THE LITTLE RED BUTTON.
A SCENE of commotion immediately followed these startling words of Jack
Armitage. There was a rush for the exit, and in the confusion, just as
might have been expected, the scouts became wedged in the doorway, so
that there was a brief delay in gaining the open air.
Shouts outside presently told that some of the wiser ones had avoided
this combined rush, and sought the open air by the same means taken by
the unknown. They had just glimpsed some dim figure amid the cloud of
dust that followed the breaking down of the frail floor of the little
platform at the rear of the shop. It had vanished through some hole;
possibly a board or two had been previously loosened with the idea of a
hasty flight in case of discovery, to avoid unpleasant consequences.
Elmer and his chum, Mark Cummings, had not taken part in either the
crush at the door, or the swift passage through the rear opening.
"Well, what d'ye think of that?" demanded Mark, turning to his chum, as
the last of the jam at the door was broken, allowing the struggling
scouts a chance to get through.
Elmer was laughing.
"Some of those fellows will feel a little sore after that football
rush," he remarked; "you noticed that the wise ones chased after 'Lil
Artha.' He was quick to see that there would be a crush at the door, and
he went after the fellow, who lit out by the way of the back part of
the shop. Here, let's take a look and see."
Picking up a lantern, he led the way to where they discovered a hole in
the board wall of the place. Two of the shrunken boards had been lately
wrenched loose; a very easy task indeed, for the old place was pretty
near the point of ruin.
"Looks like he might have fixed it for use in case he wanted to vamoose
in a big hurry," said Mark, after they had examined the boards.
"Perhaps he did," Elmer remarked. "Did you get a look at the chap, Mark?
It just happened that some one stood between me and this part of the
shop, and I couldn't see much more'n a lot of dust."
"Same here," laughed the other. "My! what a lot of dust he did stir up.
I feel like I'm going to sneeze right now," which he proceeded to do
with great vigor, to the amusement of his friend.
"Listen to the racket the boys are making out there," he observed, as
shouts came floating in to them.
"Sounds like they were chasing after something," Mark went on, after
listening. "Wonder if they can grab the fellow."
"Perhaps you'd better call them back with your bugle. No use breaking up
in such a disorderly way. And if he's given them the slip up to now,
they won't be able to find him in the dark. Step outside and sound the
recall, Mark."
So the bugler hastened to obey orders, and the clear, penetrating notes
of the signal floated near and far in the night air.
"Anybody could hear that a mile away, I guess," remarked the one who had
sent forth the recall. "I suppose every scout will know what it means
and come back?"
"Well, that would be queer if they didn't," declared Elmer. "Here comes
a bunch right now, talking and arguing over the mysterious happening.
All sorts of ideas will be given, and we ought to try and find out the
truth."
"What do you think?" asked Mark, pointedly. "Was it a hobo who had been
sleeping here in the old shop? I've heard Jack say his father threatened
to burn the shanty down because complaints came in about it being a
lodging place for tramps."
"Yes," replied Elmer, who looked serious, "I've heard the same thing.
But between you and me, Mark, I've got my suspicions that it couldn't
have been just a common hobo."
"What makes you think that?" asked his chum.
"Oh! several things. I don't see why a tramp would go to all the bother
to climb up on that old shelf or loft, when he could just as well stay
right here on the ground, and make a fire in the regular place, so as to
cook his supper. Then no tramp would have lain there all that time
without making a sound. Besides, you remember we made up our minds that
the boards had been loosened in the back of the shop, so they could be
knocked off with a single kick. That would point to strategy--making
ready for a sudden get-away."
"Elmer, you're right, I do believe, as you nearly always are," said
Mark, as if what his comrade said had sunk with conviction into his
mind. "But here come the boys. Let's find out what they think about it."
"Yes," continued the acting scout-master, "perhaps they've sighted the
fellow, and can tell us who he was."
But this proved not to be the case. Those who had followed "Lil Artha"
through the opening in the rear of the shop declared that the fugitive
must have had the wings of the wind, for though they had chased after
him, he managed to give them the slip. Possibly the long-legged Arthur
might have been more successful, had he been given daylight to enable
him to see where he was going; but at the time the bugle sounded the
retreat they had not been able to cut down the other's lead.
