Seeing that he had no chance to break through the solid crowd that barred his passage, the recruit had leaped up to the top of a pile of freight on the dock, and was even then skipping along almost over the heads of the dense mass of cheering spectators, clinging to all sorts of friendly objects, and exhibiting a nimbleness that caused his seven comrades fairly to hold their breath.
The entire crowd had by this time begun to understand that one of the Boy Scouts was in danger of being left behind; and like all crowds, this one started to send out volleys of encouraging shouts amidst much laughter. For the moment even bitter partings were utterly forgotten; everyone present became vitally interested in whether the daring and nimble lad was going to make it or not.
Monkey had apparently sized up the situation at a single glance. All of his efforts were directed to reaching the end of the pier in time to make a wild leap as the boat swept past, for she was going out stern first as was customary.
There never was greater excitement over the sailing of a vessel with a consignment of the Naval Reserve aboard, and all on account of one belated passenger who seemed bent on making a last desperate effort not to be left. The sympathies of every witness had been aroused, and encouraging cheers doubtless nerved the boy to even greater exertions.
As the crisis came, Hugh became rigid with anxiety, for it looked nip and tuck as to whether Monkey would land on the boat or drop with a splash in Boston harbor.
Monkey managed to catch hold of the rail, and clung there like a squirrel does to the trunk of a tree while cheer after cheer greeted the successful carrying out of the daring act. And then friendly jackies reached down to lift him over, for it seemed as though every fellow aboard felt that he would be glad to give the plucky scout a helping hand.
Of course the other boys considered that Monkey’s achievement shed more or less luster on the entire organization; and for the next half hour they felt themselves of considerable importance aboard that boat, and doubtless puffed out their chests more or less in consequence.
Alas! pride is often doomed to have a fall, and it was almost due in this case, though few of those lads suspected from what quarter their Waterloo was fated to come.
They sat there looking back at the beautiful scene, as the Vixen passed down the harbor. Bunker Hill monument stood up like a finger pointing to the heavens, and as all the boys had climbed to its top the first thing that morning, they paid more attention to this than any other feature that opened before them.
“There’s Nantasket Beach!” they heard someone, who was probably a Boston man, say near by, as he pointed to a strip of shore that seemed to be given up to all manner of merry-go-rounds, Ferris wheels, and the like, to be found at shore resorts such as have become known under the name of “Coney Islands.”
“Sorry we didn’t have time to run down there,” remarked Billy, who was moving uneasily about along the deck. “Mebbe we’ll get a chance to do it when we come back. Let’s see, that will be in about twelve days, won’t it, Hugh?”
“Yes, but I hope you’re not counting the days already, Billy?” remarked the other with a twinkle in his eye, for he suspected what was coming.
“What, me? Well, I should guess not. If it was forty days, it would make me all the happier. But we must be getting out to sea, aren’t we, Hugh? The boat has begun to dip the queer way they told me it would when it had left the harbor behind. And say, what an odd, nasty motion it has, too?”
“Oh! let up on that, Billy! Just as if we don’t know it without you forcing the fact in our faces,” Walter Osborne told him, for Walter was sitting there, holding his head in his hands, and apparently trying to keep from seeing how things had begun to move up and down in that dizzy fashion.
As the roll of the sea became more pronounced, for it was rather rough outside, first one fellow and then another made some silly excuse and slipped away. Several of the Reserves seemed to be deeply interested in the green water and the white foam under the vessel’s side, for they kept leaning over steadily.
Hugh was really the last to give in, and he only felt that he ought to be looking after the other fellows who had gone below to their hammocks. He found every one of the seven there “taking things easy” they assured him, though several had white faces, and their merriment was rather forced.
When supper time came along, Hugh and Alec Sands were the only scouts who cared to answer the bugle call and attend mess; and even they did not seem to have the customary scout appetite of which they had once been so proud.
As a rule boys seem to recover from seasickness much sooner than older people. While several of the scouts still looked a bit “peaked,” and seemed to have only a shadow of their former appetite on the first morning out, Hugh knew they were coming around bravely. Before that day ended they would be all right, having adjusted themselves to the motion of the vessel.
