THE ROUND-UP
Jerry Hopkins, lying in the haymow and looking down at the men and
listening to them, could hardly believe his senses. At last it was all
clear to him. Before him was the crooked-nosed man who had been seen
in Cresville the night of the tenement house fire. And now, by his own
admission, there was the man who had set the blaze so the robbery could
be carried out with less fear of detection. As to the third man, Jerry
did not know what to think. His mention of “Pug” seemed to link him
with the bully, Kennedy, but this yet remained to be proved.
“Anyhow, I’m sure of one thing,” decided Jerry, as he looked back into
the dark mow, and could detect no movement that would indicate his
chums were awake. “Crooked Nose is the man who robbed old Mr. Cardon,
and the other chap is the one who set the fire. They’re both guilty
by their own admission. But where is his other money if these fellows
didn’t get it? And the brooch and the watch? I wonder if they could be
in the ruins?”
Jerry was thinking quickly. There was much to do if he hoped to capture
the three men and fasten their crimes on them. First he must awaken
some of his companions, and let them listen to the incriminating talk.
Jerry crawled to where his two friends were sleeping. He first
awakened Ned, and clapped a hand over his mouth to silence any sudden
exclamation of surprise.
“What is it?” Ned demanded.
“Crooked Nose!” whispered Jerry. “Keep still! I think we have them!”
Bob was harder to arouse, and inclined to make more noise, but at
length the three motor boys, leaving the other soldiers sleeping in the
hay, had crawled to the edge of the mow and were looking down on the
three men gathered about the shaded lantern. The discussion was still
going on.
“Why don’t you wait?” begged the crooked-nosed man, who had given his
name to Mr. Martin as Jim Waydell. “Why do you want to spoil things
now?” and he addressed the fellow who had displaced the coat, which had
been adjusted again, however. “Why don’t you wait?”
“Because I’m tired of waiting,” was the growled-out answer. “I want
some coin. I set the fire. You robbed the Frenchman. It was fifty-fifty
with the risk. Now let it be the same with the coin.”
“But I tell you I haven’t got much coin left,” declared Crooked Nose.
“We missed the biggest bunch of it, and what I got----”
“Give me half of what you got then!” growled the other.
“I can’t. I had to spend some----”
“Don’t talk so loud!” warned the man whose face was in the shadow.
“First thing you know some one may hear us, and then----” He shrugged
his shoulders, as though no words were necessary.
“Great Scott!” whispered Ned to Jerry. “Is it possible we have stumbled
on the very men we wanted?”
“More a case of them stumbling in on us,” Jerry answered. “Listen to
what they are saying.”
It was the same argument over again, one man demanding money and the
other trying to pacify him without giving it.
“What are we going to do?” whispered Ned.
“Get ’em, of course,” Jerry replied in the same low voice. “Do you
think we three can manage them alone--each one take a man?”
“Sure!” declared Ned. He and his chums were in excellent physical
condition, thanks to their army training.
“Well, then let’s jump on ’em. Take ’em by surprise,” advised the tall
lad. “We can slide down from the hay and grab ’em before they know
what’s up. We’ve heard enough to convict them now. It was the very
evidence we needed.”
“Better wake up the other fellows so they can stand by us in case of
trouble,” advised Bob, and this was decided on. While the two men
were still disputing, and their companion waited, Ned, Bob and Jerry
silently roused their sleeping comrades, briefly telling them what the
situation was.
“We’ll slide down and grab ’em,” said Jerry. “They don’t appear to be
armed, but if they are we’ll take ’em by surprise before they can get
their guns. You stand by with your rifles, fellows. I guess the sight
of the guns will be all that’s needed. All ready now?” he asked Ned and
Bob in a whisper.
[Illustration: “WE’LL SLIDE DOWN AND GRAB ’EM,” SAID JERRY.]
“All ready!”
The boys had drawn back to the far end of the haymow to make their
plans, so their whispers would not penetrate to the ears of the men.
But there was little danger of this, as the storm outside was making
too much noise.
The three chums from Cresville now worked their way to the edge of the
haymow. The men were still below them, Crooked Nose and his companion
angrily arguing, while the other man had risen. For the first time
Jerry and his chums had a glimpse of the face.
“I’ve seen him somewhere before,” decided Jerry.
