University of Virginia Library

CHAPTER XXIX.
THE MOTORCYCLE BOYS AT BAY.

A DOOR had swung open at the other end of the big room, and this allowed light to enter. The astonished boys discovered Colonel Pepper standing there, armed with a shotgun, and apparently very much in earnest; while his friend, the so-called "lawyer," Silas Goober, who was supposed to be back in Chattanooga at that particular moment, was hastily turning up the lamp which gave the light.

And even at such a thrilling moment Rod could not help noticing that the colonel looked angry and astounded, while the other man was only wearing a broad smile on his thin, contemptuous face, as though he had anticipated something like this disclosure all along.

It was a time that none of those boys would ever forget.

"Oh! now we're in for it!" Rooster was heard to mutter; and it was really something to wonder at that he could find his voice at all, for he was quaking like an aspen leaf, with nervous dread, not at all fancying the looks of that shotgun, or the enraged countenance of the man who carried the same.

"Caught you, did we, you young hounds?" gritted the colonel, finding his voice presently; and he stalked into the living-room as he spoke, his blazing eyes fastened on Elmer, whom he saw trying to conceal something in one of his inner pockets.

Rod managed to collect his wits. He was by long odds the coolest of the entire five. Why, he even smiled in the face of the colonel, as he stepped in front of Elmer, just as if to say that he meant to take the entire brunt of the affair on his young shoulders.

"Hold up your hands, every lasting one of you, spies that you are!" cried the colonel, who seemed to be getting more angry with every passing second; perhaps it was that aggravating look on the face of Rod; or else a sense of what seemed to be the perils that were gathering around him, caused this.

"Why, certainly we will do as you wish, Colonel Pepper," said Rod, leading the example himself by raising both hands above his head. "But I want

to say right now, that we're sorry this has happened. We hoped we might carry out our little plan here, and you be none the wiser for it. My friend, Elmer, realizes that it seems to be what he calls a serious breach of good manners, and hardly a thing to be expected in a Southern house; but necessity compelled him to act this way, sir, I give you my word for it. We can explain everything to you."

"Indeed, we can, Colonel Pepper, and I'll be only too glad to do so, if you let me try," added Elmer, warmly, as he buttoned his coat, after having deposited the precious packet therein.

At that Colonel Pepper, true to his name, said some pretty warm things; while the other man laughed in a cold-blooded way.

"Sounds pretty fine, don't it, Kunnel," the latter went on to remark, in his usual sneering fashion; "to hear 'em talking about explaining things, when the plain fact remains that they came here to spy on you, and learn what they could, to use against you later on. Right now they're huntin' evidence, else why would they go to all the trouble to raise that big stone the way they have. Don't you believe one word they say, Kunnel."

"I won't, you can just wager on that!" growled the man who held the gun, waving his weapon back and forth along the line of five motorcycle boys; so that every time it seemed to aim at Rooster that individual tried to edge toward the shelter of a large

easy-chair close by, as if hoping to hide himself back of the same.

"Listen to me," said Rod, believing that since discovery had come it was best to take the bull by the horns; "and what I'm going to tell you, Colonel Pepper, is the absolute truth, nothing less. Elmer's grandfather went out of his mind before they sold this place, and traveled north to Ohio. You already know that, because I heard you ask him how the old man was these days. Well, before that happened, he had hidden some valuable papers away, and was never able to tell just where, so that all these years the family have searched for the same in vain.

"Now, it happened that Elmer heard him talking in his sleep one night, and saying something about 'papers under a big stone.' And when he got to thinking it over, he came to the conclusion that it might mean the old man had hidden them under the hearth-stone he remembered so well in front of the big fire-place in this room.

"We backed him up in it when he declared his belief in that idea, and expressed a great desire to come down here, revisit his old home, and find out if there was any truth in that theory. And sir, we have come here with that plan in view; that, and nothing more. It is true that we felt a little queer about accepting your hospitality, and then apparently abusing the same; but we reasoned that as the papers

-- if there were any, belonged only to the Overton family, and could not be made use of by any one else, we were justified in not bothering you with the story until we had proved it, one way or the other. And that is what we were doing when, unfortunately, you surprised us."

Colonel Pepper seemed to be almost gasping for breath. He turned and looked toward his shadow, as though asking him what he thought of the strange occurrence.

The keen eyes of the so-called lawyer glittered even more than ever. He must have guessed that what Rod had said was the unvarnished truth. After all, these boys from the north had not come there to spy upon the colonel, in the interest of any revenue men; but to carry out what they looked upon as a solemn duty toward one of their number.

