"Ahoy! there, Bluff!"
Frank put both hands to his mouth, using them in lieu of a speaking
trumpet; for really the children were making so much racket close by,
that it was a difficult thing to be heard.
"What is it, Frank?" shouted a voice from one of the cabin windows on
that quarter of the boat.
"You must scare the cat around to this side, so I can get a crack at
him!" continued Frank.
"Sure! I understand that; but how can I do it?" demanded the willing
Bluff; and had Frank suggested that he creep out, and make faces around
the corner of the cabin at the panther, the reckless fellow would
probably have agreed; for he placed the greatest dependence possible on
his chum's ability to shoot straight.
But, of course, Frank had not the slightest intention of placing the
life of a chum in peril, when there were other means at hand for
inducing the panther to whip around the cabin.
"Got your gun handy, Bluff?" continued the boy in the dinghy.
"Right here; and only waiting for a chance to give him every charge it
holds, Frank," came the ready reply.
"Well, hold on till I get just where I want to be," continued the other.
"Then, when you hear me give a whoop, bang away several times out of the
windows on the _other side_ of the cabin. And the rest of you in there,
yell for all you're worth. That ought to fetch him."
Frank knew that an animal can only grasp one idea at a time. In its
sudden alarm the panther would undoubtedly forget all about its cause
for vigilance with regard to the human being in the boat, and the
chances were strongly in favor of its rushing around to the side of the
cabin that was free from the new disturbance.
So Frank, using his paddle once more, manipulated the little boat until
he had placed it just where he wished, and in a position for a clear
shot, should his artful plan succeed.
Then, as he grasped his ready rifle, he gave the promised whoop.
The family in the treetop must have discovered that the crisis had
arrived in their fortunes, for even the two children temporarily stopped
shrieking; and were eagerly watching the boy in the little boat.
Immediately a tremendous racket broke out on the other side of the
houseboat. A gun was discharged several times. There was also loud yells
from three voices, even old Luther joining in with vigor.
Frank swung his gun up to his shoulder, and his eye glanced along the
shining barrel. He could give a pretty accurate guess as to the exact
spot where the panther must show up; and he was covering that place.
Just as he expected, the alarmed beast, forgetting its former design of
keeping away from the enemy in the cockleshell of a boat that danced on
the heaving water of the Mississippi, came leaping around the corner of
the cabin. Possibly it had taken a sudden notion to return once more to
its former perch among the lower limbs of the floating tree; since the
houseboat did not seem to be such a desirable location after all, with
all those noises so close by.
Frank did not wait to find out. He had no idea of troubling the panther
by asking its intentions. The opportunity for which he had been waiting
so long was now within his grasp; and as quickly as he could properly
aim at the beast his finger only too eagerly pressed the trigger.
There was a single report, not at all like the crash of Bluff's heavy
shotgun. Immediately a shout broke forth from within the cabin, showing
that no sooner had those in hiding carried out their part of the
proceedings, than they jumped over to the other windows to see what
would happen.
"You got him that time, Frank!" Bluff was heard to whoop.
"Oh! and this wire mesh prevented me from snapping him decently; I'm
sure it won't be even a halfway good picture!" echoed Will.
"Bully boy!" shouted Jerry, from the branches of the tree.
Frank was satisfied, for he saw the beast kicking his last on the deck
of the houseboat which he had boarded, and taken full possession of, in
such a bold and unheard-of manner.
Then, a couple of seconds later, the door of the cabin burst open, to
allow Bluff to rush upon the deck, carrying his weapon; and evidently
only wishing that some power would give the cat the balance of its nine
lives, so that it might regain its feet, and make it necessary for him
to pour in a volley at close quarters.
But even as he arrived upon the scene it seemed to become still.
"It's dead, Frank!" cried Bluff, in what seemed to be a disappointed
voice.
"Glad to hear it," returned the other, as he dropped his gun, and took
to the paddle once more; for he knew that they must get the wretched
fugitives of the flood out of the treetop before it separated from the
houseboat.
"Hand down the woman first, and then the children," he said to the man,
when he arrived at a place that seemed convenient for the transfer;
"I'll put them aboard the houseboat, and then come back for you."
