Afloat; or, Adventures on Watery Trails

by John C. Hutcheson

  CHAPTER XII

  THE VALUE OF SCOUTCRAFT

  "But that old skiff suits me all right," objected Landy, who did notparticularly fancy shouldering his pack, to tramp through brush andover marshy tracts of land, such as must be their portion.

  "Why ought we make a change, Elmer?" asked Ted, also unable to graspthe meaning of this new move.

  Not so Lil Artha, who was quick to see things, especially when somesuggestion on the part of the scout-master was concerned.

  "Why, what ails you fellows?" he exclaimed, scornfully, as became onepossessed of superior brains; "don't you understand my sighting thatman last night alters the whole business? Now, there's no need ofhunting a needle in a haystack, for we've got a real trail to followup."

  "That's right, suh, and scouts ought to be able to accomplish thetask," Chatz remarked in his superior way, which, however, everybodyknew was only skin-deep, the result of his Southern birth and training,for he was a splendid fellow at heart, and well liked.

  "What about the skiffs then, if we abandon the same?" asked Toby.

  "Oh! we'll mark the place, and Johnny can easily find his property whenwe're paying him five dollars for their use," said Lil Artha, lightly."And boys, better make a start with those packs right now."

  Landy sighed heavily, and seeing there was no escape he started tocarry out the suggestion of the tall scout. His lack of ambition wasso noticeable that Lil Artha could not resist the temptation to take ashot at him.

  "I was just thinking, fellows," he went on, maliciously, "that Landy'sgoing to play out on us, and give no end of trouble; so we might leavehim here to watch the boats while we're gone."

  "What! me stay here, and starve to death?" ejaculated Landy, commencingto put considerably more vigor into his labor; "I guess not, if I knowmyself, and I think I do."

  "Oh! for that matter we'd let you have some grub," continued thegenerous Lil Artha; "enough for one full meal anyway."

  "No thank you, not any in mine. I'm going where the rest do, make upyour mind to that. If the old boats have to be watched stay yourself,Lil Artha, that's all. You couldn't coax or hire me to remain alone asingle night in this awful swamp, not if you tried till doomsday. Ilike company, and if I have to I c'n even put up with you as a steady,Lil Artha. Now that'll do for you. It isn't to be considered for asecond."

  Of course, Lil Artha was only having a little fun, because there was nothought of leaving anybody behind to stand guard over the two abandonedskiffs; and least of all would Elmer have dreamed of appointing the fatand timid scout for such a duty.

  When deciding on such a radical change in their plans, Elmer did notforget that it might also be well for them to conceal the two boats.Should the man they were hunting chance to come upon the skiffs hemight think it good policy to smash in the planks to such an extentthat they would be useless for further voyaging; and possibly thescouts would be glad to get out of the swamp by the same means they hadtaken when entering.

  "First of all, let's hide the boats somewhere," he suggested. "They'repretty heavy, of course, but seven of us ought to be able to carrythem, one at a time."

  "It needn't be for far either," Lil Artha assured them, "because here'sa jimdandy place close by. Everybody on the job, and see what you canlift."

  After all it was nothing to speak of, for the two skiffs were easilyhandled, and nicely concealed from view. When the boys had removed alltraces of their passage, anyone might walk by within five feet of thepatch of bushes and never suspect what lay there so neatly hidden.

  "There, that job's done," said Elmer; "now finish packing, and we'll beoff."

  Landy hurried now. He had a lingering fear that there might be more inthat obscure threat made by Lil Artha of desertion on their part thanappeared on the surface. The more he considered being left alone inthat dreary swamp the faster Landy's fingers flew. He also kept a waryeye on the tall scout, and had Lil Artha shown any intention ofhurrying off he would have surely found Landy tagging at his heels,whether he had his pack or not.

  Meanwhile, Elmer, having quickly arranged his possessions, because oflong familiarity in the packing line, had gone over once more to thebush patch where on the preceding night Lil Artha had seen thatsuspicious lurker.

  Of course, it was Elmer's intention to examine the tracks left by themysterious visitor, and see whether it would be possible for them topick up the trail.

