Afloat; or, Adventures on Watery Trails

by John C. Hutcheson

  CHAPTER XIII

  HEN CONDIT'S STRANGE MESSAGE

  "Is it from Hen?" asked two or three at once, that being the allimportant fact stamped upon their minds.

  At the same time they realized just as well as anything it must be so,else Elmer would not be smiling and frowning as he deciphered themeaning of the scrawl. As all the boys knew, Hen Condit was one of thepoorest writers in the Hickory Ridge High School. It may be rememberedthat in speaking of his other note some of them brought this factforward, stating that a teacher had once declared the boy well named,since his efforts looked like "hen-tracks" on paper.

  "It's lucky that I'm able to read any sort of old writing," remarkedElmer, not without a touch of boyish pride; "it's a gift with me, andHen sometimes came to ask me to tell him what he'd set down, for afterit got cold he couldn't well make it out himself."

  "Then you've sensed the meaning of his present communication, have you,Elmer?" questioned Mark, a little bit given to stilted language.

  "I can read it all right," was the reply he received, "butunderstanding the gist of it is another thing. The sentences seemdisconnected, and some of them are queer. When Hen wrote this he musteither have been half out of his mind, or else he was in great fear ofsomething, or _somebody_!"

  Of course, when the scout-master said this, it produced something of asensation among the other six fellows. They exchanged grave looks,while Lil Artha was seen to shake his head, and give that gun of his alittle tilt upwards, as though he now believed more than ever the timewas near at hand when he would be compelled to make some sort of use ofthe same, in order to save the kidnapped chum.

  "Please read it out to us, Elmer!" begged Landy.

  "Yeth, we're wondering what it can all be about," added Ted Burgoyne.

  "Then listen, and please don't interrupt me until I finish," saidElmer. "This is what Hen's written with a lead pencil on this sheet ofpaper, which I think he must have torn from a little memorandum book Ihappen to know he always carries about in his pocket."

  He held the crumpled paper closer to his eyes, for in places thewriting was rather faint, and in two particular spots Elmer had toguess at a word, for evidently a drop of something, perhaps a saltytear, had fallen on the paper, blurring the work of the lead pencilstub.

  "Boys, perhaps you'll get this--he says he counted seven and everyonewore a khaki uniform--he thinks you must be the militia--course I knowbetter--but it's no use, you just can't help me--I'm a goner, and themost miserable boy on earth--but I say on the honor of a scout I nevermeant to do it--I've just got to disappear--maybe I'll let you hearfrom me if ever I get Out West where they can't find me. Oh! what hardluck, but I have to do whatever he says, no matter what I want. I'mmeaning to leave this behind in the scout way, and don't I hope you'llfind it. There, he's calling to me to hurry, for we're going to quitthis hide-out and try to escape. I'm awful hungry, too. Better leaveme to my fate unless you can find a way to seal his lips. That's all.Hen."

  "Great Caesar!" exclaimed Lil Artha, who had hung on every word spokenby Elmer. "That proves one of two things. Either our poor pard islooney, or else he's got in the power of a rascal who controls hismind. I always knew Hen was weak in the upper story just a teentymite. Poor old chap, we've got to find him if it takes us tillChristmas. You hear me talking now!"

  "Yeth, and we all thay the thame!" burst from Ted, as he doubled hisnone too expansive fists, and looked as savage as he could.

  Indeed, a hasty glance around just then would have told any observerthat this strange message, filled with despair and yearning, left byHen Condit in the crotch of a stick thrust into the ground, had renewedtheir former resolution not to give over the search until they hadeither found the missing chum or exhausted every known device lookingto success.

  "If you asked me," said Elmer, "I'd say the answer to the riddle laybetween the two things you mention, Lil Artha. Hen is crazed almost,but it is with fear. He finds himself in the power of a brute who isusing him for his own purposes. How it's been done, of course, we canonly guess, but the boy believes he has been forced to rob hisguardian, and that a posse is searching right now for him, with theintention of putting him in jail. That explains his panic."

