FOUND STARVING.
With the screech owl in Jack’s game-bag, the two boys continued on
their way up the creek.
It was something to have bagged even the carnivorous bird, and they
felt elated to think that at last something had appeared to be shot at.
By twelve o’clock they calculated that they were close on to two miles
from camp. Each was hungry, and another halt was called for the purpose
of eating the scanty lunch with which they had provided themselves
before starting off.
“We must not go too far off,” said Harry. “For it will never do to
attempt to remain away over night in this fearful storm.”
“That’s true,” returned Jack. “By three o’clock, game or no game, we
will turn our faces homeward again.”
“If it would only stop snowing, it wouldn’t be so bad. But this storm
is the worst I’ve seen in years!”
“It’s a corker, truly! But come on. Every minute counts now!”
Once more they pushed on, the snow swirling around their heads. Their
legs ached, and it was an effort to make the smallest kind of progress.
The cold, too, was intense, and at times seemed to strike into the very
marrow of their bones.
By the time they had covered another mile they grew discouraged. Not
the first sign of game of any kind had appeared.
“I move we leave the creek,” said Harry, at last. “We won’t go very far
off, and we’ll locate the way so as not to get lost.”
“All right, we’ll try it, although it isn’t a safe thing to do, Harry.
But we must risk something for the sake of filling our game-bags.”
“There is a hollow over to our left, with an overhanging cliff of
bushes and trees. I have an idea we may find something under that. It
would afford a good shelter for wild animals.”
“Like a wildcat, for instance,” laughed Jack.
“Well, I guess wildcat is just as good to eat as screech owl, if only
we can lay him out without our being torn to pieces.”
Taking a good look around, so as to locate the vicinity in their minds,
they struck out in the direction Harry had indicated. The creek was
soon left behind, and they found themselves going down the side of a
long hill.
Luckily, there was a bare stretch on the hillside, otherwise they would
have been compelled to move on in snow up to their waists. But the
cleared run was where the wind blew the strongest, and this now took
them almost off their feet.
“Never mind; we’ll be safe under the rocks and brush,” shouted Harry,
to his companion, above the roaring of the storm. “Look out so that you
don’t roll down into some hole and out of sight!”
“My! but it’s awful!” cried Jack. “Here, give me your hand, or we will
be separated and won’t be able to find each other again.”
They took hold of hands, and the next instant the wind threw them down
on the hillside and rolled them over and over to the bottom.
They landed in a doubled-up mass in the midst of a large drift. Jack
went in head first, with Harry behind him. For a moment there was
nothing to do but to flounder around until they could regain their feet.
“Ugh! but that was a cold dose!” cried Jack, as he scraped the snow
from around his neck and wrists. “We came down with a rush, didn’t we?”
“Yes, we did that,” returned Harry. “It’s a good thing our guns didn’t
go off in the tumble.”
It was no easy matter to extricate themselves from the big drift. The
snow was all around them, and at the very first step forward, they went
down to their armpits.
“Hold on!” cried Harry, in alarm. “Turn up the hill, or we’ll be over
our heads!”
So they turned about and half walked, half crawled up to solid ground.
Here they could hardly keep their feet, so strong was the wind.
“There is a clear space to our left,” said Jack. “Come on! We will soon
be under the cliff!”
Away he went, with Harry close behind him. The shelter under the trees
and bushes was not less than two hundred feet away.
As they advanced, a peculiar sound broke upon their ears. Jack heard
it first, and called Harry’s attention to it.
“What can it be?” he said.
“Sounds like some sort of a bird,” replied Harry. “Let us have our guns
ready. We do not wish to lose any game, now we have come so far for it.”
On they went, with caution now, and their shotguns ready for instant
use. They were within a hundred feet of the shelter, and could see the
dim outline through the driving snow.
“Wild turkeys!” suddenly called Harry. “Be careful, we must get as many
of them as we can!”
He motioned to a little cleared space just ahead. Then, with guns
pointed, they ran forward.
Bang! bang! Both of the firearms spoke in rapid succession. There was
a rush and a strange squawking sound, and then the greater part of
a flock of wild turkeys had disappeared in the storm. But the heavy
charges had hit three of them, and they were now floundering around in
their death struggles. The boys ran forward and soon put them out of
their misery.
“That’s a good haul!” cried Jack, enthusiastically. “Now we won’t
starve for a day or two at least.”
“Right you are,” returned Harry, as he picked the game up, placed two
in his own bag and one in his companion’s, and hurried to reload. “But
we mustn’t miss any other game that may be here.”
“Certainly not,” said Jack, and he reloaded also, and away they went
along the bottom of the cliff.
In a few minutes they stirred up a whole flock of wild birds of
several kinds from the brush under the rocks. They fired in the midst
of them, bringing down several woodcock and three sparrows.
“That isn’t bad,” said Jack, as he picked up the woodcock and allowed
the sparrows to remain where they were. “It was a good idea of yours to
come here.”
“I was in hopes we might strike a deer,” returned Harry. “But we have
now about as much as we can conveniently carry through such traveling
as this.”
“There ought to be some rabbits or hares here, under the old brush. Let
us walk to the end of the shelter and----”
“There’s something now!” shouted Harry, raising his gun. “Half-a-dozen
hares, as sure as you’re born! Quick, Jack!”
Once more the two shotguns spoke, and two of the hares were seen to
leap into the air and turn over in a heap. When the two boys reached
the spot they found their prizes stone dead, each shot through the
head. All the other hares had disappeared behind a thick mass of brush,
where they could not follow them.
“Now we’ve got enough, surely,” said Harry, as they divided the game
between them. “Wild turkeys, hares, woodcock and an owl, not to mention
those sparrows. Who could ask for more?”
Jack did not reply, as he was busy getting out his watch.
“Phew! How late do you suppose it is?” he cried.
“Three o’clock?”
“Quarter-past four! We must start back at once!”
“I should say so!” exclaimed Harry. “It’s going to be a job to get up
out of this hollow and find the creek again, and it will be dark before
we know it.”
“Not only that; but the snow is coming down in perfect blankets. We’ll
be buried in spite of ourselves if we don’t put our best foot forward.”
“Come on down to the end of the shelter and make a beeline for the
creek,” said Harry, as he slung his gun over his shoulder. “We can
escape some of the wind by going that way.”
To this Jack agreed, and in another minute they started off side by
side.
They had almost reached the end of the overhanging rocks when a low cry
of distress broke upon their ears. They came to a halt, and gazed at
each other in wonder.
“What was that?”
“It sounded like a human voice.”
“Help! help!” came faintly to their ears, and now they located the cry.
It proceeded from a small cave-like opening but a few feet away.
They ran forward, and a moment later saw a sight that appalled them
beyond measure.
There in the snow, huddled in a miserable group, were Pete Sully, Bill
Dixon and Len Spencer, a fixed look of despair on each of their pinched
and frozen faces.
“Why, Sully----” began Harry.
“Give me something to eat, please!” broke in the big fellow, staggering
to his feet. “Something to eat!”
“Yes, yes, give us something to eat!” chimed in Bill Dixon and Len
Spencer, imploringly.
Harry and Jack looked at them in amazement. A single glance was enough.
The bully of Rudskill and his companions were almost starved to death!