The Banner Boy Scouts Afloat Part 22

Soon after breakfast was over, Paul began to make his arrangements. Like a wise general he wanted to have all the details arranged beforehand, so far as he could do so.

"I hope you'll take the gun along, Paul," remarked Bobolink, when those who had been selected to accompany the leader were stowing some crackers and cheese in sundry pockets, so that they might have a little lunch, in case they were delayed longer than seemed probable.

"Yes, because we're more apt to find need for it than those who stay in camp," the scout master had replied; which fact seemed to give Bobolink considerable satisfaction.

He had not liked the looks of that big fellow which Nuthin claimed to have recognized as his old Lion. If they chanced to run across the beast again, it might feel disposed to attack them; and nothing would please Bobolink more than to have Paul bowl the creature over with a single shot. Any dog that did not have the sense to stay at home, and feed at the hands of a kind master, deserved to get the limit, he thought.

"It isn't that alone," Bobolink had protested, when Paul took him to task for showing such a bloodthirsty spirit; "I've been hearing lately that some of the farmers up this way are complainin' about dogs killin'

their lambs this last spring. And chances are, this same Lion's been one of the pack that did the mischief. Once they start in that way, nothin'

can cure 'em but cold lead. My father said that right out at table. So you see, when dogs take to runnin' loose, they're just like boys, an'

get into bad ways."

Paul thought this was a pretty good argument. He had himself made up his mind that should they ever meet that animal again, and he showed a disposition to attack any of the scouts, there was only one thing to do.

"How about getting into communication with you while you're gone?" asked Jud, who was naturally feeling the new responsibilities of his position more or less, and wished to be posted.

"It might be found a good thing," replied the scoutmaster; "and we could do it easy enough by flags, if we managed to get to the top of that hill where the lone cedar grows. So all the time we're away, Jud, be sure and have a scout posted in a tree, where he can watch that cedar, keeping his flag handy to answer, if he gets the signal.

"Guess that can be fixed, all right," declared Jud.

"Have him keep his eye out for smoke at the same time," continued Paul.

"We might want to tell you something, even without getting up to that cedar tree. And in case you felt like sending back an answer, you'd better have the boys collect a lot of that wood I showed you, that makes a black smoke. You know our smoke code, Jud; no danger of our failing to make good while you're handling the other end of the line."

That made Jud smile, and feel like doing everything in his power to satisfy the scout master. A few drops of oil prevents a vast amount of friction. Paul knew there are few boys who do not like to be appreciated; and they will do double the amount of work if they feel that they possess the full confidence of the one who has been placed in command over them.

When the word was finally given for the little expedition to leave camp, and start into the unknown depths of the island, those who were to remain behind insisted on shaking hands all around, and wis.h.i.+ng them the best of luck. Bobolink pretended to make light of it, and to laugh at the fellows.

"Great Scott! you'd think we were going away off to Hudson's Bay, not to come back again for many moons, if ever!" he scoffed. "Talk about Stanley's farewell to Livingstone in the African jungle, why it wasn't in the same cla.s.s as this. Don't you dare try to embrace me, Dan Tucker.

What d'ye think I am, the pretty new girl that's come to town, and who danced with you at our cla.s.s spread? Hands off, now! And don't any of you cry when we're gone. I declare if you aren't turnin' into a lot of old women."

So the seven scouts strode away from the hidden camp in the sink, plunging into the heavy growth of timber that covered most of the island.

Once only did they turn, to wave a goodbye to their watching companions, who flourished their hats in response, but dared not give the cheer that was in their hearts, because Paul had enjoined the strictest silence.

Paul and Jack had more than once tried to figure out what Cedar Island must look like; but at the best it was only guess work. None of them had ever been here before, and so far they had only roamed over a small portion of one end of the island, so that they could not tell even its general shape.

That was one of the reasons why Paul wanted to climb the little hill on which grew the cedar from which the island must have taken its name.

Once they gained this point, he fancied they might be able to see all parts of the place, and in this manner get a comprehensive idea as what it was like.

They kept pretty well together as they pushed through the brush and timber. Paul instructed them to watch constantly on all sides, so that nothing might escape their scrutiny; and as the little band of scouts pushed deeper into the unknown depths of the mysterious island, they felt more than ever a sense of the responsibility that rested upon their shoulders.

As one of the boys had remarked before, this was good training. They could look back to other occasions when they had roamed the woods, once in search of a little chap who had been lost; but somehow these incidents lacked the flavor of mystery that surrounded them now.

