CHAPTER IV
LAUNCHED ON THE INLAND SEA
Sure enough Bumpus was in plain sight, for the fire still burned, andthere was also a bright moon high up in the heavens. The fat scoutseemed to be trying to execute all the steps in a Southern hoedown, oran Irish jig; for he was prancing around this way and that, holding onto his hand, which the other boys now discovered was streaked withblood!
"Oh! what's happened to you, Bumpus?" cried Step Hen, as he ran outtoward the spot where the other continued to waltz around in his brightred and white striped pajamas, that made him look like an "animatedsawed-off barber's pole," as one of his chums had once told him.
"It bit me, oh! I'll bleed to death, I reckon now!" wailed the other;"say, Thad, get out some of that purple stuff you use for scratches fromwild animals. Mebbe blood, poisoning'll develop; and I'd just hate theworst kind to die up here, away off from my own home."
"What bit you; can't you tell us, Bumpus?" asked Thad, though already hemay have had suspicions that way.
"Jim did, the bally old owl!" came the dismal answer; "please, oh!please tell me whether his beak is poisonous, won't you, Thad?"
"Well, what d'ye think of that?" ejaculated Step Hen, "however did youhappen to meddle with my owl, tell me? Sure, I did give you permissionto unchain him, if you had the nerve; but I never did believe you'd goand take me up at that."
"I didn't neither," Bumpus declared, still dancing around.
"Here, let me see that wound!" called out Thad, as he and Allan corneredthe sufferer; "all it may need is washing, and then binding up with somehealing salve. But it makes a nasty cut, don't it, Allan?"
"I should say yes," replied the other; "but it's some lucky it wasn'this face the bird struck at. Why, Bumpus might have lost an eye."
At that possibility the fat scout set up another roar.
"Just you believe the old thing meant to snap my eye out when he bit atme; and I must have happened to put out my hand--so he struck that!" hedeclared; while Allan hastened to open a package and take out some salveand tape such as scouts should always carry along with them when incamp, because there is no telling when it may be needed badly, just asin the present instance.
"But see here, what possessed you to walk around in this way, and goover to try and pet that savage bird?" asked Thad.
"Give you my solemn affidavit that I don't know a single thing aboutit!" the other went on to say, as solemn as the owl that sat on thebranch near by.
"Do you mean you don't remember getting up, and coming out here?"continued the scout-master, who always probed things to the very dregs,or until he had extracted all the information possible.
"Not a thing," reaffirmed Bumpus, and his face showed that he wasspeaking only the truth. "I can remember laying down for a snooze, andthen everything seems to be blank after that, till all of a sudden Ifelt that awful pain, and it made me let out a whoop, I'm telling you."
"I should think it did," muttered Giraffe; "ten Injuns rolled into onecouldn't beat that howl. I sure thought the panther had got you thattime!"
"Well, likely I thought just that same thing, Giraffe, when I warbledthat way, because I remember now I was dreaming about gray-coatedpanthers. Then I thought about rattlesnakes too, because you know Ican't stand for the crawlers. Next thing I opened my eyes with a jump,and saw that old owl, with every feather on his back standing up likethe quills of a porcupine, and trying to jab me a second time."
Thad and Allan, who had now returned in time to hear this last exchangedlooks.
"A clear case of sleep walking, seems like!" ventured the former.
"Oh! my goodness gracious! I thought I was over them tricks years ago!"exclaimed Bumpus, shivering. "If they're agoing to take me again I seemy finish; because some night I'll walk off a precipice, and that'll bethe end of me."
"We'll like as not have to tie you by the leg every night, just like Jimis now; and that'll stop you prancing around loose, trying to set mypets free in your sleep," Step Hen went on to say, reassuringly; butsomehow Bumpus did not seem to take to the idea the least bit.
"You let me alone, that's all, Step Hen Bingham," he told the other,"and I'll fix my own business. That's what comes of you keeping thesilly old owl. Serve you about right if his mate dropped in and bit theend of your big toe off to pay you up for fastening that chain on thepoor thing's leg."
"Say, I like that, now; when you were the very first one to ask if wecouldn't keep that same owl!" Step Hen told him.
"Wow! that hurts some, let me tell you, fellows!" groaned the fat scout,when Allan was putting some salve, calculated to help heal the wound, onthe torn place, and then with the assistance of the scout-master startedbinding the hand up with windings of soft linen that came in a tape rolltwo inches wide.
"But let me tell you it's some chilly out here, with only pajamas on,"objected Giraffe; "and for one I'm going to skip back under my blanket,where I can snuggle down. Somebody remember to throw a little wood onthe fire, please. Let Davy do it."
Of course that really meant either the scoutmaster or Allan; and Giraffeoften had a failing for shirking some duty like this. It was so easy toexpect some other to do disagreeable things; though as a rule the boyswere accustomed to saying, "let Davy do it," until it had become sotiresome that the Jones boy had rebelled, and refused to be the errandboy any longer for the entire patrol.
In half ah hour silence again brooded over the camp. Bumpus must havedone something to make sure he did not start walking in his sleep again,for nothing occurred to disturb their slumbers until dawn came alongand, with birds singing, as well as gray squirrels barking lustily atthe intruders, awakened them all.
Breakfast was hurried, because all of them were' anxious to be on themove. They knew that by following the shore of the big water severalmiles they would come to the point where there was a village, withsomething of a landing place in a sheltered nook; and here they expectedto find their boat awaiting them.
It was about an hour after sun-up that the cheery notes of Bumpus'silver-toned bugle gave the signal for the start; and the six khaki-cladlads could be seen moving at a fairly fast pace along the shore of thelake. Step Hen had managed to bundle the captive owl in a sparesweater, so he could carry him all right without danger.
