CHAPTER XV.
A SUCCESSFUL BATTLE.
Hamp and Brick obeyed orders to the letter. Each carried a rifle, ashotgun and a hunting knife, and each had a pocketful of shells.
The thought of what lay before them lent feverish speed to the boys'weary feet. Ten minutes of stiff climbing brought them to the top of thehill. They had taken their snowshoes off, and at present they had noneed of them. Owing to the high wind that prevailed during the storm,there was not even a sprinkling of snow on the ridge.
They hurried along the rocky pathway, taking good care, however, totread on no dry twigs or branches. They could see nothing below them,owing to the dense foliage. To right and left lay an equally deep andgloomy ravine.
When the young hunters were a quarter of a mile beyond the spot whereJerry was waiting, as nearly as they could judge, the top of the hillsuddenly began to drop downward in steep jumps. Then it sloped moreeasily, and finally terminated on the brink of a flat, egg-shaped basin,surrounded by hills.
It was a weird and dreary place, and the boys surveyed it for a momentwith vague feeling of abhorrence. Then they hastily strapped ontheir snowshoes, and turned to the mouth of the valley, which was a fewyards to their left. They posted themselves behind rocks, on oppositesides of the narrow pass. In between lay scrub bushes and the now frozenbed of the stream.
"Got both your guns loaded?" Hamp called across, in a loud whisper.
"Yes; I'm ready," Brick replied.
His rifle was in his arms, and the shotgun stood beside him.
"How long do you think we'll have to wait?" he added.
"Not long," answered Hamp. "The thirty-five minutes are surely up bythis time. I'll bet Jerry is stalking the herd."
An interval of waiting dragged slowly by. The boys became fidgety andrestless. They imagined that something had happened to their companion.
Bang! the thunderous roar of a shotgun suddenly reverberated down theravine. The boys jumped with surprise, and nervously clutched theirweapons. They gazed eagerly up the valley.
"Now look out," cried Hamp. "They'll be here in a minute. Keep cool, oldfellow, and aim straight."
"I'll do my best," replied Brick. "You take the first one, and I'll pickout one of the rest."
"All right," Hamp whispered.
Just then a loud halloo was heard up the valley, and an instant laterthe crunching of hoofs and the threshing of bushes rose near by. Now theherd burst into sight, and it was an unexpected surprise to the boys tosee eight fat deer leaping onward through the narrow pass.
Bang! went Hamp's rifle, and the leader of the herd, a huge buck,dropped dead in his tracks.
Brick also singled out a buck, but excitement unsteadied his hand, andhe merely wounded the animal in the hind flank. As the rest of the herdscurried by, the lads fired several shots apiece, but without visibleeffect.
Then they sprang out from cover, well content with what they hadaccomplished.
The wounded buck had toppled over, but at sight of his enemies hestaggered to his feet, and made a rush on three legs for Hamp, snortingsavagely. The lad had just time to dodge behind the rock. Indeed, hisescape from the antlers was very close.
The buck then turned and went for Brick, who skillfully and coollyended its career with a charge of heavy shot.
"Hurrah! two dead," cried Hamp, as he left his place of shelter. "What astreak of luck!"
"Isn't it glorious?" answered Brick. "Jerry will hardly believe his eyeswhen he gets here. Say, look there," he added, in a loud and excitedvoice.
Hamp looked and uttered a yell of delight. Then both lads rushed towardthe mouth of the valley, taking great strides over the snow.
What they saw was a fat doe struggling across the center of the swamp.At every step her hoofs broke through the crust, and she was makingbut feeble progress. The rest of the herd had wisely swung aside intothe forest, and were long since out of sight.
Their snowshoes carried the lads swiftly forward, and they were quicklywithin close range of the animal. Two shots were fired, and the deerrolled over lifeless.
"We've bagged three!" exclaimed Hamp. "Just think of it!"
"It's a great haul," repied Brick; "but we're in pretty much the samefix as the man who had an elephant on his hands. How are we going tocarry all this game?"
"Yes--how?" echoed Hamp.
The problem was left unsolved, for just then a hearty cheer rang on theair. The boys hurried back to the mouth of the valley, reaching therejust as Jerry emerged from the bushes. His eyes opened wide withamazement when he saw the dead bucks. Then he spied the body of the doe,and simply gasped with open mouth.
"You--you fellows," he stammered. "Why, I can hardly believe it. Ithought you might knock over one between you--but three! GreatJehosaphat!"
"Oh! we've got it down fine," laughed Brick. "But how did you make out?"
"I killed a good-sized doe," replied Jerry. "It was a long-range shot,and I'm rather proud of it. I couldn't get very close to the herd onaccount of the wind."
As he spoke a rasping cry floated toward the mouth of the valley. Thestartled boys looked out on the swamp, but could see nothing.
"Some animal is lurking in the scrub," exclaimed Hamp. "Attend to yourguns, fellows."
"I hope it's not a catamount," said Brick.
"As likely as not it is," replied Jerry.
The question was not long in doubt. With a whining cry, a good-sizedwildcat sprang from a clump of alder bushes just beyond the dead deer.It pounced upon the body, and began to rend it with teeth and claws.
"Did you ever see such impudence?" exclaimed Jerry, half angrily. "Comeon; we'll give the little brute a settler."
The boys moved forward, and not until they reached the edge of the swampdid the wildcat become aware of their presence in the neighborhood. Thecreature was evidently half famished, and, having found a meal to itsliking, it was determined to hold on to it. It stopped eating, andglared at the intruders with a ferocious snarl.
"Watch sharp, now," cautioned Jerry. "We'll go pretty close, so as notto run the chance of missing. I'll kill him with a rifle. If we allfire, the skin will be ruined, and it's well worth saving."
This was agreed to. The wildcat remained on the body of the deer untilthe boys were within four yards. Then it bounded forward six feet, andcrouched for another spring.
Jerry took hasty aim, and pulled trigger. The creature was already inair when the shot rang out, and, more by luck than skill, the ballpassed through its head. It landed on the snow with a convulsive gasp,and rolled over lifeless at Brick's feet.
"Pretty close quarters," remarked Jerry. "A miss is as good as a mile,though. Now we've got a skin that is worth keeping."
"This is the sort of hunting I used to read about in books," exclaimedBrick. "Four deer and a catamount. Just think of it. I'm afraid I'llwake up and find I've been dreaming."
The others laughed, and Hamp playfully pinched Brick's arm.
"We've got to stir ourselves now," said Jerry. "In about an hour and ahalf it will be dark. The mouth of the valley will make a goodcamping-place, and after we've brought down the sleds and my deer, we'llbuild a blazing fire. Then we'll skin the wildcat, and get the deerswung up to the branches of some of these trees. We won't do anythingmore to them until morning."
"Except cut some steaks off for supper," added Brick, in a hungry tone.
"Don't be worried," Jerry replied. "I'll give you a supper fit for aking to-night."
"But what in the world will we ever do with all this venison?" askedHamp. "It will make an awful pile, even when it is cut up."
"It certainly will," admitted Jerry. "There's only one thing to do thatI can see. We'll take what we can to Chesumcook to-morrow, and when weget a camp picked out, we'll come back for the rest with two emptysleds."
This sounded practical, and the matter was dropped. The boys hurried upthe valley, and presently came to the deer which Jerry had shot. It wasa fine,
plump animal, and lay in the very center of the salt lick. Twominutes later they reached the spot where the successful hunt had beenplanned.
As they emerged from the bushes they made a startling and mysteriousdiscovery. The sleds were gone.