For both of them could understand what this meant, and that Thad felt more or less suspicious regarding the genuineness of the two coins.
"He thinks they might be counterfeits, Smithy," said Davy, in low but thrilling tones. "Now wouldn't that be a great joke if we found ourselves bunking on this old island along with a lot of desperate bogus money-makers! Oh! say, things are just turning out tremendous, and that's a fact. But I don't exactly know, whether there'd be more fun staying here, or taking that little voyage with the log."
"That part of it has already been settled," remarked Thad, with a vein of authority in his voice; for he wanted Davy to understand that as a true scout, he must always pay respect to the orders of his superior, and never try to evade a duty that had been imposed upon him.
"Oh! all right, Thad;" Davy replied; "I'm willin' enough to try the swim; but say, what if they jump on you fellers while I'm away?"
You would have thought from the patronizing manner of the Jones boy that upon his presence alone depended the safety of the group of scouts. Thad, however, knew Davy pretty well by this time, and did not take all he said seriously.
"We'll have to manage to get on, somehow," he said; "and perhaps, after all, the danger may not be so very great. If there are places for these two men to hide, why, seems to me we ought to be able to keep out of their sight some way or another."
Smithy was not saying much, but it might be understood that he was doing a whole lot of thinking. This was certainly a novel experience for him. A short time before, and he had not really known what it was to associate with any boys save a delicate little cousin away off in a city, and who was very girlish in all his ways. And here he was now, not only in the company of seven healthy fellows, fond of fun, and all outdoor sports; but a genuine scout in the Silver Fox Patrol, and facing danger with a bravery no one had ever dreamed he could display.
That was why Smithy felt pleased, even while he at the same time experienced a touch of uneasiness because of the new developments that were constantly making their situation look more desperate.
As Thad had discovered, under all that gentle exterior there beat a heart within Smithy that yearned to have its fair share of excitement. Reading Robinson Crusoe and Treasure Island might be all very well; but acting a part in a little bit of daring seemed much better.
Thad bent down to assist Davy secure his clothes to the log. The Jones boy had waded in, and upon examining one side of the old tree trunk as it floated buoyantly on the water, he found that there was just the nicest hiding-place one could wish for in the shape of a cavity well above the reach of the water.