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THE LAUNCH BOYS SERIES
The Launch Boys' Cruise In the Deerfoot
BY EDWARD S. ELLIS
Author of "The Flying Boys Series," "Deerfoot Series," etc., etc.
ILLUSTRATED BY BURTON DONNEL HUGHES
THE JOHN C. WINSTON COMPANY PHILADELPHIA
Copyright, 1912, by THE JOHN C. WINSTON COMPANY PRINTED IN U. S. A.
THE BIG SHIP WAS STILL COMING TOWARD HIM]
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. BETWEEN TWO FIRES 9
II. LIVELY TIMES 19
III. MIKE MURPHY 29
IV. A LOAN TO CAPTAIN LANDON 39
V. A MOTOR BOAT 50
VI. CAPTAIN AND CREW 58
VII. ONE AUGUST DAY 69
VIII. A PASSING GLIMPSE 81
IX. NO MAN'S LAND 92
X. THE LURE OF GOLD 104
XI. A MISSING MOTOR BOAT 114
XII. IN THE TELEGRAPH OFFICE 125
XIII. A SLIGHT MISTAKE 136
XIV. A FRIEND IN NEED 145
XV. A GLIMPSE OF SOMETHING 156
XVI. ON BARTER ISLAND 166
XVII. THE MAN IN GRAY 176
XVIII. AT THE INLET 186
XIX. NOT NEAR EITHER BANK 196
XX. A DISAPPOINTMENT 206
XXI. A TELEGRAM 216
XXII. FOUND 226
XXIII. CAPTAIN AND MATE 236
XXIV. "THIS IS WHERE I STOP" 247
XXV. GOOD NEWS 257
XXVI. DISQUIETING NEWS 267
XXVII. AN ALARMING FACT 277
XXVIII. THE CRY ACROSS THE WATERS 287
XXIX. MAROONED 296
XXX. A NEW ENGLAND HOME COMING 308
XXXI. THE MAN IN GRAY 319
The Launch Boys' Cruise in the Deerfoot
CHAPTER I
BETWEEN TWO FIRES
I once heard the bravest officer I ever knew declare that the height ofabsurdity was for a person to boast that he did not know the meaning offear. "Such a man is either a fool or the truth is not in him," was theterse expression of the gallant soldier.
Now it would have been hard to find a more courageous youth than AlvinLandon, who had just entered his seventeenth year, and yet he admitsthat on a certain soft moonlit night in summer he felt decidedly"creepy," and I believe you and I would have felt the same in hissituation. He was walking homeward and had come to a stretch of pineforest that was no more than an eighth of a mile in length. The road wasso direct that when you entered the wood you could see the opening atthe farther side, where you came again upon meadows and cultivatedfields. The highway was so broad that only a portion of it was shadedand there was no excuse for one losing his way even when the moon andstars failed to give light. All you had to do was to "keep in the middleof the road" and plod straight on.
But when the orb of night rode high in the sky and the course was markedas plainly as at midday, there was always the deep gloom on the rightand left, into which the keenest eye could not penetrate. A boy'simagination was apt to people the obscurity with frightful creaturescrouching and waiting for a chance to pounce upon him.
Alvin was a student in a preparatory school on the Hudson, where he wasmaking ready for his admission to the United States Military Academy atWest Point. The appointment had been guaranteed his father, a wealthycapitalist, by one of the Congressmen of his district, but nearly twoyears had to pass before the lad would be old enough to become a cadet,and pass the rigid mental and physical examination required of every oneenrolled in the most admirable military institution in the world.
On this mild August night he was going home from the little cove wherehis motor boat nestled under the shed built for its protection. His chumChester Haynes, about his own age, lived within a hundred yards of theshelter of the craft, so that it was always under his eye, when notdashing up the Kennebec or some of its tributaries, or cruising over thebroad waters of Casco Bay. On their return from an all-day excursion,they reached Chester's home so late that Alvin stayed to supper. It wasdark when he set out for his own home, a good half mile north, the lastpart of the walk leading through the odorous pines of which I have mademention.
The lad had no weapon, for he needed none. His father was opposed tothe too free use of firearms by boys and insisted that when a lad foundit necessary to carry a pistol for protection it was time for him tostay within doors where no one could harm him.
The youth was impatient because of a certain nervousness which came tohim when he stepped into the pulseless gloom and saw far ahead the broadsilvery door opening into the open country beyond.
"About all the Indians in this part of the world," he mused, yielding toa whimsical fancy, "are at Oldtown; the others are making baskets, bowsand arrows, moccasins and trinkets to sell to summer visitors. Thereused to be bears and panthers and wolves and deer in Maine, but most ofthem are in the upper part. I shouldn't dare to shoot a buck or moose ifhe came plunging at me with antlers lowered, for it is the close seasonand a fellow can't satisfy the wardens by saying he had to shoot inself-defence. As for other kinds of wild animals, there's no use ofthinking of them.