But there was no time then for such speculation. The men must be caught.
Poised on the very edge of the haymow, Jerry and his chums waited a
moment. They were going to jump down the ten feet and rush at the men.
There was a litter of straw below them which would break the force of
their leap.
“Go!” suddenly whispered Jerry.
Three bodies shot over the edge of the haymow, landing with a thud on
the barn floor. The men, hearing the noise and feeling the concussion,
turned quickly. A sudden motion of one again displaced the coat over
the lantern, so that the scene was well lighted.
“They’ve got us!” yelled Crooked Nose, and he made a rush, but Jerry
Hopkins caught him in his long arms.
“Get out the way!” shouted the man who had been begging for a division
of the spoils, as he headed for Ned like a football player trying to
avoid a tackle. But Ned was used to such tactics. He downed his man
hard, the thud shaking the barn.
Bob did not have such luck. His man crashed full into him, knocked Bob
to one side and then disappeared in some dark recess of the barn.
Chunky, somewhat dazed, rose slowly and tried to follow.
Meanwhile Jerry and Ned were struggling with the two men they had
caught. The outcome was in doubt, for the prisoners were desperate.
But the advent of the other soldiers sliding down from the haymow with
rifles ready for use, soon settled the matter.
“Surrender!” sharply ordered Jerry.
“Guess we’ll have to,” sullenly agreed the crooked-nosed man.
“Now find the other fellow,” Jerry ordered, when the men had been tied
with ropes, which had been found in the barn.
But this was more easily said than done. Using the lantern and their
electric searchlights the boys hunted through the barn, but the third
man was not to be found.
“He got away,” said Bob regretfully.
“Oh, don’t worry,” returned Jerry consolingly. “We got the two main
ones, anyhow. And maybe these fellows will have something on them to
tell who the other fellow was.”
The prisoners did not answer, but they looked uncomfortable.
“Well, this is a good night’s work,” declared Jerry, when he and his
chums had a chance to talk matters over. “We’ve got the robber and the
firebug, and I guess we can help get back most of the Frenchman’s
money and maybe the gold watch and the diamond brooch. They are back in
the fire ruins, I imagine.”
By turns Ned, Bob and Jerry explained to their companions the reason
for capturing Crooked Nose and the other man, relating the story of the
fire in Cresville some months back.
There was little sleep for any one the rest of that night. A guard was
posted over the two prisoners, when a search had failed to reveal the
missing third man, and in the morning, after a hasty breakfast in the
old barn, the march back to camp was made. The storm was over.
There was some surprise when Jerry and his chums returned with their
prisoners. Captain Trainer, when he heard the story, had the men locked
up in the guardhouse until the civil authorities could be communicated
with, as the crime was not a military one.
And, a little later, Hans Freitlach, _alias_ Jim Waydell, the
crooked-nosed man, and Fritz Lebhach, his companion, were safely in
jail, and some papers found on them disclosed their real identity.
They were German spies, being members of a band that had for its object
the destruction of munition plants and warehouses and factories, where
war goods for our government and the Allies were being stored and made.
They had set a number of fires, it was learned afterward, though the
one in Cresville had been a personal matter, designed to get hold of
the old Frenchman’s money. After that crime Freitlach and Lebhach had
fled, agreeing to meet later in the South, as they did, much to their
own discomfort.
“And who do you think that other man was--the one that bowled Bob
over?” asked Jerry, rushing excitedly up to his chums a few days after
the men had been sent to Cresville to await trial.
“Haven’t an idea, unless he was some football star,” Chunky ruefully
answered, remembering his failure to tackle.
“He was Pug Kennedy’s step-father!” was the unexpected information
Jerry gave.
“Pug Kennedy’s step-father!” exclaimed Ned and Bob.
“Yes. His name is Meyer, and he’s another German spy, and so is Pug.
Meyer masqueraded as an Irishman, for he had been pals with an Irish
prize-fighter for some years.”
“And was it his father Pug sneaked out to meet at night?” asked Ned.
“Yes,” answered Jerry. “Since Pug has deserted the whole story has come
out. His father was another spy, and his particular work was to make
trouble in camps--set fire to storehouses, quartermasters’ depots and
the like. Pug was going to help him, and that’s why he enlisted--the
rotten traitor! But he’s gone, and the Secret Service men hope to catch
them both.”
