Afloat on the Flood

by John C. Hutcheson

  CHAPTER XII

  THE WILD DOG PACK

  This prospect pleased the two boys very much. Max believed that theycould manage to drag the boat up along the shore, and then scull out towhere the house stood, surrounded by water.

  Accordingly they first of all led the old woman to where the otherswere making as comfortable a camp as the meager conditions allowed. Itturned out that the little lame girl, Mabel French, knew her very well,and addressed her as Mrs. Jacobus. She took occasion to tell Max asidethat the old lady had lived alone for many years, but that instead ofbeing poor as she seemed, in reality people said she was very rich,only eccentric. Perhaps she had a history, Max thought, as he lookedat the wrinkles on her face, and noticed the kindly eyes, and wanted tohide her pain away from a cruel world.

  He and Bandy-legs proceeded to drag the boat up to a point above thecabin, and then pushing out, headed for their goal. The current wasfully as swift as before, but as they had taken all proper precautionsthey did not have a great deal of difficulty in making it.

  Once they had secured their boat by the kitchen door, and they entered,wading with the water up to their waists. As soon as they had enteredBandy-legs gave a wild cheer.

  "Great governor! look at the fine ham hanging from the rafters, withstrings of garlic, and all sorts of things!" he cried out. "Yourummage around in closets, Max, while I'm climbing up, and grabbingthat same smoked pork. Say, the country is saved, and those poor girlscan have something worth while to eat. I've learned a new way to fryham without even a pan; though chances are we'll be able to pick upsomething along that line in the kitchen here."

  They did, and all sorts of other things besides, which Max fancied thegirls could make use of, and which were really in danger of being lost,if the cabin was carried away. He rooted in every cupboard, secured alot of dishes and tinware, knives, forks and spoons, even a loaf ofbread and some cake that he found in a japanned tin box high up on theshelf of a closet, coffee, sugar, and condensed milk, butter, potatoes,onions and a lot of other things too numerous to mention, but whichattracted the attention of the hungry boys.

  Bandy-legs was fairly bubbling over with delight, and kept declaringthat it was the greatest picnic ever known. All the perils of the pasthad apparently vanished from his mind, and he was as happy as any onecould be over the prospect of enjoying a regular camp meal by the glowof a jolly woods fire.

  "Guess we'd better hold up about now, Max," he went on to say, whenthey had piled the stuff in the boat until it looked as though movingday had come around again, or an eviction was in progress.

  "You're right there, Bandy-legs, because if we kept on much more therewouldn't be standing room for the two of us, and you'd have to swimalongside. So let's call it a day's work and quit. Besides, we'llhave our hands full getting our stuff ashore. You stand ready to spellme if I play out, will you?"

  "I'd like to have a chance at that sculling racket, anyhow, Max; nevertook a turn at the same, and so you'd better let me try it when we getin closer to shore."

  "Only too glad to fix you up," replied the other, as he started to work.

  It turned out all right, and they managed to reach land about as closeto the spot where the camp had been pitched as it was possible to get.When the two came staggering along, laden down with all sorts of stuff,there was a whoop from Steve and Toby, who stopped work on the shack torun and help them.

  "Well, this is great shakes, for a fact!" exclaimed the former, as herelieved Max of a part of his load; "I declare if you haven't fetchedenough junk to fit us up in housekeeping for a year. And I guess thelittle old lady won't be sorry, either, because p'raps you've been andsaved some of her property that would have gone floating down the riverto-night."

  Mrs. Jacobus smiled and nodded her head when she saw what the boys hadfound.

  "I had that fowl killed and dressed yesterday, meaning to make a dinneroff it to-day, but the coming of the flood took all thought of eatingout of my head," she remarked, as Bandy-legs exposed the featherlessbird, which had been found hanging from a beam, just like the ham andother things.

  There was great rejoicing in the camp. Bessie and Mazie immediatelytook charge of all the stuff that had been brought ashore. If theywanted any assistance they called on one of the boys, as happened whenthe ham was to be sliced. Fortunately Max had secured a large knife inthe kitchen, and with this he managed splendidly, cutting around thebone, as they lacked a saw.

