Boy Scouts in the Maine Woods; Or, The New Test for the Silver Fox Patrol, Page 5

  CHAPTER V.

  JIM'S SECRET.

  "What was that?" exclaimed Bumpus.

  "Oh! Davy just had to let out a whoop!" commented Step Hen.

  "Think again, would you," spoke up Giraffe, who sat there twisting hislong neck this way and that, in a comical way, as though seeking todiscover the object of the strange outcry; "it came from the other sideof the camp from where Davy is."

  "Well," said the indifferent Step Hen, as if not wanting to be bothered,"then it must have been some animal that was curious enough to prowlaround our camp, and got a good scare, free, gratis, for nothing."

  "It was no animal that made that sound, and I leave it to Thad or Allanhere," Bumpus insisted.

  Indeed, even the sleepy Step Hen sat up and took notice that the twomentioned, as well as Jim and Eli, were already on their feet,exchanging significant looks. Words were hardly needed to proclaim thatthey deemed the circumstance as one worthy of investigation.

  Just then Davy came in, bearing his little camera, and with a grin onhis face.

  "Got a fine picture that time, I reckon, fellers," he announced, afterthe manner of satisfied camera fiends the world over.

  "Did you give a shout, Davy?" asked Thad, thinking it best to settlethat point in the start, before going any further.

  "Not that I know of, I didn't," immediately replied the other.

  "Did you hear one?" continued the patrol leader.

  "Sure I did, and took it for granted that Step Hen or Giraffe had beenscared by the fireworks display, in spite of my warning, and squealed,"Davy replied.

  "That settles it, then," Thad went on, turning to Eli and Jim; "get atorch, or the lantern, and we'll see what it was."

  "Wow! this looks some interesting!" exclaimed Giraffe, beginning to showsigns of excitement himself.

  Eli picked up the lantern, and lighted it. Then he led the way into thebushes at the exact spot where, according to his educated ear, the snortand the crash had come from.

  "Keep back, the rest of you," said Thad, "and let Eli do the looking. Ifhe finds anything worth while, be sure you'll all know about it."

  A minute later the old guide called to them to come on.

  "Bully for Eli; he's lost no time in making good!" exclaimed Giraffe.

  The whole party crowded around the old guide, who was on his knees onthe ground, apparently examining some tracks he had found. He waved ahand to keep them from crowding too close to him, so as to interferewith his work.

  Bending low, Thad could easily see the marks. Some one had beencrouching there in the bushes, and spying on the camp. That he could notbe an honest woodsman it was easy to guess, for as such he would havestalked straight into camp, sure of the warm welcome that is alwaysextended to a stranger who looks good.

  Eli pointed to the impression close to the footprints.

  "Thar's whar he rested the butt o' his rifle," he said, positively, andThad knew it was exactly as Eli declared, just as though he couldhimself see the actions of the hidden man. "Got on his knees and crawledup to whar he c'ud poke his nose outen the scrub hyar, an' watch us. Andhyar's whar he was arestin' on jest wun knee; cause ye kin see the marko' his foot beyond."

  "What was he doing that for?" asked Thad, though deep down in his hearthe seemed to instinctively know.

  "Wall, I kinder guess naow thet he mout a be'n a tryin' to see how hecud kiver wun o' us with his _gun!_" replied Eli.

  He beckoned to Jim, and that worthy approached. There was a troubledlook on the face of the younger guide that Thad could not but notice;and he realized that the affair might not be so great a mystery to Jimas it seemed to the rest of them.

  "Take a squint at them hood tracks hyar, Jim; p'raps ye mout sorterreckernize the same," Eli remarked drily.

  Jim only needed that one glance, and then he gritted his teeth as heobserved:

  "Oh! twar _him_, all right, Eli; I knowed it."

  "Wow! and again I say, wow! this here is sure getting mightyinteresting!" muttered Giraffe, shuffling uneasily from one foot to theother; while Bumpus, filled with a sudden alarm, started back into thecamp, to arm himself with his new gun.

