CHAPTER V.
EXPLORING THE ISLAND.
There was little time wasted in getting outside the two tents; almostbefore the last of the excited Bandy-legs' complaint had sounded, fiveshivering boys made their appearance alongside the fire, clad only intheir pajamas.
Max had his gun in his hands. He may have carried it out more as aprecaution, or to keep the impulsive Steve from dodging in after it,than from any great expectation of finding a use for the weapon. Andthen again, its appearance would go far toward reassuring poorBandy-legs that the fear of the unknown beast returning to drag him awaywas reduced to a minimum.
Steve immediately made a pounce for the fire. Max thought he meant toknock it together, and perhaps induce it to flare up, so as to give themmore light; but it seemed that the other was only after a smoldering bitof wood, which he swung around his head until it burst into a flame.
"Now, let it try and attack us, that's all!" cried Steve, as thoughquite ready to use his novel weapon after the manner of a baseball club,should a vicious bobcat emerge from the dark circle around them, andattempt any "funny business," as Steve called it.
It was thoughtful Owen who stooped down, and threw a little inflammablefuel on the remains of the camp fire, so that when it blazed up, whichimmediately happened, there was no longer darkness near the spot, asthey could see far into the jungle that lay on the side away from thewater.
"Now, what happened?" asked Max, turning on Bandy-legs for anexplanation.
"Why, here's the way it was, fellers," replied that worthy, bent onsquaring himself with his chums; "I was dreamin' of bein' home, when theold tomcat got a sudden notion that I'd been and stepped on his tail.Gee; he turned on me like a flash, and grabbed me by the leg. Seemedlike he was changed into a big striped tiger, then and there, for hestarted to drag me away, like he meant to eat me up. I got hold of theleg of the table, and held on like all get-out. That's when I waked up,and found that I was bein' yanked out of my blanket by some critter thatdid have hold of my left ankle. And it was Steve and not the table legI'd been hangin' on to like grim death."
"I should say you had," muttered the one mentioned, who was now rubbinghis arm where Bandy-legs had pinched it, "and if you left a piece ofskin as big as a fifty-cent piece below my elbow, I'll be glad, believeme. Bet you I'll be black and blue for a week of Sundays. You sure didgive me the worst scare I ever had, with that whoop right in my ear, andthen grabbin' me like a bear might."
"And l-l-listen to him, w-w-would you," remarked Toby, "he s-s-says hewas d-d-dreaming, fellers!"
"After this I vote that we tie Bandy-legs up, head and heels, with therope we brought along," ventured the aggrieved Steve, pulling up thesleeve of his pajamas to see what the damage might really be. "If he'sgoing to dream about cats going mad, and bust our nice sleep all toflinders in this way, why give him that small tent to himself. Blessedif I want him for a tentmate again."
"But, Steve, I tell you it wasn't a dream after all; only I justhappened to get things mixed, you see. Somethin' did grab me by the leg,and try to pull me out of the tent! If I'd been scared so I couldn'tkick and yell, why chances are you'd be short one camp-mate right now,that's all."
"Shucks!" grumbled Steve, hard to convince, "talk is cheap; prove it,Bandy-legs!"
"I will, then!"
With that the other dropped down on the ground and started to roll upthe left leg of his loose pajamas. He did so with a certain amount ofconfidence, as though he felt positive that he would be able to displaysuch evidence, that even skeptical Steve might not dispute.
"Now, how about that?" demanded Bandy legs? triumphantly.
All of them lowered their heads to look. And a variety of exclamationsattested to the fact that apparently Bandy-legs had carried his point.
"Scratches, as sure as anything!" commented Owen, seriously.
"Fresh done, too, ain't they?" demanded the victim, energetically,determined to clinch matters beyond all chance for dispute, while aboutit.
"That's right, they are," Max chimed in with.
"P'r'aps if you looked sharp now, one could see where claws had raked methrough the leg of my pajamas," suggested Bandy-legs, satisfied to havecleared himself of the charge of having aroused his campmates simplybecause he happened to be visited with a bad dream.
"Well, I can't just say that's clear," Max continued, "but it looks likesomething had had hold of you by the ankle, just like you say,Bandy-legs."
"And just add to that, it was pullin' me along in a big hurry, Max. Say,didn't I tell you that if there was anybody goin' to be eat up by cats,it'd be me?" wailed the victim of the night assault.
