HELD UP
“Are you sure this is the place?” Jack asked a little later.
“Sure. That’s the tree we climbed, but where’s the moose?” Bob
replied.
They had stopped at the place where they had had the encounter with
the moose, but to their surprise, the animal had disappeared. They
had already told Rex about it and he had expressed a great desire to
see the animal.
“Don’t it beat the Dutch?” Jack said as he glanced about. “How could
anyone have taken him away without leaving tracks?”
“That part of it is easy,” Bob replied. “If they did it the next
morning, while the snow was frozen hard, their tracks wouldn’t
amount to much and that rain would have wiped out all trace of them.
It’s who did it that’s got me guessing. You see,” he continued
turning to Rex, “I broke the law when I shot that fellow and if the
game warden has found him before I have a chance to report and
explain the circumstances, it might go hard with me. It’s a pretty
serious thing up here to shoot a moose out of season.”
“I suppose so,” Rex agreed. “But I imagine your word would be taken
all right.”
“I sure hope so,” Bob said. “But that don’t help explain the
mystery.”
“Probably some Indians or half-breeds found the body and carried it
off,” Jack suggested.
“Likely enough,” Bob agreed.
“Are there any Indians around here?” Rex asked.
“A few,” Bob replied. “You know there’s a tribe that live over at
Oldtown and sometimes they get over as far as Moosehead Lake, but
not often.”
“But there’s plenty of breeds,” Jack declared.
“Well, I guess it’s no use standing here talking about it any
longer,” Bob declared. “Whoever got it has made a good get-away, and
if we’re going to make the Carry tonight we’ve got to be moving.”
They had made a few more miles when, suddenly, Bob, who was in the
lead, stopped and held up his hand.
“Listen,” he said.
Faintly the sound came to their ears.
“Wolves?” Rex asked.
“No, dogs,” Jack replied. “I guess somebody’s coming this way with a
dog team.”
As they started on again it was soon evident that the dogs were
approaching rapidly as the sound of the yelping grew louder. Soon,
peering through the trees, Bob caught sight of them. Four huskies
were drawing a sled and they were accompanied by four breeds, big
burly fellows with villainous appearing faces.
As the two parties met, one of the breeds ordered the dogs to halt.
The sled was heavily loaded as they could see by its tracks in the
snow, but with what they could only guess as it was completely
covered with canvass.
“How.” One of the breeds, a man who stood easily six feet two,
greeted them.
“Good morning,” Bob replied pleasantly.
“Where you come from, eh?”
“From Lake Musquacook.”
“Where you go?”
“We’re going down to Moosehead,” Bob replied.
For a moment the man hesitated.
“You meet man up dar?” he asked.
“No, we have seen no one since we left the lake.”
“Mebby you tell lie, oui,” the man hissed with an insolent leer.
Bob shrugged his shoulders.
“I have told you the truth,” he declared. “Whether or not you choose
to believe it is up to you,” and he started to go on motioning Rex
and Jack to follow him.
But he had taken but a step when one of the other breeds blocked his
way.
“You no be in hurry, non,” he demanded.
“There’s where you’re wrong,” Bob replied his temper beginning to
come to the surface. “We’re in a great hurry.”
“You go when we geet ready,” the man who had first spoken snapped.
“Well, what do you want?” Bob snapped back.
“We want know where you see man.”
“I’ve told you once that we’ve seen no one,” Bob replied.
The four breeds drew off to one side and began talking in low tones,
making violent gesticulations with their arms.
“Think there’ll be any trouble?” Rex whispered, stepping close to
Bob.
“I guess not. There’s usually a good bit of bluff to these fellows.
That sled is probably loaded with booze and they’re probably trying
to get away from some deputy,” Bob replied in a low whisper.
“How about making a run for it?” Rex whispered.
“No use. They’d catch us in no time. Some of these breeds are like a
streak of lightning,” Bob replied. “Leave it to me and I guess it’ll
be all right.”
In another minute the big leader came back to them.
“You go back with us, oui,” he demanded.
“Not so you’d notice it,” Bob said.
“Mebby you lak’ geet beat up.”
“Not particularly.” Bob again shrugged his shoulders as though it
did not much matter.
He was, however, much more concerned than his manner showed. He saw,
by the looks of the man’s face, that he meant business, and he was
racking his brains to think of some way out. He had no doubt but
that they had guns, although none were in sight, and he was just as
certain that they would not hesitate to use them provided they
thought the occasion demanded it.
