CHAPTER VI
A QUARREL OVER THE GAME
"I'm getting to do first-rate at it, don't you think, Phil?" askedX-Ray, after they had been moving along for an hour and more.
"Yes, you seem to have mastered the trick all right," he was told,"though you did take a few headers when you grew too confident.Snow-shoes can only be successfully mastered through experience. Theyare clumsy things to a novice, and apt to play all sorts of sly trickson him. I've seen a chap with both feet sticking up out of a drift; andunable to get out alone."
"Yes, I'd think they would act about the same as a life preserverfastened down around a fellow's knees. The very thing you are dependingon to save you turns out your worst enemy when you treat it the wrongway. Now watch me make a little speed, Phil."
"Take care. Pride goes before a fall, they say. There, that's the timeyou did manage to tumble in good earnest."
"Help me up, that's a good fellow, Phil. I guess I'll feel my way afterthis. You may think you have mastered snow-shoes, but as you say theycan spring a trick on you unawares. Your feet get twisted, and of coursedown you flop. But I'm satisfied with as far as I've gotten. The nextthing is to learn to slide over a crust like the wind, climbing rises,and spinning down the other side like you were on skis. Say, it must begreat sport; I hope it melts a little soon, and then freezes on top."
"Probably it will, now that you have expressed a wish that way,"chuckled Phil, who was really having more or less fun observing theactions of the new beginner.
A short time later and Phil uttered an exclamation.
"What have you struck now?" asked X-Ray, eagerly.
Phil pointed to the snow close by.
"Some animal has gone along here, sure enough!" said X-Ray, bending overto examine the marks more closely. "A moose most likely, eh, Phil?"
"No, it was a caribou," the other assured him.
"A horse of another color, then; but it means game, all the same, Phil?"
"Yes, caribou are classed in that list, and make pretty good eating,too," the other explained.
"Of course we might take a little turn after the old chap, just to giveme my first snow-shoe hunt; say yes, Phil."
"There's no reason that I can see why we shouldn't, though we don't wantto get too far away from camp, because it's heavy work dragging a pairof shoes after you, once you begin to feel tired."
"We can stop whenever you think it's best," promised X-Ray.
Accordingly they began to follow the trail. It was so easy any novicecould have done it; and yet there was a certain thrilling sensationabout the whole matter that gave the new beginner much pleasure.
He had so often pictured himself in some such scene as this that thereality afforded him more genuine delight than words could describe.
Phil allowed him to take the lead, thinking that would satisfy X-Ray;who while not so fond of hunting as Ethan, at the same time was able toenjoy it to a certain extent.
With the trees all heavily laden with snow, some of the birches andpines bent almost double under the burden, it was a beautiful scene bywhich the two boys found themselves surrounded. Phil admired everythingas he went along. X-Ray seemed to be thinking only of the chance theymight have to come up with the caribou, and wondering if they would havethe good luck to bring it down in case they did sight it.
He had never seen a caribou in his life, though he knew they were aspecies of deer inhabiting the barrens of New Brunswick and Canada,where they are often run across in herds of hundreds.
The snow was deep enough to give considerable trouble to the animal theywere following, though it seemed that he kept persistently on. He waspossibly heading for a certain rendezvous where he knew he would findothers of his kind assembled, to pass the severe weather in company, asa protection against roving wolves that would soon bring a stragglerdown, yet dare not attack a herd.
X-Ray was more or less excited. Every little while he would in a whisperask his companion what he thought about it, and if they were drawing upon the caribou.
"Seems to me the trail is getting a heap fresher," X-Ray suggested;though truth to tell that was put forward as a "feeler" to draw out anopinion from Phil, and not because he knew much about the tracks.
"Yes, it is getting fresher all the time," admitted Phil; "which showsthat we are making much better time than the caribou. But it remains tobe seen whether he can put on a burst of speed when he sights us thatwill leave us far in the lurch. He may be taking it easy along here."
"And what if he does flicker away and out of sight before we can drophim, Phil; do we keep up the good work, or drop out?"
