The Big Five Motorcycle Boys in Tennessee Wilds | Page 6

Panky leap out of the road to allow them free passage. He seemed to shout something after them, but neither could make out the sense of what the owner of the stolen motorcycle said.
Of course they had eyes only for possible perils on the road, and what might lie ahead of them. And in a very brief space of time they glimpsed a moving object which could only be the runaway motorcycle with its black rider.
Both boys started to shout, thinking to thus alarm the thief, and cause him to relinquish his plunder.
Evidently the racket did have some such effect, for he was seen to slow up, and jumping from the motorcycle, vanish in the woods that bordered the road just at that point.
"Whee! that was a hot little chase, all right, Rod!" exclaimed Josh, as the two of them came to a halt alongside the abandoned machine, which lay on its side, just as it had been thrown when the alarmed thief jumped off.
"Just what it was," replied the other.
"And I certain sure hope now nothing ain't been broke about Hanky's wheel, when it went down with such a crash?" Josh continued, anxiously.
"Oh! I guess not," the other reassured him by saying; "they make motorcycles in a way to stand up against all sorts of hard knocks. Couldn't do anything else, you know, because they're apt to run into trouble any time. But keep an eye out in case that slick rascal tries to jump at us. We'll trundle all the wheels back, till we meet up with Hanky, who can take charge of his own property."
"Listen! sounds like something of a row back there, because the fellows are hollerin' to beat the band!" exclaimed Josh, with a tremor of excitement in his voice.
"Just what I thought might happen," remarked Rod; "and that was why I told Rooster and Elmer to stay there. That sly thief had a partner, and they thought it'd be easy to raid our camp if the whole lot of us ran after Hanky. But it didn't work as easy as they expected. The boys have chased him off, seems like; because there's our Rooster, crowing as loud as he can."
"And here's Hanky after his wheel," remarked Josh. "Now we can start up, and spin back to camp in a jiffy. Take hold, Hanky, and I hope you find her O. K. right side up with care. But you deserve to lose it, after being so lazy and careless."
The three of them in rapid order started to speed back up the gentle grade, and in quick time reached the spot where the fire gleamed. They found Elmer and Rooster guarding things, each with a heavy billet of wood in his grasp, and walking around as though doing sentry duty.
"Whee!" exclaimed Rooster, who when excited was apt to get very much mixed in his speech, so that his chums were accustomed to solving some of his remarks much as they might a riddle, or a rebus, in the puzzle column; "the woods is full of 'em, sure's you're born, fellows! Why, before you'd gone two minutes another black coon came jumpin' out of the bushes here, and wanted to carry off our good grub and other stuff. Me'n Elmer we grabbed up these sticks, and made him skip out in a big hurry, believe me!"
"A regular scheme to clean us out, all around, I do believe," exclaimed Josh, as he glared around him, as though daring any more of the would-be thieves to show their black faces.
"But we saw something that struck us as mighty queer, suh!" remarked Elmer, with a serious look on his dark face.
"What might that be?" asked Josh, eagerly.
"Why, the ragged fellow who tried to steal the rest of our grub had on striped garments, even if they were faded so you'd hardly see the fact; and from that, suh, I believe these two must be escaped convicts, either from a camp where they have been working on the roads, or else some penitentiary in Southern Tennessee."
"But I thought it was only down in Alabama, Georgia and Florida that they hired out convicts to turpentine-still men, and the like?" remarked Rod.
"Perhaps that is so, suh," the Southern boy went on to say; "I don't pretend to say what the rule is in Tennessee just now; but I do know that they work the convicts on the roads. And believe me, these two must have escaped from the gang. It sometimes happens, though they are generally chased, and recaptured by the guards."
"Then we've just got to keep guard all night," Hanky Panky observed, as he mopped his wet forehead; "and watch our things, if we don't want to find ourselves afoot in these wild regions. I just felt it in my bones we