IT'S UP TO THE BOY SCOUTS.
"Do you mean that he has been murdered?" asked the Major, his face,
flushed before, looking gray and old.
"I don't know," was the reply. "I have tried to look on the bright side
of the thing, but there's a subconscious warning in the back of my brain
somewhere. I've tried to be jolly, this morning, but I've about reached
the end of my store of optimism. It looks to me as if the Lieutenant had
been made way with."
"This leaves me stranded," the Major said. "I am ordered to act only
after acquiring later information concerning the situation, the same to
be delivered by Lieutenant Rowe. In the absence of that information,
what am I to do? My present orders may be all wrong."
"Perhaps," Ned suggested, "it may be well to visit this hut and see what
we can discover there. The Lieutenant may have gone out for a morning's
hunt."
"No such good luck as that," replied the Captain. "Why, the little
furniture the hut contains is broken to bits, and the floor is streaked
with blood! There was a fight in there last night, depend upon it!"
"And no one heard anything unusual during the night?" asked Ned.
"Not that I know of."
"Are the usual residents of this place, so far as you know, all here
this morning?" was the next question.
"I will ascertain that," said the Captain. "I learned of the strange
happening only a few minutes before your arrival."
The three left the house, the only one of size there, and proceeded down
a mushy street between huts and thickets until they came to a little
nipa hut set high on poles. They climbed the bamboo stairs and stood on
the swaying porch in front, seeing no one about the place.
The door stood wide open, and Captain Godwin was first to enter. There
was only one room in the hut, but there were two alcoves opening from
it--narrow little alcoves in which, evidently, bedding and articles not
wanted for immediate use were tucked away during the day.
As the Captain had stated, the apartment was in disorder. The mosquito
wiring had been torn from the three windows and the door and now lay in
a tangle on the floor. Bamboo chairs had been broken, and there was a
faint odor of whisky in the room. Major Ross glanced casually over the
interior and turned away.
"I can't stop here now," he said impatiently. "I've got to write a
report of this happening and get it to Manila. I suppose I can depend on
one of your men to deliver a letter for me?" he added, turning to
Captain Godwin.
"Yes, but it will mean a great delay," replied Godwin. "It will take at
least a week for a man in a swift canoe to go to Manila and return
here."
"It is unfortunate," grumbled the Major, "but I must, I suppose, endure
the delay. Unless," he continued, a sudden smile coming to his face as
he thought of the cozy club-life he had formerly enjoyed at Manila,
"unless I go with the messenger and receive my instructions verbally."
"And in the meantime--"
Captain Godwin was about to protest against being left alone there under
such tragic circumstances, but Ned caught his eyes and stopped him. He
had no idea what the boy had in mind in checking his expression of
regret at the proposed departure of the Major, but he liked the
appearance of the lad and closed his teeth on the words he was about to
say.
"And in the meantime," he repeated, "we can look about for some traces
of the missing man," the Captain completed the sentence.
"Exactly," replied the Major. "I regret exceedingly the peril of the
situation so far as Lieutenant Rowe and his companions are concerned,
and sincerely hope that they are all alive and not in serious trouble,
but it appears to me that my place is at Manila at this time, and not
here. We must start in on this remarkable case right, and I must confer
with my superior officers."
"We can put in the time very well, looking up clues in the vicinity,"
said Ned. He wanted to handle the matter in his own way, knowing that
while Major Ross might be an expert in military matters, he did not
possess a particle of the detective instinct so necessary at that time.
"Yes," the Major replied, with his mind fixed on a few days of lazy
routine at Manila, with all the comforts of civilization within reach of
his hand, "yes, you may be able to accomplish a great deal in the way of
discovering clues, and may even be able to locate the missing men--I
have no idea that they have been murdered, but understand this: You are
not to take any important action without consulting with me."
"Of course not," Ned replied, chuckling in his sleeves at the thought of
waiting in an emergency for instructions from Manila. "I hope we shall
be able to report good progress upon your return. Shall you go in the
launch?" he added, hoping with all his strength that the officer would
not take the motor boat with him.
"Certainly," was the quick reply. "I must make progress, you know!"
