarck. Won't you be seated, and wait for breakfast to be served? We have only rude accommodations here, but I hope you will pardon any lack of seeming hospitality," he said.
The wild look vanished from the face of the gaunt man, and in its place came an expression of tremendous importance. Indeed, but for the seriousness of the situation Frank would have felt inclined to laugh outright, it was so absurd to see this poor lunatic putting on such magnificent airs.
"You forget, young sir, that I am the Iron Chancellor, and that while in the field I shun all the comforts of home life. An iron cot, the simplest food, these are enough for me. It leaves the brain clear to handle the tremendous affairs of state that engross our attention. Where is King William?" the other went on.
"Oh, he'll be along after awhile. Perhaps, prince, after you have partaken of our simple fare and rested by our friendly fire a little time, the king may join you."
Frank managed to keep a sober face while speaking in this lofty way, but Bluff and Jerry, unable to stand it any longer, turned their backs on the couple.
Evidently the lunatic was very hungry, in spite of his possession of an "iron will." He kept turning a wistful eye toward the fire where the frightened black cook was hustling coffee and ham and eggs for his benefit. And indeed, there was such an appetizing odor in the air that several times Mr. Smithson raised his head and looked longingly over the bushes as though he wished things would move faster, so he could come into camp and get his share.
When the food was placed before him the man ate ravenously. The boys afterwards learned that he had not tasted a bite for two days, and they wondered at his having shown even as much patience as he did.
Just as Mr. Smithson had said, the escaped lunatic became drowsy as soon as he finished eating.
"Let me fix a nice cot for you here, prince. When the king arrives you shall be awakened, all right," said Frank, soothingly.
The man looked trustingly at him, so that Frank felt a little qualm of conscience over the fact that he had to deceive him.
"You are very kind, young sir. Indeed, I believe I am weary, and perhaps a nap would refresh me. If Napoleon sends out a flag of truce notify me at once," and he settled down on the warm blankets with a sigh of pleasure.
"Depend on it, such shall be done," replied Frank, turning away; for he had by this time reached the limit of his endurance, and if compelled to keep this thing up much longer must have betrayed himself by laughter.
In ten minutes he flew a handkerchief as a signal that the warden could come in.
Mr. Smithson grinned as he joined them.
"It was well done, my boy. You would sure make an actor, all right. And now, for fear lest he slip me, I'll have to nab him," he said.
"Do you want any help, sir?" queried Frank.
"Oh! I reckon not. When he sees that I've got him he'll be as meek as a lamb. He looks on me as a jealous German general desirous of keeping him out of touch with the king. Watch now."
He bent over the sleeper and touched his face.
"Wake up, Prince Bismarck," he said, in a commanding tone.
The other opened his eyes, stared and then smiled amiably, saying:
"Oh! it's you, is it, general? Fate is against me again. I yield myself a prisoner of war. You can fasten my hands if you wish, but I have dined well for one day."
Mr. Smithson had carried his prisoner off, after he, too, had partaken of the hospitality of Kamp Kill Kare.
"Boys," he said, in leaving, "I'm sure under obligations to you for all this, and any time I can repay the debt don't hesitate to ask me. To get Bismarck back safe and sound after such a storm, is going to be a feather in my cap. And only for you I'd be hunting him yet, with only a slim chance of success."
"Why, that's all right, Mr. Smithson," Frank had declared heartily; "we've enjoyed helping you, though it does make a fellow feel bad to see as clever a man as that laboring under such a ridiculous fancy."
"He was once a professor in a college, and lost his mind through overstudy," remarked the keeper, as he moved off, with "Bismarck" at his side.
"There, see that!" exclaimed Bluff, triumphantly. "Just what I've told my dad many a time when he complained that I was falling behind my class. I'll make certain to hold this up as an awful warning."
"Talk to me about you losing your brain by overstudy! There's about as much chance of that as my being made king of England," laughed Jerry.
"But still ithashappened, you see. That establishes a precedent all right, and my father, as a lawyer, is always talking about such things," declared Bluff, not in the least abashed.
"Now suppose you sit right down here, Jerry, and let us have the whole yarn from Alpha to Omega. What you haven't been through since you left us yesterday morning isn't worth mentioning, to judge from the hints you let fall. A deer, four wild dogs, lost in the big timber, storm bound, rescuing our most bitter enemy; and now helping to land an escaped lunatic—say, you ought to feel satisfied, old fellow," observed Frank.
Jerry laughed aloud.
All his recent troubles, as viewed from the pleasant seat by the campfire, with his three chums around him, seemed to fade into insignificance.
"Well, I reckon I am. There was a bear, too," he said, nodding.
"What! a bear—you ran across a bear?" ejaculated Will, drawing in a big breath and shaking this head as if he deplored the loss of an opportunity to embellish his album of the camping-out trip with more fetching views.
"Well, perhaps you could hardly call it that, seeing that he came looking for me, trying to push into the hollow tree where I had sought shelter from the storm."
"That sounds mighty interesting—trying to get in, too, was he? And I suppose you objected vigorously?" suggested Frank, falling down by the fire and assuming a listening attitude.
"I knew I hadn't lost any bear, you see; and, besides, there wasn't room for two in that old stump. So I asked him to please go away," said Jerry, with a wink.
"Of course he did just that?" queried Will.
