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Pony Rider Boys on the Blue Ridge

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<h3>CHAPTER XXIII</h3> <h3>THE MYSTERY OF SMOKY BALD</h3> An hour passed before the boys discovered any sign of life about the cabin. The hoot of an owl somewhere off to their right brought Stillman to the door of the cabin. Two quick hoots from Stillman elicited an answering one from the brush. Then a man stepped into the clearing. "Smoky Griffin," breathed Tad. "I was certain that he was in this deal, whatever it may be. There! See! He is giving Stillman something. Those fellows surely are bold. How do they know but we are still hanging around here?" Tad crept away and was soon pressing his ear close to the window over which the brown paper was stretched. While he could hear the voices of the three men in there, he was unable to make out a word of what they were saying. Half an hour later Smoky left the cabin. He was shortly followed by Joe Batts and Stillman, who plainly were trailing Smoky. Something was doing in a very few minutes. Stillman and Batts had emerged from the cabin so cautiously that none but sharp eyes could have detected their exit. The men separated and cautiously worked their way around the cabin, all the time enlarging their circle of observation, until they had penetrated far into the shrubbery. Apparently having satisfied themselves that there were no prowlers about, they joined and started off to the northward, plainly following a well-established trail. "They are off. Come on," whispered Tad with a trace of excitement in his voice. The mountaineers strode rapidly along, apparently without thought that they might be followed. Nevertheless Tad used every caution, though he was obliged to travel rapidly to keep up with the men. "Look there!" whispered Tad, crouching low. The mountaineers had suddenly halted. In the near distance Butler discovered, faintly outlined, a cabin. Just then one of the men placed his hands to his lips and uttered a long-drawn cry that sounded like the call of a night bird. A light flashed up. It seemed to be high up near the tops of the trees. The light was more like an electric flash than that from an ordinary lamp. "Hark! Hear that!" exclaimed Ned. "A gasoline motor. This is strange," muttered Butler. Stillman and Batts strode to the cabin and after a few moments were admitted. Tad and Ned crept up closer. They dared not go all the way to the mountain cabin until after they had assured themselves that there were no traps for them to fall into. It had seemed a little too easy for Tad thus far. "Ah!" he exclaimed suddenly, after having stretched out his hand to feel his way ahead. "What is it?" demanded Rector. "A wire, and it's charged. Not very heavy, but it stung me. Ned, I'll wager that this wire extends all the way around this cabin. You see it is only about a foot from the ground so that a person not knowing it was here would trip over it and probably give the alarm to the occupants of the cabin. This begins to look interesting." "Oh, Tad, look!" "Sh-h-h-h! Not so loud, Ned. You surely will get us into trouble." "But look up there near the tree tops. What is it? More signals?" "Yes, but not what you think," whispered Tad. A faint crackling sound was borne to their ears, little crinkly darts of electricity shooting out from a point up there in the air. "I—I don't understand it," whispered Ned. "Wireless, Ned," answered Tad. "I looked to find something of the sort. Someone is sending." At intervals the rhythmic squeal of the wireless would set in, then suddenly cease. Finally the message was sent, so Tad interpreted the sounds and flashes. The sending lasted all of ten minutes, then the power was shut off and silence settled over the cabin. "Are you going to try to get into the cabin?" questioned Ned a little apprehensively. "Not tonight. I have other plans in view. I am waiting for—there they come." Stillman and Batts crept from the cabin and stood silently for several minutes. Tad heard Stillman say, "All right," whereupon the two men set off toward their own cabin, with Tad Butler and Ned Rector following at a safe distance to the rear. At last they saw the men enter their own cabin, after which Tad decided that it was time to go home to his own camp. Part of the return journey was taken at a trot, a regular Indian lope, which was reduced to a cautious feeling of their way as they neared the Pony Rider Boys' camp. A bright campfire was burning there and, as they reached the edge of the camp, Tad saw that the entire outfit was up, though it was then two o'clock in the morning. There was a shout when Tad and Ned stepped into the circle of light. The two boys were not pleasant-looking objects. Their faces were blackened and their hair badly singed, while their clothing was half burned from their bodies. Jim Dunkan and his companions saw that the boys had been through a tough experience, but they waited in patience until Tad should be ready to explain what had occurred. Walter and Chunky were shooting questions at Tad and Ned at a more rapid rate than any one person could reply to. "First put a guard out, then give us something to eat. We are liable to be spied upon and it is very important that nothing of what I am about to say be overheard by any outsider. Who will take the watch?" Tom Royal volunteered to do so, though it was evident that he much preferred to remain in camp and listen to what Tad had to tell them. "I—I got the biscuit thief!" cried Chunky. "Nassir. Yassir. There he sits. Chops is the biscuit destroyer. I caught him red handed." "By the Way, Mr. Dunkan, Stillman is the man who killed your dog," said Tad. "We found the poor collie and gave him a decent burial." Dunkan's face hardened and one hand dropped to the holster at his side. "I think we shall even things up with him, so please don't take the law into your own hands," urged Tad. "I think you will be willing to let the law take its course after you have heard what I have to say. Is there a government officer anywhere within reach?" "Jim Coville, the forest ranger, is the only man I know of," answered Sam Ellison. "Where may he be reached?" "It's a twenty-mile ride to his station." "I must find him at once. Will you go with me and show me the way? After I get something to eat I will tell you what has occurred." Dunkan said he would. While Tad and Ned were eating their belated supper the others sat about—all but Chunky, who decided that he too needed food—and waited with some impatience until Tad was ready to tell them his story. This he did very shortly afterwards, sketching it briefly up to the time of Smoky Griffin's appearance on the scene. "You beat anything I ever heard of," growled Sam Ellison. "What do you make of it, sir?" asked Tad. "Make of it? Why, Tad, you've turned up one of the biggest sensations this mountain has ever known. Those fellows that you saw shooting into the ground today—or the one you saw doing it—was salting the ground with gold so that when the man they were going to swindle had the soil analyzed it would be found to contain 'pay dirt' in profitable quantities. I wonder who the victim was to be?" "I heard them mention a man named Beach," said Butler. Dunkan laughed loudly. "So! He is in it, too, eh? Beach is a crooked real estate man from down Asheville way. A wireless outfit on Smoky Bald, eh? Well, if that doesn't beat all. Kid, what do you think that wireless outfit way up here means?" "I have been thinking about it backward and forward," answered Tad seriously. "I have thought that perhaps the sending that we heard was to some persons belonging to the gang. It may be that the folks at the other end are making a deal to send someone in here to be swindled. I may be on the wrong trail entirely, but that's the way I reason the mystery out." "Boy, I reckon you've doped this thing about right," nodded Dunkan. "Is it possible?" bristled the Professor. "Then we must do something." "Yes. We must get an officer. He will know what to do, sir," replied Butler. "I first thought we might bag the outfit ourselves, for they surely are here for no lawful purpose. After thinking the thing over I don't believe it would do at all." "Jim Coville is the man we want. He is a forest ranger, and has authority over things besides trees. We will go get him when you are ready, Butler." "I am ready now, Mr. Dunkan. We shall be back some time tomorrow, Professor. I think the boys had better stay in camp. Please, also, be careful how you boys speak of this matter, as there may be eavesdroppers, and no suspicion of the truth must reach the ears of the enemy." It was a few moments later when Tad Butler and Jim Dunkan swung to their saddles and started off for their long ride to the station of the forest ranger. <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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