CHAPTER X
TURNING THE TABLES
The discovery that he had now no possible means for fighting the cold,that was sure to increase as the day wore on and night approached, gaveFelix a rude shock.
He faced a situation that might prove very serious indeed; and it waslittle wonder that he instituted an eager search of all his pockets, inthe faint hope that he might in some way manage to find just onefugitive match that had escaped the spoilers, and in the end prove, hissalvation.
Only keen disappointment rewarded his efforts; and after going threetimes over every pocket, he was forced to give it up with a grunt ofdisgust.
All thought of trying to find the tree in which the venison hung nowpassed from his mind; and he devoted his efforts to searching for somefriendly hollow, where he could make a shelter in some rude fashionagainst the night that would come after a while, for it must by now beabout the middle of the short day.
What would he not have been willing to pay for a little box of safetymatches, that sell for a penny in town? But he might as well wish forthe moon; as one was as easy to secure as the other, just then.
So he pushed on, staggering through the increasing snow fall. When hewas indifferent to such a thing, he had noted several splendid placeswhere he might have found decent shelter, and built up a refuge againstthe storm; but now that the need had arisen, Fate seemed to take anespecial delight in baffling him, for, look as he would, he did not comeacross anything that appealed to his fancy.
Rendered desperate at length, when he found his strength giving out onaccount of his unusual exertions during the two days, and the roughtreatment he had received both from the wounded buck and the angrydesperadoes, Felix finally made up his mind that he could wait no longerfor what he wanted, but must make a virtue of necessity, and take whatoffered.
So, coming across a tree that had fallen during some violent wind storm,he saw that when the roots had been torn up quite a large patch of earthhad come along with them. The hollow back of this barrier would prove avery good refuge against the storm, for it happened to face in the bestpossible way.
Here in this hole, then, he must burrow, doing the best he knew how tohide from the wind that blew the snow with such violence. Felix setabout carrying out this idea without further loss of time.
Of course it was but an apology of a den after all; though much betterthan remaining out where the cold wind had a sweep at him. Here hesettled down to pass the balance of that dreary afternoon, which heremembered must be followed by a night he was not soon apt to forget.
Bitter regrets swept over him from time to time, as he lay there huddledin a heap. Never again would he be caught so easily by soft words, whenhe ought to know these were only a mask to hide treacherous work.
And then, after taking himself to task in this manner, most severely,Felix would recollect that even an experienced woodsman may make amistake occasionally. Look at old Charley Crow, for instance, a man bornand brought up in the wilderness, and accustomed to handling a gun fromchildhood; yet had he not been incautious enough to draw his rifletoward him, _muzzle first_, through some bushes, with the result thatthe weapon had been discharged, sending the bullet through the arm ofthe old halfbreed?
Yes, some others besides greenhorns in the woods, make mistakesoccasionally.
Slowly that afternoon dragged on, and then came night, which Felix knewwas apt to be the longest and most disagreeable of all his life, thusfar.
Little sleep came to the lost lad.
In fact, he hardly dared lose himself, for fear lest he actually freezeto death; for although the temperature did not actually fall very low atany time, to his excited imagination this humble little storm was in thenature of such a blizzard as those which Tom had told him visited theFar Northwest every Winter, carrying death to many cattle that werecaught without shelter.
Every hour at least, Felix would crawl out of his shelter, to ascertainwhat the signs of promise might be with regard to the weather; and onsuch occasions he thought it the part of wisdom to exercise his limbsenergetically; so as to keep his blood in circulation; and hence, uponcreeping into his hole again, very like a fox, as he would grimly remarkto himself, he was hardly in a condition to settle down.
He could not tell what time it was for several reasons; in the firstplace he had no watch, for the ruffians had carried off his littledollar nickel contraption in conjunction with all his other effects; andeven had this not been the case, without a match, how could he have seenthe face in order to note the position of the hands?
A woodsman would have known of several ways by means of which to tellabout the time of night; but Felix was hardly up to such tricks,especially on a stormy night like this, when neither moon nor stars werevisible.
But one thing cheered him after a while; and this was the fact that thesnow had ceased to fall when about three inches lay on the ground. Then,after all, things might not be quite so bad as he had begun to picturethem, and he would not be snowed-in, destitute of food, and all meansfor securing warmth; why, there might even be a chance for finding thecamp on the following day, if only he could keep his wits about him, andfigure correctly as to his present position, so as to locate thedirection where the cabin lay.
