CHAPTER VIII.
BOB CONFIDES IN THE PATROL LEADER.
"WHAT I want to tell you about is--my father," said Bob, swallowingsomething that seemed to be sticking in his throat; as though the meremention of his dead parent had the power to affect him so.
"Yes?" Thad said, encouragingly, wondering at the same time how one whohad passed to the other side several years now, could have any sort ofconnection with the mission of the scouts to this region.
"You'll perhaps understand, suh," continued Bob, getting a firmer gripon himself; "when I mention the fact that my father, for a year or sobefore he was taken, had filled the office of United States Marshal forthis district."
"Oh!" exclaimed Thad, beginning to see light now.
"He was induced to take the office by the President himself, who was apersonal friend of my father," the boy went on, proudly; "and havinggiven his word, nothing could make him back out. Up to then we hadlived at peace with everybody in these mountains; but of course that wasbound to come to an end after he had sworn to do his duty; which was tosend out his agents to destroy all the secret Stills, and bring in thelaw breakers, if they could be found."
"He must soon have had the enmity of Old Phin, and every othermoonshiner about the Big Smokies," Thad remarked, the other havingpaused, as though to give him a chance to express an opinion.
"That is just what happened, suh," Bob went on, hurriedly, as, havingbroken the ice, he wanted to get through as speedily as possible. "Afterhe had led several successful raids in person, the mountaineers saw thatthey had a different man to deal with from the other old marshal. Theysent him terrible warnings of what was going to happen to him if he keptup his work; but my father was a Quail; and he didn't know the meanin'of the word fear, suh."
"Were you and your mother living near here all that time, Bob?" askedthe scoutmaster. "Because, I should have thought she might have beenworried for fear some of those desperate men tried to stop your father'swork by burning down his home, or doing something like that?"
"There were threats made, suh, to that effect; and my father moved hisfamily to Asheville to feel that we would be all safe. Then there camea dreadful day for us, when my father never came back, after he hadgone into these mountains to arrest another batch of moonshiners, whoseStill had been located. One of the men who had accompanied him told ushe had seen him shot down. They were surrounded by bushwhackers, and therifles were popping all about, so they had to leave him there. He wassurely dead, they claimed, before they fled from the spot, and ofcourse, suh, they could not burden themselves with his body."
Again Bob White paused to gulp down the obstacle in his throat.
"Now, you are wondering, suh, how it happened that when we came toCranford there was a gentleman with us who was called Mr. Quail, andsupposed to be my father. That was my father's twin brother, living inPhiladelphia. He kindly offered to stay with my mother, who never goesout at all, until we became settled. Her mother, my grandmother, hadleft me a heap of stock in the bank and mills of Cranford; and as it wasvery unpleasant for my mother down this aways, after father went, shehad determined to locate up yondah."
"And does she know about you coming down here?" asked Thad,suspiciously, as if he feared that the other might have deceived theonly parent he had left; this bringing a tragedy of the grim mountainsso close home to them had given the scout leader considerable of athrill, for after all, despite his courage and grit, Thad was only aboy.
Bob drew himself up proudly, and his black eyes flashed.
"I would sooner cut off my right hand, suh, than deceive my mother," hesaid. "And, so you may understand the whole thing, I must tell you whata strange longin' I've been hugging to my heart these two years back. Itis this. What if, after all, my father was _not_ dead at the time hismen saw him fall; what if these moonshiners have kept him a prisonersomewhere in these mountains all this while, meanin' to punish himbecause he had given them all so much trouble!"
"That's a stunning shock you've given me, Bob," said Thad, drawing along breath; "but see here, is it just a wild wish to have it so; orhave you any reason to believe such a thing; any foundation for thetheory, in fact?"
"I'll tell you, suh," Bob went on, feverishly. "A man came to me oneday, and said he had been sent by one of the revenues who had been withmy father that sad time, to tell me what he had picked up in themountains. There were rumors going around that somewhere deep in themountains, at one of the secret Stills, the moonshiners kept a prisonerat work. Some said it must be one of the revenue men who haddisappeared; and that the moonshiners were bent on making him work upthe mash, as a sort of punishment for having done them so much damagewhen he was in the employ of the Government."
"I see; and of course you jumped to the conclusion that it might be yourown father, alive and well, though held a prisoner of the moonshiners?"
