“Now, this is only temporary,” the scout advised, after he had washed the wound with some tepid water, for, acting under his directions, Giraffe had hastily placed an old pan with some water in it, on the fire, which evidently Charlie had revived after finding his bundle intact under the stone.
“We’re going to make a litter, and carry you up to the place we expect to camp to-night,” he remarked a little later, when he had bound the man’s leg up nicely. “And to-night I’ll see if I can do something about that partly severed artery. It’s hardly a job for a boy, and I wouldn’t try it only the case is desperate. And it happens that I used to go around with an uncle of mine who was an old doctor, and he let me help him lots of times.”
With that Kimball had to rest content. But the boy had done so splendidly as far as he went, that the wounded hobo began to hope he might even go further, and fix the artery, so that the benumbing bandage could be eased up.
At one time Thad thought of sending one of the guides up and having the canoes brought back to the cabin; but for some reason this plan was abandoned.
Giraffe and Davy manufactured the rude litter, acting under the orders of Allan, who had seen one used in the past. It would easily hold Kimball, who was not a heavy weight.
Believing that they might as well make use of the strapping big hobo, Charlie, as a burden bearer, Eli unfastened his hands, and made him take the front end of the litter, while he himself would look after the rear, with some of the scouts to keep guard over the prisoner.
Of course in searching the two yeggmen there had been found the proceeds of their recent robbery, in the shape of packages of bills, and some gold. But when the little procession was ready to leave the cabin, and Thad took up the bundle of old clothes, which he tossed into the fire, Charlie let out a yell.
“Hey! thet’s a crazy thing to do, bub; don’t you know what’s wrapped up inside them same ole clothes?” he called, evidently greatly excited at the idea of a fortune burning up.
“I ought to know, because I put it in there myself,” replied Thad, smiling at the big man’s excitement. “You see, Charlie, we began to figure on why you wanted to get into this same old cabin so much, and guessed that you had something hid away here. So we looked around a bit, found the hole under the stone, took out the boodle you had put away, fixed up a dummy to fool you; and there you are. So, let the old stuff go up in smoke. It’s just as well to get rid of the duds that nobody wants.”
“Well, I swan!” muttered Charlie, staring hard at Thad, as though he had begun to suspect that after all these Boy Scouts were worth considering, if many of them could do the things this leader seemed to be capable of, from managing a surprise party on a poor hobo innocent, to fixing up a wounded leg that threatened to do for Kimball.