CHAPTER III
ON A LONE SCOUT
The captain's oracular advice mystified the boys until, seated bytheir evening camp fire of driftwood, he explained to them that themysterious box might be filled with articles such as Juan Bego andhis men were both hiding and collecting.
"I dunno as he's been as far up the coast as this," Vinton added,"but 'twouldn't be hard for a sly old sea-dog like him to creepalong these keys at night time 'most any distance."
"Are we far from the Everglades?" asked Billy, cautiously stirringthe fire; for, in spite of the spring warmth, there was a decidedchill in the air so close to the ocean.
"Well, the 'Glades are a good stiff hike from here," replied thecaptain. "Eh, Dave; how about it?"
The guide made no answer. Wearied with doing nothing all day, savelying around on the deck of the _Arrow_ a prey to seasickness, he hadfallen asleep. Above the splash of the surf and the rustle of thewind in the palmettos, his snores could be heard distinctly, makingnight hideous. Alec was on the point of waking him with a nudgein the ribs, when Hugh restrained him.
"Let him sleep, Alec," he whispered. "Poor old Injun, he's comfortableat last!"
"So am I," added Chester, stretching himself out on the warm sand."This is better than those stuffy little bunks in the cabin, isn't it?"
The next minute he regretted those words, for Captain Vinton lookedat him with an aggrieved expression, as if peeved to hear anydisparagement of the _Arrow_. The good captain was inordinatelyproud of his sloop, which he preferred to all other craft; indeed,had he been offered the command of one of the gigantic Atlanticliners, it is likely that he would have declined the honor.
Presently Vinton rose and, beginning to stroll up and down the beach,looked all around him and up at the sky in the scrutinizing way whichseafaring men have when they retire for the night or turn out in themorning, to ascertain what sort of weather they may expect.
Overhead, he saw large masses of clouds scudding across the starryheavens, driven by the wind which bid fair to continue all night andall the next day. Off on the lagoon loomed the dark hulk and slendermast of the sloop, rising and falling on the choppy waves, her bowlight gleaming across the water like a watchful eye. At his feetlay the dory, drawn up on the sand and moored by a line fastenedto a palmetto, well out of reach of the rising tide.
Behind him sparkled the ruddy camp fire with the recumbent figuresof the five scouts, Norton and the Indian grouped around it, andnearby lay the neat little pile of provisions and utensils coveredwith a tarpaulin. What matter if rain should chance to fall duringthe night? They had brought light blankets and rubber ponchos fromthe sloop, so they would be well protected.
Everything was safe and in order; he was satisfied and at peace withall mankind,---even with the smugglers who had roused his righteouswrath,---and his youthful companions were happy, enjoying the cruiseand their adventures.
So unpromising did the weather beyond the keys look, and so congenialseemed the lagoon and this sheltered islet, the captain came tothe conclusion that it would not be amiss if they should linger therea day or two longer than they had planned. After all, Alec's fatherhad set no time limit for the cruise and the boys were in no hurry toreturn to Santario.
Thinking thus, he rejoined his crew around the fire and heardthem discussing a plan to take the dory and row out on the lagoonin the morning, if it were not too rough, in the hope of catchingsome fresh fish for breakfast. He assented to this plan, forhe himself intended to go aboard the _Arrow_ the first thing onthe morrow to look her over and see how she had weathered thenight. Wrapping himself in a blanket and bidding the boys followhis example, he lay down beside the embers and was soon asleep.
Hugh and Billy, lovers of surf-bathing, would fain have taken a dipinto the breakers before going to sleep; but Alec sensibly counseledthem against this.
"Wait till daylight If you shed your clothes now and go in, themosquitoes will eat you alive before you're dry again," he warnedthem. "Besides, it's dangerous to go in around these shores inthe darkness. You might stumble into a hole or a sea-puss andbe carried out to sea before you knew what had happened. AndDave told me there are sharks that-----"
"Oh, forget it!" laughed Billy. "We have no intention of furnishingsupper to a shark. Anyway, real, live, man-eating sharks are asscarce as hens' teeth---almost."
Nevertheless, being overruled by Hugh, who saw the wisdom of Alec'sadvice, he promptly abandoned the desire for a plunge; and, as hesoon learned, they did well to seek the protection of their smokesmudge, for the mosquitoes were truly formidable. Even under thecanopy of smoke, these noxious insects darted viciously to bite andtorment the campers. Time and time again, the boys were awakenedfrom sleep by the attacks of these buzzing pests; but at last theygrew more accustomed to such onslaughts, and pulling nets closelyaround their limbs and faces, they sank into deeper slumber.
