Show flame FIA in IF the voe forest t CHAPTER X XIII III Contin continued Lied 14 ile took up the t h e tumbler removed his hat from the bos box and slid the inverted glass over the small opening in the top then he sat down to wait ill hll I 1 all loaded up eh ell the bee had appeared in the glass crawling about the interior intently seeking escape calef carefully ulay young tipped the tumbler to its side the insect con linued its investigation for a moment a and nd then finding the way to freedom poised an instant on the rim and took hasty wing As the bee launched itself kerry stood erect and tense eyes on the swiftly moving dot against the pale sky out it went in a great circle and lack back again skimming over the box wider it circled and higher again and again it swooped above its newly dis covered source of treasure widening the circle each time and young s body moved as he followed the course coure then with a final swoop the bee straightened out bearing a bit east of north and disappeared behind a hemlock stub there therel 1 he said and looked down at the bewildered dog the way it works tip and that s our job for the sabbath Sabba at his word tip sneezed and young laughed heartily he lies S taking the bacon home chum I 1 lie ile gave the box all those swings so fie hell 11 know where to come for more of what he found oh ob yes he hell 11 be F back hell fight wind and distance and anything but rain or cold to boet here liere so longs there s a drop left and he hell 11 tell his buddies about it too more bees appeared on the firewood but kerry gave them no heed he smoked and stood over his box waiting through a long half hour and then a louder buzzing a more intent sound came out of the silence and a bee zoomed over the box lighted on the cover and disappeared within and his gan gangi 1 the man cried in triumph his gang tip I 1 see two more three four seven singly and in braces they dropped to the box sought the hole and up ending went through it out of sight when no more appeared young placed his hat gently over the hole picked up the box and stepping care fully over the tangle of down stuff so as not to fall and invite temporary disaster made his way to the foot of the stub where the first bee homeward bound had disappeared reaching there he placed the box on a stump removed his hat slid the upended tumbler over the hole and squatted almost immediately bees appeared inside the glass he let three show before liberating them and then with bated breath followed their cir clings until they had straightened out and marked a poplar tree five rods away as the last certain point on their course not so good tip he muttered took that first feller a half hour to go and come maybe it its s a big tree if so he may have a lot of crawling around to do to get rid of his cargo but even so it its s a long ways off they 11 do a mile in five minutes in country and weather like this timbers not so far from here they wont won t fly so fast in there as the they y will in this burning and we ne won wont t be able to see so tar far either III atell ell its I 1 lie I 1 e leapfrog leap frog come on chum lets let s drag the duffle up I 1 again nearly a half hour passe passed d but this time the first contingent br brought ought more helpers and when he moved the box forward to the base of the poplar tree a handful of bees were trapped there and when the last had gone he replenished the supply of honey which served as bait from his bottle that was a few minutes after eight just at the time when nat bridger drawn and gray of face hammered loudly on tod west s door west answered sleepily from above and after a short interval appeared ills greeting which began with something of his old geniality petered out to a crisp what the devils cupl up enough I 1 I 1 been bryin to get you for three hours by phone but either you slept like hell or what s up I 1 asked you jaw quivering well young made a get away must ve had help froin from outside looks I 1 ke lie ile s gone for a moment the room was silent and then came a hollow rattle tod bests teeth clicking as a spasm of fear shook his great frame you poor sap I 1 he rasped you poor simple bridger protested and west stormed and explanations excuses regrets mingled with condemnations I 1 ve done all I 1 can I 1 ve notified every sheriff for two vao hundred miles ile went ease east took my car and droe a tire flat nd rid left it chances are though hes to hellan bellan gonel on this something some like relief flick ered in west s eyes but it was of short duration this young was not the sort of man who flees in the face of as flimsy a charge as had been placed against him he ile had hoped at the most to keep kerry in safe confine ment went until bridger and the prosecutor could perfect a case against holt stuart which would forever remove from his own breast those cancerous tears fears but now gone eh he muttered well you ve been made a moni ey of by him how 11 folks think of that wl en tl ti ey go to vote for sheriff again I 1 tell you bridger you got just one chance that s to start tt if iu in vin against stuart and rot let em st pl p I 1 im in irvin trvin hint I 1 but what by harold titus illustrations by irwin myers copyright by harold titus service can I 1 do when ezras ezra s on the evidence I 1 ve got lines out to