THE BOY SCOUTS ON STURGEON ISLAND

Or Marooned Among the Game-Fish Poachers

By Herbert Carter

CHAPTER I

OUT FOR A ROYAL GOOD TIME

"Will you do me a favor, Bumpus?"

"Sure I will, Giraffe; what is it you want now?"

"Then tell me who that is talking to our scoutmaster, Dr. PhilanderHobbs; because, you know, I've just come in after a scout ahead, andfirst thing saw was a stranger among the patrol boys. "

"Oh! You mean that thin chap who came along in his buggy a bit ago, chasing after us all the way from that town where we had a bite oflunch? Why, I understand he's the son of the telegraph operator there. You know we made arrangements with him to try and get a message to us, if one came along. "

"Whew! then I hope he ain't fetched a message that'll spoil all our fun, just when we've got to the last leg of the journey, with the boat only afew miles further on! That'd be the limit Bumpus. You don't knowanything about it, I reckon?"

"Well, our scout-master looks kinder down in the mouth, and I'm afraidit must be some sort of a recall to duty for him, " remarked a third lad, also wearing the khaki garments of a Boy Scout, as he joined the pairwho were talking. 

"I'm afraid you're right, Davy, " said the tall, angular fellow whoseemed to own the queer name of Giraffe, though his long neck plainlyproved why it had been given to him by his mates. "But don't it beatthe Dutch how many times Doe Hobbs has had to give up a jolly trip, andhurry back home, just when the fun was going to begin, because the olddoctor he works with needed him the worst kind?"

"But say, " spoke up the fat boy who answered to the designation ofBumpus, "mebbe the Cranford Troop, and the Silver Fox Patrol inparticular, ain't lucky to have such a wide-awake, efficient assistantscout-master as our Thad Brewster, who knows more in a day about out-of-door things than Dr. Hobbs would in a year. "

"Yes, that's right, " replied Giraffe; "but we're going to know what's inthe wind now, because here's the scout-master heading this way, withseveral of the other boys tagging at his heels, and sure as you livethey're grinning too. Looks to me like Stephen and Allan thought it agood joke, though they look solemn enough when Doc turns their way. He's just got to leave us, you mark my words, fellows. "

It turned out that very way. An urgent message had come thatnecessitated the immediate return of the scout-master. The old doctorwith whom he practiced had been unlucky enough to fall, and break a leg;so it was absolutely essential that his assistant come back to lookafter the sick people of Cranford, hundreds of miles away. 

While the scout-master is getting his personal belongings together, andthe six boys gathered around are trying to look terribly disappointed, it might be well to introduce the little party to such of our readerswho have not had the pleasure of making their acquaintance in previousvolumes of this series. 

The Cranford Troop of Boy Scouts now consisted of two full patrols, anda third was in process of forming. The original patrol was known as theSilver Fox, and the six scouts who were with Doctor Hobbs, away up hereon the border of Lake Superior, bent on a cruise on the great freshwater sea, all belonged to that division of the troop, so that they areold friends to those who have perused any of the earlier books. 

Thad Brewster, whom Bumpus had spoken of so highly, was a bright, energetic lad, who had always delighted in investigating thingsconnected with outdoor life. He had belonged to a troop beforeorganizing the one at Cranford, and was well qualified for being madethe assistant scoutmaster, having received his credentials from the NewYork Headquarters long ago. 

Allan Hollister, who would assume the responsibility should Thad beabsent, was a boy who had spent quite a time in the Adirondacks beforejoining the scouts, and his knowledge was along practical lines. 

Then there was another fellow, rather a melancholy chap, who had a queerway of showing the whites of his eyes, and looking scared, at the leastopportunity, only to make his chums laugh; for he would immediatelyafterwards grin--in school as a little fellow he had insisted that hisname of Stephen should be pronounced as though it consisted of twosyllables; and from that day to this he had come to be known as Step HenBingham. 

The other three boys were the ones who engaged in the little talk withwhich this story opens. Bumpus really had another name, though fewpeople ever thought to call him by it; yet in the register at school hewas marked down as Cornelius Jasper Hawtree; while the fellow who hadthat strange "rubber-neck" that he was so fond of stretching to itslimit, was Conrad Stedman. 

Davy Jones, too, wag a remarkable character, as may be made evidentbefore the last word is said in this story. He seemed to be as nimbleas they make boys; and was forever doing what he called "stunts, " daringany of his comrades to hang by their toes from the limb of a tree twentyfeet from the ground; walking a tight-rope which he stretched acrossdeep gully, and all sorts of other dangerous enterprises of that nature. Often he was called "Monkey, " and no nick-name ever given by boyplaymates fitted better than his. 

Once Davy had been a victim to fits, and on this account gained greatconsideration from his teachers at school, as well as from his comrades. But latterly there had arisen a suspicion that these "fits" that doubledhim up so suddenly always seemed to come just when there was some hardwork to be done; and once the suspicion that Davy was shamming broke inupon the rest, they shamed him into declaring himself radically cured. It was either that, or take a ducking every time he felt one of thosespells coming on; so Davy always declared the camp air had effected amiracle in his case, and that he owed a great deal to his having joinedthe scouts. 

"Too bad, boys, " said Dr. Hobbs, who was a mighty fine young man, andwell liked by all the scouts in Cranford Troop, although they saw solittle of him because his pressing duties called him away so often; "butI've got to go home on the first train. Doctor Green has a broken leg, and there's nobody to make the rounds among our sick people in Cranford. I never was more disappointed in my life, because we've fixed things fora glorious cruise up here on Old Superior. "

The boys assured him that they deeply sympathized with him, because theyknew it would break their hearts to be deprived of their outing, nowthat they had come so far. 

"Fortunately, " continued Dr. Hobbs, with a twinkle in his kindly eyes, "that isn't at all necessary; because all arrangements have been made, the boat is waiting only a few miles away, and you have an efficientassistant scout-master in this fine chap here, Thad Brewster, who willtake charge while I'm away, as he has done on numerous other sadoccasions. "

"Hurrah!" burst from Bumpus; "that's the kind of stuff we like to hear. Not that we won't miss you, Doctor, because you know boys from theground up, and we all feel like you're an older brother to us; but we'vebeen out with Thad so much, we're kinder used to his ways. "

"Well, " continued the scout-master, with a long sigh, "I've got to hurryoff if I expect to catch that afternoon train, and there's no otheruntil morning; so good-bye, boys. Take good care of yourselves, andwrite to me as often as you can. I'll try and picture the jollyhappenings of this Lake Superior cruise as I read your accounts of it. "

He squeezed the hand of every one of the six lively lads; and there wasa huskiness in his voice as he bade them a last good-bye that toldbetter than words how sorry he was to leave the merry bunch, just whenthey were almost, as Bumpus put it, "in sight of the Promised Water. "

So the vehicle passed from sight, and the last they saw of Doctor Hobbswas a hand waving his campaign hat to them just before a bend in thecountry road was reached. 

All of them now turned to Thad to see what his plan of campaign wouldbe. 

"If it's just this way, fellows, " he remarked, with one of his smilesthat had made him the most popular boy in all Cranford, barring none;"we've got about three miles to hit it up before we reach the lakeshore. Then we'll make camp and spend another night, which I hope willbe our last ashore for some little time. Because, unless there's ahitch to the program, we ought to come on the landing where our boat isgoing to be in waiting, by ten o'clock to-morrow. "

"Hurrah!" cried Bumpus, who was already weary of "hiking" because hisbuild made him less active than some of the other scouts, notably Davyand Giraffe. 

"Let's get a move on, then, " suggested Step Hen. "I can see that poorold Giraffe here is nearly perishing for a little bite of supper. "

A rippling laugh ran around at this, for every one knew the failing ofthe long-legged scout, whose stowage capacity when it came time to eathad never as yet within the memory of any comrade been fully tested; forthey always declared that his legs must be hollow, for otherwise it wasa mystery where all the food he devoured went to, since he never seemedto get any stouter after a meal than he was before. 

The march was accordingly resumed, with Tad and Allan leading the van. The boys were going light, because they did not intend to do muchcamping on this trip, as it was expected that the boat would accommodateall of them with sleeping quarters. 

Each one had a blanket strapped to his back, and with this were a fewnecessities in the line cooking utensils and food. Most of theirluggage had been sent on by another route, as had also their supplies. Doctor Hobbs had wished them to go to the landing where their boat wasto meet them, by following this roundabout course, having had somereason of his own for visiting the country. His folks in Cranford ownedconsiderable land in this vicinity, and it was said that there were out-croppings of valuable copper to be found upon it; which accounted forthe young man's desire to make inquiries while up in this region. 

Joking and laughing, and even singing snatches of school songs, the boysof the Silver Fox Patrol tramped along the road that was to bring themto the shore of the lake by and by. 

It was about half-past four when they obtained their first glimpse ofthe apparently boundless body of water, said to be the largest freshwater sea in the whole world. Shortly afterwards they reached the shoreand were looking almost in awe out upon the vast expanse of water, uponthe bosom of which they anticipated making their home for some weeksduring vacation time. 

"Here's the finest camp site you ever struck in your born days, fellers!" called out Giraffe, as he waved his arm around at the treesthat grew close to the edge of the inland sea; and every one of theother five scouts agreed with him. 

They had made many camps in the last two years, for they had wanderedfar from the home town, down in Tennessee, up in Maine, and away out tothe Rockies on one memorable occasion; but no better place to spend anight had ever greeted their eyes. 

It was soon a bustling scene, with a fire being started, andarrangements made to build a sort of lean-to shelter that would evenshed rain in a pinch should a storm come upon them during the night theyexpected to spend here. 

Davy, as usual, was climbing trees, and spying into every hole he couldfind. When Monkey Jones had a chance to exercise his peculiar giftslike this present opportunity afforded him it was utterly out of thequestion to hold him in. And so he swung daringly from one limb toanother, just for all the world like a squirrel, chattering at times ina way that Giraffe always declared left no doubt in his mind concerningDavy's having descended from the original tree-climbing tribe thatsported tails. 

There was one very large tree close by, that is, large considering thatin this section there were few that could boast a girth of more than afoot; but this one was really what Bumpus called a "whopper;" and Davysported among the higher branches with all the delight of a child with anew toy; giving the others more than one thrill as he swooped this wayand that with reckless abandon. 

But suddenly he sent out a shout that caused every fellow to takenotice; and Bumpus actually turned pale with apprehension, as he vainlylooked around for some sort of weapon with which to defend himself;because he always believed he must be a shining mark for any hungry wildbeast, on account of his plumpness. 

"Oh!" shouted the boy in the tree, "a panther, fellers, a really truepanther!"

CHAPTER II

THAD GOES AFTER THE YELLOW EYES

"He says a panther is up there!" echoed Giraffe, stretching that longneck of his at a fearful rate, in the endeavor to locate the animal inquestion. 

All of them became immediately intensely interested in the furtherdoings of Davy Jones. The boy chanced to be in a position where hecould not apparently pass down the trunk of the tree, for fear lest hecome in contact with the sharp claws of the dreaded beast which heclaimed was hiding up there somewhere; but then that was a small matterto one so active as the Jones boy. 

He immediately started to fearlessly slide down the outside of the tree, making use of the branches as he came along, to stay his program when itthreatened to become too rapid. 

The sight of Davy spinning down from that height with such perfectabandon, was one none of those fellows would ever forget. 

When he finally landed on the ground they gathered around him with somemisgivings, for Davy was addicted to practical jokes, and some of hischums suspected that even now he was, as Step Hen suggested, "putting upa job on his unsuspecting comrades. "

One look at his really white face told them that at least Davy's frighthad been genuine. He may not have seen a truly savage panther up therein the tree, but he firmly believed he did. 

"Where was it, Davy?" demanded Giraffe, who had hastened to snatch upthe camp hatchet in lieu of any better weapon with which to defendhimself. 

"Did it try to grab you?" asked Bumpus, with a tremor in his voice thathe tried in vain to conceal by a great show of assumed bluster. 

"And was there only one up there?" queried Step Hen, anxiously, fingering the double-barreled Marlin shotgun, which was the only firearmthey had with them, as this expedition had not been organized with anyidea of hunting; and the season for game was not on as yet, either, evenin this northern country; though Giraffe, who owned the gun, had fetchedit in the hope that they might be forgiven if they knocked over a fewwild ducks, should their rations run low. 

"I didn't wait to ask, " stammered Davy, "fact is, boys, I didn't reallysee the terrible beast at all, only his big yellow eyes!"

"Oh! is that so, Davy?" exclaimed Thad, turning to give Allan a wink, asmuch as to let him understand that the truth would soon be coming now. 

"But see here, " Step Hen wanted to know; "however was you agoin' to seehis eyes and not glimpse the panther himself; that's a thing you've gotto explain, Davy Jones. "

The other bent a look of commiseration on the speaker. 

"What's the answer to that?" he went on to say, recovering his voicemore and more with each passing second, now that his personal safetyseemed assured; "I'll tell you, Step Hen. You see, there's a bigyawning gap in the tree up there, as black inside as your hat afternight. And when I just happened to look that way what did I see but apair of round yellow eyes astaring straight at me! Guess I've seen apanther, and I ought to know how his eyes look in the dark--just likeyou've seen the old cat alooking at you to home, when you went into adark room. Wow! say, did you notice me acoming down that tree outsidelike greased lightning? I own up I expected I'd be pounced on anysecond, and that made me in something like a hurry, fellows!"

One or two of the scouts snickered at this. The sound appeared to annoyDavy, who was plainly very much in earnest. 

"Huh! easy to laugh, you fellows, " he remark, with deep satire in hisvoice. "Mebbe, now, you, don't believe what I'm telling you! Mebbe oneof you'd like to just climb up there, and see for yourself what it is?I dare you, Bumpus!"

"You'll have to excuse me, Davy; it's too big a job for a boy built likeme, you understand, though sure I'd like to accommodate first rate, "replied the scout with the red hair and mild blue eyes, shrinking back, and shrugging his shoulders. 

"Then how about you, Step Hen, " pursued Davy, determined to put it toeach of the scoffers in turn until he had shown them up in good style;"I notice that you're looking like you didn't reckon there couldn'tabeen such a thing as a genuine panther around this region in the lasttwenty years and more. Suppose you tumble up there, and take a look-in!"

But the party indicated smiled sweetly, and laid his hand on the regionof his stomach, as he went on to say:

"Why, really and truly, Davy, I think I'm going to have one of thosenasty cramps just like you used to have so often. There's agripe comingon right now, and you see how unpleasant it would be to find myselfdoubled-up while I was thirty feet from the ground. I'm afraid I'llhave to pass this time. "

"Then, there's Giraffe who'll he sure to volunteer, " continued theother, bound to take all the scoffers in by turns. "He's of aninvestigating turn of mind, and if he wants to, I reckon he might takethat gun along, so he could have some show, if the thing jumped rightout in his face!"

"Well, now, " the long-legged scout answered, with a whimsical grin, "I'dlike to accommodate you the worst kind, Davy, but you know how it iswith me. I ain't worth a cooky before I've had my feed. Feel sorterweak about the knees, to tell you the honest truth; and I never was askeen about climbing to the top of tall trees as you were, Davy. Countme out, please, that's a good fellow. "

At that Davy laughed outright. 

"I see you've got cold feet in the, bargain, Giraffe, " he asserted. "Well, then, if anybody's going to climb up there and poke that ugly oldbeast out of his den it'll have to be either our scout-master, or Allen;for I tell you right now you don't catch me monkeying with a buzz-sawafter I've had my fingers zipped. "

"I'll go, " said Thad, quietly. 

"Here, take this, Thad, " urged Step Hen, trying to force the shotguninto the hands of the other, as he stepped toward the base of the bigtree. 

Thad and Allan again exchanged looks. 

"Don't think I'll need it, do you, Allan?" the former asked. 

"Hardly, " came the reply; "and even if you did carry it up, the chancesare you couldn't find a way to hold on, and shoot at the same time. Here, let me take that thing, Step Hen; you're that nervous. Ifanything did happen to fluster you, I honestly believe you'd up and bangaway, and perhaps fill our chum with bird-shot in the bargain. "

Step Hen disavowed any such weakness, but nevertheless he was apparentlyglad to hand over the weapon; because he realized that Allan knew muchbetter how to use firearms than he did, and if there was any occasionfor shooting, the responsibility would be off his shoulders; for StepHen never liked to find himself placed where he was in the limelight andhad to make good, or be disgraced. 

Thad did not appear to be at all worried, as he took a last good lookaloft, as though wishing to assure himself that there was no panther insight among the thick branches above, before he trusted himself upthere. 

His good common sense told him that the chances were as ten to one thatDavy had not seen what he claimed at all; but his fears had workedovertime, and simply magnified some trifling thing. 

Of course had Thad really believed there was any chance of meeting sucha savage beast as a panther he would never have ventured w make thatclimb; or if he did he must have surely taken the gun along with him. 

The others gathered around near the foot of the tree, and tried tofollow the daring climber with their eyes, meanwhile exchanging more orless humorous remarks in connection with his mission. 

All of them, saving possibly Allan, seemed to be a little nervousconcerning the outcome; because Davy kept on asserting his positivebelief that it was a real true panther that lay in the aperture above, and not a make-believe. 

"I only hope Thad can dodge right smart if the old thing does comewhooping out at him!" was the way Davy put it; at which the eyes ofBumpus grew rounder and rounder, and he began to quietly edge away fromunder the tree, an inch at a time; for he hoped none of his chums wouldnotice his timidity, because Bumpus was proud of having done certainthings in the line of bagging big game, on the occasion of their trip tothe Far West. 

"There, " remarked Step Hen, "he's getting up pretty far now, and Ireckon must be close by the place where you saw your old panther, Davy. "

"Yes, " added Giraffe, "and you notice that Thad's marking time, so tospeak, for he's hanging out there, and trying to see what's above him. "

"A scout should always use a certain amount of caution, " interposedAllan; "there are times when a fellow might take chances, if it's a caseof necessity, and quick action is necessary in order to save life; butright now Thad's only carrying out the rule he's always laid down forthe rest of us. 

"Be prepared, you know, is the slogan of every scout, and that's whathe's doing. He wants to be sure of his ground before he jumps. "

"Hub!" grunted Davy, "if I'd stopped to count ten before I slid down, Iwonder now what would have happened to me. Some fellers act fromimpulse every time, and you can't change the spots of the leopard, theysay. What's dyed in the wool can't be washed out, as took as Bumpus herewith his carroty hair. "

"You leave my hair alone, Davy Jones, and pay attention to your ownbusiness, " complained the stout scout, aggressively. "You just knowyou're a going to get it when Thad makes his report, and you're tryingto draw attention somewhere else. Make me think of what I read aboutthe pearl divers when they see an old hungry man-eating shark waitingabove 'em; they stir up the sand with the sharp-pointed stick theycarry; and when the water gets foggy they swim away without the fishbeing able to see 'em. And you're atrying right now to befog the realcase, which is, did you really see anything, or get scared at your ownshadow. "

"Hear! Hear!" crowed Giraffe, who always liked to see Bumpus aroused, and when this occurred he often made out to back him up with approval, just as some boys would sick one dog on another, or tempt rival roostersto come to a "scrap. "

"You fellow's let up, and watch what Thad's agoin' to do, " Step Henadvised them at that juncture; and so for the time being Davy and Bumpusforgot their complaint and riveted their eyes on the boy who was up inthe tree. 

"I can't hardly see him any more, the branches are so thick, " complainedBumpus ducking his head this way and that. 

"That's because he's gone on again, " argued Giraffe; "seems like hedidn't find any signs of a real panther when he took that survey. "

"Hold your horses!" was all Davy allowed himself to say, though no doubthe himself had commenced to have serious doubts by now. 

Half a minute later and there broke out a series of strange sounds fromup above their heads. 

"Listen to that, now, would you?" cried Davy, bristling with importanceagain. "Don't that sound like Thad might a hit up against somethingbig? Hear him talking, will you? Didn't you catch what he said rightthen--no, you don't grab me, you rascal; I'm afraid I'll have to knockyou on the head yet! Say, don't that sound like Thad had found mypanther, and was keeping him off with that club he took up with him. Oh! what's that?"

Something came crashing down as Davy uttered this last exclamation. Theboys were horrified at, first, because they imagined it might bit Thadand the panther, that, meeting in midair, had lost their grip, and werefalling to the ground, fully forty feet below. 

"Why, it's only his club" cried Giraffe, quickly. 

"Then he must have let it get knocked out of his hand!" ejaculatedBumpus. "Oh! poor Thad. He'll be in a bad fix without a single thing tofight that animal with!"

"That's where you're mistaken, because I can see him now, and he'sacoming down the tree right smart!" Step Hen announced; whichintelligence allowed Bumpus to breathe freely again, for his face wasgetting fiery red with the suspense that had gripped him. 

"That's so!" echoed Giraffe, "and I'm looking to see if there's anysigns of a big cat trailing after him, but so far nothing ain't come insight. "

The five scouts on the ground hastened to close in around the foot ofthe big tree, so as to welcome their patrol leader when he dropped fromthe lower limb. 

"Seems to me Thad acts kind of clumsy, for him, " announced Step Hen;"now, if it'd been Bumpus here I could understand it, because, well Iwon't say what I was agoing to, because it might make hard feelingsbetween us; and with all his shortcomings Bumpus is a good sort of achap. "

"Huh! dassent, that's what!" grunted the party indicated, making athreatening gesture in the direction of his fellow-scout. 

The arrival of the scout-master caused them to forget all other things. Thad, as soon as he found his feet fixed on solid ground once more, strode straight up until he faced Davy Jones, and suddenly called out:

"There's your panther, Davy!"

There was a craning of necks, a gasping of breaths, and then a series ofyells broke forth that made the nearby woods fairly ring with theechoes. 

CHAPTER III

THE CAMP ON THE LAKE SHORE

"Why, it's only a big owl!" shouted Giraffe. 

"Hey, Davy, shake hands with your yellow-eyed panther!" roared Step Hen. 

Bumpus snatched up his bugle, for he held that office in the CranfordTroop, and let out a piercing series of blasts that would haveundoubtedly frightened any wild animal, had there been such within amile of the camp on the lake shore. 

It was a large owl that Thad grasped in such fashion that the bird couldnot reach him with its curved beak, though it made several viciouslunges, as though anxious to fight the whole patrol at once. 

He had kept it hidden under his coat when descending the tree, and nowgripped it firmly by its two splendidly colored wings. 

"Well, it did have yellow eyes, all right, " complained the dejectedDavy; "and as it stuck there in that black hole, how was I to know itwas only a harmless old owl, a hooter at that?"

"If you think he's harmless just try and lay a finger on him, " saidThad. "Why, he'd snap you like lightning; once let that beak strike, andyou'd lose a piece of skin as big as a half dollar. He's a savage bird, let me warn you. "

"Oh! say, can't we, keep him for a pet?" ejaculated Bumpus, who couldhardly take his eyes off the bird, for its plumage was certainlybeautiful, being a combination of creamy yellows and nut browns, whiletwo bunches stuck up like horns from the region of his ears. 

"I've got a nice little chain we might put around one of his legs, andwhat fun we'd have with the thing while we were afloat on the raginglake, " Step Hen went on to say. 

"Allan, get on that thick pair of gloves we brought, and see if youcould fasten the chain to his leg. It would be worth while to have somesort of pet along with us; because Bumpus has kicked over the traceslong ago, and won't let us make a baby out of him any more, " Thad wenton to remark. 

When he had protected his hands in this way, Allan had little difficultyin adjusting the slender but strong steel chain which Step Hen hadbrought with him, intending to use in case he managed to capture araccoon, or some other small beast, for he was especially found of pets. 

When they had fastened the other end of the chain to something, the owlsat on the limb of a tree, and gazed at them with blinking eyes. Therewas still enough of daylight, with all that glow in the western heavensto interfere with his sight more or less, and he simply ruffled up hisfeathers in high dudgeon, and kept trying to pick at the chain that heldhis leg. 

"Now, that's what I call a pretty good start, " argued Step Hen, as hestood in front of the chained owl, and admired his plumage; "perhapslater on I might happen to land a 'coon or a mink, who knows. I'vealways believed that I'd like to have a pet mink, though somebody toldme they couldn't be tamed. "

"Yes, " went on Giraffe scornfully, "if you had your way the whole boat'dbe a floating menagerie, you've got such a liking for pets. The minkwould soon be joined by a 'possum; then would come a pair of muskrats;after which we'd expect to find a fox under our feet every time westepped; a wolverine growling like fun at us when we made the leastmove; a squirrel climbing all over us; a heron perched on the garboardstreak, whatever that might be; and mebbe a baby bear rolling on thedeck. All them things are possible, once Step Hen gets started on hiscollecting stunt. "

"Well, forget it now, won't you, Giraffe, because there goes Bumpusputting supper on the fire; and unless you look sharp he'll just cutdown your ration till you'll only get as much as any two of us, " advisedStep Hen. 

In spite of all these little encounters of wit, and the sharp thingsthat were sometimes said, boy fashion, these six churns were as fond ofeach other as any lads could possibly be. There was hardly anythingthey would not have done for one another, given the opportunity; andthis had been proved many times in the past. 

While they were fond of joking the tall scout on his appetite, truth totell every one of the others could display a pretty good stowagecapacity when it came to disposing of the meals. And so they were allanxious to help Bumpus when he started getting the camp supper ready. 

Besides these six lads there were of course two others who went to, makeup the full complement; of the Silver Fox Patrol; and who have figuredin previous stories of this series. 

These boys were named Robert Quail White, who was Southern born, andwent by the name of "Bob White, " among his friends; and Edmund MauriceTravers Smith, conveniently shortened to plain "Smithy. "

These two had taken a different route to the lake, and expected to meettheir six churns at a given rendezvous. They were intending also tomake use of another boat, since the one engaged for the party would onlyaccommodate seven at a pinch, and counting the scout-master they wouldhave numbered nine individuals in all. 

The other two had found that they wanted to see the wonderful Soo Canal, and the rapids that the St. Mary river boasts at that point, where thepent-up waters of Superior rush through the St. Mary's river to helpswell the other Great Lakes, and eventually pass through the St. Lawrence river to the sea. 

It is no joke cooking for half a dozen hungry scouts, and the one whoseduty compelled him to be the chef for a day had to count on filling thecapacity of coffee-pot and frying-pans, of which latter there were two. 

Evening had settled down upon them by the time they were ready to enjoythe supper of Boston baked beans, fried onions with the steak that hadbeen procured at the last town they had passed through; crackers, somebread that one of them toasted to a beautiful brown color alongside thefire, and almost scorched his face in the bargain; and the whole flankedby the coffee which was "like ambrosia, " their absent chum Smithy wouldhave said, until they dashed some of the contents of the evaporatedcream into each tin cup, along with lumps of sugar. 

"This is what I call living, " sighed Giraffe, as he craned his neckvisibly in the endeavor to see, whether there was a third "helping" leftin the pan for "manners, " which was another name for Conrad Stedman. 

"Hadn't we better save this piece of steak for Tim?" suggested Step Hen, wickedly, for that was the name he had given to the captive owl. 

"No, you don't, " objected Giraffe, vociferously, just as the other hadknown he would do; "that's the very last beef steak we're apt to see forhalf a moon; and I say it would be a shame to waste it on a heathenbird. Besides, you couldn't coax Jim to take a bite till he's nearlystarved; ain't that so, Thad?"

They always appealed to either the assistant scout-master or Allan, whenever any question like this came up, connected with bird or animallore; and no matter how puzzling the matter might seem to the one whoasked, it was promptly answered in nearly every instance. 

"Yes, he isn't likely to take hold for a day or two, " replied Thad. "Bythat time the old fellow will sort of get used to seeing us about; andhe won't refuse to eat when you put something out for him; only all ofyou be careful that he doesn't prefer a piece out of your hand. Don'ttrust him ever!"

"You can make up your mind I won't give him a chance to grab me, "asserted Bumpus, never dreaming that by accident he would be the veryfirst to feel the force of that curved beak. 

"Listen!" exclaimed Step Hen; "as sure as anything there's another!Why, this must be what you might call Owl-land. "

From far away in the timber came the plain sound of hooting. All of thescouts knew what it was easily enough, though there had been a time whenthey were real tenderfeet, and could hardly distinguish between the callof an owl and the braying of a donkey; but camping-out experience haddone away with all such ignorance as that. 

"There, don't that make you feel foolish, Step Hen?" demanded Bumpus. 

"Me? Whatever put that silly notion into your head, Bumpus?"

"Why, " the other went on to say reproachfully, "it was you that reallywanted to keep the poor old bird; and just listen to its mate mourningfor it, would you? I'd think you'd feel so sorry you'd want to unfastenthat chain right away, and give the owl its freedom. "

"Not for Joseph, though I'll let you go and undo his chain if you feelinclined that way, " Step Hen observed, knowing full well that Bumpus didnot want to see the feathered captive set free quite that bad. "Besides, how d'ye know that's a mate to my bird whooping it up backthere?"

"Well, if you want to find out, just you sleep with one eye open, "Bumpus told him; "and take it from me you'll see that other owl comewinnowing around here, wanting to know why our new pet don't come whenshe calls. "

"Huh! mebbe I will, "' was all Step Hen would say about it; but evidentlythe idea had appealed to him; and there was a chance that he wouldindulge in very little rest that night, for trying to "keep one eye openwhile he slept. "

After supper was all over, and the boys lay around on their blankets, they fell to talking of other days when they had been in company, andmet with a great many, surprising adventures. 

Then Bumpus, who really had a very fine tenor voice, which he couldstrain so as to sing soprano like a bird, was coaxed to favor them witha number of selections, the others coming in heavy in each chorus. 

Sometimes it was a popular ballad of the day that Bumpus gave them; butmore often a school chorus, or it might be some tender Scotch song like"Comin' Through the Rye, " "Annie Laurie, " or "Twickenham Ferry;" forboys can appreciate such sentiments more than most folks believe; andespecially when in an open air camp, with the breeze sighing through thetrees around them, or the waves murmuring as they wash the sandy shoreof a lake, and the moonlight throwing a magical spell upon all theirsurroundings; for there is the seed of romance in the heart of nearlyevery healthy lad. 

So the evening wore on until some of them began to yawn frequently, showing that they were ready to turn in. As one of them had said, thismight be the last time they would camp ashore during trip, because onthe morrow they anticipated, unless something unforeseen came up toprevent it, going aboard their boat, and starting on the cruise upon thebig waters of Superior. 

They had no tent on this occasion, but really that was not going toprove any hardship to these bold lads, accustomed to spending many anight in the woods, with only a blanket for a cover against the dew andfrost. 

It was arranged to keep the fire going. This would serve in a doublecapacity, for not only would they be kept warm through the cold part ofthe night, but if there did happen to be any wild beasts around in thatsection of the Lake Superior country, which both Allan and Thad ratherdoubted, why, the glow of the blaze was apt to make them keep theirdistance. 

The last thing Giraffe remembered, as his heavy eyes persisted inclosing, was seeing Step Hen bob up his head to stare over toward thelow branch upon which the captive owl was fastened; as though he mighthave arranged a program with himself and meant to do this thing atstated intervals all through the night. 

Giraffe chuckled at the idea of sacrificing good sleep in the interestof knowledge; he was willing to simply ask some one who knew, and besatisfied to accept their answer as conclusive. 

An hour later and the camp seemed to be all quiet, for every one wasapparently sound asleep. Even Thad and Allan had known of no reason whya watch should be maintained, for they felt sure there could hardly be ahuman being within miles of the camp; and even if this were not so, thechances were strongly in favor of its proving to be an honest farmer, orsome miner on his way to the workings further west. 

The only sounds that could have been heard from time to time were anoccasional peevish fretful croak from the captive owl, as it continuedto peck savagely at the chain around its leg; or it might be a snorefrom Bumpus, or some other fellow who had a fashion of lying squarely onhis back. 