When Felix had crawled out of his poor shelter for the seventh time, ashe figured it, he began to look hopefully toward the quarter whereaccording to his calculations the east must surely lie. Nor was hedeceived, for he discovered to his great joy a very faint but positivesign that the sky was brightening, and this told that dawn must be near.
As soon as it was fairly light, he left his shelter, which after hisboyish fashion he had named Camp Shiver, and struck out in what hebelieved to be the proper direction.
It was not very encouraging, however, starting on a long tramp hungryand cold; but Felix still had plenty of grit, and shutting his teethhard, resolved to let nothing dismay him.
Two hours later, and he found himself obliged to confess that hisknowledge of woodcraft seemed at fault, when brought face to face withthe difficulties to be encountered in a snow forest. He was reallyhopelessly bewildered, and could not give the slightest guess as towhether he should head north, south, east or west, in order to reachcamp. The mountains loomed upon two sides, now, as though he hadwandered somehow into a sort of pocket.
He tried shouting now and then, though it seemed next to foolish to hopethat any one could hear him, unless indeed it might prove to be therough men with whom he had had his recent unhappy experience; sopresently he stopped that.
The cold no longer brought anxiety, for his exertions kept him fromfeeling this; but he was mighty hungry, and had visions of all theglorious dishes he and Tom had ever eaten in company in the past;somehow they seemed to arise before him, and make him groan with theempty feeling within.
About this time Felix chanced to notice that he was almost under theshadow of a peculiar peak, which he remembered noticing before; and allat once it dawned on him that this was the very mountain Charley Crowhad pointed to, when he declared that his cabin nestled at its base; andthat if the Little Doctor chose to drop in there at any time, he wouldreceive a royal Indian welcome.
The very idea filled Felix with unutterable joy. Oh! if only he couldrun across that Indian cabin now, how readily would he throw aside allhis pride, and accept whatever food they could give him; perhaps evensecuring a guide in addition who would take him back to the camp.
And so, filled with a new ambition, he pushed ahead, his hopes revivedonce more. Through the branches of the trees, to which none of the snowhad clung on account of the wind accompanying the storm, he could catchglimpses of the spur that extended out from the main mountain chain; andsuch progress did he make that in about an hour he fancied he smelledsmoke in the air.
After that it was not a difficult thing to follow the direction in whichthis came to him on the wind; until in the end he gave a shout, upondiscovering a rude log cabin nestling under an over-hanging shelf ofrock.
It must certain
ly be the temporary home of Charley Crow and his family;and with renewed hopes Felix started forward on a half run, so eager washe to make sure that his eyes had not deceived him.
Now he could see human beings moving about, and a couple of yellowmongrel curs started out with loud barks to meet him; but somehow he didnot feel that they were dangerous, like those savage hounds that hadbeen running the deer; and while only grasping a stout cudgel in hishand, Felix continued to advance.
A couple of young Indians hurried after the dogs, calling roughly tothem to behave; and Felix knew that he had found friends. He lost notime in explaining that he was nearly famished; whereat the twoexchanged glances, and ranging alongside, took him by the arms, andassisted him to the cabin; for somehow, such was the effect of thechange from despair to great joy, that a singular weakness seemed togrip the lad.
He spoke the name of Charley Crow, and as if understanding what hewished to convey, they led him into the comfortable cabin, where the boyfound himself face to face with the old halfbreed whom he had so gladlyassisted in the woods.
Charley Crow had his wounded arm done up in bandages, and was sitting ina rudely made but comfortable chair. At sight of Felix a broad smile ofwelcome came upon the bronzed face of the old guide.
He held out his well hand, and greeted Felix warmly; indeed, there needbe not the least fear but that every wish of the lost hunter wouldhardly be expressed before it was sure to be granted, if it lay in thepower of these people.
Upon learning that food was the first thing he wanted, Charley Crowspoke to his sons, and to his wife, who seemed to be a full bloodedShoshone squaw. Eager to do something to show their gratitude toward theLittle Doctor, of whom they had heard so much since the home coming ofthe wounded man, the two well-grown sons darted from the cabin,doubtless to get food from a _cache_ in the open, where meat would keepfresh all winter, once it was frozen.
Felix soon related what dire misfortune had befallen him some time afterparting from the old guide; and the anger of Charley Crow was arousedtoward the pair of precious scoundrels who had dared to do this thing.
