ORDERED BACK
"Hurry up and get me down!" pleaded Budge, as he tried to grasp the
sapling with his hands, to ease the strain on his foot.
"I'm coming," replied Jack, who was laughing heartily. "Guess I'll have
to cut the tree down, though."
"No; I have a better plan than that," spoke Will. "I'll show you."
In another moment he was climbing up the thin trunk of the hickory that
served to hold Budge Rankin suspended. Then Will's plan was apparent. As
he climbed up farther, his weight, added to that of Budge, caused the
sapling to sway toward the ground.
"Grab me and cut the rope!" cried Budge.
"All right," replied Jack, and when his queer chum was near enough to
him, Jack seized him around the waist. Nat, with his hunting knife,
severed the thongs of deer sinew from which Long Gun had made the loop.
Then Budge was released, and he assumed an upright position on the
ground, while Will dropped from the bending tree, which straightway
sprang back to its place.
"Hu!" grunted Long Gun, with just the suspicion of a smile on his
copper-colored face. "Boy go up heap fast."
"'Sright," admitted Budge, while he began hunting through his pockets
for a piece of gum.
"What in the world did you ever put your foot in that trap for?" asked
Jack, when it was ascertained that Budge had not been injured.
"Well," he said, "I'll tell you. You see, I asked Long Gun to show me
how to make a spring trap. I thought it might come in handy when I got
back home. He showed me, and made one. But it didn't look to me as if it
would work. So I just touched the trigger with my foot, and--and----"
"We saw the rest," finished Bony. "Cracky! But I thought at first you
were giving us an exhibition of a human skyrocket."
"Or trying to imitate the gigantic bird that left the marks in the
snow," added Sam. "Let's tell Budge about it."
Which they did; and as his chum was usually pretty sharp in his
conclusions, Jack asked him what he thought it was that had made the
mysterious prints in the snow.
"It must have been a roc, one of those birds you read about in the
'Arabian Nights,'" declared Budge.
"There never were such birds," objected Jack.
"Sure there were," declared Budge. "It says so in the book."
"No one ever saw one," objected Sam.
"No, and you never saw George Washington," spoke Budge quickly. "But
you're sure he was here once, ain't you?"
"This is different," remarked Bony.
"'Sallright. You'll find that's a big bird, like a roc," declared Budge,
while he began to help the Indian get supper.
They discussed, until quite late that night, the cause of the mysterious
noises they had heard, and also what peculiar bird or beast had had the
struggle with the men. Then Jack finally declared:
"Oh, what's the use of wasting our breath over it? We can't decide what
it was. There's only one thing to do."
"What's that?" asked Sam.
"Try and find out what it was."
"How can we?"
"Well, I've got two plans. One is to make another trip on the other side
of the mountain, and go farther next time. We can search for some sort
of a camp."
"And the other plan?" asked Will.
"Is to keep watch, and see if we hear that thing passing over our camp
again. If we do, we'll throw a lot of light wood on the fire, and when
it blazes up we may catch sight of it."
"That's a good idea," declared Nat. "We'll take turns keeping watch at
night, and we'll begin right away."
They agreed that this was a good plan, and the night was divided into
six watches, one for each of the lads, as Long Gun positively refused to
have anything to do with seeking a solution of the mystery. Some light
wood was collected and piled near the camp fire, in readiness to throw
on, so as to produce a bright blaze the moment the queer noise was heard
in the air overhead.
But that night passed without incident, and so did the three following.
During the day the boys went hunting in the forest, or fishing in the
Shoshone River, having fairly good luck both on land and in the water.
It was about a week after Jack's plan of keeping night watches had been
in effect, that something happened. He had about given up hearing the
noise again, and was about ready to propose that the next day they
should go on a trip over the mountain.
It was Jack's watch, and he was sitting by the camp fire, thinking of
his father, his aunts and matters at home, and, it must be confessed, of
a certain brown-eyed girl.
"I must take a trip over to Pryor's Gap and see her," he said softly to
himself.
The fire was burning low, and Jack arose to put on some more wood. As he
did so he heard a vibration in the air, not far above the camp. Then
came what seemed to be a whirr of wings and a throbbing noise.
"The mystery! The mystery!" cried Jack, tossing an armful of light wood
on the embers.
The fire blazed up at once, and Jack looked upward. He saw a great shape
hovering over the camp, a shape that was fully sixty feet wide, and he
knew he could not be mistaken, for there were the gigantic wings
flapping. The object was flying right across the valley.
Will, Sam and Nat rushed from the tent. They had heard Jack's cry.
"Do you see it?" the watcher demanded. "Right up there!"
The fire blazed up more brightly, and in the glare of it could be dimly
seen something like a great bird.
"That's it!" cried Nat. "Gasolened grasshoppers! but what is it?"
No one answered. The throbbing and whirring grew fainter, and the shape
passed out of sight. From the tent could be heard the howling of Long
Gun, as he prayed in his own tongue.
"Quit that!" yelled Bony from the canvas shelter. "Do you want to
frighten us all to death?"
Then Long Gun's cries were muffled, and it was evident that he had
hidden his head under his blankets.
"This settles it!" declared Jack positively. "We'll make another trip
over the mountain to-morrow and see if we can't solve this."