  Mrs. Jacobus had told the boys where there were some stray boards lyingin the woods not far away, and already the shack builders had paidseveral visits to the pile, returning each time dragging spoils afterthem. These they could use to splendid advantage in their work, andwhen the shelter was finally completed it promised to be amply largeenough for the three girls and Mrs. Jacobus, to keep them from thenight air. Should it storm possibly all of them could crawl under,though the boys declared they meant to keep the camp-fire burningthroughout the night, and would not need anything over them.

  "Things are looking some different from what they did while we weredrifting along on that wobbly old piece of the broken bridge, eh,fellows?" Steve wanted to know, as later on, when it began to grow dimwith the approach of night, the boys sat down to rest, and watch theirforce of cooks getting supper ready.

  "Couldn't be a bigger change anyway you fix it," assented Bandy-legs;"and let me tell you these girls certainly know how to go at things theright way. Now, as I've been taking lessons from our cook, Nora, Iought to be considered something of a judge, and I want to say righthere that I never whiffed more appetizing smells around a camp-fire inall my born days than are filling the air this very minute. I don'tsee how I can stand it much longer; seems that I'm possessed with awild desire to jump up and begin eating like a cannibal."

  "Well, don't you pick out Bessie when you do," Steve warned himsolemnly; "she may be sweet enough to eat, but not for you, Bandy-legs.But just think how the girls must suffer getting all these rationsready, and not having had a mouthful of food since breakfast-time whileall the rest of us had lunch at noon."

  "Max, you said you had a bell somewhere, so please ring it, becauseeverything's ready," Mazie called out just at that minute.

  Whereupon Max picked up an extra skillet that had come with the otherkitchen stuff, and pounded on it loud and long with a great big stick;while the rest of the party hastened to find places around themakeshift camp table, formed out of some of the best boards, laid onthe ground, because they had neither hammer nor nails with which toconstruct a real table.

  It was a merry sight to see them all, and much laughing was indulgedin. Young hearts may not long stay depressed; and the loss of Mr.French's home, while it may have seemed too bad in the eyes of all ofthem, was not irreparable, since he was considered well-to-do, andlater on could build a newer and better house in place of the one sweptaway.

  No lives had been lost, and hence there was really no occasion for themto pull long faces and make themselves miserable.

  Mrs. Jacobus was smiling all the while. This was evidently a new aswell as novel experience with the little old lady who had lived aloneso many years. She could hardly take her eyes off the face of Max, sheseemed so greatly interested in the boy; and the three girls also had ashare of her attention. Perhaps after this she might make somewhat ofa change in her mode of living; she had discovered that there werepeople worth knowing in this dreary world, after all; and that it wasfoolish to hide away from everybody, just because of some bitter strokeof fortune away back in the past.

  Steve was the life of the party. He felt so overjoyed because of thekind fate that had allowed him to be of considerable use to BessieFrench, so that their old friendship was renewed, this time to remain,that he seemed to be fairly bubbling over with spirits. He made wittyremarks about most of the food they had, and kept the others laughingfrom the beginning of the meal until it reached its conclusion, withthe dishes well cleaned out.

  Everybody had an abundance, and the boys see
med never to weary ofdeclaring how glad they were to have the proper kind of cooks along.Their own style of camp cookery might do in an emergency, when theywere cast upon their own resources; but it lacked something or otherthat a girl somehow seemed to know instinctively how to put in it, andmake all the difference imaginable in the taste.

  Steve even volunteered to favor them with a song, and it would haverequired very little encouragement to have extended this to a dance, solight-hearted was he feeling. No one would ever have believed thatthis was the same Steve whose face had been long-drawn with anxietyonly a comparatively few hours back, while they were drifting on theswift current of the flood, with their strange craft in danger of goingto pieces at any moment, and leaving them struggling in the wildernessof rushing water.

  There were some other things that wise Max had secured from theabandoned cottage of Mrs. Jacobus. These had been left down by theboat, and when he presently walked over that way, and came back ladendown with blankets there was a loud cheer from the other boys,accompanied by much hand-clapping from the girls.

  "Why, this is just delightful," Mazie told him, after he had first ofall made her choose the best blanket, which she immediately turned overto the crippled child, taking another for her own individual use; "andif we'd only known how nice it was all going to come out, you can besure none of us would have allowed ourselves to cry as we sat there onthe roof waiting to be drowned. We'll never forget this experience,will we, Bessie?"

