"It ain"t half bad," admitted Step Hen.
"But how about starting to sea in this blow?" asked Allan, quietly, after he and Thad had exchanged winks.
"Oh! hang the luck, I clean forgot all about that!" admitted the tall scout, his smile of triumph disappearing immediately.
"Whew! I should say we couldn"t!" b.u.mpus hastened to add, showing that it was possible for a boy to change his opinion almost as speedily as a shift of wind causes the weather vane to turn around, and point toward a new quarter.
"And," added Thad, "that will all have to be left to the morning, anyway. If we should find a half-way chance to do something along those lines, why, we"ll gladly give Giraffe the credit for thinking up the scheme. But it"s time we settled down for the night now; so let"s fix our blankets and be as comfy as we can, even if we do expect to keep awake."
"And don"t you think it"d be a good plan, Thad," suggested Step Hen, "to always keep that gun in evidence? If we could make them believe we all of us carried the same kind of weapons, we"d be more apt to see sun-up without any trouble happening; and that"s what I think."
"Well, now, there"s some meat in that idea of yours, Step Hen," the scout-master told him; "and it wouldn"t be a bad scheme for those who have clubs, to carry them more or less this way under your arm, just as you would your gun if tramping, or on a hunt. In the firelight they may think that"s what they are, and the effect will be worth something to us, as you say."
All of the boys started to settling down. Policy might have told them that if they made themselves too comfortable the chances of their remaining awake were rather slim.
b.u.mpus was a lad of good resolutions. No doubt he meant to stay awake just as firmly as Thad himself could have done. But sleeping was one of the fat boy"s weak points, and it was not long before he found himself nodding.
Twice he was jabbed in the leg with the point of a pin, once by Giraffe, and the second time by Davy; for the other boys, took his request literally, and doubtless enjoyed having the chance to "do him a to favor."
Each time he was thus punctured the fat scout would start up hurriedly, and open his mouth to give a yell, perhaps under the impression that he had been bitten by a snake, which reptiles he despised, and feared very much.
Discovering where he was in time, however, he had managed to hold his tongue, and muttered to himself that they "needn"t go it quite so strong," as he ruefully rubbed his limb where the pin had entered.
After each sudden awakening b.u.mpus would sit sternly up straight, as though he had taken a solemn vow not to be caught napping again; but as the minutes dragged along he would begin to sink lower and lower again, for sleep was once more getting a firm grip upon him.
When the fat boy reeled for a third time Thad, who was watching operations with more or less amus.e.m.e.nt, noticed that neither Step Hen nor Davy offered to make any use of their pins; the truth being that both of them had meanwhile gone fast asleep, and hence there were all three in the same boat.
It happened that b.u.mpus managed to arouse himself presently with a start; as if a sudden consciousness had come upon him. Perhaps he imagined he felt another jab with a pin, and the sensation electrified him.
First he looked on one side and then on the other. When he discovered that his persecutors were both sound asleep, a wide grin came over the good-natured red face of the stout youth. Thad could see him industriously hunting along the lapels of his khaki jacket, as if for a weapon in the shape of a pin; and having secured what he wanted b.u.mpus carefully reached out both hands, one toward Step Hen and the other in the direction of Davy Jones.
Then, with a low squeal of delight, he gave an outward motion with each hand. There instantly broke forth a chorus of yells that could be heard above the noise of the breakers on the rocks, and the wind rattling the branches of the low oak trees.
"t.i.t for tat," exclaimed. b.u.mpus; "what"s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. After this we"ll call it off, fellows, remember. It was give and take, and now the slate"s wiped clean."
Davy Jones and Step Hen, quite tired out from their exertions, slept peacefully, one on either side of b.u.mpus; while Giraffe dozed, and whenever he happened to arouse himself he would wave that hatchet vigorously, as if to call attention to the fact that he was "on deck,"
and doing full duty.
The long night dragged on.
Once Thad had some good news to communicate.
"Clouds seem to be getting lighter," he announced, pointing overhead.
"Yes," added the other, "and there"s a sure enough break, I reckon, p"raps now we"ll see something of that old moon before the peep of day comes."
