CHAPTER XIX.
A SURPRISE FOR JIMMIE
When Jimmie saw the planes of the flying machine on the east side of the summit he dodged away in order that the aviator still below the line of the ridge might not catch sight of the Louise until he was himself well in the air. The boy wanted to know, before coming to close quarters, whether this machine was a new one in that vicinity, and whether the man in charge was in sympathy with those on the shelf below.
As soon as the aeroplane came into full view, however, the boy chuckled and swung close over. It was the Bertha, and Ben occupied the aviator’s seat. Jimmie pointed toward the men on the shelf, asking mutely whether he ought to land, and Ben shook his head warningly.
Rather to the disappointment of Jimmie, Ben speeded the Bertha toward the valley instead of circling the gully and the shelf where the men stood. However, he was somewhat mollified when he saw Ben seeking a landing-place. In a very short time the two machines lay side by side on the grass, and the boys were conferring together.
Twilight was falling fast, and the light of the fire on the shelf brought the scene there into distinct view. The boys were not so far away that they could not recognize one face and figure standing by the fire.
At first Jimmie could hardly believe that he saw aright, but in a moment his impression was confirmed by his chum.
“What’s DuBois doing with those men?” Jimmie asked.
“He’s trying to get away!” was the reply.
“Who are the men?” asked Jimmie.
“They’re from Neil Howell’s hunting camp.”
“I thought so!” replied Jimmie. “But what do they want of DuBois?”
“They’ve got him under arrest!” replied Ben.
“That’s a nice thing, too! What have they got him under arrest for?”
“They claim that he stole a horse or a mule or a burro and a lot of money from their tent.”
“You don’t believe it, do you?” asked Jimmie.
“I certainly do not!”
“What are they going to do with him?”
“They’re going to take him back to their camp. One of the men said they’d probably lynch him when they got him there.”
“Did they get him out of our camp?” asked the boy.
“No,” answered Ben, “I’m the one that’s to blame for his being in his present predicament. I set out in the Bertha to see what was going on at the smugglers’ camp, and let him go with me. When we landed those fellows came rushing out with guns in their hands and grabbed the Englishman. I had a gun with me, but of course I couldn’t do anything against three husky men like the hunters.”
“And that leaves Mr. Havens alone, of course!” Jimmie said.
“He thought we’d better go before dark,” Ben explained. “And now,” he continued, “what have you done with Carl?”
Jimmie explained what had taken place at the hunters’ camp, and the two boys looked into each other’s faces with no little anxiety showing in their eyes. Ben was first to speak.
“What did they geezle him for?” he asked.
“I couldn’t imagine at the time,” Jimmie answered, “but I think I see through the scheme now. When DuBois left their camp and came to ours they naturally understood that he would tell us all he knew about what was going on at the place he had just left.”
“There wasn’t much to tell,” suggested Ben.
“We don’t know whether there was or not!” answered Jimmie. “That Englishman hasn’t told us all he knows about the doings there by any means! He probably knew about the signals. That is, if they had been in action on previous nights, and he probably knew whether the aviator who was killed had made any visits to the hunters. You probably noticed how thoughtful DuBois looked when we told him that the aviator was dead and that there were no identifying marks or papers about him.”
“Of course I noticed that!” Ben said.
“I don’t believe the Englishman told us half he knows about that bunch,” Jimmie declared, “and it’s my private opinion that he never stole a thing at that camp! I guess when we know the truth about the matter, we’ll find that he knows too much about those fellows, and that’s why they want to get hold of him!”
“You still believe in the Englishman, do you?” laughed Ben.
“You bet I do!” answered Jimmie. “And I just believe they got him into the mountains because they suspected he knew what was going on in that Pullman stateroom. If you leave it to me, some of the hunters over there are mixed up in the abduction of Colleton!”
“That would be too good to be true!” exclaimed Ben.
“Why would it,” demanded Jimmie.
“Because it’s a long step in the game we’re playing to find the men who actually took part in the plot against Colleton. If we have found them in that bunch over there, we’ve made mighty good progress!”
