“Oh! my stars!”
That was what George said, in a faint voice, as though he was very nearly overcome, after taking his look into the box, Jack holding the same most obligingly all the while.
Of course, even this did not have any effect upon Josh, who was next in line. In fact, if anything, it served to spur him on to all the sooner get his peep-in; wondering at the same time what it could be.
Buster heard Josh give a gasp, as he bent his head down. It must be something wonderfully fetching, to influence all of the boys in that queer way. And consequently Buster, impatient for his turn, actually put out his hand and shoved Josh out of the way.
No sooner had he looked than he too gave evidence of being nearly overcome.
“Great governor! somebody hold me. I’m going to faint!” was what Buster whispered; and this suspicious remark made Andy want to get out of line, only that Herb, coming last,would not allow such a thing, but actually shoved the other up until he just had to do his duty and look.
Andy threw up both hands as he exclaimed, perhaps in a louder voice than was really discreet:
“Tare and ounds! Be the powers, ’tware a grave afther all, so it was!”
“What’s that?” quivered from the lips of Herb, as he now hesitated in turn.
“Come on, don’t hang back like that, Herb; you’ve just got to see!” ventured Josh, laying hold of the other’s sleeve, and commencing to drag him forward.
It was like the boy who jumps into the pond so early in the spring that he is nearly frozen stiff; but whoever heard of him confessing to the fact; while his comrades hesitate on the bank he puts on the most angelic face possible, and declares that the water is “as warm as anything;” until he has coaxed them all in; for misery loves company, they tell us.
So Herb had to do his duty, and look.
“Good gracious, why, it’s only a little puppy dog after all!” broke from his white lips, as he stood there and stared.
“That’s just what it is,” replied Jack. “And after all, that fellow spoke what he meant, whenwe thought he referred to another sort of treasure. This must have been his pet.”
“But Jack darlint,” broke in Andy, “phat d’ye think he wanted to bury this ki-yi on the island for at all, at all?”
“What for?” echoed Buster, before Jack could say a word, “why, because the little beast had gone and kicked the bucket—died on him—you know.”
“Must have been a pet dog,” suggested Josh, “’cause we heard him say he felt bad at putting the thing underground. Say, Jack, d’ye think now, the little beast could a got hurt that night when they broke into the Lawrence bank and looted it? P’raps somebody fired at the thieves and hit the pup; or it might a got hold of rat poison somehow.”
“Quit your guessing, Josh; what does it matter to us how the poor little beast came to his end?” demanded George, who had a liking for dogs himself, and seemed to feel less hilarity than any of the rest, once the shock of the discovery, and their own disappointment wore away.
Jack was for taking it as a joke at his expense.
“Say, just think of that splendid sneak of mine wasted,” he remarked, sadly. “And allfor this, too. I’ve got half a notion to crawl back again, and bury the poor little wretch over, just to pay for making such a mistake.”
“But hold on,” Herb observed, “this doesn’t mean that the two over yonder ain’t what we took ’em to be, does it? There’s the white boat, you know, with the red trimming; didn’t Jack tell us he could see it plain enough anchored close to the shore? Just because they put a little pet dog underground don’t make ’em better, I reckon, eh, Jack?”
Jack did not reply immediately. The old doubts were commencing to work double time with him. He was beginning to question the truth of their solution of the problem. Again he could see the face of the younger fellow, who had seemed to be hardly more than a boy. Was that affectation only assumed? Might it not be a part of the nature of the fellow after all? Was he a desperate crook, who was able to put on an air of innocence; or could it be possible they had made a tremendous mistake, and that he was a pampered son of some rich man, cruising in his fine motorboat, with a mechanic as crew to do the rough work, while he played his part as skipper of the craft?
Yes, Jack was now in the Doubting Thomas class. He shook his head, and seemed to betrying to figure things out, as he laid the box on the ground, and covered it temporarily with the lid which had taken him so long to pry off.
“And if they are the bank thieves,” Herb went on to say, “what d’ye suppose they could have done with all that stuff they took away? Think they buried the same before they got here to this island, Jack, or could it still be on board the little white boat right now?”
“Oh! yes, that’s the stuff; how about it, Jack?” George went on to add.
“We sure did fall all over ourselves in making this blunder,” admitted Josh, “and it’s up to us now to get busy and try to make things square.”
“Of course,” said Jack, slowly, as though he might be revolving this last idea in his mind, “that’s possible. If these are the right men, and they’ve not got rid of the plunder up to now, why, it stands to reason it would be somewhere on board, that’s right.”
“But seems to me, Jack,” remarked Herb, suspiciously, “you’re beginning to hedge a heap. Just a little while ago you were dead sure these fellows must be the two robbers. Now you say ‘if they are.’ How’s that? Didn’t you see their boat, and wasn’t it just what thatnewspaper account said the suspicious craft looked like.”
“Boys, I admit all that,” the other went on to say, “but if you stop and think, the article in the paper didn’t say positively that the white boat belonged to the bold bank thieves—only that it had been seen hanging around, like it might be in hiding, and they thought it must have for a crew the two yeggs who broke into the Lawrence bank. There’s some difference, you’ll admit between making a positive statement, and just guessing things.”
“Well, for one, I still believe they are the men that are wanted,” said George, to prove that he had not been convinced otherwise.
“I think so, too,” added Josh.
“And for one now,” added impetuous George, boldly. “I’d like nothing better than to sneak that boat of theirs away while they sleep. What d’ye say to that, fellows, ain’t it worth considering?”
For a minute no one replied. The audacity of the proposition staggered them, it seemed; and yet as is nearly always the case with boys, it appealed to the love of mischief and the daring that somehow seems to be a part of their nature.
“Say that would be a great stunt, now,” said Josh.
Buster drew a long breath as he went on to say:
“George, you ain’t so very bad a hand at laying out a game after all. Whee! just think how they’d rub their eyes, and stare, when they woke up in the morning, and went to look for the jolly old white boat, which wouldn’t be there.”
George began to feel his importance. After all, Jack could not have a monopoly of engineering things; once in a great while some other fellow was apt to have an inspiration; and it seemed to be his turn just then.
“You seem to think well of my little scheme?” he remarked, proudly.
