Claude A. LaBelle

“ There are some people who want such things for curios, but blessed if I would want one,” said Dick. “Chuck it outside and next time we see him we can tell him he can have it.”
“Wonder if Dud would have done that for a joke,” asked Phil.
“I doubt that,” said Garry. “Dudley is too sensible a person to play a fool trick like that, knowing how it would startle anyone. No, whoever did that was half foolish. Gosh, there’s the coffee boiling over,” and Garry dashed to the campfire. ”

“ Don’t see how it could have crawled very far after being mashed up that way.”
“What do you mean?” was the startled question of Dick.
“Looks suspiciously like an ill-timed practical joke to me,” answered Garry. “Of course it is foolish to think we are the only ones that ever come near here, and some passerby or camper might have killed it and seeing that this place was occupied, hidden it there to do just what it did—scare one of us half to death. Any snake is bad enough, but a rattler, even a dead one, is enough to shake anyone’s nerve for a minute.” ”

“ Phil was detailed to take them to the tent and add them to the others. This he did, and had barely uncovered the gems and was putting the latest find with their companions, when he was struck over the head with a heavy club. His last remembrance, as he floated away into unconsciousness, was the sound of a mocking laugh that belonged to none other than their deadly enemy, the halfbreed.
Garry waited several minutes for Phil to return, and when his chum failed to come back, walked to the tent to see what was delaying him. ”

“ I just wanted to get away from the house so that Aunt Abbie or the old gentleman would not hear us and worry. Here’s my hunch. You know how Ruth has said a half a dozen times that she envied us for our adventures, and that a girl never could do anything, and how she would like to help us out in this business?”
“Yes, we understand that; go on,” said Phil.
“And you know how excited she was yesterday afternoon? Well, I think she went to Lafe Green’s house to see if she could find anything out that would be of help to us. You know she’s daring and not afraid of anything, like so many girls are. ”

“ Raising his rifle to his shoulder he fired straight at the black mass, pumping the shots from his magazine as fast as he could work the mechanism.
He retreated hastily as he fired, and at the second shot heard a scream of pain, then there was a thud as some body struck the ground and writhed and clawed.
Garry fired two more shots at the screeching mass and then all was quiet and the struggling ceased. The sound of the shots had, of course, wakened Simmons, and he rushed forward to where Garry was standing.
“What is it? Are we attacked? Did you kill him?” The questions were shot out rapidly. ”

“ A momentary gleam of fear appeared in the man’s eyes, but he made haste to answer:
“’Course not; ain’t no womenkind of any sort around here. This is Mr. Green’s house.”
Both Garry and Phil could see the man was lying, and knew that their guess was correct. Either Ruth was in the house, or this tramp knew something about her.
“Come on now, come through. You know the girl I mean. Where is she? Phil, keep your rifle on this fellow, and if he makes a move while I go through the house, blow him up,” ordered Garry.
“Say, listen. What do I get if I put you fellows wise to all this?” ”

“ There was nothing on the paper but the crude representation of a bear.
“The Bear,” said Garry disgustedly. “Jean LeBlanc’s nickname. Oh, Nate, what a lot of fools we’ve been. We should have kept a watch for him every minute. Now here’s all our time gone, and our valuable gems. Of course we may get others, but suppose the pockets give out. All gone.”
Phil said nothing, but Garry knew that he saw his visions of going to school with his chums in the fall going a-glimmering. ”

“ Oftentimes they decided such matters as who should perform certain duties by drawing lots, using three twigs, the man getting the shortest being named for the job.
“All right, now,” said Garry. “Who has suggestion number one?”
“I believe that I have a hunch,” answered Phil. “Perhaps I am all wrong and am just trying to paint a villain blacker than he is; but I cannot get it out of my head that the halfbreed is mixed up in this some way. Perhaps he is not the brains of the organization, but Lafe Green might be. ”

“ Dick dressed hastily and went to the front door. When he opened it, he could see no one, and stepped down onto the walk to look about.
He had barely done so, when he was seized by the arm by someone who stepped out of the shrubbery that lined the walk.
“Come on,” said the man in French, and a second appeared in his wake.
Dick recognized the voice. It was that of Baptiste LeBlanc.
Certain capture stared Dick in the face. To call for help would be of no avail, for there was no one that could come to his aid quickly. He thought swiftly and then acted. ”

