CHAPTER XV.

THE RETURN OF GIRAFFE.

Standing there, gripping their hats as the fierce wind continued to sweep past, the scouts exchanged serious looks. The fall of that tree had given them a feeling of thankfulness that they were not under it at the time.

"Oh! how that would have squashed us!" exclaimed Bumpus, when he could catch his breath.

"Do you know," ventured Smithy, "I had my eye on that big chap, and was wondering whether he'd hold up against the next squall. So you see I wasn't so silly, after all, when I mentioned such a thing."

"Nobody said you were, Smithy," admitted Giraffe; "but, Thad, how'd it do to stop near where that tree crashed down?"

"Why do you pick out that place in particular?" queried Step Hen.

"Oh! first of all they say lightning never strikes twice in the same place, and so there'd be no danger of another tree dropping on us. Then, again, don't you understand what a lot of chopping it'll save us, having all that good wood ready."

"Guess you're right about that, Giraffe," returned Step Hen; "for it made an awful crash when it hit the ground, and must have busted in many parts. It certainly takes you to think up all kinds of kinks connected with fires and fuel supplies."

"Well, somebody's got to do the thinking for the crowd, you know," returned the other, assuming an air of importance; "and when others shirk their duty it comes harder for us faithful members."

The patrol leader thought so much of Giraffe's sensible suggestion that he gave the word for a halt; and so they selected a place that looked as though it would make a pretty decent camp.

Here their burdens were only too willingly dropped.

"We get a fair amount of shelter from the wind, you see," remarked Thad, as he looked around him.

"But, Thad, it took that tree over like a shot," remonstrated Bumpus.

"Yes, because it had a clear sweep at its top," he was told, "for these other trees are not nearly so tall as the one that went down. Then if you examine the stump you can see that it was rotten at the heart, though it didn't show outside to any extent. That's the way with lots of men who, as they say, can smile and smile again, and yet be villains."

"When we go to write up this trip for our log book," Davy observed at this juncture, "I think it ought to go down as a sort of Robinson Crusoe story. Because right now we're wrecked on a desert island, with a limited amount of stuff along, and may be compelled to resort to all sorts of things for a living."

"I wonder if there's any game over here to help out, if we have to stay a long time?" ventured Giraffe, the hunter instinct strong within him. "Course we couldn't expect to find wild goats, like Robinson did, but then there might be rabbits, and even squirrels and raccoons."

"Ugh! I'd just like to see myself eating a part of a raccoon!" exclaimed the particular scout, lifting both hands to further indicate his disgust.

"Well, you may have that pleasure, if we stay here long enough, Smithy," he was assured by Giraffe; "now, as for me, I'd as soon partake of a 'coon as I would a young pig. 'Possum I know is fine, and I reckon the other would go all right."

"And I happen to have several fishhooks in my haversack that I forgot to remove after our last trip, when we went South with Thad; so you see we might pull in some fish if we got real hard pressed," and Bumpus smiled contentedly as he made this statement, for which he was applauded by Giraffe and Davy.

"Speaking about Robinson Crusoe," said Thad, "our case runs along a good deal like his for other reasons than that we're stranded on an island. You know he hewed out a boat so big that he couldn't get it down to the water; and we've got one on our hands so heavy that all of us couldn't budge her an inch when we tried to drag the same further up on the shore."

"Wonder if the case is going to keep on in parallel lines," mused Bumpus; "for you know how old Robinson found the footprints of savages on the sand one morning. What if we do here on our island?"

"Oh! shucks! what would we care, so long as we're heavily armed, and eight of us all told, when poor old Crusoe was alone? I'd give something just to run across a footprint that wasn't made by one of us, and that's straight, fellows."

No one doubted but what Giraffe meant every word, for his boldness had never been reckoned a questionable article. Indeed, on some occasions he had even shown bravery bordering on recklessness, so that the scout leader found it necessary to take him to task.

Giraffe soon amused himself in taking stock of their available supply of food, and listing the same in his methodical way. He would soon know just how many meals they could count on before being compelled to hustle for further supplies.

"Now, since we've never struck this island before, and ain't supposed to know a single thing about what sort of animals inhabit it, if any, I'm expecting to hang the eatables out of harm's way. That's why I fetched this leavings of the old cable along with me. I'll take time to unravel the kinks, and untwist the windings, so in the end I'll have quite a fine stout cord that's going to be mighty useful in a whole lot of ways."

Giraffe was happy only when busily employed. At other times he was apt to seem restless, and much like a tiger pacing up and down in its cage.

They were making themselves as comfortable as possible under the strange conditions that prevailed. All scouts are drilled in the art of observation, and constantly keeping their eyes on the alert in order to better their situation. So it was first one fellow who would decide to do a thing this way; and then another would go him one better, always with a spirit of healthy rivalry that was productive of results.

