by Quincy Allen
CHAPTER IV--THE PADDLE TO WILDCAT ISLAND
"Waddy Walsh!" exclaimed Bluff, showing sudden interest. "Let me look,Jerry!"
"Will you give an honest opinion, regardless of any bias, one way or theother?" demanded the other, whose father was a leading lawyer inCenterville.
"Of course I will. What do you take me for, anyway?" replied Bluff,aggrieved.
"Then look, and tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but thetruth," and Jerry handed him the reading-glass.
"Well, what's the verdict?" asked Frank, after Bluff had studied thepicture for a full minute.
"I won't be as positive as our friend here, but I'm inclined to thinkthat it may be Waddy, all right; anyhow, he's about his size, andthere's something in his way of standing that reminds me of the fellow,"announced Bluff.
"Talk to me about your hedging, what d'ye think of that? Of course it'sWaddy, as big as life, grown somewhat, and with torn clothes and dirtyface; but I'd know his attitude among a dozen. Consider that pointsettled, Frank."
"Well, it doesn't matter much to us at all. If the sheriff, Mr. Dodd,manages to catch up with the runaways, Mr. Waddy will have a chance togo back to where he came from--the reform school. Now, let's drop thosetwo, and talk over our proposed visit to Wildcat Island," remarkedFrank.
"Have you got all the supplies?" asked Will.
"Here's the list. Look it over, and if anybody wants to suggest otherthings all they have to do is to put them down. We're willing to lugstuff there to the limit of our canoes," answered Frank.
When they had made all arrangements the meeting was adjourned to thetime when they expected to start from the boathouse just after noon onthe following day.
"How about the weather--do we go, regardless?" asked Will, again.
"True canoeists laugh at the weather. Come rain, come storm, they buckup against whatever the day brings forth. At one, then, every fellow beon hand. I'll have the supplies there before that. I've got a surprisein store for you boys, too," remarked Frank.
"Tell me about that, will you; he's going to let us lie awake all nighttrying to guess the great conundrum. Say, it hasn't anything to do withthe girls coming over some day to take dinner with us, has it?" askedJerry.
"Oh! say, that would be immense, only too good to be true," cried Bluff,who, be it known, was rather inclined to be sweet on Frank's onlysister, Nellie.
"They've promised to come, all right; but this has nothing to do withthat. You just wait and see, that's all I'll say. Now come into thefront room, fellows. Nellie has had several friends over, and we'regoing to make a delightful evening of it."
Frank would not listen to any protest, but ushered his three chums intothe parlor where they found four lively girls enjoying themselves withmusic, and waiting for the meeting of the club to come to an end.
For the next hour they romped as only a lot of young people may, forwhom the morrow has no terrors. Will's twin sister, Violet, was, ofcourse, there, as were Mame Crosby and Susie Prescott, the former ofwhom was never so happy as when teasing Jerry, and getting him to"spout" after the fashion of his learned father when pleading for aprisoner before the bar.
It was about half-past ten that they separated, after enjoying somesimple refreshments in the way of cake and lemonade.
The boys saw the girls home, Will taking his sister; while Bluff,secretly informing Nellie Langdon that he only did it out of purecourtesy, saw that Susie was properly escorted through the quiet streetsof Centerville, and reached her father's house in safety.
When Frank reached the boathouse, just at half-past twelve on thefollowing day, he found all of his companions there ahead of him.
"You slow coach, think we've got the whole afternoon to get started?"demanded Bluff, who was bustling around as usual, yet accomplishing verylittle.
"Well, if you examine closer you'll find that I've been here most of themorning, and packed the things in several bundles. These go in the bigcanoe; those yonder you must stow away, Bluff, while Jerry will takecare of the rest," replied Frank, paying little attention to the way inwhich he was addressed, because he knew it was mere talk, and no slurintended.
"Sure you didn't miss anything?" asked Jerry, smiling grimly; for hepretended to scorn this wholesale carrying of stuff into the woods, andalways declared he could exist happily with a blanket, a coffee-pot, afrying-pan, some salt and pepper, coffee and ship biscuit, depending onrod and gun to supply all else.
Nevertheless, when the "duffle" was lugged into the woods he consideredit a sacred duty to do his utmost to lessen the supplies, possibly forfear they would have to "tote" them out again, as Bluff used tosarcastically remark.
"Not that I know of. If you are afraid, why we might go over the listagain, and see what else we can use," said Frank, with a wink towardWill.
"I beg of you don't. My poor canoe would sink of fright or freight.Besides, I want you to notice that it's kind of rough out on the lake,and as it stands we're taking big chances of being swamped. Come on,fellows, load your cargo!" called Jerry.
"What's this funny bundle in our boat?" demanded Will, suddenly.
"Ask no questions and I'll give you no yarns. Just possess your souls inpatience, and you'll see after a while," came Frank's answer, as he wenton loading systematically, taking heed of the fact that they would needto buck up against some rather heavy seas from the south while on theway, and that everything must be protected from the wet by covers.
"I bet it's a new patent stove he's got along," suggested Will.
