Chapter XXVII. The Coming of the Wolves - The Rover Boys on a Hunt by Edward Stratemeyer
Fred's announcement came as a surprise. The Germans were coming from the house so rapidly that there was no time to leave the barn, the back door being closed and having some packing cases and hay against it.
"Come on up in the loft!" cried Jack. "Be quick now!"
"Why not hide down here in the hay?" suggested Andy.
"Because they may try to get at those packing cases, and then they would probably discover us," was the reply. "Quick! This way!"
Gif was already acting on the oldest Rover boy's suggestion and going up a ladder nailed to one side of the barn. Randy and the others followed, Fred being the last.
At the top of the ladder was an opening to a large loft. Here there was more hay, and also some old farm implements which had evidently been hoisted there by means of a block and tackle.
"Hush now," warned Gif, and the five cadets tiptoed their way toward the hay, bent upon secreting themselves should it become necessary to do so.
The Germans carried two lanterns, for it was now quite dark in the barn. They were talking volubly in their native tongue, so that the cadets could understand very little of what was said. One man, a tall, burly individual, who was evidently more prosperous than the others, was addressed as Herr Bauermann, and he was the man mentioned by the woman who had refused to open the door and let Jack and Gif in.
Herr Bauermann had come out to inspect the contents of the packing cases brought in by Herman Crouse. He had the two other men open the cases and take out layers of excelsior so that he might look at what was underneath. He gave a grunt of satisfaction and nodded his head approvingly, at the same time continuing to speak in German.
All of the cadets were anxious to see what the boxes contained, and looked cautiously down the ladder opening and through some cracks in the loft flooring. All they could make out was some machinery, apparently electrical and similar to that in the other cases. There was also a large round package covered with heavy bagging, and this was found to contain more coils of wire of various sizes.
While the men were looking around one of them suddenly stooped and picked up something from the floor. He passed this to the others, at the same time making some remark which, of course, the lads could not understand.
"He's got a glove," whispered Jack.
"It's one of my gloves! I dropped it when we climbed the ladder," returned Randy in sudden alarm.
The finding of the glove interested the Germans very much. They looked all around the barn, and for a few minutes the cadets were fearful that they would come up in the loft. But then they evidently concluded that the glove had been dropped by Herman Crouse, and placed it on a shelf.
It was a good half hour before the Germans left the barn and returned to the house, and by that time the five cadets in the loft were almost frozen. They had been unable to move around and thus keep warm, and with the coming of night the thermometer was going down steadily.
"Come on! let us get out of here," said Fred, his teeth chattering. "If we don't move soon I'll be frozen stiff."
The boys came cautiously out of the barn and looked toward the house. Every curtain was tightly drawn, and lights shown only from the kitchen and the dining room of the old dwelling.
"Those fellows are going to get supper," said Randy, "and I move we go home and do likewise. We can't learn anything more standing here, and if we went to the door and showed ourselves those men might get very suspicious."
"All right! let's go back to the Lodge then," announced Jack. "Just the same, I'm going to investigate this matter further, and I'm not going to wait so very long either."
"Oh, I guess we all want to investigate these Germans," said Fred quickly. "Don't you remember how we helped to round up those submarine rascals?" he added, referring to an affair which has been related in detail in the volume entitled, "The Rover Boys Under Canvas."
Losing no more time, the five cadets hurried down the rough mountain road, and then struck off through the woods on a bee line for Cedar Lodge. This time Gif took good care that they should not become lost. But it was a long wearisome journey, and before the Lodge was reached every one of the lads was almost ready to drop from exhaustion. They were bitterly cold, and some of them thought their ears or noses must be frozen.
"There's the light!" cried Fred at last, and he pointed to a candle which Spouter had had Stowell place in one of the windows.
"Spouter must have done that to help us to find the way," said Jack. "Very thoughtful of him."
As soon as they were a little closer they set up a ringing shout, and at once Henry Stowell came to the door and flung it open. All were glad enough to troop in and throw themselves down in comfortable seats before the blazing fire.
"Me for a big hot supper!" announced Randy. "And I can't get it inside of me any too quick!"
"Ditto right here," added Fred.
"And don't forget to pass me a large portion, please," came from Andy.
Under Spouter's directions, Stowell had already set a pot of water to boiling, and had likewise baked a large pan of pork and beans and made another pan of biscuits. Even though he had asked the sneak of Colby Hall to work, Spouter had spoken kindly to Stowell and given him some first-class advice, and this was evidently having its effect.
