They had stopped to talk it over. All of them were in need of a breathing spell, at any rate; and this might turn out to be a matter well worth investigating.

The patrol leader shook his head in the negative.

"Just the same with me, Jack," he returned. "I'm mixed up enough not to be able to say what it means, though I've got an idea they may be telling the parties at the mine what they expect to do. But we haven't thought of one chance we've got to read the message."

"What might that be, Ned?" asked Frank.

"I don't reckon that you're carrying a lovely little code book along with you, now; that'll tell all about the different ways people have of signaling with smoke puffs?" Jimmy wanted to know.

"Perhaps Tamasjo might tell us," was all Ned said; and his simple explanation caused a general look of eager curiosity to be turned in the direction of the Cree Indian.

Why, to be sure, Tamasjo had been born and raised in this Northern country, and very likely he had communicated with his own people many a time, when returning from a hunt, and by just such means as those men over on the Harricanaw were now using.

How silly that some one had not thought of the old Cree before. It was as simple as turning one's hand over. Jack chuckled when he heard Teddy mutter to that effect; because he remembered that when Columbus returned, after discovering the Western Hemisphere, the envious Spanish courtiers made remarks along the same lines. It is always easy to see a thing after it has been pointed out.

Frank was already turning toward Tamasjo. He found the Indian standing there calmly watching the floating columns of smoke that were interrupted frequently, as those responsible for their existence manipulated the blankets over the fires.

"What do they say, Tamasjo?" asked Frank.

The Cree guide talked fairly good English, though with something of an effort. When indulging in any extended conversation with Francois, he invariably resorted to his native tongue.

Turning to Francois now, he rattled off a lot of talk that sounded almost like gibberish to the scouts, who waited for the voyageur to translate it.

"He says zat ze smoke tell heem most of ze men haf already started over to ze mine. Eet also say zat zey will have us all in ze trap soon," explained the French Canadian.

The boys looked at each other blankly.

"The dickens they do!" burst out Jimmy. "They'll have to get up right early in the morning to find us asleep. Say, he didn't tell what they expected to do when they sprung that fine trap, did he, Francois?"

"Nozzings, sare," responded the other, with a negative shake of his head. "I myself haf also read ze signs pret well, but zey do not tell vat it ees zey haf do to cage us. Zere, you see ze smoke ett haf done. I zink zey must be put ze fires out."

"That leaves us nearly as much in the air as before, don't it, Ned?" Jack complained.

"Only that we've learned the men are on the way across somewhere," Frank objected.

"And that they think they've got us up a tree, though we haven't the least notion what kind of tree," added Teddy, thoughtfully.

Ned looked serious, but if he had ideas of his own, he did not mention them just then. Perhaps he thought his chums had troubles enough as it was, without assuming any imaginary ones that might turn out to be false alarms.

"We'd better be pushing on again, boys," he remarked, "if all of you have swallowed what water you want from this fine spring here."

Apparently they had, for presently the column was in motion again. Somehow, even Jimmy had sobered more or less. Something about the passing back and forth of the smoke communications must have put a damper on his spirits; though, a short time before, he had been fairly bubbling over with joy, because of the success that had recently come their way.

It would have been all very well for the scouts to have depended wholly on themselves had they been alone at this time; but having two experienced guides along, Ned was not conceited enough to think that he knew it all, and could utterly dispense with their advice.

Consequently, he did not hesitate to ask questions of Francois whenever a situation confronted them that seemed to offer two solutions. A mistake, at this stage of the game, was likely to cost them dear; and they could really not afford to take chances of such a slip-up.

On this account, then, he kept Francois close by, and was frequently seen to be exchanging words with the voyageur.

It was apparent to all of them when the change of direction was made, for the sun began to loom up more to the rear, as they headed into the southeast.

This meant that the river must lie straight ahead now, and if their calculation did not go amiss, they should strike it in the vicinity of the place where the growth of friendly reeds concealed their boats.

Habit was strong with the boys. They had for a long time now accustomed themselves to noticing everything of interest around them on all occasions. So it was that while they paid some attention to what lay in front much of the time, they kept pointing out objects of interest to one another as they walked along.

Now it might be a splendid chance to bag a feeding caribou, seen in a glade off to the right, and to windward, which accounted for his not having scented the presence of human enemies.

A little later some frisky squirrel, or it might be a sly Arctic fox, was pointed out. Birds were few in number, and consisted for the most part of the species of partridge that can be found up in this far-away region. Not a single song-bird did they see or hear, and a silence like unto death lay upon the "bush," as the wilderness is always called throughout Canada.

Far up in some of the trees, noisy crows had sometimes been seen, holding a caucus; but just then even these seemed strangely absent.

These boys had known what it was to pass through a tropical jungle with its confusion of sounds that at times almost deafened one; so that the contrast was very strong. They could understand what was meant when explorers talked of the "silent North;" and told how painfully quiet it was at all times, save when some Arctic storm caused the ice floes to grind together, and portions of the bergs to crash down from their lofty heights.

"Seems to me we must be getting somewhere near that old stream," Jimmy finally remarked, with a half-hidden groan, for he was undoubtedly beginning to feel exceedingly tired.

Somehow, the boys turned inquiring eyes on Ned. They knew that he had all the while been keeping a record of the distance covered, and could, therefore, give some sort of estimate as to how far away the river might lie.

Seeing that he was expected to make an announcement, the patrol leader appeared to do some mental calculating before giving his opinion.

"If you can keep going for about ten or fifteen minutes longer, Jimmy," he finally remarked, cheerily, "I think, you'll find that we've arrived. Once or twice, I noticed something in the lay of things ahead, when an opening came, that seemed to tell of the river. The trees always grow higher along the course of such a stream, you know, and often you can follow the direction of the river, without ever glimpsing the water itself once."

"That's good news, Ned, and I'm going to get a new hustle on for the last lap," Jimmy announced, heaving a sigh of relief that swelled from the very depths of his heart.

Their progress after that was not quite so rapid. This in itself was convincing proof to Ned that his prediction was going to be fulfilled, because, as they gradually reached the lowlands, vegetation increased, making it more difficult to push through.

"The ten minutes are up, Ned," announced Teddy, who had been taking sly peeps at his little nickel watch from time to time.

"Well, what would you call that over there through the break in the trees?" asked Jack, triumphantly, just as though it was his prediction that was being fulfilled.

"The river, as sure as anything!" admitted Teddy.

"Thank goodness!" sighed Jimmy. "The only thing that's been helping me keep up is the picture I've been drawing of a feller about my heft, squattin' amidships in that bully canoe, and bucking up against the current of the old Harricanaw. How far do you think we ought to go, before making our first camp, Ned; and will we be able to cook any supper, before turning in under our warm blankets?"

"Don't count your chickens before they're hatched!" said Frank.

"Now, what makes you try to throw cold water on a feller all the time?" complained Jimmy. "I like to see the silver linin' of the cloud, and think of things going good. Besides, we've got to eat, haven't we; and we left a pile of good grub along with the boats? If Ned says the word, I'm meanin' to dish up a supper that'll make us forget we're tired to death. We c'n hide the fire, like Injuns do when in a hostile country, by makin' the same in a hole, so the light won't show any distance. How's that, Ned; am I on?"

"Wait and see," was the only comfort the other would give the enthusiastic one, and with this, Jimmy had to rest content.

With the river in plain sight, they hurried their steps. The presence of the water acted like an inspiration to every scout; so that no one would believe they had just been complaining of weariness.

Ned grew more wary the closer they came to the river. All he wanted to make sure of was the location, so that he might be able to know whether they were above or below the place of the reeds.

Constant practice makes perfect, and Ned had so accustomed himself to fastening the prominent features of the landscape upon his memory that once he saw a place he never forgot it again.

In this case, if he failed to recognize anything along the bank of the river it would prove conclusively that he had never set eyes on it before. In that event, they could take it for granted that this was below the place where they had left the canoes.

Finally the others stopping, watched Ned scrutinizing the shore of the stream. Of course, they understood what his object must be, and nervously awaited his verdict, hoping, meanwhile, that it would be favorable, and that they were near the objects of their search.

He was only a fraction of a minute in deciding, for presently he turned to his companions and nodded.

"We've struck the river just above the reeds," he went on to say. "I remember noticing that tree leaning over the water. A kingfisher was sitting on it, when we came along, and flew off with a screech. And, according to my mind, the reeds will show up just around that bend there."

"Oh! joy, bliss, and everything else that spells happiness!" declared Jimmy, waxing enthusiastic all of a sudden, when the suspense seemed to be at an end.

They pushed on, full of hope, for after this long hike it would be something worth while to find themselves once more seated in the canoes and gliding over the surface of the river, homeward bound, their great mission completed.

"There they are!" exclaimed Frank, who had impetuously pushed along ahead of the rest, in his desire to be the first to glimpse the reeds.

There could be no mistake about it, for all of them recognized the conformation of the ground in the immediate neighborhood, since they had taken particular pains to impress the same on their minds before leaving the spot.

Presently they had reached the border of the reed bed, with Frank still leading, though the rest of the scouts pressed close on his heels.

Already was the first of the explorers commencing to separate the reeds, under the impression that he could take them straight to the spot where they had left the boats.

But Frank soon began to think he had started on the wrong tack, for he failed to make the anticipated discovery. He stopped and looked blankly around him.

"Well, I declare!" he emitted, with a grunt. "I sure thought I knew this old place, and could take you straight to the canoes; but seems like I've got twisted around some. Things look different when you start to observe them from the back."

"Perhaps it isn't just what you think," said Ned, quietly.

"Is there anything wrong?" demanded Jack, while poor Jimmy's lower jaw fell, and he could only stand there and stare.

"The worst almost that could have happened to us," Ned replied sadly.

"The boats were here then, and have been stolen?" asked Frank breathlessly, while he as well as the other boys turned pale with apprehension, for it was a genuine calamity that faced them now.

