CHAPTER III
TRACKING THE ROBBERS
WE didn't have any idea who took our things and there didn't seem to beany way of finding out. The ground in the woods was carpeted with pineneedles, which left no trace of footprints.
We thought that maybe those girls that we had chased had taken ourdinner to get even, and it might have been the Summer Street boys, ormaybe the Gingham Ground Gang.
We scattered, like Skinny told us, and gradually worked out from thecenter, crawling on our hands and knees, and watching every inch of theground and the bushes.
We didn't get any trace at all until I found a potato. Then Skinny, whowas a little ahead of me and at one side, gave a groan and yelled:
"Here's my wishbone. They've eaten all my fried chicken."
It always makes Skinny mad to have somebody eat his fried chicken.
Farther on we found pieces of eggshell and then more, as if somebody hadpeeled an egg while walking and thrown the shells on the ground.
We knew then that there was no chance of getting our dinners back, butwe followed the trail, just the same.
After a time we came to the queerest looking tracks, where somebody hadstepped on a soft piece of ground. Benny found them first.
"The spoor!" he yelled. "The spoor! I've found the spoor."
"Well, don't tell the whole town about it," said Skinny. "Keep quiet andwe'll surround 'em."
"But the chicken and eggs are gone," he added, after a moment. "I wasgoing to give you some of that chicken, Bill."
We stopped and had a long look at the tracks. There were four footprintsand a hole, which looked as if it had been made with a stick, or cane.Three of the prints were like those which any man would make in walkingand one was the print of a bare foot, only it had a queer look that wecouldn't understand.
"We've got 'em," whispered Skinny. "We'll know that footprint againanywhere we find it. Forward, and mum's the word!"
Twice after that we found the same queer footprint; once in the dust ofa road that runs along the south side of Plunkett's woods, and again onthe edge of a brook which comes down from the mountain somewhere.
Then we lost the trail and didn't know where to go. Just because wedidn't know what else to do, we followed the brook up, until we came toa gully out of sight from the road.
Skinny was ahead, aiming with his stick and saying what he would do ifhe should catch the fellow that stole his chicken. All of a sudden wesaw him drop behind a bush and lie still. We dropped, too. We didn'tknow what for, but I've noticed that it is 'most always a good thing todrop first and find out why afterward. Then we crawled slowly up to himto see what had happened.
There, sitting on the ground in a grassy ravine, near the brook, weretwo men, and they were eating what remained of our lunch. One of themhad his left shoe off and his foot done up in a bandage. That was whathad made the track look so queer.
Now that we had caught them we didn't know what to do with them, forthey were too big for us to tackle.
"I believe we could get away with the lame one," whispered Skinny, "onlythey have about eaten it all up; so what's the use? Besides, the otherone looks as big as a house."
"If we only had a rope, Skinny," said Benny, "you could creep up behindand lasso them, the same as you did the robber out near Starved Rock."
"Bet your life I could," he replied, "but we haven't got one. Fellers,don't you ever go out again without a rope. You can't ever tell when youwill need it."
"Great snakes!" said Bill, thinking of the chicken Skinny had been goingto give him. "I'm starving to death. Let's heave some rocks at 'em,anyhow, and then run."
He picked up a big stone as he spoke and was going to throw it, whenHank caught his arm.
"Wait," said he. "I know a trick worth two of that. I'm going to shoot'em."
"Shoot them?" I gasped in surprise. "What with?"
"With my camera. You fellows stay here out of sight and caw like a crowif they make any move before I am ready for them. If I can only getbehind that clump of bushes back of them without their seeing me, I'lltake their picture."
"Aw, cut it out," said Bill.
But Hank was gone, and after a little we could see him running through afield out of sight of the men, so as to come into the ravine from theother end. Pretty soon we saw him crawling in, creeping from bush tobush, in sight only for a second at a time.
There was not a sound except the voices of the men, who were talkingabout something, and the ground might have opened and swallowed Hank forall we could see of him.
We waited a long time and began to get nervous, not knowing what hadhappened, and I saw Bill feeling around for another stone.
Then all of a sudden Hank stood up above the bushes he had told usabout. He looked toward where he knew we were hiding and put one fingerto his lips. Then he tossed a stone toward the men and dropped down outof sight again before it could fall.
