THROUGH THE WOODS.
Raikes fixed his disheveled clothes, and pulled his cap down over his
forehead. Then he thrust his hands into his pockets, and stared
meaningly at Sparwick.
"What are you lookin' at me fur?" demanded Sparwick.
"I was just thinking what a big, lubberly fool you are," replied Raikes,
boldly. "Hold on--don't get riled. I want to talk to you for a minute or
two."
"Fire away," said Sparwick.
Raikes shook his head.
"No, not here. It must be a private conversation."
Sparwick hesitated, and a greedy look came into his eyes.
"No tricks," he replied, warningly, "or I'll smash your head."
He led his prisoner to a clump of bushes a dozen feet distant. Here they
conversed in low, eager tones for nearly a quarter of an hour.
Jerry and Hamp looked on with some curiosity and suspicion. They were
afraid that Raikes was coaxing Sparwick to turn traitor.
But the end of the palaver did not confirm this supposition. When the
men returned, their relations were evidently the same as before. Raikes
looked moody and downcast. Sparwick's impassive face told nothing. The
latter handed the two letters to Jerry.
"Put 'em in your pocket," he said, "an' take good care of them. We're
going to start right away."
"Where for?" Jerry asked.
"To rescue your pardner," was the reply. "I've got everything in shape.
This rascal here hes concluded ter help us out, an' I've promised he
shan't be prosecuted. He'll take us straight to Bogle an' the lad.
We're goin' to save Mr. Larkins a cool ten thousand dollars."
This glib speech quite banished any lingering suspicion that Jerry or
Hamp may have felt. They were highly elated by the news, and they helped
to pack up with alacrity. In a short time the little party was on the
march.
They headed straight back through the spruce woods. Raikes sullenly led
the way, and Sparwick followed at his heels with a loaded rifle. The
boys brought up the rear, dragging the sleds.
At the end of an hour they entered a low and tangled swamp. They went on
through a maze of gloomy, intersecting paths. The boys were surprised to
recognize the place.
"I thought this swamp was inaccessible," said Hamp.
"It were always reckoned so," replied Sparwick; "but it seems kind o'
different now."
"Do you mean to say that this is where Brick is confined?" asked Jerry.
"Accordin' to the prisoner's statement that's the case," said
Sparwick, "an' I don't reckon he'd lie about it. I've got a bullet
ready fur the first sign of deceivin'. Do you hear that, old man?"
This last was addressed to Raikes. He neither replied nor turned around.
He went steadily on, twisting to right and left through the tortuous
windings of the swamp.
It was more than an hour later when the party came in sight of the
clearing and the cabin. From the top of the roof a pillar of blue smoke
curled slowly upward. The boys were startled and amazed. They eagerly
examined their weapons.
"Will we likely have much of a fight?" asked Jerry.
"Not a bit," exclaimed Sparwick, scornfully. "Put up them weapons. We're
four ag'in one. Do you think Joe Bogle's fool enough to resist. It'll
all go our own way, lads."
Raikes was now half-way across the clearing. The others followed closely
in his footsteps. Jerry and Hamp saw the cabin door thrown open. They
heard a hoarse shout from within.
"It's all right, Joe," Raikes answered. "No shootin'."
Sparwick paused, and drove the boys into the cabin ahead of him. He
followed with the sleds.
Jerry and Hamp stared eagerly at their surroundings. They saw Bogle
leaning against the table with a savage and wondering expression on his
face. Then they spied some one else, and heard a familiar voice call
them by name. The next instant they were kneeling on the bed beside
Brick, trying to clasp his fettered hands.
"We've come to save you," declared Jerry. "Your troubles are over now.
Your father won't have to pay that money, either. Sparwick is helping
us, you know. We told him that you would give him five hundred dollars
if he saved you. That's why----"
The sentence was broken off short, for just then Bogle strode forward.
His face blazed with anger. He clapped one hand on Raikes' shoulder.
