Part 26 (1/2)
”Perhaps he won't have a baby camera hidden under his coat! laughed Frank.
”What are you going to say to him, boys, when you take him?” asked Teddy.
”We ain't going to say anything,” Jimmie answered, ”We're just going to get him!”
”Be careful, boys,” was all Ned said as Frank and Jimmie left on their dangerous mission. ”Be careful!”
After they had disappeared up the slope Ned turned to Jack.
”You saw one act of the play yesterday,” he said to him. ”Suppose you come with me now and see another act.”
Jack came forward with outstretched hand and downcast face.
”Say, Ned,” he said, ”I'm sore at myself!”
”What's that for?” Ned asked, shaking the hand heartily and lifting the boy's face by taking him by the chin. ”Why are you sore at yourself?”
”Because I acted like a dunce when we left chimney rock without signaling to Jimmie,” was the reply, ”and because I grumbled like a bear with a sore head when you suggested that Bradley be captured.”
”You had a perfect right to express your opinion, my boy,” Ned said.
”Yes, but I might have known that you knew what you were about. To be honest, I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw you bringing Jimmie back.”
”The least demonstration on our part at that time,” Ned said, then, ”might have caused the men who were guarding Jimmie to s.h.i.+ft their quarters. Besides, I wanted Bradley in the toils before I made the final break.”
”But he wasn't when you released Jimmie,” Jack suggested.
”He will be before the final card is laid down,” Ned replied. ”But come,” he went on, ”we must be moving if we get to the cottage before the trouble begins.”
”I'm all in the dark,” Jack said, ”but I'm willing to take your judgment now.”
Ned and Jack hastened away, traveling down the slope to the west and south so as to get to the cottage in the quickest possible time. When they came in sight of the structure they saw Mary Brady sitting in the doorway, her head bent forward, her face buried in the palms of her hands.
She arose at the sound of their footsteps and advanced with outstretched hands to meet them. There were tears on her face and her manner was excited.
”You came too late!” she cried, wringing Ned's hand. ”They have taken him away.”
”When?” asked Ned, leading the old lady into the cabin.
”Oh, I don't know when! Sometime in the night. I awoke and saw that the bed was empty and called to Bradley. He arose and has been looking for him ever since.”
”He was just up at our camp--looking!” Ned said, with a wink at Jack.
The old lady now went to a cupboard and brought forth a gla.s.s in which a dark fluid rested. A small black brush stood against the side of the vessel.
”I found this for you, as you asked,” she said.
Ned examined the contents of the gla.s.s and made a mark on a white paper with the brush. The color transmitted to the paper was a light brown, not black.