“Jack, how do you feel about it?” asked cautious Herb, not noticing that the other had as yet made no comment; which, in some boys might have signified that they were feeling jealous; but everybody knew Jack Stormways could not allow such a thought to enter his head.
“Do you want to know my idea, George?” asked Jack, frankly.
“I sure do,” came the reply.
“Well, I’ll tell you,” the other went on to say. “It would be a great stunt to carry off this white boat, if only we were sure the parties are the robbers. But stop and think whatwe’d be up against if they were innocent parties. Why, they could have us arrested for stealing their craft; and what excuse would we have to offer? The old gag about not knowing it was loaded wouldn’t pass in court. We’d get a heavy fine, even if it wasn’t worse. This is a time when it’ll pay us to be sure before we go ahead.”
“Huh! p’raps you’re right, Jack,” grunted Josh, already beginning to weaken before this sort of logic.
George did not open his mouth, but he was always willing to listen to what Jack had to say; for the other never gloried in showing any of his comrades up as being in the wrong.
“But the principal thing of all, and which we’d have to find out first, before thinking of hooking the boat, would be to know whether they expect to sleep ashore, or aboard,” Jack went on to say.
At that Buster tittered.
“Think what a cheeky thing it’d be,” he remarked, softly, “if we ran away with the boat, and then found that we’d kidnapped a couple of innocent ducklings, one of them mamma’s darling boy! Whew! mebbe we wouldn’t feel cheap though!”
“Oh!” said Jack, “then you’ve been thinkingthat this terrible Slim Jim, the dandy hobo, might be somebody else, have you, Buster? Well, I tell you what we ought to do, boys—hang around, and watch that pair some more. If they begin to get the camp ready as though they meant to stay ashore tonight, we can talk it over again, and decide whether we’ll play George’s trick or not with the boat. How?”
“I say leave it that way,” ventured Josh, now completely won over.
“I’m agreeable,” George hastened to say, for he was not altogether unreasonable in anything save that troublesome engine aboard his Wireless; and in that quarter he would never take advice from any one until in difficulties; he knew it all.
And so it was arranged.
They could creep up, and from their old place of observation keep an eye on the two who were under suspicion; and in this way something might arise whereby they would be able to tell definitely whether they would be justified in going to extremes, or ought to keep their hands off.
Even as they started to once more advance toward the spot where the camp fire burned, they began to hear a strange clanking sound, as of steel smiting steel, that gave them new cause for wonder.
“What in the wide world’s that?” asked Buster Longfellow, as they came to a halt in order to listen.
“Sounds like somebody’s started a blacksmith shop over here on the island, that’s what!” remarked Josh.
“Mebbe they’re counting over the ducats they’ve stolen,” suggested George; but the idea of silver dollars making such a loud sound as this as they jingled in a heap, was really so ridiculous that even Buster chuckled in derision; whereupon George had to hastily add “joke!”
“Tell you what I think,” observed wise Herb. “You know they were having some engine trouble a while back; and I reckon that mechanic fellow has got busy fixing it up. The only thing that surprises me is that George here didn’t recognize something mighty familiar in the racket. He’s forever making it himself, so if I didn’t know he was alongside, I’d take my affidavy that was him right now.”
“Huh! think yourself smart to make fun ofmy twelve-horse power engine, don’t you, Herb?” he started to say, and would doubtless have delivered himself of considerably more along the same lines, only that Jack broke in by observing:
“All the same, Herb is right, there; for the man is aboard the boat and working away at the motor. He’s some machinist, believe me, from the way he goes about things. And there’s the other one going aboard too; wonder what that means?”
Watching they presently saw the younger fellow come in sight again, and step to the bank of the island from the power tied-up and anchored boat.
“Got an armful of blankets?” asserted Josh, immediately.
“That settles one thing, then,” came from George.
“Yes, they’re going to make camp ashore, and pass the night on firm ground,” Jack admitted. “Perhaps they like the change, as we do. Plenty of times when you just have to sleep aboard the boat, you know.”
“And p’raps,” George went on, “we’ll be trying out my little bit of a scheme, after all.”
“Nobody knows,” Jack assured them.
They made themselves as easy as possible,and took up their vigil, not knowing how long it might last.
Back and forth the younger fellow went, until he had carried a great lot of articles, calculated to induce a comfortable night’s rest ashore. Then he started in to fix things to suit him, taking a part of the blankets.
“That settles it,” whispered Jack, to Herb, who was next, “he’s a greenhorn, as far as camping goes.”
“Yep, guess he is,” assented the other, although, if put to the test, Herb might have found it difficult to explain on what he founded his belief.
“See where he’s gone and arranged his blankets,” Jack continued. “There, he’s trying to see how they feel; and would you look at his head toward the fire. No experienced camper ever does that, because it’s his feet that get cold in the night, so he always has them closest to the fire.”
“Sure!” agreed Herb, just as though he had always known that fact, when in truth it had never occurred to him before.
“He fetched some grub with him the last time he came!” whispered George, on the other side of Jack, “and if anybody asked me what that stood for I’d be likely to say it meant theywere going to stay on dry land a little while, till they get that engine working that’s what.”
“Well, that isn’t going to be long,” remarked Josh in turn as there came a series of explosions from aboard the boat, that sounded as regularly as clockwork. “He’s got her working now, all right, I guess.”
“Then he must be a crack-a-jack of a mechanic,” observed George, thoughtfully, as though a vague idea had come into his head that it might pay him to get such a man to look over his engine, given the chance.
“But I haven’t seen any paint—yet,” remarked Buster, obstinately.
“Well, what would they want to get busy with that for at night time?” Josh asked him. “If they put in tomorrow hiding here on the island you’ll see enough of paint slingin’ to suit you, Buster, believe me. They’ll want to get the boat partly up out of the water on some skids, using block and tackle to drag her; and then so change her looks that nobody’ll recognize her as the same suspicious white boat that took the bank’s cash away.”
After that they fell silent for some time, meanwhile continuing to watch the two who were still objects of concern, not to say suspicion. The one ashore had crawled underhis blankets as though bent on getting fixed cozy for the night. He came out and went back three separate times. Now it was to arrange his covering a little differently; and again it was to draw the blankets back and dig out a root that must have started to hurt his back while lying there, as roots have a failing for doing with campers, especially the big gnarly ones that have a knob on them—every boy knows that without being told.
