man and placed a hand upon his arm. "Why don't you leave us," heasked. "You have done nothing. No one is looking for you. Why don't yougo your way and save yourself from suspicion."
Bridge did not reply.
"I believe," the youth went on, "that you are doing it for me; but why Ican't guess."
"Maybe I am," Bridge half acknowledged. "You're a good little kid, butyou need someone to look after you. It would be easier though if you'dtell me the truth about yourself, which you certainly haven't up tonow."
"Please don't ask me," begged the boy. "I can't; honestly I can't."
"Is it as bad as that?" asked the man.
"Oh, it's worse," cried The Oskaloosa Kid. "It's a thousand times worse.Don't make me tell you, for if I do tell I shall have to leave you,and--and, oh, Bridge, I don't want to leave you--ever!"
They had reached the door of the cabin now and were looking in past thegirl who had halted there as Giova entered. Before them was a small roomin which a large, vicious looking brown bear was chained.
"Behold our ghost of last night!" exclaimed Bridge. "By George! though,I'd as soon have hunted a real ghost in the dark as to have run intothis fellow."
"Did you know last night that it was a bear?" asked the Kid. "You toldGiova that you followed the footprints of herself and her bear; but youhad not said anything about a bear to us."
"I had an idea last night," explained Bridge, "that the sounds wereproduced by some animal dragging a chain; but I couldn't prove it and soI said nothing, and then this morning while we were following the trailI made up my mind that it was a bear. There were two facts which arguedthat such was the case. The first is that I don't believe in ghosts andthat even if I did I would not expect a ghost to leave footprints inthe mud, and the other is that I knew that the footprints of a bear arestrangely similar to those of the naked feet of man. Then when I saw theGypsy girl I was sure that what we had heard last night was nothing morenor less than a trained bear. The dress and appearance of the dead manlent themselves to a furtherance of my belief and the wisp of brown hairclutched in his fingers added still further proof."
Within the room the bear was now straining at his collar and growlingferociously at the strangers. Giova crossed the room, scolding himand at the same time attempting to assure him that the newcomerswere friends; but the wicked expression upon the beast's face gave noindication that he would ever accept them as aught but enemies.
It was a breathless Willie who broke into his mother's kitchen wide eyedand gasping from the effects of excitement and a long, hard run.
"Fer lan' sakes!" exclaimed Mrs. Case. "Whatever in the world ails you?"
"I got 'em; I got 'em!" cried Willie, dashing for the telephone.
"Fer lan' sakes! I should think you did hev 'em," retorted his mother asshe trailed after him in the direction of the front hall. "'N' whateveryou got, you got 'em bad. Now you stop right where you air 'n' tell mewhatever you got. 'Taint likely it's measles, fer you've hed them threetimes, 'n' whoopin' cough ain't 'them,' it's 'it,' 'n'--." Mrs. Casepaused and gasped--horrified. "Fer lan' sakes, Willie Case, you comeright out o' this house this minute ef you got anything in your head."She made a grab for Willie's arm; but the boy dodged and reached thetelephone.
"Shucks!" he cried. "I ain't got nothin' in my head," nor did eithersense the unconscious humor of the statement. "What I got is a gang o'thieves an' murderers, an' I'm callin' up thet big city deetectiff tocome arter 'em."
Mrs. Case sank into a chair, prostrated by the weight of her emotions,while Willie took down the receiver after ringing the bell to attractcentral. Finally he obtained his connection, which was with Jonas Prim'sbank where detective Burton was making his headquarters. Here he learnedthat Burton had not returned; but finally gave his message reluctantlyto Jonas Prim after exacting a promise from that gentleman that he wouldbe personally responsible for the payment of the reward. What WillieCase told Jonas Prim had the latter in a machine, with half a dozendeputy sheriffs and speeding southward from Oakdale inside of tenminutes.
