CHAPTER XIII
THE DEFENCE OF THE CAMP
"Mabel first, please, Max!" said Mazie, as all of them hastened over tothe tree that had been selected as the harbor of refuge on account ofthe fact that its lower branches seemed to invite an ascent.
Max gave Steve a knowing nod, and the two of them quickly whisked thelittle lame French girl up in the first crotch like magic.
Before Mazie really knew what they were going to do she was followingafter the first climber; and as they made room for the others, firstMrs. Jacobus, and then last of all Bessie found lodgment there.
"If you can manage to get up a little higher it would be safer allaround," Max told them, though he tried his best not to alarm the girlsby intimating that the lower limb of the tree might still be withinjumping distance of an agile hound.
Immediately after performing his duty Steve picked up his club again.Meanwhile the other three boys had brushed around and armed themselveswith the most available weapons the dead wood afforded. Bandy-legs wasfortunate in having one already to his suiting, and the others did thebest they could; so that there was quite a formidable assortment ofcudgels swinging back and forth as the owners tested their capacity formischief; much as the intending batter at a critical stage of abaseball game may be seen to practice with two clubs before stepping upto the plate.
There could no longer be any doubt as to the speedy coming of the dogpack, as their eager yelps and barks sounded very close. It must havebeen that in their hungry condition they had picked up the odor of foodfar away, because a dog's sense of smell is remarkably acute,especially when half starved.
Max only waited in order to throw plenty of dry fuel on the fire beforejoining the battle line. If they were compelled to put up a stifffight in order to keep their food supply intact, he knew that theywould need all the light they could get, because with the coming ofnight, darkness had settled upon the forest lining the western bank ofthe flooded river.
"Whee! listen to the way they're tearing along, would you?" exclaimedBandy-legs, as the noise drew rapidly nearer.
Every fellow seemed to take in a big breath. It was as though he meantto nerve himself for the exciting times to follow.
"Remember, leave the biggest dog to me!" Max told them, desirous ofimpressing this fact upon their minds; for with that powerful littleautomatic pistol in his possession, handed over to him by the owner ofthe abandoned cabin, he felt much better able to cope with a monsterDane or a huge mastiff than any of those who simply carried sticksmight have been.
Max did not fancy the job before him. He had always confessed to agreat liking for dogs of almost all kinds, and the thought of beingcompelled to shoot one, even in self-defense, did not appeal to him;though it was a grim necessity that forced him to contemplate such amassacre.
These animals having been shut off from their regular food supplybecause of the flood that had driven their masters from home, were onlyfollowing out the dictates of their natures, in seeking to satisfy thedemands of hunger. Under ordinary conditions they may have been themost desirable of companions, and valued highly by those who owned them.
There was no other way to meet the emergency save by dispersing thesavage pack. And Max knew that the animal of the heavy bark must be apowerful brute, capable of inflicting serious damage to any one uponwhom he descended; hence he must in some way manage to dispose of thebeast before he could leap on his intended prey.
"I see 'em!" suddenly almost shrieked Bandy-legs; and all of the boysmight have echoed his announcement, for they caught sight of a confusedscrambling mass approaching at a furious pace.
This almost immediately developed into separate units, as the dogsrushed directly into the camp. Max could see that there were no twoalike, and in the lead was a mastiff as large as any wolf that everfollowed in the wake of a wounded stag, a tawny colored animal, withwide-open jaws that must have filled the watching girls with a sense ofabject horror, even though they were apparently safe from attack upamong the branches of the tree.
Max had eyes for no other after that. Let his chums and Shack Beggstake care of the New Foundland, the Irish setter, the beagle, therabbit hound, and several more, even to a sturdy looking squattybulldog that must have used his short bowlegs to some advantage to keeppace with the rest of the pack; his duty was to meet the oncoming ofthat natural leader, and wind up his career.
