The Bungalow Boys in the Great Northwest

by John Henry Goldfrap

  CHAPTER IX.

  FAST IN THE TOILS.

  An hour or so later the lads were much astonished when Squinty enteredthe cave and, bending over them, rapidly loosened their bonds. Sotightly had they been triced up, however, that it was some time beforethe stiffness was sufficiently out of their limbs to enable them to movewith freedom. While they were "limbering up" their guardians allowedthem to emerge from the cave and move and chafe their sore, achinglimbs, at liberty. But, although it was pleasant to feel free oncemore--so far as their manacles went, that is--the boys did not by anymeans relish the surrounding crowd of Chinamen and rough-looking whitemen, the latter of whom indulged in some coarse jests at their expense.

  At length, however, they were so far relieved from their cramped painsand "pins and needles" that they were able to stand upright and walkabout without much difficulty. As soon as their guardians saw this theyroughly ordered them to march in front of them toward the tent wherethey had had their first sight of Bully Banjo.

  He was still sitting there as they were escorted up, and was deep inconsultation with the tall Chinaman and the scrubby-haired man, whom weknow as Zeb Hunt. Apparently the subjects of the consultation had beenthe boys, for as Death and Squinty marched them up Simon Lake looked upfrom a stick he had been industriously whittling, and turned to hiscompanions with a quick "hush."

  "Waal," said he, as the boys came to a halt, "you've bin doin's someputty tall thinkin', I kalkerlate."

  "Why," rejoined Tom boldly, "I guess those cords were tied a little tootight for our thoughts to circulate very freely."

  He had determined not to let this ruffian see that he had caused them tofear him--an effect which he was evidently desirous of producing.

  "Putty good!" chuckled Simon, seemingly pleased at Tom's pleasantry."You're ez bright ez a new dollar, bye. Anybody kin see that. But thetain't what I wants ter talk ter yer about. Wot I wants to know is howyou'll regard a little proposition I'm goin' ter make ter yer."

  Tom could not check his look of astonishment at this, while, as forJack, his eyes seemed to start out of his head. Lake's tone had becomefriendly, even confidential. But it did not fool either of the boys fora minute.

  "What new bit of villainy is he going to spring?" wondered Tom. Aloud hesaid:

  "What is your proposition?"

  "Waal," drawled Lake, "in the fust place, it's a chance fer you byes termake some easy money, then in the second, it's a job that won't requirehardly any work on your parts."

  "Well, what is it?" demanded Tom bluntly.

  "Jes' this," spoke Simon Lake. "It's important fer me ter hevChillingworth out uv ther way fer a day er two. Now I want yer to writehim a note at my dictation, telling him ther fix yer in, an' askin' himter come an' get yer. You kin tell him thet we've left you prisonersright here or any other place whar it'll take him some time to look yerup."

  "I hardly understand----" began Tom.

  "Then yer ain't ez bright ez I thought yer," snarled Lake. "See here,s'pose you do as I say--waal, it'll take Chillingworth a little time terfind yer, won't it, pervided you lay low and don't go lookin' fer him?"

  "Of course, but----"

  "Waal, in the meantime," went on Lake, as if the matter were alreadysettled, "I'll be putting through my little bit of business. It willtake me near Chillingworth's ranch, and I don't want him ter be nearwhile it's going on--savvy?"

  "I 'savvy' this much," said Tom indignantly, "that you wish us to betrayour friends so that you may be able to carry on your illegal business."

  Lake's brow grew dark and lowering.

  "Thet's a bad tone ter adopt with me, bud," he said slowly, "an' youain't in any position ter dictate terms ter us--be yer?"

  "Of course not," struck in Jack, "but just the same, we aren't in aposition where you are going to get us to do your dirty work."

  "Wow!" howled Zeb Hunt, capering about and slapping his knees with hisbig gnarled hands. "Hear the young turkey gobble. My! ain't he a fineyoung bird."

  "Shet yer mouth, Zeb," snarled Lake. Zeb instantly relapsed intosilence. Under other circumstances it would have been amusing to theboys to notice how suddenly his jaw fell, and the laugh left hisfeatures. Now, however, it was just the reverse. It demonstrated howthoroughly the rascal had the members of his band under his control.

