Chapter IV: A Night on Shore

The boys had a hard time getting on board the _Rambler_, but it was accomplished at last, and the sufferer was soon in one of the bunks. Then the boat was headed downstream.

Mr. Stagg was left standing on the river bank in the rain. The boys invited him on board, but he explained that he was determined to "get that pesky steer before he went home."

"It's a wild night to be hunting for cattle," Clay suggested as the boat was got under way, "but we all hope you'll find it."

"Say," said Alex, as the boat started downstream, "do you believe the story that man told?"

"Seems like an honest fellow," was Jule's reply, "but one can never tell. To tell the truth, he looked to me more like an outlaw than any fellow we caught on board."

"Pretty fierce night to be hunting cattle," commented Alex, and the discussion was dropped.

"How far is it to the Hayes Junction?" asked Case. "We can't get a surgeon to set that broken leg until we get there, and perhaps not then. I think I'll study surgery, just to be ready for any emergency, when I go to college," added the boy.

"We've got quite a distance to travel before we reach Hayes, and I suggest that we put in the time eating," said Alex. "I wouldn't want to get a regular meal," he continued, "just a large steak and French fried potatoes, and bread and butter, and a couple of pies, and a couple of dozen doughnuts. Just a light luncheon!"

"When the time comes for you to die," Case observed, with a wink at Jule, "you'll die of starvation because of having swept the world slick and clear of food."

"Go ahead and get up your light luncheon," Jule advised. "I think I could take a little nourishment myself."

"Oh, well, if you're going to get up a simple luncheon like you suggest, I don't know but I'll take a light snack myself," said Case, his mouth watering at the mention of pie.

"How'll you have the steak cooked?" asked Alex.

"When it comes to cooking steak," Jule cut in, "I've got the crowd up a blind siding with fires banked."

"That comes pretty near being slang," Clay laughed, putting his head in at the cabin door. "I can see someone washing the supper dishes right now."

While this conversation was going on Paul Stegman, worn out by pain and exposure, was sleeping soundly. At first the boys talked in whispers, but they soon saw that it was a useless precaution, as the roaring of the storm drowned all lesser sounds.

Nothing more was heard of the robbers at that time. The boys believed them to be tramps, and so put them out of their minds. How wrong they were in this the future will show.

The sky cleared shortly, just as the town of Hayes came into view. There was not much of the place--which was little better than a railroad crossing.

Paul still slept soundly, and the boys decided to wait until he awoke before looking over the town for a surgeon.

The steak and potatoes being done to a turn, the boys fell to with appetites sharpened by the keen air.

"Pie," declared Alex, "is Nature's best gift to man! There is green apple pie, dried apple pie, red apple pie, and pie-pie. Pie has all other food on its back with its tongue out!"

"When you get to pie," Jule cut in, "you're always due for a eulogy. If I had the appetite for pie that you have, I'd feed it to the bears! By the way," he exclaimed, bounding up from the table, "where is Teddy, Junior? Why isn't he out here getting filled up?"

The boy shot away like he had only a second more to live, but soon returned with the announcement that the baby bear was lying on his belly snoring "to beat the band!"

"Who's got the job of washing the supper dishes?" asked Alex, rolling back in his chair with the air of a millionaire. "Who talked the most slang to-day?"

"Jule did," declared Case.

"I should say not!" denied that lad. "If I could talk slang equal to Alex, I'd give the slang dictionary cards and spades and then win out! He's got a tongue that whirls round and round like a puppy after his tail. The idea of putting me in his class!"

"In order to settle this dispute amicably," interrupted Clay, "I propose that the boys both tackle the job. They have both been talking slang all day."

"All right!" consented Jule. "Only you don't want to forget and leave any pie on the plates."

"If I had your mouth for pie----"

Alex began, but checked himself before completing the sentence--much to Jule's disappointment.

The boys had a merry time over the dishes, and then Clay and Case went to bed, leaving Alex and Jule to watch the _Rambler_ during the remainder of the night. In a short time all was still on board. The storm which had driven so fiercely against the motor boat in the early part of the night had now passed over, leaving a rim of moon in the west.

Directly Alex passed out of the cabin and stood on the deck. Jule was half asleep in the cabin.

For a time there was only the roaring of the river to break the silence. The wind had died down to a gentle breeze, and there was the scent of spring in the air.

Captain Joe came out on deck after a time and sniffed the air excitedly. In a moment he was on the railing of the boat, looking over to the west shore. Alex spoke to him, but for once his words received no attention.

"What is it, Joe?" asked the boy.

Captain Joe only wagged his stumpy tail.

"I'll soon find out what's doing here!" decided Alex. "How would you like a run on shore, Captain Joe?" the boy went on. "It ain't a very swell night for a ramble, but I feel as if my legs wouldn't be the worse for a little stretching."

Jule was below, in the cabin, and there could be no possible harm, the boy thought, in leaving the watch to him. Therefore he took the rowboat and started for the shore, accompanied by the dog, who seemed very anxious to get to the land.

The moon was setting, but the stars were out, and the boy and the dog had little difficulty in finding their way after gaining the shore. The latter, however, after hastily sniffing the air for an instant, darted away, leaving the boy alone.

"That's a dirty Irish trick, Captain Joe," said the lad, doing his best to keep up with his four-footed rival. "I wonder what he sees in there, anyway?"

