CHAPTER XIX
BREAKING CAMP--CONCLUSION
After that the days just glided along, each one seeming to bringsomething in its train that would occupy considerable of theirattention.
Tom kept up his trapping, and Felix became himself deeply interested inlearning more and more about the habits of the sly little bearers of theprized fur; for which there was such a growing demand in the world ofcivilization, that men were visiting hitherto unexplored sections of theworld in search of new supplies, since the old fields showed signs ofgiving out.
He spent some time in the partly frozen marsh, examining the homes ofthe muskrats; and after that had Tom tell him all he knew about the waysin which the mink lived, both at home, and when abroad searching forfood.
They had no trouble in getting all the venison they wanted; and once,when their larder began to decline, on account of a spell of badweather, who should come to the dugout but Jo Crow, bearing the choiceportions of a young buck, which his father had sent over to the LittleDoctor, as a slight token of his gratitude for services rendered.
Just as though that small debt had not been wiped out, Felix remarked,when he was so hospitably received in the Crow cabin, fed, and thenassisted in recovering his stolen property.
But then Tom knew that young Jo must have fond recollections of thatsmooth tasting Java, and he made sure to treat the boy to many cups ofcoffee at each meal, while he stopped over night with them.
And when, after a heavy storm, they found a chance to make the first useof the snow shoes they had brought along, the boys proved that they knewhow to utilize the advantages this means of locomotion gave them overthe animals of the forest.
Once Tom, when on his way back from his traps, was pursued by a pack ofhungry wolves; but he had what he was pleased to term a "picnic" withthem. He would stop and let them come within a certain distance, whenseveral shots from his repeating rifle lessened their numberconsiderably. After that he would start on again, all the while slippingfresh cartridges into his gun so as to have a full equipment, in case ofan emergency.
As the animals still kept after him, Tom repeated his former tactics,and knocked a couple more wolves over. He would have liked to keepdotting the snow with their forms, because he hated the breed violently;but by this time they scented trouble, and hauled off.
So Tom even went back, and secured the pelts of the last two, addingthem to the lot he was taking home.
"You see," he remarked to Felix that night, as they sat around the fire,speaking of what had happened during the day, "that's a great advantageone gets by knowing how to use snow shoes. The varmints flounderedthrough the drifts, while I just skipped over them as if I had wings.Why, I could have circled the pack at times, if I'd wanted. And theywere savage with hunger, all right, too, because only for that theywouldn't have kept so hard after me."
"But I'd have thought they'd stop to make a meal off those you shot atfirst," remarked Felix.
"I see you're on to wolf habits, all right and good," chuckled Tom."Well, a bunch of 'em did hold over, to have a sort of wake with theremains; but I guess the rest of the lot felt that it wouldn't goaround. They kept after me, that's all I know. P'raps they had theirminds set on a nice tender juicy Tucker for supper; but if they'd knownhow tough he was, they might have hauled off sooner, and two of thebunch would be alive yet," and he glanced at the skins he had stretchedon the big frames meant for such purpose.
"And next winter perhaps those same hides will be keeping some chauffeurwarm, as he guides his car along Fifth Avenue in New York," said Felix,humorously.
"That's putting 'em to good uses, anyway," remarked the wolf-killer,calmly.
Only the next day Felix had a chance to see for himself what a greatadvantage those same snow shoes gave a hunter over his quarry. The snowwas deep enough to come to his knees on the level, and besides, in manyplaces it had drifted considerably. Then there had come a slight thaw,that caused the surface to become coated with ice. Through this thesmall hoofs of a deer would break with every jump; while the boys couldglide along on the broad netting of their snow shoes without disturbingthe crust.
Thinking he would take a little turn around, Felix started out while Tomwas off looking after his traps again. He did not intend going any greatdistance from the shack, and hardly expected finding game; but thenthere was never any telling when one might run across a deer, for theywere fairly plentiful.
And hearing a floundering noise some distance ahead, he suddenlydiscovered a full grown young buck making off at full speed.
Under ordinary conditions it would have been the utmost folly for Felixto even dream of overtaking that alarmed deer; but he wished to test thespeeding qualities of his snow shoes.
The tables were turned by the presence of the deep snow, since the deercould not run as fast as ordinary, while the powers of locomotion on thepart of the boy had been trebled, at least.
And so he had by degrees gradually come up on the fleeing buck. Theanimal was snorting, and plunging desperately in the endeavor to getaway; just as though he realized that the mortal enemy of his race wasclose behind. Breathing so rapidly that it looked like clouds of steamarising from his nostrils, he kept on in his wild run.
When Felix had gained a position where he could see the exposed flank ofthe deer he came to a sudden halt. And no sooner had his rifle spokenthan there was an end to the chase, for the buck was floundering on thesnow.
