Boy Scouts in the Maine Woods; Or, The New Test for the Silver Fox Patrol

by Herbert Carter

  CHAPTER XVI.

  A STARTLING AWAKENING.

  It was about four o'clock on the following afternoon when the threecanoes containing the boys of the Silver Fox Patrol, accompanied bytheir two guides, drew up once more on the lake shore, and preparationsfor going into camp were hastily commenced, since night would soon beupon them.

  Jim had selected this site for their last camp on this lake. When theyleft it, they intended going through the rest of the chain, and thenseeking the railroad, with the idea of starting homeward again.

  And Thad wondered whether, in picking out this camp, Jim might not havehad an eye to his own affairs. Perhaps it was not many miles away fromthe shack of Cale Martin, the man who had been logger, trapper, guide,and was now about to turn his superior knowledge concerning foxes into aprofitable channel, and raise them for their valuable furs.

  Thad hoped that for the sake of Jim's peace of mind he might carry outhis plan before they broke camp here. And secretly he was determinedthat, should the guide decide to take a chance at finding Old Cale athome, he would not be averse to accompanying Jim across country to theplace where Little Lina used to live, before she ran away with Jim.

  Despite his positive conviction that he was really on the eve ofsucceeding with his fire-making, by the aid of his little bow, and thetwirling stick, Giraffe had failed to accomplish what he expected thatmorning. Why, he hardly ate any breakfast, so engrossed had he been inhis "fiddling" as Bumpus contemptuously called it, whenever he saw thetall scout working that clumsy little bow. But as usual, some littlething went wrong that spoiled the whole combination; and of course firedid not reward the hard labor Giraffe put in.

  He looked so bitterly disappointed that even Bumpus did not have theheart to taunt him; though as a rule the fat boy could be depended on todo his share of such.

  But then, it had been arranged that Giraffe and Bumpus were to go out ona hunt on the following day, all by themselves, and without even a guidealong. Giraffe had boasted so often now, that he felt himself fullycompetent to look after himself when adrift in the woods, that Thadthought it might be a good thing to give him the chance. And there wasBumpus, eager to make use of his new gun; nothing would please himbetter than to accompany the tall scout.

  Of course neither Thad, nor any one else for that matter, ever suspectedthat they would bag any game, unless it might be a few half-tamepartridges, that would sit on a limb, and wait to be knocked over.Indeed, Thad was of the opinion that in the end the two bold Nimrodsmight even get lost, and have to be searched for.

  But then, they would unquestionably leave a plain trail that the guidescould pick up without great trouble; and the experience would be worthmuch to both Giraffe and Bumpus. They were really getting too "scrappy"in their dealings with each other; and a little spice, such as mustaccompany losing themselves in the woods, and being dependent on eachother entirely, might draw them together, Thad thought, and make themappreciate each other more.

  As they sat around the blaze that night, after they had partaken of agenerous supper, Thad purposely led the conversation to the subject offires in the woods. Allan had told of some experiences he met with someyears back, and of course both guides were able to supplement this withstirring yarns that thrilled the blood of the young listeners.

  "And I reckon, now, Eli?" Thad went on, after the guide had finishedwhat he had to tell; "that you never saw the pine woods in bettercondition for a fire than they are right now?"

  "Thet air a fact," replied the other, emphatically. "Dry as tinder, an'ef we doan't git sum snow mighty soon, I guess as haow ther'll bethousands o' acres o' vallerable land burned over afore Thanksgivin'time."

  "Yeou must a seen sum lands thet hed be'n burned, on ther way up on thertrain," interjected Jim, breaking his long silence; "an' yeou kinunderstan' jest how lonesum they 'pears like, with ther tall pinesastandin' thar like flagpoles, black, and withaout ary limb; er elsealayin' in windrows on ther ground. Allers makes me feel bad tew seesech things."

  "And the game deserts a burned tract, too," declared Allan.

  "It sure dew," Jim went on, with a shake of the head. "Yew never seen amore desolate region than sech a burned territory. Everybody moves aoutquick as they can; fact is, most on 'em hes gut ther houses burned, an'doan't hev ter kerry much away with 'em. I hopes as haow it'll snow errain right soon, so's tew save miles an' miles o' woodland."

  "And the fire wardens have their work cut out for them at this season ofthe year, you can easily believe," observed Allan.

  "Wonder now if we'll see a real genuine forest fire while we're uphere," remarked Giraffe, with considerable interest. "My! but she mustlook great to see them pines aflamin' up like big torches. Now, youneedn't give me that look, Thad, because I haven't forgot my promise,an' I ain't acarryin' a single match along with me day after day. But if_somebody else_ sets fire to the woods, I have as good a right tolook as the next one, ain't I?"

  "Of course you have, Giraffe," replied the scoutmaster, relieved,because this overpowering passion on the part of the tall boy had givenhim many anxious minutes since coming into Maine.

