CHAPTER XXIII.
FIGURING IT OUT.
"That's what he said to you, did he, Davy?" asked the scout-master; andperhaps unconsciously his voice was lowered a little when he spoke, asthough he felt that peril lurked close by.
"Yes, when we were sitting close together by the fire, and he wasdrinkin' his cup of coffee," the other replied, also in hushed tones;while Smithy hovered as near as he could get to them, his face filledwith apprehension.
"And he told you he wanted to meet up with the man who had a patch onthe sole of his shoe, did he?" Thad continued, thoughtfully.
"Just what he did," Davy answered, cheerfully. "I remember thinkin' thatit was a mighty funny way to describe a feller, by telling how one ofhis shoes had been mended in that way. But, Thad, you know Bob didn'tfinish tellin' me about this track over here on the old island. If hehad, I'd sure remembered; and then I c'd have spoken about it to you."
"I'm sorry now it didn't happen that way," remarked the scout-master,"it might have made some difference in my plans, you see, boys."
"You mean you wouldn't a come here, is that it?" demanded Davy; "thenI'm glad you didn't know about it; because this just suits me. Whew!don't it make a feller have just the nicest cold creepy feelin' run upand down his back, though? I wouldn't have lost the chance foranything."
Thad was compelled to smile at the odd way the other had of expressinghis pleasure in the thrill that passed over him, as he contemplated thepossibility of meeting with new adventures.
"Oh! no, I didn't mean that," he replied; "but I'd have asked you a lotof questions before coming, and perhaps we'd have been better posted.Then again, I might have brought a couple more scouts along, so we couldfeel stronger, in case--" and he suddenly paused, with his head cockedon one side as though listening.
"In case, what?" pursued Davy, who wanted to know everything.
"I thought I heard a voice somewhere, but it might have been a bird inthe bushes," Thad continued, in a relieved tone. "Why, I was only goingto say in case we had any trouble with these men. But they may not behere at all now. I've got an idea they own another boat, in which theycould have slipped away last night while it was so dark."
"Then what's the use of our hunting all over the place as we're doing?"asked Davy, fanning himself with his hat; for the day was turning outwarm, and it began to seem like tiresome work, and all for nothing,too.
"In the first place," went on Thad, with that steady glow in his grayeyes that bespoke determination; "I want to see if there really is ahidden shack or a cave here, where they could be hiding out. Then I'dlike to learn if they're poachers, snaring the wild game, or the bass uphere, and getting it to market on the sly; or some tramps who have beenbreaking into a store or a bank and are hiding from the constables."
"A bully good place to hide, all right," remarked Davy, as he glancedaround at the wild character of their surroundings, and heaved anothersigh in contemplation of further scrambling over those sharp-pointedrocks.
"But Thad," put in Smithy, who had been listening all this time withoutsaying a single word, "have you changed your mind about what thesestrange men may be, since you heard what Davy said about that man at ourcamp-fire?"
"Well, yes, I am beginning to, right fast," answered the other, frankly.
"You don't think he was as bad as they are, and meant to join them, doyou?" continued Smithy, taking an unexpected interest in the matter; forhe had observed the party in question closely, as Thad knew, and formedrather a good opinion of him, somehow.
"No, I don't," replied the scout-master, decisively. "If you asked mepoint-blank what my opinion was, I'd say that he might be a game wardenplaying a part, or else an officer of the law, looking for yeggmen whohave done something that they knew would send them to prison if caught!"
"Whew! just keep right along talking that way, Thad," muttered Davy. "Itsure does give me the nicest feeling ever to hear you. Yeggmen now isit, and not just poor game poachers? That's going some, I take it. Say,perhaps they've been and broke into a rich man's place over inFaversham. I happen to know that quite a few city people own cottagesthere for summer use."
"Have you ever been in Faversham, Davy?" asked Thad, suddenly.
"Well, no, I must say I haven't; but I've heard some about it from a boywho visited Sim Eckles, and who used to live there. It's a big place,Thad."
"Oh! size has nothing to do with this matter," remarked the other. "Iwas just wondering whether you might not have heard that name before."
"You mean Malcolm Hotchkiss, don't you?" asked the other, eagerly.
"Yes, the name he mentioned to you, when he spoke about the markedshoe?" the patrol leader went on to say.
"Hold on!" Davy exclaimed, hoarsely; "now, that's queer; I never oncebothered my head to think about it till you asked. Sure I've heard thename before. The boy over at Sim Eckles' mentioned it more'n once."
