CHAPTER XXIV
THE MAN-TRAP IS SET
Ned, Oliver and Teddy remained in camp all the afternoon--waiting.They were not, of course, anticipating the immediate return of Jackand Jimmie, but they were looking every moment, after a couple ofhours had passed, for some signs of the boys who had been sent out inthe wake of Bradley.
"I'll bet a cookie," Teddy exclaimed, as the sun set over the ridgeto the west, "that Frank and Dode have bumped into something hard!"
"I may have made a mistake in not going on that trip myself," Nedmused, "but I had an idea there would be business for me at the camp.I don't know what to make of this lack of attention on the part ofour enemies!"
"It may be," Oliver suggested, "that they have taken alarm and duckedwith the prince."
"That is just what I fear," Ned answered. "It will spoil all my plansif they move now; still, I admit that they've had enough unpleasantexperiences here to make them long for a quieter retreat!"
The boys prepared supper, taking pains to provide enough food forFrank and Dode, but they did not come. The meal over, Ned made readyfor a trip down the mountain.
"I'm going to Chimney rock," he said to the boys. "I should like tohave one of you with me, but two ought to remain here. I'm going totake some rockets with me. If I do not return before midnight, one ofyou advance along the summit to the south, provided with rockets. Ifone of my rockets is seen, the watcher must send one up to notify theboy in camp. Then both must make a run for Chimney rock, traveling soas to come upon it from the up-hill side. Is that clear?"
"Perfectly," Oliver declared. "You are going to bring this princeback with you?"
"Perhaps!" laughed Ned. "I may have to bring Frank and Dode back withme!"
There was only the light of the stars when Ned reached the vicinityof Chimney rock, coming in from the slope to the north and movingwith extreme caution. There was a dull glow in the dip back of therock, the glow of coals nearly burned out.
The men who had captured Jimmie at the cave of the counterfeiters hadfled before the shooting, and Ned had no idea that they had returned,or would return. Any fire built by them would have long since turnedto ashes.
"The party having direct charge of the prince has been here," the boymused, "though why they should come here is a puzzle to me, as theyhave, or had a camp of their own not far away. Still, the theory ofhiding in a place which has been searched is an old one, and thesefellows may have adopted it.
"They certainly adopted a theory something like it," the lad thought,as he watched the dying embers from a distance--from the secureshadow, if the stars may be said to have cast a shadow that night, ofa great rock--"when they decided to remain here after the disguise ofthe widow's grandson had been discovered. They took it for grantedthat no one would look for the real prince where the disguised onehad been found! They might better have taken him away!"
Ned knew very well that the men having charge of the abducted boy hadhidden farther up the slope. His idea was that at the time thepictures were taken the men in charge were watching the two who hadran away.
From what Bradley had said, it was not likely that he, Bradley, hadbeen permitted to associate with the actual custodians of the stolenlad. This had been the main source of his complaints.
Ned believed that a portion, at least, of the men sent into the hillsas custodians of the prince had followed Jack and Jimmie out Whiletrembling for the safety of the two boys, Ned had figured on cuttingthe force of the enemy in two before making an attempt to seize thelittle prisoner.
Even now, he figured, the force left on the ground had been againdivided, for he was positive that the camp was being watched. Forthis reason he had caused the packing to be done, thus giving theimpression that his party was going out at once.
The boy lay in the dark spot under the boulder for a long time,watching, listening, for some indication of human life in thatvicinity. He had a half notion that Bradley would head that way, andthat the boys would follow him.
"If Bradley does come here," Ned thought, "my trap will be set right!That is, if the dusky little chap from over the sea has not beentaken away. If he has, the trap will not serve; still, I shall beable to console myself with the thought that it was at least wellset!"
Every clue the boy had gained pointed to the spot where he lay. Thathad undoubtedly been the point of communication between the leaderand his subordinates--with Bradley and the men who had taken Jimmieprisoner.
"That was rather clever," Ned mused, "taking the boy while at thecave of the counterfeiters in order to give the impression that thecoiners had seized him!"
Ned realized, too; that the capture of the grandson just at that timehad been a master stroke on the part of the conspirators. The ladwould have talked too much when he became satisfied that he was safefrom all coercion.
Ned lay in his hiding place for what appeared to him to be a longtime before he heard anything to indicate that his man-trap had beenset in the right spot. Then the voice he heard caused him to springquickly up to his feet. It was the low, soft, plaintive voice of MaryBrady.
