CHAPTER XXI.

THE DUMMY PACKET.

Bumpus dug his knuckles into his eyes, and then stared again at the pile of plunder which had evidently been taken from some bank; for besides the little rolls that seemed to contain gold eagles, and half eagles, and fives, there were a number of packages of bank bills, and a lot of bonds—at least that was what the boys guessed they must be.

“Somebody _please_ give me a pinch,” said Bumpus. “I sure must be dreaming one of my old dreams about findin’ buried treasure. Hey! not so hard, Step Hen; I’m awake now all right, because that hurt like the dickens. But just look at what Thad’s unearthed, would you? Whew! I don’t blame that feller for hangin’ around here. I’d refuse to be chased away too, if I had all that stuff lyin’ under a stone in an old cabin.”

For some little time the boys continued to talk. Allan had wisely in the beginning stepped over and hung something over the one little window of the cabin. He seemed to understand that, with the finding of this stolen plunder belonging to a bank that had been looted at some previous day, they had taken up issues with these desperate men; and whether they wanted to or not, from this time forward it must be a question as to whether the hobo thieves recovered their prize; or were in turn taken prisoner by the scouts, and the guides with them.

By unearthing this rich haul Thad had settled the question. They could no longer hold aloof, and sit on the fence; but must enter into the game with the yeggmen.

And so the plan suggested, which looked to the ultimate capture of the rascals, appealed to the boys more than ever. If circumstances over which they seemed to really have little control, forced them to take a hand in the matter, it was the part of wisdom that they get in the first blow; and not wait for the desperate fugitives of the Maine woods to attack them, in order to try and force them to hand over this rich find.

“How’d it do to make up a dummy bundle, with these same old clothes,” remarked Giraffe. “We could fasten it with the string, same as they had it; and in case the fellers didn’t take the trouble to open the same, why, we’d be that much ahead, you see.”

“That’s a good idea, and can do no harm to try,” remarked the patrol leader, who was only too pleased to receive suggestions from the scouts, even though at times they thought of plans that were wildly impracticable; for it showed their minds were working; and anything was better than that they fall into the state of letting some one else do their thinking for them.

So Giraffe was set to work constructing the imitation bundle. Of course it did not contain one blessed thing worth mentioning. Bumpus wrote the single suggestive word “fooled” on a piece of paper, and wanted them to insert that; but Thad remarked that it would be better not to further arouse the anger of such lawless men. This was no child’s play in which they were now engaged, but the most serious adventure of all they had ever run across; and must be treated with the sober consideration grown-up men would be apt to give to such a matter.

But even this rebuff could not quench the newly-aroused spirit in the stout boy, Bumpus, who saw his dreams coming true. He could imagine the wonderful results when they delivered these valuable bonds over to the bank that had been looted. Surely there must have been a generous reward offered for their return; which, with that they were certain to receive for capturing the hobo thieves, would cram the treasury of the Boy Scout troop, and open up many delightful chances for other vacation trips to far-away places.

“But what will we do with all this glorious stuff?” he asked, as they sat, and looked, and talked, while the night wore on.

“I’m going to make it up into a packet, somehow,” remarked Thad. “Then, when I’ve got it in as small a compass as possible, I’ll wind a cord around it every which way, and use a little piece of red sealing wax I remember seeing in my haversack, to seal it up with. Then nobody can break it open without our knowing it.”

“My goodness! I hope now, Thad, you don’t think any scout would be so pokey as to want to meddle with it, after you’ve taken it in charge?” remarked Step Hen.

“Certainly I don’t,” replied the patrol leader, quickly; “I know you all too well for that; but I believe there’s a certain amount of red tape to be carried out in a case like this; and I’m going to fasten it in the presence of every one of you, so that you can hold up your right hands and vow, if ever you are asked, that everything we found is sealed in this package. And here goes for a tough job.”

Considering that he had little material to work with, it was a hard task; but then, Thad possessed considerable ingenuity; and could adapt himself to circumstances wonderfully well. And the result was all that could be asked, since the package he produced was not very large, but quite compact, and after being liberally daubed with the red sealing wax, so that none of the cords could be undone, really looked very important indeed.

“There, how will that do, boys?” asked Thad, when he had finished.

“Simply great!” declared Giraffe; “and it’s a wonder how you manage to get such big results from small things. I never saw the like.”

“I was thinking,” mused Allan, “that since Charlie Barnes came here only last night, what is to hinder him from paying us a visit again?”