Those were days neither of the boys would ever forget. But the weekswere slipping past, and they began to figure on the time, now close athand, when they must break camp, and set their faces once more towardscivilization.
It would be with more than a little regret too, even though both of themmust rejoice to again see the dear ones who were at home; for they hadcertainly enjoyed this vacation period in the Rockies more than wordscould tell.
Tom had looked over his trophies, and decided on what few they wanted totake away with them. These were, for the most part, pelts calculated toremind them of certain adventures which had befallen them in their camplife.
For instance, there was that bobcat skin, which had once been sported bythe animal whose vicious growl had greeted them on that first evening oftheir arrival at the dugout; then Felix had the pelts of the wolves hehad shot, after they had given him such a lovely little scrimmage,before letting him get to the shelter of the shack with his burningtorch; and the big grizzly hide, that occupied a place of honor in thecollection also.
Besides, there were a few choice mink skins; a fox that Tom particularlywanted, because he had tried for three weeks to trap the wary Reynardbefore he managed it; and some muskrat skins that Felix wanted to showhis folks at home.
The bighorn head adornment had been beautifully prepared; and togetherwith the head of the big buck, must be carried on the sledge they meantto drag behind them, when they went out of the mountain country, headedsouth.
All the remainder of the catch, together with quite a supply of storeprovisions they handed over to Charley Crow and his boy Jo, when at theinvitation of the inmates of Old Sol's shack the two came over to seethem for the last time.
And how that dusky boy's eyes did dance when he saw that among the lotthere chanced to be some of that glorious coffee, that had quite takenhis heart by storm.
Felix was not one to easily forget; and later on he did send out a bulkypackage to his cousin Tom, which, upon investigation was found tocontain three good reliable Marlins for Charley Crow and his boys, justas hard hitting guns as the one Felix himself carried, only of much lessvalue, because the material was along different lines. And besides,there were a dozen cans of pulverized coffee for Jo, that would be sureto make him the happiest Shoshone Indian boy on or off the reservation.
They looked their last on the old shack one morning when the weatherseemed to promise well for a day or two; said goodbye to every familiarobject, and with one farewell glance around, as though to secure amental photograph of the picture to do them for all time, turned theirb
acks on the spot that had given them the very finest time of theirlives.
Felix knew that he had benefited greatly from his outing, and indeed hefelt fully able to return home with the New Year, to resume his studies.Those happy weeks spent in camp had brought the ruddy hue of health backto his cheeks, just as his wise father had expected would be the case;his step was elastic; and his eye bright; while as for appetite, hedeclared he would eat them out of house and home, unless a curb were putupon it presently.
As the snow was in pretty fair shape, they made good progress that day,and hoped by another to be where they could take advantage of the frozenriver to finish their journey on the ice, bringing up at the ranch ofTom's father.
This programme was faithfully carried out, even though it did turnbitter cold that night, so that they had to keep a fire blazing everyhour, in order to ward off the fate of being frozen stiff; for theircamp happened to be exposed to the breeze more than Tom would haveliked, had he been given any choice.
Arriving at the river, they met the man who had come from the ranchunder the former agreement. He had been waiting two days, and madehimself as comfortable as the conditions allowed; and it was the smokeof his fire that directed the two boys to his hideout. As he had a pairof snow shoes with him, they were able to continue their journey alongthe snow-covered surface of the frozen river; and in due time reach theranch.
Here the sight of their trophies, and the story of all that had befallenthem during their two months' stay in the country of the Rockiesinterested the cowmen greatly, and for several nights they plied theboys with innumerable questions concerning the various happenings thatwent to make up the experience.
When Felix arrived home early in January, his father was delighted withhis improved appearance; and doubly proud of the spoils which the youngfellow displayed, to supplement his stories of the events clusteringaround the camp in the big game country.
And it was easily arranged that later on he should again go out to bewith his cousin; indeed, as the good doctor had no need to continue hispractice, since he was well supplied with this world's goods, hedeclared it to be his intention to give up his business, and accompanyFelix, for he had always wanted to see what ranch life was like.
Toward Spring a letter came from Tom in the faraway Wyoming country,saying that he had had a chance to get up to the reservation, whereCharley Crow and family were finishing the winter, taking the splendidpresent Felix had sent with the party; and that there was greatrejoicing in the Crow family. Those wonderful guns, as well as theenticing coffee from Java's distant shores, quite overwhelmed theastonished Shoshones, and they never knew when to stop sending theirthanks to Felix.
But as the boy remembered that occasion, when, after wandering throughthe snow forest, hungry, cold, and weary, he sighted the smoke of thathumble cabin of Charley Crow, and what a warm welcome had awaited himthere, he felt that after all he had only begun to pay back the greatdebt he owed these dusky people of the fur country.
The End
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