THE BOYS LOSE AN ALLY
The words of Howells stunned the boys for a moment. Then Garry delivered
himself of a few vehement words regarding the thieves.
"We have been here only a couple of days or so, and yet we find that
this logging camp is a hive of rascals and thieves. And still we have
done nothing. We must get to work and nip this thing in the bud, else
the whole summer's work at the camp here will have gone for naught, to
say nothing of the irreparable financial loss that will be caused to
Dad, not only from the penalties for failure to live up to his
contracts, but the money loss from the stolen timber will mount up well
into the hundreds I am afraid. Now we must put a stop to this thing. I
believe that I will go out tomorrow and go to town and 'phone Father
that he had better make a cleanup here at the camp. Perhaps we don't
know just who the guilty parties are, but if we get rid of the whole
shooting match we can stop it. How much timber would you estimate has
been stolen?" he concluded, turning to Howells.
"I can't say as to that. This last report is the only one that I have
received direct. Generally I have been given what was supposed to be a
duplicate copy of the one sent to Barrows. This time I happened to get
the mail myself at the postoffice. Generally one of Barrow's men gets
the mail, and it is distributed. This letter was addressed to me
personally, and I have no doubt that the others were also, but were
opened and doctored up to appear all right. That's a prime bit of
evidence if we can secure the proof. Tampering with Uncle Sam's mail is
a serious crime, and draws a long prison term. Now as for your going out
of the woods tomorrow and 'phoning your father, Garry, I would advise
against it. Nothing very serious can happen in the next few days. Little
work can be done until a new saw comes, and there will be little
shipping of timber except that which has been waiting to be transported.
In the meantime, if, as your father is led to believe, this whole matter
is a move on the part of the big interests to crush him in the lumber
business, the firing of the present manager and crew will have little
effect. Your dad evidently trusted Barrows, else he would not have sent
him here. If he is guilty, you may be sure that the enemy, for such we
must call them, made it mighty well worth his while to turn traitor.
What is to prevent the next manager from being affected in the same way?
And even if a trustworthy manager were secured, the big interests can
always bribe enough of the laborers to do all the necessary damage that
would be required to spoil the season. My advice is to lay low for a few
days and get evidence that will get the 'man higher up,' the one who is
the instigator of this whole thing. Once you can spike his guns, there
will be no further danger of trouble here, and also it will enable your
father to take court action that will restore him damages for the stolen
timber, and will also give him a chance to sue those who have harmed him
so that he can make the penalties that will be inflicted in case enough
damage has already been done to make him forfeit his contracts. I should
say now that he was a good three weeks behind his shipments, and that is
a whole lot in one season. He has guaranteed to deliver a certain amount
of timber at its destination by the last of September. It is the middle
of August now, and he must make every minute count from now on to get
out the required amount. Get the man responsible for this business and
you will have accomplished what you have set out to. What do you think
of my advice?"
"Sounds logical, and I think we will follow it. In the meantime I have a
hunch now in regard to that stolen timber. I think I can hitch up a few
things Barrows has tried to dissuade us from doing, and a certain lake
in this vicinity. That's our next work. Now what do you propose to do,
Mr. Howells?" asked Garry.
"First thing I'm going to do is to go straight to Barrows and tell him
about the deficiency shown by the records. That will do one of two
things, I believe; either show him up for a crook, or else show that he
is straight and start him investigating the thefts. If the latter
happens, which I am frank to say I do not think will, then we have
accomplished a great deal of good."
Howells, however, had barely finished speaking, when the red haired
cookee appeared at the shack and told him that Barrows wanted to see him
at the camp office immediately.
Having delivered the message, the cookee sauntered off, and Howells
looked at the boys with a puzzled stare.
"Wonder what's up now. Thought that we talked over everything there was
a little while ago. Well, there's no use in wondering. I'm off to see
his Royal Highness and find out what he wants. I'll see you after a
little while."
Howells hustled off to the office and left the boys to talk things over
among themselves.
"What did you mean, Garry, when you said that you had a hunch about
lakes and things?" inquired Phil.
"Why, you remember how insistent Barrows has been that we make a sort of
playground out of the little lake, setting forth its advantages about
swimming, fishing and all that, and has done everything that he can do
to discourage us from going near the big lake. I have let him believe
that we took everything he said for granted, so I thought that tonight,
if possible, we would make a trip to the big lake and see what's what,"
Garry answered.
