CHAPTER VIII.
THE MEN OF THE ISLAND.
Once on board the _Carrier Dove_ the mystery was deepened. There was nota trace of Pork Chops, though his blankets lay apparently just as theyhad been thrown aside when he leaped up at the invasion of themotor-boat intruders. Frank lit a lantern and naturally the first thingthe boys hastened to investigate was whether any harm had come to thecases containing the frame of _The Golden Eagle II_. To theirunspeakable relief everything was intact, nor did any of the boxes showtraces of having been tampered with.
"The whole thing seems inexplicable," mused Harry.
"Not at all," replied Frank, "I suppose that they figured we were asleepashore and sneaked up in their motor-boat to rifle our possessions."
"Yes, but why did they carry off Pork Chops?" protested Billy; "forunless they threw him overboard, they must have taken him,--unless he'sbeen carried off by mosquitoes."
"They would naturally have carried him off as I figure it," rejoinedFrank, "not wishing to have him meet us and describe the appearance ofour visitors."
"That sounds good horse sense," put in Ben Stubbs. "And in my opinionthem chaps in the motor-boat was the same limpets as stuck around theaerodrome in White Plains," he continued sagely.
"I don't think there's much doubt of that, Ben," replied Frank, "thething is how did they get here?"
"Wall, the rate we've been coming it would have been mighty easy forthem in a light draught motor-boat to have kept track of us from nearinshore if they had a good glass," rejoined Ben.
"But how did they trace us to Miami?" puzzled Harry.
"Easy enough," replied Billy, "I've done it dozens of times--tracedpeople I mean. I guess they just looked up the baggage man and foundwhere our stuff was checked to."
"Of course I ought to have guessed that," exclaimed Frank. "It's reallytoo mortifying," he concluded in a vexed tone.
"Consarn 'em," muttered Ben, embracing his rifle longingly, "I'd like toget 'em quartered off this sight. I'd drop a precious bad pair of birdsin a couple of shots."
"No use thinking of that now," rejoined Frank, briskly shaking off hisannoyance over what couldn't be helped, "the thing to do at present isto finish our night's sleep and set a watch. We don't want those fellowscoming back and blowing the boat up."
It was agreed that Ben Stubbs was to sit up and take the watch, and thathardy veteran himself had no small share in influencing the verdict. Hefelt that he as the oldest of the party and the more experienced shouldhave the responsibility in case real trouble was to come. The boys werenot long, even after the exciting interruption to their slumbers, insinking to sleep again on the transoms in the summer cabin of the_Carrier Dove_. As for Ben he sat up on the after deck with his riflebetween his knees till the moon went down and the stars began to wane.And all the time he never took his eyes off the shore where the dyingcamp-fire still spread a reddish glow against the blackness of the thickjungle tangle.
He might have been watching an hour when he gave a sudden start.
"Well that's queer too," he remarked to himself, as he fixed his eyeswith stern intensity on the little glow of light thrown out by theembers. A dark figure had cautiously crossed the illumination, standingsilhouetted for a moment against it. Suddenly a loud "hoo-hoo" like thehoot of an owl sounded from the shore. The same moment in the oldadventurer's reckless heart was borne a resolve which bore fruit when atdawn, as the rim of a glorious sun poked itself over the sparkling blueexpanse of waters, and showed them vacant, he drew in the Squeegee'spainter and slipped lightly into her. He sculled ashore and approachingthe camp crouched almost on his hands and knees. He examined the groundclosely for a few minutes, as if in keen search of something. After afew minutes of this concentrated scrutiny he suddenly straightened upand strode off unhesitatingly into the jungle. But as he parted thecreepers before him he gripped his rifle in the crotch of his arm withhis finger on the trigger. He was not going to be taken by surprise.
The green mystery of the forest had not long closed on Ben's stalwartform when the boys awoke as the sunlight streamed through thecanvas-curtains of the _Carrier's Dove's_ "main saloon". Rubbing theireyes sleepily they hastened out on deck. For a few seconds the glory ofthe tropic dawn engrossed their attention to the exclusion of all else.Then with a cry of alarm Lathrop shouted:
"The Squeegee's gone!"
"Gone?" echoed the others.
For answer Lathrop pointed to the stern. It was true, no Squeegee swungthere at her painter. It was only a fraction of time before the absenceof Ben Stubbs was also discovered. For a minute a dark thought crossedFrank's mind,--but he dismissed it as unworthy, and was glad he did, forsuddenly Billy shouted:
"Why, there's the Squeegee ashore."
They all looked and there, sure enough, lay their sneak-box where Ben, ashort time before, had deserted her.
"He must have gone ashore hunting," cried Harry.
Frank shook his head.
"He had some graver reason than that for going," he said.
"Well, let's swim ashore and find out what has become of him," criedLathrop, and indeed the turquoise water into whose depths one could see,did look tempting enough for an early morning plunge.
"It would be our last swim, Lathrop," remarked Frank, pointing as hespoke to a wicked-looking triangular black fin that cruised by.
"See that leg o' mutton?" he continued, "well, that's hitched onto theback of a man-eating shark and they don't encourage early morningbathing except for their larder's benefit."
