ALBERT, WHO WASN'T ALBERT
'You know who it is?' cried Dick. 'Well, who?'
'It's Albert,' said Chippy. 'It ain't no convict at all. It's Albert.'
'Who's Albert?' asked Dick.
Chippy told the story of his grandmother's lodger, and pointed to the
heel-mark before them. It was the first time since they hit the trail
that the heel-mark had been clearly shown. 'Screws in the heel-tip,'
said Chippy. 'That settles it. It's Albert.'
'But wait a bit, Chippy, wait a bit,' said Dick. 'You're making jolly
sure all at once over this one point. Fifty fellows might have screws
in their heels.'
'Not they,' returned Chippy. 'I know more about them sorts o' boots
than wot you do. It's a scout's job to twig everythin', an' I twigged
the screws in his boots. I knowed they worn't common, an' a day or two
arter I asked a snob' (a local term for a cobbler) 'about it. I done
one or two odd jobs for 'im to get 'im to talk, and then I sez to 'im,
"D'yer ever screw tips on heels?" "No," he sez, "never. We screw tips
on the toes sometimes, for there ain't much depth o' leather theer.
But on heels there's plenty of leather to drive nails into, an' that's
a lot quicker."'
'By Jingo, Chippy!' murmured Dick; 'we shall have to get you the Wolf
badge.'
'Not me,' grunted Chippy; 'yer must do a lot more than that to get the
"Wolf" name, I should fancy. But wot about this work? Wot about
Albert?'
He turned to business again, knitting his brows and staring hard at the
track their man had left.
'The thing gets queerer still, if it is the man Albert,' said Dick.
'Why should he be here, all this distance from Locking?'
'Six mile good,' put in the Raven.
'Yes,' went on Dick, 'full six miles, and then taking off his boots and
stealing about like a thief or an escaped convict, as we thought.'
'Foller 'im up,' said Chippy shortly.
'Right,' said Dick, 'we'll see this out;' and the scouts began once
more to work along the trail.
For more than half a mile they followed quite easily. There were many
bare patches among the grass, and the heavy shower which had fallen at
midday proved a good friend to them, the damp soil giving many
excellent impressions of the heavy steps of the man whom they pursued.
The boys had now gained a very lonely part of the heath, for the
fugitive appeared to be making for the most secluded corner of the vast
expanse. They had been steadily working away from the part where the
patrols had been searching, and the distance between them and the
rendezvous at the railway-station increased with every stride.
Chippy was leading, and Dick was guarding the rear. The former looked
out the track, the latter watched before and behind and on either side:
by sharing the duties thus they covered the whole field of a scout's
work--the finding of the trail and the guarding against surprise.
Looking out in this fashion, Dick saw a crow come sailing on outspread
wings, down, down from a great height. The crow was skimming straight
towards a small solitary pine sixty or seventy yards before them, as if
aiming to settle among the topmost branches; but just as it was about
to alight, it gave a startled, gobbling quaw-quaw-quaw, flapped its
wings swiftly, and shot away at a sharp angle, and continued its flight
across the heath.
Dick reached out his patrol flag and touched Chippy. The latter
paused, and the two scouts put their heads together while Dick
whispered what he had seen. 'There's someone about,' concluded Dick.
'The bird was going to settle, but it was scared and flew away.'
'S'pose I 'ave a look?' suggested Chippy.
'All right,' said Dick. 'I'll stay here. One can work more quietly
than two.'
Chippy went, and within ten minutes was back, his face shining with
excitement and triumph.
'Albert,' he whispered--'it's Albert aw' right. Come on!' He crept
away on hands and knees, and Dick followed. Piloted by Chippy, the
latter crawled along until he found himself behind a small bank about a
yard high.
'Yer can see 'im over this bank,' breathed Chippy into his ear.
