CHAPTER VI.—TEDDY BEAR MAKES A HIT.
All turned toward the river as Alex shouted out the warning. The level of the hiding-place chosen by the Mexicans was above that of the levee, and so the Rambler could be distinctly seen by the boys. She lay in the river without motion, save now and then a jerky pull at the anchor-chain, but just below her a rowboat was moving swiftly up stream.
The intention of the rowers, of whom there were three, to board the motor boat could not be denied. If they succeeded, and knew how to run the motors, the craft would be at their mercy.
Clay, Case and King started toward the river on a brisk run, but Alex loitered behind for a reason of his own. He knew that the three could do all that more could accomplish in the way of rescuing the boat, and he had a little mission of his own to carry out before leaving the place.
He wanted to secure the buried money and hide it safely away on the Rambler! Clay and Case believed that the belt had contained the cash when passed over to him. He wanted them to think, when the truth became known, that the sand filling had been supplied by Don without his knowledge, and with a view to deceive.
In short, he wanted no one to know that he had the money. He knew that he could trust Case and Clay, but he knew, also, that they could not be dragged into trouble because of the stolen money if they did not know that it was on board! He wanted to keep the cash for Don, but he did not want any one to know that he had it.
When, in the future, the belt should be brought out and shown to contain only sand, that would settle the money part of the affair so far as the boys were concerned, he thought. And King did not even know that he had the belt, and there was no need of his knowing.
Thus reasoning, even at that exciting time, Alex managed to fall down on the exact spot where the treasury notes had been buried and secure the oiled silk package without being observed in the act.
In fact, at that time, Clay, Case, and King were utilizing all their energy in the run they were making to head off the rowers and get to the motor boat first. The men in the boat were rowing to the utmost of their strength, and it seemed certain that they would win out in the race.
The three were still on shore when the rowers, abandoning their own boat in their haste, sprang on the Rambler’s deck. One of them rushed to get the motors into action, while the others drew guns and lined up along the side of the boat which the others would approach.
“There is no way but to fight it out!” Clay cried, drawing his own automatic. “If they get off with the Rambler now, that will be the last of her so far as we are concerned.”
The boarders crouched down behind the railing, exhibiting only ugly, triumphant faces. The man at the motors seemed to be having trouble with them, for there was no answering snap when he turned on the feed. The others finally gathered about him, as if to assist in getting the boat under way. Then an unexpected thing happened.
The boys saw the man who had first approached the motors spring into the air with a look of pain and terror on his face. Then the others almost turned handsprings getting to the prow of the boat. There was a sullen snarl on the deck, and then a furry object shot forward to the prow where the intruders stood.
In a moment the deck was clear, except that Teddy lifted his paws to the railing and looked across the island at the boys, winking one eye as if calling attention to a battle well won. He had been asleep by the motors and the intruder had stepped on him! That told the tale!
The bear had bitten the fellow through the ankle, and the battle was ended with that one bite! When the boys reached the boat the three men were swimming down stream in a futile effort to overtake their deserted rowboat. Teddy welcomed them on deck with a grin that was almost human.
After Captain Joe had been praised for his part of the fight on shore, and after Teddy had been told what a hero he was and given all the honey he could consume at one sitting, the two, the dog and the bear, repaired to the aft deck to compare notes and fall asleep.
“That’s some bear!” King said, as Teddy shambled away.
“The fellow must have stepped on him,” Alex grinned. “Teddy is particular about not being stepped on. He doesn’t like to be used as a rug. My, how those chaps did swim! Guess they thought there were a dozen bears in the water after them! Yes, Teddy’s some bear.”
King eyed Alex with disapproval for a moment and then asked:
“How did you come to let Don Durand get away from you?”
“Ask the Mexicans how they came to let us get away from them,” replied the lad. “I guess you saw what was going on. When Don ran away we were all pretty busy. Besides, you were not much farther away from him than we were. Why didn’t you catch him?”
“You were with him some time before the Mexicans came up?” asked King.
“Not so very long,” was the reply.
