CHAPTER XXI
GIRAFFE HAS A SCHEME
"If they'd only leave us alone, why, what's to hinder us mending our ownship, and sailing away out of this, sooner or later?" Bumpus wanted toknow; after they had been talking the matter over for a long time.
"I suppose you'll do the mending part, Bumpus?" demanded Step Hen,wickedly.
"Well, I'd be only too willing, if I knew how," instantly flashed backthe other, "but unfortunately my education was neglected when it came topatching up boats, and tinkering with machinery. I'm ashamed to confessto that, but it's the whole sad truth. But, thank goodness, we've got ascoutmaster who can do the job mighty near as well as any machinistgoing. I'll back Thad, yes, and Allan in the bargain, to make a decentjob of it. And even Giraffe here might fix things up in a pinch. Solong as we've got a chance to make the Chippeway Belle do duty again atthe old stand we hadn't ought to complain, I think, boys."
"I'm sorry to tell you that there's only a slim chance of that evercoming about," Thad remarked, right then and there.
"Then you believe she was smashed worse'n any of us thought was thecase; is that it, Thad?" asked Giraffe.
"No, it isn't that so much as another thing I've noticed lately, that'sgoing to upset our calculations," replied the scout-master.
"Tell us what that might be, won't you?" pleaded Bumpus, with a dolefulshake of his head; as though he might be beginning to believe in thetruth of that old saying to the effect that "troubles never comesingly."
"You may remember," Thad went on to say, "that when you asked my opinionbe fore about the boat staying where we left it, I said there was a goodchance we'd find her there in the morning if the wind didn't shift?"
"And now you mean that it's doing that very same thing, do you?" Giraffeasked.
"If you'd taken the trouble to notice all sorts of things, that you hadalways ought to as a true scout," the other told him, "you'd have foundthat out for yourself. The fact of the matter is that when we firstreached this place under the ledge the wind seemed to find a way inhere, and make the fire flare at times. Look at it now, and you'll seethat it's as steady as anything; yet you can hear the rush of the windthrough the treetops just the same. It's turned around as much astwenty degrees, I should say."
"And that's bad for the boat, ain't it?" Bumpus wanted to know.
"I'm afraid so," the scout-master replied; "because it will get the fullforce of both wind and heavy seas. Long before morning it will mostlikely be carried out into deep water, and disappear from sight. Ithink we've seen the last of the Chippeway Belle, boys."
"But, Thad," observed Giraffe, "how about that anchor rope? You know wecarried it ashore, and fastened it to a rock. Would that break, now?It was a dandy rope, and nearly new."
"Well," said Thad, decisively, "once the seas begin to pound against theboat, with every wave the strain on that rope is bound to be justterrific. It might hold for a time; but mark my words, the constantchafing against the rock, where you fastened the end, will wear thestrands until they snap; and then good-bye to our boat."
"Then we had better make up our minds to facing that fact, and not feelvery much disappointed if in the morning we can't see a sign of theBelle," Allan went on to give, as his opinion; for he accepted, thetheory advanced by the scout-master as though there could be noreasonable doubt about its being a positive fad.
"What if them fellows took a notion to step in on us to-night, and makeus all prisoners of war?" queried Bumpus; for this possibility had beenworking overtime in his brain, and he was only waiting for a break inthe conversation to advance it.
"Just what I was going to speak about," Giraffe up and said, somewhatexcitedly. "You all sat down on me when I happened to remark aboutgetting a pair of the birds with the gun. I move that we ask Thad totake charge of the firearm, and the rest can load up with whatsoeverthey can find," and leaning over, he deliberately appropriated the camphatchet before Step Hen, whose eye had immediately started to look forthe same, could fasten, upon it.
"Me too, I second the motion!" exclaimed Davy, in turn making a dive forthe long and dangerous looking bread knife, which had proved so handyfor many services while on the trip, and was being constantly lost andfound again.
"But where do I come in?" asked Bumpus, as he saw the favorite weaponsof offense and defense taken possession of so rapidly.
"A club will do for you, and Step Hen as well," remarked Giraffe,complacently; "for when a fellow has appropriated the best there is, hecan afford to smile at his less fortunate comrades, and assume asuperior air.
"Oh! well, I'd just as soon arm myself that way," the fat scout toldthem, as he set about finding something that would answer the purposefrom amidst the firewood they had carried under the ledge to keep itfrom getting wet. "I'm a peaceful fellow, as you all know, and thinkthere's nothing like a good hickory or oak club to convince other peoplethat you've got rights you want them to respect. I've practicedswinging Indian clubs by the hour; and when it comes to giving a righthard smack, count me in. That's going to hurt, without injury to bodyor limb."
