Afloat; or, Adventures on Watery Trails

by John C. Hutcheson

  CHAPTER XIV

  BOUND TO SUCCEED

  No wonder the young scout-master was surprised and thrilled by what hesaw as he crouched there amidst the bushes, and stared over their tops.

  Not more than sixty or seventy yards away at the most there appeared tobe a violent commotion among another bunch of brush, as though a numberof unseen parties might be forcing their way through the obstruction.

  Even as Elmer, and his chums as well, looked, a figure burst out,quickly followed by a second, a third, and then still more, until inall there were six in the queer procession that seemed to be headingdirectly for the late hide-out of the swamp fugitives.

  What startled the boys most of all was the fact that they knew severalof those who went to make up that strange company. First, there wasJohnny Spreen, the bound boy at the Trotter farm, and who had giventhem so many points concerning the swamp he knew so well.

  Just behind Johnny walked a consequential looking personage dressed ina blue uniform, and, with a glittering shield fastened on his leftbreast. Well did the Hickory Ridge boys know the Chief of Police intheir own town. Behind him came a second and a third man, also inuniform, whom they knew to be local "cops;" while the next had theappearance of having been impressed into the posse; then at the tailend of the procession came Farmer Trotter, carrying an old musket thatmay have done duty in the Civil War, half a century back, for it lookedlike a fossil.

  "Gosh!"

  That was Lil Artha "letting off steam," as he would have termed it; buthe uttered his favorite expression so very low that there was not theslightest danger of it's being overheard.

  "Don't wink an eyelash if you can help it, fellows," whispered Elmer,who apparently, for reasons of his own, did not want the posse to knowof their presence so near by.

  Of course, the others instantly knew what he meant, and if they hadbeen made of stone it is doubtful whether they could have maintained amore rigid attitude as they crouched there in the bushes.

  Fortunately, all of the posse seemed to be looking ahead. Perhaps theyhad been warned by the bound boy that the place to which he was takingthem was not very far distant, which would account for their eagerness.

  So they passed on. Elmer kept whispering to his followers not to makea move unless it was to drop down flat on their faces. Apparently, noteven Landy felt inclined to do this. As long as the Chief and hisgallant posse remained in sight everyone crouched there and took it outin staring.

  Then when even Farmer Trotter had been swallowed up in the scrub, sighsmight have been heard arising from some of the boys' lips, as thoughthey were relieved to have the suspense ended.

  "Never glimpsed us!" remarked Mark, triumphantly.

  "Blind as bats in the day-time!" added Landy.

  "They didn't happen to turn this way," said Elmer; "and since you allkept so still I don't believe they'd have noticed us even if they hadlooked. I want to say it was well done, boys."

  "That was Johnny Spreen, wasn't it?" asked Landy, as though he wantedto have someone corroborate what his own eyes had told him.

  "It certainly was," said Lil Artha. "The farmer wouldn't let him comewith us, but I guess the Chief just swore them both into his posse, andthen they had to come or run up against the law. A sheriff or a policeChief can do that, you understand; no matter whether a man wants toserve or not, he's got to."

  "And you all noticed, I reckon," remarked Chatz, "that they were makingstraight fo' the hide-out where Hen and that man spent the night. Thatshows Johnny must have figured out after we left him that it would be agood place for hiding. What do you all say about it?"

  "Oh! there's no question but what you're correct, old top!" Lil Arthatold him in his queer way. "But I'm real tickled because Elmer didn'ttake a notion to hail the Chief, and take him in on our deal."

  Elmer laughed at that.

  "It wasn't any 'Hail to the Chief' this time, you see, Lil Artha," heremarked. "We have borne the heat and burden of the day, and it wasn'tright that that crowd, coming in at the tail end of the chase, shouldshare alike with us. Besides, you remember we decided we wanted to getat poor Hen _before_ the law could lay a hand on him."

  "So we did," muttered Chatz.

  "But Elmer," objected Toby, "supposing they get to that place, and findthe birds flown, don't you reckon they'll notice that we've been there?"