"After I had shouted, and fired my gun through the hole. He was somewhat surprised at such a rude reception, for I guess that stump was one of his dens, and he thought he had the first claim on it."
"Well, start in now with your getting over at the camp of Jesse, and give us all the thrills you want. You've got proof about the deer and the wild dogs; but perhaps we'll have to consider the story about the bear," laughed Frank.
"And Andy Lasher's repentance; that is the most surprising of all," declared Bluff, shaking his head as though he could not understand it at all.
They sat there spellbound while Jerry skimmed over the entire account of his adventures since quitting the camp. As the reader already knows what befell him, it would be useless repeating the story. The three chums, however, listened and exchanged looks with one another as some particularly thrilling incident came along, as though they could imagine Jerry facing that big yellow brute that chased him round and round the tree until he was dizzy enough to drop ere he remembered that he had a gun in his hand.
"I move we go out there right after lunch and get the balance of the venison. We may not have another chance to lay in a stock of fresh meat all the time we're up here," proposed Will, finally.
"Oh! I can see that you're doubting my story about the dogs, and wondering where under the sun I ran across these four tails. All right, fellows, I'll do the best I can to take you to the place. Perhaps if we went to old Jesse he could guide us there much better," declared the mighty hunter, calmly.
"He talks as though he courts an investigation," remarked Frank; "and in justice to his reputation, I think we ought to settle this matter without delay. So I'm in favor of going, for one; besides, I confess to a curiosity to see the dead dogs, and, perhaps, if fate is kind, look into the identical hollow tree in which Jerry passed most of that stormy night."
"It's a go, then," cried Will, eagerly; "for I want a few more pictures. If we could only rig up something to look like that yellow hound, and have Jerry galloping around that tree in front of him, it would be simply immense."
"Talk to me about a faker will you—why, if Will keeps on he'll be bamboozling the public worse than any showman ever did. Thanks, but I guess you'll have to excuse me from that galloping act, Will. Once bit, twice shy, you know. But it was gospel truth about Andy. He even confessed that he had been up to old Rabig's place to get him to join the crowd in playing some more measly tricks on us here. You see he was sorry, and had to just tell all these things."
"All but about my gun, hang him," grumbled Bluff, indignantly.
"Bother your old gun! Will we ever hear the last of it?" exclaimed Jerry, frowning; and yet giving Frank a sly wink with one eye, as if to inform him that he did not really mean all he said.
"You never heard the first of it yet, for I didn't even have a single chance to shoot it off," complained the other.
"For which all the little birds and chipmunks are rejoicing, for they have had a chance to live. Besides, a gun like that is dangerous to the community, I think. If it ever started to going I believe it would spit out fire without any help from you, or any one else. But, for goodness' sake, change the subject. I'm sleepy," declared Jerry, curling up on a blanket by the fire.
"All of us are, I reckon. You see we were having a little circus of our own at the time this happened to you," remarked Frank.
"Yes," exclaimed Bluff, "don't you think you're the only pebble on the beach, Jerry."
"Why, what happened?" demanded the other, looking up.
"Why, what do you think we've got all those things on the bushes drying out for? Yes, one of the tents blew away in the middle of the storm. I think it must have been an hour or two before midnight, when the big gust came that tore it loose. We were all four of us under it, and there was some tall scurrying just then, believe me."
"I can well believe it, Frank. Where was Will with his camera then?" asked Jerry.
"Trying to keep the blessed thing from getting soaked," answered Bluff.
"Then he doesn't believe in wet plates?" laughed the other.
"Seems not; films are good enough for him. Well, we managed to get all the things under the shelter of the other tent, and shivered for some hours. Finally, after the storm passed, and it began to get very cold, we started a fire and waited to welcome the rosy dawn."
"Don't get poetic, Frank. I'm really too dead for sleep to appreciate it now. Wake me up, fellows, when lunch is ready, will you?" and, so speaking, Jerry curled up again, this time in earnest.
The others amused themselves the balance of the morning in various ways. Bluff declared that he believed he would stay in camp while the others went off. Frank looked at him curiously as if wondering what had struck him, for he considered that the trip was well worth taking, if only to see the husky-looking wild dogs Jerry had met and slain.
He could remember having heard one or two persons speaking about the pack that was giving the farmers so much trouble. To think that, after all, their comrade had been the one to relieve the situation, was pleasant indeed.
They aroused Jerry when Uncle Toby announced that lunch was ready. The old man seemed to be kept pretty busy preparing meals for all stragglers happening in; but that part of the business pleased him. The only thing he protested against was being left alone in camp. There were too many visitors at such times to suit him.
First had come the wildcat, and then the wild man. Uncle Toby had therefore heard Bluff's announcement that he intended remaining behind when the others went off, with particular pleasure and much relief.
Immediately afterwards the three lads started out. Jerry seemed much refreshed by his nap, and was as lively as either of his comrades.
A straight line was kept for the shack of the old trapper, and when they finally reached the place it was to find Jesse just starting out.
"Why, hello, boys, glad to see ye," he said, shaking hands all around, gravely. "And I'll be hanged, if thar ain't Jerry, big as life. I was gettin' uneasy about ye, lad, an' just startin' to follow up your route through the big timber. Ye see, I kinder thought ye might a-fallen foul o' them fierce wild dogs I told ye about."
Both Frank and Will laughed.