“Well, when it all comes out at the end,” Jimmie insisted, “you’ll find that some of those fellows are in the deal, all right! And you’ll find that they got DuBois out into the mountains for the reasons I have already given. They doubtless expected they could keep him with them until the whole thing blew over. But he ran away for some reasons of his own and they’re afraid he’ll talk!”
“You’re the wise little Sherlocko!” laughed Ben.
Jimmie arose, seized his chum by the shoulders, whirled him around so that his face looked out toward the shelf of rock, and gave him a playful punch in the back.
“I’m the wise little Sherlocko, am I?” he demanded. “If you think I’m not right, just look there.”
“What does it mean?” asked Ben as red and green signals alternated from the blaze at the foot of the gully.
“It means that the hunters who have grabbed DuBois are communicating with the same sort of signals we saw before with the men in Neil Howell’s camp!”
“Perhaps they are explaining that they’ve captured DuBois.”
“I don’t care what they’re explaining,” Jimmie exclaimed impatiently. “What I’m trying to get through your thick head is the fact that they’re using the same kind of signals the smugglers used. They are also using the red and green fire the smugglers carried to their rendezvous.”
“I understand!” Ben exclaimed. “That establishes the connection, all right! Now, what are we going to do about it?”
“You got DuBois into that mess,” Jimmie grinned, “and it’s up to you to get him out. It’s a wonder they ever let you get away with your machine after grabbing him! They overlooked a bet, there.”
“They didn’t want me to get away with it,” Ben answered modestly. “In fact,” he continued, “they placed a man down there to see that I didn’t get away with it. While they were busy putting DuBois through the third degree, I slipped down to the machine and caught the guard when he wasn’t looking. Then I got away with the Bertha.”
“Caught him when he wasn’t looking, did you?” chuckled Jimmie. “What did you do to him?”
“I bumped him on the coco with the butt of my automatic!” was the reply. “I guess probably he’s laying on the ground there yet!”
“You’re the wise little sleuth, too!” laughed Jimmie. “And now,” he continued, “have you any idea how we’re going to wedge our way into that mess of pirates and cut out DuBois?”
“I haven’t an idea in my head!” answered Ben. “And I think we’d better go back to camp and talk to Mr. Havens about it. Probably he’ll know what to do!”
“He ought to be consulted in the matter anyway,” said Jimmie.
“Yes, and by the time we get done talking with Mr. Havens those outlaws will have DuBois halfway over to their camp,” grumbled Ben.
“Well, you proposed talking with Mr. Havens yourself!”
“Yes, but I didn’t think that time was an important element in this case just now. Do you think you can climb that slope and get up to the place where those fellows are without being seen?”
“We can climb the slope all right!” Jimmie answered.
“And we ought to do it without being seen,” Ben went on, “because it’s going to be darker than a stack of black cats.”
“What’ll we do when we get there?” asked Jimmie.
“We’ll have to settle that question on the ground!” answered Ben.
“Look here!” cried Jimmie. “I’ve got a hunch!”
“What’s the answer?” asked Ben.
“When we sneak up the slope, we’ll make for the place where the whiskey is stored. If Crooked Terry is there at all he’ll be drunk, and we’ll talk immunity, and a lot of other stuff to him, until he thinks we’re there to save him from a life sentence in the penitentiary. That will give us the run of the cavern, and we ought to be able to sneak out at some time during the night and get DuBois away.”
“If they leave him there all night!” Ben replied.
“There’s no danger of their making a hike to the hunters’ camp in the darkness,” Jimmie replied. “Those fellows are not mountain men, and they’d break their necks before they had gone halfway down the slope.”
“I guess you’re right,” Ben answered, “and I don’t think we’ll have much trouble making a sneak into the cavern. The only thing about the plan that doesn’t look good to me is the fact that we must leave our machines here alone in the valley. I don’t like that!”
