Terror stood on the outskirts of the camp, occasionally moving forward toward the animals, as if to match his long white teeth and massive strength against their glittering fangs and treacherous ferocity.
When the two guns were discharged the rest disappeared as if a bombshell had exploded in their midst; but scarcely a dozed seconds elapsed ere they closed together again, fiercer and more clamorous, if possible, than before.
In a few moments the boys had their guns reloaded, and they immediately repeated their former proceeding with precisely the same result. At this point a surprising occurrence came to pass. The dead wolverines were pounced upon by their survivors and torn instantly to shreds, and even devoured with as much avidity as if they were Terror and his human companions.
“Did you ever hear of such a thing?” asked Elwood, watching them in great amazement.
“Yes; I have read of wolves doing the same, even when one of their number was not killed but only wounded slightly.”
“Any animals that act in that manner deserve death; so let’s send a few more rifle-balls among them.”
“If we keep this up for a few hours I don’t see that there will be any left, and we may rest in peace.”
“They will keep on gathering until there are twice that number. If it wasn’t for our fire we should have to take to the trees; and what, then, would become of poor Terror?”
“He will get into trouble as it is,” said Howard, “if we don’t keep an eye on him.”
The dog had continued advancing closer to the wolverines, until there was an imminent probability of a collision occurring between him and two of the largest, that sprung forward until they were within a few inches of him, when they darted back again to repeat the feint, seemingly with the purpose of drawing the Newfoundland further toward their clutches.
Howard spoke sharply to Terror, but he paid no heed to the call. The boy repeated it with the same uselessness, and he was beginning to become seriously alarmed for his fate when Shasta laid down his pipe and rose to his feet. The eyes of the three were now centered upon him.
The Pah Utah left his gun and blanket upon the ground, so that his arms and breast, excepting a few ornaments, were bare. He then drew his keen hunting-knife and held it rigidly grasped in his right hand. Stooping down, he caught a blazing brand with his left, swung it rapidly over his head a few times to give it additional blaze, and then darted away like a meteor directly among the wolverines. The latter scattered in greater terror than ever, but the Indian, instead of returning, actually followed them.
The brand could only be seen flitting among the trees, its flaming glare giving a wild, unearthly appearance to the face and breast of the Savage as he sped swiftly in and out among the trunks and vegetation, like an avenger bent on destroying the entire band.
One of the largest wolverines, in his wild fear, sprung so close to Elwood that his tail whisked against him. Ere he could clear himself the Indian burst upon him, his iron arm flashed out with lightning-like swiftness, the wire-like fingers caught the brute by the neck, and the knife was buried so deep in his throat that when he was thrown back he fell limp and dead to the ground. After which Shasta sat down upon the ground again, folded his blanket over his shoulders and appeared much occupied in contemplating the burning sticks before him.
“Mr. Shasta, that was well done!” exclaimed Tim in admiration. “I very much doubt whether it could be excelled by your humble servant, the undersigned.”
“I very much doubt it also,” said Elwood. “I shouldn’t fancy chasing those animals with a firebrand.”
“No; if you should drop it or fall down unpleasant consequences might follow.”
The boys kept up their loading and firing among the wolverines until they had slain over a dozen. But instead of diminishing, the number continued to increase till there must have been nearly two-score growling, snapping and snarling around the camp-fire.
CHAPTER XXXI
Shasta’s Humor
The camp-fire was kept burning unremittingly until morning, and the wolverines as unceasingly continued their clamor, so that none of the parties secured a moment’s sleep. The boys were signaled several times by Shasta to lie down, but they were too unaccustomed to such sights and sounds to permit them to do so with anything like peace; so they used their rifles upon the savage animals until prudence advised them to husband their ammunition until they had better use for it.
Tim O’Rooney was fully as restless as they. He was in continual dread that some of the treacherous animals would steal up behind him and fasten their teeth so securely in him that they could not be shaken off. This uneasiness caused him ever to be shifting his position, now on one side the fire, now on the other—springing suddenly upward as though he already felt the nip of their fangs.
The Pah Utah, at this time, displayed a grim humor, so exceptional with his people, as to be almost incredible, except to the boys who were witnesses to it. Believing such traits should be encouraged among all aborigines as an antidote for their melancholy dispositions, it gives us great pleasure to record it, and it will afford us far greater enjoyment to testify regarding any other such performances that may come under our notice.
Tim was standing with his back toward the fire, and his hands, carelessly crossed behind him. He was intently watching the quarrelsome animals, and all thoughts of attack in the rear had for the time departed. Shasta leaned silently forward and lifted a small brand to relight his pipe, which had gone out some time before. As he was passing it back to the embers the red coal just grazed one of Tim’s fingers, while at the same instant the Indian imitated the snarl of the wolverine so exactly that the follow was sure he was seized, and he made the most agile leap of his life.
“Murther! murther! pull him off, Mr. Shasta, catch hold of him!” exclaimed the affrighted Irishman, springing wildly on every side of the fire, and striking with blind fierceness at the imaginary brute in his rear.
