"There, what d'ye think of that for a jim dandy, fellows?" he cried.

"And b.u.mpus, take a good look at him, because I'm bound to hook the mate to this next time we get out our lines. I'm not only a weather prophet, but there are times when I feel it in my bones that something is going to happen."

He tripped just then, and took a header, whereupon b.u.mpus, with pretended sympathy, hurried to his side, and offered to help him get up, saying;

"Oh! Giraffe, that was the time your bones told you the truth, didn't they; and I reckon your knee joints are skinned some after that tumble, too?"

Giraffe may have been suffering all sorts of agonies at the time, but of course he was not going to let the others see him wince; so he smiled sweetly as he once more gained his feet, and took up the big fish, saying at the same time:

"Don't mention it; I'm all right, b.u.mpus."

But they could see him limp more or less as they headed for the camp by the captured motorboat of the fish poachers.

Of course, when they went off like this they made sure to carry the crank belonging to the engine along with them, so that even if the enemy did enter the camp during their absence they could not run away with the craft, which on account of the make of motor was practically helpless as soon as the crank was gone.

"Here we are, right-side up with care; plenty of grub, and no damage done except that we've decreased the stock of fish supplies the poachers have laid by," Step Hen was heard to declare; and though Giraffe gave him a pained look, and unconsciously rubbed his injured knee, he did not make any remark to the contrary.

And when it came time to get supper ready he was apparently just as able to move around as ever, barring a slight limp.

Of course they kept close watch all the while, not wishing to be taken by surprise, should the enemy muster up enough courage to attempt some desperate trick, possibly looking to making the scouts prisoners, so that they could once more secure the valuable crank, and go away on board their boat.

Thad himself had managed to secure some rest during the day, because he knew that another hard night awaited him.

As on the previous occasion he told the others they could sit up if they chose, and keep both he and Allan company; and just as had happened before all of them tried hard to accommodate; but before one hour pa.s.sed poor b.u.mpus had fallen by the wayside; and then soon afterward Davy, Giraffe and Step Hen all found themselves unable to hold out.

Since they had really undergone considerable in the way of privation and excitement of late, Thad did not have the heart to blame them. He believed that with the one faithful chum alongside, he could take as good care of the camp as though the whole six were on duty.

The time dragged along until it must have been close on midnight; and so far nothing out of the way had happened, though the sentries did not relax their vigilance on that account, for they were too good woodsmen to think of that.

As the boat had been secured with all the available ropes, and a part of the engine dismantled in the bargain, neither of the scouts dreamed that the enemy would aim to strike a blow at them in that quarter. They could not carry the boat off; and even granting that this were possible, it would be useless, since they had no means for running the same.

Still another hour had crept along, and Thad was just beginning to congratulate himself on the way the night was pa.s.sing, when without the least, warning there came a sudden flash of light down in the rocky berth where the boat lay; immediately succeeded by a deafening crash.

Up into the air arose burning fragments of the poacher's boat; and this was the startling spectacle that greeted the astonished eyes of the Silver Fox scouts who had been sweetly sleeping, as they sat up and stared around them.

CHAPTER XXVIII

GOOD-EYE TO STURGEON ISLAND--CONCLUSION

All sorts of loud cries and exclamations arose, as the startled boys began to dodge the falling pieces of the blown-up boat.

Thad, although almost stunned by the sudden catastrophe that had come upon them, in spite of their vigilance, kept a bright lookout, for fear lest the next thing they knew the poachers would come dashing among them, hoping to take advantage of the confusion to disarm them.

But nothing of the sort occurred, and presently the six boys huddled there in a heap, trying to figure out what had happened, and why the three men had resorted to such desperate tactics rather than allow the seeming soldiers to sail away in the morning, and perhaps carry the news to some place where the authorities would be sure to fit out an expedition at once, looking to their capture.

After a great deal of talk, and many odd ideas being advanced, which it would not profit us to mention here, they settled on what seemed to be the most plausible theory. This was that the three poachers, believing they could not make use of their boat so long as the boys in uniform held the key, in the shape of that crank, had decided to blow it up.

Their reason for this may have been that they would in this way compel the others to remain marooned there on the island; and perhaps it was expected that another boat, with a fresh lot of poachers, would be along after a certain time.

This was the nearest they could ever come to it, for they did not have a chance to make the personal acquaintance of the three hide-out men, and therefore could not get information at first quarters.

When the morning came the scouts were not so merry as they had felt on the previous evening when all things looked rather rosy. Still, it is difficult to keep some fellows moping all the time; and even Giraffe tried hard to look at the bright side; thought he often complained that he had consider difficulty in making up his mind which side that was.

As long as the food supply held out, Giraffe was not going to give up to despair; even if fish as a steady diet might pall on the ordinary appet.i.te, Giraffe thought he could stand the bill of fare for a week or two, if they had to stick it out that long.

Thad kept them on the watch for some sort of vessel, steamer, sailing craft, whaleboat barge or anything that would afford an asylum, if only they could by the greatest of good luck attract the attention of those on board.

As the morning got pretty well along the boys were beginning to feel downcast once more, when all at once Step Hen, who had been using the gla.s.ses at the time, let out a joyous whoop.

"Would you believe it, fellows," he cried, "while we've been nearly breaking our necks looking to the east and south for a sail, why, here's a little buzzing motorboat acoming along an the same tack we carried; and ten chances to one now, it's carrying our two good Silver Fox pards, Smithy and Bob White!"