“ But how was he to repair a part of a radio telephone, that most delicate instrument, while he was out here in the wilds? It would be a hard enough task in the village, for there were no stores where radio equipment could be bought.
Garry, however, was not one to give up hopelessly on anything. He set his wits to work to think up some way in which the detector could be fixed. A search of his knapsack revealed nothing that could be substituted for the original whisker.
He knew enough about the apparatus to know what would be needed. ”

“ If we find something that means anything, it will give the inspector a good impression of us, and we will then be asked to give all the help we can. However, only a little time will tell what is going to happen, and the first thing to do is to find some real evidence that will help the case. Until we do that we can’t claim to be much good, and I wouldn’t blame the man for not wanting us to be bothering around.”
“Well, then, let’s follow our usual custom and hold a council of war,” suggested Phil, as they started back to the lean-to with their arms full of the fragrant balsam boughs. ”

“ All that needed to be done was to fix up stones for their campfire and cut new boughs for a “mattress” on which to lay their blankets.
“What do you think of this man Simmons?” asked Dick, as they set out for a little clump of balsams to get boughs.
“Don’t know just what to say offhand,” answered Garry. “I can say, however, that he seems to be a little peeved at our being here to help him out. Of course I realize that it is a cheeky thing for a pack of boys to be sent to help a man that knows his business, or is supposed to know it, but orders are orders.” ”

“ The work of making the trench was simple, and when it had been completed, Dick ordered them to get about a dozen thin saplings.
“Strikes me the fat boy is pretty good at bossing, isn’t he, Garry?” said Phil with a laugh.
“Go on now, get those saplings. You see before you a mighty inventor who cannot be bothered with menial tasks,” said Dick in a lofty tone.
“Don’t know whether to trip him up and sit on him, or just ignore him,” said Garry to Phil. ”

“ You boys walk on ahead and I’ll trot back to Denton’s and get a little. I won’t be more than five minutes and will catch up with you by the time you reach Aunt Abbie’s house,” and Garry was off at a trot for the store.
He procured his candy, and was walking back to join his comrades, when he became suddenly aware that he was being followed.
Garry could not see anyone, but he had that instinct that comes to anyone when he is being followed. It is the same feeling that one has when he realizes that there is someone else in a room with him when it was supposed to be empty. ”

“ Dick sat down in the cool kitchen while Aunt Abbie scurried about getting his lunch. She kept up a running fire of chatter as she worked, it being mostly about the missing Ruth. She wanted to know what news any of the boys had, and what they were doing to find her.
“Garry has some sort of a clue that he has a lot of faith in, and has gone to look it up. You needn’t worry, Aunt Abbie. If she’s to be found, Garry is the boy to do the trick.”
Dick did not want to tell her that Ruth was in the power of Jean LeBlanc, for he knew that she would worry even more. Then he asked how the grandfather was. ”

“ As it was nearly nightfall, they decided to postpone the blasting until the morning.
Around the campfire, after supper, they chatted and listened while Nate told stories of the forest. One of Nate’s stories was about the search that he had once led for a camper that had gotten lost in the forest, and how he had been found just in time to prevent death from starvation and exposure. This led to a discussion on the part of the boys as to the foolishness of campers in straying so far away from their party as to become lost.
“It’s a crazy thing for one unused to the woods to do,” declared Dick. ”

“ You just fix a place for the camera and focus it on a spot, then set a trap that will pull down the lever when it is stepped on or moved. Simple as A B C. I’ve never done it before, but I know how to construct one. We’ll do it first thing in the morning.”
By this time it had become quite dark, and the boys turned in, except for Phil, who drew the first tour of sentry duty. Warning him to keep his eyes and ears open every minute, Garry and Dick rolled into their blankets.
Phil was as restless as a cat on a hot plate. Every snapping twig or soughing of the breeze through the trees made him jump. ”

