"Is that all?"
"Yes, that"s all--No, by Jimminy! It can"t be possible! They"re playing leap-frog!"
"Playing leap-frog!" exclaimed Ned.
"Yes! Jumping about like boys! Here, you come up and take a look, Frank! You"ve got the best eyesight of any of us."
Bart descended and Frank took his place. He gazed through the telescope for several seconds.
"The men are certainly jumping about," he said, "but they"re not playing leap-frog."
"What are they doing?" asked Bart.
"They"re hurrying from one place to another, looking at something through big magnifying gla.s.ses, just like that man in the boat. That"s who they are. I can see the King of Paprica!"
"Let me have a look!" cried Ned.
"Is Sandy there?" asked Bart.
"I don"t see him. Yes, there he is. He"s helping them, from the look of things!"
In turn Ned and Fenn were allowed to gaze through the telescope. They confirmed what Frank had said, that the men were certainly at some peculiar operations.
"There are some more tents back of Sandy"s," said Stumpy. "And I can see a log hut, too. There"s something red over the door!"
CHAPTER XV
NED STOPS A PANIC
"Can you read it?" asked Ned.
"It begins with a "K." "King of Paprica," that"s what it is. I can see it plainly, now that the sun is out from behind the cloud."
"This is where they moved the hut to," Ned went on. "Well, this thing is getting more and more mysterious."
Bart again ascended the tree and took a long observation. He reported that the men seemed to be measuring the land with long chains, while one was using an instrument such as surveyors carry.
"Maybe they"re planning to put a new trolley line through," suggested Fenn.
"That"s so," agreed Bart. "I didn"t think of that."
"Probably don"t want folks to know which way it"s going, as if they did, they might put up the price of land."
"But that doesn"t explain the queer actions of the crazy men," objected Ned. "I bet there"s something more than that in all this."
"Well, I don"t see as we can do anything," spoke Frank cautiously. "We haven"t any right to go on private land. Guess we"ll have to let it drop."
"Wonder how they came to hire Sandy?" said Bart.
"Probably they knew he was so unpopular he wouldn"t say much to the other fellows," explained Ned.
"Anyhow we"ve seen what we wanted to, though we can"t make head or tail of it," came from Fenn. "Let"s go on after the flowers."
"The men are going away now," Bart reported. "They"ve gone back in the woods, and Sandy is there on guard again. He needn"t worry, we"ll not bother him."
The boys remained on top of the hill some little while longer and then, finding a place where there were a number of beautiful wild flowers, gathered large bunches, wrapping the stems about with leaves, wet in a spring, to keep the flowers fresh.
They went through the woods so as to skirt the edge of the clearing but not near enough to it to be seen by Sandy, as they did not wish to get into a quarrel with the youth.
"Let"s make some inquiries when we get back to town," suggested Bart, "and see if anyone has heard of a trolley line being extended, or of any surveyors at work."
"Whom can we ask?" inquired Ned.
"You ask Judge Benton, Frank," said Bart. "You know him, don"t you?"
"Yes," was the answer, and Frank looked at Bart sharply, as if to see whether the suggestion was made with any particular motive. In fact Bart had mentioned the lawyer"s name to see if Frank would volunteer anything about his visit to the judge"s office that day. But Frank said nothing.
Rowing back was easy work, with the stream"s current to help the boat along, and, early that afternoon, the boys tied up at the dock.
They took the flowers to the church, in the lecture room of which the entertainment was to be held. Miss Mapes met the boys there.
"This is very kind of you," she said, as she took the blossoms. "They will make the place look beautifully. I hope you didn"t have much trouble."
"Not a bit," Frank a.s.sured her.
"I"m sure you ought to be rewarded in some way," the teacher went on.
"We didn"t do it for pay," said Fenn.
"Of course, I know that," responded Miss Mapes, "but I would like to show you how much I appreciate it. Won"t you come to the entertainment to-night?" and she held out some tickets.
The boys" faces showed how glad they would be to come. There was to be music, singing and tableaux, and, while the lads had money enough to buy tickets, they were glad as are most persons to get complimentary ones.
"Are you sure you can spare them?" asked Bart.
"Why I am only too glad to give them to you," Miss Mapes said. "I"m sure you boys deserve them if any one does. All the members of the arrangement committee get free tickets, and I appoint you special members of the flower committee," she ended, with a laugh.
The entertainment was much enjoyed. There was good music and a number of popular songs were rendered. The affair was to close with a series of tableaux in which several young persons were to pose as famous characters. Considerable time and work had been put into this feature and everyone was anxious to see it.
Lincoln delivering one of his speeches, Washington reading his farewell address, and Pocahontas saving the life of Captain John Smith, were given with much success. The last one was to be a patriotic group, called the "Spirit of "76," which is often shown in pictures, the three figures, an old man and two younger ones, playing martial music on drum and fife while all about them rolls the smoke of battle.
To give the proper effect it was planned to burn a quant.i.ty of red fire back of the group to represent the mist of smoke caused by the guns, while the explosion of cannon was to be simulated.
As the curtain went up on the group there was a burst of applause when the tableaux came into view, for it was a surprise, and not down on the program. The red fire was touched off and a great cloud of smoke, made lurid by the chemicals, rolled out. Then the curtain stopped, with but half the figures in view.