Woodcraft: or, How a Patrol Leader Made Good

CHAPTER XIII.
RED PLAYS THE PART OF THE CRAFTY FOX

When the acting scout-master thus asked the recognized bully of Fairfield to accompany him, he had several good reasons for the step, strange as it might seem to Mark and the others, who fancied that possibly Matt should be posted at some distance where he was likely to do no harm.

But Elmer preferred to have him under his own eye. Moreover, the scheme upon which he was embarked was tinged with more or less danger; and Matt was a husky chap, capable of giving a good account of himself.

But then Matt Tubbs was not the only one who accompanied the leader. Elmer had chosen to take with him Ted, Lil Artha, Toby, Mark, Landy and Tom Cropsey. This left five others, and they were also divided into two detachments, one consisting of Matty, Phil, Chatz, Ty; while Red Huggins made up the other all by himself.

As to the plan of campaign, it might be well to explain what Elmer had fashioned in his mind, as justifying their efforts.

He had noticed, when spying around the further end of the long log cabin, an odd tunnel underneath the walls. This, no doubt, had been made by some woodchuck or other animal, desirous of finding a snug winter home.

Elmer fully believed that the passage was amply large enough to allow a boy to crawl through. And as it was apparently situated at that end of the building least likely to be used by the tramps, he expected that he and his mates would be able to creep in without being discovered.

Supposing his expectations were fulfilled; then the second detachment was to hide as near the door of the cabin as they could. Finally, Red, at some little distance, was to play his part in the game.

Red had always been known as a most adroit "fox" in the games the lads of Hickory Ridge played. Once he started out to elude those hounds set upon his track, none had ever been successful in overtaking him. His methods of dodging and doubling on his track were famous throughout all the region, and in selecting him for the part of fox Elmer knew just what to expect.

Red was to "toll" the tramps out of the cabin and lose them somewhere in the depths of the woods. Meanwhile, with perhaps a clear field before them, Elmer and his scouts could easily accomplish the balance of the affair.

Of course there was always the question as to whether it would work.

Following the lead of the scout master, the little squad of boys slipped around so as to come upon the long cabin from the rear. Everything seemed peaceful. No one was in sight, the men having apparently stepped inside again after Dolph and little Ruth had been fed.

This was as it should be, and Elmer had indeed figured on it when laying his plans. In single file they approached as near as was deemed safe; then, at a signal from the leader, the scouts dropped flat behind some bushes. From this point on, their progress must be much slower, since they would have to do considerable crawling.

Before making a move, however, Elmer gave the signal that was to start the other detachments. This, as agreed on, consisted of the harsh cry of the bluejay, and which in the still air of the woods could be easily heard for a long distance.

After that things were to happen in regulation order. Elmer had calculated just how long it might take his band to obtain entrance to the cabin; also for the other detachment to find a hiding place near by. Red was scheduled to commence operations just half an hour after he heard the bluejay cry three times. And to make sure, he carried the nickel watch of Chatz with him.

"Come on, fellows, and be careful, every one," was the low whisper which Elmer allowed to float back over his shoulder.

Having been over the ground once before, and with his customary sagacity memorized every little point that could be used to advantage, Elmer was not in the least dismayed at certain obstacles that from time to time had to be surmounted.

Ten minutes after the signal had been given he led his line of creeping scouts up to the further end of the long, low cabin. And so far as they knew no hostile eye had taken note of their coming.

The tunnel was close at hand. Its smooth walls told of the many times the animal responsible for its presence had crept in and out. And Elmer noted with considerable satisfaction that his former conception of its capacity had not been amiss. Yes, even the stoutest of the scouts could pass through, with a little assistance.

Even here the shrewdness of the young scout-master showed itself. He had arranged his schedule so that this individual, who chanced to be Landy, always known as a fat youth, though fond of all outdoor sports, should come last. This, it may be noted in passing, was done so that in case he did stick in the tunnel he might not block the passage of others whose presence was vital to the success of the plan.

