A GIRL'S MAD LEAP.
By nightfall they were encamped--or bivouacked--in a sheltered pocket,
close by a clear bubbling spring. A fire was lighted, and, having eaten
supper, they sat around and talked over the journey and adventures of
the day.
The men smoked. The horses fed on some tender grass near at hand. Bart
said:
"Do you know, Frank, I never touched a cigarette since you induced me to
swear off at Fardale?"
"I am glad to hear that," said Frank. "There is nothing more hurtful
than cigarettes used to excess, and one who smokes them regularly is
almost certain to use them to excess, after a time."
"When you left Fardale I told you I feared I might fall back into my old
ways--might become reckless and dissipated as I was before you gave me a
helping hand and pulled me out. You remember it?"
"Yes."
"And do you remember that you said you were confident I would not go
back--that you felt sure I had stamina of character enough not to take
up with my old associates?"
"Yes."
"Well, Frank, by saying so you saved me. Whenever I have been tempted to
do a mean thing, or to take up with any of the old gang, I have always
thought of your words, and knowing you had faith in me has given me
strength to resist."
"I am glad of it, old fellow. For all that we were enemies to begin with
at Fardale, I found you had good stuff in you, and so I stood by you
when others were against you."
"You stood by me when I was falsely accused of a theft, even though I
had treated you shamefully, and it was that which made me ashamed and
disgusted with myself. I saw you were white clean through, and I
resolved to mend my ways if I ever pulled through the scrape I was in."
"You kept your resolution."
"With your aid. I did not expect you would accept me for a roommate,
after what had happened, but you did. I do not believe I should have
been able to remain in Fardale Academy but for that. Now----"
"Now what?"
"Well, it may sound like boasting, but you know I am not given to that,
Frank."
"I know. Go on."
"Now, to a certain extent, I have taken the place you left vacant at
Fardale. I was captain of the football team last fall, and we came out
champions in the series we played. This year I was unanimously chosen
captain of the baseball team, and we have had a most successful season
thus far. The fellows who would have nothing at all to do with me
originally are ready to stand by me to the last gasp now. All this came
about through your influence, Frank."
"You make me blush," laughed our hero. "Don't tell me anything more, or
you will give me a case of swelled head."
"There is no danger of that," Bart declared. "For a fellow who was so
popular at school, you were and are reprehensibly modest. You had a way
of holding your own, and still you never thrust yourself forward, which
is something I cannot understand, for, as a rule, if a person does not
push himself right ahead, he does not get there. Modesty may be all
right, but, in most cases, the modest fellow gets left. Not that I
believe in the braggart and blowhard, but a chap must have nerve to put
himself ahead if he wants to keep in the game. I have seen lots of
inferior individuals get a start on those with ability simply because
they had the gall to sail right in and make their bluff. I believe there
are two kinds of modesty, and one kind is closely allied to cowardice.
The fellow who has confidence in himself, thinks he can do a thing, says
he can do it, and does his level best to do it, is the one who will come
out on top. If a chap wants an opportunity to try at anything, he makes
a fool of himself if he says, 'I don't know, perhaps I can do it.' The
one who says, 'I can and will' is the one people have confidence in,
even though he may not be so smart as some modest coward."
Frank whistled softly.
"Hodge," he said, gravely, "you are a philosopher. Your philosophy may
be a trifle mixed, but it will untangle itself later on. Such words from
your lips rather daze me. I think I'll have to sleep and rest in order
to recover."
He ended by a light laugh, in which, however, Bart did not join.
The dark-haired boy would have been glad to talk of the mysterious girl,
but Frank rolled himself in a blanket, with his feet toward the fire and
showed no desire to continue the conversation.
Bart soon followed this example, but the men continued to smoke and talk
for some time.
Bart was awakened by feeling himself vigorously shaken, but, when he
started to speak, a hand was over his mouth, and a voice whispered, in
his ear:
"Easy, old boy; don't make a racket. We want to take a little stroll by
ourselves, and there might be objections."
He knew it was Frank who spoke, although it was still dark, with just a
hint of approaching dawn in the east.
When Frank was sure Bart understood he removed his hand from the
latter's mouth, and the dark-haired boy crept softly from his blanket.
"Where are you going?" whispered Hodge, in surprise.
"Never mind," was the answer. "Take your rifle and come along."
The men were sleeping heavily. The horses stamped restlessly at a
distance of two or three rods. The stars were fading before the gray
light that slowly spread in the east.
