Captain Alan Douglas

“ Lil Artha went on.
"How about George?" remarked Elmer.
"What! George Robbins?" asked the tall scout.
"Why, yes, you remember he told us his father employs a large number of these foreigners, and unless I'm mistaken I think I remember hearing George say he'd been picking up quite a lot of Italian words."
"That sounds all to the good then," declared Lil Artha, with enthusiasm. "Bully for George! His knowledge may be the key that's going to unlock this old padlock for us."
"Then let's get back to the shack. Fall in around the woman. That ought to tell her what we want her to do." ”

“ Short, dumpy people can never hope to compete with slim, long-legged greyhounds like Lil Artha.
And so, almost from the start, the three scouts began to close in upon the fleeing Italian woman.
"Say, she's got a bloody old knife," gasped Lil Artha, as they struggled on through the woods where the creeping vines and the underbrush, not to mention frequent logs and occasional woodchuck holes, made running a desperate business.
"That's so, Elmer," piped up Mark, "I saw her shake it at us then."
"I know it, fellows," said the scout master, "and that's what I was shouting about, to warn you." ”

“ Landy had known it was for more than a full minute past, but he remembered that a scout on duty must wait to be asked before volunteering any information.
"Yes, sir," he replied, "that is the place."
"Spread out a little, fellows," said Elmer, quietly, "and advance slowly. Everyone be ready to give a good account of himself if they rush any dogs on us. Forward now!"
And silently the sixteen scouts, spread out somewhat like an open fan, started to advance upon the strange dense thicket in which Landy had seen a shack. ”

“ Then they all looked around again, their eyes naturally roving in the quarter where, near the farther end of the dam, the old mill stood.
Its day was long since past. The great water wheel at the end of the sluice had partly fallen to pieces with the passage of time and the ravages of neglect. What was left seemed to be almost entirely covered with green moss, among which the clear little fingers of water trickled. ”

“ A gasp seemed to go the complete rounds of all the khaki-clad warriors who thronged that mysterious little shack.
"Black Hand, you say, Lil Artha?" exclaimed Red.
"Yes, and anarchists, too; the kind that blow up the kings and queens of the Old World. The kind that abduct people so as to make their rich relatives whack up a big ransom." ”

“ Of course this was Chatz Maxfield, through whose mind had run the conviction that poor Nat Scott must have paid dearly for his temerity in invading the haunted mill.
Yes, Chatz feared that the ghost must have got Nat, though he was afraid to openly proclaim his belief. Fear of ridicule was a weakness of Chatz. It often causes boys to hide their real feelings, and even appear to be much bolder than they naturally are. ”

“ Elmer continued, himself stepping into the kitchen.
Chatz and the tall boy had hardly gotten well started in their search than they heard Elmer calling.
"He's found it, sure!" observed the Southern lad.
"The luckiest chap ever, take that from me," declared Lil Artha, and then adding hastily: "but then, he always deserves his luck, because he works for it."
Although he did not exactly mean to do so, the one who said that expressed one of the greatest truths known. Deserve good luck, and it will many times knock at your door. Do things worth while, and obtain pleasing results. ”

“ The sound of boyish voices had utterly died away, proving that Matty must be showing considerable skill in leading his detachment along a trail.
Indeed, once the presence of human beings no longer acted as a disturbing element, a little frisky red squirrel hopped up in the open window and peeped within the shack. ”

“ So it stands to reason they've lost the trail among the rocks," Lil Artha went on.
"I expect as much," Elmer said, "and you know that since the men carried Nat Scott away with them we've just got to find them sooner or later."
"But why d'ye suppose now they'd be so pesky mean as to climb the hill?" demanded the tall scout.
"Oh, perhaps they guessed it would be harder for anyone to track them up there," Elmer answered.
"Yes, that's so," Mark put in; "or it might be they know of some fine cave up yonder where they can hide. You often run across caves, big and little, on stony hills." ”

“ 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." ”

