FIGURING IT OUT.
"That's what he said to you, did he, Davy?" asked the scout-master; and
perhaps unconsciously his voice was lowered a little when he spoke, as
though he felt that peril lurked close by.
"Yes, when we were sitting close together by the fire, and he was
drinkin' his cup of coffee," the other replied, also in hushed tones;
while Smithy hovered as near as he could get to them, his face filled
with apprehension.
"And he told you he wanted to meet up with the man who had a patch on
the sole of his shoe, did he?" Thad continued, thoughtfully.
"Just what he did," Davy answered, cheerfully. "I remember thinkin' that
it was a mighty funny way to describe a feller, by telling how one of
his shoes had been mended in that way. But, Thad, you know Bob didn't
finish tellin' me about this track over here on the old island. If he
had, I'd sure remembered; and then I c'd have spoken about it to you."
"I'm sorry now it didn't happen that way," remarked the scout-master,
"it might have made some difference in my plans, you see, boys."
"You mean you wouldn't a come here, is that it?" demanded Davy; "then
I'm glad you didn't know about it; because this just suits me. Whew!
don't it make a feller have just the nicest cold creepy feelin' run up
and down his back, though? I wouldn't have lost the chance for
anything."
Thad was compelled to smile at the odd way the other had of expressing
his pleasure in the thrill that passed over him, as he contemplated the
possibility of meeting with new adventures.
"Oh! no, I didn't mean that," he replied; "but I'd have asked you a lot
of questions before coming, and perhaps we'd have been better posted.
Then again, I might have brought a couple more scouts along, so we could
feel stronger, in case--" and he suddenly paused, with his head cocked
on one side as though listening.
"In case, what?" pursued Davy, who wanted to know everything.
"I thought I heard a voice somewhere, but it might have been a bird in
the bushes," Thad continued, in a relieved tone. "Why, I was only going
to say in case we had any trouble with these men. But they may not be
here at all now. I've got an idea they own another boat, in which they
could have slipped away last night while it was so dark."
"Then what's the use of our hunting all over the place as we're doing?"
asked Davy, fanning himself with his hat; for the day was turning out
warm, and it began to seem like tiresome work, and all for nothing,
too.
"In the first place," went on Thad, with that steady glow in his gray
eyes that bespoke determination; "I want to see if there really is a
hidden shack or a cave here, where they could be hiding out. Then I'd
like to learn if they're poachers, snaring the wild game, or the bass up
here, and getting it to market on the sly; or some tramps who have been
breaking into a store or a bank and are hiding from the constables."
"A bully good place to hide, all right," remarked Davy, as he glanced
around at the wild character of their surroundings, and heaved another
sigh in contemplation of further scrambling over those sharp-pointed
rocks.
"But Thad," put in Smithy, who had been listening all this time without
saying a single word, "have you changed your mind about what these
strange men may be, since you heard what Davy said about that man at our
camp-fire?"
"Well, yes, I am beginning to, right fast," answered the other, frankly.
"You don't think he was as bad as they are, and meant to join them, do
you?" continued Smithy, taking an unexpected interest in the matter; for
he had observed the party in question closely, as Thad knew, and formed
rather a good opinion of him, somehow.
"No, I don't," replied the scout-master, decisively. "If you asked me
point-blank what my opinion was, I'd say that he might be a game warden
playing a part, or else an officer of the law, looking for yeggmen who
have done something that they knew would send them to prison if caught!"
"Whew! just keep right along talking that way, Thad," muttered Davy. "It
sure does give me the nicest feeling ever to hear you. Yeggmen now is
it, and not just poor game poachers? That's going some, I take it. Say,
perhaps they've been and broke into a rich man's place over in
Faversham. I happen to know that quite a few city people own cottages
there for summer use."
"Have you ever been in Faversham, Davy?" asked Thad, suddenly.
"Well, no, I must say I haven't; but I've heard some about it from a boy
who visited Sim Eckles, and who used to live there. It's a big place,
Thad."
"Oh! size has nothing to do with this matter," remarked the other. "I
was just wondering whether you might not have heard that name before."
"You mean Malcolm Hotchkiss, don't you?" asked the other, eagerly.
"Yes, the name he mentioned to you, when he spoke about the marked
shoe?" the patrol leader went on to say.
"Hold on!" Davy exclaimed, hoarsely; "now, that's queer; I never once
bothered my head to think about it till you asked. Sure I've heard the
name before. The boy over at Sim Eckles' mentioned it more'n once."
