CHAPTER VI
TAKING DESPERATE CHANCES
It was wholly due to the foresight of Billy Lilly that the camp ofthe Pony Rider Boys was not washed into the bayou. Had they pitchedthe camp two rods from it's present site, in either direction, theiroutfit would have been wrecked. As it was they were little the worsefor their experiences although everyone was still soaked to the skin.
As soon as the sun came out Tad rigged up a clothes line andstripping down to his underwear hung his clothing up to dry. Thesame thing was done with his blankets.
The other boys thought this was an excellent idea, so they did thesame. The water was going down rapidly and their island was growinggradually larger. All manner of driftwood, brush and heaps of mucklay strewn over the ground, and this Ichabod was clearing away asrapidly as possible. The colored man understood the needs of thecamp without having to be told. In fact, it was seldom foundnecessary to give him orders.
The dogs, for the first time in days, pricked up their ears and beganto take interest in life. They were busy brushing out theirbedraggled coats in the sunlight, now and then bounding back andforth, barking and leaping and playing. The Pony Rider Boys sangsnatches of song, joked, and enjoyed themselves to the full. Theywere restless under inactivity; they wanted to be up and doing.
Of course, the ground in the swamp was soft, so they decided toremain in camp another day. This time would be fully occupied inoiling and cleaning guns, which already had begun to show spots ofrust, and in putting their equipment in shape.
Tad found time during this bright day to make short excursions outinto the woods, even into the brake, the better to acquaint himselfwith the conditions round about them. He eyed the dense brake, thegiant trees, the queer formations of the cypress knees, and the thickvegetation, with the keen eyes of the experienced woodsman.
"This is an awful hole," was the lad's conclusion. "I don't think Ishould care to be lost in this swamp. If the Dismal Swamp is anyworse, excuse me, as Ichabod would say."
Palmettos he found growing thickly in places above the black ooze ofthe swamp, bushes of varieties that he did not know covered theground thickly in places, while vines and creepers climbed the trunksof the trees, hanging in trailing festoons from the branches. Coonand possum were plentiful, but he did not see any of them.
Most interesting to Tad were the swamp rabbits. These lived mostlyin the depths of the woods and beside the lonely bayous. Theserabbits, he discovered to his amazement, could swim and dive likemuskrats, being as much at home in the water as on the land. Tadnever had heard of them before and he watched the antics of some ofthe little fellows curiously. While Tad moved about with caution, hewas unafraid. His love of nature was too great to permit him to beafraid of it; even though he knew that at any second he might treadon a deadly reptile, so he strode on with the light, noiseless stepof the experienced hunter and woodsman. Here and there Tad wouldstrike a blaze on a cypress with his axe. He did not propose to belost in this forest.
The sound of the camp horn calling to him warned the boy that he hadstrayed a long distance from camp. He answered the call by shootinghis revolver three times in the air, to which the horn responded bytwo toots.
These horns were used by nearly everyone in the brake. Each personwas supposed to carry a horn with him, the horn being useful not alonein calling the dogs, but in signaling positions to each other, andits notes could be heard a long distance in clear weather.
The boy discovered from the direction of the sound that he had made awide detour to reach his present position. However, instead oftrying to take a direct course back to the camp, as an inexperiencedperson might have done, the Pony Rider Boy cautiously followed histrail back, never for a moment losing sight of his blazes on thecypress trees. It was more than an hour later when he strolled intocamp, the guide having blown the horn several times, which Tad hadnot answered after the first time.
"Look here, young man, where have you been?" demanded Lilly.
"I have been tramping. I went over to a round lake a good distancefrom here."
"A lake?"
"Yes, sir."
"That way?"
"Yes, sir."
"Do you know how far that is from here?" questioned the guide.
"I can't say that I do," answered Tad with a smile.
"More than three miles in a straight line."
"I thought so."
"How is it you didn't get lost?"
"Why should I? I blazed a trail out and just followed it back,that's all."
Billy threw up his hands.
"I don't know why you boys have me along. Any fellow who can diveinto this swamp for three miles, then walk back just the same as ifhe were following the sidewalk at home, doesn't need a guide. Seeanything?"
"Oh, yes," answered the boy laughing. "I saw pretty much everythingbut deer and bear. But I saw a deer trail."
"You did?"
"Yes, sir."
"Where?"
"About half the way out. He crossed my trail and went into thecanebrake to the north."
"Probably an old trail," nodded Lilly.
"No, sir, it was a fresh trail made since the rain. I could see thatplainly. It was a buck, too, and I think I should like to get a shotat him. Do they have regular runways down here?"
"Yes, unless they are chased. Have all the rest of you boys gotscents like deerhounds, eh?"
"I have," answered Stacy promptly. "Why, I can put my nose to atrail and follow it until the deer drops dead from fatigue. Iprobably am the best all-around deer-chaser in the country. You setme on a trail and see what happens."
"I can tell you what would happen," answered Rector. "You'd get lostin less than ten minutes."
"If I did I should find myself," retorted Stacy indignantly.
"Yes, you would!"
"I should like to follow that deer trail, Mr. Lilly," said Tad. "Howabout it?"
"The ground is too soft. The horses couldn't make much headway inthe present condition of the muck."
"By the way, are there any other hunters in this vicinity now?"questioned Tad.
"I hadn't heard of any besides ourselves. Why?"
"Nothing much. I discovered some man tracks this morning."
Billy regarded the Pony Rider Boy steadily.
"Young man, is there anything you don't see?" he demanded.
"Oh, yes, I couldn't hope to see everything. But some things I can'thelp seeing. I found this man's tracks while I was examining thebuck's trail in the muck. You know feet, man or beast, sink down agood way into the ooze in places."
"I reckon I do. Which way was he going?"
"The buck?"
"No, the man."
"Heading west."
"That's away from the camp," reflected the guide. "I wonder who itcould have been? Was there more than one of them?"
Tad shook his head.
"I looked for others. The man was alone and he had a gun."
"Say, are you gifted with second sight?"
"No, sir."
"Then how do you know he had a gun, unless you guessed it?"
"I saw the impression of the butt where he stood the gun against thetree. He was looking at the deer trail, so he must have been along ashort time before I passed there."
"I reckon I'll be looking into that," decided Lilly, rising andthrusting his hands in his pockets, striding slowly back and forth.
The subject was not again referred to, but later in the afternoonLilly announced that he was going out to look over the trails, andleft the camp. He returned just before supper.
"Well, did you find it?" asked Tad quizzically.
Billy grinned.
"I reckon I did. I reckon you-all knew what you were talking about."
"Who was it?" demanded Ned.
"Oh, I don't know about that. I guess it was some fellow heading forStillman's plantation on the other side of the brake."
"How far is that?"
"Nigh
onto twenty miles."
"Is there no other way to reach the place?" questioned Tad.
"Oh, yes, but it's a long way further. We will be on the trailourselves tomorrow, I reckon. The ground is drying out fast. Ididn't see any bear signs today, but they will be moving right smart,now that the storm is over."
That night the campfire blazed and crackled merrily. The boys got agood night's rest, the tents being dry and comfortable and the airmore endurable than had been the case for the last three days. Twiceduring the night Billy got up, took a look at the weather, and heapedmore wood on the fire. Tad heard him, but did not open his eyes,knowing what was doing, as well as if he had observed it withwide-open eyes.
It was shortly after daylight that the boy awakened suddenly and laylistening. He caught the sound of water being splashed about. Athought occurring to him, Tad slipped on his boots and taking hisrifle up crept out under the rear wall of his tent.
A sight met his eyes that thrilled him through and through.