"Look there and there, and you'll see where they rested among the reeds," Ned told them. "Yes, and here's a piece of greasy paper I remember seeing Jimmy toss overboard, when he was getting out of his boat. We've struck our one bad streak, after all, boys, I'm sorry to say. They ran on our boats, and we're left in the lurch up here, five hundred miles from anywhere!"



CHAPTER XIV.

BLINDING THE TRAIL.

For almost a full minute nobody said a word. Indeed, the tremendous nature of this discovery seemed to have very nearly paralyzed them, so that one and all could only stand there and stare at the places where they could tell their prized canoes had recently rested.

Jimmy was the first one to arouse himself, and it was hot anger that caused him to show so much activity.

"P'raps they haven't gone far, Ned, and if we got a hustle on we might manage to ketch up with the measly skunks. If they try to pack our boats through the woods, they'll have a time of it, let me tell you. Are we agoin' to give chase? Oh! I'm as fresh as a daisy right now. Seems like I could run for hours, if I had an idea I'd overtake the canoe thieves."

Ned shook his head.

"No use, Jimmy," he told the furious scout; "because they haven't carried our boats ashore. If you look, you'll see where they paddled out on to the river. You remember, we hid all traces of our own passage, yet here you can see a wide swath among the reeds, bending them back."

They saw that he spoke the truth, even Jimmy admitting the sad facts with a groan that seemed to well up from his shoes, it was so disconsolate.

"Five hundred miles—five hundred of 'em! Gosh!" he was heard to tell himself, as he stood there, rubbing the side of his head, as though he felt like one in a stupor or a dream.

"And as we haven't a single boat, of course we can't pursue them," remarked Jack between his clinched teeth, while his eyes glittered angrily.

"Oh! what wouldn't I have given to have come on the rascals just in the act of getting away with our boats!" breathed Frank, as he shook his rifle, after the manner of a scout who has thrown discretion to the winds.

"Well, let's not whimper and cry over spilt milk, anyway," said Ned, who could always be depended on to bring the boys to their proper senses.

"That's so," echoed Jack, quick to see the importance of keeping their senses about them in this dilemma. "We've got to do something, that's sure, and so let's get to talking it over sensibly."

"But, what can we do?" pleaded Teddy, who was not apt to prove equal to a sudden strain like this, and must depend on others more vigorous of mind.

"Oh! before we're done considering things," promised Ned, "you'll find that we've got a choice of a whole lot of plans. I hope we're all made of sterner stuff than to throw out the white flag of surrender, just because something has gone wrong."

"Well, I should say not," declared Frank, grinding his teeth together. "We're like the Old Guard, we can die, but never surrender."

"That's the stuff!" cried Jimmy, suddenly beginning to brighten up again, as the stunning effect of the first rude shock passed away. "Remember what Phil Sheridan did at Cedar Creek, when he met his army, smashed and running away? What was it he told 'em as he galloped along the road, headed for the battlefield? 'Face the other way, boys; face the other way! We'll lick 'em out of their boots! We'll get back those camps again!' All right, and it's me that says it; well get back our boats again, by hook or crook!"

"I hope you turn out to be a true prophet, Jimmy," said Ned. "That's one of the plans I spoke about. Another would be to make for the shore of the big bay, and try to get in touch with some vessel passing, that might carry us to Halifax, or some other northern port, where we could send a message to Jack's father not to put a dollar into these fake mines."

"Sounds good to me," Teddy remarked, sucking it all in eagerly.

"Then there's another thing we might manage to do if the worst came," proceeded Ned. "Up here there are lonely trading posts run by the Hudson Bay Company, at each of which you'll find a factor in charge. If we could only run across one of these posts, I reckon, there would be some way found for getting us down to civilization inside of a month or so."

"That long?" observed Teddy.

"What would it matter, so that we didn't have to do the grand hike?" Jimmy asked, afflicted with dizzy visions of five hundred miles of tramping over rough country, supporting themselves, meanwhile, in the most primitive fashion by shooting game, and cooking the same over fires made with flint and steel, or the bow and stick method known to scouts generally.

"Of course," added Frank, somewhat satirically, "Teddy would like to have one of those Zeppelin airships come along and give us a lift. I guess all of us would be glad if that happened; but the chances are so small, we don't want to consider 'em, do we, Ned? So here we are, facing a puzzle that's going to give us no end of trouble and work. If it was hard to get in, it's going to be a much bigger job to get out again."

"It's getting late, as it is," remarked Jack, as he looked toward the west where the sun was hovering over the horizon, and ready to take the final plunge, though, of course, it would not be dark for a long time afterwards, thanks to the length of the Northern twilight in midsummer.

"First, let's get where we can look up and down the river, principally down," was Ned's advice, "though there's a mighty slim chance that we'll see anything of our stolen canoes."

This proved to be the case, for when they had found an elevated position, where it was possible to see far down the stream, there was not a thing in sight, save a mother duck teaching her little brood to swim and find food.

"No use, seems like; they've gone a long time back," said Jimmy.

"I wonder if that was what they told the fellows over at the mine, when they mentioned a trap?" observed Frank, seriously, glancing hastily around him at the same time, as though half expecting to see a dozen ugly-faced men appear from the bushes and rocks.

"Not while Tamasjo was reading the smoke signs," Ned assured him, "or he would have learned enough to tell us what to expect when we got here. But, first of all, we ought to move off."

"You think they'll come here later on, when they learn how we got out of the old mine and headed across country—is that it, Ned?" Jack queried.

"I expect it is about like this," the patrol leader replied; "one or two men must have found our boats. For the life of me, I don't understand how it happened, except that they were paddling along on the river, and wanting to go ashore took exactly the same notion we did—that the reeds would make a good hiding place for their craft. And, as luck would have it, they ran on our canoes."

"No signs here to tell Francois or the Cree about how long back this thing happened, I reckon?" Frank put in just then.

"That's where we get a hard knock," Ned continued, with a tinge of regret in his voice; "because, as you all know, water leaves no trace. When men are fleeing from enemies, the first thing they think of is to get into a creek, and throw their pursuers, dogs and all, off the scent. So, even as clever a trailer as Tamasjo couldn't tell any better than Jimmy here whether this robbery occurred an hour ago or three of the same."

"We're sure enough up against it this time, boys," Teddy affirmed.

"And have been on other occasions, remember, when things came out all right, and we won in the end." Jack reminded the doubter.

"Let's make up our minds we're going to beat these chaps at their own game, and that'll be half the battle," Frank told them.

"But I think Ned is all right when he says, 'we ought to cut stick and get away from here as soon as we can,'" Jack gave as his opinion.

In fact, the guides were manifesting more or less impatience. They apparently understood that the enemy would be apt to turn up here again, sooner or later; and could not comprehend why the scouts should always want to compare notes, before doing anything like making a change of base. Francois and the Cree were accustomed to making most of their moves through instinct; while with the scouts those same things did not come naturally, but had to be reasoned out, which made considerable difference.

One last look did they give toward the reeds that had promised to be so friendly, only to betray the confidence the boys had placed in them; and after that the little party moved off.

"But say, won't they follow after us, Ned?" asked Jimmy, when he failed to see the guides getting busy with trying to destroy all evidences of their passage, as he had fully expected would be the case.

Some of the other scouts showed by their expectant manner that they were also wondering what it all meant. Ned took it upon himself to enlighten them.

"If I read their meaning right," he ventured, "that is just what they want to do at first, make the men believe we've started to tramp back over all those hundreds of miles of ground. Before long, they'll do something to hide the trail so only a wolf's keen scent could find it; and then we'll turn around again, so as to face toward Hudson Bay. How, Francois?"

The old voyageur had listened to the explanation offered by Ned. He grinned and wagged his head, as though quite tickled at the idea of the boy understanding so well what the little game was.

"Zat ees so, sare," he said. "If Jimmy he be able hold out so long, mebbe we also eat supper far away from zis place."

Hearing his name mentioned, Jimmy was up in arms. He had a reserve stock of nerve for occasions like this, which could be summoned to the fore.

"Don't bother about Jimmy, please," he told them. "Sure, when it comes to a pinch, don't he always get there with the goods? My feet can ache all they want to; but, all the same, they'll do what I say. If it's a mile or six of the same, I'm good for it. But I wish I had something to gnaw on meanwhile, because I'm as hungry as a starved wolf, so I am."

Frank produced a handful of crackers from his little pack, which he willingly turned over to the other. This seemed to satisfy Jimmy; at least, he stopped groaning and telling of his aches and pains. When they could get his jaws to working in this fashion, he seldom allowed himself to enter any complaint. Jimmy could be bribed to do a good many things by the promise of a feast at the other end.

They continued on for some little time, and then it became apparent that Francois and the Cree had decided the blind trail had been carried far enough.

They were seen to confer, after which the leader stepped upon a long log that lay conveniently near by. Walking part way along this, the Indian suddenly leaped upon a bare rock, stepped its length, found another log, passed along it and so continued, leaving not the slightest trace of a trail that could be followed, unless dogs were placed upon the scent.

"You go next, Jack," urged Ned, who wished to satisfy himself that all of the scouts were able to qualify in this round of concealing the trail; though they had practiced it many a time when in camp.

Jack had observed every move of the agile old Indian, so that once he started over the same course he made short work of it.

"Teddy, you're next!" the scout leader announced.

Possibly it was with more or less trepidation that the one singled out began to cover the ground. But then Teddy was not a tenderfoot, even if he did not know as much as some of the others about woodcraft. He walked along the log, made the jump successfully, though falling flat on his face when he gained the rock; managed to gain the second tree trunk, and conducted himself so cleverly on the whole that Ned gave him a wave of approval after he had joined the others some distance away.

Frank and Jimmy copied the actions of those who had gone before, and so far as could be seen they did not leave any trace of their passage, though, of course, the old voyageur would look out for all that when he came to cross, and examine the ground carefully in so doing.

Ned found no difficulty in following the rest, and then they stood on a stone foundation, watching with considerable interest, while Francois scrutinized the track to make sure they had not left some sort of footprint, or disturbed any object, however small, that might catch a trained eye and betray their little game to the enemy.

