“When my soul burst forth in gladness, hey? The scout Caruso, hey, Slady? What are we going to meet under the elm tree for?”
“You’ll see when we get there. All you have to do in the meantime is to keep still. Do you think you can do that?”
“Silence is my middle name, Slady; I eat it alive.”
CHAPTER XXXI
SHERLOCK NOBODY HOLMES
Since Tom Slade, camp assistant, said it would be all right for Hervey to meet him at quarter of eleven under the elm tree, Hervey was only too glad to jump the rule, which was that scouts must turn in at ten thirty, directly after camp-fire. This stealthy meeting under the old elm tree near the witching hour of midnight was quite to Hervey’s taste.
He found Tom already there.
“Now for the buried treasure, hey, Slady?” he said.
“I want you to promise me not to sing,“ Tom said soberly. ”Now listen,“ he added, whispering. ”That turtle came from way up in that mountain. It has T. H. cut on its shell, and I think the carving is new. That trainman said two men with a kid got out at Catskill. He said the kid had a jack-knife. His folks said he had a sweater. Maybe the men put the jacket on him—keep still till I get through. Maybe they wanted to disguise him.
“It’s bad enough for detectives to make fools of themselves and get that kid’s family all excited, without scouts doing it. Maybe I’m all wrong but we’re going to make sure.”