With such a delightful experience before them, it would have been strange indeed if any fellow could have allowed himself to be chained down by such a small thing. And a determination to overcome the distressing malady is after all half the battle.
The Vixen was heading almost due north. It was no part of the commander’s plan of campaign to go very far out of sight of land at any time. The annual practice of the naval militia is only entered into with the idea of giving the boys a certain amount of familiarity with handling a war vessel and all that this implies.
Uncle Sam does not expect to man all his battleships, cruisers, torpedo boats and other fighting craft in the piping times of peace. It would be altogether unnecessary and at the same time very expensive. From time to time some of these grim vessels of war are laid up in the various Government yards, either undergoing repairs or just standing idle.
At such times their former crews are distributed around on other boats, or else discharged, the time of the enlistment of the men having expired. In case a sudden need should arise for manning these idle craft, the services of the Naval Reserve would become very valuable. Uncle Sam recognizes this fact, and in gratitude to the young men who form the main part of the reserve corps, extends every facility possible toward making their several weeks’ practice afloat of real benefit.
On the Vixen they took almost sole charge, and with a few seasoned officers to superintend things, pursued a systematic course of drill that would enable them to man a cruiser or a torpedo boat during war times with the skill of regulars.
Besides this they showed the utmost enthusiasm in their work that was most promising. Their time being so short, and all these things so new and novel, the practice took on the atmosphere of a holiday rather than a working period. Perhaps had they been compelled to look forward to three long years of the same sort of thing, they might not have enjoyed it half so well.
As that first day wore on some of the scouts began to show signs of disappointment. There seemed to be next to nothing that they could do aboard but watch the drills of the Reserve men; and to boys that soon becomes tiresome since they aspire to have a hand in whatever is going on.
It is true that they learned many valuable things connected with the working of a war vessel, all of which would remain pleasant memories long after this cruise had become a thing of the past. The clever way in which the crew was piped to quarters as an enemy’s vessel was supposed to be sighted ahead, being really a floating target previously arranged and anchored, was thrilling in the extreme. And then, as the guns with which the Vixen was armed began to thunder, with the water flying up like a big geyser whenever the shot struck alongside the wooden target—would they ever forget how it made their ears ring for hours!
Since the percentage of “hits” turned out to be larger than ever before in a given number of shots, everybody aboard was in fine humor. Only some of the scouts pulled long faces, because they did not have a share in the grand work.
Hugh had been talking with the commander, however, for whom he conceived a great liking, and was in a position to cheer up the drooping spirits of these grumblers, of whom Alec Sands and Billy Worth were the chief offenders.
The scout master managed to get all of the fellows forward where they would not be in the way. At the time they were within plain sight of the coast, and the sea happened to be fairly smooth so that even the sickest of the scouts had become himself again.
“You fellows must stop looking as though you felt sorry you’d come,” Hugh told them. “Just see what we’ve learned already, and there are heaps of other things on the program that we’ve read all about, never thinking we’d have a chance to see with our own eyes how they were done. Just feel that salty air, will you? It makes me sniff right along, as if I couldn’t get enough of it. Now I know what ails the lot of you; and let me say right here that in good time we’re going to have our share in this war game!”
“Bully for you, Hugh!” exclaimed Billy, forgetting the respect due to the assistant scout master, which lack, however, went unnoticed in the general eagerness to learn what Hugh meant.
“You’ve had chances to pick up information,” remarked Alec, in an aggrieved tone, as though he could not get over being jealous of Hugh’s having been placed in the high position he occupied, “that none of the rest of us could command. I’ve seen you chatting time and again with the captain of the crew in charge here.”
