Under Canvas; or, The Hunt for the Cartaret Ghost by Burt L. Standish

  CHAPTER V

  WHAT A SCOUT LEARNS

  "HUH! so far as the nuts go, I haven't any objection," remarked George;"but to my mind it's going to be like casting pearls before swine.They'll never appreciate the real motive back of the thing; and chancesare they'll reckon we're throwing them a sop so they won't hold hardfeelings against us."

  "Perhaps you're right, George," Elmer admitted; "but don't forget we'reevery one of us true scouts, and that we've promised to hold out theolive branch to those we call our enemies, whenever we find the chance.There's such a thing as heaping coals of fire on another fellow's head,doing a kindness to the one who hates you, and making him ashamed ofhimself. Scouts learn that lesson early in their service, you remember.If we didn't have all the nuts ourselves, perhaps I'd hesitate to putthis up to you, but it's no sacrifice to any of us."

  "Elmer, I agree with you there," Ted spoke up. "Of courth none of us mayever know jutht how they take it; but when a fellow hath done his dutyhe needn't bother himthelf wondering whether it payth."

  "Listen to Ted preach, will you?" jeered Toby, who truth to tell was notmuch in favor of carrying those three half-filled hags of nuts all theway to town, just to serve as a "consolation prize" to those fellows whohad conspired to cheat them out of their just dues.

  "But he's right in what he says," maintained Chatz stoutly, for he had aSoutherner's code of honor, and was more chivalrous that any otherfellow in the whole troop of scouts. "Duty is duty, no matter howdisagreeable it seems. And when once you realize that it's up to you tohold out a hand to the treacherous enemy who's flim-flammed you many atime, why, you'll have no peace of mind till you've made the effort."

  "But," Toby went on to say, sneeringly; "if you step up to ConnieMallon, and say: 'Here's your bags come back, and we chucked theleavings in the same, which the ghost is sending you by us to sort ofsoft soap your injured feelings,' why, d'ye know what he's apt to do;jump on you, and begin to use those big fists of his like pile drivers.You'll have to excuse me from being the white-winged messenger of peace,Elmer. I pass."

  "There's no need of doing it that way, Toby," he was informed by thescout master. "Some time to-night, as late as we can make it, we'llcarry these partly filled bags around to Connie's place, and drop themover the fence. Hold on, here's another of the same sort; now, if weonly had that as full as the rest it would be just one all around, andwe could leave them in each yard, you see."

  "Like old Santa Claus had been making his annual visit, only this timehe picked out Thanksgiving time instead of Christmas," remarked Toby, atrifle bitterly; and yet strange to say he was the very first one tostart in gathering more nuts and thrusting his find into the fourthMallon bag; which told Elmer that much of his objection was mere surfacetalk, and that his heart really beat as true to the principles of scoutmembership as did any other present.

  "Many hands make light work," and so plentiful were the severalvarieties of nuts that it was not long before the fourth bag was halffilled. No doubt those boys felt better because of this act. The chanceswere they would never get any credit for what they were doing, but asElmer told them, the consciousness of having done a decent act shouldalways be quite enough for any ordinary scout.

  "And every one of us has a clear title to turning our badges right-sideup, after working so hard for our enemies," Chatz declared, as they"knocked off."

  "Well, how about that dinner, camp style?" demanded Toby, drawing outthe waistband of his khaki trousers to show what a quantity of room hehad for a supply of cooked food.

  "It's long after noon, so we might as well get busy with dinner," Elmerreplied.

  After stowing all the sacks away in the bushes, where they were notlikely to be discovered, should any outsider wander on the scene whilethey were employed elsewhere, the scouts busied themselves in makingpreparations for the camp meal which all of them had so long beenanxiously looking forward to.

  First of all a fire was started in the most approved manner, some flatstones being built up in two parallel ridges. Long ago these lads hadfound that there was nothing so splendidly adapted for camp cooking as agridiron of some sort, made after the pattern of the shelf in thekitchen oven at home, with grill bars. This could be easily placed onstones, or even mounds of earth if the first were not available, andthere was no danger of anything upsetting; while the flames, or the heatof the red coals had a chance to accomplish the work. So they never wentforth, when there was a possibility of cooking being done, withoutcarrying this contrivance along with them.

