"You can move it across Willow Place all right now," Charlie said. "Allyou need is power."
"You leave that to us," I told him. "The engineer on the milk train is agood friend of ours. But, anyway, we're not thinking about the car now."
He said, "You boys are aces up."
"We've done the best we could so far," I told him. "Gee whiz, we don'twant to get anybody in trouble."
He just said, "You see how it is with me; I'm up against it. Yourfathers trust you, but mine doesn't trust me. I know I've done someblamed fool things, but I wouldn't burn a building down--why, that'sarson. I could be sent up for ten years for that. But the people of thisold burg are just waiting to get something on me. If my father knew Iwas here last night, that would be enough for him. See?"
Westy said, "Well, he knows _we_ were here last night and that seems tobe enough for him, too."
"Yes, but how about to-morrow?" Charlie asked us. "All you kids have todo to clear yourselves is to spill all you know. The flashlight businessis bad enough, then on top of that if you say you saw me here and that Iwas here when you left, that will look bad, won't it? You remember whenI damaged my flivver last year? The old man was sore because he thoughtI was just trying to stick the insurance company for fifty or so. That'shim all over--suspicious. He's always looking for trouble. He isn't likeyour fathers."
Gee, I knew that well enough, but I didn't say so. Because a fellowisn't to blame on account of the kind of a father he has wished ontohim.
"So you see how it is," he said; "and it's got me good and worried. Ididn't eat any breakfast and I didn't eat any dinner. I was going up tosee you fellows, but then I thought I wouldn't, because your folks don'tlike me and it might make them suspicious. Everybody's against me."
He looked out of the window as if he were afraid some of the fellowswould come over. Honest, I felt sorry for him; I just couldn't help it.
I said, "Don't worry. I know that bunch. They won't stop till they getthe whole street looking like Spotless Town."
He said, "So there it is. My father knows I need money. A tall chanceI'd have of getting any from him; you'd have to chloroform him beforehe'd give up a postage stamp. That's him. You know what an old grouch heis. Once I shouted some crazy nonsense about burning the place down; Iwas just mad, that's all. But you see how it is."
It seemed funny to me, because at my house we never had any fights oranything, and I saw how my mother and sister were right because thoseSlausens were different kind of people from us.
He said, "All you kids have to do to cook my goose for me is to shoutout that you left me here last night. If they don't send me to jail I'llhave to beat it out west. You kept your mouths shut so far, and I've gotto hand it to you, because you're a couple of A-1 little scouts. But thequestion is, can you stand the strain? We're the only three that knowanything. Are you game? Will you stick? Or do I have to beat itto-night? It all hangs on you. If you say I was here when you left--youwon't tell them that, will you? You won't let anybody force it out ofyou? Judge, lawyers, scoutleaders----"
"You mean scoutmaster," Westy said.
"You won't tell _anybody_--in the court or anywhere?"
Gee, I felt sorry for him, because I could see he was terribly worried.I knew nobody had any use for him, and I thought that maybe already Mr.Ellsworth had some suspicions about him.
"Give me your promise," he said, "both of you. Nobody can force you totalk if you don't want to--can they? All you fellows came here to-day tohelp clear up. That shows you've got the right stuff in you. Won't youhelp a friend out? I'm not asking you to do anything but just keep yourmouths shut. You're not afraid of O'Day and that bunch, are you? Now'sthe time to show if you're really _scouts_."
I said, "A scout is supposed to help people in trouble, I don't denythat. But we don't know anything about the law. If the judge says wehave to tell, I suppose we'll have to tell. But, anyway, there's onething I want to ask you. I know you got caught doing some things--youknow what I mean. And I know a lot of people think--but, anyway, I wantto ask you this, and I'll promise not to tell your answer. Did you setfire to the shop or didn't you?"
He just looked straight at me and he said, "As sure as I'm sitting herein this old car _I didn't_. Do you want me to swear? I took yourflashlight----"
"I'm not thinking about that," I told him. "That won't keep me frombelieving you. I'm just asking you to tell me honest and true if you didor not."
