CHAPTER XI
THE BUCK'S HEAD
An exclamation from one of the sons of Charley Crow announced that theirquarry had been sighted ahead; and shortly afterward, even Felix coulddiscover the smoke of a fire through the vista of tree trunks beyond;proving that, just as Mr. Harbison had said, the two men had halted tocook some more of their easily acquired venison, and take things easy.
In single file the party advanced; and so earnestly were the pair ofscoundrels at the fire employed getting their lunch ready, that theyfailed to note the presence of the others until the six lined up closeby, and Mr. Harbison called upon them to throw up their hands andsurrender.
Both of them looked very ugly; and given half a chance they might havemade it very interesting for the posse; but with six rifles coveringthem, they saw it would be the height of foolishness to resist. Besides,they had reason to know and fear the man in charge of the force; so,with a forced laugh, they held up their hands, and announced that theywould not try to run away, or resist.
Mr. Harbison took no chances with such men. He speedily snapped theirons upon their wrists, which act brought out a chorus of hard words;for they had not expected being treated so severely, not havingrecognized Felix as yet, as his hat was drawn down well over his face,and he was wearing an extra old coat belonging to Charley Crow. So thatthe men fancied at first they were being arrested on account of somemisdemeanor connected with their work in the reservation known asYellowstone Park.
When, upon the request of the head of the posse, Felix stepped up, andidentified the pair of rascals as the men who had set upon, beaten, androbbed him of his rifle, as well as everything else of value he had withhim, they began to show signs of positive uneasiness, realizing thatthey were in a pretty bad fix.
It was indeed a great pleasure for the lad to once again fondle his owngun; and his first act was to carefully wipe it all over, as though hethought it may have suffered more or less contamination through contactwith such a dirty specimen of humanity as the one-eyed Abe Cozzins.
The officers announced their intention of starting immediately southwith the prisoners, as it would take them several days to reach the townthey expected to use as a place for locking the men up in. Felix madearrangements to give his deposition when he came out with his chum,about Christmas; although Mr. Harbison admitted that he hardly neededanything more in order to send them to the penitentiary for a term ofyears.
Somehow Felix, now that he had recovered his possessions, did not feelso vindictive as he had expected he would; and had the fellows shown aproper spirit of humility the boy would have only too gladly allowed thematter to drop, so far as he was concerned.
But they chose to take just the opposite course, cursing him roundly,and making savage threats of all kinds as to what they would do if theygot free; which was just the way to arouse all his resentment, and causehim to give his promise to appear against them later on.
Felix was very glad when they finally went away, leaving him with thetwo sons of old Charley Crow. Learning that they were not more than fivemiles away from the little shack where Old Sol had often held forthduring the trapping season, the boy was seized with an overwhelmingdesire to get back home, and rest up; and when the others heard this,one of them, the strapping big fellow called Jo by his father, said hewould see him safely there.
It was really quite a tug for Felix, and only his grim determinationcarried him through, for his lower limbs began to feel as though each ofthem weighed a ton; so that he found considerable difficulty in draggingthem along; but as familiar scenes began to crop up, the nearer he cameto the cabin, as a consequence he finally found himself in sight ofhome.
Never did a ship-wrecked mariner greet port with more enthusiasm thanFelix did the little old dugout under the big tree.
Of course Tom was away, undoubtedly wildly scouring the woods in searchof his missing chum; but then he would come back after a certain time tosee whether the lost one had returned; so all that Felix had to do wasto make himself comfortable and wait.
Jo said he would like to stay with him, and meet Tom. Any one who hadknown Old Sol was worth cultivating, in the eyes of the Indian boy, whohad looked upon the veteran trapper as a veritable wonder.
They had a fine fire that warmed the interior of the cabin, and Felixwas drowsing before this, while Jo examined the wonderful repeatingrifle; when the door was flung violently open, and there stood Tom, hiseyes staring as though he could hardly believe what they showed him.
Returning almost in despair because he could get no trace of his missingchum, he had discovered from the smoke that some one was occupying thedugout; after that it took him just five seconds to reach the door, andopen the same.
In another instant Tom had thrown his arms around his cousin, and washugging him just as though he might be a long-lost brother, instead ofjust his every-day chum; meanwhile muttering all sorts of things, andlaughing hysterically, in the effort to master his pent-up emotion.
Felix was almost as deeply affected, and it was then and there that helearned just how dear Tom had become to him during the comparativelyshort time they had been comrades.
From beginning to end Tom made him tell the whole story, not omitting asingle detail; and for an hour Felix held his audience spell-bound by arecital of the many queer things that had come his way, since that hourwhen he said goodbye with such a light heart, and started off aftervenison.
It was all like a story from a book to Tom. And of course it pleased himto hear how the conventional end had been reached, with the two rascalscaptured, the stolen goods restored to their real owner, and thecriminals bundled off to jail in irons. Why, Tom could not hear enoughof the details, but kept asking questions, and even turning to theIndian boy to find out what his chum could not tell.
"We'll get that buck's head the first thing tomorrow--that is, if youfeel decent enough for the tramp," he declared, after he had had Felixminutely describe the place of the strange encounter, and where he hadpassed his first night.
Of course the other declared that he would be all right, and eager forbusiness at the old stand; but the actual truth was, that for severaldays he felt the effects of his series of adventures; and the mark uponhis cheek was still faintly visible two months later.
All the same, with Jo accompanying them they did go to the tree andsecure the prized head, as well as what venison was left--some animal hadbeen feasting on the latter; but there was still enough left to carry alot away with them, and every mouthful of that meat which Felixmasticated gave him more or less satisfaction, since he felt that he hadwell earned all that was coming to him in this respect.
