A HUNTING EXPEDITION
The boys remained at the cabin all the next day stirring out only
for wood and game. Without going, more than a dozen yards from the
habitation, the boys shot three rabbits and half a dozen squirrels.
These were taken about noon, and the boys immediately began the
preparation of a stew. There were a few potatoes left, and these
they pared and sliced into the savory dish when it was nearing
completion.
They expected, every one of them, to receive another visit from the
mysterious persons who had appeared at the cabin on the previous
night, yet they did not talk of what was in their thoughts. They
discussed the sad plight of Antoine, wandering about in the forest
with a broken wrist, and wondered if the cached provisions were
still intact.
The following night was a quiet one. Snow fell heavily, and the
small streams of that section took on icy blankets.
When they awoke the following morning, the sun was shining
brightly, and there were many signs of a pleasant week.
"After breakfast," Tommy declared, as he sent his plate over for
the third helping of the rejuvenated stew, I'm going out and get a
specimen of every wild animal in the woods. Then I'm going to put
them all into this stew!"
"You might put a wolverine into it!" suggested Thede.
"Are they good to eat?" demanded Tommy.
"They're good to eat game out of the traps, I understand," replied
the boy. "Or, just for a change," Thede continued, "how'd you like
an owl in your stew? I guess that wouldn't put you wise or
anything!"
"You seem to know quite a lot about this country," Will suggested.
"Poor Pierre taught me quite a lot during our rambles," Thede
answered sorrowfully.
"Then perhaps you'd better come along with Tommy and me and show us
where to get these different kinds of animals the kid wants to put
into his stew. That will help some."
After breakfast the three boys started out with their automatics.
They crossed the morass to the higher ground beyond and passed
along in the direction of the camp. There might be duck over Moose
river, Thede suggested, and Tommy certainly would want a duck for
his stew. Also there might be wild geese there.
When they came to the place where the provisions had been cached,
they found the surface of the ground broken and the provisions
gone. Not a single can remained.
"Now, we'll have to shoot all the more game," declared Tommy. "We
haven't got many beans or tomatoes left, so we'll have to forage on
the country."
The loss was not considered a serious one, for the boys had plenty
of provisions at the cabin and game was very plentiful.
As they passed through the country signs of the wild creatures of
the woods were numerous. There were few spaces of a length of
twenty-five feet in which the track of some wild beast or bird did
not cross their path.
Thede read this writing in the snow so understandingly that the
boys actually paid more attention to his explanations than to the
discovery of the game he was talking about.
"What crossed there?" Will would ask.
"That must have been a red deer!"
"And this track, here?" asked Tommy.
"Probably a fox."
"Well, what do you make of this?" Will demanded with a wink at
Tommy.
"That must have been a moose, but he passed here some time before
the last fall of snow!" replied Thede.
"Well, what's this wobbly little mark here?" Tommy asked.
"Partridge!" replied Thede readily.
"Well, here's another odd little mark. Looks like some one had
been dragging a rail fence. What's that?"
"You ought to know that!" answered Thede.
"I ought to know lots of things that I don't know!" commented the
boy.
"Well," Thede said with a laugh, "the wild animal that passed along
there was a Beaver!"
"I wonder if he belongs to our patrol!" chuckled Tommy.
"I should think the little fellow would freeze to death," Will
objected.
"Pierre said it was pretty cold for them to be out when he saw
tracks two or three days ago!" replied Thede. "They're building a
dam over on the river some place, and I suppose they think they've
got to finish the job before real winter sets in."
After a long ramble through the forest, the boys came to the site
of the old camp. The snow which covered the ground here had been
well trodden down, and many tracks led in the direction of Moose
river.
"I suppose they've been hunting for deserted provisions," Will
suggested. "I'd like to know who it was that made the search!"
"It might have been your Hindu friend," suggested Tommy.
"Look here, kid," Will said in a moment. "Now that this Hindu
discussion has broken out again, I'd like to know what you think
the chances are for locating that little brown man."
"Well," Tommy answered, "I believe you were right when you said
that the Little Brass God meant something more than intrinsic value
to at least one of the men who are chasing it up. Now," the boy
went on, "if this brass-faced fellow has the sacred idol nut in his
head, he won't leave this section of the country until he finds it."
