Somehow even this circumstance seemed to give the boys new encouragement.

“Things never look quite so bad when you can see what’s what,” was Will’s way of mentioning this circumstance.

“Suppose you come and sit down, Frank. Both of us are just dying to hear all about what happened to you and Jerry,” said Bluff, presently.

“There’s precious little to tell, but what there is you shall hear, boys. I’m ashamed to say that it was while I was a little ways off, examining some curious mounds, made perhaps by the old Indians, that this thing happened to our chum. But let’s sit down here, and I’ll tell you all about it.”

In a low tone he started to detail the few things that had marked the circuitous journey of himself and Jerry, while the others hung upon every word, anxious to hear the thrilling dénouement where he found the comrade who had shared his adventures, missing.

Just as he reached this point, and they were all worked up over it, Bluff gave a sudden jump. On the spur of the moment Frank supposed he had become so nervous over the description that he could no longer sit still. He was therefore astounded to hear his chum cry out:

“Looky there, boys! As sure as you live, some miserable reptile is getting away with the canoe I used in fishing, and left pulled up on the beach!”

CHAPTER XI—RECOVERING A STOLEN BOAT

Even as they looked he was shoving the canoe in the water. Then he tumbled into it rather awkwardly, which was a pretty good sign that he knew little about balancing in one of the cranky little craft.

“Where are the other boats—get the key to unlock them!” exclaimed Frank.

“I’ve got it right here—this way, fellows!” echoed Bluff.

He was already bending over the bunch of boats consisting of the mate to the stolen craft and the big double canoe.

Frank snatched up a paddle and bounded over to where his comrades knelt. As soon as Bluff threw the chain aside the other snatched up the single canoe, rushed straight to the water’s edge and launched it. All this had taken but a comparatively few seconds to transpire. Indeed, the thief was not fifty feet away at the time Frank threw himself into the other craft.

Bluff and Will drew up on the edge of the water.

“Mind the camp! Get the guns secure! This may be a clever trick to draw attention away from the tents! I’ll take care of the thief, fellows!”

Frank’s voice boomed over the lake. Already he was sending his paddle deep into the water, and urging his frail craft onward with constantly increasing speed.

“He’s right. We must guard the camp! This way, Will—pick up Frank’s gun, and keep watch. We can have one eye on the lake and the other here!” called Bluff, who was quick to catch on to a thing once he heard it.

So they stood there on the border, each making quick turns of the head in order to see all that went on.

If any thief entered that camp just then, calculating on having a clear field for his operations, he was likely to soon regret his temerity, for the boys were tremendously aroused, and Bluff had an impetuous nature.

Meanwhile Frank was pushing onward with furious zeal.

He could see that he was gaining with every stroke. The occupant of the other canoe seemed to be paddling desperately, but he evidently did not know just how to get the best results from his labor. His craft wobbled considerably; that is, it headed from one side to the other.

As a result Frank was rapidly overcoming the distance that had in the start separated him from the unknown.

He anticipated that at the last the other would try and turn to the shore with the idea of making a hurried landing. In order to cut him off from such safety Frank kept in-shore, where he could interpose should the enemy try that game.

“I’ve got him!” was what he was saying to himself, over and over.

The thought gave the boy a fierce satisfaction. He now began to wonder just how he was going to recover the boat. Would the rascal dive overboard at the last, or put up a desperate fight to retain possession of his prize?

Frank held to the belief that it was one of the hoboes. That meant he would find himself opposed to a man accustomed to defying the law and ready to commit even a crime in order to retain his liberty.

“He’s a coward, anyhow, or he wouldn’t run that way,” he assured himself, as he worked harder than ever at the paddle.

Now he was close upon the other. Too late the thief tried to head shoreward, and escape in that way. Frank saw his opportunity to cut him off; and again the race started straightaway over the moonlit lake.

Those on the shore at the camp could no longer see the rival canoes. The moonlight was deceptive; and, besides, the fiercely paddling twain had turned the point.

But a new light of a fire had dawned upon the vision of Frank, which he knew came from the camp of the Peters crowd; for the boys had, of course, told him about the arrival of these rough customers on the island.

“I declare, I believe it must be one of that lot, and not the tramp after all,” he muttered, as he again cut the other off from heading ashore.

This put a new face on matters.

He no longer hesitated about coming to conclusions with the thief. If, after all, it was but a boy like himself, he could not meet him any too soon to satisfy his desires.

Observing the fellow’s manner more closely now, he was not long in determining upon his identity.

“It’s Pet Peters himself. And he’s getting worried to know just what he’s going to do to save himself and the stolen canoe, too. I’d better end this agony with a rush, and here goes!”

So saying, he now headed directly for the other craft, rushing forward with furious speed that gave the finishing touch to the alarm of the pursued one.

In vain had Pet tried to outwit him; he had been caught every time, and forced to keep in the open. Even when he attempted to hold his own straight ahead it was to see the distance cut down steadily.

Before now he had tried conclusions with Frank Langdon, nor was he hankering after a repetition of his previous experiences. The memory of sundry bruises had never entirely left him; and it looked as though the other might be more angry on this occasion than ever before.

“Hold up there, you thief! I’ve got you cornered!” called Frank, as he pushed still nearer.

Pet ceased paddling. After all it was just as well, for he had lost hope of evading this persistent pursuer in the race.

He clutched his spruce paddle fiercely in his hands. If it came to the worst he could perhaps use the same as a weapon of defense. It had failed him in its legitimate channels, but could he give the other one smart blow on the head with its edge, no doubt Frank must be put out of the running.

And Pet Peters had no scruples on the score of delicacy. He was accustomed to rough methods of carrying his point. A blow on the head usually concluded any argument in which he might be engaged.