"Well, he did all right, just that same thing. And we're on our way now to see where he left the critters," declared Will.
"Left 'em—looky here, ye don't mean to tell me—it can't be possible now he fit that hull pack, an' got out o' it alive?" exclaimed the trapper.
Then Jerry, with a laugh, dangled the four tails before his startled eyes.
"Jerusalem! I surely believes he's gone an' done it!" exclaimed oldJesse Wilcox.
Frank and Will burst out into a laugh.
"Do you recognize these tails then, trapper?" asked the former; "because we even accused Jerry of trying to palm off some substitute on us for the originals?"
"Oh! them there is original tails all right. How did ye do it, youngster? An' if they ever was fierce dogs, that pack filled the bill. I'd kinder hated to be up agin 'em myself; an' you on'y a boy!"
"A boy armed with a double-barreled shotgun loaded with buck is able to do just as much as a man, I suppose. I got my deer, too, Jesse, thanks to the directions you gave me. It was a bully old time all around," said Jerry, contentedly.
"Well, I should smile to mention it. Ye take the cake, Jerry. An' now ye want me to lead ye thar, I s'pose. Can ye describe the place well enough for me to recognize it?" asked the trapper.
"Possibly I can. Let's see, I remember that there was a queer-looking oak standing close by—three trees in one, as though sprouts had grown up when the parent trunk was smashed by lightning long ago. Remember having seen anything like that in your trips through the big timber, Jesse?" asked the other, seriously.
The trapper smiled.
"Why, it's right easy. I know that place as well as I do my own dooryard.Shot a stag down by them three oaks myself ten years ago come Christmas.So that's whar ye met up with the dog pack, was it? All right, if so beye are ready, we kin start right off," he remarked eagerly.
All of the others were equally anxious to proceed, Jerry because he wished to prove his hunting triumphs, and his chums to see the evidence of his valor. Will, no doubt, still hoped to induce the victor to attempt some sort of running stunt in connection with the tree and the dead dogs, that would form the basis of a striking picture.
Going in a bee line, as led by the sagacious trapper, who knew the woods like a book, the little company did not spend more than an hour on the way.
"Thar's yer three oaks, son; now tell us jest whar ye was when ye shot that deer."
As he spoke, Jesse pointed ahead. All of them could easily see the landmark now.
"It was an old tree, and there ought to be broken branches underneath. Yes, if you look over yonder you'll see it. And isn't there something that looks yellow from here?" asked Jerry, proudly.
"Just what! The dog story was founded on solid facts, then!" exclaimedFrank, hurrying forward, with the others at his heels.
"It was a true tale," chimed in Will, from the rear.
They found the dogs just as Jerry had left them. The big yellow brute lay under the rotten tree, with his head mangled from the discharge of the gun at close quarters; the dingy white one farther off, and presently Jerry led them to where he had dispatched the others.
"And there's my package of vension, all right, hanging up yonder. I was afraid some prowling lynx might get away with it," he remarked, composedly; while his two admiring chums were whacking him on the back admiringly, and insisting on proudly shaking hands with him over and over again.
"Now, to make a clean sweep, come with me and I'll show you where I pulled Andy out from under the fallen tree," he said.
Frank laughed and would have protested, declaring that he stood ready to believe anything Jerry might say after this; but the other would not let him hold back.
"I demand that you investigate. See, here's where my charge tore up the ground when I fired through the rotten wood to scare the bear away. And you can see the plain mark of claws on the old tree-trunk. Is it so, fellows?" he asked.
"Without the least doubt. No Ananias here, that's sure," declared Frank.
"All right. Now walk this way only a short distance. I heard the yells, you see, above the racket of the storm, and that told me the one who shouted must be near by. There's the fallen tree. Think what a narrow escape Andy had from being crushed to death."
"And it's easy to see where you dragged him out. Why, here are the prints of his shoes in the mud as plain as type," remarked Frank.
"Where?" asked Will, showing sudden interest; and then after getting down to look at short range he laughed, saying: "Everything is just as Jerry says. I know it was Andy he pulled out from under this tree."
"How do you know?" demanded the party in question, curiously.
"Why, you see it was Andy Lasher who knocked Bluff off that log into the lake. We guessed it at the time, and he afterwards said as much to Jerry here. Well, we found his footprints, and you see one of his shoes had a queer patch on the sole, a sort of triangle. Here it is, as big as life!"
He pointed triumphantly downward. Frank fairly shouted, and evenJerry grinned.
"Talk about your great detectives! Why, they ain't in the same class as our chum here. You see, fellows, truth will out. What more proof do you want?" demanded Jerry.
"Everything has been proven. You are the hero of the hunt, Jerry. I pass up my claim when you're around. And so Andy means to let us alone, does he? Can he speak for his whole crowd, too?" queried Frank.
"I don't know; perhaps not He said something about Pet Peters having to do it himself if he insisted on carrying on this nasty business of bothering us. So perhaps we may have more trouble with them, unless Andy takes the bit in his teeth, and licks a few of his pals."
Will was meanwhile busily engaged with his camera. He first of all dragged several of the dead dogs around until they presented a gruesome appearance, bunched close together.
"Oh, if you would only run around that old tree a few times, Jerry, you don't know how much obliged I'd be. Of course any one must imagine that the dog pursuing you happens to just be out of sight at the time I snap you off. But think how much pleasure the picture will give future generations.Pleasedo!" he begged.
