CHAPTER XIV
A FAILURE AND A SUCCESS
But Billy was a factor to be counted on. There was peril in any attemptto halt the leader of the bank robbers. The lad knew that well enough.He would have tackled either of the others with a better liking for thejob; he knew them to be less desperate.
He shot out of the shadow of the bushes, still on hands and knees, andthrew his body across the track of the running man. The fellow couldneither dodge, nor overleap the boy; the latter had timed hisintervention too well. So he tripped upon Billy, and sprawled like ahuge frog in the roadway.
Billy was not hurt. He sprang up, saw that his antagonist was down, andimmediately jumped upon his back, shouting:
“Come on! Come on! I’ve got him! Help!”
The fellow struggled to get up. He was able to lift the boy’s weightwith ease. In half a minute Billy knew he would be shaken off. Whydidn’t some of those ’coon hunters take a hand in the proceedings?
Billy heard the sound of running feet behind him; but it was a long waybehind. Then came an answering shout from Dan:
“Hold to him, Billy! Hang to him!”
Billy did his best. But he was light weight for the leader of themotor-robbers. That individual got to his feet, reached behind him, andshoved the lad loose, pushing him far from him upon the road.
Fortunately he did not stay to punish the boy, but bounded on. Dan wasbeside his brother in a moment, leaning over him and seizing Billy’sshoulder in an anxious grip.
“You’re not hurt, Billy? Say you’re not hurt?” he cried. “Did thatman——”
“Oh, ouch!” gasped the younger boy, getting his breath. “Never mind me!Get him, Dan!”
But with a loud blast the robbers’ automobile shot ahead. They were off.
Mr. Briggs wanted to run back and take the Speedwells home; but therewas a path through the woods right here to their house, and the boysrefused to cause any trouble. The hunters cut up the tree and clearedthe roadway so that the maroon car could go on; but the automobiledriven by the men who had robbed Mr. Sudds and the bank was then far,far out of reach.
Everywhere in town there was talk of the robbers. Mr. Sudds had lostanywhere from ten to a hundred thousand dollars’ worth of jewelry, sogossip said. But the Speedwell boys did not add to it, although theymight have told some interesting particulars of the robbery and how thethieves had gotten away.
Josiah Somes, having been able to do nothing but annoy Mr. Briggs andhis friends, was discreetly silent regarding the telephone message hehad received from Rebo’s garage at Upton Falls. So nobody stopped Dan,or Billy, to ask them about the midnight race of the automobiles.
The boys hurried home and begged permission to remain away from classesthat morning. They would make the time up on their lessons later; it wasquite important that they should get the car out of the tree beforefurther trouble ensued. Billy’s motorcycle was hidden down there on theriver road, too.
The brothers got the new post Dan cut at midnight, and another stick forthe arm of the derrick, hurried to the place, and raised a new liftingapparatus. The auto and the motorcycle were both safe, nor did anybodycome to trouble them while they worked.
There was a steep path down to the shore of the river, and up this Billylugged the tangle of rope and chain, with the hoisting tackle, that hadfallen with the derrick when their enemy had cast the apparatus over theprecipice.
Meanwhile, Dan dug a hole for the new post, and it was set up, and thederrick re-rigged. It was Billy who climbed down to the overturned autoagain. He fastened it in a strong sling, brought the ends of the rope ina loop over it, and hooked the falls into it, which Dan pulled taut.
The latter had already unhitched the horses from the wagon, and now hadthem rigged to the second pulley, ready to start the weight of thewrecked car out of the tree. Billy refused to come up.
“I must see her start, Dan. Perhaps something will catch—we mustn’tbreak or mar it any more than possible,” declared Billy, quitenervously.
“Look out for yourself, old man,” Dan returned, and then spoke to thehorses.
Bob and Betty strained to their collars; the rope tauntened; the motorcar began to squeak and the tree branches to rustle.
“She’s coming!” yelled Billy.
He stood on a limb, clinging to another with one hand. The car started,stuck a little, and then came loose with so sudden a jerk that the bulkof it was dashed against the boy!
“Whoa!” cried Dan; and it was well he stopped the team. Billy was flungoff his unstable footing; but he had presence of mind enough to seizethe car itself, and so hung on, his body swinging with the auto.
“Are you all right, Billy?” demanded Dan, anxiously.
“Right—oh!” returned the younger boy. “Let her go! I’m coming up withher.”
And he did. In five minutes the scratched automobile was hoisted out ofthe gulf, and the boys worked it over the farm wagon body. Upon thatthey lowered it carefully.
It was safe! And as far as Billy and Dan could see, it was not muchdamaged—not materially so, at least.
They dismantled the derrick and let the posts fall over the cliff, withthose that had been cut down in the night. Then Billy went down belowagain and got the fisherman to help him up the path with the cushionsand the rest of the automobile outfit, Dan meanwhile filling up theholes in the bank, and replacing the turf.
Everything once loaded on the wagon, the boys drove away. In passingthrough the town several people remarked upon the condition of thewrecked vehicle which the boys had purchased of Maxey Solomons, and morethan one intimated that the Speedwells had spent their good money forsomething that neither they—nor anybody else—could make use of!
The boys knew that they would have to take the wrecked car to theDarringford shops to have it rebuilt and put in running order; but firstthey wished to assemble the parts as well as they could in their ownworkshop. Upside down as the car lay, Dan and Billy could see severalbad breaks in the mechanism. The boys were not altogether sure that theywould be able to put the wrecked car into good condition with the fivehundred dollars that remained of their savings-bank hoard. But they saidnothing to each other regarding these doubts.