Hubert"s rebelliousness disappeared on the instant, and he stared at his cousin in silent fright. Then he, too, heard Jackson"s voice, whereupon he started up, looking wildly about, as if for some means of escape.
Without waiting to say more Ted hurried back to his peep-hole.
"Can"t we slip out and run?" whispered Hubert as soon as he reached Ted"s side.
"How can we? There"s no window on the back and they are facing this way.
They"d see us. We"ve got to stay right here till they go away, or till we get a chance to slip out."
"But what if they should come in here?" suggested Hubert.
"We"ll have to risk it."
The breakfast was now over, and the two slackers rose to their feet. A few moments later the excited boys took note that all three of the men stood with their backs to the cabin door.
"Now"s our chance," whispered Hubert. "Let"s slip out, sneak round the house and run off."
"We"d better wait, I think," said Ted. "They might turn round on us before we----"
The boy stopped suddenly, for now the old trapper and Jackson turned, the latter saying: "Well, bring out your tobacco." The former moved toward the cabin accordingly.
"Let"s lie down and pretend to be asleep, so they won"t hear him speak to us," hurriedly proposed Ted.
When the trapper stepped into the room the slumber of the two boys appeared to be profound. He looked at them, smiled, and, as if deciding not to call them till later, went about the business of the moment, bending down over a large covered box with his back to them. Noting all this, Ted congratulated himself upon the success of his plan. It did not occur to him that curiosity might bring Jenkins into the cabin, or that the officious Jackson might wish to see for himself how large a store of tobacco the cabin contained.
So when a heavy tread was heard at the door, the boy faced the unforeseen as well as the affrighting. There was now nothing left for him and Hubert to do but cover their faces with their blankets and lie still, which they did, fearing that the very beating of their hearts would be heard.
The less curious Jenkins might have overlooked them, in the subdued light of the interior, but Jackson"s roving eyes alighted on their outlined figures almost at once.
"Who-all"s this?" he asked sharply. "I see you got comp"ny."
"Jes" two boys that got lost huntin" in the swamp," answered the old man quietly. "I kep" "em a day or two to rest up. They had a hard time and was real sick."
"_Two boys?_" echoed Sweet Jackson, in tones of keen expectancy; and, stepping across the intervening s.p.a.ce, he roughly tore away the coverings and exposed to view the shrinking boys.
For a moment Hubert seemed about to obey an impulse to hide his face in the moss of the bed, but Ted rose promptly and faced Jackson with a steady, watchful gaze.
"So you come over this-a way, did you?" cried Jackson, with a triumphant grin. "Wasn"t it lucky that I come, too, just in time!" he sneered.
"Why, do you know them boys?" asked the old swamp-squatter, turning, in great surprise.
"_Know_ "em? They belongs to our camp," declared Jackson. "I want more than yo" tobacco, old man; I want them boys."
"We _don"t_ belong to their camp," cried Ted, his voice unsteady, addressing the old man. "We only found our way there when we got lost, and then they wouldn"t let us go because they were afraid we"d tell on them."
"Why didn"t you tell me before?" asked the old man, greatly troubled.
"I wish I had," said Ted. "We waited to tell you and then--then--we thought, maybe, we"d better not."
"He"s lyin"," said Jackson glibly. "He was scared to tell you they"d run away from where they belonged."
Jenkins turned upon Jackson with an indignant manner, but hesitated, and seemed to decide to keep silent. Noting this with discouragement, Ted checked an angry response to the insult and turned again to the old man:
"Everything I have told you is the truth. Won"t you stand by us?"
The old swamp-squatter looked sharply from man to boy and back again, his expression indicating great disturbance of mind.
"If you are a-takin" them boys without the right to do it," he said, "you may have _double_ trouble on yer hands befo" long."
"That"s _my_ business, and you"d better "tend to your"n--if you know what"s good for you!" There was menace in Jackson"s tone.
The old man surrendered the plugs of tobacco with a trembling hand, then took a step toward Ted.
"You see, the trouble is," he said, rather pitifully, "that I can"t take the word of two boys agin the word of two men. If they claims you, I can"t stop "em. But I"m awful sorry because I"ve thought a heap o" you boys."
"Thank you," said Ted huskily, comprehending the old swamp-squatter"s helplessness, and moved to make a polite acknowledgment of the compliment even at such a moment.
"Will you go peaceable, or do you want a whippin"?" demanded Jackson.
"Better go peaceable," advised the old man, speaking gently. Ted turned and exchanged glances with Hubert. They read in each other"s eyes the conviction that there was nothing to be done but yield for the time, and that it was better to yield without a struggle than to suffer intolerable indignities and brutal usage. After swallowing hard, like one taking a bitter dose, Ted announced in a low voice that they were ready to go.
"Come on, then, and be quick about it," ordered Jackson, striding out of the cabin.
Jenkins and the boys followed. The old man lingered in the doorway, looking very sorrowful.
As the party was crossing the clearing to take the trail through the woods, Ted suddenly announced that he would have to "thank Mr. Smith for his hospitality," and, before he could be hindered, ran back to the door of the cabin. Jackson and Jenkins halted, turning to look on curiously as the boy performed this social duty.
"You"ve been very kind, Mr. Smith, and we thank you very much," said Ted, loudly enough for all to hear. Then, with his back to the slackers, he added in a low voice: "There"s _one_ thing you can do to help us. You know where Judge Ridgway lives and----"
"That"s all right, Ted, honey," the old man loudly interrupted. "You sure are welcome to what little I did for you boys."
This speech was accompanied by three distinct pressures of Ted"s hand which seemed satisfactorily significant. The old man then turned to shake hands with Hubert, who had been permitted to follow Ted.
"When are you goin" out again, Mr. Smith?" called out Jackson.
"I think it"ll be some while," was the answer.
But when the old swamp-squatter was left alone in his clearing, his activities seemed to show that he had suddenly changed his mind.
"What"s to keep that old man from goin" out and tellin" on our whole crowd?" asked Jenkins, as soon as they were out of hearing.
"He"s scared o" me--that"s what," was the confident answer.
Jackson halted as he spoke, took some heavy string out of his pocket, and, suddenly seizing Ted from behind, began to tie his hands.
Protesting in hot indignation, the boy struggled so fiercely that Jenkins was called on for help.
"Not on your life," said Jenkins, standing apart. "I won"t touch him. I ain"t a party to this thing. _You_ are takin" them boys, not me. I"m jes" walkin" long with you. You don"t need to tie "em anyhow. If they was to cut and run, you could easy catch one, and the other wouldn"t stay off by himself."
But Jackson persisted. Checking Ted"s resistance with violent language and ugly threats, he had his will, then served the protesting but unresisting Hubert in the same way.