FUR, FIN, AND FEATHER
Four panting and tired boys came to a halt in the midst of a dense
forest on the sloping sides of a mountain. Early that morning, Sam Bins
had driven them as far as he could toward their destination.
Besides weapons and fishing-tackle, each hunter had a pair of
blankets--rubber and woolen--and a water-proof canvas bag which
contained tin dishes, a pair of moccasins, a compass, match-safe, and
plenty of rope and twine, besides nails. Havens carried a lantern and
small saw. All were provided with hatchets and hunting knives, and
provisions were divided up among them.
Dave Brandon, in addition, carried a brand new paint box, and the
official photographer his camera. Everything unnecessary had been
omitted, yet the outfits strapped to their backs were not light ones.
Dave Brandon threw himself wearily upon a flat rock.
"Oh, but I am tired," he exclaimed. "This truck weighs a ton. Where are
we going to stop, Jim?"
"I know a dugout that's just the thing for us," responded Havens.
"Sanders and I used it for a while last year. A long time ago, 'Surly
Joe' hung out there."
"'Surly Joe', that's a nice name," laughed Bob. "A good disposition, I
suppose, eh?"
"Such a nice one that I hope we don't meet him. But there isn't a
better hunter around these parts than Joe Tomlin."
"Why, that's the old chap we saw at the hotel," put in Dick Travers.
"Remember, Bob?"
"Sure thing. Don't wonder they call him 'Surly Joe.' He certainly
looked sour enough."
"He's a good friend of 'Big Bill's,'" explained Havens. "Every once in
a while Joe gets to the village, but he and I don't gee together a bit."
"This climbing is tough work," drawled Dave. "I ache all over. How far
is that dugout, Havens?"
"We ought to reach it before nightfall."
Dave, who had arisen, sank back on the rock, with a gesture of dismay.
"And this is what we get for going after fur, fin and feather," he
groaned.
In a short time, the march was resumed. The region about them was wild
and rugged. The forest contained a great variety of trees; shrubbery,
underbrush and tangled vines were so dense in places as to make
progress difficult. Boulders and rocks lay strewn about in profusion,
and the boys found it necessary to rest frequently.
"Should think there would be a lot of caves around here," panted Bob.
"There are," replied Havens, "and if you run across any, knock on the
door before you stick your head inside."
"Oh, we know," laughed Dick; "bears and other beasts."
"That's right. If you keep your eyes open, you can see their tracks all
around."
"Just listen to the birds," observed Dave. "Doesn't their singing and
chattering sound fine? Hear that woodpecker tapping."
"Working for his living, eh?" grinned Dick.
"Look--a Jack rabbit," cried Bob, suddenly. "I'll bet I could have
knocked him over easy. See him? He jumped over that log, running like
sixty."
"I see something prettier," said Dave.
A bird, singing cheerily, had just darted across, a flaming spot of
orange against the rich green hemlocks beyond.
"An oriole," announced the "poet." "A beautiful little bird, and a
noisy one, too. Listen to his chatter."
"If you fellows don't want to sleep out in the open to-night, you'd
better be coming along," said Havens, and Dave, with a sigh, again
struggled to his feet.
"Listen!" Dick stopped and held up his hand. "What's that noise?" he
asked.
"The rapids," replied Havens. "I thought we must be pretty close to
them."
"When we get there, let's stop and have some grub," said Dick. "Wow! My
back's 'most broken. Always did hate to lug things."
"I'll sleep all day to-morrow," declared Dave.
"If you do, I'll set a bear on you," laughed Dick.
The noise of rushing water grew louder, and finally, after scrambling
over a pile of rocks and forcing their way through a tangled thicket,
they reached the bank.
Before them was a dashing, tumbling stream, eddying and foaming past
the grim-looking rocks, which for countless ages had disputed its
passage in vain. Dancing drops sparkled like silver in the sunshine,
currents swirled and bubbled, as the ever-rushing torrent gurgled forth
its musical lament.
"Oh, ho, what a lovely sight," exclaimed Dave Brandon. "Look at those
trees bending over, the reflection in the water and that mass of pink
dogwood."
"Pretty enough, Chubby," admitted Dick, "but I'm thirsty as thunder."
"You can get a drink a bit further along," said Havens. "We have to get
across, anyway."
"Get across?" echoed Dick.
"Sure thing. The dugout's on the other side."
"Then I suppose I'll have the joy of helping to fish somebody out of
the stream," said Dave. "Hello, did I hear anything?"
A low growl seemed to come from the opposite bank.
"What in the world is that?" cried Dick, in a startled tone.
