XII--THE ADVENTURE AT THE COVE
That same morning, while Ben had been hunting for the owner of the redautomobile with the silver eagle on the radiator cap, Tom and David andJohn Tuckerman had sailed down to Camp Amoussock in the _Argo_. Theyfound the boys at the camp in their bathing-suits, practicing for somewater-sports that were to be held that week. A raft, with aspring-board, was moored off shore, and from this boys were diving andturning somersaults, backward and forward, like acrobats in a circus.
Other boys were swimming, practising for races, and still others werepaddling round in tubs, trying to steer with their feet while theypropelled the tubs forward by splashing the water with their hands.
"There," said John Tuckerman, as he saw a fat youngster revolving roundand round in a tub, "that's the game for me. I believe, with my longarms and legs, that I'd make a hit at it."
The fat boy splashed too hard, and the tub went over neatly. There was ashout of laughter as the boy bobbed up in the water and tried to turnthe slippery tub rightside up again. This was hard work; the tub wentround and round, continually evading his fingers; and finally he swam toshore, pushing the tub before him.
"No," said Tuckerman, "that isn't the game for me. I used to be prettygood at picking up a pea in a tablespoon, but that was on dry land. Whenit comes to wrestling with a tub in the water--" He gave an expressiveshrug--"I'd rather let the fishes do it."
The _Argo_ landed, and the three guests were provided with bathing-suitsfrom the camp's supply. For half-an-hour they swam and dived and perchedon the raft, watching the boys in tubs. Then a bugle sounded on shore,telling them it was time to get ready for dinner.
The guests did full justice to dinner, sitting between Mr. Perkins, theChief Counsellor, and Lanky Larry. Afterwards Mr. Perkins and JohnTuckerman had a chat, while Lanky invited Tom and David to take a walkalong the shore.
"There's a queer sort of place a couple of miles to the south," saidLanky. "It's a cove with a lot of shanties. Fishermen used to go there;there are boats and nets lying around; but I think it must be deserted.I saw some men there one day last week, but they didn't look likefishermen."
"Lead us to it," said David. "Deserted villages are right in our line."
The path along the shore brought them to the cove. A little tidal riverran inland, wandering up into marshes. On each side of the river was astony beach, and a rickety bridge, with a single handrail, connected thebanks of the stream. Small weatherbeaten shacks, doors and shutterssagging outward, fishing-dories, rusty anchors, lobster-pots, a few netswith round black buoys, these cluttered up either shore.
"Nice place, if it wasn't for the shanties," said David, regarding thecove.
"I found a chap painting here one day," said Lanky. "He told me it madea great picture; he liked the shanties first-rate."
"Funny what things painters like," chuckled David. "The more ramshacklea house is, the more they want to paint it."
They went down a rocky path to the nearer beach, and sat on the bottomof an upturned scow. As they were chatting they heard the creak of adoor, opening on rusty hinges. A man came out from one of the nearershacks. His clothes were fairly new, he wore a brown slouch hat and tanshoes--evidently he was not a fisherman; neither was he a farmer nor acommon loafer; he looked as if he came from a town. He was smoking asmall briar pipe.
"What are you doing here?" The man's tone was a little peremptory,though not exactly surly.
David enjoyed such a question. With a pleasant, friendly smile heanswered, "Just sitting here and thinking."
"That's all you're doing, eh?"
"It is at present," David answered. "What are you doing yourself?"
The man frowned; looked up the creek, looked across at the oppositeshore. "Nobody lives here now," he stated after a minute. "Sometimes Icome and fish from that bridge."
"What's happened to the place?" asked Lanky.
"I don't know. Only nobody comes here now."
"Well, we came this afternoon," said David. "You see, we're explorers."
"You won't find anything to explore."
"Oh, I don't know about that."
The man shot a glance at David, not a very amiable glance. And with thathe walked to the bridge, crossed it, and went into the huddle of shackson the other bank.
"Pleasant sort of customer," said Lanky.
"He'd make a cow laugh," said Tom.
"He didn't like our being here," observed David, "Now I wonder why."
"He wants it all to himself," said Lanky. "He must be some sort ofhermit."
"And just for that,", said David, "I feel like sitting right here onthis scow till he gets more hospitable."
