Guns And Snowshoes

C >> Captain Ralph Bonehill >> Guns And Snowshoes

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They took off their skates, put them on the sleds, and started up the
rocky and frozen watercourse. The walking was treacherous and soon
Whopper went down, with Shep on top of him. The bag of apples came
over both.

"Hi! get off of me!" roared Whopper. "Do you want to crush me into a
pancake? Who threw that bag of apples?"

"You want to be careful of the loads," admonished Snap. "Don't throw
off the mince pie as you did the apples."

"Look!" yelled Giant, who had been gazing to the north of the
watercourse. "Am I mistaken, or is that a deer?"

"A deer! A deer!" cried Shep, and on the instant all of the boys
forgot about the tumble and each caught up his shotgun. It was indeed
a deer, standing among some young trees about two hundred yards
distance.

"Oh, if we can only bring it down!" said Whopper, in a whisper.

"We must bring it down," answered Shep, in an equally low voice.

"Get out of sight," warned Snap. "If he sees us he'll be of in a
jiffy."

They dropped behind some convenient bushes and then moved forward with
great caution, each with his shotgun ready to blaze away instantly.

The forward movement lasted for fully five minutes and then all raised
up cautiously and looked for the deer.

The game had disappeared!

"Where is he?" whispered Giant, gazing around in bewilderment.

"Bless me if I know," answered Snap.

The young hunters gazed in all directions and then came out into the
open.

"He is surely gone," said Shep.

"There he goes!" sang out Giant, and pointed up the lake to a clearing
an eighth of a mile away.

"And streaking it like greased lightning," added Whopper. "He'll reach
the Canadian line before he stops."

"Too bad!" growled Shep, in disgust. "I fancied we'd get him sure."

"This puts me in mind of what Jed Sanborn says," said Snap, with a
sickly grin. "'Be sure of only what is in your game bag.'"

The young hunters looked around for more deer but none were in that
vicinity and so they returned to where they had left the sleds.

"If it hadn't been that we want to get to camp we might have followed
up that deer," was Giant's comment.

"Not much use of that," answered Snap. "By the way he was running he
must have been pretty well woke up, and when that happens you know a
deer will run for miles without stopping."

All were glad when they came in sight of Fire-fly Lake. About one half
of the surface was a smooth glare of ice, the other half being covered
with ridges of snow.

To reach their old camp they had to go up the shore and around a bend
where the bushes and trees were thick. Once more they donned their
skates and went forward rapidly.

"Let us have a race!" cried Whopper, and he and Giant set off with one
sled, while Snap and Shep set off with the other.

"An extra piece of mince pie to the winning team!" cried the doctor's
son merrily as he put on an extra spurt.

Soon the turn of the shore was gained, with the sleds side by side.
Then all of the young hunters gazed ahead.

"Well, I never!"

"If this isn't too bad for anything!"

Such were the exclamations uttered. And there was good cause for their
consternation and dismay. Instead of the tidy cabin they had expected
to see, nothing but a heap of blackened logs confronted them.

The log cabin had been burnt to the ground.

CHAPTER VII

A DISMAYING DISCOVERY

The hearts of the four young hunters went "down in their boots" as
they surveyed the desolate scene before them.

They had spent much hard labor over the cabin which had been their
home during a large part of the summer outing, and they had fully
expected to find it in the same condition as when they had locked it
up and come away.

"Boys, what can this mean?" said Snap at last. Who has played us this
shabby trick?"

"Can the cabin have burnt down right after we left it?" asked Giant.

"Why, no, it has been burnt down since the last snowstorm," answered
Shep, "otherwise the snow would cover the ruins."

"This fire isn't over three or four days old," came from Whopper.

"Do you think it could start up of itself?" asked the small member of
the Gun Club.

"No, I don't."

"Then somebody must have set it on fire."

"Yes."

"Who?"

"That remains to be found out," said Snap. "Oh, I wish I had the
fellow here now," and he banged a fist into the palm of his hand, to
show what he would do in such a case.

The boys walked around the ruin several times and lifted up a few of
the half-burnt logs. It was easy to see that the cabin was a total
wreck. Snap heaved a mountainous sigh and so did the others.

"We'll have to clear all this stuff away and build a brand new cabin,"
said Shep. "All these old logs are good for is firewood."

"That is true, Shep," answered Snap. "What I am thinking of is, what
are we to do to-night? We can't stay out in the open air. It is
growing colder every minute."