“ At any rate Elmer was pleased to see him sit up on his haunches and begin to gnaw at a stray nut he had evidently discovered.
To his mind the red squirrel was apt to serve in place of a vidette. Should anyone approach the shack now the little nut-cracker would give warning by frisking away in sudden alarm.
So the wide-awake scout finds opportunities to make use of the most ordinary and commonplace things to be met with in the woods.
Everything may have a meaning, if only the scout possesses the key of knowledge so necessary for the unlocking of the door. ”

“ Undoubtedly both Mark and Lil Artha must have seen the woman, if not while she was looking in at the window, then when she turned the corner of the hidden shack to enter by the door.
And hence they would surely understand that there was no man opposed to their combined force.
The fact of the woman being armed with so terrible a weapon as a knife, and that look of grim determination on her dark face, alarmed Elmer. ”

“ Elmer went on. "Do your duty, every scout. We've got to find our comrade, and we've got to get him out of the hands of these men, whoever they may turn out to be."
"If they've hurt our Nat, it's going to be a bad day for them, that's all," blustered Red, as he pounded his club against an inoffensive stone.
"Now, start out, fellows, and let's see who'll be the lucky one to discover this hidden shack where these men must stay nights," Elmer concluded. ”

“ Now, each detachment must [66] keep close enough together so that the members may communicate by means of patrol calls—the cry of the wolf, the slap of a beaver's tail as he beats the water to call his mate, or the scream of the eagle."
"We know, Elmer; what else?" asked Matty.
"All the while you will keep on the lookout for some sign of the enemy. The scout who discovers anything that he thinks would have a bearing on the solving of the puzzle must immediately summon his leader. This he can do by the whistle which all of you know, as it has been used before." ”

“ Keep in a bunch outside. Mark, you and Lil Artha watch for a chance to drop down in the bushes, and lie as quiet as church mice till I give the signal, which will be a whistle. Understand?"
"Sure," replied Lil Artha, pausing in the doorway to watch Elmer hang up the beads again on the nail where he had found them; "but why ought we be so particular about dropping out of sight, if you don't mind telling us?" ”

“ See here, and here, and here."
"That's a fact," declared Landy, scratching his nose in a way he had when puzzled.
"He can't mean he's a dead one, and sprouting wings, can he?" asked George.
"Wings! I've got it, fellows!" shouted Red.
"Then pass it around to the rest, because I'm all up a stump," observed Larry.
"Shucks! don't you know there's only one fellow in the whole troop who's always sighing because he can't fly, and wishes he had wings?" demanded Red, promptly. [23]
"Toby Jones, the boy who's bent on sailing through the clouds some day!" cried Chatz.
"Exactly," remarked Matty. ”

“ Elmer meant it for something."
"And I can guess what it is," declared Chatz Maxfield, the Southern boy.
"Then tell the rest of us," cried several.
"Why, it's dead easy," was his reply. "Stop and think; who's always losing his hat every chance he gets?"
"Nat Scott!" quickly exclaimed Landy.
"All right. And don't we happen to know that Nat was one of those who went ahead of Elmer and Lil Artha by an hour or so," laughed Red.
"Well, I declare!" cried Landy, "and do you mean to say Elmer has guessed that, or did he see the fellows before he wrote this letter?" ”

“ Then again, there are other times when a whole lot can be won just by waiting for the enemy to come to you."
"That's so, fellows," declared Matty; "I see what Elmer means. He thinks that if we hid out here, we'd be able to bag the whole blooming crowd soon."
"Sounds all right in theory," admitted Red, "but for one I'd like to know why Elmer believes that push will come back after a little."
"I only feel pretty sure on one point," explained the acting scout master. "And that concerns the woman alone." ”

“ Curator Ditmars, of the New York Zoological Park, says that although he has "studied living examples of many species of deadly snakes—the South American bushmaster and the fer-de-lance, the African puff adder and the berg adder, and such East Indian species as the king cobra, the spectacled cobra and Russell's viper, and although there is indelibly stamped upon his mind the bloated body, the glassy stare and the rhythmic hissing of the berg adder, the rearing, uncanny pose of an infuriated cobra—there is one image vivid above all, the rattlesnake. ”

