A GOOD RIDDANCE.
Bumpus somehow seemed to keep his senses about him. Frightened as he
was, he never forgot that, as the chosen bugler of Cranford Troop, he
had certain duties devolving upon him which should not be neglected.
So he made a frantic dive for his precious bugle, hanging close by.
Seizing the instrument, he clapped it to his lips, and blew a clarion
call. It was the rallying signal of the scouts, and which they knew full
well.
The bear immediately set up a whimpering, and then merged this into a
roar that echoed from the side of the hill far away. Thad wondered
whether this action on his part was intended to be disgust with the
music produced by the silver-voiced troop bugle; or if the coming of the
two men had anything to do with it.
Immediately he saw that the latter was the case, for one of the men left
the side of his companion, and striding swiftly toward the dancing bear,
began to fondle the beast, while speaking words in some outlandish
tongue.
That told the story. The newcomers then, were the two men whom Smithy
had seen exhibiting the trained beast near his house, and one of whom he
had declared asked him ever so many questions in good English about the
country above, and the people living on the farms there.
But the scouts had had their little scare all right. Under the belief
that the camp was in danger of being raided by a couple of thieving
tramps, who had already picked out the bag of Bumpus as the choicest
prize of the lot, Davy and some of his mates had gained their feet only
to jump for the spot where their stout staves happened to be resting
against various trees.
They really presented quite a warlike front as they began to wave these
sticks in a menacing manner, and ranged on either side of their
scout-master.
"Hold on, boys, there's no need of making such a show as that," Thad
remarked, secretly pleased, however, to see how bold a band he had under
him; "these men are the ones who own the bear; and I rather think
they've come for him at last."
"Hurrah!" shouted Giraffe, ready to dance with happiness over the sudden
prospect of being rid of their "star boarder," while the stock of food
still remained fairly bountiful.
Thad was observing the man who kept on toward them. He was coarsely
dressed, and to all appearances as much of a foreigner as the one who
was caressing the whining dancing bear, and speaking such strange words
to him. At the same time Thad, who was quite an observer, felt that
there was a vast difference between the two men.
This one had clear features, sunburned and begrimed it is true, but with
intelligence in his manner; while his gray eyes were keen and
penetrating.
Just now, as he surveyed the hostile attitude of some of the scouts,
Thad could detect a grim smile passing over the face of the other. He
nodded his head to the boy whom he guessed must be the leader of the
campers.
"We lost the bear by accident, and my companion has been mourning ever
since. You see he brought the beast over the ocean, and cares a heap for
him," he said, as he pointed to where the bear and keeper were actually
hugging each other, so it seemed.
"He walked in on us the other night, just when we were ready to go to
our blankets," Thad went on to explain, "and nearly scared some of the
boys out of their wits. But we happened to have a scout who had fed your
bear, and talked to him. He was brave enough to get down from his tree,
and offer the animal part of a loaf of bread."
"Half a loaf it was too, mister!" broke in Giraffe, determined that the
other should not be left in any doubt as to the immense hole the beast
had made in their provision chest.
"And while the bear was eating, Smithy managed to get the chain fast
around that tree," Thad continued. "We hoped you'd come for him, sooner
or later, because we hadn't laid in stores for a bear when we started
out on this hike. And Giraffe here is anxious to see the last of him,
because he's afraid his rations will have to be cut pretty soon if it
keeps on much longer."
"Thank you, boys, for keeping the bear," the man remarked, in excellent
English, as he smiled, and bowed around the half circle. "If you say so,
we will gladly settle his board bill right now, as we have to be off,
too much time having been lost in this hunt. But he refused to do
anything without his bear, and I had to give in."
"That's kind of you; but I guess we don't want to ask any pay for the
little he ate of our food," Thad hastened to say.
"Little, oh, my!" Giraffe burst out with; and then subsided at a frown
from the scout-master.
"And besides," went on Thad, "he happened to do us a service by
frightening away a lot of boys from town who meant to play some trick on
us, perhaps stealing all our eatables; so you see we feel square. But
perhaps you'd like to have a cup of coffee while you're here? We have
plenty, and can fix you up in short order."
Giraffe could only groan. To his mind it seemed that they must be
keeping open house for all the roving creatures at large in that section
of the country. And besides, who could say what manner of men these two
with the trained bear might turn out to be? For his part, the one who
talked so well, looked very suspicious, to say the least; and why should
an educated man be tramping all over the country in company with an
ignorant foreigner and his dancing bear, if he did not have some sly
game back of it?