"Well, I am not going home," came quickly from Giant. "I'd rather
freeze!"

"Who said anything about going home?" demanded Whopper. "Why, I
wouldn't go home in a thousand years, cabin or no cabin. We can rig up
some sort of shelter of pine boughs and then build another cabin."

"I know a dandy spot for another cabin," said Snap. "Don't you
remember I mentioned it to you, Shep, last summer? The spot where the
young trees stood so close together in a circle?"

"Just the place," answered the doctor's son.

Standing around was cold work and the young hunters lost no time in
cutting some dry brushwood and building a fire, on which they placed
several of the half-burnt logs. It was now the middle of the afternoon
and they knew they must work vigorously if they wanted any sort of a
suitable shelter against the cold before nightfall.

The spot Snap had mentioned was less than two hundred feet up the lake
front. Here, behind some bushes which would keep off considerable
wind, was an almost perfect circle of trees, the diameter inside being
about fifteen feet. The trees were mostly young and not very tall and
the lower branches were not over ten feet from the ground on an
average.

"We can cut off the tops of the trees and then bind in some of the
branches for a roof," said Snap. "Over those branches we can bind
others, with strips of bark between. We can cut the trees higher on
one side of the circle than on the other, so the snow and rain can run
off. Then we can bind in brushwood and bark for the sides, between the
trees, leaving one spot open for a rough sort of chimney, which we'll
have to build up of flat rocks. It won't make as nice a cabin as the
other was, but it is the best we can do in this wintry weather, and I
think, with a good fire going, we can make it fairly comfortable
inside."

There were a great many things to take into consideration, but in the
main Snap's idea was voted a good one, and the sleds were brought to
the spot and the axe and hatchet gotten.

"Giant, you bring up that camp-fire," said Snap. We'll want it here
later. Bring all those half-burnt logs, too, so that we'll have plenty
of firewood."

"Aye, aye, Captain!" answered the little lad, in true nautical style
and touching his cap.

While Giant re-built the camp-fire the others set to work on the new
cabin. First Snap and Shep, went up in the trees and marked off the
top of the new shelter. Then down came one tree top after another and
then the limbs that could not be used above. In the meantime Whopper
took a hunting knife and cut some strips of bark.

"Now let us begin to bind in the branches," said Snap, and he and Shep
set to work, with Whopper helping them. Giant passed up some branches
which had fallen to the ground, and also some long, pliable withes to
be used as rope. Fortunately some of the branches left on the trees
were long and supple and could be twisted around one another with
ease.

"We are going to have a regular mat of a roof," observed Whopper. "Why
can't we pile a lot of dead leaves on top, to make it air tight?"

"Because they might possibly shake down and catch fire," answered
Snap. "We can bind in some more brushwood and some more bark. Then the
next snow will do the rest."

At last the roof was finished and the workers dropped to the ground.
It was now night and all were tremendously hungry.

"We'll have to let the sides of the shelter go until morning," said
Snap. "We can pile up some tree branches on the windy side and put the
rubber blankets over them. Then, during the night, we can build a fire
right in the middle of the hut. But we'll have to take turns at
guarding, to prevent the place from catching fire and to prevent those
sleeping from smothering, if the wind should change."

While Snap and Shep continued to work on the shelter, Whopper and
Giant started to cook the evening meal, which consisted of a broiled
chicken, a loaf of bread they had brought along, and a slice of cake,
washed down with hot chocolate. They spent an hour over the meal, and
in the meantime discussed their future plans and the burnt cabin.

"Do you know I have an idea that the same person who burnt down our
cabin wrecked the old boathouse," said Snap.

"I was figuring it that way, too," answered Whopper. "The question is,
Who would be so mean!"

"Perhaps it was Carl Dudder," answered Giant.

"Or Ham Spink," came from Shep.

"It was certainly done by an enemy," said Snap. "But I shouldn't dare
to accuse anybody unless I was certain."

"You are right there," answered the doctor's son. "Burning a building
is a serious piece of business."

"Yes, and blowing up a place with dynamite is serious, too," added
Whopper. "Why, it's a wonder the whole town didn't sail skyward!"

The floor of the shelter had been cleaned up and on one side were
placed several piles of fresh pine boughs, which in camping out make
the best kind of a couch. Then the fire was brought in and placed
where the smoke could drift out between the trees. The blaze soon
warmed the place up, and the ruddy glare made the boys feel quite at
home.

