PREPARING AN AMBUSH
"Say, you came as quietly as a shadow," whispered the plump youth. "How
do you ever do it?"
"You don't expect me to blow a whistle under the circumstances, do you?"
asked Bob.
"Never mind that, but tell us what you heard," said Joe impatiently.
"What are they up to, Bob?"
"I can't tell you until I compare what I copied down with the code key,"
said Bob, as he fished in his pocket for the bit of paper on which he
had noted down the robber's message. Having found this, he and Joe
searched through the key and soon had the following message pieced
together:
"Truck--silk--Barberton Road--to-night. Meet me and others--Hicks
Bridge--eight o'clock. Truck due--ten o'clock."
Having deciphered the message, the boys gazed questioningly at one
another.
"That doesn't give us much time to act," said Joe. "If we wait here it
may be close to eight o'clock before the others come to relieve us, and
then it will be too late to prevent the robbery."
"The answer is, that we won't wait here," said Bob decisively. "As long
as we know their plans up until this evening, there's no need of
watching this cabin any longer, anyway. We'd better start back right
away, and tell Mr. Brandon what we've found out. He'll know the best
thing to do then."
"That sounds all right to me," said Joe, and as Jimmy saw a chance of
getting back to camp in time for dinner, he put in no objections.
"Now, for the love of butter, try to go quietly, Jimmy," warned Bob. "If
those fellows hear a sound from this direction, they'll be right after
us, because their suspicions are already aroused."
"I'll do the best I can," promised his rotund friend. "But I'm heavier
than you fellows, and I can't slide around so easily."
"Well, go easy, anyway," said Bob. "Now, are we all ready?"
With infinite caution the boys wormed their way through the brushwood,
Bob leading. By luck rather than good management Jimmy managed to be as
quiet as his friends, and after almost an hour of this slow progress Bob
judged that they were far enough away from the cabin to risk a faster
pace. The shack was out of sight among the trees when he sprang to his
feet, followed by the others, and in a short time they had reached the
path leading to the main road. Here it was still necessary to be
extremely careful, for they never knew at what moment some turn in the
path would bring them face to face with some of the robber band.
Fortunately nothing of the kind happened, and soon they reached the main
road and started at high speed for camp.
"I wonder if we can't take some sort of a short cut," came from Joe as
they raced along.
"That's the talk," puffed poor Jimmy, who had great difficulty in
keeping up with his chums. "The shorter the better."
"We won't dare risk it," returned Bob. "Why we might get lost."
"Who's afraid of getting lost?"
"We are, for we might lose too much time and all our plans would go to
smash. No, we've got to stick to the main road."
"How much further have we to go?"
"I don't know."
"We've got to chase along until we reach camp," put in Joe. "Hustle now,
every minute may be precious."
"I can't hustle any more than I am hustling," panted poor Jimmy. "Do you
want me to drop down of heart failure or something like that?"
"Maybe we'd better go along and leave Jimmy behind," suggested Joe, with
a wink at Bob.
"Not much," cried the stout youth, and after that did his best to keep
up with the others.
Not a great while later they came in sight of camp, much to their
relief.
Mr. Brandon was astonished to see them back so soon, but as briefly as
possible Bob told him of what they had learned and showed him the code
message.
"You fellows have done a clever bit of detective work, and with
reasonable luck it ought to be possible to bag the whole gang to-night,"
said Brandon. "I know where Hicks Bridge is. It's about five miles this
side of Barberton, and an ideal place for an ambuscade. The road runs
between high banks just before it gets to the bridge, and some of the
gang posted on those banks could command the road from either direction.
But I'll get in communication with the chief of police of Barberton, and
we'll see if we can't catch the thieves in their own trap."
"I suppose the two men you were expecting haven't arrived yet, have
they?" inquired Bob.
"No. And I'm afraid we won't be able to wait for them, either," said
Brandon. "I could radio to the Barberton chief, but I'm afraid the
message might be intercepted by the crooks, if one of them happened to
be listening. I guess it will be better to go by way of my automobile,
although I hate to lose the time that it will take."
"Isn't there a telephone line from the camp?" suggested Joe.
"No, unfortunately, one hasn't been installed yet," replied the
inspector. "But we can do the trick with the car if we start right away.
I suppose there's no need of asking if you fellows would like to come
with me?"
"None whatever," answered Bob, grinning. "Just give us a chance to go in
and snatch a little grub off the table, and we'll eat it on the way."
