Accordingly, when the afternoon drew near its end, they began to cast about for a camping place. To the delight of Nick they had been able to pick up a duck here and there, until there were now four on board.

"If we could only get a brace more," he kept saying; "or even one might do, as Josh eats so little; how nice it would be. Jack, don't you suppose, now, you might creep up behind that island yonder, drop ashore, since the law forbids one to shoot ducks from a craft driven by sails or any motive power except a fellow's muscles, and get a shot into the lovely little bunch that is sporting there?"

"Anything to oblige," was the response;

and with that the head of the Tramp was turned aside, so that the skipper could presently jump ashore.

His crawl across the reedy island was not as pleasant as one might wish; but when he fired both barrels at the rising flock, Nick nearly laughed himself sick to see not only two, but five birds fall with as many splashes into the water.

One wounded duck managed to get away. Jack declared it must have dived, and held on to some of the eel grass at the bottom, preferring death to falling into the hands of duck-eating human beings; for this often happens, as every hunter knows.

Again an oven was to be made, and they hoped to have a feast for the next day.

"What's to hinder our sleeping on shore tonight, fellows?" asked Josh, as they found a pretty good place for a camp.

"Oh! please do!" cried poor, tortured Nick; "I'd love to rest comfy for just once again."

"Huh!" grunted stubborn George, "that suits me first rate, because I insist on keeping to my quarters aboard, and there'll be plenty of room. Besides, I won't wake up every little while when you roll over, thinking the boat is going to turn turtle."

Upon being put to a vote, five of them were in favor of trying it. So about the time they began to feel sleepy, blankets were brought from the boats, and each fellow started to make himself as comfortable as possible under the circumstances.

Jack had selected his sleeping place with an eye to its convenience; also the fact that by raising himself on his elbow he could have a survey of the entire camp, counting the three boats. And it might have been noticed that both he and Herb made sure to take their guns to bed with them, a fact Nick saw with a bit of uneasiness.

The Tramp and the Comfort were both fastened up, for it was possible to lock their cabins in an emergency. George was under his canvas shelter, trying to make himself believe he fully enjoyed the sensation of loneliness.

Finally a silence came over the camp on the shore. The fire died down gradually, for no one bothered to keep it going, the night being anything but cold.

Jack was always a light sleeper. He had trained himself to awaken if there was anything unusual going on. And when he suddenly opened his eyes, seeing the stars over his head, he knew instinctively that it was not far from daybreak. He also had a sort of intuition that there was some one or something moving close by.

And so, Jack, reaching out and securing his gun, began to softly raise his head, hoping that the starlight would be strong enough to let him see what was going on. What discovery he made gave him something of a little shock.



CHAPTER IX.

THE DESPERATION OF HUNGER.

The night was still. Only the soft wash of the tiny waves on the shore came to the ears of the Tramp's skipper as he thus raised his head to take an observation.

First he looked in the direction of the three motor boats, and in particular the one on board of which George was sleeping. Perhaps he had a slight suspicion to the effect that some movement on the part of this chum had caused the scuffling sounds.

His search for an explanation in this quarter proved to be a failure. He could plainly see the tan-colored canvas tent which covered the speed boat; but it seemed to be perfectly motionless.

Just then Jack sniffed the air two or three times. Come, that was surely a most delightful odor that seemed to be wafted in his quarter. Had Nick, for instance, been alongside, and wide-awake, he would have immediately declared that it reminded him of roast duck!

By the way, they did have a full half dozen waders in the process of baking in that crude earthen oven. Jack shot a quick glance over in the direction where he and Nick had built the receptacle.

What could that dark object be? Even as he looked he surely saw it move. Yes, a second and more positive examination convinced him of this fact. Then there was danger of the expected breakfast being carried off while they slept.

Was it some prowling bear that had followed the scent, and dug out the cooked fowls? The bulk of the figure assured him that it could be no ordinary raccoon, or even a cunning fox.

Would he be justified in shooting? At that short distance Jack realized that he could riddle the object sadly; for the charge of shot, having no chance to spread, would go with all the destructive power of a bullet.

His finger was on the trigger, but he wisely refrained. Perhaps after all this night intruder might not prove to be a bear, nor yet any other wild beast. Roast duck may appeal just as strongly to the human family. If any prowler had seen them bury the ducks on the preceding evening, might he not have waited patiently until this hour, just before the dawn, in order to allow the fowls to cook?

Was that a grunt of satisfaction he now caught? It certainly sounded very much along that order. Evidently the transgressor and thief must have finally succeeded in accomplishing his burrowing, judging from that decided aroma that was scattering about the vicinity. Even then he might be trying to gather up the spoils, loth to let a single duck escape his bold foray.

Well, Jack believed he ought to have something to say about that. He had gone to considerable trouble to collect half a dozen ducks; and, besides, it took more or less time to build that same oven and prepare the game for the receptacle. They were not in the feeding line, either. If a poor hungry wayfarer chose to approach them the right way, and appeal for help, he would find that generous hearts beat in the bosoms of these good-natured lads. But a thief who came crawling into camp when they were asleep, and tried to make a clean sweep of their expected breakfast, did not appeal to Jack at all.

"Hello! there, my friend; if you start to run, I'm going to fill you full of shot; so don't you dare try it!" Jack suddenly remarked, in a clear voice.

Up bobbed other heads near by, as these words awoke some of the sleepers.

"Keep still, boys, and don't get in my way," said Jack, calmly. "I've got a thief covered, and expect to bring him down if he so much as takes one jump. Easy now, Herb; keep your gun ready, and don't shoot until I say so."

For all he talked so threateningly, of course Jack would have done no such thing had the fellow bolted. Better lose a thousand ducks than have cause to regret hasty action. But it seemed that his bold words had the effect he wanted; for the shadowy figure continued to hug the ground in the spot where the oven lay.

"Don't yuh shoot me, Mistah!" a quavering voice now broke out; and immediately they understood that the intended spoiler of their breakfast must be a negro. "I ain't 'tendin' tuh run away, 'deed I ain't, sah. I gives mahself up. I ain't eben gut a knife 'long with me!"

"Josh!" said Jack, quietly.

"Yes, I'm on deck, all right; what is it?" replied the tall boy, close by.

"You fixed some stuff for starting a fire in a hurry, didn't you?" continued Jack.

"Sure I did; and it's right here beside me," Josh hastened to reply.

"Then strike a match, and let's have some light. We'll look this coon over, and see whether we want to take him down to Franklin City with us tomorrow, or give him some grub and let him go scot free."

Jack was looked upon as a leader by his chums, and when he received these instructions Josh never hesitated a second about starting to carry them out to the letter.

Scratch went his match, which he always kept handy, being the recognized chef of the expedition. Then the light wood flamed up, communicated with other stuff, and in a "jiffy," as Josh called it, the scene was illuminated.

Meanwhile Jack had climbed out from among the folds of his blanket, always keeping his shotgun leveled in the direction of the crouching figure of the detected marauder of their stores.

He found a badly frightened negro, rather a young fellow, and as black as tar. The whites of his eyes looked staring as he followed the movements of that threatening gun, every time Jack moved.

"Come, get up here, and step nearer the fire," said Jack. "When we have company we always like to entertain them in proper style. Now, sit down here, and give an account of yourself. What's your name, to start with?"

George had come tumbling out of the depths of the Wireless, aroused by the sound of voices, although Jack had not been talking in an excited way. Herb, Jimmy and Josh were all on hand, with blankets wrapped about them; for the night air was a bit keen, and they had on only their underclothing and pajamas.

But Nick could be heard snoring away contentedly in his snug nest, dead to the world and all its cares. Nor did any one think to take the trouble to arouse the fat boy, so that he calmly slept through the entire proceedings.

"I'se Jawge Washington Thomas; an' I libs back dar in de kentry at er place called Pokomoke City, sah," the prowler promptly answered, as though he realized that since he had now fallen into the hands of these young fellows, he might as well make a clean breast of it.

"And what are you doing here on the shore of Chincoteague Bay, creeping into a camp, and raiding our provisions?" pursued the one who held the gun.

"'Deed, an' I done must a been a fool," sighed the prisoner; "an' dat's no lie, tuh try an' git dem ducks like er fox, w'en I orter stepped up, bold like, an' asked yuh foh a bite. But I was dat hungry, boss, I jes' couldn't help it. I seen yuh put dem fowls in de little hole in de groun', an' somethin' tempts me tuh hang 'round till dey orter be done foh suah."

"But you haven't told us why you're here, instead of over in Pokomoke City, where you belong, George?" went on Jack, meaning to have the whole story.

"I'se gwine tuh tell yuh hit all, boss, 'deed I is. Den yuh kin do what yuh want wid me, only foh de love o' misery gib me sumpin tuh eat 'fore yuh takes me down tuh Franklin City, what de sheriff is. I'se ben hidin' out now foh nigh a month. Yuh see I done git in a muss wid a white man, an' we had a scuffle. He done trip an' cut his haid on a stone when he falls down; but dey declar I cut him. 'Taint nothin' serious like, gib yuh mah word on it, boss; an' Hank he ben up an' 'round dis three weeks an' more. But dey got it in foh me ober dere, an' I ain't gwine tuh take de chances ob gittin' kotched."

