CHAPTER XXIV
THE STRANGEST FISHING EVER KNOWN
"A man!" echoed Wallace, also looking grave; and even while speaking heturned his head to stare upward toward that grim cap of old RattlesnakeMountain that hung so high above them.
Perhaps Wallace had seen that will-o'-the-wisp light far up the side ofthe rocky steep on the preceding night, as well as Paul and Jack. He mayhave been pondering over it since, though neglecting to speak to thepatrol leader.
"Well," said Bobolink, with a relieved look, "I'd rather have atwo-legged man wandering around our camp than a four-legged tiger-cat,any day."
"Of course you would," observed Jack, drily, "but think how awful itwould be if a four-legged man was spying on us!"
Bobolink only snorted at this thrust. It was not often the other fellowshad a chance to give him a sly dig; and that was why Jack could notresist the temptation, even while Paul was looking so worried.
"I think we had better run this trail out a bit, fellows," remarked thepatrol leader; "and see what he was after. It seems to have come fromalong the shore of the lake, and struck up the rise about here. Whatsay, Wallace?"
"I'm with you all right," came the immediate reply from the oneaddressed; "It will give us some exercise, and experience; because oncehe strikes the rocks we'll have to be pretty smart not to lose him."
Accordingly they all bent their heads low over the spot where that plainprint of the boot was to be seen.
"Say, do you know what this makes me think of?" demanded Bobolink.
"Not elephants, panthers, or two-legged men, of course!" chuckled Jack.
"Oh! rats!" expostulated his fellow scout. "Come off your perch, Jack,and talk sense. You make me think of an old Polly, just able to repeatthings over and over. But to see us all down on our knees staring atthat trail made me remember the alarm of poor old Robinson Crusoe whenhe found the footprint of the cannibal on his island."
"Well, the comparison isn't so bad--for you, Bobolink," observed Jack;"because while we haven't got an island that we can call our own, weseemed to be the only campers on this lake; and to discover that thereis another fellow on the spot ready to dispute our claim makes us feelthat we've been taken in and done for. But there goes Paul."
The scout leader was indeed moving off. Still bending low, and makingpositive of every step, he kept advancing slowly but steadily. Whenthere was the least doubt he asked Wallace for his opinion; for twoheads sometimes prove better than one.
Presently they came to where the rocks began to stand out. Here thedifficulties increased at a surprising rate, for the impressions werevery faint indeed. Still Paul eagerly continued his labor, because therewas a fascination about it for him. He dearly loved to solve any puzzle,no matter how bewildering; and in these dimly defined traces of a man'supward progress he found that he had a problem worthy of his very bestefforts.
Sometimes the trail seemed utterly to have vanished. Indeed, Jud andBobolink again and again declared that it was useless trying to pursueit any further. But Paul would not give up, and he had a good backer inWallace.
This time they would find a broken twig that had given way underpressure. Then again it would be a stone overturned that caught theireye. And a little later the proof of their reasoning was shown in aclear imprint of the foot in a soft patch of earth.
Then the others would exchange glances of wonder, almost awe, and shaketheir heads, as though they were of the opinion that such work wasbordering on magic. But Paul only used common-sense in his trailing,calling to his aid all that he had ever read, heard or seen of the art.
"Hey, we're right above the camp, fellows!" exclaimed Bobolinkpresently.
Raising his head Paul saw that what his companion said was true. But hedid not look surprised; for all along he had felt convinced that theunknown must be making for some spot where he could obtain a good surveyof the little encampment without being observed by the sentries whilewalking their beats.
Two minutes later the quartet found themselves on the brink of thelittle shelf where Philip Towne, who had given up the pursuit some timeback, had, as he declared, seen a pair of yellow eyes during the night.
All of them peered over. The tents were not more than twenty-five feetbelow. Indeed, that one which contained their supplies lay almostdirectly under them.
The patrol leader seemed to be possessed of an idea. Perhaps itoriginated in certain marks which he had discovered in the thin layerof earth along the edge of the shelf.
"I think I know why this party hung about the camp so long last night,"Paul remarked, when he looked up; and the others hardly knew whether theexpression on his face stood for amusement or chagrin.