  "Do you mean Old Cale Martin?" demanded Thad.

  "None other," answered Jim, moodily.

  "Then he must have seen you, Jim, sitting here?" the patrol leader wenton.

  "He shore did," replied the short guide.

  "And amused himself covering you with his gun, just as if to say that hecould put a bullet in you, if so be he wanted; but he didn't want to,did he Jim?

  "Reckon he didn't, sir," the other ventured. "Yuh see, he ain't jest_thet_ mad at me, so's tuh wanter kill me; jest sez as haow Igotter keep away from whar he camps, yuh know."

  "Sill, he said he meant to pin your ears to a tree, if he caught you uphere; those were about the words your guide friend, Hen Parry, used,weren't they, Jim?"

  "Thet's what they was; an' he meant it, too," Jim replied. "Thet's oneo' his good points, thet he allers keeps his word. If them game wardenscud ever git Ole Dad Martin tuh say as he never wud kill game outenseason agin, they'd know nawthin' under the sun'd tempt him tuh do hit,not even if he was a dyin' fuh a bite o' meat. He ain't all bad, thishere Cale Martin."

  "But what about you, Jim; seems to me this is taking big chances in yourcoming up here, when such a lawless character has a grudge against you,and is waiting to put his stamp on you that way. And strikes me, Jim,that you must have had a motive in coming, that was more than justbluff. How about that?"

  The young guide glanced at Thad when he said this, and evidentlyrealized that the patrol leader could read his mind better than mostpeople; he looked a little confused; then gave a short nervous laugh,and said:

  "Wall, naow, sense yuh sized me up thet away, I'll jest hev tuh admitthet I did hev a notion in comin' up here, 'sides takin' ye through theEagle Lakes. I hed my orders tuh come, an' from one as I hes tuh mind."

  He turned away while speaking, as though not inclined to say more justthen in the presence of so many; but Thad made up his mind there was astory back of the strange actions of Jim; and that a few point-blankquestions might bring it out. Before he slept he hoped he would find achance to get Jim to one side and ask him about it; for he had reason tobelieve the other was ready to confide in him.

  "Do you think he'll come back again to-night?" asked Davy Jones.

  "Who cares?" remarked a voice at the elbow of the speaker; and turning,they beheld Bumpus flourishing his new double-barrel gun, as though onlytoo anxious for a chance to hold somebody up at its muzzle.

  "Here, you keep that cannon aimed the other way, if you please!" criedGiraffe, dodging behind a convenient tree. "You ought to be marked witha red flag 'dangerous--dynamite!' that's what I think!"

  "Come, let's get back to camp," remarked Thad. "There's little chance ofOld Cale coming back here to-night. He got the scare of his life whenthat flashlight burst on him so sudden like. I wouldn't be surprised ifhe thought a rapid-fire machine gun was opening on him; or else thatlightning had taken to camping on his trail."

  "Anyhow," remarked Allan, "he just couldn't help turning and running asif the Old Nick were after him. And from that we can guess that Calenever heard tell of flashlight pictures."

  "Well, can you blame him?" asked Thad. "Makes me think of the old fable,when the lion and the donkey went hunting together. The lion took up hisstation at the mouth of the cave where some goats had hidden, while thedonkey went in; and made all sorts of terrible noises, braying. So thegoats ran out, and the lion killed as many as he wanted. When the donkeycame out he asked his partner if he had done the job in good shape.'Fine,' said the lion, 'and you would have frightened me too, if Ihadn't known that you were only a donkey.' And that's the way with us,fellows; we were on to the game in advance, or some of us might havetaken to our heels too."

  "Here, that sounds mighty much like you were calling me a donkey,"remarked Davy, trying to display a certain amount of offended dignity.

  "Oh! not in the least,"
laughed Thad.

