ICHABOD GETS A BIG SURPRISE
It was about daybreak on the following morning when the sleepy
Ichabod stumbled from his bed and wobbled out into the open, rubbing
his eyes. He gathered the dry stuff for the campfire, which had gone
out, and proceeded to make a smudge which got into his eyes, causing
him further distress.
The colored man had fussed about his duties for a full half hour,
when taking a pail he started for the river to fetch water which he
would boil for the use of the outfit. Reaching the point where the
prisoner had been tied to the tree Ichabod halted, rubbing his eyes
and scratching his head. He was confident that something was wrong,
but in his sleepy condition he was not quite sure for the moment what
that something was. The sight of the rope lying at the foot of the
tree jogged his memory into sudden activity.
Ichabod uttered a yell. Bill Lilly was outside his tent in a
twinkling, followed quickly by the other members of the party, Tad
Butler being the last to leave his tent. Tad appeared to be in no
great haste.
"What is it, Icha?" shouted Lilly.
"Him--him done gwine away."
"Eh, what?"
"De 'Gator done gwine away, sah."
"Not the prisoner? You don't mean he has escaped?"
"Ya-a-a-a."
The guide covered the ground to the tree in long strides. He halted
suddenly upon observing the rope lying where it had been thrown. An
ugly expression spread slowly over Bill Lilly's face.
"Has his horse been taken?"
"Yes, the horse is gone too," answered Ned Rector.
"Get ready! We must run him down," shouted Billy.
"What is the use? Why not let him go? He has had his lesson,"
answered Tad.
"I am of the same opinion," agreed Professor Zepplin. "We did not
come down here to chase criminals, but rather to follow the game
trails. We have been in the canebrake for some time, and all we have
got has been a small doe. My boys want a bear-hunt, Mr. Lilly, not a
manhunt."
Billy reflected, tugging at his moustache. In a measure his
reputation was at stake. His party simply must get a bear, or his
reputation would suffer.
"You shall have a bear," he answered almost savagely.
Tad grinned, well pleased with the decision. As yet no suspicion
attached to him. In good time Butler would tell them about it, but
there need be no hurry to stir up trouble. The boy smiled to himself.
He was happy in his little secret. He felt that Pete had been
punished enough, and was sure that they would not be bothered by him
again. Pete had had too great a scare to warrant him in annoying them
further.
Lilly had grabbed some cold food, and, taking his hound leader with
him, started out on horseback, telling the others that he was going
out to see if he could locate a trail. He said he would be back
before noon. Instead of being away most of the morning the guide was
back in an hour.
"I've located a fresh trail," he announced. "It isn't more than an
hour old at best. It's a she-bear and a fine one. We'll get this
one or know the reason why. I have done the best I could. You know
I can't make 'bear sign' if it isn't there. We frequently have to
wait for weeks for a good trail. We are lucky in finding this one,
for it might have been a young bear, and no great sport."
The boys were all excitement on the instant. They began making
hurried preparations for the chase, which all felt was going to
result in something worth while.
"Master Tad, I want you to ride back towards Turtle Bayou. You know
the way. I think she is heading that way. About a mile before you
reach the bayou you will find a ridge of cane leading off to the
northwest. It is what is known as the Big Cane Ridge. This she-bear
has come over from the southern ridge, and, unless I am much mistaken,
she is heading for the Big Ridge. She will stop some time this
forenoon for food and rest, and if you take the short cut you ought
to get to the ridge ahead of her."
"Do I go alone?"
"Yes, you will make better time. We don't want to lose this one.
Once she gets on the Big Ridge we shan't get her at all. Now hustle
yourself. Lay your course by the compass two points north of
northwest and hold it. That will land you at the exact spot I want
you to reach. You will have to use your bush-knife all the way.
It's a new trail and a hard one, but you will eat it up."
Tad hastily stowed food in the pockets of his saddle, then looked to
his weapons, his rope and his other equipment.
"Don't take any chances in case you should come up with the old she,
but shoot and shoot to kill."
"And be sure that you don't get lost," added the Professor.
"I shall leave a trail that can be followed, even if I do lose my
way," answered Tad, leaping into his saddle. Swinging his hand in
parting salute to his companions he rode away, putting his mount to
its best loping run.
Thirty minutes later the rest of the party with the hounds were also
riding away to pick up the trail. The dogs were tugging at their
leashes before they reached the trail.
"They've got the scent already," cried Lilly. "Now look out for a
chase. It is going to be a hard run and a fast ride, but you boys
are good for it."
