CHAPTER XX. THE SCOUTS SHOW THE WAY.
"Thad!"
Step Hen leaned back in the boat he occupied in company with Bumpus,Davy Jones and the scout-master, as he softly uttered the name of thelast mentioned.
"Yes, what is it, Step Hen?" remarked Thad.
"Would you mind if I asked a single question?" pursued the other,speaking as near a whisper as he could, and still make his voice carry.
"Go ahead, then," the other went on to say, knowing full well that whenonce Step Hen's curiosity became fully aroused there was nothing to dobut gratify it; besides, had he not often told the scouts that a certainamount of "wanting to know" was commendable?
"Why, I saw you talking with the sheriff just before we started outagain, and while you were ashore; would it be a fair question to askwhat you fixed up with him?" Step Hen inquired, boldly.
"Oh! nothing that would make any change in our plans," said Thad. "Thefact is, I was a little nervous about what might happen in all theexcitement of a fight; and it was only my plan to get the sheriff topromise that he would warn every man in the whole posse to be verycareful not to injure a hair of the girl's head, even by accident;that's all, Step Hen."
"Thank you, Thad, and I hope you don't think I was putting in my oarwhere I had no business to?"
"Sure I don't," replied the scout-master; "we're all chums, and I'mcertain that every one of you feels almost as much interest as I doabout meeting up with this girl Jasper has with him, and learningwhether she can be our little Polly. But please don't talk any more justnow, Step Hen; because it isn't best; and besides, I want to do sometall thinking."
Neither Bumpus nor Davy had taken any part in this little whisperedconversation but they had listened eagerly, and doubtless caught everyword that was spoken; if one could judge from their manner, and thegreat sigh that the fat scout managed to heave when Thad brought thetalk to an abrupt close.
Yes, it was true that every member of the Silver Fox Patrol did feelthat he had a deep personal interest in the outcome of this journey andsearch. Thad was very dear to them all, and many times they had pitiedthe boy because, outside of old "Daddy" Brewster, his uncle andguardian, he seemed to have no close relatives, while they all hadparents, and in most cases either brothers or sisters, perhaps both.
Now, Thad was a sunny-natured lad, and not given to complaining; yetthese warm chums of the Boy Scout Troop could remember instances wheretears had come into his fine eyes when visiting at the home of somecomrade around Christmas time, and he seemed to realize what it was tobe without even one brother or sister, and lacking the love andaffection of father and mother.
And now that there really seemed a chance of Thad's discovering a sweetlittle sister to love and care for, every scout was praying pretty muchcontinually in his mind, that the expedition might not turn out afailure, but that when they once more turned their faces northward therewould be an addition to their number, and that Thad would be smiling allthe while with supreme happiness.
Meanwhile Tom Smith was leading them carefully on.
It was entirely different now from what the advance of the sheriff'sposse had been before the scouts met the crowd. Up to that time noisehad predominated, with the hounds baying wildly, and men shouting backand forth, as though by this means they expected to frighten the swampfugitives into surrendering.
Scout tactics now prevailed. When real woodsmen start out to track anenemy, or even a wild animal, they adopt the ways of the wolf or thestealthy Indian, and keep utterly silent. Why, even the paddles seemedto rise and fall with nothing to mark their laboring save possibly thetrickling drip of drops of water falling from the elevated blades; socareful were those who handled the same how they used them.
Had they been trying to approach a feeding deer on the edge of the wateramong lilypads the scouts could not have exercised greater caution; andthose in the other boats, noticing how gently the boys drove theircanoes along, made haste to pattern after them, not wishing to beoutdone.
All the while the swamp was getting more and more lonely looking, andthe vegetation becoming even thicker, showing that Alligator Smith mustbe taking them to a part of the great morass where few people ever came.
Undoubtedly he had his reasons for this, and more than one of the scoutsfound himself nearly bursting with eagerness to know what these couldbe; but so long as the guide remained in the lead there was noopportunity to put questions, even could they muster up courage enoughto attempt it.
Of course they were constantly on the alert, not knowing at what momentthere might come a change in the conditions, and something not down onthe bills occur to break the monotony of the advance.
Some of them remembered what the sheriff had said about this Jasper, andhow, if all accounts were true, there would be a wild time when theyfinally rounded him up, as he would not succumb without a desperatefight.