Laying his hat aside, Dick raised his head inch by inch until his eyes
were above the bank. Now he could see between stems of dried fern
without being seen himself. He was looking into a deep green hollow,
bounded upon one side by an almost perpendicular wall of earth--a place
from which most likely sand had been dug a long time ago. At the foot
of the steep wall sat a man--the man whom they had been following. He
had a pencil in his hand, and a pocket-book on his knee, and he was
busily writing on a sheet of the pocket-book.
All this seemed innocent enough, but at the next moment the boys
looking on were filled with wonder. Albert suddenly laid down pencil
and pocket-book, bent forward, unlaced his left boot, and took it off.
Then he drew something from his pocket, and went to work on the heel of
his boot. The boys were not near enough to see what tool he was using,
but his movements were those of one who draws out screws, and they
clearly saw the heel of the boot come loose and fall into his hand.
Chippy gave his companion a nudge, and they looked at each other in
astonishment. Then they watched Albert closely, and saw him fold into
small compass the piece of paper upon which he had been writing, place
it inside the heel, and screw the latter up again.
An idea shot into Dick's mind. If he had never been a boy scout, that
idea would not have occurred to him; but in his enthusiasm he had
bought Baden-Powell's 'Aids to Scouting,' and read it over and over
again. One chapter in that little book now sprang to his memory, and
he touched Chippy, and beckoned to the latter to draw back completely
out of sight.
They slipped eight or ten yards away, and put their heads close
together and held a whispered conversation.
Dick's eyes shone brightly, and he took Chippy by the arm. 'Chippy,'
he said, 'I believe that's a spy!'
Chippy's sharp face wore a puzzled look. 'A spy!' he repeated. 'Wot's
he a-spyin' on in the he'th?'
'The fort, Chippy--the fort!' breathed Dick eagerly--'the Horseshoe,
the new fort!'
'Ah!' said the Raven, and began to see what his companion meant.
'I've read all about it in a book of B.-P.'s,' went on Dick.
'Foreigners will do anything to learn about a new fort. They send
spies to find out all they can. He's taking notes of all he discovers,
and hiding the papers in the heel of his boot.'
Chippy gave an eager nod. His keen face lighted up at this new and
wonderful turn of events. A spy! a foreign spy! He felt at once that
here was greater game than any escaped convict.
'That's why he dodged the sergeant,' breathed Chippy.
'Yes; it's plainer and plainer every instant,' said Dick.
Chippy nodded. 'Wot do we do?' he asked.
'We must stop him, somehow,' replied Dick. 'He might do the greatest
harm to our country. It's a scout's work to collar such people. B.-P.
himself has caught four foreign spies at different times in England.'
Chippy jerked his head towards the bank, and began to crawl back. Dick
understood that he was going to see what the man was at now, and
followed.
Albert still sat under the steep bank, pencil in hand, and a fresh
sheet of paper on his knee. Chippy nudged Dick, and made signs to him
to duck down, as Bardon boys say.
'I'm off to get a bit closer and see wot he's a-doin',' breathed
Chippy. 'Stop 'ere an' "pewey" if he shifts.'
Dick nodded, and Chippy slid away as quietly as a snake.
Six or seven minutes passed before Dick saw his companion again. Then
he caught sight of the Raven's head as Chippy appeared round the trunk
of the pine which grew on the steep bank of the pit.
Little by little Chippy crept on, until his head was thrust over the
brink, and he was looking straight down on the concealed man, the
latter now drawing lines on his sheet of paper. His head was bent low
over his work, and Chippy craned out farther and farther to glance over
his shoulder. The man sat up and began to fold this paper as before,
then reached out his hand for the boot which lay beside him, and deftly
unscrewed the heel once more. As soon as the paper was stowed away and
the heel refastened, he took the boot in hand to put it on his foot.
Suddenly he looked up. Either he had caught Chippy's shadow, or he had
felt that he was watched. He looked up, and saw the boy hanging over
the brink.
Chippy's main purchase was on a root of gorse which cropped up at the
edge of the pit. He aimed to swing himself back with all his might,
depending on his grasp of the root. The root snapped short off close
to the ground, and Chippy went tumbling and sprawling head-long into
the pit, landing at the man's feet.