CHAPTER XXIII.
A WOLF BROOD IN THE WAY.
It was plain to the young scoutmaster that Aleck had studied his mapcarefully. For after he had taken his bearings anew, from the rockyhead that towered almost above them, the other was able to make adirect course to the foot of an adjoining cliff, where the moonlightfell upon the chalky wall.
Thad saw first of all that there were strange markings across the faceof this cliff, or rather running up and down. They consisted ofseveral thicknesses, and as the boys drew closer, he discovered thatwhat he suspected before was the truth; and that these were caused byvines that ascended for various distances, clinging tenaciously to therock wall.
Toward their base they seemed of unusual thickness; and it was easilybelievable that one of these might conceal a fissure in the rock, justas Aleck had mentioned, when speaking of the way his father discoveredthe entrance to Aladdin's Cave of treasure.
The boy seemed to be counting these dark veins traversing the face ofthe cliff, and when they came to the fourth one he stopped still.
"There it is, Thad, the vines he marked, fourth from the right!" hesaid, in a low and trembling voice, as though the intensity of hisfeelings almost overcame him.
"Yes, I can see it," replied the other, steadily, feeling that he mustbolster up Aleck's courage in this trying time. "And we want to knowright away whether it really does hide a gap in the rock. Come on,Aleck!"
He led the way forward, with the other half holding back. Feverish withimpatience though Aleck might be, to know whether all his hopes weredoomed to be shattered then and there, or allowed to blossom forth intoglorious buds of promise, the poor boy suddenly felt a weakness comeupon him. Only for his having such a staunch-hearted chum at his elbow,ready to take the lead, there is no telling how long Aleck Rawson mighthave hesitated there, before that mass of clinging vines, afraid to takehis courage in both hands, and push on to the goal.
But it was different with Thad. He strode up to the vines, and withone sweep drew them aside. The act disclosed a fissure that wasseveral feet in width at its base, and running some distance up thewall; although growing gradually smaller, until finally it mergedinto the gloom that held sway aloft, back of the screen of vines.
Aleck gave a low cry of rapture.
"It's here, just as he said it would be, in this map I carry!" heexclaimed, as he clutched the arm of the scoutmaster. "I hope I'm notdreaming all this, Thad; tell me I'm not, please, that's a good fellow."
"Well," replied the other, laughing gently so as to convince Aleckthat he was perfectly cool and collected, and ought to know what hetalked about; "so far as it goes, your map is absolutely correct, ChumAleck; and I don't see any reason to doubt the rest of the story. Inmy opinion we're going to discover something fine before a great manyminutes go past."
"What shall we do, Thad; you see, I'm so upset with it all, thatsomehow I look to you to arrange things. Perhaps if I was alone, andjust _had_ to depend on myself, I'd do better; but it's so kind of youto help me out, and you're so capable of doing it all. Please fix itup as you think best."
"All right, then," returned Thad, readily. "First of all, I'll lightour little glim here; for if we're going to poke along into that blackhole, I reckon we'll be wanting some sort of light to see by. Don'tthink I'd like to take a tumble down some precipice, myself; not tospeak of running across a wild beast."
"What makes you say that last, Thad?" demanded the other, quickly; "doyou get a scent of it, too?"
"I had an idea I did, and somehow it made me think of a menagerie.Hold up just a minute, and we'll be able to see something."
As he spoke Thad struck a match, which he applied to the wick of thelantern. It was a good type of its kind, and as soon as the wick hadbeen properly adjusted no one could reasonably complain about thequality of the illumination produced.
This done, the patrol leader hastened to lower the lantern so that hecould examine the ground close to the bottom of the fissure in the rock.
"Plenty of tracks, all right," was his first comment.
"Can you make them out, and is it a bear?" asked Aleck, almostunconsciously swinging his gun a little further to the front, whilehis fingers sought the lock.
"Well, no; the marks differ very much from the tracks of a bear,either a black or a cinnamon. They look more like made by a dog'spaws," Thad replied.
"But a dog wouldn't be up here; you must mean it's a wolf, that'swhat, Thad," Aleck hastened to observe.
"If that was a guess, you hit the nail square on the head, Aleck,"chuckled the scoutmaster. "A wolf has been using this hole in therock for a den; and from all I can make out, the tracks seem prettyfresh, too."
"Then you think the old chap is in there now, do you?" asked the other.
"I wouldn't like to say;" replied Thad; "but there's just one thingwe've got to do, and that is, believe it to be so. A wolf caught in atrap is some dangerous, they tell me; and in case this happens to be amother wolf, with a litter of whelps, she'd fight like everything,believe me."
