CHAPTER XVIII.

THE THIEF UNDER THE BED.

“Hey, what’s that, Tubby?”

It was Hiram who whispered this in a rather hoarse and strained voice. He had managed to just barely overhear what the fat scout was telling Rob, and could hardly believe his ears.

Rob instantly held up a warning finger. His face looked serious for, while after all it might prove that Tubby’s imagination was playing tricks with him, there were circumstances that gave the matter a suspicious look.

Some one had certainly been in their rooms turning things upside-down, as though searching for articles of value, or with the intention of creating as much havoc and confusion as possible.

Besides this, had they not already concluded that this person must have been disturbed in his vandal work? They believed he had fled, but after all it was possible that, hearing them at the door, he had made the utmost haste to conceal himself in the first hiding place available, which was under one of the beds.

Rob had to think quickly.

The man must be a desperate rascal or he would never have taken the chances he did in entering their apartments bent on such work. Consequently he would, of course, be armed, and if given half a chance, might make things exceedingly disagreeable for the four scouts.

What should be done?

Hiram was already pointing toward the house telephone, as though suggesting the use of it to bring help from below. Rob shook his head to indicate that the plan did not seem to appeal to him when there might be a better one to adopt.

They were four in number, and pretty husky fellows in the bargain, who in times past had accomplished quite a few feats worth mentioning. It would be too bad if a squad of scouts of their caliber and experience could not manage in some way to smother a single concealed thief.

Of course, by this time, Andy had come to realize that there was something very exciting and mysterious going on. He wanted to burst out with a plain question, and ask Rob what it was all about; but reading the signification of that upraised finger, and the frown on the scout leader’s face, he simply put out a hand and rested it on Rob’s sleeve while a pleading expression gripped his face.

Taking pity on Andy, and believing that they must all work together if they expected to accomplish anything, Rob bent over and whispered in his ear.

“Somebody’s hiding under the bed, Tubby says. Now laugh out loud as though we were having a joke; that is to keep him quiet a while longer.”

Fortunately Andy Bowles was quick-witted enough to grasp the peculiar situation. He understood just why Rob wanted him to make it appear as though things were moving along as usual, and that no suspicion had been aroused.

So Andy laughed. If there was a queer, husky touch to the sounds he emitted to order surely Andy could hardly be blamed, for he must have been quivering all over just then from hysterical excitement.

Rob drew the heads of Tubby and Andy down close to his mouth. They knew he meant to issue instructions, and hence eagerly strained their hearing so that not a single syllable might be lost. Meanwhile Hiram was standing near by, and busily engaged in taking off his khaki coat which, being quite new, he evidently did not mean to have mussed in any rough and tumble work.

At another time Rob would have smiled to see Hiram carefully folding his coat and then softly depositing it on the bed that was held under suspicion; but it did not cause a ripple of amusement to cross his serious face now.

“You and Tubby pass around to the other side of the bed, and try to act as if you were cutting up,” Rob whispered. “Keep your eyes on me, and when I give the word lay hold of his legs and yank him out. Tubby, we depend on you to keep him from getting to his feet; squash him if necessary. Get that, both of you?”

Both heads eagerly nodded an affirmative reply. The plan was so extremely simple that there did not seem to be any possibility of confusion.

Tubby’s face was not quite so rosy as usual, perhaps, but no one could say he looked frightened in the least. He immediately started some “horse-play” with Andy, laughing as he pushed the other around the foot of the bed so that they could presently bring up on the other side.

Taking advantage of the very first opportunity, Tubby, even while continuing to pretend to wrestle with Andy, pointed a finger downward. Knowing what this was meant for, Andy ducked his head in order to also get a glimpse of the object the fat boy considered so suspicious.

Meanwhile Rob and Hiram were holding themselves in readiness to jump around to any point where they could make their presence count. The former was keeping an anxious eye on Tubby and Andy. When he saw the latter make that quick movement, Rob knew what it meant, and understood that considerable would depend on how Andy came to decide.

So Rob fairly held his breath awaiting the verdict. If after all Tubby had allowed his imagination to get the better of him, and had mistaken some simple object for a pair of shoes under the bed, Andy’s keen eyes would quickly detect the illusion, and they might expect to hear him give a roar of amusement.

Nothing of the kind happened, it turned out. Instead of this, when Andy once more straightened up he nodded his head toward Rob in a way that could have only one meaning—he was ready to risk his reputation for veracity along with Tubby in admitting that the facts looked suspicious.

That settled the matter with Rob. They must combine to make a sudden assault on the concealed thief and try to overpower him before he could place himself in a condition to do them harm.

