The Edward S. Ellis Megapack

by Edward S. Ellis

  “I’m of the same opinion with yersilf, but jest now there is somethin’ else that gives me concern.”

  “What is that?” asked the surprised Fred, stopping and turning around.

  “Some person or animal has been followin’ us for the last half hour. I’ve heard it more than once, and it ain’t fur off this very minute.”

  The two boys stood still and looked over the trail along which they had been traveling. Fred Linden’s fear was that Terry had discovered the presence of some of the very Winnebagos whom he dreaded, but he was mistaken. That which they saw was not a person, but a strange animal of such fierce mien and hostile intent that they instantly looked to their rifles, knowing that a savage fight was inevitable.

  CHAPTER XIII

  A Troublesome Visitor

  There is no reason to discredit the truth of the accounts given by hunters in the west of wild beasts of prodigious activity, strength and ferocity, and that, belonging to no distinct class of animals, are a mixture of the fiercest. Trappers and explorers in the wild regions of the Rocky Mountains, sometimes meet a beast to which they have given the expressive name of “Indian devil,” whose power and daring are such that a party of veteran hunters have been known to withdraw from a section frequented by him, simply to avoid a fight. While the stories about them may be exaggerated at times, there is no doubt that such animals exist, and there is good reason to hold them in dread.

  The beast that Fred Linden and Terry Clark saw in the path before them resembled a panther more than any animal they could call to mind. It might have been described as a cross between a tiger and panther, had that been possible. Fred had heard his father speak of those creatures that were detested and feared, and he was sure that they were going to have trouble with this one. How fortunate that each boy held a loaded gun in his grasp!

  The action of the hybrid was as peculiar as his appearance. He seemed to have been trotting quietly along the trail with his nose down, as though following the scent, when he became aware that his game had stopped, and were surveying him with some interest. The beast also came to an abrupt halt and threw up his head, as though he was equally curious to learn something about the party of the first part.

  Standing thus, with his nose quite high in the air, it struck both boys that he showed a resemblance to a wolf as well as a panther. He was larger than either, and there could be no doubt that he was amazingly muscular, active and courageous.

  Thus stood the opposing parties, as they may be called, for a full minute. Each looked steadily at the other, the space between them being no more than fifty yards. Had it been less, both boys would have fired at him, but they were afraid that such wounds as they could inflict would only rouse his fury. One of the most marked peculiarities of the “Indian devil” is his toughness, some of the stories in this respect being almost incredible.

  All at once the beast seemed to be overcome with disgust for the two youngsters. He whisked squarely about and trotted away, showing a bushy fox-like tail that almost swept the ground.

  “I call that an insoolt!” exclaimed Terence Clark, bringing his gun to his shoulder, taking quick aim and letting fly, before his companion could object. He insisted that he had hit the animal, but it is likely he was mistaken, for it gave no sign of being touched, trotting with the same even step until it passed from sight around a bend in the path.

  “I hit him hard,” insisted Terry, who proceeded to reload his piece; “there’s no doubt of the same.”

  “If you had done so, he would have given some evidence of it, but there was not the slightest.”

  “Ye know that such creatures are tough,” coolly remarked Terry; “and the bullet has glanced off his side as from a rock.”

  “If I could believe that,” said the other, “I would hide somewhere until he went away, for it would be only a waste of powder and ball to shoot at him.”

  “Hasn’t he gone off? What are ye talking about?”

  “Gone away? Yes; for awhile, but we are not done with that beast yet; we shall have trouble with him.”

  “If we keep our guns loaded and our powder dry, we’ll open on him, and if we can’t kill him we’ll fill him with so much lead that he won’t be able to travel fast, and we’ll bid him good-by and walk from him.”

  The boys waited a few minutes, thinking possibly that the strange creature would show himself again, but he did not appear, and they turned about and resumed their journey.

  They were now on one of the best stretches of the trail. The ground was even, there were no bowlders or rocks in the path to make walking difficult, and the undergrowth, which in some places was quite an obstruction, did not interfere. By the middle of the afternoon, Fred was confident they were twenty miles at least on the road, and he said that if they came upon an inviting place, they would go into camp for the night. The package which each carried on his back was wrapped in a blanket that could be used to lie upon by the fire, or in severe weather, though they would have cared little had they owned nothing of the kind.

  Their good spirits continued, and they were walking at a leisurely pace, when a rustling in the bushes on the left caused them to look in that direction. There stood the strange beast, not fifty feet away, head erect, and staring at them with the same inquiring look that he showed some time before.

  “I wonder how he likes a side view of us,” said Terry, partly amused, but somewhat frightened; “I think he is close enough for us to fetch him this time.”

  Fred was inclined to give him a shot, but he felt some doubt, and while he was considering the question, the beast whisked about and vanished like a flash.

  “He is a strange animal,” said Fred, lowering his gun, which he was in the act of raising; “and I am more satisfied now than ever that we shall have trouble with him. The first time that we gain a fair shot, that is, like we had just now, let’s tumble him over. He may be as daring and tough as the hunters say, but there isn’t any animal tough enough to withstand a couple of well-aimed bullets.”

