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diff --git a/old/50811-h/50811-h.htm b/old/50811-h/50811-h.htm deleted file mode 100644 index 0c86c04..0000000 --- a/old/50811-h/50811-h.htm +++ /dev/null @@ -1,12987 +0,0 @@ -<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" - "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> -<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> - <head> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" /> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> - <title> - The Project Gutenberg eBook of What Happened at Quasi, by George Cary Eggleston. - </title> - <link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" /> - <style type="text/css"> - -body {margin-left: 10%; - margin-right: 10%;} - -div.limit {max-width: 35em; - margin-left: auto; - margin-right: auto;} - -div.limit2 {max-width: 25em; - margin-left: auto; - margin-right: auto;} - -.bord {border: solid 2px; - margin-left: 5%; - margin-right: 5%; - margin-top: 4em; - margin-bottom: 4em; - padding: 1.5em;} - -.wn {font-weight: normal; - font-size: 90%;} - - -div.chapter {page-break-before: always;} - - h1,h2 {text-align: center; - clear: both;} - -p {margin-top: 0.2em; - text-align: justify; - margin-bottom: 0em; - text-indent: 1.5em;} - -.pad1 {margin-top: 0.5em; - text-align: justify; - margin-bottom: 0em; - text-indent: -1em; - padding-left: 1em;} - -.pc {margin-top: 0.2em; - text-align: center; - margin-bottom: 0em; - text-indent: 0em;} - -.pch {margin-top: 2em; - margin-bottom: 1.5em; - font-size: 115%; - text-align: center; - text-indent: 0em;} - -.pc1 {margin-top: 1em; - text-align: center; - margin-bottom: 0em; - text-indent: 0em;} - -.pc2 {margin-top: 2em; - text-align: center; - margin-bottom: 0em; - text-indent: 0em;} - -.pc4 {margin-top: 4em; - text-align: center; - margin-bottom: 0em; - text-indent: 0em;} - -.pn1 {margin-top: 1em; - text-align: justify; - margin-bottom: 0em; - text-indent: 0em;} - -.pbq {margin-top: 0.2em; - text-align: justify; - margin-bottom: 0; - text-indent: 1.2em; - font-size: 90%; - margin-left: 5%; - margin-right: 5%;} - -.pr2 {margin-top: 0.2em; - text-align: right; - margin-bottom: 0em; - text-indent: 0em; - padding-right: 2em;} - -.ptn {margin-top: 0.3em; - text-align: justify; - margin-bottom: 0; - text-indent: -1em; - margin-left: 2%;} - -.p1 {margin-top: 1em;} -.p2 {margin-top: 2em;} -.p4 {margin-top: 4em;} - -.small {font-size: 75%;} -.reduct {font-size: 90%;} -.lmid {font-size: 110%;} -.mid {font-size: 125%;} -.large {font-size: 150%;} -.elarge {font-size: 175%;} -.xlarge {font-size: 200%;} - -hr {width: 33%; - margin-top: 2em; - margin-bottom: 2em; - margin-left: 33.5%; - margin-right: 33.5%; - clear: both;} - -hr.chap {width: 65%; - margin-left: 17.5%; - margin-right: 17.5%;} - -hr.full {width: 95%; - margin-left: 2.5%; - margin-right: 2.5%;} - -hr.d1 {width: 15%; - margin-left: 42.5%; - margin-right: 42.5%; - margin-top: 1em; - margin-bottom: 1em;} - -hr.d2 {width: 10%; - margin-left: 45%; - margin-right: 45%; - margin-top: 1em; - margin-bottom: 1em;} - -table {margin-left: auto; - margin-right: auto;} - - .tdl {text-align: left;} - .tdc {text-align: center;} - - .tdl1 {text-align: left; - vertical-align: top; - padding-left: 0.5em;} - - .tdl2 {text-align: justify; - vertical-align: top; - padding-left: 1em; - text-indent: -1em;} - - .tdrh {text-align: right; - vertical-align: top;} - - .tdrl {text-align: right; - vertical-align: bottom;} - -#toc, #toi {width: 80%; - line-height: 1em; - margin-top: 1em;} - -#t1, #t2 {width: 80%; - margin-top: 1em; - margin-bottom: 1em; - line-height: 1em;} - -.pagenum { /* visibility: hidden; */ - position: absolute; - left: 94%; - color: gray; - font-size: smaller; - text-align: right; - text-indent: 0em; - font-style: normal; - font-weight: normal;} - - - -.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} - -.caption {font-weight: bold;} - - -.figcenter {margin: auto; - text-align: center; - margin-top: 2em; - margin-bottom: 2em;} - - -.floatleft {float: left; - clear: left; - text-align: center; - padding: 0.5em; - margin: 0 0.5em 0 0;} - -.floatright {float: right; - clear: right; - text-align: center; - padding: 0.5em; - margin: 0 0 0 0.5em;} - -.pc400 {margin-top: 0.2em; - text-align: center; - margin-bottom: 0em; - text-indent: 0em; - width: 25.5em; - margin: auto;} - -p.drop-cap02 {text-indent: -0.2em;} -p.drop-cap08 {text-indent: -0.8em;} - -p.drop-cap02:first-letter, -p.drop-cap08:first-letter - {float: left; - margin: 0.12em 0.1em 0em 0em; - font-size: 280%; - line-height:0.85em;} - -@media handheld {p.drop-cap02:first-letter, - p.drop-cap08:first-letter - {float: none; - margin: 0; - font-size: 100%;} -} - -.transnote {background-color: #E6E6FA; - color: black; - font-size:smaller; - padding:0.5em; - margin-bottom:5em; - font-family:sans-serif, serif; } - </style> - </head> -<body> - - -<pre> - -The Project Gutenberg EBook of What Happened at Quasi, by -George Cary Eggleston and H. C. Edwards - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: What Happened at Quasi - The Story of a Carolina Cruise - -Author: George Cary Eggleston - H. C. Edwards - -Release Date: December 31, 2015 [EBook #50811] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WHAT HAPPENED AT QUASI *** - - - - -Produced by Giovanni Fini, David Edwards and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) - - - - - - -</pre> - -<div class="limit"> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/cover.jpg" width="350" height="462" alt="" /> -</div></div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i" id="Page_i">[i]</a></span></p> - -<p class="pc4 xlarge">WHAT HAPPENED AT QUASI</p> - -<p class="pc large">THE STORY OF A CAROLINA CRUISE</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii" id="Page_ii">[ii]</a></span></p> - -<div class="bord"> -<p class="pc large">BOOKS FOR BOYS</p> -<p class="pc lmid">BY</p> -<p class="pc mid">GEORGE CARY EGGLESTON</p> -<hr class="d1" /> -<p class="pc">Each Handsomely Illustrated. Price of Each Volume, $1.50</p> -<hr class="d1" /> -<p class="pad1">THE LAST OF THE FLATBOATS. A Story of the -Mississippi and Its Interesting Family of Rivers.</p> -<p class="pad1">CAMP VENTURE. A Story of the Virginia Mountains. -Adventures among the “Moonshiners.”</p> -<p class="pad1">THE BALE MARKED CIRCLE X. A Blockade-Running -Adventure.</p> -<p class="pad1">JACK SHELBY. A Story of the Indiana Backwoods.</p> -<p class="pad1">LONG KNIVES. The Story of How They Won the -West. A Tale of George Rogers Clark’s Expedition.</p> -<p class="pad1">WHAT HAPPENED AT QUASI. The Story of a -Carolina Cruise. A Tale of Sport and Adventure.</p> -<hr class="d1" /> -<p class="pc"><i>For Sale by All Booksellers, or Sent Postpaid on -Receipt of Price by the Publishers</i></p> -<p class="pc1">LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO., BOSTON</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_iii" id="Page_iii">[iii]</a><br /><a name="Page_iv" id="Page_iv">[iv]</a></span></p> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/ill-004.jpg" width="400" height="601" id="fr" - alt="" - title="" /> - <div class="caption"><p class="pc400"><span class="smcap">As Tom tugged hard at one of the larger roots, the keg -suddenly fell to pieces.</span>—<i><span class="wn"><a href="#Page_353">Page 353.</a></span></i></p> -</div></div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[v]</a></span></p> - -<h1 class="p4">WHAT HAPPENED AT QUASI</h1> - -<p class="pc large">THE STORY OF A CAROLINA CRUISE</p> - -<p class="pc4 mid">BY</p> - -<p class="pc elarge">GEORGE CARY EGGLESTON</p> - -<p class="pc4">ILLUSTRATED BY H. C. EDWARDS</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/ill-005.jpg" width="150" height="275" - alt="" - title="" /> -</div> - -<p class="pc large">BOSTON</p> - -<p class="pc large">LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vi" id="Page_vi">[vi]</a></span></p> - -<p class="pc4 reduct">Published, April, 1911</p> - -<p class="pc4">Copyright, 1911<br /> -<span class="smcap">By Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Co.</span></p> - -<hr class="d2" /> - -<p class="pc reduct"><i>All rights reserved</i></p> - -<hr class="d2" /> - -<p class="pc"><span class="smcap">What Happened at Quasi</span></p> - -<p class="pc4 reduct">NORWOOD PRESS<br /> -<span class="mid">BERWICK & SMITH CO.</span><br /> -NORWOOD, MASS.<br /> -U. S. A.</p> - -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii">[vii]</a></span></p> - -<p class="pc4">I INSCRIBE THIS STORY WITH AFFECTION TO</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/ill-007.jpg" width="150" height="285" - alt="" - title="" /> -</div> - -<p class="pc mid">GEORGE DUNN EGGLESTON</p> - -<div class="limit2"> -<p class="pn1">MY GRANDSON, IN THE BELIEF THAT WHEN HE GROWS -OLD ENOUGH HE WILL WANT TO KNOW “WHAT HAPPENED -AT QUASI,” AND WILL READ THE BOOK BY WAY -OF FINDING OUT</p> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_viii" id="Page_viii">[viii]</a><br /><a name="Page_ix" id="Page_ix">[ix]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2 class="p4">CONTENTS</h2> - -<table id="toc" summary="cont"> - - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="tdl"><span class="small">CHAPTER</span></td> - <td class="tdrl"><span class="small">PAGE</span></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdrh">I.</td> - <td class="tdl1"><span class="smcap">Interstate Chumming</span></td> - <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_3">3</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdrh">II.</td> - <td class="tdl1"><span class="smcap">The Story of Quasi</span></td> - <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_15">15</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdrh">III.</td> - <td class="tdl1"><span class="smcap">A Programme Subject to Circumstances</span></td> - <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_25">25</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdrh">IV.</td> - <td class="tdl1"><span class="smcap">Tom Fights it Out</span></td> - <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_30">30</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdrh">V.</td> - <td class="tdl1"><span class="smcap">A Rather Bad Night</span></td> - <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_39">39</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdrh">VI.</td> - <td class="tdl1"><span class="smcap">A Little Sport by the Way</span></td> - <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_54">54</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdrh">VII.</td> - <td class="tdl1"><span class="smcap">An Enemy in Camp</span></td> - <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_67">67</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdrh">VIII.</td> - <td class="tdl1"><span class="smcap">Cal Begins to Do Things</span></td> - <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_76">76</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdrh">IX.</td> - <td class="tdl1"><span class="smcap">A Fancy Shot</span></td> - <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_89">89</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdrh">X.</td> - <td class="tdl1"><span class="smcap">Tom’s Discoveries</span></td> - <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_97">97</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdrh">XI.</td> - <td class="tdl1"><span class="smcap">Perilous Spying</span></td> - <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_108">108</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdrh">XII.</td> - <td class="tdl1"><span class="smcap">Tom’s Daring Venture</span></td> - <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_119">119</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdrh">XIII.</td> - <td class="tdl1"><span class="smcap">Cal’s Experience as the Prodigal Son</span></td> - <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_135">135</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdrh">XIV.</td> - <td class="tdl1"><span class="smcap">Cal Relates a Fable</span></td> - <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_149">149</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdrh">XV.</td> - <td class="tdl1"><span class="smcap">Cal Gathers the Manna</span></td> - <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_156">156</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdrh">XVI.</td> - <td class="tdl1"><span class="smcap">Fog-Bound</span></td> - <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_164">164</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdrh">XVII.</td> - <td class="tdl1"><span class="smcap">The Obligation of a Gentleman</span></td> - <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_174">174</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdrh">XVIII.</td> - <td class="tdl1"><span class="smcap">Fight or Fair Play</span></td> - <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_182">182</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdrh">XIX.</td> - <td class="tdl1"><span class="smcap">Why Larry Was Ready for Battle</span></td> - <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_191">191</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdrh">XX.</td> - <td class="tdl1"><span class="smcap">Aboard the Cutter</span></td> - <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_197">197</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdrh">XXI.</td> - <td class="tdl1"><span class="smcap">Tom’s Scouting Scheme</span></td> - <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_204">204</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdrh">XXII.</td> - <td class="tdl1"><span class="smcap">Tom Discovers Things</span></td> - <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_212">212</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdrh">XXIII.</td> - <td class="tdl1"><span class="smcap">Tom and the Man With the Game Leg</span></td> - <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_222">222</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdrh">XXIV.</td> - <td class="tdl1"><span class="smcap">The Lame Man’s Confession</span></td> - <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_230">230</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdrh">XXV.</td> - <td class="tdl1"><span class="smcap">A Signal of Distress</span></td> - <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_238">238</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdrh">XXVI.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_x" id="Page_x">[x]</a></span></td> - <td class="tdl1"><span class="smcap">An Unexpected Interruption</span></td> - <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_246">246</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdrh">XXVII.</td> - <td class="tdl1"><span class="smcap">The Hermit of Quasi</span></td> - <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_258">258</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdrh">XXVIII.</td> - <td class="tdl1"><span class="smcap">Rudolf Dunbar’s Account of Himself</span></td> - <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_265">265</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdrh">XXIX.</td> - <td class="tdl1"><span class="smcap">Tom Finds Things</span></td> - <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_271">271</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdrh">XXX.</td> - <td class="tdl1"><span class="smcap">Dunbar Talks and Sleeps</span></td> - <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_283">283</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdrh">XXXI.</td> - <td class="tdl1"><span class="smcap">Dunbar’s Strange Behavior</span></td> - <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_295">295</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdrh">XXXII.</td> - <td class="tdl1"><span class="smcap">A Rainy Day With Dunbar</span></td> - <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_306">306</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdrh">XXXIII.</td> - <td class="tdl1"><span class="smcap">A Great Catastrophe</span></td> - <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_316">316</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdrh">XXXIV.</td> - <td class="tdl1"><span class="smcap">Marooned at Quasi</span></td> - <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_331">331</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdrh">XXXV.</td> - <td class="tdl1"><span class="smcap">Again Tom Finds Something</span></td> - <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_339">339</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdrh">XXXVI.</td> - <td class="tdl1"><span class="smcap">What the Earth Gave Up</span></td> - <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_350">350</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdrh">XXXVII.</td> - <td class="tdl1"><span class="smcap">Tom’s Final “Find”</span></td> - <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_360">360</a></td> - </tr> - -</table> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xi" id="Page_xi">[xi]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2 class="p4">ILLUSTRATIONS</h2> - -<table id="toi" summary="illustrations"> - - <tr> - <td class="tdl2">As Tom tugged hard at one of the larger -roots, the keg suddenly fell to pieces -(Page 353)</td> - <td class="tdrl"><a href="#fr"><span class="small"><i>Frontispiece</i></span></a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="tdrl"><span class="small">FACING PAGE</span></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdl2">Dick, Cal, and Tom searched the man’s clothes</td> - <td class="tdrl"><a href="#i72">72</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdl2">“In my haste I forgot to conceal my gun”</td> - <td class="tdrl"><a href="#i126">126</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdl2">“Stand where you are or we’ll shoot”</td> - <td class="tdrl"><a href="#i182">182</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdl2">“No, ’tain’t no use. I’ve got to take my medicine”</td> - <td class="tdrl"><a href="#i226">226</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdl2">A minute more, it would have been too late</td> - <td class="tdrl"><a href="#i320">320</a></td> - </tr> - -</table> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xii" id="Page_xii">[xii]</a><br /><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[1]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2 class="p4">WHAT HAPPENED AT QUASI</h2> - -<p class="pc mid"><b>THE STORY OF A CAROLINA CRUISE</b></p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[2]</a><br /><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</a></span></p> - -<p class="pc4 elarge">WHAT HAPPENED AT QUASI</p> - -<p class="pc mid">THE STORY OF A CAROLINA CRUISE</p> - -<h2 class="p4">I</h2> - -<p class="pch">INTERSTATE CHUMMING</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">It</span> was hot in Charleston—intensely hot—with -not a breath of air in motion anywhere. The glossy -leaves of the magnolia trees in the grounds that surrounded -the Rutledge house drooped despairingly -in the withering, scorching, blistering sunlight of a -summer afternoon in the year 1886. The cocker -spaniel in the courtyard panted with tongue out, between -the dips he took at brief intervals in the -water-vat provided for his use. A glance down -King Street showed no living creature, man or beast, -astir in Charleston’s busiest thoroughfare.</p> - -<p>In the upper verandah of the Rutledge mansion, -four boys, as lightly dressed as propriety permitted, -were doing their best to keep endurably cool -and three of them were succeeding. The fourth -was making a dismal failure of the attempt. He<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span> -was Richard Wentworth of Boston, and he naturally -knew little of the arts by which the people of -hot climates manage to endure torrid weather with -tolerable comfort and satisfaction. He kept his -blood excited by the exertion of violently fanning -himself. While the others sat perfectly still in -bamboo chairs, or lay motionless on joggling boards, -Dick Wentworth was constantly stirring about in -search of a cooler place which he did not find.</p> - -<p>Presently he went for the fourth or fifth time to -the end of the porch, where he could see a part of -the street by peering through the great green jalousies -or slatted shutters that barred out the fierce -sunlight.</p> - -<p>“What do you do that for, Dick?” asked Lawrence -Rutledge in a languid tone and without lifting -his head from the head-rest of the joggling -board.</p> - -<p>“What do I do what for?” asked Dick in return.</p> - -<p>“Why run to the end of the verandah every -five minutes? What do you do it for? Don’t you -know it’s hot? Don’t you realize that violent exertion -like that is unfit for weather like this? Why, -I regard unnecessary winking as exercise altogether -too strenuous at such a time, and so I don’t open -my eyes except in little slits, and I do even that only<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span> -when I must. You see, I’m doing my best to keep -cool, while you are stirring about all the time and -fretting and fuming in a way that would set a kettle -boiling. Why do you do it?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, I’m only observing, in a strange land,” answered -Dick, sinking into a wicker chair. “I’ll be -quiet, now that I have found out the facts.”</p> - -<p>“What are they, Dick?” asked Tom Garnett, -otherwise known to his companions as “the Virginia -delegation,” he being the only Virginian in -the group. “What have you found out?”</p> - -<p>“Only that the cobblestones, with which the -street out there is paved, have been vulcanized, just -as dentists treat rubber mouth plates. Otherwise -they would melt.”</p> - -<p>“I’d laugh at that joke, Dick, if I dared risk the -exertion,” drawled Calhoun Rutledge, the fourth -boy in the group, and Lawrence Rutledge’s twin -brother. “Ah, there it comes!” he exclaimed, -rolling off his joggling board and busying himself -with turning the broad slats of the jalousies so as to -admit the cool sea breeze that had set in with the -turning of the tide.</p> - -<p>Lawrence—or “Larry”—Rutledge did the -same, and Tom Garnett slid out of his bamboo chair, -stretched himself and exclaimed:</p> - -<p>“Well, that <i>is</i> a relief!”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span></p> - -<p>Dick Wentworth sat still, not realizing the sudden -change until a stiff breeze streaming in through -the blinds blew straight into his face, bearing with -it a delicious odor from the cape jessamines that -grew thickly about the house. Then he rose and -hurried to an open lattice, quite as if he had expected -to discover there some huge bellows or some -gigantic electric fan stirring the air into rapid motion.</p> - -<p>“What has happened?” he asked in astonishment.</p> - -<p>“Nothing, except that the tide has turned,” answered -Larry.</p> - -<p>“But the breeze? Where does that come -from?”</p> - -<p>“From the sea. It always comes in with the -flood-tide, and we’ve been waiting for it. Pull on -your coat or stand out of the draught; the sudden -change might give you a cold.”</p> - -<p>“Then you don’t have to melt for whole days -at a time, but get a little relief like this, now and -then?”</p> - -<p>“We don’t melt at all. We don’t suffer half as -much from hot weather as the people of northern -cities do—particularly New York.”</p> - -<p>“But why not, if you have to undergo a grilling -like this every day?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span></p> - -<p>“It doesn’t happen every day, or anything like -every day. It never lasts long and we know how -to endure it.”</p> - -<p>“How? I’m anxious to learn. I may be put -on the broiler again and I want to be prepared.”</p> - -<p>“Well, we begin by recognizing facts and meeting -them sensibly. It is always hot here in the sun, -during the summer months, and so we don’t go -out into the glare during the torrid hours. From -about eleven till four o’clock nobody thinks of quitting -the coolest, shadiest place he can find, while -in northern cities those are the busiest hours of the -day, even when the mercury is in the nineties. We -do what we have to do in the early forenoon and -the late afternoon. During the heat and burden -of the day we keep still, avoiding exertion of every -kind as we might shun pestilence or poison. The -result is that sun strokes and heat prostrations are -unknown here, while at the north during every hot -spell your newspapers print long columns of the -names of persons who have fallen victims.”</p> - -<p>“Then again,” added Calhoun, “we build for hot -weather while you build to meet arctic blasts. We -set our houses separately in large plots of ground, -while you pack yours as close together as possible. -We provide ourselves with broad verandahs and -bury ourselves in shade, while you are planning your<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span> -heating apparatus and doubling up your window -sashes to keep the cold out.”</p> - -<p>“It distresses me sorely,” broke in Larry, “to -interrupt an interesting discussion to which I have -contributed all the wisdom I care to spare, but the -sun is more than half way down the western slope -of the firmament, and if we are to get the dory into -the water this afternoon it is high time for us to be -wending our way through Spring Street to the -neighborhood of Gadsden’s Green—so called, I -believe, because some Gadsden of ancient times intended -it to become green.”</p> - -<p>The four boys had been classmates for several -years in a noted preparatory school in Virginia. -Dick Wentworth had been sent thither four years -before for the sake of his threatened health. He -had quickly grown strong again in the kindly climate -of Virginia, but in the meanwhile he had -learned to like his school and his schoolmates, particularly -the two Rutledges and the Virginia boy, -Tom Garnett. He had therefore remained at the -school throughout the preparatory course.</p> - -<p>Their school days were at an end now, all of -them having passed their college entrance examinations; -but they planned to be classmates still, all attending -the same university at the North.</p> - -<p>They were to spend the rest of the summer vacation<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span> -together, with the Charleston home of the -Rutledge boys for their base of operations, while -campaigning for sport and adventure far and wide -on the coast.</p> - -<p>That accounted for the dory. No boat of that -type had ever been seen on the Carolina coast, but -Larry and Cal Rutledge had learned to know its -cruising qualities while on a visit to Dick Wentworth -during the summer before, and this year -their father had given them a dory, specially built to -his order at Swampscott and shipped south by a -coasting steamer.</p> - -<p>When she arrived, she had only a priming coat -of dirty-looking white paint upon her, and the boys -promptly set to work painting her in a little boathouse -of theirs on the Ashley river side of the city. -The new paint was dry now and the boat was ready -to take the water.</p> - -<p>“She’s a beauty and no mistake,” said Cal as the -group studied her lines and examined her rather -elaborate lockers and other fittings.</p> - -<p>“Yes, she’s all that,” responded his brother, -“and we’ll try her paces to-morrow morning.”</p> - -<p>“Not if she’s like all the other dories I’ve had -anything to do with,” answered Dick. “She’s been -out of water ever since she left her cradle, and it’ll -take some time for her to soak up.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Oh, of course she’ll leak a little, even after a -night in the water,” said Cal, with his peculiar drawl -which always made whatever he said sound about -equally like a mocking joke and the profoundest -philosophy. “But who minds getting his feet wet -in warm salt water?”</p> - -<p>“Leak a little?” responded Dick; “leak a little? -Why, she’ll fill herself half full within five -minutes after we shove her in, and if we get into -her to-morrow morning the other half will follow -suit. It’ll take two days at least to make her seams -tight.”</p> - -<p>“Why didn’t the caulkers put more oakum into -her seams, then?” queried Tom, whose acquaintance -with boats was very scant. “I should think they’d -jam and cram every seam so full that the boat would -be water tight from the first.”</p> - -<p>“Perhaps they would,” languidly drawled Cal, -“if they knew no more about such things than you -do, Tom.”</p> - -<p>“How much do you know, Cal?” sharply asked -the other.</p> - -<p>“Oh, not much—not half or a quarter as much -as Dick does. But a part of the little that I know -is the fact that when you wet a dry, white cedar -board it swells, and the further fact that when you -soak dry oakum in water, it swells a great deal<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span> -more. It is my conviction that if a boat were -caulked to water tightness while she was dry and -then put into the water, the swelling would warp -and split and twist her into a very fair imitation of -a tall silk hat after a crazy mule has danced the -highland fling upon it.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, I see, of course. But will she be really -tight after she swells up?”</p> - -<p>“As tight as a drum. But we’ll take some -oakum along, and a caulking tool or two, and a pot -of white lead, so that if she gets a jolt of any kind -and springs a leak we can haul her out and repair -damages. We’ll take a little pot of paint, too, in one -of the lockers.”</p> - -<p>“There’ll be time enough after supper,” interrupted -Larry, “to discuss everything like that, and -we must be prompt at supper, too, for you know -father is to leave for the North to-night to meet -mother on Cape Cod and his ship sails at midnight. -So get hold of the boat, every fellow of you, and -let’s shove her in.”</p> - -<p>The launching was done within a minute or two, -and after that the dory rocked herself to sleep—that’s -what Cal said.</p> - -<p>“She’s certainly a beauty,” said Dick Wentworth. -“And of course she’s better finished and finer every -way than any dory I ever saw. You know, Tom,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span> -dories up north are rough fishing boats. This one -is finished like a yacht, and—”</p> - -<p>“Oh, she’s hunky dory,” answered Tom, lapsing -into slang.</p> - -<p>“That’s what we’ll name her, then,” drawled -Cal. “She’s certainly ‘hunky’ and she’s a dory, -and if that doesn’t make her the <i>Hunkydory</i>, I’d -very much like to know what s-o-x spells.”</p> - -<p>There was a little laugh all round. As the incoming -water floated the bottom boards, the name -of the boat was unanimously adopted, and after -another admiring look at her, the four hurried away -to supper. On the way Dick explained to Tom that -a dory is built for sailing or rowing in rough seas, -and running ashore through the surf on shelving -beaches.</p> - -<p>“That accounts for the peculiar shape of her narrow, -flat bottom, her heavy overhang at bow and -stern, her widely sloping sides, and for the still odder -shape and set of her centre board and rudder. She -can come head-on to a beach, and as she glides up -the sloping sand it shuts up her centre board and lifts -her rudder out of its sockets without the least danger -of injuring either. In the water a dory is as nervous -as a schoolgirl in a thunder storm. The least -wind pressure on her sails or the least shifting of -her passengers or cargo, sends her heeling over almost<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span> -to her beam ends, but she is very hard to capsize, -because her gunwales are so built out that they -act as bilge keels.”</p> - -<p>“I’d understand all that a good deal better,” -answered Tom, laughing, “if I had the smallest -notion what the words mean. I have a vague idea -that I know what a rudder is, but when you talk -of centre boards, overhangs, gunwales, and bilge -keels, you tow me out beyond my depth.”</p> - -<p>“Never mind,” said Cal. “Wait till we get you -out on the water, you land lubber, and then Dick -can give you a rudimentary course of instruction -in nautical nomenclature. Just now there is neither -time nor occasion to think about anything but the -broiled spring chickens and plates full of rice that -we’re to have for supper, with a casual reflection -upon the okra, the green peas and the sliced tomatoes -that will escort them into our presence.”</p> - -<p>In an aside to Dick Wentworth—but spoken -so that all could hear—Tom said:</p> - -<p>“I don’t believe Cal can help talking that way. -I think if he were drowning he’d put his cries of -‘help’ into elaborate sentences.”</p> - -<p>“Certainly, I should do precisely that,” answered -Cal. “Why not? Our thoughts are the children -of our brains, and I think enough of my brain-children -to dress them as well as I can.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span></p> - -<p>In part, Cal’s explanation was correct enough. -But his habit of elaborate speech was, in fact, also -meant to be mildly humorous. This was especially -so when he deliberately overdressed his brain-children -in ponderous words and stilted phrases.</p> - -<p>They were at the Rutledge mansion by this time, -however, and further chatter was cut off by a negro -servant’s announcement that “Supper’s ready an’ -yo’ fathah’s a waitin’.”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2 class="p4">II</h2> - -<p class="pch">THE STORY OF QUASI</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Major Rutledge</span> entertained the boys at supper -with accounts of his own experiences along the -coast during the war, and incidentally gave them a -good deal of detailed information likely to be useful -to them in their journeyings. But he gave them no -instructions and no cautions. He firmly believed -that youths of their age and intelligence ought to -know how to take care of themselves, and that if -they did not it was high time for them to learn in -the school of experience. He knew these to be -courageous boys, manly, self-reliant, intelligent, and -tactful. He was, therefore, disposed to leave them -to their own devices, trusting to their wits to meet -any emergencies that might arise.</p> - -<p>One bit of assistance of great value he did give -them, namely, a complete set of coast charts, prepared -by the government officials at Washington.</p> - -<p>“You see,” he explained to the two visitors, -“this is a very low-lying coast, interlaced by a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span> -tangled network of rivers, creeks, inlets, bayous, -and the like, so that in many places it is difficult -even for persons intimately familiar with its intricacies -to find their way. My boys know the geography -of it fairly well, but you’ll find they will have -frequent need to consult the charts. I’ve had them -encased in water-tight tin receptacles.”</p> - -<p>“May I ask a question?” interjected Tom -Garnett, as he minutely scanned one of the charts.</p> - -<p>“Certainly, as many as you like.”</p> - -<p>“What do those little figures mean that are -dotted thickly all over the sheets?”</p> - -<p>“They show the depth of water at every spot, at -mean high tide. You’ll find them useful—particularly -in making short cuts. You see, Tom, many -of the narrowest of our creeks are very deep, and -many broad bays very shallow in places. Besides, -there are mud banks scattered all about, some of -them under water all the time, others under it only -at high tide. You boys don’t want to get stuck on -them, and you won’t, if you study the figures on -your charts closely. By the way, Larry, how much -water does your boat draw?”</p> - -<p>“Three feet, six inches, when loaded, with the -centre board down—six inches, perhaps, when -light, with the board up.”</p> - -<p>“There, Tom, you see how easily the chart<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span> -soundings may save you a lot of trouble. There -may be times when you can save miles of sailing -by laying your course over sunken sandbars if sailing -before the wind, though you couldn’t pass over -them at all if sailing on the wind.”</p> - -<p>“But what difference does the way of sailing -make? You see, I am very ignorant, Major Rutledge.”</p> - -<p>“You’ll learn fast enough, because you aren’t -afraid to ask questions. Now to answer your last -one; when you sail before the wind you’ll have no -need of your centre board and can draw it up, making -your draught only six or eight inches, while -on the wind you must have the centre board down—my -boys will explain that when you’re all afloat—so -if you are sailing with the wind dead astern, -or nearly so, it will be safe enough to lay a course -that offers you only two or three feet of water in its -shoalest parts, while if the wind is abeam, or in a -beating direction, you must keep your centre board -down and stick to deeper channels. However, the -boys will soon teach you all that on the journey. -They’re better sailors than I am.”</p> - -<p>Then, turning to his own sons, he said:</p> - -<p>“I have arranged with my bank to honor any -checks either of you may draw. So if you have -need of more money than you take with you, you’ll<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span> -know how to get it. Any planter or merchant down -the coast will cash your checks for you. Now I -must say good-bye to all of you, as I have many -things to do before leaving. I wish all of you a -very jolly time.”</p> - -<p>With that he quitted the room, but a few minutes -later he opened the door to say:</p> - -<p>“If you get that far down the coast, boys, I -wish you would take a look over Quasi and see that -there are no squatters there.”</p> - -<p>When he had gone, Cal said:</p> - -<p>“Wonder if father hopes to win yet in that -Quasi matter, after all these years?”</p> - -<p>“I’m sure I don’t know,” answered Larry. -“Anyhow, we’ll go that far down, if only to gratify -his wish.”</p> - -<p>“Is Quasi a town?” asked Dick, whose curiosity -was awakened by the oddity of the name.</p> - -<p>“No. It’s a plantation, and one with a story.”</p> - -<p>Dick asked no more questions, but presently Cal -said to his brother:</p> - -<p>“Why don’t you go on, Larry, and tell him all -about it? I have always been taught by my pastors -and masters, and most other people I have ever -known, that it is exceedingly bad manners to talk in -enigmas before guests. Besides, there’s no secret -about this. Everybody in South Carolina who ever<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span> -heard the name Rutledge knows all about Quasi. -Go on and tell the fellows, lest they think our family -has a skeleton in some one or other of its closets, -and is cherishing some dark, mysterious secret.”</p> - -<p>“Why don’t you tell it yourself, Cal? You -know the story as well as I do.”</p> - -<p>“Because, oh my brother, it was your remark -that aroused the curiosity which it is our hospitable -duty to satisfy. I do not wish to trespass upon your -privileges or take your obligations upon myself. -Go on! There is harkening all about you. You -have your audience and your theme. We hang -upon your lips.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, it isn’t much of a story, but I may as well -tell it,” said Larry, smiling at his brother’s ponderous -speech.</p> - -<p>“Quasi is a very large plantation occupying the -end of a peninsula. Except on the mainland side a -dozen miles of salt water, mud banks and marsh -islands, separate it from the nearest land. On the -mainland side there is a marsh two or three miles -wide and a thousand miles deep, I think. At any -rate, it is utterly impassable—a mere mass of semi-liquid -mud, though it looks solid enough with its -growth of tall salt marsh grass covering its ugliness -and hiding its treachery. The point might as -well be an island, so far as possibilities of approach<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span> -to it are concerned, and in effect it is an island, or -quasi an island. I suppose some humorous old -owner of it had that in mind when he named it -Quasi.</p> - -<p>“It is sea island cotton land of the very finest -and richest kind, and when it was cultivated it was -better worth working than a gold mine. There are -large tracts of original timber on it, and as it has -been abandoned and running wild for more than -twenty years, even the young tree growths are -large and fine now.</p> - -<p>“That is where the story begins. Quasi belonged -to our grandfather Rutledge. He didn’t -live there, but he had the place under thorough cultivation. -When the war broke out my grandfather -was one of the few men in the South who doubted -our side’s ability to win, and as no man could foresee -what financial disturbances might occur, he decided -to secure his two daughters—our father’s sisters, -who were then young girls—against all possibility -of poverty, by giving Quasi to them in their -own right. ‘Then,’ he thought, ‘they will be comfortably -well off, no matter what happens.’ So he -deeded Quasi to them.</p> - -<p>“When the Federals succeeded, early in the war, -in seizing upon the sea island defences, establishing -themselves at Beaufort, Hilton Head, and other<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span> -places, it was necessary for my grandfather to remove -all the negroes from Quasi, lest they be carried -off by the enemy. The place was therefore -abandoned, but my grandfather said that, at any -rate, nobody could carry off the land, and that that -would make my aunts easy in their finances, whenever -peace should come again. As he was a hard-fighting -officer, noted for his dare-devil recklessness -of danger, he did not think it likely that he would -live to see the end. But he believed he had made -his daughters secure against poverty, and as for my -father, he thought him man enough to take care of -himself.”</p> - -<p>“The which he abundantly proved himself to be -when the time came,” interrupted Cal, with a note -of pride in his tone.</p> - -<p>“Oh, that was a matter of course,” answered -Larry. “It’s a way the Rutledges have always -had. But that is no part of the story I’m telling. -During the last year of the war, when everything -was going against the South, grandfather saw -clearly what the result must be, and he understood -the effect it would have upon his fortunes. He was -a well-to-do man—I may even say a wealthy one—but -he foresaw that with the negroes set free and -the industries of the South paralyzed for the time, -his estate would be hopelessly insolvent. But like<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span> -the brave man that he was, he did not let these -things trouble him. Believing that his daughters -were amply provided for, and that my father—who -at the age of twenty-five had fought his way from -private to major—could look out for himself, the -grim old warrior went on with his soldierly work -and bothered not at all as to results.</p> - -<p>“In the last months of the war, when the Southern -armies were being broken to pieces, the clerk’s -office, in which his deeds of Quasi to my aunts -were recorded, was burned with all its contents. -As evidence of the gift to his daughters nothing remained -except his original deeds, and these might -easily be destroyed in the clearly impending collapse -of everything. To put those deeds in some -place of safety was now his most earnest purpose. -He took two or three days’ leave of absence, hurried -to Charleston, secured the precious papers and -put them in a place of safety—so safe a place, indeed, -that to this day nobody has ever found them. -That was not his fault. For the moment he returned -to his post of command he sat down to write -a letter to my aunts, telling them what he had done -and how to find the documents. He had not written -more than twenty lines when the enemy fell -upon his command, and during the fight that ensued, -he was shot through the head and instantly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span> -killed. His unfinished letter was sent to my aunts, -but it threw no light upon the hiding place he had -selected.</p> - -<p>“When the war ended, a few weeks later, the estate -was insolvent, as my grandfather had foreseen. -In the eagerness to get hold of even a little money -to live upon, which was general at that time, my -grandfather’s creditors were ready to sell their -claims upon the estate for any price they could get, -and two of the carrion crows called money-lenders -bought up all the outstanding obligations.</p> - -<p>“When they brought suit for the possession of my -grandfather’s property, they included Quasi in their -claim. When my father protested that Quasi belonged -to his sisters by deeds of gift executed years -before, he could offer no satisfactory proof of his -contention—nothing, indeed, except the testimony -of certain persons who could swear that the transfer -had been a matter of general understanding, -often mentioned in their presence, and other evidence -of a similarly vague character.</p> - -<p>“Of course this was not enough, but my father -is a born fighter and would not give up. He secured -delay and set about searching everywhere -for the missing papers. In the meanwhile he was -energetically working to rebuild his own fortunes, -and he succeeded. As soon as he had money of his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span> -own to fight with, he employed the shrewdest and -ablest lawyers he could find to keep up the contest -in behalf of his sisters. He has kept that fight up -until now, and will keep it up until he wins it or -dies. Of course he has himself amply provided -for my aunts, so that it isn’t the property but a -principle he is fighting for.</p> - -<p>“By the way, the shooting ought to be good at -Quasi—the place has run wild for so long and is -so inaccessible to casual sportsmen. If the rest of -you agree, we’ll make our way down there with -no long stops as we go. Then we can take our -time coming back.”</p> - -<p>The others agreed, and after a little Dick Wentworth, -who had remained silent for a time, turned -to Larry, saying:</p> - -<p>“Why did you say it wasn’t much of a story, -Larry?”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2 class="p4">III</h2> - -<p class="pch">A PROGRAMME—SUBJECT TO CIRCUMSTANCES</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">The</span> <i>Hunkydory</i> was an unusually large boat for -a craft of that kind. She was about twenty-five -feet long, very wide amidships—as dories always -are—and capable of carrying a heavy load without -much increase in her draught of water. She -was built of white cedar with a stout oak frame, -fastened with copper bolts and rivets, and fitted -with capacious, water-tight lockers at bow and -stern, with narrower lockers running along her -sides at the bilge, for use in carrying tools and the -like.</p> - -<p>She carried a broad mainsail and a large jib, and -had rowlocks for four pairs of oars. Sitting on -the forward or after rowing thwart, where she was -narrow enough for sculls, one person could row her -at a fair rate of speed, so little resistance did her -peculiar shape offer to the water. With two pairs -of oars, or better still, with all the rowlocks in use, -she seemed to offer no resistance at all.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span></p> - -<p>It was the plan of the boys to depend upon the -sails whenever there was wind enough to make any -progress at all, and ply the oars only when a calm -compelled them to do so.</p> - -<p>“We’re in no sort of hurry,” explained Larry, -“and it really makes no difference whether we run -one mile an hour or ten. There aren’t any trains -to catch down where we are going.”</p> - -<p>“Just where are we going, Larry,” asked Dick. -“We’ve never talked that over, except in the -vaguest way.”</p> - -<p>“Show the boys, Cal,” said Larry, turning to -his brother. “You’re better at coast geography -than I am.”</p> - -<p>“Hydrography would be the more accurate word -in this case,” slowly answered Cal, “but it makes -no difference.”</p> - -<p>With that he lighted three or four more gas -burners, and spread a large map of the coast upon -the table.</p> - -<p>“Now let me invoke your earnest attention, -young gentlemen,” he began. “That’s the way the -lecturers always introduce their talks, isn’t it? -You see before you a somewhat detailed map of -the coast and its waterways from Charleston, south -to Brunswick, Georgia. It is grossly inaccurate -in some particulars and slightly but annoyingly so<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span> -in others! Fortunately your lecturer is possessed -of a large and entirely trustworthy fund of information, -the garnerings, as it were, of prolonged -and repeated personal observation. He will be able -to correct the errors of the cartographer as he -proceeds.</p> - -<p>“We will take the Rutledge boathouse on the -Ashley River near the foot of Spring Street as our -point of departure, if you please. <i>Enteuthen exelauni</i>—pardon -the lapse into Xenophontic Greek—I -mean thence we shall sail across the Ashley -to the mouth of Wappoo Creek which, as you see -by the map, extends from Charleston Harbor to -Stono Inlet or river, separating James Island from -the main. Thence we shall proceed up Stono -River, past John’s Island, and having thus disposed -of James and John—familiar characters in that -well-remembered work of fiction, the First Reader—we -shall enter the so called North Edisto -River, which is, in fact, an inlet or estuary, and -sail up until we reach the point where the real -Edisto River empties itself. Thence we shall proceed -down the inlet known as South Edisto River -round Edisto Island, and, by a little detour into -the outside sea, pass into St. Helena Sound. From -that point on we shall have a tangled network of -big and little waterways to choose among, and we’ll<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span> -run up and down as many of them as tempt us -with the promise of sport or adventure. We shall -pass our nights ashore, and most of our days also, -for that matter. Wherever we camp we will remain -as long as we like. That is the programme. -Like the prices in a grocer’s catalogue and the -schedules of a railway, it is ‘subject to change -without notice.’ That is to say, accident and unforeseen -circumstances may interfere with it at -any time.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, and we may ourselves change it,” said -Larry. “Indeed, I propose one change in it to start -with.”</p> - -<p>“What is it?” asked the others in chorus.</p> - -<p>“Simply that we sail down the harbor first to -give Dick and Tom a glimpse of the points of interest -there. We’ll load the boat first and then, -when we’ve made the circuit of the bay, we needn’t -come back to the boat house, but can go on down -Wappoo cut.”</p> - -<p>The plan commended itself and was adopted, and -as soon as the <i>Hunkydory’s</i> seams were sufficiently -soaked the boat was put in readiness. There was -not much cargo to be carried, as the boys intended -to depend mainly upon their guns and fishing tackle -for food supplies. A side of bacon, a water-tight -firkin of rice, a box of salt, another of coffee, a tin<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span> -coffee-pot, and a few other cooking utensils were -about all. The tools and lanterns were snuggled -into the places prepared for them, an abundance of -rope was bestowed, and the guns, ammunition and -fishing tackle completed the outfit. Each member -of the little company carried a large, well-stocked, -damp-proof box of matches in his pocket, and each -had a large clasp knife. There were no forks or -plates, but the boat herself was well supplied with -agate iron drinking cups.</p> - -<p>It was well after dark when the loading was finished -and the boat in readiness to begin her voyage. -It was planned to set sail at sunrise, and so the crew -went early to the joggling boards for a night’s rest -in the breezy veranda.</p> - -<p>“We’ll start if there’s a wind,” said Cal.</p> - -<p>“We’ll start anyhow, wind or no wind,” answered -Larry.</p> - -<p>“Of course we will,” said Cal. “But you used -the term ‘set sail.’ I object to it as an attempt to -describe or characterize the process of making a -start with the oars.”</p> - -<p>“Be quiet, Cal, will you?” interjected Dick. “I -was just falling into a doze when you punched me -in the ribs with that criticism.”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2 class="p4">IV</h2> - -<p class="pch">TOM FIGHTS IT OUT</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Fortunately</span> there was a breeze, rather light -but sufficient, when the sun rose next morning. -The <i>Hunkydory</i> was cast off and, with Cal at the -tiller, her sails filled, she heeled over and “slid on -her side,” as Tom described it, out of the Ashley -River and on down the harbor where the wind was -so much fresher that all the ship’s company had to -brace themselves up against the windward gunwale, -making live ballast of themselves.</p> - -<p>The course was a frequently changing one, because -the Rutledge boys wanted their guests to pass -near all the points of interest, and also because they -wanted Dick Wentworth, who was the most expert -sailor in the company, to study the boat’s sailing -peculiarities. To that end Dick went to the helm -as soon as the wind freshened, and while following -in a general way the sight-seeing course suggested -by the Rutledges, he made many brief departures -from it in order to test this or that peculiarity of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span> -the boat, for, as Larry explained to Tom, “Every -sailing craft has ways of her own, and you want to -know what they are.”</p> - -<p>After an hour of experiment, Dick said:</p> - -<p>“We’ll have to get some sand bags somewhere. -We need more ballast, especially around the mast. -As she is, she shakes her head too much and is inclined -to slew off to leeward.”</p> - -<p>“Let me take the tiller, then, and we’ll get what -we need,” answered Larry, going to the helm.</p> - -<p>“Where?”</p> - -<p>“At Fort Sumter. I know the officer in command -there—in fact, he’s an intimate friend of our -family,—and he’ll provide us with what we need. -How much do you think?”</p> - -<p>“About three hundred pounds—in fifty pound -bags for distribution. Two hundred might do, but -three hundred won’t be too much, I think, and if -it is we can empty out the surplus.”</p> - -<p>“How on earth can you tell a thing like that by -mere guess work, Dick?” queried Tom in astonishment.</p> - -<p>“It isn’t mere guess work,” said Dick. “In fact, -it isn’t guess work at all.”</p> - -<p>“What is it, then?”</p> - -<p>“Experience and observation. You see, I’ve -sailed many dories, Tom, and I’ve studied the behavior<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span> -of boats under mighty good sea schoolmasters—the -Gloucester fishermen—and so with a -little feeling of a boat in a wind I can judge pretty -accurately what she needs in the way of ballast, -just as anybody who has sailed a boat much, can -judge how much wind to take and how much to -spill.”</p> - -<p>“I’d like to learn something about sailing if I -could,” said Tom.</p> - -<p>“You can and you shall,” broke in Cal. “Dick -will teach you on this trip, and Larry and I will -act as his subordinate instructors, so that before we -get back from our wanderings you shall know how -to handle a boat as well as we do; that is to say, if -you don’t manage to send us all to Davy Jones during -your apprenticeship. There’s a chance of that, -but we’ll take the risk.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, and there’s no better time to begin than -right now,” said Dick. “That’s a ticklish landing -Larry is about to make at Fort Sumter. Watch it -closely and see just how he does it. Making a -landing is the most difficult and dangerous thing one -has to do in sailing.”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” said Cal; “it’s like leaving off when -you find you’re talking too much. It’s hard to do.”</p> - -<p>The little company tarried at the fort only long -enough for the soldiers to make and fill six canvas<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span> -sand bags. When they were afloat again and Dick -had tested the bestowal of the ballast, he suggested -that Tom should take his first lesson at the tiller. -Sitting close beside him, the more expert youth -directed him minutely until, after perhaps an hour -of instruction, during which Dick so chose his -courses as to give the novice both windward work -and running to do, Tom could really make a fair -showing in handling the sails and the rudder. He -was still a trifle clumsy at the work and often -somewhat unready and uncertain in his movements, -but Dick pronounced him an apt scholar, and predicted -his quick success in learning the art.</p> - -<p>They were nearing the mouth of the harbor when -Dick deemed it best to suspend the lesson and handle -the boat himself. The wind had freshened still -further, and a lumpy sea was coming in over the -bar, so that while there was no danger to a boat -properly handled, a little clumsiness might easily -work mischief.</p> - -<p>The boys were delighted with the behavior of -the craft and were gleefully commenting on it when -Larry observed that Tom, instead of bracing himself -against the gunwale, was sitting limply on the -bottom, with a face as white as the newly made -sail.</p> - -<p>“I say, boys, Tom’s seasick,” he called out.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span> -“We’d better put about and run in under the lee of -Morris Island.”</p> - -<p>“No, don’t,” answered Tom, feebly. “I’m not -going to be a spoil-sport, and I’ll fight this thing -out. If I could only throw up my boots, I’d be all -right. I’m sure it’s my boots that sit so heavily on -my stomach.”</p> - -<p>“Good for you, Tom,” said Larry, “but we’ll -run into stiller waters anyhow. We don’t want -you to suffer. If you were rid of this, I’d—”</p> - -<p>He hesitated, and didn’t finish his sentence.</p> - -<p>“What is it you’d do if I weren’t playing the -baby this way?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, it’s all right.”</p> - -<p>“No, it isn’t,” protested Tom, feeling his seasickness -less because of his determination to contest -the point. “What is it you’d do? You shall do -it anyhow. If you don’t, I’ll jump overboard. I -tell you I’m no spoil-sport and I’m no whining baby -to be coddled either. Tell me what you had in -mind.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, it was only a sudden thought, and probably -a foolish one. I was seized with an insane desire -to give the <i>Hunkydory</i> a fair chance to show what -stuff she’s made of by running outside down the -coast to the mouth of Stono Inlet, instead of going -back and making our way through Wappoo creek.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Do it! Do it!” cried Tom, dragging himself -up to his former posture. “If you don’t do it I’ll -quit the expedition and go home to be put into pinafores -again.”</p> - -<p>“You’re a brick, Tom, and you shan’t be humiliated. -We’ll make the outside trip. It won’t -take very long, and maybe you’ll get over the worst -of your sickness when we get outside.”</p> - -<p>“If I don’t I’ll just grin and bear it,” answered -Tom resolutely.</p> - -<p>As the boat cleared the harbor and headed south, -the sea grew much calmer, though the breeze continued -as before. It was the choking of the channel -that had made the water so “lumpy” at the -harbor’s mouth. Tom was the first to observe the -relief, and before the dory slipped into the calm -waters of Stono Inlet he had only a trifling nausea -to remind him of his suffering.</p> - -<p>“This is the fulfillment of prophecy number one,” -he said to Cal, while they were yet outside.</p> - -<p>“What is?”</p> - -<p>“Why this way of getting into Stono Inlet. -You said our programme was likely to be ‘changed -without notice,’ and this is the first change. You -know it’s nearly always so. People very rarely -carry out their plans exactly.”</p> - -<p>“I suppose not,” interrupted Larry as the Stono<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span> -entrance was made, “but I’ve a plan in mind that -we’ll carry out just as I’ve made it, and that not -very long hence, either.”</p> - -<p>“What is it, Larry?”</p> - -<p>“Why to pick out a fit place for landing, go -ashore, build a fire, and have supper. Does it occur -to you that we had breakfast at daylight and -that we’ve not had a bite to eat since, though it is -nearly sunset?”</p> - -<p>As he spoke, a bend of the shore line cut off what -little breeze there was, the sail flapped and the dory -moved only with the tide.</p> - -<p>“Lower away the sail,” he called to Cal and -Dick, at the same time hauling the boom inboard. -“We must use the oars in making a landing, and I -see the place. We’ll camp for the night on the -bluff just ahead.”</p> - -<p>“Bluff?” asked Tom, scanning the shore. “I -don’t see any bluff.”</p> - -<p>“Why there—straight ahead, and not five hundred -yards away.”</p> - -<p>“Do you call that a bluff? Why, it isn’t three -feet higher than the low-lying land all around -it.”