as soon as captain jim had the five men securely handcuffed he left them in charge of two of his men while the others made a search of the cabin. it was nearly empty, the only furnishings being a few chairs and a number of bunks built against the sides.
“guess they must have taken it all on that trip,” captain jim said as he glanced about the room.
but as he spoke one of the men was lifting up a trap door in one of the back corners of the room. a ladder led to a cellar below and there they found a large quantity of whiskey and other liquors.
“i’m not quite sure whether i have a legal right to spill this stuff but i’m going to take a chance on it,” captain jim told bob.
he sent one of the men up to look for an ax and in a short time the cellar was nearly flooded with the costly fluids.
“there, that stuff will never make anyone drunk, that’s sure,” he said as he stove in the head of the last barrel.
bob was impressed by the fact that not one of captain jim’s men even suggested drinking any of the liquor.
“you’ll pay and pay well for that stuff,” the man, known to the captain as slippery elm, told them as they once more joined the others outside. “this is canada and you have no jurisdiction on this side of the line.”
“i hope not,” captain jim replied. “i’m far from being a rich man and it would bankrupt me to pay half of what that stuff would cost.”
pierre and big tiny glared at bob in a way that made him shudder in spite of himself and the little man said to him in a low tone:
“some day we may square accounts.”
“all right now, let’s get going,” captain jim ordered. “we’ll go back to camp and pack up and then hit the trail for jackman. no we won’t either. on second thought i think we had better take these birds straight to bangor.”
“now i want you fellows to pay strict attention to what i’m going to say. i hate a man who’ll sell whiskey worse than poison and have more respect for a snake so you can easily figure out about what i think of you. now i’m going to take you to bangor either alive or dead and it doesn’t make a whole lot of difference to me which. now i reckon you understand what i mean.”
they had disarmed the men before leaving them to search the cabin and now, with them handcuffed bob felt that there could be no trouble.
the prisoners made no reply to the captain’s statement but it was evident to bob that they thoroughly understood what he meant.
as soon as they got back to the place where they had camped they prepared a hasty lunch and by one o’clock were ready for the start.
“can’t you take these things off?” the little man asked holding out his hands. “it’s mighty hard work going through the woods without the use of your hands. we won’t start anything.”
“not much,” the captain replied. “you ought to have thought of the inconveniences of this business before you took it up. smuggling diamonds is i fancy much safer and it’s a pity that you didn’t stick to it. no, i’m not going to take one little bit of a chance. i imagine you can get through all right without your hands if you are careful. anyhow you’ve got to. that’s all.”
the man scowled and turned away muttering something which bob failed to catch.
to travel through the thick forest without the use of one’s hands to protect the face from the twigs and branches is indeed a hardship and bob could not help a feeling of pity for the prisoners. but he knew that the captain was doing exactly right in refusing to free their hands. they were men of the most desperate character and, knowing that a long term in prison at hard labor awaited them, they would be sure to take advantage of the first opportunity that offered the least chance of escape. as the captain had said they must take their medicine.
but the captain was by no means cruel and he set a slow pace in order to make it as easy for them as possible without taking a chance. that night they camped beside a brook and bob caught a good mess of trout for supper much to the delight of all even including the prisoners.
the captain divided his party into two watches of three men each. the first to watch until twelve o’clock and the second the rest of the night.
“there, when i was talking with jack i forgot all about telling him that we were going straight to bangor,” bob said as he and the captain were talking together after supper. “guess i’d better call him up and tell him.”
he caught jack just as he was getting into bed and they chatted for some time.
“then we’ll meet you at the hotel in bangor some time tomorrow night,” jack said.
“if we have good luck,” bob replied
the night passed without incident and they got an early start the next morning. the prisoners seemed to have accepted their fate and made no complaints although bob knew that they were having a pretty hard time of as he could tell by the numerous scratches on their faces.
it was about ten o’clock when bob, who at the time was leading the way and choosing the easiest route so as to give the manacled men as little pain as possible, suddenly stopped and held up his hand.
“what is it?” the captain who was a few feet behind, asked.
“there’s one of those cabins i was telling you about just ahead of us.”
“good enough. now mebbe we’ll be able to solve the mystery,” and the captain called a halt.
“slippery, do you know anything about these log cabins which disappear on short notice?” the captain asked.
the man shook his head in sullen silence. captain jim then turned to the other prisoners and asked the same question but they pretended to no knowledge of what he was asking.
“all right then, we’ll have to find out for ourselves. get your gun out, bob, and the rest of you stay here.”
the mysterious cabin stood in a small open space not more than a hundred feet from where they had stopped. with drawn revolvers the two approached it from the rear, after watching for some minutes to see if there were signs of it being occupied.
“i don’t believe there’s anyone there,” the captain said as he stepped out into the open.
“doesn’t look like it.”
it was only a few steps from the edge of the clearing to the back of the cabin. captain jim was a few feet ahead of bob, he having insisted on taking the lead. as he came close to the house he stopped a moment and listened, then he stepped forward and the next instant he burst into a loud laugh.
