The sun dropped out of the sky above the valley, glinting the rough
elevations to the east with golden light, but throwing long shadows
where the _Rambler_ lay, half in the water and half out. Still, Alex and
the dog remained away, and there were no indications of their approach.
“The next time Alex leaves the boat,” Case grumbled, “we’ll tie a rope
to him, so we can haul him back. He holds the blue ribbon for getting
lost and meeting with foolish adventures.”
Teddy, the cub bear, by this time a chosen chum of the white bulldog,
sat up on the prow of the _Rambler_, listening for the return of his
playmate, his small ears bent forward expectantly. Occasionally he
turned his nose to the west, sniffing at the light breeze now blowing
from that direction. Clay called Case’s attention to the movements of
the cub.
“I believe he scents Captain Joe!” the boy said. “He appears to be
uneasy and expectant. The little chap has us beaten when it comes to
discovering an approach not yet in sight. Anyway, he scents something.”
The boys were not in the boat, which lay at a great angle, the prow
being on the land and the stern in the water, but were standing half
concealed in the undergrowth which here fringed the natural levee. As
the shadows grew longer, the boat more indistinct, a rustling was heard
in the brush away to the west, up the rivulet, and then a heavy figure
shambled into view. Case caught Clay by the arm and whispered:
“That’s Alex coming back with some of his monkeyshines! We’ll just lie
still and see what he’ll make of the rakish attitude of the _Rambler_.
Captain Joe is not with him, so he must have told the dog to lay low
while he plays a trick on us. We’ll show him.”
The figure which had left the undergrowth was merely a dark bulk, moving
cautiously toward the boat, on the same side of the pool as that on
which the boys stood. It was without outline, and would not have been
observed if it had remained stationary. It drew nearer to the _Rambler_
noiselessly, like a person resolved to surprise an unsuspecting foe.
Teddy now began uttering low, coaxing whines, almost like those of a
puppy at sight of its mother, and the boys hastily drew out their
automatics and their searchlights, without which they never left the
boat. The moving figure sprang forward, and then the growl that came out
of the darkness left no doubt in the minds of the boys as to what it was
that was paying a visit to their boat. Case pulled Clay by the arm
again.
“That is a grizzly!” he cried. “A grizzly weighing about a ton and a
half, come to see if Teddy is perfectly contented in his new home.
“Don’t shoot!” warned Clay. “We may not be as lucky as you were in the
bush back yonder, and a wounded grizzly is a wicked thing to fight. Wait
and see what she will do. Sure as you live, she’s going to board the
_Rambler_! What do you think Teddy will do?”
“The question with me,” Case replied, “is not what Teddy will do, but
what the bear will do. She can make a mess of that cabin in about a
minute and a half! If I thought I wouldn’t hit Teddy, I’d shoot and
frighten her off. Wish we could reach the switch that throws on the prow
light! That would give her a shock, all right.”
“Oh, let them have their visit!” Clay replied, with a silent but
pronounced chuckle. “We ought to feel grateful to the bear for going to
the trouble of calling on us. I hope Captain Joe will keep away for a
while yet. He would make trouble, I’m afraid. Hear the two talking
together! I’d like to know what kind of a tale Teddy is telling.”
Teddy was whining like a puppy and the newcomer was uttering low and
threatening growls. It was evident that she knew that hostile creatures
were not far away. The boys could see only the dim figures moving about,
but it seemed that the bear was trying to coax Teddy away, and that
Teddy was trying to obey but was held back by the rope.
“She’ll bite through the rope!” Case whispered, “and Teddy will get away
if we don’t do something before long. Alex wouldn’t like to lose the
little scamp. Suppose we throw a bit of electricity at her,” he went on.
“She might run at the sight of the light.”
Presently they heard a crash in the cabin, as if the grizzly had taken
full possession there and was rearranging the furniture to suit her
personal tastes. It sounded as if she had climbed up on the table and
broken it down with her great weight. Clay’s whispered estimate was that
she must weigh nearly a ton.
“I know what she’s doing,” Clay chuckled. “There is a box of sugar on a
shelf near the door, and she is trying to get that. She’s got her nerve,
to invite herself to supper and then break the furniture!”
A shot and a loud call now came from the dark forest, and Captain Joe’s
deep voice came booming out of the shadows. The boy and the dog were
returning, and the situation was becoming more complicated.
“If Captain Joe comes up,” Clay whispered, “he’ll attack the bear, and
she’ll give him one swipe and then there won’t be any Captain Joe. We’ll
have to turn on our lights and shoot. Only be careful!”
The dog’s voice came nearer and nearer. It was evident that Alex was
bringing in some kind of game, and that Captain Joe was making a kind of
triumphal progress for him!
The grizzly was now making a great noise in the cabin, and Teddy was
expressing his anger at the lack of attention. The boys crept toward the
boat and waited for the bear to emerge from the cabin, so they could get
a shot at her, but she seemed satisfied with the trouble she was making
on the inside and remained there. Clay moved along toward the prow, his
automatic ready for use.
“What now?” demanded Case, keeping at his side.
“I’m going to turn on the prow light,” Clay replied. “We can’t do any
shooting by the light of the electrics. If she moves at all, as she
will, of course, she’ll be in the dark. Don’t come with me, but get
where you can shoot without hitting me. I’ll be at the back of the boat,
understand? Alex and the dog are not far away now, and so we’ve got to
do whatever is done right quick. Don’t miss when you shoot!”
