CHAPTER XIX

THE HUNT FOR THE WIRE

While it was thus possible to make out the faint tracery of the high trestle and its attendant bridge, objects were not so very plain after all; and even youthful eyes had to undergo considerable of a strain in order to succeed at all.

Remembering what Rob had said with regard to their object in searching for the wire that would in all likelihood run between the hidden mine and the lurking place of the plotters, every one was excessively vigilant. It might happen that with great luck they would be able to discover this connecting link in the start. Such a piece of good fortune would simplify matters wonderfully, for they understood just what the intentions 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 moment arrived and the lawless breakers of neutrality sought to consummate their act, they would not meet with any sort of success, for with the conductor of the electric current broken the mine could not be exploded.

They had not gone very far, always approaching closer to the embankment near by the commencement of the trestle, when Rob stopped short. Every one had the customary thrill; indeed, that would hardly apply because one of these little spasms seemed to follow so close upon the heels of another that they were in an almost constant state of apprehension.

Rob must have made some sort of discovery or he would not have called a halt in this fashion. Donald was at his side now, and had also come to a pause, so the others brushed up against them, making a compact clump as they crouched there, and strained all their faculties.

Now, the three members of the old Eagle Patrol had been together so much, and passed through so many adventures in common, that long since they had agreed on a system of signals whereby they could communicate without any outsider being aware of what was going on. Thus a faint twitter, resembling a sleepy bird protesting at being pushed on its perch, would indicate that something had been seen that ought to be taken into consideration. A low grunt, after the manner of a hedgehog hunting 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 communicate without anyone being the wiser. Rob’s warning indicated that he had made a discovery, which they, too, would be able to hit upon if they used their ears to the best advantage.

Ah! now it came stealing up to them. Even Tubby knew that it was not the grumble of a burrowing animal, but the low mutter of a hoarse, excited voice. It came but faintly at best, and certainly would never reach the hearing of any one located several times as far away as the crouching boys and Zeb were at the time.

Accustomed to practicing such things as the scouts were, they had no difficulty at all in picking out the exact spot from which this hoarse whisper came. Even Tubby could do that, for he was far from a tenderfoot, having been in harness quite as long as his two mates.

This tell-tale whisper informed them where the men whom they had set out to balk, were hiding. Yes, it was far enough away from the railway embankment to allow them to escape any possible evil results when the climax arrived and the mine was sprung, and yet sufficiently close to let them see the train as it swung down upon the high trestle, perhaps slowing up for the passage of the bridge.

Rob made a mental calculation as quick as a flash. He was thus enabled to get his bearings, and could figure out just about how that wire was likely 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 perhaps still closer to the trestle. This would increase their own peril in case events 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 excite suspicion, and that, in turn, might influence the wary schemers, fearful of being caught. Rather than have their evil plans balked they would naturally prefer to explode the mine even before the train arrived.

Rob may have considered Tubby’s customary clumsiness, and made provision to take as little chance as possible. That would be the natural conclusion to be drawn from the fact that he now sank still lower, until on his hands and knees, and in this ungainly but practical position they were 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 suppressed by a fierce shove. Tubby wondered if their presence in the vicinity could have been discovered, or even suspected. He was preparing his nerves against a sudden terrific roar, as the valuable railway property came crashing down. He also fervently hoped that none of the heavy timbers would carry over to where they were creeping along.

Tubby was not feeling over-happy, but nothing would have induced the boy to forego the excitement. Perhaps, his nature being slow, Tubby might hold back longer than such impetuous fellows as Andy and some of the other 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 he intended. He commenced to gradually swing around. He was bent on making that half-circuit, so as to cross the direct line of communication between the hiding place of the plotters and the railway.

They faced the west from this point on. That fact might seem of little moment, and yet it proved its value, for only because their faces were turned in that direction did they make a sudden discovery.