Perhaps pretty soon, when one of the scouts had been kept awake by thisnoise until patience ceased to be a virtue, he would get quietly up, andpour a tin-cup of lake water over the one who persisted in sleeping withhis mouth wide open; for that sort of radical remedy had proveneffective on other occasions, and brought relief. 

It must have been almost midnight when a sudden change came about thattook even the seasoned campers by surprise, for they had not beenanticipating any such startling event. 

The stillness was broken by a piercing scream that caused every head tobob up, and the blankets to be hurriedly thrown aside. 

"My owl's mate has come in on us, mebbe!" exclaimed Step Hen; for thatidea was so firmly lodged in his brain that it had to occur to him assoon as he heard all that row. 

But some of the others were wiser, for they knew that shout had surelycome from human lips. 

Giraffe was the first to call out and draw their attention to certainfacts. 

"Looky there at old Bumpus dancing a jig, will you! Whatever ails thefeller, d'ye think! Acts like he'd clean gone out of his head, and gotloony!" he cried, as with the other boys he came tumbling out from underthe rude shelter made of branches. 

CHAPTER IV

LAUNCHED ON THE INLAND SEA

Sure enough Bumpus was in plain sight, for the fire still burned, andthere was also a bright moon high up in the heavens. The fat scoutseemed to be trying to execute all the steps in a Southern hoedown, oran Irish jig; for he was prancing around this way and that, holding onto his hand, which the other boys now discovered was streaked withblood!

"Oh! what's happened to you, Bumpus?" cried Step Hen, as he ran outtoward the spot where the other continued to waltz around in his brightred and white striped pajamas, that made him look like an "animatedsawed-off barber's pole, " as one of his chums had once told him. 

"It bit me, oh! I'll bleed to death, I reckon now!" wailed the other;"say, Thad, get out some of that purple stuff you use for scratches fromwild animals. Mebbe blood, poisoning'll develop; and I'd just hate theworst kind to die up here, away off from my own home. "

"What bit you; can't you tell us, Bumpus?" asked Thad, though already hemay have had suspicions that way. 

"Jim did, the bally old owl!" came the dismal answer; "please, oh!please tell me whether his beak is poisonous, won't you, Thad?"

"Well, what d'ye think of that?" ejaculated Step Hen, "however did youhappen to meddle with my owl, tell me? Sure, I did give you permissionto unchain him, if you had the nerve; but I never did believe you'd goand take me up at that. "

"I didn't neither, " Bumpus declared, still dancing around. 

"Here, let me see that wound!" called out Thad, as he and Allan corneredthe sufferer; "all it may need is washing, and then binding up with somehealing salve. But it makes a nasty cut, don't it, Allan?"

"I should say yes, " replied the other; "but it's some lucky it wasn'this face the bird struck at. Why, Bumpus might have lost an eye. "

At that possibility the fat scout set up another roar. 

"Just you believe the old thing meant to snap my eye out when he bit atme; and I must have happened to put out my hand--so he struck that!" hedeclared; while Allan hastened to open a package and take out some salveand tape such as scouts should always carry along with them when incamp, because there is no telling when it may be needed badly, just asin the present instance. 

"But see here, what possessed you to walk around in this way, and goover to try and pet that savage bird?" asked Thad. 

"Give you my solemn affidavit that I don't know a single thing aboutit!" the other went on to say, as solemn as the owl that sat on thebranch near by. "

"Do you mean you don't remember getting up, and coming out here?"continued the scout-master, who always probed things to the very dregs, or until he had extracted all the information possible. 

"Not a thing, " reaffirmed Bumpus, and his face showed that he wasspeaking only the truth. "I can remember laying down for a snooze, andthen everything seems to be blank after that, till all of a sudden Ifelt that awful pain, and it made me let out a whoop, I'm telling you. "

"I should think it did, " muttered Giraffe; "ten Injuns rolled into onecouldn't beat that howl. I sure thought the panther had got you thattime!"

"Well, likely I thought just that same thing, Giraffe, when I warbledthat way, because I remember now I was dreaming about gray-coatedpanthers. Then I thought about rattlesnakes too, because you know Ican't stand for the crawlers. Next thing I opened my eyes with a jump, and saw that old owl, with every feather on his back standing up likethe quills of a porcupine, and trying to jab me a second time. "

Thad and Allan, who had now returned in time to hear this last exchangedlooks. 

"A clear case of sleep walking, seems like!" ventured the former. 

"Oh! my goodness gracious! I thought I was over them tricks years ago!"exclaimed Bumpus, shivering. "If they're agoing to take me again I seemy finish; because some night I'll walk off a precipice, and that'll bethe end of me. "

"We'll like as not have to tie you by the leg every night, just like Jimis now; and that'll stop you prancing around loose, trying to set mypets free in your sleep, " Step Hen went on to say, reassuringly; butsomehow Bumpus did not seem to take to the idea the least bit. 

"You let me alone, that's all, Step Hen Bingham, " he told the other, "and I'll fix my own business. That's what comes of you keeping thesilly old owl. Serve you about right if his mate dropped in and bit theend of your big toe off to pay you up for fastening that chain on thepoor thing's leg. "

"Say, I like that, now; when you were the very first one to ask if wecouldn't keep that same owl!" Step Hen told him. 

"Wow! that hurts some, let me tell you, fellows!" groaned the fat scout, when Allan was putting some salve, calculated to help heal the wound, onthe torn place, and then with the assistance of the scout-master startedbinding the hand up with windings of soft linen that came in a tape rolltwo inches wide. 

"But let me tell you it's some chilly out here, with only pajamas on, "objected Giraffe; "and for one I'm going to skip back under my blanket, where I can snuggle down. Somebody remember to throw a little wood onthe fire, please. Let Davy do it. "

Of course that really meant either the scoutmaster or Allan; and Giraffeoften had a failing for shirking some duty like this. It was so easy toexpect some other to do disagreeable things; though as a rule the boyswere accustomed to saying, "let Davy do it, " until it had become sotiresome that the Jones boy had rebelled, and refused to be the errandboy any longer for the entire patrol. 

In half ah hour silence again brooded over the camp. Bumpus must havedone something to make sure he did not start walking in his sleep again, for nothing occurred to disturb their slumbers until dawn came alongand, with birds singing, as well as gray squirrels barking lustily atthe intruders, awakened them all. 

Breakfast was hurried, because all of them were' anxious to be on themove. They knew that by following the shore of the big water severalmiles they would come to the point where there was a village, withsomething of a landing place in a sheltered nook; and here they expectedto find their boat awaiting them. 

It was about an hour after sun-up that the cheery notes of Bumpus'silver-toned bugle gave the signal for the start; and the six khaki-cladlads could be seen moving at a fairly fast pace along the shore of thelake. Step Hen had managed to bundle the captive owl in a sparesweater, so he could carry him all right without danger. 

The little waves came purling up close to their feet, and seemed towelcome the strangers to their domain; but Thad knew full well thatunder different conditions these same waves would unite to threaten themwith destruction. 

Step Hen having found a way to muzzle the owl, so that he could carrythe prisoner, without fear of dire attacks from that sharp beak seemedmore determined than ever to try and keep Jim; and he frowned every timehe saw Bumpus observing the, bird thoughtfully, because he imagined thefat scout might be hatching up a scheme for choking the thick-neckedprisoner, in revenge for what he had suffered from its savage thrust. 

Finally a loud shout was heard from Giraffe, who, being so much tallerthan the balance of the scouts, and possessed of a neck he could stretchto an alarming degree, was in a position to see much further than therest. 

"The village is in sight!" he announced, whereat there was a cheer, theowl commenced to struggle afresh, and Step Hen had his hands full tryingto quiet his feathered prisoner. 

With their goal now close at hand the boys were able to step out at amore lively pace, even Bumpus showing surprising gains. 

About ten o'clock they arrived at the settlement where they had seensome sort of dock, at which a couple of ore barges of the whaleback typewere being loaded. 

Already the eager eyes of the boys had discovered a boat that answeredthe description of the one they expected to find awaiting them. 

Making straight for the place they found that they had guessed rightly. That good sized powerboat was the Chippeway Belle, the vessel which wasto be their home for the next two weeks or more, as they pleased. 

An investigation revealed the fact that their stores were all aboard, aswell as their extra supplies that went under the general designation of"duffel. "

"Nothing else for us to do but go aboard, and make a bully start, isthere, Thad?" asked the impatient Giraffe, eager to find out how thecraft could go; for up to now the Silver Fox Patrol had generally spenttheir outings on dry land; and this idea of a cruise had come somewhatin the shape of what Thad called an "innovation. "

"Nothing at all, Giraffe, " replied the other, himself looking pleased atthe prospect of being about to start on such a splendid pleasure trip. 

"How about paying for the use of the boat; has all that been attendedto?" asked careful Bumpus, who was not so very much of a water-doghimself, and rather viewed the prospect of getting out of sight of landon board so small a craft with anything but exultant delight; indeed, totell the honest truth, the fat scout was already secretly sorry he hadcome. 

"Oh! yes, " replied Thad, quickly; "Dr. Hobbs attended to all that forus; fact is, this boat is owned by a friend of his, which was how we gotit as cheap as we did. And more than that, the gentleman attended topacking all our supplies at the Soo, and sent the boat here on asteamer, so we could start from this place. It was Dr. Philander'sidea, you know, this coming through the copper region along the southshore of the Eke. And now, if you're all of the same mind, let's getstarted. "

"Hurrah; hoist the Pennant of the Silver Fox Patrol that your SisterPolly made us, Giraffe, and every fellow dip his hat to the colors ofthe gay Chippeway Belle!" and in answer to this request on the part ofDavy Jones they did salute the raising of the neat little burgee thathad a silver fox fashioned in silken hand-work upon it. 

Thad examined the engine carefully. He knew considerable about suchthings, and yet he fancied, he might have more or less trouble with themotive power of this Lake Superior boat; for it was of rather an ancientpattern, and had evidently seen its best days. 

Between them Thad and Allan confessed this much, but they did not thinkit good policy to say anything to the others, though anxious Bumpuswatched their conference uneasily, and could be seen to carefully pickout a spot on the rail where he perched, and seemed inclined to stay--itwas handy to a quick getaway in case the worst happened, and the engineblew up, as he whispered to himself. 

After he had, as he believed, mastered the rudiments of the working ofthe motor Thad told them to cast off, and they would make a start. Several men stood around to watch them get away, among them the party inwhose charge the boat had been left, and who had only delivered it upafter Thad had produced an order for the same, and paid certain expensesfor storage and watching. 

"Were moving at last!" called Step Hen excitedly, as the machinerystarted to go with a rush, after Thad had cranked the engine. 

Allan stood by the wheel, and as the prow of the boat gurgled throughthe clear waters of the great lake, every scout was thrilled with thevast possibilities that faced them, now that their cruise had begun. 

"This means that we'll eat our first meal aboard at noon to-day, "remarked Giraffe who seemed determined that no regular feeding timemight be neglected, if he could help it. 

"You ought to be a happy fellow, Giraffe, " remarked Davy Jones, "aftertaking a look over the piles of grub we've got aboard. Why, do you knowthere's a whole big ham, two slabs of bacon, and all sorts of goodthings. No danger of any of us going hungry on this excursion; unlessthe old tub should happen to sink, and leave us marooned on some rockyisland. "

"Oh! see here, stop joking about that sort of thing, Davy, " remonstratedBumpus, shivering as though he felt a cold draught; "I know right wellthat if such a horrible thing ever did happen to us, the rest of you'dmake up your minds to begin on me the first thing. "

"Well, that's the penalty you have to pay, Bum, pus, for being sotempting, " chuckled Step Hen; "now, who'd ever think of picking Giraffeout for a dainty meal; why he's as skinny as an old crow. "

"There are times when it pays right well to be thin, " remarked the scoutheld up to derision, "and that'd be one of 'em, I reckon. "

They were by now far away from the ore dock, and the barges that wereloading; indeed it was only with an effort they could see either, for ahaze had crept over the surface of the lake. The Chippeway Belle hadbeen going along at quite a fair pace, thought making more noise thanwas agreeable to either Thad or Allan, when all at once, without theleast warning there was heard a loud report. Instantly the sound of theengine ceased. 

"She's broke down, and we're wrecked already!" yelled Giraffe, excitedly. 

"Oh! mercy! and she may explode at any second now!" cried poor Bumpus;after which, in sheer desperation he jumped deliberately overboard, clinging to the side of the swaying craft, and in momentary expectationof hearing a fearful crash, as the gasoline tank went up. 

CHAPTER V

THE RESCUE

"Tell us what to do, Thad, and count on us to follow you!" called outGiraffe, rising manfully to the occasion; though to tell the honesttruth he looked pretty "white around the gills, " as Step Hen remarkedlater on, when they all found time to compare experiences. 

"Just stick to your seats, and don't bother!" was the quick reply Thadsent back. 

"Then there ain't any danger?" demanded Davy, drawing the only decentbreath he had dared indulge in since that first alarm. 

"Not a bit!" called Allan, cheerily. 

"And we ain't goin' to have to swim for it then?" Step Hen went on. 

"Not unless you feel like taking a bath, " replied Thad asked. 

"But what happened to our engine?" asked Davy. 

"And will we have to pole, or row, the rest of the trip?" proceededGiraffe. "I see our finish if that comes around so early in the cruise. Wow! me to hike through the woods afoot, when it hits a fellow as hardas this. "

"Me too!" sighed Step Hen. 

"Oh! don't get excited, boys, " remarked Thad, with a broad smile; "nodanger of anything like that happening to us just yet. I was halfexpecting something along these lines to happen; and now that it has, we'll fix that part for keeps. It won't come around again, I promiseyou that. "

"Which isn't saying something else won't, " grumbled Giraffe. "The blameold tub is just about ready to go to pieces on us, the first chance shegets; and that's what I think. "

"Not so bad as that, Giraffe, " remonstrated Thad. "This engine has beena great one in its day. "

"Yes, but that day was about away, back in the time of Stephenson, "continued the tall scout, who, once he began to complain, could only beshut off with the greatest difficulty. 

Everybody seemed to laugh at that, it was so ridiculous; but as Thad wasalready busily engaged in examining the engine their spirits seemed torise a little. 

"Hey! ain't anybody agoin' to help me in?" piped up a small voice justthen, accompanied by a splashing sound. 

The boys exchanged looks, and then followed nods, as though like a flashthey saw the chance to play something of a Joke on the comrade who wasthus appealing for aid. 

"Hello! where's the other fellow?" exclaimed Allan, as though he hadcounted noses, and found one missing. 

"That's so, where can he be?" echoed Thad. 

"Who's missing?" Thad, went on to say. 

"Bob White was only here we'd have him call the toll and find out. There used to be six kids the bunch. "

"It must be Bumpus!" declared Giraffe, solemnly. 

"You're right!" said a spluttering voice from some unseen place. 

"The poor old silly thing, he just jumped right over into the waterwithout saying Jack Robinson!" Step Hen observed, in such a sad voiceyou would have thought he was having the tears streaming down hischeeks, when in truth there was a wide grin settled there. 

"Oh! then he must surely be drowned, " Davy went on to add, in a voicethat seemed to be choking with emotion--of some sort. 

"I thought I saw the lake rising, and that accounts for it, " venturedStep Hen. "When a fellow as big as our poor chum goes down, hedisplaces just an equal part of water. However will we tell his folksthe sad news?"

"Ain't you nearly done all that stuff?" demanded an impatient voice, andthere was a rocking motion to the boat; after which a very red facesurmounted by a shock of fiery hair, now well plastered down, hove insight. "Hey! somebody get a move on, and give me a hand. I'm soakedthrough and through, and I tell you my clothes weigh nigh on threetons. "

The five boys pretended to be hardly able to believe their eyes. Theythrew up their hands, and stared hard at the apparition. 

"Why, sure, I believe it's our long lost chum, Bumpus!" gasped Giraffe. 

"Mebbe it's his ghost come back to haunt us the rest o' out lives. Mebbe we better knock him on the head; they say that's the only sure wayto settle spooks, " and as Step Hen said this terrible thing, he startedto pick up the long-handled boat book. 

"No, you don't, Step Hen!" shrilled Bumpus, who was really frightened aslong as he remained in the water, for he believed it must be a mile deepso far out from land. "You just put that pole down, and get hold of myarm here. I tell you I'm tired of being in soak so long, and I want tocome aboard so's to get some dry duds on. Make 'em behave, Thad, can'tyou? I'm getting weak holding on here all this while; and pretty soonI'll have to let go. Then there will be a ghost, sure, to haunt thiscrowd. Ain't you coming to assist a fellow scout in distress?"

Realizing that the joke had gone far enough the, scout-master himselfsprang forward to give poor Bumpus the assistance he craved. 

There was no lack of help after that, Step Hen even made use of the boathook to take hold of some part of the wet scout's clothes; and with amighty "heave-o!" they dragged him, puffing, and shedding gallons ofwater, on to the deck of the stalled power-boat. Here he lay for aminute or two "to drain, " as Giraffe remarked, but soon feeling chilled, Bumpus began to hunt for his clothes-bag in order to get something dryto put on. 

As he did not have a complete outfit for a change, the other fellowshelped out; but while his soaked khaki suit was drying, hanging here andthere so the sun could do the business, the fat scout presented alaughable appearance, since of course none of the things that had beenso generously loaned him began to fit his stout figure. 

However, since Bumpus was by nature a jolly chap, he quickly saw thehumor of the thing. This was after he had become warmed up fairly well, when he could sit and watch those who were tinkering with the brokenengine, and tell what his feelings were as he sprang so hurriedly overinto the big lake. 

It made him shiver, though, to look around at that sea of water, andrealize what an exceedingly reckless boy he had been. 

"Next time anything happens, me to stick to the old boat, even if I goup a mile high in the air!" he declared, raising his right handsolemnly, as though taking a vow. 

"Have your wings ready, Bumpus, and you'll be all right, because you canfly, " said Giraffe; and that provoked another laugh; because Bumpus, once upon a time, being very ambitious to learn how to swim, hadpurchased a pair of those "White Wings, " which are simply bags made ofwaterproof cloth that can be inflated, and used after the manner of lifepreservers; so that he had had heaps of fun poked at him on account ofhis "wings. "

So a full hour passed. 

Some of the boys were growing impatient, and to relieve the monotony, Thad managed to call the attention of Giraffe to the fact that it lackedonly ten minutes of high noon. 

That was enough. 

"I thought I was feeling pretty weak!" ex-claimed the tall scout, rubbing his stomach sympathetically, "and no wonder, with breakfast sofar back I've even clean forgot what I had. Come along, boys, let's getbusy with lunch. "

"The rest of you can attend to that, " said Thad, satisfied that his planhad worked; "and by the time you are ready to call us, we'll have thisjob all done, so we can start her going. "

That was cheering news, and the rest immediately set to work with awill. There was a little stove aboard that used gasoline for fuel, andwith this it seemed as though they ought to be able to do all thecooking they wanted when away from land. Of course should they have theopportunity, they meant to go ashore many times, and have one of theold-fashioned camp-fires, around which they had sat so many times in thepast, when on their outings. 

Before long the smell of cooking that filled the air told that thelaborers were making a success of the warm lunch business. Bumpus inparticular seemed fairly wild for things to get done. 

"I tell you, I just can't seem to get any warmth inside me, " hecomplained when Step Hen took him to task for showing such unusualimpatience. "That water was as cold as Greenland, and went rightthrough me. I want my coffee, and I know when I want it. "

"Guess your being so badly scared had a heap to do with it, " remarkedGiraffe. 

"Perhaps so, Giraffe, " replied the fat scout, meekly; "I admit that Iwas frightened out of a year's growth, because I once dreamed I wasburned in just such an accident as a boat taking fire. But how aboutyou, Giraffe? The first time my head came up above the coming of thedeck I saw your face, and say, talk to me about a gravestone beingwhite, that wasn't anything alongside your phiz. "

"You don't say!" jeered the tall scout, though he looked conscious ofthe fact that his face was now as red as a beet. 

"And chances are that you didn't jump the same way I did because youwere scared so bad you just couldn't move a finger, " Bumpus went on, seeing his advantage. 

"Thad!" called out Giraffe, scorning to pay attention to the thrust. 

"All right!" answered the other. 

"Lunch ready!" Giraffe went on to say. 

"And so is our job done, " saying this Thad I gave the crank a quickturn, upon which there was a quick response; for the merry popping ofthe engine greeted the anxious ears of the young cruisers. 

"Hurrah!" shouted Bumpus, who was feeling fine, now that he had givenGiraffe a return jab, after having it rubbed in so hard by the tallscout. 

The Chippeway Belle was already moving rapidly through the water, risingand falling on the waves that came out of the southwest; and as the sixlads gathered around to do justice to the spread that was to serve astheir first meal afloat, they once more saw things in a cheery light, for all seemed going well with them. 

CHAPTER VI

THE RIVAL FISHERMEN

As the afternoon crept on, and the boat continued to keep up a merrypace, the boys began to feel their confidence return. As Thad assuredthem he did not expect to have any further trouble with the engine, theyno longer kept an anxious eye on the working part of the craft, while atthe least unusual sound every fellow's heart seemed ready to jump intohis throat with wild alarm. 

It was not the purpose of the cruisers to try and cross the vast body ofwater upon which their little craft was launched, and which is soimmense that for two whole days they might be out of sight of land. Thad knew the danger that lay in such a thing, and had promised thefolks at home in Cranford that he would be very careful. Indeed, onlyfor the presence of Dr. Hobbs, some of the parents of the scouts mighthave felt like revoking their promise to allow their boys to be of theparty. 

Accordingly their course was now laid in such a quarter that they couldkeep the land in sight upon their port quarter most of the time. 

Of course, while the scouts had not been at sea, and really knew verylittle of navigation, they were ambitious to learn. And as Bumpus hadbefore hand written down all sorts of phrases used long ago on board theships that sailed the seas in such white-winged flocks before the adventof steam gave them such a backset, he read these all out to his mates;and after that, whenever they could think of the nautical name foranything they insisted on using it, because, as Giraffe declared, itgave such a realistic effect to things. 

"But let me tell you there's a rumpus in the navy these days, " said StepHen, as Giraffe asked him to "step aft, and hand me that pair ofbinoculars, so I can take an observation. "

"What about?" asked Thad. 

"Why, they want to abolish some of these old terms that are just a partof sea-faring life. For instance they say that when the man at thewheel is told to 'port your helm, ' it takes just the fraction of asecond for it to pass through his mind that that means 'turn your helmto the left. ' And so they say in our navy after this the officer willcallout: 'Turn your helm to the left, Jack!' Whew! that must rile everyold jack tar, though. It's like taking the seasoning out of the mincemeat. "

"Don't you believe it'll ever pass, " asserted Bumpus, indignantly; "andjust after I've made up my mind to learn every one of this list so I canrattle it off like I can already box the compass. No siree, every truesailorman will rise up in arms against it. You can count on my vote infavor of sticking to the old way. Nothing like the old things, say!"

"'Cepting engines, " interposed Step Hen, maliciously. 

"Oh! well, I draw the line there, that's true, " Bumpus admitted, with ashrug of his fat shoulders, as his eyes unconsciously dropped, so thathe looked down into the depths of the lake, "a full mile deep, " as healways said to himself. 

"Oh! I saw a fish then!" he suddenly shouted, showing new excitement. 

"Get your hook and line, Bumpus, and mebbe we'll have fried speckledtrout or white fish for supper!" remarked Giraffe, with what he meant tobe satire in his speech. 

"Huh! I ain't that green about fishing, and you know it, " remarked theother, as he gave the tall scout a look of scorn. "Anyhow, I can beatyou a mile fishing any day in the week, Giraffe, and I don't care whohears me say it"

"Is that a challenge, Bumpus?" demanded Thad, seeing a chance for somefun to enliven their cruise. 

"If he chooses to take me up, you can call it that, " responded the fatboy, with a belligerent look at his rival. 

"Oh! I'm ready to meet you half way, Bumpus; anything to oblige, "Giraffe went on to say, sturdily. "I'd just like a good chance to showyou up for a fish fakir. We've heard a heap about how you used to haul'em in; now's your chance to prove that you're the big gun of thistrip. "

"All right, just as you say, and we'll leave it to Thad to lay down theterms of the contest, the loser to treat the crowd to a dinner when weget back home, " Bumpus went on to say, with the took of one who woulddie sooner than give up. 

"No need of that last, " Allan asserted, with a shake of his head. "Weexpect to have a spread anyhow when we arrive back in Cranford, becausethere's plenty of money in the treasury of the Silver Fox Patrol; butthe loser must do the drudgery that always goes with a dinner, and bethe waiter for the other seven fellows. Do you both agree to that?"

"I do!" said Bumpus, holding up his right hand, just as thought he mightbe before Squire Jasper, and about to give his evidence in court. 

"Ditto here; I agree, Thad, " Giraffe hastened to say, not wishing tohave it appear that he lagged behind his competitor a particle. 

"Now, about the terms; what sort of fish are we to grab?" Bumpus wantedto know. 

"You don't grab any, Bumpus, " Giraffe warned him; "every one must befairly caught with hook and line, and no seines or nets or guns used. Ain't that right, judge?"

Thad immediately declared he understood that, it was to be a genuinesportsmanlike proceeding, and that no underhand tactics would betolerated. 

"First the number will count, " he went on to explain; "after thatvariety will stand for a second point. Then the heaviest fish will be athird claim, and we might as well make it interesting, so let's call thesmallest fish caught a fourth point. "

"That's four in all; can't you think up another, so's to have it five;and then three points will be a majority, and wins out?" suggested DavyJones. 

"A good idea, Davy, " Thad assured him; "suppose, then, we also say thelongest fish when measured by inches; that would make five points, allright. "

"Yes, " interrupted Giraffe, "but ain't that already covered when you saythe biggest fish?"

"Not necessarily, " Thad told him, "though in some cases the two would gotogether, I suppose. But sometimes you'll catch a bass that measurestwo inches longer than the one the other fellow got, but when you usethe scales his weighs more by six ounces. How does that come--well, we've got an illustration right here in you and Bumpus; you callyourself the larger by nearly a foot, but when it comes--"

Giraffe threw up his hands in token of surrender. 

"That's right, Thad, " declared Bumpus, "the longest ain't always highnotch. They do say the best goods come in the smallest packages. Butwrite the conditions down, Thad, while they're fresh in our minds, andread 'em out. When I come in under the wire first, as I surely will, it'd grieve me to hear any squealing from our tall friend here, and haveany dispute about not understanding the rules of the game. "

Giraffe sniffed scornfully, but did not say anything. However, for along time after that both boys busied themselves sorting out thegreatest lot of fishing tackle their chums had seen for an age; showingthat they were in deadly earnest about trying to win the wager. 

Bumpus even managed to attach a phantom minnow to the end of a line, which he slyly dropped overboard when he thought no one was looking, inhopes of being fortunate enough to get first blood in the competition. And the others knew that if this thing kept up they were bound to haveplenty of fun in watching the desperate efforts of the rival fishermen. 

Thad was looking up at the sky occasionally. 

"Seem to be some clouds gathering?" remarked Allan, noticing this actionon the part of the pilot of the expedition. 

"Yes, but then they may not mean anything; though I've been told thatstorms do come up very suddenly around here. May be something aboutthis big body of fresh water that brings that about, for the sun mustdraw heaps up from Old Superior every hot day. "

"I reckon, now, you're aiming to get to that cove you marked on thechart, so's to have a snug harbor for the night, " Allan went on to say. 

"Just what I am, " the other admitted; "this lake is a bit too big for usto think of anchoring out, and taking chances. A storm is bad enough indaytime when you can see around you; but it must be terrible in thepitch darkness. "

"Excuse me, if you please, " spoke up Step Hen, who had been listening toall the others said. "I hope there are aplenty of them same snugharbors; for a boat the size of ours to drop in and stay overnight. "

"That's just the trouble about cruising on Superior, " said Thad, "andespecially along the American shore, because there are few rivers thatempty into the lake. Up along the Canadian side it's different, becausethere are some fine trout streams that extend from White Fish Bay alongtoward old Fort William. "

"I'd like to see that last place, " spoke up Davy, "because I've heardabout it ever since I was knee high to a grasshopper. You see, my greatgrandfather used to live in Montreal in the days when the Northwest FurCompany was in competition with the Hudson Bay Company, and my ancestorwas employed each Spring to set out from Montreal with some, bigbatteaus manned by French Canadian voyageurs, who would row and sail allthe way through most of the Great Lakes to Fort William, where the agenthad collected heaps of valuable pelts from the trappers and the Injunsafter the season was done. These he'd fetch all the way back toMontreal again, the flat bottom boats being loaded down with the bales. And let me tell you that was taking risks some; but they raised men inthem days, I reckon, men that never allowed themselves to think of sucha thing as danger, because they were always facing some sort of perils. "

"I guess you're, about right, Davy, " admitted Thad; "and I often sit andwonder how it'd seem if a fellow lived away back in those days beforethe times of automobiles, motorboats, telephones, talking machines andelectricity. "

"Huh!" grunted Bumpus, "according to my mind, what dangers they facedain't to be mentioned in the same breath as them we have hovering overus all the while. For instance, what if Thad here just crooked hishand, wouldn't we be apt to run smack into that other boat that's goin'to pass us right now. 

"And say, fellows, " remarked Giraffe, in a low, mysterious tone, thatsomehow managed to thrill the others, as no doubt he intended it should;"just take a peek at the men in that boat, will you? Somehow I don'tknow just why, but they make me think of pirates, if ever they have suchcritters up here on Old Superior. And take it from me, boys, right nowone of the bunch is looking us over through a marine glass. Like as notthey're making up their minds who and what we can be, and if it's goingto pay 'em to board this same craft, to clean it out. Don't anybodymake out like we're watching 'em; but try and remember where you put ourgun, Thad; because who knows but what we might need the same right badbefore long?"

CHAPTER VII

ON HEAVING WATERS

"Gee! Pirates! Whew!"

That was only Bumpus talking to himself; as he lay there on the deck, and stared across the swelling water toward the black powerboat that washeading the other way, so as to cross their course. 

There were apparently several men in the strange boat; and as Giraffehad just remarked, they seemed to be more or less interested in theChippeway Belle and her young crew, for every one of them was lookingthat way, and one man really had a pair of marine glasses up to hiseyes. 

Thad dived into the interior of what was called the "hunting cabin, " andquickly reappeared bearing the glasses they had been wise enough tofetch along, as well as a compass whereby to steer. 

"That's the ticket, Thad!" said Step Hen; "let 'em see they ain't theonly pebbles on the beach. We've got a marine glass, too. Now, tell uswhat you think, are they really lake buccaneers; and will we have to putup a desperate fight to keep from being robbed, and sunk, and perhapsmade slaves?"

Bumpus gasped for breath, at hearing such doleful things; but as, StepHen gave a quick glance toward the fat chum, possibly what he said wasonly meant to cause the other's flesh to quiver with dread. 

"Oh! they don't seem to be altering their course in the least, " spoke upAllan; "and as for them watching us, who wouldn't stare on seeing acrowd of boys afloat up here on Superior waters?"

"I was thinking that our uniforms as scouts might make them sit up andtake notice, " said Giraffe. "P'raps they think we're U. S. Soldiers, because the dough-boys all wear this same khaki now instead of the oldarmy blue. And in case they're real bold smugglers or pirates, thatwould give them cause for a scare. Do they look like they're ready torun away, Thad?"

"Well, not any more than would be the case if they were honestcruisers, " replied the other, as he handed the glasses to Allan, who inturn would pass them around. "Seems to me one of them wears some kindof a blue cap, as though he might be an officer of some sort. "

"Oh! don't count on that, " spoke up Bumpus, "anybody can buy one likethat. Ain't I got one right here in my duffel bag; but I hadn't found achance to spring it on the rest of the bunch. They, may be a tough lot, even if one does wear an officer's cap. "

"Well, they're going right along about their own business, and don'tseem to be changing their course a little bit, " Allan said as he passedthe glasses to Giraffe. 