"And so you've been hiding out for a whole month, have you, George?" Jack asked, now lowering his gun, since he realized there was no longer any necessity for standing guard over the dejected chap, hungry, ragged and forlorn as he seemed to be.

"Dat's jes' what I done has, sah. At fust I 'spected tuh make mah way tuh Baltimore, 'case dar I got a brudder; but I jest cudn't go 'way, yuh see, widout mah wife an' two chillen. So I kept right on hangin' 'round hyah, an' tryin' tuh git word tuh dem. I has a letter from Susie jest yisterday, sayin' as how she'd jine me termorry at de Scooter Landin', whar a boat is loadin' wid lumber foh Baltimore. An' my Susie sez as how she got de money tuh take us all dar."

"That sounds reasonable enough, George. Now tell us why you crawled into camp and tried to lift those roast ducks?" Jack asked, turning to wink at his chums, who in their odd garb were gathered around, listening and grinning.

"Jes' as I was sayin', boss; I seen yuh come in here las' night, an' git ready tuh camp. Wanted tuh ask yuh foh sompin' tuh eat de wust kin', but w'en I done sees de guns yuh kerry, I got cold feet; 'case I kinder s'pected yuh mout be all alookin' foh me. So I hangs 'round till I reckons de fowls dey must be ready tuh eat. Den I slicks in, an' tried tuh grab one. Dat's de whole story, boss, gib yuh mah word it is. An' I hopes yuh belibes me."

"See here, George, when a man gives evidence in court he is expected to prove it, if he can," Jack remarked, seriously. "Now, that's a rather interesting story you tell; but how can we know that it's true? You mentioned receiving a letter from your wife a bit ago; suppose you show it to us. That would go a great ways toward making us believe; and getting you a breakfast in the bargain."

"Good for you, Jack!" exclaimed the skipper of the Wireless.

"A bully idea!" commented Josh; while the other two nodded their heads, as if they fully backed these sentiments.

Jawge Washington Thomas seemed in no wise dismayed by this proposition. They saw a wide grin expand across his sable face as he immediately thrust a hand into the pocket of the ragged jacket he wore over his faded cotton shirt.

"Dat seems tuh be de right thing, sah," he remarked, as he drew something out. "I'se right glad now I done kep' dis little letter. Beckons as how I read de same half a million times dis last twenty-foah hours. Dar she be, sah. Hopes as how yuh kin make out de writin'. My Susie she smart gal, 'fore she marry dis good-foh nothin' nigga; she eben done teach school. Reckon she too good foh me, boss; but if I eber gits up in Baltimore, I'se gwine tuh do the right thing by Susie, gib yuh my word I is, sah."

The boys crowded around, each eager to see what sort of a letter Susie had sent to her man, in his time of trouble. This was what they made out, although the missive had been handled so often by the fugitive that it was well begrimed:

"George—The schooner Terrapin will be at Scooter's Landing day after tomorrow, Thursday. I sold out everything, and will be aboard with the children, bound for Baltimore. We can live here in Pokomoke no longer. Be on the lookout. Your wife Susie."

That was all, but it must have brought a lot of hope to the wretched fugitive, who believed that he would be tarred and feathered, or else lynched, if ever he was caught by those Maryland whites. And his claim that Susie had an education Jack saw was well founded.

"How about it, boys; shall we take George to Franklin City, or give him a good breakfast and let him wait for Susie and the kids?" asked Jack, though he felt positive as to what the answer would be before he spoke.

"He can have half of my duck!" announced Herb.

"And the whole of mine," echoed Josh.

"That settles it," laughed Jack. "So, George Washington Thomas, draw right up to the fire and begin operations. A starving man can be excused for doing lots of things that in a fellow with a full stomach might appear to be a bad go. We'll forgive you this time; and hope that when you get to Baltimore, you'll show Susie how you can work for a woman who stands by her man like she has."

"I'se gwine tuh, boss; I'se got mah mind made up on dat, I tells yuh," declared the fugitive, with an air of determination that Jack liked to see.

And as his hunger was such a real thing, they forced him to begin to eat without further delay. Having dressed themselves, for the dawn was now coming on, they started operations looking toward breakfast, wishing to give the poor fellow a treat in the way of some hot coffee and a rasher of bacon.

Fancy the amazement of Nick, as he sat up and rubbed his eyes, on discovering an unknown negro, seated on a log, with a tin plate on his knees, and devouring one of the ducks that had been placed in the primitive oven the night before.

"W-w-what's all this mean? Who's your friend, and whose duck is he making 'way with, fellows? I hope now you haven't let me sleep on, just to play a trick on me and leave a rack of bones on my dish. Did he drop down out of the sky, or have you engaged a pilot for the treacherous waters of the lower Chincoteague Bay?" was the way he broke out, as he discovered his chums grinning.

When he heard the story, Nick hardly knew whether to be provoked, or take it as a joke, that he had been allowed to sleep through it all.

"But I ain't going to be outdone by any of you," he said, magnanimously; "and if George Washington can get away with another whole duck, let him tackle mine!"



CHAPTER X.

NICK IN SEARCH OF A MERMAID.

"Good boy, Nick!" cried George, who knew what a great sacrifice the fat boy had in mind, when he offered to give up his share to the hungry stranger.

"But there's no need of it," declared Josh. "You know I don't have any appetite in the morning, so he's eating my duck."

"And as for me," piped up Herb, "I'm satisfied with half a bird. Besides, somehow, duck for breakfast seems rather strong. I'm used to something light—a rasher of bacon, flapjacks, or hominy, with coffee. So hold your horses, Nick, and get ready to take your turn."

After the meal had been completed, preparations were made looking toward an early start. They anticipated having a hard day's work, several inlets having to be crossed, with the ocean setting in heavy against them, it might be.

Jack had heard some pretty wild stories concerning the perils that might be expected while crossing these same inlets, where at the full sweep of the tide small boats were in danger of being upset in the mad swirl.

He hardly believed more than half of what he heard, however, knowing how prone the natives are to exaggerate things. Besides, the staunch motor boats were not in the same class as the clumsy craft used by those who navigated these shoal waters along the Virginia coast.

They said good-bye to the fugitive black. Some of them, in the generosity of their boyish hearts, had slipped quarters and half dollars in the ready hand of the fellow; and his eyes danced with happiness as he stood there, waving the skippers and crews of the little flotilla farewell.

"It was a mighty lucky thing for George Washington that he dropped into our camp last night," laughed Herb, as they began to lose sight of the waving hat of the negro.

"Yes, and just as lucky that he made a failure of his job," remarked Jack, for they were moving along close together, so that it was easy to talk back and forth. "If he'd managed to get away with a duck or two, that would have ended it all. As it is, he's holding a nice little bunch of coin, that will help pay for the grub, after he gets to Baltimore with his family."

"I suppose it's a square deal George gave us?" queried Josh.

"Now, what do you mean by that?" demanded Herb.

"He couldn't have been playing a trick on us, could he?" the other went on; for Josh was often inclined to be somewhat suspicious.

"Come off!" scoffed George.

"That's too bad, Josh, for you to suspect him of trying to pull the wool over our eyes," Jack declared, reproachfully.

"Oh! I don't doubt him, so to speak," Josh protested; "but you know I'd hate everlastingly to be done by a coon."

"That letter was genuine enough," observed Jack, thoughtfully; "and fellows, perhaps you didn't notice the thing, but there were blurs on that writing, just as if somebody had been crying, and the tears dropped on the paper. Whether it was poor old George Washington, feeling awful lonely, and hungry, who wept; or his wife while she was writing the note, doesn't matter. But those marks went a big way toward convincing me his story was genuine."

Somehow Josh turned red, and no more was said. Those happy-go-lucky lads could feel for the sentiment that had caused those tears.

"That's Chincoteague Light, ain't it?" asked Herb, after a while, pointing ahead.

"Sure it is!" Jimmy cried. "I saw it winking at me every time I woke up last night, so I did, me bhoy!"

"Then we strike across that inlet soon?" suggested George, showing just the slightest sign of nervousness, Jack thought.

Of the three skippers, George had the most cause for looking serious whenever there arose any chance for trouble, either through a storm, or tidal currents. His speed boat, being so very narrow in beam, and cranky, was least fitted to contend with raging seas; since there must always be great danger of an upset.

"In less than half an hour we'll spin across and get behind Wallop's Island. As the tide is pretty well up, we ought to make the riffle there. I'd hate to get stuck in the mud, and have to wait ten or twelve hours for another tide to float us off," Jack made answer; for, as he had the charts, they always looked to him for information.