Elmer never forgot anything he heard or read, and it happened that not so very long before he had been interested in an account of the escape from Libby Prison of a large number of Union prisoners during the dark days of the Civil War, and vividly remembered how there might have been many more follow the same route only that an ambitious fat man closed the passage, since he could neither go on nor return.

Of course it was the intention of the scout-master himself to lead the way. He could not think of delegating that important function to any one else. And Lil Artha was to follow at his heels, to be succeeded by others, Matt Tubbs coming just before Landy, on account of his size.

Lying on his back, Elmer started in head first. This he did because the tunnel performed a quick curve upward, after once passing under the lower log; and as most boys are not as supple as gymnasts and contortionists, and cannot bend backward the same as forward, he knew this was the only way of passing through.

Using his heels to help propel his body forward, and being gently assisted by little pushes from his mates, Elmer readily went through the ceremony of imitating the woodchuck that had used the hole during the past winter.

As he raised his head above the level of the earthen floor he took a quick observation. The boys outside gave an inclination of continuing the pushing movement, so that it became necessary for him to kick in a way they would understand meant a temporary halt.

It was not very light inside the long cabin, because there were only a few openings that had served as windows, and even some of these had become clogged with stray rubbish in the years that elapsed since the logging camp knew life and bustle.

After a brief interval, however, Elmer was able to see fairly well. Just as he had anticipated, those who now occupied the place were down near the door at the other end.

First of all he made out that the three men and one little girl comprised the entire list of occupants. This pleased him, because as yet he had not been positive on this point; and if it proved that there were half a dozen tough characters assembled under the roof of the log bunk-cabin, the work which the scouts had laid out for themselves must have been considerably extended.

Ruth was by herself. She had eaten at the command of her stepfather, but not with any heart in the matter, and now she was huddled in a little bunch, possibly crying under her breath, for she did not dare do anything more to anger the man she feared.

The three men were sprawled out in some of the old bunks. A bundle of dried grass made a fair mattress for fellows unused to anything better, and they seemed quite satisfied with their surroundings.

Elmer knew that he must not linger too long. Behind him were seven impatient fellows, all anxious to do that great crawling stunt. So he once more got in motion and wriggled himself into the cabin.

Luckily the tall, thin tramp whom Elmer mentally called Skinny, even as Fatty covered the stout, happy-go-lucky chap, had a voice like a fog-horn; and a laugh that was as raspy as a file; so that when he got going there was little chance of any slight sound from the end of the long cabin being noticed.

And as the squirrels ran haphazard all over the roof of the building, any such sound would of necessity be attributed to them, for such a thing as a hostile force penetrating this far into the timber would never strike any of the men as possible.

A touch on the arm presently warned Elmer that the first of his followers had wormed his way through that crooked passage. Trust the angular Lil Artha for being able to navigate a zigzag tunnel with greatest ease. No doubt he slipped in and out with almost the handiness with which one might crack a whip.

Then came Toby, Mark and Tom. After that there was a slight hitch, as though perhaps Matt Tubbs might be having a little difficulty; but they could hear faint scratching sounds from the tunnel that proved he was coming along. As for Landy, it did not matter materially whether he arrived or not, so long as he did nothing to alarm the enemy.

Everything was apparently working just as Elmer, like a wise general, had figured on. The three men still continued to talk and argue, being worked up over some sort of proposition that Dolph seemed to be putting before the others.

Several words that came to the ears of Elmer from time to time convinced him that Dolph Gruber was fully as bad a man as he had suspected, for there could be no doubt but that he was now actually planning to lead his reckless companions on a raid of some sort, looking to robbery as a reward of their enterprise.

It must be getting on toward the time appointed when Red was expected to take up his part of the game.

Landy had not yet arrived, but he was heroically endeavoring to join his comrades. Indeed, during a temporary lull in the conversation of the trio of men at the other end of the cabin, Elmer could hear a gasping sound from the tunnel that alarmed him not a little, lest it attract the attention of the plotters, and lead to a search calculated to upset all their well-laid plans.

So he immediately pushed down into the mouth of the tunnel, and groping around until he came in contact with the clawing hands of the stout boy, began to gently but firmly drag him through.

