Rob drew the heads of Tubby and Andy down close to his mouth. They knew he meant to issue instructions, and hence eagerly strained their hearing so that not a single syllable might be lost. Meanwhile Hiram was standing near by, and busily engaged in taking off his khaki coat which, being quite new, he evidently did not mean to have mussed in any rough and tumble work.
At another time Rob would have smiled to see Hiram carefully folding his coat and then softly depositing it on the bed that was held under suspicion; but it did not cause a ripple of amus.e.m.e.nt to cross his serious face now.
"You and Tubby pa.s.s around to the other side of the bed, and try to act as if you were cutting up," Rob whispered. "Keep your eyes on me, and when I give the word lay hold of his legs and yank him out. Tubby, we depend on you to keep him from getting to his feet; squash him if necessary. Get that, both of you?"
Both heads eagerly nodded an affirmative reply. The plan was so extremely simple that there did not seem to be any possibility of confusion.
Tubby"s face was not quite so rosy as usual, perhaps, but no one could say he looked frightened in the least. He immediately started some "horse-play" with Andy, laughing as he pushed the other around the foot of the bed so that they could presently bring up on the other side.
Taking advantage of the very first opportunity, Tubby, even while continuing to pretend to wrestle with Andy, pointed a finger downward.
Knowing what this was meant for, Andy ducked his head in order to also get a glimpse of the object the fat boy considered so suspicious.
Meanwhile Rob and Hiram were holding themselves in readiness to jump around to any point where they could make their presence count. The former was keeping an anxious eye on Tubby and Andy. When he saw the latter make that quick movement, Rob knew what it meant, and understood that considerable would depend on how Andy came to decide.
So Rob fairly held his breath awaiting the verdict. If after all Tubby had allowed his imagination to get the better of him, and had mistaken some simple object for a pair of shoes under the bed, Andy"s keen eyes would quickly detect the illusion, and they might expect to hear him give a roar of amus.e.m.e.nt.
Nothing of the kind happened, it turned out. Instead of this, when Andy once more straightened up he nodded his head toward Rob in a way that could have only one meaning-he was ready to risk his reputation for veracity along with Tubby in admitting that the facts looked suspicious.
That settled the matter with Rob. They must combine to make a sudden a.s.sault on the concealed thief and try to overpower him before he could place himself in a condition to do them harm.
Like a wise general, the scout leader took one last look around in order to see that his forces were all in their respective positions before he gave the signal that would precipitate action.
Andy, impatient to get busy, made a significant gesture, opening and shutting both hands rapidly, while a faint grin could be seen on his face. This was intended to convey the intelligence that he was eager to lay hold on the lower extremities of the sneak thief cowering under the bed, and start to drag him out from his place of concealment.
There was no need of any further delay, and so Rob made a quick movement with his hand, at the same time exclaiming:
"Now"s your time; get him!"
Before the last word had been uttered Andy was bending down and hurling himself part-way under the bed. He immediately began to back out, tugging with all his strength at something upon which he had pounced.
Tubby also took hold and united his power with that of the other scout.
They made short work of it, once that combination got started. Out from under the bed they dragged a struggling figure that was scratching, clawing and trying in every possible way to swing around so that he would not be taken at such a terrible disadvantage.
By that time Rob and Hiram had managed to arrive, the latter scrambling directly across the bed in his hurry to get into action.
There was a lively little scene for a brief interval, with all of them trying to keep those kicking legs and violently driven arms pinned down.
A few blows were given in the struggle, and not all on one side, since Andy had a thrust in the eye that made the tears come, and Tubby received a kick which forced a grunt from his lungs.
Whoever the fellow might be he evidently was convinced that his condition was desperate, judging from the wild way he fought, to break away, with the intention of bolting from the room.
In the midst of the _melee_ Tubby settled the affair in a unique way all his own, and which none of the others could have imitated even though they sought to do so.
He simply allowed himself to sit down squarely on the squirming figure with which they had been battling so fiercely. When that heavyweight settled down, it was like a stone wagon dropping into a hole in the road.
They heard a gasp from the unfortunate wretch underneath, whose struggles immediately began to lose much of their former vigor.
It happened that at the time the thief was lying on his stomach, so that Tubby perched on his back, which might have been broken had the fellow been less st.u.r.dily built.