“Keep back, you!” he yelled.

Frank saw that he was now standing rather unsteadily in the canoe. He smiled grimly, for he knew that the game was in his hands. Any fellow who is so foolish as to stand upright in so frail a vessel places himself in a position where he is apt to receive a sudden and unexpected bath.

Frank was still advancing in a line as though he calculated to come alongside the other boat. That was evidently just what the bully expected him to do, and to meet which anticipated emergency he was now, as he thought, fully prepared.

“Get out of that boat, and in a hurry, you!” cried Frank.

He was speaking more to hold the attention of Pet than because he expected the other to obey him.

“Keep back, I tell yuh, Langdon, er it’ll be the worse for yuh!” bellowed the other, at the same time making several vicious sweeps through the air with his poised paddle, as if to emphasize his pugnacious intentions.

The act came very nearly being his undoing, for he staggered and had to even make a quick clutch at the gunwale of the canoe to keep his balance.

Frank saw his chance. He was by this time close enough to put his little scheme into practice. That canoe had to be recovered one way or another. If Pet refused to surrender his ill-gotten plunder peaceably, then it was high time other measures were brought into play.

With a sudden turn Frank headed his boat straight at the side of the other. He meant at the last instant to turn far enough to give but a slanting blow, not desiring to injure the second canoe by smashing in the delicate ribs.

Too late did Pet realize how completely he had placed himself in the power of his more expert adversary, who had handled canoes so long that he was perfectly at home in one.

“Hey, you, keep away!”

It was the despairing wail of a quitter. Even before the prow of Frank’s craft was in collision with the side of his own, Pet knew that he was about to experience a tremendous shock against which he would be given no chance to prepare himself.

In his sudden terror his first act was to let fall the paddle which he had intended to use in knocking Frank out. Then he tried to get hold of both gunwales, so as to brace himself against the shock.

It was too late, however. A second more and he might have done something, but by that little space of time he lost.

Bang! came the stem of Frank’s canoe against the second boat, which was tilted half way over under the impact. Pet Peters took a headlong plunge over the side and disappeared under the moonlit waters of the lake with a tremendous splash!

CHAPTER XII—DOWN THE SLOPE

“Better get ashore before your clothes drag you down. Do your blowing afterwards, Peters. You’re a thief, that’s all, and ought to be landed behind the bars for such work as this. Go on, now, before I get real mad and chase you ashore.”

Possibly the fellow feared that Frank might take a notion to do as he threatened, for he had a healthy respect concerning the other’s prowess. At any rate he started to swim away with lusty strokes. One might have thought a bear was in the water, such was the noise he made.

Frank found the painter of the recovered canoe. This he fastened to a cleat, and then, making a turn, headed back to the camp.

Those who were anxiously listening caught a glimpse of the two boats as they turned the point.

“He’s got it back all right!” cried Will, in excitement.

“Bully for Frank! He’s equal to the whole Peters crowd!” called Bluff; from which it could easily be understood that neither of these boys had been in any doubt as to whom they had to thank for the stealing of the boat.

Frank landed in a few minutes. Beyond breathing a little harder than usual he showed no signs of his recent chase.

“This time we’ll make sure that all the boats are fast. It was a bad break for you to leave that one loose. But we have had so many strange things happen since we landed on Wildcat Island that a fellow can hardly be blamed for letting a cog slip occasionally. Lend a hand, Bluff,” said Frank.

That was his way. He realized that no one could be perfect, that he sometimes made mistakes himself, and others should be forgiven if they occasionally neglected to do the things that were expected of them.

And that was the secret of why the other fellows all admired Frank above any of their companions: he could forgive another’s fault, but was very severe with himself when he happened to fall short.

They secured the boats and carried the paddles into camp.

Will seemed inconsolable. He had heard that tremendous splash, and already understood what had caused it.

“Oh! if I could only have caught that fellow just in the act of taking that header, what a beaut it would have been. Too bad that such glorious chances escape me all the time,” he moaned.

But the others had too serious a problem to consider to pay much attention to the complaints of the amateur photographer.

“How about going to Centerville?” asked Bluff, as they sat there near the revived camp fire to talk it over.

“That can wait a while. Plenty of time between now and morning, Bluff,” answered the one addressed, as he poked the fire reflectively.

“But you’ve got something on your mind,” argued Bluff, shrewdly.

“What makes you think that?” demanded Frank, smiling.

“I can see it in your eyes; they give you away. So let’s hear what it is, for you see we’re all equally interested,” replied his chum, eagerly.

“Well, of course it’s about Jerry,” began Frank.

“That goes without saying. You’re not thinking of starting out in the night to make another hunt for him, are you?” demanded Will, arousing to the fact that perhaps he might be left alone in camp, and under the circumstances he would not enjoy that very much.

“Somehow a new idea has flashed into my head. I don’t know that there is anything to it, but somehow I’m unable to dismiss it. The fact of Pet Peters being bold enough to sneak up here and try to make way with one of our canoes gave me this thought,” said Frank.

“Go on, please,” urged Will, while Bluff awaited the disclosure with equal anxiety.

“Perhaps those fellows are responsible for Jerry’s disappearance!”

“What! the Peters crowd? Strange that none of us thought of that before,” declared Bluff.

“Then you agree with me that there is a chance that way?” asked Frank.

“I wouldn’t put it past them a minute,” replied Bluff.

“But what would they want with him? They’re not so desperate as the hoboes, and, besides, you remember that Mr. Dodd warned them he meant to run the lot in if they kept pestering us,” ventured Will.

“Oh! that was away last Fall. Those fellows have forgotten all about that by this time. Frank, I’m inclined to agree with you. In that case, what had we better do? Take the guns and make a sudden attack on their camp?”

