Not Near Either Bank
Having convinced themselves that the man in gray was near at hand, the next question Alvin and Chester asked themselves was whether he knew of their proximity. It would seem not, for they had moved with the silence of shadows, and spoken in the most guarded of undertones. Moreover, it was not to be supposed that he would smoke a cigar, knowing the liability of betraying himself, just as he had done. Further, there was the danger of the glowing end catching the eye of anyone in the vicinity. The youths peered here and there in the obscurity in quest of a tiny torch, but failed to see it.
While speculating over the situation an unexpected shift took place. Chester laid his hand on the arm of his comrade and whispered:
"Look out on the water!"
A point of light glowed like a tiny star from a spot directly opposite, but quite a way from shore. It was of a neutral or yellow color, and the reflection of the rays showed a few feet from where it shone above the surface. The gleaming speck, however, was too small to tell anything more.
"I believe that's on the Deerfoot!" whispered Chester.
"It may be, but it's on the other side of the inlet; we shall not learn anything more while standing here."
A new problem was thus presented. They could stay where they were until daylight told them the truth, go back to Uncle Ben's house and sleep in a comfortable bed, or pick their way through the wood and darkness to the other side of the water. After a few minutes' consultation they decided to follow the last course.
Once nigh enough to the launch to touch it with outstretched hand they would have no trouble in identifying it, no matter how profound the gloom. While each youth saw the imprudence of the action, he was impelled by the dread that the thieves would give them the slip, and be almost beyond tracing within the following few hours. If they had run into this place for shelter, there was no guessing how long they would stay.
The task before the lads was formidable. They did not know the width of the inlet around whose head they must thread their course in order to reach the point where the Deerfoot or possibly some other motor boat was lying. The distance might be brief or prove too great to be traversed during the night. None the less they decided to try it.
The star still shone a little above the silent surface which was as smooth as a mirror. The light did not seem to be far off—a fact which led our young friends to believe they would not have to walk far to reach their destination.
The immediate cause for misgiving was the man with the cigar. The most careful snuffing failed to tell the direction from which the vapor floated, and not a breath of air stirred the stillness. Whether the youths moving eastward would be going toward or from him could not be guessed. They could only trust to providence.
"The slightest sound will give us away," said Alvin as he took the lead. "Keep so near that you can touch me with your hand; I'll feel every inch of the way."
It should not be long before they would be far enough from the man in gray to move with more freedom. The plan was to make a circuit around the head of the inlet and come back to the spot where the Deerfoot nestled under the wooded bank. How long it would require to complete this semi-circle remained to be seen.
When twenty minutes had gone by and they had progressed several rods, Alvin paused and said in his guarded undertone:
"I don't smell the cigar; do you?"
Chester called his nose into action and replied:
"I don't detect any odor."
"That means we have got away from him."
"Or that he has finished his cigar and thrown away the stump. Push on."
To avoid mishap, they kept several yards from the water. The task was so hard that it would have been impossible but for the help given by the moon. The sky had cleared considerably, so that the dim light shone at brief intervals upon the water. Another blessing was appreciated by the venturesome youths. The pine woods were free from briers and undergrowth, the ground being soft, spongy and dry under their feet, because of the cones and spines which had accumulated for many and many a year. Still again, the inlet had no tributaries—at any rate the boys did not come upon any, so they were not troubled in that respect. It was simply a cove whose sole supply of water came from the broad Sheepscot.
Such being the favoring conditions, Alvin and Chester made better progress than either expected when setting out. Now and then Alvin led the way to the water's edge in quest of the beacon which had served them so well thus far. It still gleamed with a calm, unwinking clearness like the point of an incandescent light.
A gratifying discovery came sooner than the youths expected—they were turning the head of the inlet and coming back on the other side from the shore first reached. If all went well they ought to arrive at the right spot within the next half hour. They ran against an unimportant difficulty, however. A vigorous growth of underbrush clogged their progress, but having left the mysterious stranger behind, they felt no need of further care with their footsteps.
It was yet comparatively early in the night when they completed the broad half circle and came opposite the point of their first arrival. The occasional clearing of the moon had been of much help, and they had every reason to be satisfied with their progress. But before coming to a pause, they were puzzled by a discovery for which at first they could not account.
The gleaming point that had served as a guide was nowhere near them. It seemed like an ignis fatuus that recedes as the traveller tries to approach it. So far as the lads could judge they were no closer to the light than before.
"That's the queerest thing I ever saw," said Alvin, as he and his companion stood on the edge of the wood. "I thought we should run right against the boat, and now there is no chance of doing so."
"It must have crossed to the other shore while we were passing round the head of the inlet," suggested Chester, as much perplexed as his chum.
"Then we shall have to turn back."
"And have it give us the slip again. That can't be the explanation, Alvin; we should have heard the engine in the stillness. Ah! I have it! The Deerfoot is not near either bank, but anchored in the middle of the cove or beside a small island."
This obviously was the explanation, but it did not improve the situation, so far as the searchers were concerned. With the partial illumination given now and then by the moon they could not catch the faintest outlines of the boat. It might have been a dozen miles away.
"It looks as if we were up against it," remarked Alvin, with a sigh. "We shall have to wait until daylight and may as well go back to Uncle Ben's."
Chester was silent for a minute or two. He was turning over a project in his mind.
"The boat can't be far off," he said. "What do you say to my taking off my clothing and swimming out to it?"
The proposal struck Alvin dumb at first. His friend added:
"It will be easy; it won't take me long to go there and back."
"Suppose you are seen?"
"I have no fear of that; they won't be expecting anything of the kind and I shall learn something worth while."
"I won't agree to it," replied Alvin decisively; "it may look simple to you, but there is more danger than you suspect. No, give it up. It is my boat and if anyone chose to risk his life to recover it he should be myself, and I'll be hanged if I'll try it."
"All right; you are the Captain and I am only second mate, but it grieves me to have you turn down my proposition. Sh! you heard that?"
From the direction of the launch came the sound of a sneeze. In the profound stillness there was no mistaking the nature of the noise.
"I wonder if our friend is catching cold," was the whimsical remark of Chester; "it sounds that way," he added as the person, whoever he was, sneezed a second, third and fourth time in quick succession and then rested.
"Suppose I call to him to be careful," suggested Chester.
"Do so if you choose, but it strikes me that we are the ones who need to be careful."
"Hello! the light is gone."
Such was the fact. Not the slightest illumination pierced the gloom that was now on every hand.
"I guess they have gone to bed," remarked Chester, "and that is what we might as well do. The weather is so mild that we can sleep on the soft carpet in the woods without risk; it's a long walk to Uncle Ben's and we want to be on hand at the first peep of day."
"I can't say that I fancy spending the night out of doors."
"It will be easy to start a fire."
"And have it seen by those on the boat."
"We can go so far back that there will be no danger of that."
"What about breakfast?"
"We can reach Uncle Ben's in time for that."
"I have been suspecting, Chester, for the last hour that we have been making fools of ourselves and now I haven't any doubt of it."
"I hadn't from the first. Hist! do you hear that?"