  "Waal," resumed the Yankee slowly, and fixing his eyes in a cold stareon the boys, "you've hearn what I hed ter say. Thar's fifty dollars init fer yer ef you'll write the notes. I'd hev writ 'em myself," heunblushingly went on, "but I ain't no hand with a pen, and neither isnone of ther others. 'Tain't as if ther wuz anything crooked in et," hewent on persuasively, "it's jes' ter keep er man out uv ther way fer aday er two. I'll leave yer with plenty of provisions an' Death ter lookarter you. When yer friends git near Death he'll vamoose an' join me ata place he knows uv. I'll be fur away by thet time."

  "You seem to have it all figured out," said Tom dryly.

  "Yew bate. Us daown easters is right smart at sich things, by Juniper."

  "There's only one thing you have omitted in your calculations."

  "What's thet, young feller?"

  "That your whole scheme depends on our falling in with it."

  "Waal, yew do, don't ye?"

  "Not in the longest day you ever lived, Simon Lake."

  "Nor for more money than you ever saw."

  The boys' answers came like two pistol shots.

  Lake, all pretense at good feeling over now, jumped to his feet. A lookof furious rage came over his lean features. His gray eyes blazed liketwin points of fire.

  "So thet's yer answer, is it?" he shouted. "Waal, I've bin Simon Laketer you boys heretofore. Now, by Chowder, you'll see ther Bully Banjopart of me. Here, Death, an' you, too, Squinty--take these kids back terther cave. Guard 'em close. I'll hold you responsible fer them, an'heaven hev mercy on yer soul ef they git away. We'll see how----"

  There came a sudden crackling in the brush behind them. Lake faced roundwith a motion swift as a wild cat. Zeb Hunt and one or two of the othersseized their rifles and plunged off into the underbrush. It was evidentthat they suspected that a concealed spy had caused the noise.

  "Bring him out," roared Bully Banjo. "I'll use his hide fer a banjohead, by Chowder!"

  But after a quarter of an hour or so, the others returned and reportedthat they had been unable to find anything. The noise must have beenmade by some wild animal they declared. At any rate, there was no traceof a human being in the undergrowth.

  Much relieved, apparently, Lake ordered the boys taken off to the cave.A few minutes later they were once more in their place of captivity. Butthis time only their hands and ankles were manacled. But even had theirlimbs been free, it would have been madness even to dream of escaping,for in front of the cave Death, as remorseless as his namesake, and thesinister Squinty kept watch. Squatting on rocks, their pipes betweentheir teeth and their rifles held loosely on their knees, not a movementof the boy prisoners escaped them.

  Evidently, Bully Banjo's words were law, to be carried out to theletter. Such, at least, would have been gathered from the grimrelentless manner in which Death and his companion mounted guard overthat cave.

  Of what fate Simon Lake had in store for them, of course, the boys couldnot form the remotest idea, but apparently he meant to keep them in hispower till such time as he was certain that he could use them as a poweragainst Chillingworth, whom he rightly felt was the most inexorableenemy he had among the weak-spirited ranchers.

  In low tones Jack and Tom discussed the situation, and their guards madeno objection to their doing so, apparently. At least, they made no moveto interfere. No doubt the boys were not watched so closely as grown menwould have been. What could two bound lads do, their guards reasoned. Itwas not long before they were due to have a striking illustration ofwhat such lads as the Bungalow Boys were capable of.

  According to Tom's way of thinking, Bully Banjo would keep them in thecave
rn till he and his lieutenants could decide on some way in whichthey could be used to keep Chillingworth out of the way while Lake ranhis Chinamen through by the convenient trail which cut across one cornerof the Chillingworth ranch. Of what this way was to be they could not,naturally, form any idea. Possibly, they figured out, it might be bymeans of a decoy note.

  At all events, situated as they were, neither lad was in a mood to wastetime on speculation. Rather did they devote their mental efforts tofiguring out some way of escape. But, try as they would, they couldthink of none.

  At dusk Squinty was relieved on guard by another of the band--a man ofeven more sinister appearance than he himself,--a fellow with a bigbottle nose and red, inflamed features. He had the besotted, foolishlook of a man who is given to yielding to a passion for drink. Hebrought with him some tin dishes--or rather two tin bowls, and a pair oftin cups. The former contained a kind of stew with a big hunk of breadstuck on one side of the receptacle. The cups were filled with steamingcoffee. The newcomer and Death silently released the boys' hands so thatthey could eat. While they satisfied their appetites, which by this timewere rather sharp, Tom wished devoutly that among the "tablefurnishings" there had been two knives. He would have risked the attemptto conceal one of them. But, to his disappointment, the meal was servedwith spoons as the only means of conveying the eatables to the mouth. Sothat plan was nipped in the bud.

