CHAPTER XIII.

KERNERTOK TO THE RESCUE--CONCLUSION.

"Well, I guess there's nothing we can do except wait," Jack said, after he had slipped the bar back in its place.

"And that's often the hardest work of all," Stebbins declared. "That brother of yours is a very brave lad."

"I'll tell the world he is, and then some," Jack agreed.

"He doesn't know the meaning of fear," Rex added.

"And to think that it was my weakness that's the cause of it all," Stebbins groaned.

Outside it was as dark as the proverbial pocket. For a moment Bob stood still and listened. A slight murmur as the tree tops swayed in the light wind was all the sound that reached his ears. Careful to make not the slightest noise, he crept around the corner of the cabin, keeping close to it until he reached the back. Here again he paused to listen. No sound came, and after a moment he continued. Perhaps fifteen minutes had passed when he once more stood by the front door.

Again and again he made the circuit, stopping every few feet to listen. Once he thought he heard a sound as of some object moving a little in front of him, but as he paused to listen, he decided that it had been only his imagination. Nearly an hour had passed since he had come out, and he had passed around the cabin many times, when, as he crept around the front right-hand corner, his foot struck something. Stooping down he felt about with his hand. A small pile of what felt like birch bark was lying close up against the corner.

"Now I wonder if that's been there all the time," he thought, as he straightened up. "I'll just camp around this corner for a while," he decided, as he sat down and leaned his back against the logs.

It seemed to him that he had sat there a long time, and he was thinking that he had better make another round of the cabin, when his sharp ears caught a slight sound. Instantly he was all attention, trying to pierce the darkness. He could, however, see nothing, but in a moment he again heard the same noise. Someone was creeping slowly and carefully toward the cabin. He crouched ready for a sudden spring. Suddenly he heard a scraping sound and instantly a match flared up. And then he sprang.

Bob was not more than four feet from the man, and he landed fairly on his shoulders. With a grunt of surprise the man went over backward, with Bob on top, trying his best to get a hold on his throat. After the first grunt, neither made a sound, save for their heavy breathing. Over and over they rolled, each trying in vain to get a decisive hold on the other. Once Bob secured a half Nelson, but the great strength of his antagonist served to break it. A moment later the man got a hold on Bob's throat, and for an instant he thought he was done for, but, exerting all his strength, he managed to free one hand, and grasping the other's wrist, he tore his hand away, just in time to save his breath. The man was breathing heavily, and Bob was encouraged to believe that he would get the better of him shortly, provided his friends did not come to his assistance.

The end came sooner than he had dared hope for. Feeling his chance, Bob succeeded in getting a hold, which he had learned some years previous, from a Jap friend at college. The hold was such that the man's right arm was forced back from the elbow and he was helpless to free himself. Slowly, inch by inch, Bob bent the arm back, until finally he heard the bone snap. With a sharp cry of pain the man struggled to his feet as Bob released his hold and in an instant was lost in the darkness. Bob, fearing that he would be back with the others, quickly ran to the front door of the cabin and calling softly, was at once admitted.

"I thought I heard a noise like someone rolling about on the ground," Jack said, as soon as he had barred the door.

"I wouldn't be surprised if you did," Bob grinned.

"What happened?" Rex asked.

"Jacques and I had a little set to. That is, I think it was he, although it was so dark that I couldn't be sure." And he told them about the fight.

"I hated to break his arm, but it was he or I, and I was afraid that the others would hear us and come to his help," he concluded.

"You don't need to waste any sympathy on him," Stebbins said, "they're a bad lot and it would have been a mighty good job if you had killed him."

"Now, I think the three of us had better go out together and hang around," Bob proposed. "They've got another fire all ready to light, and they may do it, although I doubt it. Anyhow, we'd better be on the safe side. I reckon we won't run much risk with one of them with a broken arm."

Keeping close together, they circled the cabin until the first streaks of light appeared in the east, but they heard nothing from their enemies.

"Guess we'd better go inside," Bob said; "they might take a shot at us as soon as it gets light enough to see."

They acted on the suggestion none too soon, for just as Rex, who happened to be the last one in, stepped inside, a bullet whistled past his head and struck the wall at the back of the room.

"I heard that one sing all right," he said, as he banged the door shut and slipped the bar in its place.

"Now we've got to watch mighty close at those peep holes," Bob declared.

"And I, for one, don't think we ought to hesitate to shoot if we see one of them trying to set fire to the place, not after that last shot," Rex declared.

"I hardly think they'll try it again," Bob said. "I kicked all that stuff they had piled up away, and I don't believe they'll risk it again, now that it's getting light."

"Mebby not," Jack broke in, but we'll play it safe and not give 'em the chance."

Rapidly the light increased, and soon they were able to see plainly for some distance.