Bluff, always ready for trouble, reached out his hand toward Jerry’s gun as he spoke, showing his willingness to follow up his suggestion by immediate action.

“Not so fast, my hearty. If we attacked their camp and then found that they had nothing to do with Jerry’s kidnapping we’d be in a nice pickle, wouldn’t we? After that they could say we were a lot of savages, as well as they.”

“But something should be done!” expostulated Bluff.

“And I propose to do it. In other words I mean to take a little stroll around the point, and see what their camp looks like,” remarked Frank, rising.

“If you find they’ve got our chum, promise to come back for us. We want to have a hand in bringing about his release. You will, won’t you, Frank?” asked Bluff.

“I promise you, boys. Keep Jerry’s gun with you, and stay on guard. Don’t shoot in a hurry, because you might pepper me, and that’s something I object to. Now I’m off.”

“Good luck to you, Frank, and take care of yourself,” said Will.

Frank made his way into the brush. He could have approached the other camp with far less trouble had he chosen to keep along the edge of the water. It struck him, however, that the enemy might anticipate a raid of some sort after their recent miserable attempt to cripple the members of the Rod, Gun and Camera Club in their resources, and be on the watch for stragglers along the beach.

They would possibly not dream that any one would take all the trouble to push through the dense brush, and climb the hill, at the base of which they had squatted upon landing.

Frank was in no hurry. He knew that Pet’s companions would be all excited over his bedraggled condition when he reached shore. Still, it was hardly probable that they would venture to take up the cudgels, and attempt any more mischief, that night at least.

He remembered what a healthy respect these fellows entertained for the guns in the possession of the club members. They were more apt to take it out in making all manner of tremendous plans against the peace of the campers which they would hardly be likely to carry out when their anger had had a chance to cool.

As he drew near the place, Frank found that a little hill interposed, just as the abrupt bluff did in the case of their own camp. This he would have to climb ere he could look down upon those he had come to observe.

There was more or less difficulty in reaching the top of this little elevation.

“They must go around here when entering the woods,” Frank concluded, after he had finally gained the top of the rise.

He hardly liked the idea of returning along the same difficult lines; but when he felt this disinclination he was really worrying over something that was fated never to come about.

By degrees he pushed forward until he found himself on the edge of a little declivity. Down below he could see the old dingy tent which he knew so well, also the fire of the Peters crowd.

The boys were gathered around, watching Pet, partly disrobed, trying to warm himself near the blaze; but if he was shivering outwardly with the cold, he seemed to be burning within, to judge from the motions he made while talking.

“Evidently Pet is making a vow to settle my hash the first time we meet. But I don’t seem to be trembling, that I can discover. I know Pet of old, and how easy he can change his mind,” Frank told himself, as he watched.

Unable to see just as well as he wished from where he first knelt, he moved a little to the left, as that seemed to promise a better view.

It was the last straw upon the camel’s back. Already, though Frank did not know it, the treacherous soil was giving way under his weight, and this move on his part aggravated the trouble.

He felt himself slipping, tried to catch hold of a nearby bush, which gave way in his frenzied grasp, and down the steep incline he plunged!

CHAPTER XIII—THE WILD MAN DEVELOPS AN APPETITE

“Wow! keep off’n me, you! I ain’t done nuthin’!” he yelled.

It was his customary plea when caught doing something wrong.

Frank had by this time reached the bottom of the incline, for which he was not at all sorry. He had not been seriously hurt by his rough tumble, and, thinking only of keeping himself aloof from these ugly spirits, he managed to scramble to his feet after some fashion.

Through it all he had kept a firm grip on his gun, as though he knew what protection he could count on from that source.

There was another grand picture that escaped Will, and which he would never cease to lament the loss of—Frank regaining his feet, those fellows scampering away in several directions, and Pet on his knees, holding one arm up as if to ward off some evil blow which he expected to descend.

“Hey, it’s only Langdon! Kim back here, yuh cowards!” bellowed Pet, as soon as his startled eyes could tell him the truth.

And the others, halted in the midst of their mad flight, looking back, saw that instead of the terrible hairy wild man of their dreams it was indeed only a boy who stood there, and he the one they hated most of all.

So they came straggling back, some looking sheepish over their recent scare, while others scowled as if in an ugly temper.

“Wot yuh want here, Langdon?” demanded Pet, bridling up as he saw that much was expected of him by his followers.

It was unfortunate that this should happen so soon after he had been making such enormous threats about what he was going to do to Frank when next they met.

What could a fellow do anyway when he was minus his coat and trousers, as well as shoes?

Frank had recovered his lost breath by now.

“Well, I might have strolled over here just to ask whether you had arrived safely after your swim; and to express a hope that you might not take cold. It’s pretty early in the season to go in, you know,” he said smoothly.

The others looked at each other as if they hardly knew what to make of it. Somehow this Langdon always did seem to have the advantage whenever they came face to face. In the canoe he was Pet’s master, because he felt quite at home there, while the other did not. Now, here ashore, he held something in his hands which none of them liked the looks of—a double-barreled shotgun.

“Aw, go chase yerself! ’Twan’t that as fetched yuh here. Think we scooped sumpin, an’ yuh come sneakin’ round tryin’ tuh see,” snarled the shivering Pet.

“Come up to the fire and keep warm. It’s your fire; I don’t lay any claim to it. Perhaps you fellows think I slid down that toboggan track on purpose? Well, you’ve got another guess coming, then. I have more respect for my clothes than to try such things, as a rule.”

Frank was talking for a purpose. He did not expect to enter the camp of the enemy when he parted from Will and Bluff; but now that circumstances beyond his control had caused such a move on his part, he meant to take full advantage of it.

