of the story the newspapers will tell about it. Why, Freedom will be on
the map in big headlines!" Mr. Gilroy was beguiling.
When Mr. Gilroy concluded, the store-keeper said: "How much do yuh
kalkerlate on spendin', mister?"
"How many men can you get to go on this quest?" Mr. Gilroy countered.
"Wall--there air loungers hangin' about th' post office, in that store
over thar, an' there be young fellers what'll want to chase the convicts
fer fun, an' others what will do it fer the dollars. I kin raise 'bout
forty er fifty, I rickon."
"Fine work! I'll pay them $2 for every half-day they are out, with extra
money for meals and night work. But the bosses will get double the
money. I'll pay you a dollar for every man you sign up."
"Signed up--what fer?" asked the suspicious grocer.
"To contract to hunt these criminals. You see, we've got to do the thing
business-like, and once they start out they might work a whole day or
two, and be entitled to honest pay. But others who never moved may come
in at pay-time and claim money for nothing. I've got to have the
signatures of my men so that I know who I am paying, see?"
The old grocer felt satisfied with the explanation, and said: "I know
the constabule pritty well, and he'll 'tend to the posse if I divide
even. He knows the best men to send on a job like this. I'll be
satisfied with half, if I get my picksher in a New York news-paper. I
allers wanted to do that afore I die!"
Mrs. Vernon could not refrain from smiling at such a desire and ideal,
but the scouts laughed outright. Mr. Gilroy said: "Youth laughs because
it does not believe in death."
"When do ye want 'em to start?" queried the grocer eagerly.
"As soon as you can possibly get them off. Those convicts may escape
from the mountainside in another twenty-four hours."
"I'll git Lem on the telerphone now, and start him off. He's our
constabule, ye know, and a lively one, tew."
Soon after this, Lemuel Saunders called to see Mr. Gilroy. "Ef yuh will
step over to my office, I've got a line o' men waitin' to sign up."
The scouts wanted to watch the rest of this exciting plan, so Mrs.
Vernon accompanied them to the constable's room behind the Post-Office
General Store.
Mr. Gilroy hastily wrote upon a sheet of fool's-cap paper, then handed
it to Mr. Saunders to be signed by the applicants. A long line filed in,
and, signing, went out again. To each man one dollar was paid in advance
for a meal, and advice given as to taking guns, clubs and other weapons
with them.
The spirit of adventure, added to a good financial return, had attracted
every one in the village, so that wives and mothers had packed up hearty
lunches, and seen to it that the hunters were provided with firearms or
cudgels for defense.
Scarcely a man or grown boy could be found in town who had not agreed to
go out and hunt the felons for Mr. Gilroy. Before sundown that evening
the village was left without a man in it. But here and there on the
great mountainside twinkling lights could be seen, as the posse moved
carefully upwards towards the camp.
The following morning found Mr. Gilroy feeling rested and eager to
follow the villagers in their search for the outlaws. But the doctor who
had sewed up the gash in his head advised the patient to rest all that
day.
The girls made a great fuss over their sick guest--or at least they
insisted upon calling him sick in spite of his protests to the
contrary--and promised the physician that they would take every
precaution to keep Mr. Gilroy quiet.
But they had no idea of how their promise was to be tested. They were
soon to know, however.
On the first train that stopped at Freedom came the Chief of Police and
a number of his officers from Junction, to capture the two escaped
convicts. They went straight to Mr. Gilroy to learn all the facts from
him, and having taken down his statement they spoke of securing horses,
or a car, to take them up the mountainside.
"I hired all the horses and vehicles to be had in Freedom," explained
Mr. Gilroy, "but I will gladly turn over the auto to you, providing you
take me with you on this trip."
"Why! You can't leave this porch, Mr. Gilroy," exclaimed Julie.
"The doctor said we were to keep you very quiet," added Joan.
"But that was more than an hour ago; I am quite recovered now, my
dears," laughed Mr. Gilroy.
"That makes no difference with us--we were ordered to see that you kept
quiet," declared Ruth.
"I can keep just as quiet while riding in the car with the Chief as if I
sat on this chair," argued Mr. Gilroy.
"Impossible! The excitement of the chase will give you a fever," said
Julie, emphatically.
"Why, they are two poor convicts who are most likely in chains by this
time. Our posse has captured them long before this, and all I have to do
is to pay off my men," explained the stubborn patient.