As far as possible for some little time, they were instructed to take advantage of every opportunity that cropped up to advance, without leaving tell-tale imprints behind them. That is the measure of success in "blinding a trail," and if anybody ever had it down to a science, surely a Cree Indian might be expected to. Still there was no telling what might happen. Discovery was always in the air, and they must be forever on their guard against it.

Jimmy did seem to revive under the influence of his little bite, for he kept resolutely on, with set jaws and a look of grim determination written large upon his freckled and rosy face.

They were heading straight toward salt water now, all of them knew; because stars had crept into view, and these boys had long since learned to tell direction, by means of the lights in the sky, by day or night. The Polar Star shone dimly, as always, nearly directly ahead of them. Other stars they could see, such as are never gazed upon by people living in the temperate climes, constellations peculiar to the northern region of ice and snow.

"Eet is here we rest and eat!" announced Francois, after a long and arduous siege of this tramping and stumbling had been endured.

Jimmy wanted very much to make out that it was a matter of small importance to him whether they stopped or continued right on; but nevertheless he could not keep back the happy sigh that would well forth; and they could hear him champing his jaws, as though trying to learn whether they were still in condition for service, because that one word "eat" had told him they expected to break their fast. Shortly afterwards they were making themselves as comfortable as possible, though destitute of blankets and many other things; while the two guides started a little cooking fire in a depression where it could not be seen thirty feet away.



CHAPTER XV.

THE BRUSH SHELTER.

"After all, this isn't so bad!" Teddy was saying, after they had got the supper started, and most of them were lying around in comfortable attitudes, enjoying the cheery conditions, for the air was a bit cool, and even the warmth of the small cooking fire felt good.

"It might be worse," admitted Jimmy, sniffing the fragrant air, as a war horse might the pungent powder-smoke of battle—Jimmy was always ready for the fray in the line of disposing of surplus "grub."

They did not have a very extensive meal. The conditions hardly warranted their trying to put on any "style," as Jimmy called it. So as appetites were appeased, and the food tasted good, nobody was apt to complain. Indeed, these fellows had been through so much in times gone by that they knew how to make the most of a bad bargain, and adapt themselves to circumstances as they found them.

When a Boy Scout can do that he has achieved the best that any one could expect of him, for he has conquered himself, always the hardest fight of all.

Presently Francois announced that the simple bill-of-fare was ready. It consisted of hard-tack, coffee, and some caribou meat cooked in regular camp style. What mattered it if in places the venison was slightly scorched, or underdone; the wood smoke gave it a flavor all its own, and there were vigorous appetites on hand to overlook these minor faults.

Quantity appeals to boys more than quality, generally speaking, and never a single complaint was heard as they munched away.

"Getting off better than we expected, ain't we?" Jimmy observed, with his mouth so full that his words were fairly mumbled.

"Oh! this is just prime!" Frank declared. "I'm more bothered about not having my good blanket to snuggle down into than anything else."

"Please don't mention it till we've done eating, anyway," pleaded Teddy. "Makes a cold chill run up and down my spinal column every time I think what we've got to face, with tents and blankets all gone."

"Another experience, that's all," remarked Jack, trying to look cheerful, as if these things should not bother any one worthy of calling himself a scout.

"Well, we've seen a heap of 'em, all told," was the consoling remark of Jimmy, "and we're still in the circus ring, right side up with care. Fact is, it takes an awful lot to knock a scout out, because he's learned so many ways to dodge, just like a cat does."

"There you go, comparing us to a bunch of tomcats," chuckled Frank.

"I do hope, though," Teddy went on to say, with a sigh, as he contemplated the little blaze before him, "that later on we'll be able to have jolly camp fires every night. There is a chance of that happening, ain't there, Ned?"

"Why, I should hope so, Teddy," replied the other; "I'd hate to think that we'd have to stand for this sort of thing long. As soon as it looks like we've dropped that crowd, I don't see any reason why we shouldn't have all the fire we want, so long as we don't start the bush to burning. And as every scout knows how to get sparks from flint and steel, not to mention other ways of doing the same, why, we needn't bother ourselves about matches."

In this way they chatted in low tones, and their spirits were kept from drooping. Association does considerable toward making boys, or men, see the bright lining to the cloud. It is like rubbing metal fragments together in a turning cylinder, with the result that every separate piece receives more or less of a luster from the constant friction. So difficulties brighten the minds of scouts who know enough to take advantage of their opportunities.

All sorts of suggestions were being made from time to time, looking to the betterment of their conditions. Some of these did not seem practical, and were immediately dropped. Others deserved more careful consideration, and, in these cases, the boys gave each other the benefit of their opinions.

During the course of this talk, Jack brought up the subject of bettering their sleeping quarters.

"As we don't expect to keep this little fire going through the whole night," he told them, "and so won't get the benefit of its warmth, what's to hinder out looking around to find a place where the brush is thick enough to let us stack up a woods' shelter?"

"A good idea, Jack!" was the comment of the patrol leader.

"It would shelter us from the night breeze, anyway," Teddy observed.

"And, say, I think I can put you on to the very place," Jimmy unexpectedly announced; which remark, so unlike Jimmy, caused the others to "sit up and take notice," under the impression that their comrade must certainly be waking up to the occasion.

"Show me!" said Frank, scrambling to his feet; "because I'm getting sleepy right now, sitting here so close to the fire; and, according to my mind, we can't fix up our beds any too soon."

"Oh! how can we talk about beds, when we haven't got any blankets?" wailed Teddy.

"Like as not, we'll find some hemlock trees around, for they grow away up here, we know," Jack argued. "And by laying close to each other we'll manage to keep half-way warm, let's hope."

Teddy began to laugh softly to himself.

"What ails you now?" demanded Jimmy; "because it strikes me the prospect ain't so very cheerful as to make a feller laugh."

"Oh! excuse me," replied Teddy, "but I just happened to think how funny it would seem for the whole five of us to be lying like sardines in a box, every fellow's knees doubled up, and stuck in the back of the next one. Then, whenever one got tired of lying on his right side, he'd call out 'turn!' and the whole line would have to wiggle around, so as to flop over on their left sides."

"Just about what we'll have to do," Jack assured him.

"And you won't think it so very funny either after a while," said Frank.

Jimmy led them back a little way, and sure enough they found just the conditions they required for making a bough and brush shelter. Ned immediately told the observant one that he had done well to notice the conditions, with an eye to future possibilities.

"While we're at it," Ned continued, "perhaps we'd better make as rain-proof a shelter as we can."

"Gee whiz! I hope you don't think it's going to come down on us to-night, and me with my raincoat which was left in the canoe?" Teddy exclaimed.

"Feels sort of damp to me," Frank admitted.

"Let's hope for the best," added Jack. "But I think that what Ned said would be the proper caper for us. And now get busy, everybody. Show what you know about constructing a bough shelter, for if ever we needed one, it's right now."

They worked like a pack of beavers. Indeed, Jimmy declared that it seemed like a shame they all belonged to two patrols known as the Wolf and Black Bear, when they were such an industrious lot, and deserved better totems.

The guides also entered into the spirit of the thing, though apparently more careless or indifferent about their comfort than the boys. Still, they appreciated the prospect of having a shelter, in case of a heavy downpour, and added their contributions towards making it a worth-while affair.

When, finally, it was pronounced finished, all of them were of the opinion that it did their knowledge of woodcraft credit.

"Show me the scouts who could have done a better job, under the same conditions, will you?" demanded Frank, proudly.

"They would be hard to find!" declared Ned.

"Next thing is to hustle and find some sort of browse to make beds out of," Jack told them, "and the thicker it is for a mattress the better, because it causes a certain amount of warmth, and keeps the dampness of the ground off."

"Yes, and if there happen to be a few old roots sticking up under you, they don't hurt," added Jimmy, who had been through the experience he described many times in the past, and ought to know the inconvenience resulting from it.

When five lively fellows get busy, they can gather quite a quantity of browse, in case the right sort of trees are handy; and before long Frank threw himself down on the mattress, with a grunt of satisfaction.

"How does she go?" asked Teddy, solicitously.

"Bunkum," came the answer, accompanied with a mighty yawn; "try it for yourself."

"Guess I will, Frank," and Teddy accordingly stretched himself out at full length, alongside the other scout.

So they all found a place, and there was room enough also for the guides. These worthies insisted upon taking the outermost nooks. The voyageur explained that they might want to be up several times before dawn, to look around and make sure that all was well; nor could the scouts find any objection to this programme, since it was intended to add to their comfort and security.

If they had not all been so very drowsy, possibly the boys might have found considerable difficulty in forgetting themselves, under such unusual conditions; but as a rule, the average boy can sleep under abnormal surroundings that would keep an older person awake all night; for trouble sets lightly on their minds, fortunately enough.

Ned was the only one who knew how Francois and the Cree had agreed between themselves to keep "watch and watch" throughout the whole night. After the scouts had apparently managed to get to sleep, the voyageur silently arose, and removing to a little distance, placed his back against a tree. There he sat, like a dim statue as time crept on, his rifle on his knees, and doubtless all his senses constantly on the alert for signs that would indicate the coming of the enemy.

When, according to his way of thinking, he had stood watch for half of the night, Francois crept around to the other end of the shelter, and touched the form of the old Cree. Not a single word was exchanged between them, but Tamasjo, crawling out, took the other's place, as though it were a part of his business to sit up nights.

What if there was no alarm, the boys enjoyed better security while they slept, and secured more energy for the following day's work. Men do not always anticipate trouble when they place a guard over the camp; but, in case it does come, there is always the consciousness of having taken all needful precautions. It is on the same principle that a wise man insures his house, though never believing that a fire is going to visit him. He wants to make sure, that is all.

Had some of the scouts been on post during that night, they might have experienced several little alarms, through noises they would hear, which were strange to their ears. Not so the guides, who had spent all their lives amidst these Northern scenes, so that every minute denizen of the woods was as familiar to them as the game of baseball might be to Jimmy, versed, as he was, in all its fine points.