  "I should say not," came the prompt answer; "and the boys have donethemselves proud through it all. Just to think of their being on thatbridge when it fell into the flood, and none of them even thrown intothe river. I never heard of such great good fortune. And then to betaken straight to where we were hoping and praying for some one to comealong and save us. Well, after this I'm not going to be so silly as todoubt it any longer."

  "What?" asked Steve, quickly, but in a low voice.

  "Oh! just that there must be a sweet little cherub aloft watching overme," she replied, giving him a saucy look.

  "I thought you might mean that it was wicked for people to quarrel, andthat it never could happen again between two persons that I know,"Steve went on to say.

  "Well, perhaps I did mean that too; but no matter, I've seen a greatlight, and sitting there on that terrible roof so many hours was a goodthing for me, Steve. I'm never going to be such a spitfire again; andI'll never condemn anybody unheard, I give you my word. But what's thematter with you, Bessie; you are shaking like a leaf. I hope youhaven't taken cold."

  "No, it isn't that, Mazie," replied the other Carson girl; "but listento the horrid wolves up there on the hill; and it seems to give me abad feeling when I get to thinking of what would happen if they shouldcome down here and attack us, when we haven't a single gun to defendourselves with."

  Bandy-legs started chuckling.

  "Wolves don't yelp like that, Bessie," he remarked; "what you hear is apack of wild dogs hunting something to eat. Since the water got sohigh, like as not they haven't had their meals as regular as they'dlike, since lots of places are flooded out; so they've got together,and are rampaging around in search of grub. They do seem to be makinga regular circus up there; and Max, I believe they're workin' down thisway."

  "Oh! dear! then this camping out isn't such great sport as it seemed!"cried pretty Bessie French, looking appealingly toward Steve, as thoughshe expected him as her knight to stand between should any dangerthreaten.

  "I was thinking that myself, Bandy-legs," Max admitted; "it may be thattheir keen scent has gotten wind of the smell from our cooking supperat last, and started them this way, bent on making a raid on ourstores."

  "Whatever can we do?" entreated Mazie, looking to Max to get them outof this new difficulty, for as everybody knew he always had a planready.

  "If they should come this way you girls would have to climb up amongthe lower branches of this tree here," said Max. "You could make itwithout the least trouble, and keep out of reach of the dogs' teeth.Do you understand that, Mazie, Bessie, Mabel? Yes, and you too, Mrs.Jacobus."

  The old lady took something out of her pocket and carefully handed itover to Max. To his astonishment he discovered that he was holding abrand new automatic quick-firing revolver of the latest pattern.Undoubtedly then Mrs. Jacobus, while living alone, had not taken anychances. Tramps or dogs might molest her, and she probably meant to bein a condition to defend herself. Perhaps, too, she may have carriedquite a good-sized amount of money about her person, and wished to bein a condition to keep yeggmen from robbing her by day or by night.

  Somehow the feel of the weapon gave Max a sensation of renewedconfidence. With such a reliable tool he fancied that there would belittle cause for anxiety, even should that pack of snapping hungry dogsdash into the camp, seeking to raid their larder, and ready to attackthem if prevented from carrying out their design.

  "Get hold of clubs, boys, if you can find them!" he told the others;"because the yelping and barking is certainly coming straight this way,and we'd better be ready to beat them off if they try to rob us.Anything that will make an impression will do; and when you strike, doit with vim!"

  "Will we?" cried Steve, who still had a splendid club he had picked upsome time back; "just let me get a single whack at a dog, I don't carewhat his breed or size or color, and his name will be Dennis, or Mud, Idon't know which. But just as you said, Max, they are coming this wayfull tilt. Whew! sounds like there might be a round dozen in thebunch, and from a yapping ki-yi to a big Dane, with his heavy bark likethe muttering of thunder."

  "Leave that big one to me, remember," said Max; "and you fellows lookafter the smaller fry. We'll have to show them that because they'rerunning loose and in a pack, they don't own the woods by a long shot.Now, climb up into that tree, girls, because they'll be here in aminute or so, I'm afraid!"