But while fear may have taken flight in the mind of Silas Goober, something else occupied its place now, and this was cupidity.

He saw a sudden splendid opportunity whereby Colonel Pepper, and incidentally that would mean himself in the bargain, since they were partners in all things, might gain possession of a large amount of wealth. Why should the colonel not demand that these valuable documents be handed over to him, since he had purchased the property, and all that it contained, from the Overtons. Possession was nine points of the law, and once the securities came into

his hands, the colonel could defend his title with all the knavery possible under the statutes of the state of Tennessee.

"This is a strange story he's telling you, Kunnel," he hastened to say; "and if I was you, I'd make him show what he's got. If so be there did happen to be any valuables under that same stone, they surely belong to you, as everything connected with this house does. And you'll be a nice fool if you let these kids get away with your property, see?"

This of course aroused the cupidity of the colonel. Up to that time he had been only furious because he believed the boys were spies in the employ of parties who wanted him watched, and possibly some evidence of crookedness discovered about the premises; but now a love of gain made him fall in with the idea suggested so craftily by his companion.

He turned upon Elmer, advancing a pace toward the boy, as he thundered out:

"I saw you hiding something in your pocket a minute ago, you young thief! Just produce my property, I tell you, or it'll surely go hard with you. A man has the right to defend his house against thieves, even to the extent of using fire-arms. Whatever was under that stone belongs to me, and I'm bound to take it away from any guest under my roof that tries to appropriate the same. That's the law, which'll back me up in forcing you to hand over what you found here."

"But it's the personal property of my grand-father; and now belongs to my mother, since he has been declared incompetent to manage his affairs," urged Elmer, defiantly, as he looked the angry man full in the face.

Perhaps the knowledge that they had friends close by, who were ready to fly to their assistance if called upon, gave Elmer more or less confidence just then; although had things looked even more gloomy than they did, he was not the one to display the white feather.

"I tell you, I bought everything that was on this place when I gave good money for the same!" bellowed the aroused colonel, greedy to lay hands on the treasure-trove that had all these years been within his reach and he none the wiser for the fact.

"You couldn't buy these documents, because they were never for sale; and I defy you to test your so-called rights in court. I took advice of a lawyer before I came down here, and he told me your case would be laughed out of court, if ever you sued to recover possession of securities that you had never seen or heard of, and which belonged to another man, just because they had been hidden on your land."

The colonel gave a disagreeable laugh at hearing the boy say this; but his face took on a harsher look than ever. Rod realized that there was trouble coming. He understood that the very instant he heard Silas Goober advise his friend he ought never

allow those precious papers to be taken away, and that they belonged to the one who had purchased the property, not the family of the man who had secreted them under the stone.

Of course, the boys who had been holding the stone had lowered it again when gruffly ordered to hold up their hands; so that they now had their arms at liberty. This might count for something, should these two desperate men attempt to bully the five half-grown lads. And then, there were the two stout hickory staves with which the stone had been so successfully pried up -- these were apt to serve admirably in the place of cudgels, should it become necessary for Rod and his chums to defend themselves.

At the same time, Rod knew he ought to be giving that signal whistle agreed upon between the lanky moonshiner, Si Keck, and himself. If ever the motorcycle boys were in dire need of assistance, it was right then and there, when the furious owner of the house had them covered with his gun, and was announcing his intention of forcibly taking the papers, found by Elmer, away from him.

He hesitated no longer, but pursing up his lips, allowed a shrill whistle to peal forth. Not content with one attempt the boy immediately repeated it; and was only kept from continuing the effort by hearing an answering signal from without.

Si Keck, then, was there, and had heard; he would be quick to show up, and keep that solemn

promise given to his boy friends, who had been able, through a fortunate circumstance, to do so much for him and his.

But of course the fact of Rod whistling in this manner told the two men that he was communicating with friends without. It served to add to their fury; and hesitating no longer they sprang toward Rod and his chums, undoubtedly meaning to use brute force in forcing Elmer into giving up what valuable papers he had found.

Rod instantly darted forward, and secured one of the stout hickory canes. It was settled in his mind that he would first of all turn his attention toward the crafty Silas Goober, for he believed that only for him they might have managed to patch up some kind of peace with the colonel, who was not such a bad sort of a fellow, even if he did have a temper that went with his name.

And immediately it seemed as though Bedlam had broken loose in that living-room.