CHAPTER VI

A BRIBE OF HALF A MILLION

Preceded by the boy who had brought the note, Ned walked swiftly along the side of the mountain for a mile or more, taking a northerly course. It is needless to say that the boy was more than suspicious regarding the authenticity of the message he had received.

In the first place, the handwriting on the piece of paper was not at all like that of either of the boys who were alleged to have sent it. In the second place, the boys were never known to carry writing paper with them on their trips out from the camp.

There was a chance, however, that either Jimmie or Frank had written the message at a moment of peril or during great excitement. There was a bare chance, too, that one of them had discovered a sheet of writing paper in his pocket.

The appeal for help, suspicious as it was, was by no means to be disregarded, so Ned trudged along behind his guide, feeling that whatever took place he was doing his full duty.

And there was another feature of the case which Ned considered fully. Should the sending of the message prove to be a trick on the part of some designing person, it was quite important that he should know who that person was. His decision to follow the boy, therefore, was brought about by these two reasons.

It will be remembered that up to the time of Ned’s departure from camp, no suspicion of any hostile presence in the mountains had been entertained. Gilroy, the fat, confidential clerk, it will be remembered, arrived shortly after Ned’s departure in response to the message.

Realizing that the messenger might be leading him into a trap, Ned took occasion to blaze his trail by marks on trees, carelessly made, by signs in twigs and by signs in stones. All these, he knew, would be readily understood by anyone of his chums, or, in fact, by any Boy Scout.

Once or twice Ned thought he caught in the eye of his guide a significant look as these signs were left in the path. However, the boy made no objections to Ned’s frequent pauses, and gave no indications of displeasure at the marking of the trail.

After a long walk along the slope of the mountain toward the north, the boy suddenly turned straight west and made his way up toward the snow line. Here the walking was very difficult, as the boys were obliged to wind around jutting crags and climb into and out of narrow canyons at the bottoms of which trickles of water made their way eastward.

Up to this time very little conversation had been indulged in, but now during the frequent necessary halts, Ned began questioning his strange companion. The boy answered in a manner which at first seemed entirely frank.

“How did you like the bread and beans?” Ned asked at one resting place with a smile. “Why didn’t you wake us up?”

“What are you talking about bread and beans?” asked the boy, though the sly look in his face told Ned that he understood.

“The next time you come to our camp in the night,” Ned went on, “Just wake us up and we’ll give you a night lunch worth while.”

“What about last night?” asked the boy.

“Last night,” Ned answered, “you would have had broiled bear steak and hot coffee. Steak beats cold beans, doesn’t it?”

“Say, you are a good fellow!” exclaimed the guide.

Ned laughingly extended his right hand, giving the full Boy Scout salute. The guide returned the sign and asked:

“How did you know?”

“The button under the lapel of your coat shows when you are climbing,” Ned replied. “Why do you try to hide it?”

“I put it there so it wouldn’t get lost,” was the hesitating answer.

“What time did you reach our camp last night?” was Ned’s next question.

“A little after twelve,” was the reply. “It’s a wonder you fellows wouldn’t keep some one on watch. The bears’ll eat you up some night!”

“Why did you come to the camp at all?”

“Well, I was wandering over the mountains when you boys came in late yesterday afternoon, and I thought I would go over and have a visit with you. After I got to your camp I thought perhaps you wouldn’t like to be routed out of bed, so I just helped myself to a lunch and came away. Say, but I was good and hungry!”

“What are you doing in the mountains?” asked Ned.

“I came in with hunters from New York,” was the answer.

“So you live in New York city, do you?”

“Yes,” was the slow reply.

“And belong to the Wolf Patrol, your button says!”

“Yes, I belong to the Wolf Patrol.”

“Where are you taking me now?” asked Ned, at another stop.

“Why, to the place where the boys are,” was the reply.

At that moment Ned understood that the guide was not telling the truth. There was a look in the fellow’s eyes which betrayed the fact. However, he decided to continue the journey and discover if possible why the fraudulent message had been sent.

“Who gave you this message?” he finally asked.

“The man who saw the boys,” was the answer.

“Then you did not see the boys?”

“Yes,” was the slow reply, “I saw the boys.”

“Did you speak with them?”

“Yes, I spoke with them,” replied the guide.

“Did they give you this note? If so, tell me under what circumstances it was written. It says that they are in need of assistance. Tell me the exact situation of affairs.”

Instead of replying to the direct question, the guide darted away, passing around a corner of rock, and was soon lost to view. Ned hesitated, not knowing whether he ought to follow him or not.

While he stood considering the matter, four as evil-looking half-breeds as he had ever seen swarmed down upon him, and in a moment he was bound hand and foot and placed on a rude stretcher.

The attack had come so suddenly that the boy had offered little resistance. He now lay upon the stretcher of bark and boughs and looked into the faces of his captors with curiosity as well as astonishment.

“What did you do that for?” he asked.

The individual who seemed to be the leader of the party mumbled out some sullen reply and motioned to the others to take up the litter.