"Then what next?" asked Herb, wishing to be posted.

"In an hour or more we ought to reach Assawaman Inlet, and after that will come Gargathy, Matomkin, and then Watchapreague; which last is said to be the most dangerous along the whole coast," replied the commodore of the fleet.

"You don't say!" ejaculated George, pretending to look unconcerned; "and just why is that, please?"

"Well, it happens to be wider than any other, and the currents are fierce. Besides, some of the natives declare there are mermaids, or something after that order, that try to overturn boats crossing."

At that the boys let out a combined yell.

"Me for a pretty mermaid, then!" cried Nick. "I always did want to have a chat with one of those fair damsels of the sea, ever since I read how they used to comb their hair and sing to the mariners in those old days of Greece."

"Makes a fellow think of all the old mythological things," declared George.

"That's right," Herb declared. "You remember about Scylla and Charybdis, the two fabled monsters that used to alarm the old chaps hundreds and hundreds of years ago; but which turned out to be a dangerous rock and a big sucker hole, called a whirlpool? That's what ails this old inlet, I guess. The currents suck hard; and these crackers along the coast think unseen hands are trying to drag them down."

"What I don't like about it," remarked Josh, "is the sharks."

"Oh! I see you have been reading about it, then," said Jack, quickly. "I didn't mean to say anything about those monsters."

"Then there are sharks around?" demanded George; while Nick turned a little pale as he leaned over the side of the speed boat and listened.

"Yes; all accounts agree on that score," Jack admitted. "But if we manage right, and take the inlet at the proper time, there's no reason why any of us should bother our heads about the scaly pirates of the sea."

"I only hope none of 'em butt up against the Wireless, that's all," grunted the skipper of the narrow boat.

"Gracious! do you think there's any chance of that?" asked Nick, looking as though he half felt like begging Herb to take him aboard at the crucial time, only that he hated to show the white feather.

"Oh! hardly," laughed Jack, desirous of cheering the other up.

"Still, it might be wise for Nick to keep under cover while we're making that same passage across," suggested Josh, wickedly.

"And just why me, any more than you?" demanded the fat boy, indignantly.

"Well, the sight of such a bag of bones as me wouldn't be apt to stir those man-eaters up to any extent; but if they caught a glimpse of such a rolypoly morsel as you, Nick, it would set 'em wild."

"Oh! let up, won't you?" grumbled Nick. "This is too serious a subject to make fun over. I don't just hanker to make a dinner for any old shark, and don't you forget it, Josh Purdue."

They crossed the inlet at Chincoteague without the slightest trouble. Beyond lay Wallop's Island, and their speed had to be considerably reduced while navigating the tortuous and narrow channel lying between that body of reedy land and the main shore.

Despite the wideawake work of the pilot in the Tramp, there was always a liability of some boat charging upon an unseen mudbank; and hence it was advisable to take things rather easy, so that in case of such a disaster, it would be possible to pull off again, with the help of the other boats.

Then came the next inlet, which was also crossed easily.

"Say, nothing hard about this," George called out, as they headed once more down the bay toward Gargathy Inlet.

"Lots of things look harder than they turn out to be," answered Herb, who was having it easy enough in his wide-beamed craft.

"Still, be on your guard all the time," cautioned Jack, who meant to keep near the erratic Wireless all the time, because he felt it in his bones that if any accident did happen it would be in that quarter.

At noon they drew up and went ashore on a sandspit, where they ate lunch. Nick of course "browsed" around, as he called it, in search of oysters, and was speedily rewarded by discovering a supply. Indeed, they had hard work making him break away, when Jack tooted his conch shell as the signal for a start.

Matomkin Inlet proved as easy as the others.

"Now for the terror!" remarked George, as later in the afternoon they approached the spot where Watchapreague lay.

Ahead they could see the whitecaps marking the fierce cross currents that have given this half-mile wide inlet its bad name. Many a wreck of shore boats has taken place here, and lives been lost.

"We might as well get over now, as in the morning, for the tide is as good as it will ever be. Those whitecaps are caused by the wind blowing from the shore, and the tide coming in," Jack decided, as they advanced steadily on.

"And in case of any accident, then, a fellow couldn't be carried out to sea," George remarked, with what seemed like a distinct look of relief.

So the start was made. All around them the water fairly boiled, and unseen influences apparently tugged at the frail little craft, as though the fingers of those fabled monsters were gripping their keels.

They were just about the middle and most dangerous spot when George gave a sudden cry. It was echoed by a wail from Nick. Looking up, Jack discovered a sight that thrilled him to the core. The erratic Wireless had chosen to play its skipper a nasty trick at just the time it should have been on its best behavior, coming to a stop with such abruptness that poor Nick lost his hold forward, and went splashing into the water like a giant frog!



CHAPTER XI.

A STUNNING DISCOVERY.

In an instant all was confusion!

All sorts of shouts broke from the boys; and George, leaning over the side of his stalled Wireless, in the vain hope of being able to clutch the boy who was in the dangerous waters of the inlet, came near upsetting his tottering boat completely.

Nick had disappeared as soon as he struck the water, but such a fat fellow could not long remain under the surface, so he speedily made his appearance, struggling terribly, and looking badly frightened.

There had been a time when Nick could not swim a stroke; but, by keeping heroically at it, he had managed to master the art to some extent. Desperation assisted him in this predicament, and the way he threshed the water was a caution. Herb afterwards declared it beat any old stern-wheel towboat he had ever seen, charging up the current of the mighty Mississippi.

Luckily enough, Jack had anticipated something of this sort. That was why he had persisted in keeping as close to the speed boat as he dared, without risking a collision. He later on said he felt it in his bones that if the Wireless had one more kink of evil in her, she was just bound to let it out at the most critical moment. And it had proven just so.

The first thing Jack did when he saw the head and wildly plunging arms of his fat chum appear, was to hurl the life preserver he had snatched up from the spot where he kept it handy.

And so well aimed was the cork buoy that it fell just in front of the struggling Nick, who gave a half-strangled whoop, doubtless under the impression that it was a shark, or perhaps one of those same mermaids he had declared it his ambition to meet face to face.

"Grab hold of it, Nick!" shouted George, excitedly.

"It's a life preserver. Get a grip on it, Nick!" bellowed Jack, as he gradually turned the nose of the Tramp around, meaning to bear down upon the imperiled boy.

Luckily Nick heard what they said, for he was seen to make a wild clutch for the floating buoy, and catch hold of it before the treacherous swirls carried it beyond his reach.

"Oh! look there!" shrieked Jimmy. "That must be the fin of a shark!"

It was.

And further along Jack even caught sight of several more. The fierce creatures had heard the splash, and apparently scenting a fine dinner, were dashing this way and that, bent upon finding the object that had made all the rumpus.

"George, get your gun, and be ready to shoot!" said Jack, himself pale now with sudden anxiety.

So the skipper of the Wireless, understanding that this was a time to keep cool if they would save their cheery comrade, reached down under the side of his boat. When he bobbed up a few seconds later he was clutching his rifle, which he had brought along, in the faint hope that before the long cruise was done he might get a deer, or even a bear, with it.

Now the nose of the Tramp was heading straight for the spot where Nick clung to the life buoy.

"Splash as hard as you can!" shrilled Josh, who seemed to remember that sharks can sometimes be kept away by this means.

And immediately the fat boy exerted himself at a great rate, his legs and one arm beating the water until it sounded like a vast mill in action.

But as Jack cast a swift glance around he saw that the nearest shark was heading straight toward poor Nick. Jimmy had heard what was said to George. He, too, had pulled out a shotgun, and was cowering close by, holding the weapon in his hands, and with a grim look of "do or die" on his freckled face.

Bang! went the rifle in George's hands.

The bullet struck the water above the advancing monster, but seemed to do no particular damage, for they could see that he was still coming directly on.

Now the prow of the Tramp was just alongside Nick; but the shark seemed dreadfully close, too. Dropping his hold on the wheel, Jack bent over to clutch the shoulders of the fat boy. He knew that he would have a tremendous task dragging him aboard, soaked as his clothes were; but desperation causes those who try, to perform wonderful deeds, and Jack felt equal to most anything just then.

He was still dragging Nick upward, and the other was trying to help himself as well as he was able, when the big fish, rushing under, seemed to turn over while opening his terrible mouth, lined with cruel teeth.

And then Jimmy, who had been holding his fire for a good opportunity, sent the contents of the shotgun straight into that distended mouth.

Jack pulled his chum aboard, and almost fell himself, such was the relief that passed over him. The boat was whirling around in the mad currents, but as Jack again took the wheel he quickly mastered its erratic movements.

"Sure, I guv him the cowld meal, that toime, I did!" shouted the delighted Jimmy, threatening to attempt a real jig in his excitement. "How d'ye like cowld lead, me bully bhoy? Next toime take one of your own kind, will ye, and lave our chum be. Look at the bog-trotter kicking out yonder, would ye? Don't I hope some of his kind will ate him up now. It's the biter bitten, fellows. Look! by the powers, if they ain't tacklin' the gossoon, so they are!"

