CHAPTER II.
THE STRANGE LEAK.
"Gee whiz! but this is a bad job!" Merritt remarked, after the four ofthem had clambered over the bow of the stranded sailboat. "Here we areas much as three miles away from home, with night coming on and not muchchance of getting the boat fixed so we can go on again in her."
"She never played you such a mean trick before, did she, Rob?" askedAndy, who had managed to get his feet wet in making a jump for the sandybeach, but, boylike, seemed to care very little about such a smallthing.
"No, and I'm wondering right now what could have happened to make herspring a big leak like that all of a sudden," replied the other.
As though impelled by curiosity, Rob once more climbed aboard the boatand started to look around. One of the first things he did was to flingashore a sack that seemed to be pretty heavy,--as might be expected,since it contained the half bushel of extra large oysters for which hehad been sent to the beds near the ocean side of the bay, a long wayfrom Hampton town.
"I'm bound to get that sack home with me if I have to carry it on myback," he called out; at which the other boys, of course, declared thatthey would willingly "spell" him, though the prospect could not haveseemed very inviting.
"But see here, will it be safe to leave the boat in this little cove allnight with a big storm heading along up the coast?" Merritt asked next.
"Safe or not," came from the one aboard the stranded boat, "there'snothing else we can do, is there? Besides, if that storm holds off tillnoon, I'll be up here on my wheel the first thing to-morrow, bale herout, fix the leak, and work her back home by hook or crook. Hello! whatin the wide world does this mean, now?"
"Found the place where the water came in, have you, Rob?" called Tubby,who was hefting the sack of bivalves, and perhaps secretly wonderingwhether it might not make their labor of transporting the same to theBlake house easier if they proceeded to discard a few of the shells andpartake of the juicy contents.
"Why, it's a _round_ hole, I tell you!" shouted Rob.
"What's that you're giving us?" demanded Andy. "I've seen some queerthings happen to boats, but that's the first time I ever knew one tospring a leak with a round hole. Are you joshing us, Rob?"
"I tell you it's as round as a quarter, and about as big into thebargain!" continued the other vigorously. "And what's more, this boatnever sprung a leak!"
"Oh! say, p'raps now a sword fish rammed his beak through her planks!"ejaculated Tubby, who could always be depended on to think up the mostextraordinary explanation possible when anything out of the ordinaryhappened.
All of the other scouts had now crawled back on the boat, theircuriosity having been fully aroused by the strange announcement made byRob. Merritt even insisted on feeling down in the water, and thrustinghis forefinger through the said hole.
"Jiggered if what Rob says isn't so, boys," he called out; "because I'vegot my finger all the way through the hole right now! Why, it's assmooth as if it had been made with an inch bit. Take my word for it,that's the truth!"
"And I've got a good notion that was what did make it!" Rob observedsolemnly; at which Tubby gasped, opening his mouth in the queer way hehad of doing when greatly astonished.
"You mean somebody went and bored a hole right through the planks ofyour boat, do you, Rob?" he asked excitedly. "But why didn't the waterrush in before, when we've been more than a whole hour sailing?"
"Why, you silly," cried Andy, "of course it must have had a plug in thehole! It was probably fixed so that sooner or later it just had to bejarred loose, and the pressure of the water outside would push the samein. That was what happened when we made our last turn. And this same oldplug must have been hidden under the false bottom, which none of usthought to pull up till she floated loose!"
"Here's the proof of it, fellows!" said Rob just then; and he held upsomething he had discovered floating on the surface of the water, thatalready partly filled the cockpit toward the stern of the stranded boat.
"It is a plug, as sure as you live!" ejaculated Merritt. "Let's look atit, Rob!"
One after another they examined the round piece of wood, which hadundoubtedly been shaped just to fit the hole bored in the bottom plank.
"That was about the meanest trick I ever heard tell of!" grumbled Tubby,his round face redder than ever with indignation. "If ever I could findout who did it, I'd feel like showing him up to all Hampton, that'swhat. Here, what's this on the water, fellers? Looks to me like a curledchip, such as would come out when an auger or a brace and bit was used."
"Just what it is, Tubby," added Merritt; "which shows that this measlyhole was bored since the last time Rob went sailing. Otherwise, he musthave seen the plug when he took out the false flooring to clean theboat."
"It's a queer shaving, boys," continued Tubby, with his head bent lowover the object he held in his hand. "See, here, where there's a breakall the way along, and right in the middle, too! What would you make ofthat, Rob?"
"I might be away off in my guess," the other went on to say, after he,too, had closely examined the shaving; "but it seems to me as thoughthat bit must have had a good-sized nick in each half of the bitingedge, queer as that would be. As it kept on turning, it left thisraised ridge, you see."
"Just what I had in my mind, Rob, give you my word for it," Tubbycontinued excitedly. "And I'm thinking right now that this ought to be apretty good clew to prove who made that hole in your boat. All we've gotto do is to find a bit with a nick in both tongues that fits thisshaving; and the thing is as plain as the nose on Andy's face, here."
