CHAPTER XXI--ON THE ROCK
Bert Bobbsey felt very proud of himself after he had driven away thewildcat with snowballs. And I think he had a right to be proud. Not manyboys of his age would have dared to stand and await the oncoming of abeast that is quite dangerous once it starts to claw and bite. But Berthad spent so much time in the woods and out in the open that he was veryself-reliant.
And so, after looking back once or twice as he left the clearing, andfinding that the bobcat did not follow, Bert began to feel much better.
"I'll soon be at Cedar Camp," he said to himself, "and then I'll be allright. I'll send 'em back to get Nan and take something to eat to Mrs.Bimby. I'll be glad to see Flossie and Freddie again."
Had Bert only known it, Flossie and Freddie were nearer to him than ifthey had been in Cedar Camp, though the small Bobbsey twins were stillsome distance from their brother.
And while Mr. Bobbsey was forging ahead through the snow with Old JimBimby and Tom Case, knowing nothing, of course, about his little boy andgirl having followed him, Mrs. Bobbsey was having worries of her ownabout the absence of the small children from the cabin.
She and Mrs. Baxter had missed Flossie and Freddie soon after the menhad started on the searching trip, but, for a time, the mother of thetwo small twins was not at all worried. She thought Flossie and Freddiehad merely run out to play a little, as it was the first chance they hadhad since the big storm began.
But when, after a while, they had not come back to the cabin, and shecould see nothing of them, Mrs. Bobbsey said:
"Mrs. Baxter, have you seen Flossie and Freddie?"
"No, Mrs. Bobbsey, I haven't," answered the cook. "But it looks as ifthey had been in the pantry, for things there are all upset."
Mrs. Bobbsey looked around the kitchen and pantry, and she at onceguessed part of what had happened.
"They've packed up lunch for themselves," she said to the housekeeper,"and they've gone out to play. Well, they'll be all right as long asthey stay around here and it doesn't storm again. I'll go and look forthem in a few minutes."
But when she did look and call Flossie and Freddie, they were not to befound. Indeed, they were more than a mile away by this time, and theyhad just met Rover, as I have told you.
"I'm glad Rover's with us, aren't you, Freddie?" asked Flossie, as theymade ready to set off again, after having eaten their lunch.
"Lots glad," answered the little boy. "Mrs. Bimby will be glad to seehim, I guess."
Indeed Mrs. Bimby, left alone with Nan after Bert had gone out, wouldhave been glad to see almost anyone. For she was worried because herhusband was away and because there was so little left in the house toeat, only she did not want to tell Nan so. And she did not think shecould shoot another rabbit, as Bert had done.
"I do hope that boy will find my Jim or someone and bring help," thoughtMrs. Bimby.
And of course Mr. Bobbsey with Old Jim and Tom Case were on their way tothe cabin, but they had to go slowly on account of so much snow.
The snow was worse for Flossie and Freddie than for any of the others inthe woods, because the legs of the small twins were so short. It washard work for them to wade through the drifts. But they felt a littlebetter after their rest under the "Christmas tree," as Flossie calledit, and after they had eaten some of their lunch. So on they trudgedagain.
"Maybe we can find daddy's lost Christmas trees," suggested Freddie,after a while.
"Wouldn't he be glad if we did?" cried Flossie. "Here, Rover! Comeback!" she called, for the dog was running too far ahead to please herand Freddie.
The dog came racing back, scattering the snow about as he plungedthrough it, and Flossie patted his shaggy head.
"Don't you think we'll find daddy pretty soon?" asked Flossie, after sheand Freddie had trudged on for perhaps half an hour longer. "I'm gettingtired in my legs."
"So'm I," her brother admitted. "I wish we could find 'em. But if wedon't, pretty soon, we'll go back, 'cause I think it's going to snowsome more."
Indeed, the sky seemed to be getting darker behind the veil of snowclouds that hung over it, and some swirling flakes of white begansifting down.
