CHAPTER IV. GIRAFFE ADMITS THAT THE SHOE FITS.
"Look out, Bumpus!" shrieked Davy Jones, as though instantly realizingwhat a perilous position the stout scout would be in if that angry cowsucceeded in bowling him over with her hornless head.
"Run! run, Bumpus; a wild bull is after you!" shouted Step Hen, who mayhave really believed what he was saying with such a vim; or elseconsidered that by magnifying the danger he might add more or less to thesprinting ability of the said Bumpus.
There was really little need to send all these warnings pealing over thefield, because Bumpus had already glimpsed the oncoming enemy, and was infull flight.
At the moment of discovery he chanced to be fully two-thirds of the wayover to the tree which had been the special object of his attention. Itwas therefore much easier for him to reach this haven of refuge than itwould have been to dash for the fence with any hope of making thatbarrier.
"Go it, Bumpus, I'll bet on you!" howled Giraffe, jumping up on the fencein his great excitement, so that he might not miss seeing anything of theamusing affair.
Now, possibly, the angry cow that had been bereft of her beloved calf bya late visit of the butcher might have readily overhauled poor Bumpus hadshe kept straight on without a stop, for she could cover two yards to hisone. For some reason which only a cow or bull could understand, theanimal seemed to consider it absolutely necessary that with every fewpaces she must come to a halt and paw the ground again, sending the earthflying about her.
That gave the stout runner his chance, and so he succeeded in gaining thetree, with his four-footed enemy still a little distance away.
Bumpus was evidently unnerved. He had seen that terrifying spectacleseveral times as he looked anxiously over his fat shoulder, and it hadalways caused him to put on an additional spurt.
When finally he banged up against the tree, having of course stumbled asusual, his one idea was to climb with lightning speed. His agreement withthe scheming Giraffe called for an ascent in sixty seconds, but he nowhad good reason for desiring to shorten this limit exceedingly. Hedoubtless imagined that he would feel the crash of that butting headagainst his person before he had ascended five feet, and this completelyrattled him.
Left to himself and possibly he could have climbed the smooth trunkwithin the limit of time specified in his arrangement with Giraffe; butsuch was his excitement now that he made a sorry mess of it.
The boys were shrieking all sorts of instructions to him to "hurry up,"or he was bound to become a victim; one was begging him with tears in hiseyes to "get a move on him!" while another warned Bumpus of the nearapproach of the oncoming cow, and also the fact that she had "fire in hereyes!"
Twice did the scout manage to get part way up, when in his tremendousexcitement he lost his grip, and in consequence slipped down again, amida chorus of hollow groans from the watchers beyond the fence.
The avenging cow was now close up, and still enjoying the situation, aswas evidenced by the way she made the earth fly. She could be heardgiving a series of strange moaning sounds peculiarly terrifying; at leastBumpus evidently thought so, for after his second fall he just sat there,and stared at the oncoming enemy as if he had actually lost his wits.
"Get behind the tree, Bumpus!"
That was Thad shouting, and using both his hands in lieu of any bettermegaphone. Now, since Thad had always been the leader of the patrol eversince its formation, Bumpus was quite accustomed to obeying any orderwhich the other might give. Doubtless, he recognized the accustomedauthority in those tones; at any rate, it was noticed that he once morebegan to make a move, struggling to his feet in his usual clumsy way.
"Oh! he just missed getting struck!" ejaculated Smithy, as they sawBumpus move around the tree, and heard a loud crash when the head of thecharging cow smashed against the covering object.
The animal was apparently somewhat stunned by the contact, for she stoodthere, looking a little "groggy," as Giraffe called it. Had Bumpus knownenough to remain perfectly still, and allow the tree to shelter him thebest it could, all might have gone well; but something that may have beenboyish curiosity impelled the fat scout to thrust out his head. Why, hehad so far recovered from his fright, thanks to the substantial aid ofthat tree-trunk, that he actually put his fingers to his nose, andwiggled them at the cow!
She must have seen him do it, and immediately resented the impliedinsult; for all of a sudden she was seen to be in motion again. There wasa flash of dun-colored sides, and around the tree the cow sped, chasingBumpus ahead of her.
Of course the scout did not have to cover as much ground as the animal,but the fact must be remembered that he was a very clumsy fellow, and aptto trip over his own feet when excited, so that the danger of his fallinga victim to the rage of the mother cow was as acute as ever, despite thesheltering tree.
Giraffe seemed to be enjoying the game immensely. He sat there, perchedon the rail fence, and clapped his hands with glee, while shouting allmanner of brotherly advice at Bumpus. This of course fell on deaf ears,because just then the imperiled scout could think of only one thing at atime, and that was to keep out of reach of that battering ram.
Thad knew that something must be done to help Bumpus, who if left to hisown resources never would be able to extricate himself from the bad fixinto which he had stumbled, thanks to that love of a joke on the part ofGiraffe, and his own blindness.
