THE CHUM BELOVED
After all Elmer’s effort to keep his voice down when talking to the
tall chum, Perk had heard what was said. He happened to be coming
out of the door just at that moment, as luck would have it, and so
caught the full significance of the remark. But try as they might,
no one else saw the lurking figure he again pointed out.
“I guess you score, Perk,” admitted the one addressed, for whatever
Wee Willie had in the way of faults, and he was not by any means
perfect, he never failed to make amends when an occasion arose for
it.
“What’s all the talk about, I want to know?” demanded Amos, showing
up just then, and with all a natural boy’s curiosity aroused.
“Why, Elmer was just saying, and I agreed with him,” explained the
tall pal, “that there was an odor of stale tobacco smoke hanging
around this old cabin. He thinks it may have been some wandering
tramp who put up here for the night.”
“But,” interposed Perk, “why should he skip out so quick when he
heard us coming along the trail, or else caught the glimmer of
Elmer’s torch? You’d think the poor chap’d feel mighty lonely, away
off the beaten track of his kind, and be glad of our company.”
“Which remark shows how little you know of the hobo tribe in
general,” chuckled the angular boy. “Most of the Weary Willies are
born thieves, and only want a chance to steal to let themselves
out.”
“Many are, anyhow,” admitted the more conservative Elmer, “and for
all we know, this fellow has done something that makes him afraid of
officers of the Law.”
“But he may come back again?” hazarded Perk, dubiously, a cloud
beginning to gather upon his forehead, as though some of his
expectations of a carefree holiday had received a sudden and
unexpected backset.
“That’s true enough for you, Perk,” agreed the grinning Wee Willie;
“but take my word for it, if he does it’ll not be to make our
acquaintance.”
“What then?” asked the other, quickly, looking worried still.
“Oh! I reckon tramps have _fero_cious appetites, and get good and
hungry,” continued the tall chum; “and if he hangs around for a bit
he’ll smell our jolly supper cooking, which ought to make him
well-nigh frantic.”
“Then you mean he may sneak back here during the night, with the
idea of stealing some of our grub; is that it?” questioned Perk, his
anxiety taking a new turn.
“It wouldn’t surprise me much if he did,” coolly observed Wee
Willie.
“But you’re only guessing it was a tramp,” said Amos just then.
“Why, yes, that’s a fact,” admitted Elmer. “To be sure the man might
be something entirely different from a hobo.”
“As what, Elmer?” asked Perk.
“Oh! there are a number of answers to your question, Perk,” the
leader informed him. “For instance, this chap might be some fugitive
from justice who had broken jail, and was in hiding.”
“Yes, or even a lunatic at large,” continued Wee Willie, perhaps
amused to see how eagerly the other was swallowing all these
suggestions; “for we happen to know such a thing did happen once,
years back; for the State Asylum for the Insane is located not much
more’n twenty miles northeast of our home town of Chester.”
“Then there might be another explanation for his being here,” spoke
up Amos. “I chanced to be talking with the head game warden only a
week back, and he told me he had never known the game poachers so
daring as this season. They have shot deer, snared partridge and
rabbits out of season, and laid illegal set-lines for black bass in
some of the best lakes of the county.”
“Yes,” Elmer added, thoughtfully, “it might be one of those bold
game hogs who didn’t want to be seen up here, where he really had no
right to be. But why bother our heads so about the fellow? He’s
skipped out, and the chances are we’ll never glimpse hide nor hair
of him again. Perk was the only one who got a peep at the slippery
rascal.”
Accordingly the subject was dropped, for the time being at any rate;
but Perk looked unusually grave as he proceeded to get supper, as
though creeping, mysterious men kept looming up before his mental
vision.
Indeed, doubtless the little mystery connected with the strange
actions of the unknown would give each one of the boys cause for
more or less reflection, and vague speculation.
The supper was voted a great success. Perk prided himself on his
ability as a cook; and since the others usually commended his
efforts to the skies he almost always insisted on doing the lion’s
share of this work; to which of course no one objected in the least.
The sliced ham was browned to a nicety, the eggs, carefully packed
so as not to be broken in transit, were “turned” or not, to suit the
individual taste of each fellow; the coffee seemed like ambrosia, so
fragrant and cheering did it appear; while the home-made bread, with
genuine butter for a spread, added much to the enjoyment of their
first meal in camp.
These four lads of Chester had been accustomed to similar outings
during the summer holidays, and thus banded together called
themselves the “Camp Fire Boys,” a name that seemed to possess a
certain charm in their eyes as it was bound always to recall the
jolly times they had when camping out in company.
Elmer Kitching had always possessed an ardent love for everything
connected with the Great Outdoors. He came by this nature honestly,
for his father in his day had been a well-known naturalist, whom
such famous men as Teddy Roosevelt himself, John Burroughs, and
others along the same line had been glad to consult when preparing
articles for publication, in order to verify their own observations
concerning animated nature.
His mother, now a widow, was comfortably well off, and Elmer had a
young sister at home by the name of Rebecca.
Amos Codling lived with his mother and three younger children. They
had not mingled very much with other folks since coming to Chester;
the widow returned no calls, and seemed content to look after her
family. Some were inclined to think this rather strange; but by
degrees it became the conviction of her neighbors that she must have
seen great trouble, and shrank from contact with the rough world.
