JACK FREES HIS MIND
"Jump for your lives!"
"Shoot them!"
These cries had scarcely been made when Jack's gun rang out and the
foremost of the three wolves was hit in the foreleg. He gave a plunge,
and rolled over in the snow, snapping and snarling viciously. The report
of the weapon was followed by the discharge of Randy's gun, but his aim
was wild and the charge passed harmlessly over the heads of the wolves.
"Shoot them!"
"Club them!"
Then another shot rang out as Fred swung into action. It was at close
range, and the charge of shot tore directly into the throat of the
leading wolf, causing him to leap high into the air, and then fall over
on his back. He plunged for a moment, sending the snow flying in every
direction, and then lay still.
Shocked evidently by the fate that had overtaken both of his
companions, the third wolf came to a sudden halt. With eyes glaring
fiercely, he snapped and then leaped for the nearest rocks.
[Illustration: THE WOLF RECEIVED A BLOW THAT BOWLED HIM OVER.
_Page 260_]
"Shoot him, somebody! We want to get all three of them!"
Crack! Bang! went a rifle and a shotgun almost simultaneously, but the
aim of the two marksmen was poor, and only a few scattering shots went
through the tail of the wolf. Then, with a wild yelp, he disappeared
behind the rocks, and that was the last seen of him. In the meantime,
the wounded beast was snapping and snarling most ferociously. He sent a
shower of loose snow toward the Rovers, and then made a desperate leap
at Jack.
It was a time of dire peril, and no one realized it more than did the
oldest Rover boy. He attempted to retreat, but to do so in snowshoes was
too much for him, and over he went on his side in a deep bank of snow,
almost disappearing from view.
"The wolf is on top of Jack!"
"Shoot him--but be careful and don't hit Jack!"
"Don't fire!" gasped Randy. "You'll hit Jack sure!" and then, as well as
he was able, he sprang to the front, using his gun as a club as he did
so. Around came the stock with a wide swing, and the wolf received a
blow in the side that bowled him over and over.
This second attack, coming after he had been wounded in the foreleg, was
too much for the animal, and with a yelp of sudden fear he went limping
and leaping through the snow, sending the loose particles flying all
about him. One of the boys discharged his gun after the beast, but
whether he hit the animal or not he could not tell. In another moment
the wolf was out of sight.
"Do you think any of them will come back?" panted Andy, who was quite
out of breath with excitement.
"I don't think so," answered Jack. "However, let us reload just as
quickly as we can and be ready for them." He had been taught the
all-important lesson that a hunter should not let his firearm remain
empty.
"Well, anyhow, I got one of them!" cried Fred, with proper pride, as he
surveyed the beast he had laid low. The discharge of shot had almost
torn the wolf's throat asunder.
"What will you do with him?" questioned Randy.
"I'm going to take him back to the cabin and ask Uncle Barney about it,"
was Fred's reply. "Perhaps we can have the wolf stuffed."
The excitement of the encounter with the wolves had taken away the boys'
desire to do any more hunting that day, and, strapping the dead wolf
fast to a tree limb, they started on the return to the northern end of
the island, each doing his share in carrying the dead animal.
"What's that? A wolf?" cried Barney Stevenson, when he saw what they had
brought. And then he added quickly. "Must be the one that we located in
the cabin at the other end of the island."
"We can't say about that," answered Jack, and then all of the boys told
the story of the encounter in the woods.
"Four of them! Why, I haven't heard of any such thing as that around
here for years! I'll have to go after some of those wolves myself."
"I was wondering what we could do with this wolf," said Fred. "Do you
think I could send him home to have him stuffed?"
"You could, my boy. But I wouldn't advise it. Who would want a stuffed
wolf around anyhow? Of course, you might put him in some club-house or
furrier's window--or something like that."
"Oh, I guess I won't bother," answered Fred.
"I'll tell you what we'll do," suggested Jack. "We'll prop the wolf up
against a tree, and then take a photograph of Fred shooting at him;"
and so it was decided, and the boys had much fun taking the picture.
Several days passed, and no one came near the island. In the meantime,
the boys went out hunting every day, and Barney Stevenson showed them
how to fish through a hole in the ice. This was great sport, and they
had the satisfaction of adding a number of pickerel and perch to their
bill of fare. During those days, they cooked and ate the wild turkeys,
and found the meat quite palatable.
"We sure are having one dandy time," said Fred one evening, when sitting
in front of the blazing fire.
"I don't see how it could be any better, Fred," answered Andy.
"And just think of what we've brought down in the way of rabbits,
squirrels, pheasants, woodcocks and turkeys!"
"Not to say anything about my wolf," came from Fred.
"Yes, and a shot I got at a brook mink," added Jack. He had seen the
mink at a distance, but had been unable to bring the game down.
Uncle Barney had been with the boys at supper time, but had taken
himself over to his own cabin, to smoke and to read one of several books
the boys had given him.