“Unless a grizzly bear or a wolverine should take a notion to go out on a midnight joy-ride,” Jimmie declared, “no one will disturb the machines. Of course it would be safer if we had some one here to watch them, but we haven’t, and we’ve got to do the next best thing. However, I think they’re safe enough.”
Extinguishing all the lights and emptying the store boxes of automatics, cartridges, and searchlights, the boys pushed and pulled the machines into as secluded a place as they could find and started up the slope.
It was very dark and they dare not use their electrics, so they were obliged to proceed slowly until they came to the smooth ascent which led directly to the shelf. Then, although the climbing was arduous, they proceeded more rapidly.
When they came close to the fire they saw three men standing by the blaze. DuBois was not there. The supposition, of course, was that they had stowed him away in some secure hole in the cavern from which it would not be possible for him to escape.
“It’s dollars to dill pickles,” whispered Jimmie as they softly skirted the fire and crept up the gully, “that the Englishman has been left in the charge of that old crook. If that’s the case, we ought to be able to get him without much trouble if we don’t send an avalanche of stones down this gully before we get to the top.”
The gully presented no avalanche of stones to send down. It was quite evident, even in the darkness, that the rough trail had been used enough recently to clear the way of anything which might go rolling and tumbling to the bottom. When the boys came to the mouth of the cavern they saw the crook sitting with his back against one of the walls, an automatic in his hand. He recognized them instantly as they came up, and seemed glad of their company.
It will be remembered that he had been promised immunity by Dick Sherman, the mounted policeman, and that the boys had been associated with the officers. In fact, the fellow cast an inquiring glance down the gully as the boys appeared as if he expected to see the officers following along behind them. It did not take the lads long to convince the half-drunken crook that he ought to produce the Englishman. Believing that any favors shown the boys would be appreciated by the man whom he expected to save him from a long imprisonment, Terry retired into the cavern and soon returned with DuBois.
“They’ll crack me crust when they find he’s gone!” Terry said as the boys and the Englishman started away together.
“Then perhaps you’d better come with us,” suggested DuBois. “You’ll be safer at the boys’ camp than here, I’m sure!”
The crook agreed to this and the four got away without any difficulty whatever. In an hour they were at the camp.
CHAPTER XX.
THE SECRET HIDING-PLACE
When the two machines reached the camp they found Mr. Havens very anxious over the long delay.
“I thought I had lost you all this time!” the aviator said. “I had company for a time, but he’s gone now.”
“You came very near losing me, don’t you know!” DuBois exclaimed.
“And I did lose Carl!” Jimmie confessed.
“And I came near losing the Louise!” Ben added.
“And Terry here,” Jimmie cried pushing the crook forward, “lost his stock of wet goods when he left the cave!”
Terry, who had been very nervous during the ride through the air, and who now lay sprawled out on the ground as if he never intended to leave solid earth again, gravely took two pint bottles filled with brandy from his pockets and set them out on the grass at his side. Then he rolled over and took a bottle of whiskey from another pocket. This he ranged with the others standing them all in a row so that the firelight gave their contents deep ruby tints.
“It’s a cold day when I get left for a drink!” he exclaimed, with a cunning leer, as he pointed to the three bottles.
After the boys had related their adventures they proceeded to cook supper, and while this was being consumed they discussed the situation at the camp which DuBois had deserted.
“What’s the idea of accusing you of stealing that burro?” asked Jimmie turning to the Englishman.
“That’s a beastly shame, don’t you know!” exclaimed DuBois.
“You didn’t steal the burro, of course?” asked Mr. Havens.
“Look here!” exclaimed the Englishman. “Do I look like a person who would be apt to steal a mountain burro?”
“You certainly do not!” replied the aviator.
“Of course, it’s a frame-up!” declared Jimmie.
“What’s a frame-up?” asked DuBois innocently.
“When a man’s jobbed,” answered Jimmie, “they call it a frame-up!”
This explanation was no explanation at all to the Englishman, and so the boys explained that in their opinion, the hunters were, for reasons of their own, trying to send an innocent man to prison or cause him to be lynched. When at last DuBois understood he nodded his head vigorously.
