A CRUEL DEED.
When the boys met in the wood-lot at the spot where George had left
them, after they had made the first hurried survey of the place,
consternation was imprinted on every face. They knew that Harnett would
not voluntarily have gone away without telling them, and an undefined
but a very great fear took possession of them.
Each looked at the other as if fearing to speak that which was in his
mind, and yet all were conscious that whatever was done to find their
missing friend should be done at once.
It seemed so improbable that anything could have happened to him there
without their knowing it, that no one ventured to put his suspicions
into words, and each waited for the other to speak.
"It can do no good for us to stand here," said Ralph, after he had
waited some time for a suggestion from Bob. "George is either not here,
or else some accident has happened which prevents him from answering. If
he had been here, and as he was when he left us, he must have heard us
when we called. Now, what shall we do?"
All three of the moonlighters stood looking at him in silent dismay.
They were bewildered by the sudden disappearance, and Ralph understood
that whatever steps were taken toward finding George must be directed by
him, for his companions seemed incapable even of connected thought.
"In the first place," he said, "let's make a thorough search of the
wood-lot, beginning from this point and working toward the house in the
direction he disappeared. If we don't find him here, we will try to make
up our minds what to do."
There was no dissenting voice raised against this proposition, and Ralph
began the search by directing the boys to stand in a row, about ten feet
apart, and then walk straight down to the fence, carefully examining
every place in which George could have hidden.
In this way a lane, at least forty feet wide, was examined thoroughly,
and as nothing was found by the time they reached the fence, the line
was formed again ten feet further on, the march continuing until they
reached a point abreast of the one they had started from.
No one spoke during this search, for it seemed as though they were
hunting for the lifeless body of their friend, and when again they
arrived at the fence, they ranged along in a new line, silently, afraid
almost to look at the ground because of that which they might see.
And at least a portion of their fears were to be realized, for as they
walked along on this third sad journey, they first found a place where
the bushes and ferns had been trampled down as if some desperate
struggle had taken place, and then, a few feet further on, almost hidden
in a pile of brushwood, they saw that for which they sought.
It was the body of George, looking as if all life had departed, the face
beaten by cruel blows until it was nearly unrecognizable, the clothing
torn, and lying still as death.
Even then no one spoke; no cry of alarm or of astonishment was given,
for this was what they had been expecting to find during all the search.
Neither of the moonlighters had recovered from their first bewilderment,
and, as if this show of helplessness on the part of his companions
nerved him up, Ralph still preserved his presence of mind.
Kneeling down by the apparently lifeless body, Ralph unfastened or tore
apart the clothing, until he could lay his hand over his friend's heart.
After an instant's silence, during which it seemed to each boy that he
could hear the pulsations of his own heart, Ralph said in a hard,
unnatural voice, which no one would have recognized as his:
"He is not dead, for I can feel his heart beat feebly. One of you go for
a physician, while the others help me carry him to the house."
"You take my horses, and drive first to Sawyer and then to Bradford for
three or four of the best doctors you can find, and drive faster than
you ever drove before," said Bob to Jim.
The latter, finding actual relief in having something definite to do,
started off at full speed towards the farm-house, while Ralph began to
make a rude kind of a litter.
Two fence-rails with limbs of trees laid across them, the whole covered
by the coats and vests of the boys, was the best that could be
improvised in a short time, and on this George was laid as tenderly as
possible.
It seemed to all the boys as if he must be reviving somewhat, for they
fancied they could see him breathe as they moved him, and Bob was
certain he had lifted one of his hands as if to touch his head.
It was a mournful procession they formed as they moved slowly towards
the farm-house, Ralph and Bob carrying the litter, while Dick stood
ready to help them whenever he might be needed.
At the fence they were met by both Mr. and Mrs. Simpson, who had, of
course, learned the sad news from Jim, and had hurried out with almost
as much sorrow in their hearts as if he had been a son of theirs, for
they had learned to love George even before he had been the means of
saving their homestead to them.
Thanks to the help which the old people were able to give, the wounded
boy was carried much more quickly and easily along, and in a short time,
which seemed very long to the anxious ones, he was lying on a bed in the
farm-house.
Every effort was made to revive him as soon as he was placed in a
comfortable position on the bed in the room, sweet-scented with herbs,
and with such success that in a short time there was a movement of the
eyelids, followed by a low moan which, though piteous, was welcomed by
the boys gladly, for it told of life.
From the time they had found him stricken down by some murderous hand,
Ralph had noticed that George still held tightly clutched in his left
hand a piece of paper.
He had hoped from the first that it might afford some clue to the
murderous assailants, and had tried to remove it, but without success.
Now, however, when it seemed as if consciousness was returning, the
hands unclasped from what had probably been a clutch at those who had
attacked him, and the paper fell to the floor.
The first physician whom Jim had found entered at this moment, and,
picking the paper up, Ralph held it until he should hear the medical
man's decision.
He was disappointed in getting this very speedily, however, for the
physician began a long and careful examination of the injured boy, in
which he was assisted by the second doctor, who arrived ten minutes
later.
George was in good hands now, and since they could do nothing to aid
him, Ralph beckoned to Bob to leave the room, for he was anxious to
learn what was contained in the paper, and wished that some one should
share the secret with him.
"This is what George had in his hand when we found him," he said, when
they were out of the house, "and I think it will, perhaps, explain who
it was who tried to murder him."
Bob stood breathlessly waiting for Ralph to open the paper which was
crumpled tightly up in that almost death clutch, and as he saw it, he
uttered a cry of surprise and anger.
It was a fragment of the description of the wood-lot which had been
found in the carriage when the thieves left it.
"Those men have done this," cried Bob, as he clenched his hands in
impotent rage--"the ones whom George would not help catch after they had
stolen his team. They knew he had this paper, and when they saw him,
they either tried simply to get possession of it, George resisting, or
at the first attempted to kill him."
"They can't be very far from here," said Ralph, as if wondering what
other crime they would attempt to commit before they left.
"No, and they shan't get very far, either. I'll send Dick over to Sawyer
for the officers, and if it is possible, we'll have those fellows where
they can't do any more mischief."
Dick was only too willing to go when he heard what Bob had to tell him,
and in the team he had driven over in he started at nearly as rapid a
pace as Jim had.
Very shortly after he had gone, Jim returned. The first physician was
from Bradford, and he had met him on the road, while the second he had
found in Sawyer, having gone there to visit a patient. Both were said to
be very skillful, and Jim had sensibly concluded that there was no
necessity of getting any more.
To him the boys told of the discovery they had made regarding the scrap
of paper, and had they followed his advice, they would have started in
search of the villains then and there, without waiting the tardy
movements of the officers.
But both Ralph and Bob thought their place just then was with their
friend, rather than searching for those who had assaulted him, and they
persuaded Dick to forego his idea of making a personal search for the
men.
It was not long that the boys were in suspense as to the report of the
physicians, for hardly had they finished discussing the discovery they
had made as to who had done the cruel deed, when one of the medical
gentlemen came from George's room.
Unless, he said, there were internal injuries, of which they were then
unable to learn, George's condition was not one of imminent danger. That
he had been severely injured there could be no doubt; but there was
every reason to believe that he would recover, unless some more serious
wound than those already found had been given.
He had not recovered consciousness yet, and there was hardly any chance
that he would for some time, while the physician barely intimated that
it was possible, owing to the wounds on his head, that he might never
fully recover his mental powers.
It was just such a report as medical men often make--one which leaves
the anxious ones in quite as much suspense as before, and neither Ralph
nor Bob was just certain whether it was favorable to their friend or
not.