The Banner Boy Scouts Afloat Part 11

"There's a good place right now," declared Joe, pointing; "and we mightn't run across as fine a landing again."

"Ten minutes, I said," repeated Paul, positively; because he believed that there were certain signs to tell him they would come in sight of the big lake, from which the Radway flowed, after they had turned the next bend.

Somehow the others seemed to guess what he had in mind, and all were anxiously watching as they drew near the bend.

As the trees ceased to shut out their view, they gave a shout of delight, for the lake was there, just as Paul had antic.i.p.ated.

"Whew! she's a big place, all right!" declared Jud, as they looked toward the distant sh.o.r.e, where the trees seemed lost in the shadows.

"I never dreamed there was a lake like this so near Stanhope," declared Joe, as he stared. "That one up by Rattlesnake Mountain could be put in a corner of Tokala, and wouldn't be missed. And say, that must be the island over yonder; don't you think so, Paul?"

"Look and see if you can sight a cedar growing on the top of the hill that they say stands in the middle of the island," suggested the scout master, still busy at the wheel; for the danger was not yet all over, as they had not entered the lake itself, though very near.

"It's there, all to the good!" announced Jud.

"Anybody could see that" added Gusty, who was a little jealous of the superior eyesight of several of his comrades, he being a trifle near-sighted.

"Well, if we are going to make a job of it, the sooner it's over the better," was the queer remark Joe made; but no one paid any particular attention to his words, they were so taken up with watching the island.

And so the leading motorboat left the noisy waters of the Radway, and glided into the smoother lake, much to the satisfaction of the crew; for the boys had grown tired of the constant need of watchfulness in avoiding reefs and snags.

Paul shut off power, and waited to see whether the companion boat succeeded in reaching the calm waters of the big lake as successfully as they had done. As it was now pretty close to dark, in spite of the half-moon that hung overhead, seeing the partly hidden rocks was not an easy task.

And so he watched with not a little concern the progress of the _Speedwell_ during those last few minutes. But Jack was alive to the situation; and managed to bring his boat safely through, being greeted with a cheer from those on board the waiting _Comfort_.

"Now it's straight for the island!" called out Bobolink, as the boats drew together, and the motors started as cheerfully as if they had not undergone a hard day's work from the time the voyagers left Stanhope.

"We'll have to make camp by firelight, that's plain," grumbled Gusty.

"What's the odds, so long as we get fairly comfortable for the night?"

Bobolink retorted, being one of the kind who can make the best of a bad bargain when necessary. "All we want to do is to get the tents up and a fire going, so we can cook something. Then in the morning we'll do all the fancy fixing you can shake a stick at, and try out all the new wrinkles every fellow's had in mind since our last camp. This is what I like. A lake for me, with an island in it that n.o.body lives on, but p'raps an old wildcat or a she bear with cubs."

"But they say something _does_ live on it, and that he's a terror too; a real wild man that's got hair all over him like a big baboon--I heard it from a man that saw him once, and he wouldn't lie about it either," Joe Clausin called out.

Although the rest of the scouts mocked him, and pretended to jeer at the idea of such a thing as a wild man existing so near Stanhope, nevertheless, as the two motorboats gradually shortened the distance separating them from the mysterious island, they gazed long at the dark ma.s.s lying on the still water of the big lake and its gloomy appearance affected them.

Just as Joe Clausin had said, it had a real "spooky" air, that, at the time, with night at hand, did not impress them very favorably.

CHAPTER XI

THE CAMP ON CEDAR ISLAND

It was with extreme caution that the two motor-boats crept along the sh.o.r.e of the island, with numerous eyes on the lookout for a good landing place.

"Seems to be plenty of water right here," remarked Jud, who was sounding with one of the poles. "Eight feet, if an inch, Paul."

Paul shut off the power immediately.

"And this looks like the best sort of place to make our landing," he said. "If we don't like it, or find a better for a permanent camp in the morning, we can change. Get busy with the poles, fellows, and shove the boat alongside that bank there."

This was readily done, and Jud was the first to jump ash.o.r.e. He wanted to be able to say that of the whole troop he had landed before any one else, ghost or no ghost.

Soon the others followed suit, even if Joe and Little Billie--and yes, Gusty Bellows also looked timidly around. There was Nuthin, always reckoned a rather timorous chap, showing himself indifferent to spirits, and all such things. What bothered Nuthin concerned material things, like cats, and dogs, and wandering bears; he snapped his fingers at spooks, because he had never seen one, and did not believe in "fairy stories," as he called them, anyway.

As the second boat came alongside, and her crew swarmed over the side, there were plenty of hands to do things, though they naturally looked to Paul for orders.

"A fire, first, fellows!" called out the scout master; "so we can see what we're doing. Because it's getting pretty dark around here, with these trees overhead. Jud, you take charge of that part, and the rest gather wood."

Many hands make light work, and in what Bobolink called a "jiffy" there came plenty of wood of all kinds, from dead branches to small-sized logs.

Jud, like every true scout, knew just how to go about starting a fire.

True, the recent rain had wet pretty much all of the wood, so that a tenderfoot would have had a difficult task getting the blaze started, though after that trouble had been surmounted it would not be so bad. But Jud knew just how to split open a log, and find the dry heart that would take fire easily; and in a brief time he had his blaze springing up.

Then others began to bring some of the things ash.o.r.e, particularly the tents, in which they expected to sleep during their stay.

Most of the boys were deeply impressed by the size of both the lake and the island; since they had not dreamed that things would be upon such a large scale.

Then there was that strange silence, broken only by the constant murmur of the water pa.s.sing out, where the Radway River had its source; and perhaps, when a dry spell lowered the water of the lake, even this might not be heard.

It seemed to some of the scouts as though they were isolated from all the rest of the world, marooned in a desolate region, and with many miles between themselves and other human beings.

However, when the white tents began to go up, as the several squads of workers took hold in earnest, things began to look more cheerful. There is nothing that chases away the "blues" quicker than a cheerful fire, and the sight of "homey" tents.

"In the morning, if we feel like it, we can put up a flagstaff in front, and fly not only our banner, but Old Glory as well," Paul observed. "And now, suppose some of you fellows give me a hand here."

"What you going to do, Paul?" asked Old Dan Tucker, eagerly.

"Begin to get supper," came the answer.

"I'll give you a hand there," said the other.

"Me too," said Nat Smith, who was a clever cook.

And when the odor of coffee began to steal through the camp, the boys felt amply repaid for all they had undergone in the rough trip from Stanhope. They sniffed the air, and smiled, and seemed ready to declare the expedition a great success.

More than that, the cooks being blessed with healthy appet.i.tes themselves, had cut generous slices from one of the fine hams, and these were also on the fire, sizzling away at a great rate, and throwing off the most tempting odors imaginable.

It was a happy sight about that time, and showed the best side of camp life. All of the boys belonging to the Red Fox Patrol at least, had been through the mill before, and knew that there was another side to the picture; when the rain descended, and the wind blew with hurricane force, possibly tearing the canvas out of their hands, and leaving them exposed to the storm, to be soaked through.

But of course they hoped nothing of that sort was going to happen to them on this trip. Once a year ought to be enough.

If the season of preparation was delightful, what shall be said of that time when the eighteen boys sat around in favorite att.i.tudes, each with a cup of steaming coffee beside him, to which he could add sugar and condensed milk to suit his taste; while on his knees he held a generous-sized tin pannikin, upon which was heaped a mess of friend potatoes and ham, besides all the bread he could dispose of?

"This is the stuff; it's what I call living!" Bobolink remarked.