TRACKING FROM THE SADDLE.
Hugh Hardin was accustomed to serving as pacemaker. Besides being leader
of the Wolf Patrol, to which Billy also belonged, he had long ago been
elected assistant scout master to the troop. When Lieutenant Denmead, a
retired army officer who had taken great interest in the boys of the
town, could not be present, Hugh served in his stead. Being a
first-class scout, he had found no difficulty in securing his
credentials to act in this important capacity from Boy Scout
Headquarters off in New York City.
Consequently, when he led the procession of saddle boys down the slope
of the ridge, he felt quite at home.
There was no attempt to make great speed. This would have been looked
upon as the essence of folly on several accounts. In the first place
there was good-natured Billy Worth who, being a novice with the
motorcycle, was apt to get himself into trouble at any moment. Then they
must remember that they were really tracking the two hoboes who had
stolen the runabout as well as relieved Gusty Merrivale of the pay roll,
which the Italian laborers up in his father’s quarries were anxiously
expecting. And if these two reasons were not enough, there was the fact
that the pacemaker was carrying double on his machine, which made things
just a bit unwieldy.
Of course, there would be stretches along the road where they might
reasonably expect to “hit her up,” as Billy was wont to say. These would
occur where the ground happened to be fairly level, or slightly
up-grade.
Nothing happened up to the time the boys arrived at the foot of the
mountain. Hugh had not forgotten what he had said about taking a good
look at the marks left by the tires of the runabout. He was desirous of
seeing for himself what that diamond-shaped patch, mentioned by Gusty,
would look like when reproduced in the soft soil at some point where
moisture chanced to lie upon a low portion of the road, as, for
instance, in the vicinity of some creek.
The opportunity came much sooner than he had hoped would be the case.
There, a little way ahead, Hugh discovered that the road crossed some
depression by means of a bridge. This would indicate the presence of a
small stream, perhaps a mere thread of water in midsummer, but capable
of becoming a boiling torrent when the Spring rains were on.
He immediately threw up his hand several times in a suggestive way,
which was a part of the code of signals understood by both his chums. It
meant that he intended slowing up, and possibly stopping short.
Motorcycle riders as a rule go at such a pace that they seldom travel
any other way than tandem; and it is expected of each fellow to keep a
wary eye from time to time on the one ahead of him so as to discover any
sign, which he is expected to pass on down the line. In this way
accidents due to speed are usually avoided.
A minute later both the other boys had come to a halt. Leaving their
machines alongside the road, they hurried to where both Hugh and Gusty
were stooping down searching for a positive imprint of the mended tire
of the runabout.
“Here’s a good impression,” remarked Monkey Stallings as soon as he
arrived. He had the quickest eyes in the whole troop, and seemed able to
discover things that it would have taken Billy many times as long to
unearth.
“Couldn’t be better,” observed Hugh, hurrying to his side, “and, as
usual, you’ve beaten us all out again, Monkey. How about this, Gusty?
We’re looking at the sign of the patch, of course?”
“That was what I meant,” replied the other. “But, honest now, this is
the first time I’ve so much as noticed what sort of a mark my old tire
makes. I knew about the way the repair-shop man mended it, and that was
all. Think we can recognize it if we see it again, do you, Hugh?”
Even Billy snorted at that, as he quickly exclaimed:
“If you knew more about how scouts are trained to use their eyes, ears,
and ditto, their thinking boxes, you wouldn’t ask that, my friend. Why,
one of the first of experiments a tenderfoot has to pass through, is to
take a quick look in at a store window where scores of different things
are on exhibition, go away and immediately write down all he can
remember. The more exact he gets the higher his score. That influences
him to begin to exercise his memory. It’s queer how a fellow can
increase his powers that way. Why, my capacity has fairly doubled since
I joined the scouts, and I surprise my folks every day by remembering
things they promised to get for me away back.”
Monkey Stallings grinned as he caught Billy’s eye, and quietly observed:
“Now I’m real glad to hear that, Billy, because there’s some chance that
you’ll even remember that quarter you borrowed from me ‘away back’ when
we were on the train coming home from our trip with the Naval Reserve.
I’d clean given up hope; but I know it’s all right now.”
“Take a good squint at this mark, everybody,” said Hugh, pointing down
to where the wheel which had the mended tire had passed through a yard
or two of clay, making a splendid impression. “We’ll want to look for it
plenty of times as we go along, you understand.”
When all of them announced that they had it engraved indelibly on their
mind’s eye, Hugh once more started off along the road.
“I’ll keep tabs on the right,” he had told Billy and Monkey before he
left them, “while you two watch the other side of the road for any sign
telling that the men turned in. There’s no saying what trick they may be
up to, and we don’t want to go speeding along on a fool’s errand. Get
that, both of you?”
“Sure we do, Hugh,” Billy replied. “Chances are they mean to cover a
good many miles before they abandon the motor car.”
Gusty was in a position to speak whenever the spirit moved him, as his
head came close to that of the one who sat in the saddle. They were as a
rule going at quite a smart pace, and the dust was apt to get in his
mouth whenever he opened it, so that he did not indulge in much useless
talking.
