CHAPTER IX
LYNCHING IS THREATENED
"Spies!" repeated Will, indignantly, as the cowboys gathered around.
"Yes, spies!" exclaimed the leader of the party excitedly. "You thoughtyou pulled the wool over our eyes down at your camp the other night, butyou didn't! We have good reason to believe that the robbers have visitedyour camp every day and that you fed them!"
"That isn't true!" declared George angrily.
"If you're not in with these bandits, what are you doing here?" demandedanother member of the party.
"Why, we came in search of--"
Will closed his teeth with a snap as he realized that on no account musthe reveal the real motive for this night visit to the cavern.
"Go on!" shouted the leader.
Will glanced significantly at George and remained silent.
Chester seemed about to speak, but George gave him a nudge with hiselbow and the boy remained silent.
"You said you came here in search of some one!" the leader demanded.
"I didn't say anything of the kind," Will contradicted.
"Well, out with it! What did you say?"
"I was about to say that we were prowling around just for the fun of thething."
"Prowling around in the ante-room of a robbers' den in the middle of thenight just for the fun of the thing!" laughed the leader.
"That story is so bald that it's funny!" laughed another member of theparty. "You ought to make up something better than that!"
"It's the truth!" answered George.
"Look here!" the leader exclaimed. "If you boys'll tell us where thosethree men went to, we'll take you into Green River and see that you havea fair trial. If you don't, we'll string you up right here in themountains!"
"We don't know where they went!" answered Will.
A member of the party who had been called Seth by his companions nowstepped forward and began an examination of the Boy Scout badges whichadorned the coats of the two lads.
"Where did you get them?" he asked.
"Chicago," was the reply.
"The Beaver Patrol, I see," the man went on.
"Yes, sir!" replied Will.
"You look like a young man," George cut in. "Were you ever a Boy Scout?"
"Hardly," was the reply, "but I have a son who is very much interestedin the organization. He belongs to the Eagle Patrol, at Lander, and Ihear nothing but Boy Scout rules, and tactics, and that sort of thing,from morning till night."
"Well, he must be a good lad if he's a faithful Boy Scout," Willsuggested. "He certainly must be all right!"
"Indeed he is!" Seth answered. "He's a good boy, and I hope some daythat he'll have the right to wear a badge like that," pointing to theScoutmaster emblem on Will's hat.
"How many of these medals has he?" asked George, pointing to theAmbulance, Stalker, Seaman and Pioneer medals on his sleeve.
"Oh, I don't know," Seth laughed. "He comes home every day or two andsays he's going to have a new one! Look here, lad," the man addedglancing apprehensively back at his companions, "why don't you tell thetruth and get out of this scrape in the easiest possible way?"
"We have told the truth," was the reply, "except that we didn't come outjust for the fun of the thing. We came out for a purpose which we can'tdisclose at this time. We blundered on the train robbers, and have nomore idea of where they went than you have."
"Look here Seth," the leader of the party exclaimed. "If you can't makethose boys tell the truth, just cut out this conversation. We've gotwork to do tonight!"
"I think they are telling the truth!" Seth answered.
"Oh, I guess you know better than that!" laughed the leader. "You'reinterested in them because they claim to be Boy Scouts, and I supposeyou're taking in everything they say."
"I think the boys are all right!" insisted Seth.
"It doesn't make any difference what you think!" replied the otherangrily, "If they don't tell the truth, they're going to swing in lessthan half an hour!"
"I can't stand for that, Pete," Seth answered.
"Who's sheriff of this county?" demanded the man who had been calledPete. "I suppose you think you're boss of this expedition."
"I don't think anything of the kind," was the reply, "but I'm not goingto see these Boy Scouts murdered without a hearing, and if you attemptanything of the kind, you'll never be sheriff of this county again! Ican tell you that much."
The four other members of the party were now whispering together somedistance away. As they whispered, they glanced furtively from the boysto the man who was trying to protect them.
"Look here, Pete," one of them said, as they all stepped forward, "wedon't see any necessity for this halt in the proceedings just becauseSeth has a lad that belongs to the Boy Scouts."