  "So far as the Chief and his men go," returned the other, "I wouldn'tbelieve them capable of finding out anything except that the camp wasempty. But all the same I suppose they will know about us."

  "Meaning that Johnny will see our tracks, and read the story there; isthat it, Elmer?" queried Lil Artha, quick to catch on to the meaning ofthe patrol leader's words.

  "Yes, Johnny will tell, because he's been hunting furs so long that heknows a heap about following tracks. When he finds out there were alot of boys in the camp he'll guess we discovered the place."

  "Mebbe they'll take it for granted we caught the birds, and be ready tothrow up the game then and there?" suggested Toby.

  "Hardly that," advised Elmer; "Johnny ought to be able to tell themdifferent. He would soon learn after looking things over that all ourtracks were made _after_ those of the man, when we left the camp. Yousee that must tell him we were pursuing the fellow. I put myself inJohnny's place; and that's how I believe I'd figure it out."

  "A good way to do, too, believe me," said Mark.

  "Then in that case," Lil Artha continued, "they'll be coming alongafter us before a great while. Whew! if this doesn't beat anything Iever took part in. It's a continuous procession, boys, winding in andout through the high lands of old Sassafras Swamp--first Hen and theman who controls his actions; then seven bold scouts of the WolfPatrol; and finally our big puffball of a Chief and his valiant possebringing up the rear."

  "But we don't want them to overtake us, do we?" asked Landy, actuallymeaning to hint that they had better be moving on, which was aremarkable thing to enter the head of the Smith boy, always the firstto desire a halt.

  "We do not," Lil Artha informed him, plainly, "and to prevent such ahorrible catastrophe from happening we expect to be on the jump againright away, doubling our pace it may be, Landy. The worst is yet tocome, remember."

  "Huh! you can't scare me any, Lil Artha," the fat scout told histormentor; for he knew very well that with a trail to follow they couldhardly proceed any more rapidly than before.

  Progress was immediately resumed. They went forward in about the samemanner as before, with Mark keeping Landy company at the tail-end ofthe procession. The situation was now growing more and more serious,and much depended on whether they could manage to overtake thefugitives before night came on. A whole day's tramping through theintricate recesses of the swamp, just as the dry land afforded footing,was a monumental task that must try the nerve of the best of them; andLandy, if not one or two others, would be apt to drop out of the rankslong before sunset came.

  Elmer, however, was hopeful that they must overtake those they chasedlong before such utter weariness seized upon them. He knew that HenCondit himself, although no weakling, could not stand hours upon hoursof continual walking, especially when it consisted of such uncertainfooting as fell to their portion under those conditions.

  Complete exhaustion then might compel Hen to beg his companion toeither leave him or else order a halt. One way or the other suited thescouts just as well, so long as they overtook Hen.

  When Landy found that he was puffing from his exertions he took anextra grip on himself and would not listen to Lil Artha when the tallscout proposed that he drop out.

  "All you have to do is to squat where we leave you, Landy," the otherhad told him in a wheedling way; "and after we're done our businesswe'll sure promise to look you up again, won't we, Elmer?"

  "Nothing doing," snapped Landy, decisively; "what d'ye take me for, LilArtha, to desert my poor chum Hen when he needs help so much? I'm asticker I want you to know. Adhesive plasters haven't got anything onme when it
comes to standing by you through thick and thin. No usewasting your breath; save it for your work, say I!"

  "Let him be, Lil Artha," said the patrol leader, hardly knowing whetherit was fidelity to a fellow-scout in distress that influenced Landy, ora dreadful fear lest he find himself left alone in the midst of thedismal swamp.

  "Why yes," added Mark, "Landy is doing all right, even if he doeswheeze more'n is good for him. But he hasn't stumbled more than sixtimes in the last half hour, which is some record for Landy, youunderstand, follows [Transcriber's note: fellows?]."

