CHAPTER XII. WHAT A SCOUT STANDS FOR.
Things were certainly looking much more rosy now. With an experiencedswamp man to guide them, there would no longer be that danger of gettinglost that had kept hovering over their heads.
Then there was the white winged dove of peace in the camp in connectionwith the solving of the dreadful mystery that had been bothering Giraffeand some of the others, all in fact but Bumpus and Step Hen, for solong.
They sat around the fire, which did not feel at all uncomfortable,enjoying the communion with this "unique character," as Smithy privatelytermed the alligator skin collector.
"I been hearin' a heap 'bout this Boy Scout bizness," the man finallyremarked, after he had been observing many of the ways of the boys, thathad more or less connection with their patrol teaching; "an' I jestdon't git on tuh the objeck o' theh same. Be yuh agwine tuh grow up tuhbe sogers, an' is them uniforms a sign o' the same?"
"Oh! no, like a good many other people you've got the wrong idea of thisBoy Scout business, Mr. Smith," Thad told him. "In America, the movementhasn't anything whatever to do with the military spirit, except that ittries to make a boy follow out some of the rules that soldiers are boundby. He must try and be brave, obey when ordered by one in authority; berespectful to his superiors, and keep himself clean, both in mind andbody."
"Though they don't always do that last," interjected Davy Jones, as hecast a black look toward the lolling Bumpus; who only answered him by aderisive smile, and a good-natured nod.
"Tell me some more, son," said the guide, showing great interest. "Ifthem ijees kin be kerried out, I sure reckons I knows sum boys what hadorter jine the scout movement in a hurry."
"Oh! I couldn't begin to tell you a tenth of what scouts are supposed todo and know," Thad went on. "It's done the greatest lot of good for mostof us right here. Where a boy was weak and timid it makes him healthyand self-reliant. Where he may have been silly he becomes thoughtful,learning to _do_ things instead of having others do them for him. No boycan subscribe to the twelve rules that he does, without it making himbetter in every way."
"S'pose yuh tell me what them same rules be, son, 'case I'm thetint'rested I'd like tuh know," the guide went on to say.
It was a subject which Thad never wearied of talking about, because hiswhole heart was wrapped up in it.
"Why, here they are then," he remarked. "When a boy joins a patrol hehas to promise to observe what is called scout law. That is, he will dohis level best to be trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous,kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent."
"Well, now, thet same sounds good tuh me, son," the guide went on todeclare. "I jest don't know plumb all yuh mean by sum o' them words, butI git the ijee all right."
"And," continued Thad, "you can see that even in trying to do what hepromises, a boy is bound to stop telling lies, taking things that belongto others, talking meanly about his companions and all such things."
"Especially that last!" broke in Bumpus, giving Davy and Giraffe aneloquent glance as he spoke.
"Say, seems tuh me as how they might be a heap o' good in this heahscout bizness," Tom Smith remarked. "But how about fightin', son; yuhdidn't say anything on thet line."
"There's nothing said about it, except that a scout must keep the peaceunder all circumstances, unless as a last resort," Thad told him.
"Go on an' explain her some more, please; I don't jest ketch on tuhthet," the guide admitted.
"Why," said Thad, "there may be occasions when a scout could hardly beexpected to keep the peace, because he's a real flesh and blood boy, youknow, and not a saint."
"Sure thing," Alligator Smith remarked, with a grin, as he swept hiseyes around at the circle of eager boyish faces.
"If he should be set on by a superior force he would not be expected tostand and turn the other cheek, and be mauled," Giraffe broke in with.
"Thet is, he kin defend hisself, yuh mean?" Tom Smith asked.
"Yes, in an emergency," Thad told him. "Then again, if he happened tosee a big bully picking on a poor little chap, or a girl it might be,why, he'd be doing the right thing if he interfered."
"Even if he had to fight to get peace," chuckled Step Hen.
"But seems tuh me if this heah thing goes on it mout make the boyskinder timid. We needs brave men, such as kin go tuh war if need be. Ijest don't know how thet'll turn out, son."
"Well, I do," said the young scout-master, firmly. "I've hadconsiderable experience with boys who became scouts. I've known lots ofthem who waked up and became just the opposite to what they used to be.I've seen them stop going through the world as though they were wearinghorse's blinders, and then they found a thousand things that had beenaround them all the while, but they hadn't known it before. I've startedthem on the way to studying the habits of the birds, fishes, animals andinsects to be met with in the woods and waters until they seemed to livein a different world. I've watched sleepy, dull boys change intowide-awake, alert scouts, surprising their parents and teachers inschool by the new interest they took in life. But Mr. Smith, I give youmy word that I never yet knew of a true blue scout who was a coward!"
"Hear! hear!" cried Bob White, clapping his hands with delight.
"In fact," continued Thad, enthusiastically, "I've watched more than afew boys who were known to be next door to cowards, change into resolutefellows, brave and self-reliant. One went into a burning house and savedan old man at the risk of his own life. Another stopped a runaway horsewith as much skill as a policeman educated for the business might haveshown.
