CHAPTER X.SCOUT TACTICS.
"Gee! that ought to settle the business!" breathed Jimmy, as he continued to stare at the three workers.
These men seemed as busy as beavers, passing from crevice to crevice, and managing in some way to insert what were very likely pieces of rich copper ore, brought from some distant and well-known mine, for the purpose of deceiving any one sent up to inspect this new venture.
Ned himself felt that he could have no better evidence of fraud than was exhibited in the actions of these laborers. He knew that if this scene was incorporated in his report, it would sound the doom of the intended big deal, whereby a million, perhaps many of them, was to pass into the hands of the swindlers.
And knowing this, Ned was also aware of the fact that should the employees of the company running the game learn that the scouts had actually been inside the mine, and watched its being so beautifully "salted," they would realize that desperate tactics must be employed in order to silence the spies.
That might mean either their speedy dispatch,or being kept prisoners in that region so far away from civilization until the deal had been put through, and the vast amount of cash changed hands.
He could easily enough imagine these desperate scoundrels making him sign a glowing report declaring that the property was fabulously rich. Plainly, then, it would be greatly to the advantage of the scouts to get out of the mine without being discovered.
"Well, do we go on and see what the fellows have to say for themselves?" asked Frank, chafing under the delay.
"If we have to do that, please let me take care of old Blackbeard, Ned," urged Jimmy, who seemed to have taken an especial dislike toward the giant, whom he had been comparing with the old-time pirate.
"We'll back out!" said Ned, shortly.
"Seem to have seen enough, eh?" Jack whispered, with a little vein of disappointment back of his words, just as though he had really been hoping they might see some lively action, while up in this "neck of the woods."
"When your father learns about this job, he'll want to throw up his hands and wash them of the whole business," the other assured him.
"Then it's no use going deeper," admitted Jack.
Of course, all this conversation was carried on very cautiously. No one dared to raise his voiceabove the softest sort of whisper; and usually spoke directly into the ear of the chum he wanted to address. On this account, the workers not far away did not suspect the presence of interlopers, or that their actions were being carefully noted.
Ned managed to let the two guides know that it was now up to the party to execute a masterly retreat. If they could quit the mine as easily as they had entered, it would be a big feather in their caps.
All of them were immediately in motion, and after the bend in the passage had been negotiated they could once more use a light. As before, Ned brought his means of illumination into service, and guided by the soft white glow ahead, that showed up all inequalities of the path, they set out for the exit.
They had gone perhaps half-way, when Ned stopped to listen. All of them could hear what had come to his ears. Shouts without were sounding the alarm. Plainly, something must have occurred to excite the few who had been in the tented settlement. Perhaps after all some one witnessed their entrance to the mine, and had hurried to the camp with the news. There were two or three men there, as Ned had noted before; and these were now trying to communicate their discovery to the three miners engaged in "salting" the works.
There seemed to be only one course open to the scouts, and this was to make all haste possible to attain the exit. Here, they might sally forth, and by taking advantage of the confusion cause the few guards to disperse, by firing a volley over their heads.
This plan flashed into the head of the young leader of the explorers, as he listened to the shouts that were ringing forth.
"Hurry along, fellows!" he urged his companions, knowing only too well the value of prompt action in a case like this. "We must rush the opening, and scatter that howling bunch like wolves. Shoot to frighten, then if that doesn't work, try to cut them in the legs. Understand?"
They all answered in the affirmative, even Jimmy showing that he had caught the idea. And bent upon carrying it out, without the loss of even a second, the party pressed forward eagerly.
Just for another minute, and then they met with a sudden surprise, that came as unexpectedly as lightning might from a clear sky.
As though some giant hand had brushed them all over into a heap, so the five scouts and their two husky guides were sent headlong to the rocks, some of them receiving bumps that would prove more or less painful later on.
There was no mystery about the matter, becauseaccompanying their upset had come a loud explosion that sounded doubly severe to them, since they were underground.
Plainly the conspirators had looked far enough ahead to make ready to entomb any prowling visitors who might succeed in gaining access to the mine, and learn something of its secrets. They had a charge of blasting powder, or possibly a dynamite cartridge, placed so that it could be fired with ease.
"Wow!" exclaimed Jimmy, struggling half erect, "who hit me with that brick?"
