CHAPTER XXVIII
MORE STARTLING NEWS
Bud Phillips looked somewhat confused. Apparently, he did not figureany too well in what he felt it his duty to confess to Paul and hischums.
"I'm ashamed that I kept mum about it when the old man accused some ofyou fellers of startin' the fire, an' gettin' at his tight wad," hewent on to say; and it can be easily understood that this beginninggave Paul a start.
"Oh! it's about that ugly business, is it?" the scout-master remarked,frowning a little, for, naturally, he instantly conceived the ideathat Hank and his three reckless cronies must have had a hand in thatoutrage.
That Hank guessed what was flitting through the other's mind wasplainly indicated by the haste with which he cried out:
"Don't git it in your head we had anything to do with that fire, Paul,nor yet with tappin' the old man's safe. I know we ain't got any toogood reputations 'round Stanhope, but it's to be hoped we ain'tdropped so low as that. Skip along, Bud, an' tell what you saw."
"Why, it's this way," continued the narrator, eagerly. "I chanced tobe Johnny-on-the-spot that night, being 'mong the first to arrive whenold Briggs started to scream that his store was afire. Never mind howit came that way. And Paul, I saw two figures a-runnin' away rightwhen I came up, runnin' like they might be afraid o' bein' seen an'grabbed."
"Were they close enough for you to notice who they were?" asked Paul,taking a deep interest in the narration, since he and his chums hadbeen accused of doing the deed in the presence of many of Stanhope'sgood people.
"Oh! I saw 'em lookin' back as they hurried away," admitted Bud. "And,Paul, they were those same two tramps we had the trouble with thatday. You remember we ran the pair out o' town, bombardin' 'em withrocks."
Paul could plainly see the happening in his memory, with the twohoboes turning when at a safe distance to shake their fists at theboys. Evidently their rough reception all around had caused them tohave a bitter feeling toward the citizens of Stanhope, and they hadcome back later on to have their revenge.
"Now that I think of it," Paul went on to say, "they had just comeout of the store when you ran afoul of the pair. The chances are thatMr. Briggs treated them as sourly as he does all their class, and theywere furiously mad at him."
"Yes," added Bobolink, "and while in there they must have noticedwhere he had his safe. Maybe they saw him putting money in it."
"I'm glad you told me this, Bud," the scout-master confessed, "becauseit goes part way to clear up the mystery of that fire and robbery."
"Bud was meanin' to tell all about it when we got back," said Hank."He kept still because he heard Briggs accuse you scouts of the fireracket, and Bud just then thought it too good a joke to spoil. Butwe've been talkin' it over, and come to the conclusion we owed it tothe community to set 'em right."
This sounded rather lofty, but Paul guessed that there must be anotherreason back of the determination to tell. These fellows had decidedthat possibly suspicion might be directed toward them, and, as theyhad had enough trouble already without taking more on their shoulders,it would be the part of wisdom to start the ball rolling in the rightquarter.
"Well, we must be going," said Paul.
"Do you reckon on stayin' out your time up here?" queried Hank.
"We haven't decided that yet," replied the scout-master; "but thechances are we shall conclude to cut the trip short and get back home.This heavy snow has spoiled a good many plans we'd laid out; and wemight be having a better time of it with the rest of the fellows athome. We're going to talk it over and by to-morrow settle on ourplans."
"Here's where we get busy and start on the return hike," announced TomBetts, just as cheerily as though he were not already feeling theeffects of that stiff plunge through the deep snowdrifts, and secretlyfaced the return trip with more or less apprehension.
Hank and his followers came out of their den to wave a hearty farewellafter their late rescuers. Just then all animosities had died in theirhearts, and they could look upon the scouts without the leastbitterness.
"Sounds all mighty fine, I must say," remarked Bobolink, as theypushed along, after losing sight of the quartette standing at the footof the snowy hill, "but somehow I don't seem to feel it's going tolast. That Hank's got it in him to be a tough character, and it'd benext door to a miracle if he ever changed his ways."