Like a wise general, the scout leader took one last look around in order to see that his forces were all in their respective positions before he gave the signal that would precipitate action.

Andy, impatient to get busy, made a significant gesture, opening and shutting both hands rapidly, while a faint grin could be seen on his face. This was intended to convey the intelligence that he was eager to lay hold on the lower extremities of the sneak thief cowering under the bed, and start to drag him out from his place of concealment.

There was no need of any further delay, and so Rob made a quick movement with his hand, at the same time exclaiming:

“Now’s your time; get him!”

Before the last word had been uttered Andy was bending down and hurling himself part-way under the bed. He immediately began to back out, tugging with all his strength at something upon which he had pounced.

Tubby also took hold and united his power with that of the other scout. They made short work of it, once that combination got started. Out from under the bed they dragged a struggling figure that was scratching, clawing and trying in every possible way to swing around so that he would not be taken at such a terrible disadvantage.

By that time Rob and Hiram had managed to arrive, the latter scrambling directly across the bed in his hurry to get into action.

There was a lively little scene for a brief interval, with all of them trying to keep those kicking legs and violently driven arms pinned down.

A few blows were given in the struggle, and not all on one side, since Andy had a thrust in the eye that made the tears come, and Tubby received a kick which forced a grunt from his lungs.

Whoever the fellow might be he evidently was convinced that his condition was desperate, judging from the wild way he fought, to break away, with the intention of bolting from the room.

In the midst of the _mêlée_ Tubby settled the affair in a unique way all his own, and which none of the others could have imitated even though they sought to do so.

He simply allowed himself to sit down squarely on the squirming figure with which they had been battling so fiercely. When that heavyweight settled down, it was like a stone wagon dropping into a hole in the road. They heard a gasp from the unfortunate wretch underneath, whose struggles immediately began to lose much of their former vigor.

It happened that at the time the thief was lying on his stomach, so that Tubby perched on his back, which might have been broken had the fellow been less sturdily built.

After that there was really nothing more for the others to do; Tubby was equal to the task of keeping his victim pinned there in spite of anything the wretched fellow might try to do.

It was then they heard him wheezing as though short of breath, and saw his hand moving as if in abject appeal.

“I give up! I’m all in! Please don’t kill me, Rob and Andy! Won’t you let Tubby get up off my back; he’s smashing my ribs, I tell you!”

Rob, Andy and Hiram stared at each other as though they hardly knew whether they could be awake or dreaming. Why, the squirming wretch whom they found hidden under the bed, and who had undoubtedly been searching their effects with robbery in view, had actually mentioned the name of Rob and that of Andy. Yes, he had even begged that Tubby be restrained before he utterly crushed his back and sides!

It gave them one of the greatest surprises in all their experience; for how a common hotel sneak thief should know who they were, and address them so familiarly, was past their comprehension.

Tubby, too, looked astounded, though he made no move to get up in response to the pitiful wheeze of the wretch he was pinning to the floor. Perhaps it filtered through the slow-moving brain of the fat scout that this might be only one of those clever tricks known to sharpers, and entered into simply to gain some advantage.

Rob knew differently. There seemed to be something about that whine on the part of the prisoner that was familiar, though on the spur of the moment Rob could not have told where he had last heard it.

Accustomed to prompt action, the scout leader motioned to Andy and Hiram to hold themselves in readiness to seize upon the fellow’s arms, and in this manner keep him from taking advantage of his newly acquired freedom when Tubby arose.

“Now you can get up, Tubby!” said Rob.

Tubby thereupon gave one of his satisfied grunts and commenced to roll off his human cushion for, as a rule, when he wished to gain his feet, like the elephant he resembled in many ways, the fat boy had to get upon his knees first of all, and then make a further effort.

“Turn him over, Andy, Hiram; and if he tries any funny business he’ll wish he hadn’t, that’s all!” Rob told the others, who immediately started to obey.

“Oh, believe me, I’ve had enough as it is, Rob! I hope you won’t be too hard on me this time! I was wild to get back home, and that’s the truth,” the fellow was crying as Andy and Hiram turned him on his back.

The former bent down to stare into the thief’s face. Rob fairly held his breath, awaiting the explosion something told him was due. Nor was he mistaken, for Andy drew back, uttering exclamations of wonder.

“Why, who d’ye believe it is,” he burst out, “but that sneak of a Jared Applegate who had to skip out of Hampton when things got too hot for him, and who you last ran across when you were down in Mexico? Rob, he’s up to his old tricks of trying to steal what belongs to others. Say, this is one of the biggest surprises that ever came our way. Old Hiram Applegate’s bad boy, and a common hotel thief!”