TO MR. ST. CLIVE'S
The man started to his feet, with an exclamation of mingled rage and
despair; while Charlton stood before his father, his arms outstretched,
as if he feared that Ralph would rush forward and seize him.
His face was very white, as he looked at the boy who had been his
friend and champion, and cried, in tones of misery and reproach--
"You! Oh, this is mean and cruel! I did not think that you would act
the spy and hunt us down. Let him go--let him go quietly; and, if you
want to harm any one, hurt me. I will not move, or cry out, no matter
how much you beat me--only let my poor father go, and do not tell any
one you have seen him."
Now, Ralph had been standing in silence, too surprised to say anything.
Despite what Mr. St. Clive had said, he had some sort of idea that this
man must, in some way, know of his father's disappearance, even if he
himself had no hand in it, just as he still thought that Charlton knew
more about the missing note than any one else, though that suspicion
was beginning to weaken considerably now.
But as he looked from the boy to the man, and as he heard that pathetic
appeal, every feeling, save that of pity, vanished. This man should not
be captured, not if he could hinder it; and he said, advancing a step,
and holding out one hand in friendship--
"Why, Charlton, you don't think as meanly of me as that, do you? I
neither want to harm you nor your father, though it is quite true that
I came here to find you."
"But--why? How did you know that we should be here?" questioned the
boy, not yet reassured.
And Ralph hurriedly explained how he had followed the trap and come
upon the policemen.
"I felt certain that it must be your father whom they were after," he
said; "and so I determined to come through the wood to try to find you
and give you warning. We must be quick, or there will be no chance of
getting away."
"Oh, father," wailed Charlton, "I wish that I had not persuaded you to
come here again! You will be taken! What shall we do?"
"My boy," answered the man calmly, "try and be brave. We owe our thanks
to this young gentleman for the kindly warning he has brought. If I
must be taken, I must; and I will try to bear it patiently, though it
is very hard. It is strange that they should have Lord Elgert's trap,"
he added bitterly. "Elgert has been at the bottom of all my troubles."
"Look here!" expostulated Ralph bluntly. "It's no good stopping here
talking and wasting time when every minute is precious. Those fellows
are on the farther side of the wood, and they are beginning to search,
and they won't leave off until they have hunted right through the
place."
"But where can we go?" asked Charlton, wringing his hands. "This place
has nowhere to hide in; nowhere that could not be found if once people
were really searching."
"They will search; there is no doubt of that," answered Ralph. "But we
may manage to elude them. We cannot stay here dodging round, that is
quite certain. We must manage to get out of it and find somewhere else
to hide."
"Ah, my kind boy, but where shall that somewhere be?" said the man,
shaking his head. "It might have been in my own home, but now that they
think that I am here, and are on my track, they will keep their eyes on
that spot, and I have not one single friend who will shelter me."
"Hush! Hush!" cried Ralph suddenly. "Listen! There is no time to lose.
They are in the wood on that side. Creep after me. Stop! Cover those
leaves over or they will see where you have been standing."
"You are thoughtful for one so young," murmured the man, as he obeyed
Ralph's instructions. "Well, I will place myself under your guidance,
and trust to you. Where shall we go? Through that undergrowth?"
"No, no! You cannot move through that without making a noise and
leaving traces. Keep to this path. I feel sure that is wisest. Bend
low, and step lightly. Come! Now, Charlton, buck up, and we will save
your father yet."
His confidence inspired them with hope. Unhesitatingly they followed
his lead. The path he chose led them into another clear little space,
away to the right of that which they had left. They could hear the
noise made by their pursuers in their rear, and they did not seem any
better off here. It was only putting off the end for a little time,
and so Charlton's father said, but Ralph would not listen to him. He
had been in as tight a corner before, when he and his father, and two
more, had been pursued by the Indians of the plains, and had dodged and
doubled for three whole days ere they had thrown their foe off their
track. Ralph was not going to give up yet.
"Stop!" he said. "You must climb up this tree. No, not that one!" as
Charlton ran to a big, old decaying oak.
"But this is hollow. We can hide in it," objected the boy.
But Ralph shook his head.
"I can see it is hollow, and so can any one who has a pair of eyes.
That is just why we must not go there, for they will be sure to look in
it. Up this one!"
"But we shall be seen."
"Do as your friend bids you," said the man.
And Charlton obeyed, his father following him.
