CHAPTER XXIV.
WHAT SMITHY FOUND.
"Here's tough luck, and more of it!" remarked Davy Jones; but whileSmithy was looking excited, and rather white, the Jones boy wasgrinning, just as if the new condition of affairs, thrilling in theextreme, pleased him intensely.
Thad hastened to examine the ground, as a true scout always thinks ofdoing when he seeks information concerning the movements of others; forneither men nor boys can well move around without leaving some traces oftheir late presence; and when one knows how to use his eyes toadvantage, it is possible to learn many valuable things after thisfashion.
"Did they take it, Thad?" continued Davy, as the scout leader arose fromhis knees again, his face filled with all sorts of wild conjectures asto the meaning of this new mystery.
"They must have," replied Thad; "because they've been around since wewere. Fact is, as you can see for yourselves, boys; here's where theimprint of that marked shoe has half covered Smithy's track. And ofcourse that could mean only one thing."
"You're right, it could," admitted Davy, easily convinced.
Smithy looked around at the undergrowth, out of which they had justpushed. No doubt his imagination was working at full speed, and he couldsee a face leering out from behind every scrub bush. Smithy was at leasta great reader, even if he had until lately never been allowed toassociate with other boys; and likely enough he had spent many hoursover Stevenson's "Treasure Island" and kindred stories of adventure. Andbeing of a nervous temperament, the consciousness of hovering perilacted on him to a much greater extent than it did in the cases of hisfellow scouts.
"But where do you think they could have taken the boat, Thad?" Smithynow asked, as he stared out on the waves that were sweeping past somerrily, and could see no sign of any craft.
"Perhaps gone around the island, hiding it in some place they knowabout; or it might be they've just sunk the canoe out in deep waterthere," replied Thad.
"Sunk their own boat!" remarked Smithy, in bewilderment; "now, pleaseexplain to me just why they would want to do so remarkable a thing asthat, Thad?"
"So that we couldn't have the use of it to get back ashore again; andour comrades over there mightn't be able to come over," was the reply ofthe young scout-master.
"Do you mean they've made up their minds to try and keep us prisonerson this terrible island?" asked the other.
"It looks a little that way to me right now, Smithy; fact is they've gotme guessing good and hard what they do mean by that sort of thing.Perhaps they want a certain amount of time to make their escape, andexpect to get it by keeping us cooped up here. The question now is,shall we let them carry that scheme out?"
"Not if we know it, we won't," Davy spoke up, and declared in hispositive way. "Why, I think I could manage to get over to the mainlandsomehow, with that log there to help me. The wind and waves would carryme along, you see, Thad; and I could do my clothes up in a bundle andkeep 'em dry. Seems to me that's the kind of work for a scout to try,ain't it?"
"A pretty good idea, Davy," admitted the scout-master, readily enough;"there's only one drawback to it, that I can see."
"And what might that be?" asked the one who had conceived the brilliantthought, and who seemed to be disappointed because his chief had notimmediately declared it to be a marvel of ingenuity.
"Well, you're not much of a swimmer, and couldn't make any headwayagainst the wind and the waves. Consequently you'd just have to let themcarry you along with them. That would take a lot of time; and even ifyou did get ashore safely it'd be at the far end of the lake. You knowthe country is pretty rough between there and the camp. By sticking tothe beach, where there is any, you might make it in a couple of hours;but altogether it'd be well into afternoon before you got in touch withAllan and the rest."
"All right, I'm willing to make the try, if only you give the word,Thad," the Jones boy went on, with a vein of urgency in his voice. "Justthe idea seems to tickle me more'n I c'n tell you. And if I kept on theother side of the log, why you see, these fellers wouldn't know a thingabout it. They'd think it was just an old log that had drifted around,and was going wherever the wind wanted."
"Well, such talk would convince anybody, I guess," laughed Thad.
"Then you're goin' to let me try it, I hope?" ventured Davy, joyfully.
"Perhaps I may a little later," the other admitted. "After we've talkedit over some more. And first of all, I think Smithy and myself hadbetter arm ourselves in the same way you have, with a good stout club.If the worst comes, it's a jolly good thing to have in your hand."
"Well, I should say, yes," Davy went on; "more'n once I've stood off asavage dog with a stick like this, and dared him to tackle me. But here,if I'm going to take that little swim with the log, I won't need myclub. S'pose I hand it over to Smithy?"
