CHAPTER XXV. FORCED TO TELL.
"Where's your partner?" asked Thad, turning suddenly on the prisoner.
The tramp tried to look at him as if in surprise. Undoubtedly he washugging the one hope to his heart that as long as his companion remainedfoot-free there might be a chance for his release. That idea ofself-interest was undoubtedly the only thing that would account for hisdesire to remain mute.
"My partner?" he went on to say, as though not understanding what wasmeant.
"Yes, the man who was with you, Wandering George, the fellow who wore theblue army overcoat that was given to him by a lady in Cranford a few daysago?"
"Oh! you mean him, does you?" the hobo replied, with a knowing nod; "thatguy gimme the slip yesterday, and never divvied with me either. I'd likeright well to set eyes on George myself, and that's no lie. I got a bonetuh pick with him."
"You're telling what isn't true, now," said Thad severely. "We happen toknow that you two came here in the hold of the shanty boat we were on.Last night George crept into our camp, and got away with nearly all ourfood stuff. There's a piece of the bacon right now, Giraffe, which oughtto please you some. What have you got to say about that, Mr. Tramp?"
"It was me sneaked your camp, kid; I was nigh starved out, and nawthin'couldn't keep me from takin' chances," the other boldly replied.
"Tell that to the marines!" Giraffe blurted out. "Thad, you don't believehim, do you? We know better than that, don't we?"
"The man who crept into our camp had a rag tied around his right foot tokeep the torn sole of his shoe on," Thad went on to say positively, asthough clinching matters beyond all question; "and we can see that bothyour shoes are fairly decent, so it couldn't have been you. Besides,there were two pairs of tracks making the trail. You waited for him backof the bushes, and both went off together. Now, you see how foolish it istrying to yarn out of it. Where is George?"
The man looked into that flushed but determined face. He saw something inthose steady eyes that convinced him the leader of these boys in khakiwas not the one to be further trifled with.
So he gave a nervous little laugh.
"Well, you sure got me twisted up, and kinked tuh beat the band, kid," hesaid. "I got a pal, jest as you sez, an' his handle is George. But jestwhere he might be at this minit is more'n I c'n say."
"But he's on the island, isn't he?" demanded Step Hen.
"He shore is, 'less he's took a crazy notion to try an' swim over tuh theshore, which wouldn't be like cautious George a bit."
"He was here with you, how long ago?" asked Allan; "you must have cookedbreakfast this morning with that fire, and he sat right here, where I cansee the mark of his broken shoe. Where did he go, and when?"
"That's what we want to know!" added Giraffe sternly.
The tramp saw that he was cornered. One by one his defenses had beenbeaten down. These energetic boys would not stand for any further holdingback on his part; and unless he wished to invite rough treatment it wasnow up to him to tell all he knew.
"Well, George was sittin' there, as you sez, younker, an' he takes asudden notion that he wants tuh find out what the rest o' the folks ofthis island 'spected to do so's tuh get away. That bein' the case, he sezto me, sez he: 'I reckons I'll stroll up a ways, and take a look around.If there's anything doin' in the boat line we might want tuh cop it, andclear out.' And so he goes off, an' I ain't seen the first sign o' Georgesince then."
"How long ago might that have been?" asked Thad.
"I been asleep nearly all the time since, so how could I tell?" came thereply.
"By looking at the sun," the patrol leader told him; "you know how highit was when George went away. And hoboes never have any need of a watch."
"'Cept to hock, and get cash on the same, kid," the man remarked, with agrin, at the same time casting a quick glance upward; "well, I reckon itmight 'a' been all o' an hour back when George, he passed away."
The boys looked at each other in some perplexity. Since they hadcertainly covered the whole island, they could not understand how it camethey had missed the other tramp. He was a big fellow, and could not havehidden in any hole among the rocks that they had noticed. The mysterybothered them, from Thad down to Step Hen and Davy.
"What if he did take a notion to try and swim for it?" suggested thelatter, as Giraffe was scratching his head, and looking in a helplessfashion at Thad.
"Not one chance in a thousand that way," replied the patrol leader; "Icall myself a fairly good swimmer, but I'd hate to take the chances ofthat current, and the rocks under the surface. No, he must be on theisland still."
"But whereabouts, Thad; didn't we cover the ground, every foot of it,while we came down here?" pleaded Step Hen.
"I wonder, now?" Thad was saying half aloud, as though a suddeninspiration had broken in upon him.
"What is it, Thad?" begged Giraffe; "sounds like you've got an idea, allright. Let's hear it, won't you?"
"There's only one way we could have missed him," replied the other; "andthat would mean he hid in a tree."
There arose a series of exclamations from the other scouts.
"Well, what d'ye think of that, now?" cried Giraffe, apparently takenaback by the suggestion; "we kept our noses turned to the ground so muchnone of us ever bothered looking up, did we?"