It was even so, for the wildest commotion was taking place out in the quarter where the wounded shark had been struggling.

Even Nick managed to crawl to the side of the boat and gape. A look of satisfaction took the place of the frightened expression on his round face.

"Anyhow, he didn't get me, did he, fellows?" Nick seemed to find a strange pleasure in repeating time and again, in a hysterical way.

The remainder of the inlet was readily passed, George managing to get a rope to the skipper of the Comfort, who towed the tricky speed boat to safety.

Jack did not mean to lose that life preserver, and he had Jimmy get it with the boathook as they passed by. It had served Nick a good turn, and showed the wisdom of one being always prepared for trouble.

Nick was shaking at a great rate. This might come partly from his recent excitement, but Jack knew that the air was rather cool to one who sat in garments saturated with salt water.

"We'd better be on the lookout for a camping ground somewhere on Paramore Island, here," he remarked. "A fire would come in handy for Nick; and, besides, I reckon we've done all we ought to for one day. If tomorrow pans out as lucky, we ought to get in touch with the lighthouse at Cape Charles."

"Well, I only hope," sighed Nick, between shivers, "that the programme will be a bit varied tomorrow. If there has to be somebody go overboard to hunt for mermaids, let me off, won't you, fellows?"

"We'll think it over, Nick," called George, who was taking it easy now, since his engine was dead, and the Comfort drawing him along in its wake.

They presently discovered a place that seemed to promise a certain amount of comfort; and so a landing was made.

"Smells like oysters around here, fellows," was the first remark Nick made, as he scrambled ashore, and started to thresh his arms about, in the endeavor to get up a circulation—Jack had advised this as a preventative against a cold.

"Well, I honestly believe that chap would think of eating if he heard the angel Gabriel tooting his horn," declared Herb. "He'd say that he wanted to be fortified again the journey across that old river Styx."

"Sure, I would!" admitted the grinning fat boy, frankly. "Anyhow, oysters are good stuff, whichever way you take 'em, and that nobody can deny. Get your old fire going, so I can change my clothes, and have an hour to gather a crop. Josh said if I got enough he'd give us scalloped oysters for supper. Yum! yum! don't that just make your mouths water, boys? It does mine."

The fire was soon going, and beside its cheery heat Nick made the change. His soaked garments were hung up to dry the best they could, though it is a hard job when clothes have been in salt water.

Then, with a tin pail Nick set out to gather his beloved shellfish, signs of which had been noted near by.

In half an hour he had deposited three pails of what seemed to be very fair bivalves in a pile near the fire.

"Set some of the others to work opening them, Josh," Nick observed. "My fingers are too sore for the job. Besides, I've done my part, seems like, in getting the crop gathered."

Jack and Jimmy took hold, and with the oyster knives soon began to fill a receptacle with the contents of the shells.

Nick was busying himself whacking a few open on the side, "just to test them," as he said; for they noticed that he made no contributions to the general fund.

"A trifle salty, but just prime," the judge of oysters remarked, several times, as he devoured a fat one. "This is worth coming for, boys. The coast for me every time, when you can get such treats as this. Think I gathered enough? Want any more, Josh?"

"Oh! hould up!" cried Jimmy, whose fingers were getting sore from the various cuts received from the sharp edges. "Sure, we've got enough for a rigiment, so we have. Just ate up the balance yoursilf, and stow your gab, Nick."

A short time later, Jack, who had been rummaging around aboard the Tramp, called out:

"Anybody see my old coat lying around loose?"

At that, Jimmy uttered a startled cry and jumped up.

"Glory be!" he exclaimed. "I forgot all about that, Jack, darlint. It must have been your coat that wint overboard in the inlet, and sank, while I was shootin' the murderous shark. And by the powers, that is too bad, beca'se it had that bally ould paper missage in it ye was to deliver to Van Arsdale Spence at Beaufort!"

The other boys echoed the disconsolate cry of Jimmy, and looked at Jack, as if they felt the greatest pity for him in his unfortunate loss.



CHAPTER XII.

THE CAMP UNDER CAPE CHARLES LIGHT.

"Say, he don't look bothered a teenty bit!" exclaimed Josh, surprised because Jack seemed so free from care.

"And look at him, would you!" burst out Herb; "why, blessed if he ain't grinning right now, to beat the band!"

"Here, own up, Jack, old boy, what's got you? Didn't you care much whether you ever got that mysterious packet into the hands of this Spence fellow?" demanded George.

"To be sure, I did; and do yet," replied Jack; "but that's no reason why I ought to go around pulling a long face and whimpering, especially since no milk has been spilled after all."

"But, sure, it was the ould coat as I saw go over!" ejaculated Jimmy, stubbornly.

"I guess it must have been, because I just can't find the same anywhere," admitted the other, nodding.

"And ye put that packet in the inside pocket, beca'se I saw ye," Jimmy went on.

"Yes, I did," Jack chuckled; "but then none of you saw me take it out again later and stow it in another place. You see, I seemed to have an idea my coat might get lost, because half the time I have it off."

"Then the packet is,—where?" asked George, brightening up.

"Down in the bottom of my fishing tackle box at this very minute, and not in the stomach of a Watchapreague shark!" declared Jack, confidently.

"Hurrah! Count another for our wise ould chum, Jack. He's got the long head, so he has. Let's have a squint at the documint again, now. 'Twould be good for sore eyes to glimpse the same!" Jimmy declared, enthusiastically.

So Jack had to get out his fishing tackle box, and, dipping down into its depths, produce the valuable packet.

After that, preparations for supper were allowed to go on apace. As for the missing coat, Jack declared that it did not amount to much, anyhow, as he had another handy. And besides, with a sweater to fall back upon in case of cold occasions, he had no regrets.

"I wonder will we really find this party, when we get around Beaufort?" Herb remarked, as they sat there, watching Josh wrestle with the broken crackers which, with the large pan of oysters, were to form the mess which, cooked as best they could over the red coals of the fire, would form the main part of the meal.

"We will, if anybody can," replied Jack, with determination in his manner.

"You just bet we will," affirmed Nick, showing unexpected interest in the idea.

The fact was, despite the many raw oysters he had swallowed, Nick was almost famished, and was trying the best he knew how to keep his attention from the slow preparations being made for supper.

But all in good time the meal was pronounced ready. Josh, in lieu of an oven in which to bake his scalloped oysters, had kept the pan on the fire, with a cover over the top; and really it had been pretty well browned.

They pronounced it simply delicious. Nick softened toward his ancient tormentor, Josh, and, patting him on the back, declared that when it came to cooking he had them all "beaten to a frazzle."

"What's that light away off there to the south, Jack?" asked Herb, after they had eaten to a standstill.

"I rather fancy that must be the Hog Island Light," replied the other. "Before we make that, we have to cross another inlet, this time over a mile wide; but they say Little Machipongo isn't in the same class as that last one, for danger and ugly currents."

"Gee! I hope not," grumbled Nick, who was scraping the pan in which the oysters had been cooked so beautifully.

"Then comes Great Machipongo Inlet, and a few more for tomorrow, after which we are due to reach Cape Charles," Jack went on, always ready to impart information when he saw that his chums wanted to know anything.

"This whole coast seems to be a series of bays and sounds, connected by little creeks and channels that, at flood time, can be safely navigated by a boat that don't happen to draw many feet of water," Herb remarked.

"Yes, and that is the case pretty near all the way from New York to the lower end of Florida," Jack observed. "Some day it's going to be possible to make the entire trip as easy as falling off a log. The Government is doing a heap of dredging in lots of places."

"Yes," remarked George, sarcastically; "if they'd only put some of the millions in here that they squander on good-for-nothing creeks in the backwoods, it'd be done in no time."

"Huh!" grunted Nick, "I'd just like to have the fat contract for dredging out some of these muddy creeks. Say, mebbe a fellow wouldn't get rich on the job, eh? I think I'll have to mention it to my dad, for he's keen on contracts, you know."

They passed a pleasant evening. Jimmy was easily induced to get out his banjo and give them many brisk tunes that seemed to just go with the plunkety-plunk of the joyous instrument.

"Seems like a banjo just chimes in with Southern scenes," remarked Herb.

"Oh! shucks! this ain't the Sunny South yet awhile, Herb," laughed Josh. "Wait till we get down in South Carolina, anyhow, where we'll run across some palmetto trees. That gives the real tropical flavor."

"If there were only some monkeys frisking about in the feathery tops, it'd add a heap to it, in my opinion," remarked Nick.

"Or a few coy mermaids," laughed Jack; "but then our friend here wouldn't find it quite so easy to climb to the top of a palmetto as to tumble overboard."

"Let up on that, won't you, Jack? It's mean, rubbing it in so hard," complained the object of the roar that followed.