"I'm glad to hear that, " Bumpus admitted, breathing freely again. "Because, as you all know, I'm very much opposed to violence at anytime; though, " he continued, "I'd fight if I was hard pushed, and fightreal fierce, too. "

"We all know that, Bumpus, so there's no need of you apologizing, " Thadassured him, with a smile and a nod, for he was very fond of the stoutchum. 

"But when you said smugglers, what did you mean, Giraffe?" questionedStep Hen. 

"Oh! Don't you know that they have heaps of trouble with such law-breakers all along the Canadian border?" demanded the tall boy. "Yousee, there's a heavy duty on a lot of things that can come into Canadafree, or with only a small sum to pay; and whenever men can make moneytaking chances, they're just bound to try it. Why, I understand thatmillions of dollars are lost to the Government every year just in thegoods smuggled across the border all the way from Maine to the Pacificocean. "

"Whew! and yonder craft might be one of the tricky boats engaged in thatbusiness; is that what you mean, Giraffe?" asked Bumpus, again staringhard after the strange black powerboat which was larger than theChippeway Belle, and apparently much better able to meet the heavy seasthat must sweep across the lake when the wind reached a certainstrength. 

"Oh! I don't say that, remember, " quickly replied the other; "becauseit's only a guess on my part, and I haven't anything to show for proof. I was just giving you the benefit of a bright thought that came into mybrain, that's all. There may be something in it, and again, p'raps themfellows are just a pleasure party; or some sportsmen heading, for afavorite fishing place. "

"Then if we followed 'em, we'd stand a show to find where the fish lie, "suggested Bumpus; showing that at least he had not forgotten about hisrecent wager, even in the midst of all this excitement. 

"Better mind your own business, I think, " remarked Allan. 

"Yes, " added Giraffe, "if so be they turned out to be a bad lot, they'dthink we kept poking our noses in just to arrest them; and in that casechances are we'd get our fingers burned. "

"But what do you think they might be, Thad?" persisted Step Hen, noticing that the pilot of the expedition had as yet not given anyopinion on the matter. 

"Oh! any one of the explanations you fellows have put up might cover thebill, " Thad, went on to say. "The idea came into my mind that perhapsnow those men might be game-fish wardens. "

"W-what!" gasped Bumpus; "d'ye mean to tell me they have such things ona big lake like this? Why, I thought they were only needed ashore, where ponds and rivers require looking after. "

"That's where you make a big mistake, " Thad informed him. "Right upamong the Great Lakes there are millions of dollars taken out in fishevery year; and if the Government didn't watch sharp plenty ofunscrupulous fishermen would use all kinds of illegal devices forgetting big hauls. They are limited to certain kinds of nets or seines;and so the precious sturgeon, and the delicious white fish that are inthese lakes will be kept from being exterminated. "

"Thank you for telling us that, Thad; it's all news to me, " said StepHen. "But what about the trout; I've heard there are awful big speckledtrout in Superior?"

"So there are, as high as eight pounds; and the Government hatchery atthe Soo has hundreds that large in their ponds, for breeding purposes, I've read, " Thad continued, for the topic was a favorite one with him, and he was a very accommodating boy at that; "that in Michigan, forinstance, the law doesn't allow trout to be offered for sale or shipped;so while they catch some whoppers in the acts they use for white fish, they have to put most of them back. "

"And then you think that p'raps those men are wardens, looking forpoachers that are breaking the law some way or other?" Giraffe asked. 

"I only said that might be who they are, " Thad insisted. "You noticethey have a high-powered boat that could make circles all around, ours, if they wanted to let her engine out. And it's painted black, perhapsso they can sneak up on a dark night without being seen. But as they'retwo miles away from us by now, suppose we cut out talking any more aboutthem. "

From the way Thad turned his eyes upward, and looked at the gatheringclouds it was evident that he felt he had better pay attention to othermatters which threatened to cause them more or less annoyance beforelong. 

The wind was certainly freshening very fast. And of necessity the wavesbegan to take on a size that made poor Bumpus stare, and look serious, as he contemplated the possibility of a wreck. 

"Sure you are heading right to make that cove?" Giraffe asked theskipper who had the wheel in his charge. 

The engine was plodding away steadily, though some of the boys wereworried at the quick whirr that followed the passing of each big wave, when, perhaps the propeller would be partly exposed, and the resistanceso much less that it spun around, much faster than usual. 

"Yes, no doubt about it at all, and if everything goes along right westand to make our harbor before dark comes along, " the other answered. 

"Oh! I wish we were there already, " groaned Bumpus; and when Thad lookedat the fat scout he noticed how white he was. 

But then that was nothing singular, for it was certainly getting prettyrough out there on that great expanse of water, and some of the scoutswere sure to display signs of seasickness sooner or later, he knew. Perhaps poor Bumpus was fated to be the first victim. 

"Well, " remarked Giraffe, trying hard to appear indifferent, though hecould not wholly hide his concern every time a wave larger than ordinarywould slap against the side of the boat, and sweep along toward thestern, causing a quiver to run all through the little craft that seemedjust like a chip on that inland sea; "I reckon now, it would be prettytough if we missed connections somehow, and had to keep marking time allnight long out on this old bathtub. "

"Oh! Murder! I hope we don't!" muttered Bumpus, shivering. 

"Stop that kind of talk, Giraffe, " ordered Thad, who would rather lookon the bright side of things; "don't you see you're only botheringBumpus?"

"There's no need of feeling that we're going to have trouble; becausethe engine is working as fine as silk right now, and I feel sure I cansee where that same jolly little cove lies, away ahead there. "

"You mean where that small point juts out, don't you, Thad?" askedAllan, who hovered constantly near his best churn, ready to take a handat a second's notice, should there ever arise an occasion calling forassistance. 

"Yes, that shows on the Government chart I've marked, and the cove liesjust in the shelter of it. I think a little river makes into the lakethere, and if so we might pick up some fish before starting out again. "

He spoke this loud enough for Bumpus to hear; but apparently that sadindividual had lost all interest in the wager he had so recently madewith Giraffe, for he did not take any notice of what Thad said, onlycontinued to look far away, and press his hand up and down in the pit ofhis stomach; and when a boy begins to realize that he has such an organat all, he must be in a pretty bad way. 

Still the wind kept on increasing until it was blowing a small gale. Even the confident Thad felt a little nervous as he wondered what wouldhappen should their engine suddenly give a groan and cease to labor. The situation must be anything but pleasant, left at the mercy of thecoming storm, out there a couple of miles from the southern shore, andfurther than that away from the lovely little cove where they had hopedto pass the night in peace and safety. 

The next half hour was apt to settle that matter, one way or the other;and of course Thad found no reason to despair, as yet, for the motorkept buzzing away cheerily, and the boat pushed through the rising andfalling, billows quite sturdily, as the pilot kept her pointed towardthat headland far beyond. 

CHAPTER VIII

NO END OF TROUBLES

"What's that queer sound?" asked Step Hen, looking up suddenly. 

"Oh, never mind, it's only me, " came from the side of the boat, whereBumpus was lying flat on his stomach, and leaning over. 

The boys looked at each other; perhaps Thad and Allan smiled somewhat, but for a wonder none of the others had any kind of joke to spring justthen; for truth to tell Giraffe, Davy and even Step Hen himself werefeeling as though if this sort of swaying motion had to keep up muchlonger they could not resist the temptation to copy after the boy whowas so terribly seasick. 

"Thought I felt a drop of rain just then, " remarked Giraffe, more tohave something to talk about, and so forget his other troubles, thanthat he really believed it. 

"No, it must only have been the spray, " said Thad. "You notice thatsometimes after a big wave slaps up against our larboard quarter, thewind carries drops of water flying past. It's a lively little blow allright, though I suppose the people up here, who are used to much worsethings, wouldn't think this anything. "

"P'raps they might if they were out so far from land, in such a littlepumpkinseed of a boat, " complained Step Hen. 

"And with an old rattletrap of a motor that's threatening to wheeze itslast any minute, at that, " added Giraffe, fiercely. 

"Let up on that kind of talk, Giraffe, " said Davy; "we've sure all gottroubles of our own as it is, without that silly calling of names. Formy part I think the engine is doing its prettiest, and I take off my hatto it. Don't, you go to calling it hard names, or it might get even bykicking over the traces, and quitting on us. Then we would be in a finepickle. But I think it's better to keep lying down, all you can, whenit blows like this. Make room there, Bumpus, can't you?"

Then there were two of them; and talk about your rivalry, it did seem asthough both of those fellows would tear themselves to pieces, as theboat continued to swing up and down with that perpetual sickening, nauseating movement. 

Presently Step Hen found a place too, and tried to outdo his comrades;seeing which Giraffe apparently thought he might as well make itunanimous then there were four, leaving only the skipper and his firstassistant on deck to manage the boat. 

"Anyhow, the cargo will be lighter after all this, " Giraffe spoke up, after a while, showing that even seasickness could not quite extinguishhis love of joking. 

By now they had covered considerable distance, so that the littleheadland loomed not a great away beyond. 

Thad, too, had changed their course somewhat, so that they were now muchcloser shore than before; and unless some accident happened he believedthat before another twenty minutes passed they would be able to get theshelter of that projecting tongue of land, after which their presenttroubles would fade away. 

It was time, too, for already the first dim signs of coming darknesscould be seen around them; no doubt the fact that clouds covered theface of the sky had more or less to do with this early closing in of thenight, as is always the case. 

Bumpus was sitting up, though looking very white indeed. Every now andthen he would shake his round head in a doleful way, and heave atremendous sigh, as though he might be wondering if his whole past wouldbe appearing before him, since, as he complainingly told thesympathizing Thad, "everything seemed to be coming up nowadays. "

"Only a little while ago I was worrying my poor old head off for fearthe boat would sink with me, " he went on to say, with a dismal smile;"and now it's just the other way, and I'm feelin' bad because she won'tsink. "

"Oh! don't let yourself down like that, Bumpus, " said Allan; "we'regoing in behind that headland right away, and you'll be surprised to seehow quick you get over feeling bad. There, the water isn't near sorough as it was, right now; and soon it'll seem like a mill pond. "

"Do you think so; wish I could believe it?" called out Step Hen, withoutturning his head, for he was very busy; "but seems to me the old boat isjumping as bad as any cayuse I ever saw, when we were out in the WildWest. Oh!"

All the same Allan was right, for they were passing in behind theprojecting tongue of land, and already the worst was over, for the seaswere not near so heavy, though of course the change was hardlynoticeable to those who were feeling so badly. 

And so it came about that presently Thad had to lessen their speed, forhe did not want to run aground, or have any other accident occur thatwould cripple the boat, and shorten their cruise. 

"We're all right, now, fellows, " sang out Giraffe, being the first torecover, simply because he had more grit and determination than any ofthe other three who had been knocked out by the motion of the craft inthe big seas. 

"Yes, and our next job is to prowl around here some, before dark getsus, so as to find the best anchorage, " Thad remarked, as the boat creptslowly along back of the point. 

"Why, I should think any place here would answer, " said Giraffe;"because that wind from the southwest ain't going to get a whack at usany longer. "

"But who'll guarantee that the wind doesn't shift into the north duringthe night, and have a full sweep at us here?" asked Thad. "No, we oughtto find out if there really is a little stream flowing into the lakehere; and if so the mouth of that same will afford us the safest placeto anchor, or tie up. "

"I agree with you there, Thad, " said Bumpus, weakly; but then the factthat he took any sort of interest in what was going on announced plainlyenough that he must be recovering. 

And the others had by this time reached their limit, for theycontributed no more to the fishes of Superior, but began to sit up, andtake notice of things. The recovery from seasickness is usually asrapid as the coming of the trouble; given a firm foundation to standupon, and the sufferer soon forgets his agony, so that he can evenremember that food tastes good. 

Pushing their way carefully in the scouts presently discovered thatthere was a stream of some kind emptying into the lake at this place;and that around several bends there was a splendid anchorage for a smallboat such as theirs, though a larger craft might find some difficultyabout getting in, on account of shallow water. 

And when they dropped their anchor over at last, all of them werepleased to feel that they had left that riotous sea behind them. 

"This is something like, " declared Giraffe, now fully recovered, and ofcourse sharp set to get supper started; indeed all of them felt asthough they could do ample justice to a good meal. 

So the gasoline stove was put into service again, and everyone helpedget the things ready that their menu for that night called for. Giraffestarted a pot of rice cooking, for he was very fond of that dish, andcould "make a meal off it, " he often declared; though his chums noticedthat even when he had plenty of the same beside him, he dipped intoevery other dish just as usual. 

Besides this one of the boys opened a large tin of corned beef that wasemptied into a kettle, together with a can of corn, and another of limabeans, the whole making what is known as a "canoeist's stew, " and is notonly tasty to the hungry voyager, but exceedingly filling as well. 

These, with crackers, cheese, some cakes done up in air-proof packages, and tea constituted the supper that was finally placed before them. 

It really seemed to some of those hungry boys as though that was thefinest feast they had ever sat down to. Of course that often came totheir minds, because what they were just then eating tasted so verygood. But with such enormous appetites as a sauce, there could never beany chance for a complaint coming. And the chief cook received so manycompliments that it was no wonder his cheeks and ears burned like thefire he had been standing over so long. 

By the time the meal was through it was very dark all around them. Theycould still hear the wind blowing out beyond the point; and the wash ofthe big waves told that the sea was probably higher than before; so thatevery fellow expressed himself as glad that they had managed to get intosuch a splendid harbor, where they need not bother their minds what sortof weather held outside, The night was warm, and it seemed comfortable enough for them to liearound on the deck, exchanging comments. Later on they would arrangejust how they were to pile into that small cabin, and manage to sleep;for six boys can take up considerable room; and there would have beeneven seven to fill the space had not the scout-master, Dr. Hobbs, beenrecalled home at the last moment. 

Of course Bumpus had entirely recovered from his indisposition. He onlyhoped he would now be proof against a second attack. 

In fact, he had even begun to remember the terms of the wager, and wastrying to get a line out on the sly, baited with a piece of meat he hadfastened to the hook, in hopes of some gullible fish taking hold, sothat he could wildly haul his captive in, and have the laugh on hiscompetitor. 

When morning came he was determined to go ashore, and see if he couldnot find some angle worms; for without bait it was folly to think ofcatching fish on hooks; and all sorts of other contraptions were barredfrom the contest. 

Giraffe, however, was not asleep, and he saw what his rival was up to;but although Bumpus was not aware of the fact, the tall scout had hadhis line over the side for half an hour now, also baited, and with thehope of a bite. 

From now on the race promised to become pretty warm between them, oncethey got fully started in the game. 

They had talked over about every subject that could be imagined, including the matter of the mysterious powerboat that had passed themthat afternoon, apparently heading in another direction; though Thadknew that long afterwards those in the black craft had altered theircourse, and were really following them. 

It was getting along near time when they ought to be thinking aboutretiring so as to get some rest, when another subject came up suddenly. 

Giraffe, who had been stretching that long neck of his for some littletime, observed that he was trying to make out what a certain queer lightmight stand for. 

"It's away up the shore yonder, fellows, and seems to be a lantern, asnear as I can make out, " he went on to say; "every now and then it bobsup, and down; and if you asked me I'd say it was, meant for some sort ofsignal!"

"A signal!" echoed Bumpus, in almost an awed tone; "that sounds likethere might be smugglers, or something, like that around here; andperhaps they take us for revenue officers trying to nip them at theirwork. Whew! spells more trouble for us, I'm afraid. First the storm;then that awful spell of gone feeling; and now it's smugglers. Whew! Isay!"

CHAPTER IX

"BE PREPARED!"

Bumpus was not the only fellow who felt his heart beating much fasterthan its wont just then, though none of the others betrayed the fact;for Giraffe and Step Hen were too crafty to show that they were worried. 

They seemed to be in a trap, for the heavy seas would not allow them tothink of leaving their anchorage until morning came along, at least; andto remain might be exposing themselves to some unknown peril. 

But then these lads had done through so many things, especially sincethey joined the Cranford Troop of Boy Scouts, and learned what it meantto think for themselves, that none of them really displayed the whitefeather, no matter if Bumpus, who loved peace so much that he sometimesfought to secure it, did manifest some uneasiness. 

They had along with them a double-barreled shotgun that had always givena good account, of itself in times past; and would again if called toshow its sterling qualities. And with this in the hands of ThadBrewster, who was a perfectly fearless chap, according to his churns, who did not know that his boy heart could hammer in his breast like arunaway steam engine, why, they surely ought to be able to stave off anyordinary attack. 

Giraffe felt better when he had picked up the camp hatchet, and waved itseveral times in the air, making vicious stabs at an imaginary enemy. 

"Get ready for boarders, fellows!" remarked Step Hen, who had reached inand secured the long bread-knife, which would make a most formidableweapon, if only he had the nerve to wield the same. 

"Not on your life!" snapped Giraffe; "we've got enough mouths to feed asit is, without taking, on any more. Boarders nothing. You've gotanother think coming, Step Hen, don't you see?"

"But after all, fellows, " Thad told his followers, "this may be a falsealarm. That light has gone now. It may only have been some farmer orminer letting his wife know he was on the way home. How do we know anydifferent? And what interest would any rascals have in trying to comeaboard this boat?"

"That sounds all very fine, Thad, " remarked Davy; "but I hope we ain'tthinkin' of all going to sleep at once to-night!"

"We ought to have a sentry on duty all the time, " suggested Giraffe. 

"I appoint you for that onerous duty, then, Giraffe; consider thatsettled, " the scout-master said, like a flash; whereupon the tall chapbegan to hedge, and explain more fully his views. 

"Oh! course I didn't mean that one scout should sit up all night, " hewent on to remark; "but by taking turns we'd feel that the boat wasn'tagoing to be carried off while we slept. Sure I'm willing to stand myturn, which might be any two hours you set; and then I'll wake up thenext man. You know we've done that same many a time when we were up inMaine, down along the Blue Ridge, and out among the Rockies hunting biggame. "

"Of course I understood what you meant, Giraffe, " the scout-master wenton to remark; "and as you say, some of us will spell you, a new mangoing on duty every two hours. But I hope now nobody really believesthat we're going to be attacked, by lake pirates, or smugglers, oranything like that. Those who lie down to sleep, just forget everything. We're safe here in a splendid harbor and nothing will happen to botherus. "

"But if it should, Thad, you'll wake us all up, I hope, " urged Bumpus. 

"I promise you that, Bumpus, " returned Thad; "because I know just howyou feel about it. No fellow likes to be kicked while he's asleep; withhis eyes open he's in a way to take care of himself. Oh! Yes, we'll seethat every one is waked up if there's going to be a row; because we'llhave need of your fighting face then, Bumpus, remember. "

It was hard to get the fat boy fully aroused, such was his customarygood nature; but when he did get beyond the limit, he used to assumewhat he considered a terrible look, that was supposed to strike fear tothe heart of his adversary. 

Somehow no one admitted to feeling at all sleepy now. Even Bumpus, whoas a rule could be depended on to fall asleep right after he had had hissupper, was apparently as wide-awake as a hawk; and joined in all theconversation as they sat around on the deck and waited for, they hardlyknew what, to happen. 

"Anyhow, we didn't tie up to the shore, as Bumpus wanted when he saidhe'd feel so much better if he could walk on firm ground again, "remarked Step Hen. 

"And I'm glad now that twenty feet or more of water lies between us andshore, " the party mentioned hastened to add. 

"How deep do you think it is in here, Thad?" questioned Davy. 

"All of twenty feet in the place our anchor went down, " replied theskipper, promptly, "it's a regular hole, such as the trout like to liein during the hot dog days of late summer. "

"Glad to hear you say that, " observed Bumpus; but he did not explainwhether his pleasure lay in the fact that any would-be boarders mightfind it difficult to cross over from the rocks to the boat; or thatthere were likely to be fish in the pool, affording a chance for anibble at the tempting bait he had dropped overboard, attached to theconcealed hook at the end of his line. 

"If anybody came along here just on purpose to take a good look at us, whereabouts d'ye think they'd be likely to show up, first of all, Thad?"Step Hen wanted to know. 

"I was thinking about that a minute ago, Step Hen, " replied the scout-master; "and sort of made up my mind they'd be apt to climb that pile ofrocks yonder. You see, it overlooks this pool, and a man might liethere near the top and watch us all he wanted, provided the moon cameout, and gave him the light he'd need. "

Everybody thereupon cast an eye aloft. 

"I'm afraid that moon business is just what's going to happen rightsoon, " observed Giraffe. 

"Yes, there isn't going to be a storm after all, " remarked the skipper;"clouds are breaking night now, and it was a false alarm, you see. "

"Well, hardly, with me, " ventured Bumpus; whereupon everybody tittered, because they knew what the fat scout meant; and there were three others, who, if they were as candid as Bumpus, might have added:

"Me too!"

Half an hour passed by, and they were really getting tired, for it wasnow in the neighborhood of half-past ten o'clock, as Thad told them thelast time he consulted his little dollar watch that gave him so muchsatisfaction in all his outings. 

Still, none of them wanted to be the fellow to first crawl under hisblanket, it being only a matter of pride that kept Bumpus at least ondeck, blinking like an owl in the daytime, as he tried to keep his eyesopen. 

Jim, by the way, had been fastened to a cleat, and was perched on theedge of the cabin roof, no one as yet daring to touch him; though he hadeaten some meat they placed within his reach, which proved that the owldid not mean to starve himself to death, yet awhile at least. 

All at once Bumpus felt a galvanic shock. 

"Oh!" he shouted in excitement, "it's come at last!"

All the others started up in great alarm. 

"What ails the fellow?" cried Step Hen. 

"Got a fit, I reckon!" echoed Giraffe. 

"Fit nothing!" mocked the fat scout, who was bending over, and seemed tobe clawing wildly at the air, so that it was no wonder in the darknessthey thought he must be having a return engagement with that seasickness; "I've got a fish, and that's more'n you can claim, Giraffe, with all your smartness!"

"Bah! never count your chicken's till they're hatched!" scoffed theother, as he saw the fat scout suddenly pause, as though there had comea sickening slackening of the line. "Imagination is a great thing, mebbe; but next time be sure of your game before you whoop it up so. "

"But he's there yet, I tell you!" ejaculated Bumpus, again becomingactive. "Hi! somebody lend me a hand here, so I won't lose him. We needthis trout in our business, because we got to have breakfast in themorning. "

"Hold on!" said Giraffe, with emphasis; "don't forget that the terms ofour wager state distinctly that no one must offer the slightestassistance in landing a fish. If you're after that fish solely forbreakfast, why, any of us'll be glad to lend you a hand; but then itdon't count. How about that, Thad?"

"You're correct, Giraffe, " replied the other; "but I hope Bumpus landshis prize, all right, because fresh fish would taste fine to-morrowmorn. "

It was a little struggle in the mind of Giraffe as to whether thesportsman spirit, or the love of good feeding would prevail; but at lasthe also cried out: "I hope he gets it, too, sure I do! Good for you, Giraffe!" exclaimed Thad, perhaps purposely mistaking this for a spiritof fairness that would do the tall scout credit as a true sportsman. 

Meanwhile all of them watched Bumpus tugging at his line. The fish wasfull of fight, and evidently objected to furnishing a breakfast for aparty of Boy Scouts off on a vacation cruise; but by sheer strength, andnot a little good luck in the bargain rather than fisherman's skill, Bumpus finally man aged to haul his struggling prize aboard. 

"It's a trout, as sure as pop!" exclaimed Step Hen, as they all bentover the wiggling and flapping captive, and Giraffe struck a match, thebetter to see its nature. 

"Whee! let me tell you he pulled to beat the band too!" the proud anglervowed, as he rubbed his arms; and then bent lower to admire the spottedsides of the big trout, that probably looked prettier to Bumpus thananything he had ever before seen. 

"He's a jim dandy, and that's a fact, Bumpus!" said Giraffe, swallowinghis bitter chagrin because fortune had cheated him out of being thefirst in the contest to bring in such a prize; at the same time he wasno doubt thinking what a tasty morsel that splendid fish would affordthe lot for breakfast and wondering if there were not several of themwho had confessed that they did not care for fish which would allow alarger portion to those who did. 

However, all thoughts of this nature were doomed to be forgotten, because just then Davy had to go and throw a bombshell into the camp byremarking in a low and trembling voice:

"Thad, oh Thad! I saw a fellow poke his head up above that pile ofrocks just then, give you my word of honor I did!"

"Be prepared!" said the skipper, quickly; and every scout reached outfor the weapon he had decided to rely upon in case of dire necessity. 

CHAPTER X

THE QUEER WAYS OF BUMPUS

"There ain't a thing moving up there, Davy; and I reckon, now, you'reonly just afooling us, " complained Step Hen, after they had stared ashard as anything at the crown of the rocks, which was sharply outlinedagainst the dark heavens. 

As the others had met with like poor success in trying to locate theobject the scout in question claimed to have seen, they naturally turnedon Davy, to demand further explanations. 

It could easily be seen, however, from his excited condition, that theboy actually believed what he said. 

When Giraffe and Bumpus, and even Allan, urged him to repeat hisassertion, he not only did so, but added still more to what he had saidbefore. 

"Guess I ought to know what a man's head looks like, hadn't I?" Davywent on to remark, indignantly; "cause I've seen a few in my day. Itwas there as plain as--as, well, the nose on my face, and you'll saythat's right smart in evidence, I know you will, Giraffe. Looky upyonder--see the little peak that seems to stick up above all the rest ofthe old rock pile? Well, it was alongside that it showed up; and rightwhile I was asaying it, the thing disappeared like smoke. But youbelieve me, I saw something, and it was a man's head too, no matter ifthere was a bear or a panther at the other end of the same. "

Strange to say no one chuckled at these queer remarks of Davy. They sawthat he was in deadly earnest; and the, possibility of a strange manspying on them seemed too serious a matter to arouse a laugh. 

"Well, " said Step Hen, presently, when they had strained their eyes tothe utmost without any result whatever, "seems like he saw you at thesame time, and lit out in a big hurry. "

Giraffe began to recover from the first shock caused by the alarm; andwhen he was feeling himself the tall scout could nearly always think ofsomething quaint to say. 

"That reminds me of the old baby book rhyme we all used to say; p'rapsyou'll remember, fellows. It's been a long time since I repeated it, but I think it runs about like this: 'I Saw Esau kissing Kate; and thefact is, we all three saw. I saw Esau, he saw me; and Kate saw I sawEsau. ' How's that?"

No one answered, and for a pretty good reason; for hardly had Giraffeuttered his question when, without the slightest warning, a dazzling rayof white light suddenly fell upon the group of scouts crouching there onthe after-deck of the little hunting cabin cruiser, causing every one togasp, and fall to quivering almost as much as though a flash oflightning had darted toward them. 

"Oh!" cried some one; and while the tones of the voice could hardly bedistinguished on account of the vibration caused by the speaker's alarm, no one had the least doubt but that it was Bumpus who thus betrayed hisagitated feelings. 

Thad and Allan, and perhaps several of the other scouts, knew instantlythat the strong glow was caused by one of those handy little electrictorches, for they happened to have just such an alliance along withthem, and had made great use of it on numberless occasions. 

This told them that after all Davy had spoken truly when he declared sovehemently that he had seen a man's head up there on the rocks. 

Nobody moved, only crouched there, staring at that dazzling light, andmentally figuring what was going to happen next. 

Doubtless all sorts of alarming theories flitted through their minds, for after their recent talk about smugglers and those sorts of law-breakers the boys were in a good state to imagine things. 

They were given very little time, however, to collect their wits; for agruff voice (strange how voices are always gruff under similar conditionbut this one was very hoarse without any question) called out:

"Ahoy there, aboard the launch!"

Had it depended on Bumpus, and perhaps Step Hen also, the reply musthave been a long time coming, for they hardly dared trust their voices;but then Thad was able to hold his own, and he immediately called back:

"Hello! yourself; what d'ye want?"

"Bring that boat ashore, and be quick about it!" the deep grumbleproceeded to tell them; and somehow poor Bumpus was forcibly reminded ofthe growl of a lion he had once heard in a menagerie, as well as severalother things along the same "away down in the cellar" line. 

"I suppose we might as well do it, fellows?" Thad remarked to his chums, in somewhat of a low tone; as though he meant to be influenced more orless by what decision the other scouts reached. 

"Oh! can't we skip out before they get their hands on us, Thad?" Bumpuswanted to know. "We're full twenty feet and more away from the shore, and it'd take a champion sprinter and jumper to cover that distance. "

"Yes, but how about running out into that storm again, eh, Bumpus? Feellike going through another experience like that?" demanded Giraffe. 

"Not any for me, thank you. Thad, I say, do what he tells us. He can'teat us, I reckon; and we ain't got any reason to be afraid because ofanything we've done. "

"Same here, Thad, " remarked Davy, quickly: he had been feeling very muchlike backing up Bumpus in his request, but what Giraffe said caused himto "take water" instantly, and Davy was as quick to make a revolution inhis mind as his body could revolve in several handsprings over theground, when he was feeling good. 

"Allan, how about you?" asked Thad, feeling that much depended on whatthe one addressed thought. 

"No help for it, Thad; we've got to throw up our hands that far, anyway;because, like as not they've got us covered right now with their guns, and while they can see us fairly well, everything all dark to us upthere. "

"Oh! my stars!" Bumpus was heard to whisper to himself, in a horrifiedtone, as he learned about those terrible firearms that must be held withtheir muzzles projecting in the direction of the floating home of thescouts; but all the same Bumpus, "though good and scared, " as heafterwards candidly confessed, did not attempt to lie down, and shieldhis round body behind any of his comrades; if they could take theconsequences surely he ought to be ready to face the music; and so beonly knelt there and quivered and looked, momentarily to see a flash, and hear a deafening report that would stagger them all. 

"Well are you going to do what I told you?" the heavy bass voicedemanded, more or less, impatiently. 

"Don't be so foolish as to think, you can slip away, " a second unseenman told them, "because we've got you covered, and if you start up thatengine we'll give you a volley that'll make you wish you hadn't. Comeashore with that boat, you hear? We know you, Cranston! The game isup!"

Thad breathed easier, somehow. What had been said seemed to tell him itmight after all only be a case of mistaken identity; and that if theyobeyed the rough summons they would in all probability not be apt tosuffer on account of yielding. 

"Get a push pole, somebody, and help me shove ashore!" Thad remarked;and then raising his voice so that the unseen enemies might hear, hecontinued: "you needn't bother wasting any of your ammunition on us, mister, because, we're willing to do what you, ask, and come to land. So hold up, and give us a chance, for we've got to raise our anchorfirst; and the water's some deep here to use the poles in. "

He heard a low laugh near by, but there was no further comment fromthose who had the situation well in hand. Every scout understood, however, that a number of heavily armed men must be scrutinizing theiractions from the roll; for that strong white glow was kept closelyfocused on the boat all the time they proceeded to drag in the anchor, and start working the push poles, with which the little hunting cabinlaunch was well provided. 

The water in the harbor they had found was of considerable depth, butfortunately the poles were long as well as stout, and presently the boatbegan to move slowly in response to the energetic efforts which Thad andGiraffe put forth. 

Bumpus had assisted to pull in the anchor, and was now squatted like abig frog near the bow. He knew full well that his position was verymuch exposed, and that in case the unseen enemy chose to actually openfire upon the boat, he would likely be the first to suffer; but in spiteof this Bumpus refused to budge. He had gotten over his first qualms offear, and feeling ashamed of allowing himself to give way to such asensation, and he a scout in the bargain, the boy was now going to theother extreme, and growing actually reckless. 

It made him think of the time some of his mates had declared they hadseen a real boni-fide ghost in the town graveyard, and dared Bumpus tolead the way in there, late at night, when they were passing. He hadfelt his teeth rattle together, just as they had been doing now; butsummoning all his courage to the fore he had grimly said: "who'safraid?" and trembling like a leaf shaken in the wind, he had stalkedinto the cemetery, much to the admiration of his chums, who had expectedthe fat boy to back down abjectly. 