"What do I care about future generations? It would give me the nightmare every time I looked at the measly thing. I guess you'd feel the same way if you just imagined you were going to have a piece gobbled from your leg with every revolution you made. Nixey for me, old chum," observed the other, indignantly.
"Then if you won't, I suppose I'll have to take a still picture; but it's really too bad. However, I have others of you, and some day I'll try a composite picture, inserting you in the honorable position you decline to fill," grumbled Will, as he pressed the button, and secured his view of the venerable tree with the clump of dogs near its base.
"Talk about your obstinate chaps, did you ever see the equal of him? When I decline to do the tall running act, he's going to get out a fake picture anyway, with me in it! In that case I might as well stand for it. Here, you, I'll conspire with you to fix it. If it's got to be a counterfeit, let's make it a decent one."
So, after all, Will's persistency won out.
"You'll be glad when you see the result, I'm sure," he said, as he assisted Jerry to stand the dead hound on his stiffened feet, and make it appear as though he might be stretching out in furious pursuit of some one.
"Now, let me get started winding up around the tree. Tell me when the humbug business is over with," growled Jerry, beginning to circulate over the same track he had covered on the preceding day at such a speedy pace.
This matter was soon adjusted to the complete satisfaction of Will; though he seemed determined to get results, judging from the several "clicks" that announced his rapid-fire work with the camera.
The boys decided that there was no need of going back to the shack of the muskrat trapper again, while they were just half the distance from their own camp.
Jesse Wilcox directed them, so that there was small chance of their going astray; and, besides, Jerry had been over the ground before on this very morning.
"I wonder whether he'll bother taking the pelts of those four dogs?" ventured Will, as he and his two friends walked briskly along.
"Hardly. Dogskins may be valuable, but the buckshot in my gun just aboutruined those for any use, all but the yellow fellow. I had to laugh atJesse when he saw these tails. His eyes were like saucers," declaredJerry, chuckling.
"All right, it was a pretty clever piece of work, and he knew it. If that big hound had ever laid hold of you—ugh! I don't want to think of it. Let's talk about something pleasant—Bluff's pump-gun for instance," remarked Frank.
His eyes met those of Jerry, and the other turned red in the face.
"I don't see anything pleasant about that subject. Goodness knows we hear enough of it from him. What d'ye suppose he wanted to stay in camp for?" he demanded.
"Perhaps to cudgel his brains in order to remember whether he could have taken it with him when we ran out of camp that night; or, perhaps, to give another look around," suggested Frank, dryly.
"Good luck to him, then," continued Jerry. "He ought to employ the great American detective Will here, who discovers things by the print of a foot. Possibly he could follow up the trail of the thief until it led to the lost Gatling gun."
"It would have been a good idea if taken at the time. What's this plain trail lead to?" asked Frank.
"I think it leads direct from the hemlock camp to where Andy's crowd holds out," replied Jerry, who knew considerable about this region.
"Are we far away from the lake, then?"
"It's some closer than our camp. This trail has been traveled more or less lately, too. That proves those fellows have been back and forth. They're bound to spend pretty much all their time while up here trying to make life miserable for us. We turn to the left here, fellows, and go right along this way."
The other two, after a look along the trail that led to the lake camp, were just starting to follow Jerry when they heard a muffled cry. Looking hastily around, to their great astonishment no Jerry was in sight! And in the trail they discovered a gaping hole which was partly covered with a layer of slender sticks, thickly strewn with dead leaves!
"He's gone!" cried Will, aghast.
"What sort of a trap has he dropped into?" exclaimed Frank.
He was a lad of action, and throwing himself down flat he crawled to the very edge of the gaping hole.
"Hello, Jerry!" he shouted.
"I'm all right, fellows; only bruised a little, and my feelings considerably hurt. I deserve something for forgetting this hole," came a voice from out of the depths.
Frank looked down. His eyes being accustomed to the sunlight he could not see anything but darkness there. But even as he was trying to pierce this, a match flamed up, and he discovered his chum kneeling on a pile of dirt, holding up his improvised torch as though curious to look around.
"What is this place, Jerry?" demanded the one above.
"Why, Will must remember if he once gets his mind off that miserable old camera of his. It's the shaft of what was intended to be a mine," replied Jerry, with disgust plainly marked in his tones.
"A mine—and here? I never heard of it!" echoed Frank.
"That's because you are a newcomer in Centerville. Years ago—oh! I couldn't say how many—a crank lived in the little hut close by, now occupied by the family of a lumberman. He believed there was gold in this region. For nearly a year he dug down and made this shaft. Then he died in his cabin, and no one else ever had faith enough in the thing to continue the work," said Will, chiming in.
"What! do you mean to say this hole in the ground has gone all these years as a trap, ready to swallow any pilgrim who walked along this trail?" demanded Frank.
"Why, of course not. The boys from town often used to come up here. Will has been down in this hole, and so have I before. It was covered with heavy planks then. Somebody has removed those boards and laid a fine trap. Just like we were over in Africa, among the wild-beast catchers. And I fell in, worse luck," grumbled the boy at the bottom of the shaft.
"I see. And you think those fellows in the other camp had a hand in it?"
"Don't doubt it at all. You know yourself it would be just like that Pet Peters. If I'd only thought of the blooming old thing in time, I might have investigated. Talk to me about your Alpine climbers, I thought I was going into the crevasse, all right."
