BUCK’S SQUAD TAKES THE FIELD
Ted refused at the time to reveal the details of his plan for trapping
the person who was annoying them in their camp, but he promised that he
would later on. Feeling that a good part of the morning had been wasted
in the details of his fight with Plum, he preferred that they get
things done around the camp. This was attended to and then he and Buck
had two important matters to attend to.
The first was that of seeking the tracks of the horse who had posed on
the rock on the previous evening, with a view to tracing the animal in
the hope of obtaining some clue as to its owner. They went to the rock
and searched carefully around, moving away from it with eyes alert to
pick up the mark of a hoof, but the ground around was too rocky to help
them any. Some fifty feet away from it they found one print but that
was all, and they finally gave it up as a bad job.
“When that fellow brought the horse down to the rock he made a good job
of it,” Ted admitted, mopping his forehead. “He didn’t mean that we
were to find any hoof prints.”
“But a horse is pretty heavy, and I should think he would be bound to
leave marks,” murmured Buck.
“Well, there is a way to do everything,” said Ted, with a grin. “I
remember a trick I used to work on my father. I used to go swimming
over in Tier’s Pond that summer you were away and the only way to get
there without hoofing it was to take the horse and carriage, because I
was small then and didn’t have the old car. But I knew if my dad saw
the wheel prints and the hoof prints in the gravel, he’d know I had
taken the carriage and the horse, which he didn’t want me to take, so
I put a couple of blankets down and walked the horse across them, then
went back and picked up the first one and put it down ahead of the
horse’s hoofs, and in that way we got out of the drive without leaving
a mark. When I came back at night I used to spread them out again and
get in without so much as a trace showing. Maybe that is what our
friend of last night did.”
“I wouldn’t doubt it. He had everything carefully planned, and we’ll
have to hustle some to catch up with him.”
After lunch the two leaders went to the farmhouse and there Ted used
the telephone to call Lawyer Calvert. When the president of the club
got on the wire Ted told him the events of the past few days and
narrated his reason for thrashing Plum. The lawyer listened without
comment until he was finished.
“You did just what was right, Thorn,” he told Ted. “That boy had it
coming to him for a long time. When he gets in town I’ll see to it
that he doesn’t spread any stories around among the parents. But are
you sure that everything is all right? You don’t need any special
protection?”
“I don’t think so, Mr. Calvert,” replied Ted. “So far we have managed
to stand it and I think that we’ll be able to face it to the end. I
have some plans for setting a trap for the man, whoever he is, and
I think we’ll fix him so that he’ll stay away. If things should get
serious I would let you know, and if necessary abandon the camp, but
I’m pretty sure that it won’t come to that.”
“All right, just as you say. You are in complete charge and I rely on
you. If you need any more money with which to buy provisions, call me
and I’ll see to it that you get it.”
Ted promised to do so and with that the conversation came to an end.
The farmer and his wife had listened openly to the conversation on
Ted’s part, and they quite frankly let him see it in their subsequent
words.
“Sho, you boys havin’ a little trouble down to your camp, ain’t you?”
the farmer said, as Ted joined Buck in the kitchen of the house.
“Yes, but we’ll get at the bottom of it pretty soon,” affirmed Ted. “By
the way, if you should hear from any one around that they know anything
about it, you might let me know.”
“I’ll sure do that,” promised the farmer. “Anybody ought to be ashamed
to go botherin’ you while you ain’t doing nothing but enjoyin’ yourself
campin’.”
“I’d be scared to death to stay down there at night,” the farmer’s wife
shook her head.
The next move on Ted’s part was strange even to Buck. They went to
Montvery and there Ted bought ten cheap flashlights.
“What is the idea?” Buck demanded. “We have lanterns in the camp and we
don’t really need flashlights. A few of us have them already and there
is plenty of oil for the lamps.”
“I know, but I want every boy to have a flashlight. It is part of the
plan which I will unfold when we get back to camp.”
When they arrived at the camp they found the boys in swimming, with
their clothing piled in plain sight on the bank of Bear Creek. “We
didn’t trust this place,” Drummer confided. “We were afraid if we left
the clothes in the tent somebody would walk off with ’em or make them
vanish or something!”
When they were all out and dressed Ted called them in a knot around
him. They stood away from the tents and the tress, out in the open
space.
“I want to tell you what I have in mind out here where no one could
possibly be listening,” he began. “So many funny things happen around
here that I’m afraid to talk for fear that my words will be overheard.
What I wanted to tell you is this: Up until now this pest has been
scaring us and running away, laughing up his sleeve—if he has a sleeve!
We don’t know enough about him to know how he does dress, unless he’s
a fake Black Rider all the time. Every time he has bothered us we sit
here looking dazed and let him get away from us. Now, my idea is this:
to create two distinct squads, a camp squad and a chasing squad. We’ll
settle after awhile who is to be who, but for the time being we’ll see
what each one is to do.”
“This afternoon I bought flashlights for those who haven’t any and from
now on, as soon as it gets dark, we’ll wear ’em on our belts. Don’t
leave them in your tents for a single minute! We have lanterns in the
tents, but by the time we get the lanterns lighted and started off,
the would-be terror could get a good start and we’d never nail him.