To them the various fretful voices of the little animals, who doubtless wondered what business these two-legged pilgrims had stopping on their preserves, were to be looked on as only a means of safety. So long as they continued to hear them near by, they knew that all was well. A sudden silence would have made either one of the guides suspicious, because these sharp-eared rodents could catch the movement of creeping men much sooner than any biped was capable of doing; and hence, a cessation of their complaining would indicate danger to the sleeping camp.

When Jimmy opened his eyes he saw that the morning had come. It did not look as cheerful as he would have liked, for the sky was threatening, and what seemed like a cold fog was stealing through the woods, drifting in probably from the great salty bay, so near at hand.

Of course, the waking of one was the signal for the entire five to be stirring. Indeed, once they opened their eyes, the boys were only too glad to creep out from their shelter and stretch their cramped limbs.

"It didn't rain, after all," Jimmy remarked; and there was something of a grievance in his tone, as though he rather begrudged going to all that useless labor for nothing.

"Well, if we'd known as much last night as we do now," commented Jack, "perhaps we wouldn't have bothered about this shelter. I often wonder what a lot of things some fellows would shirk if their foresight was as good as their hindsight."

"For one thing," spoke up Teddy, briskly, "we'd be having our bully canoes and blankets, and tents, and all that raft of grub right now, instead of having to do without it."

"That's so, we would," Jimmy echoed, making a comical face. "And let me tell you fellers, after this I'm going to devote a lot of time tryin' to see into the future. My father was a seventh son, and they say that makes a weather-sharp. I've tried it a few times, and hit the truth once out of three."

"I'd call that a poor percentage," Teddy sneered. "Why, any happy-go-lucky guess ought to strike it half the time, anyway."

"Do we eat again this morning, or is it a case of saving the grub?" Jimmy asked, turning to Ned.

"It's too early yet to go on half-rations," the patrol leader assured him. "What we're going to come to after a little is another question. So let's get busy and have a cooking fire started."

Jimmy hastened to be the one to attend to this. Truth to tell, he was shivering in the raw morning air, and wanted heat almost as much as hot food, in order to make himself feel comfortable.

"No changes in our plans overnight, are there, Ned?" inquired Jack, as they hovered around the blaze after it had been started, each fellow apparently anxious to have a hand in the simple preparation of breakfast, though really wanting to warm his hands.

"No," came the reply, "we'll keep straight on, and reach the bay before changing our course. Then we'll have to head to the west, and do what we can to reach the nearest trading post, unless we have the good luck to strike some sealer or whaling vessel that will take us aboard."



CHAPTER XVI.

THE SEA FOG.

"I wonder if we'll see anything of that mystery of Hudson Bay?" Teddy chanced to remark, while they were eating later on.

"'Tis me that cares mighty little whether we do or not," Jimmy admitted, which change of tone caused the other to turn upon him and say:

"What's all this mean, Jimmy? A little while back you were telling us that you sure hoped we'd run up against a mystery, because we've always been so lucky in solving such things in the days gone by. Now you seem to have changed your song."

"Lots of things have changed since you heard me pipe up that way," suggested Jimmy, as he poured himself another cup of coffee, which was taken black, since they had no milk, all of the condensed kind having gone with the canoes.

"But don't you feel anxious about that queer, disappearing fleet?" demanded Teddy.

"I'm a heap sight more concerned right now about the disappearing grub," he was informed. "The shape we're putting it away tells how soon it'll be down to the last crumb. If we keep on as we're doing, I figure we've got just enough for, say two more days. Then it's going to be a case of hustle, or go hungry."

"Oh! with our bully guns, and such clever shots along, we'll get all the meat we want, I shouldn't wonder. Coffee we'll have to do without; likewise, lots of other good things. But we won't starve, Jimmy."

"As an explorer, Teddy, I reckon you've read that often Dr. Kane and his Arctic expedition had to cut up their deerskin boots, and make soup out of the same. S'pose'n we had to come to that now, how'd you like it?" and Jimmy chuckled, as he saw the other shudder.

The meal ended, and the small fire was extinguished, for these scouts had long ago learned never under any circumstances to leave a smouldering fire when breaking camp. They knew only too well that often a sudden wind arising has carried live coals from such into the dead leaves near by, and started most disastrous conflagrations.

"One good thing about this hike is that we go light," Ned told them, as they began to gather their few belongings together.

"Nothing like seeing the silver lining to the cloud," added Jack; "though, if it was put to a vote right now, I rather think every scout would agree to tote even a tent on his back, if we could in that way get our belongings again."

"Just try me, that's what," said Jimmy. "All that fine grub wasted on a measly lot of half-breeds, who can't appreciate a jar of orange marmalade any more'n they can olives or imported cheese. But then there's no use crying over spilt milk, and it might have been worse."

"Yes, think of what a pickle we'd be in right now, if they'd managed to hook our guns as well as the boats and blankets?" suggested Teddy. "We'd just have to throw up our hands and surrender, then, I suppose."

"Not till we'd tried everything we could think up to beat them at their game," was Frank's way of showing his determined nature.

Of course, once they had finished eating, there was really nothing to keep them there; and as they had no tents to take down, or dunnage to pack, it was an easy task to get started.

Francois led them straight into the south. They felt sure that they must arrive on the shore of the bay before a great while, for there was a decided salty tang to the air that greeted them, very gratifying to boys who had been brought up near the ocean, as these scouts had.

So far nothing had been seen or heard of the miners, whom they looked upon as their enemies. At the same time, the boys believed that the others must be diligently searching for them, and should they happen to come across their trail, a warm pursuit must follow.

In consequence of this fact, they were advised by Ned to keep on the alert.

"Let every fellow have his eyes open to discover suspicious movements," he told them, "and report the same to me without a second's delay. There's no telling how serious it might turn out to be. But, Jimmy, don't fancy every frisky squirrel or curious old coon, if you glimpse any, is a spy hiding behind a tree, and ready to let loose on us with his battery."

"You'll find that when I sound the alarm, it's going to mean business," Jimmy retorted, drawing himself up proudly.

It was hard to entirely crush their boyish spirits, and while the future did not look so very bright, still they felt that they had accomplished the main object that had drawn the expedition to these parts, and could not complain. So every now and then some half-humorous remark would be made calculated to draw out an answer. Thus, in a measure their troubles were forgotten, though no one ventured to troll a ditty, as might have been the case under ordinary conditions.

The character of the country was changing again, and from what they had noticed on the former occasion, they knew that they must be drawing near the water.

There was no air stirring to blow away the damp fog wave that grew more and more dense as they advanced.

"If it rains down on us here we'll just have to grin and bear it," Jimmy was saying, as he tripped along beside the other scouts.

"No hollow trees to crawl in, because none of these would be nearly big enough, even if we found one that was partly rotten," added Teddy.

"Make up your minds that it isn't going to rain any until the wind comes up and drives this mist away," Jack informed them, and as he claimed to be something of a weather prophet they believed him.

"I'm wet, as it is, from the fog," said Frank.

"Listen!" exclaimed Jack, just then.

Jimmy started to turn his head around so fast that it seemed in danger of coming loose.

"Where, what, why, how?" he spluttered, as he half-raised his rifle, as though taking the alarm.

"Oh! I only meant that I could get the lazy wash of the water rolling up on the sandy beach," replied Jack, grinning to see how his innocent exclamation had excited Jimmy.

"Next time," mumbled the other, "I'd thank you to tell what you mean right away. It would save a poor feller from havin' palpitation of the heart, which they tell me is bad for the appetite."

"Then let's all get it, Jimmy," chuckled Frank, "because no appetite means that we wouldn't have to bother looking up new supplies of grub. But that is the sea you hear running up on the shore, Jack, which shows how close we are to the bay."

A minute later and they could see signs of the salt water, though the fog was so dense that it was impossible to look out further than a dozen or two yards.

"I suppose that happens quite a lot of times up here?" remarked Jack, as they stood on the bank and stared out into that sea of mist, which hid everything as with a blanket.

"They have fogs along off the coast of New Foundland, where the cod banks lie," Ned observed, "which comes from the fact that the cold currents of air from the Arctic meet with the warm Gulf Stream there, as it turns and heads toward Europe. That makes the fog, you know; but I never ran across a thicker one than this."

"Huh! looks like pea soup to me," suggested Teddy.

"Well, pea soup is a mighty fine dish, don't you forget it," retorted Jimmy, "and if I could get a bucket of the same as easy as I can this old fog, I wouldn't be doin' any kicking, believe me, boys."

"You said we must turn to the left, didn't you, Ned?" inquired Frank, who did not see the sense of wasting any time in standing there and staring into that impenetrable sea of gray fog.

"That would seem to be our best and only course," was the reply. "In the first place, it will save our crossing the mouth of the Harricanaw, and, as we have no boat, that counts for something. Then, from what I can see on my chart, by crossing one small river, called the Masakany, we ought to reach a place called Moose Factory. I don't know positively, but I've reasons to think that we'll find some sort of post there where we can get help. It's situated on a bay that several other rivers empty into. I believe that's our one best chance, and that's why I'm taking it."

"If you say it's so, we believe it, Ned," remarked Jack, with emphasis; and it was such confidence as this, placed in him by his chums, that had helped Ned accomplish so many things in the past.

"That mining camp was situated on a creek, wasn't it?" asked Frank.

"Yes, I haven't forgotten that, and I see what you mean, Frank," the patrol leader assured him; "but it was only a narrow affair, and I figure on finding a fallen tree trunk that we could throw across to serve us as a bridge."

"Always a way where there's a will," chanted Teddy, as they once more started off, with the mist-shrouded bay on their right.

The going was not all that heart could have wished. Lots of obstacles arose to give them trouble, though as a rule these were of a minor character, and easily surmounted. In some places the land was inclined to be marshy, so that they were compelled to go back some distance in order to get around. Then, again, they found that the ground rose into rocky elevations, with the bay lapping their bases; and here again the scouts were put to more or less exertions, in order to keep moving toward the west.

