CHAPTER XVII
THE HOLE IN THE FLOOR
When Teddy had waited a certain length of time, he whispered some wordsto his companion, and immediately departed.
Undoubtedly his intention was to scout around a bit, in order to makesure that the coast was clear before they proceeded to attempt gettingAmos to leave the cabin.
Undoubtedly the two men had secured the door on the outside when theydeparted, so that the boy could not leave the place. The window wasmerely a slit in the log walls, and too small to admit the passageof one the size of Amos, so that it would seem as though they feltreasonably secure about leaving him.
Dolph waited patiently.
The minutes glided past, and all he could hear was the murmur of voicesjust beyond the slit in the wall; which, being continuous, seemed asthough Amos and the girl might be having a heart to heart conversationdiscussing their various troubles.
Finally Dolph could not stand it any longer.
With Amos so close by, it seemed to him the height of foolishness todelay longer, when the two plotters might give up their watching andwaiting in disgust at any minute, and return to the cabin.
So Dolph once more raised his head until he could just manage to peepover the lower edge of the narrow opening, and look into the room.
It was a candle that was burning, a homemade affair, possibly fashionedout of bear’s fat or tallow by the trapper; and of course, the firehaving died down meanwhile, it did not illuminate the whole floor ofthe cabin any too well.
Nevertheless Dolph was able to see into every corner, and could haveeasily told had there been others present besides the two who stillsat there on the floor, Amos idly allowing his fingers to run over thestrings of the old fiddle.
The boy was talking earnestly. From the manner in which he gazed intothe face of Sallie, it was evident he was endeavoring to convince herthat it was her duty to give up this nomadic life, traveling here andthere with her good for nothing father, and let the boys take her toher grandmother’s house at the Sault Ste. Marie, known far and widesimply as the “Soo.”
She seemed to listen eagerly to what he said, and upon her thin littleface there crept a very wistful look. But whenever he stopped talkingshe would shake her head sorrowfully, though with a determination thatwould have well become a little heroine.
Dolph caught some of the words she spoke. He could draw his ownconclusion from them, to the effect that Sallie had given her word toher dying mother to stand by her father, no matter what befell until heeither reformed his ways or met the fate that continually hovers overthe heads of such evil men.
Somehow Dolph was thrilled with admiration for the pluck of this frailgirl, who could resist all temptations, for which her heart must belonging, and endure this wretched existence, simply because she hadpromised the mother, who was gone; and the man she would try to shieldand save was her “dad” though most unworthy to bear that name.
To others Crawley might appear only a drunken scoundrel, whose word wasnot worth considering as an asset; but perhaps Sallie could look backwith gratitude to a few isolated instances when he had been “good toher.”
Dolph watched the two for a few minutes, and then, thinking that itmight be only right to let Amos know his chums were around, was just inthe act of making some sort of signal the other would surely recognize,when something occurred that caused him to change his mind.
The girl seemed to be pointing to the floor over in a corner. There wasan expression of alarm upon her face. Amos was bending forward too,as if he too had caught the same thing that had attracted Sallie’sattention so suddenly. Indeed, he looked astonished beyond measure, andfrom his attitude one might believe Amos was not far from the border ofactual fright.
Naturally Dolph was keenly interested.
Whatever it could be that was having this strange effect upon thesetwo, he felt that he ought to share in the knowledge, and accordinglyDolph immediately turned his eyes in the same direction.
Dolph was conscious of a peculiar prickly sensation all over his scalp,as though his hair might be feeling an inclination to stand on end.When he came to reflect upon the circumstance later, he did not wonderat having experienced this feeling, since the cabin bore such a badname, and was said to be haunted by uneasy ghosts.
A section of the floor itself was slowly rising upward, as if propelledby invisible hands. From its shape Dolph could readily guess that itwas really some sort of trap that had at some time or other been cut inthe heavy boards.
If there were such things as ghosts, surely this must be some of theirwork; but while Dolph was amazed beyond measure, and awaited theoutcome with eagerness, he was not yet ready to commit himself uponthis score, until he had seen the spirit with his own eyes.
Higher rose the square, while little Sallie held her breath, and shrankcloser to Amos, who, unconsciously perhaps, put out an arm as though toprotect her.
Then the section of flooring having attained a perpendicular positionbegan to lower; the trap was being dropped back towards the boards.
