Chapter X: Things Begin to Vanish

“Are you fellows joking, or is all you’re saying true?” demanded Phil Harkness; while the others began to crane their necks and stare at Dan and Peg.

“Honest Injun, the frying-pan has cleared out, and if it doesn’t turn up, why Sunny Jim and I will have to do the best we can with these common sheet iron ones,” Peg grumbled. “And that isn’t the worst of it, either, because just think what’ll happen to _me_ when I get home again.”

“And you can see for yourselves that my vest pocket doesn’t show a sign of my little nickel watch,” added Dan, with a shrug of his shoulders and a quick look around, as though a suspicion had suddenly clutched hold of him.

“But Dan,” interrupted Elmer Jones, “seems to me that before we crawled into our blankets I saw you hang your watch on to that nail driven through the tent pole.”

“Well, come to think of it, that’s just what I did do,” admitted the mourning Dan. “But you don’t see any watch on that nail right now, do you?” and he rubbed his eyes vigorously as though trying to discover whether they could be playing a trick on him.

Everybody agreed that the nail was destitute of any such appendage as a dollar nickel watch. Mr. Bartlett looked serious, but allowed the boys to talk it over.

“Well, there’s no use mourning for lost things when breakfast is nearly ready,” declared good-natured Fred Bonnicastle. “Mebbe the watch is just having a little joke of its own, and will turn up later in some pocket of your clothes, Dan.”

“I’m as hungry as a wolf!” called out Clint Babbett.

“Huh! I could eat my weight, and then not half try,” ventured Nat Silmore.

If the truth were told, Nat spoke up in this boyish way simply because he fancied some of the others were commencing to cast queer looks in his direction.

Dan did not say anything more but he did much thinking. Dick Horner was bothered. At first he concluded that it must be some boyish prank, and that presently the culprit would confess his guilt with shamefaced looks, realizing that after all it did not pay to play silly jokes, especially in a camp where strict discipline was to be maintained.

The more Dick thought it over, however, the less inclined he was to view it in such a simple light. So far as the vanishing watch was concerned that might pass current, for every one knew how much Dan thought of the present from his father on his last birthday; but when the disappearance of the cooking pan was considered, what boy would be silly enough to hide that?

That the subject was in the minds of most of the campers was evident, for while they were enjoying breakfast the thing came up again. It was Peg who introduced it by saying:

“Seems to me Mr. Nocker knew what he was saying when he warned us to beware of that thief up here on Bass Island. Looks as if we ought to chain things down good and tight every time we go to sleep, because they do seem to have a queer way of walking off.”

Humbert Loft was seen to curl his lip, and those close to him heard him give a scornful sniff while he observed in his drawling, affected way:

“It’s simply shocking, that’s what I think. Why, right now every individual in this camp is really under suspicion of being a vulgar thief! I never dreamed that I should find myself amidst such dreadful surroundings. I imagine some of my ancestors would turn in their graves with horror if they knew a Loft had the finger of suspicion pointed at him.”

He looked as though his appetite had been taken away by the thought. The boys, however, being no respecters of persons, only laughed.

“The walking’s good between here and the station, Humbert!” remarked one.

“And there’s sure to be a train for Cliffwood before night, you know,” another told him in a mocking tone.

Humbert turned red, but for all that there was a glint of defiance in his eyes, Dick noticed, when he flung back his answer.

“Oh! I suppose we’re all in one boat, boys, and if you can stand it I ought to be able to do so. On the whole, I’ll reconsider your offer of some of that bacon, Eddie. Perhaps it may start my sluggish appetite, who knows?”

“But who can it be, hanging around here and stealing everything he can lay his hands on?” persisted Phil Harkness.

“Might be some lunatic that’s escaped from the asylum and is hiding in the woods and brush on the island!” intimated Peg.

The suggestion met with some favor, several of the boys agreeing that there might be a grain of truth in such a thing.

The two camp leaders were amused, as well as puzzled, by all this talk, and waited to see what would come of it.

“I’ve read a lot about the queer things people out of their minds keep on doing,” Andy Hale asserted. “But it seems to me if a crazy man were hanging around up here our grub would be the first thing he’d tackle.”

“Well,” Clint observed, sagaciously, “he might have done that if we hadn’t been wise enough to stack about all of the grub in the other cabin, and fasten the door.”

Dick said nothing, but did considerable thinking. For once he was ready to admit that the mystery of the night gave birth to unusually puzzling questions that would have to be solved if they hoped to enjoy their outing on Bass Island, and he resolved to talk the matter over with Mr. Bartlett and Mr. Rowland as soon as he had an opportunity.

“We might set some sort of trap for the rascal, and make him a prisoner,” suggested Andy Hale, thoughtfully. “Now I reckon I could manage to fix up a deadfall such as they trap bears with in the Maine woods.”

“But that’d be apt to hurt the poor fellow, or even kill him,” protested Clint Babbett.

“With a rope and a bent sapling I can show you how they trap alligators in some countries,” spoke up another boy eagerly. “I was reading about it only last week, and actually tried it on our dog. Why, when the sapling was released the noose in the rope tightened around both his hind legs, and the first thing I knew there was poor old Carlo hanging head down, and yelping to beat the band. I had to cut the rope in a big hurry because he acted like a wild thing.”

“How would that sort of thing go, Dick?” asked Leslie, with a wink at his chum.

“Well,” replied the other, with one of his smiles and a glance toward Mr. Bartlett, “I hardly think any of us would want to be so cruel as to hang a human being up by the legs, with his head down; and especially if, as we suspect, he should be one who was out of his mind and not responsible for what he did.”

Somehow in all the talk that flew around concerning the important subject Dick could not but notice that there were two of the boys who seemed to be tongue-tied.

These were Dan Fenwick and Asa Gardner.

Dick could easily comprehend why Dan should keep silent, because, as the loser of the watch that had so strangely vanished, Dan was feeling more or less morose. And then again, when Dick considered what the past reputation of Asa Gardner had been he felt that there was some reason why the new boy should not seek to draw attention to himself.

Asa certainly looked troubled. He listened to all that was said, turning his eyes from speaker to speaker, but uttering not a word himself. When any one addressed him, merely asking him if he would have another cup of coffee or a little more bacon, Asa always gave a violent start and drew in his breath with a sigh before replying one way or the other.

Breakfast was finally finished and the boys hung around waiting for Mr. Bartlett to read the programme for the day.

He and Mr. Rowland were busy with the details of that programme, and Dick had not yet found the opportune moment for speaking to the camp leader. Dan came over to Dick’s side the first favorable chance he had.

“I want to speak to you about something queer, Dick,” he remarked, as he threw himself down and looked carefully around, as though to make sure some one he had in mind was far enough away not to overhear what he expected to say.

“All right,” Dick told him, “fire away. I can be keeping up my work on this home-made broom of twigs which we’ll have to use to sweep with. Is it about your watch?”

“Just what it is, Dick,” the other went on to say, gloomily. “In a nutshell then, I happened to wake up in the night, and saw some one walking between me and the fire. And Dick, it was Asa Gardner!”