"That's all right, Bandy-legs," said Steve, in a tone meant to becheering; "you know we've got a good rope along, and if you only chooseto take the trouble to tie yourself to the tent pole every night,nothin' can't run away with you."
Max had to laugh at the idea; and somehow that seemed to rather makethings look a bit more cheerful. He made Bandy-legs show him just wherehe had been lying, and as it was between the other pair, it certainlyseemed singular why any intruder should have picked the short-legged boyout for attention.
After Max had gone down on all fours, holding the lantern, which Owenhad lighted, and seemed to be trying to discover the trace of feet, heshook his head.
"Perhaps there might have been tracks," he remarked, "but we've movedabout so much since, that they've just been covered up."
"Tracks of what, the catamount?" asked Bandy-legs, anxiously.
"Perhaps human tracks!" Max went on.
"There! I expected something like that!" burst out Steve. "If there wasanything around here that gripped hold of Bandy-legs, and tried to yankhim out of the tent, I'd be willing to wager a heap that it could belaid at the door of them measly critters, Ted Shafter and his gang!"
The others hardly knew what to think. But at any rate the fact that Maxhad ventured to propose such a solution to the strange mystery of thenight assault seemed to give the victim more or less comfort. He couldstand being made an object of attack on the part of prank-loving boys,but the very thought of having been seized by a hungry man-eatingpanther gave him a cold chill.
"Say, do we crawl back in our nice blankets, and try to get some moresleep?" asked Steve, who was shivering; because the air seemed cold,after being so rudely aroused, and made to leave a warm nest.
"Couldn't we just stick it out around the fire?" asked Bandy-legs, whodoubtless had conceived a notion that he would feel ever so much saferif awake, and dressed, than lying there helpless, and at the mercy ofevery beast that chose to creep into the camp.
"I was just going to propose that, boys," remarked Max; "because, yousee, it's just about peep of day," and he pointed to the east as hespoke, where, upon looking, the others could see a faint seam of lightclose down near the horizon, which they knew indicated the coming of thesun.
"Well, I declare, the whole night's gone!" declared the surprised Steve.
"Oh! ain't I glad!" breathed Bandy-legs, crawling into the tent to getsome of his ordinary garments, such as he was accustomed to wear when onan outing.
The others followed suit, and it was not long before the camp began toassume a busy appearance, with all of the boys bustling about.
"One night gone, anyhow," remarked Max, as he and Owen startedpreparation for breakfast, all of them owning up to being hungry for theham and eggs they had decided to enjoy for the first morning meal incamp.
Then, as daylight had fully come, Max seemed to conceive a suddennotion.
"Get one of the others to help you with this, Owen," he remarked. "I'llbe back in half an hour, or less."
Although wondering what he had in mind, Owen, being a boy of few wordsas a rule, did not attempt to question his cousin. He saw him go down towhere the canoes lay up on the beach, and launching one of the smallercanvas ones, paddle off. And as he saw Max move along close to the shoreof the island, now beginning to be bathed in the first rays of therising sun, Owen smiled, as though he
had guessed the other's mission.
Later on, just as the call to breakfast was given, Max returned, anddrew the little canoe up on the beach where the others lay.
"What luck?" asked his cousin, as Max sat down and started to pourhimself a tin cup of coffee, his platter having been already filled withfried ham and eggs that sent up a most tempting odor.
The others lifted their heads to listen, and even stopped eating, hungryas they were, to learn what it was Max had been investigating.
"Nothing doing," replied the returned paddler, with a smile. "I wentcompletely around the island, and examined the shore the best way Icould, for signs of some boat, or to see where one had landed lastnight, but I didn't get a glimpse of anything. If they did come off themainland, they knew how to get ashore without leaving any signs behind,that's all."
"But, Max, I didn't know that Ted Shafter was such a good woodsman asall that!" objected Owen.
"No more he isn't," replied the other, as he lowered his cup, aftertaking one good drink of the hot contents, that tasted better thananything he ever got at home, where they had thick cream, and delicatechina to drink from. "And that's one reason why I'm puzzled to believeit could have been them."
Bandy-legs looked worried again.
Once more his hopes were shattered because, if it turned out theintruder had been an animal after all, what about those six other nightshe would have to pass in that tent, with the unfeeling Steve and theheavy-sleeping Owen?
"Well, what are we going to do about it?" demanded the last-named boy.
