Read Ebook: The Ranger Boys and Their Reward by LaBelle Claude A

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Ebook has 1349 lines and 121329 words, and 27 pages

"All right; see how quick we can get packed up. Also, I wish one of you boys would pack up for me; some of my stuff is scattered around the shack; and be sure and pack the radio carefully. I had it out overhauling it this morning. I want to arrange about leaving, and see Art Howells, the new manager, and tell him to try and get some trace of Sandy before we go."

The mention of Sandy brought sadness to the boys. He was a big Airedale that they all loved, and had been stolen or wandered away a short time after they had reached the logging camp.

Away went the chums to pack, and Garry sought out Howells. The new manager assured Garry that he would do his best to find some track of the dog.

Howells also sent a man to get Mr. Boone, who was still at the camp helping reorganize the men after the trouble of the preceding days. When Garry returned to the office, he found his chums, awaiting him. They had packed in a hurry, for Dick was still stuffing down the contents of his knapsack as Garry entered the shack.

"We'll be all set in a few minutes," declared Dick. "Have you sent for Dad Boone, Garry?"

"Yes, he'll be here in a few minutes; he is only at the sawmill. Sure you have everything packed? Haven't you forgotten anything?" asked Garry.

"Everything is as right as a trivet," answered Phil. "Wonder if we can get the old Ford that was brought here yesterday to ride into town on; it will save us a long hike and will get us there quicker."

"Guess we can have it all right; we'll see as soon as Father comes," answered Garry.

At this moment Mr. Boone entered the office, and noticing the excited air of the boys, and the packed knapsacks, asked in some surprise if they were not in an awful hurry to get back to work.

It took only a few hasty words to acquaint him with the new situation that had just arisen, and as Garry concluded the explanation he asked for the use of the old auto to carry them to town.

This request was readily granted by Mr. Boone, and he wished the boys good luck on their venture.

"I had hoped that you would go back to the mountain for the rest of the summer," he said, "where there is some peace and quietness. It seems that you have stepped into trouble at almost every turn, and there is only one thing that I worry about. That is LeBlanc. He is a most vindictive rascal, and I will not feel confident of your security until you are off to school this fall or until he is safely under lock and key in some prison, where he belongs. I hope you boys have no wild times on this, yet I would be the last one to ask you to shirk your duty; and since the Chief Ranger has such a high regard for you, who are yet boys, to send you on such an errand, I can only say I'm proud that you have done so well, and deserve all the praise that can be accorded to you. Also, I wish that you would postpone your departure for a few minutes, as I want to write a note to Nate Webster for you to mail when you get to Bangor. It will go quicker then, for the train that you will take this afternoon does not carry mail."

Naturally they agreed to this, and went outside while Mr. Boone wrote his note. In some way it had been noised about the camp that the boys were to leave, and soon several of the men had gathered in front of the office. Mr. Boone finished his letter, and gave it to Garry and they got into the flivver. The man called Tom, who had taken them on the coon hunt some nights before, started several times to speak, and then decided not to.

Just as they were about to start, Garry called to Art Howells to be sure and keep an eye out for news of Sandy's fate. There was a gulp in his throat as he said this. His chums, too, were silent, for they missed their faithful, four-footed friend sorely.

This evidently decided Tom, for he came to the flivver, and said to Garry:

"If you can get me time off enough to go to town with you, I promise you that you will have your dog a half an hour after we reach there!"

BAD NEWS IN HOBART

On hearing this, the boys gave a shout of joy, and in a minute had arranged for Tom to come with them as far as town.

With the cheers of the lumberjacks sounding in their ears, and with a wave of Mr. Boone and Art Howells, the boys were off. The flivver coughed, and gathering speed, rattled down the bumpy road.

As soon as they had started, they hurled a number of questions at Tom about Sandy.

"I wasn't goin' to say anything about the dog, because you fellows might take it out on us. My brother came to see me in camp the day after the coon hunt, and stayed around for awhile and made half sort of friends with the dog, and then later he was gone. I found out that he had taken him with him. 'Course I know it was stealing, but he was my brother and I was afraid he would get into bad trouble. You fellows know how I felt. First place I was ashamed to tell you I had a brother that would do that, and second place I was afraid you'd have him taken up for it. But I was going to see that you got him back somehow. When you got ready to go today, I knew how you felt about the pup, and so I couldn't hold in any longer. All I wish is that you won't have anything done to my brother, bad as he is."

The boys were so overjoyed with the thought of regaining Sandy that they immediately promised Tom that the matter would be forgotten.

Speeding up the machine as soon as they struck better road, they made excellent time and reached the village ahead of their schedule. They went direct to the station to get their tickets, while Tom departed for his brother's house to bring Sandy to them. After buying their tickets, they were on tenterhooks waiting the return of their animal friend.

True to his word, Tom was at the station in half an hour. But Sandy beat him by several seconds, for no sooner did he get his first sight of the boys than he broke from the leash by which Tom was leading him and made a mad dash for the chums. He nearly knocked Garry over as he leaped on him, then he jumped from one boy to another in frantic glee, giving vent to sharp barks of delight as the boys mauled him in their joy at seeing him again.

"Sorry we'll have to put you in the baggage car on the trip, old timer," said Garry, "but the railroads have a rule against big fellows like you being in the car."

