THE THIEF UNDER THE BED.
“Hey, what’s that, Tubby?”
It was Hiram who whispered this in a rather hoarse and strained voice. He
had managed to just barely overhear what the fat scout was telling Rob,
and could hardly believe his ears.
Rob instantly held up a warning finger. His face looked serious for,
while after all it might prove that Tubby’s imagination was playing
tricks with him, there were circumstances that gave the matter a
suspicious look.
Some one had certainly been in their rooms turning things upside-down, as
though searching for articles of value, or with the intention of creating
as much havoc and confusion as possible.
Besides this, had they not already concluded that this person must have
been disturbed in his vandal work? They believed he had fled, but after
all it was possible that, hearing them at the door, he had made the
utmost haste to conceal himself in the first hiding place available,
which was under one of the beds.
Rob had to think quickly.
The man must be a desperate rascal or he would never have taken the
chances he did in entering their apartments bent on such work.
Consequently he would, of course, be armed, and if given half a chance,
might make things exceedingly disagreeable for the four scouts.
What should be done?
Hiram was already pointing toward the house telephone, as though
suggesting the use of it to bring help from below. Rob shook his head to
indicate that the plan did not seem to appeal to him when there might be
a better one to adopt.
They were four in number, and pretty husky fellows in the bargain, who in
times past had accomplished quite a few feats worth mentioning. It would
be too bad if a squad of scouts of their caliber and experience could not
manage in some way to smother a single concealed thief.
Of course, by this time, Andy had come to realize that there was
something very exciting and mysterious going on. He wanted to burst out
with a plain question, and ask Rob what it was all about; but reading the
signification of that upraised finger, and the frown on the scout
leader’s face, he simply put out a hand and rested it on Rob’s sleeve
while a pleading expression gripped his face.
Taking pity on Andy, and believing that they must all work together if
they expected to accomplish anything, Rob bent over and whispered in his
ear.
“Somebody’s hiding under the bed, Tubby says. Now laugh out loud as
though we were having a joke; that is to keep him quiet a while longer.”
Fortunately Andy Bowles was quick-witted enough to grasp the peculiar
situation. He understood just why Rob wanted him to make it appear as
though things were moving along as usual, and that no suspicion had been
aroused.
So Andy laughed. If there was a queer, husky touch to the sounds he
emitted to order surely Andy could hardly be blamed, for he must have
been quivering all over just then from hysterical excitement.
Rob drew the heads of Tubby and Andy down close to his mouth. They knew
he meant to issue instructions, and hence eagerly strained their hearing
so that not a single syllable might be lost. Meanwhile Hiram was standing
near by, and busily engaged in taking off his khaki coat which, being
quite new, he evidently did not mean to have mussed in any rough and
tumble work.
At another time Rob would have smiled to see Hiram carefully folding his
coat and then softly depositing it on the bed that was held under
suspicion; but it did not cause a ripple of amusement to cross his
serious face now.
“You and Tubby pass around to the other side of the bed, and try to act
as if you were cutting up,” Rob whispered. “Keep your eyes on me, and
when I give the word lay hold of his legs and yank him out. Tubby, we
depend on you to keep him from getting to his feet; squash him if
necessary. Get that, both of you?”
Both heads eagerly nodded an affirmative reply. The plan was so extremely
simple that there did not seem to be any possibility of confusion.
Tubby’s face was not quite so rosy as usual, perhaps, but no one could
say he looked frightened in the least. He immediately started some
“horse-play” with Andy, laughing as he pushed the other around the foot
of the bed so that they could presently bring up on the other side.
Taking advantage of the very first opportunity, Tubby, even while
continuing to pretend to wrestle with Andy, pointed a finger downward.
Knowing what this was meant for, Andy ducked his head in order to also
get a glimpse of the object the fat boy considered so suspicious.
Meanwhile Rob and Hiram were holding themselves in readiness to jump
around to any point where they could make their presence count. The
former was keeping an anxious eye on Tubby and Andy. When he saw the
latter make that quick movement, Rob knew what it meant, and understood
that considerable would depend on how Andy came to decide.
So Rob fairly held his breath awaiting the verdict. If after all Tubby
had allowed his imagination to get the better of him, and had mistaken
some simple object for a pair of shoes under the bed, Andy’s keen eyes
would quickly detect the illusion, and they might expect to hear him give
a roar of amusement.
Nothing of the kind happened, it turned out. Instead of this, when Andy
once more straightened up he nodded his head toward Rob in a way that
could have only one meaning—he was ready to risk his reputation for
veracity along with Tubby in admitting that the facts looked suspicious.
That settled the matter with Rob. They must combine to make a sudden
assault on the concealed thief and try to overpower him before he could
place himself in a condition to do them harm.