It was a tight fit, but luckily Landy made it, though only for the assistance Elmer gave him he must have stuck there ingloriously until the end of the affair, and thus been unable to assume his proper share in the rescue of little Ruth.

All were now on hand, Landy panting in a way that made Lil Artha dig his elbow into his ribs as a warning that he was making altogether too much noise.

"Why don't Red start his bazoo?" whispered that long-legged worthy in Elmer's ear, as he lay flattened out on the ground in the gloomy far-end part of the loggers' bunk-house.

"Never fear, you can count on Red to do his part," was what the scout master managed to convey in the same sort of careful whisper; and fearful lest Arthur, who was known to be rather talkative, get fairly started, when it was most unwise to indulge in any conversation with those enemies so close by, Elmer gave a gentle "'sh!" to signify that silence just then was golden.

The impatient ones were counting the seconds, and wondering how they could ever hold out much longer. Elmer kept watching the three men, knowing that through their actions at least he could readily tell when the expected break had come.

Ruth still had her face hidden in her dress, and was doubtless filled with grief because of this cruel enforced separation from her own mother.

And as he thus waited, his heart beating faster than its wont, Elmer caught a faint cry. It came from some distance off, and seemed to be filled with the utmost distress.

"Help! oh! help!"

The time limit having expired, that was Red getting in his work as the crafty fox attempting to coax the hounds on a false scent.

The three men had started up. They were looking at each other, as though hardly knowing what to make of it. To hear a call for assistance in this lonely vicinity was certainly enough to bewilder, yes, and perhaps to alarm anyone; especially men whose past had been so very shady that they suspected everything which they could not fully understand.

CHAPTER XIV.
TAKEN BY SURPRISE

"Hey! what's that?"

The tall, thin tramp had jumped up from the bunk as he cried out in this fashion. His fat companion was also hastily scrambling out of his comfortable lodgings. Both of them looked alarmed, but Elmer noted with more or less satisfaction that the very one who might have been expected to be anxious showed the least sign of consternation. Indeed, a crafty look had come over Dolph's face, as though something pleasant might have struck him.

"What's the matter with you?" demanded Dolph, who, while he deserted his bunk, did so in a leisurely manner, as if to show his indifference.

"Didn't yuh hear that yell?" exclaimed the lean hobo.

"Sure I did; think I ain't got ears?" replied Dolph, sneeringly. "But what ails the two of ye? Look like ye wanted to skip out, and make tracks."

"But who'd be comin' away up here, 'cept they wanted tuh git us? Sense that leetle job over in Janesville a month back, me an' Pete don't feel jest as safe as we'd like!" went on the thin tramp.

"Aw! go chase yourself, Simsy," scoffed Dolph. "Listen again, would ye? D'ye mark what the cove's ayellin'? He sez he wants help as plain as can be. D'ye think if they was any cop around they'd be tellin' us about it? Wouldn't they rather creep up on us sly like, and nail us before we could run? Rats! jest use yer brains and figger it out!"

"But what is it, then?" demanded the fellow called Simsy; "if so be yuh know, tell us, Dolph? I ain't no coward, but I ain't no fool neither. An' if it comes tuh hangin' around, an' lettin' these jay cops git a strangle hold on me jest tuh show my grit, I tell yuh I ain't in it."

"Say, don't ye know the old loggin' road leads up here from the main line? I heard afore now o' fellers in cars mistakin' the way, or thinkin' they could cut off a heap of distance by startin' in on the side. All right, then; a fool is born every second, they say; an' one of 'em has just gone and got into trouble tryin' to foller that old loggin' road."

The tall tramp looked at his fat companion; and then both turned their eyes on Dolph as he finished speaking. Apparently his logic struck them as sound, for the expression of fear had already begun to vanish from their unwashed faces.

"D'ye really an' truly reckon that's what it be, Dolph?" asked the hobo who had answered to the name of Pete.

"'Cause we don't wanter take any chances, yuh see," added the tall one, shaking his little head to add emphasis to his remark.

