CHAPTER XXITHE GLIMPSE THROUGH THE WINDOW
The sun was just climbing above the treetops when the radio boys and Frank Brandon set out over the forest road, to the accompaniment of a full chorus of lusty feathered singers. Robin and starling and thrush combined to make the dewy morning gladsome, and the boys whistled back at them and wished Larry Bartlett were there to learn some new notes.
“This would be just his dish,” commented Herb. “After he got warmed up, you wouldn’t be able to tell him from the birds.”
“The only difference is, that he’s better,” declared Joe. “If he were here now, he’d be teaching the dicky birds a new song or two. That boy is certainly a wonder.”
“He’s very clever,” acknowledged Brandon. “He’s getting along wonderfully well at the broadcasting station, and I understand he’s had several good offers from the big vaudeville circuits.”
“Why doesn’t he accept one?” questioned Joe.
“He hasn’t fully recovered from the effects of the accident yet. And, besides, he says he likes the radio work better. He can stay in one place, and cut out all the traveling. That seems to be a strong consideration with him.”
“I don’t know that I can blame him,” commented Bob. “I should think that continual jumping around from place to place would get on anybody’s nerves.”
“Still, it gives one a fine chance to see the country,” argued Frank Brandon. “If any of you fellows ever get into radio work in a commercial way, the chances are you won’t be able to ‘stay put’ in one place very long.”
“There’s one great advantage about traveling, anyway,” said Jimmy.
“What’s that, Doughnuts?” queried Joe. “I should think that with your restful nature you’d rather stay in the same place and grow old and fat in perfect comfort.”
“Oh, that part of it is all right,” admitted Jimmy. “But don’t forget that different parts of the country have different kinds of cooking. In New York the specialty is shore dinners; go a little South, and you get fried chicken and corn pone cooked by guaranteed southern mammies; go up North, and you get venison steaks; in the West they’ll feed you mutton chops as big as a plate. And so it goes.”
“You’ve even forgotten some places,” laughed Bob. “How about a steaming dish of beans in Boston?”
“Yes, or frijoles and chile con carne in New Mexico,” suggested Herb.
“Cease, cease!” groaned Jimmy. “Why talk about such things when we’re such a long way from them? Every time you mention something new it makes me feel hungrier.”
“Hungrier!” exclaimed Mr. Brandon. “Why, it’s hardly half an hour since we finished breakfast!”
“What has breakfast got to do with it?” demanded the insatiable Jimmy. “That’s past and done with. It’s time to think of lunch, now.”
“You win,” laughed Brandon. “Your capacity will make you famous some day.”
“It’s made him famous already—at least, up here,” Bob informed the radio inspector. “Didn’t you know that he is the undisputed champion pie eater of the camp?”
“No, I didn’t know that, but it doesn’t surprise me in the least to hear it,” said Brandon, with a smile. “How did he gain his laurels?”
Then Bob told him about the contest, and when he had finished Mr. Brandon laughingly congratulated Jimmy.
“I always had a sneaking idea that you could do it,” he admitted. “But after my experiencewith lumbermen’s appetites, I realize that you must have been on your mettle all the way.”
“It was rather hard at the end,” admitted Jimmy, “but take it all together it was a real pleasure. That cook sure does know how to make good pies,” and an expression of blissful reminiscence spread over his round countenance.
“He made a regular pig of himself, but we knew he would, and that’s why we had such confidence in him,” said Joe.
“Nothing of the kind!” protested Jimmy. “You know you fellows got me into it in the first place. You fixed it all up, and I only went in as a favor to you. But I might know better than to expect gratitude from this bunch.”
“You’ll find it in the dictionary,” Joe informed him. “You ought to be grateful to us for providing you with a feed like that. It would have cost you a lot of money to buy all those pies back home.”
“I think he came well out of it, at any rate,” interposed the radio man. “But we must now be getting somewhere near that cabin, and we’d better go as quietly as we can. We know that there are two of the gang hanging out in it, and there’s no telling how many more there may be.”
“Not so very near the cabin yet,” answered Bob. “Nearer that tree to which they had the receiving set attached.”
Nevertheless, they advanced as silently as possible, keeping a sharp lookout for any sign of the black-moustached stranger and his friend. The woods seemed devoid of human presence other than their own, however, and they saw nothing to arouse suspicion until at length they reached the tree to which the receiving set was fastened. Frank Brandon examined this with interest. The box was securely locked, but the radio man drew a big bunch of various-sized keys from his pocket.
