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Boy Scouts First Camp Fire

<h2>CHAPTER XXVII.</h2> <h3>THE WIGWAG TELEGRAPH.</h3> Thad now devoted himself to the task of communicating all he had to say to his second in command, and as briefly as possible. Time was a factor in the affair; and it would not pay to waste more minutes than were absolutely necessary. The full particulars must be kept, to thrill the patrol as they sat around the next blazing camp-fire, each one telling his individual part of the story. Fortunately Thad and Allan had long been practicing this exchange of flag signals together; and in this way had become fairly expert in the use of the little telegraphic code that takes the place of the dot-and-dash of the wire process. With but his handkerchief to use in place of the flag, Thad knew he would be hampered more or less; but he had faith in the ability of his chum to grasp the truth, once he caught an inkling of the peril that threatened. And now Allan was signaling that he understood the chief wished to send an important message, which he was ready to receive.[220] So Thad commenced by asking: "Who have you close by to send with a message to Rockford?" Allan asked him to repeat; and no wonder, for he could not exactly grasp such an astonishing query; but on its being waved again he replied promptly: "Giraffe, Bumpus; other two gone signal station beyond." "O. K. Send Giraffe at once. Tell him to make it as fast as he can. At Rockford get Chief Police at Faversham on 'phone; name Malcolm Hotchkiss. Tell him all that happened to us, about bear men, and that one of them asked Davy to let chief know if he saw footprint of marked shoe around. Believe that man on island, and that he is thief wanted by authorities. How?" This last was the query they understood between them. It meant that the sender wished to know if the burden of his message was being fully sensed by the one at the receiving end. "O. K. Tremendous! Go on!" came the immediate reply. Such long messages took more or less time, and would have been impossible only that in their enthusiasm the two scouts had abbreviated the code, so that they were able to really exchange sentences in a short-hand way. Thad went on to give the other more knowledge,[221] believing that Giraffe ought to be posted up to a certain point, so that he could urge the Chief of the Faversham police to hasten his movements; for if night fell, without the hidden men being captured, they could get away under cover of darkness. "Davy gone ashore behind floating log. Just landed at end of lake. Thought of this scheme after he left. Man with owner of bear we believe to be officer of law, looking for these rascals. Let Giraffe have your compass. Give him map I left in tent. Our boat taken, and we can't get ashore, for Smithy not able to swim. Let all practice for day drop, and keep in camp, ready to take another message." Then Thad made the winding-up movement that told Allan he did not wish to consume more time by further talk. Enough had been sent in this tedious way to let the other know the main facts of the matter; and they were surely startling enough in themselves, without the particulars that would follow later on, when peace had settled over the camp. He saw that Allan understood the need of haste; for as soon as he had made that peremptory signal, the second in command commenced going down the slope of the hill with the bald top, taking great leaps as he went. Eagerly did Thad watch his progress. Once, in his haste, Allan tripped and fell headlong; and Thad's heart seemed to be in his mouth with the[222] suspense; but immediately the other scrambled to his feet again. His first thought must have been of the chum whose eyes he knew were glued upon him; for he made a reassuring wave of his arm, and resumed his downward progress, a trifle more carefully now. Presently he vanished among the trees that grew about two-thirds of the way up, and Thad saw only occasional glimpses of him from that moment onward; as the flying figure flashed across some little gap in the verdure-clad hillside; never failing to wave his arms reassuringly to the watcher. "He must be nearly down at the base now," Thad said to himself, after some time had elapsed since he saw any sign of the hurrying scout. Knowing what was apt to follow, he kept his ears on the alert for welcome sounds which would tell that Allan had given the recall to the two scouts sent to the distant station, with their relay of flags, in order to receive and send messages. A minute, two, three of them glided away. Thad was beginning to feel a trifle uneasy, not knowing but that some further accident might have happened to Allan, in his eagerness to reach the foot of the hill. But his fears proved groundless. Presently there floated distinctly to his ears, for water carries sounds wonderfully well, the sweet notes of the bugle which Bumpus Hawtree knew so well how to manipulate.