“Why do you want us to go with you?” he temporized.
“Dat our beesness. You come, oui?”
“Yes, we will—not,” Bob snapped, exasperated by the man’s insolent
manner.
“I tink mebby you change mind, oui,” the man sneered, as he, with a
move so quick that the eye could hardly follow it, pulled from an
inner pocket an ugly looking revolver.
Bob’s heart sank, as he had been relying on the fact that they all
three had revolvers as a last resort. But now it was too late, as he
knew the man would shoot if they made the least movement toward
drawing them.
“Well, I guess that does put a slightly different light on the
proposition,” and he turned to the others with a look which told
them that it was useless to resist.
But Rex was not satisfied.
“See here,” he began, addressing the big breed. “If it’s money you
want——”
“You got money, eh,” the breed interrupted, and instantly Rex
realized that he had made a bad blunder. “We get der money after
while. You come now,” he ordered, motioning to one of his companions
to start the dogs.
“We’ll have to take our medicine,” Bob whispered. “Don’t do anything
to make them mad. It won’t do any good and most of these fellows
have ungovernable tempers.”
But at that moment, just as the driver swung his long lash over the
backs of the dogs and gave the order “mush,” a startling
interruption came.
“Hands up there, Red Joe, and all the rest of you,” came in stern
tones from their right.
Instantly the breeds obeyed the order and the boys turned to see
three men, all carrying automatics in their hands, step from behind
trees only a few feet away.
“That’s right,” said one, as he stepped forward. “Just keep ’em up.
The first one who makes a move will be bored. Now drop that gun,
Joe.”
The breed obeyed without a word but, as Jack afterward declared, if
looks would kill, the officer would not have had a chance.
One of the men quickly picked up the gun and dropped it into his
pocket.
“Frisk ’em, Bill,” the leader ordered, “while I keep ’em covered.”
“Now you can put ’em down,” he said, after one of his men had taken
a revolver and a wicked looking knife from each of them.
“You mak’ one beeg meestake, oui,” the breed whom the officer had
called Red Joe, began. “Dis team belong to dees boys.”
The officer laughed.
“It won’t work, Joe. We’ve had an eye on you for some time and know
all about you.” Then, turning to Bob, he asked: “Mind telling us who
you are? We’re revenue men and we’ve been after these fellows for a
long time and now it looks as though we’d got ’em with the goods.”
Bob quickly explained their presence.
“That’s all right and I’m mighty glad to know you,” and he held out
his hand. “My friend, Jim Blake, told me, just before I came up here
from Washington, how you helped him locate a still over on Mount
Bigelow last summer.”
“And I’m very glad to shake hands with a friend of Jim Blake,” Bob
declared, as he grasped the outstretched hand.
Introductions followed all around.
“You certainly came at the right time for us,” Rex declared.
“Yes, I rather guess we did. They’re a bad bunch and might have made
you uncomfortable to say the least,” the officer said, with a glance
at his prisoners who were standing, in a sullen group, guarded by
one of his men.
“Now, Hen,” he said, addressing the other man, “let’s see what
they’ve got under that canvass. Bill’ll look out for ’em.”
“Just as I thought,” he declared a moment later, as, the canvass
being stripped off, a large quantity of jugs and bottles were
disclosed. “You see these birds brought this stuff across the border
and were taking it down to Jackman. We heard about it and started to
meet ’em, but they must have got wind some way that we were after
’em and were beating it back over the line.
“How’d you know we were after you, Joe?” he called to the breed.
But Joe refused to answer.
“Oh, well, have it your own way,” the officer said indifferently.
“We got you with the goods and that’s the main thing.”
“Are you going back?” Bob asked.
“No. I wish we could go with you boys, but we’ve got to take these
birds to Presque Isle and I guess we’d better be moving.”
As he spoke, the officer took from his pocket four pairs of
handcuffs, and a moment later they were adorning the wrists of the
half-breeds.
“Well, I’m mighty glad to have met you boys, and only wish that we
were going your way,” he said, as he again shook the hand of each of
them. A moment later and the thick forest had hid them from view.
“Whew! But that was a close one all right,” Bob declared, as he
watched them disappear. “I tell you I was a good deal more scared
than I let on. Some of those breeds are mighty tough customers, and
would think no more of killing a man than they would of eating.”
