"Great smoke! what's that?"
"It's the wild man, fellers!"
"Run, afore he gits yuh!"
There was an immediate scramble among the adherents of Pet Peters. What
they had heard about the wild man of the island had kept them on edge
throughout the entire length of their short sojourn; and now, when this
sudden object came rolling down the incline into their very camp they
were panic stricken.
Pet himself was just as frightened as any of his mates. He had been
sitting by the fire, drying his back, having removed his coat and
trousers meanwhile. As the alarm sounded he tried to get to his feet so
as to join in the hasty flight, but, as might be expected, his legs
became twisted, and consequently he fell in a heap.
"Wow! keep off'n me, you! I ain't done nuthin'!" he yelled.
It was his customary plea when caught doing something wrong.
Frank had by this time reached the bottom of the incline, for which he
was not at all sorry. He had not been seriously hurt by his rough
tumble, and, thinking only of keeping himself aloof from these ugly
spirits, he managed to scramble to his feet after some fashion.
Through it all he had kept a firm grip on his gun, as though he knew
what protection he could count on from that source.
There was another grand picture that escaped Will, and which he would
never cease to lament the loss of--Frank regaining his feet, those
fellows scampering away in several directions, and Pet on his knees,
holding one arm up as if to ward off some evil blow which he expected to
descend.
"Hey, it's only Langdon! Kim back here, yuh cowards!" bellowed Pet, as
soon as his startled eyes could tell him the truth.
And the others, halted in the midst of their mad flight, looking back,
saw that instead of the terrible hairy wild man of their dreams it was
indeed only a boy who stood there, and he the one they hated most of
all.
So they came straggling back, some looking sheepish over their recent
scare, while others scowled as if in an ugly temper.
"Wot yuh want here, Langdon?" demanded Pet, bridling up as he saw that
much was expected of him by his followers.
It was unfortunate that this should happen so soon after he had been
making such enormous threats about what he was going to do to Frank when
next they met.
What could a fellow do anyway when he was minus his coat and trousers,
as well as shoes?
Frank had recovered his lost breath by now.
"Well, I might have strolled over here just to ask whether you had
arrived safely after your swim; and to express a hope that you might not
take cold. It's pretty early in the season to go in, you know," he said
smoothly.
The others looked at each other as if they hardly knew what to make of
it. Somehow this Langdon always did seem to have the advantage whenever
they came face to face. In the canoe he was Pet's master, because he
felt quite at home there, while the other did not. Now, here ashore, he
held something in his hands which none of them liked the looks of--a
double-barreled shotgun.
"Aw, go chase yerself! 'Twan't that as fetched yuh here. Think we
scooped sumpin, an' yuh come sneakin' round tryin' tuh see," snarled the
shivering Pet.
"Come up to the fire and keep warm. It's your fire; I don't lay any
claim to it. Perhaps you fellows think I slid down that toboggan track
on purpose? Well, you've got another guess coming, then. I have more
respect for my clothes than to try such things, as a rule."
Frank was talking for a purpose. He did not expect to enter the camp of
the enemy when he parted from Will and Bluff; but now that circumstances
beyond his control had caused such a move on his part, he meant to take
full advantage of it.
Before he left, he expected to know positively what they had in that
tent. If Jerry was found there, a prisoner, he must be set free, no
matter what happened after such a move.
So, as he talked he kept moving a little at a time in the direction of
the said tent. If the others noticed his action they could not give any
sort of guess as to what he was after. Besides, he kept that gun always
half raised, and moving back and forth, from side to side, so that it
covered the entire bunch.
"Jest yuh make tracks outen here, Langdon. Yuh ain't wanted, see? This
here's our camp, an' yer intrudin'," chattered Pet, who was compelled to
creep closer to the fire, for he was shivering as though he had the
ague.