About the time he finally seemed fixed comfortably with the fire burning low not very far from his head the second one came ashore.
“How is she now, Jenks; I heard you give her a trial spin?” came a voice from among the collected heap of blankets which the intended sleeper had drawn over him.
“Workin’ tip-top, sir, right now,” replied the other; and somehow it seemed to the listening Jack that there was a vein of deference in his tones such as might hardly be expected to be disclosed when one cracksman addressed another, no matter if it was a Slim Jim, and a recognized master of the art of thievery.
“Then we’ve got that thing off our hands, Jenks,” the unseen one went on, every word reaching the ears of the listening boys, becausehe called out loudly, thinking his voice might be muffled by the blankets, “and we can take it easy tomorrow, with the other job, if we conclude to hide until darkness comes around again.”
“That’s right, sir, so we can,” assented the other, beginning to shift his blankets and make up his bed in the regulation way.
There was no more said.
Jack, watching Jenks, immediately decided that the man must have been in the open more or less, for he seemed to know just how to go about things; and his head was not toward the fire either, when he lay down. Still, he did not attempt to arrange the blaze so that it would keep up for many hours; perhaps he thought that since the other had incautiously placed his head that way it would be folly to keep the heat going, so as to roast him out.
And then at last both seemed to have successfully arranged themselves, for there was no longer any wriggling movements of the blankets that might stand for uneasiness.
“Think they’re asleep, Jack?” queried Herb, softly, as he touched the other gently on the arm.
“If they ain’t they’ll soon be,” mutteredGeorge, who had overheard the question and took it upon himself to answer.
“Wonder how much longer this game’s goin’ to keep up?” grumbled Josh; “my right leg’s nigh paralyzed as it is, and I’m gettin’ a crick in my back, Jack, what’s the best word?”
For reply he received a low warning hist that somehow thrilled Josh, and possibly some of the others as well. Immediately every one fastened his eyes on the two bundles of blankets near the dying fire, as though expecting to see some upheaval in that quarter; but nothing of the kind took place.
“What was it, Jack?” whispered Josh, wondering why the other had given that low warning, when there seemed to be no sign of trouble in the hostile camp.
“Something moving over yonder in the bushes; watch sharp, to the right, now!” was what came from the Commodore.
“Gee! mebbe a wild animal goin’ to raid the camp for grub!” Josh suggested.
“More’n likely the same hungry guy that carried off that ham of ours, that’s what,” Buster was just heard to say, deep down in his throat.
Then they lapsed into silence again; though all this talking had been conducted in such lowtones, that a short distance away any one would have taken it for granted that it could only be the night wind whispering through the branches of the trees overhead, not yet fully covered with the fresh green leaves that came with the spring.
Yes, there certainly was something moving over there, in the quarter which Jack had indicated. They could see the bushes beginning to bend again, but very slowly, as though the intended intruder tried to exercise great care, not meaning to arouse the sleepers.
Man or animal, they could not say immediately, for even when they first caught sight of the moving figure it was crouched so low that it could pass for either one or the other, in that uncertain light.
Every eye was riveted on it, that can be set down as positive. In fact, just at that minute all of the watchers seemed to be holding their very breath, such was their natural condition of suspense, as well as deep interest.
“Is it a panther, Jack; and have you got your Marlin ready?” Josh whispered in the other’s ear.
The only answer Jack made was to kick Josh on the shins; with that unknown thing creepingforward it seemed no time to be asking foolish questions. Josh evidently understood, for he hushed up immediately.
But then that might have been because all of them saw about this time that it was a man and not an animal, for he had raised his head, in order to take a sharp look toward the spot where the fire glimmered and the two figures were huddled in the piles of blankets.
Possibly the low murmur of Josh’s voice had reached the ears of the intruder, so as to arouse a slight suspicion; but if so, this must have been lulled to sleep again immediately he found that neither of the inanimate figures had changed position.
But when the man thus partly arose it disclosed the fact that he was a heavyset sort of a fellow, wearing a cap and that his face was partly covered with a beard. It did something more than this. When he stretched his neck to see the better a portion of his body was exposed to view.
Now, it was nothing strange that this unknown prowler wore a sweater, or that this was a fine soft gray woolen sweater, of the kind used by automobile tourists in these days, buttoning down the front; but it certainly nearly gaveBuster Longfellow heart disease when he discovered on the breast of that same garment the wonderful blue moon that he had so often described as marking his lost present, which he had been suspecting poor innocent Josh of having purloined!
Now, it happened that Jack had made this astonishing discovery even before Buster could have done so, for he was so much quicker than the fat boy to observe things, and never had there been a sweater made just like that one with the blue moon on its front.
Jack also knew that the chances were Buster would be apt to say something out loud in his astonishment at seeing his lost property on the back of a prowler, possibly the very man who had stolen their intended supper.
And as the leader of the motor boat boys was as quick as a flash to act, no sooner had this idea entered his brain than he stretched out his arm actually across Herb, and reaching the fat boy, managed to clasp his hand squarely over his mouth.
From the fact that Buster’s lips were twitching at that very second, it seemed evident that he had just been on the point of giving vent to his feelings by some such blunt expression as:
“Well, would you see the nerve of that, now?”
Instead he was brought to a sense of the necessity for complete silence; and as Buster was not at all devoid of common sense he managed to bottle up his excitement somewhat.
But now the man had dropped down on all fours again, and seemed to be moving along with considerable dispatch. Jack had seen that the fellow had eyes only for the motionless figures at the fire; and also that something approaching a grin had broken out on his heavy face when he saw how inanimate they were.
His movements were certainly suspicious, and those that would indicate an intention of thievery. Certainly no honest man would come stealing into a strange camp in this fashion.
What could he want? If this were the same rogue who had made way with the food Josh placed on that flat stone, perhaps he believed that it would be just as well to strike while the iron was hot, and there seemed to be abundant supplies lying around loose. If he were a shiftless fisherman, such as sometimes used to gather here on this island, Jack had been told, why, he might believe that all was fish that came to his net; and seeing the food that had been carried ashore, lying so temptingly around, canned stuff, and all that abundant means could supply, he was now bent on making a haul.
