Dig Here!

  VIII

  A Scalp Lock

  I CONFESS I felt a little flat when Michael Gilpatrick said that. I hadbeen so sure for the moment that I had hit on a brilliant solution ofthe problem that now I was inclined to wash my hands of so stupid a catonce and for all. But I remembered that Aunt Cal had particularlyentrusted him to our care. "What," I asked, "are we going to say to myaunt when she comes home and finds no Adam? She's just as much attachedto him as Captain Trout is to--to Caliph. Why, she might come back anyminute now."

  As I spoke, I glanced over toward the house where it stood dark andsilent beyond the hedge. Suddenly I saw something that made me jump upand grab Eve's arm. "Why," I cried, "I do believe she's back already!Look! There's a light upstairs in that window at the end!"

  "What!" Eve and Michael were at my side. For a minute, as we all stoodthere, everything was in darkness. Then there came again the faintflicker of light that I had seen at the upper window. "Looks like aflashlight," said Michael. "Or maybe a candle."

  "But why should Aunt Cal be going around the house with a candle? Thereare plenty of lamps and they're always filled."

  No one answered. The light was moving from window to window now."Sandy," said Eve, faintly, "I don't believe it's Aunt Cal at all!"

  "It looks to me," remarked Michael, "as if there was somebody in thehouse that didn't want to be seen."

  "You mean a burglar?" I cried. "Oh, Eve, we left the back door wideopen. And there's the silver in the dining room chest----"

  "Guess I'd better have a look," remarked Michael abruptly, startingdown the steps.

  "Oh, do you think you'd better?" asked Eve anxiously. "S'pose he has agun or something!"

  Michael did not say "Pooh!" but the set of his shoulders suggested theword as he strode toward the hedge. He cleared it with one leap anddisappeared from sight in the direction of Aunt Cal's back door.

  "Come on," I said, trying to sound cool and collected. "I'm not afraid!"

  "Of course not," agreed Eve, giving me her hand.

  We reached the path where we had been sitting just a few momentsbefore. The mysterious light had disappeared, there was no soundanywhere.

  Cautiously we advanced. "There's a lamp on the shelf just inside thekitchen door," I stated half-heartedly. "And the matches are justbeside it. It would only take a minute to light it."

  Eve did not answer. Suddenly she stopped and I felt her hand tighten inmine. "Listen! What's that?"

  From somewhere inside the house a vague clatter reached us--a shufflingnoise--the thud of something falling. Then, quite close at hand, camethe scud and scurry of running feet! Immediately after we heard thebeat of quick panting breaths and two flying figures hurtled past usinto the night!

  With one accord, we turned and followed them. But they had vanishedinto the blackness of the lower garden almost before we knew it. Backof the garden is a steep bank, ending in a muddy ditch. If they'd gonedown that, it looked like a pretty sure spill for both of them. Thethought sent us hurrying on. We reached the stone wall which forms thelower border of Aunt Cal's property. Eve shouted frantically into thedarkness, "Michael, where are you?"

  There was no answer. I climbed gingerly onto the wall. I thought of themuddy ditch at the bottom of the bank and I had a vision of Michaellying there wounded and bleeding. "Michael," I called, "are you downthere?"

  Then to our infinite relief, a faint voice answered, "Coming!"

  Presently we heard him thrashing his way upward. Finally he stumbledout from the bushes below where we stood. Even in the darkness, wecould see that his clothes were a wreck. And there was a dark patch onhis forehead--though this subsequently turned out to be mud. "Oh,you're hurt!" Eve cried.

  "Well, not fatally!" he panted as he reached the wall and sank downupon it. "But the rascal got away, worse luck! If I hadn't caught myfoot in a branch down there, I'd have had him. As it is, all I got isthis!" He held up a fuzzy-looking object.

  We peered at it. "What in the world----?"

  "Big Injun scalp lock!" chuckled Michael.

  Eve put out her hand and touched it gingerly. "You mean--he wore a wig!"

  "Looks like it. I grabbed at his hair just as I fell. When it came offin my hand, I thought I must be seeing things!"

  Abruptly Eve leaned over and sniffed at the wig. "Harry's HairRestorer!" she announced.

  Michael looked at her in amazement. "Mean to say you know thegentleman? Perhaps he wasn't a burglar after all?"

  "If he wasn't," answered Eve slowly, "then I don't know what he wasdoing in our house! Unless--unless he came after the letter!"

  "But we sent it back to him," I cried.

  "I know, but maybe he didn't get it. Maybe he didn't go back toTrap's--don't you see? But he wanted the letter and when he didn't findit in his suitcase, he--he came after it."

  Michael got up from the wall. "Well, I guess I'll be getting on," hesaid stiffly. "Of course, if I'd known you were acquainted with thefellow----"

  "But we're not--not really. Oh, wait a minute, please!" Eve put out herhand to hold him back. "If you'll just give us a chance we'll tell youall about it. In fact, I think it's time we told somebody."

  Back at the house after we had helped Michael remove some of the mudfrom his person, we told him the story; first of Mr. Bangs' activitiesin the garden of Craven House and then of the piece of paper with theodd inscription, which we had found.

  Michael listened without comment. But when we had finished he said, "Ifelt there was something suspicious about that real estate agent whenyou first mentioned him. I happen to know that Craven House isn't forsale and isn't likely to be and I couldn't imagine why anyone should beup there measuring the ground. And now this wig and this letterbusiness makes it look queerer than ever."

  "What d'you think it's all about anyway?" Eve asked.

  Michael shook his head thoughtfully. "It looks as if he was aftersomething. Something that's hidden--or he thinks is hidden at CravenHouse. I wonder----" He paused and gazed meditatively into space."Suppose we take a look around here," he suggested at last, "to see ifthere's anything missing."

  "That's so," I said, "I hadn't thought of that."

  Eve took up the lamp and together we made a tour of the house. Upstairswe found that every dresser drawer had been rummaged and, in manycases, the contents scattered on the floor. Eve's empty traveling bagand my suitcase were lying open in our room. But aside from this andthe chairs he had overturned in his flight through the lower part ofthe house, the intruder seemed to have done no damage. And so far as wecould discover, nothing was missing.

  Back in the kitchen, we returned to the discussion of what was to bedone. Michael, now that we had furnished a mystery for him to solve,had entirely dropped his standoffish attitude. He agreed with us thatthe only way to find out what the mysterious Mr. Bangs was after was tokeep our own counsel for the present. Michael was anxious to take alook at the exact spot where we had found him at work in the garden,and we finally arranged to meet him there the next day after his workat the farm was over and to bring with us a copy of the letter.

  It was not until after Michael had gone and Eve and I had restoredeverything to its accustomed order that I remembered Adam. But thehouse beyond the hedge was dark; Captain Trout had evidently retired.The cat problem, we decided, would just have to wait.

  ------------------------------------------------------------------------