CHAPTER XXI. ON THE TRAIL.
Tom Smith looked as though he were himself rather pleased over his find.Thad had an idea that the swamp guide had been basing a part of hisplans on some theory he had formed; and was tickled to discover how wellit had turned out.
Under his directions a guard was also set over the boat, with orders toremain in hiding, but constantly ready to spring upon the hunted party,in case he should manage to elude the main body, and make his way to thesecret hiding-place of his boat, with the intention of fleeing from theswamp.
And when all these little arrangements had been completed, Tom Smithpassed to the other side of the sedge grass, and showed them what seemedto be a sure-enough trail, leading directly into the scrub, andundoubtedly only recently made.
"Wait up for just a minute or so, will you, Tom?" said Thad; and whilethe boy did not go further in order to explain what he wished to do,when the other scouts saw him move hastily along, and drop down on hishands and knees beside the trail, somehow they just seemed toinstinctively guess what was in his mind and heart.
Thad was looking for the track of _little feet_ there; such as wouldbetray the fact that a child had accompanied the man when he passed toand fro from the boat to the secret hiding-place!
All of them fairly held their breath while waiting to hear the result ofthe scout-master's investigation. They knew what his ability was in theline of reading "signs," and felt no hesitation about believing that ifany one present could discover the impression of the girl's shoes in thesoil, Thad would.
He got up presently, and those who had seen him almost tenderly touchthe ground in certain places with his hand, knew before he said a wordthat his search had certainly met with abundant success.
"Yes, he has the girl along with him," Thad went on to say, softly,noticing the anxious faces of his chums; "and so far as that goes, thestory that was sent up North was true. But then, we will have to wait alittle before we know whether she is really his daughter or--littlePolly!" and his voice was very tender as he just softly breathed thatname which had been almost constantly in his mind of late.
The sheriff had drawn near the guide, and seemed desirous of learningsomething more about the expected hiding-place of the fugitive fromjustice; and thus having his hands doubly strengthened for theanticipated fray.
"Tell us a leetle more about it, Tom," he urged; "how did ye ever cometo think Jasper he'd be a keepin' undeh cover heah; and what does itlook like? We-all ain't agoin' to get a chanct to talk agin, I reckons,an' let it all be said an' done now."
The guide did not seem to be unwilling to rest a bit before starting outon the last leg of the "closing-in" process. And no doubt he quiteagreed with the sheriff in what the other said about the man who wasforewarned being doubly armed.
"Why, yuh see, Shurff," he began, softly, "I done took consid'ableint'rest in everything 'bout this heah ole swamp; an' when I fust cotchtheh story 'bout theh Jasper fambly, I investigates, an' larns how acupple o' theh boys used tuh hide out in the swamp days at a time, whentheh ole man he was riled at 'em, an' nobody ever cud find out whar theystayed."
"I see that same just got your spunk up," remarked the officer with agrin, "and ye was detarmined ye'd find it out fo' y'self, eh, Tom?"
"W'ich I did afore I was satisfied," continued the other, "an' we'en Ilarned as how a Jasper hed kim back, tuh disappear like to AlligatorSwamp, w'y, don't yuh see, I jest nat'rally concludes as how he must beone o' them as used to play hide an' seek thar. So I reckons I'd knowwhar tuh find theh same; an' arter runnin' acrost that ole boat whar wedid, I hain't any doubts 'bout hit. He's thar, as sure's my name'sThomas Beauregarde Smith."
"But tell us somethin' about the nest, now," urged the sheriff.
"This heah trail'll lead us plumb thar, see if she don't," remarked theguide, wagging his head with conviction. "Yuh see, tuh git tuh the placeit's fust necessary tuh cross a big bed o' muck whar a sunken ridgelies. I had tuh _feel_ my way acrost mighty keerful; 'cause if yuh takesa wrong step chances are yuh'll be up tuh yuh waist in mud; an' if so bethar hain't nobody 'round thet section tuh lend yuh a helpin' hand yuhkin make up yuh mind it's the end. I seen quicksand sum in my time, butthey ain't a sarkimstance alongside that muck fo' suckin' yuh in."
Bumpus tightened his fists as he heard this stated. He seemed to have asudden inspiration, or fear, and it was to the effect that if any singleperson in all that host were unlucky enough to slip from that concealedledge, and test the depth of that muck bed, he would be the wretchedvictim--was it not always the case that he had to play the part of the"goat" in any performance?
"But once over thet bad part an' the rest is easy sailin', Shurff," theguide went on to say, confidently, "fo' yuh see, they's a sorter woodedisland thar; an' outside o' them Jasper boys an' me, I done reckon ashow nobody ever did find theh way tuh git oveh thar. All I asks yuh istuh keep right still till we kin kinder s'round theh shack an' s'prisehim!"