That was Jack’s first idea, for the man seemed to be crawling toward the pile of groceries when discovered. But now he had shifted his course somewhat, so that it was at a tangent with his first line of advance. Was he simply trying to avoid contact with the sleepers, or did he have some other reason for altering the direction of his coming?
Jack’s interest began to increase by leaps and bounds. He realized that perhaps the intruder might be looking forward to something of far greater advantage than a mere carrying off of eatables. Yes, he was heading now toward the shore where the white motor boat was tied up! And Jack suddenly recollected that one of his companions had suggested that the robbers kept their treasure-trove aboard the craft. That was after the discovery of the hoax connected with the buried box.
But then how could this rough fellow have any suspicion concerning the plunder taken from the bank? He surely could not, and must be intending to go aboard simply under the belief that fatter pickings were to be found on the little vessel just then totally unguarded.
Now he was at the river bank, with nothing to interfere with his plan of boarding the tied-up boat. Of course his progress had been followedby every one of the six pair of eyes belonging to the boys hiding in the bushes, and it would be needless to say that by now all of them guessed what his destination was.
Jack felt a pair of knuckles industriously digging at his side which he knew must belong to George. The impulsive one was in this mute fashion voicing his desire to know what Jack meant to do about it; and doubtless hoping that they would be given permission to make some sort of move after the thief had fully vanished over the side of the white boat.
But Jack paid no attention to the nudges. He was thinking just then what a queer old mix-up the whole affair was getting to be; when one robber attempted to ply his trade upon another of the same sort.
Now they could see the shadowy form passing from the bank on to the gunwale of the boat. The fact that the side of the craft chanced to be so very white did much to throw the climbing figure out in relief. Then he disappeared and everything was as it had been; only they knew an intruder had boarded the boat, and must be rummaging around in search of something which doubtless he expected to find there.
Still the two near the dying camp fire had shown no sign of life. They seemed to besound asleep, and utterly unconscious of the fact that an enemy had crept into their midst, bent on pillage.
Jack thought fast, and indeed, there was good reason why he should do so. Should they attempt to warn the two nestled there amidst the blankets, and put them wise to the fact that they were in danger of being robbed? That would only disclose their presence to the fugitives from justice, as they had been terming the owner of the white boat, and his companion Jenks. And if they were the men who had looted the bank up at Lawrence, why try and save their ill-gotten plunder?
Really, it would appear to be just as well that they let this adroit second thief get the treasure in his possession, and then proceed to take it from him in turn. Besides, it might be policy to reduce the number of those against whom the boys would have to pit themselves; and one must be reckoned just the half of two.
That was the way Jack found himself putting it, as though he had to reduce the whole thing to argument. And it was surprising how many different things could force themselves into his mind in just a brief space of time. He could imagine the last creeper to have come safely off the white boat, with the treasure in his possession,perhaps even walking close by where they crouched; then would be given a signal that must result in his being attacked from every quarter at once; and surely with six of them to assist, he must be easily pulled down.
But wait, there was no need of getting so far afield, when the man seemed to be still busying himself aboard the white motor boat some way or other. While they could not see him, it was noticed that the narrow-beamed boat was shaking more or less, as though some one were moving about aboard.
Buster must recognize a very familiar movement in this, because there was the cranky Wireless, always ready to accommodate itself to the activities of any one who had the misfortune to pass any length of time on board, either as passenger, crew or skipper.
Should that heavy-set man, called Jenks by the other, chance to awaken about this time, perhaps there would be something doing speedily, for he had all the looks of a stayer in a fight, and once he detected the presence of the interloper, woe be to him. But there had not been the slightest movement to either of the sleepers; and if the intended robber of thieves was to be balked in his designs, it looked as though Jackand his chums would have to prove themselves equal to the occasion.
And so Jack’s conclusion seemed to be that it might pay them to get somewhat closer to the river bank, so that should the unknown finish his work aboard, and start to make his escape, they could head him off the better.
It was not really necessary for him to communicate all this to each one of his chums. When they saw him start to make a move they would understand what was intended, and govern themselves accordingly.
Jack raised himself to his hands and knees. Then he commenced to work his way along, with the tied-up boat as his ultimate destination.
Just as he had anticipated, every one of the other fellows started in to imitate his actions. All they wanted was an example, and they were ready to follow suit. You have seen the whole flock of sheep follow the bellwether over a low fence; and that was about the same way George and Josh and the rest did right then and there.
All went smoothly for a certain length of time; perhaps as much as three or four minutes may have passed along. Then something happened that was certainly not down on the bills; and coming so unexpectedly must have given the boys a severe shock.
Without warning there burst upon the night air a loud and sonorous “ker-chew!” Why, it was deep-toned enough to have awakened the Seven Sleepers of old; and certainly the precious pair over there by the fire could not help but be electrified by the explosion.
It was not a thunder clap, though some of the creeping boys might have so considered, when first it broke upon their startled hearing. No, it was only Buster Longfellow sneezing.
This was an old weakness of Buster’s. He was wont to sneeze on any and all occasions, and many times in his past history had he been brought to a knowledge of the fact that it was a habit calculated to get a fellow into all sorts of trouble. Remember that time he threatened to upset George’s boat when one of these fits happened along? Well, there were now even more dire possibilities in store for the unlucky originator of that tremendous sneeze, than he cared to look in the face.
In the first place it aroused the two at the fire. They could be seen suddenly sitting up straight, and looking all around them, as though half expecting to discover strangers in the camp, who according to their calculations could have no business there.
Then a head was seen to rise hurriedly abovethe gunwale of the white motor boat, showing that the fellow who had gone aboard, had been disturbed in the midst of whatever he was doing. Of course it was to be expected that he would spring over the side, and make a streak for it, intending to find shelter in the covert of nearby bushes.
Nothing of the sort happened.
On the contrary, while he did immediately expose himself in full view it was to carry out an entirely different line of energy.
Jack was just in the act himself of standing up and directing his comrades as to what they should do in order to cut off the other’s escape, when he saw there was going to be nothing doing in that line.
For the man had leaned quickly over the side, and made a sweep with his hand at the little hawser holding the boat snug against the bank. He must have had an exceedingly sharp-bladed knife there, for it cut through that rope as though the cable were made of sand. And at the same moment the white motor boat started to swing free from the shore of the island.
