CHAPTER XXII
IN THE CAVE
The snow beat down upon them so when they were outside of the shelterthat the little girls could scarcely get their breath. Dot clung toTess' hand and bleated a few complaining words. But the strange boysaid sharply:
"Don't be blubbering. We'll be all right in a minute. I want to huntfor something around here. That's what I come out of the cave for."
"Am not blubbering!" muttered Dot, quite indignant. "But this oldsnow--"
"Oh, I've got it!" shouted the strange boy, leaping ahead through thesnow with great vigor. "Come on! Don't lose sight of me."
"You bet we won't," said Sammy, urging Tess and Dot on ahead of himand dragging the sled after.
"What is it?" asked Tess, curiously.
"A trap," said the other.
"Oh!"
"What kind of a trap?" asked the eager Sammy.
"Rabbit trap. Box trap. Rafe and I brought it down here with us andset it this morning. I put a handful of corn in it and I saw rabbittracks all about just before it began to snow so hard. Here it is."
The speaker had knelt down in the snow and was uncovering some long,narrow object with his hands.
"It's sprung, anyway. You see, the door's dropped," he said. "Therabbit pokes right in after the corn, and when he begins to eat thebait clear at the end of the box, he trips the trigger and the doorfalls. Yes! He's here!"
"Oh, Je-ru-sa-_lem_! A real rabbit?" gasped Sammy Pinkney.
"A poor little bunny?" murmured Tess, her tender heart at oncedisturbed at the thought of the trapped animal.
"Huh! If we are snowed up in that cave for a week or so," said the boycalled Rowdy, "you'll be mighty glad I caught this rabbit."
He had lifted the door and thrust in his left hand to seize theanimal.
"Oh! Oh!" squealed Dot. "Won't it bite you?"
"It doesn't bite with its hind legs," said Rowdy with scorn. "Ah! Igot him."
He drew forth the rabbit, kicking and squirming. The little mouse-likecry the poor beast made sounded very pitiful to Tess. She murmured:
"Oh, don't hurt him!"
"Je-ru-sa-_lem_!" exclaimed Sammy to Rowdy. "Ain't girls the worstever?"
"Huh!" said the strange boy, suddenly glaring at Sammy Pinkney, "whatdo you know about girls?"
He was a dark boy, with ragged black hair that had evidently beensheared off roughly by an amateur barber. He was dressed warmly and ingood clothes. He wore leggings that came up to his hips. He wasbigger, and must have been older than Sammy.
He stood up now, with the kicking rabbit held by the hind legs. Thetrapped animal was fat and was of good size.
"Oh! Oh!" cried Dot. "He'll get away from you."
"Like fun he will."
"How are you going to kill him?" Sammy, the practical, asked.
"Break its neck," was the prompt reply.
"Oh! How awful!" gasped Tess. "Won't it hurt him?"
"It won't know anything about it," said Rowdy.
He was already holding the rabbit away from him almost at arm's lengthand poised his right hand, edge out, for the blow that was to finishthe creature. Sharp and quick was the blow, the outer edge of theboy's hand striking across the back of the rabbit's neck just at thebase of the brain. The vertebra was snapped in this way and thecreature instantly killed--a merciful and sudden death. The rabbitkicked but once, and then was still.
"Oh! Oh!" murmured Tess.
"Oh, don't worry," said Rowdy. "Ike M'Graw showed me how to do that."
"Oh!" cried Dot. "_We_ know Mr. Ike M'Graw--so we do."
"How did you come to know him?" demanded Rowdy, quickly andsuspiciously, it seemed. "He isn't at home now."
"Yes, he is," said Sammy. "He was up at Red Deer Lodge last night andhe was there again this morning."
"Oh!" ejaculated Rowdy, standing and holding the rabbit as though theinformation gave him considerable mental disturbance. "I--I thoughthe'd gone away for good."
Then he turned suddenly and plunged into the drifting snow. "Come on!"he exclaimed again. "This snow is drifting awfully."
Sammy drove the little girls ahead of him again. "Aw, go on!" hemuttered. "He's all right. He's got some kind of a hide-out."