“I want to see what’s in this box, but first I think we’d better post sentries,” he said, in a low voice. “Suppose you go back a few hundred feet the way we came, Jimmy. You go the same distance in the other direction, Herb. And Joe can go a little way up the path that leads toward the cabin. You can stay here and help me get this box open, Bob. If any of you hear some one coming, imitate a robin’s note three times, and then keep out of sight. We don’t want the crooks to suspect yet that anybody is on their trail.”
The three radio boys scattered to their appointed posts, and Frank Brandon proceeded to try key after key in the lock. He had to try fully a dozen before at last the lock clicked and the door of the box swung open.
Inside was a complete radio receiving set, with vacuum tube detector and batteries in perfect working order. Between the roots of the tree aniron pipe had been driven into the earth to act as a ground. The antenna was strung from top to bottom of the tree on the side away from the path, and there was nothing to differentiate the box from an ordinary wire telephone set, except that it was slightly larger. There were a number of regular wire telephones scattered throughout the woods, to aid in fighting forest fires, so that anybody traveling along the path would have been unlikely to give this outfit more than a passing glance, if they noticed it at all. Had the radio boys not chanced to see the black-moustached man listening, with wireless headphones over his ears, the fact that the box contained a wireless receiving outfit might never have been discovered.
Brandon and Bob went carefully over every article of the equipment. They were on the lookout for another notebook such as the boys had found in the cabin, but there was nothing of the kind in the box. When they were satisfied of this, Mr. Brandon carefully replaced everything as he had found it, and snapped the lock shut.
“So much for that!” he exclaimed. “Now, let’s get hold of the others and we’ll see what that mysterious cabin looks like.”
Joe and Herb and Jimmy were soon recalled from their sentry duty, and all set out along the path to the cabin. When they got close to the clearing the three sentries were again posted,while Bob and the inspector made a detour through the woods so as to approach the cabin on the side away from the path, where there was little likelihood of those inside keeping a lookout. Very cautiously they advanced from the concealment of the woods, Frank Brandon with his right hand on the butt of a deadly looking automatic pistol. They crept close to the wall of the cabin, and listened intently for some sign of life within.
That there was at least one man in the cabin, and that he was still sleeping, soon became evident, for they heard the heavy breathing of one sound asleep. Mr. Brandon cautiously raised himself as high as the window, and peered within. From this position he could not see the sleeper, however, and he and Bob moved silently to the other side of the shack. From there they commanded a good view of the interior, and could plainly see the sleeping man, who was the same whom the boys had first encountered the day before.
His black-moustached face was toward them, and Brandon gave a start of recognition, while his fingers tightened on his pistol. For a few moments he stood tense, evidently deciding what to do. Then he beckoned to Bob to follow, and made for the path where the others anxiously awaited them.
“I know that man in there!” exclaimed Brandon excitedly. “He is known as ‘Black’ Donegan, on account of his black hair and moustache. He’s wanted by the police of New York and Chicago, and I guess other cities, too. We could easily get him now, but if we did, the chances are the rest of the gang would take alarm, and we’d miss the chance of bagging them and getting back Mr. Fennington’s stolen property. It’s hard to say what is the best thing to do.”
But on the instant a plan occurred to Bob, and he lost no time in communicating it to the others.
CHAPTER XXIIA NEFARIOUS PLOT
“If this fellow in the cabin is such a bad man, we can’t afford to risk losing sight of him,” said Bob. “Suppose Joe and Jimmy and I stay here, while Herb goes back with you, Mr. Brandon. We can stay here until your two regulars show up, and Herb can then bring them here to relieve us. How does that strike you?”
“It’s a way out of the predicament,” answered Frank Brandon, his frown vanishing. “You fellows are apt to have a long vigil, though. My men won’t get to the camp until this afternoon, and after that it takes quite a while to reach this place.”
“I guess we can stand it,” said Bob. “Can’t we, fellows?” he asked, glancing at the others.
Both Joe and Jimmy agreed, although the latter had secret misgivings as he thought regretfully of the dinner he would miss. However, such considerations were of little weight just then, and it was finally decided to adopt Bob’s plan.