After that there was really nothing more for the others to do; Tubby was equal to the task of keeping his victim pinned there in spite of anything the wretched fellow might try to do.
It was then they heard him wheezing as though short of breath, and saw his hand moving as if in abject appeal.
"I give up! I"m all in! Please don"t kill me, Rob and Andy! Won"t you let Tubby get up off my back; he"s smashing my ribs, I tell you!"
Rob, Andy and Hiram stared at each other as though they hardly knew whether they could be awake or dreaming. Why, the squirming wretch whom they found hidden under the bed, and who had undoubtedly been searching their effects with robbery in view, had actually mentioned the name of Rob and that of Andy. Yes, he had even begged that Tubby be restrained before he utterly crushed his back and sides!
It gave them one of the greatest surprises in all their experience; for how a common hotel sneak thief should know who they were, and address them so familiarly, was past their comprehension.
Tubby, too, looked astounded, though he made no move to get up in response to the pitiful wheeze of the wretch he was pinning to the floor.
Perhaps it filtered through the slow-moving brain of the fat scout that this might be only one of those clever tricks known to sharpers, and entered into simply to gain some advantage.
Rob knew differently. There seemed to be something about that whine on the part of the prisoner that was familiar, though on the spur of the moment Rob could not have told where he had last heard it.
Accustomed to prompt action, the scout leader motioned to Andy and Hiram to hold themselves in readiness to seize upon the fellow"s arms, and in this manner keep him from taking advantage of his newly acquired freedom when Tubby arose.
"Now you can get up, Tubby!" said Rob.
Tubby thereupon gave one of his satisfied grunts and commenced to roll off his human cushion for, as a rule, when he wished to gain his feet, like the elephant he resembled in many ways, the fat boy had to get upon his knees first of all, and then make a further effort.
"Turn him over, Andy, Hiram; and if he tries any funny business he"ll wish he hadn"t, that"s all!" Rob told the others, who immediately started to obey.
"Oh, believe me, I"ve had enough as it is, Rob! I hope you won"t be too hard on me this time! I was wild to get back home, and that"s the truth,"
the fellow was crying as Andy and Hiram turned him on his back.
The former bent down to stare into the thief"s face. Rob fairly held his breath, awaiting the explosion something told him was due. Nor was he mistaken, for Andy drew back, uttering exclamations of wonder.
"Why, who d"ye believe it is," he burst out, "but that sneak of a Jared Applegate who had to skip out of Hampton when things got too hot for him, and who you last ran across when you were down in Mexico? Rob, he"s up to his old tricks of trying to steal what belongs to others. Say, this is one of the biggest surprises that ever came our way. Old Hiram Applegate"s bad boy, and a common hotel thief!"
CHAPTER XIX.
AN ENEMY OF THE PAST.
They all recognized Jared now, although he had grown considerably since last Rob had seen him, and was a husky looking fellow, easily capable of doing a man"s work.
In other days he had been a thorn in the flesh of the newly organized troop of scouts in Hampton, doing every mean thing his wits could devise in order to annoy them. Then, later on, when some of the boys had visited the Panama Ca.n.a.l, in process of being dug at the time, they ran across this same young reprobate, and found him a.s.sociated with a number of desperate foreigners who were trying to blow up the locks of the ca.n.a.l in order to effect the ruination of the whole grand project to unite the two oceans across the isthmus.
Still later, Rob had run across Jared down in Mexico, where he was having a hard time of it, having joined forces with some of the rival warring elements that at the time were smashing things right and left. Whatever became of Jared, Rob had never learned, nor had he bothered himself very much over the disappearance of the unscrupulous young rascal.
And now, to find him trying to steal things from their baggage, was enough to make them believe the world was a pretty small affair after all. Of the hundreds of thousands of people in San Francisco it was certainly queer that Jared, their old-time enemy, should be the one to attempt this thing.
"What"s this checkered jumper he"s wearing mean?" remarked Andy, when he could find his breath, which had really been taken away by the astonishing discovery.
"Looks like Jared might be doing some honest work at last," added Hiram.
"Else he"s just put it on to make people believe he belongs here in the hotel."
"No, no, that isn"t so, Hiram!" hastily cried the wretched Jared. "I"m really a sort of porter here, you see. I fetch trunks up to guests"