GATHERING CLOUDS
Pop! pop! pop!
"Listen to that, will you?" shouted William, as he jumped to his feet,
and waved his arms above his head to attract attention.
It was the following day. The night had passed without any alarm, and
the squad of scouts posted on the side of the mountain with instructions
to shower stones on Ted and his allies should any attack be made on the
camp, had their labor for their pains, since nothing happened out of the
ordinary.
During the middle of the morning, while many of the scouts were at work
developing plates, and printing pictures that had already been taken,
suddenly there came on the breeze that quick pulsating sound, so unlike
anything one might expect to hear up in this vast solitude.
"It's Ward's motorcycle!" cried Jud Elderkin, almost upsetting the
daylight film-tank in his eagerness to gain his feet.
"Yes, and he's coming down the old road like fun," remarked another of
the boys with a laugh; "reckon a wildcat or something is after him!"
"There he is!" called Philip Towne, pointing to an opening among the
trees; and immediately adding, "no he's gone past. Look what's that
chasing him?"
"Oh! that's the rest of the lot, whooping it up on their wheels,"
remarked William, himself interested, and ready to snap his camera at
the procession as soon as it got within open range; "and they look like
they've had a bad scare, as sure as you live. Oh! there goes Scissors
head over heels in the bushes. What a cropper he took, and how his head
will sing to-morrow."
"But he's up again, and mounted," broke in Jack. "As sure as you live,
boys, they do look like they wanted to get back home in a hurry. What
d'ye suppose has scared them?"
By this time Ward on his motorcycle was abreast of the camp. He was not
putting up any great speed, for the road would not allow of it. On this
account the fellows on ordinary bicycles were able to hang closely to
his rear.
It was not in human nature to hold back that cheer which went up from
the camp of the Boy Scouts. Possibly there was considerable of irony in
it too, the kind that smarts with all lads. Those who were in full
flight seemed to consider that they were being held up to derision, for
they sent back answering cries of scorn, accompanied by not a few
gestures.
"Hurrah, I've got the whole kit!" shouted William, as he lowered his
camera, "Ward, Scissors, Bud Jones, Monkey Eggleston and Nat Green.
We've got all the evidence we want, to show they were up here. But I
missed that dandy header Scissors took! What wouldn't I give to get
that?"
"I might spare you a copy, if my exposure turns out all right, William,"
remarked Jack, smiling; "for I just happened to be pressing the button
when he showed us what an acrobat he had become."
"They're gone now," said Tom Betts, as the last of the group, being poor
Scissors himself, with one hand trying to staunch the blood that flowed
from his nose, wobbled among the stones that so plentifully strewed the
unused road.
Paul and Jack exchanged glances as they approached each other.
"What do you suppose has happened to give them that bad scare?" asked
the latter.
"I might give a guess, but perhaps we'll never know," replied Paul.
"I suppose," ventured his chum, "you're thinking of that man, the fellow
who stole our ham, and who came up here in that light rig?"
"Yes," said the patrol leader, seriously, "but when I was out on the
mountain this morning after breakfast I thought I'd take a chance to
follow that trail further. What do you think I found only a few hundred
feet away from our camp?"
"I really don't know, Paul."
"The tracks of two other men!" came the reply, in Paul's most impressive
manner.
"Oh! then the thief wasn't alone; he has friends up here!" ejaculated
Jack.
"That's a point I'm not decided on," Paul went on. "These tracks were
not made at the same time as his. They always cut across the long
footprint, marked by the patch on the shoe. That told me they were
_following_ the thief. Then I figured out that, as it was impossible to
do this in the night, they must have come across his trail early this
morning, and taken it up."
"H'm! That sounds as if they might want to meet the thief. Then they
can't be very dear friends of his, Paul!" exclaimed Jack.
"My idea is that they want to find the man who made those footprints.
Just as soon as they discovered his tracks they started following him.
And that was so close to our camp they must have smelled the bacon
frying, and the coffee."
Paul had evidently been thinking seriously over the matter, and had
arrived at some conclusion.
"I guess they didn't want to see us very bad. Look here, Paul, do you
think the man who drove along in that rig is one of these two men?"
demanded Jack, suddenly.
