CHAPTER XIV
DICK'S MISFORTUNE
Now what of Dick all this time? Let us go back to the night when Garryand Phil had started for the Dutton Lake to see what could be found outabout the stolen timber.
Barrows, of course, had not told the truth when he said that he had notseen Dick after they had gone to their shack.
He had come into the office as had been agreed upon, and engaged Barrowsin conversation about fishing. Barrows had chatted cordially for a briefwhile, and then excused himself for a moment to give orders to one ofthe section bosses whom he heard outside.
Dick heard him give the order to work on the coming day, delivered in aloud tone of voice, and almost instantly after the close of theconversation he came into the office again.
The conversation was picked up where they had left off, and they chattedlike old friends for nearly a half an hour.
Finally, Dick heard the cookie calling for Barrows to come out a moment,and Barrows obeyed the summons. Knowing that the cookie was suspected ofbeing in league with the traitors in the camp, Dick walked softly to thedoor and tried to hear what was being said, but as they were severalfeet from the entrance to the office, and speaking in the most cautiouswhispers, he could distinguish nothing that was being said. Suddenly thecookie darted away, and Barrows re-entered the cabin and stood leaningagainst the door.
"Speaking about fish," he remarked, looking malevolently at Dick, "theyare foolish things since they always take bait. Now did you three boystake me for a fool entirely, and did you think that I would take anybait that was offered me? I know every move you made since you have beenhere, including your letter to Boone. Why, you poor, useless boy, I amplaying for too big stakes here to let a pack of mere children balk me.Your work was clever if it had been against an ignorant man, but you'redone now."
Dick's heart sank. He knew that a cog had slipped somewhere. They hadbeen too sure of themselves. Barrows kept on talking in the same strainuntil Dick began to realize that he was merely talking against time. Herose to his feet and prepared to make a dash for the door, butrealization came too late, for the door was thrown open and in steppedthe arch enemy of the boys, Jean LeBlanc.
"So, mon ami, we meet again. This is a mos' pleasant meeting, but youare not to escape so easily this time."
There was hatred in the halfbreed's voice and in his eyes. Dick shiveredinwardly, although he let no sign of fear be shown in his face oractions.
"All the better to have you here this time, LeBlanc, you just walk intoour hands; and this time you will see the inside of a jail for sure,"said Dick boldly.
LeBlanc's face darkened with rage. He made as though to reach for theknife that hung in his belt, but Barrows stopped him.
"That will do, LeBlanc, I'll handle this matter in my own way. Rememberyou're working for me, and you do as I say or get out, and I'll findanother man for the job."
Dick was astonished at the way LeBlanc subsided. Evidently Barrows was amuch braver man than they had given him credit for being; at any rate,he seemed to be the absolute master of the halfbreed.
"Yes, ma frien', you are the boss, but perhaps another time, when I amnot working for you, I will take care of this one. Now what we do withhim."
"We will put him in the cellar under the storehouse for the present,then when we have captured his friends, we will have them taken toMisery Camp."
"Taking the others will be an easy matter, will it not? We shall justsurround them like that and take them," and he snapped his fingers witha derisive gesture.
"That's just what we won't do. Why do you suppose I am going to thetrouble of all this secrecy for? If it had been merely a matter ofcapturing them, it would have been done long ago. But they have been ontheir guard most of the time, and this camp is full of lumberjacks thatworked for old man Boone. If they got wise to anything, they would haveme strung up to a tree in no time, and one of the worst riots in thehistory of the lumber business would have been pulled off in this camp.No, sir, I am saving my skin."
"Why not get rid of those who would help them?" inquired Jean.
"I am, just as fast as I can. Everything was all right till these boysshowed up to play amateur detective. Now we must make a grand cleanupand work fast. Things are getting too hot."
"I, Jean LeBlanc, am giving you warning. The bes' thing to do is to slipa knife in a place where it would do the most good. Every time they havecross my path, they have won, and Jean LeBlanc is not one who is easilybeaten in anything."
"Bah, you make me tired, LeBlanc. They may have had a little luck and alot of help, or else you didn't know how to do your work. I'm here totell you that Gene Barrows will not be fooled."
