CHAPTER XIII.
THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND.
Sure enough, when the others followed the proud Bumpus through the woodsfor a little distance, and then down close to the edge of the water,they found that he had really come upon a boat in a dense thicket, whereit had evidently been hidden.
"Must a belonged to some of them game keepers that rich man hired towatch his property up here," declared Step-hen, as he examined thecraft, while they all crowded around.
"Looky here, got a bully old paddle under the seats too!" called outGiraffe, holding up the article in question, admiringly, after they hadturned the canoe over.
"Ain't this a great find, though?" declared Bob White, who wasparticularly fond of the water, and boats of all kinds.
Bumpus smote himself on the chest, and puffed out his fat cheeks, as helooked around at his comrades.
"Make fun of that wonderful investigating instinct of mine, will you,boys?" he remarked; "well, see what a feller gets for beingpersevering, and wanting to learn all the while. Now, if I'd been like,say Step-hen here, and content to lay around after eating, where'd we beabout the boat question? But I wanted to find out why a rabbit makes twomarks with its front paws and only one with the hind legs; and so Ilooked around to see if there wasn't a track where we saw that bunnyscoot away yesterday when we got here. I didn't find the tracks, but Idid run across a boat!"
"It was all right, Bumpus," said Thad; "and I'm going to congratulateyou on it. A scout can be a bit curious, and keep on the right side,too. But Allan, there's no need of our taking that long swim, now."
"And no need of both of us being away at the same time," remarked theother, who did not feel easy about leaving such careless fellows asBumpus and Giraffe behind, since there could be no telling what troublemight not follow. "Suppose you draft Bob White to do the paddling, Thad;he just dotes on that sort of thing, you know."
The eyes of the Southern boy gleamed with delight.
"I surely do the same, suh; and if so be you think to take me along onthe exploring expedition I'll be proud to accompany you. Depend on me todo the work, and glad of the chance. I just love to be in a boat, anykind of boat from a dugout to a cedar canoe. And this paddle isn't sobad, even if home-made."
Thad bent down to examine closer. Then he turned to give Allan a littlenod that brought the other quickly to his side. The two leaned overwhere they could exchange a few words without the others hearing whatwas said.
"Did you notice that the boat was turned upside-down when found?" askedThad, first of all.
"Yes, that was done to keep the rain from filling it, I reckoned,"replied the Maine boy. "They do that up my way too; because you see, ifwater stays very long in a boat it rots it. No matter what it's builtof, canvas, cedar, or birch bark, water in a boat is a bad thing."
"Some of the boys think this boat has been lying here since the gamekeepers left this part of the country; which, as I understand it, musthave been quite a few months ago?" Thad went on to say.
"Yes, that's what I heard them saying," returned the other.
"And what do you think?" asked the scout-master.
Allan knew that he was on trial. He also understood that there must besomething suspicious about the boat to make Thad speak in this way. Sohe instantly scanned it, foot by foot, from one end to the other; afterwhich his eyes sought the paddle which Giraffe was still handling.
Then he smiled.
"I'm on to what you mean, Thad," he observed. "That paddle has been inthe water not a great many hours ago, for it's still wet. Yes, andinside the boat I can see signs that point to the same thing."
"Last night, perhaps, while we were sleeping here, this boat was beingused on the lake by some person or persons," Thad continued, earnestly;while the balance of the scouts disputed among themselves as to whoshould be given the privilege of accompanying Bob White and Thad on thetrip to the island.
Thad looked a little serious.
"Kind of queer, any way you take it," he remarked. "Our camp-fire couldhave been seen easy enough by any fellow who was landing here, andhiding his boat. Then tell me why he didn't come into camp, and see whowe were? Seems to me any honest man would have been glad to do that samething."
"Say, perhaps he doesn't happen to be honest, Thad?" suggested Allan, inrather a hushed voice; for there was something a little mysterious aboutthe finding of this boat that excited his curiosity more or less, andcaused strange ideas to form in his boyish mind.
"Oh! I hardly think it could be as bad as that," Thad hastened toremark. "Just because he avoided our camp doesn't mean that he's athief, or a rascal, I take it. Perhaps he saw we were Boy Scouts; andmost men wouldn't want to bother knowing a parcel of boys in their firstcamp."
"But what could he be doing, away up here in this lonely place?" askedthe other.