Because the chasing squad is to form and run after the man the minute
there is a suspicious sound around the camp!”
There was a stir of expectancy and the boys looked a bit startled but
more pleased than anything else. Ted went on: “Buck will be the head of
the chasing squad and I’ll take care of the camp squad. The reason I
don’t want every one to go running out and chasing up the mountain is
because I don’t think the camp should ever be left alone. The chasing
squad will be composed of the fastest runners, and also the biggest
fellows, just in case you have to use any force on anyone, though it
isn’t likely that a bunch of boys such as we are could ever handle a
grown man, but if we can get a line on the direction he runs in we’ll
begin to learn something.”
“You get the point, don’t you? As soon as there is any unusual noise,
Buck’s squad forms and runs in that direction. The rest of us stay in
camp and guard it against surprise. I’ve got another thought in regard
to trapping a visitor, but this one will do for now. From this time on
we’ll be doing something besides sitting still and just listening and
looking scared. Now, lets pick squads.”
The biggest and oldest boys, seven in number, were immediately picked
for Buck’s squad and the rest were reserved for the camp watch. Some of
the boys were disappointed because they couldn’t run with the active
group, but Ted was determined to make his two sections effective. There
was a lot of chattering on the subject and the leader was compelled to
warn them to keep things quiet.
“Think they will be eager for action when the time comes?” Buck asked.
“I guess they will. They know that a bunch of them will be in action
and that makes a difference. I think it will work out.”
The flashlights were passed out and from that time on the boys carried
them on their belts and longed for action. But two nights sped by
without anything unusual happening and they began to think that
everything was over, when the third evening brought action suddenly.
They were sitting around the campfire when there was a sliding sound
back of them and a tiny avalanche of dirt and stones rolled down behind
the tents. There was a crashing noise as though someone had landed
in the bushes, and then, as they peered in a startled manner toward
the rear of the camp they saw a figure bolt into the shrubs near the
springs.
“There he goes! Go after him!” shouted Ted, and Buck frantically pulled
at his flashlight. The other boys followed his lead as he darted off,
and in an instant the peaceful camp was demoralized. The eight boys on
the chasing squad were running across the camp toward the springs and
the others who were to remain in camp were urging them on at the top of
their lungs.
Drummer joined Buck and they came to the bottom of the rise, pushing
their way up it with their lights turned on. They could hear the sound
of the running man in front of them, and it was evident that he had
thrown all caution to the wind in an endeavor to get away from them. On
flat ground Drummer would not have been able to keep up with his chief,
but his sturdy legs were good for climbing and he was able to remain
pretty close to Buck’s side. Back of them the other boys ran along,
forgetting nervousness in the excitement of the chase.
The camp lay far behind them now and they noted that the man was taking
a course off in the direction which Farmer Crane had told them was the
way to Hogs’ Hollow. If this was the man from that region he would
speedily lose them, for it was evident that he knew the country and at
the first opportunity he would conceal himself and let them hunt for
him at will. But just now he seemed to be putting all of his strength
and skill into his running. He had no light and must have been very
familiar with the surrounding country.
He was drawing ahead of them now and the noise of his running footsteps
was growing dimmer. The country became wilder and rocks protruded
jagged heads above the mountain soil. The woods had given way to open
country thickly sprinkled with bushes and before they had run many
yards further they came across a narrow road that was little more than
a wagon track. Drummer and Buck were becoming winded and the other boys
had dropped out of the swift running, though they were still advancing.
A stone wall, long and low, loomed up before them and beyond a set of
stones which seemed more orderly than the ones they had encountered
thus far in their run, attracted their attention. The flashlights
revealed the fact that they were grave stones and they had arrived at a
little country graveyard. They stopped to get breath.
“Ow, that was a tough run!” gasped Drummer, leaning on the wall.
“You bet it was!” agreed Buck, as two other boys came up. “I think he
went across this graveyard.”
“I don’t hear him,” said Bob, listening intently.
All sounds of the pursued had ceased and the night was silent except
for the murmur of the voices of the other boys, who now came up and
joined them. Buck and Drummer had made enough noise in their running to
serve as a permanent guide for the others.
“Maybe he ran right across it and is still going,” said Charlie,
nodding toward the quiet graveyard.
“I don’t know, but I’m going in and see if he is hiding behind a
stone,” announced Buck.
His followers looked startled and uneasy and he noted the look. “You
fellows stay here and I’ll just take a quick look,” he said, stepping
over the wall. “Put your lights out.”
“I’ll go with you,” declared Drummer, lifting one foot over the wall.
“No, you stay here with the boys. There aren’t many stones in the
yard and it will only take me a moment. I’ll be right back, so keep
absolutely quiet.”
With that Buck began his search, looking behind the stones by the light
from his flash. The graveyard was a little longer than he had been able
to make out from the rays of his light, and he kept moving away from
the boys in the road. Back of every stone he flashed the light, but
found nothing.
He was now at the far end of the country cemetery and one large
monumental stone alone remained. He stepped toward it, pressing the
button on the flashlight, for he allowed it to go out after each flash.
As he did so he stepped around the big stone and instantly sensed the
presence of someone in the darker shadow behind the shaft.
But before he could step back or press on his light a strong arm was
thrown around him and a rough, horny hand was clapped over his mouth.