“Help! help!” came in a low cry. “Help! For heaven’s sake, somebody come and help me!”
CHAPTER V
UNCLE BARNEY STEVENSON
“What is that?”
“It’s somebody calling for help!”
“It’s a man’s voice; and he must be in pretty bad shape to call like that!” burst out Jack.
“Hello there!” yelled Randy. “Where are you?”
“Here! Under the fallen tree!” came in a faint cry. “Help me, quick!”
“I think the cry came from that direction,” said Andy, pointing with his hand.
“And I think it came from over there,” added his twin, pointing off at a right angle to the first direction given.
“I think Andy is right!” exclaimed Jack. “Anyway, he and I can go off in that direction, while you, Randy, and Fred can see if you can locate him over yonder.”
Neither of the boys had been exactly right in locating the cry for assistance, which had come from a point about midway between the two places suggested, but it was Jack who saw a large fallen tree from a distance and ran quickly toward it, yelling for all of the others to do likewise.
The sight which met their gaze filled them with a pity and a strong desire to be of assistance. There, in the snow, lay an elderly man, clad in the garb of a hunter or lumberman, with a shotgun and a well-worn game bag beside him. Over the man’s legs and one outstretched arm, rested the upper portion of a large pine tree, which had evidently crashed down because of the weight of snow upon it but a short time before. The man lay on his chest, and it was all he could do to raise his head to cry for aid.
“Say, this is tough!” exclaimed Andy, as he reached the spot. “What can we do to help him?”
“We’ve got to pry up that tree somehow,” answered Jack.
“Come on; let us see if we can’t lift it!” exclaimed Randy, and took hold of one of the numerous branches.
The others did the same, and all pulled upon the tree with their utmost strength. Yet, it was too heavy for them and could scarcely be budged.
“We’ve got to get some kind of pry and pry it up,” announced Jack. “I wish we had brought a hatchet along. I meant to bring one, so that we could make firewood, but I forgot it.”
“Help me! Help me!” moaned the man. “Don’t leave me here pinned down like this;” and then he seemed to faint.
Alarmed by the condition of the sufferer, the boys ran around the spot looking for something which might aid them in releasing the man. They found several flat stones, and then discovered a sapling which they succeeded in pulling up by the roots. Piling up the flat stones close to the fallen tree, they placed the sapling upon them, using it as a lever, and by this means Jack and the twins managed to raise the fallen pine just high enough to allow Fred to haul the hurt man from under it. Then they let the pine slip back to its original position.
“Looks to me as if he might have his two legs broken, and maybe his arm,” announced Jack, after they had placed the man on his back with his head raised on some pine boughs stripped from the trees. The sufferer’s eyes were closed, and he breathed heavily.
“We ought to get a doctor for him just as soon as possible,” said Randy. “But where to go for one, excepting back to Haven Point, I don’t know.”
While the young hunters were wondering what they had better do, the man slowly opened his eyes and gave a gasp.
“Help me! Please help me!” he cried feebly.
“Don’t excite yourself, you’re all right now,” answered Jack kindly. “Take it easy. We’ll do what we can for you.”
The man had closed his eyes again, but now he opened them and tried to look around him.
“You got me clear of the fallen tree, did you?” he murmured. “Good! I was afraid I’d have to stay there until I froze to death.”
“How about it? Can you use your left arm?” questioned Jack.
“I don’t know. I guess so,” answered the man, and then tried to raise the arm in question. He held it up for a few seconds, but then let it drop heavily by his side.
“It’s pretty well lamed I reckon,” he said. “You see, I had it right under one of the tree limbs.”
“What about your legs? Can you move them at all?” went on the oldest Rover boy. He did not have the heart to mention that the man’s lower limbs might be broken.
Feebly, the man raised up first one leg and then the other. The limbs had not been broken, but they were much bruised and swollen, and the movements caused the sufferer to give a groan.