"Suppose you leave me out when you're making comparisons, Tubby; butthen you're only saying that because you're envious; your own nosedoesn't count for much, with such fat cheeks alongside!" Andy burst out.
But Rob considered that what Tubby had said was worth noticing for heimmediately started to congratulate him,--as a patrol leader alwaysshould do when one of his comrades has given positive evidences ofwaking up and noticing things.
"Tubby, that's a smart dodge of yours, let me tell you," he went on tosay, as he turned on the fat scout; "and if you keep that chip so itwon't break, and can find a bit that fits the marks to a dot, thechances are you'll know who played this dirty trick on me. And becauseyou thought of it first I'm going to hand that job over to you, see?Here's the plug and the chip for you to keep. And some fine day I'llexpect to have a report from you."
"Well, what's the next word, Rob?" asked Merritt, as they all made theflying leap ashore again. This time it was Tubby who made amiscalculation and landed in six inches of water. He hastily scrambledup on the beach to the accompaniment of rude laughter from Andy, whofelt better now that there were a pair of them with wet feet; for miseryalways likes company.
"Oh! we'll make the cable fast to this stunted tree here, and leave theold boat to take her chances to-night," replied the other, as he startedto carry his words into action. "Doubtless I'll find her safe in themorning, and be able to get her home if the storm holds off."
"You don't come up here without having me along, remember," warnedMerritt; at which Rob stopped long enough in his labor of securing theend of the rope to the tree to give the other a nod and a smile; forthey were chums in everything, and almost inseparable.
"And the rest of you just keep mum about this nasty little business, sothat I c'n have the whole field to myself," Tubby warned them, as thoughfeeling of considerable importance since the patrol leader had handedthe mysterious case over into his charge. "I'm going to learn who boredthat hole, or know the reason why, if I have to visit every workshop inHampton by degrees, and find some excuse for examining every blessed bitthere is. But right now I want to say I've got a hunch I c'n lay myfinger on the guilty one, even if I dassent say so till I get the prooffixed on him good and hard. Then look out for explosions, that's all!"
Having fastened his boat as well as circumstances allowed, Rob picked upthe sack containing the selected oysters, threw it over his shoulder,and announced himself ready for the th
ree mile walk along the road thatskirted the shore side of the bay.
The four scouts soon found themselves trudging along the highway whichled from the direction of Montauk Point. It was in fair condition, asthey well knew, having been over it many times on their wheels, or invehicles of various types from a car to a hay wagon.
"If we had any sort of luck, now," remarked Merritt, after they had beenwalking for some little while, and he made ready to relieve Rob of hisload, "we'd hear some sort of wagon coming up behind, and get a ridehome."
"Don't I wish it would happen, though?" sighed Tubby, who on account ofhis burden of flesh always found it much harder than the other Eagles tohike over the country. He was so stubborn, however, that he wouldpersist in anything he undertook until he fairly dropped in his tracks,rather than give up.
"Well," remarked Rob, chuckling, "some good fairy must have heard thatwish, Tubby, because right now I can get the thud of horses' hoofs onthe road back yonder. And there goes the crack of a whip."
"You're right, Rob," observed Andy quickly; "queer how you get on to allthese little wrinkles before the rest of us. Seems like you must always'be prepared,' like every true scout is expected to keep himself."
"Hope it's an empty wagon, and not a loaded hay rig," grunted Tubby.
"According to the way the sounds hit me," continued Rob, "it's a wagon,all right; and it rumbles like an empty one, too. But we shall soonknow, for it is overtaking us right fast now."
"Let's halt here, and line up, two on each side of the road," suggestedMerritt. "The darkness has gathered so it's hard to see any distance;but there around the bend back of us comes a white horse on the trot!Rob, you hit the nail right on the head, for sure enough it's drawing anempty wagon, with two men sitting on the seat and using the whip."
"Looks like they might be in a hurry," suggested Andy. "Watch that oneturning around to take another look along the road behind. Get ready togive 'em a hail, Eagles. Rob, you do the talking while the rest of uslet out our Eagle cry."
Two minutes later and the vehicle had arrived almost opposite where thescouts stood half screened by the bushes. At a signal from Rob the fourstepped out upon the road. Rob started to call to the men in the wagon,meaning to ask them for permission to ride, while Merritt and Tubby andAndy gave a united "K-r-e-e-e," that sounded very weird as heard undersuch conditions.
What followed astonished the four boys very much indeed. The men, seeingso many uniformed figures blocking the road, as it seemed, gave vent toexclamations of abject alarm. Jumping from their seat, they started torun back along the way they had just come. Then suddenly turning to oneside they plunged into the brush, where their hasty progress was markedby all sorts of sounds that would indicate that they were stumblingblindly through the thick undergrowth, tumbling over logs and rocks,evidently on the verge of being panic-stricken!
Boy Scouts Under Fire in Mexico Page 2