"You fellows have done a clever bit of detective work, and with reasonable luck it ought to be possible to bag the whole gang to-night,"

said Brandon. "I know where Hicks Bridge is. It's about five miles this side of Barberton, and an ideal place for an ambuscade. The road runs between high banks just before it gets to the bridge, and some of the gang posted on those banks could command the road from either direction.

But I'll get in communication with the chief of police of Barberton, and we'll see if we can't catch the thieves in their own trap."

"I suppose the two men you were expecting haven't arrived yet, have they?" inquired Bob.

"No. And I'm afraid we won't be able to wait for them, either," said Brandon. "I could radio to the Barberton chief, but I'm afraid the message might be intercepted by the crooks, if one of them happened to be listening. I guess it will be better to go by way of my automobile, although I hate to lose the time that it will take."

"Isn't there a telephone line from the camp?" suggested Joe.

"No, unfortunately, one hasn't been installed yet," replied the inspector. "But we can do the trick with the car if we start right away.

I suppose there's no need of asking if you fellows would like to come with me?"

"None whatever," answered Bob, grinning. "Just give us a chance to go in and s.n.a.t.c.h a little grub off the table, and we'll eat it on the way."

Frank Brandon nodded, and the three boys dashed into the mess hall and caught up anything in the way of eatables that came nearest to hand, Jimmy, of course, specializing on his favorite doughnuts. Then they hurried out, and found Mr. Brandon waiting for them, with the motor running. After a short search they found Herb fast asleep in his bunk, and roused him unceremoniously, hustling him out before he was fairly awake.

"What's it all about?" he questioned, rubbing his eyes. "Has the camp caught fire, or do you just want to borrow some money from me?"

"Never mind the funny business now, we'll tell you all about it while we're traveling," said Bob, as they reached the automobile. "In you go, Herb."

Before they could find seats Mr. Brandon had let in the clutch, and the car started with a jerk that landed them in a heap on the cushions.

Regardless of the rough road, he kept picking up speed, and soon it was all they could do to stay in the car at all. Barberton was about thirty miles from the camp, and to reach it they had to cross Hicks Bridge. All looked calm and peaceful just then, and it was hard to believe that in a few short hours a desperate fight might be raging between the high banks that flanked the road. The bridge was some two hundred feet long, and pa.s.sed over a deep cut between two hills. In spite of its present peaceful appearance it was easy to see that the place would be an ideal one to perpetrate such a crime as the robbers contemplated, and after they had pa.s.sed over the bridge Mr. Brandon opened the throttle wider in his impatience to reach Barberton.

They slowed down to go through the streets of the town, and as they drew up in front of the police station, Brandon shut off his motor and leaped to the sidewalk.

"Come on in, boys, and we'll tell the chief about the little party scheduled for this evening," he said, and the boys followed him into the police station.

Fortunately the chief of police, Mr. Durand, was in, and he greeted Mr.

Brandon with a heartiness that showed they were old friends.

After they had shaken hands, Brandon introduced the radio boys, and then proceeded to acquaint the chief with the details of the plot they had discovered. As Mr. Durand listened a dark frown gathered between his bushy eyebrows, and his fingers drummed angrily on the table before him.

When Mr. Brandon had finished, the chief jumped to his feet and strode fiercely up and down the room.

"This won't be the first trouble we've had with those rascals!" he exclaimed wrathfully. "Members of the same gang have held up and robbed stores in this town, and we have two of them doing their bit in jail right now. And if we have any luck to-night we'll have the whole gang under lock and key before the morning. These young fellows must have been right on the job from start to finish, Frank."

"Yes, I guess they were," replied Brandon. "If we land this gang, we'll have them to thank for it. But now what are your plans for capturing the crooks?"

For answer the chief pressed a b.u.t.ton, and a capable looking police lieutenant appeared.

"Get together ten of our best men," he directed, "and put them into two automobiles. When they are ready to start, report to me."

The lieutenant saluted, and left the room.

"According to the code message, the robbers won't be at Hicks Bridge much before eight o'clock, which is after dark these days," said the chief. "We'll get there a lot earlier than that, and I'll conceal my men in the woods. Then I'll leave orders here to stop the motor truck as it comes through, and replace its crew with a few picked men from my force.

When the robbers try to hold up that truck, they'll have a big surprise in store for them."