  “I agree wid ye—that is, after one was fired. That shot of mine was well aimed and struck, but it takes somethin’ more to bring him down, as a colored friend of mine once said when a house tumbled over on his head.”

  “You saw how spry a creature he is, and if he should happen to drop down upon us from the branch of a tree, those sharp claws of his would play the mischief with us.”

  Since there was no place in sight that suited for camping, Terry reloaded, and they kept on. After the fright they had received, you may be sure they maintained a close watch of the wood in every direction. As yet they had seen no game from which to procure food, but they wanted to go into camp near a spring or stream of water. The latter is generally looked upon as one of the indispensables by a party of campers, and it was not likely that the youths would have to travel far before finding what they wanted.

  The sun had not yet dropped below the horizon when they struck the very spot. There were the bubbling brook, lined by mossy banks, the small open space, the tall column-like trunks; and the heavy overhanging boughs, which, late though it was in the season, would allow but few drops of a shower to find their way through. The air was cool, but there were no signs of a storm.

  “There couldn’t be a better place,” said Fred, when he had noted all the points; “here is every thing that a party can want, except it be supper, which they ought to bring with them.”

  “And somebody has been here ahead of us,” added Terry, kicking apart the ashes at the base of a large tree; “there’s where the fire was kindled.”

  “No doubt it is where father and the rest of them spent the first night after leaving home: that shows that we have made good progress, and, if no accident happens, we shall arrive on time.”

  “There is no need of our hurryin’, as I understood that a gintleman once obsarved whin they were goin’ to hang him; if we are two or three days late in gettin’ there, what’s the odds?”

  “None—though this fine weather can not l
ast long, and when it is over, I should like to be at the end of our journey, where we shall have good shelter. I wonder what has become of the wild beast?”

  “Be the powers! but there he comes!”

  The words had hardly passed the lips of the startled Terry Clark, when the strange animal was seen in the path in front of them, in precisely the same position as when first noticed. He had evidently passed around to the front, as though determined to study the boys from every point of view. He seemed to have been standing for some minutes before discovered by the boys, and was now observed approaching, as the Irish lad had announced.

  He did not gallop or trot, but walked slowly, just as though having made up his mind to take a select meal off the youngsters, he was going to do so with the deliberation of an epicure that extracts the fullest enjoyment from his delicacies.

  There was something unnerving in the sight of the frightful animal approaching in this noiseless fashion, his jaws parted just enough to show his long, white teeth, but giving utterance to no growl, or threatening act, beyond the mere advance itself. His large, round eyes had a phosphorescent glow, and the long, sinewy body and limbs were the repository of a strength and activity that might well make a veteran hunter timid about encountering him.

  “By gracious!” said Fred Linden; “we’re in for it now; he doesn’t mean to wait for us to attack him, but is coming for us.”

  “If I was called on to make a wager,” said Terry, as cool as ever, “that would be the view that I would take of the same.”

  “You fire first and I will follow; take good aim, and send your bullet right between the eyes.”

  There was no time to spare, for the beast at that instant was within a dozen yards. Terry Clark brought his rifle to his shoulder, sighted quickly, and pulled the trigger.

  That he struck the creature was proven by his snarling growl and slight upward leap; but instead of stopping, he broke into a gallop and came straight on.

  Then Fred Linden aimed and fired, but he also failed to check the advance of the animal.

  CHAPTER XIV

  A Welcome Ally

  Fred Linden, like his companion, aimed directly between the eyes of the strange beast, and, like him, he struck the mark; but both shots only served to awake the irrestrainable ferocity of the animal, which, with another rasping howl and parted jaws, bounded toward them. Since both weapons were discharged, and they had no other firearms, the boys were almost helpless, and it may be said their enemy was upon them.

  “Run!” called out Fred, wheeling about and leaping toward a tree, behind which he took refuge; but sturdy Terry had no thought of turning away from such a foe. Throwing one foot back so as to steady himself, he seized his fine rifle with both hands, near to the muzzle, and held it so as to use it as a club or shillaleh.

  The brute was so close that he had no more than time to gather his strength, and swing the heavy stock with might and main, when the animal bounded at him straight from the ground.

  There was a “dull thud,” as it may be called, and the stock crashed against the side of the beast’s head, knocking him a couple of yards to the left, and almost at the feet of Fred Linden; but in point of fact the blow did no harm except to thwart the creature for a second or two.

  He was now snarling, and gave utterance to one or two peculiar barking sounds like a dog or wolf. His eyes were ablaze, and there could be no doubt that his fury was at white heat. Crouching for an instant, he made a bound for Terry, before he had time to balance himself to deliver his second blow with the same power as the first.

  Fred Linden could not stand still and see his companion torn to shreds in that fashion. He leaped from behind the tree, with his gun also clubbed, and hastened to strike with all his might; but he was too late.

  It was a curious fact, not understood at the moment, that the savage creature, although he leaped straight at Terry, passed fully two feet over his head, and that, too, when the lad was standing erect, and braced to deliver his second blow.

