Billie Bradley on Lighthouse Island; Or, The Mystery of the Wreck

by Janet D. Wheeler

  CHAPTER II

  THE HUT IN THE WOODS

  "What is it?" Laura cried.

  For answer Billie pointed through the gloom.

  "There! See it?" she cried excitedly. "It's some sort of little house, Iguess--a hut or something."

  "A house!" cried Laura joyfully. "Glory be, let's go! What's the matter?"she asked, as the other girls hung back.

  "Better not be in too much of a hurry," Billie cautioned her. "The placelooks as if it were empty; but you never can tell."

  "Well, there's something I can tell," Laura retorted impatiently. "Andthat is, that I'm getting soaking wet." She started on again, but Billiecalled to her to stop.

  "Don't be crazy, Laura," she whispered. "We're all alone in the woods,and it's almost night. How do we know who may be in that shack?"

  "Oh, Billie, suppose it were the Codfish!" whispered Vi, and Laura lookeddisgusted.

  "It isn't apt to be the Codfish," returned Billie. "But whoever it is, Ithink we'd better be careful. We'll go up to it softly and look about abit. Please don't any one speak until we're sure it's all right."

  The girls were used to obeying Billie, even impulsive Laura, so now theyfollowed softly at her heels, stepping over twigs so as to make no noise.

  "Goodness! anybody would think we were thieves ourselves," Laura giggledhysterically, and Billie looked back at her warningly.

  It was a strange thing and strangely made, this remote little shelter inthe woods. It probably had some sort of framework of wood inside, but allthe girls could see from the outside was a rude structure entirelycovered by moss and interwoven twigs. In fact, unless one looked closely,one might think that the little hut was no hut at all, but part of thefoliage itself.

  The girls could find no windows, but as they moved cautiously around thehut Billie came upon a small door. The latter was hardly more than fourfeet high, and the girls would have to stoop considerably to get throughit.

  "For goodness sake, open it, Billie," Laura whispered close in her ear."It's beginning to pour pitchforks and I'm getting soaking wet. I don'tcare if a hyena lives in there, I'm going in too."

  Billie wanted to laugh, but she was too wet and nervous. So she openedthe little door cautiously and peered inside.

  For a minute she could not tell whether the hut was empty or not, for itwas very very dark. But as her eyes became accustomed to the darkness shefelt sure that the place was empty.

  "Come on," she called over her shoulder to the girls, her voice stillcautiously lowered. "I can't see very well, but I guess there's nobody athome."

  The girls had to stoop almost double to enter the tiny door, but onceinside they were surprised to find that they could stand upright.

  They were in almost entire darkness, the only patch of light coming fromthe little door that Vi had left open. Suddenly they began to feelpanicky again.

  "If we could only get a light," whispered Vi.

  "Goodness, listen to the child," said Laura scornfully. "She wants allthe comforts of home--ouch!" Her toe had come in contact with somethinghard.

  "What's the matter?" cried Billie startled.

  "Matter enough," moaned Laura. "I've broken my toe!"

  "Oh well, if that's all," said Billie, but Laura began to laughhysterically.

  "Oh yes, that's all," she cried. "I only wish it had happened to you,Billie Bradley!"

  If all wishes could be fulfilled as quickly as that of Laura's therewould be few unsatisfied people in the world, for before it was out ofher mouth Billie uttered a sharp cry of pain, and, lifting a smartingankle in her hand, began to rub it gently.

  "Did you do it, too?" cried Laura joyfully, adding with a good imitationof Billie: "Oh well, if that's all--"

  "Oh for goodness sake, keep still," cried Billie, from which it will beseen that Billie was not in the best of tempers. "This place must be fullof stuff. Goodness, why didn't we think to bring matches with us!"

  "Because we went out to get ferns, not to burn up the woods," said Laura,with a chuckle.

  "Goodness!" cried Vi suddenly out of the darkness. "It is--no itisn't--yes it is----"

  "For goodness sake, what's the matter with her?" asked Laura, gettinghysterical again. "Has trouble turned her head?"

  "No. But something's turned yours," Vi's voice came indignantly back ather. "I've found something, I have. But I've a good mind not to tell youwhat it is."

