"Now, tell her to talk, George!" said Elmer.
There was hardly any need, for the woman had broken loose on her own account. And such chattering as followed--Lil Artha afterward declared it reminded him of a monkey cage when one of the inmates had taken more than his share of the dinner provided.
But the woman did most of the talking. She also scolded, stamped her foot, and even shook her fist up at those above.
Evidently her arguments must have had a convincing ring about them, for suddenly she turned to George and smiled amiably as she said something, and made a suggestive movement of both shoulders.
"It"s all right, Elmer," declared George.
"Are they going to do what we want?" asked the scout master, greatly pleased.
"Sure. And I reckon there he comes now. One of the men seems to be helping Nat down the path that runs along the face of the rock. Bully!
We win out!"
A loud cheer from the scouts told how they were enjoying the situation.
Nat Scott waved his hand to them in greeting, for, having lost his hat at the shack, he was bareheaded.
The Italian was still a little suspicious, for he would come only two thirds of the way down. But Nat easily made the balance, and was soon shaking hands with everyone of his mates, just as though he had been separated from them for a week.
Leaving the woman to rejoin her people the scouts made their way down the side of the mountain until they reached the mill pond.
Nat"s story was brief, and just about what Elmer had guessed. In prowling around he had unexpectedly come upon the three men.
They had seized upon him and threatened him with their knives if he so much as gave a yell. He had been kept for a short time in the shack.
Then Landy"s prowling around seemed to fill the Italians with a new alarm, and the three men, together with the woman, had hastily fled.
On the way up the mountain the woman had discovered the loss of something, and gone back.
Then the men forced him to hurry along, and finally landed him on that secret ledge where he believed there was some sort of cave.
That was all Nat knew, and the whole thing smacked strongly of mystery until he heard what Elmer"s theory was.
"Anyhow," Nat said, with considerable satisfaction in his voice and manner, "they didn"t scare me one little bit. And besides, Elmer, in lots of places I went and made plain marks that I just knew you could read any old time."
"That stamps you a true-blue scout, Nat," declared Elmer, "and I think the troop has reason to be proud of you."
"Three cheers for Comrade Nat Scott," suggested impulsive Red; and they were given with such a vim that many of the big bullfrogs along the farther bank jumped into the mill pond in great alarm.
As their main object had been carried out while on the way to the haunted mill, and there was no further reason for lingering after they had eaten the "snack" carried along for this purpose, the Hickory Ridge troop of scouts took up the homeward march.
After talking it all over among themselves it was decided that their duty compelled them to give the game and fish warden a hint as to what was probably going on up at Munsey"s mill.
He went there with a deputy two days later, but the Italians had taken warning and fled. However, the warden found and destroyed several nets with which the fish poachers had been illegally gathering the finny prizes in the long-deserted pond.
There was one disappointed scout in the troop however, and this was Chatz Maxfield.
He always would feel as though he had missed the opportunity of his life in spending some time at a haunted mill which was supposed to support a good lively ghost, and never once chancing to come upon the hobgoblin.
However, Chatz would continue to live in hope.
At any rate, everyone was positive that he had learned a host of valuable things calculated to make him take higher rank as a woodsman, and a true scout. And no doubt in the annals of the Hickory Ridge Boy Scouts that little hike to Munsey"s mill would always be read and re-read with the keenest interest, and take rank with the greatest of their achievements.
THE END.
ADDENDA
BOY SCOUT NATURE LORE
BOY SCOUT NATURE LORE TO BE FOUND IN THE HICKORY RIDGE BOY SCOUT SERIES.
Wild Animals of the United States } Tracking } in Number I.
THE CAMPFIRES OF THE WOLF PATROL.
Trees and Wild Flowers of the United States in Number II.
WOODCRAFT, OR HOW A PATROL LEADER MADE GOOD.
Reptiles of the United States in Number III.
PATHFINDER, OR THE MISSING TENDERFOOT.
Fishes of the United States in Number IV.
FAST NINE, OR A CHALLENGE FROM FAIRFIELD.
Insects of the United States in Number V.
GREAT HIKE, OR THE PRIDE OF THE KHAKI TROOP.
Birds of the United States in Number VI.
ENDURANCE TEST, OR HOW CLEAR GRIT WON THE DAY.