CHAPTER XII.
THE AMBUSH.
"I SEE him, Elmer," whispered Toby.
"Couldn't be anybody else," chuckled Nat, "because Lil Artha is as tallas a house, you know."
The contestant representing the Hickory Ridge scouts was standing therein the middle of the road, waiting for them to come up.
"Is it time, Elmer?" he asked, anxiously, as the other three joined him.
The gloaming was about them; indeed, since the heavens were beginning tobe overshadowed by clouds, the dusk had already commenced to settle,earlier than usual in the end of August.
It had been a pretty fair day, but there was no telling what the nightmight bring forth; and Lil Artha, wisely looking ahead to a possiblethunder-storm about midnight, was determined to complete his long hikeas early as possible.
"Yes," replied the leader of the Wolf Patrol, quietly. "We're going tohide our machines somewhere about here, where we can find them when weneed them a little later."
"And you want me to hold up till you're ready?" asked Lil Artha.
"That's the programme," came the reply. "You see, we expect that thefour hold-up fellows must be hidden only a little farther along; and wewant to have our part of the game fixed. Just sit down here, Lil Artha,and we'll be back again in a jiffy."
"Well, if it's all the same to you, Elmer, I think I'll keep onstanding," replied the tall boy, with a chuckle.
"Oh, all right," replied Elmer; "you're the doctor, and ought to knowwhat's best for your own case. Just wait for us here. Come along,fellows, and bring your motorcycles with you."
Of course there was no mystery about the refusal of Lil Artha to sitdown. He knew from past experiences how difficult it is to get inworking order again at such a stage in a long hike should he give way tothe temptation and drop upon the ground. It was better to keep moving,and not allow any of his muscles to get stiffened.
Following Elmer, the others pushed into the woods on the right, wherethe scout leader seemed to think the conditions looked best for thehiding of the three machines.
It was not a hard task to secrete them in the bushes.
"Hope it don't rain before we come back again," remarked Toby, as hecame out from the thicket where he had placed his motorcycle ascarefully as though it were a brand-new one; for on account of itsrecent fairly decent performances the boy began to feel a return of hisformer affection for the wheel.
"We'll have to take the chances on that," replied Elmer. "These cloudsmay not stand for anything, after all."
"Often tries a big bluff like that," remarked Nat; "so we ain't going toworry about it. Besides, if the little circus is soon over, we can comehere to get the bunch before long."
"Back to the road then, fellows," Toby observed, leading off withconfidence.
A minute later Nat broke out again:
"Say, what d'ye know about this?" he remarked. "Don't seem a bitfamiliar to me along here. What're you laughing at, Elmer? Has Toby ledus the wrong way?"
"Rats!" exclaimed that worthy, bristling up in indignation. "Don't yousuppose I know what I'm about? Of course this is the right way to theroad, ain't it, Elmer?"
"You might get there, if you kept on long enough!" admitted the other.
"But how far would we have to go?" demanded the incredulous Nat.
"Oh, about twenty-five thousand miles, more or less," chuckled Elmer.
"Gee, he's turned right around and is heading _away_ from the road,that's what," declared Nat, laughing softly. "A nice guide you'd be,Toby, old chum. Think of us floundering deeper and deeper into theseblessed old woods, when every minute is worth a heap to us right now!"
"But what did you let me do it for, Elmer?" complained the culprit.
"Well, you started off as if you wanted to show us what you know aboutwoodcraft; and I thought the chance to open your eyes a little too goodto be lost," Elmer replied.
"But we've wasted time by it," declared Toby, feeling disheartened.
"Only a minute or two, and that doesn't count much beside the lesson itmay be to a couple of scouts I know," said Elmer.
"Tell us just how you know which way the road lies," said Nat.
"Oh, that is as easy as falling off a log," came the crushing reply. "Ijust kept my eyes about me when we were coming in, and noted that wewere moving due east at the time, with the breeze exactly on our right,and you remember it was coming out of the south a bit ago. If it hadbeen daylight I'd have known the points of the compass from thedirection of the sun; or, that failing, by the moss that nearly alwaysgrows on the north side of the trunks of forest trees. There are manyways for a wide-awake boy to find out these things; but only when hekeeps his wits about him _all_ the time, and his eyes and ears open."
"I guess you're right, Elmer," grunted Toby. "Time I woke up and beganto do some tall thinking, if ever I'm going to get out of the greenhornclass."
While the three were talking after this fashion, in low, cautious tones,Elmer had been leading the way in a confident fashion through the gloomywoods.
Both the others were now more than a little curious to ascertain justhow near the point where they had left Lil Artha their guide would fetchup. So far as they themselves were concerned it was by this time all aconfused jumble. If asked to point out the proper direction neithercould have done better than shut his eyes and thrust out a hand atrandom; for they were very much turned around, now that the clouds hadrendered it impossible for them to even decide which direction was west.
"Well, I declare!" ejaculated Toby, presently, "here's the bally oldroad, as sure as you're born, Nat!"
"Elmer!" said a low voice, as some object moved near by.
"And better still, here's Lil Artha!" declared Nat, lost in wonder as tohow Elmer could have done such a remarkable stunt, and with hardly aneffort, too.