Before he left, he expected to know positively what they had in that tent. If Jerry was found there, a prisoner, he must be set free, no matter what happened after such a move.

So, as he talked he kept moving a little at a time in the direction of the said tent. If the others noticed his action they could not give any sort of guess as to what he was after. Besides, he kept that gun always half raised, and moving back and forth, from side to side, so that it covered the entire bunch.

“Jest yuh make tracks outen here, Langdon. Yuh ain’t wanted, see? This here’s our camp, an’ yer intrudin’,” chattered Pet, who was compelled to creep closer to the fire, for he was shivering as though he had the ague.

“Oh! I’m going right away, boys. I assure you I haven’t the least intention of staying and putting you to any inconvenience. Just a little social call, you understand, Pet. I couldn’t bear the thought that possibly you were still floundering around out there on the lake. Glad to know you arrived,” Frank continued, now close to the flap of the tent.

The others had unconsciously followed him, so that with the exception of Pet the whole of the camp’s inmates were clustered just in front of the intruder.

As he uttered the last word, Frank suddenly stooped. He had seen his chance, and meant to investigate the interior of that tent.

To his dismay it was far from light inside. He could just make out objects dimly. There might be a prostrate figure on some of the dirty blankets strewing the ground, for all he could say.

Determined to make sure, he immediately darted inside the tent. A chorus of excited exclamations arose from the half circle of roughs outside.

“He’s a-goin’ ter steal our blankets, that’s what!” shouted one.

“Don’t let him, fellers!” whooped Pet, dancing from one bare foot to the other in his excitement, but not offering to lend a hand in corralling the intruder.

“Hey, you, wot yer want in there?” howled another, looking around for a cudgel that might come in handy.

Then Frank emerged. He still kept his handy gun in evidence, seeing which the others backed away again, not being quite so eager as they imagined to come to hand-grips with this determined boy.

Frank was disappointed. He had failed to find the slightest trace of his missing chum in the tent of the Peters crowd. This seemed to prove that they knew nothing about the kidnapping of Jerry.

Under the circumstances he thought it might be just as well to explain his queer move a little. The knowledge might hasten the departure of these rowdy fellows, and purge the island of their presence.

“I’ll tell you what I was looking for. One of my chums has strangely disappeared, and we thought that perhaps you had him here. That’s all. But I find you haven’t; which makes me believe he’s fallen into the hands of that wild man, or else the two hobo thieves who robbed the man on the steamboat; because we happen to know they’re here on this island.”

“Wot’s that?” demanded Pet, anxiously.

“Why, you heard about the two tramps on the Eastern Star, didn’t you?”

“Yuh mean the fellers as collared the roll o’ Mister Pemberton?” asked Pet, forgetting to even shiver, in his new excitement.

“Yes, and they’re here on this island right now, hungry and desperate,” continued Frank, thinking it good policy to rub it in good and hard while he was about it.

“Here on this yer island—them desperadoes are?” gasped one.

“That’s easy to say, Langdon; but how d’ye know?” demanded Pet.

“Well, we’ve seen them, for one thing. Then they robbed us of a kettle with our supper last night. Let a cord down from the top of the cliff, and caught the bale of the kettle with a hook. First thing we knew, our supper was sailing up, and that was the last we ever saw of it,” replied Frank, now beginning to edge toward the beach, as he had suddenly decided to return by an easier path than the one he had taken in coming.

Then the boys looked at each other uneasily.

“A wild man loose here; an’ now them two desperate critters huntin’ round fur anythin’ loose. Say, fellers, it’s up ter us ter git outen this in the mornin’,” said Pet, shaking his head with determination.

And not one of his mates lifted his voice, even in a whisper, contrarywise. Indeed, to tell the truth, they looked as though the hours that must elapse ere they departed hence would fairly drag along.

Frank, believing that he had reached a point where he could boldly make his exit from the hostile camp, was just in the act of backing away when he saw something that gave him a shock.

“Say, look yonder, you fellows, what’s happening to your provision basket!” he exclaimed, pointing with his gun.

Every boy whirled around, and as he did so a concerted howl went up, partly of rage, though terror could be plainly detected in the chorus. There was a swiftly moving figure carrying off the big basket in which all the balance of their supplies happened to be gathered. And such a figure—whether a wild man or a gigantic ape—it would be impossible to say, for in the quick glimpse which Frank had of it ere the Thing vanished among the bushes he could only positively say that it seemed to be covered with hair, and when its face was turned it looked a cross between that of a demented human being and a great ape!

CHAPTER XIV—BLUFF TAKES CHANCES

Even as he spoke a shower of stones, together with lumps of earth, fell with a great clatter. Somebody was bombarding the camp from above! It looked as though the wild man must have had wings to reach that spot, if the missiles came from him.

By this time Pet himself was in full flight. He had snatched up his loose garments from the sticks on which they were drying at the fire, and made for the shelter of the bushes on the other side of the camp.

The rest scampered this way and that, one even hiding inside the tent, while a couple of others tried to budge the heavy boat that had been drawn up high and dry on the shore, as if seriously considering the chances of flight.

Frank saw his opportunity to get away, and was not slow to avail himself of it.

“Thanks, awfully, Mr. Wild Man; I’m indebted to you,” he laughed, as he started along the little beach, headed for his own camp.

He knew his chums would be dreadfully anxious by this time. They must have surely heard the excited cries from the other camp, and would be alarmed lest something had happened to him.

As he drew near he whistled. This was a signal that Bluff should recognize, and which would tell him who approached, so that he would not be tempted to fire, or make any threatening demonstration.

“Welcome back, Frank!” exclaimed Bluff, as he appeared in sight.

“Sure, we’re glad to see you safe and sound. From the racket we began to be afraid that you’d got into trouble,” observed Will.

