CHAPTER XXI
A QUEER EXPERIENCE
Frank was a little surprised at the definite announcement of the man Dan. The latter seemed to be telling the truth.
"If it's not Brady, who is behind this business?" began Frank.
"I didn't say that," retorted Dan.
"Why"
"I said that it wasn't Brady you were going to meet."
"Oh!" uttered Frank vaguely.
"If you hadn't acted so sensible and handsomely," proceeded Dan, "I wouldn't talk with you at all. You've got me sort of chummy, though. I like you. I don't suppose there's any harm in telling you that it's a lawyer you're going to see. He'll explain the business to you."
"What is the business?" persisted Frank.
"Bless me if I know," declared Dan. "We were to do something—get you. We were to take you somewhere—we do it. After that we're paid off, and that's our end of it."
Frank did some thinking and surmising, but he could only theorize. He saw that now he was in the mix-up he must see it through.
How far they traveled in the next eight hours he could only guess at. The vehicle had two horses attached; they were pretty good travelers, and the road was a smooth and level one and in excellent condition.
A little after dark, the team halted, and Jem went to some place near by and bought some doughnuts. He gave them to Dan, who divided up with Frank. Then Frank went to sleep, awoke, and went to sleep again on the heap of blankets in the bottom of the wagon, to be aroused by Dan shaking his arm vigorously and saying:
"Wake up, youngster."
"What time is it?" inquired Frank.
"Just struck midnight by the village clock," Dan informed him.
"What village?" asked Frank.
"You're not to know that, youngster," responded Dan with a chuckle, as though he considered the prisoner a pretty keen lad. "You'll have to put on this headgear again," and Frank did not demur as the bag was drawn over his head.
Then our hero was lifted out of the wagon, and Jem took hold of one hand and Dan of the other, and he was led across a yard, up a pair of outside stairs, along a. porch, and then there was a pause. Jem knocked at a door. There was some delay, and then the door was opened.
"We're the men from Brady," said Jem.
"Pretty outlandish hour to disturb a man," snapped a sharp and domineering voice in return.
"Acting on orders, judge," said Jem.
"This is the lad, is it?"
"It's him, judge," answered Jem, and they entered some kind of a room.
Frank was pushed down into a chair. Then Dan removed the bag from his head. Frank looked about him with a good deal of curiosity.
He found himself in a room that he decided must be a lawyer's office. It had cases full of law books. On a table stood a shaded lamp, and beside it was the man who had admitted them.
This was a wiry, shrewd-looking individual, whose hair was all touseled and who was only partially dressed, as if he had been aroused from sleep. He moved to a chair and drew toward him a little package of documents with a rubber band around it.
"This is the lad Foreman, is it?" he demanded.
"It's him, judge," declared Jem.
"Very good. Young man, I am acting for a client. Understand one thing. You appear before me voluntarily. If at any future time any—er—misunderstanding, complications arise out of this extraordinary midnight—er—invasion, I simply act as attorney for my client. Here's a document. It is to be signed by you. In consideration of the same, at a later date, my client is to remit to some school or other the money to pay for your schooling four years in advance."
"Don't say a word but 'uh-huh,'" whispered Dan quickly to Frank. "You'll be glad if you do it. It's all right."
"Uh-huh," said Frank obediently, but thinking somethings that would have startled the men with him if they had guessed them.
"Ipse dixit, de facto, as we say in the law," proceeded the judge pompously. "That's all, I think."
The speaker dipped a pen in ink. He set before Frank a two-paged document. Its first page was turned over. Its second page our hero was not given time to read, but Frank's keen glance took in words and phrases that plainly indicated to him that the document alluded to a guardianship of some kind.
Frank signed a name that was no name at all. It was a meaningless scrawl. He believed it would bring about a crisis, but he was now ready for just that. The document was drawn from his hand, but before the judge could look at it there was a ring at a telephone at the end of the room. The judge hastily thrust the document into a drawer and hastened to the telephone.
He spoke to somebody over the 'phone and nodded to Jem, and said:
"It's Brady."
"No need of us waiting," responded Jem. "Here's my half of that card, judge. I suppose you know the arrangement."
For reply the judge walked to a safe standing in the corner of the room, opened it, took out a little box and handed it to Jem.
Frank felt somehow that this was the diamond bracelet that had been stolen from Samuel Mace back at Tipton. The thought connected with the talk he had overheard at the cabin near Bellwood about two pieces of card. He theorized that it was the reward to Jem and Dan for agreeing to kidnap Ned Foreman.
"Got it?" spoke Dan eagerly, edging up to Jem. "Then our part's done. Let's get away from here."
Frank took a last glance around the room. It was to note a row of law books that had written on their calfskin backs the name "Grimm." Frank treasured this clue. He did not doubt that it was the name of the "judge." He did not know what town he was in, or how far away from Bellwood, but he believed he now had learned the name of the "judge," and that it would afford a starting point in a later investigation.