At another and less exciting time Giraffe would have surely insistedupon Bumpus explaining the difference, between these two sources ofinjury; but just then he had too much else to bother his head about tostart an argument.
"Now, let's see any three men tackle this crowd, that's what!" he wenton to remark, as he swept his eye proudly over the motley array ofweapons; for even Allan had armed himself, having a stout stick, withwhich he doubtless felt able to render a good account of himself in atussle.
"But let's remember," warned Thad, "that we don't want to let ourselvesbe drawn into a battle with these poachers, unless it's the last resort.They're ignorant men, and just now they must feel pretty desperate,thinking that we're going to break up a profitable game they've beenplaying for a long time, carrying their fish to some American marketagainst the laws of Canada, and perhaps smuggling their cargo in, ifthere's any duty on fish, which I don't know about."
"If only you could get a bare chance to talk with one of the lot, Thad,"Allan spoke up, "I'm pretty sure you'd be able to let them know thetruth; and in that way we'd perhaps make friends of them. They mighttake our solemn promise that we never would give them away, and land ussomewhere ashore, so we could make our way to either Duluth, or someother place to the north here."
"I'm hoping to get just such an opening, if we can hold the fort tillmorning; and they haven't skipped out by then," Thad told him; whichproved that he had planned far ahead of anything that had as yet beenproposed.
"And meanwhile try to be thinking up any French words you ever heard,"suggested Bumpus, artfully. "Who knows what use the same'd be to you ina tight hole. How'd parley vous Francais sound, now? I've heard ourdancing-master in Cranford use that more'n a few times, though I own upI don't know from Adam what she means. But it might make a fellow cometo a standstill if he was agoing to run you through, and you suddenlyshot it at him."
"Thank you, Bumpus, I'll remember that, though I think it means 'do youspeak French?' And what if he took me up, and became excited because Icouldn't understand anything he said, you see it wouldn't help much,"the scout-master told him.
"But say, what are we meaning to do about standing guard; because Ireckon now we've got to watch out, and not let them fellows gobble us upwhile we're sleeping like the babes in the wood?" Step Hen asked.
"Oh! that can be fixed easy enough, if we all have to stay awake throughthe whole night. Wouldn't that be the best plan, Thad?"
It was Bumpus who put this important question, but none of them weredeceived in the least by this apparent warlike aspect on the part of thefat scout.
Bumpus could play a clever game when he became fully aroused; but ifThad guessed what his true reason might be for asking such a question,he did not choose to betray the fact, knowing that it would cause thefat scout more or less confusion.
"Yes, it might be as well for all of us to try and stay awake!" hedeclared. "As you
seem to have settled it that the gun falls to myshare, why, I'll make up my mind not to close an eye the whole livelongnight; and if the rest choose to sit up with me and help watch, the morethe merrier."
"I will, for one," said Giraffe, stoutly.
"You can count on me to make the try," added Davy.
"Ditto here," Allan went on to say.
"Oh! I'm willing enough," Bumpus observed hastily, seeing that severalof his comrades were waiting for him to speak; "but I hope that everytime anybody just sees me abobbing my head he'll stick a pin in me; onlyplease don't jab it too deep, or you'll make me howl."
"As for me," Step Hen added, "I don't feel a whit sleepy right now; andmy eyes are as starey as a cat's, or Jim's over yonder," pointing towhere he had managed to fasten the captive owl, which he had persistedin carrying ashore, despite the fact that he had about all the burdenany boy would care to carry when compelled to wade through water almostup to his neck.
"Well, listen here, then," remarked Giraffe, mysteriously, "I've beenthinking up a scheme that looks good to me, and I want to know how therest of you stand when it comes to trying it out."
"Go on and tell us what it is, Giraffe!" exclaimed Bumpus, eagerly.
"Yes, if you have thought up anything worth while, we'd be mighty gladto hear about the same," added Allan.
The tall scout looked cautiously about him, and lowering his voice wenton:
"Why, I'll tell you, fellows, what I thought. Now, about that boatbelonging to these here poachers, what's to hinder us from coollyappropriating the same, and starting out to look for the mainlandourselves? Then, you see, it'll be that bunch that's left behind to bemarooners on old Sturgeon Island; and when we get to town why, we canlet the authorities know all about what they're adoing out here, sothey'll come and arrest the whole kit. Now, what d'ye say about thatfor an idea, hey?"