CHAPTER XXII.
WHEN BOB CAME BACK.
THE other boys of course shared in Bob's deep feeling of satisfaction.Perhaps he might be expecting too much from the old mountaineer; butthen, Bob had lived among these people during a good portion of hislife, and ought to be able to judge as to the amount of gratitude theywere capable of feeling.
"But you ought to be off across the valley yourself, Bob," venturedThad, presently.
"I know it, suh," the Southern lad replied, quickly; "and let me tellyou I'm starting right now in better spirits than I ever dreamed wouldbe the case. I want to get back heah in good time, so as to go up yondahwith you, and meet Polly."
"If you're not too much played out," suggested Allan.
Bob drew his figure up proudly, as he went on to say:
"I'd have to be mighty nigh a collapse, suh, let me tell you, to keepfrom goin' to where I've got a chance to hear about _him_!" and they didnot need to be told who was meant, for they knew Bob was thinking ofhis missing father, whom everybody had long believed to be surely dead.
And so he presently vanished, with a farewell wave of the hand.
The other scouts gathered around the fire, chatting on various subjects,but principally in connection with the recent happening. They thought itthe strangest thing in the world how two girls came to play a part inthe affair which their good comrade, Bob Quail, was trying to putthrough; and of such vastly different types too, the one a plainmountain maid, and the other, according to what they themselves hadseen, quite a dainty little thing, cultured and refined.
"Smithy, I'm going to tell you to reverse that badge of yours," said thescoutmaster, as they sat there around the fire, waiting for the returnof the absent comrade.
Smithy looked up in surprise. He had been smoothing his coat sleeveafter a peculiar habit he had, as though he imagined he had discoveredsome dust there. And for the moment he fancied that Thad must be jokinghim on account of those "finicky" ways, as Giraffe called them, which hecould not wholly throw aside, since extreme neatness had long ago becomea part of his very nature.
"That's very kind of you, Thad," he remarked, trying to appear calm;"and I'm sure I feel grateful for the privilege, which should always bea matter of pride I take it, with every Boy Scout. But I am not aware,sir, just how I've gained the right to reverse my badge."
"By handing me that stick when I asked for it, and thereby becoming apartner with me in assisting that wounded man. You notice that I'mturning my own badge, because I think I've earned it by this act, if Ididn't by what Bob and myself did to that bobcat. And Allan, you're inthis deal also; you brought me that roll of stout muslin when I wantedit, so you did all you could."
"And I helped get him on his feet!" declared Giraffe, quickly.
"So did I!" exclaimed Bumpus, excitedly; "anyhow, I started to lend ahand; but there was so many around I just got crowded out. But I_wanted_ to do something, sure I did, Thad!"
"Turn your badge, then," ordered the scoutmaster, smiling. "In fact,every scout was full of sympathy, and ready to assist if called on. Andunder the circumstances, I just guess there needn't be any badge in thiscamp unturned right now. To-morrow we'll start fresh again, and let'ssee how quick all of us can follow after Step Hen's example, and helpsome worthy object along."
"Even if it is only a poor little tumble-bug that can't push his ballhome," remarked Giraffe, with a grin.
The time hung heavily upon their hands. No doubt this was partly causedby their intense eagerness to learn just how Bob was coming out. WouldBertha meet him; or might she have been shut up in the house by herguardian, stern Reuben Sparks? If she did come, would she bring thatpaper which she said was signed with her dead father's name; andsupposing it proved to be all Bob hoped and prayed it would, was itpossible, if placed in the hands of a competent lawyer in Asheville,that this document would take Bertha from the custody of Reuben, andgive her a home with Bob's mother up in Cranford?
All these things were debated from every standpoint; and wide-awake boyscan see the weak links in the chain about as quickly as any one; so thatThad was kept busy explaining, and building up plans to suit the alteredconditions.
"Ought to be time he was here," Giraffe remarked, as he stifled a hugeyawn.
"It's sure nearly a whole hour since we heard that row across there,"Bumpus went on to say. "Seemed like a whole crowd had started to yell,and dogs to bark. We none of us could make up our minds what it meant.Some thought the wounded man must a got to the cabins, an' all thatnoise meant the kind of reception a brave feller gets in these partswhen he's brought home on a shutter. But others, they seemed to b'lieveit might have had to do with our chum Bob, and that p'raps he'd beensurrounded, and trapped by the wise old Reuben."
"We hope not, for a fact," declared Thad.
"Well, there's somebody coming right now, I give you my word!" observedSmithy, who happened to be on the windward side of the fire, and able tohear better than some of the rest.