Frank smiled to himself as, the bag again over his face, he was taken back to the covered wagon. He wondered what the "judge" and Brady would say when they found a meaningless scrawl to the document they had gone to so much trouble to have signed.
He made up his mind that, although he was a minor, the signature of Ned Foreman to that paper meant something important. It probably gave some power to Brady over Ned. What this was Frank felt sure that he could soon find out, and he planned upon his return to Bellwood School to go straight to Professor Elliott with the whole story.
"Now, then, youngster," observed Dan as the wagon started up, "you've behaved fine. Nobody is hurt, and you've done yourself some good. I'll promise you that your schooling bills will be paid, and you just want to forget everything that's happened to-night. Don't be foolish and stir things up. It'll be no use. You'll be provided for until you're of age, and that's a good deal for a fellow who was grubbing for every cent yesterday."
Frank went to sleep after that. He was roused by Dan in broad daylight, and Jem opened the back of the wagon. Dan walked a few steps with Frank.
"You're about two miles from your school," he said. "I've taken quite an interest in you. If I was the right sort, I'd kind of like to adopt you. Good-by."
"Good-by," answered Frank, starting in the direction of Bellwood School.
Frank walked on for a distance. He observed that the wagon had not started up immediately, and he believed that the two men would satisfy themselves that he was not delaying or lurking around before they resumed their journey.
Frank chuckled to himself. He had gone through a night of considerable mystery, but he fancied he had gathered up some pretty important points as to the reason for all the planning and plotting regarding Ned Foreman. He felt pretty well satisfied with himself.
"I don't want to pat myself on the shoulder any," was the way he put it to himself, "but I think I've done pretty well for a young fellow about my size. They would have it that I was Ned Foreman. They would have me sign that paper. I didn't tell any lies, but I wonder what that lawyer will say when he reads that signature? Grim he'll be, sure enough."
Frank at first was quite content to return to the academy. The wagon had started up at a clattering rate and he did not attempt to follow it. Suddenly, however, a crash and then the echo of loud voices halted him.
"Something happened to that wagon," decided Frank. "Jem and Dan are discussing things at a great rate, too. I'm going to see what's up."
Frank made a short cut through the shrubbery and reached the road at the point whither the loud voices of the two men led him. He came upon the wagon with one hind wheel stuck in a muddy rut and the other one smashed at the hub. From the shelter of a handy bush Frank surveyed the situation and listened to what the recent captors were saying.
"There's no use, Jem," remarked Dan. "She's a goner and you've just got to leave her here."
"But what about getting to Rockton?"
"Ain't that plain?"
"Not to me," asserted Jem.
"Why, unhitch the animal, and make it on horseback."
"Me?" hooted Jem. "Why, I never rode a horse twice In my life, and then without a saddle—not much."
"Well, unhitch, anyway; it isn't far to the town. Let the livery stable man come back after the wagon here and give you a new rig."
"There's no other way to do that I can make out," agreed Jem. "Yes, that's just what we'll do."
Frank became interested in watching them unhitch the horse from the wagon. They finally started off, Jem leading the horse. Frank was about to go about his business, when a casual remark of Dan acted like a magnet in attracting his attention away from his former purpose.
"I say, Jem," he observed in a somewhat anxious tone, "you are sure we can settle the bracelet business right away?"
"Yes, right away," assented Jem.
"Cash?"
"Ready money, sure."
"Hope you will. I want my share so I can get away from these diggings and the crowd into some new district and among new people."
"Oho! Going to turn respectable, are you?" jeered Jem.
"I'm going to try," announced Dan manfully. "I'm afraid of Brady. He's the kind of a man who goes from bad to worse. He will be sure to get you in trouble if you stick with him long enough."
"Well, as long as he pays the bills as he agrees I'm his man," said Jem.
"I'm not, and I'll cut loose just as soon as I get my share of the plunder."
That little talk decided Frank that he would not return to the academy at once. He resolved to play the detective, for a little time at least.
Frank believed that what he had done would result in the upsetting of all the plans Brady had set on foot regarding Ned Foreman.
He felt certain that when he related the circumstances of the case to Professor Elliott, the latter would speedily devise a way to protect Ned and ferret out the object of the lawyer, Grimm, and also Brady, in securing some kind of guardianship over the orphan boy.
About the bracelet, however, that was a different affair. From what Frank had just heard he was convinced that Jem had this now in his possession.
"Yes," mused Frank, as almost involuntarily he followed Jem and Dan at a safe distance, "that little box the lawyer gave Jem surely contains the bracelet stolen from Lemuel Mace, back at Tipton. It's sure, too, from what these men just said, that Jem is going to dispose of it right away. Why, if that's so, all trace of it would be lost, and good-by to my chances of ever convicting the real thieves. This man Dan, the best of the lot, is going to disappear, and, of course, Brady and Jem will never admit they stole the bracelet. I sort of feel that if I let these men slip me now I'll never be able to clear myself of the charge of stealing Mace's jewelry."