  He was, of course, taking it for granted that the party must have beenthe same man they had been hunting ever since reaching the swamp. Sofar as Elmer could say, his footprints resembled those they had seenwith Hen's, although there was really nothing remarkable about them todistinguish the indentations above all others.

  Elmer knew that they took certain chances in figuring this way. Afterall this man may have been the farmer who had a stock farm. Some ofhis cattle breaking bounds would likely enough wander into the swamp,and in looking for the strays perhaps he had discovered the smoulderingfire.

  As tramps, and possibly bad men as well, sometimes hid in the depths ofswamps, the cautious cattle-raiser may have been crawling up to findout the truth when that sudden shot frightened him, so that he had runwildly away.

  Well, no matter which of these two solutions to the mystery proved tobe the correct one, Elmer meant to try and come upon the party whosetrail now lay before him. He still favored the original idea, and, infact, never bothered mentioning the other speculation to his comrades.

  All of them being ready they set out. Elmer and Lil Artha led the van,for they were recognized as the best equipped scouts in the Wolf Patrolwhen it came to a question of trailing. What Lil Artha lacked inactual experience, he partly made up for in his pertinacity, as well ashis constant practice along these lines.

  It soon became evident to them that the fugitive had not thought itworth while to try and hide his trail at the time he fled from thecamp. That sudden shot must have given him a nervous shock, so thatall he cared about just then was to put as much distance betweenhimself and those seven khaki-clad boys as possible. The fact thatthey carried weapons and would not hesitate to use their firearms musthave convinced him it was a risky thing to hang around that region anylonger.

  For half an hour the boys moved on. Sometimes it was at a fair walk,and then again when the trail grew fainter so that those at the head ofthe column were compelled to exercise all of their knowledge in orderto make sure progress, things slackened more or less.

  The boys had been warned not to make any unnecessary noise. Talkingsave in the lowest of whispers was strictly tabooed, and even at thatElmer did not encourage any conversation. They also had to take careof their feet, and not press their weight upon some stick that wouldbreak with a loud snap. Even such small things have spoiled well-laidplans before now, and trackers, whether of wild beasts of humanfugitives, cannot be too careful.

  If Landy puffed a little the other made no objection, since he tookcare to do it half under his breath. It was not such very easy work,though as scouts most of them enjoyed every minute of the time, beingconstantly thrilled with the expectation of suddenly coming upon a campwhere those they sought might be found, and taken by surprise.

  Lil Artha even had it all arranged in his mind just how he meant tothreaten that man with his gun, warning him savagely that it would beas much as his skin was worth to attempt to flee.

  It was in this humor that they came to a log that lay across theirpath. Here the trail ended, but, of course, such clever fellows asElmer and Lil Artha would understand a little trick like that. Thestumbling man had naturally taken to the log, passed well along to theother end, and then jumped off.

  "You take that side and I'll cover this one," said Elmer, without theleast hesitation; "ten to one we'll get him again."

  They did, for Lil Artha quickly found the tracks once more. Theincident, however, told them that the man had begun to fear he would befollowed when morning came, since this was his first effort to bafflepursuit.

  "I'm s
orry that happened," said Elmer, softly, to his working partner;"because it's going to make our task all the harder you see."

  "Do you mean because he's begun to be afraid he'll be followed?" askedthe other.

  "That's just it," continued the patrol leader; "if that idea gets afirm hold of him he's bound to do everything he knows how so as toleave us in the lurch. In the end he might even decide to quit theswamp, and take his chances of getting away outside."

  "Well, we don't quit at that, do we?" asked Lil Artha, with a grittingof his teeth that told of grim determination.

  Elmer looked at him and smiled.

  "We'd be a nice lot of scouts, wouldn't we," he said, sarcastically,"if we were ready to throw up the sponge at the first sign of trouble?No, we've started on this trail, and we'll run it down if it keeps usbusy the rest of our vacation."

  "In the immortal words of General Grant while flanking Lee and drivinghim back toward Richmond," continued the other, "'we'll fight it out onthis line if it takes all summer!' I'm glad to hear you say that,Elmer. But here we are up against it again, seems like."