  "Lots of these fires come after the loggers have done their work," Allanvolunteered. "You see, they leave a tremendous amount of stuff behind;all the limbs and branches of the trees they have cut down, as they areonly after the main stem; so when this gets nice and dry, after a yearor so, and a fire starts, with a brisk wind to whip it, what follows ismore than I can describe. I saw one such fire, and we only escaped withour lives by the quick wit of a logger along with the party."

  "What did you do, Allan?" asked Bumpus, eagerly. "You know, I'm goin'out with Giraffe to-morrow, and if we did meet up with a forest on fire,I couldn't run like he can, with his long legs; so I'd like to knowanother way to give the old fire the go-by. Please explain how youcheated it. Why, Allan, it might save my life too, for all you know."

  "Glad to hear that you're interested, Bumpus," answered the otherreadily. "And I think every one of you ought to know about it. Whenyou're out hunting, try and keep the location of any stream you happento pass, in your mind. Then in case of being beset by fire, make yourway there, and get in, up to your neck. You're going to be safe there,every time. If it gets hot, duck under, and cool off. I'll sure neverforget the time I had; but then I hope none of you will ever have tohunt for a stream, or that you'll even see a forest fire when up here,no matter how much Giraffe wants to look on one."

  Giraffe had dropped out of the circle, and apparently some idea had justflashed into his mind connected with his pursuit of that slipperycontract, whereby he expected sooner or later to make fire come, afterthe fashion of the far away islanders of the Pacific.

  No one paid much attention, for they were heartily sick of seeing himsawing away with his little bow, wasting so much time, most of themthought; though Thad for his part was secretly pleased to see that thetall scout stuck at his apparently hopeless job; with a persistence thatmust win out in the end.

  Thad had been explaining just what the new system of standing sentry wasto be. Each of the scouts would have his turn, even Bumpus being calledon, though his partner was to be old Eli. There being eight of them,their fixed posts would not run much over an hour and a half each; andit was to be expected that the boys might receive more or less benefitfrom having to assume some of the responsibility of the camp's security.

  Bumpus had been yawning for some time; and presently, taking advantageof a lull in the conversation the fat boy clumsily gained his feet, andmade a lunge for the nearest tent, in which he was supposed to sleep.

  No one was really surprised to see Bumpus trip, and go floundering tothe earth, for he frequently got his legs twisted, and did that; butwhen there was a shout of consternation, and the tall form of Giraffebounded erect they realized that Bumpus had actually fallen over hischum, not noticing him, because his eyes were so heavy with sleep.

  "Oh! Giraffe, excuse me, please!" he remarked, as he rolled over, andsat up. "I give you my word I didn't know you
were there. I was rubbingmy eyes, because they felt so hot and tired, lookin' into the fire solong. Hope I didn't hurt you any?"

  "Hurt me," grumbled Giraffe; "I wouldn't care for that so much, even ifyou'd broken a rib or two in my side; but to think that you'd upset mejust when I was agoin' to make it burst out into a nice little flame!Why, she was smokin' to beat the band when you knocked it all into acocked hat by bustin' my bow; an' now I'll have to sit up another hourmakin' a new one. It's always the way. I'm havin' the toughest luck everwas, about that business; but I can hang on, like a bulldog to the seatof your trousers when you're gettin' over the fence. I'm game, allright. I'm agoin' to get that, if it takes a leg."

  But his bow, he found, could be easily repaired, as it was only the cordthat had been broken. And half an hour later everybody in camp was soundasleep, saving Thad and Allan, who had taken the first watch, so as tosit there, and talk in whispers; for the patrol leader wanted to tellhis chum all about Jim's case, because he felt so great an admirationfor the short guide.

  When their turn had expired, according to the little nickel watch Thadcarried, they woke up Eli, who, with Bumpus was to take the next spell;in turn they were expected to arouse Step Hen and Davy Jones, to befollowed by Jim and Giraffe; and this would finish the night, asdaylight must arrive while the last named were on duty.

  Thad was a good sleeper, although as a rule the slightest thing of anunusual nature aroused him. He believed that the camp would be wellwatched, and when he lay down did not allow himself to get to thinkingof anything to the contrary, for fear that if his brain once got toworking, he might lie awake for a long time.

  He had a dim recollection of the two boys who occupied the tent withhim, Step Hen and Davy, creeping out, when Eli summoned them. Then camean uncertain length of time, which Thad could never measure; for he wassound asleep when it seemed to him some one was shouting something inhis dreams. He sat up, and bumped his head on some object that hadfallen out of place; but he was now fully awake, and felt a thrill whenhe heard real shouts outside, in the voices of Step Hen and Davy Jones:

  "Hey, everybody get busy here! The whole camp's on fire, and the winddriving it into the woods like hot-cakes! Hurry up! Hurry up,everybody!"