CHAPTER XXIII The Raiders
The boys who remained in the kitchen helping Coach Jordan with thedishes were not long in finishing the job. Kent and the coach did thewashing, and as fast as they turned out the dripping, steaming plates,the other boys snatched them up and dried them. There was a lot ofgood-natured fun about it all, and it was plainly to be seen that theboys from Cloverfield were enjoying the whole trip.
Coach Jordan kept them interested by his description of his travels andexperiences, and at the time that Barry left the room on his way to thetool house he was telling of the days when he was a member of the greatFordson camp in the mountains of Kentucky. His account of theroad-building and forest-ranging in the dense timber of the Southernupland was of great interest to the boys, and they laughed heartily atsome of the rough experiences that he had encountered while staying inmountain log cabins and having to get up at three o'clock and shave withwell water on frosty mornings. He told them of the great salt kettlesrusting away in the mud of the little town that was at the time theshipping point for the Ford lumber and coal, a town which had at onetime supplied all of the blue-grass state with salt. The boys listenedwith great attention.
"What's the difference between those mountains and these?" Tom Baileyasked.
"These mountains are pretty well known," the coach replied. "The peoplein them have been in contact with civilization for a long time, andtourist and the summer camper have come into them frequently. But in theKentucky mountains we find an arrested civilization, and by that I meanthat people poured into its hollows and gaps and then progress jumpedclear over them and kept going west, while the mountaineer remained thesame as he had been in the time of the Revolution. I have frequentlyseen old mountain women working the old-time spinning wheel, and many ofthem smoke a pipe all the time."
Kent had finished his work, and after drying his hands he went into thenearest bedroom to see how the fire was. Finding that it needed coal, heseized a bucket and flashlight and went out to get some. When hereturned he met the twins in the hall.
"Here you are," Mac exclaimed. "We were wondering what had become ofyou."
"Just lugging in some coal," Kent explained. He entered the bedroom andbegan to fix the fire. "What are the girls doing?"
"They have toasted some marshmallows that melt right in your mouth," Timreplied.
"That's where you want 'em to melt. Sounds like you have had some."
"We did," Mac admitted. "Now that the dishes are done, we can all havesome."
"Where is Barry?" Tim asked.
"I don't know," Kent answered, straightening up. "The last I saw of him,he had gone out to the tool house to get a pail. I suppose he is in thekitchen now."
"I wonder if anything will happen tonight," Mac said, in a low tone.
"I don't know, but we are going to keep our ears and eyes open," Kenttold him. "If anything does happen, we want to be on the job. Well,let's get back in the living room."
They found all the young people gathered around the fire, and CoachJordan and Bill Jefferson were taking off their hats and coats. "We putthe horses in the barn," the coach explained. Then he rubbed his handsand held them close to the fire. "After being out there, this heat feelsgood."
Kent and the twins looked around the room. "Anybody seen Barry?" Kentasked.
Everyone looked around, and then one by one they shook their heads. "Hebrought that pail in and then left the kitchen," Charlie announced.
"He came in here and took his hat and coat," one of the girls remarked."Then he went out into that hall toward the front door."
The twins exchanged troubled glances, and Kent glanced involuntarily atPearl, who looked suddenly alarmed. "Too bad Pearl knows anything aboutthis place," Kent thought. But he spoke carelessly: "Oh, well, he'll beright back. Let's have some of those marshmallows. What happened tothose black ones?"
"Fell in the fire," Jennie Morrison explained. "But they'll taste justas good as the others. They are just like some people, rough outside andsweet inside!"
"Jennie is becoming quite a philosopher," laughed Mrs. Jordan. "Tell ussome more!"
The girl laughed. "I can toast marshmallows better than I can give youphilosophy," she said.
The talking went on in a good-natured way, but not all of them werejoining in it. The three mystery hunters were quiet, and Pearlfrequently looked at Mac, and she was plainly uneasy. Finally Mac leanedover to Tim.
"Listen, I don't like the looks of things," he whispered. "Barry hasbeen gone a long time. Suppose you go into the kitchen and look around.If you don't see anything, I'll go out on the front porch."
"What excuse will I give for going out?" Tim asked.
"You don't need--well, there isn't any water in here, and there is somein the kitchen. Go ahead."
Tim nodded and got up from the footstool upon which he had been sitting."These marshmallows are powerful sweet," he smiled. "I'm going to get apitcher of water and some glasses."
"That's a good idea," the coach approved.
Tim took his flashlight and hurried to the kitchen. They had broughtsome large containers of drinking water with them, and just now thisafforded him a convenient excuse for leaving. But as soon as he arrivedin the kitchen he put out the light and walked across the room to theback door. He turned the key and looked out.
All was quiet, and no one was around. He walked out on the porch andlooked around the open clearing. The night was fairly dark, but becauseof the bright blanket of snow he was able to make out near-by objects.Barry was nowhere to be seen. Tim returned to the house, locked thekitchen door, and proceeded to pour some water in a pitcher by the lightof his flash. When he had obtained some glasses he went back to theliving room.
Mrs. Jordan was reciting a humorous poem, and most of them paid littleor no attention to Tim as he came back. But Pearl scanned his avertedface anxiously and saw at once that he had not found her brother. Macand Kent read the same answer.
Nothing was said, and at last Mac began to work his way toward the halldoor. Tim had passed him the flashlight, and with this in his backpocket he gradually moved over to the door that led into the front room.While the others were busy laughing at a joke that Charlie had told, Macslipped out of the door. Few of them saw him go, and no one asked anyquestions.