Howard and Elwood laughed till the tears rolled down their cheeks. They had seen Shasta’s trick and they could therefore appreciate it. Never a smile lit up the grim face of the Pah Utah. He continued leisurely smoking, his keen black eyes looking dreamily into the fire, as if lost in some pleasant reverie.
But what of that? Who can doubt, that he laughed internally full as heartily as the youngsters? Who can tell what surges, and waves, and ripples of laughter went through and through him, until his whole being was absorbed in merriment?
Finally Tim’s terror passed away and he became comparatively quiet.
“Worrah! worrah!” he exclaimed, panting from his severe exertions. “What a narra ’scape I had.”
“Did he really bite you?”
“Bite me! Didn’t ye see him fasten his teeth in me and hang on till I shuk him off?”
“No; I didn’t observe him.”
“Git out wid ye nonsense. But I felt him sure and it was meself that thought once he’d pull me off into the darkness and make me a prey to the beasts there—that I did think, did I.”
“No danger,” remarked Howard, as he and his cousin were unable to restrain their laughter.
“What be ye spalpeens laughing at?” indignantly demanded the Irishman.
“But, Tim, are you sure you were not mistaken? We saw nothing of the kind,” pursued Howard.
The fellow looked too full of indignation to speak.
“What is getting into your heads? Ye saam to be losing your sinses intirely.”
“And I can say I saw none of them touch you.”
“Then you was blind,” was the indignant retort. “Ye harrd him sing out at me heels, didn’t you?”
“Of course, we heard them all the time, as we do now; but the one you imagined so close may have been a dozen feet distant.”
“But he bit me!” was the triumphant reply to this.
“Where?”
“On the hand.”
“Let us see the mark!”
The boys arose and walked up to their friend, who b
ent over the fire, held his hand close to his face, turning it over and over and scrutinizing it with the closest attention. Concluding he was mistaken, he exchanged it for its fellow, which was subjected to an equally severe cross-examination. Still nothing confirmatory of his words could be found.
The amazed Irishman now held up both his hands, turning them over and over and pressing them close to his face.
“Do yees saa anything?” he abruptly asked, thrusting them toward the boys.
They went through the form of a search for a scratch or a bite, but declared themselves unable to discover any.
“Don’t you feel any pain?” asked Howard.
“I thought I did,” replied Tim, with a serious, puzzled look upon his countenance.
“In what part of your body?”
“Whisht!”
He motioned to them to maintain silence, while he closed his eyes and waited for some evidence of the pain he had so sharply felt a few minutes before. As he stood thus, he stealthily brought each hand around in front of his face and subjected them to the same examination.
Suddenly his eye sparkled, and he held out his left:
“That’s the hand!” he exclaimed exultingly.
“Let’s see?” asked the boys, stepping up to him.
“Yees’ll find it somewhere there, if yees’ll take the throuble to examine it closely.”
They did so, but declared themselves unable to find the wound.
Tim finally showed a small red spot upon one of the fingers, which he affirmed was where the cruel tooth did bite him.
“That cannot be, for the skin is not broken.”
“But it faals as if the same had been bit off.”
“It looks more like a burn,” added Elwood.
Tim now turned around and looked at the Pah Utah. The latter was smoking his pipe, as if unconscious of the presence of any being or animal near him. Perhaps they were mistaken, but Howard and Elwood always affirmed that they detected a twitching at the corners of his mouth, as if he were ready to explode with laughter.
But if it was that, it was nothing more, and it manifested itself in no other manner. Tim gazed fixedly at him a moment, and then turning to the boys, asked in a whisper:
“But didn’t ye hear it snarrl at meself?”
CHAPTER XXXII
Again on the River
The Newfoundland, Terror, occasioned more apprehension to his friends than did anything else. They came to see that no personal danger threatened so long as the fire kept burning, and as there was an abundance of fuel, this settled that point; but the dog grew enraged at the furious uproar, which drove away all sleep, and appeared to give him fear that the entire party were in danger.
Several times, when some of the wolverines came too close, he made a spring at them, and they snapped back. But the good sense of the dog kept him from venturing among the ravenous brutes, and they in turn were in too much dread of the fire to do more than spring at him and then as quickly dart back again.
It was an impressive sight and one which could never be forgotten. The large, noble Newfoundland, standing out in relief against the glare of the camp-fire, his eyes aflame with anger, every muscle braced, the jaws parted and his eyes fixed upon the dark bodies plunging over each other, darting forward and back again, snapping, snarling and furious; the Pah Utah stretched upon the ground, deliberately smoking, all unheedful of the deafening clangor and the savage brutes that sometimes approached almost within striking distance; the two boys, so close to the fire that they were often scorched by it, gazing at the animals with an expression of half fear and half wonder, starting when one of them came unusually near, and now and then sending the fatal bullet among them; the nervous Irishman, darting hither and thither, taking great care that the fire was kept fully burning; all these, we say, made a scene impressive in the highest degree.