"What happened, Ned?" asked Teddy, almost dazed from the way his head had collided with a hard rock, causing him to see about a million flashing stars in that one second of time.
"They've fired some sort of explosive, to seal up the exit of the mine!" broke from Jack, who was quick to guess the appalling truth.
"Then we're shut up here like rats in a trap, is that it?" persisted Jimmy, now so astonished that he even forgot to rub the back of his head where the seat of the pain seemed to be located.
"I don't know," said Ned, "but we can soon settle that by pushing on."
"What if another bomb lets go?" Teddy inquired.
"Small danger of that happening," the leader assured him; "but anyhow we'll have to take the chances. Come along, everybody!"
That was Ned's way of doing things, and proved him to be the right type of leader, capable of winning the respect of his patrol. Seldom had any of the scouts heard him tell them to "go on" when there was a spice of peril in the air.
They were not long in finding out the dismal truth. Indeed, as they advanced along the tortuous passage, the air became more and more foul with the odor of burnt powder. And, finally, the light from the several electric hand-torches disclosed the presence ahead of a mass of fallen rock and dirt that effectually filled the narrow passage.
The boys stared at the barrier in more or less dismay. It effectually cut them off from making their exit, and so far as they knew there was no other means of leaving the mine.
Jimmy started in to lifting several of the rocks and tossing them aside. With his customary zeal, he fancied that if they all got to work they might in a short time bore through the barrier.
"Be careful there!" warned Jack, as the action of the "busy bee" dislodged several other masses of rock, and Jimmy had a narrow escape from being crushed.
"Yes," added Ned, hastily, "better leave that alone for the present, Jimmy. For every pound you take away three will drop down, becauseyou can see how the shock has loosened everything above you."
"But my stars! we ain't goin' to stand for being sealed up here like a lot of old mummies, are we?" gasped Jimmy. "Why, whatever would we do for grub; and then a feller wants to have a fresh drink every once in a while? Ned, we've justgotto break out of this!"
"You bet we do!" added Frank, who did not like the bitter prospect any more than the one who was putting up such a savage protest.
"Tell me, how you're going to do it then," said Teddy.
Neither of the scouts answered. The fact of the matter was that while they were so vehement in their declaration not to stand, they did not have the least idea how the trouble might be remedied.
As usually happened, it became more and more evident that they must depend on Ned to lead them out of the wilderness. Instead of talking he had been doing some hard thinking; and was now able to suggest a plan.
"I don't know whether there can be anything in it boys," Ned started in to say, "but it seems queer that they should shut their companions up in here with us, if there wasn't some other means for escaping. Our plan then is to hurry back, and try to get in touch with that giant and hisbunch. By now they'll have taken warning, and be hustling for the open air."
"Whee! then we'd better be on the jump," Jimmy jerked out.
All of them saw the necessity for prompt action. Now that Ned had suggested such a possibility they could understand how it might be just as he said. And if those toilers were already making in hot haste for the second exit, the sooner the scouts got close in touch with them the better.
They had already been over this ground two times, so that they should know it fairly by now. Every fellow had his electric light in service, gripping it in one hand, while his gun was held in the other.
In this fashion, then, they reached the bend around which they had peered at the trio of industrious "salt" workers.
All was as black as a pocket there now.
"Why, they're gone!" burst out Jimmy, just as though he had an idea the miners, after hearing the horrible crash of the explosion, would be kind enough to linger there, so as to show the intruders the back door of the mine.
"Keep right on going," said Ned, "we've got to overtake them, if we can do it."
"Guess, that'll save more or less trouble in the end," admitted Jack; while Teddy andFrank were heard to mutter their approval of the scheme.
Indeed, it was a rare occurrence for any of the scouts to radically differ from their leader. Somehow, Ned Nestor seemed capable of judging things just right, and these comrades tried and true had come to rely on his way of looking at the solving of knotty problems as well nigh perfect.
They passed the place where the men had been working. Perhaps some of the lads might have been glad of a chance to stop and see how this clever trick of making a mine appear ten times more valuable than it really was, could be carried out; but there was no time for delay now.
On they rushed.