  "And say, he tells us right at the end of his note that he's somehungry," Lil Artha went on to remark; "and, according to my notion,that condition is next door to being insane. Why, mebbe the poorfellow hasn't had a solitary bite for a whole day or even two of 'em.I pity him from the bottom of my heart."

  "Notice what he incidentally says near the end," added Elmer. "'Betterleave me to my fate unless you can find a way to seal his lips.' Thatseems to strengthen our theory, doesn't it?"

  "All this mention of 'he' must stand for the unknown man who has gotHen, of course?" ventured Mark.

  "Couldn't be anybody else," the patrol leader made answer; "in fact,Hen just now doesn't seem able to even think of any other person."

  "The fellow is no common rascal, let me tell you, suh," Chatz declared."He must have been some sort of professor along the lines of magic,perhaps a hypnotist who performed wonders on the stage before crowds,and then dabbled in things that the law sat down on, which landed himin the penitentiary finally."

  "When the truth comes out, Chatz, I'm positive that your theory will befound pretty near the exact facts," affirmed Elmer.

  "But all the time we're jabbering away here," warned Lil Artha,"remember that they're getting further and further away from us."

  "As to that," the patrol leader assured him, "a few minutes don't makeso much difference, and it's always best to start right, so as to avoida loss of ten times as much later on by making mistakes. Then again,I'm pretty sure that man is too smart to think of trying to leaveSassafras Swamp before night comes, even if he plans to do it then."

  Somehow, this intelligence comforted the more impetuous ones. They hadsuch unlimited faith in Elmer knowing what course was best to pursuethat his judgment was accepted on its face value every time--just asthe Treasury notes of the United States Government are relied upon tobe worth their face denomination in specie.

  "About how long ago would you thay they had thkipped out of here?" Tedasked, as they still lingered, looking to the right and to the left, asthough wanting to make certain nothing valuable in the way of a cluecould have escaped their scrutiny.

  "Lil Artha, we're depending on you for that information," suggestedElmer, although it could not be doubted that he himself was able togive a pretty good answer, for he had observed certain signs as well asthe tall scout.

  "Not more than two hours ago, I'd say, Elmer," Lil Artha ventured, withconsiderable confidence manifested in his manner, as though if put toit he was able to muster all the evidence necessary to establish hisveracity.

  "Just about what I thought myself," added the scout-master, with asatisfied smile. "Two heads are better than one, any day, Lil Artha,especially when they seem to work together as well as ours do."

  "Then the man didn't think to skip out right away after he got backhere, did he?" asked Landy, "because a good many hours have elapsedsince Lil Artha woke us all up with that sudden shot."

  "No, he must have slept for some time," answered Elmer, "knowing therewasn't apt to be any sort of a pursuit in the night. Then again herelied more or less on having blinded his trail, as a man who had spentsome time in the West among Indians and cowboys would have done. Itwasn't a great while before dawn when he must have aroused poor Hen andtold him they must get away."

  "But when do you think our chum could have scribbled that message?"asked Mark.

  "Evidently, after he knew about our being within a mile of him,"replied Elmer, with a promptness that told how he had figured it allout. "I suppose the man told him about the khaki soldiers who were inthe swamp looking for them, thinking it would make Hen more frightenedthan ever; but we know he guessed the truth about our being hiscomrades of the Wolf Patrol."

  "Then, believing he would be hurried off again, sooner or later,
" Markcontinued, "he took the first chance he had to write that message. Hemust have fixed it in that split stick, and just as they were leavinghere stuck the wand in the ground, scout fashion."

  "We seem to have it all sized up to a dot by now," remarked the leader,preparing to move; "and as there isn't anything else for us to do here,suppose we get busy on the trail again, Lil Artha?"

  "I'm your chicken, and you can depend on me when it comes to scentingout a trail, Elmer. Wonder if that man will be up to any more highjinks in the way of walking along logs, climbing trees, and suchtricks? We'll keep a good lookout for such capers, believe me."

  They were soon moving along, the two trackers in the van as before,with others trailing after. Landy brought up the rear, though Markkept a careful eye on him most of the time, as though rather skepticalabout his ability to make progress without getting into some sort oftrouble.

