CHAPTER XIX
NED PLAYS THE MIND-READER
Jack stood in the little cabin in the valley and looked Nedexpectantly in the face.
"Tell me," he finally said, "tell me why they painted this boy?"
"To get us off the trail of the prince," replied Ned.
"But it seems that they failed," suggested Jack. "You know?"
"I suspected from the very first," Ned answered. "Yesterday afternoonI knew."
"Well, it may be all right," Jack muttered, "or the man who broughthim here may need a new wire on his trolley, but I can't see why theyshould bring this counterfeit prince here at all."
"They knew that we were coming here," Ned explained, resolved to givehis chum a full understanding of the situation. "They knew we werecoming here in quest of the prince. How they knew I can't make out,but they knew."
"They might have heard more than we supposed from the attic over theclubroom," Jack suggested.
"If the story of the maid and the coachman is straight," Nedcontinued, "they heard little that night. But they knew! They mighthave bribed some of the servants. I don't know. They might have beenin that room before that evening.
"At any rate, when the Boy Scout Camera Club started for WestVirginia by way of Washington the friends of the abductors knew whatwas going on. Now, it is my opinion that the prince had been headedfor the mountains before the conspirators became aware of ourconnection with the case."
"I begin to see daylight!" Jack cried.
"Well, the prince being on his way to the hills and we having a goodidea as to the locality of his place of hiding, the conspiratorsconceived the idea of giving us a false little prince to play with!"
"They're no fools!" Jack exclaimed. "No fools at all!"
"Now," Ned went on, "some of the conspirators knew Mrs. Brady's sonin Washington. They knew of his many promises to his mother to returnto the mountains. They knew of his recent promise to her to come homeand bring the boy with him. They were doubtless very intimate withMike Brady, Senior, for they knew all the little details of the lifehis mother was living.
"So they got him to permit them to bring the boy to his grandmother.They knew he would be looking for a prince in the hills, and so theygave us a false one to engage our attention! Rather clever, that,Jack."
The old lady was now regarding Ned with eyes which expressed awe aswell as wonder.
"How did you find it all out?" she asked. "How do you know what tookplace in the minds of those wicked men?"
"After they took possession of the boy they began bribing him to playthe part he has played here so imperfectly. They taught him cheaplittle French phrases from the dictionary, and touched up his alreadydusky complexion so as to make him look darker than ever. Yesterday Isaw Bradley at work on his face with a brush!"
"And the lad played his part!" the grandmother declared. "I don'tknow how Bradley led him along, but the boy was willing to do as hewas told. I never saw such a wild little chap so thoroughly subduedbefore. He wouldn't even tell me the truth when I took him in my oldarms last night and talked to him."
"But he evidently told Bradley what you said to him," Ned continued,"for he got the child away in the night. Then he came to camp thismorning to see if he could find out how much I knew. He's probablytied up by this time!"
"You have had him arrested," asked the old lady. "Then he'll nevertell where the boy has been hidden, and he'll die of starvation--diealmost within sound of my voice."
"We'll find him," Ned answered, grimly. "We can make Bradley talk, Iimagine."
"And while this has been going on," Jack said, "the true prince, theboy we came here to find, has doubtless been carried to some otherpart of the country?"
"I don't believe it!" Ned replied. "The conspirators would naturallyexpect us to shift our search for him back to Washington, or Chicago,or New York, wouldn't they? As soon as we discovered that this boywas not the person we sought, they would expect us to leave the hillsat once, wouldn't they? Well, if they anticipated such a move on ourpart, what is more natural than that they should take advantage ofthis alleged idea on our part and leave the prince right here?"
"That is just what they would do!" cried Jack. "That is just whatthey have done. I wondered why you told Bradley we were going out! Ihad no idea that you knew so much about the case."
"Bradley knew that I knew the boy to be an imposter," Ned went on."He intended we should make the discovery in time--after he hadwatched the grandson for a few days, sized up the situationgenerally, and dropped out of sight. He intended me to know in acouple of weeks, after he was out of harm's way. But I discovered thetrick too quickly for him."
"When did you first suspect?" asked Jack.
"That first morning. The boy's French was from the back of the book,and there was too strong an atmosphere of Washington about him--anatmosphere which does not savor of the quiet life of the prince ofthe blood. Then when I watched him closer I saw that he had beenpainted. Oh, it was all plain enough."
"So you think the prince is here--in these hills?" asked the oldlady.
"I can't say, now," Ned replied. "I am sure that he was hereyesterday. I think I saw him! But the escape of the two men whocaptured Jimmie mussed things up a lot. I wanted to put them througha little examination.