“I’ll leave my pistol with you,” said Brandon, as he and Herb prepared to leave. “But whatever else you do, steer clear of this gang and don’t use firearms unless as a last resort. Remember, that if they once find out their hiding place is discovered, our whole scheme will be ruined.”
The boys promised to exercise the greatest caution, and then Mr. Brandon and Herb started back toward camp.
Bob, after a brief inspection, dropped the deadly automatic pistol into his pocket, and then the three friends considered how they might best keep watch on the cabin without being discovered. First of all, at Joe’s suggestion, they armed themselves with serviceable clubs, that might come in handy in time of necessity. Then they slipped silently into the underbrush, and worked their way along until they had attained a position where they commanded a view of the cabin’s only door.
The spot they had chosen was surrounded by dense thickets, and one might have passed within ten feet without spying them. Bob carefully parted the bushes and broke off twigs here and there until they could see plainly enough, and yet were securely hidden from the cabin. This done, the boys made themselves as comfortable as possible under the circumstances, and prepared for a long vigil.
They had been in their retreat less than half anhour when the door of the shack was flung open, and the black-moustached man appeared on the threshold. He gazed searchingly about the little clearing, then glanced up at the mounting sun and stretched prodigiously. At length, apparently satisfied that all was as it should be, he turned back into the cabin, and soon the aroma of bacon and coffee came floating down the wind to where the boys lay. Jimmy’s nose twitched and his mouth watered, but he thought of the importance of the mission that had been intrusted to them by the radio inspector and stifled his longings.
The man in the cabin ate a leisurely breakfast, and apparently was in no hurry. Indeed, from the way he loitered over the meal, the boys rather suspected that he was awaiting the arrival of some other members of the gang. Nor were they mistaken. After a time the lads could hear the sound of approaching voices, and soon three men entered the clearing and made for the cabin. At the first sound of their voices, the man inside had stepped swiftly to the door, one hand in the bulging pocket of his coat; but when he recognized the others an ugly grin spread over his face, while his hand dropped to his side.
“So you have got here at last, eh?” he snarled. “I’m glad to find you didn’t hurry yourselves any. I thought I sent you a wireless message to get here early.”
“So you did, chief,” spoke up one of the newcomers. “But we couldn’t get here no sooner.”
“You couldn’t?” snapped the other. “Why couldn’t you?”
“We got word that one of the government radio inspectors was at the lumber camp, so we had to come here by the long way. We were afraid he might recognize one of us if we happened to bump into him.”
“Well, the cops have photoed all of you so often that I don’t wonder you’re shy,” sneered the leader. “But come on inside. There’s no use of standing chinning here.”
Two of the men muttered sullenly to themselves, but ceased abruptly as the leader’s frowning gaze fell on them. They all shuffled into the cabin, and the black-moustached man shut the door with a bang.
“Say,” whispered Bob, “we’ve got to listen in on this pow-wow, fellows. I’m going to sneak up to the window and try to hear what they’re saying. They must have some purpose in meeting here like this.”
“Well, be mighty careful, Bob,” said Joe anxiously. “They’re a tough crowd, and we’ve got to watch our step. If they discover you, head for here, and if we can’t get away we’ll put up a battle.”
“If I have any kind of luck, they won’t discoverme,” Bob assured him. “Just sit tight, and I’ll be back in a jiffy.”
Very cautiously he crept through the underbrush toward the cabin. In spite of all his care a branch snapped under him and the second time the door was flung wide and the ill-favored leader of the gang stepped out and peered about him.
Bob flattened out as close to the ground as he could get and lay tense, while the outlaw gazed suspiciously at the bushes amid which he was concealed.
“What’s the matter, Blackie?” called one of the gang. “Did you think you heard somethin’?”
“I know I did!” exclaimed the other. “But I suppose it was only some animal prowling around.”
“Bein’ alone in this shack has got on your nerves, maybe,” taunted one of the gang.
“Nerves, my eye!” exclaimed the other. “I don’t own such things! But I’ve got a notion to take a look through those bushes, anyway,” and he started in Bob’s direction.
“Come on back, Blackie,” urged another of the gang. “We can’t be foolin’ around here all day. Be yourself, can’t you?”