"I'm wondering if Barrows is clever enough to play the old trick used by
conjurers and magicians?" mused Phil.
"What do you mean, magician?" queried Garry with a puzzled look at his
friend.
"Why, you know a magician always directs the attention of his audience
to the thing that he is generally going to do, figuring that the people
will be on the watch for a trick, and will be so busy trying to find the
hidden trick, that they look everywhere but where the magician tells 'em
to, and in the meantime he has done his trick."
"I see," exclaimed Garry. "You mean that Barrows may figure that we will
guess he has been discouraging us about the big lake for the very
purpose of making us go there rather than to the smaller body of water,
where some sort of villainy may be going on."
"That's it exactly," returned Phil.
"I think you have a good hunch there, Phil, although I rather think that
Barrows is not clever enough to dope out that trick. Still, there can be
no harm in watching both lakes. Suppose that we take a little trip today
to the small one, and then tomorrow night we will hustle over to the big
one after the camp has turned in for the night. Guess that will be our
best plan. Now let's wait for Barrows and Howells to finish their
conversation, and we will trot over while I ask a few leading
questions."
They waited a few minutes, talking over their probable course of action,
and were about to set out for the office, when Howells appeared on the
scene. Rage and disappointment were depicted in his face, and the boys
were quick to take notice of this.
"What's the matter? You look as though you had bad news to bring us,"
said Garry.
"Well, it's bad news for me, at any rate, and I think also for you. I
believe I have proof enough that Barrows is a crook from the word go. I
have been discharged from my job as cruiser and scaler and ordered to
leave the place immediately."
"Why, I can hardly believe you, what's it all about?" asked Phil.
"Well, it's a short story. I had hardly gotten inside the office, when
Barrows told me I was through. Naturally all other thoughts left my
head, that is about my errand, and I asked him why. He replied that when
he hired me he thought he was getting an accurate scaler, and that the
reports showed that the amount of timber I had reported was cut had not
been delivered. Immediately I knew that he was on to the fact that I was
aware of the shortage and was spiking my guns before I could do or say
anything. Now I know that I have accurately measured all the timber that
was cut in this tract. I was at school long enough to learn how to scale
if I never learned anything else. Of course we had words, and I forgot
myself and accused him of knowing that timber was disappearing, and he
was covering up by throwing the blame on me. Of course there was nothing
that I could do, so I told him a few wholesome truths and walked out of
the office."
"Then that definitely settles Barrows' status here," said Garry. "He
knows that timber is being stolen, and he wants to cover it up. I hope
you did not connect us in any way with you while you were telling
Barrows what you thought of him, did you Art?"
"You bet I didn't. I kept my head that much, at any rate."
"Well, we have lost a valuable ally since you must go away. I suppose,
though, we could hire you as a guide and keep you here. Barrows could
make no objection then," said Garry.
"No, that would be the worst thing that you could do. It would put
Barrows on his guard, for he would immediately leap to the conclusion
that I had told you everything. No, the wisest thing for me to do is to
hop out and go back to town. Then in a few days I could get back here
and see what I could dig up in the way of stolen timber. I think the
most advisable thing to do would be to find out from some of the railway
stations near here where timber is being shipped from, and in that way
we could get a line on where it is going. Then you chaps on the inside
can browse about a bit and find out how it is stolen. Between us we can
secure evidence that will uncover the whole plot. I'm going out now,
before they get onto the fact that we have had time to talk things over.
In the meantime, take my advice, and keep your eyes open every minute.
Eternal vigilance on your part is going to be the price of success. Not
that I believe any harm will come to you. Barrows would not dare attempt
that; but he could move so stealthily that you could not find out
anything. Now I'll say goodbye and trot along. Good luck to you, and I
will contrive some way to get word to you of what is going on."
Howells shook hands with the boys, and then loped off to get his
dunnage. The boys watched his departure sadly, for they had counted a
great deal on the help that the young timberman could give them.