“That’s where I got my information,” replied the other smilingly. “You see, Captain Conrad had met our friend, Professor Perkins, and I guess he told him a lot about what the scouts have done in the past, for he mentioned several things, and asked me a lot of questions about how they really happened. To-morrow’s program, if the weather permits, covers several maneuvers, the principal one of which is torpedo-launching practice. You know they have two tubes arranged for that very purpose aboard the Vixen, though as a rule scout cruisers don’t go in much for that sort of thing, depending on their speed to work damage, and surprise the enemy.”
“Torpedo practice, hey?” cried Billy, always having something to say. “That’s a thing I always wanted to see done, and I’ll be tickled half to death to get the chance right now.”
“But what part do we take in the game, Mr. Scout Master?” asked Alec with just the slightest sneer in his voice as he pronounced the title. He had long ago convinced himself that the boys had made a great mistake when they selected Hugh to that high office and that his own general knowledge of scoutcraft should have entitled him to holding it, instead.
“Yes,” added Monkey Stallings, “do we play the part of the torpedo, or the whale that we used to sing about, you remember in ‘Pinafore’? I don’t care who acts as the big fish so long as I’m allowed to be the shooting stick that gallops through the water and rams things in its way. You want to give Captain Conrad a hint that I’d make the finest torpedo in the bunch.”
“I guess that’s right, Monkey,” laughed Don Miller, who thought the new recruit as comical a specimen as he had ever met, and was never tired of being amused by his remarks and antics. “If they chucked you into a torpedo tube and shot you out headed for a hostile ship there’d sure be something doing right away. You’d beat any old torpedo that ever wiggled its way under water. But we can’t spare you, Monkey. We need you to keep the blues away, don’t we, fellows?”
“So say we all of us!” declared Sam Winter. “But, Hugh, you haven’t told us if we’re going to have any part in the torpedo-launching practice?”
“Nothing to count for much, I’m sorry to say,” replied the leader. “The boats are sent out to recover the torpedo that has been shot and some of us may be allowed to go along. Our time comes on the third day!”
“That sounds more like it, Chief!” exclaimed Billy gleefully. “Please let us know what the program calls for then.”
“You know,” said Hugh, “that the Coast Artillery have their summer maneuvers about this time, and it happens that some of the boys are occupying a certain fort not more than fifty miles away from here, practicing firing at a target away out on the water with some of the big coast defense disappearing guns of a modern make.”
“Oh! I begin to smell a rat!” Blake Merton exclaimed, his face lighting up with sudden enthusiasm and hope.
“Well, it has been arranged as a part of the practice for both arms of the Government service that the Naval Reservists try to take the fort by surprise. Of course the defenders will be on the watch every minute, and it is a part of the game that if those aboard the Vixen manage to get within a certain distance unobserved, after making a landing under cover of darkness, they will be credited with a victory; while the Coast Battery must be given a black mark. Well, that’s where the commander gave me to understand the scouts might be used to good advantage!”
“Go on and tell us some more, Chief! You’ve got the whole bunch worked up to fever pitch right now!” urged Billy.
“Are we to be detailed to take the fort by creeping up in the dark?” questioned Walter Osborne, plainly very much excited at the idea of such a thrilling episode. If successful, it would go down in history as a gallant deed, and perhaps engrave their names on the scroll of fame alongside that of Paul Revere, he thought.
“Remember that I’m a champion crawler!” admonished Monkey, who evidently did not believe in keeping his light hidden under a bushel and felt that no one could blow his horn so well as himself.
“The plans have not all been worked out yet,” Hugh told them, “but from certain things the captain let fall, I’m of the opinion the scouts will be set ashore at some secret cove with instructions to make their way up the beach unobserved until they can spy on the fort. After that I reckon it’s up to them to have a series of posts, so that they can send the news flashing down the line. The scout who is furthest south can relay it aboard where one of our number will be waiting to take the messages. In that way you see it will be all scout work from beginning to end. If only the fellows at the head can find out the weak points of the defense of the fort, the Naval Reserve men can capture the place as easy as you please.”
“It sounds like the boss scheme, Chief,” Billy admitted. “And please don’t pick me out to stay aboard while the rest of you have such a glorious time ashore, with chances of your being captured by the enemy and put in the darkest dungeon under the magazine of the fort.”