"That's right," another member of the party declared. "Just you say theword and we'll string these boys up in a holy minute!"
"Not with my consent!" exclaimed Seth. "I'm not murdering babies! And ifyou fellows attempt anything of the kind, there'll be trouble!"
"Look here," the sheriff said, addressing Will. "You boys go off in acorner somewhere and talk this thing over. Here's a pretty decent kindof a fellow, a neighbor of mine, getting into trouble on your account.Now you go and talk the thing over, and see if you can't decide to tellthe truth and help him out as well as yourself."
"Why can't you tell him the whole story?" asked Chester as the boysgrouped themselves in a shadowy corner of the cave. "Why don't you tellhim just why you came out tonight, and how we happened to come into thecavern. I don't believe they'll do us any harm if you tell the truth."
"Now, look here, kid," Will answered, "if we tell the cowboys that wecame into the hills hunting for a demented man, they'll want to know whothe demented man is, and why he came into the hills without anysupplies. Can't you understand that?"
"If he does," replied Chester, "I'll tell him all about it."
"If you do," Will continued, "the cowboys will join in the search foryour father, and when they catch him, they'll turn him over to the twodetectives who are now in the hills searching for him."
Chester turned pale as death and shrank back against the wall of thecave. His voice was piteous as he asked:
"So you know all about that, too, do you?"
"Yes," answered Will, "and we don't want the officers to get hold ofyour father. If they do, it will spoil all our plans, because they'lltake him back to the penitentiary, and that would make new trouble forour friend. We want to find him ourselves."
"But I don't understand--"
"I know that you don't understand," Will declared, "and this is no timenor place to give you the information you lack."
"But I'll see father taken back to prison before I'll see you two boyslynched!" insisted Chester.
"You'd better think the matter over carefully," Will advised. "Thechances are that they won't believe anything we say to them now."
"Well!" the sheriff called out impatiently. "Have you boys reached aconclusion?"
"We have already told you everything which can possibly interest you!"Will answered. "We have nothing more to say!"
"Then bring out your rope, boys!" the sheriff shouted.
Seth threw a hand back to his pistol pocket and faced the sheriffangrily. The sheriff's eyes flashed vengefully.
"I protest against this murder!" Seth exclaimed.
"If you don't want to take a hand in the proceedings, get out!" orderedthe sheriff. "We can do the work without you!"
"I don't propose to see these Boy Scouts murdered!" Seth declared.
Every member of the party now held a gun in his hand, and it seemed tothe boys that a desperate battle must take place. They drew their ownrevolvers and stood side by side with their defender.
"Take those guns away from the kids," shouted the sheriff, addressingtwo of his men. "We ought to have attended to that before this!"
"Don't you try it!" Seth said calmly. "I'll shoot the first man thatlays a hand on one of
them!"
While the two parties stood facing each other, each ready to beginshooting at the slightest provocation, a volley of shots came from upthe gorge. The angry men turned their eyes toward the entrance to thecavern and the sheriff threw up his hand in a command for an armistice.
"The train robbers may be out in the gulch shooting up some one now!" heexclaimed. "We ought to see about this!"
"Yes," Seth exclaimed, "there's no use of our coming to blows over thismatter. If the robbers' hiding place can be found, we can make them tellwhether these boys are mixed up in their affairs or not."
"That's right!" exclaimed another member of the party. "If the boys willgive up their guns and promise to make no attempt to escape, we'llinvestigate this shooting and give them the benefit of every doubt thereis in the case. Will you do that, boys?"
The lads handed their weapons to Seth and moved out toward the gulch.When the party passed out of the cavern they found no one in sight.While they stood listening and watching more shots came from the southand they all moved up in that direction. The moon was now shiningbrilliantly and the whole gulch was in view.
"Strange where that shooting is!" Seth exclaimed.
"It's in the caverns up to the north, and that means that the trainrobbers have been brought to bay!" exclaimed the sheriff.
As the party started up the gulch, Will drew Seth aside and whispered afew words into his ear.