CHAPTER XXVIII
FORCED TO TELL
The two men looked at each other.
Apparently they hardly knew whether to believe Ted or not. Paul saw themput their heads close together, as though exchanging confidences. Thenthe tall fellow once more whirled on Ted, who had been standing on oneleg, with a most forlorn look upon his face.
"We both think that you lie, son," said the man who was minus one of hisoptics, as he thrust his face close down to that of Ted, as though hewould look straight into his heart; but this was something that no oneelse had ever succeeded in doing, and the attempt did not prove verysuccessful.
"Tell him who we are, Brad," growled the shorter of the twain, who lookedangry enough to devour the unfortunate Ted.
So the one called Brad took something out of his coat pocket that madea peculiar jingling noise, and held it up before the boy.
"D'ye see them, son? We call 'em bracelets, and they're meant to go onthe wrists of criminals. D'ye understand now? We're officers of the law,and we've just made a grand haul. But some of the evidence has slippedaway from us. It's in that same bag you picked up on this here road.Now, don't you dare deny it again, or we'll take you into town with thesepretty toys clasped on your wrists. I'm going to give you another chanceto tell us, son. Where did you put that bag?"
Ted winced and whined. He showed all the signs of injured innocence.Surely he must have made up his mind quickly that the contents of thebag were well worth taking all sorts of chances for.
"Ain't seen no bag. Sure I'd be on'y too glad to tell you, mister, if Ihad. All I wants to do is to go home. I'm tired, an' nigh sick with allthis huntin' for that kid," he whimpered.
The man suddenly pounced on him, and despite Ted's struggles andentreaties, he seemed to succeed in accomplishing his purpose. At anyrate the concealed scouts heard a snap; and when Ted reeled back he washolding his two hands close together in a suspicious way, and staring atsomething that seemed to be in the nature of a connecting link.
"Now you are in for it," said the tall man, shaking his headthreateningly as he stood over the prisoner; "we'll have to take you totown, and put you in the lockup as an accessory after the fact. D'ye hearthat, you young fool? And all because you refuse to help honest officersof the law in their legitimate business. Why, you may get ten years athard labor, yes, twenty. Better tell all you know, and perhaps we'll letyou off."
"You can do anything you like to me, mister, but I ain't agoin' to saywhat I don't know. Ain't seen any bag of no kind. Cross my heart if Ihave. I'm willin' to help you hunt for it, even if I am dog tired. Don'tyou believe me, mister? Sure, I wouldn't lie to you. What would I bewantin' with a bag; we got plenty at my house. Ted Slavin's my name, andI live in Stanhope. Gimme a ride, mister, if you're goin' that way, won'tyou?"
Again the two men talked together, while Ted watched them out of thecorner of his eye. He might even have tried to run but the fact thathis hands were fastened together with that steel chain prevented sucha thing.
Once more they turned upon him, and the tall man pointing down,thundered:
"You've been kneeling in the dirt!"
Ted glanced down at his trousers involuntarily; but even then he was nottaken off his guard.
"I fell ever so many times after my lantern went out. See here, mister,how I scraped the skin off my hand. That's the honest truth I'm givin'you!" he cried.
Undoubtedly it was, but all the same the men showed no signs of yielding.
The taller one, called Brad by his companion, deliberately detached oneof the lamps from the car. With this he bent down to examine the road.
"He'll see the marks of the bag!" whispered Bobolink to Paul.
"Watch him while I scurry along the road a bit, to see if he left it,"was what the man said, and then moved down toward the spot where thefive boys lay in hiding.
When he came opposite them they hardly dared to breathe, lest his keenears catch the sound, and he pounce upon them.
But he went past, scouring the road closely, and looking for some sign ofthe missing bag. They saw him pass on, and the light grew dim. MeanwhileTed sat down on a log, and seemed to be very dejected and forlorn. Onceor twice when the shorter man was not looking Paul saw him glance around,as though sizing up the chances for a sudden plunge into the forest.
"He's coming again," said Bobolink; and the brilliant glow from down theroad bore evidence of the truth of this remark which was whispered inPaul's ear.
Brad walked hastily back, and soon rejoined his companion, with whom hetalked earnestly for a minute.
"Get up!" he said, turning to Ted, and giving the boy a kick that madehim climb to his feet hurriedly, groaning with pain.
"Bring him along into the woods, Wash!" the tall man continued, turningaside.