The channel seemed to be so fashioned up to now that they were not compelled to make any choice between rival passages. There had been no such thing as going astray. But shortly afterwards they came to a fork, where a second fissure gaped before them.
Now came the question, which way had the three men gone in order to reach the friendly exit they were acquainted with? Jimmy would have perhaps thrown up a copper cent and trusted to "heads or tails" to settle the matter for him; but this was not the happy-go-lucky way Ned had of deciding.
Of course, it would have been an easy thingfor him to have settled in his mind which way the workings of the mine lay. All that was necessary was to look and see which passage showed many marks of loads of ore having been carried along it, portions of which had fallen from the wheel-barrows.
But this would not tell them whether the men had fled by that passage or along the other one. Just then they were bent on chasing after the three miners, and not hunting for the spot from which ore had been taken.
Ned had an idea. These usually came to him like flashes of light, and might almost be called happy inspirations.
He remembered that just after the tremendous crash several of the boys had been half choked by the cloud of dust in the air. He himself had had some difficulty in breathing, and refraining with an effort from coughing. That gave him the thought upon which he hastened to act; and it was here that his Boy Scout training stood him in good stead.
Immediately bending down he held his electric torch to the flat rock that constituted the floor of the passage where it forked, and just as he suspected would be the case, he discovered that a very thin layer of dust had covered the place after the explosion.
While there was not much of this, at the same time, it would allow a pair of keen eyes to discoverfootprints, providing they had been madeafterthe layer had settled.
Ned's chums watched his every move almost breathlessly. They immediately understood what he expected to do, and while not very sanguine of success, still they hoped for the best.
They saw Ned start to move slowly along. He continued to hold his light close to the rock, and waved it slightly from side to side, as though bent on covering as much ground as possible. But the fact that he did advance showed them that he must be meeting with some success.
Another step did Ned take, then a third and a fourth. The boys began to breathe freely again, for hope had once more taken root in their breasts. They saw that he was showing confidence, as though he had no longer any doubt of his ability to decide the enigma.
Even Jimmy remembered reading about the visit of the Queen of Sheba to the wise Solomon, when he ruled as king, bearing a wreath of natural flowers in one hand and another that was artificial, but so skilfully done that no eye could detect the difference, and then asked him to decide. The wise king had simply ordered a window to be opened, and a lot of bees, searching for honey, soon settled on the right flowers.
That was the commonsense way in which Ned Nestor usually settled knotty problems.
"The trail in the dust runs along the smaller passage, that does not lead to the worked part of the mine," he said; "and so it's up to us to hustle after the three men. So come on boys, and let's hope we get to the open air soon!"
CHAPTER XI.A SUCCESSFUL SORTIE.
The success which had attended Ned's efforts thus far encouraged the scouts very much indeed. Little things often carry considerable weight, especially when boys are concerned. Besides, there are times when even a thistle down will point to the way the wind is blowing. And a small success spelled greater things in store for them.
Accordingly, they all hurried as fast as the conditions would allow. Fortunately, there were few obstructions in the way to give them cause for trouble. Here and there they discovered a slight fissure, in which Ned warned them to be careful not to catch a foot, lest they get a bad wrench that might even amount to a sprain.
Once or twice Ned thought it best to make doubly sure by halting long enough to lower his light, and take another quick look at the floor. What he saw appeared to encourage him greatly; at least the other scouts knew when he once more continued the forward progress, that it was all right.
And it may be easily believed that the two experienced guides had watched all these goings-on withconsiderable curiosity, as well as satisfaction. It was in a line with their practical woods education, so that they could appreciate what Ned set out to accomplish.
The Indian had grunted his approval as soon as he saw the boy get down on his knees to look for a trail in the slight layer of dust; while Francois could have been heard chuckling to himself at a great rate, showing how tickled he felt over the smartness of the patrol leader.
"Say, don't you feel something like a breath of fresh air?" asked Jimmy, when they had been pushing along for several minutes in this rapid manner.
"Yes, you're right about that," admitted Jack.
"Oh, I felt it before Jimmy said a single word," Teddy remarked. "I was sucking it in for all I was worth, because after that dust got to going, it's been hard to breathe at all."
"Must be the outlet, don't you think, Ned?" questioned Frank.
"We'll all hope so," came the reply from the leader.