A short distance out from town they met detective Burton with his twoprisoners. After a hurried consultation Dopey Charlie and The Generalwere unloaded and started on the remainder of their journey afoot underguard of two of the deputies, while Burton's companions turned andfollowed the other car, Burton taking a seat beside Prim.
"He said that he could take us right to where Abigail is," Mr. Primwas explaining to Burton, "and that this Oskaloosa Kid is with her,and another man and a foreign looking girl. He told a wild story aboutseeing them burying a dead man in the woods back of Squibbs' place. Idon't know how much to believe, or whether to believe any of it; butwe can't afford not to run down every clew. I can't believe that mydaughter is wilfully consorting with such men. She always has been fullof life and spirit; but she's got a clean mind, and her little escapadeshave always been entirely harmless--at worst some sort of boyish prank.I simply won't believe it until I see it with my own eyes. If she's withthem she's being held by force."
Burton made no reply. He was not a man to jump to conclusions. Hissuccess was largely due to the fact that he assumed nothing; but merelyran down each clew quickly yet painstakingly until he had a foundationof fact upon which to operate. His theory was that the simplest way isalways the best way and so he never befogged the main issue with anyelaborate system of deductive reasoning based on guesswork. Burton neverguessed. He assumed that it was his business to KNOW, nor was he on anycase long before he did know. He was employed now to find Abigail Prim.Each of the several crimes committed the previous night might or mightnot prove a clew to her whereabouts; but each must be run down in theprocess of elimination before Burton could feel safe in abandoning it.
Already he had solved one of them to his satisfaction; and Dopey Charlieand The General were, all unknown to themselves, on the way to thegallows for the murder of Old John Baggs. When Burton had found themsimulating sleep behind the bushes beside the road his observant eyeshad noticed something that resembled a hurried cache. The excuse of alost note book had taken him back to investigate and to find the lootof the Baggs's crime wrapped in a bloody rag and hastily buried in ashallow hole.
When Burton and Jonas Prim arrived at the Case farm they were met by anew Willie. A puffed and important young man swaggered before them ashe retold his tale and led them through the woods toward the spot wherethey were to bag their prey. The last hundred yards was made on handsand knees; but when the party arrived at the clearing there was no onein sight, only the hovel stood mute and hollow-eyed before them.
"They must be inside," whispered Willie to the detective.
Burton passed a whispered word to his followers. Stealthily they creptthrough the underbrush until the cabin was surrounded; then, at a signalfrom their leader they rose and advanced upon the structure.
No evidence of life indicated their presence had been noted, and Burtoncame to the very door of the cabin unchallenged. The others saw himpause an instant upon the threshold and then pass in. They closed behindhim. Three minutes later he emerged, shaking his head.
"There is no one here," he announced.
Willie Case was crestfallen. "But they must be," he pleaded. "They mustbe. I saw 'em here just a leetle while back."
Burton turned and eyed the boy sternly. Willie quailed. "I seen 'em," hecried. "Hones' I seen 'em. They was here just a few minutes ago. Here'swhere they burrit the dead man," and he pointed to the little mound ofearth near the center of the clearing.
"We'll see," commented Burton, tersely, and he sent two of his men backto the Case farm for spades. When they returned a few minutes' laborrevealed that so much of Willie's story was true, for a quilt wrappedcorpse was presently unearthed and lying upon the ground beside itsviolated grave. Willie's stock rose once more to par.
In an improvised litter they carried the dead man back to Case's farmwhere they left him after notifying the coroner by telephone. Half ofBurton's men were sent to the north side of the woods and half to theroad upon the sou
th of the Squibbs' farm. There they separated andformed a thin line of outposts about the entire area north of the road.If the quarry was within it could not escape without being seen. In themean time Burton telephoned to Oakdale for reinforcements, as it wouldrequire fifty men at least to properly beat the tangled underbrush ofthe wood.
*****
In a clump of willows beside the little stream which
The Oakdale Affair Page 19
