TWO KINDS OF WOODCRAFT.
All of them lay there motionless. Long practice in this trick had made
the boys almost perfect. What they had learned in play when in camp came
into good service under other and more strenuous conditions, as is often
the case. No boy can ever tell when the information he picks up day by
day as a scout may prove a valuable asset, determining some knotty
problem he faces.
As Ned had said, the sound of voices could be plainly heard now. It came
in the shape of a murmur that differed from the noise of the fretting
sea near by. And no doubt each scout made up his mind that it must be
carried to their ears with the breeze, which, coming from almost behind
them, would indicate that the unknown parties were advancing from that
quarter.
Louder grew the sounds. Then there was a plain rustling of the
undergrowth; and when Jack cautiously raised his head just a little, he
was enabled to glimpse a trio of men standing there on the border of the
wood, looking seaward.
Perhaps they, too, had seen the far-distant blur that marked the
position of the mysterious fleet, and were exchanging comments about
it. None of the concealed boys could say as to this, because, while they
could hear the murmur of their heavy voices, it was next to impossible
to make out more than a word here and there.
One thing pleased Ned very much. When he first noted the direction from
whence these three rough men had come, he feared lest they may have run
upon the trail of his party and were following the same. He now knew
that in so far as this was concerned his fears were without foundation,
and that the strangers did not dream of others being in the near
vicinity.
One seemed to be the boss of the lot. He was an unusually big man, with
a way of striking his fist into the palm of his other hand that told of
authority. His face was covered with a heavy black beard that gave him a
sinister appearance. Indeed, as Jack admitted to himself, put this man
in some of the queer garments of the old times, when Kidd flourished
along the Atlantic seacoast, and he would make an ideal buccaneer. His
face was cruel, his manner that of a tyrant, and besides he seemed to be
carrying a whole arsenal of weapons around with him.
Jimmy lay there, with his neck stretched to a fearful extent, for he was
bound to see whatever was going on around him. He was possibly sizing
this giant up, and trying to decide in his own mind, whether the dead
ever do come back to revisit the scenes of their long-past triumphs and
struggles; and if so, could this man with the hair all over his face be
the noted Blackbeard?
Just then Ned gave a low signal. It was only the chirp of a cricket, and
might pass unnoticed by any one not in the secret; but Jack and the
other three scouts understood what it meant.
Ned was warning them to be careful and duck their heads again, because
he fancied the men were about to start their way.
Hardly had the boys flattened themselves out again, than they heard the
crunch of passing footsteps. It was lucky that the three strangers chose
to pass by on the beach, as the walking was better there than close to
the trees. Because of this fact the presence of the concealed
adventurers was not discovered; and to their satisfaction the party
passed by.
Each scout had gripped his gun, as he shut his jaws hard together, under
the belief that discovery was very close. Had it come they would be
compelled to spring out and try to hold up the trio of desperate looking
characters. Such men will, as a rule, manifest a disposition to fight
"at the drop of the hat;" and Ned, therefore, was just as well satisfied
to see their backs. They were not up there to do any fighting if it
could possibly be avoided. The rules of the organization to which they
belonged positively forbade their seeking trouble along such lines;
though allowing scouts the privilege of defending themselves if
attacked, and there seemed to be no honorable way of escaping without a
fight.
"What's the next word, governor?" whispered Jimmy, his voice trembling
with the nervous tension.
The men had by now gone far enough along the beach to prevent any chance
of low conversation being overheard; though Ned kept on the alert all
the while, lest by some mischance there might others come along, who
would take them by surprise.
"We must follow them up," said Ned, without hesitation.
"Not out on the open beach, of course, when the woods are handy?"
observed Jack.
"Move back into shelter, and we'll get busy," the leader told them.
Stooping so as to run less risk of being seen, in case one of the men
happened to turn his head from any reason, the little party of seven
hardy souls again entered among the trees.
They did not linger, because the men were making up the shore at a fair
rate of speed, and they did not wish to lose track of them.
