"You"re correct, Giraffe," replied the other; "but I hope b.u.mpus lands his prize, all right, because fresh fish would taste fine to-morrow morn."
It was a little struggle in the mind of Giraffe as to whether the sportsman spirit, or the love of good feeding would prevail; but at last he also cried out: "I hope he gets it, too, sure I do! Good for you, Giraffe!" exclaimed Thad, perhaps purposely mistaking this for a spirit of fairness that would do the tall scout credit as a true sportsman.
Meanwhile all of them watched b.u.mpus tugging at his line. The fish was full of fight, and evidently objected to furnishing a breakfast for a party of Boy Scouts off on a vacation cruise; but by sheer strength, and not a little good luck in the bargain rather than fisherman"s skill, b.u.mpus finally man aged to haul his struggling prize aboard.
"It"s a trout, as sure as pop!" exclaimed Step Hen, as they all bent over the wiggling and flapping captive, and Giraffe struck a match, the better to see its nature.
"Whee! let me tell you he pulled to beat the band too!" the proud angler vowed, as he rubbed his arms; and then bent lower to admire the spotted sides of the big trout, that probably looked prettier to b.u.mpus than anything he had ever before seen.
"He"s a jim dandy, and that"s a fact, b.u.mpus!" said Giraffe, swallowing his bitter chagrin because fortune had cheated him out of being the first in the contest to bring in such a prize; at the same time he was no doubt thinking what a tasty morsel that splendid fish would afford the lot for breakfast and wondering if there were not several of them who had confessed that they did not care for fish which would allow a larger portion to those who did.
However, all thoughts of this nature were doomed to be forgotten, because just then Davy had to go and throw a bombsh.e.l.l into the camp by remarking in a low and trembling voice:
"Thad, oh Thad! I saw a fellow poke his head up above that pile of rocks just then, give you my word of honor I did!"
"Be prepared!" said the skipper, quickly; and every scout reached out for the weapon he had decided to rely upon in case of dire necessity.
CHAPTER X
THE QUEER WAYS OF b.u.mPUS
"There ain"t a thing moving up there, Davy; and I reckon, now, you"re only just afooling us," complained Step Hen, after they had stared as hard as anything at the crown of the rocks, which was sharply outlined against the dark heavens.
As the others had met with like poor success in trying to locate the object the scout in question claimed to have seen, they naturally turned on Davy, to demand further explanations.
It could easily be seen, however, from his excited condition, that the boy actually believed what he said.
When Giraffe and b.u.mpus, and even Allan, urged him to repeat his a.s.sertion, he not only did so, but added still more to what he had said before.
"Guess I ought to know what a man"s head looks like, hadn"t I?" Davy went on to remark, indignantly; "cause I"ve seen a few in my day. It was there as plain as--as, well, the nose on my face, and you"ll say that"s right smart in evidence, I know you will, Giraffe. Looky up yonder--see the little peak that seems to stick up above all the rest of the old rock pile? Well, it was alongside that it showed up; and right while I was asaying it, the thing disappeared like smoke. But you believe me, I saw something, and it was a man"s head too, no matter if there was a bear or a panther at the other end of the same."
Strange to say no one chuckled at these queer remarks of Davy. They saw that he was in deadly earnest; and the possibility of a strange man spying on them seemed too serious a matter to arouse a laugh.
"Well," said Step Hen, presently, when they had strained their eyes to the utmost without any result whatever, "seems like he saw you at the same time, and lit out in a big hurry."
Giraffe began to recover from the first shock caused by the alarm; and when he was feeling himself the tall scout could nearly always think of something quaint to say.
"That reminds me of the old baby book rhyme we all used to say; p"raps you"ll remember, fellows. It"s been a long time since I repeated it, but I think it runs about like this: "I Saw Esau kissing Kate; and the fact is, we all three saw. I saw Esau, he saw me; and Kate saw I saw Esau." How"s that?"
No one answered, and for a pretty good reason; for hardly had Giraffe uttered his question when, without the slightest warning, a dazzling ray of white light suddenly fell upon the group of scouts crouching there on the after-deck of the little hunting cabin cruiser, causing every one to gasp, and fall to quivering almost as much as though a flash of lightning had darted toward them.
"Oh!" cried some one; and while the tones of the voice could hardly be distinguished on account of the vibration caused by the speaker"s alarm, no one had the least doubt but that it was b.u.mpus who thus betrayed his agitated feelings.
Thad and Allan, and perhaps several of the other scouts, knew instantly that the strong glow was caused by one of those handy little electric torches, for they happened to have just such an alliance along with them, and had made great use of it on numberless occasions.
This told them that after all Davy had spoken truly when he declared so vehemently that he had seen a man"s head up there on the rocks.
n.o.body moved, only crouched there, staring at that dazzling light, and mentally figuring what was going to happen next.