</p> - -<p>“After you’ve been a month on this coast,” said -Cal, pulling at an oar, “you’ll learn that after all, -terms are purely relative as expressions of human<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span> -thought. We call that a bluff because it fronts -the water and is three feet higher than the general -lay of the land. There aren’t many places -down here that can boast so great a superiority to -their surroundings. An elevation of ten feet we’d -call high. It is all comparative.”</p> - -<p>“Well, my appetite isn’t comparative, at any -rate,” said Tom. “It’s both positive and superlative.”</p> - -<p>“The usual sequel to an attack of seasickness, -and I assure you—”</p> - -<p>Cal never finished his assurance, whatever it was, -for at that moment the boat made her landing, and -Larry, who acted as commander of the expedition, -quickly had everybody at work. The boat was to -be secured so that the rise and fall of the tide would -do her no harm; wood was to be gathered, a fire -built and coffee made.</p> - -<p>“And I am going out to see if I can’t get a -few squirrels for supper, while you fellows get -some oysters and catch a few crabs if you can. -Oh, no, that’s too slow work. Take the cast net, -Cal, and get a gallon or so of shrimps, in case -I don’t find any squirrels.”</p> - -<p>“I can save you some trouble and disappointment -on that score,” said Cal, “by telling you now -that you’ll get no squirrels and no game of any<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span> -other kind, unless perhaps you sprain your ankle -or something and get a game leg.”</p> - -<p>“But why not? How do you know?”</p> - -<p>“We’re too close to Charleston. The pot-hunters -haven’t left so much as a ground squirrel in -these woods. I have been all over them and so I -know. Better take the cartridges out of your gun -and try for some fish. The tide’s right and you’ve -an hour to do it in.”</p> - -<p>Larry accepted the suggestion, and rowing the -dory to a promising spot, secured a dozen whiting -within half the time at disposal.</p> - -<p>Supper was eaten with that keen enjoyment -which only a camping meal ever gives, and with a -crackling fire to stir enthusiasm, the boys sat for -hours telling stories and listening to Dick’s account -of his fishing trips along the northern shores, and -his one summer’s camping in the Maine woods.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2 class="p4">V</h2> - -<p class="pch">A RATHER BAD NIGHT</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">During</span> the next two or three days the expedition -worked its way through the tangled maze of -big and little waterways, stopping only at night, -in order that they might the sooner reach a point -where game was plentiful.</p> - -<p>At last Cal, who knew more about the matter -than any one else in the party, pointed out a vast -forest-covered region that lay ahead, with a broad -stretch of water between.</p> - -<p>“We’ll camp there for a day or two,” he said, -“and get something besides sea food to eat. There -are deer there and wild turkeys, and game birds, -while squirrels and the like literally abound. I’ve -hunted there for a week at a time. It’s only about -six miles from here, and there’s a good breeze. -We can easily make the run before night.”</p> - -<p>Tom, who had by that time learned to handle the -boat fairly well for a novice, was at the tiller, and -the others, a trifle too confident of his skill perhaps,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span> -were paying scant attention to what he was -doing. The stretch of water they had to cross was -generally deep, as the chart showed, but there were -a few shoals and mud banks to be avoided. While -the boys were eagerly listening to Cal’s description -of the hunting grounds ahead, the boat was -speeding rapidly, with the sail trimmed nearly flat, -when there came a sudden flaw in the wind and -Tom, in his nervous anxiety to meet the difficulty -managed to put the helm the wrong way. A second -later the dory was pushing her way through -mud and submerged marsh grass. Tom’s error -had driven her, head on, upon one of the grass covered -mud banks.</p> - -<p>Dick was instantly at work. Without waiting -to haul the boom inboard, he let go the throat and -peak halyards, and the sails ran down while the -outer end of the boom buried itself in the mud.</p> - -<p>“Now haul in the boom,” he said.</p> - -<p>“Why didn’t you wait and do that first?” asked -Tom, who was half out of his wits with chagrin -over his blunder.</p> - -<p>“Because, with the centre board up, if we’d -hauled it in against the wind the boat would have -rolled over and we should all have been floundering.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span></p> - -<p>“But the centre board was down,” answered -Tom.</p> - -<p>“Look at it,” said Cal. “Doubtless it was -down when we struck, but as we slid up into the -grass it was shut up like a jackknife.”</p> - -<p>“Stop talking,” commanded Larry, “and get to -the oars. It’s now or never. If we don’t get -clear of this within five minutes we’ll have to lie -here all night. The tide is just past full flood and -the depth will grow less every minute. Now then! -All together and back her out of this!”</p> - -<p>With all their might the four boys backed with -the oars, but the boat refused to move. Dick -shifted the ballast a little and they made another -effort, with no result except that Tom, in his well-nigh -insane eagerness to repair the damage done, -managed to break an oar.</p> - -<p>“It’s no use, fellows,” said Larry. “You might -as well ship your oars. We’re stuck for all night -and must make the best of the situation.”</p> - -<p>“Can’t we get out and push her off?” asked -Tom in desperation.</p> - -<p>“No. We’ve no bottom to stand on. The mud -is too soft.”</p> - -<p>“That’s one disadvantage in a dory,” said Dick, -settling himself on a thwart. “If we had a keel<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span> -under us, we could have worked her free with the -oars.”</p> - -<p>“If, yes, and perhaps,” broke in Cal, who was -disposed to be cheerfully philosophical under all circumstances. -“What’s the use in iffing, yessing and -perhapsing? We’re unfortunate in being stuck on -a mud bank for the night, but stuck we are and -there’s an end of that. We can’t make the matter -better by wishing, or regretting, or bemoaning -our fate, or making ourselves miserable in any -other of the many ways that evil ingenuity has devised -for the needless chastisement of the spirit. -Let us ‘look forward not back, up and not down, -out and not in,’ as Dr. Hale puts it. Instead of -thinking how much happier we might be if we were -spinning along over the water, let us think how -much happier we <i>shall</i> be when we get out of this -and set sail again. By the way, what have we on -board that we can eat before the shades of night -begin falling fast?”</p> - -<p>“Well, if you will ‘look forward,’ as you’ve -advised us all to do,” said Dick Wentworth, “by -which I mean if you will explore the forward -locker, you’ll find there a ten-pound can of sea biscuit, -and half a dozen gnarled and twisted bologna -sausages of the imported variety, warranted to keep -in any climate and entirely capable of putting a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span> -strain upon the digestion of an ostrich accustomed -to dine on tenpenny nails and the fragments of -broken beer bottles.”</p> - -<p>“Where on earth did they come from?” asked -Larry. “I superintended the lading of the -boat—”</p> - -<p>“Yes, I know you did, and I watched you. I -observed that you had made no provision for shipwreck -and so I surreptitiously purchased and bestowed -these provisions myself. The old tars at -Gloucester deeply impressed it upon my mind that -it is never safe to venture upon salt water without -a reserve supply of imperishable provisions to -fall back upon in case of accidents like this.”</p> - -<p>“This isn’t an accident,” said Tom, who had -been silent for an unusual time; “it isn’t an accident; -it’s the result of my stupidity and nothing -else, and I can never—”</p> - -<p>“Now stop that, Tom!” commanded Cal; “stop -it quick, or you’ll meet with the accident of being -chucked overboard. This was a mishap that might -occur to anyone, and if there was any fault in the -case every one of us is as much to blame as you are. -You don’t profess to be an expert sailor, and we -know it. We ought some of us to have helped you -by observing things. Now quit blaming yourself, -quit worrying and get to work chewing bologna.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Thank you, Cal,” was all that Tom could say -in reply, and all set to work on what Dick called -their “frugal meal,” adding:</p> - -<p>“That phrase used to fool me. I found it in -Sunday School books, where some Scotch cotter -and his interesting family sat down to eat scones -or porridge, and I thought it suggestive of something -particularly good to eat. Having the chronically -unsatisfied appetite of a growing boy, the thing -made me hungry.”</p> - -<p>“This bologna isn’t a bit bad after you’ve -chewed enough of the dry out of it to get the -taste,” said Larry, cutting off several slices of the -smoke-hardened sausage.</p> - -<p>“No,” said Dick, “it isn’t bad; but I judge -from results that the Dutchman who made it had -rather an exalted opinion of garlic as a flavoring.”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” Cal answered, speaking slowly after his -habit, “the thing is thoroughly impregnated with -the flavor and odor of the <i>allium sativum</i>, and I -was just revolving—”</p> - -<p>“What’s that, Cal?” asked Larry, interrupting.</p> - -<p>“What’s what?”</p> - -<p>“Why, <i>allium</i> something or other—the thing -you mentioned.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, you mean <i>allium sativum</i>? Why, that is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span> -the botanical name of the cultivated garlic plant, -you ignoramus.”</p> - -<p>“Well, how did you come to know that? You -never studied botany.”</p> - -<p>“No, of course not. I’ll put myself to the trouble -of explaining a matter which would be obvious -enough to you if you gave it proper thought. I -found the term in the dictionary a month or so -ago when you and I had some discussion as to the -relationship between the garlic and the onion. I -may have been positive in such assertions as I found -it necessary to make in maintaining my side of the -argument; doubtless I was so; but I was not sufficiently -confident of the soundness of my views to -make an open appeal to the dictionary. I consulted -it secretly, surreptitiously, meaning to fling it at your -head if I found that it sustained my contentions. -As I found that it was strongly prejudiced on your -side, I refrained from dragging it into the discussion. -But I learned from it that garlic is <i>allium -sativum</i>, and I made up my mind to floor you with -that morsel of erudition at the first opportunity. -This is it.”</p> - -<p>“This is what?”</p> - -<p>“Why, the first opportunity, to be sure. I’m -glad it came now instead of at some other time.”</p> - -<p>“Why, Cal?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Why because we have about eleven hours of -tedious waiting time before us and must get rid -of it in the best way we can. I’ve managed to wear -away several minutes of it by talking cheerful nonsense -and spreading it out over as many words as -I could. I’ve noticed that chatter helps mightily -to pass away a tedious waiting time, and I’m profoundly -convinced that the very worst thing one -can do in a case like ours is to stretch the time out -by grumbling and fretting. If ever I’m sentenced -to be hanged, I shall pass my last night pouring -forth drivelling idiocy, just by way of getting -through what I suppose must be rather a trying -time to a condemned man.”</p> - -<p>“By the way, Cal, you were just beginning to say -something else when Larry interrupted you to ask -about the Latin name of garlic. You said you -were ‘just revolving.’ As you paused without any -downward inflection, and as you certainly were -not turning around, I suppose you meant you -were just revolving something or other in your -mind.”</p> - -<p>“Your sagacity was not at fault, Tom, but my -memory is. I was revolving something in my -mind, some nonsense I suppose, but what it was, -I am wholly unable to remember. Never mind; -I’ll think of a hundred other equally foolish things<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span> -to say between now and midnight, and by that time -we’ll all be asleep, I suppose.”</p> - -<p>It was entirely dark now, and Dick Wentworth -lighted a lantern and hoisted it as an anchor light.</p> - -<p>“What’s the use, Dick, away out here?” asked -one of the others.</p> - -<p>“There may be no use in it,” replied Dick, “but -a good seaman never asks himself that question. -He just does what the rules of navigation require, -and carries a clear conscience. If a ship has to stop -in mid ocean to repair her machinery even on the -calmest and brightest of days when the whole horizon -is clear, the captain orders the three discs set -that mean ‘ship not under control.’ So we’ll let -our anchor light do its duty whether there is need -of it or not.”</p> - -<p>“That’s right in principle,” said Larry, “and -after all it makes no difference as that lantern -hasn’t more than a spoonful of oil in it. But most -accidents, as they are called—”</p> - -<p>Larry was not permitted to say what happened -to “most accidents,” for as he spoke Tom called -out:</p> - -<p>“Hello! it’s raining!”</p> - -<p>“Yes—sprinkling,” answered Larry, holding -out his hand to feel the drops, “but it’ll be pouring -in five minutes. We must hurry into our oilskins.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span> -There! the anchor light has burned out and -we must fumble in the dark.”</p> - -<p>With that he opened a receptacle and hurriedly -dragged the yellow, oil-stiffened garments out, saying -as he did so:</p> - -<p>“It’s too dark to see which is whose, but we’re -all about of a size and they don’t cut slickers to -a very nice fit. So help yourselves and put ’em on -as quickly as you can, for it’s beginning to pour -down.”</p> - -<p>The boys felt about in the dark until presently -Cal called out:</p> - -<p>“I say, fellows, I want to do some trading. I’ve -got hold of three pairs of trousers and two squams, -but no coat. Who wants to swap a coat for two -pairs of trousers and a sou’wester?”</p> - -<p>The exchanges were soon made and the waterproof -garments donned, but not before everybody -had got pretty wet, for the rain was coming down -in torrents now, such as are never seen except in -tropical or subtropical regions.</p> - -<p>The hurried performance served to divert the -boys’ minds and cheer their spirits for a while, but -when the “slickers” were on and closely fastened -up, there was nothing to do but sit down again in -the dismal night and wait for the time to wear -away.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Now this is just what we needed,” said Cal, -as soon as the others began to grow silent and -moody.</p> - -<p>“What, the rain?”</p> - -<p>“Yes. It helps to occupy the mind. It gives -us something to think about. It is a thing of interest. -By adding to our wretchedness, it teaches -us the lesson that—”</p> - -<p>“Oh, we don’t want any lessons, Cal; school’s -out,” said Dick. “What I want to know is -whether you ever saw so heavy a rain before. -I never did. Why, there are no longer any drops—nothing -but steady streams. Did you ever see -anything like it?”</p> - -<p>“Often, and worse,” Larry answered. “This is -only an ordinary summer rain for this coast.”</p> - -<p>“Well now, I understand—”</p> - -<p>“Permit me to interrupt,” broke in Cal, “long -enough to suggest that the water in this boat is -now half way between my ankles and my knees, -and I doubt the propriety of suffering it to rise -any higher. Suppose you pass the pump, Dick.”</p> - -<p>Dick handed the pump to his companion, who -was not long in clearing the boat of the water. -Then Tom took it and fitfully renewed the pumping -from time to time, by way of keeping her clear. -After, perhaps, an hour, the rain slackened to a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span> -drizzle far more depressing to the spirits than the -heavy downpour had been. The worst of the -matter was that the night was an intensely warm -one, and the oilskin clothing in which the boys -were closely encased, was oppressive almost beyond -endurance. Presently Dick began unbuttoning his.</p> - -<p>“What are you doing, Dick? “Tom asked as he -heard the rustle.</p> - -<p>“Opening the cerements that encase my person,” -Dick answered.</p> - -<p>“But what for?”</p> - -<p>“Why, to keep from getting too wet. In these -things the sweat that flows through my skin is distinctly -more dampening than the drizzling rain.”</p> - -<p>“I’d smile at that,” said Cal, “if it were worth -while, as it isn’t. We’re in the situation Charles -Lamb pityingly imagined all mankind to have been -during the ages before candles were invented. If -we crack a joke after nightfall we must feel of our -neighbor’s cheek to see if he is smiling.”</p> - -<p>The desire for sleep was strong upon all the company, -and one by one they settled themselves in -the least uncomfortable positions possible under the -circumstances, and became silent in the hope of -catching at least a cat nap now and then. There -was very little to be done in that way, for the moment -one part of the body was adjusted so that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span> -nothing hurt it, a thwart or a rib, or the edge of -the rail, or something else would begin “digging -holes,” as Larry said, in some other part.</p> - -<p>Cal was the first to give up the attempt to sleep. -After suffering as much torture as he thought he -was called upon to endure he undoubled himself -and sat upright. The rest soon followed his example, -and Cal thought it best to set conversation -going again.</p> - -<p>“After all,” he said meditatively, “this is precisely -what we came to seek.”</p> - -<p>“What? The wretchedness of this night? I -confess I am unable to take that view of it,” answered -Larry almost irritatedly.</p> - -<p>“That is simply because your sunny temper is -enshrouded in the murky gloom of the night, and -your customary ardor dampened by the drizzle. -You are not philosophical. You shouldn’t suffer -external things to disturb your spiritual calm. It -does you much harm and no manner of good. Besides, -it is obvious that you judged and condemned -my thought without analyzing it.”</p> - -<p>“How is that, Cal? Tell us about it,” said -Dick. “Your prosing may put us to sleep in spite -of the angularity and intrusive impertinence of -everything we try to rest ourselves upon. Do your -own analyzing and let us have the benefit of it.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Oh, it’s simple enough. I indulged in the reflection -that this sort of thing is precisely what we -set out on this expedition to find, and it is so, if -you’ll only think of it. We came in search of two -things—adventure and game. Surely this mud-bank -experience is an adventure, and I’m doing my -best to persuade you fellows to be ‘game’ in its -endurance.”</p> - -<p>“That finishes us,” said Dick. “A pun is discouraging -at all times; a poor, weak-kneed, anæmic -pun like that is simply disheartening, and coming -at a time of despondency like this, it reduces every -fibre of character to a pulp. I feel that under its -influence my back bone has been converted into -guava jelly.”</p> - -<p>“Your speech betrayeth you, Dick. I never -heard you sling English more vigorously than now. -And you have regained your cheerfulness too, and -your capacity to take interest. Upon my word, -I’ll think up another pun and hurl it at you if it is -to have any such effect as that.”</p> - -<p>“While you’re doing it,” said Larry, “I’m going -to get myself out of the sweatbox I’ve been in all -night. You may or may not have observed it, -but the rain has ceased, and the tide has turned -and if I may be permitted to quote Shakespeare, -‘The glow-worm shows the matin to be near.’ In<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span> -modern phrase, day is breaking, and within about -two hours the <i>Hunkydory</i> will be afloat again.”</p> - -<p>With the relief of doffing the oppressive oilskins, -and the rapidly coming daylight, the spirits of the -little company revived, and it was almost a jolly -mood in which they made their second meal on -hard ship biscuit and still harder smoked bolognas.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2 class="p4">VI</h2> - -<p class="pch">A LITTLE SPORT BY THE WAY</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">The</span> day had just asserted itself when Larry, -looking out upon the broad waters of a sound that -lay between the dory and the point at which the -dory would have been if she had not gone aground, -rather gleefully said:</p> - -<p>“We’ll be out of our trouble sooner than we -hoped. The <i>Hunkydory</i> will float well before the -full flood.”</p> - -<p>“Why do you think so, Larry?” asked Tom, -who had not yet recovered from his depression -and was still blaming himself for the mishap and -doubting the possibility of an escape that morning.</p> - -<p>“I don’t think it; I know,” answered Larry, beginning -to shift ballast in a way that would make -backing off the mud bank easier.</p> - -<p>“But how do you know?”</p> - -<p>“Because there’s a high wind outside and it’s -blowing on shore. Look at the white caps out -there where the water is open to the sea. We’re in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span> -a sort of pocket here, and feel nothing more than a -stiff breeze, but it’s blowing great guns outside, and -when that happens on an incoming tide the water -rises a good deal higher than usual. We’ll float -before the tide is at the full.”</p> - -<p>“In my judgment we’re afloat now,” said Dick, -who had been scrutinizing the water just around -them. “We’re resting on the marsh grass, that’s -all.”</p> - -<p>“So we are,” said Cal, after scanning things a -bit. “Let’s get to the oars!”</p> - -<p>“Better wait for five or ten minutes,” objected -Dick. “We might foul the rudder in backing off. -Then we’d be in worse trouble than we were before.”</p> - -<p>“That’s so, Dick,” answered Cal, restraining his -impatience and falling at once into his peculiarly -deliberate utterance. “That is certainly so, and I -have been pleased to observe, Dick, that many -things you say are so.”</p> - -<p>“Thank you for the compliment, Cal, and for -what it implies to the contrary.”</p> - -<p>“Pray don’t mention it. Take a look over the -bow instead and see how she lies now.”</p> - -<p>In spite of their banter, that last ten minutes of -waiting seemed tediously long, especially to Tom, -who wanted to feel the boat gliding through the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span> -water again before forgiving himself for having -run her aground. At last the bow caught the force -of the incoming flood, and without help from anybody -the dory lifted herself out of the grass and -drifted clear of the mud bank.</p> - -<p>The centre board was quickly lowered, the sails -hoisted, the burgee run up to the masthead, and, as -the <i>Hunkydory</i> heeled over and began plowing -through the water with a swish, her crew set up a -shout of glee that told of young hearts glad again.</p> - -<p>A kindly, gentle thought occurred to Dick Wentworth -at that moment. It was that by way of reassuring -Tom and showing him that their confidence -in him was in no way shaken, they should -call him to the helm at once. Dick signalled his -suggestion to Larry, by nodding and pointing to -Tom, whose eyes were turned away. Larry was -quick to understand.</p> - -<p>“I say, Tom,” he called out, “come to the tiller -and finish your job. It’s still your turn to navigate -the craft.”</p> - -<p>Tom hesitated for a second, but only for a second. -Perhaps he understood the kindly, generous -meaning of the summons. However that might -be, he promptly responded, and taking the helm -from Larry’s hand, said, “Thank you, Larry—and -all of you.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span></p> - -<p>That was all he said; indeed, it was all that he -could say just then.</p> - -<p>Suspecting something of the sort and dreading -every manifestation of emotion, as boys so often do, -Larry quickly diverted all minds by calling out:</p> - -<p>“See there! Look! There’s a school of skipjacks -breaking water dead ahead. Let’s have some -fun trolling for them. We haven’t any appointed -hours and we’re in no hurry, and trolling for skipjacks -is prime sport.”</p> - -<p>“What are they, anyhow?” asked Dick, who -had become a good deal interested in the strange -varieties of fish he had seen for the first time on -the southern coast.</p> - -<p>“Why, fish, of course. Did you think they were -humming birds?”</p> - -<p>“Well, I don’t know that I should have been -greatly astonished if I had found them to be something -of that kind. Since you introduced me to -flying fish the other day, I’m prepared for anything. -But what I wanted to know was what sort of fish -the skipjacks are.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, that was it? Well, they’re what you call -bluefish up north, I believe. They are variously -named along the coast—bluefish, jack mackerel, -horse mackerel, skipfish, skipjacks, and by some -other names, I believe, and they’re about as good<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span> -fish to eat as any that swims in salt water, by whatever -name you call them.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, I’ve eaten them as bluefish,” answered -Dick. “They’re considered a great dainty in Boston -and up north generally.”</p> - -<p>“They’re all that,” answered Larry, “and catching -them is great sport besides, as you’ll agree after -you’ve had an hour or so of it. We must have -some bait first. Tom, run her in toward the mouth -of the slough you see on her starboard bow about -a mile away. See it? There, where the palmetto -trees stand. That’s it. She’s heading straight at -the point I mean. Run her in there and bring her -head into the wind. Then we’ll find a good place -and beach her, and I’ll go ashore with the cast net -and get a supply of shrimps.”</p> - -<p>“Is it a wallflower or a widow you’re talking -about, Larry?” languidly asked Cal, while his -brother was getting the cast net out and arranging -it for use.</p> - -<p>“What do you mean, Cal? Some pestilent nonsense, -I’ll be bound.”</p> - -<p>“Not at all,” drawled Cal. “I was chivalrously -concerned for the unattached and unattended female -of whom you’ve been speaking. You’ve mentioned -her six times, and always without an escort.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Oh, I see,” answered Larry, who was always -quick to catch Cal’s rather obscure jests. “Well, -by the pronouns ‘she’ and ‘her,’ I meant the good -ship <i>Hunkydory</i>. She is now nearing the shore -and if you don’t busy yourself arranging trolling -lines and have them ready by the time I get back -on board of her with a supply of shrimps, I’ll see -to it that you’re in no fit condition to get off another -feeble-minded joke like that for hours to come. -There, Tom, give her just a capful of wind and run -her gently up that little scrap of sandy beach. No, -no, don’t haul your sheet so far—ease it off a bit, -or she’ll run too far up the shore. There! That’s -better. The moment her nose touches let the sheet -run free. Good! Dick himself couldn’t have done -that better.”</p> - -<p>With that he sprang ashore, and with the heavily -leaded cast net over his arm and a galvanized iron -bait pail in his hand, hurried along the bank to the -mouth of the slough, where he knew there would -be multitudes of shrimps gathered for purposes of -feeding. After three or four casts of the net he -spread it, folded, over the top of his bait bucket to -keep the shrimps he had caught from jumping out. -Within fifteen minutes after leaping ashore he was -back on board again with a bucket full of the bait -he wanted.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Now, then,” he said to Dick and Tom, “Cal -will show you how to do the thing. I’ll sail the -boat back and forth through the schools, spilling -wind so as to keep speed down. Oh, it’s great -sport.”</p> - -<p>“Well, you shall have your share of it then,” -said Dick, carefully coiling his line. “After I’ve -tried it a little, and seen what sort of sailing it -needs, I’ll relieve you at the tiller and you shall take -my line.”</p> - -<p>“You’ll do nothing of the kind,” said Cal with a -slower drawl than usual by way of giving emphasis -to his words. “Not if I see you first. After -Larry has run us through the school two or three -times, missing it more than half the time, I’ll take -the tiller myself and give you a real chance to hook -a fish or two.”</p> - -<p>Dick knew Cal well enough to understand that -he was in earnest and that there would be no use -in protesting or arguing the matter. Besides that, -he hooked a big fish just at that moment, and was -jerked nearly off his feet. The strength of the -pull astonished him for a moment. He had never -encountered a fish of any kind that could tug like -that, and for the moment he forgot that the dory -was doing most of the pulling. In the meanwhile<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span> -he had lost his fish by holding his line too firmly -and dragging the hook out of its mouth.</p> - -<p>“That’s your first lesson,” said Cal, as deliberately -as if there had been no exciting sport on hand, -and with like deliberation letting his own line slip -slowly through his tightened fingers. “You must -do it as I am doing it now,” he continued. “You -see, I have a fish at the other end of my line and I -want to bring him aboard. So instead of holding -as hard as a check post, I yield a little to the exigencies -of the situation, letting the line slip with -difficulty through my fingers at first and long -enough to transmit the momentum of the boat to -the fish. Then, having got his finny excellency -well started in the way he should go, I encourage -persistency in well doing on his part by drawing in -line. Never mind your own line now. We’ve run -through the school and Larry is heaving-to to let -Tom and me land our fish. You observe that Tom -has so far profited by his close study of my performance -that—yes, he has landed the first fish, -and here comes mine into the boat. You can set -her going again, Larry; I won’t drag a line this -time, but devote all my abilities to the instruction -of Dick.”</p> - -<p>On the next dash and the next no fish were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span> -hooked. Then, as the boat sailed through the -school again, Dick landed two beauties, and Tom -one.</p> - -<p>“That ends it for to-day,” said Larry, laying -the boat’s course toward the heavily wooded mainland -at the point where Cal had suggested a stay of -several days for shooting.</p> - -<p>“But why not make one more try?” eagerly -asked Tom, whose enthusiasm in the sport was -thoroughly aroused; “haven’t we time enough?”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” said Larry, “but we have fish enough -also. The catch will last us as long as we can -keep the fish fresh, which isn’t very long in this -climate, and we never catch more fish or kill more -game than we can dispose of. It is unsportsmanlike -to do that, and it is wanton cruelty besides.”</p> - -<p>“That’s sound, and sensible, and sportsmanlike,” -said Dick, approvingly. “And besides, we really -haven’t any time to spare if we’re going to stop on -the island yonder for dinner, as we agreed, -and—”</p> - -<p>“And as at least one appetite aboard the <i>Hunkydory</i> -insists that we shall,” interrupted Cal. “It’s -after three o’clock now.”</p> - -<p>“So say we all of us,” sang Tom to the familiar -after-dinner tune, and Larry shifted the course so -as to head for an island nearly a mile away.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span></p> - -<p>There a hasty dinner was cooked and eaten, but -hasty as it was, it occupied more time in preparation -than had been reckoned upon, so that it was -fully five o’clock when the dory was again cast off.</p> - -<p>In the meanwhile the wind had sunk to a mere -zephyr, scarcely sufficient to give the heavy boat -steerage way, and, late in the day, as it was, the -sun shone with a sweltering fervor that caused the -boys to look forward with dread to the prospect of -having to resort to the oars.</p> - -<p>That time came quickly, and the sails, now useless -in the hot, still air, were reluctantly lowered.</p> - -<p>A stretch of water, more than half a dozen miles -in width, lay before them, and the tide was strong -against them. But they pluckily plied the oars -and the heavy boat slowly but surely overcame the -distance.</p> - -<p>They had found no fresh water on the island, -and there was very little in the water kegs when -they left it for their far-away destination. The -hard work of rowing against the tide in a hot atmosphere, -made them all thirsty, so that long before -they reached their chosen landing place, the -last drop of the water was gone, with at least two -more hours of rowing in prospect.</p> - -<p>“There’s a spring where I propose to land,” said -Cal, by way of reassuring his companions. “As<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span> -I remember it, the water’s a bit brackish, but it is -drinkable at any rate.”</p> - -<p>“Are you sure you can find the spot in the dark, -Cal?” asked Larry, with some anxiety in his voice. -“For it’ll be pitch dark before we get there.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes, I can find it,” his brother answered.</p> - -<p>“There’s a deep indentation in the coast there—an -inlet, in fact, which runs several miles up -through the woods. We’ll run in toward the shore -presently and skirt along till we come to the mouth -of the creek. I’ll find it easily enough.”</p> - -<p>But in spite of his assurances, the boys, now severely -suffering with thirst, had doubts, and to -make sure, they approached the shore and insisted -that Cal should place himself on the bow, where -he could see the land as the boat skirted it.</p> - -<p>This left three of them to handle four oars. One -of them used a pair, in the stern rowlocks, where -the width of the boat was not too great for sculls, -while the other two plied each an oar amidships.</p> - -<p>In their impatience, and tortured by thirst as -they were, the three oarsmen put their backs into -the rowing and maintained a stroke that sent the -boat along at a greater speed than she had ever before -made with the oars alone. Still it seemed to -them that their progress was insufferably slow.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span></p> - -<p>Presently Cal called to them: “Port—more to -port—steady! there! we’re in the creek and have -only to round one bend of it. Starboard! Steady! -Way enough.”</p> - -<p>A moment later the dory slid easily up a little -sloping beach and rested there.</p> - -<p>“Where’s your spring, Cal?” the whole company -cried in chorus, leaping ashore.</p> - -<p>“This way—here it is.”</p> - -<p>The spring was a small pool, badly choked, but -the boys threw themselves down and drank of it -greedily. It was not until their thirst was considerably -quenched that they began to observe how -brackish the water was. When the matter was -mentioned at last, Cal dismissed it with one of his -profound discourses.</p> - -<p>“I’ve drunk better water than that, I’ll admit; -but I never drank any water that I enjoyed more.” -Then he added:</p> - -<p>“You fellows are ungrateful, illogical, unfair, -altogether unreasonable. That water is so good -that you never found out its badness till after it had -done you a better service than any other water in -the world ever did. Yet now you ungratefully revile -its lately discovered badness, while omitting to -remember its previously enjoyed and surpassing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span> -goodness. I am so ashamed of you that I’m going -to start a fire and get supper going. I for one -want some coffee, and it is going to be made of -water from that spring, too. Those who object to -brackish coffee will simply have to go without.”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2 class="p4">VII</h2> - -<p class="pch">AN ENEMY IN CAMP</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">No</span> sooner was the camp fire started than Cal -went to the boat and brought away a piece of tarpaulin, -used to protect things against rain. With -this and a lighted lantern he started off through -the thicket toward the mouth of the little estuary, -leaving Dick to make coffee and fry fish, while -Larry mixed a paste of corn meal, water and a little -salt, which he meant presently to spread into -thin sheets and bake in the hot embers, as soon as -the fire should burn down sufficiently to make a -bed of coals.</p> - -<p>As Cal was setting out, Tom, who had no particular -duty to do at the moment, asked:</p> - -<p>“Where are you off to, Cal?”</p> - -<p>“Come along with me and see,” Cal responded -without answering the direct question. “I may -need your help. Suppose you bring the big bait -bucket with you. Empty the shrimps somewhere. -They’re all too dead to eat, but we may need ’em -for bait.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span></p> - -<p>Tom accepted the invitation and the two were -quickly beyond the bend in the creek and well out -of sight of the camp. As they neared the open -water, Cal stopped, held the lantern high above his -head, and looked about him as if in search of something. -Presently he lowered the lantern, cried out, -“Ah, there it is,” and strode on rapidly through -the dense undergrowth.</p> - -<p>Tom had no time to ask questions. He had -enough to do to follow his long-legged companion.</p> - -<p>After a brief struggle with vines and undergrowths -of every kind, the pair came out upon a -little sandy beach with a large oyster bank behind -it, and Tom had no further need to ask questions, -for Cal spread the tarpaulin out flat upon the sands, -and both boys began gathering oysters, not from -the solid bank where thousands of them had their -shells tightly welded together, but from the water’s -edge, and even from the water itself wherever it -did not exceed a foot or so in depth. Cal explained -that these submerged oysters, being nearly all the -time under salt water, and growing singly, or nearly -so, were far fatter and better than those in the -bank or near its foot.</p> - -<p>It did not take long to gather quite as many of -the fat bivalves as the two could conveniently carry -in the tarpaulin and the bait pail, and as Cal was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span> -tying up the corners of the cloth Tom began -scrutinizing the sandy beach at a point which the -ordinary tides did not reach. As he did so he observed -a queer depression in the sand and asked Cal -to come and see what it meant.</p> - -<p>After a single glance at it, Cal exclaimed gleefully:</p> - -<p>“Good for you, Tom. This is the luckiest find -yet.”</p> - -<p>With that he placed the lantern in a favorable -position, emptied the bait pail, hurriedly knelt down, -and with his hands began digging away the sand.</p> - -<p>“But what is it, Cal? What are you digging -for?”</p> - -<p>“I’ll show you in half a minute,” said the other, -continuing to dig diligently. Less than the half -minute later he began drawing out of the sand a -multitude of snow-white eggs about the size of a -walnut. As Tom looked on in open-mouthed wonder, -he thought there must be no end to the supply.</p> - -<p>“What are they, Cal?” the boy asked.</p> - -<p>“Turtle’s eggs, and there’s a bait bucket full of -them. You’ve made the luckiest find of all, Tom,” -he said again in congratulation.</p> - -<p>“Are they good to eat?”</p> - -<p>“Good to eat? Is anything you ever tasted good<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span> -to eat? Why, Tom, they’re about the rarest delicacy -known to civilized man. In Charleston they -sell at fabulous prices, when there happen to be -any there to sell. Now we must hurry back to the -fire, for the ash cakes must be about done and the -coffee made.”</p> - -<p>After a moment or two of silence, Tom asked:</p> - -<p>“Why did you think there was an oyster bank -down there, Cal?”</p> - -<p>“I noticed it as we came into the creek and I -took pains to remember its location. But here we -are. See, fellows, what Tom has found! Now -bring on your coffee and your ash cakes and your -fish, and we’ll feast like a company of Homer’s -warriors. It won’t take long to boil the eggs in -salt water—ten minutes is the allotted time, I believe, -in the case of turtle’s eggs, and during that -time we can be eating the other things and filling -up with fire-opened oysters.”</p> - -<p>With that he threw three or four oysters upon -the coals, removing them as soon as they opened -and swallowing them from the shell. The others -followed his example.</p> - -<p>Of course it really was an excellent supper the -boys were eating out there under the stars, but -sharp-set hunger made it seem even better than it -was, and the contrast between it and the supper<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span> -of bologna sausages and hardtack of the night before, -added greatly to the zest of their feasting. -They rejoiced, too, in being free, out there in the -woodlands, with no dismal rain to depress their -spirits and no restraint of any kind upon their liberty.</p> - -<p>But they were all very tired after their sleepless -night before and their hard-working day, and without -argument or discussion, one by one of them -stretched himself before the fire not long after supper, -and fell asleep. Cal remained awake longer -than the rest, though he, too, was lying flat upon -his back, ready to welcome sleep as soon as it should -come to his eyelids.</p> - -<p>Before it came he was moved by jealousy or mischief -to disturb the others with an admonition.</p> - -<p>“You fellows are recklessly trifling with your -health, every one of you, and it is my duty to warn -you of the consequences. In allowing so brief a -time to elapse between the consumption of food -in generous quantities, and your retirement to your -couches, you are inviting indigestion, courting bad -dreams and recklessly risking the permanent organic -and functional impairment of your constitutions—to -say nothing of your by-laws, orders of business, -rules of procedure and other things that should be -equally precious to you.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span></p> - -<p>“<i>Will</i> you shut up, Cal?” muttered Dick, half -awake. Tom remained unconscious and Larry responded -only with a snore.</p> - -<p>Presently even Cal’s wakefulness yielded, his -thoughts wandered, and he fell into a sound slumber.</p> - -<p>The woodlands were as still as woodlands at -night ever are; the stars shone brilliantly in a perfectly -clear sky; the brush wood fire died down to -a mass of glowing coals and gray ashes, and still -the weary ship’s company slept on without waking -or even moving.</p> - -<p>Then something happened, and Larry, who was -always alert, even in his sleep, suddenly sat up, at -the same time silently grasping the gun that lay -by his side. He was sure he had heard a noise in -his sleep, but now that he was wide awake, everything -seemed profoundly still. Nevertheless he -waited and watched. Then suddenly he brought -his gun to his shoulder, and in sharp, ringing tones -cried out:</p> - -<p>“Drop that!”</p> - -<p>Instantly all the boys were standing with their -guns in hand, not knowing what had happened, but -ready to meet whatever might come. A second or -two later Larry, still sitting and aiming his gun -over his bent knees, called out again:</p> - -<p>“Drop that, I say! Drop it instantly or I’ll -shoot. I’ve got a bead on you. Now throw up -your hands! Quick, and no fooling.”</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/ill-085.jpg" width="400" height="598" id="i72" - alt="" - title="" /> - <div class="caption"><p class="pc400"><span class="smcap">Dick, Cal, and Tom searched the man’s clothes.</span><br /> -<span class="wn"><a href="#Page_73"><i>Page 73.</i></a></span></p> -</div></div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span></p> - -<p>As he gave this command he rose and slowly -advanced toward the dory, keeping his gun levelled -from his shoulder.</p> - -<p>It was difficult to see anything, until Tom -thought to throw a bunch of dry brush upon the -coals. As it blazed up the boys saw the man whom -Larry had held up. He was standing by the boat, -his back toward them and his hands, held up in -obedience to Larry’s command.</p> - -<p>“Now, boys, see what shooting irons he has -about him,” directed Larry, who stood with the -muzzle of his shotgun less than three feet away -from the prisoner.</p> - -<p>Dick, Cal and Tom searched the man’s clothes, -but found no weapons of any sort there. Tom was -thoughtful enough to search his long-legged leather -boots, and from each of them he presently drew a -murderous-looking army revolver. Without saying -a word, the boy sprung the pistols open and -emptied them of their cartridges, which he tossed -into the creek.</p> - -<p>“Now you may let your hands down,” said -Larry, at the same time lowering his piece, but continuing -to hold it with both barrels at full cock.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Cal, take care of that box of cartridges I made -him drop, and take a lantern and look the boat -over. He may have done some damage before trying -to steal our ammunition.”</p> - -<p>Up to this time the intruder, a huge man of evil -countenance, had spoken no word. Now he suddenly -took the initiative.</p> - -<p>“Who are you fellers, anyhow, and what are you -a-doing here?” he asked.</p> - -<p>“Curiously enough,” responded Cal, “those are -precisely the questions I was going to ask you. -Suppose you answer first. Who are you and what -are you doing here?”</p> - -<p>“That’s for me to know and you to find out,” -the intruder replied, truculently.</p> - -<p>“Perhaps you’d better reconsider that,” said Cal. -“You’re a prisoner, you know, caught in the act -of stealing our ammunition, and we are armed. -We can chuck you into our boat and take you to a -magistrate, who will provide you with jail accommodations -for a while. Give an account of -yourself. What did you come to our camp -for?”</p> - -<p>“I come,” he replied with somewhat less assurance -in his tone, “to find out who you fellers was, -and what you’re a-doin’ here where you don’t belong, -and to give you fair warnin’ to git away from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span> -here jest as quick as you know how. Ef you don’t, -it’ll be a good deal the worse for you.”</p> - -<p>“We’ll do nothing of the kind,” broke in Larry. -“We’re on land that belongs to Mr. Hayward, a -friend of ours, and we’re going to stay here as long -as we like.”</p> - -<p>“You’ll do it at your own resk, then. You’ve -got me hard and fast, but they’s others besides me.”</p> - -<p>“Now listen to me,” said Larry, rising and -speaking sharply. “We’ve got you hard and fast, -as you say, and we could take you to jail or we -could hold you as a hostage, if you know what that -means; but we’ll do neither. We’re not afraid of -you or the ‘others’ you mentioned. We are going -to turn you loose and dare you to do your worst. -We’ve a right to be where we are, and we’re going -to stay here till we’re ready to go. We’re armed, -and we know how to shoot. But there’ll be no -holding up of hands the next time any of you invade -our camp, and there’ll be no challenging. It’ll -be quick triggers. Now go! We expect to stay -here for three or four days. Go!”</p> - -<p>The man moved off through the woods, with a -peculiar limp in his left leg, turning about when at -a little distance, and shouting:</p> - -<p>“It’ll be the worse for you! I’ve give you fair -warnin’.”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2 class="p4">VIII</h2> - -<p class="pch">CAL BEGINS TO DO THINGS</p> - -<p>“<span class="smcap">Wonder</span> what it all means,” said Tom, when -the man had limped away through the undergrowth -and out of hearing.</p> - -<p>“It means, for one thing,” said Cal, “that we’re -practically in a state of siege here. We must all -be on the alert and never all sleep at once.”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” said Larry, “and that isn’t enough. We -must guard ourselves against surprise by day as -well as by night. As soon as it grows light enough -in the morning I’ll explore our surroundings and -see what may best be done. It is now a trifle after -four o’clock, and we shan’t go to sleep again. Why -not have breakfast and make a long day of it. I -want to get some game, for one thing. I wonder -if that fellow’s gang, whoever they are, have cleaned -all the wild things out of these woods.”</p> - -<p>“You can rest easy as to that,” said Cal. -“We’ll have something fit to eat for dinner to-day, -and I’ll have it here in time to cook it properly for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span> -that meal. What I am wondering about is who -those fellows are, and what they are doing around -here, and why they don’t want us around.”</p> - -<p>“Then you believe what that fellow said?” asked -Dick. “You believe in the existence of those others’ -with whose vengeance he threatened us?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, of course.”</p> - -<p>“Well, I don’t. There may be another man -down here with that one, fishing or hunting, but I -don’t believe in the presence of a company of -them.”</p> - -<p>“But why not, Dick?”</p> - -<p>“Simply because it is unlikely. On its face it -seems to me more likely that, as we had caught that -fellow stealing, he invented the formidable and -vengeful force theory just to scare us into letting -him go. What would there be for such a band as -he suggests to do down here in these lonely woods? -What is there here to attract such a band?”</p> - -<p>“I am not prepared to answer those questions,” -said Cal. “I can’t imagine what a gang of that -sort could be doing here, or why they are here, or -anything about it. But it is my firm conviction -that we have need to keep cartridges in our guns and -about our persons.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, that’s of course,” answered Dick; “though -if there is any such gang and they don’t attack us<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span> -early this morning, we needn’t look for them before -night, so we’ll have plenty of time for getting -a good supply of game.”</p> - -<p>“All right,” said Cal. “And by way of making -sure, as it’s coming on daylight now, I’ll go and -get that turkey gobbler I was speaking of. I’ll be -back to breakfast.”</p> - -<p>With that Cal started off, gun in hand, leaving -the rest to wonder.</p> - -<p>“How can he be so confident of finding game?” -Dick asked, with a note of incredulity in his voice.</p> - -<p>“I don’t know,” answered Larry, “but it’s nine -chances in ten that he’ll do it. He’s the wiliest -hunter I ever knew, and with all his chatter, he -never says a thing of that kind without meaning -it; especially he never gives a positive promise -unless he is confident of his ability to fulfill -it. So I expect to see him back here before we -have breakfast ready, with a turkey gobbler slung -over his shoulders.”</p> - -<p>“Why ‘gobbler,’ Larry?” Dick asked, looking -up from the mortar in which he was pounding the -coffee.</p> - -<p>“How do you mean, Dick?”</p> - -<p>“Why, it wasn’t just a turkey that Cal promised -us, but specifically a gobbler, and now when you -speak of it you also assume that the bird he is to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span> -kill will be of the male sex. Why may it not be a -turkey hen?”</p> - -<p>“Why, he wouldn’t think of shooting a turkey -hen at this time of year. They’re bringing up -their chicks now and they won’t be fit to eat for a -month yet. So if he brings any turkey with him -it’ll be a bearded old gobbler as fat as butter.”</p> - -<p>At that moment a shot was heard at some distance. -The next instant there was another, after -which all was still.</p> - -<p>“I say, Larry, I don’t like that,” said Tom uneasily.</p> - -<p>“Don’t like what?”</p> - -<p>“Why, those two shots in quick succession. -Maybe Cal has met some of that gang and they’ve -shot him. Hadn’t we better go to his assistance?”</p> - -<p>“You may go if you are uneasy, Tom,” answered -Larry; “but it isn’t at all necessary I think. -Cal knows how to take care of himself.”</p> - -<p>“But how do you account for the two shots in -such quick succession?”</p> - -<p>“By the fact that Cal usually hunts with cartridges -in both barrels of his gun just as other people -do. He may have missed at the first fire. In -that case he would take a second shot if he could -get it.”</p> - -<p>Tom was somewhat reassured by this suggestion,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span> -but he was not entirely free from anxiety -until ten minutes later when he heard the crackling -of dry branches under Cal’s big boots. A moment -afterwards Cal himself appeared, with two -huge gobblers slung over his neck.</p> - -<p>“So you got one with each barrel,” quietly commented -Larry, feeling of the birds to test their fatness.</p> - -<p>“Yes, of course. That’s what I fired twice for. -Did you imagine I’d shoot the second barrel just -for fun? By the way, isn’t breakfast nearly ready? -I’m pretty sharp set in this crisp morning air.”</p> - -<p>“I must say, Cal,” said Dick, as the little company -sat on the ground to eat their breakfast, -“you’re the very coolest hand I ever saw. Why, -if I had shot two big gobblers out of one flock of -turkeys I’d be tiring the rest of you with minute -descriptions—more or less inaccurate, perhaps—of -just how I did it, and just how I felt while doing -it, and just how the turkeys behaved, and all the -rest of it.”</p> - -<p>“What’s the use?” asked Cal between sips of -coffee. “The facts are simple enough. We -wanted some turkeys and I went out to get them. -I knew where they were roosting and I got there -before time for them to quit the roost. I shot one -from the limb on which he had passed the night.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span> -The others flew, of course, and I shot one of them -on the wing. That’s absolutely all there is to tell. -I like to get my game when I go for it but I never -could see the use of holding a coroner’s inquest -over it.”</p> - -<p>“What puzzles me,” said Tom, “is how on -earth you knew just where those turkeys were -roosting. Did you just guess it?”</p> - -<p>“No, of course not. If I had, I shouldn’t have -been so ready to promise you a gobbler as I was.”</p> - -<p>“Then how did you know?”</p> - -<p>“I saw the roost last night.”</p> - -<p>“When, and how?”</p> - -<p>“When you and I were out after the oysters. -Do you remember that just before we came out of -the woods and upon the beach, I stopped and held -up the lantern and looked all around?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, but you were looking for the oyster bed -and you found it.”</p> - -<p>“I was looking for the oyster bed, of course. -But I was looking for anything else there might be -to see, too. I always do that. When I was at the -bow last night looking for the mouth of this creek -I saw the oyster bed, and marked its locality in -my mind. In the same way, when I was looking -for the oyster bed with the lantern above my head, -I saw the turkey-roost and carefully made mental<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span> -note of its surroundings so that I might go straight -to it this morning. Is there any other gentleman -in the company who would like to ask me questions -with a view to the satisfaction of his curiosity -or the improvement of his mind?”</p> - -<p>“I for one would like to ask you what else you -saw this morning while you were out after the turkeys,” -answered Tom. “Apparently you never -look for one thing without finding some others of -equal or superior importance. Did you do anything -of that sort this morning?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, I think so. I made two observations, in -fact, and both of them seem to me to possess a certain -measure of interest.”</p> - -<p>Cal paused in his speech at this point and proceeded -to eat his breakfast quite as if the others had -not been waiting for him to go on with whatever -it was that he had to tell.</p> - -<p>“You’re the most provoking fellow I ever saw, -Cal,” said Tom, impatiently. “When you have -nothing to say that is in the least worth saying, -you grind out words like a water mill, till you bury -yourself and the rest of us in the chaffy nonsense. -But when you have something to tell that we’re all -eager to hear, you shut up like a clam at low tide. -Go on, can’t you?”</p> - -<p>“I have always heard,” replied Cal, in leisurely<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span> -fashion, as if his only purpose had been to prevent -the conversation from flagging, “that one of the -most necessary arts of the orator is that of getting -his audience into a condition of anxious waiting -for his words before he really says the thing they -want to hear. I cannot myself claim the title of -orator, but I’m practicing and—”</p> - -<p>“<i>Will</i> you stop that nonsense, Cal, and tell us -what you have in mind? If not we’ll duck you in -the creek.”</p> - -<p>It was Larry who uttered this threat.</p> - -<p>“I’ve had worse things than that happen to me,” -answered Cal, imperturbably. “The morning is -sunny and the sea water on this coast closely approximates -tepidity. By the way, Dick, our higher -water temperature seems to mar the edibility of -some fish that are deemed good at the North. -There’s what you call the weak fish—”</p> - -<p>He stopped suddenly, for the reason that Dick -had approached him from behind, seized his shoulders -and toppled him over upon the ground.</p> - -<p>“Now tell us what we’re waiting to hear!” Dick -commanded, still holding his comrade down upon -his back.</p> - -<p>“My mouth’s full of sand,” Cal managed to say; -“let me up and I’ll make a clean breast of it, on -honor.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span></p> - -<p>Dick loosed his hold, and as soon as Cal had -rinsed his mouth, he redeemed his promise.</p> - -<p>“Well, the first thing I discovered was that -there’s a promising young deer at present haunting -this neck of the woods, and we’re all going out to -involve it in controversy with us to-day, and then -shoot it as its just due for defying us in such impudent -fashion.”</p> - -<p>“Venison!” exclaimed Tom enthusiastically; -“how my mouth waters for a taste of its juiciness! -But how do you know about it, Cal?”</p> - -<p>“It isn’t venison yet,” slowly answered the -other. “You are much too hasty in jumping at -conclusions. That deer will not be venison until -we find it and convert it into meat of that justly -esteemed sort. Now to answer your question; I -discovered its tracks and followed them far enough -to know whither it was wending its way and about -where to look for it when you fellows quit your -ceaseless talking and are ready for the chase. -There’s no great hurry, however, as the tracks were -made this morning and—”</p> - -<p>“How do you know that?” interrupted Tom.</p> - -<p>“I smelt them.”</p> - -<p>“But how? I don’t understand.”</p> - -<p>“It oughtn’t to be difficult for even you, Tom, to -make out that if I smelt the tracks, I employed my<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span> -nose for that purpose. I usually smell things in -just that way.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, pshaw, you know what I mean. I didn’t -imagine any creature but a well-trained hound -could discover a scent in a deer’s track.”</p> - -<p>“Obviously your imagination is in need of a reinforcement -of facts then. I’ll furnish them. In -the middle of a deer’s foot there is a little spot that -bears an odor sweeter than that of attar of roses -and quite as pronounced. For that reason many -young ladies, and some who are not so young perhaps, -like to keep a deer’s foot among their daintiest -lingerie. Now, when a deer puts his foot down -it spreads sufficiently to bring that perfumed spot -in contact with the earth and the track is delicately -perfumed. When the odor is pronounced it indicates -that the track is newly made.</p> - -<p>“Now that I have fully answered your intruded, -if not intrusive question, Tom, perhaps I may be -permitted to finish the sentence you interrupted.”</p> - -<p>“Certainly, go on. Really, Cal, I didn’t -mean—”</p> - -<p>“I know you didn’t. I was saying that there is -no need of haste in going after that deer, because -the tracks were made this morning, and the marshy -thicket toward which the deer was making his way -is sufficiently rich in succulent grasses and juicy<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span> -young cane to occupy his mind for the entire day, -and several days. A little later we’ll cut off his -retreat on the land side of the point, and if we -don’t get him the fault will be with our inexpertness -with our guns.”