The Meadow-Brook Girls in the Hills Part 33

CHAPTER XXII

A ROUT AND A CAPTURE

The intruder had halted. Harriet knew that from his position he could see the camp. From her position it was not visible. She saw the man halt, peer, then suddenly straighten up and glance about him apprehensively. Being now between her and the light shed by the campfire, the girl was able to observe his movements quite clearly.

"He suspects something," quivered Harriet. But being at a loss as to what to do next the girl dropped swiftly to the ground, rising almost the next second. She was leaning well forward, peering at the figure with all the concentration she could bring to bear. The intruder had by this time again directed his attention to the camp. There was now in the man's hands something that he seemed to be leveling over the tops of the bushes amid which he was standing.

Harriet Burrell drew her right hand cautiously above her shoulder.

That hand held a stone. Suddenly the stone cut through the bushes about a foot to the right of the intruder's shoulder. He jumped, but before he could decide upon what his next move should be a second and larger stone smote him between the shoulders. Then followed a perfect rain of stones. Some hit him, others did not.

There was but one way by which the man could get away without turning back and facing this unseen peril. That way was almost straight toward the camp. He hesitated. A large stone grazed his cheek. The fellow leaped through the bushes. Something was swept from his hands by the bushes and fell to the rocks with a clatter. The girls in camp heard the sound.

"Harriet, what are you doing?" called Jane.

"Look out!" shouted Harriet. She started in pursuit of the fleeing man, sending a shower of missiles after him. Some of the stones dropped to the rocks back of the camp, rolling into the camp itself.

Then, to the amazement of the Meadow-Brook party, a man darted across a corner of the lighted s.p.a.ce, which he cleared in half a dozen leaps and bounds, Harriet still hurling stones after him and shouting her warnings to her companions.

The girls fled from the campfire, crying out in alarm. Ja.n.u.s, for the instant, was overcome with surprise, but he pulled himself together sharply, running to his pack and s.n.a.t.c.hing up his revolver.

"It's our man!" cried Harriet. "I made him run."

"Thave me!" wailed Tommy, throwing herself flat on her face behind a rock.

Ja.n.u.s had clattered down the rocks after the intruder. The guide's revolver began to speak. He was firing wildly, not being able to see the man, who either had got safely away, or else was in hiding behind one of the many rocks and projections. It did not seem as if he could have run down the mountainside at the rate he was going without falling and breaking his neck. The guide fired his revolver into every dark recess that he thought might afford a hiding place for the fugitive.

Then he loaded up and emptied his revolver a second time.

By this time the camp was almost in a state of panic. Miss Elting spoke sharply to the girls, commanding them to stop their shouting and to come back.

"Mr. Grubb, if you keep on shooting you will have no ammunition left,"

the guardian warned him. "Besides, I would rather you wouldn't shoot any more. We don't know that this man is the one we suspect."

Ja.n.u.s broke his smoking revolver and ejected the exploded sh.e.l.ls, after which he recharged the cylinder and put the weapon back in his pocket.

He returned to the campfire, holding his hat in one hand, with the other hand brushing the perspiration from his forehead.

"Well, I swum!" he muttered. "I swum!"

"Harriet, we will hear your explanation. Why didn't you tell Mr. Grubb in time, so he could look after this fellow?" demanded Miss Elting.

"You knew there was some one about some time before you got up and walked away, didn't you?"

"I thought I heard some one. That was the reason I strolled off by myself."

"So I supposed," commented the guardian.

"Had I said anything the person would have cried out and given the alarm. I wanted to satisfy myself that I was right, and I was."

"I should say you were!"

"Yeth, and he had black whithkerth, too," interjected Tommy.

"He wore a soft hat pulled down over his face," added Margery.

"I believe it is the same man," said the guardian reflectively.

"Get back out of the light, ladies, please," urged the guide. "We will let the fire burn, but we had better keep out of the light. The man may have a gun."

"No, he has not," spoke up Harriet.

"What was he doing out there?" questioned Miss Elting.

"Spying on the camp, then getting ready to shoot. I think he was going to shoot Mr. Grubb," was the startling declaration. Ja.n.u.s gripped his whiskers with all the fingers of the right hand. He gave the whiskers a tug that threatened to thin them out.

"Shoot me?" he roared.

Harriet nodded and smiled.

"But I thought you said he had no gun," objected Miss Elting.

"He hasn't now. I have his gun," answered Harriet with a twinkle in her eyes. "Yes, it is a rifle. I am glad we have it, for, from the present outlook, we shall need it." She stepped away and from a rock picked up a repeating rifle. This the intruder had dropped. Harriet had picked up the weapon and taken it to camp, laying it down to continue her stone-throwing. She had forgotten all about the gun until the excitement had subsided somewhat, and Miss Elting and the guide had begun questioning her. Ja.n.u.s took the rifle, turning it over in his hands, examining it with critical eyes.

"Modern gun, thirty-eight calibre, repeating," he muttered. "Well, I swum!"

"Do you recognize it?" asked the guardian.

Ja.n.u.s shook his head. "Of course, you will keep it for the present."

"Until the owner calls for it, Miss," replied Ja.n.u.s grimly, whereat there was a giggle from Margery.

"Tell us how you discovered the man. Let us have the whole story,"

urged Miss Elting. Harriet related briefly how she had discovered the stranger and all that followed until she had driven him into the camp, as she had hoped to be able to do, believing that Ja.n.u.s would be able to capture the man. Had Ja.n.u.s been a more active man and quicker of wit, he undoubtedly would have been able to catch the fellow; however, by the time the guide had collected himself, the intruder had disappeared.

Miss Elting was vexed at Ja.n.u.s's inactivity, but it would do no good to say so. Ja.n.u.s had done the best he could and had wasted more than a dozen bullets among the rocks of Mt. Washington. They had the stranger's gun, therefore she was reasonably certain that their enemy could do them no further harm that night. Still, it was thought best to have Mr. Grubb remain on watch for the rest of the night. Harriet offered to do this, but the guide would not listen to such a proposition, nor would Miss Elting. While they were discussing the incident he kept his eyes on Harriet almost continuously. Wonder and admiration were plainly to be seen in their expression.

Some time elapsed before the camp of the Meadow-Brook Girls settled down. They felt even more secure, knowing that Harriet had captured the intruder's rifle. It was not believed that the man possessed another, so there was little danger of further shooting that night. At the suggestion of the guide, and the further orders of their guardian, the girls rolled in their blankets and soon were asleep. They were awakened, shortly after twelve, by a shout from the guide. Then followed a volley of quick shots and a warning cry from Ja.n.u.s Grubb.

CHAPTER XXIII

A MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE

"Quick, girls!" shouted Miss Elting.

"Thave me!" screamed Tommy Thompson.