At last the train came in and they were on their way. Sandy voiced unqualified disapproval at being tied up in the crowded baggage car, and occasionally one or another of the boys went ahead and petted him a few minutes.

The train was a slow one, and it was nearly eight o'clock when they reached the Penobscot River city. For once they were quite ready to follow Dick's lead and get "eats," then they went to the hotel and reserved rooms. They found that their train was to leave fairly early in the morning, but as not one of them was tired, they took a walk down through the business center of the town.

As they passed a brightly lighted drug store, Dick noticed something in the window.

"There, I knew there was something we ought to have had on our other trips," he announced to the others.

"Hold him, Phil, he's going to buy something again. Remember how he wouldn't go on without that knife last time he was here?" said Garry.

"Gosh, that reminds me I left that knife in the cabin at the little lake," he ejaculated. "I wonder if that chap is still around here selling 'em?"

"Hardly; he was just one of those sidewalk merchants that are here today and gone tomorrow" answered Garry. "But what is it that you want to buy now?"

"Look at that display in the window, and see if you don't think we ought to have an outfit" answered Dick as he waved his hand toward the indicated window.

"Well, for once you see something sensible. We might have a lot of use for them the remainder of the summer, and it will give us some nice souvenirs."

What Dick had seen was a display of cameras, and followed by his chums he entered the store and soon had purchased a good camera and a sufficient quantity of films to take a number of pictures. As an afterthought, he bought material to develop a limited amount of the pictures, explaining that they might be able to print some in spare moments.

"Go ahead and buy whatever you want," laughed Garry, "only remember that this stuff all goes in your pack, and you will have to carry the extra weight."

This, however, failed to bother Dick, and he bought such articles as he needed.

They were about to return to the hotel, when Garry noticed a policeman coming down the street. This called to mind the night they had been near arrest and had received the torn map that eventually led them to the secret tourmaline mine.

"Let's drop around to the station and see if the Chief of Police might be in. I'd like to say howdy to him, even if he once did have an idea that we were a crew of runaways," he suggested to his companions.

The idea was instantly approved, and they changed their direction and headed for the station. They were just in time, for the Chief was preparing to leave for home. He recognized the boys immediately and invited them into his office for a chat. The few minutes lengthened into an hour, for the Chief made them tell him about the smuggling band and how they had aided in the capture.

"I happen to know something about it, for some of them were brought here for a hearing before the United States Commissioner, and I attended the hearing. It's natural in you boys, I suppose, to be modest about it, but I wish that I had a son, or three of them like you, that could get out and do such a creditable bit of work as you did. If you ever want a job, apply to me," he concluded with a laugh in which the boys joined.

The visit over, they hustled back to the hotel and to sleep, as they were booked for early rising.

A sharp tatoo on the door awoke them in the morning, and they hurried into their clothes, for they had no more than time to eat and get to the station.

Aboard the train they chose seats, as was their custom, in the smoking car, not that any of the trio was addicted to smoking, but because they generally found several interesting characters to watch, and this happened to pass away the time.

Then, too, on one occasion, they had obtained a valuable clue that aided them greatly in the successful carrying out of the mission they had been sent on, and on their first trip they had made the acquaintance of Nate Webster in the smoker of a train.

They found facing seats and stowed their packs and rifles in the racks overhead, and settled down for the weary ride that would take them to Hobart. As was usual in this train, there were a number of picturesque characters: lumberjacks going north to the woods, guides returning after taking parties on camping trips, or going to meet parties that were awaiting them along the way, French Canadians bound for towns on the other side of the border, and several men who were evidently bound on an extended fishing trip, to judge from the paraphernalia they carried with them. The boys were just a little bit amused at the amount of luggage that they carried. It was piled at one end of the car, and from the looks of it would have required the services of at least three porters to carry for them. This, by the way, is the mistake made by the average camper, unless someone wise in the ways of the woods gives them a friendly tip and tells them to travel light.

Each of the boys always made shift to travel with only one knapsack each and everything that was not absolutely necessary was discarded. As it was, their packs were quite heavy, for they had their carrying sets of the wireless 'phone; but these were fairly light, since they had been specially made for the Rangers by Mr. Graham.

Garry and Dick amused themselves by playing checkers on a small pocket board that was their constant companion, while Phil wandered through the car stopping to watch several of the card games that were in progress and listening to the conversation. As our previous readers know, Phil could talk French as well as he could English, but this was an accomplishment that the trio kept a strict secret, since it enabled them at times to get valuable information. Naturally a great deal of this language was spoken in this section of the country, and more so as they approached the border and other men got aboard.

Phil's trip was fruitless as far as getting any information was concerned, for all the men were talking only of the most trivial subjects.

"What luck?" asked Garry, when Phil finally returned to his seat.

"Nothing at all. There is no one on the train that I remember having seen when we were here before, and everyone seems to be all right. It is unlikely that I should have found out anything about the postal trouble, for there is probably some single person at the bottom of that, rather than a band such as that of the smugglers that we ran down last time," said Phil. "But there is one thing that I thought of as I walked through the cars. We will be only a short hike away from our mine when we get to Hobart, and I wonder if we wouldn't have time to make a little visit there and see that no one else has stumbled on the secret. I wish I could pick about twenty of the best tourmalines, for the money they would bring would be mighty welcome."

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