Boy Scouts on Picket Duty

  CHAPTER VII

  A GATHERING OF THE CLAN

  "If there are any of the gang around here, where on earth are they?"

  The question came in a whisper from Billy, as he and the Seminolepursued their way cautiously along the edge of a watercourse, in thedirection of the cabins. Bending forward, sometimes crawling onhands and knees, they advanced---an inch at every step, it seemed toimpatient Billy.

  "Do you think they're hiding near here?" he asked, and Dave shook histurbaned head.

  "Gone 'way," was his answer. "Boat come back to-night, mebbe so."

  "Boat? What boat?"

  "_Esperanza_."

  "Oh! Then you think they'll try to leave this part of the coast soon?"

  "Dunno. Wait. We see, we tell _Petrel_."

  There was nothing else to do, so Billy curbed his eagerness to learnthe present whereabouts of the smugglers and crawled forward insilence. Once he drew back with a gasp of horror as a large moccasinsnake darted across his path; but seeing the loathsome creature glideaway to a safe distance, he went on, following the guide.Nevertheless, a chill ran down his spine when he thought how narrowlyhe had escaped stumbling full tilt upon the reptile, which, unlike therattlesnake, never gives warning of its presence.

  When they had traversed the stretch of marsh between the peninsulaand the cove, alternately walking on soft springy ground above a bedof coralline limestone and wading knee-deep along the watercourse,they emerged upon the left bank of the cove. The two smaller cabinswere not more than twenty paces distant, and between them was a plankbridge rudely built in the form of a trestle. Dave and Billyapproached this bridge.

  Suddenly they stopped short and crouched in the high grass. Plainlyto their ears came the shrill barking of a dog.

  Dave expressed his feelings in one round oath, which, being utteredin his native dialect, sounded to Billy "Like gargling the throat."

  It needed no expletives to inform Billy that the dog's appearance onthe scene of action was certain to cause trouble.

  "Ketch um dog, choke um!" said Dave, looking about him to see if thebarking had brought anyone to the place.

  "Where is the cur?" Billy asked.

  "Don't see um," replied the Seminole. He straightened up until hishead was above the top of the grass. "A-ah!" he exclaimed in aguttural tone. "Man in sailboat yonder."

  Impulsively Billy scrambled to a kneeling position, and his gazefollowed Dave's. The two spies then beheld the figure of a manseated in the stern of a dug-out canoe that carried a mast andsail and was coming around the bend of a stream.

  "If he sees us-----" began Billy.

  "S-s-sh!" Dave interrupted warningly. "Wait, see where he go."

  "Is the dog barking at us or at him? What d'you think, Dave?"

  "At us," was the answer. "Man come, let dog loose,---we bettergo back! Incah!"

  "No," said Billy firmly. "Dog or no dog, I'm not going back tillI've found out where they've hidden Hugh!"

  If Billy had only known that Hugh was locked in that further cabin!If Hugh had only been able to communicate with his friends onpicket duty! How much trouble would have been avoided,---yet whatan adventure they would have missed!

  Dave now explained to Billy that his purpose had been to purlointhe sailing canoe, so that the smugglers on shore would be dependenton a boat from the _Esperanza_ to take them and their goods away.This would enable the crew of the _Petrel_ to intercept the smugglersas soon as they landed. But now, with the appearance of this man inthe canoe, Dave's plan seemed about to be thwarted.

  * * * * * *

  Meanwhile, what of the others who remained on the peninsula?

  More than an hour passed before any one saw a suspicious figure onthe landscape. Then Alec, whose post was farthest removed from thelanding place, suddenly caught sight of two men walking along theshore. They were carrying the same battered tin box which he andBilly had found half buried in the sand, many hours ago. Evidentlythe box was heavy, for they appeared to stagger with its weight.

  Alec raised his voice in the weird, low call of the otter. As hispatrol was named after that animal, he knew that Chester, also ofthe Otter patrol, would recognize the signal. In this case it meant"Danger. Look around you."

  From a distance, hidden behind a clump of palmettos, Chet respondedwith the same call twice, in quick succession.

  But the men carrying the box heard the calls. They knew it was stilltoo early in the afternoon for otters to be hunting so noisily, andthey were surprised, startled, suspicious. To Alec's dismay, theydropped the box, stood still, and stared all around them. Alec layflat on the ground, trusting that his khaki suit and brown flannelshirt would help him to escape observation. At the same time hedread lest one of the other pickets would be seen too soon.

  The two men, after gazing out to sea as if expecting to sight avessel on the horizon, picked up the box and came on again. Everystep brought them nearer Alec, who of course had been told to allowall strangers to pass unchallenged---until to-morrow.