"'Course it is," affirmed Dolph, with a laugh of scorn that did more to convince his mates than all his talking. "I tell ye that's some fool feller in a car. He's run into a tree, or some fool play like that, an' p'raps got hurted bad. Looky here, you two, how d'ye know this ain't jest the luckiest thing for us three coves that ever came down the pike?"

"What way?" growled Simsy.

"Yes, speak up an' tell us, Dolph," echoed the other. "Allers sed as how yuh had the brains o' the bunch. Me an' Pete likes the red licker too much. Right now we ain't all we orter be. How's it goin' tuh be lucky for us three?"

"Why," continued Dolph, with vehemence, "don't ye see, if so be this happens to be a rich guy what has got hurted, we can tote him in here, an' keep him along till he coughs up a nice little pile to his life savers. And if ye know a good thing when ye run across it, why both o' ye ought to put out to find him, and bring him back as quick as ye can."

At that Pete and Simsy again exchanged looks. The love of gain was rapidly overcoming their first fears; just as the artful Dolph had known it would.

"How 'bout you, ole feller; don't you jine us in this game?" asked the thin tramp, a little suspiciously.

"Sure I do," returned Dolph, with ready assurance; "but there ain't no need of the whole three of us goin' out to carry one feller here. 'Sides, you remember I got a mighty sore heel after my long walk."

"But – yuh ain't agoin' tuh clear out an' leave us?" questioned the tall hobo.

"Well, what sort of crazy questions are ye askin'? I'll stay right here, an' wait for ye to fetch the feller back. Then leave it to me to work him for the stuff. I'm some good at that sort o' thing, I reckon," and Dolph grinned in their faces.

"So yuh are, Dolph, so yuh are," replied Simsy. "What say, Pete, do we start out to do the great rescuin' act, and bring the poor bubble wagon fool here to get bleeded?"

"Ho! I'm willin' if yuh say so, Simsy," replied the fat tramp, promptly, the prospect of gain acting as a lure in his eyes that outweighed all other considerations.

Elmer had listened to all this with the utmost eagerness. One minute he fancied that the lovely little trap he had baited so cleverly was about to work; and then again he found himself beset with fears that it had been all for naught; and that if the alarmed tramps made up their minds to flee, Dolph would decide to accompany them, which in turn meant that little Ruth must be spirited away, and another long chase follow.

But, after all, it seemed now that things were moving along nicely. Dolph could be thanked for greasing the ways, though of course the fellow never dreamed how he was riding to a fall in doing so.

"Come along then, Pete; we'll take a look in at thet squaller, an' see how bad he's hurted."

The tall tramp made for the near-by door of the log cabin while speaking, and his fat mate trotted at his heels, for all the world like a little dog – but an ugly bulldog at that, for he had the face of a ruffian, did Pete.

Thus they passed out, stopping at the door to listen once more, while Dolph urged them to lose no further time.

Meanwhile Red had been duly busy. Every minute the sound of his voice, filled with wild entreaty, came on the breeze.

"Help! oh! won't somebody come and help me! This way! Oh! what a terrible fix I'm in! Help! help!" he would shout in the most dismal tone imaginable.

Of course Red was so situated that he could see the door of the cabin from a distance. Thus he would know when anyone sallied forth to try and rescue the one supposed to be in a peck of trouble. And once that occurred, the crafty "fox" was due to exercise his wonderful ingenuity by slipping away, and later on lifting up his wail for assistance in a new quarter.

Thus he would coax the two tramps hither and thither, arousing their hopes only to dash them to the ground by a new appeal from another section. In the end, of course, such fellows would begin to believe they were being hoodwinked – that there must be something uncanny about the mysterious calls, and they would be seized with a small panic that must wind up the hunting game.

But meanwhile ten, perhaps fifteen, minutes might have elapsed; and surely that space of time would be enough for Elmer and his fellow scouts to accomplish the end they had in view.

The young scout leader always did his work with more or less system. He had decided that they ought to let at least three minutes elapse after the departure of the men, before attempting any move. This would take them far enough away from the bunk-house so that any ordinary outcry from within would hardly reach their ears. Having no other way of determining upon the passage of time, Elmer began to count under his breath as soon as the bulky figure of Pete had vanished from the open door of the building.