"I've got my skates, and I'm going to skate down to Henryville to-morrow," said Stowell. "From there I can take the public sleigh to Timminsport, and go home that way. Wish I was there now!"
Soon supper was under way, and, while eating, the other cadets related to their chum what they had seen and heard around the old house in the woods.
"There sure is something wrong up there," declared Spouter, whose sprained ankle was much better. "Those fellows are up to no good. I think, Jack, we ought to notify the authorities."
"We talked that over, Spouter; and we have concluded that we will take another look around the place first," was the reply.
The others questioned Stowell again, but could get little further information from the young cadet. He was satisfied, however, that Werner had been doing some queer things for Tony Duval, and that Bill Glutts had assisted his crony.
"There is something strange about the whole business," said he. "Once or twice I asked Bill or Gabe about it, but I never could get any satisfaction. I sometimes think carrying that message was only a bluff, and that the Germans were merely trying to test out Bill and Gabe, to see if they could not get them to do something else."
In the morning came a big surprise. It was snowing and blowing furiously, and to go hunting or to do anything else outside was practically out of the question. The windows were coated with ice.
"I guess I'll have to stay with you fellows for awhile," remarked Stowell dolefully. "I wouldn't dare to try to get to Henryville in such a snowstorm as this."
"You stay right where you are, Henry, and make yourself comfortable," said Gif. "As long as you're willing to do your share of the work around here, you shall have your share of whatever there is to eat."
"It's very nice of you fellows to treat me this way after all that has happened," said the young cadet. "Of course I'll do my full share of the work. When I was with Bill and Gabe they always wanted me to do everything."
The storm continued all that day, the wind, if anything, increasing in violence. All the boys could do was to keep the fire going and make themselves as comfortable as possible inside the Lodge. They read, wrote letters, and played games, and also tried their hands at more candy-making, and also the baking of some pies and cookies.
"Gee! those pies are pretty good," announced Spouter, after a piece of one of them had been passed to him.
"They ought to be good," returned Fred. "My face was nearly burned off baking them."
"And please don't ask me to make any more doughnuts," announced Randy. "If I had to run a bake shop, I'd charge about twice as much as the regular bakers do."
"He'd charge for the hole in the doughnut," came from his twin, with a grin.
During the day they had once or twice heard a sound outside that was new to them. They were not sure, but Jack thought it might be a wolf, and to this Gif agreed.
"There are wolves prowling around here," said the latter. "But I never knew of any to come close to the Lodge."
"More than likely he's hungry and wants something to eat, and has smelled our stuff cooking," ventured Fred.
They had an early supper, and then Gif said they would have to get in another supply of wood from the shed before retiring.
"And we might as well get in a good supply while we are at it," he added. "If this snow keeps coming down we may not be able to get out at all to-morrow unless we do a lot of shoveling."
It was no easy job to get to the woodshed, for the wind was still blowing furiously. When they opened the back door of the Lodge the snow came swirling in, almost blinding them.
"No use of you fellows trying it," announced Jack to Fred and Stowell.
"That's it," said Gif. "Four of us going out will be more than enough. You fellows can push the snow away from the door if you want to."
With their overcoats buttoned up tightly and their caps pulled well down over their ears, Gif, Jack and the twins sallied forth in the direction of the woodshed, which was about fifty yards away. They had all they could do to make any progress, and when the shed was gained they were almost winded.
"Say, we were foolish not to get this wood before," panted Gif.
"Well, there is no use of finding fault now," answered Jack. "Come on. Now we have packed down the path a little it won't be quite so hard."
The four boys made two trips to the woodshed, each time bringing all the logs they could carry. Then Randy wanted to call a halt.
"I'm about played out," said he. "Let us get the rest in to-morrow."
"That's just what I say," gasped his twin. "No use of killing ourselves."
"I'm going to make one more trip," said Gif.
"And so am I," added Jack.
The pair stepped out of the house with the others watching them. In a minute more they disappeared from view in the storm and the darkness.
"Gee! but it's going to be one awful night," cried Fred.
"You've said it!" returned Randy. Then, of a sudden, he gave a start. "What's that?" he ejaculated.
What he referred to was a long mournful howl which arose on the storm-laden air. This howl was followed by another, and then by a third.
"It's wolves!" cried Fred.
"Look! Look!" ejaculated Andy. "Look out there, will you? A whole pack of wolves!"
"Yes, and they're coming right for the house!" wailed Stowell. "Shut that door quick, or they'll jump in on us!"