"What's that?" cried half a dozen of the scouts, as they looked at one another in dismay.
"I know!" shouted Jack Armitage, whose father owned the old smithy; "we've been spied on by some sneak; and he fell down off that rotten loft yonder. There he goes, fellows! After the spy!"
CHAPTER VI.
THE LITTLE RED BUTTON.
A scene of commotion immediately followed these startling words of Jack Armitage. There was a rush for the exit, and in the confusion, just as might have been expected, the scouts became wedged in the doorway, so that there was a brief delay in gaining the open air.
Shouts outside presently told that some of the wiser ones had avoided this combined rush, and sought the open air by the same means taken by the unknown. They had just glimpsed some dim figure amid the cloud of dust that followed the breaking down of the frail floor of the little platform at the rear of the shop. It had vanished through some hole; possibly a board or two had been previously loosened with the idea of a hasty flight in case of discovery, to avoid unpleasant consequences.
Elmer and his chum, Mark Cummings, had not taken part in either the crush at the door, or the swift passage through the rear opening.
"Well, what d'ye think of that?" demanded Mark, turning to his chum, as the last of the jam at the door was broken, allowing the struggling scouts a chance to get through.