"What the deuce does this mean, Silas?" he demanded, hotly. "Have you
lost your senses? Why did you turn back, and bring this rabble here? Do
you want to ruin everything?"
There was a brief pause. The boys looked on with thrilling and anxious
interest. They expected to see Raikes seize and overpower his comrade.
Imagine their surprise, then, when Raikes leaned over, and whispered a
few words into Bogle's ear. The two strolled amicably to the farthest
end of the cabin, where they sat down on a bench, and began to talk in
low tones.
Sparwick propped himself carelessly against the door, with his hands in
his pockets. He studiously kept his eyes averted from the bed. As for
the three lads--well, they were not a little puzzled by such strange
proceedings. They were at a loss to account for them.
"I hope what you told me is true," whispered Brick. "It don't look much
as if Bogle was a prisoner, though."
"No; it don't," admitted Jerry. "I'm afraid there's a hitch somewhere."
"Perhaps Raikes hasn't turned traitor, after all," suggested Hamp.
"I mean that he may have fooled Sparwick."
"I'm afraid you two fellows are the ones that were fooled," said
Brick. "It looks very much as though Sparwick had gone over to Raikes
and Bogle. Perhaps they promised him more money."
Jerry and Hamp exchanged quick, meaning glances. It suddenly flashed
upon them that Brick's suspicion was absolutely true.
Just then Jerry caught Sparwick's eye. He beckoned him to approach. But
Sparwick pretended not to see. He looked the other way.
Before the boys could utter another word, Raikes and Bogle rose from the
bench, and came across the room. Raikes paused in front of Sparwick, and
said something to him. Bogle came on to the bed. His face wore a
sneering smile of satisfaction.
"Give me those letters," he demanded of Jerry.
The lad hesitated. With a savage oath Bogle clinched his fist.
"The letters?" he repeated, "quick!"
Jerry realized his helplessness. He took the letters from his pocket,
and handed them to the ruffian.
"You're a mean, lying traitor, Kyle Sparwick," he cried, angrily.
"None of that," exclaimed Bogle. "Keep a civil tongue in your head, or
you will be sorry." He struck Jerry roughly on the face. Then he took
their rifles from the two lads.
"Stay where you are," he added. "Don't move."
The boys cowered before the ruffian's fierce words and manner.
Bogle crossed the room, and put the weapons on a shelf over the
fireplace. He strolled leisurely to the table, and perched himself on
the edge. Raikes and Sparwick drew a bench up to the opposite side, and
sat down.
"You've come here uninvited, Sparwick," said Bogle. "And I'm not any too
glad to see you. You have chosen to meddle with an affair that was none
of your business. I don't blame Raikes, for he did the best thing
possible under the circumstances. You had the drop on him, and he knew
it."
"It's fair enough, as far as I kin see," replied Sparwick, uneasily.
"You an' I are old friends, Joe Bogle, an' there's no reason why I
shouldn't have a hand at such rich pickin's--especially when I've earned
the right."
"Earned it?" sneered Bogle.
"Yes, earned it," replied Sparwick, in a warmer tone. "I don't see how
you kin deny the fact. I had a bargain with them two lads yonder to
rescue their pardner, an' I was to receive a certain sum of money fur
the work. Accidentally Raikes stumbled across us this mornin', an' I
nabbed him. He had papers what showed up your little game. I could have
blocked it as easy as rollin' off a log. Why didn't I tie Raikes to a
tree, an' then push on here, and nab you, an' rescue the lad? You won't
deny that I could have done it, an' made a heap of cash by the
operation, too. But instead o' that I listens to Raikes. He says he'll
take me in with you, an' give me twice the sum I was countin' on. So I
agrees to it, an' we fixes the thing up. An' now this is the kind of
treatment I get. It ain't fair an' square, Bogle, you know it ain't. An'
what's more, I ain't a man ter be sat down upon. This here agreement
will be kept, or I'll know the reason why."
Sparwick's face flushed with anger and indignation. He rose to his feet,
and pounded the table with his fist.