Now and then, however, he would make some pertinent remark. This was
usually in connection with the character of the road, or else had
reference to the fact that a short distance ahead lay a hamlet which he
remembered.
“There’s a road branches off from this one, too,” he went on to say,
after giving this information, “and once I ran over it, having been told
that while it didn’t pass through the little village it had a smoother
surface. And my information was correct to the dot, because it joined
this road further on.”
“If those men know the country as well as I think they do,” Hugh turned
partly in his saddle to say, “they’ll as like as not take that same
road, because it seems that after committing so daring a robbery they’ll
want to keep out of sight as much as they can. Yes, I can see where the
fork lies ahead,” and with that he held out his hand as a sign to the
next in line, who happened to be Billy this time.
It proved that Hugh’s prediction was correct, for the runabout had
certainly started into the other road. This would indicate that the pair
of precious rascals must be pretty well acquainted with the section of
country. It afterward turned out that the taller fellow had been raised
not many miles away from the village which was being left in the rear.
Perhaps he feared that some one might happen to recognize him if he went
through the place, for some of these countrymen have long memories.
Further on they again came back to the road that led to the quarries. A
mile or so beyond the junction, however, another turn was made. After
that Gusty could not venture to give the least information, because they
were now covering ground that was entirely new to him.
Hugh had already made up his mind on one score. This was to the effect
that those whom they were pursuing must be heading for some place which
they had knowledge of, and where they believed they would be fairly safe
from discovery.
As the boys proceeded steadily along, the pacemaker became aware of
another fact that began to give him increasing satisfaction. He and his
two chums had been heading for the distant spot where some of their
fellow scouts were in camp on an island in the river. These other boys
had come a long way by means of a motorboat loaned to them by an
enthusiastic gentleman of the home town, who, being abroad for the
summer, desired to show his appreciation for the manly conduct of the
scouts.
Hugh had a map of the country with him. He had never been over some
sections of it, but, having made a study of topography, he believed that
they were by degrees drawing nearer to the river, and would, if they
kept on, strike it not far away from Raccoon Island, where Don Miller,
leader of the Fox Patrol, had the boys in charge in the absence of
others in authority.
When they made a brief halt in order to slake their thirst at a gurgling
spring that gushed up alongside the road, Hugh put his comrades in
possession of this astonishing bit of information. Naturally they were
greatly pleased, especially Billy, whose merry face glowed with a sudden
inspiring thought.
“Whee! talk to me about the luck of the Wolf Patrol!” he exclaimed.
“Isn’t this just like the old story? Now, chances are those hobo
footpads’ll go into hiding in the woods not three miles away from the
island camp. What’s the answer? Why, we’ll send a signal to the boys
that they’re wanted, and pretty soon one by one they’ll line up till
we’ll be a baker’s dozen all told. I’m sorry for the poor wretches that
took your runabout when that comes about, Gusty. You’ll get your first
lesson on what it means to be a scout, when you see how we work this
deal. Since Ralph Kenyon joined the troop, he’s shown up a heap of new
things connected with woodcraft and the like. Even Hugh here has
admitted that the boy who used to spend his winters trapping wild
animals for their pelts so he could lay by a store of money to take him
to the School of Mines some day, knew more’n he ever did. And there’s
Arthur Cameron, Bud Morgan, Jack Durham, Spike Welling and a lot of
other good fellows in camp up here, too. Hugh, I only hope she turns out
like you say. Are we off again now?”
“Yes, and taking things fairly easy, too,” replied the leader as he
straddled his machine, and waited for Gusty to get in position before
starting. “If they expect to hide somewhere around this region, we’ll
bump in on them soon enough. So, steady, everybody, from now on.”
While at the spring, he had taken out his road map and allowed all of
them to see their location. The river was not many miles away, and this
road crossed it by means of a bridge. Raccoon Island lay some distance
above, where the stream widened and formed quite a shallow lake-like
lagoon with wild borders, an ideal spot for a boys’ camp.
Billy managed to meet with some trifling trouble in making his getaway.
This caused him to bring up the rear, a position he usually occupied, by
the way, in most of their trips, for Billy was inclined to be sluggish
in his movements, though his mind was active enough.
Motorcycles are splendid mounts to carry one swiftly along over fairly
decent thoroughfares, but being more or less noisy, in spite of all
efforts to stifle the explosions by means of the muffler, they can
hardly be deemed just the thing to use when silence is necessary.
Hugh knew that if the men they were following had a camp near the road
they would be apt to discover the approach of the boys long before he
and his chums could lay any plans looking to their capture.
Accordingly, he had already decided in his own mind that whenever it
looked as if the thieves were near the end of their journey, the noisy
wheels would be temporarily abandoned, and the balance of the tracking
necessary done afoot, where their knowledge of Indian tactics might be
brought into successful play.
They could not have covered more than a mile, after leaving the cold
spring at which they had refreshed themselves, when Monkey Stallings
plainly heard a sound from the rear that announced the coming of some
sort of trouble to the rider who brought up the tail end of the
procession. Upon which, he instantly used his horn to let the leaders
know that another halt must be called in order to assist Billy.