“That’s the idea, don’t you know!” he said. “It’s a frame-up, and they want to job me! I’ll remember those terms, don’t you know!”
“Why?” asked Mr. Havens. “Why should they want to job you?”
“They think I know too much!”
“If you do,” cried Jimmie, “you haven’t told it to us!”
“Besides,” DuBois continued, “this Neil Howell caught sight of me bag one day, don’t you know.”
“Now, it’s all as clear as mud!” cried Jimmie. “I know all about it now! You ran away to escape being robbed of the bag!”
“Something like that, don’t you know!”
“I guess if you hadn’t run away,” Ben put in, “you would have been dropped down a precipice some dark night!”
“Do you know,” asked DuBois innocently, “that that is just the way I figured it out?”
“Well, you figured it out right,” Mr. Havens answered.
“What will they be apt to do with Carl?” questioned Jimmie.
“They won’t be apt to injure him,” DuBois replied. “They’ll get all the information they can from the lad and turn him loose just before they get ready to leave the country.”
“You think they’ll leave the country right away?” asked Mr. Havens.
“I think they will!” was the answer.
“You remember the sick man in the stateroom?” asked Jimmie.
“I never saw him, don’t you know.”
“You suspected there was something mysterious about the manner in which he was being carried across the continent, didn’t you?”
“Indeed, I did!” was the reply.
“Did you know at that time, or have you learned since, that a post-office inspector named Colleton had been abducted from the post-office building in Washington?” continued the boy.
“I read about it in the papers at San Francisco.”
“Did you see in the newspapers in San Francisco a description of the younger man who stood in the corridor at the door of Colleton’s room?”
“I think I did!” answered DuBois.
“When you found the sporty coat, the false beard, and the dickey with the wing collar and the red tie, and the hat in the valise you bought of the porter, did that remind you of anything?”
The Englishman nodded and waited eagerly for the boy to go on.
“You knew those things were in the valise you bought before you came to our camp, didn’t you?” asked Ben.
“Indeed, I did,” was the reply, “although I tried to make you boys believe that I had then discovered them for the first time.”
“I understand,” Jimmie said, “and I think,” he went on, “that I understand your motive in telling that little white lie at that time. You wanted to see what effect the production of the articles would have on us, didn’t you? You suspected that we were here on some mission connected with the disappearance of Colleton, but you weren’t sure!”
“That’s exactly right, don’t you know.”
“And you knew that if we were on such a mission, the appearance of the articles in our camp would create a sensation!”
“Very cleverly stated, don’t you know!”
“Isn’t Jimmie the cute little Sherlocko, though?” asked Ben winking at Mr. Havens.
“I’m going to get that kid a job on the New York police force!” laughed the millionaire aviator.
“Don’t you do it!” advised Ben. “Let the boy lead a respectable life as long as he can!”
“Before you came here,” Jimmie asked turning to the Englishman, “you doubtless understood the motive of this man Howell in getting you away on the hunting trip. You understood that he wanted to keep you out of sight for a while?”
“Yes, I understood all that!”
“And now here’s the big question!” grinned Jimmie. “As the attorney for the defense says in the criminal courts, I want you to consider well before you answer. Do you know whether Colleton was brought into this country or not?”
“I haven’t the slightest idea, don’t you know!”
“You believe with us that the man who was killed in the race was the man who left the post-office building with Colleton, and that Colleton was disguised in the articles you now have in your valise?”
“I think that’s quite plain,” answered the Englishman.
“But you don’t know whether Colleton was left in San Francisco, or sent out on a voyage across the Pacific, or brought into British Columbia.”
“There has never been a hint of Colleton in the camp, so far as I know. In fact,” he went on, “the men in the camp, as a rule, are business men who know nothing about the abduction of Colleton or the motive of Howell in bringing me here. That is the reason why I say that your chum will not be injured in the camp.”
“I’m glad to know that they’re not all crooks!” Mr. Havens declared.
