A TREACHEROUS PLOT.
In the Rock House one day was just like another. The time dragged slowly
by. It was a period of indescribable misery and monotony to Brick and
Hamp. When they were able to forget Jerry's fate they were tormented by
fear for their own.
Nearly a week passed. Then, at sunset on a Wednesday evening, Raikes
returned. Bogle, Sparwick, and the boys were squatted on the ground
about the fire, eating supper.
Raikes responded to their greeting, and sat down beside them. His face
told nothing, but there was a subdued twinkle of satisfaction in his
eyes.
"Fill my plate, Sparwick," he said, "and give me a cup of coffee. I'm
hungry as a bear."
"How far have you come?" asked Bogle.
"From Wytopitlock," was the reply. "It's a little station on the
Canadian Pacific, a few miles east of Kingman."
Brick was unable to hold in any longer.
"Is it all right?" he exclaimed, eagerly. "Have you got the money? Are
you going to let us go now?"
Raikes did not reply. Instead, a bewildered look flashed across his
face. He had just discovered Jerry's absence.
"Where is the other lad?" he asked. "I hope you haven't let him get
away."
Bogle briefly told the sad story. Raikes was visibly affected.
"I'm sorry it happened," he said. "I didn't want any bloodshed to be
mixed up in this affair. Still, it was an accident, and the lad was to
blame himself. We'll have to explain to Glendale that he escaped, and
could not be found. You see, I told him that we had three prisoners to
turn over instead of one."
"Then you have really made a success of your errand, Silas?" asked
Bogle.
Raikes smiled as he took a deep draught of coffee, and attacked the food
on his plate.
"I couldn't have done better," he replied. "Everything is fixed, and
there is no danger of a slip. It took two or three days' work to bring
Glendale to terms. He was pugnacious at first, and used some pretty
rough language--talked about the police, and all that sort of thing. I
told him to go ahead, and he saw that I couldn't be bluffed or scared
off. After I convinced him that the lad's life depended on the payment
of the money he came down gracefully."
"Did he cable to France?" asked Bogle.
"No; it wasn't necessary. He had money at his disposal, and he didn't
want to alarm the lad's parents. The long and short of it is that Mr.
Frederick Glendale is now quartered at a tavern in Wytopitlock, and he
has with him the sum of fifteen thousand dollars in banknotes."
Sparwlck and Bogle fairly gasped for breath. Their eyes and flushed
faces showed how excited they were.
"Five thousand apiece!" muttered Sparwick. "It's a fortune."
"What arrangements have you made for the transfer?" asked Bogle.
"We're to meet on Friday evening, three miles this side of Wytopitlock,"
replied Raikes. "Do you remember that big rock in Path Valley? It stands
just where the stream comes tumbling down the mountain side."
"Yes, I know the place."
"Well, that's where we'll pocket the money and turn over the prisoners,"
said Raikes. "This is Wednesday. I'll spend the night here, and go back
in the morning. You needn't start until early on Friday morning. You
must be at the rock as near sunset as possible that evening. I'll have
Glendale there in plenty of time."
"And Sparwick and I will do the same with the boys," replied Bogle. "The
way you put this thing through does you lots of credit, Silas. We'll be
well paid for all our trouble."
"It was cleverly managed, if I do say it myself," answered Raikes, as he
went on with his supper.
By this time the boys were through. Their arms were tied, and they were
ordered over to the bed. They crouched close together on the pine
boughs, and discussed, in low tones, what they had just heard.
"It's not the loss of all that money that worries me," said Brick. "I'm
thinking about poor Jerry. Don't forget that we swore to have the
murderers punished--if it takes a lifetime."
"I won't," replied Hamp, in a husky tone. "We'll begin just as soon as
we are free."
Finally the boys fell asleep. The three men sat about the fire, talking
and smoking, until nearly midnight. Then they put fresh logs on the
blaze, and went to bed. Bogle and Sparwick stretched themselves on one
side of the boys, Raikes on the other. In a short time all were
apparently sound asleep.
But Raikes was merely feigning slumber. From time to time his eyes
opened, and shot a stealthy glance about the cave. At the end of an hour
he sat cautiously up. He bent over the boys, and looked into Sparwick's
face. The latter was certainly sound asleep. His eyes were closed, and
his breath came deep and regular.
