The Hunters of the Ozark
Page 13
CHAPTER XIII.
A TROUBLESOME VISITOR.
There is no reason to discredit the truth of the accounts given byhunters in the west of wild beasts of prodigious activity, strength andferocity, and that, belonging to no distinct class of animals, are amixture of the fiercest. Trappers and explorers in the wild regions ofthe Rocky Mountains, sometimes meet a beast to which they have given theexpressive name of "Indian devil," whose power and daring are such thata party of veteran hunters have been known to withdraw from a sectionfrequented by him, simply to avoid a fight. While the stories about themmay be exaggerated at times, there is no doubt that such animals exist,and there is good reason to hold them in dread.
The beast that Fred Linden and Terry Clark saw in the path before themresembled a panther more than any animal they could call to mind. Itmight have been described as a cross between a tiger and panther, hadthat been possible. Fred had heard his father speak of those creaturesthat were detested and feared, and he was sure that they were going tohave trouble with this one. How fortunate that each boy held a loadedgun in his grasp!
The action of the hybrid was as peculiar as his appearance. He seemed tohave been trotting quietly along the trail with his nose down, as thoughfollowing the scent, when he became aware that his game had stopped, andwere surveying him with some interest. The beast also came to an abrupthalt and threw up his head, as though he was equally curious to learnsomething about the party of the first part.
Standing thus, with his nose quite high in the air, it struck both boysthat he showed a resemblance to a wolf as well as a panther. He waslarger than either, and there could be no doubt that he was amazinglymuscular, active and courageous.
Thus stood the opposing parties, as they may be called, for a fullminute. Each looked steadily at the other, the space between them beingno more than fifty yards. Had it been less, both boys would have firedat him, but they were afraid that such wounds as they could inflictwould only rouse his fury. One of the most marked peculiarities of the"Indian devil" is his toughness, some of the stories in this respectbeing almost incredible.
All at once the beast seemed to be overcome with disgust for the twoyoungsters. He whisked squarely about and trotted away, showing a bushyfox-like tail that almost swept the ground.
"I call that an insoolt!" exclaimed Terence Clark, bringing his gun tohis shoulder, taking quick aim and letting fly, before his companioncould object. He insisted that he had hit the animal, but it is likelyhe was mistaken, for it gave no sign of being touched, trotting with thesame even step until it passed from sight around a bend in the path.
"I hit him hard," insisted Terry, who proceeded to reload his piece;"there's no doubt of the same."
"If you had done so, he would have given some evidence of it, but therewas not the slightest."
"Ye know that such creatures are tough," coolly remarked Terry; "and thebullet has glanced off his side as from a rock."
"If I could believe that," said the other, "I would hide somewhere untilhe went away, for it would be only a waste of powder and ball to shootat him."
"Hasn't he gone off? What are ye talking about?"
"Gone away? Yes; for awhile, but we are not done with that beast yet; weshall have trouble with him."
"If we keep our guns loaded and our powder dry, we'll open on him, andif we can't kill him we'll fill him with so much lead that he won't beable to travel fast, and we'll bid him good-by and walk from him."
The boys waited a few minutes, thinking possibly that the strangecreature would show himself again, but he did not appear, and theyturned about and resumed their journey.
They were now on one of the best stretches of the trail. The ground waseven, there were no bowlders or rocks in the path to make walkingdifficult, and the undergrowth, which in some places was quite anobstruction, did not interfere. By the middle of the afternoon, Fred wasconfident they were twenty miles at least on the road, and he said thatif they came upon an inviting place, they would go into camp for thenight. The package which each carried on his back was wrapped in ablanket that could be used to lie upon by the fire, or in severeweather, though they would have cared little had they owned nothing ofthe kind.
Their good spirits continued, and they were walking at a leisurely pace,when a rustling in the bushes on the left caused them to look in thatdirection. There stood the strange beast, not fifty feet away, headerect, and staring at them with the same inquiring look that he showedsome time before.