"P'raps the three men may be hanging around meaning to keep us from rushing the exit, if we happen to come along that way?" Jimmy next advanced; for his mind was so fashioned that he could think of more objections in a minute than would occur to any one else in an hour.
"Well, they'll wish they had'nt, then," saidJack, belligerently. "All told, we're seven against three; and what with our guns, we ought to put up a pretty stiff sort of a battle."
"Well, I guess so," grunted Jimmy, immediately appeased by the prospect of action, which always satisfied a certain longing in his soul; for doubtless the ancestors of the Irish boy had once fought at Donnybrook Fair in the Old Country.
The atmosphere certainly grew fresher as they continued to push forward. This fact told them they must be approaching an opening where the outer air managed to gain ingress to the fissure.
Then they noticed that it was no longer so intensely dark as it had heretofore been. Ned concluded that it would be policy for them to lessen the illumination they were making with their torches.
"Shut off your light, Jimmy, Teddy and Frank," he told them.
Nobody asked why this must be done. They had learned the lesson of implicit obedience to those in authority, as every scout has to do before he can qualify for any honors, or medals, or rise from being a tenderfoot to the place of a second or first-class scout.
Indeed, doubtless, most of the boys guessed the answer as soon as Ned gave the order, for they were a quick-witted lot. They could reason it out that the less illumination they caused, themore chance for them to attain their end, which was to burst out of the back door of the mine, and make their escape.
"I see it!" Jack exclaimed, as he caught sight of a dazzling mark ahead, which must be the sunlight shining beyond the black tunnel or fissure.
The prospect of a speedy release cheered them wonderfully. It served to even quicken their steps, though they had already been making fair progress.
"Only one thing to bother about now, eh, Ned?" Frank asked.
"That's all," came the terse reply, for Ned was busily engaged keeping his eyes fixed on the opening, that was gradually growing wider, and possibly trying to make up his mind what chance there was of finding it unguarded.
"If those three huskies are waiting beyond, ready to give us a volley when we poke our noses out, we'll have a battle royal on our hands, let me tell you," Teddy announced as his opinion.
There was nothing new in that, for all the others had guessed the same thing, before he spoke. At the same time it caused them to clutch their weapons with more determination than ever, after Teddy had voiced their sentiments in this way. They were now so near the exit that Ned first asked Jack to "douse his glim," and shortly afterwards followed suit himself.
There was no further necessity for artificial light, since enough of the natural kind sifted in through that opening.
Ned gave a word of caution just then.
"Carefully, now!"
They fairly crept up to the gap in the rocks, and looked out. It was possible to see for some little distance beyond the opening. They saw bushes, and piled-up rocks in abundance, behind which there might be enemies hiding.
Ned turned to Francois.
"Find out if there is anybody waiting there, Francois!" he simply said, knowing that the other was perfectly capable of doing what he was told.
It pleased the old voyageur to be called upon in a crisis. He immediately crept forward on hands and knees. They saw him take his slouch hat from his head and fix it on the end of his gun barrel; after which he thrust it forward until it was in plain sight without the exit of the mine.
A prompt response met this challenge. They heard the sudden spiteful crack of a gun, but as Ned had cautioned them to seek shelter behind various outcropping spurs of rock, no damage was done.
"Gee! it knocked Francois' hat off all right, believe me!" exclaimed Jimmy, after he had raised his head cautiously, much as a turtle would have done.
The guide made no effort to recover his headgear. He had instantly looked out after the shot came, as meaning to learn where the marksman was located, so that he could return the compliment of his fire.
A puff of gray smoke told him this fact, and without even waiting for orders Francois leveled his own gun and blazed away.
"Oh! listen to that, would you?" cried Jimmy, as they heard a bellow of mingled pain and rage break forth from the thicket into which the bullet from the voyageur's rifle had sped like a flash.
"Down again, mebbe more shoot!" the Cree guide was heard to call out; andapparentlyhe read the signs correctly, for hardly had the scouts "ducked" once more than there was a crash of two guns, telling that the entire force of the enemy must be opposed to them.
This time Jimmy could not be restrained. He had been fairly burning to get in some active work, and without even waiting for orders, he began to rattle off the shots from his repeating gun, in rapid-fire style.
