CHAPTER XI
TREED BY A BEAR
I AM writing what happened to Skinny as if we found out all about it atonce, which we didn't. He told us some of it the first time, with Billsitting up and listening and Mr. Norton asking questions whenever Skinnybegan to run down. But every time we saw him after that for several dayshe would think of something more to tell, or something a littledifferent, so that it took a long time before we felt sure that we knewall about it.
For instance, he didn't say much at first about Mary Richmond, theHolyoke girl, except the rescue part. He was afraid that the boys wouldmake fun of him for walking down the mountain with a girl--but I haven'ttold about that yet. I am going to put everything in just when ithappened, so that you can understand it better.
There didn't much happen, anyhow, while he was going up to Savoy. Theroad was steep and winding, and climbing it kept Skinny busy and madehim wish more than once that he had gone in some other direction.
What Mr. Richmond had said about bears made him nervous. Every time hesaw a stump of a tree, he was sure it was a bear, and every time he cameto a part of the woods where the trees stood very close together and itlooked dark inside, he had to whistle and sing louder than Mary did whenshe was afraid of the cow.
Whenever he felt real scared he would caw like a crow, and that made himfeel almost brave again, for sometimes when you just pretend you arebrave and act as if you are, all of a sudden you get brave. I don't knowwhy it is but I have noticed it.
He kept a sharp eye out for deer, for he wanted to bring us one, but hedidn't see a thing all the way up that looked like a wild animal excepta calf, which ran when he threw a stick at it, and the birds, whichdon't count.
It was hot work but the air was fine, and he could see all up and downHoosac Valley, and that is worth seeing any time. If he had taken aspy-glass with him, perhaps he could have seen the other Scouts on theway to North Adams and Cheshire.
Once in a while he came to a mountain brook, gurgling and singing overthe stones. Then he would throw himself down to rest and listen to thepouring water, which we boys think is the sweetest music in all theworld, unless it is the cawing of a crow away off somewhere, on themountainside.
Late in the afternoon he came to Savoy and stopped in a field to cookhimself a good supper.
That night he slept in a barn, cuddling down in the haymow, where hecould hear some horses stirring in their stalls. They seemed sort oflike company for him, although they couldn't talk any.
"Were you not afraid up there, all alone?" Mr. Norton asked, when Skinnywas telling about the horses.
"What, me?" said he. "Anyhow, I wouldn't have been, only there were allkinds of noises in the night and once I heard something scratching atthe door. I think it was a bear; maybe, two bears."
"Great snakes!" said Bill, and we all thought so, too. But Skinny wavedone hand, as if that wasn't anything worth mentioning, and went on.
When morning finally came and the sun shone in through a cobwebby windowacross the haymow he slipped out of the barn on the side away from thehouse, so that the folks wouldn't see him.
Just the same, they saw him cooking his breakfast, and were going to setthe dog on him. But when the farmer's wife found out that it was a BoyScout and not a tramp she told him to come right into the house and eatwith them. He went, too, because he could smell the breakfast cookingand it 'most made him crazy.
"How about it, Mr. Norton?" said Bill. "That makes two meals Skinny hadgiven to him, not counting the dinner at Richmond's the next day, whichhe hasn't told about yet. That makes three. Didn't he have to cook themhimself on account of the Scout business?"
Before Mr. Norton could answer Skinny spoke up.
"Aw, g'wan!" said he. "I cooked enough to make up for it, I guess. Why,I stopped two or three times and cooked something. You don't suppose afeller can climb mountains without eatin', do you?"
"I didn't eat much," said Bill with a grin, "but I wanted to."
"I think Gabriel is right," laughed Mr. Norton. "Besides it sometimes isharder to work folks for a meal than it is to cook it, yourself."
"Anyhow," Skinny told him, "I didn't get to Richmond's in time for thatdinner and I paid for those other meals. I rescued the girl the firsttime, didn't I? That ought to be good for a dinner. And to pay for mybreakfast I carried in a lot of wood for the farmer's wife. She liked itso well that she said she would be glad to have me stay to dinner. Therewasn't any chance to do any rescuing in Savoy, so I had to do somethingelse."
"That's business!" exclaimed Mr. Norton. "Pay as you go. Gabriel, myboy, you showed yourself a true Scout and I'm proud of you."
He reached over and fastened a First Class Scout badge to Skinny's coat.
"Maybe I am a little ahead of the game," said he, "but Gabriel is leaderand I think that he has earned a badge. This seems to be thepsychological moment to present it."
Benny spoke up before we could stop him.
"What's a skological moment?" said he.
Say, that stumped Mr. Norton. He couldn't tell us.
"I'd like very much to give you one, William," he went on, after alittle, turning to Bill. "You showed yourself a hero and you have doneeverything except the hike. How would it do to give you the badge now,with the understanding that you will make good on the hike later, whenyou get well?"
Skinny swelled all up when Mr. Norton gave him the badge, and I guessanybody would. He didn't know what to do or say at first, but in aminute he came to his senses. He jumped to his feet and gave the Scoutsalute. It was great to see him.
