CHAPTER V. A MIDNIGHT AUTO DASH.
The auto, a fast and heavy machine, plunged along through the night at agreat rate. Its bright searchlight cast a brilliant circle of radiancefar ahead into the darkness. Occasionally frightened birds could be seenflying out of the inky hedges, falling bewildered in the path of thewhite glare.
It was exhilarating, blood-stirring work, all the more keenly delightfulfrom the sense of adventure with which it was spiced.
Rob was at the wheel, steering straight and steady. He knew the roadwell. Part of it had been the scene of that thrilling night ridedescribed in _The Boy Scouts and the Army Airship_, when the boys hadovertaken the two thieves who had stolen the aeroplane documents. On thatoccasion, it will be recalled, an accident had been narrowly averted by asoul-stirring hair's breadth, as a train dashed across the tracks.
Rob's three companions sat back in the tonneau and conversed in lowtones. Only the irrepressible Tubby was not duly impressed with themomentousness of the occasion. From time to time a snicker of laughtershowed that he was cracking jokes in the same old way.
"Say," he remarked, as they bumped across the railroad tracks, "even ifwe do find out where these fellows are, I don't know just what we'regoing to do with them at this time of night. Reminds me----"
"Oh, for goodness' sake, Tubby," groaned Merritt.
"Let him go ahead," struck in Hiram, "the sooner he blows off all hissteam the sooner he'll shut up for good."
"Reminds me," went on the unruffled Tubby, "of what a little girl said toher mother when the kid asked her what sardines were. The motherexplained that they were small fish that big ones ate. Then the littlegirl wanted to know how the big fish got them out of the tins."
There was a deathly silence, broken only by a low groan from Merritt.
"Call that a joke?" he moaned.
"Don't spring any more. My life ain't insured, by heck," put in YankeeHiram.
"Well, that got a laugh in the minstrel show where I heard it," respondedthe aggrieved joke-smith.
Before long, lights flashed ahead of them, and, descending a steepishhill, they chugged into the town of Aquebogue. It was a fairly largetown, and here and there lighted windows showed that some of the lowresorts were still open for business. Far down the street shone two greenlights, which marked the police station. The auto glided up to this, andRob jumped out, accompanied by Merritt, leaving Tubby and Hiram in thecar.
"Let's get out and stretch our legs a bit," said Tubby presently. It wastaking some time for Rob to explain his errand to a sleepy policeofficial.
"All right, my boy," drawled Hiram. "I'm not averse to a bit ofleg-stretching."
The two lads got out and strolled as far as the street corner.
"H's'h!" exclaimed Tubby suddenly, as they reached it. He seized Hiram'sarm with every appearance of excitement.
"Wa-al, what is it now?" asked the down-east boy; "more jokes anddidoes?"
"No. See that chap just sneaking down the street from the oppositecorner?"
"Yes; what of it? Are you seeing things?"
"No. But it's Freeman Hunt--I'm sure of it."
"By ginger, I believe you are right! It does look like him, for a fact.But what can he be doing here?"
"I've no more idea than you. But he must be up to some mischief."
"Reckon that's right."
"I tell you that where Freeman Hunt is, his father is not far off, andthe rest of the gang must be about here, too. I guess it was a good thingwe came out here."
"Well, what shall we do? Go back and tell the police?"
"No. While we were gone he'd sneak away, and we might miss himaltogether. I've got a better plan."
"Do tell!"
"We'll follow him at a distance and see where he goes. Then we can comeback and report."
"Sa-ay, that's a good idea. Come on."
Freeman Hunt was almost out of sight now. But as the two scouts took upthe trail, they saw him pause where a flood of light streamed from thewindow of a drinking-place. He paused here for an instant and gave a lowwhistle; presently the boys' hearts gave a bound. From the doors of theresort issued three figures, one of which they recognized, even at thatdistance, as Stonington Hunt. With him were the two men who had playedsuch a prominent part in the filching of the wallet belonging to MajorDangerfield.
