WHAT THE ASHES TOLD MAX.
"Get back, Steve, and let me have room with my fish spear!" whispered
Bandy-legs, nervously, just as if he fully expected that they were about
to be attacked by a legion of fierce wild-cats, and wished to be able to
impale the first that showed up on his lance.
Steve, fearing for his legs or back, seized hold of the long pole upon
which the four-pronged and barbed spear was mounted, then he felt safe
in leaning forward again, to see what it was Max had discovered.
"Why, it's a cabin!" he exclaimed, as though somewhat disappointed.
"A cabin!" echoed Bandy-legs; but there was relief rather than chagrin
in his voice, and the pole Steve clutched steadied a little.
"Sure it is, and nothing more!" remarked Owen.
"B-b-but, f-f-fellows, did yon ever s-s-see _such_ a c-c-cabin?"
demanded Toby.
"Well, it does look kind of queer," admitted Steve, "but mebbe that's
just because of the shack being abandoned so long. The weeds and grass
and bushes have grown right up to the walls; and looky there, the roof
even seems to be green, like grass had took root there. She is a
dandy-lookin' roost, sure as you're born, Toby."
All of them stared at the odd little affair. Cabins they had seen before
now, by scores, some fairly commodious, others small and limited in
accommodations, bat never one that looked like this shack on Catamount
Island.
"Anybody around, that you can see, Max?" asked Owen, presently, when
they had been standing there in that group, watching the green-roofed
cabin, and the vegetation-covered walls of the low, squat cabin, for
some time.
"Well, if there is, I haven't had a squint of 'em," Steve took occasion
to remark, before the one addressed could reply.
"S-s-somebody g-g-give 'em a hail!" said Toby, sensibly.
So Max immediately called out:
"Hello there!"
No response followed. Although the five boys watched eagerly to see if
any figure that might correspond with the queer cabin came out of the
partly opened door, nothing happened.
"Cabin, ahoy!" sang out Steve, in a very loud, gruff voice, that surely
merited some attention, if so be there chanced to be any one at home.
He met with no better success than had attended the salute of Max. The
boys exchanged glances, and nodded, as if their minds were made up.
"If the mountain won't come to Mahomet, then he's just got to go to the
mountain, that's all," Owen remarked, as he started to push forward.
Every one began to move at the same time, and in this sort of hollow
square, with the menacing fish spear gripped by Bandy-legs sticking out
ahead, they advanced toward the mysterious cabin.
All was silent around, save that a busy woodpecker hammered loudly on
the dead top of a chestnut tree close by, looking for a breakfast of
grubs. In this fashion, then, they reached the front of the shack that
seemed to have been deserted so long that vegetation was trying to
claim, or cover it out of sight.
Max thrust his head in at the partly open door, while the others stood
by, ready to back him up, if any ferocious thing attacked him. But
apparently he saw nothing of the sort beyond, for after that one survey,
Max proceeded to deliberately enter the strange cabin.
The others pushed close on his heels, for they had determined to stick
together through thick and thin. Even Bandy-legs, spear and all, tried
to gain entrance, but in the end he had to let his pole drop to the
ground, since there was hardly room for that inside, and the four boys
as well.
They looked around them. The interior of the shack was certainly about
as desolate as anything they had ever set eyes on. Not a sign of
anything in the way of former comforts seemed to remain. Over in one
corner there had at one time been a sort of berth made, where the party
who built the cabin kept his blanket most likely and slept; but just now
it only had some dead leaves in it, such as might go to serve a wild
beast for its nest.
Something flitted out of the opening that served as a window, and from
the fleeting glimpse the boys had of this, they believed it must have
been a red squirrel, that possibly thought to hide its store of nuts in
this lonesome cabin, though as yet the season for this sort of thing was
far distant, since summer had not progressed very far.
After all it was Toby, who, as a rule, had little to say, who broke the
silence that hung over the chums as they stared around.
"Gee!"
Whether it was that the sound of a human voice had stirred them up, or
the fact of Toby saying that one expressive word without stumbling, as
usual, something aroused the others, and Steve broke loose.
"Well, of all the tough-looking places I've ever struck, I think this
takes the cake!" he exclaimed.
No one ventured to disagree with him on that score, because he expressed
just what was in the mind of every one of the others.
"Now whoever could have lived here, do you think?" demanded Bandy-legs,
who, now that his alarm was of the past, could appear as curious as the
next one.
Max was using his eyes to look about. He was always quick to discover
things that would escape the observation of his companions. It had
become a settled habit with Max to always be on the alert in cases like
this, so as to pick up valuable information, even from small things. The
secrets of the trail he dearly loved to examine, so as to read a story
there that was hidden from common eyes.
And so the first thing he discovered was the fact that some animal, or
human being, had been eating here not many days back, at least. There
were a number of small bones lying scattered about, which in time would
naturally be carried away by a prowling fox or wild-cat, or perhaps a
raccoon.
He picked a couple of these up, while the other boys watched his actions
with interest, expecting that Max would read the signs rightly, and
being content to leave that task to his ingenuity.
"A partridge, I should say, though I may be wrong," he remarked, after
looking closely at the bone, apparently from the wing of a fairly large
bird.
Then he smelled of it, as though that might give him a clew.
