THE DEFENCE OF THE CAMP
"Mabel first, please, Max!" said Mazie, as all of them hastened over to
the tree that had been selected as the harbor of refuge on account of
the fact that its lower branches seemed to invite an ascent.
Max gave Steve a knowing nod, and the two of them quickly whisked the
little lame French girl up in the first crotch like magic.
Before Mazie really knew what they were going to do she was following
after the first climber; and as they made room for the others, first
Mrs. Jacobus, and then last of all Bessie found lodgment there.
"If you can manage to get up a little higher it would be safer all
around," Max told them, though he tried his best not to alarm the girls
by intimating that the lower limb of the tree might still be within
jumping distance of an agile hound.
Immediately after performing his duty Steve picked up his club again.
Meanwhile the other three boys had brushed around and armed themselves
with the most available weapons the dead wood afforded. Bandy-legs was
fortunate in having one already to his suiting, and the others did the
best they could; so that there was quite a formidable assortment of
cudgels swinging back and forth as the owners tested their capacity for
mischief; much as the intending batter at a critical stage of a
baseball game may be seen to practice with two clubs before stepping up
to the plate.
There could no longer be any doubt as to the speedy coming of the dog
pack, as their eager yelps and barks sounded very close. It must have
been that in their hungry condition they had picked up the odor of food
far away, because a dog's sense of smell is remarkably acute,
especially when half starved.
Max only waited in order to throw plenty of dry fuel on the fire before
joining the battle line. If they were compelled to put up a stiff
fight in order to keep their food supply intact, he knew that they
would need all the light they could get, because with the coming of
night, darkness had settled upon the forest lining the western bank of
the flooded river.
"Whee! listen to the way they're tearing along, would you?" exclaimed
Bandy-legs, as the noise drew rapidly nearer.
Every fellow seemed to take in a big breath. It was as though he meant
to nerve himself for the exciting times to follow.
"Remember, leave the biggest dog to me!" Max told them, desirous of
impressing this fact upon their minds; for with that powerful little
automatic pistol in his possession, handed over to him by the owner of
the abandoned cabin, he felt much better able to cope with a monster
Dane or a huge mastiff than any of those who simply carried sticks
might have been.
Max did not fancy the job before him. He had always confessed to a
great liking for dogs of almost all kinds, and the thought of being
compelled to shoot one, even in self-defense, did not appeal to him;
though it was a grim necessity that forced him to contemplate such a
massacre.
These animals having been shut off from their regular food supply
because of the flood that had driven their masters from home, were only
following out the dictates of their natures, in seeking to satisfy the
demands of hunger. Under ordinary conditions they may have been the
most desirable of companions, and valued highly by those who owned them.
There was no other way to meet the emergency save by dispersing the
savage pack. And Max knew that the animal of the heavy bark must be a
powerful brute, capable of inflicting serious damage to any one upon
whom he descended; hence he must in some way manage to dispose of the
beast before he could leap on his intended prey.
"I see 'em!" suddenly almost shrieked Bandy-legs; and all of the boys
might have echoed his announcement, for they caught sight of a confused
scrambling mass approaching at a furious pace.
This almost immediately developed into separate units, as the dogs
rushed directly into the camp. Max could see that there were no two
alike, and in the lead was a mastiff as large as any wolf that ever
followed in the wake of a wounded stag, a tawny colored animal, with
wide-open jaws that must have filled the watching girls with a sense of
abject horror, even though they were apparently safe from attack up
among the branches of the tree.
Max had eyes for no other after that. Let his chums and Shack Beggs
take care of the New Foundland, the Irish setter, the beagle, the
rabbit hound, and several more, even to a sturdy looking squatty
bulldog that must have used his short bowlegs to some advantage to keep
pace with the rest of the pack; his duty was to meet the oncoming of
that natural leader, and wind up his career.
The five boys had stationed themselves partly in front of the shelter
where all of their food supplies had been placed, though at the same
time they stood between the tree and the rushing dogs.
