A TOUGH TASK
As the boys emerged from the clump of pines Bob, who was in the
lead, suddenly stopped.
“There’s somebody in the shed,” he whispered. “See the light?”
“Now wouldn’t that jar you,” Jack said in a disgusted tone.
“Who do you suppose it can be?” Rex whispered.
“Like’s not the cook is going to sleep there,” Bob replied.
“Well, what’s the next move?” Jack asked.
“We’ll have to wait and see,” Bob whispered. “I guess it’s his
move.”
“But what can we do if he does sleep there?” Rex asked anxiously.
“Well,” Bob replied, “those fellows usually sleep as though they
were dead and I guess we can get them without waking him up. We’ll
have a try at it anyhow.”
For all of a half hour they waited while the light continued to
burn, but at last it went out and the boys strained their ears to
catch the sound of any one leaving the shed. But no sound came to
them and they were forced to conclude that the cook or someone else
was to occupy the place for the night.
“Punk luck,” Bob whispered. “But we’ve got to have those peaveys,
cook or no cook.”
“Spoken like a general,” Jack declared as he nudged Rex.
“We’ll give him a few minutes to get to sleep,” Bob said. “Usually
it takes those fellows just about one second to be dead to the
world, but this one might be an exception.”
“Better say he’d be sure to be,” Jack laughed.
Slowly the minutes passed until, when Rex was certain they had
waited not less than an hour, Bob said as he glanced at his watch:
“It’s been ten minutes. He ought to be asleep by this time if he’s
ever going to be. You stay here and I’ll see how the land lays.”
He quickly covered the few yards to the shed, and, a minute later,
was crouching beneath the little window at the rear. At first he
could hear no sound.
“He might have gone back to the camp after all,” he thought.
But a moment later the faint sound of heavy breathing reached his
sharp ears.
“He’s there all right and sound asleep,” he thought as he hastened
back to where he had left the others.
“All right,” he announced. “He’s in slumberland all right.”
“What if there’s more than one there and the other one is awake?”
Rex asked.
“That’s a risk we’ll have to take, I guess,” and Bob shrugged his
shoulders.
Still another disappointment awaited them for, when they came around
to the front of the shed, they found to their surprise that the door
was fastened.
“That’s a funny thing,” Jack whispered. “They don’t usually even
have locks on the doors up here.”
“There’s no lock on this one either, unless it’s a bolt on the
inside,” Bob said. “More than likely he’s got something propped
against it.”
“Well, it don’t make much difference either way,” Jack whispered.
“It’s fastened and we want to get in, and the main question is, how
are we going to do it.”
“The only way is the little window at the back. Think you can
squeeze through it? It’s open.”
“I’ll try anything once,” Jack replied as he started back.
The window was all of six feet from the ground, as the shed at the
back rested on piles driven into the soil. It was small and was not
glassed in, a piece of burlap serving to keep out the snow and rain.
But this was now drawn aside.
“Great guns! A good-sized cat couldn’t get through that hole,” Rex
declared as Bob flashed his light upward.
“S-hh,” Bob whispered. “Keep quiet a minute. If there should be
anyone awake in there he’ll see that flash.”
But although they waited several minutes, all was still and only the
sound of the sleeper inside as he breathed came to their ears.
“I guess it’s all right,” Bob whispered. “When it comes to getting
through a small hole Jack’s more than half cat,” he explained to
Rex, who nevertheless shook his head doubtfully.
Meanwhile Jack had been taking off his boots.
“Here goes for a try at it,” he declared as he slipped the
flashlight into his pocket.
The next moment he was standing on Bob’s shoulders. For an instant
he waited listening. Then, letting himself down until he was on his
knees on Bob’s shoulders, he cautiously threw the rays of the torch
into the room. It was littered with all sorts of paraphernalia
pertaining to the driving of logs. Over in one of the farther
corners was a big pile of peaveys, but, although the breathing of
the sleeper came plainly to his ears, no sign of him could he see.
“That’s funny,” he thought as he cast the light about.
Then his heart sank for, as he looked downward, he saw a cot bed
directly beneath the window and on it was stretched a powerfully
built man.
“So near and yet so far,” he groaned as he cast another glance at
the peaveys.
The next moment he had jumped to the ground.
“What’s wrong,” Bob and Rex whispered at the same time.
“Everything, I guess,” Jack explained. “That guy’s got his bed right
under the window, that’s all.”
“Whew! I should say that was enough,” Rex gasped.
“I guess that puts the window out of commission then,” Bob said.