</p> - -<p>“That’s all right, Cal,” broke in Larry, “and -I’m glad you’ve marked down the deer; but just -now I must be off to plan our defense. You’ve -taken so long to tell us about your first discovery -that I can’t wait to hear about the second.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes, you can,” replied Cal. “It will save -you a lot of trouble, and I can tell it in about half -a dozen words.”</p> - -<p>“Go ahead and tell it, then.”</p> - -<p>“It is simply that I have solved the whole problem -of defense.”</p> - -<p>“How? Tell us about it!”</p> - -<p>“Why, just above our camp—up the creek a -few hundred yards, there’s a big gum tree, with -an easily accessible crotch, comfortable to sit in, -from which the one playing sentinel can see everything -we want to see. He can look clear across -this point and half a mile or more up the creek, and -by turning his head he can see the camp itself and -the <i>Hunkydory</i> and even the soiled spots on your -coats. All we’ve got to do is to keep a sentinel -in that gum tree, and nobody can approach our<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span> -camp unseen, whether he comes by land or by water. -Come on and I’ll show you.”</p> - -<p>The whole company followed Cal, and after a -minute inspection found the lookout to be quite as -satisfactory as he had represented it to be. But -Tom, who had made up his mind to acquire Cal’s -habit of observation, noticed some things about the -place that aroused his curiosity. He said nothing -about them at the time, but resolved to read the -riddle of their meaning if he could. To that end -he asked to be the first to serve as sentinel.</p> - -<p>“All right,” said Larry. “You can stay here -till we’re ready to go after that deer. Then I’ll -take your place.”</p> - -<p>“But why?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, so that you may have your share in the -deer hunt.”</p> - -<p>“You needn’t either of you bother about that,” -said Cal. “Our camp can be seen all the way to -the cane brake where the deer is browsing, and also -from one of the points at which a man must stand -with his gun when we drive the deer. So we shan’t -need any other sentinel and we’ll all go. With all -of us together over there we’ll be ready to repel any -attack on ourselves, and if anybody invades the -camp we’ll swoop down upon him and exterminate -him.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span></p> - -<p>There was a good deal to be done at the camp -before going after the deer. The turkeys were to -be picked and dressed and one of them to be -roasted. Some fishing was to be done and it was -necessary to put up some sort of bush shelter for -use in case of rain. So, leaving Tom as sentinel, -the other boys went back to the anchorage, and -Tom began his scrutiny of the things he had observed.</p> - -<p>As a last injunction Larry said: “You can -come in to dinner, Tom, when I whistle through -my fingers. If there’s nobody in sight then, we -can risk the dinner hour without a sentry.”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2 class="p4">IX</h2> - -<p class="pch">A FANCY SHOT</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">The</span> things that had attracted Tom’s attention -were so trifling in themselves that only a person -alertly observing would have noticed them at all. -Yet Tom thought they might have significance, and -he was bent upon finding out what that significance -was.</p> - -<p>First of all, he had observed that a little blind -trail seemed to lead westward from the tree, and -in no other direction, as if it had been made by -someone who visited the tree and then returned -by the way he had come, going no farther in any -direction. The trail was so blind that Tom could -not be sure it was a trail at all. If so, it had been -traversed very infrequently, and at rather long intervals. -If it had been the only suggestive thing -seen, the boy would probably not have given it a -thought. But he observed also that the bark of the -gum tree was a trifle scarred at two points, suggesting -that some one with heavy boots on had recently -climbed it.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span></p> - -<p>As soon as the other boys had gone back to camp, -Tom set to work to make a closer inspection of -his surroundings. He climbed the tree to the -crotch and looked about him. There was nothing -there, but from that height he could trace the little -trail through the bushes for perhaps fifty or a -hundred yards. He satisfied himself in that way -that it was really a trail, made by the passage of -some living thing, man or beast, through the dense -undergrowth.</p> - -<p>“I’ll follow that trail after a while,” he resolved, -“but I’ll say nothing about it now. I might be -laughed at for my pains. Not that I mind that, -of course. We fellows are well used to being -laughed at among ourselves. But when I say anything -about this, I want to have something to tell -that is worth telling. After all, it may be only -the path of a deer or of one of the queer little wild -horses—tackeys, they call them—that live in the -swamps. Or a wild hog may have made it. I -don’t know, and I’m not going to talk about the -thing till I can talk to some purpose.”</p> - -<p>As he wriggled around in the crotch, he dropped -his knife from his pocket.</p> - -<p>“That’s a reminder,” he reflected, “that people -sometimes drop things when they don’t intend to. -If anybody else has been roosting up here he may<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span> -have dropped things, too. I’ll recover my knife and -then I’ll search around the tree.”</p> - -<p>He was on the ground now, and having replaced -his knife he began a minute search of the space -for ten or twenty feet around the tree. It was -thickly carpeted with the densely-growing vegetation -that is always quick to take possession of -every unoccupied inch of ground in the far southern -swamps and woodlands. Searching such a -space for small objects was almost a hopeless task, -and finding nothing, Tom was on the point of giving -up the attempt, when he trod upon something. -Examining it, he found it to be an old corncob -pipe with a short cane stem. It was blackened by -long smoking, and that side of it which had lain -next to the ground had begun to decay. But there -was half-burned tobacco in it still.</p> - -<p>From all these facts Tom thought it likely that -the pipe, while still alight, had been dropped from -the tree, and that its owner had failed to find it upon -his descent.</p> - -<p>“That means that somebody was using this tree -for a lookout a good while ago. I can’t imagine -why or wherefore, but I mean to find out if I can. -Just now I hear Larry’s whistle calling me to dinner. -I wonder how he manages to make that shrill -shrieking noise by putting two fingers into his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span> -mouth and blowing between them. I must get him -to teach me the trick.”</p> - -<p>It was decided at dinner that the deer hunt should -occur as soon as that meal was finished.</p> - -<p>“The deer will be lying down, chewing the cud, -at this time of day,” explained Larry to his two -guests, who had never shared a deer hunt, “and so -we shan’t disturb him in placing ourselves. What’s -the nature of the ground, Cal? Can three of us -cover it while the fourth drives?”</p> - -<p>“We must,” Cal answered. “It may give some -one of us a very long shot, but with nitro-powder -cartridges these modern guns of ours will pitch -buckshot a long way. The marsh in which the -deer is feeding is on a sort of peninsula which is -surrounded by water except on one side. That -land side is a rather narrow neck, narrow enough -for three guns to cover it, I think, if the guns are -well handled. Fortunately the marsh itself is -small. If it weren’t we might drive all day, as -we have no dogs, without routing the deer out. As -it is, I think I can start him, and I’ll do the driving -after I post you three at the three best points of -observation.”</p> - -<p>“How do you ‘drive,’ as you call it, Cal?” Dick -asked.</p> - -<p>“Well, if we had dogs and horses, as we always<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span> -do in a regular deer hunt, the man appointed to -drive would ride around to the farther side of the -swamp, and put the dogs into it. The dogs would -scatter out into an irregular line and zigzag to one -side and the other in search of the quarry. In that -way they would advance till they found the deer -and set him running toward the line of men on the -posts. Every one of these would be intently looking -and listening till the deer should come running -at top speed in an effort to dash past his enemies -and escape. The man on the post nearest where -he breaks through is expected to bring him down -with a quick shot aimed at his side, just behind the -shoulder.”</p> - -<p>“But what if he misses?”</p> - -<p>“In that case the deer has won the game. As -we have no dogs and there are only four of us, I -mean to post you three at the points I find best -suited, and then I’ll play hounds myself. I’ll go -round to the farther side of the little swamp, invade -it as noisily as I can, whooping and hallooing -in the hope of getting the deer up. If I do, he’ll -make a dash to get out of the swamp, and if no -one of you manages to shoot him in the act, we’ll -have none of that juicy venison that you, Tom, -thought you had almost in your mouth when I first -told you that the deer was here. Now let us be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span> -off. We’re burning daylight. Load with buckshot -cartridges.”</p> - -<p>When the neck of the little peninsula was -reached, Cal bade his comrades wait at the point -from which their camp could be seen, while he -should go over the ground and pick out the places -to be occupied as posts.</p> - -<p>On his return he placed the others each at the -point he had chosen for him, taking care that Tom -and Dick should have the places near which the -quarry was most likely to make his effort to break -through.</p> - -<p>“Now, you must keep perfectly still,” he admonished -the two inexperienced ones, “and keep -both eyes and three ears, if you have so many, -wide open. You may see the deer without hearing -him, or you may hear him tearing through the -bushes before you see him. That will give you -notice of his coming, but don’t let him fool you. -He may not come straight on from the spot at -which you hear him. If he catches sight, sound or -smell of you, he’ll veer off in some other direction. -So if you hear him coming don’t move a muscle -except those of your eyes.</p> - -<p>“Now I’m off to drive. If I can, I’ll get him up -and away. After that everything will depend upon -you.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span></p> - -<p>It was nearly half an hour before the boys heard -Cal’s shoutings in the distance, but slowly coming -nearer. After that, in the eager watching and -waiting, the seconds seemed minutes, and the minutes -dragged themselves out into what seemed -hours.</p> - -<p>At last, however, Dick heard the deer breaking -through bushes just ahead of him. In another second -the frightened creature burst into view and -Dick fired, missing the game, which instantly -changed its course and ran away toward its left, -with the speed of the wind. Dick, in his excited -disappointment, fired his second barrel at a hopelessly -long range.</p> - -<p>Almost immediately he heard a shot from Tom’s -gun, and after that all was still. Cal struggled -out of the swamp, while Larry and Dick made their -way toward Tom’s post, “to hear,” Cal said, “just -what excuses the novices have invented on the spur -of the moment by way of accounting for their bad -marksmanship.”</p> - -<p>“I have none to offer,” said Dick, manfully. -“I missed my shot, that’s all.”</p> - -<p>“How is it with you, Tom? What plea have -you to offer?”</p> - -<p>“None whatever,” answered Tom. “Yonder -lies the deer by the side of the fallen tree. He<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span> -was taking a flying leap over it when I shot him—on -the wing, as it were.”</p> - -<p>The congratulations that followed this complete -surprise may be imagined. Cal fairly “wreaked -himself upon expression” in sounding his praises -of Tom’s superb marksmanship, and better still, his -coolness and calmness under circumstances, as Cal -phrased it, “that might have disturbed the equipoise -of an Egyptian mummy’s nerve centres.”</p> - -<p>Tom took all this congratulation and extravagance -of praise modestly and with as little show of -emotion as he had manifested while making his difficult -shot.</p> - -<p>Perhaps this was even more to his credit than -the other. For this was the first time Tom Garnett -had ever seen a deer hunt, or a live deer, either, -for that matter.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2 class="p4">X</h2> - -<p class="pch">TOM’S DISCOVERIES</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">As</span> no attack had been made upon the camp the -boys gradually relaxed the vigilance of their guard -duty; but they still maintained a sentry at the lookout -tree at night and made occasional visits of observation -during the day, going to the tree sufficiently -often to avoid being taken by surprise.</p> - -<p>“And what if they should attack us in daytime?” -argued Dick. “We’d be here, armed and -ready for them.”</p> - -<p>There was fishing to be done, and a game of -chess or backgammon was usually in progress. -Moreover, like any other company of bright youths -accustomed to think, they had enough to talk about, -many things to explain to each other, many stories -to tell, and many questions to discuss. Thus the -daytime sentry duty was reduced to nearly no activity, -except upon Tom’s part. He was apparently -fond of going to the lookout and remaining there -sometimes for hours at a time.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span></p> - -<p>The others did not know why he should care for -that as for an amusement. Tom did, but he said -nothing. Tom was finding out something that the -others knew nothing about.</p> - -<p>On the next morning but one after the deer hunt -he had climbed to the crotch of the tree to make a -further study of the trail he had discovered. After -a little while he decided to climb farther up the -tree, in order to secure a better view.</p> - -<p>From that loftier perch he saw something at a -distance that deeply interested him. It was a sort -of hovel, so buried in undergrowth that it would -have been scarcely visible at all except to one looking -from a high place as he was.</p> - -<p>But what interested him most was that presently -he saw the lame intruder of two nights before -come out of the hovel and limp down toward the -shore, where, as Tom easily made out, there was a -small, crooked little cove running into the woods, -not from the creek, but from the broader water outside.</p> - -<p>Tom lost sight of the man when he reached the -cove, and so did not make out what he was doing -there, but after a time he saw him limp away again -and go back to the neighborhood of the hovel, -which, however, he did not enter or approach very -nearly.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span></p> - -<p>He loitered around for awhile, like one who -must remain where he is, but who has nothing to -do there during an indefinitely long and tedious -waiting time. At last he stretched himself out on -a log in the shadow of the trees, as if to pass away -the time in sleep.</p> - -<p>Tom’s curiosity was by this time master of him. -Having seen so much, he was eager to see more. -Accordingly he clambered down the tree, and, with -gun in hand, set out to follow the blind trail.</p> - -<p>He moved silently from the first, and very cautiously -toward the end of his half-mile journey. -He was careful not to tread upon any of the dry -sticks that might make a noise in breaking, and to -permit no bush to swish as he let it go.</p> - -<p>At last he reached the neighborhood of the hovel, -and, securing a good hiding place in the dense undergrowth, -minutely studied his surroundings. -The lame man lay still on his log and apparently -asleep, until after awhile the sun’s changing position -brought his face into the strong glare. Then -he rose lazily, rubbing his eyes as if the sleep were -not yet out of them. Rising at last, with muttered -maledictions upon the heat, he limped over to a -clump of palmetes and from among them lifted -a stone jug, from which he took a prolonged -draught.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span></p> - -<p>“That’s the stuff to brace a man up!” he muttered -as he replaced the jug in its hiding place.</p> - -<p>Tom observed that there were nowhere any -traces of a camp fire, present or past, a fact that -puzzled him at first, for obviously the man lived -there in the thicket, or at least remained there for -prolonged periods at a time, and, as Tom reflected, -“he must eat.”</p> - -<p>The man himself solved the riddle for him presently -by going to another of his hiding places and -bringing thence a great handful of coarse ship biscuit -and a huge piece of cold pickled beef of the -kind that sailors call “salt-horse,” which he proceeded -to devour.</p> - -<p>“Obviously,” reflected Tom, “his food, such as -it is, is brought to him here already cooked. He -makes no fire, probably because he fears its light -by night or the smoke of it by day might reveal his -presence here. But why does he stay here? What -is he here for? Who are they who bring him -food, and when or how often do they come, and -for what purpose? It’s a Chinese puzzle, but I -mean to work it out.”</p> - -<p>Having made his observation of the place as minute -as he could Tom silently crept away, not walking -in the trail, but through the bushes near enough -to let him see it and follow its winding course. He<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span> -did this lest by walking too often in the trail he -should leave signs of its recent use.</p> - -<p>When he reached the lookout tree, to his surprise -he found his three comrades there.</p> - -<p>“Hello! What are you fellows doing here?” -he asked, breaking out of the bushes and thus giving -the first sign his comrades had had of his approach, -for even to the end of his little journey he -had been at pains to travel in absolute silence as -an Indian on the war path does.</p> - -<p>“Why, Tom, where have you been?” was the -first greeting the others gave him.</p> - -<p>“We’ve been dreadfully uneasy about you,” -Larry explained, “and when I whistled through -my fingers to call you to dinner and you didn’t -come, we hurried out here to look for you. Where -<i>have</i> you been and what have you been doing?”</p> - -<p>“I say, Larry, that reminds me that I want you -to teach me the trick of whistling through my fingers -in that way. Will you?”</p> - -<p>“I’ll teach you some things that are easier to -learn than that,” answered his companion, “if you -try any more of Cal’s tricks of beating round the -bush. Why don’t you tell us where you’ve been -and why, and all the rest of it? Don’t you understand -that we’ve been on tenterhooks of anxiety -about you for an hour?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Well, as I’m here, safe and sound, there is no -further need of anxiety, and as for your curiosity -to hear what I have to tell, I’ll relieve that while -we’re at dinner. Come on! I’m hungry and I -reckon the rest of you are, too. Anyhow, what -I’ve got to tell you is well worth hearing, and I -shall not tell you a word till we sit down on our -haunches and begin to enjoy again the flavor of that -venison, broiled on the live coals. You haven’t -cooked it yet, have you?”</p> - -<p>“No. We got the chops ready for the fire, and -then I whistled for you, so that we might all have -them fresh from the coals. As you didn’t come, -we got uneasy and went to look for you. So come -on and we’ll have a late dinner and sharp appetites.”</p> - -<p>No sooner were the juicy venison chops taken -from the fire and served upon a piece of bark that -did duty as a platter than the demand for the story -of Tom’s morning adventure became clamorous.</p> - -<p>With a chop in one hand and half an ash cake -in the other, Tom told all that he had done and -seen, giving the details as the reader already knows -them. Then, after finishing the meal and washing -his hands, face and head in the salt water of the -creek, he set forth the conclusions and conjectures -he had formed.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span></p> - -<p>“In the first place,” he said, “I am certain that -our late visitor—he with the game leg—is the -only person anywhere around. We are in no danger -of an attack, either by night or by day, until his -comrades, whoever they may be, come here and -join him. We have no need of doing sentry duty -out there at the gum tree, except to keep a sufficient -lookout to make sure that we know when -they do come. In my opinion that will be at night -sometime.”</p> - -<p>“Why do you think so, Tom?”</p> - -<p>“Simply because it is evident that they don’t -come here for any good or lawful purpose. If that -lame fellow with the whisky jug is a fair sample of -the crew, they are the sort that prefer darkness to -light because their deeds are evil.”</p> - -<p>“Who do you think they are, Tom?” asked -Cal, “and what, in your opinion, are they up -to?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know, but I mean to find out.”</p> - -<p>“How, Tom?”</p> - -<p>“By watching, and, if I don’t find out sooner, by -being within sight when they do come. I’m going -to reconnoiter the place again to-night to see what -that fellow does down there. Perhaps I may make -out something from that. At any rate, it’s worth -trying.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Why shouldn’t we all go with you?” Dick -asked eagerly. “Then if by any accident that evil-visaged -person with the lame leg should discover -you, we’ll be there in force enough to handle him -and the situation. I’ve heard that one of your -southern generals during the Civil War once said -that strategy is ‘getting there first with the most -men.’ Why shouldn’t we practice strategy?”</p> - -<p>“Why, of course, I counted on that,” Tom answered. -“I knew all you fellows would want to -go, and I reckon that’s our best plan. Anyhow, -we’ll try it.”</p> - -<p>“Now,” said Cal, “I have something to report -which I regard as of some little importance, particularly -as it means that the <i>Hunkydory</i> will have -to leave this port pretty soon—probably within the -next forty-eight hours, and possibly sooner.”</p> - -<p>“Why, what’s the matter, Cal?” asked all the -others together.</p> - -<p>“Only that our spring is rapidly drying up, and -as there is no other fresh water supply within -reach, we shall simply be obliged to quit these parts -as soon as we can get ourselves in shape to risk it.”</p> - -<p>“To risk what?”</p> - -<p>“Why, putting off in a boat on salt water. We -can’t do that without some fresh water on board.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span> -I’ve already begun the filling of the kegs by thimblefuls. -It promises to be a slow process, as the spring -seems unable to yield more than a gill or so at a -time.”</p> - -<p>“But, Cal,” interrupted Tom, “we can get all -the water we want by digging a little anywhere -around here. It doesn’t lie three feet below the -surface.”</p> - -<p>“Neither does the fever,” answered Cal.</p> - -<p>“How do you mean?”</p> - -<p>“Why, I mean that the milky-looking water you -find by digging a few feet into the soil of these low-lying -lands is poisonous. It is surface water, an -exudation from the mass of decaying vegetable -matter that constitutes the soil of the swamps. To -drink it is to issue a pressing invitation to fever, -dysentery and other dangerous and deadly diseases, -to take up their permanent residence in our -intestinal tracts.”</p> - -<p>“But why isn’t the water of our spring just as -bad?”</p> - -<p>“Because it isn’t surface water at all, but spring -water that comes from a source very different from -that of the swamp soil. You have perhaps observed -that the bottom of our spring is composed of clean, -white sand, through which the water rises. That<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span> -sand was brought up by that water from strata that -lie far below the soil.”</p> - -<p>“What makes it brackish, then?”</p> - -<p>“It is brackish because a certain measure of sea -water from the creek there sipes into it. The sea -water is filtered through the sand, losing most of -its salt in the process. You’ve noticed, perhaps, -that the spring water is more brackish at high than -at low tide. That’s because—”</p> - -<p>“Oh, I see all that now. I hadn’t thought of it -before. But really, Cal, it seems rather hard that -we must sail away from here just when we’ve run -up against something mysterious and interesting. -Now, doesn’t it?”</p> - -<p>“Let me remind you,” answered Cal in his most -elaborate manner of mock-serious speaking, “that -I am in nowise called upon to assume responsibility -for the vagaries of a casually encountered -spring. I did not bring up that spring. I had no -part in its early education or training. Presumably -it is even my superior in age and experience. -In any case, I feel myself powerless to control or -even to influence its behavior. Moreover, I feel as -keen a disappointment as you can in the fact that -we shall have to abandon our search for knowledge -of the purposes of our neighbor with the game -leg. But it is not certain that we shall have to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span> -sail away with that inquiry unfinished. It will -take a considerable time to fill our water kegs, and -in the meanwhile we may penetrate the mystery -sooner than we expect. Anyhow, we’ll see what -we shall see to-night.”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2 class="p4">XI</h2> - -<p class="pch">PERILOUS SPYING</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">At</span> Dick’s suggestion the boys cut a number of -larger logs than usual and placed them on their -camp fire that evening before setting out on their -expedition.</p> - -<p>“It will avert suspicion of what we are at,” Dick -said in explanation of his proposal. “So long as -the camp fire burns up brightly nobody seeing it -from a distance will doubt that we are here. It -isn’t much trouble, anyhow.”</p> - -<p>The night proved to be an unusually dark one, -with an overcast sky, threatening rain, and on the -chance of that Cal rigged up the largest tarpaulin -the company owned and so arranged it as to conduct -all the water that might fall upon it into the -bait pail and such other receptacles as would hold -it. “If it rains hard,” he explained, “we’ll catch -enough water before morning to fill both the kegs.”</p> - -<p>Going to the big gum tree, Tom climbed to the -top of it to see if he could discover anything the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span> -little company might want to know. After a careful -scrutiny of the landscape to the west he came -down again, reporting that everything was quiet “in -the region of our late visitor’s country seat.”</p> - -<p>Then the party set out on their exploring expedition. -Tom, acting as guide, followed the little blind -trail, while the rest made their way through the -undergrowth on either side, keeping near enough -to the trail to hear even a whispered warning or -direction if Tom should have need to give any such.</p> - -<p>Slowly, carefully, and in profound silence, they -made their way to the point from which Tom had -watched the place during the day. Then, as had -been arranged in advance, the four stretched out -their little line, so as to see the place from different -points of view.</p> - -<p>At first there was not much to see, and on so -dark a night even that little could be seen only indistinctly -and with difficulty. The “man with the -game leg,” as the boys called him, was moving -about the place in a leisurely fashion, but what he -was doing none of the investigating party could -make out in the darkness, though they had crept -very close to the camp and were watching intently.</p> - -<p>At last their watching and waiting were rewarded -by a happening which interested them, though they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span> -did not understand it. The man with the game leg -went into the hovel Tom had seen, and after remaining -there for a considerable time, came out -again. As he did so the boys were easily able to -make out that he carried a dark lantern in his hand. -It was carefully closed, but there were little leaks -of light from its fastenings, as there always are -from such contrivances when they are of the common, -cheap variety as this one obviously was.</p> - -<p>Carrying it in his hand and still closed, the man -limped off down the trail that led toward the cove.</p> - -<p>No sooner had he got well clear of the camp -than the four watchers began scrambling up the -trees nearest to them for the sake of a better view. -There was nobody to hear them, but under the impulse -of that caution which their presence in such -a place required of them, they were careful to climb -as silently as possible.</p> - -<p>Very dimly, but with certainty, they could see -the glow of the closed dark lantern and in that way -trace the man carrying it throughout his brief -journey.</p> - -<p>When at last he reached the mouth of the cove -where the view opened out toward the broad inlet, -he opened his lamp for a brief second, holding it -so that its gleam should show down the inlet to his -right. A moment later he flashed it again, this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span> -time straight across the broad inlet. Presently he -opened it for the third time, sending the flash up -the inlet.</p> - -<p>The whole proceeding did not occupy half a minute, -and after that all remained in darkness except -that the boys could still locate the dark lantern by -the dim halo of light that surrounded it.</p> - -<p>For half an hour or more there were no further -developments. The man with the game leg seemed -to be sitting still, waiting for time to pass or for -something to happen. At last he opened the lamp -again, sending its flash down the inlet as before. -Then he showed his gleam straight out upon the -water.</p> - -<p>This time the boys in the tree tops saw a brief -answering gleam from the open water half a mile -or more from shore.</p> - -<p>It was safe for the boys to speak now, and Tom -thought it best for all of them to come down out -of the trees before the man with the game leg, who -had started slowly back toward the camp, should -reach their neighborhood.</p> - -<p>“Come down off your roosts, fellows,” he directed, -“and secrete yourselves well in the bushes. -The ‘others’ are coming to-night, sure enough. -Be careful to hide yourselves so that a flash from -that dark lantern won’t search you out. By the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span> -way, after they come and we see all we can, we -must get out of here. I can’t speak then, but notice -when you see me moving away, and follow my -example. Now, no more talking, even in a whisper.”</p> - -<p>The man with the game leg did not return immediately, -as Tom had expected. Instead, he made -his way up the bank of the cove and around its -bend, to a point only two or three hundred -yards away. Obviously that was to be the landing -place, hidden as it was by the bend and -the dense forest growth from all possible observation -on the part of boats in the sound outside. -The man with the game leg had gone to the mouth -of the cove only to send his signals to his companions -outside. Now that they had been seen and -answered, he had gone to the landing-place, there -to await their coming.</p> - -<p>Fortunately for the purposes of the boys, the -landing was in full view from their hiding place, -and after the man with the game leg had gone -thither they had only that one point to watch while -they waited.</p> - -<p>The wait was a long one, and perhaps it seemed -longer because a drizzling rain had set in, soaking -them to the skin. After a long time, however, the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span> -man with the game leg turned his dark lantern and -flashed it once down the cove.</p> - -<p>By its light the watchers made out three large -boats slowly moving up the cove, apparently with -carefully muffled oars, as their strokes could not -be heard even at the short distance that now separated -them from their destination. As they approached -the landing with obvious care, there were -frequent flashes from the dark lanterns that all of -them seemed to be carrying, and by these flashes -Tom and his companions saw that the boats were -piled high with freight of some kind, so bestowed -as to occupy every inch of space except what was -necessary for the use of the men at the oars. Of -these there were only two in each boat, each plying -a single oar, while a third, perched upon a freight -pile at the stern, was steering. Thus there were -nine men in the three boats, who, with the man on -shore, constituted a rather formidable company for -four boys to face if they should decide to attack -the <i>Hunkydory’s</i> camp, as the man with the game -leg had threatened.</p> - -<p>Whence the boats had come, Tom could not in -any wise guess, and of course he could not discuss -the matter with his comrades while hiding there in -the bushes under a life-and-death necessity of keeping<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span> -perfectly silent. Two things he was sure of: -the boats could not have come very far, with -only two oarsmen to each of them, and they could -not have traversed any but smooth waters, with -their freight piled high above their gunwales, as it -was.</p> - -<p>As soon as the boats were landed, the men began -unloading them and carrying their freight to the -camp, which was evidently to be its hiding place for -a time at least. In the main it seemed to consist -of light boxes or packages, many of them bound -together into single large bundles which one man -could carry. There were also some kegs, which -seemed pretty heavy, as the men carried them on -their shoulders. But it was difficult to make out -anything more definite than this, as the darkness -was dispelled infrequently by flashes from a dark -lantern, and then only for a fraction of a second at -a time.</p> - -<p>When the greater part of the freight had been -brought to the camp the man who seemed to be in -authority over the rest set some of them to work -bestowing it in the hovels, of which there appeared -to be several, each securely hidden in the thick undergrowth -so that a person casually passing that -way would never have suspected their existence.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span> -Even while this work was in progress the man in -charge permitted as little show of light as possible. -When all was done a hamper of provisions was -brought from one of the boats, together with a -demijohn, and the whole crew assembled around -the midnight spread, eating and drinking in the -dark, except when now and then it became necessary -to permit a little show of light for a moment.</p> - -<p>At first they feasted in silence, too, but after -awhile the liquor they were drinking seemed to go -to their heads and they quarreled among themselves -a good deal. Some of them wandered about -now and then as if searching the bushes jealously.</p> - -<p>It was clearly time for the boys to leave the -place and they watched and listened for Tom’s beginning -of the retreat. At last they heard him -moving and, assuming that he had begun the withdrawal, -they all cautiously crept away to the rear. -As each was following a separate trail there was -no word spoken among them until Larry, Dick and -Cal came out of the bushes and joined each other -at the gum tree.</p> - -<p>“But where is Tom?” one of them asked.</p> - -<p>Nobody knew. Nobody had seen or known -anything about him since his first stirring of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span> -bushes had set the retreat in motion. They had -all heard a commotion in what they called “the -scoundrels’ camp,” with sounds as of angry quarreling -and fighting; but they had heard nothing -of Tom.</p> - -<p>The boys were in consternation.</p> - -<p>“Do you suppose those scoundrels can have -caught him?” asked Dick, with horror in his tones.</p> - -<p>“I don’t know,” Larry answered through his -set teeth. “But there’s only one thing to do.”</p> - -<p>“Only one thing,” answered Dick. “We must -go to his assistance, and if they have him prisoner -we must rescue him or all die trying. I for one will -never come back alive unless we bring him with -us.”</p> - -<p>“That’s of course,” said Cal, who for once -spoke crisply, wasting no words. “Wait a second, -Larry! How many cartridges have you—each -of you?”</p> - -<p>When they answered, Cal said:</p> - -<p>“Here, take six more apiece. You may need -’em.”</p> - -<p>As he spoke he took the extra cartridges from his -pockets and hurriedly distributed them. It was -Cal’s rule in hunting never to be without abundant -ammunition.</p> - -<p>“Now then, Larry,” he said, when the others<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span> -had pocketed the cartridges, “give your orders; -you’re the captain.”</p> - -<p>“All right! Come on at a run, but don’t trip -and fall. There’s no time to lose.”</p> - -<p>Down the trail they went, not at a run, for running -was impossible in such a tangle of vines and -bushes, but at as fast a trot as they could manage. -Suddenly there was a collision. Larry had -met Tom “head on,” as he afterwards said. Tom -was making his way as fast as he could to the -gum tree, knowing that his friends would be in -terror when they missed him, while they were hurrying -to his rescue. In the darkness and the heavy -downpour of rain he and Larry had failed to see -or hear each other till they came into actual collision.</p> - -<p>“Where on earth have you been, Tom?”</p> - -<p>“Why did you fellows retreat before the -time?”</p> - -<p>These were questions instantly exchanged.</p> - -<p>“Why, you gave the signal, Tom. You began -moving off and we followed as agreed.”</p> - -<p>“I understand now,” Tom answered, resuming -the journey, “but it was a mistake of signal. -Come on out of here. Let’s go to camp and talk -it all over there. I’ve found out all about this -thing and it’s interesting.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span></p> - -<p>“What does it mean? Tell us!”</p> - -<p>“Not here in the downpour. We’ll go to camp -first and get under the shelter and put on some dry -clothes. My teeth are chattering and I don’t care -to imitate them. Come on!”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2 class="p4">XII</h2> - -<p class="pch">TOM’S DARING VENTURE</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Tom’s</span> teeth were indeed chattering when the -company reached their camp. He was chilled -“clear through,” he said, and his companions were -very uneasy. They feared, and not without reason, -that he had contracted a swamp fever, which always -begins with a chill. To avoid that, the Rutledge -boys, who knew the coast and its dangers, -had carefully kept on or very near the salt water, -and had chosen for their camp a spot where there -were no live oaks, no gray moss and no black sand. -Still Tom might have caught a fever.</p> - -<p>Cal piled wood on the fire with a lavish hand, -so that an abundance of heat might be reflected into -their dry bush shelter, the open side of which faced -the fire, and Dick busied himself searching out dry -clothes from the lockers, while Larry helped Tom -to strip himself as speedily as possible.</p> - -<p>“Now run and jump into the creek,” he directed, -as soon as the last of Tom’s clothes were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span> -off. “The salt water is luke-warm or even -warmer than that. I’ll wring out your clothes -while your bath is warming you, and when you -come out we’ll give you a rub down that would -stimulate circulation in a bronze statue. Hurry -into the water, and don’t hurry out too soon.”</p> - -<p>By the time Tom had been rubbed down and -had got into dry clothes, he declared himself to -be “as warm as a toast, as hungry as a schoolgirl, -and ready to stand a rigid examination as to the -character and purposes of our scoundrel friends -down there.”</p> - -<p>“Good!” exclaimed Larry. “That’s proof -positive that you haven’t caught the fever. I was -afraid you might.”</p> - -<p>“Fever? Why, I was as cold as the Arctic circle—but -then perhaps you keep your fevers on -ice down here and serve ’em cold. You have so -many queer ways that nothing surprises me.”</p> - -<p>Larry explained, and Tom laughed at him for -his pains, for of course Tom knew what he had -meant.</p> - -<p>It was well past midnight, and the others shared -Tom’s hunger in full measure, so they were not -greatly disappointed when, in response to their -eager demands for the story he had to tell, he -answered:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span></p> - -<p>“I’ll tell you all about it when we get something -to eat. Till then my loquacity will closely -resemble that of a clam.”</p> - -<p>One of the party had killed some fat black squirrels -during the preceding day, and as these were -already “dressed for the banquet,” in Dick’s -phrase, they were spread upon a mass of coals, -and within a brief while the meal—supper -or breakfast, or post-midnight luncheon, or whatever -else it might be called—was ready to receive -their attention.</p> - -<p>“Now, Tom, tell us!” demanded Larry, when -their hunger was partially appeased.</p> - -<p>“Wait a minute,” interposed Dick. “Isn’t this -rather risky?”</p> - -<p>“What?”</p> - -<p>“Why, sitting here on our haunches, rejoicing -in the genial warmth of the fire—over-genial, -I should call it, as it’s blistering my knees—and -having no sentry out to see that the scoundrels -don’t pounce down on us by surprise.”</p> - -<p>“There’s no more risk in it,” answered Tom, -confidently, “than in wearing socks, or playing -dominoes, or trying to trace out the features of the -man in the moon.”</p> - -<p>“But why not, Tom?”</p> - -<p>“Because the scoundrels down there are all dead—dead<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span> -drunk, I mean—and they have all they -can do just now in sleeping it off.”</p> - -<p>“Are you sure of that?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, entirely sure. You saw how they were -drinking—half a pint of rum at a dose, repeated -every five minutes. Well, they kept that up as -long as they could find the way to their mouths. -They had emptied the demijohn before you fellows -left, and not being satisfied, they got out a -keg of the fiery stuff, had a rough and tumble fight -over some question relating to it, beat each others’ -faces into something very much like Hamburger -steaks, and then decided to let the keg arbitrate the -dispute. Four or five of them had been arbitrated -into a comatose state before I left, another was -trying to sing something about ‘Melinda,’ setting -forth that he had ‘seen her at the windah,’ and was -prepared to give his hat and boots if he could -‘only have been dah.’ The rest were drunkenly -silent as they sat there by an open dark lantern -which they had forgotten to close, I suppose, and -drinking rum from tin cups whenever they could -remember to do so. They will give nobody any -trouble to-night.”</p> - -<p>“But, Tom,” interposed Dick, “how do you -know it was rum they were drinking?”</p> - -<p>“Now, see here,” said Tom, “I’d like to know<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span> -who’s telling this story. If I’m the one the rest -of you had better let me tell it in my own way. -I was going to begin at the beginning and tell it -straight through, but your intrusive questions have -switched me off the track. Now listen, and I’ll -tell you all I know and how I know it, and what -I think of it, and what I think you think of it, and -all the rest of it.”</p> - -<p>“Go ahead, Tom!” said Cal; “I’ll keep the -peace for you; you’ll bear me witness that I haven’t -spoken a word since you began. Go on!”</p> - -<p>“All right,” said Tom. “I thought you were -about to give us a disquisition when you began to -say that, but you didn’t, so I’ll forgive you. Well, -you see when you fellows heard me moving out -there in the thicket and thought I was instituting -a retreat, I was only changing my base, as the military -men say. I had seen something that aroused -my curiosity, and my curiosity is like a baby after -midnight—if you once rouse it, you simply can’t -coax it to go to sleep again.”</p> - -<p>“What was it you had seen, Tom?” Larry began.</p> - -<p>“Silence!” commanded Cal. “Tom has the -floor.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, I beg pardon—” Larry began apologetically.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span></p> - -<p>“No, don’t do even that. Go on, Tom.”</p> - -<p>“I will as soon as you two twin brothers cease -your quarreling. As I was saying, I had seen something -that aroused my curiosity. As I was peering -through the bushes, looking toward the main -body of the roisterers, I saw the limping one slip -away from the general company and sneak off. -He went very cautiously through the undergrowth -to the hovel nearest me and entered it, closing the -door after him. I could see a little pencil of light -streaming out through a crack, so I knew he -had opened his lamp in there. After a little fumbling -he came out again, but he was so drunk he -forgot to take his lamp with him, as I discovered -by the continued streaming out of that little pencil -of light.</p> - -<p>“That was what aroused my curiosity. I -wanted to know what was in that hovel, and as -the lame gentleman with the ‘load’ on had obligingly -left his lamp there for my accommodation, -I resolved to embrace the opportunity offered. I -moved cautiously upon the enemy’s works. That -is to say, I crept forward toward the hovel. -That’s what you fellows mistook for the signal to -retreat.</p> - -<p>“Now I am convinced that our temporary -neighbors, the scoundrels, are disposed to be in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span> -all ways obliging. At any rate they had considerately -placed the door of the hovel so that it fronted -my side of the structure and not theirs. Thus, -when I opened the door the light from the burning -lamp did not shine toward them and thus give -the alarm.</p> - -<p>“I entered the place and rather minutely examined -its contents.”</p> - -<p>“What was in there?” asked Cal, forgetting in -his eagerness that he had himself undertaken to -prevent the interruption of Tom’s narrative by -questions from any source.</p> - -<p>“I’ll tell you about that when I come to it. -Story first, Cal.</p> - -<p>“I had just finished my inspection when I heard -footsteps of rather uncertain purpose passing -round the hovel toward the door, which of course -I had closed behind me. As there is only one -door to that hovel and it has no windows by which -‘lovers might enter or burglars elope’—that’s -wrong end first but it’s no matter—I realized that -there was no time to lose. I hurriedly settled down -behind a pile of cigar boxes—”</p> - -<p>“Their plunder is cigars, then?” asked Dick, -forgetting.</p> - -<p>“I did not say so,” Tom answered teasingly. -“I made no mention of cigars, so far as I can remember.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span> -I spoke only of cigar boxes. They -might be filled with anything, you know. At any -rate your interruption has spoiled the most thrilling -part of my narrative, which must now be continued -prosaically and without the dramatic fire -and fervor I had planned to put into it.</p> - -<p>“My concealment was hasty and at best very -imperfect. In my haste I forgot to conceal my -gun, which stuck up a foot or two above the barrier -of boxes that imperfectly hid my person. -Fortunately, however, the lame gentleman was too -blind drunk even to see double and, as he made -no mention of the matter, I refrained from alluding -to it.</p> - -<p>“Apparently he had entered the hovel with a -single purpose, namely, to close his lantern and -take it away. With what I cannot help regarding -as praiseworthy persistence, he carried out that -purpose, giving heed to nothing else. He omitted -even to close the door after him, and as the place -was without heating apparatus of any kind—except -rum for internal combustion—I took my -leave as soon as I felt confident that the lame gentleman -had either rejoined his comrades or had -fallen into dreamless slumber on his way to do -so. My next adventure was the head-on collision -with Larry in the trail.”</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/ill-141.jpg" width="400" height="619" id="i126" - alt="" - title="" /> - <div class="caption"><p class="pc400">“<span class="smcap">In my haste I forgot to conceal my gun.”</span><br /> -<span class="wn"><i><a href="#Page_126">Page 126.</a></i></span></p> -</div></div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span></p> - -<p>Tom paused, took another bite at the squirrel’s -leg he had been eating between sentences, and it -seemed necessary to set him going again by means -of questions.</p> - -<p>“Why don’t you go on, Tom? You haven’t -told us yet what you found in the hut.”</p> - -<p>“I’m thirsty,” answered the boy. “Speaking -is dry work, as you know, if you ever read Hawthorn’s -‘A Rill from the Town Pump!’ Have -we enough water in the spring, Cal, for me to waste -it in slaking my thirst?”</p> - -<p>“We’ve caught all our things full, I reckon. -I’ll see.”</p> - -<p>When Cal returned he brought with him a small -supply of rain water.</p> - -<p>“What made you so long about it, Cal?” asked -Larry. “We’re all waiting for you.”</p> - -<p>“So I see,” answered Cal. “I make all required -apologies for having kept this distinguished -company waiting while I attended to some matters -that are even more vitally interesting to all of us -than is Tom’s promised inventory of the things discovered -by him in the tents of the wicked, if I -may so designate a slab hovel in a cane brake.”</p> - -<p>“What have you been doing, Cal? And why -didn’t you call the rest of us to help you?” asked -Dick, whose New England conscience was apt to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span> -scourge his spirit if he thought he had been doing -less than his share of whatever there was to do.</p> - -<p>“I’ll reply to your questions in inverse order,” -Cal replied. “I did not call for help because I -did not need help. In what I had to do one person -was as good as a dozen. I may have been a trifle -slow about it, but that is chiefly because water won’t -run through a hole faster than nature intended it -to do. As for your other question, I’ve been engaged -in a job of water-supply engineering. All -the receptacles I set to catch water were nearly -full, and as it still rains—a fact that you may -have observed for yourselves—I thought it best -to empty their contents into the water kegs and -set them to catch more. As nobody thought to -bring a funnel along, I have had to resort to simpler -methods, and I have found that it is by no -means easy to pour water from a four-gallon bait -pail into a one-inch bung hole without spilling it. -For the rest, Captain Larry, I beg to report that -one of our water kegs is now full and the other -perhaps one-third full. I hope to catch enough -more water before the rain ceases to finish filling -that keg and to serve all camp purposes during -the few hours that we shall probably remain -here.”</p> - -<p>“Why, I should think we might stay as long as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span> -we like, now,” said Tom; “this rain must have -filled up our spring.”</p> - -<p>“It has, and it has spoiled it for use for many -days to come.”</p> - -<p>“But how?” persisted Tom.</p> - -<p>“Let me remind you, Tom, that we are all eagerly -waiting for you to tell us some things that -are distinctly more interesting to us than the condition -and prospects of a swamp spring can be -when we’ve enough water for our present and immediate -future need. Go on with your story.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, the story is finished,” Tom replied, “but -you want to hear about the contents of the hovel. -They consist in part of little kegs—three or five -gallon kegs, I should think—of Santa Cruz Rum. -At least that’s what I made out the letters branded -on them to mean. These kegs are lying on the -ground in rows that impressed me as far more -orderly than the scoundrels themselves ever think -of being. I should say there are fifteen or twenty -of the kegs in that hovel.</p> - -<p>“The rest of the stuff consists of cigars in boxes, -and the boxes are carefully tied together in parcels—thirty -boxes to the parcel. That’s the way -we all saw them carry them up from their boats.”</p> - -<p>“Where on earth can they have got all that rum -and all those cigars, anyhow? And what do they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span> -bring them away down here in the woods for, I -wonder?” speculated Dick. “What’s your guess, -Tom?”</p> - -<p>“Pirates,” answered Tom; “and those things -are their plunder.”</p> - -<p>“Curious sort of pirates,” said Cal, scoffingly. -“Unlike any pirates I ever heard of. Why, Tom, -did you ever hear of pirates contenting themselves -with taking the rum and cigars they found on the -ships they overhauled? You’ve got to guess two -or three times more if you’re going to guess -right.”</p> - -<p>“Well, what do you think they are?” asked -Tom, a trifle disappointed to find his theory -bowled over so easily.</p> - -<p>“Smugglers,” answered Cal. “And I don’t -just think it either—I know.”</p> - -<p>“But, Cal,” interrupted Larry, “smugglers -must bring their goods from foreign ports, and -we all know enough about boats to know that those -flat-bottomed tubs of theirs wouldn’t live five minutes -in a little blow on blue water.”</p> - -<p>“No, nor five seconds either, and those precious -rascals know all that quite as well as we do. For -that reason, among others, they refrain from risking -their valuable lives by venturing upon blue -water.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Then how do they carry on their traffic?”</p> - -<p>“I have often remonstrated with you, Larry, -for your neglect to read the newspapers. But for -that you might have been as well informed on -this and other subjects as I am. About a month -ago I read in a New York newspaper that fell -in my way a somewhat detailed account of the way -in which certain kinds of smuggling is carried on -along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts wherever the conditions -are favorable, and the conditions are nowhere -so favorable as right here on this South -Carolina coast, where deep, but often very narrow -and crooked, inlets and creeks open from the -broader waters of the sounds directly into densely -wooded regions that are often wholly unpeopled -for many miles in every direction.</p> - -<p>“This is the way they do it: Schooners and -other small sea-going craft load at West Indian -ports and take out clearance papers for New York -or Halifax or some other big port which can be -best reached by skirting this coast. Under pretense -of stress of weather, or shortness of water -or provisions, they put into some harbor of -refuge like that sound out there. They make -no effort to land anything, and if questioned -by the revenue officers they can show perfectly -regular papers. Then when opportunity offers,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span> -their shore gangs—like the one over there—slip -out in the darkness, take on full loads of -freight, and land it in some secluded spot like the -one down there, and the schooner sails away to her -destination.”</p> - -<p>“But how do they get their goods from the -woods to market?” Tom asked.</p> - -<p>“By wagons, I suppose, and a little at a time. -That doesn’t concern us very deeply. What does -concern us, is that we’ve got to get away from here -as soon as this rain stops. The clouds seem to be -breaking, by the way, and the wind has shifted to -the northwest,” said Cal, stepping out of the shelter -to observe the weather. “It will clear pretty -early in the morning, I think, and in the meantime -I for one want to get a little sleep.”</p> - -<p>“But what’s the hurry, Cal?” asked Tom. -“Why can’t we stay here a day or two longer? -I’d like to see what the smugglers do when they -come to.”</p> - -<p>“There are several reasons for getting away -at once,” answered Cal. “For one thing, we’re -running short of some necessary supplies and -must go to Beaufort to replenish our stores. Then -there’s the question of water supply. After I -finish filling the kegs we’ll have barely enough left -to get through the day on.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span></p> - -<p>“But how has the rain put the spring out of -commission, Cal?” asked Tom. “You promised -to explain that.”</p> - -<p>“By filling it full of surface water. It will be -a week or more before the water there is fit to -drink, at least as a steady diet.”</p> - -<p>“There’s a much better reason than that,” said -Larry.</p> - -<p>“What is it?”</p> - -<p>“Why, we must hurry to put ourselves in communication -with the authorities, so that they can -come down on that place before the scoundrels -get away, or get their plunder away.”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” said Tom, who was reluctant to leave -the place and give up the adventure, “I suppose -we ought to do that.”</p> - -<p>“Ought to? Why, we simply must. Every -decent citizen owes it as a duty to give notice of -crime when he discovers it, and to aid the officers -of the law in stopping it. Civilized life would -come to an end if men generally refused to support -the authorities in their efforts to enforce the law. -We’ve discovered a den of thieves, engaged in robbing -the Government—that is to say, robbing all -of us. So we’ll get away from here just as early -in the morning as we can. Now let’s get some -sleep.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span></p> - -<p>It was easy to say, “Let’s get some sleep,” but -not easy to get it in the excited condition of mind -that had come upon every member of the little -party. But, by keeping silence and lying still, the -weary fellows did manage to sleep a little after -awhile, and it was the sun shining full in their -faces that at last aroused them to a busy day.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2 class="p4">XIII</h2> - -<p class="pch">CAL’S EXPERIENCE AS THE PRODIGAL SON</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Breakfast</span> next morning was not a very satisfactory -meal. There was plenty of fish and -game, of course, but there was little else. The -coffee supply had been used up, but the boys regarded -that as a matter of no consequence.</p> - -<p>“Coffee is a mere luxury anyhow,” Dick said, -“and we can go without it as well as not. It isn’t -like being without bread or substitutes for bread. -If we had some sweet potatoes now, or some -rice—”</p> - -<p>“The which we haven’t,” interrupted Cal. “No -more can we get any here. As for corn meal, we -have enough for one more ash cake, but it is full of -weevil and, therefore, when we consume it we shall -be eating the bread of bitterness in an entirely literal -sense. For quinine biscuit would taste like -cookies as compared with weevely corn bread. You -were wise in your generation, Dick, when you surreptitiously -placed that tin of ship biscuit on board,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span> -but your imagination lacked breadth and comprehensiveness. -It was not commensurate with our -appetites, and so the ship bread is all consumed and -would have been if you’d brought a barrel of it on -board instead of that little tin box full. You -neglected that, however, and we must endure the -consequences as best we may.”</p> - -<p>“For the present, yes,” said Larry; “but not for -long. We must make all the haste we can till we -get to Beaufort and stock up again.”</p> - -<p>“I know a trick worth two of that,” Cal said -apart to Dick, but he did not explain himself. Dick -had found out, however, that Cal’s knowledge of -the region round about them and of the tortuous -waterways that interlaced the coast in every direction -was singularly minute and accurate. It was -not until that morning, however, that Cal explained -to him how he had come to be so well versed in the -geography and hydrography of the region. It had -been decided by Captain Larry that before leaving -their present camp that day the company should -cook enough food to last for a day or two, so that -they might not have to waste any time hunting or -fishing while making as quick a trip to Beaufort as -they could. As there was very little game left after -breakfast, Cal and Dick set out with their guns to -secure a supply of squirrels and whatever else they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span> -could find, while Larry and Tom should load the -boat and catch some fish.