"Sure," came in the same low tone. "Where else should he be but herejust where you left him? But say, Elmer, you were gone a long time."
"Not a bit over five or six minutes," replied the leader, immediately;"and even then, we've had quite a lesson in woodcraft. Besides, Felix ishalf an hour behind, and there's little danger of his catching up, yetawhile."
"Do we start on again now?" asked Nat, who was opening and shutting hishands nervously in a way that might have excited the scout leader'ssuspicions had he been able to notice the movement.
"Yes, we're going to set the stage now for the last little scene in thisact of the drama entitled the Great Hike Conspiracy," chuckled Elmer.
"That sounds good to me," murmured Nat.
"Go on, Elmer, and tell us just what you want us all to do," urged LilArtha.
"First of all, you are to start on again, just as before, Lil Artha."
"Yes, I get that all right," replied the tall lad.
"And the rest of us will shadow you," Elmer continued.
"I don't quite understand what you mean, Elmer; will you keep a certaindistance behind me all the time?" Lil Artha asked.
"You can make up your mind that we'll be close enough every minute tohear you whistle steadily as you trudge along," came the reassuringreply.
"And that means you'll get on to what they say to me when they showtheir hand: eh, Elmer?"
"Just what it does, Lil Artha," the leader answered.
"Fact is, I want to hear that little dialogue or conversation the worstway. Because, you see, we may have to repeat this story a few timeslater on, and we'd like to be able to have it all down pat."
"Well, what happens then after they show their teeth?" questioned thetall boy.
"You make up your mind which one of the lot you like best, and hang onto him with tooth and nail, as if you thought he was your long-lostbrother. Get that, Lil Artha?" Elmer continued.
"I understand," came the reply. "You want me to count for one hold-up,so as to leave the other three to you fellows?"
"Well, you wouldn't be greedy, would you, and cheat us out of all thefun, after we've come all this long way, and risked breaking out neckstime and tim
e again?" remarked Nat, reproachfully.
"He understands, Nat," remarked Elmer, pouring oil on the troubledwaters as he frequently did when little frictions arose in the khakitroop. "And there's no need of wasting any more time. Be off, Lil Artha,and success to you."
"Same here, fellows," came the merry reply; "and more power to yourelbow, Nat"; from which last remark it was very evident that Lil Arthaknew full well the impulsive character of the Scott boy, and how hisdesire to engage in "scraps" had not as yet been wholly tamed down byhis becoming a scout in good standing.
Nat's father was the principal of the public schools in Hickory Ridge;and from the time that Nat started to attend he had possibly given theprofessor as much trouble as any lad in the whole town. Not that Nat wasnaturally bad, but his quick temper, and readiness to use his fists tosettle argument, had drawn him into innumerable scrapes.
Accordingly, Lil Artha once more started along the darkening road,swinging out with those long strides which his length made possible.
Elmer calculated to a nicety just how far they ought to allow their chumto get before starting to follow. It was important that they should beconcealed from the eyes of the four in ambush; and yet, on the otherhand, he did not want to drop back to such a distance that they might becheated out of hearing what happened when the surprise came.
In order to maintain a certain distance in the rear he had instructedthe one ahead to keep up a steady whistle. Lil Artha was known to be awhistler, and often amused his chums by his accomplishment in this line.It was a gift, such as an occasional boy finds himself in possession of.And more than once had Elmer told his friend that he would make a goodwoodsman if only he turned his talent toward imitating the various clearsweet notes of wild birds.
They could hear him easily now, and Elmer fixed the sound in his mind.As he had cautioned Lil Artha to keep up a steady flow, it would becomeapparent that they were either diminishing the distance or adding to it,if that whistle became louder or softer in volume.
Five minutes passed.
Elmer caught a big sigh close beside him, which he knew must proceedfrom the impetuous Nat. Doubtless every sixty seconds that dragged byseemed like an age to the Scott boy; who fancied that after all theirtrouble perhaps they were going to be cheated out of their fun, and thatthe plotters had weakened at the last round.
Not so Elmer, who estimated things at their true value, and not by therapid pulsations of an excited heart.
"Cheer up, Nat," he whispered in the ear of the other; "it's going tocome pretty soon now."
"Oh, I hope so!" sighed the one who loved action above all things.
"He's stopped whistling, Elmer!" whispered Toby, excitedly.
"No, there he starts again," replied the leader, who in truth suspectedwhat the little break in Lil Artha's melody might signify.
Possibly he had caught some suspicious rustling sound, and unconsciouslyheld his breath for just five seconds in order to listen better.
Was it a false alarm, or would the music begin immediately? Warned bythis suggestive hint, Elmer waited, fully expecting to hear a loud voicesuddenly break forth from some point ahead. Since this was not "OutWest" where lawless desperadoes held sway, it would hardly come in ahoarse demand to "throw up your hands," but in some milder fashion.
And presently Elmer realized that his guess had hit the mark. Thewhistle suddenly ceased. Then they heard a voice call out in the mostfamiliar way possible:
"Hello, there, Lil Artha! Hold up a bit, won't you?"