"Oh! what are you goin' to do?" cried Ted, in real or pretended terror,as he caught hold of the man's coat, and sought to hold him back.
"You'll find out right soon, son. Before we're done with you perhapsyou'll wish you'd told us about that ere bag us the beginning. We're justgoing to make it warm for a feller of your size. This night air has madeyou too cold to speak up; but we'll fix all that, I reckon; we know howto do it, don't we, Wash?"
"Do we? Well, I should smile we did. But they's no need of our goin' far,old man. This here is a right smart tree, and looks like it might answer.'Sides, they seems to be lots o' loose wood lyin' 'bout this part!"
Paul felt a chill pass over him. Could it be possible these rascals meantto torture Ted until he told; or were they just trying to frighten him?If it came to the worst they just could not stand by and see such a thingdone.
Ted, of course, was considerably worked up when he heard what the shorterfellow said. It was so very plain he could not mistake the meaning.
"Say, mister, you wouldn't go to hurt a poor feller what never done youno harm, now, would you? Wish I on'y knowed where I could find a bag; I'dget it for you like hot cakes. Please don't smoke me. I ain't a ham,mister, an' I never done you any harm. Let me go, won't you? I'll nevercome up here again, sure I won't. And I'll promise to bring you all thebags in our house, mister."
Paying no attention to his pleadings and his groanings the men stood Tedup against a tree. Then the rope brought from the car was wrapped aroundboth boy and tree several times.
"Get busy, Wash, and scrape up all the dead leaves you can find. Thenbegin and pile up some brush and stuff. Oh! yes, it's a cold night, butwe ain't agoin' to let a poor critter what's lost his way, suffer. Hereyou, stop that snifflin'. Time enough to beller after it begins to hurt."
He struck Ted again in the face, making his nose bleed. Paul had creptout from the brush and commenced to approach the spot. He knew that theother four scouts were probably close on his heels.
Every boy's heart beat like a trip hammer with excitement. They bit theirlower lips to keep from shouting out loud, such was the strain upon them.But not one had the least thought of turning back. With such a leader,how could they?
The shorter ruffian was scratching right merrily among the dead leaves,making all the noise he could, so as to impress the prisoner with a senseof his perilous condition. While he worked he kept talking, half tohimself, and no doubt uttering all sorts of terrible threats calculatedfurther to alarm the boy.
"We forgot one thing, Wash," said the other man, suddenly.
"What was that?" asked the one on his knees.
"To search the varmint. I might as well do it right now, while you go ongetting his jacket warmer ready."
At first Ted tried to make all the resistance possible; but this onlybrought quick punishment in the shape of ugly blows and threats. So Tedhad to stand and allow the other to have his way.
A minute later the man uttered a loud cry.
"Look here, Wash, what did I say?"
He was holding something up. Seen in the light from the lamp belongingto the red car it looked very much like a fat wad of greenbacks, tiedtogether with a cord.
Wash sprang up, an
d bent over to examine the object in the light. Then helaughed harshly.
"It's the boodle, all right, Brad. He found the bag, sure as thunder! Andnow he's _got_ to tell, or it's all up with him!"
Both men turned furiously on the bound boy. Ted had held out against allodds up to this critical point; but of course he must admit himselfbeaten, now that they had found the evidence in his pocket.
Nearer crept Paul, with his chums tagging close at his heels. And nobodythought to look beyond the line of brilliant light cast by the lamp whichrested on the ground at the foot of the tree. Fortunately its powerfulrays were directed away from the quarter occupied by the creeping BoyScouts.
"Now, I reckon you're agoin' to tell all you know about that ere bag,son?" said Brad, in a terrible voice.
"I guess I'll have to, mister. I was just holdin' out to see if so be youwas what you says. Now I know you be, and I'm ready to tell the hullthing if you'll only let me go free. I don't want to be smoked, just yetanyway," Ted whined.
"You did find the bag, then?" demanded the other.
"Yep, that's what I did."
"And took this wad of dough out of it?" pursued the other, savagely.
"It looked too nice to throw away, so I cabbaged it, mister. Wisht Ihadn't now."
"What became of the bag after you took this out--go on, now, and tell,or--"
"Oh! I throwed that away, mister, right over here in the woods somewhere.If you look around you'll find her close by. Please let me go when youdig her out!" said Ted, really alarmed now for his safety.