CHAPTER XXV. SURPRISING CHARLIE.
Sebattis was quietly creeping, foot by foot, along the wall of the cabin.Giraffe realized that it was the intention of the guide to make his wayalong the side, so as to command the front, where the only exit could befound. This they must cover, if they expected to hold the situation.
Old Eli had pushed up alongside the Indian. He seemed to feel that if itcame to a case of holding the hoboes up, the desperate rascals would bemore apt to surrender if they saw two determined men in the front rank ofthose who covered them with their guns, than if they believed the wholeposse to be made up of inexperienced half-grown Boy Scouts.
Of course this started the others moving also, since no one felt likebeing left behind. Being close to the wall, it was possible for them tohear what was being said within; for the two men did not speak inanything bordering on whispers. They did not dream of the danger that washovering over their heads; and the finding of the bundle, apparentlyundisturbed, seemed to make them both happier than they could have beenfor some time.
When they reached the corner of the cabin the creepers turned it. Nowthey had to remember that the little window was here, and that if one ofthe new inmates of the hut chanced to thrust his face close up to thewonderful sash that had survived all these years of cold and heat, therewas danger that they would be discovered, should one of them stray fromthe wall.
Giraffe was listening to what the men were saying. Somehow there seemedto be a sort of strange fascination about playing the part ofeavesdropper in a case like this. But he did not allow himself to get sodeeply interested as to forget all idea of caution.
The man with the great, heavy voice he guessed must be the leader, whowent by the name of Charlie Barnes. He it had been, Thad and Allan haddeclared, who led the flight of the hoboes through the great Maine woods.And it had been this fact that seemed to convince the scoutmaster Charliemust at one time have been playing the role of guide in these same woods.
Apparently he had not bothered undoing the bundle then, for there was notrace of anger or bitter disappointment in his tones, such as must havebeen the case had he learned of the cheat.
"How's the leg, Kimball?" he was asking.
"Hurts pretty bad, let me tell you," came the reply; "and the worst of itis, I can't get the bleed to stop. If this keeps on, I'll keel over soon;I'm feeling that weak, Charlie."
The man with the bass voice said something that sounded like stronglanguage. At first Giraffe feared he had taken a notion to open up thepackage, and learned of the cheat; but when he spoke, this proved not tobe the case.
"That's hard luck, ain't it, Kimball?" he went on. "The only feller inour bunch thet knows a blamed thing about the doctor game, he's gone an'took sick hisself, an' is alyin' thar under thet ledge, whar we've hed tocamp out ever since larnin' thet them hunters was occupyin' this herecabin. But after I'm rested a bit, tell you what I'll do--you lay aroundand take it easy, while I hike back and bring my brother-in-law here.He's on'y a light weight, an' I guess as how I kin kerry him on my back.Won't be the fust heavy pack I've toted over the Maine carries, believeme."
"All right, Charlie," said the other, who possessed a high voice, exactlythe opposite of that belonging to the big leader. "And p'raps, now, Dickmight be in one of his lucid turns, so he could tell me what to do tostop this pesky bleed. I never knowed what a crazy job it was till now,not to understand the first thing 'bout stoppin' blood from flowin' froma wound."
"Sho! thet's nawthin'. I've seen a logger bleed right to death 'causenobody had any ijee how to do that same. You'd think loggers, of allmen'd larn sech tricks. Likewise, you'd expect sailors would every one of'em know how to swim; but they don't, in half the cases."
"Say, Charlie, what we goin' to do?" asked the wounded man, fretfully.
"What d'ye mean by askin' thet, Kimball?" demanded the other.
"Supposin' I get in trim to move in a day or two, how long must we hangout in these here diggings, to take care of Dick?" Kimball asked.
"Wall, I want to do the right thing by the pore critter," repliedCharlie, reflectively. "You remembers that he's my wife's brother. But incourse thar's got to be a limit. We're in danger every minit we stayshere this side the border. An' with thet thar sheriff pokin' 'raoundevery which way, tryin' to locate us, it'd be crazy fur us to hang outhere long."
"Put a limit on the time, Charlie. He ain't any relation of mine, yousee, and I just don't feel like taking chances on twenty years to obligeyour wife's brother. P'raps I couldn't make it just as well without you,but I know which is north, an' that safety lies that way; so I'd justkeep on travelin' till I learned I was over the line in Canada."
"I tell you what, Kimball," said the other, after a pause, "we'll givethe poor feller till to-morry night. If he ain't better then, we jest gotto leave hyar by the next mornin' sure. The best we kin do is to fix himcomfortable like, with a plenty o' water and grub handy, and let him takechances. Now, as I hev got my hands on this hyar bundle o' stuff again, Ijest don't feel like bein' caged."
