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Hocker was thunderstruck on hearing this, and hastily produced a double handful of crackers from the capacious pocket of his coat. "That will take the edge off your hunger," he said. "I bought them at a country store as we drove by this morning. When Zinn's hired man comes down to see where his master is as he surely will before long I'll send him back for food.
One of the most remarkable instances of murder originating in mad self-conceit; and of the murderer's part in the repulsive drama, in which the law appears at such great disadvantage to itself and to society, being acted almost to the last with a self-complacency that would be horribly ludicrous if it were not utterly revolting; is presented in the case of Hocker.
The boys looked at one another incredulously and smiled. The idea of a bottomless hole in the Conodoguinet was ridiculous. At that moment an old man with bent back and white hair hobbled down the path from the road above, leaning heavily on his cane, which was his constant companion. "Good afternoon, Daddy Perkiss," exclaimed Mose Hocker. "I'm glad you come along.
Ned uttered a gasp of amazement. The man with the lantern was Mose Hocker. The recognition was mutual. "You here!" cried Hocker in a pained voice. "I didn't expect this. Is it possible that you lads came down to my cabin and stole the gun and the boat? I wouldn't have believed it of you without the evidence of my own eyes."
They came down stairs just in time to see Hocker and Jeffries drive away in a buggy with the sullen faced prisoner between them. Hocker had made arrangements with the farmer to take the boat back to the cabin in a wagon. Moxley had been compelled to disgorge his plunder, and the boys were highly gratified when Jeffries handed over the watches and money the tramp had so coolly taken from them.
We'll get them out of the scrape before long, never fear." Just then the farmer's shrill voice rang out distinctly from the hillside behind the mill: "Keep back, you rascal. If you crawl out that window I'll drop you quick as a wink." "Moxley is trying to escape from the second floor," muttered Hocker. "Wait a moment. I'll be back right away."
They searched the wasteway just as Jeffries and Hocker landed from the boat, pushing Moxley before them, and followed by Bug. The ruffian's hands were already manacled. With the exception of dripping clothes neither of the men seemed the worse for their struggle and subsequent fall. "They were still locked together when we pulled them from the water," said Jeffries.
It was four o'clock on Saturday morning before the tired crowd got to sleep. The four boys were given a room containing two large beds, and the adjoining apartment was occupied by Hocker and Jeffries, and their prisoner. Bug was accommodated with a cushioned settee in the kitchen. The boys woke up, refreshed in mind and body, about three o'clock in the afternoon.
Keep him talking as long as you can, and meanwhile me and this lad will slip up the wasteway in the boat and try to get the lads free. If anything goes wrong, whistle." Jeffries was quite satisfied to take the part assigned to him. He moved off in one direction, while Hocker and Ned took the other. Bug was left alone in the bushes.
"And this here's the same feller I had locked up in the smoke house," exclaimed one of Bug's captors. "I'll bet he don't steal any more chickens for a while." Ned stood pale and agitated before his accuser quite at a loss for words to explain. "I'm sorry for you," resumed Hocker, "but I must do my duty an' hand you over to constable Jeffries. Where are the rest of your party?"
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