  "Hark!" said one of the men, listening. "That's Rover barking!"

  "He barks at nothing!" declared the other. "Eet is a fool dawg, zatRover! I know heem, yes."

  "You haven't as much sense as that 'fool dawg,' Max!" retorted thefirst speaker, who was none other than the swarthy ruffian, HarryMole. "Somethin's going on over there at the settlement or the dogwouldn't bark. Come on, hurry; Branks may need us."

  So saying, he and his companion passed by, and Alec, who had heardevery word, breathed a sigh of relief. He wished the two men werenot going in the same direction Dave and Billy had taken; but hefelt sure that the latter could give a good account of themselvesif discovered in hiding.

  "But that would upset the whole scheme," he reflected. "Perhaps I'dbetter sneak around, ahead of those two rascals, and warn Dave andBilly to lie low? Or shall I---no, I've been stationed here, andit's up to me to stick to this post."

  As he watched the two men stumbling on over the uneven ground, hewondered with a little thrill of apprehension whether they would runacross any of the other pickets, or even meet Billy and Dave returningfrom their quest.

  However, no such undesired event came to pass, and the two smugglersfinally disappeared behind a row of trees covered with vines.

  After that, the watchful young pickets waited in silence, with only alow-spoken word now and then as they paced back and forth under coverto emphasize the stillness. An hour passed,---another hour,---the sunbegan its slow descent into the broad bosom of the ocean. Long beforethis, the _Arrow_ had slipped away a little farther up along the coast,so that she would be out of sight behind one of the numerous islandsin case the _Esperanza_ drew near Durgan's cove.

  Once the dog's barking sounded louder, and nearer, but after a minuteor two it ceased, and silence reigned over all.

  "What's become of Dave and Billy?" wondered Chester.

  The same question was troubling the minds of Roy Norton and MarkAnderson, in their respective station-points; but there seemed to beno answer to it at present.

  Twilight crept upon them apace, then deepened into the shadows ofnight. As they had arranged, they left their posts and assembled atthe place chosen for their landing. After hours of more-or-lesssolitary watching, it seemed good to be together in council, to eattheir simple supper, and to compare notes.

  In the midst of their evening meal, the faint purring of a motorboat'sengine reached their ears, and after a few minutes a boat with twofigures in it was seen approaching them, gliding almost noiselesslyalong one of the waterways. The occupants of the boat were BillyWorth and Dave. Reaching the place, they stopped the engine, ran theboat's nose into the soft bank, and sprang ashore.

  "Where---how----did you get it?" asked Norton in surprise.

  "The boat? Oh, we just borrowed it from Joe Durgan and his friends!"Billy declared. "We saw the boat tied to a little trestle over thereat the deserted settlement, and when we saw Durgan and two other meng
o into one of the cabins, we sneaked up quickly and took the boatfrom them without asking permission and got away with it!"

  "Didn't they see you, or hear the engine?"

  "No," answered Billy.

  "That's strange! Are you sure?"

  "There were no windows in the cabin, that we could see," explainedBilly, "and when they got inside, they made a lot of noise."

  "Gee! won't they be wild when they find their boat gone!" said Mark.

  "They may think it slipped its moorings and drifted away on the tide.At least, that's what Dave says."

  The Seminole grinned. "Anyhow, they look for boat soon," he said."Something doin' tonight, you bet!"

  Alec had risen and was standing erect, his face turned toward the ocean.

  "What are you staring at?" queried chester. "See any stars?"

  "There's just one," replied young Sands, pointing southwest. "Mightylow down---there! Now it's out."

  "No, it isn't. I see it!"

  "So do I!" exclaimed Billy and Norton.

  "There it is again!"

  "What a queer star!"

  "Perhaps it's a lighthouse. Captain Vinton said that there is onesomewhere near this locality."

  The sky was cloudy; there was no moon. Overhead, a few large starsglittered brilliantly, but the seeming star at which they were gazingwas unlike any of those celestial lights. It steadily grew larger,yellower. Finally two lower gleams appeared, and then all threevanished, as if they had been snuffed out.

  "What is it?" asked Norton, turning to Dave.

  But the Seminole guide apparently did not hear the question. He wasstaring in the direction of the three cabins, whence arose in themurky darkness a shower of sparks, then one---two----three shootinggreen stars.

  "Look!" he exclaimed hoarsely.

  "By Jove! a Roman candle!" ejaculated Norton. "It's a signal!"

  "No star out to sea," Dave said. "No star, but um boat."

  "Boat? You mean-----"

  "_Esperanza_! She come here to-night."