CHAPTER XXXII
THE TIN BOX AGAIN
Paul stared, and well he might; as the match flamed up he found himselfconfronting a man who had evidently been sleeping on the floor of thecavern, for he had just thrown a blanket aside.
And Paul recognized him instantly as the party who had passed them onthat noon, in the rig which he imagined must have been stolen--the manhe had reason to believe Joe suspected to be connected with the robberyof his father.
Feeling that he would be apt to receive a hostile reception here, Paulturned to run. He hoped that, as the match went out, the other would notknow just where to look for him, and thus he might escape.
But to his surprise, as he turned he found that another man faced him,who must have been located at a point he had passed while creeping alongclose to the wall.
Before Paul could dodge, this fellow had clasped his arms about him. Theother was hastily lighting some sort of lantern, with which he seemedto be provided.
Although Paul struggled sturdily he was hardly a match for a full grownman.
"Keep still, you!" the fellow growled in his ear; "or I'll give yersomethin' you won't like. Bring the light here, Hank. Let's see whatsort o' a critter we've bagged, anyhow."
Of course they knew the instant they saw Paul's suit of khaki,discolored even though it was from the rain and dirt.
"Huh! another o' them boy scouts you was tellin' me about, eh, Hank?"grumbled the man who held Paul in his embrace. "What under the sun d'yesuppose he's doin' in here? Come to look us up, d'ye s'pose, pardner?"
Paul had already seen that the second fellow was even worse looking thanthe man named Hank, which he took to be a corruption of Henry. In fact,if ever there was a tramp who might be sentenced on his looks alone,this fellow could fill the bill.
"I don't know," remarked Hank, slowly, and scowling at Paul; "it doesn'thardly seem possible, though if I thought so, I'd be tempted to chokethe young cub. Look here, what brought you up here, and who are you?"
"Yes," roared the second man, shaking Paul vigorously, "pipe up and tellus that, 'less you want us to do somethin' you wouldn't like. What d'yewant with us? How'd you ever git in here; and who's along with you? Say,Hank, didn't I tell you I seen that chief of police down on the roadthat comes up here from Tatum? I bet he sneaked around, thinkin' we'dtry to cut out that way, 'stead of in the direction of Stanhope. Reckonyou don't ever wanter go there agin, eh?"
"Shut up, Pim!" snapped the taller man, cutting the other short, much toPaul's regret; for somehow he just felt that the conversation wasreaching an interesting point, and that if the tramp kept on he mighthave mentioned something worth while.
Thinking that he had better be frank with his captors Paul started in totell of the terrible storm, and the destruction of the camp, followed bythe flight of the Banner Boy Scouts along the mountainside in search ofa safe refuge in the shape of a cave. When he told of how they had foundsuch a place through mere accident the two men exchanged looks as thoughthey believed Paul were inventing his yarn as he went along.
"What you say may be true, and again perhaps it ain't," declared thetall man called Hank; "and I reckon we'll just have to tie you neck andcrop, so's to keep you from going back, and bringing a bunch of yourtribe down on us. We're in possession here, and we don't want any moreunwelcome guests. Pim, get a cord, and do him up!"
"Oh! please don't. What I told you was the truth, every word. I onlywanted to find out if there was another opening to this cave. Don't makeme a prisoner, mister! Please let me go!"
Paul shouted these words, and for a purpose. He wished to let hisfriends know of his predicament, believing that Jack would lead a rescueparty instantly; and when three boys start to shouting in such aconfined space as a cavern they can make enough racket to cause one tobelieve a whole army is coming.
The two men were still struggling with their prisoner, and using more orless violence in forcing their wishes upon him, when there broke out asudden series of whoops that rang through the place.
Half a dozen wildcats engaged in a mix-up could hardly have created moreof a racket than did those three lads as they hurried toward the spotwhere the lighted lantern showed them their chum in the hands of twohard looking customers.
Hank took the alarm immediately. He seemed to be more timid than hiscompanion, who showed signs of being willing to turn and face theadvancing enemy until he noted that he had been left in the lurch. Then,growling, and showing signs of temper, he waddled after Hank, who borethe lantern.
"Paul!" called Jack, as they drew near.
"Here!" came the answer; and then the last match that Jack possessed wassacrificed in order that he might find his chum.
The first thing that Paul noticed was another lantern on the floor ofthe cavern.
