Kitabı oku: «The Adventures of a Country Boy at a Country Fair», sayfa 8

CHAPTER XV.
SAM'S ADVENTURES

In order to explain Sam's absence, and one or two other incidents in their regular sequence, it is necessary to go back to the moment when, his friends having landed, the amateur detective was left to his own devices.

His first impulse was to report his arrival to the manager of the boat exhibit, and then go about his routine duties, but before this very proper plan could be carried into effect he chanced to see Hazelton on the shore.

"Now, what's he layin' around there for?" Sam asked of himself. "I'll bet Dan or Teddy has given the whole snap away, an' he's come to pull in the burglars. It's a mighty mean trick for them to play after I've worked the case so far that there's nothing to do but nab 'em. He'll get all the praise, an' folks won't know the job was managed by me."

The longer Sam thought of this apparent ingratitude and treachery on the part of Teddy and Dan the more angry he grew, and it did not require many moments' thought for him to succeed in convincing himself that he had been very shabbily treated.

Continuing to talk to himself, or rather at the tiller, on which his eyes were fixed, he added:

"Folks have said so much about their savin' them women from drownin', when I mighter done the same thing if I'd been willin' to make a fool of myself, that they want to scoop in everything; but I could stop this little game by jest goin' ahead on my own hook. If I sneaked down the creek an' brought back the stuff them men have been hidin' people would begin to know how much I understand about detective work."

This appeared in his mind as the most brilliant scheme he had ever conceived, and in a very few seconds Sam decided that it should be carried into effect.

First, and with no very well-defined idea of why such a course was necessary, he rowed cautiously to and fro past the landing stage, scrutinizing closely every face he saw, and mentally hugging himself because of the excitement which would be caused by his return with the stolen property.

Then he turned the boat, and began to row down the creek, stopping every few seconds to gaze around in such a mysterious manner that the suspicions of any one who observed him would have been instantly aroused.

In this manner, which he believed the only true way for a first-class detective to approach his prey, Sam had rowed less than half a mile when he saw Long Jim and his companion returning.

Now the time had come when true cunning was necessary, and the amateur detective began to display it by pulling the boat sharply around, heading her for an indentation on the opposite shore.

Here he ran her bow aground, and lying at full length in the bottom, peered out at the men in the most stealthy manner.

They had already taken notice of his erratic movements, and now regarded him intently, but, without checking the headway of their own craft, in a few minutes were beyond sight around the bend.

"There," Sam said, with a long-drawn breath of relief, as he arose to a sitting posture, "if Teddy an' Dan had been here them fellers would have tumbled to the whole racket, but I've put 'em off the scent, an' will have plenty of time to do my work."

He pulled out from the shore once more, gazed long and earnestly up and down the creek, and then, in the same ridiculous manner as before, continued the journey.

The trip which should have consumed no more than an hour even with the most indolent oarsman, was not completed until twice that time had elapsed, and then fully fifteen minutes were spent by this very cautious boy in landing.

He pulled his boat up high out of the water, and, in order to conceal her, heaped such a pile of dry grass on top of her that it must have attracted the attention of any one passing, more especially those who were familiar with the creek.

This done he went toward the barn after the fashion of an old-time stage villain, halting at the slightest sound, and peering in every direction, fancying himself surrounded by foes.

Not until he had circled completely around the barn twice did he venture to enter, and then, much to his disappointment, there was nothing to be seen. The building appeared to be absolutely empty, and even his eagle eye failed to discover any traces of recent occupancy.

"Well, this is mighty funny," he said, with a sigh of disappointment. "Them fellers surely brought a lot of stuff in here, but they must have carried it out again."

Having expended so much labor and time in reaching this place, he did not intend to return until after making a thorough search, however, and to this end he investigated one possible hiding-place after another, pulling up the boards of the rude flooring, and peering into places where nothing larger than a mouse could have been hidden.

During this time the burglars were returning with all possible speed. Sam's actions, both as he came down the creek, and also while screening himself from view, were so suspicious that, guilty as the men were, they immediately concluded what was very near the truth.

Long Jim recognized the boy as having been with Teddy when the bargain for the imaginary cane-board was made, and instead of returning to the fair grounds the two watched, from a point of vantage on the bank, until Master Sam had landed.

His purpose was now evident, and it was necessary the burglars should resort to desperate measures to prevent the loss of their ill-gotten gains as well as to save themselves from imprisonment.

