ONE DANGER TO ANOTHER
"How do you know the bears are out there in the cave?" Sandy asked, as
Tommy drew back into the smaller cavity.
"Just take a peek out, if you don't believe me."
Sandy did take a peek out, and sprang back with a face which looked as
white as a sheet of paper under the rays of Tommy's electric
searchlight.
"One of 'em took a swipe at me!" he said.
The boys turned their searchlights on the entrance and waited patiently
for some moments for the bears to present themselves in the illuminated
circle, but the animals seemed to understand that there was danger under
the light, and remained around the angle of the wall.
"What are you going to do?" asked Tommy, presently.
"Blessed if I know!" answered Sandy.
"We might rush out and fill 'em full of lead," suggested Tommy.
"Not for me!" the other answered. "They'd get in one good crack at us
before we could pull the trigger, and then it would be 'Good-night!'"
"How long do you think they'll stay here?" asked Tommy.
"The bear has the reputation of being a stayer," replied the other.
"Well, in time," Tommy said, "we'll have to make a break. We've got
about enough provisions for breakfast, and after that, we'll be on the
verge of starvation as long as we remain here. So far as I can see, we
may as well make a break right now."
"I'm game for it," replied Sandy. "We'll dazzle their eyes with our
searchlights, and fire a whole clip of bullets without stopping. Perhaps
that'll bring them down or cause them to run away."
"All right!" Tommy agreed. "We'll round the corner together with our
searchlights held in front and begin shooting."
"And don't make any mistake about shooting straight!" advised Sandy. "I
don't want Will and George to know that we ever got into a mess like
this. You know what they said about our coming away tonight, anyhow!"
"Sure, I know!" admitted Tommy. "And I'd rather have one of the bears
bite off an arm than to have them know we got into a scrape we couldn't
get out of without their help."
"Well, here goes, then!" cried Sandy.
Without waiting for his chum he sprang around the corner or the wall,
his electric advanced, his automatic ready for instant use. As he turned
the corner one foot caught on a loose rock and he half fell to the
ground. As he did so, Tommy saw a hairy paw shoot out with vicious force
and brush and scrape across the boy's shoulder.
Tommy heard the boy's coat ripping and tearing under the clutch of the
great claws, and heard his chum utter a piercing scream as the wicked
claws touched the flesh.
It seemed to Tommy that the figure of his chum, now lying prostrate on
the floor of the cavern with the head extending outward, was being drawn
away from him by the claw which still clung to the shoulder.
He raised his automatic to fire and pushed his searchlight forward. The
bear's eyes closed for an instant under the strong finger of light, and
the bullet caught him, exactly in the center of the forehead.
He dropped with a savage growl, scrambled, to his feet again and dashed
toward Tommy, who fired shot after shot at the advancing animal, but
apparently without avail. In a moment all three bears, doubtless excited
by the smell of blood, sprang before the entrance to the little cave
where Tommy stood. For the moment the animals paid no attention to
Sandy, still, lying prostrate on the floor, blood oozing from the
wounded shoulder. Tommy fired shot alter shot as the bears came on.
For the first time in his life Tommy realized that the next moment might
be his last. He saw Sandy lying bleeding on the floor. He saw three
savage, pain-maddened animals rushing upon him and worked the trigger of
his automatic until the clip was spent. Then he hurled the useless
weapon at the nearest animal and seizing Sandy by the feet, dragged him
farther into the cavern.
"I guess it's all off now," he mused as the bears stood hesitating and
apparently ready for a spring. "I wish we'd left a note for Will."
He heard the clatter of sharp claws on the rocky floor, saw the pig-like
eyes of the animals shining red under the light, heard their spasmodic
breathing, and was about to make a desperate rush forward when the outer
cavern was flooded with a racing light which grew and grew as Tommy
looked. Then he heard the sound of feet.
Next came a volley of shots, followed by the shouts of men and the call
of a voice that he knew.
"Tommy!" the voice cried.
The boy did not answer instantly, for his eyes were fixed upon the
squirming figures of the bears. They had fallen under the shots and were
weaving about the floor, snarling and snapping at each other and at
themselves in their blind rage.
