TAKING DESPERATE CHANCES
It was wholly due to the foresight of Billy Lilly that the camp of
the Pony Rider Boys was not washed into the bayou. Had they pitched
the camp two rods from it's present site, in either direction, their
outfit would have been wrecked. As it was they were little the worse
for their experiences although everyone was still soaked to the skin.
As soon as the sun came out Tad rigged up a clothes line and
stripping down to his underwear hung his clothing up to dry. The
same thing was done with his blankets.
The other boys thought this was an excellent idea, so they did the
same. The water was going down rapidly and their island was growing
gradually larger. All manner of driftwood, brush and heaps of muck
lay strewn over the ground, and this Ichabod was clearing away as
rapidly as possible. The colored man understood the needs of the
camp without having to be told. In fact, it was seldom found
necessary to give him orders.
The dogs, for the first time in days, pricked up their ears and began
to take interest in life. They were busy brushing out their
bedraggled coats in the sunlight, now and then bounding back and
forth, barking and leaping and playing. The Pony Rider Boys sang
snatches of song, joked, and enjoyed themselves to the full. They
were restless under inactivity; they wanted to be up and doing.
Of course, the ground in the swamp was soft, so they decided to
remain in camp another day. This time would be fully occupied in
oiling and cleaning guns, which already had begun to show spots of
rust, and in putting their equipment in shape.
Tad found time during this bright day to make short excursions out
into the woods, even into the brake, the better to acquaint himself
with the conditions round about them. He eyed the dense brake, the
giant trees, the queer formations of the cypress knees, and the thick
vegetation, with the keen eyes of the experienced woodsman.
"This is an awful hole," was the lad's conclusion. "I don't think I
should care to be lost in this swamp. If the Dismal Swamp is any
worse, excuse me, as Ichabod would say."
Palmettos he found growing thickly in places above the black ooze of
the swamp, bushes of varieties that he did not know covered the
ground thickly in places, while vines and creepers climbed the trunks
of the trees, hanging in trailing festoons from the branches. Coon
and possum were plentiful, but he did not see any of them.
Most interesting to Tad were the swamp rabbits. These lived mostly
in the depths of the woods and beside the lonely bayous. These
rabbits, he discovered to his amazement, could swim and dive like
muskrats, being as much at home in the water as on the land. Tad
never had heard of them before and he watched the antics of some of
the little fellows curiously. While Tad moved about with caution, he
was unafraid. His love of nature was too great to permit him to be
afraid of it; even though he knew that at any second he might tread
on a deadly reptile, so he strode on with the light, noiseless step
of the experienced hunter and woodsman. Here and there Tad would
strike a blaze on a cypress with his axe. He did not propose to be
lost in this forest.
The sound of the camp horn calling to him warned the boy that he had
strayed a long distance from camp. He answered the call by shooting
his revolver three times in the air, to which the horn responded by
two toots.
These horns were used by nearly everyone in the brake. Each person
was supposed to carry a horn with him, the horn being useful not alone
in calling the dogs, but in signaling positions to each other, and
its notes could be heard a long distance in clear weather.
The boy discovered from the direction of the sound that he had made a
wide detour to reach his present position. However, instead of
trying to take a direct course back to the camp, as an inexperienced
person might have done, the Pony Rider Boy cautiously followed his
trail back, never for a moment losing sight of his blazes on the
cypress trees. It was more than an hour later when he strolled into
camp, the guide having blown the horn several times, which Tad had
not answered after the first time.
"Look here, young man, where have you been?" demanded Lilly.
"I have been tramping. I went over to a round lake a good distance
from here."
"A lake?"
"Yes, sir."
"That way?"
"Yes, sir."
"Do you know how far that is from here?" questioned the guide.
"I can't say that I do," answered Tad with a smile.
"More than three miles in a straight line."
"I thought so."
"How is it you didn't get lost?"
"Why should I? I blazed a trail out and just followed it back,
that's all."
Billy threw up his hands.
"I don't know why you boys have me along. Any fellow who can dive
into this swamp for three miles, then walk back just the same as if
he were following the sidewalk at home, doesn't need a guide. See
anything?"
"Oh, yes," answered the boy laughing. "I saw pretty much everything
but deer and bear. But I saw a deer trail."
"You did?"
"Yes, sir."
"Where?"
"About half the way out. He crossed my trail and went into the
canebrake to the north."
"Probably an old trail," nodded Lilly.
"No, sir, it was a fresh trail made since the rain. I could see that
plainly. It was a buck, too, and I think I should like to get a shot
at him. Do they have regular runways down here?"
"Yes, unless they are chased. Have all the rest of you boys got
scents like deerhounds, eh?"
"I have," answered Stacy promptly. "Why, I can put my nose to a
trail and follow it until the deer drops dead from fatigue. I
probably am the best all-around deer-chaser in the country. You set
me on a trail and see what happens."
"I can tell you what would happen," answered Rector. "You'd get lost
in less than ten minutes."
"If I did I should find myself," retorted Stacy indignantly.
"Yes, you would!"
"I should like to follow that deer trail, Mr. Lilly," said Tad. "How
about it?"
"The ground is too soft. The horses couldn't make much headway in
the present condition of the muck."
"By the way, are there any other hunters in this vicinity now?"
questioned Tad.
"I hadn't heard of any besides ourselves. Why?"
"Nothing much. I discovered some man tracks this morning."
Billy regarded the Pony Rider Boy steadily.
"Young man, is there anything you don't see?" he demanded.
"Oh, yes, I couldn't hope to see everything. But some things I can't
help seeing. I found this man's tracks while I was examining the
buck's trail in the muck. You know feet, man or beast, sink down a
good way into the ooze in places."
"I reckon I do. Which way was he going?"
"The buck?"
"No, the man."
"Heading west."
"That's away from the camp," reflected the guide. "I wonder who it
could have been? Was there more than one of them?"
Tad shook his head.
"I looked for others. The man was alone and he had a gun."
"Say, are you gifted with second sight?"
"No, sir."
"Then how do you know he had a gun, unless you guessed it?"
"I saw the impression of the butt where he stood the gun against the
tree. He was looking at the deer trail, so he must have been along a
short time before I passed there."
"I reckon I'll be looking into that," decided Lilly, rising and
thrusting his hands in his pockets, striding slowly back and forth.
The subject was not again referred to, but later in the afternoon
Lilly announced that he was going out to look over the trails, and
left the camp. He returned just before supper.
"Well, did you find it?" asked Tad quizzically.
Billy grinned.
"I reckon I did. I reckon you-all knew what you were talking about."
"Who was it?" demanded Ned.
"Oh, I don't know about that. I guess it was some fellow heading for
Stillman's plantation on the other side of the brake."
"How far is that?"
"Nigh onto twenty miles."
"Is there no other way to reach the place?" questioned Tad.
"Oh, yes, but it's a long way further. We will be on the trail
ourselves tomorrow, I reckon. The ground is drying out fast. I
didn't see any bear signs today, but they will be moving right smart,
now that the storm is over."
That night the campfire blazed and crackled merrily. The boys got a
good night's rest, the tents being dry and comfortable and the air
more endurable than had been the case for the last three days. Twice
during the night Billy got up, took a look at the weather, and heaped
more wood on the fire. Tad heard him, but did not open his eyes,
knowing what was doing, as well as if he had observed it with
wide-open eyes.
It was shortly after daylight that the boy awakened suddenly and lay
listening. He caught the sound of water being splashed about. A
thought occurring to him, Tad slipped on his boots and taking his
rifle up crept out under the rear wall of his tent.
A sight met his eyes that thrilled him through and through.