“It sure does,” Jack agreed, as he began to pull on his boots. “Even
Rex’s cat couldn’t get in that window without waking him up and he’s
a giant.”
“What are we going to do?” Rex asked.
“I have another plan which may work and may not,” Jack began. “You
see he’s got a piece of two by four propped against the door. Now I
noticed that there’s a pretty big crack beneath it and if we can get
hold of a lath or something of the sort we may be able to push it
down. Of course it may wake him up when it falls but, as Bob said a
while ago, these fellows usually sleep so sound that a cannon
wouldn’t disturb them. Anyhow it’s the only way I can think of. But
I’m open to suggestions.”
“I think your idea is good,” Bob whispered. “I don’t believe there’s
any other way and if he wakes up, we can beat it.”
“All right then. You wait here and I’ll sneak out back of the camp
and see if I can find a piece of stick thin enough to go under the
door,” and Jack was off before they had a chance to speak.
He was back in less than five minutes with a lath, which he declared
would be just the thing. And so it proved for it slipped through the
crack beneath the door with considerable space to spare.
“Easy now,” Bob whispered as Jack moved the lath back and forth.
“There it is,” he declared as he began to push.
A loud bang from within soon announced his success in knocking down
the prop.
“If that don’t wake him it’s a wonder,” he whispered.
A sound as of a bed creaking reached their ears.
“I guess it woke him all right,” Jack thought as he held his breath.
But, although the sound had evidently disturbed the sleeper it was
soon plain that it had failed to arouse him to full wakefulness, for
in another moment the unmistakable sound of snoring assured them
that he was still asleep.
“Luck seems to be with us at last,” Bob whispered, as he began to
remove his boots.
“Steady there,” Jack laid his hand on his brother’s arm. “I’m going
into get them.”
“Not much you—” Bob began, but Jack interrupted him.
“I know just where they are and I know the lay of the land and you
don’t so it’s up to me. Now don’t be foolish.”
Bob could not help seeing the force of Jack’s argument and after one
more plea, he gave in.
“I’ll have ’em out in two shakes of a dog’s tail,” he promised as he
took off his boots which he had not laced up.
And he was as good as his word. The sleeper stirred and muttered
something just as the boy reached the pile of peaveys, and he held
his breath. But the man did not wake and in another minute Jack was
outside again with three of the peaveys.
“Good boy,” Bob declared.
“Gee, but I thought he was going to wake up once though,” Jack said
as he again pulled on his boots.
The snow had been melting rapidly for the past two days and now
there was only about a foot of it in the woods while many bare
places were to be seen in the open. But the snow, though not deep
was soft and slushy and it was hard walking. But so pleased were
they that they had been successful in getting the peaveys, that they
trudged along in high spirits.
“It’s only a little ways down to the rips and I know right where
that big pine is,” Bob assured them.
Fortunately their boots were nearly enough waterproof so that their
feet remained dry in spite of the wet snow.
“This isn’t exactly like walking on a pavement, is it?” Rex panted.
“Are we going too fast for you?” Bob asked.
“No. I g-guess not,” he replied gamely. “But if you don’t mind I’d
like to rest a bit. Got a bit of a pain in my side.”
“Sure we’ll stop. There’s no hurry. Those fellows can’t be through
yet.”
“We’re over half way there,” Bob assured him as he leaned against a
tree.
Rex quickly recovered his wind and after a short rest they started
off again. It was very dark and they did not dare to use the flash
light for fear that it might be seen by the men.
“There they are,” Jack suddenly announced as he, being in the lead,
came out onto a knoll from where he could see down the river.
The light of two lanterns was visible out on the river but a
considerable distance away.
“Yes, I guess that’s they all right,” Bob agreed.
As they started off again they at once plunged into thick woods
which grew close to the river’s edge. Their progress was very slow
as they had to exercise great care to avoid bumping into the trees.
“This dark is thick enough to cut,” Jack said after he had stumbled
over a hidden stump and had barely escaped falling headlong into the
snow.
It took them nearly another hour before they reached the point
opposite to where they could still see the two lights out on the
water.
“Wonder how long we’ve got to wait now,” Jack growled as he sat down
on a log close to the edge of the river.
“Goodness knows,” Bob replied. “But it seems as though they ought to
be about through by this time. It’s nearly eleven.”
“I’ll bet I could build a pier clear across the river in the time
they’ve been at that job,” Jack declared.
“I guess they’re earning their money all right,” Rex said as he sat
down beside Jack.
