Ralph Gurney's Oil Speculation Part 18

"Where does that road lead to?" asked Bob, excitedly.

"That's the joke of it," said the farmer, with a laugh. "It don't lead nowhere 'cept inter my wood-lot, an' that's what made me notice ther team so perticularly, 'cause I couldn't make out what they wanted up there. I tell you what it is, boys, you've got your hoss-thieves in a trap, an' you kin pull 'em out whenever you want to."

"Are you sure that there isn't any way out of that? Can't they strike the main road by driving across some field?" asked George.

"Wa-al, I've driv over that road as many as forty times every year for the last thirty, haulin' down wood, an' I wouldn't undertake to git a wheel-barrer out any other way than I went in. You kin stay here an'

ketch 'em when they come out, or go in after 'em--_they'll be there_!"

CHAPTER XIX.

CLOSE QUARTERS.

It hardly seemed possible to the boys that, after the mishap which it seemed would give the thieves all the time they needed to make good their escape, they could be so near to them that their capture seemed certain.

But the farmer insisted that there was no outlet to the road; that a team answering to the description of the one George had lost had been driven in there, and that it had not come out. Therefore, there could be no question but that they had the thieves in a trap, as the farmer had said, and all that was necessary was to go and get them or the team.

At first they were about to start out without any plan whatever, intent only on getting the horses as quickly as possible; but George realized in time that, secure as the thieves appeared to be against escape, all might be changed by too much precipitation.

If they should rush in recklessly, the men might get past them by concealing the team in the bushes until they had pa.s.sed that particular point, and then the road would be clear before them, unless the farmer could succeed in stopping them.

It was necessary, therefore, that, in going up this road, which they were told was about two miles long, they should not only see where the thieves had gone in, but where it would be possible for them to come out, in case they should succeed in making a detour through the woods.

The farmer, after listening to the discussion which the boys were having, suggested that they block up the road near its entrance with his heavy carts, and then, if the thieves should get past them, they would be obliged to leave the team at the obstruction in order to make good their own escape.

This suggestion was so good that they followed it at once. Bob using his horses to haul a hay-rack, a heavy ox-cart and two dump-carts into the road, about two hundred yards from the highway, overturning and wedging them in in such a way that a pa.s.sage through could not be made in less than half an hour.

The farmer, having work that forenoon, which kept him near the house, promised to keep a sharp lookout while the boys went after the team, and to give the alarm in case the men should come down towards the barricade.

Then, all the preparations having been completed, there was nothing to prevent them from going into the trap the thieves had voluntarily entered.

Bob thought they ought to have weapons in case the men should attempt to fight for the possession of their ill-gotten booty; but George refused to consider the idea even for a moment. He had no thought that the men would do anything of the kind, and, even though he was going after his own property, he was not willing to go in such a way as might endanger the life of any one.

"If you want any weapons, take a good stout club," he said, "and I think you will find even that unnecessary, for as soon as the men see us, they will do their best to get away."

Bob was by no means satisfied to start up the road unarmed; but since it was George's property they were in search of, he thought his orders should be obeyed, even though the attempt should be unsuccessful because of it.

"If I was in your place, I should make sure of the men as well as the team," the farmer called out, as they started, "for there's a good many more horse-thieves in the country than are needed, an' it's doin' a good turn to honest people to put 'em where they can't run off other people's property."

George made no reply, but at the same time he did not propose to make an amateur detective of himself, unless the men should attempt to prevent him from taking his own, and then he would have no hesitation about causing their arrest.

There was no difficulty in following the track of the carriage, for there had been so little travel on the road that the impress of the wheels was distinctly seen, and there could be no question but that it would be an easy matter to see where it was taken into the woods in case the men should attempt to hide.

"I guess we had our labor for nothing in blocking up the road," said Bob, as they walked along, "for there is no chance of our pa.s.sing the team so long as we can see the tracks as plain as this."