"That's what we will!" added Nat. "First thing you know we'll wake up
some night and find ourselves gone."
They made preparations to be away all night if necessary, taking plenty
of blankets and food. Budge and Long Gun decided to remain in camp to
look after things.
"S'posin'youdon'tcomeback?" asked Budge, all in one word.
"Oh, we'll come back," replied Jack confidently. "If we don't, you and
Long Gun will have to come after us."
"Where'llyoube?"
"You'll have to hunt," was Jack's answer as he flicked his horse with
the quirt.
They had decided to do some hunting as they proceeded, and were on the
lookout for game. The weather continued fine, and the snow had
disappeared, though they might expect heavy storms almost any day, Long
Gun said.
They crossed the mountain ridge, and started down the other side,
without having had a chance to shoot anything. They reached the place
where they had seen the mysterious marks in the snow, and made a careful
examination, but could discover nothing new.
"Well, Jack, which way now?" asked Sam as they stood looking about them.
"Down the mountain," decided Jack. "I think we may get a shot at some
deer, if we don't find anything else in the valley. Long Gun said it was
a good hunting ground."
They rode on, Jack and Nat in advance. Whether their horses were better
than the steeds of their companions, or whether Jack and Nat
unconsciously urged them to greater speed, was not apparent, but the
fact was that in about an hour the two found themselves alone, having
distanced their companions.
"Let's wait for them," suggested Nat.
"No, let's keep on. It's a good trail, and they can't miss it. They'll
catch up to us soon. Maybe we can see something to shoot if we go on a
little way, or maybe----"
"Maybe we'll see that mysterious bird," finished Nat. "I believe you'd
rather find that than kill a big buck."
"Oh, I don't know," replied Jack slowly. "I'd like to get a nice buck,
but I'd also like to solve that mystery."
"Speaking of bucks," whispered Nat quickly, "look there! Two of 'em!"
He pointed to a little glade, into which they were turning, and Jack saw
two large mule deer feeding on the grass.
"A buck and a doe," he said as he raised his rifle. "I think we are
close enough to risk a shot. You take the buck, Nat. You haven't had a
good pair of horns yet, and that fellow has some beauts. We'll both fire
together."
Nat nodded to show that he understood. The deer had not scented the
young hunters, but were still quietly feeding. Slowly Jack and Nat
raised their rifles, having dismounted from their horses.
Just as they were about to pull the triggers a curious thing happened.
The deer suddenly raised their heads, and gazed at a spot to the left of
them. Then they bounded away, so swiftly that it was difficult for the
eye to follow them.
"Well, did you see that?" asked Nat. "Something scared them."
"Yes, and it wasn't us," said Jack. "We're out of sight, and the wind's
blowing from them to us. I'm going to see what it was that sent them
off."
He mounted his horse again, an example that Nat followed, and they rode
down the glade to where the deer had been feeding.
"I wonder if it could have been a bear?" asked Jack of his chum. "If it
was----"
He did not get a chance to finish the sentence, for even as he spoke the
bushes just in front of the two lads were parted, and three men stepped
into view.
"What are you lads doing here?" asked one of the strangers sternly.
"We--we were hunting," replied Jack. "We saw two deer, but they ran
before we could get a shot."
"Well, you'd better make back tracks to where you came from," said
another man gruffly. "Vamoose, you!"
"Are these private grounds?" asked Jack. "We didn't know. We're camped
on the other side of the mountain, and we understood we could hunt
here."
"Well, you can't," said the third man. "These aren't private grounds,
but we don't want you around here, so you'd better skedaddle. Move on,
now, or it won't be healthy for you."
As he spoke he advanced his rifle in a threatening manner.
"Oh, we don't want to trespass," spoke Nat. "We'll go."
"You'd better," was the grim response of the man who had first spoken.
"Clear out, and don't come here again. We don't want any spies around."
"We're not spies," said Jack, wondering that the man should use such a
term.
"Well, we don't care what you are. Clear out! That's all! Clear out!"
There was nothing to do but turn back. Slowly Jack and Nat wheeled their
horses, meanwhile narrowly eyeing the men. The trio, though roughly
dressed, did not appear like hard characters or desperadoes. They looked
like miners.
"You'll have to move faster than that," said the man who had spoken
first. "If you don't we may have to make you."
There was a movement in the bushes back of him, and Jack and Nat glanced
in that direction to see who was coming. Another figure stepped into
view, the figure of a lad well known to Jack and Nat, for it was none
other than Jerry Chowden, the former bully of Washington Hall.
"Jerry Chowden!" gasped Jack.
"Jack--Jack Ranger!" exclaimed the bully, no less surprised than were
the two lads on horses.
"Do you know him?" asked one of the men quickly of Jerry.
"Yes--er--that is----"
"Come on, you! Move away from here if you don't want to get into
trouble!" fairly shouted one of the men. He advanced toward Jack and
Nat, who, deeming discretion the better part of valor, clapped spurs to
their horses, and raced along the trail to rejoin their companions. As
they galloped on Jack gave one glance over his shoulder. He saw Jerry
Chowden in earnest conversation with the three men, and that our hero
and Nat was the subject of the talk was evident from the manner in which
the bully was pointing toward them.