"I reckon I might as well make a clean breast of it," he said in a pitiful tone. "Don"t you-uns think bad of me an" Joe though, cause we"ve been brung up different, "deed we have--."
"Look here, Batters, you needn"t tell us if you don"t want to,"
interrupted Ned sympathetically.
He had an inkling of the true state of affairs, and wished to spare the lad what was evidently a painful recital.
"No, I"d better tell," responded Batters. "It"s just this way. Bug is big brother to me and Joe, only he"s about six years older than us. You see when he was a little chap dad an" mammy lived down near Middles.e.x, an" Bug he got in bad company. When dad moved up to the Gap, Bug was toler"ble bad, an" since then he"s been gittin" worse.
"He was in Carlisle jail twict fer stealin", an" in summer he jest lives shiftless like along the creek, helpin" hisself to the farmers" stuff.
Now he da.s.sent come home no more, for dad says he won"t own him fur a son. Mammy cries heaps an" says her heart"s broke.
"You see dad an" mammy are honest, if they are poor, an" they made me an" Joe promise we"d never take nothin" what don"t belong to us. Mammy says she wants us ter grow up the right way, an" not be bad an"
wuthless like--like Bug--."
Here Batters broke down and began to cry softly. His sad little tale--alas! only too common in all walks of life!--had deeply moved his hearers, and more than one of the boys had tears in their eyes.
Ned walked over and threw his arm around the weeping lad.
"Don"t cry, Batters," he said softly. "Some day Bug will find out his mistake and begin to do better. We don"t think any the less of you and Joe on his account. Stick to your mother, and do what she says, and you"ll be sure to grow up the right kind of men."
Batters was consoled by this boyish sympathy. He wiped his eyes and looked gratefully at Ned.
"Here, take this," said Nugget, holding out a handsome pocket knife.
"It"s got four blades, and a corkscrew, and a file."
Batters looked doubtfully at the treasure. Randy had just lighted a lantern, and the rays flashed on the mother of pearl handle.
"I want you to have it," said Nugget, "my father will send me plenty more from New York."
The temptation was too much. Batters took the knife with a smile, and incoherently tried to thank the donor.
All at once the creaking of oars was heard, and a moment later Joe joined the party.
"They"ve gone," he announced. "T" other fellow got tired pickin" the salt out. Bug tole him he ought to be glad cause now he was well seasoned. Then the fellow jabbed at Bug with a knife. Missed him though."
"Well, I"m "glad the affair is over," said Ned. "We"ll be able to get some sleep now. Batters, suppose you and Joe come in our tent? There is room enough."
Batters hesitated and gave an awkward hitch to his trousers.
"I reckon you"d better not do any more sleepin" here," he said uneasily.
"Bug pulled me aside, and said I should tell you-uns to light out afore daybreak, "cause the other fellar will surely come back an" lay fur the chap what shot him. I dunno where Bug picked him up, or who he is. He looks like a tramp, with his dirty beard and wicked eyes. H"s a mighty bad man when he gits riled, Bug says. It"s a pity that chap shot him, "cause they were both running away."
"I know that," replied Ned, "and I"m awfully sorry it happened. It was a mean, contemptible trick under the circ.u.mstances. But what had we better do now?"
"Well, I reckon it would be better to pack up and start," advised Batters. "You see Bug and the other fellar have a camp about two mile down the creek. You can slide right past it in the darkness, and if you keep on fur a good ways the fellar what was shot won"t find you again.
Bug tole me they didn"t intend to go much further down the creek. You needn"t be afraid to travel by night, "cause there ain"t any bad water near here, an" the first dam is twelve mile away."
Ned was inclined to act promptly on Batters" suggestions, and It goes without saying that the others were of the same mind--especially Randy, who had conceived a mortal fear of Bug"s companion.
It was between one and two o"clock when the boys began the work of breaking camp, and as Batters and Joe rendered useful a.s.sistance, the heavily laden canoes were in the water half an hour later. The start was made in darkness and silence. Ned thanked Batters for the important service he had rendered that night, and added a few words of comfort and sympathy.
Hands were shaken all around, and hopes expressed of meeting again. Then the Jolly Rovers paddled noiselessly away in the gloom, and Batters and Joe went up the beach to their shelter of pine boughs.
CHAPTER VIII
HOW THE DAY DAWNED
It was with no pleasant sensations that the boys found themselves for the second time adrift in the darkness. Not that they had any fears of the journey that lay before them; that was a trifling matter compared to the loss of sleep and the indignity of being routed out of their snug beds through no fault of their own.
There was no open complaint, however, and for ten or fifteen minutes the silence of the night was disturbed only by the low swish of the paddles, as the four canoes moved abreast down midstream.
"This thing is getting monotonous, and I hope it won"t happen again,"
remarked Ned finally, in a very grave voice. "If you fellows had listened to me this morning we would be sound asleep this minute in some place down the creek, instead of floating here in the dark with a forced paddle of ten miles ahead of us."
"It"s hard luck, that"s a fact," muttered Clay.
"No luck about it," retorted Ned. "It"s pure recklessness, and Randy is chiefly to blame."
"No more than the rest of you," growled Randy. "I wasn"t the only one that wanted to stay."
"I don"t mean that," said Ned, "though of course the trouble began there. I refer to your foolish act a little while ago. If you hadn"t fired that salt cartridge the men would have gone quietly away, and we could have remained where we were until morning. Now you have made a bitter enemy, and if he don"t give us future annoyance it will only be through the intercession of Batters" brother--provided he has enough influence over his companion.
"I feel glad in one way that we stayed. Batters and Joe are good hearted fellows, if they _are_ rough on the outside, and it was a pleasure to become acquainted with them. I hope their brother Bug will turn over a new leaf some day, and be allowed to go home.
"But that wasn"t what I started in to talk about," resumed Ned after a brief pause. "The fact is, Randy, that you must be more careful in future. You have been to blame for every one of our sc.r.a.pes so far, and if you intend to keep this up we may as well abandon the cruise and go home. This is the second warning I"ve had to give you. The other one don"t seem to have done much good."
"I think you are getting pretty meddlesome, Ned Chapman," exclaimed Randy in a sullen tone; "when I want any advice from you I"ll ask for it."
"Don"t give way to your temper, now," returned Ned quietly, "I"m talking for the common good, and you know it in your heart."
"Ned"s right," exclaimed Clay. "This cruise has been a chapter of misadventures from the start, and every one of them lies at your door."
Randy drove his paddle into the water with furious strokes, and was soon a dozen yards ahead of his companions.
"I"ll give you fellows a chance to get out of the dumps," he called back angrily. "I hope you"ll be in a better humor when we meet again."
Then he drove the canoe forward so rapidly that the dip of the paddle was soon faint in the distance.
"Let him go," said Ned. "He can"t come to any harm, and it will give him a good chance to cool down. That"s the main trouble with Randy. Up comes his temper at the least word of rebuke, and though he knows that he is wrong, his self will and anger won"t let him admit it. I believe he will take this warning to heart though."
Clay and Nugget did not reply. The former"s conscience was a little bit uneasy, for he knew that his imprudent utterance had started Randy off in anger.
The three boys paddled on silently for a while, and then Nugget managed to ground the Imp on a concealed ledge of rocks. It required the united efforts of his companions to dislodge it, and even then it was a labor of nearly five minutes" duration. A canvas canoe must be handled very carefully when among the rocks.