“Well, ‘All’s well that ends well,’” Jack quoted, as they started
off once more. “But I do hope we get back without any more
adventures,” he added with a laugh.
“Getting fed up on them are you?” Rex asked.
“Well, I don’t mind adventures provided they don’t come too quick
and fast,” he said.
“To tell the truth, this last one was quite enough to last me
personally for some time. You know I’m not so used to these
hairbreadth escapes as you and Bob are,” Rex laughed.
“Adventure is the spice of life,” Bob declared.
“I suppose so for you youngsters,” Rex agreed. “But by the time you
get old like me, you’ll wish for a more quiet life,” and both boys
laughed heartily, for Rex was only about three years older than Bob.
“Think we’ll make the Carry?” Jack asked a little later.
“Well, we’ve got quite a piece to go yet, and it’ll probably be
pretty late when we get in. Are you fellows game to try it, or had
you rather camp out another night?”
“I’m game,” Rex declared, and Jack also agreed.
At noon they stopped by the side of a small brook and ate a cold
lunch, not even waiting to make coffee.
“If the crust would only hold we’d have no trouble in making it,”
Bob said, as he munched a cracker. “But it’s pretty hard sledding on
snow-shoes, and I don’t know as we’d better try it.”
But both the others were eager to make the attempt, and he allowed
himself to be easily persuaded.
“If only we don’t get tangled up with an elephant or some other
trifle,” Jack laughed, as they fastened on their snow-shoes and
again set their faces to the south. Mile after mile they left behind
them, but going was heavy and when darkness began to steal through
the forest they still had several miles to go.
“Are you sure you can find the way in the dark?” Rex asked
anxiously.
“I can if the stars come out,” Bob replied, as he cast an anxious
look overhead. “But I’m afraid it’s going to cloud up and if it does
I’m not so sure.”
“Well, I don’t see how you find your way even in the daytime through
this wilderness,” Rex declared. “I’d be running in circles in less
than no time if I tried to find my way.”
“It’s a matter of getting used to it,” Bob said. “But you can always
tell which way is north by the bark on the trees, and then of
course, you can get the other points of the compass. But even so,
I’ve made a circle in the woods more than once.”
Bob’s fears regarding the weather were soon realized; for, although
the stars came out fairly bright as night settled down, their
brightness was short lived. One by one they grew dim and went out,
until finally the last one had disappeared.
“It’s no use,” Bob declared, as he watched the star which had been
his guide fade from view. “I haven’t got a single thing to go by
now, and it’s a clear case of hit or miss, with the odds
tremendously in favor of the miss. You see,” he explained, “there
are three hundred and sixty points to the compass, and, as we’ve got
to hit just one of them, our chances are three hundred and
fifty-nine to one. No man living could be sure of his way in this
blackness.”
Bob used the word in its literal sense, for it was so dark that they
could hardly see their hand before their face. To be sure they had
electric torches, but in the immensity of the forest they were of
little or no use in blazing a trail.
“Well, what’s to be done?” Rex asked.
“Make a camp,” Bob replied. “You see we may be very near the Carry
and then again we may be still several miles away. It’s impossible
to tell.”
“All right then, let’s go to it,” proposed optimistic Rex.
It was slow work in the darkness, finding wood for the fire, but
after a good deal of hunting a sufficient quantity was collected and
soon a cheerful blaze was lightening the gloom of the forest.
“It’ll seem more cheerful when we get some supper under our belts,”
Jack laughed, as he filled the coffee pot with snow and placed it on
the fire.
“Who said anything about not being cheerful?” Rex demanded.
Supper was finally ready and cheerfulness was certainly prominent as
they squatted about the fire, drinking coffee and eating flapjacks.
“Speaking about adventures,” Rex said, after they had cleaned up, “I
had a funny one a few weeks ago, although I don’t know as it was so
funny after all, but it was certainly strange.”
“All right, spring it,” Jack said, as he snuggled into his sleeping
bag.