Frank Brandon nodded, and the three boys dashed into the mess hall and
caught up anything in the way of eatables that came nearest to hand,
Jimmy, of course, specializing on his favorite doughnuts. Then they
hurried out, and found Mr. Brandon waiting for them, with the motor
running. After a short search they found Herb fast asleep in his bunk,
and roused him unceremoniously, hustling him out before he was fairly
awake.
"What's it all about?" he questioned, rubbing his eyes. "Has the camp
caught fire, or do you just want to borrow some money from me?"
"Never mind the funny business now, we'll tell you all about it while
we're traveling," said Bob, as they reached the automobile. "In you go,
Herb."
Before they could find seats Mr. Brandon had let in the clutch, and the
car started with a jerk that landed them in a heap on the cushions.
Regardless of the rough road, he kept picking up speed, and soon it was
all they could do to stay in the car at all. Barberton was about thirty
miles from the camp, and to reach it they had to cross Hicks Bridge. All
looked calm and peaceful just then, and it was hard to believe that in a
few short hours a desperate fight might be raging between the high banks
that flanked the road. The bridge was some two hundred feet long, and
passed over a deep cut between two hills. In spite of its present
peaceful appearance it was easy to see that the place would be an ideal
one to perpetrate such a crime as the robbers contemplated, and after
they had passed over the bridge Mr. Brandon opened the throttle wider in
his impatience to reach Barberton.
They slowed down to go through the streets of the town, and as they drew
up in front of the police station, Brandon shut off his motor and leaped
to the sidewalk.
"Come on in, boys, and we'll tell the chief about the little party
scheduled for this evening," he said, and the boys followed him into the
police station.
Fortunately the chief of police, Mr. Durand, was in, and he greeted Mr.
Brandon with a heartiness that showed they were old friends.
After they had shaken hands, Brandon introduced the radio boys, and then
proceeded to acquaint the chief with the details of the plot they had
discovered. As Mr. Durand listened a dark frown gathered between his
bushy eyebrows, and his fingers drummed angrily on the table before him.
When Mr. Brandon had finished, the chief jumped to his feet and strode
fiercely up and down the room.
"This won't be the first trouble we've had with those rascals!" he
exclaimed wrathfully. "Members of the same gang have held up and robbed
stores in this town, and we have two of them doing their bit in jail
right now. And if we have any luck to-night we'll have the whole gang
under lock and key before the morning. These young fellows must have
been right on the job from start to finish, Frank."
"Yes, I guess they were," replied Brandon. "If we land this gang, we'll
have them to thank for it. But now what are your plans for capturing the
crooks?"
For answer the chief pressed a button, and a capable looking police
lieutenant appeared.
"Get together ten of our best men," he directed, "and put them into two
automobiles. When they are ready to start, report to me."
The lieutenant saluted, and left the room.
"According to the code message, the robbers won't be at Hicks Bridge
much before eight o'clock, which is after dark these days," said the
chief. "We'll get there a lot earlier than that, and I'll conceal my men
in the woods. Then I'll leave orders here to stop the motor truck as it
comes through, and replace its crew with a few picked men from my force.
When the robbers try to hold up that truck, they'll have a big surprise
in store for them."
"It might be a good plan," suggested Bob, "to mount a searchlight or two
on the motor truck. At the right minute you could turn these on the
crooks, and while it would confuse them, it would give your men in the
woods a big advantage, as they'd be able to see the hold-up men plainly
without being seen themselves."
"Young man, that's a first-rate suggestion!" exclaimed the chief, eyeing
him appraisingly, "and you can believe we'll take advantage of it. I'll
commandeer a couple from the Electric Light Company in readiness to
mount on the truck when it comes along. I wish we could persuade you and
your friends to join the Barberton police force."
"We'll be pretty nearly a part of it until those crooks are captured, if
you'll let us," said Bob. "We all want to be in at the finish."
"It will be a dangerous business, and bullets may fly thick," the chief
warned him. "You fellows have done more than your full duty already, and
we can hardly call on you to do any more."
"Just the same, we'll come along if you don't mind," insisted Bob.
"Oh, I'll be very glad to have you, as far as I'm concerned," said Mr.
Durand. "I suppose you'll want to be in on it, too, Frank?"
"You're dead right," Brandon assured him emphatically. "I've gone too
far with this to want to drop out now."
At this point the lieutenant appeared and reported that the men were in
the automobiles, ready to start. Picking up the telephone, the chief
ordered his own car. He invited Mr. Brandon and the radio boys to ride
with him.
"You can leave your car in the police garage, Frank," he said, and
Brandon was not slow in availing himself of this offer. In a short time
he returned, and the three automobiles started for the scene of the
projected hold-up, the chief's car leading and the other two following
close behind.