RUN DOWN.
Straight across the floor of the shack glided the woman.
She was making a bee line for the string of beads with the little silver
cross at the double end.
And the hidden scout could hear the low words of musical Italian flowing
from her lips when she reached out an eager hand to seize upon the
sacred article.
Now was his time.
The critical moment had arrived when he must proceed to spring his trap.
As silently as he could, then, Elmer arose to his feet. He was behind
the woman and could never bring himself to believe that he had made even
the slightest sound when rising.
Then the only explanation left was that the woman happened to be in
front of the broken looking glass at the moment, bent on fastening the
beads about her thick neck. And if so, she must have discovered him as
he arose from behind the big box.
At any rate she uttered a cry that to his mind was not unlike the snarl
of a wild beast. He saw the almost savage look that came over her
swarthy face, and knew that after all, such a woman was fully as much to
be feared as the stoutest ladrone.
And so Elmer did not think it was unworthy of a true scout to send out
the call for help.
The woman might be disposed to defy just one half-grown lad, whereas if
she believed herself to be up against the whole troop she would submit
with the best grace she could command.
And so he blew a shrill blast that must bring both Mark and Lil Artha
dashing to the spot.
The effect upon the woman was rather surprising.
Perhaps Elmer might have expected seeing her cower down, seized with a
sudden overwhelming fear, but nothing of the kind occurred.
To his surprise she snatched out a wicked-looking knife from the bosom
of her dress. It looked to Elmer like a broken kitchen knife that had
been ground down to a point. With such a blade he remembered seeing the
Italian women from the settlement just outside Hickory Ridge wandering
around in the early spring, digging dandelion plants for "greens."
He could hear the rush of approaching footsteps even as the woman sprang
for the door with a wild look on her face.
The other two scouts had of course caught his shrill signal, and were
hastening to join their leader.
Undoubtedly both Mark and Lil Artha must have seen the woman, if not
while she was looking in at the window, then when she turned the corner
of the hidden shack to enter by the door.
And hence they would surely understand that there was no man opposed to
their combined force.
The fact of the woman being armed with so terrible a weapon as a knife,
and that look of grim determination on her dark face, alarmed Elmer.
What if she attacked the two scouts--what if in her sudden panic she
wounded either of his chums? There could be no telling what a
fear-crazed, ignorant woman, strong as an ox, and almost as
irresponsible, might do in an emergency like this.
Of course he would have only been too well pleased could he have shown
the woman that it was all a mistake, and that they meant her no ill.
But with her brandishing that wicked-looking knife and leaping for the
door, there was certainly no opportunity for argument.
Elmer sprang forward.
His main idea was to try and knock that blade from her grasp by striking
sharply on her arm or her knuckles.
At the same time he thought to warn the other scouts, so that they might
take due precautions when suddenly brought face to face with the Italian
woman who was running amuck.
Perhaps when they heard him shout they would just naturally believe he
was being hard pressed. And in that case, instead of deterring them, his
cries would only further spur the others on.
Nevertheless Elmer lifted his voice in warning:
"Look out, boys! She's got a knife, and is coming out at you! Take care
there!"
Just then something happened.
The woman had not turned her head as Elmer thus gave tongue, as might a
hound on the warm trail of the fox.
She kept straight on. The door was before her, and while she had drawn
it shut after entering, it has been mentioned before that she made no
attempt to fasten the same.
So now, when she hurled her whole weight against the barrier it flew
outward with a jump.
As luck would have it, the two scouts had managed to reach the door at
exactly the same time. And that second chanced to be the identical one
when the frightened foreigner crashed into the door.
There could only be one result, and that filled with bitterness and woe
to both Lil Artha and Mark. As the uncouth door was thrown suddenly
outward, as if forced by a battering ram from within, it struck the
scouts a tremendous blow.
They crumpled up and went over. A couple of ten-pins struck by a swiftly
hurled ball could hardly have collapsed more ingloriously than did Lil
Artha and his mate.
Indeed, the long-legged scout seemed to perform a complete revolution in
the air, landing on his knees among the bushes.
Two seconds later, when Elmer dashed out of the shack, this was the
astonishing spectacle he saw--the woman running away as best her bulk
allowed, casting glances that were half frightened, half triumphant,
behind her; while Mark was sitting up, rubbing a bump on his forehead
ruefully, and Lil Artha had taken out a handkerchief to dab at his
bleeding nose.
Still, nothing short of an earthquake could ever bottle up the flow of
animal spirits that usually possessed the lanky one.
While he applied his handkerchief until it looked particularly gory, he
was bent upon giving expression to his views.
"Wow! and again I say, wow! What cyclone was that we ran up against,
Elmer? Did you let fly with that club of yours, or did the old shack
just take a notion to fall over on us? It felt like I was being kicked
by an army mule."
"Same here, Elmer," lamented Mark, as he succeeded in struggling to his
feet.
"Well, it wasn't anything like that at all," declared Elmer, hastily;
"and if you take the trouble to look yonder, before your eyes begin to
close up, you'll see what hit you, running away like a scared
hippopotamus."