In this way, then, the evening passed. As the mosquitoes began to get in their work later, the boys changed their minds, and concluded to sleep aboard, instead of on shore, as they had at first intended.

With the morning, things began to happen again. Breakfast was eaten first, and then Jack, who had been assisting George examine his motor, discovered the cause of the unfortunate stop, so that the freakish engine was now apparently all right again.

They crossed both the Machipongo Inlets without any accident, though it was evident that the skipper of the Wireless was more or less nervous, and kept hovering close to the other boats, with an eye on the ropes which they kept coiled in the stern.

And Nick also crouched down in the body of the boat, gripping some substantial part of the framework, with the grim air of one who had determined not to be pitched out into the water again, come what would.

Both heaved plain sighs of relief when the crossings were made without the least trouble. Cobb's Island now lay close by, and beyond were several more openings, where the sea connected with the shore waters. But these were small compared with those already navigated, and with a fair amount of caution they had no need to borrow trouble longer.

"There's what we're aiming to reach by evening, fellows!" remarked Jack, about the middle of the afternoon.

Following the direction in which his extended hand pointed, the others could see a lighthouse not a great way ahead, though it might take some time to reach it by way of winding connecting creeks.

"The great Cape Charles Light, ain't it, Jack?" demanded Herb.

"Just what it is," replied the commodore.

"Then, tomorrow we'll have to cross the mouth of the Chesapeake and arrive at Norfolk or Portsmouth; is that the programme?" asked George.

"If everything looks good to us, yes," replied Jack, seriously. "We want to take as few chances, you know, as we must. And that twenty miles is a big trip for our little craft. All depends on the wind and the sky. But there are always lots of boats around here; and if we got in a peck of trouble they'd help us out."

"That's a comfort," remarked Nick. "It was bad enough dropping overboard in that inlet, and I don't hanker to try it in the ocean itself. Excuse me, boys; I pass. I've shown you how to do the trick; some one else take the next try."

"We'll hope there isn't going to be any next, like the little boy's apple core," Jack laughed.

Then they had to drop into single file as the channel narrowed again, with the pilot boat Tramp leading the way as usual.

"This is Smith Island, and the one on which the lighthouse is built. We ought to bring up there in short order now, when the mouth of the bay will be spread in front of us like a picture," Jack called, over his shoulder.

"All very nice," grumbled Nick; "but as for me, I'd much rather it was spread out behind us," and George doubtless echoed the thought, though too proud to show any nervousness over the prospective trip on the open sea.

At least Jack's prediction came true, for they did succeed in making the point of the island where the Cape Charles Light stood, a beacon to all vessels trying to enter the great Chesapeake Bay.

Far across the heaving waters lay Norfolk, Portsmouth, and Fortress Monroe, the Government station. Near here one of the most important naval engagements of the Civil War was fought, when Ericsson's "cheese on a raft," the Monitor, faced the terrible Confederate ironclad ram, Merrimac, and forced her to retire, after it seemed as though the entire wooden United States navy was to be at the mercy of the enemy.

No doubt many of these events thronged the minds of the four high school lads as they stood there on the sandy beach looking across that stretch of sea toward the object of their expectation. And George, with Nick a good second, must have devoutly wished the labor of the next twenty-four hours were completed, with the little fleet at safe anchorage off the town of Norfolk, which they had determined to visit, so as to get their mail, and secure a few fresh supplies, since the hungry Nick was making a terrible hole in what they carried.

And on this October night they camped ashore under the gleaming Cape Charles Light.



CHAPTER XIII.

A SHOUT AT MIDNIGHT.

In the morning, after they had eaten an early breakfast, the boys called on the keeper of the light, and were allowed to climb to the top of the tower. Here a glorious panorama was spread before them, with many miles of the sea to the east, the sandy shore line stretching far to the dim north, and one of the most beautiful pictures opening out to the southwest, where lay Norfolk and those other places of interest, across twenty miles of green waters that glistened in the early October sunlight.

Jack asked many questions concerning tides and prevailing winds. He also noted the lay of the course they must follow in making their passage across to the other side.

The genial keeper gave him numerous points that might be of value. He also declared it as his opinion that they could not have a better day for the trip, as the sea was comparatively smooth, and the wind light, as well as from a favorable quarter.

And so the boys returned to their boats, determined to make the effort to cross while the chances were so much in their favor.

Nick was only waiting to be invited aboard the good old Comfort; and Jack, who believed that it would be better to have only one to occupy their attention in case anything went wrong with the untamed speed boat, asked George if he had any objections to letting his crew change ships, to which the other immediately replied that such a thing would please him immensely.

"I can manage her much better without a cargo, fellows," he declared, earnestly. "Now, listen to him, would you, calling me a cargo?" whimpered Nick; but while he thus pretended to be offended, it was laughable to see how quickly he made the transfer, as though afraid Jack might change his mind, or George want him to stay.

About nine o'clock the start was made, as the tide would be most favorable around that time, the lighthouse keeper had told them.

Since the Comfort had been overhauled she was capable of making better time than previously, when she was known as the "Tub" by the rest of the boys. Herb declared he could take her across in two hours, though Jack privately believed it would be nearer three before they reached Norfolk.

It turned out to be a hedge, just two and a half hours elapsing from the time they made the start until they drew up near the big wharves at Norfolk.

However, time was not giving these happy-go-lucky lads the least uneasiness just at present, so long as they did reach port in safety.

"And it's just as well we started so early," Jack remarked, "because the wind is freshening all the while, and it will be blowing great guns out there before long.

"Hey, Josh! why not make a change again, and you get aboard the Comfort?" proposed Nick, who hated to give up a good thing.

"No you don't," retorted Josh, "not any for me. You just go and stew in your own gravy, will you? Took me a whole month to get the creak out of my bones after the last time you coaxed me to change places. Over you get, now, or else it's a ducking for yours, my boy," and Josh advanced in a warlike manner on the fat youth.

So, sighing like a martyr, Nick felt compelled to clamber into the speed boat.

"You ought to have one for your own sweet self," declared George, as he grasped the gunnel to keep from being tossed overboard, for Nick careened the boat dreadfully upon climbing in. "Why, you just don't know how fine the old Wireless acted on the way over, with only me aboard."

"I wish I did have a boat, as big as a house," declared Nick. "I'm wasting away to a mere shadow trying to keep my balance in this wedge. If I forget to breathe with both lungs at the same time he tells me I'm upsetting the equilibrium of the blessed thing. I feel most all the time like I'm the acrobat in the circus trying to stand on one toe on top of a flagpole."

After they had tied up, Herb was dispatched for the mail, while Jack went to buy a few provisions. Nick bombarded him with such a fearful list of things he wanted him to purchase that Jack had to thrust his fingers in his ears.

"What do you take me for, Nick, a dray horse?" he laughed. "I'd have to be, to carry the load you'd want. I've got a list of things we must have, and that's all I'll promise to lug down here. If you want anything else, you'll have to go after it yourself."

"All right, I'll do that," said Nick, promptly.

"Sure; and please tell me where you expect to stow all that truck?" demanded George, immediately, with a frown. "Not aboard the Wireless, I promise you, my boy. She's got all she can carry in hauling you around, without a sack of potatoes, a ham, and all that truck you mentioned. Hire a float, and perhaps we'll tow it behind us."

Nick said not another word, being completely squelched, as Josh put it.

Leaving Norfolk, they started up the broad Elizabeth River, meaning to take the Albemarle and Chesapeake Canal, which had long ago been cut through the Great Dismal Swamp and connected with Currituck Sound, that noted ducking place where so many large gun clubs have their headquarters.

Entering this canal, they moved along steadily through the balance of the afternoon. On all sides lay the most interesting sights; for the moss hung heavily on the dismal-looking trees, and the boys thought they had never seen a more depressing picture than was now presented to their gaze.

"Say, Jack, do we get out of this place tonight?" asked Herb, who was not particularly fond of swamps and such ghostly places.

"No, we made out to start a little too late to get to the little river beyond before night sets in," Jack replied.

"But there's a pretty good sized moon now, you remember, and we might keep on. I'm afraid it'll give me the jim-jams to sleep in this horrible old swamp," Herb went on to say.

"Like to oblige you," laughed Jack; "but the fact is we're going to tie up mighty soon now. Only looking for a half way decent place."

"What's all the hurry?" grumbled the pilot of the Comfort.

"Look aloft and you'll soon see," came the reply, which caused Herb to cast his eyes upward.

"Holy smoke! we're going to get some storm, I take it!" he immediately exclaimed, as he saw heavy clouds mounting upward. "And to think that nobody discovered the fact but you, Jack. Yes, I reckon, then, we'll have to tie up, and get George's boat tent up before she comes. I'll just have to grin and bear it."

"That's the way to talk, Herb," said Josh. "What difference does it make to us, tight in our snug little hunting cabin? If anybody made a kick it ought to be the poor Wireless crew."

"Here, don't you waste your breath pitying us, now," flashed the jealous George, who could never bear to have any one but himself run his boat down.

