"Find anything new worth while, Jack?" asked the cook of the _Wireless_,
as he got up from the warm sand where he had been taking a sun bath,
while waiting for his companion to put in an appearance.
"Oh! I don't know," replied the other, in what seemed to be a careless
manner, calculated to put Josh off the track, and smother his curiosity.
"One or two little things that I'm going to puzzle my wits over. But
look here, the fishermen are in sight!"
"Good gracious! how you scared me, Jack!" exclaimed Josh, whirling
around to look. "Honest Injun, now, I thought you meant those rough men
in the three boats, and knowing how guilty we were about breaking into
their shack, I started to shiver, never having been arrested, you know.
But it's only George and Herb."
"They've been successful, I expect," observed Jack, wisely, "because
both seem to be trying to look disappointed; but can't help glancing
down in the bottom of the little dinkies. I reckon each has got a musky,
all right."
"Sure we have," remarked George, as the two small boats pulled in close;
"and dandies at that. Talk to me about pull; that pirate was a hummer."
"But, George, you know he didn't come up to mine," remarked Herb.
"Well, I rather guess not, Herb," grinned the other. "I suppose you
notice, fellows, that my comrade has been in swimming. Funny part of it
is, he never even bothered taking his clothes off when the notion struck
him."
"Well, it came right sudden, for a fact," laughed Herb. "That big
muskalunge was tearing around like the dickens, when swoop! he took a
turn under my boat, and in my haste to swing around, I upset."
"Wow!" cried Nick, "Oh, why wasn't I there to see the fun? I'm always
missing all the good things, seems to me."
"But you hung on to your rod, apparently," remarked Jack; "seeing that
you got your game in the end."
"That's just what he did," declared George with sincere admiration. "You
know our friend Herb has a touch of stubbornness in his make-up. No
measly old musky that ever swam in the St. Lawrence was going to get the
better of him in an argument. He hung to that rod even while he went
under. It was the greatest thing I ever saw, for a fact; but he managed
it fine, let me tell you."
"Tell us how?" begged Nick, breathlessly.
"All right," answered George. "You see, the little dinky had turned
turtle when it dropped Herb out; so there it was, floating beside him,
bottom-side up. Would you believe it, that fellow just climbed up over
the stern, and straddled the boat as he kept on playing that fish as
cool as you please."
"Great! Hurrah for our Herb! He's the champion fisherman; only, because
we haven't got a photograph of that game fight to show, be careful how
you tell the boys when we get home," remarked Josh.
"While he played the fish I picked up his paddle," George went on. "And
when he got the musky in where I could gaff him, we pushed ashore, so he
could turn his boat over again. Then, as each of us had a prize, we
thought we might as well quit for the day. What you doing ashore,
fellows?"
"Jack wanted to nose around, that's all," Josh hastened to say. "Found
an old shack up in the woods here. Guess that spook lives there when he
doesn't want to be seen. Funniest thing, though, he keeps an old rusty
useless padlock on the broken door. But there wasn't anything worth
while to be seen. Jack followed some tracks he found; that seemed to
amuse him."
Josh went aboard, pushed the _Wireless_ out, and presently the skipper
joined him.
"Any other news?" asked Nick.
"Oh, yes," said Herb, stopping in the act of changing his soaked clothes
for dry ones. "I forgot to say we saw that boat again."
"What's that? Do you mean the mysterious, dark, piratical craft that,
believe me, ought to be flying the skull and crossbones at her stern?"
demanded Nick.
"The same," Herb replied promptly. "She flashed by us while we were
trolling, though at some little distance. And, fellows, as sure as you
live, Clarence was at the wheel, though neither of us could see a thing
of Bully Joe. I thought Clarence looked scared, for he was awful white;
but George declared he was only in one of his mad fits. We know what
they stand for, don't we?"
"Did you call out to him?" asked Jack, quickly.
"I did," replied George, "and dared him to accept a challenge to race
the _Wireless_. I thought he was going to answer me; but he only turned
his head and stared. But it was Clarence, all right. I give you my word
on that."
"Now, what d'ye know about that?" observed Nick; "dodging around like
that, and declining to even speak! Generally Clarence is always ready
enough to get into a hot argument. And you'd just think he'd be wild to
take you up on that challenge business, George. It beats me all hollow,
now."