Jimmie and Jack, who had followed their chum to the nipa hut, now
entered and stood by the door. Ned saw them winking knowingly at each
other when the Major spoke of going away in the motor boat, and decided
to prod their inclinations a bit.
"I shall be sorry to have the _Manhattan_ away just now," he said, "for
we might use her to good advantage during your absence. However, there
seems to be no other way."
Jimmie and Jack slid out of the doorway and down the oscillating bamboo
stairs, and when, an hour later, the Major went to the little dock where
the _Manhattan_ lay he found the two boys working over her, sweating and
complaining in loud voices against the inefficiency of modern motor boat
manufacturers. The Major went on with his preparations for departure,
never doubting that the _Manhattan_ would be ready for him in a few
minutes. At last Jimmie turned an oil-smeared face toward Ned.
"No use," he exclaimed, "she won't go! The batteries are off and there's
something wrong with the carbureter, and the spark-plug is twisted, and
the delivery is all to the bad. Perhaps Major Ross can bring new parts
down from Manila."
"Shut up, you dunce!" whispered Jack. "You'll give yourself away!"
Captain Godwin nudged Ned with an elbow and turned his laughing eyes
away. He saw what the boys were doing, and rather approved of the idea
of journeys among the islands in the motor boat during the Major's
absence.
"Preposterous!" shouted the Major. "You must get the boat in shape to
make the voyage to Manila! My mission will not endure delay. Captain
Godwin, see what you can do with the boat."
Captain Godwin knew about as much of the running gear of a motor boat as
did Jimmie, but he at once oiled up his hands and his face and tugged
and pulled at the wheel, tapped on the supply pipes, investigated the
electric appliance, and finally announced that the boat was not in
running order.
The Major blustered about for a few moments and then set forth on his
mission in the canoe in which the party had landed.
"Perhaps," he said, at parting, "I may be able to catch a ship at
Banglo, or whatever the name of that little pueblo is on the island to
the west. In that case I shall return inside of ten days."
And so the Major went away, urging the rowers to greater exertions and
wiping his red face with a red handkerchief. Then a strange thing
happened. Jack drove Jimmie away from the _Manhattan_, asked Captain
Godwin to bring him a wrench, and in ten minutes, or as soon as the
canoe bearing the disgusted Major was conveniently around a bend, the
boat was sailing about on the river like a bird in the sky.
Captain Godwin started to censure the boys for the deception they had
practiced on the Major, but his severe words ended in a laugh.
"You helped!" Jimmie said, accusingly. "You knew what was up! Why didn't
you tell him?"
"We'll discuss that later," was the smiling reply.
"Anyway," Jimmie said, "we're rid of the old bluffer, and may be able to
do somethin', if he stays away long enough."
"You came near spoiling the whole thing," declared Jack, grinning at
Jimmie. "You and your talk about twisted spark-plugs! You'd have been
finding worn places in the spark next! You know about as much of a motor
boat as a pig knows of the hobble skirt. Good thing the Major knows less
about a boat than you do!"
"Why didn't he use the wire, instead of going off on that long journey?"
asked Jimmie.
"The government can't lay cables to all these tiny islands," Captain
Godwin replied, "but we are promised a wireless outfit before the season
closes. Now, if you are ready," he added, turning to Ned, "we'll go back
to the hut and make the examination suggested. I'm afraid there was a
tragedy there last night."
"Are any of the people missing from the pueblo?" asked Ned, as the boat
came to the dock and they all stepped ashore.
"Not a man missing," was the reply.
"Have you talked with the man who was sent to the hut to wait on the
Lieutenant and his companions?"
"Only briefly," was the reply, "but he will be at the hut when we get
there. He is rather above the average native in intelligence, and may be
able to throw some light on the mystery."
"Is he dependable?" asked Ned.
"I think so. He has been with me for a long time, ever since I came to
this out-of-the-way jumping-off place."
"Well," Ned said, "you go back to the hut, if you will be so kind, and
take the boys with you. I want to look about a little."
Captain Godwin hesitated, but Jack started away.
