The Strange Cabin on Catamount Island | Page 9

then. It was the island, sure enough; and
as they picked up new vim at the prospect of being soon allowed to rest
their weary muscles and backs, the boys examined the place and its
surroundings with considerable interest.
They then exchanged looks that meant volumes. Indeed, if Catamount
Island did have a bad name, it seemed to deserve all that. The trees
were very dense, and made the place look gloomy, and as Bandy-legs
declared, "spooky." Several had partly fallen during some heavy blow,
and rested upon others that had proven better able to stand up against
the wind. A few were fashioned in weird shapes, too; and to tell the
truth, it looked as if Nature had taken pains to gather together on that
one particular island all the freak things possible.
"What do you think of it, boys?" asked Max, smiling a little as he noted
how even bold Steve was just a little bit awed by the gruesome aspect
of the place which they meant to make their stamping ground for a full

week, unless they wished to bring down upon their heads the scorn and
derision of Herb and his crowd, and hear their cries of "I told you so;
who's a scare-cat now?"
Then Steve gritted his teeth after his usual fashion, and laughed, though
truth to tell, there was not any too much mirth about that mockery of a
laugh.
"Come on, who cares for expenses! Me to be the first to put a foot on
our island," he called out, as he dropped his paddle into the water again,
and urged his little buoyant canvas canoe onward with vigorous
sweeps.
"Our island! Listen to him, would you? Oh! like that, now. As for me,
you don't hear me claiming a foot of the old place. Ugh! it's enough to
make a fellow shiver just to look at it. And it smells like cats or skunks
lived around here. But if the rest of you are bound to go ashore, I
suppose I'll have to follow suit. But I'm glad I said good-by to
everybody before I came up here."
Nobody paid any attention to what Bandy-legs was saying, as just then
they were making for the lower shore of the island, where a fair landing
place seemed to offer its services.
The rest were all ashore and looking around, before Bandy-legs
managed to jump out of his cranky cedar canoe. He acted as though
glad at least to have arrived safe and sound, if very sore.
Pretty soon the whole of them were as busy as beavers, putting up the
two tents on ground which Max had selected as suitable for the camp.
In doing this he had to consider a number of things, such as a view of
the river, nearness to the boats, a chance for drainage in case of a
summer storm that might otherwise flood them out, and soak
everything they owned; and such matters that an old and experienced
camper never fails to remember in the start.
Then came the delightful task of getting the first meal. That is always a
pleasure, though it begins to pall upon the party before the weekend.

Everybody wanted to have a hand in that first meal, and so Max fixed it
that they could enjoy the privilege to their heart's content.
And after the night had closed in around them, what joy to sit around
with the dancing and crackling fire, while they brought forward
recollections of other occasions when they partook of camp fare, and
looked forward to a period of keenest enjoyment.
Even Bandy-legs seemed for the time being to have quite overcome his
feeling of timidity and uneasiness, so that he laughed with the rest, and
appeared as joyous as anybody, sitting there and watching the curling
flames eat deep into the dry wood that had been tossed to them, and
feeling so restful after the meal.
Steve was filled with complete happiness. Somehow or other he
seemed to be more set than any of his chums upon proving to Herb and
his comrades, that they had been a lot of chumps who were almost
afraid of their own shadows. He had never been in a gayer mood, Max
thought.
Presently all sorts of sounds arose around them, among which were the
cries of night birds like the whip-poor-will; owls started to hoot back
somewhere on the island; giant frogs boomed forth their calls for "more
rum, more rum!" and altogether there was soon quite a noisy chorus
under full blast.
But as all these sounds were familiar to even Bandy-legs, though it was
not often they heard them in concert, no one remarked that he objected
to them.
Max was just in the act of declaring that if