CHAPTER VI
THE HOME-COMING OF JO DAVIES
"Whew! that's tough!" observed Seth.
One or two of the other scouts whistled, to indicate the strainedcondition of their nerves; and all of them pressed up a little closer,so as not to lose a single word of what was passing.
"But if as you say, sir, that you had this money securely hidden, itdoesn't seem possible that an ordinary tramp would know the place whereyou kept it, so that he could dodge right into the house, and in aminute be off with it; isn't that so?"
Paul was the greatest hand you ever heard of to dip deeply into a thing.Where most other boys of his age would be satisfied to simply listen,and wonder, he always persisted in asking questions, in order to get atthe facts. And he was not born in Missouri either, as Seth oftenlaughingly declared.
The farmer looked at him. There was a frown beginning to gather on hisforehead as though sudden and serious doubts had commenced to take agrip on his mind.
"If he took my money I'll have the law on him, as sure as my name isSile Rollins," Paul heard him mutter, half to himself.
"Then you've thought of some one who might have known that you had threethousand dollars under your roof, is that it, sir?" he asked.
"Y-yes, but it's hard to suspect Jo, when I've done so much for himthese years he's been with me," admitted the owner of the farm; thoughat the same time his face took on a hard expression, and he ground histeeth together furiously, while he went on to say, "but if so be he hasrobbed me, I ain't called upon to have any mercy on him, just becausehis old mother once nursed my wife, and I guess saved her life. Jo hasgot to hand my money back, or take the consequences."
"Is Jo your hired man?" Paul asked.
The farmer nodded his head moodily; he was evidently a prey to mingledfeelings, and close upon the border of a dazed condition. Thesecalamities following so swiftly upon each other's heels had taken hisbreath away. But presently he would recover, and be eager to dosomething.
"You said just a bit ago that he was away today, and that you had to dothe chores this evening, looking after the stock, and such things;wasn't that it, sir?" continued the scoutmaster.
"He asked to have this afternoon off; wouldn't say why he wanted to getaway, either. And by ginger! now that I think of it, Jo did look kind ofexcited when he was asking me for leave. I can see why that should beso. He was figuring on this nasty little game right then and there. Hewanted to be able to prove an _alibi_ in case he was ever accused. Andthis evening he must have put a match to the hay in the barn, and thenwatched his chance to creep into the house when both of us was busytrying to save the stock. Oh! it makes my blood boil just to think ofit. And I never would have believed Jo Davies could have been so coldblooded as to take the chances of burnin' the animals he seemed to be sofond of."
"Did he stay here over night with you?" Paul asked.
"Not as a rule, Jo didn't. You see, he's got an old mother, and theylive in a little cottage about a mile away from here toward town. So Jo,he always made it a point to sleep there. I had no fault to find,because he was on hand bright and early every morning. But this willkill his old mother; however could he do it? Chances are, he fell inwith some racing men when we had the county fair, and has got togambling. But I'll be ruined if I don't get that money back again."
"Could we help you in any way, Mr. Rollins? You know, Boy Scouts arealways bound to be of assistance whenever they find a chance. We're on agreat hike just now, and a little leg weary; but if we can stand by youfurther, please let us know. How about that, boys?" and Paul turnedtoward his chums as he spoke.
"That's the ticket, Paul!" replied Andy, promptly.
"Our sentiments, every time," said Seth.
And the others gave vigorous nods, to indicate that they were all of thesame mind; which unanimity of opinion must have been a greatsatisfaction to the leader.
"Then let's go right away, boys!" remarked the farmer, eagerly. "P'rapsnow we might come up with Jo on the way, and ketch him with the goodson. If he'll only give me back my money I'll agree not to prosecute, onaccount of his poor old mother, if nothing else. But I'm as bad off as abeggar if I lose all that hard earned cash."
Without saying anything to Mrs. Rollins or the neighbors, they hurriedaway, the boys keeping in a cluster around the farmer. If any of thescouts began to feel twinges in the muscles of their legs, already hardpushed, they valiantly fought against betraying the weakness. Besides,the excitement acted as a tonic upon them, and seemed to lend themadditional powers of endurance, just as it does in foot races where thestrain is terrific.
"It looks bad for Jo Davies, I should think, Paul," Andy managed to say,as they pushed resolutely along.
"Well, he is the one fellow who may have known about the money,"admitted the scout master, "and if the temptation ever came to him, hecould easily watch his employer, and learn where he hid the cash. Howabout that, Mr. Rollins?"
The farmer had heard what was being said, and immediately replied:
"If Jo was bent on robbery, p'raps he could have watched me some time,and seen where I hid that little tin box away in the attic. I used to gothere once a week to add some money to the savings that I'd foolishlydrawn out of bank long before I needed 'em, just to see how it felt tobe rich for a little while."
"When was the last time you went up there to look at it?" Paul asked.
"Let me see, when Web Sterry paid me for the heifer I sold him I put themoney away; and that was just ten days back."
"And it was all there then, you say?" questioned Paul.
"Surely," replied the farmer.
"Was Jo working near the house then, can you remember, sir?"
Mr. Rollins appeared to reflect.
"When was the day we did some carpenter work on that extension--as sureas anything it was the day Webb paid me! Yes, I remember, now, that Jocame around from his work on the plane, and told me Webb was there."
The farmer's excitement was increasing. Things, under the cleverquestioning of the young scoutmaster, seemed to be fitting in with eachother, just as a carpenter dovetails the ends of a box together.
