TWO MYSTERIOUS MEN.
"Tell us all about it, Rob!"
The Eagles and the Hawks pressed close about Rob, as, after the two
machines had driven off, the scouts stood surrounded by curious townsfolk
on the wharf.
"Not much to tell," rejoined Rob, with a laugh. "Major Dangerfield is, it
appears, an old friend of my father. He comes from Essex County, or
rather, he has a summer place up there. On an automobile trip from
Albany, to take his daughter to visit some friends down on Peconic Bay,
he decided to stop over at Hampton and see the governor.
"He entered the bank to give dad a surprise, leaving his daughter outside
for a few minutes, in the machine. She became interested in its mechanism
and pulled a lever, and--the machine darted off. And--and that's all," he
concluded modestly.
"Except that the leader of the Eagles covered himself with laurels,"
struck in Bob--or Tubby--Hopkins, another member of the Eagles.
"Better than being covered with fat," parried Rob, who didn't relish this
open praise.
"Three cheers for Rob Blake!" yelled Fylan Fobbs, a town character.
"Hip! hip! hooray!"
The cheers rang out with vim, the voices of the young scouts sounding
shrill and clear among them, giving the patrol call:
"Kree-ee-ee-e!"
Rob, coloring and looking embarrassed, made his way off while the
enthusiasm was at its height. With him went Merritt Crawford, Tubby
Hopkins and tall, lanky Hiram Nelson, the New England lad, who had
already gained quite a reputation as a wireless operator and mechanical
genius of the all-round variety.
"Reckon that was a right smart piece of work," drawled Hiram in his nasal
accents, as the four of them trudged along.
"Al-ice, where art thou?" hummed Tubby teasingly, with a sharp glance at
Rob. "Say, what a romance for the newspapers: Gallant Boy Scout rescues
bee-yoot-i-ful girl at risk of his life, and----"
He got no further. The tormented Rob grabbed the rotund youth and twisted
his arm till Tubby yelled for mercy. With a good-natured laugh, Rob
released him.
"Bet-ter sue him for damages, if he's broke your arm," grinned the
practical-minded Hiram, in consolatory tones.
"No, thanks; I've got damages enough, as the fellow said who'd been
busted up in a railroad accident and was asked if he intended to sue,"
laughingly rejoined Tubby; "but"--and he dodged to a safe distance--"that
was a mighty pretty girl."
As he spoke, they were passing by the railroad station. A train had just
pulled out of it, depositing two passengers on the platform. But none of
the boys noticed them at the moment. Instead, their attention was
attracted by the strange action of Merritt, who suddenly darted to the
center of the roadway.
The next instant his action was explained, as he bent and seized a big
leather wallet that lay there. Or, rather, he was just about to seize it,
when one of the two men who had alighted from the train also dashed from
the small depot, in front of which they had been standing.
He was a broad-shouldered, rough-looking fellow, with a coarse beard and
hulking shoulders. His clothes were rather poor.
"What you got there, boy?" he demanded, as the other Boy Scouts and his
own companion came up.
"A wallet," said Merritt, examining his find; "it's marked 'R. D.--U. S.
A.'"
A strange light came into the rough-looking man's eyes. His comrade, too,
appeared agitated, and gripped the bearded fellow's arm, whispering
something to him.
"Let's have a look at that wallet, young chap," quoth the bigger of the
two strangers, almost simultaneously.
"I don't know that I will," rejoined Merritt; "it's lost property, and
may contain valuables. I had better turn it over to the proper
authorities."
But the rough stranger, without ceremony, made a snatch for it. Merritt,
however, was too quick for him, and the fellow missed his grasp. He
growled something, and then, apparently thinking the better of his
ill-temper, said in a comparatively mild voice:
"Guess that's my wallet, boy. I must have dropped it coming across the
street. My name's Roger Dangerfield, Major Roger Dangerfield, of the
United States Army, retired."
"Then there must be two of them," exclaimed Rob sharply.
"How's that? What are you interfering for?" growled the rough-looking
man, while his companion--a much younger individual than himself, though
quite as ill-favored--edged menacingly up.
"Because," said Rob quietly, "I had the pleasure of talking to Major
Dangerfield a few minutes ago. Moreover, there's no doubt in my mind that
the wallet is his. He probably dropped it on the way up the street."
The bigger and elder of the two strangers looked nonplussed for an
instant, but he speedily recovered himself. Making a snatch for the
wallet, which Merritt for an instant had allowed to show from behind his
back, he upset the lad by the sheer weight of his attack. Flat on his
back fell Merritt, the bearded man toppling over on top of him.
But, as they fell, the Boy Scout's assailant seized the wallet from him
and tossed it hastily to his companion, as one might pass a football.
This action was unnoticed by the Boy Scouts, and the younger man of the
two strangers darted off instantly, with the pocketbook in his
possession.
In the meantime, Merritt, by a wrestling trick, had glided from under the
bearded fellow, and, despite his struggles, the man found himself held in
the firm grip of four determined pairs of young arms. He was remarkably
strong, however, and the situation speedily assumed the likeness of an
uneven contest, when another detachment of the Eagles, headed by little
Andy Bowles, the bugler of the Patrol, came up the street on their way
from the exciting scene on the wharf.
Aided by these re├źnforcements, the man was compelled, despite his
strength, to give in. All about him surged his excited young captors. At
this moment an individual came hurrying up. He wore a semi-official sort
of dress, adorned with a tin badge as big and shiny as a new tin
pie-plate. It was Si Ketchum, the village constable.
