COVERING THE CAVE.

We avoided piling on the dirt very deep, because there was danger of breaking in the roof with a heavy load. A thin layer of sand covered with the top-soil brought up the level to about that of the rest of the knoll. Then the sod was laid back in place and well watered, and the few bushes planted back in their original positions. Our sodding should have been done in the spring for best results. The frost soon killed the gra.s.s, and the bushes withered away. But a few cents' worth of gra.s.s seed was sowed in, and in time gave the knoll a very natural appearance.

A bush at the bottom concealed the entrance of the cave, so that no one who was not in the secret would have suspected that beneath that innocent looking knoll were gathered the members of the "Big Bug Club."

THE BIG BUG CLUB.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 186. A Section through the Completed Cave.]

Of course, we had to organize a secret society, to occupy our subterranean dwelling. In that I fear we overstepped the rules of the school. Of course, Mr. Clark knew of our cave, in fact he visited us there once, lowering his dignity sufficiently to squeeze into the narrow pa.s.sageway, and playing Bill a game of chess at our club table. He seemed quite pleased with our work, and complimented us very highly on the masterful way in which we had built the underground house. We told him that we had organized a club of the older fellows to play indoor games and have occasional spreads, but we did not tell him that most of our spreads were held at the dead of night, when there was no moon and the stars were hidden by clouds. At 10 o'clock each night the bell rang for us to turn out our lights, and after that the six members would each, in turn, keep a half-hour watch, that is, first one would sit up and try to keep awake for half an hour, after which he would waken the next fellow, who at the end of a half hour would rouse the third, and so on, until 1 o'clock, when the sixth watcher would wake up the entire club. Then we would all creep out the back window in the hall, onto the roof of the rear annex of the schoolhouse, and thence climb down a rope ladder to the ground.

MIDNIGHT BANQUETS.

I suppose we could have just as easily have tiptoed downstairs and out the back door, but it would have spoiled the romance of it all. The absolute stillness and the pitch-black darkness of the night were awe-inspiring. The roll of a pebble or the crack of a twig under foot would set us all atingle as we stole out to our cave house. Sometimes the night was so black that we could hardly find the entrance of the cave. Once inside, in the light of a few candles, the nervous tension was relieved, and we reveled in a banquet of cold victuals and dainties, purchased out of the monthly club dues. Our meetings in the cave lasted scarcely half an hour. In fact, the meeting, and even the banquet, were mere incidentals. The main enjoyment consisted in stealing out to the cave and back again, always at the risk of getting caught. Usually when we got to bed again we would be too excited to fall asleep right away, and when we did finally drop off our sleep was so sound that several times the breakfast bell caught one or more of us still napping.

THE CLUB PIN.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 187. The Club Pin.]

The only other charm our secret club afforded was the wearing of a mysterious club pin. It was a silver beetle, with the letter G engraved on the head and the letter B on the body, while down the center of the back was the letter I (see Fig. 187). In public we called ourselves the G. I. B.'s, but it was only the initiated members who knew that these letters were to be read backward, and, with the beetle on which they were engraved, signified the "Big Bugs." Of course, we had some secret signs and signals, a secret hand grasp, a peculiar whistle as a warning to run, another meaning "lie still," and a third signifying "all is well."

THE COMBINATION LOCK.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 188 The Notched Washers.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 189. Washers Fastened on Spools.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 190. The Combination Lock.]

We found it necessary to close the entrance of our cave with a door fastened with a padlock, so as to keep meddlers out. The entire school had watched us build the cave house, and, of course, knew just where our entrance lay. Then, in addition to the outer door, we put in another one, half-way down the dark pa.s.sageway. On this Bill rigged up a simple combination lock which would baffle any one who managed to pick the padlock. This inner door opened outward. It was hinged to the floor of the pa.s.sageway, and swung up against a frame set in the pa.s.sageway. At the top was a board whose lower edge lay flush with the edge of the door when it was closed. For the combination lock we used a couple of spools, each with one head cut off and the central hole plugged up with a stick of wood. In the floor and the top board of the frame, holes were drilled just large enough for the shanks of the spools to fit snugly in them.