There seemed but little choice of a camping place, since the shores of the canal proved to be pretty much alike; so presently Jack threw up his hand as a signal that he meant to stop, and the three boats were soon being tied to trees.

"You'd think Herb expected a tornado, and wanted to make sure his old houseboat didn't get carried away," laughed George, as he watched the other secure both ends of the Comfort with cables, that he tested again and again.

"Oh, well, you never can tell," replied the other, without showing the least ill will; "and 'a stitch in time saves nine,' they taught me at home. 'What's worth doing at all is worth doing well', and sometimes it pays."

"It always pays in a contented mind," remarked Jack, who admired this positive trait in Herbert's nature, so different from George's flighty ways.

It was the case of the hare and the tortoise over again with these two; and while the speedy hare lay down to take a nap, confident of winning, the slow going tortoise was apt to come along and get to the goal first, after all.

The rain held off for a while, and they were able to cook supper ashore, though Josh kept as anxious eye on those dark clouds overhead while he worked.

"It's going to prove a big fizzle after all," remarked Nick, after a little water had come down, and the moon peeped out of a break in the clouds.

"Perhaps so; you never can tell what the weather will do," Jack laughed. "But all the same we'll be apt to sleep aboard again, for fear it does rain before morning."

"You bet we will," remarked Herb; "at least this chicken does. Ugh! I'd wake up, and think a raft of snakes was creeping out of that old swamp there. Are you all of the same mind about bunking aboard?"

"If anybody will go me, I'll stay ashore," announced Nick, to the surprise of his chums; but then they knew the narrow confines of the speed boat cramped his ample form, and that explained his boldness. "That is, if George will only let me have his gun too."

"Sure I will, and only too glad," declared that worthy, eagerly. "I'd like to stretch all over the bally old boat myself, for once."

Jimmy took up Nick's offer, and so Jack set to work making them a rude sort of canopy that was calculated to shed water fairly well. It was composed of branches from nearby trees, and might be called a hunter's lean-to.

When the time came for retiring, the two boys lay down under this, drawing their blankets around them, for the night air was chilly.

"If it rains too hard, crawl in where you belong," was the last instruction Jack gave them before seeking the bed he had made in the Tramp's interior.

Later on all was silent about the camp on the canal. From the swamp near by various queer sounds might have been heard, had any one remained awake to listen; but as the boys were all pretty tired, no doubt they slept well.

It might have been in the middle of the night that Jack was aroused by a loud shout, which he recognized as coming from Nick. Wondering what it meant, he immediately started to climb out of the boat, gun in hand, when there came a tremendous report. Evidently Nick, whether he had seen something suspicious or was dreaming he did, had fired George's borrowed gun!



CHAPTER XIV.

NICK BAGS HIS GAME.

"Whoop! I got him!"

That was certainly Nick shouting in an exultant strain; and as Jack glanced in the direction of the lean-to he saw the fat boy hunching his pudgy figure out, gun in hand—for the moon had not yet set in the west.

Then Jack caught the sound of something struggling in the brush close by. Not knowing what it might prove to be, he was in no hurry to jump over that way.

"What did you shoot at, Nick?" he demanded, as the excited boy scrambled awkwardly to his feet, and appeared anxious to renew the engagement; at the same time Jack made sure to lay hold on the other's gun, lest he open fire recklessly.

"I d—d—don't know for sure," stammered Nick; "but it looked awfully like a tiger."

"What?" exclaimed Jack, astonished. "Why, don't you know there isn't such an animal in North America?"

"Might have been a striped skunk, Jack?" suggested Josh, who had poked his head out from the cabin of the Comfort.

"Or a zebra escaped from a menagerie," Herb remarked.

"All right, have all the fun you want, fellows," said Nick, doggedly; "but all the same, whatever it was, I got it."

"That's just what he did, boys, I reckon," Jack declared; "because you can hear it kicking its last over yonder in the bushes. Here, where's that lantern of ours, Jimmy? I let you have it, remember? Light up, and show me the way in there."

Jimmy quickly applied a match to the wick, and as the light flared up, he swung the lantern in his hand.

"Who's afraid?" he said, boldly, as he started toward the spot where silence now reigned. "Come along after me, Jack, darlint; and please remimber that if the beast springs at me, I depind on you to knock spots out of him. Keep back, the rest of ye, now, till we solve the puzzle."

Jack kept his gun in readiness, for there could be no telling what lay beyond that fringe of bushes.

"I do be seein' somethin' there on the ground, Jack. Looky yonder, honey, an' sure ye can't miss the same, by the token," Jimmy presently said, in a low, strained voice, as he pointed a trembling finger ahead.

"Yes, I see something," Jack admitted. "Go on, Jimmy, take a few more steps. No matter what a ferocious monster it may prove to be, I rather guess Nick nailed it with that charge of shot at close range."

They kept on advancing, and the nearer they drew the bolder Jimmy seemed to grow, until presently both boys stood over the victim of Nick's fire.

Then they broke out into a shout that made the weird echoes leap out of the depths of Dismal Swamp.

"Tare and ounds!" burst forth Jimmy, "if 'tisn't a shoat afther all he killed."

"Say rather a full grown razorback pig," laughed Jack, as he noted the sharp snout of the rooter, and its slab sides.

Jimmy immediately bent down and gripped the beast by one of its hind legs.

"'Tis a roast of frish pork we'll be afther havin' the morrow," he declared. "They do be sayin' that these same Virginia pigs have the flavor of the bist Irish pork; an' I've always wanted to try the same. Think of Nick being the one to give us this trate. And if we iver run up against the owner, it's Nick must stand the cost. A tiger, did he say? He must have been saing double stripes the time."

When they backed into the camp, and the defunct pig was shown, a chorus of yells arose from the balance of the crowd. Even Nick joined in the whooping.

"Laugh all you want to, fellows," he remarked, as he assumed a proud attitude, leaning on his gun as though posing for his picture, with that wild boar at his feet, as the spoils of the hunt. "I thought it was a wild beast about to attack the camp; and as the only one awake at the time, I believed it my solemn duty to give him both barrels, which I did. And what's more, you see that I got him. Now, what do you say about my marksmanship, Josh Purdue?"

"Not a word," returned that worthy, throwing up both hands. "Why, you peppered the poor beast from bow to stern. Won't we have a fine time picking the shot out of our teeth, if we try to eat him? But Jack, do they ever make use of such awful thin-looking hogs as this?"

"Of course, they do," replied the other, quickly. "All razorbacks are thin. They live in the woods and swamps, feeding on mast, which means acorns and nuts and sweet roots. That's what gives their flesh the sweet taste it has, a sort of gamey flavor, they say, though I never really ate part of a genuine razorback."

"But you will now, I hope," remarked Nick. "This is my treat, and I hereby cordially invite you, one and all, to partake with me when our chef has a chance to cook one of these fresh hams."

"He just wants us to be in it as deep as he is, so if the owner shows up we'll stand by him," chuckled Josh.

"Well, we ought to stand back of him," asserted Jack; "because Nick really rested under the belief that he was protecting the camp from the prowling monster. Of course, we accept your kind invite, Nick; and now, let's get back under the blankets as fast as we can, because it's kind of cool out here."

All of them made haste to do so save Nick, who lingered for some time to fairly gloat over his quarry. Seldom had the fat boy been enabled to bring down any species of game worth mentioning, so that his excitement was easily understood.

On the next morning Jack cut up the lean pig, having a fair knowledge of the methods employed in such a case. Of course, none of them just fancied living off some man's property, and if they could only find out who the owner of the razorback was they would have only too gladly paid whatever it was worth.

But whether they ever did find him out or not, it would be a wicked shame to let all that sweet meat go to waste. And that very morning they had some pretty nice chops from the pig's ribs, which gave them a taste at any rate.

That morning they continued to move south through Currituck Sound. There were some ducks in sight, and more arriving, but only an occasional discharge of a gun came to their ears. Once Jack pointed to a wedge-shaped line of geese standing out against the clear sky far above, and heading still further south for some favorite feeding bar.

That night they camped on Roanoke Island, and the boys knew that they had made gallant progress through a portion of North Carolina.

"Tomorrow we will, I expect, get through Albemarle Sound, which is something like twenty-five miles in length," Jack remarked, as around a cheery fire that night they talked of what lay just before them.

"And after that, what?" questioned Herb.

"There's a lighthouse at the head of the narrower Croaton Sound, and if you look over there to the east right now you'll see the one on Body Island at Oregon Inlet. We've got to cross there first of all, you see."

"More inlets beyond that, are there?" asked George, trying to look indifferent.

"Two more before we reach Hatteras in Pamlico Sound, and known as New Inlet and Loggerhead. That last one is a hummer, too, I understand; but it can't be any worse than some we've successfully negotiated," Jack answered.

"Particularly that Watchapreague one," chuckled Josh, "where the jolly mermaids lie in wait to coax all handsome fellows overboard."

