OUT FOR BIG GAME.
“Whew! so that’s a moose, is it?” gasped Giraffe, being the first to
break the tense silence that had fallen upon the campers.
“What a queer old sound,” almost whispered Bumpus. “My stars! but I guess
he’s most as big as our old red barn at home. Is he heading this way,
Sebattis, Eli, Jim?”
Bumpus cast a despairing look around him while saying this. Thad had an
idea he must be trying to pick out a desirable tree which he could
“shinny up” in case the moose raided the camp; for owing to his build
Bumpus was not so good at climbing as some others, Giraffe or Davy Jones
for instance.
“Just now that’s what the ole duffer, he’s a-doin’,” replied Eli; while
the Indian guide only nodded his head, being a man of few words usually.
“Who’s goin’ to tackle him?” demanded Step Hen. “Now, don’t you fellers
all look at _me_, just because I said that little rifle of mine was good
for any animal that walked these here Maine woods. I gave up first chance
to Thad long ago, didn’t I, Thad? You see, a feller that hasn’t had great
experience at such things don’t want to rush in too fast. I promised my
maw to be careful, and I mean to. As for me, you see, I said that Thad
had to try out my new gun. The man in the store told me not to think of
standing up before any big game till I’d practiced how to use the pump
part. You see, if a feller got rattled, and needed to send in a second
shot, he might try to work the thing wrong, get it stuck, and then have a
fine old time. So Thad for mine.”
“So say we all of us,” remarked Giraffe. “We’d like to see what Thad
could do. He hasn’t never had a chance at a moose. You go with Sebattis,
Thad. The rest of us’ll sit by the fire here, and wait for things to
happen.”
“No fire,” remarked Sebattis. “Eli put um out. You come ’long with me,
Tad!”
Somehow the Indian could never get the hang of Thad’s name, and called
him Tad; but it was rather a curiosity to hear him talk at all, so nobody
ever objected, least of all the patrol leader.
“This is mighty fine of you boys,” whispered Thad, as he watched Eli and
Jim proceeding to scatter the fire, and trample on the embers; in which
task the other members of the party only too willingly assisted.
In a minute, almost, they were in darkness under the pines. Meanwhile
Sebattis had baited the moose with another of his wonderful calls,
thrilling the lads just as much as on the first occasion.
“Ugh! make me shiver,” muttered Bumpus. “Seems like there just must be a
great big critter, with horns ten feet high, ready to rush the camp. Hey!
don’t get away from me, Jim; I want to squat alongside in the dark. After
all that light it seems rough to be left in the gloom.”
“Mustn’t talk no more, or sneeze, or cough! Skeer moose right bad,”
whispered the younger guide, as he threw an arm across the fat shoulders
of Bumpus, for whom he seemed to have taken an especial fancy.
And so the balance of the campers crouched there, with every nerve on
edge, listening eagerly for the slightest sound, which of course was
magnified a dozen fold, owing to the tension under which they were
laboring.
Meanwhile Thad had followed after the Indian guide.
His very first act, before the light of the fire was extinguished, had
been to hastily examine the small-bore repeating rifle which belonged to
Step Hen, and which the owner was so anxious to have Thad christen with
the first shot, at game worth while.
It seemed to be in splendid working order, and Thad believed he could
depend on it to do the work, providing he aimed straight. There is a vast
amount of result depending on the man behind the gun, whether in war, or
in hunting.
At first it seemed pitch dark to the boy, as he kept close at the heels
of the Penobscot Indian. That was partly because his eyes had been
blinded from sitting there, looking into the heart of the blazing
camp-fire so long. Now that this did not happen to be the case any
longer, he found that he could gradually see better; until presently the
dim form of Sebattis began to make itself noticeable just in front.
How silently the Indian moved along. Thad wondered whether this came from
the fact of his wearing elkskin moccasins, or because he had been raised
never to make a noise when passing through the woods; perhaps it was
both; but Thad wished he could only emulate his example; and then and
there he determined to possess himself of the soft-soled hunting boots of
the same type as those of Sebattis, at the first opportunity.
He knew from the confidence with which the guide was advancing through
the darkness that he must have immediately settled in his mind just where
they should lie in wait for the bull moose.
And it struck Thad right then and there that the dark-faced guide was
about as good a pattern for a Boy Scout to follow, as any one whom he
could imagine. Surely Sebattis kept his eyes constantly on the alert; and
never could be caught napping.