"It looks as though Jo might have spied on you when you went up to theattic to put that new money away with the rest. If he suspected that youwere keeping a large sum in the house that's what he would most likelydo when he knew you had just taken in some more cash. Now, I don't knowJo Davies, and I don't like to accuse him of such a terrible crime; butcircumstantial evidence all points in his direction, Mr. Rollins."
Paul measured his words. He never liked to think ill of any one; butreally in this case it seemed as though there could be hardly any doubtat all; Jo Davies must be the guilty party.
"Are we gettin' near where Jo lives?" asked Jotham, trying to speaklightly, although there was a plain vein of anxiety in his voice; forwhen a fellow has covered nearly thirty miles since sun-up, every rodcounts after that; and following each little rest the muscles seem tostiffen wonderfully.
"More'n two-thirds the way there," replied the farmer. "We'll see alight, like as not, when we get around this turn in the woods road.That'll come from the little cabin where he lives with his old mother.Oh! but I'm sorry for Mrs. Davies; and the boy, he always seemed tothink so much of his maw, too. You never can tell, once these fastfliers get to running with racing men. But I only hope I get my own backagain. That's the main thing with me just now, you know. And if Jo, heseems sorry, I might try and forget what he's done. It all depends onhow things turn out. See, just as I told you, there's the light ahead."
All of them saw it; and as they continued to walk hastily forwardthrough the darkness Paul was thinking how human Mr. Rollins was, afterall; for it was only natural that his first thought should be inconnection with the safe recovery of his hard earned money.
They rapidly drew near the cottage, and all of the boys were beginningto wonder what was fated to happen next on the programme. Doubtless theywere some of them fairly quivering with eagerness, and hoping that thethief might be
caught examining the stolen cash box.
"Hush! there's somebody coming along over there; stand still,everybody!" Paul gave warning, suddenly, and the whole party remainedmotionless, watching a lighted lantern that was moving rapidly towardthe cottage from the opposite direction, being evidently carried by anapproaching man.
It continued to advance straight toward the cottage. Then the unknownopened the door, and went in.
"That was Jo," muttered Mr. Rollins, "I seen his face plain as anything;but why would he be coming from the direction of town, instead of myplace?"
"Oh! that might be only a clever little trick, sir," Seth made haste tosay, as though to indicate in this way that scouts were able to see backof all such sly dodges.
"Say, he sure had something under his arm," broke in Jotham just then.
"Yes, I saw that, too," added Paul. "It was a small package, not muchlarger than a cigar box, I should say, and wrapped up in brown paper."
"P'raps my tin cash box?" suggested Mr. Rollins, in trembling tones.
"It might be, though I hardly think any one smart enough to play such agame as setting fire to a barn in order to draw all attention away fromthe house he wanted to rob, would be silly enough to carry home a tinbox that would convict him, if ever it was found there."
Paul made this remark. They had once more started to advance, though byno means as rapidly as before. The fact that Jo Davies had arrived justbefore them, and not only carrying a lighted lantern, but with asuspicious packet under his arm, seemed to necessitate a change of pace,as well as a new line of action.
"Let's sneak up to the window, and peek in?" suggested Fritz, andsomehow the idea appealed to the others, for without any argument theyproceeded to carry out the plan of campaign.
It promised to be easy work. The shade seemed to be all the way up, asthough the old lady who lived in the humble cottage had left a lightnear the window purposely in order to cheer her boy when he turned thebend below, and came in sight of home.
As noiselessly as possible, therefore, the six scouts, accompanied bythe farmer, crept toward this window. The sill was not over four feetfrom the ground, and could be easily reached; indeed, in order not toexpose themselves, they were compelled to stoop rather low whenapproaching the spot.
Some sort of flower garden lay under the window. Paul rememberedstepping upon unseen plants, and somehow felt a pang of regret at thusinjuring what had probably taken much of the old lady's time andattention to nurse along to the flowering stage. But this was anoccasion when all minor scruples must be laid aside. When a man has beenbasely robbed, and by an employee in whom he has put the utmostconfidence, one cannot stand on ceremony, even if pet flowerbeds arerudely demolished. And if the farmer's suspicions turned out to be realfacts, Jo Davies' old mother was apt to presently have worries besideswhich the breaking of her flowers would not be a circumstance.
Now they had reached a point where, by raising their heads, they couldpeep into the room where the lamp gave such illumination.
As scouts the boys had long ago learned to be cautious in whatever theyattempted; and hence they did not immediately thrust their heads upward,at the risk of attracting the attention of whoever might be within theroom. On the contrary each fellow slowly and carefully raised himself,inch by inch, until his eyes, having passed the lower sill he could see,first the low ceiling, then the upper part of the opposite wall, andlast of all the occupants themselves.
They were two in number, one an old woman with a sweet face andsnow-white hair; the other a tall, boyish-looking chap, undoubtedly theJo who had been farmhand to Mr. Rollins, and was now under the dreadfulban of suspicion.
When Paul first caught sight of these two they were bending over thetable, on which something evidently lay that had been holding theirattention. Jo was talking excitedly. Every minute he would pause inwhatever he was saying, to throw his arms around the little old lady,who in turn would clasp her arms about his neck; and in this way theyseemed to be exchanging mutual congratulations. But when they movedaside while thus embracing, Paul felt a cold chill run up and down hisspine because _there upon the table were several piles of bank bills_!