"After their escape I could not pose longer as a lad after snapshots!I can't say as I deceived the conspirators when I laid the capture ofJimmie to the counterfeiters. I think I did fool them when I said wewere going out of the hills in order to protect the captive.
"Well, when we released Jimmie and let the two guards escape, thatpart of the game was off. If I could have held the men it would havebeen different."
"Perhaps Bradley can be made to tell where the prince is," suggestedJack.
"I hardly thinks he knows," Ned replied. "He has not, I think, beentaken fully into the confidence of the men higher up, any more thanhave the men who guarded Jimmie."
"He certainly knows where my grandson is," exclaimed the old lady,"and I'll tear his heart out but I'll make him tell me. He took himaway!"
"I am not so certain of that, either," Ned mused. "I don't know justhow far the criminal head of the conspiracy has trusted him."
"You'll do all you can to find my boy, won't you?" pleaded the oldlady.
"Don't worry about the boy," Ned urged. "Well find him. If Frank andJimmie have had good luck Bradley is under arrest now, and somethingwill be brought out to lead to his discovery. Besides, with thedisguise penetrated, there is no longer any motive for holding him,unless he knows too much, which is not likely."
"If his father was here he might help," suggested the old lady.
Jack, who had been looking steadily out of the window for some littletime, now turned to Ned with a smile on his face.
"I know now what you wrote in your little red book!" he said.
"Are you certain of that?"
"Why, of course. You wrote the answer to the question: 'Is it theprince, or is it Mike III?' Didn't you, now?"
"Yes, I did!" was the reply. "I was almost positive before, but Iknew that day."
"And now we are just where we began," Jack said. "We've solved onephrase of the case, but we haven't found the prince."
"That will come later," Ned declared, confidently. "Well," he went on,"we have finished our work here for the present. We have learned ofthe disappearance of the grandson and we have confirmed my previousbelief, that the boy was sent in here to draw our attention from theabducted child. So we may as well go back to camp and see what theboys have been doing."
The old lady still clung to Ned piteously, begging him to restore herboy, and Ned promised to do all in his power to place the lad in herarms.
"If my son would only come!" the woman kept saying.
"If you'll give me his address," Ned promised, "I'll see him when Iget back to Washington, if he is not already here or on his wayhere."
The address was given and the boys started on the return trip to camp.
"Now, Jack," Ned said, when they were on their way up the slope, "doyou know where the nearest telegraph station is?"
"There's one over on the south fork of the Potomac," Jack replied.
"You are good friends with Uncle Ike?" Ned then asked, with a laugh.
"Sure I am. Uncle Ike is a friend of every person who carries sugarin his pocket."
"Well, when we get back to camp I'll give you a night message. Youmust take the mule and get it to the station. You may not be able toget there to-night. If you can't, send it when you do get there. Waitfor an answer. When you get it tell Uncle Ike it is important and gethere with it as soon as possible. You've got a hard trip ahead ofyou, boy!" he added. "I'm game!" laughed Jack. "If there's any ofthis prince trouble leaked out," he added, "what shall I say?"
"Tell the old story. Say that we are in the hills for art's sake, andthat we have been annoyed by counterfeiters! Nothing serious,understand? Not a word about our real mission here. You notice thateven the men we are battling with want it understood that it is thecounterfeiters who are trying to drive us out."
"There must be something mighty strange about this abduction game,"Jack grinned. "No one will even admit that there is a prince in thecase."
When the boys came to the vicinity of the summit, south of a point inline with the camp and the canyon where the counterfeiters had beendiscovered, they stopped and took a good survey of the landscape.
"We can probably learn more about what has been going on," Jacksuggested, "by hiking straight for the camp. I'm anxious to be off onthat trip. Uncle Ike will like it--not! But I'll make him like it!I'll give you a good imitation of a boy sailing over the mountains onthe freight deck of a mule!"
"I was wondering," Ned said, composedly, though his eyes weretroubled, "whether we had any camp left! If you'll look off to thenorth, you'll see four men crouching in a dent in the slope.Rough-looking chaps, eh?"
"I see!" Jack whispered. "Have they seen us? That's the questionnow."
"If they saw us," Ned continued, "they would either be making for usor trying to get out of sight. No; they are watching the camp. See!They are where they can look over the summit."
"If they haven't been to the camp I'll think ourselves lucky," Nedsaid.
"They probably haven't!" Jack cried. "But look there, they are goingon a rush right now! Must be Bradley's friends. What?"