THAD himself managed to retain his self-possession under these trying conditions. What he believed he had to fear most of all, was that one of his chums might give the secret away by some ill-advised remark, uttered under the spur of the moment. He knew that they must have shrunk back, appalled, when the moonshiner made such a threatening move, accompanying his fierce words. But for the life of him Thad could not tear his eyes away from the face of the man himself.
It was just as well. Phin Dady looked to Thad, as the leader of the scouts, for an answer to his demand. Had the boy shown any evidences of confusion or weakening just then, it might have confirmed the sudden ugly suspicions that had flashed into the other"s mind, and just when he was growing more or less interested in the wonderful stories he had been listening to concerning the aims and ambitions of these uniformed lads.
"There are eight of us, just as you say," Thad remarked, trying to look surprised at the change of front on the part of his caller; "but the other one, White his name is, has gone to see Reuben Sparks on business.
We expect him back inside of an hour or so. If you"d care to wait you can meet him."
His air was so candid, and his face so free from guile that the moonshiner could find no further cause for suspicion. Besides, had he not heard in the beginning that the scouts had already made the acquaintance of Reuben Sparks; who, like himself had displayed more or less interest in their aims and ambitions.
Phin Dady even began to feel a little ashamed of his sudden threatening att.i.tude. The fierce look on his thin face, that with his gleaming wolfish eyes, had made him appear so savage, gradually vanished. It gave way to a rather stupid grin; as though the man realized how silly it was of him to suspect that these half-grown boys could do injury to one who for years had defied all the forces of the United States Government.
"So, thet"s it, younker, is it?" he said; "wall, I"m right glad ye c"d "xplain ther thing right off"n the reel. Course Mister Sparks, he"s int"rested in byes, even ef he beant the father o" any hisself. An" he "vited yer pal over ter see him, did he, so"s ter tell him a heap more?"
"He was very much taken with the idea, and showed it by asking a great many questions," Thad went on; trying to keep within the lines of the truth, and yet allow the other to draw his own conclusions, to the effect that Reuben had given one of the patrol a pressing invitation to call upon him, and continue the interesting recital of the Boy Scouts"
ambitions.
"Yuh war sayin" right now, thet these hyar byes hain"t never "xpectin"
ter be sojers; an" thet they don"t kerry arms; air thet a fack?"
When the mountaineer made this remark he was looking straight toward the tree, against which rested the shotgun. Evidently he was a little in doubt concerning the truth of what the patrol leader had said; or it may have been, wise Old Phin was desirous of learning just what he and his followers would have to go up against if ever they attacked the camp of the invaders.
Thad laughed good-naturedly.
"That"s the only firearm in camp, just at present," he declared. "It belongs to me, you see. We knew there would be little or no hunting on this trip, as the season for protection in North Carolina is on. But not wanting to be without some sort of arms, it was decided to carry just one shotgun. Later on we expect to spend some time up in Maine; and then it"ll be all right for us to carry rifles for big game shooting. One of our members comes from Maine, and knows all about it up in that region."
Thad talked at length, because he saw that somehow the sound of his voice seemed to have a soothing effect on the rough mountaineer.
Evidently Phin Dady had taken more or less of a fancy to the leader of the scouts. He had known many boys in his day, and perhaps had one or two of his own; but they were like bear cubs in comparison with this frank-faced youth, with the winning smile, and a whole dictionary of words at the tip of his tongue.
By now the balance of the boys had managed to recover from their fright.
They even began to show an interest in the conversation, though not venturing to say a word unless Thad appealed directly to one of them; as he did occasionally, to corroborate something he had declared.
It was a scene they would none of them be apt to forget in a long time--this untamed old mountaineer sitting there by their camp-fire, asking questions in connection with a subject that had aroused his keenest curiosity; while they lounged around, listening, and drinking in what was said.
Would he never go? Had he then determined to wait for the return of the eighth scout? Perhaps he suspected already the ident.i.ty of Bob Quail.
This was a matter that gave Thad considerable concern, for it meant immediate trouble for their comrade; since the moonshiner might have his old-time enmity for the Quail family revived, under the impression that Bob"s coming meant danger for himself.
Once Allan arose, and stepped outside the circle of firelight. The mountaineer eyed him with just a trifle of the old suspicion apparently rising again; for Thad could see a nervous twitch to the brown hands that caressed the stock of the repeating rifle.
But if this were so, Phin Dady must have realized that he could have little or nothing to fear from one stripling of that species; for he immediately relapsed into his former careless att.i.tude.
Thad could give a pretty good guess what it was that caused Allan to walk beyond the camp toward the place from which they had earlier in the evening watched the lights appear in the home of Reuben Sparks, as well as the few more humble cabins across the little valley.