Like a wise general, the scout leader took one last look around in order
to see that his forces were all in their respective positions before he
gave the signal that would precipitate action.
Andy, impatient to get busy, made a significant gesture, opening and
shutting both hands rapidly, while a faint grin could be seen on his
face. This was intended to convey the intelligence that he was eager to
lay hold on the lower extremities of the sneak thief cowering under the
bed, and start to drag him out from his place of concealment.
There was no need of any further delay, and so Rob made a quick movement
with his hand, at the same time exclaiming:
“Now’s your time; get him!”
Before the last word had been uttered Andy was bending down and hurling
himself part-way under the bed. He immediately began to back out, tugging
with all his strength at something upon which he had pounced.
Tubby also took hold and united his power with that of the other scout.
They made short work of it, once that combination got started. Out from
under the bed they dragged a struggling figure that was scratching,
clawing and trying in every possible way to swing around so that he would
not be taken at such a terrible disadvantage.
By that time Rob and Hiram had managed to arrive, the latter scrambling
directly across the bed in his hurry to get into action.
There was a lively little scene for a brief interval, with all of them
trying to keep those kicking legs and violently driven arms pinned down.
A few blows were given in the struggle, and not all on one side, since
Andy had a thrust in the eye that made the tears come, and Tubby received
a kick which forced a grunt from his lungs.
Whoever the fellow might be he evidently was convinced that his condition
was desperate, judging from the wild way he fought, to break away, with
the intention of bolting from the room.
In the midst of the _mêlée_ Tubby settled the affair in a unique way all
his own, and which none of the others could have imitated even though
they sought to do so.
He simply allowed himself to sit down squarely on the squirming figure
with which they had been battling so fiercely. When that heavyweight
settled down, it was like a stone wagon dropping into a hole in the road.
They heard a gasp from the unfortunate wretch underneath, whose struggles
immediately began to lose much of their former vigor.
It happened that at the time the thief was lying on his stomach, so that
Tubby perched on his back, which might have been broken had the fellow
been less sturdily built.
After that there was really nothing more for the others to do; Tubby was
equal to the task of keeping his victim pinned there in spite of anything
the wretched fellow might try to do.
It was then they heard him wheezing as though short of breath, and saw
his hand moving as if in abject appeal.
“I give up! I’m all in! Please don’t kill me, Rob and Andy! Won’t you let
Tubby get up off my back; he’s smashing my ribs, I tell you!”
Rob, Andy and Hiram stared at each other as though they hardly knew
whether they could be awake or dreaming. Why, the squirming wretch whom
they found hidden under the bed, and who had undoubtedly been searching
their effects with robbery in view, had actually mentioned the name of
Rob and that of Andy. Yes, he had even begged that Tubby be restrained
before he utterly crushed his back and sides!
It gave them one of the greatest surprises in all their experience; for
how a common hotel sneak thief should know who they were, and address
them so familiarly, was past their comprehension.
Tubby, too, looked astounded, though he made no move to get up in
response to the pitiful wheeze of the wretch he was pinning to the floor.
Perhaps it filtered through the slow-moving brain of the fat scout that
this might be only one of those clever tricks known to sharpers, and
entered into simply to gain some advantage.
Rob knew differently. There seemed to be something about that whine on
the part of the prisoner that was familiar, though on the spur of the
moment Rob could not have told where he had last heard it.
Accustomed to prompt action, the scout leader motioned to Andy and Hiram
to hold themselves in readiness to seize upon the fellow’s arms, and in
this manner keep him from taking advantage of his newly acquired freedom
when Tubby arose.
“Now you can get up, Tubby!” said Rob.
Tubby thereupon gave one of his satisfied grunts and commenced to roll
off his human cushion for, as a rule, when he wished to gain his feet,
like the elephant he resembled in many ways, the fat boy had to get upon
his knees first of all, and then make a further effort.
“Turn him over, Andy, Hiram; and if he tries any funny business he’ll
wish he hadn’t, that’s all!” Rob told the others, who immediately started
to obey.
“Oh, believe me, I’ve had enough as it is, Rob! I hope you won’t be too
hard on me this time! I was wild to get back home, and that’s the truth,”
the fellow was crying as Andy and Hiram turned him on his back.
The former bent down to stare into the thief’s face. Rob fairly held his
breath, awaiting the explosion something told him was due. Nor was he
mistaken, for Andy drew back, uttering exclamations of wonder.
“Why, who d’ye believe it is,” he burst out, “but that sneak of a Jared
Applegate who had to skip out of Hampton when things got too hot for him,
and who you last ran across when you were down in Mexico? Rob, he’s up to
his old tricks of trying to steal what belongs to others. Say, this is
one of the biggest surprises that ever came our way. Old Hiram
Applegate’s bad boy, and a common hotel thief!”