VII
AN ENEMY IN CAMP
NO sooner was the camp fire started than Cal went to the boat andbrought away a piece of tarpaulin, used to protect things against rain.With this and a lighted lantern he started off through the thickettoward the mouth of the little estuary, leaving Dick to make coffee andfry fish, while Larry mixed a paste of corn meal, water and a littlesalt, which he meant presently to spread into thin sheets and bake inthe hot embers, as soon as the fire should burn down sufficiently tomake a bed of coals.
As Cal was setting out, Tom, who had no particular duty to do at themoment, asked:
“Where are you off to, Cal?”
“Come along with me and see,” Cal responded without answering thedirect question. “I may need your help. Suppose you bring the big baitbucket with you. Empty the shrimps somewhere. They’re all too dead toeat, but we may need ’em for bait.”
Tom accepted the invitation and the two were quickly beyond the bendin the creek and well out of sight of the camp. As they neared theopen water, Cal stopped, held the lantern high above his head, andlooked about him as if in search of something. Presently he lowered thelantern, cried out, “Ah, there it is,” and strode on rapidly throughthe dense undergrowth.
Tom had no time to ask questions. He had enough to do to follow hislong-legged companion.
After a brief struggle with vines and undergrowths of every kind,the pair came out upon a little sandy beach with a large oyster bankbehind it, and Tom had no further need to ask questions, for Cal spreadthe tarpaulin out flat upon the sands, and both boys began gatheringoysters, not from the solid bank where thousands of them had theirshells tightly welded together, but from the water’s edge, and evenfrom the water itself wherever it did not exceed a foot or so in depth.Cal explained that these submerged oysters, being nearly all the timeunder salt water, and growing singly, or nearly so, were far fatter andbetter than those in the bank or near its foot.
It did not take long to gather quite as many of the fat bivalves as thetwo could conveniently carry in the tarpaulin and the bait pail, and asCal was tying up the corners of the cloth Tom began scrutinizing thesandy beach at a point which the ordinary tides did not reach. As hedid so he observed a queer depression in the sand and asked Cal to comeand see what it meant.
After a single glance at it, Cal exclaimed gleefully:
“Good for you, Tom. This is the luckiest find yet.”
With that he placed the lantern in a favorable position, emptied thebait pail, hurriedly knelt down, and with his hands began digging awaythe sand.
“But what is it, Cal? What are you digging for?”
“I’ll show you in half a minute,” said the other, continuing to digdiligently. Less than the half minute later he began drawing out of thesand a multitude of snow-white eggs about the size of a walnut. As Tomlooked on in open-mouthed wonder, he thought there must be no end tothe supply.
“What are they, Cal?” the boy asked.
“Turtle’s eggs, and there’s a bait bucket full of them. You’ve made theluckiest find of all, Tom,” he said again in congratulation.
“Are they good to eat?”
“Good to eat? Is anything you ever tasted good to eat? Why, Tom,they’re about the rarest delicacy known to civilized man. In Charlestonthey sell at fabulous prices, when there happen to be any there tosell. Now we must hurry back to the fire, for the ash cakes must beabout done and the coffee made.”
After a moment or two of silence, Tom asked:
“Why did you think there was an oyster bank down there, Cal?”
“I noticed it as we came into the creek and I took pains to rememberits location. But here we are. See, fellows, what Tom has found! Nowbring on your coffee and your ash cakes and your fish, and we’ll feastlike a company of Homer’s warriors. It won’t take long to boil the eggsin salt water—ten minutes is the allotted time, I believe, in thecase of turtle’s eggs, and during that time we can be eating the otherthings and filling up with fire-opened oysters.”
With that he threw three or four oysters upon the coals, removing themas soon as they opened and swallowing them from the shell. The othersfollowed his example.
Of course it really was an excellent supper the boys were eating outthere under the stars, but sharp-set hunger made it seem even betterthan it was, and the contrast between it and the supper of bolognasausages and hardtack of the night before, added greatly to the zestof their feasting. They rejoiced, too, in being free, out there inthe woodlands, with no dismal rain to depress their spirits and norestraint of any kind upon their liberty.
But they were all very tired after their sleepless night before andtheir hard-working day, and without argument or discussion, one by oneof them stretched himself before the fire not long after supper, andfell asleep. Cal remained awake longer than the rest, though he, too,was lying flat upon his back, ready to welcome sleep as soon as itshould come to his eyelids.
Before it came he was moved by jealousy or mischief to disturb theothers with an admonition.
