Frank in the Woods

by Harry Castlemon

  CHAPTER V.

  The Fight in the Woods.

  The next morning, after breakfast, the trapper took down his longrifle, saying, as he did so:

  "Now, youngsters, I'm goin' off into the woods, about twenty mile orso, to camp out for a week, an' see if I can't find some otter. If youwant good sport, you had better go, too. The game is gettin' tooscarce around here to suit me."

  The boys readily agreed to this proposal, and began to talk of packingtheir sleds; but the trapper scouted the idea.

  "You'll never larn to be what I call woodsmen," said he, "until youget rid of some of your city notions. You must larn to tote all yourplunder on your backs. Just fill your possible-sacks[1] with coffeeand bread; take plenty of powder an' shot, a change of clothes, an axor two, an' some blankets, and that's all you need."

  [Footnote 1: Haversack.]

  These simple preparations were soon completed, and, after biddingUncle Joe good-by, they set out, accompanied by their dogs.

  Dick carried the "Old Settler," and had his blanket strapped fast tohis belt. Frank and George each carried an ax. Archie had several ofhis fox-traps, which he could not think of leaving behind; and Harrybrought up the rear, carrying a large bundle of blankets. Besidesthese necessary articles, the boys carried their shot-guns, and thetrapper his long rifle.

  Dick led the way directly up the creek, following the same course theyhad taken the day before in pursuit of the Indians, for about tenmiles, and then struck off into the woods. About noon they halted in alittle grove of evergreens, and the trapper said:

  "We'll camp here for awhile, youngsters, an' eat our dinner."

  The boys were very glad to hear this; for, strong and active as theywere, they found that they were no match for Dick in traveling.Archie and George leaned their guns up against a tree, took the axes,and commenced to clear away a place where they could build a fire.

  "Now," said the trapper, turning to the others, "we'll leave them hereto 'tend to the camp, an' make a good cup of coffee for us agin wecome back, an' the rest of us will take a tramp through the woods, an'see what we can get for dinner. Take different directions now, so asto scare up more game."

  The boys immediately set out as directed, each accompanied by his dog.Brave ran on ahead of his master, beating about through the bushes,but not a rabbit or squirrel showed himself. But Frank kept on, takinggood care to remember the points of the compass, determined that hewould not go back to the camp empty-handed. At length Brave'swell-known bark caused him to start forward at a more rapid pace, andthe next moment he heard some heavy animal crashing through theunderbrush, just in advance of him, at a tremendous rate. The woodswere so thick that Frank could not see the game, but the angry yelpingof the dog told him that it was being closely pursued. Guided by thenoise they made, he followed after them as fast as his legs couldcarry him, keeping a sharp look-out on all sides, for he did not knowbut that it might be a bear which the dog had started. He rememberedhis meeting with the wild-cat, but felt no fear now, for he had histrusty gun in his hand, heavily loaded with buck-shot, and knew, fromexperience, that, at short range, it was a very efficient weapon. Hisfirst care was to find the trail which the game had made, and, uponexamination, he found that Brave had started, not a bear, but severalmoose. He knew their tracks in a moment, for he had often seen them inthe woods; but he could not tell how many of them there were, fortheir trails crossed each other in every direction. He had never hadthe fortune to meet one of these animals, and his feelings were workedup to the highest pitch of excitement by the discovery. He startedforward again at the top of his speed. The rapid pace of the game sooncarried all sounds of the chase out of hearing; but Frank had nodifficulty in following the trail. He had run nearly a mile, when theangry yelps of the dog sounded through the woods in fiercer and moreabrupt echoes. Frank hurried forward, and soon came in sight of thegame. The moose--a huge bull, with wide-spreading antlers--wasstanding at bay, and the dog was bounding around him, watching anopportunity to seize him, but was met at every point. Now and then themoose would lower his head, and rush upon his enemy, but the latternimbly kept out of his way.

