A SCOUNDREL’S TRICK
“What’s the chance of catching some fish?” inquired Bobby. “There’s
nothing better than fresh caught fish grilled over a wood fire.”
“There are plenty of fish if you have the luck to catch them,” said Lee.
“They generally eat the bait off my hook, and then go away laughing at
me.”
“Huh, I never saw a fish laugh, myself,” said Fred; “it must be very
interesting.”
“Oh, it is,” Lee gravely assured him. “We’ll just land at a good place I
know of, and maybe you can have a demonstration.”
They chugged on a little further, and then Lee gave the wheel a twist
and headed for a high green bank that rose above the general level of
the flat swamp country. When about two hundred feet away he shut off the
motor, and the boat glided gently on with its momentum and grounded
easily on the muddy bank.
“Here we are,” said the Southern youth. “Get out your fishing lines, and
we’ll see what we can do.”
It did not take the boys long to rig up their tackle, and then Lee
jumped ashore, followed by Bobby and Fred. Together they pulled the bow
of the boat up onto the bank, and then cast their bait.
“Now to hear the laughing fish,” said Fred. “Do they laugh very loud,
Lee?”
“Not as loud as some poor fish that I know of,” retorted Lee.
“Wow!” exclaimed Bobby, laughing. “That had all the earmarks of a dig,
Lee.”
Fred opened his mouth to make a cutting remark, but at that moment his
reel whizzed, and for the next five minutes he was too busy to say a
word. The fish fought gamely, and the frail rod at times bent almost
double and threatened to snap. But at last Fred landed the gleaming fish
on the grass.
“Good work!” applauded Lee. “After that I take back my unkind words,
Fred.”
“That’s all right,” said Fred, “nothing could make me mad now. Isn’t
that fish a beauty? I’ll bet he weighs all of three pounds.”
“Wouldn’t be surprised,” assented Bobby. “Two or three more like that,
and we can have a feast.”
But the required number failed to materialize, and after half an hour of
patient angling, the boys decided to try their luck in a new location.
Accordingly they moved some two or three hundred yards further upstream,
and cast again. Here the fish were biting better, and in a little while
even Lee had caught a fair sized fish, while Bobby and Fred each had two
to their credit. Content with this haul, they decided to go back to the
boat and continue their journey. They strung the fish on a bit of line,
and then made their way back to where they had left the craft.
But the motor boat was nowhere to be seen!
For a moment all three were too surprised to speak. Bobby was the first
to break the dazed silence.
“It looks as though we were up against it, fellows,” he said, soberly.
“How do you suppose that boat got away, anyway?”
“It must be we didn’t pull it up far enough,” said Lee, “although I
didn’t think the current was strong enough here to float a chip away.
But now it looks as though I made a bad mistake.”
“I don’t think there is any mistake about this,” said Bobby, who had
been doing some quick thinking. “That boat would never have floated away
unless somebody had helped it to. We had it drawn up too far for that.”
“But who in the world would there be here to set it adrift?” inquired
Lee, in bewilderment.
As though in answer to his question, there was a sudden stir and rustle
in a tall bunch of swamp grass in back of them, and as they whirled
about they saw a young negro boy leap from the grass and start running
as fast as his legs could carry him.
“After him, fellows!” yelled Bobby, and the three comrades took after
the negro at top speed. The latter was fleet, but he was no match for
Bobby who soon outdistanced his companions and was close on the negro’s
heels. The darkey, hearing the pursuit so close to him, suddenly turned,
and Bobby thought for a second that he was going to show fight, but
instead he fell on his knees and started to beg for mercy.
“D—don’t hit me, white boy,” he stammered. “Ah was made to do it, ’deed
Ah was.”
“Do what?” asked Bobby. “I haven’t accused you of doing anything yet.”
“Nossuh, you hasn’t, and Ah wouldn’t have shoved off dat boat, neider,
if mah boss hadn’t done tole me he’d skin me alive if Ah didn’t.”