Of course the traps had been neglected during all this confusion; and soTom said he would take a run along the entire line that afternoon, inorder that if any prizes had been captured, the skins might not bespoiled by too long an emersion in the water.
Jo started back home after they had had lunch. Both boys noticed withsome amusement that the boy's last fond look was in the direction of thewonderful coffeepot, from whence had come that rich, smooth, fragrantnectar that had so tickled his palate; doubtless they would see more ofJo while they lingered among the foothills of the Rockies; but theywould always have their latchstring out for any one who was connectedwith old Charley Crow.
As we already know, Tom had not felt any undue anxiety concerning hischum until the hour grew late on that first night. Then he had thoughtto step out, and fire his gun several times; but as Felix had not heardthe reports, it seemed that he must have been further away than anyonesuspected; or that the wind was wrong.
In the morning Tom had started out in the direction he supposed Felixmight be; hoping to come across signs of his friend. But the woods werewide, and apparently he could not at any time have come near the placewhere the other had had his adventures.
Returning at nightfall, Tom had hoped he would find the other at thedugout, and a keen disappointment awaited him. That night was a restlessone for him. The second day had been a repet
ition of the first; and latein the afternoon, dispirited and weary, Tom had drawn near the vicinityof the shack, when he was electrified to see smoke oozing from thechimney.
One thing the incident had surely accomplished, and this was to acquaintthe boys with the fact, if they had not realized it before, that theywere unusually fond of each other. In many ways they were unlike; but itseemed that what one lacked the other could supply; and in this respectthey made an ideal team for campmates. The right kind of a cheerful,willing and genial comrade, who will wear well in camp, is hard indeedto find. It appears that, no matter what a fellow may seem like at home,when he lands in the wilderness, the veneer is bound to drop off, andthe true elements that go to make up his real nature are quicklyapparent.
After securing the buck's head Felix was content to remain in camp for ashort time; ostensibly with the idea of "curing" it, so that it mightornament his room at home; but to tell the plain, unvarnished truth, theboy was still very sore, and until this in a measure wore off, theprospects of a long jaunt through the woods and into the mountainsfailed to appeal to him very much.
This feeling began to gradually grow less positive as a couple of dayspassed, and finally there was no longer any excuse to hug the fire-side,because the buck's head had been prepared after a fashion that Tom saidhe had never seen beaten.
So Felix fell back into the rut, just as though there had been no break,sometimes accompanying his chum in the round of the traps, or doing thatduty alone; and again going out to look for fresh game, with generallythe best of success.
Doubtless, as the boy tramped through the snowy woods he sometimes foundhimself starting when he fancied he heard the coarse voices of the twounfaithful guides; or it might be a smile, as of amusement, would creepover his face when it happened that some particular tree awakenedmemories of the one into which he had been so neatly tossed by thewounded buck.
These experiences all go to make up life; and one learns more quicklyfrom having passed through such actual performances than by merereading; or even listening to what others may have accomplished,pleasant though this may seem. Felix believed he was a much betterwoodsman for having met and boldly faced the difficulties that had beenspread like a net for his unwary feet on that occasion.
His eye seemed more positive; his nerves firmer; and when he handled hisrifle, it was with an assurance born of experience, so that his aim wasapt to be more accurate than before; while a confidence had been arousedin his soul that he would not have exchanged for anything he knew of.
So the youngster, upon being tossed into the water by an apparentlycruel elder brother, and told to swim, upon striking out in desperationfinds that by moving arms and legs he is able to keep afloat, and evenmake a little clumsy progress; and into his soul springs a pride that isnever surpassed in later life, even when he wins battles in the businessarena.
Perhaps the birdling experiences something of the same sensation uponbeing actually pushed from the nest by the wise mother, and discoveringthat by using its wings it can fly a short distance; it is anexhilaration never surpassed.
The buck's antlered head certainly did look mighty fine when fastened upon the wall of the shack; and Tom vowed that if Old Sol could only bethere in spirit, he must feel pretty proud to see the walls of his wellbeloved dugout decorated in such a manner.
Of course, with his Marlin, Felix had also recovered all his otherlittle traps from the ugly pair, while they were in the hands of thegame wardens from the Park; so that he again had his little watch, hiscompass and his knife, together with what money they had taken from him,and which had tempted the cupidity of the thieving guides.
Realizing what he lacked in using a compass, he now set about studyingthings, under the guidance of his chum, in connection with the woods,that would prove useful to him in all time to come.
It was for some time a source of wonder to Tom Tucker why Old CharleyCrow and his family, although within so short a distance of the dugout,had never set a line of traps in that neighborhood. One day, when youngJo was visiting them, drawn by memories of that seductive coffeepot,they plied him with questions, and thus learned that old Sol had thelast year he was up here, through the use of certain medicines, of whichhe knew the value, been able to save the life of Mrs. Crow; and ingratitude none of the family would ever encroach on his preserves.
They knew that the old trapper had been absent for several years, andthat game was very abundant over in that direction; but a sort of "deadline" had been established, across which none would wander with theintention of doing business. Lacking information to the contrary, theyexpected that Sol might show up at any time; and all of them were veryjealous of having him suspect that they had "poached" on his territory.
When they heard this the boys felt drawn more than ever toward thehonorable Crow family; and Felix privately declared that when he gotback home, the first thing he meant to do was to dispatch a case ofrifles just like his, though of a less expensive pattern, to make thosegood fellows supremely happy.
And so out of evil good many times springs; and as long as they stayedthere at the foot of the great Rockies, Felix and his chum were likelyto enjoy friendly intercourse with the dusky family in the cabin notmany miles away.