The little waves came purling up close to their feet, and seemed towelcome the strangers to their domain; but Thad knew full well thatunder different conditions these same waves would unite to threaten themwith destruction.
Step Hen having found a way to muzzle the owl, so that he could carrythe prisoner, without fear of dire attacks from that sharp beak seemedmore determined than ever to try and keep Jim; and he frowned every timehe saw Bumpus observing the bird thoughtfully, because he imagined thefat scout might be hatching up a scheme for choking the thick-neckedprisoner, in revenge for what he had suffered from its savage thrust.
Finally a loud shout was heard from Giraffe, who, being so much tallerthan the balance of the scouts, and possessed of a neck he could stretchto an alarming degree, was in a position to see much further than therest.
"The village is in sight!" he announced, whereat there was a cheer, theowl commenced to struggle afresh, and Step Hen had his hands full tryingto quiet his feathered prisoner.
With their goal now close at hand the boys were able to step out at amore lively pace, even Bumpus showing surprising gains.
About ten o'clock they arrived at the settlement where they had seensome sort of dock, at which a couple of ore barges of the whaleback typewere being loaded.
Already the eager eyes of the boys had discovered a boat that answeredthe description of the one they expected to find awaiting them.
Making straight for the place they found that they had guessed rightly.That good sized powerboat was the Chippeway Belle, the vessel which wasto be their home for the next two weeks or more, as they pleased.
An investigation revealed the fact that their stores were all aboard, aswell as their extra supplies that wen
t under the general designation of"duffel."
"Nothing else for us to do but go aboard, and make a bully start, isthere, Thad?" asked the impatient Giraffe, eager to find out how thecraft could go; for up to now the Silver Fox Patrol had generally spenttheir outings on dry land; and this idea of a cruise had come somewhatin the shape of what Thad called an "innovation."
"Nothing at all, Giraffe," replied the other, himself looking pleased atthe prospect of being about to start on such a splendid pleasure trip.
"How about paying for the use of the boat; has all that been attendedto?" asked careful Bumpus, who was not so very much of a water-doghimself, and rather viewed the prospect of getting out of sight of landon board so small a craft with anything but exultant delight; indeed, totell the honest truth, the fat scout was already secretly sorry he hadcome.
"Oh! yes," replied Thad, quickly; "Dr. Hobbs attended to all that forus; fact is, this boat is owned by a friend of his, which was how we gotit as cheap as we did. And more than that, the gentleman attended topacking all our supplies at the Soo, and sent the boat here on asteamer, so we could start from this place. It was Dr. Philander'sidea, you know, this coming through the copper region along the southshore of the Eke. And now, if you're all of the same mind, let's getstarted."
"Hurrah; hoist the Pennant of the Silver Fox Patrol that your SisterPolly made us, Giraffe, and every fellow dip his hat to the colors ofthe gay Chippeway Belle!" and in answer to this request on the part ofDavy Jones they did salute the raising of the neat little burgee thathad a silver fox fashioned in silken hand-work upon it.
Thad examined the engine carefully. He knew considerable about suchthings, and yet he fancied, he might have more or less trouble with themotive power of this Lake Superior boat; for it was of rather an ancientpattern, and had evidently seen its best days.
Between them Thad and Allan confessed this much, but they did not thinkit good policy to say anything to the others, though anxious Bumpuswatched their conference uneasily, and could be seen to carefully pickout a spot on the rail where he perched, and seemed inclined to stay--itwas handy to a quick getaway in case the worst happened, and the engineblew up, as he whispered to himself.
After he had, as he believed, mastered the rudiments of the working ofthe motor Thad told them to cast off, and they would make a start.Several men stood around to watch them get away, among them the party inwhose charge the boat had been left, and who had only delivered it upafter Thad had produced an order for the same, and paid certain expensesfor storage and watching.
"Were moving at last!" called Step Hen excitedly, as the machinerystarted to go with a rush, after Thad had cranked the engine.
Allan stood by the wheel, and as the prow of the boat gurgled throughthe clear waters of the great lake, every scout was thrilled with thevast possibilities that faced them, now that their cruise had begun.
"This means that we'll eat our first meal aboard at noon to-day,"remarked Giraffe who seemed determined that no regular feeding timemight be neglected, if he could help it.
"You ought to be a happy fellow, Giraffe," remarked Davy Jones, "aftertaking a look over the piles of grub we've got aboard. Why, do you knowthere's a whole big ham, two slabs of bacon, and all sorts of goodthings. No danger of any of us going hungry on this excursion; unlessthe old tub should happen to sink, and leave us marooned on some rockyisland."
"Oh! see here, stop joking about that sort of thing, Davy," remonstratedBumpus, shivering as though he felt a cold draught; "I know right wellthat if such a horrible thing ever did happen to us, the rest of you'dmake up your minds to begin on me the first thing."
"Well, that's the penalty you have to pay, Bum, pus, for being sotempting," chuckled Step Hen; "now, who'd ever think of picking Giraffeout for a dainty meal; why he's as skinny as an old crow."
"There are times when it pays right well to be thin," remarked the scoutheld up to derision, "and that'd be one of 'em, I reckon."
They were by now far away from the ore dock, and the barges that wereloading; indeed it was only with an effort they could see either, for ahaze had crept over the surface of the lake. The Chippeway Belle hadbeen going along at quite a fair pace, thought making more noise thanwas agreeable to either Thad or Allan, when all at once, without theleast warning there was heard a loud report. Instantly the sound of theengine ceased.
"She's broke down, and we're wrecked already!" yelled Giraffe,excitedly.
"Oh! mercy! and she may explode at any second now!" cried poor Bumpus;after which, in sheer desperation he jumped deliberately overboard,clinging to the side of the swaying craft, and in momentary expectationof hearing a fearful crash, as the gasoline tank went up.