“Well, it has been said that truth is stranger than fiction, but I
have never believed it until after I had this adventure, but now I
know that it can be, at least sometimes. There have been a lot of
hold-ups in Philly and the country round about, and as I have to do
a lot of driving by night I got a permit from the chief of police to
carry a revolver for self protection. Well, one night, about the
first of last February, I was driving home along from West Chester
where I had been to attend a meeting. It was about half-past eleven
and I was about three miles from the city when I saw a car standing
by the side of the road. I slowed down, as I always do when passing
a standing car. You never can tell when some one is going to dart
out from behind the other car and start to cross the road without
looking.
“Well, I was nearly to the car when, all at once, a man stepped out
into the road and held up his hand. I thought sure it was a hold-up
and, as I stopped the car, I reached my hand into my pocket for my
gun. But before I had time to pull it, the man, in a pleasant voice,
explained that something was the matter with his engine and would I
see if I could make it go. From the sound of his voice I decided
that I had judged him wrong and, of course, I jumped out to see if I
could help him out. He jostled me once or twice while I was leaning
over the engine, but I didn’t think anything of it at the time.”
“I was only a few minutes finding out what was wrong. A bit of dirt
under the needle valve, and soon his engine was running all right
again. He thanked me very profusely, almost too much so, I thought
at the time. I had barely got started when I felt for my watch, to
see how late it was, and it was gone. Believe me, I was mad. It was
a hold-up after all I thought, and the stalled engine was a put-up
job. Well, I resolved then and there to have that watch or to know
the reason why. So I turned, as quickly as possible, and, believe
me, I burned the road going back. I saw him ahead of me, after
running about three miles, and, as soon as possible, I drove up
alongside of him, and motioned for him to stop. He was not going
very fast and at once obeyed my signal. I got out of my car and came
to the side of his, and the next minute, pointing my gun full in his
face, I demanded:
“Hand over that watch, now, and be quick about it.”
“He didn’t say a word but handed me the watch. Whether or not he
recognized me as the man who had helped him out a few minutes before
I don’t know. Well, I dropped the watch in my pocket and he drove
on. I turned again and, a half hour later, was home.”
“Mother was in the living room as I let myself in the house. She had
been out somewhere and had just come in. I told her about my hold-up
and explained I had gotten the watch back. I noticed that she was
looking at me kinder funny, but she didn’t say anything till I had
finished; then, with a puzzled look on her face, she told me that I
had left my watch in the bath-room that evening and that she had put
it in my room. You can believe that I wasn’t very long in pulling
that watch out of my pocket. It was almost exactly like mine, but it
only needed a glance to show that it wasn’t my watch at all.
“‘Great Scott,’ I groaned, as I sank down in a chair. ‘I held that
man up at the point of a gun and robbed him of his watch.’ You can,
perhaps, imagine about how I felt. I was a sure enough highwayman,
and a successful one at that. Just then Father came in, and of
course I had to tell him all about it. I thought he’d die laughing
at first, but in a moment the serious side of it occurred to him and
he sobered up mighty quick.”
“What in the world did you do?” Bob laughed, as Rex paused.
“Well, there was only one thing I could do,” Rex said. “Early the
next morning I took the watch to police headquarters and explained
matters to the captain. I thought he’d throw a fit, but finally,
after he’d called in all the officers about the place and told them
about it and they had nearly laughed their heads off, he said that
he’d fix it up all right and I was glad to get away. Of course I
didn’t blame them for laughing. I’d have laughed myself if it had
happened to anyone else.”
“And did he get the watch back to the owner?” Jack asked.
“Oh, yes,” Rex replied. “The man came in that very day to lodge a
complaint and the matter was explained to him.”
“Did the captain tell him who the man was that had held him up?” Bob
asked.
“No,” Rex replied. “He told me afterward that he had explained to
the man that it would be best not to tell him who it was, and he was
very nice about it and said he thought the same way. But, oh my,
suppose I meet him sometime and he recognizes me. I’ll feel like a
plugged thirty cent piece.”
“Oh, well, he’d probably not recognize you anyhow,” Jack consoled
him.
“That’s the funniest story I ever heard for a true one,” Bob
declared, as he settled himself in a comfortable position and said
goodnight.
How still it was in the solitude of the vast forest. Not a breath of
air stirred the branches above them. The boys were tired from their
long tramp and, as Jack declared, did not have to be rocked to
sleep.
How long Bob had been asleep he did not know, nor did he know what
had awakened him. He was conscious of no sound as he started up
fully awake in an instant. And yet he knew that a noise of some kind
had disturbed his sleep. Raising himself on his elbow, he listened.