For instance, look at the way he lifted his head to listen some ten
minutes before the sheriff arrived upon the scene, and gave the boys that
rude jolt when he called out to them to surrender. Sebattis must have
heard some slight sound that warned him of the stealthy approach of
either human beings or game, and he had crept out of camp so as to be in
a position to hold the upper hand, in case of any necessity.
Perhaps it was a little strange how all these thoughts crowded through
the mind of Thad, as he was following silently as possible at the very
heels of the guide.
Other things trooped through that active brain of his, too; for Thad had
schooled himself to see and notice everything he could. For instance, he
became aware of the fact that they were heading almost directly up into
the wind. That in itself was nothing surprising, for a true still hunter
always looks to have the air blowing from the game toward himself, as in
that way he prevents the keen-scented animal from getting notice of his
approach, and fleeing before he can find a chance to send in a shot.
Yes, the night breeze was coming out of the north, and the moose was
approaching from the same quarter. The last time they heard his echoing
challenge it seemed much closer than ever, showing that the bull was
advancing with little rushes. He would push on for a couple of minutes,
and then halt to send out a call, and listen. Then Sebattis would proceed
to lure him on with the most seductive calls he could extract from his
wonderful birch bark horn.
So it went on, the two parties approaching one another at a speed which
promised a meeting very shortly.
Thad felt his heart beating almost twice as fast as ordinarily. He did
not like this, and sternly resolved to control his nerves. The party who
expects to shoot big game must be able to aim straight, and keep his wits
about him, so as to send in a second and a third shot, should they be
needed; else he may find that the boot is on the other foot, and that it
is he himself who is being hunted.
Fighting down this nervousness as best he could, the boy set his teeth
firmly together, and was resolved to do all in his power to justify the
confidence his comrades seemed to have in his ability to “do the troop
proud,” as Giraffe would have said.
Another thing he noticed by this time. They did not seem to be trying to
get to higher ground at all, as he had expected would be the case. On the
contrary, Sebattis was following the upward trend of the river. Perhaps
he only wanted to move as far away from the camp as possible, so that the
suspicious animal might not get a whiff of air that, to him, might bear
some sign of the extinguished fire; or detect uneasy movements among the
scouts left behind, and who could not keep just as still as they should.
But somehow Thad had an idea there might be yet another reason for their
keeping on in this direction, as if meaning to intercept the coming bull
moose; and presently he found it out for a fact.
Once, twice, three times had the guide stopped to send out that strange
sound that went reverberating down the river, until it died away in
mournful cadence in the distance.
Then he came to a sudden stop.
“Here do, Tad; you drop down this way. Keep eye on top ridge up there.
See um moose stand out ’gainst sky. Try hit back shoulder. No get, p’raps
me shoot too. How that suit?”
That was more than Thad had ever heard Sebattis say in one breath since
meeting the Old-town guide. But he instantly saw what the other meant,
for Thad had the instincts of a born hunter in him.
From the spot where they knelt, by looking up just a little, they could
see the bald top of a low-lying ridge close at hand, where it was
outlined sharply against the star jeweled sky. Any bulky object as big as
a cow, or even a wolf, would, if standing there on the ridge, be plainly
shown against the heavens.
“I understand, Sebattis,” the boy whispered back; “and I’ll try to do you
credit. Tell me when to shoot, that’s all.”
Then the two relapsed into silence. The last defiant call of the coming
moose was just dying out. It had been fearfully close, and Thad knew that
the animal must be less than a quarter of a mile away from them at the
time he stood still to give that call.
Sebattis answered it, and Thad began to notice that he no longer sent out
that vociferous challenge as before. He believed that the guide must now
be imitating the voice of the moose cow, to tempt the other bull on so as
to fight for the possession of a mate, which he doubtless lacked.
A few more minutes passed away. Thad imagined he could actually hear his
heart pounding away within its prison, so loudly did it throb. He began
to fear that after that last challenge the bull had become suspicious,
and declined to advance any closer. But apparently the guide did not
share in his apprehensions; for he continued to make those lower sounds,
as though wheedling the other into coming on, and entering the lists with
the bull who already had a mate.
Still there was no answering blast. What could it mean?
Thad was beginning to have a feeling of bitter disappointment and
chagrin, when all at once he heard something that gave him an electric
shock.
It was like the crackling of branches, or the breaking of dead bushes
under the impact of a ponderous body. Thad knew now that the guide had
not been mistaken with regard to his ability to coax the suspicious old
bull to close quarters; for the moose was even then climbing the other
side of the low ridge, and must appear in sight on the summit at any
moment!