Dick had been sitting silently all this time, drinking in theconversation of the two men. They seemed not to be noticing him, and ina desperate attempt to make his escape, he darted for the door andsucceeded in getting outside. But his triumph was short lived, for hehad no more than attained the outside air, when he was seized by an irongrip by two men, and hauled ignominiously back into the office. He sawat once that his captors were LeBlanc's brother, Baptiste, and theunknown chap who had been implicated with Baptiste in the attack onHowells.
Dick reddened with rage at the laughter of his enemies, and vowed tohimself that somehow, somewhere, he would pay them for their taunts.
"Come, we are wasting time; the others may be back from their littlespying expedition at any moment. Grab him, you two," directed Barrows.Baptiste and the unknown, whose name Dick later learned was Fearon,seized him in no gentle grasp. One of them clasped a hard, dirty handover his mouth to prevent any outcry, and they walked him across thecamp to the storehouse.
Barrows produced the key and threw open the door. Once inside, the doorwas carefully closed, and Barrows produced a candle which he lighted.Dick was searched and his knife and matches were taken away.
Two heavy molasses barrels were rolled away, disclosing a trap in thefloor. This was raised and a rude ladder was seen to lead below. Dickwas mercilessly bundled down the hole, little care being taken as towhether or not he broke his neck as he slipped down the damp ladder.
Then he heard the clatter of the trap door as it fell, and he was leftalone in the dark.
Once before Dick had been in a tight hole, and the lack of knife andmatches had almost been his undoing. Thereafter he had guarded againstthis happening again. To this end he had contrived a secret pocket inthe lapel of his coat, where a knife always reposed. Also inside of thesweatband of his hat were several matches rolled tightly in waterproofsilk.
He got out the matches, and lighting one, looked about him. He surveyedthe room with a quick glance, for the matches were too precious to usetoo many of them. His quick survey showed that the underground room wasbare of any furnishing; there was not even a blanket to sleep on. Helighted a second match and inspected the floor, discovering that bothfloor and walls were constructed of hand-hewed logs, and knew that itwould take a week to dig through them with nothing but a pocket knifewith which to work.
The underground room was damp and musty, and Dick shivered.
He wondered how long it would be before they took him out, and he beganto do calisthenics vigorously to restore some warmth to his alreadychilled body.
For a time he thought of crawling up the ladder and trying out his knifeon the trap door, but he had noted that it was of triple thickness ofinch boards and would probably blunt and dull his knife without makingany great impression.
There was one hope that someone might come into the storehouse above andhe could rap on the door and let them know he was a prisoner there.
After some moments of reflection, he decided that this would also beunavailing, for the cook must also be one of the traitors. It was notpossible that he would be unaware of the secret room, and was in allprobability a member of the gang.
Dick was a healthy boy, and soon his eyes grew drowsy with sleep. Helaid himself down on the hard floor, and as soon as his bones gotaccustomed to the floor, dropped off
to sleep, sensibly refusing toworry and letting the morrow bring what it would.
His last thought as he fell asleep was the hope that his companionswould not fall into a trap as he had, although he half expected that hewould be awakened any moment by the sound of the trap door opening, andthe entry of his chums as prisoners.
But when he awoke in the morning, he found that he was still alone. Heunscrewed the cover of his watch face, and felt the hands, finding thatit was nearly eight o'clock. So far no one had come, and he wondered ifhe was to be given anything to eat. Two weary hours dragged on, and thenthe trap was opened, and a pack of food lowered to him, together with apail of coffee. He looked up and saw the cook and cookee peering down athim. Evidently they were going to take no chances of a surprise on hispart, hence their coming in pairs.
Dick called to them to ask when he was to be taken out, but they hadevidently been instructed to hold no words with him, for they quicklylowered the trap and the barrels were again rolled into place. Dick'slast sight as the trap closed was the leering face of the cookee. Hemanaged to eat his food in the dark, and resolved to ask for a blanketwhen next they came to bring him food.
The day dragged as though on leaden feet, but no one appeared again.Dick thought that dinner would be brought to him, but none came, and hefigured that perhaps there were too many watchers who would beinquisitive if they saw cooked food being carried to the storehouse.Perhaps Garry and Phil were on the watch. This gave Dick a thrill, forif his thoughts were true it meant that they had not been trapped in anyway.
