Sound travels easily over water, and the decoy-man must have heard the hail, but he paid no heed, only kept on poling his punt along, thrusting down the long ash sapling, which the fen-men used as punt-pole, staff, and leaping-pole in turn; and then as the boat glided on, standing erect in her bows like some statue.
“Now, what a dried-up old yellow mummy he is!” cried Dick. “He can see us, but he’s pretending he can’t, on purpose to tease us. Look at that! He needn’t have gone behind that great reed patch. It’s to make us think he is going down to your place.”
“Let’s run down and meet him,” said Tom eagerly.
“No, no; stop where you are. If he sees us go down there he’ll double back directly and come here. He’s just like an old fox. I know. Come along!”
Dick started up and ran in the same direction as Dave had taken with the punt before he disappeared behind the reed-bed. Tom followed, and they raced on along the edge till a clump of alders was reached.
“Pst! Tom, round here,” whispered Dick; and leading the way he doubled back, following the long low bed of swamp-loving wood, and keeping in its shelter till they were once more opposite to the spot where Dave should have landed.
There, still hid among the trees, Dick stooped down in a thick bed of dry reeds, pretty close to the water, and in full view of the rough winding canal leading far and wide.
“Let’s hide for a few minutes,” said Dick chuckling. “You’ll see he’ll come here after all.”
The lad had a good idea of Dave’s ways, for before they had been watching many minutes there was the splashing of the pole heard in the water, and the rustling of the reeds, but nothing was visible, and Tom began to be of opinion that his companion had been wrong, when all at once the reeds began to sway and crackle right before them, and before Tom recovered from his surprise the punt shot right out of the middle of the long low wall of dried growth, and in answer to a vigorous thrust or two from the pole, glided across to within a dozen yards of where the lads crouched.
“Come on, Tom!” said Dick, and they stepped out at once so suddenly that the decoy-man, in spite of his self-control, started. A curious smile puckered his face directly and he stood staring at them.