“There, I knew it was something,” he whispered to himself, as a low
sound stole through the darkness.
At first he could not make out what it was.
“Sounds, for all the world, like a baby crying,” he thought. “But,
of course, it can’t be. Jimminy crickets, but it is too,” he
muttered a moment later, as the sound reached his ears more plainly.
Moving as quietly as possible, so as not to disturb the others, he
got out of his bag and, listening a moment to make sure of the
direction, he stole softly away through the woods. He had not
stopped to put on his snow-shoes, and although a crust had formed on
the surface of the snow it was not yet strong enough to bear his
weight and he sank to his knees with every step.
Stopping every few steps to make sure that he was getting nearer the
source of the sound, which he was now certain was a baby crying, he
flashed his electric torch ahead. He had not gone more than about
thirty feet when, close to the trunk of a big pine, he found that
for which he was searching. It was indeed a baby, being not more
than four years old. The child was sitting on the snow, the crust
being strong enough to support its weight, at the foot of the tree,
sobbing as if its little heart would break.
“Now what do you know about that?” Bob asked himself, as he hastened
forward and, despite the struggles of the child, picked it up in his
arms.
“There, there, now baby, I’m not going to hurt you.” He soothed the
child, which was, he noticed, dressed in a thick warm cloak.
Gradually, under the influence of his words and tone, the child
seemed to lose its fear.
“Now what are you doing way out here in the woods?” Bob asked, as
soon as the child had calmed sufficiently to answer.
“Baby no way off,” the child sobbed. “Baby live back there,” and the
chubby arms pointed in the direction in which Bob had been going.
“Did you run away?” Bob asked kindly.
“Baby no run way. Bad mans come in house. Hurt my mama,” the child
sobbed.
Instantly Bob was on the qui vive.
“Is the man there now?” he asked quickly.
“Yeth, he hurt my mama,” the child repeated.
“How many bad men are there?” he asked.
“One man—two.” The baby gulped down its sobs.
“Better not take any chances,” Bob muttered, as he retraced his
steps as quickly as possible to where Rex and Jack were sleeping.
“It’s all right, little one,” he assured the child, whom he carried
in his arms. “I’ve got some friends, and just as soon as I can get
to them we’ll go and drive the bad men away.”
He gave first Jack and then Rex a violent shake, as soon as he
reached the spot.
“Wake up there and be quick about it,” he ordered.
“Hey, what’s the big idea?” Jack began sleepily. Then, as he forced
open his eyes and, by the light of Bob’s torch, saw the child in his
brother’s arms, he rose to a sitting position.
“For the love of Mike, where’d you get it?” he gasped.
“Do they raise them on trees up here?” Rex, who was sitting up,
asked.
“It’s no time to answer questions,” Bob declared in a low tone, and
he quickly told them what he had gathered from the child. “It’s
probably some breeds or Indians trying to rob the house. But come
on, there’s no time to lose.”
Still carrying the child in his arms, Bob led the way back through
the snow to the tree where he had found the child.
“You live that way?” he asked, pointing.
“Yeth, wite over dare.”
“Quiet now,” Bob whispered to the others.
In less than twenty steps they suddenly came to a clearing, and to
his great surprise Bob saw that the place was the North West Carry.
“What do you know about that,” he whispered, turning to Rex who was
just behind him. “We were within two minutes’ walk of the place and
never knew it.”
“Hush,” Rex whispered.
“Do you live in the store?” Bob asked the child.
“Yeth, baby live in store.”
“Come on,” Bob ordered. “It’s the store they’re trying to rob.”
The store was only a few feet from where they had stopped, and in
another minute they were on the little porch.
“Hush,” Rex again whispered. “I can hear voices.”
“Yes, there’s someone in there all right,” Bob agreed, as the sound
of angry voices came plainly to their ears.
“The lock on the door’s smashed,” he announced in a whisper, as he
pushed the door open and followed by the others stepped softly into
the store.
“For the last time, will you tell us where that money is?”
The words came to them plainly, even through the closed door at the
back of the store. At the sound, Bob gave a sudden start. There was
something strangely familiar in the sound of that voice. He sat the
child down in a chair by the big stove, and, motioning to the others
with his light, he ran for the back of the store. For just a second
he hesitated. Then, with a shout, he flung open the door.