The Go Ahead Boys on Smugglers' Island Part 1

The Go Ahead Boys on Smugglers' Island.

by Ross Kay.

PREFACE

A basis of fact underlies many of the incidents incorporated in this story. Even the letters are very like those received by one of the official agents of the United States Treasury. Occasional use has been made of the work ent.i.tled, "Defrauding the Government." Out of his material the writer has tried to present a tale that should be stirring and yet wholesome, having plenty of action, but free from sensationalism.

Naturally, changes in characters and localities have been freely made. If his young readers shall be interested in the story and shall draw the conclusion that any attempt to defraud the Government reacts in harsher form upon the one who tried to evade the laws, a part at least of his purpose will have been accomplished.

CHAPTER I

AN EARLY MORNING PARTY

"I never saw such a morning!"

"I never did either. I am glad I am alive!"

"So am I. It is worth something to be up here where the air is so strong that you can almost bite it off. When we left Mackinac this morning one could hardly tell whether the island was upside down or not. He could see the reflections just as clearly in the water as he could see the island above."

"I wonder what would happen if a fire should break out on the island?"

"Probably it would burn, just as it does everywhere else. They did have a fire over there once and they say the whole island burned down."

"This is the place for the simple life!"

"Yes, it is a good place for the simple life, but to my mind there is a great difference between a simple life and an idiotic life."

It was an hour before sunrise in a morning in July. The conversation which has been recorded occurred on board a beautiful little motor-boat named the _Gadabout_. a.s.sisting the captain and owner in the management of the fleet little craft was a young man, whose name sounded to the boys very much like Eph, when they heard the owner of the boat address him.

On board the motor-boat were four boys among whom conversation did not lag. The one who had perhaps the most to say was Fred b.u.t.ton. He was a tiny, little fellow, though his round face and rounder body gave him the appearance, as one of his friends described it, of a young bantam. He was familiarly known among his companions sometimes by the nick-name of Stub, or more often was called Peewee, or Pygmy, the last appellation sometimes being affectionately shortened into pyggie, or even pyg.

Seated next to him was John Clemens, a boy already six feet three inches tall, though he had not yet attained his eighteenth birthday. Familiarly he was known as String and frequently, when he and Fred b.u.t.ton, who were warm friends, were together they were referred to as the "long and short of it."

On the opposite seat was Grant Jones, a clear headed, self-contained boy of the same age as his companions. A leader in his cla.s.s in school and active on the athletic field, he had won for himself the nickname of Socrates, which frequently was shortened to Soc. The fourth member of the group was George Was.h.i.+ngton Sanders, a boy whose good-nature and witty remarks had made him a favorite among his friends. In honor of the name which he bore he sometimes had been referred to as the father of his country, which distinction was occasionally shortened to Papa, or even to Pop.

The owner and captain of the swift little craft was an elderly man, whose whiskers and hair formed an unbroken circle about his tanned face. Both he and Eph, when occasion required, served as oarsmen in the two skiffs which the swift _Gadabout_ was towing. The light little boats were far astern, each being held in its place by a long rope made fast to the _Gadabout_.

"Whew!" said Fred b.u.t.ton, rising and stretching himself, "I hope we'll get some fish to-day. How far do we have to go?" he added, addressing the captain as he spoke.

"It depends a little upon where you want to go to," drawled the captain in response, without turning his head as he replied.

"I thought it was understood," continued Fred, "that we were going to the channel between Drummond Island and c.o.c.kburn Island."

"Ye'll have to show your papers, if you fish over on the Canadian side,"

growled the captain.

"We shan't fish on the Canadian side," spoke up Grant Jones. "We'll leave it to you to keep us in American waters."

"That's right," added John. "If we get caught on the Canadian side, Captain, we'll hold you responsible for it."

"Humph," growled the captain, "we'll see what we'll see."

Meanwhile the sun had risen and like a huge ball of fire was casting its beams across the smooth waters of Lake Huron. Scarcely a ripple was to be seen as the boat sped forward. The day promised to be unusually warm, but as yet the air was cool, and the spirits of the boys, after their early breakfast, were all high.

"We've got to get some of these fish to-day," broke in George Sanders.

"We didn't get many the other day."

"We weren't far enough away from Mackinac," said Fred.

"I've usually noticed," suggested Grant, "that the best fis.h.i.+ng grounds are always a good ways away from where you're staying. The further away they are, the better they are."

"I've noticed that too," laughed George. "In fact there are a good many funny things in this world. I wonder what people speak of a family jar for."

"What do you mean?" inquired Fred.

"I mean just what I say. I heard a family jar this morning."

"I don't understand you," persisted Fred.

"Why, there was a family having a jar in the room next to mine. Only I think it was a little more than a family jar, it was more of a family churn, it was such a big one. There seemed to be such a very decided difference of opinion that the jar wouldn't hold all that they were saying."

"You shouldn't listen to such things," said Fred.

"'Listen'! 'Listen'! Why that was the very thing I was trying not to do, but I guess anybody on Mackinac Island could have heard them, if he had stopped."

"Who were the people?" inquired George.

"I don't know their names. The man is the one that wears that ice-cream suit when he goes fis.h.i.+ng."

"Oh, yes, I know him," laughed Grant. "I have observed several times that the immaculateness of his manipulators has not been extremely noticeable."

"That's right," laughed John. "There seems to be a superincrustation of unnecessary geological deposits that doubtless are due to his transcontinental pedestrianism."

"Why, did he have to tramp across the continent to get here?" laughed George.

"I guess so. I know more about them than I wish I did, but I don't know enough to know that."

"I noticed," said Fred, "yesterday afternoon when he came in that his lips looked like Alkali Pete's."

"What was the matter with Alkali Pete's lips?" demanded George.