THE TIMBER WOLVES
“Now we are in a pickle!”
“I’ll say so! Why, we haven’t even got our clothing, much less our
guns!”
“What are we going to do about it?”
“Don’t ask me! I was never good at answering riddles!”
Thus speaking, the four Rover boys gazed in wonder and astonishment at
the sight before them. Sneaking along cautiously were three large gray
timber wolves, gaunt and fierce in appearance. They had evidently been
attracted to the spot by the scent of the boys and the horses and also,
possibly, by the bacon in the supplies.
“There comes another one,” said Fred.
“Yes, and two more are crouched up on the rocks a short distance
behind,” came from Jack.
“Six wolves! Maybe there’s a regular pack of them.”
“Shouldn’t wonder. They often travel in packs.”
“And they look hungry enough to eat us up,” came from Fred, and the
tone of his voice showed that he felt anything but comfortable.
For the matter of that, all of the boys felt uneasy. Not only were they
without their clothing but their four guns lay within a hundred feet of
where the three leading wolves were standing.
The horses had also discovered the wolves and were now snorting wildly
and trying to break from their tethers. Charley Boy, Randy’s mount, was
particularly nervous, probably from his experience with the mountain
lion.
The wolves had been sniffing first in the direction of the boys’
clothing and then in the direction of the supplies and the horses. Now
they looked across the small arm of the lake at the boys themselves and
uttered a series of snarls, baring their teeth as they did so.
“Oh, if I only had a rifle or a heavy shotgun!” murmured the young
major.
“Can’t we heave some rocks at them?” suggested Fred.
“I don’t think it would do any good,” answered Randy. “We’re too far
off. We were foolish to rove around in a wild place like this without
our guns.”
Although the wolves snarled viciously, they did not as yet make any
attempt to approach the four boys. Instead, while two sniffed at the
clothing on the rocks, turning it over with their noses and paws, the
others loped over to the supplies.
This was more than the horses could stand, and, plunging wildly, one
after another broke his tether and shot off out of sight along the
mountainside.
“Good-by to the horses!” cried Fred. “Now we sure are in a pickle even
if we can manage to get rid of those wolves.”
“They’re coming this way!” yelled Randy.
“Pick up as many loose stones as you can carry,” ordered Jack. “Then
wade out into the lake. I guess it’s about the only thing we can do.”
Three of the wolves were advancing around the arm of the lake in the
direction of the boys. Evidently they were exceedingly hungry, for
otherwise they would have run away at the sight of human beings.
Small stones were handy, and it did not take the four boys long to pick
up half a dozen each. Then they waded out in the lake until they were
in water up to their waists. By this time the three wolves had reached
the flat rock on which the youths had been resting. They snarled
repeatedly, showing their fangs, and their eyes gleamed in a manner
that indicated they would like nothing better than to get hold of the
lads and make a meal of them.
“Let ’em have a dose of rocks!” cried Jack. “Be careful how you throw!
Don’t waste your ammunition!”
[Illustration: “LET THEM HAVE A DOSE OF ROCKS,” CRIED JACK.]
He let fly, and so did the others, and all the wolves were hit in the
head or in the side. They set up a fearful howl of commingled pain and
rage and then made a move as if to leap into the lake after the lads.
While this was going on the other wolves had approached the duffel bags
of the boys and were tearing the outfit apart in an endeavor to get at
the bacon and dried beef the lads carried.
Crack!
It was the report of a rifle and the shot startled the boys quite as
much as it did the wolves. Then came a second crack, and, looking
across the arm of the lake, the boys saw one of the big gray wolves
leap into the air and fall back lifeless. Then came a third shot and
a second wolf sprang into the air and then came down and with a wild
snarl went limping away into the forest.
“Hurrah, somebody has come to our assistance!” cried Jack. “Give it to
’em! Give it to ’em good and plenty!” he yelled at the top of his lungs.
“Plug every one of ’em!” came from Andy.
“Shoot ’em down!” added his twin.
“Don’t let any of them get away!” was the way Fred expressed himself.
At the first crack of the rifle the three wolves that had come after
the boys raised their heads to listen. Then, as they saw one wolf
killed and another wounded, they waited no longer, but, turning, leaped
swiftly over the rocks and then up the mountainside, their movements
being hastened by a bullet that hit the rocks between them as they
fled. In the meanwhile the remaining wolves had also taken their
departure.
Satisfied that the coast was now clear, the boys swam across the arm of
the lake. As they did this they saw a somewhat elderly man approaching
on horseback, his rifle in his hands. He was a tall man with a
short-cut black beard and he wore a miner’s outfit.
“Reckon I come just about in time,” he sang out as he watched the
approach of the boys. “Didn’t think any timber wolves would attack you
like that.” And then he replaced the empty cartridges in the magazine
rifle with fresh ones and waited for the lads to come up.
“It was fine of you to arrive as you did,” sang out Jack, who was the
first out of the water. “We were caught good and plenty with our guns
over in our outfits yonder.”