“What did he say to you?” was the next question.
“He said he took the money from a man who stole it, and would return it to its real owner as soon as he could find him.”
King broke into a laugh, his eyes narrowing as he looked at the boy’s face. Alex only grinned impudently back at him.
“You believe all he told you?” the deputy asked, in a moment.
“I didn’t say that. I didn’t say anything about what I believe. I can’t see as it makes any difference to you, anyway. I’m not a factor in the case. Don Durand is over there in the hills somewhere. Go and get him—if you can.”
King looked the boy straight in the eyes for a moment and then turned away with a laugh which the boys did not like the sound of, it was so low and threatening.
“All right!” he said. “I’ll go and get him!”
There was anger in the deputy’s face and manner as he stepped over to the sandy island and turned toward the shore.
“Wait!” Clay called after him. “Do you see what time it is? Most noon and we’re all hungry. Wait and have a dinner with us.”
“Anyhow,” Alex added, conciliatingly, “your Mexican deputies have taken to the mountains, and you can do nothing alone. Come on back and let us show you how hungry boys eat! No use to go ashore now!”
King, noting the changed tone, hesitated, looked shoreward for a time, and then turned back to the Rambler. He was silent for a time, and then asked:
“Did this Don Durand say where and when he expected to find the real owner of the stolen money? Did he say who owns it?”
Alex shook his head. His idea was that King should join them in a good, friendly dinner and then go away without asking questions about what Don had or had not said. He had a notion, a hope, too, that, in time, Don might join the Rambler crew if King would only get out of the way.
“We didn’t have time to talk about anything,” he explained, pleasantly. “Just as soon as we got to shore the ruction commenced, and we were kept busy taking care of ourselves. He would probably have come back to the boat with us if he hadn’t seen you. You frightened him away!”
Having thus adroitly placed the blame for Don’s flight on the deputy, Alex leaned back in his chair and pretended to be very sleepy.
“I don’t blame you for his flight,” King finally said, “but I really believe you might tell me more of his plans. It seems he became quite friendly with you. Has he kept all the money?”
“He said he had every cent of it,” Alex replied, not adding that at that minute the stolen treasury notes were hidden under his own clothing.
“If I could get hold of the stolen handbag and the money,” King went on, “I think I might be able to compromise for the boy. The man who lost the bag and the notes seems to want to get his property back more than he wants the boy punished.”
Alex considered this new proposition gravely. Could King suspect that he had the money? It seemed to the boy that the bag was of too trifling importance to be mentioned in connection with the money. That is, unless it had contained something of great value besides the treasury notes! Was King talking for his benefit in suggesting that the return of the money and the bag might release Don from further pursuit?
Then Alex remembered the papers he had seen Don stow away so carefully in the belt. They might be of the greatest importance, and he resolved to examine the belt at the first opportunity in order to see if they were still there. King watched the boy curiously, as if understanding what was passing in his mind.
“I don’t think he will ever give up the money,” Alex said, presently, “until he gives it to the person to whom he thinks it belongs. I guess he took it from this man Josiah Trumbull just to pass it on to the real owner. I don’t know anything about the bag. He did not even mention it to me,” he concluded, looking King enquiringly in the face.
“The man who came out from Chicago to see me,” the deputy explained, “laid great stress on the handbag. He seemed to think that Don would keep the bag as well as the money. And he wanted the bag just as much as he wanted the treasury notes.”
“How did he know that Don was out in this country?” asked Alex.
“Oh,” laughed King, “a lad like Don is easy to follow. He was in Phoenix and Yuma several days, but always got out just ahead of the man who engaged me to handle the case. He must have had warning of his coming, I think.”
“What was he doing in Yuma and Phoenix?” asked Alex, in a moment.
“Hanging around the hotels, evidently waiting for some one.”
“Huh!” the boy ventured. “I guess his story is true, then. He might have been looking for the real owner of the money and the handbag. Think so?”
“He may have been,” was the reluctant answer. “In fact, I believe the boy really thinks he is doing a noble deed in keeping the property he stole for some unknown person thought by him to own it.”
