LAYING PLANS
"Did you see him yourself, Colon, or did some one tell you?" Fred
inquired calmly, although he rubbed his forehead, as though bothered a
little by this latest news.
"Well, you know strangers don't come to town in droves these days, and so
when I happened to set eyes on a party I didn't recognize, who had just
been talking with Hi Jimmerson, the livery stable man, I asked him who it
was. Don't know just why that bumped into my head, but I had an errand
with Hi, anyhow, you understand."
"And he told you it was Corny Ludson, did he?" asked Fred.
"Yes, that's what he did," came the ready reply. "It seems he used to
know the man over in New Brunswick years ago. If you and Bristles had
run across Hi when you were trying to find out something about Corny,
you'd have struck a gold mine. He told me a lot of queer things about
him, and none of 'em that were to his credit, either."
"What did Corny want with the livery man?" asked Fred.
"Oh! tried to strike him for a little loan on account of old times," the
other replied. "Said he'd been up against it harder than flint, and had
a couple of kids to feed, left to him by his brother. Hi is an easy
mark, you know, with a great big heart, and he staked Corny to the extent
of a dollar, though he did tell him money was scarce, and that would be
the limit."
Fred seemed to be pondering, for he was somewhat slow about speaking
again.
"Well, it may be we've been wronging Corny by making up our minds he
stole that stuff from old Mr. Periwinkle," he finally went on to say,
"though the miser did tell us he would recognize the tin box among a
thousand. I hardly know what we ought to do about this thing."
"If you told the Chief all you know, what d'ye reckon he'd do?" inquired
Colon.
"He's such a peppery and ready-to-act little chap," answered Fred, "that
I'm of the opinion he'd round Corny up in a rush. That might turn out to
be the right thing. And again there's a chance it'd play him a mean
trick. What if he were innocent after all? We'd feel that we'd done him
a great wrong."
This thought worked upon Colon's mind at once, for he had a very tender
heart.
"Yes," he added, reflectively. "And then, how about that boy and girl?
Like as not they're in some place out of town, right now, depending on
their uncle to fetch home the bacon. They'd have to go hungry a long
time if Corny were locked up in the cooler. I'd hate to think of that
same happening, from what you and Bristles told me about the poor kids."
"That leaves us up in the air, you see," pursued Fred. "We don't know
what our duty is---to tell the Chief, or wait to see what happens."
"Now, by that I reckon you mean wait and see if anything is pulled off
again in town, or around here?" suggested Colon; "that is, in the way of
a robbery like old Mr. Periwinkle's loss of his money and papers. Whew!
I must say it's getting interesting all of a sudden."
"I was wondering," Fred ventured, "if Corny, provided he did rob the old
miser, and has spent the small sum of money that was taken, could have
heard that Mr. Periwinkle has said he'd pay a certain sum, and no
questions asked, for the safe return of his papers!"
At that Colon puckered up his thin lips, and emitted a soft whistle, as
if to thus display his surprise.
"Queer I never thought of that idea, Fred," he said, nodding his head in
a way to indicate that on the whole he was inclined to agree with what
his companion had advanced.
"It's always possible, you know," he was told. "If only the papers could
be returned without Corny showing his face! Now, he may have some sort
of a plan like that to play, which would account for his coming to town
again. I wonder if it'd be the right thing for me to see Mr. Periwinkle,
and kind of put him on his guard?"
"Could you do it without telling him all about Corny?" demanded Colon.
"That's the question," admitted Fred. "That's where the hitch seems to
come in the scheme. The old miser is apt to jump at conclusions, if he
sees a chance to get his papers back, and bag the thief at the same time.
Once he suspects that I know who was in that cave where the empty tin
cracker box was found, he'll insist on sending for Chief Sutton, and
laying some sort of clever trap."
"Well, if Corny is really guilty, he ought to suffer for it; and I
wouldn't care a single pin only for that boy and girl. If we knew where
they were kept right now, so we could bring 'em into town, and get folks
interested in putting both in good families, I'd say go ahead and have
Corny caught."
"I wonder what Bristles would say about it," mused Fred.
"Huh! I c'n tell you that," grunted the tall boy, immediately.
"Then suppose you do, Colon."
"Bristles," continued the other, confidently, "would hunch his shoulders
this way, as he nearly always does, and then he'd say: whatever you think
is the right caper, Fred, count me in. I'm ready to sneeze every time
you take snuff!' That's the way Bristles would talk, mark my words."
Fred laughed. He could not help feeling flattered at such an evidence of
confidence on the part of these two chums; yet he feigned to disagree
with Colon.
"I don't know about that, Colon, Bristles has a mind of his own, and
sometimes it takes a lot of argument to convince him. You've got to
batter down his walls, and knock all the props out from under him before
he'll throw up the white flag. If I get half a chance to run across lots
to-night, I'll try to see him. He ought to be put wise to what's going
on.
