THE BUCK'S HEAD
An exclamation from one of the sons of Charley Crow announced that their
quarry had been sighted ahead; and shortly afterward, even Felix could
discover the smoke of a fire through the vista of tree trunks beyond;
proving that, just as Mr. Harbison had said, the two men had halted to
cook some more of their easily acquired venison, and take things easy.
In single file the party advanced; and so earnestly were the pair of
scoundrels at the fire employed getting their lunch ready, that they
failed to note the presence of the others until the six lined up close
by, and Mr. Harbison called upon them to throw up their hands and
surrender.
Both of them looked very ugly; and given half a chance they might have
made it very interesting for the posse; but with six rifles covering
them, they saw it would be the height of foolishness to resist. Besides,
they had reason to know and fear the man in charge of the force; so,
with a forced laugh, they held up their hands, and announced that they
would not try to run away, or resist.
Mr. Harbison took no chances with such men. He speedily snapped the
irons upon their wrists, which act brought out a chorus of hard words;
for they had not expected being treated so severely, not having
recognized Felix as yet, as his hat was drawn down well over his face,
and he was wearing an extra old coat belonging to Charley Crow. So that
the men fancied at first they were being arrested on account of some
misdemeanor connected with their work in the reservation known as
Yellowstone Park.
When, upon the request of the head of the posse, Felix stepped up, and
identified the pair of rascals as the men who had set upon, beaten, and
robbed him of his rifle, as well as everything else of value he had with
him, they began to show signs of positive uneasiness, realizing that
they were in a pretty bad fix.
It was indeed a great pleasure for the lad to once again fondle his own
gun; and his first act was to carefully wipe it all over, as though he
thought it may have suffered more or less contamination through contact
with such a dirty specimen of humanity as the one-eyed Abe Cozzins.
The officers announced their intention of starting immediately south
with the prisoners, as it would take them several days to reach the town
they expected to use as a place for locking the men up in. Felix made
arrangements to give his deposition when he came out with his chum,
about Christmas; although Mr. Harbison admitted that he hardly needed
anything more in order to send them to the penitentiary for a term of
years.
Somehow Felix, now that he had recovered his possessions, did not feel
so vindictive as he had expected he would; and had the fellows shown a
proper spirit of humility the boy would have only too gladly allowed the
matter to drop, so far as he was concerned.
But they chose to take just the opposite course, cursing him roundly,
and making savage threats of all kinds as to what they would do if they
got free; which was just the way to arouse all his resentment, and cause
him to give his promise to appear against them later on.
Felix was very glad when they finally went away, leaving him with the
two sons of old Charley Crow. Learning that they were not more than five
miles away from the little shack where Old Sol had often held forth
during the trapping season, the boy was seized with an overwhelming
desire to get back home, and rest up; and when the others heard this,
one of them, the strapping big fellow called Jo by his father, said he
would see him safely there.
It was really quite a tug for Felix, and only his grim determination
carried him through, for his lower limbs began to feel as though each of
them weighed a ton; so that he found considerable difficulty in dragging
them along; but as familiar scenes began to crop up, the nearer he came
to the cabin, as a consequence he finally found himself in sight of
home.
Never did a ship-wrecked mariner greet port with more enthusiasm than
Felix did the little old dugout under the big tree.
Of course Tom was away, undoubtedly wildly scouring the woods in search
of his missing chum; but then he would come back after a certain time to
see whether the lost one had returned; so all that Felix had to do was
to make himself comfortable and wait.
Jo said he would like to stay with him, and meet Tom. Any one who had
known Old Sol was worth cultivating, in the eyes of the Indian boy, who
had looked upon the veteran trapper as a veritable wonder.
They had a fine fire that warmed the interior of the cabin, and Felix
was drowsing before this, while Jo examined the wonderful repeating
rifle; when the door was flung violently open, and there stood Tom, his
eyes staring as though he could hardly believe what they showed him.
Returning almost in despair because he could get no trace of his missing
chum, he had discovered from the smoke that some one was occupying the
dugout; after that it took him just five seconds to reach the door, and
open the same.
In another instant Tom had thrown his arms around his cousin, and was
hugging him just as though he might be a long-lost brother, instead of
just his every-day chum; meanwhile muttering all sorts of things, and
laughing hysterically, in the effort to master his pent-up emotion.
Felix was almost as deeply affected, and it was then and there that he
learned just how dear Tom had become to him during the comparatively
short time they had been comrades.
From beginning to end Tom made him tell the whole story, not omitting a
single detail; and for an hour Felix held his audience spell-bound by a
recital of the many queer things that had come his way, since that hour
when he said goodbye with such a light heart, and started off after
venison.
It was all like a story from a book to Tom. And of course it pleased him
to hear how the conventional end had been reached, with the two rascals
captured, the stolen goods restored to their real owner, and the
criminals bundled off to jail in irons. Why, Tom could not hear enough
of the details, but kept asking questions, and even turning to the
Indian boy to find out what his chum could not tell.
"We'll get that buck's head the first thing tomorrow--that is, if you
feel decent enough for the tramp," he declared, after he had had Felix
minutely describe the place of the strange encounter, and where he had
passed his first night.
Of course the other declared that he would be all right, and eager for
business at the old stand; but the actual truth was, that for several
days he felt the effects of his series of adventures; and the mark upon
his cheek was still faintly visible two months later.
All the same, with Jo accompanying them they did go to the tree and
secure the prized head, as well as what venison was left--some animal had
been feasting on the latter; but there was still enough left to carry a
lot away with them, and every mouthful of that meat which Felix
masticated gave him more or less satisfaction, since he felt that he had
well earned all that was coming to him in this respect.