“I won’t miss if I can help it,” replied the boy. “You don’t think I
want to be devoured by the bear, do you. Shoot straight yourself!”
Clay moved slowly back, entered the water, clinging to the side of the
boat, now rocking violently because of the tumbling going on inside the
cabin, and finally reached out for the electric switch.
When Alex and Captain Joe emerged from the thicket, a second later, they
saw a sight which stopped their breath as well as their legs for an
instant. The deck of the _Rambler_ lay at an angle of about thirty
degrees, cocked up on wheels in front and resting in the water at the
rear. On the prow sat Teddy, all wound up in his rope because of his
twistings to get away, and from out the door of the cabin looked the
stolid face of a huge grizzly bear, her little eyes flaming with rage,
her teeth showing where the snarling lips were drawn back. Neither Clay
nor Case was in sight.
Captain Joe bounded forward at first, but stopped at a call from the
boy. Teddy sat up straighter and welcomed the dog with a whine, thus
transferring his loyalty from the bear to the canine.
“Hey, there!” Alex called out. “Where are you? I didn’t know we kept
furnished rooms to rent on the _Rambler_! Who’s your new tenant?”
Then shots came from the prow of the boat and bruin rushed for the deck,
but the incline was considerable and one of the shots had taken effect
in her shoulder, so she fell and rolled, snarling, back to the door of
the cabin. More shots came from the prow, and she arose and struck at
the air with her great paws, as if trying to meet the bullets with all
her brute force.
Presently she fell, wounded to the death, and then Alex saw Case and
Clay enter the lighted space and fire shot after shot at the bear.
“Save the lead!” the boy called. “Come back, Captain Joe!”
But Captain Joe had no intention of missing the final act in the tragedy
in progress on the deck of the _Rambler_. He sprang to the side of the
boat, looked up at the elevated prow, expressed his disapproval of the
arrangement by a low growl, and, walking back, entered the rivulet and
so climbed over the lower end of the vessel, where it lay down in the
water. Teddy watched him with twinkling eyes as he approached the body
of the bear. Satisfied that the grizzly was harmless, the dog slipped up
to the cub and looked him over. The boys broke into laughter.
“Captain Joe knows that there’s been trouble here,” Clay said. “He is
sizing up the damage. Wise old scout, that.”
“Suppose we size up the damage in the cabin?” Case exclaimed, darting
through the doorway and switching on the lights.
The cabin was in a mess, to express it mildly. Bruin had broken down the
table while trying to reach the sugar, and the bear stew left over from
dinner was standing in puddles on the floor. The coal heater was
standing at an alarming angle—one of the legs having been knocked out
from under it. The bunks looked as if the bear had tried to sleep in
each one of them and found them all inconvenient on account of size.
“Never mind,” Alex cried, “I’ve got plenty of game out on the bank.
We’ll have a partridge supper, and give Teddy an extra share for
bringing this big fellow here. Say, but he’s a monster, isn’t he?”
“That is a she bear,” replied Case. “A she bear, like the one that came
out of the wilderness and devoured forty children because they called a
prophet names. I hated to shoot her, because she came here as a guest,
but I thought I’d rather eat her than have her eat me.”
“Teddy seemed to make friends with her until Captain Joe arrived,” Clay
declared, “but when the dog showed up the cub’s allegiance turned to
him. Which is the way of the world, after all!”
The boys set to work straightening up the cabin and, this accomplished,
they dragged the great carcase of the grizzly to the shore and proceeded
to skin it. Some of the meat was laid away for the next day, Alex’s
catch providing for the supper that night.
“We’ll have to draw lots for the rug the hide will make,” Clay said, as,
hunter fashion, they worked salt into the green skin and hung it up.
“I ought to have it,” Alex insisted. “I shot the first bear.”
“Case ought to have it,” Clay advised, “because he shot this one.”
“Oh, well,” Alex considered, “we’ll all have this one in the club room
we’re going to fit up in Chicago this winter.”
“Now, about supper,” Case began, as they all assembled on the deck
again. “How are we going to cook supper on this tipsy old boat?”
“We can build a big fire on shore,” suggested Clay.
This was finally agreed to, and a roaring fire soon shot up in the
tangle on the north bank of the creek. There supper was cooked and
eaten, and then thoughts of sleep came to the tired boys.
“I think we’ve done wrong in building this fire,” Clay said. “We might
just as well have sent up rockets telling our enemies where we are.”
“I don’t believe there’s any one within forty miles of us,” Alex put in,
optimistically.
“What about the signals burned on the rock up stream?” asked Clay.
“Oh, that was a long way off. We’d better be thinking of how we’re going
to pull this boat around the rapids than worrying over people hidden in
the bushes, watching Case eat more than is good for him. He’s a
wonderful hand at table,” he added, as Case threw a potato at his head.
“But, then,” he added, in a conciliatory tone, “I’m something of an
eater myself.”
“Who’s going to watch to-night?” asked Case, presently. “Some one ought
to. I don’t think we ought to take chances, here on the shore. There may
be more bears in the woods.”
It was finally arranged that Case should watch until midnight, and that
Alex should relieve him then. Somehow, there was an uneasy feeling in
the air.