As he spoke the monster glided close to the side of the _Carrier Dove_,perhaps in search of ship scraps, for which sharks will sometimes followships for days to satisfy their insatiable appetites. With anill-concealed shudder Lathrop watched the great shadowy body flit by thesloop's side, with a wicked little pig-like eye cocked knowingly up, asmuch as to say:
"Any breakfast ready yet?"
"I like those fellows less than the snakes," exclaimed Lathrop.
When the laugh at his expense had subsided Frank suggested that they getinto canoes at once and go ashore to discover what had become of Ben.The proposal was greeted as a good one and in short time the light craftwere overboard and the boys paddling with all their might for the shore.Lathrop kept his eyes steadily ahead all the way, nor did he once lookat the transparent water about them which, as the sun got higher, beganto swarm with black fins and queer ill-shaped monsters of thedeep,--jew-fish, rays, and huge sun-fish,--which seen through the waterlooked like so many ill-shaped dragons. On shore the boys hastened atonce to their camp-fire of the night before. Its ashes were strewnabroad but in the gray dust, Frank, with an exclamation of surprise,made out the numerous indentations of a queer-shaped flat foot--it wasthe same mark that had made Ben set off through the jungle. But theboys, less expert than he, could not track their way by looking out forbent ferns or broken bits of undergrowth.
A council of war was held. There were some of the leavings of the feastof the night before in the cooking-pots, and on these and some coffeebrought ashore in the small emergency box fitted into each canoe, theymade a satisfactory breakfast, after which, as the result of theirconfab, it was decided to attempt to circumnavigate the island in thecanoes. By this means they thought they were pretty sure of finding Benas the fact that the spot of land being unchartered argued against itsbeing of any considerable size.
In fifteen minutes the canoes were underway and rapidly skirting theisland. On the smooth water they made swift progress and in little morethan an hour had rounded the southerly point and were working their wayup the other coast. The island had turned out to be even smaller thanthey thought. They were opposite a pretty little bay in which, insteadof the everlasting mangroves, an inviting little strip of pure whitesand, fringed by a green palm grove, sloped down to the water, whensuddenly their ears were saluted by a shot from the woods.
"Ben Stubbs!" was their simultaneous thought and the canoes were at onceheaded for
the shore.
Having landed, the boys with loud shouts of "Ahoy, Ben!" dashed upthrough the woods which, to their astonishment, were threaded at thispoint by a path--a crude track certainly, but still a path. They did notgive much time to the consideration of their surroundings however, theirminds being bent on finding Ben. Suddenly out of the brush right aheadthere sounded the "hoo-hoo" of an owl. Now even Lathrop was enough of anaturalist to know that owls do not hoot in the broad daylight, so theyall stopped and exchanged wondering glances.
"Well, that's a new one," remarked Billy sententiously.
"Who ever heard of an owl that knocked about in the sunlight before?"added Lathrop.
"Even in this enchanted land," concluded Harry.
Frank put all further speculation to rout by exclaiming, as the hoot wasrepeated from a further recess of the forest, and yet again in the stillfurther distance:
"That is not an owl's hoot, boys. It's a signal given by some humanbeing."
No wonder the boys looked startled. After the adventure of the previousnight they had good reason to distrust any human being they mightencounter on the island. Whoever the inhabitants were they certainly hadno good will toward the young adventurers, so much at least was patentlyevident.
"Well, come on, boys," cried Frank at last, "There's no use stoppinghere," he added, as the "hoo-hoo" sounded uncannily from right behindthem, "our escape to the boats is cut off."
With grave looks they followed their young leader down the blind trailthat led to they knew not what. Suddenly, and without an instant'swarning, a number of wild-looking, unkempt men and youths sprang out ofthe dense growth as if they had sprouted from the earth. They allcarried ancient Winchesters and one or two even had an old-fashionedflint-lock. Their clothes were ragged to a degree. As ragged in fact astheir hair and beards. With their thin, peaked noses, sunken cheeks, andwild, hawk-like eyes they were sinister looking specimens.
"What d'ye want y'ar, strangers?" demanded one in a high nasal voice.
"We came ashore on a hunting trip," rejoined Frank.
At this all the crackers set up a loud roar of laughter.
"You 'uns are hunting big game, we reckon," remarked a gangling youth intattered blue homespun.
There was an angry murmur. Things looked just about as bad as they couldwhen suddenly an unexpected diversion occurred. A wild-looking youngwoman, whose movements, despite her miserable rags, were as graceful asthose of a wild fawn, dashed through the jungle and appeared in themiddle of the group which hemmed the boys in.
"Josh, you're a fool. Jed, you're another, and you too, Amelech, andWill. Why for don't you alls bring they 'uns into camp?"
The men all looked sheepish.
"Yer see--," began one.
The girl stamped her foot impatiently.
"You alls ain't none of yer got no more sense than so many loons," shecried angrily. "Don't you 'uns see that they 'uns is Black Bart'sfriends?"
The men looked incredulous, but nevertheless their attitude changed.
"Wall, bein' that's the case, come ahead, strangers," said the tall manwho had first spoken and, with their wild escort clustering about them,the wondering boys followed him down the dim trail.
Of who Black Bart might be or where they were going they had not theslightest idea, but that Black Bart's influence was so far favorable tothem there seemed no reason to doubt.