He had taken pattern from the method adopted by Francois, and sent his lead in the direction where he saw wreaths of smoke curling forth. Teddy and Frank also felt savage enough at being fired on without warning to give back a single shot apiece, but the other two held their ammunition.
If they meant to rush the exit now was the time to do it, Ned knew. It would be folly to wait until the enemy had recovered from the confusion into which they may have been thrown by this volley.
"Now, charge, and scatter all you can; so as to keep from being hit!" called out Ned, as he sprang for the opening.
They burst out with a cheer, as though under the impression that in this way it might be possible to send further dismay into the hearts of the three men who had, of course, been compelled to either fly, or else lie low while the shooting was going on.
There were a couple of shots, but sent in under such conditions that they failed to find a billet, and were wasted. Those who fired were possibly more concerned about their own safety just then, than the chances of cutting down any of the exploring party.
Led by Ned, they swept over the open space and plunged into the wilderness of rocks and scraggy brush beyond. One look the patrol leader gave, after they found themselves in the shelter of the screening bushes.
"Anybody hit?" he asked, anxiously.
"Don't know for sure," spoke up Frank, "but something seemed to burn my leg, at the time they fired; and, by George! look what happened to my fine kahki trousers, would you?"
He pointed to a tear that could be plainly seen, showing where a bullet had gashed the tough material in passing.
"Sure you're not badly hurt, Frank?" asked Jack, solicitously.
"Hardly brought blood!" declared the wounded scout, with a tinge of delight in his voice, for it was worth while to know that you had been touched by a bullet, and even have the evidence to show for it, without any painful consequences to follow.
"Lucky feller!" said Jimmy, somewhat jealous of the honor this was going to bestow upon the other, when the story of the raid was told later on.
"But we mustn't stay here," Ned told them. "Keep your eyes all around, and if you are sure you glimpse anybody following after us, give him your compliments; only remember that you're scouts, and make it as easy as you can for the poor wretch."
"He won't know it if I hit him!" Jimmy went on to say; nor did anybody stop to ask him to explain more fully what he meant.
The fact that they were leaving the mine for good did not seem to cause any of the party the least distress of mind. They had come and looked it over, and Ned had learned all he wanted, in order to make a comprehensive report.The sooner they left the vicinity, the better all of them would be pleased.
To reach their canoes again, they would have to cover considerable ground; and that caused Jimmy to wince, for he was not reckoned as good a walker as most of his mates.
Secretly, he was hoping that some other plan might appeal to Ned, such as hiding their trail, and resting up in some snug retreat over night, when they would be in good shape to complete the journey in the morning.
It was now a question as to just how they were to conduct their retreat so as to avoid the risk of being pelted with bullets by the three miners, reinforced by any others who may have been in the tent village.
Ned was only too glad to leave this pretty much in the hands of Francois, whose practical experience was worth much more than any theory that could be studied out of scout books.
The French Canadian voyageur quickly understood what was expected of him, after he had received the signal. Although the boys had been in his company for weeks now, they had never seen him so alert and active. He seemed to be watching every angle of the compass at the same moment, and twice raised his gun and fired backward, as though he had discovered some lurking foe.
That this was far from imagination they sawwhen the second shot came; for hardly had it echoed through the hills than a form was seen to rush into view, and a man in rough clothes flashed across an open space, holding to his left arm, as though he might have received the guide's lead in that shoulder.
"You pinked him, Francois, sure you did that time!" cried Jimmy excitedly; "don't I just wish I had your quick eyes, though? I didn't see a single thing moving up there; but you did, Francois. Old Eagle Eye I'm going to call you after this. Oh! why don't one of 'em step out, and let me take a snapshot at him?"
It seemed as though the others were not that obliging, for while several shots were fired, without doing the explorers any damage, Jimmy could see nothing of the men who used their guns. He, finally, being unable to stand it any longer, sent a couple of shots at the spot where he saw smoke rising, after another fusilade had come.
"Guess I'm on the blink when it comes to sharpshooting," bemoaned Jimmy; "why, at this rate, I'll never get the stock of my trusty rifle covered with notches, to show the number of ferocious pirates I've bowled over. It's a measly shame, that's all."
