CHAPTER XXV
THE HUNTER’S CABIN
Such a predicament would have discouraged older hearts than theirs. Thelong wandering in the swamp, the fight with the alligator and then onewith the cougar, and after all to find themselves apparently no nearerdeliverance than when they started—it was a bitter pill to swallow.
But no one of the boys was of the kind that accepts defeat easily, andafter the first pang of something akin to despair had vanished, theypulled themselves together and faced the situation bravely.
“We’re a long way from being licked yet,” declared Bobby. “We’ll have togo back a way, and keep our eyes open for some sign of a path leadingoff from the one we used to get here.”
“Yes, but if there had been, one, we’d probably have seen it as we camealong,” objected Fred.
“But on the other hand,” argued Bobby, “we didn’t know then that thispath would lead us into nothing at all, the way it has, and we weren’tkeeping such a sharp lookout for something better. At any rate, seeingthat we can’t fly over the tops of these trees, it seems to me that’sour only chance.”
“Looks that way to me, too,” agreed Lee, “and the quicker we go thebetter, because it’s going to get dark within another two hours.”
“All right, then,” said Bobby, decisively, “right about face, and we’llbe on our way.”
They had gone about a mile, and were beginning to give up all hope ofever getting out of their predicament, when suddenly Bobby came to anabrupt halt.
Some ten feet off the narrow track they were on, stood two giantboulders, close together, with hardly room between them for a grown manto squeeze through. The boys had hardly noticed them when they hadpassed them going in the other direction, but now Bobby’s keen youngeyes had seen some sign on one of them that caused his heart to leap. Heran over to the larger of the two boulders to verify his discovery, andthere, sure enough, almost erased by the wind and weather but stillperfectly plain to keen eyes, was the outline of an arrow rudely daubedon the face of the rock.
“But it seems to be pointing right between the rocks,” said Lee, as allthree boys bent over the faint outline.
“Sure it is,” said Bobby, excitedly, “and right between the rocks isexactly where we’re going next,” and without further words he forced hisway through the bushes that choked the narrow gap between the rocks,Fred and Lee following close at his heels.
Bobby glanced quickly about him, and was not long in finding what hesought. There was a small semi-circle of gravel and shale at the back ofthe boulders, and at the edge of this little clearing, faint butunmistakable, was a narrow path leading into the dense undergrowth.
“Hooray!” shouted Bobby. “This is the first sign of anything promisingwe’ve seen since Boolus stole our boat, and I’ll bet Meena’s crullers tocrocodile eggs that this path will lead us out to civilization.”
Fred and Lee were equally excited, and with renewed hope they enteredthe narrow path and pressed forward, making little of the vines andfallen tree trunks that retarded their progress.
Night was descending rapidly, and in the heavy woods it was almost darkwhen, panting and spent, the three boys staggered out into a littleclearing, and before them could just make out the outlines of a rude logcabin, almost covered by vines.
“Thank Heaven!” exclaimed Lee. “I was beginning to think we’d have tospend another night in the swamp, and I’ve had enough of that to last mesome time.”
The others were hardly less relieved. The cabin at least would shelterthem and keep out marauders like the cougar, and they felt sure that inthe morning they would find a path leading from it to the outer world.
There was no sign of life about the cabin, and the door opened readilyenough when they raised the latch by which it was fastened. The interiorwas pitch dark, but Bobby lit one of his few remaining matches, and byits feeble light they peered about the little place.
“Here’s luck,” exclaimed Fred, and from a dusty shelf reached down oneof several long tallow candles. “Whoever left them there must have knownwe’d be along and would need them.”
“Whoever left them there, did it a long while ago,” said Lee. “Look howthick everything is with dust!”
“Well, you could hardly expect him to stay here and keep things cleanfor us,” grinned Fred. “That’s asking too much, Lee.”
“Oh, I’m not kicking,” disclaimed Lee. “This place looks solid enough tokeep the rain out, and maybe if we look around we’ll find other thingsbesides the candles.”
“I’ve heard of Eskimos eating candles,” said Bobby, “and I’m prettynearly hungry enough to try one myself.”
“Well, you tried the alligator eggs first, so you ought to be willing tosample these too,” said Fred.
“Maybe I will, at that,” said Bobby, “but not until I’ve made sure thereisn’t anything else to be had.”
“There seems to be a closet of some kind over there,” said Fred,pointing to the opposite wall. “Let’s see what’s in it.”
“Probably nothing but a large amount of air,” said Lee, sceptically.
“Well, there’s only one way to find out, and that’s to look,” said Fred,and, suiting the action to the word, he strode quickly across the roomand opened the door of the closet.
“Scubbity-yow!” yelled Fred. “Look at that, will you!”
Neatly ranged on shelves were cans of meat and vegetables, sufficient tofeed the boys for weeks, if the necessity arose.
“Gee!” exclaimed Bobby. “It doesn’t look as though we’d have to eatcandles yet awhile, does it?”
“I should say not,” said Lee, jubilantly. “And there’s a big pot in thecorner too,” he cried, a moment later. “I reckon whoever provisionedthis cabin must have intended to stay here a while.”
“Looks like it, all right,” agreed Bobby. “But let’s get busy and openone or two of those cans. How would you fellows like some baked beans?”he inquired, looking over the labels. “Think you could punish them in aproper manner?”
“Lead us to it,” yelled Fred, and Lee rubbed his stomach in a mostexpressive manner. Whoever had provided the food had been so farneglectful as to forget the convenient can opener, but Bobby’s jacknifeproved a convenient substitute, and it did not take them long to get afire going in the rough grate that decorated one end of the littlecabin. As the odor of frying pork and beans filled the air, the boyscould hardly restrain themselves until they were heated through, andwhen at length Bobby pronounced the feast ready, they fell on it like somany wolves.
Bobby Blake on a Plantation; Or, Lost in the Great Swamp Page 25