Terror, when sharply spoken to, would withdraw from his dangerous proximity to the wolverines, but almost immediately he stepped forward to the same spot he first occupied, and his obedience to the commands of the boys was so sullen and ill-natured that they forebore speaking to him except when his safety seemed absolutely to demand it.
At times there was an interruption in the clamor, but the wolverines did not appear to relax their vigilance in the least. It was as if they had determined to make their evening meal upon the party though they were forced to wait until morning for it. During these intervals of comparative silence our friends gained opportunity for the exchange of a few words, but they were often compelled to shout at the top of their voices to make themselves heard.
During one of these lulls Elwood spoke to Howard.
“What will take place in the morning, when these creatures are not afraid of our fire?”
“I think they will go away.”
“Perhaps so: but we are not so sure of that.”
“Shasta will no doubt turn the whole thing over in his mind, and be prompt enough to act when the danger comes. I suppose we can take to our canoes and give them the slip in that manner.”
“Yes; the Indian appears to have rather a contemptible opinion of them. He scarcely heeds their wrangling.”
“He is not so timid as we and Tim are; but he doesn’t forget to look at them once in a while, so as not to forget what they are doing.”
“They are a savage set of animals. How angry Terror is! Don’t you notice that they are trying to entice him to venture out a little nearer them? They hate him more than all of us.”
“Do you think so?”
“You can see it in their manner. If they can once get hold of him they will tear him to shreds.”
“And they will catch him, too, if he isn’t careful. He is so surly and cross himself that it is dangerous to touch or speak to him.”
“We can’t afford to lose him. We must watch, and if he gets too close to any of them, why, all we shall have to do is to crack them over, and give the others warning to keep their distance.”
While they were speaking a huge wolverine darted close enough to strike Terror. Instantly the two closed and rolled upon the ground in the fierce death struggle. Over and over, snapping, snarling, growling, biting, scratching with lightning-like fierceness, now one below and then the other, and finally the dog on top.
The conflict was as short as it was furious. The massive jaws of the Newfoundland closed on the throat of his antagonist and his teeth met through his windpipe. There they stuck for a minute, and when he relaxed his hold it was all over with the reckless animal.
Still it would have fared ill with the dog but for Shasta, for the other wolverines would have sprung upon him and destroyed him before he could have escaped. At the moment the two closed the Indian darted forward, seized a brand and flourished it over the combatants. This so terrified the others that they kept their distance until the conqueror resumed his place in triumph by the fire.
This encounter proved it lesson to both the dog and the wolverines. The latter appeared to comprehend the disadvantage under which they were placed, while Terror, having had a taste of their mettle, was satisfied for the time, and kept a safe position further away from the brutes that were so eager to fasten their teeth in him.
It was now verging toward morning, and the Pah Utah looked about him as if he were going to make his preparations for moving. He looked toward the raging creatures, still fierce and furious, and then glanced at the canoes drawn up within a few feet of the camp-fire, and pointed toward them and the river.
Fortunately but a few feet intervened between their present position and the stream, so that the latter was easy of access in case it should become necessary to retreat before the wolverines. Still the fire did not protect this enough to make it a safe undertaking in their present situation.
Shasta picked up several blazing sticks, and carrying them to the water’s edge, placed them together and covered them with some dry brush-wood. They speedily fanned themselves into a flame, and the gathering brutes withdrew and offered a fine appro
ach to the river.
The Indian’s next proceeding was to launch the two boats. This was done easily and without difficulty. The blankets and guns were placed within, and then motioned for the dog to follow; but Terror did not seem disposed to leave his present quarters. Perhaps the idea worked its way into his shaggy head that it savored too much of deserting his friends, or it may be that he still coveted a taste for another collision with the audacious animals that had pressed him so sorely.
Our brave soldier boys, who abhor bloodshed from a principle, still have a love for the wild abandon of camp life, and many a one looks back with a sigh to the rough experiences which we all pray may never come again. So it may be the Newfoundland, naturally peaceful, having had his blood fairly roused by his tussle and triumph, yet longed for more of victory.
Finally Howard and Elwood took their seats, and Tim O’Rooney followed; then Terror, casting one reluctant look behind him, jumped into the boat and lay down in his usual position; and so, at length, they all were embarked in safety.
CHAPTER XXXIII
A Halt
It was just growing light as the two canoes shoved out in the river and resumed their journey. The rapacious wolverines, enraged at the loss of their expected prey, followed them to the very edge of the stream, where their ear-splitting clamor grew more furious than ever. At one time, indeed, it looked us though they were about to jump into the water and swim out to them; and both the boys looked inquiringly at the face of the Pah Utah. The stolid, indifferent expression that they there saw relieved them, and they withdrew all further thought regarding the troublesome animals.
Shasta had loosened the connection between the two boats—not, perhaps, that he was unwilling to carry them also along, but because he judged it was time that the party learned to navigate for themselves.
Tim O’Rooney grasped the paddle, and his handling of it showed no ordinary skill. He had greatly improved upon his performance of yesterday, and kept his position slightly in the rear of the other canoe, whose owner, as a matter of course, timed his speed to that of his pupil.
The Edward S. Ellis Megapack Page 90