"Oh! that's in my boat already. It burns kerosene, and makes a blue gas.Frank says it's the boss in rainy weather, with those aluminum campkettles for cooking. I reckon it must be a box of cake and pies thegirls have supplied," ventured Bluff.
"You're away off, for they're going to bring those things when theycome. Besides, this isn't in the shape of a box at all," laughed Frank.
"That's a fact, and it looks more like a spare blanket or two," camefrom Jerry.
"Well, give it up, boys. I don't believe you'd guess in a month ofSundays. Now, are you all ready?" queried the leader of the club, as hetook up his paddle and prepared to look after the port side while Willworked the starboard.
Frank, being the more experienced of the twain, had the stern seat, asthat is usually considered the post of greater responsibility inclearing rocks while running rapids, and generally guiding the craft.
"Say when!" called Jerry.
"The _Red Rover_ is ready to meet the storm!" announced Bluff, whoselittle craft had a narrow band of red around its gunwale.
"Go!"
The four paddles dipped deeply into the water, and simultaneously thelittle canoes started into the teeth of the wind. There were a fewshouts from the shore, and considerable waving of snowy 'kerchiefs froma group of girls standing before Frank's house, which latter brought aseries of salutes from the paddlers until the commodore of the flotillasternly warned them that unless they paid more attention to what theywere doing an upset would mark the beginning of their Spring outing.
After that they kept their eyes straight ahead. And, indeed, there wasreally need for all attention, since the waves were running quite highfor such small vessels to meet. Still, a canoe, if properly handled, canlive in a sea that will sink a much larger boat; since the tiny cedarcraft mounts to the crests of the waves with the buoyancy of a cork.
They paddled strenuously for an hour toward the south, and by that timewere beginning to feel their muscles growing somewhat sore. The seasonwas young, and they had not as yet become wholly accustomed to hardmanual labor, though all of them used the school gymnasium through thewinter months in the endeavor to keep in condition.
"Talk about your combers, these are the real thing," grunted Jerry, ashe shot up on the crest of a wave, from which exalted position he had afleeting view of the island dead ahead; and was then swept down intowhat seemed to be a valley.
The fact that each boat was so heavily laden added to the danger oftheir swamping if once t
hey turned sideways to the seas, or broached to;but the boys were conscious of this ever-impending peril, and foughttooth and nail to prevent it.
Wildcat Island was quite a large piece of ground, standing in the lakeat some little distance from either shore, but much nearer the westernone, that upon which the town of Newtonport was situated, with itsdistant range of hills, called the Sunset Mountains by the natives.
This island lay not far from the foot of the lake, while another, goingby the name of Snake Island, was situated close to the lumber camp atthe head of the body of water, which was some ten miles long by betweenone and two wide.
With a strong south wind blowing, a heavy sea could be kicked up, thoughnaturally this would be found much worse the farther up the lake onewent.
"Ten minutes more will see us there, boys!" shouted Frank.
He feared that one of the other paddlers might be getting pretty nearhis last effort, and wished to encourage the balance of his chums torenewed efforts.
"We're all right; don't worry about us," called back Bluff, who happenedto be a little bit ahead.
He had hardly spoken than he came close to the verge of disaster. Tomake his voice carry the better, Bluff had half turned his head, and indoing this lost his advantage just a trifle. So it came that the nextsea struck the _Red Rover_ on the forward port side, instead of head on.This caused the frail canoe to sheer out of her course, amid franticefforts of her wearied skipper to regain a straightaway heading; andonly for the fact that a second sea did not follow closely on the heelsof the first, he might have met with an upset.
Presently they ran into the lee of the island, where the water wassmoother.
This revived the flagging energies of Bluff and Jerry, always rivalingeach other in whatever they attempted; so they set up a little race forthe shore.
"Who won, Frank?" demanded Bluff between gasps, as all of them landed.
"Well," remarked the other, with a sly wink at Will, which at the timethe latter did not fully understand, though its import was made plainlater, "I'd declare it a dead heat! You two fellows are so evenlymatched it's hard to decide which is the better."
"All but our lung capacity; there I've got him beaten every time,"insisted Bluff.
"You have, eh? Wait until the opportunity comes, and you'll just see howeasy I put you on the mat. Ashore it is, my hearties! We're castawaysailors for a week!" exclaimed Jerry, suiting the action to the word,and dragging his canoe up on the little shelving beach, beyond which laythe bristling thickets, hiding all the mysteries of Wildcat Island.
"Monarch of all we survey. Here we hide from the world, and forget dullcare," sang Will, prancing about to ease up his strained muscles.
"Here, lend a helping hand, you shirk!" called Frank, who was draggingthe big canoe ashore alone.
Suddenly there was a shriek from Will that made the others spring up.Frank's hand involuntarily reached out for the double-barreled shotgunthat lay in its waterproof case on top of the stuff in his canoe.
"Look! look! the wild man!" shouted Jerry.
They all saw a hideous face framed among the branches and twigs of thethicket close by. One second only was it in view, hardly long enough forthem to make out that it was human rather than that of an immense ape.Then the ugly face vanished from their sight, leaving the four canoeistsgaping at each other as though unable to positively decide whether theyhad really seen the mysterious wild man of the island, or somethingwhich their imaginations had conjured up instead.