THE BURNING OF THE MILL
There was no mistaking the sincerity of Bug's proposal, and coming, as
it did, at a time when Hocker and Jeffries were unable to decide on any
feasible plan of action, they were disposed to give a favorable answer.
"It ain't a bad idea," said Jeffries. "But how do you expect to get in
without being seen?"
"I'll find a way," returned Bug. "There air plenty of holes an' loose
boards."
"An' Moxley is watchin' them all, too," remarked Hocker. "Your plan
ain't very definite so far."
Bug hesitated, and before he could reply something occurred that totally
changed the situation.
"I see you again, you rascal," came the farmer's voice from the
hillside. "You can't fool me. Get away from that winder now."
Hocker and Jeffries exchanged glances of mutual understanding. The
latter quickly unlocked the bracelets and freed Bug's wrists.
"Now's your chance," he whispered. "Moxley is on the second floor. Slip
in before he comes down. There's a loose board just below that middle
window. There ain't time for more than one to get in or we'd follow
you. When you need us sing out. Here, take this."
He pressed a pistol into Bug's hand, and the latter bounded noiselessly
up the slope. He reached the mill, drew the lower end of a loose plank a
foot from its place, and vanished through the orifice.
Let us follow Bug on his perilous quest. Not until he was fairly inside,
and crawling on hands and knees over the rickety floor, did he realize
the great danger that lay in what he had undertaken to do. For an
instant he trembled with fear, and then the memory of his wrongs steeled
his heart and nerves.
A sudden noise overheard caused him to crouch midway on the floor. A
moment later the stairway creaked, and Moxley began to descend. His
progress could be noted as he passed the crevices in the wall.
Bug lay motionless, wondering what he should do next. The possibility of
being discovered made him tremble violently. He quite forgot that he had
a pistol.
Moxley had now reached the floor, and with cautious steps he moved along
the wall toward the lower corner.
Suddenly there was a sound of a heavy fall, followed by a volley of
profanity, and the next instant something flew against the wall, and was
shivered to fragments that fell with a tinkling noise.
"He's tipped over a bottle," thought Bug, "and now he's smashed it
because he's mad. That's like Moxley."
This haphazard guess was absolutely correct. All was silent for a second
or two after the glass had fallen; then Moxley grumbled in an audible
tone: "Confound the luck! I hope that wasn't my whisky bottle. It ain't
in my pocket."
Of such dire import did the question seem to the ruffian that he
ventured to strike a match--little dreaming what the impulse would cost
him.
Bug's heart beat wildly when he heard the crack and saw the light flash
through the darkness. He jammed the pistol into his pocket and rose on
his hands and knees.
Moxley was standing before the sawdust heap with his face to the wall.
As the match flared up he dropped the gun and seized a greenish bottle
that was lying at his feet.
"Here's luck!" he muttered contentedly. "It was the oil bottle I brought
from the canoes that got in my way."
He lifted the fiery poison to his lips, still holding the burning match
between the fingers of his other hand, and remained in this attitude for
a brief moment.
Bug stood erect and moved across the floor with the caution of a
creeping tigress. Nearer and nearer he came, and when less than four
feet separated him from his intended victim, Moxley heard some slight
noise and wheeled around.
Bug was on him with one spring, and down they fell with a great crash,
and rolled in furious strife over the shaking floor--Bug crying for help
at the top of his voice, Moxley uttering hoarse threats and
imprecations.
Blinded with rage they did not observe that the burning end of the match
had fallen on the very spot where the widely scattered kerosene oil was
most plentiful. Even when the hissing blue flames spurted up and licked
the rubbish on all sides with greedy tongues, they fought on
desperately, now one uppermost, now the other, as they verged toward the
center of the floor.
When Hocker and Jeffries burst into the mill, followed by Ned and Abner,
the conflagration was beyond control. The flames were devouring the
planking of the wall with a great roaring and crackling, spreading on
each side and to the floor above.
The scene was one long to be remembered. The cries of the struggling men
on the floor mingled with the furious kicking and shouting that came
from the imprisoned boys in the closet, and amid all the din and
confusion the farmer rushed down from the hillside and battered his way
into the mill with the butt end of his gun.
Fright gave Moxley the strength of a madman, and by a determined effort
he tore loose from his plucky assailant, and springing to his feet
started to run. He struck Hocker, who jumped in front of him, a furious
blow that sent him reeling backward, but before he could make use of
his advantage, he tripped on a log, and came down heavily.
As he partially rose Bug leaped upon him, and both men rolled over to
the edge of a gaping hole in the floor. They struggled an instant on the
brink, and then fell through, landing with a terrific splash in the
flooded wasteway far below.
Hocker and Jeffries rushed precipitately from the mill to head them off,
while the farmer insanely attempted to check the conflagration by
tramping through the _débris_ that was burning here and there on the
floor.
The whole affair had taken place in a very few seconds, and Ned was at
first so dazed by the confusion and the flames that he was quite
incapable of doing anything. The terrified cries of his companions
roused him from his stupor, and he dashed through the intense heat to
the closet door.
A quick jerk threw the bolt open, and the frightened boys poured out.
The lurid glare of the flames and the spark laden volumes of smoke were
more than they could stand. One and all bolted for the nearest aperture
in the creek side of the mill, and fortunately reached it without
falling through the gaps in the floor.
Ned would gladly have followed their example, but he suddenly bethought
him of the plunder Moxley had packed up to carry away. Such a loss would
be irreparable, and without hesitation he dashed toward the burning
wall.
The heat was intense, but he managed to get near enough to snatch the
bag. One end was badly scorched. He suddenly spied Hocker's gun, and
knowing how the owner valued it, he made another rush and carried it off
in triumph.
Thus laden down he tottered across the floor in imminent fear of
dropping through to the wasteway, and overwhelmed at times by the
suffocating smoke and fiery sparks. When his courage and endurance were
all but spent he reached a broken place in the wall and staggered into
the refreshing outer air. How good it seemed!
Abner had long since preceded him, and the farmer made his appearance a
moment later, still grasping Randy's blackened gun. The boys had been
waiting on Ned in terrible suspense, afraid to venture back into the
mill, and when he appeared with his burden their joy knew no bounds.
They were ignorant of the disaster that had befallen Bug and Moxley, and
when Ned told them, the whole party started off on a run.
They searched the wasteway just as Jeffries and Hocker landed from the
boat, pushing Moxley before them, and followed by Bug. The ruffian's
hands were already manacled. With the exception of dripping clothes
neither of the men seemed the worse for their struggle and subsequent
fall.
"They were still locked together when we pulled them from the water,"
said Jeffries. "That little fellow is a plucky one. He deserves great
credit for raising the siege. We've got our man at last, and bitterly
he'll rue this night's work."
"It's a bad job fur me, too," observed the farmer. "The old mill will
soon be a heap of ashes. It's insured fur about what the lumber's worth,
but that ain't much consolation. I hate to see it go after standin' here
fur nigh onto seventy years."
"It's hard," muttered Hocker, "that's a fact."
Then all were silent, watching the flames as they rose higher and
higher, and licked every corner of the doomed building. It was a grand
sight while it lasted, but in twenty minutes nothing was left save a few
blackened beams and smoldering heaps of ashes.
"That ends the fireworks," said Jeffries. "We may as well be moving
along. It's past two o'clock in the morning."
He drew a second pair of handcuffs from his pocket, and to Ned's wrath
and indignation, clapped them suddenly on Bug's wrists.