“All right. Then you’ve got until seventeen minutes after four to get off of this island,” announced Barney Stevenson to the visitors. “If you are not off by that time, there’ll most likely be some shooting around here.”
He had taken his place in front of his cabin, and all of the boys were now ranged beside him. As each was armed, they made quite a formidable looking firing squad.
Much against his will, Slogwell Brown retreated to where Professor Lemm and the others of the crowd stood. The four talked matters over in a low tone.
“It’s too bad we came here unarmed,” grumbled Slogwell Brown.
“That’s just what I say, Dad!” answered his son. “Let’s go back and get some guns and pistols.”
“No! no! We don’t want any shooting!” cried Asa Lemm in new alarm.
“I’m not going to get mixed up in any gun-play,” added Nappy.
“If we could only get possession of those deeds!” went on the former teacher of Colby Hall.
“I’ve got a plan,” suggested Nappy, after a moment’s pause. “Come on, let’s go away now, and I’ll tell you what it is.”
Growling and grumbling, the four visitors made their way slowly to the lake shore. As they skated off, Slugger Brown turned to shake his fist at the Rovers, and Nappy did likewise.
“Well, they’ve gone!” exclaimed Fred, and his voice showed his relief.
“But there’s no telling when they’ll come back,” said Randy quickly.
“I don’t think they’ll come back in a hurry,” broke in Andy. “We scared them pretty thoroughly with our guns.”
“What did they say to you before I came?” questioned Uncle Barney, while the party on the lake was disappearing in the gloom.
Thereupon the boys related the particulars of all that had taken place, the old lumberman listening closely to the recital. At the end, he shut his teeth and shook his head grimly.
“The rascals!” he ejaculated. “If it hadn’t been for you, they would most likely have ransacked both of the cabins, and maybe, if they had gotten hold of my extra gun or my pistol, taken possession and made me keep away.”
“Oh, they would have taken possession all right enough!” cried Jack. “But if the island is really yours, Uncle Barney, I don’t see why you couldn’t have had them arrested for anything like that.”
“I told you before—I have no use for lawyers or law courts,” grumbled the old lumberman. “All I want to do is to stay here and not be disturbed. I’ve got my deeds, and that’s enough.”
“Are you sure they are in a safe place?” questioned Jack. “I mean, some place where those rascals can’t get at them?”
“I’ve got ‘em in a tin box, and put away safe enough.”
“I hope you haven’t got them hidden around one of the cabins,” said Fred. “They’d be sure to find them if they came here some time when you were away, and made a search.”
“I haven’t got ‘em in or near either of the cabins. I’ve got ‘em in a better place than that,” was the cunning reply.
“You really ought to have them recorded, Uncle Barney; and then maybe it wouldn’t be a bad scheme to put them in a safe deposit box in a bank,” said Jack.
“Oh, they’re safe enough—don’t you fear!” answered the old man. It was plainly to be seen that he was bound to have his own way in everything he did.
Satisfied that the visitors had left the island for the time being, the boys followed the old lumberman into his own cabin, and there helped him to start up the fire. He told them that he had shipped off the wild turkey as desired.
The evening passed quietly, and in the morning the boys found themselves thoroughly rested.
“It’s a grand day for hunting!” exclaimed Fred, as he went outside to view the landscape. The sun was just peeping over the trees on the eastern shore of Lake Monona, and soon the dazzling shafts of light were streaming over the ice and snow in all directions.
“Do you think Asa Lemm and those others will be back to-day?” queried Randy.
“There’s no telling,” answered Jack.
While some of the boys were preparing breakfast, the others walked over to Uncle Barney’s cabin. They found the old lumberman already stirring, and invited him to come over and eat his morning meal with them, an invitation which he readily accepted, for he had taken a great liking to all of the Rovers.
“We’ve been thinking of trying those snowshoes, Uncle Barney,” said Jack.
