CHAPTER XVII

BUCK’S SQUAD TAKES THE FIELD

Ted refused at the time to reveal the details of his plan for trapping the person who was annoying them in their camp, but he promised that he would later on. Feeling that a good part of the morning had been wasted in the details of his fight with Plum, he preferred that they get things done around the camp. This was attended to and then he and Buck had two important matters to attend to.

The first was that of seeking the tracks of the horse who had posed on the rock on the previous evening, with a view to tracing the animal in the hope of obtaining some clue as to its owner. They went to the rock and searched carefully around, moving away from it with eyes alert to pick up the mark of a hoof, but the ground around was too rocky to help them any. Some fifty feet away from it they found one print but that was all, and they finally gave it up as a bad job.

“When that fellow brought the horse down to the rock he made a good job of it,” Ted admitted, mopping his forehead. “He didn’t mean that we were to find any hoof prints.”

“But a horse is pretty heavy, and I should think he would be bound to leave marks,” murmured Buck.

“Well, there is a way to do everything,” said Ted, with a grin. “I remember a trick I used to work on my father. I used to go swimming over in Tier’s Pond that summer you were away and the only way to get there without hoofing it was to take the horse and carriage, because I was small then and didn’t have the old car. But I knew if my dad saw the wheel prints and the hoof prints in the gravel, he’d know I had taken the carriage and the horse, which he didn’t want me to take, so I put a couple of blankets down and walked the horse across them, then went back and picked up the first one and put it down ahead of the horse’s hoofs, and in that way we got out of the drive without leaving a mark. When I came back at night I used to spread them out again and get in without so much as a trace showing. Maybe that is what our friend of last night did.”

“I wouldn’t doubt it. He had everything carefully planned, and we’ll have to hustle some to catch up with him.”

After lunch the two leaders went to the farmhouse and there Ted used the telephone to call Lawyer Calvert. When the president of the club got on the wire Ted told him the events of the past few days and narrated his reason for thrashing Plum. The lawyer listened without comment until he was finished.

“You did just what was right, Thorn,” he told Ted. “That boy had it coming to him for a long time. When he gets in town I’ll see to it that he doesn’t spread any stories around among the parents. But are you sure that everything is all right? You don’t need any special protection?”

“I don’t think so, Mr. Calvert,” replied Ted. “So far we have managed to stand it and I think that we’ll be able to face it to the end. I have some plans for setting a trap for the man, whoever he is, and I think we’ll fix him so that he’ll stay away. If things should get serious I would let you know, and if necessary abandon the camp, but I’m pretty sure that it won’t come to that.”

“All right, just as you say. You are in complete charge and I rely on you. If you need any more money with which to buy provisions, call me and I’ll see to it that you get it.”

Ted promised to do so and with that the conversation came to an end. The farmer and his wife had listened openly to the conversation on Ted’s part, and they quite frankly let him see it in their subsequent words.

“Sho, you boys havin’ a little trouble down to your camp, ain’t you?” the farmer said, as Ted joined Buck in the kitchen of the house.

“Yes, but we’ll get at the bottom of it pretty soon,” affirmed Ted. “By the way, if you should hear from any one around that they know anything about it, you might let me know.”

“I’ll sure do that,” promised the farmer. “Anybody ought to be ashamed to go botherin’ you while you ain’t doing nothing but enjoyin’ yourself campin’.”

“I’d be scared to death to stay down there at night,” the farmer’s wife shook her head.

The next move on Ted’s part was strange even to Buck. They went to Montvery and there Ted bought ten cheap flashlights.

“What is the idea?” Buck demanded. “We have lanterns in the camp and we don’t really need flashlights. A few of us have them already and there is plenty of oil for the lamps.”

“I know, but I want every boy to have a flashlight. It is part of the plan which I will unfold when we get back to camp.”

When they arrived at the camp they found the boys in swimming, with their clothing piled in plain sight on the bank of Bear Creek. “We didn’t trust this place,” Drummer confided. “We were afraid if we left the clothes in the tent somebody would walk off with ’em or make them vanish or something!”

When they were all out and dressed Ted called them in a knot around him. They stood away from the tents and the tress, out in the open space.

“I want to tell you what I have in mind out here where no one could possibly be listening,” he began. “So many funny things happen around here that I’m afraid to talk for fear that my words will be overheard. What I wanted to tell you is this: Up until now this pest has been scaring us and running away, laughing up his sleeve—if he has a sleeve! We don’t know enough about him to know how he does dress, unless he’s a fake Black Rider all the time. Every time he has bothered us we sit here looking dazed and let him get away from us. Now, my idea is this: to create two distinct squads, a camp squad and a chasing squad. We’ll settle after awhile who is to be who, but for the time being we’ll see what each one is to do.”

“This afternoon I bought flashlights for those who haven’t any and from now on, as soon as it gets dark, we’ll wear ’em on our belts. Don’t leave them in your tents for a single minute! We have lanterns in the tents, but by the time we get the lanterns lighted and started off, the would-be terror could get a good start and we’d never nail him. Because the chasing squad is to form and run after the man the minute there is a suspicious sound around the camp!”