"Well, you'll find they are not quite tame, or as easy to secure, as you
fancy," ventured the Chief. "One of those rascals is a member of that
gang that tried to bomb New York City recently. And the other one is a
leader of a group of 'Reds' that the secret police rounded up lately.
Both, being aliens, were kept in jail until they could be deported. But
they managed to make their escape."
"How did you get the orders to capture them?" asked Mr. Gilroy.
"Why, the Police Chiefs all over the country were sent secret
communications with descriptions and photographs of the fellows; just
the other day, a young man who lives with his granny on this mountain,
said he had seen two evil-looking tramps somewhat resembling the
pictures. So we quickly planned to start a round-up when we heard from
you. Then last night I got a message over the wire that two suspects
were trailed as far as Junction or its vicinity, and we were to look
carefully to see if any disguised strangers were hanging about our
town."
"Well, well! This is certainly interesting, but now I am more determined
than ever to go with you when you start. Are we waiting for anything?"
said Mr. Gilroy.
"Nothing except the consent of your nurses," laughed the Chief.
The four girls looked obdurate, and Mr. Gilroy began to smile, then he
turned to the Chief.
"You feel reasonably sure that I will be taking no risks in accompanying
you back to the campsite?"
"Oh, certainly! Those two outlaws will never hang about a spot where so
many people are liable to stop."
"Well, then, is there any objection to my four nurses going with me to
see that I keep quiet to-day?"
"Oh, Mr. Gilroy! How splendid that will be!" cried Julie,
"Oh, yes! Do let us go, Chief!" exclaimed Joan, eagerly.
But at this moment Mrs. Vernon came out on the piazza. She overheard the
last words and instantly shook her head in disapproval.
"But why not, Verny? The Chief says the ground is perfectly safe about
our camp!" pleaded Julie.
"Why, not a mother in the land would ever allow her girls to join the
Scout Organization if they thought I was a sample of a Captain--the very
idea! to let you girls run right into such a hotbed of danger!" Mrs.
Vernon glanced scornfully at Mr. Gilroy as if to dare him to say another
word.
But he smiled in return and said: "Just step inside for a moment, Mrs.
Vernon,--I have a word to speak to you."
Wonderingly, the Captain followed him indoors, and whatever he whispered
must have had a wonderful power, for a radical change took place in Mrs.
Vernon's opinions before she joined the girls again.
"Mr. Gilroy has convinced me that it is to our _advantage_ to go back to
the huts, but still I refuse to go unless the Chief can assure me that
we will not be anywhere near those outlaws, or run any risk by returning
to camp," said she.
"As far as that is concerned, I told Mr. Gilroy that the two rascals
were too experienced to stay near the camp, but were most likely over
the mountain by this time, making tracks for some out-of-the-way place
where they could hide again for a few days."
"Maybe they will go back to Bluebeard's Cave, now that they got our food
and other necessities," suggested Joan.
"I only hope they do," laughed the Chief. "For in that case we will
smoke them out with sulphur."
After many misgivings as to the wisdom of this trip, and fearing the
condemnation of all the parents of the girls, as well as the disapproval
of the Girl Scouts Organization should they ever hear of the escapade,
Mrs. Vernon followed her charges to the car.
By the time the police and the scout party arrived at the campsite, the
village posse were far past that spot and were beating the woods up on
the mountainside. The Chief went carefully over every visible sign of
the destruction in the camp, but shook his head smilingly after he had
concluded his investigation.
"I don't believe the rascals stole the furniture, you know, Mr. Gilroy,
as it would hamper them too much in their get-away and it would be of no
earthly value to any one but these scouts. Neither do I believe that
they carried off much food. Only enough to last them for the present.
But they doubtless made a cache of it somewhere, believing that the
scouts would be too timid ever to return to this camp, and then they
could take up their quarters here. If they were left unmolested, they
could move back the furniture and food later."
"That's what I thought, too," agreed Mr. Gilroy. "And by depriving the
girls of food and camp-beds, they were sure of driving them away from
here at once."
"Exactly. Now, I should propose to the scouts that they thrash the
bushes near here to see if the villagers have not passed over the hidden
stores or pieces of furniture. Of course they ought to have beaten the
woods too well to miss anything, but one never can tell as, in their
zeal, they are hunting _men_, not food," said the Chief.
"We will search if you are quite sure it is safe for us to do so. If the
hunters who sought first missed the chairs or table, why couldn't they
pass over a recumbent form of a man?" said Mrs. Vernon.
