CHAPTER XV
RUFUS MAKES A STAND
THEY were quickly at the tree, for every one just had to keep up withConrad, who fairly flew along, such was his eagerness. Elmer sawimmediately that they had a pretty tough job before them, for the treein falling had caught Jem Shock fairly and squarely in a trap. Agood-sized limb bore him down so that he could hardly do more thanbreathe.
His face was streaked with blood from various scratches, and so helooked considerably worse than might otherwise have been the case. Atsight of Conrad, however, he actually smiled, which was enough to provewhat a hold the lad had upon the father's heart.
"We'll get you out of that in short order, Jem," said Elmer, promptly."You see, we fetched our ax along for just such a purpose. Lil Artha,get busy, and start a cross-cut of this limb. Strike in about here. I'llspell you if you want me to."
"Shucks! watch the chips fly, that's all!" jeered the tall fellow, as heimmediately set to work; and the lively ring of steel smiting hard woodrang through the aisles of the adjacent forest as well as out upon thewater of the second lake, where a loon was swimming, and watching thesenewcomers suspiciously.
Elmer noted the fact that the limb seemed to have fallen directly acrossonly one of Jem's legs, a rather peculiar circumstance, by the way, heconsidered. There was not the least doubt in his mind but that the legmust have been broken; indeed, he could already see that this was so.Apparently, then, they must be ready to make that stretcher which hadalready been mentioned to the greenhorns; but then such a task presentedfew real difficulties to experienced scouts, trained in all the ways ofthe woods, where every one had to _know_ how to do things.
Conrad was fondling his father, who had one free arm about the shouldersof the little chap. No doubt Conrad took occasion to tell Jem how kindthese new friends of his had been, and how readily they had responded tohis appeal for assistance.
The scout-master wondered just how Jem would take it. That proud spiritof his was bound to show itself. He might feel indebted to the others,and not mind so much, but to realize that one of his rescuers was theson and heir of the very Snodgrass whom he believed he had such abundantcause to despise and hate, would gall him, and "cut to the quick."
Yes, Elmer, watching, could see the different shades of feeling crossingthe strong face of the injured man, just as sometimes he had observedclouds chasing athwart the blue sky in fleecy array. Love for the child;pain because of his injury and long wait there by the lakeside;suspicion concerning the presence of Rufus Snodgrass, and something likegenuine gratitude toward the rest of the scouts--all these varyingemotions Elmer could detect as they passed in review across the face ofthe other.
In the endeavor to take Jem's thoughts from his late precariouscondition, Elmer now started to talk with him, asking how it happenedthat a woodsman of his long experience should be caught by a fallingtree in a storm.
The man laughed a bit harshly, as though disgusted with himself.
"It was an accident, pure and simple, boy," he went on to say. "JemShock never believed he would be caught like a rat in a trap; but Iducked the wrong way, my foot slipped, and before I could recover I wasdown. So I've lain here for hours, hoping my Conrad might come along,for he knew about the lakes, and where I went to look after myfish-lines. I never once thought about you boys. Yes, I'm glad, ofcourse, you came, because Conrad never could have got me out alone; onlyit hurts me to be beholden to _his_ son."
And Rufus, hovering near by, heard this. His face flushed painfully,and he bit his lips until the blood came, while his eyes flashedindignantly. With an effort, however, he managed to get a grip onhimself. Perhaps it was the look he caught on the face of thescout-master that brought this about. At any rate, when Rufus spoke, hisvoice was fairly calm; and, moreover, there was a note of entreaty init.
"Jem Shock," he said, in thrilling tones, while the methodical "chunk"of Lil Artha's ax told how its sharp edge was biting deeply into thehard wood of that limb by which the man was pinned down, "please listento me. I can understand just how you must feel while you believe myfather did you a great wrong. I don't blame you a particle either, forfeeling mean toward him. But you must know that sometimes terriblemistakes do happen, and that even the best of men may blunder. I tellyou I am dead sure such a thing came about, and that at this day myfather is utterly unconscious of the fact that you believe he wrongedyou."
