CHAPTER V
THE FIRST CAMP FIRE OF THE TRIP
"Holy smoke! so that's what the matter, is it?" exclaimed Buster, as hestared at the telltale track.
"A thief, that's what!" breathed George, angrily, as he turned to glanceat the neighboring growth of trees, now partly lost in the gloom ofcoming night.
"And to think," remarked Herb, "that anybody could just slip along hereback of these bushes, and grab our grub without one of us seeing him."
"Oh! we were all too busy doing our regular stunts to think of such athing," explained Jack. "You see, Josh had all he wanted to do with thefire; some of us were putting up the tent the second time; and Georgehad his hands full with his pet hobby, bothering over his engine. Why,it was as easy as falling off a log for him to just crawl up behindthese bushes, reach out a hand, and then good-bye to all the fine stuffJosh had laid out so nice."
"Well, if that don't beat the Dutch!" exclaimed Josh, staring hard atthe stone which bore such an important part in all this discussion, asthough he could hardly believe his eyes.
"Look here," continued Jack, "and you can see where the ground is allrubbed up; that's where his knees scraped on the surface when he draggedone leg after the other, you know."
"My! it takes you to get on to these things, Jack!" declared Buster.
Andy had said nothing up to now, but seemed to be just as much puzzledand disturbed as the rest. He managed to put in his oar at about thispoint, however.
"Musha! they do be sayin' that this same ould island do be ha'nted; and'tis me own silf that will be belavin' the same afther this, so I will!"
"Great governor! he means it was a regular ghost, Jack, d'ye hear that?"cried Buster, throwing up his chubby hands in rank despair.
Everybody seemed interested at once; for, while several of the boys, ifasked to their face might have promptly declared they never believed inghosts; still, it was so very queer, finding some unknown party on theisland with the bad name, that they were inclined to listen withinterest when Andy aired his views. Ghosts--of course not,--because theywere all humbug, anyway; but it was mighty strange how that stuffvanished so mysteriously.
Jack laughed out loud.
He was a level-headed, practical boy, and had not a grain of superstitionin his whole body. Many a time had he and Andy argued and disputed uponthis very score, and the one whose ancestors had come from the islandacross the sea had apparently so far as outward appearances went, atleast, been convinced of the error of his ways, only to have the oldbelief crop up again unexpectedly on the first occasion. It was in theblood; and what is there cannot be argued away.
"Stop and think, Buster, and you, Andy," Jack went on to say,impressively, "ghosts wouldn't be apt to wear big boots, would they, andcome creeping along, when they are popularly supposed to have the powerof making themselves invisible?"
"That's so, Jack, you're right!" burst out George, enthusiastically."Get your gun, and we'll take a look for the rascal, and make him standand deliver."
But Jack paid no attention to this fiery threat; if they tried to carryout one-tenth of the things impulsive George suggested, it would surelykeep them busy, well and good.
"And whoever heard of a hungry ghost?" Jack went on to say, so as to rubit in, good and hard. "This fellow, whoever he could have been, musthave been hungry; for he cribbed our ham and stuff the first shot. Well,it's gone; but thank goodness we've got plenty more; so I say, don'tlet's have such a little thing make us feel bad. Get busy, some of you,and fix the cook up with a second ration. Herb, cut two more slices offthe ham, and Buster, you turn your hand at carving that hunk of fishwe've still got. Such a trifle shouldn't upset fellows who had beenthrough all we have, you know."
"No more it hadn't!" cried Buster.
"Bully for the Commodore; he's the right stuff!" exclaimed Josh, wavingthe stick of wood he happened to be holding in his hand at the time; andlooking very much like a real French chef with his cute little white capon his head.
"But hey, let's first of all get every bit of our stuff in the tent, andkeep a close watch on the same," observed suspicious George. "Firstthing you know we'll just have to abandon our week of fun down herebecause we're starved out. We didn't agree to feed all the strayfishermen, or hoboes in the country, when we laid in our supplies thistime; ain't that a fact, Jack?"