"Here, light this, Jack, with that precious match!" he cried, aftershaking the lantern to find out whether it contained any oil.
"What under the sun does it all mean?" gasped the breathless Bobolink.
Joe seemed to be just as anxious as either of the others to know,although he did not say a single word.
"I happened on two men who were sleeping here," said Paul. "Notice theblankets and the things for cooking, will you? They must have had ahold-out here. Perhaps they chased Ted and his crowd out of the cave,because, if you look, you can see that aluminum frying pan Ward Kenwoodused to carry around with him, and which he must have forgotten in hishurry to leave."
"Did you know them, Paul?" asked Jack.
Paul turned so that he could watch Joe while he replied.
"I never saw the fellow called Pim before. He was a tough customer,too; either a regular tramp or a yeggman; and I guess from his looks hemust have been ready for any game, from robbing a bank to stealing afarmer's chickens."
"How about the other?" Jack kept on.
"Well," said Paul, slowly, "you remember the man who drove past when wewere at the side of the road that day, and whose wheel marks we saw allthe way up here? That was the fellow. I had a good look at him. Hiscompanion called him Hank!"
"Oh! my, then it is really true!" ejaculated Joe Clausin, apparentlytaken quite off his guard by this declaration on the part of the patrolleader.
Paul turned upon him then and there, and looked serious.
"Joe," he said, firmly yet kindly, "once you refused to tell me what youknew or suspected about this man. I hope you won't try to bluff us offagain, now that you know he's here, and everything looks as if he mightbe the one who took your father's valuable papers."
As he spoke Paul stooped and picked something up that had attracted hiseye. It had been lying among quite a quantity of clothing and otherthings. Probably these had been secured in various raids onclotheslines, where the good people of the farming community were airingWinter garments before putting them away in camphor in the chest.
"Look here, Joe, what do you call this?" Paul went on.
Joe could hardly speak, he was so excited.
"It's the tin box that my dad used to keep those papers in! Oh! Paullook inside and see if they're there!" he exclaimed, trembling witheagerness as he laid a hand on the arm of the patrol leader.
But Paul believed that his friend was doomed to disappointment, evenbefore he opened the strange little tin box, which had been stolen fromthe store of the feed keeper in Stanhope.
"It's empty, you see, Joe," he said, turning it upside-down. "Look at itagain, so as to make sure it's really the box."
"Oh! I'd know it anywhere, Paul," declared Joe, warmly; "and see, here'swhere father scratched his initials on it. I remember seeing him do thatone day, while he was talking to me. Yes, this is the box. But where canthe papers be?"
"In the pocket of that fellow, beyond a doubt. Who is he, Joe?"
When Paul put the question straight to him, Joe could hold out nolonger. Besides, a wild hope had probably sprung up in his heart to theeffect that this comrade, whom nothing seemed to daunt, might perhapsbe able in some wonderful way to help him get the papers back a
gain.
"I just guess I'll have to speak up, fellows," he said; "but pleasedon't say anything to the others 'less my dad tells you to. You see,we've always held our heads up in Stanhope, and some people might lookdown on us if they knew one of the Clausin family was a convict!"
"Oh! that is the man who was at the other side of the world. Whatrelation is he to you, Joe, and where was he in prison?" asked Jack.
"He's my Uncle Henry," answered Joe, reluctantly, "a younger brother ofmy dad's. Last we heard from him he was nabbed away out in Australia,for doing some bank sneaking, I think. Anyhow, he was sent to prison.Father told us not to mention his name again; and we never have all thetime we've lived in Stanhope."
"Oh! well," advised Paul, "I wouldn't feel so bad about it, Joe. Isuppose he's changed his name now. So that if he gets into a scrape inthis country nobody need know he belongs to the Clausin family. But Joe,how did he know about the value of the papers your father kept in thattin box?"
"Well, I can tell you that, Paul. I've often thought it over; and theonly thing that strikes me is this. Uncle Henry, being in this countryafter escaping from prison, was coming to see his brother, perhaps toask him for help. He may have happened in just when dad fainted, withone of his attacks; and found the tin box on the floor. Perhaps he didstrike dad on the head. No matter, he examined what was in that box, andmust have counted it valuable, for he grabbed the whole thing, and litout for the mountain till the chase blew over. Now you know as much as Ido. But don't I hope we c'n get them papers back again."