The boat approached the shore slowly. 

Thad could not exactly see the forms of those who were waiting for themto come in, but since the focus of light changed from spot to spot heconcluded that they were also drawing closer to the shore line, so as tobe ready to receive those whom they already counted on as theirprisoners. 

And, Thad waited, in momentary expectation of hearing some sort ofexplosion, when the parties realized their mistake. In fact, he was sosure of this that he would not make the slightest effort to draw thatshotgun closer to him, though that might have seemed good policy. 

Finally the nose of the cruiser came smack up against the rocks withquite a little bump; and Giraffe, having failed to fend off in time, wasalmost toppled over, but he managed to clutch hold of Bumpus to steadyhimself, and that was like seizing upon the Rock of Gibraltar, becauseit would take a derrick to move the stout scout, once he settled down. 

So, when for the second time the boat came in contact with the shore, Giraffe was able to give a little leap, painter in hand, and reach land. 

Just as he did so, that deep bus voice sprang up again; and this time, as Thad had expected, it told of considerable chagrin anddisappointment. 

"Well, what's this? Only a bunch of kids, after all, instead ofCranston and his gang of smugglers. The joke's on us, men; it is tolaugh!"

CHAPTER XI

THE FAME OF THE SILVER FOX PATROL

"I thought so!" Thad now remarked, showing what confidence he had feltin the decision that their best policy had been to obey orders, and cometo the shore. 

Several moving figures were now seen, and coming down the rocks towardthem. In another minute's time these had resolved themselves into threemen. They did not seem to be roughly dressed at all, but might be takenfor gentlemen out to have a good time fishing or cruising. 

And the boys noticed, as soon as they could see anything at all, whenThad lighted their camp lantern, that the largest of the trio wore ablue cap such as they had seen on the head of the man who watched theirboat through his field-glasses late that afternoon. 

Undoubtedly the black boat had turned back as evening set in, and itmust have been some one connected with the party, whom they had seenwaving that light from the shore. 

"Good evening!" said Allan, pleasantly, as the three men ranged up closeby and evidently looked them over; "we've surrendered, you remember. Now, what are you going to do with six Boy Scouts off for a vacationtrip on the lake?"

At that the big man turned to his companions, and laughed. No doubtthey felt considerably disappointed, because they had somehow had highhopes of making an important capture; but after the first keen chagrinhad passed they could enjoy a joke at their own expense. 

"You'll have to excuse our bothering you, boys, " said he of the bassvoice; "but you see we made a mistake. We're revenue officers, lookingfor a notorious smuggler named Cranston, who operates around thissection. We had positive information that he meant to cross over fromCanada in a boat that answered the description of yours to a fraction;and as it's the habit of these smugglers to adopt all sorts ofdisguises, from honest, hard-working fishermen, to anything else thatsuits their fancy, we guessed they'd taken to wearing khaki to make usbelieve they were a party of the militia out for a cruise. "

"And so we turned back, and planned this nice little surprise, when wesaw that you had come in here, " remarked a second man, still chuckling. 

"Who are you, anyway, boys?" asked the third, who seemed to have morecuriosity than his comrades, though his next words explained the reasonfor this; "because I've got two sturdy scouts, in my house, and they'vebecome so much brighter lads since they joined the patrol that I want totell you I'm interested in the movement wherever I run across it. Andwhen I tell them about this blunder of ours I'd like to mention names, you know. "

"Why, we belong to the Silver Fox Patrol of Cranford Troop of BoysScouts, " remarked Allan, promptly; "this is our assistant scout-master, Thad Brewster, who happens to be the pilot of the trip because Dr. Philander Hobbs, our real leader, had to hurry back home on business;but we didn't worry a bit when that happened, because, you see, Thad iscapable of turning the trick; he knows more in a minute about everythingin the woods than Dr. Hobbs could learn in ten years. "

"Well, well, tell me about that, will you?" exclaimed the man, with somelittle excitement; "and which of you might be Allan Hollister--I reckonyou're that party right now, youngster; and this stout scout here, surely he must be the Bumpus who got into so many bad holes, and yetalways managed to crawl out again? Yes, I'm right about that; and let'ssee, which one might be Giraffe--no need to ask that, when I look aroundme. Then there was, another they called Step Hen, didn't they, not tomention Davy Jones, Bob White and Smithy? Oh, I know you all, and Iwant to shake hands with each and every one of you. Say, won't my kidsgo crazy when they hear that I've actually met up with that lively bunchof scouts. "

"W-w-what's all this mean, mister?" asked Bumpus, actually trembling, not with fear any longer, but actual delight to hear himself mentionedin this familiar way by a stranger. 

"Well, I'll have to confess that I've taken such a deep interest in whatmy boys are doing, " continued the revenue officer, "that I even readevery book they brought into the house; and that's how I came to knowabout the doings of the Silver Fox Patrol, and who the eight lads wereconstituting that branch of the scouts. Give me your hand, Mr. Scout-master; I'm proud to know you, sure I am; and I hope you'll send awritten word back home to the two ten-year old twins, who know all aboutwhat you fellows have been doing in the Blue Ridge, up in Maine, andeven as far away as the Rocky Mountains. "

The boys were almost stunned by this remarkable information; but theyhastened to accept the hand offered them, and received a hearty squeezein return. 

"My name is Stebbens, and the boys are Daniel and Luther, " continued theofficer who seemed not quite mind the disappointment of failing toeffect an important capture, when the little adventure had give him astory to carry back home to those twins he thought so much of. 

"Well all this is mighty interesting, John, " said the man with the gruffvoice, and who seemed to be the leader of the revenue men; "but wemustn't lose any more time here. The sea is nasty, but our boat canstand it, and we know where tricky Cranston is apt to turn up beforemorning, not ten miles away; so perhaps we'd better be saying good-nightto these lads, and starting out again. "

He, as well as the third man, insisted on also shaking hands all aroundbefore departing, and with such good will that Bumpus was rubbing hisfingers for quite some time afterwards, to get the numb feeling out ofthe same. 

But then no one found any fault; in fact they were thrilled by theknowledge that their exploits had been read by other scouts, whocherished a sort of friendly feeling for the members of the Silver FoxPatrol, just from learning about their adventures in a book or so. 

They did not feel at all sleepy after the three revenue men had saidgood-bye, and vanished in the dark night. 

"What's the use pushing out there again, and dropping the mud-hookoverboard, when we can tie up so nicely right here?" remarked Step Hen. 

"Sure, " echoed Giraffe, "and then, in the morning I'll show you Ihaven't forgotten how to make the finest fire you ever heard tell about. Oh I some pumpkins about that same game, ain't I, Bumpus? You ought toknow, because you saw me make one when we was nigh about froze to deathup there in Maine, and didn't have a single match along with us. "

"Well, anyhow, wait till morning, " said Thad, knowing that once the tallscout got started on his favorite hobby, there was no way of stoppinghim until he had the fever satisfied. 

Giraffe had once made up his mind that he could make a fire in theprimitive fashion by using a little bow, and a revolving stick. Oncethis trick is learned and it can usually be accomplished in a minute ortwo; but most boys find themselves unable to master the feat, and giveup in despair after long trying. 

The tall scout had persisted even when he met with all manner ofdiscouragements. Sometimes, just when he seemed on the point ofsuccess, Bumpus would stumble over him, and end the attempt; then analarm would be sounded when he had gotten his tinder to smoking; andagain he lose out. But in the end he had mastered the secret, and everafterwards it was one of his proudest accomplishments; so that Giraffealways carried that little bow, and some dry tinder along, whenever heleft camp, even though it would have been muck easier to put somematches in his pocket. 

Of course, as they sat there for a while longer, after the boat had beensecurely tied up to the shore, the talk was mostly about smugglers. 

Each of the boys told all they had ever heard about, such slipperycustomers; and it added to the interest of the occasion to know thatthey had just been mistaken for a notorious character, for whom theGovernment revenue men were on the watch. 

"All the same, " remarked Bumpus, complacently, "I ain't sorry ithappened, because you see, only for their mistake we never'd aheardabout them twins, Daniel and Luther Stebbens. I'm glad you wrote outthat message for 'em, Thad; and after we get back in Cranford I'mmeaning to send 'em my picture. Their daddy said they'd like it theworst kind; and come to think of it, I've got a few showing me astandingwith my gun acovering them two bad men as had captured me out in the BigTimber, Davy having snapped the picture off on the spot. Mebbe they'lllike that!"

He fell to musing over the lively scenes that had accompanied theadventure covered by this episode; and paid no further attention to therest of the boys, as they continued to exhaust the subject of thesmuggler fraternity. 

Finally, all of them admitted that they felt sleepy; and since they nolonger had reason to experience anything boarding on alarm, it wasdecided on the whole not to bother keeping watch. 

Already the hour must be near midnight, and they needed sleep, so as tobe ready to take up duties of another day when morning broke. 

Accordingly, each of them was apportioned a place where he could wedgein and in some way manage to obtain the rest of which he was in suchneed. Bumpus, being so round, and requiring much more space than any oneof the six, was given a chance to roll over in the wider territory closeto the doors of the hunting cabin, which were not to be closed, as theboys felt they would need air. 

He could sit up, and look around, at any time he happened to be awake;but as Bumpus was usually a sound sleeper, none of them expected that hewould avail himself of this privilege until they scrambled over hisbundled-up figure at daylight. 

In that cove at the mouth of the little creek it was as quiet andpeaceful as any heart could wish. Let the wind and the waves hold highcarnival outside, nothing gave promise of disturbing the slumber of thetired cruisers. 

An hour, two of them and more, crept by, and everything remained as calmas when the scouts folded their blankets about them like Indianwarriors, and squeezed in where they had been apportioned. 

The clouds had broken, and the moon was shining brightly in the skyoverhead when Bumpus, being awakened by some sort of dream, suddenly satupright, digging his knuckles into his eyes, as if hardly able tobelieve that he was not safe and sound in his own bed at home. 

A nasty snarl struck his ear, and gave him a shock, so that he instantlyfound himself wide-awake, and looking around to see what had caused thesound. 

What he saw must have aroused the fat scout not a little, forimmediately his voice was heard in the land, arousing the balance of thesleepers, and doubtless thrilling them through and through. 

"Stop thief! Here, let that alone, I tell you! Wake up everybody, anddo something, can't you? He's getting away with my lovely trout, I tellyou. Hey! Giraffe, ain't you agoing to save your breakfast?"

CHAPTER XII

A CALL TO BREAKFAST

Every one came tumbling out in a great hurry. The moon was so situatedthat the forepart of the boat was somewhat in the shadow; and on thisaccount they could not see plainly, save that there was some sort of ananimal crouching there. As Bumpus had so loudly wailed that it wastrying to carry off his prize trout, which had been left hanging in theair until needed at breakfast time, the rest of the boys understood thesituation pretty well. Immediately they started to shout, and wavetheir arms, as well as hurl every sort of thing they could lay hands on. 

Naturally enough this proved too much for even the bravest wild beast;and giving a savage snarl the thing suddenly bounded ashore, and waslost to view. They had just a last glimpse of a shadowy figure skulkingoff along the sandy beach near by. 

"Oh! tell me, did he get away with it?" cried Bumpus; and to hear thepain which he threw into these words one would have though a pricelesstreasure was involved; and so it was, the biggest speckled trout he hadever caught in all his life. 

Giraffe scrambled forward, waving his arms in order to discourage anybeast that might think to attack him, and "shooing" at a vigorous rate. 

"Brace up, Bumpus!" he called out. 

"Is it safe?" demanded the fat scout, joyously. 

"Yes, he didn't dare carry it off when we got to shouting so lively; andhere's your trout, but I reckon we had better take care to make itsecure next time. These cats can climb some, and that's right. "

"Was it really a wildcat?" asked Step Hen, curiously; just as though thebeast had seemed so large to his excited fancy that he would have feltsafe in calling it a panther. 

"Looked mighty much that way, " admitted Allan, who ought to know thebreed, as considerable of his younger life had been spent up in theAdirondacks, and in Maine, where he must have seen many a specimen ofthe feline tribe. 

"I thought at first it was a tiger, " Bumpus admitted, faintly; at whichthere was a little laugh all around, for they could easily understandhow a fellow's fears might magnify things, when suddenly aroused, andwith only that deceptive moonlight to see by. 

"Whatever it was, and we'll try and make sure in the morning, " remarkedThad, "it's gone now. "

"But it may come back, after smelting of my fine trout, " Bumpusobserved, seriously; "and rather than run any chance, I think I'll haveto sit up, and play sentry the balance of the night. "

"Joke!" chuckled Giraffe, chuckling again. 

"Huh! mebbe, now, you think I couldn't do that same?" remonstratedBumpus. "I know I'm a good sound sleeper, which fact I can't deny;but then there's such a thing as rising to an occasion, you see. "

"Yes, " scoffed the tall scout, "if we depended on you staying awake, chances are we'd have no trout for breakfast to-morrow morning. "

"No need of anything like that, " remarked the scout-master; "because wecan fix it so that no wildcat could get that fish, let him try as hardas he wants. Just you leave it with me, Bumpus, and I'll guarantee thatwe have fish for breakfast, and without anybody having to stay upeither, or lose another minute's sleep. "

He tied a cord to the dangling trout, once more placed where it had beenbefore, and then announced that he meant to fasten the other end to hisarm. If anything pulled at the fish it would telegraph the fact down tohim; and as Thad took the double-barreled shotgun to bed with him, andoccupied the place Rumpus had vacated, they understood what the answerwas going to be should he be aroused. 

But evidently the beast thought discretion the better part of valor, forhe did not come aboard again that night. Possibly the shouts, and thewhooping of the boys had given him all the excitement he could stand. He liked fish very much; as do all of the cat species, but if he musthave a feast of trout it looked as though he would have to procure thesame in some other way than stealing it from those on board theChippeway Belle. 

Strange to say Bumpus was the first to crawl out; and his laboredprogress over his comrades evoked a continual series of grunts andcomplaints. 

"Hurrah! it's still there, and we ain't going to be cheated out of ourtreat after all!" he was heard to cry, as he gained the open air. 

"Well, here's the first case on record of that fellow ever getting awakeahead of the rest of the bunch, " said Step Hen. 

"Yes, and he mighty near flattened me into a pancake when he crawled ontop of me to get to the doors, " grunted Giraffe. 

"Say, where's my other shoe? Anybody seen my leather around? I bet younow some fellow just grabbed it up, and tossed the same to that peskyold cat last night; and if so, how'm I ever to limp around with only oneshoe for my both feet; because some of the things went into the water, for I heard the splash?"

"If anybody threw it, you did yourself, Step Hen, " asserted Giraffe, notliking this thing of being accused of things promiscuously; "because Isaw something that looked mighty much like a shoe, in your hand when youcrawled out. "

"Then why didn't, you tell me about it, Giraffe?" complained the other, with a doleful groan. "I think you're about as mean as you can be, tolet a poor fellow in his excitement do such a thing. "

"Why, however was I to know?" said the tall scout, chuckling as thoughit struck him as a joke that Step Hen, in his sudden anxiety to scarethe prowler away, should have thrown his own shoe at the cat. "Besides, I had troubles of my own, just about that time, let me tell you. Butmebbe you can find your old shoe again; because the water ain't so verydeep up ahead there. "

"No need to bother, " sang out Bumpus, who was taking his trout downtenderly, and examining it to see how much damage the claws of theintruder had done, if any, "because there the shoe is right now, onshore, and all right. "

That gave Step Hen reason to say he knew he could never have been sillyenough to cast his shoe in such a way as to hurl it overboard; but allthe same he was pleased to be able to recover it in a dry condition, after all. 

"Who'll clean it while I get a fire started ashore?" asked Giraffe, presently, when they had finished their dressing. 

"No hurry, " remarked Thad; "for while the sun's getting ready to comeup, and the storm petered out after all, I guess the lake's a bit toorough for us to go out for some time yet. Such a big body of water cankick up some sea when it gets in the humor; and some of the party don'tseem to hanker after that rising and falling motion. "

Bumpus himself decided to do the last honors to his "noble capture, " andtaking the fish ashore, with a hunting knife that had a keen edge, helooked for a good place to sit down, on a rock bordering the littlebeach. Here he kept industriously at work for quite some time. 

Meanwhile the fire was a big success, for Giraffe certainly was a marvelwhen it came to knowing all there was about making them. He had foundjust the finest hole to serve as the bed of his cooking fire, where abody of red embers would after a little while invite them to place theirfrying-pan and coffee-pot on the iron grating they carried for thepurpose, and which was really the gridiron-like contrivance belonging toa cast-off stove's oven. 

"I say, Thad!" Bumpus was heard calling, after he had had plenty of timeto finish his job with the trout. 

"What do you want now, Bumpus?" replied the scout-master, cheerily. 

"Come down here, won't you, and settle something for me. "

So Thad hastened to accommodate him; and several of the other fellowsfollowed at his heels, being consumed by curiosity, perhaps; or it mightbe they suspected something of the truth, and wished to hear Thad'sdecision in the matter. 

"Now what?" asked the scout-master, as he reached the spot. 

"I wish you'd tell me what sort of a critter that was last night, "Bumpus remarked, as he pointed down near his feet; "because he ran alonghere when he skedaddled off; and you can see the prints as plain asanything. "

"I should say it was a wildcat; but let's ask Allan, to make sure, "replied the patrol leader, and upon reaching the spot, Allan instantlydeclared the same thing. 

At that Bumpus appeared to be satisfied; and as the trout was now readyfor the pan they adjourned to where the fire was waiting, with a hungrylooking cook in readiness to get things going. 

Just as they anticipated, that trout was elegant--no other word Bumpuscould conjure up would begin to do justice to the feast they had thatmorning. And the proud captor of the prize cast many a look in thedirection of his rival, which of course the envious Giraffe construed tomean; "see what I can do when I set my mind on a job; and get busyyourself. "

But then Giraffe had just had a pretty generous second portion of thesalmon-colored fish steak, and was in no humor to get huffy. 

He did start in right after breakfast to get several lines out, andattended to the same assiduously all morning. Between the busy workersthey managed to pull in five fish, of which Bumpus took two. So thatthus far the score was even, as regards numbers, though the fat scoutwas still "high notch" when the question of size was concerned. 

"I see that before we get back home we'll all have swelled heads, " Thadremarked, with a broad, smile; and upon the others demanding to knowwhat he meant, he went on to say: "why, don't you know, scientists unitein declaring that fish is the greatest brain food going; so if thesefellows keep on loading us down with trout and white fish and everyother kind that lives in this big lake, why, our hats will soon be toosmall for our enlarged craniums. "

"Oh! we can afford to take the chances of that!" laughed Allan. 

As the wind had gone down, and the waves with it to a considerableextent, it was decided that they might make a start after an earlylunch. Thad consulted his Government Survey charts, and marked a placethat he believed would make them a good harbor, and which they ought toreach with any reasonable luck. 

This being settled they got underway about half-past eleven; and whenthe little cruiser left the shelter of the cove, and once more breastedthe rising and falling waves, Bumpus shook his head dismally, and loudlyhoped he would not once more have to spend all his time feeding thefishes. But his fears proved groundless, for they had apparently becomeused to the motion of the waves, and not one of them became seasickagain that day. 

CHAPTER XIII

UP AGAINST IT AGAIN

"Everything is lovely, and the goose hangs high! This makes the fifthday since we started out; and things seem to be going along rightsmoothly at the old stand, don't they, fellows?"

Giraffe asked this question. He was lying on his back on top of thehunting-cabin of the little cruiser, taking what he termed a "sun bath;"but which some of his chums always called "being too lazy too move. "

"And so far none of us have felt the least bit seasick again, " remarkedStep Hen, with what sounded like a fervent note of thanksgiving in hisvoice, as though of all the mean things he could imagine, that offeeling a sinking sensation at the pit of the stomach excelled. 

"And I'm still leading Giraffe by three fish, " declared Bumpus; "besideshaving caught the biggest fish and the longest one in the bargain. Better wake up, and get a move on you, Giraffe, or be counting on doingall the drudgery when we have that blow-out supper on our return home. "

"I ain't worrying any, Bumpus, " lazily returned the other; "fact is, ittickles me just to see you hustle around in your great fishing stunt. Sure you're getting peaked, and as thin as anything, after such unusualexertions. I wouldn't be surprised if some show offered you a job asthe Living Skeleton, if this thing keeps up much longer, because you'refading away right along. "

Bumpus looked himself all over, and if there was a shade of anxiety onhis rosy face it did not stay there long. 

"I only wished what you said was half-way true, Giraffe, " he sighed;"but seems like nothing is ever agoing to take off two pounds from myweight. I can't honestly see where there's a mite of a change; and Iknow you can't neither. Stop your kidding, and get your lines outagain. I had a sure-enough nibble right then, and if you don't lookout, I'll be pulling in a dandy fish. "

"Wake me up when you do, and I'll start in. You get 'em worked-up like, and then I'll show you how to do the trick. Up to now I've just beenplaying possum, you know, but look out whenever I do get going. "

"Bah! who's afraid?" scoffed the fat scout, finding a use for hisfavorite expression, to show his contempt for the threat of Giraffe. 

"But we've gone over a heap of ground during the five days we've beenafloat on this inland sea, haven't we, boys?" remarked Step Hen. 

"I'd like to, know why you call it ground, when, we've been moving overwater all the time?" observed Davy, who was not as happy as most of hischums, because this way of living offered him no chance to climb trees, and hang from limbs, as was his favorite habit; and therefore time hungheavy on his hands, so that he grew restless. 

"Oh! well, it doesn't make any difference that I can see, " replied StepHen; "a rose by any other name would smell as sweet, they say. But wehave covered a heap of distance, you'll admit, Davy. "

"Yes, and had lots of fun in the bargain, " Allan put in. 

"Thanks to the weather man for keeping things nice for us, and notallowing any storm along, " suggested Bumpus. 

"Well, you may have reason to change your tune soon, old fellow, " warnedGiraffe with an ominous shake of his head. 

"Now, what makes you go and say that, Giraffe? Do you know anything, orare you just trying to bother me on general principles?" demanded thestout boy, aggressively. 

"Well, perhaps you didn't know it, " remarked the other, carelessly, "butlatterly I've taken a notion to study to become a weather prophet. Onthe sly I've been getting all the information about goose bones, and allsorts of signs, wherever I could strike the same. Then I've studied uphow the fellows down at Washington make their guesses, and I'm gettingthere right smart. Why, every morning now, for the last three days I'vetold myself it was agoing to be fair, and she was, sure pop. Understandthat, Bumpus?"

"I thought something was bothering you, and keeping you from getting asmany fish as I did; but what about this morning, Giraffe, did it lookany different to you; and is the good weather acoming to an end?" askedBumpus. 

"The signs all pointed to a change this morning, " replied the other. "Now, don't expect me to go into particulars, because there ain't anyneed of more'n one weather sharp in our crowd. And say, just cast youreye over there to the southwest; don't you see that low bank of cloudsalong the horizon? Well, when they get to moving up on us, we're boundto have, high winds, and p'raps a regular howler of a storm. "

Bumpus' face assumed a serious look as he turned quickly to the scout-master. 

"What do you say, Thad?" he queried, for it was never possible to knowwhether Giraffe were working off one of his little practical jokes ornot, he had such a way of looking very solemn, even while chucklinginwardly. 

"I don't count much on his knowledge of telling in the morning what sortof a day it's going to be, " replied the other, with a shake of the head;"but what he says about those clouds is as near facts as Giraffe evergets. "

"Then there is a storm bound to swoop down on us?" demanded Bumpus, ashe cast a nervous glance around at the watery expanse; for they were farout on the lake. 

"I'm afraid we'll have a rough night of it, " Thad confessed; "but ifwe're only safe in a harbor by evening, we won't need to bother ourheads any about that. "

"Then we won't have any trouble about making that safe harbor, will we?"continued Bumpus, who could be very positive and persistent whenever hewanted to know anything, so that it was a difficult thing to shunt himaside. 

"If the engine holds out we ought to be there by five, I expect, " Thadanswered. 

Bumpus transferred his attention to the working motor; and his look ofanxiety increased. 

"Seems to me you've been pottering more'n a little with that thing today, Thad, " he went on to say. 

"Yes, and right now it don't work decent, " observed Step Hen. "Itmisses an explosion every third one, and acts like it might go out ofbusiness any minute on us, that's right, fellows. "

Some of the rest began to look sober at this. Giraffe, who had thoughtto have a joke at the expense of his plump rival, no longer lay there, sprawled upon the roof of the hunting cabin of the launch; but sat up toobserve the singular actions of the engine for himself. Nor did he, appear to get much consolation from what he discovered. 

"I declare now if it ain't a fact, boys, " he said, seriously. "She actsmighty like she wanted to throw up the sponge, and let us hustle to getashore the best way we could. Of all the contrary things commend me toa balky engine on a cruiser. And Dr. Hobbs was thinkin' his friend wasdoing us the greatest favor going to loan him this old trap, that like'snot he keeps heavily insured, in the hopes that some fine day she'll godown, when he can buy a newer and better, model with the money hecollects. "

"Oh! I wouldn't say that, if I were you, Giraffe, "' remarked Thad. "From the way the gentleman wrote to Dr. Hobbs I'm sure he thought hewas doing us a favor; and you know it's bad manners to look a gift horsein the mouth. If he was charging us a round sum for the use of the boatwe, might say something; but outside of the gasoline we consume we don'thave to put out a cent. "

"But do you really expect the rickety old engine'll go back on us beforewe get to that harbor you're heading for?" demanded Bumpus. 

"How can I tell?" Thad replied. "I'm doing everything I know of to coaxit to be good. If anybody has a scheme for helping along, the rest ofus would be glad to listen to the same, and take it up too, if there wasa ghost of a show that we could profit by doing that. "

Apparently nobody did have any idea of bettering conditions as they nowprevailed; for not a word came in reply, to Thad's request for severalminutes. During this time the boys sat there and watched the queeractions of the engine that Thad was bending over, now doing this andagain that in order to see whether he could not obtain more profitableresults from the laboring motor. 

"I s'pose now, " Bumpus finally did muster up courage enough to say, "ifit came to the worst, and you saw we couldn't make that harbor, why, youmight head her on to the beach, so that we could get ashore, no matterwhat, happened to the old ship?"

"Yes, how about that, Thad?" questioned Step Hen, as though somehow athought along the same lines might have been passing through his mindjust then. 

Thad shook his head in the negative. 

"That would be a risky proceeding, at any time, " he observed, "when youconsider that the shore along here is composed of sharp-pointed rocks, and that if there was any sea on at all we'd probably be wrecked longbefore we could land. That must mean we'd all be thrown into the surf, and perhaps lose our lives trying to swim ashore among the rocks. Nowe'll have to try some other plan than that, or else stick to the boat, and hope the storm won't be so very bad after all. "

"Well, one thing sure, " said Davy Jones, who had not taken any part inthis conversation thus far, "the clouds are coming along right speedy. Since I first took note they've crept up till they look twice as bignow. "

This news was not pleasant for them to hear, though every one realizedthat the speaker was not "drawing the long bow" when he made theassertion. Yes, they could almost note the rising of the dark mass. Ifit kept on as it was doing, inside of half an hour the heavens would beobscured above, and perhaps the forerunner of the gale be upon them. 

Bumpus quickly started to pulling in the various fish lines he had beentrailing along after the boat, in hopes of meeting up with a hungry fishthat might be taken aboard, and not only afford a meal for the crowd, but give him a good chance to crow over his rival fisherman once more, "rub it in, " as he called it. 

Thad got out his charts, and the whole lot bent over, while he pointedout where they were just then, and the distant harbor he had hoped toreach. 

"If it comes to the worst, " ventured Allan, "there's that lone islandahead of us, Sturgeon Island it's called on the chart, and we might getin the lee of that. "

CHAPTER XIV

THE SQUALL

"Sturgeon Island, did you say, Allan?" remarked Step Hen. "Sounds likeit might be a good fishing place. If we happened to land there, perhapsBumpus and Giraffe might manage to do some big stunts, pulling insturgeon. Can anybody tell me what sort of a fish that is, anyway? Inever saw one, or a fellow that caught one, either. "

"Oh! they grow to big size, and are caught in the Great Lakes in thiscountry. They take sturgeon eggs I believe to make this high-pricedstuff they use in the tony clubs and call caviar, or something likethat, " observed Bumpus, who really did know considerable about fish andfishing, though of course he did not claim to be a fly fisherman, capable of casting seventy feet or more, But the subject did not interest any of them just then. The way thatbank of ominous clouds kept advancing higher and higher soon kept theirattention riveted in that quarter. 

"About how far away from our harbor are we, Thad?" asked Step Hen. 

"Something like fifteen miles, I should say, " came the reply. 

Giraffe looked at the balky engine, and shook his head. 

"Then we'd better make up our minds right here and now that we'll neverget to that place this day, " he said, positively; and there was no onebold enough to accept of the plain challenge his tones conveyed. 

"That means our only hope lies in Sturgeon Island, don't it?" Bumpusasked. 

"Looks that way, " Thad told him. 

"But that don't seem so far on the map; you, just put your finger on thesame, Thad; and if she's close enough to do that, hadn't we ought to seethat island, ahead somewhere?"

"Suppose you take the glasses and look, " suggested the pilot, who wasbusy with the engine that had stopped short again, and needed coaxing totake up its burden once more, "It's rather hazy, you'll notice, so thatyou couldn't be sure of anything more than three miles away, I reckon;but tell us what lies de ahead, will you, Bumpus?"

A minute later, and the fat scout cried out in considerable excitement:

"I can see land ahead, sure I can, fellows!"

"That must be the island, then, " rejoined Thad, busily engaged. 

"Our only hope, so we had ought to call it our island, " Davy went on tosay, as he deliberately took the glasses from Bumpus, and glued thesmaller end of the same to his own eyes. 

Then in turn everybody but Thad had to have a chance to look; and in theend it was the consensus of opinion that Bumpus had spoken only thetruth when he said there were positive evidences of some sort of landahead. 

"Oh! if you could only get that old junk-shop engine to working for halfan hour, Thad, we'd have plenty of time to circle around to the leewardside of that island, and then we could get ashore, no matter whathappened to the Belle, " Bumpus faltered, as he watched the skipper stillworking as rapidly as he could. 

All at once the machinery started up again, when Thad gave the crank awhirl. 

"Bully for you, Thad!" cried Davy, slapping the other heartily on theback; and then turning to look at the black clouds following after them, as though he would give fair warning that they meant to make a stifffight for the opportunity of finding safety. 

"Go slow!" warned the other; "don't be too sure, because she's limpingalready, and I'd hate to risk my reputation in saying that we coulddepend on that thing five minutes at a stretch, " and from the way Thadsaid this it was evident that he had by now almost lost all faith in themotor. 

"Looks like it might be a race between the storm, and our getting behindSturgeon Island, " said Giraffe, as he turned alternately from stem tostern of the boat, evidently trying to figure out what sort of chancethey might have for winning out in the end. 

But they knew that it all depended on the engine; if it worked as wellas it was doing right now they could surely pass over the few miles thatseparated them from the island; and once in its lee it would not be sodifficult to gain the shore. Neither the wild wind, nor the gatheringwaves could disturb them, so long as the storm continued to come out ofthe south-west, for they were now cruising along the northern shore ofthe great lake, where the Dominion of Canada held sway, and not UncleSam. 

So they watched it anxiously, and every time it missed an explosionBumpus would utter a grunt or a groan; only to catch new inspiration andhope when he found that it was a false alarm, and that they were stillgoing right along. 

Thad was doing everything he knew how to encourage the engine to keep upthe good work; but he had already made up his mind to be surprised atnothing. There was a possibility that it might keep working fairly wellas long as they wanted, in order to find safety in the shelter of theisland; and then again it was apt to let down at any minute. 