"It was cooked before being eaten," he went on, "and that tells the
story, fellows. No wild-cat ever ate that partridge, because so far as
known they never bother with cooking their food."
"Course not," added Bandy-legs, seriously, not understanding the humor
of the remark Max had made; "how d'ye suppose they'd ever be able to
build a fire? Tell me that, now, Max. It was hard enough for me to learn
how to do it, and I'm human."
"Oh! are you?" snapped Steve, always ready to give the other a sly dig
when he saw the chance; "well, now, we're glad to know that, because
sometimes we've wondered if it was so, haven't we, fellows?"
Max did not pay any attention to these side remarks. He was still
looking about him, as though under the belief that if he hunted closer
he might discover other things that would help explain about the strange
cabin and its equally mysterious late occupant.
"I think you're right about the partridge part of it, Max," said Owen
just then.
"What makes you say that?" asked the other.
"Why, because, while we were on the way here, you remember, I stepped
out of the path we were following. That was so I could examine something
that had attracted my attention close by, down in the matted bushes."
"What was that something, Owen?" asked the other.
"I've never seen one made of twisted vines before, always cords; but I
believe it must have been a partridge snare," replied Owen, confidently.
"That might be," Max went on, in a reflective way. "Suppose, now, some
man was on this island, and either couldn't get away, or else for some
reason didn't want to go over to the mainland. He'd have to live, some
way or other, and if he didn't have a gun and ammunition, why, the only
way he could keep alive would be by getting fish from the river, mussels
perhaps, for I've seen quite a few shells on the shore, though they
looked like they'd been opened by muskrats, or by snaring some of the
game birds out of season."
"That sounds pretty good to me, Max," admitted Steve, always ready to
express an opinion, one way or the other.
"T-t-to m-m-me same way!" Toby followed.
"A man!" echoed Bandy-legs; and then as a sudden idea struck him, he
went on: "Say, Max, looky here, you don't mean that it was a human being
grabbed me by the leg last night, and tried to haul me out from under my
blanket?"
"I hope not," replied the other; "for any man who would leave the marks
of his nails on your ankle like we saw, must be a pretty savage sort, to
my way of thinking."
"Wonder when he could have been here last?" remarked Owen, also
beginning to look around, as though hoping to discover an answer to his
own question.
Bandy-legs was appearing rather uneasy. He could not forget what a
tremendous pull he had received at the time he was awakened; and the
very thought that they might even now be in the abiding place of the
creature that had been responsible for his fright gave him new cause for
shivering.
He looked up and around, as though suspecting that the aforesaid human
being might be hiding close by, and watching them with ferocious eyes.
But there was no loft to the squatty cabin, and hence no place where
anybody of size might lie in concealment. Still, Bandy-legs looked
longingly down at his fish spear, and wished he had thought to shorten
that pole, so he could always keep it handy in case of a sudden
necessity.
Max even tried to find traces of footprints on the floor; but as the
earth was as hard as rock he did not meet with any flattering success
there.
"Anyhow, he had a fire in here, looks like, when he cooked that bird,"
Steve remarked, as he pointed to a little heap of ashes over where the
chimney, that was made of hard mud and pieces of stone, stood.
Max saw that there seemed to be considerable of truth in this discovery
of the quick-witted chum. There were certainly ashes there, a little
heap of them, and these could not have been left behind when the former
occupant of the cabin deserted his home years ago; for the winds of
winter, sifting in through the partly open door, would have scattered
the ashes long since.
They spoke of more recent occupancy, perhaps within the last month, or
even week.
"I reckon, now, this is the cabin that boy spoke about, when they called
out after us as we were leaving town?" Max said, half to himself, as he
continued to look around him.
"And from the way he talked, you'd sure believe he thought it was the
worst kind of a shack he'd ever struck," Owen went on to remark.
"I've been thinking that over," observed Steve, "and come to this
conclusion--that they must have started to spend the night in this same
cabin, and perhaps the ashes there are some from their fire. Then during
the night they got their bad scare, which none of them would ever tell
about, on any account. It must have come from _something_ that they saw
in this same cabin; and whatever it was, it sent the whole bunch on the
run for their boat. They said they nearly killed themselves as they
bumped into trees, fell over vines, straddled stumps; and when they came
back to town they sure looked as if they had been through a fight."
"And this is that queer old cabin he said we'd run across?" ventured
Bandy-legs, again turning to cast his eyes about him, this time in more
of an awed manner than before, though the shack had not changed its
appearance one iota meanwhile.
"But you see, boys," Max remarked, with a smile, "they started to bunk
in here, and we don't mean to bother ourselves trying that, when we've
got our good tents along. So, after all, I don't see why we shouldn't be
able to stick it out the full week, and go back to laugh at Herb."
As he was speaking Max stepped across the interior of the deserted
green-roofed cabin. Knowing that some notion had appealed to him, the
others watched to see what he would do. They saw him stoop down beside
the little pile of gray-looking ashes that lay in the fireplace.
"Watch him!" said Owen, beginning to suspect the truth.
Max thrust his hand down upon the heap; then he quickly moved it so as
to further penetrate the ashes; after which he sprang hastily to his
feet, exclaiming:
"Of course I don't pretend to say who the party was that devoured that
partridge, fellows, but he must have had it for his supper _last night_;
and there's been fire here up to this morning, _because the ashes are
still warm!_"