"Then there is some sort of house, is there?" asked Thad, thinking againof the little girl, and what a cover over her head might mean in wetweather.
"I allow as thar be, suh; leastwise 'twar thar w'en I larst been oveh.You see, it happens as how the 'gators they don't use thet island, frumsum cause er other, an' so I neveh keered tuh stay thar any time; soit's ben sum yeahs sense larst I crossed. But I hain't forgot theh way,I reckons, an' I'll guide yuh thar, safe an' sound."
"Glad to heah ye say that, Tom," remarked the sheriff: "and fo' the sakeof this heah fine boy I sure hopes that we'll find his sister, too."
"Well," remarked Thad, turning his eyes toward the officer, with afeeling of gratitude in that Fortune had raised up such a sympatheticfriend just when they were in need of help; "you can be certain that I'mhoping all the while the same way. When we get back to town I'll findletters there from my uncle, and begging me to wire him how it has comeout; and I trust that the news I send will be just the one word:'Found!'"
"And as for me," Bumpus was heard to say, softly, "I'm also hoping toget a letter in answer to the one I wrote my ma on the way down, askingher if I'd delivered that medicine she sent me for. Hope to goodness theanswer is 'yes,' because it'll be a turrible load off my mind."
"Five cents' worth of worry, and you'd think it spelt ten thousanddollars!" jeered Giraffe; but he was careful to say this in the ear ofthe stout scout, for he did not want Thad to know he was still keepingup this badgering process.
"I don't care for the amount, and you know that," said Bumpus, in anirritable fashion that was strange for him, but might be laid to thecold in the head from which he had now been suffering for several days;"it's just the _principle_ of the thing that hurts me. My honor as ascout is in question. I hate to think of having failed the only motherI've got, when she trusted and depended on me. Get that, do you,Giraffe?"
"Oh! sure, only how many mothers would you expect to have?" the otherwent on; but Bumpus, having had his say, relapsed into a dignifiedsilence.
Thad had taken his position alongside the guide when they started outagain. As they now had a trail to follow there was no longer anynecessity for depending on the knowledge of Tom Smith, and his broadacquaintance with the intricacies of the swamp. Left to themselves thescouts could have easily carried the expedition safely along from thispoint; for they were well versed in the secrets of woodcraft.
And as he walked along by the side of Alligator Smith the scout-masterkept his fond gaze fastened, a part of the time, upon every freshindentation of those heels belonging to the shoes of the girl who was inthe company of the fugitive, Jasper.
What hopes and fears must be passing constantly through the mind of Thadas he contemplated those dainty footprints. Many and many a time had heyearned to be as well off as some of his chums, in the way of havingsome one near and dear to him, whom he could love and protect; and nowthat there seemed a possible chance of a little sister beingmiraculously given to him through the working of Fate, the boy couldhardl
y believe that he was not dreaming.
At the same time he did not forget his scout schooling, and that he mustalways be on the alert. So from time to time he would take his eyes awayfrom the faint trail ahead, to scan the bushes, and seek for any signthat might spell danger.
When a lesson has been well learned it soon becomes what might be called"second nature;" and so Thad, even in the present excited condition ofhis mind, could not help acting as he believed a sagacious scout shouldwhen on duty, and following in the wake of a dangerous man.
Perhaps it was a good thing he kept himself on the alert, for while TomSmith was a woodsman, and might have seen what attracted the attentionof the scout-master, there could be no telling. And had it not beendiscovered, they might have found what Giraffe would call "roughersledding" later on.
They happened to be in a particularly thick patch of scrub and woodlandwhere Thad felt more than half convinced that if the fugitive hadthought to lay any sort of trap the springing of which would give himwarning of the coming of enemies he must have chosen this place; when hemade a little discovery that caused him to instantly clutch the arm ofTom Smith, and say softly:
"Hold on!"
Others of the party gripped their guns, and looked eagerly around, underthe impression that Thad must have sighted a hovering figure back ofsome tree; and no doubt half expecting to hear the crash of a gun breakthe silence that hung over the spot. But nothing of the kind came topass. Instead, Thad drew the guide several steps along, and then pointedto the brush close at their feet.
"Well, what d'ye think of that?" Bumpus remarked, as he pushed forwardthe better to see; "if he hasn't put an old rope across the path just totrip us up, and make all the trouble he can."
Giraffe looked scornfully at the fat scout.
"Think so, do you, Bumpus?" he remarked, with a lofty sense of his ownsagacity. "Well, if you happened to trip over that same rope, chancesare now you'd hear a gun go off. P'raps the load _might_ miss you,though I don't see how anything could do that; but all the same, thebang of the gun'd tell Mr. Jasper it was time he took to the woods, andran like a scared rabbit. So you see what Thad's shut off by his find."