“I’m afraid I’m done up so far as walking is concerned,” he said dolefully. “You see, I’m get ting old,” he went on. “If I was a younger man, maybe this wouldn’t affect me quite so much. But as it is——” He shook his head dismally.
“I guess you had better let us carry you out of the woods,” said Jack. “You can’t walk, and you certainly can’t stay here alone.”
“Do you know where the nearest house is located?” questioned Randy.
“Let me see——” The man mused for a moment, shutting his eyes while he did so. “Unless I’m greatly mistaken, Bill Hobson lives on the edge of the woods just to the north of this spot.”
“Is he a farmer?” questioned Fred.
“No, he’s a lumberman, like myself,” was the reply. The man looked from one to another of the youths. “May I ask who you are?”
“We’re the Rover boys,” answered the oldest of the four. “I am Jack Rover, and these are my cousins, Fred, Andy, and Randy.”
“Glad to know you, boys; and doubly glad to think you were up in this section of the woods just when I had this accident. I sha’n’t forget your kindness. My name is Stevenson, but most all the folks that know me call me Uncle Barney. I take it from your uniforms that you belong at Colby Hall.”
“We do,” answered Andy.
“I don’t belong in this neighborhood. I just came over early this morning to see what the hunting looked like around here. My home is on Snowshoe Island, in the middle of Lake Monona, about ten miles north of here.”
“I think you had better rest on some of these pine boughs while some of us try to locate the Bill Hobson you mentioned,” said Jack. “Can you point out the general direction of his place?”
“It’s up along this mountain stream,” and Barney Stevenson indicated the Rick Rack River. “You just follow that watercourse for about a quarter of a mile, and I’m pretty sure you’ll come to it.”
“Well, if you’re sure it’s along this stream, we might as well try to get you there first as last,” announced Randy. He turned to his cousins. “Why can’t we take turns in carrying him, either on our backs or on a litter?”
“I think we had better try to make some sort of litter of pine boughs,” answered Jack. “It will be much easier for the four of us to do the carrying than for one.”
“I’ve got a hatchet in my game bag, and you can cut some pine boughs with that. And you will find some cord in my game bag, too.”
“How did the accident happen, if I may ask?” questioned Randy, while Jack began to trim several large boughs from the fallen pine.
“It came quicker’n lightning,” was the old lumberman’s answer. “I had just spotted a fine, fat rabbit, and was taking aim, when, without warning, the tree gave a sudden snap like the report of a gun, and down it came right on top of me. Of course, I tried to jump out of the way, but my foot caught on a tree root, or a rock, or something, and down I went, and the next minute the tree came down on top of me, right across my legs and my left arm, like when you found me. I tried to pull myself loose, but my legs and my arm seemed to be wedged down between the tree and some stones, and I couldn’t budge nary a one of ‘em.”
“I guess you can be thankful that you didn’t break your arm or your legs.”
“I suppose that’s true, my boy. Just th
e same, I suppose this will lay me up for a week or two, and maybe longer,” answered Barney Stevenson, dubiously.
Having cut several pine boughs that looked as if they might answer the purpose, the four boys lost no time in twisting them together and then tying them into a rude litter. Across this they laid additional pine boughs, and upon these placed the form of the hurt man. When they moved him he shut his teeth hard, evidently to keep from crying out with pain.
“I know it must hurt you, Mr. Stevenson,” said Jack kindly. “We’ll be just as careful as possible.”
“I know you’ll be, my lads. I suppose I ought to have a doctor, but if I can get to Bill Hobson’s cabin, I guess I’ll be all right. Bill will most likely have some liniment, and that will fix me up.”
With the old lumberman resting on the litter and the four youths carrying this as carefully as possible, the party made its way along the Rick Rack River, which at this point was little better than a mountain torrent. They had considerable difficulty in climbing over the rocks and in making their way through the heavy brushwood, but finally they came out to a cleared space, beyond which there were only scattered patches of trees.
“I see some smoke!” cried Fred presently.
“That must be the smoke from Bill Hobson’s place,” announced the old lumberman, and then he closed his eyes once more and lay back on the litter, for the pain he was suffering was great.
