CHAPTER XVIII
THE STORM
ROGER was considerably relieved when he heard his chum say this withso much confidence. A bear might be troublesome, but it was not to becompared with an Indian, for the latter was likely to have allies closeat hand who could be summoned by a signal whoop.
"Do you think the beast can move the stump?" he asked Dick, at the sametime feeling for his knife, which the other had turned over to Roger ondiscovering that it was really his property.
"He is trying hard to do so," replied Dick.
"Just listen how he keeps on sniffing at that crack," continued theother boy. "He knows that somebody has taken to his hollow tree, and hedoesn't seem to like it at all. How about giving him a shot, Dick? Atsuch close range you could easily knock him over."
Dick, however, had his own ideas about that. At least, he did not makeany preparations for the shot.
"To tell you the truth, Roger," he finally explained, "I'd rather notwaste my powder and ball on the old fellow. He'd be too tough for us touse as food, and besides, the sound of the report might bring some ofthe Indians down on us."
"I suppose you are right, Dick," commented Roger; "but it looks asif we might have to do something to frighten the bear away. Therehe starts again, trying to thrust the stump aside, and as sure asanything, Dick, the breach is getting a little wider every time heworks at it."
"It seems so," agreed Dick, "and, as you say, we ought to do somethingto put a stop to his scratching and dragging. Wait a minute, I've anidea I can fix it!"
With these words he put his long rifle behind him so that it was safein Roger's hands. In case of actual necessity the latter would knowwhat to do with the fire-arm; but just then he was very curious tolearn what Dick had arranged.
He could hear him moving, and he seemed to lean forward until hishands were perilously near the small opening at which the nose of thebear was working just as the snout of a hog might be used to move anobstacle.
The champing of teeth, along with the loud sniffing, continued.
"What are you doing, Dick?" asked Roger, finally, unable to stand thesuspense any longer.
"Oh!" came the cheery reply, "I have wasted a charge or two of powder,placing it as near the opening as I can, and running a thread thisway. Now I have my flint and steel ready, and, as soon as he starts topoking his nose in at the hole again, I'll strike fire, and explode thepowder in his face!"
Roger saw the object of this, and was considerably interested in theoutcome.
"I hope he gets the full benefit of the flash," he observed.
Dick saw his chance just then, and he could be heard striking the flintand steel rapidly together after the manner of one whom long experiencein this line had made almost perfect.
There came a little shower of descending sparks, and then a suddenbrilliant flash that lit up the interior of the hollow tree as thoughthe sun had found a means of ingress.
"Hurrah!" cried Roger, clapping his hands in glee, "that was thetime you gave old Eph the scare of his life! Hear him plunging off,will you, Dick? It seems as if he'd lost all desire to make theacquaintance of his new lodgers. And I don't think we'll be botheredany more by Mr. Bear, do you?"
Dick also laughed softly as he replied:
"He must have had his nose singed that time, and got a bad fright inthe bargain, so I reckon we'll not be annoyed again."
"This powder smoke is choking me, Dick."
"But it's slowly rising in the tree, and things are getting betterright along," Roger was told. "We'll wait awhile until the air ispurer, and after that we'll drag the old stump back to where it wasbefore the bear moved it."
"And then?" queried Roger.
"Go to sleep again, if you feel like it, because we have some hours ofthe night still ahead of us," Dick calmly told him.
Before they could settle down they noticed that the wind was soughingthrough the trees with a louder note than before.
"That storm is coming closer all the while," remarked Dick, "and weneedn't be surprised to hear thunder at any time now."
"If it does come," added Roger, sleepily, "we'll be glad to have such afine shelter in the rain. But it may fool us after all, and for one Idon't mean to lie awake waiting for it."
Dick, too, managed to get to sleep before a great while. Both of themwere presently aroused by a loud crash of thunder.
"Why, it did get here after all, Dick!" exclaimed Roger, the firstthing.
"Listen and you can hear the rain further along beating down on theforest trees. One good thing about it is that the storm will probablynot be a long one."
Dick's words were immediately followed by a vivid flash of lightning,and then came another loud detonation that seemed to shake the earth.
In these present days two wide-awake boys who had picked up someknowledge of woodcraft would be very much alarmed to find themselves ina hollow tree during an electrical storm, knowing that there was alwaysa chance of the lightning's striking such an object and bringing abouttheir destruction.
Dick and Roger were not worried on that point. Perhaps it was becausethey were accustomed to taking hazards; or it may have sprung fromignorance of the danger.