“The trouble seemed to be on the other side, boys. They’ve fared worse than we did. In our case it was only a kettle full of stew; but they lost everything!”

“What’s that? Do you mean somebody cribbed their grub?” demanded Bluff.

“Just what happened, and right under my eyes, too. I saw it done. Oh! what you missed then, Will! If you could only have snapped off that picture, there wouldn’t be a single soul in Centerville doubt the story about the wild man,” said Frank.

“Wild man! Do you mean to say he entered their camp while you were there?”

“And actually grabbed up their stuff under your eyes? Then you can tell us what he looked like. Was it really a man, or an animal, Frank?” questioned Bluff, excitedly.

Frank shook his head, as he replied:

“There you’ve got me, for just on the spur of the moment I couldn’t say positively. He walked on two legs, and seemed like a man; but looked like a great big chimpanzee, or an ape, I’ve seen do tricks at the circus. Anyway, he was a terrible object, and sent a shiver over me.”

“Gracious goodness! and he stole their provisions, you said?” exclaimed Will, involuntarily looking around as if he half expected the dreadful wild man to rush into view right then and there.

“Everything they had, I imagine. One good thing, it will make them get out in the morning, and for that we’re obliged to the wild man. If only Jerry were here, now, I’d be feeling first-class,” resumed Frank, with a sigh.

“But I don’t understand why he’d enter their camp when he could have gotten a lot of much better grub right here in ours,” said Bluff, shaking his head.

“Well, you see, he’s evidently afraid of our guns; and, perhaps, he happened to know that they had none over yonder,” explained Frank.

“But is that reasonable? Would a crazy man stop for such a little thing as that? It strikes me this raid on their eating department looks like a set-up job.”

“There now, Bluff, you’ve set me to thinking again. I neglected to tell you all that happened. When the hairy monster was making off with the basket, one of the boys started after him; and then and there a shower of stones and dirt came down from above, and fell all around him. After that there was a quick scattering,” remarked Frank.

“Evidently the wild man had a friend close by; he wasn’t alone then. Say, perhaps he’s formed a league with those ugly hoboes. They’re all a hungry lot, and ready to steal anything that comes along in the way of grub.”

“Again you may be right, Bluff. If you keep on guessing I’m sure we’ll know all about the whole business soon,” laughed Frank.

“But how about that other scheme of yours?” asked Bluff.

“What’s that—the trip to town?”

“Yes. Haven’t changed your mind about it, eh, Frank?” asked the other.

“Are you willing to make the attempt?” queried Frank, promptly.

“Try me, that’s all. Now that the old moon’s up it will be just fun. I can make it in a little time, and hunt up the sheriff. Why, the lot of us may even be back here by morning, boys,” replied Bluff, enthusiastically.

He always went into anything with his whole soul, though perhaps his ardor might cool sooner than the grim determination of Frank, or even Jerry.

“That would be fine. Well, since you don’t object, suppose you get the canoe ready. Will and I will remain to watch the camp, because we seem to be surrounded by a raft of enemies, all eager to do us a bad turn if they can. With Jerry missing, the case looks serious, and something must be done to round these bad men up.”

Bluff immediately jumped up and hurried over to where the three canoes were fastened together with the chain and padlocks. He proceeded to get his own boat free from all entanglements, and presently had it launched upon the water.

Then he came back for the paddle and to receive any parting instructions Frank might see fit to give him.

“Make reasonably good time, Bluff, but don’t push yourself, mind. There’s no such great hurry as all that. When you get to town go right away to police headquarters and see if you can find Mr. Dodd.”

“What if he happens to be away?” asked Bluff, wishing to be prepared for any emergency that might chance to arise.

“Then wait as long as you can for him. Should you get tired in the end, leave a letter to be delivered as soon as he shows up; then return to us here. It may be possible, even as you hint, that the sheriff is away hunting the woods to the south for those two rascally, thievish hoboes. That’s all, Bluff. Good-by, and good luck!”

Bluff shook hands with each of his chums. Then he gave his canoe a push that started it going out, sprang in over the stern with the accurate balance of an expert, picked up his paddle and commenced his moonlight cruise back to town.

Frank and Will stood there watching him as long as they could see the dark object upon the moonlit water of the lake; then they turned and silently entered the camp once more.

From somewhere out upon the great stretch of water came the strange cry of a loon that had lingered ere going to its northern summer home. The sound was particularly mournful, it seemed to Frank.

“Can he make it, do you think?” asked Will, who seemed unusually worried to-night; for all these stories about wonderful chances which he had lost had begun to work upon his mind.

“Without the slightest doubt. Why not? There’s no sea running, the wind has died away to a whisper, and the moon is bright. Why, Bluff would like nothing better than a circuit of the entire lake at such a time,” replied Frank.

“I was just wondering whether anything might get after him on the water, that’s all,” remarked the other.

“Chuck that sort of talk. Don’t be a pessimist, Will. Of course he can make it, and, perhaps, as he says, they may all be here by morning, ready to gather in those clever rascals,” declared Frank, stoutly.

“But why do you suppose they ever came here to Wildcat Island to hide?”

“I’ve been thinking about that. There’s that Waddy Walsh you speak about—since he has lived here he possibly knows something about this place. Then again they may have heard about the wild man, and how the island is shunned by every one in the neighborhood. In that case, you see, it would offer a splendid hiding-place for a couple of men trying to escape the sheriff.”

“Frank, you just seem to hit on the right thing. That must be the fact. And our coming here rather upset their plans,” said Will.

“Yes, but it gave them a supper last night. They must have been too hurried in their flight to lay in any stock of food. Perhaps they intended going across to the mainland from time to time, and stealing chickens from the farmers.”