Next we made a trip to a hardware store for a file and a couple of large copper washers, about 1-1/4 inches in diameter. The washers were fastened to the inner ends of the spools after they had been pushed through the hole. The washer on the door came just to the edge of the door, while the other extended below the door frame and lapped under the door washer. Then in the edge of the washer on the frame a notch was filed, while in the other washer two notches were filed, so as to leave a tooth which fitted snugly into the notch of the first washer (see Figs. 188, 189). The door was locked by turning both the washers until the notch and tooth came in line with each other, then pushing the tooth through the notch, and turning the washers so that the frame washer hooked over the door washer. Then the door could be opened only when the tooth and notch were brought in line.

On the head of each spool we pasted a disk of white cardboard, the edge of which was graduated, as in Fig. 190. Then we had a secret combination, say 11-19, which meant that when the spools were turned so that the number 11 on the door spool came in line with the number 19 on the frame spool the tooth and notch would be in line, and the door could then be opened. Of course, this combination was known to the members of the club only, and any one outside who tried to open the door might have tried for some time without bringing the tooth and notch into line with each other. Occasionally we changed the combination by loosening the screws which held the washers, and turning them so that the notch and tooth came opposite different numbers on the dials. This was done so that if any one should chance to learn our combination he could not make use of it very long.

CHAPTER XVI.

SCOOTERS.

"h.e.l.lo, Dutchy! What in thunder have you got there?"

It was Bill who spoke. We were on our way home for the winter holidays, and had been held up at Millville by Reddy Schreiner, who had informed us that Dutchy was down by the river with the boat to give us a sail up to Lamington.

A vision of a fleet ice boat skimming up the river at express train speed swam before our eyes. But the next moment, as we turned the corner into River Street, we were surprised by the sight of our old scow just off the pier at anchor, and in open water. It was rigged up with a jib and mainsail, which were flapping idly in the wind. It had also been altered by decking over the top, with the exception of a small c.o.c.kpit, evidently for the purpose of keeping out the water when she heeled over under the wind. We were disappointed and quite annoyed at not finding the ice boat on hand; furthermore, our annoyance was considerably heightened by Dutchy's broad grin of evident delight at our discomfiture. "The river wasn't all frozen over," he explained, "and we couldn't bring the ice boat down, so we rigged up the scow and she came down splendidly."

A SAIL IN THE SCOW.

There was nothing to do but to jump in, though I, for one, would have taken the train in preference had there been one inside of two hours.

Dutchy, however, seemed to be in a surprisingly good humor, and kept up a lively chatter about things that the club had made in our absence. The skis, which have already been described on page 42, had been built under Reddy's guidance, and they had already used them on Willard's Hill, coasting down like a streak and shooting way up into the air off a hump at the bottom. Then there was the toboggan slide down Randall's Hill, and way across the river on the ice.

OUR CRAFT STRIKES THE ICE.

Dutchy talked so incessantly that we hadn't noticed the field of ice which we were nearing. Just at this point Bill turned around with an exclamation.

"Here, Dutchy, you crazy fellow, where are you going to? Hard to port, man--hard aport--or you will crash into the ice!"

But Dutchy only grinned nervously.

"I tell you, you will smash the boat!" Bill cried again, making a dive for the steering oar; but just then the boat struck the ice, and both Bill and I were thrown backward into the bottom of the boat. But the boat didn't smash.

[Ill.u.s.tration: A Sail on the Scooter Scow.]

There was a momentary grinding and crunching noise, and, much to my surprise, I found that the old scow had lifted itself clean out of the water, and was skating right along on the ice. Then Dutchy could control himself no longer. He laughed, and laughed, as if he never would stop.