“No time like the present, boys,” was the answer. “I’ll show you how to put ‘em on, and how to use ‘em, too.”
“Won’t you go out hunting with us?” questioned Fred.
“No; I’m going to stay around the cabins, in case those rascals come back. I don’t think they will, but there is nothing like being on the safe side.”
The hour after the morning meal was productive of a good deal of fun. None of the boys had ever used snowshoes before, and consequently in their efforts to move around on them, they got more than one tumble.
“Great watermelons!” cried Andy, as he pitched headfirst into a snowdrift. “And I thought using snowshoes was the easiest thing in the world!”
“It’s just like plain walking, Andy; it’s got to be learned,” answered Jack, who, a moment before, had had a tumble himself.
Finally, however, the boys managed to remain on their feet fairly well, and then they started off to do a little hunting along the eastern shore of the island.
“I don’t know as you’ll be able to stir up very much to-day,” announced Uncle Barney. “But even a few rabbits and a few squirrels won’t be so bad.”
They carried a lunch with them, not knowing whether they would get back to the cabin by noon or not. They were soon gliding over the snow where something of a trail led through the woods.
They tramped a good half mile before they saw anything in the way of game. Then several squirrels appeared, and Fred and Andy had the satisfaction of laying them low with their shotguns. Then they tramped on further, and by noon managed to obtain a rabbit and two woodcocks.
“Not so bad but what it might be worse,” announced Jack, who had the rabbit to his credit. “We won’t go hungry, that’s sure!”
“And don’t forget that we’ve got those wild turkeys to eat,” added Andy, who had laid low the two woodcocks.
Being unaccustomed to the use of snowshoes, the lads were glad to rest. They built themselves a little campfire, and, huddling around this, partook of the lunch they had brought along, washing it down with some hot chocolate from a thermos bottle they carried.
The lunch finished, they set off once again, this time going deeper into the woods than ever.
“Listen!” cried Jack presently. “I thought I heard some game stirring.”
All came to a halt and listened intently. From a distance they heard a peculiar drumming sound.
“Partridges, I’ll bet anything!” cried Randy in a low voice. “Come on, let’s see if we can’t get some of them.”
He led the way over the snow, and the others were not slow in following. They had reached a point where the trees grew sparingly, and where there were a great number of rocks and brushwood.
They could hear a strange fluttering, and then a number of partridges arose in the air some distance in front of them. All took hasty aim and fired, but the game sailed out of sight unharmed.
“That’s the time we missed it,” observed Jack dismally. “I guess we made too much noise and they heard us.”
“Listen!” interrupted Randy. “There is some sort of fight going on ahead.”
He was right; and, listening, they made out a strange bark mingled with a snarl and several yelps.
“Let’s go ahead and see what it means!” exclaimed Andy, and pushed on, with the others close behind him.
The boys had to skirt some heavy br
ushwood, and then came out in a small cleared space surrounded by numerous big rocks and pine trees. The strange noises they had heard had come from between two of the large rocks, and now, of a sudden, several forms, snapping and snarling and whirling this way and that in the snow, burst upon their view.
“Wolves!”
“Four of them!”
“They are all fighting over the possession of a dead partridge!”
Four gaunt and hungry-looking wolves had come tumbling out in the snow. One of them was carrying a dead partridge in his mouth, and the other three were doing their best to get the game away from him. As the Rovers came into the opening, the wolves, for an instant, stopped their fighting and glared at the boys. Then the animal having the game made a sudden leap over the rocks and disappeared from view. The three wolves that remained began to snap and snarl and show their teeth.
“Gracious! they are certainly hungry-looking beggars!” was Randy’s comment.
“Come on, let’s shoot them!” exclaimed Jack.
“They’re no good for game,” interposed Randy.
“I know that, Randy. But we don’t want them on the island, and neither does Uncle Barney.”