“You fellows are recklessly trifling with your health, every one ofyou, and it is my duty to warn you of the consequences. In allowingso brief a time to elapse between the consumption of food in generousquantities, and your retirement to your couches, you are invitingindigestion, courting bad dreams and recklessly risking the permanentorganic and functional impairment of your constitutions—to say nothingof your by-laws, orders of business, rules of procedure and otherthings that should be equally precious to you.”
“_Will_ you shut up, Cal?” muttered Dick, half awake. Tom remainedunconscious and Larry responded only with a snore.
Presently even Cal’s wakefulness yielded, his thoughts wandered, and hefell into a sound slumber.
The woodlands were as still as woodlands at night ever are; the starsshone brilliantly in a perfectly clear sky; the brush wood fire dieddown to a mass of glowing coals and gray ashes, and still the wearyship’s company slept on without waking or even moving.
Then something happened, and Larry, who was always alert, even in hissleep, suddenly sat up, at the same time silently grasping the gunthat lay by his side. He was sure he had heard a noise in his sleep,but now that he was wide awake, everything seemed profoundly still.Nevertheless he waited and watched. Then suddenly he brought his gun tohis shoulder, and in sharp, ringing tones cried out:
“Drop that!”
Instantly all the boys were standing with their guns in hand, notknowing what had happened, but ready to meet whatever might come. Asecond or two later Larry, still sitting and aiming his gun over hisbent knees, called out again:
“Drop that, I say! Drop it instantly or I’ll shoot. I’ve got a bead onyou. Now throw up your hands! Quick, and no fooling.”
DICK, CAL, AND TOM SEARCHED THE MAN’S CLOTHES._Page 73._]
As he gave this command he rose and slowly advanced toward the dory,keeping his gun levelled from his shoulder.
It was difficult to see anything, until Tom thought to throw a bunchof dry brush upon the coals. As it blazed up the boys saw the man whomLarry had held up. He was standing by the boat, his back toward themand his hands, held up in obedience to Larry’s command.
“Now, boys, see what shooting irons he has about him,” directed Larry,who stood with the muzzle of his shotgun less than three feet away fromthe prisoner.
Dick, Cal and Tom searched the man’s clothes, but found no weaponsof any sort there. Tom was thoughtful enough to search hislong-legged leather boots, and from each of them he presently drew amurderous-looking army revolver. Without saying a word, the boy sprungthe pistols open and emptied them of their cartridges, which he tossedinto the creek.
“Now you may let your hands down,” said Larry, at the same timelowering his piece, but continuing to hold it with both barrels at fullcock.
“Cal, take care of that box of cartridges I made him drop, and take alantern and look the boat over. He may have done some damage beforetrying to steal our ammunition.”
Up to this time the intruder, a huge man of evil countenance, hadspoken no word. Now he suddenly took the initiative.
“Who are you fellers, anyhow, and what are you a-doing here?” he asked.
“Curiously enough,” responded Cal, “those are precisely the questionsI was going to ask you. Suppose you answer first. Who are you and whatare you doing here?”
“That’s for me to know and you to find out,” the intruder replied,truculently.
“Perhaps you’d better reconsider that,” said Cal. “You’re a prisoner,you know, caught in the act of stealing our ammunition, and we arearmed. We can chuck you into our boat and take you to a magistrate, whowill provide you with jail accommodations for a while. Give an accountof yourself. What did you come to our camp for?”
“I come,” he replied with somewhat less assurance in his tone, “to findout who you fellers was, and what you’re a-doin’ here where you don’tbelong, and to give you fair warnin’ to git away from here jest asquick as you know how. Ef you don’t, it’ll be a good deal the worse foryou.”
“We’ll do nothing of the kind,” broke in Larry. “We’re on land thatbelongs to Mr. Hayward, a friend of ours, and we’re going to stay hereas long as we like.”
“You’ll do it at your own resk, then. You’ve got me hard and fast, butthey’s others besides me.”
“Now listen to me,” said Larry, rising and speaking sharply. “We’vegot you hard and fast, as you say, and we could take you to jail or wecould hold you as a hostage, if you know what that means; but we’ll doneither. We’re not afraid of you or the ‘others’ you mentioned. We aregoing to turn you loose and dare you to do your worst. We’ve a right tobe where we are, and we’re going to stay here till we’re ready to go.We’re armed, and we know how to shoot. But there’ll be no holding upof hands the next time any of you invade our camp, and there’ll be nochallenging. It’ll be quick triggers. Now go! We expect to stay herefor three or four days. Go!”
The man moved off through the woods, with a peculiar limp in his leftleg, turning about when at a little distance, and shouting:
“It’ll be the worse for you! I’ve give you fair warnin’.”