CHAPTER XIII
A FACE AT THE WINDOW
When the boys came nearer to the cabin, they saw many footprintsdotting the level surface of the snow. They peered through thewindow which gave on the side of their approach, but could see noone moving about on the inside. Save for the great fire blazing inthe rudely-constructed fire-place, the cabin seemed to beabsolutely deserted.
"Suppose you give me a boost through this window," Thede suggested,as the boys at last stood close against the rear wall.
"Why not go around to the door?" George asked.
"I might get a bullet in my coco when I turned the angle of thehouse!" replied Thede. "There's no knowing who's around there."
"That's a fact!" Will agreed. "We've got one wounded boy on ourhands now, and we don't care about having another."
"Look here," George cut in crossly, "if you think I'm too muchtrouble, you can just drop me down in the snow anywhere and I'lltake care of myself!"
"Aw, cut it out!" roared Tommy.
The boys laughed so heartily at the idea of leaving their chum inthe snow to care for himself that his mood instantly changed to oneof apology. In a moment, he was all smiles again.
"Now, if you've got that little scrap settled, you can give me aboost through this window!" suggested Thede.
"Sure the door's closed?" asked Tommy.
"Closed and latched!" was the answer.
The boys had some difficulty in removing the single sash whichprotected the opening, but the task was finally accomplished, andthen Thede crawled through into the cottage.
The boys heard him drop lightly to the floor and then followed along silence. Presently Sandy clambered up the log wall and peeredinside.
He saw Thede standing close against the wall, gazing down at agreat haunch of venison which lay on the floor.
"If you want to keep that in good condition for eating, hang it outin the frost," laughed Sandy. "We can't afford to lose that!"
Thede beckoned to him to enter, and the boy dropped down on thefloor.
"Who brought it here?" he asked.
"Search me!" Thede answered.
"It might have been Antoine."
"Aw, he couldn't kill a deer and bring in that big haunch with thatlame wrist of his!" Thede exclaimed.
Sandy looked out of the window and beckoned to his chums to enter.
They gathered around the haunch of venison with amazement depictedon their faces. The fire still burned brightly, and it was evidentthat it had not been long since new fuel had been laid.
"Some one made us a present, I take it!" Tommy grinned.
"But who?" demanded Will.
"It's one of the mysteries of the British Northwest Territories!"replied Sandy. "Suppose," the boy continued, "we open the door andbring George in. He must be getting cold by this time!"
"Be careful when you open the door, then," Thede warned.
But there was no one at the door or, at first, within view of it.There were plenty of tracks, however, which appeared to have beenrecently made. George was carried into the cabin, and then Sandyand Tommy set out to trace some of the foot-prints to theirdestination.
"I'm going to know where that fellow went," the former declared.
"I have an idea he'll come back before long," Sandy suggested."He's built a nice fire and brought in plenty of venison, and won'tgo away and leave the cosy corner just yet."
When the boys came to the edge of the morass, they saw a figureflitting into the underbrush on the other side.
"I guess we've frightened him away!" Tommy declared.
"Shall we follow him?" asked Sandy.
"Aw, what's the use?" Tommy questioned. "You said yourself, alittle while ago, that he'd come back to get a bite of that haunchof venison."
"And I believe he will!" answered the boy.
George was made comfortable in one of the bunks, additional fuelbrought in for the night, and then Will, Tommy and Sandy set out tobring the supplies and tents from the camp.
"Suppose Antoine, or some one else, should bring the Little BrassGod to this cabin," George began.
"I wish we knew whether it was Antoine who sat before the fire lastnight," Thede puzzled. "If I could just get my hands on thatidiotic little plaything, I'd sneak back to old Finklebaum and gethis hundred dollars so quick it would make his head swim."
"His hundred dollars!" repeated George. "I thought I heard yousaying last night if you got hold of the Little Brass God, you'dmake him put up a thousand dollars for it!"
"So I would, too," declared Thede. "And he wouldn't pay thethousand dollars, either, unless he saw a chance to make ten out ofit!"
During the entire absence of the boys George and Thede discussedthe mystery of the Little Brass God. They wondered how it had madesuch good time into that country, and puzzled over the strange factthat they had blundered upon it on the very night of their arrival.
But when at last the boys returned with the tents and a part of theprovisions, drawn along on the "drag," they had reached noconclusion whatever.
It was all a mystery which time alone could solve!
Although it was now the middle of the afternoon, Will and Sandyinsisted on making another trip to the old camp.
"If we're going to stay in the cabin," Will urged, "we've got to dothe job some time and we may as well do it now."
"I guess you'll have a good load if you get it all!" Tommysuggested.
The boys insisted that they were able to bring in the remainingstock and set off through the snow. Tommy and Thede continued todrag in wood until there was a great stack of it piled against thecabin. Every time they opened the door, they looked in vain forthe appearance of the man they had seen running away through theunderbrush on the other side of the swamp, but he was not seen.
"I'd like to know what's the matter with that fellow!" Tommyobserved as darkness settled down and the two boys returned to thecabin.
In half an hour Sandy and Will came in with the provisions whichthey had brought from the camp, They reported that quite a largeshare of the tinned stuff had been cached in the snow about halfway between the cabin and the site of the old camp.
"We couldn't bring it all in," Sandy announced.
"I hope the man we drove out of the cabin will find it if he needsit," Will observed.
After a hearty meal they cleared away the dishes and sat around thefire discussing the situation until ten o'clock. Then they securedthe door and windows of the cabin and crawled into their bunks,which were remarkably well supplied with blankets and tanned bearskins.
In the middle of the night the fire died down to embers and Willarose to pile on more wood. He moved softly about in order not todisturb the sleep of his chums, and finally sat down by the blazeto enter anew upon a mental discussion of the mystery whichsurrounded them.
Will heard the sash rattling, as if in the light wind which wasblowing, and glanced toward it.
What he saw was not the velvet darkness of the night laying againstthe glass. The firelight which shone through the glazed sashrevealed the outlines of a human face looking in upon him.
It was an ugly face, with dusky skin, narrow slits of eyes, andstraight black hair which seemed to wind and coil about therepulsive countenance as a collection of serpents might have done.
The face disappeared as the boy looked, and Will tiptoed softly tothe bunk where Tommy lay and awoke him with a violent shake.
"Get up!" he said.
"Aw, go chase yourself!" answered Tommy not very politely.
"It's worth seeing," Will assured the lad. Tommy seized a shoefrom the floor, hurled it at the head of his chum, and then rose tositting position, rubbing his eyes sleepily.
"What have you found now?" he demanded.
"There's a new one on us!" Will declared.
Tommy opened his eyes wide in wonder.
"Not a new Boy Scout?" he asked.
"We seem to pick up plenty of new Boy Scouts," laughed Will, "butthis isn't a new Boy Scou
t. This is the Little Brass God given thepower of expression and the use of his legs!"
"So you've gone and got 'em too, have you?" demanded Tommy.
"When I got up to renew the fire," Will answered, "I heard thewindow sash to the north rattling. Thinking that I ought to go andfix it, I glanced that way and saw the Little Brass God lookingdown upon me."
"Was he sitting up in the window with his legs crossed, and hisarms folded, and his face making you think of the Old Nick?" askedTommy.
"I could see only the head, but the head looked exactly as Iimagine the Little Brass God looks; with the firelight shining onthe yellowish hide, the face gave me the impression of being madeout of brass!"
"You better read another page out of the dream book and go back tobed!" laughed Tommy. "You've been laboring under strong excitementlately and I think you need a long rest."