“ There is nothing to make us think they would have become acquainted with Green and his outfit, and besides they have seen us a couple of times and failed to recognize us. That was natural, because we are dressed differently and are tanned up so that our own families would hardly recognize us. If they had been part of the Green-LeBlanc outfit, they would have been told of us, and when they saw us would have made it known in some fashion. I think they are only in this section because it is close to the border, and they can keep out of sight. ”

“ However, we’ll do just what he tells us to, and let it go at that,” said Phil, as he swung his hatchet and knicked off a few boughs.
“That isn’t my idea at all,” interrupted Dick. “We will in all probability not be asked to give any help at all if my impression of this man is correct. Therefore I move that we do a little work on our own hook and see what we can do ourselves. If we find any clue that is really promising, we can turn it over to Simmons. ”

“ If I’m right, it is the most dastardly attempt to kill a person that I ever heard of.”
“Gosh, don’t give a lecture; tell us what you mean,” broke in Dick.
“It’s just this. That dead rattler was put there with a distinct purpose by some one who wants us out of the way!”
“You don’t think anyone is foolish enough to believe that a dead reptile would drive us away do you? Of course we would be startled, but it wouldn’t make us run out of the country,” scoffed Phil.
“No, you don’t get the point at all,” said Garry, his face paling at the thought. ”

“ Now what will you allow me to have?” inquired Dick.
“Nothing at all; you’ve got to use Nature’s weapons all the time,” promptly answered Phil.
“No, that’s hardly fair,” protested Nate. “The average camper that got lost would have his knife, and he’d likely have a hatchet stuck in his belt. ’Tain’t likely, though, that he’d have any food with him; and if he were only out for a short stroll, and got twisted in direction, and then lost, he wouldn’t have his gun with him. Suppose we put it this way: You’re in the woods lost, and through an accident you lost your pack and rifle. ”

“ If he accepts it, all well and good; we will know that he appreciates the help. If he doesn’t, we can go on quietly ourselves and do what we can. If we are fortunate enough to get the right clue that will lead to the real culprit, we will offer it to him again. Then if he bars us and pays no attention to it, the best thing to do will be to communicate with the Chief Ranger at Augusta and get his advice as to what to do. How does that strike you fellows?”
“Sounds good to me,” said Garry, “but I think you chaps are building a mountain out of a mole hill. ”

“ He is a cunning man, versed in all kinds of villainy, and with LeBlanc’s bravery, for bad as he is, you must give him credit for being fearless, they make a dangerous combination. Lafe Green can command a certain type of men by holding influence over them, and LeBlanc can lead certain kinds through making them fear him. Then they seem to be mixed up in any mess that we come in contact with. I move we start on the premise that they are the ones.”
“Good logic, there,” said Garry, “and there is only one way to find out whether or not your hunch is true. ”

“ It’s an old Indian trick to get rid of an enemy without leaving a trace. Boys, just as sure as we’re sitting here, Jean LeBlanc is back on our trail, and that snake was put there by none other than our halfbreed enemy!”
“That means step carefully every minute then, doesn’t it?” asked Phil.
“You bet it does,” responded Garry. “From now on we go back to our old system of night watches. Two hours and a half of duty for each of us every night while we are in the woods, and eyes in the back of our heads all the time.”
“Do you suppose Lafe Green could have done that?” queried Phil. ”

“ Finally the saplings were all laid.
“Now we must cover the saplings with some dirt very carefully and smooth it down hard,” said Dick. The dirt was sprinkled on and then bidding Garry guard the lever, Dick patted it down hard on the improvised platform.
“That’s good so far,” said Phil. “But won’t the person who steps on that feel the give of it, and become suspicious?”
“That’s one chance we will have to take, but I intend to sprinkle a few pine needles on top of this and try to give it the appearance of soft ground. You know how often one steps on a springing, spongy surface in the woods.” ”

“ I’ve always held to the opinion that barking dogs never bite.”
“Seems to me that the dog bit this time,” remarked Garry dryly.
“How so?”
“Why, the setting afire of the house last night.”
“Oh, that. Well, there may be other reasons. Mr. Everett has a whole lot of enemies. He’s pretty freespoken with his tongue. ’Course he’s generally right in what he says, but there’s nothing that hurts like the truth in some cases. All that’s a matter for the sheriff to help out with. On the big matter we can’t do anything till the postoffice inspector gets here. ”