"They pass night not half mile away from here," he declared, "for my sonJo, he see same when he come in from his line of traps. He speak withthese men, not wishing to make foes out of same; but when they ask himto stay at their fire, Jo, he no stop, for he know how they bad case. Ipromise you, my friend, all be return to you before this day it pass.But listen, that not all. Revenge you shall have for such kicks theygive you. Not two mile away I know where is a camp of men from Park, whohunt for these Abe and Kline, I understand. When I learn about them Isay to my sons, this is not business for us; let Mr. Harbison and hismen find them. Now it is my affair. Make mind easy, for all will bewell."
Felix was delighted with this assurance, for he disliked the idea ofhaving to pass the remainder of his vacation in the region of theRockies without that fine repeating rifle, which he looked to obtain himother trophies of the chase, in the shape of a grizzly bear; andpossibly a bighorn, strange acrobat of the mountain ledges.
He was speedily placed before a bountiful breakfast, though since he hadeaten nothing since that last meal under the big tree where the buck hadfallen, he was at a loss to know what name to give his repast.
Mrs. Crow, it seemed, had learned how to cook after the white woman'sway, for everything tasted just splendid to the boy, and after he hadfinished he declared he felt like a new fellow.
When about this time he saw the two sons of Charley Crow enter the cabinfor a last conference before starting out, he begged to be allowed toaccompany them.
Old Charley looked dubious at first, and then noting the eager flush onhis face, and apparently sympathizing with the feeling that promptedFelix to wish to see with his own eyes the discomfiture of the tworascals who had robbed and mistreated him, he finally nodded his head inthe affirmative.
So, armed with the rather antiquated rifle of the old man, and fortifiedby his late good meal, Felix felt like a different person from theforlorn lad who had hovered in the hollow beneath the upturned roots ofthe fallen tree, and counted the long minutes of the preceding night, asthey crept past.
They speedily passed over the two miles separating the Indian cabin fromthe place where Charley Crow had known the Government officers, who wereout looking for offenders against the laws, to have their temporarycamp. Luckily they found Mr. Harbison, who was in charge of theexpedition, and both his deputies there.
Felix soon told his story, and was pleased to see the decided interestthe others showed in his recital. They had long been trying to get onthe trail of the two men, against whom they had warrants for severallawless acts.
A dozen or two questions followed, and the answers of Felix managed toput the officers in complete possession of the facts; especially afterthey heard what one of the sons of Charley Crow had to tell.
Speedily the party set out to find the spot where the two thieves hadspent the night, according to the story of the young Indian.
Of course it could hardly be expected that Abe and his partner would befound still there, since they may have been heading for some distantpoint at the time, possibly intending to sell the fine repeating riflethat had come into their hands, and which they could claim they found inthe woods; but with three inches of new snow covering the ground, thereshould be little trouble in following their trail.
It turned out just so; and upon making a close examination it wasdecided by the wardens, as well as the Indians, that the men had beengone just an hour; it appearing that they were in no hurry, since theyhad plenty of venison, thanks to Felix.
This was but a small start, and could be easily overcome, especiallysince those in the advance had not the slightest warning to the effectthat they were being pursued, and hence would not be apt to make anyespecial effort looking to speed.
If Felix began to feel his limbs grow weary he would not have admittedthe fact for worlds; but shut his teeth hard, and conjured up the scenehe soon expected to feast his eyes upon, with those two ruffians who hadkicked an almost senseless boy, in custody, perhaps their hands inirons; since he had noticed Mr. Harbison drop a couple of pair of wristirons in the pocket of his coat ere starting out.
It was a pleasing picture, and with every twinge he felt from his woundsFelix kept saying to himself that it was a long lane that had noturning; and that he was perfectly justified in wanting to have thebrutes caught.
They pushed on steadily, six in all, and every one armed. From time totime Mr. Harbison informed Felix they were steadily overtaking thefugitives, and that in all probability they would be apt to come uponthem while they were taking a bite around noon.
Often, in time to come, would the boy recall the picture, and once againsee each eager face of Indian and white man, as they pushed alongthrough the aisles of that snow forest, bent upon the mission ofjustice.
He felt a constant sense of exhilaration, knowing that with everypassing minute they must really be shortening the distance separatingthem from those whom they sought. And as he pushed on, filled with muchof his old time determination, Felix kept a bright lookout ahead,endeavoring to discover the first sign of smoke in the air, or movingfigures, that could only be those of the two bad men they sought.
So the time went by until, from the position of the sun, Felix knew thatit could not be far from the noon hour. And at any moment now he hopedand expected to hear the welcome announcement that they had overtakenthe men they followed.