CHAPTER IX -- An Unwelcome Guest
What may be called a minor mystery was settled within a few minutesafter Alvin, Chester and Mike came out of the wood and sat down for abrief while on the porch. Most of the other Boy Scouts had gone insidefor the night, though the murmur of voices showed the majority wereawake. The laugh of Scout Master Hall was heard in response to somejest, he being, as has been said, as much of a youngster as the mostyouthful of the troop.
A tall form loomed to view in the starlight, and coming up the steps satdown beside Mike with a greeting to all three. He was recognized as HokeButler, a member of the Stag Patrol.
"If you had run a little faster," he remarked with a loud laugh, "yousurely would have overtaken me, Mike."
"Why didn't ye slack up and give me the chance? Me legs ain't as long asyours."
"I did put on the brakes, but you turned back."
"I'd come to the belaif that if ye didn't want me company, I shouldn'tforce mine upon ye, so I quit. What were ye doing in the wood behindus?"
"I was strolling behind the bungalow when I heard voices and wasstealing up to learn who you were when you heard me, and for the fun ofit I darted off as if I was scared half to death."
"What did ye think of the views of mesilf and Alvin and Chester asregards the nixt Prisident?"
It was a shrewd question and brought the desired answer.
"You talked so low I couldn't catch a word. Don't you know that whenAmericans talk politics they yell and generally end in a fight?"
"We hadn't got that fur; ye oughter kept still a little while longer andye might hev took part in the shindy."
So the eavesdropping amounted to nothing, and so far no one besides thethree knew of the plan which they had formed. A half hour later everyBoy Scout in the bungalow, including Jack Crandall, was asleep.
The morning dawned clear, bright and sunny. Jack would not permit anyone to stay with him, so his chair was wheeled out on the front porch,where he became absorbed in a work on ornithology, while his friendsbroke into small groups and wandered into the woods as fancy promptedthem. Scout Master Hall strolled off with several members of his Patrol,the understanding being that it was to be another day in which eachshould do as he pleased.
Let twenty men, boys or girls be thrown together in close companionshipfor weeks, and likes and dislikes are sure to develop. There may benothing in the nature of hatred, nor even an impatient word uttered.Naturally affiliations spring up, while others avoid one another,without suspecting there is a cause for the mild repulsion.
Alvin Landon, Chester Haynes and Mike Murphy were chums from the firstand were nearly always together. Mike was popular with all because ofhis many fine qualities, aside from the marvelous treats he occasionallygave in singing. One boy formed so marked a fancy for him that Mike didnot like it because he could not respond. This was Hoke Butler,--he whohad tried to play the eavesdropper the night before. Something about himwhich could not be defined repelled Mike, and caused him to avoid or atleast to try to avoid his company. Perhaps it was Butler's habit ofboisterous laughter when no one else saw any cause for mirth, hisdisposition to slap the knee or shoulder of the boy nearest him, and hisgreediness at meals. Be that as it may, Mike did not like him, thoughtoo considerate to hurt his feelings by showing his sentiments.
Alvin and Chester were pleased, when they supposed all the boys had leftthe bungalow, to see Butler come up the steps, take his place besideMike and give his knee a resounding slap.
"Hello, old chap! what are you going to do to-day?" he asked in hisboisterous manner.
"I'm thinking of doing as the ither byes do,--stroll through the woodson the lookout fur ostriches, kangaroos, monkeys or anything that turnsup."
"Good! that's me; I'll go with you!"
"Who said ye would?" asked the disgusted Mike, as Alvin winked atChester.
"I did; didn't you hear me?"
"But ye don't know where I'm going."
"That makes no difference; I'm with you straight through."
The chance was too good for Alvin and Chester to let slip. The face ofthe former brightened with hypocritical comradeship.
"Now isn't that fine? Mike, you're in luck."
"As Larry Bergen remarked whin he found he had one finger lift after thepistol busted in his hand."
"How nice it will be to have Butler with you the whole day!" Chester wasmean enough to add.
"Aren't you three going together?" asked the surprised interloper.