It was all done as quick as a flash, almost.
The unknown man aboard the white motor boat had no sooner sliced the rope apart, thus allowing the craft to swing free and begin moving with the current, always pulling steadily at it while lying there, than he did something more.
“Look at him with the push-pole!” whooped Josh.
“Hey! hold on there! That ain’t your boat. I’ll have the law on you for stealing!” cried out the dapper young chap, who had thrown his blankets aside, and was standing there, shaking his fist after the bold trespasser.
The big man with him, who had done all the work on the engine earlier in the night, Jenks, started to rush toward the landing, as though he believed in deeds rather than words. But the fellow who was so coolly making off with their boat laughed harshly as he plied the push-pole briskly.
Already had the boat gained a certain momentum,and if allowed to continue as it was going for another full minute, would be lost to the owner.
Jack and his five companions had not held back all this time either. They were at a disadvantage, being much further away from the scene of action than those who had been sleeping near the remains of the fire. Consequently there was little chance for them to reach the spot before the man had accomplished his evil task, and completed the seizure of the white boat.
Jenks rushed down the shore like a mad bull. From his actions it seemed as if he contemplated jumping into the river, and forcing his way out to the stolen boat in spite of everything.
Indeed, he did push into the water, which happened to be rather shallow at that point, and was making a gallant attempt to board the boat, when suddenly the man dropped his pole, and held something out toward Jenks that glistened in the moonlight.
“Keep back or I’ll shoot!” they heard him call out.
Jenks possibly did not believe him, for he kept rushing through the water still; whereuponthere came a sharp report, and a flash of flame.
“Oh!” cried Buster.
Jenks had pulled up short, and seemed to be wavering.
“That was only a warning,” the man aboard went on to say, angrily; “but try it some more, and I’ll aim for keeps. You get me, don’t you?”
All this was plainly seen because of the bright moon. And while they stood and stared, they heard the crank of the engine worked, and immediately the rapid sound of the exhaust told that Jenks had indeed placed it in splendid order, much to his regret now.
So the white boat began to speed away. Jack noticed that instead of keeping on down the river, the thief was gradually starting to curve to the right, as though it was his intention to come around and head up stream. At the moment he did not realize what this might mean but a little later it dawned upon him in full force.
Meanwhile there was more or less excitement around that spot.
Jenks came wading ashore again, and holding his left arm in a way that would indicate that he had received some sort of a wound at the time the desperate thief fired at him.
The younger stranger was dancing around in a furious fashion, and acting so like a simpleton in his anger that Jack felt ashamed to rememberthat he had once suspected him of being the slick thief whom the paper called Slim Jim. Why, this chap was an innocent of the innocents, just the kind of boy his appearance had stamped him—some rich man’s petted darling, allowed to have a fine boat for a play toy, with a steady man to run it for him, whom he could boss around.
All this Jack realized in the brief space of time that he stood there, surveying the scene, and hearing the popping of the motor boat’s exhaust sounding less and less noisy, as the stolen craft went further and further away from the island.
And about that time the distracted owner of the boat seemed to realize that he and Jenks were not alone. He stared at Jack and his companions as though unable to understand how they came there, or if they were really flesh and blood.
“They said that this miserable island was haunted,” he exclaimed, “and I’m beginning to believe it’s so. Who are you, fellows, and where did you spring from?”
Jack was for taking the bull by the horns. He had seen all his suspicions concerning these two swept aside, so that they were no longer objects of concern in his eyes.
“It’s too long a story to tell just now,” he remarked as he approached the other. “We belong in a town above here, and are having a little outing on board our three motor boats, which are tied up not far away. When you landed we wondered who you were, because there has been a robbery committed in Lawrence up the river, and the two yeggs who broke into the bank were said to have escaped in a white motor boat with a red band around the gunnel.”
“What’s that?” gasped the other, as though staggered by such astonishing information, “took us for burglars, did you? I like that, now. Why, my name’s Algernon Lorrimer, and my father’s one of the richest men in Minneapolis. Get that?”
“Yes, and I’ve heard of him, all right,” said Jack. “We’re glad to meet you, Algernon, even if it is under queer conditions. My name’s Jack Stormways,” and then he proceeded to string off the names of his five companions in rapid-fire order, the other boy bowing politely at each in turn; evidently Algernon had been well brought up, and was accustomed to the usages of good society, even though he might be only a “stick” aboard a boat, insofar as being able to help run the same was concerned.
“Glad to make your acquaintance, fellows,”he said, loftily. “I hope you’ll pardon me if I seem rather out of sorts. Here I am left, high and dry on this island, with my new boat stolen by that contemptible rascal. But he’ll be sorry he ever treated me like this. My father will have him found out and punished. That boat cost two thousand dollars just last week. We were on our first cruise with it, and playing tag with Chauncey Gregory and his Firefly. They were to chase us, you know, and the first one to get to St. Louis without being seen by the other was to win the race. But we had some trouble with our engine, though we managed to fix it in great shape. And now my Saunterer is stolen by a vile wretch. How could he have ever come out here on this lonely island; and what would he want to take such a fine boat for, when he couldn’t sell it anywhere, without being arrested?”
Apparently Algernon was “some talker,” as Josh put it. Once he got started, and he was like a seven-day clock in action. And Jack chuckled to think that they had been looking upon all this as assumed, and that the millionaire’s pampered boy had been a desperate thief, playing a little game. It was one of the most ridiculous happenings that had ever come to the motor boat chums.
And as Algernon was talking a sudden idea had leaped into Jack’s active mind. This time it was founded on facts that were absolutely true, and could be relied upon.
It all hinged on that wonderful sweater belonging to Buster, and which was so queerly marked with a blue moon.
Now Jack knew positively that the same garment had been in the shed where the trio of motor boats were lying, awaiting the beginning of the cruise, on the previous evening, for he had handled it himself. Buster could not find it when he wanted to wear it later on, and the rest believed that it had been carelessly left somewhere in the shop or shed, though as we have seen, the fat boy suspected Josh of playing a sly trick on him.
Now the fact that this strange man was actually wearing the novel sweater was positive evidence that he must have been in the shop of the boat builder on the previous night, for some purpose or other, and had taken the garment then, perhaps because it looked warm, and he anticipated a chilly ride down the river.