"Oh! I'm going right away, boys. I assure you I haven't the least
intention of staying and putting you to any inconvenience. Just a little
social call, you understand, Pet. I couldn't bear the thought that
possibly you were still floundering around out there on the lake. Glad
to know you arrived," Frank continued, now close to the flap of the
tent.
The others had unconsciously followed him, so that with the exception of
Pet the whole of the camp's inmates were clustered just in front of the
intruder.
As he uttered the last word, Frank suddenly stooped. He had seen his
chance, and meant to investigate the interior of that tent.
To his dismay it was far from light inside. He could just make out
objects dimly. There might be a prostrate figure on some of the dirty
blankets strewing the ground, for all he could say.
Determined to make sure, he immediately darted inside the tent. A chorus
of excited exclamations arose from the half circle of roughs outside.
"He's a-goin' ter steal our blankets, that's what!" shouted one.
"Don't let him, fellers!" whooped Pet, dancing from one bare foot to the
other in his excitement, but not offering to lend a hand in corralling
the intruder.
"Hey, you, wot yer want in there?" howled another, looking around for a
cudgel that might come in handy.
Then Frank emerged. He still kept his handy gun in evidence, seeing
which the others backed away again, not being quite so eager as they
imagined to come to hand-grips with this determined boy.
Frank was disappointed. He had failed to find the slightest trace of his
missing chum in the tent of the Peters crowd. This seemed to prove that
they knew nothing about the kidnapping of Jerry.
Under the circumstances he thought it might be just as well to explain
his queer move a little. The knowledge might hasten the departure of
these rowdy fellows, and purge the island of their presence.
"I'll tell you what I was looking for. One of my chums has strangely
disappeared, and we thought that perhaps you had him here. That's all.
But I find you haven't; which makes me believe he's fallen into the
hands of that wild man, or else the two hobo thieves who robbed the man
on the steamboat; because we happen to know they're here on this
island."
"Wot's that?" demanded Pet, anxiously.
"Why, you heard about the two tramps on the _Eastern Star_, didn't you?"
"Yuh mean the fellers as collared the roll o' Mister Pemberton?" asked
Pet, forgetting to even shiver, in his new excitement.
"Yes, and they're here on this island right now, hungry and desperate,"
continued Frank, thinking it good policy to rub it in good and hard
while he was about it.
"Here on this yer island--them desperadoes are?" gasped one.
"That's easy to say, Langdon; but how d'ye know?" demanded Pet.
"Well, we've seen them, for one thing. Then they robbed us of a kettle
with our supper last night. Let a cord down from the top of the cliff,
and caught the bale of the kettle with a hook. First thing we knew, our
supper was sailing up, and that was the last we ever saw of it," replied
Frank, now beginning to edge toward the beach, as he had suddenly
decided to return by an easier path than the one he had taken in coming.
Then the boys looked at each other uneasily.
"A wild man loose here; an' now them two desperate critters huntin'
round fur anythin' loose. Say, fellers, it's up ter us ter git outen
this in the mornin'," said Pet, shaking his head with determination.
And not one of his mates lifted his voice, even in a whisper,
contrarywise. Indeed, to tell the truth, they looked as though the hours
that must elapse ere they departed hence would fairly drag along.
Frank, believing that he had reached a point where he could boldly make
his exit from the hostile camp, was just in the act of backing away when
he saw something that gave him a shock.
"Say, look yonder, you fellows, what's happening to your provision
basket!" he exclaimed, pointing with his gun.
Every boy whirled around, and as he did so a concerted howl went up,
partly of rage, though terror could be plainly detected in the chorus.
There was a swiftly moving figure carrying off the big basket in which
all the balance of their supplies happened to be gathered. And such a
figure--whether a wild man or a gigantic ape--it would be impossible to
say, for in the quick glimpse which Frank had of it ere the Thing
vanished among the bushes he could only positively say that it seemed to
be covered with hair, and when its face was turned it looked a cross
between that of a demented human being and a great ape!