CHAPTER XXIX
LIFTING THE LID
Three men could be seen splashing desperately through the water; and theyseemed to be carrying a fourth, who was lying on a rude sort of litter,as though he might either be sick, or badly hurt.
And so it flashed through Paul's mind that perhaps after all theirmission was not one of conquest, or even hostility, but that they wereseeking help.
"Hold up, fellows," he hastened to say; "we'll have to let them comeaboard now, because they never could get back to the hill again, with thewater rising so fast. Besides, I think they've got a wounded man along,and need help. Don't forget we're scouts, and always ready to hold out ahelping hand."
"That's the ticket!" declared the impulsive Bobolink, forgetting hiswarlike disposition when he saw the man on the litter.
So Paul beckoned to the men to approach. He had already made thediscovery that one of those who bore the litter was the big man who hadwaved them away with such violent gestures, just before the terribleexplosion, when they happened to get too near the mine that was beingfired for some strange purpose.
Two minutes later, and still splashing through water that came almost upto their hips, those who bore the injured man arrived close to the boats.
"Why, it's Professor Hackett who's being carried!" exclaimed Jack.
The small man on the litter, who looked very white, lifted his head withan effort, and tried to wave his hand.
"Yes, that's who it is; and you're Jack Stormways; aren't you? Oh! I hopethat chum of yours can do something to stop this bleeding; I made themcarry me down here as a last chance. My man who was sent for a doctor inour aeroplane, has not come back, and we're afraid he had an accident.Can some of you boys help lift me aboard? I'm very weak from loss ofblood, and nearly gone."
His voice was as faint as a whisper; and indeed, it was a wonder that hemanaged to speak at all.
The scouts had quite forgotten everything but that there was some one introuble. Tender hands immediately were forthcoming to assist in raisinglitter and man over the side of the boat. Then the three attendantsclimbed aboard, and strange to say the scouts seemed to have forgottenall their fear of the men they had believed to be lawbreakers. For nowthey saw that they were an intelligent lot of men, who bore littleresemblance to such criminals as they had seemed to be.
Paul had long been interested in surgery. His father was the leadingdoctor of Stanhope, and had always encouraged this fancy in the boy. Itseemed that the professor chanced to remember that he had been told aboutthe ability of Jack Stormways' chum; and when matters began to lookdesperate, since none of his assistants could seem to stop the flow ofblood that followed his accident, as a last resort he had forced them toput him on a litter, and make for the spot where they knew the scouts hadtheir camp, the man in the aeroplane having signaled the fact back tothem, just as Paul suspected.
Of course they had not dreamed of such a thing as the lake rising, untilthey had gone too far to retreat; and then they took desperate chances offinding the boys still there, where they had boats with which they couldgo to the mainland.
Paul busied himself immediately. It was a pretty bad wound that thelittle man had received, and his left arm would be practically uselessthe balance of time; but he cared not for this, if only his life mightbe spared.
Jack and Jud assisted whenever their services were needed and in the endPaul had not only stopped the flow of blood, but had the injured armneatly bandaged--as well, the professor weakly declared, as any surgeoncould have done.
"And now," said Paul, turning on the big man, who had hovered aroundanxiously, watching what was being done, as though he thought a greatdeal of the professor; "in return for what we've done, won't you pleasetell us who and what you are, and why you're doing all these queer stuntsaway up here on this lonely island, where nobody can see you? We're allmixed up, and don't know what to think. At first we believed you must bea lot of counterfeiters hiding from the Government agents; but what withthese explosions, and such things as aeroplanes, I'm getting it in myhead that it means you're trying out some big sensations that are goingto be sprung on the Coney Island public next season."
"And that's where you made a pretty clever guess, my boy," said the bigman, as he settled down to take it a bit more easily after his recenthard work; "Professor Hackett has invented most of the biggest sensationsseen at seaside resorts these last ten years. He expects to excel hisrecord next season, and then retire; and I tell you, now, I began tothink he'd retire another way, if he lost much more blood from thatwound, which he got by accident this morning."
The scouts looked at each other, and a broad smile appeared on many aface that only a short time before had been pale with apprehension.
When a thing that has seemed a dark mystery is finally explained, itoften looks so easy and simple that all of us wonder how we ever couldhave bothered our heads over such a puzzle. And so it was in this case.Why did it come that no one had guessed the true explanation before, whenit was so easy?
They began to tell the big man all about their experiences, and how somany things seemed to make it appear that the strangers were hidingfrom officers.
