SIGNS OF BROODING TROUBLE.
Thanks to the fact that all of them heard the warning uttered by Ralph,
no one was so incautious as to suddenly turn and stare toward the bushes
mentioned by the chum who had given the alarm.
“Keep on talking as if nothing had happened,” advised Hugh. “By degrees
all of us can take a peep.”
Perhaps even then he was half inclined to believe Ralph must have made a
mistake and only imagined he saw a face. A minute later and the scout
master realized that undoubtedly there was a man concealed back of the
bushes, for his face was raised in plain view, only to again vanish back
of the covert.
“Looked like one of those foreigners for a fact, Hugh,” muttered Arthur
Cameron.
“You mean the three who were chased by the bull, don’t you?” asked the
other.
“Just what I do,” replied Arthur, positively.
“It’s a dark face, and might belong to an Italian or a Hungarian, such
as they say most of those strikers are,” continued Hugh.
“He may have been looking for a chance to pick up something worth
eating.”
“They say grub is getting short in their camp,” suggested Alec Sands.
“And seeing the light of our fire, he came this way to spy on us,” added
Billy Worth.
“Well, he looked surprised, and half scared, to me,” observed Bud
Morgan. “It’s easy to understand why. You know, over in their country,
the only authority they recognize is that of uniforms. Police officers
or army men they bend the knee to. So, seeing a dozen stout chaps all in
khaki uniforms seated here, I guess that dago is laboring under the idea
that in some way we’re connected with the U. S. Army.”
Hugh looked uneasy.
“I hope he isn’t going to carry that impression back with him to his
mates, then,” he argued, “because they would think the soldiers were
hiding up here, waiting to shoot them down if any rioting began. And we
might have a hundred wild strikers breaking in on the quiet of our
little camp when we least expect visitors.”
“They’re an awful unreasonable lot, too,” added Harold Tremaine. “You
can’t make ’em understand what you mean: and they’ve got ugly, hot
tempers in the bargain.”
“There, Hugh, he’s crawling off now!” said Ralph.
“A good riddance of bad rubbish!” declared Arthur Cameron. “The less we
have to do with these queer foreigners, the better for us all.”
When he said that Arthur little suspected what strange happenings there
were destined to come their way ere long, and also what surprises they
would be thrown in contact with, even to a close association with the
very foreigners he was, in his ignorance, speaking of so bitterly.
“I hope he’s gone for good, that’s all!” was what Hugh said.
When they got to talking it all over a little later, it seemed to be the
consensus of opinion that they should do something to guard the camp.
While there might not be the slightest chance of any peril descending
upon them as they slept, at the same time the motto of all scouts is “Be
Prepared,” and Hugh as well as some of the others did not believe it was
sensible to wait until “the horse was stolen before locking the stable
door.”
All sorts of familiar maxims were brought out and paraded in order to
bolster up this idea, and finally Hugh paired his followers off. Two of
them were assigned to keep watch the first hour, with instructions to
arouse Hugh at the least suspicious discovery.
In turn these sentries were to arouse the next pair, and so, in regular
routine, all the inmates of the camp without exception would do their
share of work between that time and the coming of welcome dawn.
Nor was that all. Since they had no firearms in camp, Hugh made them arm
themselves with staves or cudgels, so that in case of necessity they
might have some means of defense should the camp be invaded.
Some of the more timid doubtless looked around at the black woods and
may have peopled those shadows with the lurking figures of many
excitable strikers. These might be eager to see for themselves the
“soldiers” that one of their number reported as having gone into camp
not more than two miles from the threatened cement works upon which the
strike had been declared.
There was not a great deal of sleeping done that first night in camp.
There seldom is, but on this particular occasion the boys had additional
reason to be wakeful as they lay there under their blankets, and with
the dun-colored waterproof canvas above them moving from time to time in
the night breeze.
The frequent change of guards for one thing kept them from sound sleep.
Then the fellows who were on duty persisted in walking about more or
less; or else they talked in low but distinctly heard tones as they
threw additional fuel on the fire.