Bart secured his rifle. Frank had his already, and they stole out of the
bivouac.
Frank led the way, walking swiftly, and making no noise.
Bart wondered what the boy meant to do. Surely he did not think of
skipping the party, for the horses were abandoned.
The dark-haired lad could not restrain his curiosity long, and he asked
a question as soon as they were beyond earshot of the camp.
"What do you mean to do, Frank?"
"Take a morning stroll," was the laughing reply. "It is good for one's
health. Why, it's a regular tonic."
Bart was puzzled, for he knew Frank was not out for his health.
"You are not skipping them?" he asked.
"Not for long," was the reply.
"But what will they think when they awaken and find we are gone?"
"I have left a note."
"Where?"
"Pinned to Big Gabe's breast."
"What did you say?"
"That we would be back, and for them not to think we were running away."
"They will think so, all the same."
"They are likely to."
"And I fail to see the object in this move. If they catch us before we
return, Jack Long is liable to tie us up and take us back to Carson
without delay."
Frank laughed softly.
"They will not catch us till we are ready to return. I will tell you
just what this move means."
"Fire away."
"Last night, after we both seemed to be asleep, Big Gabe told his
companions just where this hidden cabin of the counterfeiters is
located. I was not asleep, although I seemed to be, and I heard every
word."
"Well?"
"Well, we are going there."
"For what reason?"
"To see what we can do. I also overheard the men talking, and they
seemed extremely doubtful as to our ability to do much of anything. In
fact, they regarded us as an incumbrance. That touched my pride. I
resolved to see if we could not convince them that they had made a
mistake."
"Are you sure you can find this hidden cabin?"
"No; but I can try. I remember every word Gabe spoke, and I'll come
pretty near it, you may bet."
"Go ahead. I am with you."
Bart did not question his friend further, although it seemed a foolish
move to him. But he remembered that, in the past, Frank had seldom made
a mistake when he set out to do anything.
Merriwell moved at a swinging pace, and Hodge held close to his heels.
The light in the east broadened, flushed, and rose to the zenith. The
stars were blotted from the sky; but there were deep shadows far down in
the ravines and gorges when the sunlight lay on the mountain peaks.
Having left the pocket, Frank led the way along a twisting ravine. Out
of this he climbed at a certain point, and they made their way over a
ridge into another ravine, from which they branched into yet another.
Finally, with the bare face of a great mountain rising abruptly on their
left, the boys advanced slowly.
"It cannot be far from here," said Frank, keeping his eyes about him.
"We shall not be able to see the cabin from this ravine, but we may
locate the cliff on which it is built."
"How can we locate it?"
"Big Gabe said there was a wide streak that ran perpendicularly in the
rocky precipice not far from the cliff--and there it is!"
The boys fell back a bit, gazing intently at the wide, white strip that
seemed to hang along the face of black stone, like a wide streak from a
monster whitewash brush.
"I am certain we are very near the place," said Frank. "We will look for
the cliff."
This they did, and, in a very short time, they fancied they had
discovered it.
"There seems no possible way of reaching the ledge up there," said Bart,
somewhat despondently.
"But there must be a way, if the hidden cabin is built there," declared
Frank.
"I don't doubt it. At the same time, we are not likely to find it.
Instead of making queer money in a city, where they would be in constant
danger of discovery and arrest, they have come here to this wild region,
where they are not likely to be discovered, and where there is very
little chance that they will be arrested if they are discovered."
For some time the boys speculated concerning the possibility of reaching
the ledge. They were about to seek a way out of the ravine when
something happened that astonished them both.
"Look, Bart!" softly cried Frank, catching the shoulder of his
friend--"look there!"
He pointed upward to the ledge.
On the very verge of the sheer descent a girl had suddenly appeared. In
her hand she carried a huge umbrella, which she was struggling to open,
her movements seeming to indicate that she was in great terror. Her
unbound golden hair was falling over her shoulders.
"It's Vida!" palpitated Bart Hodge.
"It's Isa!" asserted Frank Merriwell.
"What does she mean to do?"
"Wait! Look!"
"Merciful goodness!"
Both lads were horrified, for, having succeeded in opening the huge
umbrella, the girl suddenly turned, and, with a wild cry, leaped out
into space from the edge of the ledge.
[Illustration: "Frank brought the butt of his Winchester to his
shoulder, and began to work the weapon." (See page 296)]