"Huh! that's right," remarked Nick; "and I noticed that you stayed aboard all right, Josh."

"Nothing to bother about with any of them, if only the boats behave half way decently," declared Jack. "If the engine of the Wireless hadn't balked just when it did, George wouldn't have had any trouble."

"And I'd have been saved my bath," chuckled Nick.

"But what of me, kind sors?" broke in Jimmy, in his thickest brogue, assumed, no doubt, for the occasion. "I'd have lost me chanct to win immortal glory. Didn't I be afther fillin' that beast of a shark with lead, so that his cronies they tore him into bits, an' devoured him in a jiffy. Give the divvle his dues, boys."

"Yes," Jack hastened to say, "give Jimmy all that's coming to him, fellows. He deserves it," at which there was a roar.

Starting again in the morning, the southward run was resumed. All were now in a good humor. They seemed to be able to surmount any and all difficulties as fast as they arose; and this disposition made them light-hearted in the extreme.

One of the hams had been cooked in an oven on the preceding night, and proved to be very tender eating after all.

Albemarle Sound was passed, and the one beyond it. Even the dreaded Loggerhead Inlet proved to be a hollow mockery, in so far as giving them any real trouble went, for they crossed it with the utmost ease.

With several hours of daylight still ahead, they entered upon the great wide Pamlico Sound, which in places is all of twenty miles from shore to shore. As it is extremely shallow in many places, this body of water makes a treacherous sailing ground, and many a boat has met with disaster while navigating it.

They had not been an hour afloat on Pamlico before Jack was sorry he had started. Once more clouds had scurried above the horizon, and were mounting with great fleetness. And this time he believed that the storm would not prove a tempest in a teapot, as the last one had turned out to be.

Vainly they looked about them for a haven of safety. There was absolutely no point of land where the water was of sufficient depth to allow of their finding a temporary harbor.

The clouds were climbing higher with a rapidity that told of the wind that must soon sweep across that wide body of water with cruel violence.

"Whew! perhaps we ain't in for it now!" called George, as he drew up closer to the others, to find out what Jack had to say; for strange as it might seem, when peril confronted the boys of the Motor Boat Club, they seemed to turn toward Jack with much the same confidence the needle shows in pointing directly to the north.

"What can we do, Jack?" asked Nick, in more or less alarm, as they plainly heard the distant growl of thunder; and in imagination the fat boy could see himself in the cranky speed boat, as she caught the full force of the wind, and turned turtle in the twenty-mile sound, amid the crash of the storm.



CHAPTER XV.

A WARM WELCOME TO THE STORMY CAPE.

There was no time to waste.

One last glance around told Jack the necessity for prompt action, if he wished to pull the little flotilla out of the bad hole in which they seemed settled.

The storm was racing up from the southwest, beyond the distant mainland. Consequently, the eastern side of the great shallow sound would presently become a boisterous place for craft the size of theirs.

"We've got to head into it, fellows!" was his decision, as he began to change the course of the Tramp to conform with his views.

It looked like heroic treatment, but neither Herb nor George murmured. They saw what the commodore had in mind, and that every mile they were able to forge ahead would decrease the peril. Indeed, if they could only manage to reach a point close in to that western shore, they would escape the brunt of the rising waves, and only have to think of holding their own against the wind itself.

"Full speed, Comfort?" called Jack, waving an encouraging hand toward the other.

Now George found himself perplexed as to what his course should be. He knew he could make almost twice the speed that the lumbering broad beam boat was able to display at her best. The question was, did he dare risk it?

True, the Wireless was in more danger out on that wide stretch than any of the others, and it seemed good policy for him to speed for shelter. But what if one of those exasperating breakdowns, to which the mechanism of the narrow boat seemed subject, should take place without warning?

George shuddered as he contemplated such a possibility. He could easily imagine his feelings upon being cast helplessly adrift in the midst of a raging gale, with his tried and true chums hidden from his sight by the rain and blowing spindrift.

And so his decision was quickly made. Of the two evils he chose what seemed to be the lesser. He would stick to the fleet. Then, in case of trouble, they could help each other like comrades.

Jack had kept an eye on the Wireless, for he guessed that just this puzzling question would come up for George to solve. And when he failed to see the speed boat shooting away, leaving the others in the lurch, he understood that the wise skipper had decided on the better way.

They were making fine headway, but all the same the storm was doing likewise; and unfortunately, at the time, they happened to be quite a few miles away from the shore that promised shelter.

"What ails George, do ye know?" questioned Jimmy, who could not understand why the other did not make with all speed ahead, as he had been known to do on a former occasion, considering that the best course.

"That sudden stop on the part of his engine gave him a bad feeling," was Jack's reply. "He doesn't trust it as he did, and is afraid that it may repeat when he is in the midst of the storm. So he's going to stick by us, through thick and thin."

"It does his head credit, I'm thinkin'," declared Jimmy; and then, as he stared hard into that inky space ahead, that was gradually creeping up toward them, he continued: "Sure now, do ye think we can make it, Jack darlint?"

"Well, we've just got to, that's all," the other replied, firmly. "If the wind doesn't blow us right out of the water, we'll keep on bucking directly into it. The fight will be a tough one, Jimmy; but make up your mind we must win out. Half the battle is in confidence—that and eternal watchfulness."

It was in this manner that Jack Stormways always impressed his chums with some of the zeal by which his own actions were governed. That "never-give-up" spirit had indeed carried him through lots of hotly contested battles on the gridiron or the diamond, wresting victory many times from apparent defeat.

So they continued to push steadily on. Jack counted every minute a gain. He kept a close watch upon the surface of the sound, knowing that here they must first of all discover the swoop of the gale, as its skirmishing breath struck the water.

The last movement of air seemed to have died out, yet this was the calm that often precedes the coming of the storm, the deadly lull that makes the tempest seem all the more terrible when it breaks.

Jack calculated that they had been some five miles from the western shore at the time they changed their southern course, and headed to starboard. And as Comfort could do no better than ten miles an hour, under the most favorable conditions, it stood to reason that about half an hour would be needed to place them in a position of safety.

"We won't get it, that's flat," he was saying to himself, as he noted the way in which the clouds gathered for the rush.

Picking up the little megaphone which he carried, he shouted a few sentences to the others. While the air around them remained so calm, the thunder was booming in the quarter where that black cloud hung suspended, so that talking was already out of the question unless one used some such contrivance for aiding the voice.

"George, better fall in just ahead of us, where we can get a line to you in case you have engine trouble. Two sharp blasts will tell us that you want help. Herb, try and keep as close to me as is safe! We must stick it out together, hear?"

Both of the other skippers waved their hands to indicate that they understood, and doubtless George was given fresh courage to find how calm and confident Jack seemed to face the approaching difficulty.

The land was now less than two miles away, and a faint hope had begun to stir in Jack's heart that there might be enough delay to allow their reaching a point of safety.

This, however, was dissipated when he suddenly discovered a white line that looked as though a giant piece of chalk had been drawn along the water. The squall had pounced down upon Pamlico, and was rushing toward them at the rate of at least a mile a minute.

"Hold hard!" shouted Jack through his megaphone.

Then he devoted himself to engineering the Tramp's destiny. Jimmy knew what was expected of him in the emergency, and was nerved to acquit himself with credit. While his skipper showed himself to be so cool and self-possessed Jimmy could not think of allowing the spasm of fear that passed over him to hold sway. What if that line of foamy water was increasing in size as it rushed at them, until it assumed dreadful proportions? The Tramp had passed safely through other storms, and with Jack at the wheel all must be serene.

So Jimmy crouched there at the motor, ready to do whatever he was told—crouched and gaped and shivered, yet with compressed teeth was resolved to stand by his shipmate to the end.

Then the foam-crested water struck the flotilla with a crash. First the narrow Wireless was seen to surge forward, rear up at a frightfully perpendicular angle, until it almost seemed as though the frail craft must be hurled completely over; and then swoop furiously down into the basin that followed the comber.

George held her firmly in line, and somehow managed to keep her head straight into the shrieking wind, though he frankly confessed that his heart was in his mouth when she took that header.

But almost at the same instant the other boats tried the same frightful plunge, and they, too, survived. Jack gave a sigh of relief when he saw that all of them had passed through the preliminary skirmish unharmed, for it had been that which gave him the greatest concern.

And now the work began in earnest. They had to fight for every foot they won against the combined forces of wind and wave. Had they been a mile or so further out in the sound, so that the seas had a better chance to become monstrous, nothing could have saved any of them. And Jack's chums once again had reason to be thankful for the far-seeing qualities which their commodore developed when he changed their course, and headed into the teeth of the coming gale.

At least several things favored them now. George's boat seemed to be behaving wonderfully well, for one thing. Then again, after that first swoop the gale had slackened somewhat in intensity, as is frequently the case; though presently they could expect it to become more violent than ever, when it caught its second wind, as Jerry expressed it.