[223] It was the "assembly" that was sounded, and those distant scouts, upon hearing the well-known signal, would surely understand its tenor; and that for some reason the plans of the day had undergone a decided change, so that they were to return forthwith to the camp. Sweeter sounds Thad believed he had never heard than those that came stealing over the troubled surface of Lake Omega that morning, when affairs were beginning to have such a serious look for the Silver Fox Patrol. He gave a sigh of relief. Some of the strain seemed to have departed, now that his signaling task had apparently been successfully carried out. "In a short time, Giraffe will be starting across for the road leading to Rockford," Thad was saying to himself, as he sat there in his lofty eyrie, and surveying the whole island that lay bathed in the sunlight beneath him. "With a fair amount of good luck he ought to get there by half-past one, perhaps much earlier; for Giraffe is a fast runner, and has staying powers." The prospect was of a character to give Thad infinite pleasure. And somehow he seemed also greatly delighted because he had been able to hurry matters along in a wonderful manner, thanks to the knowledge he and Allan possessed of this Signal Corps work. "Why, it's already paid us ten times over for all[224] the trouble we took to learn the code," he was saying to himself, between chuckles. "And besides, it was only fun, learning. Smithy was right when he said this Boy Scout business was the best thing ever started in this or any other country to benefit fellows. And I'm glad I had that idea of starting a troop in sleepy old Cranford, so far behind the times." Just then he happened to remember that he was not alone on the island. Smithy would be getting quite anxious about him by now; and Thad concluded that he ought to hunt the other scout up, so as to relieve his mind. He had read enough of the character of the new tenderfoot scout to feel certain that Smithy would obey orders to the letter. Told to wait on the little pebbly beach until his superior officer joined him, he would stay there indefinitely; just as another lad, known to history and fame, Casibianca, "stood on the burning deck, whence all but him had fled," simply because his father had told him to remain there. So Thad commenced to descend from his lofty perch, meaning to hunt Smithy up, and not only relieve his natural suspense, but reward him for his long vigil by relating the result of the exchange of signals. That the new recruit would be deeply interested, he felt sure; for everything connected with the[225] scouting business had a fascination for Smithy; now living an existence he may have dreamed about in former days, but really never hoped to personally experience. Just then the loon, floating and diving out on the bosom of the water somewhere, had to give vent to his idiotic laugh. Possibly he had been observing the watcher in the dead tree-top, and was announcing his opinion of such silly antics when he noticed Thad begin to descend. The sound struck a cold chill to the heart of the boy, though he laughed at himself immediately afterward for allowing such a feeling to come over him. "It's only the loon," he said, as he again slipped from limb to limb, constantly nearing the base of the tree. "I suppose the thing's been watching me all the time, and wondering what under the sun a fellow could be doing, waving his old handkerchief around as though he were daffy. He looks on me as a lunatic, and I know him to be a loon." Chuckling at his little joke, Thad presently reached a point where he could hang from the lower limb by his hands, and then drop lightly to the ground. He waited only a minute to recover his breath, for after all the coming down had been more of a task than the mounting upward. Then he started for the shore of the lake, and the little beach that[226] had witnessed both landings of the invading parties of scouts. Twice now had that same beach afforded a surprise as unwelcome as it was unexpected, when the boat had vanished so strangely. Thad hoped history would not feel bound to repeat itself. True, they no longer had a boat to lose, since it had already disappeared; but then, there was Smithy! As he drew near the beach, he tried to discover the form of his comrade somewhere in the open, but without success. Still, Thad knew that the tenderfoot would doubtless consider it the part of wisdom to hide, while waiting for his comrade to finish his work aloft, and join him. Thinking thus, and yet with an uneasiness that he could hardly understand, Thad kept on, until presently he had broken through the last line of bushes, and stepped out on the little sandy stretch of beach. Certainly Smithy was not in sight. He turned in both directions, and swept the half circle of brush with an anxious gaze. Then he called in a low tone, but which might easily have been heard by any one chancing to be hiding behind that fringe of bushes: "Smithy, hello!" There was no answer to his summons. The loon laughed again out on the lake, as though mocking[227] his anxiety; a squirrel ran down a tree, and frisked about its base; but the tenderfoot scout seemed to have vanished as utterly as though the earth had opened and swallowed him up.[228] <hr style="width: 65%;" /> <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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