"I don't believe I like that Rowdy," said Tess softly. "He--he's realcruel. All boys are, I s'pose."
"They have to be," returned Sammy.
"Why?" demanded Tess, in wonder.
"Cause girls are such softies," declared the impolite Sammy.
They plunged ahead, wading far above their waists now. Behind thetrees the hillside rose abruptly. It towered so above their heads inthe snow that the children were almost scared. Suppose that hill ofsnow should tumble right down on top of them!
"Goodness!" exclaimed Tess, with some exasperation. "Where is your oldcave?"
"Come on," said Rowdy, patiently. "It's here somewhere. But the oldsnow--Ye-e--yi, yi!" he suddenly yelled.
Faintly there came an answering voice--half smothered, wholly eeriesounding.
"Oh! Who's that?" demanded Sammy.
"Him," said Rowdy shortly.
"Then don't you live alone?" Tess demanded.
"I have my brother with me," said Rowdy, plunging on to the right.
The snow beat into their faces and eyes, almost blinding them andwholly stopping their chatter. Above their heads the huge treesrocked, limbs writhing as though they were alive and in pain. And fromthese writhing limbs the snow was shaken down in avalanches.
One great blob of snow fell square on Sammy, trudging on behind theprocession, and he went down with a howl like a wolf, buried to hisears.
"Oh, Sammy! Sammy!" shrieked Tess, above the wind. "Are you hurt?"
"I--I'm smothered!" groaned the boy, struggling to get out of the heapof snow. "Hey, you Rowdy! Get us out of this, or we'll be buried andlost."
"Come on!" sang out the bigger boy from up ahead. "O-ee! Rafe!" heshouted.
A figure appeared before them--the figure of a boy not much biggerthan Rowdy.
"What have you there?" a hoarse voice demanded.
"A rabbit."
"I mean who are those behind you?" and the hoarse voice was very tartnow.
"A couple of girls and a boy," said Rowdy. "I picked 'em up back thereby the trap."
"Well! But we don't keep a hotel," said the second boy.
"Hush!" commanded Rowdy. "Where are your manners? And they come fromthe Lodge," he added.
"How are we going to feed so many people?" was the rather selfishdemand of the second boy from the cave.
"Mercy! you're a regular pig, Rafe," exclaimed Rowdy. "Go on. Takethis rabbit. I'll help the little girl. She's almost done for."
Dot Kenway really was breathless and almost exhausted. She was glad tobe taken in the strong arms of Rowdy. He staggered along behind theone called Rafe, and so came to an opening behind a bowlder whichseemed to have been rolled by nature against the hillside.
The hole was sheltered from the direct effect of the wind that wasdrifting the snow in a huge mound against the bowlder. Rafe, with therabbit, dived first into the hole. Rowdy followed, with Dot in hisarms.
"Oh! Oh!" cried the littlest girl with delight. "Here's a fire."
"Isn't that splendid?" demanded Tess, who came next and saw the blazeat the back of the cave, between two stones. "Why! what a nice caveyou've got here."
The fire lit up the cave, for it was only about a dozen feet square.Only, it was not really square, being of a circular shape at the back.The smoke from the fire rose straight up and disappeared through ahole in the low roof through which there must have been considerabledraught.
Of course, there was a strong smell of wood smoke in the cave; but notenough smoke to make one's eyes smart. There were some old blanketsand rugs on the floor for carpet. Against one side wall was a greatheap of balsam boughs, over which were flung robes.
When Sammy came staggering in with the sled he fairly shouted hisapproval of the cave.
"Je-ru-sa-_lem_! what a ji
m-dandy place. Say! I bet Neale O'Neil wouldlike to see this."
"Well, you needn't be bringing anybody here and showing it. This isour own particular hideout--Rowdy's and mine. So now," observed Rafe,who seemed to be less friendly than his brother.
"Oh, hush," pleaded the latter. "Do be hospitable, Rafe. Don't youknow these kids are our guests?"
"'Guests!'" snorted the other.
"Yes, they are."
