CHAPTER V
JIMMIE AND TEDDY MISS A MEAL
"I was scared to come up until I heard your voice," the old ladysaid, as she came close to Ned. "I didn't know you were only a boy."
The woman appeared to be very old. Her hair was white and her leanface was wrinkled and leathery with time and storm and exposure tothe winds of the hills. Still, old as she seemed to be, she walkedalertly, with the swinging grace of the true mountain woman. She wasvery plainly dressed in a one-piece gown of dark calico. Her head wasnot covered at all, and the white hair took on a tinge of gold fromthe distant campfire. Her black eyes were sharp, yet kindly inexpression.
"Good evening, mother," Ned said, removing his cap as he greeted theold lady, "we didn't expect to meet ladies here. Do you live in thislocality?"
"Quite a step," the old lady said, in a gentle, hesitating tone,"quite a bit down the slope is where I live. I wanted to know whatthe fire meant, and so I came up. You don't mind my being here, doyou?"
"Glad to have you come!" Ned responded, truthfully. "If you care tocome up to our camp we'll be glad to give you a cup of tea andwhatever else you want."
"I'll be glad to get a cup of tea," the woman declared. "We don't gettea up here in the mountains--not very often. We don't have the moneyto pay for it, and, then it is such a long way to go after it. Yes,I'll go with you."
Ned noted that the woman did not speak the dialect of the mountains.He wondered how long she had lived there, and if she lived alone. Shedid not long leave him in doubt on these points, for she seemedanxious to talk.
"I'm Mary Brady," she said, as they ascended the slope toward thefire. "I came here years ago with my husband, Michael Brady, to livein peace. Mike was a good man when he was himself, but the saloon menof New York were always after him when he had any money. We came hereto be rid of them."
"That was the correct thing to do, it strikes me," Ned said, for wantof something better, as she seemed to expect some friendly comment.
"I don't know," she went on. "We meant it for the best--but there wasthe moonshine! I didn't know about the moonshine when we came here.All I thought of was to get away from Houston street! He fell one dayand they brought him home dead."
Ned was strangely interested in this simple life history. The poorold woman living there, probably alone and in want, after such anending to a hopeful plan!
"And you kept on here?" he asked. "Why didn't you go back to thecity?"
"There was the boy," she answered. "He was ten when we came here. Ididn't want him to get the thirst! After Mike died I lived here tokeep him in the good path. He is a good boy, but when he was twentythey got him, too--the moonshiners!"
"And he left you?" asked Ned.
"He said he couldn't make anything of himself here, so he went toWashington. He's never come back, though I've always kept a home forhim, and never ceased to look for him. He writes me now and then thathe's coming home, but he doesn't come! When I saw your fire I thoughthe might be with you."
By this time they were at the camp, and Mary Brady was presented tothe boys and made comfortable by the fire, with tea and canned fruitbefore her. She enjoyed the lunch immensely and looked the gratitudeshe did not speak.
"When did you hear from your boy last?" asked Frank, by way ofkeeping the conversation going. "Did he write from Washington? Was itto Washington you said he went?"
"It was Washington," was the reply. "He wrote me a month or more agothat he would be here with friends in June. I thought he might bewith you. He has been married since he left home, and has a child,though his wife is dead."
"And he said he was thinking of bringing the child here?" asked Ned,glancing significantly at Frank. "Did he say that in his lastletter?"
"Yes, that he was thinking of bringing the boy here. It is only amite of a boy--not more than seven years old, he said. I'm anxiousfor him to come."
Jack and Oliver gathered closer about the old lady in order to hearevery word that was spoken. One brought her more tea and the otherfilled the sauce dish with peaches. Ned motioned to them to remainsilent.
"And so you expect him to drop down on you any time?" Ned asked.
"Yes, my son and the boy. He's a cute little chap, Mike says. Mikewas named for his father, and the lad's name is Mike, too. I'manxious for him to get here. And I'm wondering whether he's light andblonde, with brown hair and blue eyes like his father, or dark, likemy side of the family.
"What do you make of it?" Jack whispered to Oliver.
"What do I make of what?" demanded the other.
"Of the old lady and her three Mikes?" replied Jack, scornfully."Have you been asleep all this time?"
"I was waiting for you to express an opinion," Oliver declared. "Doyou think it possible that they would change the name of a prince ofthe royal blood to Mike?"
"So you've caught on, at last!" whispered Jack. "Do you really thinkwe've tumbled on a streak of luck at the send-off?"
"I don't know," was the hesitating reply. "We'll have to cultivatethis old lady."
"Sure thing!"
"Did she say where her cottage is?" asked Oliver, directly. "We oughtto verify her story, it seems to me. I'd like to hear Ned's opinion!"