“Glad you think that!” exclaimed Alex. “Don thinks he is doing the right thing, anyway, whether he is or not. I like him!”
“At any rate,” King concluded, “he has a loyal friend in you, and I shall say no more about the matter while I am your guest. I hope, however, that he will give me a chance to confer with him before long.”
“If he should come to you to talk things over,” Alex asked, “wouldn’t you arrest him? Would you let him go back to his hiding-place unmolested? I may see him some day, and I’ll tell him what you say.”
“Yes; he may talk with me without fear of arrest,” was the reply. “And now,” the deputy went on, “that I have said just what I came back to say, I must be on my way. If you see Don, say to him that I want to have a talk with him, and that he will profit by the interview.”
King arose and, after expressing thanks for the boys' hospitality, passed over the sandy island and the tapering spit, and was soon lost to view in the foothills. Alex watched him with a smile on his shrewd face.
“There’s something about this case I haven’t got hold of yet,” he mused. “There was something in the handbag besides money. Anyway, the Trumbull person wants it, and Don hasn’t got it. Now, I wonder if the papers I saw Don have were in the handbag, and whether they are not the property the man who engaged King is so anxious to get?”
The boys were all tired, and it was finally agreed that they should run up the river a few miles, “just to get out of the bullet zone,” as Clay expressed it, and take an afternoon, siesta in the cabin, leaving Captain Joe and Teddy on guard. Alex was glad of this arrangement, as he was anxious to get a look at the belt, in order to see if the papers he had seen Don have were still there.
The motor boat was speeded for an hour or more, and then Case and Clay sought their bunks in the cabin. The little room was insufferably hot, but it was, at that, a slight improvement on the deck outside, so the lads made the best of it. Alex did not permit himself to sleep with the others, but lay awake, listening, with his eyes closed, until the regular breathing of his chums told him that they had passed into the land of dreams. The boy was miserably tired and sleepy, for the day had been a trying one, but he forced himself out of his bunk, and over the cabin roof to the aft deck.
Captain Joe was sound asleep on the prow, but Teddy crawled over the cabin with him and cuddled down by his side. Once out of sight of the others, Alex removed the belt and proceeded to empty the sand out of it. He remembered that Don had placed the papers he had been so careful of in the belt, and felt for them. They were packed into a close wad in one end of the opening, and he took them out.
They were covered with letters and figures which at first had no meaning to the boy. One held the letter “X” in the center, the same being surrounded by letters, standing singly and not in groups like words.
The other carried a sunburst in the center and was surrounded by figures, each standing alone, as was the case with the letters. For a time there seemed to the boy to be no connection whatever between the two papers, but finally he saw that one referred to location and one to time. The figures represented hour and minutes and the letters the points of the compass. Alex could make nothing more of them.
The papers must be important, for they had been as jealously guarded as the money itself. Alex thought that in time he might be able to read their message, so he made exact copies of them for daily use and put the originals back in the belt.
Then he unwrapped the money, saw that it was all there, and again placed it in the oiled silk. It was his idea to hide the money in one place and the belt in another. He tried to think of a safe place for each, but he was very tired and sleepy. That had been such a long swim! At last he rolled the notes up tight in the silk and placed the package in a pocket, resolved to hide it in the cabin when the boys awoke and left the way clear. Then he closed his eyes, “just for a minute,” he needed rest so much!
The motor boat drew sturdily at its cable. Captain Joe arose from the prow and cocked his ears at a mysterious sound. Teddy cuddled closer to the sleeping boy. The sun moved slowly to the west and the heat of the day in a measure departed.
Presently the dog moved over to the aft deck and stretched out with his nose on his paws. Alex, worn out with the activities of the day, slept on for an hour or more. When he awoke Captain Joe was pulling at his sleeve and Teddy, the mischievous bear cub, was romping about the small deck with one end of the oiled silk in his mouth—the strip of oiled silk which had held the fifty thousand dollars in gold notes!