"Not quite that, youngster," said the man grimly. "He knows before nowwhat my opinion of Hiram Snodgrass is; because, after I learned thathe'd come to a town near by to live, I sent him a letter."
Rufus refused to be disconcerted by this startling intelligence.
"All right," he said, "I'm real glad you did, Jem. My father ought toknow what a cloud his name is under. I meant to tell him all about itmyself just as soon as I got home from this trip. Make your mind upyou'll hear from him before long, Jem. He'll never rest easy until he'sinvestigated the thing to the bottom, and found out the whole truth. Ifsome men bamboozled you, and let you believe he was in the bunch, myfather'll fix them, all right. They'll do the right thing by you when_he_ gets after them with a sharp stick, or I'll eat my head. I guess Iought to know my dad better than anybody else could, and he's straightas a die, even if he is a real estate speculator."
Elmer was visibly impressed with the splendid way in which Rufus stoodup for his father. He only hoped the elder Snodgrass might prove to bejust the kind of man the boy claimed. Jem Shock, too, could not but besomewhat affected by the sturdy championship of the accused man's cause;though a sneer found a place on his blood-streaked face, and his eyestill showed signs of coldness and unbelief.
At least, he allowed the subject to drop as though he did not wish tosay anything further in that line, which was so unpleasant. He confinedhimself to petting Conrad, and giving Lil Artha further directions as tojust how to finish his task; for, as a competent woodsman, Jem Shockknew all about the use of an ax. Elmer could see that, despite hisagonizing condition, the man had kept his wits about him.
Finally, the limb separated, and after that the boys, by uniting theirstrength, were enabled to raise the portion that still held Jem pinneddown. He wriggled free, although the pain was so great that he almostfainted.
After that, Elmer took charge again. Water was brought, and a fire madeto warm it in the pail Alec had been told to carry along. Once it washeated, Elmer proceeded to cleanse first Jem's face, so that he mightnot look so terribly grim; and after that he started to get at thebroken leg.
He found that it was indeed pretty serious, for it had swollendreadfully on account of the neglect; but Elmer was a pretty goodamateur surgeon, as his chums all knew, and understood just how to goabout setting the fractured bone, after carefully washing the limb.
Alec and Rufus had their hands full just about that time. They did notwant to lose a single thing of all that was going on around them, andwere often called upon by Elmer to lend a helping hand. It wasnoticeable that Rufus was always the one to do this. Jem seemed tovisibly shrink from the touch of the boy's fingers, as though theyaffected him somehow; but even this aversion failed to prevent Rufusfrom persevering. Evidently, he was determined that Jem should know thatthe Snodgrass family did not have all the bad traits with which he,Jem, had in his mind endowed them; and, besides, Rufus was bound to keepin close touch with the man who had so long believed ill of his father.
It pleased Elmer more than a little to notice this trait in thetenderfoot. He believed Rufus had the making of a good scout, and thatassociation with the other fellows of the troop would in time serve tocast out the bad traits in his character mainly produced through themistaken weakness of his adoring mother, who had always given in to hisevery whim.
But the wonderfully clever way in which Elmer managed to handle thatbroken leg, and then bind it up carefully, was not the only thing Rufusand Alec had to watch in their ardent desire to acquire practicalknowledge of what a scout should know.
There was the industrious Lil Artha, working away like a tro
oper, andmaking a rude but amply sufficient stretcher, on which the wounded mancould recline, while four sturdy boys bore him toward his home, since itwould be utterly impossible for Jem to even hobble, with that injuredlimb under him.
Both greenhorns watched the stretcher grow, and marveled at the skilldisplayed by the accomplished Lil Artha, who felt proud to be the one toshow them how easy it was for a fellow who had been taught to bring hisknowledge into play when the emergency arose.
Finally everything was done. Elmer had bound the leg up so firmly thatJem was full of praise for his work.