"Do _you_ think he will, Paul?" demanded Jud, flatly.
"Ask me something easy," laughed the scout-master. "It all depends onHank himself. If he once took a notion to make a man of himself, Ibelieve he could do it no matter what happened. He's got the grit, butwithout the real desire that isn't going to count for much. Time alonewill tell."
"Well, we've seen something like that happen right in our town, youknow," Bobolink went on to say, reflectively, as he trudged alongclose to the heels of the one in front of him, for they were going"Indian-file," following the sinuous trail made during their precedingtrip.
"I was talking with the other Jud," remarked Jud Elderkin just then,"and he gave me a pointer that might be worth something. I don't knowjust why he chose to confide it to me, instead of speaking out, but hedid."
"Was it, too, about the fire and the robbery?" asked Tom Betts.
"It amounted to the same thing, I should say," replied Jud, "becauseit was connected with the hoboes."
"Go on and tell us then," urged Bobolink.
"He says they're up in this part of the country," asserted the other.
"Wow! that begins to look as if we might be running across the uglypair after all!" exclaimed Tom Betts, his face lighting up witheagerness. "Now wouldn't it be queer if we managed to capture theyeggs and turn 'em over to the authorities? Paul, how about thatnow?"
"Oh! you're getting too far ahead of the game, Tom," he was told. "Wemust know a good deal more about this business before we could decideto take such desperate chances."
"But if the opportunity came along, wouldn't it be our duty to cagethe rascals?" the persistent Tom demanded.
"Perhaps it might," Paul told him. "But Jud, did he explain to you howhe came to know the tramps were up here in the woods above LakeTokala?"
"Just what he did," replied the other, promptly. "It seems that Jud,while he was out hunting, had a glimpse of one of the ugly pair theday before this storm hit us. It gave him a chance to trail the man inorder to see what he was worth in that line. And, Paul, he did hiswork so well that he followed the fellow all the way to where the twoof them had put up."
"And that was where, Jud?" demanded the leader of the troop.
"There's an old dilapidated cabin half-way between here and the lake,"explained Jud. "Maybe Tolly Tip knows about it."
"Sure that I do!" responded the woodsman. "'Twas used years ago bysome charcoal burners, but has been goin' to decay this long time.Mebbe now they've patched up the broken roof, and mane to stay thereawhile. It's in a snug spot, and mighty well protected from the windin winters."
"That's the place," Jud assured them. "The hoboes are hanging outthere, and seem to have plenty to eat, so Jud Mabley told me. If weconcluded to take a look in at 'em on our way home it could be doneeasy enough, I'd think."
"We'll talk it over," decided Paul. "We must remember that in alllikelihood they're a desperate pair, and well armed. As a rule scoutshave no business to constitute themselves criminal catchers, though inthis case it's a bit different."
"Because we've been publicly accused by Mr. Briggs of being thepersons who set his old store on fire, just in spite!" declaredBobolink, briskly enough. "And say! wouldn't it be a bully trick if wecould take those two tramps back with us, having the goods on them?Then we'd say to Mr. Briggs: 'There you are, sir! These are the menyou want! And we'd trouble you to make your apology just as public asyour hasty accusation was.'"
"Hurrah!" cried Tom Betts. "That's the ticket."
But Paul was not to be hurried into giving a decision. He wanted moretime to consider matters, and settle his plan of campaign. The otherscouts, however, fo
und little reason to doubt that in the end he wouldconclude to look favorably on the bold proposition Jud had advanced.
Just as they had anticipated, the return journey was not anywherenearly so strenuous an undertaking as the outward tramp had been. Evenwhere they had to cross great drifts a passage had been broken forthem, and the wind, not being high, had failed to fill up the gapsthus far.
The rescue party arrived in the vicinity of the cabin long beforesundown, and could catch whiffs of the wood smoke that blew their way,which gave promise of the delightful warmth they would find onceinside the forest retreat.
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