THE POACHERS
As Dick moved along the edge of the wood, the smell of tobacco grew
stronger, and below a small ash he stopped with a jump of his heart.
There was a scratch and spurtle of a match at his very feet, as it
seemed.
Beyond the ash lay a big clump of brambles, and Dick peered over them.
He discovered that the growth of brambles masked a deep hollow, and in
the hollow lay three men, one of whom was smoking, and had just
relighted his pipe. Dick checked himself just as he was about to give
a low whistle of surprise and wonder. The men were blacks. The moon
shone full into the hollow and showed ebony faces, in which white teeth
glittered, as they spoke to each other in whispers. Then the smoker
raised his hand to press down the tobacco in his pipe, and here again
was a fresh surprise, for the hand was the hand of a white man.
Now Dick understood. These men had met for some evil purpose, and had
blacked their faces as a disguise.
'Something wrong,' said Dick to himself. 'Those fellows are out for no
honest purpose. Scout's job here.'
As the thought passed through the Wolf's mind, one of the men sat up
and growled an oath. 'Wheer are they got to?' he said. 'Here, 'tis
nigh on ha'-past one, an' Young Bill and Smiley ain't turned up yet.'
'We'll start wi'out 'em if they don't show up soon,' grunted a second
speaker.
'As far as old Smiley goes we can do wi'out him all right,' returned
the first man, 'but we must ha' Young Bill. He's got the stren'th o'
half a dozen to pull.'
At that very moment Smiley and Young Bill were standing open-mouthed
before the scouts' fire with the sleeping Raven at their feet. Smiley
was a little twisted old fellow, but Young Bill was a gigantic navvy,
powerful as a five-year-old bull. Their faces, too, were blacked in
readiness for the night's work. Three minutes after Dick had crept
away, they had slipped along the brook under the wood, turned a sharp
corner, and come full upon the camp just as a bright light sprang up
from the new sticks with which Dick had fed the fire.
'Wot's this?' growled Young Bill; 'a fire, an' somebody on the watch.'
Chippy had been sleeping uneasily for some time, for Dick's movements
had disturbed, though not awakened, him. At the sound of the
new-comer's voice he awoke, flung off his blanket, and leapt to his
feet. But Young Bill was upon him at once, and pinned him with a grip
of iron.
It was a terrifying experience for the Raven--to awake from sleep to
find his companion gone and himself in the hands of two fellows whose
blackened faces had a horrifying look in the dancing firelight.
'Wotcher doin' here?' demanded Young Bill, giving his captive a shake
which rattled together the teeth in Chippy's head.
'Sleepin',' replied the Raven calmly.
'Who set ye here?'
'Nobody: set myself.'
Chippy's eyes shot swift glances on every side. Where was Dick? What
had become of his friend? Was he free or a captive? If free, he must
be warned, and Chippy acted at once. He let out a wild wolf-howl,
which was promptly checked by Smiley. The latter gripped Chippy by the
throat with both hands, shutting off the call, and half strangling the
caller.
'See, he's givin' a signal,' cried Smiley. 'They're out for us, Bill.
They've put this kid on the watch!'
The young giant was furious. He shook the Raven savagely, and struck
him a cruel blow on the side of the head. While Chippy was still
reeling and dizzy from this assault, he felt a handkerchief passed over
his mouth, and it was quickly tied behind his head: Smiley had gagged
him.
'Bring him along,' said Smiley. 'We're close to the place where
t'others are. Let's see if they know aught.'
Dick had been immensely startled to hear his patrol call ring out from
the direction of the camp, and then hear it suddenly checked. He
turned and raced back, but silently and warily, and soon saw the two
men advancing with Chippy, gagged and helpless, dragged along between
them.
Dick dodged behind a tree, let them pass, then followed closely in the
rear.
The astonishment of the three waiting men was very great when their
companions arrived with the prisoner. Smiley told the story, laying
stress on the warning cry which he had cut short with his throttling
clutch. The general opinion was that Chippy had been posted there as a
spy, and threats of vengeance were breathed against him.
'Seems to me,' said Smiley, 'we'd better call it no go to-night.
They're on the watch; this is a sure proof of it. We'll ne'er drag yon
stretch in safety.'
'I ain't goin' back,' burst out Young Bill, in his thick, savage tones;
'ye can clear out yerself as soon as ye like, Smiley. Yer wor' allus a
white-livered un. I'm gooin' to net yon pool to-night if I ha' to do
it by myself.'
The three who had been waiting agreed with Young Bill, and Smiley said
he was willing to try if all were willing.
'What are we goin' to do with this nipper?' asked one of the men.
'I'll show yer,' growled the big navvy. 'I'll bring 'im along, an' ye
bring the things on.'
A great pile of nets had been lying on the ground, and the three men
gathered the nets up, and led the way, while the two last-comers
followed with the prisoner.
Dick had watched closely all that went on, and had listened to every
word and followed up, using every patch of cover to keep closely in the
rear, and burning to strike in on behalf of his brother scout and
friend.
For three hundred yards the party tramped along the bank of the little
brook, and then a broad, silvery stretch of water opened out before
them. The brook ran into a river at the head of a long pool noted for
its big trout, and the men were poachers, whose aim was to net this
reach of a famous trout-stream. One and all were idle rascals whose
boast was that they never did a stroke of honest work while there was
'fish, fur, or feather' to be stolen from the estates of the
countryside.
To-night they had come to their rendezvous feeling particularly safe.
A confederate had been posted right on the other side of the estate
with instructions to stumble on the alarm-guns set there. These guns
were to be set off about a quarter-past one, and the poachers expected
that the keepers would be drawn to the sound of the guns, and thus
leave them undisturbed at their quiet task of netting the Squire's
finest trout-pool. So that when they hit upon the Raven, and persuaded
themselves that he was a spy posted near the trout-stream, they were
full of vicious fury.
'Fust thing, we'll make sure o' this young limb,' said the navvy, when
they had reached the bank of the pool. 'He shall nayther hoot nor run
to carry news of us.'
So, with the aid of Smiley, he soon had Chippy lashed to a small beech,
the handkerchief fastened tightly over his mouth so that he could
neither stir nor speak.
Ten yards away, in cover of a thick patch of hazels, Dick watched
everything. He drew out his knife, opened it, and ran his thumb along
the keen edge. 'All right, my fine fellows,' he said to himself, 'get
to your work'--for the nets had shown him what they meant to do--'and
my chum will be free in a brace of shakes.'
But Dick reckoned without Smiley. That small, sly old poacher was not
there to work; his task was to keep guard. So while the other four
undid their bundle of nets, and prepared for a big haul, Smiley moved
with the tread of a cat to and fro, watching the prisoner, listening,
looking, turning his head this way and that, to detect the first sign
or sound of danger. The beech to which the Raven was bound stood by
itself on the bank, well away from other trees. This rendered it
impossible for Dick to creep up unseen. He would have to dash out into
the moonlight, and the wary watcher would see him and alarm the rest.
No, there was nothing to do but wait awhile and look out for a chance
to slip in, knife in hand. So Dick kept still in cover and watched the
poachers as they worked busily in the light of the sinking moon.