Keeping on in the direction where they had seen the smoke, they soon came in sight of a fairly large cabin with a lean-to attached. They marched up to the place, and Jack rapped upon the door, which was opened a moment later by a burly man, well along in years.
“What do you want?” began the man, and then looked past Jack to the litter and the old lumberman lying on it. “What’s this? Why, it’s Uncle Barney, I declare! What’s happened?”
“I got hurt by a falling tree, Bill,” was the reply. “And if it hadn’t been for these cadets, I might be layin’ down in the woods yet.”
“He is quite a bit hurt,” explained Jack. “You had better let us carry him in and place him on a couch or a bed of some kind.”
“Surest thing you know, young man,” answered Bill Hobson. “Fetch him right in,” and he turned to make a bunk ready for the sufferer.
Fortunately the cabin was well warmed, so that as soon as they had Barney Stevenson safe inside, they lost no time in taking off some of his clothing and examining his hurts. The other old lumberman, assisted by Jack, did this, and Hobson examined the condition of his friend with care.
“I can’t see that anything is broken,” he announced; “but those bruises are pretty bad. I think I’ll bathe ‘em with hot water, and then put on some liniment and bind ‘em up.”
“I guess I’ll have to stay right where I am for a spell, Bill,” said the hurt man.
“That’s what, Uncle Barney. And you’re welcome to stay as long as you please,” announced the owner of the cabin. The boys had brought along the old lumberman’s game bag and shotgun.
Bill Hobson wanted to know the particulars of the affair, and the Rover boys related how they had come up into the woods to hunt and heard Barney Stevenson’s cries for assistance, and how they had liberated him and brought him along on the litter.
“I’m very thankful indeed to you,” said Barney Stevenson, and his face showed his gratitude. “If I can ever do you boys a good turn, believe me, I’ll do it.”
“Didn’t you say you lived on Snowshoe Island?” queried Jack.
“Yes.”
“I’ve heard of the place, but I don’t know exactly where it is located or why they call it Snowshoe Island.”
“It’s a big island located almost in the middle of Lake Monona,” answered the old lumberman. “I own the place, and it’s called Snowshoe Island because some years ago a number of Indians lived on it and made their living by making snowshoes. The Indians are all gone now.”
“I guess, Uncle Barney, you’ve lived on that island a good number of years,” put in Bill Hobson.
“Twelve years coming this Christmas,” was the reply. “I went there the day after my wife was buried,” and the old lumberman’s face clouded as if the memory of what had happened was still bitter.
“Do you do any lumbering there?” questioned Randy, more to change the subject than for any other reason.
“Oh, yes; I do quite some lumbering during the season. I have a firm in the city that sends up there every year for all the stuff I cut. At this time of year. I like to go out hunting. It’s the one sport that I thoroughly enjoy. And I reckon you boys enjoy it, too, or you wouldn’t be out with your guns.”
“Yes, we like to go hunting once in a while.”
“Well, now, listen to me, boys. You saved my life out there in the woods, and if I was real well off, I’d try to reward you for it. But, as it is——”
“We don’t want any reward,” broke in Jack quickly.
“I know you don’t—you’re not that kind. And I’m not going to offend you by offering it. Just the same, if you ever feel like coming over to Snowshoe Island and paying me a visit, I’ll treat you as well as I know how.”
“Maybe we might be able to go over there and do some hunting some time,” suggested Andy.
“Yes, you come over some time and stay a few days or a week with me, and I’ll give you the best time hunting I can,” answered Barney Stevenson.
“By the way, Mr. Stevenson,” said Jack curiously, “do you know a Mr. Frederic Stevenson?” Jack had learned from Ruth that that was her father’s name.
At this unexpected question, the old lumberman opened wide his eyes and glared at the young cadet.
“Yes, I know him—very well,” he growled. “But I don’t want to hear anything about him—not a word! Is he a friend of yours?”