On one of these elevations they paused for a brief rest. The fog held as densely as ever, and out there where the great body of salt water lay it was an utter impossibility to see any distance. A whole armada of vessels might be anchored, not half a mile from the shore, and no one be any the wiser for it.

"Is this the real Hudson Bay proper?" asked Frank, while they stood thus, recovering their breath, after the last climb.

"Well, it's the lower part of it," explained Ned, "and called James Bay. There are a great many islands to be run across in this section, and I've heard that seals have rookeries on some of them, if they haven't all been killed off."

"Well, we've seen seals and Polar bears and the big walrus—all in their native haunts, haven't we?" remarked Jimmy, turning to Frank, who with Ned had been on a long jaunt through Arctic ice floes some time before.

"And all of us stand a fair chance to see some more of the same, unless we get out of this country before the summer ends," Teddy chimed in.

"We'll find a way, all right," Jack told him; for it was always a hard thing to crush the spirit of the boy who could write such glowing accounts of trips and things for the readers of his father's big paper.

"Since we've rested up, suppose we make a fresh start," proposed Ned.

"We ought to soon come to where we followed that creek up and reached the tent colony about the mine opening," Jack was saying, as they started walking again.

"Unless I'm mighty much mistaken," Ned remarked, "we'll run across the same when we get to the bottom of this rise. I think I remember seeing this place before as we came along."

It turned out that Ned was right, for ere much more time had passed, the little expedition stood on the bank of the creek.

"Broader than you thought, ain't it, Ned?" questioned Frank, as he eyed the stretch of water dubiously.

"Oh! we wouldn't expect to bridge it over here," was the answer the patrol leader made. "By following it up for a little ways, we'll find that it narrows considerably; and that's where we want to look sharp for a log that'll come in handy."

"Yes, I remember now that it wasn't over ten or twenty feet across at most, where we struck it last time," Teddy piped up, for he was keeping an accurate account of all that occurred, and hence had the figures down pat.

As soon as they found that the creek bed had come down to respectable proportions, the scouts began to scurry around, hunting for a fallen tree that might be made to answer for a bridge. This was soon found and carried to the spot selected, as the most suitable for their purpose.

There was only one way in which they could drop the bridge over and find an anchorage on the other shore. This was by raising it to a perpendicular position on the near bank and, then giving it a shove, have it fall on the other.

It required the combined strength of the scouts, backed up by the more powerful guides, to accomplish this feat in bridge building. Ned had figured to a fraction, it seemed, for when the log fell it rested at least a foot on either bank.

After that it was easy for them to cross over, though Teddy had to get down and crawl, he being addicted to dizzy spells when at any height, and not in the humor for taking a dip in the cold water of the creek.

The boys were for starting on immediately; first of all, Ned had them shove the friendly log from its mooring ashore, so that it floated on the surface of the creek.

"You see," he went on to explain, "if any of those men happened along here and saw that bridge spanning the creek, they'd know we'd come this way. Now that we've thrown it into the water, it will float off and never give us away, anyhow."

They began to make more satisfactory progress after getting on the western side of the creek. All of them felt much encouraged though the morning remained dull and heavy, and there was always a chance that it might begin to rain.

Many times did they turn curious glances toward the mist-covered bay, as though speculating on what mysteries that fog might conceal.

As a rule it was seldom Teddy who made any discovery; but on this occasion the credit belonged to him. He suddenly drew the attention of the rest to something strange that had attracted his attention.

"I may be off my base, fellows," was the way he put it, "but I'm sure I heard people talking right then. And it came from out there, too, sure it did," with which he pointed straight toward the bay.

Jimmy might have laughed at such a suggestion, but before he could think to do anything like this, all of them plainly heard a human voice well up from the fog.



CHAPTER XVII.

ON BOARD THE WRECK.

Everybody could hear the sounds now. The conditions must have been favorable for carrying a human voice far over the water, because fog is a good conductor of sound.

Men were talking apparently, though the rumble of their voices alone came over the surface of the water, and no actual words could be distinguished.

"What's that other noise?" asked Teddy, as though puzzled.

"Must be oars working in the rowlocks," suggested Jack.

"Of course," declared the explorer, "how foolish of me to ask such a silly question. But seems I don't get the give-away sounds as clear as I did a minute or so ago."

"Good reason then," Frank told him; "because the boat they're rowing is heading out on to the bay."

"Then you think there must be some sort of vessel there, do you, Frank?" asked Teddy, eagerly, as he tried in vain to penetrate the blanket of mist.

"I reckon there might be," replied Frank, "though, of course, we can't see anything of the same right now. That rowboat wouldn't be setting out into the big sheet of water, unless heading for a vessel."

"Could it have anything to do with that wonderful fleet that is always on the move, coming and going, according to the weather? How about that, Ned?" demanded Teddy.

Ned shook his head, to indicate that he did not know. There were some things calculated to spring up from time to time, which, as leader of the Wolf Patrol, he did not claim to know. This was one of them.

Fainter grew the rumble of voices belonging to the unseen sailors; and the click-clack of oars working in the rowlocks also began to die away.

Francois had listened with the rest. Being only an ignorant voyageur, with very little knowledge save along his chosen lines, of course the French Canadian was apt to have more or less superstition in his system. It was a heritage he had imbibed with his mother's milk.

Francois had heard more or less about this weird, disappearing fleet of vessels that, for some time now, had been acting so mysteriously along the coast of the big bay. Like most of his class, he believed that they were unreal, and possibly but the ghosts of brave vessels that in years gone by may have ploughed the green waters of Hudson Bay.

Although he said little or nothing on the subject, Francois did considerable thinking along those lines. He cast frequent uneasy looks away out through the mist, as though fearful lest he suddenly come face to face with some terrible mystery.

To him those voices were anything but natural. Possibly, he even pictured some ghostly figures sitting in a phantom boat, and speeding over the surface of the historical sheet of water, about which so much that is remarkable has been written, and, also, handed down from father to son, among the rangers and caribou hunters of the Canadian bush.

It had died away completely by now. To the scouts, this simply signified that the men in the boat had probably drawn so far away from the shore that their voices no longer carried across the water as before; but to Francois it meant that the phantoms had chosen to withdraw, it might be sinking beneath the surface of the bay.

After this little adventure the boys fell to thinking again about the stories they had heard about the fleet that seemed to continually hover along the shore of Hudson Bay, now appearing, and then vanishing in the most remarkable manner.

Just because Ned did not seem fit to announce that they would come to a halt and endeavor to get in communication with the vessel, to which the men in the rowboat undoubtedly belonged, Teddy and Jimmy jumped to the conclusion that he, too, must be uneasy about the character of that ship.

The truth of the matter was that Ned had begun to notice certain signs going to tell him there was soon about to come a change in the conditions of the weather. He felt a slight puff of air on his cheek, and coming from the south at that. It was only a breath, but straws show which way the wind blows, they say; and when the next puff marked a slight increase, Ned knew what would happen before a great while.

Once the wind did rise, and the fog would be blown out to sea, so that in all probability they would be able to discover what manner of vessel it was that had sent a boat ashore, for some purpose or other.

But Ned knew that when this came to pass, the rain would also start in. It was his hope to discover some sort of retreat as they went along, such as might serve them as a shelter against the storm.

Once, when a gun was fired at some little distance away and further in shore, Jimmy ducked his head in a ludicrous fashion.

"Whee! that nearly got me!" he remarked, looking a little uneasy.

The others stared at him in bewilderment; but Ned quickly took him in hand.

"See here, Jimmy, are you saying that just to make us think you had a narrow escape, or did a bullet really swing past you?" he demanded.

The freckled-faced boy looked a little confused. When Ned took him to task, in this way, Jimmy could never hold out. He would first of all hedge, and then, if the accusation continued, his next step would be to throw out the white flag of complete surrender.

"Why, you see, I thought I sure heard the whine of something like a bullet, when I took the count," he started in to say.

"But was it a bullet passing that you heard?" persisted the patrol leader, who knew that this was the only sure way to pin Jimmy down to facts.

"Well, er, since you put it to me that way, Ned, I guess, after all it must have been imagination. You see my brain was filled with all sorts of stuff, and when that gun went bang! it struck me I was being fired at, so I ducked and something went 'sh! 'sh! just then, so's to make me get mixed up for a minute, and think it was flying lead. I know now it was one of them little snipe zipping past. They fooled me a few times a while ago, too."

"I knew that it must be a mistake," said Ned, "for a very good reason. You noticed that shot was a long ways off, perhaps as far as a quarter of a mile. Well, how in all creation could the shooter see us down here, when we can't glimpse a solitary thing sixty yards off? It was some hunter, more than likely, getting meat for the mining camp."

"Another narrow squeak for you, Jimmy," remarked Teddy, with a touch of fine scorn in his voice. "Everything seems to be coming your way nowadays."

"Huh! then let's hope those canoes and blankets and grub will follow suit; for it'd sure tickle me to be able to restore the same to the right owners. I keep on hopin' that Ned here won't think of leavin' this neck of the woods without makin' a real des'prate effort to recover what we lost."

Ned did not take the bait, and proclaim what his intentions might be; though it went without saying that he would have been just as glad to see their stolen property returned as the next one.

"If that 'coon' happened to come down to the bay along here, wouldn't he run across our trail?" asked Frank.

"Perhaps so," Ned replied, "but we have to take our chances there. You see we couldn't waste the time to try and hide it all the while. Let's hope that if he does come on our tracks, he'll think they've been made by some of his friends up at the camp."

"All the same," advised Jimmy, "I'm going to keep my eye peeled for any sign of the chappie. After doing the great stunts we have already, it'd be a shame to have our plans knocked galley-west through a blunder, or an accident."

"No shooting at anything you happen to think must be a man aiming a gun," was what the leader told Jimmie; for such a thing had really happened on a former occasion, causing much embarrassment to Jimmy, and almost breaking up the clever plan of his superior.

"Wish I may die if I do," mumbled the other, always ready to give all the assurance desired, even though unable to sustain the position thus taken.