“I’ll be jiggered if I can see how there could be any connection between those scamps and that wild man with the hairy hide. Perhaps it was an ape, and he has a mate on the island. Would you shoot him if you saw him, Frank?”

“H’m, that depends. Certainly not unless I thought my life was in danger. I say that, because I really believe myself that it is a human being. And I have a little suspicion that is hardly strong enough as yet to mention, but which I intend to think over. But let us settle down and take things as comfortable as we can. I’ll stand watch for a while, and then let you take my place. Lie down and rest, Will.”

CHAPTER XV—PLAYING THE GAME

Frank stepped to where he could have a clear, unobstructed view up the lake. As his chum had said, there were patches of fog rising off the water, but this was vanishing rapidly. Already one could see for quite some distance.

“See anything, brother?” called out Will, who was already beginning to put the coffee in the pot.

He had been on duty for several hours, and felt a bit hungry. Boys can eat six times a day when in the woods, for the open air seems to develop most tremendous appetites.

“Nothing except the solitary old loon that kept up such a screeching last night,” replied the lookout, shading his eyes with his hand, the better to look.

“I don’t like that. Hope nothing has happened to poor old Bluff.”

“There you go again. What could happen to him? He’s a cracking good swimmer, and even if he had an upset, which is most unlikely, he would hang to his canoe. The boat couldn’t sink with metallic air-chambers at both ends,” answered Frank.

“But surely he’s had plenty of time to get there and back?”

“Granted; but you heard what I told him—to wait for a reasonable time if he found the sheriff away. No doubt Mr. Dodd is out searching high and low for the very fellows we know to be here on Wildcat Island. Give Bluff more time. Take my word for it, he will show up when he gets good and ready, if not with the posse, then alone. Bluff doesn’t like to be left out in the cold when there’s anything of a rumpus going on. Want some help getting breakfast, Will?”

“Perhaps so, unless you are contented to eat cold boiled rice; we’ve got plenty and to spare of that dish,” answered the novice cook, with a grin.

“I rather think that would be a poor breakfast dish. The stomach wants something warm about this time. Are all the eggs that we brought gone?” asked Frank.

“I saw several in the coffee can just now. Somebody stuck them in there to keep from breaking them, I guess. How will you have yours?” answered Will.

“Leave it to me, and I’ll see that we have an appetizing mess. An omelet for mine, I think. But after all, I don’t seem so very hungry. Worrying about Jerry has somehow affected my spirits, and a fellow can’t eat much when he feels downcast.”

In spite of all drawbacks both boys did full justice to the breakfast that was spread on the table after a little while. Will kept tabs on whatever his companion did.

“I’m going to learn how to cook everything that one would be apt to want in a camp; and if you don’t mind explaining I’ll begin right now to take a few lessons,” he said as Frank started to break the eggs into a pannikin, preparatory to beating them up, and adding the shredded bits of ham they had left over from the previous day.

When the meal was finished and the dishes and cooking utensils properly washed up, Frank sat down to wait for Bluff to appear up the lake, while Will vanished inside the tent to bother with his films.

He had brought along an apparatus whereby he could develop these, no matter as to the time or conditions—daylight being just the same as darkness.

Frank heard him talking to himself inside the tent, but paid no attention to what he was saying, for at that moment he noticed a moving object up the lake, which he really believed might be the canoe of his chum, Bluff, returning alone.

If this proved to be the case another disappointment awaited the campers, and the rescue of poor Jerry might again be postponed to an unknown time. The sheriff being away, no one could tell when he would receive the letter Bluff was to leave for his perusal, and hence it might be many hours ere a move was made.

By that time the hoboes could have quitted the island and lost themselves in the dense woods of the mainland, while Jerry’s hiding-place would remain unknown, so that he might even die of neglect.

The coming of Will broke in upon Frank’s gloomy communion.

Apparently Will had some reason for excitement. He was holding a developed film in his hand as he rushed up to Frank.

“What do you think it was set my flashlight trap off last night?” he demanded.

“A ’coon, doubtless—that seems most likely,” answered the other, carelessly.

“Guess again,”

“’Possum—wildcat—surely not a bear, though I did hear quite a scramble over in that quarter at the time? Go on and tell me,” said Frank.

For answer Will held the film up so that it was between the light and the eyes of his companion.

“It’s been in the hypo, and is fixed, but not thoroughly washed; but you can see for yourself,” he exclaimed triumphantly.

Frank gave an exclamation.

“Why, you caught a man!”

“Yes, and his face is turned exactly toward the camera. The snap made him look, and with the flash he was indelibly impressed on the film. What is more, if you look at it on the other side and partly turned away, you can see the positive of his face as plain as day. It’s Waddy, all right. I got him!” laughed the photographer, in glee.

“Well, that’s worth something. I’m beginning to realize the tremendous possibilities of a camera at times. That evidence would be accepted in court as conclusive. Go, and wash the film carefully, Will. If you fail to get a few great scenes, you don’t lose everything, it seems.”

“Isn’t that the Peters tribe setting sail, Frank?”

“Why it is, as sure as you live. I wonder they stayed so late. They must be pretty hungry by this time if that educated ape got away with all they had. Perhaps we might have made a master stroke if we’d gone over this morning with an offering of some bacon, coffee and such things. Too bad neither of us thought of it before.”

Will looked strangely at his companion. He could not wholly understand the impulses that guided the actions of the other. His experience in the world had not been as varied as that of the boy from Maine, or he might have realized what was meant; though possibly the act of kindness might, after all, have been wasted on those tough young citizens.

“They’re going home, all right, and good riddance. If we could only get rid of the balance of undesirable people on this same island, there might be a chance for us to finish up our outing in peace,” he remarked bitterly.

“I hope they don’t give Bluff any trouble,” said Frank, as if musing.

