Ty was waiting, and the way he slipped that loop over both hands, and tightened it, was worth seeing.

Having made all secure so far as things had gone, the patrol leader now seized hold of the kicking legs, and began to pull. As the others came to his a.s.sistance they were hardly two seconds in dragging the tramp out of the hay mow; and thus far at least not the slightest sound had been made calculated to betray the facts to the other rascal.

It was not Elmer's intention to let the fellow see, just yet, at least, that he owed his capture to a parcel of scouts. He might burst out into a tirade, which, while it could do him no particular good, might serve to warn the other fellow, and cause him to change his plans.

Accordingly he motioned to Landy to sit down on him again; and then bending low himself he pressed the end of his pocketknife against the man's neck as he grunted into his ear:

"Keep still, now, unless you want me to press the trigger!"

Satisfied that Landy and Ted could manage the tied tramp, even if he started to kick up a row, which was hardly likely, Elmer once more turned his attention to that opening under the mow. Once again the projecting hay was being violently agitated, and he believed the shorter man must be following close upon his mate.

The programme would have to be repeated, and Elmer only hoped as good success might attend his second effort as had his first.

It would be a big feather in the caps of the scouts could they say that they had effected the capture of the two would-be train wreckers, alone and unaided. But at the moment he was not thinking of such a thing as glory; when it was a stern duty that had been suddenly thrust upon them, and which they must not attempt to evade under any circ.u.mstances, if they wished to be true to the principles of the organization to which they belonged.

Shorty, however, must have managed to change his position in some manner, if so be he had started along the tunnel in the same crab-like method of procedure which his comrade had employed. For the first thing they knew a frowsy head had been thrust out of the hay, and a pair of eyes were blinking up at them.

Elmer was afraid lest the fellow draw back upon seeing what awaited him, just as a tortoise will pull in its head at signs of danger.

Accordingly, he was determined not to allow such a thing to happen.

True, with the advancing fire Shorty would speedily have to decide which fate he must choose; but that might mean he would yield himself a prisoner to the Fairfield police; and Elmer wanted the Boy Scouts to get all the credit possible.

On this account, then, he pounced on the man, and gripped him by the shoulders. Elmer was himself far from a weakling, and the man happened to be taken very much by surprise; so that before he could collect his wits sufficiently to make any show of defense, he found himself out on the ground, with a couple of energetic young fellows hovering over him.

Ty, not having a second rope handy, had s.n.a.t.c.hed up his club again. When he saw that the shorter rascal was starting to make a move, as though intending to get to his feet, when trouble must have followed, Ty waved the wagon spoke threateningly over his head, as he yelled excitedly:

"Lie down, you, 'less you want me to let her fall! Stretch out and roll over on your face, d'ye hear? Quick, now, keep amovin'! 'Everybody's doin' it,' you know. Now, Elmer, if you only had another piece of string handy, there's a good chance to snug him up good and tight."

Elmer did not have the cord or the rope; but all the same he was equal to the demands of the occasion. He s.n.a.t.c.hed his big red bandana handkerchief from around his neck. He had seen such useful articles serve strange purposes before; and why should this one not take the place of a rope?

So he whipped it quickly around the thick wrists of the man, almost before the fellow could get it through his head what had happened.

"Now, let's pull them farther away from here, because the barn's going to be a hot place pretty soon," Elmer remarked.

Seizing hold, two to each prisoner, the boys succeeded in dragging them some little distance off. Meanwhile some one had noticed what they were doing, and presently the Fairfield Police head came running out of the barn, rubbing his smarting eyes, and, coming upon the little party, stopped to stare in astonishment.

CHAPTER XVI.

GOOD-BY TO THE SWEEt.w.a.tER.

"WHAT are you doing to those fellows, boys?" demanded the champion of law and order; from which remark it was plain to be seen that the smoke had affected the eyes of the police officer to such an extent that he had failed to recognize the culprits, and possibly believed the boys were only carrying on high among themselves, as boys over in his town frequently did, to the unhappiness of the constables.

"We just took a notion to prevent them from escaping, sir," remarked Elmer. "And if you think you can hold them, we're willing to turn them over into your charge, in the presence of Mr. Brady here and the others."

A group began to cl.u.s.ter around them, most of the men rubbing their smarting eyes. Already did they realize the uselessness of trying to put up a fight against the flames that were spreading resistlessly amid the hay.