Several more shots came, and then the animals lay still.
"Tommy!" came the voice again.
"That's Will!" said Sandy faintly.
"Cripes! Are you alive?" demanded Tommy.
"I wouldn't be talking if I was dead, would I?" asked Sandy, speaking in
a very faint tone of voice.
"Sandy!" came the voice again.
"Hello!" called Tommy.
"Come on out!" cried Will.
"We're coming!" Sandy answered.
The next moment the flashlights carried by Will and George swept into
the cavern, revealing the true condition of affairs.
The two boys sprang to Sandy's side and raised him into a sitting
position. Sandy smiled weakly but said nothing.
"Where is he hurt?" asked Will, facing Tommy.
Tommy pointed to the boy's bleeding shoulder.
"One of the bears swatted him," he said.
The cowboys now gathered in front of the little cavern and gazed at the
group with excited interest.
"What's coming off here?" the sheriff asked.
"This kid's coat's coming off, for one thing," answered Will, with a
slight smile as he drew away at one sleeve. "He's been cut by the bear,
and we want to see how badly he's wounded."
Seth stepped forward to assist in the removal of the coat, but the
sheriff laid a hand on his arm and drew him back.
"If those two boys have guns," he said, "get them away from them!"
"What's that?" demanded Tommy, gazing at the sheriff indignantly.
"You're all under arrest," thundered the officer, "and I demand that you
give up your weapons."
"You'll find my gun out there in the cavern somewhere," Tommy answered.
"I threw it at the bears after the last bullet had been fired."
Will put his hand into Sandy's pocket as if feeling for a gun but found
none there. "I dropped it in the cavern," the boy said. "There are no
bullets in it, anyway. I shot 'em all at the bear."
Sandy's wound proved to consist only of several scratches in the flesh
of the shoulder, but Will explained to the sheriff that it would be
necessary to take him out to where water could be obtained in order that
the injury might be properly dressed.
"Come along, then," the sheriff consented. "We've had enough of this
underground hole, anyway."
Tommy looked longingly at the three dead bears as he passed out.
"I'm coming back here to get those rugs," he whispered to Will.
"And I'm coming back here and get some bear steak," George contributed.
"What are you boys talking about?" demanded the sheriff.
"Aw, what's eating you?" demanded Tommy, who did not at all understand
the situation. "You want to keep your clam closed."
The sheriff turned back and eyed the boy with anger and amazement
depicted on his rather heavy features.
"You're one of these Boy Scouts, I presume?" he snarled.
"Yes, sir," answered Tommy. "Proud of it!"
"Then perhaps you can tell me where those train robbers are hiding."
"I would if I could!" replied the boy.
"What are you kids out at this time of night for, anyway?" was the next
question. "You ought to be in bed."
"We came out to gather a couple of bear rugs for a Boy Scout clubroom in
Chicago," answered Tommy, with a slight grin in Will's direction.
"And what did those boys come out for?" the sheriff asked, pointing at
Will and George and the boy in whose interest they had left camp.
Tommy had no means of knowing what stories the boys might have told
regarding their presence in the mountains, and so he decided to dodge
the question. This seemed the only safe way.
"Ask them!" he said after a short silence.
By this time the whole party was out in the gulch, standing full in the
moonlight. The men conferred together for some moments, and then the
sheriff turned to the other members of the party.
"Get your ropes, boys," he said. "We haven't got time to fool with these
boys any longer."
"I protest against this action," shouted Seth. "You, Pete, are sheriff
of this county, and it is your duty to enforce the laws. If you permit
this lynching to take place in your presence, you'll be guilty of the
crime of murder, and I warn you that you'll be prosecuted."
Tommy and Sandy looked at their chums questioningly. They did not at all
understand what was going on. Will and George were binding up the wound
with bandages which they had long carried for use on just such an
occasion as this.
"I think I know my duty," answered the sheriff. "Wyoming officers are
being made the laughing-stock of the whole world because of the
frequency of these train robberies. In nearly every instance, lately,
the outlaws have escaped, principally because of assistance given them
by such people as we have here under arrest."
The men removed ropes from under their coat and began to unwind them.
Seth drew his revolver and waited.