The others chimed in to the same effect, and their leader reluctantly abandoned his search and returned to the cabin. Had he gone another twenty feet he would inevitably have discoveredBob, who had been on the point of springing to his feet and giving battle. It was a narrow escape, and the radio boys heaved sighs of relief as the door of the cabin closed on the formidable figure of the leader. They knew that these men were desperate criminals, heavily armed, who would not hesitate at murder to avoid capture.
Bob resumed his advance, an inch at a time, and at length reached the edge of the clearing. Before him lay a stretch of perhaps twenty feet of open ground, and should one of the desperados chance to open the door while he was crossing this space, discovery would be certain. However, this was a chance that Bob knew he must take, and without hesitation he sprang to his feet and ran swiftly but silently toward the cabin.
Fortunately he reached it unobserved, and crouched close to the wall beneath one of the little windows. There were numerous cracks in the side of the rude structure, and he had no difficulty in hearing what was going on inside.
The crooks were engaged in a heated debate, but soon the voice of their leader spoke out commandingly and the others fell silent.
“I tell you we haven’t had a chance to get rid of that last load of silk we got near Castleton,” he said, in an angry voice. “I couldn’t get the price I wanted for it, and, besides, it will be just as easy to get rid of two loads as one, and no more risk.Now, I’m going to send out a radio message in code to the rest of the gang, and we’ll pull off the job to-night, just as I’ve already told you.”
There were no dissenting voices, and presently Bob heard the whirr of the sending set, followed by the voice of the leader.
“HDEA’ HDEA’,” he called again and again, switching over to the receiving set to get an answer. At length he evidently reached the station he was after, for he listened intently for a few minutes. Then the generator hummed again, and Bob heard the black-moustached man speaking again.
“Get this, and get it right,” he commanded, and there followed a string of words that would have been mere gibberish to Bob had he not held the key to their meaning. He searched frantically in his pockets for a pencil, and scribbled the words down as the man spoke them. When he had finished, the leader of the gang shut down the generator, and turned to the others.
“That’s fixed,” he said. “There won’t be much to do for the rest of the day but look over your guns and make sure they’re in good working order. Since we got that last truck they’ve been putting guards on them, and we want to be prepared to shoot before they do.”
There was a general pushing back of chairs, and Bob realized that at any moment the doormight open. His mind worked quickly, and instead of going back to his friends the way he had come, he made a rush for the woods on the opposite side of the clearing. In this way the “blind,” or windowless, end of the cabin was toward him, so that he would not be likely to be detected unless the robbers came out and walked around the house.
Lucky it was for Bob that he acted as he did, because he had barely started when the door was flung open and those inside came streaming out. For a few moments they stood in a group in front of the door, talking, and then scattered, some walking about, while others threw themselves on the ground and smoked.
But by this time Bob had reached the cover of the woods undiscovered, and set out to rejoin his friends. This necessitated a long detour, and it was a full hour later that he crept silently into their hiding place. So quietly did he come that Jimmy was on the point of uttering a startled exclamation, but checked himself just in time.
CHAPTER XXIIIPREPARING AN AMBUSH
“Say, you came as quietly as a shadow,” whispered the plump youth. “How do you ever do it?”
“You don’t expect me to blow a whistle under the circumstances, do you?” asked Bob.
“Never mind that, but tell us what you heard,” said Joe impatiently. “What are they up to, Bob?”
“I can’t tell you until I compare what I copied down with the code key,” said Bob, as he fished in his pocket for the bit of paper on which he had noted down the robber’s message. Having found this, he and Joe searched through the key and soon had the following message pieced together:
“Truck—silk—Barberton Road—to-night. Meet me and others—Hicks Bridge—eight o’clock. Truck due—ten o’clock.”
Having deciphered the message, the boys gazed questioningly at one another.
“That doesn’t give us much time to act,” saidJoe. “If we wait here it may be close to eight o’clock before the others come to relieve us, and then it will be too late to prevent the robbery.”
“The answer is, that we won’t wait here,” said Bob decisively. “As long as we know their plans up until this evening, there’s no need of watching this cabin any longer, anyway. We’d better start back right away, and tell Mr. Brandon what we’ve found out. He’ll know the best thing to do then.”
“That sounds all right to me,” said Joe, and as Jimmy saw a chance of getting back to camp in time for dinner, he put in no objections.