Freddie came to a stop and looked about him. He was tired, and so wasFlossie. The only one of the party who seemed to enjoy racing about inthe drifts was Rover. He never appeared to get tired.
"I guess maybe we'd better go back," said Freddie, after thinking itover. "We haven't much left to eat, and I guess daddy can tell Mrs.Bimby about the bear skin to keep her warm."
"I guess so," agreed Flossie. "It's going to be night pretty soon."
It would be some hours until night, however, and the darkness was causedby gathering storm clouds, but Flossie and Freddie did not know that.They turned about, and began to go back along the way they had come. Atleast they thought they were doing that, but they had not gone farbefore Flossie said:
"Freddie, we've come the wrong way."
"How do you know?" he asked.
"'Cause we aren't stepping in our own tracks like we would be if we wentback straight."
Freddie looked at the snow. It was true. There was no sign of the tracksthey must have made in walking along. Before this they had known whichway they were going. Now they didn't.
"We--we're lost!" faltered Flossie.
"Oh, maybe not," said Freddie as cheerfully as he could. But still, whenhe realized that they had not walked along their back track, he knewthey must be going farther into the woods, or at least away from CedarCamp.
"Oh, I don't like to be lost!" wailed Flossie. "I want to go home!"
Freddie did too, but he hoped he wouldn't cry about it. Boys must bebrave and not cry, he thought.
But as the little Bobbsey twins stood there, not knowing what to do, itsuddenly became colder, the wind sprang up, and down came a blindingstorm of snow, so thick that they could not see Rover, who, a momentbefore, had been tumbling about in the drifts near them.
"Oh! Oh!" cried Flossie. "Let's go home, Freddie!"
But where was "home" or camp? How were they to get there?
And so, soon after Bert had driven off the wildcat and had run on, thisBobbsey lad, too, was caught in the same snow storm that had frightenedFlossie and Freddie. But of course Bert did not know that.
"Say, we've had enough snow for a winter and a half already," thoughtBert, as he saw more white flakes coming down. "And it isn't Christmasyet! I hope I'm not going to be snowed in out here all alone! I'd betterhurry!"
As Bert trudged along through the storm he found himself becomingthirsty. If you have ever walked a long distance, even in a snowstorm,you may have felt the same way yourself. And perhaps you have tried toquench your thirst and cool your mouth by eating snow. If you have, youdoubtless remember that instead of getting less thirsty you were onlymade more so. This is what always happens when a person eats snow. Iceis different, if you hold pieces of it in your mouth until it melts.
"My! I wish I had a drink," exclaimed Bert, speaking aloud, as he haddone a number of times since setting out alone to bring help to Nan andMrs. Bimby. "I wish I had a drink of water!"
Now Bert Bobbsey knew better than to eat dry snow. Once when he was asmall boy, smaller even than Freddie, he had been playing out in thesnow and had eaten it whenever he felt thirsty. As a result he had beenmade ill.
"Never eat snow again, Bert," his father had told him at the time. Andto make Bert remember Mr. Bobbsey had read the boy a story of travelersin the Arctic regions searching for the North Pole. The story told how,no matter how tired or cold these travelers were, they always stopped tomelt the snow and make water or tea of it when they were thirsty. Theynever ate dry snow.
"I've either got to find a spring to get a drink, or melt some of thissnow," said Bert to himself, as he walked on, limping a little, thoughhis leg was feeling better than at first. "But I guess if I did find aspring it would be frozen over. Now how can I melt some snow?"
Bert had been on camping trips with his father, and he had often se
enMr. Bobbsey make use of things he found beside the road or in the woodsto help out in a time of some little trouble. With this in mind, the boybegan to look around for something that would help him get a drink ofwater, or to melt some snow into water which he could drink after it hadcooled.
But to melt snow needed a fire, he knew, and also something that wouldhold the snow before and after it was melted.
"I need a pan or a can and a fire," decided Bert. "I wonder if I haveany matches?"