Three minutes does not seem a long time under ordinary conditions; indeed, in many instances it just slips past like magic. And yet try counting the seconds contained within that short space of time – one hundred and eighty of them, all told – why, it seems enormous. But steadily Elmer was putting them over, determined not to change his plans, and give way to his natural impatience, since he had in the beginning figured on that three-minute leeway.

He could feel the uneasy movements of his impatient chums. Lil Artha even went so far as to nudge him in the ribs, as though he had begun to suspect that their cautious leader might have gone to sleep. But Elmer gave back an answering dig that convinced the other of his being on the alert.

When he had finally reached the end of the probation, Elmer himself began to make a forward movement. All the while he counted those passing seconds he had been closely watching the figure of Dolph, so as to be ready for action. That was the motto of the scouts, "Be prepared," and he certainly believed in living up to it.

Dolph had come back into the cabin. He appeared to be listening from time to time, as though a little anxious himself concerning the nature of that strange call for assistance; for all he had pretended to treat it so lightly when his allies were present.

Dolph had dropped down upon a block of wood, and was examining something which he had taken from his pocket. Elmer was not able to get a good look at this article, but, knowing the desperate character of the man who sat there, and how he had now burned his bridges behind him when he kidnaped the child of the woman he had married and tortured, the boy could easily guess its nature.

It was what Lil Artha would call a "gun," otherwise a revolver of the bulldog type, dangerous enough in the hands of a reckless scoundrel who feared arrest.

Elmer was conscious of a new little thrill, but he mentally scorned the thought of this being any indication of fear. Indeed, to thoroughly disprove such a silly thing he even increased the pace with which he was creeping across the earthen floor of the cabin.

Dolph still sat there, his head bent low over the tool he was fondling, as he listened for any change in the cries from outside. If he would only kindly continue to hold that attitude for another full minute, Elmer believed he might be in a position to make an aggressive move.

Just then the scout leader became aware of something that gave him a momentary spasm of acute alarm. Ruth no longer had her face buried in her dress. Something had caused her to stop her silent weeping, and look up. Perhaps she, too, had been attracted by those wails for help which the Boy Scout fox was using as a means for "tolling" the two dangerous tramps away from the cabin.

But in raising her head Ruth had been made aware of some strange movement back of the bent-over figure of her stepfather. She was now staring with round-eyed wonder at the string of crawling figures that extended from the rear wall of the cabin.

Elmer raised his hand, and held up a warning finger. He hoped by this means to convince the girl that they were friends, and nothing was to be feared. But he also hoped that Matt Tubbs, whom he knew to be close at his side, might be doing something of the same kind; and that little Ruth would recognize her cousin.

Whether the child could have given utterance to some low bubbling cry of fear or joy, which reached the ears of the man, or he just happened to look up, and noticed how she was staring past him, no one ever knew.

Elmer became suddenly aware that Dolph had whirled around on his stool, and was looking in sheer amazement at the peculiar spectacle of eight figures worming their way across the earthen floor of the bunk-house and headed straight for the spot where he himself was seated.

He certainly could not mistake the danger that accompanied the presence of all these strangers. And, given just three seconds in which to collect his wits, the desperate fugitive and kidnaper would of course do something looking toward one thing or the other – flight or resistance.

Elmer did not mean to allow of either. He had been nerving himself for just this crisis, and his muscles were ready primed for a quick leap.

But, prepared as he was for the action that meant so much toward the carrying out of his plans, there was one ahead of Elmer. This was Matt Tubbs, who, crouching there like a tiger beside the leader of the Wolf Patrol, had reached the limit of his endurance and submission to orders.

Even as Elmer started to throw himself forward, meaning to clasp his arms about the man before he could rise, or do any damage with his weapon, a figure shot past him. Then he saw Matt Tubbs hurl himself bodily upon Dolph Gruber. At the same time the pistol fell to the ground, struck on a stone, and was discharged!