“You forget that the one who does have to stay will occupy a post of honor,” Hugh told him. “The receiving of the messages will depend on the able way he takes them, whether by heliograph or wigwag work. And besides, a scout always stands ready to do his duty, however disagreeable it may seem.”
“Oh! I reckon I’d look at it that way if I had to,” admitted Billy, “but I only hope I’m lucky enough to be one of the shore party, that’s all.”
“Now, if only Arthur were along,” said Don Miller. “He might get up some kind of a scheme to work his wireless on this job. We’ve got the fixtures right on board here,” and as he spoke he glanced upward to where the delicate antennae of the naval outfit could be seen strung like spiders’ web tracery between the wireless masts of the Vixen.
“I don’t believe that would answer,” said Hugh. “There’d be too much chance of the enemy discovering our tall masts. The relay system is better all around. Besides it gives us scouts an opening to show what we can do. When the full plans are worked out I’ll be in a position to tell you more. By then, too, I’ll have decided just what part each scout is to have in the game. And now let’s go aft to see what’s the next thing on the program for to-day.”
“I’m a-hopin’ it’ll be that sweet bugle call,” sighed Billy as he rubbed a hand over his stomach. “Beats all how keen this salt air makes a fellow. Seems like I could begin one meal where the other left off. A little seasickness must be a sort of tonic calculated to build up poor appetites.”
At that remark the others broke out into a jeering laugh that indicated that they did not believe the speaker could be so afflicted.
Another day saw the scouts feeling more like seasoned veterans. The motion of the vessel no longer had any terrors for the weakest among them, even though it chanced that in the afternoon the ocean began to get so rough that the boat fairly wallowed in the seas.
Luckily the commander had chosen to select the morning hours for the torpedo-launching practice, and it proved of considerable interest to the boys. They were on hand to see everything that was done, and they did not hesitate to ask many questions readily answered by the young men who made up the Reserve crew.
Hugh had cautioned the others to try and make good friends of the men who temporarily manned the Vixen, the vessel having been given completely over into their charge for the entire two weeks. This bore good fruit, and the wearers of the khaki suits had become prime favorites at every mess. Indeed, they were known to have already had considerable experience for boys, and of course it took very little urging to coax any one of them to relate some of the things that had come their way in the past, with which most of our readers are already familiar.
All of the scouts were really glad when night again set in, with half a gale blowing and the cruiser heading for an anchorage in a certain harbor.
“If this keeps up to-morrow, good-bye to our hopes of being set ashore on the coast,” Alec told several of the others as they gathered around some of the crew who were bent on having a pleasant evening, discipline having been relaxed for a spell in order to ease the strain under which they were laboring.
“Yes,” added Walter, “because they couldn’t take chances of launching a boat to land us without danger of a capsize in the surf. It’s nice and quiet back of this point, but you can hear the sea smashing up against the rocks out there right along.”
“But there’s no storm coming because Hugh told me he saw the barometer, and it reads well up to thirty, which means fair weather, though windy,” Don Miller went on to say, and the information brought fresh hope to the rest.
“Like as not the breeze will have gone down more or less before night sets in again,” Blake Merton gave as his opinion, though of course it was mere guesswork, as he did not pretend to be a weather prophet, and knew nothing, about the signs on the sea, even if he were something of a woodsman ashore.
“That’s a fact,” Alec remarked. “We don’t land till long after dark, I understand. So there’s plenty of time for it to quiet down.”
“And to-morrow Hugh says the commander promised that he’d give a try to see if our Arthur can be reached by wireless,” Billy announced with considerable pride. He had at various times assisted Arthur in perfecting his station on the crown of Cedar Hill, and Billy had some sort of proprietary rights in the wireless.
“Well, for the honor of the troop I certainly hope they get in touch with Arthur,” Alec observed. He showed signs of envy and jealousy at times, but when his old nature got the upper hand of him, the leader of the Otters was really proud of the organization to which he belonged, and would exert himself manfully in order to reflect credit on the name of a scout.
