THE AMBUSH.
"I SEE him, Elmer," whispered Toby.
"Couldn't be anybody else," chuckled Nat, "because Lil Artha is as tall
as a house, you know."
The contestant representing the Hickory Ridge scouts was standing there
in the middle of the road, waiting for them to come up.
"Is it time, Elmer?" he asked, anxiously, as the other three joined him.
The gloaming was about them; indeed, since the heavens were beginning to
be overshadowed by clouds, the dusk had already commenced to settle,
earlier than usual in the end of August.
It had been a pretty fair day, but there was no telling what the night
might bring forth; and Lil Artha, wisely looking ahead to a possible
thunder-storm about midnight, was determined to complete his long hike
as early as possible.
"Yes," replied the leader of the Wolf Patrol, quietly. "We're going to
hide our machines somewhere about here, where we can find them when we
need them a little later."
"And you want me to hold up till you're ready?" asked Lil Artha.
"That's the programme," came the reply. "You see, we expect that the
four hold-up fellows must be hidden only a little farther along; and we
want to have our part of the game fixed. Just sit down here, Lil Artha,
and we'll be back again in a jiffy."
"Well, if it's all the same to you, Elmer, I think I'll keep on
standing," replied the tall boy, with a chuckle.
"Oh, all right," replied Elmer; "you're the doctor, and ought to know
what's best for your own case. Just wait for us here. Come along,
fellows, and bring your motorcycles with you."
Of course there was no mystery about the refusal of Lil Artha to sit
down. He knew from past experiences how difficult it is to get in
working order again at such a stage in a long hike should he give way to
the temptation and drop upon the ground. It was better to keep moving,
and not allow any of his muscles to get stiffened.
Following Elmer, the others pushed into the woods on the right, where
the scout leader seemed to think the conditions looked best for the
hiding of the three machines.
It was not a hard task to secrete them in the bushes.
"Hope it don't rain before we come back again," remarked Toby, as he
came out from the thicket where he had placed his motorcycle as
carefully as though it were a brand-new one; for on account of its
recent fairly decent performances the boy began to feel a return of his
former affection for the wheel.
"We'll have to take the chances on that," replied Elmer. "These clouds
may not stand for anything, after all."
"Often tries a big bluff like that," remarked Nat; "so we ain't going to
worry about it. Besides, if the little circus is soon over, we can come
here to get the bunch before long."
"Back to the road then, fellows," Toby observed, leading off with
confidence.
A minute later Nat broke out again:
"Say, what d'ye know about this?" he remarked. "Don't seem a bit
familiar to me along here. What're you laughing at, Elmer? Has Toby led
us the wrong way?"
"Rats!" exclaimed that worthy, bristling up in indignation. "Don't you
suppose I know what I'm about? Of course this is the right way to the
road, ain't it, Elmer?"
"You might get there, if you kept on long enough!" admitted the other.
"But how far would we have to go?" demanded the incredulous Nat.
"Oh, about twenty-five thousand miles, more or less," chuckled Elmer.
"Gee, he's turned right around and is heading _away_ from the road,
that's what," declared Nat, laughing softly. "A nice guide you'd be,
Toby, old chum. Think of us floundering deeper and deeper into these
blessed old woods, when every minute is worth a heap to us right now!"
"But what did you let me do it for, Elmer?" complained the culprit.
"Well, you started off as if you wanted to show us what you know about
woodcraft; and I thought the chance to open your eyes a little too good
to be lost," Elmer replied.
"But we've wasted time by it," declared Toby, feeling disheartened.
"Only a minute or two, and that doesn't count much beside the lesson it
may be to a couple of scouts I know," said Elmer.
"Tell us just how you know which way the road lies," said Nat.
"Oh, that is as easy as falling off a log," came the crushing reply. "I
just kept my eyes about me when we were coming in, and noted that we
were moving due east at the time, with the breeze exactly on our right,
and you remember it was coming out of the south a bit ago. If it had
been daylight I'd have known the points of the compass from the
direction of the sun; or, that failing, by the moss that nearly always
grows on the north side of the trunks of forest trees. There are many
ways for a wide-awake boy to find out these things; but only when he
keeps his wits about him _all_ the time, and his eyes and ears open."
"I guess you're right, Elmer," grunted Toby. "Time I woke up and began
to do some tall thinking, if ever I'm going to get out of the greenhorn
class."
While the three were talking after this fashion, in low, cautious tones,
Elmer had been leading the way in a confident fashion through the gloomy
woods.
Both the others were now more than a little curious to ascertain just
how near the point where they had left Lil Artha their guide would fetch
up. So far as they themselves were concerned it was by this time all a
confused jumble. If asked to point out the proper direction neither
could have done better than shut his eyes and thrust out a hand at
random; for they were very much turned around, now that the clouds had
rendered it impossible for them to even decide which direction was west.
"Well, I declare!" ejaculated Toby, presently, "here's the bally old
road, as sure as you're born, Nat!"
"Elmer!" said a low voice, as some object moved near by.
"And better still, here's Lil Artha!" declared Nat, lost in wonder as to
how Elmer could have done such a remarkable stunt, and with hardly an
effort, too.