“I thought he said there weren’t very many wolves left. Maybe——”
Fred, who was speaking, got no further, for at that moment the three hungry-looking wolves crouched low, and then sprang straight in the direction of the four young hunters!
CHAPTER XXVI
JACK FREES HIS MIND
“Jump for your lives!”
“Shoot them!”
These cries had scarcely been made when Jack’s gun rang out and the foremost of the three wolves was hit in the foreleg. He gave a plunge, and rolled over in the snow, snapping and snarling viciously. The report of the weapon was followed by the discharge of Randy’s gun, but his aim was wild and the charge passed harmlessly over the heads of the wolves.
“Shoot them!”
“Club them!”
Then another shot rang out as Fred swung into action. It was at close range, and the charge of shot tore directly into the throat of the leading wolf, causing him to leap high into the air, and then fall over on his back. He plunged for a moment, sending the snow flying in every direction, and then lay still.
Shocked evidently by the fate that had overtaken taken both of his companions, the third wolf came to a sudden halt. With eyes glaring fiercely, he snapped and then leaped for the nearest rocks.
“Shoot him, somebody! We want to get all three of them!”
Crack! Bang! went a rifle and a shotgun almost simultaneously, but the aim of the two marksmen was poor, and only a few scattering shots went through the tail of the wolf. Then, with a wild yelp, he disappeared behind the rocks, and that was the last seen of him. In the meantime, the wounded beast was snapping and snarling most ferociously. He sent a shower of loose snow toward the Rovers, and then made a desperate leap at Jack.
It was a time of dire peril, and no one realized it more than did the oldest Rover boy. He attempted to retreat, but to do so in snowshoes was too much for him, and over he went on his side in a deep bank of snow, almost disappearing from view.
“The wolf is on top of Jack!”
“Shoot him—but be careful and don’t hit Jack!”
“Don’t fire!” gasped Randy. “You’ll hit Jack sure!” and then, as well as he was able, he sprang to the front, using his gun as a club as he did so. Around came the stock with a wide swing, and the wolf received a blow in the side that bowled him over and over.
This second attack, coming after he had been wounded in the foreleg, was too much for the animal, and with a yelp of sudden fear he went limping and leaping through the snow, sending the loose particles flying all about him. One of the boys discharged his gun after the beast, but whether he hit the animal or not he could not tell. In another moment the wolf was out of sight.
“Do you think any of them will come back?” panted Andy, who was quite out of breath with excitement.
“I don’t think so,” answered Jack. “However, let us reload just as quickly as we can and be ready for them.” He had been taught the all-important lesson that a hunter should not let his firearm remain empty.
“Well, anyhow, I got one of them!” cried Fred, with proper pride, as he surveyed the beast he had laid low. The discharge of shot had almost torn the wolf’s throat asunder.
“What will you do with him?” questioned Randy.
“I’m going to take him back to the cabin and ask Uncle Barney about it,” was Fred’s reply. “Perhaps we can have the wolf stuffed.”
The excitement of the encounter with the wolves had taken away the boys’ desire to do any more hunting that day, and, strapping the dead wolf fast to a tree limb, they started on the return to the northern end of the island, each doing his share in carrying the dead animal.
“What’s that? A wolf?” cried Barney Stevenson, when he saw what they had brought. And then he added quickly. “Must be the one that we located in the cabin at the other end of the island.”
“We can’t say about that,” answered Jack, and then all of the boys told the story of the encounter in the woods.
“Four of them! Why, I haven’t heard of any such thing as that around here for years! I’ll have to go after some of those wolves myself.”
“I was wondering what we could do with this wolf,” said Fred. “Do you think I could send him home to have him stuffed?”
“You could, my boy. But I wouldn’t advise it. Who would want a stuffed wolf around anyhow? Of course, you might put him in some club-house or furrier’s window—or something like that.”
“Oh, I guess I won’t bother,” answered Fred.
