THE BOYS AND THE WILDCAT
"Oh, what a night! What a night!"
It was Shep who uttered the words. The long spell of darkness had
at last gone, and looking up overhead he could see a bit of sunshine
striking the edge of the hollow.
In vain he had tried to get out of the tree. Every plan had proved
unsuccessful, and he had been held a prisoner through the long
hours which seemed to have no end.
He was both hungry and thirsty and had slept only by winks, as the
saying goes.
He no longer dared to think of the future, fearing he would go mad.
Was he really to remain there to die of thirst and hunger? Was the
hollow tree to prove his coffin?
A bird fluttered down into the hollow and startled him. He raised
his hand softly and tried to catch it, but like a flash the bird was
gone, and he was left as lonely as before.
Another hour passed and his thirst seemed to grow upon him every
minute. Then he grew desperate, and bracing himself, tried with all
of his strength to burst the hollow tree asunder. But the effort
availed nothing.
Presently he heard something that caused him to rouse up. It was
the sound of a shotgun, discharged at a distance.
"They must be out---perhaps they are looking for me!" he murmured.
"I hope they come here!" And he breathed a silent prayer that they
might not pass him by in his sore distress.
A little later he heard a curious scratching at the top of the
hollow. He strained his eyes and saw a bushy tail swishing around.
"A wild animal!" he thought. "Will it come down on top of me?"
He gave a low call and the animal disappeared. But then, after a
period of several minutes, it came back again and this time looked
down into the hollow tree, longingly.
"A wildcat!"
Shep was right; it was indeed wildcat that had come to pay him
a visit, and the beast seemed to be in anything but a good humor
as it glared down upon the imprisoned young hunter.
Would the beast spring down upon him? That was the question Shep
asked himself. As quickly as he could he raised his hand which
contained his jack-knife.
"Scat!" he hissed, and, alarmed once more, the wildcat backed away
from the hollow and sat down on a limb of the tree to think matters
over. As a matter of fact, the hollow tree was one of the wildcat's
favorite haunts and it did not know what to make of it to find it
thus strangely inhabited.
In the meantime the three young hunters who had lost themselves in
the woods were doing their best to find their way back to camp. They
had reached a small opening and Whopper raised an unexpected cry:
"Boys, look!"
"Shep's gun, as sure as fate!" ejaculated Snap.
"And his game-bag," added Giant. "What can this mean?"
"I think" began Snap, and then chanced to glance up into the tree.
He caught a full view of the wildcat, and stopping his talk, took
quick aim and fired. The wildcat turned over in the air, gave a
second whirl, and then disappeared from view.
"Where did he go to?" asked Giant, recovering from his astonishment.
"Fell into the tree," answered Whopper. "Hark!"
They listened and heard a faint cry for help.
"Where is that from?"
"The tree! Shep must be in the tree!"
"And the wildcat's on top of him!"
"I'm going to his help!" exclaimed Snap, and began to climb up the
hollow tree without delay.
When he gained the opening he peered down into it.
"Shep! Are you there?" he called out, anxiously.
"Yes," was the faint answer. "Is that you, Snap?"
"Yes. Is that wildcat alive?"
"I guess not. But he has almost smothered me."
"How did you get down there?"
"Slipped down. Get something and help me to get out."
"I will."
"Poor Shep! What a place to be in all night!" was Whopper's comment.
"I wouldn't go through that for two billion dollars!"
"I'm going to cut a pole with a notch on the end," said Snap. "We can
pull him up with that."
A number of saplings were handy and Snap soon had the pole he
desired. Then all three of the boys climbed into the tree and
lowered the pole.
"All ready?" cried Snap.
"Yes," was the muffled answer from the bottom of the hollow.
"Take care, or somebody will slip out of the tree," cautioned Giant.
"Our footing isn't of the best."
All three of the young hunters strained on the pole with all their
might. At first they could not budge the doctor's son, but at
last they gained a few inches, and then the rest was easy.
"I'm glad I am out of that," gasped Shep, when he could step on one
of the tree's branches. "I don't know what I should have done had
you not happened along."
"We started to look for you and got lost," answered Whopper, and
then told the story.
Shep was so weak he could scarcely use his feet and they had to
help him to get to the ground. He told of his night of horror
and of the experience with the wildcat. He was exceedingly thankful
that they had shot the animal.
"We may as well take our time getting back to camp," said Snap. "I
shan't feel like doing anything else to-day."
"I am going to do nothing but rest," answered Shep.
Arriving at the camp they were thankful to find everything just
as they had left it. A fire was started up and preparations made
for a substantial meal. Then all took a good wash and ate their
fill, after which they declared they felt much better.
"I have learned one lesson," said Shep. "I am going to give hollow
trees a wide berth after this."
"And when I go out after deer I am going to make sure of where I am
traveling," said Whopper. "Don't catch me getting lost fifteen miles
from nowhere again!"
The wildcat had been brought along, and during the afternoon Snap
skinned the carcass and hung the pelt up to cure. The carcass
was thrown away, as they did not know what else to do with it.
After that several days passed quietly and then came another rain
lasting the best part of a night. To their satisfaction the new
cabin did not leak at all, everything remaining as dry inside as
before the downpour.
"Now we have a cabin worth having," was Snap's comment. "I hope
that rain just leaked in all over Mr. Andrew Felps and his crowd."
"Oh, don't mention him!" cried Shep. "I hate to even hear the name!"
After the rain it was considerably colder and they were not slow
in putting on some of the heavier underwear they had brought along.
By the suggestion of Snap they also spent one whole day in cutting
firewood and piling it up beside the cabin door.
"There is no telling what we may strike soon," said Snap. "If a
heavy fall of snow should arrive it wouldn't be very nice to be
caught without a good supply of wood."
"Oh, we could go out in the snow and cut some," said Giant.
"Not if it was real deep," put in Whopper. "I'd rather have the
wood on hand, as Snap says."
The boys had not forgotten about the deer they had seen, and one
somewhat cloudy morning they started across the lake in the rowboat,
taking their guns and some provisions along. They headed directly
for the spot where the game had been seen and then hunted for the
trail.
"Here it is!" cried Shep, presently. "And it looks to be fresh."
"You are right," answered Snap. "And that proves that the deer
have been here since that heavy rain. Now, boys, if we follow
this trail with care we may be able to bring down something worth
while."
And then they set off to follow the trail, little dreaming of the
strange adventure in store for them.