G. Harvey Ralphson

“ Ned grinned. "Here. I'll put these cuffs on again, with one arm locked carelessly. You can draw the bar out when you pull right hard. Now, eat what you need and take a run up the slope. We'll follow you with a serenade of bullets. When you join the outlaws down in the canyon you'll be a hero."
"That's a fine notion!" said Bradley, actually smiling.
"And don't come back here with the boy. Send him home to the old lady. Then, if you want to help me in the work I'm on—"
"I don't, and I won't!"
"Don't blame you a mite! I never did like a traitor! If you won't help me, then cut sticks for New York. ”

“ Straight down, in a canyon made by an outcropping ledge of rock, he saw a faint light, as from a campfire which had been allowed to die down.
"The mountains are full of people to-night!" he mused. "If I thought I could make Uncle Ike behave himself, I'd ride down there and see who those campers are."
The boy stood undecided for some moments, then his eyes opened wider and he moved downward toward the fire. He was thinking of the Boy Scout signals for help which Ned and Frank had mentioned seeing! ”

“ Bradley said.
"But if he likes children he won't be apt to injure this Mike III., will he?"
"He is a man who will do anything for expediency's sake. Now go away and leave me to my very entertaining thoughts! If I ever get out of these hills alive, and free, I'll never leave Manhattan island again."
"I remember you saying that you had never set foot in New York!" laughed Ned. "You'll have to make your stories consistent if you want them believed!"
"Never mind all that now," Bradley replied. "You get busy restoring that child to Mrs. Brady! Say, boy, but he is a bright-one!" ”

“ Jack complained. "Just our luck, Ned!"
"All we know is that he is tall, has light brown hair, and is very strong," Ned replied. "But there are ten thousand people in New York this minute who answer to that description."
"How do you know he is tall?" demanded Jack.
"When he lay on the rug," Ned explained, "he stretched out on his stomach to look through the hole, if he could. He couldn't; he could only listen, for the cut was made so as to be hidden by the ornamental brass piece that circles the rod from which the chandelier swings. ”

“ He went back to the camp, and, much to the surprise of Teddy and
Oliver, began packing.
"What's doing now?" the boy asked.
"Why," laughed Ned, "haven't I agreed to get out of here to-morrow or next day?"
"Yes, but—"
"We're going to pack, anyway," Ned said, "whether we leave or not! There are people watching every move we make, and I want to convey to them the idea that we are going at once."
"If they are watching us," Oliver suggested, "they doubtless saw Jack and Jimmie leave the camp." ”

“ CHAPTER IX A LANK MULE AS A DECOY Judd Bradley, the young man who had brought the boy into the mountains, stood for a moment watching the mule curiously. Then he stepped nearer to Ned, who was trying to quiet the fractious animal.
"Be careful," Ned warned, as Bradley approached. "Uncle Ike doesn't take to strangers. He may kick if you come within reach."
"Hell kick you whether you come within reach or not!" grumbled Buck, who had been brought from the cabin by the clatter of the mule's hoofs. "He reached over forty acres of rock to hand me one on the laig!" ”

“ Jimmie decided, moving down the slope. "The boy can't be very far off. I'd like to know how a Boy Scout got lost out here."
"We may become lost ourselves," laughed Teddy, "if we don't look out where we are going. I wouldn't know where to head for if I wanted to go back to camp right now."
"All we would have to do would be to climb the mountain," Jimmie declared.
"There's more than one summit," persisted Teddy. "We'd better get a line on something to guide ourselves by when we go back." ”

“ Teddy whispered. "That's brutal!"
"That gives me faith in the boy!" exclaimed Jimmie.
"What's the answer to that?" demanded Teddy.
"They probably saw him doing the wig-wag!" was Jimmie's reply.
"They're threatening him."
"And they may have been beating him up for doing it? That may be."
"And, again," the other continued, "that may be a little rehearsal all for our benefit! There are men in the world sharp enough to put up just that kind of a bluff."
"That's very true," was the reply. "We've got to lie here until we know what it all means. ”

“ Jimmie asserted.
"Wouldn't they?" demanded Teddy Green. "If you read up on history, you'll soon find out whether ambitious men will murder children who stand in their way! I half believe the boy was murdered at the very moment he was taken!"
"He has been seen alive since that time," Ned responded. "This is
Thursday. He was taken on Monday, and was seen yesterday. Or a boy
believed to be the prince was seen yesterday, on a launch on the
Potomac river."
"Prince, eh?" cried Frank. "It is a prince, is it? Say, but won't dad be glad to hear about this? I'd like to write the headlines!" ”