Frank was so impressed with these ideas that he trailed on after the two men. He did not know that it would do much good, but that bracelet was a kind of a lodestone, and he felt that he would give a good deal to get it into his possession.
The little procession covered about three slow miles, arriving finally at a little sleepy town. Frank had never been there before. Jem led the horse down the main street of the place, and finally turned into a vacant lot, at the rear of which stood a livery stable. A lantern was burning just beyond the wide open door of the place.
Frank lined a board fence that bounded one side of the livery stable yard. When he got opposite the open doorway where Jem had halted, he posted himself at a crack in the fence, where he could see and hear what was going on.
"Hi, there, somebody—wake up!" bawled Jem loudly.
A sleepy-eyed hostler made his appearance in a few minutes. There was a lengthy explanation as to the broken wagon. Jem seemed to make this all satisfactory in a money way. Then he told the hostler that he must have a light single rig, and the man took the horse into the stable, while Jem and Dan remained outside.
"Going on alone, are you?" inquired the latter.
"It's best," replied Jem. "You see, I've got one place in view I want to visit. You know—Staggers."
"Yes, I've heard of him," nodded Dan. "He's a mighty close one, though. Get the full value, Jem."
"I will, never fear."
"What shall I do?"
"Oh, go up to the old hut and snooze until I come back."
"I hope that will be soon."
"I won't be any longer than I can help."
"What are you doing?"
Jem was acting strangely, and the peering Frank was surprised and Interested. Jem was going through a puzzling pantomime. He would touch his head in various places in a whimsical manner, then pause and appear undecided as to what he would do next.
"It's funny," he remarked, after silently going through these apparently meaningless gestures for some moments.
"What's that?" inquired Dan.
"I can't get it."
"Can't get what?"
"The high sign."
"Oho!"
"You know what I mean?"
"Yes, indeed. Brady told us that Staggers will have no dealings with any one not having the high sign.
"Exactly. Brady said it was L. E. H."
"I remember that."
"But I've forgotten part of it. Let's see, L. is lip. I know that—you touch your lip. Then E. Is it eye or ear?"
"Ear," cried Dan. "Say, I'm sure Brady said ear.
"All right. And the last? Oh, of course—hand. You touch your lip, then your ear, and then put out your hand," and Jem went rapidly through these maneuvers. "As to the grip, it's easy—slip the forefinger up the wrist. O. K.—I've got it. Say, what kind of an old tumbledown trap is that thing?" demanded Jem, as the hostler reappeared leading a sorry nag attached to an old buggy with an enormous hood and a big shallow boot at the rear.
"It's an old mail carrier cart," replied the hostler. "But it's the only single rig we've got in the stable at the present time."
"Well, I suppose it will have to do," observed Jem indifferently. "I'll be back soon, Dan."
"All right."
Jem drove out of the yard and down a road leading out of the town. The horse was a decrepit animal and did not go very fast. While trying to think out the best plan to pursue, Frank followed after the cart at a safe distance.
He had gone only a little way when he wished he had remained near the stable and had followed Dan. That would have been easier. Dan had planned to return to the hut and had already disappeared in its direction. Unguided, however, Frank did not believe that he could locate it. He kept on down the road, therefore, after Jem, unwilling to lose sight of both of the men who certainly knew all about the diamond bracelet stolen from Lemuel Mace's jewelry store at Tipton.
"This man Jem has the bracelet," reflected Frank, "and just as surely he is going to some man named Staggers to sell it or get him to sell it for them. Then he will return to Dan to divide the spoils. I can't miss scoring some kind of a point fallowing that cart."
This Frank did for over two miles. Then he began to grow wearied and footsore. He had no idea how many miles Jem planned to go, and finally he carried out a bold idea.
This was to climb into the deep boot at the back of the vehicle. The hood in front prevented Jem from seeing what was going on behind him. As the horse struck a patch of very rutty road, Frank ran close up to the buggy.
The vehicle was wobbling and jolting so that the action of his additional weight on the springs did not attract the attention of the driver. Frank cuddled down in the shell-shaped receptacle for mail and parcels, fairly out of sight.
It must have been fully two hours later when Jem drove Into a town of quite some size. It was, in fact, a small city and from what Frank knew of the district he decided that it must be Rockton, a place about eleven miles from the academy town.
Frank slipped from the boot of the cart after the vehicle had made one or two turnings. When he did this he dropped flat in the middle of the road and remained there until Jem had made another turn, when he was up and away, again on the trail of the man.
