"Oh, he's got lots to tell you," declared Ted, with the air of a highly favored one who had been already taken into the great secret.
Of course his words stirred the scouts as nothing else could have done. They crowded around and began to beg for particulars.
"Where's Lil Artha?" one questioned.
"And Mark?" exclaimed another.
"Say, Elmer, did she come back, and step into the nice little trap you were going to get ready?" asked a third scout, with intense interest aroused.
When Elmer nodded his head they broke out into a rousing boyish cheer.
"Tell us all about it, Elmer," was flung at the scout master from all quarters.
As this was Elmer's intention anyway he lost no time in briefly though forcibly describing all that had taken place down below.
"And now I want George to go down with Ted, here," Elmer went on, "and try to engage the woman in conversation. Tell her, if you can, who and what we are, and the reason for our coming here in uniform. Tell her we mean them no harm, but that we want our chum set free. Do you follow me, George?"
"Of course I do," came the ready answer.
"You understand Italian, and talk it some, I've been told?" Elmer went on.
"Oh, yes, I can really converse with some Italian men. Don't know about a woman, though. But I'll do my best to make her see things straight."
"I like to hear you talk that way, George," continued Elmer; "the true scout is always ready to do his best. And I think you're going to make a fine addition to our troop before long."
"After I've told her, what then?" asked George, who looked pleased at hearing these words of praise from one he respected as highly as he did Elmer.
"Why, you must bring her along, and rejoin us. Lil Artha and Mark will accompany you, because all ought to be in at the finish. You understand, don't you, George?"
"I sure do. Come on, Ted, show me the way down to the old shack. As we go along I'll be brushing up my Italian words so as to spring 'em on the old lady. This way, Ted."
"And while you're jabbering with the woman, why, perhaps now I might be amuthing mythelf doctoring the noble woundth of our two chumth," declared the fellow who was never so happy as when engaged in the work of a doctor.
Why, some of the boys often called Ted "Sawbones," because he gave himself over, heart and soul, to his one great hobby.
So the two of them vanished down the side of the hill. As their voices died away among the thickets Elmer turned his attention to the task of finding and following the trail of the Italians.
"Show me where you saw it last, Matty," he said.
"Here you are, then," came the reply; "that footprint is as plain as anything."
"So it is," remarked Elmer, after studying the mark briefly. "Our chum made that, I'm positive."
"Then he must have done it on purpose," said Matty, "because I've noticed that one footprint right along."
Elmer smiled.
"Good for Nat," he remarked. "If he don't dare use his voice and call out to us, he's doing everything in his power to show us the trail. That's what he's learned of scouting tactics. I'm glad he remembered. It shows how much a fellow can learn."
"That's right," remarked Matty; "I see it all plain enough right now; but d'ye know the suspicion never did break in on me that these tracks had been made purposely, and by Nat? Why, I just had an idea one of the bunch was a little careless, that's all."
"Well, you'll know better after this, Matty. But stand back, and let's see what luck I'll have, if so be you fellows haven't killed the trail by running around."
They watched his actions eagerly, each fellow bent on learning all he could of the science that was already proving to be so interesting.
First of all Elmer took a comprehensive survey of the ground above; for everyone understood that those they were tracking must be aiming to reach some cave or crevice farther up the slope.
Then, having settled in his mind about where the fugitives might be aiming for, the scout master began to look for marks on the rocks.
For a little while he found it very hard work, indeed, but after reaching the limits of the search maintained by Matty and those with him, the task became considerably easier.
And mindful of his position as acting scout master to the troop during the temporary absence of Mr. Garrabrant, Elmer made it a point to explain more or less as he went along.
"See, here is where one of the men slipped on this rock, and left a new scratch. And this shows where another broke a twig off this branch in passing. You can see it has been freshly done, because the green leaves do not show much sign of wilting."
In this fashion, then, he not only intensely interested his followers, but continued to make progress all the while.
Most of the boys were eager to get points on such an engaging subject as trail finding. These hung upon his every word, examined the marks to which Elmer drew their attention, commented upon the same among themselves, and several even went so far as to take out memorandum books in which they hastily scribbled such notes as would enable them to remember.
All the while they were climbing higher, and by degrees found themselves in a wilder section than any of them had dreamed existed so near their home town of Hickory Ridge.
"Looks like there might be a few caves around such a place as this," remarked Red, as he wiped his face with the red bandana handkerchief which he had hung cowboy fashion around his neck, with the knot at the back.
"Oh, that's a dead-sure thing," replied Ty, who happened to be close at his elbow at the time. "Fact is, I've seen several myself. Anyhow, they were dark, ugly looking holes between big rocks, and if this was a game country I'd say they might be bear dens or the homes of wolves."
All this sort of talk tended to key the anticipations of the boys up to a point where they were expecting almost anything to happen.
Elmer paid no attention to side issues. There might be a dozen likely looking hiding places along the route, but they did not interest him an iota so long as that faintly marked trail continued.
