CHAPTER XIX THE HUNT FOR THE WIRE
While it was thus possible to make out the faint tracery of the hightrestle and its attendant bridge, objects were not so very plain afterall; and even youthful eyes had to undergo considerable of a strain inorder to succeed at all.
Remembering what Rob had said with regard to their object in searchingfor the wire that would in all likelihood run between the hidden mineand the lurking place of the plotters, every one was excessivelyvigilant. It might happen that with great luck they would be able todiscover this connecting link in the start. Such a piece of good fortunewould simplify matters wonderfully, for they understood just what theintentions of the scout master were.
In a nutshell, then, to make the facts plain to the reader in the start,they anticipated severing connections so that when the fatal momentarrived and the lawless breakers of neutrality sought to consummatetheir act, they would not meet with any sort of success, for with theconductor of the electric current broken the mine could not be exploded.
They had not gone very far, always approaching closer to the embankmentnear by the commencement of the trestle, when Rob stopped short. Everyone had the customary thrill; indeed, that would hardly apply becauseone of these little spasms seemed to follow so close upon the heels ofanother that they were in an almost constant state of apprehension.
Rob must have made some sort of discovery or he would not have called ahalt in this fashion. Donald was at his side now, and had also come to apause, so the others brushed up against them, making a compact clump asthey crouched there, and strained all their faculties.
Now, the three members of the old Eagle Patrol had been together somuch, and passed through so many adventures in common, that long sincethey had agreed on a system of signals whereby they could communicatewithout any outsider being aware of what was going on. Thus a fainttwitter, resembling a sleepy bird protesting at being pushed on itsperch, would indicate that something had been seen that ought to betaken into consideration. A low grunt, after the manner of a hedgehoghunting for succulent roots, meant that retreat would be in order,though to be undertaken with the utmost circumspection.
There were a number of other ways in which the scouts could communicatewithout anyone being the wiser. Rob’s warning indicated that he had madea discovery, which they, too, would be able to hit upon if they usedtheir ears to the best advantage.
Ah! now it came stealing up to them. Even Tubby knew that it was not thegrumble of a burrowing animal, but the low mutter of a hoarse, excitedvoice. It came but faintly at best, and certainly would never reach thehearing of any one located several times as far away as the crouchingboys and Zeb were at the time.
Accustomed to practicing such things as the scouts were, they had nodifficulty at all in picking out the exact spot from which this hoarsewhisper came. Even Tubby could do that, for he was far from atenderfoot, having been in harness quite as long as his two mates.
This tell-tale whisper informed them where the men whom they had set outto balk, were hiding. Yes, it was far enough away from the railwayembankment to allow them to escape any possible evil results when theclimax arrived and the mine was sprung, and yet sufficiently close tolet them see the train as it swung down upon the high trestle, perhapsslowing up for the passage of the bridge.
Rob made a mental calculation as quick as a flash. He was thus enabledto get his bearings, and could figure out just about how that wire waslikely to run. Thus it was possible, by making a little half-circuit,for them to cut across the line midway between the two ends, or perhapsstill closer to the trestle. This would increase their own peril in caseevents moved more swiftly than they had been calculating.
Even more than at any previous time the utmost secrecy was necessary.Tubby felt that he was placed on his mettle. A stumble now would excitesuspicion, and that, in turn, might influence the wary schemers, fearfulof being caught. Rather than have their evil plans balked they wouldnaturally prefer to explode the mine even before the train arrived.
Rob may have considered Tubby’s customary clumsiness, and made provisionto take as little chance as possible. That would be the naturalconclusion to be drawn from the fact that he now sank still lower, untilon his hands and knees, and in this ungainly but practical position theywere all creeping along.
Tubby heard that low grumble of a fretful, impatient voice no longer.Perhaps the incautious member of the invading party had been suppressedby a fierce shove. Tubby wondered if their presence in the vicinitycould have been discovered, or even suspected. He was preparing hisnerves against a sudden terrific roar, as the valuable railway propertycame crashing down. He also fervently hoped that none of the heavytimbers would carry over to where they were creeping along.
Tubby was not feeling over-happy, but nothing would have induced the boyto forego the excitement. Perhaps, his nature being slow, Tubby mighthold back longer than such impetuous fellows as Andy and some of theother Eagles. Once he enlisted in an undertaking he could not be easily“frozen out.”
Rob had evidently gone as far in a line parallel with the trestle as heintended. He commenced to gradually swing around. He was bent on makingthat half-circuit, so as to cross the direct line of communicationbetween the hiding place of the plotters and the railway.
They faced the west from this point on. That fact might seem of littlemoment, and yet it proved its value, for only because their faces wereturned in that direction did they make a sudden discovery.