  They had been thoughtful enough to also fetch along a coffee-pot, anextra large frying-pan made of sheetiron, and the necessary tinplatters, cups, knives, forks and spoons.

  Soon the delicious odor of dinner began to steal forth, causing Toby tosniff the air with rapture, and loudly declare:

  "Fried onions, coffee, ham, potatoes, and plenty of fresh bread andbutter; that's the bill of fare, is it? Gee! whiz! you couldn't beat itif you tried all day. And every minute's going to seem like a whole hourto me till I hear the welcome call to the feast."

  "We're a lucky lot to be sitting around here like this, and a bullydinner coming on, when we think of that bunch of soreheads hustling forhome, not even half a dozen nuts in their pockets, and even their gunnysacks lost," Chatz remarked.

  "Yes, provided somebody don't get too gay, and upset all that coffeeinto the fire," grumbled George, who evidently would not feel sure ofhis dinner until he had devoured it, because, as he was fond ofrepeating, "there's many a slip 'tween the cup and the lip," and Tobywas so apt to be so clumsy in moving around.

  As usually occurred, however, George's fears proved groundless, becauseno accident happened to the splendid dinner, which they were soonenjoying to their hearts' content. There was enough and to spare, sothat even Toby admitted he could find no more room, when Elmer pressedhim to have a third helping.

  "If we had Ty Collins and Lil Arthur Stansbury along there never wouldbe even a crumb left over, no matter how much you cooked," said Toby, ashe heaved a sigh, and released another button so as to add to hiscomfort; "I'm a pretty good hand, but when it comes to crowding themourners, and stowing the grub away, they take the prize."

  For a while afterward the boys sat around the fire, and talked of therecent happenings. There was plenty of time to get home before dusk,which was really all that they wished to do, so none of them showed anydesire to hurry off.

  Later on, however, when some one happened to mention the fact that ifthere was nothing more to be done they might as well bring the wagonup, load their cargo of well filled sacks, and be moving along towardtown, Toby suddenly remembered something.

  "Well, I declare if I didn't nearly forget one of the most importantthings of the whole excursion!" he exclaimed.

  "What?" asked George, ready to object at once, if the thing did not meetwith his approval.

  "Why, you know I told you I'd been fixing up another little stuntconnected with the wonderful science of aviation, and right here's whereI see a golden opportunity to try it out for the second time. It seemedto work all right with me in a ten-foot drop, and next thing is to makeit thirty. If she does that, and I live to tell the tale, you're apt tosee the name of Jones right often in the papers pretty soon."

  He had pounced on that mysterious package of his while speaking, and wasbusily engaged in unwrapping the same, while the others crowded around,curious to learn what it could be that the aspiring inventor had hit onnow. So many of Toby's startling devices had turned out to be therankest fizzles, that his comrades had come to be very skeptical withregard to his ability to make good.

  "Why, I declare if it ain't only an old umbrella after all!" exclaimedGeorge, with his accustomed sniff of disdain, as the contents of thepackage became visible after the paper had been cast aside.

  "You're away off there, George," affirmed Toby; "because every bit ofit's brand new. My own invention too; nothing just like it ever knownbefore."

  "Huh! I believe you!" grumbled the skeptical George
.

  "It's what they call a parachute," Toby continued, glibly. "You know thekind the hot air balloon men use at county fairs when they go up; wellthis is an improvement along that line, and is intended to let anaeronaut drop a mile and more, if anything happens to his machine whenhe's up among the clouds."

  "That sounds pretty well, Toby," remarked Elmer, though there was ashade of doubt on his face, for up to then Toby had really never managedto impress his chums with his greatness as an inventor; he was alwaysgetting excited over things, but seemed to lack the ability tosuccessfully grasp the ideas that were floating around in his mind.

  "You'll soon see that this time I have got a grand scheme in this safetydevice," the inventor boasted; "you know there are an awful lot ofcasualties among air-men these days. Some sort of thing goes wrong whenthey're away up, and nearly every time it means they fall like a stone.My wonderful parachute will make it _impossible_ for the aviator whocarries one along with him to be killed. Let his machine head for theearth like a meteor, and as for him he'll drift down as softly as youplease."