He felt in his pockets and found some, though he did not usually carrythem, for they are rather dangerous for children. But Bert felt that hewas now getting to be quite a boy.
"Well, here's a start," he said to himself as he felt the matches in hispocket. But he did not take them out, for the snow was blowing about,and Bert knew that a wet match was as bad as none at all. He must keephis matches dry as the old settlers were advised to "keep their powderdry."
"If I could only make a fire," thought Bert, coming to a stop andlooking about him at a spot that looked as if it might once have been acamp. All he could see was a waste of snow and some trees. But wood forfires, he knew, grew on trees, though any wood which could be made toburn must be dry.
"Maybe I could scrape away some snow and make a fire," thought Bert."The thing I need most, though, is a tin can to hold snow and water.Ouch! My leg hurts!" he exclaimed.
His leg, just then, seemed to get a "kink" in it, as he said afterward.He kicked out, as football players do sometimes when their legs gettwisted.
As it happened, Bert kicked his foot into a little pile of snow, andnext he was surprised to find that he had kicked something out. At firstit seemed to be a lump of ice, but as it rolled a few feet and the snowfell away, the boy found that he had kicked into view an empty tintomato can!
"Here's luck!" cried Bert, as he sprang after the can before it could becovered from sight in the snow again. "This sure is luck! I can meltsome snow in this now!"
Taking the can in his hand he knocked it against his shoe, thus gettingrid of the snow that filled it. The can was opened half way, and the tintop was bent back, making a sort of handle to it, which Bert was glad tosee. It would enable him without burning his fingers to lift the can offthe fire he intended to build.
"All I need now is some dry wood, and I can make a fire and melt snow tomake water," he said aloud. "If I had some tea I could make a regularhot drink, like they have up at the North Pole. But I guess water willbe all right. Now for some wood!"
He made his way over to a clump of trees and, by kicking away the snow,he managed to find some dead sticks. As the snow was dry they were notvery wet, but Bert feared they were not dry enough to kindle quickly.And he had only a few matches.
"I've got some paper, though," he told himself, as lie felt in hispockets. "A little soft, dry wood, and that, will start a fire and theother wood will burn, even if it is a little damp."
One of the lessons Bert's father had taught him was to make a campfire,and Bert put some of this instruction to use now. He hunted about untilhe found a fallen log, and by clearing away the snow at one end herevealed a rotten end. This soft wood made very good tinder, to start afire.
The outer end of the rotten log was rather damp. But by kicking awaythis latter, Bert got at some wood that was quite dry--just what hewanted.
He swung his foot that was not lame from side to side, clearing a placeon the ground at one side of the log, and there he laid his paper andthe wood to start his fire.
You may be sure Bert was very anxious as he struck one of his fewmatches and held it to the paper. He hardly breathed as he watched thetiny flame. And then, all at once, the blaze flickered out after it hadcaught one edge of the paper!
"This is bad luck!" murmured Bert. "I've got a few more chances,though."
He crumpled up the paper in a different shape, arranged it carefullyunder the pile of splinters and rotten wood, and struck another match.This time he made sure to hold in his breath completely, for it was hisbreath before, he feared, that had blown out the match.
This time the paper caught and blazed up merrily. Bert wanted to shoutand cry "hurrah!" but he did not. The fire was not really going yet, andhe was getting more and more thirsty all the while. It was all he coulddo not to scoop up some of the dry snow and cram it into his mouth. Buthe held back.
"I'll have some water melted in a little while," he told himself. "Myfire is going now."
And, indeed, the tiny flame had caught the soft wood and was beginningto ignite the twigs. From them the larger and heavier pieces of woodwould catch, and then he could set the can of snow on to melt intowater.
Still hardly daring to breathe, Bert fed his fire in the shelter of thehalf snow-covered log. It was beginning to melt the snow all around itnow, but of course this melted snow ran away and was lost. Bert couldnot drink that.