locate but its it s ezra who 11 gum up the works I 1 then you better use what you call your mind nd drum up so methin to make ezra string along with youl you but the laws law s with the coroner I 1 I 1 to hell with the law they argued aimlessly at length and when bridger was gone T tod od west paced the room and that fine beading of sweat pricked out on his forehead again he ile felt caged trapped and yet he could touch no bars discern no snare or dead fall immediately about him still with this laughing tool fool of a young on the loose damn I 1 I 1 he snarled damn damn everything and whirled sharply he thought from somewhere he had heard that ringing taunting vind vindictive lethe laughter again I 1 0 jim hinkle was on his way out to ward shoestring again before mid forenoon he yawned as he drove and his eyes were ere inflamed but he drove one of nans nan s cars rapidly into town and turned eastward and made better time on the highway he went vent into the third town before he stopped at a telegraph office and thrust across the counter the message that ezra adams had entrusted to him state police headquarters the op aerator read aloud and then mumbled the rest CHAPTER XIV it was sundown now with a cool mantle of evening descending on the forest tough luck chum I 1 kerry muttered to tip as he finally gave up hope and turned away from his bee box they ve called it a day but we can cant t be far off now and unless it rains tomorrow he looked anxiously upward clouds were riding up from the west the air felt soft if rain held tomorrow he would be put to the ordeal of keep ing out of sight and accomplishing nothing not a nice prospect may have a wet night he told the dog we cant can t be far from the cabin on but wouldn t dare risk that he ile found a down maple and under its sheltering bole spread his blanket finally and rifle handy dog beside him stretched his tired body rain began to fall and in the distance thunder rumbled his thoughts turned to nan to ezra and holt then to west he ile drew a long uneasy breath he ile would rould have been a trifle more at peace had he known that a car bearing two men whirled into shoe string from the southward lights glar ing with intensified brightness in the doAn downpour pour it came to a stop before a gas station and one of the occupants slicker clad leaned out what s the road to west a land ing he asked the boy first to the left and straight on twenty miles look out for the c cul ua verts if the creeks is up cupl I 1 thanks 1 the car pulled away and the one wl 0 had asked directions said to the dilver driver don t you want me to take her sergeant you ve had a long trick at that wheel bebby so youve you ve napped Is no tellin what this old coot of a coroner 11 K re irl X I 1 an well young made a get away have on the bill tor for us when we get to him the rain was heavy but of short duration stars appeared the rumble of thunder retreated and when the sun rose to warm and dry the land insect life had resumed its activity and young biting hard on his pipe stem carried his bee bos box forward set it down and carefully liberated the con fined workers within were we re close tip I 1 he muttered close and closer I 1 look at em emi I 1 dozens of bees swarmed about the box buzzing sl rilly and an hour after the first visitor had called for his portion df of honey young stood at the foot of a gnarled beech tree staring upward at the old scar in the trunk twice as high as his head watching the come and go cf workers through the hole that gave ac ae cess to the trees hollow heart he ile did cot not move much after he had finally located the tree for long he stood in oae one place looking about searching out what sign he could find man sign was there in plenty yon der a white pine had recently been been blazed and pitch globules glistened in n the sunlight brakes had been tram pled down here a seedling maple lay crushed into the duff its leaves not yet wilted at the base of the tree lay a payte which until recently had been growing on the scarred portion of the trunk he could see where the bracket like growth had bad been attached two feet above the ground he picked up the fungus and on its pale tan velvety surface showed the print of 0 a heel even to the nails dark brown against the buff some man had used that bracket in starting to climb that tree on his kniesche knees kne esche he searched the rain had not struck here with great force small bits of bark and lichens with a fresh look were there the protrude ing end of a small limb long since dead and all but absorbed by the ex banding trunk bore bits of thread as it if a garment had been scrubbed over it yes someone had climbed this bee tree honey and money I 1 money and honey 1 yonder m went ent a trail faint yet read able to youngs ea ee e not a game trail either he found the illy defined out I 1 ne of a boot sole there stooped over he followed broken withered brakes told that someone had gone this way weeks before broken brakes still fresh attested to a more recent pass ing the sign ended before a pair of limestone boulders tilted together forming f a small cave oh oh another stone had been set against this opening once now it was gone rolled yonder he ile lay on his belly and shot his flash I 1 into the small cavern G granules gl on the stone he touched