<h2 id="c8">CHAPTER VIII. <br/><span class="small">LOOKING BACKWARD.</span></h2>
<p>Now, if there was anything in the wide world
that could give the fat scout a real hard scare, it
had to do with snakes. Had he been told that
there was a yellow-eyed wildcat crouching on a
limb, and evidently planning to spring straight at
him, Bumpus might have exhibited a certain degree
of courage, and at least have tried to reach around
in search of his gun; but a hideous, squirming
snake was quite a different proposition.</p>
<div class="pb" id="Page_66">66</div>
<p>And only that morning he had heard Thad tell
about how venomous these numerous water moccasins
were; how indeed, in some places, their bite
is feared only second to that of a rattler; for while
immediate death does not as a rule take place, often
the wound will turn into an open running sore, and
create no end of bother.</p>
<p>And so doubtless that brain of Bumpus’ instantly
sent a “wireless” to other parts of his body, giving
the alarm. Certain it is that at the very same
instant the squirming object flashed before his eyes,
falling in the boat directly ahead of Bumpus, who
was in the bow, he made one magnificent backward
splurge, his feet kicking violently every-which way,
as in imagination he felt the fangs of the intruder
fastened in his leg.</p>
<p>It was a sight never to be forgotten by those
other scouts; though had not the canoe been very
staunch the chances were that Bumpus in his frantic
zeal to part company with the moccasin must
have tipped the craft over, and deposited himself as
well as his three companions in the water.</p>
<div class="pb" id="Page_67">67</div>
<p>Even as he kept both legs working like the piston
rods of an engine Bumpus was letting out roars
that would have done credit to an angry bull.
He afterwards confessed that it seems to be the
one prominent feature in his mind that Thad had
told them to make all the splash and noise they could
if ever they were threatened by these contemptible
water moccasins, as that would frighten them away.
And as Giraffe afterwards avowed, the noise that
Bumpus created would have given his comrades the
one grand scare of their lives, had they not known
the origin of it all. Bumpus actually took that as
a compliment, too, mind you.</p>
<p>“Keep still, Bumpus, or you’ll upset the boat!”
shouted Thad, sternly; and he had to exert himself
to be heard above all the row.</p>
<p>“You’re safe enough, silly; he won’t jump at
you!” cried Davy Jones, who had all he could manage
with the head of the fat scout in his lap, and
those legs going like the arms of a windmill in a
stiff gale.</p>
<p>“Gimme just one chance to whack the beggar!”
demanded Step Hen, who had managed to pick up
the push pole, which was carried in case they became
fast in the mud at any time, and must depend
on brawn and muscle to get clear.</p>
<p>As the result of all these objurgations Bumpus
recovered enough sense to slightly raise his head,
so that he could take a peep. He discovered that
the moccasin had coiled in the very bow, and was
acting as though intending to retain possession of
the canoe; for it kept thrusting venomously with
its head, and showed a nasty disposition in the way
it opened its mouth.</p>
<p>But Step Hen poised the push pole as though
he meant business.</p>
<div class="pb" id="Page_68">68</div>
<p>“Duck your head, Bumpus!” he called out; at
which the other hastened to obey, not in the least
inclined to feel the heft of that stout pole.</p>
<p>He heard a crash, and gave a yelp.</p>
<p>“Hey! that was my left foot you hit! Quit
knocking me!” was his plaint.</p>
<p>“Well, you wouldn’t give me enough room!” declared
Step Hen, complacently; “but it’s all right,
Bumpus, you suffered in a good cause, and that
ought to repay you. I got him, and he isn’t agoing
to jab you this trip, mark my words!”</p>
<p>So Bumpus, despite his pain, raised his head again
far enough to see that Step Hen had indeed settled
the snake; for it was wriggling aimlessly this way
and that, trying to strike even in its death throes,
such was its venomous nature.</p>
<p>“Toss it overboard, Step Hen!” ordered the
scout-master.</p>
<p>Managing to get the point of the pole under its
folds, the other hastened to do so, and the struggling
reptile floated off, much to the relief of all those
who had been menaced, especially poor Bumpus,
who was nursing his toes, and grumbling that he
had “to pay the fiddler even if he didn’t dance.”</p>
<div class="pb" id="Page_69">69</div>
<p>“I hope now that pesky thing didn’t go and get
a bite at me unbeknown,” he said, as though a new
feeling of alarm had suddenly taken possession of
him; and though the rest laughed at the idea, nothing
would ease the mind of the stout boy until he
had taken off his leggings and closely examined
both shins; when he felt relieved of his anxiety.</p>
<p>Of course the talk among the boys for some time
afterwards was in connection with these dangers
that are ever present in Southern waters, especially
those of the swamps.</p>
<p>And again Thad cautioned them to beware how
they allowed a moccasin to become in any way
familiar.</p>
<p>“I reckon,” remarked Step Hen, after listening
to these warnings, “that there ain’t any place agoing
where the watchwords of Boy Scouts come in
better’n they do down here; because, seems to me
a fellow’s got to ‘be prepared’ about all the time.