"Glory be! Was it that dago woman?" yelled Lil Artha, now on his feet
again.
"Yes, she burst the door open when she saw me, and as you chanced to be
in the way, why, you got the benefit, that's all," Elmer remarked.
"Don't let her get away, fellows! Come on, who's afraid? We can cover
three feet to her one. Let's make her a prisoner," shouted Lil Artha,
whose usually even temper seemed to have been decidedly ruffled by his
recent mishap.
So the three scouts left the shack and began to rush after the fleeing
Italian woman.
Of course she knew immediately that she was being pursued. She tried to
increase her pace, but evidently with little success. Short, dumpy
people can never hope to compete with slim, long-legged greyhounds like
Lil Artha.
And so, almost from the start, the three scouts began to close in upon
the fleeing Italian woman.
"Say, she's got a bloody old knife," gasped Lil Artha, as they struggled
on through the woods where the creeping vines and the underbrush, not to
mention frequent logs and occasional woodchuck holes, made running a
desperate business.
"That's so, Elmer," piped up Mark, "I saw her shake it at us then."
"I know it, fellows," said the scout master, "and that's what I was
shouting about, to warn you."
"Are we gaining any, Elmer? I can't see just as well as I'd like, with
this thing up to my nose," the lanky runner asked.
"Pulling up on her fast, my boy," came the reassuring answer.
"And what're we goin' to do when she turns on us?" demanded Lil Artha.
"First of all, surround her."
"That sounds good as far as she goes. What next?"
"We must try and knock that nasty thing out of her hand by a sharp blow
on the arm," continued Elmer, who strangely enough seemed as cool as a
cucumber, while both of his companions showed the effect of the mad
pace.
"I tumble to it, Elmer," gasped Lil Artha, "and I'm the fellow to give
that lovely little tap. I made Red drop his stick seven times when we
were having a bout with long sticks, and which we pretended were the
old-style quarterstaves."
Even the long-legged Lil Artha must see now that the distance separating
the pursuers from the fugitive had been greatly shortened. Another five
minutes would see them overhaul the woman, unless something not down on
the bills came to pass.
Five minutes--why there would surely be ample time to bring this result
about, judging by the way they were covering two yards to her one.
The woman knew it, too.
She was becoming more and more anxious. This was shown by the way she
kept turning her head from time to time as she ran.
Elmer knew what was apt to happen. For himself he found that he had
need of both his eyes with every step forward he took through that
tangle, where trailing vines lay in wait to trip him up, and branches
hung low as if seeking to catch in his hair, to make him another
Absalom.
Already had Lil Artha gone down with a thud, but as he said himself, his
"dander" was aroused, and no little things like this could be allowed to
interfere with his pursuit.
So he had hastily scrambled to his feet and followed at the heels of his
more fortunate chums, a sight calculated to excite wild laughter among
the rest of the troop, with his blood-flecked face.
At any rate Lil Artha was game to the backbone, and Elmer often
remembered it afterward when "trying out" his scouts.
The closer they drew to the fleeing woman the greater her fright seemed
to become.
Whenever he saw her looking backward over her shoulder Elmer would make
pantomime gestures with his free hand.
He was trying the best he knew how to tell her to give over this foolish
flight, and that they had no hostile intentions.
But the chances were she interpreted these movements just the other way,
and believed he must be threatening her with all sorts of terrible
things unless she yielded herself a prisoner to their prowess.
Well, no matter, it could hardly last more than another minute or so. Do
what she would the woman must find it utterly impossible to get away.
Already the active mind of the young scout master was busy, weaving a
clever scheme by means of which they could surround the woman, and by
attacking her all at once, succeed in knocking the shining knife out of
her hand.
No doubt he would have succeeded in doing the job, too, had conditions
continued to make such a move necessary.
But they did not.
The fickle hand of Fate came in between just in time to share in the
matter.
It seemed to Elmer that they were constantly getting into a more tangled
mess of undergrowth. All around and ahead were traps calculated to slyly
catch unwary feet and trip them up.
Suddenly Elmer gave vent to a low gasping cry; but while Mark
involuntarily turned his head to learn if his companion had gone lame,
to his surprise and gratification he found the other running as smoothly
and easily as ever, as though perfectly fresh.
"The woman!" shrieked Lil Artha, who, apparently, from his position in
the rear had been enabled to see just what had happened.
"Where--is--she?" gasped Mark, once more allowing his eyes to travel
ahead.
For, apparently, the fleeing Italian had vanished at that instant, as
completely as though the earth had opened and swallowed her up.
"She's down--caught her foot in a root!" cried Elmer, not slackening his
warm pace, for he wanted to make a quick job of the thing.
Then Mark saw that some object was threshing the bushes furiously. Twice
the woman tried to rise, but on each occasion she fell back again.
Then presently he gave a shout as he guessed the true situation.
"She's caught fast in a vine, Elmer. Even the woods work with us! I tell
you she's a prisoner right now! All we've got to do is to tie her
hands!"
"But look out for that dandelion knife, boys," warned Elmer, as the
three of them reached the spot.