The five boys had stationed themselves partly in front of the shelterwhere all of their food supplies had been placed, though at the sametime they stood between the tree and the rushing dogs.
Straight at them the pack went, helter-skelter. It may not have beenso much a desire to attack human beings that animated the animals asthe keen sense of smell telling them that provisions were to be foundback in that rustic shack.
Max waited until the big leader was almost upon them before he startedto use his automatic. Indeed, one of the girls in the tree, gasped hisname in terror, under the impression that Max may have been sopetrified with astonishment at sight of the size of the mastiff that hecould not pull the trigger of his weapon.
But it was not so, and Steve, who was alongside, knew it full well,because he could hear Max saying steadily all the while:
"Hold firm, boys; don't get rattled! I've got that big thief potted!Steady now, everybody; and hit the line _hard_!"
That was the encouraging way Max used to call out to his players on thehigh school eleven when they were fighting for victory on the gridironwith a rival school. It did much to nerve those who heard; and Steveespecially needed some such caution to keep him from springing to meetthe coming attack halfway.
Then there sounded a peculiar snapping report. It was the automaticdoing its duty. Firm was the hand that gripped the little weapon, andunflinching the eye back of the same.
A shriek from the tree told that the girls were watching every move inthe exciting game that was being played. The mastiff was seen to stopin his headlong rush, and roll over in a heap; then he struggled to hisfeet again, only to have another flash directed into his eyes; and thistime Max must have made sure work of it, because the huge animal didnot attempt to rise again.
Meanwhile the rest of the pack had continued its forward progress, andas those waiting clubs began to swing and play there was a confusedexchange of shouts, yaps and yelps that must have filled a listener'sheart with wonder, providing he did not know the meaning of the fracas.
Deprived of the dominating spirit of their leader, and met with such afurious bombardment at the hands of the four boys, the balance of thepack could not hold out long. Their hunger did not seem to be equal totheir fear of those clubs striking with such tremendous vim that inmany cases the victim was hurled completely over. The attack becameweaker and weaker; first one animal went howling away completely cowed,and then another took flight, until presently the bulldog was the onlyone left.
He had managed to seize Toby's club and was holding on with a deathgrip, straining his best to pull the same out of the hands of theowner. Steve was for turning on him, and belaboring the beast with hisown cudgel; but Max, who knew the nature of the beast better than anyof the others, felt sure that this sort of treatment would only resultin a general fight, and that in the end the animal would either have tobe shot, or else he must bite one of them seriously.
"Wait!" he called out; "keep back, the rest of you, and leave him tome!"
Thinking of course that he meant to advance, and use his firearm inorder to finish the stubborn bulldog, the three other boys backed away,leaving only Toby standing there, holding one end of his club, whilethe canine enemy maintained that savage grip on the other, and soughtto wrest it away.
But Max had had enough of dog killing for one night, and meant to tryother tactics in this case. He dodged into the shelter, and almostimmediately reappeared bearing with him some food that had been leftover, scraps of bread and fragments from their supper.
These he tossed close to the nose of the stubborn bulldog, while therest of the p
arty watched to see the result. Would hunger prevail, orthe disposition to continue fighting cause the animal to keep onchewing the end of Toby's club?
Presently they saw the unwelcome visitor begin to sniff eagerly. Thenhe suddenly released those terrible teeth of his, the iron jaw relaxed,and the next thing they knew the ferocious bulldog was devouring thefood Max had thrown down, with every symptom of satisfaction.
Max went back and secured more of the same kind.
"We can get plenty, once we leave here in the morning," he toldBandy-legs when the latter showed a disposition to murmur against theseeming extravagance; "and I'd hate to kill that dog. I'm sure fromhis looks he must be of fine stock, and worth a heap to his owner.Besides, I've knocked one over, and that's one too many to please me.Now watch what I'll do."
With that he approached, and offered the dog the rest of the food. Inanother minute he could have patted the heretofore savage beast on theback, only that Max was too wise to trouble a feeding dog.
