"But if the boy is awake, and sees you at work, Jack?"
"Then it will be different. It would have been better for him to have taken the wine."
"Do you think he suspected anything?"
"No; how could he suspect that the wine was drugged? He is one of them temperance sneaks, I tell you."
"How soon are you going up, Jack?"
"In half an hour. I want to give the boy time enough to get asleep.
That will make matters easy."
"Don"t you think I had better go up, Jack?"
"Why should you? Why should I let a woman do my work?"
"Then I should know the boy would receive no harm."
"Oh, that"s it, is it? You make a great fuss about the boy."
"Yes; I can"t help thinking about my own boy."
"Oh, drop that! It makes me sick. Wasn"t he my boy as well as yours?
I"m sorry he"s gone. I could have brought him up to be a help to us in our business."
"Never, Jack, never!" exclaimed his wife fervently.
"h.e.l.lo! what"s that?"
"I mean that I should have been unwilling to have our son grow up no better than we are. He, at any rate, should have been a good man."
"What"s up now, old woman? You haven"t been attending Sunday-school lately, have you?" demanded Jack, with a sneer.
"I did once, Jack, and I haven"t quite forgotten what I learned there, though it don"t look like it now."
"Are you going back on me?" demanded Jack fiercely.
"No, Jack, it"s too late for that. I have helped you, and I mean to help you, but to-night the sight of that boy, and the thought of our son, who died so long ago, have given me a turn. If it was a man, it would be different. But you have promised you won"t harm him, and no more need be said."
"Too much has been said already, to my thinkin"," growled Jack.
"However, that"s over, and I expect you to help me if I need help."
Ben heard every word that was said, and it confirmed his suspicions.
There was no doubt that an attempt would be made to rob him and his companion before morning, and the prospect was not pleasant. By submitting quietly he would come to no harm, and the loss of the money would not be irreparable. He and Bradley had each started with a hundred dollars, supplied by Miss Doughlas, and thus far but little of this sum had been spent. Their employer would doubtless send them a further supply if they were robbed, but they would be reluctant to apply to her, since the loss would be partly the result of their imprudence.
Ben felt that he was in a tight place, and he was not quite certain what he should or could do.
CHAPTER XVIII.
AN EVENING CALL.
To lie awake in momentary expectation of a hostile attack, from which there is apparently no escape, is by no means a comfortable position. The cabin was in the heart of the woods, with no other dwelling within twenty miles, so far as Ben knew. In fact, if it were true, as Jack had said, that there were no mines near at hand, there were probably no neighbors, except, possibly, of Jack"s kind.
The question recurred to Ben: Was he willing to surrender his money, and go forth penniless, or should he attempt to escape or resist?
"If Jake would only wake up!" he thought, surveying, with perplexity, the rec.u.mbent form at his side.
But Jake was as senseless as a log, and the attempt to rouse him would inevitably attract attention below and precipitate the attack, besides leaving them utterly penniless.
There was another idea which occurred to our hero: Could he secrete his own money and Jake"s, or the greater part of it, and thus save it from the clutches of his dishonest host?
If it had been in the form of bank-bills, there might have been some chance of doing this, but it was not so easy to conceal gold pieces.
While considering this question, Ben rose softly and looked out of the window. Strictly speaking, there was no window, but a hole about fifteen inches square, screened by a curtain of coa.r.s.e cotton cloth.
This Ben moved aside, and looked out.
It was not a very dark night. In the half-light Ben was able to see a considerable distance. The height of the opening from the ground was probably not much over twelve feet, as well as the boy could estimate. There would have been no difficulty in his getting out and swinging to the ground, but to this move there were two objections: First, he would be sure to be heard by his enemy below; and, secondly, he was unwilling to leave Jake in the power of the enemy.
While he was standing at the window he heard the noise of some one moving below. The heavy step convinced him that it was Jack. He could not leave his place and lie down without being detected, and he hastily decided to remain where he was.
In this way he might possibly gain time.
Jack softly stepped from round to round of the ladder, and presently his head peered above the floor. He started angrily when he saw the boy at the window.
"What are you about there, boy?" he demanded roughly.
Ben turned, and said composedly: "I am looking out."
"Why are you not in bed and asleep, like your friend?"
"I tried to sleep, sir, but I couldn"t."
"Do you expect to get to sleep looking out of that hole?"
"I thought I"d see how light it was."
"Well, I can"t have you trampin" round, keepin" the old woman and me awake. I wouldn"t have let you sleep here ef I had known that"s the way you spend the night."
"I beg pardon if I disturbed you," said Ben politely.
"Well, that don"t do no good, your apologizin". Jest lay down and get to sleep in a hurry, or I"ll know the reason why."
"All right, sir," said Ben submissively.
"What"s the name of that chap that"s with you?" continued Jack.