Frequently he unscrewed the face of his watch and felt the hands to notethe time. He resolved that his first step when he got back tocivilization would be to buy a watch that had a radium dial so he couldtell time in the dark.
Dick had no idea but that he would get out, for he was one whose couragedid not fail. Then, too, he trusted in the cleverness of his companionsto get him out of the scrape.
He was squatting on the floor Hindu fashion, about eleven o'clock,thinking that he would soon lie down and try to get some sleep, when thetrap was opened, and Barrows' voice bade him come up the ladder.
He obeyed only too gladly, for the darkness and the chill of the cellarwere beginning to get his nerve. In the storehouse he found that Barrowswas accompanied by the LeBlanc brothers. This made any chance of a roughand tumble fight with the manager and possible dash for freedom out ofthe question.
"Now there will be no fooling on your part, but you will sit down atthis case here and write a note to your friends telling them that youhave been captured by LeBlanc and are being held for ransom. That willplease them, eh, Jean?"
LeBlanc gave a wolfish grin. "At least it make them hurry to rescuetheir friend. They do not like me, those boys, any more than I likethem."
"Suppose I refuse to write that note, what then?" demanded Dick.
"Why, I think we will let LeBlanc handle that end of it," said Barrows.
Jean LeBlanc's face wore a diabolic smile as he took from his mouth thebig-bowled pipe that he was smoking.
"Once I saw an Indian torture a man to get from him a secret," he said."It was oh, so easy. All that he did was to thrust the man's fingers,one by one, into the pipe bowl, and after the fifth finger, the man gavein."
Dick shuddered in spite of himself. He had heard of this Indian methodof torture, and knew that LeBlanc was not only capable of doing it, butwould take a fiendish pleasure in the operation.
"Then if that fails, which I doubt, I give you warning that your chumswill be seized on some pretext and sent out seemingly to jail withLeBlanc as their guard, and once away from the camp, will be given tohim to do as he pleases," said Barrows. "Now do you think you will writethat letter?"
Dick had resolved on submitting to the torture before writing theletter, but this last threat made him change his mind. He could affordto take no chances with the safety, and perhaps the lives, of his chums,by refusing to write. In the meantime his mind was busy trying toconjure up some way of warning them that it was a trap.
He took the scrap of paper that was offered to him, and began to write.As the letter drew near its close, he hastily constructed the cryptogramwhich our readers are already aware of.
Barrows took the note and read it carefully, turning it over to see thatthere was not other writing on the back, and scanning it for some signof warning. Dick was afraid that he would decipher the simple code, butwas relieved when Barrows crumpled the note to give it the appearance ofhaving been carried some few hours, and then put it in his pocket.
He was ordered back into the cellar, and there was nothing to do butobey. The trap was closed and he heard the rolling of barrels, then allwas still.
Dick wondered what plot was in the wind, but was unable to puzzle itout. He finally decided that it was only another private scheme ofBarrows to get money, and a thousand dollars would be a pretty goodhaul.
He gave up trying to solve the riddle, and lying on the floor staredinto the darkness.
There was one chance in a thousand that one of them might come alone inthe morning to bring him food, and he resolved to climb up the ladderthe moment he heard footsteps above him, and with his pocket knife tryto fight his way to freedom.
With this comforting thought, he dropped off to sleep.
Following the writing of the note, Barrows slipped back to his officeand told LeBlanc to make one attempt to seize the boys, then if thatfailed, they would use their ruse to attract them from the camp.
How this attempt succeeded has already been told, and all LeBlanc gotfor his pains was a smash on the hand where Phil's clubbed rifle had hithim.
He hastened back cursing, and told Barrows of the failure, and afterbeing upbraided was told to go to the rendezvous where the capture ofthe boys was to be made.
Barrows then went to the cookhouse, where the unkempt individual thatwas to act as bearer was waiting, and gave him his final instructions.
"Now," said the vindictive manager, "we shall see who wins, a pack ofmere children, or Gene Barrows!"