"But we're going in, Thad; ain't we; you won't let that stand us off,after coming so far, will you? Oh! if there were a dozen wolves, andevery one of them ready to fight from the word go, I'd just _have_ tolearn the truth before I left here. For her sake I'd take any risk toknow."
"Well, I should say we were going in; and right away at that,"returned Thad, taking a step forward. "I only thought I ought to putyou on your guard, so that in case we came on the thing, you'd knowwhat to expect. Have you got your gun all ready to shoot, Aleck?"
"Believe me, yes; and while I don't want to brag, still I've alwayscalled myself a pretty good shot, even at a jumping wolf," replied theother; since he now knew that Thad did not mean to be deterred by anysort of ordinary difficulty, Aleck began to seem like himself, beingable to keep his feelings in restraint.
That was the influence of a cool, determined comrade, like thescoutmaster. Such a firm, collected spirit always exerts considerableinfluence over those with whom it comes in personal contact.
Thad held the lantern. He preferred doing so, even though it mustnecessarily interfere more or less with his taking any sort of aim,should the occasion suddenly arise whereby it become necessary for himto fire. But then, it was very important, Thad thought, that they keepthe lantern intact; and of course he had never been alongside Aleck inaction, so he could not tell just what sort of coolness the otherwould display when a time of excitement arrived.
Besides, when one is perfectly at home with a gun, it is possible toshoot without ever raising the weapon to the shoulder. Instinct takesthe place of aim on such an occasion; some people call it "shootingfrom the hip," and that would be as good a designation for the methodof pulling a hasty trigger, as any other.
Of course, they kept close together. This was rendered necessary bythe narrowness of the fissure, even had not their personal wishes inthe matter forced the two lads to touch elbows.
They strained their eyes as they slowly advanced, looking ahead most ofthe time, yet not neglecting to also observe the walls as they passed.
And already Thad was beginning to notice a peculiarly marked streakhere and there, that had a rather dingy, black look, and which hestrongly suspected might, on investigation, prove to be theoutcropping of the marvelous ore of silver, which, further on had beenrevealed to the startled eyes of the prospector, years ago, doubtlesscausing him to blink, and pinch himself, under the belief that he mustbe only indulging in a maddening dream, such as all of his class arevisited with from time to time.
But before they could pay the slightest attention to these things itbecame absolutely necessary that they find out the truth about thatwolf business. And as they pushed steadily inward they were constantlyon the alert for the first sign that would give warning of danger.
"I heard something like a growl, then!" whispered Aleck, suddenly.
"Sure thing," answered the other, steadily; "and we ought to get asight of the animal's eyes, quick enough now. Look for twin f
ires,that burn like phosphorus in the dark. And hold your gun on them assoon as you sight them, but don't shoot till I give the word, unlessthe beast charges us."
Ten seconds later, another and different sound came to their strainedhearing.
"Cubs whining, as I live!" ejaculated Thad, half under his breath.
"Then it's a she wolf?" said the other.
"I reckon it is," the scoutmaster answered.
"But what are you waiting for, Thad?" Aleck demanded; "I suppose thatmakes it a tougher proposition; but now I've come this far, I've justgot to go through to the end."
"We will, all right, Aleck, never fear. I was just holding back to seeif my eyes would get a little more accustomed to the dark over there;but now we can go on again. Ready all the while, are you?"
"Yes, indeed I am, Thad. Now I think I can see what you said I would."
"Meaning her yellow eyes glistening with fierce madness; becausethere's nothing more ready to fight a hundred enemies than a motherwolf with whelps. Steady, forward we go, slow but sure!"
"All right, Thad; I'm as cool as anything now; all my excitement seemsto have gone when there's real danger afoot," remarked Aleck, in aneven voice that backed up his words.
"I knew that would be so, Aleck," replied the other, in a low tone."But I can begin to see the figure of the wolf now; can you?"
"Yes, and she's standing over something that seems to move," the otherreplied.
"That must be the cubs; yes, listen to them growl, would you? Youngas they are they understand that an enemy is near. Ten to one the hairon each little back is standing up like bristles, right now. But seemsto me we've gone about as close as we ought to, Aleck?"
Thad came to a halt. The light of the lantern showed them a dim, halfcrouching figure ahead. It was the mother wolf. Undoubtedly she mighthave found means of escape by retiring further into the place; butnothing would induce her to abandon her whelps. And Thad found himselfobliged to admire this valor in the animal even though necessitycompelled him to rid the country of pests by wiping out the entirebrood of wolves, whelps as well as mother.
Boy Scouts in the Rockies; Or, The Secret of the Hidden Silver Mine Page 23