Before Bob went away he had arranged a series of flash signals, by means of which he could communicate with his comrades of the patrol. They would not have been true Boy Scouts if they had not before now learned how to wigwag with flags, or lanterns, as well as use a looking-gla.s.s in the sun in heliograph telegraphy.
And so Allan, desirous of ascertaining whether all went well with the absent chum, was now starting out, lantern in hand, to learn whether he could get in communication with Bob.
Possibly some of Phin"s followers might be in hiding close by, and witness these maneuvers with astonishment, not unmixed with suspicion.
Thad concluded that it would be best to take the bull by the horns. If he confided in Old Phin, the other was apt to discount the news when told by his men.
"You remember that I told you," he remarked, "how Boy Scouts are taught to send messages by waving flags, just as they do in real armies; and at night time by means of lighted lanterns. Well, we never lose a chance to practice; and the boy you saw go out just now arranged to talk with the one who is across the valley."
"Huh!" grunted the mountaineer; and from that Thad concluded that he had allayed any suspicions that may have arisen in his mind.
"If you"d care to see how it"s done, why, we can walk out, and watch the scout who has the lantern?" the patrol leader went on to say; though secretly hoping Old Phin might not evince enough interest to disturb himself.
Sometimes a bold move serves better than extreme caution. It seemed so in this case, at least, for the moonshiner, after making a slight move, as though to get up, appeared to think better of it, for he settled back again.
"I kin understand jest "bout how it air dun, younker," he said. "Now tell me some more "bout how yuh larn thet thar thing o" savin" a pal thet"s been nigh drownded, or else cut a artery in his leg with a ax. I reckon now, that"s "bout the neatest trick I done ever heard on."
Being brim full of the subject, which always appealed to him more than he could tell, the young patrol leader immediately launched out into a description of the matters that seemed to have deeply interested even this rough old mountaineer.
Then he went a step further, and told how the scouts entered into the most amusing, as well as profitable, compet.i.tions among themselves. He described a water boiling test, where those in compet.i.tion are given just three matches, and with an empty tin pail in hand, start at a signal to see which one can build his fire, fill his tin vessel at least two-thirds full of water, and have this actually boiling.
Perhaps that old moonshiner never spent a more interesting hour or so than by the camp-fire of the Boy Scouts; at any rate he certainly could not look back to one that must have been more profitable to him in every way.
Finally he arose as if to go; and about the same time Allan returned, with the lighted lantern in his hand.
"Did yuh git him?" asked Old Phin, with some show of eagerness.
"Yes, we held quite a little talk, and I guess he must have used up a handful of matches telling me what a pleasant time he had. Right now he"s on his way to camp, and ought to get here inside of an hour."
Allan said this as though there could not be anything to conceal. He took a leaf from the example set by Thad. The latter knew that in all probability there had been more to the wigwag talk than Allan chose to state; but he was willing to wait until a more propitious time to hear it.
Taken in all, he believed they had come through the operation of baiting Phin Dady much better than any one could have expected. The old man was interested in what he had heard; and only for the fact that he bore a deadly hatred for the family of young Bob Quail, they would have little to fear from the king of the moonshiners, whose influence among the other mountaineers was such that he could easily sway them one way or the other at will.
Thad caught a wink when he looked into the face of the Maine boy. It told him that Allan had news to tell, which Bob had sent on ahead, knowing how anxious his chums would be to hear whether he had met with any measure of success or not in his undertaking.
When Thad turned around again he found that Old Phin had slipped away, taking advantage of their attention being directed for a minute toward the scout who had just come into camp with the lantern swinging at his side.
And Thad heaved a sigh of genuine relief when he found that this was so.
CHAPTER XIV.
THE RETURN OF THE EIGHTH SCOUT.
"HE"S gone!" exclaimed b.u.mpus; and it would have been hard to tell whether relief or regret lay back of his words; for some of the boys, forgetting the peril that might hang over the head of Bob White, did the moonshiner know of his presence, and his mission to the Blue Ridge, only considered the entertainment afforded by having Old Phin at their fire.
"And I guess the old feller"s got enough information in his head to last him a long spell," remarked Giraffe.
"Say, p"raps he"s seriously considerin" starting a troop of Boy Scouts here in the Blue Ridge country," suggested Step Hen, who sometimes did have brilliant ideas flash through his brain.
There was considerable of a laugh at this proposition, which struck the boys as about as absurd as anything they had heard for a long time.
"Wonder how our real scoutmaster, Dr. Philander Hobbs"d like to take the job?" chuckled Davy Jones. "He thought he had trouble enough on his hands when he ran up against a few hard cases, like Giraffe and Step Hen here; but they"d be just pie alongside the strappin" mountain kids we"ve seen."
"Well," remarked Thad, "you never can tell what might happen. Even those boys have got something in them that can be brought out, if only one knows how to go about it. Don"t you forget, fellows, that some of the greatest men this country has ever known, were born among the mountains.