CHAPTER VI
DISQUIETING NEWS
Three men sat in the back room of the road-house, talking in whispers,a much-stained table forming the nucleus of the group. Two of the menwere of evil faces, one not so much, perhaps, as the other, while thethird man's countenance showed some little refinement, though it wasoverlaid with grossness, and the light in the eyes was baleful.
The men were the same three who foregathered as Tom Fairfield and hischums left the scene of the snowball accident, and it was the same dayas that occurrence. It must not be supposed that the men had been thereduring all the time I have taken to describe the holiday scenes atElmwood Hall.
But I left the three men there, plotting, and now it is time to returnto them, since Tom and his chums are well on their way to the wintercamps in the Adirondacks.
"Well, what do you think of that plan?" asked Professor Skeel, for hewas one of the three men in the back room.
"It sounds all right," half-growled, rather than spoke, the man calledMurker.
"If it can be done," added the other--Whalen.
"Why can't it be done?" demanded the former instructor. "You did yourpart, didn't you? You found out where they were going, and all that?"
"Oh, yes, I attended to that," was the answer. "But I don't want to getinto trouble over this thing, and it sounds to me like trouble. It's aserious business to take----"
"Never mind. You needn't go into details," said Professor Skeel,quickly, stopping his henchman with a warning look, as he glancedtoward the door through which the landlord had made his egress.
"But I don't want to be arrested on a charge of----" the other insisted.
"There'll be no danger at all!" broke in the rascally teacher. "I'lldo the actual work myself. I'll take all the blame. All I want is yourhelp. I had to have someone get the information for me, and you didthat very well, Whalen. No one else could have done it."
"Yes, I guess I pumped him dry enough," was the chuckling comment.
"It's a pity you had to go and get yourself discharged, though," wenton Mr. Skeel. "You would be much more useful to me at Elmwood Hallthan out of it. But it can't be helped, I suppose."
"I didn't go and _get_ myself discharged!" whined he who was calledWhalen. "It was that whelp, Tom Fairfield, who was to blame."
The man did not seem to count his own disgraceful conduct at all.
"Well, if Tom Fairfield was to blame, so much the better. We can killtwo birds with one stone in his case," chuckled the professor. "NowI think we understand each other. We needn't meet again until weare up--well, we'll say up North. That's indefinite enough in caseanyone hears us talking, and I don't altogether like the looks of thislandlord here."
"No, he's too nosey," agreed Murker. "Well, if that's settled, I guesswe're ready for the next move," and he looked significantly at Mr.Skeel.
"Eh? What's that?" came the query.
"We could use a little money," suggested the evil-faced man.
"Money. Oh, yes. I did promise to bring you some. Well, here it is,"and the former instructor divided some bills between his followers andfellow plotters.
"Now I'll leave here alone," he went on. "I don't want to be seen inyour company outside."
"Not good enough for you, I reckon," sneered Whalen.
"Well, it might lead to--er--complications," was the retort. "So giveme half an hour's start. I'm going to drive back where I hired thiscutter, and then take a train. You follow me in two days and I ratherguess Tom Fairfield will wish he'd kept his fingers out of my pie!"cried Mr. Skeel, with a burst of anger.
The three whispered together a few minutes longer, and then the formerinstructor came out of the road-house alone and drove off.
"What do you think of him?" asked Murker of Whalen.
"Not an awful lot," was the answer. "But he'll pay us well, and itwill give me a chance to get square with that Fairfield pup. I owe himsomething."
"Well, I don't care anything about him, one way or the other," was therejoinder. "I went into this thing because you asked me to, and to makea bit of money. If I do that, I'm satisfied. Now let's get cigars andslide out of here at once."
And thus the plotters separated.
Meanwhile, Tom and his friends were a merry party. They talked, laughedand joked, now and then casting glances at their pile of baggage, whichincluded gun cases and cameras. For they were to do both kinds ofhunting in the mountain camps, and they were particularly interestedin camera work, since they were taking up something of nature study intheir school course.
The railroad trip was without incident of moment, if we except onelittle matter. It was when George Abbot mentioned casually the name ofWhalen, one of the men employed at Elmwood Hall.
"I wonder why he left so suddenly?" George said, as they were speakingof some happening at school.
"I guess I was to blame for that," Tom explained, as he related theincident of the cruel treatment on the part of Whalen.
"I thought he looked rather sour," went on George.
"Why, were you talking to him lately?" asked Tom, a sudden look ofinterest on his face.
"Yes, the day before we left the Hall. He met me in town and borrowed aquarter from me. Said he wanted to send a telegram to friends who wouldgive him work. Then he and I got talking, and I happened to mentionthat we fellows were going camping."
"You did!" exclaimed Tom.
"This Whalen was quite interested," resumed George. "He asked me a lotof questions about the location of the camps, and what route we weregoing to take."
"Did you tell him?" demanded Tom.
"Why, yes, I told him some things. Any harm?"
"No, I don't know that there was," spoke Tom more slowly andthoughtfully. "But did Whalen say why he wanted to know all that?"
"No, not definitely. He did mention, though, that he might look for ajob somewhere up North, and I suppose that was why he asked so manyquestions."
"Maybe," said Tom, in a low voice. Then he did some hard thinking.
In due time Hemlock Junction was reached. This was the end of the trainjourney, and the boys piled out with their baggage, their guns andcameras. It was cold and snowing.
"I guess that's our man over there," remarked Tom, indicating a personin a big overcoat with a fur cap and a red scarf around his neck. "Doeshe look as though his name was Sam Wilson?" asked our hero of his chums.
"Why Sam Wilson?" asked Jack.
"Because that's the name of the man who was to meet us and drive usover to camp," Tom said.
The man, with a smile illuminating his red face, approached.
"Looks to be plenty of room in the pung," remarked Tom.
"What's a pung?" asked George.
"That big sled, sort of two bobs made into one, with only a single setof runners," explained Tom, indicating the sled to which were hitchedfour horses, whose every movement jingled a chime of musical bells.
"Be you the Fairfield crowd?" asked the man.
"That's us," Tom said. "Are you Sam Wilson?"
"Yes."
"Then, we are discovered, as the Indians said to Columbus," Jackmurmured, in a low voice.
"Pile in," invited Sam Wilson, indicating the pung. "I'll get yourtraps. Ain't this fine weather, though?"
"It's a bit cold," Bert remarked.
"That's what a party said that I drove over to your camp the otherday," spoke Sam. "He was from down Jersey way, too. You fellers must besort of cold-blooded down thar! This chap complained of the cold. Butpshaw! This is mild to what we have sometimes. Yes, this feller I droveover kept rubbin' his ears all the while. One ear was terrible red, andit wasn't all from the cold either. It had some sort of a scar on it,like it had been chawed by some wild critter. It sure was a funny ear!"
Tom looked at his chums with startled gaze. This was disquieting newsindeed.