"But how are you going to get out?" asked Frank, always practical.
"A fellow can't climb out. I know that, for we used to try it. Somebody always had to put down the long pole that we made into a ladder," declared Will.
"Is it around here now?" continued Frank.
"Wait and I'll give a look."
Will very carefully placed his camera with its accompanying case of films. He made sure that it was out of the way, so that no one might incautiously step on the same, and ruin his heart's delight. Then he passed into the bushes to scour the immediate neighborhood.
Meanwhile Frank bent over the edge again.
"I've examined this covering up here, Jerry, and there's not the least doubt but that it was made with a distinct purpose," he declared.
"I reckon it was, and it got me, all right. It looked just like the rest of the trail, and I never suspected a thing until I found myself going down. Speak to me about that, will you? To think that I was caught by such a shabby trick. If it had been you, now, it wouldn't seem so bad, because you never saw this hole before."
"But what object could those rascals have had in constructing the trap?" pursued Frank, seeking more light.
"That's hard to say. I imagine, though, they expected to just badger us from time to time until finally we all set out in full chase of the crowd. Then perhaps they meant to lead us along this old trail, avoiding the pit themselves, and having us tumble in pell-mell. It was a clever dodge, but a mean trick all the same."
"But if that had happened it might have been serious. One of us could easily break a leg or an arm in such a tumble," expostulated Frank.
"Huh! little those fellows care about that They're a rough lot, you know. That Pet Peters thinks everybody is made of iron, like himself. Say, I hope Will finds that old ladder we used to play with. I'd hate to lie in here waiting for you to go all the way to camp and get a rope," grumbled the imprisoned one.
"I hear voices, and I reckon Will must have met some one. Yes, there they come."
"With the ladder?" demanded Jerry, eagerly.
"They seem to be carrying something between them. Why, I ought to know that fellow. As sure as you live, it's Andy Lasher," declared Frank, somewhat surprised.
"Then it's all right; I'm satisfied," said Jerry, resignedly.
The others came forward, and as Frank had said they bore between them a long, slender tree upon which many slats had been nailed by the boys. This formed a rude but effective ladder, upon which one might ascend and descend when desirous of seeing what the interior of the abandoned shaft was like.
"I came across Andy down the trail. Only for him I guess I'd never have lit on the ladder, for they'd carried it some distance off, and hid it," cried Will.
Andy looked Frank straight in the face, and the latter explained:
"It's mighty funny, but you see I remembered about this here trap the boys had set, hopin' some of your crowd would take a tumble. I told 'em I wouldn't stand for it after what had happened; so a bunch o' us was on the way out here to put back the planks, when we heard shouts, and guessed somebody had fallen in. The rest dodged into the bushes, but I commenced to run this way. Then I met Will, here."
"And we got the ladder. He was only too willing to help," went on Will, plainly fully believing in the change of heart on the town bully's part.
"Say, that's all mighty interesting, but talk to me about it after you get a fellow out of this black hole. I thought I felt a snake right then. We used to kill 'em in here, too. Poke the ladder down, boys, please."
"That's a fact. As the drowning boy said: 'Save me first and scold me afterward.' Let me give you a hand, boys," remarked Frank.
"Hey! be careful there about getting too close to the edge. The whole bunch of you will be in on top of me if you don't look out. I had a crack on the head from a rock right then. And be careful how you poke that ladder down, or you may stick it through me like a lady's hatpin. Now I've got hold of the end, lower away, all."
So under the directions of the boy who was in the hole, and in a position to see how things lay, the single-pole ladder was placed in position.
"I'm coming up now, fellows; don't let the dirt crumble in on me," called Jerry.
"It does beat all how the adventures crowd you, old man. Here the rest of us just go along in an average way, and nothing happens to anybody to stir the blood. Hang it, I say it's hardly fair," remarked Frank, in pretended chagrin.
Jerry began to appear in view, clinging to the ladder, for it was a rather rickety affair, and threatening constantly to turn around, so that he had to fasten both knees and hands to the pole as he mounted.
"Keep her straight, Andy; you understand how hard it is to hustle up this old beam. I'm getting there all right, and don't you forget it," he kept saying, with a broad grin on his happy-go-lucky face as it came into plain view.
"Oh! Jerry, please hang there for just twenty seconds! You don't know what a splendid picture you make. I'd give almost anything to snatch it off. Oblige me like a good fellow, won't you, please?" shouted Will, waving his hands entreatingly.
"Talk to me about nerve! You beat all creation. I'm holding on by the skin of my teeth, and you want me to wait till you get your measly old camera adjusted, and snap me off in this ignoble position. Well, I'm waiting, but it's to get my second wind, and not to oblige a crank," gasped Jerry.
"Oh! thank you, Jerry, thank you. It will only take a few seconds, I'm sure, and the result will be a constant source of delight to every member of the club."
"Yes, I've no doubt they'll go into spasms of laughter every time they look at the human ape hanging to his limb. Hurry up, plague take it; I'm getting weary of posing to suit your convenience. Why don't he, come back and finish? I declare if I can stand this any longer. I tell you I'm coming up, Will—picture or no picture."
"Here he comes; just hang on a bit longer," said Frank, soothingly.
Will came dashing up, showing the most intense excitement. His eyes fairly bulged from his head, and he was quivering all over.