“Yes, and the joke is that they won’t get it, not if we succeed,”
Bob laughed.
“Serve ’em right,” Jack declared. “A man who goes in for dirty work
deserves to get stung.”
“I only wish that Ben himself was out there working in that cold
water,” Bob said.
“It’s lucky for them that the weather turned warm,” Rex declared.
“It seems almost like a night in June.”
“But, believe me, it hasn’t had time to warm that water up much,”
Jack assured him. “And to think,” he chuckled, “that they’re doing
it all for nothing.”
“Here they come,” Bob said a few minutes later. “See the lanterns. I
guess they’re through at last and now we must get back in the woods
and hide until they get a good distance off. If they should see us
now it would spoil everything.”
It was so dark that finding a place where there would be no danger
of being seen by the men was, as Jack declared, “the easiest thing
they could do.” All that was necessary was to go back about twenty
feet into the woods and keep perfectly quiet. And this they did.
“Dar, I tink dat pier hold dem log, oui.” Bob nudged Rex as the
sound of the man’s voice came to his ears.
“But I’ll bet they don’t just the same,” he whispered.
“Dees water heem bon cold,” another of the Frenchmen declared, as he
shivered only a few feet from where they were crouched.
“Well, we geet good pay, oui,” still another broke in. “Come on, we
hit trail ver’ queek, geet warm.”
Their voices gradually grew fainter and soon they were out of
hearing altogether.
“I’ll bet that water was cold,” Jack laughed as he straightened up
and stretched his arms.
“Don’t be in a hurry,” Bob cautioned. “We want to give them plenty
of time to get far enough away so that they won’t see us as we’ll
probably have to use the flash, and remember, they can’t travel very
fast in this snow.”
So they waited for nearly an hour in spite of Jack’s grumbling.
“Better be careful than sorry,” Bob told him when he urged haste.
“We’ve got all night.”
But finally even careful Bob was convinced that it would be safe to
proceed with their undertaking, and using the flash more freely than
they had heretofore, they made their way down to the river’s edge.
Here, as they expected, they discovered a square-nosed scow about
twelve feet long and nearly half that wide.
“Do you think that there’s any danger of getting tipped over in that
boat?” Rex asked in a tone which he tried to make sound anxious.
“Well, if you sit carefully in the exact center and do not move or
wink except with both eyes at the same time I hardly think that
there is a great deal of danger,” Jack replied in a tone full of
sarcasm, but a chuckle just behind him quickly made him wonder if
perhaps Rex had fooled him instead of the joke being the other way
around.
“My, but you bit beautifully,” Bob said with a slight laugh.
“I guess I did,” Jack acknowledged somewhat sheepishly. “I’ll hand
it to you, Rex. I thought you were in earnest. But come on. Let’s
get this racing cutter afloat and get busy. Believe me, it’s going
to be some job holding her against this current.”
“And it’s apt to take us some time to find the pile of rocks seeing
that they are under water and I don’t imagine they made it very
large,” Bob said as he put his shoulder to the scow and pushed.
The Frenchmen had pulled the heavy boat well up on the shore and it
took the united strength of the three to get her back in the water.
“The Titanic has nothing on this craft when it comes to dead
weight,” Jack panted as the boat finally slid off the bank.
“Where’s the oars?” he demanded as he jumped aboard.
“Don’t believe there are any,” Bob replied as he threw the rays
about the scow.
“Funny they’d take them away.”
“Perhaps they didn’t have any, but pushed her with their peaveys,”
Rex suggested.
“Afraid they wouldn’t be long enough,” Bob said still throwing the
rays of his light about.
“Steady there,” Jack cried. “There’s a couple of long poles up on
the shore and seeing that they looked wet, I deduce that they have
quite recently been in the water.”
“Great, Sherlock,” Bob laughed.
“Well, whether my deductions are right or wrong, one thing is
certain and that is that those poles are going to be in the water in
about three seconds,” Jack declared as he sprang from the boat to
return a moment later carrying the two long poles.
“They used them all right,” Bob declared, and a moment later the
scow was out in the stream.
“As near as I can tell,” Bob said, “we want to go straight out.”
“No trouble to want to do a thing,” Jack panted a moment later as
the full strength of the swift current caught the boat, “but
sometimes it’s a whole lot of trouble to get it, and I guess this is
going to be one of them.”
A few feet out from the shore the water was too deep for Rex to
reach bottom with his peavey and as there were but two of the poles,
he was obliged to sit in idleness while Bob and Jack fought, with
all their strength, to keep the unwieldy craft from being swept down
stream.