"Oh, I do not think the tables or chairs are left standing intact. And
the food-stuffs will not be in boxes, either; but small installments of
it probably will be found here and there under the leaves, in hollows,
or hidden under roots of trees."
"Well, Chief, you leave two of your best men here with us for
protection, and then go as far as you like over the mountain-top,"
agreed Mr. Gilroy.
So two big fighting men were detailed to remain behind with the
camp-party, and the rest of the police started in different directions
to hunt out the desperadoes.
After the police were out of sight, Joan said: "I wish we could find our
food-stuff and furniture before a rain-storm comes."
Mrs. Vernon laughed. "If the grapevine could withstand the snows and
rains of many years before we found it, now that it is turned into
furniture for us it will surely not suffer from a slight storm."
"Well, _I_ am not thinking of storms, but of hunger. Let's go to work
and hunt, then we can stay on in camp--if we find the food," said Julie.
So in short order every one was beating the bushes and leaves as if in
search of diamonds. The policemen had given the girls a "safety zone" in
which to work, while they themselves wandered further afield.
Not long after they began seeking, Mrs. Vernon found a cooking-pot under
a bush. Then Joan found some groceries. In all sorts of out-of-the-way
holes and nooks, well-covered from curious eyes, different articles were
found, but the greater part of the food-stuff was still to be regained,
when the Captain told her girls to rest for a short time and eat some of
the crackers Ruth had found.
A dish-pan of water was brought from the spring and the scouts sat down
to eat and drink, while reviewing the thrilling adventures of the past
two days.
"I still must say that I am dubious about the reception this present
undertaking will receive, when it is known that I am so weak-minded as
to give in to four coaxing girls and Mr. Gilroy, who has a wonderful
plan for you girls to win a lot of money--but in a manner that is
ninety-nine chances against one to its success."
"Oh, Verny! Do tell us what it is!" exclaimed Julie.
"Is that what he whispered to you that made you change your mind?" asked
Ruth.
"Yes, I was foolish enough to believe that it was possible, but now that
I am here I see that it is not! I wish to goodness we were back safe at
Freedom!"
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
THE CAPTURE
A pleased signal from the detective now caused the happy scouts to race
down the trail as if a wild grizzly was after them. Joan and Julie
reached him first, and there they saw the nice little cache of
food-stock that every man in Freedom had passed by while thrashing the
bushes for the fugitives.
"Of all things! How did they get the time to do it so neatly?" asked
Mrs. Vernon, seeing the logs and leaves and stones scattered over the
boxes and tins of camp-food.
"They are experienced wanderers, I suppose, and most likely often had to
hide their firearms and food from the secret police in Europe," returned
the detective, beginning to drag out the packages and boxes.
"I can't understand how those men from Freedom, beating over this very
ground, should pass by such a clue to the rascals. You see they can't
live very long without food, so here we have them, while they may still
be at large on the mountains," continued the policeman.
The girls were only too glad to carry their campstock back to the small
hut and there left it in the custody of Mr. Gilroy, while they sought
still further for blankets or bedding.
The Chief soon came down the trail and stopped at the camp long enough
to hear about the recovery of the stolen food. Then, hearing that the
detective was still out hunting for the bedding, he left the scouts to
cook some supper.
As they worked to settle the camp again, Mr. Gilroy sat in the sun
thinking. Suddenly he exclaimed, "I have it!"
"What?" cried four voices as they ran over to see if he had caught the
vandals with his idea.
"The true story of this entire plot. Now, it is this way:
"Those blackguards saw your party drive Hepsy up the trail going to the
Cave. Maybe they hid and heard you talk about the place. And they knew
that if you explored the Caves you must find me and doubtless would
endeavor to help me.
"They counted on that work taking you much longer than it actually
did--for they know nothing about scouts and how they have to understand
'First Aid.' But they raced down the trail as fast as they could go,
hoping to get away from this region before their new atrocity was
published.
"Then they reached your camp and found the food-stuff and the other
things. To prevent you from remaining at camp again it would be
necessary to deprive you of food and furniture. So they carried
everything off and hid it in the bushes where you wouldn't find it so
easily. The food they covered, for that they wanted for themselves, in
case they had to hide for a long time.
"They figured that it would take you some time to carry me down the
hillside, and much longer to go on to Freedom. By that time they could
be miles away over the mountain-top.