However, the hollow tree had lost its top long years ago, and wassurrounded by loftier trees so the chances of its being struck were notserious.
Then the rain came, and, from the sounds that reached their ears, theboys decided that it was almost a tropical downpour. Roger was on thealert to discover whether their shelter was going to prove its worth,or begin to leak. After some time had passed he voiced his convictionin his usual fashion.
"Not a drop so far, Dick, and I believe we're going to keep dry jacketsthrough the whole downpour. Why, this is better than being in one ofthe tents, for they nearly always let a stream of water trickle downyour neck when you're not expecting it. I think we're mighty lucky tohave such good shelter."
"And I agree with every word you say, Roger," his companion added.
"How is the night going, do you know?" continued the other.
"I'm sure I can hardly say, Roger. At a guess I might venture to saythat we may have something like two hours more of darkness."
"Then all I hope is the storm will peter out before dawn, so we canstart for the river right away. We ought to come upon the expedition byevening, unless we get lost, and that is something not likely to happento boys like us, who have lived in the woods since they were knee-highto grasshoppers."
"One thing sure, we have had all the sleep we're going to getto-night," Dick remarked.
"It seems to me the rain has slackened some. At least, it doesn't makesuch a terrible noise when it strikes the trees. But there was a prettylively wind blowing, Dick, and I think I heard more than one tree crashdown before the gale."
"Yes," added the other. "And this old wreck did some groaning, too.Once I was in a sweat thinking it might go toppling over; but the othertrees must have protected it some, for it stood through the wild storm."
When Roger hazarded the opinion that the gale was abating he spoke thetruth, for in a short time it became manifest that the thunder camefrom a more distant point, the lightning was not so brilliant, and therain itself began to fall more lightly.
In fact, things took on such a different tone that Roger actuallysettled himself down to try for a little more sleep.
Dick had been too thoroughly aroused to think of doing this. Hecontinued to sit there, keeping a vigil on the crack, through whichhe knew he would catch the first glimpse of breaking day. He amusedhimself while sitting thus by letting his thought go back to the happyhome far down the "Big Muddy," where his father and his mother, hislittle brother Sam, and his grandparents besides, occupied the bigcabin in the clearing, close to the one where Roger's parents lived.
Finally, Dick discovered that it was no longer pitch dark outside. Themoon had broken out from the scattering storm clouds, and was giving afair amount of light.
Dick, always in touch with the positions of the heavenly bodie
s, knew,after he had located the fragment of a moon, that morning was indeedclose at hand. Indeed, he believed that in less than half an hour thedawn would break.
He allowed Roger to sleep until it was broad daylight, and then, actingunder the belief that they had better be on their way, he laid a handon the other's arm.
"Morning has come, and we ought to be getting out of here," Dick toldhis comrade, as he felt the other move under his touch.
"Why, I did go to sleep after all, it seems," muttered Roger, as thoughhe considered this the queerest thing of all; but Dick only smiled,for he knew of old some of the little weaknesses of his chum.
They succeeded in pushing the old stump away from the opening, leavinga gap big enough for them to crawl through.
"If Mr. Bear ever takes the trouble to come back to his den," remarkedRoger, as he surveyed the big tree with its hollow butt, "he's welcometo his old quarters. I'd like to tell him that his hole is all right,too, when a fellow is caught in a storm; but we have other fish to fryjust now."
His words reminded him of the fine mess of trout they had caught on thepreceding day, just before the trap set by the cunning Indians had beensprung, and shortly afterwards he remarked:
"I do hope our friends found all the strings of trout we left along thebank of that stream; and that there were more than they could use atone time. It would be fine if we got a taste of the same, Dick, afterall this fuss."
"I was just thinking," remarked practical Dick, who certainly was notbothering his head about trout, or any other kind of food, "that, afterall, that storm may have done us one kindness."
"Tell me how, then?" demanded Roger, who failed to agree with him untilhe could be shown the facts.
"The rain must have washed all our tracks out, so not even thesharpest-eyed Indian brave could follow our trail," explained theother, and of course Roger found himself in full accord with the theoryadvanced, for, like the story of Columbus and the envious Spanishcourtiers, things looked very different after the explanation.
With a last backward look toward the friendly old tree that hadafforded them shelter in the storm, the two lads tightened their beltsand set off on their long tramp, expecting to strike the bank of theMissouri by the time the sun was ready to set.
The Pioneer Boys of the Columbia; or, In the Wilderness of the Great Northwest Page 21