If these men should turn out to be what they already suspected, lawless counterfeiters, would they not be apt to show a revengeful spirit if the persistent boys interfered with their business to any extent?

Just how far he would be justified in leading his companions on, when there was this element of danger in the affair, was a serious question, which Paul had as yet not settled in his mind. He was waiting until something more definite turned up, and when that occurred he expected to be governed by circ.u.mstances to a great extent.

Of course they had frequent little shocks. These came when some small animals rustled the bushes in fleeing before them, or a bird started out of the thick branches of a tree.

The boys were keyed up to such a pitch that their nerves were on edge.

When a crow, that had been watching their coming with suspicious eye, gave a series of harsh caws, and flapping his wings, took flight, Andy caught hold of Bluff's sleeve, and gave it a tug.

"Q-q-quit t-t-that!" exclaimed Bluff, in a shrill whisper. "G-g-guess I'm k-k-keyed up enough, without m-m-akin' me j-j-jump out of my s-s-skin!"

"Arrah but I thought it was that ould dog a-goin' to lape at us, so I did!" muttered the Irish lad, shaking his head, and grasping his cudgel more firmly.

All of them had been wise enough to arm themselves in some way before starting out. And when seven fairly muscular boys wield that many clubs, that have been tried and found true, they ought to be capable of doing considerable execution. But in truth there were but six of the cudgels, for Paul carried his gun only.

They had by now cleared quite considerable ground, even though their progress was in anything but a direct line. On account of dense patches of thorn bushes Paul found it necessary to make various detours; but then this did not matter to any great extent; for while it added to the length of their journey, at the same time it promised to reveal more of the island to their search.

One thing surprised Paul. They found the trees so dense that most of the time it was possible to obtain only glimpses of the sky above.

Fortunately the sun continued to s.h.i.+ne. He thought it must be pretty dingy here on a cloudy day. And the more he saw of Cedar Island the less he wondered that some of the ignorant country people believed it to be haunted.

Bobolink must have been allowing his mind to run in a similar groove, for presently pus.h.i.+ng up alongside Paul, he remarked in a whisper:

"Gee! did you ever see a more spooky place than this is, Paul? Now, if a fellow _did_ believe in ghosts, which of course I don't, here's where he'd expect to run across some of them. Look at that hollow over yonder, would you? There goes a woodchuck dodging back into his hole in the bank.

Ain't it queer how all these animals ever got across from the mainland to this island? Why, seemed like all of half a mile to me."

"Wait till we get on top of that hill, and perhaps the thing won't seem so queer, after all," replied Paul. "I was thinking the same way; and then it struck me that the land might be a whole lot closer to the island on the northern side. Why, how do we know but what it's only a narrow strait there?"

"I wonder, now," mused Bobolink, who always found much food for thought in what information he extracted from the scout master.

They kept on for some five minutes longer, under about the same conditions. Paul, however, began to believe that they must by now be drawing somewhere near the foot of the little hill that arose near the center of the island, as closely as they could figure from their camp at the southern end.

The result of their watchfulness was made apparent when Tom Betts suddenly declared that he had seen something that looked like a blacksmith's forge just beyond a screen of bushes ahead of them.

Cautiously advancing, the seven scouts presently found themselves looking upon the exact object Tom had mentioned, which proved that his powers of observation were good. It was a forge of some sort, with a bellows attached, and a wind screen, but no shelter over the top; which fact would seem to indicate that it must be in the nature of a field smithy, used for certain purposes to heat or melt metal.

There being no sign of life around, Paul and his six followers swarmed out of the brush, and surrounded the forge, which was about as unlikely a thing to be run across, away in this forsaken quarter of the country, as anything they could imagine.

And as Paul examined the portable forge closer he made an interesting discovery.

CHAPTER XXI

A MYSTERY OF THE OPEN GLADE

"This has been used since we had that hard rain, fellows," Paul observed.

Some of the others had noticed him handling the ashes that marked where the fire had been.

"Say, they are not warm, now, are they?" asked Phil, looking uneasily around, as if half expecting to see some rough men come swarming out of the bushes.

"Oh! I didn't mean that," replied the scout master. "But you can see for yourselves that when it rains there's nothing to keep the water from running down over this forge. In that case the ashes would be soaked. If you look again you'll see these are perfectly dry, and have never been wet."