Bumpus watched the bushes and trees ahead of the guide's boat. He was agreat fellow to imagine things, and doubtless had many a sudden startwhen some bird stirred, or a small swamp animal scudded away, each timecausing poor nervous Bumpus to imagine that it must be the terribleJasper who was hidden there, drawing a bead on the most prominent objectin the leading canoe behind that of the guide, and which of course meanthimself.
But then, try as he would he could not reduce his bulk any more than hadalready been done; and so he must continue to play the part of "martyr,"serving as a shield to his three more fortunate chums back in the boat.
The guide moderated his pace from time to time. Bumpus wondered at firstwhether this came from a fear lest he might be running into an ambushcleverly set by the man in hiding; but after watching more carefully hefinally realized that he was far from striking the truth when he thoughtthis way.
In fact, these periods of seeming hesitancy were only indulged in whenthe men on the shore had fallen somewhat behind; and undoubtedly it mustbe Tom Smith's plan to allow them an opportunity to come up again, sothat the entire company might be close together.
Finally Bumpus noticed that the guide was now heading straight in towardthe land, as though he meant to give over the water part of the trip;whereat the fat scout had a thrill of expectancy and joy sweep over him;for once they left the boats it would no longer be necessary for him tostick there in the van, such a conspicuous object, when by rights hefelt much more at home in the rear, letting such fire-eaters as Giraffeand Bob White take the lead if they felt so inclined. "Every one to histaste," was the motto of Bumpus; and as for him he always loudlydeclared that Nature had not intended him to be a fighter, or else wouldhe have been fashioned on a different model from that of a dumpling.
Yes, now Tom Smith had driven the prow of his clumsy canoe right intothe bank, and he was clambering out of the same, showing that there wasabout to be a positive change in the character of the hunt.
A minute later and Bumpus was able to clamber over the bow of his ownboat, and actually reach solid ground. How he drew in a great breath ofrelief when this became an accomplished fact. After all, give him thetouch of good old _terra firma_--how well he remembered going to thedictionary to find out what those italicized words meant when he firstcame across them in a story of young plant hunters written by one whoused to be a great favorite among the boys several generationspast--Captain Mayne Reid, but who is seldom known to the lads of to-day;and ever since that time Bumpus had been prone to spring his knowledgeupon his unsuspecting fellow scouts, until they threatened all sorts ofdire things unless he changed his tune.
Still the very thought of "solid ground" must always please a fellowbuilt on the order of an elephant, Bumpus told them time and again, asan excuse for his satisfaction. However, he did not dare open his mouthnow to say a single word, and had to take it out in sighing, andmentally shaking hands with himself.
Presently they were all gathered there. The boats were drawn up on thebank to be left in charge of a guard, for it would not be very pleasantif they returned late
r on, to find that some enemy had been there, andeither carried their canoes off, or else in some way smashed holes inthe bottoms, so that they would be useless for the return trip.
The sheriff, Thad and Tom Smith came together and talked for severalminutes in low tones, the rest gathering around, and trying to get intouch with what was being said.
Had any one been noticing Davy very closely, however, they might haveseen him moving uneasily, then withdrawing his eyes from the centralfigures to look hurriedly around him; and after that deliberatelywalking away so that he could place himself on the _windward_ side ofthe large group.
"Huh!" grunted Bumpus, frowning when he saw this, for he had by accidentbeen pushing up against Davy at the time, in his eagerness to hear whatthe leaders were deciding on; "think you're smart, don't you? But Ikinder reckon you're overdoing the thing, and you'll get called downgood and hard by Thad, if you don't let me alone. Huh! who cares,anyway?"
Bumpus became aware about this time of the fact that Tom Smith was nolonger standing still, but had begun to move off, as though meaning tolead them on land the balance of the way.
He also seemed to keep close to the border of the water, for some reasonor other, as though either the trail led there, or else he had someobject in not immediately plunging into the thick of the scrub.
Before they had gone fifty yards this object was made manifest. Theguide carefully parted the tall reeds that grew in the shallow water,and then beckoned to the others to come forward and look for themselves.
Of course the scouts were in the van, and they quickly discovered whatit was the swamp guide wished them to see.
"Why, it's only an old boat, after all!" grumbled Bumpus, who hadpossibly anticipated discovering a monstrous alligator, or else theterrible Jasper himself.
"Yes, only a boat," added Allan, who was at his elbow; "but it belongsto the man we're looking for, and tells us that we'll find him home,when we get to where he hangs out; for that's the means he has of comingand going. Things look good to me."
The Boy Scouts Down in Dixie; or, The Strange Secret of Alligator Swamp Page 20