"What ails you, man; are you sick?" demanded Frank, in real alarm.
"Sick? No, but I'm broken-hearted, that's what. It's gone!" shouted the other, wringing his hands, "some wretch has stolen my camera, and films!"
"What's that?" exclaimed Andy Lasher, jumping up from the side of Frank, where he had dropped to lend Jerry a helping hand.
"My camera's stolen! I placed it carefully behind that tree so nobody could step on it, and now the whole thing's disappeared!" said Will, almost choking with deep emotion.
"I bet that's the work of Pet Peters and the other fellows!" exclaimedAndy, his freckled face showing dark signs of anger.
"Hey, don't forget about me!" bellowed a voice from the depths; "the blooming old pole turned round then, and I slipped back five feet. Hold her steady, you fellows, and give me a chance to climb out!"
"That's a fact. Come along, Jerry," said Frank.
So the imprisoned one crawled out, only too glad to once more plant his feet on solid ground.
"Talk to me about your trapeze acts, and your parachute drops, I guess I know all the sensations. And let me tell you I don't hanker after any more of the same kind. Now, what's all this row about your black box, Will?" cried Jerry, as he felt of his various joints to make sure he was all sound.
"It's been hooked while we were getting you out. That Pet Peters has made way with it. Oh! if he ever tears open the package that contains my beloved films, I'm just ruined. All my work for nothing; and they can never be replaced again."
"We'll get 'em, don't you fear," exploded Andy. "I'll run back to camp right away, and make him give 'em up."
"If you only would, I'd be ever so much obliged, Andy. Three dozen, yes, four now, of the finest scenes a fellow ever could take. Why, some of them areimmense!"
"I suppose you are referring now to that one where that yellow dog was chasing me around the tree; but I wouldn't die of grief if posterity never got a squint at that picture," said Jerry, shaking his head.
"Please start now," urged Will; "for they will be opening the package just for spite. One little bit of daylight and the whole thing will be ruined. And from what I know of Pet Peters, I believe he'd do it."
"I just reckon he would, now. All right, I'm off," said Andy.
"Wait, and we'll go with you," declared Frank, quietly.
"I can do it just as well alone; still, perhaps it is good to have you fellers along. But we must run," Andy observed.
"We can do it. Come on, boys!" cried Frank
They started off through the timber, even Jerry keeping up a rattling pace, although somewhat out of breath.
"Better not talk," admonished Andy, when Will manifested a disposition to continue his doleful wails about his terrible loss.
"That's good advice, Will. If you hope to recover your property, better keep a padlock on your lips just now. Besides, you need all your wind," remarked Frank.
They ran on.
The trail was crooked, but kept drawing nearer the lake all the while.
"Just a few minutes more," panted Andy at length.
And when less than that time had passed they could catch glimpses of the cabin in which he and his crowd had taken up their quarters, after being forestalled by the outdoor chums in the race for the hemlock camp.
Andy said nothing, but the manner in which he put his fingers on his lips as he turned his head, was indicative of silence.
He led them forward in such a way that the cabin stood between them and the spot where several boys seemed to have clustered, interested in something.
When they looked around the corner of the hut they counted five in the bunch. It was Pet Peters, a tall, raw-boned lad, who was swinging the camera to and fro in triumph, while he held up the waterproof package in which Will kept the rolls of films that had been exposed, awaiting the time when he could develop the same.
"Say, but won't them sissies be hoppin' mad w'en they sees it gone?" he was saying, with a grin; "an' we can keep it as long as we wanter."
"What's he got in the black bag, Pet?" demanded one of the others.
"Don't know, but we'll soon find out," grunted the leader of the group, looking around for a place to lay the camera down while he applied himself to the task of opening the tied-up package.
"I bet it's films he's used; I know, because I got a bull's-eye camera to home," exclaimed another chap, pressing forward eagerly.
"Who was it tumbled into the old mine shaft?" asked Pet, as he dug at the knot with which the cord was fastened.
"Don't know for sure, but I kinder think it must a-been Jerry Wallington.I seen that Frank and Will along with Andy," replied a third, quickly.
"Glad of it. Andy says as how he's under obligations to Jerry, but fur me I don't take any stock in that sorter thing. He jest couldn't let a feller lie there and die under that tree. It sarves Andy right because he wanted to cover up the old shaft again afore any purty boy fell down in it and skinned his nose. Say, how d'ye 'spose they ever found that ladder agin after we hid it?"
"'Course Andy got it for 'em. He oughter left the kid in the hole all night. Hope he's bunged up good and hard by the tumble," came from another.
"Looky here, Pet, ye know what ye're doin', I 'spect?" asked the one who had but a minute before owned to having a camera at home.
"Tryin' to open this pesky little package, all right," answered the other.
"But if it has them films inside ye'll ruin the hull bunch if ye lets daylight in on 'em. Undo the rolls that is wrapped each in black paper, and the picters is gone just as quick as that," and he snapped his fingers.
"What do I care? Sarves them right for takin' our camp away. For two cents I'd throw the hull business into the lake, and let her swim," growled Pet, who did not seem to be making much progress in his feat of untying the binding cord.
Frank could feel Will quiver with emotion as he pressed against him. The very thought of his beloved camera and those invaluable films floating on the water filled the boy with unutterable anguish. He even groaned, though the fact that the conspirators were so busily engaged, and talking in the bargain, prevented them from hearing the suspicious sound.