"Nothing more to be feared from him, I guess," remarked Steve, who hadwatched all this with distended eyes; "you know dogs from the groundup, Max. But do you think it's safe to have that terror around? Thegirls won't want to come down out of the tree while he's in camp."
"You're mistaken there," said Bessie, as she dropped beside him; "I'mnot at all afraid of dogs when they're natural; and besides, I knowthis fine fellow quite well. He belongs to a neighbor of my uncle, andhe used to come to me as though he rather liked me; didn't you, Bose?"
At mention of his name the ferocious looking bulldog with the bowedlegs actually wagged his crooked stub of a tail, and gave the girl alook. As he was now through feeding, and seemed to be in a contentedframe of mind, Bessie continued to talk to him in a wheedling way; andpresently was able to slip a hand upon his head, though it gave Steve acold chill to see her do it.
Max had meanwhile dragged the other dog out of sight in the bushes,though Toby had to help him, such was the size of the wretched mastiffthat had been brought to a bad end through his hunger, and adetermination to raid the camp of the flood fugitives.
The balance of the pack had apparently been taught a severe lesson, andwould not return again. Their barking continued to be heard atintervals throughout the night, but always at a considerable distance.
As it was so very uncomfortable up in the tree, and the bulldog seemedto have made up his mind to be friendly with those who had kindlyattended to his wants, Mazie, the lame girl, and Mrs. Jacobus finallyconsented to be helped down. They kept suspicious eyes on thefour-legged visitor however, and insisted that Bose be rigorouslyexcluded from the rustic shelter under which they soon purposed seekingtheir rest.
Max finally managed to rig up a collar, which was attached to the rope,and Bessie secured this around the dog's neck, after which Bose wasanchored to another tree.
He must have been accustomed to this sort of treatment, for he speedilylay down and went to sleep, as though satisfied to stay with these newfriends. Floods as well as politics, often make strange bed-fellows.
Having brought his party safely through this crisis Max was againbusying himself making plane looking toward their future. He knew thatthe country was so disturbed by the inundation of the river, with itsconsequent damage to many homes, that they must depend to a greatextent on their own efforts in order to reach Carson again. Still itseemed necessary in the start that one of their number should start outto seek help in the way of some conveyance by means of which the girlsand Mrs. Jacobus might be taken to Carson, because he and his chumswere well able to walk that distance.
On talking this over with the rest, and Shack was invited to join them,much to the secret satisfaction of the "black sheep" of Carson, Maxfound that they were all opposed to his being the one to go forth.They claimed that he would be needed right along in order to continuethe management of affairs.
Of course Shack could not go, because his former bad reputation wouldserve to set people against him, for the whole country knew of thedoings of the gang to which he had belonged; Toby was debarred fromserving on account of his infirmity in the line of speech, and so itmust lie between Bandy-legs and Steve.
"I'm the one to go, Max," declared the latter, so resolutely that whileBandy-legs had just been about to volunteer, the words died on hislips; for he knew that when Steve really wanted a thing he must haveit, or there would be trouble in the camp; so that Bandy-legs, being awise youth, shrugged his shoulders and yielded the palm.
Once more Max talked it all over with them. They knew next to nothingabout the lay of the land around that section, but in a general waythat could be figured out; and Steve was cautioned what to avoid inlooking for a habitation where he might manage to hire a rig of somesort.
Max even made him a rough map, showing some features of the river bankas it was now constituted, so that the messenger would know where toreturn if he was fortunate enough to secure help.
"If we're gone from here," said Max, in conclusion, "we'll manage toleave such a plain trail after us that you can follow as easy asanything."
So Steve went around solemnly shaking hands with every one, though helingered longest when it came to Bessie; and she must have saidsomething pleasant, for he was smiling broadly as though satisfied whenhe waved them good-bye, and stick in hand, vanished amidst the trees ofthe forest.
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