Part 4 (1/2)

ONE thing, at least, pleased Rufus when he crawled forth and stretched himself, giving a yawn at the same time--it promised to be a fine day.

To a fellow who expected to do considerable prowling around in the vicinity of Racc.o.o.n Bluff this was a matter of material importance; for a heavy rain must have put a damper on his cherished plans.

By the time the latest up had finished dressing the welcome call to breakfast was sounding. Lil Artha performed this sacred rite, and in the customary camp way, wis.h.i.+ng to initiate the two tenderfoot chums in all the mysteries that went with the ceremony. Taking the biggest frying-pan they had fetched along, he rattled a lively tattoo upon it with a heavy cooking spoon. And during the course of their stay it may be said in pa.s.sing that never was there a more eagerly antic.i.p.ated racket, in the opinion of Rufus and Alec, when their camp appet.i.tes developed, than that same summons to the ”festive board,” as Lil Artha dubbed the rude makes.h.i.+ft table.

While they enjoyed the fruits of the cook's skill in wrestling with the culinary outfit, and made the bacon and fried eggs vanish in a most remarkably swift fas.h.i.+on, the boys also laid out their plans for the first day.

Of course Rufus was eager to get busy looking up the lines of the survey; and he had already bound Alec to the task of being his helper.

The latter did not object in the least, though after a day or two had elapsed, and the fever calmed down somewhat with Rufus, the Scotch lad antic.i.p.ated having his time more to himself; for he was eager to learn a great many scout secrets which the accommodating lanky Lil Artha had promised to impart to the new fellows.

Elmer, however, had no intention of allowing those two greenhorns free swing for a whole day. The chances were ten to one they would get lost the first thing; and it would be too bad if a good part of their limited stay at Racc.o.o.n Bluff was taken up in hunting missing comrades.

”I appoint you, Lil Artha, as supervisor,” he went on to say, with a smile; ”and your duties today will be to stick to Rufus and Alec like a porous plaster. Don't let one of them get out of your sight for a minute. You can lend a hand as much as you please; and fetch them back to camp at midday, when we'll have lunch, leaving the big meal until the day's work is all done.”

Rufus looked as though about to rebel. He was so accustomed to having his own way that it came hard with him to be ordered to do anything.

Then he suddenly remembered his scout vow, and that he had solemnly promised to bow to superior authority. Elmer was the ”boss,” and his word was law while they were away from home; so, making a virtue of necessity, Rufus shrugged his shoulders and grinned.

”Just as you say, Elmer,” he observed, a bit ungraciously, ”but I never was lost in all my life.”

”That's nothing to boast of, Rufus,” remarked Lil Artha. ”It only goes to prove how many splendid opportunities you've missed. On my part I was just as proud of my ability to look after myself as you are; and yet I used to get twisted in my bearings a heap until I got the hang of things. I can remember several times when I walked straight away from camp, under the belief that I was heading for it. You see, while I could easily tell which was north and east, I didn't know _which way the camp lay_; because my faculty for observation hadn't yet been developed to any great extent. It'll all come to you by degrees, if you really want to learn.”

”Well, what am I to do this morning, Elmer?” asked George.

”That's an easy one,” chuckled the leader. ”As you're such a stickler for having everything so neat about the camp, George, with things handy to the reach, I'll appoint you camp warden for today. You can fuss around all you please, and by night I expect we'll find that Camp Comfort well deserves its name.”

George looked pleased. His good qualities often more than counterbalanced his poor ones; and being neat is something no scout should ever feel ashamed of.

Elmer did not mention what he meant to do himself. In fact, he had not wholly determined that point, though he fancied that he might take a wide turn around, and see what the country about Racc.o.o.n Bluff looked like.

Although Elmer had not said anything about it to the others, the fact is he had made a little discovery that aroused his interest considerably.

Just before they sat down to breakfast he had chanced to step over to a point where the best view was to be had, and using a pair of field-gla.s.ses which had been brought along, took a casual survey of the country.

In one particular spot he believed he could see a faint column of pale blue smoke climbing straight skyward from amidst the thick growth. Elmer was a pretty good woodsman, and he did not have to be told that such smoke always comes from well seasoned wood, while black smoke springs from greener stuff.

Some one had a fire over there, that was evident, and knew what sort of fuel to select in the bargain; which fact made it patent that he was educated in the ways of the woods. Elmer's curiosity was excited. He wondered who their neighbor could be. Was it some fis.h.i.+ng party, perhaps camped on the sh.o.r.e of the unseen lake on the bosom of which that loon they had heard cry had been swimming at the time?

Of course there might be numerous answers to the question Elmer was asking himself. Perhaps lumbermen were looking over the property which had lately come into the possession of Mr. Snodgra.s.s, with an idea of making him a proposition for the right to cut off the big timber. Then again, charcoal-burners sometimes worked in the season; or it might be game wardens were abroad, with the idea of catching detested poachers at their work.

Then last of all Elmer thought of Jem Shock, the slippery customer whom no warden had thus far been able to catch red-handed, breaking the game laws; and who, it seemed, had gained an unenviable reputation for boldness as well as knavery, so that his name, bandied about from lip to lip, had gradually become a synonym for everything that was bad, whether the fellow deserved it or not.

Well, they knew that this same Jem lived somewhere in the wilderness, since he seldom appeared in any town; and what more likely than that his camp lay over yonder, where the blue trail of smoke lifted toward the sky?

Elmer felt an enticing temptation beginning to a.s.sail him. It has been said before that he had found himself attracted toward Jem Shock, simply because of a curiosity to know what the _real_ man might be like; for Elmer was loath to believe all he heard about any one, knowing how stories are magnified in the telling.

And by the time breakfast was over with, the scout leader had decided that he would take a little stroll, which might, there was no telling, carry him in the direction of the blue column of smoke.

It happened that Rufus was so busy getting ready to start out with his surveying instruments that he had given no thought to looking around.

Lil Artha on his part would, of course, take note of the general lay of the land; but with the ridge to serve as a guide he believed he could always make a bee-line back to camp whenever the necessity arose.