"But, Thad, the leaves ain't on the trees yet, so how could he hide fromus? Do you mean he got behind a big limb, and lay there like a squirrel?"Davy demanded.
"You forget there are some hemlocks on the island, and every one of usknows how easy it would be for a fellow to hide in their bushy tops anytime of year," Thad told him.
"What's the answer?" snapped Giraffe, always wanting action, and thenmore action.
"We've got to go back again, and find him, that's all," said Thad, with alook of grim determination on his face.
"How about this fellow?" remarked Allan. "Do we want to trot him alongwith us?" and he jerked his thumb at the prisoner as he said this.
Thad considered for a short time.
"That would be poor business, I'm thinking," he concluded. "We'd betterleave him here until we want him again."
"I've got more strong cord," Giraffe suggested; "and we could tie him toa tree, like the Injuns used to do with their captives."
"Oh! there ain't any need tuh do that, boys," argued the hobo, whoapparently did not fancy such an arrangement. "I'll set right here, andnever move while you're gone, sure I will."
"We'll make certain that you stay where we leave you," Thad told him.
Giraffe only waited for the word, and immediately backed the tramp to atree that seemed suited for the purpose. Then he wound the cord around asmany times as it would go, and tied it in hard knots. As the hobo stillhad his hands fastened behind him, and could not begin to get at theknots with his teeth, it looked as though he would have to stay thereuntil the scouts were pleased to release him.
"Now what, Thad?" asked the energetic Giraffe, picking up his gun again.
"Go back the same way we came," the other replied.
"Covering the ground, you mean, only this time we'll look into every treein the bargain; that's the programme, is it, Thad?" asked Step Hen.
"Yes."
Again the boys began to spread out, and in this manner was the capturedtramp left behind. He realized that it was useless trying to influencethem to change their minds, and so resigned himself to his fate.
Giraffe had secured the remains of the strip of bacon, and was danglingthis from his left hand as he went along. Apparently he did not mean totake any chances of it getting away from him again; and of course BobWhite noted his action with a nod of appreciation.
It was slow work now, because they had to investigate each likely treethat was approached. Some of these were of a type calculated to afford arefuge for anyone who wished to hide. Several times one of the boys,usually the spry Davy, was sent aloft to make sure the object of theirsearch was not hiding there.
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Thad began to wonder if anything could have happened at their camp. Heremembered that they had left the two weakest scouts on guard, and thisworried him.
Often as he pushed on, Thad had strained his hearing, dreading at thesame time lest he catch sounds of serious import. But beyond the chatterof the crows that flew scolding ahead of them, and the scream of an earlyred-headed woodpecker tapping at a rotten tree trunk, there was no sound,unless he took into consideration the fretting of the water sweeping pastoutlying spurs of the island shore.
They had passed nearly halfway when Giraffe beckoned to the leader,without saying a single word, upon which Thad of course hastened towardhim.
When the lanky scout pointed to the ground, Thad immediately turned hiseyes in that quarter. He was not very much surprised at discovering theplain imprint of a shoe there in the soil.
"George made it," said Giraffe solemnly, "because there's that old ragtied about his foot, as we've always found it. And, Thad, of course younotice that he was heading up country when he passed by here?"
"Yes, that's certainly a fact, Giraffe."
"Showing he came down out of his tree, and went on after we passed him.Davy was right when he said he believed he could see signs in that lasthemlock as if some one had broken the bark with his heels. It wasWandering George, all right; and this time we've got him ahead of us.We'll not let him give us the slip again; and it'll be something of ajoke to get a tramp at each end of the island. But what are you thinkingabout, Thad, to look so serious?"
"I was wondering whether anything could have happened to our two chums,Giraffe."
"Oh! you must mean Bumpus and Smithy!" ejaculated the lanky scout, with aquick intake of his breath, as though a thrill had passed over him at thesame time; "but, Thad, they had a gun, you remember; and if they kept onthe watch, as you told 'em, what could happen to hurt the boys?"
"I don't know, only it bothers me," replied the other; "and if we canhurry on any faster now I'd like to do it."
The word was passed along the line, and after that they tried to increasetheir speed, though trying not to neglect their work, if it could beavoided.
As they drew closer to the region where the camp had been made, Thad wasconscious of feeling a strange sensation in the region of his heart,which he could not wholly understand.
Giraffe made out to wander close to him on occasion, and was at this timesaying with more or less confidence:
"Only a few minutes more, Thad, and we ought to raise the camp. Surewe'll find everything lovely, and the goose hanging high. George wouldknow better than to bother two fellows, and one of the same handling agun in the bargain. Course he sheered off, and gave them a wide berthwhen he saw that, Thad. It's going to come out all right, I tell you!"
Nevertheless the patrol leader felt very anxious as they drew near thecamp, and he tried to prepare himself for the worst.