Tom Slade : Boy Scout of the Moving Pictures
Page 9
On one of their morning rambles, Mrs. Temple and Mary wandered to anunusual distance from home, and as the sun mounted higher Mrs. Templefelt greatly fatigued. Mary looked about for a spot where her mothermight sit down and rest, but was startled by a slight sound and ranback just as Mrs. Temple sank fainting against a tree.
Greatly frightened, the girl looked wildly around for assistance, butthere was no house nor sign of life in sight. Not knowing what to doshe ran along the road a little way, calling aloud, when suddenly sheheard a sound. Pausing to listen she distinctly heard again whatsounded like a bugle call, and turning in the direction from which itseemed to come she ran through the woods until she came, breathless, tothe camp of the Bridgeboro Scouts.
It happened that the Silver Foxes were that morning practising in firstaid, and as soon as Mr. Ellsworth could gather from the frightened girlthat her mother was in real need, he rushed "Doc" Carson, the first-aidboy, and Roy off to the rescue, instructing the other members of thepatrol to follow scout pace.
Water was brought and Mrs. Temple quickly revived. Her head had beenslightly cut as she fell, and this Carson bandaged skilfully. She wasstill too weak to walk, however, and the boys improvised a litter inwhich she was carefully borne back to camp, Mary walking at her side.
The Ravens, meanwhile, under Mr. Ellsworth's direction, had prepared asort of couch of fir boughs. Onto this they helped Mrs. Temple and thescoutmaster sat down beside her.
Perhaps it was not entirely by chance that he had instructed the twopatrols to go through their signalling maneuvers at a little distance,so that they should not disturb the invalid, but yet in full view andnear enough so that she might follow the course of the proceedings ifshe cared to. Mary had a thousand questions to ask as to the meaning ofthe various signals, and the kind scoutmaster answered them allpatiently, finally summoning Eddie Ingram to show her about the campand explain all its mysteries. Then, seeing that Mrs. Temple showedsome interest in the maneuvers, the guileful Mr. Ellsworth proceeded toexplain their practical value and the good uses to which the scout"stunts" were often put, tactfully pointing out the change that hadtaken place in Tom Slade, who at this moment was bashfully showing Maryhow to blow whistle signals on a small bottle.
Mrs. Temple, however, showed but a courteous interest, and feeling thather husband would be alarmed at her long absence she called to Mary andinsisted upon returning home immediately, despite Mr. Ellsworth'surgent invitation that she stay and share the scouts' luncheon.
The Silver Fox patrol was ordered to escort the ladies home, and withthis ample bodyguard they returned to Five Oaks, the boys laughinglycontesting for the honor of walking with Miss Mary--all save Tom, wholingered somewhat shamefacedly in the rear.
As they walked up the gravel path through the spacious lawn, it wasevident that something was wrong. One of the servants was in the_portecochere_, wringing her hands, and the stoical Japanese valetstood near her, calm and unsmiling.
The unusual sight of the uniformed scouts did not seem to ruffle him atall.
Carl, the gardener, was craning his neck to look up and down the roadfrom the window of the library, a room which he would never have daredto enter save on a very urgent matter.
"Where is Mr. Temple?" Mrs. Temple asked. "I have had quite anadventure."
"Yes'm--he went after you, ma'am--with the runabout. He thought you waslost and he took on so--not knowing which way to go at all--and hesent James the other way to look for you--an' there was burglars--"
"What?"
"There was someone entered the house an' has gone away an' all MissMary's things out of her bureau is all over the bed--"
The story of the afternoon's events was quickly extracted from theexcited servant, prompted by Carl and the Jap. Mr. Temple, having grownanxious about the prolonged absence of his wife and daughter, hadstarted out in the runabout in quest of them. The butler had been sentin another direction and shortly thereafter one of the maids had heardfootsteps on the floor above. Thinking that Mrs. Temple must havereturned, she went upstairs when, to her terror, a frightful-lookingman brushed past her and went down the back stairs. She had screamed,and Carl and Kio had both come to her, but a search of the house andgrounds had not discovered the burglar. The screen in the pantry windowwas ripped away, and Kio volunteered the suggestion that the "honorableburglar gentleman" had made his exit through it.
A systematic search of all the rooms by Mrs. Temple and the patrolrevealed no loss or evidence of ransacking except that in Mary's roomthe contents of the top bureau drawer were disheveled and some trinketsand an upset box lay upon the bed.