"That's the way I figure it out!" Will answered.
"And this adds another interesting feature to the case," Tommy
continued. "When we started out we were alone in pursuit of the
Little Brass God. Then we came upon Pierre, and we were just
beginning to believe that he also was in search of the merry little
jigger when Antoine murdered him. Now, here comes a third
interest, and, if you are anywhere near correct in your
conclusions, he comes all the way from India."
"You don't know where he comes from!" Will interrupted. "The
question we want to ask ourselves now is this:
"Have we any chance of recovering the article we were sent after if
we remain in this district? In other words, ought we to settle
down here and wait for things to quiet, or ought we to make an
effort to discover the whereabouts of the two men who have
expressed such decided opinions regarding the value of the Little
Brass God?"
"Meaning Antoine and the alleged Hindu?" asked Tommy.
"Exactly," was the reply. "You see," Will went on, "there's no use
of our remaining in camp here if the person who has the stolen
article in his possession has taken it away."
"I believe Antoine has it!" declared Tommy.
"If Antoine has it, if that was Antoine sitting before the fire
that night, why did he take the Little Brass God there instead of
concealing it in his own cavern?"
"The more we talk about it, the less we know," grinned Tommy.
"Night before last," Will began, "the Little Brass God was in a
cave only a few miles from this spot. I don't believe it has been
taken out of the district! If you boys leave it to me, we'll stay
in the cabin for a few days, and take quiet trips about the
country, particularly the hilly country to the south, in search of
Antoine and the Hindu."
"That suits me!" Tommy declared, "and I know it'll suit George and
Sandy, too! There'll be a lot of fun in tramping about."
"Then why not make a trip to the range of hills right now?" asked
Will. "We can be back long before night."
"I don't know about that," replied Thede who had been listening to
the conversation without speaking. "It's a long way over to the
hills and the snow's deep."
"Then I'll tell you what we'll do!" Tommy exclaimed excitedly.
"We'll get a lot of game and send you back with it, and you tell
the boys that if we don't return tonight, we'll be camping in some
of those caverns in the hills."
"I thought you'd be ready for another runaway night excursion!"
laughed Will.
"I suppose I don't run away when I'm with you!" commented Tommy.
Will only laughed, and the boys began the collection of rabbits and
squirrels and ducks until Thede was pretty well loaded down. They
all walked along together until they came to where it would be
necessary to part company because of the different directions to be
taken.
There Will and Tommy turned toward the south while Thede kept
straight on toward the cottage on the island in the swamp.
"There's one thing we forgot," Tommy suggested as the boys tramped
laboriously through the snow. "We forgot to bring along anything
to eat!"
"Yes, we did!" laughed Will. "Don't you think I'll ever start out
on a tramp with you without plenty of provisions."
The boy opened his heavy coat and revealed inside pockets packed
with sandwiches made of venison steak and bread, with now and then
a sandwich composed of stewed meat and griddle cakes, for variety.
"We won't have to go home tonight, now, will we?" laughed Tommy.
"In Chicago," Will began, "we had a boy in our office we used to
call The-Young-Man-Afraid-Of-His-Bed. You must be related to him,
for I have never known you to go to bed without objecting, or to
get up without thinking how much time you had wasted!"
"Never you mind me!" replied Tommy. "You wait till you get into
some of those caverns in the hills and build a roaring fire, and
I'll show you that you're not the only boy that can provide
provisions."
"You mustn't do any shooting over there!" warned Will. "We might
as well go in quest of the Little Brass God with a band!"
"That's a fact!" agreed Tommy in a discouraged tone.
The boys first visited the cave where George had seen the Little
Brass God grinning down from the wall. There seemed to be no one
within miles of them.
While they talked, however, a shadow fell on the oblong bit of
light which marked the entrance, and a tall figure with one
bandaged wrist, leaning on the barrel of a rifle, stood gazing down
upon them with hatred flashing from his eyes.
"It's Antoine!" whispered Will.
"Yes, and he won't do a thing to us now!" whispered Tommy.