Then, another hopeful thing was the fact that with every yard passed over they were really getting the benefit of drawing closer to the shore that was serving as a sort of shield from the wind.

The seas too gradually declined, since there was lacking the water necessary to build them up.

Jack had one thing to worry over. He knew that on such occasions considerable water would be swept from the western side of the sound, and this was apt to send the boats aground unless luck favored them. Such a condition would keep them from going further in any great distance, since the risk of striking became too pronounced.

"It's all right, Jimmy!" he called to his helper, knowing how anxious the latter must necessarily be; "we've got to a point now where we're safe. We could even drop our mudhooks over right here, and ride it out, if we wanted. But it's better to go on a little further."

"Whoo! wasn't the same a scorcher, though?" Jimmy shouted, a sickly grin coming over his good-natured, freckled face.

"It was some wind, I'm thinking," Jack admitted. "I wasn't a bit afraid about the Tramp or the Comfort, but there's no telling what that trick boat, Wireless, will do, when you don't expect it. But everything is lovely, and the goose hangs high."

"Sure it will, if ever ye get a sight on one with that bully little gun; and it was poor hungry Nick I heard sayin', by the same token, that he liked roast goose better than anything in the woide worrld except oysters!"

Ten minutes later and Jack blew a blast upon his conch shell horn that told the others they were to come to anchor. Whereupon there was more or less hustling, as the crews got busy.

Presently the three little motor boats rode buoyantly to their anchors, bobbing up and down on the rolling waves like ducks bowing to each other. And as they had made out to select positions within the safety zone of each other, it was possible for those aboard to hold conversations, if they but chose to elevate their voices more or less, in order to be heard above the shrieking wind and dashing waves.



CHAPTER XVI.

THE WIRELESS AS TRICKY AS EVER.

"We're in for a bad night, Jack!" called George, some time later on; while poor Nick hung over the side of the wobbling speed boat, and looked forlorn indeed.

"You are, in that contraption, George; but the rest of us don't give a hang whether the old storm holds on or not. We expect to get busy cooking supper right soon now, as these bully little Juwel stoves will burn, no matter how the boats jump up and down."

"Oh! I wish Herb would only open his heart, and invite me to spend the night on board the good reliable old Comfort!" groaned Nick.

"Sure! Come right along; plenty of room for three here. George can tuck in, too, if he says the word," called Herb, cheerily.

"What! desert my boat in time of need? What do you take me for?" cried George, with a great show of righteous indignation; but as for Nick, he became so excited, Jack feared he would jump in, and try to swim across.

By letting out more cable George was enabled to swing his boat close enough to the big craft to allow of Josh seizing hold; and while he thus held on clumsy Nick managed to crawl aboard, though he came within an ace of taking a bath, and would have done so, only that Herb gave him a helping hand.

Then George pulled back again to his former position. If he felt that he was making something of a martyr of himself, in thus determining to stick by the madly plunging Wireless all night, George was too proud to indicate as much. He might suffer all sorts of discomforts, and never breathe a word of complaint.

But the storm proved short-lived after all.

Before they began to think of making up their beds the wind had slackened in violence, and the clouds showed signs of breaking. Indeed, as Jack pulled the blanket over him, he could see that the moon was peeping out from behind the black curtains overhead.

"It'll be a fairly decent night after all, Jimmy," he muttered; but as there was no answer, he took it for granted that his mate had passed into slumberland by the short route; indeed, Jimmy had a faculty for getting to sleep almost as soon as his head touched his pillow, which in this case was an inflated rubber one.

And as the night wore on, the tossing of the boats became less and less, until along about three in the morning Jack, chancing to awaken, found that the little Tramp lay perfectly quiet on the bosom of the big sound.

He could see out, and looking toward the southeast beheld the glow of that great beacon marking the position of the most stormy cape along the whole Atlantic coast—Hatteras.

In the morning they were not long in getting under way, as soon as breakfast had been hurried through with, and Nick had to get aboard his own boat again, for his services were needed by his skipper.

Across the sound they sped at a clipping rate, heading direct for the sandy spit where the lighthouse stands. The roar of the ocean beating against that barrier that has kept it out for ages came strongly to their ears, as the breeze changed with the turn of the tide.

Landing among the sand dunes near the light, they paid a visit to the keeper, and met with a cordial reception. As a rule strangers are not allowed to trespass upon Government property; but such a fine lot of lads seemed to appeal to the heart of the keeper, who took them up to the top of the tower, in order to let them have a view of what lay before them to the south.

They listened to his stories of famous wrecks that had strewn the neighboring beaches with dismembered portions of gallant ships and steamers for fifty years; and looking out on the ocean to where the treacherous reefs lay, waiting for fresh victims, Jack could easily picture the tragic scenes that were being described, even though at that time the sun chanced to be shining brightly, and the sea fairly smooth.

Then again a start was made, for some difficult cruising lay ahead before they could hope to reach Beaufort, where a little rest would be taken, in order to carry out the promise they had made the young aviator, Malcolm Spence.

They had heard ugly stories about Hatteras Inlet. It was said to have treacherous currents, and to abound in fierce man-eating sharks. Hence George became more or less concerned as they bore down upon it on this same morning.

But like a good many other things in this world, the expectation of trouble proved to be of far greater proportions than the actual experience. Why, they passed over without the slightest difficulty. Even Nick shouted in great glee when the dreaded inlet was a thing of the past, and he waved his fat hand disdainfully back toward it as they sped away.

"It was dead easy, fellows!" he exclaimed. "Why, I just shut my eyes, and counted twenty. Then, when I opened them again, we were across!" and Nick hardly knew why his innocent confession of alarm was greeted by such uproarious shouts.

"But the sharks were there, all roight, beca'se I saw the muttherin' critters pokin' their ould fins out of the wather!" declared Jimmy.

"That's right, I saw the same," admitted Herb.

The next crossing would be at Ocracoke Inlet. And then beyond that they would come to Portsmouth, where mail from home might be expected, since they had laid out a regular plan whereby those so dear to their boyish hearts—the home folks—could communicate with the wanderers. And at each place Jack, or one of the others, left word to have all delayed mail forwarded on.

"Sure we do be getting closer all the while to that same ould Beaufort, where ye expect to discover the gintleman by the name of Van Arsdale Spence," Jimmy was remarking, as the flotilla moved majestically on in one-two-three order, the Wireless leading for the time being.

"We ought to get there some time tomorrow," Jack answered. "Tonight the plan is to camp on Cedar Island, and that is in Cove Sound, where Beaufort is located."

"And then we'll know what the wonderful letter contains. It's bothered me more'n a little to guess, even though I knowed right well I had no business to think of it at all. But there's George pointing to somethin' ahead."

"Yes, he sees the rough water of Ocracoke Inlet, and is falling back," laughed Jack, who was amused when the usually reckless skipper of the speed boat developed a cautious vein.

George was learning something by slow degrees, and this might be set down to be the truth of that old proverb to the effect that the race is not always to the swift. Perhaps, if he ever had another boat built to order, he would not sacrifice safety and comfort to the mad desire to make fast time.

But Ocracoke proved no harder to negotiate than had Hatteras. Perhaps it might be that experience was teaching the young motor boat cruisers just how to manage their craft when passing these dangerous openings, where the sweep of the sea had a full chance to strike them.

Then came Portsmouth, where Jimmy was dispatched for the mail, as well as some necessary food supplies. They all had such good appetites, save perhaps Josh, for whose lack Nick more than made up, that it was simply amazing how things just seemed to melt away. But then six boys can always be depended upon to devour their own weight in "grub" during a short cruise upon the water. The salty air seemed to make them hungry all the time, so that it became necessary to piece between regular meals.

Jack timed their departure from Portsmouth so as to break into Cove Sound, and reach Cedar Island, before night came on. Somehow he had set his mind in making a camp here. Possibly he had read of some former lone boatman doing the same, for he had devoured several books containing descriptions of this inland passage.

As nothing happened to disturb his plans, they drew up for the night at Cedar Island, an hour and more before the sun would set.

This gave them plenty of chances to do a number of things that happened to appeal to them individually. George went ashore to stretch his cramped legs, whither Nick had of course preceded him, leaving the Wireless at anchor just beyond the other two boats.

And George took his gun with him, thinking there might be a chance to pick up some shore birds, in the way of snipe or curlew.

Jack was bent on trying to get a mess of fish for supper, and noting what seemed to be a promising place close by, he set to work. They saw him pull in several finny captives; and Nick would rub his stomach in mute delight every time the patient angler made a strike, as he viewed the possibilities of a prospective feast.

Josh was busy making a fireplace out of some stones he picked up. It always did him great good to have things fixed to suit his ideas of what a cooking fire ought to be when in camp. It was fast becoming a hobby with Josh; and yet, strange to say, with all his ability in the line of cookery, he was often unable to partake of his own savory messes on account of his disposition toward indigestion.