The forward progress was resumed. No more shots floated to their ears, which was pretty good evidence that none were fired; because that south wind, constantly rising, must surely have carried the sounds to their ears.

"The dickens!" exclaimed Jack, presently.

"Ha! you felt it too, did you?" observed Teddy. "When I went to look up to see how the fog was lifting, a drop hit me square in the eye, but I waited to see if anybody else caught on."

"It's begun to rain, for a fact!" exclaimed Frank, dejectedly.

"And say, look where we are, would you?" Jimmy added. "Down on the flat shore, with only a growth of stunted oaks growing above us. Wherever d'ye believe we'll be able to find a sign of shelter, I'd like to know?"

"In for a ducking, boys, looks like," said Teddy. "And the worst of it is, you always feel so terribly cold when your clothes stick to your back. We'll just have to take chances, and make a heaping fire. Who cares if those men do see it, and come sneaking around? What've we carried guns up here for, if we can't defend ourselves in a pinch? Seems to me, I'd rather get in a hot box with that crowd, than shake to pieces with a chill. I had pneumonia once, and don't hanker after trying it again, if I know it."

Still Ned said not a word, only increased his pace, if such a thing were possible. The others came trailing along after him, almost out of breath with trying to talk, and at the same time keep pace with their leader.

There was no longer any doubt but that the rain was starting in. The breeze had increased imperceptibly, so that it was now blowing quite stiffly. Looking out over the water, they found that the fog was quickly thinning out. Already could they see several times as far as before, and the distance was widening constantly.

"There is a vessel out there!" cried Teddy. "I saw her as plain as your hat just then, when the fog lifted a little. Watch over there, and see. How's that, Ned? Was I right?"

"She's there, without a question, Teddy, and I give you credit for having sharper eyes than anybody believed," the patrol leader told him, only too well pleased to find an opportunity to compliment the explorer.

"What kind of a vessel would you call her, Ned?" asked Jimmy; while Francois stood and stared and listened, still believing that the boat must be a phantom, such as was likely to vanish before their very eyes, as might a wisp of trailing fog.

"I've seen whalers and sealers built like her," was the verdict of the leader.

The fog was being carried away more rapidly now, and the boys soon made another discovery that interested them. This was nothing more nor less than the fact that a second, yes, a third and even a fourth vessel of apparently the same tonnage lay at anchor further away, possibly a couple of miles from shore.

"Take a good look while you can, fellows," Ned told them "because I reckon that the wonderful disappearing fleet is before you right now. We can say we've set eyes on the mystery of Hudson Bay, even if we never learn what the answer is."

They all stared as hard as they could.

Meanwhile, Ned had unslung his glasses and was adjusting them to his eyes. There was enough of the fog still floating around to make seeing something of a labor; so that he did not get much satisfaction from the observation taken.

"I can see men aboard of all the vessels," he announced; "and there is a boat being taken up on the davits of the nearest craft, which must have been ashore in the fog, for some reason or other."

"Why can't we signal to them to come in and take us off?" asked Teddy, struck with a brilliant idea.

"There's the answer," replied Ned, when all of the vessels making up the anchored fleet vanished utterly from view, as another bank of fog crept up.

He turned and swept the shore beyond with the glasses.

"Just what we want," they heard him say; and looking in the quarter that had chained his attention they discovered some dark object half-hidden in the wisps of blowing mist.

"What is it, Ned; a fishing shanty, a stranded whale, or what?" demanded Teddy.

At that Jimmy laughed in scorn.

"You must think you're down on the Jamaica marshes near Brooklyn, where they do happen to have fishing shanties. Bet you now that's an old wreck!" he exclaimed.

"Just what it is," admitted Ned, as he led them along the shore. "Some whaler or sealer has gone ashore a while back. Perhaps she was crushed by the ice, and carried up on the land when the spring break-up came. But there's a chance we may be able to find some sort of shelter from this rain that's coming down on us."

"Hurry up, then," said Teddy, "and we may be able to save our jackets yet. I don't want to get soaked, unless I have to."

"I'd like to know who does?" asked Jimmy; "though for the matter of that, none of us are made of salt. And with a camp hatchet, I reckon now we'll be able to chop away enough wood aboard the wreck to have a decent fire going."

"If there's going to be any sort of storm, you don't think we'll be in danger of getting carried out to sea, do you, Ned?" questioned Teddy. "Not that I'd object to a cruise through this five-hundred-mile bay, the biggest thing of its kind in all the world; but I'd want to have something sound under me, and not a wreck of a boat, ready to sink any old time."

"Don't waste so much breath talking, but hurry!" advised Jack.

At that they put on an additional spurt, and drew closer to the wreck, which was half out of the water. Reaching the stern, part way up the beach, the boys found that a break allowed them an easy chance to climb aboard; and with hope beating high in their breasts, they hastened to clamber up the rough passage, glad of the opportunity to find possible shelter from the coming rain.



CHAPTER XVIII.

AFTER THE STORM.

"Sure she's deserted, are you?" asked the cautious Teddy, as he followed the other members of the little party aboard, the old Cree Indian guide bringing up the rear.

"Not a sign of any living thing here," came the answer, as Ned peered about.

"Sometimes, I understand, that you can run across all sorts of horrible sights on one of these same wrecks," continued Teddy. "Sailors get drowned, you know, down in the hold or in the forecastle. I hope we don't discover anything like that now. I never did fancy sights as ghastly as that."

"And I don't think you need bother your head about it," Ned told him, "because, in the first place, this wreck has been here quite some time; and, then again, you can see that wreckers have been aboard and stripped nearly all the iron and brass and copper out, because it was valuable. Perhaps there may be some Esquimaux living along the shore of Hudson Bay; or else it was the men up at the mine who did it. What we want to do is to find out what state the cabin happens to be in. A dry roof would be about the best we could ask to-day."

They made a rush toward the stairs that led down, which in most vessels would be known as the companionway. A shout went up as they looked into the cabin. It was almost destitute of anything that might serve as a comfort, but a broken stove gave promise of a fire, with all the delight that this carried in its train.

"We bunk here, all right," said Frank, as soon as he had sighted that stove; it was really a sorry object, but then everything depends on the conditions surrounding one when rendering judgment—at home, they would have never given such a dilapidated thing house room; but shipwrecked mariners are not likely to be critical, and that broken stove was still capable of carrying fire.

"Get busy with your hatchets, those who have them, and lay in a supply of wood for burning," Jack called out, suiting his own actions to the words, and beginning to chop away vigorously.

"I don't suppose it matters a cent where you bang," remarked Jimmy, following the example set by the other scout; "and if we stay here long enough, we might burn up the whole bally ship. All she's good for, anyhow, to give a bunch of fellers that have lost their blankets a lift in a rain storm. Whack away, boys; nobody ain't goin' to say a word what you do, only cut wood."

"We didn't get in here any too soon," Frank told them; and upon listening they could hear the rain falling heavily on the broken deck of the derelict.

When one is securely sheltered that sound never strikes awe to the soul; in fact, it seems almost a merry tune, like that played upon the attic roof, in the good old days when you visited grandpa out on the farm, and could lie in bed, feeling glad you were not out in that downpour.

"Let her rain all she wants to," said Teddy; "it can't hurt us, because I don't think any kind of a downpour would raise the whole bay enough to float us off this sandy beach."

The others laughed at his remark. Teddy was so ready to conjure up troubles that never could have any real excuse for existing.

"What I'm provoked about," Jack ventured, "is that we didn't get a chance to signal to that nearest vessel before the fog cut her out again. But let's hope they'll hang around somewhere till the rain's over, and we can let them know the fix we're in."

"Huh! s'pose they don't know anything about wigwagging with the flags?" Jimmy put in. "Vessels have a way of talking across miles of water, but then their code is a whole lot different from the one scouts use ashore. We might be able to let 'em know we wanted some help, and would pay well for it. Money talks when a lot of other things are like mud."

Willing hands made light work, and a fire was soon burning in the old remnant of a stove that had once done duty in the midst of ice-packs, when the wreck was a gallant vessel in search of oil or, perhaps, sealskins.

After all, they had little reason to complain. The rain pattered on the deck, and, in a few places, leaked through; but there was plenty of dry space, so that none of the boys need get sprinkled. As for fuel, they had abundance of it, so long as their camp hatchets kept an edge, and their muscles held out for service.

"Not so bad, is it, Jimmy?" Teddy wanted to know, as they tried to make themselves as comfortable as possible, by hunting up all sorts of things capable of being turned into rough seats.

Of course, these were of no value whatever, for in frequent raids on the part of wreckers, whoever they may have been, everything worth taking had long since been carried away. Indeed, Frank declared he was puzzled to know why they had overlooked the broken stove; and all of them agreed it must have been by mistake.

"Well, I should say not," was the reply, on the part of the freckled-face lad, as he sighed and looked around him. "D'ye know I was just thinking how happy we could be in this palace if only we had those lovely blankets along; yes, and all that good stuff to eat. I think I'd be apt to pick up some weight here, if we had a cinch like that. But now every meal we enjoy means we're that much closer to the end. Mebbe we'll have to do what shipwrecked sailors do, draw lots for a sacrifice. I see my finish, if ever it comes to that, because I always get the wrong end of the deal or the stick."

"I pity the one who has to take a bite out of such a tough case as you," Teddy frankly told him; and somehow Jimmy seemed to consider that he had been given a bouquet, for he bowed and smiled and looked pleased.

"Tell the rest that," he whispered to Teddy "and I'll be safe."

The rain kept coming down steadily as the hours wore on.

"Tell me about your tropical showers," Jimmy remarked, as noon came and found no change in the conditions, "right up here on the border of the Arctic regions, when it takes a notion to rain, it does make up for lost time. Why, I wouldn't be surprised if it kept the plug out of the rain barrel for a week now."

"It's bound to make the going worse for us," Frank grumbled.

"Why, all the marshes will be flooded, and we'll have a high old time trying to navigate through the same. What do you think, Ned?" Teddy wanted to know.

The patrol leader looked at them, and smiled.