There was a stir of expectancy and the boys looked a bit startled but more pleased than anything else. Ted went on: “Buck will be the head of the chasing squad and I’ll take care of the camp squad. The reason I don’t want every one to go running out and chasing up the mountain is because I don’t think the camp should ever be left alone. The chasing squad will be composed of the fastest runners, and also the biggest fellows, just in case you have to use any force on anyone, though it isn’t likely that a bunch of boys such as we are could ever handle a grown man, but if we can get a line on the direction he runs in we’ll begin to learn something.”

“You get the point, don’t you? As soon as there is any unusual noise, Buck’s squad forms and runs in that direction. The rest of us stay in camp and guard it against surprise. I’ve got another thought in regard to trapping a visitor, but this one will do for now. From this time on we’ll be doing something besides sitting still and just listening and looking scared. Now, lets pick squads.”

The biggest and oldest boys, seven in number, were immediately picked for Buck’s squad and the rest were reserved for the camp watch. Some of the boys were disappointed because they couldn’t run with the active group, but Ted was determined to make his two sections effective. There was a lot of chattering on the subject and the leader was compelled to warn them to keep things quiet.

“Think they will be eager for action when the time comes?” Buck asked.

“I guess they will. They know that a bunch of them will be in action and that makes a difference. I think it will work out.”

The flashlights were passed out and from that time on the boys carried them on their belts and longed for action. But two nights sped by without anything unusual happening and they began to think that everything was over, when the third evening brought action suddenly.

They were sitting around the campfire when there was a sliding sound back of them and a tiny avalanche of dirt and stones rolled down behind the tents. There was a crashing noise as though someone had landed in the bushes, and then, as they peered in a startled manner toward the rear of the camp they saw a figure bolt into the shrubs near the springs.

“There he goes! Go after him!” shouted Ted, and Buck frantically pulled at his flashlight. The other boys followed his lead as he darted off, and in an instant the peaceful camp was demoralized. The eight boys on the chasing squad were running across the camp toward the springs and the others who were to remain in camp were urging them on at the top of their lungs.

Drummer joined Buck and they came to the bottom of the rise, pushing their way up it with their lights turned on. They could hear the sound of the running man in front of them, and it was evident that he had thrown all caution to the wind in an endeavor to get away from them. On flat ground Drummer would not have been able to keep up with his chief, but his sturdy legs were good for climbing and he was able to remain pretty close to Buck’s side. Back of them the other boys ran along, forgetting nervousness in the excitement of the chase.

The camp lay far behind them now and they noted that the man was taking a course off in the direction which Farmer Crane had told them was the way to Hogs’ Hollow. If this was the man from that region he would speedily lose them, for it was evident that he knew the country and at the first opportunity he would conceal himself and let them hunt for him at will. But just now he seemed to be putting all of his strength and skill into his running. He had no light and must have been very familiar with the surrounding country.

He was drawing ahead of them now and the noise of his running footsteps was growing dimmer. The country became wilder and rocks protruded jagged heads above the mountain soil. The woods had given way to open country thickly sprinkled with bushes and before they had run many yards further they came across a narrow road that was little more than a wagon track. Drummer and Buck were becoming winded and the other boys had dropped out of the swift running, though they were still advancing.

A stone wall, long and low, loomed up before them and beyond a set of stones which seemed more orderly than the ones they had encountered thus far in their run, attracted their attention. The flashlights revealed the fact that they were grave stones and they had arrived at a little country graveyard. They stopped to get breath.

“Ow, that was a tough run!” gasped Drummer, leaning on the wall.

“You bet it was!” agreed Buck, as two other boys came up. “I think he went across this graveyard.”

“I don’t hear him,” said Bob, listening intently.

All sounds of the pursued had ceased and the night was silent except for the murmur of the voices of the other boys, who now came up and joined them. Buck and Drummer had made enough noise in their running to serve as a permanent guide for the others.

“Maybe he ran right across it and is still going,” said Charlie, nodding toward the quiet graveyard.

“I don’t know, but I’m going in and see if he is hiding behind a stone,” announced Buck.

His followers looked startled and uneasy and he noted the look. “You fellows stay here and I’ll just take a quick look,” he said, stepping over the wall. “Put your lights out.”

“I’ll go with you,” declared Drummer, lifting one foot over the wall.

“No, you stay here with the boys. There aren’t many stones in the yard and it will only take me a moment. I’ll be right back, so keep absolutely quiet.”

With that Buck began his search, looking behind the stones by the light from his flash. The graveyard was a little longer than he had been able to make out from the rays of his light, and he kept moving away from the boys in the road. Back of every stone he flashed the light, but found nothing.

He was now at the far end of the country cemetery and one large monumental stone alone remained. He stepped toward it, pressing the button on the flashlight, for he allowed it to go out after each flash. As he did so he stepped around the big stone and instantly sensed the presence of someone in the darker shadow behind the shaft.

But before he could step back or press on his light a strong arm was thrown around him and a rough, horny hand was clapped over his mouth.