THE HAIRY THIEF THAT WALKED ON TWO LEGS.
NO wonder the returned scouts stared, hardly daring to believe their
eyes and ears. Some of them of course thought Ginger might have gone out
of his head. Only on the preceding night had Elmer been telling them
what queer antics animals out on the plains go through with, when they
have been eating the loco weed.
There were a few who seemed to have a hazy suspicion that possibly Red
might be concerned in this strange fright on the part of poor Ginger.
True, the boy with the lame leg had apparently just dragged himself out
of the tent, and the look on his face under that fiery shock of hair
would indicate astonishment as genuine as their own; but then, how were
they to know but what this had been assumed?
Mr. Garrabrant, however, made direct for the moaning and wabbling negro,
who had fallen on his knees, and with clasped hands was bowing back and
forth in an agony of fear.
"Here, what's the matter with you, Ginger?" he demanded, catching hold
of the other, and while Ginger gave a little screech at first, upon
turning his rolling eyes upward he appeared to recognize the genial face
of the young scout master.
"Oh! Mistah Grabant, am dat youse?" he cried, seizing hold of the
other's arm. "I'se mighty glad tuh see yuh, suh, 'deed an' I is. Am it
gone foh suah?"
"What gone?" demanded Mr. Garrabrant, sternly. "See here, Ginger, have
you kept a black bottle hidden away all this time while we have been in
camp?" For he had a sudden inspiration that possibly Ginger might be
addicted to the failing that besets so many of his color.
"'Deed an' 'deed an' I ain't touched a single drap, suh," declared the
demoralized one; "'clar tuh goodness if I has. It war dar, jes' ober
yander, whar de box ob crackers am alyin' right now. An' he scolded me,
suh, foh interferin' wid de liberties he am takin' wid dem provisions,
dat he did! Ugh! tuh t'ink dat I'd lib tuh set eyes on de Ole Nick!"
"But what makes you think it was Satan? Perhaps it was only some
wandering hobo who thought he saw a good chance to steal something to
eat?" and the scout master sought to hold Ginger's roving eyes fastened
upon his own orbs, so as to rivet his attention, and secure a coherent
answer to his question.
"Sho! dat was no human animal, suh!" exclaimed Ginger, earnestly. "He
done hab a cover ob red hair, an' de wickedest grin on his face yuh
ebber see. Reckon I knows de debble w'en I sees him."
"Well, from what you say, Ginger, this queer visitor seems to have had a
very human weakness for crackers," remarked Mr. Garrabrant, smiling.
"Was he carrying that package of biscuit when you saw him first?"
"Yas, suh, dat an' two more ob dem same. He drap it 'case he couldn't
hold de lot, an' walk away too. Yuh see, suh, I war cleaning some fish
dat de boys dey fotched in las' ebenin', an' which we nebber use foh
breakfast dis mornin'. Den I tink I hyah some queer noise in de camp,
an' I starts up dis a ways. 'Twar den dat de hairy ole critter steps
outen de store tent, and jabbers at me. I was skeered nigh 'bout stiff,
suh, 'clar tuh goodness I was."
"Still, you shouted, for we heard you, Ginger!" said Mr. Garrabrant.
"Reckons I did do sumpin' dat way, boss," admitted the negro, a faint
grin striving to make its appearance on his ebony face. "Dat was jes'
when de Ole Harry, he was asteppin' into de bushes, acarryin' two ob de
boxes ob crackers in his arms."
"Do you mean to say he walked erect, on two legs?" asked the scout
master.
"Shore he did, suh, right along, ahuggin' de grub wid one arm, an'
shakin' his fist at me wid de udder."
"Now you talk as though it _must_ have been a man--perhaps a wild man
who may have been living in these woods for years?" suggested Mr.
Garrabrant.
But Ginger shook his head in an obstinate fashion, saying:
"I knows right well dat he wa'n't dat, suh; I'se dead suah 'bout it!"
"But why do you say that; what proof have you it was not some sort of
man, Ginger?"
"_'Case he done hab a tail, suh!_" cried the other, triumphantly.