Her children were always well dressed, and bright in school; but
even the town gossips could find out next to nothing about the
previous history of the Codling family, save that they came from a
big city.
Wee Willie Winkleman was the son of the owner of the finest motion
picture theater in Chester. As has been stated before, his
prevailing passion was the ambition to discover new and novel
methods of making fires without the use of matches. That had become
such a “fad” with the tall chum that he even dreamed about it, and
had been known to get up in the middle of the night to try out some
queer scheme which had visited him in his sleep.
Perk, the beloved pal, was famous for his amiable disposition. Few
fellows had ever seen him show a trace of anger. Indeed, his beaming
smile could, the boys claimed, melt the flinty heart of almost any
farmer around town; though this rule had its exceptions. Perk was
frequently in trouble; likewise rosy-cheeked, and guileless, he was
also addicted to straying from beaten paths in the woods, and
getting lost; but never from the truth, since his word was as good
as most fellows’ bond. His father was a railroad engineer, and
likewise rather ponderous of build.
As the evening crept along, Wee Willie every once in a while might
have been noticed glancing sharply in the direction of Amos. It
struck him that the other was acting unusually nervous, for he would
get up and walk around for a minute or two, and then again throw
himself down.
“Something must be bothering Amos, that’s dead sure,” the tall chum
told himself; and at the same time determined to speak of the fact
to Elmer if a chance offered.
He had never been quite as close to Amos as Elmer, though for that
matter it was extremely doubtful if even the latter had been taken
into the confidence of the Codling boy, who knew how to keep a
“close mouth,” as Wee Willie called it.
“Still, it may be he’s eaten too much supper, and his digestion is
troubling him,” was the final conclusion Wee Willie reached.
They sat around for some time, talking after their habit. It was
hard to realize that they were all of sixteen miles from home, and
surrounded by the primeval forest, up there in the Tall Timber, as
that belt of the big wilderness was known.
“This just suits me to a dot,” Wee Willie said for the fourth time
as he poked at the fire, and sighed with complete happiness. “Guess
I was just born to be a tramp, and make fires across the whole
Continent, I love to hear the crackle of the flames so much.”
“I’m really concerned about you sometimes, Wee Willie,” said Elmer,
pretending to look serious, though the sparkle in his gray eyes
belied his words and manner. “If this craze for fires keeps up
you’ll be tempted to run with the machine; and then when there’s a
slacking up of business set a few haystacks ablaze just to keep your
hand in.”
“Not much I will,” retorted the other. “My fad is in inventing new
and novel ways for _creating_ fires. I consider a good blaze man’s
best friend, when held in hand; let it break away, and I own up it
may become his worst enemy. All good things can be abused, remember,
and fire isn’t an exception to the general rule.”
“About time we looked after our beds, isn’t it?” asked Perk,
accompanying his words with a tremendous yawn.
“Oh! that isn’t going to take much time,” scoffed Wee Willie,
“seeing how we all share alike. It’s a hard bed for to-night, on the
floor of the cabin. To-morrow we’ll hunt for hemlock browse, and
ease things up. I’m the one who will suffer most, because my bones
stick out so, without pads, like Perk here carries around with him.”
Amidst considerable merriment they soon laid out their double
camping blankets, of a gray or dun color as most suitable for the
purpose, and “less liable to show dirt spots,” as Perk always slyly
claimed.
“It’s good night boys for me,” that individual was saying, as he
stripped off his coat, kicked his shoes into a corner and commenced
to crawl under his warm woolen cover. “Say, this feels just great;
you fellows’d better make up your minds to follow my example, and
turn in.”
He was sound asleep in less than ten minutes, when the others were
ready to seek cover. Wee Willie stared down at his round moonlike
face, and nodded his head as he turned to Elmer and Amos to say
softly:
“Looks like a sweet cherub lying there, with such a happy smile on
his mug. No use talking, Perk is the best-natured chap in seven
counties. I’ve been mean enough more’n a few times to try my level
best to make him mad, but had to give it up; he just looked at me,
and kept on smiling until I had to turn and walk away bested; bless
his big heart!”
Elmer nodded in approval of these words of appreciation, and Amos
too showed that he echoed the sentiments expressed by the tall chum.
“I’ve known a lot of fellows,” he went on to say, “but never his
like. If all boys were built like good old Perk there’d be a heap
less trouble in this world. I know I’d have been saved more or less
suffering myself.”
Wee Willie looked quickly at the speaker, as though he half expected
Amos to take them into his confidence; but instead the other simply
bent down and started to push his extremities under his blanket.
The fire still burned without, and although the door was closed,
Perk having succeeded in fastening it with a piece of stout rope,
through innumerable apertures the flickering glow stole, making
queer pictures on the wall beyond, that came and went like phantom
drawings.
Elmer lay there and watched them for some time, his thoughts far
afield, possibly in his Chester home with the dear ones there.
Gradually his eyes closed and he lost track of even these precious
ties in restful slumber.
Time passed by, several hours elapsing, when Elmer suddenly sat
half-way up. Surely he had heard the yapping of a dog somewhere near
by. This not only interested him but aroused an intense curiosity.
Then he noticed that both Wee Willie and Amos also gave signs of
being awake.
Now voices could be heard. They were heavy tones that came to
Elmer’s ears, as of mature men. Crunching footsteps followed, then a
loud pounding.
“Open up here!” boomed a voice, followed by further sonorous knocks.