When they arrived where it was possible to look into the barn, Sam was on his knees scraping away the dirt which appeared to have been recently disturbed, and they heard him say in a tone of exultation:

"I've got to it at last, an' now we'll see what Teddy an' Dan have to say when I flash the whole lot of stuff up with nobody to help me. I reckon – "

He did not finish the sentence, for at that moment Long Jim stepped directly in front of him, as he asked:

"Did you leave anything here, my son?"

"No – I – I – that is – you see – "

Sam was so frightened that he could not say another word. It seemed as if his tongue was swollen to twice its natural size, while his throat was parched and dry, and to make bad matters worse, he had entirely neglected to invent a plausible excuse for his presence there in case of an interruption.

"I asked if you'd left anything here?" Long Jim repeated, very mildly.

"Well – well – You see I jest come down to – to – I thought, perhaps, I might find something, but it's time I was gettin' back to the fair, 'cause the folks will be needin' me."

As he spoke he attempted to back toward the door, but before taking half a dozen steps a cry of fear burst from his lips, for a heavy hand was laid with no gentle force on his shirt collar, and he staggered forward helplessly.

"That's an invitation for you to hold on a bit, an' have a little conversation with two gentlemen who are mighty curious to know why you came here," Long Jim said, grimly. "You're goin' to tell us the whole partic'lars, or there won't be enough left of you to be seen under a microscope."

Sam made no reply. He was literally dazed with fear, and just at that moment he thought the life of a detective very disagreeable.

"Come, speak up, an' be quick about it," the man cried, fiercely. "We've got no time to waste on sich cubs as you, an' in about two minutes you'll get worse'n we served out the other night."

"That wasn't me follerin' you from the museum tent," Sam said, quickly, thinking possibly this fact might work in his favor.

"Who was it?"

"Teddy an' Dan."

"Who is Dan?"

"A feller who works for the Stevens Arms Company up at the fair."

"Why did they follow us?"

"Teddy wanted to get back the money he gave you to buy a cane-board with."

"If he knows what's wise for him he'll stop any such rackets, or he may get more'n he bargains for."

Then the second man, who still held firmly to Sam's collar, asked, as he shook his prisoner vigorously:

"How did you know we had been here?"

"Us fellers saw you come down in a boat."

"So all three are in the secret, eh?"

Sam's only thought was that he might possibly save his own skin, and he replied in the affirmative, although he must have known that by such answer he was destroying his friends' chances of recovering the goods.

"Where are the fools now?" Long Jim asked, angrily.

"Up at the fair."

"What do they intend to do?"

"Get somebody to arrest you."

"Then we've got to skip mighty lively, Phil," and Long Jim looked up at his companion.

"Yes; but if my advice had been follered we wouldn't be in this scrape. You was the only one the cubs knew, an' by keepin' out of sight we mighter finished the work that's been laid out. You're so pig-headed that a yoke of oxen couldn't keep you in hidin'."

"There's no use fightin' about it now; for we've got to get a move on us in short order. It won't do to let this boy have a chance to give the alarm."

"Of course not. Lash him up somewhere so he can't make a noise, an' his chums will come before he starves to death."

"Don't do that!" Sam cried, in an agony of terror. "I won't say a word about your catchin' me here, an' I'll do anything you say."

"Oh, you're a nice plum to make promises, ain't you. It didn't take much persuadin' to make you go back on your friends, an' that's enough to show whether you can be trusted. Get the rope out of the boat, Phil, an' then we'll make ready for a long jump."

Phil obeyed, grumbling as he went because his partner had refused to take his advice, thus plunging both of them into danger, and Long Jim turned his attention to the prisoner once more.

"Before we leave this part of the country for good I'm goin' to give you somethin' to remember us by so's you won't go 'round stickin' your nose into other people's business agin."

"What are you goin' to do?" Sam asked, his face growing even paler than before.

"Give you the worst floggin' a boy ever had. I'd do it now if there wasn't so much work to be got through."

Sam had sufficient sense to know that all his pleadings for mercy would be in vain, and he held his peace until Phil returned with a long coil of rope which had been used as a boat's painter.

One of the beams at the end of the barn served as a post to which to lash the prisoner, and here the amateur detective was made fast in such a skillful manner that he could not so much as move his arms.

"Shall we gag him now?" Phil asked, and Long Jim replied:

"No, there's time enough.

