CHAPTER X. THE OLD TRAPPER'S CABIN.
"How're we goin' to get this game all the way to camp?" demanded Giraffe.
"Camp?" echoed Davy Jones, beginning to look alarmed, as he contemplatedthe enormous bulk of the bull moose, and then imagined the lot of themtugging and straining every nerve to drag it over the intervening ground.
"Now, just you hold on, there, Davy; don't begin to feel one of themcramp fits of your comin' on, just because we have to work like packhorses," Step Hen remarked.
"Ain't never thinking of such a thing," said Davy, stiffening up again."You just think it's funny, but if ever you got doubled up once, you'dfeel for me."
In times past the Jones boy had been subject to queer fits that took himall of a sudden, and doubled him up with a severe cramp. When he had oneof these, he was utterly helpless. They had saved Davy more than a fewwhippings, in school and at home: and in this respect proved veryaccommodating cramps. But latterly the boys suspected Davy had reallyoutgrown them; and that he was only threatened with a return of thedisease whenever there seemed to be some hard work to be done. Possiblyhis active outdoor life, and that gymnastic desire on his part to do allmanner of athletic stunts had helped get rid of the trouble.
"But after all," declared Thad, "I don't think anybody is dreaming oftrying to carry, or drag the moose all the way to our camp. How aboutthat, Eli?"
The older guide, upon being appealed to in this fashion, remarked thatthey would be foolish to think of such a thing.
"We kin cut it up right here in the mornin'," he observed. "I guess yuboys'd like to try a steak from the ole bull; an' we'll tote sum o' themeat along. An' as fur the horns, I kin fix them all right. We'll kerry'em in one of the canoes, so's ye kin show yer friends the kind o' gamewe has up here in Maine."
That suited Thad just right. He wanted those towering horns very much,and was only afraid there might be some objection to taking them along,for they must weigh quite heavily.
So after a while the whole party started back to the camp, where a firewas once more kindled, the night being cool, the guides felt the need ofwarmth, since they would have no cover over them as they slept.
It was some time before the scouts could think of settling down. Theglorious success that had attended this first try at game worth while,seemed to inspire the entire lot with an eager desire to emulate Thad'sexample. Why, even Bumpus seemed to partake of the fever to some extent,though he had brought no gun along, and did not claim to be any sort ofsportsman.
When morning came at last the oldest guide went over, and startedoperations on the dead moose. He took off the skin, and secured the hornsfor the successful hunter, to be preserved as a trophy of the event.
Besides this, Eli brought back quite a lot of the best meat. The boyswere wild to see what moose steak tasted like; but although it arousedtheir hunger while it was in process of cooking, still the best any ofthem could do was to gnaw at their portion, for it was as tough asanything they had ever struck.
"That's where we missed it," grumbled Giraffe, after giving up in disgustall efforts to masticate some of his portion.
"In what way do you mean?" asked Thad, expecting the other would say heought to have selected a younger and more tender animal, when supplyingfood for the camp.
"Why," the tall scout continued, with a broad grin; "d'ye know, I said wehad ought to fetch that little meat chopper our folks at home use; andthe rest of you laughed at the idea. Just think, if we had it now, what afine hash we'd be enjoyin' every day. That's the only thing I know ofthat could grind up this tough meat."
It was rather later than usual that morning before they got started inthe canoes; there seemed so much to do. But in good time these variousduties were fulfilled. The guides did not appear at all anxious. Theyseemed to feel satisfied that before a great while had passed, they wouldget in touch with the party they were following; and meant that the boysin their charge should enjoy some of the Maine hunting on the way.
Eli declared that he knew of another fine camping spot ahead, which theywould doubtless reach about dark. This was really an old and longdeserted cabin, once occupied by a trapper, who had taken his toll offurs in the neighboring streams where once upon a time all manner ofvaluable animals were plentiful, from mink, otter, marten, and evenbeaver; while around the vicinity foxes used to be thick, not to mentionwildcats, an occasional panther, and even wolves; though these latter canseldom be found within the limits of Maine at the present day.
The boys had had more or less experience in using log cabins for nightslodgings; and they amused themselves as they pushed on, withreminiscences of events that would always be interesting to them.
Of course there were times when the three canoes were some littledistance apart, but again they would come close enough together for theinmates to have shaken hands, had the inclination to do so arisen.
At noon they stopped to eat lunch, and give the guides a chance to rest,for the work of pushing up against that current was no child's play.Although the boys were ready to lend a helping hand, and "spell" theguides from time to time, naturally the brunt of the work fell on Eli,Jim and Sebattis.
"Did any of you hear a gunshot a little while ago?" asked Giraffe, whenthe boats came together about the middle of the afternoon.
"He keeps on sayin' he's sure he did," broke in Bumpus, who was in thecanoe with the tall boy, making "the long and short of it, or bothextremes meet," as Bumpus himself often humorously remarked; "but neitherEli nor I caught it. How about the rest of you?"
"Nothing doing here," said Step Hen; and all the rest, even the stolidSebattis, denied having heard anything that sounded like the report of afirearm.
"Which way did it seem to come from, Giraffe?" asked Thad, wondering ifafter all the other could have caught a faint sound that escaped thevigilance of the three guides; and thinking of Mr. Carson, of course, whowas ahead somewhere.
"Oh! about the way we're goin' I reckon," replied Giraffe. "Just seemedto ketch the faintest little boom; but Eli said as how he hadn't heardnothin'. The wind had died out at the time, but the air was still fromthe north. I'm right sure it was a gun, even if Bumpus here does say Ihad an idea, and it was such a new thing it hit me with a bump."
The afternoon wore away, and the sun set without their having reachedtheir destination.
"Where's your old and comfy cabin?" demanded Bumpus. "I'm tired ofsittin' here so long, and I guess I'll never be able to get straightenedout again."