Thad, however, was not the one to show the white feather. He knew thatthere were several of his chums who might not be constituted just thesame as he and Allan, and Giraffe--Bumpus and Davy and Step Hen; and hisseeming cheerfulness was partly assumed in order to buoy their droopingspirits up; as scout-master Thad felt that he had many duties toperform, and one of these was to instill a feeling of confidence in thebreasts of his comrades. 

"I can see a white streak on the water away back there!" announcedGiraffe, presently. 

"That's where you've got the advantage of the rest of us, with your longneck, and that way of stretching the same, " complained Step Hen; anddetermined to meet the other on his own grounds he clambered to the topof the cabin, where he could use the glasses he had taken from the handof Giraffe. 

"It's the first blow of the squall, as sure as anything, " he immediatelyreported; which news made Bumpus turn pale; for he had not forgottenwhat he experienced on that other occasion. 

"Coming racing after us, like hot cakes!" added Giraffe. "Hadn't webetter get them life preservers out, and fastened on under our arms, Thad? Then, if so be the old tub did take a notion to turn turtle, we'dhave some show for our money. "

"Make him stop talking that way, Thad, won't you?" urged Bumpus; "hejust does it to make me have a bad feeling down here, " and he rubbed hisprojecting stomach mournfully as he spoke. 

"No, I'm sorry to tell you he isn't saying anything too strong, Bumpus, "the skipper of the Chippeway Belle assured him; and after that poorBumpus had nothing more to say; only he clutched the cork and canvaslife preserver which was handed out to him, and with trembling handsproceeded to adjust the same under his arms; though it was a very snugfit, even if Giraffe had given him the largest in the lot under theseats. 

"If anything happens, remember, " said Thad, in all seriousness, as hewatched the rapid way in which that ominous white line on the water wasracing after them; "all of you try your best to land on the island. We're getting closer all the while to the same, and there seems to besome shore for us to crawl up, because, with the rocks I can see littlepatches of gravelly beach. Keep your eyes fixed on that, and doeverything you can to get there in case of a wreck. "

"Wreck!" muttered Bumpus, as though talking to himself, as he often didwhen in trouble. "Didn't I dream I was on a ship that went to pieces instorm; and first thing I knew I had to swim for it, and me knowing solittle about doing that. Oh! I hope nothing happens, and that we ranswing around back of that bully old island soon!"

"So say we all of us, Bumpus, " Giraffe echoed; and he did not mean todraw the attention of the others to the shaky condition of the fatscout, because, if the truth were told, every one of the six boys wouldbe found to be quivering with the dreadful suspense, while waiting forthat forerunner of the squall to strike them. 

The engine still continued to keep them moving, although to the excitedimagination of some of the boys they seemed to be almost standing still. 

"What do you think of it now, Thad?" asked Step Hen, with the manner ofone who hoped for good tidings, yet feared the worst. 

"I don't just like the looks of that first rush of wind, " replied thepilot; "of course if we pull through that we may be able to hold out, and gradually force a way around the island. I'm trying to head as nearas I dare, because if once we're forced past, there's nothing left forus, you understand?"

Yes, they could grasp that point well enough, and Step Hen even besoughtthe one at the wheel to work in a little closer. 

"Better take the chances of being thrown on the island than to becarried past by a fluke of the wind!" he declared, and Thad believed somuch the same way that he did change their course slightly. 

The boys had brought out what most they wanted to save in case of awreck. One carried his clothes bag, with the blanket fastened to thesame; another had the double-barreled shotgun; while Giraffe made sureto see that his fishing tackle was safely tucked in with his belongings, which he had made up into as small a compass as possible. 

As for Bumpus, he had gathered everything he owned, and looked as thoughhe might be a walking peddler trying to dispose of his wares to thecountry people. On the other hand there was Step Hen who did not appearto care an atom about his clothes and his blanket; but he had managed towrap something around the owl, and was all the while gripping the birdtightly; though Bumpus said he was silly to risk his own life, when allhe had to do was to cut the cord he had put around the cloth, unfastenthe chain that gripped the bird's leg, and give him a toss into the air, when Jim would look out for himself. 

"Wish I could fly away as easy as he can, " Bumpus wound up with; but inspite of all these suggestions the obstinate Step Hen still persisted inholding on to his prisoner, as though he meant to accept every chancerather than let him go. 

"Hold fast, everybody, for here she comes!" called Allan, presently. 

The puttering of the escape connection with the engine could no longerbe heard, because of the roar made by the rushing wind, and the splashof the curling water, as the squall leaped forward and rapidly overtookthem. 

"Oh; my stars!" Bumpus was heard to call out, as he clung to somethingwith all his might and main; for the little cruiser seemed to be liftedhigh in the air, and carried forward on the top of a giant billow, onlyto sink down in the trough of the sea with a heavy motion; but stillkeeping head on. 

But in that moment of time Thad Brewster knew that the fate of the boatwas effectually sealed; because the engine had given its last throb andthey were now a helpless, drifting object in the midst of those angrywaters!

CHAPTER XV

CLEVER WORK

Imagine the horror of the six scouts when they realized that they werenow completely at the mercy of the storm, since the last barrier seemedto have given way when the treacherous engine broke down. 

Even brave-hearted Thad Brewster felt that their case was desperate: andhe knew in his secret heart that if they managed to escape a serioussituation it must be through a narrow gap. 

At the same time Thad always made it a point to put on a good face whenup against trouble. This was of course partly done because of hiscomrades, since, as the scout-master he felt more responsibility thanfell to the share of the rest. 

Bumpus had been hanging on like a good fellow. He greatly feared lestsome sudden violent lurch of the boat toss him headlong into that yeastysea; which he was gazing upon with terror. 

At the same time Bumpus had been closely observing the actions of theeccentric motor, and was one of the first to discover that it hadpetered out, giving up the ghost completely, as Giraffe would have said. 

"Oh! what can we do now, Thad?" shouted the stout scout, as usualturning to the quick-witted one in an emergency; but for once even Thadwas at his wit's ends to know what to attempt, the situation was thatdesperate. 

"Everybody hold on!" was all Thad called back. 

There was hardly any need of this injunction, for each fellow hadmanaged to brace himself, so that unless the boat actually "turnedturtle, " or at least was thrown on her beam ends, they could not bedislodged. 

Thad was straining his eyesight as best he could, endeavoring to seeahead. The furious wind of course made this a difficult task, because itnot only sent the waves high, but as these broke into foam along theircrests, this was actually cut off as with an invisible knife, and blownaway in the shape of flying spud; so that the very air was surchargedwith a fine mist, rendering it hard to distinguish anything fifty feetoff. 

Of course it was the island that the young leader was striving to seeall this while. He knew as well as anything that the one slim hoperemaining to them must rest upon their chance of finding some sort ofshelter behind this oasis in the watery waste. 

At one time it had been Thad's hope that if the worst came they mightfind themselves thrown on the windward side of Sturgeon Island. Now heknew that this had been rendered an utter impossibility; because thestorm had swept down upon them so rapidly after their course was changedthat there had been no time for the cruiser to reach a position thatwould bring about any such result. 

And then besides, the surf must be dashing high over that exposed end ofthe rocky island, so that even though they struck, it might be on anouter reef. In such a case who could say whether any of the boys wouldmanage to overcome the terrible difficulties lying in wait, and bethrown up on a sandy beach, rather than dashed ruthlessly against thecruel rocks?

So Thad crouched there near the bow, holding on desperately, and hopingfor he hardly knew what, save that he seemed to have an inspirationthere presently would come a slender chance for them to survive theblow. 

"There's the island!" yelled Giraffe, pointing to the right. 

Thad had seen it before the other thus called attention to the fact oftheir being so near safety, yet unable to quite reach it. 

"But we're going along past it!" shrieked Bumpus. "Thad, ain't thereany way we could work in? Oh! think quick, please, or, it'll be toolate!"

They were moving quite fast, with wind and wave joining forces to sweepthe little helpless craft along. Just as Bumpus had said, unlesssomething could be done immediately it must surely be too late; for oncethey left the island behind, the whole immense inland sea would bebefore them; and their hopes of surviving the storm must sink too closeupon the zero mark. 

Thad was thinking as fast as he could; indeed, his very brain seemed tobe on fire, such was the mental energy he was expending. But reallythere was nothing in the wide world that could be done then. 

True, they had push-poles, but doubtless the depth of water would haverendered these utterly useless, even had they started to handle them. Nothing was to be hoped for in the direction of the engine, since thathad collapsed in the most cowardly fashion at the first swoop of theblow. 

What then?

Thad had made one little discovery that gave a slender promise ofsuccor; and it is strange upon what a small foundation hopes can bebuilt at such a time as this. He saw that the wind had shifted just alittle; but this was enough to carry the drifting launch a trifle towardthe side of the island. 

Now, it did not stand to reason that they would strike, no matter howlong that shore turned out to be; because there was enough current tosheer them off; but when the lower end of the island was reached, Thadreally believed there might be a sudden inward sweep of the water thathad been so long held at bay by the rocky shore. 

There always is more or less of this eddy at the end of an island in ariver; and upon a large lake in our country it may be found as a ruletoward the eastern terminus, since the prevailing storms come from thewest, southwest and northwest. 

The only question with the anxious lad was whether this eddy would havesufficient "pull" to drag them in behind the island. Upon that onesmall possibility rested all their hopes. 

Thad knew that possibly he and his chums might render some assistance atthis critical moment, if so be they were ready. 

"Allan--Giraffe, come here!" he called out. 

The two scouts heard him above all the racket of the elements, which, what with the howling of the wind, the breaking of the waves against theboat, and the roar of the surf on the exposed end of the island, amounted to a tremendous volume of sound. 

"Ay! ay!" Giraffe was heard to cry in return, as he proceeded to makehis way forward, clinging to every object that offered a stable hold, because the wind seemed trying its level best to tear him away. 

Bumpus also heard the call, but as his name had not been mentioned hedared not take it upon himself to move so much as one of his tightlybraced feet. He seemed to feel that if he did so it would be at the riskof his life; and the thought of being cast adrift on that raging seafilled him with actual terror. 

Could those boys have had a vivid picture of that scene just then, theywould never have been able to look at it again without shivering;because their faces must certainly have expressed the sensations thatfilled their hearts to overflowing. 

But Davy, as the official photographer of the patrol, was too muchconcerned just then in holding on, to dream of making any use of hisvest pocket kodak; nor would it have been possible to have obtained anysort of view under such stormy conditions as surrounded them. 

"What is it, Thad?"

Giraffe asked this question as he and the other scout managed to comeclose to where the patrol leader clung. 

"We've got a little chance when we get to the end of the island, don'tyou see?" Thad bawled, making use of one hand to serve in lieu of aspeaking trumpet. "We're getting closer all the time, and will justskim past the last rock. And then is our chance, when we strike theeddy there always is beyond an island. Do you understand?"

Both scouts nodded their heads violently, and Giraffe called out:

"What d'ye want us to do, Thad?"

"We must get the setting poles out, and be ready to try and push withall our might and main when the time comes. Everything depends onthat!" Thad replied, also, at the top of his strong, young voice. 

"But it may be too deep!" objected Giraffe; though at the same timefumbling with the rope that fastened one of the push-poles in questionto the deck alongside the cabin roof. 

"We've got to take the chances of that, " Thad went on; "and besides, youknow it always shallows where the sand is washed around the point of anisland. Hurry, fellows, because we must be nearly there!"

He lent a hand himself, for he saw that Giraffe was meeting with more orless difficulty in releasing the pole toward which he had turned hisattention; though had the conditions been different, the boy might nothave had the slightest trouble about getting it free. The boat waspitching so furiously, that he could only use one hand, because it wasnecessary for him to grasp some hold, lest he be tossed overboard, as abucking bronco hurls an unsuspecting rider from the saddle by a quickupward movement. 

Hardly had they secured possession of the two long and stout poles thanthe end of the island hove in sight. They were very close to it now;indeed, it almost seemed as though an agile fellow might have made aflying leap, and with half-way decent luck manage to alight on thesentinel rock that guarded this point. 

But no one tried that desperate game; in fact, it was doubtful whetherit even occurred to Davy or Step Hen before they had been carried past, and the widening gulf rendered such a movement impossible ofaccomplishment. 

But the three lads toward the bow of the drifting boat were desperatelyengaged in trying to swerve the cruiser more and more behind the island, ere they got so far that they would lose the benefits of the half-waycalm condition existing in the lee of the shore. 

Fortunately the water did prove to be fairly shallow at this point, justas the scout-master had predicted; for vast quantities of sand had beendeposited there from time to time through such storms as the presentone, and also the melting of the ice that drifted there during eachbreaking-up season for ages past. 

The poles easily reached bottom and secured a firm hold there, so thatthe boys were enabled to throw their full strength upon the other ends. And the Chippeway Bell was thus shoved around, so that the anchor, whichwas watched by Step Hen and Davy Jones, could be easily thrown ahead, thus preventing their drifting further away from the friendly shore. And this having been accomplished the three scouts were almost ready todrop down with fatigue, for they had worked strenuously. 

CHAPTER XVI

MAROONED

"Hurrrah!" shouted Bumpus, who had been so worked up during thisstruggle between his comrades and the greed of the elements, that he hadhardly taken time to breathe. 

Davy, and Step Hen too, seemed ready to throw up their hats, and cheerwith exultation because of their wonderful deliverance from continuedperils. 

All of them were pretty well soaked, though it had not rained at all; sothat their bedraggled condition must have come from the water that wasin the air, and an occasional wave that slapped over the boat when itbroke. 

Although they had apparently secured a firm grip on an anchorage, and itwould seem as though their present troubles were over, Thad did not sinkdown like his two fellow laborers, to pant, and rest up. 

He proceeded to scramble aft, for he had made an alarming discovery, andwished to start an investigation at once. 

The boat sat much lower in the water than he had ever known it to do;and this circumstance seemed alarming. One look into the cabin told himthe reason, nor was Thad very much surprised to find that it was alreadyknee deep in water. 

"How did this come in here, fellows?" he asked Davy and Step Hen, whofrom their positions might be expected to know; "did you notice manywaves pour over the stern of the boat?"

"N-no, hardly any water at all came in, Thad, " replied Step Hen, astonished when he came to look into the partly submerged cabin forhimself. 

"She kept riding like a duck, and was ahead of the waves most all thetime, " was the testimony Davy added; which might be set down as thefirst words of praise given to the little craft thus far during thecruise. 

"Why, goodness gracious, Thad, we must be sinking!" bellowed the amazedBumpus, also craning his fat neck the best way he could, in order topeer into the cabin. 

"Just what she is doing, " replied the scoutmaster, composedly; becausethey were now in comparatively shallow water, out of the reach of thestorm; and it did not matter so much what happened after this. 

"Sprung a leak, mebbe?" suggested Giraffe, joining the group. 

"Wouldn't be surprised if that was what happened, " Allan added, as, hetoo took a survey of the flooded interior. 

"Then, like as not she'll go down right under us, after a bit, Thad!"exclaimed Bumpus, in new excitement, as he contemplated the distancestill separating them from the point of the island, and mentally figuredwhether he could float to safety with that life preserver on, and one ofhis chums towing him. 

"She will, and that's a dead sure thing, " Giraffe told him. 

"We ought to get her in closer before that happens, hadn't, we, fellows?" Step Hen wanted to know. 

"We've got to try that same, and right away!" declared Thad, as hestooped to once more; pick up a push-pole. 

"Here, you Step, Hen and Davy, take hold in our place, because you'refresh, and ought to do better work, " Giraffe remarked, as he thrust hispole into the hands of the former. 

Now, under ordinary conditions Step Hen might have wanted to know bywhat authority the lengthy, scout presumed to order him around, whenthey were of the same rank in the patrol; but he realized the force ofwhat Giraffe had said, and hence accepted the pole without a murmur, starting to work immediately; while, Davy did the same with the one Thadallowed him to take. 

"When you get the boat part way up toward where the anchor holds, "observed the scout-master, "we'll drag the mudhook in, and stand readyto throw it out again. By pulling on the cable after the anchor gets afirm hold on bottom, it's possible to claw the boat along foot by foot. I've done that same many a time; and it'll help out more than a little. "

They speedily found that Thad spoke truly, and under the influence ofpoles as well as the anchor drag the Chippeway Belle began to approachthe shore, much to the delight of Bumpus. When the fat scout, closelyobserving the setting poles as they were dipped repeatedly into thewater, discovered that they struck bottom in a depth of not more thanfour feet, he was ready to shout with joy. That meant it could not beover his head; and if the worst came, he might wade to land. 

Despite the fact that their vessel was a wreck, and about to sink, theboys had no desire to complain just then. Their escape from threateningdanger had been too recent for them to feel ungrateful. Later on thegrumblers would no doubt start to work in their customary way, and findcause for venting their disgust because things did not come out as theymight have wished; but even Giraffe was bubbling over with satisfactionwhen he realized that they had actually managed to cheat the storm afterall. 

It had been a close shave, however, and only for that bright thought onthe part of Thad, they might at that very moment have been drifting faraway, with their boat slowly but purely sinking, despite all the balingthey could accomplish. 

But then, what was the good of scout-masters if they were not able to dothe thinking for the crowd, the reckless Giraffe would possibly havesaid, if the question had been put up to him. 

Everybody was working like the busy bees; even Bumpus tried to assist inhauling at the cable, having moved forward when the boat no longerpranced and bobbed on the agitated sea like a skittish horse. 

Of course, as the water was coming in so fast, the cruiser was bound topresently strike bottom; but it was the design of Thad to work her injust as far as possible, for as they had a block and tackle aboard hehoped they would be able to make some sort of rude "ways, " where shemight be hauled out later on, patched up, and their interrupted cruisecontinued. 

"Stuck fast, Thad; she's on bottom, and no use straining to try and gether another inch toward the shore!" announced Allan, presently; and allof them realized that he spoke the absolute truth when he said this. 

"Well, " remarked Bumpus, complacently, "we are on the wreck of our nobleship, and close enough to shore to salvage all our possessions; which Iconsider the greatest of good luck. Who'll carry me on his shoulders, now?"

Strange to say, nobody offered to undertake this task, where Bumpuspretended to feel very much hurt, though in reality quite merry. 

"I was afraid you'd all speak at once, and have a quarrel over thehonor; but looks now like I might have to do the grand wading actmyself, holding up my clothes-bag and blanket, to keep from getting thesame more soaked than they are now. If we could only make a raft likeold Robinson Crusoe did, it would be fine. Can we get this cabin roofoff, and would it float, do you think, Thad?"

"We'll wade!" replied the scout-master, grimly, and that settled it. 

"The sooner the better, " remarked Giraffe, "because night's going todrop down on us right early to-day, and we ought to have a warm firestarted somehow, so's to dry us off, " for Giraffe had the utmost faithin a fire being able to do about nearly everything necessary to the goodcheer of mankind, because he fairly worshipped a jolly blaze. 

Indeed, as most of them had commenced to shiver already, owing to theirwet condition, and the stress of excitement under which they had beenrecently laboring, the thought of sitting before a comfortable fire didseem to buoy up their spirits amazingly. 

"Get ready to slip over, and go ashore!" ordered Thad, "I'll take theanchor cable with me, and see that it's made fast to a rock or a tree. We may find a chance to mend the boat, and anyway it's just as well thatwe try and keep her here; though if the wind whips around no cable wouldhold her, I reckon. "

Giraffe was the first to drop over. The water hardly came above hiswaist; but then his height was responsible for this, and cautious Bumpusdid not deceive himself on that account. Still he found that he couldeasily wade, and in a short time all of them had reached the friendlyrocks. 

Here Thad made the rope secure. 

"I'm going back for a few more things, and you might come along with me, Allan, " the scout-master remarked. 

"I reckon you think there's a pretty good possibility that the wind willveer around, sooner or later, and that the old tub won't be in sightwhen morning comes?" Allan remarked, as he pushed out alongside hischum. 

"Chances tend that way, " was the replied Thad, "and anyhow, it's betterthat we get all the supplies we have ashore. Then if 'we have to playCrusoe for a while we'll have something to go on with. "

"Our stock happens to be pretty low, " remarked Allan; "and Giraffe wasonly this morning complaining that he didn't get enough to eat, and thatwe'd better stop off somewhere to buy more bacon and bread and suchthings. Too bad we didn't think of that when near Duluth, which placeyou wanted to avoid because of certain reasons. "

They made the trip without accident. Then it was considered that aboutall had been taken from the stranded and half sunken cruiser that wasworth salving. 

Already was Giraffe hunting for some good place where they might findshelter, and start a fire; for while it had not rained as yet, strangeto say, a flood was likely to come down at any moment, so long as theheavens remained as dark as they were still. 

Bumpus was looking all around him. He did not wander away from therest, because it seemed as though that mysterious island on which theyhad been cast might be inhabited by wild beasts of prey, for all theyknew, ready to spring upon a nice, juicy morsel like him, and make ameal. That was one of the disadvantages in being plump, Bumpus alwaysinsisted, because envious eyes were won't to fall upon him first of all. 

About that time Giraffe hove in sight again, and from his happy mannerit was evident that he had important news to communicate. 

"Just shoulder your packs, fellows, and come with me, " he hastened totell them. "I've run across the boss place for us to keep undershelter; and there's aplenty of nice dry wood handy, so we can lay in asupply before it rains. After all it strikes me that with our troubleswe ought to be thankful things ain't worse'n they are. With a fire afellow can do nigh anything to make you feel good. Come on!"

CHAPTER XVIL

ROBINSON CRUSOE, JR. 

"There you are, " said Giraffe, presently. 

"Why, that shelf of rock looks just like it was meant to keep the rainoff, " declared Step Hen, delighted at the prospect. 

"Hold on, " Bumpus advised. 

"What ails you now?" Giraffe wanted to know. 

"Why, you see, " the stout boy went on to say, "she looks kinder dark andgloomy under that same rock. "

"But it won't after I get a fire started; you see the night's beginningto settle down already, " Giraffe told him. 

"How d'ye know there ain't somethin' ahiding in there?" demanded Bumpus. 

At that the lengthy scout laughed scornfully. "Oh! that's the way thewind blows, does it? Well, you watch me eat your old wolf up. I'mhungry enough right now to eat anything, I reckon. "

Few of them could remember when Giraffe was anything but starving, forhe always had that appetite of his along, and working overtime. 

He immediately crawled under the ledge, for the shelf of rock was nothigh enough to admit of his standing erect. 

"Seems to be all right, " admitted Bumpus. 

"Of course it is, though I kind o' think a wolf, if he showed goodtaste, would let me alone, and wait for you, Bumpus, " Giraffe calledback. 

They hastened to deposit their burdens under the shelving rock. 

"Now, Thad, don't you think it'd be a good idea to have everybodyhustle, and collect what fuel we could?" the fire-maker asked. 

"As it's apt to rain any, time now, " answered the scout-master, "andwe'll be glad to have a fire all night, it seems as though we'd show ourgood sense by gathering wood while we have the chance. "

"That's the ticket! You hear Thad speaking, fellows, so get busy. "

Giraffe showed them how by immediately starting in to collect such woodas lay conveniently at hand. 

"Pile it up here, where it'll keep dry, and we can get what we need fromtime to time, " he told them. 

Many hands make light work, and as the entire half dozen boys busiedthemselves like a pack of beavers, before long they had accumulated sucha pile of good dry fuel as pleased Giraffe exceedingly. 

"That's what I call a hunky-dory lot of wood, " he finally declared, whenThad had announced the they must surely have enough to see them throughthe night, "but better bring in a little more, boys, because you don'tknow how fast the fire eats it up. "

As for himself, Giraffe was now ready to get his cheery blaze started. 

He actually wasted a match in doing this, muttering at the time thatthere was no use bothering with his fire-sticks, which would come inhandy later, perhaps, when the stock of matches ran low. 

Well, every boy admitted that things certainly did take on a rosier hue, once that fire began to crackle and send up sparks. 

"That feels good, Giraffe, " said Bumpus, holding his hands out towardthe blaze. 

"Sure it does, " the fire maker went on to say, "and we'll all feelbetter still after we get some grub inside. Thad, what are we going tohave for supper?"

Nobody started making fun of Giraffe now. They were all pretty sharppushed, and could sympathize with the hungry one. 

"Oh! look over our stock, and see what we've got, " replied the scout-master. "Only go slow, and don't cook too much, because nobody can tellhow long we might have to stay here on this island, and we may have tocome down to half rations yet. "

His words struck a chill to some of their hearts. 

Giraffe, however, refused to allow himself to be concerned. 

"Oh! don't worry, boys, " he remarked, "we ain't going to starve, even ifwe have to be marooned here two weeks before a vessel can be signaled. Why, what use are the fishing lines to us if we can't take lots of finnyprizes? Then, if there's ducks around, or anything else to shoot, ain'twe got a gun? And last of all, I reckon we'd find lots of mussels orfresh water clams in the sand at the end of the island where we landed. "

Somehow, his hopeful spirit did a great deal to help buoy up the spiritsof the other scouts. 

Even Bumpus volunteered to assist in getting supper ready; indeed, therewas no lack of cooks on this occasion, for every one seemed willing tolend a hand. 

After all, youth is so hopeful, and filled with animal spirits, that ittakes more than ordinary backsets to dishearten a parcel of healthyboys. 

By the time the supper was done they were talking like magpies, and itwould be difficult to imagine that these six happy-go-lucky fellows werenow actual Crusoes of the, great lake, their boat a wreck, anddeliverance a very uncertain prospect of the future. 

"That's the very last of the bacon, ain't it, Giraffe?" asked Step Hen, during the progress of the meal. 

"Sorry to say it is, " came the reply. 

"And don't it taste finer than ever, though?" Bumpus wanted to know. 

"That's always the way, " laughed Thad. 

"Yes, " added Allan, "you never miss the water till the well runs dry. But how about our ham, is that gone, too!"

"Well, I should say, yes, " declared Giraffe, an injured look on hisface, as if he felt accusing eyes fixed upon him, "s'pose you think onepoor lone ham with six hungry fellows to chaw away at it, could lastforever, but it won't. If you want to know what we've got left I'lltell you--two cans of Boston baked beans, one of tomatoes, somepotatoes, a package of rice, plenty of tea, sugar and coffee, three tinsof milk, some chocolate, and three packages of crackers. "

"Is that all?" gasped Bumpus. 

"So you see right away to-morrow we've got to get busy trying to lay insome sort of supplies, " Giraffe went on to say. "How about that, Thad?"

"You never said truer words, " was the scoutmaster's comment. 

"Yum, yum, I don't know when I've enjoyed a supper like I have thisone, " Step Hen acknowledged. 

"I hope it ain't the last time I'll hear you say that, " remarkedGiraffe. 

"Hope so myself, " returned the other, "because it'd be too bad if I hadto quit eating at my tender age. "

"Thad, do you think this island could be inhabited?"

It was Davy who asked this question, but Bumpus must have been thinkingalong the same lines, for he nodded his head violently and smiled, asthough he awaited Thad's answer with interest. 

"Of course I couldn't say, " the scout-master observed. "It's only asmall rocky island, you know, and people wouldn't live here the year'through. "

"But they might come here, ain't that so?" Step Hen insisted. 

"Why, yes, to fish, or shoot wild fowl in the season, " Thad went on tosay. 

"Well, I sure do hope there may be some white fish netters here rightnow, " Step Hen said. 

"Or if their ain't, let's wish they'll be comin' along soon, " Bumpusadded with a fervency that was certainly genuine. 

"I wonder, " Davy broke in with, "what we could do if our boat wascarried away, or we found we couldn't mend the same?"

"Huh! What did old Robinson do but build him a boat? Here are sixboys, wide-awake as they make 'em--and I'd like to know why we couldn'tdo as much as one man!"

Bumpus said this rather boastfully, not that he had so much confidencein his own ability to do things as he felt satisfied that Thad and Allanwould be equal to almost any emergency. 

"Well, we might, under the same conditions, " the former told him. 

"Ain't the conditions the same, " inquired Step Hen. "He was wrecked, and so are we, you might call it. "

"Yes, but there's no tree on this rocky island big enough to make into aboat, " Thad informed him. 

"That's a fact, they do grow dwarf trees here, " Step Hen admitted. 

"And suppose there was, how could we ever chop one down with one littlecamp hatchet, and hollow out the log?" Thad asked. 

"Might take a year, " acknowledged the other. 

"We'd freeze to death here in the winter time, because it gets awfulcold, they say, " Step Hen continued. 

"Why, we could walk over the ice, and get ashore, " Davy suggested. 

"Guess the old lake don't freeze over solid any time; it's too big, ain't it, Thad?" Giraffe went on to say. 

"That's something I don't know, " came the scout master's answer; "andwhat's more to the point I don't care, because we'll never stay herethat long. "

"Glad to know it, " said Bumpus. "P'raps now our friends'll be lookingus up, and come to the rescue. "

"You mean Smithy and Bob White, don't you?" asked Step Hen. 

"That's who. "

And so they continued to discuss matters from every view-point possible, as only wide-awake boys may. 

Meanwhile the scout-master, thinking that while the rain held off hemight as well step out and take a little look around, proceeded to doso. 

Allan Hollister was sitting there, resting, and listening to thearguments of the other boys, when he saw the scout-master beckoning justoutside the full glow of light cast by the fire. 

"What's up, Thad?" he asked, as he joined the other. 

"I think I've made the discovery that we're not alone on the island, "came the answer. 

CHAPTER XVIII

WHAT THAD FOUND OUT

"That sounds good to me, Thad, " remarked Allan. 

"Hold on before you say that, " the other went on to say, significantly. 

"What about it?" demanded Allan. 

"Because we don't know who they may be, if there are men out here, "answered the cautious scout-master. 

The other gave a low whistle that stood for surprise. 

"I see now, what you mean, " he observed; "but what makes you think thereare others here, when they never lifted a hand to help us, and haven'tas much as dropped in to sit at our fire?"

"Well, perhaps they don't want to see us, " Thad told him. 

"Oh! yes, we were talking about smugglers, and then we ran across thatMr. Stebbins who knew all about us, and he was one of a party looking upthe slick men who fetch things over from Canada to escape the heavyduties. But Thad do you, really believe there could be a bunch of thatstripe hiding out on Sturgeon Island?"

"I don't know anything yet, Allan, except that I've reason to know we'renot alone out here, that's all. "

"Well, what did you see, or hear?" asked the other. 

"This is what happened, " Thad went on to say, in a low tone, though thestorm was still making such a racket that he had to put his mouth closeto Allan's ear in order to allow him to catch what he said. "While therest kept up their talking I came out here to see how things looked, andmake up my mind whether we were going to have any wet with this gale ornot. "

"Yes, and it don't look like it now, Thad, because it's gone so far;reckon it must be what they call a dry storm; but go on and tell me therest. "

"Well, I was standing about here, in the dense shadow, you see, thinking, when all at once I discovered that there was something movingbetween me and the fire!"

"Whew!" murmured Allan, deeply impressed. 

"Of course, at first I thought it might be only a fox, or something likethat, curious enough to want to creep up, and learn what sort ofintruders had landed on Sturgeon Island; I could see that the busheswere moving softly, and that soon the thing, whatever it was, would comein sight of where stood here. "

"And it did?" Allan demanded. 

"That's right, " replied the other, softly; "and it turned out to be aman's head!"

At that the other scout again gave one of his low whistles, to show thathe was listening, and duly impressed by the startling informationconveyed. 

"Of course, " continued Thad, "I couldn't make out what he was like, verywell, because his face was turned away from me; but as near as I can sayhe was a big man, a rough looking chap, and ugly in the bargain. Morethan that, he struck me like he might be a half-breed, or else anItalian, for his skin was very dark. "

"Well, what did he do?" inquired the other. 

"Just lay there watching the rest of you for several minutes, Allan. Icould see him elevate his head at times, and then duck like a flash whenhe thought some one might be looking his way; which showed prettyplainly that he didn't want to be seen, and that he didn't mean to stepforward and join the crowd. "

"Then he went away, did he?" continued the other. 