“Now, for the love of butter, try to go quietly, Jimmy,” warned Bob. “If those fellows hear a sound from this direction, they’ll be right after us, because their suspicions are already aroused.”
“I’ll do the best I can,” promised his rotund friend. “But I’m heavier than you fellows, and I can’t slide around so easily.”
“Well, go easy, anyway,” said Bob. “Now, are we all ready?”
With infinite caution the boys wormed their way through the brushwood, Bob leading. By luck rather than good management Jimmy managed to be as quiet as his friends, and after almost an hour of this slow progress Bob judged that they were far enough away from the cabin to risk a faster pace. The shack was out of sight among the trees when he sprang to his feet, followed bythe others, and in a short time they had reached the path leading to the main road. Here it was still necessary to be extremely careful, for they never knew at what moment some turn in the path would bring them face to face with some of the robber band. Fortunately nothing of the kind happened, and soon they reached the main road and started at high speed for camp.
“I wonder if we can’t take some sort of a short cut,” came from Joe as they raced along.
“That’s the talk,” puffed poor Jimmy, who had great difficulty in keeping up with his chums. “The shorter the better.”
“We won’t dare risk it,” returned Bob. “Why we might get lost.”
“Who’s afraid of getting lost?”
“We are, for we might lose too much time and all our plans would go to smash. No, we’ve got to stick to the main road.”
“How much further have we to go?”
“I don’t know.”
“We’ve got to chase along until we reach camp,” put in Joe. “Hustle now, every minute may be precious.”
“I can’t hustle any more than I am hustling,” panted poor Jimmy. “Do you want me to drop down of heart failure or something like that?”
“Maybe we’d better go along and leave Jimmy behind,” suggested Joe, with a wink at Bob.
“Not much,” cried the stout youth, and after that did his best to keep up with the others.
Not a great while later they came in sight of camp, much to their relief.
Mr. Brandon was astonished to see them back so soon, but as briefly as possible Bob told him of what they had learned and showed him the code message.
“You fellows have done a clever bit of detective work, and with reasonable luck it ought to be possible to bag the whole gang to-night,” said Brandon. “I know where Hicks Bridge is. It’s about five miles this side of Barberton, and an ideal place for an ambuscade. The road runs between high banks just before it gets to the bridge, and some of the gang posted on those banks could command the road from either direction. But I’ll get in communication with the chief of police of Barberton, and we’ll see if we can’t catch the thieves in their own trap.”
“I suppose the two men you were expecting haven’t arrived yet, have they?” inquired Bob.
“No. And I’m afraid we won’t be able to wait for them, either,” said Brandon. “I could radio to the Barberton chief, but I’m afraid the message might be intercepted by the crooks, if one of them happened to be listening. I guess it will be better to go by way of my automobile, although I hate to lose the time that it will take.”
“Isn’t there a telephone line from the camp?” suggested Joe.
“No, unfortunately, one hasn’t been installed yet,” replied the inspector. “But we can do the trick with the car if we start right away. I suppose there’s no need of asking if you fellows would like to come with me?”
“None whatever,” answered Bob, grinning. “Just give us a chance to go in and snatch a little grub off the table, and we’ll eat it on the way.”
Frank Brandon nodded, and the three boys dashed into the mess hall and caught up anything in the way of eatables that came nearest to hand, Jimmy, of course, specializing on his favorite doughnuts. Then they hurried out, and found Mr. Brandon waiting for them, with the motor running. After a short search they found Herb fast asleep in his bunk, and roused him unceremoniously, hustling him out before he was fairly awake.
“What’s it all about?” he questioned, rubbing his eyes. “Has the camp caught fire, or do you just want to borrow some money from me?”
“Never mind the funny business now, we’ll tell you all about it while we’re traveling,” said Bob, as they reached the automobile. “In you go, Herb.”
Before they could find seats Mr. Brandon had let in the clutch, and the car started with a jerkthat landed them in a heap on the cushions. Regardless of the rough road, he kept picking up speed, and soon it was all they could do to stay in the car at all. Barberton was about thirty miles from the camp, and to reach it they had to cross Hicks Bridge. All looked calm and peaceful just then, and it was hard to believe that in a few short hours a desperate fight might be raging between the high banks that flanked the road. The bridge was some two hundred feet long, and passed over a deep cut between two hills. In spite of its present peaceful appearance it was easy to see that the place would be an ideal one to perpetrate such a crime as the robbers contemplated, and after they had passed over the bridge Mr. Brandon opened the throttle wider in his impatience to reach Barberton.