"Let Ned alone," he said. "He'll be giving us the shape of the aeroplane
the Lieutenant and his men sailed away in before long!"
"He wants to consult the dream book," added Jimmie.
Frank Shaw, who had been sitting on the bridge deck of the _Manhattan_
during this conversation, now sprang ashore and followed along after
Ned.
"You ginks do a lot of talking!" he said. "Run along with the Captain
and I'll take care of Ned."
Ned and Frank examined the ground around the pier and walked up and down
the river bank for some distance. Save here and there where the natives
drew up their canoes, and where the women came down with the meager
family washing, the bank on the pueblo side was covered with a growth of
bushes except where the little pier ran out in front of the house with
the tin roof.
Several times Frank saw his companion take out a rule and measure
impressions he found in the soft earth under the thickets, and once he
saw him put something he had picked up in his pocketbook. Knowing well
the methods of his chum, Frank looked on with interest and maintained a
discreet silence.
When the two reached the hut at last they found Captain Godwin and
Jimmie and Jack sitting on the porch with a government map of the
islands before them.
"That is just what I was thinking of," Ned said, taking a seat by their
side. "I have yet to learn in what portion of the Philippines we are
stopping."
"Strange the Major did not inform you as to that," Captain Godwin said.
"I have an idea that he knew very little of our future movements when we
landed here," Ned said. "His instructions were unopened, remember,
besides being a month or more old."
"I see," observed the Captain. "Well, you are on a little island of the
Babuyan group, in the Balintang channel, north of the island of Luzon
and southeast of the coast of China and Hong Kong. The transport sailed
due west from Honolulu and to the north of Luzon. The nearest station of
any size is Pata, on Luzon. The Major left without informing you as to
his instructions?"
"Yes, he was in such haste to get away that he left us here without a
word of information as to what we were to do. Rotten, don't you think?"
"He was in a hurry to get back to the soft side of military life at
Manila," laughed the Captain. "Well, before you investigate the hut it
may be well for me to give you some idea as to the situation. What I
have to say may give direction to your search of the place."
"Everything is as when the discovery of the absence of the men was made,
I hope," Ned said.
"Nothing has been touched," was the reply.
"Then go ahead with your story," Ned replied. "I have come a long way on
speculation, and am anxious for something tangible."
"Some months ago," the Captain began, "it was discovered that hostile
influences--hostile to the United States Government--were at work among
the outer islands of the Philippine group."
"I was told that much."
"Yes; well, investigation--and a crude and indifferent investigation it
was--developed the fact that the tribes on some of the islands were
forming an alliance against Uncle Sam."
"Now," said Ned, "you have come to the end of my information of the
subject. What comes next?"
"At first little attention was given to the matter. Some of the native
tribes are always in revolt, though the news of the battles and
skirmishes are kept off the wires. Finally, however, it was learned that
rifles were being received by the tribes belonging to this alliance."
"Then some nation alleged to be civilized must be at the bottom of the
matter," Ned suggested. "I am anxious for you to come to that point."
"Well," hesitated the Captain, "I don't know what nation to suspect. It
seems that no one does. I think that is the problem you were brought
here to solve."
"It seems to me that the wise men at Washington ought to be able to
secure information on the subject," Ned ventured.
"I half believe that the state department does know a lot about the
matter," the Captain replied, "but does not see fit to act in the
absence of conclusive proof."
"But how can a mess of Boy Scouts get the truth?" demanded Ned.
"By being Boy Scouts," was the smiling reply. "The launch was brought
here for your convenience, and you are to go floating about among the
islands north of Luzon, hunting, fishing, gathering specimens, and all
that until you find out what sort of people it is that is doing this
trading with the natives."
"That was the idea in the Canal Zone," laughed Ned, "but we had little
hunting to do! It was quick action down there."
"And I hope it will be here," said the Captain. "Military detectives
have been sent down here, but have gone back as ignorant as when they
came, for the seasoned secret service man shows what his occupation is
and betrays himself at the start. Now it is up to you. And you must go
ahead without further instructions, for Lieutenant Rowe, who was to have
posted you as to recent developments, is either dead or a prisoner in
the hands of the plotters!"