"We certainly didn't hurt ourselves piling up the carts, and the time was well spent, if only for the sake of the precaution," said George; and then, stopping suddenly, after they had walked nearly a mile, he pointed to a second track, which led directly into the woods a few yards ahead of them. "They have been to the end of the road, and come back,"

he whispered. "Perhaps they have just turned in here after hearing us."

For a moment the three boys stood looking at the trail made by those they had been so anxious to meet, and then George said, in a low tone:

"We mustn't lose any time here, and when we do start it must be quickly.

We will follow this track in, and keep right on in it; for we shall either find the team now in the bushes, or else the men will have done as I feared--pa.s.sed us while we were on the road."

There was still a chance that the men might get away with the team if they had succeeded in reaching the road in the rear of the boys, for it might be possible for them to clear away the obstructions near the main road before the boys could run a mile, unless the farmer could prevent them.

George dashed into the bushes, followed closely by Ralph and Bob, and before they had gone very far, it was evident to all that the men were trying to do just as George had suggested.

The track made by the carriage could be followed very readily, and there was no longer any question, after the boys had run a hundred yards, but that they were traveling in a half circle, the end of which would be at the road.

"Come on as fast as you can," shouted George, when he thus saw his suspicions verified; and, regardless of whether he was followed or not, he dashed ahead at full speed, perfectly satisfied that when he saw his team again it would be at the barricade.

When he reached the road up which they had just come, the second track of wheels could be seen, and he half expected to hear the farmer's warning cry, forgetting for the time that any ordinary pair of lungs could hardly be heard a mile away.

Close behind George came Ralph and Bob, both excited by the thought that there was yet a possibility the men might escape with the team, and both running as fast as they could.

"They've come this way!" shouted George, "and now it only remains to be seen whether we can get there in time."

There was no need to say anything to urge either of the boys on to greater speed, for they were making every effort, and George himself was really the one who would be left behind if the race was continued very long.

Bent only on reaching a given point as quickly as possible, the boys paid no attention to anything else save getting over the ground rapidly, and the farmer's voice rang out long and loud before they realized that they heard it.

"h.e.l.lo! h.e.l.lo-o-o! h.e.l.lo-o-o-o!" was the cry.

And when finally the boys did hear it, they understood by the tone that there was urgent reason for them to make haste, for now, beyond a doubt, the thieves were trying hard to remove the barricade.

Panting, almost breathless, but not realizing how nearly exhausted they were, the boys rushed on, intent only on noting the way, that they might lose no time or vantage by a misstep, until they emerged from the woods at a point where they could see that which was causing such an outcry from the farmer, who was taking quite as much interest in the saving of their property as he would have done in his own.

George could see his team halted in front of the barricade they had piled up with so much, and what at the time Bob had thought useless, labor, while the men were straining every nerve to remove it, the farmer standing at a safe distance, screaming at the top of his voice, even though he must have seen the boys coming towards him as rapidly as they could run.

Already had the two men succeeded in removing the two dump-carts, and were now at work upon the hay-rack, with every prospect of pulling it sufficiently out of the way to admit of their driving past; but when they saw the three boys coming down the road, they evidently concluded that they had worked quite as long as was safe, for they began to look out for their own welfare, instead of trying longer to get away with the team.

After one look at the boys, probably to make sure they were the same ones whom they had seen coming up the road, the thieves ceased their efforts to move the hay-rack, and sought safety in flight, running down the road towards Babc.o.c.k, instead of trying to escape in the opposite direction.

The farmer, who was anxious that all horse-thieves should be placed beyond the possibility of carrying on their business, at once started in pursuit, probably without thought as to how he could make prisoners of two men whom he had not dared to grapple with when they were trying to tear down the barrier which prevented them from getting away with their booty.

George, who still continued to lead the party, stopped when he reached the side of the carriage. He had gained possession of his team once more, and he was content.

CHAPTER XX.

A SOUVENIR OF THE THIEVES.