It was strange how all the other boys almost invariably turned to Jackwhen they had advanced a proposition; as though his guarantee was allthat was necessary to stamp the suggestion as a clever idea.
"Yes, you're right there, George; and while the rest of you are doingall you can to help Josh out, I'll be collecting the duffle in the tent,and fixing the same so it won't bother us much. If any chap manages tohook more of our stuff from under our very noses, he'll deserve it,that's all."
So saying, Jack started to carry things in under the canvas, for thetent had been about fully erected at the time Josh made his astonishingstatement; and only needed to be fastened down a little more securely atthe base, so as to be ready to stand any sort of a blow, such as mightcome along in the spring time here on the upper Mississippi.
The air was getting a little "nippy," as Buster called it; so thatseveral of the motorboat boys had donned their sweaters. This madeBuster start to again bemoaning the strange disappearance of his newone, that had the blue moon on the breast. He never could convincehimself that he had mislaid it in the shed where the boats had beenhoused for the winter; and fancied that one of his chums must be hidingit from him; because every little while he would watch each one in turn,and with hope struggling afresh upon his rosy, plump face, only to haveit die out again when he realized they were not dragging the familiarobject out of their clothes bags.
Secretly Buster was determined that at the first chance he would rummagethrough each one of those bags himself, and make positive that hismissing property was not reposing where it never should be found.
The supper preparations went on apace, and soon the most delightfulodors ever sniffed by hungry cruisers began to permeate the surroundingatmosphere. Buster went into the tent, calling back over his shoulder:
"Just going to lie down a while on my blanket, to see how she goes,fellers. Fact is, I'm that cramped after a session aboard the speed boatthat I c'n hardly stretch out. And then, to own up to the real truth,them smells make me just wild, and I can't stand it around the fire anylonger. Just call me when everything's ready, Josh, that's a goodfeller. Oh! my! but that coffee is scrumptious; and the ham, goodnessgracious! whoever smoked that pig knew how to fix things so's to set ahungry boy half crazy. Yum! yum! Don't forget to wake me, now, Josh!"
But of course it was not long before supper was declared ready, and theboys proceeded to gather around the spot where Josh had set things.Buster was not called, in fact there was no need, for he burst out ofthe tent like a young cyclone just at this time, and hastened to find aplace to deposit his fat form in the circle.
"Hey! thought'd you steal a march on me, didn't you, fellers?" hedemanded, trying to look very fierce, which was impossible, for he onlyscrewed up his face and seemed comical at such times; "meant to just eatup my share, and then tell me you forgot all about giving me the highsign. But I was on to your little game, let me tell you. Could hearevery word you said, and when Josh here told George to pass out hispannikin, that gave me my cue. Thank you, Josh, I believe I will dip innext; and Herb, fill my tin-cup with that coffee, please. Oh! ain't Iglad we've got started at last. That last ten minutes was just awful tome!"
So Buster rattled on until the others begged him to stop it.
"Let the food close that trap of yours, Buster, please," said George."That's the way he goes, ding-dong, the whole blessed day, fellows;until I can hardly think straight, when I'm trying to figure on how tobridle that high-stepper of a motor of mine."
They were soon all hard at work, and after the first keen edge of theirappetites had been taken off, it was a merry group that gathered nearthe fire, eating, chatting and with a continu
al flow of wit passing backand forth.
Nevertheless Jack could not forget about the mysterious disappearance ofthe food, and every little while he would get up, to take a strollaround to the other side of the tent; just as though he half feared thatsome daring intruder might try to cut into the back of the canvas, withthe intention of continuing his depredations.
"How about that old paper Andy brought with him?" asked George, afterthey had eaten all that was possible; and even Buster was seen to shakehis head when Josh asked if anybody would have any more coffee, bakedbeans, crackers, or cheese.