As a matter of fact, however, sitting on the upturned boat and watchingthe waves surge gently up over the stony beach and then withdraw in anetwork of little rivulets that made the stones and pebbles glisten wasnot entertaining enough to keep the three boys there more than fiveminutes. Tom got up. "I'm going over the bridge," he said. "If ourfriend the hermit doesn't like it--well, he'll just have to lump it."
The bridge shook as the three of them stepped upon it. "For goodnesssake, don't lean against that railing," Lanky warned. "Stop bouncing upand down as you walk, Dave, or you'll have us all in the water."
David went on bouncing; but in spite of that they reached the othershore safely. No one was to be seen here; somewhere in the clutter ofshanties the man had disappeared.
"I'd like to know what that precious hermit is up to," said David, andhe walked toward the shacks that were furthest from the bridge.
Lanky and Tom investigated in the other direction, where a clump of oakscame close down to the stream. At the edge of the trees was a shack alittle larger and better built than the others. The door was open, andthe two boys looked in. "Hello!" exclaimed Tom. "What's that on thebench? It looks like jewelry."
A brown cloak, a brown hat with a red feather stuck at one side, and achain of gold links with a large green stone as a pendant, were piled onthe bench.
Tom picked up the ornament. "It's imitation," he said. He looked aroundthe room. "Why, there's a whole wardrobe of queer hats and cloaks andthings here!"
"So there is," said Lanky. "What do you suppose they are? Actors'things?"
"Actors' things?" Tom glanced at the outfit of costumes that hung onpegs on one wall. "They're certainly not fishermen's things. But whatwould actors be doing in this cove?"
"I don't know," Lanky admitted. "It is funny, isn't it?"
They looked at the costumes more closely, and then went out of theshack. "I wonder if that man knows something about them," Lankysuggested. "He might have been keeping guard."
"Let's see what Dave's doing," said Tom, and started along the bank.
He had only taken a few steps, however, when he stopped. "Here comes aboat around the point. Let's beat it, and see what they do."
The two slipped back of a cabin, then to a shelter of bushes. Crouchingthere, they watched the boat nose its bow into the cove.
The boat was a dory. One man was rowing, two others sat in the stern.They looked no more like the usual type of fishermen than had the manwhom the boys had first encountered.
With considerable splashing the boat was rowed up to the bridge. Thetide was low, and there was hardly enough water at that point to floatthe dory. The rower shipped his oars and tied the boat to the railing ofthe bridge. Meantime the other two men stepped over the side and came upon to the beach.
All three headed toward the shack that the boys had just left and wentin at the door.
"They seem to know their way about," whispered Lanky. "I wonder whyDave's friend didn't come down to meet them."
In a few minutes the three men came out again, and now they had some ofthe cloaks and hats in their hands. Each put on a cloak and a hat andstrutted about; they laughed and joked at each other.
"What in the world----" muttered Lanky. "Actors. I told you," Tomwhispered. "They look like highwaymen."
The men now
seemed satisfied with their costumes. Hats pulled well downon their heads and cloaks thrown over their shoulders, they took thepath toward the clump of oaks.
"I say," muttered Lanky, "what do you suppose they're going to do? Holdup some farmer's wagon? Come on, I want to find out what's their game."
"I'd better get Dave," said Tom. "You follow them. I'll catch up withyou in a minute."
"All right."
Lanky went one way, and Tom the other.
Tom ran over the stones between the shanties, and looked in at the opendoors; but he did not see David nor the man they had met first. He gavethe whistle he used to call David in Barmouth. There was no answer. Theshacks on this side of the stream all appeared deserted.
David was not to be found, and Tom supposed he must have gone furtheralong the shore. Meantime he would be losing the chance of findingLanky, so after whistling several times more Tom turned and ran towardthe oaks.
The path along the cove was well marked, it traversed the high ground atthe edge of the marshes and turned into fairly thick woods. At adog-trot Tom soon came up with Lanky. "I couldn't find Dave," hegrunted. "I guess he found the hermit so fascinating he went for astroll with him."
"I've kept my eye on the three highwaymen," said Lanky. "This seems tobe the only path around here, marshes on one side and the forestprimeval on the other." He glanced at his wrist-watch. "I ought to begetting back to camp; but I can't leave an adventure like this. Itwouldn't be decent, would it?"
"It would not," Tom assented. "If they try to blame you, you refer themto me. I'll say that we thought those fellows were up to some kind ofmischief, and that it seemed to be our duty to investigate them. Andthat's telling the truth; they're what Benjie would call 'suspiciouscharacters.'"