“ After a brief wait Ned heard the sound he was listening for and clutched Frank eagerly by the arm.
"Move away to the right and repeat the wolf call, only lower," he directed. "When you have done so dodge back here-quick! The guard may shoot!"
"What are you going to do?" whispered Bradley. "Be careful! Those
Orientals are dangerous people to handle! Be careful!"
"I guess we won't start anything we can't finish," Frank grinned.
The boy did as requested, and Ned moved up the slope. Bradley sat watching the dim figures disappear and wondered what sort of company he had fallen into. ”

“ Frank whispered.
"Counterfeiters!" Ned whispered, in reply. "And murderers!"
"How are we going to get the boys out?" asked Frank. "They'll be killed if we don't."
"One must raise a ruction on the outside, and the other must sneak in while the outlaws are gone. That is the only way I can think of now. If you go out there and get Uncle Ike, and coax a couple of sobs out of him, and rattle stones, and shoot your automatic like rain, the outlaws may all rush out of the cave." ”

“ Jimmie said to the captive. "Have they had much training in running?
They bobbed along like professionals, it seemed to me."
"You'll see how fast they can run!" Bradley growled. "They'll go fast enough to send you all over the road."
"Now about this grandson," asked Ned, falling back. "Mrs. Brady wants to know where he is. No use for you to hide him, now that we all know he was disguised to look like the prince stolen from Washington. Why did you paint him if not to imitate this other boy we speak of?" ”

“ Where did you see them last?" asked Ned.
"They went up the slope, and disappeared behind that chimney of rock.
I've got pictures of that rock!"
"This looks like a three-cornered game!" Ned mused.
"What do you mean by that?" asked Jack. "Where are the three interests?"
"We'll probably have to come back here tonight," Ned went on, without answering the question. "We can never get up that slope in daylight without attracting their attention."
"We must be at least four up-hill miles from camp," Jack calculated.
"All of that," answered Ned. "It is a long walk there and back." ”

“ Nor he wouldn't be here with a chaperon from Washington. We have found the prince, all right, and I'm sorry for it! It makes our work too easy!"
"Don't crow until you're out of the woods!" laughed Ned. "There may be a few adventures in store for us yet! So this seven-year-old boy talks French, does he?"
"You bet he does! Like a native!"
"Where are they now—Bradley and the boy, I mean?"
"Down by the mules! The boy, who is constantly called Mike—ostentatiously called by that name—wants to ride Uncle Ike! Fat time he'll have if he gets aboard of that argumentative brute!" ”

“ I wish Dad could step out of that Harvard thing and eat supper with us!"
The shrill scream of a mule now came up from the feeding ground below, and a commotion at the tent showed that one of the animals was kicking up a row there.
"That's that long-eared Uncle Ike," Jimmie McGraw exclaimed. "I feel in my bones that I'm going to love that mule! He's so worthless! If he had two legs less he'd beat Jesse James to the tall timber in piracy! He won't work if you don't watch him, and he'll steal everything he gets his eyes on! ”

“ Then new stories had to be told, and the prince was by no means slow in telling of his adventures in the hills.
"The boy lies!" the leader of the conspirators declared. "I had nothing to do with the boy! I was not here when he was brought in. I came on separate business with one of the men already here, and did not know of the lad's presence here until to-night, and even then I did not know who he was."
"All the others will swear to that," Bradley said, "in an attempt to save the man's life by sacrificing their own."
"Never mind," Ned said, "you can testify to his interest in the abduction." ”

“ Nearly all the snapshots taken by Ned and Jack on the afternoon they had come to the hiding place of Jimmie's captors had been printed by the boys, and most of them had been destroyed, plates and all. Stationing Oliver and Dode out on the slope to watch for any approach which might be made, Ned gave his attention to the pictures.
"The worst of it is," Frank declared, "that the good ones were the ones the boys printed, and the ones which were burned up."
"I don't know about that," Ned said. "The camera sees things the human eye does not see! ”