"I think I'll go over and see the old lumberman," said Jack presently.
"You fellows can stay here."
"Going to talk to him about Ruth and her folks?" questioned Randy.
"Yes, if I get the chance."
"I wouldn't worry him too much," said Fred. "He hasn't gotten over that
visit from Professor Lemm and the others yet."
"Oh, I'll be careful--don't worry about that."
The old lumberman was a bit surprised to have Jack walk in on him, but
the youth had brought his gun along, and he asked Uncle Barney to
examine the hammer of the weapon.
"It looks all right to me," said the old lumberman, after an
examination; "but I'll put on a few drops of oil, and then maybe it'll
work easier. It won't do to have the hammer stick just when you want to
use it."
"And now, Uncle Barney, if you'll permit me, I'd like to speak of
something else," said Jack, as he dropped into a seat alongside of the
fireplace. "I've got something on my mind, and I want to see if you
can't help me out."
"Something on your mind, eh?" returned the old man kindly. "Well, if I
can help you out, you can depend on old Uncle Barney to do it," and he
smiled broadly.
"It isn't exactly my trouble, Uncle Barney. It's somebody else's," went
on the oldest Rover boy. "A young lady I know is very much worried over
something, and she has asked me if I can't do something to help her get
rid of that worry."
"Must be some young lady you know pretty well, then, Jack;" and the old
lumberman smiled again.
"I do know her quite well. And I think a great deal of her friendship.
Her folks have some trouble on hand--quite a good deal of it in
fact--and it worries the girl a good deal, and that, of course, worries
me. You see, there has been a terrible mistake made, and neither the
girl nor her folks know how to get at it to remedy it."
"I see--I see!" The old lumberman nodded his head several times. "That's
the way it is often. Things get into a snarl, and a fellow can't see his
way clear to straighten 'em out. I've been there myself, and I know."
"This young lady I'm speaking about has an old relative--a sort of
uncle--that she thinks a great deal of. Her folks think a great deal of
this gentleman, too. Now, years ago, her folks and the old gentleman had
a quarrel, and now the old gentleman won't let her come anywhere near
him, even though she would love dearly to talk to him and try to
explain matters, so that he would understand that it was not her folks'
fault that the quarrel had taken place."
"See here! what are you talking about?" exclaimed Uncle Barney, eyeing
Jack suspiciously. "Come now, no beating about the bush!"
"Well, if you must know, I'm speaking about Ruth Stevenson, who goes to
a young ladies' school not far from Colby Hall. She and I are very good
friends, and she has told me a good deal about this quarrel you had with
her father."
"It was Fred Stevenson's fault--it wasn't my fault!" grumbled the old
lumberman.
"Maybe it was, Uncle Barney. I don't know anything about that. But I do
know that Ruth has told me that her father never wanted nor tried to do
you any injury. He claims that it was all a mistake, and that you should
have given him a chance to explain."
"It wasn't any mistake--I know just exactly what happened!"
"But don't you think you ought to at least listen to what Ruth's father
has to say? All he wants you to do is to hear his story."
"Did he tell you that?"
"Ruth told me. She said both her father and her mother are very much
upset over the way you have treated them. They want to be friends with
you, and her father is willing to do whatever is right regarding what
took place years ago. She said her folks would like nothing better than
to have you give up your lonely life on this island and come down and
make your home with them."
"What! Me go down there and live with them after all that has happened!
I couldn't do anything like that!" and the old lumberman sprang up and
began to pace the cabin floor.
"You could do it if you tried, Uncle Barney. By the way, don't you
remember Ruth?"
"Sure I do--as pretty a little girl as ever I set eyes on. I never had
anything against her. It was her father I had my quarrel with."
"And you liked Ruth's mother, too, didn't you?" went on Jack slowly.
"Oh, yes. Helen Dean always was a nice girl. I knew her long before Fred
Stevenson married her."
"And you liked Ruth's father, too, didn't you, before this quarrel took
place?"
"Of course. We were very chummy up to that time." The old lumberman took
several turns across the cabin floor. "But that's all over now. He
didn't treat me fair--that's all there is to it! He didn't even come to
my wife's funeral!"
"Well, if he didn't, he's very sorry for it now. And you can take it
from me, Uncle Barney, that he would like nothing better than to patch
up the matter somehow or other, and be friends once more."
"Yes, but----"
"And just think how happy it would make his wife and Ruth!" continued
Jack quietly.
"Maybe. But I don't see how it can be done. Anyway, I ain't going to
take the first step," went on Uncle Barney, somewhat lamely.
"You won't have to take the first step!" cried Jack. "You just let them
do that." He came over and caught the old lumberman by the arm. "Will
you?"
For a moment Uncle Barney was silent. He bit his lip and rubbed his chin
with the back of his hand.
"Well, I'll see about it," he said slowly. "I'll think it over."