"You bet we are!" shouted the Pony Rider Boys.
"I hope we, instead of Tad Butler, get the bear. He has had enough
fun," complained Ned Rector.
"We stand the best chance," answered Lilly. "She will lie down to
rest, and during that hour we shall get up to her."
The hounds were released soon after that. They were off with yelps
of joy, tearing along the trail with the horses of the Pony Riders
close behind them.
"This is a real joy ride," howled the fat boy, his face already
flecked with blood, his clothing torn, from contact with brush and
low-hanging limbs, for he was riding close up behind the guide.
"No, Tad is having that," corrected Ned. "He hasn't anything to hold
him back, either. He can go as fast as he wishes without having to
consider anyone else."
By this time the voices of the dogs were to be heard faintly in the
distance. A short time later they were too far away to be heard at
all.
In the meantime Tad Butler was hewing his way through the cypress
swamp, through occasional thin ridges of cane, over rough ground,
keeping his muscular little mount down to work every second of the
time.
Tad did not have much time to think about anything save the work in
hand. He did not know that he was rapidly converging on the trail of
the she-bear.
About two o'clock in the afternoon the lad first heard the yelping of
the hounds. They seemed to be approaching him obliquely, which in
fact they were.
Tad pulled up sharply and listened. After a short time he rode
about, getting the lay of the land, trying to decide in his own mind
just what course the bear would take and where his best vantage point
would be for getting a shot at her. There was no sound of the
approach of the Pony Riders. He knew that they had been distanced
perhaps by some miles, and that what was done here Tad Butler would
be obliged to do on his own account. He now saw the wisdom of Billy
Lilly's plan. Billy, too, had given Tad the better end of the chase,
which, as Tad believed, had been done with fore-thought. For this
Butler was thankful. He wanted to get a bear.
The lad showed his excitement only in his eyes. Otherwise he was
cool and deliberate in all his actions.
Suddenly the yelping of the hounds changed. They were sounding a new
note. The yelping had given place to deep baying sounds.
"They've got her!" cried the boy, digging the rowels of his spurs
into the sides of his mount. The little animal leaped forward and
fairly tore through the brush, with the boy urging her on to renewed
efforts regardless of the peril to his own person. Butler knew that
baying well. He had heard it before, the first time in the Rocky
Mountains, and he knew that there was an animal at bay. He was
careful to make as little noise as possible. All at once he burst
out into an open space where a strange sight met his gaze.
A huge she-bear was lying on the ground, flat on her back, her paws
in the air, as a bear at bay frequently does. She was surrounded by
a circle of baying dogs, each trying for an opening to get in a
vicious bite.
Tad halted in amazement. He at first thought the beast had been
wounded. He saw, however, that she was resting, taking her ease,
with her paws in the air, regardless of the savage hounds snapping at
her haunches.
"Well, of all the cool nerve I ever heard!" exclaimed the boy.
Now and then a hound, more venturesome than the rest, would dive in
for a bite, whereupon, quick as a flash, a heavy paw would swing on
the animal, sending it tumbling away yelping with pain. So
interested was the Pony Rider Boy that it did not occur to him to
shoot. He did not know whether or not Mrs. Bruin had seen or scented
him. Then, again, it was not any too safe to try a shot at her with
the hounds leaping in and out, dodging here and there. When she got
up he would get a better sight and a safer shot.
Tad waited several minutes, the bear still taking her ease. She
appeared absolutely without fear of the dogs that were nagging her.
"I'm going to stir her up," declared Tad with sudden resolution. He
threw his rifle to his shoulder and sat his horse waiting a favorable
opportunity to let drive at the old she-bear.
A faint puff of smoke, a detonating crash, woke the forest echoes.
Tad's pony, startled, leaped into the air and to one side. The Pony
Rider boy, caught wholly off his guard, disappeared from the saddle
in a twinkling, landing on the ground.
The boy toppled over and lay still. He was too dazed for the moment
to pull himself together.
In the meantime things were taking place before him. The beast had
suddenly lunged to her feet, uttering growls of rage, her little eyes
fixed on the cause of her distress, on the prostrate boy, a bullet
from whose rifle had shattered the bone of her left shoulder.
Suddenly she lunged toward him, pausing to snap and bite at the
hounds that were trying to throw themselves upon her, but whom she
warded off with paw, her jaws wide open and dripping.
The big she-bear was ambling toward Tad Butler at great speed.