"But you upset most of their calculations by unexpectedly appearing on
the scene with me, and then going right on down the trail. If we had
passed a night here, or even delayed a few hours until darkness fell,
perhaps we would never again have seen the day."
"Oh! You make me shiver, Mr. Gilroy," exclaimed Ruth.
"Don't shiver over a theory, Ruth! That's all it is, for Mr. Gilroy said
so before he told his story," laughed Julie.
"Julie, you're right! Mr. Gilroy ought to have more sense than to
theorize in such a fear-inspiring way," added Joan, trying to be jocular
but feeling creepy.
"I beg your pardon, scouts--I am at fault, I see," said Mr. Gilroy,
politely.
"I say, don't let's waste time theorizing and scolding each other, but
do let us see that a nice supper is ready for the police when they come
up the hill," said Betty.
"As usual, our Welfare Member is right," laughed Mrs. Vernon, patting
Betty on the head.
But the two detectives failed to come back, and Mr. Gilroy began
worrying about them. He thought it foolish for two men to go away like
that, while the rascals were still at large.
Then Mrs. Vernon expressed an opinion. "Mr. Gilroy, I will make a motion
that you be made to go to bed in the old hut. The spruce tips are made
up in there, and you have had a wearing day. We should feel guilty if we
had to telegraph a death notice to your friends in New York State."
"I second the motion!" exclaimed Julie.
"Motion made and seconded that our friend Mr. Gilroy be made to go to
bed at once--without his supper," laughed Joan.
"Don't take a vote, scouts--I promise to be good!" cried Mr. Gilroy,
holding up a hand in protest of the unanimous vote about to follow.
"Then say 'nighty-night' and go at once," added the Captain.
"I suppose I must even though the sun has not yet set, but what is one
poor man to do with five domineering scouts about him?" sighed he, in
mock obedience.
Having given their guest some supper and then shown him to his room and
seen that the candle was safely stuck in an empty bottle, the scouts
said good-night and returned to the fire, where the Captain still sat
thinking.
"Girls, I want you all to sit in the new hut with me, if you don't
mind," whispered Mrs. Vernon.
"Why--are you frightened, Verny?" asked Julie, while the others looked
apprehensively about.
"I feel that it is all so open out here, and the two detectives never
came back. In the hut we will have log walls, at least."
"Come on--hurry up, girls," cried Ruth, running over towards the door.
"If only we had some revolvers," said Julie.
"If only I had had more sense than to give in to your coaxing! I might
have known this was no place for us," snapped Mrs. Vernon, angry with
herself.
When the campers were seated upon the boards they had placed across the
damaged seats, Betty asked timidly:
"Verny, are we going to bed to-night?"
"You scouts will, but I will sit up all night."
"Then we shall too, Verny. Not that we want to disobey you, but you must
not ask us to do anything you would not do yourself," said Julie.
"But you will grow drowsy later on, girls, and I want you to have as
much rest as possible," explained Mrs. Vernon.
"I'm sleepy now, Verny; if I only had a pillow I could be off in
dreamland in a moment," confessed Betty.
"Here--lean your head against my shoulder, Betsy," said Julie, placing an
arm about her sister.
But the dreams suddenly disappeared when a stealthy creeping of
footsteps seemed to come from the doorway of the old hut. Every one
gazed spell-bound at the open door, and Mrs. Vernon could just summon
courage enough to say quite loudly:
"Is that you, Chief? Mr. Gilroy is in the small hut!"
She knew the sound of her voice would break the spell of fear that held
them all. Then Mr. Gilroy's voice came back:
"S-sh! It is me--myself!"
"What's the matter?" anxiously whispered five voices.
The very actions of Mr. Gilroy now filled the scouts with fear, for he
leaned over and in such a low whisper as to be hardly distinguishable,
said: "Some one's behind the wall of this hut."
It was well that at this moment a muffled curse sounded from the wall at
the back of the hut, where it was built up to meet the rocky ledge of
the mountainside. The scouts instantly felt their courage revive when
they knew where to look for the danger.
A hoarse whisper was now plainly heard through the chinks of the wall
where the clay had been plastered in.
"Agh! now you must mek a noise aut get us pinched in agin!" The voice
was gutteral and spoke with a strong foreign accent.
"But dis foot is crusht allreatty. I can't stant it anudder minute. I'm
better off in jail dan widdout a foot!"
