CHAPTER VII.
THE NEWS THAT GEORGE BROUGHT.
ELMER laughed.
"Listen," he said, "and you'll hear some more of the same kind."
Hardly had he ceased speaking than there was another loud "chug" heard.
"My, he jumped into the water that time, sure, if it _was_ a frog!" saidLandy.
Then came a strange rattling sound, as of half a dozen "plunks" allmixed up.
"He threw a handful then for a change, and good measure," remarkedElmer, dryly.
"A handful of what?" echoed Ty.
"Stones!" replied the patrol leader.
The others stared at each other.
"Is _that_ what it is, then?" asked Landy, heaving a distinct sigh ofrelief. "Why, of course, we all ought to have got on to it before now.Stones always make that kind of plunk when they drop into the water fromabove. But, Elmer, whoever d'ye think it can be; and what's he trying todo--scare us?"
"Oh, that remains to be seen. Suppose you fellows go on getting supperready, while I slip out quietly and investigate," Elmer proposed.
"Don't take too many chances, remember, Elmer," cautioned Ty, as heturned again to his frying pan, filled with fish.
"Yeth, go thlow, Elmer," said Ted, shaking his head. "You know there'tha bad lot of fellowth over in Fairfield, alwayth ready to play trickthon travelerth. It may be they only want to coax one of our crowd out,and then carry him off. Take a club along with you, Elmer."
"Yes, do," Landy added, thrusting a stout stick into the hand of thepatrol leader. "And use it if you have to. Remember, one call of thewolf will bring us along in a rush, Elmer. And I'm going to have someother nice clubs handy, in a minute or two."
"Don't go to any trouble, because you may be disappointed," chuckledElmer, as he pushed back into the shadows, so that he could enter thetent.
Having done this, two minutes later he was crawling out from under thecanvas at the back of the tent, having unfastened the same by uprootingthe peg at that particular spot.
Of course it was easy enough for Elmer to creep away undetected byanyone who might be in a position to watch the camp. His experience onthe plains of the new country up beyond the Saskatchewan River inCanada, where his father had been in charge of a relative's ranch andfarm, was of considerable benefit to him now.
Once free from the light of the fire, Elmer stopped to listen and madeup his mind concerning certain things. Then he again pushed forward.
He was now making something in the shape of a half circuit. If he kepton long enough he would presently bring up on the river bank below thecamp; and this was in reality his destination; for he believed that theunknown party who was tossing those stones out into the river, with theintention of mystifying them, must be stationed somewhere there.
In fact, Elmer had remembered that just here the shore made a sort oflittle beach, which they could have used nicely as a landing place, hadthey possessed a boat. And he had also noted the fact that there was agreat abundance of round stones there, very tempting to the average boy,who loves to hurl such things into the water, just to see them splash.
He was drawing near this particular spot now, and in order to avoidbeing seen, as his figure would be outlined against the sky, he droppeddown on his hands and knees, crawling forward the last ten feet afterthis Indian fashion.
The darkness was not intense, and Elmer had a pair of unusually keeneyes. Hence, as he stopped there just above the little beach, he wasable to make out a figure that seemed to be bent over as if searchingfor something.
"He's hunting another relay of stones," thought Elmer, wondering who theparty could be.
There was a slight possibility that it might turn out to be somewandering hobo, who thought he might cause the boys to temporarilyabandon that fine supper, which he could snatch up and make away with.Then, again, there was a chance of this fellow being only one of anumber of the Fairfield roughs, who, having discovered their camp, werebound to do all they could to make trouble.
But Elmer did not take much stock in either of these theories. He wasinclined to look upon the unknown as a friend, one of the fellows fromHickory Ridge, who had come out to join them for the last day of theirstay on the Sweetwater.
That was why he listened so keenly, for he hoped to catch some familiarsound calculated to tell the identity of the dusky figure below.
The drone of voices from around the fire came to his ears, telling thathis four chums had taken his advice, and were acting as though they hadno particular interest in those queer noises.
Now the figure below seemed to straighten up, and Elmer knew he meant tothrow another stone, perhaps a second volley that would rattle like shotas they came down on the surface of the running water.
And as he heaved them forth, the party below gave vent to a peculiarlittle grunt or wheeze that was very familiar to the ears of ElmerChenowith.
"Hello, there, George! Having a great time, I see, amusing yourself!" hesaid, in a low, but plainly heard tone.
There was a moment of silence, as though the unknown was somewhat takenaback by the fact of his having been caught so neatly, even in the act.
"That you, Elmer?" he asked, with a short laugh.
"That's who it is, George," the other replied. "Suppose you come up outof that, now, and surrender. There's a penalty attached to this thing oftrying to scare us. Do you know what you've got to do now to make good?"
"No, what's that, Elmer?" asked the boy, who was climbing up the bank bynow, and who happened to be a cousin to Landy Smith, known among hismates as "Doubting George," simply because he could not help appearingskeptical about nearly everything that came along.
"Why," observed Elmer, very seriously, "you've just got to unfasten yourbelt, sit down alongside us, and do your level best to get away with ashare of the fine fish supper the boys have ready."
"Oh, ginger! Count me in on that, won't you?" laughed the other, as heaccepted the extended hand of the patrol leader, and was assisted up thebank. "It's a long walk up here, and you see, since you fellows hikedit, I just didn't dare use my wheel. And I tell you I'm hungry enough toeat anything halfway decent."