"As sure as I'm sitting here, I didn't," he said, good and loud.
"Then how do you think it started?" Westy asked him. "Do you think_somebody_ did it?"
"Sure somebody did it," he said. "Didn't they find some match ends nearthe cotton waste that burned up?" he said.
"I didn't know that," I told him.
"But what good does that do me?" he wanted to know.
I said, "Well, we'll help you out."
"_On the level?_" he shouted. "You won't say a word? You'll be goodscouts and keep your mouths shut?"
"That shows how much you know about scouts," I told him. "They neverkeep their mouths shut. But, anyway, we'll do something better thanthat. _We'll find out who set fire to the shop._ That's the kind ofthings we're supposed to do. If you say honest and true that you_didn't_, we'll say honest and true that we'll _find out who did_. Whatdo you suppose _we_ care about courts, and judges, and keeping ourmouths shut? Gee whiz, there's not much fun in that. You said last nightwe were good at tracking. All right, then, you leave it to us."
CHAPTER XXI--FOOTPRINTS
"Now we're in for it," Westy said. "Now you put your foot in it."
"Put my foot in what?" I asked him.
"A lot we can do between now and ten o'clock to-morrow morning," hesaid; "even if it's true that somebody set fire to the place. How are wegoing to solve the thing between now and tomorrow morning? He doesn'ttake any stock in that and I don't blame him. I bet he'll beat itto-night."
"I bet he won't," I said. "He didn't have money enough last night to buyus a couple of sodas. I'd like to know where he'll beat it to."
"He's good and sore at us," Westy said.
"I should worry," I told him; "he knows we won't tell till we're asked.How could we promise to refuse to tell if the judge makes us? A lot youknow about courts. The only court you know anything about is a tenniscourt. If we don't answer questions we'll get in trouble ourselves, andhow is that going to help him? He didn't do it, I could see that. Onlyhe can't afford to have people know he was there. He's in bad witheverybody. Probably now they're trying to trace his movements yesterday.Even Mr. Ellsworth thinks he's no good. We don't know what they're upto."
"Well, how do we know anybody set fire to the shop?" Westy wanted toknow.
"How do we know who left these match ends all around the floor of thiscar--and these cigarette butts?"
You ought to have seen Westy stare.
"I don't smoke and you don't smoke and none of us fellows smoke. Wellthen, how did these ends of cigarettes get here? Somebody was in thiscar last night. Don't you suppose I noticed that before I asked himabout how the fire started? Believe me, I'm not taking Charlie Slausen'sword for much. But I'll tell you this, he isn't as bad as people thinkhe is. What do you suppose Chief O'Day cares who he sends to jail aslong as his name gets into the newspapers? _'Clever catch byBridgeboro's chief'_ that's all _he's_ thinking about. He isn't smartenough to catch cold, even."
"Well, what are we going to do?" Westy asked me.
"Now you're talking," I said. "First we're going to go over and help therest of the fellows. When we get through and they have all gone home,we're coming back here. Then we're going to start. We don't want any oneto know about this but ourselves."
By about five o'clock all the members of the troop had gone home andWesty and I went back over to the car.
I said, "As long as we know there was some one here last night the nextthing to do is to see if we can find any footprints."
In the ground, just at the foot of the
step, we found a couple printedthere just as plain as day.
"This is a cinch," Westy said.
"Easier than keeping our mouths shut," I told him.
Now those footprints went in a straight line over to where the shop hadstood and there we lost them on account of the stuff that was all strewnaround there. But under where the window had been we found a lot offootprints. I guess some of them were our own. But there weren't anyexcept right there, and I suppose that was on account of the sidewalk onWillow Place being so near.
Westy said, "If anybody sneaked into the shop I bet he didn't go alongthe street when he came out, especially if the fire was alreadystarted."
I said, "Well then, he must have crossed the street and hit into theSneezenbunker land. If you look at the map I made you'll see howeverything was around there."
