“Stop him!” shouted the warden. “Get him, Frank! It’s another trick!”
But Jake had gone no farther than the woodpile. In the light that streamed from the open kitchen window, he was feeling about among the wreckage of a worn-out cotton mattress, which had been thrown upon the heap of firewood in the rear of the lodge. Frank, still carrying the lamp, held his arm until the warden and the caretaker joined them.
“Let me go!” cried Jake impatiently. “Hold that lamp down closer, will you? I can’t see very well——”
“What in the world——” began the warden. His words were cut short. Jake had found a short slit in the heavy striped ticking that encased the stuffing of the old mattress. His hand slid through; he felt about for a moment, and drew his hand out again. In the yellow light of the lamp, everyone could see the object which dangled from his clenched fingers. A short string of gleaming, milky-white bubbles flashed before the astounded eyes of the three men.
“It was a long guess, but it was right!” exclaimed Jake Utway in triumph. “Here’s the pearl necklace, safe and sound! Burk wouldn’t have put it away in a place like this, if he hadn’t been sick, and it was the first place he thought of hiding them! And now, Mr. Warden—I’ll hold you to your promise to do all you can to set John Burk free!”
CHAPTER XXII
BROTHERLY LOVE
Jake Utway woke from a restless doze as the car bumped over the rough road behind Camp Lenape. He looked about him with sleep-sodden eyes as the driver, Frank, drew up outside the lodge. There was a light in the Chief’s office, and the Chief himself must have heard the noise of their motor, for he appeared at once, holding up a lantern so that he could see the newcomers.
His face lighted up as he saw Jake, huddled in the back of the machine beside the warden of Elmville.
“Well, there you are at last!” he exclaimed with a sigh of relief. “Jerry has been in bed for an hour, and I stayed up on the chance that I might hear something of you. Now that you’re really here, I admit that a big load is off my mind.” He turned to the warden. “I don’t know how to thank you, sir, for picking up the boys as you have done. I’m sorry that two Lenape fellows have caused you so much trouble.”
“No trouble!” cried the warden genially. “Now, let’s not keep young Jake here away from his bed any longer with all our talk. He’s earned a good night’s sleep.”