"Well, of course I don't pretend to know," replied the scout-master;"but then I might give a guess. Suppose one of the men who used to behired to guard these preserves of that rich gentleman who meant to makea game park here, after the idea was given up, took a notion to comeback up here for some reason. He might be getting ready to trap animalsin the fall; or shoot deer out of season. Then again, perhaps this samelake was stocked with game fish some years ago, and a couple of smartfishermen might take out a heap of bass that would net them a lot ofmoney in the market. Sometimes they use nets too, Allan, when the gamewardens are far away."
"I know," replied the other. "It's just the same up in my country, I'msorry to say. But are you going over to take a look at that island justthe same, Thad?"
"Sure thing; and as the boat is large enough, to hold three or fourwithout crowding, perhaps I'd better pick another to go along. Step-hen,how would you like to help Bob White, Bumpus and myself look that islandover?"
Step-hen was about to give an affirmative answer, when he just happenedto remember something.
"Guess I'll have to decline the chance this time, Thad," he remarked,making a wry face. "Thought I felt the signs of one of my fits comin'on, a while back. I'd sure hate to have anything like that happen insuch a cranky little boat; 'cause it might upset, you know."
"Oh! all right, then just the three of us will go," returned Thad,carelessly.
But there was one who had heard what Step-hen said, with suspicion inhis heart. Of course this was Bumpus. He looked at the other, andcatching a sly glance cast in his direction, immediately sized up thesituation. So marching directly into the camp, Bumpus plunged into thetent to which he was assigned, appearing with his haversack in hishands. And this he deliberately hung on a nail that had been driven intoa tree, in plain sight of all who might happen to be in camp.
Everybody saw the act, and could guess what the motive was that actuatedBumpus to do this queer thing. Step-hen turned somewhat red in the face,as he felt the eyes of his comrades turned toward him.
"Huh!" he exclaimed, "think you're funny, don't you, Bumpus? Seems to meyou're mighty careful of that old bag of yours. If you had a lump ofgold in it you couldn't handle it nicer. And sometimes haversacks dohold all sorts of queer things. I've known lost knives, and medals, yes,and even _compasses_ to get in 'em. Hung it out to air, did you? Mightyafraid somebody might _happen_ to peek in it by accident when you wasgone, ain't you?"
But Bumpus never made any reply, only grinned, and looked wise, asthough he felt satisfied at having outgeneraled the cunning Step-hen,and spiked his guns.
The boat upon being launched was found to be water tight. This fact wentfar toward convincing Thad that his suspicions regarding its havingbeen recently used were based on a good foundation. Had it been lyingthere ashore for weeks, and possibly months, it would have been leaky;and required many hours' soaking before the wood swelled enough to stopthis fault.
Thad took up his position in the bow, while the heavy weight of theexpedition, Bumpus, who had been invited to go because of his discoveryof the boat, occupied the middle. Bob White, paddle in hand, shoved off;and then squatted in the stern to propel the craf
t.
They soon saw that he was indeed an adept with the paddle. Even theMaine boy, standing there on the shore, called out words of commendationwhen he saw how cleverly Bob White feathered his paddle, and seemed ableto do almost anything he wished without removing its blade from thewater.
Often when a hunter is creeping up on a feeding deer in the water, thisproves to be a valuable quality, in allowing him to get closer thanwould be possible did the water drip from the blade of the paddle everytime it was raised above the surface.
And so they headed straight for the mysterious island. Thad was turnedhalf-way around in his seat, so that he could observe the shore theywere rapidly approaching. And Bumpus, squatted there amidships like abig frog, kept his eyes fastened on the same place, with a growingfeeling of uneasiness.
He even wished now that he had not been so greedy to take part in thisexploring expedition. After all, it was much more comfortable ashore,than in a cranky boat that wobbled every time he chanced to move hisweight from one side to the other. And then again, there was somethingrather queer about that same island; the trees and bushes grew so verydense all over it, and Bumpus wondered if it might not be the home ofwildcats, or even something worse.
One or twice he imagined he could see staring eyes among the bushes, butwas ashamed to mention the fact to his chums.
The boat had arrived at a point within about eighty feet of the shorewhen there came to the ears of the three boys a sudden gurgling soundthat sent the blood leaping through their veins much faster thanordinarily might be the case. Thad turned his head to see what Bumpusand Bob White might appear to think of that thrilling sound; for it wasnot repeated; and although plainly heard, Thad could not at the timemake up his mind whether it was a husky voice calling aloud for help, orsome bird uttering its discordant scream.