Every once in a while the boys would catch a glimpse of one or other ofthe cloaked men through the vista of the trees. Then the boys would stopand let the others get well ahead of them. And presently they reached adusty road and saw the men tramping along to the south.
Tom and Lanky had to come out in the open then, but, as Lanky pointedout, there was no reason why the men, if they saw them, should think thetwo boys were at all interested in what they were doing. They walked ahalf-mile without encountering anyone, and then the boys saw anautomobile coming toward the three in front.
"Now," said Tom, "we'll see if they're highwaymen. This is a nice quietplace to hold up a car."
But the men disappeared by jumping over a fence that ran along the woodson the left. The automobile, a man and a woman in it, dashed by theboys, leaving a cloud of dust.
"So ho!" exclaimed Lanky, "our friends don't want to be seen! Suppose wemake ourselves scarce till they come back to the road."
The boys hid in the woods, and presently the three men reappeared on theroad. Tom and Lanky followed suit, and the march was resumed.
A mile more, and the men came to a crossroad. They turned toward thewest. When the boys reached the crossroad Lanky stopped. "This is aprivate lane," he said. "See, it leads up to that barn and stable. Andthere's a big house. Our friends are going in the back way."
There was a screen of trees at the corner. The boys went along the laneuntil the screen gave way to a close-cropped hedge. Here they had a viewof a wide, velvety lawn and the large house, red-striped awnings at thewindows, on a gently-rising slope.
"Hello!" exclaimed Tom. "Look there!"
There was no heed of his telling Lanky to look. Lanky was staring atthat part of the lawn that was shielded by the trees at the corner.There was a small, one-story house that looked as if it were made ofcardboard, a very picturesque building, brightly painted to resemblecross-timbers, with two little lattice windows. And grouped about thegrass in front of the house were a dozen or so men and women, all ofthem dressed in fancy costumes, looking as if they had just stepped outof a picture book or down from the stage of a theatre.
"My eye!" said Tom. "What is it? A fancy dress party?"
"Looks like a Robin Hood scene," said Lanky. "Some of them have bows andarrows. See that girl in pink working that churn." He watched for amoment; then added, "So that's why our friends the highwaymen came alongthis way."
"They don't seem to have joined the crowd," said Tom. "Why didn't theyjump over the hedge?"
The people on the lawn were too busy to notice the boys in the lane.Lanky nodded. "That's so. And it seems to me, Tom, that that crowd are adifferent type from our three friends. These people belong here; but Idon't think the others do."
The boys looked up the lane. The three men had entered at a gate thatled to the rear of the big house.
"Let's see what they're doing," said Tom.
Along the lane went the two boys, and turned in at the gate.
The men had disappeared. Lanky shook his head. "It's queer, mightyqueer. Of course those fellows may belong here. But why should they comeall the way from that cove? And bring those hats and cloaks with them?"He scratched his ear, as he did when he was puzzled.
"Come along," said Tom. "Nobody'll throw us out."
They crossed the lawn to the steps of the porch. A man came out from thefront door, a man in livery, apparently the butler. He held himself verystraight, he was an angular person, with a fishy eye.
"Yes?" he said; and though the word was a short one he managed toexpress in it a cold sense of disapproval.
"Er--" began Tom, "we would like to know if three men, wearing browncloaks and big slouch hats, just came into this house."
The butler shrugged his shoulders. "There are gentlemen and ladieswearing every kind of costume coming in and going out all the time," heanswered stiffly.
That seemed to put an end to further questions; but Lanky, afterconsidering the matter for a moment, inquired, "Whose place is this?"
"It belongs to Mr. Hastings," said the butler, eyeing the boys mostdisapprovingly. "He is not at home at present. But I can answer anyquestions for him."
Neither Lanky nor Tom, however, could think of any questions to ask. Itseemed absurd to tell this fishy-eyed servant that they had followed thethree men from the cove. And after all the men might have a perfectright to have entered the house.
"Very well," said Tom, and turned on his heel, followed by Lanky.
But when they were out in the lane again, Lanky said, "I'm going to waitaround here a little longer. That servant's a fool. Anybody could putanything over on him."
So they climbed up on the stone wall on the other side of the lane andsat there like two sentries.