While no one had taken the trouble to ask Ned what his plan of campaign
might be, they saw indications all around to give them a pretty good
idea as to what he hoped to gain by thus following in the wake of the
three strangers.
The men looked like hard cases, of that all the scouts were determined.
One had the appearance of a miner; a second wore moccasins and was
dressed after the manner of a woodsman, possibly a trapper, Indian
trader, or something in the line of a hunter; while the big man struck
Jack as a logger, or a timber cruiser, one of those spies who roam far
and wide seeking new investments for some lumber company, or else a
chance to steal valuable Government timber that is unwatched.
In talking matters over the comrades had made up their minds that these
types represented the class of men they might expect to find gathered in
this region, paid by the money of the mine syndicate, and ready to carry
out the will of the swindlers, if such the operators proved to be.
As before, the guides led the way. Both men had taken a great fancy to
Ned and his lively chums, and in case any trouble developed, as the
result of their venture into this unknown country, Francois and Tamasjo
might be counted on as ready and willing to back the boys up to the
limit.
They pushed resolutely on, across fallen trees, through tangled
thickets, and even climbing over rocks that lay in the way. The men
ahead knew what they were about in choosing the beach to make their
advance.
Often partly out of breath, with the effort to keep a certain distance
behind those they were pursuing, the scouts pressed on. Jimmy seemed to
have a harder time than any of the others, but then that was nearly
always the way; for if there was any hole to flounder into, or thorny
thicket to get stuck in, Jimmy could be depended on to do his share of
the adventure. Not that he purposely chose to get mixed up in all these
skirmishes with unpleasant things; but he was one of those unlucky chaps
whose blundering feet so often led him into a peck of troubles.
It would have taken much more than this to have discouraged Jimmy,
however. He was made of stubborn material. Difficulties played fast and
loose with him, but they never daunted the boy, who would only close
those firm jaws of his more tightly than ever, and say that "after
fifty-nine comes sixty," and if he had to go to twice that number he'd
get there in the end.
One good thing about all this hustle, was the fact that, as Jimmy found
himself, for the most part in the rear, he could not make any excuse to
start in talking, because he did not dare call out, after what Ned had
said.
They could hear him muttering savagely to himself every time a root
tripped him up, or he found a swinging vine trying to lift him off his
feet by means of his neck. That was a small matter, because, of course,
Jimmy had to have some way of letting off superfluous steam, and it
really did no harm.
Ned looked around quite frequently. He did not wish Jimmy to get into
any serious trouble, because, in spite of his weakness for blundering,
the McGraw boy was a faithful companion, who could always be depended on
to stick to his friends, no matter what threatened. And he and Ned had
seen some pretty lively times all told, in times gone by. This
association in peril does more to cement the bonds of real friendship
than anything else known. And that was why Ned wanted Jimmy along on
this trip, also why he kept a wary eye out after the safety of the
other.
Now and then Francois would step aside. On these occasions they knew he
was making sure that the two men were still going on ahead, and had not
either halted or turned aside into the rocky shore recesses.
They had kept up this sort of thing for nearly half an hour, and some of
the boys were secretly telling themselves they had about reached the
limit of their endurance, when Francois made motions with his hands to
tell them that some sort of change had occurred since last he took an
observation.
"Say, they're gone!" muttered Jimmy, coming up just then; and from the
mystified look on his face, one would half believe he thought the men
had taken wings and flown away, or else the ground had opened up and
swallowed them; for a fellow who could put the least shred of faith in
the reincarnation of Captain Kidd, dead for several centuries, would
believe anything, Teddy privately told himself.
"Did they turn aside and enter the woods, Francois?" questioned Ned, at
the same time holding up a warning finger toward Jimmy, by this means
seeking to remind him they were in no position to enter into any
discussion.
"Zat iss what zey haf do," replied the French Canadian voyageur,
promptly.
"You don't think they're lying low to wait for us--that it is a trap?"
continued the patrol leader.