* * * * * *
"The evening red, the morning graySets the traveler on his way.The evening gray, the morning redBrings showers down upon his head."
Hugh whispered these words softly to himself when he awoke in thedim twilight hour just before dawn. It was still too dark for himto distinguish objects clearly, and for a moment he felt that queersensation of being lost, of not knowing just where he was---thatfeeling which sometimes comes to one even in the most familiarsurroundings. At once, however, it left him, and the little rhymecrept into his mind instead.
"Wonder why I waked up so suddenly?" was his silent query as helay there blinking up at the sky, watching the few visible starsgrow pale and paler. "Thought I heard some noise like distantthunder, very far away, and then it changed into the sound ofmuffled oars, or the tchug-chug-tchug of a motor boat. Then avoice said softly, 'It's a fine morn---' Oh, pshaw! Must havebeen dreaming. Is anybody else awake?"
He sat up and peered through the dusk. No, his companions werestill asleep, prone on the sand. The breeze had lessened andthe nocturnal insects had begun to take flight into the shadowyundergrowth, retreating before the advance of day. Across thedark stretch of water between this island and the mainland a flockof waterfowl flew noiselessly and vanished over the dunes. Thesurf broke with monotonous, soothing rhythm, stirring the silencewith little waves of sound.
"It must have been the surf I heard," Hugh thought, still tryingto decide what had roused him from sleep.
Quietly rising, so as not to disturb his friends, he stole downto the beach and stood gazing at the sloop, which now rode calmlyat anchor, her bow light still shining.
"And yet it did sound like a motor boat," he said aloud.
The sound of his own voice, breaking the stillness, almost startledhim. With a short, low laugh at his habit of talking aloud whenalone, he turned his back on camp and walked on for some littledistance up the beach, until he rounded a curve of the shore andsaw before him a narrow channel separating the island on which hestood from another, slightly larger. Clumps of young palms grew onthat other island, taller and greener than those around the campingplace. Hugh had been told that a palmetto bud cut out of a young,fresh, green palm would be fine with a piece of fat pork in makinga stew; so he felt tempted to swim across the estuary and gather achoice bud.
The fact is, this desire was chiefly an excuse for a bit of exploration.Hugh loved to prowl around in unfamiliar places even if he werealone, though he naturally preferred to share a quest of discoverieswith some comrade. So now, shedding his coat, outer shirt, and shoes,but retaining his other garments for protection against mosquitoes,he dived into the inlet and swam across it easily.
Continuing his tramp, he presently found himself on the slope of asandy mound which formed the northeastern extremity of the smallisland. From the top of this he could obtain a good view of thesurrounding islands and the mainland. He sat down to rest on themound and to enjoy the outlook.
By this time the eastern sky was beginning to show a pale rosy glow,and soon the first rays of the rising sun turned the
edges of cloudsinto flame. Across this glowing expanse the mainland stretched asfar as the eye could see, a dark, low-lying, emerald-hued mass,varied and mysterious.
As Hugh gazed, the sun rose into view, flooding earth and sky and seawith glorious light. The boy drew a deep breath of wonder and turnedto look around him on all sides. As he did so, his eyes rested onsomething which changed his breath of admiration into a gasp ofastonishment.
At the base of the mound on which he sat, partly hidden by clumpsof stunted cypress and palms, was a small hut built of bambooand thatched with palm leaves. It was built in the form of alean-to against the slope of a sand dune near the shore, and atfirst glance it seemed to be part of the island itself. Indeed,it was so well concealed that Hugh might never have noticed itat all, save for the fact that he caught sight of a canoe with threemen in it approaching the hut, from behind still another island.
Some instinct warned him not to let himself be seen, and he sliddown from the top of the mound and lay flat, watching the canoe.He felt like a scout in the enemy's territory, or a sentry on duty,stationed there to observe the actions of unknown foes.
To his surprise, the canoe came to land directly in front of thehut, and the three men sprang out into the shallow water and drewit up on the beach. From the bottom of the canoe they lifted a longobject rolled in canvas. Suspending this from their shoulders, theydisappeared into the hut.