"I should be ashamed to let Chester know I felt creepy to-night, when Ihave been through these woods so often without a thought of anythingwrong. But it does seem to me that some sort of mischief is brooding inthe air----"
"_Tu-whit-tu-whoo-oo!_"
Alvin must have leaped a foot from the ground. He was sure he felt hiscap rise several inches above his crown, with still an upward tendency.Then he softly laughed.
"Only a screech owl, but that hoot when you are not expecting it isstartling enough to make a fellow jump. It seems to me nature might havegiven that bird a more cheerful voice, say like the thrush ornightingale. Then it would be pleasant to listen to his music afterdark. I remember when I was a little codger and was coming home late onenight, near Crow's Nest, one of those things began hooting right over myhead and I didn't stop running till I tumbled through the gate. I thinkI have a little more sense now than in those days."
It did not add to his peace of mind when he glanced behind him to see ashadowy form coming toward him from the rear and keeping so close to theline of obscurity on his right that only a flitting glimpse of him wascaught. Few situations are more nerve-racking than the discovery atnight of an unknown person dogging your footsteps. He may be a friend oran enemy--more likely the latter--and you see only evil intent in hisstealthy pursuit.
But Alvin's good sense quieted his fears and he resume
d his course,still holding the middle of the road, alert and watchful.
"He can't mean any harm," he thought, "for every one in this part of thecountry is a neighbor of the others. I shall be glad to have his companyand will lag so that he will soon overtake me--hello!"
It was at this juncture that two ghost-like figures suddenly whiskedacross the road in front. They seemed to be in a hurry and acted as ifthey wished to escape observation--though why they should feel thus wasmore than Alvin could guess. It dawned upon him that he was between twofires.
"It's queer that so many strangers are abroad to-night, though they haveas much right to tramp through the country as I."
At the time of learning the rather disquieting fact, young Landon hadgone two-thirds of the way through the wood, so that the couple in frontwere near the open country. Striving to convince himself that he had nocause for misgiving, he still felt uneasy as he moved stealthilyforward. He gave no thought to the one behind, for it was easy to avoidhim. His interest centered upon the two in front, with whom he was quitesure to come in contact. They were no longer in sight, but whether theywere walking in the broad ribbon of shadow at the side of the highway,or awaiting his approach, was impossible to tell.
He stopped and listened. The one dismal hoot of the owl seemed to havesatisfied the bird, which remained silent. The straining ear failed tocatch the slightest footfall. Recalling the feathery dust upon which hewas stepping, Alvin knew that no one could hear his footfalls.
For the first time, he now left the band of illumination, moving intothe darkness on his left. There he could be invisible to every one notless than four or five paces away.
"If they don't wish me to see them, there's no reason why they shouldsee me," was the thought which impelled him. Gradually he slackened hispace until he stood still. Then with all his senses keyed to a hightension he did some hard thinking. Despite his ridicule of his ownfears, he could not shake off the suspicion that mischief was broodingover him. The two men in front and the third at the rear belonged to thesame party.
"They mean to rob me," muttered Alvin, compressing his lips.
The belief seemed reasonable, for he was worthy of the attention of oneor more yeggmen. He carried a gold watch, the gift of his father, avaluable pin in his scarf, a present from his mother, and always had agenerous amount of money with him. Many a youth in his situation wouldhave meekly surrendered his property upon the demand of a company ofcriminals against whom it was impossible to prevail, but our youngfriend was made of sterner stuff. He would not yield so long as he couldfight, and his bosom burned with righteous anger at the thought thatsuch an outrage was possible in these later days.
All the same, he was too sensible to invite a physical encounter so longas there was a good chance of avoiding it. The wisest thing to do was tostep noiselessly in among the pines at his side, pick his way for a fewrods, and then wait for the danger to pass; or he could continue tosteal forward, shaping his course so as to reach the open country, sofar to one side of the highway that no one would see him.
You will smile when I tell you why Alvin Landon did not follow thisplan.
"They may suspect what I'm doing and sneak along the edge of the wood tocatch me as I come out. Then I'll have to run for it, and I'll be hangedif I'll run from all the yeggmen in the State of Maine!"
He listened intensely, not stirring a muscle for several minutes. Oncehe fancied he heard a faint rustling a little way behind him, but itmight have been a falling leaf. At the front the silence was like thatof the tomb.
"They're waiting for me. Very well!"
Instead of keeping within the darkness, he stepped back into the middleof the road and strode forward with his usual pace. He did not carry somuch as a cane or broken limb with which to defend himself. All at oncehe began whistling that popular college air, "When I saw Sweet NellieHome." He would not admit to himself that it was because he felt theslightest fear, but somehow or other, the music seemed to take the placeof a companion. He began to suspect that it might not be so bad afterall for a frightened lad thus to cheer himself when picking his coursethrough a dark reach of woods.
"At any rate it can't tell them where I am, for all of them already knowit," was his conclusion.