“You’re holding your own,” he encouraged them.
“That’s what the corporal said,” Jack laughed. “Tell you the story
later,” he panted.
As they neared the middle of the river the water began to shoal
rapidly.
“This is the shallow place Pat was talking about, anyhow,” Bob
declared, “I guess your peavey’ll reach now, Rex,” he added, and Rex
sprang to his feet eager to do his part.
It seemed to him almost like looking for the proverbial needle in
the haystack to try to find a pile of rocks out there in the
darkness, but he had learned to have great confidence in his
friends’ ability to accomplish things and he had no doubt but that
the “needle” would be found sooner or later.
For some time they pushed the craft about, this way and that without
success. It was, as Jack declared, the hardest kind of hard work,
and before long all three, and especially Rex, were nearly at the
limit of their strength.
“Throw over the drag and we’ll rest awhile,” Bob panted.
At one end of the scow was a heavy rock to which was attached a
rope, and Jack, who was standing at that end, was quick to obey the
order. The boat swung around and, for a moment drifted slowly down
stream.
“Don’t believe she’ll hold,” Jack said. But, even as he spoke, the
rock caught and the drifting stopped.
“Whew!” Bob puffed as he sank down on one of the cross boards. “I
wouldn’t want to keep that up for more than three or four hours at a
stretch.”
“Make it minutes and you’ll be right where I live,” Rex laughed as
he followed suit.
“Let me know when you children get rested and we’ll begin again,”
Jack jeered as he too sat down at the end of the scow.
Neither Bob or Rex deigned to reply to the remark. They were too
busy getting back their breath, and for several moments no one
spoke.
“How about it, children?” Jack asked at the end of perhaps ten
minutes. “Think you can try it again?”
“I guess so, mighty chief,” Rex replied and all laughed.
“Get your poles in behind there, then,” Jack ordered, “while I raise
anchor.”
But the anchor would not rise. He tugged and pulled until his breath
came in gasps, but it would not budge.
“That rock must have got wedged in between two others down there,”
he finally announced as he gave it up for a moment.
“Wait a minute and we’ll push her up above and you can try it the
other way,” Bob suggested.
Both pushing at the rear Bob and Rex forced the scow foot by foot up
against the current until the rope was pulling on the stone from the
other direction. Jack was right in his surmise that the anchor had
gotten wedged in between two other rocks, for a good hard pull now
brought it up.
Twice more they were obliged to “lower anchor” and rest.
“It seems as though we must have stuck these poles into every square
inch of the river within a mile of here,” Jack declared as he
started to pull the stone up for another try. “Do you suppose we’re
anywhere near the old pier?”
“Well, of course, it’s pretty hard to be sure in the dark,” Bob
replied. “But it doesn’t seem as though we can be very far off.
What’s your idea?”
“Don’t know’s I have any,” the boy replied. “Only I’m getting a
little tired of poking holes in the water here and have ’em fill up
so quick that you can’t tell whether we’ve been here before or not.”
“You’re getting a bit mixed I’m afraid,” Bob laughed. “But let’s try
once more and if we don’t hit it we’ll go into a committee of the
whole and discuss ways and means.”
“The moon’s coming up anyhow. Perhaps that will help,” Rex said.
“Mebby, but I don’t see how.”
Rex knew that Jack was trying to be cheerful.
But their search was nearly at an end for they had pushed the scow
hardly fifty feet when its bottom was scraping and in another moment
they had come to a stop.
“Hurrah! I guess we’ve hit it,” Jack shouted as he at once “heaved
the anchor.”
“And it’s about time we did,” Bob added.
A rapid investigation with the peaveys proved that they had at last
hit the right spot and they lost no time in setting about
demolishing the pier. The water, at this point, was only about two
feet deep and Bob explained that in the summer, when the water was
low, a good-sized island occupied the center of the river at that
point.
It was slow work tearing the pier down with their peaveys, for some
of the rocks were as large as a strong man would want to lift, and
there were a good many of them.
“If this water wasn’t so blooming cold we could roll up our trowsers
and do it in a short time,” Bob declared after they had been at work
for the better part of an hour.
“This way suits me all right,” Jack assured him, and Rex also showed
no inclination to adopt Bob’s suggestion.
“I guess you’re about right,” Bob assented. “We’re getting there
slow but sure.”
They kept steadily at the work for another hour and had about
completed the task when a sudden interruption happened.