CHAPTER XIV. A THRILLING ESCAPE.
It was Peter Bumpus and Jim Dale who were talking. From their first wordsRob gathered that Stonington Hunt and his son had gone fishing, and thatJumbo, like himself, was asleep.
"You're sure that kid is off good and sound, too?" asked Dale.
"Soon find out," rejoined Bumpus.
Rob felt the man bend over him, his hot breath fanning his ear. It was ahard job not to open his eyes, but Rob came through with flying colors.
"He's sound as a top," decided Pete, "and old Hunt and the kid won't beback for half an hour anyway. Now's our time to see if the old ropeladder is still there."
"It sure did us a good turn the night the revenues came," said Jim Dale.
"Let's see, it was over this way, wasn't it? Right under that big hemlockon the top of the cliff?"
"That's right."
Rob heard them cross the sandy strip of beach. Luckily, he was lying withhis face toward that side, and by half-opening his eyes could observetheir movements without danger of being discovered.
They approached a clump of bushes and fumbled about in it for a brieftime. Peter did most of the searching, for that was what it seemed to be,while Dale stood over him.
"Well?" demanded Dale at length, "is it there?"
"Is what there?" wondered Rob.
"It's here, all right," responded Peter Bumpus and in triumph he held upsomething which only by great straining of his eyes Rob was able torecognize as a strand of wire. It was so slender that if his attentionhad not been drawn to it he would never have seen it.
"I'd like to give it a yank and bring the rope ladder down," said Dale.
"I wouldn't mind a run in the old woods myself," said Peter. He seemedhalf inclined to pull the wire, which Rob judged, though he could notdistinguish it against the dull background of rock, must lead to thecliff summit. On that cliff summit the boy also assumed, from what he hadheard, there must lie a rope ladder. The mystery of the escape of therascals from the revenue officers was solved. They had mounted by therope ladder on the first alarm and pulled it up after them. Rob couldhardly help admiring the strategy that had conceived such a scheme.
Suddenly, while Peter Bumpus still hesitated, there came the sharp"splash" of a paddle.
"Here comes the boss," warned Dale.
Instantly the two men strolled aimlessly across the beach, as if theirminds were vacant and idle. Evidently then, Hunt was not aware of theexistence of the rope ladder, and the two men had some strong object inwishing to hide it from him.
The two Hunts brought back several fish, perch and pickerel, which werecooked for supper. After that meal the men sat about and talked a while,and then preparations were made for bed. Jumbo was tied hand and foot,much as Rob was. But not content with these precautions, Dale wasstationed to watch the captives. From what Rob could hear he was to berelieved by Bumpus at midnight.
That Dale took his duty seriously was evident by the fact that, besidehim, as he crouched by the fire, he laid out a ready cocked rifle, andkept one eye always upon the two prisoners. To amuse himself during hisvigil he drew out a big case knife and began whittling a bit of driftwoodinto the likeness of a ship--a reminder of his old seafaring days. Rob,watching the ruffian at this innocent employment while the firelightplayed on his rough features, caught himself wondering what sort ofchildhood such a man could have had, and how he came to drift into hisevil courses.
"I'll bet that the Boy Scout movement in big cities is keeping hundredsof lads out of mischief," he thought, "and helping to make good men outof them. After all, or so dad says, most bad boys are only bad becausethey have no outlet but mischief for their high spirits."
After a while, Dale finished his carving. Then he darted a cautious lookabout him.
"Wonder if any of that old moonshine is still in the hiding place?" hemuttered.
For a while he remained still. Then he once more cast a scrutinizing lookaround him. Rob interpreted this as a meaning that Dale was anxious tosee if everything was quiet. The boy lay still and silent and Daleevidently assumed he was asleep. After a careful inspection of the spotwhere the others slumbered, the fellow cautiously made for the base ofthe cliff near the clump of bushes where he and Bumpus had investigatedthe wire that afternoon. Reaching toward a stone he pulled it aside, andthrust his arm into a recess which was suddenly revealed. When he drewhis hand out it clasped a demijohn. The recess was the hiding placeformerly used by the moonshiners to conceal their product.
With a swift glance about, to make sure he was not observed, Dale raisedthe demijohn to his lips. It stayed there a long time. He set it down andlooked about him furtively once more. Then he raised the jug again andtook another long swig of the poisonous stuff. Rob, through lowered lids,watched him with a shudder of disgust.
When Dale finally thrust back the jug into its hiding place and returnedto the firelight, his step was unsteady and his eyes had a strange,glassy light in them. He sank down on the log which served him as a seat,and once more drew out his knife. His intention, apparently, was toresume his whittling. But after a few unsteady strokes at the bit of woodhe had selected, he gave over the attempt.