  "If the shoe fits, put it on," jeered Giraffe. "You know they say thatwherever you see smoke, there's sure to be fire."

  "Not much there ain't," burst out Bumpus, with a grin. "I've seen_heaps_ of smoke started, without a sign of a blaze," and Giraffesubsided into silence knowing what was meant.

  "Did you get a good picture, Davy?" asked Thad, as they once moresettled down around the fire.

  "Seemed like it to me," was the reply. "It was just when you were alllaughing at what Eli here was saying. He had his hand up, like he wasgoing to smack it down in the palm of the other, to emphasize a tellingpoint in his story. Say, wouldn't it be a great stunt now, if, when Ideveloped that plate, I found a face sticking out of the bushes acrossyonder; and Jim here recognized it as belonging to that big terror ofthe pine woods, Cale Martin!"

  "Say, that would be just great!" ejaculated Step Hen; and all eyes wereturned toward Jim; but that worthy made no remark, though he must havesurely heard what was said.

  As the evening grew on apace Thad was watching for the chance he wanted,to get a few words in private with the younger guide. Jim somehow hadinterested Thad from the start. He never said anything about himself orhis folks; but somehow the young patrol leader had been drawn towardJim. He believed the fellow to be a sturdy chap, clean and honest as anyguide ever employed by big game hunters in the Maine woods. And now thatit began to appear that there was a little mystery attached to his past,of course Thad felt a deeper interest in Jim than ever.

  Perhaps it was accident that took Jim off after a while; he may havejust wanted to smoke his pipe alone, and ponder on the strange fate thatseemed to throw him once more in contact with the man who had crossedhis life trail in the past, and apparently not in a pleasant way either.But somehow Thad conceived an idea that Jim just knew he wanted to havea quiet little chat with him; and was thus making an opening.

  Just as he had expected he found the guide leaning against a tree nearby. The light from the flickering blaze of the camp-fire reached thespot, but faintly; and Jim did not even show any signs of nervousnesswhen Thad drew near, which was one indication that he had half expectedhis coming.

  Perhaps Jim even invited a chance to bestow his confidence on the youngscoutmaster. He must have seen before now that Thad Brewster was noordinary boy; and when a man has been brooding over _something_ along time, he often feels like having a friend to whom he may pour outthe troubles of his soul, and from whom perhaps he may look for advice.

  "Not thinking of changing your mind, are you Jim?" asked Thad, as hejoined the other by the tree.

  "If yuh mean 'bout goin' back, an' feelin' like a whipped houn' dog,sir, 'taint in Jim Hasty tuh do thet aways. Fact is," the guide went on,with a stubborn ring in his voice, "meetin' up with Ole Cale jest kindermakes me more sot in my mind than ever. I stays with yuh right through,yuh kin bank on thet."

  "Well, I only hope he'll conclude to give us a wide berth, and make uphis mind that he'd better keep his hands off," Thad went on. "Seems likehe doesn't fancy you any too much, Jim?"

  This was a plain invitation, and the other so regarded it, for heimmediately answered:

  "I kinder guess Ole Cale does hate me wuss nor pizen, sir. P'raps he'sgut reason fut hit; an' agin, mebbe he hain't. 'Tall depends on the wayyuh look at hit. I on'y done what any man o' speerit'd adone, if so behe found himself up agin a stone wall like Cale Martin's 'no, not on yuhlife!' meant."

  "Then you asked him for something, did you, Jim?"

  "Jest what I done, sir; which something war what he happened to keermore fur than anything else on the yarth," Jim replied; and Thad coulddetect something soft and tender underneath the words, that gave him aclue.

  "And that something, Jim?" he went on, invitingly.

  "War his darter, Little Lina, ther purtiest an' sweetest gal in all theMaine woods," the guide made answer. "When he sez as haow I never cudhev her with all her carin' fur me so much, I jest up an' run away withher; an' thet's why Ole Cale, he hates me wuss nor cold pizen!"