"The rockth bothered Matty. Tho long ath they left a trail in the earth he could follow it all right. But when it kept on athending it got tougher and tougher. Then he lotht it altogether, and thent me to fetch you along, thir."
"All right, I"ll go with you, Number Three. You"ll be interested to know that we"ve got a prisoner here in the old cabin," remarked Elmer.
Ted glanced that way, and caught sight of the face in the window.
"The old Italian woman, eh?" he exclaimed.
"Sure," said Lil Artha, as proudly as though the honors of the capture belonged exclusively to him.
"Then she did come back for her beadth?"
"Yes. Tell you all about it on the way, for we must be moving now, Ted,"
the scout master remarked.
"All right. I"m with you, Elmer. Come on, then," and, wheeling sharply around, Ted started to retrace his steps.
So Mark and his long-legged comrade were left to guard the prison of the old Italian woman, while the other two scouts climbed the hill.
"No uthe going over the trail we made," remarked Ted. "It wound around and then climbth the hill. We could thee about where the cabin lay, and I made a bee line downhill for the thame."
As they toiled upward Elmer, keeping his promise, related all that had happened in the neighborhood of the hidden shack.
Ted seemed to enjoy the narrative very much indeed. He was particularly pleased with the account of where the old woman in her panic had burst the door open, and upset both Mark and Lil Artha.
"I wondered what happened to our friendth," said Ted. "And if you hadn"t been in thuch a big hurry to cut out, I"d have tried fixing both the poor fellowth up. Lil Artha lookth like a pirate chief, and ath for Mark, you"d think hith brains might be breaking out."
Elmer had no trouble at all in following the plain trail left by Ted when he came down from above. His practiced eye could easily see the marks on turf, leaf mold, or even where the other"s heels with their steel nails had sc.r.a.ped along a slanting rock.
"Tell me thome more about that, pleath," said Ted, while they were still climbing.
Nothing loath, for he really believed he had solved the secret of the whole business, Elmer gave him the story, from his first faint suspicion upon looking down into the strange-smelling cellar of the mill house, up to his detecting such a strong odor of fish about the Italian woman, and particularly the knife she carried.
"That"th a bully good idea, all right," said Ted, when the story was finished.
"Do you think it sounds fishy?" laughed Elmer.
"Yeth and no," answered the other, immediately. "While it theemth to be a fish yarn, yet it ith all to the good. I really believe you"ve gone and figured it out, Elmer. And if that ith tho, it ith going to be another big feather in your cap, don"t you forget it."
"We ought to be close to where you left the rest of the boys, by now,"
suggested the scout master, desirous of changing the conversation, for, strange to say, Elmer never liked to hear himself praised.
"I reckon we are," replied Ted. "Suppothe you try your whistle, and give "em a call."
So the patrol leader"s whistle was brought into play again. Hardly had it sounded than there came an answer from a point not far distant.
"There they are!" cried Ted, pointing, "I thee Red waving hith hat to uth right now. We"ll join "em in a jiffy, if the walking ith good."
It proved to be decent enough for the two climbers to reach the spot where Matty and the rest of the troop awaited them.
"I"m all in, Elmer," admitted the leader of the Beaver Patrol, as he threw up both hands in disgust. "Just as I said, it was all hunk till I struck the rocks, and I"ve been up in the air ever since."
"Yes, Matty has even hinted that he believes those Italians must have had wings somewhere around here, and just flown away," laughed Chatz.
"Well, that wouldn"t be so very queer," declared Toby Jones, always thinking of things touching on aviation. "It"s a bully good place to make a start, anyway, if a feller only had the wings."
"Yes, and a gay old place to bring up on all the rocks down there. And how about our chum Nat; he never had any longing to soar through the air. But tell us what"s doing, Elmer," said Red, impatiently.
"Oh, he"s got lots to tell you," declared Ted, with the air of a highly favored one who had been already taken into the great secret.
Of course his words stirred the scouts as nothing else could have done.
They crowded around and began to beg for particulars.
"Where"s Lil Artha?" one questioned.
"And Mark?" exclaimed another.
"Say, Elmer, did she come back, and step into the nice little trap you were going to get ready?" asked a third scout, with intense interest aroused.
When Elmer nodded his head they broke out into a rousing boyish cheer.
"Tell us all about it, Elmer," was flung at the scout master from all quarters.
As this was Elmer"s intention anyway he lost no time in briefly though forcibly describing all that had taken place down below.
"And now I want George to go down with Ted, here," Elmer went on, "and try to engage the woman in conversation. Tell her, if you can, who and what we are, and the reason for our coming here in uniform. Tell her we mean them no harm, but that we want our chum set free. Do you follow me, George?"
"Of course I do," came the ready answer.
"You understand Italian, and talk it some, I"ve been told?" Elmer went on.
"Oh, yes, I can really converse with some Italian men. Don"t know about a woman, though. But I"ll do my best to make her see things straight."
"I like to hear you talk that way, George," continued Elmer; "the true scout is always ready to do his best. And I think you"re going to make a fine addition to our troop before long."
"After I"ve told her, what then?" asked George, who looked pleased at hearing these words of praise from one he respected as highly as he did Elmer.
"Why, you must bring her along, and rejoin us. Lil Artha and Mark will accompany you, because all ought to be in at the finish. You understand, don"t you, George?"
"I sure do. Come on, Ted, show me the way down to the old shack. As we go along I"ll be brushing up my Italian words so as to spring "em on the old lady. This way, Ted."
"And while you"re jabbering with the woman, why, perhaps now I might be amuthing mythelf doctoring the n.o.ble woundth of our two chumth,"
declared the fellow who was never so happy as when engaged in the work of a doctor.
Why, some of the boys often called Ted "Sawbones," because he gave himself over, heart and soul, to his one great hobby.
So the two of them vanished down the side of the hill. As their voices died away among the thickets Elmer turned his attention to the task of finding and following the trail of the Italians.
"Show me where you saw it last, Matty," he said.