“Bluff—is he in sight, then?” demanded his comrade, eagerly.

“Yes, over there, and coming,” replied Frank, pointing to the advancing canoe.

“Here are your glasses. Suppose you take a look and see.”

Will handed over the marine glasses as he spoke. As he adjusted them to his eyes, Frank swept one glance at the coming Bluff. Then he turned his attention to the departing disgusted campers.

“Something has been going on among those fellows, I declare,” he announced.

“What do you mean?” asked his companion, in surprise.

“They seem to have been up against it, or else having a fight among themselves. I can see a couple who have bandages about their heads, and one seems to be holding his arm mighty tenderly. I believe it is broken.”

“You don’t say? Well, come to think of it, I do remember hearing something of a commotion a while back, but thought they were only having their usual rough-house time. Please let me look, Frank.”

A minute later he uttered an exclamation.

“What now?” it was Frank’s turn to ask.

“Seems strange to me. I think there must be one of them lying down in the bottom of the boat,” returned Will.

“That would indicate something pretty serious. Perhaps they’ve had a fight with those hoboes, or it may have been our wild man. But what makes you think such a thing, Will?”

“I counted seven of them when they came, and so did Bluff. Now there are only six in sight, and as you say, three of them are fit for the hospital. Where can the seventh be?”

“Perhaps the hoboes got him, just as they did Jerry. If so, what under the sun can their scheme be? Why load down with a variety of Centerville’s leading citizens when they find it so hard to provide food for themselves?”

“I give it up. The conundrum is too much for me. But I think my idea is more apt to cover the truth, and that the seventh boy is laid out in the boat, wounded, or perhaps dead,” continued Will, in an awe-struck tone.

“Oh! I hope not the latter. They’re a rough bunch, but they’ve had little opportunity to learn better, and we mustn’t be too hard on them. Such fellows can do things that would be little short of a crime for those of us who have decent homes and indulgent parents. Bluff seems to be coming along rather slowly, don’t you think?”

As Frank said this his companion turned the glasses upon the canoe.

“Something has happened to him. Perhaps his paddle has broken; I remember it gave way while we were coming here, and he spliced it yesterday. Yes, that must be what ails him,” he exclaimed.

“That’s too bad,” observed Frank, looking at the other boats, as though wondering whether it might be worth while to launch one, and speed out on the lake to the assistance of the chum who was coming.

But the distance was too great, and he could not hope to reach the scene before whatever was fated to happen had occurred.

“Why do you say that Bluff could get here with only a piece of his paddle?” remarked Will.

“If those ugly chaps let him. See, they have already changed their course several points. They mean to intercept him.”

“You don’t think they’d bother with him, do you?” cried Will.

“I’m afraid they’re in a bad humor, and ready to tackle anything that offers a chance to work off old scores. If Bluff only had his paddle in decent order he could laugh at them. How foolish of him to take only his single blade along.”

Frank now clapped the glasses to his eyes again.

“Look at that, will you? Why, the breezy chap doesn’t even think it worth while to turn and run, or even try to slip past. He’s coming directly on, and in another minute will run slap into that rowboat, loaded with toughs. I’m afraid there’s going to be a bad spill for our headstrong chum,” he sighed.

“Perhaps he is only holding himself in reserve, and means to make a spurt for it at the very last second. Bluff is smart, I tell you. He knows what those boys are up to, and is far from being asleep. Tell me what he is doing, Frank. I can hear them shouting angrily at him now. Oh! I wish we were out there to help him.”

Will even forgot his natural timidity, and had the chance been given him, would doubtless have proven a hero in defense of his chum.

“He seems to have stopped paddling altogether. Now he reaches down into the bottom of his canoe after something. He is aiming it at them—it’s his paddle—no it isn’t either—as sure as you live, he’s got that repeating-gun of his!”

Even as the excited Frank spoke, over the water they heard a distant voice shout:

“Hands up! you sharks, or I’ll pepper you good and hard. Six shots I’ve got here, as fast as I can pump the lever. Hands up! I say, every one of you!”

CHAPTER XVI—SIGNS THAT SPELLED TROUBLE

“So say we all of us. He must be past the other boat by now; isn’t he?”

“Yes, and has laid the gun down, but where he can grab it up in a hurry if necessary. Pet and his crowd have resumed rowing, too, as if going ashore. They don’t seem anxious to call out at Bluff just now. Jerry used to say that terrible gun would frighten game to death; but even Jerry would have to admit that it’s worth while, if he could only be here, to see this lovely sight. Oh! why didn’t I have my camera ready? What a good picture that would have been,” sighed the official photographer of the club.

“Too far away to make out what was going on, my boy. But I only wish Jerry could have been here to see it. That would relieve me of my anxiety,” said Frank.

The canoe kept moving straight toward them, while the heavily laden boat continued over the lake toward the western shore.

Not even a derisive howl was sent after Bluff. He seemed to have effectually cowed the rowdies. Perhaps it was the last straw that broke the camel’s back, and they had really gone through so much lately that the limit had been reached.

Bluff presently landed directly beside his chums.

“Well done, old fellow!” said Will, hastening to pat him on the back.

“It was as fine a piece of bluff as I ever put up,” grinned the paddler as he stepped ashore, holding the redoubtable gun in his hand.

“How so?” demanded Will, curious to know.

“Why, the gun isn’t in a condition to use. I had it at a locksmith’s, and thought I’d bring it along if he had mended it. Said he had, but didn’t have time to finish putting all the parts together again. I said I could do that easily enough in camp, and fetched it along,” replied the other, chuckling.

“Then it wasn’t loaded at all?” asked Will.

“Of course not; but then they didn’t know that, you see. It was a case of where ignorance was bliss. Answered the purpose all right. You noticed they let me alone.”