"Huh!" grunted Giraffe, "think of me, will you? Ain't I near twice aslong? Ain't I twisted up in a knot every which way? My legs took tobendin' so they'll knock my knees together; or else look like hoops. Howmuch you got to complain about, you little dumplin', Bumpus."
"But Eli says we're going on, and that we'll make it not a great whileafter dark sets in," Bumpus remarked, scorning to enter into an argumentwith the other on the subject of whether it paid to be long drawn out, orelse shut up in a small compass.
"Good for Eli, then; we can't get there any too soon to suit me,"declared Davy Jones, who was working a paddle in conjunction with Jim;Allan having done more than his share of the work during various periodsin the afternoon just passed.
"Give us half a hour more, and we'll sure git thar," said Eli, later on,when the shadows of coming night began to cover the river; and hadalready swooped down in full force upon the adjacent woods.
They paddled along in silence, except when one of the boys managed tosplash in dipping or removing his paddle blade. Those who were new to thework found that they had considerable to learn before they could expectto work as silently as Sebattis, for example. The way the Indian wouldsent the canoe forward with vigorous thrusts, and yet never removing hispaddle from the water, and making no sound whatever, was a never endingsource of delight to both Thad and Step Hen. And the latter triedvaliantly to imitate his example whenever he took the extra spruce bladein hand.
Finally, when the half hour ha
d about arrived at its conclusion, Eli gavethe tired voyagers a pleasant shock by suddenly calling out:
"Land here!"
The three canoes were enabled to find good places to run ashore, by meansof Thad's precious little electric torch, which came in handy in scoresof different ways during the Maine expedition, and paid for itself timeand again.
Then, first of all, they found where the cabin lay. Eli seemed to knowall about it, and claimed to have spent many a night under the shelter ofits still fairly well preserved roof; though it had been two years nowsince last he was here; for on the previous season he took a party alonganother trail.
Giraffe insisted on starting a little blaze outside. He was alwaysthinking of some excuse for making fires; and in this instance nobodyquarreled with him, for they really needed some light in order to unloadthe canoes, and carry the stuff up to the old cabin.
The door would not go more than half-way shut, but outside of thisdefect, which was not so very serious, since the wintry blasts had notyet set in, the log cabin seemed to offer a cozy shelter for the night.
Once they got inside, and Giraffe was set to work again, building anotherfire, this time in the big fireplace, above which yawned thewide-throated chimney.
The cabin had once been quite a pretentious place, in those old days whenthe builder, perhaps with a trapper pard, spent his time here gathering aheavy tribute of rich pelts from the native furry inhabitants of swampand river and forest.
Its roof was quite high, and the reason for this became manifest as soonas any one entered; for it was found that there was a loft extendinghalfway across, and which could be reached by a rude but still sturdyladder.
"Now, what in the dickens do you think he ever built that up there for?"Step Hen said, as he started to ascend the ladder; and then, thinkingbetter of it, gave up the idea.
"A place to store his bales of dried furs, so Eli says," replied Allan."You see, being up here for six months, constantly gathering in new peltsevery day, they increased rapidly, and took considerable space; so,having plenty of room, he just ran that platform half-way across, and sixfeet and a half from the floor down here."
"Great stunt," remarked Step Hen, but he made no further attempt toascend to the platform, his curiosity being satisfied.
And later on, Step Hen shook hands with himself because of that secondthought, considering himself a lucky boy, which indeed proved to be thecase.
There was more or less talking and laughing as they started preparationsfor supper. The chimney seemed to draw poorly at first, possibly onaccount of not having been used for so long. When it got warmed up,perhaps it would "behave", Eli remarked. Meanwhile there was considerablesmoke in the cabin, and more or less sneezing, as well as rubbing ofsmarting eyes.
"Say, what d'ye mean, trying to choke us all, Giraffe?" demanded Bumpus,who looked as though in great distress, as the tears were rolling downhis fat cheeks like "little Niagaras", Step Hen declared.
"And I reckon, now, you just picked out the greenest wood ever, so's togive us a good dose of this?" suggested Davy Jones, also rubbing hiseyes.
Altogether the boys were making so much noise themselves that no onecould expect to hear anything else. That was the only reason Thad couldgive, later on, why the keen ears of Eli or Sebattis had not detectedcertain things that must have come to their knowledge had it not been forthis clamor, and rattle of merry tongues.
"Anybody think of having some more of that india-rubber steak forsupper?" sang out Giraffe, still working with the fire, which seemed tobe behaving a little better already, and gave promise of being all rightpresently.
"Say, don't everybody shout out at once. Put me down for baked beansfirst, last and all the time," declared Bumpus, seeking the vicinity ofthe door in order to cool his heated eyes, smarting from the pungentsmoke.
"Hello! who's rocking the old cabin like that? Let up, can't you beforeit goes over?" shouted Step Hen, standing in the doorway for air.
Possibly he may have thought it did go over, for just then some greathairy object came tumbling down from the loft, making some use of theladder, but at the same time landing with a crash on the floor. Then,before any one could so much as make the first move toward one of theguns, standing in a corner of the cabin, this lumbering object hustledover to the half-open door, and bowled through, upsetting both Step Henand Bumpus in its passage.
For a second or two silence followed, and then a tremendous shout brokeout:
"Great smoke! did you see it?" whooped Giraffe, jumping to his feet.
"Who hit me?" gurgled Bumpus, who had crashed into the wall of the cabin,and was sitting there on the floor, looking dazed.
A head was thrust in through the half-open door, and Step Hen shouted:
"It was a great big black bear, and he just went and kicked me out of theplace, fellers!"
The Boy Scouts on the Trail; or, Scouting through the Big Game Country Page 10