Raikes did not relax his scrutiny for nearly five minutes. Then he was
satisfied beyond a doubt. He now bent in the other direction, and softly
touched Bogle's face.
"Are you awake, Joe?" he whispered.
"Yes," was the reply. "I've been keeping awake on purpose. I thought you
had something to tell me."
"Well, I have. I didn't get a chance all evening. I've got to be brief,
so pay close attention."
"Hold on," whispered Bogle. "Is Sparwick sound asleep?"
"Sound as a rock," assured Raikes.
"Then, let's creep over to the fireplace, and talk there," added Bogle.
"No; he might get awake, and find us gone. Then he would be sure to
suspect something."
"All right," assented Bogle. "Go ahead. I'm listening."
Raikes took another look at Sparwick and at the boys. Then he drew a
tiny glass vial from his pocket, and slipped it into Bogle's hand.
"Take good care of it," he whispered, "and put it in a safe place."
"What is it?" asked Bogle.
"Chloroform," Raikes whispered. "I'll tell you how to use it. Some time
to-morrow night wet a rag, and press it on Sparwick's face while he is
sleeping. Then bind him tightly, and put a gag in his mouth. At daybreak
start for the meeting place with the boys. You can easily manage them if
you keep their arms tied. Glendale and I will be waiting. You and I will
share the fifteen thousand dollars, and strike for a safe part of the
country."
"Splendid!" whispered Bogle. "You're a born schemer, Silas. I thought
you would find some way to outwit this greedy fool. But shall I leave
him here to die of starvation?"
"We'll let Glendale or the boys send a party to rescue him," replied
Raikes. "And as likely as not he'll spend the next two or three years of
his life in jail. That's enough now. It's not safe to talk any longer.
Do you understand?"
"Perfectly," whispered Bogle. "You may look for me and the lads at
sunset."
This ended the conversation. Raikes lay down, and pulled the blankets
over him. Not a sound could be heard but the steady breathing of the
sleepers.
Had the fire been burning brightly it might have been seen that
Sparwick's eyes were open. There was a devilish smile of mingled anger
and triumph on his face. Under the blankets he savagely clinched his
fists.
"It's a good thing I was listening," he said to himself. "A mighty good
thing. I reckon I'll be ready fur these sneakin' liars."
He involuntarily gave a low chuckle as some pleasing thought entered his
mind. This scared him. He listened for a moment. Then he closed his eyes,
and began to snore.
The three men were up at the first streak of dawn on Thursday morning.
After a hastily-prepared breakfast Raikes said good-by to his
companions; and started for Wytopitlock.
An hour later the boys were roused and fed. If the previous days had
seemed long, this one was ten times longer. Bogle and Sparwick looked
forward to evening just as impatiently as the boys. They passed the time
in smoking and talking, and appeared to be on the best of terms. Dinner
time came, and the long afternoon dwindled slowly by.
After supper the evening seemed comparatively short. At ten o'clock all
were in bed. Bogle did not chain himself to Brick, as he had always done
heretofore. He allowed the lad's arms to remain tied behind his back.
"I need a good rest to-night," he explained to Sparwick, "and I won't
get it with that confounded bracelet on my wrist."
"I reckon the lad's safe enough," muttered Sparwick, in a drowsy tone.
He seemed to be half-asleep already.
Bogle stretched himself on the opposite side of the bed, so that the
boys were between the two. He made no effort to keep awake, since he did
not intend to carry out his instructions until toward morning. He
dropped off to sleep in a very contented frame of mind. He straightway
dreamed that the half of fifteen thousand dollars was already in his
possession, and that he was enjoying life in a great city.
In the midst of his revels he awoke, and opened his eyes. For a moment
he did not remember where he was. The embers of the fire shed a dim
light, and showed him a man bending over him. He felt a strange hand
groping in his pocket.
Then the situation suddenly flashed upon him. He recognized Kyle
Sparwick, and knew intuitively that he must have heard the conversation
on the previous night. Now he was seeking the vial of chloroform.
With a husky cry, Bogle pushed his enemy aside, and sprang to his feet.