"That's all right, Charlie," replied the other. "I don't like to desert aman any more than you do; but what's a fellow goin' to do? We'd all getcaught if we hung out here too long. As it is, we can send the sheriffword when we're safe over the line, and he'll find Dick. They ain't gotmuch on the boy, you know; and if he's sent up at all, it'd only be for afew years."
By this time Giraffe himself was crawling past under the little window.He knew that he must be making more or less of a rustling sound whilemoving along; to his ears all trifling things were magnified immensely;why, he could even hear the pounding of his rapidly beating heart, andwondered if it was calculated to catch the attention of those within thecabin.
However, he realized that several things were acting in his favor. In thefirst place the wind made more or less of a constant rustle through thetops of the tall pines, and this in itself would have deadened othersounds. Then again, the fact of the two hobo yeggs talking together actedas a buffer, since they were not so likely to keep their ears on thealert for suspicious noises from without.
There were Sebattis and Eli turning the last angle now. That must bringthem to the front of the cabin, where they could crouch down behind someof the shrubbery that Giraffe remembered grew on that side. Doubtless thekeen-witted Indian had this very fact in mind when he chose to pass alongto this side of the door, rather than take the other route; as Girafferealized he must have done, simply because in that case he would not haveto pass under a window at all.
Did they mean to suddenly spring into the cabin, and cover the men beforethey could snatch up their guns? Giraffe hoped not, for in that case therest of them might not have any share at all in the winding up of theaffair; and all the glory would pass to Sebattis, Eli, and perhaps Thadand Allan.
But then, the fact that the leaders were now crouching there would seemto indicate that just then at least there was no intention of goingfurther.
So Giraffe, also pulling his long figure forward, found a place where hetoo could stretch out, and with his gun in his trembling hands, wait forthe next move in the game.
Now he remembered what the man with the heavy voice had just said aboutmeaning to start out after the sick member of the trio, after he hadrecovered his wind. That looked as if Sebattis might be laying for himthere. And when he stepped into the open, doubtless the two guidesexpected to suddenly spring to their feet, at the same time cowering himby leveling their weapons.
Giraffe realized that perhaps this was rather queer business for a BoyScout to be in, rounding up desperate law breakers; but if Thad thoughtit all right, why, there could be no objection.
Some one pushed up against him, and twisting that wonderful neck of his,Giraffe was able to see that it was Step Hen, who in turn had arrived,and taken his position in the line.
Davy was last of all to reach the shelter of the clump of brushwood, buthe came working his way along on his stomach, and pushing
his shotgunahead of him as best he knew how; though the chances were he filled themuzzle with dirt in so doing, and took chances of having a barrel burst,should he try and discharge the weapon before cleaning this out.
Well, they were all there now, and only waiting for Charlie to beaccommodating enough to put in an appearance. It could not be for long;though with his nerves all keyed up to concert pitch, Giraffe thought theseconds were weighted down with lead, they passed so slowly.
There, was that a movement at last within the cabin? Some one wascertainly crossing the pine-covered floor with heavy steps. Still, it mayhave been the wounded man, limping to new quarters.
Again Giraffe allowed himself to draw in some of the cool air; for inthat second of strain he had actually stopped breathing.
The crisis was only delayed a little, and was sure to come along before agreat while. He realized that those after whom he patterned were takingit calmly; and if they could wait, surely he had no right to showimpatience. Many a plan doubtless owed its success to this quality ofbeing able to restrain hasty action; why, Giraffe remembered a saying tothe effect that "everything comes to him who waits."
Well, there it was again, and this time surely it must be Charliestarting up. The heavy boom of his voice could be heard, showing that hewas even then advancing toward the open door.
"I guess I ought to be back again inside an hour, Kimball; an' if so beyou kin wait thet long, p'raps Dick, he mout be in trim to tell you whatto do 'bout thet leg o' yourn. Take it as easy as you kin while I'm gone,and make up yer mind as things is bound to move along arter this as slickas grease, believe me."
A bulky figure stepped out of the door. Sebattis waited until he hadtaken as many as five steps away, his object being to prevent the manfrom bolting back into the cabin, where he could defend himself with somechance of success.
Then, as though by some preconcerted signal, the two guides, togetherwith Thad and Allan, suddenly arose, and swung their guns to theirshoulders. Thinking that this was an invitation for them to get busy, theother three scouts also scrambled to their feet, and followed the exampleof their leaders.
And that was the astonishing sight the hobo yeggman saw, as he turned hishead upon hearing the noise made by the boys in gaining their feet.