"I think history is repeating itself, and that you fellows are crossing bridges again before you get to them," he replied.

"Do you mean that there's a chance we won't have to tramp through these bogs and cross the salt water marshes?" demanded Jimmy.

"Well, we're here right now, and fairly comfortable," Ned told him. "What will happen next is something none of us can more than guess; but, as long as some of those vessels keep hovering around out on the bay, I'll hug a hope that we'll find some way of getting in touch with them."

"Which I take it means you firmly believe they're real, and not Flying Dutchmen, like they tell about in yarns of the sea?" Jimmy asked.

"I believe what my eyes tell me," answered the other, "and through the glass I saw men on those vessels, going about their regular daily tasks. Whatever they may be doing up here in Hudson Bay, take my word for it, there's nothing of the phantom about that fleet. They have some good reason for coming and going so mysteriously. Perhaps we'll know what it is before we get away from here."

Jimmy and Teddy, the pair of doubters, seemed to feel somewhat better after this little heart-to-heart talk with Ned. The leader of the Wolf Patrol had a happy faculty for inspiring others with some of his own confidence, which is one of the finest qualities a scout can possess.

There was a watch being kept to guard against any unexpected happening. As was to be expected, the two guides took it upon themselves to look after this part of the business. One of them was on duty at a time, and it could be so arranged that the sentry did not necessarily have to expose himself to the inclemency of the weather, in order to stand guard.

Nothing came to pass, and the long, dreary day gradually neared its end.

"Never knew such a terribly monotonous time in all me life," Jimmy grumbled; for he would not have been happy unless he could find an occasional chance to "let off steam," as Teddy called it.

"Well," said Jack, "it's nearly night now, and let me tell you a great secret."

"Go on!" exclaimed the other, looking interested.

"The rain's stopped!" Jack explained.

"Well, I declare, if that isn't true for you, Jack!" cried Jimmy; "and to think that after me waiting for hours to be the first to tell the joyful tidings, I had to get thinking so deeply about our affairs that I clean forgot all about it. But it may not last. Sometimes there's a break, and then the old storm comes back again, worse nor ever."

"Clouds zey be break right now, over zere," and Francois, who had just come in from the sheltered nook where watch was kept, pointed as he spoke toward the southwest, where the storm had been coming from.

"Oh! if that's the case," added Jimmy, thinking it best to cheer up, "I'll take back what I said. And let's hope a lot of this water'll soak away before we have to put our best foot forward again in the morning."

"I suppose we'll have to eat again," remarked Frank.

"Please don't force yourself," Jimmy told him. "It's a bad plan to eat when you don't feel like it. And, by the same token, your loss will be our gain."

It was a good thing that the scouts could joke among themselves, even when facing desperate conditions. They had enough of gloom around them without allowing it to seize upon their spirits.

By this time their stock of food was getting down to such a low ebb that there was little choice when it came to preparing a meal. True, Jimmy would run over a long list of things that appealed especially to his clamorous appetite; but after all was said and done, it might be noticed that each meal was very much a repetition of those that had gone before.

Indeed, even at that, no one would have complained of the sameness of their food, if only the supply looked more promising.

Jimmy, who helped get supper ready, heaved many a heavy sigh, as he figured that at this rate the larder would be bare by the next evening.

"And after that, what?" he went around asking every one; but they only laughed at his fears, and told him to remember that in the past luck always came their way when the skies looked darkest.

"Something will happen, see if it don't," Frank observed, with a faith that had solid foundation; because they had just been talking of many occasions when circumstances had suddenly arisen to bring them a glorious success.

"And, anyhow, we'll often look back to this hotel on the beach with a smile," was what Teddy observed, as he turned his head and glanced at the dilapidated cabin of the wrecked whaling vessel, seen by the fitful flashes of light from the fire, at which Francois was cooking supper.

"We'll miss the mattress of hemlock browse to-night, I reckon," Ned hinted, as he looked down at the hard floor of the cabin.

"Look out for lame limbs to-morrow morning, then," Jack chuckled. "I expect to see a lot of limping cripples start out the first thing. Sleeping on boards may be better than nothing, but it's little rest I expect to get."

"I've heard of fellers sleepin' standin' up," Jimmy informed him. "There's that old veteran, Daddy Spellmire, who tells such yarns about the old days when he 'fit in the war with Siegel.' He says some of them were so dead tired that when they were marching they'd press close up together; and often he's slept while moving his legs in a mechanical way, held up by his comrades all around."

"We might try that if everything else fails," said Frank.

Supper being ready they started in and enjoyed it. Boys are not prone to worry very much about the future. The present is enough in their estimation to look after. What might happen was for them to handle when it came to pass; only Jimmy, at times, liked to grumble and complain that he was not getting a square deal.

When they had finished eating, it was night. Though stars had peeped out here and there, it still looked somewhat gloomy, even if the mist was clearing away to seaward. The breeze had shifted around, so that with the incoming tide the waves ran far up on the beach now, and there was considerable of a roar in the air as these curled over and broke upon reaching shallow places.

Time was beginning to hang heavy on the hands of the five scouts. They missed the delightful surroundings which they had enjoyed while camping each night, during the time they were moving northward in the canoes. It was so different here in this dingy old cabin, when they would have enjoyed seeing the trees waving above their heads, and felt the springing turf underneath their bodies, as the time came to seek their blankets under the shelter of the khaki-colored waterproof tents, now alas, gone no doubt forever.

Frank, seeing that his chums were not feeling in a very merry mood as they tried to settle down as comfortably as they could, wandered outside to the sloping deck to talk with Francois, who had taken the Indian guide's place on watch.

He had hardly been gone three minutes when they heard him coming down the companionway in great haste. Somehow, everyone of the others seemed to understand that the terrible stagnation was about to be broken up.

When Frank burst into the cabin his face told the story. He was bringing them news of some sort, for his eyes were glowing and his face flushed.

"What ails you, Frank?" asked Jack, as they scrambled to their feet.

"After all, it begins to look like we needn't bother about how we're going to sleep to-night, standing or sitting!" the newcomer announced, breathlessly.

"How is that?" asked Jimmy.

"Why, there are lights coming along the shore right now—lanterns I should say, at a rough guess," Frank went on; "chances are the miners have learned about our being aboard this old wreck, and mean to gather us in before morning!"



CHAPTER XIX.

THE BATTLE OF THE HULK.

There was an immediate rush for the guns, which had been placed in a corner of the cabin. From the actions of the scouts, it could be imagined that no one dreamed of giving in, without a desperate resistance.

"If we do have to stand 'em off," declared Jimmy, as he examined his repeating rifle, in order to make sure that it was in condition for business; "sure we couldn't ask for a better fort than this same old wreck. Seven of us, all told, and well armed at that, ought to be able to do the work. If they know what's good for them, they'll go mighty slow about trying to storm this place."

"Why," said Teddy, "it'd be pretty hard to climb up the sides anywhere, so all we have to do is to defend the break in the stern where we got aboard."

They all looked to Ned to find out what his opinion might be.

"I'm not thinking so much about the chances of keeping them out," the scout leader went on to say, "as what will happen afterwards."

"Do you mean when we try to leave here to-morrow, Ned?" questioned Frank.

"I mean that the chances are, after they've had a good try and find they can't rush the wreck, with so many guns defending it, those men will start in to keep us in a state of siege."

"Holy smoke!" burst from Jimmy, as he looked horrified; "and us with only grub enough on hand for two skimpy meals. What under the sun will we do? No chance to knock over a caribou or a moose, and fill up the empty larder! Was there ever such hard luck?"

"Many times, Jimmy," replied Ned, "and we always managed to pull through, somehow or other. We will again, as sure as anything, even if I can't tell you just how it's going to happen. Besides a scarcity of food, we have to face a water famine, you must remember."

"With all the sea knockin' at our door, too," groaned Jimmy. "And think of the amount that's been runnin' to waste off our deck all day. What a pity we didn't think to find a cask, and fill the same when we had the chance. To tell you the truth, I'm getting more and more thirsty as I think of how we'll suffer."

"Well, the men with the lanterns are coming right along all the time you fellows are talking here," Frank advised them.

"And our first duty is to get on deck, so as to be ready to repel boarders," Ned declared.

"Boarders!" echoed Jimmy, "well, I should say we ought to repel them, when right now we ain't got enough food for our own family table."

They hurried out of the cabin, Ned making sure that the fire in the stove was so far extinguished that its light might not betray the fact of the wreck being peopled.

As soon as they arrived on deck they had no difficulty in discovering the approaching peril. Indeed, the moving lanterns were close by, and coming right along, as though those who were carrying them had arrived at the conclusion that the exploring party might have taken temporary refuge from the rain aboard the old wreck.

Doubtless its possibilities as a shelter were well known to them; and they could easily understand how the boys would eagerly welcome a chance to keep their jackets dry.

"There are three of the lanterns, Ned," Jack was saying, as all of them strained their eyes to see.

"Yes, and back of the same, I can get glimpses of other fellers walkin' along at a smart clip," Jimmy announced.

"Yes, there must be nearly a dozen in that bunch," Frank gave as his opinion.

"Enough to give us two apiece all around," Jimmy told them, just as though he might be a very bloodthirsty individual, instead of a peace-loving scout, if let alone. "And it'd be a saving of ammunition, if we could fix things so that one bullet would do for both. Because I take it you mean to open fire, if so be they persist in tryin' to board with us, eh, Ned?"

"We have no other course open to us," replied the leader of the scouts, sadly; for he did not at all fancy being forced into a fight against his will. "But everybody, remember to be as careful as you can, and not shed blood unless there is nothing else to be done. Then aim to wound all you can. I'd hate to have to think I'd taken any man's life, no matter how much he deserved it."

"H'm! mebbe that's all right," grumbled Jimmy; "but when your back's up agin the wall, and you got to do it, or go under yourself, what's to hinder? We want to be let alone, and go our way. If they won't agree, but try to knock us over, or make us prisoners, so they can keep us here month in and month out on a steady diet of fish and water why, for one, I ain't agoin' to stand for it, you hear me. Ned, you tell that bad lot they'd better hold up if they know what's good for 'em; because I've got me gun ready, and there's light enough for us to see where to aim."

