CHAPTER II
THE GAME POACHER, JEM SHOCK
RUFUS had involuntarily halted the car at the very instant the shot washeard, so that the boys were stationary at the time the deer leaped pastthem.
"Oh! what a beaut!" exclaimed George Robbins.
"The equal of any Scotch stag I ever saw in the preserves!" echoed Alec,who had stared with eyes that were round with wonder.
"But somebody shot at him, all the same, don't you know, and the closeseason on in the bargain," Lil Artha hastened to say, indignantly.
"Hush! here he comes!" observed Elmer.
They all heard a hasty trampling sound, as though someone might behurrying through the bushes close by. It came from exactly the samequarter from which the alarmed buck had appeared.
Then a moving figure caught the gaze of the five scouts. A burly man,roughly dressed, strode into view. He stared at the car and itsoccupants, as though he considered the boys to be mostly responsible forhis recent ill-luck.
"Howdye, mister," sang out Lil Artha, not to be cowed by angry looks;"are we on the right road for Raccoon Bluff, would you mind telling us?"
Suspicion lay in the look which the man was now bending on them. Heacted as if he imagined they might be more than they seemed; for aguilty conscience can discover a game warden in every inoffensivetraveler, especially when the culprit is suddenly caught in the very actof trying to kill a deer out of season.
"Raccoon Bluff ain't far ahead o' ye, if that's whar ye happen tuh beheadin' fur," he told them grumblingly; "but might I arsk what yuha-doin' away up here in this forsaken kentry?"
"Oh!" Lil Artha told him blithely, "we're off on a little trip, and meanto spend a week or so under canvas around this section. You see, thefather of the young fellow at the wheel here, Rufus Snodgrass, ofHickory Ridge, has lately come into possession of some property up thisway, and we're going to find out if it's been surveyed right and proper.If you see our smoke some time or other, drop in and have a little chinwith us, stranger. We nearly always have the coffeepot on the fire, andthe latch-string is out."
Perhaps the man may have understood this sort of a genial invitation,but all the same he gave no indication of being pleased because of it.The look of suspicion could still be noticed about his dark face, and hetwisted his rifle about in his hands kind of nervously, as though hewished he could keep it from being seen.
"I reckon I ain't a-goin' tuh bother ye much, strangers," he mumbled. "Igot my own business tuh look arter. Yuh see, I'm the assistant gamewarden o' this region, an' it takes a heap o' trampin' tuh kiver myterritory."
With an odd sort of chuckle and grin he nodded his head toward them, andthen whirling on his heel vanished amidst the scrub. They soon losttrack of his retreating footsteps.
Lil Artha laughed in his peculiar way.
"Huh! smoked the coon out, didn't I? Game warden, did he call himself?Whoo! to think of his colossal nerve! I bet you any warden in the Statewould give a month's salary to have been here, and caught him in the actof shooting at a deer when the law is on."
"Then he was a braw poacher, was he?" burst from Alec. "Aweel, I canfeel for him in a way, because, to tell you the truth, lads, I've snaredmy hare more than a few times across the big water. But then it'sdifferent there, because all the game country is owned by rich dukes andlords, and the poor man hasn't any show; while over here all he has todo is to tramp off into the wild woods for a couple of days, and takehis chances.
"Elmer, do you think that could have been Jem Shock?" asked Rufus justthen.
The patrol leader showed his surprise, for up to then he did not knowthat Rufus had ever heard that name; at least, the other had kept hisknowledge to himself, for some reason or other.
"I'm pretty sure that's who he is," he told the boy at the wheel; "buthow did you know about him and his ways; when the farmer only told LilArtha and myself?"
Rufus chuckled, and looked wise.
"Oh! I plead guilty," he acknowledged. "I heard stories about Jem Shockbefore I left home, but I wasn't silly enough to pass them along to therest of the party, because some of you might have changed your minds,and found an excuse for not coming on the trip."
Lil Artha snorted indignantly.
"Now, don't get mad, Lil Artha," said Rufus, promptly.
"Oh! I'm not riled so much because you kept your knowledge to yourself,Rufus," the tall scout told him; "but on account of you thinking Elmer,George and myself could be shooed off by such a little thing as that. Ifyou looked back at the history of the Wolf Patrol you'd find that theboys belonging to it have all been through a heap of excitement. We'veexposed so-called ghosts, had adventures with ugly hobo bands, been inforest fires, fought floods and--well, time wouldn't allow me toenumerate one-half of the things that have befallen us."
"That's enough, Lil Artha," said Elmer, seeking to soothe thelong-legged scout, and pour oil on the troubled waters. "Rufus will cometo know us better after he's graduated from the tenderfoot class. Butsuppose we start on again. That incident is closed. We may and we maynot see more of Jem Shock. For myself, I'm half hoping I do, becausehe's something of a character, and opens up a new type for a fellow tostudy."
"So far as I'm concerned," observed Rufus, scornfully, "I hope we neverrun across him again. He looked like a bad egg to me, and his eyes had awicked stare in them, that I didn't like."
"Oh! that can be easily accounted for," said Elmer, as the car once morecommenced to glide along the rough woods-road. "You see, in the firstplace he had that feeling of guilt that makes a rascal look at all therest of the world as his enemies. Then again I half imagine Jem thinksthe game wardens are back of our coming up to this neck of the woods."
"Game wardens, Elmer!" exclaimed Alec; "how could that be, and whatwould scouts have to do with the officers of the State?"
"Well, scouts seem to have a hand in a good many things that areconnected with keeping the laws, and making communities live on a higherstandard," the patrol leader explained. "I could tell you of dozens ofthings our troop has been connected with along those lines. And whyshouldn't they enter into an arrangement with the head warden to getevidence against some of these guides who kill deer out of season, andhotel proprietors who offer it to their guests as 'mountain sheep'?"