"If it was daytime when he came, I'd think he wanted to get a greatpicture of the outfit; but in the night, nixy," remarked Bobolink, whoalways had an opinion, one way or the other.
Wallace himself looked puzzled.
"Don't keep us strung up any longer, Paul," he pleaded. "What's youridea?"
"Put out your hand, then, just back of that bush, and see what youfind," and Paul pointed while speaking to a particular little scrubbyplant that had evidently been partly broken down by the passage of someheavy object over it.
"A string!" exclaimed Wallace, as he held it up.
"Somebody been flying a kite!" ejaculated the ever resourceful Bobolink.
"Suppose you pull it in," continued Paul.
When Wallace had drawn about eight yards of the stout cord he gave agrunt.
"Well, what did you strike?" asked Paul, smiling with confidence.
"Why, hang it, if it isn't a fish hook!" cried Wallace.
"Oh! the looney has been fishing here; now, what d'ye think of that?"exclaimed Bobolink, in apparent glee.
Wallace, however, understood at once. He again looked over the edge.
"But Paul, how could he ever get his line in under that canvas, andsecure any of our grub?" he protested.
"It happened unfortunately that he didn't have to. I can show you markshere on the ground that plainly outline one of our fine hams," saidPaul, pointing to where he had been so closely examining the ground.
"A ham! Oh! my, oh! me, don't tell me that!" cried Bobolink, making agesture of despair; "for we're half through the other one, and it was_so_ good. How could the villain ever clap hands on our prize; tell methat, won't you Paul?"
"I know, all right," said Wallace in disgust, "and I guess it was myfault too. I remember suggesting that it would be a good idea to hangthe second ham from the pole William drove into the face of this littlecliff about seven feet up; and they did it too, the worse luck!"
"Yes," remarked Paul, drily, "and it caught the eye of this fellow,whoever he was. The temptation must have been too strong for him.Perhaps he enjoys a joke. Anyhow, he got it, after some little use ofhis fishline. We're out a ham, that's plain, fellows."
"Think of snapping a porker's hind leg off a pole," groaned Bobolink,"and playing it, inch by inch, up here; while our gay guards walked backand forth on post, as innocent as the babes in the woods. It gets me,all right!"
None of the Banner Boy Scouts looked very happy. Like many other things,a ham is never so much appreciated as when it has disappeared.
"Say, you don't think, now, it could have been one of that Slavin bunch,do you?" demanded Bobolink, presently; "because I happen to knowScissors Dempsey is mighty fond of pork, every way you can fix it."
"I've thought of that," said Paul, without hesitation; "but you can seethe foot is an extra long one. No boy's shoe ever made that. And it'shad a home-made patch on it, too. No, some man has been here, and madeway with our ham."
"Oh! won't it be bad for him if ever we meet the wretch!" threatenedBobolink. "Just you see what the fellows say, when they know. Onlyenough ham for one more meal! That's what I call tough."
There was a howl indeed, when the other campers learned what hadhappened. All sorts of theories were advanced, and Paul laughed at someof these.
"That old humpback rattlesnake
oil man must have come to life again,just like Rip Van Winkle," declared Nuthin, who seemed to have heard thestory somewhere; "and could you blame him for wanting ham, aftersniffing the _delicious_ smells that went up from this camp last night,while William was busy?"
William thereupon made his lowest bow, with his hand on his heart.
"Oh! thank you!" he exclaimed, simpering; "this is too, too sudden; andI've really left the speech I prepared, at home."
But while the rest were both growling and making fun over the secretvisit of the unknown, Paul noticed that there was one in the party whosaid never a word.
That was Joe Clausin.
He listened to everything, without comment; but there was a puzzled lookon his face, as though he could not quite understand certain facts.
Paul realized that he was thinking about the man who looked like theparty he knew; but who was supposed to be at the other side of the worldjust then. Joe believed it might have been this person who stole theham; and yet something seemed to upset such a theory. Possibly themention of that extra long foot, and the patched shoe, hardly agreedwith his ideas.
And while they were standing around, still engaged in disputing andadvancing new theories, some one gave a shout.
"I saw a man on a wheel just flash past that open spot back along thetrail!" he cried; and immediately every eye was focussed on the spotindicated; for coming at just such a moment the news electrified thescouts.
Banner Boy Scouts on a Tour, Page 25