So then we went across the street and looked at the edge of the fieldwhere it ran along by the sidewalk. Westy was standing in the fieldright between the two rusty old tracks and he called, "Here's afootprint good and plain."
Good night, we were in luck. Somebody had started walking the trackstoward the river. We couldn't find footprints in the hard earth betweenthe tracks, where they ran across the Sneezenbunker land, but when thetracks began getting into the low, damp ground toward Cat-tail Marsh, wecould see the prints just as plain as writing.
Over the marsh the old tracks run on a kind of trestle and we had towalk the ties. There were no footprints, exactly, on the ties, but therewere little chunks of mud on some of them. We were on the track ofsomebody, all right.
There were no more footprints when we got to Van Schlessenhoff's fieldbecause the tracks run through the grass there. But there was no placeto go down that way except to the river, and there wasn't any buildinganywhere about except the little shack that the men use when they gorail shooting in the fall. That little shack is on Mr. VanSchlessenhoff's field and I guess it's about a couple of hundred feetfrom the tracks. It's right close by the river.
We stopped where we were on the tracks and Westy said, "What shall wedo? Go over to the shack?"
It was beginning to get dark now and it seemed pretty lonesome downthere. It's a dandy spot, down there by the river. The town seems a longdistance away. You can only just see the top of the High School throughthe trees. I should worry, I wouldn't care if I couldn't see any of it.I was glad we were going to have our old car down there. It was awfulstill, except for the frogs croaking, and the crickets in the field.
I didn't exactly want to go over to that shack and I guess Westy feltthe same way. I'm not afraid of tramps but, gee whiz, I'm not especiallystuck on bandits. And there were a lot of those around lately, shootingup automobiles.
"Well, we're here and we've got to go over," I said, "or else what wasthe use of coming down here? There's somebody in that shack, I bet."
We went over toward the shack, and tiptoed when we got close to it, soas not to make a bit of noise. The door was shut and there wasn't anywindow. We came right close to the boards and held our breath andlistened....
CHAPTER XXII--IN THE SHACK
Westy said, "Sh-h, do you hear anything inside?"
We both stood there listening, but there wasn't a sound.
I said, "If it's a bandit what will we do?"
"Shall I open the door?" he whispered.
He opened the door ever so little and we peeked in.
"Nothing there," I said.
"Sh-h, yes, there is," Westy whispered. "Look."
Over in the corner was something that looked like a bag, and as I lookedat it I saw it was a person. It was a kid, about ten years old I guess.He had a gray suit on. He was sound asleep.
"Some bandit," Westy said. "Who is it, do you know?"
WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?]
I said, "Search me. That's a funny looking outfit he's got on. Shall wewake him up?"
Westy said, "Sure."
So we began shaking him and pretty soon he opened his eyes and begangaping and staring. I guess the kid must have thought he was dreamingbecause he curled up again. Then when I spoke he gave another yawn andsat up and began rubbing his eyes and staring at us. His hair was allmussed up and he reached for his hat, kind of half awake. Then I sawthat his hat and his suit were both made out of the same kind of stuff,muslin sort of. I saw his shoes were awful thick, too. His suit was allwrinkled and it didn't fit him very well and he looked awful funny.
He was good and scared when he found he was really awake and that therewas somebody there. All of a sudden he stood up and he looked as if hewas going to make a break for the door. Then I saw that his trouserscame almost down to his ankles.
I said, "You needn't be scared; we're not going to hurt you."
He said, "I wouldn' leave yer take me back."
I said, "Take you back where?"
We saw he was trying to edge around to the door, so Westy stood there sohe couldn't get out. It was awful dark and damp in there. There werespider-webs all around inside, and you could smell the earth. I liftedup the board he had been lying on and there were all worms under it andslugs that went scooting around.
I said, "What are you doing here? Where did you come from, anyway?"
He said, "If you don't tell them, if you don't take me back I'll--I'llgive you--as much as a thousand dollars."
I said, "Thanks. You haven't got it with you, have you?"