"We are particular as to our company," said Alvin; "Chester and I traveltogether while Mike goes alone,--that is to say he would do so if youhad not come along in time."
"That's me! I'm always glad to oblige."
"Thim chaps," said Mike, who was too game to wince though none the lessresolved to baffle his chums, "are two babes in the wood; it will bemighty kind of ye, Butler, to go along and kaap an eye on 'em."
"Now, don't you see there are two of them, and it will be the same withyou and me, which is the right way to divide up? Just the idea, oldchap!" And Butler whacked the knee of Mike, who made a grimace at thegrinning Alvin and Chester. "Tell you what, Mike, I took a shine to youfrom the first; we must be pals."
"You've hit it, Butler; we shall be glad to loan you Mike whenever youwant him."
"That will be all the time," roared the interloper, "won't it, Mike?"
"It begins to look that way," was the lugubrious response of the victim.
Alvin and Chester rose to their feet, the former remarking:
"We'll see you at supper. Take good care of Mike, who is so innocentthat he is sure to run into trouble unless you hold him back. Mike, besure to obey him just as you do us."
And the two stepped from the porch and set off in the direction of thecabin of Uncle Elk, looking back in time to see their friend shake hisfist at them.
"It looks as if I was catched," mused Mike, "as the man said whin hestepped into a bear trap, but I'll aven up matters wid thim beforethey're much older."
"Isn't it time we started?" asked Butler, after the others haddisappeared.
"Yis," replied Mike standing up, "but I can't depart widout me buckthorncane. Bide here till I go into the house and git the same."
"I know where you left it leaning against the wall; I'll fetch it."
And before he could be anticipated, Butler darted through the open doorand brought out the heavy stick.
"Always ready to do what I can for you, Mike; anything else?"
"Yis; I'll be obleeged if ye'll chase after thim spalpeens and ask AlvinLandon to send me that five dollars he borrered yesterday."
"Of course; they haven't got far and I'll be back in a jiffy."
"Don't let him sneak out of it, but hang on till he coughs up."
"You bet I will!"
The obliging youth scooted off the porch and after the couple who haddisappeared only a few moments before. Mike waited only until he wasbeyond sight, when he hurried in the opposite direction and dived amongthe trees, as if he were a criminal fleeing from an officer of the law.
Meanwhile the obliging Butler made haste to do as requested. He wasfleet of foot, and had no trouble in overtaking Alvin and Chester, whowere walking at a moderate pace, made still more moderate by theirmerriment over the clever way in which they had gotten the best of Mike.
"It isn't often we can do it," said Alvin, "but we caught him fair thattime. Hoke will stick like a leech to him--hello! what's up now?"exclaimed the lad, as the sound of footsteps caused both to look around.
"Gracious!" gasped Chester, "it can't be Mike has persuaded him to gowith _us_!"
"Hold on a minute!" called Butler.
The two halted and Alvin asked reproachfully:
"Why have you deserted Mike, when he wants you so badly?"
"I haven't deserted him; he and I are going to have a day's rambletogether."
"Then what are you doing here?"
"He asked me to run after you and get the five dollars he loan
ed youyesterday."
"Chest, have you got any money with you?" asked the astonished Alvin; "Ihave only a Canadian quarter."
"I haven't even that. I did the same as you, and left all my funds inthe house."
"You see what Mike is up to; it's a trick of his to get rid of thisfellow."
Addressing the latter, Alvin added:
"That's what I call a low down piece of business; why didn't he ask uswhen we were at the house?"
"I reckon he didn't think of it; hurry up, please; I don't want to keephim waiting."
"Well, you can't help it, for we haven't a dollar between us. Hurry backto him and say for us that we shall settle with him to-night when youand he come back."
"Honest now, is that the best you can do?"
"It certainly is; if you don't hurry Mike will grow tired of waiting foryou."
Alarmed at the probability, Butler dashed away like a deer, while Alvinand Chester hurried in the other direction with a view of being out ofreach should the young man return.
But Hoke did not come back. He had set his heart on rejoining his chosenfriend and bent his energies to that end.