“well, i’ll be jiggered,” he cried as bob came up. “what do you know about that?”
and then the mystery of the vanishing cabin was cleared up.
“why, it’s nothing but cloth painted to imitate a log cabin,” bob declared as he reached out his hand and touched it.
“sure it is, but whoever did it is an artist i’ll tell the world. i never suspected a thing of the sort till i was almost near enough to touch it.”
they quickly went around to the front and opened the door. as they stepped inside the whole thing became clear. the cloth, painted black on the inside so that no light would show through it, was stretched upon a very light jointed framework. there was no floor.
“why, the whole thing could be taken down in ten minutes and almost be packed in a suitcase,” the captain declared as he looked about.
“but what do you suppose they used it for?” bob asked. “you remember jack saw it the first time up near moosehead lake.”
“now you’re asking something.”
“haven’t you any idea?”
“nary a one.”
“and i don’t suppose it will do any good to ask those men.”
“not a bit. they can keep a secret all right when they want to.”
“well, i’m a yankee and can make a guess although it probably is pretty far fetched,” bob said.
“let’s hear it. your guesses have been pretty good so far this trip.”
“well, i figure it something like this. you know most of the half-breeds up here and the french too for that matter are very superstitious. they are full of stories of ghosts and haunts and the like. now isn’t it possible that this thing was made and used in some way to work up a superstitious scare regarding them and so make it easier for them to operate?” the captain did not reply for a minute or two.
“i think you’re right,” he said finally. “it’s a good guess at any rate, and for the life of me i can’t think of a better. but let’s get back and i’ll see if i can get anything out of any of them.”
“so you thought you’d work up a ghost scare with that canvas cabin, eh?” he asked the little man.
the latter made no reply, but bob caught a glance which he gave pierre and was more than ever convinced that he had made a good guess.
as soon as the other officers had examined the cabin the captain ordered that it be taken down and packed up.
“we’ll take it with us,” he said, “it will make a good souvenir at least.”
as he had told bob it took but a few minutes to take the thing down even by those who were not used to it and when it was rolled up it made a surprisingly small package considering its size when set up.
they reached the place where they left the cars late that afternoon and shortly after nine o’clock they drew up before the station house in bangor and turned the prisoners over to the chief of police.
“be mighty careful of that fellow,” the captain cautioned, pointing to the little man. “he’s one of the most wanted men in the country and as slippery as an eel. don’t let him get away.”
“we won’t loose him,” the policeman promised.
they found captain brice and jack waiting for them at the hotel.
“well, thanks to you boys, that job’s done,” captain jim declared as they were eating a late supper.
“but there’s one thing that isn’t done,” jack said. “i want to know how that cabin went up into thin air and what’s more i’m going to find out if it takes all summer.”
“it won’t take that long,” captain jim laughed. “as a matter of fact it will only take about two minutes.”
“then you’ve solved it?”
“bob has, or a part of it at least and i’m inclined to think the whole of it.” and he proceeded to tell them all about it.
“what do you know about that?” jack asked as soon as he had finished.
“mighty clever i call it,” captain brice declared. “and to think that we never suspected it.”
“only a man with slippery elm’s fertile brain would think up a thing like that,” captain jim said as he pushed back his chair.
“do you mean to say that you’ve caught slippery elm?” captain brice asked excitedly.
“sure thing,” captain jim replied.
“some catch, i’ll say,” and captain brice held out his hand. “congratulations.”
it was while they were at breakfast the following morning that captain jim was called to the telephone. he was gone for about ten minutes and when he returned his beaming face told that he had heard good news.
“that was slippery all right and the chief tells me that there is a reward of ten thousand dollars for him. that’ll be five thousand apiece for you boys.”
“not much it won’t,” jack burst out “you caught him.”
“but i’d never have done it if you boys hadn’t located him for me.”
“then we’ll split the reward four ways,” bob proposed.
to this plan the two captains objected declaring that the boys had earned the reward and it was not until both bob and jack absolutely refused to take a cent of it unless, they would agreed to do as bob had suggested that they gave in.
“but i don’t feel right about it so far as i’m concerned,” captain brice insisted. “i had nothing to do with his capture.”
“no, all you did was to risk your life chasing that other fellow,” captain jim said, and there they let the matter drop.
the next day captain brice and captain jim left in the former’s plane for washington.
“you boys may have to come down to washington as witnesses against those fellows,” captain jim told them as they shook hands, “but i hardly think it will be necessary.”
“what men!” bob declared as they drove the captain’s car back to the city.
“i’ll tell the world,” jack agreed.
as soon as they had returned the car to the garage the boys went back to the hotel and got their wheels.
they made the run to skowhegan in a little over two hours.
“well, what next?” mr. golden asked after they had given a full account of their adventures.
“who knows?” bob laughed as he helped himself to his third piece of apple pie.