Yes, Jack had jumped to a conclusion in the matter. Although his first guess with regard to the identity of Algernon and Jenks had been a bad one, he believed he could do much betterwith this other fellow; and whom he now believed to be one of the desperate scoundrels who had broken into the bank at Lawrence.
A lot of things went to point that way; and Buster’s sweater was the only connecting clue, as it were. How the men happened to be on the island, and why one of them was ready to take chances in stealing some of their food, of course Jack was hardly in a condition to say just then. They must have been pretty hungry, which would indicate that they could not have had any food aboard their boat at the time they fled from pursuit. Perhaps some accident had happened to the craft in which they had come down the river. That would account for the fellow stealing the fine new motor boat belonging to the tenderfoot cruiser, Algernon. It may have taken his fancy for some reason or other; perhaps because it happened to resemble their own craft, now disabled.
Strange how things will fly through the mind at times, when there is any cause for excitement. Jack thought of a score of facts calculated to back up his theory, even while he was standing there, with the throbbing of the lost boat still sounding faintly in his ears.
Whatever of mystery there might be about the actions of the man who had run off with theSaunterer, this was really no time for explanations, or to try and figure things out. Later on, when it was all over, and they could sit comfortably beside a camp fire, it would be fun to piece things together, and find out just what had influenced all these events to come about.
“Boys,” Jack said, turning to his friends, “I’ve just come to the conclusion that we’ve run across one of those bank thieves after all.”
“You mean the chap who stole my boat?” ejaculated Algernon, “goodness gracious! who would have thought now, that I’d come in contact with such desperate characters in my little run down-river. And he shot my man, too; see, Jenks is getting one of your friends, to wrap a rag around his arm. This is thrilling. It makes my blood run cold to think that I was actually so close to a real burglar. Won’t I have the story to tell Chauncey, though? But how am I ever to get off this island, and try to recover my boat?”
“Leave that to us, Algernon,” said Jack, quietly.
“Hurrah! Jack’s taken the job on!” shouted Josh, excitedly, “and when he says he’ll see it through, you can bet your boots he means business. What are we going to do about it, Jack?”
All eyes were of course turned upon the Commodore. In this critical time they seemed to depend on him to lead the way out of the maze. Jack would know what to do; that was what the rest always said to each other, as soon as any serious difficulty arose.
And Jack simply raised his hand as if to call for silence, as he said:
“Wait a minute, fellows, I want to listen to what those rapid-fire explosions aboard the white motor boat are telling me. They’re getting louder again, you notice, with every minute that passes.”
“Jack, you’re right,” remarked George, after the whole of them had stood there, listening eagerly for a minute or so. “That sounds louder all the time.”
“P’raps the wind’s shifted?” suggested Josh.
“No, I don’t believe it has, even a little bit,” Herb observed, on his part.
“Then what d’ye think it means?” asked Bumpus, who was just as much interested as any one of his boat-mates.
“Why, he changed his course, that’s what,” declared Josh.
“Oh! that’s it, eh?” Bumpus went on to say, “and as he was running up-stream before, why, that means he’s coming down now.”
“Seems like it, Bumpus,” admitted George.
“Why?” the fat boy kept asking; for when anything puzzled him he never gave his comrades any peace until they had explained the particulars; for Bumpus could be a standing interrogation point when he chose.
“Now you’ve got me,” admitted Josh, “’cause I don’t know.”
“He ain’t doing that just for fun, you believe, don’t you? He’s got a card up his sleeve, as they say; and means to play it on us. Started up the river in the beginning just to use a little time, and pull the wool over our eyes, fellers. Now he comes a-spinnin’ down again in a little different direction. Why? Again I wait to hear some wise head say it,” and Bumpus assumed an expectant attitude as he went on in this manner.
“Jack, c’n you answer him?” Herb questioned; for, as usual they began to turn toward the Commodore at such a time, just as though he might be an unabridged dictionary, and able on any and all occasions to supply the crowd with information.
“Well, if, as we seem to believe, this bold scamp is one of those bank robbers, there’s only one way open for him to escape from any pursuers, and that’s down the Mississippi,” Jack started to say; when George uttered a sudden mild whoop.
“I’ve got it!” he cried, excitedly.
“Bully for you, then, George,” said Buster, eagerly, “and suppose you tell us before you burst. The cooper that put hoops around yourbarrel didn’t fasten ’em any too tight, believe me. Now, all at once, and have it over with—why should that feller turn around, and start back this way again, after getting safe off?”
“Why, because he suddenly remembered that he had a chum somewhere on this same old island,” George announced, triumphantly; “how’s that, Jack?”
Jack patted him on the back approvingly.
“Looks like you’d guessed it the first crack, George,” he declared. “Yes, whether he forgot that fact for a few minutes, or has been playing a little game to make us believe he was aiming to go up-river, there’s no doubt but what he’s heading back now so’s to pick the other one up. These sort of fellows stand by each other through thick and thin, you know; that’s their best quality, always.”
“And Jack,” piped up Buster just then, “don’t you think that there might be something else adrawin’ him back here—f’r instance, that stuff they took away from the busted Lawrence bank?”
“Hurray for Buster; he’s all right; and this time he’s struck a brilliant idea! Great head, old man, better be careful of your brains after this. You’re waking up at last; ain’t he, Jack?” but Buster did not deign to pay any attentionto all this talk on the part of Josh, because he knew the other must be secretly envious of him.
“That’s really a bright thought, Buster,” admitted Jack, immediately. “This fellow might be ready to stick by his crony; but we know he’s bound not to desert the plunder; and that must still be on the island here, aboard their boat, wherever they’ve got her hidden. You know, boys, we kind of thought they’d hide here, and try to paint the boat some dark color, so it wouldn’t give them away; for every sheriff and marshal down-river way will be on the watch for a white boat with a red streak along the gunnel.”
“Mercy me! and think of the warm times I’ll be apt to have after this, on the way to St. Louis,” remarked Algernon, throwing up his white hands in dismay.
“That is, if ever you’re lucky enough to get your boat back again,” reminded Josh, who rather like to “nag” such a dandified fellow as Algernon and see him squirm.