"I'll tell you," replied Max, in a matter-of-fact tone; "we've got thewhole day ahead of us, to prowl around, and see what the blessed oldisland looks like. And perhaps we might find out a few things beforedark comes on again. As I said a while ago, one night's gone. I hope nownone of you want to throw up the sponge, and go back home, to let Herband his crowd crow over us?"
"Not me!" shouted Steve, like a flash.
"And I'm willing to stick it out!" added Owen, firmly.
"M-m-me t-t-too!" put in Toby, who was munching some cold biscuits theyhad fetched along, and of which he was especially fond.
All of them looked at Bandy-legs, and he could not deny the appeal hesaw in the faces of his chums. It made considerable difference, too, nowthat the bright daylight surrounded them; for even a timid boy can feelbrave between sunrise and sunset.
"I'm willing to hold on, if the rest do," he declared, "though it'spretty tough if I'm goin' to be the only one that's in danger of bein'chawed up by savage tomcats that roam about here. But, Max, if we gonosing around to-day, I want to keep close to you, and that bully littlegun of yours, understand. Them's my conditions for agreein' to standpat, and stay here on this haunted island."
"Rats!" scoffed the unbelieving Steve; "haunted, your eye! You mark mywords, it'll all turn out just as common as anything, when we once getthe hang of things. Ain't it always that way, Max? Didn't it look easyto the old fellers over at the court of Ferdinand and Isabella, whenColumbus, he stood an egg on end by just breaking it a little?"
"That's what it did, Steve; and I'm glad to see how you take it,"replied Max.
But when a little later they did start out to look around a little,being more than curious, Bandy-legs was allowed to do as he suggested,and keep close company with Max and the twelve-bore gun. He carried inhis hand a ferocious-looking fish spear, which he had mounted on a poleabout ten feet long. Owen had the hatchet; Toby the long-bladed knifewhich they used to cut bread and ham with; while Steve patted his pocketin a significant way, as though he carried something there, up to now hehad overlooked, but which seemed to give considerable confidence.
In this manner, then, the five boys sallied out to investigate theirsurroundings, and see what the island with the bad name contained. Ifthey happened to run against some wild-cat, or other savage animal, theywanted to be in shape to put up a good stiff fight.
Max had to laugh when he saw his chums lined up, armed in this fashion.
"I just pity the poor thing that tries to give this crowd trouble," heremarked; "to look at the lot of weapons we carry, you'd think weexpected to have a battle for the possession of Catamount Island insteadof starting out on a peaceful little exploring expedition."
"All the same, the handling of such things makes a fellow feel better,"declared Bandy-legs.
"It may you," burst out Steve, who had been dodging that fish spearright and left for some time, "but if you keep on trying to poke thatblooming four-pronged stabber into my eyes, like you've been doing, itwon't be much fun for the rest of us. Show him how to carry the thing,Max, if he must take it along."
This being amicably arranged, with Bandy-legs holding the spear part infront of him, so that he might make use of it in an emergency as alance, they started out. Somehow, no one seemed to consider thepossibility of their camp being invaded during their absence. Theeatables had been hung up, so that hungry wild-cats might not run awaywith them should they take a notion to visit the place while the fiveboys were away; but no one thought of one of their own species comingaround.
It was indeed hard work making their way through the dense growth thatcovered the main part of Catamount Island. Max saw that as the place hadbeen let alone by mankind, Nature had kept on increasing the wild tangleof vines, bushes and saplings that filled the spaces between the largertrees. In some places the branches were so very dense overhead that itseemed gloomy and even "spooky," as Bandy-legs took pains to inform hiscompanions.
Birds they saw many times, and often the whirr of wings announced thesudden flight of a partridge. Squirrels abounded, and even a raccoon wassighted, while Max declared that he felt sure he had a glimpse of thered brush of a vanishing fox that had been disturbed in his day nap bytheir approach.
Still, all these were such things as they had expected to meet with.What pleased Max most of all was the fact that outside of a few harmlesssmall snakes the island seemed to hardly deserve the terribly bad nameit had gained as a breeding spot for venomous reptiles, and whichreputation it was that had always kept local hunters from visiting itsshores in the season.
The little party was pushing through the thickest part of the jungle,where they had great difficulty in making progress at all, and oftentripped over roots, or found themselves twisted up in vines that hungdown from the trees, when Max, who led the van, turned and made a motionwith his hand that the others new signified he had discovered somethingto which he wished to call their attention.
And so, filled with eager curiosity, they craned their necks forward inthe endeavor to learn just what it was that had apparently aroused theinterest of Max so abruptly.