“I know this coon,” said Lee, who with Fred came up panting at this
juncture. “He works for Jim Boolus, and I reckon that explains how our
boat came to get adrift. How did you know we were here?” he continued,
addressing the negro.
“Ah was rowin’ Marse Boolus down de ribber,” answered the darkey, “an’
fust thing Ah knows he spies you-all’s boat wid its nose stuck up on de
mud bank. ‘Dat’s de Cartiers’ motor boat,’ he says to me, gettin’ all
excited. ‘Suppose young Cartier and dose fresh friends o’ his’n must be
aroun’ somewhere!’”
“‘Yessuh,’ Ah says, and keeps right on rowin’. But we hadn’t gone no
distance ’tall when he tells me to quit.”
“‘Gimme dem oars, you fool nigger,’ he says, ‘Ah’ll row dis boat in, and
Ah wants you should step ashore an’ heave dat boat off de bank.’”
“Ah jes’ had to do like he says, ’cause Marse Boolus is a powerful mean
man when he gits riled. But Ah hadn’t any more dan got ashore when he
hears one of you white boys shoutin’ somethin’, an’ he thinks you’re
comin’ back for your boat. Wid dat he starts pullin’ away like mad,
leavin’ me up on de bank. Ah shoved off de boat, anyway, thinkin’ dat
he’d come back an’ pick me up, but he jes’ kep’ right on goin’, and here
I is.”
“We ought to pitch you into the river and let you swim after him,” said
Lee, angrily.
The frightened negro rolled his eyes. “Ah’s sorry, boss,” he whimpered,
“but Marse Boolus would jest as soon land me wid an oar as not if Ah
didn’t do what he tole me to.”
“It’s no use bothering with him,” said Bobby. “The damage is done now,
and we’ll have to try to get out of this mess some way.”
“I suppose Boolus is chuckling now to think how he’s got even with us,”
said Fred, clenching his fists. “I wish now he’d fallen out of that
buggy onto some nice hard rocks instead of into soft sand.”
“Well we’re in a pretty pickle, anyway,” said Lee, as the full extent of
the calamity began to dawn on him. “We’re somewhere about the middle of
the swamp, without any way to get out unless we swim, and no provisions
except a few fish.”
“Oh, it may not be quite as bad as that,” said Bobby. “How do you know
there’s no way out except by the river? There’s probably some path
through, if we can only find it.”
“Yes, but that’s a big if,” said Lee. “But I guess we might as well go
back and get those fish and cook them. We’ll have to camp out to-night,
anyway, and then see what we can do in the morning.”
As nobody could suggest anything better than this, they made their way
back to the river, taking the negro with them. “There’s no knowing what
he’ll be up to,” said Lee. “We’d better keep an eye on him.”
They cleaned and cooked the fish, and ate them in silence, each one busy
with his own thoughts. The flat and dreary swamp spread out on all sides
of their camp, except that bounded by the river. As evening came on, a
cold white mist arose from the morass, causing them to shiver and throw
more wood on their fire. Fortunately there was a plentiful supply of
driftwood along the shore, and they resolved to keep the fire going all
night, each one taking a turn at standing watch and putting fresh fuel
on. As twilight deepened into night, strange noises arose on every side;
the croaking of frogs, the weird calling of water fowl, and above all
the fierce hum of mosquitoes that came in clouds to add to the
discomfort of their situation.
“Where’s that darkey?” exclaimed Lee suddenly.
They had momentarily forgotten him, and now, when they looked around,
there was no sign of him. He had disappeared into the surrounding
blackness, and the boys knew that it would be hopeless to look for him.
“It’s just as well, anyway,” said Fred. “He had a treacherous look in
his eyes, and I feel better now that he’s not around.”
“Yes, but the chances are he knew of a way out of this place,” said Lee,
“and we might have made him show it to us. But he’s gone, and there’s no
use worrying about it, I suppose.”
“Well, if he can get out, we can, too,” said Bobby, hopefully. “We’ll
get a start as soon as it’s light enough to see, and maybe we’ll be home
in time for lunch.”