“More than that, Hugh says,” Billy went on, seeming to have been delegated to act as the mouthpiece of the scout master in order to convey all this important news. “The captain promised him that if we did our part of the landing game all right, he’d allow us to have half an hour’s talk with our comrade at home every day that the wireless could be used. So that’s a spur to make us try to do our best, fellows, to spy on the fort defenders, and get the information aboard without making mistakes.”
“Yes,” added Don, “and we ought to go into this business seriously, too. No careless handling of messages will pass when so much depends on accuracy. Every fellow must be up on his toes, and bent on doing his level best.”
“You are right there, Don,” echoed Blake Merton. “We want to show these Reserve men that scouts can do things right up to the handle. Our signal corps work was always first class. Just now I kind of wish we had Bud Morgan along, because he worked with a surveying party, too, you remember, and is familiar with the business.”
“Oh! don’t let that bother you any,” Alec told him jauntily. “There are others besides Bud Morgan who know the ins and outs of wigwag work, telegraphing, and the use of the mirror in the sun that we call heliographing. Why, there isn’t a fellow in our bunch aboard this boat but who can stand his spell with the flags, and make mighty few blunders, too.”
“Thank you, Alec, for the taffy,” chuckled Billy, “but we ought to be up in that sort of work. Goodness knows, we’ve practiced it enough. Hi! Blake, they’re calling for you to take your turn with a song. Somebody must have given them a tip that you’ve got Caruso beaten to a frazzle with that fine tenor voice you own. So step forward and remember to do the troop proud every time.”
Blake Merton certainly did have a good voice, and while somewhat bashful about singing in the midst of such a large company of young fellows, he soon got over his timidity. Indeed, they gave him so warm an ovation after he had sung once that he arose to the occasion, and from that time on became the most popular scout aboard the Vixen. His services were called for to entertain the crew every night after discipline had been relaxed while they sat around on deck enjoying the salty breeze.
To these boys from inland there was no end to the new sights and sounds of their first trip afloat on the briny sea. They enjoyed taking a salt-water bath whenever the opportunity arose, drank in the wonderful sight of the seemingly endless ocean bounded by the horizon, often on all sides, and in every way possible sought to get the utmost enjoyment from this novel experience.
It was still pretty rough outside the next morning, and the Vixen remained comfortably anchored behind the point. There were numerous things to be done that could be carried out just as well there as at sea. Besides, the fort against which the Naval Reserve men had designs was not a great distance up the coast, so that the plans of the commander called for caution at this point in the war game.
It was a rather exciting time for the scouts when they gathered around the wireless operator, and watched him call the station of Cedar Hill. It was just at ten o’clock, the time Arthur had promised to be on hand every single day that it was not storming wildly.
There was more or less vain calling, and things began to look pretty blue when all at once there came a response. Every scout knew that some one was replying to the groping signal that the operator had sent out through space; and they only hoped that it might be their comrade a hundred miles away.
Presently the young operator looked up toward Hugh and said:
“Well, Old Brutus was poisoned last night by some mean party unknown!”
Now every fellow there knew just as well as anything that the old and faithful watchdog owned by the Cameron family was named Brutus; and this little piece of home news convinced them as nothing else could have done that they were in communication with Arthur perched up there at his station on dear old Cedar Hill.
To most of the boys this method of sending messages was a complete mystery, but there were several who had dabbled more or less in wireless, as some boys have a habit of wanting to know everything that comes along.
The operator was already aware that Hugh could send and receive messages after a fashion; he had talked with the scout master on several occasions, and even showed him many little things connected with this special outfit aboard the Vixen.
“He wants to know how you are all getting on,” the obliging operator remarked presently after another series of flashes and crackling had announced the receipt of another message. “Suppose you tell him yourself, Mr. Scout Master?”
So Hugh sat down, and with trembling hands transmitted his answer, the regular operator gladly assisting him. The boy’s confidence returned when he found that he was easily able to catch the strange dots and dashes as utilized in wireless work, and could even send a short message to far-away Arthur to the effect that they were all well.