"Keep in the shadow," whispered Tubby, crouching in a convenient doorway;"they haven't seen us. Hullo, there they go. Keep a good distancebehind--as far back as we can, without losing them."
The men the scouts were trailing struck into a lively pace. They seemedto be conversing earnestly. Through the shadows the two boys crept alongbehind them. Presently they were traversing a residence street, edgedwith elms and lawns and white picket fences. It was deserted and silent.The occupants of the houses were wrapped in sleep.
"Maybe they're going to turn into one of these houses," whispered Hiram.
But the men didn't. Instead, they kept right on, and before long the lastelectric light had been passed and they were in the open country.
"Hadn't we better turn back?" murmured Hiram. "It looks as if we weregoing too far for safety."
"Let's keep on," urged Tubby. "There's no danger. If we gave up the chasenow we'd have had all our work for nothing."
Hiram made no reply, and the two boys, taking advantage of every bit ofcover--as the game of "Hare and Hounds" had taught them--kept right ondogging the footsteps of their quarry. All at once Tubby began sniffingthe air.
"We're getting near the sea," he proclaimed. "I can smell the saltmeadows."
Aquebogue lay some distance back from the open waters of the ocean. Itwas situated, like Hampton itself, on an inlet. In the dim light of thestars, the two boys presently perceived that they were traversing a sortof dyke or raised road leading across the marshes.
"Where can they be going?" wondered Hiram.
"Don't know. But there are lots of fishermen's huts and shacks dottedabout in the marshes. Maybe they are making for one of them."
"Maybe," opined Hiram, "but if you weren't so all-sot on following them,I'd be in a good mind to turn back."
"Not yet," persisted Tubby, and the chase continued.
But it was soon to end. All at once the faint glimmer of a watercourse,or inlet from the sea, shone dimly in front of them. Upreared, too,against the star-spangled sky, they could see the inky outlines of astructure of some kind.
"Crouch down here," said Tubby suddenly, as the men ahead of them came toa halt.
A bunch of marsh grass offered a convenient hiding place, and behind itthe two boys lay flat. Pretty soon they heard the scratch of a match, andthen the grating of a lock, as the door of the dark building they hadremarked was opened. The men entered the place and slammed the door to. Afew instants later, from the solitary window of the shack, a light shoneout. The window was toward the creek, and the glare from it showed thetwo watching boys the mast and rigging of a large sloop. At least, fromher spars, they judged her to be of considerable size.
"Gee whiz!" exclaimed Tubby, "we've found the place, all right. They musthave come in that sloop. Maybe that's the way the two men who took thewallet got out of Hampton unobserved."
"But the wind's against the sloop, and she couldn't have beaten her waydown here in that time," objected Hiram.
"She might have an engine, mightn't she?" whispered Tubby in scornfultones.
"That's so. Lots of boats do have gasoline motors. I guess you're right,Tubby. What are you going to do now? Go back?"
"Not much," rejoined the fat boy. "We'll just have a look into that hutand see what's going on. We might even get a chance to get that walletback."
"Say, you're not going to take such a chance! If you looked through thatwindow----"
"Did I say I was going to look through the window, stupid? Don't you seethat chimney on the roof? Now, the roof comes down low, almost to theground. I'm going to climb up on it, and, by leaning over the chimney
, Ican hear what is said."
"But they'll hear your feet on the roof," objected the practical Hiram.
"I'm going to take my shoes off."
"It's awfully risky, Tubby."
"Say, look here, Hiram," sputtered the fat boy, "if this country was togo to war, you'd want to go to the front and fight for Old Glory as a BoyScout, wouldn't you?"
"Of course."
"Well, then, don't you suppose that if you were scouting after an enemyyou'd have to take bigger chances than this?"
Hiram said no more. Kicking their shoes off, and leaving them by thegrass hummock, the two boys crept forward as silently as two cats. In theyielding sand their feet made no noise.
