THE TREASURE CACHE
“H’st! keep quiet!”
As Jack gave utterance to this whisper he set about gaining his feet
without making any racket. And no sooner had he accomplished this than
he started to stepping on what few red embers of the fire there chanced
to be left; so that almost in a “jiffy,” as Buster would have called it,
the last glow had been effectually smothered, and there was no longer
anything to betray the campers, unless the khaki-colored water-proof
tent happened to show later on, should the moon rise.
They could hear the new arrivals making a landing, and talking about
starting a fire, in order to cook some supper. The one who had the
smooth voice, and whom they could easily believe to be the younger
fellow Buster had mentioned as sitting at his ease, watching the heavier
man work at the engine, George’s style, declared that a meal on shore
would not go bad.
“And,” he added, the words coming plainly to the ears of the listeners
close by, “I don’t believe there’s any danger of our being come up with
yet awhile. We’ve got too good a start on those fellows, to worry. Fact
is, I wouldn’t care if we had to stay here in this snug nook all of
tomorrow, and get things fixed to suit us. Let ’em go on past, and hunt
for us; we could slip by the lot the next dark night, and give ’em the
merry ha! ha! Ain’t that so, Jenks, old man?”
The other evidently said it was. He seemed to be a man of few words,
and was quite satisfied to let his glib-tongued crony do most of the
talking, which the younger man was well able to carry on.
Presently the glimmer of a fire through the brush and trees announced
that they had indeed started a blaze, and were evidently preparing to
cook supper. From certain conversation that followed concerning what
this meal was to consist of Jack and his chums were quickly convinced
that while this young fellow might be a bold and bad bank thief, he must
have been brought up in the lap of luxury, judging from the fact that
Jenks was instructed to have the “porterhouse steak and the mushrooms”
for supper, together with coffee, and several other things that appealed
to the appetites of hungry cruisers, but which did not strike the boys
that way, simply because their stomachs had been satisfied.
“Listen to that, would you?” whispered George in the ear of Jack, whom
he happened to be very near at the time, “he said ‘get it off the ice,
and be careful to shut down the ice-box lid too!’ Think of these bold
buccaneers cruising with such a luxury aboard as an ice-box? Whew!”
“Not so loud, George, or they may hear you,” warned Jack, although he
himself thought that the fact was a remarkable one; but then the young
chap must have been a high-stepper in his palmy days, before he took to
evil ways; and possibly old habits clung to him still; so that, having
the ready cash, he wanted to have all the luxuries going, along with
him. Tenderloin steak and mushrooms sounded like it, that was certain.
Perhaps they would be toasting each other at the end of the supper in
champagne, at five dollars the bottle, Jack thought. When wicked men
break into bank vaults, and make way with all the treasure they find
there, surely they can indulge in any sort of extravagance for a short
time afterwards.
The supper was finally cooked.
During this time the six boys had been slowly and cautiously creeping
up through the brush, and between the trees, it being their intention to
see what the two fugitives, who were fleeing before the officers of the
law looked like.
But they did not dare go very close, and hence most of what passed
between the precious pair at the fire came to them only in a rumble of
voices. But they could at least watch them and it was easy to understand
that they seemed to be debating some point very seriously; for once the
young fellow went aboard the boat, and when he came back he bore a box
under his arm, which he carefully deposited on the ground near by. And
how it thrilled every watcher as he saw this act, for there could be no
doubt in the world but that this same chest was one containing all the
treasure these bad men had taken from that Lawrence bank.
But the younger man, who was smooth-faced and boyish looking in fact,
also took a folded paper from his pocket, which he opened and then both
of them bent low down over the same, occasionally tracing along its
surface, with a finger.
“It must be a chart of the river!” George took occasion to faintly
whisper in Jack’s ear, taking advantage of the murmur of the night wind
among the branches of the trees overhead.
Of course this did not enlighten Jack any, since he had jumped at the
same conclusion long before. But the fact of the others studying a map
of the river’s crooked course was highly significant, he thought. It
told that they realized the danger they stood in of being overtaken, and
that they meant to lay out a plan whereby they could elude pursuit.
Jack was studying the pair as he lay there back of the bushes.
He wondered whether the younger one, who seemed to be at the head of the
dangerous combination, could be acting a part. This idea came to Jack
because, as far as he was able to see, the other looked as though he
hardly possessed brains enough to carry him through any ordinary
trouble; and as to plotting such a bold thing as looting a country bank,
why, Jack found it hard to believe he would be capable of it. But still,
he knew very well that it is not always safe to judge from first
appearances. While the skipper of the white power-boat might seem to be
a bit of a “sissy,” that might all be assumed for a purpose, to allay
suspicion, a part he liked to play; and that should occasion ever call
for a display of force and ugliness, the fellow might throw off that
careless demeanor as one would an old glove, appearing in his real
colors.