“All of you noticed the fellow was wearing that sweater with the blue moon on its front,” Jack continued to say, as he explained matters more fully, “and we know that belongs to Buster here; also that it was in that boathouse of the builder where we left our three boats lastnight, when we locked up; because I handled it myself. Don’t you see what that means, boys?”
“That man was in there; is that it, Jack?” George asked.
“He certainly must have been, else how could he get my sweater?” demanded Buster, swelling with importance, since his name was bound to be mentioned in connection with this affair every time the story was told, and all on account of that new and remarkable garment which he had lost.
“But if they had looted the bank up at Lawrence, tell me why they’d be foolish enough to land in our town, and start in breaking open stores and boat building establishments? Seems funny business for a pair of smart yeggs?” Josh asked.
“Wait,” said Jack, “go back a little. Suppose now, while they were coming down the river, that idea about the paint just bobbed up in their heads, and it seemed such a clever scheme that they wanted to kick themselves because they hadn’t just thought of it before, and had some of the right kind of stuff on hand. So when they came to our town, this fellow, who must be a pretty bold sort of chap, we know, made up this plan to sneak ashore, break intosome paint shop, and get away with a supply.”
“Now I’m on to what you mean, Jack,” George hastened to remark, “and when he struck the boat-yard of Mr. Kedge, he just up and thought he’d sure find paint in there, because it’s used on boats. And as Buster had left his new sweater lying around loose, like he always does with his things, why, Mr. Burglar, feeling the night air on the river a bit cold, just swiped the same. That’s as plain as the nose on Josh’s face here.”
“Just you let my nose alone,” muttered Josh, like a flash, “it may be a little bigger’n yours, but it knows how to keep out of other people’s business.”
“Then you think, do you, Jack,” George went on, “that something might have happened to their boat, and crippled the same, so that they put in here some time yesterday morning, if you can call it that, though this is still the same day?”
“Yes, it looks as if they needed a new boat to continue their voyage down the river; and seeing this fine chance, while Algernon and Jenks were fast asleep, this man started to sneak it away. He might have done it, and never a thing would they have known until morning, only for the sneeze that Buster here gave.”
“See that,” cried the fat boy, triumphantly,“you all have poked heaps of fun at me because I sneeze so much; but here’s a time that it paid right handsomely.”
“Sure, Buster,” said George, quickly, “when it comes to waking people up, the flock of geese that once saved Rome from a night attack didn’t have anything on you, with your fine sneeze. I give you my word, you’d arouse a whole city, once you let loose.”
“Bah! just jealous, that’s all; but don’t you dare to imitate me, because I give you warning right now I’m going to get that sneeze copyrighted, that’s what,” Buster went on to declare emphatically.
“Seems to me,” remarked Herb, “there’s a heap of engines getting into trouble about now; George has his spell; then Jenks had to work on the one in their boat; and now we suspect that these runaway robbers had a breakdown of their own.”
“That shows you that I ain’t the only one that gets into a mess with motor trouble,” George hastened to tell them.
“But arrah, now, phat arre we goin’ to do about this same broth of a bye comin’ back till the island for frind?” Andy wanted to know just then.
“Sensible of you to ask that, Andy,” remarkedJack, “because it might be possible for us to surprise the pair, if only we could guess about where he meant to land along the shore.”
“Whee! is that what’s on the bill, Jack?” exclaimed Buster, “then how glad I am that you’ve got that splendid little Marlin gun of yours handy. If there’s going to be a scrap, every one of us ought to pick up some sort of club, so’s to make a respectable showing. And right here I see one I’m going to cabbage on the spot.”
“Which spot?” queried Josh; but no one paid the slightest attention to jokes at such a critical moment.
“Listen again, boys,” ordered Jack, “and see if you can tell whether he’s coming down this side of the island, or the other one; because that would mean a whole lot for us.”
For a minute no one uttered a sound. The quick pulsations of the exhaust belonging to the stolen motor boat could be plainly heard, for the night was as still as death, all but that murmur of the breeze among the treetops on the island, and perhaps the gentle lapping of the river on the rocks along the shore.
“I think he’s started down the other side, Jack,” said George.
“Same here,” echoed Josh.
“I don’t seem to be able to guess,” complained Buster, “one time I think it is the other side of the island and then again seems to me he’s heading right back the way he went.”
“Other side of me,” Herb went on to say, wishing to be counted.
“Sure, that’s me ijee to a dot, so ’tis,” declared the Irish lad, vehemently.
“Other side have it, five to one,” Jack went on, somehow forgetting that there were others present, though for that matter Algernon was so bewildered by all the strange things that were happening, he did not seem able to gather his wits together, and Jenks was apparently quite satisfied to leave the whole matter of the attempted recovery of the motor boat to the charge of these six wide-awake young chaps who had shown themselves to be so clever; though if it ever came to a crisis, doubtless the sturdy machinist would be only too willing to throw himself into the fight, and do his full duty.
“There, it’s stopped now, boys!” cried George suddenly.
“You’re right,” declared Jack, “and as near as I can place it, seems as if the last sound came from across the island, too, perhaps a little further up. Come on, everybody, and let’s seeif we can push right through the place. The trees are scattered, and the moon shows bright enough to give us some light.”
“We’re off!” exclaimed Josh, exultantly, for he liked to be in action.
“Who’s afraid?” demanded Buster, waving the big billet of wood he had picked up, as though anxious to do some service with the same.
“Keep still, everybody, and look where you’re going,” warned Jack, leading off.
“Gee whiz!” exclaimed Buster, presently, and the others heard more or less of a loud crashing, which would seem to indicate that the fat boy, who was always rather clumsy in his movements, had stumbled and fallen amidst the impediments that sprinkled their course.
“Hurt, Buster?” questioned Herb, who was close behind.
“Naw, only knocked a little skin off my knees, I guess. Better luck next time,” was the cheerful reply, as the unfortunate one scrambled to his feet, and again resumed his forward progress.
When Jack and his five mates started off, the man Jenks, and his employer, Algernon Lorrimer, apparently did not mean to be left entirely in the lurch. They were in the group now pushing through the wooded part of the island, and trying to surmount the many difficulties that beset their course.