He had about all he cared to do, moving from one spot where a stone had been freshly dislodged to another point at which the moss and lichen had been torn from a sloping rock by a foot that accidentally or purposely slipped.
There were possibly some little indications, which to his mind told that they might now be drawing near the place where the panic-stricken Italians were hiding. If so, Elmer did not confide this to his companions, perhaps because he might not himself be so very sure, but more probably on account of not wishing to waste more or less precious time in explaining on what vague grounds he founded his theory.
The trees still grew around them, springing out of spaces between the rocks. They were more stunted than those in the great forest that covered the richer bottom lands, but as a rule they served as a canopy overhead, and only occasional glimpses could be obtained of the country beyond.
By this time some of the scouts had begun to feel the effect of the climb, for there is nothing more fatiguing than ascending a steep hill.
Still they proved their grit by keeping on, as if determined to stick it out.
Even fat Landy Smith, while actually panting for breath, and mopping his forehead with a damp handkerchief, stubbornly declined to own himself in the "has been" class, as Red called it.
They were moving along what seemed to be a little plateau, at the end of which arose a cliff seamed with numerous cracks and scars.
Elmer had smiled when he cast a glance toward the rocky wall, just as if he could scent the end of the trail close at hand.
But he was already halfway across the level territory, with the scouts scattered back of him, when without the least warning there suddenly sounded a shot that seemed to come from somewhere ahead; and the report gave each scout a strange chill in the region of his heart.
* * *
CHAPTER XV.
RESCUED—CONCLUSION.
"Scatter, and hide!"
It was
Elmer who shouted this order. He had not heard any sound as of a bullet passing, and did not know but that the shot had been fired simply for the purpose of a warning.
Still, there was no need of their taking chances. And as he gave the command, Elmer was one of the first to seek the shelter of a near-by rock.
Immediately the valiant scouts scurried around, each eagerly desirous of finding some sort of snug retreat.
No further shots came, much to the satisfaction of the boys, and inside of half a minute not a figure was to be seen upon the little plateau.
It chanced that Red had selected the same rock as Elmer picked out, behind which to crouch.
And of course Red could not long remain silent, since his overcharged feelings just had to find a vent.
"Whew, this is what I call warm!" he said, puffing.
"Do you mean the weather, or the fact that we have been under fire?" asked Elmer, who was looking out from his end of the rock, and trying to size the situation up.
"Oh, well, I guess both of 'em would pass muster, all right," Red went on. "You don't think any fellow got hurt, do you, Elmer?"
"Not any. Fact is," continued the scout master, "I've a pretty good hunch the shot was not fired at us, but into the air, warning us to keep off or we might get hurt."
"The ginnies fired it, of course, Elmer?"
"I'm sure of that."
"And we've cornered the bunch at last, hey? You did the trick, Elmer. Trust you for following even half a trail blindfolded. But say, do you know where they're holding the fort?"
"I've got something of an idea," replied Elmer. "If you look up the face of the cliff, Red, you'll notice a bunch of green stuff growing. I think there must be a shelf of rock there, and perhaps a cave back of it."
"But what makes you think that, Elmer?"
"Because I saw the powder smoke puff out from those little bushes when the report sounded," replied Elmer.
"But my stars! that's all of fifty feet up. How d'ye suppose those dagoes could get up there?" continued the one who sought information.
"Oh, that would just as likely as not turn out to be easy enough, once you got started. Perhaps there's some sort of path leading up the face of the cliff, and which we just can't see from here."
"What're we going to do, Elmer?"
"Nothing—just now, anyway."
"Just sit on our haunches, and wait for our birds to drop into our hands, eh?" pursued Red.
"Oh, perhaps we may have to fight for it in the end, but I'm hoping for an easier wind up to the affair," Elmer continued, musingly.
"You think the old woman may help out?"
"I know she will, if George can only succeed in convincing her that we're friends, not enemies."
"Then we're waiting till they arrive?" asked Red.
"I'm going to give the signal for retiring as soon as the boys get their breath back," remarked the scout master.
"Well, they might be in better places, because the sun feels scorching to me right now," grumbled Red.
"Then pick out your new roost, and be ready to migrate as soon as you hear the whistle. Pass the word along, too, Red."
Presently it was understood that when the scout master gave the signal every fellow was expected to crawl or dart away, seeking through one way or another to get out of the fire zone.
"I hope George has succeeded in explaining everything to the woman by now," remarked Red.
"I'm sure he has, and that the whole of them are even now on the way here to wind up this business," Elmer declared most confidently.
When ten minutes had gone by, and he felt sure that all of the scouts knew what they were expected to do, Elmer took out his whistle.
Then the shrill notes sounded, cutting the air as though charged with irresistible force.
Immediately everybody got busy. Khaki-clad figures could be seen darting this way and that, but none of them made any attempt to advance. This sort of move might be expected to anger the Italians, without doing any good, and the scouts had been warned against it.