"It might be a good plan," suggested Bob, "to mount a searchlight or two on the motor truck. At the right minute you could turn these on the crooks, and while it would confuse them, it would give your men in the woods a big advantage, as they'd be able to see the hold-up men plainly without being seen themselves."

"Young man, that's a first-rate suggestion!" exclaimed the chief, eyeing him appraisingly, "and you can believe we'll take advantage of it. I'll commandeer a couple from the Electric Light Company in readiness to mount on the truck when it comes along. I wish we could persuade you and your friends to join the Barberton police force."

"We'll be pretty nearly a part of it until those crooks are captured, if you'll let us," said Bob. "We all want to be in at the finish."

"It will be a dangerous business, and bullets may fly thick," the chief warned him. "You fellows have done more than your full duty already, and we can hardly call on you to do any more."

"Just the same, we'll come along if you don't mind," insisted Bob.

"Oh, I'll be very glad to have you, as far as I'm concerned," said Mr.

Durand. "I suppose you'll want to be in on it, too, Frank?"

"You're dead right," Brandon a.s.sured him emphatically. "I've gone too far with this to want to drop out now."

At this point the lieutenant appeared and reported that the men were in the automobiles, ready to start. Picking up the telephone, the chief ordered his own car. He invited Mr. Brandon and the radio boys to ride with him.

"You can leave your car in the police garage, Frank," he said, and Brandon was not slow in availing himself of this offer. In a short time he returned, and the three automobiles started for the scene of the projected hold-up, the chief's car leading and the other two following close behind.

CHAPTER XXIV

LYING IN WAIT

"Doesn't look as though there's going to be much monotony in our young lives to-night," remarked Bob, as, tightly packed in the tonneau of the car, the boys rode on through the gathering darkness.

"For that matter there hasn't been much for several days past," chuckled Joe, who sat at his right. "A fellow would have to be a glutton to want more adventure than we've had since we came to Braxton Woods. What with Buck Looker and Black Donegan, we ought to be pretty well satisfied."

"I only hope Ca.s.sey will be in the gang that is rounded up to-night,"

observed Herb. "It would be too bad if only the rest were captured and that all-around scoundrel slipped through the meshes."

"I guess Ca.s.sey is the brains of the whole bunch," put in Jimmy.

"Probably the others didn't know anything about radio until he put them on to it. He'll be there all right. And he's likely to put up a pretty stiff fight before he lets himself be captured, for he knows what it means to him to be sent back to prison. With a new sentence tacked on to the old one it'll probably mean that he'll be in for life."

In a little while they reached the scene of the proposed robbery. They were well in advance of the time set by the plotters, and the chief took his time in carefully disposing his forces, availing himself of Frank Brandon's advice in doing this.

The bridge stretched between two hills at the bottom of which was a small stream, about a hundred feet below. On each side, almost down to the bridge itself, extended trees and shrubbery that afforded excellent hiding places. The only trouble was that both the outlaws and the officers who were trying to apprehend them were likely to seek the same shelter and might in this way stumble across each other before the trap was ready to be sprung.

This, however, was a contingency that had to be faced, and preparations were made accordingly. The men were placed at strategic points on both sides of the bridge. Whether the attempt at hold-up would be made at the entrance to the bridge or on the further side was a matter of speculation. The chief went on the theory, however, that it would probably take place at the entrance, and there he placed the majority of the men under him.

The radio boys hinted that there was where they would like to be also, but in this the chief was adamant.

"I've stretched a point in letting you young fire-eaters come along at all," he said. "As it is, I may have a hard time explaining to your parents. And I hate to think what my position would be if anything happened to you. So I am going to put you where I think you'll be comparatively out of danger. You're just to be lookers on at this shindig. And if the bullets begin to fly, you just lie flat on the ground behind the trees until they stop. It may not be so glorious, but it's likely to be a mighty sight more healthy."

So, much against their will, the boys were compelled to obey orders and take the place a.s.signed to them which was on the further side of the bridge.

"Putting us up in the gallery when we ought to have seats in the orchestra," grumbled Joe, as the boys ensconced themselves in a thicket behind a big clump of trees.

"Cheer up, you old gloom hound," chaffed Bob. "We may get in on this yet. At any rate, if we are in the gallery, we have a good view of the stage. Or at least we shall have, when the searchlight gets busy."