His head lolled limply forward and the corners of his mouth drooped. Oneby one his fingers relaxed their grip on the knife, and, resting his headon his hands, he allowed himself to sink into oblivion.
Instantly the Boy Scout's faculties were alert and at work. The firelightplayed temptingly on the knife the liquor-stupefied man had dropped. Verycautiously the fettered Rob rolled over upon his stomach and, slowly as acreeping snail, began a tedious progress toward the weapon. How heblessed the days he had spent practicing such stealthy means of advance.It was the old scouting crawl of the Indians he used. A means of approachas silent as that of a marauding weasel.
It was ticklish, scalp-tightening work, though. But Rob did not dare tohurry it. The rattle of a misplaced stone, the snap of a twig, mightspoil all. To add to the peril at any moment, either the drowsy man bythe fire, or one of the sleeping men beyond, might awaken.
But at last, without a single accident, Rob reached the proximity of theprecious knife. It was a heavy weapon and lay on the rock-strewn groundwith its blade upward. The boy noted this with a quick gulp ofthankfulness. For, fettered as he was, he could not have manipulated ittill he got his hands free.
With infinite caution he rolled his body so that his wrists were close tothe keen blade. Then he began sawing at the ropes, rubbing them back andforth against the blade. At length one of the strands parted. Thenanother was severed, and, with a strong jerk, Rob tore loose the rest.Then, cautiously picking up the knife in his freed hand, he slashed hisleg-bonds. In less time than it takes to tell it he was free.
His next task was to liberate Jumbo. And then----
Rob had allowed his thoughts to dwell on the daring possibility ofrecovering the canoes and paddling away with them. But on second thoughtshe deemed this too risky. Instead he determined to trust to the ropeladder. It had flashed across his mind in this connection, that thestrands of the ladder might be too weak to support his weight, or themuch greater avoirdupois of Jumbo. But the lad felt that they must riskit.
Jumbo very nearly ruined everything. For, as Rob bent over him, heawakened with a start.
"Oh, fo' de lan's sake, massa, don' you go to confustigate dis yar----"
But in a flash Rob had clapped his hand over the garrulous black'scapacious mouth. Jumbo's first fear that his last hour had come wasspeedily relieved as he saw who it was.
Rob, after a quick look about, assured himself that Jumbo's words had notaroused any of the sleepers. Then, taking his hand from the negro's lips,he quickly slashed his bonds. In another instant Jumbo, too, was atliberty.
"Wha' you go fo' ter do now, Marse Blake?" he whispered.
"Hush! Not a word. Follow me," breathed the boy.
"Dis suttingly am a pawtuckitus state of affairs," muttered the black,"don' see no
mo' how we can git out uv this lilly place dan er fly kingit out of a mo'lasses bar'l."
However, he followed Rob, who, on tip-toe, approached the clump of busheswhere he knew the wire he had observed that afternoon lay hidden. Withbeating pulses he poked about in the scrub-growth till, suddenly, hisfingers encountered the filament of metal. The most dangerous step oftheir enterprise still lay before him. What would happen when he pulledit? Would the ladder come down with a crash that would awaken their foes,or----
Rob lost no time in further indulging his nervous thoughts, however. Hegave the wire a good hard tug. Simultaneously, from out of the blacknessabove them, something came snaking down. Rob dodged to avoid it.
He could have cried aloud with joy as, in the faint glow cast by thefire, he saw that, right in front of him were the lower rungs of a ropeladder. It was padded at the bottom so that its descent, abrupt as it hadbeen, was almost noiseless. Rob noted, too, with inward satisfaction,that the ropes seemed strong and in good condition.
"Up with you, Jumbo," he ordered in a tense, low whisper.
The black turned almost gray with apprehension.
"Ah got ter clim' dat lilly ladder lak Massa Jacob in de Bibul?" hewhimpered.
"You certainly have, or----"
Rob made an eloquent gesture toward the camp of Hunt and his gang. Thehint conveyed proved effectual.
"Mah goodness, dis am suffin' dis coon nebber thought he hab to do,"muttered Jumbo, "but all things comes to him who waits--so heah goes!"
He set his foot on the ladder and, rapidly ascending it, soon disappearedin the darkness above. As soon as the slackness of the appliance showedRob that the negro was at the cliff summit, the boy prepared to followhim.
But as he set his foot on the lower rung the man by the fire awakenedwith a start. Before Rob, climbing like a squirrel, could mount threemore steps he became aware that his prisoners were missing.
Snatching up his rifle he ran straight toward the rope ladder. The nextinstant Rob, with a hasty glance backward, saw that the weapon was aimedstraight at him. His blood chilled as he recollected having heard Dalethat afternoon boasting of his ability as "a dead shot."