"Sure," came in the same low tone. "Where else should he be but here
just where you left him? But say, Elmer, you were gone a long time."
"Not a bit over five or six minutes," replied the leader, immediately;
"and even then, we've had quite a lesson in woodcraft. Besides, Felix is
half an hour behind, and there's little danger of his catching up, yet
awhile."
"Do we start on again now?" asked Nat, who was opening and shutting his
hands nervously in a way that might have excited the scout leader's
suspicions had he been able to notice the movement.
"Yes, we're going to set the stage now for the last little scene in this
act of the drama entitled the Great Hike Conspiracy," chuckled Elmer.
"That sounds good to me," murmured Nat.
"Go on, Elmer, and tell us just what you want us all to do," urged Lil
Artha.
"First of all, you are to start on again, just as before, Lil Artha."
"Yes, I get that all right," replied the tall lad.
"And the rest of us will shadow you," Elmer continued.
"I don't quite understand what you mean, Elmer; will you keep a certain
distance behind me all the time?" Lil Artha asked.
"You can make up your mind that we'll be close enough every minute to
hear you whistle steadily as you trudge along," came the reassuring
reply.
"And that means you'll get on to what they say to me when they show
their hand: eh, Elmer?"
"Just what it does, Lil Artha," the leader answered.
"Fact is, I want to hear that little dialogue or conversation the worst
way. Because, you see, we may have to repeat this story a few times
later on, and we'd like to be able to have it all down pat."
"Well, what happens then after they show their teeth?" questioned the
tall boy.
"You make up your mind which one of the lot you like best, and hang on
to him with tooth and nail, as if you thought he was your long-lost
brother. Get that, Lil Artha?" Elmer continued.
"I understand," came the reply. "You want me to count for one hold-up,
so as to leave the other three to you fellows?"
"Well, you wouldn't be greedy, would you, and cheat us out of all the
fun, after we've come all this long way, and risked breaking out necks
time and time again?" remarked Nat, reproachfully.
"He understands, Nat," remarked Elmer, pouring oil on the troubled
waters as he frequently did when little frictions arose in the khaki
troop. "And there's no need of wasting any more time. Be off, Lil Artha,
and success to you."
"Same here, fellows," came the merry reply; "and more power to your
elbow, Nat"; from which last remark it was very evident that Lil Artha
knew full well the impulsive character of the Scott boy, and how his
desire to engage in "scraps" had not as yet been wholly tamed down by
his becoming a scout in good standing.
Nat's father was the principal of the public schools in Hickory Ridge;
and from the time that Nat started to attend he had possibly given the
professor as much trouble as any lad in the whole town. Not that Nat was
naturally bad, but his quick temper, and readiness to use his fists to
settle argument, had drawn him into innumerable scrapes.
Accordingly, Lil Artha once more started along the darkening road,
swinging out with those long strides which his length made possible.
Elmer calculated to a nicety just how far they ought to allow their chum
to get before starting to follow. It was important that they should be
concealed from the eyes of the four in ambush; and yet, on the other
hand, he did not want to drop back to such a distance that they might be
cheated out of hearing what happened when the surprise came.
In order to maintain a certain distance in the rear he had instructed
the one ahead to keep up a steady whistle. Lil Artha was known to be a
whistler, and often amused his chums by his accomplishment in this line.
It was a gift, such as an occasional boy finds himself in possession of.
And more than once had Elmer told his friend that he would make a good
woodsman if only he turned his talent toward imitating the various clear
sweet notes of wild birds.
They could hear him easily now, and Elmer fixed the sound in his mind.
As he had cautioned Lil Artha to keep up a steady flow, it would become
apparent that they were either diminishing the distance or adding to it,
if that whistle became louder or softer in volume.
Five minutes passed.
Elmer caught a big sigh close beside him, which he knew must proceed
from the impetuous Nat. Doubtless every sixty seconds that dragged by
seemed like an age to the Scott boy; who fancied that after all their
trouble perhaps they were going to be cheated out of their fun, and that
the plotters had weakened at the last round.
Not so Elmer, who estimated things at their true value, and not by the
rapid pulsations of an excited heart.
"Cheer up, Nat," he whispered in the ear of the other; "it's going to
come pretty soon now."
"Oh, I hope so!" sighed the one who loved action above all things.
"He's stopped whistling, Elmer!" whispered Toby, excitedly.
"No, there he starts again," replied the leader, who in truth suspected
what the little break in Lil Artha's melody might signify.
Possibly he had caught some suspicious rustling sound, and unconsciously
held his breath for just five seconds in order to listen better.
Was it a false alarm, or would the music begin immediately? Warned by
this suggestive hint, Elmer waited, fully expecting to hear a loud voice
suddenly break forth from some point ahead. Since this was not "Out
West" where lawless desperadoes held sway, it would hardly come in a
hoarse demand to "throw up your hands," but in some milder fashion.
And presently Elmer realized that his guess had hit the mark. The
whistle suddenly ceased. Then they heard a voice call out in the most
familiar way possible:
"Hello, there, Lil Artha! Hold up a bit, won't you?"