"Andy was a-helpin' 'em," declared one of the group, as though that fact might constitute a crime in his eyes.
"'Course; what more could ye expect arter the way he got us to go out with him to cover up that hole again? Andy's got religion, I reckon; leastways he ain't the same kind o' a feller he was," declared Pet.
"But he turned on you mighty quick, I noticed, an' sed as how he'd wipe up the ground with your remains if you jest didn't go along and help undo our work. He kin fight yet, even if he is changed," said the fellow who hung discreetly on the outskirts of the group, and who was evidently a devoted follower of the said Andy.
"Jest mind yer own business, Tom Somers, an' speak when yer spoken to. Guess I know that yer intendin' to stick to Andy through thick an' thin. But they ain't everybody feelin' that way, understand? If Andy he's a-goin' to turn on us and be chummy with that crowd, we ain't expectin' to stand it, see?" declared Pet, still struggling with the obstreperous knot.
"Them's my sentiments," observed another.
"Me, too, fellers?" declared a second.
"Yes, it's easy for ye to talk that ways when he ain't around; but let him give any one o' ye a single look an' it's eat dirt for the lot. Ain't I seen it done many a time? An' some day Andy's goin' to give Pet the time o' his life," the single faithful henchman kept saying.
"Oh, let up, Tom! Ain't any one o' ye got a knife? I can't never get this here knot untied. Hand it here, Billy. Now watch the fun, fellers," and as he spoke Pet opened a blade of the borrowed knife, and proceeded to lay it across the cord.
To judge by the way he sawed, that blade was too dull to cut butter.
"What d'ye call this thing, anyhow, Billy? One side's about as sharp as t'other, an' a feller couldn't commit suicide, if he tried to, with this frog-sticker."
"Try mine," said the fellow who owned a camera.
"Say, that's the cheese; it's got a edge all right. Now wouldn't little Willie Milton weep tears if he seen me a-doin' this to his property," and he bent down to sever the cord at one vicious blow.
Frank thought it high time to interfere.
These unscrupulous boys would not hesitate to destroy all the results of Will's hard labor, and, in fact, take the keenest delight in wringing his heart by so doing.
There was only one way apparently to stop the desecration and save those precious films from destruction. Although opposed to violence on general principles, still Frank knew very well that there are times when it becomes necessary for every one to stand up boldly for his rights.
He gave a nudge to Jerry which that worthy understood as a signal to be ready. Accordingly, Jerry raised his shotgun until he had covered the group in front of the cabin, and then waited for the word.
"Step out and hold them," whispered Frank, in his ear; and the four boys made a sudden appearance from behind the shack.
"Now, look pleasant, please, you fellows!" exclaimed Frank, as he made sure that he had his gun held on a line to cover the leader of the rebels in Andy Lasher's camp.
Pet Peters looked thoroughly frightened when he saw that he had been caught in the very act of opening another's property.
The truth of the matter was, he had been warned of late by the town authorities that on the very next occasion when caught taking things that did not belong to him, they would send him to the reform school.
"Don't you dare cut that string," said Frank, sternly; "or I won't answer for the consequences, Pet Peters."
The boy, with a scowl, threw the package down alongside the camera.
"There's yer old shebang. I ain't done it a speck o' harm. Was just kiddin', anyway. Knowed Will was around, an' jest wanted to make him squeal," he declared.
Of course it was a barefaced falsehood, as every one understood; but it seemed to be the natural thing for a fellow like Pet to say; he always squirmed out of a scrape that way, while Andy had at least shown a certain amount of boldness when caught.
"Will, step up and claim your property. If it has suffered any damage I'm going to make him pay for it, if I have to take him all the way back to Centerville," continued Frank.
Eagerly did the one addressed walk forward and pick up both camera and package of films. He was within three feet of those five boys, yet never a hand was outstretched to hinder him. They knew better. Those grim guns that bore upon them, and the angry faces of Jerry, Frank, yes, and Andy, impressed them deeply.
"Examine them, Will. Do you think either has been injured?" asked Frank.
"'Course they ain't. How could they be when I kerried 'em carefully. Them scratches was on ther camera afore I touched it, I'll swar to that!" exclaimed Pet, really alarmed by this time.
At which Andy grinned as if highly amused.
"I guess everything's safe, Frank. They stopped just in time. Another minute and the damage could not have been repaired," sang out the delighted Will, ready to almost dance with joy.
"Which is a lucky thing for them, then. Now, I don't know why we should hang out here much longer. We've got our own, and the air of this camp isn't quite as nice as I'd like. Shall we go, fellows?" asked Frank.
"Might as well," answered Jerry; "but before we do I think these chaps ought to be told that the sheriff promised to drop in and see us to-morrow; and that if there's any more of this humbug and annoyance tried, I'm going to ask him to take the whole bunch back to Centerville."
"And I promise to prefer a charge of malicious mischief against them, and an attempt to destroy property. Incendiarism is a crime, especially when life is placed in peril; and one of us might have been burned while we slept," added Frank, severely.
There were exclamations of alarm from the cowering boys. They had been intimidated by the guns of Jerry and his chum, but this new source of danger chilled their ardor wonderfully.