"Now you're getting close to what I mapped out myself," smiled Paul.
"Perhaps Ted and his crowd had an ugly experience with those men?"
suggested Jack, following up his train of thought.
"I can't imagine what else could have given them such a scare," returned
the patrol leader. "When they came in sight they looked rattled for
keeps. I noticed too, that Ted seemed to hold his left arm half dangling
at his side, as if it had been hurt."
"Well, anyhow, if they've scared the Slavin crowd out of this region
we'll have to take off our lids to the unknown gentlemen," laughed his
chum.
The balance of that day passed off pleasantly. Many things occupied the
attention of the campers; and all the while they were learning more
about the secrets which a bountiful Nature hides in her solitudes away
from the haunts of men.
"Thank goodness," declared Nuthin, as he rubbed his side with
considerable feeling, "no more of that guard duty up on the side of the
mountain after this. Since Ted and his bad lot have skipped out, there's
no need of expecting a shower of rocks at any time during the night.
I'll sleep like a brick to-night, boys, you bet!"
"But all the same we'll keep guard, and don't you forget it, Nuthin,"
declared William, who chanced to overhear the remark; "because you see,
the same thief who grabbed our fine ham might take a notion to get his
fingers on more grub, and first thing you know we'd have to cut and run
for town just like those fellows on wheels did, starved out."
"Yes," interposed Bobolink, as he joined the group, and lowered his
voice mysteriously; "I just heard Paul and Mr. Gordon talking about two
more men that seem to be wandering at large up here. That makes three,
you see, and none of 'em care to step into our dandy camp in the
daytime. Boys, don't you see what an ugly look that has?"
The three scouts exchanged glances, and nodded their heads. Like all
boys they loved a touch of excitement, and the fact that there was a
mystery hanging about Rattlesnake Mountain just pleased them.
"Now, what d'ye think these prowlers might be?" asked Nuthin, in awed
tones.
"Huh! Why d'ye suppose men'd hang out in such a place as this, and shun
their fellows, if they ain't been doin' something against the law?"
demanded William, with lofty scorn.
"My! then you mean they're escaped convicts, or something like that?"
gasped the deeply absorbed Nuthin, his eyes round with wonder, and
perhaps a touch of fear.
"I wouldn't be surprised," replied William, indifferently, as became a
valiant scout; "and it's my opinion that the feller who passed us in
that rig when we were resting on the road that day, looked like _he_ was
a bad egg. If ever I saw what my dad calls a hang-dog look on a man's
face, he was all to the good. I hope I don't meet the same when I'm
doing my lone stunt through the woods, that's all."
Joe Clausin had been hovering near while they talked in this way. At
first he had shown just the natural curiosity a boy might under the
circumstances; but as William began to declare his belief in the
rascality of the lone traveler, his face turned rosy red, and then pale.
He walked quickly away, perhaps afraid that one of his companions might
notice his confusion.
A guard was set that night as usual, and their supply of food was placed
in such a position that none of it might be stolen by any clever method
of using a fishhook and line.
Again morning came without any alarm. The scouts by this time had begun
to hope that their troubles were over. During the day they penetrated
further into the wilderness of rocks and trees that surrounded them, and
Mr. Gordon was kept busy explaining the innumerable matters that caught
the attention of the eager lads in every quarter.
The weather had grown much warmer. Indeed, several of the boys
complained of the heat; and as clouds covered the heavens at nightfall,
the scoutmaster warned them to be prepared for a storm before morning.
Once more tent pins were examined, and everything made as secure as
possible. At the same time Paul surveyed the black sky with secret
misgivings, wondering what they would have to do should a tornado sweep
down upon them there on the side of the mountains, and demolish their
tents.
The scouts turned in earlier than usual that night, for Mr. Gordon
thought it well to get what sleep they could. He went the rounds last of
all, to make sure the provisions could not be wholly ruined by water, no
matter what befell.
By nine o'clock the camp was wrapped in silence, even the fire dying
out. The moan of the wind through the pines further up the mountain
helped to sing most of the scouts to sleep. Two hours later the guard
was changed; and again silence fell upon the scene.
It must have been midnight and past when Paul was awakened by what he
thought was the rush and roar of a railroad train. Alarmed he sat up to
listen.