The Pioneer Boys of the Columbia; or, In the Wilderness of the Great NorthwestRathborne, St. George
General
The Pioneer Boys of the Columbia; or, In the Wilderness of the Great Northwest
Rathborne, St. George
Columbia River -- Juvenile fiction; Frontier and pioneer life -- Juvenile fiction
Fortunately the breeze started up just then, and rustled the leaves of
the trees overhead. It came from a quarter that also bore the sounds
of the fretting river, where rocky reefs impeded the progress of the
current; so that a combination of sounds helped to deaden any little
rustling noise the four watchers might make in rising to their feet and
moving forward.
Every detail had been arranged, and they made immediately for the
darker side of the tent. This was to avoid having their shadows appear
on the canvas, and arousing the suspicions of the thief.
Having taken up their positions here, they waited for what was to
follow, confident that the guilty one could not possibly escape them.
He could be heard moving around inside the tent. Once he upset some
object that fell to the ground with a soft thud, and they even heard
his low muttered exclamation of annoyance. After that all was still for
an interval, as doubtless he strained his hearing to learn whether the
sound had aroused any curiosity in the mind of a sentry.
Then the movements started again, proving that renewed confidence was
making the marauder bolder.
Dick and Roger had their guns ready, according to orders. If the man
attempted to escape after being ordered to surrender their duty would
be to shoot, although the endeavor would be to wound instead of to kill.
The movements within the tent had now ceased, and it was probable that
the man had secured all he sought to acquire. That meant his next act
would be to make his exit. Dick had not overlooked the chance of his
creeping under the canvas at the rear of the tent, and, if they failed
to see anything of him by the time another minute passed, he meant to
creep around and ascertain whether this had been attempted.
Roger, giving a faint gasp, warned his chum that some one was coming.
Then all of them caught sight of a dusky figure bending low as it crept
out of the tent.
"Stand still and surrender, or you are a dead man!" suddenly exclaimed
Captain Lewis, as, with his three companions, he stepped forward.
The thief made no attempt to run, for he knew what the result must be
when he saw those rifles in the hands of the two boys. So they pushed
up until they could make sure of his identity; and somehow neither
Roger nor Dick felt any great surprise when they discovered that the
man they had captured was Andrew Waller.
CHAPTER XI
BANISHED FROM CAMP
THE man held a couple of guns in his hands and was apparently loaded
down with the ammunition that had been left as a most attractive bait.
He hung his head as if at first overcome with a sense of shame; nor
could the boys blame him for giving way to this feeling.
Some of the other men, awakened by the loud command of Captain Lewis,
now came hurrying toward the spot. They were undoubtedly greatly
astonished to discover what was taking place. And among the first to
arrive were Drewyer and Fields, the two who in turn had been unjustly
suspected of being the guilty person.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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