Algernon had about as much trouble as Buster to navigate safely; now it was some unnoticedlog that threatened to trip him up, and again a hanging vine tried to choke him outright. Jenks hovered near by, ready to come to the rescue of his employer should the latter succeed in getting into a severe pinch. As Josh afterward said in commenting on this solicitude on the part of the machinist, perhaps Jenks had not been paid his week’s wages as yet, and wanted to make sure he would have an employer to whom he could look for the expected cash.
One thing proved of considerable assistance, and this was the moon. Battered though it might be, and with one side partly gone, still the faithful old sky lantern was able to give out a considerable amount of silvery light.
“Lucky we’ve got that moon, let me tell you,” grunted Buster, as he continued to boom along, making enough noise, so Josh declared, to warn the whole neighborhood of their coming.
“Some people’d need three moons to get along half way decent,” was what Josh declared from some point close by.
“Hush!” Jack remarked, and at that they all fell quiet again.
Indeed, it was no child’s play making their way through the dense growth that covered the main part of the island. Even in the daytime they would have had more or less troublein accomplishing such a task; and when attempting it with only the deceptive moonlight as a source of illumination, the task became doubly difficult.
Once Jack called a brief halt.
It was his idea to try and ascertain whether there were any sounds ahead, such as might indicate the presence of busy workers, getting their belongings from the boat that was about to be abandoned to the one that had just fallen into their possession, through a stroke of luck, backed up by daring.
It might be in the shape of voices, a cough, or any sort of sound that would betray the presence of human beings; why, even a sneeze, such as that famous one of Buster, would do the business.
But somehow nothing of the sort seemed to come to their strained hearing; at any rate most of them failed to catch such a welcome sound. Yet when Jack bade them start on again, lowering his voice to a thrilling whisper almost, it seemed as if he felt a new confidence, showing that he believed he had heard something or other.
Instead of getting better the nearer they drew to the other side of the little island that had sucha bad name, it seemed as though conditions steadily became worse.
Buster and Algernon simply could not hold up to the pace set by such agile chaps as Jack, George, Andy and Josh, so that they were gradually but surely falling back, and being put out of the race.
Herb was not much better, for it was never a habit of the easy-going skipper of the solid old Comfort to hurry more than he could reasonably help.
But then probably it would not matter so much after all. There were still five in the front rank, for Jenks had now forged alongside the others, thinking he might best serve his master by trying to recover the boat, rather than standing by to pick him up in case he fell. And more than that, there was Jack handling that reliable Marlin of his in a fashion that seemed to speak volumes for his intentions, once he sighted the enemy.
When excitement rules the camp it is wonderful how many things can be crowded into a small space of time. People seem to pass through a lifetime in a few minutes, providing events come tumbling over one another, helter-skelter like.
Now, when they came to figure upon it lateron, the motor boat chums were of the opinion that even under such adverse conditions they could not have been more than six or seven minutes in passing through the wooded center of the island. It was only a small affair at best, and by daylight could have been crossed in much less time. And yet there was Buster, for instance, who must have been laboring under the impression that fully half an hour had already passed since they first started to break into the thick growth, and butt up against all these crazy obstacles—the logs that would get under a fellow’s feet, the encircling loops of dangling wild grape-vines; the trees that bobbed up most unexpectedly, and tried to knock one’s brains out, and a lot of other things along the same line “too numerous to mention.”
Of course none of them gave much heed to what their conduct would be when they managed to overtake the enemy.
That would have to be left pretty much to accident. Perhaps some of the boys, under the belief that they must present quite a hostile appearance, with all sorts of clubs and cudgels in evidence, not to speak of that gun Jack carried, fancied that the two burglars would take to flight at sight of the advancing legion. But Jack, and perhaps Herb also, did not deludethemselves with this expectation; for they could remember just how that fellow aboard the stolen boat had warned Jenks off, and even wounded him in the arm when he refused to stop short.
They set him down as a dangerous character, which he undoubtedly must have been, to have carried out the bold programme connected with the looting of the up-river bank.
At any rate, they must be getting close to the other side of the island now, for there was a perceptible slope downward, and this must mean the crest had been left behind.
Yes, and sure enough, the trees were getting less dense, though the brush might be as thick as ever. Jack hoped for one thing that luck would favor them, and allow of their breaking out upon the little beach at just the exact spot where the two men were working.
At the same time he did not feel any too sanguine of success, for which there were numerous reasons. Surely the two thieves must be aware of the fact that the pack was pushing toward them, for there was plenty of noise accompanying their forward progress.
And knowing this, would it not be the easiest thing for them to gauge their time of flitting by the closeness of the coming host? Jack thought so, even while still exerting himself tothe uttermost in order to get to the shore as speedily as possible.
Ah! now he could see more light ahead, which told in so many words that they must be close to the river again. Their troubles were behind them now; that is, insofar as they concerned navigating the dense jungle that covered the island of the bad name.
Those still ahead would be of an entirely different nature, and might consist of running up against the desperate thieves.
Just then Jack heard a voice, a very gruff voice, which he recognized as belonging to the man who had run off with the white boat.
“That all, Jim?”
The speaking of that name thrilled Jack, for only too well did he remember that it was mentioned in the newspaper article describing the robbery; and if he had had the slightest doubt before as to the identity of the precious pair, it was now a thing of the past.
If the man addressed made any sort of reply Jack failed to catch it. He hoped, however, that it would be of a negative character—that they might still have something more to do; because Jack had located the voice, and was of the impression that it came from a little further up the narrow beach. They had come fairly closeto the spot where the transfer of belongings was being made, but did not hit on it exactly. And it is an old saying that a miss is as good as a mile; at any rate it would likely prove such in this case.
And so they presently burst out of the cover, and found themselves looking on the moonlit surface of the flowing Mississippi again.
Jack, Jenks, George and Josh had somehow come out in a clump, with Andy close at their heels. None of them more than cast a fleeting glance out on the dancing water, for they could see immediately that there was nothing calculated to interest them there.
Jack immediately turned up the beach, and started to sprint, for it was open here, and the absence of obstacles offered them a splendid chance to do something worth while.
There happened to be a little point setting out just above, on which grew some stunted trees and considerable brush. This helped to make a cove, perhaps something like the one which the boys had selected as their harbor, and in which the three motor boats rested snugly even then.