"How about that fellow who was hanging around my father's mill that nightyou had your two big boxes stored there?" Jack asked.
"He represented a rival inventor, who has always been jealous ofProfessor Hackett, and is forever trying to find out what he has on thestocks," replied the big man, whose name they learned was Mr. Jameson, anable assistant to the inventor of aerial bombs, brilliant explodingmines, and a dozen other wonders that thrill audiences at the seashoreeach season.
"But wouldn't he be likely to follow the wagon when it took the boxesaway in the morning?" the boy continued to ask.
"Oh! we put him on a false scent, by shipping two other boxes away on atrain," was the reply. "He must have gone two hundred miles before hediscovered his mistake; and I doubt very much if he knows yet, but iswatching those cases to see what we do with them, away out in western NewYork State."
"Er, how about these?" asked Bobolink, jingling the two shining quartersin his hand. "I picked 'em up close to that field smithy you have on theisland. We thought they were the best counterfeits we ever saw. I guessthey are."
"I lost a bunch of small change through a hole in my pocket," laughed theman, "and so I judge those are a part of it. But keep them as souvenirsof your wonderful adventures on Cedar Island. Every time you look at themyou'll remember that narrow escape you and your friends had when you camenear stepping on a mine, the fuse of which had been lighted; forProfessor Hackett, even while he was wounded, would not hear of usstopping our work."
"Thanks," replied the gratified Bobolink, again pocketing the quartersthat had been the cause of so much speculation among the seven scouts;"I'll be glad to accept your kind offer. But there's another thing we'dlike to know."
"Speak up, then, and I'll be pleased to accommodate you, if theknowledge is in my power to bestow. This flood bids fair to bring ourexperiments to an end for the time being, even if the professor'sweakness hadn't made it necessary that we get to some place where he canreceive the right kind of care, to build up his strength. What'sbothering you now, my boy?"
"How about the wild man?" asked Bobolink.
"Oh! he was here when we came, and we made friends with him," the otherreplied, promptly. "You see, some of us have been up here for a month. Wehad some new stuff shipped in those big cases; but it'll all be rustednow by this water. The poor fellow is harmless, for all he looks sofierce. Why, at the smell of coffee the tears trickled down his dirtycheeks like rain; it seemed to be just one last link that bound hisflitting memory to something in the far-away past. We gave him an oldsaucepan to cook it in, and showed him how. Ever since he's visited usoften, and we supplied him with food, because it seemed as though he wasthe one who had first right to this island."
"I hope the poor old chap has the good sense to climb that hill, and getaway from the rising water," remarked Jack, with
some feeling. "Have youany idea who he can be, or where he came from?"
"We made up our minds that he had been out of his head a long time, andperhaps had escaped from some institution. He mentioned the name of JohnPennington once, and we think it must have been his. The professorintended to make inquiries, later on, and if possible have him returnedto his home, wherever it might be."
"Did he have a big yellow dog tied up at his shack?" asked Nuthin,eagerly, as though he wished to settle that point, because the animal inquestion had once belonged to the Cypher family.
"Yes," answered Mr. Jameson, "but it got away from him one night, bybreaking the rope, and he's been making a great fuss about it ever since.But from the ugly looks of the beast, I'd sooner put a bullet in him thantry to make friends."
"Well, that about finishes the list of questions we've been nearly dyingto ask somebody," remarked Bobolink, "and seems like everything's beenexplained. What we want to know now, and there isn't a livin' soul c'ntell the answer to that, I reckon, is, how high is this old lake goin' toget before she commences to fall again? And how in Sam Hill are weexpectin' to ride those motor-boats over that pile of rocks and mud, thatlies in the outlet? Anybody know the answer? I'd like to hear it."
But they shook their heads. Nobody could say, although all sortsof guesses ran the rounds, for the scouts were good hands at thatsort of thing.
The water was still rising, and apparently just as fast as ever. Alreadyit had encroached upon the main part of the island; and Mr. Jamesondeclared that he was sure it must be all around the shed where they kepttheir machinery, that had been brought secretly to this isolated spot,where they hoped to complete the greatest marvel in the way of sensationsever known to curious crowds at watering places.
"It'll be badly hurt, unless the water goes down soon," remarked thebig man; "but that doesn't seem to be the worst thing that can happen,if what your Doctor Paul here, says, turns out to be true, and thewater goes out of the lake in a raging torrent that may drag boats andall with it."
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