He meant to make use of the code which had been arranged with Arthur should he have other opportunities to converse, which seemed likely. Then Alec asked for the privilege of exchanging a few words with Arthur, because he would never have been happy to have missed the glorious chance of saying he had once talked from a war vessel over a hundred miles away from the home town with the scout who had made his own wireless station.
The boys were allowed shore leave after the noon hour, being cautioned not to go out of sight of the boat. They were liable to be signaled to come aboard almost at any minute, should the commander decide to steam out of the harbor and continue the northward cruise. And with the recollection of what stirring times were ahead of them, there was little danger of any scout wandering off. Indeed, all they really did ashore was to roam the beach, wade in the shallows, hunt for pretty sea shells, and keep one eye anxiously fastened on the anchored Vixen, so as to discover the very first signal that would be hoisted to tell the boys to come aboard at once.
The night promised to be fairly dark, at least sufficiently so to cover the landing of the scouts from the cruiser. At three o’clock the anchor came up, and they steamed slowly out of the snug harbor to find that the sea had gone down, and nothing seemed to be in the way of making a successful landing when the proper time had arrived.
Hugh talked the whole thing over again with the captain, and received his final instructions. The scouts were each given some food to be taken along, since it was possible they might have to remain ashore until the storming party was put off to creep up the beach and try to surprise the garrison, who were constantly on the watch for signs of the enemy in either direction.
Charts of the coast had been shown the boys, and Hugh even made a rude map for his own guidance so that if in doubt he might consult it and shape his plans accordingly.
Again darkness came, with a young moon hanging in the western heavens. It would not set until about ten o’clock; and preparations had been made for sending a boat ashore soon after that hour containing all the scouts save Blake Merton, whom Hugh had finally selected as the receiving end of the signal chain because he was especially clever at this particular work.
When they dropped down over the side and huddled in the boat, the scouts felt their hearts beating much faster than ordinarily. Of course it might have been somewhat more exciting had there been a real enemy to be spied on instead of just a make-believe one, but for all that the sensation of having the success or failure of the whole maneuver depending on their work gave each boy a feeling of vast importance.
Almost noiselessly the oars dipped into the water, and they headed for the shore not more than a quarter of a mile away from where the cruiser was anchored. Finally through the darkness they could begin to distinguish objects faintly as the trees were outlined against the sky. Then they entered the gentle surf, and presently the keel of the boat ran up on the sand.
“Steady now, and no hurrying!” warned Hugh softly. The six other scouts proceeded to clamber out of the boat as silently as they could, after which it put back to where the one light aboard the Vixen showed her anchorage.
“Now for a tramp along the beach of a couple of miles,” said Hugh, “and remember there’s to be no talking above a whisper. I understand that the defenders of the fort may have men out on the watch. Forward now, and move along like ghosts.”
The seven scouts were soon moving along the beach, headed north. They quickly lost sight of the single light aboard the cruiser and to some of them this seemed like the cutting of all communications with their allies. From that time on they must count every one ashore as an enemy who would betray them if given half a chance.
When two miles or more had probably been passed over, Hugh began to pay strict attention to the landmarks as they opened up. The stars overhead gave abundant light on the beach for them to see fairly well where they were going. On the right the soft murmur of the little wavelets rolling up the pebbly strand, so new a sound to these lads from the interior, was like sweet music in their ears. On the left lay sand dunes that were like great Indian mounds, and which might conceal any number of spies should the defenders of the coast fort have thought it worth while to send them out in order to keep watch for the coming of the enemy; Hugh hoped this would not prove to be the case.
Several times the boys had little scares. An owl that had been prowling in search of food close to the water’s edge suddenly flew off with a rush, and went winnowing its way to the nearby woods. Then a little later on some small animal scurried away, none of them being able to identify it positively in the uncertain light, although Hugh guessed it might have been a fox that had wandered down in hopes of picking up something worth eating.