"I see it," exclaimed Bob Somers, excitedly. "Some kind of an animal.
Look! It's on that limb. Great Cæsar! What a whopper!"
Partially screened behind a mass of leaves, a long, tawny animal was
crouching, with ears thrown back and glaring eyes. Its long tail lashed
from side to side, and its powerful, muscular body seemed to quiver
with anger.
As if fascinated, the boys gazed at it for some instants without
speaking. Their nerves tingled.
"What is it?" asked Bob, in a suppressed voice. "A panther?"
"Yes, though most people out here call the beast a mountain lion, or
painter," replied Jim Havens. "That is one of the biggest I ever saw."
"Awful glad he's on the other side of the street," murmured Dave. "Not
so sure, now, that I'm fond of hunting. Say--doesn't he look fierce?"
"They won't bother you much if they're let alone, but corner 'em,
and I'd 'most as soon have a grizzly in front of me. It's a quiet
beast--doesn't screech much, though once in a while he'll let out a
yell that makes you sit up and take notice."
"Shall we risk a shot?" asked Dick, eagerly.
"No, I think not," replied Havens. "You might only wound him, and in
case he managed to get across--well, Sanders and I had a scrap with one
last year, and I ain't anxious for another."
"Look--he's off!" cried Bob.
With a low growl, the panther dropped lightly to the ground and
disappeared in a dense thicket.
"They're great fellows for staying in trees," went on Havens, "and
for springing down upon any animal that happens to pass. Hard to see,
too--the color is so much like the bark."
"Well, I'm glad it's skipped," said Dick. "Hang it, if I'd only
thought, I might have made a snap-shot."
"The trip is just begun," laughed Havens. "Get out your grub, fellows.
Cat or no cat, James is going to eat."
"Maybe that ferocious beast is waiting for us on the other side of the
creek," said Dave.
"And possibly is ready for lunch, too," added Bob.
The boys looked at the swirling water and slippery rocks, the dark,
overhanging banks with here and there gnarled roots exposed by
crumbling away of the earth, then paused to consider.
"I think it will not be necessary for us to cross just now," said Dave,
facetiously.
No one offered an objection, and the quartet thereupon found seats.
Sandwiches, washed down with clear, cold water, refreshed them all.
On resuming the march, they kept as close as possible to the rapids.
Presently Havens led the way out on a bank.
"What a magnificent view," exclaimed Dave, pointing toward the opposite
range of mountains.
"Couldn't be finer, Chubby," declared Bob.
"This is where we cross the stream, fellows," put in Havens. "Get ready
for your bath."
"I'm going first--here's a scheme," he added. "I'll tie a rope around
my waist. You fellows hang on to the end, and if I slip I won't go ten
miles without stopping."
"Right you are, old man," said Bob. "That water is pretty deep in
places."
The necessary precaution having been attended to, Havens carefully
stepped upon a large, flat rock.
"Slippery as the dickens," he said.
"Why shouldn't it be?" observed the "poet." "It's been here for a
million years, perhaps."
"Don't get to dreaming, Dave," laughed Bob.
"Chubby's the clumsiest chap I ever saw, yet he does everything right,"
observed Dick, thoughtfully. "At times, I feel like splashing him."
Dave laughed good-naturedly.
Havens made his way carefully from rock to rock. Out in the midst of
the stream, with eddying currents and masses of foam on all sides, it
looked bigger and more dangerous than when viewed from the bank. The
main channel was too wide to jump, and the only means of crossing it
was a series of small round boulders so smooth as to scarcely afford a
footing.
His companions, who had followed part way, held the rope tightly and
waited for him to fall in. It was a matter of some surprise when they
found that this was not going to happen.
"Hope that we are just as lucky," said Dick, as he grasped the rope
which Havens had tied to a tree, and prepared to follow.
By the time that Travers stood on the opposite bank Bob and Dave were
well on their way across. These two worthies did not meet with any
mishap, though the stout boy gracefully accepted all the aid that was
proffered when it came to the final climb.
"I wonder if his catship is anywhere around," remarked Dick Travers.
"Maybe," answered Havens. "They have a way of skulking about. Keep your
eyes peeled."
The boys were soon winded again, but even weariness did not prevent
them from enjoying the forest. Gloomy and grand, it surrounded them on
all sides. With heads bared to the whispering breeze, the boys lolled
on the ground and looked at the patches of clear blue sky between the
interlacing branches, and forgot, for the moment, whatever dangers
might exist. Each breath of air brought with it some woodland odor--of
fragrant pine or dogwood and many other plants.
"Grand," sighed Dave, peering dreamily through half-closed eyelids.