  This time the fleeing man had reached a certain point, for his trackscould be plainly seen, but the trail abruptly ended.

  "It's an easy guess," said Elmer, after a brief examination. "You cansee that he stood up on his toes here, for the indentation is heavierforward. Then, besides, look at this bark lying fresh on the ground,only a few small pieces, but scraped from the tree above us."

  "Sure thing, Elmer!" declared Lil Artha, while the others stood andwatched the actions of their comrades with the utmost curiosity, "hejust grabbed hold of that lowermost limb, gave his feet a fling againstthe trunk of the tree, and hoisted himself up yonder."

  "Then perhaps he's somewhere up there still," suggested Landy.

  "I don't think so," continued Elmer; "but we'll send up an expeditionto find out after we make sure that all avenues of escape are closed.My own opinion is that he passed out along some other low-hanging limb,and dropped to the ground again, perhaps thirty feet away from here."

  "Let's look and see!" cried Toby, eagerly.

  "Be careful," warned Lil Artha, hurriedly; "for unless you step mightyfine you may cover up the prints of his shoes where he dropped down."

  Elmer had already decided just about where he would have descended fromthe tree had he been in the place of the fugitive. Lil Artha, too,seemed to have settled on the same spot for he was just at the heels ofthe leader.

  Instead of looking down, Elmer kept glancing up. It might be he wasmentally following the straddling figure along that great limb.Presently he abruptly stopped.

  "I can see signs that tell me he came this far, but they end up there,"he told his companion. "Yes, and here you see fresh leaves on theground. Look sharp, Lil Artha, and it may be your eyes will light onthe fresh trail."

  Hardly had Elmer spoken when a low but eager cry told that success hadbeen achieved. Lil Artha pointed to the mark of feet close besidethem. Undoubtedly, the fugitive had dropped once more to the ground.

  "Say, let me tell you he's a slick article, that chap," said Toby,after they had once more made a fresh start. "I wouldn't be surprisedto learn he'd been out on the plains in his day, he seems to know somuch about Indian ways and all that."

  "But he's met his match in our scout-master, for a fact," blusteredLandy, full of genuine admiration for the commander who had many a timeled the Wolf Patrol boys to victory over stupendous obstacles.

  "Silence everybody now," came from Elmer, though naturally it must havegiven him a warm feeling in the region of his heart to know that thesegood chums felt so kindly toward him and were not backward inexpressing their sentiments.

  So they continued on for another stretch. The fugitive must have cometo believe that by this time he would have thrown any possible trackeroff the scent; at any rate, he tried no new game looking to bafflingpursuit.

  Gliding along like shadows the seven scouts made fair progress. Elmerwas of the opinion that at any minute now they might come upon the spotwhere the unknown had his hide-out. He had communicated his plans tothe others before this, and they all knew the parts they would beexpected to play should it come to a hold-up.

  Covered by the guns that he and Lil Artha carried, it was doubtfulwhether the man would dare take chances and try to flee. If he did andleft Hen behind him, the first thing for them to do would be to securethe boy, even if he evinced a desperate desire to avoid them.

  Somehow, Elmer himself believed they would find what they were seekingin the unusually large patch of brush that now lay ahead of them. Hecaught glimpses of the water just beyond, which proved that an arm ofthe swamp extended in this direction.

  Pushing steadily on as noiselessly as possible, they were presentlyable to part the bushes and discover a dead fire in plain sight. Theboat lay on the shore, with one plank smashed in, doubtless the resultof an accident that had wrecked the hopes of the two fugitives.

  Eagerly they surveyed the prospect, and then Lil Artha gave a grunt ofdisgust.

  "Skipped out, that's a measly shame!" he exclaimed, wrathfully.

  "But what's that white thing stuck in the crotch of the wand yonder?"demanded Toby; "looks to me like it might be some sort of communicationfrom our poor pard Hen Condit; because that's an old scout and Indianway of leaving word, you know."

  Elmer was already hurrying forward to possess himself of the message.The others watched him take it from the crotch of the stick and openthe soiled paper on which there seemed to be more or less crookedwriting in pencil. Then the patrol leader turned to his comrades, alook of satisfaction on his face.