There came no second discharge of firearms, and from this fact it seemed evident that the unseen enemy understood that there was nothing hostile connected with this action on the part of the scouts.
Again did Red and Elmer find themselves good neighbors as they arrived at a pile of rocks, behind which they sought shelter.
"All safe?" asked the former.
"Yes, as far as I know," came the answer. "Landy fell all over himself, and started to roll downhill, but one of the other fellows pulled him up. He was limping to beat the band, but I hope it's nothing serious."
"No danger," chuckled Red. "Landy is too well padded to suffer much from a fall. Now do we just wait here till the others fetch the lady?"
"That's a part of the contract," said Elmer; "so just make yourself as comfy as you can."
"And watch the big rock there, eh, Elmer?"
"Oh, if you want. We would feel pretty cheap if they took a sly sneak, and left us in the lurch."
Elmer settled down as though he thought there was no use borrowing trouble. And seeing their leader take things in such a matter-of-fact way the balance of the scouts followed suit.
Confidence thus begets confidence in others; and this in itself was one of Elmer's reasons for acting as he did.
The minutes passed.
Several times did impatient Red get up on his knees to take a look down the hill.
"Shucks! but they're a long time coming," he mumbled. "Perhaps, after all, the old woman was too sharp for the bunch—perhaps she's tucked 'em away in the cabin—turning the tables on our four chums—perhaps, now——"
Right there Red stopped in his predictions of evil.
"There they come," said Elmer, quietly.
One hasty look satisfied Red that his comrade spoke only the truth. Moving figures caught his eye just a little way down the slope.
These presently developed into four boys, three of whom were clad in khaki. The other, who was, of course, George, the interpreter, kept close at the side of the Italian woman.
Now and then she seemed to address some remark to George, which he doubtless answered to the best of his ability. When his vocabulary proved unequal to the task he would finish with a series of gestures and shrugs as he had seen chattering Italians do.
And presently they reached the spot where the balance of the scouts held forth.
The woman surveyed them as she came up, but Elmer noticed that she did not seem afraid now.
"I guess you've done the business, George," he remarked to the new recruit.
"Well," replied the other, with a broad grin, "that's what I think myself, Elmer."
"She understands now who we are, and that we haven't any intention of doing her men any harm—you explained all that?"
"Sure. And you can see now that instead of looking scared, she's ready to grin if you give her any encouragement," replied George.
"And she knows that we want her to go out with us and have a talk with her old man, telling him what a fool he's been making of himself. She understands all that, does she?"
"Like a book, and is ready to do the trick. We'll have our Nat back in short order, now," George continued, looking proud and happy because he had been able to prove of such valuable assistance to his fellow scouts, even before he got his uniform.
"All right, then. The sooner we start the ball rolling the better. Come along, George."
Presently the two of them were escorting the Italian woman toward the foot of the cliff.
When two thirds of the way there an angry, excitable voice stopped them. On looking up they could see several heads topping the sparse vegetation that undoubtedly grew along a ledge.
"Now, tell her to talk, George!" said Elmer.
There was hardly any need, for the woman had broken loose on her own account. And such chattering as followed—Lil Artha afterward declared it reminded him of a monkey cage when one of the inmates had taken more than his share of the dinner provi
ded.
But the woman did most of the talking. She also scolded, stamped her foot, and even shook her fist up at those above.
Evidently her arguments must have had a convincing ring about them, for suddenly she turned to George and smiled amiably as she said something, and made a suggestive movement of both shoulders.
"It's all right, Elmer," declared George.
"Are they going to do what we want?" asked the scout master, greatly pleased.
"Sure. And I reckon there he comes now. One of the men seems to be helping Nat down the path that runs along the face of the rock. Bully! We win out!"
A loud cheer from the scouts told how they were enjoying the situation.
Nat Scott waved his hand to them in greeting, for, having lost his hat at the shack, he was bareheaded.
The Italian was still a little suspicious, for he would come only two thirds of the way down. But Nat easily made the balance, and was soon shaking hands with everyone of his mates, just as though he had been separated from them for a week.
Leaving the woman to rejoin her people the scouts made their way down the side of the mountain until they reached the mill pond.
Nat's story was brief, and just about what Elmer had guessed. In prowling around he had unexpectedly come upon the three men.
They had seized upon him and threatened him with their knives if he so much as gave a yell. He had been kept for a short time in the shack. Then Landy's prowling around seemed to fill the Italians with a new alarm, and the three men, together with the woman, had hastily fled.
On the way up the mountain the woman had discovered the loss of something, and gone back.
Then the men forced him to hurry along, and finally landed him on that secret ledge where he believed there was some sort of cave.
That was all Nat knew, and the whole thing smacked strongly of mystery until he heard what Elmer's theory was.
"Anyhow," Nat said, with considerable satisfaction in his voice and manner, "they didn't scare me one little bit. And besides, Elmer, in lots of places I went and made plain marks that I just knew you could read any old time."
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