"If he once gets going good and hard," Phil declared, "we might as wellsay good-day to him, and head back toward the camp."
"The camp! Well, if you asked me now, I couldn't tell you which way we'dhave to go to get there; but of course you know, Phil? You always were agreat hand to keep tabs of things."
"Yes, I've been watching our course all the while," Phil told him,confidently.
"And whereabouts would you say the camp lay from here, then?" askedX-Ray.
Without the slightest hesitation Phil pointed straight into thesoutheast.
"If you started off and kept a bee-line that way I believe you'd comewithin pistol-shot of our shack," he affirmed. "When you struck theshore of the lake it would be easy to locate the camp by the smokerising, if not from other landmarks that every wise hunter would havejotted down in his memory."
X-Ray did not continue the low conversation immediately; he was tryingto remember if there was any such landmark that he might have noticedclose to the camp, and on the ice-bound shore of the lake.
"Oh! yes, there was the odd-shaped tree that looked like an old man onhis knees and saying his prayers!" he broke out with, a look ofsatisfaction crossing his face at being able to recollect; "that wasnear by, and I think I would know it from across the lake if I happenedto strike in there."
"I'm glad you remembered," said Phil; "but suppose we stop whisperingnow."
"Oh, my, do you expect we're as close to him as all that, Phil?"demanded X-Ray, beginning to finger at the lock of his gun, in order tomake sure it was in readiness for quick use in an emergency.
"He passed along here just a bit ago, for a fact," Phil told him.
They continued to push on, with that trail always before them, thoughsometimes they turned aside on account of the barrier presented by agrowth of bushes, through which the caribou had gone.
Phil had now come up alongside his companion, and noticing this X-Raybelieved things must be quickly getting to a stage when something wasliable to happen. He was expecting to see the caribou ahead of them atsome little distance, and paid but small attention to points close athand.
When without the least warning there was a sudden rattling sound heard,and a large brown animal was seen departing with great leaps, X-Ray gaveutterance to a gasp of disappointment.
Even as the two young hunters threw their guns to their shoulders thefleeting caribou suddenly shifted its course, and turning abruptly tothe right, sped on. It now presented a splendid mark, and the two shotsrang out almost as one.
A remarkable thing happened just then. With the crash of their riflesthe animal was seen to leap high in the air, just as deer often willwhen stricken in full flight. And to the astonishment of the boysanother report sounded from the other side of the caribou!
"He's down, Phil!" shrilled X-Ray, trembling with the excitement.
"Yes, come on!" replied the other, immediately starting forward as fastas he could go on his snow-shoes.
"But, Phil, wasn't that another shot we heard?" expostulated X-RayTyson, as he did his level best to keep close to the heels of his chum.
"Yes, it was a gunshot," snapped Phil, who seemed to be laboring undersome sort of emotion, though X-Ray could not say what its charactermight be.
They could see where the caribou had struck when he fell. His antleredhead was resting on the snow, showing that he had fallen with that lastleap, wi
th his legs under him.
Phil saw a figure advancing from the opposite quarter, and also onsnow-shoes. He was pleased to note there was only one, for heanticipated that there was likely to be trouble of some sort around thatlocality before long.
"There the other hunter comes, Phil!" said X-Ray, wanting to be surethat his chum was made aware of the important fact.
"All right, but we're going to get up before he does," was all Philreplied.
The first thing he did on reaching the spot where the stricken cariboulay was to bend down and closely examine the right side. As said beforethe animal lay just as it had fallen, so that both haunches were inplain view, did any one take the trouble to step around.
Phil was gratified with what he saw in that hasty survey; butnevertheless he immediately leaned over to ascertain the condition ofthe animal's left side. By that time X-Ray had come up, and the strangersportsman was also close at hand.
Up to that moment Phil had not taken the pains to give the other a look;but as he had found out all he wanted concerning the state of affairs inconnection with the game, he now turned his attention on the advancingman.
He was a rather stout and exceedingly peppery looking individual, whowas rather out of breath, and puffing from his exertions. His floridface did not impress Phil favorably at all; it seemed to sense thebully, and the overbearing man of millions, accustomed to lording itover others.