To keep out still more of the cold the two sleds were stood up between
some of the trees and the canvas coverings and rubber blankets were
stretched around as far as they would go. By that time all of the boys
were worn out with their labors and their journey and glad enough to
retire.

"Each member of this club will have to remain on guard two hours,"
said Snap. "We'll draw lots for turns."

This was done, and it fell to Whopper to take the first turn, from
nine o'clock to eleven. Giant was to follow him, and then Snap and
Sheep.

"Just my luck!" grumbled Whopper. "And when I am so sleepy I can
scarcely keep my eyes open."

"Well, don't you go to sleep until your two hours is up," said Snap
sharply. "Keep an eye on the fire, and don't wake Giant up until his
turn comes."

"I am going to fix up a pot of beans to cook," answered Whopper. "That
will help to keep me awake."

Leaving Whopper fussing with the bean pot, the others turned into
their blankets and threw themselves on their pine bough couches.
Inside of five minutes Shep was asleep and Snap and the small member
of the Gun Club quickly followed.

Whopper filled the pot half full of bean, soaked them a little in ice
water, and then hung them over the fire to bake, putting some bacon
with them, to give the proper flavor. Then he brought in some extra
sticks and sat down. He was indeed sleepy and it was all he could do
to keep his eyes open.

"Guess I had better walk around," he told himself, and not to disturb
the sleepers, passed through one of the openings between the trees to
the outside of the shelter.

It was a moonlight night, and he could see across the lake with ease.
All was quiet saving for the distant hoot of an owl and the occasional
bark of a fox. The wind had gone down and not a tree branch was
stirring.

"What a glorious night for skating," mused the boy. "There must be a
good many out at Fairview, now that the ice is so solid."

He walked around the shelter four times and then came to a halt once
more in front of the lake.

As he did this, he saw some object move across the ice of the lake.
One object was followed by another, and then a third and a fourth.

"Animals of some kind," he thought. "But what?"

He watched the objects for several minutes.

They kept coming closer slowly, stopping every now and then, as if to
deliberate. Then of a sudden, a lonely, mournful howl rent the air.

"Wolves!" he muttered. "They have discovered our camp and are coming
towards it. I wonder what I had better do?"

CHAPTER VIII

THE FIRST NIGHT IN CAMP

Whopper was not much frightened. He had met wolves before and he did
not think that the pack on the ice would dare to attack him and his
friends. Nevertheless, to be on the safe side, he watched the beasts
closely, and when they came still nearer he rushed into the shelter
and grabbed up his shotgun.

"What's the row?" asked Shep sleepily, disturbed by the unusual
bustle.

"Four wolves are on the ice in front of the shelter," explained
Whopper. "Reckon I'll give them a shot."

"I'll go along," and the doctor's son sprang up and reached for his
own firearm.

When Whopper got outside again, followed by Shep, he saw the wolves
had approached still closer. There were now seven of them, and they
stood in a semi-circle, sniffing the air suspiciously. The man-smell
was strong, and this they did not like, for to them it betokened only
danger. Yet mingled with the man-smell was the smell of chicken and
rabbit meat, and this pleased them, for they were hungry.

"Let us both fire together," suggested Shep. "Each of us ought to
bring down at least one. You can fire to the right and I'll fire to
the left of the line."

"All right."

They took careful aim, and at the word from Whopper each pulled the
trigger of his shotgun.

Bang! Bang!

The two guns spoke up in rapid succession, and as the smoke cleared
away it was seen that two of the wolves lay on the ice, twisting and
turning in their death agonies. The others were scuttling away, one
limping painfully.

"Hullo, what's up?" came from Snap, as he rushed from the shelter,
followed by Giant. "What are you firing at?"

"We just brought down a couple of wolves," answered Whopper, with
considerable satisfaction in his tone.

"Wolves!" ejaculated Giant. "I didn't think they'd find us as early as
this."

Taking a brand from the fire, Whopper led the party out on the ice to
where the two wolves lay. One was already dead and the other quickly
breathed its last. They were large and gaunt looking creatures, with
cruel teeth, and Shep shivered as he looked them over.

"I am glad they didn't get into the shelter," he observed. "If they
had, we should have had the fight of our lives."

"I doubt if they would have attacked us," answered Snap. "They were
after those rabbits and that chicken. They must have followed the sled
trail from Lake Cameron."

As the young hunters did not want the wolves, they were left where
they had fallen. The other beasts did not show themselves again.

