CHAPTER III.
WHAT HAPPENED ON THE ROAD
The four boys stood there on the dusty road in the twilight of that windy November day, and for a full minute seemed unable to express the sense of bewilderment that had overwhelmed them all. Alongside was the white horse attached to the empty wagon; and from the docile manner in which the animal had come to a sudden halt and stood there, he was not at all averse to having a resting spell after having been whipped so steadily that he was in a sweat.
"Well, I'll be jiggered, if that don't beat the Dutch!" Merritt burst out, he being apparently the first to recover his breath.
"Why, they're gone!" ejaculated Tubby. "And say, they went and left their rig with us, don't you see? Well, I must say they are awfully polite. This is more'n we ever expected, isn't it, fellers?"
Rob was laughing, as though secretly amused at the hasty flight of the two men who had been in the wagon.
"Chances are, now, they took us for hoboes meaning to hold 'em up; and that's why they jumped for it!" Andy suggested.
"Well," remarked Rob, "I couldn't say that I'd blame them for thinking anything after hearing all that racket you three scouts made giving the Eagle cry. Most people would jump at the conclusion that a lot of lunatics had broken loose from that asylum down at Amityville. You should have let me say my little say without that heathen noise. It's all very well for a scout in the bush to let another know what patrol he belongs to when he sees another approaching; but ordinary people hardly understand what that racket means."
"But, Rob, do you believe they took us for desperate yeggmen wanting to hold 'em up on the road here, and rob 'em?" asked Andy.
"No, I don't," replied the patrol leader readily. "In the first place, even if it is getting dusk right now, it's still light enough for anybody with eyes to see that we don't happen to be a ragged lot like tramps are pretty much all of the time."
"Then why should they skoot like that, I want to know?" Tubby inquired.
"Like as not they saw our scout uniforms," suggested Merritt at a hazard.
"That's just what they did," Rob hastened to add with emphasis; "and from the shock the sight of the same gave the parties, I'm thinking they must have guessed we were soldiers who meant to arrest a couple of men driving a white nag!"
"Oh! I wonder now if that would explain the queer stunt?" Tubby ventured to say.
"Sounds pretty good to me, Rob," was what the corporal of the troop remarked as he stood there and stared at the spot where the pair of alarmed men had left the road and plunged into the thicket. "And maybe some of the rest of you noticed as I did that the taller one of the pair limped, as though he might have a bad leg or a sprained ankle."
"Yes, I noticed that, Merritt, and was waiting to see if any of the rest of you had used your eyes to advantage," Rob told him.
"I did, cross my heart if I didn't!" reported Tubby.
"And I would have seen the same only the rest of you happened to be in my way," the fourth scout struck in, not wanting to have it appear that he was the only fellow to be so dazed by what had happened that he had failed in his duty as a scout to observe every little detail.
"And I want all of you to take notice," continued the patrol leader, "that just where they left the road and disappeared from our sight, there happens to be growing a white birch tree that hangs out at an angle of twenty-five degrees. Birches are not so plentiful around here but what we could easily find that same one again in case we wanted to try and follow up the tracks of the men."
"To give 'em back their rig, you mean, Rob?" hinted Tubby.
"Either that or for some other reason," replied the other shortly.
"Well, I don't hear any scrambling now," remarked Andy. "Probably they are so far away the sounds don't carry."
"But how about that ride to town?" demanded Tubby anxiously. "Do we get cheated out of that just because a pair of sillies chose to get cold feet at sight of scout uniforms, and skedaddled like a dog with a tin can tied to his tail?"
"Yes, how about it, Rob?" continued Merritt. "Do we leave this horse and wagon on the road here, doing no good at all, while we trudge along over two miles of ground, carrying this heavy sack of shellfish? If you asked me now, I would say let's borrow the outfit, and give thanks!"
"Ditto here!" exclaimed Tubby eagerly.
"Count me in," said Andy, "and that makes it three affirmatives; how do you vote, Rob? Say 'yes,' and make it unanimous, won't you?"
The patrol leader laughed again at the appeal, and glanced around at the faces of his three chums.
"Well, it would be like looking a gift horse in the mouth to let this fine chance slip past us," he went on to say, much to the delight of his companions; for Tubby immediately threw up his campaign hat to signify his joy, while the others nodded their heads and looked pleased.
"Good for you, Rob," Merritt said, as he proceeded without more ado to pick up the sack of oysters, and, stepping over to the tail end of the wagon, toss them aboard. "So far as I can see, I don't believe we'll have any trouble about taking the rig, even if the men turn out to be honest, which I'm right sure they won't. We can say they abandoned it on the road, and we thought we ought to fetch it into town to turn it over to the police; which we mean to do, remember, fellows."