</p> - -<p>During this little shooting expedition some small -manifestation of Cal’s minute information prompted -a question from Dick.</p> - -<p>“How on earth, Cal, can you remember every little -detail like that? And how did you learn so -much about things around here, anyhow?”</p> - -<p>“I got that part of my education,” Cal answered, -“partly by being a very good boy and partly by -being a very bad one. I’m inclined to think the -bad-boy influence contributed even more than the -good-boy experience to my store of information. -As for remembering things, that is a habit of mind -easily cultivated, though the great majority of people -neglect it. It consists mainly in careful observation. -When people tell you they don’t remember -things they have seen, or remember them only -vaguely, it usually means that they did not observe -the things seen. For example, I remembered where -that spring of ours was when we were all parched -with thirst, and I knew how to go to it in the dark. -That was simply because when I first saw that -spring and quenched a very lively thirst there, I decided -to remember it and its surroundings in case -I should ever have occasion to find it again. So I -looked carefully at everything round about from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span> -every point of view. I observed that the spring lay -just beyond the first bend of the creek and that there -was a cluster of big cypress trees very near it. I -noticed that the mouth of the creek lay between a -little stretch of beach on one side and a dense cane -thicket on the other. In short, I carefully observed -all the bearings, and having done that, of course I -could never forget how to find the spring.”</p> - -<p>“Do you always do that sort of thing when you -think you may want to find a place again?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, of course. Indeed, I do it anyhow, -whether there is any occasion or not. For example, -when I was visiting you in Boston last year I noticed -that there was a little dent in the silver cap over the -speaking tube in the dining-room, as if somebody -had hit it a little blow. The dent was triangular, I -remember.”</p> - -<p>“That’s because the thing I hit it with had a triangular -face, for I made that dent when I was a -little fellow with a curious-looking tool that a repairer -of old furniture had in use there. It’s curious -that you should have noticed the dent, as it is -very small and your back was toward it as you sat -at table.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, but not as I entered the room. It was -then that I saw it.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Then that sort of close observation is a habit of -mind with you?”</p> - -<p>“Yes. I suppose it is partly natural and partly -cultivated. I don’t know.”</p> - -<p>The two had come by this time to that part of the -woods that Tom had named the “squirrel pasture,” -and they were soon busy with their guns. But as -they walked back toward the camp, loaded with -black and gray squirrels, Dick came back to the subject, -which seemed deeply to interest him.</p> - -<p>“I wonder, Cal,” he said, “if you would mind -telling me about those two epochs in your young life—the -good-boy and the bad-boy periods?”</p> - -<p>Cal laughed, half under his breath.</p> - -<p>“It isn’t much to tell,” he replied; “but if you’re -interested I’ll tell you about it. You see the old -families down here are a good deal mixed up in their -relationships, just as the old families in Massachusetts -are, because of frequent intermarriages. The -Rutledges and the Calhouns, and the Hugers, and -the Huguenins, and Barnwells, and Haywards, and -the rest, are all more or less related to each other. -Indeed, there is such a tangle of relationships that -I long ago gave up trying to work out the puzzle. -It is enough for you to know that the particular -Mr. Hayward who owns all this wild land around<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a></span> -here and half a dozen plantations besides is my kinsman—my -mother’s uncle, I believe. Anyhow, -from my earliest childhood there was never anything -that I liked so well as visiting at Uncle Hayward’s. -Perfect candor compels me to say that I -was not particularly fond of Uncle Hayward or -of any member of the family, for that matter. -Uncle Hayward used to take me for long rides on -a marsh tackey by way of entertaining me in the -way he thought I liked best, and I resented that -whenever I wanted to do something else instead. -He is one of the best and kindliest men alive and -I am very fond of him now, but when I was a little -fellow I thought he interfered with my own plans -too much, and so I made up my mind that I didn’t -like him. As for the ladies of the family, I detested -them because they were always combing my -hair and ‘dressing me up’ when I didn’t want to be -dressed up.</p> - -<p>“Nevertheless, nothing delighted me like a prolonged -visit at Uncle Hayward’s. That was because -I particularly appreciated an intimate association -with Sam. Sam was a black boy—or young man, -rather—who seemed to me to be the most delightfully -accomplished person I had ever known. He -could roll his eyes up until only the white below the -iris was visible. He could stand on his head, walk<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span> -on his hands, turn handsprings, and disjoint himself -in the most astonishing fashion imaginable. -He could move his scalp and wiggle his ears. His -gifts and accomplishments in such ways as these -seemed to me without limit.</p> - -<p>“As Uncle Hayward could never keep Sam out -of the woods, he made up his mind to assign him -to duty in the woods as a sort of ranger. There -was plenty for Sam to do there, for besides all these -vast tracts of wild land, Uncle Hayward had a deer -park consisting of many thousand acres of woodland -under a single fence. To watch for fires, to -keep poachers out, to catch and tame half a dozen -marsh tackeys every now and then, and a score of -similar duties were assigned to Sam.</p> - -<p>“When I was a little fellow my customary reward -for being a particularly ‘good boy’ for a season -was permission to go into the woods with Sam -and live like a wild creature for weeks at a time. -In that way, and under Sam’s tuition, I learned -much about these regions and about the waterways, -for Sam seemed always to know where a boat of -some kind lay hidden, and he and I became tireless -navigators and explorers.</p> - -<p>“That, in brief, is the history of the ‘good-boy’ -epoch. The story of the other is a trifle more -dramatic, perhaps. It occurred three or four years<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span> -ago when Larry and I were planning to go to Virginia -to prepare for college. I was fourteen or fifteen -years old then and I had continued to spend a -part of every year down here in the woods with -Sam for guide, servant, and hunting factotum. At -the time I speak of I had some rather ‘lame ducks’ -in my studies. The fact is, I had idled a good deal, -while Larry had mastered all the tasks set him. -Accordingly, when my father and mother went -North that year—they go every summer on account -of mother’s health—Larry went up country -to visit some of our relatives there, while I decided -to stay at home and work with a tutor whom my -father had hired for me.</p> - -<p>“He and I lived alone in the house with only the -servants, and I found him to be in many ways disagreeable. -He was an Englishman, for one thing, -and at that period of my life I had not yet got over -the detestation of Englishmen which the school histories -and revolutionary legends had instilled into -my mind. He was brusque and even unmannerly -at times, judged by the standards of courtesy that -we Carolinians accept. More important than all -else, he and I entertained irreconcilable views as to -our relations with each other. He thought he was -employed to be my master, while I held that he was -hired only as my tutor. This led to some friction,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span> -but we managed to get on together for a time until -I found that the difference of opinion between him -and me extended to other things than our personal -relations. He seemed to think himself not only my -master but master of the house also in my father’s -absence. He did not know how to treat the servants. -He gave them orders in a harsh, peremptory -way to which house servants in Carolina are -not accustomed. His manner with them was rather -that of an ox-driver toward his cattle than that of -a gentleman dealing with well-mannered and well-meaning -servants.</p> - -<p>“This grated on me, and I suppose I have a pretty -well-defined temper when occasion arouses it. The -Rutledges generally have. At any rate I one day -remonstrated with the tutor on the subject, intending -the remonstrance to be all there was of the incident, -but he answered me in that tone of a master -which I more and more resented. High words followed, -from which he learned my opinion of his -character and manners much more definitely than -I had cared to express it before.</p> - -<p>“At last he threatened me with a flogging, and -picked up a cane with which to administer it. I -was mad all over and clear through by that time. -I had never had a flogging and I certainly would -not submit to one at his hands. But my anger had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</a></span> -passed beyond expression in words by that time. -I did not feel the flush of it—I felt deathly pale -instead. I was no longer hot; on the contrary I -was never cooler in my life. I did not threaten -my antagonist or give him warning as he advanced -toward me with the cane uplifted. I simply selected -a certain plank in the floor which I made up -my mind should be his Rubicon. I stood perfectly -still, waiting for him to cross it.</p> - -<p>“Presently he stepped across the line I had fixed -upon. The instant he did so I sprang upon him, -delivering my blows so fast and furiously that in -two or three seconds he went down in a heap. He -claimed to be an expert boxer, and I suppose he was, -but my attack was so sudden and so unexpected that -his science seemed to have no chance. At any rate, -he was so nearly ‘knocked out’ that he had no disposition -to renew the contest. He went to his room, -washed himself, packed his trunk, leaving it to be -called for later, and left the house.</p> - -<p>“Before leaving he wrote me a curt note, saying -that he would immediately get a warrant for my -arrest on a charge of assault and battery.</p> - -<p>“That rather staggered me. I wouldn’t have -given one inch in fear of that man. No power on -earth could have made me run away from him or -apologize to him or in any other way flinch from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</a></span> -anything he might do to me. But I had a terrifying -misconception of the law and its processes. I -was only a fifteen-year-old boy, you know, and I -knew nothing whatever of legal proceedings; or -rather, I knew just enough about them to mislead -my mind. I knew that a warrant meant arrest, and -as I lay abed worrying that night I convinced myself -that if I should be arrested when my father -was not in Charleston to furnish bail for me, I must -lie in a loathsome jail until his return, forbidden to -communicate with anybody and compelled to live -on a diet of bread and water.</p> - -<p>“I saw no way out except to keep out of reach -of that warrant till my father’s return, and the only -secure way of doing that, I thought, was to run -away and live down here in the woods. So after -lying awake all night I got up at daybreak, got one -of the servants to give me breakfast and put up a -luncheon for me. Then I took a little, flat-bottomed -skiff that I owned and made my way -down here. I had some money with me, but I did -not dare go to any town, or village, or country -store, to buy anything lest the man with the warrant -should find out where I was. I learned where -all the little negro settlements were, however, and -there I bought sweet potatoes and the like as I -needed them. I had my shotgun and fish lines with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span> -me, of course, and so I had no difficulty in feeding -myself. For amusement I wandered about in every -direction by land and water, and in that way greatly -improved my education in coast country geography.</p> - -<p>“After a while I found myself running short of -ammunition, and I didn’t know how to procure a -fresh supply. I was afraid to go to Beaufort, or -up to Grahamville, or Coosawhatchie, or anywhere -else where there were stores, and besides that I was -in no fit condition to go anywhere. I had forgotten -to bring any clothes with me and what I had on -were worn literally to rags.</p> - -<p>“Fortunately I had got acquainted with a negro -boy who often brought me vegetables and fruit and -sold them to me for low prices. I suppose now that -he stole them, although that didn’t occur to me -then.</p> - -<p>“One day I hit upon the plan of sending him to -Beaufort for ammunition. He expressed doubt -that anybody there would sell it to him, and I shared -the doubt. But it was my only chance, so I gave -him some money and sent him. He was gone for -two days, during which I fired my last cartridge at -a deer and missed him. I had begun to think the -negro boy had simply pocketed the money and disappeared, -never to return again, but I consoled myself -with the thought that there were plenty of fish<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</a></span> -and oysters to be had, and that I could buy sweet -potatoes and vegetables.</p> - -<p>“That night the negro boy returned, bringing -me rather more ammunition than I had sent for, -and when I questioned him about the matter his -reply was that that was what the storekeeper had -given him for the money. Later, however, he confessed -to me that finding nobody willing to sell -cartridges to him, he had simply stolen them and, -being prepared to bring me the goods I had sent for, -he thought the money he had saved in that way -justly belonged to him. He had squandered it for -candy and in satisfaction of such other desires as -possessed him. Of course I paid the merchant afterwards, -and equally of course it was impossible -to collect the amount from the boy.</p> - -<p>“All that is an episode. One day by some chance -I encountered Sam in my wanderings, and he told -me people were looking for me—that my father -had heard of my disappearance and had hurried -back to Charleston.</p> - -<p>“I went to Beaufort, bought some sort of clothes, -and like the other prodigal son, returned to my -father. But he utterly failed to play his part according -to the story. Instead of falling on my neck, -he laughed at the clothes I wore. Instead of killing -the fatted calf, he told me to take a bath and put<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</a></span> -on something fit to wear. All that evening I heard -him chuckling under his breath as I related my experiences -in answer to his questions. Finally he -said to me:</p> - -<p>“‘You’ll do, Cal. I’ll never feel uneasy about -you again. You know how to take care of yourself.’</p> - -<p>“There, Dick, you’ve heard the whole story, both -of my righteousness and of my wickedness.”</p> - -<p>“And a mighty interesting story it has been to -me,” Dick replied. “Thank you for telling it.”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2 class="p4">XIV</h2> - -<p class="pch">CAL RELATES A FABLE</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">The</span> <i>Hunkydory</i> was completely loaded when Cal -and Dick returned, and there was nothing further -to do except cook the fish and game, so that there -might be no need to stop anywhere to get dinner.</p> - -<p>There was a fairly stiff breeze blowing when the -anchors were weighed, but sailing was impracticable -until the boat should be well out of the narrow -creek, so all hands went to the oars.</p> - -<p>When the land was cleared, Larry ordered that -the oars be stowed in their fastenings and the sails -raised. Without discussion or arrangement of any -kind, Cal went to the helm. It seemed the proper -thing to do in view of his superior knowledge of -the surroundings, but Cal was not thinking of that. -He had a plan and purpose of his own to carry out, -though he said nothing about the matter.</p> - -<p>There was quite an hour of sailing necessary before -the course could be laid in the direction of the -waterway that led toward Beaufort, and when the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[150]</a></span> -time came for heading in that direction, Cal laid -quite a different course, heading for a shore that lay -several miles away.</p> - -<p>Larry was dozing in the forepeak and did not at -first observe on what course his brother was sailing. -When at last he did notice it, he assumed that something -in the direction of the wind made Cal’s course -desirable, but after a glance at the sails he changed -his mind.</p> - -<p>“Why are you heading in that direction, Cal?” -he asked, looking about him. “Your course will -take us several miles out of our way. Head her -toward the point of land over there where the palmettos -are.”</p> - -<p>Cal made no change and he waited a full minute -before he answered. When he did so it was in his -most languid drawl.</p> - -<p>“Larry,” he said, quite as if he had not heard -a word that his brother had uttered, “there was a -schooner sailing down the Hudson River one day. -The captain of that craft was a Dutchman of phlegmatic -temperament and extreme obstinacy. The -mate was a Yankee, noted for his alert readiness of -resource. The schooner was loaded with brick. -The captain was loaded with beer. The mate -wasn’t loaded at all. It was the captain’s business -to steer and manage things in the after half of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</a></span> -ship. It was the function of the mate to manage -things forward. But when the mate saw that the -schooner’s course was carrying her straight upon -the rocks, he went aft and remonstrated with the -captain. For reply the captain said:</p> - -<p>“‘Mate, you go forward and run your end of the -schooner and leave me to run my end.’</p> - -<p>“The mate went forward and ordered the anchor -heaved overboard. Then going aft again, he -said:</p> - -<p>“‘Captain, I have anchored my end of the -schooner; you can do what you please with your -end.’”</p> - -<p>Cal ceased, as if he had finished speaking. The -others laughed at the story, and Larry said:</p> - -<p>“What’s the moral of that yarn, Cal?”</p> - -<p>“<i>Haec fabula docet</i>,” replied Cal, “that <i>I’m</i> sailing -the <i>Hunkydory</i> just now; that I know where we -are going and why.”</p> - -<p>“Would you mind telling us, then?” demanded -Larry.</p> - -<p>“Not in the least. We are heading for the -shore, on our lee; as for why, there are several -reasons: One is that the tide will turn pretty soon, -and when it does it will run out of the creek you -want me to enter as fast as it does out of the Bay -of Fundy. Another is, that the wind is falling and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</a></span> -we shall have to take to the oars presently. Another -is, that I am persuaded it will be easier rowing -across the small current out here than against a tide -that rushes out of the creek like a mill tail. There -are other and controlling reasons, but I have already -given you as many as your intellectual digestion -can assimilate. The rest will keep till we’re -comfortably ashore. There, that’s the last puff of -the wind.”</p> - -<p>With that he hauled the boom inboard, let go -the halyards and left the rudder-bar.</p> - -<p>“It is now after three o’clock,” he said, while the -others were unstepping the mast, “and the distance -is about three miles or a trifle less. Rowing easily -we shall have time after we get there to settle ourselves -comfortably before nightfall.”</p> - -<p>“I suppose you’re right, of course,” Larry answered, -“but it means several more meals on meat -and fish alone.”</p> - -<p>“Better not cross that bridge till you come to it, -Larry. You see we might find manna over there, -or some bread-fruit trees newly imported from Tahiti—who -knows?”</p> - -<p>The others shared Larry’s regret as to the food -prospect, but they all recognized Cal’s superior -knowledge of conditions as a controlling consideration; -so all rowed on in silence.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[153]</a></span></p> - -<p>When at last they reached the neighborhood of -the shore, Cal began scrutinizing it closely as if -searching for the landing place he had selected in -his mind. He was in fact looking for the very narrow -and cane-hidden entrance to a land-locked bay -that he remembered very well. Presently he turned -into it and shot the boat through a channel that one -might have passed a dozen times without seeing it. -It wound about among the dense growths for a -little way and then opened out into a considerable -little bay.</p> - -<p>Here Cal directed the landing, but instead of arranging -to anchor the boat a little way from shore -he put on all speed with the oars and ran her hard -and fast upon a gently sloping beach.</p> - -<p>“What’s that for, Cal?” asked Dick, whose -nautical instincts were offended by the manœuvre.</p> - -<p>“To save trouble,” Cal answered. “You see -this is a considerable little bay, and the entrance to -it is so very narrow that before much of a flood -tide can run into the broad basin the time comes for -it to turn and run out again, so there is never a -rise and fall of more than six or eight inches in -here. The boat will lie comfortably where she is -so long as we choose to stay here. We can reach -her without much if any wading, and we can shove -her off into deep water whenever we like.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[154]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Is there a spring about here?” asked Tom, -whose concern about water supply had become specially -active.</p> - -<p>“No, but we can make one in fifteen minutes.”</p> - -<p>Then selecting a sort of depression in the sandy -beach about sixty yards from the water’s edge, Cal -said:</p> - -<p>“We have only to scoop out a basin in the sand -here—about three feet deep as I reckon it, and -we’ll have all the water we want.”</p> - -<p>“But will it be good water?”</p> - -<p>“Perfectly good. You see, Tom, this beach is -composed of clean white sand. The water in the -bay sipes through it at a uniform level, and we’ve -only to dig down to that level in order to get at it.”</p> - -<p>“But won’t it be salt water?”</p> - -<p>“Slightly brackish, perhaps, or possibly not at -all so. You see before reaching this point it is filtered -through sixty or seventy yards of closely -packed sand, which takes up all the salt and would -take up all other impurities if there were any, as -there are not. Suppose you dig for the water, Tom, -while the other fellows make camp and pick up -wood. It’s very easy digging and it won’t take -long. I’m going off a little way to see what there -is to see—and to look for the manna I spoke of a -while ago.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[155]</a></span></p> - -<p>So saying, Cal took up his gun and set out inland. -It was more than an hour before he returned and -the dusk was falling. But to the astonishment of -the others a string of young negroes followed close -upon his heels, all carrying burdens of some sort, -mostly poised upon their heads.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2 class="p4">XV</h2> - -<p class="pch">CAL GATHERS THE MANNA</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">When</span> Cal appeared at the head of his dusky -little caravan the others advanced to meet him and -bombard him with a rapid fire of questions as to -where he had been, and what the negro boys were -carrying, and where he had discovered the source -of supply, and whatever else their curiosity suggested.</p> - -<p>Instead of replying at once he asked.</p> - -<p>“Did you find the water, Tom?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, easily, and it isn’t brackish at all.”</p> - -<p>“That’s excellent, and now let us eat, drink and -be merry. I couldn’t give you that injunction till -I learned that we had the water for the drinking -part.”</p> - -<p>Without waiting for him to finish his sentence -the others busied themselves in examining what the -negroes had brought. As they did so, Cal catalogued -the supplies orally with comments:</p> - -<p>“That bag contains a half bushel of rice—enough<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</a></span> -to serve us as a breadstuff for a long time -to come, as we require only three teacupfuls—measured -by guess—for a meal; the bag by the -side of it is badly out at elbows and knees, but it -holds a fine supply of new sweet potatoes which will -help the endurance of the rice. What’s that? Oh, -that’s a little okra, and the red-turbaned old darky -woman who sold it to me carefully explained how -to cook the mucilaginous vegetable. As she delivered -her instructions in the language of the Upper -Congo, I cannot say that my conception of the way -in which okra should be prepared for the table is -especially clear, but we’ll find some way out of that -difficulty. Yes, the big bag on the right contains -a few dozen ears of green corn, and the one next to -it is full of well-ripened tomatoes, smooth of surface, -shapely of contour and tempting to the appetite. -Finally, we have here half a dozen cantaloupes, -or ‘mush millions,’ as the colored youth -who supplied them called his merchandise. Now -scamper, you little vagabonds. I’ve paid you once -for toting the things and it is a matter of principle -with me never to pay twice for a single service.”</p> - -<p>“Where on earth, Cal, did you find all these -things?” asked Larry, the others looking the same -question out of their eyes as it were.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[158]</a></span></p> - -<p>“I found them in the garden patches where they -were grown,” he replied. “That’s what I went out -to do. They are the ‘manna,’ the finding of which -somewhere in this neighborhood I foreshadowed in -answer to your querulous predictions of an exclusively -meat diet for some days to come.”</p> - -<p>As he spoke, Cal was throwing sweet potatoes -into the fire and covering them with red-hot ashes -with glowing coals on top.</p> - -<p>“You’re a most unsatisfactory fellow, Cal,” -said Dick. “Why don’t you tell us where you got -the provender and how you happened to find so rich -a source of supply. Anybody else would be eager -to talk about such an exploit.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll tell you,” Cal answered, “as soon as I get -the potato roast properly going. I’m hungry. -Suppose you cut some cantaloupes for us to eat -while the potatoes are cooking.”</p> - -<p>Not until he had half a melon in hand did Cal -begin.</p> - -<p>“There’s one of the finest rice plantations on all -this coast about a mile above here. Or rather, the -plantation house is there. As for the plantation -itself, we’re sitting on it now. It belongs to Colonel -Huguenin, and of course the house is closed in summer.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[159]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Why?” interrupted Dick, whose thirst for information -concerning southern customs was insatiable.</p> - -<p>“Do you really want me to interrupt my story -of ‘How Cal Went Foraging’ in order to answer -your interjected inquiry? If I must talk it’s all one -to me what I talk about. So make your choice.”</p> - -<p>“Go on and tell us of the foraging. The other -thing can wait.”</p> - -<p>“Well, then; I happened to know of this plantation. -I’ve bivouacked on the shores of this bay before, -and when I turned the <i>Hunkydory’s</i> nose in -this direction I was impelled by an intelligent purpose. -I had alluring visions of the things I could -buy from the negroes up there at the quarters.”</p> - -<p>“Why didn’t you tell us then instead of getting -off all that rigmarole about rowing against the tide -and the rest of it?” asked Larry, not with irritation, -but with a laugh, for the cantaloupe he was -eating and the smell of the sweet potatoes roasting -in the ashes had put him and the others into an entirely -peaceful and contented frame of mind.</p> - -<p>“I never like to raise hopes,” answered Cal, -“that I cannot certainly fulfill. Performance is -better than promises—as much better as the supper -we are about to eat is better than a printed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[160]</a></span> -bill of fare. Wonder how the potatoes are coming -on?”</p> - -<p>With that he dug one of the yams out of the -ashes, examined it, and put it back, saying:</p> - -<p>“Five or six minutes more will do the business. -I picked out the smallest ones on purpose to hurry -supper. Let’s set the table. Tom, if your kettle -of water is boiling, suppose you shuck some corn -and plunge it in it. It must boil from five to six -minutes—just long enough to get it thoroughly -hot through. If it boils longer the sweetness all -goes out of it. Dick, won’t you wash some of the -tomatoes while Larry and I arrange the dishes?”</p> - -<p>Arranging the dishes consisted in cutting a number -of broad palmete leaves, some to hold the supplies -of food and others to serve as plates.</p> - -<p>“I’m sorry I cannot offer you young gentlemen -some fresh butter for your corn and potatoes,” said -Cal, as they sat down to supper, “but to be perfectly -candid with you, our cows seem to have deserted -us and we haven’t churned for several days -past. After all, the corn and potatoes will be very -palatable with a little salt sprinkled upon them, and -we have plenty of salt. Don’t hesitate to help -yourselves freely to it.”</p> - -<p>“To my mind,” said Dick, “this is as good a -supper as I ever ate.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[161]</a></span></p> - -<p>“That’s because of our sharp appetites,” answered -Larry. “We’re hungry enough to relish -anything.”</p> - -<p>“Appetite helps, of course,” said Dick, thoughtfully; -“but so does contrast. An hour ago we -had all made up our minds to content ourselves for -many meals to come with the exclusive diet of fish -and game, which has been our lot for many meals -past. To find ourselves eating a supper like this -instead is like waking from a bad dream and finding -it only a nightmare.”</p> - -<p>“It would be better still not to have the nightmare,” -answered Cal, speaking more seriously than -he usually did. “When you have a nightmare it -is usually your own fault, and pessimism is always -so. You fellows were pessimistic over the prospect -of a supper you could not enjoy. As you -have a supper that you can enjoy, the suffering you -inflicted upon yourselves was wholly needless.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, I know,” interposed Tom; “but we -couldn’t know that you were going to get all these -good things for us.”</p> - -<p>“No, of course not. But if you hadn’t allowed -your pessimistic forebodings to make you unhappy, -you needn’t have been unhappy at all. If things -had turned out as you expected you’d have been -unhappy twice—once in lamenting your lot and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[162]</a></span> -once in suffering it. As it is, you’ve been needlessly -unhappy once and unexpectedly happy once, -instead of being happy all the while. I tell you -optimism is the only true philosophy.”</p> - -<p>“I suppose it is,” Dick admitted, “but it leads to -disappointment very often.”</p> - -<p>“Of course. But in that case you suffer the ill, -whatever it is, only once; while the pessimist suffers -it both before it befalls and when it comes. That -involves a sheer waste of the power of endurance.”</p> - -<p>Larry had forgotten to eat while his brother delivered -this little discourse, for he had never heard -Cal talk in so serious a fashion. Indeed, he had -come to think of his brother as a trifler who could -never be persuaded to seriousness.</p> - -<p>“Where on earth did you get that thought, Cal?” -he asked, when Cal ceased to speak.</p> - -<p>“It is perfectly sound, isn’t it?” was the boy’s -reply.</p> - -<p>“I think it is. But where did you get it?”</p> - -<p>“If it is sound, it doesn’t matter where I got it, -or how. But to satisfy your curiosity, I’ll tell you -that I thought it out down here in the woods when -I was a runaway. I was so often in trouble as to -what was going to happen, and it so often happened -that it didn’t happen after all, that I got to wondering -one day what was the use of worrying about<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[163]</a></span> -things that might never happen. I was alone in -the woods, you know, and I had plenty of time to -think. So little by little I thought out the optimistic -philosophy and adopted it as the rule of my life. -Of course I could not formulate it then as I do now. -I didn’t know what the words ‘optimism’ and -‘pessimism’ meant, but my mind got a good grasp -upon the ideas underlying them. There! My sermon -is done. I have only to announce that there -will be no more preaching at this camp-meeting. -I’m going to take a look at your well, Tom, and if -the water is as good as you say, I’m going to empty -the rain water out of the kegs and refill them. -Rain water, you know, goes bad a good deal sooner -than other water—especially sand-filtered water.”</p> - -<p>“I reckon Cal is right, Dick,” said Tom, when -their companion was out of earshot.</p> - -<p>“Yes, of course he is, but did you ever stub your -toe? It’s a little bit hard to be optimistic on occasions -like that.”</p> - -<p>“I reckon that’s hardly what Cal meant—”</p> - -<p>“Of course it isn’t. I was jesting.”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[164]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2 class="p4">XVI</h2> - -<p class="pch">FOG BOUND</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">The</span> boys were not tired that evening, and after -their abundant supper they sat late talking and telling -stories and “just being happy,” Dick said. -The day had been a torrid one, but in the evening -there was a chill in the air which made a crackling -camp-fire welcome. When at last they grew sleepy -they simply rolled themselves in their blankets and -lay down upon the sand and under the stars. They -had built no shelter, as it was not their purpose to -remain where they were except for a single night.</p> - -<p>It was not long after daylight when Tom, shivering, -sprang up, saying:</p> - -<p>“I’m cold—hello! What’s this? Fog?”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” said Larry, “a visitor from the gulf -stream. And it is almost thick enough to cut, too. -What shall we do?”</p> - -<p>“Do? Why, make the best of it and be happy, -of course,” answered Cal, piling wood upon the -embers to set the camp-fire going again. “The first<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[165]</a></span> -step in that direction is to get your blood circulating. -Stir around. Bring a bucket of water and -set the kettle to boil—that is to say, if you can open -a trail through this fog and find the water hole -without falling into it. Whew! but this is a marrow-searching -atmosphere.”</p> - -<p>The fog was indeed so dense that nothing could -be seen at more than twenty paces away, while the -damp, penetrating chill set all teeth chattering and -kept them at it until rapid exercise set pulses going -again. Then came breakfast to “confirm the cure,” -Dick suggested, and the little company was comfortable -again. That is to say, all of them but -Larry. He was obviously uneasy in his mind, so -much so that he had little relish for his breakfast.</p> - -<p>“What’s the matter, Larry,” asked Tom, presently; -“aren’t you warm yet?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes, I’m warm enough, but there isn’t a -breath of air stirring, and this fog may last all day. -What do you think, Cal?”</p> - -<p>“I think that very likely. I’ve seen fogs like -this that lasted two or three days.”</p> - -<p>“How on earth are we to get to Beaufort while -it lasts?”</p> - -<p>The question revealed the nature of Larry’s trouble.</p> - -<p>“Why, of course we can’t do anything of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[166]</a></span> -kind,” Cal answered. “We should get lost in the -fog and go butting into mud banks and unexpected -shoals. No. Till this fog clears away we can’t -think of leaving the altogether agreeable shore -upon which a kindly fate has cast us. But we can -be happy while we stay, unless we make ourselves -unhappy by worrying. I know what is troubling -you, Larry, and it’s nonsense to worry about it. I -often think I wouldn’t carry your conscience about -with me for thirty cents a month.”</p> - -<p>“But, Cal, you see it is our duty to notify the -revenue officers of our discovery before those smugglers -get away.”</p> - -<p>“It may relieve your mind,” Cal answered in his -usual roundabout fashion, “to reflect that they can’t -get away. If they were still there when this fog -came in from the sea, they will stay there till it clears -away again. So we are really losing no time. In -addition to that consolation, you should take comfort -to yourself in the thought that even if the revenue -officers were in possession of the information -we have, they could do nothing till the fog lifts. So -far as I know, at least, they can see no farther -through fog than other people can, and shoals and -mud banks are unlikely to respect their authority -by keeping out of the way of such craft as they may -navigate.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[167]</a></span></p> - -<p>Suddenly Cal put aside his playful manner of -speech, and became thoroughly earnest.</p> - -<p>“Think a minute, Larry. We have absolutely no -official duty to do in this matter. We are doing our -best as good citizens to notify the authorities. At -present we can’t do it. There’s an end of that. -We have a pleasant bivouac here, with plenty of -food and more where it came from. Why -shouldn’t we make the best of things and be happy? -Why should you go brooding around, making the -rest of us miserable? I tell you it’s nonsense. -Cheer up, and give the rest of us a chance to enjoy -ourselves.”</p> - -<p>“You are right, Cal,” Larry answered; “and I -won’t spoil sport. I didn’t mean to, and my worrying -was foolish. By the way, what shall we do -to pass the time to-day?”</p> - -<p>“Well, for one thing, we ought to put up a shelter. -A fog like this is very apt to end in soaking -rain, and if it does that to-night, we’ll sleep more -comfortably under a roof of palmete leaves than out -in the open. However, there’s no hurry about that, -and you can let Dick wallop you at chess for an -hour or so while Tom and I go foraging. You see -I’ve thought of a good many things that I ought to -have bought last night, but didn’t. Do you want -to go along, Tom?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[168]</a></span></p> - -<p>Tom did, and as they started away, Cal called -back:</p> - -<p>“I say, Larry, suppose you put on a kettle of -rice to boil for dinner when the time comes. I -think I’ll bring back something to eat with it.”</p> - -<p>Then walking on with Tom by his side, he fell -into his customary drawling, half-frivolous mode -of speech. Tom had expressed his pleasure in the -prospect of rice for dinner—rice cooked in the -Carolina way, a dish he had never tasted before -his present visit began.</p> - -<p>“Yes,” answered Cal, “I was tenderly and affectionately -thinking of you when I suggested the -dish. And I had it in mind to make the occasion -memorable in another way. I remember very vividly -how greatly—I will not say greedily—you -enjoyed the combination of rice and broiled spring -chicken while we were in Charleston. I remember -that at first you seemed disposed to scorn the rice -under the mistaken impression that rice must always -be the pasty, mush-like mess that they made -of it at school. I remember how when I insisted -upon filling your plate with it you contemplated it -with surprise, and, contemplating, tasted the dainty -result of proper cooking. After that all was plain -sailing. I had only to place half a broiled chicken<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[169]</a></span> -upon the rice foundation in your plate—half a -chicken at a time I mean—and observe the gustatory -delight with which you devoted yourself to -our favorite Carolina dish.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, well, your Carolina way of cooking it -makes rice good even when you have no chicken to -go with it. If the fog would thin itself down a -bit—”</p> - -<p>“Which it won’t do in time for you to kill the -squirrels you were thinking of as a possible substitute -for chicken. Perish the thought. It is utterly -unworthy. You and I are out after spring -chickens, Tom.”</p> - -<p>“Good! Do you think we can find any?”</p> - -<p>“With the aid of the currency of our country -as an excitant of the negro imagination, we can.”</p> - -<p>“You saw chickens at the negro quarters last -night, then?”</p> - -<p>“No, I did not. But I observed a large pan on -a shelf in front of one of the cabins, and with more -curiosity than politeness I stood up on my tiptoes -and looked into it. Tom, that pan was more than -half full of chicken feed, and it was fresh at that. -Knowing the habits of persons of the colored persuasion, -I am entirely certain that no one of them -would have taken the trouble to prepare that chicken<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[170]</a></span> -feed unless he was the happy possessor of chickens. -I’m going to call upon the dusky proprietor of that -pan this morning.”</p> - -<p>“That’s another case of noticing, Cal, and another -proof of its value. We are likely to have -broiled spring chickens for dinner to-day just because -you observed that pan of chicken feed. -What else did you notice up there? I ask solely -out of curiosity.”</p> - -<p>“There wasn’t much else to observe. I saw -some fig bushes but they’ve been stripped. Otherwise -we should have had some figs for breakfast -this morning. Just now I observe that the fog is -manifesting a decided tendency to resolve itself into -rain, and if it does, that we must satisfy Larry’s -conscience by getting away from our present camp -this afternoon—or as soon as the fog is sufficiently -cleared away. So you and I must hurry on if -we’re to have those broiled chickens.”</p> - -<p>As results proved, Cal was mistaken in his reckoning -of the time necessary to dissipate the fog. -It was merely taking the form of what is known -as a “Scotch mist,” which does not form itself into -rain drops and fall, but collects in drops upon whatever -it touches, saturating clothing even more -speedily than actual rain does and making all but -the sunniest dispositions uncomfortable.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[171]</a></span></p> - -<p>But even a Scotch mist condition served to thin -the fog a little, though by no means enough to make -navigation possible. Larry watched conditions anxiously, -as Cal expected him to do, and his first -question when Cal and Tom returned with their -chickens revealed his state of mind.</p> - -<p>“What do you think of it, Cal?” he asked.</p> - -<p>“Of what? If you refer to the moon, I am -satisfied in my own mind—”</p> - -<p>“Pshaw! You know what I mean. Do be serious -for once and tell me what you think of the prospect?”</p> - -<p>“Conscience bothering you again?”</p> - -<p>“Yes. We must get away from here to-day if -possible—and as soon as possible.”</p> - -<p>“Can’t you give us time to have dinner and cook -some extra food for consumption when we get -hopelessly lost out there in the fog banks that are -still rolling in from the sea?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, of course we can’t leave here till the fog -clears away. But do you think it ever will clear -away?”</p> - -<p>“It always has,” answered Cal, determined to -laugh his brother out of his brooding if he could -not reason him out of it. “In such experience as -I have had with fogs I never yet encountered one -that didn’t ultimately disappear, did you?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[172]</a></span></p> - -<p>“But what do you think of the prospect?” persisted -Larry.</p> - -<p>“I can see so little of it through the fog,” Cal -provokingly replied, “that I am really unable to -form an intelligent opinion of it. What I do see -is that you haven’t begun to make our shelter yet. -In my opinion it would be well to do so, if only to -keep the chess board dry while a game is in progress. -Moreover, I have an interesting book or -two wrapped up in my oilskins, and if we are -doomed to remain here over night—”</p> - -<p>“You don’t think then that—”</p> - -<p>“Frankly, Larry, I don’t know anything about -it. Neither do you, and neither does anybody else. -We’re in a very wet fog bank. We’ve got to stay -where we are till the weather changes. Don’t you -think our wisest course is to make ourselves as -comfortable and keep ourselves as cheerful as we -can while it lasts.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, of course, but it’s pretty hard you know -to—”</p> - -<p>“Not half as hard as chopping wood and -‘toting’ it in from the woods over there, and that -is what Tom and I are going to do after dinner -as our contribution to the general comfort. You’ll -find yourself feeling a great deal better if you -busy yourself making a really comfortable shelter<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[173]</a></span> -while we’re at the other job. It may come on to -rain torrents this afternoon, and of course we won’t -leave here in the boat if it does.”</p> - -<p>“That will do, Cal. I’m convinced, and I’m -a trifle ashamed of myself besides. I promise not -to worry any more. I decree that we shall not -leave port in a rain storm, and unless the weather -conditions become favorable before four o’clock -this afternoon we’ll not leave here any how until -to-morrow.”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[174]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2 class="p4">XVII</h2> - -<p class="pch">THE OBLIGATION OF A GENTLEMAN</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">The</span> fog held throughout the day, changing to -a deluge of rain about nightfall, but Cal and Tom -had provided an abundance of firewood, the palmete -shelter was waterproof, the long gray moss -with which it was carpeted was soft to loll upon, -and the book from which they read aloud by turns -proved to be an amusing one. Larry kept his -promise and indulged in no further impatience.</p> - -<p>When morning came the rain was still coming -down in torrents, and it was unanimously agreed -that no attempt should be made to quit the place -until it should cease.</p> - -<p>“An open rowboat in a heavy rain is about the -wettest place imaginable,” Dick said, and the experience -of the rest had been such as to confirm the -judgment.</p> - -<p>When at last a brisk westerly wind began to tear -the clouds to pieces, all agreed that Larry’s patience -had fairly earned its reward, and all hands<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[175]</a></span> -worked hard to get as early a start as possible. -It was two o’clock in fact when they finally set -sail, with Cal again at the helm because he knew -of a narrow but navigable passage which would -enable them to avoid the heavy ebb tide of the -channel that Larry had selected two days before. -The tide would not begin to ebb for two or three -hours to come, and by taking this short cut Cal -hoped to reach broad waters before that time.</p> - -<p>He did so in fact, but upon running out of the -little creek he was disappointed to find that a shift -had given him a headwind to contend with. There -was nothing for it but to beat to windward, and the -breeze was so light that their progress was slow. -Cal made the best of conditions as he found them, -according to his custom, but about sunset the tide -turned against him, and worse than that, the wind -went down with the sun, leaving not a breath to -fill the sails.</p> - -<p>Then Cal asked for orders.</p> - -<p>“What is your wish, Captain Larry?” he asked. -“Shall we take to the oars and push on against the -tide, or land for the night? Without a favoring -wind we can’t possibly make Beaufort to-night.”</p> - -<p>“What do the rest of you say?” asked Larry, -in some perplexity.</p> - -<p>“Never mind what anybody else says,” broke<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[176]</a></span> -in Cal, before the others could answer. “This -isn’t a debating club or an advisory council of ancients, -or anything else of the kind. We’re a ship’s -company and you are the captain; so give your -orders.”</p> - -<p>“Very well, we’ll run ashore. Do you know of -a suitable place, Cal?”</p> - -<p>“No, not from personal experience in these -parts, but I’ve been watching the coast-line over -there to starboard, and I think I make out the -mouth of a small creek or inlet. The chart doesn’t -show it very distinctly, but it roughly indicates a -number of small indentations in the land, and the -soundings given for all that shore seem satisfactory.”</p> - -<p>“To the oars then,” said Larry, “and we’ll look -for a landing place somewhere over there. The -whole shore seems to be heavily wooded. Pull -away.”</p> - -<p>It was fully dark when Cal’s keen eyes found -what he was looking for, namely, the sheltered -mouth of a small creek or inlet, heavily overshadowed -by woods and a tangled undergrowth.</p> - -<p>Running into it the company landed on a small -bluff-like bit of shore and made things snug for -the night. The heavy dew, so prevalent on that -coast, was already dripping from the trees, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[177]</a></span> -the air was very chill. To avoid the dew drippings -the camp-fire was built close to the margin of the -inlet at a point where a little patch of star-studded -sky showed clear overhead.</p> - -<p>The little company sat with their backs against -a large fallen tree as they ate their supper and -planned an early start for the morrow. All were -eager to make the visit to Beaufort and have it over -with as soon as possible, for a reason which Dick -put into words:</p> - -<p>“I’m anxious to go to Quasi. The very name -of the place appeals to my imagination; the story -of it fascinates me. How long will it take us to -get there, Cal, after we finish what we have to do -at Beaufort?”</p> - -<p>“The wind bloweth where it listeth, you know,” -Cal answered; “and worse still, it doesn’t blow at -all unless it is doing a little ‘listing’; the tides are -subservient to the will of the sun and moon, and -we must reckon upon them as a frequently opposing -force; then too, there are fogs sometimes, as recent -experience has taught us, to say nothing of possible -encounters with smugglers, from which we may -not escape so easily next time as we did before. -How, then, shall I presume to set a time for our -arrival at Quasi, particularly when I do not know -how long we shall be detained at Beaufort.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[178]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Oh, not long,” broke in Larry. “We have -nothing to do there but report to the customs authorities -and spend an hour or so buying coffee, -ship biscuit, some hams—for we’re out of bacon—and -such other supplies of a non-perishable sort -as we need. Two hours ought to cover our stay -there.”</p> - -<p>“Well, I’m not so certain of that,” said Cal. -“As likely as not our detention will last for two -days, or possibly two weeks, and if—”</p> - -<p>“But how, Cal?” Tom interrupted with a look -almost of consternation on his face, for he, too, -was impatient to reach Quasi and try the hunting -there.</p> - -<p>“Let Cal finish, Tom,” said Larry. “He has -something in mind.”</p> - -<p>“Something on my mind,” Cal replied; “and -it weighs heavily too. I’ve been thinking of it -ever since we turned our prow toward Beaufort.”</p> - -<p>“You must have thought it out by this time, -then; so go on and tell us about it,” said Dick, impatiently.</p> - -<p>“I wonder the rest of you haven’t thought of it -for yourselves,” resumed Cal; “but it isn’t worth -while to speculate about that. I was going to say -that we four fellows have the misfortune to be -eye-witnesses in the case of those smugglers. We<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[179]</a></span> -saw them bring their goods ashore. Now I don’t -know what the revenue officers do with smugglers -when they catch them. I suppose they take them -to a United States Court somewhere, though where -I don’t know. Charleston is the most likely place -in the case of men caught along this coast. In -any case I suppose they need witnesses to testify -to the smuggling, and unfortunately we are the -witnesses in this case. Is it really necessary to -set the matter forth more fully? It all comes to -this, that we may be detained for an indefinite -length of time at Beaufort, or we may even be -taken back to Charleston as witnesses. For that -reason I am reluctant to go to Beaufort at all—at -least until we’ve had our trip out.”</p> - -<p>“You’re quite right, Cal,” answered Dick; “it -would be a shame to have our jolly outing spoiled. -As for supplies, I suppose we might run down to -Bluffton and pick up the absolutely necessary -things—”</p> - -<p>“Yes, or we can do without them,” interposed -Tom, to whom every hour of their sporting trip -seemed a precious thing not to be lost on any account.</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes, we could get them by going a little -out of our way,” said Cal, “or we could go without. -I spent two or three months alone down<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[180]</a></span> -among these woods and waters without such things, -and I can’t remember that I was the worse for it—though -I confess my breeches and my shirt and -shoes suffered. Anyhow, Larry is our captain this -time, and he must decide. He hasn’t spoken a -word yet.”</p> - -<p>“It has not seemed necessary,” Larry answered. -“Of course we shall go to Beaufort just as fast -as we can.”</p> - -<p>“But why, Larry?” asked Tom.</p> - -<p>“Simply because it is our duty.”</p> - -<p>“But why can’t we wait till we’re on our way -back?”</p> - -<p>“It would be too late then.”</p> - -<p>“But I say, Larry,” interposed Dick, “do you -really think we are under so imperative an obligation -as that?”</p> - -<p>“To do one’s duty is always an imperative obligation. -We are all of us the sons of gentlemen. -We have been trained to think—and truly so—that -a gentleman must do his duty regardless of -consequences to himself. So we are going to start -for Beaufort at daylight, no matter what annoyances -it may bring upon us.”</p> - -<p>“Of course you are right,” said Dick and Tom -in a breath. Cal said nothing until one of them -asked him why he remained silent.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[181]</a></span></p> - -<p>“I’m a Rutledge,” he answered, “and what -Larry has said is the gospel in which I have been -bred. I hadn’t thought it out till Larry spoke, -that’s all.”</p> - -<p>“Neither had I,” said Dick.</p> - -<p>“Nor I,” said Tom. “Of course we’ve all been -bred in the same creed, and I for one shall never -again wait to be reminded of it when a duty presents -itself.”</p> - -<p>“Your decision is unanimously sustained and approved, -Larry,” added Dick, by way of relaxing the -seriousness of the talk. “The Rutledges, the Garnetts -and the Wentworths echo your thought, if -not your words—for Echo insists upon pronouncing -them—‘Bully for you!’”</p> - -<p>At that moment something happened which -brought all four of the boys to their feet and -prompted Cal to slip the cartridges out of his gun -and substitute others carrying buckshot in their -stead. The others, observing his act, quickly imitated -it.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[182]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2 class="p4">XVIII</h2> - -<p class="pch">FIGHT OR FAIR PLAY</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">As</span> the exchange of cartridges was in progress, -five men, all armed, approached the bivouac. They -had landed from a boat a hundred yards or so -further down the creek, and attempted to creep -upon the camp and take it by surprise.</p> - -<p>Fortunately Larry’s quick ears had caught sound -of them, and by the time the exchange of bird for -buckshot was completed they were in plain view -and not more than a dozen or twenty yards away.</p> - -<p>“Halt!” Larry cried out to them, and as they -seemed indisposed to obey the command, he called -again:</p> - -<p>“Stand where you are or we’ll shoot!”</p> - -<p>There was no doubt in Larry’s mind that these -men were a band of smugglers, or that they were -trying to spring upon his party unawares. He -had no mind to be taken by surprise by murderous -ruffians. Fortunately for all concerned, his command -was obeyed.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/ill-199.jpg" width="400" height="598" id="i182" - alt="" - title="" /> - <div class="caption"><p class="pc400">“<span class="smcap">Stand where you are or we’ll shoot.”</span><br /><span class="wn"><a href="#i182"><i>Pag. 182.</i></a></span></p> -</div></div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[183]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Who are you and what do you want?”</p> - -<p>“That we decline to say,” said the spokesman of -the party.</p> - -<p>“Then stand off,” said Larry, “or go back to -your own place, wherever it is, or take the consequences.”</p> - -<p>Larry was quick to observe that neither the -words nor the tone of the one who had spoken -were such as the drunken, degraded, ignorant men -he had seen in the smugglers’ camp would have -used, and the fact puzzled him. After a moment’s -reflection he called out:</p> - -<p>“If you have any business with us you may -come ahead a few paces into the full light of the -fire and say what you have to say. But if one -of you raises a gun we’ll give you a volley of buckshot -straight at your breasts. Come on out of the -bushes and tell us what you want.”</p> - -<p>As the advance was made and the full firelight -fell upon the five men, Larry saw that they were -in the uniform of the revenue cutter service, with -which he was familiar.</p> - -<p>“I beg your pardon, Boatswain,” he said, but -without relaxing his watchfulness; “I couldn’t see -your uniforms until now, and mistook your party -for one of a very different sort. Come to the fire -and tell us what you want; your men can stay<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[184]</a></span> -where they are till we understand each other better.”</p> - -<p>This last was said because of an apparent purpose -on the part of the men to move forward in a -body.</p> - -<p>“Now then, Boatswain, what have you to say -to us?” Larry asked, while the other three boys -stood watchfully by the huge trunk of the fallen -tree with their shotguns held precisely as they -would have been had their owners been alertly -waiting for a pointer to flush a flock of birds for -them to shoot on the wing.</p> - -<p>“We are men in the revenue service,” the boatswain -answered. “We were sent ashore from the -cutter that lies just off the mouth of the creek to -ask who you are and what you are doing here—in -short, to give an account of yourselves. It will -save trouble if you answer us.”</p> - -<p>“Coming from an agent of the revenue,” answered -Larry, with dignity, “your questions are -entirely proper. It was not necessary to couple an -implied threat with them. However, that was -nothing worse than a bit of ill manners, and I’ll -overlook it. To answer your questions: My -name is Lawrence Rutledge; one of the others is -my brother. We live in Charleston, and with our -two guests we are down here for a little sporting<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[185]</a></span> -trip. Is there anything else you’d like to know -about us?”</p> - -<p>“That’s a queer sort of boat you’ve got,” answered -the other.</p> - -<p>“I asked if there was anything else you wanted -to know,” said Larry, ignoring the comment on -the dory’s appearance as an impertinent one.</p> - -<p>“I guess you’ll have to talk with the lieutenant -about that. You see I’m only a warrant officer.”</p> - -<p>“Very well. Where is he?”</p> - -<p>“On board the cutter.”</p> - -<p>“Send for him then. We’ll give him any information -we can.”</p> - -<p>“I think I see myself sending for him! I’ll -have to take you on board.”</p> - -<p>“But we won’t go,” answered Larry, with eyes -snapping.</p> - -<p>“You’ll have to go.”</p> - -<p>“But we won’t. We are American citizens, attending -to our honest business. If your lieutenant -or any other officer of the Government wishes to -ask us any legitimate question, we’re ready to answer. -But we will not endure insult or wrong. If -you have a warrant for our arrest we’ll not resist, -but we’ll not submit to arrest without authority.”