"It looked as if they were interrupted," said Roy.
"They took my class pin," said Mary, running over the things. "Oh,isn't that a shame! I don't care what else they took--that's the onlything I care about! Oh, I think they were too mean for anything! It wasmy class pin!" She was crying a little.
"It wasn't worth very much, dear," said her mother.
"It isn't that," said the girl; "you don't understand. I thought asmuch of it as you boys do of those badges."
"I understand," said Westy.
"Sure, we understand--don't we, Tom?" said Roy.
Tom said nothing his eyes were fixed on the girlish trinkets which layin confusion on the bed.
"I think it was too mean of them," Mary said.
"I'd ask papa to give them my ruby out of his safe if they'd only bringthat back!"
"Where did Tom go?" asked Westy, noticing that Tom had left the room.
"I guess maybe he's afraid he might meet Mr. Temple," whispered DorryBenton. "I don't believe he wants to see him, and I don't blame him."
Tom had gone downstairs and around the house to the pantry window.Nothing was farther from his thoughts than John Temple, but in thosefew minutes upstairs something had been said which recalled to his mindsomething else which had been said in the same half-doubtful, half-trustfulvoice, many weeks before. "_Will you promise to toss it back?_"And out of the past he heard a rough, sneering voice answer, "_Sure,didn' I tell yer?_" The words, "_If they'd only bring that back_,"seemed almost to counter-felt that haunting voice out of the past, andthey stung Tom Slade like a white-hot coal.
The rubber ball, which had been the subject of the half-pleadingquestion, had gone the way of most rubber balls, and the memory of theepisode would have gone the way of all such memories in the hoodlummind, except that something had happened to Tom Slade since then. Hewas familiar now with Paragraph I, Scout Law, and was presently to showthat he had pondered on other paragraphs of that law as well.
Outside the pantry window was a nail keg and on this Tom sat down. Itwas in a jog formed by an angle in the back of the house, and there wasnot much danger of being seen from any of the rear ground floorwindows, for these were all of heavy cathedral glass. The groundbeneath them was littered with nails and shavings; a scrap or two ofcolored glass and some little bars of lead lay strewn about where themen had been working.
Presently he heard voices and guessed that his companions were leaving.Then he heard the honk of an auto horn and caught a fleeting glimpse ofa gray car rolling up the private way toward the _porte-cochere_.He heard other voices, the excited greetings of Mrs. Temple and Mary,and the sonorous and authoritative tones of John Temple.
For a moment he forgot what he had come out here for, as he realizedthat it would be difficult to leave without being seen. His hatred ofJohn Temple had modified somewhat since he had become a scout, and hadnow given place to a feeling of awe for the man who could own a placeof such magnificence as Five Oaks. Never before had Tom been in such ahouse. He had supposed that Roy's beautiful home was about the mostluxurious abode imaginable. He realized now that he was stranded inthis despotic kingdom with "No Trespassing" signs all about glaring athim like sentinels.
Tom had acquired many of the scout virtues and his progress in the arts(save in one or two which he could not master) had been exceptional.But he had still to acquire that self-confidence and self-possess
ionwhich are the invariable result of good breeding. He had not felt athome in the house and though his conscience was perfectly clear, he wasill at ease now.
Presently he heard voices again; he saw the car leave with thechauffeur alone, and heard the smothered ringing of the telephone bellin the house.
These evidences of the power of wealth hit his boyish imagination hard,and for a minute John Temple seemed like a hero. He could despatch acar to Bridgeboro, another to Keensburgh; he could call up every policestation in the state and offer rewards which would cause sheriffs andconstables to sit up and take notice. He could pay ten thousand dollarsfor the capture of the man who had stolen that little class pin. JohnTemple might be an old grouch, but he was a wonderful man!
Then the words came rushing into Tom's head again, _Will you promiseto toss it back?_ and those other words, _If they would only bringit back!_
Then he remembered what he had come out here for, and it seemed verysilly and futile alongside the approved methods which were beingfollowed within. While he knew the Scout Handbook did not lie, just thesame he hesitated to give this deducing and tracking business apractical test. Then, suddenly, there came to his mind the words Mr.Ellsworth was so fond of repeating to the troop, _He who has eyes tosee, let him see_.
CHAPTER X
TOM TURNS DETECTIVE