The dog was now lost from sight in the underbrush which lined the shore, and Alex could only whistle in an effort to secure his return. The rustle of the dead foliage was the only sound for some time, then the dog set up fierce barking.

This was very unusual for Captain Joe, who confined himself, as a rule, to a series of warning growls, and Alex quickened his steps in order that he might see what the dog was at.

All was still in the thicket penetrated by the lad, however, and it was dark as a pocket, too. There was little hope of finding the dog in that smother of shadows, so Alex reluctantly turned his steps toward the boat.

"I'd like to know what's got into Captain Joe," thought the boy as he made his way back to the _Rambler_. "He certainly is acting queerly, and I don't like the looks of it."

In a few minutes he was back on the shore.

"It will be a good joke on the crazy pup to go away and leave him on the shore," thought the boy. "It will teach him better manners, anyway. Now what's that?"

"That" was a low whistle, evidently a signal. It came again in an instant, louder and clearer.

Alex listened again for the dog, but heard nothing indicating his presence. In a moment there was a rustling in the underbrush and then a man's voice asked:

"Are you there, Charley?"

There was no answer, and the question was repeated. Still there was no answer. There was another movement in the bushes, and then a figure showed dimly in the starlight.

Presently the man who had given the signal was joined by two other men. They talked in low tones for a time, but gradually their voices grew louder and Alex was able to hear what was being said.

"I don't think they succeeded in getting the motor boat," the first speaker said.

"Wonder they wouldn't show a signal," commented another.

"It's a sure thing they didn't get the boat," a third man said. "If they had, you needn't be guessing."

"No, they would be holding a celebration now. Wonder why they failed? The job seemed an easy one to me--just to take a boat away from four boys."

There was further talk that Alex could not hear, then the men passed out of hearing.

"The _Rambler_ seems to be in good demand," was the boy's comment. "If Captain Joe would show up now, I'd go on board and put the boys on their guard. Somehow that dog always runs away at the wrong time! Perhaps I'd better take another look for him. It doesn't seem as if he could be very far away. He needs a thumping!"

Alex made another trip through the underbrush, but no Captain Joe rewarded his search. At last the boy abandoned the quest and started for the _Rambler_.

"The boys will want to know what's going on, and the dog can be found at some other time," he reasoned. "It would serve the beast good and right to leave him in a place where he'd get hungry enough to devour his own shadow!"

When Alex reached the spot where the boat had been left it was nowhere to be seen. He got away from the locality in quick time.

The place was probably being watched. The men who had found the boat would know very well that it couldn't walk there.

The boy slipped back in the bushes, where he was protected from observation by a rocky elevation, and waited. Presently there was the murmur of hushed voices, and then a man's form appeared, outlined against the sky, which was now showing the first faint traces of daylight.

"Wonder if the fellow who went ashore in the boat intends to make his permanent home there?" said a voice. "He certainly stays long enough to give one that impression."

"He's got to come back here after his boat, and we'll be right here, waiting for him," said another voice. "The thing that puzzles me is why the boys didn't get the motor boat upstream."

There was silence for a time, during which the three men waited for the return of the boy, who was listening to most of their talk. Directly Alex felt a cold nose thrust into the palm of his hand, he knew that Captain Joe had returned.

"You're a bad dog, going off like this!" exclaimed the boy. "What have you to say for yourself?"

The dog stretched himself at Alex's feet and offered no explanation. The matter ended, as all such matters usually did, by the boy taking the dog's head into his lap and pulling his stubby ears.

Daylight was now coming on rapidly, and Alex realized that something must be done. The least of his troubles concerned the manner of getting back to the _Rambler_.

So far as that went, he could easily swim that short distance. But the lad had no intention of going back to the boat to be laughed at.

Presently the cabin door opened and Jule made his appearance, looking as if he had had a pretty sound sleep.

The watching men crouched out of sight in the bushes, and Jule stepped to the railing of the _Rambler_ and looked into the river. The sun would be in sight in half an hour and it would be a bright day.

Jule stood looking over the water for a minute and then turned and entered the cabin. Directly Clay and Case came out and the three stood at the rail talking.

"I think I know what they are saying," said Alex with a smile. "They are holding a squaw man's convention on me. It was a rotten thing to do to go and lose that boat. Perhaps I shall be lucky enough to get it back. I wish those men wouldn't watch this spot so closely. I half believe they suspect something."

Alex did not know that there were two parties watching the movements on board the _Rambler_, each party consisting of three men. One was up the river perhaps eighty rods, while the other lay on the bank of the stream only a short distance from the spot where Alex was hidden.

Directly Captain Joe arose and moved over toward the clump of bushes where the three men lay. The chances are that he knew of their presence, and was willing to overlook it in the interest of harmony, but one of the three launched a rock at his head as he came up.

This was an insult by no means to be overlooked. In less time than it takes to tell the story, Joe had him by the throat.

All three boys on board the _Rambler_, seeing the dog struggling with superior numbers, were over the rail in an instant, striking out for the spot where the combat was in progress.

At that instant the three men who had been up the river, hearing the sounds of a conflict below, emerged from the shelter of the trees and started toward the scene of action.

Clay afterward declared that he thought Jule was left in charge of the boat, while Jule declared that Case was the responsible one. At any rate, while the boys were umpiring the fight between the dog and the man the three men plunged into the stream and made off with the _Rambler_. The boys saw their loss too late. The boat was already headed downstream.