“ It is the instinct of animals to follow precedent, same as men. A man will follow a cow path until it becomes a city street, and a cow, a horse, or a mule will follow a trail previously used—if only passed over once! Let the mule have his head, and he may take us to the place where somebody was dumped!"
"Solomon had nothing on you, Ned!" laughed Frank. "Go to it! Uncle Ike, it is you for the scene of the abduction! And you may go just as fast as you please!"
The mule started off at a fast pace, keeping to the bottom of the valley and finally entering the canyon at the south end. ”

“ The boys had traveled farther from the camp than they had intended, and the return journey was all up hill. They surveyed the prospect gloomily.
"I could eat the top off one of the mountains!" Jimmie declared, as they turned to make the climb. "I never was so hungry in my life. Wish we were back in camp!"
Teddy, who had turned to look down into the valley, now caught Jimmie by the arm and pointed downward, where a low-lying ridge jutted out of the general slope and made a small canyon between itself and the body of the mountains, a canyon in which a trinkle of water showed. ”

“ When you get it tell Uncle Ike it is important and get here with it as soon as possible. You've got a hard trip ahead of you, boy!" he added. "I'm game!" laughed Jack. "If there's any of this prince trouble leaked out," he added, "what shall I say?"
"Tell the old story. Say that we are in the hills for art's sake, and that we have been annoyed by counterfeiters! Nothing serious, understand? Not a word about our real mission here. You notice that even the men we are battling with want it understood that it is the counterfeiters who are trying to drive us out." ”

“ Ned answered, grimly. "In that case, mount the mule and get back to camp and bring Jack and Oliver and a lot of guns."
"But one of those boys must be in there," Frank insisted. "Some one rode Ike here!"
"We don't know who it is that is here," Ned reflected. "Anyway,
you've got to get away with the mule after making all that noise.
Don't go in the direction of the Brady cabin. We don't want that man
Bradley mixing us up with police officers!"
"Every minute counts!" Frank declared, "I'm off. You'll hear a racket like the blowing up of a world in about three minutes! Good luck!" ”

“ Now, Frank, you saw where Bradley went?"
"Why, he headed for the old counterfeiter den."
"Think you can keep track of him for a short time?"
"Can I? You know it!"
"Then take Dode with you, so as to be in communication with the camp, and follow him! Don't show yourself if you can help it, but if you are discovered keep busy with your camera. We are here only to take pictures, you know!"
"So you don't trust that chap, after all?" asked Frank.
"Yes, I trust him, but he won't betray the men he has been working with. ”

“ Teddy grinned. "I reckon we'd better eat hens, and coon, and fresh fish—if we can get them! And deer! We get no venison steaks!"
"Not this season!" Jimmie grunted. "They'd take great joy, as you say, in getting us into jail and extracting all our vacation money! I'm going to take photographs of the West Virginia game laws. A man is about the only creature one can shoot down here during the summer and get away with it! I'll have Frank put that idea in his dad's newspaper!" ”

“ He thinks we rather overdid the stunt when we went to Lady Franklin bay!"
"Never had so much fun in my life!" laughed Jimmie. "When you get where it is forty below, there's some delight in living!"
"What are we going to take pictures of?" demanded Teddy Green.
"Moonshiners!" laughed Frank. "Isn't that right, Ned?"
"Not exactly," was the answer. "This is not a whisky case at all."
"Counterfeiters, then?" queried Oliver. "They live in the hills!"
"No, not counterfeiters, either," Ned replied. "The government has plenty of men to look after counterfeiters and moonshiners. ”

“ CHAPTER VIII UNCLE IKE PRESENTS HIMSELF Mrs. Brady and Buck walking together, Ned and Frank discussed the situation thoroughly as they descended the mountainside.
"This may be a frame-up," Ned observed, "but it is up to us to see it through. The boy who has just been brought in may be the prince, or he may be the grandson, and we are here to get the answer."
"Or there may be no boy at the cabin at all!" Frank suggested. "The conspirators know that we are in the mountains for the purpose of looking up the prince. What better plan than the one now working could they have settled on? ”

“ Jack was not at all pleased with the idea of returning to camp, and said so repeatedly as they walked along both keeping in the thicket as far as possible, but Ned seemed to take no offense at his remarks.
"What I can't get through my head," Jack finally said, changing the topic of conversation, "is why they let us travel through here without nipping us."
"I have an idea," Ned answered, "that they are pretty busy just now."
"Well, what was the use of our going at all if we sneak away as soon as we get where we might accomplish something?" demanded the boy, reverting to the old subject. ”