A week later came back word from Cresville that filled the young
soldiers with keen satisfaction. The ashes of the tenement house fire
had been thoroughly searched and an iron box belonging to the French
engraver had been recovered. It contained a large part of the old man’s
money and also Mr. Baker’s gold watch.
“I’m glad dad has his watch back,” said Bob. “But what about the
diamond brooch belonging to Jerry’s mother?”
“Maybe they’ll get that later,” said Jerry hopefully.
And they did, although not in the manner expected. The doings of the
crooked-nosed man were minutely investigated, and it was finally
learned where he had left the brooch with a pawn-broker for a small
amount--thinking to get it out of pawn later on and sell it, when it
might be safe to do so. The authorities took charge of the valuable
piece of jewelry, and it was finally turned over to Mrs. Hopkins, much
to her delight.
The thief and the firebug received long terms in state’s prison--terms
which were richly deserved.
As for Pug, the military authorities made a search for him after his
desertion, which followed the capture of the two men, but he was not
found. It was surmised that his step-father got word to him, somehow,
after the former’s escape from the barn, that the game was up, and that
Pug had better flee. So he did.
The crooked-nosed man and his companion both declared that Pug and his
father helped plot the Cresville fire, and wanted to have a share in
the proceeds of the robbery. Whether this was true or not could not be
learned.
It was learned that Mr. Cardon had, at one time, done some business
with Crooked Nose, as it is easier to call him than using one of his
many false names. But the unscrupulous one had cheated the Frenchman,
and then, later, using the knowledge he had of his wealth and habits,
had tried to rob him, getting a confederate to set the fire. The
men had gone South after the Cresville crimes because Pug was sent
there, and they wanted to keep in touch with him. But, thanks to
the activities of Ned, Bob and Jerry, the gang’s operations were
successfully broken up.
To the barracks, where Ned, Bob and Jerry were sitting and talking,
there penetrated the clear notes of a bugle.
“What’s that--another drill?” asked Ned, starting up.
“The mail has come,” interpreted Jerry.
“Oh, boy!” yelled Bob, making a rush for the door.
A little later all three were reading letters and looking over papers
from home.
“Good news, Chunky?” asked Ned, as he saw a smile light up his stout
chum’s face.
“Surest thing you know!” was the answer. “Helena writes to say that her
father has changed his views, and that they’re both real Americans now.
She says she likes me better than ever for being in the army and----
Oh, I didn’t mean to read that!” and Bob blushed. “It was something
about the Red Cross I was going to tell you.”
“Go to it, Bob!” laughed Jerry. “Helena’s all right!”
It was that evening, in the free period between the last mess and taps,
that a cheering was heard in a distant part of the camp.
“What’s that?” asked Jerry of his two friends.
“Maybe they’ve caught Pug Kennedy,” suggested Ned.
“I hope it’s better news than that,” Jerry remarked.
“It is,” Bob informed them, when he came back from a hasty trip of
inquiry. “We’ve received orders to move.”
“Move? Move where?”
“Over there!”
A cheer from his chums interrupted Bob’s words, and for some time
there was such confusion that any connected story of it was out of the
question.
But those of you who wish to follow the further fortunes of Ned, Bob
and Jerry may read of other adventures that befell them in the next
volume of this series entitled, “The Motor Boys on the Firing Line, or,
Ned, Bob and Jerry Fighting for Uncle Sam.”
“Well, we put in quite a summer, didn’t we?” observed Jerry to his
chums one day, as they came back from a practice hike. “We had some
lively times.”
“And we may have more,” added Ned. “I just had a letter from Professor
Snodgrass. He says he’s coming on another bug-hunting trip. I’m going
to tell the captain to warn the sentries not to shoot when they see a
bald head.”
“That’s the idea!” laughed Jerry. And while the motor boys are talking
over their various adventures we will take leave of them.
THE END
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Transcriber’s Notes:
--Text in italics is enclosed by underscores (_italics_); text in
bold by “equal” signs (=bold=).
--Punctuation and spelling inaccuracies were silently corrected.
--Archaic and variable spelling has been preserved.
--Variations in hyphenation and compound words have been preserved.
--The author’s em-dash and long dash styles have been retained.
End of Project Gutenberg's The Motor Boys in the Army, by Clarence Young