When the fire was going well, Bert kicked around on the ground under thelog until he found some stones. With these he made a little fireplace,enclosing the blaze, and when he had some embers there, with more woodat hand to pile on, he brought the can to the fire and scooped the tinfull of snow.
"This is going to be my teakettle," said Bert, with a little smile."Mother and Nan would laugh if they could see me now."
If you have ever melted a pan of snow on even so good a fire as is inyour mother's kitchen range, you know that snow melts very slowly. Itwas this way with Bert. He thought the snow in the can would never meltdown into water, and when it did, and was fairly boiling, he took holdof the top and threw all the water out!
Why did he do that? you ask. Well, because he wanted to be sure the canwas clean, and his mother had told him that boiling water would destroyalmost any kind of germ. The can might have had germs in it, having lainoutdoors a long time.
"But now I guess it's clean," Bert said, as he again filled it with snowafter he had rinsed it out. Then he waited for the second quantity ofsnow to melt, and when this had cooled, which did not take very long,Bert took a drink. The snow water did not taste very good--boiled watervery seldom does--but it was safer than eating dry snow.
"Well, now I must travel on," said Bert, as he scattered snow over thefire to put it out. "I'll carry a little water with me in the can, for Imay get thirsty again. It won't freeze for a while."
He walked along as fast as he could, with the pain in his leg, but thesnow came down harder and faster and the wind blew colder. Bert lookedabout for some place of shelter and saw where one tree had blown overagainst another, making a sort of little den, or cave, near the side ofa high rock, which was so steep that the snow had not clung to it,leaving the big stone bare.
"I'll go in there and stay awhile," thought Bert, as he caught sight ofthis shelter. "Maybe the storm won't last long."
But as he started to enter the place he heard a growl! There was ascurrying in the dried leaves that formed a carpet for the den, andthen, in the half-darkness, Bert saw two green eyes staring at him! Hesmelled a wild odor, too, that told him some beast of the forest dweltin this den.
"Oh! A wildcat!" cried Bert, as, a moment later, there sprang out at himthe same animal, or one very like it, that he had snowballed a littlewhile before. Probably it was another lynx, but Bert did not stop tothink of this.
"OH, BERT!" CRIED FREDDIE, "WE'RE LOST!"]
Forgetting his plan of using snowball bullets, Bert dropped his littlebundle of lunch, part of which he had eaten, and began to climb thenearest tree.
He learned then, if he did not know it before, that a wildcat, which wasthe animal he had surprised in its den, is a good tree-climber; as goodas your house cat, or even better.
When half way up the tree, Bert looked down and saw the yellow wildcatcoming after him. Probably the animal thought that Bert had no rightnear its den.
"This is bad!" thought Bert, as he climbed higher and higher. Then, ashe saw the beast still coming, he realized that he must, somehow, getaway. He saw the big rock not far from the tree. The rock had a smallflat top, covered with snow,
but the sides were smooth and almoststraight up and down, and had no snow on them.
"If I could get there the wildcat couldn't get me," thought Bert. "Andif it tries to jump after me I can snowball it. I'm going to get on therock!"
It was the best plan he could think of, and a moment later, having gotin good position, he gave a jump, left the tree, and landed in the softsnow on top of the big rock.
With a snarl and a growl the wildcat stopped climbing up as it saw whatthe boy had done. Then it began climbing down the tree while Bert, fromhis place of safety, watched. He wondered what the bobcat would do.
The animal walked over to where Bert had dropped his package of lunchand began tearing at the paper.
"Maybe if he eats that he won't want to get me," thought Bert. "But howlong shall I have to stay here?"
The wildcat, having eaten Bert's lunch, which did not take long, lookedup at the boy on the rock. It sniffed at the base of the big stone, andreared up with its forepaws against it.
"You can't climb here!" called Bert aloud. "If you do I'll hit you onthe nose with snowballs!"
And then, as though to add to the boy's troubles, it began to snow hard,a wall of white flakes falling around the lone laddie on the big rock.