  Frank did not pause long to witness the battle, but immediately ranforward, holding his gun in readiness for a shot. The moose, upondiscovering him, suddenly wheeled, and started off at a rapid trot.The snow in that part of the woods was nearly three feet deep, and wascovered with a crust strong enough to sustain the hunter and his dog,but the moose sank into it at every step, and his trail could beeasily traced by the blood which was running from numerous wounds onhis legs, made by the sharp crust. He ran heavily, and Frank, who wasexerting himself to his utmost, had the satisfaction of finding thathe was gaining on him. Brave easily kept pace with him and finallysucceeded in bringing the moose at bay again. This was what Frankwanted. Just as the deer was about to make a charge upon the dog, hefired, and the huge animal tumbled to the ground. The young hunter ranforward, intending to give him the contents of the other barrel, but,before he could fire, the moose staggered to his feet, anddisregarding the attacks of the dog, which were renewed with redoubledfierceness and vigor, rushed straight upon the hunter, and bore him tothe ground.

  In falling, Frank lost his gun. The enraged animal pressed upon theyoung hunter, burying his antlers in the snow on each side of him,holding him fast to the ground. Frank gave himself up for lost; but hedetermined that he would not yield his life without a struggle. He wasunarmed, and the contest must be one of strength and endurance. Beforethe moose could draw back to make another charge upon him, Frankseized him by the antlers, and clung to them with all his strength.Brave seemed to understand the perilous situation in which his masterwas placed, and fought more furiously than ever. But the moose,although severely wounded by the teeth of the dog, did not appear tonotice him in the least, but struggled desperately to free himselffrom the young hunter's grasp. Frank was dragged about through thesnow, and pressed down into it, until his clothing was almost reducedto tatters; and he was severely wounded by the sharp crust and thehoofs of the enraged deer, which cut through his garments like aknife. It required all his strength to retain his hold. He did notseem to be in the least frightened; but the manner in which he clungto the moose, and cheered on the dog, showed that he well knew thedanger of his situation. But he was growing weaker every moment, whilethe moose appeared to be growing proportionately stronger, and hisstruggles became more furious and determined. Frank knew that theanimal would soon succeed in freeing himself, and then----. It was ahorrible thought!

  At this moment he heard the noise of approaching feet on the crust,and a voice exclaimed, "Bars and buffaler! Hang on to the creetur jesta minute longer, youngster! Take 'em, dog! take 'em!" And the nextinstant a dark object bounded lightly over him, and commenced afurious battle with the moose. Benumbed and exhausted, Frank couldhold out no longer. As the moose tore himself from his grasp, theyoung hunter saw him pulled to the ground by the trapper's dog, andthen a mist gathered before his eyes, and he sank back on the snowinsensible.

  When his consciousness returned, he found himself in arudely-constructed hut, lying in front of a blazing fire, and sotightly wrapped up in blankets that he could scarcely breathe. Dicksat in one corner of the hut, smoking his pipe, and gazing vacantlyinto the fire. Brave lay stretched out by his master's side, with hishead resting on his shoulder, gazing into his face with everyexpression of concern. As soon as Frank opened his eyes, the faithfulanimal announced the fact by a joyful bark, which brought all the boysinto the hut.

  "How do you feel, Frank?" inquired Archie, whose pale face showed thathe had more than a common interest in his cousin's well-being.

  "O! I'm all right," answered Frank, in a weak voice. "But you've gotme bundled up so tight I can hardly breathe. I wish you would take adozen or two of these blankets off."

  "No, you don't," said Dick, as the boys crowded up around Frank. "Ibelieve I've got the bossin' of this yere job. Here," he continued, ashe arose from his seat and approached his patient, "d
rink this;" andhe raised Frank from his blankets with one hand, and, with the other,held to his lips a cup containing some of the most bitter stuff he hadever drank. The young hunter made wry faces over it, but succeeded indraining the cup. "Now," resumed Dick, "lay down agin an' go to sleep.Shut up! No back talk!" he continued, as Frank essayed to speak. "Youmusn't talk till I say you may;" and the rough but kind-heartedtrapper laid him back on his bed, and, drawing the blankets moreclosely about him, left him to his meditations.

  He soon fell off into a refreshing slumber; and when he awoke it wasdark, and his companions were seated around the fire, eating theirsupper.

  "Wal, youngster," said Dick, "how do you feel now?"

  "O! I'm much better," answered Frank; "and hungry as blazes. Won't yougive a fellow some thing to eat?"

  "In course," said Dick; and he brought Frank some pieces of toast anda cup of coffee.

  "I don't like your style of doctoring a bit," said Frank, as thetrapper carefully removed the blankets with which his patient wasenveloped. "The remedies you use are worse than the disease. You'vekept me wrapped up so tight that I am sore all over."

