CHAPTER XX
TWO NIGHTS
For an instant, Aleck Hunt was too terrified to move. The weird sound of flapping wings filled the room. A black object flashed close to his head; then another, and Aleck, with a stifled cry, dodged hastily through the doorway, and collided with George Clayton.
“Good gracious! What’s the matter?” gasped the latter, in alarm.
“Bats,” answered Aleck, laconically.
George peered cautiously in.
“Jiminy, the room is full of them!” he cried. “Never saw so many in my life.”
“I got an awful crack on the head,” said Aleck, ruefully. “Nearly knocked me over.”
“Moral: never go into a perfectly dark and deserted place without looking,” laughed George.
The moonlight streaming through the broken panes revealed a number of the creatures wildly circling around and around, sometimes skimming close to the wall.
“Look out!” yelled Aleck, suddenly.
One of the bats veered sharply, flew through the doorway directly over their heads, and disappeared into the next room. Another followed its lead, and the boys hastily moved away.
“Regular Batville,” remarked Aleck, rubbing his head. “And Bill Junior said it was just the place for us to spend the night.”
“Don’t suppose he ever saw these tenants,” laughed George. “What shall we do now?”
“Take a look up-stairs.”
This time, the other boy offered no objection, and, with Aleck in the lead, they started up. The rickety steps creaked and groaned dismally beneath their feet, and a cloud of dust arose. It was dark in the passageway and both moved with great caution, each instant expecting to hear the sound of flapping wings above their heads.
But the upper rooms were deserted, and the two breathed a sigh of relief as they entered the largest, their footsteps echoing strangely throughout the house.
“Well,” remarked Aleck.
“Well,” said George.
They looked at each other and laughed.
“Roughing it with a vengeance,” said George, walking toward the window. “A bit more than I bargained for; still, I guess we’ll have to stand it.”
“Just what we don’t want to do,” said Aleck, with a grin. “If we only had some straw, and a blanket, and——”
“Why not say a feather bed, nice, clean sheets, wash-stand and electric lights?”
“That’s so,” laughed Aleck. “What we can’t get, there’s no use kicking about, eh? Philosophy with a big P, old boy.”
Using their coats as pillows, the boys finally lay down.
It was a long, uncomfortable night, and never had they so welcomed the glimmer of early dawn. When George arose and looked out of the window, he saw in the eastern sky a line of purplish clouds edged underneath with a rosy glow, but all else was gray and cheerless.
“Aleck!” he called. “Wake up! I declare, how can that chap sleep so well?”
The other aroused with a start.
“Hello,” he cried. “Oh, my, but I’m soreand stiff,” and, as he arose, Aleck groaned and grumbled, and rubbed his aching bones.
“So am I,” said George, cheerfully. “But let’s be off. We’ll have breakfast at some farmhouse, and then for the ‘Gray Gull’ again.”
The day promised to be warm. As the sun rose higher and higher and the birds caroled and chirped, and squirrels scrambled frantically to places of safety and peered down with their bright, beady eyes, the boys forgot their pains and aches, in the enjoyment of nature.
A good-hearted farmer gave the two a ride, and, on turning off at a fork, told them where a meal could be had.
The people at the farmhouse welcomed them heartily, and the boys enjoyed a bountiful repast with some of the “men folks.”
An hour later, Aleck and George were lying in the shade of some fine old willows, watching eagerly for the house-boat.
The heat gradually increased; scarcely a breath of air seemed stirring.
Another hour passed, and George, who was lazily fanning his face with his handkerchief, started up.
“Hello, I’ll bet the ‘Gray Gull’ is coming,” he said. “See it?”
“Believe you’re right,” said Aleck, gleefully. “Won’t I be glad to see those chaps again?”
Eagerly, the two watched the dark spot gradually growing larger. It seemed to the boys as if the “Gray Gull” had never moved so slowly. Impatiently they ran along the beach toward it, giving several lusty yells and waving their arms.
“Hello, hello!” came faintly over the air, in Jack Lyons’ familiar voice.
Aleck put his fingers to his lips and whistled shrilly, while George shouted again.
The figures on the boat began to assume definite shape; then she was headed inshore. Enthusiastic greetings flew back and forth over the water, as though the boys had not seen each other for a month; and the boat had scarcely come to a stop before Jack Lyons leaped to the shore.
“Hello, Jack! Hello, Bob Somers!”
“Hello, George!”
“There’s Aleck!”
For several moments, questions flew fromone to another, with bewildering rapidity, and George Clayton presently heard a piece of news which made him whistle and open his eyes wide with astonishment.
