Part 5 (1/2)

He had hardly spoken than he came close to the verge of disaster. To make his voice carry the better, Bluff had half turned his head, and in doing this lost his advantage just a trifle. So it came that the next sea struck the _Red Rover_ on the forward port side, instead of head on.

This caused the frail canoe to sheer out of her course, amid frantic efforts of her wearied skipper to regain a straightaway heading; and only for the fact that a second sea did not follow closely on the heels of the first, he might have met with an upset.

Presently they ran into the lee of the island, where the water was smoother.

This revived the flagging energies of Bluff and Jerry, always rivaling each other in whatever they attempted; so they set up a little race for the sh.o.r.e.

”Who won, Frank?” demanded Bluff between gasps, as all of them landed.

”Well,” remarked the other, with a sly wink at Will, which at the time the latter did not fully understand, though its import was made plain later, ”I'd declare it a dead heat! You two fellows are so evenly matched it's hard to decide which is the better.”

”All but our lung capacity; there I've got him beaten every time,”

insisted Bluff.

”You have, eh? Wait until the opportunity comes, and you'll just see how easy I put you on the mat. Ash.o.r.e it is, my hearties! We're castaway sailors for a week!” exclaimed Jerry, suiting the action to the word, and dragging his canoe up on the little shelving beach, beyond which lay the bristling thickets, hiding all the mysteries of Wildcat Island.

”Monarch of all we survey. Here we hide from the world, and forget dull care,” sang Will, prancing about to ease up his strained muscles.

”Here, lend a helping hand, you s.h.i.+rk!” called Frank, who was dragging the big canoe ash.o.r.e alone.

Suddenly there was a shriek from Will that made the others spring up.

Frank's hand involuntarily reached out for the double-barreled shotgun that lay in its waterproof case on top of the stuff in his canoe.

”Look! look! the wild man!” shouted Jerry.

They all saw a hideous face framed among the branches and twigs of the thicket close by. One second only was it in view, hardly long enough for them to make out that it was human rather than that of an immense ape.

Then the ugly face vanished from their sight, leaving the four canoeists gaping at each other as though unable to positively decide whether they had really seen the mysterious wild man of the island, or something which their imaginations had conjured up instead.

CHAPTER V--A STRANGE HAPPENING

”Did you see him, boys?” exclaimed Will, who was s.h.i.+vering as if he had just run across a ghost.

”Why, to be sure,” replied Frank, laughing a little forcedly; for the sight of that hideous face had given him a shock.

”Then it was so, after all. I began to believe I was just imagining things. Oh! what a magnificent opportunity I missed. How can I ever forgive myself?” groaned Will, showing signs of disgust.

”Opportunity for what--capturing the terrible wild man?” cried Bluff, aghast at what seemed the audacity of his ordinarily peaceable chum.

”Certainly not. But if I had only been ready I could have taken his picture to show the folks at home. My stars! what a great feat that would have been,” sighed the disappointed photographer, shaking his head.

”Tell me about that, will you? There was my uncle laughing at me when I mentioned about this same wild man of the island. He declared it was only some innocent animal, or else an old woman's tale. But every one of us saw him, and we've not been ash.o.r.e five minutes, either,” declared Jerry.

”I foresee some stirring times for us here, what with the snakes, if they are to be found, the ferocious wildcats they tell about, and now this mysterious wild man,” remarked Frank, soberly, as he began to take the bundles out of his canoe and place them high and dry up on the sh.o.r.e.

”Are we going to stay?” asked Bluff.

”Why, to be sure we are. Talk to me about your brave men, I like to hear a fellow speak about being scared away by the first sight of some poor, harmless chap. Perhaps it's another of Mr. Smithson's crazy people, escaped from the asylum over at Merrick, and hiding out here.”