"There's the sun!" announced Smithy suddenly, for he had seen it glint on the agitated water far out on the eastern side, where there was an opening in the brush through which it was possible to glimpse the river.

"Welcome, stranger!" called out Giraffe, dramatically saluting; "we hope your stay with us may be long and happy."

"It feels real good, too, after so much gloomy weather, and all that downpour," Bumpus declared, as he opened his coat to let the warm rays strike him more fully.

Giraffe of course had his fire going; life would be shorn of much of its bright features if he were prevented from pursuing his favorite hobby. The old ax served to supply them with heavier fuel, which seemed to burn splendidly after being in part dried out.

Seeing Thad beckoning, the tall scout stepped over beside him.

"Do you want to do an errand for me, Giraffe?" asked the patrol leader.

"Every time, if only you don't ask me to walk on the water to the shore, which is a little more than I can manage," replied the other promptly.

"I'll tell you about an idea that struck me all of a sudden, as I was sitting on this log here," announced Thad. "I hardly know what put it in my mind to think of that shanty boat again. Perhaps it was our joshing about what Robinson Crusoe would be likely to do, if he found himself located like we are. But no matter, I suddenly remembered I had meant to examine that boat better, and then it happened that something put it out of my mind."

"Examine the shanty boat better, do you mean, Thad?"

"Yes. I remembered noticing what looked like a square consisting of plain cracks, on the floor of the cabin. The more I get to thinking of it, Giraffe, the stronger it strikes me that there may be some sort of trap door there. The boat must be hollow, that stands to reason, and if the water could be kept from getting in, such a place would be a good hiding-place."

"Gee whiz! do you mean for extra grub supplies, or something else, Thad?"

"I was thinking of something else," came the reply. "You remember how we found supper cooking on the stove when we broke into that boat cabin, yet never a solitary soul around? Well, supposing the man who was doing the cooking heard us when we let out those wild yells, and seeing soldiers coming down on him like wild cats, he just dodged below, _and stayed there_?"

"You mean all night long, Thad?"

"Yes, right up to the time we left the boat this morning," the patrol leader went on to say solemnly.

"But could he stand it all that time?" asked Giraffe dubiously.

"It may not have been the most comfortable thing going," admitted Thad; "but a fellow can stand for a whole lot when he just has to."

"You mean he'd do it, rather than risk coming out, and being gobbled up by the militia, is that it, Thad?"

"You've caught my idea, Giraffe."

"But, Thad, just think how he must have suffered all the while we rocked in the cradle of the deep like we did?" ventured the other, shaking his head as though he could hardly bring himself to believe it possible.

"It would take a good deal of grit to hold out, for a fact, but then he might be so much afraid of arrest that of two evils he chose the lesser," Thad continued.

"And what do you want me to do?" queried the tall scout.

"Just go to where we left the boat, and see if those cracks mean some sort of trap leading to the hold of the float. Be careful how you open it, because if the owner is hiding in there he may try to do something desperate. Perhaps you'd better take Step Hen along with you."

"Guess not, unless you insist, Thad. I'll carry a gun, and with that I'll be equal to any refugee that ever walked on two legs."

Giraffe liked nothing better than to be dispatched on a mission of this kind. He said nothing to any of the others, only picked up his gun, sang out to Bumpus not to let the fire die down for lack of fresh wood, and then walked away.

Some of the rest looked after him curiously, and wondered what he was up to; but as Step Hen had seen him in consultation with Thad he told them it was none of their business, but that the tall scout had undoubtedly been sent off on an errand by the commander.

Bumpus, feeling a certain sense of responsibility on account of having been especially designated as the guardian of the fire, took it upon himself to make certain that there was a plentiful supply of wood handy. It was a comical sight to see him swing the old ax, and hear him give a loud grunt every time he sent it home. But nevertheless he managed to keep things going, for he was very persistent, and hated to let any object escape him, once he had set his mind on accomplishing the same.

It was perhaps fifteen minutes later that they heard a shout, and looking up discovered some one running toward them, waving his arms wildly.

"There comes Giraffe, like hot cakes," announced Bumpus.

"And he looks wild in the bargain," added Step Hen. "I wonder now has he run on any savages getting ready for a feast like the ones Robinson saw."

"Oh! you're only fooling, I know, because savages couldn't be here along the Susquehanna!" exclaimed Bumpus; but nevertheless he began to show signs of fresh anxiety; and waited for the runner to come up, with a thousand questions in his manner.

So Giraffe came along, slackening his pace as he drew near, for he was breathing hard, and casting occasional glances back of him, which latter action in itself was sufficient cause for Bumpus to believe he must have been chased by some one.

"What is it, Giraffe?" he called out, even before the other had arrived.

"Yes, tell us what ails you, and why you've been running so fast?" Step Hen went on to say, as they all crowded around the panting runner.