Something far distant was creeping up the heavens. It looked like a faint line of fire, and only for the fact that it mounted higher and higher instead of descending, Tubby would have believed it to be one of those 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 even while the fiery finger still crept upward toward its zenith. It was a sky-rocket. Some patriotic Canadian was celebrating, for some cause or other, though Tubby did not happen to remember whether this was King George’s birthday, or the anniversary of the late lamented Edward’s natal day. Possibly good news had been received from across the sea. The stanch Canadian soldiers in the war trenches might have once more covered themselves with glory, and—then Tubby felt as though a frozen hand had come in contact with his heart, such was the mighty shiver that ran through his system. He had suddenly conceived another and more significant fact.

Why should that not be a signal rocket? He remembered that when abroad with his two chums, and visiting the French in the trenches, they had seen such fiery tracery against the night heavens, and understood that some commander was giving his orders; or else a spy far back of the enemy’s lines was trying to communicate some important information he had picked up.

That altered the complexion of everything, Tubby thought. These desperate men must realize what a tremendous, as well as dangerous, job they had undertaken; and consequently they would try to cover every possibility, so there might be no fluke or miscarriage of their plans.

Yes, they undoubtedly had some trusty confederate waiting at a certain station on the railway, miles to the west, whose duty it was to signal them the fact that the million-dollar munition train had just left that point, and could be expected at the bridge within a certain time, which information would allow them to have everything prepared for the grand spectacular event.

They had neglected nothing, apparently, except taking into consideration the fact that a few members of the Eagle Patrol of Boy Scouts chanced to be up in that particular section of country at the time and, as so frequently happened, were bound to get mixed up in any excitement that came along, often to their own honor and glory.

There, the rocket had burst, and yet so quickly had Tubby grasped the situation, being considerably worked up at the time, that he had arrived at a conclusion before this took place.

He plainly saw the fiery stars scatter, and imagined he could even detect the faint boom of the rocket’s bursting in midair, though Tubby would never affirm this fact positively.

Now they were moving on again, as before, every fellow feeling as he went, and hoping to be the lucky one whose itching fingers might come in contact with the wire. How this was to be severed when found, Tubby did not know, but he was willing to leave all that to Rob. Why, so well prepared did the scout master usually go that Tubby more than half believed he must be carrying with him a little pair of wire-cutters—at least he had a hazy remembrance of having once seen a minute sample of such a useful tool among Rob’s traps. Even though this did not turn out to be so, trust him for making a good use of his knife, with its largest blade in condition to do the ripping and sawing of the small insulated copper wire; why, Tubby himself had many a time bent and twisted such a delicate strand, yes, and parted it, without any sort of tool, when he was fixing the electric doorbell at home, or making and arranging a bell connection so that his mother could summon the servant from the kitchen by pressing her toe upon a button concealed under the rug and table of the dining-room.

How beautiful this blind confidence on the part of Tubby! It is ever a delight to have a chum upon whom you can always fully depend when the storm clouds gather and danger presses around! Rob had ever been such a stanch rock to his comrades in times past. They had reason to throw their troubles on his shoulders without scruple.

Perhaps only two or three minutes had gone by since first they discovered that the enemy was concealed near by, yet the time seemed much longer than that to the anxious hearts of the wire searchers. Donald was listening with all his might. He dreaded lest he catch the sound of an approaching train while their important errand was still unfinished; and thinking thus he burned with undiminished zeal as he went groping amidst the small weeds that covered the ground over which they 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 of their lives could they have made the discovery for which every one yearned.

By now they had reached a point far enough away from the danger zone to permit with safety of a hurried consultation between Rob and Donald, provided it was carried on with the utmost discretion, each in turn placing 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, but in this they were soon undeceived, for they saw him putting his head against that of the Canadian boy and could just manage to catch a breath of the sibilant whispered conference that began.

It was at this very moment that a slant of the light breeze brought the rumble of the oncoming heavy freight train to their ears. To the imaginative Tubby it seemed as though it must proceed from a spot only a mile or so distant. With that elusive wire still unfound the prospect did not look very encouraging, Tubby was bound to admit, though still trying to bolster up his courage.