TWO HOLD-UP MEN
"That's Boy Scout talk all right!" exclaimed Elmer.
"Yes, the three stones, piled one on top of the other, mean that there
is danger in following the trail. I don't understand exactly what
kind of danger can be threatening us, and so the only thing we cart do
is to go on and find out," Will said with a glance backward.
The other boys now came up and a short consultation was held. It was
decided to leave Sandy and Dick at the point where the explosion had
taken place, while Will, Elmer and Jimmie followed on down the
gangway.
"Now whatever you do," warned Will as the two boys were left behind,
"don't leave this gangway for a minute. If Ventner isn't out of the
mine now we don't want him to get out. He may money or he may not.
That is one of the things no fellow can find out at this time, but
whether he has or not, we want him to give an account of himself
before he leaves the Labyrinth. He's got several important questions
to answer."
The boys promised to watch the passage faithfully, and the others
passed on down the gangway, flashing their lights in every direction
and making no pretense of moving quietly.
"Look here," Jimmie said after they had proceeded some distance into
the mine and discovered nothing of importance, "I have in my
possession a great idea! Want to hear about it?"
"Sure!" laughed Will.
"We're making too much noise."
"Making too much noise in order to attract the attention of a couple
of lost youngsters?" asked Elmer.
"'They're not lost!" insisted Jimmie. "They've been lured away or
dragged away! We don't know how many men were in the mine with
Ventner?"
"Well, produce your idea!" Elmer exclaimed.
"Well, my notion is that I ought to go on ahead of you boys, walking
as quietly as possible and without a light. If there are people
waiting to snare us, they'll naturally think we've bunched our forces
and are all coming along together. Then, you see," he continued,
"I'll be right in among them before they suspect that we have a
skirmish line out."
"That's an all right notion, kid!" answered Will.
"Then I'll be on my way," Jimmie replied. "And if I need help at any
time, I'll give the call of the pack!"
"But you mustn't do that unless you have to," Wilt cautioned,
"because, the minute the cry is heard, everybody within eighty rods
would know what's going on. Have you matches with you?"
The boy felt in the pockets of his coat and nodded.
"Well, then," he said, "if you want to signal, wet your hands and rub
the phosphorus off the matches. Turn your hands, palms in our
direction, so no one can see from the other side and wig-wag."
"That will be fine!" exclaimed Jimmie. "I've got this wig-wag system
down pat. I guess this Boy Scout training is pretty poor, ain't it,
eh? The darker it is, the better we an talk!"
Jimmie darted away, while Will and Elmer remained stationary for a
short time in order to give him an opportunity to get out of the range
of their lights. Directly they heard him whispering back and
listened.
"There's another stone cairn here!" he said. "I guess I knocked it
over, for I can't tell exactly what it is. You can learn that when
you come up with your searchlights! I think there are three stones."
"All right!" Will whispered back.
When the boys came to the spot from which the voice had been heard
they found three stones lying side by side on the floor of the
gangway. It was plain that they had been placed one on top of the
other, and so they accepted them as another warning of danger.
"I wish we had some intimation of the kind of trouble we are likely to
get into," Elmer suggested, as they passed along. "I don't like this
idea of boring a hole in the darkness with a little bit of a light and
anticipating an attack at any minute."
"I don't like it a little bit myself," replied Will. "A person so
inclined might shoot us down without ever showing himself," declared
Elmer. "In fact, the only protection we have lies in the fact that
Jimmie is on ahead, and would not be likely to pass any one lying in
wait for us. Bright little boy, that!"
"There he is now!" exclaimed Will. "He's using the phosphorus, all
right, and I can begin to understand what he's trying to say? There's
a 'W', and an 'A', and an 'I', and a 'T'. That means that he wants us
to stay where we are. The system works fine, doesn't it?"
The question now was as to whether the lads should extinguish their
lights. That, of itself, they understood would be suspicious in case
they should be in sight of their enemies. It would simply proclaim
their knowledge of the danger they were in, whatever it was.
"I think we'd better keep the lights going until we hear something
more," said Elmer. "Jimmie will talk again in a minute."
The boys waited patiently for some moments, and then the wig-wag
figures came again. Will read slowly:
"There's a 'V', and an 'E', and an 'N', and a 'T', and an 'N', and an
'E', and an 'R'," he said. "Now the boy's starting it again. He
says, 'Ventner is here.' Now wait a minute, there's more coming!"