As soon as he got into the big square hall Mac turned on the beam of thelight and hastily played it all around the box-like place. Barry was notthere, and for a moment Mac trained the light on the stairs leading tothe loft. He wondered if his chum had gone up there, but at last heshook his head. The popular leader of Cloverfield High School had put onhis hat and coat, and that clearly indicated that he had goneout-of-doors. For a moment Mac hesitated. He was not prepared to go outinto the snow, and to go back and get his outer clothing would excitesuspicion at once.
"And yet," he reflected, "the bunch is soon going to know that Barry hasdisappeared. If he doesn't get back soon, we'll have to go and look forhim. We can't fool them much longer. Pearl is getting more and moreuneasy every minute. Hang it all, maybe we're wasting valuable time.I'll look outside, and if I don't see him, I'm going back and get my hatand coat and go out and hunt for him."
He stepped out onto the front porch and walked to the edge, lookingaround toward the back of the lodge. No one was in sight, and then heglanced out over the lake, dim in the light of the stars and the whiteborder of the dark timbered sides. At once his eyes narrowed as he sawsigns of movement on the ice sheet of the lake. Something bulky andblack shot out onto the ice, and two figures leaped from it and began topush it ahead of them. As Mac stared without comprehension, anotherbulky object shot out from the bank onto the ice. The Ford boy gaspedand clenched his fists.
"Our sleighs! Somebody is shoving them out onto the lake! Of allthe----"
A voice, low-pitched and yet penetrating, reached him, coming in fromthe lake. "Don't send the other one down until I tell you! I want to getthis one out of the way first!"
/> A great light dawned upon Mac. "Carter Wolf and his gang!" he breathed,as he turned and raced softly back to the front door. "Running off withour sleighs! Going to hide them so we'll have to hike home! We've got toput a stop to that!"
Throwing all caution to the winds, the twin rushed through the hall andflung himself into the living room, startling them all and very nearlyknocking one girl over. His staring eyes and excited manner alarmed themall and caused particular apprehension on the part of those who knewanything about the history of Bluff Lodge.
"Listen!" he said, before anyone could speak. "Somebody is pushing oursleighs out on the ice and taking them off to hide them. I'm sure it isCarter Wolf and his bunch! If we don't want to walk home tomorrow, we'dbetter get out there in a big hurry!"
A medley of cries of surprise and indignation came in answer to hisrapid announcement, and everyone sprang up in consternation. CoachJordan seized his coat and hat.
"Come on, boys," he cried. "We'll have something to say about this!" Heturned to his wife. "You take care of the girls, Dorothy. Better not goout!"
The boys were ready, and like a pack of hornets they dashed out of thefront door on the heels of Coach Jordan. Kent sprinted in the leadbecause he knew the country better, and he led them across the clearingtoward the Bronson cabin. They had left the sleds in front of thatbuilding when they had tied the horses to the back-porch rail.
All of the sleighs were gone, and Mac led them down the slope towardwhere he had seen the sleighs slide out on the ice. They expected tofind the vehicles scattered and the raiders gone. But to theirastonishment they heard voices and saw a dark mass at the edge of thelake shore.
"Keep his head above water!" a voice cried out. "We'll try to pull thissleigh out. Keep a stiff upper lip, Carter!"
"Get--get me out!" a voice gasped. "I told you not to let that sleigh gountil I told you to!"
By this time the boys and the coach had arrived on the spot, and Mac'sflashlight showed the scene before them. One of the sleighs was turnedsideways, and another had run into it and was partly sunk under the ice.Caught under a runner, and immersed in water to his chin, was CarterWolf. The sleigh had broken the ice, and he had gone in with a splash.The sleigh runner had pushed in on top of him and was pressing againsthis chest, while his five friends worked frantically to hold his headabove water and at the same time to pull the winter conveyance back outof the break in the ice.
"What happened here?" the coach cried, as they took in the scene.
"These f-f-fellows let a sleigh come down the hill b-be-before I hadmoved the other one out of the way," Wolf answered, with chatteringteeth. "The ice was thin here and----" In his effort to talk he slippedslightly and swallowed some icy water.
"Keep perfectly still," the athletic coach commanded. "We'll get youout." He lay down flat on the ice and passed his gloved hands underWolf's armpits, feeling the shock of the cold water. It was a positionof extreme peril for Coach Jordan if the ice broke away, but he did notallow his mind to dwell on the thought. "Now, the rest of you boys drawthat sleigh up out of the hole."
The girls had followed and now stood on the shore, silent except for afew low-voiced exclamations, their faces white as they saw what hadhappened. Mac sprang up the bank and pressed his flashlight into Mrs.Jordan's hand.
"Keep this trained on us, please," he requested, and then he was backwith the others, lending a hand.
The sleigh was a big one and had considerable weight to it, but by theirunited efforts they managed to move it backward. Coach Jordan hadconsidered using some of the horses, but time was pressing, and he knewthat Wolf must be rescued as soon as possible. The boys pulled andtugged steadily, and the sleigh was finally drawn up on the bank and offof the ice.
"Now, two of you come here!" the coach called. "Only two, and comearound in a circle back of me so as not to put too great a strain on theice!"
Two of Wolf's companions quickly and carefully circled around the gapinghole and made their way to the coach. His friends were quiet andobviously frightened by the recent events. Also, they were quite willingto help, and although somewhat afraid to trust the ice, they kneltbeside the athletic instructor and helped him lift Carter Wolf out ofthe icy waters of Lake Arrowtip.
"Two of you boys race to the lodge and get some blankets," Jordandirected.
Tim started on the jump. "Come on, Mac," he cried, and his brotherjoined him at once.
Kent watched them run up the slope toward the lodge and then turned tolook on as Coach Jordan and Wolf's two friends guided him as he stumbledtoward the shore.
"This business is over with, and there is nothing to worry about on thatscore," Kent thought. "But Barry is still missing, and if all thisexcitement didn't bring him back, there is something decidedly wrong!"