"Great snakes!" whispered Bill. "If he's goin' to throw, why don't he doit, and not give a baby toss like that?"
Skinny held up one hand warningly as the pebble fell into the brookright back of the men, making a little splash and gurgle, as if a frog,or maybe a trout, had leaped out after a fly.
When they heard it both men jumped up and stood there in the sunshine,looking toward the sound. We couldn't see Hank, but knew that he wassomewhere in the bushes taking their picture.
You almost could have heard our hearts beat for a minute, not knowingwhat would happen. Then the men sat down again and went on talking.
We waited five minutes to give Hank a chance to get away, and crawledback the way we had come. When we reached the road we heard a crowcawing in the woods and knew that he was safe.
"You answer, Benny," said Skinny. "You do it best."
He gave three caws so real that I almost thought it was a sure enoughcrow. Hank joined us and we hurried down the road toward home, hopingthat the dinner would not be all eaten up.
"Did you get the picture?" I asked.
He nodded. "I think so, but I can't be sure until it has been developed.I had a splendid chance. They stood just right and there was a fineopening through the bushes."
"It took you a long time," grumbled Bill. "I could have hit them with arock easy."
"I was trying to hear what they were saying. I couldn't hear very well,but I think they are robbers or something."
"You bet they are robbers," said Skinny. "Didn't they steal my friedchicken?"
We didn't think much more about the men because we had important work onhand. The first thing we had to do was to eat dinner. That is alwaysimportant, especially when your mother knows how to cook beefsteak thatmakes you crazy just to smell. After that came a ball game. Our nine,the "Invincibles," played a picked nine from Summer Street. We beat, 25to 19.
I didn't see any of the boys again until in church, Sunday morning. WhenI went in Bill Wilson was there, looking so dressed up that I hardlyknew him.
He saw me and motioned for me to come into his pew, but Ma wouldn't letme do it. Bill had something on his mind. It was easy to tell that. Helooked excited, and every time I turned around he went through with allsorts of motions with his mouth, trying to make me understand what hewanted to say.
It bothered me. Every time the minister twisted up his face, trying tomake us understand how important it was what he was saying, I'd think ofBill's mouth going back of me. I couldn't help it.
When at last we went into Sunday school he told me.
"Great snakes, Pedro!" said he, grabbing me by one arm. "Haven't youheard about it?"
"How can I tell whether I have or not, when I don't know what it is?" Itold him.
"They robbed Green's store last night; stole him blind."
"Who did?"
"The guys that we saw yesterday. Our robbers."
When Bill told me that you could have knocked me down with a feather. Itmade me almost as excited as he was. He didn't have time to say any morebecause teacher made him sit at the end of the line away
from me so thathe wouldn't whisper so much.
But after Sunday school was over he told me all about it. Burglars hadbroken into Green's store during the night. They blew open the safe andtook all the money, nearly one hundred dollars, and they carried off alot of knives and revolvers. There is an alley back of the store. Theybroke into the basement from there and then made their way upstairs.
"How do you know that it was our robbers who did it?" I asked.
Bill drew himself up and swelled out his chest, just like Skinny doessometimes.
"I'm a Boy Scout, ain't I?" he said. "A corporal, too."
"You are only a Tenderfoot," I told him.
That was true. You have to be a Tenderfoot before you can get to be areal Scout.
"It's the same thing," he said, winking one eye. "One of the robbers hasa tender foot, anyhow."
"Look here, Bill," I told him. "You are getting to be worse than Skinny.What are you talking about?"
"Pedro," he said, "you'll never make a Scout. You're a good bandit and agood secretary, but this Scout business is too much for you. I saw theirtracks; that's what."
"In the alley?"
He nodded. "Come on and I'll show you."
We hurried down to Center Street and turned into the alley back of thestores. The ground in the alley was hard and didn't show any tracksexcept wagon ruts.
Bill looked up and down the alley to make sure that nobody was watching;then tiptoed over to one side, and lifted up a big piece of wrappingpaper, which lay there as if it had been blown out of the store. Underthe paper there was the same kind of footprint which we had followedfrom Plunkett's woods the day before.
There was no doubt about it. The man with a bandaged foot must have beenin the alley back of the store which had been robbed.
Bill was the proudest fellow you ever saw over that footprint. When Ihad finished looking at it he put the paper back again and we went outinto the street.
