THE LONG NIGHT
"Good for you, Giraffe!" exclaimed Bumpus, ready to seize upon the idea
without stopping to examine the same in order to find out whether or not
it were possible to carry it out.
"It ain't half bad," admitted Step Hen.
"But how about starting to sea in this blow?" asked Allan, quietly,
after he and Thad had exchanged winks.
"Oh! hang the luck, I clean forgot all about that!" admitted the tall
scout, his smile of triumph disappearing immediately.
"Whew! I should say we couldn't!" Bumpus hastened to add, showing that
it was possible for a boy to change his opinion almost as speedily as a
shift of wind causes the weather vane to turn around, and point toward a
new quarter.
"And," added Thad, "that will all have to be left to the morning,
anyway. If we should find a half-way chance to do something along those
lines, why, we'll gladly give Giraffe the credit for thinking up the
scheme. But it's time we settled down for the night now; so let's fix
our blankets and be as comfy as we can, even if we do expect to keep
awake."
"And don't you think it'd be a good plan, Thad," suggested Step Hen, "to
always keep that gun in evidence? If we could make them believe we all
of us carried the same kind of weapons, we'd be more apt to see sun-up
without any trouble happening; and that's what I think."
"Well, now, there's some meat in that idea of yours, Step Hen," the
scout-master told him; "and it wouldn't be a bad scheme for those who
have clubs, to carry them more or less this way under your arm, just as
you would your gun if tramping, or on a hunt. In the firelight they may
think that's what they are, and the effect will be worth something to
us, as you say."
All of the boys started to settling down. Policy might have told them
that if they made themselves too comfortable the chances of their
remaining awake were rather slim.
Bumpus was a lad of good resolutions. No doubt he meant to stay awake
just as firmly as Thad himself could have done. But sleeping was one of
the fat boy's weak points, and it was not long before he found himself
nodding.
Twice he was jabbed in the leg with the point of a pin, once by Giraffe,
and the second time by Davy; for the other boys, took his request
literally, and doubtless enjoyed having the chance to "do him a to
favor."
Each time he was thus punctured the fat scout would start up hurriedly,
and open his mouth to give a yell, perhaps under the impression that he
had been bitten by a snake, which reptiles he despised, and feared very
much.
Discovering where he was in time, however, he had managed to hold his
tongue, and muttered to himself that they "needn't go it quite so
strong," as he ruefully rubbed his limb where the pin had entered.
After each sudden awakening Bumpus would sit sternly up straight, as
though he had taken a solemn vow not to be caught napping again; but as
the minutes dragged along he would begin to sink lower and lower again,
for sleep was once more getting a firm grip upon him.
When the fat boy reeled for a third time Thad, who was watching
operations with more or less amusement, noticed that neither Step Hen
nor Davy offered to make any use of their pins; the truth being that
both of them had meanwhile gone fast asleep, and hence there were all
three in the same boat.
It happened that Bumpus managed to arouse himself presently with a
start; as if a sudden consciousness had come upon him. Perhaps he
imagined he felt another jab with a pin, and the sensation electrified
him.
First he looked on one side and then on the other. When he discovered
that his persecutors were both sound asleep, a wide grin came over the
good-natured red face of the stout youth. Thad could see him
industriously hunting along the lapels of his khaki jacket, as if for a
weapon in the shape of a pin; and having secured what he wanted Bumpus
carefully reached out both hands, one toward Step Hen and the other in
the direction of Davy Jones.
Then, with a low squeal of delight, he gave an outward motion with each
hand. There instantly broke forth a chorus of yells that could be heard
above the noise of the breakers on the rocks, and the wind rattling the
branches of the low oak trees.
"Tit for tat," exclaimed. Bumpus; "what's sauce for the goose is sauce
for the gander. After this we'll call it off, fellows, remember. It
was give and take, and now the slate's wiped clean."
Davy Jones and Step Hen, quite tired out from their exertions, slept
peacefully, one on either side of Bumpus; while Giraffe dozed, and
whenever he happened to arouse himself he would wave that hatchet
vigorously, as if to call attention to the fact that he was "on deck,"
and doing full duty.
The long night dragged on.
Once Thad had some good news to communicate.
"Clouds seem to be getting lighter," he announced, pointing overhead.
"Yes," added the other, "and there's a sure enough break, I reckon,
p'raps now we'll see something of that old moon before the peep of day
comes."
At any rate the fact of the khaki-clad denizens of the camp under the
ledge being constantly on guard must have impressed itself upon the
minds of the poachers, for they made no hostile move while darkness
held sway.
Of course though, both sentries were glad to see the first peep of dawn
in the far east. The wind had died down, and there seemed to be some
chance that the wild waves would subside by noon, at least sufficiently
to allow them to go forth if by any good luck they were given the
opportunity to leave the island upon which they had been marooned by so
strange a freak of fate.
The others were soon aroused, and made out to have just allowed
themselves a few winks of sleep toward morning, though they cast
suspicious looks toward each other, Thad noticed. However, neither he
nor Allen said a word about the hours that they had been by themselves
on guard. The dreaded night had passed, and nothing out of the way had
happened, so what was the use of rubbing it in, and making some of their
good chums feel badly.
"I think it would be possible to see the place where we left our boat,
if I went out on that point there," Thad remarked, while some of the
rest were busying themselves in getting breakfast ready, as though
meaning to make all the amends possible for their lack of sentry duty.
As though he wished to make sure concerning this matter the scout-master
left them, and made his way to the lookout he had indicated. He came
back later on, and his face did not seem to show any signs of good news.
"No boat in sight, I take it, Thad?" asked Giraffe, rightly interpreting
his lack of enthusiasm.
"It's sure enough gone, and look as hard as I could there didn't seem to
be the first sign of the poor Chippeway Belle. Dr. Hobbs' friend will
have to buy him another cruising boat, that's sure," Thad told them.
"Well, he can do that, all right, out of the insurance money he collects
from that old tub," declared Giraffe, indignantly. "Let me tell you
he's been hoping we might sink the thing, somehow or other."
Breakfast was a bountiful meal, because Giraffe happened to be a fellow
who disdained half-way measures, when it came to feeding time. The idea
of going around half starved so long as there was the smallest amount of
food in camp did not suit him at all.
So they ate until every one, even Giraffe, announced that he had had
enough; but by that time the frying-pans were empty, and the coffee-pot
ditto, so perhaps it may have been this condition of things that
influenced some of them to confess to being filled.
The face of the tall boy had become clouded more or less, and it was
evident to the scout leader that Giraffe was busily engaged in pondering
over something that did not look just right to him.
"What's the matter, Giraffe?" he asked, as they lounged around, enjoying
the fire, because the morning had opened quite cool after the blow of
the previous night.
"I don't like this thing of an empty pantry, that's what!" observed the
other, who could not forget that in less than five hours there was bound
to be a demand from somewhere inside that he get busy, and supply
another ration; and where was he to get the material to carry out this
injunction when their supplies were practically exhausted.
"Well, we can't do anything about it, can we?" demanded Step Hen,
trembling in the hopes that the tall scout might have thought of a plan.
"That's just like some fellows," remarked Giraffe, disdainfully; "ready
to throw up the sponge at the first show of trouble. Now, I ain 't
built that way; and say, I've thought up a plan by which we might get
some grub."
"Yes, what might it be?" asked Thad, seeing that the other was waiting
for a little encouragement before bursting out into a display of
confidence; for he knew Giraffe's ways to a fraction.
"I tell you what we ought to do," the other suddenly explained; "march
on that cabin in a bunch, looking mighty determined, and then demand
that they supply us with what grub we need to tide us over. There you
are; and how about it?"