XVIII
THE VIGILANT GUARD
It had been arranged between Jack and his mate that it would be just aswell for them to fetch their blankets ashore and settle down on the sandfor the remainder of the night.
In the first place, Jack thought it would not look very nice if theywent aboard their anchored amphibian and left poor Suzanne there alone.Although she had not mentioned the matter at all, he felt sure it hadgiven her a few qualms and that in her mind she really hoped they mightdecide to camp there by the fire.
Then again it would add to the girl's peace of mind, should she chanceto be lying awake, unable to lose herself because of the haunting fearsconnected with the mystery of Buddy's fate, to raise her head and lookaround to always find that cheery fire blazing, dispersing the gloom inthe immediate vicinity.
Last of all neither of them was so fond of doubling up and trying toforget their bodily discomforts aboard their crate, that they couldafford to pass up a golden opportunity to sleep on solid ground, thoughto be sure they were able to make the best of anything when duty bound.
So Perk went aboard by means of their ferry and returned with both dingygray blankets as well as something to serve as pillows, since they hadnever made it a point to travel with such "soft stuff" as Perk alwaysscornfully termed them.
"You turn in whenever you feel like it, Boss," Perk had said with agrin. "I'm not a bit sleepy, it happens an' 'sides I jest feel likehavin' another whiff or two--somehow this 'baccy seems sweeter to methan I ever knowed it to be."
"It should," Jack told him, and evidently there must have been asignificant emphasis attached to those two words to make Perk look soqueer and finally grin in a most ridiculous way like a boy caughtrobbing the jam jar or the cookey pot, and at a loss to explain thesituation.
Accordingly Jack rolled himself up in his covers, fixed his head rest tosuit his own notion, turned his back on the blazing fire and lost allinterest in everything saving getting his fair quota of slumber.
Perk sat there and smoked three pipes one after the other. Then feelinga little draught of cool air on his back he dragged his blanket to him,wrapped it around his form, and gun across his knees, continued to sitwith his back against a big boulder he had rolled down the sandy stretchfor some purpose or other.
He continued to sit there like one of the sentries they say were foundat their posts when the ruins of Herculaneum were cleared of theaccumulated ashes of centuries, close to the grim old volcano. Provinghow in those military days a soldier stuck to his post though theheavens might fall upon him.
Twice Perk got up, threw an armful of fuel on the dying fire, smoked around of that "sweet" tobacco, cast a look of concern over toward wherethe stranded plane lay, shook his head doggedly and resumed his formerposition alongside the big boulder.
Apparently he had resolved to stay on duty throughout the entire night,and since Perk had a vein of doggedness in his disposition the chanceswere he would stick to his guns.
Perk may not have noticed it, but more than few times his chum'scovering would move just a trifle, allowing him to peep out and on eachoccasion Jack would chuckle as if vastly entertained, after which it wassleep again for him.
Midnight came and went.
Stars shone down upon the lonesome camp, gradually wheeling westwarduntil each in turn passed beyond the lofty rim of the canyon walls whileothers climbed the eastern heavens to take their turn at peeping andeventually follow the track of those who were by that time doubtlesssetting beyond the genuine western horizon.
It must have been something like two in the morning when Perk waking upfrom a disturbed nap, in which he was beset by a pack of savage timberwolves with only a stout cudgel as a means of defense, caught a soundthat sent a delightful quiver chasing up and down his spine.
"By gum! what was _that_ now?" he asked himself, at the same time movingthe gun from his knee to a more elevated position.
His tingling nerves announced the delight that filled his heart incontemplation of a possible chance to show how he could play guardian toa camp where innocence slept. Suddenly awakened from such a wild dream,Perk was in fine condition to see a pack of ferocious, gray, hungry,four-footed pirates of the waste places creeping up here, there,everywhere, with the intention of taking the camp by strategy anddevouring every solitary inmate.
His fire happened to be low so that the light even close by could hardlybe called worth while. Again Perk caught some sort of sound--to hisexcited mind it seemed similar to an animal's nails scratching the drysand just at that point where the high river tide was wont to reach itspeak during the flood season.
Perk redoubled his efforts to see something moving while he nervouslyfingered his modern shooting iron, so radically different from those oldguns used by the pioneer settlers of the virgin West in the early daysof the far-flung frontier.
Now his quivering changed its character to certainty and rapture. Mostsurely he had caught a fleeting glimpse of some object that was slowlyand cautiously creeping up toward the slumbering campfire.
A wolf--just one of the precious pack that had bothered him in his latedream--but then he had only himself to consider, whereas now it meantthree separate human lives in peril. How his teeth gritted as hementally called the slinking beast every opprobrious name he could thinkof, his finger meanwhile playing with the trigger that, once pulled,would start the long line of cartridges contained in the endless belt todischarging like a pack of firecrackers popping to commemorate thebirthday of the good old U. S. A.
Yes, there could be no longer any doubt--he had not deceived himselfafter all, as he was beginning to suspect. Now the thing had ceased tomove and was starting to rise up on all four legs, as though to be inreadiness to answer the call of the pack leader when it came time tocharge.
"It's goodbye to you, sneaker and robber on four legs!" muttered Perkgrimly as he put the butt of the gun up to his shoulder, covered thehalf seen figure, and pressed the trigger.
A burst of firing instantly followed as the mechanical gun commenced tobombard the particular spot where Perk had discovered the first of theoncoming pack. The reports came thick and fast, following on eachothers' heels and so it would continue to the end of the string unlessPerk himself stopped the mechanism.
By the time he had thrown half a dozen leaden messengers at that onepoint, he felt he had effectually rid the world of one thief andmarauder for which he should have the thanks of every decent person.Then Perk started to swing his arm from left to right, fullyanticipating seeing a host of monster companions of his initial victimbounding forward and coming within range of the line of fire from hisstill spitting machine gun.
Nothing of the sort greeted his astonished eyes--in fact there was notthe first sign of a single monster raider--only Jack indignantly bawlinghim out and demanding to know what in the devil he meant arousing theentire camp with such a racket, and spoiling the rest of the night forsleep.
So Perk instantly shut off the deadly stream of fire that was expectedto slay the whole pack of fiendish wolves as he swung his gun aroundwith a circular movement.
"Whatever ailed you Perk, to set that thing going like mad?" Jackdemanded, as he scrambled out of his enfolding blanket and advancedtoward his chum, keeping a nervous eye on the gun meanwhile as if afraidPerk, whom he believed had been dreaming, would start it going again.
"Wolves--heaps an' heaps o' 'em--dreamed they had me cornered, with on'ya club to hold the pack off--then I woke up, and sure as you live, theywas acomin' right in on us--saw one whoppin' big feller right overyonder an' let him have the whole works. Looky yourself Jack--honest togoodness he's lyin' right there where I knocked him cold."
Jack gave him a laugh and hastened over to see for himself just how muchtruth there could be in what the other had said with so muchearnestness.