Alec apparently was a bit puzzled to understand all this, and so LilArtha, leaning forward, took occasion to explain it more fully as theycontinued on.
They were passing into an even wilder section of country than any thusfar encountered. Not a sign of the white man's presence could they seeexcept in some sections where the original timber had been cut awayyears back, and a second growth now covered the land; with here andthere an old forest monarch left to overtop its neighbors like a giantlooking down on a pigmy host.
"This just suits me to a fraction," Lil Artha was saying, as they beganto ascend what seemed to be another rise of land. "Why, it's as freefrom the restraints of civilization as that Adirondack region where wewent with Toby Jones last winter, to visit his hermit uncle, Caleb, whowas living all by himself in the heart of the wilderness. My lands! ifonly I thought we'd have half as much fun on this trip as we ran acrossthen, I'd be happy as a clam at high tide."
"Perhaps we will," Elmer told him. "You never can tell what's ahead ofyou when starting out on one of these trips."
He was thinking at the time of Jem Shock, and wondering whether thepoacher might not take it into his head to make things interesting forthem during their stay along Raccoon Ridge. Secretly Elmer was almosthoping he _would_ see something more of the strange man. He wondered howJem lived; what his ambition, providing he had any, might be; whether hecared for a single human creature besides himself in all the wideworld--these and many more thoughts were gripping Elmer's mind, and hecould not shake them off.
Although, of course, he did not know it at the time, still it was fatedthat the golden opportunity he so eagerly sought was destined to comehis way under conditions of a peculiar nature. But of that more anon,since it would be
hardly fair to lift the curtain now, and disclose thepresence of coming events long before they were due to arrive.
"Don't you think this must be the place they call Raccoon Bluff, Elmer?"asked George just then, as they continued to climb the rise by means ofthe winding road, so seldom used that Rufus had the greatest difficultyin forcing the car over exposed roots and outcropping rocks.
"I've been looking around," explained the scout leader, "and accordingto what that farmer told me, I'm sure this is our destination. We cankeep our eyes on the lookout for a suitable camp site right along now.There'll be plenty of time for us to get our tent fixed, and a lot ofother things done, before sunset comes."
"Well, we seem to have mounted to the crest of the bluff, if that's whatthis rough piece of ground turns out to be," said Rufus, with a sigh ofrelief, for at times he had found it hard work navigating the roughroad, and occasionally he almost feared they would have to get out andwalk the balance of the way.
A couple of minutes later and Elmer called out to him to stop the car.
"I think I glimpse a dandy place for a camp over yonder!" was what thepatrol leader remarked to the others, pointing as he spoke. "And seewhat a glorious view we'll have all the time we're here."
They faced the west, where the sun was heading toward the horizon,though a good two hours must elapse before he sank from view. Throughopenings in the dense forest they could obtain fine glimpses of distantparts. It was really as delightful an outlook as any of the scouts hadever gazed upon. Alec McGregor, accustomed to those Scotch mountainviews, was loud in his admiration.
So Rufus brought the car as near the camp site as was possible, and thenall of them leaped out. Filled with a burning desire to get thingsstarted they proceeded to carry the cargo of the big touring car acrossthe intervening ground.
Lil Artha, George and the leader held a brief discussion as to the exactspot that was most suitable for erecting their waterproof tent, renderedso through a process of tanning that changed its color to correspondwith their own khaki-hued garments.
This important detail being finally settled they began work. Alec andRufus, being tenderfeet, of course had to be told about everything theyattempted; but as the spirit of willingness was strong upon them in thebeginning, they carried out orders cheerfully enough.
Elmer was looking for that inherent weakness on the part of Rufus tocrop out, and sure enough it came to the surface before they had been afull hour on the ground. The tent having been properly set, and afireplace built after the most approved scout fashion by Lil Artha, withthe two new fellows taking accurate notes so they could in turn carryout a similar task, Rufus was set to work chopping firewood, while Alechad been given another job connected with making a drain on the upperside of the tent.
"That is so the water will run aside, and not flood us out," explainedGeorge, who was directing operations in this quarter. "You see, we mayhave a whopping big storm while we're up here, and again not a drop ofrain may fall; but all the same a true scout gets things ready to meetan emergency. That's what our motto 'Be Prepared' stands for. It's asort of insurance against possible loss by fire. Your house may neverburn down; in fact, you don't expect it ever will, but you take out afire policy all the same, if you're a wise dicky."
"I get what you are telling me, George," admitted the shrewd Scotch lad,"and all the while I'm understanding this scout business better. There'sa muckle mair in it that I used to ken, but I like the way it turns out;and I'm o'er glad now I joined the ranks o' the scouts."
Meanwhile Rufus was having his troubles a-plenty. Evidently he was notvery well posted as to the best way of handling an ax, though he swungthe tool with quite a lusty stroke, Elmer noticed. For some little timehe managed to smash a certain amount of wood, but finally he seemed tohave run across a section of hard oak that was giving him a lot oftrouble.
He stopped several times to wipe his reeking forehead with his big redbandanna. Elmer could see him shake his head as though he felt that hewas up against a hard proposition. For some time the scout leader didnot interfere. When, however, he saw Rufus throw the ax down petulantly,as though determined to give the job up as a bad bargain, Elmerconcluded the moment had come for him to take a hand in the game andpilot the tenderfoot through his initial troubles.
As a greenhorn in camp, Rufus must be expected to do considerable of thefuel getting; and in order to meet his duties with the least possiblefriction and trouble, the sooner he learned how to handle an axproperly, the better for his peace of mind. Besides, Elmer did not liketo see that "white flag" business. He disliked a quitter above allthings; and was grimly determined that before that camp broke up thesaid Rufus would have learned a lesson or two that would be profitableto him.