NOT NEAR EITHER BANK
Having convinced themselves that the man in gray was near at hand, the
next question Alvin and Chester asked themselves was whether he knew of
_their_ proximity. It would seem not, for they had moved with the
silence of shadows, and spoken in the most guarded of undertones.
Moreover, it was not to be supposed that he would smoke a cigar, knowing
the liability of betraying himself, just as he had done. Further, there
was the danger of the glowing end catching the eye of anyone in the
vicinity. The youths peered here and there in the obscurity in quest of
a tiny torch, but failed to see it.
While speculating over the situation an unexpected shift took place.
Chester laid his hand on the arm of his comrade and whispered:
"Look out on the water!"
A point of light glowed like a tiny star from a spot directly opposite,
but quite a way from shore. It was of a neutral or yellow color, and the
reflection of the rays showed a few feet from where it shone above the
surface. The gleaming speck, however, was too small to tell anything
more.
"I believe that's on the _Deerfoot_!" whispered Chester.
"It may be, but it's on the other side of the inlet; we shall not learn
anything more while standing here."
A new problem was thus presented. They could stay where they were until
daylight told them the truth, go back to Uncle Ben's house and sleep in
a comfortable bed, or pick their way through the wood and darkness to
the other side of the water. After a few minutes' consultation they
decided to follow the last course.
Once nigh enough to the launch to touch it with outstretched hand they
would have no trouble in identifying it, no matter how profound the
gloom. While each youth saw the imprudence of the action, he was
impelled by the dread that the thieves would give them the slip, and be
almost beyond tracing within the following few hours. If they had run
into this place for shelter, there was no guessing how long they would
stay.
The task before the lads was formidable. They did not know the width of
the inlet around whose head they must thread their course in order to
reach the point where the _Deerfoot_ or possibly some other motor boat
was lying. The distance might be brief or prove too great to be
traversed during the night. None the less they decided to try it.
The star still shone a little above the silent surface which was as
smooth as a mirror. The light did not seem to be far off--a fact which
led our young friends to believe they would not have to walk far to
reach their destination.
The immediate cause for misgiving was the man with the cigar. The most
careful snuffing failed to tell the direction from which the vapor
floated, and not a breath of air stirred the stillness. Whether the
youths moving eastward would be going toward or from him could not be
guessed. They could only trust to providence.
"The slightest sound will give us away," said Alvin as he took the lead.
"Keep so near that you can touch me with your hand; I'll feel every inch
of the way."
It should not be long before they would be far enough from the man in
gray to move with more freedom. The plan was to make a circuit around
the head of the inlet and come back to the spot where the _Deerfoot_
nestled under the wooded bank. How long it would require to complete
this semi-circle remained to be seen.
When twenty minutes had gone by and they had progressed several rods,
Alvin paused and said in his guarded undertone:
"I don't smell the cigar; do you?"
Chester called his nose into action and replied:
"I don't detect any odor."
"That means we have got away from him."
"Or that he has finished his cigar and thrown away the stump. Push on."
To avoid mishap, they kept several yards from the water. The task was so
hard that it would have been impossible but for the help given by the
moon. The sky had cleared considerably, so that the dim light shone at
brief intervals upon the water. Another blessing was appreciated by the
venturesome youths. The pine woods were free from briers and
undergrowth, the ground being soft, spongy and dry under their feet,
because of the cones and spines which had accumulated for many and many
a year. Still again, the inlet had no tributaries--at any rate the boys
did not come upon any, so they were not troubled in that respect. It was
simply a cove whose sole supply of water came from the broad Sheepscot.
Such being the favoring conditions, Alvin and Chester made better
progress than either expected when setting out. Now and then Alvin led
the way to the water's edge in quest of the beacon which had served them
so well thus far. It still gleamed with a calm, unwinking clearness like
the point of an incandescent light.
A gratifying discovery came sooner than the youths expected--they were
turning the head of the inlet and coming back on the other side from
the shore first reached. If all went well they ought to arrive at the
right spot within the next half hour. They ran against an unimportant
difficulty, however. A vigorous growth of underbrush clogged their
progress, but having left the mysterious stranger behind, they felt no
need of further care with their footsteps.
It was yet comparatively early in the night when they completed the
broad half circle and came opposite the point of their first arrival.
The occasional clearing of the moon had been of much help, and they had
every reason to be satisfied with their progress. But before coming to a
pause, they were puzzled by a discovery for which at first they could
not account.
The gleaming point that had served as a guide was nowhere near them. It
seemed like an ignis fatuus that recedes as the traveller tries to
approach it. So far as the lads could judge they were no closer to the
light than before.
"That's the queerest thing I ever saw," said Alvin, as he and his
companion stood on the edge of the wood. "I thought we should run right
against the boat, and now there is no chance of doing so."
"It must have crossed to the other shore while we were passing round the
head of the inlet," suggested Chester, as much perplexed as his chum.
"Then we shall have to turn back."
"And have it give us the slip again. That can't be the explanation,
Alvin; we should have heard the engine in the stillness. Ah! I have it!
The _Deerfoot_ is not near either bank, but anchored in the middle of
the cove or beside a small island."
This obviously was the explanation, but it did not improve the
situation, so far as the searchers were concerned. With the partial
illumination given now and then by the moon they could not catch the
faintest outlines of the boat. It might have been a dozen miles away.
"It looks as if we were up against it," remarked Alvin, with a sigh. "We
shall have to wait until daylight and may as well go back to Uncle
Ben's."
Chester was silent for a minute or two. He was turning over a project in
his mind.
"The boat can't be far off," he said. "What do you say to my taking off
my clothing and swimming out to it?"
The proposal struck Alvin dumb at first. His friend added:
"It will be easy; it won't take me long to go there and back."
"Suppose you are seen?"
"I have no fear of that; they won't be expecting anything of the kind
and I shall learn something worth while."
"I won't agree to it," replied Alvin decisively; "it may look simple to
you, but there is more danger than you suspect. No, give it up. It is
_my_ boat and if anyone chose to risk his life to recover it he should
be myself, and I'll be hanged if _I'll_ try it."
"All right; you are the Captain and I am only second mate, but it
grieves me to have you turn down my proposition. Sh! you heard that?"
From the direction of the launch came the sound of a sneeze. In the
profound stillness there was no mistaking the nature of the noise.
"I wonder if our friend is catching cold," was the whimsical remark of
Chester; "it sounds that way," he added as the person, whoever he was,
sneezed a second, third and fourth time in quick succession and then
rested.
"Suppose I call to him to be careful," suggested Chester.
"Do so if you choose, but it strikes me that we are the ones who need to
be careful."
"Hello! the light is gone."
Such was the fact. Not the slightest illumination pierced the gloom that
was now on every hand.
"I guess they have gone to bed," remarked Chester, "and that is what we
might as well do. The weather is so mild that we can sleep on the soft
carpet in the woods without risk; it's a long walk to Uncle Ben's and we
want to be on hand at the first peep of day."
"I can't say that I fancy spending the night out of doors."
"It will be easy to start a fire."
"And have it seen by those on the boat."
"We can go so far back that there will be no danger of that."
"What about breakfast?"
"We can reach Uncle Ben's in time for that."
"I have been suspecting, Chester, for the last hour that we have been
making fools of ourselves and now I haven't any doubt of it."
"I hadn't from the first. Hist! do you hear that?"