"Sure, we'll only be doing the right thing to deliver the outfit to the Chief," Tubby went on record as saying. "My Uncle Mark was telling me about something that happened to him as near like this as two peas; and it turned out that the men in the rig were a pair of desperate bank burglars, making off with the stuff they'd hooked from a town not far away. That was how he got his first thousand dollars, he says, that started him along the road to success, years and years ago. And Merritt, did you take a good look to see if there is any mysterious little package in that same wagon? Wouldn't it be a queer thing now if history took to repeating itself, and this time Uncle Mark's nephew was one of the bunch that recovered the stolen plunder? Anything doing, Merritt?"
"Well, you'll have to make up your mind to being disappointed this time, Tubby," observed the corporal. "This wagon hasn't a thing in it except a handful of hay, and I've pulled that around to make sure it didn't hide anything. But we didn't calculate to discover any jewelry or bank funds; the best we asked for was a chance to ride to Hampton; and we've got it. Pile in, fellows. This horse has come some way, and has been made to travel right lively, too. Why, he's reeking with sweat! Somebody must have been in a hurry!"
They lost no time in clambering into the wagon. Tubby, being the slowest to get up, found the seat fully occupied.
"Where do I come in?" he asked rather plaintively, after the fashion of the unfortunate one who was usually being left out.
"Plenty of room back there in the wagon, Tubby!" chuckled Rob.
"Use the sack of oysters for a seat if you want to!" added Andy.
"Can't you move over and make room for one more?" pleaded the fat scout.
"We might if it was for a Living Skeleton, but not for the Fat Boy of the Side Show," was Merritt's reply. And so Tubby was compelled to climb into the body of the wagon, and sit down as best he could on the hard bed.
"Please don't make the nag gallop, boys," he asked as a particular favor; "because if you do he'll swing the wagon around every-which-way, and there's no telling what would happen to me. I guess I've got feelings, if I do happen to measure a little more around the waist than anybody else present."
"A little!" jeered Andy. "You must mean as much as the whole three of us put together, don't you, Tubby?"
"Forget it," mumbled the other; for already the vehicle had begun to move. As Merritt whipped the tired horse, it gave a jump forward that caused Tubby to roll over on his back the first thing, and then clutch wildly at the sides of the wagon, as though in mortal terror lest he be tossed out and left there on the road to walk home.
"This is something like a treat, after tramping along for a whole mile, and with that heavy sack into the bargain," Rob declared, as they began to make fair progress in the direction of the home town.
"Talk to me about your good luck," ventured Andy, who sat on the other end of the seat from the driver, "it seems to me the Eagles are always having things happen to them that never would come to other fellows."
"But not all of the same are favors by a long sight, Andy," Merritt reminded him. "Don't forget how we had that boat spring a leak; and if the accident had occurred when we were out in the middle of the bay, chances are we'd have had to swim for the shore. The good luck came in its happening near land."
"Well, that's what I mean, of course," persisted the other. "If we do have to run up against a snag, why something always turns up to help us out. Look back at lots of things that have come our way, and you'll say I'm right. And you three fellows especially have had luck chase after you more than a few times."
"I guess that is about right," sang out Tubby from the rear; showing that although he might be having the time of his life holding on to the sides of the wagon as it clattered along the road, all the same he kept his ears wide open.
"Well," remarked Rob, with a laugh, "any lot of scouts who can have a rig like this handed to them without the asking, when they have several miles over a dusty road to tramp, ought not to complain. We're on what they call 'Easy Street' right now. And who knows but there may be a few dollars' reward offered for the recovery of a stolen outfit? It wouldn't surprise me very much; because the way those men scuttled at sight of our suits makes me believe they couldn't have been strictly honest. No decent party need fear the khaki uniform, whether of a soldier or a Boy Scout!"
"Look! what was it that flashed ahead there in the bushes?" suddenly exclaimed Andy. Half unconsciously, Merritt at the same time started to pull at the reins, so that the horse no longer galloped headlong as before, much to the relief of poor knocked-about Tubby.
The boy in the back of the wagon was just about to try and scramble to his knees in order to look beyond his mates on the seat, when, without the slightest warning, a very gruff voice full of authority called out:
"Pull in there and throw up your hands, every one of you, d'ye hear? You're all under arrest!"
Moving figures sprang out upon the white road, and the horse, finding his forward progress blocked, gladly came to a full stop. The occupants of the wagon sat there, hardly knowing what to make of this new happening.
One man caught the horse close to the bits, and two others hastened to advance to the wagon, as if to make sure that none of those who occupied the vehicle made a flying leap from the back and took to their heels.
CHAPTER IV.