  Death and the red-faced man talked in low tones while the boys ate.Apparently the latter was trying to induce the Indian to perform someservice for him which the other was unwilling to undertake. At last,however, he appeared to yield, and the boys saw the red-faced individualslip something that looked like money into the Indian's hand. The lattershambled off and shortly reappeared with a round bottle covered withwicker, which he handed to the red-faced man. The bottle appeared tohave come from the quarters of the Chinamen, for that was the directionin which the Indian had gone on his errand.

  Supper over, the tin dishes were removed, and the boys' hands tied oncemore. They tried to ask some questions, but were cut short with growlsfrom both their guardians. They sat silently wondering how things weregoing forward with their uncle and Mr. Chillingworth, as the dark rushedon.

  Before long the canyon was enveloped in a gray gloom, which presentlybecame black night. Far above them--seen as if from the bottom of apit--were stars, shining brightly, and with an irritating sense offreedom. The boys had crawled to the cavern mouth to make theseobservations, but Death and his companion forced them back. As darknessfell, from the camp they could hear the "Plunk-a-plunka-plunk" of SimonLake's banjo. The rascal's harsh voice, too, reached them, crooning outapparently sentimental songs of the cheap music-hall variety.

  It grew chilly as the evening wore on. A sea wind laden with apenetrating dampness swept up the canyon. It moaned in a dismal fashionin the black pine woods. Death and the red-nosed man dragged wood to thecave mouth and made a fire. When it was kindled they sat by it huggingtheir knees, their rifles between their legs, and staring moodily intothe glowing embers. Every now and then the Indian would rise to get morewood. At such times he would take a perfunctory glance into the cave tosee how his charges were faring.

  When he did this the red-nosed took advantage of the other's back beingturned to raise the bottle to his lips and take a long draught.Presently he offered the bottle to the Indian. The Chinook silently tooka long drink and handed it back. This performance was repeated severaltimes.

  By the time the last tinkle of the plaintive banjo had died out andsilence reigned among the chattering Chinamen, both the Indian and thered-nosed man appeared to have difficulty in keeping awake. Presentlythe latter began to nod. He dozed off two or three times, awakening witha start. Before long he was off in real earnest. His head lolled forwardon his chest, his mouth flopped open supinely. He lurched down, huddledin a heap, a degrading spectacle. The potent effect of what he hadconsumed overcame the Indian more slowly. Before he gave himself up tosleep, in fact, he entered the cave and felt the boys' ropes carefully.Then apparently, to make sure they were all secure, he strode off towardthe main camp and presently returned with more rope. With this he madeadditional thongs. Then with a grunt of satisfaction he left the cave,and, after a cautious look about him, he, too, laid himself down infront of the fire and presently his wary, beady eyes closed. The Chineseliquor, strong, sleep-inducing, and wit-benumbing, had overtaken him,too.

  "Oh, if only we had a knife," sighed Tom, "we could make a dash for itnow."

  "You bet we would," cried Jack. "All they could do would be to fireafter us, and they'd stand little chance of hitting us in the dark."

  "Well, no good wishing," sighed Tom. "Here we are now, tied up tighterthan ever, and----"

  A small stone fell in front of the cave. In the silence, broken only bythe murmur of the stream and the sighing of the wind in the pines itsounded as startlingly loud as a rifle shot. Presently another fell.

  Could it be a signal of some kind?

  But suppose it was--who could it be? Certainly not Mr. Chillingworth orthe boys' uncle, or----

  At this point of Tom's meditations another small stone fell. There couldno longer be any doubt. Somebody on the cliff above was trying toattract their attention. But there did not seem to be any way of showinghim that they heard and understood.

  All at once, both boys, who had been painfully wiggling toward the frontof the cave--moving with difficulty in their tight bonds--gave asurprised gasp.

  Something that at first glance seemed like a strand of spider's web,with an immense spider hanging on the end of it, was swinging in thecave mouth, between them and the red glow of the dying watch fire.

  But it was not a spider, nor a web. It was a thin string, and as Tomstruggled to the front of the cave and neared the object dangling at theend of the cord, he almost fell backward with astonishment.

  It was an opened clasp-knife.