"So they got him to permit them to bring the boy to his grandmother.
They knew he would be looking for a prince in the hills, and so they
gave us a false one to engage our attention! Rather clever, that,
Jack."
The old lady was now regarding Ned with eyes which expressed awe as well as wonder.
"How did you find it all out?" she asked. "How do you know what took place in the minds of those wicked men?"
"After they took possession of the boy they began bribing him to play the part he has played here so imperfectly. They taught him cheap little French phrases from the dictionary, and touched up his already dusky complexion so as to make him look darker than ever. Yesterday I saw Bradley at work on his face with a brush!"
"And the lad played his part!" the grandmother declared. "I don't know how Bradley led him along, but the boy was willing to do as he was told. I never saw such a wild little chap so thoroughly subdued before. He wouldn't even tell me the truth when I took him in my old arms last night and talked to him."
"But he evidently told Bradley what you said to him," Ned continued, "for he got the child away in the night. Then he came to camp this morning to see if he could find out how much I knew. He's probably tied up by this time!"
"You have had him arrested," asked the old lady. "Then he'll never tell where the boy has been hidden, and he'll die of starvation—die almost within sound of my voice."
"We'll find him," Ned answered, grimly. "We can make Bradley talk, I imagine."
"And while this has been going on," Jack said, "the true prince, the boy we came here to find, has doubtless been carried to some other part of the country?"
"I don't believe it!" Ned replied. "The conspirators would naturally expect us to shift our search for him back to Washington, or Chicago, or New York, wouldn't they? As soon as we discovered that this boy was not the person we sought, they would expect us to leave the hills at once, wouldn't they? Well, if they anticipated such a move on our part, what is more natural than that they should take advantage of this alleged idea on our part and leave the prince right here?"