"That's only fair, Fred, because he was there when we struck that cave.
And if I remember aright, Bristles was the first to discover about Corny
having been the one who used that cooking fire."
"Don't pass the word around, Colon, mind," cautioned Fred.
"You didn't need to say that, my boy," remarked the other, with a vein of
reproach in his voice, "because you ought to know I'm not one of the
blabbing kind. I c'n keep a secret better'n anybody in our class. They
might pump me forever and never learn a thing."
"When was it you saw Corny?" Fred asked, as though desirous of obtaining
the fullest information possible.
"Why, just a little while ago," Colon confided. "Fact is, my first
thought was to look you up, and tell you. I went to your house first,
because your hours are a heap shorter than the regular scholars, at
school, and they said you'd gone off an hour before. And then, well, I
kind of guessed Flo Temple would be starting for home about this time,
and it might be you'd happen along to carry her hooks, as you always used
to. And I was right," with a sly glance at the little packet Fred had at
that very moment under his left arm.
"Oh that's all right, Colon," he remarked, laughingly; "just from force
of habit, you know. Flo kind of expects me to drop around, and seems
sort of disappointed when anything keeps me away. That's the way we
spoil our girl friends, you see. But let's speak of serious things. I
don't see that we're called on to inform about Corny, with only
circumstantial evidence against him. If there did happen to be another
robbery while we knew he was close by, of course then it would be another
thing. We just couldn't keep quiet any longer."
"That's what you've decided on, then, is it, Fred?"
"Yes, to hold off, and wait," he was told in a decisive way.
"All right then, and I want to say that I think you're playing safe in
the game. You're holding off on account of that pair of poor kids, I
know you are. Corny c'n thank them for being let alone. And Fred, seems
to me you're going on the policy of the old saying that tells you to give
a rascal rope enough, and he'll hang himself."
"If anything happens, I promise to go straight to Chief Sutton and put
him in possession of all the facts I know," affirmed Fred. "And in case
I'm not able to get over to Bristles' place to-night, I'll call him up on
the wire, and tell him how the case stands."
"You'll have to be careful what you say, then," remarked Colon, with a
grin; "if you happen to have any curious old maid on your party wire, as
we have."
"Well, it saves the cost of the weekly paper, you know," laughed Fred.
"But you can make sure, Colon, if I do talk with Bristles over the wire,
I'll fix things so no one could tell what it was all about, and yet he'll
understand what I mean."
"Say I wanted to tell you, Fred, about that same Corny," Colon observed,
taking hold of his chum's sleeve, as he thought he detected an uneasiness
about Fred's actions. Flo was looking their way, and frowning, as though
she considered that this mysterious consultation had gone on about long
enough, even if it did concern important plans for the coming Marathon
run.
"I'd be glad to hear it then, Colon," the tall boy was told.
"I didn't like his looks a little bit," Colon continued, seriously.
"By that style of talk I should imagine you thought he'd just as soon
steal from a miser as eat a square meal; is that what you mean?" Fred
demanded.
"He looks mean as dirt," the other went on to say. "There's a slick way
he's got of rubbing his hands together when he's talking, and looking up
from the tail of his eye, to see how you're taking his patter. Now, I'm
only a boy, and I don't make out to be able to read character any great
shakes, but, Fred, I'd be willing to eat my hat if that Corny isn't a bad
egg every time."
"Everybody seems to think the same way there," he was told, "and I've yet
to hear the first word in his favor. We'll consider that settled, then,
Colon. And if you get wind of anything being pulled off around Riverport
to-night, or later on, don't let the grass grow under your feet about
giving me a tip."
"You just bet I won't, Fred. But I hope there'll be some way of finding
out about that pair of kids. Somehow I seem to have cottoned to 'em just
from what you'nd our other chum told me, and without ever havin' set eyes
on either the boy or the girl that I know about. I'm meaning to sound my
ma about how it could be fixed, so they'd have decent homes, in case
anything happened."
"That sentiment does you credit, Colon, and I promise that when the time
comes, if it ever does, I'll back you up to the limit."
"Shake hands on that, Fred!" exclaimed impulsive Colon, and then and
there they exchanged a grip that cemented the bargain.
"I certainly do hope that finishes the wonderful consultation!" called
out a clear girlish voice, and Flo Temple came toward them, with a little
pout on her pretty red lips. "We've grown tired of standing here, and
waiting, while you laid out your great plan of campaign. I should think
there was plenty of time for all that between now and the day of the
Marathon race. And Fred, you forget you promised to walk out in the
woods with me, and see if the first wild flowers hadn't popped up. This
is the only chance I've had so far this week, and it'll be late before we
get fairly started."
Of course Fred declared that nothing stood in the way of their immediate
departure, and as Sid and Cissie had agreed to go along, it may be
assumed they had a merry time of it.