"Who is he, then, Davy?"
"Why, Malcolm Hotchkiss, he's just the Chief of Police over atFaversham, that's what, Thad," replied the other scout, almostbreathless in his renewed excitement.
"Oh; is that so?" remarked Thad. "Well, how does it strike you now,Davy?"
"Looks bad for these here men, that's what," came the reply.
"You mean they must be worse than game poachers; is that it?" continuedThad.
"I just reckon they are, Thad. Game wardens are hired by the State; andseems to me it don't interest the common police if a man chooses to takea few deer out of season, or net black bass against the law."
"Sounds like good logic, Davy," Thad continued; "and anybody could seethat you're all fixed to follow in the footsteps of your father, whenyou get through law school. That settles it, in my mind. After this Idon't expect to run across any nets in the lake, or snares forpartridges in the woods around here."
"You mean there might be something stronger than that to be found, ifonly we could run up against the place they use for a hideout; is thatit, Thad?"
"I certainly do; but I wish you could tell me one thing," the otherremarked.
"Try me and see," grinned Davy. "I'm loaded with information, like a gunis, to the muzzle; and all you have to do is to pull the trigger."
"Try and remember if that boy said anything about this MalcolmHotchkiss that would describe him--was he tall or short; did he wear abeard or had he a smooth face; were his eyes blue or black?"
Davy screwed up his eyebrows as though he might be cudgeling his brainto remember. Then he grinned again, showing that the result had at leastbeen satisfactory from his point of view.
"I caught on to it, Thad," he declared with the air of a victor.
"Well, what do you think about it now, Davy?"
"Not the same man. You remember our visitor was a tall feller, don'tyou? Well, I heard that boy say how they played a trick on Malcolm, andthey was only able to do it because he happened to be a small man, withwhite hands, and looked kinder like a woman dressed up in policeuniform. But then he's smart as chain lightnin', he said at the sametime."
"Well, that proves one thing. Our visitor couldn't have been theFaversham Head of Police. Perhaps they're in the game together, and hewanted you to send word that way, knowing that Hotchkiss would be ableto reach him," Thad concluded.
"Looks like you'd got it all figgered out right, Thad," admitted Davy,in open admiration for the genius of his chum. "And if that's the truth,I reckon it must be a pretty big game that has made this here fellertake all the trouble to hire that bear man to go 'round the country withhim, just so he could ask questions, and nobody think he was anythingbut a common tramp."
"I don't just understand what sort of officer would be doing that," Thadcandidly admitted. "Now, if these men were what Bob White tells us theyhave down in his country, moonshiners, I could understand it. But we'verested enough now; let's go on to the boat. Perhaps after all, we mightdecide to leave the island to look after itself from now on."
"I'd sure be sorry to hear you say that, Thad," remarked Davy, his faces
howing keen disappointment.
"After all, it's really none of our business," continued Thad; "and nowthat you know the man he is looking for everywhere is somewhere aroundhere, perhaps it'd be best for you to start over to some place wherethey have a telephone, and call up Mr. Malcolm Hotchkiss at Faversham."
"Huh! reckon I c'd surprise him a little now," chuckled Davy, falling inbehind the leader, as they continued on down toward the spot where theboat had been left some time before.
"We've done all that could be expected of a patrol of Boy Scouts, underthe circumstances," said Thad firmly; "and the rest had better be leftto men who are used to such things. Listen to that wind blow, boys? Ihope a storm doesn't come up before we get back to camp again. Careful,Davy, don't be in such a hurry; we're nearly at the beach, and ourboat."
"That's just it," remarked the Jones boy; "I had a look in at that samebeach under the branches of the trees, Thad; and believe me, I didn'tsee a sign of any boat!"
"What's that?" demanded the scout-master, quickly, a sense of gatheringclouds beginning to oppress him; for it would indeed be a serious matterif they were actually taken prisoners by these unknown parties of theisland, whom they now believed to be worse even than game poachers.
"Look for yourself, Thad; for here you can see the beach end to end,"Davy went on; and the others stared as though hardly able to believetheir eyes; for it was just as Davy said; there was the little sandystretch, without a doubt, where they had left their canoe; but from endto end it was vacant!
Again had the boat vanished while they were away; and this time it wasutterly impossible that it could have gone without the agency of humanhands, for they had pulled it high up out of the water!