"Fellers," said he, turning to us with his arms folded, while Mr. Nortonlooked on, wondering what was going to happen.
"Who are going to be the best Boy Scouts in America, or England,either?"
"We are!" we shouted.
"Who is the best Scoutmaster that ever happened?"
"Mr. Norton!" we yelled.
"Who is great stuff, if he did sprain his ankle on Greylock?"
"Bill Wilson!"
"'Tis well. Everybody caw. Now!"
There was some racket around that room when we turned ourselves loose.Bill sat there smiling and with his face all flushed up, he was sotickled over what Mr. Norton and Skinny had said.
Then Mr. Norton pulled another badge out of his pocket and started topin it on Bill's clothes. Bill stopped him.
"It wouldn't be fair, Mr. Norton," said he. "I started out to do myhike and I didn't do it. I know that I did something which was harderbut I didn't do that. I wouldn't feel right about wearing the badgeuntil after I had made good."
"What do you say, boys?" asked Mr. Norton, his eyes shining because hewas so proud of Bill.
"Bill's all right," said Hank. "We all know that he can do the stunt andthat he will do it, but he hasn't done it yet."
Then Benny spoke up.
"Guess what!" said he. "Let's all wait until Bill gets well and does it,before getting our badges. Except Skinny; he's got his."
"Bet your life I'll wait, too," said Skinny.
He started to take the badge off, but we wouldn't let him.
"Forget it," said Bill, "and go on with the story. You stopped in aninteresting place. I don't believe much happened, anyhow, except thecow, and you've told us about that."
"I don't like to tell the rest. It will make you walk in your sleep andthat will hurt your foot. But I'm willing to risk it if you are."
You see, when Skinny started toward home from Savoy, he made up his mindthat he would lasso a deer, or know the reason why, because it wouldlook fine to have one stuffed and standing in front of our cave atPeck's Falls. So, when he had found a place that looked wild and sort ofscary, he left the road and, getting his rope in shape to throw, madehis way in through the brush, as still as he could, so as not tofrighten the deer away.
He didn't see any deer, but after a while he found a big patch of wildstrawberries, so thick he couldn't step without tramping on some. Thatmade him forget all about his deer for 'most an hour.
> Then, all of a sudden, he heard a crackling in the bushes on the otherside of a clearing, and he felt sure that his chance had come.
Skinny dropped on his hands and knees and crawled toward the sound. Itwas slow work because he had to be careful not to make any noise, and hegrew more excited every moment.
At last he was crouching down behind some big bushes, and on the otherside he could hear the deer real plain, tramping around like a horse.
"Gee!" thought he. "It's a big one and will look great up by our cave."
He didn't say it out loud because he knew that although the deer couldnot smell him on account of the wind blowing the other way, he wouldhear him, unless he was very careful.
Then, getting the rope ready to throw, with the slip noose workingeasily, he parted the bushes gently and crept through.
There was a great crashing as some big animal broke his way through thebushes in front of him. Then came a snarl and a growl that made Skinny'sheart almost stop beating. And there he stood, paralyzed, lookingstraight into the eyes of a bear!
It wasn't any Jake Yost with his boots on wrong, either. It was the realthing, looking as big as the Quaker Meeting House to Skinny, although itwas really only a cub, about half grown.
I guess the bear wasn't expecting anybody to call, for he stood there,sort of paralyzed himself, his eyes looking right into Skinny's and onebig paw raised to take another step.
Skinny gave a howl and started for the nearest tree, one that was toosmall for a bear to climb.
Say, if tree climbing had been one of the Scout stunts, Skinny wouldhave won two badges.
It isn't any fun to sit in a tree on a mountain, with a real live bearsniffing around at the bottom and you both getting hungrier everyminute.
Skinny knew he was safe as long as he stayed in the tree, but he didn'tdare get down while the bear was in sight, and the cub wouldn't go awaymore than a few rods. I guess Skinny looked good to him, he was so fat.
Dinner time came and went. He was still in the tree and the bear wasstill fooling around below.
Skinny called for help until he was hoarse, but there wasn't anybodypassing at that time of day. Then he began to get mad, and when Skinnygets mad, look out!
"You think you're smart," said he, "but old Long Knife will show you athing or two."
First he let down his rope and found that it would reach the ground.Then he fixed the noose up in good shape, tied the other end around alimb and waited.
By and by the bear came smelling around that rope to see what it was,and that was exactly what Skinny had been waiting for. He leaned downand tried to swing the noose over the cub's head. The bear didn't knowwhat to make of it and every time the rope would hit his nose he wouldgrowl and strike it away with his paw.
Skinny saw that he would have to get closer. He climbed down to a lowerlimb; then held on with one hand, swung out over the bear, and tried tolasso him with the other.
He almost did it, too, but just as he leaned still farther down, all ofa sudden there was a cracking noise and the limb broke.
With an awful scream of despair, Skinny fell.
Boy Scouts of Bob's Hill Page 15