These were small matters, it is true, but with the nerves of the scouts on edge, as it were, they served to keep them thrilled with anticipations of possible discovery. Hugh redoubled his caution when the second mile had been passed over. He knew that they were now getting near the shore front. If by the use of marine glasses the commander in charge had been able to pick up the distant Vixen before the shades of night had enveloped her advance, he would of course have his men use double vigilance in order that the fortunes of war might not be decided against them by the Naval Reserve capturing his post.
Here was where the knowledge obtained from the chart on board came in handy for Hugh. He was able at any time to know just where they had arrived, and to understand the situation ahead.
The scouts were now advancing very slowly, bringing into use many of the little tricks they had learned when playing the Indian game in the woods. It was easy work making their way along the open beach. Hugh had now taken them away from the water so as to secure more or less protection from the trees further back. Here they felt more at home, and the forward movement was kept up steadily, minute after minute.
Then finally the scout master discovered that just ahead of them there lay a peculiar formation of rocks. It ran all the way down to the water, and further out, until lost to sight under the sea. This line of ragged rocks had all the characteristics of a reef, only that it did not agree with the conformation of the coast as most reefs do.
Here was the place that had been selected for the clever work of the signal corps on the morrow. The scouts were to hide amidst these rocks until dawn allowed the leaders to spy upon the fort with the field glasses they had brought along for the purpose.
An hour or so before daybreak three of their number were to start back along the beach to take up positions which had been pointed out by the scout master while they were making their advance. These were to remain constantly on the watch for any signals which might come in the shape of the semaphore alphabet, wigwag work, or through the use of a piece of broken mirror, with which each fellow had been armed before leaving the ship, and which, in case of the sun shining, was to be used as a means of sending messages along the line.
Should Hugh deem it safe to wave the white flag with its red square in the center, he would expect that method to be put in practice, but as this would mean more or less exposure on the beach, possibly it could not be used.
It was with more or less thankfulness that he led his scouts into the clump of rocks where they meant to make themselves as comfortable as the conditions would allow. Here they could move around even after day came, so long as they kept themselves from being seen by those in the fort. Doubtless, the garrison would have numerous duties to perform, and beyond keeping a fairly smart lookout for signs of an advancing suspicious vessel, it would not go to any further trouble.
It was far from comfortable, though, sitting on those hard rocks, but the boys made themselves believe that they were enjoying themselves hugely. They could only converse in whispers, and Hugh even cautioned them against doing too much of this, so that the time hung heavy on their hands.
As they had all had considerable experience in roughing it at various times, they finally settled down in the softest places they could find near together, and managed to secure some sleep, though it came in what Billy termed “cat naps.”
Hugh himself did not expect to get any rest. The whole success or failure of the enterprise depended pretty much upon him. At least he would be held responsible for any lapse that spelled defeat for the bold mariners from the Vixen, when they attempted on another night to get close to the fort in order that they could command its unconditional surrender with the coming of dawn.
So the anxious scout master kept moving about much of the time. He would crawl to a certain spot he had selected near the crest of the ridge of rocks, and from which he was able to see the lights of the fort. Here he expected in the morning to take observations through his powerful glasses, and when the sun was suitable transmit any important intelligence he had gleaned along to the scout next in line. In turn the latter would pass it on until finally it was received aboard the war vessel by Blake Merton, the entire work having been done by scouts.
Midnight came and went with all being well.
By now the other fellows seemed to have sunk into a sound sleep, and this impressed Hugh so much that he tried his best to follow their example. But the excitement under which he labored was so intense that while he secured some comfort from stretching out at full length and closing his eyes, not for a single minute was he able to forget himself.
Long practice in camping out in the woods at night had enabled Hugh to tell successfully what the time might be from observing the stars in their never-ceasing march toward the western horizon. When the young moon went down it had been a few minutes after ten. That was nearly three hours ago, as it must now be close on one o’clock. As daylight could not be looked for until somewhere near half-past four he knew there were still three more hours for him to lie around, first on one side until that felt sore, and then turning on the other for a change.