“ Consequently, any one of the more experienced scouts would have been equal to the task of following that trail backward.
As Elmer moved away he made a swift, beckoning movement with his arm. This the boys interpreted as a command or invitation to "get a move on," as Lil Artha put it, and follow after their leader.
So the troop moved onward, and more than one fellow's teeth came together with a click as he grasped his cudgel tighter in his hand, and resolved to give a good account of himself should it become necessary to do something violent. ”

“ Matty began.
"Hey, don't you drag me into this thing," spoke up Toby, whose many experiments as a new beginner in the science of aviation had usually ended in his enjoying a disastrous tumble.
"All you have to do is to examine the comb," Matty went on. "Then you'll find that it holds a few long hairs, and, fellows, just see how gray they are, will you?"
"Well, what d'ye think of that!" burst out Red. "And I guess we're a lot of chumps, fellows, not to have seen through it before."
"Would a woman be among anarchists, Elmer?" demanded Toby. ”

“ When the other end was allowed to slip down the face of the door it rested about halfway.
"No danger of that slipping loose if she tries to push out," remarked Elmer.
Mark gave several additional pulls downward at the upper end of the log, to make it still firmer.
"I'll just wager," he said, finally, "that nobody, man or woman, could open that door now from the inside."
"How about the window?" asked Lil Artha.
"You might manage to crawl through that small opening, but that broad-beamed woman, never," declared the scout master, positively. ”

“ Matty continued, "you don't seem to agree with the rest of us when we call these Italians anarchists."
"Because there hasn't been a solitary thing to prove it. We pathfinders must always discover some trace of the trail, or else we'd go astray. And I've owned up that I'm more than half inclined to believe these people are not the bad lot you'd make out."
"But they've got our chum a prisoner," said Red.
"Looks that way," assented Elmer, cheerfully.
"And honest men would never do a thing like that," declared Red. ”

“ Then Mark saw that some object was threshing the bushes furiously. Twice the woman tried to rise, but on each occasion she fell back again.
Then presently he gave a shout as he guessed the true situation.
"She's caught fast in a vine, Elmer. Even the woods work with us! I tell you she's a prisoner right now! All we've got to do is to tie her hands!"
"But look out for that dandelion knife, boys," warned Elmer, as the three of them reached the spot. ”

“ And so the whole troop started off, with Elmer and Landy in the lead, the latter hardly knowing whether to be tickled at the attention he was receiving, or worried because he presently began to doubt his ability to "deliver the goods."
Strange how all sections of the woods look alike to a fellow who is a novice in the art of picking his way. Landy had imagined that he was just soaking in valuable information while following the lead of Matty or Elmer. ”

“ The one appealed to, Matty Eggleston by name, was something of a leader among the Hickory Ridge Troop of Boy Scouts.
In fact, he was at the head of the Beaver Patrol, and studying constantly in order to attain the rank of a first-class scout.
There are so very many things a boy must know in order [18] to reach this ambition that comparatively few scouts ever attain it. But by concentrating all his energies upon one particular study he may earn a merit badge, which it will make him proud to wear. ”

“ Elmer had not seen the first trace of a dog anywhere around, but this could hardly be accepted as positive evidence that there were none.
Frequently such men make it a point to possess canine companions. And these are invariably of some species fond of the spirit of battle.
It was partly the expectation of running across such four-footed enemies that had influenced Elmer to have the boys arm themselves with clubs. He knew what a power for good a stout cudgel may prove under such conditions. ”

“ There are but few species of Iguanas found in the United States and these only in the southwestern part. They are large in size and have a crest of spiny scales running along the neck and back. They use their tails as weapons of offense and defense. The Cape Iguana is a species found only in Lower California. The tail is ringed with large spines. The Black Iguana is found in southern Arizona. [154] It is a great fighter when at bay and is then no mean antagonist. It does not invite a fight, however, but will run if there is any chance of escape. ”