"In an effort to drive us out of the country, yes."
"Then why didn"t they capture you?"
"Because they thought they had us scared so we"d go, and so didn"t want to show their hand. Remember that it was the counterfeiters who were supposed by us to have taken Jimmie."
"I understand. When you found that the boy at the cabin was not the one you were looking for you were supposed to go away so as to save Jimmie"s life, and leave the true prince here in hiding."
"That is just it."
Bradley now called out to the boys that he had something to say to them, and they hurried to his side.
"I want you to get the widow"s grandson and take him to her," he said. "I was used decent, and I don"t like to have her suffer."
"Where is the boy?" asked Ned.
Bradley open his eyes wider in wonder.
"Do you really think I took him away?" he asked.
"Not a doubt of it!" Frank declared.
"Well, I didn"t," Bradley insisted. "I don"t know where he is, but I think I can point out the likeliest place to hunt for him."
"Down at Chimney rock?" asked Frank.
"In that section, yes. And, look here. You will need to be in a hurry, for the men who have him are anxious to get rid of him--and they are unscrupulous!"
CHAPTER XXII
A RECRUIT FROM THE ENEMY
"So you know the men who have taken the boy we call Mike III.?" asked Ned.
"I know him too well," was the bitter answer. "He"s one of the men who use their friends up to the limit and then drop them!"
"You say "him,"" Ned suggested. "Is there only one in this outrage?"
"There are several, but all bow to the will of the leader. I can"t tell you anything more about it! I don"t like the way I have been treated, or I wouldn"t have said as much as I have."
"I thought your motive was to secure the return of the boy to his grandmother?"
"I want that done, of course, but I wouldn"t have suggested it to you only for the high and mighty airs of the man placed over me."
"Why don"t you tell me who this man is?" asked Ned. "Why don"t you tell me the object of this abduction of the prince? Why not tell me where to find this little chap you seem honestly interested in?"
"I don"t know anything about any prince!" insisted Bradley.
"Look here," Ned said, "I believe I can tell you just how this man you hate looks. If I describe him, will you tell me if I am right?"
"I will tell you nothing, except that you ought to look in the vicinity of Chimney rock for the grandson--not at the rock, but close to it! That is more than I ought to tell you."
"This man you speak of," Ned went on, recalling the features of the face caught above the rock by the camera, "has a very slim face, a prominent nose, a wide, thin-lipped mouth, high cheek boned, small eye-orbits, and eyebrows which tip up at the outer corners. He is fond of children, and will play with any child he comes across. He is also fond of mountain climbing, and delights in long tramps over the hills."
Bradley looked at Ned with the old cynical smile on his face.
"Where did you run across him?" he asked eagerly,
"That is enough!" laughed Ned. "You needn"t say another word. We have two snapshots of him--one without a head. In one he has hold of the hand of a child, and in the other he has the child on his back, with the little fellow"s legs hanging down over his shoulders. A man would not be apt to ride children about on his shoulders unless he was fond of little ones generally, would he?"
"I presume not," Bradley admitted.
"And he wears in both pictures a mountain-climbing costume," Ned went on. "He evidently likes the errand he was sent here on!"
"The man I referred to a few moments ago as unscrupulous does,"
Bradley said.
"But if he likes children he won"t be apt to injure this Mike III., will he?"
"He is a man who will do anything for expediency"s sake. Now go away and leave me to my very entertaining thoughts! If I ever get out of these hills alive, and free, I"ll never leave Manhattan island again."
"I remember you saying that you had never set foot in New York!"
laughed Ned. "You"ll have to make your stories consistent if you want them believed!"
"Never mind all that now," Bradley replied. "You get busy restoring that child to Mrs. Brady! Say, boy, but he is a bright-one!"
"Learned French quickly, didn"t he, and consented to being blacked up like a negro minstrel, in order to pose as a prince?" asked Ned. "I reckon, however, that the credit does not all belong to the lad. He seems to have had a good instructor."
"If you"ll release me," Bradley offered, after a pause, "I"ll go and get the boy."
"That"s an easy promise to make," laughed Ned.
"But I"ll go and get him and bring him to you, and you can return him to his grandmother. Then you may put these bracelets on me again if you like. But, boy, let me tell you this: You"ve got nothing on me! I haven"t done a thing in this state at least, to render myself liable to punishment. I supplied, for good pay, certain information in New York, and I brought the boy you call Mike III. on here from Washington, where I know his father well."
"You must have known what you were doing it for?"
"I did know--for money!"
"But you must have known that the boy was to personate some one else?"
"I didn"t care about that. I had my orders! See here, boy, if you ever work with these highbrow rulers of petty kingdoms, you"ll soon find out that you"re to obey and not ask questions! Do you get me?"
"That"s enough!" laughed Ned. "You haven"t betrayed your employer, but you have told me all I wanted to know."
The boys unlocked the handcuffs and laid them aside.
"I believe you"ll do the right thing," he said. "Go and get the boy.