  "Go on and tell us how all this is meant to do the business," askedChatz, as Toby amused himself in opening and closing the folds of thebig stout umbrella, which certainly seemed to work smoothly enough.

  "Why, you see it's fixed so that it will be attached to the back of theman in the aeroplane all the time he's up; a sort of insurance plan,because while he may not need it at all, if he does it's there handy.When he finds his machine has gone back on him all he has to do is tojump boldly out into space. The Jones patent parachute does all therest. It's as reliable as United States bonds, and will save lots of thepoor fellows who, but for my thinking up this scheme, might have losttheir lives this next year."

  "Of course you've tried it out, Toby?" suggested Chatz.

  "Never will work in the wide world," affirmed George; "because in ninecases out of ten it'd get caught somehow in the planes or the machineryof the aeroplane, and the poor chump who had pinned his faith to theJones Parachute would come down ker-plunk with his wrecked motor!"

  "Shows how little you know about some things, George," Toby flashedback; "if the directions are faithfully followed there never can be anaccident like you say. As to trying it out, I've had one little drop,say of about ten feet, but that was too short, because the umbrelladidn't have a chance to get fully open; and when I struck the ground itnear rattled every tooth in my head out. But now I want to get up atleast thirty feet, and then drop with the thing already open."

  "But see here," Elmer told him; "I should think you'd have found a wayto test the opening of the thing by throwing it over some precipice,with a heavy rock tied in place of a man."

  "Just what I did, Elmer!" cried the other, hastily. "I spent a wholeSaturday morning up at that big rock that overlooks Lake Jupiter, andfive different times I tossed the parachute, folded up, over the edge,with a stone weighing more than a hundred and fifty pounds fastened tothe same."

  "And how did it work?" asked Chatz.

  "Like a charm," replied the happy inventor. "The umbrella opened asquick as it began to drop, and after that it floated to the ground allright. Course it hit a little hard, because you couldn't expect it tosail along like a thistle-down, with all that weight attached; but theshock wasn't enough to hurt--much, I guess. And while we sat here eatingI saw the very tree I'm meaning to climb. Look over there, and noticethat half dead one, with one big dead limb hanging out, and nothing elseon that same side. How high would you call that, Elmer?"

  "Nearer forty feet than thirty, I should judge; and enough to kill youif you fell straight," replied the scout master.

  "Don't worry about me, now; I'm all fixed for it, and I've got on myrubber-soled shoes in the bargain, so I'll be light on my feet. But Iwould like some of you to give me a lift up that tree."

  "It's got plenty of branches on this side, so that you won't have muchtrouble climbing, once you get a start," Chatz told him, startingforward to lend what assistance lay in his power.

  "Better not try that risky game, Toby," objected George, possibly reallyconcerned about the safety of his comrade, but more than likely voicinghis natural liking for being on the side of the opposition, for someboys are built that way, and never so happy as when throwing obstaclesin the way of success.

  Toby, however, paid no attention to this grumbling on the part ofGeorge. Ted and Chatz helped him into the tree, and then handed up thewonderful parachute which, if it turned out to be one-half as successfulas its proud inventor claimed, was going to be a great boon for allthose who took their lives in their hands and went up among the cloudsin air machines.

  Higher climbed Toby, managing somehow to lug his burden along with him,although it certainly could not have been any light weight.

  His objective point was a large decayed limb that stood out all alone onone side of the trunk. As Elmer had calculated this was all the way fromthirty-five to forty feet from the ground, and that distance offered hima good chance to experiment with his parachute.

  "Be careful, Toby, and don't take too many risks!" Elmer called out tohim, making use of the birch bark megaphone, so as to impress his wordsmore positively on the other.

  "Oh! look there what's running up ahead of Toby, would you?" criedGeorge. "As sure as you live it's a 'coon, with its striped tail, andscared half to death because a critter with two legs has clumb hisprivate tree. He must have popped out of that hole you c'n see whereToby is. And say, if the little fool hasn't gone and run out on thatvery limb where Toby's planned to jump from."

  "Keep back, everybody!" warned Elmer; "give Toby and the 'coon all theroom they need, because our chum is attaching the parachute to his bodyright now!"