"Yes, backed off, and I lost track of him among the rocks and thebushes, " Thad went on to say, impressively. "It struck me as a queerproceeding, and I didn't lose much time in getting you out here, so Icould talk it over. "

"Perhaps there's only one, all told, and he might be some fellow who'sescaped from prison, and is in hiding away off here, where he thinks noone will ever take the trouble to look for him, " Allan suggested. 

The scout-master shook his head. 

"I can't say just what he is, or whether there's a dozen here, " heobserved; "but I do know that all his actions were suspicious, for nohonest fisherman would do what he did. "

"We'll have to be on our guard, then, Thad?"

"That goes without saying, until we know more about who our neighborsare, " the scout-master replied. 

"It sort of complicates the situation some, too, don't it?" Allan asked. 

"Yes, and perhaps we'd better not say anything to the rest until welearn something more about this thing, " Thad told him. 

"How are you going to do that, when this man seems disposed to give usthe cold-shoulder?" inquired the other. 

"I had about made up my mind to go off for a little stroll, and see whatI could run across near by, " the scout-master continued. "This islandisn't so very large but I could find my way around; and while that stormis howling I'm not anxious to cross over to the other side. This is thesheltered part, and like as not these people, whoever they turn out tobe, will have taken up their camp somewhere about here. But I wanted towarn you so you might make sure none of the other fellows wandered off. "

"I'll see to it, though I don't think they're apt to do anything of thatsort, as they're a tired bunch right now, " Allan assured him. 

"And while you're about it, " continued the other, impressively, "you'dbetter keep your hand on that shotgun of ours all the while, until yousee me beckon to you again. "

"That sounds like you expected we'd be up against it good and hardbefore this game came to an end, " remarked Allan. 

"Oh! not necessarily, " replied his chum. "It's only following out ourmotto, 'be prepared. ' You know there are a whole lot of sayings alongthat line, such as 'fore-warned is fore-armed, ' and as the old pilgrimfathers used to say: 'trust in the Lord; but, keep your powder dry!' Wewant to keep our ammunition ready. But while you go back to the rest ofthe boys I'll take a sneak. "

"Don't think you'd better take that gun along with you, Thad?"

"Not at all, " was the quick reply. "I'll depend on the darkness, andthe noise of the storm, to keep from being seen or heard. But I'm benton trying to find out whether there's any sort of shack or cabin builthere on Sturgeon Island. 

"Well, take good care of yourself, " warned Allan, a little uneasily; forit was almost on his lips to ask why he might not be permitted to keepthe scout-master company, for he did hate so much to see Thad pull outalone. 

He insisted on gravely shaking hands before he would leave his partner, to return to the camp under the rocky shelf. They had been so muchtogether of recent years that these two boys were exceedingly fond ofeach other, more so than brothers could ever have been; which was onereason why Allan disliked seeing the other moving away into thedarkness, and taking voluntarily upon himself the dangers such a scoutinvolved. 

Obeying orders he himself made his way back to where the other sat. Giraffe was holding out, and explaining something that he had advanced;but evidently he must have noticed the absence of the others, for hesoon asked:

"What's the good word, Allan; because I reckon you and our scout-masterhave been taking a squint at the weather? I was just telling the resthere that we won't get any wet with this blow, because all the signspoint that way, and as I said before. I'm getting to be an authority onweather now-a-days. 

"That was about what we thought, " Allan told him. 

"You mean that Thad is with me in my assertion, do you?" demandedGiraffe; and when the other had nodded in the affirmative the tall scoutturned to Davy, Bumpus and Step Hen triumphantly, to add: "There, didn'tI tell you I could hit these weather changes on the handle every time. When I warn you next time there's going to be a storm, better hurry toget in out of the wet. "

"I think it's a great pity you waste your precious time bothering aboutwhat the weather is agoing to be, when we can't help it; and you mightbe racking that really stupendous brain of yours adoing other thingsworth while, " Bumpus went on to remark. 

"Huh! as what?" Giraffe wanted to know. 

"Well, famines in the eating line, for one thing, " spoke up the fatscout, instantly. "S'pose now you'd told us we was going to run upagainst hard times, in the way of a scarcity of grub two days back, couldn't we just as well have dropped in to some town along the shore, and stacked up with heaps and heaps of good things? Seems to me, Giraffe, you've gone and wasted your talent on the wrong thing. Whatgood is it ever agoing to do you, to pretend to tell what sort ofweather we'll get next week, when it's only a guess after all? Bettermake a change, and predict famines and such things, so we can take thealarm, and buy out some country grocery. "

Giraffe had not one word to say in reply. He must have recognized theforce of Bumpus' philosophy, and wished in his heart he had been giftedwith the spirit of prophecy, so that he might have given warning in duetime as to the need of replenishing their stock of provisions. 

The conversation ran on, other subjects being taken up. Giraffe wantedto know what kept Thad away so long, and was told that the scout-masterhad concluded to take a little look around. 

At that the other suggested that perhaps he too might stretch his legs;whereupon Allan informed him that he was under orders to keep them allclose to the ledge under which they had found shelter; and that Thad hadtold him no one must be allowed to stray away a single yard. 

After that the boys did not talk quite so volubly; possibly somesuspicion may have entered their minds that perhaps things were notquite so peaceful as they appeared on the surface; and that Thad mightknow of some reason for expecting a new batch of troubles to descendupon them. 

Allan kept sitting there, gun in hand. He was waiting to receive somesort of sign from Thad, to tell him his presence was desired once againout there beside the tree where they had previously conferred. 

It seemed a very long time before he caught a movement there, and thensaw the hand of the scout-master beckoning to him. 

"Stay here, as Thad wants to talk with me, " he told the rest, afterwhich he strode forth to join the other. 

"Well, did you find out anything?" he asked, the first thing. 

"Only this, " replied Thad, solemnly, "the island is occupied by a partyof several rough men, who have a boat in a sheltered cove over there, and a cabin half hidden among the rocks and brushwood; but the mysteryof it all is, what they may be doing here, and why they look on us asenemies!"

CHAPTER XIX

BAD NEIGHBORS

"It seems to be getting worse and worse, the further we go, don't it, Thad?" Allan asked, after he had had time to digest the startlinginformation which his chum had imparted, as they stood there within theouter edge of the glow cast by Giraffe's camp-fire under the overhangingledge of rock. 

"Looks that way, " replied the other, seriously enough, for he did notexactly like the situation. 

"Seems like it wasn't bad enough for us to be wrecked, and marooned onthis queer island, but we have to fall across the trail of some unknownparties who may be up to all sorts of unlawful dodges, for all we know. But Thad, tell me more of what you saw and heard. "

"When I started out from here, " the scoutmaster began, "I knew that I'dprobably only have to look around at this end of the island, because nosensible man was going to take up his quarters where these storms alwaysstrike in. And then I figured it out that the chances were, theseparties, if there were more than the one fellow I'd seen sneakingaround, and spying on us, would want to be down close to the water, fora good many reasons. You can understand that, Allan?"

"Yes, and I think that notion would have come to me, just as it didyou, " replied the other promptly, showing that he was following thenarrative closely. 

"Well, that being the case, " resumed the scoutmaster, "I stuck to thelower part of the land, climbing over and around such outcropping rocksas I came across. The moon wasn't helping me very much, though it's upthere behind the clouds; and on that account you see the darkness isnever so bad as when there's no moon at all. 

"It wasn't so very long before I heard something knocking softly nearby, and listening carefully I made up my mind that it must be a boatthat was kept in a snug cove perhaps, and yet where it got more or lesswash of the sea beyond. 

"That was just what it turned out to be, Allan, a fair sized motorboat, stoutly built, and yet something of a hummer when it would come tospeed. Her outlines told me this as soon as I could make her out down inthe berth she occupied between the rocks where they had protected thesides of the little basin with logs to keep her from chafing too much. 

"Now, speed indicates that the people owning that boat expect to show aclean pair of heels, as they say, at times. They want to be incondition to skip out in a hurry, and be able to outrun any ordinarycraft that might try to overhaul them. Wouldn't you think that way, Allan?"

"You're speaking my mind to a dot, Thad. "

"But I wasn't satisfied wholly, and made another move, to see whetherthey had any sort of a cabin around. Seemed to me that if they wereusing Sturgeon Island for some sort of shady business, they ought tohave a shelter. Well, I found it before ten minutes had passed, and byjust creeping along what I made out to be a regular trail leading fromthe boat up the shore a piece. "

"Good for you, Thad; no woodsman could have done better!" exclaimed theother scout, who, having had practical experience extending through manytrips into the wilderness with hunting parties, was pretty well postedon the numerous little "wrinkles" connected with woods lore. 

"Oh! that was the most natural thing in the world for any one to do, andI don't deserve any credit, Allan. But there were times when I admit Idid have to almost smell that trail, for it passed over little stretchesof rock, you see. At such times I had to look around, guess about whereit ought to be found where the earth began again, and in that way pickit up once more. "

"And it really led you to a cabin, did it?" Allan asked, as the otherpaused. 

"Yes, and there had been a fire burning in front of the shack, though Ifound only the ashes, as though it had been-hurriedly put out, perhapswhen they first saw us heading toward the island, just before the stormcame along. "

"The ashes were still warm, then?" queried Allan, knowing that to be thelogical way a forest ranger always learns about how long past a fire hasburned out, or been extinguished. 

"They were, and I could see that the brands had been torn apart, showingthat some one was in a hurry to keep its light from betraying the factof any person being camped on Sturgeon Island. "

"Just what I'd think myself, Thad. "

"After I saw that there was a cabin, " continued the scout-master, "Iwondered whether I had better take chances, and crawl up close enough tohear what they were saying, if so be there were men there. Before I hadgone far in that scheme I realized that it was a little too risky, because I could hear a moving about, as though several men might bepassing in and out. I also caught an occasional low muttering tone; butthe noise of the waves dashing against the rocks, and the rattling ofthe branches of the trees that overhung the lone cabin, kept me fromcatching more than a single word now and then. 

"After listening for quite a while I thought you would be gettinganxious about my staying so long; and as I couldn't get any realsatisfaction out of the game by hanging around any longer, why, I madeup my mind to clear out. I'd learned several things, anyway, and byputting our heads together thought we might get at the meat in thecocoanut. "

Of course that was a neat way of admitting that he wanted to talkmatters over with his best chum, on the supposition that "two heads arebetter than one. " Allan took it that way, for had he not on numberlessoccasions done just about the same thing?

"Of course you couldn't tell how many of these men there were, Thad?" heasked. 

"I tried to make a stab at it by noticing the different sound of voices;and I'm dead sure there must have been three anyhow, p'raps more, " thescout-master told him. 

"And I think you've said once or twice that they seemed to be a roughlot?" the other went on to remark. 

"That's my impression, Allan, from a number of things which I won'tbother mentioning now. And there's something more. I told you thatwhen I had a glimpse of the fellow who spied on our camp I thought hemight be a foreigner, or a half-breed, didn't I?"

"Yes, I remember you did, Thad. "

"Well, " explained the other, "although I heard so poorly while I washanging out near that hidden shack there were times when I thought oneof the men was talking in some tongue besides plain United States. Factis, he rattled off something in French. "

"Oh! then it's plain who they are--half-breed Canadians from the NorthShore. As this island properly belongs to Canada they would have aright to land here, and our coming needn't bother them any--if they arehonest men. "

"Thad, they wouldn't hide out like they do if they were the right sort. Make up your mind they're doing something that's against the law. Honest men don't carry on this way, and spy on a camp of Boy Scoutswrecked in a storm. Why, no matter how rough they might be, they'd dropin on us, and offer to share whatever they had. It's only fear ofarrest that makes cowards of men this way. "

"I forgot to tell you that among the few words I did manage to pick upby straining my ears to the limit, were just three that gave me an ideathey took us for a detachment of militia, either Canadian or Yankee, outon the lake on some serious business that might interfere with theirtrade. Those three words were 'soldiers, ' 'khaki, ' and 'arrest. '"

Allan gave a soft whistle to indicate how his state of feelingcorresponded with that of his chum. 

"There isn't any doubt about it in my mind, Thad, " he asserted, vehemently; "but that they're here for no good. That fast launch meansthey are in the habit of making swift trips back and forth, perhapstaking the night for it every time, so as to run less chance of beingseen. And here hard luck has marooned us on Sturgeon Island with abunch of desperate smugglers, who look on us as soldiers sent out by theGovernment to gather them in. If ever we were up against it hard, wesure are right now, Pard Thad. "

"You seem to have set your mind on that one explanation of theirpresence here; and I'll admit that this island would be a great half-wayplace to hide the smuggled goods on, till the right night came to runthem across to the American shore; but perhaps you're barking up thewrong tree there, Allan!"

"Oh! I'll admit that when I call them smugglers I'm only guessing, because, so far as I know we haven't any sort of evidence looking thatway. It only seems the most natural explanation of why they're so muchafraid of us, believing as they seem to that we're connected with theGovernment, one side or the other, just on account of these Boy Scoutuniforms, which I reckon they don't happen to be familiar with. ButThad, you're holding something back; I can tell that by the way you act. You learned more than you've told me so far; own up to that. "

The young scout-master chuckled. He liked to spring little surprisesonce in a while. It was just like tapping a peg until he had it set inthe ground to suit his fancy; and then with one master-stroke driving ithome. He had whetted Allan's curiosity now, and the time had come tosatisfy it. 

"Yes, " Thad went on to say, "there was one little discovery I made thatgave me certain information, and it was strong enough to convince methat our earlier suspicions about smugglers and all that sort of thingwere away off the track. "

"Yes, go on, please, Thad. "

"It struck me while I was lying there not so very far away from thatshanty hidden among the rocks and brushwood. Most of the time the windwas blowing on my left side, but every little while there would come apucker or a flaw, causing it to change for just for a second or two. And it was when this happened the first time I got scent of what was inthe wind, in a double sense. In other words, Allan, I discovered adistinct odor of fish in the air!"

"Oh! now I tumble to what you mean!" exclaimed the other. 

"And every time that wind brought me a whiff of the fishy smell thestronger became my conviction that these men must be poachers, who knewthey were breaking certain game laws by taking white fish or troutillegally, and reaping a harvest that honest fishermen were unable toreach. Stop and think if things don't point that way?"

And Allan did not have to hesitate in the least, for what his companionhad just told him seemed to settle the matter beyond all dispute. 

"Yes, Thad, " he said, "now you've let the cat out of the bag there can'tbe any question about it. These half-breed Canadians are illegalfishermen, poachers they'd be called up in Maine; and they believe we'vecome to arrest the lot. It's a bad lookout for the Silver Fox Patrol;but we've seen worse, and always came out on top. "

CHAPTER XX

"HOLD THE FORT!"

As a rule it did not take these boys long to decide upon their course ofaction. And in the present instance they had so little choice thatunusually prompt results might be expected. 

"We'd better tell the other fellows, to begin with?" ventured Allan. 

"Yes, " remarked the scout-master, promptly, "it wouldn't be fair to keepthings like this from the boys. They're just as much interested in howit turns out as we are. And, besides, we may get a bright idea fromsomebody. "

"You never can tell, " added Allan; and some of those same other scoutsmight not have felt complimented could they have heard him say thesewords, as they seemed to imply that miracles did sometimes happen, whenyou were least expecting them. 

But having made up their minds on this score the pair walked over to thecamp under that friendly ledge. 

Upon their arrival every eye was immediately glued upon Thad. It seemedas though Giraffe, Bumpus, Davy and Step Hen must have guessed that thescout-master had made some sort of exciting discovery, and now meant totake them into his confidence. 

Complete silence greeted the arrival of the two who had been conferringso mysteriously near by. Of course, once Thad broke the ice, andstarted to tell what he had discovered, this was apt to give way to abombardment of questions; for Giraffe and Bumpus could think up thegreatest lot of "wants" imaginable; so that it would keep Thad busyexplaining, until their ammunition ran out, or he had to throw up hishands in surrender through sheer exhaustion. 

He started in to explain what he had seen, and done, as soon as hedropped down beside his comrades of the Silver Fox Patrol. Immediatelyhe had the attention of every one enlisted. Bumpus sat there, watchingand listening with such intentness that you would hardly believe hebreathed at all. Step Hen, too, was following every word spoken by thescout-master, as though trying to grasp the seriousness of thesituation, and figure out a way to circumvent the danger that had arisenso unexpectedly in their path. And the other two could not be said to befar behind in the interest they betrayed. 

As we have already heard Thad tell Allan about his first, seeing the manwho was spying upon the camp; and later on how he came to find thehidden boat, as well as the concealed cabin, there is no necessity forus to follow the scout-master while he imparts this information to thequartette who, having been absent from that interview, had no previousknowledge of the facts. 

By the time he spoke of crawling silently away, and coming back to jointhe balance of the patrol, he had his chums worked up to a feverishpitch of excitement. 

"Well, " Step Hen was the first to break in with, "anyhow, game-fishpoachers ain't quite so bad as smugglers would have been, and that's onesatisfaction, I take it. "

"But they're bad enough, " urged Davy; "because they must be breaking thelaws by taking fish in some way that ain't allowed. And if trapped theystand a chance to face a heavy fine, or a long sentence in jail, perhapsboth. And if, as Thad says, they've got the silly idea in their headsthat we're connected with the Canadian militia, and came here meaning todestroy their nets, and likewise haul the men over the coals, why, they'll either skedaddle and leave us marooned on old Sturgeon forkeeps, or else do something worse. "

"What sort of worse, Davy?" demanded Bumpus. "There you go again, saying things in a sort of half-cooked way, and leaving the rest to afellow's wild imagination. Do you mean you believe they'd really hurtus, when we ain't so much as lifted a finger to do the bunch any harm?Speak out and tell us, now, you old croaker. "

"Thad, what do you think they might do?" Davy asked, under theimpression that he would be wise to leave the explanation of the matterto one who was more capable of handling it than he could possibly be. 

"If they were sensible men, " remarked the other, deliberately, as thoughhe had given that particular thought much attention, "I wouldn't beafraid, because then we could reason with them, and explain that we wereonly a party of the Boy Scouts of America, off on a little cruise, andshipwrecked in the storm; also, that if they helped us in any way we'djust forget that we'd ever seen them here. "

"But explain and tell us what you mean by hinting that they mightn't besensible men?" remarked Step Hen. 

"Oh! well, that was my way of putting it, " Thad went on to say; "I meantthat as near as I could guess they seem to be Canadian half-breeds, forsome of their talk was in a French patois I couldn't just understand. And I've always heard that those kind of men are mighty hard to handle, because, like Italians they get furiously excited, and let theirimaginations run away with them, like some other fellows I happen toknow. "

"Did you say there, were only three of this bad crowd, Thad?" Giraffeasked. 

"I wouldn't like to say for sure, " came the reply, "but as near as Icould make out that would cover the bill. "

"Huh! and we count six, all told, " continued the tall scout, indifferently, although Thad imagined he was not feeling so comfortableas he pretended to be. 

"Yes, six boys, " the scout-master reminded him. 

"But husky boys in the bargain, and accustomed to taking care ofthemselves in tight places, " Giraffe went on to remark, proudly. "Besides, ain't we got a gun that shoots twice? That ought to accountfor a couple of the rascals; and then what would one poor fish poacherbe against a half dozen lively fellows, tell me that?"

Allan laughed at hearing the boast. 

"How easy it is to figure out who's going to win the next championshipin the National League of baseball clubs, while you're sitting aroundthe stove in the winter time?" he told Giraffe. "But these papervictories seldom pan out the same way when the good old summer timecomes along, and the boys get hustling. I suppose now, Giraffe, you'llbe the one to knock over those two men, each with a single shot fromyour faithful double-barrel. Give him the gun, Step Hen, and let himstart in right away. "

Of course that rather startled the tall scout. 

"Hold on there, don't be in such a big hurry!" he went on to say, holding up a hand to persuade Step Hen to keep the firearm a whilelonger. "Course now I didn't exactly mean it that way. I never wantedto shoot a man, that I know of. What I had in my mind, I reckon, wasthat one of us could keep a pair of these rascals covered with theshotgun, and hold 'em steady, while the other five managed the third ofthe bunch. See?"

"The trouble is, " Thad told them, "none of us know French, and in thatcase we mightn't be able to talk with the poachers, even if they gave ushalf a chance. They seem to have a bad case of the rattles right now, and if it wasn't for the storm I really believe they'd get away fromhere in a hurry. "

"Do we want 'em to go, or stay?" asked Bumpus, as though he could notsettle in his own mind which one of these several openings would be bestfor their interests. 

"For my part, " spoke up Step Hen, "they couldn't clear out any too soonto make me feel happy. I know what the breed is like, and believe me, boys, I don't care to make their acquaintance, not me. "

"That's all mighty fine, Step Hen, " remarked Giraffe, loftily, "but whenyou talk that way you don't look far enough ahead. "

"Just explain that, will you, and tell me why I don't?" demanded theother, with some show of indignation. 

"Well, suppose now they did jump the island, and give us the merry ha!ha! what difference would it make to us whether they upset out there onthat stormy lake or not; wouldn't we lose all chance of being ferriedacross to the mainland, and so making our escape from this measlyisland?"

Step Hen apparently caught the force of this reasoning, for he subsided, with a sort of discontented grunt. 

Davy, however, took up the reasoning at this point. 

"But suppose now they wouldn't want to get out in such a hurry? What ifthey had a lot of valuable fish nets around somewhere that they hated tolet go? Don't you reckon in that case they might take a notion to tryand bag the lot of us, so's to hold us prisoners till they could decidewhat to do with the ones they took to be Government spies?"

Bumpus groaned as he listened to all this terrible talk. His mind wasalready on fire with anticipations of what the immediate future mightbring forth. Still, on occasion Bumpus could show considerable valor;and several times in the past he had astonished his chums by certainfeats which he had engineered. 

"It's up to me to think up some way to get us out of this terriblepickle, " he was telling himself, over and over again; but even if anyone of his five comrades heard what he was saying they paid littleattention to it; but the fat scout meant all he said, as the futureproved. 

"One thing sure, " Giraffe went on to remark, presently, "they know whereour little camp is, because Thad saw that spy watching what we wasadoing here. And if so be they should take a notion to pay us a visitbefore morning, why, they wouldn't have any trouble finding us out. "

"Not less we made a move, " argued Davy. 

"And we're too nicely fixed here for that, ain't we?" Giraffe demanded, as he cast a swift look around to where the various blankets, havingfirst been dried in the heat of the fire, were now inviting to repose, each fellow having apparently selected the particular spot where hemeant to sleep, let the wind howl as hard as it wished, for thatprojecting rocky ledge would keep any rain from coming in upon them. 

"That's right, Giraffe; you know a good thing when you see it!" declaredBumpus, who did not altogether fancy starting out to seek another camp, where they would have to lie down in the dark, and take chances of beingcaught in a rain, if later on such a change in the character of thestorm came about. 

"Then, if Thad says the word, we'll stick right here, and hold thefort!" the tall scout exclaimed. "In the words of that immortal Scot weread about, what was his name, Roderick Dhu, I think, who cried: 'Soonerwill this rock fly from its firm base, than I. ' Them's our sentiments, ain't they, fellows?"

"Hear! Hear!" came from Bumpus, as he snuggled down again contentedly, believing that this disagreeable part of the program at least had beenindefinitely postponed, and that they stood a good chance for stayingout their time under that friendly protecting ledge. 

CHAPTER XXI

GRAFFE HAS A SCHEME

"If they'd only leave us alone, why, what's to hinder us mending our ownship, and sailing away out of this, sooner or later?" Bumpus wanted toknow; after they had been talking the matter over for a long time. 

"I suppose you'll do the mending part, Bumpus?" demanded Step Hen, wickedly. 

"Well, I'd be only too willing, if I knew how, " instantly flashed backthe other, "but unfortunately my education was neglected when it came topatching up boats, and tinkering with machinery. I'm ashamed to confessto that, but it's the whole sad truth. But, thank goodness, we've got ascoutmaster who can do the job mighty near as well as any machinistgoing. I'll back Thad, yes, and Allan in the bargain, to make a decentjob of it. And even Giraffe here might fix things up in a pinch. Solong as we've got a chance to make the Chippeway Belle do duty again atthe old stand we hadn't ought to complain, I think, boys. "

"I'm sorry to tell you that there's only a slim chance of that evercoming about, " Thad remarked, right then and there. 

"Then you believe she was smashed worse'n any of us thought was thecase; is that it, Thad?" asked Giraffe. 

"No, it isn't that so much as another thing I've noticed lately, that'sgoing to upset our calculations, " replied the scout-master. 

"Tell us what that might be, won't you?" pleaded Bumpus, with a dolefulshake of his head; as though he might be beginning to believe in thetruth of that old saying to the effect that "troubles never comesingly. "

"You may remember, " Thad went on to say, "that when you asked my opinionbe fore about the boat staying where we left it, I said there was a goodchance we'd find her there in the morning if the wind didn't shift?"

"And now you mean that it's doing that very same thing, do you?" Giraffeasked. 

"If you'd taken the trouble to notice all sorts of things, that you hadalways ought to as a true scout, " the other told him, "you'd have foundthat out for yourself. The fact of the matter is that when we firstreached this place under the ledge the wind seemed to find a way inhere, and make the fire flare at times. Look at it now, and you'll seethat it's as steady as anything; yet you can hear the rush of the windthrough the treetops just the same. It's turned around as much astwenty degrees, I should say. "

"And that's bad for the boat, ain't it?" Bumpus wanted to know. 

"I'm afraid so, " the scout-master replied; "because it will get the fullforce of both wind and heavy seas. Long before morning it will mostlikely be carried out into deep water, and disappear from sight. Ithink we've seen the last of the Chippeway Belle, boys. "

"But, Thad, " observed Giraffe, "how about that anchor rope? You know wecarried it ashore, and fastened it to a rock. Would that break, now?It was a dandy rope, and nearly new. "

"Well, " said Thad, decisively, "once the seas begin to pound against theboat, with every wave the strain on that rope is bound to be justterrific. It might hold for a time; but mark my words, the constantchafing against the rock, where you fastened the end, will wear thestrands until they snap; and then good-bye to our boat. "

"Then we had better make up our minds to facing that fact, and not feelvery much disappointed if in the morning we can't see a sign of theBelle, " Allan went on to give, as his opinion; for he accepted, thetheory advanced by the scout-master as though there could be noreasonable doubt about its being a positive fad. 

"What if them fellows took a notion to step in on us to-night, and makeus all prisoners of war?" queried Bumpus; for this possibility had beenworking overtime in his brain, and he was only waiting for a break inthe conversation to advance it. 

"Just what I was going to speak about, " Giraffe up and said, somewhatexcitedly. "You all sat down on me when I happened to remark aboutgetting a pair of the birds with the gun. I move that we ask Thad totake charge of the firearm, and the rest can load up with whatsoeverthey can find, " and leaning over, he deliberately appropriated the camphatchet before Step Hen, whose eye had immediately started to look forthe same, could fasten, upon it. 

"Me too, I second the motion!" exclaimed Davy, in turn making a dive forthe long and dangerous looking bread knife, which had proved so handyfor many services while on the trip, and was being constantly lost andfound again. 

"But where do I come in?" asked Bumpus, as he saw the favorite weaponsof offense and defense taken possession of so rapidly. 

"A club will do for you, and Step Hen as well, " remarked Giraffe, complacently; "for when a fellow has appropriated the best there is, hecan afford to smile at his less fortunate comrades, and assume asuperior air. 

"Oh! well, I'd just as soon arm myself that way, " the fat scout toldthem, as he set about finding something that would answer the purposefrom amidst the firewood they had carried under the ledge to keep itfrom getting wet. "I'm a peaceful fellow, as you all know, and thinkthere's nothing like a good hickory or oak club to convince other peoplethat you've got rights you want them to respect. I've practicedswinging Indian clubs by the hour; and when it comes to giving a righthard smack, count me in. That's going to hurt, without injury to bodyor limb. "

At another and less exciting time Giraffe would have surely insistedupon Bumpus explaining the difference, between these two sources ofinjury; but just then he had too much else to bother his head about tostart an argument. 

"Now, let's see any three men tackle this crowd, that's what!" he wenton to remark, as he swept his eye proudly over the motley array ofweapons; for even Allan had armed himself, having a stout stick, withwhich he doubtless felt able to render a good account of himself in atussle. 

"But let's remember, " warned Thad, "that we don't want to let ourselvesbe drawn into a battle with these poachers, unless it's the last resort. They're ignorant men, and just now they must feel pretty desperate, thinking that we're going to break up a profitable game they've beenplaying for a long time, carrying their fish to some American marketagainst the laws of Canada, and perhaps smuggling their cargo in, ifthere's any duty on fish, which I don't know about. "

"If only you could get a bare chance to talk with one of the lot, Thad, "Allan spoke up, "I'm pretty sure you'd be able to let them know thetruth; and in that way we'd perhaps make friends of them. They mighttake our solemn promise that we never would give them away, and land ussomewhere ashore, so we could make our way to either Duluth, or someother place to the north here. "

"I'm hoping to get just such an opening, if we can hold the fort tillmorning; and they haven't skipped out by then, " Thad told him; whichproved that he had planned far ahead of anything that had as yet beenproposed. 

"And meanwhile try to be thinking up any French words you ever heard, "suggested Bumpus, artfully. "Who knows what use the same'd be to you ina tight hole. How'd parley vous Francais sound, now? I've heard ourdancing-master in Cranford use that more'n a few times, though I own upI don't know from Adam what she means. But it might make a fellow cometo a standstill if he was agoing to run you through, and you suddenlyshot it at him. "

"Thank you, Bumpus, I'll remember that, though I think it means 'do youspeak French?' And what if he took me up, and became excited because Icouldn't understand anything he said, you see it wouldn't help much, "the scout-master told him. 

"But say, what are we meaning to do about standing guard; because Ireckon now we've got to watch out, and not let them fellows gobble us upwhile we're sleeping like the babes in the wood?" Step Hen asked. 

"Oh! that can be fixed easy enough, if we all have to stay awake throughthe whole night. Wouldn't that be the best plan, Thad?"

It was Bumpus who put this important question, but none of them weredeceived in the least by this apparent warlike aspect on the part of thefat scout. 

Bumpus could play a clever game when he became fully aroused; but ifThad guessed what his true reason might be for asking such a question, he did not choose to betray the fact, knowing that it would cause thefat scout more or less confusion. 

"Yes, it might be as well for all of us to try and stay awake!" hedeclared. "As you seem to have settled it that the gun falls to myshare, why, I'll make up my mind not to close an eye the whole livelongnight; and if the rest choose to sit up with me and help watch, the morethe merrier. "

"I will, for one, " said Giraffe, stoutly. 

"You can count on me to make the try, " added Davy. 

"Ditto here, " Allan went on to say. 

"Oh! I'm willing enough, " Bumpus observed hastily, seeing that severalof his comrades were waiting for him to speak; "but I hope that everytime anybody just sees me abobbing my head he'll stick a pin in me; onlyplease don't jab it too deep, or you'll make me howl. "

"As for me, " Step Hen added, "I don't feel a whit sleepy right now; andmy eyes are as starey as a cat's, or Jim's over yonder, " pointing towhere he had managed to fasten the captive owl, which he had persistedin carrying ashore, despite the fact that he had about all the burdenany boy would care to carry when compelled to wade through water almostup to his neck. 

"Well, listen here, then, " remarked Giraffe, mysteriously, "I've beenthinking up a scheme that looks good to me, and I want to know how therest of you stand when it comes to trying it out. "

"Go on and tell us what it is, Giraffe!" exclaimed Bumpus, eagerly. 

"Yes, if you have thought up anything worth while, we'd be mighty gladto hear about the same, " added Allan. 

The tall scout looked cautiously about him, and lowering his voice wenton:

"Why, I'll tell you, fellows, what I thought. Now, about that boatbelonging to these here poachers, what's to hinder us from coollyappropriating the same, and starting out to look for the mainlandourselves? Then, you see, it'll be that bunch that's left behind to bemarooners on old Sturgeon Island; and when we get to town why, we canlet the authorities know all about what they're adoing out here, sothey'll come and arrest the whole kit. Now, what d'ye say about thatfor an idea, hey?"