At any rate, they seemed to be making a successful "getaway," as Jack called it; because they were gradually leaving these hidden marksmenfurther and further behind. The next shot showed that the handler of the gun was quite some distance away. He must have taken more pains to aim, however, than up to now had been the case, for immediately the "ping" of the bullet was plainly heard as it winged its flight only a short distance above their heads, flattening out against the face of the rock beyond.
This thing of being under fire was no new experience with these scouts. They had on several occasions heard lead sing past their ears; but, all the same, none of them enjoyed the sensation very much. It was apt to cause a shiver or a feeling as of being put in connection with a galvanic battery.
"Seems like we've left that crowd in the lurch," Teddy remarked, a few minutes later, as they began to reach more regular ground, where the going promised to be considerably easier.
"Yes," added Jack, "and the most we have to fear after this is meeting up with the other lot that waited for us on the lower river. They may have grown tired of laying around, or else got wind of our change of plans, so that right now they are crossing to the mine!"
"Look!" said the Cree guide, pointing backward; and immediately the scouts saw three columns of very black smoke ascending straight toward the sky.
CHAPTER XII.THE TALKING SMOKE.
"Well, I declare if they don't use the same sort of signals the scouts do down our way!" exclaimed Jimmy, looking rather disgusted, as though he had caught some one stealing his thunder.
Ned had to laugh at the blank expression of his assistant's face.
"Why, Jimmy," he said, "you forget that the scout movement is only half a dozen years old. It began after the Boer war, when General Baden-Powell saw what a great thing it would be for the whole British Nation, if every boy learned a thousand things about all creation, useful things at that. And, Jimmy, don't forget that smoke was used to signal with for hundreds of years before ever the white man landed on the shores of America."
"Say, that's right, Ned, they always made fires with their flints, didn't they? And these men up here, hunters, trappers, or whatever they may be, inherited the Injun way of sending messages. Sure, I knew it all along. The only trouble with me is I go and forget things. Butwhat d'ye think they are doin' sending out that old smoke signal?"
"They've got friends within seeing distance, because smoke can be sighted many miles away, especially when it rises as straight as it's doing now," Jack ventured to interpose.
"The crowd over on the Harricanaw River, you mean?" demanded Jimmy.
"Yes."
"Then they'll be apt to know we gave 'em the slip, won't they?" the freckled faced scout continued.
"I suppose they will, because you notice that every now and then the smoke seems to stop," Ned answered. "As a scout in good standing, Jimmy, you ought to know how that's done."
"Two fellers swing a blanket over the smoking wood and smother it for a bit, to send up another big puff. Yes, that's what they call talking. Letters are formed by the puffs of smoke, just as we do the same with the wigwag flags, or the piece of looking-glass in the sun, when we heliograph."
"And right now, somewhere or other, one or more of those men must be reading out the message, letter by letter," said the patrol leader seriously, while they continued to walk on.
"It won't take long to tell how we happened to show up at the mine, and took a nice little saunter through the same, seeing how fine itwas being cured—I mean salted," Teddy interrupted, thinking that Jimmy had done more than his full share of the cross questioning, and ought to give place to some one else.
"I shouldn't think it would," agreed Ned.
"I wonder now if the men over on the river will guess what happened, and how we must have left our boats secreted somewhere above?" ventured Frank.
"That is something we have no means of telling," Ned informed him; "but since it might happen, we'll have to keep a sharp lookout on the way across country. We might fall into ambush, and either be shot down or else made prisoners."
"I don't know which would be worse," grumbled Jimmy.
"Whew! what if they should happen on our, canoes, after all the trouble we took to hide the same?" suggested Jack, looking as solemn as an owl.
"The walking is fairly decent all the way from Hudson Bay to Montreal, barring a dozen rivers to cross, a score of bogs miles and miles around, some pretty hefty mountain chains to pass over, and some more troubles too silly to mention," was the way Jimmy made light of the possible calamity.
Ned himself knew that it would be a terrible mishap should anything like this come to pass.He had thought it all over more than once, and even mapped out several plans for their guidance in case of such an event.
