FACING THE WOLVES
"So this is how you treat me, eh?" exclaimed old Barney Stevenson, as he
confronted the visitors. "Come here to do as you please while I'm away,
eh?" and his face showed his intense displeasure.
"They wanted to go into your cabin, but we wouldn't let them do it while
you were away," said Jack quickly.
"Good for you, boys--I'm glad you kept 'em out."
"See here, Stevenson, this nonsense has got to end!" cried Slogwell
Brown. "You know as well as I do that you have no valid claim to this
island."
"The island belongs to me, Brown, and I intend to keep it!" was the
quick reply. "I've got my deed for it."
"That deed is no good, and you know it," broke in Asa Lemm.
"Look here! if you are so sure that Mr. Stevenson is in the wrong, why
don't you go to law about it?" questioned Jack, struck by a sudden idea.
"See here, boy, this is none of your affair," growled Slogwell Brown.
"We'll conduct our own business in our own way."
"And I'll conduct my own business in my own way, too!" interposed Uncle
Barney. "You get off of this island--all of you--just as quick as you
can," and he started as if to raise his gun.
"Now, see here, Stevenson----" began Slogwell Brown.
"We have rights----" came from Asa Lemm.
"I've listened to you before. I'm not going to listen again!"
interrupted the old lumberman. "You haven't any right on this island,
and I'm ordering you--every one of you--to get off just as soon as you
can. You're trespassers--nothing else!" and now he raised his gun as if
getting ready to shoot.
"Come on, let us go back!" cried Professor Lemm in sudden terror, and he
retreated several steps, followed by Slugger and Nappy.
"See here, Stevenson, you'll be sorry for this some day," growled
Slogwell Brown. He had still too much of the fight left in him to
retreat, and yet he was not brave enough to advance.
"I'll take my chances!" returned Uncle Barney. "I've got those deeds,
and I know they are all O. K. Now, you clear out--and don't you dare to
come here again!"
"Why won't you let me see those deeds?" questioned the other man.
"Because I won't--that's why!"
"I came on purpose to look them over and show you your mistake."
"Maybe he hasn't got any deeds," came from Nappy, who had fallen back
still further.
"I've got those deeds safe and sound--in a box--and put away where you
fellows can't find 'em!" answered the old lumberman triumphantly. "Now
you get out! I'll give you just five minutes to do it in. Jack, you time
'em, will you?" and he glanced at the oldest Rover boy.
"Sure, I will!" was the ready reply, and Jack pulled out his watch.
"It's now exactly twelve minutes past four."
"All right. Then you've got until seventeen minutes after four to get
off of this island," announced Barney Stevenson to the visitors. "If you
are not off by that time, there'll most likely be some shooting around
here."
He had taken his place in front of his cabin, and all of the boys were
now ranged beside him. As each was armed, they made quite a formidable
looking firing squad.
Much against his will, Slogwell Brown retreated to where Professor Lemm
and the others of the crowd stood. The four talked matters over in a low
tone.
"It's too bad we came here unarmed," grumbled Slogwell Brown.
"That's just what I say, Dad!" answered his son. "Let's go back and get
some guns and pistols."
"No! no! We don't want any shooting!" cried Asa Lemm in new alarm.
"I'm not going to get mixed up in any gun-play," added Nappy.
"If we could only get possession of those deeds!" went on the former
teacher of Colby Hall.
"I've got a plan," suggested Nappy, after a moment's pause. "Come on,
let's go away now, and I'll tell you what it is."
Growling and grumbling, the four visitors made their way slowly to the
lake shore. As they skated off, Slugger Brown turned to shake his fist
at the Rovers, and Nappy did likewise.
"Well, they've gone!" exclaimed Fred, and his voice showed his relief.
"But there's no telling when they'll come back," said Randy quickly.
"I don't think they'll come back in a hurry," broke in Andy. "We scared
them pretty thoroughly with our guns."
"What did they say to you before I came?" questioned Uncle Barney, while
the party on the lake was disappearing in the gloom.
Thereupon the boys related the particulars of all that had taken place,
the old lumberman listening closely to the recital. At the end, he shut
his teeth and shook his head grimly.
"The rascals!" he ejaculated. "If it hadn't been for you, they would
most likely have ransacked both of the cabins, and maybe, if they had
gotten hold of my extra gun or my pistol, taken possession and made me
keep away."
"Oh, they would have taken possession all right enough!" cried Jack.
"But if the island is really yours, Uncle Barney, I don't see why you
couldn't have had them arrested for anything like that."
"I told you before--I have no use for lawyers or law courts," grumbled
the old lumberman. "All I want to do is to stay here and not be
disturbed. I've got my deeds, and that's enough."
"Are you sure they are in a safe place?" questioned Jack. "I mean, some
place where those rascals can't get at them?"
"I've got 'em in a tin box, and put away safe enough."
"I hope you haven't got them hidden around one of the cabins," said
Fred. "They'd be sure to find them if they came here some time when you
were away, and made a search."
"I haven't got 'em in or near either of the cabins. I've got 'em in a
better place than that," was the cunning reply.
"You really ought to have them recorded, Uncle Barney; and then maybe it
wouldn't be a bad scheme to put them in a safe deposit box in a bank,"
said Jack.