"Both my mother and myself believed there might be just a little chancethat way. She was in bad health, and put it all in my hands. We havenever said a word about it to anybody in Cranford. While I have beengoing to school with the rest of the boys in Cranford, all the time Iwas in correspondence with one of the Government revenue agents, andpaying him to be on the constant watch for any positive signs. He diedsix months ago, and just when he had begun to think he was getting on awarm scent."
"I see," said Thad, as the other paused, overcome with emotion; "andever since then you've been longing to get down here again, to find outfor yourself if it _could_ be true. I don't blame you the least bit,Bob. And I only hope that you'll be able to learn the truth, even if itdashes all your hopes. Whatever we can do to help, you can count on.Scouts have to be like brothers, you know. It's a part of ourregulations to help any one in trouble; and that applies stronger thanever when it's a fellow scout."
"Oh! thank you, Thad!" exclaimed the warmhearted Southern lad, as hesqueezed the hand of his companion almost fiercely. "I had no right toinfluence you to come down here. It is a dangerous place. Right now Iought to beg you and the rest to back out, and leave me to fight mybattles alone. But somehow I just can't find the grit to do that. Ireckon, suh, I'm too selfish. I'm right ashamed of myself at this minuteto feel such satisfaction in the grip of your hand."
"Of course," continued wise Thad, "this old moonshiner, Phin Dady, mightstill have it in for you, as one of the Quail family."
"As far as that is concerned, suh, I'm not bothering my head, I assuahyou. I'd just as lief face Old Phin, and snap my fingers under his nose.My idea in wanting to keep him from seeing me was along another line,suh. He would be apt to think 'like father, like son;' and that I hadhired out to the Government to find where his Still lay, so it could beraided. No man has ever done that; Old Phin declares they never will."
"If these mountaineers begin to get bothersome it might interfere somewith that other little affair you spoke about?" suggested Thad, as theycontinued to walk on in company.
"That's what I'm afraid of, suh," replied Bob White; "but I'm hoping forthe best."
Some of the others happening to push up about that time brought theconfidential conversation to a close. But surely the young scout leaderhad plenty to ponder over as he walked on.
The hike through the Blue Ridge, which they had looked forward to simplyas a test of endurance, and to develop their knowledge of woodcraft,threatened to turn into a tragic affair. At least, it was no child'splay; and if they came out of it without any serious accident happeningto any of their number, they would be deserving of great credit.
But if Thad and Bob White were in a serious frame of mind, the samecould hardly be said of several other members of the patrol. Giraffe,Step Hen and Bumpus seemed to be fairly bubbling over with good humor.Some boys can no more control their spirits than they can theirappetites.
As usual Step Hen suddenly discovered, while they were halting for abreathing spell, that he was minus something. The evil spirits hadevidently been at work again, when he was off his guard, and succeededin abstracting part of his personal property.
It really was a shame howthey beset that unlucky fellow.
"If it don't just beat the Dutch what happens to me?" he was heard toloudly wail, looking around him in a helpless way.
"What's the matter now, Step Hen?" asked Allan; although he knew fullwell what sort of an answer he must receive.
"They've been and done it some more," replied the disturbed scout,helplessly.
The trouble was, that whenever he missed anything Step Hen always ranaround looking in all the places that no sensible person would everdream of examining. When Giraffe declared that he was like an old henwith its head taken off, it just about fitted the case.
"What's gone this time?" continued the boy from Maine, with a smile atthe way Step Hen was turning over small stones, and stirring the leaveswith his foot, as if he really expected a miracle to be wrought, and tofind a bulky object that way.
"That little kodak I fetched along; you know I had it wrapped socarefully in a waterproof cloth, and tied with top cord. Now it's gone!Needn't spring that old story on me, and say I was careless. P'raps Ihave been a few times; but right now I'm dead sure the fault ain't mine.Somebody's playing a joke on me. Mind, I ain't mentioning no names; butI've got my suspicions."
He looked hard at Giraffe, and the accusation could hardly have beengiven in plainer language than that. But Giraffe was used to beingunjustly accused. There were occasions when he did seize upon a goldenopportunity to hide something belonging to his comrade, because it hadbeen left carelessly around; and Giraffe believed it a part of his dutyto break the other of such shiftless habits. But on this occasion heheld up both hands, declaring solemnly:
"Give you my word for it I never touched any camera. This time you'veeither been and dropped it on the road; or else the Gold Dust Twins havenabbed it on you."
Just then Bumpus, who had been wandering aimlessly about after drinkingat the cooling waters of the little spring that had been the main causeof this temporary halt in the march, gave utterance to a loudexclamation.