There was no question at all in Phil's mind but that this man was amember of the other party he had been told was in camp in that vicinity.He might have even thought him to be a beef-eating Englishman only thathis information had been to the effect that they were all Americans frombelow the border.
"I don't like his looks!" muttered X-Ray.
"No more do I," added Phil, under his breath, for the stranger sportsmanwas getting close up by then, and might hear if words were spoken in anordinary tone. "But the game is ours without a question, and we're goingto have what we want to carry off, make up your mind to that."
"Bully!" muttered X-Ray, who was inclined to be pugnacious on occasion;and at any rate never disposed to allow himself to be "used as a doormat, for some other person to wipe his feet on," as he used to put it.
Perhaps Phil meant something when he calmly placed his foot on thefallen game. It was a significant move, at any rate, and could hardly bemistaken. It struck X-Ray as peculiarly defiant, and he felt likechuckling as he watched to see what that red-faced individual did whenhe arrived on the scene of action.
If anything his face took on a deeper tint until it looked almostpurple. When he saw that he had only two boys to contend with the otherhunter must have believed he could frighten them with his looks, for hescowled like a pirate.
Somehow neither of the Mountain Boys drew back and began to apologizefor daring to rob him of any of the free air. And no sooner had hearrived than the domineering tactics, with which perhaps he had pushedhimself through business so as to accumulate his million, began to makethemselves manifest.
"Here, what are you doing with your foot on _my_ caribou, I'd like toknow?" was what he jerked out, being still short of breath.
"Excuse me, sir, but you'll have to explain what you mean," said Phil,coolly. "I am not aware of taking any such liberties with your caribou.If it happens that you are referring to this animal here, you've made abig mistake, that's all. It is _our_ game; we saw it first, shot itfirst, and got here first. So you'll have to go to court and put in aclaim. Possession in this case is nine points of the law!"
The man stared at the speaker. He evidently had seldom been spoken to inthat manner before, certainly never by a mere boy. And yet something inPhil's face must have impressed him as worth observing. He saw thatthose eyes were fastened on him with a steady and keen look that did notfalter under his scowl, or his muttering.
"I tell you it is my caribou, for I shot it," he proceeded to affirm,embellishing his assertion with certain strong words which he doubtlessexpected might make the boys hesitate before they went any further andincurred his ill-will. "I was just creeping up within easy gunshot whenyou came along and scared the beast. I claim it as my prize."
"And we have been trailing the same caribou for at least two hours,"said X-Ray under the impression that since he was a party to the disputehe should at least be allowed to get a few words in.
"The matter is easily settled," said Phil, quietly.
"I am glad to see that you mean to act sensibly; for since you came upafter I had started to stalk the caribou it put you in the wrong," theother said, as if rather relieved in his mind at the turn affairs hadtaken.
"Don't mistake me, sir," continued Phil; "what I meant was that we caneasily prove which has the right to the game. There's a way to settlethat question that neither of us can rightly deny. If you look over hereat this side of the caribou, which was the side toward us, you remember,you will find that _two_ bullets entered his body, one directly in theregion of his heart. That shot killed the animal instantly. He couldonly make one jump, and then collapsed as you see him."
"Humph!" grunted the stout red-faced sportsman, with one of his uglyfrowns; "and I suppose then you'll make out that I missed him entirely?"
"I'm not making out anything, sir, for you can see from the red markjust where your lead cut a little section from his hind leg. I'm sure Iheard it sing past me and hardly ten feet away. That hurt would neverhave crippled a strong beast like a young bull caribou. You would neverhave had the least chance to lay claim to any of the meat if you haddepended on your shot. But we're not greedy, sir; and if you care toforget this little unpleasantness we'll gladly call it our combinedtrophy of the chase, and divide the meat with you!"
It was a generous offer, and did the boy credit; but apparently thequarrelsome sportsman with the purple face felt himself insulted bybeing patronized by a couple of boys, for he ground his teeth together,and looked daggers at Phil.