Then did Ralph show his cunning, for, directing them to stand with
their backs against the trunk, he showed them how to draw the branches
down until they made a thick canopy all around them. Ralph himself
stood at the bottom, carefully examining their hiding-place.
"Now, if you stand quite still, as you are, no one will be able to see
you," he said. "But remember there must be no noise and no movement;
everything may depend upon that. Keep still. Here is some one coming!"
A man appeared at the end of the glade, and, catching a glimpse of the
boy's form, gave a shout and ran forward; but he stopped, and looked
very cross, as Ralph himself walked innocently to meet him, with the
question--"Have not you found him yet?"
"No," grumbled the man. "He is a slippery fellow, and is giving us a
lot of trouble; but we will have him yet. We are working right through
the wood, and we must be driving him before us, and when he gets to the
other side----"
"He will bolt," said Ralph.
But the man smiled grimly.
"Into our arms. We have four men stationed keeping watch there. No, we
shall have him yet. You have not seen him?"
"There was a man in that little hollow, the other end of this path. I
saw him there," said Ralph, with perfect truthfulness.
"Which hollow? The one to the right?" said the man quickly.
And Ralph nodded.
"Ah, we have looked there! He has bolted. Then we are right on his
track. Stop a minute, though. That old tree looks a likely place. Here,
give us a hand, boy! I will lift you, and you look in. Can you see
anything?"
And he lifted Ralph, and helped him to scramble up, and peer down into
the hollow depths of the old oak.
"Can't see much," said Ralph, his head in the hollow. "There is a gleam
of light below, and something dark. Can't you clear away the leaves a
bit, and then I can see whether it is a man or not?"
The constable sprawled on the ground, and thrust his arm into the hole
at the bottom of the trunk, dragging out leaves and dust, till Ralph
cried--
"It is all right; I can see now. There is no one there. What I was
looking at was a lot of leaves. They have tumbled over now, and you are
pulling them out."
"That's no good, then; only it looked a likely place. Down you come,
boy!"
And, helping Ralph down, the man turned and ran off, satisfied that
he had looked in the only place where the fugitive could have hidden
himself.
"I see that you are a clever lad," said Mr. Charlton when the fugitives
again stood beside Ralph. "But what now? You heard what he said? There
is no getting away on that side."
"We are not going out that side, though," was Ralph's answer. "We are
behind them now, and while they are hunting forward, we will go back."
"They will have left watchers behind them."
"I suppose so. They cannot have left many, though, for they had not
enough men. Back is our only chance. We will try it. There is no time
to stop talking now," he added, as he saw that the man was going to ask
more questions. "Come, follow me!"
Going cautiously, pausing to listen again and again, he led the way;
and soon they were getting close to that side of the wood from which
the search had commenced. Then he bade the other two remain hidden, and
he went forward by himself, until, at last, he was able to peer from
the hedges.
He did not see a single man, though he looked carefully; but he did
see--and the sight made his heart jump wildly--the horse and trap, the
horse contentedly feeding on the rich grass. He would risk it! One
chance, and one alone, offered, and he would take it!
He beckoned to his companions to join him, and whispered his plans.
"It is the only chance. No one is near the trap, and we can drive off
before they will even know that it is gone. Will you dare it?"
"Yes," said the man desperately.
And Ralph, with a "Follow me, then!" was at the trap, had the rope,
with which the horse had been tethered, cut; the other two were up
after him, and, with a crack of the whip, away they went, clean across
the open moor.
Lame or not, that pony had to go, for once. They were right across,
close on two miles away, and getting near to Great Stow, before a
distant shout, and figures running from the wood, told them that the
theft had been discovered.
"Lie down, Charlton," he said, "and you sit directly behind me," he
added to the man. "It will be far better if they can only see one
person in the trap. We don't want them to know that I helped you if it
can be avoided."
They reached the road; then turned to the right, so that the view was
shut off from those behind. No one had seen them with the trap, and now
Ralph reined in, and jumped down.
"Come on!" he said. "Lord Elgert's pony must look after itself now.
Quick, we must hurry!"
"Where are you going to, Rexworth?" cried Charlton in surprise. "There
is nowhere about here where father can hide."
But Ralph answered with a smile, never slackening his pace as he spoke--
"Hurry up! There is one place--a safe place. I am going to Mr. St.
Clive's."