"Oh, please don't quarrel about us," urged Tess Kenway gently. "We'llgo right away as soon as it stops snowing, and we'll never tellanybody about this cave if you don't want us to."
"Don't mind him," said Rowdy. "He's got a cold and a grouch. Come on,Rafe; help me pluck this rabbit."
"Oh, I'll do that!" cried the red-faced Sammy. "Let me!"
While the little girls were glad to sit before the fire on theblankets, he wished to make himself useful. Besides, to help skin areal rabbit was a height of delight to which Sammy Pinkney had neverbefore risen.
"All right," said Rowdy. "You get the potatoes and onions ready, Rafe.We have salt and pepper and we can have a nice rabbit stew."
"Just fry it," recommended the other cave dweller. "That's lesstrouble."
"You do as I say!" exclaimed Rowdy, sternly. "There are five of usinstead of two to eat, and we've got to make this rabbit go a longway."
"Well, who brought them in? I didn't," said Rafe, angrily. "You knewwe didn't have any too much to eat."
"You are a nice one!" began Rowdy, when Tess broke in with:
"I'm awful sorry we came if we are going to make trouble. We can goback under that tree--can't we, Sammy?"
"I'm not going back there," Dot said stubbornly. "There's no firethere. If this other boy doesn't like us because we are girls, can'the go out and live under the tree himself?"
This idea seemed to amuse Rowdy a good deal. He laughed aloud--and thelaugh did not sound just like a boy's laugh, either. Tess stared athim wonderingly.
"If Rafe's going to be so mean," he said, "he ought to be put out. Goahead and peel the potatoes and onions, Rafe."
"Sha'n't. That's girl's work," growled Rafe.
"Oh! If you've got a knife I'll peel them," said Tess. "I don't mind."
"All right," Rowdy said. "Give her the knife, Rafe. Put over the potwith some snow in it. The little girl can feed that till there is alot of water ready. We'll want some for tea."
"Don't want tea," growled Rafe. "I want coffee."
"Oh, stop that, Rafe, or I'll slap you good!" promised Rowdy, hisvexation finally boiling over. "I never saw such a boy. Come on here,Sammy. Hold this rabbit by the hind legs and I'll skin it in a jiffy."
With the help of a knife to start the rabbit's hide, Rowdy "plucked"the bunny very handily. It was drawn and cleaned, too, and soon Rowdywas disjointing it as one would a chicken, using a flat stone for abutcher block.
"It--it looks so much like a kitten," murmured Tess. "Do you supposeit is really good to eat?"
"You wait till you taste it," chuckled Rowdy, who seemed to be a verypractical boy indeed. "I'm going to make dumplings with it, too. Ihave flour and lard. We'll have a fine supper by and by. Then Rafewill feel better."
Rafe merely coughed and grunted. He seemed determined not to befriendly, or even pleasant.
Tess was an experienced potato peeler. She often helped Linda or Mrs.MacCall at home in Milton. In the matter of the onions she was quiteas successful, although she confessed that they made her cry.
"I don't see why onions act so," Dot said, wiping her own eyes. "Thereought to be some way of smothering 'em while you take their jacketsoff. Oh, Tess, that one squirted right into my face!"
"You'll have to take your face away from me, then," said her sister."I can't tell where the onion's going to squirt next. They are worsethan those clams we got down at Pleasant Cove, about squirting."
"Goodness' sake!" exclaimed Rowdy. "Clams and onions! Never heard themcompared before. Did you, Rafe?"
"Don't bother me," growled Rafe, from the bed where he had lain down.
Rowdy kept right on with his cooking. There being plenty of snowmelted, he put down the disjointed rabbit with a little water andpepper and salt to simmer. Later he put in the onions and thepotatoes. But they all had to simmer slowly for some time before thedumplings were made and put into the covered pot with the rabbit stew.
The children were all very hungry indeed (all save Rafe, the grouch)before Rowdy pronounced the stew ready to be eaten. By that time itwas late in the evening. It seemed to the younger children as thoughthey had been living in the cave already for a long, long time!