They slowed down to go through the streets of the town, and as they drew up in front of the police station, Brandon shut off his motor and leaped to the sidewalk.
“Come on in, boys, and we’ll tell the chief about the little party scheduled for this evening,” he said, and the boys followed him into the police station.
Fortunately the chief of police, Mr. Durand, was in, and he greeted Mr. Brandon with a heartiness that showed they were old friends.
After they had shaken hands, Brandon introducedthe radio boys, and then proceeded to acquaint the chief with the details of the plot they had discovered. As Mr. Durand listened a dark frown gathered between his bushy eyebrows, and his fingers drummed angrily on the table before him. When Mr. Brandon had finished, the chief jumped to his feet and strode fiercely up and down the room.
“This won’t be the first trouble we’ve had with those rascals!” he exclaimed wrathfully. “Members of the same gang have held up and robbed stores in this town, and we have two of them doing their bit in jail right now. And if we have any luck to-night we’ll have the whole gang under lock and key before the morning. These young fellows must have been right on the job from start to finish, Frank.”
“Yes, I guess they were,” replied Brandon. “If we land this gang, we’ll have them to thank for it. But now what are your plans for capturing the crooks?”
For answer the chief pressed a button, and a capable looking police lieutenant appeared.
“Get together ten of our best men,” he directed, “and put them into two automobiles. When they are ready to start, report to me.”
The lieutenant saluted, and left the room.
“According to the code message, the robbers won’t be at Hicks Bridge much before eighto’clock, which is after dark these days,” said the chief. “We’ll get there a lot earlier than that, and I’ll conceal my men in the woods. Then I’ll leave orders here to stop the motor truck as it comes through, and replace its crew with a few picked men from my force. When the robbers try to hold up that truck, they’ll have a big surprise in store for them.”
“It might be a good plan,” suggested Bob, “to mount a searchlight or two on the motor truck. At the right minute you could turn these on the crooks, and while it would confuse them, it would give your men in the woods a big advantage, as they’d be able to see the hold-up men plainly without being seen themselves.”
“Young man, that’s a first-rate suggestion!” exclaimed the chief, eyeing him appraisingly, “and you can believe we’ll take advantage of it. I’ll commandeer a couple from the Electric Light Company in readiness to mount on the truck when it comes along. I wish we could persuade you and your friends to join the Barberton police force.”
“We’ll be pretty nearly a part of it until those crooks are captured, if you’ll let us,” said Bob. “We all want to be in at the finish.”
“It will be a dangerous business, and bullets may fly thick,” the chief warned him. “You fellows have done more than your full duty already,and we can hardly call on you to do any more.”
“Just the same, we’ll come along if you don’t mind,” insisted Bob.
“Oh, I’ll be very glad to have you, as far as I’m concerned,” said Mr. Durand. “I suppose you’ll want to be in on it, too, Frank?”
“You’re dead right,” Brandon assured him emphatically. “I’ve gone too far with this to want to drop out now.”
At this point the lieutenant appeared and reported that the men were in the automobiles, ready to start. Picking up the telephone, the chief ordered his own car. He invited Mr. Brandon and the radio boys to ride with him.
“You can leave your car in the police garage, Frank,” he said, and Brandon was not slow in availing himself of this offer. In a short time he returned, and the three automobiles started for the scene of the projected hold-up, the chief’s car leading and the other two following close behind.
CHAPTER XXIVLYING IN WAIT
“Doesn’t look as though there’s going to be much monotony in our young lives to-night,” remarked Bob, as, tightly packed in the tonneau of the car, the boys rode on through the gathering darkness.
“For that matter there hasn’t been much for several days past,” chuckled Joe, who sat at his right. “A fellow would have to be a glutton to want more adventure than we’ve had since we came to Braxton Woods. What with Buck Looker and Black Donegan, we ought to be pretty well satisfied.”
“I only hope Cassey will be in the gang that is rounded up to-night,” observed Herb. “It would be too bad if only the rest were captured and that all-around scoundrel slipped through the meshes.”