“What!” he gasped, scarcely believing his ears, “you saw Uncle Dan—he was on that automobile? Jehoshophat! Well, well!” and George thrust his hands deep in his pockets and whistled again.
“Big surprise, eh?” laughed Bob Somers.
“Surprise?” echoed George. “Surprise is no name for it. Whew! I don’t wonder he was angry. Sailed into you, Norman—of course?”
“It was an unfortunate combination of circumstances that led you to run away with the machine,” said Redfern. “I am sorry you were so thoughtless.”
George studied the ground an instant before replying.
“So am I, Norman,” he said, frankly. “But it can’t be helped now.”
“For goodness’ sake, tell us about that chase,” interrupted Aleck. “Must have had an exciting time, all right.”
Jack Lyons quickly gratified his curiosity,and both listeners smiled broadly at the recital.
“Those school chaps are still having lively times, aren’t they?” said George. “Mighty glad the Ripleys won out. I certainly should like to know where the other crowd landed Uncle Dan.”
“Maybe ‘Pouf’ wasn’t wild,” said Joe; “ha, ha!”
The rich boy soon completed his tale, and many “oh’s” and “ah’s” escaped from the lips of his deeply interested listeners.
“Yes, we saw the two Bill Hollbacks—father and son,” laughed Jack. “Great fellows, eh?”
Then, in a few words, he told how the “Gray Gull” had been visited by the authorities in response to a telegram sent by Colonel Ellison.
“And I know well enough that it was watched all night,” he went on, with a laugh. “But Bill Hollback Junior managed to tell us your plans—a regular brick—that fellow. So you slept in a deserted house, eh?”
“Yes, we did,” and Aleck rubbed the back of his head, reflectively.
Redfern again tried to induce his former pupil to return home.
But George shook his head.
“No, Redfern,” he said, quietly, “I won’t give that silly Pierre the least satisfaction. Unless Captain Jack puts me ashore, and it would be a mighty big scrap while it lasted, I’m going to keep on.”
“I give it up, then,” said Redfern, with a sigh.
“If a fleet o’ war vessels doesn’t come after us before I get started, I’ll put that remark in my history,” said Joe. “It will have to be a work in two volumes, quarto size, illustrated from life and otherwise by old Cap Lyons.”
“How I wish you’d begin. I do like to read funny things,” remarked Fred, with a very solemn face.
“It will be full of wit and pathos, also ginger, kind sir,” said Joe.
Jack kept the “Gray Gull” about fifty yards from shore. The atmosphere seemed to quiver with heat. The landscape was bathed in a yellow light, and the glare in the water was hard to look upon.
Jack tied the steering gear, and they retiredwithin, each taking a turn at the window to see that the way was clear.
During the afternoon, the heat increased, the faint breeze entirely disappeared, and not a cloud spotted the sky.
Poor Confuse-us lay panting in a corner, gazing pitifully from one to another, scarcely able to enjoy his customary nap.
And so the day passed, and night came on.
Close inshore, the boys were attacked by an army of mosquitoes and flies, and, Joe declared, by every species of insect that ever existed. They swarmed around the lanterns, and filled the interior, and buzzed around their heads, and the more they fought and slapped the worse the marauders seemed to become.
“Awful,” said George. “Let’s go straight across the river. We never could get a look at the stars over here.” And this piece of advice was acted upon.
The boys found conditions much better on the other side. No sooner was the “Gray Gull” anchored than Fred brought out the telescope and stand. The former tutor’s handiwork was much admired. The three legs were fastened by means of hinges to anupright piece of wood supporting another that turned horizontally; to the latter was fastened a V-shaped trough capable of a vertical motion, and in this the telescope was secured by means of a strap.
The boys spent an enjoyable evening, studying the stars, even Joe becoming quite enthusiastic as he took his turn at the glass.
Aleck and George were very tired; so they decided to retire rather early. All were good sleepers, and before long quietness reigned in the house-boat.
Bob Somers dreamed that Confuse-us, grown into a great big dog, had seized the fly-wheel in his teeth and set the engine in motion. And the pulsation had a strangely double sound; and he vaguely puzzled over it in his sleep, and seemed to hear the water gurgling against the side of the boat.
Finally Bob awoke with a start, sat bolt upright, and uttered an exclamation of wonder.
The dream was only half a dream. The “Gray Gull’s” engine was silent; but the strange sound of double pulsations reached his ears plainly; and the boat actually seemed to be in motion.
“Gracious goodness! What does this mean?” he murmured.
Then, still scarcely believing that he heard aright, he jumped up hastily.
Yes, there was no doubt about it now.
With a loud, “Wake up, fellows!” Bob Somers was at the door.