"I wonder if they've got any more tricks up their sleeves," Jack said, as he took his eye from the hole.

"I'll say they have," Bob replied almost immediately.

Even as he spoke a slight sound as of something striking on the roof was heard.

"What was that?" Rex asked.

"Just what I've been afraid of, a fire arrow," Bob told him.

"What do you mean by that?" Rex asked anxiously.

"They're trying to set fire to the roof by shooting arrows which they have wrapped with birch bark and smeared with pitch. It's an old Indian trick."

"But will the roof catch?"

"I'm afraid it will. It's made of pretty light stuff, I suppose. Most of them are, but let's hope that this one's an exception.

"There's another one," Jack said a moment later, as a second thud sounded on the roof.

"Is there nothing we can do?" Rex asked.

"Not a thing so far as I can see, except hope and pray that it doesn't catch," Bob answered sadly.

"Hark!" Jack whispered, about five minutes later.

"What is it?" Bob asked.

"Don't you hear it?"

"It's caught sure as guns," Bob declared, after listening intently.

"It sure has," Jack agreed, "and by the sound it's going in good shape."

Bob moved about the room, stopping every few feet, to listen and cautioning the others to keep quiet.

"I think it's right here," he announced, pointing to the roof about half way down one side. Quick, now, get that table under here and make it snappy."

Without waiting to question his intention Rex dragged the table to the place where Bob was standing, and in almost less than no time, as Jack would say, he was on a chair which he had placed on the table, hacking away at the roof with the axe.

As Bob had said, the roof was made of light material, covered with bark and moss, and he made short work of cutting through it, and he soon had a hole large enough to admit his head.

"Don't you poke your head out of that hole," Jack ordered.

"I've got to, so don't argue, but hand me that box there--quick."

"They'll take a shot at you."

"Not the first time they won't. I'll be too quick for them."

Placing the box on the chair he was tall enough to be able to get his head through the opening. As he had hoped, the fire was only about a foot away.

"Hand me that small shovel," he ordered, as he withdrew his head.

With the shovel he soon succeeded in beating out the blaze, but as he again looked out to make sure that it was out a bullet sang past his head, making him duck back quickly.

"I told you," Jack said, as he jumped down.

"I know, but I got the fire out, although I don't expect it will do much good."

"How come?" Rex asked.

"They'll have another one going in a minute, and it'll be pretty risky to try that stunt again, as they'll be on the watch."

"It seems kinder funny to me that as many times as they have shot at us not a bullet has hit. I thought that all those fellows up here were dead shots," Rex said.

"Most of them are good shots, all right," Bob declared, "but most of the time the light has been bad, and then I'm inclined to think that perhaps they haven't yet shot to hit. You see, although they won't hesitate to kill if they think their safety depends on it, they'd rather get that money without killing us if they can, and I reckon it looks to them just now as though they could."

"And to tell the truth, it kinder looks that way to me," Jack grinned.

As Bob had predicted, it was only a few minutes before they could tell by the sound that the roof was burning, not only in one place, but in at least three.

"It's no use trying it again," Bob sighed. "Even if they didn't shoot, they can start those fires a good deal faster than we can put them out."

"Then our only hope is that Kernertok'll get back in time," Rex suggested.

"I guess that's about the size of it," Bob replied.

"I wish I knew that he got through all right. What do you think about it?" Jack asked turning to Bob.

"I feel pretty sure, that unless they got him, they don't know that he's gone," Bob replied.

"What makes you think that?" Rex asked.

"Because if they knew that he had gone for help, they wouldn't have waited till now to start firing the roof," Bob assured him.

"Sounds reasonable," Rex said.

"But that shot--" Jack began, but Bob interrupted.

"Might not have had anything to do with it."

"And then again it might," Jack insisted.

By this time the roof was burning fiercely, as they could tell by the sound, and, to make matters worse, a stiff breeze had sprung up.

"It won't take it long to go in this wind," Jack declared.

"Well, the only thing we can do is to wait as long as we can in hopes that Kernertok will come with help. If he doesn't, we'll have to make a rush for it and trust to luck," Bob said sadly.

"By the way, Mr. Stebbins, did you ever hear the legend connected with this lake?" Rex asked.

"Yes, I've heard it. Why?"

"I was just wondering. You see the other night we saw a canoe with a white figure in it out on the lake, and it looked kinder spooky."

"That was Jacques. He knows about the legend, and every night he would wrap a sheet about himself and go out on the lake. He knew that you were headed up this way some how or other and he thought it would scare you away."

"We have known for several days that someone was dogging us," Bob told him, and then he explained about the mysterious tracks.

"I guess I can clear up that part of it also," Stebbins said, as he stepped over to the bunks and knelt down on the floor. He reached far under the lower bunk and dragged out two objects, which he held out to Bob.