He laughed until the steering oar dropped from his hands, and the old scow, with the head free, swung around and plunged off the ice ledge with a heavy splash into the open water again. Then Reddy, who was almost equally convulsed, came to his senses. "Now you've done it, Dutchy; you're a fine skipper, you are! How do you expect to get us back to sh.o.r.e again?" The steering oar was left behind us on the ice, and there we were drifting on the open water, with no rudder and no oar to bring us back.

THE SCOOTER SCOW.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 191. Scow with Runners nailed on.]

The only thing we could do was to wait until the wind or current carried us to the ice or land. In the meantime Dutchy, who had suddenly sobered down when we took our water plunge, explained how he had rigged up the scow to travel both on ice and on water. He called the rig a sled boat, but the name by which such a rig is now known is a "scooter." It was Dutchy's idea primarily, but Reddy had engineered the work. Along the bottom of the scow two strips of hickory had been nailed to serve as runners. The hickory strips had been bent up at the forward end, as shown in Fig. 191. Each runner was shod with a strip of bra.s.s, fastened on with flathead screws, which were countersunk, so that the heads should not project below the bra.s.s. This virtually made a sledge out of the old scow, and didn't spoil it for use on the water.

A SPRIT SAIL.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 192. Mainsail of Scooter Scow.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 193. The Snotter.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 194. Jib-sail of Scooter Scow.]

A sprit sail and jib were rigged up. The dimensions of these sails, which were taken from a book in Mr. Van Syckel's library, are given in the ill.u.s.trations. A sheet of heavy muslin was made to measure 7 feet square, as indicated by dotted lines in the drawing; then the corners were cut off along the full lines shown in the ill.u.s.tration. The edges were now hemmed all around, and the lower edge of the sail was lashed to a boom, 7 feet 6 inches long. To the luff were attached a number of mast rings, which were slipped over a stout mast projecting about 5 feet 6 inches above the deck of the boat. The peak of the sail was held up by a spar called a sprit. The sprit was sharpened at each end, and the point at the upper end was inserted in a loop of heavy cord fastened to the peak of the sail, while the lower point of the sprit rested in the loop of a rope on the mast, called a "snotter." The snotter was a short piece of rope with a loop at each end. It was wrapped around the mast, as shown in the drawing, with one loop holding it in place, like a slip knot, and the other supporting the end of the sprit. A single halyard was used to raise this sail. It was attached to the boat and pa.s.sed over a block in the mast. When raising the sail it was first partly hoisted, then the sprit was hooked in the loop and the snotter, after which the throat halyard was drawn taut. Then the snotter was pulled up the mast as far as it would go, flattening out the sail. The jib-sail was made out of the large corner piece left when cutting the mainsail. The dimensions of the jib-sail are given in Fig. 194. It was such a small sail that no boom was used with it. In place of a rudder the steering oar had to be used. This was made of a rake handle with a large trowel blade fastened to the end of it. The sharp blade cut into the ice, and so steered the scow when it was running as an ice boat, and in the water the blade offered sufficient resistance to act as a rudder.

SCOOTER SAILING.

But to return to our sail home to Lamington, we were not out on the open water long before the current carried us back to the ice ledge. Reddy jumped off and soon returned with the steering oar; then we proceeded on our way homeward, now in the water and now on ice. Once or twice the scow was unable to climb out of the water, because she had not sufficient headway, and was clumsy and heavy with four boys aboard. Then we had to push off until we could get a sufficient start. It struck me that while Dutchy was quite clever to think of such a rig, yet it was very clumsy and capable of much improvement. Bill wasn't saying very much all this time, and I could see he was doing a lot of thinking.

Evidently he was planning some improvement, but Bill was a very considerate fellow, and did not want to spoil Dutchy's pleasure just then by telling him how much better a scooter he might have built. It wasn't until after supper, when a meeting of the S. S. I. E. E. of W. C.

I. was called, that Bill came out with his scheme.