Dolph gave a chuckle of delight when he saw the smiling face of Teddyexposed.
The lumberman’s son may have known of the trap before, since he hadvisited this same cabin; or else he had prowled around just now toadvantage, discovering how to crawl under the old shack, and reach thisopening.
He was holding up his finger at the surprised pair, as if to warn themthat silence was the best policy just then.
Dolph fully expected to see his chum climb out of the hole, and greetthe prisoner; and he was about to chime in with hearty words on his ownaccount, when suddenly the boy bobbed back into the cavity under thecabin; pulling the trap shut after him.
At the same time Dolph himself heard the rumble of voices in theopen, and understood that for some reason or other, the two men werereturning to the cabin.
Instantly, he realized that his position at the window was a precariousone, for as his head would be outlined against the light within, theymust inevitably be attracted by any movement on his part, if closeenough at the time.
Of course though, Dolph had to drop flat, and crouching there hegripped his gun, almost holding his very breath with suspense.
At least they did not come his way, which fact he considered prettygood evidence that he had not been seen; instead, they unfastened thedoor, and entered the cabin.
Dolph wondered very much what had brought them back so soon, to disturbthe nice plans Teddy must have arranged. He listened, to discoverwhether he could catch something of what was said, and which mightexplain matters.
Their voices being heavy, came distinctly to his ears. Dolph evenventured to take another sly look. This revealed the fact that whileCrawley was rudely binding up the arm of his companion, Amos had takenthe job out of his hands, and was doing it as cleverly as any surgeonmight, considering the poor material at hand.
From their talk it seemed that Big Gabe had caught his foot in a roothe failed to see in the darkness. In falling clumsily he had managed todrop his hunting knife, and it pierced his arm, giving him a painfulwound that bled freely.
Sometimes the fate of a nation hinges on a trifle. The listening lad atthe window wondered what effect this might have upon their destinies.
At any rate, it seemed to put a different aspect upon the conditionsexisting, for nothing could apparently be done looking to the releaseof Amos while the men were hugging close to the cabin.
And there was poor Teddy, snuggling down in that hole under the floor,possibly afraid to even move an inch, lest he draw attention tohimself, and bring about discovery.
Dolph hoped the two men might conclude to go on guard again when theoperation of binding up Hackett’s wounded arm had been completed.
From words that floated to his ears he realized that Crawley declinedto make any attempt at capture alone; and the big timber cruiser seemedto have lost some his vim with the flow of blood. He could not workwith one arm; and altogether Big Gabe now seemed satisfied to stayindoors.
r /> He also made mention of the fact that perhaps their object could beattained just as well be remaining there, and letting their prospectivevictims come to them, a new view of the case in which Crawley waswilling to concur.
It was certainly most aggravating to say the least, and must be doublyso to Teddy, flattened out in an uncomfortable position under the floor.
Dolph was pitying his chum all the while, never dreaming that Teddymight himself be feeling very comfortable, and even planning mischief.
If they had to remain indoors, at least Crawley was determined that hemust have Amos go on with his fiddling, so he ordered the boy to startalong, and tune up again.
Big Gabe scowled at hearing this, but then Amos had done so wellin binding up his arm, and stopping the flow of blood, that he wasdisposed to let it go at that.
So once again the sound of the bow scraping across the strings washeard in the old haunted cabin. Amos, given full swing, let himself outin earnest, playing one air after another until he had really exhaustedhis list of tunes; when Crawley sitting on the bench, his rough facewreathed in smiles, ordered him to start all over again.
What would be the end of this strange adventure?
Dolph wondered if Amos would be kept at the playing business until hefell over, utterly exhausted.
And what of poor Teddy, who must be terribly cramped below the floor?What, if unable to remain there any longer he suddenly threw up thetrap, and appeared before the two men as the original “ghost” of theold cabin?
Dolph wondered what would be the proper caper for him under suchconditions. He could see no other thing possible than that he shouldthrust his head and gun through the narrow window, and threaten the meninto submission.
Really this seemed good to Dolph; and grimly determined to act, he drewback the hammer of his gun, resolved to appear as resolute as possible,in order to strike consternation to the hearts of the two rascals, andmake then throw up their hands.
But Dolph did not take into the consideration the fact that some oneelse might have plans to work out, differing materially from those hewas figuring on.
This party in fact was Teddy, whom last Dolph had seen hastilywithdrawing beneath the shelter of the floor.