"Well, I declare if it ain't the two hands that worked for me, and then tried to rob my house, setting it on fire as they ran away!" declared Mr. Brady, as he got a good look at the prostrate men.

"Do you mean to say these are the fugitives I have been chasing, the desperate yeggmen named Shorty McCabe and Lanky Jim Smith?" cried the police head.

"That's just who they are, sir," replied Elmer.

"But where did you find them?" demanded the other, hardly willing to believe the plain evidence of his eyes and ears.

"As soon as I knew they had set fire to the hay I guessed it was only meant to draw attention to that quarter while they slipped away. I've seen that game played more than once out West, sir," Elmer remarked, modestly.

"And it was a fact, was it; they did try to steal off?" questioned the other.

"We found a place where there was a board off the barn, and Elmer, he expected that was the way they'd come out," said Ty, breaking in; for he just wanted this consequential personage to understand that he did not know so very much after all, in spite of his splendid uniform and that wonderful strut.

"Which same they did, all right," spoke up Landy, "and then, you see, we just sat on 'em. Reckon the long feller must 'a' thought a mountain had caved in when I dropped on his back."

"Will you take charge of the prisoners, Mr. Benchley?" asked Elmer.

"That's what we're here for, young fellow; though, as a rule we don't much fancy boys interfering with the pursuit of justice," answered the other, who did not look any too happy over the way things had turned out.

Elmer, on his part, was fully satisfied Mr. Brady and a number of the others had crowded around, astonished at the turn matters had taken, and staring at the two prisoners. They would be in a position to prove, should it be necessary at any time in the future, that the scouts had indeed effected the capture of the hunted train wreckers, without any a.s.sistance from the police.

And as for Shorty and Lanky Jim, it would not be polite to tell what they thought and said when they discovered that their captors were merely four half-grown boys. Perhaps on first seeing the khaki trousers and leggings of the scouts they may have labored under the impression that the militia had been called out to ran them down; and this would account for the meekness shown all along.

The barn was now in the grasp of the fire. They could see the billows of flame leaping upward; and a dense black smoke began to rise.

"This is tough luck, Mr. Brady," said Landy, after the officers had fastened some shining steel ornaments to the wrists of their prisoners, and led them over to the waiting car. "After saving your house by a close shave, it's hard to have your barn and hay go up in smoke."

But the farmer did not seem to be very deeply concerned.

"Barn's insured; and it's an old one at that," he remarked, with a half smile; "and as luck would have it, I sold all the hay in there just last week, for cash! The man who bought it took out insurance, I believe. But you boys have certainly covered yourselves with a lot of glory this morning. First, saving my house, and then capturing those tough characters. I consider that I'm getting off mighty cheap. Hope some of you fellows will take a notion to camp up this way more times than a few. It pays to have Boy Scouts around. That's been my experience, anyhow."

"Well, how about milk, Mr. Brady?" asked Elmer.

"We brought that tin bucket along, but it's mixed up with all the rest now. Suppose we could get one of your women folks to go to the milk house with all this excitement on?"

"Why, any one of 'em would be only too proud to do such a little thing for the brave boys who worked so hard to save a roof over their heads.

And don't think, young fellow," the farmer added, turning on the confused Ty, suddenly, "that we don't appreciate what you did, just because it turned out to be a pup instead of a baby. That was as bold a thing as ever I saw done. If I had any boys about your age, I'd make sure that they joined the scout movement before they were a week older.

Seems like it cultivates the best there is in a lad."

All of the boys glowed with pleasure at hearing these hearty words.

"Thank you, Mr. Brady," said Elmer. "It sure is a satisfaction to know that you look at things that way. And we feel repaid for all we've done, don't we, boys?"

"It's only been a pleasure to play c.o.o.n for you, Mr. Brady," grinned Landy.

"And I'm glad it was only a dog instead of a real baby," declared Ty, stoutly; "'cause, you see, something might have happened to hitch my plans, and think what a terrible thing would have happened then."

"Come with me, boys, and I'll see that you get milk; yes, cream if you'd prefer it. It's lucky that those haystacks happen to be as far off as they are, and the wind is blowing away from them; because, you see, I kept that part of the crop. Intended making a lot of repairs to the barn after it was empty. Now I'll take the insurance money, add some more to it, and build me a better place three times over."