Straight at them the pack went, helter-skelter. It may not have been
so much a desire to attack human beings that animated the animals as
the keen sense of smell telling them that provisions were to be found
back in that rustic shack.
Max waited until the big leader was almost upon them before he started
to use his automatic. Indeed, one of the girls in the tree, gasped his
name in terror, under the impression that Max may have been so
petrified with astonishment at sight of the size of the mastiff that he
could not pull the trigger of his weapon.
But it was not so, and Steve, who was alongside, knew it full well,
because he could hear Max saying steadily all the while:
"Hold firm, boys; don't get rattled! I've got that big thief potted!
Steady now, everybody; and hit the line _hard_!"
That was the encouraging way Max used to call out to his players on the
high school eleven when they were fighting for victory on the gridiron
with a rival school. It did much to nerve those who heard; and Steve
especially needed some such caution to keep him from springing to meet
the coming attack halfway.
Then there sounded a peculiar snapping report. It was the automatic
doing its duty. Firm was the hand that gripped the little weapon, and
unflinching the eye back of the same.
A shriek from the tree told that the girls were watching every move in
the exciting game that was being played. The mastiff was seen to stop
in his headlong rush, and roll over in a heap; then he struggled to his
feet again, only to have another flash directed into his eyes; and this
time Max must have made sure work of it, because the huge animal did
not attempt to rise again.
Meanwhile the rest of the pack had continued its forward progress, and
as those waiting clubs began to swing and play there was a confused
exchange of shouts, yaps and yelps that must have filled a listener's
heart with wonder, providing he did not know the meaning of the fracas.
Deprived of the dominating spirit of their leader, and met with such a
furious bombardment at the hands of the four boys, the balance of the
pack could not hold out long. Their hunger did not seem to be equal to
their fear of those clubs striking with such tremendous vim that in
many cases the victim was hurled completely over. The attack became
weaker and weaker; first one animal went howling away completely cowed,
and then another took flight, until presently the bulldog was the only
one left.
He had managed to seize Toby's club and was holding on with a death
grip, straining his best to pull the same out of the hands of the
owner. Steve was for turning on him, and belaboring the beast with his
own cudgel; but Max, who knew the nature of the beast better than any
of the others, felt sure that this sort of treatment would only result
in a general fight, and that in the end the animal would either have to
be shot, or else he must bite one of them seriously.
"Wait!" he called out; "keep back, the rest of you, and leave him to
me!"
Thinking of course that he meant to advance, and use his firearm in
order to finish the stubborn bulldog, the three other boys backed away,
leaving only Toby standing there, holding one end of his club, while
the canine enemy maintained that savage grip on the other, and sought
to wrest it away.
But Max had had enough of dog killing for one night, and meant to try
other tactics in this case. He dodged into the shelter, and almost
immediately reappeared bearing with him some food that had been left
over, scraps of bread and fragments from their supper.
These he tossed close to the nose of the stubborn bulldog, while the
rest of the party watched to see the result. Would hunger prevail, or
the disposition to continue fighting cause the animal to keep on
chewing the end of Toby's club?
Presently they saw the unwelcome visitor begin to sniff eagerly. Then
he suddenly released those terrible teeth of his, the iron jaw relaxed,
and the next thing they knew the ferocious bulldog was devouring the
food Max had thrown down, with every symptom of satisfaction.
Max went back and secured more of the same kind.
"We can get plenty, once we leave here in the morning," he told
Bandy-legs when the latter showed a disposition to murmur against the
seeming extravagance; "and I'd hate to kill that dog. I'm sure from
his looks he must be of fine stock, and worth a heap to his owner.
Besides, I've knocked one over, and that's one too many to please me.
Now watch what I'll do."
With that he approached, and offered the dog the rest of the food. In
another minute he could have patted the heretofore savage beast on the
back, only that Max was too wise to trouble a feeding dog.
