The Banner Boy Scouts Afloat Part 5

Bobolink had been given the post of "Captain of the Guards;" while Tom Betts was to be considered the second in command. They were to divide the duties in such fas.h.i.+on that there would be two of them on deck at a time.

"I'll take Andy for my mate; and you can have Spider to help out,"

Bobolink had told Tom, when they were arranging the programme.

"And how long will the watches be?" demanded Spider, who liked to sleep about as much as any fellow in the troop; he had gained that odd name not because he was artful and cruel; but on account of his slender legs, which long ago some smart boy had likened to those of a spider; and it only requires a hint like that to establish a nick-name.

"Two hours each, divided into four," replied the chief, feeling the responsibility of his position; for this was really the first time Bobolink could remember being placed over any of his fellow scouts--Paul wished to "try him out," and discover what sort of reliance could be placed in the lad.

"That's an awful short time to get a snooze," complained Spider, yawning.

"Why, you'd hardly get asleep before you'd have to wake up."

"Then what's the use going to sleep at all, at all?" remarked Andy Flinn, with a broad smile. "Let's draw lots to say who'll stand guard the whole night"

"Well, I guess not," objected Spider, vigorously. "Half a loaf is some better'n no bread, they always say; and four hours ought to make a fellow feel as though he hadn't been shut out altogether from his needed rest."

"Needed rest is good for you, Spider; the only trouble is you need too much," Bobolink remarked. "But here's the way we'll fix it: Andy and me, why, we'll be the pioneers on the job, starting in right now, while you others curl up somewhere, and get busy taking your forty winks. At eleven-ten we'll give you the foot, and take your places. Jack left me his little watch, so we could tell how time goes; but sure, you can hear the clock in the church steeple knock off the hours. And for the last time, listen to me; not one wink must any sentry take while on duty.

Sleeping on post is the most terrible thing you can do. They shoot soldiers in war time who betray their trust that way. Get your instructions, fellows?"

"I'm on to what you mean, all right," said Spider; "and I guess I know my weakness, as well as anybody. To prove that I want to do the right thing, I'm going to fix it up with my mate to give me a jab with this pin, every time he gets a notion in his head that I'm drowsing."

"Say, that sounds heroic all right," remarked Bobolink, doubtfully; "but you don't want to get too gay with that same pin, Tom. It'd be a shame to wake Andy and me up every ten minutes, making Spider give a yelp. Better just shake him if he acts sleepy. And above everything else, keep a bright watch along the sh.o.r.e."

"Think they'll be apt to come from that direction, do you?" asked Spider.

"Just as like as not," the other returned; "but that isn't saying you ought not to keep an eye on the other side, and all around. I wouldn't put it past that Ted Slavin to swim down this way from some place above, thinking he could do his little trick by fooling us, and coming aboard on the water side."

"Whew! do you really think, then, he'd dare board these boats, knowing that they belong to two of the richest and most prominent citizens of Stanhope?" asked Spider, who occasionally liked to air his command of fine language.

"Well, you ought to be on to the curves of that Ted Slavin; and if you just look back to things he's been known to do in the past, why, lots of times he's played his pranks on people that had a pull. Why, didn't he even sneak into the loft over Police Headquarters once, and rig up a scare that came near breaking up the force. Ted fixed it so the wind'd work through a knot-hole in the dark, whenever he chose to pull a string over the fence back of the house, and make the awfullest groaning noise anybody ever did hear. It got on the nerves of Chief Billings and his men. They hunted that loft over and over, but of course the groans didn't come when they were up there. Why, he had 'em so badly rattled that they all just about camped out on the pavement the rest of that night."

"Sure, I remember that," declared Andy Flinn, laughing. "Three nights did he play the same joke, and then they got on to him. Wan officer do be sneakin' up to the loft, while the rist pretended to be huntin' around downstairs. He discovered the sthring, cript downstairs again, wint out on the sly, and, be the powers, followed it to the fince. Then he wint around, and jumped on Tid while the bhoy was a pullin' his sthring like smoke, makin' worse groanings than any time yit. Sure they thried to hush the joke up, the police was that ashamed; but it cript out some way."

"Well, get off to bed, Spider and Tom;" said Bobolink, "we'll wake you up when it's time to change the watch. And remember what a nice little surprise we've got ready for anybody who thinks he can meddle with things that don't belong to him. Skip out now, both of you."

The two motorboats had been lashed side by side. They were about of a size, and something like twenty-four feet in length, with a rather generous beam, because their owners went in for pleasure and comfort, rather than racing. Still, one of the boats, the _Speedwell_, was said to be capable of doing a mile in seven minutes, if pushed, on flat water; while the other, called the _Comfort_, being broader, could not do anything like that.

It was easy to pa.s.s from one boat to the other, as they lay there. Each had a canopy top, and curtains that could be dropped, and b.u.t.toned, during a wet spell, or if the owner chose to sleep aboard; but on this occasion Paul had believed it best that these latter should remain up, so as to allow of free observation all around.

A stout hawser secured the boat nearest the sh.o.r.e to a big stake that had been driven deeply into the earth. Thus the boats lay close beside a short dock that was called a landing stage. As the current of the Bushkill was always pretty strong there must be more or less of a strain on that hawser; but since it was comparatively new, the boys felt that there could not be the slightest danger of its breaking, unless some outside influence were brought to bear on it, such as a keen-edged knife blade.