“I’ll tell you what we’ll do,” suggested Jack. “We’ll prop the wolf up against a tree, and then take a photograph of Fred shooting at him;” and so it was decided, and the boys had much fun taking the picture.
Several days passed, and no one came near the island. In the meantime, the boys went out hunting every day, and Barney Stevenson showed them how to fish through a hole in the ice. This was great sport, and they had the satisfaction of adding a number of pickerel and perch to their bill of fare. During those days, they cooked and ate the wild turkeys, and found the meat quite palatable.
“We sure are having one dandy time,” said Fred one evening, when sitting in front of the blazing fire.
“I don’t see how it could be any better, Fred,” answered Andy.
“And just think of what we’ve brought down in the way of rabbits, squirrels, pheasants, woodcocks and turkeys!”
“Not to say anything about my wolf,” came from Fred.
“Yes, and a shot I got at a brook mink,” added Jack. He had seen the mink at a distance, but had been unable to bring the game down.
Uncle Barney had been with the boys at supper time, but had taken himself over to his own cabin, to smoke and to read one of several books the boys had given him.
“I think I’ll go over and see the old lumberman,” said Jack presently. “You fellows can stay here.”
“Going to talk to him about Ruth and her folks?” questioned Randy.
“Yes, if I get the chance.”
“I wouldn’t worry him too much,” said Fred. “He hasn’t gotten over that visit from Professor Lemm and the others yet.”
“Oh, I’ll be careful—don’t worry about that.”
The old lumberman was a bit surprised to have Jack walk in on him, but the youth had brought his gun along, and he asked Uncle Barney to examine the hammer of the weapon.
“It looks all right to me,” said the old lumberman, after an examination; “but I’ll put on a few drops of oil, and then maybe it’ll work easier. It won’t do to have the hammer stick just when you want to use it.”
“And now, Uncle Barney, if you’ll permit me, I’d like t
o speak of something else,” said Jack, as he dropped into a seat alongside of the fireplace. “I’ve got something on my mind, and I want to see if you can’t help me out.”
“Something on your mind, eh?” returned the old man kindly. “Well, if I can help you out, you can depend on old Uncle Barney to do it,” and he smiled broadly.
“It isn’t exactly my trouble, Uncle Barney. It’s somebody else’s,” went on the oldest Rover boy. “A young lady I know is very much worried over something, and she has asked me if I can’t do something to help her get rid of that worry.”
“Must be some young lady you know pretty well, then, Jack;” and the old lumberman smiled again.
“I do know her quite well. And I think a great deal of her friendship. Her folks have some trouble on hand—quite a good deal of it in fact—and it worries the girl a good deal, and that, of course, worries me. You see, there has been a terrible mistake made, and neither the girl nor her folks know how to get at it to remedy it.”
“I see—I see!” The old lumberman nodded his head several times. “That’s the way it is often. Things get into a snarl, and a fellow can’t see his way clear to straighten ‘em out. I’ve been there myself, and I know.”
“This young lady I’m speaking about has an old relative—a sort of uncle—that she thinks a great deal of. Her folks think a great deal of this gentleman, too. Now, years ago, her folks and the old gentleman had a quarrel, and now the old gentleman won’t let her come anywhere near him, even though she would love dearly to talk to him and try to explain matters, so that he would understand that it was not her folks’ fault that the quarrel had taken place.”
“See here! what are you talking about?” exclaimed Uncle Barney, eyeing Jack suspiciously. “Come now, no beating about the bush!”
“Well, if you must know, I’m speaking about Ruth Stevenson, who goes to a young ladies’ school not far from Colby Hall. She and I are very good friends, and she has told me a good deal about this quarrel you had with her father.”
“It was Fred Stevenson’s fault—it wasn’t my fault!” grumbled the old lumberman.
“Maybe it was, Uncle Barney. I don’t know anything about that. But I do know that Ruth has told me that her father never wanted nor tried to do you any injury. He claims that it was all a mistake, and that you should have given him a chance to explain.”
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