Walking back was next to an utter impossibility. They might manage with the aid of Francios and the Cree Indian to manufacture some sort of canoes, providing the proper kind of bark was to be procured this far north, which he doubted very much. Besides this, there was a slender chance that they might signal to some whaling vessel on the great bay and procure a berth for each of them aboard, so as to be landed at Halifax or Montreal, anywhere so that they could use the telegraph, and keep Mr. Bosworth and his company from investing a dollar in the wonderful copper mine, until the scouts reached home again.
So Ned, having looked further ahead than any of his chums, was not so much impressed by the gravity of the threatening evil, in case they did lose their highly valued canoes. He would begrudge the loss of his blanket and some other articles more than anything else, as they had memories connected with them of dead and gone events, in which he and some of the other boys of the trip had figured.
As they pushed on every little while they could catch glimpses of the talking smoke signals in the rear. Doubtless the fire that was supplying the smoke for this method of communicatingwith the distant posse had been built on the side of the hill in which the mine lay. That would account for their being able to see it for such length of time.
"Must be giving a whole history of theawfuldisaster," Jimmy muttered, after he had turned for the sixth time to see the smoke still waving in fantastic wreaths against the sky.
"Slow-pokes, that's what," ventured Teddy. "Why, when I was a mere tenderfoot I could send messages better than that."
"Don't find fault," advised Jack. "The longer it takes the signal man to send on his news, the better chance we'll have of slipping away before any trap can be laid or sprung, don't you see?"
"And as we're first-class scouts," said Jimmy, boastfully, "why, we're able to beat such dubs, with one hand tied behind our backs."
Perhaps all the others agreed with the speaker, even though no one voiced his sentiments just then. Jimmy was well calculated to do all the boasting for an entire party on occasion; but then he meant all he said.
Pretty soon Frank made a discovery that caused him to break loose and voice his surprise.
"Why, Ned, we don't seem to be heading down towards the big bay?" he observed.
"That's right, Frank," came the quiet answer.
"But I thought we'd surely have to follow thetrail back there, just as we came?" Frank continued, as though sorely perplexed.
"We would," the patrol leader informed him, "if we were going back the same way we came, because it would be necessary to get in touch with our blazed trail, meaning all those landmarks we noted so carefully when coming on."
"What's that, did we have all that trouble for nixey?" blurted out Jimmy.
"Don't say for nothing, Jimmy," urged Ned; "because when you've gone to work and stored a lot of things up in your mind like we did, you've been exercising your memory, and that's always a splendid thing to do. We certainly noticed a bunch of queer growths in the woods as we came along, though it's hardly likely any of us will ever set eyes on them again."
"But why the change, Ned, if you don't object to telling us?" asked Jack.
"It's only right you should know why I took it on myself to do this," replied the other, modestly; "and then if anybody objects, and explains on what grounds he bases his kick, perhaps it won't be too late to turn out and find the blazed trail yet."
"Proceed, please," urged Frank.
"I thought that since our presence here is known, that those at the mine would be able in some way to communicate with the dozen or more rascals over at the river. And there wouldalways be a pretty strong chance of our being waylaid while on the road back to the boats. If any one found our trail that would make it a foregone conclusion. And so I thought we'd be wise to start in fresh."
"I saw you consulting your compass many times, while on the way over, Ned," and this remark from Frank caused the patrol leader to smile and nod in the affirmative.
"Which tells me you've got your location all down pat," continued Frank, energetically. "Right now, if I asked you, chances are you'd be able to point straight in the direction where the river lies; yes, and straight at our boats. Is that correct, Ned?"
For answer, the other raised his hand and pointed.
"What direction would you say lies right there, Frank?" he asked.
Frank had to turn his head and observe the position of the sun, as well as do considerable mental figuring, before feeling able to make answer; which would indicate that he had been caught napping, and was not so well prepared as a wide-awake scout should always be.
"Let's see," he went on to say, slowly; "according to my calculations that ought to be not more than a point away from due east."
"It is exactly east, and the river lies there;" Ned pursued, confidently; and no one had everbeen able to catch him in an error when it came to topography, for the patrol leader had very few equals in studying the lay of the land. "Of course, our canoes lie some little distance above; so that pretty soon we'll begin to shift our line of travel more to the southeast. I have strong hopes that when we do strike the Harricanaw, it will be close to the boats."
"And going this way is shorter than following the back trail away down to the bay, and then picking up our other course from there?" Teddy ventured to say; nor was his proposition disputed by even the one who objected so often, Jimmy.
