TO EVEN UP OLD SCORES
"Lie still, boy!"
"Give him a tap if he kicks, Joey!"
Frank heard these words in the greatest astonishment. Even when some
one had thrust that stick and upset him, he had certainly no other idea
than that the unseen enemy must be one of the Lef Seller crowd, with
whom he had had so much trouble in the past.
Both voices were strange to him! More than this, he realized that he
had been pounced on by two full grown men, and not boys.
"What do you mean by this?" he demanded indignantly.
He was greeted by a scornful laugh.
"What do we mean, eh, Martin? Are we playing tag, and is this feller it
now? Or do we want to whisper a few words in his ear about something
that has bothered us considerable of late? Hey, Martin, which is it?"
mocked one of the fellows.
Frank was quick to discern facts. He knew instinctively that these two
men were either hoboes or rogues of some sort. The look on their faces
stamped them as belonging to that great class which seems to consider
organized society as legitimate prey.
But why should they attempt to interfere with him. It was a puzzle
indeed, since he would not be apt to prove a profitable customer, if
their motive were robbery.
"Let me up, now! I don't know either of you, and want to go about my
own affairs. My father is a business man in Columbia, and if you did
anything to injure me it would be the worst day's work you ever knew."
Frank was not boasting, but considered that he ought to let them know
he had connection with a family that had more or less influence. He was
not surprised, however, to hear the fellow called Joey laugh harshly.
"Ain't you never seen us before? Take another look, and guess again!"
and he thrust his leering face close down near Frank's.
Then something seemed to strike the prostrate boy as though he had
received a blow. Could it be possible that these two rascally men were
the ones who had been in that stolen buggy at the time he and Lanky
stopped them on the road to ask for a ride?
He had only a fleeting glimpse of the fellows at that time, for they
ran off too rapidly to allow a closer acquaintance. Chief Hogg had
hunted for them high and low, but so far as Frank knew had not been
successful in finding them.
He did not utter a word to indicate that he had guessed the truth; but
those beady eyes of Joey were upon him, and the man could see that
something had come to the boy.
"Is your name Frank Allen?" demanded the other, harshly.
At first Frank was tempted to remain silent. He would not deny the
fact, but he did not feel like admitting it. Then he realized that even
his hesitation would tell the story.
"Yes, it is," he said, firmly and defiantly; "now, are you going to let
me up?"
"Got that cord, Joey?" asked the man called Martin, quietly.
Frank felt a thrill of alarm. What could these men mean to do with him?
He did not fancy their looks in the least, for they seemed bold and
reckless. Could it be possible that they felt hard toward him because
of what he had done? The loss of the jewelry must have been a bitter
blow to them, hunted as they were, without anything to pay for the
game.
"What do you mean to do?" he demanded, beginning to struggle again.
"Lie still if you don't want to get hurted!" roared Joey, making as if
to dash his fist in the boy's face, only Martin caught him in time.
Frank, seeing the uselessness of struggling against fate allowed them
to bind his hands behind his back. Indeed, he even smiled scornfully,
as though after all this might be but a minor matter to him.
"I warn you that you're going to get yourselves in a peck of trouble
because of this little fun you're having with me. It's going to be the
worst thing you ever tried, fellows," he said deliberately.
Martin laughed as if rather tickled at his assurance; but Joey was of a
more inflammable nature, and muttered something under his breath that
might have been a dire threat.
"Get up, now, Frank. Pick that wheel out of the mud, partner. We'd
better vamose from here before somebody moseys along and sees us,"
remarked Martin.
So they entered the dense woods, Frank being urged along with sundry
shoves at such times as he seemed to show an inclination to loiter.
"Reckon you've remembered seein' us two before, eh, Frank? We watched
you in that race to-day, and even brushed elbows with your fine old
police captain, without him suspectin' we was the coves he wanted. And
in a tavern we heard as how 'twas _you_ as had brought in that
boodle taken from the store up country."
Joey growled again worse than ever, when his companion mentioned these
facts.