"Worth all our trouble," said Bob. "But say, Jim, will you be able to
find that dugout?"
"I'd be a silly chump if I couldn't," answered Havens. "Tramped these
mountains too many times to lose my bearings."
"But suppose some one is living there?"
"Build a lean-to; or I know a cave where we might put up for a few
days."
"Rent high?" asked Dick.
"No, but I wouldn't be surprised if it had a bear for a landlord."
Fifteen minutes later, just as Dave was about to declare his inability
to go a step further, Jim announced that the dugout was close at hand.
"Thank goodness!" exclaimed the "poet," wearily.
But it was still some time before Havens uttered a grunt of
satisfaction, then said, "It's right over there, fellows--back of that
clump of trees."
"Hurrah!" shouted Dick.
"Me, too," sighed Dave. "I'd holler like that if I wasn't so tired."
In a few moments, they saw a log structure built against a wall of rock.
"Never was so glad to see anything in my life," declared Bob Somers.
"It doesn't look big enough for the whole bunch, though, Jim."
Havens smiled. "Don't you know that a dugout is a log cabin or some
kind of a shack built in front of a cave?" he asked.
"Good! This is a dandy place, eh, Dave?" cried Bob, enthusiastically.
"Imagine sitting out here, after a good day's sport, with a venison
steak broiling over the fire!"
"I'll get indigestion, if you talk that way, Bob Somers," said Dave,
severely, as he threw his burden down on the turf.
"Don't go rushing in, fellows," warned Jim. "Sometimes a varmint takes
it into his ugly head to use it for a stopping place."
But impatient Dick Travers was already at the door, uttering a series
of wild whoops.
"All right!" he sang out, as his form disappeared from view.
The dugout, though solidly built, showed the ravages of time. The door
was missing and a tree, dislodged by some gale, had fallen across the
roof, leaving a gaping hole.
But, in spite of these defects, the boys were delighted.
"We can fix it up in short order," declared Bob.
"Not to-day, thank you," said Dave.
The light from a single window illuminated the interior of a spacious
cave. Several reminders of its former occupants, a rude table and
chairs, were scattered around.
"Don't see any piano," murmured Dave Brandon.
"Fell over a precipice as they were bringing it up," laughed Havens.
After a short rest, Jim, who seemed to be the least tired, set about
collecting fuel, and soon had a fire started. Then outfits were
unpacked, and dishes and provisions brought forth.
Bob suddenly straightened up. "Jim," he said, solemnly, "how about
water?"
"Just beyond that big cedar," Havens indicated the direction, "you'll
find a rivulet. Don't go without your gun."
"Oh, no," laughed the other; "I've been out in the woods before."
Bob had no trouble in finding water, and when he returned preparations
for supper were under way. Havens and Brandon attended to this duty,
while Dick Travers and Bob Somers went off in search of cedar boughs.
Armed with hatchets, they kept steadily at work, and although very
tired, did not desist until a large quantity of the fragrant leaves had
been collected. Then Dave helped drag them to the dugout. Four beds
were made in the cave, after which the hunters, well satisfied with the
result of their labor, sat down to supper.
"What's on the bill of fare?" asked Bob.
"Sardines, bacon, crackers, cheese and coffee," said Dave.
"Not bad, for a starter. Guess I can get away with my share all right."
"Nothing like outdoor life to give a fellow an appetite," commented
Dick.
Dusk soon gathered. The forest looked grim and sombre, and when night
came it was pleasant to watch the twinkling stars overhead and to
listen to the weird sounds which often filled the air.
Havens piled a couple of logs on the fire and the dancing flames sent
forth a cheerful glow.
Finally Dave Brandon picked up a lantern and led the way into the
dugout. When all were inside, he stretched a blanket across the door,
then, following the example of the others, spread his rubber blanket
over the fir brush. Bob hung the lantern upon a board projecting near
the hole in the roof.
"Good-night, fellows," said Jim.
"Good-night," responded the others. Then silence reigned.
Dick Travers' slumber was not refreshing. Occasionally, he half opened
his eyes. The interior of the cave, in the dim light, looked very
strange. Deep black shadows stretched up to the jagged roof, and, in
places, some mineral sparkled brightly.
But it was something else that finally caught his attention, and caused
him to sit bolt upright. A strange sound seemed to come from the roof
of the log house.
Dick slowly rose to his feet, and listened intently. He hesitated to
awaken his soundly sleeping companions.
As the boy was about to steal forward, a sharp crash echoed throughout
the cave with startling clearness. Then followed a series of sounds
which fairly made his hair stand on end.