Doubtless all sorts of alarming theories flitted through their minds, for after their recent talk about smugglers and those sorts of law-breakers the boys were in a good state to imagine things.
They were given very little time, however, to collect their wits; for a gruff voice (strange how voices are always gruff under similar condition but this one was very hoa.r.s.e without any question) called out:
"Ahoy there, aboard the launch!"
Had it depended on b.u.mpus, and perhaps Step Hen also, the reply must have been a long time coming, for they hardly dared trust their voices; but then Thad was able to hold his own, and he immediately called back:
"h.e.l.lo! yourself; what d"ye want?"
"Bring that boat ash.o.r.e, and be quick about it!" the deep grumble proceeded to tell them; and somehow poor b.u.mpus was forcibly reminded of the growl of a lion he had once heard in a menagerie, as well as several other things along the same "away down in the cellar" line.
"I suppose we might as well do it, fellows?" Thad remarked to his chums, in somewhat of a low tone; as though he meant to be influenced more or less by what decision the other scouts reached.
"Oh! can"t we skip out before they get their hands on us, Thad?" b.u.mpus wanted to know. "We"re full twenty feet and more away from the sh.o.r.e, and it"d take a champion sprinter and jumper to cover that distance."
"Yes, but how about running out into that storm again, eh, b.u.mpus? Feel like going through another experience like that?" demanded Giraffe.
"Not any for me, thank you. Thad, I say, do what he tells us. He can"t eat us, I reckon; and we ain"t got any reason to be afraid because of anything we"ve done."
"Same here, Thad," remarked Davy, quickly: he had been feeling very much like backing up b.u.mpus in his request, but what Giraffe said caused him to "take water" instantly, and Davy was as quick to make a revolution in his mind as his body could revolve in several handsprings over the ground, when he was feeling good.
"Allan, how about you?" asked Thad, feeling that much depended on what the one addressed thought.
"No help for it, Thad; we"ve got to throw up our hands that far, anyway; because, like as not they"ve got us covered right now with their guns, and while they can see us fairly well, everything all dark to us up there."
"Oh! my stars!" b.u.mpus was heard to whisper to himself, in a horrified tone, as he learned about those terrible firearms that must be held with their muzzles projecting in the direction of the floating home of the scouts; but all the same b.u.mpus, "though good and scared," as he afterwards candidly confessed, did not attempt to lie down, and shield his round body behind any of his comrades; if they could take the consequences surely he ought to be ready to face the music; and so he only knelt there and quivered and looked, momentarily to see a flash, and hear a deafening report that would stagger them all.
"Well are you going to do what I told you?" the heavy ba.s.s voice demanded, more or less, impatiently.
"Don"t be so foolish as to think, you can slip away," a second unseen man told them, "because we"ve got you covered, and if you start up that engine we"ll give you a volley that"ll make you wish you hadn"t. Come ash.o.r.e with that boat, you hear? We know you, Cranston! The game is up!"
Thad breathed easier, somehow. What had been said seemed to tell him it might after all only be a case of mistaken ident.i.ty; and that if they obeyed the rough summons they would in all probability not be apt to suffer on account of yielding.
"Get a push pole, somebody, and help me shove ash.o.r.e!" Thad remarked; and then raising his voice so that the unseen enemies might hear, he continued: "you needn"t bother wasting any of your ammunition on us, mister, because, we"re willing to do what you, ask, and come to land.
So hold up, and give us a chance, for we"ve got to raise our anchor first; and the water"s some deep here to use the poles in."
He heard a low laugh near by, but there was no further comment from those who had the situation well in hand. Every scout understood, however, that a number of heavily armed men must be scrutinizing their actions from the roll; for that strong white glow was kept closely focused on the boat all the time they proceeded to drag in the anchor, and start working the push poles, with which the little hunting cabin launch was well provided.
The water in the harbor they had found was of considerable depth, but fortunately the poles were long as well as stout, and presently the boat began to move slowly in response to the energetic efforts which Thad and Giraffe put forth.
b.u.mpus had a.s.sisted to pull in the anchor, and was now squatted like a big frog near the bow. He knew full well that his position was very much exposed, and that in case the unseen enemy chose to actually open fire upon the boat, he would likely be the first to suffer; but in spite of this b.u.mpus refused to budge. He had gotten over his first qualms of fear, and feeling ashamed of allowing himself to give way to such a sensation, and he a scout in the bargain, the boy was now going to the other extreme, and growing actually reckless.
It made him think of the time some of his mates had declared they had seen a real boni-fide ghost in the town graveyard, and dared b.u.mpus to lead the way in there, late at night, when they were pa.s.sing. He had felt his teeth rattle together, just as they had been doing now; but summoning all his courage to the fore he had grimly said: "who"s afraid?" and trembling like a leaf shaken in the wind, he had stalked into the cemetery, much to the admiration of his chums, who had expected the fat boy to back down abjectly.
The boat approached the sh.o.r.e slowly.