</p> - -<p>“We don’t have to bother about warrants when -we’ve got smugglers dead to rights.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[186]</a></span></p> - -<p>“But we are not smugglers.”</p> - -<p>“That’s for you to settle with the lieutenant. -It’s my business to arrest all of you and take you -on board the cutter.”</p> - -<p>In a low voice, before the boatswain had finished -his sentence, Larry said to his comrades:</p> - -<p>“Jump over the log—we’ll make a breastwork -of it,” and instantly they obeyed, leaving him on -the side next the revenue men. Then to the boatswain -he said:</p> - -<p>“You’ve no right to arrest without a warrant. -I tell you once for all we’ll not submit to arrest.”</p> - -<p>“What’ll you do then?”</p> - -<p>“We’ll fight first,” answered Larry, delivering -the words like shots from a pistol, and leaping to -the farther side of the fallen tree as he spoke.</p> - -<p>The boatswain was bewildered. He knew, in -a vague way, that no one can legally make an arrest -without a warrant, except when he sees a person -in the act of committing crime or running -away from officers; but he had never before had an -experience of determined resistance. He was accustomed -to the summary ways of brute force that -prevail in military life, and to him it seemed absurd -for anybody to resist the only kind of constituted -authority with which he was familiar.</p> - -<p>He was sorely perplexed. He was by no means<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[187]</a></span> -sure that the boys were the smugglers he had been -sent to arrest. On the contrary, their manner, -their speech and all other appearances were in their -favor. Nevertheless his superior officers had been -watching the dory’s movements for several days -and had sent him ashore in full assurance that they -had their quarry at bay. He was convinced that -he ought to arrest the party, but he had only four -men and himself for the work, and there stood -four stalwart young fellows behind the fallen tree -trunk with four double-barreled shotguns bristling -across the barrier. The creek, with a sharp -bend, lay upon their left and completely covered -their rear, while on their right was a swamp so -densely grown up in cane and entangled vines, to -say nothing of the treacherous mud below, that -passage across it would have been nearly impossible -in the broadest light of day. Clearly Larry’s -party must be assailed in front if assailed at all, -and the boatswain was not to blame for hesitating -to make an assault which would almost certainly -cost the lives of himself and all his men. Add to -this his uncertainty as to his right to make any -assault at all, and what he did is easily understood.</p> - -<p>He ordered his men to fall back to their boat, -and as they did so he stood alone where he had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[188]</a></span> -been. When the men were well away, he said to -Larry:</p> - -<p>“You don’t think me a coward, do you?”</p> - -<p>“Certainly not,” Larry answered.</p> - -<p>“Well, this thing may get me into trouble you -know, and if you’re the man you say you are, I -may want you to help me out as a witness. Will -you do it?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, certainly. But what’s the use of getting -into trouble? I’m willing to trust your word as -an honorable fellow; if you’ll trust mine in the -same way you and I can settle this whole matter -in ten minutes in a way that will bring you praise -instead of blame. Don’t go aboard the cutter and -report a failure and be blamed for it; stay here -and talk the matter over and then go aboard with -a report that will do you honor. What do you -say to that?”</p> - -<p>“What are your terms?”</p> - -<p>“Only that you meet me in the same spirit in -which I meet you. Give up your notion that we -are a gang of smugglers—you must see how absurd -it is—and give up your claim of a right to -arrest us without a warrant; meet me half way and -I’ll show you how to get out of a scrape that you -wouldn’t have got into but for those two mistaken -guesses. We have no feeling of enmity toward<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[189]</a></span> -you and no wish to injure you. If we were ready -to fight you to the death, it was only in defense of -our rights. Give up your attempt to invade those -rights and there will be no quarrel between us. Is -it a bargain?”</p> - -<p>“Well, you speak fair anyhow. I don’t see -what else I can do than meet you half way. I’m -ready.”</p> - -<p>“Very well, then,” said Larry, emptying his gun -of its cartridges and signing to his comrades to -do likewise. “As you have sent your men away, -we’ll make things even by disarming ourselves.”</p> - -<p>With instinctive recognition of the manly generosity -thus shown the boatswain tossed his own -gun to the ground and, advancing, held out his -hand, saying:</p> - -<p>“You wouldn’t have done that if you hadn’t -been what you say you are. I’m ready to sit down -now and talk things over.”</p> - -<p>Larry sprang over the log that separated them -and took the proffered hand. Then all sat down, -and Larry said:</p> - -<p>“I’m willing to tell you now what I never would -have told you under a threat. We have seen the -smugglers you are looking for; we know where -they are, or at any rate where they were two days -ago; we know where their plunder is hidden, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[190]</a></span> -we are prepared to go with you to the place. We -were on our way to Beaufort to report all this to -the revenue authorities when you came to arrest -us.”</p> - -<p>The two had risen and were standing now, and -the boatswain was continually shaking Larry’s -hand. He tried to say what was in his mind but -couldn’t. His wits were bewildered for the moment, -and Larry came to their rescue.</p> - -<p>“Pull yourself together, Boatswain,” he said, -“and listen to me. Hurry back to your boat, go -aboard the cutter at once, and report that you -haven’t found a smuggler’s camp but that you’ve -found somebody who can and will show your commanding -officer where one is. Tell him Lawrence -Rutledge and his companions offer their services as -guides who know where to go. Be off, quick. -We’ll wait here for his answer.”</p> - -<p>The boatswain’s wits were all in his control now -and he hurried away. He had achieved victory -where only defeat had seemed possible. He had -met with success where a few minutes before he -had hoped for nothing better than failure. He -was going on board to receive commendation instead -of the censure he had expected. Honor was -his in lieu of dreaded disgrace.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[191]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2 class="p4">XIX</h2> - -<p class="pch">WHY LARRY WAS READY FOR BATTLE</p> - -<p>“<span class="smcap">Larry</span>, you ought to be a major-general,” said -Dick, with enthusiasm, as soon as the boatswain was -well out of earshot. “I never saw anything better -managed than that was. From the moment -you put us behind the log, the fight—if there was -to be a fight—was all ours.”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” said Tom, “we’d have had no difficulty -in cleaning those fellows out if it had come to that, -and the boatswain saw it as clearly as we did. But -I don’t yet understand why you did it, Larry.”</p> - -<p>“Why, simply to make sure of success in self-defense. -That seems simple enough,” responded -Larry.</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes, that’s simple enough, but I wasn’t -thinking about that. I meant I don’t see why you -made any objection to going aboard at first and -telling the officers there all you’re going to tell -them now. You are going of your own accord -now; why didn’t you go when he wanted you to?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[192]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Because there was a principle at stake,” answered -Larry, setting his teeth together as he recalled -the controversy. “We are going aboard -now of our own accord, as you say. That’s very -different from going aboard as prisoners, under -compulsion.”</p> - -<p>“But I don’t see what difference it would have -made when you knew the officers there would make -guests instead of prisoners of us as soon as they -heard what you had to say. It seems to me it -would have come to the same thing in the end.”</p> - -<p>“Not by a long shot,” answered Larry, speaking -with particular earnestness. “Think a minute, -Tom. We are free men, living under a free government -that exists for the express purpose of securing -liberty to all its people and protecting them -in the enjoyment of that liberty. If one man, or -one set of men, could arrest others without a warrant -from a court, there would be no security for -liberty and no liberty in fact. Whenever the people -of any country are ready to submit to any infringement -of their rights as free men, liberty in -that country is dead, and tyranny is free to work -its evil will. And in a free country it is the most -sacred duty of every man to resist the smallest as -well as the largest trespass upon his rights as a -man. Usually he can do this by appealing to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[193]</a></span> -courts of law, but in a case like ours to-night, -where there is no possibility of making such an -appeal, every man must be ready to fight for his -rights—yes, to fight to the death for them if necessary.”</p> - -<p>“But the matter was so small in this case—”</p> - -<p>“What possible difference does that make? A -principle is never small; liberty is always of supreme -consequence, and it makes no difference how -trifling the trespass upon one’s liberty is in itself, -the duty to resist it at all costs and all hazards is -just the same. Convenience and comfort do not -count in any way. The difficulty is that men are -not always ready to take trouble and endure inconvenience -in defense of their rights where the -matter in question seems to them of small moment. -They forget that ‘eternal vigilance is the price of -liberty,’ or if they remember it, they are too self-indulgent -to undertake a troublesome resistance. It -was not so that the men of the Revolutionary time -looked at the matter. Webster said that the Americans -‘went to war against a preamble,’ and perhaps -they did, but the preamble involved a fundamental -principle. It was for the principle, not for the preamble, -that they fought for seven long years. The -colonists could easily have submitted to the impositions -of a half crazy king and his tyrannical<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[194]</a></span> -prime minister. It would have saved them a vast -deal of inconvenience, expense and danger to do so. -It would have been far more comfortable for them -if they had done so. But if they had, this great, -free nation of ours would never have existed, and -the people in other civilized countries would not -have enjoyed anything like the liberty they do now. -In the same way it would have saved a lot of trouble -if we had let those people arrest us to-night, -but we had no right to submit to that. It was our -duty to stand upon our rights and defend the principle -by defending them.</p> - -<p>“There! The lecture is over, and I promise not -to let it happen again,” said Larry, by way of indirect -apology for his seriousness.</p> - -<p>“Well,” said Tom, “I for one am glad I heard -the lecture as you call it. I needed it badly, for I -had never thought of these things in that way. -How did you come to have all that on the tip of -your tongue, Larry?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know, or, yes I do. I was born and -brought up on that gospel, and I have heard it -preached all my life. My father has taught Cal -and me from childhood that ‘the only legitimate -function of government is to maintain the conditions -of liberty,’ and that the highest duty of every -citizen is to insist that the government under which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[195]</a></span> -he lives shall do precisely that. Now let’s talk of -something else, or you fellows talk, rather, for I’ve -talked more than my share already.”</p> - -<p>“Before we do,” broke in Dick, “there’s just one -thing I’d like to ask.”</p> - -<p>“All right. Go ahead. Ask anything you -please if it isn’t a conundrum.”</p> - -<p>“Well, it isn’t a conundrum. It is only that I -wonder how you know there isn’t some law authorizing -the revenue officers to make arrests without -warrants?”</p> - -<p>“I know it simply because such a law is impossible.”</p> - -<p>“How so?”</p> - -<p>“Because there is no power on earth that can -make such a law for this country.”</p> - -<p>“Couldn’t Congress make it?”</p> - -<p>“No. Congress has no more power to make it -than a flock of crows has.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t understand. If Congress should pass -an act to that effect and the President should sign -it, what then?”</p> - -<p>“What then? Why just nothing at all. It -wouldn’t be a law. It would have no more force -or effect than the decree of a company of lunatics -that the sun shall hereafter rise in the west and set -in the east.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[196]</a></span></p> - -<p>“But why not?”</p> - -<p>“Why, simply because Congress has no power to -make any law that violates the Constitution. The -Constitution expressly secures certain rights to -every citizen. If Congress passes an act in violation -of the Constitution, or even an act that the -Constitution does not authorize it to pass, the courts -refuse to enforce it or in any way to recognize it -as a law. Now we’ve simply got to stop all this -discussion, for I hear the revenue officers coming.”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[197]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2 class="p4">XX</h2> - -<p class="pch">ABOARD THE CUTTER</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">When</span> the boatswain made his report to the lieutenant -on board he did not confine himself to the -points Larry had suggested. It had been his first -thought to do so, reporting only that he had found -no smugglers but had discovered a law-abiding company -of youths who knew where the smugglers were -and were willing to act as guides to the point indicated.</p> - -<p>But on his way it occurred to him that the lieutenant -might ask him questions—how he knew the -character of the boys, and why he had not placed -them under arrest, and other things relating to the -conduct of his expedition.</p> - -<p>It would be humiliating to have the story thus -drawn out of him, and it would be awkward for -him to explain why he had not reported the whole -thing in the first place. So, upon reflection, he told -the story in full, though briefly.</p> - -<p>When he mentioned Larry’s name the lieutenant<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[198]</a></span> -gave a little start and leaning forward as if to make -sure he heard aright, asked:</p> - -<p>“What did you say his name is?”</p> - -<p>“Lawrence Rutledge is the name he gave me, -sir.”</p> - -<p>“Of Charleston?”</p> - -<p>“That’s where he said he lived, sir,” answered -the boatswain, wondering why his superior was so -closely questioning him on these points.</p> - -<p>The lieutenant resumed his upright position and -with a half laugh said:</p> - -<p>“It’s lucky for you that you chose discretion as -the better part of valor this time. If Lawrence -Rutledge is any way akin to his father, you’d have -had the tidiest little fight you ever heard of on your -hands if you’d charged him.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t think there would have been any fight -at all, sir, if you’ll pardon me.”</p> - -<p>“Why not?”</p> - -<p>“Only that I think every man of us would have -bitten dust before we could have fired a gun. Those -fellows were ready with guns cocked and leveled.”</p> - -<p>“The moral of that is that you too should always -be ready and have your men ready. Order -the gig alongside—men unarmed.”</p> - -<p>When the gig was ready, which was almost instantly,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[199]</a></span> -the lieutenant ran down the ladder, dropped -into her, took the helm, and gave the orders:</p> - -<p>“Oars!” “Let fall!” “Give way!” and the -boat shot away toward the plainly visible camp-fire.</p> - -<p>Landing, he introduced himself to Larry, who -received him cordially and in turn presented his -comrades.</p> - -<p>“I have the pleasure of knowing your father -very well, Mr. Rutledge,” he began.</p> - -<p>“Then, please,” Larry interrupted, “call me -‘Lawrence,’ or ‘Larry,’ and not ‘Mr. Rutledge,’ -Lieutenant. I’m only a boy yet, and I’ll never be -‘Mister’ to any of my father’s friends.”</p> - -<p>“Very well. ‘Larry’ it shall be then, the more -gladly because that is what I called you years ago -when, as I remember, I was telling a lot of sea -stories to you and your brother Calhoun—”</p> - -<p>“Make it Cal, Lieutenant,” said the youth mentioned. -“Larry and I are twins, you know, and always -share things evenly between us. We did so -with your stories, you know. I remember it very -well, though we were a pair of very small youngsters -then.”</p> - -<p>“So you were—so young that I didn’t think -you would remember the matter. But we’re losing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[200]</a></span> -time, and time may be precious in this case. My -petty officer tells me you young gentlemen have -seen the miscreants I’ve been hunting for and can -tell me where they are.”</p> - -<p>“We’ve seen them, and our friend Tom Garnett -here has been inside one of their caches and inspected -their goods. We can tell you where they -were two nights or so ago, and perhaps they are -there yet.”</p> - -<p>“Almost certainly they are,” broke in the lieutenant. -“It is calm weather outside, and not a -craft of any kind has put in here under plea of -weather stress since the <i>Senorita</i> sailed two or three -days ago.”</p> - -<p>“The <i>Senorita</i>?” Tom repeated; “why, that’s -the ship’s name I saw marked on some of the cigar -cases and rum kegs they had.”</p> - -<p>“Good, good, good!” said the officer enthusiastically. -“If we can get to that hiding place before -they remove the goods, I’ll telegraph to Baltimore -to nab the ship also when she comes in. We -<i>must</i> get there in time. My officer understood that -you and your party were willing to go with us. -Was his understanding correct?”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” Larry answered, “we’ll be glad to do -that, but we must make some provision for the -safety of our boat while we are gone.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[201]</a></span></p> - -<p>“She’ll be safe enough when she rests on the cutter’s -deck. I’ll send a crew to take her alongside -and we’ll hoist her on board. When all’s over I’ll -put you in the water again at any point you choose. -Is that satisfactory?”</p> - -<p>“I should say so,” answered Larry. “We’re -ready, Lieutenant.”</p> - -<p>“Come on then, and I’ll take you aboard. I’ll -leave a man with your craft till a boat’s crew can -come and tow her alongside. Then we’ll weigh anchor -and be off.”</p> - -<p>It was less than fifteen minutes later when the -boys saw the <i>Hunkydory</i> carefully braced upon the -little steamer’s deck and closely covered with a tarpaulin.</p> - -<p>But it was nearly midnight and the lieutenant invited -the boys to sleep in the comfortable berths -provided for them until the cutter should reach the -neighborhood of the smugglers’ camp. He thought -he sufficiently recognized the locality from Cal’s description, -and probably he could have steamed to it -without further guidance. But there was no sleep -in the eyes of the boys after their adventurous night, -and they all heartily echoed Cal’s sentiment when -he answered:</p> - -<p>“What good is there in the frazzled end of a -ragged night for sleeping purposes. I for one will<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[202]</a></span> -stay up till we see this thing through, if it is going -through to-night.”</p> - -<p>The little cutter was a fleet-winged craft, built -for speed, and carrying greatly more horse power -than ordinary steamers of twice her size. Her navigator -and all her officers, indeed, knew every detail -of the waters they were traversing, and so the -lieutenant hoped that he might reach his destination -in time to descend upon the smugglers before morning.</p> - -<p>In this he was disappointed. Some accident to -the cutter’s machinery compelled a delay of two or -three hours in a narrow strait where, to add to the -annoyance of delay, a swarm of sand flies descended -upon the ship’s company. These are minute insects, -so minute that no screen or netting, however -finely woven, interferes in the least with their free -passage in or out of any opening. Their bite or -sting is even more painful than that of a mosquito, -and they come in myriads.</p> - -<p>Under the advice of the commanding officer the -boys retreated to a closed cabin below and remained -there until the ship was under way again—otherwise -for two or three hours, during which they -lolled about and managed to get some sleep in spite -of their impatience over the delay and the otherwise -excited condition of their minds.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[203]</a></span></p> - -<p>By way of making themselves more comfortable, -they all drew off their boots, but they could not be -persuaded to go to the bunks assigned to their use, -because the ship might start again at any moment -and they were determined to be ready for that whenever -it should occur.</p> - -<p>Cal, as usual, was the most wakeful of the party, -and at first he was disposed to talk, but his impulse -in that way was promptly checked when Tom and -Larry each threw a boot at him and Dick, half -asleep, muttered:</p> - -<p>“I second the motion.”</p> - -<p>As a consequence of this drastic treatment Cal -closed his lips and his eyes at the same moment and -was presently breathing as only a sleeper does. -The others, tired and worn out with an excitement -that had by this time passed away, were soon in a -profound slumber which lasted until the engines -began to throb again and the ship to jar and tremble -with the rapid revolutions of the screw.</p> - -<p>The sun was well up by that time, and after going -on deck, where a sailor doused bucketfuls of salt -water over them as an eye-opener, they were invited -to breakfast with the commanding officer.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[204]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2 class="p4">XXI</h2> - -<p class="pch">TOM’S SCOUTING SCHEME</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">During</span> breakfast the talk was, of course, about -the smugglers and the chances of capturing them. -In the course of it the lieutenant manifested some -confusion or uncertainty of mind as to the exact position -of the smugglers’ rendezvous and of the approaches -to it.</p> - -<p>“Won’t you please clear that up a little for me?” -he asked Larry, after a vain attempt to clear it up -for himself. “I don’t quite understand. Perhaps -you can make it plain to my dullness.”</p> - -<p>“Cal can do that better than any other member -of our party,” Larry answered. “He was all about -there three or four years ago, while the rest of us -have been there only once. Besides, Cal has a nose -for geographical detail, and he observes everything -and remembers it. Explain the thing, Cal.”</p> - -<p>“After such an introduction,” Cal replied, smiling, -“I fear I shall not be able to live up to the -character so generously attributed to me. Still, I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[205]</a></span> -think I can explain the thing; it is simple enough. -May I have paper and a pencil?”</p> - -<p>These were promptly furnished, and Cal made a -hasty diagram.</p> - -<p>“You see, Lieutenant, there is a little creek or -estuary here. It is very narrow, especially at the -mouth, and it runs inland for only a few miles. I -can’t find it on the chart. Probably it is too insignificant -to be noted there. You observe that it runs -in a tortuous course, ‘slantwise’ to the shore, and -keeping always within a comparatively short distance -of the broad water, thus forming a sort of -tongue of land.</p> - -<p>“A little further along the shore of the broader -water is another little estuary or cove, only a few -hundred yards in its total length, but that length -extends toward the creek on the other side, so that -only about half a mile or less of swamp and thicket -separates the two.</p> - -<p>“Right there, about midway between the two, -those thieves have their den. They can approach -it in their boats from either side, coming up the -creek or entering the cove, and in either case landing -within less than a quarter of a mile of their thicket-hidden -rendezvous. As both the creek and the -smaller estuary make a sharp bend near their -mouths, a boat slipping into either of them is at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[206]</a></span> -once lost to view. I wonder if I have made the -geography clear?”</p> - -<p>“Perfectly so, and I thank you. Our plan will -be to send boats up both the little waterways at -once. Can we find their mouths, think you?”</p> - -<p>“I can, and Tom knows both of them. He and -I will be your pilots.”</p> - -<p>“Thank you. But you know you may get shot -in the mêlée and you are under no sort of obligation -to take that risk.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, we want to see the fun,” said Tom. “We’ll -be with you, you may depend.”</p> - -<p>“Is it your plan,” Larry asked after dinner that -day, “to attack by daylight?”</p> - -<p>“I think we must make the descent as promptly -as possible. So I intend to make it to-day, as soon -as we get to that neighborhood.”</p> - -<p>Larry made no reply and the officer observed the -fact.</p> - -<p>“What is it you have on your mind, Larry?” -he asked. “Have you any suggestion to offer?”</p> - -<p>“No, I would not presume to do that. I was -only thinking that in a daylight descent you might -miss the game.”</p> - -<p>“Go on, please. Tell me all you had in mind.”</p> - -<p>“Well, for one thing, those rascals have a lookout -tree from which they can see for miles in every<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[207]</a></span> -direction. We used it for purposes of observation -when we were there. It is true that they seem to -visit it very seldom, but they might happen to climb -it just in time to see this cutter hovering around. -In that case they would probably go into hiding -somewhere. If not, they would at least keep a -sharp lookout for your boats. If you kept entirely -away from there until night you would probably -take them by surprise. But of course you know -best.”</p> - -<p>“I’m not so sure of that. What you suggest is -a matter to be considered. But I’m afraid to wait -until night lest in the meantime the rascals leave the -place.”</p> - -<p>“That is possible,” said Cal, joining in the conversation -for the first time, “but it seems to me -exceedingly unlikely.”</p> - -<p>“Why so, Cal?”</p> - -<p>“Well, we’ve pretty closely observed those gentry, -and they seem to me of that variety that does -most of its comings and goings under cover of darkness. -If they were in their camp this morning they -are pretty sure to remain there until to-night. -There is another point that Larry didn’t suggest. -If you attack the camp in daylight the ruffians can -easily save themselves by scattering and making -their escape through the well-nigh impenetrable<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[208]</a></span> -swamp. They would have the advantage over your -men in that, as of course they know every little -blind trail and could avoid tangles in which your -men would become hopelessly involved.”</p> - -<p>“But wouldn’t they be at still greater advantage -in a night attack?”</p> - -<p>“I think not. They will probably get blind drunk -by night, for one thing. They’re apt to sleep profoundly. -We can land without being seen, and -once ashore, we can creep clear up to their lair without -alarming them. Then we’ll be on them with -our boot heels as it were.”</p> - -<p>“Why do you think they won’t be on the alert at -night, with pickets out and all that?”</p> - -<p>“Because we’ve experimented,” answered Cal. -“We’ve crept up to the very edge of their camp -and watched them there by the hour. Tom here -even entered one of the hovels where they bestow -the smuggled goods.”</p> - -<p>The officer was much impressed with these suggestions. -He meditated for a while, and then exclaimed:</p> - -<p>“If I could only know whether they are still -there or not! I’d give ten dollars to know that!”</p> - -<p>“You can get the job done for less, Lieutenant,” -said Tom, who was always eager for perilous adventure -and almost insanely reckless in his pursuit<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[209]</a></span> -of it. “If you’ll bring the cutter to anchor somewhere -around here and let me go ashore, I’ll find -out all about it and not charge you a cent either.”</p> - -<p>“What’s your plan?”</p> - -<p>“It isn’t much of a plan. It is only to go to the -smugglers’ den, see if they are there, and then come -back and tell you.”</p> - -<p>“But—”</p> - -<p>“Oh, it’s easy enough. The smugglers can’t see -the cutter so long as she’s in this bay, even if they -climb to the top of their lookout tree. I’m sure of -that, because I’ve tried to see the bay from there -and couldn’t, although I knew just where it lay.”</p> - -<p>At this point the lieutenant interrupted:</p> - -<p>“Pardon me a moment. I’ll bring her to anchor.”</p> - -<p>Before he returned to the company a minute or -so later, the engines stopped, and as he sat down the -boys heard the chains rattle as the anchor was cast -overboard.</p> - -<p>“Now go ahead, please, and tell me all about your -plan,” the officer said with eager interest.</p> - -<p>“Well, it isn’t more than three or four miles, -I should say, from this point to the mouth of our -creek, and the tide is with me all the way. If you’ll -set our dory in the water and Cal will go with me -to help row—”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[210]</a></span></p> - -<p>“We’ll all four go, of course,” said Larry.</p> - -<p>“In that case, we can put ourselves back at our -old camp in about an hour with such a tide as this -to help us. When we land there I’ll go at once to -the lookout tree, climb to the very top of it and see -what is going on. Then, if there’s anything more -to be found out, I’ll creep down to the neighborhood -of the rascals’ place and take a closer look. When -the dory gets back here I can tell you all you want -to know.”</p> - -<p>“Excellent!” exclaimed the officer. “Only, instead -of having you boys row the dory all that -way, I’ll have you taken to the place you want to -reach in a ship’s boat.”</p> - -<p>“They might see that,” objected Tom, “and -take the alarm, while if they see the dory returning -to her old anchorage they’ll think nothing about it. -Besides, we don’t mind a little rowing. The tide’s -with us going, and if necessary, we can stay up -there in the creek till it turns and is ready to help -us come back.”</p> - -<p>“There won’t be any waiting,” said Cal. “It’ll -turn just about the time we get there—or even before -that if we don’t get away from here pretty -quick.”</p> - -<p>“Very well,” said the lieutenant. “The plan is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[211]</a></span> -yours, Tom, and you shall have your own way in -carrying it out.”</p> - -<p>A hurried order from the commanding officer, a -little well-directed scurrying on the part of the seamen, -and the <i>Hunkydory</i> lay alongside, ready for -her crew to drop from a rope ladder into her.</p> - -<p>They nimbly did so, and as they bent to their -oars they passed around a point and out of sight of -the cutter.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[212]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2 class="p4">XXII</h2> - -<p class="pch">TOM DISCOVERS THINGS</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">By</span> advice of the lieutenant, the boys left their -shotguns on board the cutter and carried instead -the short, hard-shooting repeating rifles that he furnished -them. Armed in this way, each could fire -many shots in rapid succession, instead of the two -which alone their shotguns permitted.</p> - -<p>“We can defend ourselves now if the gang discovers -and assails us,” said Larry, with a satisfied -smile. “With these guns we’re a good deal more -than a match for those ten smugglers armed as they -are with nothing better than pistols. By the way, -Tom, what’s the plan of campaign?”</p> - -<p>“That’s for you to say,” Tom answered. -“You’re the captain.”</p> - -<p>“Not a bit of it this time,” responded Larry. -“This is <i>your</i> expedition and you must manage it -in your own way.”</p> - -<p>“That’s only fair,” said Dick. “Tom has undertaken -to go ashore, find out certain facts and report<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[213]</a></span> -them. We’re here to help him in any way he -wishes, but he is responsible for results and must -choose his own methods.”</p> - -<p>“I congratulate you, Dick, on having another -lucid interval,” broke in Cal, who could never endure -seriousness for long. “‘Pon my word, they’re -growing more and more frequent and by the time -we get back to Charleston we’ll have to discharge -you as ‘cured.’”</p> - -<p>“Stop your nonsense, Cal,” said Larry, “and let -Tom give us our instructions.”</p> - -<p>“Fortunately, I’m under no sort of obligation -to stop my nonsense at your command, Larry, as -by your own voluntary declaration you’re not captain -of this special trip ashore, and Tom is.”</p> - -<p>“All right,” said Tom, laughing. “I’ll give the -order myself. Stop your nonsense till I get through -mine—for I dare say you’ll all think my plan is -nonsensical.”</p> - -<p>“All right as to that,” said Larry, “but what is -your plan? It doesn’t matter what we think of it.”</p> - -<p>“Well, then, my notion is not to pull the <i>Hunkydory</i> -up on shore, but to anchor her at our old landing, -so that we can handle her quickly in case of -need. Two of you are to stay by her—that will -be you and Dick, Larry. If we should be discovered, -and those rascals should want to catch us,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[214]</a></span> -their first effort would be to get possession of our -boat and put us into a trap. So you two will stay -with the dory, and if you are in trouble, Cal and I -will come to your assistance as fast as our legs can -carry us. Cal will go with me to the lookout tree -and stay there while I creep down to the lair of the -thieves. If I get into trouble he’ll know it and signal -you by firing one shot. Then, of course, you’ll -all come to my support. How does that strike you -as a plan, Larry?”</p> - -<p>“A Lee or a Grant couldn’t make a better one. -Here we are at the mouth of the creek.”</p> - -<p>“Isn’t it ridiculous?” asked Cal, as they turned -into the inlet.</p> - -<p>“Isn’t what ridiculous—the creek, or its mouth, -or what?” Tom responded.</p> - -<p>“Why, the way things keep turning themselves -around. First, the gentleman with the impaired -walking apparatus, representing the smugglers, mistook -us for officers or agents of the revenue, and -sought to make prisoners of us by getting possession -of our boat, so that we had to disarm him in self-defense. -Next, the officers of the revenue mistook -us for the smugglers and we had to defend ourselves -against them. Now we are helping our later assailants -to capture our foes of an earlier date. Wonder -if we shall presently have to join the smugglers<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[215]</a></span> -and assist them against the revenue people?”</p> - -<p>“That last question answers itself, Cal,” said -Tom; “and if it didn’t, there’s no time to discuss -it now, for here we are at the landing. Run her -head to the shore, fellows, and let Cal and me jump -out. Then back her out a little way and anchor -her. I leave you in charge of the ship in my absence, -Lieutenant Larry. You have your instructions; -see that you obey them to the letter.”</p> - -<p>With footsteps quickened by eager interest, Tom -and Cal were not long in making the journey to the -lookout tree. Tom climbed it to the top and very -carefully studied what lay before him. Cal, who -was watching him, observed that he seemed specially -interested by something over to the left where -the creek lay, and perhaps a little puzzled by it. -But he asked no questions as Tom hurried from -the tree-top and set off down the blind trail.</p> - -<p>He was gone for so long a time—nearly two -hours—that Cal became very uneasy about him, -but at last he came out of the thicket and set off -toward the dory’s anchorage at as rapid a trot as -the nature of the ground would permit. He said -nothing to Cal except the three words: “We must -hurry,” and as he neared the landing, he called out:</p> - -<p>“Up anchor, quick.”</p> - -<p>Then as the boat was moved toward the shore<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[216]</a></span> -he impatiently waded out to meet her in water leg-length -deep. Cal followed, though he did not know -the cause of Tom’s hurry.</p> - -<p>“Are they after us?” asked Larry and Dick, -both speaking at once.</p> - -<p>“No. But we must hurry or it’ll be too late.”</p> - -<p>In response Larry shipped his oars as the mouth -of the creek was passed and, with Dick’s assistance, -stepped the mast, hoisted sail and let the sheet run -out until the boom was almost at right angles with -the keel.</p> - -<p>“There’s a stiff wind,” he said by way of explanation, -“and it’s almost exactly astern. We can -make better time with the sails. Here, Dick, you’re -the best sailor; take the helm and get all you can -out of the breeze.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t hug the port rail so close,” Dick ordered; -“trim toward the kelson and let her heel over to -starboard; there, that will do; she makes her best -running with the rail awash.”</p> - -<p>As they sped on, nobody asked Tom what the occasion -for his hurry was. He seemed still out of -breath for one thing, and for another the rush of -the dory’s rail through the water made it difficult -to hear words spoken in an ordinary tone, for -though the wind was steadily freshening, Dick refused -to spill even a capful of it. He was sailing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[217]</a></span> -now for speed, and he wanted to get all he could -out of the wind. But chief among the reasons for -not asking questions was the instinctive courtesy -of Tom’s comrades. They realized that he had -discovered something of importance, and they felt -that he ought to have the pleasure of himself reporting -it to the commanding officer of the cutter -before telling anybody else about it.</p> - -<p>In the same spirit, when the dory was laid along -the cutter’s side, they held back to let Tom be the -first to climb to the deck, where the lieutenant was -awaiting him.</p> - -<p>Tom’s excitement was gone, now that he had accomplished -his purpose of reaching the cutter before -dark—a thing he had feared he might not do. -His report was made calmly, therefore, and with -smiles rippling over his face—smiles of rejoicing -over his success, and other smiles, prompted by -recollections of what seemed to him the humorous -aspects of what he had seen and done.</p> - -<p>The report was utterly informal, of course; Tom -was not used to military methods.</p> - -<p>“They are all there, Lieutenant,” he began, “but -they won’t be there long after it grows dark. -They’re preparing to leave to-night, as early as they -can get the drunken ones among them sober enough -to sit on a thwart and hold an oar.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[218]</a></span></p> - -<p>“How do you know that, Tom?”</p> - -<p>“Why, I heard the boss brute say so while he -was rousing one of the drunkest of them into semi-consciousness -by kicking him in the ribs with force -enough to break the whole basket I should think. -I won’t repeat his language—it wasn’t fit for publication—but -the substance of it was that the victim -of his boot blows had ‘got to git a move onto him’ -because ‘them boats has got to git away from here -jest as soon as it’s good and dark.’”</p> - -<p>“Why, were you near enough to hear?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes. I wasn’t more than ten paces away -from the pair at the time that interesting conversation -occurred.”</p> - -<p>“Tell us all about it, Tom—the whole story. -There’s plenty of time. It won’t be ‘good and -dark,’ as criminals reckon such things, for nearly -two hours yet. Begin at the beginning.”</p> - -<p>“There isn’t any story in it,” said Tom, “but -I’ll tell you what I did. When I climbed to the top -of the lookout tree, I saw first of all that our game -was still there. But I noticed that some of them—all -that weren’t drunk, I suppose—were busy. I -couldn’t make out at that distance what they were -doing, but I thought they seemed to be carrying -things, not down to the cove where we saw them -land the other night, but over toward our creek, as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[219]</a></span> -we call it. I tried to see their landing place there, -but couldn’t.</p> - -<p>“Of course I had already found out all you -wanted to know, but I wanted to know something -more. My curiosity was aroused, and I determined -to gratify it. So, sliding down, I made my way to -my old hiding place in the thicket near their camp. -Then I saw what they were at. They were taking -the cigars and rum out of the little hovels they use -as caches, and carrying them over to their landing -on the creek. I wondered why, but I could not see -the landing, so I had to let that remain as an ‘unexplored -region,’ for the time being at least.</p> - -<p>“Presently the gentleman of the impaired locomotor -attachments made a final visit to the hut that -stood nearest me—the one I had myself entered -on a previous occasion. As he came out and passed -the boss bully, he said:</p> - -<p>“‘That’s all they is in there.’</p> - -<p>“‘Well, I’ll look and see for myself,’ said the -boss, seeming to doubt the veracity of his follower. -He went into the hut and presently came out, muttering:</p> - -<p>“‘Well, he told the truth for once—I didn’t -’spose he knew how.’</p> - -<p>“As he walked away from the empty hovel it -occurred to me that I might find it a safer point<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[220]</a></span> -of observation than the one I had. So I slipped -into it, and dug out one of the chinks in the log -wall, to make a peep hole. It was then that I saw -the boss making a football of his follower and heard -him say what he did about getting the boats away.</p> - -<p>“That still further stimulated my curiosity. I -wanted to see how nearly the boats were loaded, -and the sort of landing place they had, and all the -rest of it. So I determined to go over that way. -It was slow work, of course. The undergrowth -was terribly tangled, and then the smugglers were -passing back and forth with their loads. As their -path was often very near me, I had to stop and lie -down whenever I saw any of them approaching.</p> - -<p>“I got down there at last and saw the boats. -They were partly loaded, but most of the freight -was still on the bank. I suppose that was because -they wanted to get all the things there before bestowing -them. All the rum kegs that had been -brought down were in the boats, while all the cigars -were piled on the banks.</p> - -<p>“I noticed one thing that puzzled me; instead of -anchoring the boats and loading them afloat, they -had pulled them up on shore. As the tide had begun -to ebb, I wondered how they were to get them -into the water again after putting their cargoes -aboard. However, that was their business and not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[221]</a></span> -mine. I had seen all there was to see, so I slowly -crept back again till I reached the trail. Then I -hurried for fear the quarry would escape before we -could get there with your boats.</p> - -<p>“That’s all there is to tell.”</p> - -<p>The lieutenant smiled his satisfaction as he commended -Tom’s exploit, adding:</p> - -<p>“We can let it ‘get good and dark’ before -pouncing upon them. They won’t get away in a -hurry. They’ll have trouble getting their boats -afloat again. Indeed, they’ll probably wait for the -next flood tide. Anyhow, we won’t leave here till -it is thoroughly dark. You’re sure you can find -your way into the creeks in the dark? It’s cloudy, -and the night promises to be very black.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, there’ll be no trouble about that,” answered -Cal.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[222]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2 class="p4">XXIII</h2> - -<p class="pch">TOM AND THE MAN WITH THE GAME LEG</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">It</span> was very dark indeed when the ship’s boats, -well manned and with carefully muffled oars, set -out for the capture.</p> - -<p>Tom was at the bow of one of them and Cal at -that of the other, to act as pilots. It was planned -that these two boats should lead the way into the -two entrances, the others closely following.</p> - -<p>Silently the two fleets made their way to the -two points of landing. The one which passed up -the creek halted as soon as it came within sight of -the landing where the smugglers were busily and -noisily trying to get their loaded boats afloat, a task -in which they were encountering much difficulty, as -the lieutenant had foreseen that they must. It was -the lieutenant’s plan that his boats should lie there, -hidden by the darkness, until the men entering by -the cove should land, march across the neck of -swamp, and take the smugglers in the rear, thus cutting -off all possibility of their escape into the bushes.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[223]</a></span></p> - -<p>As soon as he saw the signal light that Tom -showed to announce the readiness of the party he -accompanied, the lieutenant rushed his boats ashore, -and the two revenue parties, without firing a shot, -seized and disarmed their foes, who, until their captors -were actually upon them, had had no dream of -their coming.</p> - -<p>In the meanwhile, under the lieutenant’s previously -given orders, the cutter had slowly steamed -up toward the mouth of the creek, where, at a signal, -she came to anchor.</p> - -<p>Hurriedly the captured booty was loaded into -the ship’s boats and carried to the revenue vessel. -Then the smugglers’ camp was minutely searched -to see if any goods remained there, and the hovels -were set on fire.</p> - -<p>While all this was going on that curiosity on -Tom’s part, which had done so much already, was -again at work. Tom wanted to know something -that was not yet clear to him, and he set to work to -find out. Detaching the lame smuggler from his -companions, Tom entered into conversation with -him. Fortunately the man was sober now, and had -been so long enough to render him despondent.</p> - -<p>“You’re not fit for this sort of thing,” Tom said -to him after he had broken through the man’s -moody surliness and silence. “With your game<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[224]</a></span> -leg and the brutal way the others treat you, I should -think you’d have got out of it long ago.”</p> - -<p>“They’d ’a’ killed me if I’d tried,” the man answered.</p> - -<p>“Well, they can’t do that now,” said Tom, “for -they’re in for a term in prison.”</p> - -<p>“But they’s others, jest as I told you that night -you fellers caught me at your boat. There’s the -fellers up the creek what’s a-waitin’ this minute for -us to come up with the goods.”</p> - -<p>This was what Tom wanted to find out.</p> - -<p>“Yes, of course,” he replied; “they’ll be disappointed, -won’t they? I suppose they expect to get -the goods well inland before morning?”</p> - -<p>“No, not exactly; but they’d ’a’ got ’em hid into -a little store they’ve got up there, so’s they could -work ’em off up to Charleston or down to Savannah, -little at a time, like. Howsomever, the game’s -up now, and them what’s got all the profits out’n it’ll -play pious an’ go scot free, while us fellers what’s -done all the work an’ took all the risks has got to -go to jail.”</p> - -<p>A new thought suddenly struck Tom.</p> - -<p>“<i>You</i> needn’t, if I’m not mistaken. Anyhow, -there’s a chance for you that’s worth working for.”</p> - -<p>“What’s the good o’ talkin’ that away? Ain’t -I ketched long o’ the rest?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[225]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Yes, of course. I was only thinking—”</p> - -<p>“What was you a-thinkin’?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, only that the revenue people would a good -deal rather have the ‘others’ you speak of—the -men further up the creek and the men behind them—than -to have you.”</p> - -<p>“I reckon they would, but what’s that got to do -with it?”</p> - -<p>“Only that if you made up your mind to turn -Government’s witness and give the whole snap -away; they’d be pretty apt to let you off easily.”</p> - -<p>The man sat silent for a time. At last he muttered:</p> - -<p>“First place, I don’t know enough. Them fellers -ain’t no fools an’ they ain’t a-lettin’ fellers like -me into their secrets. I ain’t never seed any of ’em, -‘ceptin’ the storekeeper up that away what takes -the stuff from us, an’ pays us little enough for gittin’ -it there. ’Sides that, them fellers has got money -an’ lots o’ sense. Even ef I know’d all about it an’ -ef I give it away, ’twould be only the wuss for me. -They’d have me follered to the furdest corner o’ -the earth an’ killed like a dog at last. No, ’tain’t -no use. I’ve got to take my medicine. Time for -runnin’ away is past, an’ I ain’t got but one good -leg to run with, you see.”</p> - -<p>“What made you lame, anyhow?” asked Tom,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[226]</a></span> -by way of keeping up the conversation without -seeming too insistent on his suggestion that the man -should confess.</p> - -<p>“That bully with the red face—our captain, as -he calls hisself. He kicked my hip out’n jint one -day when I was drunk, an’ seein’s they wa’nt no -doctor anywheres about, he sot it hisself, an’ sot it -wrong somehow. Anyhow, I’d like to do him up -if I could.”</p> - -<p>Tom noted the remark and the vindictive tone in -which it was made, but he did not reply to it at -once. Instead, he said:</p> - -<p>“They must pay him better than they do the rest -of you?”</p> - -<p>“Him? You bet! He gits a lot out’n the business, -an’ he’s got dead oodles and scads o’ money -put away in the bank. He’s close in with the big -ones what’s backin’ the game. It was him what set -it up fust off—leastways him an’ Pedro Mendez.”</p> - -<p>“Who is Pedro Mendez?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, he’s—never you mind who he is. See -here, young feller, you’s a axin’ too many questions.”</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/ill-245.jpg" width="400" height="597" id="i226" - alt="" - title="" /> - <div class="caption"><p class="pc400"><span class="smcap">“No, ’tain’t no use. I’ve got to take my medicine.”</span><br /> -<span class="wn"><a href="#Page_225"><i>Page 225.</i></a></span></p> -</div></div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[227]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Not too many for your good if you have -sense enough to take my advice. Listen to me! -You know a great deal more about this lawless -business than you pretend. You know enough to -make you a very valuable witness. If you choose -to help the revenue people in getting at the bottom -of it and breaking it up, they’re sure to let you off -very easily, and as for killing you, the people in the -thing will have enough to do in looking out for -themselves without bothering about that after they -get out of jail.”</p> - -<p>Tom explained and elaborated this point, and at -last the lame man began to see hope ahead for himself.</p> - -<p>“Will they make a certain sure promise to let -me off if I tell all I know?” he asked.</p> - -<p>“No. They can’t do that, for if they did your -testimony would be worthless. But they always -do let state’s witnesses off easily, and in such a case -as this they’re sure to do so. You can be very easy -about that.”</p> - -<p>“An’ they’d bear down all the harder on the -cap’n when they found out he was one o’ the big -managers o’ the game, wouldn’t they?”</p> - -<p>“I should say they would give him the largest -dose the law allows.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll do it then, jest to git even with him. I’ll -do it even if they don’t reckon it up much to my -credit. How’ll I go about it?”</p> - -<p>“I’ll arrange that for you. I’ll tell the lieutenant -who is in command here that you’re ready to ‘give<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[228]</a></span> -the snap away,’ and he’ll take your statement. -Then, when the time comes you’ll only have to go -into court and tell your story over again.”</p> - -<p>“But if them fellers finds out I’ve been chinnin’ -with the lieutenant they’ll kill me right there on -board the ship.”</p> - -<p>“The lieutenant will take care of that. He’ll -see that they have no chance to get at you.”</p> - -<p>“Is that certain—sure—hard an’ fast?”</p> - -<p>“Yes—certain, sure, hard and fast,” answered -Tom, with a gleefulness that he found it difficult to -keep out of his voice and manner.</p> - -<p>Going to the lieutenant and interrupting him in -the directions he was busily giving, Tom said under -his breath:</p> - -<p>“Separate the lame man from the rest. He’ll -confess, and it’s a big story. The others will kill -him if they suspect.”</p> - -<p>The lieutenant was quick to catch Tom’s meaning -and to act upon it. Turning to a petty officer -he gave the order:</p> - -<p>“Take the prisoners aboard under a strong guard. -The rest of the freight can wait. Put the lame -man in my boat and leave him behind under a -guard.”</p> - -<p>As the boats containing the prisoners moved off<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[229]</a></span> -down the creek, Tom’s curiosity again got the best -of him. Turning to Larry he said:</p> - -<p>“They’re arresting these men without a warrant, -Larry, and we’ve helped them to do the very -thing you said we ought to fight to prevent.”</p> - -<p>“No warrant is needed in this case. The gang -has been ‘caught in the act’ of committing crime, -and caught with the goods on them.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, I see,” said Tom. “That makes all the -difference in the world.”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[230]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2 class="p4">XXIV</h2> - -<p class="pch">THE LAME MAN’S CONFESSION</p> - -<p>“<span class="smcap">Come</span>, Tom, let’s go aboard,” said the lieutenant, -as soon as the boat that carried the prisoners -was well away down the creek. “A quartermaster -can finish up what there is to do here, and I’m anxious -to let you boys get away on your sporting trip -as soon as possible; but I simply can’t let you go -till—till we finish the matter you spoke of just -now. If we can manage that to-night I’ll send -you on your way rejoicing as early to-morrow -morning as you please.”</p> - -<p>“Thank you for all of us,” said Tom, as the -two, with the lame man and his guards, seated -themselves in the waiting boat; “but you mustn’t -think this thing has interfered with us. It has -been right in our line and strictly according to the -programme.”</p> - -<p>“How is that?” the lieutenant asked, enjoying -Tom’s evident relish for the experience he had just -gone through.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[231]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Why, you see we set out not merely for sport, -but with the declared purpose of seeking ‘sport -and adventure.’ This thing has been sport to us, -and you’ll not deny that it has had a distinct flavor -of adventure in it.”</p> - -<p>“Tom, you ought to be a sailor or a soldier,” -was the officer’s only reply.</p> - -<p>As soon as they went aboard the lieutenant ordered -the lame man taken to his own cabin and the -rest of the prisoners to the forehold under a strong -guard. When the other boys, who were closely -following, came over the side, he invited the four -to go with him to his quarters.</p> - -<p>“Stop a minute, though. Tell me just what -you’ve arranged, Tom, so that I may know how to -proceed.”</p> - -<p>“Well, I’ve drawn a little information out of -the lame man and got him to promise more—all -he knows in fact, and that seems to be a good deal. -These outlaws are only the agents of conspirators -‘higher up,’ as the phrase goes—ruffians hired by -the conspirators to do the work and take the risks, -while the men higher up pocket all the proceeds -except the pittance allowed to their hired outlaws. -The red-faced bully down there, who acts as captain -of the band, seems to be an exception to all -this. According to the lame man, that burly brute<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[232]</a></span> -was the originator of the conspiracy, he and some -man named Pedro Mendez.”</p> - -<p>“What? Pedro Mendez?” interrupted the lieutenant.</p> - -<p>“That’s the name the lame man mentioned. Do -you know Pedro, or know who he is?”</p> - -<p>“I should say I do. He’s—by the way, he’s -the owner of the good ship <i>Senorita</i>, from whose -cargo some of the smuggled goods came! Wait a -minute.”</p> - -<p>The officer pressed a button and a subordinate -promptly appeared to receive orders.</p> - -<p>“Tell Mr. Chisolm to get the ship under way -as soon as all the boats are aboard, and steam at -full speed for Beaufort.”</p> - -<p>When the orderly had disappeared, the lieutenant -exclaimed:</p> - -<p>“I must get to a telegraph office before morning, -and we’ll have the smiling Pedro under arrest -in Baltimore before another night comes. Go on, -Tom! This is the biggest haul made in ten years -and we have you boys to thank for it. Go on, -please.”</p> - -<p>“There isn’t much more for me to tell. The -lame man will tell the rest. He has a grudge -against the red-faced captain—a life and death enmity—I -should say—and it is chiefly to get his foe<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[233]</a></span> -into all possible trouble that he is willing to tell -all he knows. I’ve assured him that if he gives -the information necessary to secure the capture -of the whole gang and the breaking up the business, -the authorities are pretty sure to let him off easily.”</p> - -<p>“That’s all right. Now we’ll go to the cabin -and see how much our man can tell.”</p> - -<p>What the lame man told the lieutenant has no -place in this story. He knew, as Tom had supposed, -practically all that was needed, and once -started in his story he told it all.</p> - -<p>It was taken down in shorthand as he told it, -and after some difficulties with the pen the man -signed it, the four boys signing as witnesses. A -few days later the newspapers were filled with news -of a “stupendous Revenue capture” and the arrest -of a number of highly respectable men caught -in a conspiracy to defraud the Government.</p> - -<p>When the confessing prisoner had been removed -to secure quarters for the night the officer shook -hands warmly with the boys, saying:</p> - -<p>“You young men have rendered a much greater -service to the Government than you can well imagine, -and as an officer commissioned by the Government -I want to thank you for it as adequately as -I can. It is not only that some smugglers have -been captured as a result of what you have done,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[234]</a></span> -and a lot of smuggled goods seized. That, indeed, -is the smallest part of it. This capture will make -an end to this sort of smuggling for all time. I -was sent here six weeks ago expressly to accomplish -this purpose, and but for you young men and -the assistance you have given me I doubt that I -should ever have accomplished it at all, although, -as you know, a half company of marines was furnished -me in addition to the ship’s own force, in -order that I might be strong enough for any emergency.</p> - -<p>“Now if I talked all night I couldn’t thank you -enough. Let me turn to another matter. I promised -you to set you afloat at any point you wish, -and I’ll do it. But I’m taking you to Beaufort now -because I <i>must</i> get to a telegraph office. As soon -as I possibly can in the morning I’ll steam to the -point you choose.”</p> - -<p>“Beaufort suits us very well, indeed,” Larry answered. -“You see we’re short of stores and when -we’re afloat again we’ll lay our course for a region -where no stores can be had except such as we can -secure with our shotguns.”