CHAPTER XXII

THE LONG NIGHT

"Good for you, Giraffe!" exclaimed Bumpus, ready to seize upon the ideawithout stopping to examine the same in order to find out whether or notit were possible to carry it out. 

"It ain't half bad, " admitted Step Hen. 

"But how about starting to sea in this blow?" asked Allan, quietly, after he and Thad had exchanged winks. 

"Oh! hang the luck, I clean forgot all about that!" admitted the tallscout, his smile of triumph disappearing immediately. 

"Whew! I should say we couldn't!" Bumpus hastened to add, showing thatit was possible for a boy to change his opinion almost as speedily as ashift of wind causes the weather vane to turn around, and point toward anew quarter. 

"And, " added Thad, "that will all have to be left to the morning, anyway. If we should find a half-way chance to do something along thoselines, why, we'll gladly give Giraffe the credit for thinking up thescheme. But it's time we settled down for the night now; so let's fixour blankets and be as comfy as we can, even if we do expect to keepawake. "

"And don't you think it'd be a good plan, Thad, " suggested Step Hen, "toalways keep that gun in evidence? If we could make them believe we allof us carried the same kind of weapons, we'd be more apt to see sun-upwithout any trouble happening; and that's what I think. "

"Well, now, there's some meat in that idea of yours, Step Hen, " thescout-master told him; "and it wouldn't be a bad scheme for those whohave clubs, to carry them more or less this way under your arm, just asyou would your gun if tramping, or on a hunt. In the firelight they maythink that's what they are, and the effect will be worth something tous, as you say. "

All of the boys started to settling down. Policy might have told themthat if they made themselves too comfortable the chances of theirremaining awake were rather slim. 

Bumpus was a lad of good resolutions. No doubt he meant to stay awakejust as firmly as Thad himself could have done. But sleeping was one ofthe fat boy's weak points, and it was not long before he found himselfnodding. 

Twice he was jabbed in the leg with the point of a pin, once by Giraffe, and the second time by Davy; for the other boys, took his requestliterally, and doubtless enjoyed having the chance to "do him a tofavor. "

Each time he was thus punctured the fat scout would start up hurriedly, and open his mouth to give a yell, perhaps under the impression that hehad been bitten by a snake, which reptiles he despised, and feared verymuch. 

Discovering where he was in time, however, he had managed to hold histongue, and muttered to himself that they "needn't go it quite sostrong, " as he ruefully rubbed his limb where the pin had entered. 

After each sudden awakening Bumpus would sit sternly up straight, asthough he had taken a solemn vow not to be caught napping again; but asthe minutes dragged along he would begin to sink lower and lower again, for sleep was once more getting a firm grip upon him. 

When the fat boy reeled for a third time Thad, who was watchingoperations with more or less amusement, noticed that neither Step Hennor Davy offered to make any use of their pins; the truth being thatboth of them had meanwhile gone fast asleep, and hence there were allthree in the same boat. 

It happened that Bumpus managed to arouse himself presently with astart; as if a sudden consciousness had come upon him. Perhaps heimagined he felt another jab with a pin, and the sensation electrifiedhim. 

First he looked on one side and then on the other. When he discoveredthat his persecutors were both sound asleep, a wide grin came over thegood-natured red face of the stout youth. Thad could see himindustriously hunting along the lapels of his khaki jacket, as if for aweapon in the shape of a pin; and having secured what he wanted Bumpuscarefully reached out both hands, one toward Step Hen and the other inthe direction of Davy Jones. 

Then, with a low squeal of delight, he gave an outward motion with eachhand. There instantly broke forth a chorus of yells that could be heardabove the noise of the breakers on the rocks, and the wind rattling thebranches of the low oak trees. 

"Tit for tat, " exclaimed. Bumpus; "what's sauce for the goose is saucefor the gander. After this we'll call it off, fellows, remember. Itwas give and take, and now the slate's wiped clean. "

Davy Jones and Step Hen, quite tired out from their exertions, sleptpeacefully, one on either side of Bumpus; while Giraffe dozed, andwhenever he happened to arouse himself he would wave that hatchetvigorously, as if to call attention to the fact that he was "on deck, "and doing full duty. 

The long night dragged on. 

Once Thad had some good news to communicate. 

"Clouds seem to be getting lighter, " he announced, pointing overhead. 

"Yes, " added the other, "and there's a sure enough break, I reckon, p'raps now we'll see something of that old moon before the peep of daycomes. "

At any rate the fact of the khaki-clad denizens of the camp under theledge being constantly on guard must have impressed itself upon theminds of the poachers, for they made no hostile move while darknessheld sway. 

Of course though, both sentries were glad to see the first peep of dawnin the far east. The wind had died down, and there seemed to be somechance that the wild waves would subside by noon, at least sufficientlyto allow them to go forth if by any good luck they were given theopportunity to leave the island upon which they had been marooned by sostrange a freak of fate. 

The others were soon aroused, and made out to have just allowedthemselves a few winks of sleep toward morning, though they castsuspicious looks toward each other, Thad noticed. However, neither henor Allen said a word about the hours that they had been by themselveson guard. The dreaded night had passed, and nothing out of the way hadhappened, so what was the use of rubbing it in, and making some of theirgood chums feel badly. 

"I think it would be possible to see the place where we left our boat, if I went out on that point there, " Thad remarked, while some of therest were busying themselves in getting breakfast ready, as thoughmeaning to make all the amends possible for their lack of sentry duty. 

As though he wished to make sure concerning this matter the scout-masterleft them, and made his way to the lookout he had indicated. He cameback later on, and his face did not seem to show any signs of good news. 

"No boat in sight, I take it, Thad?" asked Giraffe, rightly interpretinghis lack of enthusiasm. 

"It's sure enough gone, and look as hard as I could there didn't seem tobe the first sign of the poor Chippeway Belle. Dr. Hobbs' friend willhave to buy him another cruising boat, that's sure, " Thad told them. 

"Well, he can do that, all right, out of the insurance money he collectsfrom that old tub, " declared Giraffe, indignantly. "Let me tell youhe's been hoping we might sink the thing, somehow or other. "

Breakfast was a bountiful meal, because Giraffe happened to be a fellowwho disdained half-way measures, when it came to feeding time. The ideaof going around half starved so long as there was the smallest amount offood in camp did not suit him at all. 

So they ate until every one, even Giraffe, announced that he had hadenough; but by that time the frying-pans were empty, and the coffee-potditto, so perhaps it may have been this condition of things thatinfluenced some of them to confess to being filled. 

The face of the tall boy had become clouded more or less, and it wasevident to the scout leader that Giraffe was busily engaged in ponderingover something that did not look just right to him. 

"What's the matter, Giraffe?" he asked, as they lounged around, enjoyingthe fire, because the morning had opened quite cool after the blow ofthe previous night. 

"I don't like this thing of an empty pantry, that's what!" observed theother, who could not forget that in less than five hours there was boundto be a demand from somewhere inside that he get busy, and supplyanother ration; and where was he to get the material to carry out thisinjunction when their supplies were practically exhausted. 

"Well, we can't do anything about it, can we?" demanded Step Hen, trembling in the hopes that the tall scout might have thought of a plan. 

"That's just like some fellows, " remarked Giraffe, disdainfully; "readyto throw up the sponge at the first show of trouble. Now, I ain 'tbuilt that way; and say, I've thought up a plan by which we might getsome grub. "

"Yes, what might it be?" asked Thad, seeing that the other was waitingfor a little encouragement before bursting out into a display ofconfidence; for he knew Giraffe's ways to a fraction. 

"I tell you what we ought to do, " the other suddenly explained; "marchon that cabin in a bunch, looking mighty determined, and then demandthat they supply us with what grub we need to tide us over. There youare; and how about it?"

CHAPTER XXIII

WHERE WAS BUMPUS

"Huh? I don't all speak at once, please. Seems like my splendid ideaain't made a hit like I expected it would. What ails you all?" Giraffedemanded, after a dead silence had fallen upon the little party, insteadof the quick response he had hoped for. 

"We're waiting to hear from Thad, " explained Step Hen, as though hemight himself be "up in the air, " or, as he would himself have said, "straddling the fence, " not knowing whether to scoff at the other'sscheme, or give it his unqualified approval. 

"Well, I wanted to figure it over in my own mind first, " remarked thescout-master, slowly. "It has some good points, Giraffe, but we'll haveto get good and hungry before we start to holding up other people anddemanding that they supply our wants, even if they are only fishpoachers. "

"Then you don't think we had ought to rush the cabin, as yet?" asked theother in a disappointed lone. 

"Wait awhile; and see what turns up, " Thad told him. 

"But what could come along to give us a meal around noon?" Giraffeflashed up, always thinking of the main chance, which meant lookingafter the demands of that voracious appetite. 

"Oh! lots of things, " laughed Thad. "You know yourself it's theunexpected that keeps happening with us right along. Many a time in thepast we didn't have any idea of what was going to stir us up, till itcame along. Just now it strikes me all of us ought to stick together, and not go wandering around by ourselves. "

"Bumpus ought to be here to get that advice, then, " remarked Davy. 

At that Thad turned upon the other scout. 

"Why, I hadn't noticed that he was away, " he said, hastily, and frowningat the same time; "when and where did he go, can you tell me that, Davy, since you seem to be the only one who knows about his being gone?"

"Why, you see, Thad, " began the other, looking a trifle alarmed himselfnow, "he just remembered after we'd had our breakfast, you know, that hemust have dropped his belt somewhere; and as he remembered having thesame after he came out of the water, he said he expected he'd be able topick it up between here and that place; so he strolled off. Why, Inever thought but what some of the rest of you saw him go; and becausenobody said a word I 'spected it was all right. "

"How long ago was that, did you say, Davy?" Thad asked. 

"Why, just after Giraffe here cleaned out the last piece of bacon in thepan, as he said it was silly to waste even little things; and, afterall, he wasted it in a hurry, too, let me tell you, " Davy proceeded tosay. 

"Why, I think that must have been nearly twenty-five minutes ago!"exclaimed Step Hen, in some excitement, as he cast an anxious look awayacross the rocks and brush that interfered somewhat with their view ofthe route Bumpus would be apt to take on his way toward their landingplace. 

Thad jumped to his feet. 

"This must be looked into!" he said, decisively. 

"You're going off to hunt for him, I take it?" observed Giraffe; "howabout not getting separated, like you just told us? Ain't it going frombad to worse, Thad, if so be you rush out by yourself and leave ushere?"

"Yes, " added Davy, quickly, "if they're alooking around for chances togobble us up, one by one, first it'd be Bumpus, then our scout-master, and then another of the bunch, till we all got caught. Thad, hadn't weought to go along with you--"

"Just what I would have proposed, if you'd let, me speak, " the otherassured them readily enough; "so get, ready now, and we'll start off. "

"But how about all our stuff here; shall we leave it behind?" questionedDavy. 

"Oh! I hope not, " remarked Step Hen; "I've got somewhat attached to thatblanket of mine, you know. "

"Yes, we've noticed that lots of times, when you hated to get up in themorning, " chuckled Giraffe, "But how about it, Thad; do we leave 'em here, and run the chance ofgetting the same took; or shall we take the stuff along with us?"

"I don't believe these men will bother with such small things asblankets and cooking things; if we had a supply of eatables it might bea different matter; but we happen to be shy along that line. Yes, bundle them up, and hide them 'as best you can. We may be in for afight, for all we know, and in that case we'd want the freedom of ourarms to work those clubs. "

"Sounds like business, anyway!" muttered Giraffe, as he started in to doas the scout-master recommended; for obedience is one of the firstprinciples laid down in the rules by which Boy Scout are guided whenthey subscribe to the regulations of the troop they have joined. 

They were soon ready. 

As the five lads went forth they presented quite a formidable appearanceindeed, what with the gun, the camp hatchet, the long bread knife, and apair of clubs thick enough to give a fellow a nasty headache if everthey were brought in contact with his cranium. 

"First of all, it's only right we should give a hail; and if Bumpus iswandering around somewhere he may answer us; and then we can wait forhim to come in. I see he's left his bugle with his blanket here; pickit up somebody and give the recall, if anybody knows how. "

"Trust that to me!" exclaimed Davy; and snatching up the nickeledinstrument he placed it to his lips, immediately sending forth thestrident sounds that have done duty on many a battlefield. 

No sooner had the last note pealed forth than every boy listenedeagerly; but there was no reply. 

"Sure he could have heard that, even if he was at the other end of theisland, " remarked Davy, ready to try again if the scout-master told himto do so. 

"And Bumpus has got a good pair of lungs, so he'd be able to let us knowhe was on to the job, if he had the use of his mouth!" remarked Giraffe, darkly. 

"But you don't hear even a peep, do you, fellows?" remarked Step Hen. 

"Come on, and fetch that bugle with you, Davy, " said Thad; "we mightneed it again later, you know. I wonder, now, what the poachers willthink when they hear a bugle sound? If they don't know anything aboutthe Scouts, they'll think more than ever that we belong to the Canadianmilitia. "

Thad could understand just what course Bumpus was likely to take inpassing along the rough surface of the ground between their landingplace and the spot where they had found the friendly ledge. 

That was the way he expected to go also, keeping constantly on thelookout for any sign calculated to tell him if the fat scout had falleninto difficulties. 

It led them down near the edge of the water, too; and this gave Thad asudden bad feeling. Could it be possible that Bumpus, who was always aclumsy fellow at best, owing to his great bulk, had tripped, and taken anasty fall, so that his head had struck some cruel rock?

He would not say anything to the rest just now upon that score; but allthe same it troubled him not a little as he wandered along, keeping onthe alert for just such a trap, into which the missing scout may havefallen. 

All at once Thad stopped, and the others saw a peculiar look cross hisface. It seemed to tell them that their guide had conceived an idea. 

"Guessed where he's gone, have you, Thad?" inquired Giraffe, quickly. 

"Well, no, hardly that, " was the reply; "but I ought to tell you thatright now we're close to that clump of brush that hides the little rockhollow where they've got their boat hidden. "

"Oh! mebbe Bumpus he went and took a look in there, just the same as youdid, and discovered the boat, too!" remarked Step Hen. 

"Well, what if he did, would that explain his absence one little bit?"demanded Davy. "You don't think, now, I hope, our chum is such an idiotthat he'd start to take a little cruise out there on that rough waterall by himself? Bumpus ain't quite so much in love with sailing as allthat, let me tell you right now. "

In another minute they were looking at the boat that lay concealed inamong the rocks and brush. Thad even jumped down, and passed into itscabin; while the others listened, and waited with their heartsapparently ready to jump up into their throats, lest they caught soundsof a conflict. 

But presently the scout-master again appeared, and joined them. 

"Not there, then?" asked Giraffe, in a disappointed tone. 

"No, but I saw the print of his shoe on the seat of the boat, whichshows Bumpus did climb down here; but it was heading outward, so itseems he came up again. Now to look a little further, and find out ifhe went on toward the spot where we came to land. "

They started off, leaving the vicinity of the fish poachers' hiddenboat. For a couple of minutes, Thad seemed to be having little or notrouble in following the marks which Bumpus had left behind him; for thefat scout never so much as dreamed that there was such a thing ascovering his trail; nor would he have known of any reason for doinganything like this had he been so far up in woodcraft. 

"Hold up!" they heard Thad say, suddenly, as he bent over more than hehad been doing up to now. 

All of the others waited anxiously to hear what the scout-masterbelieved he had discovered, for they could see him moving this way andthat. Finally Thad looked up, to disclose a frown upon his usually calmbrow. 

"Well, would you, believe it, " he went on to say, as free from anger ashe possibly could bring himself to speak, "they've gone and done it, after all. "

"What, Thad?" asked Giraffe, who had been actually holding his breaththe while. 

"Jumped on our chum right here, and made him a prisoner, " came thestaggering reply; "I reckon they must have done something rough to him, or we'd have heard him make some kind of an outcry; but they got Bumpus, all right, boys!"

CHAPTER XXIV

LOYAL SCOUTS TO THE RESCUE

This assertion on the part of their leader was so tremendous that foralmost a dozen seconds the boys could not utter a single word; but juststood there, and gazed at Thad, speechless. 

But it is a very difficult thing to muzzle some lads for any length oftime; and Giraffe presently burst out with:

"Jumped on poor Bumpus right here, did they, Thad? And p'raps poundedhim into a condition where he just couldn't give the alarm, no matterhow hard he tried? Oh! mebbe I don't wish I could have been there totouch up the scoundrels with this fine hatchet? What I'd a done to 'emwould have been a caution, let me warn you! But how do you tell allthis from the signs, Thad? We're only a bunch of next door totenderfeet scouts when it comes to reading trail talk; but we knowenough to understand when she's explained to us. Please open up, andtell us now. "

"And then we must decide what we'll do, so as to rescue our chum, " saidStep Hen angrily; "because scouts always stand by each other, you know, through thick and thin; and Bumpus is the best fellow agoing, you bearme saying that?"

"Well, it's this way, " said the scout-master, always ready to oblige hismates whenever he could do so; "you can see that some sort of a scufflehas taken place where we're standing right now. Other feet than thoseof Bumpus are marked; and then they all start away from here, heading inthat direction. But although Bumpus walked to this spot there's never asign of his footprints, which I know so well leading off from here. "

"What's the answer to that?" asked Davy. 

"Why, " broke in Giraffe, quickly, "that's as plain as the nose on yourface, Davy. Our chum was carried away! Either he couldn't walk becausehe'd been tapped on the head, and was senseless; or else they had gothim tied up that quick. "

"Is that so, Thad?" demanded Step Hem

"Giraffe has got the answer all right, " came the reply. "I can seewhere these fellows must have been hiding, and let Bumpus pass them by. Then one dropped down on top of him, so that he couldn't so much as drawin his breath before they had him. This is what I was thinking aboutwhen I said we shouldn't be caught off our guard; and that we'd befoolish if we separated at all, for they could pick us off one by one, where they'd be afraid to tackle the whole bunch. It came quicker thanI thought it would, though. "

"Well, we ain't going to stand for this, I hope?" remarked Giraffe. 

"We'd be a fine lot of scouts, wouldn't we, " broke in Davy, indignantly, "if we were ready to desert our chum when he was in hard luck? Anybodythat knows what the boys of the Silver Fox Patrol of Cranford Troop arewould make certain that could never go down with them. Sure we ain'tameaning to keep on hiding our light under a bushel, and sneaking off, while Bumpus, good old Bumpus, is in the hands of the enemy, and p'rapswith a splitting headache in the bargain. "

"Headache!" echoed Step Hen; "just wait till we get our chance, and ifthey ain't the fashion among these here poachers, then I don't knowbeans, and I think I do. Wow! you hear me talking, fellows!" and hecaused his club to fairly whistle through the air, as though gettinginto the swing, so that he would know just how to go about laying outone of the law-breakers when they finally rounded them up. 

"Hope we ain't meaning to waste any more time around here than'snecessary, Mr. Scout-master?" Giraffe observed, grimly, running hisfinger suggestively along the edge of the camp hatchet, which they keptin pretty good condition, so that it would really cut quite well. 

"We're off right away, " said the other. 

"And Thad, " observed Allan, speaking for the first time, because he wasusually a boy of few words, and one who left it to some of the others todo pretty much all the talking, "the new trail, where we fail to findany mark of Bumpus' shoes leads this way, which I take it is toward thatshack you said you'd seen last night when you took that little scout onthe sly?"

"It sure does, Allan, " came the reply. 

"Well, then, we must expect that was where they carried our chum; and sowe'll make for the cabin now, " Allan continued. 

"We'll see it soon enough, " Thad told them, "because it's only a littleways from where they have their powerboat hidden. Move along as stillas you can, boys; and no more talking now--except in whispers. "

Every scout must have felt his heart beating like a trip-hammer as theforward progress was continued. The very atmosphere around them seemedto be charged with electricity; at least one would imagine so to see theway they looked suddenly from right to left with quick movements, asthey went stooping along. 

It was only a space of sixty seconds or so when Thad came to a stop. They knew from this that the cabin spoken of must already have beensighted; and this proved to be the case, as was made apparent when theycame to examine the territory just ahead. 

Among the rocks and undergrowth it could hardly be seen; indeed, if theyhad not known of its presence there, possibly none of them would havethought a cabin was so near by. 

They stared hard at it, but failed to see the first sign of any livingbeing in the neighborhood. 

"Any signs of 'em, Thad?" whispered Giraffe, who was close at the heelsof the scout-master; so close indeed, that Thad had more than oncewondered whether the tall and nervous scout were still waving that up-to-date tomahawk, and if he the leader, might be so unlucky as to get inthe way of the dangerous weapon. 

"Nothing that I can see, " Thad answered, softly. 

"But you think they're in that place, don't you?" Giraffe continued toask. 

"Like as not they are, " the scout-master replied. 

All of them were staring hard at what they now saw. Having continued toadvance a little farther they made out what seemed to be a lot ofbarrels; and some of them must have contained ice, to judge from thestraw scattered about. Well, ice was needed in order to properly packfish for the market; and if the poachers had ever had a supply on theisland, secured during the winter time, it must have been exhaustedbefore now, because the season was late. 

Yes, and what was more to the point, as the breeze happened to waft anodor to their noses all of the scouts detected the strong andunmistakable smell of fish, which must always be associated with everyfishing camp. 

"Are we agoing to walk straight up to that door, and knock it in?" askedGiraffe, after they had stood there for a couple of anxious minutes, staring hard at the lone shack, as though trying to peer through the logwalls, and see what lay within. 

"That might be hardly the thing for scouts to do, " Thad told him. "Theyare taught to be cautious as well as brave. If those men happen to behiding inside there, wouldn't they have a fine chance to riddle us if wewalked right up as big, as camels? No, we've got to show a littlestrategy in this thing, eh, Allan?"

"Just what we have, Mr. Scout-master. "

"So let's begin by circling around, and coming up on the shack from theother side, " Thad said this he started off, with the others skulkingalong behind, about like a comet is followed by its tail. 

They kept a bright lookout all the while, not meaning to let thepoachers get the better of them by creeping away from the shack whilethe boys in khaki were carrying out this evolution. Nothing however wasseen. If the men were still in there they kept very quiet, everybodythought; and somehow this worried more than one of the scouts. 

Giraffe could not see what all this creeping around was intended for, anyhow; he would have been in favor of separating, and rushing towardthe cabin from as many points of the compass as there were scouts. Thatsort of plan at least had the benefit of speed; for they would either beat the door inside of ten seconds, or have been staggered with a volleyfrom within. 

But it would not be for much longer, because even now they had made suchgood progress that a few minutes more must put them through. 

It seemed an age to Giraffe since they had started to creep to the otherside of the shack; when he saw by the actions of their leader that Thadwas now ready to order the real advance. 

There did not appear to be any sign of a window on this side of the rudebuilding, so that the chances were no one inside could watch theircoming; which Giraffe well knew had been the principal reason why Thadhad chosen to make this rear approach. 

"Now listen, all of you, " whispered the leader, in thrilling tones; "I'mgoing to call out to Bumpus, and perhaps we'll get a clue regardingwhat's happened to him. "

Raising his voice, he called out the name of the fat scout twice insuccession, being very particular to speak it distinctly, so that anyone within would have to be absolutely deaf not to hear it. 

There was no reply, that is, nothing in the way of an answering voice;but all of them caught a peculiar sound that kept up intermittently foralmost a full minute. 

"Now, what sort of a queer rumpus would you call that?" asked Step Hen. 

"Made me think of somebody kicking his heels into the floor, or somesuch stunt as that, " Giraffe declared; while Davy nodded his head, asthough there was no need for him to say anything when another voiced hissentiments so exactly. 

"Thad, are we going to stand this any longer?" Allan demanded, "No, we must see what's inside that place; so come along, boys, andwe'll break in the door!" with which words the scout-master ran quicklyforward, the others almost outstripping him, so great was theireagerness to be "in the swim, " no matter what happened. 

The door seemed to be fastened in some way; though there was nothing inthe way of a pistol shot or even a gruff voice warning them off. 

Thad tried in vain to find the fastening. 

"Pick up that log, and use it as a battering ram!" he ordered; and theother four scouts hastened to do so, while the patrol leader stood readywith his gun, not knowing how soon he might have need of it for defense. 

As the log came crashing against the door it flew wide open, provingthat it had never been really intended as a means for keeping enemiesout. Dropping the log, and at once snatching up their weapons, thescouts rushed to the open doorway, to stare into the cabin. What theysaw amazed, and yet delighted them. There was not an enemy in sight;but some object moved upon the hard puncheon floor; and looking closerthey discovered that it was no other than Bumpus, bound hand and foot, gagged, and with his face as red as a boiled lobster, redder by far thanhis fiery hair. 

CHAPTER XXV

NOT SO GREEN AS HE LOOKED

The only reason that Bumpus did not call out help! was because the roughgag, consisting of a cloth tied about the lower part of his face, prevented him from saying a single word. 

It was a sight that staggered the other scouts, although at the sametime they felt considerable satisfaction at finding their lost churn sospeedily, and thus learning that he had not come to very serious harm. 

There was an immediate rush made inside the shack, each seeming desirousof being the first to render Bumpus assistance. All but the scoutmasterentered in this promiscuous way, and Thad was too wise a bird to becaught with chaff. What if this should be some sort of a trap, intowhich the rest of the boys were rushing headlong? He did not stop toconsider how they might be caught, but made up his mind that it waspolicy on his part to stand guard there at the door. 

There were more than enough hands to free the prisoner, and he would notbe missed in that way. So Thad, handling his ready gun suggestively, and keeping a keen lookout for signs of trouble, stood there, waitingfor the rest to come but. 

Amidst more or less confusion Bumpus was unbound, after that gag hadbeen removed from his mouth. The first thing he did was to breatheheavily, as though during his confinement he had not been able to gethis wind as freely as he liked. Then, when he could get on his feetwith the help of Step Hen and Giraffe, he stamped on the cloth that haddone duty as a preventative of speech. 

"Oh! what haven't I suffered, having that measly old thing under my nosefor ages, and this smell of fish everywhere around me!" he exclaimed, asthough fairly bursting with indignation. "How long have I been shut uphere, anyway, fellows? Seems like days and weeks must a passed sincethey took me. I kinder lost my senses I reckon, after that chap droppedon top of me, like the mountain was acoming down. Please tell me whatday of the week this is?"

At this the others looked puzzled. 

"Why, you sure must be locoed, Bumpus, to get so twisted as that!"declared Giraffe. 

"I should say he was!" echoed Davy. 

"Why, this is the same morning after the storm, don't you know, Bumpus, really and truly it is, " Step Hen went on to assert, with a ring of pityin his voice. "And, say, did you think it was to-morrow, or the nextday, and we'd just about forgotten we had a chum who was missing? Well, if this don't take the cake, I never heard the beat of it. "

"Fetch him outside so I can ask a few questions!" called Thad just then. 

"Yes, for goodness sake get me where I can have a whiff of clean air;I'm nearly dead with this fishy smell. I always did hate to handle fishafter they got over their jumping stage, and this is awful!" Bumpuswailed. 

"It certain is, " muttered Giraffe, holding his fingers up to his nose. 

So they all bustled out of the door, where they found the scout-masteron duty; and all at once it struck the other fellows how smart Thad hadbeen in holding back at the time the rush was made to free Bumpus. 

"Oh! this is a thousand per cent better!" the late prisoner declared, with genuine thanksgiving in his tones, as he fairly reveled in theclear air that had been purified by the recent blow. 

"I heard you asking what day this was, and from that we understand thatyou must have lost your senses for a while, and got mixed up?" Thadremarked. 

"That's what happened, Thad, " replied the other, promptly enough. 

"Well, it's not only the same morning after the storm, " continued theother, "but just about an hour after you went off to hunt for your belt. I see you found the same, and that they made good use of it to fastenyour arms behind your back. "

Bumpus looked astonished, as though what he heard was hard to believe;for he shook his head slowly, and observed:

"Tell me about that, will you? Well, sir, that was the longest hourthat ever happened to me in all my life!"

"Hold on!" corrected Giraffe, "you're forgetting that time you trippedin the dark, and fell over a precipice a thousand feet deep, and hungthere from the top, yelling for help. We came galloping to the spot, and rescued you, about as limp as a dish-rag; and you told us how you'dsuffered such agonies that you lived ten years, and wanted to know ifyour hair had turned white. But when we held the light over the top ofthat awful precipice, and showed you that the ground was just about sixinches below your toes as you dangled there, why, you made out that itwas all a good joke, and that anyhow you'd given the rest of us a badscare. "

Bumpus grinned, as though the recollection rather amused him now. 

"But this time it was different, Giraffe, because they wanted me totell, and I just wouldn't. Then the big man who was leader, gave me aknock on the head, he was so mad at me, and I keeled over a second time. That's when I thought days had passed, when I heard you fellows talkingoutside, and after that an earthquake came knocking down the door. My!but I was glad to see the bunch come piling in, you can take it from me. Never will forget it, I give you my word, boys!"

"But see here, Bumpus, " said Thad, "what do you mean when you say yourefused to tell? Of course all of us know how stubborn you can be, whenyou take a notion; but what could these men want to get out of you thatyou'd refuse to let go? Not any information about us, I should think?"

"Well, hardly, " replied the other. "You see, they had me tied up, andthat horrible fishy rag fastened around my mouth so I couldn't talk; butthe fellow that could speak United States bettern'n either of the otherstold me to nod my head if I promised to show 'em where I'd hid it; butevery time I shook it this way, " and he proceeded to give an emphaticdemonstration of what a negative shake might be. 

"But what had you hid away that they wanted so badly?" persisted Thad. 

Bumpus grinned, and raised one of his eyebrows in a comical manner. 

"Oh! that was a little trick of mine, " he remarked, composedly. "P'rapsthe rest of you'll give me credit for being a mite smart when I tellyou. But in order to make you understand, just wait till I go back tothe time I left camp to look for this belt. "

"That's the best way, I should think, " agreed Giraffe, who knew fromexperience how hard it sometimes proved to drag the details of a storyfrom Bumpus. 

"Oh! I ain't meaning to string it out everlastingly!" declared theother. "I'm going to be right to the point, see if I don't. Well, afterI picked up my belt I just happened to remember what Thad had told usabout that concealed boat belonging to the queer chaps who were hidingon this island; and before I knew hardly what I was doing I found myselfaboard the same, nosing around. 

"All at once it struck me what a bad job for us it'd be if they took anotion to skip out after the wind and waves went down, and left us hereby our lonely. So I made up a cute little plan calculated to block thatgame right in the start. What did I do? Just unfastened the crank theyused to start the engine agoing and hid the same under my coat. I wasmeaning to fetch it to our camp, so we could make terms with the men, when I thought I saw somebody slip around a tree and, on the impulse ofthe moment, as they say in the books, I just let that handle drop intothe hollow of a stump I happened to be passing. "

"Good for you, Bumpus!" exclaimed Giraffe, patting the other on theshoulder. 

"Well, it wasn't so very good for me in one way, " the fat scoutremarked, with one hand tenderly caressing a bump he seemed to have onhis head; "because that same little trick got a fellow of my size inheaps of trouble right away. But you know how I hate to give a thingup, boys; and once I'd done this job I was bent on holding out to thebitter end. 

"Well, to make a long story short, the next thing I knew I didn't knowanything, because that big clodhopper came down from a tree right on topof me, and one of his shoes must a struck me on the head right here, forit hurts like the mischief. 

"When I came to my senses I was fixed up like you saw, and inside thisold fish house. Honest boys, first thing, before I got a good lookaround, I thought I had died, and was amouldering in my grave. Thethree men were hanging over me, ajabbering like so many monkeys or pollparrots. Then the big fellow with the black beard began to throw allsorts of questions at me, which I managed to understand. 