In that case, as it was very taut, it would naturally part readily; and with consequences disastrous to the safety of the two boats, which must be carried off down-stream in the darkness, possibly to be driven ash.o.r.e on some rocks below.

And so Bobolink, having been duly warned with regard to possible trouble in connection with that same hawser, had mentally called the rope his "dead line;" and he watched the sh.o.r.e above that point three times as much as any other place.

He and Andy had planned not to talk while on duty. If they found it necessary to say anything at all, which was hardly likely, the communication would be in the lowest whisper.

Bobolink was not greedy, but he really hoped that if any sort of trouble did come it would come along while he and Andy were holding the post of guards. He had a little fear that Spider s.e.xton might not be depended on, no matter what his good intentions, while Tom Betts was an unknown quant.i.ty.

In case Andy happened to be sitting in one boat, while Bobolink was occupying the other, they had fixed it up so that by taking a lead pencil, the "commander" could give a few little light taps on the side of the craft, using his knowledge of the Morse code to send the message, and in this way ask whether his a.s.sistant were wide awake, and on the job, when Andy would send back a reply along the same order; for he aspired to be a signal man of the troop, and was daily practicing with the wigwag flags, as well as smoke and fire signals.

The town clock boomed out the hour of ten.

Bobolink had himself begun to feel rather sleepy, and more to arouse his dormant faculties than anything else, he sent a message along the wooden telegraph line. The reply was a bit slow in coming, which made him think Andy might also be inclined to fall into a doze.

So Bobolink decided that he must bestir himself, and give the signal more frequently. He would not have this, his first important commission, turn out poorly, for a good deal. Perhaps his whole future usefulness as a scout who could be depended on in emergencies rested on the way he accounted for the safety of the motorboats this night.

When he found himself letting his eyes shut, even for a minute, he would immediately try to picture the consternation that would ensue should a fire suddenly envelope the boats that had been placed in the hands of the scouts, and for which they would be held responsible.

He knew Ted Slavin of old, and felt that the town bully would not hesitate at even such a thing as that.

Then there was such a thing as cutting the hawser, and letting the boats drift down-stream, to bring up against some rocks that might stave a hole in the delicate planking. Who could tell but what the rope had parted under a strain? Sometimes a break may look like the work of a sharp knife; and anyway, as darkness lay upon the scene, with a cloudy sky overhead to hide the young moon, the ident.i.ty of the vandal could never be absolutely known.

All these things Bobolink was turning over and over in his mind as he sat there trying to keep awake.

It is one of the hardest things to do, and especially when the subject is only a half-grown lad, with but a dim idea of the responsibility depending on the faithful discharge of his duty.

h.e.l.lo! what was that? Bobolink thought he surely heard a sound like muttered conversation. But then, even in steady old Stanhope, there were a number of happy-go-lucky chaps who tarried late in the saloons; and when they finally started homeward, used to talk to themselves along the way. Perhaps it was only one of these convivial fellows trying to find the way home, and getting off his course, coming to the open place along the river bank, intending to lie down and sleep his confusion off.

Bobolink was thrilled, however, a minute later, when he felt sure he could again hear the low mutter of voices. It struck him that several persons might be urging each other on, as though inclined to feel the need of backing.

It came from up-river, too, the point he meant to watch more than any other; and this fact increased the suspicious look of the case.

"Oh! it's coming," whispered the eager boy to himself; "and I only hope the water will be hot enough, that's all."

His words were mysterious enough to suit any one; and even while he was speaking in this manner Bobolink started to crawl under the canopy that sheltered him from the dew of the night. He allowed the end of his pencil to throb against the side of the boat, giving the one significant word: "Come!" An immediate answer a.s.sured him that Andy heard, and understood.

Another minute, and the Irish boy came shuffling over from the other boat, trying to keep from making any more noise than was necessary.

"Take hold," Bobolink whispered in his ear, pulling the other's head down close to his lips; "They're coming! Be ready to go at it licketty-split when I say the word. Get that?"

"Sure!" came in the faintest tone from the other; whereupon Bobolink, feeling that his hour had arrived, started once more to crawl back to his former position.

But now he had something in his hands that looked very like a snake; or since Bobolink was known to fairly detest all crawling creatures, it might be a rope, although there are still other things that have that same willowy appearance--a garden hose, for example.

CHAPTER VI

THE GREAT CRUISE OF THE SCOUTS BEGUN

When Bobolink again reached the bow of the _Comfort_, and peered above the side, he glued his eyes to the spot where he knew the rope lay that held the boats moored to the sh.o.r.e.

And as the half moon condescended to peep from behind the dark clouds that had until now hidden her bright face, the scout could make out a flattened figure, that seemed to be hugging the earth, while creeping slowly forward.

Not only one, but three more, did he see, all in a line, as though in this way the conspirators had arranged to keep their courage up to the sticking point. Each fellow might watch his mates, and see that no one lagged behind.

Bobolink was quivering with eagerness and excitement. He figured that these night crawlers had only five more feet to cover before they would be as close to his "dead line" as prudence would dictate that he allow, since it might require only a single sweep of the knife to cut that rope.