"Say, that was a nice cute trick you played on us poor fellers that
night, Frank. We've been gruntin' about it ever since; and when we see
you go past up the road we just made up our minds that if you came back
we'd gobble you. We don't feel none too friendly for you, boy, and
that's a fact. What d'ye suppose we aim to do with you, hey?" demanded
Martin, a little savagely.
"I'm sure I don't know. Try to frighten me, perhaps, and then let me
go," was Frank's answer.
But though he tried to appear unconcerned, Frank was quivering with
anxiety concerning the possible motives of these men. He believed that
they would not hesitate over committing any crime, once their ugly
natures had been fully aroused.
"See here," he said, hoping to convince them that they had nothing to
gain by injuring him, and much to lose, "don't you think you've carried
this far enough. I'm not the one to be easily frightened; and what good
can it do you to make me a prisoner in this way? I'd only be a burden
when you have to skip out lively, after the alarm is given, and the
search begins."
"That don't skeer us at all, boy. Me and my pard we just wanter know
where you put that boodle you got from us? Tell us how we can lay our
grip on that again, and we'll be glad to let you loose," replied Martin.
Frank was worried. Could it be possible they expected that he had taken
all that stolen stuff to his own home, to have his father keep it until
the same was claimed by the storekeeper up at Fordham?
"Why, didn't you know that the police took charge of that jewelry, to
hold it until the man proved property? That's the truth, every word of
it. You can't mean to say you dreamed I had it all this while? Why,
that's silly," he remarked.
"Is it? Well, perhaps it might be better for you if you had kept your
fingers on the stuff, then," remarked Martin, significantly.
Frank relapsed into silence. He wanted to think over the situation and
see if he could form any plan that offered a solution to the puzzle of
how he was going to get away from this dangerous couple.
All this while they had been going deeper into the big woods, which
stretched off toward the southwest for a good two miles. The men walked
as though they had some idea of where they were going. From this Frank
judged that they had found some sort of hiding-place back here.
He had often run through these woods when out with the boys playing
"hare and hounds." But never had he dreamed of passing through the
place under such humiliating conditions as now surrounded him.
Again and again did Frank twist his head to look around. Seeing this,
Martin finally commented upon it.
"Don't need to break your neck alookin' for help, Frank. There ain't
a blessed soul in these here woods but us. We've got a sorter plan
arranged, and you're going to help us get them sparklers back, or
we'll know the reason why. It's got to be did, even if we break into
headquarters and tie up the man in charge, to open the safe. That's our
stuff, and we mean to have it, hear?"
Frank did not think it good policy to tell either of his captors that
they were even then in direct line with the trail usually followed by
runners in making the big circuit of ten miles about Columbia. Nor was
he so unwise as to remark that a paper chase was on the lists for that
very afternoon!
That was the one hope that struggled in the breast of the boy. If
he could only work it so that a rescue could be accomplished by his
friends when they came along! He had labored mentally that morning to
carry his crew to victory when disaster hung over their heads; and he
now exerted himself to discover some plan looking to the outwitting of
these scoundrels.
Presently his vigilance was rewarded. He discovered upon the ground
some small pieces of white paper! This proved that the hares had
already been along through this very section, leaving a trail as they
ran, which the main body of hounds was expected to follow as swiftly as
possible.
All this while Frank had been working at the cords that bound his
wrists together. They had been clumsily tied, and he found that he
could move his hands a little. By slow degrees he was stretching the
bonds. Presently he expected to be able to draw his hands through, and
that would mean liberty, so far as being able to use his arms went.
What should he do then? Ought he to take to his heels and run to the
best of his ability? Under ordinary conditions he believed he would
have had no trouble in distancing both of these heavier men; but just
now he had a bruised leg, the result of his recent fall, and he feared
he could not do himself justice.
"Hey! hold on there, he's squirmin' loose, Martin! Grip him!" suddenly
called the one called Joey, as he happened to fall back a little to the
rear.
Frank knew now that his course had been decided for him. If he meant to
do anything there was no time to lose. And so he instantly gave his
hands a wrench that slipped them both out of the encircling cord. At
the same instant he dodged, in the hope of avoiding the fling of the
two aroused men.