At any rate the fact of the khaki-clad denizens of the camp under the ledge being constantly on guard must have impressed itself upon the minds of the poachers, for they made no hostile move while darkness held sway.
Of course though, both sentries were glad to see the first peep of dawn in the far east. The wind had died down, and there seemed to be some chance that the wild waves would subside by noon, at least sufficiently to allow them to go forth if by any good luck they were given the opportunity to leave the island upon which they had been marooned by so strange a freak of fate.
The others were soon aroused, and made out to have just allowed themselves a few winks of sleep toward morning, though they cast suspicious looks toward each other, Thad noticed. However, neither he nor Allen said a word about the hours that they had been by themselves on guard. The dreaded night had pa.s.sed, and nothing out of the way had happened, so what was the use of rubbing it in, and making some of their good chums feel badly.
"I think it would be possible to see the place where we left our boat, if I went out on that point there," Thad remarked, while some of the rest were busying themselves in getting breakfast ready, as though meaning to make all the amends possible for their lack of sentry duty.
As though he wished to make sure concerning this matter the scout-master left them, and made his way to the lookout he had indicated. He came back later on, and his face did not seem to show any signs of good news.
"No boat in sight, I take it, Thad?" asked Giraffe, rightly interpreting his lack of enthusiasm.
"It"s sure enough gone, and look as hard as I could there didn"t seem to be the first sign of the poor Chippeway Belle. Dr. Hobbs" friend will have to buy him another cruising boat, that"s sure," Thad told them.
"Well, he can do that, all right, out of the insurance money he collects from that old tub," declared Giraffe, indignantly. "Let me tell you he"s been hoping we might sink the thing, somehow or other."
Breakfast was a bountiful meal, because Giraffe happened to be a fellow who disdained half-way measures, when it came to feeding time. The idea of going around half starved so long as there was the smallest amount of food in camp did not suit him at all.
So they ate until every one, even Giraffe, announced that he had had enough; but by that time the frying-pans were empty, and the coffee-pot ditto, so perhaps it may have been this condition of things that influenced some of them to confess to being filled.
The face of the tall boy had become clouded more or less, and it was evident to the scout leader that Giraffe was busily engaged in pondering over something that did not look just right to him.
"What"s the matter, Giraffe?" he asked, as they lounged around, enjoying the fire, because the morning had opened quite cool after the blow of the previous night.
"I don"t like this thing of an empty pantry, that"s what!" observed the other, who could not forget that in less than five hours there was bound to be a demand from somewhere inside that he get busy, and supply another ration; and where was he to get the material to carry out this injunction when their supplies were practically exhausted.
"Well, we can"t do anything about it, can we?" demanded Step Hen, trembling in the hopes that the tall scout might have thought of a plan.
"That"s just like some fellows," remarked Giraffe, disdainfully; "ready to throw up the sponge at the first show of trouble. Now, I ain "t built that way; and say, I"ve thought up a plan by which we might get some grub."
"Yes, what might it be?" asked Thad, seeing that the other was waiting for a little encouragement before bursting out into a display of confidence; for he knew Giraffe"s ways to a fraction.
"I tell you what we ought to do," the other suddenly explained; "march on that cabin in a bunch, looking mighty determined, and then demand that they supply us with what grub we need to tide us over. There you are; and how about it?"
CHAPTER XXIII
WHERE WAS b.u.mPUS
"Huh? I don"t all speak at once, please. Seems like my splendid idea ain"t made a hit like I expected it would. What ails you all?" Giraffe demanded, after a dead silence had fallen upon the little party, instead of the quick response he had hoped for.
"We"re waiting to hear from Thad," explained Step Hen, as though he might himself be "up in the air," or, as he would himself have said, "straddling the fence," not knowing whether to scoff at the other"s scheme, or give it his unqualified approval.
"Well, I wanted to figure it over in my own mind first," remarked the scout-master, slowly. "It has some good points, Giraffe, but we"ll have to get good and hungry before we start to holding up other people and demanding that they supply our wants, even if they are only fish poachers."
"Then you don"t think we had ought to rush the cabin, as yet?" asked the other in a disappointed lone.
"Wait awhile; and see what turns up," Thad told him.