"Say, that's a fact!" cried Herb, "we went and forgot all about it. Yousee, Jack crammed it in a pocket of his old jacket; and all of us werethat anxious to be off we didn't remember to have the account of therobbery read out. Got it yet, haven't you, Jack?"
"Sure I have," replied the other, "and if you wait a minute I'll get thesame, so we can enjoy the thrilling story right here and now. Those kindof yarns always sound better around the blazing camp fire, you know."
"Kinder go with ghosts, and all that sort of thing, eh?" came fromBuster, who was eyeing the remnant of ham in the fryingpan, and heavinga sigh, as though it really gave him a pain to think that his capacityseemed to have been reached before the last bit had been disposed of;that was next door to a sin with Buster, who would gorge himself ratherthan see the least thing wasted, or thrown away.
"Ghosts don't burgle any that I ever heard of," observed Josh, calmlypicking up the said skillet, and with a fling sending a small portion ofthe fatty end of ham flying into the bushes, at which Buster sank back,disappointed.
"Arrah, sure they do the quarest things ye iver heard till on," declaredAndy; and then gave a quick look at Jack, as though half expecting to betaken to task because of his clinging belief in hobgoblins, and all suchthings.
But Jack did not see fit to pay the slightest attention to anything sotrifling just then. He passed into the tent, to where he had hung hiscoat; for with his sweater on he had not felt the need of extracovering. And presently he came out again, carrying the paper in hishand.
"Now, isn't that too mean for anything, boys?" he remarked.
"What's gone wrong now, Jack; I hope more of our provisions haven'ttaken wings, and skipped out?" observed George; while Buster just satthere, hugging his fat knees and holding his breath while he waited tohear the worst.
"Oh! no; nothing like that," came the answer, "but you see I had thiscoat on a good part of the morning, and I guess the paper must have gotwet somehow, for there's only part of the first page left; most of theaccount of the robbery is gone. But I'll read you what there is, if youwant. It's the tail end, of course. Too bad it had to happen that way."
"Go on, then, and let's have what there is, Jack," urged Josh.
"About where the lines begin to run even it starts in this way,"remarked Jack. "'The only clues they have of the robbery consist, firstof all, in several tools which Mr. Hasty, the blacksmith, identified aspart of his machinist's outfit, showing that they had entered his shop;and the fact that yesterday a dapper little naphtha launch, paintedwhite, with a red band around the upper part, was known to be anchoredjust above town. Two parties occupied the same, one a well-dressed youngfellow, with a sharp look about him; and the other a heavy man, morelike a mechanic. The police have no doubt that these parties are theones who broke into the bank, and cleaned out the vault. The smartlooking young fellow must have planned the scheme. He was seen in thebank during the day, getting some information, and a big bill changed,and it is supposed that he took his bearings at that time he waschatting with the cashier. From the description the latter was able togive of his visitor it has been learned from St. Paul that the smoothfaced young fellow was positively a well known and skilful crook calledby the name of Slim Jim. The authorities hope to be able to get on totheir track up or down the river shortly.'"
Just as Jack ended this report Buster was heard to give a startled cry.
"What ails him now?" demanded Josh, looking toward the fat boy.
"Just what I thought, he's gone and overfed, and now he's feeling agripe coming on; he'll sure burst some fine day," grumbled George,groaning to think that all during the trip he must put up with such arolypoly of a crew as Buster Longfellow.
"'Tain't neither," snapped the other, indignantly. "I c'n breathe aswell as any feller present. I gave that little gasp-like because I wasstaggered, when Jack, he read about that trim little boat painted white,with the red trimmin' around the gunnel. Want to know why, don't you?Well, the fact is, fellers, I set eyes on that pirate craft myself, andnot so very long ago either; fact is, just half an hour before westruck here. Now, what d'ye think of that, hey?" and Buster expandedperceptibly, doubtless feeling his own importance as the bearer ofstartling news.