Once Billy Worth managed to arouse the whole camp when out of his tent
he came crawling forth, sniffing the air vigorously, and asking if that
was breakfast getting ready he scented.
He was informed it was only an hour after midnight, and that he must
have dreamed he smelled coffee; after which they chased him back to his
blanket.
Well, dawn came finally, and it found the camp of the scouts
undisturbed, for which all of them doubtless felt duly grateful. There
was Bud Morgan, however, so fond of excitement that he never met with
enough, heard to lament the fact that after all their fine preparations,
and the waste of time that might have been put in napping, “nothing had
happened after all.”
As they ate their breakfast of fried ham and eggs, the latter the gift
of their grateful farmer friend, the scouts planned all sorts of
diversions for that particular day. One wanted to do this thing, and
another had his favorite scheme on his mind, which he was only waiting
for a chance to try out.
Hugh always tried to suit the caprice of the boys when arranging plans
for the day. It was most unwise to stick a round peg in a square hole,
he figured. The fellow who was making a hobby of learning all about
animal tracks and habits would be wasting his time with a camera trying
to snap off scenery; or making a bungle of tying up the broken wing of
an injured crow he had managed to catch.
“Every one to his taste,” was Hugh’s motto; and by adhering to this plan
whenever practicable he managed not only to satisfy the boys but
accomplish much better results than if he had persisted in crossing
their wishes.
As for himself, Hugh had so many “hobbies” that he was ready and willing
to join any group in carrying out their plans, for it was likely that in
so doing he would be pleasing himself in the bargain.
All arrangements had been made for sharing the onerous duties of cook.
Some of the boys were so much better at this than others, that an
agreement was effected whereby those who did more than their share in
preparing the meals, should escape wood-chopping and such hard labor.
Needless to say, Billy Worth gladly took upon his shoulders the task of
relieving two other fellows at this cooking game; for he loved to be
where he could make sure that there would be enough of a supply for
everybody, because Billy hated a short allowance above all things. Then
again it gave him something of a lofty position, since the cook was the
“king of the camp” while at his labors.
He had set his scullions to work cleaning up the breakfast things, and
was feeling quite important, Hugh noticed, as he bustled about, having
donned the round little white cap that had been brought along in a
spirit of humor to distinguish the Great Mogul who would be the officer
of the day.
None of them had, however, started out on their several errands when
Ralph Kenyon was seen to step up on a log, and shading his eyes with a
hand, look earnestly off in a direction that might be called “up” the
road.
“What did you think you saw, Ralph?” asked Billy, noticing the other. “I
hope it turns out to be our friend the egg-man coming with a fresh
supply.”
“Hugh, come here and take a look,” said Ralph, in a strained voice;
“there’s something queer about that crowd, seems to me!”
No sooner had Hugh looked than he turned to the rest.
“Keep quiet, and do nothing to attract attention,” he said. “Fortunately
the fire has burned itself nearly out, so there’s little or no smoke
rising, and the breeze is coming from them to us. We’d better let them
go past without knowing we’re in camp here.”
His words of warning thrilled every scout, and there was immediately a
general movement under way to find some chance to discover what it was
that had excited the two who had been standing on the log.
As they looked over the tops of the screening bushes, they discovered
moving figures up the road; and at the same time could be heard the
scuffling sound of many feet not keeping time as soldiers would have
done.
The boys stared as they saw several squads of men passing swiftly along.
It appeared as though some of these parties seemed suspicious, perhaps
half anticipating an attack from the neighboring woods. They were on the
whole a tough-looking crowd, and seemed to be muscular workers, some
natives, others of foreign birth.
Half a dozen heavily-armed men strode along with them. At sight of the
repeating rifles they carried, Billy whispered to Hugh, close to whom he
now stood:
“Who are they, Hugh? Can they be game wardens arresting poachers up
here?”
“I reckon that they are strike-breakers, guarded by armed deputies,”
Hugh replied.