WHEN SCOUTCRAFT WAS IN DEMAND
"Looks like the rig, all right, Chief!" one of the men called out.
The tall man he addressed did not reply; for, truth to tell, at that particular minute he was staring very hard at the three scouts who sat there on the seat of the wagon. There was not a great deal of light, but evidently he had made a discovery that astounded him.
"Why, they're a lot of boys, after all!" exclaimed the man who had advanced to the other side of the wagon, holding something up that glittered like a revolver.
"Yes, and wearing scouts' uniforms at that!" added the tall man whom one of the others had called "Chief." As he pushed still closer to the wagon he went on to say, "I think I ought to know this lad here. Is it you, Rob Blake?"
"Just who it is, Chief," replied the other soberly; "and you can hardly blame us for having our breath taken away on being held up so suddenly at the point of the pistol and told that we were under arrest!"
"But the white horse deceived us, Rob," hastily answered the other, who was really the new head of the Hampton police force, a man who had made it his business to get acquainted with every boy in town, believing that he could nip lots of impending trouble in the bud by letting boys know that he was interested in all they did, and ready to prove himself their best friend. "You see, we've been 'phoned that a couple of desperate men who escaped from the jail over at Riverhead had stolen a wagon and a white horse and were heading this way. So we came out to lay for the rascals. Sorry to have bothered you, boys."
"Well, this may prove to be the very horse and wagon they told you about, Chief," Rob went on to say; while the other two officers now crowded up close to catch all that passed.
"Just what it might!" added Andy, wishing to let everybody know that he was in the affair, if he didn't happen to be holding either the lines or the whip.
"Please tell us, won't you, Chief, whether one of the men that broke jail limped like he had a bad leg or a sprained ankle?" Tubby broke out, before Rob could get in another word.
"What's that you're telling me, my lad?" exclaimed the officer eagerly. "Now, I didn't think it worth while to mention the fact to you, but the truth is the taller man of the two did have a bad fall when he broke out, and he must have injured himself in some way. Do you mean that you've set eyes on that precious pair of rogues?"
"It was this way," Rob started to say, meaning to make his explanations as brief as possible. "We had been up the bay to get half a bushel of select oysters from old Cap. Jenkins over at his beds; and on the way home we had the misfortune to spring a leak, so that we had to beach the sailboat and start along the road, as night was coming on, and we wanted to get back in time for supper."
"That's right, supper was the main thing we had in mind, Chief, believe me," Tubby volunteered just then; after which he again relapsed into silence, and allowed Rob to finish his story.
"Of course we wanted to get a ride if we could, Chief, because the sack was heavy," the patrol leader went on to say, "and, well, boys always like to ride better than they do to walk. Pretty soon we heard a horse and wagon coming after us, and one of the two men aboard was whipping the poor beast dreadfully. Well, we lined up, and as soon as they came along all of us stepped out to ask if we could have a lift as far as Hampton; when, would you believe me, the men jumped out of the wagon as if they'd seen a ghost, and went back along the road as fast as they could tear, soon breaking into the scrub, and disappearing."
"Leaving you the rig; is that it, Rob?" asked the officer, laughing as he spoke.
"Just what they did, sir," continued the patrol leader; "and you may be sure we couldn't even get our breath together to call out and thank them before they'd vanished. Well, we got to talking it over, and made up our minds the men must have stolen the rig, and were badly frightened by the sight of our scout uniforms, thinking we might be soldiers meaning to arrest them. And after we had waited a little while, thinking they might come back, why, we just made up our minds there wasn't any use looking a gift horse in the mouth; but that we'd take the rig to town so as to turn it over to you at Police Headquarters. And here it is at your service, Chief."
"But I hope you'll let us ride to town in it?" Tubby struck in.
"Well, you've all done me a great favor, boys," the tall official went on to say; "and if so be you feel that you must get along home, why, take the rig and leave it in front of my office. But if you could put us in the way of nabbing that pair of escaped rogues, you'd be doing a great thing. They're a bad crowd, and the longer they stay loose, the worse it is going to be for the community."
"We can help you some there, Chief!" Rob hastened to declare.
"I should say we could!" added Andy with emphasis.
"We happen to know just where they left the road and plunged into the brush; and perhaps we might even be of some assistance to you in following their trail, Chief; because, you understand, scouts are supposed to know more or less about such things. Woodcraft comes under the head of a scout's education. What d'ye say, fellows; shall we turn around right now and take these officers to the place where the leaning white birch hangs over the road?"
Every voice came in a decided affirmative. Even Tubby, who had been amusing himself while holding on to the sides of the wagon by figuring out just how long he must wait until he could hope to find himself seated at the supper table, heroically pushed aside all such temptations, and proved that he could rise to an occasion like a true scout.