“Where do you belong? I don’t think I ever saw you before,” said the
miner, as he dismounted. Then he added quickly: “You ain’t them Rover
boys, are you?”
“Yes, we are,” answered Jack.
“Well, now, ain’t that great!” and the miner began to grin broadly.
“Bet you a dollar you don’t know who I am.”
“We know you’re our friend,” came quickly from Fred.
“I’m Lew Billings,” answered the miner. “I guess Mr. Tom Rover has
talked about me.”
“Lew Billings!” gasped all of the boys in concert.
“That’s it! And I’m downright glad I got here just in time to take
care of them timber wolves for you. That one yonder is as dead as a
doornail, and I don’t think them others will bother you again for a
while. You see, timber wolves has been multiplying most amazing in
Canada, and they’ve got so thick they’re slipping all over us down
here. There’s a bounty on killing ’em, but what it is I don’t just
know.”
“But where have you been, Mr. Billings?” questioned Randy. “My dad has
been looking all over for you.”
“I know it, lad. But I had to lay low. I had a good reason for doing
it, too. Your father will know all about it as soon as I reach him. I
understand he’s stopping with Cal Corning.”
“He is,” put in Andy. And then he went on: “From what Hank Butts said,
my dad thought you might have been made a prisoner by Mr. Garrish.”
“So I was. And Garrish wanted me to sign some reports that was all
false. I wouldn’t do it, and I got away from him and since that time
I’ve been spying on him and on them fellers who’re running the Bigwater
crusher. I’ve got a lot to tell Mr. Rover when I see him. And I’ve got
an account to settle with Peter Garrish, too,” went on the old miner.
The boys dressed, and while so doing Lew Billings gave them a few
particulars of what had happened to him. But he was in a hurry to go on
and left them as soon as he felt satisfied that they were now able to
take care of themselves.
“As you’ve all been to a military academy you ought to know how to
shoot,” he declared. “And as you’ve got your guns and also a couple
of pistols with you, it ain’t likely that you’ll have any more
trouble――especially if you keep your firearms handy. You don’t want to
prowl around in these mountains without some kind of a gun.”
“Believe me, you won’t catch us without our guns again,” answered Fred.
“Even when I sleep I’m going to have a pistol under my pillow,” added
Randy.
They thanked Lew Billings heartily for what he had done and then
watched the old miner as he rode away on Sunset Trail in the direction
of Gold Hill Falls.
“If you ask me, I’ll say he was a friend in need if ever there was
one,” declared the young major. “I don’t know what we’d have done if he
hadn’t come along.”
“It ought to be a lesson to us to be on our guard,” answered Fred.
“Now I am armed, oh, how I’d love to get a shot at those wolves!”
remarked Andy.
“What about the horses?” questioned Randy. “We’ve got to find those
animals. I think the quicker we get after them the better. If they’re
allowed to stay away all night there’s no telling if we’ll ever be able
to round ’em up.”
But rounding up the four horses proved easier than expected. None
of them had gone away any great distance. Two of them were found on
Sunset Trail just above the lake and the others in the bushes on the
mountainside. They were rather difficult to handle for a few minutes,
but presently calmed down when spoken to soothingly.
The boys did not know exactly what to do with the lean gray wolf that
had been laid low by Billings’s bullet. At first they thought to skin
the animal and save the pelt. But the hair was poor at this time of
year, and none of the boys relished the labor, so they simply dragged
the carcass down the lake shore for a distance, and then threw it in an
opening between the rocks.
By nightfall the boys had erected their little shelter and had a
campfire going, and all did their share in preparing the evening meal
and in cleaning the dishes afterward.
“Wonder what will happen to-night,” said Randy, as they turned in,
thoroughly tired out over the happenings of the day. “Maybe we’ll see
more wolves, or a mountain lion or a bear.”
None of them cared to admit it, yet each was a trifle nervous, thinking
that possibly the timber wolves might return. But nothing came to
disturb them, and, having made sure that their campfire would not set
fire to the forest around them, one after another fell asleep and
slumbered soundly until after sunrise.
The next day proved to be one of unalloyed pleasure for all the boys.
In the morning they went fishing and managed to get a good-sized catch.
In the afternoon they tramped through the forest and there managed to
bag several squirrels and also a somewhat larger animal which none of
them could name.
“I thought we’d strike a bear, or something like that,” said Andy.
“I guess you want too much,” answered Fred, with a laugh.
The boys returned to camp while it was still light. All were hungry and
immediately set to work to clean some of the fish for supper. They were
hard at work at this when they saw a man on horseback riding rapidly
toward them.
“That man acts as if he wanted to see us in a hurry,” said Jack, as he
straightened up and watched the fellow’s approach.
The man was a stranger to them and eyed them inquiringly as he came
closer.
“Are you the Rovers?” he demanded.
“We are,” answered Jack. “What of it?”
“I’ve got bad news for you,” was the man’s answer. “Mr. Tom Rover has
been seriously hurt, and the other fellows think you had better come to
see him just as soon as possible.”