“That’s so!” ejaculated Giraffe. “Say, mebbe that’s why Sebattis went out a long time back. He’s the sly one, now, let me tell you. Chances are he expects that we may have uninvited company some time around now; and if the Wandering Willy tries to peep in at our window like he did last time, why, he’s goin’ to run up against Sebattis, good and hard.”

“I knew that was why he went out,” Thad observed, “and it gave me a comforting feeling; because I’m as sure as anything can be, that nobody could steal up here on us with the Indian on guard.”

“Not much,” added Step Hen. “He’s got the ears of a fox, and can hear the least sound.”

“Of a weasel, you mean,” Bumpus declared. “I never turn over in my sleep but what, if I raise my head, there’s them black eyes of Sebattis awatchin’ me, just as if he expected I was goin’ to have a fit, like Davy here used to take.”

“Forget that, won’t you, Bumpus,” said the other hastily. “I reckon I’m cured of that caper by now; but sometimes,” he added, as he saw Giraffe looking at him, and grinning, “I do feel signs like one was acomin’ on again, though it never really and truly does, you see.”

“Now, where will you put that, Thad?” asked Step Hen, pointing to the sealed package that had been so officiously done up.

“Oh! keep it out of sight under my blanket till morning,” answered the other. “Then we can hide it in one of the canoes, under the duffle, where it’ll be safe.”

“We want you to take it in your boat, remember that,” observed Giraffe. “You was the one to find the prize, and the only claim any of the rest have to the reward will be that we stood ready to defend it.”

Thad looked squarely at him as Giraffe said this.

“That’ll do for you, Giraffe,” he remarked sternly. “I don’t want to hear any more like that. There are six of us here, and two more at home. Every scout will have an equal share in any reward that may happen to come to us; yes, and more than that, the other five who are on this expedition with me are going to be credited with their portion of the honor of recovering this lost bank capital. We’re in the same boat, sink or swim, survive or perish. Understand that, fellows; and now after this, I’ll take it hard of you if any member of the Silver Fox Patrol tries to shove more than a sixth of the glory on my shoulders.”

They saw he meant it, and their boyish hearts warmed within them at the knowledge that they had such a splendid chum at the head of the patrol. Where could another like Thad Brewster be found, they would like to know?

The dummy package was placed carefully under the hearthstone, and Thad tried the best he knew how to arrange it just about as he had found the treasure trove. And as one of them had said, if the hoboes in their hurry failed to open it up, they might remain in ignorance concerning their great loss, for some length of time.

“Now, I think that it must be nearly midnight,” announced Thad, “and a lot of us are dead tired; so I put it up to you, fellows, if we hadn’t ought to try and get some rest? We want to be in trim for other work to-morrow.”

Giraffe held up his hand.

“Count me in,” he remarked, wearily.

“Ditto here,” said Allan, also making the high sign.

“Can’t crawl under my blanket any too soon to please me,” Davy added.

“Well, if the rest of you want to turn in, I’m there,” Step Hen declared, yawning.

All eyes were fastened on Bumpus, waiting to hear his decision, so that it might be made unanimous.

“Great Scott! he’s dead asleep, and sittin’ up at that!” exclaimed Giraffe.

Which was a fact; for the fat boy had been so completely tired out with his labor of the morning, when securing the store of honey; as well as from the excitement and nervous shock brought on by the bee stings, that he could not keep his eyes open any longer; and sitting there like a heathen god, as Giraffe called it, he had gone fast asleep.

Of course they had to wake poor Bumpus up, so that he could take his shoes off, and get ready to crawl under his blanket; but he started to perform these little tasks grumblingly, because he had been disturbed.

“Might let a feller snooze where he was,” he muttered, working away, with his eyes still closed. “I was just goin’ to sit down to the dinner table at home, an’ it was Thanksgiving day too. Um! how that big turkey did make me crazy to get at it. And then comes a budge in the ribs, and Giraffe here sayin’ as how I’m takin’ all the room, an’ must roll over. A feller never can be let alone when he wants to, in this——”

Bumpus did not finish what he was saying. Nor was he longer sitting there with his eyes closed, groping at the fastening of his leggings in the endeavor to get the shin protectors off. On the contrary he started half-way to his feet, once more wide-awake.

For without the slightest warning there came to the ears of the scouts the loud report of a rifle from some point just outside the cabin walls. And they suddenly remembered what had been said only a short time before, about the dangerous yeggmen coming back again on this night.

And also that Sebattis was on guard.