Of course the traps had been neglected during all this confusion; and so
Tom said he would take a run along the entire line that afternoon, in
order that if any prizes had been captured, the skins might not be
spoiled by too long an emersion in the water.
Jo started back home after they had had lunch. Both boys noticed with
some amusement that the boy's last fond look was in the direction of the
wonderful coffeepot, from whence had come that rich, smooth, fragrant
nectar that had so tickled his palate; doubtless they would see more of
Jo while they lingered among the foothills of the Rockies; but they
would always have their latchstring out for any one who was connected
with old Charley Crow.
As we already know, Tom had not felt any undue anxiety concerning his
chum until the hour grew late on that first night. Then he had thought
to step out, and fire his gun several times; but as Felix had not heard
the reports, it seemed that he must have been further away than anyone
suspected; or that the wind was wrong.
In the morning Tom had started out in the direction he supposed Felix
might be; hoping to come across signs of his friend. But the woods were
wide, and apparently he could not at any time have come near the place
where the other had had his adventures.
Returning at nightfall, Tom had hoped he would find the other at the
dugout, and a keen disappointment awaited him. That night was a restless
one for him. The second day had been a repetition of the first; and late
in the afternoon, dispirited and weary, Tom had drawn near the vicinity
of the shack, when he was electrified to see smoke oozing from the
chimney.
One thing the incident had surely accomplished, and this was to acquaint
the boys with the fact, if they had not realized it before, that they
were unusually fond of each other. In many ways they were unlike; but it
seemed that what one lacked the other could supply; and in this respect
they made an ideal team for campmates. The right kind of a cheerful,
willing and genial comrade, who will wear well in camp, is hard indeed
to find. It appears that, no matter what a fellow may seem like at home,
when he lands in the wilderness, the veneer is bound to drop off, and
the true elements that go to make up his real nature are quickly
apparent.
After securing the buck's head Felix was content to remain in camp for a
short time; ostensibly with the idea of "curing" it, so that it might
ornament his room at home; but to tell the plain, unvarnished truth, the
boy was still very sore, and until this in a measure wore off, the
prospects of a long jaunt through the woods and into the mountains
failed to appeal to him very much.
This feeling began to gradually grow less positive as a couple of days
passed, and finally there was no longer any excuse to hug the fire-side,
because the buck's head had been prepared after a fashion that Tom said
he had never seen beaten.
So Felix fell back into the rut, just as though there had been no break,
sometimes accompanying his chum in the round of the traps, or doing that
duty alone; and again going out to look for fresh game, with generally
the best of success.
Doubtless, as the boy tramped through the snowy woods he sometimes found
himself starting when he fancied he heard the coarse voices of the two
unfaithful guides; or it might be a smile, as of amusement, would creep
over his face when it happened that some particular tree awakened
memories of the one into which he had been so neatly tossed by the
wounded buck.
These experiences all go to make up life; and one learns more quickly
from having passed through such actual performances than by mere
reading; or even listening to what others may have accomplished,
pleasant though this may seem. Felix believed he was a much better
woodsman for having met and boldly faced the difficulties that had been
spread like a net for his unwary feet on that occasion.
His eye seemed more positive; his nerves firmer; and when he handled his
rifle, it was with an assurance born of experience, so that his aim was
apt to be more accurate than before; while a confidence had been aroused
in his soul that he would not have exchanged for anything he knew of.
So the youngster, upon being tossed into the water by an apparently
cruel elder brother, and told to swim, upon striking out in desperation
finds that by moving arms and legs he is able to keep afloat, and even
make a little clumsy progress; and into his soul springs a pride that is
never surpassed in later life, even when he wins battles in the business
arena.
Perhaps the birdling experiences something of the same sensation upon
being actually pushed from the nest by the wise mother, and discovering
that by using its wings it can fly a short distance; it is an
exhilaration never surpassed.
The buck's antlered head certainly did look mighty fine when fastened up
on the wall of the shack; and Tom vowed that if Old Sol could only be
there in spirit, he must feel pretty proud to see the walls of his well
beloved dugout decorated in such a manner.
Of course, with his Marlin, Felix had also recovered all his other
little traps from the ugly pair, while they were in the hands of the
game wardens from the Park; so that he again had his little watch, his
compass and his knife, together with what money they had taken from him,
and which had tempted the cupidity of the thieving guides.
Realizing what he lacked in using a compass, he now set about studying
things, under the guidance of his chum, in connection with the woods,
that would prove useful to him in all time to come.
It was for some time a source of wonder to Tom Tucker why Old Charley
Crow and his family, although within so short a distance of the dugout,
had never set a line of traps in that neighborhood. One day, when young
Jo was visiting them, drawn by memories of that seductive coffeepot,
they plied him with questions, and thus learned that old Sol had the
last year he was up here, through the use of certain medicines, of which
he knew the value, been able to save the life of Mrs. Crow; and in
gratitude none of the family would ever encroach on his preserves.
They knew that the old trapper had been absent for several years, and
that game was very abundant over in that direction; but a sort of "dead
line" had been established, across which none would wander with the
intention of doing business. Lacking information to the contrary, they
expected that Sol might show up at any time; and all of them were very
jealous of having him suspect that they had "poached" on his territory.
When they heard this the boys felt drawn more than ever toward the
honorable Crow family; and Felix privately declared that when he got
back home, the first thing he meant to do was to dispatch a case of
rifles just like his, though of a less expensive pattern, to make those
good fellows supremely happy.
And so out of evil good many times springs; and as long as they stayed
there at the foot of the great Rockies, Felix and his chum were likely
to enjoy friendly intercourse with the dusky family in the cabin not
many miles away.