"Well, I'll be jiggered," he said.

The things which Stebbins had in his hands were two large frames made to strap on to a shoe.

"They made those tracks all right," Bob declared, as he examined them.

"No doubt about that," Jack agreed.

"Well, there's two mysteries cleared up," Rex said.

"And there's only one left to be solved," Bob said grimly.

"And what's that?" Rex asked.

"How we're going to get out of this scrape."

"Never say die," Jack said trying to make his voice sound hopeful. "We've been in some tight places before, and something tells me that this isn't the last one."

By this time the roof was burned through in a number of places, and charred fragments were falling to the floor.

"It's getting pretty warm in here," Jack declared, wiping the perspiration from his face.

"And what's more, that roof is going to come down in a bunch before very long," Bob added.

Just then a loud voice was heard from outside.

"Hey, there in der cabin."

"What do you want?" Bob called at the top of his voice.

"You geet warm, oui?"

"Well, we're not actually freezing," Bob yelled back.

"Non? You roast ver' queek you no tell where money be."

To this Bob made no reply, and after a moment the man shouted:

"You come out geet shot, stay in geet roast, oui. You tell where money you all come out go way, no geet hurt."

"I'll be--" Bob began, but Rex caught him by the arm.

"Just a minute, Bob. They've got us, and what's the money compared to our lives? Tell him where it is."

"Not just yet," Bob replied. "We've got a few minutes yet before the roof will fall and Kernertok may come at any moment. We'll think it over," he shouted to the men outside.

The roof was now a roaring mass of flames and they had great difficulty in keeping clear of the falling embers. In several places the side logs had caught, and fanned by the wind, were burning with great vigor. Bob knew, as did the others, that it could be but a matter of minutes now when they would have to leave the cabin.

"I guess we'll have to give in," he said sadly, a few minutes later, as a portion of the roof fell in with a crash, narrowly escaping Jack's head.

"It's the only thing to do," Rex urged.

"Hello, outside there," Bob shouted.

"You tell, oui?" Jacques's voice called back.

"Yes, it's--" Bob began, when suddenly above the crackling of the fire a rifle shot rang out.

"Hark!" Jack cried, catching Bob by the arm. "That may be Kernertok."

They waited with bated breath for a moment, and then, to their great joy, Kernertok's voice reached them.

"Bob, Jack, you come out heap soon."

"Heap soon is right," Jack shouted, dancing about like a wild man. "I told you I had a hunch."

In another minute Bob had withdrawn the bar and they were outside breathing the pure, cool air. Just on the edge of the clearing they saw Kernertok beckoning to them, and they lost no time in hastening to his side.

"You got here just in time, thank God," Bob cried, as he grasped his friend's hand.

"Heap little time spare," Kernertok declared gravely.

"I'll tell the world it was," Jack cried. "But where are the breeds?"

"Come."

They followed the Indian a few feet into the forest, and there they found the three men surrounded by four sturdy Yankees. Bob quickly noted that one of the prisoners carried one arm in a sling, made from a large red handkerchief.

"So it wasn't you, Jacques," he said, turning to the leader, who was standing with dejected mien a little apart from the other two.

Jacques made no reply, but gave the boys a look of fierce hatred, to which they paid little heed.

"Come on, Jack," Bob cried, turning to his brother, "let's see if we can save enough of the food for breakfast."

"Make it snappy," Jack replied, as he followed Bob, who had started on a run toward the cabin.

As they had hoped, the part of the cabin containing the food closet was not as yet on fire, so far as the walls were concerned, and after a hurried struggle, they succeeded in tearing it out and saving all it contained.

"There," Bob panted as they placed it on the ground beyond the reach of the flames. "I reckon we'll have enough grub to last us till we get back to civilization."

It did not take them long to prepare a hearty meal and in less than an hour they were ready to take the back trail. They found the money where Stebbins had said he had buried it and the latter breathed a deep sigh of relief as he saw it restored to the son of the man who owned it.

"That sure is a big relief off my mind," he declared as he handed the bag to Rex.

A little later they were back again on the banks of the Allagash where they found their canoe together with two others which Kernertok and his companions had brought up with them. The trip down the river was uneventful and they arrived at the little town of St. Francis shortly after noon, highly elated with the successful ending of their adventure.

"I owe you boys and Kernertok a lot," Rex declared as they walked down the street toward the little hotel.

"Bosh," Jack exclaimed. "Never had a better time in my life."

They left for home by train the following morning after making arrangements to have the canoe shipped back to North East Carry.

"Heap hard trip," Kernertok grunted as he sank into his seat just as the train started.

"I didn't think you had minded it," Jack said in surprise.

"Trip up here all right. Trip back on train heap hard," and the old Indian shook his head while the boys laughed.

THE END

_SAVE THE WRAPPER!_

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