The remainder of the night passed without anything unusual happening.
Once the wind veered around a little, threatening to suffocate them
with smoke from the camp-fire, but by the time they prepared to vacate
the shelter the wind veered back to where it had first come from and
gave them no more trouble.

"I saw a beautiful owl," said Giant, when they were preparing
breakfast. "I'd like to get him and have him stuffed."

"To eat, I presume," said Whopper, innocently.

"Eat? What do you take me for!" cried the smaller member of the Gun
Club, and picking up a chunk of snow he shied it at Whopper, taking
the latter in the ear.

Whopper could not stand that and threw some snow in return. Then
ensued a regular snowball fight all around, which came to a sudden
termination when Shep hit the coffee pot and spilled half of the hot
beverage in the snow.

"Hi! that's going too far!" cried Snap. "Don't waste good coffee like
that!"

"I move we fine Shep one cent for a bad throw," murmured Giant.

"He can make another pot of coffee, that's what he can do," grumbled
Whopper.

"All right, I will, but no more snowballing for the present," answered
Shep, and set to work without delay.

For breakfast they had some chicken, some bread and butter and hot
coffee. The bread was pretty dry, but nobody minded it, for hunger and
a clear, cold atmosphere are wonderful appetite builders.

"The first thing to do to-day is to finish building our shelter," said
Snap.

"Oh, gosh! can't we go hunting?" demanded Whopper, who was itching to
get out after big game.

"He wants to bring in a few of those bears he has been talking about,"
said Giant, with a wink of his eye.

"No hunting until the shelter is good enough to use in all kinds of
weather," answered Snap.

The bracing air kept the boys moving lively, and directly after
breakfast they set to work in earnest. A large quantity of tree
branches were cut down, and with these they made the sides and top of
the hut or cabin as tight as possible. Around the bottom of the
shelter they heaped up all the snow that was close at hand.

The building of the chimney bothered them a great deal. Fortunately
they found some stones which were fairly flat, and these they managed
to pile up into something of a square, with an opening in the center
and another at the bottom, next to the shelter. On the outside they
heaped up some dirt and above this plastered the cracks with mud. When
tried, the chimney drew very well, and there seemed to be little
danger of it setting fire to the shelter proper.

"We ought to have a name for this camp," observed Snap. "Every really
first-class camp has a name."

"This is such a very high-toned camp let us call it Hotel
Millionaire," suggested Giant.

"The Lakehouse," came from Whopper.

"I've got something better than that," said Shep. "Half of these trees
are birch trees, and we used birch bark on the roof. What's the matter
with calling the place Birch Tree Inn?"

"That's all right!" cried Snap. "Hurrah for Birch Tree Inn!"

"Good enough," assented Whopper. "Let's run up a napkin for a flag,
for here is where we feed."

"Not much!" came from Giant. "What's the matter with this?" And from
an inner pocket he produced a small silken flag. "I brought this along
for our camp."

"Hurrah for the stars and stripes!" came from Snap. "We'll raise the
flag by all means."

This was an easy matter, for directly in front of the camp, on the
lake front, grew a tall and slender sapling. From this they cut the
extreme top and the branches, and then ran up a thin rope, to which
they attached the flag. Floating in the breeze it looked very pretty,
and taking off their caps, the members of the Gun Club saluted the
national emblem. Then Whopper and Shep began to whistle the Star
Spangled Banner and the others joined in.

The making ready of the camp had taken longer than they had expected,
and it was nightfall before they had everything as they wished it. In
addition to making the shelter weather tight and warm, they had cut a
good sized pile of wood for the fire. All were tired out, and Shep
admitted that his back felt pretty stiff and lame.

"I don't think we'd want to work so hard around home," said Giant
frankly, and the others admitted that this was so.

They were too tired to do more than prepare an ordinary supper, but
this included the beans previously put in soak and then baked and
these went very well. Then they brought in some wood, and closed up
the doorway of the Inn.

"No need to remain on guard," said Snap. "The fire and the sides of
this shelter will keep away all wild animals."

"That's true."

During the afternoon it had begun to snow again, and this made it all
the more cozy in the shelter. After supper the boys piled wood on the
fire and lounged around, telling stories and talking over the
prospects of getting game. All were enthusiastic, and determined not
to return home until they had brought down "something worth while," as
Snap expressed it.

When the lads came out in the morning, they found that the snowstorm
had cleared away completely. The air was clear and cold, with scarcely
any wind.

Whopper could hardly wait to get his breakfast, so anxious was he to
go after game. Giant suggested that they go on their snowshoes, but
Snap demurred.

