CHAPTER VII
ON HEAVING WATERS
"Gee! Pirates! Whew!"
That was only Bumpus talking to himself; as he lay there on the deck,and stared across the swelling water toward the black powerboat that washeading the other way, so as to cross their course.
There were apparently several men in the strange boat; and as Giraffehad just remarked, they seemed to be more or less interested in theChippeway Belle and her young crew, for every one of them was lookingthat way, and one man really had a pair of marine glasses up to hiseyes.
Thad dived into the interior of what was called the "hunting cabin," andquickly reappeared bearing the glasses they had been wise enough tofetch along, as well as a compass whereby to steer.
"That's the ticket, Thad!" said Step Hen; "let 'em see they ain't theonly pebbles on the beach. We've got a marine glass, too. Now, tell uswhat you think, are they really lake buccaneers; and will we have to putup a desperate fight to keep from being robbed, and sunk, and perhapsmade slaves?"
Bumpus gasped for breath, at hearing such doleful things; but as, StepHen gave a quick glance toward the fat chum, possibly what he said wasonly meant to cause the other's flesh to quiver with dread.
"Oh! they don't seem to be altering their course in the least," spoke upAllan; "and as for them watching us, who wouldn't stare on seeing acrowd of boys afloat up here on Superior waters?"
"I was thinking that our uniforms as scouts might make them sit up andtake notice," said Giraffe. "P'raps they think we're U. S. soldiers,because the dough-boys all wear this same khaki now instead of the oldarmy blue. And in case they're real bold smugglers or pirates, thatwould give them cause for a scare. Do they look like they're ready torun away, Thad?"
"Well, not any more than would be the case if they were honestcruisers," replied the other, as he handed the glasses to Allan, who inturn would pass them around. "Seems to me one of them wears some kindof a blue cap, as though he might be an officer of some sort."
"Oh! don't count on that," spoke up Bumpus, "anybody can buy one likethat. Ain't I got one right here in my duffel bag; but I hadn't found achance to spring it on the rest of the bunch. They, may be a tough lot,even if one does wear an officer's cap."
"Well, they're going right along about their own business, and don'tseem to be changing their course a little bit," Allan said as he passedthe glasses to Giraffe.
"I'm glad to hear that," Bumpus admitted, breathing freely again."Because, as you all know, I'm very much opposed to violence at anytime; though," he continued, "I'd fight if I was hard pushed, and fightreal fierce, too."
"We all know that, Bumpus, so there's no need of you apologizing," Thadassured him, with a smile and a nod, for he was very fond of the stoutchum.
"But when you said smugglers, what did you mean, Giraffe?" questionedStep Hen.
"Oh! Don't you know that they have heaps of trouble with suchlaw-breakers all along the Canadian border?" demanded the tall boy. "Yousee, there's a heavy duty on a lot of things that can come into Canadafree, or with only a small sum to pay; and whenever men can make moneytaking chances, they're just bound to try it. Why, I understand thatmillions of dollars are lost to the Government every year just in thegoods smuggled across the border all the way from Maine to the Pacificocean."
"Whew! and yonder craft might be one of the tricky boats engaged in thatbusiness; is that what you mean, Giraffe?" asked Bumpus, again staringhard after the strange black powerboat which was larger than theChippeway Belle, and apparently much better able to meet the heavy seasthat must sweep across the lake when the wind reached a certainstrength.
"Oh! I don't say that, remember," quickly replied the other; "becauseit's only a guess on my part, and I haven't anything to show for proof.I was just giving you the benefit of a bright thought that came into mybrain, that's all. There may be something in it, and again, p'raps themfellows are just a pleasure party; or some sportsmen heading, for afavorite fishing place."
"Then if we followed 'em, we'd stand a show to find where the fish lie,"suggested Bumpus; showing that at least he had not forgotten about hisrecent wager, even in the midst of all this excitement.
"Better mind your own business, I think," remarked Allan.
"Yes," added Giraffe, "if so be they turned out to be a bad lot, they'dthink we kept poking our noses in just to arrest them; and in that casechances are we'd get our fingers burned."
"But what do you think they might be, Thad?" persisted Step Hen,noticing that the pilot of the expedition had as yet not given anyopinion on the matter.
"Oh! any one of the explanations you fellows have put up might cover thebill," Thad, went on to say. "The idea came into my mind that perhapsnow those men might be game-fish wardens."
"W-what!" gasped Bumpus; "d'ye mean to tell me they have such things ona big lake like this? Why, I thought they were only needed ashore,where ponds and rivers require looking after."