Nor could they tell what he looked like.
"Some stray Wandering Willie, sure as you're born," declared Toby Jones,
who was panting at a great rate after his chase.
"And if we'd only been able to come up with him, wouldn't he have got
it?" remarked Red Huggins, ferociously.
"Alas! I was cheated out of a thlick job, that's what, fellowth,"
lamented Dr. Ted, whose sole ambition it was to run across
"opportunities" to experiment with his knowledge of medicine, or attempt
simple surgical operations.
"See here, you're only guessing when you say it was a hobo; what proof
is there of such a thing?" demanded Elmer.
"Hey, what's that?" exclaimed "Lil Artha," staring at the acting
scout-master.
"That's exactly what I was saying to Chatz as we were prancing along
back here," Larry Billings remarked, nodding his head as if he agreed
with Elmer.
"Some think it was a tramp, and the rest say it was a spy. Now, how are
we going to prove it?" asked Tom Cropsey.
"Let Elmer tell what he thinks, fellows," Mark observed. "He convinced
me right off the reel, and perhaps he can the rest of the bunch."
"Yes, Elmer, it's up to you to make good. Tell us what you know. We're
wanting to learn all the tricks of a scout who keeps his eyes always
open, and sees the little things that count. Please tell us!"
So, beset from every side, Elmer had to bow to the popular will. After
he had explained how several strong points seemed to dispose of the
theory of a tramp having been hidden in the loft of the deserted
wheelwright's shop, he saw that he had carried pretty much all his
audience with him. The scouts hung on his every word, for they
understood that Elmer had passed through considerable experience while
out on that big Canada ranch and farm with his father, and knew how to
read signs as well as any Indian ever could have done.
"I've just been up there and discovered how the rotten timbers gave way
under the fellow," spoke up Nat Scott, who was known to be of a very
investigating turn, and would let nothing continue to puzzle him long,
if he could help it.
"Yes, we saw you drop down through the same hole he made," laughed Ty
Collins.
"You're covered with dust, too, Nat," remarked Tom Cropsey.
"That's a fact," grinned the investigator.
Elmer had his eye on him. He judged that Nat must have made some sort of
discovery, for he looked pleased. He also noted the fact that the other
kept one hand behind him as he stood there.
"You found something, didn't you, Nat?" he asked, quietly.
"Well, sure thing," remarked the other; though he looked somewhat
surprised at Elmer being able to discover this fact so readily.
"Which you're hiding behind you right now, I opine," continued the
scout-master.
"That's what he is, Elmer!" declared several of the other scouts.
"Did you find it on the ground among those broken pieces of flooring?"
asked Elmer, pointedly.
Nat nodded his head rigorously, but he made no effort to bring his right
hand out from behind his back.
"Perhaps now," continued the other slowly, but with a positive ring to
his voice, "it might happen to be a hat or a cap you picked up?"
"That's right, it's a cap," broke in Jasper Merriweather, who had
slipped behind Nat, and glimpsed at what he was trying to keep hidden.
"Wait, I'm going to turn my back on you, Nat, while you hold it up so
all the rest can see. Now, out with it. Take a good look, fellows.
Jasper said it was a cap. Does it belong to anybody here?"
"Why, we've all got our regular scout hats, except the four new members,
and every one of them has a cap on his head right now!" declared Jack
Armitage.
"Just so," Elmer continued. "That settles one thing; this cap you picked
up must belong to the fellow who ran away, after listening to all we did
at our meeting! Take a good look at that cap, Nat. Is it a sort of mixed
gray in color and pretty well worn?"
"Say, that's what it just is now, Elmer," replied the other in surprise.
"And has it got a red button fastened in front just over the peak?"
"Hey, listen to him tell, will you, fellows. Here's the red button all
right."
"Then the mystery is solved," laughed Elmer; "for that cap belongs to a
certain boy we happen to know right well; and his name is Matt Tubbs!"