"And even that ain't all," added George.
"What! more adventures?" cried the chagrined Nick. "I tell you it ain't
fair for everybody to get in the lime light, and leave poor me in the
lurch. What have I done to deserve this? Say, I hope you fellows ain't
holding that silly thing up against me yet, about betraying our secrets
to the enemy, and all that rot, you know? That would be mean."
"Oh! shucks, cut it out, Buster," said Josh; "and let George tell us
what else happened. This mystery is getting on my nerves, I tell you,
boys. Go on, proceed, George, old chum. Give us the harrowing details."
"You won't find much to alarm you in this," laughed the other. "Only,
while we were fishing a boat came along, and it had two men in it. They
rowed up close, and we could see they had a fishing rod in action. The
one who held it kept watching us as sharp as the mischief. He spoke to
us pleasant like, and asked a few questions about our luck, how we
happened to be so far over toward the Canada side, if we expected to
move away soon to new grounds, and such things."
"Did you recognize the boat, or the men, George?" asked Jack, quietly.
"Herb and myself talked that over afterwards; until his tumble overboard
knocked it all out of our heads. And we thought that perhaps those men
were one of those couples we saw yesterday, passing here and staring in
at us."
"Say, perhaps they may have been Canadian custom officers, who patrol
the river to keep American fishermen off their side," suggested Nick.
"That might be," George said. "We thought of that; but they didn't give
us any warning. And besides, from the chart we've got we've learned that
this island is American territory all right, you know."
"Oh! well, what's the use of bothering our heads over it," declared
Herb, from inside the outing shirt he was pulling over his head.
"That's right!" cried Josh. "Fling away dull care while the sun shines,
and we've got enough grub left to keep Nick here from starving to
death."
When the fat boy was not looking, Josh reached down, and took hold of
some object he had smuggled aboard without the others noticing the fact.
It was a length of old tin waterpipe that he had found up alongside the
deserted shanty, and which had evidently been useful at some time in the
past, to convey the water from the roof to a spot where it would not
back into the cabin.
This old pipe was possibly six feet in length; and to the mind of a
practical joker like Josh it presented some alluring possibilities.
Swinging it upward when Nick was not looking, he managed to bridge the
watery gap between the _Wireless_ and the _Comfort_, and quickly called
in a sepulchral tone through the novel speaking-tube:
"Hello! down there! Give me connection with Buster Longfellow! I'm the
ghost that walks in the night. I want to have a heart-to-heart confab
with Buster!"
"What you trying to do, give me heart disease, or an attack of delirium
tremens?" exclaimed Nick, who had started violently upon hearing that
muffled sound so close to his ear. "Say, you don't know how queer that
does go. Talk about your megaphones! That tube carries sound to beat the
Dutch. I wonder now--gee!"
"Hello! What ails Pudding? Look, fellows, the poor fellow's got an idea,
and it seems so strange that he don't know what to do with it!" jeered
Josh.
"Huh! don't I?" replied the fat boy, whose face had turned pale, and
then rosy red. "You just wait and see. Perhaps you'll say it was an
inspiration some fine day. And no use to josh me about it, for I ain't
going to squeal one little bit. But, oh, my! I wonder if that could just
be so! This is the second time it's give me a start. If Aleck only does
what I asked him!"
He stuck to his word about saying no more; and although Josh kept on
teasing him for quite some time, Nick kept his lips resolutely closed on
that subject.
The balance of the day passed away without anything happening that
seemed out of the way. They saw nothing more of the mysterious dark
boat; nor did any small craft come prowling around to have the occupants
glower at them, as though begrudging them their pleasant anchorage just
on the edge of that little cove.
Supper was a great success. Josh fairly outdid himself in cooking the
fish, all of them going ashore on the beach to where he had made a camp
fire. And afterwards they sat around, telling stories, and singing many
of their favorite school songs, until the hour grew late.
When they went aboard, the night was dark; for it seemed to cloud up at
sundown almost every evening now. All of them were busily employed
getting their blankets arranged for sleeping, and the two who were to
keep first watch had even settled down comfortably in their places; when
to their ears came the sudden rapid popping that would indicate the
presence of a motor boat in the near vicinity.
"Oh! look, fellows!" exclaimed Nick, as from around the point a dazzling
glow suddenly shone, bearing down rapidly straight toward them.