"Well, Ty's chief cook and bottle-washer to-night; and you know enoughabout him to understand what that means. Ty's long suit is his cooking.He's just the boss at that, every day," and Elmer purposely elevated hisvoice as he said this, so that those by the fire, now awaiting them,could overhear what he said.
"Hey! what's all that you're saying; and who're you talking to, Elmer?"demanded the party in question.
Landy gave a shout.
"By the great horn spoon, if it ain't my cousin George!" he exclaimed."Ten to one he doubted whether we had really come up here at all--thathe didn't believe he could ever find us--that he expected to frightenthe whole bunch out of their seven senses by that silly trick; and evennow he isn't sure whether he sees us or is dreaming he does. In fact,George can find a loophole to doubt anything."
"All right, say what you want," replied the newcomer, sturdily. "I admitthat I was born with an unfortunate disposition to question everything.Mother says I must be a great lawyer some day. But there are some thingsthat are so plain even Doubting George can't miss hitting 'em. Thatsmell, now, is sure the finest thing that ever came down the pike; and,anyhow, I don't doubt but that you fellows are going to ask me to sharein the grub with you. How's that, Cousin Philander?"
"Oh, you're welcome to it," replied Ty, in place of Landy. "Plenty forall; and we owe this treat to the patience of Ted and Adam here. Lateron you must get our new scout to tell you how he goes in after hisfish, clothes and all. It's a real funny stunt, George."
"Yeth," put in Ted. "And mind you, he pullth in other fellowth with him.Be thure to have him tell you that part, my thon. It'th worth hearing,George."
Of course, around the fire, as they discussed the qualities of the fish,the story was told. Everyone seemed to have a share in the telling, sothat George got it from several sources.
"And pretty soon," de
clared Landy, "I'm going to use a black pocket inthe woods close by as my dark room, so I can develop that roll of films.You see, I'm just wild to learn whether I really did push that triggeron the camera, and shoot it off, just as those two fellows were tumblinginto the water. If I got that, it'll pay me for the whole job of hikingaway up here and losing more'n a pound in weight."
"Wish you luck, then, Philander," said George, who usually made amouthful of his cousin's name.
Some people said George was really envious of Landy's possessing such anuncommon name; others believed that he was proud of being connected witha family that could sport such a classical "cognomen," as he oftentermed it.
"When did you leave good old Hickory Ridge?" asked Ty; for, like mostboys, no sooner was Ty away from home than everything about the placeassumed an almost sacred aspect, and he could never even mention itsname without an affectionate prefix of some sort.
"I reckon I've been three hours on the way," was George's reply.
"Three hours to get up here! Say, you didn't walk like that in the bighike, when you covered the name of Robbins with imperishable glory,"Landy declared.
"Shucks, and me the lowest score in the whole bunch!" sneered George."But I guess I lost the way, and covered a lot more territory than Iought to have done."
"Yes," said Landy, "I know what was the matter. You just made up yourmind every signpost lied, and when it said go east, you tried the otherroad. That's what you get for doubting everything. It brings heaps oftrouble, and if you're wise you'll shunt that on to the side track in ahurry."
"Oh, shucks! Attend to your own mutton, Landy," said George; but hisface had reddened at the accusation of his cousin, and none of theothers doubted but that Landy's random shot had hit pretty close to thetruth.
"Anything new around Hickory Ridge since we left there?" asked Elmer.
"Why, yes, there is, fellows," replied George, brightening up, as thoughhe had just thought of something.
"Then tell us what it is. Has Hiram Juggles got a new shingle on hisbarn; or did the Mosely twins get mixed up again, so that nobody knowswhich is Jim and which Jack?" asked Ty.
"Oh, it's something more serious than that, let me tell you," Georgewent on, with a vein of mystery in his voice that instantly aroused thecuriosity of Landy.
"Then why don't you tell us what it is, George, you old ice wagon!" heexclaimed. "Somebody give him a push, please, and get him to roll hishoop."
"They tried to wreck the midnight express--guess you fellows started offtoo early in the mornin' to hear about it," George said.
"We never heard a word, so hurry up and tell us, George," said Elmer.
"Yes, whatever in the wide world would they want to wreck that trainfor? Was it some crazy man; or do they think it could have been anattempt to rob the express safe?" demanded Ty, anxiously; for he had anuncle who held the throttle of the engine pulling that particular train,and was therefore deeply interested.
"Nobody's dead sure what they wanted to do," George went on, "but themessenger admits that he was carrying a bigger amount of money thanusual. Perhaps the hoboes got wind of it, and thought they might have achance to capture the stuff. They didn't have nerve enough to hold thetrain up in western fashion, so they tried the coward play."
"I notice that you say hoboes did it, as if nobody doubted that part ofthe affair," Elmer remarked, significantly.
"They were seen by a track walker, and had quite a fight with him,"George continued. "The poor chap is in the hospital now, though he'sgoing to pull through. He managed to crawl to a station and give thealarm, so no damage was done. And now they're hunting high and low fortwo hoboes, one short with red hair, and t'other a long-legged fellowwho limps when he walks, like he'd once had his leg hurt. They arecalled Shorty and Lanky Jim!"
It was Adam who set up a shout that caused the others to stare at him.
"Hey, what's this mean?" demanded Ty. "He looks like he knew somethingabout the two rascals you were telling us about, George. Elmer, you takehim in hand, won't you, and see what he's got on his mind. And make himtell it in plain United States. We left our Dutch dictionaries at homethis trip, you see."