"I knew of another who saved a drowning chum, and I could tell you abouta boy who hung on to a thief who was robbing a woman on the street,taking a fearful pounding, yet keeping him from running away until helpcame, and then fainting. Yet that same boy was afraid of his own shadowup to the time he became a scout."
"I never heard theh like o' thet, son," declared the deeply interestedguide.
"'Pears like they hain't nawthin' a scout ain't ekal tuh."
"Nothing that's worth while, and that's the truth," Thad told him. "Theycan win merit badges by excelling in certain lines. If you look aroundright now, you'll perceive that every boy in this Silver Fox Patrol ofCranford Troop wears at least one medal or badge. And let me tell you,sir, a scout is as proud of his badge as anybody could be."
"Wall, wall, but sure this heah is int'restin' tuh me," the hunterassured his new friends. "And I'm right glad I run across you-all like Idone. Never wud a believed they was so much as was good in this heah BoyScout movement. Allers reckoned as how it mout be summat o' a lark, erelse jest agittin' recruits fo' the sojer job. Tell me a heap mo', son.I kin listen tuh yuh talk fo' hours."
And so Thad, assisted from time to time by his chums, managed to explainmany interesting details connected with Boy Scout lore.
It was a subject of which he never tired, and in which he believed,heart and soul.
Then in turn Thad asked questions, for he knew this man would be able totell them many interesting facts connected with swamp life.
In turn they heard just how alligators were hunted, usually at nighttime, with a blazing pine knot in the bow of the dugout, by means ofwhich "flare" their eyes could be "shined," so that a single shot wouldplace a victim to the credit of the hide hunter; also how the skins weretaken off, roughly cured, and what price they brought in the market.
Then the willing guide told how he trapped all such animals as muskrats,raccoons, otter, foxes and others that possessed fur worth securing.Thad knew something about Northern methods along these lines, but hefound quite a difference in the way things were done down in Dixie.
"And now," the scout-master went on to say, "you've told us all aboutthe fur, fin and feather of this big swamp, how about the human beingswho live in it? We've been told they're a queer lot."
"Reckon yuh heared 'bout right, son," admitted the guide, with a smile,"fust thar be quite a few runaway c
onvicts, coons that dassent showthemselves back whar they kim from. How they lives I jest don't know,but my traps is empty more'n a few times, an' when I sees tracks o' barefeet alongside I changes the location o' thet Victor in a hurry. I meetup with a black now an' then, but they knows old Alligator Smith ain'tagwine tuh do 'em any hurt so they don't molest me none."
"Are there others besides?" asked Allan.
"Well, thar's a feller as I've seen right smart, an folks done say ashe's a bad money maker, what they calls a counterfeiter, though I jestdon't know how true that mout be."
"Whew!" broke in Step Hen, "I'd think a location in the heart ofAlligator Swamp would be a pretty safe place for such a mint to holdout. Not much danger of the detectives and revenue men dropping in onhim unexpected like."
"Any more?" asked Bumpus, so deeply interested by all this narrativethat he had been sitting there without moving for half an hour, his bighead supported by his cupped hands, and his round eyes glued onAlligator Smith's face.
"Thar's another feller as I knows on wot makes moonshine whisky, butonly in small lots, 'case he can't git the cawn he wants fo' his mash.Nobody ever bothers ole Pap Dody, an' he's done made his stuff yeahs andyeahs."
"Seems like this old swamp might hold a lot of queer people and theirsecrets?" remarked Giraffe, yawning.
"It certain do, son," replied the other, as he helped himself for thethird time to the strong coffee the boys had made for him. "But then yuhmust 'member as how she kivers a heap o' territory. I never did knowjest how many miles acrost from east to west this swamp is--anyway fromten to twenty, and nigh as far from no'th to south. But I forgot tuhtell yuh 'bout the voodoo doctor or medicine man."
"Oh! is there one of those horrible negro wizards around here?" andSmithy shuddered as he put the question, showing that he must have readmore or less on the subject.
"He holds out on the other side, so we ain't likely tuh run acrost him,"Tom Smith went on. "They be heaps o' the blacks as goes regular tuh seehim, an' I been told as how they hev a regular heathen fetish worshipand dance like over in Afric. But they ain't never offered up any humansacrifice, as I heard tell on. If they knows what's good fo 'em they'llfight shy o' thet. The planters 'round hyah wouldn't stand fo' no sechgoings on as thet, nohow."
As the boys were showing signs of weariness, and the hour had grownlate, the scout-master decided they had talked themselves out for oneevening.
And so he went around to make sure that everything was secure, the boatsprotected as on the preceding night, the paddles, as well as all else ofvalue taken into the tents, and every object calculated to tempt aprowling negro looked after.
The guide declared that he had no need of shelter, but would lie on theground. And woe to the thief, either on two legs or four, who attemptedto invade the camp while he was around.
His presence gave the boys much comfort.
They could lie down now and go to sleep without worrying about thepossibility of unwelcome visitors. And as for Thad he shook hands withhimself in imagination every time he stopped to think what a great thingthe coming of Alligator Smith meant, connected with the carrying out ofhis plans.
All doubt could now be set aside. They were not going to be lost, as hadon several occasions threatened to be the case. And when the mysteriousman and girl were finally found, perhaps Thad's fondest hopes would berealized.