"Zere iss no reason to zink so," answered Francois. "I do not belief zey
haf see us; and if not, zen why lay trap? But it iss always better to be
sure zat ze road it be clear; so let ze chief heem go on and find
trail."
It was a good suggestion. None could do that duty quite so well as the
red brother, even though those boys had learned many bright things in
connection with woodcraft, since joining the ranks of the scouts. They
hardly felt like being able to enter into competition with a son of the
forest, who from infancy had been taught in the wide fields of actual
experience what they had of late been learning, partly from crude
theory.
"Go on ahead, Tamasjo, and find the trail," said Ned to the waiting
Cree.
"Find same, give blue-jay cry," Tamasjo told them; and it was so rarely
he ever spoke at all, that the other scouts had to smile and nod to each
other; for Jimmy had on one occasion even gone so far as to declare his
belief that the Indian must be a genuine "dummy" and unable to
articulate at all, which, of course, was not true.
They waited for him there, being in no particular hurry. If the trail of
the three men could be picked up that was all they wanted. They could
hardly have ventured to keep on the heels of those men through the
woods, where sounds might be carried to their ears that would put them
on the alert, and bring about a sudden climax, perhaps a battle royal.
The Cree vanished from their sight. So silently did he go that
afterwards the scouts exchanged views concerning the way in which he had
done it; nor could they fully understand how he could move deftly along,
without making the least sound.
But Tamasjo had been born and bred in the woods, and did not have to
overcome the barriers that civilization hampers its votaries with. He
had learned all he knew from watching the creeping wildcat leap upon its
prey; or else observing how the hungry wolf followed the wounded deer
over hill and through valley.
He had not been gone more than five minutes, when they plainly heard the
angry discordant note of the blue-jay.
"That means everything is lovely, and the goose hangs high," muttered
Jimmy, not daring to speak much above a whisper, while he saw Ned
keeping a wary eye in his direction.
The leader at once gave the signal for an immediate advance, and the
entire party started off. Even then, Ned and Francois, possibly Jack
also, turned from side to side, determined that they should not be taken
by surprise through any shrewd trick played by the men they had been
tracking.
Upon coming up with the dusky son of the Northern forests, they were
assured by him in a breath that all was well, and that the strangers had
swung directly into the woods, following what seemed to be a well-beaten
trail. This told the story, and went far to convince Ned that they had
nothing to fear just then through discovery by these parties.
So the Indian, backed by the other guide, was put on the trail. The boys
could have followed this with utmost ease, and even Jimmy would have
found little real trouble in keeping to that broad track.
Every once in so often, Tamasjo would stop, to get down close to the
ground. His actions excited the deepest curiosity of Jimmy, who,
pulling Ned's head close down to his own lips, asked softly:
"Now, what in the mischief is the feller doin' when he stoops low like
that? If you asked me, I'd say he was smellin' of the tracks of the
three men; but since when was a heathen Injun given a scent like a
hound, tell me, Ned."
"If you watch closer, Jimmy," replied the other scout, "you'll see that
each time he bends down he is watching some blade of grass spring back
to place; or else a small root that has been pressed down under the foot
of that giant righting itself again. He can read those signs like a
book. They tell him accurately just how long ago the foot pressed that
root or blade of grass down. And so he knows what time has elapsed since
the enemy passed along here."
"Gee! it would take me a week to learn that sort of readin' signs,"
Jimmy confessed; and Teddy, who was close enough to catch all that
passed, snickered as he muttered, as though talking to himself:
"A week? Just one little stretch of seven days? Huh! you mean a year,
rather."
Winding in and out in this way, the party bore deeper into the woods.
The trail led among the rocks that were now piled up on every hand. Ned,
on hastily examining some of these he passed, was forced to admit that
at least they bore all the "ear-marks" of containing copper. If the
syndicate had engineered a big swindle, at least, they must be given
credit for picking out a likely site for a mine.
But there was Tamasjo pointing ahead, and giving his young employer to
understand that they had arrived at the end of the broad trail leading
from the shore of Hudson Bay into this wild stretch of rocky territory.