"Well, fellows, that puts it directly up to us again. We will have to
work on our own hook and get to the bottom of this. Now let's have
action. Tomorrow morning--it is too late now to do anything--we will
take a little trip to the small lake, Kanamo Lake I think they call it;
Dutton is the name of the big one, and start our search there. We will
simply say that we are going off for some fishing and swimming. Now
we'll go to the office, and remember, not a word about knowing that
Howells was discharged." And concluding his talk, Garry led the way to
the office.
Barrows watched them narrowly as they came in, but said nothing.
"Thought we'd get a little information about Kanamo Lake," said Phil, as
they seated themselves.
"Yes," chimed in Garry. "We are going off there early tomorrow and have
a little fishing and perhaps a swim or two. We haven't done anything
since we got here but watch the timber cutting, and that isn't a novelty
any longer. What we especially want to find out is whether there is any
canoe or boat on either of the lakes that we could use to get some
really good fishing."
"There isn't a boat or canoe of any sort on either Dutton or Kanamo,"
answered the manager. "But you will find that will not interfere with
your fishing. Part of the banks are well covered with reeds, and early
in the morning and after the sun has gone down you can catch a fine mess
of pickerel. Throughout the day the bass can be caught from the bank if
you boys are any hand at making a good long cast. I suppose as soon as
the timber cutting is done, the tourists will begin to swarm here for
summer camping, and then there will be plenty of boats and few fish.
That's generally the way." The manager talked heartily as though
relieved that the conversation had taken the turn that it had, and
perhaps because of the information that the boys were going to get away
from the camp. It was likely that he had expected some questioning
because of the discharge of the scaler. Evidently thinking over the
matter, he decided something in his mind, and turning to Garry, remarked
casually: "I had hoped that the arrival of the scaler would give me a
little extra time so that I could do some fishing with you and act as
guide around here, but I regret to say that I found him incompetent and
was obliged to discharge him. He was careless about his measurements, or
else did not know how to measure properly, and all our records are
messed up so that it will take me several days to get them straightened
out. Fortunately I know pretty well what's been shipped and can check
against the bills of lading. Well, there goes the cook's supper call."
Following supper, the boys made excuses that they wanted to get their
fishing tackle in order and retired early to their shack. They got to
sleep early, as they expected a strenuous day on the morrow, and also
hoped to be able to make a trip to Dutton Lake at night, hence wanted
sleep.
Just as they were undressing, Dick uttered an exclamation of disgust.
"What's the matter, Dick, lose a button?" inquired Phil.
"No, confound it, lost that nice knife with my name on it that I bought
in Bangor."
"That's too bad, lost your nice toy. Well, you should worry, as you have
your sensible scout knife that will cut even if it hasn't a nice name on
it," laughed Phil.
Early morning found them routed out with the dawn, and as they hurried
for the cookhouse to get some supplies with which to cook a luncheon at
the lake, they heard the cook and his helper talking about some marauder
that had been captured the night before and was locked up in the
storehouse.
Neither seemed to know much about it, but the boys could see that the
cookee was on tenterhooks, and several times tried to get out, only to
be called by the cook and set to doing some necessary task toward the
getting of breakfast. This uneasiness on the part of the cookee made the
boys think that possibly Baptiste LeBlanc had been caught, and decided
that when they had eaten they would have a look at the prisoner.
Barrows appeared when they were half way through breakfast, and the
chums at once began to question him regarding the capture of the unknown
man and what he might have wanted there.
"Perhaps he is the one who has been causing a lot of trouble around
here," said Barrows. "I haven't seen him yet. Couple of the men found
him snooping around the office last night, and after locking him up,
woke me up and told me about him. After I eat I am going to question
him, and if you want to get a little later start on your fishing trip,
you can come and take a look at him."
This was exactly what the boys wanted, and they thanked Barrows for the
invitation. They made a hurried meal, and then after Barrows had posted
the notices for the section bosses for the day, they went to the
storehouse, which was the most solid looking building in the camp, being
built of great logs with a thick double hasp and padlocks on the door.
Inside were kept the cooking supplies for the camp.
The manager produced a key, and throwing open the door, called to the
prisoner to come out.
The three chums pressed forward eagerly to see if they were right in
their guess that LeBlanc or his evil associate had been captured.
What they did finally see nearly knocked them off their feet. There was
a shuffling sound as of some one getting up, and then through the door
into the sunlight, walked The Hermit!