“He is the father of one of the young ladies who is a pupil at Clearwater Hall.”
“Oh, I see! Humph! Well, I don’t want to hear anything about Fred Stevenson, and if you want to be friends with me, you needn’t mention his name to me again,” went on the old lumberman, much to the surprise of the Rover boys.
CHAPTER VI
DEEP IN THE WOODS
“What do you suppose was the reason that old lumberman didn’t want to hear Mr. Stevenson’s name mentioned?” questioned Randy of Jack, about half an hour later, when the four cadets were tramping through the woods again to resume their hunting.
“I’m sure I don’t know, Randy,” was the slow reply. “Evidently he was very bitter over something.”
“Having the same name, it looks to me as if this Uncle Barney, as they call him, might be some relative of Ruth’s family,” said Fred.
“More than likely.”
“Maybe he’s some cast-off relation, who got into trouble with them and then took himself off to that Snowshoe Island,” was Fred’s comment.
“I’d have asked him some more questions if he hadn’t acted so ugly about it,” went on Jack.
“Yes. But he seemed to be a very nice sort of man otherwise,” put in Andy quickly.
“I agree with you there.” Jack gave a little sigh. “There must be some mystery to it.”
“Why don’t you ask Ruth about it some time?”
“I will, when I get a good chance to do it. Of course, if it’s some sort of family affair, I’m not going to butt in.”
Before the Rover boys had left the cabin of Bill Hobson, they had been assured by old Uncle Barney that he was feeling fairly comfortable and that the owner of the place would look after him until he recovered. Barney Stevenson had mentioned Snowshoe Island several times, and had told the boys again that he was sorry he could not reward them for coming to his assistance, but that if they ever cared to visit his island, he would do his best to make them feel at home and show them where the best hunting in that vicinity was to be had. He had also mentioned the fact th
at there was a vacant cabin close to his own on the island, and that they would be welcome to camp out there at any time they chose to do so.
“I’d like to visit his place some time,” said Fred, “just to see how the old fellow lives. I’ll bet he’s got quite a comfortable outfit there.”
“He may live in very queer style,” returned Randy. “According to what he says, and what that Bill Hobson told me, he must be a good deal of a hermit.”
“Maybe he committed some sort of crime and the other Stevensons cast him off,” suggested Andy.
“Oh, I can’t think that! He didn’t look to be a criminal,” returned Jack. “Don’t you remember what he said about taking up his residence on the island after his wife died? Maybe that loss made him feel as if he didn’t want to mingle with the rest of the world.”
The boys talked the matter over for some time, but could reach no conclusion whatever regarding the way the old lumberman had acted when Frederic Stevenson’s name had been mentioned. Then, however, they stirred up some more squirrels and rabbits, and in the excitement of the chase that subject, for the time being, was forgotten.
They had brought a lunch with them, and at noon they found a convenient spot and there built a small campfire, over which they made themselves a can of hot chocolate, and this, with some sandwiches and some doughnuts, constituted the repast. Andy wanted to take time to clean a couple of the squirrels and cook them, but Jack and the others were afraid this would take too long, and so the idea had to be abandoned.
“Gee! but this tramping through the woods gives a fellow an appetite!” cried Andy, after he had eaten his second sandwich and his third doughnut. “I could eat a whole rabbit or a squirrel myself.” And then, feeling in fine fettle, he proceeded to pull himself up on a near-by tree limb and “skin the cat,” as it is called by acrobatic boys.
“You look out, young man, that you don’t tumble down on your head,” warned Jack. “This ground around here is frozen pretty hard.”
“If I tumble, I know where I’ll land,” cried Andy gleefully; and, swinging himself back and forth on the tree limb, he suddenly let go and came down straight on Jack’s shoulders. Both went down in the snow, and there rolled over and over, each trying to get the better of the other. Then Fred commenced to snowball the fallen pair, and Randy joined in; and a moment later there began a snowball fight on the part of all four which lasted about ten minutes.
The Rover Boys Megapack Page 349