"I wonder how he likes a side view of us," said Terry, partly amused,but somewhat frightened; "I think he is close enough for us to fetch himthis time."
Fred was inclined to give him a shot, but he felt some doubt, and whilehe was considering the question, the beast whisked about and vanishedlike a flash.
"He is a strange animal," said Fred, lowering his gun, which he was inthe act of raising; "and I am more satisfied now than ever that we shallhave trouble with him. The first time that we gain a fair shot, that is,like we had just now, let's tumble him over. He may be as daring andtough as the hunters say, but there isn't any animal tough enough towithstand a couple of well-aimed bullets."
"I agree wid ye--that is, after one was fired. That shot of mine waswell aimed and struck, but it takes somethin' more to bring him down, asa colored friend of mine once said when a house tumbled over on hishead."
"You saw how spry a creature he is, and if he should happen to drop downupon us from the branch of a tree, those sharp claws of his would playthe mischief with us."
Since there was no place in sight that suited for camping, Terryreloaded, and they kept on. After the fright they had received, you maybe sure they maintained a close watch of the wood in every direction. Asyet they had seen no game from which to procure food, but they wantedto go into camp near a spring or stream of water. The latter isgenerally looked upon as one of the indispensables by a party ofcampers, and it was not likely that the youths would have to travel farbefore finding what they wanted.
The sun had not yet dropped below the horizon when they struck the veryspot. There were the bubbling brook, lined by mossy banks, the smallopen space, the tall column-like trunks; and the heavy overhangingboughs, which, late though it was in the season, would allow but fewdrops of a shower to find their way through. The air was cool, but therewere no signs of a storm.
"There couldn't be a better place," said Fred, when he had noted all thepoints; "here is every thing that a party can want, except it be supper,which they ought to bring with them."
"And somebody has been here ahead of us," added Terry, kicking apart theashes at the base of a large tree; "there's where the fire waskindled."
"No doubt it is where father and the rest of them spent the first nightafter leaving home: that shows that we have made good progress, and, ifno accident happens, we shall arrive on time."
"There is no need of our hurryin', as I understood that a gintleman onceobsarved whin they were goin' to hang him; if we are two or three dayslate in gettin' there, what's the odds?"
"None--though this fine weather can not last long, and when it is over,I should like to be at the end of our journey, where we shall have goodshelter. I wonder what has become of the wild beast?"
"Be the powers! but there he comes!"
The words had hardly passed the lips of the startled Terry Clark, whenthe strange animal was seen in the path in front of them, in preciselythe same position as when first noticed. He had evidently passed aroundto the front, as though determined to study the boys from every point ofview. He seemed to have been standing for some minutes before discoveredby the boys, and was now observed approaching, as the Irish lad hadannounced.
He did not gallop or trot, but walked slowly, just as though having madeup his mind to take a select meal off the youngsters, he was going to doso with the deliberation of an epicure that extracts the fullestenjoyment from his delicacies.
There was something unnerving in the sight of the frightful animalapproaching in this noiseless fashi
on, his jaws parted just enough toshow his long, white teeth, but giving utterance to no growl, orthreatening act, beyond the mere advance itself. His large, round eyeshad a phosphorescent glow, and the long, sinewy body and limbs were therepository of a strength and activity that might well make a veteranhunter timid about encountering him.
"By gracious!" said Fred Linden; "we're in for it now; he doesn't meanto wait for us to attack him, but is coming for us."
"If I was called on to make a wager," said Terry, as cool as ever, "thatwould be the view that I would take of the same."
"You fire first and I will follow; take good aim, and send your bulletright between the eyes."
There was no time to spare, for the beast at that instant was within adozen yards. Terry Clark brought his rifle to his shoulder, sightedquickly, and pulled the trigger.
That he struck the creature was proven by his snarling growl and slightupward leap; but instead of stopping, he broke into a gallop and camestraight on.
Then Fred Linden aimed and fired, but he also failed to check theadvance of the animal.