ng me. You say the boy
had fallen into their hands, and that you rescued him?"

"If you'd like to hear about it, I'll be only too glad to tell you,"
Allan went on to say, eagerly; for somehow he had already taken quite
a fancy toward this sheriff with the humorous twinkle in his eye, and
thought it only right to make a friend of him, if it could be done.

"All nonsense, Mr. Sheriff," spluttered old Artemus, who feared lest
his case might be losing its grip, and that the officer would refuse
to aid him even were the boy found. "He's trying to swing your
sympathies around against my interests. Remember that you carry a
warrant, and are sworn to serve it."

"I always does my duty, Mr. Rawson, don't you fear," replied the
sheriff, with a frown; "but just now it's a part of my business to hear
all I can concerning the way your nephew came to join in with these Boy
Scouts. Now, just go on telling me what you started to say, my boy."

At that Allan picked up fresh courage. The sheriff was inclined to
favor them, he realized, even at the expense of straining his "duty."

"Why, one of our number, Giraffe here," he said, "happened to be
practicing the wigwag code outside the camp, in the darkness, using a
brand he'd picked from the fire; when to his astonishment he saw
answering signals from what seemed to be the sky. Well, when we made
out the one word 'help!' you see our interest was at once raised to
fever pitch."

"I should say it would be," remarked Sheriff Bob, showing the deepest
attention, as though the prospect for developments in the story began
to excite him.

"Our scoutmaster took matters in hand," Allan went on. "You just said
he was clever at sending and receiving messages. Well, he's a
cracker-jack, that's what he is. And it so happened that Aleck, he not
only belonged to the scouts, and had learned everything about
signaling; but he served as a telegraph operator for a short time on a
side road, when the regular man was taken sick; so he could even beat
our Thad at talking with his hands; and that's going some, I tell you."

"But what was Aleck doing up there; and where was he at the time?"
asked the deeply interested sheriff.

"Kracker and his two men had caught Aleck; and unable to make him tell
what they wanted, what do you think the cowards did? Lowered the boy
down to a shelf on the face of the cliff, and left him there, saying
he would starve unless he weakened, and gave up his secret; which
Aleck