Mr. Garrabrant smiled, and gave Elmer, who was close at his elbow all
the while, a knowing wink.
"Well," he remarked, "that tail business would seem to settle one thing,
Ginger. Unless this turns out to be the long-sought Missing Link, our
visitor could hardly have been a human being. He was evidently an animal
of _some_ sort. Get that idea of the Old Nick out of your head. Listen
to me, Ginger, and try to remember; did he say anything to you?"
"Yas, sah, he did, lots!" answered the black man, eagerly.
"Suppose you tell us what it was, then?" suggested the scout master,
quickly.
"Dar's wha' yuh got me, Mistah Grabant," replied the other,
reluctantly. "Yuh see, suh, I nebber did git much schoolin' down in
Virginny, whah I was bawn an' brought up. Nebber did go to college an'
larn de dead langwidges."
"Oh! then this creature talked to you in Greek, or possibly Hebrew, did
he? In other words, he chattered in an unknown tongue! Well, how about
you, Oscar; did you happen to catch a glimpse of Ginger's uninvited
guest?" and Mr. Garrabrant turned suddenly on Red, as though wishing to
make positive that this were not a clever trick he might have been
playing on the terrified black man.
"No, sir," came the ready response. "I was busy inside when I heard
Ginger give that war whoop! I thought he might have burned himself at
the fire, and I hurt my game pin like fun when I tried to run out. All I
saw was the coon down on his marrowbones asinging that same tune about
the 'debble.' That's all I know, sir, give you my word for it."
"All right, I believe you, Oscar," continued the scout master, plainly
disturbed by this new mystery that had descended upon the camp, yet
pretending to make light of it because he did not wish to alarm the boys
under his charge. "And now, Ginger, can you point out to me just the
spot where your strange friend vanished?"
"'Deed an' 'deed he ain't no friend ob mine, suh, gibes yuh my word foh
dat," replied the other, solemnly. "Right ober yandah, suh, whah dem
bushes hangs low. An' I declars tuh Moses, suh, I don't know right now
whedder de ugly ole sinner he jes' step intuh de bushes, or go up in a
cloud ob fire like de prophet ob old."
Several of the more impulsive scouts started to hurry in that direction.
"Stop, boys!" called the scout master instantly. "Come back here,
please. Once before you succeeded in trampling all sign out, so that
Elmer was unable to pick up any clue. Now, I want just Elmer and Mark to
go over there, to investigate. After that has been done they will report
to me. And now, let's settle down in camp, for I know you are all tired.
Supper is the next thing on the program."
Elmer, accompanied by his nearest chum, immediately walked carefully
over in the direction of the spot which Ginger had indicated. They bent
low, and seemed to be deeply interested in certain tracks they had
found.
Of course the boys shot many curious glances that way, but they knew
better than to disobey the positive orders given by their chief.
Discipline is one of the first things taught among the Boy Scouts.
About this time Dr. Ted and Jack Armitage got back from a day at the
cabin. They had much to tell about what they had occupied themselves in
doing all the time, preparing things so that in a few days the family
could be moved, for Mr. Garrabrant had fully decided to take the sick
man and his "kiddies" down in one of the boats to Rockaway, where they
could be looked after until the expedition returned.
It was getting dusk before Elmer and his chum joined the others. They
did not give out any information, and to the inquiries of their curious
mates returned only vague smiles and nods.
Supper was eaten with more or less clatter of tongues. There were so
many interesting subjects claiming their attention that the boys hardly
knew which to discuss first.
When, however, the meal was about done, Mr. Garrabrant asked Elmer to
step aside with him for a short time.
"Here, let us sit down on this convenient log, Elmer," remarked the
scout master. "And please tell me what you found."
"We had no difficulty in discovering the tracks, sir," replied the boy,
whose experience on a Canadian prairie farm and ranch made him a
valuable addition to the ranks of the Boy Scouts at such a time.
"Was it a man or an animal?" asked the gentleman, as though eager to
have that mooted point settled immediately.
