CHAPTER X.
A PERPLEXING QUESTION.
The black headlines which had attracted Fred’s eye told of the fivehundred dollar reward offered for the capture of Jim Wilson, who hadescaped from the Harpersville jail after a murderous assault on theguard. The manner in which the paper had been folded indicated that thissensational article had been left outermost, and the blurred ink andwear in the creases of the folds bespoke the fact that the paper hadbeen carried around in someone’s pocket.
“Piper?” muttered Hooker. “Why, it isn’t likely that he has been here.”
“It doesn’t seem at all likely,” agreed Sage; “but still——”
“What was he doing with the paper, anyhow?”
Fred turned sidewise, so that the bright light from the open fire fellfull on the page, and his finger indicated the news article which hadheld such deep interest for Sleuth.
“See that?”
“Yes,” said Roy, peering over his chum’s shoulder. “‘Five hundreddollars reward. Desperate character breaks jail after murderous assaulton keeper.’ Oh, yes, that’s the sort of stuff that would interest oldSleuthy.”
“I’ve kept my promise to Piper to say nothing about his wild theory,”said Fred, “and, a full week having passed with no result, I don’t fancyit will do him any good for me to continue a clam. I was sure there wasnothing in it, anyhow. You see, Piper had a crazy notion that thisescaped criminal and the stranger you talked with last Saturday might beidentical. It’s rather odd that the printed description of James Wilson,as given here, corresponds with your description of the man who talkedwith you and ran away at my approach. Here it is.”
His eyes puckered, his lips pursed a little, Hooker read the descriptionof Gentleman Jim.
“Why, that’s right,” he said slowly. “It does sort of fit, and nomistake. But Pipe didn’t say anything about this to me. You know I toldyou how he came round and asked me a lot of questions, some of which Icouldn’t answer, and the most of which seemed more or less foolish. Hetried to find out everything I knew about you and your folks, seemingespecially anxious to learn where you came from when you moved intoOakdale. Now what’s that got to do with this stuff in the newspaper?”
Fred laughed shortly. “You see,” he explained, with a touch of scorn,“Sleuth was trying to connect us somehow with the notorious anddesperate Mr. Wilson.”
“How could he do that?”
“Have you forgotten that your stranger made inquiries concerning theSages in Oakdale? Now you tumble; you’re on. If that man was Wilson, hewould not make such inquiries without some knowledge of us, and, if heknew us, it was natural to suppose that we knew him. I informed Piperthat I had never heard of such a man.”
“That should have ended it.”
“Not with Sleuth. Doubtless he reasoned that if we had ever known thiscriminal we would, most naturally, be sure to deny the fact.”
“But you never did know him?”
Sage shot his friend a quick, resentful glance. “Do you think I’d lie,even to Piper?”
“Of course not.”
“I never heard of this James Wilson, _alias_ Gentleman Jim, until Sleuthtold me about him. My denial, however, had little effect on Piper, whohinted at family skeletons hidden away in closets and then proceeded towatch me in true dime novel detective style. For a day or two I couldn’tshake him; he hung around me all the time. At last I got tired of it andgave him to understand flatly that he’d better let up.”
“By Jingoes!” laughed Roy. “He was watching you last night. After wefixed it up for this little expedition and you had started for home,Piper overtook me and casually did a little pumping. Reckon I was easy,for I told him all about it. Say, you don’t suppose——” Roy paused, as ifwondering over an idea that had flashed into his mind.
“What?”
“You don’t suppose he came here to this camp after that? Perhaps hedropped the paper himself.”
Following a moment’s thought, Sage shook his head. “It was after darklast night when he found out what we had arranged to do, Roy. Piper wasat school to-day, and we left him starting out for practice with therest of the team. While it’s not impossible, it’s most improbable thathe visited this place after learning we were coming here, and got homein time to attend school. The signs of a recent fire in the fireplaceand the fresh boughs on the bunk we may accept as positive assurancethat someone spent last night here. Under any circumstances, Sleuthwouldn’t do that—alone.”
“Never,” agreed Hooker, with conviction. “This piece of newspaper musthave been left here by someone else. It’s a mere coincidence that ithappens to be the same issue shown you by Piper, and it isn’t worthbothering our brains over any further. I’m hungry. Let’s eat.”
“All right,” agreed Fred, putting the newspaper into his pocket.
Their lunch was opened up and placed on the table. Two old boxes servedthem as chairs. The warmth of the fire made the camp quite comfortable,and its light was sufficient for their needs. Sitting there and chattingafter the manner of bosom chums, they thoroughly enjoyed their supper.
After supper there was much to talk over, things of mutual interestwhich kept them for a time wide awake and in excellent humor. As it wasrequired, they placed fresh wood on the fire, reserving the heaviersticks for the long hours of the night, when they would need a slowerblaze.
The guns were looked over and fondled affectionately, while theydiscussed their hunting experiences, laughing with relish over blundersand failures which had seemed most annoying at the time of theiroccurrence. They examined the decoys Hooker had borrowed, making surethey were properly “strung” and ready for setting. Football and schoolaffairs also furnished topics for chatting and laughter and theexpression of more or less dogmatic opinions. At times in the lulls oftheir talk they heard the night wind in the trees outside, andoccasional puffs coming down the chimney blew a little smoke back intothe camp, the odor of which did not, however, become strong enough to beoffensive.
Behind them the firelight flung their shadows, huge and wavering,against the camp wall, and, looking round once by chance, Sage wasstartled to observe those shadows hovering there like something silentand sinister and menacing. Although he did not refer again to thestrange man Roy had encountered, he was wondering who that man couldhave been.
“Whoo!” cried an owl from the blackness of the woods.
Their chatter grew less; at last it ceased. They sat silently gazing atthe fire, with its bed of glowing coals. Hooker moved, stretched andyawned.
“It’s me for the sleeps,” he announced drowsily, producing a dollarwatch and beginning to wind it. “We’ve got to be up and in that blindready for business before peep o’ day, you know.”
“I’m ready to turn in,” said Fred.
“Fellow who sleeps on the front side of the bunk will have to replenishthe fire once in a while. We can change round in the night and taketurns at it. How are you about waking up?”
“Pretty good. I’ll take my turn first.”
Some heavy logs were placed on the fire, and Roy rolled himself into hisblanket, an example which Sage soon followed. In a few moments Hookerwas sound asleep, as his breathing indicated, but for a long time Fredlay thinking and wondering. He could not rid himself of the convictionthat the discovery in that old camp of the newspaper containing theaccount of Gentleman Jim’s jail-break bore a significance unexplainedand uncomprehended. If that paper had not been left there by Piper, whohad left it?
“Whoo!” again cried the owl.