"That is very kind of you, boy," remarked the man, with a smile that
made Thad forget his soiled face and rather ragged clothes; "and as the
night is cool, and we've still got a long tramp before us if we expect
to make half the distance to Faversham before morning, I'm going to take
you at your word. But I wish you'd let me pay you something for all this
trouble."
Thad of course shook his head, and gave orders for coffee to be put in
the pot, which might be set close enough to the hot camp-fire to soon
start boiling.
The man sat down and began to talk to Davy Jones, who happened to be
next him. He seemed to be asking a few questions, possibly concerning
the road to the town toward which they were bound, and which was really
a good many miles away.
Thad walked over to where the other was still chattering to his
recovered pet. He found, however, that the man could not speak enough
English to answer any question. If the other man was able to communicate
with this fellow at all then he must be educated enough to speak
Russian; for that was what the foreigner's native country seemed to be,
as far as Thad could make out.
When the coffee was ready, the man by the fire accepted of a cup, and
thanked Step-hen warmly. Davy carried another cup to the bear keeper,
who took it with some strange words, which the boy supposed were meant
to express his gratitude.
And after that, to the immense delight of Giraffe, they prepared to
depart. The bear was made to shake hands with each scout, and in his odd
fashion express his thanks for the attention that had been given him.
But Giraffe declined the honor.
"It's all right for you fellows," he grumbled, when they joked him on
his timidity; "he likes you, and wouldn't do anything to hurt you; but
it's different with me, you see. The old rascal's taken a dislike to me,
and I'd be afraid he'd give me a sneaky bite, or claw me. Just say
good-bye for me, and a good riddance."
Thad was afraid the man who could talk such good English might show some
signs of being offended by these frank expressions of Giraffe's views;
but instead he laughed quite heartily, as though rather tickled.
"A bear can eat a big amount of stuff in a day," he remarked, "and I
don't blame your friend for being afraid he'd clean you out, if he
stayed longer. Good-bye, boys. Hope you enjoy your outing to the limit;
and that the time may come when I can return that favor of a bully cup
of coffee."
With that they were off, the bear growling one minute, as it struggled
with its chain, and looked back; and then whimpering in its joy at
seeing a familiar face again.
"See, he knows he'll miss the good feeds he's had since he dropped in on
us," remarked Davy.
"You're away off there, Davy," declared Giraffe, drawing a big sigh;
"he's ugly just because he can't get a bite at me. He's been waiting all
the time to do that, and he shows how mad he is to be taken away without
a chance. Perhaps I'll sleep easier to-night, boys. It's an awful thing
to lie awake there in a tent, and know a revengeful bear is trying to
break his chain only twenty feet away, meaning to take a nip at you."
But the others only laughed at Giraffe, as the shadowy figures of men
and bear were swallowed up in the dense darkness of the forest.
Still, every one was glad the bear had gone. They might have laughed at
some of his antics; but his little eyes looked treacherous; and Thad had
given orders that nobody should be too familiar with the beast while he
honored them with his company.
"That one man was sure a foreign chap," remarked Allan; "but the other
talked as good English as any of us, perhaps better than some. I saw him
speaking with you, Davy; did he tell you who he was, and all about his
roving life?"
"Well, I guess not," replied the other, "to tell the truth, he was
asking questions about getting to Faversham, and finding a couple of
parties he seems to want to come up with mighty bad. But I couldn't give
him much help, because you see, I've never been as far as that town; and
I sure never met up with the men he described. But I promised him I'd
keep my eyes open, and if so be I ran across 'em, I'd send him word, in
care of a man up in Faversham named Malcolm Hotchkiss."
"Well," broke in Bumpus just then, after his usual impetuous style, "for
my part, I'm believin' that they're the very two rascals Thad spoke
about, hanging out in this region, and taking game out of season. And
perhaps now, one of 'em even sneaked in camp when nobody was around, and
got away with my bag."
He said this in a sneering way, and kept his eye fixed reproachfully on
Step-hen while speaking. The other frowned, and shook his head, in a
combative way.
"Of course you mean it's me that touched your old bag, Bumpus," he
remarked; "but you've got another guess coming. I watched you hunting in
the tent like you'd lost your head. Reckon you have, all right, because
_you took the wrong tent_! Just step in the other one for a change, and
my word for it you'll find your blessed old haversack just where you
hung it!"
And Bumpus, looking rather shame-faced, did go into the second tent; to
appear a moment later carrying the disputed bag in his hand, and with a
rosy blush mantling his fat face.