By using great care, he managed to get them in the small dinghy, and
paddled over to the larger craft. Those on board assisted them on deck,
after which Frank, after handing up his rifle, to be rid of it, went
back for the man and Jerry.
When they too had been safely transferred, Frank insisted that they
separate the tree from the _Pot Luck_, so that they could move along
faster. Will was busy with his camera about this time, determined to get
as much of the affair on the records as possible.
Once the boat floated free from the slower moving tree, Frank set Jerry
to work getting something to eat for the hungry fugitives, who had been
made as comfortable as some blankets in the cabin could accomplish. The
children had brightened up with the improved look of things. They
watched Jerry working at the stove, and a smile of anticipation came
over their childish faces as they had a scent of cooking bacon and
boiling coffee.
Meanwhile Frank and Bluff and Luther Snow were examining the dead
panther.
"Bigger than any we ever saw before; isn't it, Frank?" asked Bluff, as
he turned the beast over, to see where the fatal bullet had entered
behind the foreleg, just as Frank had intended when he fired.
"I never saw a larger, if you want my opinion, lads," remarked Luther
Snow; "and I certainly have shot a round dozen of the animals in my
time."
"We must try and keep the pelt, Frank," observed Will. "It will make a
great addition to our collection; and as a mat, with the head on, it'd
look fine."
Frank, upon asking the man about the misfortune that had befallen him,
learned of the terrible nature of the flood that had taken the residents
of the country up one of the Mississippi's tributaries by surprise.
Their house was washed away during the night; and with the coming of
dawn they found themselves floating down the swollen river, and out upon
the great Mississippi.
When later on they discovered, as they clung to the roof of the
building, that it was slowly but surely going to pieces, they hastened
to climb into the treetop, as it came along, just as though sent by a
kind Providence.
Hardly had the exchange been made than their house went to pieces. And
then the alarming discovery was made that they were not the only
passengers aboard this novel craft; for one of the children shrieked out
that a great cat lay along one of the big lower limbs, watching them
with yellow eyes.
What that man and his wife suffered during all the time that elapsed
before assistance came, with the gradual approach of the houseboat on
the scene, can only be imagined, not described. He had no weapon save a
pocket knife. This he had held open in his hand, determined to stand
between the hungry panther and his dear ones, should the worst happen.
They told Frank that they had lost all of their possessions, save the
land itself, by the coming of this cloudburst; but as they had relatives
in a town down the river a few more miles, if the boys could put them
ashore there, they would be very grateful.
Jerry cooked a double allowance of food, since he felt pity for the
unfortunates, and was anxious to see those hungry children eat their
fill, for once. They did not look as though they had seen much else than
hominy, three times a day, and scant allowances even at that.
Keeping in as close to the shore as seemed wise, Frank, an hour or so
later, began to look for signs of the town mentioned. It proved to be
not much of a place, but doubtless to the homeless family the wretched
houses appeared like palaces.
The boys found that they could run in close to shore, and anchor. Then
the skiff came into play again, in ferrying the family to dry land.
Frank was glad that they had had a chance to be of help to those in
distress. He would have offered to assist the man with a little money,
but the other assured him that he was supplied to some extent; and that
his father lived there, who would gladly take them all in.
And so, after shaking hands all around, they saw the four late
passengers of the floating treetop land; after which the voyage was
resumed.
The incident gave the chums plenty to talk about for the balance of the
day; and as was natural, it seemed to revive various other affairs in
the past, which had come their way. To all of this conversation old
Luther seemed to enjoy listening greatly. He would sit there without
saying a word, and taking it all in; while a queer little smile would
occasionally cross his face, of which the observing Frank could make
nothing.
During the day Frank managed to remove the pelt of his prize, and it was
fastened with nails against the cabin wall, in a place where the sun
could seldom strike it; for skins must always be dried in the shade. And
every time he looked at it, in days to come, doubtless Frank would
always see the strange picture of the flooded river; the houseboat
interlocked with the floating tree; the family and Jerry perched amidst
the branches; and that savage beast owner for the time being of the
gallant _Pot Luck_.