Mr. Gilroy now placed his mouth close to Julie's ear and whispered: "You
and Joan take the flashlight and creep out of here as noiselessly as
possible. Run for your lives down the trail and give the signal the
police determined upon. Here is a whistle. Blow it three times with but
a moment's interval between--then, if it is not answered, blow again.
Keep this up until you get an answer."
"Supposing the two policemen are not down that trail?" asked Julie, as
softly as could be.
"They will be--because now we know they are not killed. We have the two
fugitives in behind that wall, and I want to keep them there until the
police get here," said Mr. Gilroy.
Julie and Joan then crept away, and Mrs. Vernon heard Mr. Gilroy's voice
close at her ear explaining where they went.
"You see, the convicts cannot get out of there without our seeing them.
In that case I will use my automatic revolver," added Mr. Gilroy.
"Oh! I didn't know you had one," sighed the Captain in great relief.
"Yes, and I was about to say that you and the two girls had better creep
out and get under the heap of spruce tips that is piled in the old hut,
while I sit here and guard the wall," Mr. Gilroy returned.
Ruth and Betty refused to leave him, however, so the four sat and waited
in the darkness.
After a long interval of absolute silence, a shrill whistle was heard
down the trail. Then a voice behind the wall said: "D'ye t'ink enny
one's got a clue?"
"Try to see thu dat crack in de wall--see ef yuh kin see any light in dat
room?"
"Not a flicker--black as pitch out dere."
"Dat shows dey's gone, 'cause no woman'll sit in de dark widda coupla o'
convicks loose in de woods," harshly laughed one.
"I wisht you'se coul' help lift me foot outen dis hole what's eatin' me
heart out," groaned the man who evidently had injured his foot.
"S-she! Dere goes dat whistle agin. Mebbe dem cops is comin' back dis
way."
"Ef dey come back, it's ours fer keepin' mum agin. We cain't git away,
yuh know, wid my foot lame. An' dey'll never tink of lookin' behin' dis
wall fer us ef we kin shet up an' stan' it."
"No, but we woulden' have t'ought of it ourself ef it hadn't ben fer dat
crookit chimbly. It war so easy to climb dat an' slide down here behin'
de wall," chuckled the other one.
Mr. Gilroy gently touched the scouts to keep silence, and all four
listened with nerves a-tension.
"Wisht we onny hed a gun--den we coul' put up a fight ef any one gits on
to dis hidin' place," said one of the voices, after a silence that had
followed another shrill whistle in the woods.
"Dem cops is havin' fun widda whistle. But dey kin whistle fer all we
care." A chuckle expressed the satisfaction the man felt.
Then an answering signal whistled close to the hut, and one of the
prisoners said to his pal: "Gee! Dey's closer'n I t'ought. Keep mum,
now, en don't groan enny when dey's in hearin'."
Another whistle from the trail echoed to the hut, and Mr. Gilroy got up
and ran out. He met two of the returning policemen just outside, and
drew them away so that he could tell them of the discovery without being
overheard by the convicts; for he had learned how the slightest sound
echoed in the forest silences.
The men quickly planned how they could catch the convicts, but how
should they force them out from behind the wall of the hut?
"We'll have to chop down the log wall," said one.
"It will take all night and before we get it down our men may have crept
out and escaped," said the other.
"We'll have to wait for the Chief and his companion to join us, so that
two of us can sit on the roof and guard the hole where these men crept
through to get in back there," said Mr. Gilroy.
A dancing flashlight seen through the forest trees along the lower trail
now told the three anxious men that the girls had found the Chief and
his men and were returning.
Soon the Chief was in an earnest conference with his men and Mr. Gilroy,
while the two scouts crept in to whisper a plan to the Captain.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
THE REWARD FOR COURAGE
While the Chief drew his men away from the hut so they might talk and
plan without danger of being heard by the convicts, Julie and Joan
whispered their plan to the admiring Captain.
"We'll start a blazing fire in the chimney, because everything is laid
ready for one, and soon the smoke will choke up the hut and fill the
empty place back of the wall, just as it always did when we had a fire
for fun," said Julie.
"Wasn't it lucky that we built the chimney as we did! If it was straight
and correct, it wouldn't smoke, and then that hollow place behind the
wall would never fill with smoke," whispered Betty, excitedly.
"S-sh! For goodness sake don't whisper so loud--they'll hear us and know
what we are planning to do!" warned Joan, placing her hand over Betty's
mouth.