“I guess Cassey is the brains of the whole bunch,” put in Jimmy. “Probably the othersdidn’t know anything about radio until he put them on to it. He’ll be there all right. And he’s likely to put up a pretty stiff fight before he lets himself be captured, for he knows what it means to him to be sent back to prison. With a new sentence tacked on to the old one it’ll probably mean that he’ll be in for life.”
In a little while they reached the scene of the proposed robbery. They were well in advance of the time set by the plotters, and the chief took his time in carefully disposing his forces, availing himself of Frank Brandon’s advice in doing this.
The bridge stretched between two hills at the bottom of which was a small stream, about a hundred feet below. On each side, almost down to the bridge itself, extended trees and shrubbery that afforded excellent hiding places. The only trouble was that both the outlaws and the officers who were trying to apprehend them were likely to seek the same shelter and might in this way stumble across each other before the trap was ready to be sprung.
This, however, was a contingency that had to be faced, and preparations were made accordingly. The men were placed at strategic points on both sides of the bridge. Whether the attempt at hold-up would be made at the entrance to the bridge or on the further side was a matter of speculation.The chief went on the theory, however, that it would probably take place at the entrance, and there he placed the majority of the men under him.
The radio boys hinted that there was where they would like to be also, but in this the chief was adamant.
“I’ve stretched a point in letting you young fire-eaters come along at all,” he said. “As it is, I may have a hard time explaining to your parents. And I hate to think what my position would be if anything happened to you. So I am going to put you where I think you’ll be comparatively out of danger. You’re just to be lookers on at this shindig. And if the bullets begin to fly, you just lie flat on the ground behind the trees until they stop. It may not be so glorious, but it’s likely to be a mighty sight more healthy.”
So, much against their will, the boys were compelled to obey orders and take the place assigned to them which was on the further side of the bridge.
“Putting us up in the gallery when we ought to have seats in the orchestra,” grumbled Joe, as the boys ensconced themselves in a thicket behind a big clump of trees.
“Cheer up, you old gloom hound,” chaffed Bob. “We may get in on this yet. At any rate, if we are in the gallery, we have a good view of thestage. Or at least we shall have, when the searchlight gets busy.”
The darkness deepened until the night became as black as Egypt. There was no moon, and even the stars were obscured by clouds that heavily veiled the sky. The night was chill, and the boys buttoned their coats tightly about them as they sat waiting for developments.
They had perhaps an hour to wait, but it was not known but that some of the robbers would be on the ground at an earlier time than had been set, and every sense was on the alert as all strained their ears for the slightest sound and peered into the darkness on the chance that they might catch glimpses of shadowy forms. After the first few moments they had not ventured to talk for fear that they might be overheard. But this did not debar them from thinking, and they thrilled with excitement as they pictured each to himself the struggle that seemed about to take place on the road.
The minutes dragged along interminably, and in the intense silence the lads could almost hear the beating of their hearts. Then at a little distance a twig cracked and sent the blood racing madly through their veins.
Soon footsteps were heard approaching, and the lads crouched still lower in their hiding place. The sounds came nearer, and they could detect thetread of two men. They were approaching without any excessive degree of caution, as they had no reason to believe that their plans had been discovered. As they drew closer, the boys could hear them conversing in low tones.
“I tell you it’s all right,” said a rough voice, which they recognized as that of Black Donegan. “All the fellows are tipped off and know just what they’ve got to do. Jake and Toppy will do the holding up, and then the rest of us will jump in if the driver cuts up rough. If he does, there’ll be one more dead driver.”
The boys waited for the answer that seemed to be long in coming. What they heard finally was a whistle that made them jump. They had heard that whistle before!
“Cassey!” whispered Bob to Joe. “Cassey, as sure as you’re born!”
The next instant his belief became a thrilling certainty.
“It-t-t-t isn’t the d-d-driver.” The voice came out, with an explosive quality. “It’s the g-g-guards he may have w-w-with him. The p-p-police are getting pretty l-l-leary about all the robberies t-t-t-that have been taking place around here lately, and they’ve g-g-g-,” again came the whistle, “g-got to do something or lose their jobs. At any rate t-t-this is the last thing we’re g-g-going to pull off around here——”
“I guess he’s right about that,” Joe whispered to Bob.
“——and j-j-just as soon as we’re through with this, w-w-we’d better p-pull up stakes and try somewhere else.”