He had tripped over something that lay in the grass, and a splashannounced that with his usual hard luck the fat boy had managed to goheadlong into the spring. Scrambling out, with the water streaming fromhis red face, he turned indignantly on the balance of the patrol, nowconvulsed with laughter.
"What sort of--horse play d'ye call that--I'd like to know?" hesputtered, trying to wipe his streaming face with a handkerchief thatlooked far too small for the task. "Can't a feller--just stroll aroundcamp--without some silly putting out a foot, and tripping him up? Tellme that, now?"
"I'm beginning to think we must have some sort of a hoodoo along withus," remarked Smithy, anxiously. "All sorts of things seem to behappening, and in the most mysterious way possible. We all know thatthere wasn't a single fellow anywhere near Bumpus when he pitchedforward. Yet he says _somebody_ put out a foot, and he tripped over it.I think it a remarkable phenomenon, for a fact, and worthinvestigating."
"Well, somethin' _did_ trip me, and that's sure," grumbled the other,possibly thinking that he had been too sweeping in his accusation.
"Suppose you look in that bunch of grass, and find out if the littleevil spirit that's playing all these pranks on you is lying there?"suggested Thad, with a twinkle in his eye, as though he could give apretty shrewd guess what the result of the said exploration would turnout to be.
So Bumpus, always willing to oblige, especially since his own curiositymust have been aroused, proceeded forthwith to get down on his hands andknees, and begin an examination of the tangle in question.
Half a minute later he gave a loud cry. At the same time he was seen tohold up some strange black object.
"Look! Bumpus has caught his little evil genius!" cried Giraffe. "Andain't it a hard lookin' subject though. Caught him right by the ankle,and threw him straight into our spring. Lucky we'd had all the drink wewanted before he started to wash there!"
"Why, blessed if it ain't my kodak!" ejaculated Step Hen faintly, asthough it shocked him to think how his lost camera should have beenlying there in all that tangle of grass, where it had undoubtedly fallenas he prepared to take his turn bending over the water hole.
Of course everybody laughed, for they could guess what had happened.Step Hen's little failings were an everyday occurrence. As Giraffe hadoften declared, the careless one would have long since lost his head hadnot a kind Nature secured it to his body.
The march was resumed, with Thad lecturing Step Hen on his prevailingsin; and as usual Step Hen solemnly promising to be more careful thenext time. But he had a very slippery mind, and the chances were thatbefore nightfall he would be up to his old tricks again, accusing therest of playing a prank by hiding some of his possessions.
"There's a man sitting on that rock up there, watching us!" said DavyJones, in a tone that thrilled them all.
"A regular mountaineer too," added Smithy. "Just as I've pictured themoften, with butternut jean trousers, a ragged woolen shirt open at theneck, and an old hat on his frowsy head. Boys, he seems to have a gun inhis possession, too."
They were a little uneasy as they passed along; but the lone man seemedto simply watch the squad of uniformed scouts without making any hostilemove.
"Chances are," remarked Davy Jones, after they lost sight of the man;"he was some sort of vidette or sentry, posted up there to keep an eyeon the trail; and if any suspicious characters came along, to send wordto the other moonshiners. I understand they can telegraph all rightwithout the aid of instruments, or even the latest wireless outfit. Howabout that, Bob?"
"Yes, it is so," replied the Southern boy. "They do it by making smokes;or sometimes by sounds that are passed along from one station toanother. It's queer how fast a message can be relayed in that way."
"Well," remarked Thad, "that's the method used by blacks in Africa; andthey do say they can send news of a battle faster than white men can getit along by relays of telegraph stations, with breaks where a carrierhas to be used."
"Are we getting anywhere close to the place you said old Reuben livedat, Bob?" asked Bumpus, who was showing signs of being tired.
"Another hour will take us to where we can look across the wonderfullittle valley and see the place," Bob answered. "You will all besurprised, for nobody would ever think so fine a house could be foundamong these wild mountains; but as I told you before, Reuben Sparksseems never to have been molested by the moonshiners. Most peoplebelieve he is a secret partner in the business."
"Say, would you look yonder, where that road comes around the spur backof us; to think of seeing a real buggy and a flesh and blood horse, andback of the animal a gentleman and lady! I'm sure dreaming!" remarkedGiraffe, just then.
"Not a bit of it you ain't, because I see them myself," added Step Hen,eagerly.
"And unless my eyes deceive me, we've met that gentleman before," saidAllan.
"Yes," remarked Bob, with trembling voice, "it's Reuben Sparks; and thatmust be my little cousin, Bertha!"