  "Violet, my darling," cried Laura, fondly. "Don't you see me on myknees?"

  "Yes," said Vi, and suddenly there was a flare of light in the room thatilluminated the faces of the girls and made Billie and Laura jump.

  "I see you," said Vi calmly, and stood laughing at them while theflickering match in her hand died down to a little glimmer and went out.

  "So that's what you found--matches," cried Billie joyfully, while Laurajust kept on gaping. "Oh, Vi, you're a darling, and I forgive you forscaring us almost to death. Come on, light another one so we can seewhere we are."

  Vi obediently lighted another match, a box of which she had found quiteby accident, and the girls looked about them curiously. And as theylooked their curiosity and wonder grew. Billie was wild with impatiencewhen the match in Vi's hand flickered and went out again.

  "Here, give them to me," she cried. "I thought I saw something. Look out,don't spill them, Vi!"

  "I should say not--they're all we have," chimed in Laura.

  The match flared up in Billie's hand, and this time it was her turn tomake a discovery. The discovery was a pair of thick white candles, eachset in a white china dish and pushed to one end of a rudely-made table.

  Quick as a flash, Billie put the match to the wick of one candle, andthen, with a sigh of excitement, blew out the match that was almostburning her fingers.

  "Girls," she cried, looking about her eagerly, "isn't this the queerest,funniest little place you ever saw? And it's so complete."

  Excitedly she crossed the little hut, whose floor was nothing but solid,trampled-down earth, and began to examine a rude-looking cot that ranalong all one side of the queer little place.

  "And here's a pantry!" exclaimed Vi excitedly. "Look, girls, shelves andcans of things and--and--everything!"

  The interior of the place was made of rough boards, rudely throwntogether as if by an amateur. Why the person who had made the littlecabin had not laid boards for his floor, nobody could tell. Perhaps hehad run short of lumber or perhaps he preferred the hard earth floor.

  As Vi had said, in one corner some boards had been nailed up to formshelves, and there were several tins of canned goods upon the shelves.Quite evidently this must be the queer owner's pantry.

  Besides this, the cot, the table, and an oddly-shaped chair, which hadevidently been made from an old soap box, made the only furnishings ofthe place.

  "I wonder," said Billie, looking about her while a sort of awe crept intoher voice, "what the person is like that lives here. He must be veryqueer, to say the least."

  "Oh," cried Vi, all her old fears coming back again. "Girls, I'd almostforgotten the Codfish. Do you suppose--"

  "No, we don't," said Laura shortly, wishing that the very mention of theCodfish would not send the cold chills all over her. "Goodness, justlisten to that rain," she added, shivering. "I guess we're in for a nightof it."

  "But we can't stay _here_ all night," said Billie anxiously.

  "Suppose the owner should come back," added Vi, her teeth beginning tochatter.

  "Well, he could only kill us if he did," said Laura gloomily.

  "Besides, there are three of us to his one," said Billie, trying to speaklightly. But Laura spoiled the attempt by adding more gloomily than ever:

  "How do we know there's only one of him?"

  "Well it doesn't look as if a whole family resided here."

  "That's so too--but there may be two, at least."

  Again the girls looked around the queer place. They saw a few tools as ifsomebody had spent time
in woodworking. There were shavings and parts ofcut tree branches and strips of bark.

  "I'll wager he's a queer stick--whoever he is," was Billie's comment.

  "And what will he say if he finds us here, prying into his privateaffairs?" came from Laura, with something of a shiver. "Oh!"

  All uttered a little cry as a crash of thunder reached them. Then therain seemed to come down harder than ever.

  "Just listen to that!"

  "It's good we are under cover. If we weren't we'd be drowned!"

  The rain came in at one corner of the shelter, forming a pool on the hardfloor. But it did not reach the girls, for which they were thankful.

  "I wonder how long it will last," sighed Vi presently.

  "Maybe all night," returned Billie.

  "Oh, do you really think it will last that long?" came pleadingly.

  "You know as much about it as I do."

  "What will they think of our absence at the Hall?" broke in Laura.

  "They may send out a searching party----" began Billie.

  "Hush," cried Vi suddenly, and her tone sent the gooseflesh all over themagain. "I hear something. Don't you think we'd better put somethingagainst the door?"