What with hungry alligators ready to make a meal
off your feet; poisonous snakes dropping off slanting
trees; bobcats waiting in the crotches above for
a chance to scratch you into ribbons; escaped convicts
atrying to steal about everything you own;
and so-forth, it wouldn’t be a bad scheme to own
three pair of eyes and ears to keep on guard.”</p>
<p>Thad was keeping up his watchful tactics of the
preceding afternoon as they thus slowly advanced
into the depths of Alligator Swamp. He did not
wish to make an error of judgment, if it could possibly
be avoided; for only too well did the boy
know from past experiences how such a mistake can
keep on swelling until the final consequences are
simply tremendous.</p>
<div class="pb" id="Page_70">70</div>
<p>So they kept on marking each bend that they
turned, and Thad saw to it that he could pick up
one “blaze,” if it could be termed such, from another.
He also broke a smaller branch, always on
the side they came from; so that if in doubt later
on, it would be easy to make sure which way to
go, a very wise precaution indeed, and one that Allan
highly commended when he saw what was being
done.</p>
<p>They did not hurry, since nothing was to be
gained by making speed at the sacrifice of safety.
And as they thus journeyed, it was perhaps only
natural that, with the two canoes close together, one
of the scouts should ask Thad further questions in
connection with this man who had apparently taken
such a peculiar dislike to the Brewster family, in
that he could be suspected of having kidnapped the
little girl sister whom Thad remembered so well as
a baby.</p>
<p>“I was only a small chap at the time, which was
nearly ten years ago,” Thad told them, as a strange
look came over his young face, when thus recalling
the past; “but I can remember him very well as a
dashing looking man, smart enough too, but with a
horrible temper, and some bad habits that finally
got him into trouble; for he took things belonging
to my folks, and was discharged from his position
as manager of the property.</p>
<div class="pb" id="Page_71">71</div>
<p>“That downfall he seemed to foolishly lay at
the door of my mother, though to tell the truth she
was only too lenient with the rascal, who should
have been prosecuted, and sent to the penitentiary
for a term of years. Then, later on, my baby sister
strangely disappeared, and my mother never
fully recovered from the shock; because although
for some years she spent money like water, and
had the best detectives in the country searching
everywhere; but they never were able to find the
least trace of poor little Pauline.</p>
<p>“Of course, sooner or later suspicion fell upon
this Felix Jasper, and as he was located in New
Orleans a close watch was kept upon his movements;
but they found no reason to cause his arrest;
and so it went until my poor mother finally
left me alone, and Daddy Brewster, a brother of
my father’s, came and brought me to his home in
Cranford, where I met you fellows.”</p>
<p>“Which, I take it, was a red letter day for old
Cranford!” declared Step Hen; “because right
from the first you managed to inject more ginger
into the boys than they’d ever known before. When
you went off that summer to visit some other relative,
and came back filled chuck full with Boy Scout
business, didn’t you get every fellow in Cranford
excited, and wasn’t the Silver Fox Patrol formed
as a result?”</p>
<div class="pb" id="Page_72">72</div>
<p>“Yes,” added Davy, for the subject was one that
appealed to Thad’s close chums very much, “and
whenever we played baseball, or any other game,
wasn’t it you who took the lead, and made the name
of Cranford respected through the whole county,
where before it had always stood close to the bottom
of the list? I should say we did strike it lucky
when you came along the pike, Thad.”</p>
<p>“That’ll be enough for you, Davy; and suppose
we change the subject,” remarked the scout-master;
although his eyes snapped, and his cheeks grew red
with pleasure to know that his comrades appreciated
him so much.</p>
<p>“But do you reckon you’d ever be able to recognize
this man if you set eyes on him again, Thad?”