"What do you think of that?" said he. "I guess Skinny ain't the wholething--on Sundays."
"Does the marshal know?"
"I haven't told a soul except you, Pedro. I am saving it for the Band--Imean the patrol. This is our chance. What's the good of bein' a Scout ifyou don't do any scoutin'?"
"Anyhow, I think we ought to tell the marshal about this," I said."Those robbers are not going to wait for the Scouts to get busy. Theyprobably jumped a freight last night and are in New York by this time.But maybe the marshal could do something."
Bill was bound to tell the other Scouts about it first. So after dinnerwe got the boys together and all went over and took a look at thefootprint.
Skinny was even more excited than Bill was.
"We are hot on the trail, fellers," said he. "The thing to do is tosurround them. We ought to have captured them yesterday. Bet your lifewe'll take a rope next time."
But when Pa found us talking it over on our woodpile, and we told himabout it, he said for us to go to the marshal's at once, and if wedidn't he would.
It being Sunday, we went to the marshal's house and found him sitting onthe front porch dressed in his best clothes. He was some surprised whenhe saw the eight of us walk into his yard. It made us wish that we haduniforms on.
"To what do I owe the honor of this visit?" said he. "Is this acommittee of distinguished citizens to ask me to run for mayor orsomething?"
Bill was bursting with the news, but Skinny was the first to speak.
"We want you to run for those burglars," he said, "and we can tell youwho they are."
When he heard that the marshal began to get interested.
"Well, who were they? Maybe," he went on, smiling at us, "you youngstershave come to give yourselves up."
"We didn't do it," put in Bill. "We wouldn't do such a thing, but weknow who did. We don't know his name, but we know his track. We couldhave caught him yesterday if we'd wanted to. I wish we had now."
Then we told him about losing our dinners and following the robbersthrough Plunkett's woods, and about the queer looking track made by thebandaged foot.
"I'd know that footprint in China," said Bill, "and I found one justlike it in the alley back of Green's store. The man with the lame footmade it. I 'most know he did."
"Say, William, you are a regular sleuth," said the marshal. "I have anotion to put you on the force."
But he didn't guy us any more after that. He put on his coat and walkeddowntown with us.
After he had looked at the footprint he covered it up again so thatnobody would step on it.
"That's the one all right," Hank told him. "There were two of them. Iheard them say something about robbing, when I was taking theirpictures."
"Taking their pictures! They don't go around breaking into stores withan official photographer along, do they?"
"I don't know what they go around with," Hank said, "but I crept upclose behind them and lay back of a bush where I could hear themtalking, although I couldn't understand much of what they said. Ithought it would be fun to take their pictures when they didn't knowanything about it."
"They stood up when Hank threw a stone and looked right at the camera,only they didn't know it was there," Benny explained.
"Great Scott, boy! Do you mean to tell me that you took a photograph ofthe rascals?"
"I snapped them all right," Hank told him, "but I won't know whether Igot a good picture or not until I develop the roll. I haven't done ityet."
"Well, you develop it right away, or, better still, get your camera andwe'll have Marsh, the photographer, do it and make sure of things. He'lldo it, if it is Sunday."
Hank hung back. "Can't you wait a while?" he asked. "I've got five shotsleft in the camera and don't want to waste them. They cost money."
The marshal looked disgusted. "Waste them! How much did they cost?"
"Twenty-five cents a roll; six in a roll."
The marshal pulled a quarter out of his pocket and handed it to him.
"You'll be a rich man some day," said he. "Now that roll of filmsbelongs to me and that picture is going to be developed before you arean hour older. Can you do the job or shall I look up Marsh?"
"I can do it all right, if there is any picture to develop."
"Very well, go ahead with it and bring it down to my office just as soonas you can. And I'll tell you further, young fellow, if we catch thoseburglars through your help, you'll get part of the reward."
Hank looked at us a moment with his eyes shining. Then he drew himselfup.
"I'm a Scout," said he, "and Scouts are not looking for rewards. 'AScout's duty is to be useful and to help others.' The book says so."
It made us all feel proud to have Hank say that. The marshal gave asurprised whistle.
"If that is the case," said he, laughing, "give me back my quarter."
But Hank wouldn't do that, although Skinny nudged him. I don't supposeyou can learn to be a Scout all at once.