"I haven't seen anything here I could talk about," the old lady wassaying. "I wouldn't think of betraying anyone who put my boy in myarms. I've seen him with you--I've been waiting about here for a longtime. Bring him out to me and I'll go home and never trouble you anymore."
"Now," thought Ned, "how did the old lady manage to find the boyhere?"
"You shouldn't have come here," a low, well-modulated masculine voicesaid. "You have put your own life and the life of the boy in dangerby so doing. How long had you been watching and listening before Isaw you?"
"A long, long time."
"And you heard much of what was said?"
"I heard a good many words, but I don't remember now what theymeant."
The voices came clearly from farther up the slope, and a little tothe south. The figures of the speakers could not be seen by thewatcher.
"Come up to the camp," the masculine voice said, presently. "I'llturn the boy over to you, but you can't go back to your cabinto-night."
"Are you going to keep me here against my will?" asked the tremblingold voice.
"You have seen and heard too much," was the almost brutal rejoinder.
There was a rattle of pebbles as footsteps moved along the rockysurface of the slope. From above came the shrill cry of a child.
"I don't know of any better time to move up and take a peep at thecamp of the man who crossed the sea to steal a child," Ned mused. "Iwish Frank and Dode would come, but if they don't I'll have to takechances on going alone."
Keeping those in front of him as guides, Ned crept along the slope.More than once a loose pebble rolled with a great noise from underhis feet, but those ahead seemed to pay no attention to theseevidences of pursuit.
When, perhaps, two hundred paces up the slope the sounds above theboy ceased. The night was still, save for the rustling and creepingof the creatures of the air and the forest. For a long time not asound indicative of the presence of human life was heard, then awoman's cry of fright came from above.
Ned was about to hasten forward when a voice came to his ears fromthe darkness.
"We can't permit either of them to leave!" the low, well-modulatedvoice he had heard before that night said. "Even if we get away withthe prince, their stories would ruin us. There is no knowing how soonthe gabblings of the old woman might reach the ears of the adherentsof the prince."
"Then you propose--"
"Nothing that will not come to them in due course of time! They cango to sleep in the snug inner room and never wake again. They willnot know when the change comes. They will sleep forever in theirmountain tomb."
"I am opposed to murder," said another voice, harsher, more decisive.
"And so the trap was well set!" mused Ned. "The princeling is stillhere! Well, the battle may not bring victory to me, but I will atleast know that I planned it right, acting on the best information athand."
It was plain, from what
the first speaker had said, that the camp ofthe conspirators was in a cave, for he had spoken of a snug innerroom. The entrance to this cave was undoubtedly closely guarded.
The boy crept along cautiously. The slope was steep, with here andthere a ledge which had to be surmounted or circled, always at greatrisk. In a few hours the moon would be up, and then the work he hadbefore him would be more difficult.
"I must get into the cave before the moon rises!" he thought. "Buthow?"
When he came to the precipice in the side of the mountain from whichthe cave opened, he saw the black spot which marked the entrance. Itwas not large, and, close in front, sitting with his back against therock, was a guard!
Ned lay down to wait. When the moon rose it would cast the shadow ofthe mountain on that spot. For a few hours more he might wait for hischance.
Directly he heard a call which brought him to an alert attitude in aninstant. It was the call of the wolf pack, sharp, vicious, warning!
There was a movement at the mouth of the cave, and a quick lightshowed for only a second. Then came a sound of footsteps negotiatingthe gravelly slope.
Ned dropped back to the west. The call had come from that direction.It might have been uttered either by Frank or by one of the boys leftat the camp.
Presently the snarl was heard in a dark crevice toward which the boywas descending. Ned dropped down faster then, and soon heard Frank'svoice.
"Are you alone?" he asked.
"Yes; and you?"
"Bradley and Dode are here."
Bradley moved forward and took Ned by the arm.
"Be careful!" he warned. "Those men would toss dynamite down here andtake their own risk of death if they knew."
"We've had a run for our money!" Frank panted. "We've beeneverywhere. The cabin is deserted, and the lower camp and thecounterfeiter cave are bare of life. Bradley caught us following him,and so we joined with him in his search for Mike III."
"Mike III.," Ned answered, "is up there in the cave with theabductors, and Mrs. Brady is with him. We've got to act quickly."
"They'll be murdered!" Bradley whispered. "What can we do?"
"They'll be spared for a short time," Ned answered, "but we must beon the move."