"Oh, they're safe enough--don't you fear!" answered the old man. It was
plainly to be seen that he was bound to have his own way in everything
he did.
Satisfied that the visitors had left the island for the time being, the
boys followed the old lumberman into his own cabin, and there helped him
to start up the fire. He told them that he had shipped off the wild
turkey as desired.
The evening passed quietly, and in the morning the boys found themselves
thoroughly rested.
"It's a grand day for hunting!" exclaimed Fred, as he went outside to
view the landscape. The sun was just peeping over the trees on the
eastern shore of Lake Monona, and soon the dazzling shafts of light were
streaming over the ice and snow in all directions.
"Do you think Asa Lemm and those others will be back to-day?" queried
Randy.
"There's no telling," answered Jack.
While some of the boys were preparing breakfast, the others walked over
to Uncle Barney's cabin. They found the old lumberman already stirring,
and invited him to come over and eat his morning meal with them, an
invitation which he readily accepted, for he had taken a great liking to
all of the Rovers.
"We've been thinking of trying those snowshoes, Uncle Barney," said
Jack.
"No time like the present, boys," was the answer. "I'll show you how to
put 'em on, and how to use 'em, too."
"Won't you go out hunting with us?" questioned Fred.
"No; I'm going to stay around the cabins, in case those rascals come
back. I don't think they will, but there is nothing like being on the
safe side."
The hour after the morning meal was productive of a good deal of fun.
None of the boys had ever used snowshoes before, and consequently in
their efforts to move around on them, they got more than one tumble.
"Great watermelons!" cried Andy, as he pitched headfirst into a
snowdrift. "And I thought using snowshoes was the easiest thing in the
world!"
"It's just like plain walking, Andy; it's got to be learned," answered
Jack, who, a moment before, had had a tumble himself.
Finally, however, the boys managed to remain on their feet fairly well,
and then they started off to do a little hunting along the eastern shore
of the island.
"I don't know as you'll be able to stir up very much to-day," announced
Uncle Barney. "But even a few rabbits and a few squirrels won't be so
bad."
They carried a lunch with them, not knowing whether they would get back
to the cabin by noon or not. They were soon gliding over the snow where
something of a trail led through the woods.
They tramped a good half mile before they saw anything in the way of
game. Then several squirrels appeared, and Fred and Andy had the
satisfaction of laying them low with their shotguns. Then they tramped
on further, and by noon managed to obtain a rabbit and two woodcocks.
"Not so bad but what it might be worse," announced Jack, who had the
rabbit to his credit. "We won't go hungry, that's sure!"
"And don't forget that we've got those wild turkeys to eat," added Andy,
who had laid low the two woodcocks.
Being unaccustomed to the use of snowshoes, the lads were glad to rest.
They built themselves a little campfire, and, huddling around this,
partook of the lunch they had brought along, washing it down with some
hot chocolate from a thermos bottle they carried.
The lunch finished, they set off once again, this time going deeper into
the woods than ever.
"Listen!" cried Jack presently. "I thought I heard some game stirring."
All came to a halt and listened intently. From a distance they heard a
peculiar drumming sound.
"Partridges, I'll bet anything!" cried Randy in a low voice. "Come on,
let's see if we can't get some of them."
He led the way over the snow, and the others were not slow in following.
They had reached a point where the trees grew sparingly, and where there
were a great number of rocks and brushwood.
They could hear a strange fluttering, and then a number of partridges
arose in the air some distance in front of them. All took hasty aim and
fired, but the game sailed out of sight unharmed.
"That's the time we missed it," observed Jack dismally. "I guess we made
too much noise and they heard us."
"Listen!" interrupted Randy. "There is some sort of fight going on
ahead."
He was right; and, listening, they made out a strange bark mingled with
a snarl and several yelps.
"Let's go ahead and see what it means!" exclaimed Andy, and pushed on,
with the others close behind him.
The boys had to skirt some heavy brushwood, and then came out in a small
cleared space surrounded by numerous big rocks and pine trees. The
strange noises they had heard had come from between two of the large
rocks, and now, of a sudden, several forms, snapping and snarling and
whirling this way and that in the snow, burst upon their view.
"Wolves!"
"Four of them!"
"They are all fighting over the possession of a dead partridge!"
Four gaunt and hungry-looking wolves had come tumbling out in the snow.
One of them was carrying a dead partridge in his mouth, and the other
three were doing their best to get the game away from him. As the Rovers
came into the opening, the wolves, for an instant, stopped their
fighting and glared at the boys. Then the animal having the game made a
sudden leap over the rocks and disappeared from view. The three wolves
that remained began to snap and snarl and show their teeth.
"Gracious! they are certainly hungry-looking beggars!" was Randy's
comment.
"Come on, let's shoot them!" exclaimed Jack.
"They're no good for game," interposed Randy.
"I know that, Randy. But we don't want them on the island, and neither
does Uncle Barney."
"I thought he said there weren't very many wolves left. Maybe----"
Fred, who was speaking, got no further, for at that moment the three
hungry-looking wolves crouched low, and then sprang straight in the
direction of the four young hunters!