“At the time of the abduction of Colleton, don’t you know,” the Englishman went on, “according to the reports in the newspaper, several valuable documents were taken from his office.”
“Some very important documents,” Mr. Havens commented.
DuBois arose and walked swiftly to the tent to which he had been assigned. In a moment he reappeared with the bag in his hand. He took the articles it contained out one by one and laid them carefully on the grass. His own possessions made a small heap, but the sporty coat, the false beard, the hat, and the dickey with the wing collar and the red tie made quite a pile.
“Did we miss something on the first search?” asked Jimmie.
“You didn’t make any search at all, don’t you know,” replied the Englishman. “You didn’t look through the bag.”
The articles being all removed, he opened the mouth of the bag to its full width and drew out a false bottom. Under the bottom lay several folded papers which he proceeded to remove one by one.
“I can smell iodoform now, can’t you?” asked Jimmie.
“What do you mean by that?” demanded the Englishman.
“Didn’t they use iodoform in the private stateroom where the sick man was?”
“How did you come to know that?” asked the Englishman.
“Smell of the papers!” advised Jimmie. “They used iodoform in the stateroom, and these papers were opened and examined there! Do you begin to see daylight?”
“Do you know why they used iodoform in the stateroom?” asked Mr. Havens. “Is it possible that they wounded Colleton and found the use of the drug necessary?”
“I don’t know about that,” DuBois answered, “but I do remember now that there was a smell of iodoform whenever the man in brown opened the stateroom door.”
“Now, let’s see the papers,” Mr. Havens suggested.
Jimmie got one look at the documents as they were being passed to the aviator and jumped about four feet into the air!
“That’s pretty poor, I guess!” he shouted.
“What is it?” asked Ben.
“Looks to me like the papers stolen from Colleton’s office!”
The aviator took the papers into his hand and examined them intently for a moment. Then he turned to Jimmie with a smile.
“You’re right!” he said. “These are the papers described in my instructions! And they’re all here—every one!”
“Look here!” chuckled Jimmie. “If some guy should come down to New York some day and steal the Singer building, and you should be sent out to find it, and should get into a submarine and dive down to the bottom of the China sea, you’d find the Singer building right there waiting for us to come and get it!”
“That’s the kind of luck we’ve had in this case!” admitted Mr. Havens.
“Luck?” repeated Jimmie. “There ain’t any luck about it! We’ve just loafed around camp, and taken joy-rides in flying machines, and the other fellows have brought all the goods to us.”
“It strikes me,” Mr. Havens suggested, “that we ought to get rid of Mr. DuBois and his hand-bag just about as soon as possible. I have no doubt that the fellows over in the other camp recognized the hand-bag lost by the man in brown.”
“And that means that they’ll knock DuBois’ head off if they get a chance!” Jimmie cut in.
“It means that they’ll murder every person in this camp,” Mr. Havens continued, “rather than permit the papers in the bottom of that bag to get back to Washington. Mr. DuBois ought not to remain here another hour!”
“What’s the answer?” asked Jimmie.
“How far is it to the nearest railway point?” asked the aviator.
“Field is not more than a couple of hours’ ride away,” replied Ben.
“Let me take him there to-night and dump him on board a train for the east, bag and all!” exclaimed Jimmie.
“That’s what I was about to suggest,” Mr. Havens answered.
“But, look here!” interrupted the Englishman. “I’d rather stay and see the bloody game to the finish, don’t you know!”
“I don’t blame you for not wanting to run away,” Ben declared.
“Think it over,” the aviator suggested. “At least the bag and its contents must be taken out of the camp to-night. Mr. DuBois can go out with it if he wants to.”
It was decided that the Englishman should accompany Ben out to Field and make up his mind on the journey whether he would return to the camp.
They started away immediately, Ben promising to be back before daylight. When he returned just before sunrise DuBois was with him and he bore an astonishing piece of information.
“Here’s another extract from my dream-book!” exclaimed Jimmie.