It lay two or three feet this side of the bear.

"I see it," cried Jerry. "Here, take the candle."

Then, by a swift and clever dash, he captured the weapon and retreated a few paces. He hesitated only long enough to pull back the hammer.

Springing forward again, he fearlessly pressed the muzzle of the rifle against the bear's head, and pulled the trigger.

A frightful report followed. The whole cavern seemed to shake. Flakes of stone and dirt fell from the roof and walls. The boys were dazed and deafened by the sound. The candle was extinguished, and by the time Jerry struck a match and relit it, the powder smoke had lifted.

The bear lay motionless on his back. Sparwick was crawling toward the lads on hands and knees. He stopped, and sat up against the wall of the cavern. His face was deathly pale, and a wheezy, gasping sound came from his lips.

Jerry first satisfied himself that the bear was dead. Then he turned to his former enemy.

"Are you hurt badly?" he asked.

"I reckon not," replied Sparwick, with a painful effort. "I was purty well squeezed, but I'm gettin' my breath back now. The critter hit me a lick here, but it ain't no account."

He pointed to his left shoulder, from which the coat and shirt had been partially torn away.

"I gave you up for dead," said Jerry. "It was a close shave."

"Close ain't no word for it," declared Sparwick. "You saved my life, young feller, an' I ain't the man to furget it. Words ain't much in my line, or I might say I was sorry for certain things. Howsomever, here's what I took from that pardner of your'n."

He produced the watch and pocketbook, and handed them to the boys.

"Yes; they're Brick's," said Jerry. "But didn't you see anything of him yourself? He started after you this morning with two men. Hamp and I followed a couple of hours later. Somehow or other we lost their tracks, and got onto yours."

"Yes; I seen them all," replied Sparwick, in a peculiar tone. "Your pardner is in a bad way."

"What do you mean?" cried Hamp and Jerry, in one breath.

Sparwick hesitated an instant to get his wind. Then he related, just as the reader already knows it, the a.s.sault on Brick, and the lad's subsequent abduction.

"How I come ter see it was this way," he explained, in conclusion. "I traveled purty fast arter leavin' the Mallowgash, and when I reached that clearing back yonder, I was nearly done out. So I dropped down in the timber an' bushes for a rest. I hadn't been there more'n half an hour when the two men an' the lad come along. Then happened what I just finished tellin' you. The affair was none of my business, and I couldn't a-helped the young fellow any if I'd wanted to. I struck back in this direction, an' first thing I knowed, I broke through the crust, an'

found myself under ground. I was huntin' the way out when you fellers tumbled in."

The effect of Sparwick's story upon Jerry and Hamp may be better imagined than described.

"I thought there was something wrong with those men," exclaimed Hamp, wrathfully. "They've been d.o.g.g.i.ng us ever since we came into the woods."

"But why did they carry Brick off with them after they had all his money?" asked Jerry. "That's the strange part of the affair."

"It beats me, too," admitted Sparwick. "They had his money, sure enough, fur I seen them countin' it over. Mebbe they took him along for their own safety, an' mebbe there's a worse reason----"

"You don't think they would kill him?" interrupted Jerry, quickly.

Sparwick looked grave.

"No; I wouldn't like to say that," he replied. "But them fellers are bad men, an' there's no tellin' what they might do."

"You know them?" asked Hamp, in surprise.

"Yes; this many a year. But I wanter hear this whole yarn afore I kin give any opinion."

Accordingly, Jerry and Hamp related what little there was to tell.

Brick's abduction threw light on some things that had been mysteries before. It was Jerry's keen wit that identified Joe Bogle with the missionary on the train. Sparwick took the same view of the matter.

"Yes," he admitted, "I reckon Bogle is the party that tried to rob your friend at Bangor that night. Knowin' the lad had money, he an' Raikes planned to follow you chaps into the woods. As I said before, I know the men well. Bogle and Raikes ain't their right names, for they have a heap of others. But we'll call 'em that for the present."

Brick's abduction was discussed for half an hour longer, but neither Sparwick nor the boys could hit upon a plausible solution.

"Can't we get out of this place and follow the rascals?" suggested Jerry. "There are three of us, and we have plenty of arms and ammunition."

"If we do, we've got to hurry," declared Hamp. "They've got a big start on us."

"Look here," exclaimed Sparwick. "You say this lad has a rich father in New York?"

"Yes," replied Jerry.

"And the old man would likely fork over handsome if I was to get his son out of a tight place?"

"I suppose he would," Jerry answered. "If we get all that money back, I'm sure Brick will give you a big reward himself."

"Well, I'll do my best," declared Sparwick, with sudden energy. "I ain't much on the fight, but I'm purty good on strategy. And that's how we'll tackle these fellows. I have an idea where they'll strike for. If you lads say the word, I'll lead you right to the spot."

CHAPTER XXIII.

BACK TO FREEDOM.

It is needless to say that Hamp and Jerry accepted Kyle Sparwick's offer with ill-concealed eagerness. That it was prompted solely by greed made no difference to them under the circ.u.mstances.

They felt that Brick must be rescued at any cost.

Sparwick bound the boys by a solemn agreement to do all in their power to procure for him a reward of five hundred dollars. They were staggered by the munificence of the sum, but they did not dispute it. Sparwick claimed the contents of the pocketbook as part payment in advance. He allowed Jerry to take possession of the watch.

The affair was settled without delay, and then they turned their attention to getting out of the cavern.

They regarded this as an easy matter, but a few minutes sufficed to show them that they were in a very ugly fix.

They first explored the pa.s.sage beyond the dead bear. It terminated thirty feet distant in a hard wall of rock. Then they investigated the other end of the cavern with much the same results. It dwindled to a tiny crevice, through which a weasel could hardly have squirmed.

"It looks ugly," muttered Sparwick, scratching his head. "The bear must a-had some way to get in. He never dropped ten feet through that hole."

This was sound logic, as the boys well knew. Hamp suggested another search. Accordingly the cavern was gone over with extra care and patience.