  Apparently, Landy took this as a great compliment, for his perspiringface was set in a grin of triumph as he thrust out his tongue at LilArtha, as much as to say:

  "See, Mister Smarty, others appreciate my good qualities if you don't.So just mind your own business, and leave me alone to attend to mine.I'll get there or burst a blood-vessel trying. That's the Smith natureevery time."

  Having heard Landy talk in this strain many a time the rest of thescouts could easily put these expressions in his mouth, though he wastoo short of breath just then to give them utterance; looks, however,often count more than mere words.

  They had been making splendid progress all this while, and must havecovered considerable distance since the time when they watched theofficial posse wind its way past their hiding-place.

  Lil Artha and Elmer had once or twice held a low consultation aftermaking an examination of the tracks they were following.

  The others, listening to what the leaders said, found they werecomparing notes, and that it appeared to be the opinion of both Hen wasgetting pretty tired. This they could make out in various ways knownto scouts who had made a business of reading the story to be found intracks.

  "You can see how uneven Hen walks most of the time," said Lil Artha;"he wobbles even worse than Landy here, which goes to show he's gettingpretty tuckered out. Can you blame the poor fellow when p'raps he'sweak from hunger? If any of us had to go without a bite to eat all daywe'd get wobbly on our pins, too."

  There was no dissenting voice raised to this assertion; eating is soessential to the average boy that nothing on earth can compensate for adearth of food at the regular intervals.

  "Then we saw several places where Hen had sat down to rest, youremember," Elmer reminded the other.

  "Yes, and the last time it struck us both that the man had yanked himto his feet again by main force; which I take it wasn't as nice andkind of that bully as you might expect," Lil Artha went on to say.

  "Oh! the coward!" Chatz was heard to growl, and the look on his face ashe said those few words told what he meant to do if ever theopportunity came his way to strike a blow for the abducted chum.

  Filled with renewed determination after this little conference, theyonce more took up their task. Lil Artha likened their progress to theways of the Siberian wolf that follows its quarry day and night untilin the end its very persistence wins the victory.

  "We're in this to the finish," he was fond of saying whenever he hadthe chance, "and sooner or later we'll get him. The boys of the WolfPatrol mean to stick to their name, and run the prey to the earth. Hejust can't get away nohow. All we've got to do is to keep moving, andbelieve the game is going to come our way. Everybody put his best footforward again. It's for the honor of the patrol, boys, that we gethold of Hen Condit before the Chief takes him in."

  It was now two hours and more since they had started on this new trail.Before this time no doubt the posse must have reached the desertedhide-out, and learned that the birds had flown. Yes, it was evenpossible that they were coming along the plain trail the seven scoutshad left behind them.

  Figuring then that the bulky Chief and his men would not exceed theirown rate of progress, they could count on almost two full hours'advantage over the others. That surely ought to be an abundance oftime in which to carry out their plans, granting that they couldovertake the fugitives.

  Elmer had again cautioned them to keep still. The swamp was verysilent where they now found themselves, and sounds could be carried tosome distance under such conditions.

  Landy was getting on fairly well, considering a number of things thathe had to contend with. Indeed, Elmer meant to tell him as much whenhe had the chance; for he felt that the stout scout deservedencouragement. What might seem trifles to some of the others assumedthe aspect of mountains in the eyes of one who was not gifted withagility by Nature, and had to carry a far greater weight with him thanany of his mates were obliged to.

  But here was Lil Artha coming to a full stop again. Looking at him theothers found that the tracker did not seem to be bending over toexamine the trail more closely, as had occurred many times before.

  On the contrary, Lil Artha was now raising his head in an expectantattitude. Landy even conjectured that he must be observing awoodpecker boring a hole in some rotten tree-top, and was about to tryand follow the supposed line of vision on the part of Lil Artha when heheard him say something.

  It was only a brief sentence, but it meant worlds to those tired trailfollowers.

  "I smell smoke--wood smoke at that!" was what Lil Artha hissed, as hecontinued to sniff vigorously.