  It would be just like clumsy Landy to trip, and make a headlong plungeinto the brown tamarack water of the swamp just when he should havebeen most careful. They had known him to do such things more than afew times in the past; and on this account Mark always made it a pointto drop back and keep him company when he imagined the situation becameacute.

  From the rapid manner in which Lil Artha and Elmer picked up the trailit was plainly evident that so far the unknown fugitive from justicehad not bothered resorting to any of his tricks looking to blinding thetracks.

  He had been compelled to wait for daylight before trying to movethrough the swamp, because progress would have been next door toimpossible at night time unless one were familiar with the way, or elsecarried a lantern. Neither of these happened to be within his scope,and so he had to depend upon daylight.

  Of course, none of the boys knew what sort of a reception they mightexpect when finally they overtook the man they were following. Whatlittle they could gather from various sources inclined them to believehe must be a pretty desperate sort of customer. The occasional mentionof him in that strange message left by Hen was along those very lines.

  He might be armed for all they knew. Such criminals usually are,though in this case it might be otherwise, Elmer had told them, sincehe believed the man had been a prisoner making his escape when first hestruck Sassafras Swamp, and concluded to have his hide-out in itsdepths.

  Still Lil Artha was not for taking too many chances. As he movedalong, the tall scout managed to keep that reliable gun of his inposition for quick use, should an occasion arise calling for service.

  He also tried to glance ahead from time to time, in hopes of locatingany suspicious ambuscade. A sudden attack that would leave himself andElmer weaponless might throw the entire party into a state ofhelplessness, which would always reflect on their ability as scouts.

  They spent half an hour in this fashion, though the trail wound in andout so much that at the end of that time they could hardly have beenmore than a quarter of a mile away from the late camp of the fugitives.

  "Did you hear that, Elmer?" whispered Lil Artha, suddenly, throwing outa hand so as to clutch the other's arm; while everyone became rigidwith suspense.

  "It certainly sounded like a cough," admitted the other.

  "But I'm dead certain it wasn't from in front of us, but over to theleft, which would be some queer," muttered the tall tracker, staring inthe quarter which he now indicated with outstretched finger.

  "I thought the same, Lil Artha," Elmer told him; "but then this trailtwists and turns so much it might get around that way easy enough."

  "Of course it might, Elmer."

  "All we can do is to keep going along as we are, and some of us watchfor signs of Hen and the man over yonder," added the scout-master.

  "Then you don't think it'd pay to strike out to the left?" questionedthe other, who seemed to be hesitating between two opinions.

  "We would be silly to quit a sure thing for an uncertainty," saidElmer, decidedly. "After all our ears may have deceived us, and itmight have only been some queer grunt of a frog, a heron fishing forminnows, or even a muskrat choking over his dinner. No, we must keepon as we're going, that's sure."

  Lil Artha looked relieved. After all, it pleased the tall scout tohave someone decide a puzzling question like this for him.Responsibility weighs heavy on the shoulders of many even capable boys,and they are only too glad to be able to shift it on occasion.

  "Just as you say, Elmer, and I reckon you're quite right, too," alwaysin a low, sibilant tone that would not carry further than a dozen yardsat the most.

  They again turned to take up the trail, which just at that pointhappened to run through some bushes coming up to their hips. It waseasy to see where those ahead of them had brushed through, for they hadtrampled down the lush grass, and brushed aside the tender branches ofthe bushes.

  Elmer had even bent over to take a good look down at the ground beforesetting forth when he heard Toby Jones give a sudden, violent hiss.

  Now, that was a well-known sign among the boys of the Wolf Patrol, andwhich had served them in good stead many a time in the past. Heardunder such thrilling conditions, it could mean only one thing; Toby haddiscovered some sort of danger, and was warning his comrades in orderthat they might drop down out of sight.

  Every fellow seemed to understand this instantly, for as though theywere all moved by the same controlling influence, they allowedthemselves to sink on their knees amidst the friendly bushes thatafforded such splendid shelter. Even as Elmer dropped thus he had shota quick glance toward the left, from which that seeming cough had come,and saw something that electrified him.