Dolph knew that Teddy would join him as soon as he could crawl out from the confined space under the floor. Accordingly, he contented himself with trying to note the direction taken by the fugitives.
There did not seem to be much trouble about doing this, for they certainly made a tremendous racket; indeed he was partly convinced that Amos played the part of martyr, clumsily falling over about every log he could find on the way, with sundry cries of pain or disgust, calculated to reach the ears of his chums.
Sure enough, in a couple of minutes Teddy came out of the cabin, breathing hard.
“They’ve gone, of course,” he observed, between his pants for breath. “Scared ’em off, did I? Too bad they took Amos along, ain’t it? But we’re bound to get after the thievy cowards, hot-footed. It’ll sure be queer if we can’t make ’em give our chum up. Notice which way they went, Dolph?”
“Yes,” said Dolph, “Amos took pains to make all the noise he could. Listen. I think you can hear him floundering around yet. Come, let’s be on the jump. The way things are going, we must win out soon. But I was sorry to see how you scared that girl. Think of that beast Crawley being her father, poor child.”
“Yes, I know Sallie,” the other replied, in a low voice, as they started away. “She’s a wise little thing, older than her years because she’s had the troubles of a grown-up. I reckon they won’t go far away, but halt, and build a big camp fire to scare ghosts off!”
“Well,” remarked Dolph, “I must say these two rascals are giving us a run for our money, all right. Once we get Amos and the gun, and we want nothing more from them. But I’d like to take that child out of this horrible life. Say, do you really know whether she’s got any uncles or aunts or cousins?”
“A grandmother at the Soo, I was told, but you’d waste your time trying to induce her to leave that Crawley. I tried it once, but she told me she just had to stick to him—that the last chance he’d ever have lay in her, and she’d promised her mother never to give him up. I’m afraid from her delicate looks, she’ll die from exposure one of these days, following him around. He thinks she can stand whatever he can, the big brute. I’d like to help him to a coat of tar and feathers, or give him a cow-hiding, that’s what,” and Teddy’s indignation actually made his voice tremble.
While they moved along, as silently as possible, occasionally they would hear one of the men call out to the other; for their gruff voices carried far on the still night air.
Perhaps Amos might himself have slipped away during this rapid retreat. The chances were, however, that his stubborn nature would not allow him to think of escape unless he could also carry off the gun that had been entrusted to his charge.