There was a method in his madness; and Thad, who could read between thelines, understood it easily enough. If allowed to give Smithy hisweapon of offense and defense, such permission would really be settingthe seal of approval on his proposition to swim ashore. And Davy wasshrewd enough to figure on that.
"All right, give it to Smithy," said Thad; making up his mind that sinceone of them ought to make the effort to get in touch with the balance ofthe patrol, it were better to allow Davy to go than that he leave thetwo boys on the island; for that might look strange in a leader.
And so the delighted Davy hastened to comply; indeed the manner in whichhe thrust the stick into the willing hands of the other seemed toindicate a fear on his part lest the scout-master alter his mind. Andonce the club had changed hands he appeared to believe the thing wassettled beyond recall.
"Do you think they might attack us, Thad?" asked Smithy, who wassomewhat pale, but showing a resolute front in this crisis.
"I don't know any more than you do, Smithy," replied the other; "theyhad some scheme in view when they scooped the boat, and hid it from us.As I said before, I can't make up my mind whether they only want to maketime by cutting off all chances of pursuit; or else mean to come down onus."
"What do you suppose they'd be apt to do to us for giving them so muchtrouble, and taking their boat?" continued Smithy.
"What Paddy gave the drum, perhaps," remarked Davy; "a beating. But ifyou two fellers can only manage to keep out of their hands a littlewhile, I ain't afraid about my being able to reach shore, and the camp.Then what, Thad?"
"Just what I said--have one of the boys, Giraffe perhaps, because he's agood runner, start over to Rockford. I think from the rough map acharcoal burner made of this section of country for me, that town can beonly about seven miles or so across country, though the going might bepretty rough. Here, take my little compass, in case he is afraid he mayget lost in the woods," and Thad detached the article in question fromhis silver watch chain.
"I'm glad you said Giraffe," remarked Davy; "because if it had beenStep-hen, who is also a clever long-distance runner, he'd have been sureto lose himself, because he says he's going to take the first chance,just because somebody took his old compass. Then, when he gets toRockford you want Giraffe to get Faversham the 'phone; is that it,Thad?"
"Yes, and tell his story to the Chief--all about the queer things thathave happened to us up here since we made camp,--the coming of the bear;then our finding the boat; the tracks on the island; how we had a visitfrom the bear man, and what his companion told you to do in case youever saw the imprint of a shoe that had a crooked patch across the sole.I reckon Mr. Malcolm Hotchkiss'll know what to do when he gets all thesefacts in his head. And then Giraffe can rest up before he tries to comeback to-morrow."
"I got it all just as you stated it, Thad," declared Davy, beginning tounfasten his shoes, as if anxious to be busy; "now, if you fellers wouldjust roll that same log into the water while I'm doing up my duds in alittle package that I c'n tie on top, so as to keep 'em dry, I'll beready in short order. Then you watch me paddle my own canoe for theshore. It'll be just more fun than a circus for David, believe me."
So Thad
and Smithy took hold, and with the aid of the sticks in theirhands it was found that the log could be readily turned over. Each timethis was done it drew closer to the water's edge, and presently splashedinto the lake.
"See her float just like a duck, will you?" remarked the delighted Davy,who was by this time making a bundle of his shoes, hat and clothes,which he expected to secure somehow to the log, or thrust into acrevice, where the package might not be seen by watchful eyes ashore.
"Well, anyhow, if that boat did have to be captured by the enemy,"remarked Smithy, just then, as if remembering something; "I'm glad Ifound that stuff before it went, that's a fact, boys."
Thad turned on him in some surprise.
"Now you've got us both wondering what you mean, Smithy," he remarked;"suppose you explain before Davy leaves us."
"Oh! I forgot to say anything about it," declared the other, in more orless confusion; "the fact of the matter is, Thad, when I found I wasgoing to be your canoemate on this little adventure, I went down atonce and turned the boat over to see that it was perfectly clean. Youknow it's a hobby of mine to want everything just so; and I noticed thata little washing would improve the looks of our boat. So I took out thefalse bottom that keeps heavy shoes from cutting into the thin planking;and what do you suppose I found in the cracks below?"
He had thrust his fingers into one of his pockets, and now held upsomething at which both the others stared in surprise, that graduallydeepened into dismay, on the part of Thad at least.
"Let me look at them, please, Smithy," said the scout-master, quietly;and in response to his request the other placed in his outstretched handtwo bright new silver half dollars!
A rather queer find, to say the least, to run across under the falsebottom in a little canoe that had been secreted among the bushesbordering this lonely sheet of water known as Lake Omega!