The men with the lanterns had by this time come so close to the wreck lying half out on the beach, and with the incoming waves lapping the rest of the bulk, that another minute would have seen them starting to clamber aboard.

They were heading straight for the break in the stern, which would indicate that all of them must be familiar with their surroundings. No doubt, they had been on the stranded whaler many a time since it was cast up there on the beach.

So Ned called out, trying to throw as much of authority in his voice as was possible at the time.

"Stop where you are, men!" he shouted, abruptly.

The lanterns no longer advanced. Evidently those who carried them were trying to see the party who had given this peremptory command. They could be heard talking together in low and husky tones, some urging a precipitate rush, others counciling caution and diplomacy, in order to accomplish their ends.

"Hello! there, on the wreck!" some one, doubtless vested with authority, called out.

"Well, what do you want?" asked Ned.

"Are you the party that was up at the mine, and did you come here in canoes?" continued the unseen leader of the group below.

"We had our boats stolen, and now we're about to head to the south on foot," was what the patrol leader announced, possibly thinking that it might influence these hardy men somewhat, if they knew that the scouts intended to quit that region without delay.

Some more low talking went on below on the beach.

"Be ready, boys," warned Jack; "there's a movement on foot, and like as not they'll start to try and rush the gangway. Keep low down, because they might start firing on us!"

"That's right, Jack," said Ned, who had just been about to issue the same sort of warning himself. "When you're dealing with men like these, look out for treachery."

Just then the man below shouted again. He had a very rough, raspy voice, and seemed to be of an ugly disposition, though possibly he was hoping to impress the boy with the idea that he would brook no foolishness.

"Well, you've got to surrender to us, that's all," he went on to say. "You went and spied on what mining was being done up here, and we've orders not to let you get away till the word comes. Might as well make up your minds to that, youngsters, and it'll save ye lots of trouble. Throw down what guns ye got."

At that Jimmy burst out into a loud laugh.

"Will ye be after hearin' him give his orders, fellers?" he exclaimed. "Just like he was the boss of the barnyard, too. Listen to me, you down there! We are seven, all told, and with as many guns of the latest model that can throw lead through ten inches of hard wood. If ye want the guns, come up and take the same. I give ye my word, it'll be the hottest time any of ye ever struck in the course of your lives. A dozen of ye, are there? Well, after the first volley, we'll cut the count down just one-half. Don't all speak at once, but pull the latchstring, and come on into our little parlor!"

It was simply impossible to stop Jimmy, once he got started, unless you took him in hand and clapped a gag over his mouth. As there was no chance of doing this now, Ned let him have his say. It could do little harm, after all; in fact, perhaps, it might even do some good, since the men on the beach would have received ample warning, with regard to the intentions of the scouts, and if they ventured to try and clamber aboard the wreck, it would be at their own peril.

Apparently, more talking was going on below.

"That may all be a blind," Jack ventured to say, as they lined up along the side of the wreck, with their guns ready.

"Yes, because unless I miss my guess several of the bunch slipped away, as if they had their orders," Frank declared.

"It may be they know of another way to get aboard," said Ned, "and while the rest keep on parleying with us, they mean to try and slip around, so as to take us by surprise. Jack, you and Teddy keep tabs of the rear, and shoot if you see the least suspicious movement."

"Ay, ay! sir!" said Jack, immediately wheeling so as to keep his rifle pointed toward the threatened spot. "Drop low down, Teddy, so as not to show against the sky-line. And when I say, 'let drive,' give several shots. The noise of the bombardment will help scare 'em off, I reckon."

The man who seemed to be leader again hailed them.

"You can't get away from here, and you might's well know that same first as last," he went on to say, positively. "You learned too much for yer own good that time, an' we ain't going to allow of your getting out of this region in a hurry. If ye surrender, we'll treat ye white, give ye my word on that. All we want is that ye shouldn't get to Montreal till we hears from the boss. Show your good sense, boys, by makin' the best of a bad bargain."

"You might as well save your breath, whoever you are," said Ned, firmly; "we know what it all means, and why you want to hold us here prisoners, without any right to do the same. And understand now that we refuse to stand for it. Try and rush this wreck, and some of you will get hurt. The same applies to the three men you sent around to try and take us in the rear. We're on to your tricks, mister, and, if you know what's good for you, just turn around and leave us alone. We mean to fight, and fight hard! That's the last word of warning I'm going to give you, and the next move will call for lead. Do you get that straight?"

Ned could be quite belligerent when he chose. He realized that he was dealing with hard characters in these men, and that any sign of weakness on his part was only going to make things the more difficult for himself and chums.

He understood that what he had just said must be looked on as a sort of challenge by the miners on the beach. There could be no more parleying after that defiance had been given. It meant war.

Consequently, Ned was not at all surprised to hear the dimly seen men break out into an angry roar of shouts, and to see them start toward the stern of the wreck, with the evident intention of swarming aboard.

There were several flashes as firearms sounded, so that altogether it looked as if the battle had opened.

After that it was folly to dream that they could pull through peaceably, when these hired minions of the fraudulent mining corporation were so bent on carrying out their own plans and which consisted of making the boys prisoners.

Ned gave the word, and immediately the scouts commenced shooting. They could see the advancing figures fairly well in the half darkness, and at such short range it would have had to be a pretty poor marksman who could not have hit his target had he really wanted to do so. But the scouts were not ferociously inclined. Ned had begged them not to resort to stern measures, unless it were absolutely necessary, and something desperate had to be done in order to prevent the enemy from accomplishing the capture of the old hulk.

So while they rattled away merrily with their repeating guns, they took care not to mow the advancing men down. This was easily accomplished by shooting so as to send their bullets into the sand of the beach; and as the assailants could not tell what the sanguinary result of the furious fire might be, they no doubt imagined that terrible execution was being wrought in their ranks.

Some of them managed to reach the stern of the wreck; others stumbling over flotsam and jetsam on the beach were crawling around, seeking shelter from the blaze of fire that leaped all along the bulwarks above.

It was a pretty warm time while it lasted, and even Jack and Teddy seemed to be engaged, for the roar of their guns chimed in with the rest. If those three men, who had slipped away from the rest, had managed to climb aboard, by means of some dangling rope, they, doubtless, speedily realized that it was not a safe place in which to linger.

"Stop firing!" cried Ned, suddenly, "they've fallen back, and the first round goes to us."

"That was the easiest licked squad I ever ran across!" boasted Jimmy; "and, while I'm about it, I might as well confess that I had to crease one feller in the leg, for he was pushing right into the opening. Sure he fell back, and the last I saw of the bog trotter, he was crawling away, draggin' that left leg after him."

Ned sighed. He had hoped to accomplish this business for Mr Bosworth without being compelled to do violence; but it seemed that this could not be. As scouts, he and his chums objected to such things; but, as a last resort, even members of the organization must be allowed the liberty of defending themselves against the assaults of hired ruffians.

"Do you know where those three men got aboard, Jack?" he asked.

"I think we'll find a piece of rope hanging over the side," replied the other; yes, "here it is, Ned. Shall I cut it loose, so as to stop that gap?"

"Of course," came the answer; "and then take one of the electric torches and see if any of them stayed aboard, after the firing was over. Jimmy, you go along; and be careful not to get held up. We don't want to have a treacherous foe hiding near us, and ready to do something desperate at any minute. Sing out, if you find one, and want any help to throw him overboard!"



CHAPTER XX.

BESIEGED.

The two scouts hurried away to execute the orders of their chief. They were so accustomed to having Ned tell them what to do that any command he might give was always cheerfully carried out.

The balance of the party remained there where they could command the break in the stern of the wreck, and which the enemy had once vainly attempted to rush. If presently another attack were made they would be in position to pour down a hot fire on the assailants; and perhaps taking pattern by Jimmy, the rest of the defenders might begin to give wounds that would gradually put the miners out of the game.

Before three minutes had passed Ned and those with him heard a tremendous row going on down the deck. This was followed by a great scrambling, and then came a loud splash.

"Say, they must have found one of the three sneaks!" exclaimed Teddy, jubilantly.

"Here comes Jack now to report," added Frank.

Jack was breathing hard, but chuckling at the same time, as he came up.

"I have the honor to report, sir, that we discovered a spy aboard, and made him walk the plank," he started in to say, with all the airs of a second officer aboard a liner, giving in his account of duties performed. "He didn't want to make the jump but Jimmy helped him over the side, while I covered him and kept his hands up. We've looked everywhere now, and think he was the only one that stayed aboard."

"I hope you didn't drown the fellow, Jack," said Ned.

"Small danger of that," laughed the other; "where he fell the water was only a few feet deep, even with a wave rolling in. He's ashore long before now, and can report how we do things aboard the Old Reliable. Anything else you want done, sir, while we've got our hands in?"

"Nothing but keep an eye out for any creeper along the sides. They may think to try it over again," Ned told him.

"And next time perhaps we'll do something worse than tossing the fellow overboard," Jack declared. "I half believe that scoundrel meant to do us an ugly turn. Why, he had a wicked looking knife in his hand just when we cornered him, and even raised it as if meaning to strike, when I knocked it out of his grasp with the barrel of my gun, and then Jimmy jumped on him like a monkey."

"A good job all around," was Ned's comment; "and it ought to show these parties that we mean what we say. I'm only hoping they'll get sick of the business and conclude to let us alone. That is all we ask of them, to keep their hands off, and allow us to pull out."

"Small chance of that happening, I'm afraid," Jack went on to say. "If we get away from here it'll be because we've gone and licked the lot of them, as Jimmy was remarking, out of their boots. I say that, because we know what it would mean to this fake concern to let the story of the mine get to New York City."

After that for a while everything seemed very quiet. Watch as they might they could see nothing of the enemy on the beach below. The waves crept up higher, as the tide came in, and the sound of their curling over with a long roll grew more and more boisterous; but ashore all seemed as silent as death.