After proceeding quite some distance, Jem halted the horse at the edge of a sidewalk near an alleyway. He tied the animal to a ring at the curb and proceeded down the dark lane near by.
Frank had gained the shelter of an open hallway directly opposite the point where the vehicle had halted. He stood there pondering as to his next move, when the sharp clatter of running footsteps attracted his attention.
The next minute a boy about his own size darted around the corner, running at full speed. As he rounded into view, he seemed to see some one ahead blocking his way. With an utterance of dismay and excitement he veered from his course, and sprang directly into the hallway that sheltered Frank.
"Hold on, I say!" cried Frank, fairly swept off his footing.
"Don't say a word," panted the strange lad. "Some one is after me! Show yourself, fool them, or I'm a goner. Is there any way out of this?"
Frank heard the boy run down the hall, try a locked door at the rear, and utter a cry of sharp disappointment and concern.
"They've trapped me!" he gasped.
Frank stepped toward the sidewalk and peered out, not quite able to figure out what had happened or was happening. He did not want to become mixed up in any trouble, especially just now when all his energies were centered on keeping track of the man Jem.
Frank saw one man coming running around the corner which the refugee had just turned. Almost in front of the open driveway he met a man who came running from the opposite direction.
"They're constables," murmured Frank.
"Did you see him?" began the first officer.
"A boy?" queried the man.
"Yes."
"Run into that hallway."
"Ah, there he is! Out with you—aha! I've caught you at last, have I?" cried the first officer triumphantly.
He seized Frank by the arm and pulled him out on to the sidewalk. The way he whirled him around amid his wild glee made Frank's teeth chatter.
"Hold on!" our hero demanded, struggling to free himself. "What's all this about?"
"What's it about, eh?" chuckled his captor. "Mighty innocent, aren't you? Don't remember me a bit, do you? Look sharp at me, now," rallied the officer. "I guess you'll recognize me, my soft and downy young bird, if you'll look hard enough."
"I never saw you before, and you never saw me before," declared Frank, getting nettled at his rough treatment.
"Thunder! that's so."
The officer, peering closely at Frank, staggered back as though he was about to collapse. He goggled at Frank, choking with stupefaction and disappointment.
"What's the matter, Hawkes?" asked the other officer.
"This isn't the boy I was chasing."
"It must be."
"But it isn't."
"Well, anyhow, it's the fellow who shot around that street corner a few minutes ago and dodged into the doorway, for I saw him."
"Then I must have been chasing the wrong boy."
"I reckon that's so."
Both officers looked Frank over speculatively and suspiciously.
"No, he ain't the fellow," observed the officer who had grabbed Frank. "But, say, who are you?"
"I'm Frank Jordan, a student at the Bellwood Academy," answered our hero promptly.
"We don't know that," observed the second officer.
"I can easily prove it to you," asserted Frank.
"All right, fetch him up to the station, Hawkes, and let him explain to the captain how he comes to be snooking around people's houses at this unearthly hour of the morning."
Frank was very much cut up at this decision. To leave that spot meant possibly to lose all track of Jem and the stolen bracelet.
"I'm in this town on business," he said boldly, "and I don't see what right you have to interfere with me."
"The captain will explain all that to you," observed the officer. "Here, you come right along with us."
There was no use of resisting. Each of the officers seized an arm of Frank and marched him down the street. He uttered an anxious sigh as he cast a last look back at the horse and buggy Jem had left at the curb.
When they got to the little police station of the town, Frank was confronted by the captain. He proved to be a bright, intelligent man, and looked over some letters Frank showed him.
"This boy's all right, Hawkes," declared the officer at once. "I should have thought you would have known that from a look at his honest face. Get to school, though, lad," he added in a kindly tone to Frank. "I was a boy once myself, but I know from experience that these student larks don't pay in the end. Who did you think the lad was, anyway, Hawkes?"
"A young escaped convict," explained Hawkes. "Nice little fifty dollars reward out for his apprehension, too."
"Well, it seems you started up the wrong covey this time. Good morning, lad," nodded the officer to Frank, who promptly left the station.
Frank got back to the place where he had been arrested on a run. As he turned Into the street a single anxious glance made his heart sink.
"Too bad—all for a boy criminal!" he exclaimed. "The buggy is gone."
It seemed certain that during the time the officers had taken Frank to the station, Jem had transacted his business with the mysterious Staggers and had left town.
Frank came across an early riser opening up a cheap restaurant, and inquired if he had ever heard of a man named Staggers.
"Nickname, I guess, that," responded the eating-house man. "Fellows here, shady characters, especially, have all kinds of flash names among their friends. No, don't know Staggers."
Frank was disappointed and wearied. He had the idea of saying something to the police about the bracelet. Then he made up his mind that he would get back to Bellwood and take Professor Ellott Into his confidence.
Somewhat dejected and a good deal tired out, our hero turned his face in the direction of Bellwood Academy.