  "I shouldn't wonder," said the trapper, laughing heartily; "but thatdoesn't come of bein' wrapped up in the blankets. You war purty wellchawed up when me an' Useless diskivered you."

  Dick raised Frank to a sitting posture, and, in spite of hisobjections, once more drew the blankets about him, allowing him,however, the free use of his arms; and the young hunter soondiscovered that he was not quite so well as he had imagined, for sharppains shot through his body, and he was so weak he could scarcely situp.

  "I believe I had something of a fight with that moose, didn't I?" heinquired, as he broke off a piece of the toast.

  "I believe you did, judging from the looks of your clothes," answeredHarry, as he laid down his plate, and took from a peg in one corner ofthe hut all that remained of Frank's garments.

  The coat and pants were torn almost into shreds, and covered withblood, and the sole of one of his boots had been pulled off by thesharp hoofs of the deer. Brave had also suffered severely, judgingfrom the bloody bandages that he wore.

  "It was a narrow escape, wasn't it?" said Frank, as he gazed inastonishment at his tattered garments.

  "Yes, indeed," said Archie; "I shouldn't have cared about being inyour boots just then. How you ever made out to get out of thoseclothes alive, is more than I can tell."

  "It war a careless trick," said Dick, "tacklin' that animal in that arway. You ought to knowed better."

  "Well, we got the moose, didn't we?" inquired Frank.

  "Yes," answered George, chewing away at a large piece of meat; "and weare eating him up as fast as we can."

  As soon as Frank had finished his toast and coffee, he was glad to liedown again, for he was still very weak from the loss of blood. Theothers, after putting away the supper-dishes, replenished the fire,and stretched themselves out on their blankets.

  "How do you feel now, youngster?" asked the trapper, as he drew abrand from the fire and lit his pipe.

  "O! I guess I shall get along."

  "It's a'most time for you to take some more of your medicine."

  "I don't care about taking any more of it," answered Frank. "It's themeanest stuff I ever tasted."

  "It's Injun medicine," answered the trapper, as he sank back on hisblanket, and puffed away vigorously at his pipe. "I remember," hecontinued, after a few moments' pause, "of doctorin' up my chum, BillLawson, an' that war the way me an' him come to get acquainted. But hewar used to Injun doctorin', and didn't growl as much as you do. I'veheered him tell of that scrape a hundred times; an' he used to tell itin this way:

  "'The way me an' Dick Lewis come to get together,' he used to say,'war this. I war onct trappin' among the mountains on a little streamcalled Muddy Creek. It war about the wust bit of Injun country in theworld; but they didn't bother me, an' I tuk mighty good care not tomeddle with their corn an' beans, an' for a long time I had jest thebest kind of luck in trappin'. Beaver were plenty as black flies insummer, an' the woods war chuck full o' otter, an' the mountains ofgrizzly bars an' black-tails, so I had plenty to do.

  "'I had made my camp in the woods, about a mile back from the creekwhere I war trappin', so as not to skeer away the game. Beaver ismighty skeery animals, an' don't like to have a feller trampin' aroundthem all the while; and when a man sets a trap, he musn't go to itagin afore arly the next mornin', for if he does, the game soon getsmighty shy, an' the first thing the trapper knows, he'll have to huntsomewhere else for beaver. You see I knowed all this, an' so kept outof their way. I got along first-rate, until arly in the spring, jestas the ice begun to break up, an' hadn't seed nothin' of the Injuns.But one mornin', while I war on my way to 'tend to my traps, I seedthe prints of some moccasins, where three or four fellers had crossedthe creek. I knowed in a minit, from the looks of them, that theywasn't white fellers' tracks; so I begun to prick up my ears an' lookaround me a little. I examined the trail agin, an' I knowed therecould be no mistake. The Comanches had been along there, sure. I begunbeatin' keerfully around through the bushes, for I didn't know butthat the tarnal red-skins war watchin' me all the time; when all toonct I come acrost another trail, which war as different from thefirst as a muskrat is different from a grizzly. It war a whitefeller's track. The tracks looked as though he had been crawlin' alongon his hands an' knees, an' onct in awhile I could see the place wherethe butt of his rifle had trailed on the ground. I knowed in a minitthat the white hunter, whoever he war, had been follerin' up theInjuns.

