A TRAPPER'S TREACHERY
When Will, watching at the camp, found that Tommy and Sandy had
disappeared, he had no idea that they would remain more than an
hour or so.
The long night passed, however, and the boys did not return. When
daylight came, Will built up a roaring fire and began preparing
breakfast.
It was his idea at that time that the boys had come together in the
forest about the time the snow began falling, and had sought in
some deserted shack temporary protection from the storm.
"They'll be back here in a short time, hungry as bears!" he thought.
Presently he heard some one advancing through the snow-covered
thicket, and turned in that direction with an expectant smile.
Instead of his chums he saw a half-breed in leather jacket and
leggins and a fur cap approaching. When the fellow reached the
camp he made a quick and rather impertinent inspection of the tents
before approaching the spot where the boy stood awaiting him.
"Good morning!" Will said, not without a challenge in his voice.
"Where are the boys?" asked the visitor.
"Who are you?" demanded Will.
"Pierre!" was the short reply.
"Why do you ask about the boys?"
Pierre explained in broken English that one of the boys who
evidently belonged to the camp had coaxed his companion away.
"Who is your companion?" asked Will, "and why do you come here
looking for him? Who was it that visited your cabin?"
Pierre laboriously explained what had taken place on the previous
evening, and Will listened with an anxious face.
"And you left them there together, and when you returned they had
disappeared? Is that what you mean to say?"
Pierre nodded.
"He coax my boy away," he said sullenly.
"Is this boy you speak of your son?" asked Will.
"Chicago boy!" was the reply.
"Why don't you go on and tell me all about the boy and about
yourself?" inquired Will. "What's the use of standing there
grunting and trying to make me understand nods and scowls?"
Pierre explained that he had been in Chicago to see the sights, had
fallen in with Thede, and agreed to bring him into the forest with
him. His explanation was not very clear as he talked more mongrel
French than English, so Will was not very well informed at the end
of the recital. Pierre looked suspicious as well as disappointed.
"Well," Will explained to the half-breed after a moment's
deliberation, "I suppose you'll turn in now and help me find the
boys!"
Pierre nodded and pointed toward the campfire.
"Build him big!" he said. "Boys come cold."
Accepting the hint, Will piled great logs on the fire while the
half-breed looked sullenly on. The boy then dressed himself in his
warmest clothing and the two set out together.
"Have you any idea which way to go?" asked the boy.
Pierre pointed away to the south.
"Wind blow that way," he said. "They follow the wind."
Numerous times, as the two tramped through the snow together, Will
caught the half-breed looking in his direction with eyes of hate.
After proceeding some distance, he fell in behind Pierre, and so
the two traveled through the wilderness, each suspicious and
watchful of the other. After walking an hour or more they came to
a place where Tommy and Sandy had built their fire on the previous
night.
There the half-breed read the story written upon the snow like a
book. Pointing here and there, he explained to Will that two boys
had been caught in the storm and had built a fire. He showed, too,
that a third boy had come plunging through the snow, nearly circled
the camp, and came back toward the fire from the north. Then he
showed the tracks of three heading off to the south.
"Do you think one of those boys was your companion?" asked Will.
The half-breed answered that he was sure of it.
"Then that leaves one of the boys still unaccounted for," Will
mused. "It looks to me," he went on, "as if your friend and George
started away together and got lost. Then your boy came back and
found Tommy and Sandy and started away with them toward the place
where he had left George. Is that the way you look at it?"
The half-breed grunted some sullen reply, and the two walked on
together following the trail which led toward the range of hills.
Instead of directly following the trail left by the boys, however,
Pierre turned frequently to left and right, explaining that if
enemies were about it was a trail which would be watched.
They came to the cavern at last, and stood by the dying embers of
the fire. There was no one in sight. Will examined the sloping
surface of snow in front and found no tracks leading outward.
"They must be in here somewhere!" he exclaimed.
Pierre nodded his fur cap vigorously, and the two began a careful
examination of the underground place.
They found many little caves opening from the larger one, but no
trace of the boys. After a time a shout from Pierre drew Will to
his side. The fellow was peering into a crevice, in the rocky wall
which seemed to lead for some distance under the hill.
"Do you think they are hidden in there?" asked the boy.
Pierre explained in his barely understandable dialect that he
thought the boys might have escaped into the inner cavern and
started to make their way out in another direction.
"Then I'll go in after them," Will decided.
Before entering he called shrilly into the cavern, but only the
echoes came back to him. By considerable squeezing, he managed to
make his way through the opening. He then found himself in a
passage-like place, sloping upward. As he threw his light about
the interior, he heard a chuckle in the outer chamber where he had
left Pierre.
He turned in time to see the half-breed rolling great stones
against the mouth of the narrow opening by means of which he had
entered.
"Hah!" sneered Pierre. "You bring me trouble!"
"What are you doing that for?" demanded Will.
The half-breed peered into the opening with eyes that resembled
those of a snake, so full of malice and hatred were they.
"You steal my boy!" he said.
"So this is a trap, is it?" Will demanded.
The half-breed answered by a chuckle of laughter."
"If you don't take those stones away," Will threatened, "I'll fill
you full of lead when I do get out!"
The half-breed patted his gun stock significantly, but made no
reply.
The boy heard him rolling rocks along the cavern floor and against
the opening, and turned away hoping to find some other means of
egress.
It was clear to him that the half-breed thoroughly understood the
situation in the hills. He had no doubt that he had planned to
bring him there for the purpose which had developed. He
understood, too, that if there were other openings to the cavern,
Pierre knew where they were, and would block them as soon as he had
effectually blocked the one by which entrance had been effected.
It was cold and damp in that underground place, but the
perspiration actually broke out on the boy's brow as he considered
the fate which might await him in that dreary place of detention.
He had, of course, no means of knowing the whereabouts of any of
his chums. In fact, it seemed to him possible that they, too, had
been inveigled into a trap similar to the one which had been set
for himself.
The motive for this brutal action on the part of the half-breed
was, of course, entirely unknown to the boy. It will be remembered
that he knew nothing whatever of Thede's suspicions that Pierre
actually had the Little Brass God in his possession.
It was black as ink in the passage, but the boy's flashlight had
recently been supplied with a new battery, and he knew that it
would not fail for many hours, so he walked along with confidence.
In perhaps a quarter of an hour the boy came to a blank wall.
There appeared to be no way in which the journey could be extended
under the hills. The nearest lateral passage was some distance
back.
Realizing that no time should be lost, the lad hastened thither and
advanced to the south end of the cross passage. Here, too, he came
upon a blank wall. While he stood listening a heavy, rumbling
voice came to his ears. There were either crevices in that rocky
bulkhead or the wall was very thin.
Presently the heavy voice ceased speaking, and then a lighter tone
was heard. At first Will could not distinguish the words used, but
directly his heart almost bounded into his throat as he listened to
Tommy's voice saying:
"I'll break your crust, you old stiff, if you come near me!"
So the boys were still in a position to defend themselves! Will
beat frantically on the wall and threw his light hither and yon in
search of some opening through which his voice might be heard.
Directly there came an answering sound from the other side.