asked Bumpus, at this juncture.</p>
<p>“I am sure I would,” came the positive reply;
“because he couldn’t have changed so much, only
to look older. I’d never forget those snapping
black eyes, and the straight nose, as well as the firm
mouth. As I remember him, Felix wasn’t as cruel
as he looked, but his temper often made him do
things that perhaps he was sorry for afterwards,
though he had a terribly stubborn disposition, and
once started on a thing would carry it through,
regardless of every consideration.”</p>
<p>“Did you ever hear of him after he was in New
Orleans?” asked Allan, from the other canoe close
by.</p>
<div class="pb" id="Page_73">73</div>
<p>“I believe he prospered there for several years,”
said Thad; “and then got into some sort of trouble.
This same gentleman who wrote Daddy lately,
used to keep him informed as to what Felix was
doing, because somehow my uncle always believed
that sooner or later something would be heard about
my little sister through that man. Then came this
letter stating that he had been seen near Alligator
Swamp, and a girl in his company who might be
some eleven years old; just what the age of Pauline
must be if she is alive.”</p>
<p>“But when he was in New Orleans didn’t he
have the girl with him?” demanded Giraffe, who
was generally pretty keen when it came to asking
questions.</p>
<p>“No, but then the chances were that he knew he
was being kept under observation, and that at the
time he was smart enough to have her at some other
place. He did marry while in the city, but there
were no children, and his wife left him, so we were
told by the one who had been employed to keep tabs
on the man, perhaps on account of his villainous
temper.”</p>
<p>“Then you imagine that after he had to clear
out from the city and hide, because of some crime
he had done, this Felix Jasper may have gone and
gotten the little girl, so that he would have company
in his exile—is that it, Thad?” questioned Smithy,
who had once known of a case something like that
of the other, and could sympathize with his chum.</p>
<div class="pb" id="Page_74">74</div>
<p>“That’s what I’m hoping, and what seemed to
strike Daddy as perhaps the truth,” replied the
other. “But if we have any decent kind of luck
I’ll know more about it all before we start back
home to Cranford again; because I’m determined to
comb this old swamp through and through, asking
every one I meet, to get pointers until I run across
the man who was seen with a little girl. And if it
turns out that after all he isn’t Felix, I’ll be feeling
pretty sick, let me tell you. But something seems
to keep telling me here,” and he laid a trembling
hand in the region of his heart, “that there’s glorious
news waiting for me; and every night I lie
down I just pray with all my soul that it’s going to
turn out that way.”</p>
<p>“So do we all, Thad, don’t we, fellows?” exclaimed
Bumpus, soberly; and there was not one
among the other six but who instantly expressed
himself in the affirmative.</p>
<p>Thad quickly changed the subject, for he was
feeling very much excited and shaken because of
the sad memories recalled by his talk; and the other
scouts, realizing that he did not wish to continue
along those lines, readily fell in with his wishes
in the matter.</p>
<div class="pb" id="Page_75">75</div>
<p>The morning passed, and all of them noticed that
it seemed to warm up greatly as the day advanced,
until they had stripped their coats off, and with
sleeves rolled up to their elbows as in the good old
summer-time up North, paddled along under the
arches of the closely growing trees. These were
cypress for the most part, since these seem to do
better in the midst of water than any other species;
and their expanded butts always several times as
large in girth as the trunks were five feet from the
roots, gave the boys no end of argument as to the
cause of such a strange growth.</p>
<p>“There!” suddenly exclaimed Bumpus, “that
was an alligator bellering, Thad, wasn’t it? You
said they generally talked just before dawn, but
still one lonely fellow might happen to break the
rule.”</p>
<p>“Wrong again, Bumpus, because that wasn’t any
sort of animal or reptile,” the scout-master went
on to say, with a smile.</p>
<p>“But you don’t mean to tell me a <i>bird</i> could
grumble like that, Thad?” continued the amazed
Bumpus.</p>
<p>The rest set up a laugh.</p>
<p>“You sure have got snakes and ’gators on the
brain, Bumpus!” declared Giraffe, scornfully.
“Why, if you was up home right now, you’d aguessed
like the rest of us did, that what you heard was the
grumble of thunder, that’s all!”</p>
<div class="pb" id="Page_76">76</div>
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