"Oh! an animal, sir, there can be no doubt of that," replied Elmer,
smiling. "But those tracks puzzle me the worst kind. I know what the
trail of a panther looks like, also that of a fox, a wolf, a bear, a
deer, a coyote, a wildcat--but this was entirely different from any of
these. It resembled the footprint of a human being--a child--more than
anything I ever saw."
Mr. Garrabrant smiled, and nodded his head.
"I've got an idea," he said, "but go on, and tell me what else you
learned. Then I'll put you wise to what I suspect."
"Well," the boy continued, "the queer thing about it is that Ginger was
quite right when he said the thing walked on two legs. I could only find
the marks of that many. Now, I've seen a bear do that stunt, and
educated dogs, but no other animal outside of a circus."
"How about a monkey?" asked the scout master, quietly.
"Oh! Mr. Garrabrant, how could such an animal get up here? Monkeys live
in tropical countries only. But I can see that you've got an idea.
Please let me hear it."
"Listen then, Elmer," the other went on, seriously. "Now, I happen to
know that just a month ago a certain gentleman named Colonel Hitchens,
living on a country place he calls Caldwell, just a mile outside the
town of Rockaway, lost a pet monkey that had been taught to do a lot of
funny antics. The gentleman was an old traveler, and had brought the
animal himself from some foreign land. I remember his telling me how he
caught him, by filling some cocoanut shells with strong drink, and
getting the animal stupid."
"Oh! that must be it, then!" exclaimed Elmer, laughing, while the look
of bewilderment left his face. "No wonder the tracks were a riddle to
me. I've never as yet had the pleasure of hunting monkeys, or Barbary
apes, or gorillas. Yes, sir, the more I think of it, the more I believe
that you've hit the truth. It must have been a monkey, hungry for some
of the things he had been used to when held a prisoner at Colonel
Hitchens'."
"I saw the beast perform once," Mr. Garrabrant went on, "and he was
really a marvel. He was a big chap, too, hairy and ugly. When he
chattered and scowled he certainly was enough to give one a shiver. No
wonder then that he frightened poor Ginger almost into convulsions. No
wonder our factotum believed he had seen the Old Nick. But what had he
better do about it, Elmer?"
"That's just what I wanted to speak with you about, sir," the boy
remarked, with considerable eagerness. "Now the chances are that, having
once made a raid on our store tent, this monkey will come again another
time, perhaps even to-night."
"That sounds reasonable," replied the scout master, nodding his head.
"By the way, I just happened to remember the monkey's name. It fitted
him pretty well, too, as you'll admit when you see him. Diablo it was."
"Just think of it, sir, just the name Ginger gave him, too. But Mark and
I have decided to set a trap to catch him. We'll fix it so that if the
monkey tries to enter the store tent again he'll set off a trigger, and
some queer results will follow. For one thing he'll find himself caught
up in the loop of a rope, and held, kicking, off the ground until we
can come to corral him. Then, if it happens to be in the night, the
falling of the trigger will set a flashlight going, and Mark's camera,
placed for the occasion, will take a picture of the trespasser."
"That sounds fine, Elmer," laughed the scout master. "Now, I leave the
matter in your hands entirely. Do what you think best, and I wish you
success."
"How about telling the boys, sir?" asked Elmer.
Mr. Garrabrant thought it over a moment.
"Perhaps you'd better take the whole bunch into your confidence," he
said, presently. "They are deeply interested, you know, and if kept in
ignorance possibly some one might stumble across your plans, and upset
every calculation."
And so, when Elmer returned to the fire, he had the entire bunch
listening, their eyes round with wonder, as they learned what had been
discovered, and also of the bright plans their chums had arranged
looking to the capture of Diablo.
Only Ginger was evidently disturbed. He scratched his head as he
listened, as if he could hardly believe what he saw had been of this
earth, and the idea of Elmer being so rash as to want to try and make a
prisoner of the Evil One gave the ignorant negro a cold shiver.
Doubtless he would make sure to find a snug place to sleep that night,
where nothing could get at him. His mind was still filled with foolish
notions concerning that "chariot of fire" in which he might be carried
out of this world into the Great Unknown.