As Tubby had surmised, at the rear of the house the roof came almost tothe ground, for the sand was heaped up against that particular wall,being driven in big dunes by the winds off the ocean.
"Up with you," whispered Tubby, giving Hiram a "boost." The Yankee boy'slong legs carried him onto the roof in a jiffy. Then came Tubby. Alreadythe two boys could hear below them the low hum of voices, Freeman Hunt'ssharp, boyish tones mingling with the bass drone of the elder men'sconversation.
The roof was formed of driftwood and old timbers, and was as easy toclimb as a staircase. Before many seconds, the boys were at the chimney.With beating pulses and a heart that throbbed faster than was altogethercomfortable, in spite of his easy-going disposition, Tubby raised himselfand peered down the flue. It was of brick. But to his astonishment, as hepeered over the edge, he found he had a clear view of the room below.
The chimney, as is often the case in rough dwellings, did not go all theway down to the floor. Instead, it was supported on two beams, so that,peering down it, the boy could command a view of the room below, just asif he had been looking down a telescope.
Round a table were seated Stonington Hunt, the two rough-looking men whohad stolen the wallet, and Freeman Hunt. A smoky glass lamp stood on therough box which served for a table. Spread out on the table, too, wassomething that almost made Tubby let go his hold of the chimney and gosliding down the roof. It was the wallet, and beside it lay the papercovered with figures and markings, which, the boy had no doubt, was theprecious document of the major.
"We'll have to get out of here early in the morning," Stonington Hunt wassaying. "I don't fancy having the police on my heels."
"No. And Jim here says that those pesky Boy Scouts are mixed up in thesearch for the wallet," struck in Freeman Hunt.
"Well, this is the time we give those brats the slip," growled hisfather. "Come on, let's turn in. We'll get the motor going and drop downthe creek before daylight."
"Better leave the light burning then," said one of the men who had beenin Hampton that afternoon.
This was done, and presently snores and heavy breathing showed the menwere asleep. Tubby could not see what resting places they had found, butassumed that there must be bunks around the edge of the hut, as is usualin such fishermen's shelters.
Before retiring, the men had shoved the paper into the wallet, but forsome reason, probably they didn't think of it during their preparationsfor sleep, the wallet had been left on the table. It was almost directlybelow the chimney. As Tubby looked at it, he had a sudden idea.
"Got a bit of wire, Hiram?" he asked, knowing that the mechanical geniusof the Eagle Patrol usually carried such odds and ends with him.
"Guess I've got a bit of brass wire right here," rejoined Hiram, "but itisn't very long."
"Long enough," commented Tubby, scrutinizing the bit handed to him, "now,if you had some string----"
"Got a bit of fish line."
"Couldn't be better. Give it to me."
Much mystified, Hiram watched the fat boy bend the bit of wire and tie itto the string.
"Going fishing?" he asked in a sarcastic tone.
"Yes," replied Tubby quite seriously.
His quick eye had noted that the straps that closed the wallet had notbeen placed round it but lay in a loose loop on the table. If only hecould entangle his improvised line in the loop, it would be an easymatter to fish up the wallet. If only he could do it!
Very cautiously, for he knew the risk he was running, Tubby lowered hisline. Then he waited. But the breathing below continued steady andstentorian. Swinging his hook, which was quite heavy, the stout boygrappled cautiously for the wallet. It was tantalizing and delicate work.But after taking an infinity of pains, he finally succeeded in getting itfast.
Tubby at this moment had difficulty in suppressing a shout of "hooray!"But he mastered his emotions, and slowly and delicately began to haul inhis "catch." Hiram, fascinated, crept close to his side. Perhaps it wasthis fact that was responsible for the disaster that occurred the nextinstant.
Without the slightest warning, save a sharp, cracking sound, the roofcaved in under their feet. In a flash, both boys were projected in a heapinto the room below. As they hurtled through the rotten covering of thehut, shouts and cries resounded from the aroused occupants.