“Now I see where you got your name; but that was a time when bluffing was worth while. Come and sit down here and have some breakfast,” remarked Frank.

He was looking closely at the returned wanderer, as if trying to decide whether he brought good news or bad.

“Tell me first, have you heard anything from Jerry?” demanded the other.

“Not the least thing. But I’ve been making up a plan that it seems we will have to follow, since you come back alone,” observed Frank.

Of course this was an invitation for Bluff to unload, and tell what he had accomplished besides getting his gun just before starting back.

“Sheriff out hunting the hobo thieves, just as you feared. No one could say as to when he would return. Might be in an hour, and again, perhaps, it would not be for the balance of the day,” he began.

“You waited until you got tired and then left a note for him?” asked Frank.

“Just what I did, fellows. The whole community is aroused. Seems like these two hoboes must be yeggmen for keeps. At any rate several robberies occurred on the night following the affair on the steamer. A farmer reported that his place was entered and some money and other things taken. Then the thieves broke open the storage warehouse over in Newtonport, and rummaged through a lot of stuff. No one knows what they took there, but they left everything in a great upset. The local militia company in our town is out helping the sheriff hunt!”

“Say, things seem to be stewing at a great rate,” gasped Will.

“And to think that the nervy chaps responsible for it all are here on this very island near us. Yes, more than that, we’ve had experiences with them, and even now they undoubtedly are holding our poor chum for ransom, or some other purpose,” declared Frank, shaking his head.

“Do you think Mr. Dodd will come?” asked Will.

“He certainly will, as soon as he knows. Why wouldn’t he when the men he’s on the lookout for are here waiting for him?” replied Bluff, beginning to eat.

“You said you were thinking up a plan, Frank?” suggested Will, turning eagerly to the chum upon whom the rest were accustomed to rely in emergencies.

“Well, I leave it to the rest of you whether we do it or not. The conditions are peculiar. We want to search for poor Jerry, and yet if we leave our camp unguarded, those savages may steal the whole outfit. Then again, Will naturally doesn’t want to stay here alone while Bluff and myself do the hunting. I can see only one way of fixing it.”

“All right. I’m willing to do anything you say,” remarked the one who had a cup of coffee up to his lips, and was drinking the contents with supreme pleasure.

“Ditto here, Frank,” from Will.

“This idea I had was to break up our camp, stow all the stuff in the canoes, and then have Will paddle far out on the lake with the whole outfit, where he could wait to see what happened. Nothing could reach him there, and we would be free to follow up our plan. How about that, fellows?” asked Frank.

Will glanced out on the lake.

“All right. It looks like it would be quiet enough, and if a big wind does come up, I can paddle the string over to the shore and get under the lee,” he said.

“Call it settled, then. And now, while Bluff is finishing his breakfast, you and I can be taking down the tents and stowing them away,” observed Frank.

“Oh! I’m about through now, but give me a little time to get my gun together, boys. It may come in handy, who knows,” remarked Bluff.

“This is kind of tough, taking down tents when our little outing is hardly half through with,” complained Will, as he labored pulling up tent pegs.

“Oh! it may be only temporary. If Mr. Dodd comes and rounds up those hoboes as we expect, there’s nothing to prevent our pitching camp again right on the old spot, and enjoying another two days or so of this business,” came from Frank, who was under the falling canvas, working like a beaver.

Things were quickly accomplished. The more one camps the easier it is to stow things away in their proper places; and Frank was always particular about doing this, as a labor-saving device.

Hardly an hour after the coming of Bluff and the space was bare. All the “dunnage” had been snugly packed in two of the canoes, while Will was ready to enter the other and convoy the string out on the bosom of Lake Camalot.

They made him take Jerry’s gun as a means of protection. On his part, Will entrusted his precious camera to the tender mercies of Bluff, in hopes that the other might find some chance to snap off a few striking pictures while engaged in his search for Jerry.

“And it isn’t like your gun, remember, for it’s loaded,” he remarked.

“Well, my repeater is now. And perhaps when Jerry learns what a part it has had in his rescue he may stop sneering at it as a modern joke,” said Bluff.

After Will had started, and gone some little distance out on the lake, the two others left the deserted camping-ground.

“Where away first?” asked Bluff, willing to leave these matters to his friend, whose experience up in Maine was apt to prove valuable now.

“Let’s make along the beach for the place where those chaps were,” replied Frank.

“Oh! I see. You think we may find the trail of the wild man there?”

“I’m curious to see what it looks like, that’s all. After that, I think of making for the place where I lost Jerry. We’ve had no rain since, and it seems to me we ought to take up the trail at the place I lost it. I’ve since figured out how I came to go wrong that time, and if we have good luck, we ought to be able to follow it straight to the place they’re staying at.”

It took them but a short time to reach the late camp of Pet Peters and his cronies, which was full of signs of a hasty departure.

“I wonder what could have happened here?” mused Frank, as he looked around.

“Seems like they must have been having a high old time. There’s a remnant of a hat, and I declare if this isn’t piece of a coat sleeve. It was a fight, Frank, I tell you!” exclaimed Bluff, convincingly.

“Just as I suspected, but, of course, we may never know what caused it, and whether they were just indulging in a little racket among themselves or with the two hoboes. They had little left that would induce those rascals to attack them, seems to me,” remarked Frank.

“Listen! what was that?” suddenly asked Bluff.

Both boys stood motionless, with heads cocked on one side, straining their ears to catch a repetition of the sound that had come to them.

Quickly they heard it again.

“Say, it seems like a groan to me,” whispered Bluff, with eyes aglow.

“Just what I thought. There! that time I located it, Bluff. Come over here. Good gracious! what do you think of that?”