"Hi, there, Bumpus, she thinks you look like the butcher that took hercalf away, that's what's the matter!" cried Step Hen.
"Pity you ain't a cow puncher, Bumpus," Giraffe went on to say; "becausethen you could throw that poor thing easy. Huh! think I could do it withone hand!"
"Then suppose you get off that fence and do it!" said Thad severely. "Yougot poor old Bumpus in that hole, and it ought to be your business torescue him!"
Giraffe looked dubious. When he spoke so confidently about believinghimself able to down the raging cow he certainly could not have meant it.
"Oh! he ain't going to get hurt, Thad," he started to say; "if I saw himknocked down, course I'd jump and run to help him. The exercise ought todo Bumpus good, for he's been putting on too much flesh lately, you know.You'll have to excuse me, Thad, sure you will. I'll go if things look badfor him; but I hate to break up the game now by interfering."
Thad paid no more attention to Giraffe, since he knew that the other'sinordinate love for practical joking made him blind to facts that as atrue scout he should have kept before his mind.
"Hello! Bumpus!" the patrol leader once more shouted.
"Yes--T-had, what is it?" came back in a wheezy voice, for to tell thetruth Bumpus was getting pretty well winded by now, thanks to the rapidmanner in which he had to navigate around that tree again, with theactive bovine in pursuit.
"Take off that red bandanna from your neck, and put it in your pocket!"ordered the patrol leader.
Strange to say no one else--saving possibly the artful Giraffe--had onceconsidered this glaring fact, that much of the cow's anger was excited byseeing the hated color so prominently displayed by the boy who hadinvaded the pasture at such an unfortunate time in her life of frequentbereavements.
Taking it for granted that Bumpus would obey the first chance he got tounfasten the knot by which his big bandanna was secured around his neck,Thad clambered over the fence and started to run.
He did not head directly for the tree around which this exciting chasewas being carried on, but obliquely. In doing this Thad had severalreasons, no doubt. First of all he was more apt to catch the attention ofthe angry cow, for he was waving his own red handkerchief wildly as heran, and doing everything else in his power to attract notice. Then, ifhe did succeed in luring the animal toward him he would be taking heraway from the tree at such an angle that when Bumpus headed for the spotwhere his other chums were gathered the cow would not be apt to see himin motion and give chase.
Thad knew how to work the thing nicely. He succeeded in attracting thea
ttention of the cow, for he saw her stop in her pursuit of Bumpus, andstart to pawing the turf again.
"She's coming, Thad!" roared Allan.
As he spoke the cow started on a full run for the new enemy. Thatflaunting red rag bade her defiance, apparently, and no respectablebovine could refuse to accept such a gage of battle.
Thad had not gone far away from the fence at any time. He was nothankering to play the part of a bull-baiter, and run the chance of beingtossed high in the air, or butted into the ground.
He had, like a wise general, also marked out the way of retreat, and whenthe onrushing animal was fully started, so that there seemed to be littlelikelihood of her stopping short of the fence, Thad nimbly darted along,and just at the proper time he was seen to make a flying leap that landedhim on the top rail, from which he instantly dropped to the ground.
He continued to flaunt the red handkerchief as close to the nose of thecow as he could, so as to hold her attention; while she butted the fenceagain and again, as only an angry and baffled beast might.
Thad was meanwhile again shouting his directions to the dazed Bumpus,who, winded by his recent tremendous exertions, had actually sunk down atthe base of the friendly tree as though exhausted.
"Get moving, Bumpus!" was what the patrol leader told him. "Back away,and try to keep the tree between the cow and yourself all you can. Don'twaste a single minute, because she may break away from me, and hunt youup again! Get a move on you, Bumpus, do you hear?"
Finally aroused to a consciousness of the fact that he was not yet "outof the woods" so long as no fence separated him from that fighting cow,Bumpus started in to obey the directions given by the leader of theSilver Fox Patrol.
It was no difficult matter to back away, keeping in a line that wouldallow the tree to cover him, and the fat scout in this manner drewsteadily closer to where his comrades awaited him.
He was near the fence when the cow must have discovered him again, forthe first thing Bumpus knew he heard Davy shrieking madly.
"Run like everything, Bumpus! Whoop! here she comes, licketty-split afteryou! To the fence, and we'll help you over, Bumpus! Come on! Come on!"
Which Bumpus was of course doing the best he knew how, not even daring tolook over his shoulder for fear of being petrified by the awful sight ofthat "monster" charging after him, and appearing ten times as big as shereally was.
Arriving at the fence he found Davy and Giraffe awaiting him, for thelatter, possibly arriving at the repentant stage, had begun to realizethat a joke may often be very one-sided, and that "what is fun for theboys is death to the frogs."
Assisted by their willing arms the almost breathless fat scout washustled over the fence. There was indeed little time to spare. Hardly hadDavy and Giraffe managed to follow after him, so that all three landedbeyond the barrier, when the baffled bovine arrived on the spot, tobellow with rage as she realized that her intended prey had escaped forgood.