"Then that's settled," said Rob, proud of his mates of the Eagle Patrol; "and if you will wait till we turn the horse around, Chief, you can have my seat here."
Merritt quickly backed the wagon into the side of the road, and faced the animal in the direction from which he had just come.
Meanwhile Rob and Andy had crawled over the rear of the seat and joined Tubby, who seemed pleased when he found that he was going to have company. The Chief and one of his men occupied the seat, along with the scout who was doing the driving; while the other officer contented himself with sitting so that his legs dangled over the tail board.
In this fashion, then, they started to retrace the ground the boys had so recently gone over. Of course the Chief had a dozen questions to ask in connection with the actions of the two men, as to what they said and what they did.
"The only words any of us heard them say were: 'Holy smoke, looky here, Con!'" Rob told him. "But they made up for it by doing some tall sprinting, lame man or not, that would have won them a prize at an athletic meet."
"Well, right there you've settled the thing and clinched it into the bargain," the tall police officer remarked with a satisfied chuckle; "because, don't you know, one of the rascals went by the name of Con Keating. And if the taller of the pair has a broken leg, why we ought to be able to run them down, and bag him, anyway, even if the other gives us the slip. But I'm hoping he'll stick to his pal until we can come up with them."
"We ought to be nearly back to where we picked up the wagon, now, hadn't we, Rob?" asked Merritt, who was straining his eyes trying to make out a white birch tree leaning over the road on the left.
"One more bend and we'll be there," answered Rob, with such absolute confidence that every one of the other scouts knew he had been keeping tabs of the conditions, and could tell to a fraction just when they were drawing near the point that had been marked down in their memories.
A minute later and it turned out that Rob was perfectly correct; because Merritt discovered the landmark for himself.
"There it is, Chief, just ahead of us," he remarked, "where you see that white birch bending over. We made it a point to mark the place, thinking that p'raps you or somebody else would want to know about the men who ran away."
"A clever bit of business, my lad," remarked the other admiringly. And, indeed, what he had seen of these Scouts during the few months he had been in charge of the Hampton police had caused the Chief to entertain a very high opinion of their ability, and make him a firm advocate for the cause they represented.
The horse was pulled up close to where the white slender birch could be seen through the gathering gloom.
"Wait till I strike a match, and I'll try to find a piece of lightwood to make a torch," said Rob, jumping from the wagon.
"No use bothering that way, lad," called out the Chief; "because I've got something along with me that goes away ahead of any wood torch you ever saw."
"Then you must mean an electric hand torch," Tubby ventured to remark. "I know, because I've got one at home."
"Much good that does you," jeered Andy. "A torch, like a gun, is the kind of thing that when you do want it you want it badly."
"Well, how was I to guess all that would happen?" demanded Tubby indignantly. "Don't you think that if I had known we would get that hole in the boat, have a horse and wagon shoved on us this way, and be held up by the Chief and his men, I'd gone and made sure to fetch my little torch along? Sure I would."
"And if I'd known all that," chuckled Andy, always ready to have the last word, "d'ye know what I would have done the first thing? Why, told Rob about that old plug in the bottom of his boat, and seen to it that it was driven in so hard it never could work loose. And that would have saved us from all the rest of the business!"
"All right," rejoined Tubby, with a never-say-die accent to his voice; "all I can remark is that we would have lost a heap of entertaining experiences, that's what!"
They had all left the wagon before this, and Merritt managed to secure the horse to a tree near by; so that in case they found the animal there on their return, after striving to locate the two escaped jail birds, they might have a pleasant means of transportation to Hampton town.
When the police officer had produced his little electric hand torch, which was capable of being carried in a vest pocket and yet gave quite a fine glow when the current was switched on, he told Rob that he had better take possession of the light, as he would really be the one to need it. As for himself and his men, they meant to keep themselves in constant readiness for grappling with the two desperate rogues, should they have the good fortune to come up with them.
Nothing could have pleased Rob more than this splendid chance to show what the education of a scout along the line of woodcraft was doing for the boys of the Eagle Patrol. Here was an opportunity to make a test of their knowledge. If they proved equal to the task of finding those two men who were doing all in their power to elude recapture, it would certainly go far to witness that these scouts had not studied the art of trailing in vain.
And hence it was with considerable satisfaction, as well as a firm determination to exhaust every means he had in his power in order to come up with the fugitives, that the young leader of the Eagles accepted that handy electric torch, and immediately commenced to flash its white glow over the ground in the vicinity of the white birch.
Men and boys trailed along after Rob; Tubby, Merritt and Andy making sure to keep well in the rear, so that they might not interfere with the plans of the Chief.