All of them had to take a look through the gla.s.ses, and the consensus of opinion seemed to trend that way; though at first some of the more dubious were inclined to fear that it might only be another poaching boat, that was coming straight to the island to land a catch of illegally taken fish.

"Get busy right away, and let them know where we are!" exclaimed b.u.mpus, all of a tremble with anxiety. "Goodness gracious! just think how we'd feel if they went speeding past old Sturgeon Island, never heating us yell; because the breeze was wrong. Bang away with the gun, Thad, and make 'em look! Do something that'll stir things up! Wish I could let out a whoop that'd carry ten miles, you'd hear me spreading myself some, I tell you."

But all b.u.mpus's fears were useless, for those aboard the little motorboat that had really come all the way from the Soo, starting earlier than Thad and his five companions, heard the combined shouts, and signaled that they would head in without delay.

"Say, couldn't you hold up a little while, and let me go back after a few more of those fine fish?" pleaded Giraffe, when the rescuing craft was drawing close; and when the scout-master shook his head in the negative the tall member went on: "you never know how much grub you need when on one of these here lake trips, with the chances in favor of something happening to knock the engine out. Besides, remember there will be two more mouths to feed, Thad; and sure I could s.n.a.t.c.h up some of them fish in a jiffy. Say yes, won't you?"

"No need of it, Giraffe," the other a.s.sured the lean scout; "it's true that we'll have a couple more with us, but don't forget that they are expected to have a pretty good supply of food aboard as it is. Then who wants to live on fish diet."

"And we'll get to a place right soon," added b.u.mpus, "where we can lay in all the stores we want."

"Yes," Step Hen thought fit to remark, "and then too, if we loaded down so with too much fish, what's ever going to become of that game you and b.u.mpus are working? We expect to have the table supplied right along now with the product of your combined skills as anglers."

"Oh!" chuckled Giraffe, "after all that honey, I give up, and agree to let things run as they are. But I want to warn the said b.u.mpus here and now that I'm camping on his trail; and from this time out the fight is agoing to be just fierce!"

"Bah! who's afraid?" sang out the fat scout, with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Everybody get their things together so we can climb aboard as soon as our comrades come close enough to sh.o.r.e. We may have to wade a little, for the landing places are few and far between, and we don't want to take any chances."

"Then I hope some kind friend will have the goodness to carry me on his back; because I sure hate to get my footsies soaked again," remarked b.u.mpus, unabashed.

It turned out, however, that there was no need of this. The two boys in the motorboat knew how to manage, and brought the little vessel in close enough so that even clumsy b.u.mpus was able to clamber aboard, after handing up his possessions. And Thad smiled when he saw that the other included among these the rusty crank belonging to the destroyed boat which the poachers had used in their illegal business, evidently romantic b.u.mpus meant to keep that as a reminder of his little adventure on Sturgeon Island.

Smithy and Bob White were two of the Silver Fox Patrol whom many readers will remember figuring largely in previous books of this series of Boy Scout tales.

They were instantly almost consumed with eagerness to know what had happened to maroon their chums on the island; but until they had pa.s.sed some distance out Thad would not attempt to relate the stirring circ.u.mstances.

"Looky, there they are, ashaking their fists after us; and I reckon they're letting out a few remarks that might burn our ears if we heard the same, which the breeze keeps us from doing," and Giraffe, as he spoke, pointed to where the trio of lawless poachers stood on a rock near the other end of the island.

That was the last they were fated to see of the men. Later on they happened to enter a Canadian port in search of supplies, and of course Thad made it an object to narrate their adventure to some person in authority. The boys heard afterwards that an expedition was at once started out by the Canadian people, looking to the capture of the poacher crowd, and the breaking up of their illegal business; but apparently the other boat must have arrived before them; for while they found the ice pit, just as the boys had described to them, the fish were all gone, nor did a search of the entire island reveal any sign of human occupation.

Of course it did not matter at all to Thad And his chums whether the three men were ever apprehended, as they did not expect to cruise in this region again and consequently there was no chance of their ever meeting any of them afterwards.

They would never be apt to forget the strange things that had come to them however, while marooned on Sturgeon Island; and often when they pored over the Government charts that Thad kept, they could see again in memory many of those adventures looming up along the mental horizon the wreck of the boat; the lively time they had getting ash.o.r.e; the discovery of the fish packing cabin; the mysterious disappearance of b.u.mpus; how he was found again under such remarkable conditions; the blowing up of the poachers' boat; and last but not least the opportune arrival of their mates with the other craft.

No doubt many a time the very odor of fish would carry the thoughts of those boys away back to this period in their adventurous careers. Not that it marked the culmination of the good times fortune had in store for them; because before many months pa.s.sed a splendid chance was going to come along that would give the members of the Silver Fox Patrol an opportunity to enjoy another outing, this time while the North, where their home town lay, was swathed in snow and ice. The t.i.tle of this next book will be "The Boy Scouts Down in Dixie; or, The Strange Secrets of Alligator Swamp." And the reader of this volume may rest a.s.sured that the adventure's befalling Thad and his jolly mates, Allan, Giraffe, b.u.mpus, Davy, Smithy, Step Hen and the Southern boy, Bob White, will afford them as rich a treat in the new story as anything that has preceded it.