</p> - -<p>“What stores do you need?” asked the officer.</p> - -<p>“Coffee, a side of bacon to fry fish with, two -hams, and as many boxes of ship biscuit as we -can manage to stow away in our boat. That’s all,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[235]</a></span> -except some salt, I think. I suppose we can buy -all such things at Beaufort. If not, we can go -without them.”</p> - -<p>“No, you can’t buy them at Beaufort or anywhere -else,” the lieutenant answered; “because I’m -going to furnish them from my own ship’s stores.”</p> - -<p>“But, Lieutenant,” said Larry, flushing, “your -stores belong to the Government, don’t they?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, certainly. What of that?”</p> - -<p>“Why, we can’t let you give us goods that belong -to the Government.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, I see your scruple, but you’re wrong about -the facts. It is a part of every revenue cutter’s -duty to provision craft in distress, and—”</p> - -<p>“But pardon me, we are not in distress. It is -only that for our comfort we need certain supplies -that we are perfectly well able to buy, and when we -get to Beaufort a market will be open to us. We’ll -provision ourselves, if you don’t mind.”</p> - -<p>“I wish you’d let me do it. It is little enough, -in all conscience, considering the service you’ve rendered -the Government.”</p> - -<p>“We didn’t do that for pay,” Larry answered.</p> - -<p>“I quite understand that. Still I have full authority -to issue the stores to you, and the disposition -made of them will of course be set forth in my -official report.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[236]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Thank you, very much, for your good will in -the matter,” Larry said, in a tone that left no -chance for further argument, “but we prefer to -buy for ourselves. Then if you’ll have your men -lower our boat, we’ll say ‘Good-bye and good luck’ -to you and take ourselves off your hands.”</p> - -<p>“That is final?”</p> - -<p>“Yes—final.”</p> - -<p>“Very well. It shall be as you say. But I’m -sorry you won’t let me do even so small a thing -as that by way of showing you my gratitude.”</p> - -<p>A little later Larry sought out the lieutenant on -deck.</p> - -<p>“I’ll tell you what you may do for us, Lieutenant, -if you are still so minded.”</p> - -<p>“Of course I am. I’ll do whatever you suggest. -What is it?”</p> - -<p>“Why, write a brief letter to Tom and let me -have it for delivery after we get away from Beaufort. -He’ll cherish that as long as he lives, and you -see after all it was Tom who did it all. He first -found the smugglers’ camp and investigated it; he -made the later reconnoissance on which you acted, -and he led the—”</p> - -<p>“Say no more,” the lieutenant answered. “I’ll -write the letter and give it to you.”</p> - -<p>The lieutenant had another thought in mind;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[237]</a></span> -he did not mention it; but when at last the boys -got back to Charleston, they found a letter awaiting -each of them, a letter of thanks and commendation. -Those letters were not from the commanding -officer of a revenue cutter, but from the Secretary -of the Treasury himself, and they were -signed by his own hand.</p> - -<p>All that occurred later, however. At present the -story has to do only with what further adventures -the boys encountered in their coast wanderings.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[238]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2 class="p4">XXV</h2> - -<p class="pch">A SIGNAL OF DISTRESS</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">The</span> <i>Hunkydory</i> was loaded to the point of inconvenience -when, about noon, she set sail again. For -it was the purpose of the boys to make their way -to Quasi quickly now, stopping only long enough -here and there to replenish their supply of game -and fish, and they wanted to be free to stay as long -as they pleased at Quasi, when at last they should -reach that place, without being compelled to hurry -away in search of supplies. Accordingly they -bought at Beaufort all the hard bread, coffee and -other such things that they could in any wise induce -the dory to make room for.</p> - -<p>“Never mind, Dory dear,” Cal said to the boat -as he squeezed in a dozen cans of condensed milk -for which it was hard to find a place. “Never -mind, Dory dear; with four such appetites as ours -to help you out, your load will rapidly grow lighter, -and when we get to Quasi we’ll relieve you of it -altogether.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[239]</a></span></p> - -<p>It was planned to establish a comfortable little -camp at Quasi, to hunt and fish at will, to rest when -that seemed the best thing to do, and to indulge -in that limitless talk which intelligent boys rejoice -in when freed for a time from all obligation to do -anything else. In short, a considerable period of -camping at Quasi had come to be regarded as the -main purpose of the voyage. With their guns -and their fishing tackle, the boys had no concern for -their meat supply, but, as Cal said:</p> - -<p>“We can’t expect to flush coveys of ship biscuit -or catch coffee on tight lines, so we must take -as much as we can of that sort of provender.”</p> - -<p>About two o’clock on the afternoon of the third -day of their voyage from Beaufort the boat was -lazily edging her way through an almost perfectly -smooth sea, with just a sufficient suggestion of -breeze to give her steerage way. Tom was at the -tiller, with next to nothing to do there. Larry and -Dick were dozing in the shadow of the mainsail, -while Cal, after his custom, was watching the porpoises -at play and the gulls circling about overhead -and everything else that could be watched whether -there was any apparent reason for watching it or -not.</p> - -<p>Presently he turned to Tom and, indicating his -meaning by an inclination of the head toward a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[240]</a></span> -peninsula five or six miles away, which had just -come into view as the boat cleared a marsh island, -said:</p> - -<p>“That’s it.”</p> - -<p>“What’s it? and what is it?” asked Tom, too indolent -now to disentangle his sentences.</p> - -<p>“Quasi,” said Cal.</p> - -<p>“Where?”</p> - -<p>“Over the port bow. Change your course a -little to starboard—there’s a mud bank just under -water ahead and we must sail round it.”</p> - -<p>“Quasi at last!” exclaimed Tom gleefully, as -he pushed the helm to port and hauled in the sheet -a trifle in order to spill none of the all too scanty -breeze.</p> - -<p>Instantly Dick and Larry were wide awake, and -for a time conversation quickened as Cal pointed -out the salient features of the land ahead.</p> - -<p>“How far away do you reckon it, Cal?” asked -Dick.</p> - -<p>“About five miles.”</p> - -<p>“Is it clear water? Can we lay a straight -course?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, after we clear this mud bank. A little -more to starboard, Tom, or you’ll go aground.”</p> - -<p>“We ought to make it by nightfall then,” said<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[241]</a></span> -Larry—“unless this plaything of a breeze fails us -entirely.”</p> - -<p>“We’ll make it sooner than that,” said Dick, -standing up and steadying himself by the mast. -“Look, Cal. There’s business in that.”</p> - -<p>Dick had seen white caps coming in between two -islands ahead, and had rightly judged that in her -present position the dory was temporarily blanketed -by a great island that lay between it and the sea.</p> - -<p>“I don’t need to stand up,” answered Cal, “and -it’s hot. I saw the sea running in ahead. I’d have -suggested a resort to the oars if I hadn’t. As it is, -we’ll toy with this infantile zephyr for half an -hour more. By that time we’ll clear the land here -and set our caps on a little tighter or have them -carried away. That’s a stiff blow out there, and -by the way, we’re catching the ragged edges of it -already. A little more to starboard, Tom, and -jibe the boom over.”</p> - -<p>“It’ll be windward work all the way,” said -Larry, as he looked out ahead.</p> - -<p>“So much the better,” said Cal, who found -something to rejoice in in every situation. “It’ll -blow the ‘hot’ off us before we make Quasi, and -besides, there’s nothing like sailing on the wind if -the wind happens to be stiff enough.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[242]</a></span></p> - -<p>“It’ll be stiff enough presently,” said Larry; -then after looking about for a moment, he added: -“I only hope we sha’n’t ship enough water to -dampen down our clothes. The dory is <i>very</i> heavily -loaded.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t worry,” said Dick. “She’s built to -carry a heavy load in a rough sea and a high wind. -In fact, she points up better and foots better, carries -herself better every way when she has a load -on than when she hasn’t.”</p> - -<p>“H’m!” muttered Cal, going to the helm where -Tom was manifesting some distrust of his own -skill in the freshening wind and the “lumpy” seaway -they were beginning to meet. “I’ve known -men to think they were like the <i>Hunkydory</i> in -that.”</p> - -<p>“Diagram it, Cal,” said Larry.</p> - -<p>“Oh, I’ve seen men who thought they could do -things better with a ‘load on’ than without. Trim -ship! I’m going to take the other tack.”</p> - -<p>Then, as the boat heeled over to starboard, her -rail fairly making the water boil, Cal completed -his sentence. “But they were mistaken.”</p> - -<p>“It’s different with boats,” Dick answered; -“and besides, the dory’s ‘load’ is of quite another -sort.”</p> - -<p>Sailing on the wind with a skittish boat of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[243]</a></span> -dory type is about as exhilarating a thing, when -the wind pipes high and the sea surges white with -foam, as can be imagined. In order that the pleasure -of it might not all be his, Cal presently surrendered -the tiller to Dick, who in his turn gave -it over to Larry after his own pulses were set a-tingle. -Larry offered Tom his turn, but Tom modestly -refused, doubting the sufficiency of his skill for -such work as this.</p> - -<p>“The tools to those who can use them, is sound -philosophy, I think,” he said in refusing. “Besides, -I don’t want to be responsible if we turn turtle -before we reach Quasi, after all our trouble.”</p> - -<p>After half an hour or so of speedy windward -work the <i>Hunkydory</i> drew near enough to Quasi -for Cal to study details of the shore line somewhat. -Lying in the bow, just under the jib, he was silently -but diligently engaged in scrutinizing every feature -he could make out in a shore that lay half a mile -or a trifle more away. The others asked him questions -now and then, but he made no answer. Under -his general instructions the dory was skirting -along the shore, making short legs, so as to maintain -her half mile distance until Cal should find the -place he was looking for as a landing.</p> - -<p>Presently he turned and spoke to Dick, who was -now at the tiller again.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[244]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Run in a quarter of a mile, Dick, and bring us -nearer shore,” he said.</p> - -<p>Dick obeyed, while Cal seemed to be studying -something on shore with more than ordinary interest. -Presently he said:</p> - -<p>“There’s something wrong over there. As soon -as we round the point ahead, Dick, you’ll have -fairly sheltered water and sloping sands. Beach -her there.”</p> - -<p>“What is it, Cal? What’s the matter? Why -do you say there’s something wrong?” These -questions were promptly hurled at Cal’s head by his -companions.</p> - -<p>“Look!” he answered. “Do you see the little -flag up there on top of the bluff? It is flying -union down—a signal of distress. But I can’t -make out anybody there. Can any of you?”</p> - -<p>All eyes were strained now, but no living thing -could be seen anywhere along the shore. Tom -ventured a suggestion:</p> - -<p>“The flag is badly faded and a good deal -whipped out, as if it had been flying there for a -long time. Perhaps the people who put it up have -all died since.”</p> - -<p>“No, they haven’t,” answered Cal.</p> - -<p>“Why, do you see anybody?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[245]</a></span></p> - -<p>“No. But I see a little curling smoke that probably -rises from a half burned-out camp-fire.”</p> - -<p>“It’s all right then?” half asked, half declared -Tom.</p> - -<p>“You forget the flag flying union down, Tom. -That isn’t suggestive of all-rightness. Bring her -around quick, Dick, and beach her there just under -the bluff!”</p> - -<p>Half a minute more and the dory lay with her -head well up on the sloping sand. The boys all -leaped ashore except Larry, who busied himself -housing the mast and sails and making things snug. -The rest scrambled up the bluff, which was an earth -bank about twenty feet high and protected at its -base by a closely welded oyster bank.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[246]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2 class="p4">XXVI</h2> - -<p class="pch">AN UNEXPECTED INTERRUPTION</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">There</span> was nobody near the half burned-out -camp-fire, but there were evidences in plenty of the -fact that somebody had cooked and eaten there -that day. There were no cooking utensils lying -about, but there was a structure of green sticks -upon which somebody had evidently been roasting -meat; there were freshly opened oyster shells scattered -around—“the beginnings of a kitchen midden,” -Dick observed—and many other small indications -of recent human presence. Especially, -Cal noticed, that some smouldering brands of the -fire had been carefully buried in ashes—manifestly -to serve as the kindlers of a fresh fire when -one should be needed. Finally, Tom discovered -a hunting knife with its point stuck into the bark -of a tree, as if its owner had planned to secure it -in that way until it should be needed again, just -as a house-wife hangs up her gridiron when done -with it for the time being.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[247]</a></span></p> - -<p>As the three were discovering these things and -interpreting their meaning, Larry joined them and -suggested a search of the woods and thickets round -about.</p> - -<p>“Why not try nature’s own method first?” Tom -asked.</p> - -<p>“How’s that?”</p> - -<p>“Yelling. That’s the way a baby does when it -wants to attract attention, and it generally accomplishes -its purpose. That’s why I call it nature’s -own method. Besides, it covers more ground than -looking can, especially in an undergrowth as thick -as that around this little open spot.”</p> - -<p>“It is rather thick,” said Larry, looking round -him.</p> - -<p>“Thick? Why, a cane brake is wind-swept -prairie land in comparison. Let’s yell all together -and see if we can’t make the hermit of Quasi -hear.”</p> - -<p>The experiment was tried, not once, but many -times, with no effect, and a search of the immediate -vicinity proved equally futile.</p> - -<p>“There seems to be nothing to do but wait,” -Larry declared, at last. “The man in distress -must have gone away in search of food. He is -starving perhaps, and—”</p> - -<p>“Not quite that,” said Cal. “He may be craving<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[248]</a></span> -a tapioca pudding or some other particular article -of diet, but he isn’t starving.”</p> - -<p>“How do you know, Cal?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, it is only that he has a haunch of venison—sun-crusted -for purposes of preservation—hanging -in that tree there”—pointing—“and unless -he is more different kinds of a lunatic than the -chief engineer of any insane asylum ever heard of, -he wouldn’t starve with that on hand.”</p> - -<p>“Perhaps it is spoiled,” said Tom, looking up -the tree where the venison hung and where Cal -alone had seen it.</p> - -<p>“It isn’t spoiled, either,” answered Cal, with assurance.</p> - -<p>“But how can you tell when you’re ten or twenty -feet away from it?” Tom stopped to ask.</p> - -<p>“The carrion crows can tell at almost any distance,” -Cal returned, “and if it were even tainted, -they’d be quarreling over it.”</p> - -<p>Tom was not satisfied, and so he climbed the -tree to inspect. Sliding down again, he gave judgment:</p> - -<p>“Why, the thing’s as black as ink and as hard -as the bark of a white oak tree. It’s dried beef—or -dried venison, rather.”</p> - -<p>“You’re mistaken, Tom,” said Larry. “It is -sun-crusted, as Cal said, but that’s very different.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[249]</a></span> -Inside it is probably as juicy as a steak from a -stall-fed ox.”</p> - -<p>“What do you mean by ‘sun-crusted,’” asked -Dick.</p> - -<p>“Oh, I see,” Larry answered. “You and Tom -are not familiar with our way of preserving meat -in emergencies. When we are out hunting and -have a joint of fresh red meat that we want to keep -fresh, we don’t salt it or smoke it or do anything -of that sort to it. We just hang it out in the very -strongest sunlight we can find. In a brief while -the surface of the meat is dried into a thin black -crust as hard as wood, and after that it will keep -for days in any cool, shady place. Flies cannot -bore through the hard crust, and the air itself is -shut out from the meat below the surface.”</p> - -<p>“How long will it keep in that way?”</p> - -<p>“How long, Cal?” asked Larry, referring the -question to his brother’s larger experience.</p> - -<p>“That depends on several things,” Cal answered. -“I’ve kept meat in that way for a week or ten -days, and at other times I’ve eaten my whole supply -at the first meal. But I say, fellows, we’re -wasting precious time. The night cometh when no -man can work, and we have a good deal to do before -it comes. We must find a safe anchorage for -the <i>Hunkydory</i> and set up a camp for ourselves.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[250]</a></span> -In aid of that we must find fresh water, and I have -an idea we’ll find that somewhere along under the -line of bluffs—at some point where they trend -well back from the shore with a sandy beach between. -The hermit must get water from somewhere -near, and there’s no sign of any around -here.”</p> - -<p>Cal’s conjecture proved to be right. A little -spring at the foot of the bluff had been dug out -and framed around with sticks to keep the margin -from crumbling.</p> - -<p>Obviously this was the hermit’s source of water -supply.</p> - -<p>“But why in the name of common sense,” said -Larry, “didn’t he set up his Lares and Penates -somewhere near the spring?”</p> - -<p>“I can think of two reasons,” Cal answered, -“either of which is sufficient to answer your question.”</p> - -<p>“Go ahead—what are they?”</p> - -<p>“One is, that he may be a crank, and another -is, that he may be a prudent, sensible person, preferring -comfort with inconvenience, to convenience -with discomfort.”</p> - -<p>“Now, then, Sphinx, unravel your riddle.”</p> - -<p>“Its meaning ought to be obvious,” Cal -drawled, “but as it isn’t, I’ll explain it. The man<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[251]</a></span> -is probably a crank. If not, he wouldn’t have set -up a signal of distress and then have gone away -and hidden himself so that if rescuers came they -couldn’t find him. To a crank like that any foolishness -is easily possible. On the other hand, if -he happens to be a man of practical common sense—as -there is equally good reason to believe—he -would very naturally pitch his camp up where it is, -rather than here where you fellows are already -fighting the sand flies that will be heavily reinforced -toward nightfall.”</p> - -<p>“That’s so!” said the others.</p> - -<p>“Of course it’s so. Anybody would know that, -after slapping his cheeks till they feel as if they -had been cured with mustard plasters, and weren’t -half well yet.”</p> - -<p>“What shall we do, Cal?” Tom asked.</p> - -<p>“Why, imitate the hermit and improve upon his -ideas.”</p> - -<p>“You mean—” began Larry.</p> - -<p>“I mean we must go up on the bluff and pitch our -camp a hundred yards or so back from the beach. -Otherwise we shall all be bored as full of holes as -a colander before we stretch our weary limbs upon -mother earth for sleep.”</p> - -<p>“That’s all right,” said Tom, “but you haven’t -told us about the improvement upon the hermit’s<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[252]</a></span> -ideas. Do you mean we should go farther back -from the water?”</p> - -<p>“No, I didn’t mean that, though we’ll do it. I -meant that instead of carrying water from this -brackish spring we’ll dig a well where we pitch our -tent of palmete leaves.”</p> - -<p>“But you said—”</p> - -<p>“I know I did; but that was in swampy land where -the only water to be had by digging was an exudation -from muck. It is very different here. These -bluffs and all the high ground that lies back of -them are composed of clean clay and clean sand. -Look at the bank and see for yourself. Now all -we’ve got to do to get sweet, wholesome water -anywhere on the higher land—which isn’t as high -a little way back as it is here at the face of the -bluff—is to dig down to the level of the sea. -There we’ll find sea water that has been freed from -salt and all other impurities by siping through a -mixture of clay and sand that is as perfect a filter -as can be imagined.”</p> - -<p>“Now if you’ve finished that cataract of words, -Cal,” said Larry, “we must get to work or night -will be on us before we’re ready for it. You go -and pick out a camping place, and the rest of us -will follow you with things from the boat. We -can dig the well and build a shelter to-morrow.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[253]</a></span></p> - -<p>But Tom and Dick were full of enthusiasm, now -that they had at last got to Quasi, and they had -both tasted the water of the spring. Its flavor -strongly stimulated their eagerness for something -more palatable.</p> - -<p>“Why not begin the well now—as soon as we -get the things up from the boat?” asked Dick. -“There’ll be a moon nearly full, and the sea breeze -here is cool. I for one am ready to dig till midnight.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll dig all night,” said Tom, “rather than take -another swig of that stuff. If we work hard we -can get the well in commission before we use all -the water left in the kegs.”</p> - -<p>“We sha’n’t have to dig all night,” said Cal. -“I’ll pick out a place where we needn’t go down -more than eight or nine feet, and this sandy earth -is easily handled. If we’re really industrious and -don’t waste more time over supper than we must, -we’ll strike water within a few hours, and it’ll be -settled and clear by morning. But we must hustle -if we’re to do that. So load yourselves up while -I pick out a camp and I’ll join the caravan of carriers -in the next load.”</p> - -<p>It was necessary, of course, to remove everything -from the boat to the bivouac, as it was the -purpose of the company to make this their headquarters<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[254]</a></span> -for several weeks to come, or at least for as -long as they liked.</p> - -<p>It was nearly sunset, therefore, when that part -of the work was done, and it was decreed that -Larry should get supper while the rest worked at -well-digging.</p> - -<p>As there remained no fresh meat among their -stores, Larry’s first task was to go out with his gun -in search of game. Squirrels were abundant all -about the place, and very easily shot, as they had -never been hunted. As the time was short, Larry -contented himself with the killing of a dozen or so -of the fat rodents, suppressing for the time being -his strong impulse to go after game of a more elusive -and therefore more aristocratic sort. He did -indeed take one shot at a flock of rice birds, killing -a good many of them, but mutilating their tender -little butter-balls of bodies because he used -bird shot instead of the “mustard seed” size, -which alone is fit for rice-bird shooting.</p> - -<p>On his return to the bivouac to cook his game, he -found the well already sunk to nearly half the required -depth, and by the time he was ready to bid -his comrades cease their work and come to supper, -at least another foot had been added to its depth.</p> - -<p>The work was easy, not only because the sandy -soil was easily shoveled out without the use of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[255]</a></span> -picks or spades, but because of the form Cal’s observation -of other temporary well digging had -taught him to give to the excavation.</p> - -<p>“We’re not really digging a well,” he explained -at the outset. “We’re only scooping out a basin -in order to get to water. So instead of working in -a narrow hole, we’ll take a bowl for our model—a -bowl eight or ten feet across at the top and growing -rapidly narrower as we go down. Working in -that way, we’ll not only get on faster and with less -labor, but we’ll spare ourselves the necessity of -cribbing up the sides of our water hole to keep -them from falling in. Besides, the farther down -we get the less work each additional foot of digging -will cost us.”</p> - -<p>When Larry announced supper, all the company -admitted that they “had their appetites with -them”; but Cal did not at once “fall to” as the -others did. Instead, he went into the woods a little -way, secured a dry, dead and barkless stick about -five feet long, and drove it into the bottom of the -excavation. Pulling it out again after waiting for -twenty or thirty seconds, he closely scrutinized its -end. Then, measuring off a part of it with his -hands so placed as to cover approximately a foot -of space at each application, he tossed the stick -aside and joined the others at their meal.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[256]</a></span></p> - -<p>Nobody interrupted the beginning of his supper -by asking him questions, but after he had devoured -two or three rice birds the size of marbles and had -begun on the hind leg of a broiled squirrel which -lay upon an open baked sweet potato, he volunteered -a hint of what he had been doing.</p> - -<p>“As nearly as I can measure it with my hands, -we’ll come to water about three feet further down, -boys. We’ve acquitted ourselves nobly as sappers -and miners, and are entitled to take plenty of time -for supper and a good little rest afterwards—say -till the moon, which is just now coming up out of -its bath in the sea out there, rises high enough to -shine into our hole. That will be an hour hence, -perhaps, and then we’ll shovel sand like plasterers -making mortar. It won’t take us more than an -hour or so to finish the job, and we’ll get to sleep -long before midnight.”</p> - -<p>“How did you find out how far down the water -was, Cal,” asked Tom, who was always as hungry -for information as a school boy is for green apples -or any other thing that carries a threat of stomach -ache with it.</p> - -<p>“Why, I drove a dry stick down—one that -would show a wetting if it got it—till it moved -easily up and down. I knew then that it had -reached the water-saturated sand. I pushed it on<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[257]</a></span> -down till the upper end was level with our present -bottom. Then I drew it out and measured the -dry part and six inches or so of the wet. That -told me how far down we must go for the water.”</p> - -<p>“It’s very simple,” said Tom.</p> - -<p>“I’ve noticed that most things are so when one -understands them,” said Dick. “For example—”</p> - -<p>What Dick’s example was there is now no way -of finding out, for at that point in his little speech -the conversation was interrupted by a rather oddly-dressed -man who broke through the barrier of -bushes and presented himself, bowing and smiling, -to the company.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[258]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2 class="p4">XXVII</h2> - -<p class="pch">THE HERMIT OF QUASI</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">The</span> newcomer was a man of fifty or fifty-five -years of age. He was slender, but rather -with the slenderness of the red Indian than with -that suggestive of weakness. Indeed, the boys observed -that his muscles seemed to be developed out -of proportion to his frame, as if he had been intended -by nature for a scholar and had made an -athlete of himself instead.</p> - -<p>There was not an ounce of unnecessary fat upon -his person, and yet he gave no sign of being underfed. -Instead his flesh had the peculiar hardness -of the frontiersman’s who eats meat largely in excess -of other foods.</p> - -<p>A little strip across the upper part of his forehead, -which showed as he stood there with his hat -removed, suggested that his complexion had once -been fair, but that exposure had tanned it to the -color of a saddle.</p> - -<p>His costume was an odd one, but it was made of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[259]</a></span> -the best of materials, now somewhat worn, but fit -still to hold their own in comparison with far newer -garments of cheaper quality. Perhaps they were -aided in this by the fact that they had evidently -been made for him by some tailor who knew how to -make clothes set upon their wearer as if they were -a part of him.</p> - -<p>Yet his dress was perfectly simple. He wore a -sort of Norfolk jacket of silk corduroy—a cloth -well nigh as durable as sole leather—with -breeches of the same, buttoned at and below the -knee, and covered at bottom with close-fitting calf-skin -leggings of the kind that grooms and dandy -horsemen affect.</p> - -<p>The hat he held in his hand, as he addressed the -company that had courteously risen to receive him, -was an exceedingly limp felt affair, soft to the -head, light in weight and capable of assuming any -shape its wearer might choose to give it. His -shoes were Indian moccasins.</p> - -<p>No sign of linen appeared anywhere about his -person, but just above the top button of his jacket -a bit of gray flannel shirt showed in color harmony -with his other garments.</p> - -<p>“Good evening, young gentlemen,” he said; “I -trust I do not intrude, and if I do so it shall not be -for long. My name is Rudolf Dunbar. May I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[260]</a></span> -ask if you young gentlemen are the rescuers I have -been hoping to see during the three or four weeks -that I have been marooned on this peninsula which -nobody seems ever to visit?”</p> - -<p>“We are here to rescue you if you so desire,” -answered Larry, “but we set out with no such -purpose. We were on our way here to fish, hunt, -live in the open air and be happy in natural ways -for a time. We caught sight of your signal of -distress and hurried ourselves as much as possible, -fearing that your distress might be extreme. As -we found your camp showing no signs of starvation -or illness, and could not find you, we set to work -to establish ourselves for a prolonged stay here and -wait for you to return. It seemed the only thing to -do under the circumstances.”</p> - -<p>“Quite right! Quite right! and I thank you for -your kindly impulse. But you should have taken -possession of my camp, making it your own—at -least until you could establish yourselves more to -your liking. I don’t know, though—my camp is -bare of everything, so that you’re better off as you -are.”</p> - -<p>As he paused, Larry introduced himself and his -comrades by name, and offered the stranger the -hospitality of their camp, inviting him especially to -sit down and share their supper.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[261]</a></span></p> - -<p>He accepted the invitation, and after a little -Larry said to him:</p> - -<p>“May I ask the nature of your distress here, -and how pressing it is? We are ready, of course, -to take you to the village over yonder, ten or a -dozen miles away, at any time you like. From -there you can go anywhere you please.”</p> - -<p>“Thank you very much. My distress is quite -over now. Indeed, I am not accustomed to let circumstances -distress me overmuch. I found myself -marooned here, and naturally I wanted to establish -communication with the mainland again—or the -possibility of such communication. But if it had -been necessary I could have remained here for a -year in fair contentment. Long experience has -taught me how to reconcile myself with my surroundings, -whatever they may be, and game and -fish are plentiful here. May I ask how long you -young gentlemen have planned to remain here?”</p> - -<p>“Three or four weeks, probably,” answered -Larry. “But as I said before, we’ll set you ashore -on the mainland at any time you like.”</p> - -<p>“Thank you very much. But if it will be quite -agreeable to you, I’ll remain here as long as you -do. I haven’t finished my work here, and the -place is extremely favorable for my business. If -my presence is in any way annoying—”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[262]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Oh, not at all. We shall build a comfortable -shelter to-morrow, and we’ll be glad to have you -for our guest. As you see, we’re digging a well, -and we’ll have good sweet water by morning.”</p> - -<p>“That is very wise. I should have dug one myself -if I had had any sort of implement to dig with, -but I have none.”</p> - -<p>“And so you’ve had to get on with the rather -repulsive water from the spring down there?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, and no. I have used that water, but I -distil it first. You see, in my peculiar business, I -must wander in all sorts of places, wholesome and -unwholesome, and it is often impossible to find good -water to drink. So for years past I have always -carried a little distilling apparatus of my own devising -with me. It is very small and very light, and, -of course, when I have to depend upon it for a -water supply, I must use water very sparingly. I -think I must bid you good evening now, as I did -not sleep at all last night. I will see you in the -morning.”</p> - -<p>“We’ll expect you to join us at breakfast,” said -Larry.</p> - -<p>“It will give me great pleasure to do so. Good -night.”</p> - -<p>With that he nimbly tripped away, leaving the -boys to wonder who and what he was, and especially<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[263]</a></span> -what the “business” was that he had not -yet finished at Quasi. Cal interrupted the chatter -presently, saying:</p> - -<p>“We’ve annexed a riddle, and you’re wasting -time trying to guess it out. Nobody ever did guess -the answer to a riddle. Let’s get to work and finish -the well.”</p> - -<p>The boys set to work, of course, but they did -not cease to speculate concerning the stranger. -Even after the well was finished and when they -should all have been asleep they could not drive the -subject from their minds.</p> - -<p>“I wonder how he got here, anyhow,” said Tom, -after all the other subjects of wonder had been discussed -to no purpose. “He has no boat and he -couldn’t have got here without one.”</p> - -<p>“What I wonder,” said Dick, “is why and how -his ‘business’ has compelled him to wander in out-of-the-way -places, as he says he has.”</p> - -<p>“<i>I</i> am wondering,” said Cal, sleepily, “when -you fellows will stop talking and let me go to sleep. -You can’t find out anything by wondering and chattering. -The enigma will read itself to us very -soon.”</p> - -<p>“Do you mean he’ll tell us his story?” asked -Tom.</p> - -<p>“Yes, of course.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[264]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Why do you think he’ll do that?”</p> - -<p>“He can’t possibly help it. When a man lives -alone for so long as he has done, he must talk about -himself. It’s the only thing he knows, and the only -thing that seems to him interesting.”</p> - -<p>“There’s a better reason than that,” said Larry.</p> - -<p>“What is it?”</p> - -<p>“Why, that he is obviously a gentleman. A -gentleman wouldn’t think of coming here to remain -indefinitely as our guest without letting us know -who and what he is and all the rest of it.”</p> - -<p>“<i>Finis!</i>” said Cal.</p> - -<p>Silence followed, and soon the little company -was dreaming of queerly dressed marooners carrying -flags union down.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[265]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2 class="p4">XXVIII</h2> - -<p class="pch">RUDOLF DUNBAR’S ACCOUNT OF HIMSELF</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cal</span> and Larry were right. Both out of a sense -of duty to his entertainers and because of a not -unnatural impulse to tell of his unusual mode of -life, Dunbar began the very next morning to talk -freely of his experiences.</p> - -<p>“It is proper that I explain to you how I came -to be here without the means of getting away -again,” he said at breakfast. “Indeed, I was a -little troubled in my mind last night when I remembered -that I had received your kindly offer of rescue -without telling you that. But in my anxiety to get -away from your bivouac and let you sleep, I forgot -it.</p> - -<p>“You see my entire life is spent in the woods -or upon the water. I go wherever there is promise -of anything to reward the labors of a naturalist, -and when I heard of this long-abandoned plantation, -where for twenty-five years or so Nature has -had things all her own way, I knew a visit would<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[266]</a></span> -be richly worth while. So I purchased a little rowboat -and came over here about three or four weeks -ago. I cannot fix the time more definitely because I -never can keep accurate account of the days or weeks, -living alone in the woods as I do and having no engagements -to fulfill. I pulled my boat up on the -beach a little way, selected a place in which to live, -and proceeded to remove my things from the boat -to the place chosen. Unfortunately, just as I had -finished doing so, a peculiar moth attracted my -attention—a moth not mentioned or described in -any of the books, and quite unknown to science, -I think. I went at once in chase of it, but it led -me a merry dance through the thickets, and it was -two hours, I should say—though I carry no timepiece—before -I caught the creature. In the meanwhile -I had forgotten all about my boat, and when -I got back I saw it drifting out to sea with quite a -strong breeze to aid the tide in carrying it away. -It seems the tide had reached the flood during my -absence, setting the boat afloat, and had then begun -to ebb, carrying her away.</p> - -<p>“There was nothing to be done, of course, but -hoist my little flag, union down, and go on with -the very interesting task of studying the habits of -my new moth, of which I have since found several -specimens, besides three cocoons which I am hatching<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[267]</a></span> -in the hope that they will prove to belong to the -species. I’ve been hard at work at that task ever -since, and I have made some very interesting discoveries -with regard to that moth’s choice of habitat. -I made the most important one the night before -you arrived. That is why I got no sleep that -night.”</p> - -<p>“Let us hope,” said Cal, “that the excitement of -it did not interfere with your rest last night.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, not at all. I am never excited, and I can -sleep whenever I choose. I have only to lie down -and close my eyes in order to accomplish that.”</p> - -<p>“Then you have a shelter or hut up there somewhere—though -we saw none?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, no. I never sleep under shelter of any -kind; I haven’t done so for more than twenty years -past. Indeed, that is one of the conditions upon -which I live at all. My health is good now, but it -would fail me rapidly if I slept anywhere under a -roof.”</p> - -<p>“But when these heavy subtropical rains -come?” asked Dick.</p> - -<p>“Ah, I am prepared for them. I have only to -spread one rubber cloth on the ground and a much -thinner one over my blanket, and I take no harm.”</p> - -<p>“Your specialty then is the study of butterflies -and moths?” asked Dick.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[268]</a></span></p> - -<p>“No, not at all. Indeed I have no specialty. -When I was teaching I held the chair of Natural -History, with several specialists as tutors under -my general direction. When my health broke down—pray, -don’t suppose I am going to weary you -with a profitless catalogue of symptoms—I simply -had to take to the woods. I had nobody dependent -upon me—nobody for whom it was my duty to provide -then or later. I had a little money, very little, -but living as I do I need very little, and my work -yields me a good deal more than I need or want. -The little rifle I always have with me provides me -with all the food I want, so that I am rarely under -expense on that account.”</p> - -<p>“But you must have bread or some substitute,” -said Tom.</p> - -<p>“I do not find it necessary. When I have access -to starchy foods—of which there are many in -tropical and subtropical forests if one knows how -to find and utilize them—I eat them with relish, -but when they are not to be had I get on very well -without them. You see man is an omnivorous -animal, and can live in health upon either starchy -or flesh foods. It is best to have both, of course, -unless the starchy foods are perverted as they so -often are in civilized life, and made ministers to -depraved appetites.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[269]</a></span></p> - -<p>“May I ask just how you mean that?” asked -Dick.</p> - -<p>“Yes, certainly. The starch we consumed last -night in the form of sweet potatoes was altogether -good for us; so is that we are taking now in these -ship biscuits. But if the flour we are eating had -been mixed with lard, sugar, eggs, milk and the -like, and made into pastry, we should be greatly -the better without it.</p> - -<p>“However, I’m not a physician, equipped to deliver -a lecture on food stuffs and their preparation. -I was betrayed into that by your question. I was -explaining the extreme smallness of my personal -needs. After food, which costs me nothing, comes -clothing, which costs me very little.”</p> - -<p>“Why certainly you are expensively dressed for -woodland wandering,” said Dick. Then instantly -he began an apology for the reference to so purely -personal a matter, but Rudolf Dunbar interrupted -him.</p> - -<p>“No apology is due. I was voluntarily talking -of my own personal affairs, and your remark was -entirely pertinent. My garments are made of very -costly fabrics, but as such materials endure all sorts -of hard usage and last for a very long time, I find -it cheaper in the end to buy only such; more important -still is the convenience of it, to one leading<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[270]</a></span> -the sort of life I do. Instead of having to visit a -tailor three or four times a year, I have need of his -services only at long intervals. The garments I -now have on were made for me in London three -years or so ago, and I have worn no others since. -In the meanwhile I have been up the Amazon for -thousands of miles, besides visiting Labrador and -the southern coast of Greenland.</p> - -<p>“That brings me to my principal item of expense, -which is the passage money I must pay in -order to get to the regions I wish to explore. That -costs me a good deal at each considerable removal, -but in the meanwhile I have earned greatly more -by my work.</p> - -<p>“But pardon me for prosing so about myself. -I’ll say not another word now, so that you young -gentlemen may be free to make whatever use you -wish of this superb day. I shall spend the greater -part of it in figuring some specimens with my colored -crayons. Good morning!”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[271]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2 class="p4">XXIX</h2> - -<p class="pch">TOM FINDS THINGS</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">As</span> soon as the visitor disappeared through a -tangled growth of bushes, Larry began marking -out the duties of the day.</p> - -<p>“First of all we must make ourselves comfortable,” -he said, as if reflecting.</p> - -<p>“That means a bush shelter of some sort,” interrupted -Tom.</p> - -<p>“No, it doesn’t either,” Larry answered, in a -tone of playfulness like Tom’s own.</p> - -<p>“What does it mean, then?”</p> - -<p>“It means a shelter—not ‘of some sort’ as you -say, but of a good sort. The wind blows hard here -sometimes as the place is so exposed to a broad -passage leading to the sea outside. So we must -build something that isn’t easily carried away by a -squall.”</p> - -<p>“It would mean a good many other things,” said -Cal, “if I were the architect selected to make designs, -with front elevations, floor plans, estimates<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[272]</a></span> -and all the other things they do before beginning -to put up a building.”</p> - -<p>“Why, of course, Cal, you are to direct the -work,” answered Larry. “You know more about -such things than all the rest of us combined.”</p> - -<p>“Well, then, first of all, our palatial country -residence must face directly away from the sea,” -said Cal. “If it had its wide open side in any -other direction we’d be drenched inside of it every -time a rain came in from the sea, and that is where -nearly all the hard rains come from here. Then, -again, if the hovel faced the wrong way it would -be filled full of smoke every time a sea breeze blew, -and in this exposed place that is nearly all the time. -There are seventeen other good and sufficient reasons -for fronting the structure in the way I have -decreed, but the two I have mentioned are sufficient -to occupy and divert your young minds as we -go on with the work. Now let all hands except -Larry busy themselves chopping crotched poles of -the several dimensions that I’ll mark here in the -sand, for lack of other and more civilized stationery.”</p> - -<p>With a sharpened stick Cal began writing in the -sand.</p> - -<p>“Four poles, 12 feet long, and three or four -inches thick.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[273]</a></span></p> - -<p>“But what do you want me to do, Cal?” asked -Larry.</p> - -<p>“Go fishing,” said Cal. “We must have some -dinner after awhile. See if you can’t bring in a -sheepshead or some other fish weighing five or six -pounds and fit for roasting.”</p> - -<p>In an instant Larry was off with cast net, shrimp -bucket and some fish lines.</p> - -<p>Cal resumed his sand writing, cataloguing the -various sorts and sizes of poles wanted. Presently -he stopped short, muttering:</p> - -<p>“But then we’re not lumbermen, and the only -tool we have to chop with is our one poor little -hand ax. It won’t take three of us to wield that toy. -Say, Tom, suppose you take your gun and see if -you can’t get us some game. We’ll do well enough -with fish for dinner, but we must have some meat -for to-night. So go and get some. I know you’re -half crazy to be off in the woods shooting. Dick -and I will work at the poles and palmetes—that’s -apt alliteration, but it was quite accidental, I assure -you. One can use the ax and the other cut palmete -leaves with his jackknife, exchanging jobs -now and then. We’ll need a great stack of the -palmetes with which to cover the roof and three -sides of our mansion.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, of course, and fortunately they grow very<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[274]</a></span> -thick just out there in the woods,” said Dick. “I -saw them early this morning.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, I know. I saw them yesterday when I -picked out a place for the camp. Our need of them -was one of the considerations I had in mind. By -the way, Dick”—the two were busily at work now—“what -do you think of the professor’s plan of -sleeping?”</p> - -<p>“It saves him a lot of trouble,” Dick answered.</p> - -<p>“Yes, in one way. But if he had anything with -him that water would spoil, it would make more -trouble than it saves. As he has nothing of the -kind—”</p> - -<p>“How about his reserve ammunition? A man -who depends upon his gun for all his food must -have a lot of cartridges somewhere.”</p> - -<p>“That’s so, but his rifle is probably of very small -calibre, so that a good many cartridges can be -packed in a small space. Of course we can’t ask -him.”</p> - -<p>At that moment “the professor,” as Cal had -called him, appeared, with profuse apologies.</p> - -<p>“It was really inexcusable,” he protested, “for -me to go away as I did when you young gentlemen -had a shelter to build. I should have stayed to -help in the work, as I am to share in its advantages. -But I am so unused to providing shelter for myself<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[275]</a></span> -that I quite forgot your larger necessities. Fortunately -I heard the blows of your ax and was reminded -of my duty. I have come at once to assist -you.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, you mustn’t think of that, Professor,” answered -Cal. “We really need no assistance. My -brother and Tom have gone off for supplies of meat -and fish, but they’ll be back presently, and meanwhile -we two can use the only tools we have for this -kind of work. Besides, you have something of -your own to do.”</p> - -<p>“Nothing that may not be as well done at another -time. I must insist upon bearing my share -of the work of constructing a camp which you have -been courteous enough to invite me to share.”</p> - -<p>“But you don’t sleep under a roof—even a -flimsy one of palmete leaves,” objected Dick. -“We invited you to join us here only because we -like good company.”</p> - -<p>“Thank you for the compliment. No, I do not -sleep under a roof, but your roof will be a great -convenience and comfort to me in other ways.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t see—” Cal began, but Dunbar broke -in.</p> - -<p>“You don’t see how? No, of course not. How -should you? But that is only because you know so little -of my tasks. I must write my scientific reports<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[276]</a></span> -and articles carefully and voluminously, and I must -make accurate color drawings of my specimens to -accompany my text. I am badly behind with my -work in these ways, and the very best time to bring -up the arrears is of long, rainy days, when the living -things I must study—all of them except the -fishes—are hidden away in such shelters as they -can find. But I cannot sit in the rain and write or -draw. That would only be to spoil materials of -which I have all too little already. So the rainy -days are lost to me, or have been, hitherto. Now -that I am to enjoy your hospitality, I shall sit in -your shelter when it rains, and get a world of writing -and drawing done.”</p> - -<p>“Well, at any rate, we shall not need your help in -this work, and we have no tool for you to work with -if we did. As to our little hospitality, it mustn’t and -doesn’t involve any obligation on your part. If it -did it wouldn’t be hospitality at all, but something -very different. Why not put in your time on your -own work?”</p> - -<p>“I would, if my head didn’t object,” the man -of science answered rather dejectedly, Cal thought, -but with a smile.</p> - -<p>“Have you a headache, then?” the youth asked, -putting as much sympathy into his tone as was possible -to a robust specimen of young manhood who<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[277]</a></span> -had never had a headache in his life. “It must -be very distressing.”</p> - -<p>“No, I haven’t a headache,” the professor answered. -“I wish it was only that. No, my head -isn’t clear to-day, and when I try to work it gets -things jumbled up a bit. I tried this morning to -write a scientific account of the habits of a certain -fish that these waters bear, and somehow I got him -out into the bushes using wings that I had never -observed before. Now I must go and catch another -specimen of that fish and examine it carefully -to see if the wings are really there or not. You -see in cases of doubt a scientist dares not trust anything -to conjecture or memory. He must examine -and make sure.”</p> - -<p>So saying, the professor started off to catch the -fish he wanted. He had spoken in a half jocular -tone and with a mischievous smile playing about -his lips, though his words were serious enough.</p> - -<p>“What do you think, Dick?” Cal asked as soon -as the man was well beyond earshot; “is he a -trifle ‘off’? has he lost some of his buttons?”</p> - -<p>“Possibly, but I doubt it.”</p> - -<p>“But what nonsense he talked!”</p> - -<p>“Yes, I know. But did you observe his smile? -He was only doing in his way what you so often -do in yours. Your smile often contradicts your<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[278]</a></span> -words—making its bow, as it were, to the nonsense -you are uttering. Yet we don’t suspect you of -having slipped your cable.”</p> - -<p>“I suppose that’s it,” said Cal, “but allow me to -suggest that our chatter cuts no palmetes, and -we’re in need of a great number.”</p> - -<p>By the time the needed poles and crotch sticks -were cut and sharpened for driving into the ground, -Larry returned, bringing with him one huge fish -and a bucket full of croakers and whiting, all of -which he had dressed on the shore.</p> - -<p>He wrapped the large fish in a mass of wet sea -weed and buried it in the hot ashes and coals to -bake. After setting such other things to cook as -he thought necessary, he joined the others in the -work of setting up the poles and fastening their -ends securely together with vines as flexible as -hempen rope. The wetter parts of the woodlands -yielded such vines in abundance, and as somewhat -experienced sailors the boys all knew how to tie -knots that no strain could loosen.</p> - -<p>By the time that the dinner was cooked the -framework of the shelter was more than half done.</p> - -<p>“We’ll knock off for dinner now,” Larry suggested, -“and after dinner the whole force will set -to work finishing the framework and covering it. -There are bunks to be made, too, and filled with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[279]</a></span> -long gray moss, so we’ll have a very full afternoon.”</p> - -<p>“By the way, Professor,” asked Cal, as the man -of science rejoined the group, “are you quite sure -you won’t let us make a bunk for you?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes—quite sure.”</p> - -<p>“Did you catch the fish you wanted to examine, -or did he take to his wings and fly away?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, that was only my poor little jest. You -didn’t take it seriously, did you?”</p> - -<p>Then, interrupting the reply that Cal had begun -to make, he said rapidly:</p> - -<p>“But I did want to make another examination -of the fish in question. You see, when I examined -a specimen a few days ago, my attention was concentrated -upon certain definite points, and when I -casually observed something that suggested the possibility -of its having a sense of taste, I went on -with the other questions in my mind and quite forgot -to satisfy myself on this point. But when I -sat down this morning to write notes of my observations, -the point came back to my mind, and I -saw that I must examine another specimen before -writing at all. That is what I meant by saying, in -figurative speech, that my fish went flying away -among the bushes, or whatever else it was that I -said.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[280]</a></span></p> - -<p>“But, Professor,” said Larry, “something you -said about a fish’s sense of taste just now awakens -my curiosity. May I ask you—”</p> - -<p>“Not now,” said Dick. “Let’s reserve all that -for this evening after supper. You see Tom isn’t -here now, and he will want to hear it all. Maybe -the professor will let us turn loose our tongues to-night -and ask him the dozen questions we have in -our minds.”</p> - -<p>“Yes—a thousand, if you wish,” Dunbar answered. -“I have studied fish with more interest, -perhaps, than I ever felt in investigating any other -subject, and naturally I like to air the results of my -inquiries.”</p> - -<p>Larry busied himself taking the dinner from the -fire, and as he did so Tom returned.</p> - -<p>“Hello, Tom!” called out Cal as the boy was -struggling through the bushes back of the camp. -“Just in time for dinner. Did you get anything -worth while?”</p> - -<p>“Judge for yourself,” he replied, entering the -open space and dropping a huge turkey gobbler on -the ground. “Isn’t that a beauty? Got him on -the wing, too. But I forgot, Cal, you don’t approve -of post-mortem chatter over game. One -thing I must tell you, anyhow. I found a patch of -these and brought home some samples in my<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[281]</a></span> -pockets to see if it’s worth while to go after -more.”</p> - -<p>As he spoke he drew out a number of sweet potatoes -and cast them down.</p> - -<p>“Are there more to be had?” Larry asked -eagerly.</p> - -<p>“Yes, bushels of them—growing wild.”</p> - -<p>“Good! Tom, you’ve a positive genius for finding -precisely what we want. Our supply of bread -and bread substitutes is very scant, or was before -you made this discovery, and with all due respect -for your opinion, Professor, I am satisfied that we -need a considerable proportion of starchy foods to -go with our meat.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, I agree with you as to that,” quickly answered -the professor. “I have never doubted it. -I only said that man, being an omnivorous animal, -can live upon an exclusive diet of meat just as he -can live on the starchy foods alone. I think I stated -distinctly that he is better off with both than with -either alone.”</p> - -<p>“You certainly did say that, Professor,” said -Dick; “it is only that Larry was inattentive at the -time of your lecture. But I say, Tom, is it far to -your potato patch?”</p> - -<p>“Only about half a mile or a little less.”</p> - -<p>They were all busily eating dinner now, and for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[282]</a></span> -a minute there was nothing more said. Presently -Tom spoke:</p> - -<p>“I say, Larry, which of you fellows can best -be spared to go with me after dinner, and help me -bring in the deer?”</p> - -<p>“What deer?” asked all in a breath.</p> - -<p>“Why, the one I shot an hour or so ago. I -managed to hang him up in a tree out of reach of -other animals, I think, but I suppose he ought to be -brought to camp pretty soon.”</p> - -<p>Cal rose threateningly.</p> - -<p>“I am strongly tempted to throw things at you, -Tom Garnett,” he began. “But there isn’t anything -to throw except the ax, and if I threw that I -might incapacitate you for walking, and without -your assistance we might not be able to find that -deer. What do you mean, sir, by interrupting us -at dinner with a surprise like that? Don’t you -realize that it is bad for the digestion? In plain -language that even your intelligence can perhaps -grasp, why in the name of all that is sensible, didn’t -you tell us about the thing when you first came?”</p> - -<p>“I’ve associated with you, Cal, too long and too -intimately to retain a just appreciation of what is -sensible. Anyhow, I wanted the fun of springing -the thing on you in that way. If you’ve finished -your dinner, we’ll be off after the venison. It -isn’t half a mile away.”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[283]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2 class="p4">XXX</h2> - -<p class="pch">DUNBAR TALKS AND SLEEPS</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">It</span> required nearly all the afternoon for Tom and -Cal to bring the deer to camp and dress it. In the -meantime Larry, Dick and Dunbar—who insisted -upon helping and did his part very cleverly—worked -upon the shelter and the bunks inside. As -a result the hut was ready for use that night, though -not quite finished in certain details.</p> - -<p>By Larry’s orders no further work was to be -done after supper, but supper was to be late, as -there was the turkey to be roasted, and he wanted -to roast it right. While he was preparing the bird -for the fire, Dick was rigging up a vine contrivance -to serve in lieu of a spit, and Tom and Cal employed -the time in bringing a bushel or two of Tom’s wild -sweet potatoes to camp.</p> - -<p>The turkey was suspended by a long vine from -the limb of a tree, so hung as to bring the fowl immediately -in front of a fire built at that point especially -for this roasting. Dick had bethought him<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[284]</a></span> -to go to the dory and bring away a square of sheet -copper, carried for boat-repairing purposes. This -he scoured to brightness with sand, after which he -fashioned it into a rude dripping pan, and placed -it under the turkey to catch the juices for basting -purposes. There was nothing remotely resembling -a spoon in the camp or the boat, but Dick was -handy with his jackknife, and it did not take him -long to whittle out a long-handled wooden ladle -with which to do the basting.