  "'"Wal," thinks I, "Bill Lawson, you had better keep an eye out forthem traps o' yourn." So I begun to draw a bee-line through the woodstoward the place where I had sot one o' my traps, keepin' my gun readyto put a chunk of lead into the first thing in the shape of an Injunthat I should see. But instead o' goin' up to my trap in the way Igenerally did, I went round so as to come up on the other side. Purtysoon I begun to come near the place where the trap was sot; so Idropped down on all-fours, an' commenced to crawl through the thickbrush. I knowed I should have to be mighty keerful, for an Injun hasgot ears like a painter, an' he allers keeps 'em open, too. Wal, purtysoon I poked my head over a log, an' peeked through the bushes; an'what do you think I seed? There war my trap, with a big beaver in it,ketched fast by the hind leg; an' right behind some big trees thatstood near the trap war three Injuns, listenin', an' watchin', an'waitin' for me to come an' get my game.

  "'"That's the way you painted heathen watch for a white gentleman, isit," thinks I; "I'll fix some o' you." So I drawed my knife an'tomahawk, an' laid them on the ground beside me, an' then, arterexaminin' my rifle to see that it war all right, I drawed a bead onthe biggest Injun, an' fired. He rolled over, dead as a door nail, an'the others jumped up an' yelled like two screech owls. I didn't stopto ax no questions; but, throwin' away my rifle, I grabbed up my knifean' tomahawk, an' walked into 'em.

  "'They both fired as I came up--one missed, an' the other tuk me inthe leg, an' kerflumux I come to the ground. The Injuns thought theyhad me now, sure, an' they came toward me, drawin' their knives an'yellin' like mad. But I war on my pins agin in less than no time; an',standin' as well as I could on my broken leg, I swung my tomahawkaround my head, an' let fly at the nighest Injun. It tuk him plumbatween the eyes, an' I knowed that the work war done for him. But thenext minit the other heathen clinched me, an', liftin' me off my legs,throwed me to the ground like a log. He had two legs to use, an' I hadonly one; there war where he had the advantage of me. But I had theuse of my hands; an' I jest made up my mind that if he wanted my scalphe would have to work for it; so, quick as lightnin', I grabbed thehand that held the knife, an' give it a squeeze that actooally madethe bones crack, an' the rascal give one yell, an' let go the weapon.Then, with the other hand, I ketched him by the scalp-lock, an' donemy best to turn him, knowin' that if I could onct get on top of him, Iwould be all right; but I couldn't use my leg; so, thinks I, I'll holdhim here awhile, an' I pulled his head down cl
ose to me. But I hadbled so much that I begun to give out; an' the Injun, who hadn't madea move arter I got hold of his har, knowed that I war growin' weak,an' the first thing I knowed, he broke away from me, an' sprung to hisfeet. I tried to get up too, but the Injun grabbed up his knife, an'pinned me agin. I fit as well as I could, but the rascal knowed Icouldn't do nothin'; and, placing one knee on my breast to hold medown, he put one hand to his mouth, an' give a loud yell.

  "'It war answered close by, an' somebody come out o' the bushes. Atfirst I thought it war another Injun comin' up to help rub me out; butanother look showed me that it war a white feller. He didn't stop toax no questions, but made a dash at the Comanche, who got off me in atarnal hurry, an' callin' out some name that showed that he knowed whothe white feller war, he begun to make tracks; but he hadn't gone tenfoot afore the trapper had him by the neck. The fight war mightyshort, for the Comanche wasn't nowhere--the trapper handled him asthough he had been a baby, an' in less than two minits he war a deadInjun.'

  "That's the way ole Bill used to tell his story," continued Dick; "an'he allers used to pint me out as the man that saved him. The whitefeller's trail that he seed by the creek war my own, an' I warfollerin' up the Comanches. Wal, I tuk the old man back to his camp,an', arter two months' doctorin', I got him all right agin. When hegot well, he wouldn't let me leave him, nor I didn't want to, for hewar jest the kind of a man I wanted for a chum. He hated an Injun asbad as I did, an' I used to like to listen to the stories he told ofhis fights with them. How do you come on now, youngster?"

  "O! I feel pretty well," answered Frank, "only I'm a little weak."

  "You can thank your lucky stars that you wasn't rubbed outaltogether," said the trapper, as he approached the young hunter. "Mean' Useless got there jest in time. But you won't allers be so lucky."

  After wrapping Frank up carefully in the blankets again, he knockedthe ashes from his pipe, and sought his own couch.