The Boy Scouts on Sturgeon Island Part 24

"But what could come along to give us a meal around noon?" Giraffe flashed up, always thinking of the main chance, which meant looking after the demands of that voracious appet.i.te.

"Oh! lots of things," laughed Thad. "You know yourself it's the unexpected that keeps happening with us right along. Many a time in the past we didn't have any idea of what was going to stir us up, till it came along. Just now it strikes me all of us ought to stick together, and not go wandering around by ourselves."

"b.u.mpus ought to be here to get that advice, then," remarked Davy.

At that Thad turned upon the other scout.

"Why, I hadn't noticed that he was away," he said, hastily, and frowning at the same time; "when and where did he go, can you tell me that, Davy, since you seem to be the only one who knows about his being gone?"

"Why, you see, Thad," began the other, looking a trifle alarmed himself now, "he just remembered after we'd had our breakfast, you know, that he must have dropped his belt somewhere; and as he remembered having the same after he came out of the water, he said he expected he'd be able to pick it up between here and that place; so he strolled off. Why, I never thought but what some of the rest of you saw him go; and because n.o.body said a word I 'spected it was all right."

"How long ago was that, did you say, Davy?" Thad asked.

"Why, just after Giraffe here cleaned out the last piece of bacon in the pan, as he said it was silly to waste even little things; and, after all, he wasted it in a hurry, too, let me tell you," Davy proceeded to say.

"Why, I think that must have been nearly twenty-five minutes ago!"

exclaimed Step Hen, in some excitement, as he cast an anxious look away across the rocks and brush that interfered somewhat with their view of the route b.u.mpus would be apt to take on his way toward their landing place.

Thad jumped to his feet.

"This must be looked into!" he said, decisively.

"You're going off to hunt for him, I take it?" observed Giraffe; "how about not getting separated, like you just told us? Ain't it going from bad to worse, Thad, if so be you rush out by yourself and leave us here?"

"Yes," added Davy, quickly, "if they're alooking around for chances to gobble us up, one by one, first it'd be b.u.mpus, then our scout-master, and then another of the bunch, till we all got caught. Thad, hadn't we ought to go along with you--"

"Just what I would have proposed, if you'd let me speak," the other a.s.sured them readily enough; "so get, ready now, and we'll start off."

"But how about all our stuff here; shall we leave it behind?" questioned Davy.

"Oh! I hope not," remarked Step Hen; "I've got somewhat attached to that blanket of mine, you know."

"Yes, we've noticed that lots of times, when you hated to get up in the morning," chuckled Giraffe.

"But how about it, Thad; do we leave 'em here, and run the chance of getting the same took; or shall we take the stuff along with us?"

"I don't believe these men will bother with such small things as blankets and cooking things; if we had a supply of eatables it might be a different matter; but we happen to be shy along that line. Yes, bundle them up, and hide them 'as best you can. We may be in for a fight, for all we know, and in that case we'd want the freedom of our arms to work those clubs."

"Sounds like business, anyway!" muttered Giraffe, as he started in to do as the scout-master recommended; for obedience is one of the first principles laid down in the rules by which Boy Scout are guided when they subscribe to the regulations of the troop they have joined.

They were soon ready.

As the five lads went forth they presented quite a formidable appearance indeed, what with the gun, the camp hatchet, the long bread knife, and a pair of clubs thick enough to give a fellow a nasty headache if ever they were brought in contact with his cranium.

"First of all, it's only right we should give a hail; and if b.u.mpus is wandering around somewhere he may answer us; and then we can wait for him to come in. I see he's left his bugle with his blanket here; pick it up somebody and give the recall, if anybody knows how."

"Trust that to me!" exclaimed Davy; and s.n.a.t.c.hing up the nickeled instrument he placed it to his lips, immediately sending forth the strident sounds that have done duty on many a battlefield.

No sooner had the last note pealed forth than every boy listened eagerly; but there was no reply.

"Sure he could have heard that, even if he was at the other end of the island," remarked Davy, ready to try again if the scout-master told him to do so.

"And b.u.mpus has got a good pair of lungs, so he'd be able to let us know he was on to the job, if he had the use of his mouth!" remarked Giraffe, darkly.

"But you don't hear even a peep, do you, fellows?" remarked Step Hen.

"Come on, and fetch that bugle with you, Davy," said Thad; "we might need it again later, you know. I wonder, now, what the poachers will think when they hear a bugle sound? If they don't know anything about the Scouts, they'll think more than ever that we belong to the Canadian militia."

Thad could understand just what course b.u.mpus was likely to take in pa.s.sing along the rough surface of the ground between their landing place and the spot where they had found the friendly ledge.

That was the way he expected to go also, keeping constantly on the lookout for any sign calculated to tell him if the fat scout had fallen into difficulties.

It led them down near the edge of the water, too; and this gave Thad a sudden bad feeling. Could it be possible that b.u.mpus, who was always a clumsy fellow at best, owing to his great bulk, had tripped, and taken a nasty fall, so that his head had struck some cruel rock?

He would not say anything to the rest just now upon that score; but all the same it troubled him not a little as he wandered along, keeping on the alert for just such a trap, into which the missing scout may have fallen.

All at once Thad stopped, and the others saw a peculiar look cross his face. It seemed to tell them that their guide had conceived an idea.

"Guessed where he's gone, have you, Thad?" inquired Giraffe, quickly.

"Well, no, hardly that," was the reply; "but I ought to tell you that right now we're close to that clump of brush that hides the little rock hollow where they've got their boat hidden."

"Oh! mebbe b.u.mpus he went and took a look in there, just the same as you did, and discovered the boat, too!" remarked Step Hen.

"Well, what if he did, would that explain his absence one little bit?"

demanded Davy. "You don't think, now, I hope, our chum is such an idiot that he'd start to take a little cruise out there on that rough water all by himself? b.u.mpus ain't quite so much in love with sailing as all that, let me tell you right now."

In another minute they were looking at the boat that lay concealed in among the rocks and brush. Thad even jumped down, and pa.s.sed into its cabin; while the others listened, and waited with their hearts apparently ready to jump up into their throats, lest they caught sounds of a conflict.

But presently the scout-master again appeared, and joined them.

"Not there, then?" asked Giraffe, in a disappointed tone.

"No, but I saw the print of his shoe on the seat of the boat, which shows b.u.mpus did climb down here; but it was heading outward, so it seems he came up again. Now to look a little further, and find out if he went on toward the spot where we came to land."

They started off, leaving the vicinity of the fish poachers' hidden boat. For a couple of minutes, Thad seemed to be having little or no trouble in following the marks which b.u.mpus had left behind him; for the fat scout never so much as dreamed that there was such a thing as covering his trail; nor would he have known of any reason for doing anything like this had he been so far up in woodcraft.

"Hold up!" they heard Thad say, suddenly, as he bent over more than he had been doing up to now.

All of the others waited anxiously to hear what the scout-master believed he had discovered, for they could see him moving this way and that. Finally Thad looked up, to disclose a frown upon his usually calm brow.

"Well, would you, believe it," he went on to say, as free from anger as he possibly could bring himself to speak, "they've gone and done it, after all."

"What, Thad?" asked Giraffe, who had been actually holding his breath the while.

"Jumped on our chum right here, and made him a prisoner," came the staggering reply; "I reckon they must have done something rough to him, or we'd have heard him make some kind of an outcry; but they got b.u.mpus, all right, boys!"