“Anyway,” the boy said grimly, “I seem to be going in state.”

“You are a slippery cuss!” the leader declared and the little procession moved on up the slope.

All four of the men seemed to be half-breeds, dirty and roughly clad. Ned felt a feeling of repulsion which would have been expressed by blows had his feet and hands been at liberty.

The climb up the mountain was a slow one, and one not at all pleasant to the boy as they insisted on carrying him feet foremost. At last, however, they came to a level shelf of fair size whereon a tent had been pitched.

There was a fire in front of the tent, and a large, fleshy, well-dressed man sat on a packing box industriously whittling a pine stick. Not far away, and bent over a mass of dirty dishes, was a man who seemed to be older and a great deal taller than the man on the box.

This latter individual’s face was thin and dark and lighted by a pair of eyes which seemed almost lidless, like those of a snake. Both men were very neatly dressed in tailor-made garments although the articles of clothing showed the effects of mountain climbing.

The litter was set down in front of the tent and Ned lost no time in taking a sitting position. The fat man looked him over benevolently.

“Well, son,” he said in a moment, “you made no effort to make my acquaintance, and so I sent the boys to ask you over.”

“They did it all right!” Ned answered.

The fat man now motioned to the half-breeds, who proceeded to search the boy for weapons and then cut his bonds.

“Now,” said the fat man, “we may as well introduce ourselves. You are Ned Nestor, I take it? Well, my name is Richard Toombs, recently of the city of New York.”

“How did you happen to escape?” asked Ned scornfully.

“Now don’t make the mistake of becoming sarcastic!” Toombs warned. “I had you brought here because I can do you a service and you can do me one. We’ll get along all right together if you exercise the good sense you are generally given credit for possessing.”

“If you wanted to see me,” Ned demanded angrily, “why didn’t you come over to the camp? Why did you send your cut-throats over to tie me up like a pig for roasting?”

“Because,” Toombs answered, “you have the reputation in New York of being a very obstinate as well as a very clever lad. Because, again,” he went on, “I have no time to waste in preliminaries. I wanted you to understand from the word ‘Go’ just exactly what the situation is.”

“Well, what is it?” asked Ned.

“You came into the mountains with young Jack Bosworth?”

“Jack is a member of my party,” Ned answered.

“And you came on a mission for Jack’s father?”

“Nothing of the kind!” answered Ned. “We came in on a vacation.”

“You don’t expect me to believe that, do you?” demanded Toombs.

“It is the truth,” answered Ned.

“It is remarkable,” smiled Toombs, “that Jack Bosworth’s son and you, a juvenile detective of pronounced ability, should just happen into this country at this particular time!”

“What do you think we came in for?” asked Ned.

“Young man,” Toombs answered, “a good many million dollars depend upon the finding of certain records. I, representing various claimants, am informed that Jack Bosworth, Senior, the scheming corporation lawyer, has definite information concerning the whereabouts of those papers. It is my belief that you came here to seize and destroy them.”

“Well,” Ned said with a smile, “if you believe that, you certainly have acted unwisely. It strikes me that the correct thing for you to have done was to have waited until I secured the papers before you declared yourself my enemy. Can’t you see that?”

“No, I can’t!” was the reply. “The papers would not last five minutes after coming into your hands.”

“I tell you,” Ned replied lightly, “I don’t know anything about the papers of which you speak. We came here on a vacation, and that is all there is to it. You have made a mistake, and my advice to you is to rectify it at the earliest possible moment.”

“Well,” Toombs said, “if you insist on sticking to a lie like that, I can’t help it. I’ll give you fair warning, however, that you must consider yourself my guest until I get an entirely different answer from you. I hope we’ll get along well together. You’ll be well treated.”

Ned turned his eyes away from the broad, fat, smooth face of Toombs to catch a glimpse of the boy messenger standing at a corner of the tent. It seemed to Ned for an instant that the boy was about to communicate with him by sign or word. Then his face changed into one of sullen defiance and he passed from view.

“Who is that boy?” asked Ned. “The messenger who brought the note, I mean? Did he write the note himself?”

“No,” answered Toombs, “I wrote the note. We were together—the boy and I—on the slope below your camp, and he caught sight of two of your chums. Then it occurred to me to send for you in the name of the boys. He only delivered the note—I wrote it.”

“It’s a wonder you didn’t send your half-breeds out after the boys, too,” Ned said. “You might have lugged them away easily enough, I presume.”

“Now, see here,” Toombs went on, “I don’t want any trouble with your friends or with you. I’ll make you a fair business proposition. Tell me the plans of this tricky corporation lawyer you are serving; tell me where to find the papers you came here in trace of, and I’ll give you half a million dollars. Now,” the fat man went on, “perhaps you will understand why I did not molest any of your chums and why no harm came to any of you when my men were at your camp at midnight.”

“And if I refuse to accept this monstrous bribe?” Ned asked.

“Then no one will ever know that the offer was made or refused,” declared Toombs with an evil gleam in his eyes.