"Nothing more to be feared from him, I guess," remarked Steve, who had
watched all this with distended eyes; "you know dogs from the ground
up, Max. But do you think it's safe to have that terror around? The
girls won't want to come down out of the tree while he's in camp."
"You're mistaken there," said Bessie, as she dropped beside him; "I'm
not at all afraid of dogs when they're natural; and besides, I know
this fine fellow quite well. He belongs to a neighbor of my uncle, and
he used to come to me as though he rather liked me; didn't you, Bose?"
At mention of his name the ferocious looking bulldog with the bowed
legs actually wagged his crooked stub of a tail, and gave the girl a
look. As he was now through feeding, and seemed to be in a contented
frame of mind, Bessie continued to talk to him in a wheedling way; and
presently was able to slip a hand upon his head, though it gave Steve a
cold chill to see her do it.
Max had meanwhile dragged the other dog out of sight in the bushes,
though Toby had to help him, such was the size of the wretched mastiff
that had been brought to a bad end through his hunger, and a
determination to raid the camp of the flood fugitives.
The balance of the pack had apparently been taught a severe lesson, and
would not return again. Their barking continued to be heard at
intervals throughout the night, but always at a considerable distance.
As it was so very uncomfortable up in the tree, and the bulldog seemed
to have made up his mind to be friendly with those who had kindly
attended to his wants, Mazie, the lame girl, and Mrs. Jacobus finally
consented to be helped down. They kept suspicious eyes on the
four-legged visitor however, and insisted that Bose be rigorously
excluded from the rustic shelter under which they soon purposed seeking
their rest.
Max finally managed to rig up a collar, which was attached to the rope,
and Bessie secured this around the dog's neck, after which Bose was
anchored to another tree.
He must have been accustomed to this sort of treatment, for he speedily
lay down and went to sleep, as though satisfied to stay with these new
friends. Floods as well as politics, often make strange bed-fellows.
Having brought his party safely through this crisis Max was again
busying himself making plane looking toward their future. He knew that
the country was so disturbed by the inundation of the river, with its
consequent damage to many homes, that they must depend to a great
extent on their own efforts in order to reach Carson again. Still it
seemed necessary in the start that one of their number should start out
to seek help in the way of some conveyance by means of which the girls
and Mrs. Jacobus might be taken to Carson, because he and his chums
were well able to walk that distance.
On talking this over with the rest, and Shack was invited to join them,
much to the secret satisfaction of the "black sheep" of Carson, Max
found that they were all opposed to his being the one to go forth.
They claimed that he would be needed right along in order to continue
the management of affairs.
Of course Shack could not go, because his former bad reputation would
serve to set people against him, for the whole country knew of the
doings of the gang to which he had belonged; Toby was debarred from
serving on account of his infirmity in the line of speech, and so it
must lie between Bandy-legs and Steve.
"I'm the one to go, Max," declared the latter, so resolutely that while
Bandy-legs had just been about to volunteer, the words died on his
lips; for he knew that when Steve really wanted a thing he must have
it, or there would be trouble in the camp; so that Bandy-legs, being a
wise youth, shrugged his shoulders and yielded the palm.
Once more Max talked it all over with them. They knew next to nothing
about the lay of the land around that section, but in a general way
that could be figured out; and Steve was cautioned what to avoid in
looking for a habitation where he might manage to hire a rig of some
sort.
Max even made him a rough map, showing some features of the river bank
as it was now constituted, so that the messenger would know where to
return if he was fortunate enough to secure help.
"If we're gone from here," said Max, in conclusion, "we'll manage to
leave such a plain trail after us that you can follow as easy as
anything."
So Steve went around solemnly shaking hands with every one, though he
lingered longest when it came to Bessie; and she must have said
something pleasant, for he was smiling broadly as though satisfied when
he waved them good-bye, and stick in hand, vanished amidst the trees of
the forest.