"I reckon we ain't goin' to try any more tricks, fellers. Thought we'd have a leetle fun out of this campin' business; but seein' as how ye take it so hard, we'd better draw off," muttered Pet, completely humbled.
"Yes, 'fun for the boys, but death to the frogs,' as the old story says. That sort of thing is too one-sided to suit me. Just play your jokes on each other, if you must amuse yourselves. We have our own way of extracting fun out of an outing. Well, come along, boys. And, Andy, thank you for helping get Jerry out of that hole."
He thrust out his hand to the other as he spoke, but Andy did not take it.
"Ain't got anything to do with the rest of ye; but Jerry he saved my life. I told him I was goin' to quit naggin' his crowd, an' so I am; but that don't mean I'm a turnin' a saint right away. Pet here is itchin' for a lickin', an' I got a good notion to 'commodate him."
Andy glared in the direction of his lieutenant, and it was plain to be seen that the spirit of warfare had not as yet been diminished in his bosom.
"Oh! well, have it out among yourselves, boys. As long as you leave us alone we won't bother you in the least, I give you my word," said Frank.
"Come on, you fellows," cried Will. "I'm anxious to get away from here.That Pet gave me the cold creeps when he came so near ruining my films.Ugh! me for the comforts of our own camp."
No one wanted to linger. Even Jerry was glad to turn his back on the old cabin and stalk away, with his gun over his arm.
"Say," called Will, over his shoulder, a few minutes later, as they were pushing through the woods and following the back trail.
"Well, what is it?" asked Jerry.
"We forgot something, boys,'' continued the other.
"What's that?" demanded Frank, coming to a stand.
"Why, when we were about it we ought to have demanded that they returnBluff's dandy, repeating shotgun," said Will.
Thereupon Frank broke out into a laugh and turned upon Jerry.
"Hear that, will you?" he remarked, as if tickled.
"Oh, rats! there's that blessed old gun bobbing up again. Will I ever hear the last of that machine?" exclaimed Jerry, shrugging his shoulders.
"Not till the ghost is laid, I suppose, Jerry," remarked Frank.
Jerry walked along at his side, still grumbling as if he had a difficult matter to solve and could hardly make up his mind.
Thus they came to the spot where the late catastrophe had taken place.The hole gaped at them in the trail.
"Say, this is a dangerous thing to leave uncovered. Some one else might fall in, perhaps one of that lumberman's kids if they happened to be playing hereabouts," remarked Frank, as they paused to look down once more into the dark depths.
"I wouldn't want my worst enemy to slip over that edge. My! but it was a queer sensation I had when falling. Let's cover the hole up again," remarked Jerry.
"If we can find the planks it would be a good idea," echoed Will.
They started a search immediately. When Andy and his followers had removed this cover, to substitute the frail one of slender sticks, quilted with dead leaves and a scattering of soil to deceive the eye, they could not have taken the boards far away.
"I'm dead sure they ain't in the hole," observed Jerry, as they hunted.
"Lucky for you they were not, as you might have broken a leg in striking hard planks instead of soft soil," remarked Frank.
"Here they are, boys!" sang out Will just then.
It took but a short time for them to carry the heavy planks back to the place, and cover up the hole the crazy gold-hunter had dug so many; years ago.
"Hope those sillies won't think to steal them off again. They might trap one of that lumberman's kids, and then the penitentiary for theirs, for sure," said Jerry, as he made sure the cover was secure on all sides.
"I rather think they've had a lesson this time, and won't be in any hurry to repeat the dose," laughed Frank; "come along boys."
Somehow Jerry seemed to lag behind the others.
"What's the matter with him?" asked Will, turning his thumb backward over his shoulder.
"Perhaps conscience is at work. Jerry has queer freaks, you know. Wait and see what develops," answered Frank, mysteriously, and, although his companion tried to get him to say more he absolutely declined.
It was a short time after this that they heard the boom of a gun.
"Hunters abroad, somewhere around. There goes a second, yes and a third.Game must be plenty where they are," remarked Will.
Frank did not reply, but the other saw that he was smiling as if his thoughts might be pleasant just then.
"I just bet he's thinking of my sister Violet," was what passed through the mind of the boy; but for once he was wrong.
They finally arrived at a point not a quarter of a mile from camp. Frank turned to see if Jerry was coming along, for he had not heard a sound from him.
"How about that venison you insisted on carrying? I hope you didn't leave it in that miserable pit, now, for I was calculating on having a feast for supper?" he asked, seeing that Jerry still plodded along close by.
"I've got it on my back all right, so don't worry, boys. And honest, now, come to think of it, I really believe the bundle saved me from a worse shock than I got. I landed on it, if you please. Don't know how it beat me down, but it served as a fine old buffer. I look on that blessed deer as my best friend."
"Listen!" exclaimed Will just then.
All of them could hear what seemed to be shouts ahead. They certainly came from the direction of the home camp.
"Now what do you suppose has happened there this time? Can't we ever take a little saunter through the woods without the camp being made the theater for all sorts of strange dramas—wildcats, lunatics, and now what?" exclaimed Jerry.
"I think it would be just as well for us to sprint along and find out.That Toby seems fated to get into the queerest scrapes ever heard of.Here goes!" with which Frank began to run.
The others kept close at his heels, and as the outcries increased they even put on additional speed, bursting out of the timber to see as strange a spectacle as ever greeted the eyes of woodsmen returning to their camp.