them with his finger and looked closely black brittle glitter in ing flakes they u were ere lacquer from a japanned box his mouth was very dry now and he rolled quickly to his side to stare at the tree A box the size of the one he had dug up yesterday never could haie hane been concealed in the hollow of the beech the opening was too small but a box had been hidden here and a min man had climbed the tree and honey had daubed the man who ban died both box and crowbar I 1 in a son of a gun I 1 he cried be a and on his feet there his face showed for just an instant a flash of admiration for the ingenuity which had laid out this course if the course he be now suspected actu ally had been followed he had been right about the cabin on oil townline Town line it NN was as a short mile there and he covered the distance at a jog trot tip close behind he halted at the edge of the clearing to look and listen and than then went forward without hesitation from an insect net above one of the bunks he cut a portion he found a pair of old leather gloves a workman s denim jumper a hank of stout cord from the tool too cache he took an all as ax a cedar saw a splitter and two wedges these with his rifle made a burden of consequence and by the time he reached the tree again s eat bathed his e excited x cited body from the netting he improvised a veil adjusting it over his hat bat and tucking the edges into the neck of the jumper he ile put on the gloves tied the jumper sleeves tight about his wrists and picked up the ax tip yonder he ile gestured in command away back and lie down there s going to be a lot of hostility here in a minute I 1 he waited until the dog had obeyed and then sent the bit of the ax deep into the beech he ile was right about the hostility not a half dozen blows had been struck before they were upon him in a cloud buzzing angrily seeking ways through his nell ell and garments for countless stingers but kerry herry was well viell protected and swung his ax steadily eating a great gash in the trunk oh one or two got to his wrists and now and again he felt a burning prick on the shoulders when his jumper stretched tight but that was as as nothing in this interval of suspense the tree sagged and shivered it snapped and swayed he ile struck three more hows blows and stepped back as it came down with a mighty swish ing roar and crash he had dropped the ax as the beech toppled no v he took up the saw and standing in a cloud of furious bees which hovered over the entrance to their ballen fallen store house he sent the teeth singing through the stout wood swiftly his supple body swung to and fro stoutly his long strong arms drove the avid blade the forest fores t rang with the sound pang rang with the sound which would have covered even the noise made by a frantic man crashing through brush running intents intently y breath lessly his hat gone and face scratched and clothing torn heedless apparent ly of everything except making speed and clinging to the rifle he carried across his chest no the man was not close enough to have the sounds of his progress reach young but he was close enough to hear the ringing echo of that sa sav v he drew a hand across his face to wipe away the blood and the sweat and tried to still his breath ng to I 1 sten his trembling lips shaped a word nord and then he went forward cautiously walk ing like a cat eat rifle held at ready I 1 As he lie approached the source of those other sounds had bad now changed from that of sawing to blows of a sledge on metal he bent forward a trifle and went even more slowly more quietly bests landing and its environs had experienced two long evenings and one long day of an excitement pitched I 1 to a po point int never neier before attained there ther e and now the second day was begin ning work was forgotten where it C could 0 U be a and n d before for 1 mel 1 el 1 knights nl ht s s store r e eabe gro atoe w was a s gathered th e r a group u p w which h c h air argued d and debated and orated and broke short aej anything thing it happened to be say ing when nhen another arrived just on the chance that he would be the bearer of fresh incident licit holt stuart was in jail nan down er it was vias said had brought in a law yer from outside yesterday and the three had been to together ether in nat ers office for ion long g but no attempt to secure stuarts release had been made as yet kerry herry young had escaped during the first night of his imprisonment and not been heard from since though the search was frenzied frank was gone somewhere in his cattlin rattling tattered flivver and men combed the blueberry country for sign or word of him ind across at downers headgear head guar old ezra adams sat behind the locked door of nan s office with the articles he and young had brought A group which argued and de do bated from Town line refusing to budge denying bridger admittance waiting for something one knew not what I 1 oh ob it was something to talk about all right all right 1 tod west had been in and out say ing little going into long heated but confidential talks walh the sheriff he lie s givin nat hell I 1 the wise ones opined cods anxious to see things go right in this country you bet betl leave it to tod he hell 11 give good ad lice nicel but this last was as a matter of habit even when |