"Do you remember what she said about Mike II. having blonde hair andblue eyes?" asked Jack, presently.
"Sure!" was the answer. "That made me sit up and take notice. Itbrought back to my memory the light brown hair on the bloody blade ofthe shears."
"Same here," announced Jack. "If this Mike II. comes here we'll haveto find out if he has a cicatrice on the right thumb and a scar onthe head, a scar which might have been brought about by a pair ofshears thrown by a frightened maid in the city of New York!"
"Think of a crown prince being called Mike!" chuckled Oliver.
"Ned didn't say it was a crown prince!"
"He might just as well have said it! He didn't dispute me when Iasked if it was a crown prince who had been abducted."
"If Jimmie and Teddy don't return soon," Jack said, changing thesubject, "we'll have to start the Boy Scout Camera Club out lookingfor them."
"They'll be back when they get hungry!" laughed the other.
But Jimmie and Teddy were still away when the moon rose over theridge to the east. Mrs. Brady was still by the campfire. She appearedto delight in the companionship of the boys. Having lived alone foryears, she would have been delighted at any companionship whatever,but the boys were full of life and vitality, they were sympathetic,and, besides, they were from her old home--New York!
As the moon showed her round face over the summit of the range to theeast she arose and stretched out a withered hand to Ned.
"I'm going," she said. "I've had a pleasant evening. You don't knowhow much it has been to me to sit here and talk with you! If you'llcome down to my cabin some day I'll try to make it pleasant for you!"
"Some day," laughed Ned. "What do you say to my going right now? Ofcourse I've got to see you home! Couldn't think of letting you goaway alone."
"I've walked these mountains night and day for more than twentyyears," faltered the old lady, "and I'm not afraid now!"
"You don't object to my going?" asked Ned.
"I'm awful glad to have you go," was the reply. "But you'll find it along walk, there and back," she added.
"If it is too far for me to walk back," Ned laughed, "you may give mea bunk on the floor! Anyway, I'm going to see you home!"
As the boy spoke he beckoned to Frank to step to one side with him.
"Of course this looks all straight, on the face of it," he said, whenthe two were alone together, "but one can never tell. We've got to bepretty careful, for we are in a strange country, and are here for apurpose which may be resented by the mountaineers. We can't afford totake any chances."
"Do you suspect the old lady?" asked Frank, in amazement.
"I don't know what to think," was the hesitating reply. "The firstnight we spend in a permanent camp, up she comes with a story about ason being about to bring in
a boy of seven for her to mother! Then,as if that wasn't enough of a bait for us to snap at, she goes on tosay that the son is blonde, with light brown hair and blue eyes.Looks like we were being led on!"
"You bet it does," Frank replied. "Jimmie and Teddy have disappeared,and this may be a frame-up, and so I wouldn't go off alone with her.And, look here," Frank went on, "do you believe Uncle Ike would havekicked, and screamed, and made a row generally, if only this old ladyhad approached him? Do you, now?"
"She might have frightened him," Ned replied, "for he may not be usedto women. Still, she may have had some one with her! I was thinkingthat Uncle Ike sounded a warning on slight cause," he added.
"Well, if I were you, I wouldn't go away alone with her," advisedFrank. "Let me go with you if you insist on going."
"Of course I've got to go now," Ned went on. "I've promised her, andshe is expecting me to go. But I'll tell you what you may do. You canwait until I have gone some distance and then follow on behind, notso as to be seen by any other person trailing us, but still closeenough to be available in case of trouble."
"All right," Frank agreed. "I'll keep back far enough to see any onewho might be following the two of you! I wish Jimmie was here! He'dbe just the one to go with me. And there's always something doingwhen Jimmie is around!"
"I'm worried about those boys!" Ned answered. "I'm going to keep asharp lookout for them, all the way to the cabin."
"There's something wrong," Frank hastened to say. "They never wouldhave remained away from camp like this. And without supper, too!Jimmie is particular to be on hand when it comes to eating time.There! There's Uncle Ike talking in his sleep! I wonder what's eatinghim now? Shall I go and see?"
"No," Ned said, hastily, seizing Frank by the arm. "Don't even lookin that direction. Watch Mrs. Mary Brady!"
The old woman's face was turned toward the spot where the mules werestaked out, her figure was straight, tense, alert. She appeared to belistening and watching for some agreed-upon signal from the corral.Ned moved over toward her cautiously.
Once the old woman moved, involuntarily, toward the mules, but shedrew back in a moment and stood, waiting, with her eyes on the boys,now in a little group not far from the spot where she stood.
The Boy Scout Camera Club; Or, the Confession of a Photograph Page 5