Scott Burton and the Timber Thieves

by Edward G. Cheyney

“I thought of the possibility of that,” Scott replied. “Of course, they do not know that we know anything about their plan to head us off. They know that we do not know much about this country here and will not know that we are going across a narrow little neck of land where they cannot miss us. They did not seem to think of the possibility of our going around the other way; maybe it was because you cannot get around that way. At any rate it would take us a long time and the plan does not appeal to me much. I am in favor of having a look at the swamp and seeing if we cannot figure out some way of getting across it.”

“Let’s try it,” Murphy exclaimed enthusiastically, “even if we can’t make it, it will be shorter to wait till they go home than to make a trip around the world as we would have to do if we went west. They only planned to wait for us till to-morrow night.”

So they decided to follow the beach down to the edge of the swamp and try it. They started down the beach, moving rather cautiously and stopping to listen every few minutes, for they did not know that the other men had not stopped along there somewhere and they did not care to run on to them unexpectedly. Scott glanced at his wrist watch. The little luminous hands pointed to half-past eleven. The fog was beginning to fade away. Before they had gone very far the night was clear once more and it seemed almost as light as day.

“That fog must have come on for our special benefit,” Scott whispered. They had become so accustomed to whispering that they did not seem to be able to stop it.

They thought they were a little too conspicuous on the open beach and turned back into the edge of the woods where they could see everything on the beach without being seen. The soil was so sandy and the ground so free from underbrush that they made very little noise. What little breeze there was was blowing in their faces.

Suddenly they caught sight of a moving object in the woods ahead of them. They stopped instantly and watched it with bated breath. They could not quite make it out, but it was moving towards the beach and they knew they would soon have a look at it in the moonlight of the open. Whatever it was it did not seem to be in any hurry. It moved jerkily and stopped so long sometimes that they almost lost track of it. It looked like a man crouching and sneaking along as though stalking something. If it had been coming in their direction they would have been badly worried, and even as it was Murphy had examined his rifle two or three times to make sure that it was in working condition.

When it finally stepped out into the moonlight they looked at each other with a sigh of relief. It was a doe and she seemed wholly unconscious of the presence of any enemy. She walked leisurely and sedately enough until she came to the edge of the water and then the moonlight seemed to go to her head. She twitched her white tail once or twice and suddenly began cavorting around like a calf at play. She pranced aimlessly this way and that, tossing her head and kicking up her heels till the shallow water shone in the moonlight like a shimmering puddle of fire. It was the first time Scott had ever seen the phosphorescent sparkle of salt water and it seemed to him like magic or some fairy business. Every time her slender legs cut the still water they left a trail of flame. It was a wonderful exhibition of unconscious grace and even the practical Murphy looked on in silent admiration.

At last one of her sudden dashes took her to leeward of them and she caught the man-scent. One sniff was enough. She did not stop to investigate further. With flag erect and head held high she seemed to rise from the water like a bird and a couple of wonderful bounds carried her quickly into the protecting shadows of the forest. They could hear her going for a moment and then a clear, sharp, whistling snort from far back in the woods told them that she had stopped to see if she were followed. Another snort and a snapping of dead branches showed that she was not yet satisfied with the distance between them.

“Must smell pretty bad to her,” Scott laughed. “Did you ever see anything prettier than that?”

“If it had not been for those fellows out there in the brush, and if it were not out of season she would have come in awful handy for a midnight lunch. It seems to me like a hundred years since I had anything to eat.”