"And from the right direction, too," added Allan.
The patter of footsteps came closer, and presently a dim figure loomedup, almost staggering.
"It's Bob, all right!" cried Bumpus; and Thad heaved a sigh of relief,for he had begun to fear that something might have happened to disturbthe carefully laid plans of his companion.
The Southern boy came into camp, breathing heavily. He seemed to be verymuch exhausted, but Thad could detect a look of triumph on his face thatseemed to tell of something worth while having been accomplished.
Dropping down, Bob motioned for a drink of water, and Step Hen madehaste to get him one from the collapsible bucket they had brought alongwith them. Draining the tin cup, Bob sighed as though the cooling liquidwent just to the right spot, and had refreshed him wonderfully.
"It's all right, Thad!" he managed to say, noticing the questioning lookthat the other was bending upon him.
"Then you saw your cousin, and got the paper?" asked the scoutmaster,eagerly, while the rest of the boys fairly hung upon every word.
Bob nodded his head.
"Get my breath right soon now," he remarked; "then tell you all aboutit. Phew! I had a smart run, believe me!"
The boys exchanged expressive looks. They drew their own conclusionsfrom the little Bob had already dropped; and began to believe that hemust have been hotly pursued. Evidently then, if this were indeed thecase, Bob had met with an adventure since leaving the camp-fire, and aserious one at that.
It is always a difficult thing for the ordinary boy to restrain hisimpatience, and several of the scouts squirmed about uneasily while Bobwas trying to calm himself down, so that he might talk with reasonablecomfort.
Thad let him have his own time. He understood that Bob was even moreanxious to tell, than any of them were to hear; and that just as quicklyas he could, he was sure to start in.
That time came presently, when his heart began to beat less violently;and as a consequence Bob started to breathe more naturally.
"I met Bertha," he began to say, "and she gave me the paper. Boys, it'severything I hoped it'd be; and once I manage to get it in the hands ofa good lawyer, good-bye to Mr. Reuben Sparks' authority over littleBertha, and her fortune."
"Wow! that's going some!" burst out Giraffe, rubbing his thin hands oneover the other, as though decidedly pleased by the news.
"Was she disappointed when you told her how impossible it would be forus to take her away right now, when these moonshiners have got usmarooned up here in their blessed old mountains; and we can't turnwhichever way without runnin' slap up against a sentry with his oldgun?" asked Bumpus.
"That's right, she _was_ upset when I told her that same," answered theother. "It made me feel right bad too, suh, to see how she took it; andI tell you right now I came mighty neah givin' in, and sayin' we'd makea try. But I remembered what Thad heah had told me, and how it was bestfor all of us that we let the cou'ts summon old Reuben to bring Berthabefore the bar of justice. An' finally, after I'd explained it all toher,
she began to see it the same way. My cousin has got the spirit ofthe Quails all right, I tell you, fellows, even if she is young andlittle."
"I reckon you stayed so long tryin' to convince her, Bob, that you cleanforgot how you'd promised to get back here as soon as you could?"remarked Step Hen, under the belief, no doubt, that he was giving theother a sly dig.
"Well, perhaps you are correct about that same, suh," replied Bob,quite unabashed; "she was like most girls, and had to be argued intoseeing things like boys see 'em. Of course, I couldn't break away tillshe had arranged to go back to the house, and wait for things to beginto move, as they surely would, just as soon as I get to Asheville. Butthere was one real smart thing she did do, and I've just got to tell youabout that befo' I come to my own adventure."
"That's right, don't skip anything, old chum," remarked Giraffe, warmly,as he settled down to listen.
"When Bertha took that document from the little pigeonhole in the safewhere he had it hidden, she thought to make up another as much like itas she could, and put that in place of the one she carried off. Some ofyou scouts ought to take pattern from the smartness of that little girl;don't you think so, Thad?" and Bob turned his now smiling face upon thepatrol leader.
"They couldn't improve very much on that sort of work," Thad declared;"and if girls were allowed to join our troop I'd vote every time to letyour cousin come in. I'm sure she'd be an honor to any organization."
"Now tell us what happened to you, Bob!" asked Bumpus.
"Well," continued the other, drawing a long breath as though what he wasabout to say stirred him once more; "I was just ready to say good-bye,when we heard loud voices, together with the barking of a big dog, andOld Reuben, with a man, and a mastiff about hip-high burst into view,both men carrying lanterns, and heavy sticks in their hands. And you canbelieve me, fellows, I understood that I was in for a little excitementabout that time!"