"He can't make any one hear if he yells his best, an' I've got a little business to settle before he's trussed up for good."

CHAPTER XVI.
MISSING

When Dan informed Teddy that Sam was missing, and suggested the possibility of the burglars having gotten him in their power, both the boys were decidedly alarmed; but the matter ceased to appear as serious after it had been discussed in all its bearings.

"Long Jim wouldn't have dared to spirit him away when there are so many people around," Teddy said, after a long silence, during which he was trying to imagine what Sam might have done. "Besides, what would be the good of taking him if we were left behind?"

"Perhaps they count on hauling us in, too."

"That isn't to be thought of for a moment. They don't want to burden themselves with a lot of boys when every effort must be made to get the stolen property out of this section of the country before they are discovered."

"I'll allow all that sounds reasonable, but where is Sam?"

"Of course I don't know. Do you think he would dare to go down the river again after we landed?"

"No, indeed; he's too much of a coward for that. If there's been any funny business it was done when the men got back."

"Then we have no need to worry, for there are hundreds of people on the bank of the creek all the time, an' Sam would know enough to yell if anybody tried to steal him."

The idea that the amateur detective might be stolen seemed so comical to Dan that he gave way to mirth, and what had promised to be a most sorrowful visit speedily became a merry one.

"He had permission to remain away from the exhibition building during the rest of the day," Teddy finally said, "an' most likely he's goin' to take advantage of it by roaming around the grounds, exercising his detective faculties. He'll turn up at the museum to-night all right, with a big yarn to tell about his supposed adventures."

"I reckon you're right; but I did get a little rattled when his boss asked me where he was. I'll come back this way when it's time to go to supper."

"Wait a minute. I'm mighty hungry now, an' business has been so good that I can afford to treat to sandwiches an' lemonade, if you'll go with me over to the grand stand. I'll bring you back something, Tim," he added, as he leaped over the railing.

Dan said he could remain away half an hour from the rifle exhibit, and Teddy was now so easy in mind concerning money matters that he resolved to have thirty minutes of sport.

The boys first made a tour of that portion of the grounds where the fakirs were congregated, stopping a moment to see the whip dealer lashing a pine stake to show the quality of his goods, and then watching the "Great African Dodger," who thrust his woolly head through an aperture in a canvas screen for all those to throw balls at who were inclined to pay the price.

Then they stopped at the "envelope game," where were spread on a stand a large collection of cheap, gaudy goods, each bearing a printed number, every one supposed to correspond with those contained in a box of envelopes, and this fakir was doing a big business, as was shown by the fact that he could afford to hire a barker, who cried continually at the full strength of his lungs:

"Come up now, and try your luck! Here's where we have all prizes and no blanks! Ten cents buys an envelope, with the privilege of drawing for yourself, so there can be no job put up against you, and every number calls for some one of the many valuable articles in the layout. Here's a gentleman who spends only ten cents and gets a pair of those beautiful, triple-plated, double-expansion, fine pure metal cuff buttons, worth two dollars at some stores!"

"Come on!" Dan said, impatiently. "That fellow is almost as big a snide as Hazelton."

"How do you make that out? I can see a lot of things that cost more than a dollar. Look at the silver watch, and the revolver."

"That may be all very well; but no one except a fellow who is interested in the business gets any of those articles."

"You can select any envelope you choose."

"That's right; but the ones with the numbers calling for the big prizes are lying flat in the box where nobody can get them. If you should accuse the man of cheating he would turn the whole thing upside down, and then, of course, they could be found. Here comes a fellow who I know is cappin' for that fakir. Watch how he does it."

The apparent stranger approached the stand, and after some talk as to how the game was run, invested ten cents.

The man did not open the envelope he drew; but handed it to the fakir, who, pretending to look at the card it contained, shouted:

"Number fifty-four. The gentleman has drawn that beautiful solid silver watch worth fifty dollars, and I will give him thirty for his bargain."

The stranger showed his prize to the crowd that clustered around him, and business was increased wonderfully, for it had apparently been proven that the game was conducted fairly.

"Now watch him," Dan said, as the stranger walked away with his prize ostentatiously displayed, and the two boys followed a short distance off, until they saw him halt behind a booth, where he turned the article won over to a barker who had approached.

"That's the way it is done," Dan said, "and when we come back you'll see the same watch on the layout."

Teddy was rapidly being initiated in the tricks of the fakirs, and the more he saw the more firmly was he resolved not to follow the business longer than the present week, although he believed his own game to be an honest one.