  Striking on his belly, several paces beyond, the beast rolled over and over, clawing, snapping, snarling, and beating the air, with lightning-like blows. The leaves and dust flew in all directions, and the foam which he spat from his jaws was flecked with blood.

  He continued rolling and struggling until he was a rod distant, and then suddenly stopped, stone dead.

  In the excitement and swirl of the moment both Fred and Terry were conscious that their guns were not the only ones that were fired. At the instant the brute was in the act of rising from the ground a second time for his leap, the sharp report of another rifle was heard. The peril was so imminent that the lads could give no attention just then to any thing but the immediate business in hand; but now, seeing their fearful foe was dead, they knew that it was the third bullet that had done it, and they glanced around to see who their friend was.

  No one was in sight, and they advanced to the carcass, which they were somewhat timid about touching, even though convinced that it was beyond the power of doing any more harm. They saw that both of their bullets had struck the skull, though not at the precise points at which they aimed. One had passed near the right eye of the nondescript, and must have inflicted serious injury, but its toughness would have enabled it to keep up the fight, and to have slain both of the boys before they could have reloaded and fired a second time.

  A little search showed where the fatal wound had been given. Just in front of the fore leg the lead had entered and gone through the heart. No animal, so far as known, amounts to any thing after his heart has been torn in twain, though he may live and move for a time.

  “I tell you, Terry, that I don’t believe there is another beast in the country that, after receiving two bullets in the head, like that, could make such a fight.”

  “I begs to corrict ye,” said the other; “it was three shots, for do ye not mind that I bored a hole through him when we first made his acquaintance?”

  “So you claimed, but you haven’t explained how it was that such a shot could be made without leaving any wound?”

  “It may have healed up since then,” suggested the Irish lad, who knew as well as his companion that the first bullet did not touch the beast.

  “I hadn’t thought of that,” meekly observed Fred; “but there is one thing certain, that if that last shot hadn’t been fired, it would have been the last of us: where could it have come from?” he asked, looking around and finding the answer to his question in the sight of Deerfoot the Shawanoe, who came from behind a clump of bushes on the other side of the small stream.

  Fred uttered an exclamation of delight when he recognized the graceful young warrior, who was holding the stock of his gun in his left hand, with the barrel resting idly in the hollow of his right arm. Fred jumped across the brook, with hand extended to greet him.

  “I’d rather see you than any person in the world,” was the truthful exclamation of the youth: “when you gave me the letter yesterday I thought what a splendid trip this would be if Terry would go with me, and behold, he has come! I would have liked to have you too but I didn’t dare say so, for I didn’t think it was possible: but ever since we started I have felt that we only lacked you to make the party complete. Now, ain’t I glad to see you, and how are you, old fellow?”

  The lad in his boisterous way wrung the hand of Deerfoot and slapped him on the shoulder; then laughed, and shook hands again with an enthusiasm that left no doubt of the cordiality of his welcome.

  As for Deerfoot, he showed a gentle dignity that was never absent. His faint smile lit up his handsome face, and he was pleased with the pleasure of the others.

  “Deerfoot has seen the faces of his brothers not many times, but it brings sunshine to his heart to meet them again.”

  Then his countenance was crossed by an expression of gravity like an eclipse passing over the face of the sun.

  “Is my brother ill, that he suffers so much?”

  This question referred to Terry Clark, Deerfoot looking over
the shoulder of Fred at the Irish lad behind him. Fred heard a curious noise, and turned to learn what it meant. His friend had leaned his gun against the nearest tree, so as to give his limbs free play, and was flinging his arms aloft, and dancing a jig with a vigor that made it look as if his legs were shot out, and back and forth, by some high pressure engine. Now and then he flung his cap aloft, and, as it came down, ducked his head under and dexterously caught it. His mouth was puckered up most of the time, while he whistled with might and main, though the energy of his general movements shut out all resemblance to a tune. Occasionally he stopped whistling and broke into snatches of song which, from the same cause, could not be identified.

  Fred Linden laughed. He was demonstrative, but not so much so as Terry. Looking sideways at Deerfoot, he saw his eyes sparkling and the corners of his mouth twitching. Rarely had he been amused as much as he now was by the extravagant manifestations of the Irish lad, for whom he had formed a strong regard.

  Deerfoot and Fred having turned their glances toward Terry, the latter appeared to catch sight of them for the first time. With a whoop he flung his hat higher than ever in the air, caught it with right side up on his crown as it came down, and then shouted:

  “How are yees, me friends?” and made a dash for them.

  In his enthusiasm he forgot the brook running through a small hollow between them. His feet went down in the depression without any knowledge on his part, and he sprawled headlong, his cap rolling at the feet of Deerfoot, who pushed the toe of his moccasin under the edge, and flung it to him as he rose to his feet.

  “It’s all the same, and a part of the show,” laughed Terry, “as the wife of the bear-keeper obsarved when the bear ate him up, and it’s how are ye, and how do ye ixpect to be, and what have ye to say for yersilf, and why are ye so long answerin’ me quistion?”