</p> - -<p>By another device of his the roasting fowl was -kept turning as fast or as slowly as might seem -desirable. This device consisted of two very slender -vines attached to the supporting vine at a point -several feet above the fire. One of the “twirlers,” -as Dick called the slender vines, was wrapped several -times around the supporting vine in one direction -and the other in the opposite way.</p> - -<p>Sitting on opposite sides of the fire, and each -grasping a “twirler,” Dick and Larry kept the turkey -turning first one way and then the other.</p> - -<p>While they were engaged in this, an abundant -supply of Tom’s sweet potatoes were roasting in -the ashes.</p> - -<p>“Now we are at Quasi,” said Cal, just before -the turkey was declared “done to a turn”—“at -Quasi, the object of all our hopes, the goal of our<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[285]</a></span> -endeavors, and the guiding star of all our aspirations -during a period of buffetings, trials and sore -afflictions. We are securely at Quasi, and our residence—which -prosaic people might call a hut, -hovel or shanty, but which is to us a mansion—is -practically finished. It is only meet and fit, and -in accordance with Homeric custom, that we -should celebrate the occasion and the toilsome -achievements that have made it possible, by all -possible lavishness of feasting. All of which -means that I am going to make a pot of robust and -red-hot coffee to drink with the turkey and -‘taters.’”</p> - -<p>It was a hungry company that sat down on the -ground to eat that supper, and if there was anything -lacking in the bill of fare, such appetites as -theirs did not permit the boys to find out the fact.</p> - -<p>“It is an inflexible rule of good housewives,” -drawled Cal, when the dinner was done, “that the -‘things’ as they call the dishes, pots, pans, and the -like, shall be cleared away and cleansed. So here -goes,” gathering up the palmete leaves that had -served for plates and tossing them, together with -the bones and fragments of the feast, upon the -fire, where they quickly crackled into nothingness. -“There aren’t any cooking utensils, and as for -these exquisitely shaped agate iron cups, it is the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[286]</a></span> -function of each fellow to rinse the coffee out of -his own. Oh, yes, there’s the coffee pot I forgot -it, and by way of impressing the enormity of -my fault upon a dull intelligence I’ll clean that -myself. A hurried scouring with some sand and -water, followed by a thorough rinsing, ought to do -the business finely.”</p> - -<p>“I say, Cal,” said Dick, “I wish you would remember -that this is your off night.”</p> - -<p>“I confess I don’t understand. Do you mean -that I shall leave the coffee pot for some other member -of the company to scour?”</p> - -<p>“No. I mean this is your off night for word-slinging. -The professor is going to tell us some -things and we want to hear him. So, ‘dry up.’”</p> - -<p>“I bow my head in contriteness and deep humiliation. -You have the floor, Professor.”</p> - -<p>“May I ask you young gentlemen not to call me -‘professor’?” Dunbar asked very earnestly.</p> - -<p>“Why, of course, we will do as you like about -that,” answered Larry; “we have been calling you -‘professor’ merely out of respect, and you told -us you were or had been a professor in a college.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, I know, and I thank you for your impulse -of courtesy. I used the word descriptively -when I told you I had been a ‘professor’ of Natural<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[287]</a></span> -History. Used in that way it is inoffensive -enough, but when employed as a title—well, you -know every tight-rope walker and every trapeze -performer calls himself ‘professor.’”</p> - -<p>“Well, you must at least have a doctorate of -some kind,” said Dick, “and so you are entitled -to be addressed as ‘Dr. Dunbar.’”</p> - -<p>“No, not at all. Of course a number of colleges -have offered me baubles of that cheap sort—asking -to make me ‘LL.D.,’ or ‘Ph. D.,’ or -‘L. H. D.,’ or some other sham sort of a doctor, -but I have always refused upon principle. I hate -shams, and as to these things, they seem to me to -work a grievous injustice. No man ought to be -called ‘Doctor’ unless he has earned the degree -by a prescribed course of study and examinations. -Honorary degrees are an affront to the men who -have won real degrees by years of hard study. -With two or three hundred colleges in this country, -each scattering honorary degrees around and -multiplying them every year, all degrees have lost -something of their value and significance.”</p> - -<p>“How shall we address you then?” asked -Larry.</p> - -<p>“Simply as ‘Mr. Dunbar.’ The President of -the United States is entitled to no other address -than ‘Mr. President.’ In a republic certainly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[288]</a></span> -‘Mr.’ ought to be title enough for any man. Call -me ‘Mr. Dunbar,’ please.”</p> - -<p>“Well, now, Mr. Dunbar, won’t you go on and -tell us what you promised?”</p> - -<p>“What was it? I have quite forgotten.”</p> - -<p>“Why, you said you had been led to suspect -that your fish—the kind that takes wing and flies -away into the bushes—had a sense of taste. Did -you mean to imply that fishes generally have no -such sense?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, certainly. There are very few fishes that -have capacity of taste. They have no need of it, -as they bolt their food whole, and usually alive. -There are curious exceptions, and—”</p> - -<p>“But, Mr. Dunbar,” interrupted Tom, “is it -only because they swallow their food whole that -you think they have no sense of taste? Is there -any more certain way of finding out?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, of course. The sense of taste is located -in certain nerves, called for that reason ‘gustatory -nerves,’ or ‘taste goblets.’ Now, as the fishes generally -have no gustatory nerves or taste goblets, -we know positively that they do not and cannot -taste their food. That is definite; but the other -reason I gave is sufficient in itself to settle the -matter. The gustatory nerves cannot taste any -substance until it is partially dissolved and brought<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[289]</a></span> -into contact with them in its dissolved state. You -can test that for yourself by placing a dry lump -of sugar in your mouth. Until the saliva begins -to dissolve it you can no more recognize any taste -in it than in a similar lump of marble.”</p> - -<p>“But why do they eat so voraciously then? -What pleasure do they find in it?” asked Dick.</p> - -<p>“Chiefly the pleasure of distending the stomach, -but there is also the natural craving of every living -organism for sustenance, without which it must -suffer and die. That craving for sustenance is -ordinarily satisfied only by eating, but it may be -satisfied in other ways. Sometimes a man cannot -swallow because of an obstruction in the canal -by which food reaches the stomach. In such cases -the surgeons insert a tube through the walls of -the body and introduce food directly into the -stomach. That satisfies the desire for sustenance, -though the patient has not tasted anything. -When a fish takes a run and jump at a minnow -and swallows it whole at a gulp, he is doing for -himself much the same thing that the surgeon does -for his patient.”</p> - -<p>“But, Mr. Dunbar,” Tom asked, “why is it then -that the same species of fish will take a particular -kind of bait at one time of year and won’t touch it at -other times? In the very early spring I’ve caught<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[290]</a></span> -lots of perch on worms, while a little later they -would take nothing but live bait, and still later, -when they were feeding on insects on the surface, -I’ve known them to nose even live bait out of their -way, refusing to take anything but the insects. -If they don’t taste their food, why do they behave -in that way?”</p> - -<p>“Frankly, I don’t know,” Dunbar answered. -“I have formed many conjectures on the subject, -but all of them are unsatisfactory. Perhaps somebody -will solve the riddle some day, but at present -I confess I can’t answer it.”</p> - -<p>Dunbar stopped as if he meant to say no more, -and Tom became apologetic.</p> - -<p>“Won’t you please go on, Mr. Dunbar? I’m -sorry I interrupted.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, but you must interrupt. If you don’t interpose -with questions, how am I to know whether -I’ve made my meaning clear or not? And how -am I to know what else you wish to hear? No, -no, no. Don’t withhold any question that comes -into your mind, or I shall feel that I’m making a -bore of myself by talking too much.”</p> - -<p>“You spoke,” said Dick, “of certain fishes that -are exceptions to the rule.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes; thank you. I meant to come back -to that but forgot it. The chief exception I know<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[291]</a></span> -of is the bullhead, a small species of catfish that -abounds in northern waters, particularly in the -Adirondack lakes. The bullhead has gustatory -nerves all over him. He can taste with his tail, -or his side, or his head, as well as with his mouth. -Of course there’s a good reason for the difference.”</p> - -<p>“I suppose so, but I can’t imagine what it is,” -said Larry.</p> - -<p>“Neither can I,” echoed Tom and Dick. Cal -continued the silence he had not broken by a word -since Dunbar had begun. Observing the fact, -Dick was troubled lest his playful suppression of -Cal at the beginning had wounded him. So, rising, -he went over to Cal’s side, passed his arm -around him in warm friendly fashion, and said -under his breath:</p> - -<p>“Did you take me seriously, Cal? Are you hurt -or offended?”</p> - -<p>“No, you sympathetically sublimated idiot, of -course not. It is only that I want to hear all I -can of Mr. Dunbar’s talk. You know I’ve always -been interested in fish—even when they refuse to -take bait. Hush. He’s about to begin again.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, it is obvious enough when you think about -it,” said Dunbar. “It is a fundamental law of -nature that every living thing, animal or vegetable,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[292]</a></span> -shall tend to develop whatever organs or functions -it has need of, for defense against enemies or for -securing the food it needs. You see that everywhere, -in the coloring of animals and in a thousand -other ways. The upper side of a flounder is -exactly the color of the sand on which he lies. -That is to prevent the shark and other enemies -from seeing him and eating him up. But his under -side, which cannot be seen at all by his enemies, -is white, because there is no need of color in it. -I could give you a hundred illustrations, but there -is no need. Your own daily observation will supply -them.”</p> - -<p>Again Dunbar paused, as if his mind had wandered -far away and was occupying itself with other -subjects. After waiting for a minute or two Cal -ventured to jog his memory:</p> - -<p>“As we are not familiar with the bullhead—we -who live down South—we don’t quite see the -application of what you’ve been saying, Mr. Dunbar. -Would you mind explaining?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, certainly not,” quickly answered the man -of science, rousing himself as if from sleep. “I -was saying—it’s very ridiculous, but I’ve quite -forgotten what I was saying. Tell me.”</p> - -<p>“You were telling us about the bullhead’s possession—”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[293]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Oh, yes, I remember now. You see fishes generally -hunt their prey by sight, in the clear upper -water and in broad daylight. They quit feeding -as soon as it becomes too dark to see the minnows -or other things they want to eat. As they hunt -only by sight, they have no need of the senses of -smell and taste, and so those senses are not developed -in them. With the bullhead the thing is -exactly turned around. He never swims or feeds -in the upper waters. He lives always on or very -near the bottom of comparatively deep water, in -thick growths of grass, where sight would be of -little use to him for want of light. He feeds almost -entirely at night, so that those who fish for -him rarely begin their sport before the dusk falls. -In such conditions Mr. Bullhead finds it exceedingly -convenient to be able to taste anything he -may happen to touch in his gropings. So with -him the sense of taste is the food-finding sense, -and in the long ages since his species came into -being that sense has been developed out of all proportion -to the others. He has very little feeling -and his nervous system is so rudimentary that if -you leave him in a pail without water and packed -in with a hundred others of his species, he seems -to find very little to distress him in the experience. -You may keep him in the waterless pail for twenty-four<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[294]</a></span> -hours or more, and yet if you put him back -into the pond or lake he will swim away as unconcernedly -as if nothing out of the ordinary had -happened. But then all species of fish are among -the very lowest forms of vertebrate creatures, so -that they feel neither pain nor pleasure at all -keenly.”</p> - -<p>Suddenly Dunbar ceased speaking for a minute. -Then he seemed to speak with some effort, saying:</p> - -<p>“There are many other things I could tell you -about fish, and if you’re interested, I’ll do so at -another time. I’m very sleepy now. May I pass -the night here?”</p> - -<p>“Certainly. I’ll bring you some moss—”</p> - -<p>“It isn’t at all necessary,” he answered, as he -threw himself flat upon the earth and fell instantly -into a slumber so profound that it lasted until Cal -called him to breakfast next morning.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[295]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2 class="p4">XXXI</h2> - -<p class="pch">DUNBAR’S STRANGE BEHAVIOR</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Dunbar</span> was very silent during breakfast. He -answered courteously when spoken to, as he always -did, and there was no suggestion of surliness -in his silence. In response to inquiries he declared -that he had slept well and hoped the boys had done -the same. But he added no unnecessary word to -anything he said, and made no inquiries as to -plans for the day. His manner was that of a person -suffering under grief or apprehension or both.</p> - -<p>As soon as breakfast was over he started off -into the woods in a direction opposite to that in -which his camp lay. He took neither his rifle nor -his butterfly net with him. He simply walked -into the woodlands and disappeared.</p> - -<p>At dinner time he was nowhere to be found. -As evening drew near the boys agreed to postpone -their supper to a later hour than usual in anticipation -of his return. But late as it was when at -last they sat down to their evening meal, he was -still missing.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[296]</a></span></p> - -<p>The boys were beginning to be alarmed about -him, for they had already learned to like the man -and regard him as a friend.</p> - -<p>“We must do something at once,” suggested -Dick.</p> - -<p>“But what can we do?” asked Larry. “I confess -I can think of few possibilities in the way of -searching for him at this time of a very dark night—for -the clouds completely shut out the moonlight. -Has anybody a suggestion to offer? What -say you, Cal?”</p> - -<p>“First of all,” was the reply, “we must carefully -consider all the possibilities of the situation. -Then we shall be better able to lay plans of rescue -that may result in something. Let’s see. To begin -with, he hasn’t left Quasi. He hasn’t any boat -and there is absolutely no land communication with -the main. So he is somewhere on Quasi plantation.</p> - -<p>“Secondly, what can have happened to him? -Not many things that I can think of. Old woods -wanderer that he is, it isn’t likely that he has succumbed -to any woodland danger, if there are any -such dangers here, as there aren’t. There isn’t any -wild beast here more threatening than a deer or a -’possum. He had no gun with him, so he cannot -have shot himself by accident. He may have got<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[297]</a></span> -lost, but that is exceedingly unlikely. He is used -to finding his way in the woods, and it is certain -that he thoroughly explored Quasi during the time -he was marooned here and flying his distress signal. -If by any possible chance he is lost, he’ll soon -find himself again. The only other thing I think -of is that he may have tripped and fallen, breaking -something.”</p> - -<p>“I should doubt his doing that,” said Larry, -“for he’s as nimble as any cat I ever saw. Still, -there’s the chance. What shall we do to meet -it?”</p> - -<p>“We can’t scatter out and search the woods and -thickets in the dark,” suggested Dick.</p> - -<p>“No,” said Tom; “if we did he would have to -go in search of four other lost fellows if he should -happen to turn up. But we can keep up a big fire -and we can go out a little way into the woods, fire -our shotguns, give all the college yells we know, -and then listen.”</p> - -<p>“Good suggestion, that about shooting and yelling,” -said Cal. “Besides, I like to yell on general -principles. But we shan’t need to keep up a bonfire, -and the night is very hot.”</p> - -<p>“But he might see the bonfire,” answered Tom -in defense of his plan, “and he’d come straight to -it, of course, if he’s lost.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[298]</a></span></p> - -<p>“We’ll put up something else that he can see -farther and better.”</p> - -<p>“What?”</p> - -<p>“A fat pine torch.”</p> - -<p>“Where?”</p> - -<p>“Did you observe a catalpa tree that stands all -alone over there on the highest part of the bluff, -which is also the highest point in the whole land -of Quasi?”</p> - -<p>“Of course, if you mean over there, near the -<i>Hunkydory’s</i> anchorage.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, I mean that. There isn’t another tree -anywhere near it. I can’t imagine how it came to -grow out there on that bald bluff, unless somebody -planted it. However, that’s no matter. The tree -is there and a torch fixed in the top of it could be -seen from almost every nook and corner of Quasi, -while here we are in a pocket of trees and thick -growths of every kind. A bonfire here could be -seen a very little way off.”</p> - -<p>Cal’s modification of Tom’s plan was promptly -approved as the best possible for that night. The -company went into the woods, pausing at several -points to fire their guns and to yell like demons.</p> - -<p>No results following, they returned and set to -work making huge torches of fat pine, one of which -was kept burning in the tree-top throughout the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[299]</a></span> -night, a fresh one being lighted whenever an old -one burned out.</p> - -<p>It was all to no purpose. Morning came and -still there was no sign of Dunbar.</p> - -<p>Breakfast was cooked and eaten, together with a -reserve supply of food for the boys to carry with -them on the search of the plantation, which they -had decided to make that day. Still no sign of the -missing man!</p> - -<p>“Now, Cal,” said Larry, “this thing is becoming -serious. We must find poor Mr. Dunbar to-day -whatever else happens. We must scour the place -till we accomplish that. We must scatter, but we -must see to it that we get together again. Suppose -you suggest a plan of procedure. You’re better -than any of us at that.”</p> - -<p>“I will,” said Cal, who had lost all disposition -to be facetious. “He may be along the shore -somewhere, so two of us had better follow the sealine, -one going one way and the other in the opposite -direction. They can cover double ground by -going through the woods and open glades, only -keeping near enough the shore to see it well. The -other two will need no directions. Their duty will -be to search the woods and thickets. Where the -woods are open they can cover the ground rapidly, -and also in the old fields wherever they haven’t<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[300]</a></span> -grown up too thickly. But the denser woods and -canebrakes must be searched. Look particularly -for trails. No one can possibly pass into or through -such growths without leaving a trail behind. Look -for trails and follow them; don’t bother about the -unbroken growths. Now as to getting back here. -We must all come back well before nightfall. No -matter where we may be on Quasi, it will be easy -to find some point near from which the lone catalpa -tree can be seen. Make for that all of you and -nobody will get lost. Finally, if any of you find -Mr. Dunbar and need help, fire three shots about -half a minute apart and we’ll all go to the point of -firing. Now let’s be off.”</p> - -<p>It was nearly sunset when Tom reached the -catalpa tree on his return. He had not found Dunbar, -but for reasons of his own he waited rather -impatiently for the coming of his comrades. They -were not long delayed, but the blank, anxious face -of each as he appeared was a sufficient report to -the others.</p> - -<p>“The search is a failure!” said Larry, dejectedly.</p> - -<p>“Absolutely,” answered Cal.</p> - -<p>“No, not absolutely,” said Tom, feeling in his -pocket. “I found something, and I’ve waited till -you should all be here before speaking of it.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[301]</a></span></p> - -<p>“What is it? Tell us quick.”</p> - -<p>“This,” answered Tom, drawing forth a letter, -“and this,” producing a pruning knife with a curved -blade, which they had all seen Dunbar use. “The -letter was pinned to a tree with the point of the -knife blade.”</p> - -<p>“Never mind that,” said Larry, impatiently; -“read the letter.”</p> - -<p>Tom read as follows:</p> - -<p class="pbq p1">“I expect to be with you young gentlemen very soon. But -in case I never see you again, please don’t think me ungrateful -for all your kindnesses. There are times when I cannot endure -a human presence—even the—”</p> - -<p class="p1">Tom stopped reading, and explained:</p> - -<p>“It breaks off right there, and there is no signature, -or address, or anything else.”</p> - -<p>The boys stared at each other in amazement, and -for a time uttered no word. When they begun -talking again it was only to wonder and offer conjectures, -and the conjectures seemed so futile that -at last the little company ceased to try to read the -riddle. Then Larry said:</p> - -<p>“Come on. There’s nothing more to be done to-night -and we’re all half famished. We must have -a good hearty supper, and then perhaps we’ll think -of something more that we can do.”</p> - -<p>“I doubt that,” said Cal; “but I say, Tom, you<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[302]</a></span> -have a positive genius for finding things—turtles’ -eggs, smugglers’ camps, sweet potato patches, letters -hidden in the woods, and everything else. Perhaps -you’ll find poor Mr. Dunbar yet.”</p> - -<p>“I was just thinking of some other things that -we ought to find, and that right away.”</p> - -<p>“What things?”</p> - -<p>“Why, Mr. Dunbar’s. You know he has never -brought any of them to our camp, and we know -he writes and draws and all that. He must have -some place up near his old bivouac where he can -keep his papers and drawings and specimens dry. -It seems to me we ought—”</p> - -<p>“Of course we ought,” broke in Cal. “There -may be something there to give us a clue. What -do you say, Larry?”</p> - -<p>“It is a good suggestion of Tom’s, and we’ll act -upon it at once.”</p> - -<p>Turning in a direction opposite to that which led -to their own camp the boys visited the spot where -Dunbar had lived before they came to Quasi. They -searched in every direction, but found no trace of -any of the man’s belongings. It was rapidly growing -dark when at last they gave up the work of exploring, -and decided to resume it again in the -morning.</p> - -<p>As they approached their camp through the woods<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[303]</a></span> -and thickets, they were surprised to see their camp-fire -blazing up briskly, though none of them had -been near it since the early morning. As they came -out of the bushes, they were still more astonished -to see Dunbar busying himself with supper preparations. -Larry had just time enough before Dunbar -saw them to say to the others in an undertone:</p> - -<p>“Not a word about this, boys, until he asks.”</p> - -<p>“Good evening, young gentlemen,” was Dunbar’s -greeting, delivered in a cheery voice; “I have -taken the liberty of getting supper under way in -anticipation of your coming. I am sure you must -be tired and hungry after a hard day’s shooting. -By the way, a cup of tea is always refreshing when -one is tired, and fortunately I have a little packet -of the fragrant herb among my things. I’ll run up -there and fetch it.”</p> - -<p>As he spoke he started off briskly and nimbly.</p> - -<p>“Evidently he isn’t tired, anyhow,” suggested -Dick.</p> - -<p>“And evidently he has some dry place in which -to keep his things,” added Cal, “and I mean to ask -him about it.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t,” said Larry, earnestly. “That would -be grossly impertinent.”</p> - -<p>“Not at all, if it’s done in the proper way,” Cal -replied, “and I’ll do it in that way.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[304]</a></span></p> - -<p>And he did. When Dunbar returned, he carried -the tea, closely sealed up in tin foil.</p> - -<p>“Is that thin tin foil sufficient to keep tea dry?” -Cal asked.</p> - -<p>“If you keep the packet in a dry place it is,” Dunbar -answered. “The tin-foil prevents the delicate -aroma of the tea from escaping, and at the same -time forbids the leaves to absorb moisture from the -air. When I’m moving about in a boat I carefully -wrap any tea I may have in my waterproof sheets, -but that is apt to give it an undesirable flavor, so -my first care upon landing is to provide a dry storage -place for my tea, my ammunition, my papers -and whatever else I may have that needs protection. -By the way, I’ve never shown you my locker up -there. I’ll do so to-morrow morning. I’ll not forget, -as I must go there for writing and drawing -materials. I have some things in my mind that I -simply must put down on paper at once.”</p> - -<p>At that moment he thrust his hand into his pocket -and felt there for some seconds. Then he said:</p> - -<p>“That’s very unfortunate. I’ve managed to lose -my knife.”</p> - -<p>“I think I must have found it, then,” said Tom, -holding it out; “isn’t that it?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, thank you. I’m particularly glad to get -it again, as it is the only one I have at Quasi. I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[305]</a></span> -usually buy half a dozen at a time, and so the loss -of one doesn’t annoy me. But just now I have only -this one.”</p> - -<p>He did not ask where or when Tom had found -the knife, nor did he seem in the least surprised -that it was found. The circumstance did not seem -to remind him of his letter or of anything else.</p> - -<p>The boys were full of wonder and curiosity, but -they asked no questions.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[306]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2 class="p4">XXXII</h2> - -<p class="pch">A RAINY DAY WITH DUNBAR</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Dunbar</span> was in excellent spirits that evening. -He seemed indeed like one who has had some specially -good fortune happen to him, or one suddenly -relieved of some distress or sore annoyance.</p> - -<p>Throughout the evening he talked with the boys -in a way that greatly interested them. He made -no display of learning, but they easily discovered -that his information was both vast and varied, and -better still, that his thinking was sound, and that -he was a master of the art of so presenting his -thought that others easily grasped and appreciated -it.</p> - -<p>When at last the evening was completely gone, -he bade his companions a cheery good night, saying -that he would go over to the bluff and sleep -near the catalpa tree.</p> - -<p>“You see there are no sand flies to-night,” he explained, -“and I like to smell the salt water as I -sleep.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[307]</a></span></p> - -<p>“What do you make of him, Larry?” Dick asked -as soon as their guest was beyond hearing.</p> - -<p>“I don’t know. I’m puzzled. What’s your opinion?”</p> - -<p>“Put it in the plural, for I’ve a different opinion -every time I think about it at all.”</p> - -<p>“Anyhow,” said Tom, “he must be crazy. Just -think—”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” interrupted Cal, “but just think also how -soundly he thinks. Let’s just call him eccentric -and let it go at that. And who wouldn’t be eccentric, -after living alone in the woods for so -long?”</p> - -<p>“After all,” Dick responded, “we’re not a commission -in lunacy, and we’re not under the smallest -necessity of defining his mental condition.”</p> - -<p>“No,” Cal assented; “it’s a good deal better to -enjoy his company and his talk than to bother our -heads about the condition of his. He’s one of the -most agreeable men I ever met—bright, cheerful, -good natured, scrupulously courteous, and about the -most interesting talker I ever listened to. So I for -one give up trying to answer conundrums, and I’m -going to bed. I wouldn’t if he were here to go on -talking, but after an evening with him to lead the -conversation, I find you fellows dull and uninteresting. -Good night. Oh, by the way, I’ll slip away<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[308]</a></span> -from here about daylight and get some pan fish for -breakfast.”</p> - -<p>Early as Cal was in setting out, he found Dunbar -on the shore ready to go with him.</p> - -<p>“I hope to get a shark,” the naturalist said, “one -big enough to show a well-developed jaw, and -they’re apt to bite at this early hour. I’ve a line in -the boat there with a copper wire snell.”</p> - -<p>“Are you specially interested in sharks?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, no, not ordinarily. It is only that I must -make a careful drawing or two, illustrative of the -mechanical structure and action of a shark’s jaw -and teeth, to go with an article I’m writing on the -general subject of teeth in fishes, and I wish to -draw the illustrations from life rather than from -memory. It will rain to-day, and I’m going to avail -myself of your hospitality and make the drawings -under your shelter.”</p> - -<p>“Then perhaps you’ll let us see them?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, of course, and all the other drawings I -have in my portfolio, if they interest you.”</p> - -<p>“They will, if you will explain and expound a -little.”</p> - -<p>Dunbar gave a pleased little chuckle as he answered:</p> - -<p>“I’ll do that to your heart’s content. You know,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[309]</a></span> -I really think I like to hear myself talk sometimes.”</p> - -<p>“Why shouldn’t you? Your talk would delight -anybody else.”</p> - -<p>“Here’s my shark,” excitedly cried Dunbar, as -he played the fish. “He’s nearly three feet long, -too—a bigger one than I hoped for. Now if I can -only land him.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll help you,” said Cal, leaning over the rail -with a barbed gaff hook in his hand. “Play him -over this way—there, now once more around—here -he is safe and sound.”</p> - -<p>As he spoke he lifted the savage-looking creature -into the boat and Dunbar managed, with some little -difficulty, to free the hook from his jaws without -himself having a thumb or finger bitten off.</p> - -<p>“Not a tooth broken!” he exclaimed with delight. -“I’ll dissect out the entire bony structure -of the head to-day and make a drawing of it. Then -I’m going to pack it carefully in a little box that -I’ll whittle out, and present it—if you don’t mind—to -young Wentworth. He may perhaps value it -as a souvenir of his visit to Quasi.”</p> - -<p>Cal assented more than gladly, and the two busied -themselves during the next half hour completing -their catch of whiting and croakers for breakfast.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[310]</a></span> -When they reached the camp the rain Dunbar had -predicted had set in.</p> - -<p>As soon as breakfast was over Dunbar redeemed -his promise to show the boys his lockers.</p> - -<p>“I’m going over there now,” he said, “to get -some paper, pencils and drawing board. Suppose -you go with me, if you want to see some of my -woodland devices.”</p> - -<p>They assented gladly. They were very curious -to see where and how their guest cared for his perishable -properties, the more because their own -search for the lockers had completely failed.</p> - -<p>The matter proved simple enough. Dunbar led -them a little way into the woods and then, falling -upon his knees, crawled into the end of a huge hollow -log. After he had reached the farther end of -the hollow part he lighted a little bunch of fat -pine splinters to serve as a torch, and invited his -companions to look in. They saw that he had -scraped away all the decaying wood inside the log, -leaving its hard shell as a bare wall. In this he had -fitted a number of little wooden hooks, to each of -which some of his belongings were suspended.</p> - -<p>It was a curious collection. There were cards -covered with butterflies, moths and beetles, each impaled -upon a large pin. There were the beaks and -talons of various birds of prey, each carefully labeled.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[311]</a></span> -There were bunches of feathers of various -hues, some dried botanical specimens and much else -of similar sorts.</p> - -<p>From the farther end of the hollow he brought -forth several compact little portfolios, each so arranged -that no rain could penetrate it when all -were bound together and carried like a knapsack.</p> - -<p>“I’ll take two of these portfolios with me to your -shelter,” he said, taking them under his arm. “One -of them contains the writing and drawing materials -that I shall need to-day. The other is filled with -my drawings of various interesting objects. Some -of them may be interesting to you during this rainy -day, and each has a description appended which will -enable you to understand the meaning of it.”</p> - -<p>But the boys had a rather brief time over the -drawings that day. They ran through a part of the -portfolio while Dunbar was writing, but after an -hour he put his writing aside and began dissecting -the shark’s head, stopping now and then to make a -little sketch of some detail. After that the boys -had no eyes but for the work he was doing and no -ears but for the things he said.</p> - -<p>“You see there are comparatively few species of -fish that have any teeth at all. They have no need -of teeth and therefore have never developed them.”</p> - -<p>“But why is that,” asked Tom; “I should think<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[312]</a></span> -some of the toothless varieties of fish would have -developed teeth accidentally, as it were.”</p> - -<p>“Development is never accidental in that sense, -Tom. It is Nature’s uniform law that every species -of living thing, animal or vegetable, shall tend to -develop whatever is useful to it, and nothing else. -That is Nature’s plan for the perpetuation of life -and the improvement of species.”</p> - -<p>After pausing in close attention to some detail of -his work, Dunbar went on:</p> - -<p>“You can see the same dominant principle at -work in the varying forms of teeth developed by -different species. The sheepshead needs teeth only -for the purpose of crushing the shells of barnacles -and the like, and in that way getting at its food. -So in a sheepshead’s mouth you find none but -crushing teeth. The shark, as you see, has pointed -teeth so arranged in rows that one row closes down -between two other rows in the opposite jaw, and -by a muscular arrangement the shark can work one -jaw to right and left with lightning-like rapidity, -making the saw-like row of teeth cut through almost -anything after the manner of a reaping machine. -Then there is the pike. He has teeth altogether -different from either of the others. The -pike swallows very large fish in proportion to his -own size, and his need is of teeth that will prevent<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[313]</a></span> -his prey from wriggling out of his mouth and escaping -while he is slowly trying to swallow it. Accordingly -his teeth are as small and as sharp as -cambric needles. Moreover, he has them everywhere -in his mouth—on his lips, on his tongue, -and even in his throat. However, this is no time -for a lecture. If you are interested in the subject -you can study it better by looking into fishes’ -mouths than by listening to anybody talk or by -reading books on the subject.”</p> - -<p>Again Dunbar paused in order that his attention -might be closely concentrated upon some delicate -detail of his work.</p> - -<p>When the strain upon his attention seemed at -last to relax, Cal ventured to say something—and -it was startling to his comrades.</p> - -<p>“Of course you’re right about the books on such -subjects,” he said. “For example, the most interesting -of all facts about fish isn’t so much as mentioned -in any book I can find, though I’ve searched -through several libraries for it.”</p> - -<p>“What is your fact?” asked Dunbar, suspending -his work to listen.</p> - -<p>“Why that fish do not die natural deaths. Not -one of them in a million ever does that.”</p> - -<p>“But why do you think that, Cal? What proof -is there—”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[314]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Why, the thing’s obvious on its face. A dead -fish floats, doesn’t it? Well, in any good fishing -water, such as the Adirondack lakes, where I fished -with my father one summer, there are millions of -fish—big and little—scores of millions, even hundreds -of millions, if you count shiners and the other -minnows, that of a clear day lie in banks from the -bottom of the water to its surface. Now, if fish -died natural deaths in anything like the proportion -that all other living things do, the surface of such -lakes would be constantly covered with dead fish. -Right here at Quasi and in all these coast waters -the same thing is true. Every creek mouth is full -of fish and every shoal is alive with them, so that -we know in advance when we go fishing that we -can catch them as fast as we can take them off the -hook. If any reasonable rate of natural mortality -prevailed among them every flood tide would strew -the shores with tons of dead fish. As nothing of -the kind happens, it seems to me certain that as a -rule fish do not die a natural death. In fact, most -of them have no chance to do that, as they spend -pretty nearly their entire time in swallowing each -other alive.”</p> - -<p>“You are a close observer, Cal. You ought to -become a man of science,” said Dunbar with enthusiasm. -“Science needs men of your kind.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[315]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Oh, I don’t know,” answered Cal. “I imagine -Science can get on very comfortably without any -help of mine.”</p> - -<p>“How did you come to notice all that, anyhow, -Cal?” asked Dick.</p> - -<p>“Oh, it didn’t take much to suggest that sort of -thing, when the facts were staring me in the face. -Besides, I may be all wrong. What do you think -of my wild guess, Mr. Dunbar?”</p> - -<p>“It isn’t a wild guess. Your conclusion may be -right or wrong—I must think of the subject carefully -before I can form any opinion as to that. But -at any rate it is a conclusion reasoned out from a -careful observation of facts, and that is nothing -like a wild guess.”</p> - -<p>Thus the conversation drifted on throughout the -long rainy day, and when night came the boys were -agreed that they had learned to know Dunbar and -appreciate him more than they could have done in -weeks of ordinary intercourse.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[316]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2 class="p4">XXXIII</h2> - -<p class="pch">A GREAT CATASTROPHE</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">During</span> the next fortnight or so the association -between Dunbar and the boys was intimate and -constant. When it rained, so that outdoor expeditions -were not inviting, he toiled diligently at his -writing and drawing, keeping up an interesting conversation -in the meanwhile on all manner of subjects. -In the evenings especially the talk around the -fire was entertaining to the boys and Dunbar seemed -to enjoy it as much as they. He was fond of -“drawing them out” and listening to such revelations -of personal character and capacity as their unrestrained -discussions gave.</p> - -<p>On fine days he made himself one of them, joining -heartily in every task and enthusiastically sharing -every sport afloat or afield. He was a good, -strong oarsman and he could sail a boat as well as -even Dick could. In hunting, his woodcraft was -wonderfully ingenious, and among other things he -taught the boys a dozen ways of securing game -by trapping and snaring.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[317]</a></span></p> - -<p>“You see,” he explained, “one is liable sometimes -to be caught in the woods without his gun -or without ammunition, and when that happens it is -handy to know how to get game enough to eat in -other ways than by shooting.”</p> - -<p>During all this time he had no more of his strange -moods. He never once fell into the peculiar slumber -the boys had observed before, and he never absented -himself from the company. Indeed, his enjoyment -of human association seemed to be more -than ordinarily keen.</p> - -<p>Little by little his comrades let the memory of -his former eccentricity fade out of their minds, or -if they thought of it at all they dismissed it as a -thing of no significance, due, doubtless, to habitual -living in solitude.</p> - -<p>One rainy afternoon he suddenly turned to the -boys and asked:</p> - -<p>“Does any one of you happen to know what day -of the month this is? By my count it must be -somewhere about the twenty-fifth of August.”</p> - -<p>“My little calendar,” said Cal, drawing the card -from a pocket and looking at it attentively for a -moment, “takes the liberty of differing with you in -opinion, Mr. Dunbar. It insists that this is the -thirty-first day of August, of the year eighteen hundred -and eighty-six.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[318]</a></span></p> - -<p>Dunbar almost leaped to his feet in surprise. After -a brief period of thought he turned to Larry and -asked:</p> - -<p>“I wonder if you boys would mind sailing with -me over to the nearest postoffice town early to-morrow -morning.”</p> - -<p>“Why, you know, Mr. Dunbar,” Larry answered, -“to-morrow morning is mortgaged. We’re all -going out after that deer you’ve located. Won’t -the next day answer just as well for your trip?”</p> - -<p>“Unfortunately, no. I gave my word that I -would post certain writings and drawings to the -publisher not later than noon on September 1, and -the printers simply must not be kept waiting. Of -course, if you can’t—”</p> - -<p>“But we can and will,” answered Larry. “Your -business is important—the deer hunt is of no consequence. -But you’ll come back with us, will you -not?”</p> - -<p>“I shall be delighted to do so if I may,” he answered. -“I’m enjoying it here with you, and my -work never before got on so well with so little toil -over it. I shall like to come back with you and stay -at Quasi as long as you boys do.”</p> - -<p>“That’s good news—altogether good. How -long are you likely to be detained at the village?”</p> - -<p>“Only long enough to post my letter and the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[319]</a></span> -manuscript—not more than half an hour at the -most.”</p> - -<p>“Very well, then. We shall want to buy all the -bread and that sort of thing there is to be had over -there, but we can easily do that within your half -hour. We’ll start about sunrise, and if the wind -favors us we’ll be back by noon or a little later, and -even if we have no wind, the oars will bring us -back before nightfall.”</p> - -<p>Dunbar at once set to work to arrange and pack -the drawings he wished to send by mail, and as -there were titles to write and explanatory paragraphs -to revise, the work occupied him until supper -time. In the meanwhile the boys prepared the -boat, filled the water kegs, bestowed a supply of -fishing tackle, and overhauled the rigging to see -that every rope was clear and every pulley in free -running order.</p> - -<p>After supper there was not a very long evening -for talk around the fire, for, with an early morning -start in view, they must go early to their bunks.</p> - -<p>They all rolled themselves in their blankets about -nine o’clock and soon were sleeping soundly—the -boys under the shelter and Dunbar under the starry -sky—for the rain had passed away—by that side -of the fire which was opposite the camp hut.</p> - -<p>Their slumber had not lasted for an hour when<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[320]</a></span> -suddenly they were awakened by a combination of -disturbances amply sufficient, as Dick afterwards -said, “to waken the denizens of a cemetery.”</p> - -<p>The very earth was swaying under them and -rocking back and forth like a boat lying side on to a -swell. Deep down—miles beneath the surface it -seemed, there was a roar which sounded to Cal like -“forty thousand loose-jointed wagons pulled by -runaway horses across a rheumatic bridge.”</p> - -<p>As the boys sprang to their feet they found difficulty -in standing erect, and before they could run -out of their shelter, it plunged forward and fell -into the fire, where the now dried palmete leaves -which constituted its roof and walls, and the resinous -pine poles of its framework, instantly blazed -up in a fierce, crackling flame.</p> - -<p>“Quick!” cried Dunbar, as Larry, Dick and Cal -extricated themselves from the mass, “quick—help -here! Tom is entangled in the ruins.”</p> - -<p>The response was instantaneous, and before the -rapidly-spreading flames could reach him, the other -four had literally dragged their comrade from the -confused mass of poles and vines in which he had -been imprisoned. If the work of rescue had been -prolonged for even a minute more, it would have -been too late, and Tom would have been burned to -a crisp. As it was, he was choking with smoke, -coughing with a violence that threatened the rupture -of his breathing apparatus somewhere, and -so nearly smothered for want of air as to be only -half conscious.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/ill-341.jpg" width="400" height="612" id="i320" - alt="" - title="" /> - <div class="caption"><p class="pc"><span class="smcap">A minute more, it would have been too late</span>.<br /><span class="wn"><i>Page 320.</i></span></p> -</div></div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[321]</a></span></p> - -<p>A bucket of water which Dunbar had dashed over -him “set him going again,” as he afterwards described -the process of recovering breath and consciousness, -and as the paroxysms of coughing slowly -ceased he stood erect by way of announcing a recovery -which he was still unable to proclaim in -words.</p> - -<p>At that moment a second shock of earthquake -occurred, a shock less violent than the first, but sufficient -to topple Tom and Larry off their feet again.</p> - -<p>It did no harm, chiefly because there was no -further harm to do, and the little company busied -themselves saving what they could of their belongings -from the burning ruins.</p> - -<p>After they had worked at this for ten minutes, a -third shock came. It was feebler than either of the -others, but just as the boys felt the earth swaying -again there was an explosion under the burning -mass, followed by a rapid succession of smaller explosions -which scattered shot about in a way so -dangerous that at Cal’s command all the company -threw themselves prone upon the ground.</p> - -<p>This lasted for perhaps a minute, and fortunately<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[322]</a></span> -nobody received a charge of shot in his person from -the bursting cartridges that had made the racket. -Fortunately, too, the box of cartridges thus caught -in the flames and destroyed was the only one involved -in the catastrophe. The rest had been kept, -not in the hut, but in the <i>Hunkydory’s</i> lockers.</p> - -<p>But when they came to take account of their -losses, which they did as soon as the first excitement -had passed away, they found that the damage -done had been considerable.</p> - -<p>For one thing, their entire supply of meat was -destroyed; so was their bread and their coffee.</p> - -<p>“We shall not starve, anyhow,” Cal decided. -“We can kill as much game as we need and as the -bottom doesn’t seem to have dropped out of the sea, -we can still catch fish, oysters, shrimps and crabs. -As for bread, we still have Tom’s sweet potato -patch to draw upon. There wasn’t more than a -pound of coffee left, so that’s no great loss.”</p> - -<p>For the rest, the very few clothes the boys had -brought with them in addition to what they wore, -were all lost, but they decided that they could get -on without them—“Mr. Dunbar’s fashion.” Tom -was the worst sufferer in that respect, as the garments -he wore had been badly torn in his rescue -from the fire, but he cheerfully announced:</p> - -<p>“I can manage very well. I’ll decline all dinner,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[323]</a></span> -dance and other invitations that require a -change from every-day dress. I’ll have some cards -engraved announcing that ‘Mr. Thomas Garnett -is detained at the South and will not be at home -to receive his friends until further notice.’ Then -I’ll borrow some of your beetle-detaining pins, Mr. -Dunbar, and pin up the worst of the rents in my -trousers.”</p> - -<p>“We’ll do better than that, Tom,” the naturalist -answered. “I’ve quite a little sewing kit tucked -away in my log locker. You shall have needles, -thread and a thimble whenever you wish to use -them.”</p> - -<p>“Thank you, Mr. Dunbar; but please spare me -the thimble. I never could use a contrivance of -that kind. Every time I have tried I have succeeded -only in driving the needle into my hand and -breaking it off well beneath the skin.”</p> - -<p>“Boy like,” answered Dunbar. “You’re the -victim of a traditional defect in our system of education.”</p> - -<p>“Would you mind explaining?” asked Cal.</p> - -<p>“Certainly not. I hold that the education of -every human being ought to include a reasonable -mastery of all the simple arts that one is likely to -find useful in emergencies. We do not expect girls -to become accountants, as a rule, but we do not on<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[324]</a></span> -that account leave the multiplication table out of a -girl’s school studies. In the same way we do not -expect boys generally to do much sewing when they -grow to manhood, but as every man is liable to meet -emergencies in which a little skill in the use of -needle, thread and scissors may make all the difference -between comfort and discomfort, every boy -ought to be taught plain sewing. However, we -have other things to think of just now.”</p> - -<p>“Indeed we have,” answered Cal, “and the most -pressing one of those other things is to-morrow -morning’s breakfast. Does it occur to any of you -that, except the salt in the dory’s locker, we haven’t -an ounce of food of any kind in our possession?”</p> - -<p>“That is so,” “I hadn’t thought of that;” “and -we’ll all be hungry, too, for of course we shall not -sleep”—these were the responses that came quickly -in answer to Cal’s suggestion.</p> - -<p>“We’ll manage the matter in this way,” said Cal, -quite as if no one else had spoken. “When ’yon -grey streaks that fret the clouds give indication of -the dawn,’ Mr. Dunbar will go fishing. As soon as -it grows light enough for you to walk through the -woods without breaking more than two or three -necks apiece, the rest of you can take that big piece -of tarpaulin, go out to Tom’s potato patch, and -bring back a large supply of sweet potatoes. After<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">[325]</a></span> -breakfast one or two of us can go for some game, -while the rest repair damages here. It will take two -or three days to do that.”</p> - -<p>As he spoke he looked about him as if to estimate -the extent of the harm done.</p> - -<p>“Hello!” he cried out a moment later. “That’s -bad, very bad.”</p> - -<p>“What is it, Cal?”</p> - -<p>“Why, our well has completely disappeared—filled -up to the level by the surrounding earth, which -seems to have lost its head and in that way got -itself ‘into a hole,’ just as people do when they forget -discretion. That means that we’ve got to dig -out the well to-day, and in the meantime drink that -stuff from the spring down under the bluff. Our -day’s work is cut out for us, sure enough.”</p> - -<p>Tom had disappeared in the darkness while Cal -was speaking, and as Cal continued to speak for -a considerable time afterwards, marking out what -Dick called a “programme of convenience,” he had -not finished when Tom returned and in breathless -excitement announced that the spring under the bluff -was no more.</p> - -<p>“The whole of that part of the bluff has slumped -down to the beach,” he said, “and even the big -catalpa tree is uprooted and overturned. Of course -the spring is completely filled up, and we’ll all be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[326]</a></span> -half famished for water before we get the well dug -out again.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t indulge in too hopeless a grief over the -loss of the spring, Tom,” said Cal in his most confidently -optimistic tone. “We can make another -just as good anywhere down there in half an hour -or less. That puddle held nothing but sea water -that had leaked through the sand, partly filtering -itself in doing so. We can dig a little hole anywhere -down that way, and if we choose the right -sort of place we’ll get better water than the spring -ever yielded. I’ll look after that when Mr. Dunbar -and I go fishing. We’ll have the sand out of this -well by noon, too—it’s very loose and easily handled.”</p> - -<p>“But, Cal,” interrupted Tom; “we haven’t a -thing to dig with. The two shovels we had were in -the hut.”</p> - -<p>The others stood aghast; Cal faced the situation -with hopeful confidence.</p> - -<p>“That’s bad,” he commented. “Of course the -handles are burned up, but the iron part remains, -and even with the meagre supply of cutting tools we -have—which is to say our jackknives and the little -ax—we can fashion new ones. It will take -valuable time, but we must reconcile ourselves to -that.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[327]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Well, we must get to work at something—it’s -hard to know where to begin,” said Larry in a -despondent tone. “What’s the first thing to be -done, Cal?”</p> - -<p>“The first thing to be done is to cheer up; the -next thing is to stay cheered up. You fellows are -in the dumps worse than the well is, and you’ve got -to get out of them if you have to lift yourselves out -by the straps of your own boots. What’s the matter -with you, anyhow? Have we lived a life of easy -luxury here at Quasi for so long that you’ve forgotten -that this is an expedition in search of sport -and adventure? Isn’t this earthquake overthrow an -adventure of the liveliest sort? Isn’t the loss of -our belongings by fire a particularly adventurous -happening?”</p> - -<p>“After all,” broke in Tom, who had a genuine -relish for danger, difficulty and hardship, “after -all, we’re not in half as bad a situation as we were -when we faced the revenue officers from behind our -log breastwork. Our lives were really in danger -then, while now we have nothing worse than difficulty -to face.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, and a few months hence we’ll all remember -this thing with joy and talk of it with glee.”</p> - -<p>“You’re right about that,” said Dunbar, “and it -is always so. I have gone through many trying<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[328]</a></span> -experiences, and as I recall them the most severely -trying of them are the ones I remember with the -greatest pleasure. Besides, in this case the way of -escape, even from such difficulties as lie before you, -is wide open. The dory is at anchor down there -and if you are so minded you can sail away from -it all.”</p> - -<p>“What! Turn tail and run!” exclaimed Tom, -almost indignantly.</p> - -<p>“No, we’re not thinking of that,” said Cal. -“We’ll see the thing out, and, by the way, it’s growing -daylight. Come, Mr. Dunbar! We have a -pressing engagement with the fish and we must have -an early breakfast this morning on all accounts. -We have a lot to do, and you mustn’t be later than -noon in reaching the postoffice, you know.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, I’ve abandoned that,” responded Dunbar.</p> - -<p>“But why?” asked Larry. “Of course we can’t -go with you as we planned, but you can take the -dory and make the trip for yourself. And perhaps -you won’t mind taking some money along and buying -out whatever food supplies the country store -over there can furnish. We need bread especially, -and coffee and—”</p> - -<p>“And a few pounds of cheese won’t come amiss,” -added Dick.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">[329]</a></span></p> - -<p>“But I tell you I am not going,” said Dunbar. -“I have accepted and enjoyed your hospitality when -all was going well with you; do you suppose I’m -going to abandon you even for a day, now that -you’re in trouble and need all the help you can get?”</p> - -<p>“Your reasoning is excellent,” said Cal, purposely -lapsing into his old habit of elaborate -speech, by way of relieving the tension that had -made his comrades feel hurried and harassed; -“your reasoning is excellent, but your premises -are utterly wrong. You can help us mightily by -sailing up to that postoffice town and bringing back -the supplies we need, while you cannot help us at -all by remaining here. We four are more than -enough to keep the few tools we have left constantly -busy. With a fifth person included in the -construction gang, there would always be one of us -who must idly hold his hands for want of anything -to work with. No, Mr. Dunbar, the best service -you can render to the common cause is to sail up to -the village, redeem your promise by mailing your -papers, and bring back all you can of provisions -adapted to our use. So that’s settled, isn’t it, -boys?”</p> - -<p>Their answer left no room for further argument, -and as the daylight was steadily growing stronger,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[330]</a></span> -the party separated, Cal and Dunbar going in -quest of fish for breakfast, and the others struggling -through tangled thickets toward the wild -sweet potato field.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">[331]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2 class="p4">XXXIV</h2> - -<p class="pch">MAROONED AT QUASI</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">It</span> was a bright, sunny day that followed—a -day offering no suggestion of the convulsion of the -night before. There was a good sailing breeze -blowing in from the sea. It gave Dunbar the wind -over the starboard quarter for his voyage to the -village, and promised to be nearly abeam for his -return.</p> - -<p>“The dory will take me there and back by noon -or a little later,” he called to the others as the sails -filled and the boat heeled over to port.</p> - -<p>The Rutledge boys had urged him to take the -money they offered him for the purchase of supplies, -but he had declined.</p> - -<p>“I have a plenty of my own,” was his answer, -“and whatever I can buy up there I’ll bring back -as my contribution to the general welfare.”</p> - -<p>It was idle to argue the matter, and not very -safe either, Dick thought, for in their intercourse -with him the boys had learned that with all his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">[332]</a></span> -kindly good-nature, Dunbar was exceedingly proud -and very sensitive.