"Who is he, then, Davy?"
"Why, Malcolm Hotchkiss, he's just the Chief of Police over at
Faversham, that's what, Thad," replied the other scout, almost
breathless in his renewed excitement.
"Oh; is that so?" remarked Thad. "Well, how does it strike you now,
Davy?"
"Looks bad for these here men, that's what," came the reply.
"You mean they must be worse than game poachers; is that it?" continued
Thad.
"I just reckon they are, Thad. Game wardens are hired by the State; and
seems to me it don't interest the common police if a man chooses to take
a few deer out of season, or net black bass against the law."
"Sounds like good logic, Davy," Thad continued; "and anybody could see
that you're all fixed to follow in the footsteps of your father, when
you get through law school. That settles it, in my mind. After this I
don't expect to run across any nets in the lake, or snares for
partridges in the woods around here."
"You mean there might be something stronger than that to be found, if
only we could run up against the place they use for a hideout; is that
it, Thad?"
"I certainly do; but I wish you could tell me one thing," the other
remarked.
"Try me and see," grinned Davy. "I'm loaded with information, like a gun
is, to the muzzle; and all you have to do is to pull the trigger."
"Try and remember if that boy said anything about this Malcolm
Hotchkiss that would describe him--was he tall or short; did he wear a
beard or had he a smooth face; were his eyes blue or black?"
Davy screwed up his eyebrows as though he might be cudgeling his brain
to remember. Then he grinned again, showing that the result had at least
been satisfactory from his point of view.
"I caught on to it, Thad," he declared with the air of a victor.
"Well, what do you think about it now, Davy?"
"Not the same man. You remember our visitor was a tall feller, don't
you? Well, I heard that boy say how they played a trick on Malcolm, and
they was only able to do it because he happened to be a small man, with
white hands, and looked kinder like a woman dressed up in police
uniform. But then he's smart as chain lightnin', he said at the same
time."
"Well, that proves one thing. Our visitor couldn't have been the
Faversham Head of Police. Perhaps they're in the game together, and he
wanted you to send word that way, knowing that Hotchkiss would be able
to reach him," Thad concluded.
"Looks like you'd got it all figgered out right, Thad," admitted Davy,
in open admiration for the genius of his chum. "And if that's the truth,
I reckon it must be a pretty big game that has made this here feller
take all the trouble to hire that bear man to go 'round the country with
him, just so he could ask questions, and nobody think he was anything
but a common tramp."
"I don't just understand what sort of officer would be doing that," Thad
candidly admitted. "Now, if these men were what Bob White tells us they
have down in his country, moonshiners, I could understand it. But we've
rested enough now; let's go on to the boat. Perhaps after all, we might
decide to leave the island to look after itself from now on."
"I'd sure be sorry to hear you say that, Thad," remarked Davy, his face
showing keen disappointment.
"After all, it's really none of our business," continued Thad; "and now
that you know the man he is looking for everywhere is somewhere around
here, perhaps it'd be best for you to start over to some place where
they have a telephone, and call up Mr. Malcolm Hotchkiss at Faversham."
"Huh! reckon I c'd surprise him a little now," chuckled Davy, falling in
behind the leader, as they continued on down toward the spot where the
boat had been left some time before.
"We've done all that could be expected of a patrol of Boy Scouts, under
the circumstances," said Thad firmly; "and the rest had better be left
to men who are used to such things. Listen to that wind blow, boys? I
hope a storm doesn't come up before we get back to camp again. Careful,
Davy, don't be in such a hurry; we're nearly at the beach, and our
boat."
"That's just it," remarked the Jones boy; "I had a look in at that same
beach under the branches of the trees, Thad; and believe me, I didn't
see a sign of any boat!"
"What's that?" demanded the scout-master, quickly, a sense of gathering
clouds beginning to oppress him; for it would indeed be a serious matter
if they were actually taken prisoners by these unknown parties of the
island, whom they now believed to be worse even than game poachers.
"Look for yourself, Thad; for here you can see the beach end to end,"
Davy went on; and the others stared as though hardly able to believe
their eyes; for it was just as Davy said; there was the little sandy
stretch, without a doubt, where they had left their canoe; but from end
to end it was vacant!
Again had the boat vanished while they were away; and this time it was
utterly impossible that it could have gone without the agency of human
hands, for they had pulled it high up out of the water!