"Seems like they had gone to the boat after leaving me here, p'rapsmeaning to take chances out on the lake, waves or no waves, because theythought if they stayed any longer they were agoing to be gobbled by thesoldiers, sure pop. And then they missed that old crank. Course theyknowed I'd been pottering around their boat, and they wanted to find outwhat I did with the handle, because it happens you can't start thatengine like some I've seen, in an emergency, without the crank. 

"We had it pretty warm back and forth for a session, him a firingquestions at me, sometimes in French, and again in mixed English; and mea shaking my head right and left to tell him I wouldn't give up theinformation, not if he kept going for a coon's age. And sudden like, hegot so fiery mad he just slapped me over the head, and I admit I lostall interest in things on this same earth till I came to, and heardvoices outside that seemed familiar like. You know the rest, boys; nowlet's get away from this place in a hurry. I'll taste rank fish for amonth of Sundays, sure I will. Ugh!"

"Wait, don't be in such a hurry, Bumpus, " said Thad. "First of all Iwant to say that you've done a smart thing, even if it was reckless;because with that boat in our hands we can really leave Sturgeon Islandany time we want, once the lake quiets down some. And on the way backto camp we'll just pick up that crank, after which all we have to do isto make sure these three frightened men don't jump in on us, and take usby surprise. But while we're here we ought to see what they've got thatmakes them want to avoid the officers who patrol the lakes looking forsmugglers, game-fish poachers and the like. "

"Give me the gun then, Thad, " said Allan, promptly, as he saw the otherglance toward him; "and I'll stay out here on guard while some of therest investigate. "

"Thanks, that pleases me, " replied the scout-master, relinquishing theweapon that had proved to be worth its weight in silver to them, in thatit cowed the trio of lawless men who had their headquarters on SturgeonIsland. 

CHAPTER XXVI

THE SKIES BEGIN TO BRIGHTEN

It was not very light inside the cabin, so that the first thing Thad didin his customary energetic way was to take a lantern from a hook, andput a match to the wick. After that they could see better. 

"Don't seem, to be much of anything around here now that we can seehalf-way decent, " remarked Giraffe. 

"Oh I ain't there?" said Bumpus, who was, pinching his nose between histhumb and forefinger, "now, it strikes me there's a whole lot, when youcome to think. "

"However those men could sleep in here beats me?" ejaculated Step Hen, who was not looking very happy himself, as he sniffed around. 

"Oh! mebbe you'll kinder get a little used to it after awhile, " Bumpusassured him, in a tone meant to be comforting. 

"I don't believe they did sleep in here at all, " Thad remarked, after hehad been spying around a little longer. "You can't see a sign of a bed, or a blanket, or even leaves in a corner to tell where anybody laiddown. "

"And outside of these few old oilskin rags that they use to wear intheir business, " added Giraffe, "and hung up on nails along this wall, there ain't anything to tell that they stayed here. Say, Thad, whateverdo you think this shack could a been used for?"

"Where's your nose?" demanded Bumpus at that juncture. 

"Yes, " Thad went on to say, "that's about the only thing you need totell you, Giraffe. Seems like they must store their catch here untilthey get enough on hand to pay to stop work, and pack and ship the sameout. Let's look around. What d'ye call this but a kind of trap in thefloor?"

"It sure is, Thad, " admitted the tall scout, promptly. 

"Looks like it had been used a heap, in the bargain, " advanced Step Hen. 

"Why, of course, because there must be some sort of well underneath thehouse, where they keep ice all the while, and drop the fish in as theynet them. Perhaps one reason why they hate to leave here in a rush isthat they've got illegal nets out in different places right now, whichcost a heap of money, and they hate to let them go. Hand me that stripof iron, please, Davy. Looks to me as if they use this to pry up thetrap. There, what did I tell you?"

As the scout-master said this he managed to skillfully raise the squarethat was cut in the floor of the cabin. Underneath the old buildingthere must have been a natural well in among the rocks; for as Thad heldthe lantern over so that all of the boys could see, they discovered whatlooked like a cellar of solid stone, some fifteen feet deep, and with aladder at one side that was doubtless used as a means of passing up anddown. 

"Well! I declare! look at the piles of fine fish, will you?" exclaimedStep Hen. 

"All sorts too--trout, white fish, and even black bass, whoppers atthat!" added Davy, staring at such a remarkable sight. 

"They must take these in some way that's against the law!" Thaddeclared. "Their suspicious actions prove that, plain enough. "

"That's the greatest lot of game fish I ever saw together!" Giraffeventured, "and if such things keep going on, chances are even the GreatLakes'll be drained of decent sport before many years. It's a shame, that's what it is. "

Bumpus was the only one who had made no remark; but all the same heseemed to be busy. They saw him dive into a pocket, and what should hefetch out brut a stout fish line wound around a bobbin, and with a hookattached. This he immediately began unrolling so that the end carryinghook and sinker fell down toward the bottom of the pit. 

"Look at Bumpus, would you?" exclaimed Step Hen; "he's gone clean dippy, that's what? Thinks he's out on the lake, and these fish are swimmingdown there waitin' to bite at his bait! Poor old Bumpus, that knock onthe head was too much for him!"

"Was, hey?" snapped the object of this commiseration, as he went onunreeling his line; "you just wait and see whether I've lost my mind, orif I ain't as bright as a button. See that buster of a trout alyingthere on top? Well, that beats the record so far; and if I can only tipmy hook under his gill I'm meaning to yank him up here the quickest youever saw. Guess the rules and regulations of our watch only said afellow had to catch his fish with hook and line; it never told that theyhad to be alive, and swimming, not a word of it. You watch me win thatchampionship right here!"

"There's a fish pile down in the cellar, " spoke up the rival of Bumpus, indignantly, "and what d'ye think, Bumpus here means to fetch up a lotof 'em with his hook and line, and count the same against me. Hey!guess two can play at that sort of game, if there's going to be anythingin it; so look out; because I'm after that same big trout myself. "

Twice Bumpus managed to get his hook where it seemed to catch upon themonster trout's exposed gill, and with a cry of triumph he started topull in; but on one occasion the slender hold his hook had taken brokeaway; and the second time it chanced that Giraffe had managed to fastenhis barb somewhere about the dorsal fin of the fish, so that there wasan immediate struggle for supremacy, with the usual result in such casesthat the anticipated prize fell back, and was lost to both contestants. 

"Tell them to let up on that silly business, and let's get out of here, Thad, " said Step Hen, when this thing had gone on for some time, with noresult save a weariness to the two rivals. 

"But seems to me, " Dave put in just then, "that couple of them sametrout and white fish would be mighty tasty dish for a bunch of scouts Iknow of who always carry their appetites with them. "

When Giraffe heard him say that, he suddenly seemed to lose all hisfierceness as a contestant for honors. 

"Here, let's stop this business, Bumpus, because I ain't agoing to letyou grab up any fish that easy like; and I reckon you feel the same wayabout me. Anyhow, I leave it to Thad here if it's a sportsmanlike wayof scoring in our game? If he says no, why I'm willing to let you hookup some of the beauties for our dinner; or to make things more lively Iagree to climb down that greasy old ladder and put 'em on the hook foryou. How about it, Mr. Scout-master; is it fair?"

"Perhaps the letter of the law might favor such a course, " he said, solemnly; "but we pretend to be sportsmen, all of us, and as such we gofarther than that. And Bumpus, you know very well that nothing of thiskind was thought of when you made your wager with Giraffe. As I wascounted on to be the umpire I say now and here that the fish taken haveto be alive at the time they are hooked, and swimming in the lake. "

"Then that settles it, Thad, " chuckled Bumpus, with a grin; "anyhow, Iwas only fooling, and wouldn't want to count honors won so cheap asthis. But drop down there, Giraffe, since you were so kind as topromise, and hook me on that gay fellow I nearly had two differenttimes. Let me feel how heavy he is? I'd go myself, but chances are I'dsure collapse down there, because already I'm feeling weak again, andthat's the truth. "

Giraffe evidently did not mean to go back on his word; and accordinglyhe carefully climbed over the edge of the opening, found a resting placefor his feet on the top round of the ladder, and then began to slowlydescend. 

First of all he hooked on the big trout, and gaily Bumpus pulled theprize up, remarking at the time that it felt as though he were lifting agrindstone. When he lowered his line again Giraffe had a splendid freshlooking white fish ready, and this he sent up, after the trout. 

"I just can't stand this any longer, " the boy below called up; "and I'macomin' right along with the next one, which ought to be a white fish, Ireckon. Oh! my! hope I don't keel over before I get to the top. If Ido, please, please don't run away and leave me to my fate, boys!"

Perhaps Giraffe was only joking, but it was noticed that when he hastilyclambered out of the fish pit he made a streak for outdoors, stillhanging on to his latest capture. 

In fact, as they had had enough of that thing, all of them hastened tofollow the example set by the tall and lanky scout. Outside they foundAllan examining the prize with considerable interest, while Giraffe wasfanning himself, and making all sorts of grimaces as he raised first onehand and then the other to his nose. 

"I'll step in and take a look now, while we're here, " mentioned Allan;"because I may never get another chance to see what a fish poacher'sstorage place is like. "

"Queer where they've gone and hidden themselves, " Step Hen remarked, ashe looked all around as though half expecting to see a bearded facethrust out of the bushes, or above a pile of rocks near by. 

"Well, just now they're in a sort of panic, and hardly know what to trynext, " Thad told them. "Of course they must see that we're only boys, after all; but from the fact that we wear uniforms they suppose we areconnected in some way with the militia, and that perhaps a boatload ofsoldiers is even now on the way here, obeying some sort of wirelesssignal we've managed to transmit. They thought to seize Bumpus, andperhaps get us all, one by one; but when they found that he had renderedtheir boat helpless they just threw up the sponge and quit. "

"Well, I kinder feel a mite sorry for the rascals, " Step Hen observed;whereupon the usually gentle Bumpus, who could be depended on to forgivethe first one of all, fired up, and burst out with:

"Then I ain't, not one whit; and I guess you wouldn't either, Step HenBingham, if you had a lump as big as a hickory nut on top of your head, that felt as sore as a boil, and knew one of that crowd did it to you. Ain't they breaking the law of the land; and every fish they take intheir illegal nets or seines means one less for the fellow that fishesfor sport, or the man that does business according to the rules andregulations. Sorry, well I guess not! And when we move away with theirold boat we'll send somebody with brass buttons over to Sturgeon Islandto take off the marooners. "

"Whew! listen to the savage monster, would you?" purred Step Hen; butBumpus had suffered too much to be in a forgiving humor, and hecontinued to shake his head ominously while he kept on breathing outthreatenings, like Saul of old. 

"Now let's head for our camp, " Thad gave the order, when Allan hadjoined them, and declared he had seen all he wanted of the fishpoachers' storehouse. 

"I only hope they haven't stolen a march on us, and got away with ourtraps, " Davy happened to remark, as they stepped out at a lively rate. 

"What a job we'd have cookin' these fine fish, if we didn't have anyfrying-pan, " was the first lament of Giraffe. 

"And my blanket that I think so much of, I wouldn't like to lose that, "Bumpus told them; but Thad gave it as his opinion that after the men hadfled, upon hearing the voices of the boys near by, they must have falleninto such a panic that no doubt they were now in hiding away off at theother end of the island. 

"Now don't forget to show us where you bid that crank belonging to theboat engine, Bumpus, " Step, Hen cautioned, as they strode along, "Good thing you spoke of it when you did, Step Hen, " the fat scoutdeclared, "because here's the old stump right now. Feel down, and seeif it ain't there, somebody. Here, let me do it myself, because I knowjust where it lies. "

In proof of his words Bumpus speedily drew out the crooked bit of steelin question. 

"Here you are, Giraffe, like to like!" he sang out gaily, as he tossedhis find toward the tall scout. 

"I s'pose that's as much as calling me a crank, " muttered Giraffe; "butthen, we'd take anything from you, Bumpus, just now, we feel so goodafter your splendid work. "

Of course upon receiving that fine compliment Bumpus became contrite atonce. 

"Excuse me for saying that, Giraffe, " he called out; "because I reckonnow you ain't one whit more a crank than some others in this crowd. "And then noticing that Step Hen and Davy were looking daggers at him, hehurriedly added, "particularly a stout feller they call Bumpus for shortinstead of Cornelius Jasper Hawtree. "

"My idea is about this, " Thad went on to say; "as we are going to dependso much on using this boat to get away in, we'd better make our campright alongside; and in that way they won't have much chance to stealthe same from us. "

"But ain't we going away soon?" asked Davy, looking around him again, asthough he still expected to see a party of furious poachers rush towardsthem, reinforcements having meanwhile arrived on the island. 

"Not till that sea goes down a whole lot more, " replied the scout-master; "and if that doesn't happen until late this afternoon I'm afraidwe'll have to spend one more night on Sturgeon Island, " whichinformation the others did not hear with any degree of enthusiasm forthey were all heartily tired of the place. 

CHAPTER XXVII

TAKEN UNAWARES, AFTER ALL

As there was no longer any necessity for their depending upon theshelter of the projecting ledge, since the sun was shining cheerily, thescouts set about changing camp. 

This did not take any great while, because they had no tents to botherwith; and it was easy enough to gather up their blankets and the fewthings they had saved from the wreck of the Chippeway Belle. 

As none of them ever saw the first sign of that ill-fated boat again, itwas always taken for granted that when the wind shifted in the night, atthe time Thad drew attention to the fact, the strain became so greatthat the anchor cable had to give way, allowing the still floating boatto be carried out into deep water before the end came. 

They found the anchor where it had been placed, with the rope brokenpart way out, and this told the story as well as words could have. 

And so camp was made close by the boat belonging to the fish poachers, which it must be their duty to guard, so that later on they could makeuse of the same in order to escape from the island. 

The waves did not go down as rapidly as the boys would have liked, andwhen high noon came they were still rolling along in a way that wasdangerous to any small craft, especially on such a great inland sea asSuperior is, with harbors few and far between. 

Thad admitted that the chances of their getting away that day did notlook good to him. Giraffe was the only real cheerful fellow in theparty, and as he superintended the cooking of the delicious white fishfor lunch he was heard to express his opinion several times. 

"Well, one thing good about it is that there's enough fish on the icedown in that well to last us till Christmas; and it's to be hoped thatsomebody with a boat comes along before then, to take us off; or we canget this chunky craft of the poachers to working some. But let me tellyou, that same fish does smell grand to me. Needn't make a face, Bumpus, because you think you'll never eat fish again. It's either thator go hungry with this crowd. "

"But the white fish, like all other delicate fish, is only at its bestwhen eaten on the spot where it's caught, " Thad told them; "putting iton ice for days hurts the flavor, and sometimes it's just as tastelessas so much sawdust. "

"Then this one was fresh caught, " Giraffe affirmed, as he lookedhastily about, took up the last bit that was in the second pan, andasked: "anybody want this; if nobody else does, I'm Johnny on the spot. "

"Well, I declare, I like that!" burst out Step Hen; "did you see himswing that pan around, and before a fellow could even open his mouth tosay yes, he had that last big piece in his tin dish. Oh! well, sinceyou've got to be filled up, or you get to growling, go ahead and bolt, it; only look out for bones. If one ever got fastened in that rubberneck of yours, Giraffe, nobody's fingers could ever reach it. And ashard luck would have it, I left my fish disgorger at home. "

Giraffe never minded this sort of talk, for he was making away with thelast of the fish with his usual speed. 

"Bones never trouble him at all, " remarked Bumpus, who was alwaystelling about dreaming of choking to death on a fish-bone. 

"That's where you're wrong, " chuckled Step Hen; "they trouble him awhole lot, every time he sits down, I reckon, because Nature ain't beenso kind to our long friend as to you, Bumpus. "

Joking in this style they finished their meal, and the, afternoon staredthem in the face. It promised to be a long stretch, if they had to staythere until another morning. 

Bumpus and Giraffe presently got their lines out, and finding a placenear by where it seemed safe to remain, they started to try and add totheir score. 

"Let's call it off, Bumpus, " suggested Giraffe, who was getting weary. "What's the use of all this bother, when we've got a storehouse cram-full of fine fresh fish close at hand, so we sure don't need this sortof a job for the sake of filling our stomachs. Anyhow, you can keep itup if you feel like it; I'm dead sleepy after passing such a night; andwe ought to get some rest. "

"That's so, " echoed Bumpus, just as if he had been on guard every minuteof the previous night, "and as like as not we'll have to be keeping oneeye open to-night again, who knows?"

"One?" cried Giraffe, looking sharply at him; and then shaking his headhe went on to add: "but I said I wasn't agoing to poke fun at you thiswhole day, Bumpus, after what you done. Course you can't help it if youget sleepy, any more'n I can about being hungry all the time. So let'scall it a draw, and quit kidding. "

"What's that smoke over there mean?" asked Step Hen, a short time later;and even Giraffe, who was trying to get some sleep, sat up on hearingthis. 

"Hurrah! mebbe it's a rescue boat coming out after us!" cried Davy, standing on his hands, and kicking his heels in the air, just as theordinary boy might clap his hands together. 

"What do you say, Thad?" asked Giraffe, cautiously, having arisen to hisfeet, and stretched his long neck in the endeavor to see better than hischums. 

"Well, " remarked the scout-master, after he had made a mentalcalculation; "you notice, don't you, that it comes from toward the otherend of the island. "

"Yes, that's a fact, Thad, " slowly admitted Davy, who had now returnedto his normal condition, with his head higher than his heels; thoughsome of the boys often declared that the reverse was true, and that heseemed more natural when hanging head downward from the limb of a tree, like a giant bat or a monkey. 

"And there isn't enough of it to make me think a boat could be coming, "Thad went on to say. "In fact, the chances are those men, as badlyfrightened as they are, have to eat, and I think they've lighted a fireto cook something. "

"Oh! is that all?" grunted Giraffe, immediately dropping back upon hisblanket; "please don't wake me up again for such a silly thing as that;though of course I can feel for 'em if they are really hungry. "

Acting on the advice of Thad the other boys managed to get some sleepfrom time to time, though they were very careful not to let the camp gounguarded. 

"We're going to be kept here on the island another night, seems like, "he had told them, "and that means a constant watch. So far we'vemanaged to hold our own, and we can't afford to get careless, and loseout. "

"I should say not, " Step Hen had echoed, as he cuddled down to carry outthe suggestion of the scout-master. 

Along about half an hour before evening set in an expedition wasarranged to pay another friendly visit to the fish preserves of thepoachers. They wanted to get enough supplies this time to cover severalmeals, so that they would be able to feel that they had food for thenext day, should they be able to make the start in the morning. 

Now Bumpus would much rather have remained behind; but it was a choicebetween two evils with him. His recollections of the harsh methods bymeans of which the poachers tried to get him to give up his secret werestill fresh in his mind; so was his detestation of that fishy odor thatclung to the shack. But Thad would not let him have any choice in thematter, telling him that he must accompany the expedition, and carryhome his share of the spoils, though Giraffe had promised to again dropdown into the pit, and send up all they wanted. 

They met with no adventure on the way, nor were they interrupted intheir task of securing a store of fish food for present necessities, andlooking into the near future a bit. 

Giraffe managed his end of the labor manfully. He suffered a greatdeal, he admitted; but then, somebody had to take on the hard jobs; andas no one else volunteered he just had to be the "goat. "

"Oh! as if we don't know the real reason, " Step Hen declared, indignantly. "If you wasn't so crazy after eating all the time, I guessnow you'd be the last one to go down there of your own free will. Butthat ain't saying we ain't glad of it. 'Taint often we get a chance toharness that appetite of yours to something that pays. Go on down a fewmore times, Giraffe; we might toddle along under another fish apiece. "

"Not much I will, " grunted the other; "six trips is the limit foranybody with a weak stomach. "

"Weak stomach-what, you?" cried Step Hen, scornfully throwing up hishands. 

The tall scout however did not want to be drawn into an argument justthen, since that would only delay their departure from the cabin and allthat it spoke of in such a distinct way. He darted in again, however, for a last visit, and vanished down the pit; to appear a minute laterholding the largest fish they had as yet run across. 

"There, what d'ye think of that for a jim dandy, fellows?" he cried. "And Bumpus, take a good look at him, because I'm bound to hook the mateto this next time we get out our lines. I'm not only a weather prophet, but there are times when I feel it in my bones that something is goingto happen. "

He tripped just then, and took a header, whereupon Bumpus, withpretended sympathy, hurried to his side, and offered to help him get up, saying;

"Oh! Giraffe, that was the time your bones told you the truth, didn'tthey; and I reckon your knee joints are skinned some after that tumble, too?"

Giraffe may have been suffering all sorts of agonies at the time, but ofcourse he was not going to let the others see him wince; so he smiledsweetly as he once more gained his feet, and took up the big fish, saying at the same time:

"Don't mention it; I'm all right, Bumpus. "

But they could see him limp more or less as they headed for the camp bythe captured motorboat of the fish poachers. 

Of course, when they went off like this they made sure to carry thecrank belonging to the engine along with them, so that even if the enemydid enter the camp during their absence they could not run away with thecraft, which on account of the make of motor was practically helpless assoon as the crank was gone. 

"Here we are, right-side up with care; plenty of grub, and no damagedone except that we've decreased the stock of fish supplies the poachershave laid by, " Step Hen was heard to declare; and though Giraffe gavehim a pained look, and unconsciously rubbed his injured knee, he did notmake any remark to the contrary. 

And when it came time to get supper ready he was apparently just as ableto move around as ever, barring a slight limp. 

Of course they kept close watch all the while, not wishing to be takenby surprise, should the enemy muster up enough courage to attempt somedesperate trick, possibly looking to making the scouts prisoners, sothat they could once more secure the valuable crank, and go away onboard their boat. 

Thad himself had managed to secure some rest during the day, because heknew that another hard night awaited him. 

As on the previous occasion he told the others they could sit up if theychose, and keep both he and Allan company; and just as had happenedbefore all of them tried hard to accommodate; but before one hour passedpoor Bumpus had fallen by the wayside; and then soon afterward Davy, Giraffe and Step Hen all found themselves unable to hold out. 

Since they had really undergone considerable in the way of privation andexcitement of late, Thad did not have the heart to blame them. Hebelieved that with the one faithful chum alongside, he could take asgood care of the camp as though the whole six were on duty. 

The time dragged along until it must have been close on midnight; and sofar nothing out of the way had happened, though the sentries did notrelax their vigilance on that account, for they were too good woodsmento think of that. 

As the boat had been secured with all the available ropes, and a part ofthe engine dismantled in the bargain, neither of the scouts dreamed thatthe enemy would aim to strike a blow at them in that quarter. Theycould not carry the boat off; and even granting that this were possible, it would be useless, since they had no means for running the same. 

Still another hour had crept along, and Thad was just beginning tocongratulate himself on the way the night was passing, when without theleast, warning there came a sudden flash of light down in the rockyberth where the boat lay; immediately succeeded by a deafening crash. Up into the air arose burning fragments of the poacher's boat; and thiswas the startling spectacle that greeted the astonished eyes of theSilver Fox scouts who had been sweetly sleeping, as they sat up andstared around them. 

CHAPTER XXVIII

GOOD-EYE TO STURGEON ISLAND--CONCLUSION

All sorts of loud cries and exclamations arose, as the startled boysbegan to dodge the falling pieces of the blown-up boat. 

Thad, although almost stunned by the sudden catastrophe that had comeupon them, in spite of their vigilance, kept a bright lookout, for fearlest the next thing they knew the poachers would come dashing amongthem, hoping to take advantage of the confusion to disarm them. 

But nothing of the sort occurred, and presently the six boys huddledthere in a heap, trying to figure out what had happened, and why thethree men had resorted to such desperate tactics rather than allow theseeming soldiers to sail away in the morning, and perhaps carry the newsto some place where the authorities would be sure to fit out anexpedition at once, looking to their capture. 

After a great deal of talk, and many odd ideas being advanced, which itwould not profit us to mention here, they settled on what seemed to bethe most plausible theory. This was that the three poachers, believingthey could not make use of their boat so long as the boys in uniformheld the key, in the shape of that crank, had decided to blow it up. Their reason for this may have been that they would in this way compelthe others to remain marooned there on the island; and perhaps it wasexpected that another boat, with a fresh lot of poachers, would be alongafter a certain time. 

This was the nearest they could ever come to it, for they did not have achance to make the personal acquaintance of the three hide-out men, andtherefore could not get information at first quarters. 

When the morning came the scouts were not so merry as they had felt onthe previous evening when all things looked rather rosy. Still, it isdifficult to keep some fellows moping all the time; and even Giraffetried hard to look at the bright side; thought he often complained thathe had consider difficulty in making up his mind which side that was. 

As long as the food supply held out, Giraffe was not going to give up todespair; even if fish as a steady diet might pall on the ordinaryappetite, Giraffe thought he could stand the bill of fare for a week ortwo, if they had to stick it out that long. 

Thad kept them on the watch for some sort of vessel, steamer, sailingcraft, whaleboat barge or anything that would afford an asylum, if onlythey could by the greatest of good luck attract the attention of thoseon board. 

As the morning got pretty well along the boys were beginning to feeldowncast once more, when all at once Step Hen, who had been using theglasses at the time, let out a joyous whoop. 

"Would you believe it, fellows, " he cried, "while we've been nearlybreaking our necks looking to the east and south for a sail, why, here'sa little buzzing motorboat acoming along an the same tack we carried;and ten chances to one now, it's carrying our two good Silver Fox pards, Smithy and Bob White!"

All of them had to take a look through the glasses, and the consensus ofopinion seemed to trend that way; though at first some of the moredubious were inclined to fear that it might only be another poachingboat, that was coming straight to the island to land a catch ofillegally taken fish. 

"Get busy right away, and let them know where we are!" exclaimed Bumpus, all of a tremble with anxiety. "Goodness gracious! just think how we'dfeel if they went speeding past old Sturgeon Island, never heating usyell; because the breeze was wrong. Bang away with the gun, Thad, andmake 'em look! Do something that'll stir things up! Wish I could letout a whoop that'd carry ten miles, you'd hear me spreading myself some, I tell you. "

But all Bumpus's fears were useless, for those aboard the littlemotorboat that had really come all the way from the Soo, startingearlier than Thad and his five companions, heard the combined shouts, and signaled that they would head in without delay. 

"Say, couldn't you hold up a little while, and let me go back after afew more of those fine fish?" pleaded Giraffe, when the rescuing craftwas drawing close; and when the scout-master shook his head in thenegative the tall member went on: "you never know how much grub you needwhen on one of these here lake trips, with the chances in favor ofsomething happening to knock the engine out. Besides, remember therewill be two more mouths to feed, Thad; and sure I could snatch up someof them fish in a jiffy. Say yes, won't you?"

"No need of it, Giraffe, " the other assured the lean scout; "it's truethat we'll have a couple more with us, but don't forget that they areexpected to have a pretty good supply of food aboard as it is. Then whowants to live on fish diet. "

"And we'll get to a place right soon, " added Bumpus, "where we can layin all the stores we want. "

"Yes, " Step Hen thought fit to remark, "and then too, if we loaded downso with too much fish, what's ever going to become of that game you andBumpus are working? We expect to have the table supplied right alongnow with the product of your combined skills as anglers. "

"Oh!" chuckled Giraffe, "after all that honey, I give up, and agree tolet things run as they are. But I want to warn the said Bumpus here andnow that I'm camping on his trail; and from this time out the fight isagoing to be just fierce!"

"Bah! who's afraid?" sang out the fat scout, with a shrug of hisshoulders. 

"Everybody get their things together so we can climb aboard as soon asour comrades come close enough to shore. We may have to wade a little, for the landing places are few and far between, and we don't want totake any chances. "

"Then I hope some kind friend will have the goodness to carry me on hisback; because I sure hate to get my footsies soaked again, " remarkedBumpus, unabashed. 

It turned out, however, that there was no need of this. The two boys inthe motorboat knew how to manage, and brought the little vessel in closeenough so that even clumsy Bumpus was able to clamber aboard, afterhanding up his possessions. And Thad smiled when he saw that the otherincluded among these the rusty crank belonging to the destroyed boatwhich the poachers had used in their illegal business, evidentlyromantic Bumpus meant to keep that as a reminder of his little adventureon Sturgeon Island. 

Smithy and Bob White were two of the Silver Fox Patrol whom many readerswill remember figuring largely in previous books of this series of BoyScout tales. 

They were instantly almost consumed with eagerness to know what hadhappened to maroon their chums on the island; but until they had passedsome distance out Thad would not attempt to relate the stirringcircumstances. 

"Looky, there they are, ashaking their fists after us; and I reckonthey're letting out a few remarks that might burn our ears if we heardthe same, which the breeze keeps us from doing, " and Giraffe, as hespoke, pointed to where the trio of lawless poachers stood on a rocknear the other end of the island. 

That was the last they were fated to see of the men. Later on theyhappened to enter a Canadian port in search of supplies, and of courseThad made it an object to narrate their adventure to some person inauthority. The boys heard afterwards that an expedition was at oncestarted out by the Canadian people, looking to the capture of thepoacher crowd, and the breaking up of their illegal business; butapparently the other boat must have arrived before them; for while theyfound the ice pit, just as the boys had described to them, the fish wereall gone, nor did a search of the entire island reveal any sign of humanoccupation. 

Of course it did not matter at all to Thad And his chums whether thethree men were ever apprehended, as they did not expect to cruise inthis region again and consequently there was no chance of their evermeeting any of them afterwards. 

They would never be apt to forget the strange things that had come tothem however, while marooned on Sturgeon Island; and often when theypored over the Government charts that Thad kept, they could see again inmemory many of those adventures looming up along the mental horizon thewreck of the boat; the lively time they had getting ashore; thediscovery of the fish packing cabin; the mysterious disappearance ofBumpus; how he was found again under such remarkable conditions; theblowing up of the poachers' boat; and last but not least the opportunearrival of their mates with the other craft. 

No doubt many a time the very odor of fish would carry the thoughts ofthose boys away back to this period in their adventurous careers. Notthat it marked the culmination of the good times fortune had in storefor them; because before many months passed a splendid chance was goingto come along that would give the members of the Silver Fox Patrol anopportunity to enjoy another outing, this time while the North, wheretheir home town lay, was swathed in snow and ice. The title of thisnext book will be "The Boy Scouts Down in Dixie; or, The Strange Secretsof Alligator Swamp. " And the reader of this volume may rest assuredthat the adventure's befalling Thad and his jolly mates, Allan, Giraffe, Bumpus, Davy, Smithy, Step Hen and the Southern boy, Bob White, willafford them as rich a treat in the new story as anything that haspreceded it. 

As to that wager between Giraffe and Bumpus, it kept dragging alongduring the balance of the cruise, sometimes one, and then the otherbeing ahead. But luck finally favored Giraffe, as on the very last day, with the score a tie, he happened to be trailing a stout line out, whenhis hook became fast to the tail of a big fish that came near pullinghim overboard before he succeeded in landing the same, after the enginewas hurriedly stopped. 

After that Bumpus threw up his hands, and said he would wait on thecrowd when they had their dinner upon arriving home; which he certainlydid, and with such success that the boys voted he continue to accept"tips" in that vocation whenever they were in camp, Bumpus vigorouslydissenting, of course. 

Thad learned later an that the poor old Chippeway Belle was fullyinsured, and no word of complaint ever reached them after they hadfurnished the owner with all the evidence he needed in order to collectthe amount; so there may have been a little truth in what several of thescouts hinted among themselves, that the sinking of the powerboatcleared the air, and allowed the gentleman to replace her with a newermodel. "Blessings often come, in disguise, " Bumpus says, as he looks upat that rusty crank, tied with a red bow of ribbon, and hanging from thewall of his den at home; and then feeling of his head to ascertainwhether that lump has fully subsided, he is apt to go on to remark thatsometimes they even drop down from trees, and give a fellow the queerestkind of a thump; for if he had not conceived that little plan of hidinga part of the machinery belonging to the poachers' boat, things mighthave turned out vastly different from what they did. 

The End