</p> - -<p>When the dory had gone, the boys set to work -with a will upon the task of re-establishing Camp -Quasi. Tom was sent out after game. Dick, who -was the cleverest of them all in using tools, and -especially his jackknife, busied himself in fitting -new handles into their two shovels. With these -and the bait pails for excavating tools, the three -who remained in camp toiled diligently in removing -the sand from their well.</p> - -<p>Tom returned a little before noon, bringing in -game enough of one kind and another to keep the -company in meat for two days to come.</p> - -<p>There was no sign of Dunbar and the dory as -yet, and as the rest were hungry, it was decided -that Cal should cook dinner at once, while Tom -worked at the well in his stead. The cooking occupied -a considerable time, and it was two o’clock -in the afternoon when the tired boys finished eating. -They had not slept since the earthquake at ten -o’clock the night before; they had worked hard -during the night in an endeavor to save what they -could of their belongings, and they had worked -still harder ever since dawn. Moreover, the excitement -had been even more wearying than the -work. Now that it had passed away and its victims<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">[333]</a></span> -had eaten a hearty dinner, the desire for rest -and sleep became irresistible.</p> - -<p>Cal had made measurements and reported that -two hours more of digging, or perhaps even less -than that, would give them a water supply once -more. At Larry’s suggestion, therefore, the worn-out -fellows decided to sleep for an hour or two.</p> - -<p>“We’ll do the rest of the well-digging in the -cool of the late afternoon,” he said between a succession -of yawns.</p> - -<p>“Let’s hope,” said Tom, “that Mr. Dunbar won’t -get here and wake us up before we’re ready.”</p> - -<p>“There’s not much danger of that,” answered -Cal.</p> - -<p>“Why not, Cal?”</p> - -<p>“You’d know without asking if you were as -observant to-day as you usually are. I suppose -you didn’t notice that the wind died out before -noon, and there hasn’t been a sailing breath since.”</p> - -<p>“That’s so,” said Tom, “and he’ll have to row -the whole way. I ought to have thought of that.”</p> - -<p>“Well, please don’t apologize now. It would -only keep us awake when every moment is precious -for slumber. I give notice now that I’m asleep and -you can’t pull another word out of me with a corkscrew.”</p> - -<p>When the weary fellows waked the afternoon<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">[334]</a></span> -was nearly gone, but before resuming their work, -and by way of refreshing themselves for it, they -went down to the beach and took a plunge into the -sea.</p> - -<p>“No sign of Mr. Dunbar yet,” said Tom, who -was beginning to be uneasy.</p> - -<p>“No,” answered Larry, “but we needn’t bother -about him. He’ll turn up quite unexpectedly when -he gets ready. He always does that you know. -What we’ve got to do is to finish our well in the -shortest possible time. So, on with your duds, and -let’s get to work.”</p> - -<p>“You’re ‘mighty right,’ Larry,” said Dick. -“I’ve quenched my thirst with sour wild grapes -till my teeth have an edge like those of a buck-saw, -and I begin to crave some unseasoned water.”</p> - -<p>“I imagine we’re all in the same condition,” said -Cal, as they hurried back to the ruins of the camp, -“and it is altogether well that we are so.”</p> - -<p>“How’s that, Cal?”</p> - -<p>“Why, stimulated by thirst and encouraged by -a sure prospect of reward, we’ll stop fooling away -our time and do a little real work.”</p> - -<p>Two hours later there was an abundant water -supply in the well, and it had so far “settled” that -the boys drank it freely with their late supper.</p> - -<p>When the meal was over they all strolled down<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">[335]</a></span> -to the shore again and listened for the sound of -oars in the direction from which Dunbar was expected. -Nobody had suggested this. No word of -uneasiness had been uttered, but every member of -the company was in fact uneasy about the missing -member of the group. After their return to camp -this feeling was recognized as something in the -minds of all. Presently Tom offered a suggestion:</p> - -<p>“What do you think, Larry? Won’t it be just -as well to show a light down that way, in case he -should have trouble in finding the landing during -the night?”</p> - -<p>“That’s a good idea, Tom, but we’re so nearly -out of oil now—indeed, we haven’t any except -what is in the lanterns—that it must be a -torch—”</p> - -<p>“Or a camp-fire,” suggested Cal. “There are -no sand flies to-night, and there’s nothing to keep -us here. Why not move down to the bluffs and -build a camp-fire there? Then we can sleep by it -and keep it going all night.”</p> - -<p>This plan was carried out, but it resulted in nothing. -When the boys returned to their work of -rebuilding the shelter the next morning, Dunbar had -not yet made his appearance, nor was anything to -be seen of the dory in such of the waterways as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">[336]</a></span> -were open to view between the mud marshes that -dotted the great bay or inlet in every direction.</p> - -<p>But as the boys busied themselves with their work -on the hut, their minds were occupied and their -anxiety as to Dunbar was less than during the -night before.</p> - -<p>When another day had passed, however, and still -Dunbar did not return, that anxiety became very -keen indeed. They built their fire again on the -bluff, and they tried hard to sleep by it, but with -little success. They would resolve to stop talking -and go to sleep, and for a few minutes all would be -quiet. Then one after another would grow restless -and sit up, or walk about, or say something that -set the talk going again.</p> - -<p>Presently, when all had given up the attempt to -sleep, Larry made a final end of all efforts in that -direction by saying:</p> - -<p>“You see, boys, this thing is really very serious. -We are all anxious about Mr. Dunbar’s safety, but -we’ve got our own to think about also.”</p> - -<p>Every one of the company had thought of that, -but until now all of them had avoided mentioning -it.</p> - -<p>“You see it isn’t Mr. Dunbar alone that is missing; -the dory is gone too, and if he doesn’t return -the dory won’t.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">[337]</a></span></p> - -<p>“No, and in that case,” commented Dick, “our -situation will be really very serious. We are here -on what is practically an island that nobody ever -visits; we are without a boat, and there is no possible -way of escape from here without one.”</p> - -<p>“Can’t we build some sort of craft that will -answer our purpose?” asked Tom, hopefully.</p> - -<p>“What with?” Larry responded. “We have -no materials and no tools except the one little ax. -There isn’t so much as a nail anywhere on Quasi -plantation, and if there were kegs full, we haven’t -a hammer to hit them with.”</p> - -<p>“We might drive nails with stones,” suggested -Dick.</p> - -<p>“We might if we had one of your Massachusetts -quarries to furnish the stones. But on all this -coast there isn’t a rock or a stone as big as a filbert. -No, we have no tools and no substitutes for tools.”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” growled Cal, who alone was lying down -with closed eyes in an endeavor to get to sleep, -“and you fellows are doing all you can to wear -out the strength we need for the emergency by -profitless chatter, when we ought to be sleeping and -refreshing ourselves to meet conditions as they -arise. Don’t you see the folly of that? Don’t you -realize that you aren’t bettering things, but making -them worse?</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">[338]</a></span></p> - -<p>“The very worst preparation for meeting difficulties -is to fall into a panic about them. Besides, -there’s no occasion for panic or for melancholy -brooding; Dunbar may turn up with the dory safe -and sound. If he doesn’t, I grant you we’ll have -some problems to wrestle with and we’ll need the -clearest heads we can keep on our shoulders. -You’re doing all you can to muddle them.”</p> - -<p>“But, Cal, it is necessary to face this situation -and think of ways in which—”</p> - -<p>“That’s precisely what you’re not doing. Not -one of you has offered a single suggestion that is -worth while. Besides, this isn’t the time for that. -Troubles always look worse at night than by daylight. -The best we can do now is to make up our -minds to two things.”</p> - -<p>“What are they, Cal?”</p> - -<p>“First, that if we’re in a hole, we’ll find some -way of getting out of it, and, second, that it is -high time to go to sleep.”</p> - -<p>“Have you thought of any plans, Cal?”</p> - -<p>“Not exactly; but I have some ideas that may -be worthy of attention on the part of this distinguished -company, if this distinguished company -will individually and collectively stop gabbing and -let sleep respond to the wooing of closed eyelids. -Silence in camp!”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">[339]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2 class="p4">XXXV</h2> - -<p class="pch">AGAIN TOM FINDS SOMETHING</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">When</span> morning came all the boys admitted that -Cal had been right in saying that troubles exaggerate -themselves at night and seem far less hopeless -when faced by daylight. The situation was the -same that morning that it had been at midnight, -but it did not seem so bad. Dunbar had not appeared -and every hour that passed made it less -probable that he ever would return. But somehow -even that prospect did not altogether appal the boys -when they thought of it by daylight.</p> - -<p>Nevertheless, their minds were greatly disturbed -as they waited throughout that day for Cal to unbosom -himself of the ideas and suggestions he -had promised to offer. They hoped he would do -so at breakfast, but he talked instead of plans for -that day’s work in rebuilding the hut. While they -were engaged in building it there was no opportunity -for him to set forth his views; they could -not get together to hear his plans without delaying -the work, and they were agreed that nothing must<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">[340]</a></span> -be permitted to interrupt that. They looked forward -to dinner as the opportunity he would probably -seize upon for explaining, but when during -that meal some one threw out a hint that that was -as good a time as any, Cal replied:</p> - -<p>“We’ll wait till evening; we must give Mr. Dunbar -till then to return. If he doesn’t put in an -appearance by sunset to-day we may as well give -up looking for him. Then will be the time for discussing -the situation and planning ways out of it. -Now we’ll all get to work again.”</p> - -<p>There was something in Cal’s manner and in his -general cheerfulness which comforted his comrades, -though it would have puzzled them to say how or -why. It was evident at any rate that Cal had not -lost hope. It was obvious that he saw nothing in -the situation that should suggest despair, and his -manifest confidence was in some degree contagious.</p> - -<p>The sun was still an hour high when suddenly -Cal called out:</p> - -<p>“Suppose we let it go at that, boys. The thing’s -good enough as it stands and we can get on with -it for the few weeks that remain of our stay at -Quasi.”</p> - -<p>“Then you really see a way out?” asked Larry. -“What is it?”</p> - -<p>“Come on over to the bluff and we’ll have a last<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_341" id="Page_341">[341]</a></span> -look for Mr. Dunbar. If he isn’t within sight we’ll -give him up and make up our minds that we shall -never see the <i>Hunkydory</i> again. Then we’ll talk -the thing over and see what is to be done.”</p> - -<p>They set out for the bluff, restraining their impatience -to hear what Cal might have to say with -a good deal of difficulty, and only because they -must. They knew he would say nothing until he -should be ready, and that if they hurried him he -would remain silent the longer.</p> - -<p>No sign appearing of Dunbar or the dory, Cal -sat down with the others and seemed ready to say -what was in his mind.</p> - -<p>“This is a situation that we didn’t reckon upon, -but it is by no means hopeless, and we shall enjoy -talking about it as the crowning event in our trip -to Quasi when we come to think of it only as a -memory.”</p> - -<p>“But we’re not out of it yet,” interrupted Larry, -“and I for one see no prospect of getting out.”</p> - -<p>“There speaks despair, born of pessimism,” Cal -smilingly said. “‘Hope springs eternal in the human -breast,’ you know, and my breast is altogether -human and hopeful. But let us suppose your despair -is well founded, and see what then. At worst -we shall not starve to death. There is plenty of -game—”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_342" id="Page_342">[342]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Yes, and fish too,” Tom interjected.</p> - -<p>“Yes, and fish too. It won’t be easy to get -them without a boat, but we’ll manage in some -way.”</p> - -<p>“We can easily make a raft to fish from,” suggested -Dick.</p> - -<p>“I had thought of that,” resumed Cal, “but it’s -impracticable.”</p> - -<p>“Why so?”</p> - -<p>“Because we have no anchor and nothing that -will serve as a substitute for one. Of course the -tide would quickly sweep our raft away from any -bar we might try to fish upon. No, what fish we -get will have to be caught with the castnet at low -tide, and in the mouths of sloughs where mullets -feed, particularly at night. But there is game, and -there are oysters, and no end of crabs. We shall -not starve to death. We have no bread left, and -Tom’s sweet potato patch is about exhausted, but -we can live on the other things for the two or three -weeks that we must stay here.”</p> - -<p>“You’ve said something like that several times, -Cal,” said Larry, with a touch of impatience. -“What do you mean by it?”</p> - -<p>“I mean that this is the beginning of September; -that the college session will begin on the first of October—less -than a month hence; that our honored<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_343" id="Page_343">[343]</a></span> -parents expect us to be in attendance at that time; and -that if we don’t get home in time to pack our trunks -they will send out and search for us; and finally, -that as Major Rutledge, of Charleston, whom I -have the honor to call father, knew in advance that -we intended to visit Quasi on this trip, Quasi will -be the place at which he will first look for us. So -we’ll have our little frolic out and it will be great -fun to tell the fellows at college about it after we -get acquainted with them.”</p> - -<p>The spirits of the boys responded promptly to -Cal’s confident prophecy, which indeed was not so -much a prophecy as a statement of simple facts -known to all of them, though in their half panic-stricken -mood they had not thought of them before.</p> - -<p>Presently Dick had something to say that added a -new impulse to activity.</p> - -<p>“Of course, Cal is right, and we’ll be rescued -from Quasi before the end of the month, but I for -one would like us to get away without being rescued. -Think of the alarm and distress our mothers -will suffer if we do not turn up in time, especially -as this earthquake has happened. They will think -we’ve come to grief in some way and—I say, boys, -we simply <i>must</i> get away from here before they -take the alarm.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_344" id="Page_344">[344]</a></span></p> - -<p>“We certainly ought to if there was any way,” -said Cal, “but of course there isn’t.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, there is,” answered Dick, confidently. -“You’re the pessimist this time, Cal.”</p> - -<p>“Go ahead and tell us your plan,” responded -Cal. “I’m always ready for the hopeful prospect -if I can find it. What do you propose, Dick?”</p> - -<p>“To build a sort of catamaran. It can’t be -much of a craft because we have no tools and no -fit materials, but these waters are so closely land-locked -that all we need is to make something that -will float. We can paddle it to the village up there, -ten miles or so away, and from there we can walk -to the railroad.”</p> - -<p>“So far, so good,” said Cal, when Dick ceased -to speak. “Go on and tell us the rest.”</p> - -<p>“What do you mean?”</p> - -<p>“Why the ‘how’ of it all. What is the plan -of your catamaran, and how are we to make it?”</p> - -<p>“Don’t be sceptical, Cal, till you’ve—”</p> - -<p>“I’m not sceptical—not a bit. I’m only asking -what we are to do and how, so that we may get to -work at it early in the morning, or to-night, for -that matter, if there’s anything that can be done -by fire light. You spoke of our parents awhile ago, -and of the alarm they must feel if we don’t get -back on time. I’ve been thinking of my mother<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_345" id="Page_345">[345]</a></span> -ever since. She’s an invalid, you know, and a -shock of that sort might kill her. So I’m ready -to work by night or by day, or both, if it will help -to spare her. Go on and tell us your plan.”</p> - -<p>“I will. You know, of course, what a catamaran -is, so I need not explain that. We will cut -two logs, about twelve or fourteen feet long, one -of them eight or ten inches thick and the other a -mere pole. We’ll hew their ends sharp—boat-fashion—and -lay them parallel to each other, -seven feet or so apart. We’ll fasten them securely -in place with stout poles at the bow and stern and -amidships, binding the poles in place with limber -vines. That will complete our framework. Then -we’ll place a light pole longitudinally on the cross -braces and about three feet inside the larger of our -two logs. From the log to this pole we’ll construct -a light deck of cane on which to stand as we paddle -and push the craft along. Of course it will be -a rude thing, very hard to manage, but as no part -of it will be in the water except the two logs—one -a mere pole—it will offer very little resistance, -not half as much as a raft would.”</p> - -<p>“No, not a tenth,” answered Larry.</p> - -<p>“Come on,” said Cal. “We’re burning daylight. -This job is yours, Dick, and you are to -boss it, but I’ll be foreman of the gang and keep<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_346" id="Page_346">[346]</a></span> -myself and the rest of you at work. We’ll let supper -go till after dark, and utilize what’s left of the -daylight in cutting cane, vines, poles and whatever -else you need. Then we’ll be ready in the -morning to cut the logs and begin the work of -construction. Hoop la! We’ll be afloat again before -the week’s up! Dick, you’re a dandy, and -I’ll never accuse you of pessimism again. ‘Look -up and not down, forward and not back, out and -not in, and lend a hand.’ Dr. Hale put all there -is of sound philosophy into that one sentence.”</p> - -<p>After the darkness made an end of work for -that day the boys sat down gleefully to their supper, -and hopefully laid plans for the morrow. -Presently Larry jestingly turned to Tom:</p> - -<p>“It’s your turn now, Tom. You are credited -in this company with something like a genius for -finding things at the critical moment when we need -them most. Why don’t you bring your abilities -to bear on the present situation and find something—a -chest of tools or a keg of nails, or something -else useful?”</p> - -<p>“Perhaps I will,” answered Tom. “Anyhow, -I’m going out now to see what I can find in three -traps I set yesterday. There have been coon tracks -over that way every morning recently, and the gentleman<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_347" id="Page_347">[347]</a></span> -who made them may have walked into one -of my traps.”</p> - -<p>The boys kept a number of torches ready for -lighting, now that the lack of oil rendered the lanterns -useless, and taking one of these with him, -Tom set out to inspect his traps. He was gone for -so long that his comrades were wondering what -had become of him, when suddenly he appeared, -coming from the direction of the bluff, though he -had gone quite the opposite way.</p> - -<p>“Did you get your coon?” asked Larry.</p> - -<p>“No,” said Tom; “but I found something.”</p> - -<p>“What was it, and where is it?”</p> - -<p>“Be patient and I’ll tell you about it. After I -had looked at my traps it occurred to me that I -might as well come back by way of the bluffs, on -the chance—”</p> - -<p>“Ah, I guess it all,” interrupted Cal. “You -found the dory at anchor there and Mr. Dunbar -busy polishing his finger nails preparatory to his -return to camp. Or perhaps you found a—”</p> - -<p>“Stop your nonsense, Cal,” commanded Larry. -“Don’t you see that Tom really has something to -tell us!”</p> - -<p>“Go ahead, Tom; I’m as mum as the Sphinx,” -answered Cal, who found it difficult to keep his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_348" id="Page_348">[348]</a></span> -jubilant spirits within bounds now that he had -something to do which promised results.</p> - -<p>Tom resumed:</p> - -<p>“I don’t know whether it means anything or -not, but it’s interesting at any rate and I may as -well tell you about it. As I was passing the uprooted -catalpa tree, my foot sank into wet sand, -and as the sand there had always been as dry as -powder, I looked about to see what it meant. To -my surprise I saw water trickling out from under -the roots of the tree, and I went close up to inspect. -As I was looking at the new-born spring -my eye was caught by something curiously entangled -among the upturned roots of the tree. It -was so wound about by the roots and so buried in -sand that I could make out its shape only in part, -and that with difficulty. To make matters worse -my torch was burned out by that time, so that I -had only my fingers to explore with. I felt of the -thing carefully, and made out that it is a keg of -the kind that people sell gunpowder in. But I -could get at only a small part of the chine, so I -could learn no more about it. We can cut the roots -away and dig it out to-morrow.”</p> - -<p>“We’ll cut the roots away and dig it out to-night,” -answered Cal, rising and lighting a torch.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_349" id="Page_349">[349]</a></span> -“We have work to do to-morrow and can’t spare -time. Besides, this is a mystery and we sha’n’t sleep -till we solve it; grab a cold torch each of you and -come on. I’ll carry the little ax.”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_350" id="Page_350">[350]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2 class="p4">XXXVI</h2> - -<p class="pch">WHAT THE EARTH GAVE UP</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Tom’s</span> account of the way in which the powderkeg -was entangled in the roots of the catalpa tree -was more than borne out by the fact as the boys -found it. It seemed to them a wonder that Tom -had discovered it at all, so completely was it -wrapped up in the knotted mass of root growths.</p> - -<p>After digging away the earth until the whole -root entanglement was exposed to view, the boys -set Dick Wentworth at work cutting away the roots -with his jackknife, a thing at which only one person -could work at a time. When Dick’s hand -grew tired, another of the boys relieved him at the -task and the work was hurried as much as possible, -not so much because it was growing late as because -the little company’s curiosity was intense.</p> - -<p>“Wonder how on earth anybody ever got the -thing under the roots of a tree that way?” ventured -Tom, as he toiled with his knife.</p> - -<p>“Simple enough,” answered Cal. “He didn’t -do it.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_351" id="Page_351">[351]</a></span></p> - -<p>“How did it get there, then?”</p> - -<p>“Why, the tree grew there after the keg was -buried, of course. Somebody stuck a catalpa bean -in the ground directly over the keg. Probably the -man who buried the thing did that; he wanted to -provide a landmark by which to find the spot again, -and probably he knew there wasn’t another catalpa -tree on all Quasi plantation.”</p> - -<p>“But that tree has been standing here a long -time—twenty or twenty-five years I should say.”</p> - -<p>“That only means that the keg was buried here -twenty or twenty-five years ago at the least, and -’pon my word, it looks it.”</p> - -<p>“What I’m wondering about,” interposed Larry, -“is what the keg contains. It must be something -important or nobody would have taken the pains to -bury it and plant a tree over it.”</p> - -<p>“And yet,” argued Dick, “if it is anything important, -why did anybody bury it away out here -and never come back for it?”</p> - -<p>“It all depends,” answered Cal, “on just what -you mean by ‘important.’ Things are important -sometimes and utterly unimportant at others; important -to one person and of no consequence to -anybody else. At this moment I feel that my -breakfast in the morning is becoming a thing of -very great importance to me; but I don’t suppose<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_352" id="Page_352">[352]</a></span> -poor Dunbar, wherever he is, cares a fig about it.”</p> - -<p>“By the way, what can have become of the -poor fellow? I wonder if he managed to fall out -of the dory and get drowned?”</p> - -<p>It was Tom who asked the question. Cal, who -had thought a great deal about the matter, answered -it promptly:</p> - -<p>“That isn’t likely,” he said. “Indeed, it is -scarcely possible. Dunbar was too good a boatman -to fall overboard, and too good a swimmer to -drown if he did. He would have climbed back -into the dory with no worse consequence than a -ducking in warm sea water.”</p> - -<p>“What’s your theory then, Cal?”</p> - -<p>“Why, that he has had one of his peculiar -‘spells.’ You remember that when he was missing -from camp the last time he wrote us a letter, -but when his lost knife was returned to him he -seemed to remember nothing about it. More than -that, he seemed to think the day he returned -was the same as the day he went away. In -other words, his memory was a blank as to the -time he was away. Then, too, you remember that -when we first found him here he couldn’t remember -whether he had come three weeks or four weeks -before. Still again, you remember how badly he -was mixed up about the date just before he went<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_353" id="Page_353">[353]</a></span> -away this time, and that too in spite of the fact -that he had important papers to post before a given -time.”</p> - -<p>“Then you think he’s crazy?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know about that, because I’m not a -doctor or an alienist, or anything else of the kind. -But I think he has a way of losing himself now -and then, though at ordinary times his head is a remarkably -clear one.”</p> - -<p>“I have read of such cases,” said Dick. “They -call it ‘double consciousness,’ I believe. I don’t -know whether it is regarded as a kind of insanity -or not. Then you think, Cal—”</p> - -<p>“I hardly know what I think. You see I don’t -know the facts in this case. We know absolutely -nothing of what Dunbar did or what happened to -him after he passed out of sight behind the marsh -island over there. So we haven’t enough facts to -base any thinking at all upon. But it has occurred -to me that after he left us one of his fits of self-forgetfulness -may have come on, and it may have -lasted ever since.”</p> - -<p>At this point the discussion of Dunbar’s case -was brought to an end by an unexpected happening. -As Tom tugged hard at one of the larger roots in an -effort to loosen its hold, the keg suddenly fell to -pieces. The oaken staves and headings seemed still<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_354" id="Page_354">[354]</a></span> -to be fairly sound, but the iron hoops that had held -the keg together had been so eaten with rust that -they fell into fragments under the strain and the -staves tumbled together in a loose pile.</p> - -<p>From among them Tom drew forth something, -and all the boys held their torches close while examining -it.</p> - -<p>“What is it, anyhow?” was the question on -every lip.</p> - -<p>“It’s very heavy for its size,” said Tom, poising -it in his hand.</p> - -<p>“Of course it is,” answered Cal. “Lead usually -is heavy for its size. But that’s a box, made of -lead. If it were solid it would be a good deal -heavier. Open it, Tom.”</p> - -<p>“I can’t. It doesn’t seem to have any opening -or any seams of any kind. Look at it for yourself, -Cal.”</p> - -<p>As he spoke he handed the thing to his comrade. -It was an oblong mass, seemingly hollow, but showing -no sign of an opening anywhere. It was about -ten or eleven inches in length, a little more than -four inches wide, and about two inches thick from -top to bottom. The surface was much corroded, -but Larry thought he discovered a partly obliterated -inscription of some kind upon it.</p> - -<p>“We must stop handling the thing carelessly,” he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_355" id="Page_355">[355]</a></span> -said. “Corroded as the surface is we might rub -the inscription off, and in that way rob ourselves of -the means of making out the meaning of the thing. -We’ll carry it carefully to camp, quicken up the fire -with plenty of light wood, and then make a minute -examination of the curious find. Tom, you may -have found a fortune for yourself this time, who -knows?”</p> - -<p>“Or a misfortune,” suggested Dick, who in his -childhood had been a firm believer in all the mysteries -and wonder workings recorded in the Arabian -Night’s Entertainments, and still recalled them upon -the smallest suggestion. “Shut up as it is, with no -sign of an opening, who knows but that it bears -Solomon’s seal on it? The inscription may be Solomon’s -autograph, put there to hold captive some -malicious genie. We all know what happened to the -fisherman who let the smoke out of the copper -vase.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, I’ll take my chances on that sort of thing,” -laughingly answered Tom, who, as the discoverer, -was recognized by his comrades as the rightful -owner of the box and the person entitled to say what -should be done with it.</p> - -<p>“Of course,” said Cal. “Genii don’t play tricks -in our time and country. They’re afraid of the constable.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_356" id="Page_356">[356]</a></span></p> - -<p>The boys had reached the camp now, and a few -minutes later a pile of blazing fat pine made the -space around it as light as day. For an hour, perhaps, -the boys minutely examined the queer casket. -There was, or had been, an inscription cut upon its -upper surface with the point of a penknife, but the -corroding of the surface had so far obliterated it -that the boys succeeded only in doubtfully guessing -at a half-effaced letter here and there and in making -out the figures 865 at the end of the writing.</p> - -<p>“That’s the date,” said Larry—“1865, the -figure one obliterated. Obviously the inscription -tells us nothing. What next, Tom?”</p> - -<p>Tom was minutely examining the sides of the -case, scraping off the rust with his thumb nail. -Presently, instead of answering Larry’s question, -he cried out:</p> - -<p>“Eureka! See here, boys! This box was made -in two pieces exactly alike, one top and the other -bottom. The two have been fitted together and -then a hot iron has been drawn over the seam, completely -obliterating it. It’s the nicest job of sealing -a thing up water tight and air tight that I ever saw, -but I’m going to spoil it.”</p> - -<p>With that he opened his jackknife and very -carefully drew its point along the line where the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_357" id="Page_357">[357]</a></span> -upper and lower halves of the casket had been -joined. After he had traced the line twice with -the knife point the two halves suddenly fell apart, -and some neatly folded and endorsed papers were -found within.</p> - -<p>Tom began reading the endorsements, but before -he had run half through the first one he leaped up, -waving the documents over his head and shouting -“hurrah!” in a way that Cal said was “like the -howling of a demon accidentally involved with the -accentuations of a buzz saw.”</p> - -<p>After a moment the excited boy so far calmed -his enthusiasm as to throw the bundle of papers -into Larry’s face, shouting:</p> - -<p>“I’ve found the Quasi deeds! I’ve saved Quasi -to its rightful owners! Why don’t you all hurrah -with me, you snails, you dormice or dormouses, -whichever is the proper plural of dormouse? There -are the papers and it was Tom Garnett who found -them! For once prying curiosity has served a good -turn. Now, all together! Hip, hip, hip, hurrah!”</p> - -<p>The others joined heartily in the cheering that -seemed necessary for the relief of Tom’s excitement, -and half-spoken, half-ejaculated congratulations -occupied the next five minutes.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_358" id="Page_358">[358]</a></span></p> - -<p>After that the whole party sat down to hear the -results of the more thorough examination of the -papers, which Larry was delegated to make.</p> - -<p>“Yes, these are the deeds,” he reported, “uninjured -by time or damp or anything else, thanks to -our grandfather’s care in sealing that leaden box. -They were executed in May, 1861, and see, down in -a corner of each is written:</p> - -<p>“‘Recorded in the clerk’s office of Beaufort District, -liber 211, pp. 371, 372, 373. J. S., Clerk.’</p> - -<p>“And here’s a memorandum in our grandfather’s -handwriting and signed by him. It is on a separate -sheet, dated in February, 1865, and—”</p> - -<p>“Read it!” suggested Cal.</p> - -<p>“I will,” and he read as follows:</p> - -<p>“‘The clerk’s office in which these deeds were recorded -at the time of their execution has been destroyed, -together with all the books of record. It -is vitally necessary therefore that these original -deeds shall be preserved. In these troublous times -there is no place of deposit for them which can be -deemed reasonably safe. I am sealing them in this -leaden box, therefore, and will bury them upon the -abandoned plantation of Quasi, to which they give -title. I shall plant a catalpa bean above them as a -sure means of identifying the spot, there being no -other catalpa on the plantation. I shall send my<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_359" id="Page_359">[359]</a></span> -daughters a detailed statement of what I have done, -with instructions as to the way of finding the papers. -I place this memorandum in the box with -the deeds themselves, so that if anyone finds it he -may know to whom its contents belong. The address -of my daughters will be found endorsed upon -the deeds themselves.’”</p> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_360" id="Page_360">[360]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2 class="p4">XXXVII</h2> - -<p class="pch">TOM’S FINAL “FIND”</p> - -<p>“<span class="smcap">Tom</span>,” said Cal, taking the Virginia boy by the -hand and warmly greeting him, “you have crowned -this expedition—”</p> - -<p>“Oh, bother!” interrupted Tom. “You fellows -are daffy. I’ve had the good luck to find the -deeds, but it was by sheer accident, and anybody -else might have—”</p> - -<p>“But ‘anybody else’ didn’t, and that makes all -the difference. Now listen. I have the floor. I -have restrained my natural impulse to do all the -talking lately until I’ve had to let out two holes in -my belt. I was going to hurl my best speech at your -head, but you interrupted, and now the graceful -periods have slipped from memory’s grasp. I’ll -leave the task of adequate expression to my father. -He’ll do it quite as well as I can. But there’s one -thing to which I must ask the attention of the company -here assembled.”</p> - -<p>“What is it, Cal?” Dick asked.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_361" id="Page_361">[361]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Why, simply that Tom has added another to -the purposes with which this expedition was undertaken. -Our objects were sport and adventure. -We have had both, and now Tom has added a third—achievement.”</p> - -<p>“That’s all very well,” answered Tom, “but we -haven’t made the achievement yet. That will be -when we deliver the deeds to your father, and not -till then. And we’ll never, never do that unless -you stop your nonsense and let us get to work on -the catamaran, or raft, or whatever else you call -it. Our present job is to get away from Quasi -with the golden fleece. I suppose we ought to -sleep now, but—”</p> - -<p>“But glue wouldn’t stick our eyelids together,” -broke in Dick. “Work’s the thing for us now. -Let’s get at it. Oh, I say, Cal, what of the tides? -When will they set in strongly toward that little -town up there?”</p> - -<p>Cal reckoned the matter up and named the hours -at which the young flood tides would begin to run. -Then Dick thought a little and asked:</p> - -<p>“Is it all land-locked water from here to the town, -or are there openings to the sea?”</p> - -<p>“All closely land-locked—all creeks,” Cal answered.</p> - -<p>“Then if we work hard we can have the catamaran<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_362" id="Page_362">[362]</a></span> -ready by to-morrow noon—she won’t need -to be much of a craft for such waters—and we -can make our start when the tide turns, about that -time. Let’s see; the distance is only ten or twelve -miles, and the tide will run up for six hours. That -ought to take us there with no paddling or poling -except enough to keep the craft headed in the right -direction.”</p> - -<p>“We’ll do it,” declared Cal. “Now to work, all -of us. Tell us what to do, Dick.”</p> - -<p>“Let one fellow make a lot of fresh torches,” -the Boston boy answered. “The rest of us can -keep busy till daylight dragging bamboos, big cane -stalks and the cross braces down to the shore. As -soon as it is light enough in the morning we’ll fashion -the two larger timbers, and get them into the -water. After that two or three hours’ work will -finish the job.”</p> - -<p>“An excellent programme, so far as it goes,” -muttered Cal, as if only thinking aloud.</p> - -<p>“Go ahead, Cal, what’s lacking?”</p> - -<p>“Seems to me,” Cal responded, “that every member -of this company is in the habit of carrying a -digestive apparatus somewhere about his person. -That’s all.”</p> - -<p>“Right, Cal!” Larry broke in. “We must have -breakfast and dinner, and I think I remember hearing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_363" id="Page_363">[363]</a></span> -that experienced navigator, Richard Wentworth, -say, once upon a time, that one should never venture -upon salt water without carrying a supply of -provisions along.”</p> - -<p>“I humbly submit to the rebuke,” answered Dick, -with a laugh. “It was forgetfulness, but forgetfulness -is never quite pardonable. Some one must -go for game immediately after breakfast. We have -enough on hand for that meal.”</p> - -<p>“I delegate you to that task, Tom,” said Larry. -“Your habit of finding things may hasten the -job.”</p> - -<table id="t1" summary="tb1"> - - <tr> - <td class="tdc">✶</td> - <td class="tdc">✶</td> - <td class="tdc">✶</td> - <td class="tdc">✶</td> - <td class="tdc">✶</td> - <td class="tdc">✶</td> - </tr> - -</table> - -<p>It was a little past noon when the company pushed -away from Quasi on the rude raft that served them -for a ship, and were driven by the strong flood tide -through the maze of broad and narrow passages -among the marsh islands that lay between them and -the town on the mainland.</p> - -<p>There was some discussion before they left Quasi -as to what they should do with the rifle and other -things in Dunbar’s log lockup.</p> - -<p>Larry settled the matter, saying:</p> - -<p>“We’ll leave his belongings just where he placed -them. We are not likely to find him now, -and—”</p> - -<p>“And if he finds himself,” Tom broke in, “he’ll<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_364" id="Page_364">[364]</a></span> -come to Quasi after them. Wonder where the poor -fellow is, anyhow, and what’s the matter with him.”</p> - -<p>Nobody could offer a conjecture that had not -been discussed before, and so the subject was -dropped in favor of more immediate concerns.</p> - -<table id="t2" summary="tb2"> - - <tr> - <td class="tdc">✶</td> - <td class="tdc">✶</td> - <td class="tdc">✶</td> - <td class="tdc">✶</td> - <td class="tdc">✶</td> - <td class="tdc">✶</td> - </tr> - -</table> - -<p>The tide ran strong, and Dick’s “palatial passenger -craft,” as Tom called the raft, proved to be -cork-like in its ability to float almost as fast as the -tide itself flowed. About five o’clock the last of -the marsh islands was passed, and the little town, -perched upon high bluffs, appeared. As the raft -neared it, Tom suddenly called out:</p> - -<p>“I’ve found something else! There’s the -<i>Hunkydory</i> riding at anchor in that little bay over -yonder! Now, maybe the next find will be Mr. -Dunbar.”</p> - -<p>While Larry was sending a telegram to his father, -the others went to the boat and with permission of -the man in charge, examined it. No accident had -happened to it and nothing about it gave the least -hint that Dunbar had merely abandoned it. The -sail was neatly lashed to the boom; the mast and -the rudder had been unshipped and bestowed in -the bilge. Every rope was coiled and every pulley -block ran free.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_365" id="Page_365">[365]</a></span></p> - -<p>More significant still was the fact that the lockers -were all filled with food stuffs.</p> - -<p>“Obviously he intended to return to Quasi,” Cal -argued, “and laid in supplies for us as he had -promised. Whatever happened to him must have -occurred after that and just before the time he had -set for sailing. Let’s go up into the town and see -what we can learn about him.” Then pausing, he -turned to the man in charge of the boat and asked:</p> - -<p>“Has she been lying at anchor and taking the -chance of rain all this time?”</p> - -<p>“No,” the man answered. “She’s been in that -there boat house, but to-day the squire tole me to -anchor her out in the sun for an hour or two, an’ -that’s what I’m a doin’.”</p> - -<p>On their way they met Larry, who had telegraphed -his father both at the North and at Charleston, -uncertain whether or not the earthquake had -hurried his home-coming. In his dispatches Larry -had said:</p> - -<p>“Quasi deeds found by Tom Garnett, now in my -possession and in perfect order. Dory sails for -Charleston immediately.”</p> - -<p>Two hours later there came two telegrams from -Major Rutledge in Charleston, one of them addressed -to Larry and the other to Tom Garnett. -The one to Larry sent congratulations and asked<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_366" id="Page_366">[366]</a></span> -him to hurry home as fast as he could. What was -in Tom’s none of the boys ever knew. Tom’s eyes -were full of tears as he read it, though his face was -a gladly smiling one as he replaced the paper in its -envelope and carefully bestowed it in his pocket.</p> - -<p>While waiting for these dispatches the boys made -diligent inquiries concerning Dunbar. He had arrived -at the town about three o’clock on the day of -his leaving Quasi. He had intelligently addressed -and posted his manuscript and drawings. After -that he had bought camping supplies of every kind -that the town could furnish, and had loaded them -very carefully into the dory. An hour later he had -been found sitting under a big tree and seemingly -in distress of some kind. He was unable to tell -who he was, in answer to inquiries. His mind -seemed an absolute blank. Papers found on his -person gave a sufficient clue to his identity and the -addresses of his nearest friends. Telegrams were -sent to them, and as soon as possible they came and -took the poor fellow away with them, a magistrate -meanwhile setting a deputy constable to care for the -boat and cargo till its owners should appear.</p> - -<p>The young doctor whom Dunbar’s friends -brought with them explained to the old doctor of -the town that for many years past Dunbar had been<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_367" id="Page_367">[367]</a></span> -the victim of a rather rare mental malady, causing -occasional complete lapses of memory.</p> - -<p>“This present attack,” he added, “is lasting -longer than usual. He has hitherto been allowed -to roam at will, to live in the woods and pursue his -investigations. Now, however, I shall strongly advise -his friends to keep him under some small restraint -for the sake of his own safety.”</p> - -<p>“That ends the Dunbar incident,” said Larry -when the old doctor finished his relation of the -facts. “Now we must be off for Charleston. -What do you say, boys? There’s a moon to-night -and we might as well get a little start before it -sets.”</p> - -<p>“My own judgment,” ventured Dick, “is that -as we worked all of last night, we’d better stay -here till morning and get some sleep. But ‘I’m in -the hands of my friends’ as the politicians say.”</p> - -<p>Dick’s suggestion was approved, and the sun was -just rising the next morning when the <i>Hunkydory</i> -set sail. When the boys stepped ashore at the Rutledge -boathouse on the Ashley River, Major Rutledge -was there to greet them.</p> - -<p>“We feared you boys might be in serious difficulty -down at Quasi,” he said, warmly shaking -hands all round for the second time, “and I was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_368" id="Page_368">[368]</a></span> -about setting out to rescue you, when Larry’s telegram -came.”</p> - -<p>“We rescued ourselves, instead,” Cal replied; -“and to us that is more satisfactory.”</p> - -<p>“It is very much better,” answered the father, -catching Cal’s meaning and heartily sympathizing -with the proud sense of personal achievement that -lay behind.</p> - -<p>“Come on home now, and over a proper dinner -tell your mother and me all about what happened at -Quasi.”</p> - -<p class="pc4 lmid">THE END</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_369" id="Page_369">[369]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="bord"> -<h2>George Cary Eggleston’s Juveniles</h2> -<p class="pc1 large">The Bale Marked Circle X</p> -<p class="pc">A Blockade Running Adventure</p> -<p class="reduct">Illustrated by C. Chase Emerson. 12mo, red cloth, illustrated -cover, $1.50.-</p> -<p>Another of Mr. Eggleston’s stirring books for youth. In -it are told the adventures of three boy soldiers in the Confederate -Service who are sent in a sloop on a secret voyage -from Charleston to the Bahamas, conveying a strange bale of -cotton which holds important documents. The boys pass -through startling adventures: they run the blockade, suffer -shipwreck, and finally reach their destination after the -pluckiest kind of effort.</p> -<p class="pc1 large">Camp Venture</p> -<p class="pc">A Story of the Virginia Mountains</p> -<p class="pc reduct">Illustrated by W. A. McCullough. 12mo, dark red cloth, -illustrated cover, $1.50.</p> -<p class="reduct">The <i>Louisville Courier Journal</i> says: “George Cary Eggleston has -written a decidedly good tale of pluck and adventure in ‘Camp Venture.’ It will be of interest to young and old -who enjoy an exciting story, but there is also a great deal of -instruction and information in the book.”</p> -<p class="pc1 large">The Last of the Flatboats</p> -<p class="pc">A Story of the Mississippi</p> -<p class="pc reduct">Illustrated by Charlotte Harding. 12mo, green cloth, illustrated -cover, $1.50.</p> -<p class="reduct">The <i>Brooklyn Eagle</i> says: “Mr. George Cary Eggleston, -the veteran editor and author, has scored a double success in -his new book, ‘The Last of the Flatboats,’ which has just -been published. Written primarily as a story for young -readers, it contains many things that are of interest to older -people. Altogether, it is a mighty good story, and well -worth reading.”</p> -<p class="pc1 large">Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Co., Boston.</p> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_370" id="Page_370">[370]</a></span></p> - -<h2 class="p4">DAVE PORTER SERIES</h2> - -<p class="pc mid">By EDWARD STRATEMEYER</p> - -<hr class="full" /> - -<p class="pc1 large">VOLUME FIVE</p> - -<p class="pc elarge"><i>DAVE PORTER AND HIS CLASSMATES</i></p> - -<p class="pr2 large"><i>Or For the Honor of Oak Hall</i></p> - -<p class="pc">Illustrated by Charles Nuttall 12mo Cloth Price, $1.25</p> - -<p class="drop-cap02">IN this volume Dave is back at Oak Hall and he brings about the -complete reformation of a former bully, who was rapidly going to the -bad. Athletic events and jolly fun are constantly mingled, and as evidence -that the boys are not at school entirely for that, many take high -honors at the close of the year, Dave being prize essayist, to the great -delight of his friends.</p> - -<div class="pbq"> -<p class="p1">“The best type of American schoolboy.”—<i>Boston Globe.</i></p> - -<p>“Athletic events are told with a zest that shows the author’s ability in that -direction.”—<i>News, Buffalo, N. Y.</i></p> - -<p>“Will hold the attention of the readers from beginning to end.”—<i>Citizen, -Brooklyn, N. Y.</i></p></div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p class="pc2 large">VOLUME SIX</p> - -<p class="pc elarge"><i>DAVE PORTER AT STAR RANCH</i></p> - -<p class="pr2 large"><i>Or The Cowboy’s Secret</i></p> - -<p class="pc">Illustrated by Lyle T. Hammond 12mo Cloth Price, $1.25</p> - -<p class="drop-cap02">FROM his home, Dave, in company with his sister and some chums, -journeys to the boundless west. At the ranch the lads fall in with -both good and bad cowboys, and the hero has a thrilling time of it riding -a “busting bronco.” Some horses disappear in a mysterious manner, -and while trying to get back to the ranch on foot two of the lads are -caught in a furious storm, that blows down a big tree on top of them. -There are many scenes of hunting and rounding-up of cattle, and once a -stampede adds to the excitement. Mr. Stratemeyer has traveled through -the country he describes and gives a picture as accurate as it is entertaining.</p> - -<div class="pbq"> -<p class="p1">“The author of ‘Dave Porter’ is a prime favorite with the boys.”—<i>Bookseller, -Newsdealer and Stationer.</i></p> - -<p>“Edward Stratemeyer’s ‘Dave Porter’ has become exceedingly popular.”—<i>Boston -Globe.</i></p> - -<p>“Dave and his friends are nice, manly chaps.”—<i>Times-Democrat, New Orleans.</i></p></div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_371" id="Page_371">[371]</a></span></p> - -<p class="pc2 large">THE BOYS OF BROOKFIELD ACADEMY</p> - -<p class="pc mid">By WARREN L. ELDRED</p> - -<p class="pc">Illustrated by Arthur O. Scott Large 12mo Cloth $1.50</p> - -<div class="floatright"> - <img src="images/ill-393a.jpg" width="200" height="273" - alt="" - title="" /> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap02">THIS story tells of a boys’ school, with a -glorious past, but an uncertain future, -largely due to the wrong kind of a secret -society, a vital problem in hundreds of schools -to-day.</p> - -<p>The boys, after testing his patience in every -way that youthful ingenuity can suggest, come -to rally about an athletic and brainy young -graduate in the splendid transformation of the -society, and soon of the entire academy, in one -of the best school and athletic stories yet written.</p> - -<p class="pbq p1">“Things are doing all the way through the story, -which is clean, manly and inspiring.”—<i>Christian -Endeavor World.</i></p> - -<p class="pc2 large">THE LOOKOUT ISLAND CAMPERS</p> - -<p class="pc mid">By WARREN L. ELDRED</p> - -<p class="pc">Illustrated by Arthur O. Scott Large 12mo Cloth $1.50</p> - -<div class="floatleft"> - <img src="images/ill-393b.jpg" width="200" height="276" - alt="" - title="" /> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap02">THIS is a story of active boys of fifteen or so. -They are very fortunate in the friendship of -the principal of their school and his friend, an -athletic young doctor. Under the care of these -two they go into camp on an island well suited -to the purpose, and within easy distance of a -thronged summer resort. A series of exciting -ball games and athletic contests with the boys -at the hotel naturally follows, and the boys display -as many varieties of human nature as could their -elders.</p> - -<p class="pbq p1">“Mr. Eldred’s book is almost certain to meet with -a ready response from young readers, for not only are -the boys filled with life and vigor of a true youthful -and appreciable variety but their experiences are -entertaining in themselves and may perhaps give the young readers ideas for -summer plans of their own.”—<i>Chicago Tribune.</i></p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_372" id="Page_372">[372]</a></span></p> - -<p class="pc2 elarge">U. S. SERVICE SERIES</p> - -<p class="pc mid">By FRANCIS ROLT-WHEELER</p> - -<p class="pc">Illustrations from photographs taken in work for U. S. Government</p> - -<p class="pc">Large 12mo Cloth $1.50 per volume</p> - -<hr class="full" /> - -<p class="pc elarge">THE BOY WITH THE U. S. SURVEY</p> - -<div class="floatleft"> - <img src="images/ill-394a.jpg" width="200" height="274" - alt="" - title="" /> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap08">APPEALING to the boy’s love of excitement, -this series gives actual experiences in the -different branches of United States Government -work little known to the general public. This -story describes the thrilling adventures of members -of the U. S. Geological Survey, graphically -woven into a stirring narrative that both pleases -and instructs. The author enjoys an intimate -acquaintance with the chiefs of the various -bureaus in Washington, and is able to obtain at -first hand the material for the books.</p> - -<p class="pbq p1">“There is abundant charm and vigor in the narrative -which is sure to please the boy readers and will do -much toward stimulating their patriotism by making -them alive to the needs of conservation of the vast -resources of their country.”—<i>Chicago News.</i></p> - -<p class="pbq">“This is a book one can heartily recommend for boys, and it has life -enough to suit the most eager of them.”—<i>Christian Register, Boston.</i></p> - -<p class="pc2 elarge">THE BOY WITH THE U. S. FORESTERS</p> - -<div class="floatright"> - <img src="images/ill-394b.jpg" width="200" height="280" - alt="" - title="" /> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap02">THE life of a typical boy is followed in all its -adventurous detail—the mighty representative -of our country’s government, though young -in years—a youthful monarch in a vast domain of -forest. Replete with information, alive with -adventure, and inciting patriotism at every step, -this handsome book is one to be instantly -appreciated.</p> - -<p class="pbq p1">“It is at once a most entertaining and instructive -study of forestry and a most delightful story of boy life -in the service.”—<i>Cincinnati Times-Star.</i></p> - -<p class="pbq">“It is a fascinating romance of real life in our -country, and will prove a great pleasure and inspiration -to the boys who read it.”—<i>The Continent, Chicago.</i></p> - -<p class="pbq">“No one beginning to read this book will willingly -lay it down till he has reached the last chapter.”—<i>Christian -Advocate, Cincinnati.</i></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_373" id="Page_373">[373]</a></span></p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p class="pc2 elarge">FIVE CHUMS SERIES</p> - -<p class="pc mid">By NORMAN BRAINERD</p> - -<p class="pc">12mo Cloth Illustrated $1.25 each</p> - -<hr class="full" /> - -<p class="large">Winning His Shoulder Straps</p> - -<div class="floatleft"> - <img src="images/ill-395a.jpg" width="200" height="286" - alt="" - title="" /> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap02">A ROUSING story of life in a military school -by one who thoroughly knows all its features. -Bob Anderson, the hero, is a good friend to tie to, -and each of his four particular friends is a worthy -companion, with well-sustained individuality. -Athletics are plentifully featured, and every boy, -good, bad, and indifferent, is a natural fellow, -who talks and acts like a bright, up-to-date lad in -real life.</p> - -<p class="pbq p1">“The story throughout is clean and wholesome, -and will not fail to be appreciated by any boy reader -who has red blood in his veins.”—<i>Kennebec Journal.</i></p> - -<p class="pbq">“There are school and athletic competitions, -pranks and frolics and all in all a book of which most -boy readers will have no criticism to make.”—<i>Springfield -Republican.</i></p> - -<p class="p2 large">Winning the Eagle Prize</p> - -<div class="floatright"> - <img src="images/ill-395b.jpg" width="200" height="281" - alt="" - title="" /> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap02">THE hero not only works his way at Chatham -Military School after his father’s financial -misfortune, but has the pluck to try for a prize -which means a scholarship in college. It is very -hard for a lad of his make-up to do the requisite -studying, besides working and taking a prominent -part in athletics, and he is often in trouble, for, -unlike some others, who are naturally antagonistic -to the frank, impulsive Billy, he scorns to evade -responsibility. His four friends are loyal to the -fullest extent, and all comes right in the end.</p> - -<p class="pbq p1">Athletics play a prominent part in the story and the whole is delightfully -stimulating in the fine ideals of life which it sets before its young readers.”—<i>Chicago -News.</i></p> - -<p class="pbq">“The workmanship of the author is up to his high mark and this book is one -to be appreciated by any active reader who has not forgotten his boyhood, or, if he -is a boy yet, has the real boy spirit, clean, and wholesome and natural.”—<i>Buffalo -News.</i></p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_374" id="Page_374">[374]</a></span></p> - -<p class="p2 large">Larry Burke, Freshman</p> - -<p class="pc lmid">By FRANK I. ODELL</p> - -<p class="pc">Illustrated by H. C. Edwards $1.25</p> - -<div class="floatright"> - <img src="images/ill-396a.jpg" width="200" height="283" - alt="" - title="" /> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap02">THIS book bristles with activity: baseball, football, -ice-hockey, basketball, track and field -events, and a regatta appearing, and each sport -brought in with expert accuracy of detail, and -realism that makes one live over his own most -thrilling athletic experiences. Along with this is -a charming narrative of student life and comradeship—the -golden days that have no others like -them. Every boy and man who ever heard of a -college can take delight in this book.</p> - -<p class="pbq p1">“The high tone of most of the boys, their comradeship and good will toward -one another are felt through the whole book. And if ever a boy deserved friends or -success, it was the noble-hearted hero of the story, Larry Burke.”—<i>Louisville -Courier-Journal.</i></p> - -<p class="pbq">“A boys’ book that is filled with healthy adventure and action from cover to -cover.”—<i>Cincinnati Times-Star.</i></p> - - -<p class="p2 large">Tim and Roy in Camp</p> - -<p class="pc lmid">By FRANK PENDLETON</p> - -<p class="pc">Illustrated by J. W. Kennedy Large 12mo $1.50</p> - -<div class="floatleft"> - <img src="images/ill-396b.jpg" width="200" height="285" - alt="" - title="" /> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap02">IN this book is crowded a wealth of sport, adventure, -Indian stories, hunting and camping, facts -about animals encountered, and all that will please -a boy’s heart. A skilful hunter and trapper takes -his son, nephew, and two close friends on such a -hunting and camping trip as their most vivid -imagination could not have improved upon. They -are supremely happy in their enjoyment in all that -pertains to the woods, and his camp-fire stories of -experiences with Indians. Each of the boys has a -chance to show his bravery and resourcefulness, -and each is equal to the occasion.</p> - -<p class="pbq p1">“The story is fascinating and contains not one -thrill too many.”—<i>Chicago News.</i></p> - -<p class="pbq">“This is a great book for live, active boys, vigorous, wholesome, instructive -and entertaining, written by a man who certainly understands and knows boys, -and who knows how to give them the best kind of a vacation.”—<i>Portland Express.</i></p> - -<hr class="full" /> - -<p class="pc reduct"><i>For sale by all booksellers or sent postpaid on receipt of -price by the publishers</i></p> - -<p class="pc large">LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO., BOSTON</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -</div> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="transnote p4"> -<p class="pc large">TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE:</p> -<p class="ptn">—Obvious print and punctuation errors were corrected.</p> -</div></div> - -</div> - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of What Happened at Quasi, by -George Cary Eggleston and H. 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