Julie and Joan then crept away, and Mrs. Vernon heard Mr. Gilroy"s voice close at her ear explaining where they went.
"You see, the convicts cannot get out of there without our seeing them.
In that case I will use my automatic revolver," added Mr. Gilroy.
"Oh! I didn"t know you had one," sighed the Captain in great relief.
"Yes, and I was about to say that you and the two girls had better creep out and get under the heap of spruce tips that is piled in the old hut, while I sit here and guard the wall," Mr. Gilroy returned.
Ruth and Betty refused to leave him, however, so the four sat and waited in the darkness.
After a long interval of absolute silence, a shrill whistle was heard down the trail. Then a voice behind the wall said: "D"ye t"ink enny one"s got a clue?"
"Try to see thu dat crack in de wall--see ef yuh kin see any light in dat room?"
"Not a flicker--black as pitch out dere."
"Dat shows dey"s gone, "cause no woman"ll sit in de dark widda coupla o"
convicks loose in de woods," harshly laughed one.
"I wisht you"se coul" help lift me foot outen dis hole what"s eatin" me heart out," groaned the man who evidently had injured his foot.
"S-she! Dere goes dat whistle agin. Mebbe dem cops is comin" back dis way."
"Ef dey come back, it"s ours fer keepin" mum agin. We cain"t git away, yuh know, wid my foot lame. An" dey"ll never tink of lookin" behin" dis wall fer us ef we kin shet up an" stan" it."
"No, but we woulden" have t"ought of it ourself ef it hadn"t ben fer dat crookit chimbly. It war so easy to climb dat an" slide down here behin"
de wall," chuckled the other one.
Mr. Gilroy gently touched the scouts to keep silence, and all four listened with nerves a-tension.
"Wisht we onny hed a gun--den we coul" put up a fight ef any one gits on to dis hidin" place," said one of the voices, after a silence that had followed another shrill whistle in the woods.
"Dem cops is havin" fun widda whistle. But dey kin whistle fer all we care." A chuckle expressed the satisfaction the man felt.
Then an answering signal whistled close to the hut, and one of the prisoners said to his pal: "Gee! Dey"s closer"n I t"ought. Keep mum, now, en don"t groan enny when dey"s in hearin"."
Another whistle from the trail echoed to the hut, and Mr. Gilroy got up and ran out. He met two of the returning policemen just outside, and drew them away so that he could tell them of the discovery without being overheard by the convicts; for he had learned how the slightest sound echoed in the forest silences.
The men quickly planned how they could catch the convicts, but how should they force them out from behind the wall of the hut?
"We"ll have to chop down the log wall," said one.
"It will take all night and before we get it down our men may have crept out and escaped," said the other.
"We"ll have to wait for the Chief and his companion to join us, so that two of us can sit on the roof and guard the hole where these men crept through to get in back there," said Mr. Gilroy.
A dancing flashlight seen through the forest trees along the lower trail now told the three anxious men that the girls had found the Chief and his men and were returning.
Soon the Chief was in an earnest conference with his men and Mr. Gilroy, while the two scouts crept in to whisper a plan to the Captain.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
THE REWARD FOR COURAGE
While the Chief drew his men away from the hut so they might talk and plan without danger of being heard by the convicts, Julie and Joan whispered their plan to the admiring Captain.
"We"ll start a blazing fire in the chimney, because everything is laid ready for one, and soon the smoke will choke up the hut and fill the empty place back of the wall, just as it always did when we had a fire for fun," said Julie.
"Wasn"t it lucky that we built the chimney as we did! If it was straight and correct, it wouldn"t smoke, and then that hollow place behind the wall would never fill with smoke," whispered Betty, excitedly.
"S-sh! For goodness sake don"t whisper so loud--they"ll hear us and know what we are planning to do!" warned Joan, placing her hand over Betty"s mouth.
"But we won"t hint to those rascals that we are only smoking them out--we will pretend we are going to burn down the hut," now announced Julie, highly pleased with her plan.
"How?" asked Betty.
"This way--now listen and keep your wits about you--all of you, and reply wisely," whispered Julie, going over to the fireplace to speak so the men behind the wall could plainly hear her.
"Scouts, the Chief and his men are outside loading their guns to open a fight on these two men hidden behind this wall, but that means there will be an awful fight. Now, I have a much better plan; I am going to pour gasoline all over this wall and then light it. It won"t take long to burn these logs down; but it will give these convicts a chance to give themselves up."
Julie paused a moment, then called out loudly:
"Say, you two fugitives! Come out from there quietly and we won"t drive you forth."
But not a sound was heard from behind the wall. After a few moments, Julie added: "All right! We"ll have to burn down the hut. I"m sorry, but we"ve got to get you, or give up camping here."
The scouts were intensely interested in this farce, but Julie meant business. She turned to the Captain and said: "Make the scouts leave the hut before I pour this gasoline all over the log wall. If they remain here with lighted candles, the fumes of the gasoline will cause an explosion."
Julie grinned at the girls and placed a finger on her lips as a signal for absolute silence; then she continued:
"That"s right, Captain; now you take that can of gasoline that stands by the door, and pour it all over those logs while I soak these--then run outside. I will wait, and the moment you are out I will throw a lighted taper at the wall. Instantly the flames will eat up the bark and begin to burn through. By that time those two men will be glad to crawl out and give themselves up."
Julie pointed at a pail of water that stood by the door, so the Captain picked it up. Then the scout began arranging the paper and kindlings in the fireplace. These she lit with a match, and when she found they were beginning to burn, she called out:
"Now! Let us throw the gasoline all over the wall! Ready!"
As Julie gave the word, Mrs. Vernon tossed the water over as much wall surface as possible, then ran from the hut. The smoke now began to pour from the fireplace and filled the room. The scouts had to remain outside to keep from choking. Julie was the last to leave, but she smiled with satisfaction when she saw the dense smoke quickly filling the hut. Then she closed the door.
"Have you enough wood on the fire to last this trick out?" asked Mrs.
Vernon, anxiously.
"Piles of it! That"s why it is smoking so furiously," replied Julie.
"Only a tiny spiral of smoke can be seen coming from the top of the chimney, so most of it must be escaping from the fireplace into the room," announced Joan.