"The next words are: 'With two others.'"
"It's only a question of time when that detective will get next to the
wig-wag game," Elmer declared. "This gangway smells like a match
factory already. I wonder how far Jimmie is away from them."
Directly Jimmie began talking the wig-wag tongue again. This time he
said that Tommy and George were not in sight, and had evidently been
surprised and taken prisoners. He advised Will and Elmer to come on
softly with their lights out.
The boys did as requested, but they had advanced only a few paces in
the darkness when Canfield, accompanied by Sandy and Dick came running
up, showing both lack of breath and profound excitement.
"Boys," Canfield called. "Boys!"
"Will!" yelled Sandy.
"I guess they're going to bust up the whole combination!" declared
Will rather sourly. "I wish I had them by the neck!"
"They may have important news," suggested Elmer. "Anyway, we'll have
to turn on our lights and meet them. If we don't, they'll keep on
yelling all down the gangway!"
Canfield and the two boys came up as soon an Elmer showed a light, and
stood for a moment looking cautiously about.
"I don't think you boys ought to go any further into the mine,"
Canfield exclaimed, breathing heavily from the long chase down the
passage. "I have just received word that two of the most desperate
hold-up men in the country have taken refuge here. There's no knowing
how they got over to the mine, but it is a sure thing that they did
get here, for couple of breaker boys saw them climbing into the
breaker."
"What time was this?" asked Will.
"Oh, I don't know," replied Canfield. "The matter was reported to me
early this morning. I couldn't find you before, or you should have
had the news sooner. It isn't safe for you to go into the mine!"
"Your information," grinned Will, "comes a little bit late, but it's
all right, just the same. Ventner is in there, and there are two men
with. It's a mystery how they made their way in without being
discovered, but it seems that they did so."
"What are you going to do?" asked Canfield.
"We're going on into the mine."
"In the face of my warning?"
"It's just this way," answered Will. "We left two of the boys on
guard in this passage, not so very long ago, and they have
disappeared. We suspect that Ventner and the two men to whom you
refer have good reason to know something of their whereabouts."
"They won't injure the boys!" pleaded Canfield.
"We don't mean to give them a chance!" insisted Elmer. "We're going
to jerk those boys out so quick it'll make their heads swim!"
"But it's positively dangerous!" urged the caretaker.
"If there wasn't an element of danger in the situation, we wouldn't be
here!" replied Will, "I don't see as we need to run away from two
hold-up men, anyway," the boy went on. "Here are five boys and one
full grown man in the gangway. We ought to give a pretty good account
of ourselves, in case some one starts anything!"
"Where's the fifth boy?" asked Canfield. "It seems to me that you're
getting quite an accumulation of boys in here!"
"Two of the boys are Jimmie Maynard and Dick Thompson!" answered Will.
"You know you informed me quite positively not long ago that the I two
lads were hundreds of miles from this place by that time."
"You might barricade the hold-up men and starve them out," suggested
Canfield, "that is, if you're sure they're in there!"
"We have just had a wireless from the interior," Elmer answered.
"There are three men in there, all right!"
"Well, it won't take any longer to starve three out than it would
one!" declared Canfield.
"Yes," Elmer cut in, "and about the first time the hold-up men got
good and hungry, they'd be sending out Tommy's ears or one of George's
fingers just as a warning to us not to meddle with their appetites."
Before long Jimmie began wig-wagging again, but before any words could
be formed the waiting boys heard a distant scuffle, a short, quick cry
of alarm, and then the phosphorus-covered palms disappeared from
sight.
"They've got Jimmie!" Elmer said in a tone of dismay.
"Well, what are we going to do?" demanded Sandy. "We've got to do
something right away, and that's no story out of the dream book!"
"I don't suppose it would be of any use to rush them," suggested
Elmer.
"They'd mow us down like rats!" declared Dick.
"It strikes me," Sandy said, "that we'd ought to get back further and
keep out of sight until we can decide upon some definite plan of
action."
"I've got an idea wandering around in the back of my brain," Will
said. "If the situation is exactly as I think it is, we may be able
to get the best of those hold-up men after all."