Bumpus was hardly able to breathe. He was fiery red in the face, andquite wet with perspiration; but nevertheless he looked suspiciously atGiraffe, as though a dim idea might be taking shape in that slow-movingmind of his.
"Oh, no, Bumpus! You don't get that compass this time," asserted the tallscout, shaking his head in the negative, while he grinned at Bumpus. "Younever climbed the tree at all, you know. Our little wager is off!"
"If I thought you knew--about that pesky cow, Giraffe--I'd consider thatyou played me a low-down trick!" said Bumpus, between gasps.
Giraffe made no reply. Perhaps the enormity of his offense had begun totrouble him, because Bumpus was such a good-natured fellow, with hissunny blue eyes, and his willing disposition, that it really seemed ashame to take advantage of his confiding nature. So Giraffe turned aside,and amused himself by thrusting his hand, containing his own redbandanna, through the openings between the rails of the fence, andtempting the cow to butt at him, when, of course, he would adroitlywithdraw from reach in good time.
When Bumpus had fully recovered his breath, the march was resumed.Giraffe loitered behind a bit. He knew from the signs that he was in forwhat he called a "hauling over the coals" by the patrol leader, and fullyexpected to see Thad drop back to join him. The sooner the unpleasantepisode was over with the better--that was Giraffe's way of looking atit, and he was really inviting Thad to hurry up and get the scolding outof his system.
Sure enough, presently Thad dropped back and joined him. Looking up outof the tail of his eye, Giraffe saw that the other was observing himseverely. He fully expected to hear something unpleasant about the dutyone scout ought to assume toward his fellows. To his surprise Thadstarted on another tack entirely.
"I want to tell you a little story I read the other day, Giraffe," hesaid quietly, "and, if the shoe fits, you can put it on."
"All right, Thad; you know I like to hear stories first rate," mumbledGiraffe, glad at least that the others of the party were far enough aheadso that none of them could hear what passed between himself and thepatrol leader.
"I think," began Thad, "it was told to illustrate the old saying that'curses, like chickens, come home to roost.' The lecturer went on to saythat when a boy throws a rubber ball against a wall it bounds back, and,unless he is careful, it's apt to take him in the eye; and that's the wayeverything we do comes back to us some time or other."
"Sure thing it does; and p'raps some day I expect Bumpus will be gettingone over on me to pay the score," admitted Giraffe; but Thad did not payany attention to what he said, only went on with his story.
"There was once a boy, a thoughtless boy, with a little cruel streak inhis make-up, who always wanted to find a chance for a good laugh, withoutthinking of what pain he might be causing others," Thad went on, at whichGiraffe winced, for the shaft went home. "One day he was playing on ahillside with their big dog, Rover. He would roll a stone down the hill,and Rover would obediently run after it, and bring it back. He seemed tobe enjoying the sport as much as the boy.
"Then all at once the boy discovered a big hornet's nest almost a foot indiameter, hanging low down on a bush. He saw a chance to have a greatlark. He would roll a stone so as to hit the nest, and send Rover afterit. Then the hornets would come raging out, and it would be such a larkto see them chasing poor Rover down the hill.
"Well, the stone he rolled went true to the mark, and came slam againstthe hornet's nest. Rover was in full pursuit, and he banged up againstit, too. Out came a black swarm of furious hornets, and of course theytackled poor Rover like everything.
"The boy up on the hill laughed until he nearly doubled up, to hear Roveryelp, and whirl around this way and that. He thought he had never hadsuch a bully time in all his life as just then. Rover was a fine dog, andthe boy thought just heaps of him; but then it was so comical to see howhe twisted, and bit at himself, and he howled so fiercely, too, that theboy could hardly get his breath for laughing.
"But all at once he saw to his alarm that poor Rover, unable to helphimself, was running up the hill straight to his master, as thoughthinking that the boy could save him. Then the boy stopped laughing. Itdidn't seem so funny then. And, Giraffe, inside of ten seconds there wasa boy running madly down the hill, fighting a thousand mad hornets thatstung him everywhere, and set him to yelling as if he were half crazy.When he got home finally, and saw his swollen face in the glass, and feltRover licking his hand as if the good fellow did not dream that hismaster had betrayed him so meanly, what do you suppose that boy said tohimself, if he had any conscience at all?"
Giraffe looked up. He was as red in the face as any turkey that everstrutted and gobbled. Giraffe at least had a conscience, as his wordsproved beyond any doubt.
"Served him right, Thad; that's what I say! And I thank you for tellingme that story. It's a hummer, all right, and I won't ever forget it,either, I promise you. It _was_ a cruel joke, and some time I'm going tomake up for playing it. That's all I want to say, Thad."
And the wise patrol leader, knowing that it would do Giraffe a lot moregood
to commune with himself just then, rather than to be taken to taskany further, walked away, to rejoin Allan, who was at the head of theexpedition. Nor did Giraffe make any effort to hasten his footsteps so asto catch up with the rest, until quite some little time had elapsed.