When another hour had passed Hugh aroused three of the scouts, these being the fellows who were to take up their stations as arranged on the back trail, and relay each message as it came along. Perhaps there was really little necessity for doing this, but Hugh believed in making things doubly sure. If one of the signal senders failed to receive properly the message, the next in line would likely have read it correctly, and could relay it on.
There was another hour or so to wait after Sam, Walter and Billy had been dispatched to their posts. Hugh allowed the rest to sleep on. He stood watch, and cast many anxious glances toward the east where the first faint flush of dawn would finally make itself manifest.
He knew that the Vixen would have slipped her anchor, and gone further down the coast before then, to take up a new anchorage at a place where the conformation of the land promised to hide her presence from the watchers at the fort. The scout who was located at the most southerly station would thus still be in position to communicate with those aboard.
Once Hugh had been greatly tempted to sally forth under cover of darkness, and approach closer to the unseen fort, urged by the impression that he might be lucky enough to pick up valuable information in some fashion.
On second thought, however, he decided that his orders did not contemplate any such rash movement. If in taking such a hazard he were discovered and made a prisoner of war, of course all hope of taking the garrison by surprise must be abandoned, and the game would go against the Naval Reserve men.
Hugh had learned how scout law meant implicit compliance with orders, and that under such conditions nothing should be attempted beyond the bare reading of the duties as set forth by the commanding officer. He must crush down any temptation looking to self-elevation, and the desire to engage in an adventure for the sake of enjoying the thrill it might entail.
How slowly the minutes dragged along! Hugh did not remember of ever before being in a position where he almost counted the passing seconds. But it could not be for long, and before daylight came he expected to have the balance of his little band scattered among the rocks. In this way they would run small chances of discovery, even though officers or men from the fort took a notion to cross over to the land reef for some purpose or other during the day.
He had just aroused Alec, Monkey Stallings and Don Miller by a gentle touch and whispered words when he plainly heard the crunch of heavy footfalls approaching.
Whoever it might be, the fact that he was coming from the direction of the unseen fort, and would likely cross the rocky reef just at the point where they happened to be crouching, made matters look serious.
“We will have to capture him, most likely!” Hugh whispered again, for he knew that if they started to creep away there was already enough light with the coming of dawn for them to be seen.
It was supposed that every member of the Coast Artillery in charge of the fortifications beyond knew the rules by which these mock attacks are governed. If they suddenly confronted this enemy, and made a demand for his surrender he must immediately elevate his hands, and refrain from trying to call out so as to warn his comrades of the impending peril. That was one of the rules to be strictly observed on both sides. It meant that the man had unwittingly placed himself in a position where his capture or death at the hands of the hidden foeman could have been easily accomplished, and therefore he must eliminate himself from subsequent events just as though his life had indeed been sacrificed.
Hugh, however, thought that they would do better to leap suddenly upon the other, and get him down before demanding that he surrender. They were only boys, to be sure, but four to one is pretty heavy odds; and besides they would have all the advantage that comes of a surprise.
Nearer came the crunching footsteps. Plainly the party did not seem anxious to take any one unawares, for he walked as though wearing heavy sea boots. Now he was ascending the reef, and the night air blew a whiff of tobacco smoke from his pipe to the nostrils of the crouching scouts. They saw his head, surmounted by a fisherman’s sou’easter hat rise above the ridge, and then he walked straight into their extended arms.
They sprang on him furiously, and Alec, catching his leg adroitly in that of the unknown, by a movement along the jiu-jitsu order as practiced by the Japanese, managed to throw the man over, with every one of the boys clinging to him.
“Surrender!” hissed Hugh, as he poked the man in the ribs with a shell he had picked up. “Not a sound above a whisper, you hear? You’re a prisoner of war, and held in the hands of the enemy!”
“Gosh all hemlock! whatever does this here mean?” gurgled the fallen man; and when he heard him speak, Hugh knew their prisoner was not an artilleryman, but a lobster catcher.