"Hoppin' watermillions!" he gasped, "what's all this here?"
It took only a few words to tell him. Si assumed his most terrific
official look, which consisted of partially closing his little reddish
eyes and screwing up his mouth till his gray goatee pointed outward
horizontally.
"Ef so be as you've got that thar contraption uv a wallet, in ther name
uv ther law I commands yer to surrender said property," he ordered
ponderously.
The bearded man, still panting from his struggle, rejoined with a grin.
"Surely you're not going to believe a pack of irresponsible boys,
constable. I know nothing about the wallet, except that I saw that lad
there pick it up."
"Um--hah," said Si, wagging his head sagely, "go on."
"Naturally, I was anxious to see what it was. I demanded to have a look
at it, thinking it might be some of my property that I had dropped. What
was my astonishment, when this young ruffian attacked me. In
self-defense, I resisted, and then they all set on me."
"That story is a fabrication from start to finish," cried Merritt, while
the others shouted their angry confirmation of his denial. "Let me----"
For the second time he was about to relate the true circumstances. But Si
interrupted him.
"Only one way ter settle this," he said.
"Any way you like, officer," said the bearded man suavely, "anything that
you say, I'll agree to."
"Air yer willin' ter be searched?"
"Certainly. But not here in the public street."
"All right, then; at the calaboose, ef that'll suit yer better."
"It will. Let's proceed there," said the man, with a sidelong look at the
boys, who began to wonder at his assurance.
Followed by a small crowd, Si and his prisoner led the way to the
"calaboose," a small, red-brick structure on a side street not far from
the station. The boys waited eagerly outside, while within the walls of
Si's fortress the search went on. Before long, the constable emerged with
an angry face, and very red. The stranger, cool and smiling, was beside
him.
"What kind uv an April fool joke is this?" demanded Si loudly, while the
boys, and the townspeople, who had been attracted by curiosity, looked at
him in astonishment.
"You boys ain't tole me the truth," he went on, waxing more furious.
"You--you haven't found the wallet?" demanded Merritt. "Why, I distinctly
felt him snatch it from my hand."
"Wall, it ain't on him."
"The other man!" cried Rob, suddenly recalling the bearded man's
companion, and perceiving, likewise, for the first time since Merritt's
adventure, that the fellow had vanished.
"He's gone!" cried half a dozen voices.
In the same instant, they became aware that the bearded man had also
vanished in the excitement. Almost simultaneously, Major Dangerfield put
in an unexpected appearance. He was out of breath, as if from running.
"Is this the police station?" he demanded of Si, and, receiving a nod
from that stupefied official, he hastened on:
"I wish to report the loss of a pocketbook. I must have dropped it on
Main Street. Has it been found?"
"It wuz found all right," grunted Si, "but--it's bin lost agin."
"Corporal Crawford here, found it, sir," struck in Rob, seeing the
major's evident agitation at Si's not over-lucid explanation, "but while
he still had it in his hand, a man--a rough-looking customer--demanded to
see it. As soon as Merritt told him of the initials on it, he----"
"Tried to seize it," exclaimed the major excitedly.
"Why, yes," rejoined Rob, wondering inwardly how the major guessed so
accurately what had occurred, "there was a scuffle, and in it the man who
had attacked Merritt must, in some way, have found a chance to pass the
pocketbook to his companion."
"Was the man who first inquired about the book a big, bearded man, with
sun-burned face and rather shabby clothes?" inquired the major.
Rob's astonishment increased. Evidently this was no ordinary case of
ruffianism. It would seem now that the men were known to the major, and
had some strong object in taking the book.
The boy nodded in reply to the major's question.
"Do you mind stepping aside with me a few minutes, my lad? I'd like to
ask you some questions," continued the retired officer.
He and Rob conversed privately for some moments. Then the major strode
off, after authorizing Si to offer a reward of five hundred dollars for
the return of the wallet.
"He asked me to thank all you fellows for the aid you gave in trying to
hold the man," said Rob when he rejoined his comrades, "he added that it
would not be forgotten."
Nor was it, for it may be said here, that a few days later a fine launch,
named _Eagle_, was delivered at Hampton harbor with a card from the
major, begging the Eagle Patrol to accept it as their official craft. But
we are anticipating a little.
As Rob walked away with Merritt, Tubby and Hiram, the lanky youth spoke
up:
"It beats creation what there could have been in that wallet to upset him
so," he commented; "he doesn't look like a man who's easily excited,
either."
"Well, whatever it was," rejoined Rob, "we are likely to learn this
evening. I rather think the major has some work on hand for us."
"Hooray! some action at last," cried Merritt enthusiastically.
"Haven't had enough to-day, eh?" inquired Tubby sarcastically. "I should
think that seeing a runaway auto stopped, being knocked down and plunged
into a mystery, would----"
"Never mind him, Merritt; the heat's sent the fat to his head," laughed
Rob.
"I was going to say," he continued, "that Major Dangerfield has invited
us to the house this evening to hear something interesting."
"All four of us?"
"Yes. I rather think then we shall learn some more about that wallet."
Soon after, the boys, following some talk concerning patrol matters,
separated. Each went to his home to await, with what patience he might,
the coming of evening, when it appeared likely that some light would be
shed on what, to them, seemed an interesting puzzle. Rob, on his return
home, found that the major had motored on to his friend's with his
daughter, but he had promised to return in time to keep his appointment.