CHAPTER XV
“THE TERRIBLE MACGUFFINS”
“Now what do you think of that?” challenged Hiram, after a long spell ofwondering silence.
“I don’t think it was intended for us,” responded the young aviator.
“Why not?”
“Because that revolving light, or whatever it is, flashed in everydirection, and that firearm wasn’t aimed towards us.”
“That’s so,” agreed Hiram. “But what was it done for at all?”
“We had better try and find out,” suggested the young aviator.
The boys waited for some little time, expecting a renewal of the strangemanifestations, but it did not come. Then Dave led the way, creeping upthe incline. As they reached the top of the knoll, they paused andlooked about them. Sheltered in a kind of a dip of the ground, theycould make out half a hundred sheep huddled together. No human being wasvisible.
“There’s the contrivance that flashed and fired,” announced Hiram,pointing to a small raised platform at the edge of the knoll.
“I guess it is,” assented the young aviator; “go slow, Hiram. No need torun any risks.”
Neither could refrain from satisfying his curiosity as to the purpose ofthe device near to them. As they neared it, proceeding cautiously, thebright rays of the moon, just rising, showed clear outlines of theplatform and the object upon it.
“Hark—listen!” ordered Dave, suddenly.
As they waited a sharp tick—tick, regular and prolonged, struck theirhearing.
“It’s a clock,” declared Hiram. “Look there—seven or eight gun barrels.And wires running to that box. There’s clock works in it. See, the lightis still burning, but shut in with a cover.”
“That’s so,” nodded Dave, surprised and still puzzled.
“Oh, say!” cried Hiram, suddenly, “I’ve guessed out the whole scheme.”
“Have you?”
“I think so.”
“What is it?” asked the young aviator.
“Why, this is a contrivance for scaring away wolves. It’s mighty cute,and it must be a smart fellow who got it up. Don’t you see, probablyevery hour the light flashes and one of those firearms goes off. Thatwould scare wolves good and right.”
“I believe you have solved the problem,” said Dave.
He was certain of it as they made a closer inspection of the queercontrivance. Some backwood genius had spent time and some money inrigging up a wolf-scarer that kept up an alarm and illumination throughthe night, serving as a protection for the sheepfold.
“Of course there’s a house somewhere near,” said Hiram, as they startedfrom the spot.
“Yes, look there—a light!” cried Dave.
What looked like a candle or lamp in a window showed at a littledistance. The young adventurers hurried along with a good deal ofsatisfaction.
They finally reached a roomy log cabin with a barn behind it. As theypassed around the house they were unable to discover anybody about thepremises. They knocked and then hammered at the front door. There was noresponse, and Hiram shouted, but no one appeared. Walking around thehouse, they could see through the uncurtained windows into every room.
“There’s no one in the house, it seems,” said the young aviator.
“Probably gone to some neighbor’s,” suggested Hiram.
“What is that?” suddenly exclaimed Dave.
Towards the southeast a growing glare showed in the sky. It increased inbrightness each moment.
“It’s a fire!” declared Dave.
“I think so, too. Let’s run for it,” spoke Hiram.
They had gone perhaps a quarter of a mile when shots and then shoutsrang out on the still night air.
“Someone is running this way,” said Dave.
Against the radiance of the mingled fire glow and the moonlight the boyssaw a woman hurriedly crossing a clear space beyond the trees. She helda baby in her arms. A little girl she clasped by the hand. The baby wascrying, and the woman, with many a fearful glance back of her, wassobbing audibly.
She came directly towards the boys. Dave stepped forward in her path.The woman drew back with a shriek of alarm.
“Don’t be frightened,” said Dave.
“You do not belong to the raiders?” the woman faltered, all in atremble.
“What raiders?” asked Hiram.
“The MacGuffins—the terrible MacGuffins!” almost wailed the woman.
“Who are they?”
“Don’t you know?” asked the woman, incredulously.
“We are strangers here, madam,” explained the young airman. “What is thefire and what is the trouble?”
“All our men are away—hiding from the officers down at Brambly Fork,”said the woman. “The MacGuffins have made a raid and are burning us allout! They may kill us if they catch us. Oh, sirs, help me get our littleones in hiding,” she pleaded.
“To your home, do you mean?” inquired Dave.
“Oh, no, no,” dissented the woman instantly. “That is the worst place inthe world to go to just now. They will burn our house next.”
“They may not harm you,” suggested Dave.
“Yes, they will. My husband is the man they hate the most. It’s an oldquarrel between the MacGuffins and our people. They will harm you, too,if they catch you.”
“Why should they?” asked Hiram.
“Because no stranger is ever allowed in these Carolina mountains. Theyare all moonshiners, and will take you for detectives. They shot twosuspicious characters only a few days ago.”
“H’m,” remarked Hiram under his breath. “We’re in a nice country!”
The young aviator comprehended the situation at once. He had read andheard of these North Carolina outlaws and their family feuds, sometimesrunning through half a dozen generations.
“How can we help you?” he said to the woman.
“It isn’t safe for us anywhere around here,” she declared. “I must getto my husband.”
“At Brambly Fork, you mean?”
“Yes, that’s where he is, and his crowd.”
“Is it far from here?”
“About fifteen miles. He ought to know about the MacGuffins, so as todrive them away before they steal our cattle and crops. I can manage toget along with the baby, but the little girl is ready to drop down fromtiredness. See, oh, hide! hide! They are coming this way!”
Among the trees beyond the clearing the boys could see men with torchesand armed with rifles coming in their direction.
“They are going to fire our house next!” cried the woman, bursting intotears.
“I am afraid it would be foolish for us to try and prevent them,”remarked Dave. “They are armed and in a dangerous mood.”
“You would simply risk your lives.”
The young aviator snatched up the little girl in his arms.
“Help the lady, Hiram,” he directed, “and follow me.”
Dave led the way to a thick copse. The woman told the little girl tokeep perfectly quiet. In a few minutes the men they had seen passed bywithout discovering them.
“I must get to my husband at once,” said the woman, eagerly, as soon asthe horde of raiders was out of sight and hearing.
“You can’t go alone,” observed Dave. “Here, we will go with you. Taketurns at carrying the little girl, Hiram.”
The woman sobbed out her heartfelt gratitude. Then Dave questioned heras to the direction of Brambly Fork, and all were soon on the way.
“This isn’t looking for Mr. King, Dave,” suggested Hiram, after awhile.
“Mr. King will take care of himself, Hiram,” replied the young aviator.
“Yes, but neither is this looking for a town where we might get thatquicksilver.”
“It’s on the way to it, isn’t it? When we get to the place where thiswoman’s husband is, some of the crowd can direct us to the nearestsettlement, that is sure.”
It was pretty hard traveling, aft
er a day of heavy tramping. The forlorncondition of the woman, however, appealed to both the boys.
“We are very near Brambly Fork now,” spoke the woman at the end of fourhours, during which time they had rested frequently. “Another turn inthe valley and we will be there.”
“Sure enough!” cried Hiram with animation.
They had come upon a spot well shut in on three sides with trees. A bigcampfire was burning, and near it were gathered a dozen or more men.Their interest was centered on a man who stood with his arms boundbehind him.
“Why,” cried Dave, “it’s Mr. King!”