The voice was now so close at hand that if the boys had reached out of the thicket they would almost have touched the speaker. At this thought Jimmy and Herb, especially, felt a thrill of excitement.
CHAPTER XXVAN EXCITING STRUGGLE
“I think myself that we’ve hung round this neck o’ the woods about long enough,” agreed Donegan. “And I ain’t any too well pleased to have that radio inspector snooping around the woods. He ain’t up to any good if you ask me. But brace up, Cassey, for this last haul. You ain’t generally chicken-hearted.”
“You’ll f-f-find that I have my n-n-nerve with me when the pinch comes,” replied Cassey. “I’d rather be k-k-killed by a bullet than g-g-g-go back to prison.”
The voices receded as the men went on, and soon the sound of their footsteps ceased. It was evident they were searching for the most advantageous place for the crime that they contemplated.
“I told you that I had a hunch that that villain would be here,” whispered Jimmy, when they felt that it would be safe to speak.
“Good thing, too,” said Bob grimly. “Cassey’ll get to-night what’s coming to him.”
Half an hour passed—an hour—an hour and a half. Then far in the distance the boys heard the hum of a motor engine and the rumble of a heavy truck.
“There it comes!” ejaculated Joe, throwing caution to the winds in his excitement.
The rumbling grew louder, and soon the boys knew that it must be close to the bridge. Then they saw the lamps of an auto truck sending out their beams of light a hundred feet in advance, and could just discern above them the massive body of the truck.
It came on at a moderate rate of speed, slowing up somewhat as it struck the bridge.
Suddenly shots rang out and the boys could see two dark figures standing on the bridge and waving their hands at the driver, as they bellowed out orders to stop. At the same time, as though the shots had been a signal, three other figures came rushing from other directions.
It was impossible for the boys to keep still, and they too sprang to their feet and started for the scene of the hold-up, running at the top of their speed.
Just as they left their covert there was a blinding flash that made the whole bridge as bright as day. A searchlight had been turned on from the top of the truck full in the faces of the robbers. They staggered as though they had been struck,and at the same instant there came a volley of shots and the police were upon the hold-up men.
There was a wild mélée of struggling men, as they swayed back and forth in a desperate struggle. The robbers had been taken completely by surprise and were outnumbered two to one. There were shouts and the crack of revolvers, and the thud of pistol butts.
But the battle, though fierce, was of short duration. In a few minutes the robbers had been subdued. One lay stunned on the bridge and another lay by him wounded. Two more were held in the grasp of officers.
One, however, tore himself away from the officer who had grappled with him, and came rushing in the direction of the radio boys. In the glare from the searchlight they recognized Cassey.
He saw them, too, and fired his revolver at them. The shot went wild. He pressed the trigger again but with no result. Then, realizing that his weapon was empty, he hurled it at Bob, who was nearest to him.
Bob dodged, and the next instant grabbed at Cassey’s legs. The expertness that had made him the star of his football team stood him in good stead. His arms closed round Cassey in a flying tackle, and they came heavily to the bridge together.
Cassey struggled desperately to rise, but Bob held him in an unbreakable grip, and a second later his comrades had come to his assistance and the scoundrel was overpowered and delivered over to the police, who came rushing up.
The robbers were securely bound and bundled into the auto truck that they had planned to rob. Then in high spirits the party drove back to Barberton. The chief was jubilant, and the praises he heaped upon the radio boys made their ears burn. They stayed long enough at his office to see the prisoners safely jailed and then, though the hour was late, rode back to their quarters in the woods with Mr. Brandon.
They slept long and late after their exciting experience, and it was almost noon the next day when they awoke. Bob was somewhat surprised to find a letter waiting for him. It bore no stamp, and had evidently been brought there by one of the lumbermen.
He opened it curiously and glanced at the signature. Then he gave a shout that brought his comrades quickly to his side.
“What do you think of this, fellows?” he cried. “Buck Looker’s writing to me.”
There was a chorus of wondering exclamations.
The last paragraph caught Bob’s eye and he read it aloud:
“As for Bob Layton and those other chumps, all we’ve got to do is to stand pat. No one saw us put the stones in the snowballs, and if we just deny it, they can’t pin anything on us. They’ll have to pay for the window, and that’ll even up things for what they did to us at Mountain Pass.