After walking briskly for a half mile, Alvin and Chester slowed down andtook matters more easily. They were so deep in the woods that they couldsee nothing of the lake, but they had become familiar with the route andwere in no fear of going astray. When quite near the cabin of Uncle Elk,they saw three other Boy Scouts wandering among the trees, one of themwith note book in hand. He was making entries and all were so engaged inthe pleasant task that it was easy for Alvin and Chester to avoid beingseen as they changed their course. Soon after they came in sight of thelog structure where their old friend made his home. Halting while stillamong the trees, their position gave them a view of the front of thebuilding and the upper part of the path which wound its way down to thelake. The latch-string was hanging outside the door with everything asstill and motionless as the tomb.
"Well, now that we have arrived," remarked Alvin in an undertone, "whatare we going to do?"
"I don't see that anything is to be gained by calling upon Uncle Elk,but, if he catches sight of us, we shall have to drop in on him. He issure to treat us well."
"Hello! we are not the only ones," said Chester, as he and his chumstepped back behind the trunk of a large white oak.
The heads and shoulders of two men came into sight as they walked slowlyup the path from the landing which they had evidently reached in a boat.A few paces brought them into plain sight, one directly behind the otherand approaching the door of the cabin.
The first thought of the boys was that they were the tramps who had beenmaking nuisances of themselves in the neighborhood for the last fewdays, but a second look made it clear they were not, for nothing intheir appearance suggested the wandering vagrant. The striking factabout them was they were so similar in looks that it was evident theywere twin brothers. The similarity extended to their clothing. They worestraw hats set well back on their heads, coarse shirts without tie orwaistcoat, and dark trousers whose bottoms were tucked into a pair ofboots that did not quite reach their knees. The two were of sandycomplexion and each had a tuft of yellow whiskers on his chin, which wasof the retreating order.
"They must be the men Mike heard chuckling together last night, thoughhe did not see them," was the conclusion of Chester, and his companionagreed with him.
"And they seem as much pleased as ever."
Both wore a broad grin, and the one in front, half turning his head,said something which caused the other to laugh out loud.
Before the visitors reached the door, it was drawn inward by Uncle Elk,who appeared, staff in hand, as if about to start on a tramp through thewoods. At sight of the young men, he paused and called:
"I am glad to see you, Asa and Bige; I was about to hunt you up, butthis saves me the trouble; come in."
He shook the hand of each in turn and the three passed from sight, thehost closing the door behind them.
"And now what shall we do?" asked the perplexed Alvin; "we have seen twostrangers go into the cabin and they are talking together, but we can'thear a word that is said nor learn a thing."
"That remains to be seen; let's follow them, as we have the right to doso long as the latchstring hangs outside."
This proposal would have been carried out had not the necessity beenremoved by the persons in whom they were interested. The doorunexpectedly opened and the trio came out, Uncle Elk leading, staff inhand, and the others following in Indian file. They passed down the pathtoward the lake and were soon shut from sight by the intervening treesand undergrowth.
Alvin and Chester were sure their presence had not been noted, and theyheld back until safe against being seen. Then they moved stealthily downthe trail to a point where they had a clear view of the smooth sheet ofwater. A hundred yards away, a small canoe was gliding at moderate speedtoward the other side, its course such that it would reach shore--unlessthe direction was changed--some distance west of Dr. Spellman's home. Inthe boat were seated Uncle Elk and the couple whom he had addressed asAsa and Bige, one of them swinging the paddle with the grace of aprofessional.
Keeping out of sight, the two youths watched the course of the boat,which gradually veered to the left.
"Uncle Elk has left his own canoe on the shore and we can use it if wewish to follow them," said Alvin.
"I don't think anything would be more foolish. In fact, Al, it strikesme that so far our part of the business is a failure. Those folks aregoing into the territory of Mike and I hope he will have better successthan we. He can't have less."
All the lads could do for the present was to watch and wait. The canoegrew smaller as it receded, and finally disappeared under theoverhanging limbs and vegetation at a spot which the boys agreed waseither where Mike Murphy had heard Asa and Bige laughing the nightbefore, or very near the spot. And, admitting that such was the fact,what did it all amount to?