"I want to say that you boys sure know your business," he told Elmer,still refusing to look at the persistent Rufus, who continued to hovernear him, despite all these rebuffs, for he was a stubborn fellow, itseemed, and would not abandon his plans easily. "I've heard some aboutscouts, and thought they didn't amount to much, but I reckon I'll haveto change my mind after this. A regular sawbones couldn't have done thejob neater, Elmer. I'm thanking you for it too; and I calculate that alot Conrad's been telling us about you must be true."
"Oh! it is, father, it is!" ejaculated the pleased boy, with tears inhis eyes. "Elmer is just a grand fellow; and besides, he promised methat I'd get a chance to be taught by some one who would know what to dowith me. You'll not set your foot down on that, will you, father?"
The man smiled grimly, though this changed to a tender look as hesmoothed the fair hair of his little son.
"We'll see, Conrad, we'll see," he told him. "Just now it don't looklike I could set one of my feet down on anything for a month or more.But they're going to have a hard job of it getting a heavy man like meall the way home."
"Oh! don't you worry about that, Jem Shock!" sang out Lil Artha,blithely enough; "we know just how to go about it; and besides, it isn'tgoing to be such a very tough task divided among four of us. Now, Rufus,you can take the upper left end, and I'll look after the right. Elmerand Alec will manage the foot of the stretcher easy enough."
Rufus shot him a look of gratitude, showing that he readily understoodhow the wise Lil Artha had purposely allotted him one of the holds thatwould be apt to keep him as close to Jem's face as possible. Theelongated scout evidently considered it good policy to force Jem to growaccustomed to the proximity of a Snodgrass; while familiarity is said tooften breed contempt, in this case Lil Artha meant that it should be thecause of a growing confidence.
So they gaily started forth. Conrad ran alongside, and at timespersisted in keeping hold of his father's hand. He would now and thenutter words calculated to cheer the other up, as though he feared thatthe strain of the trip, on top of his father's condition after lyingthere so long unattended, might cause him to show signs of a relapse.
But they got along famously. The first lake was soon reached and putbehind them. Lil Artha cast several longing glances over his shoulder asthey left, and it did not need the aid of a prophet to tell that he wasmaking up his mind to be back there the first thing in the morning, totest the voracity of the bass fighters that dwelt in those waters.
Following the plain trail, they continued to put much ground betweenthemselves and the spot where they had found Jem. The man bore thejourney well, all things considered, though many times Elmer could seehim compress his jaws as if to better stand the acute pain that shotthrough his bruised body.
So they finally drew near the clearing where the cabin stood. Elmer, whohad been there once before, as will be remembered, saw familiar signs totell him of this fact, for he had impressed certain landmarks on hismemory.
"Oh, listen!" suddenly exclaimed Conrad, "I hear voices, and they aremen talking, too, strangers. What can it mean, father?"
The man on the stretcher winced painfully, and then smiled grimly.
"Well, things generally come with a rush, Conrad," he said. "There aresome men that have been wanting to interview me for a long time now. Ireckon they've found the nerve to come away up here, just to see what'sgoing on. But they've got to have proof in order to convict a man ofpoaching game out of season. Anyhow, I'm in no condition to resist now;and I don't believe they'll stir up any evidence around the cabin. Woodsmutton is scarce these days."
It was Rufus who now uttered a cry.
"There, I can see several men now in front of a cabin," he went on tosay, "and oh! as sure as you live, one of them is my own father! Do youhear that, Jem Shock, the Snodgrass you've been believing cheated you ina land deal has come straight up here to see you just as soon as he gotthat letter of yours. Does that look like guilt, tell me? Oh! somethingis going to happen, and before long you'll be changing your mind aboutthe Snodgrass tribe!"
Quickening their pace, the little procession hastened to reach thecabin, where several men stood watching their coming, with both wonderand interest showing on their faces. The good wife ran out to meet them,and was soon crying copiously over the figure on the stretcher, thoughJem told her it was all right, and not to worry.