The cheap jewelry dealer; the man who had been selling the remnants of a stock of knives made by a manufacturer who "had bankrupted himself by putting into them too expensive material;" the fakir with the dolls which were to be knocked down by balls thrown from a certain distance, with a prize of one cigar if the customer could tumble two over, and the peanut-candy dealer were visited in turn, and then the boys were attracted by the sound of Hazelton's voice.

He was plying his peculiar trade again, and by the appearance of the crowd was meeting with great success.

"Let's see how he gets out of it this time," Teddy suggested, and Dan agreed.

The fakir had arrived at that point where he was giving away the supposed watches, and the boys listened until they saw his preparations for departure.

"What beats me is how he gets clear every time," Dan whispered. "I should think after he had swindled four or five hundred, some of them would lay for a chance to get even with him."

"He says they do, an' that's why he left his satchel with me."

Hazelton recognized the boys just as he was telling that Nathan Hargreaves might possibly act as his agent after the close of the fair, and nodded pleasantly, as he gathered up the reins; but this was one of the occasions when he was not to be allowed to go scot free.

Two stalwart-looking fellows were standing near the head of the horse, and when the fakir would have driven off they seized the bridle, one of them shouting:

"Come down with that money! This is the second time I've seen you do us countrymen up to-day, and now you've got to square things."

Hazelton swung his whip around, striking the speaker full in the face, and causing the horse to plunge and rear, but yet the fellows kept their hold.

The whip was pulled from the fakir's hand, and in an instant it appeared as if a riot had begun. Those who had been content to keep secret the fact of having been swindled now grew bold as they saw there was a leader in the movement, and more than a hundred leaped forward to seize the representative of the alleged jewelry manufacturers.

"He'll be killed!" Teddy shouted, and would have attempted to go to the assistance of the man who had been kind to him, despite the fact that he could not have aided him in any way against so many; but for the fact that Dan pulled him back, as he shouted:

"Can't you see that it would be fifty to one if you should go in that crowd? We couldn't help him, and what's the use of gettin' a big lickin' for nothing? Besides, what would become of your business if the people here thought you were his partner?"

Before Dan ceased speaking Teddy realized how useless would be any effort of his, and he remained passive, trying to get a glimpse of the ill-fated fakir.

The numbers who beset him completely hid Hazelton from view. The carriage had been overturned by the first desperate rush of the victims, and the horse was clearing a space around himself by the free use of his heels.

"They'll commit murder!" Teddy cried.

"I don't believe it'll be quite as bad as that; but he won't be likely to give away any more lockets while this fair lasts."

As a matter of fact, Hazelton was not left to fight the battle alone. Like every other fakir engaged in that peculiar business, he had several partners whose duty it was to mingle with the crowd for the purpose of intimidating any who might be disposed to make trouble, and these had closed in upon him, while some of the more timid spectators shouted for the constables.

Once Teddy caught a glimpse of the unfortunate man; his glossy hat was gone, his clothing torn, and his face covered with blood.

"I can see him now!" he cried, "and it looks as if they had about used him up, for – "

Before he could finish the sentence a stranger rushed toward him, and showing the familiar black satchel in his hand, said hurriedly:

"Get out of here with that. Hazelton will see you some time this evening. Don't stop a minute!"

Before the boy could reply the stranger was forcing his way through the struggling, yelling crowd, in order to aid his partner, and Teddy said in dismay:

"Now we are in a muss. Here is all his money, an' if anybody sees us with it we'll have a tough time."

"You can't throw it away, an' we must sneak off," Dan said, and the expression on his face told how distressed he was that such a responsibility had been thrust upon them.

"Shall we go back to the stand?"

"No, that would never do, for then they would be sure to vent their anger on you. Go up to the museum; Mr. Sweet knows Hazelton, an' may be willin' to help him by keeping the satchel till the row is over."

These words had been spoken as the boys were trying to make their way through the fringe of spectators which had hemmed them in since the fight began, and after some difficulty they succeeded; but at the same moment one of the combatants, who had received more than his share of punishment, emerged close by their side.

He saw Hazelton's satchel, and recognized it.

"Come here, fellows! two little villains are making off with the money! That's what we want!"

He at once started in pursuit, as did several others, and Dan cried, as he helped carry the burden:

"Run as you never did before, Teddy, for if they get hold of us it'll be a bad job all around!"