And while lying there, watching, and trying to pick up a sentence now
and then, as the pair chanced to speak in a little louder tones, Jack
busied himself in speculating what sort of chances they would have, did
they finally decide to accept of the opportunity to close in on the two
rascals, and bring about their arrest.
It would be taking a certain risk of course, and he did not want to
expose his chums to any unnecessary chances for getting hurt; but all
the same temptation loomed up large before Jack’s eyes.
At any rate, he thought, it would do no harm to try and keep a watchful
eye on the pair, and see what they were up to. Had he not in the
beginning heard the leader say that they might as well bury the treasure
on the island as carry it further with them. Of course they meant
to come back again, and get possession of whatever that small box
contained.
The thought of getting hold of the stolen bank funds and papers gave
Jack a nice warm little thrill. He was only a boy, and yet he knew how
splendid it was to return home, and hear the people cheering him, while
the town band played “Lo, the Conquering Hero Comes.” And once before
had they been instrumental in recovering plunder that had been taken by
wandering yeggmen; which fact had helped swell the contents of the
club’s strong-box, and enabled the members to take several long and
expensive trips.
Now those by the fire seemed to have finished their supper, for they
arose, and the more boyish looking of the pair picked up the box again.
It looked as though they might be about to hunt for some hiding-place,
where it could be placed, and safely kept until it was wanted again.
“Get that sharp-pointed stick, Jenks,” he remarked, pointing as he
spoke, “that might do in place of a spade. You see, we didn’t bring that
sort of tool along, because we never thought we’d need one. But you
ought to be able to scratch out a deep enough hole to cram this in. I
hope nobody disturbs it again, that’s all. I’d hate to know that was so.
Now, come over this way, Jenks. It won’t take any great length of time.”
He spoke with a slight lisp that made him seem much more effeminate than
might otherwise have been the case. And to the alarm of Buster the pair
actually started toward the quarter where the six lads were flattened
out as close as they could get to the ground.
But then the shadows lay thick, and besides, before there was any real
danger of discovery they heard him say again:
“I imagine this ought to do as well as anywhere, Jenks, just behind this
bush, you notice. Now, see how you can root out the earth with that
stick and your hands. I should think that a hole some fifteen or
eighteen inches deep would be enough. There, it seems to work all right,
doesn’t it, Jenks?”
The heavy-set man said that it did, and continued to labor on, throwing
the dirt out of the cavity he was making, by a liberal use of the
sharp-pointed stick, then following it up by scooping with his bent
hands.
But not a thing did the aristocratic partner in the team seem to do in
order to assist. He must be the recognized brains of the crowd, and as
such was entitled to sit by, and give orders in a rather supercilious
way, while the other did all the real hard work.
When Jenks had scooped out a hole that he thought deep enough, he paused
to wipe his brow with a red bandanna handkerchief. Meanwhile the other
carefully laid the box in the cavity.
“It fits first-rate, Jenks,” he announced, “and now you can cover it up
again. Just push the earth in, you know, like that,” and with the toe
of his shoe he managed to cause some of the dirt to fall upon the top of
the box.
When presently Jenks seemed to have patted down the disturbed earth the
other spoke again.
“We want anybody that comes meddling around here to think that some one
has been buried, and then they won’t dare disturb things, you know,
Jenks. So I’ll just fix this stone at the head as though it marked a
grave. There, what do you think of that, Jenks? Takes some brains to get
up a cute little scheme like that, don’t it, eh?”
Jenks apparently was an echo, for when the other took snuff he seemed to
sneeze, as George could have expressed it. He immediately remarked that
he thought it a very smart trick, did credit to the originator; and this
pleased the other for he seemed to chuckle to himself.
Then the pair turned away, and went back to the neighborhood of the
fire, where they settled down to enjoy the warm blaze; for as the night
advanced the air was really becoming more and more keen, especially, as
Buster thought, for any unfortunate fellow who had the bad luck to lose
his warm sweater; for the sight of his comrades enjoying their woolen
protectors only made Buster feel his loss the more.
Jack gave the signal for a retreat. He intimated in a few whispered
words that there was something very important upon which they ought to
have a consultation; and in order to do unheard they would have to go
back to their camp.