"I'm--I'm going to get it," he said. "If you tell--if you take meback--you'll only get three hundred dollars."
I said, "Three hundred dollars is nothing. I wouldn't take you back forless than five thousand including the war tax. We accept yourproposition. Now tell us where you came from. You don't belong inBridgeboro?"
Poor little kid, he was so scared he was trembling all over. "If I tellyou, you'll take me back," he said. He looked at me as if he thought Iwas crazy. Gee whiz, I guess he was right.
Westy said, "You came from some home or other?"
"Are you going to tell?" the kid asked us, good and scared.
"What home?" Westy asked him. "The Boys' Home up in Willisville?"
"I wouldn't go back there," the kid said. "I'll give you as much as athousand dollars----"
Gee whiz, he was a generous kid. I said, "Give us a cigarette, willyou?"
Good night, he pulled about three packages out of his pocket. He was awalking cigar store. Some of the cigarettes were loose and all crunchedup. I took one of them and stuck it in my mouth.
Westy said, kind of surprised, "What are you doing?"
I said, "We should worry. We're criminals, aren't we? We're up for arsonand we're out on patrol or parole or whatever you call it. We're goingfrom bad to worse. Got a match, kid?"
Oh, boy! He dug his hand into his pocket and fished out about a hundred.They fell all over the floor.
I said, "You've got matches enough here to set the river on fire."
Pretty soon out came a big pasteboard box like matches come in. It washalf full, and matches went falling out of it, all over the ground.
I said, "The next time you empty your pockets, kid, you'd better standin a bath tub. You don't carry a fire extinguisher with you, do you?What are you digging for now? The thousand dollars?"
"I got a cigar," the kid said; "but it's busted."
I said, "You don't happen to have a couple of corn-cob pipes, do you? Doyou give out certificates with tobacco? Look at this, Westy," I said."Here's about a thousand dollars' worth of matches right here. This kidis a whole sulphur mine. Where are you going to get the thousanddollars, kid?" I asked him.
"I'm--I'm going to invent a submarine," he said.
"Good night!" I said, going through his pockets for more matches."That's a good idea. Under the water is about the safest place for you.I hope you carry fire insurance. You started a peach of a fire lastnight, didn't you?"
"I can start a bigger one than that," he said.
Just then I hauled out from one of his pockets a book. The cover was allbroken off it and it was all lo
ose and torn. The title-page said SKYHIGHSAM AND HIS SUBMARINE.
"Who's this fellow?" I said.
"That's a funny name for a kid that goes down in a submarine--Skyhigh."
"He used to have a balloon," the poor kid said.
I said, "Well, anyway, you've got him beat on matches. You started abigger fire than _he_ ever did, that's one thing. What's your name?"
"Sam," he said.
"Cigarette Sam and his Famous Fire," I said. "You've got Skyhigh beatentwenty ways. You're a _real_ hero. Come on, let's go get something toeat. Do you know how to eat? Never mind the matches. We'll send a coupleof men down here with a wagon to get them."
"Do I have to go back?" the poor little kid wanted to know.
"You stick to us," I said. "We've got a wild, savage railroad car thathas never been tamed. You were in it last night. Did I guess right? Thatrailroad car has had more adventures than all Skyhigh's submarines andairships put together. That car can't be kept in a domestic state. Itcan't even be kept in the state of New Jersey. If you want realadventures come with us. Only I tell you beforehand it's a wild life.Now what do you say?"
Gee whiz, the poor kid looked at me as if he thought I was crazy. MaybeI am, but what's the difference? You can have a lot of fun when you'recrazy.
CHAPTER XXIII--ADVENTURES OF CIGARETTE SAM
The poor kid was willing to go with us because I guess he thought wewere a couple of wild adventurers. As soon as he saw we were all rightand believed in pirates and highwaymen and things, he was with us. Hesaw we were strong for the SKYHIGH SAM SERIES too, and so he knew itwould be all right to trust us. I told him that he was even greater thanSkyhigh Sam. That wasn't saying much, but he thought it was.