"I'm only sorry for one thing," this latter scout said, presently.
"I bet you now he's going to tip off that silly, old story again about the vanishing fleet of vessels out on Hudson Bay, and say he did hope we might crack that hard nut while we were up here," Frank told them, whereat Jimmy slapped him vigorously on the back, and exclaimed:
"You'd better get a punkin and hollow out half for a skull cap, Frank. Then you could go and sit in the market-place and pass for a seer; because now and then you do have a bright thought, and actually guess something. That was just what bothered Jimmy McGraw, sure it was. If we go away from here and leave that mystery unsolved, who's ever agoin' to do it,tell me that? Don't they kinder look to the scouts to do anything and everything these here days, that other folks can't just manage. Huh! ain't ever a child wanders away from home and gets lost in the woods, but what they send out a call, not for the fire company, like they used to do; but it's 'the scouts c'n find poor little Jennie; let the scouts get on the track, and in three shakes of a lamb's tail, they'll have the child safe at home!'"
"Well, there's a whole lot of truth in what you say, Jimmy, though none of us ought to be given to boasting," Jack declared, proudly; "I've helped findthree lost children, two old menwho were out of their minds and had wandered away from home, about sixteen stray cows, a horse, too, and even had a hand in killing that big mad dog that came down the street of the Long Island town where I spent one of my vacations some years ago."
"Good for the Black Bear Patrol," said Jimmy; "which makes me feel sicker than ever, because we've got to go back home, without having a shot at that punk old mystery of Hudson Bay. We could find out all about it, you take my word for it, Jack. Put five fellers as smart as this bunch onto anything that's cooked up, for some reason or other, and they're bound to unearth the game. Once I helped gather in the biggest lot of bogus money-makers,with Ned here, that you ever set your lamps on. D'ye know, deep down in my heart, I've got a hunch that this queer fleet that comes and goes like it was made up of ghost craft, will turn out to be something like that. You'll sure find that men are back of it that don't want to be seen at too close range; though what under the sun they're adoin' away up here gets me."
About this time Ned gave the signal that called for less noise; and Jimmy was, in consequence, compelled to bottle up some of wonder and disappointment. He had perhaps, hoped to get a "rise" after his dextrous cast, and in this way learn what one or more of his mates thought about the matter. As it was he continued to ponder, look solemn, and occasionally shake his head, as though unable to decide on any settled course.
"Don't believe we'll have any more jogging from those three men we tracked," Teddy went on to say, a little later; "because two of them must have got hurt, if yells speak for anything. I wonder if Jimmy's black pirate chieftain was one of the potted victims."
"He wasn't that one we saw come out holding on to his arm, like he thought he'd be likely to lose the same," Jimmy informed him. "That was the man dressed like a hunter, wearing a buckskin coat and fringed trousers. Gee! I thought thatsort of stuff had all gone up the spout since khaki came in for woods' use?"
"Oh! well," Jack reminded him, "just remember where you are, and that there are men up here who still think Queen Victoria is sitting on the English throne, because they never get in touch with civilization. Life with them is only eat and sleep, and sell a few furs in the spring, to the factor at a post of the Hudson Bay Company, which they spend for ammunition, whiskey and such necessities. The skins they take, furnish them with clothes, moccasins, and even caps. Can you beat it, for a life without worry?"
"Give me the white man's burden, every time; if a lot of other things go with it, like we get at a supper down at Coney Island in the good old summer time," was Frank's idea.
Strange, how boys will let their thoughts stray back to other fields, even when facing peril in the Canada bush. To hear these lads talk, one would never think that they were at the same time keeping a constant lookout for enemies, who would be apt to deal harshly with them because Ned and his chums had outwitted the shrewd schemers owning the fake mine.
It was nearly half an hour later, when they discovered that smoke was also rising directly in the east. Evidently some of the men, over on the Harricanaw, were sending back an answer to the message in smoke, which had been thrownout against the sky, by those guarding the mine.
"Mebbe I don't wish I could read their old signals," declared Jimmy; "but, I just can't. They've got a different code to the one the scouts use, which makes it all Chocktaw to me. If anybody can give a guess what they're saying, put us wise, please."