Something far distant was creeping up the heavens. It looked like afaint line of fire, and only for the fact that it mounted higher andhigher instead of descending, Tubby would have believed it to be one ofthose erratic shooting stars or meteors, such as he had, like all boys,frequently watched darting athwart a summer sky at night-time.
But this was something quite different. Tubby guessed its nature evenwhile the fiery finger still crept upward toward its zenith. It was asky-rocket. Some patriotic Canadian was celebrating, for some cause orother, though Tubby did not happen to remember whether this was KingGeorge’s birthday, or the anniversary of the late lamented Edward’snatal day. Possibly good news had been received from across the sea. Thestanch Canadian soldiers in the war trenches might have once morecovered themselves with glory, and—then Tubby felt as though a frozenhand had come in contact with his heart, such was the mighty shiver thatran through his system. He had suddenly conceived another and moresignificant fact.
Why should that not be a signal rocket? He remembered that when abroadwith his two chums, and visiting the French in the trenches, they hadseen such fiery tracery against the night heavens, and understood thatsome commander was giving his orders; or else a spy far back of theenemy’s lines was trying to communicate some important information hehad picked up.
That altered the complexion of everything, Tubby thought. Thesedesperate men must realize what a tremendous, as well as dangerous, jobthey had undertaken; and consequently they would try to cover everypossibility, so there might be no fluke or miscarriage of their plans.
Yes, they undoubtedly had some trusty confederate waiting at a certainstation on the railway, miles to the west, whose duty it was to signalthem the fact that the million-dollar munition train had just left thatpoint, and could be expected at the bridge within a certain time, whichinformation would allow them to have everything prepared for the grandspectacular event.
They had neglected nothing, apparently, except taking into considerationthe fact that a few members of the Eagle Patrol of Boy Scouts chanced tobe up in that particular section of country at the time and, as sofrequently happened, were bound to get mixed up in any excitement thatcame along, often to their own honor and glory.
There, the rocket had burst, and yet so quickly had Tubby grasped thesituation, being considerably worked up at the time, that he had arrivedat a conclusion before this took place.
He plainly saw the fiery stars scatter, and imagined he could evendetect the faint boom of the
rocket’s bursting in midair, though Tubbywould never affirm this fact positively.
Now they were moving on again, as before, every fellow feeling as hewent, and hoping to be the lucky one whose itching fingers might come incontact with the wire. How this was to be severed when found, Tubby didnot know, but he was willing to leave all that to Rob. Why, so wellprepared did the scout master usually go that Tubby more than halfbelieved he must be carrying with him a little pair of wire-cutters—atleast he had a hazy remembrance of having once seen a minute sample ofsuch a useful tool among Rob’s traps. Even though this did not turn outto be so, trust him for making a good use of his knife, with its largestblade in condition to do the ripping and sawing of the small insulatedcopper wire; why, Tubby himself had many a time bent and twisted such adelicate strand, yes, and parted it, without any sort of tool, when hewas fixing the electric doorbell at home, or making and arranging a bellconnection so that his mother could summon the servant from the kitchenby pressing her toe upon a button concealed under the rug and table ofthe dining-room.
How beautiful this blind confidence on the part of Tubby! It is ever adelight to have a chum upon whom you can always fully depend when thestorm clouds gather and danger presses around! Rob had ever been such astanch rock to his comrades in times past. They had reason to throwtheir troubles on his shoulders without scruple.
Perhaps only two or three minutes had gone by since first theydiscovered that the enemy was concealed near by, yet the time seemedmuch longer than that to the anxious hearts of the wire searchers.Donald was listening with all his might. He dreaded lest he catch thesound of an approaching train while their important errand was stillunfinished; and thinking thus he burned with undiminished zeal as hewent groping amidst the small weeds that covered the ground over whichthey were crawling.
Indeed, Donald was not alone in his ambition to accomplish something,for Rob and Andy themselves would have called it the happiest event oftheir lives could they have made the discovery for which every oneyearned.
By now they had reached a point far enough away from the danger zone topermit with safety of a hurried consultation between Rob and Donald,provided it was carried on with the utmost discretion, each in turnplacing his lips close to the ear of the other. Rob had ceased creeping.At first those behind hoped he had found what they were looking for, butin this they were soon undeceived, for they saw him putting his headagainst that of the Canadian boy and could just manage to catch a breathof the sibilant whispered conference that began.
It was at this very moment that a slant of the light breeze brought therumble of the oncoming heavy freight train to their ears. To theimaginative Tubby it seemed as though it must proceed from a spot only amile or so distant. With that elusive wire still unfound the prospectdid not look very encouraging, Tubby was bound to admit, though stilltrying to bolster up his courage.