"That's where you make a big mistake," Thad informed him. "Right upamong the Great Lakes there are millions of dollars taken out in fishevery year; and if the Government didn't watch sharp plenty ofunscrupulous fishermen would use all kinds of illegal devices forgetting big hauls. They are limited to certain kinds of nets or seines;and so the precious sturgeon, and the delicious white fish that are inthese lakes will be kept from being exterminated."
"Thank you for telling us that, Thad; it's all news to me," said StepHen. "But what about the trout; I've heard there are awful big speckledtrout in Superior?"
"So there are, as high as eight pounds; and the Government hatchery atthe Soo has hundreds that large in their ponds, for breeding purposes,I've read," Thad continued, for the topic was a favorite one with him,and he was a very accommodating boy at that; "that in Michigan, forinstance, the law doesn't allow trout to be offered for sale or shipped;so while they catch some whoppers in the acts they use for white fish,they have to put most of them back."
"And then you think that p'raps those men are wardens, looking forpoachers that are breaking the law some way or other?" Giraffe asked.
"I only said that might be who they are," Thad insisted. "You noticethey have a high-powered boat that could make circles all around, ours,if they wanted to let her engine out. And it's painted black, perhapsso they can sneak up on a dark night without being seen. But as they'retwo miles away from us by now, suppose we cut out talking any more aboutthem."
From the way Thad turned his eyes upward, and looked at the gatheringclouds it was evident that he felt he had better pay attention to othermatters which threatened to cause them more or less annoyance beforelong.
The wind was certainly freshening very fast. And of necessity the wavesbegan to take on a size that made poor Bumpus stare, and look serious,as he contemplated the possibility of a wreck.
"Sure you are heading right to make that cove?" Giraffe asked theskipper who had the wheel in his charge.
The engine was plodding away steadily, though some of the boys wereworried at the quick whirr that followed the passing of each big wave,when, perhaps the propeller would be partly exposed, and the resistanceso much less that it spun around, much faster than usual.
"Yes, no doubt about it at all, and if everything goes along right westand to make our harbor before dark comes along," the other answered.
"Oh! I wish we were there already," groaned Bumpus; and when Thad lookedat the fat scout he noticed how white he was.
But then that was nothing singular, for it was certainly getting prettyrough out there on that great expanse of water, and some of the scoutswere sure to display signs of seasickness sooner or later, he knew.Perhaps poor Bumpus was fated to be the first victim.
"Well," remarked Giraffe, trying hard to appear indifferent, though hecould not wholly hide his concern every time a wave larger than ordinarywould slap against the side of the boat, and sweep along toward thestern, causing a quiver to run all through the little craft that seemedjust like a chip on that inland sea; "I reckon now, it woul
d be prettytough if we missed connections somehow, and had to keep marking time allnight long out on this old bathtub."
"Oh! Murder! I hope we don't!" muttered Bumpus, shivering.
"Stop that kind of talk, Giraffe," ordered Thad, who would rather lookon the bright side of things; "don't you see you're only botheringBumpus?"
"There's no need of feeling that we're going to have trouble; becausethe engine is working as fine as silk right now, and I feel sure I cansee where that same jolly little cove lies, away ahead there."
"You mean where that small point juts out, don't you, Thad?" askedAllan, who hovered constantly near his best churn, ready to take a handat a second's notice, should there ever arise an occasion calling forassistance.
"Yes, that shows on the Government chart I've marked, and the cove liesjust in the shelter of it. I think a little river makes into the lakethere, and if so we might pick up some fish before starting out again."
He spoke this loud enough for Bumpus to hear; but apparently that sadindividual had lost all interest in the wager he had so recently madewith Giraffe, for he did not take any notice of what Thad said, onlycontinued to look far away, and press his hand up and down in the pit ofhis stomach; and when a boy begins to realize that he has such an organat all, he must be in a pretty bad way.
Still the wind kept on increasing until it was blowing a small gale.Even the confident Thad felt a little nervous as he wondered what wouldhappen should their engine suddenly give a groan and cease to labor.The situation must be anything but pleasant, left at the mercy of thecoming storm, out there a couple of miles from the southern shore, andfurther than that away from the lovely little cove where they had hopedto pass the night in peace and safety.
The next half hour was apt to settle that matter, one way or the other;and of course Thad found no reason to despair, as yet, for the motorkept buzzing away cheerily, and the boat pushed through the rising andfalling, billows quite sturdily, as the pilot kept her pointed towardthat headland far beyond.