"Not the right kind of snow yet," he said. "Let us skirt the lake this
morning and see what we can pick up near camp."

Before they left the Inn they saw to it that every spark of the fire
was extinguished, for the dreadful conflagration of the summer season
had taught them a useful lesson. They also placed their matches in a
tin can, so that they might remain dry and also to keep them from
being lit by some prowling wild beast.

"I once heard of a place being burnt down by a fox," said Giant. "The
animal knocked the match box from a shelf on which some rabbits were
hanging."

"Well, I've often heard of rats setting fire to buildings by igniting
matches," answered Snap.

"Millions of times," came from Whopper. "Rats sometimes do that for a
regular business. They make a deal with people who want to get a fat
insurance; you know, and then--Oh!" And the remarkable story came to a
sudden end as Shep shied a snowball at the youth who loved to
exaggerate.

They were soon on the way, Snap, Shep and Giant with their shotguns
and Whopper with the rifle. They headed directly along the shore of
Firefly Lake, intending to make the complete circuit of that sheet of
ice.

They had proceeded only a short distance when Snap held up his hand.

"Rabbits," he whispered. "We are in luck!"

"Humph! I wanted to see a bear," grunted Whopper.

"Now, dolt you spoil this for us," remonstrated Snap.

"Let us fire together," whispered Giant. "I see at least a dozen."

The bunch of rabbits were close to the lake front, nibbling the bark
from some young shoots growing in that vicinity. Without delay Snap,
Shep and Giant brought their shotguns around in position to fire.

"I'll give the signal," said Shep. "Shep, you fire to the left. I can
fire to the right, and Giant can blaze away at the middle of the
bunch."

"There they go!" screamed Whopper just then, and he spoke the truth,
the rabbits had discovered the hunters and were making mighty bounds
to gain the thickets beyond lake shore.

All the boys with shotguns blazed away, and four of the rabbits
dropped in their tracks. Another went limping along painfully and Snap
caught it with case. But there was no time for a second shot.

"Well, that's not so bad, for a start," observed Giant, as they took
up their game.

"If I hadn't yelled you'd have lost the bunch," said Whopper. "Why, I
was most tempted to bring one down with the rifle."

CHAPTER IX

INTO A HOLE AND OUT

Inside of an hour the young hunters had passed to the extreme end of
the lake and were coning down on the other side.

"Here is where the Ham Spink crowd stole our boat," said Snap,
indicating the spot.

"Phew! and what a time we did have on the lake afterwards," was
Whopper's comment. "Say, I can't understand yet why some of us weren't
drowned."

"Don't make so much noise," said Shep. "We'll never get any game if
you keep on talking."

After that they went on a distance of a hundred yards in perfect
silence. Then Giant came to a halt, and pointed up two trees in front
of him. On the branches were half a dozen fat, gray squirrels.

Again those carrying shotguns discharged their fowling pieces, and
down came three of the largest of the squirrels. Then Snap let Whopper
have his gun and down came another squirrel just as he was about to
enter his hole.

"Squirrels and more!" shouted Giant, rushing forward.

"More?" queried Shep. "We shot only the squirrels."

"True, but you've forgotten what the squirrels hide away."

"Nuts!" exclaimed Whopper. "Just what we want, to eat in front of the
camp-fire at night."

It was an easy matter to locate the storehouses of the squirrels, and
from each they took a quantity of nuts. They did not take all, for
they did not wish the squirrels that were still alive to starve.

"I guess we have got all the game we'll find around here," observed
Shep, as they went on once more. "The banging away will make the rest
of the game keep under cover."

"Well, let us go around the lake anyway," answered Snap. "There is no
fun in crossing over on the ice without skates."

Down at the lower end the lake made several turns, winding in and out
among the rocks, and here the boys left the ice and walked under the
trees and between the bushes.

"This isn't so pleasant," said Whopper, as he stumbled on a rock and
rolled over on his side.

"Look out, that your gun doesn't go off!" cried Snap, warningly. "Keep
the muzzle pointed at the ground.'

"That's what I always do," answered Whopper.

They had almost reached the end of the lake, at the point where it
emptied through the rocky gorge into Lake Cameron, when Giant came to
a sudden halt and uttered a low whistle.

"What is it?" questioned Snap and Whopper in a breath.

"Saw something through yonder trees--something big," was the answer of
the small member of the Gun Club.

"You did?" said Snap. "What did it look like?"

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