CHAPTER XXXII.
THE TERROR IN THE AIR.
"Do obsarve where the trail comes down to that big bowl?" asked Terry,pointing to the huge, circular cavity below them.
"Of course."
"Well, that's a mistake; _that isn't the right trail_."
Fred turned about, and jumped and ran back to the Devil's Punch Bowl, ata rate that threatened his neck. Stooping over, he carefully examinedthe path. He saw that his companion was right; the trail which they hadfollowed to the edge of the stream was one that had been worn by animalsin coming to and going from the Punch Bowl. You will admit that nobetter punch in the wide world could be furnished the dumb beasts thanthat which was thus freely given to them.
As if to confirm that which did not need confirming, a large buck atthat moment appeared in the path, within a hundred feet of where Fredhad straightened up, after examining the trail. He threw up his head oncatching sight of the young hunter, gave one quick, inquiring stare andthen whirled about and was off like a flash.
Fred Linden could have brought him down at the moment he wheeled had hechosen to do so, but he recalled his own proposition to Terry some timebefore, about firing such a shot. Indeed, since they had some of thecooked buffalo steak left, there was no call to use any more ammunitionfor game.
Terry Clark came laughing down the rocks, looking upon the wholebusiness as one of the funniest of incidents, but to Fred it was anything but a laughing matter. Time was becoming of the utmost value, andthis divergence from the trail meant delay--a delay, too, whose lengthcould not be guessed. If they had turned aside several miles back, itwas more than likely that they would lose all the advantage gained bythe laborious travel of the night before.
"How could we have made such a blunder?" asked Fred, his eyes wanderingback over the path, as though searching for an explanation of themistake; "I suppose at the point where the trails cross the directionisn't changed much and this is more distinct than the other. Terry, Ican't see any thing about this to laugh at."
"I don't obsarve much of the same mesilf," said the other, whose facenevertheless was on abroad grin; "I wasn't laughing at yersilf, or themistake we made."
"What was it then that amused you so much?"
"I was thinkin' how funny it looked to see the deer and bears andbuffaloes and foxes and panthers all standing round that big bowl andwinkin' at each ither while they drank their health."
"Terry, there's going to be trouble because of this blunder."
"What do ye signify be the same?"
"I believe that all the advantage we gained by traveling so hard lastnight is lost. When we follow this trail back until it reaches the mainone, more than likely we shall meet the Winnebagos at that point, ifthey will not actually be between us and the camp in the Ozarks."
"I'm afeard it's not all a falsehood that ye are telling me," saidTerry, with an expression in which there was nothing like a jest.
"Let's be off then."
At this juncture the Irish lad made a proposition which his companionaccepted, for he thought it promised them much saving in time andtravel.
It was quite certain that the false trail followed pretty much the samedirection as the true one: at any rate there could be no doubt that itcrossed the stream which had stopped them, so instead of picking theirway back for several miles, they decided to keep along the edge of thewater itself until they struck the path.
To make sure of avoiding another blunder, one should have gone up andthe other down stream, for manifestly they could not be certain theywere above or below the true path; but each felt too strong a misgivingabout such a course. Their surroundings required mutual support.
Beside this, they were convinced that the trail which they wished torecover lay above instead of below, so that, when making their way theywere not held back by any doubt, though each could not fail to see thatit was only a piece of guess-work.
Fortunately for their peace of mind, they were right, and the plan savedthem much time and travel. They had not gone very far, when they cameupon the path, marked so distinctly that there could be no possiblemistake.
The width of the stream was about the same as below. The water wassmooth, deep, clear and sluggish. The bank sloped gently down from eachside and on the other shore were plainly seen the prints of the hoofswhere the animals had left the water. It was so deep that whoever wentover there had done so by floating or swimming.
The crossing was so far above the point where the cascades began, thatnothing was to be feared from them. The clumsiest raft could be ferriedover by a child before it would drift into danger, while in case ofswimming, the peril was still less.
"If it wasn't so chilly," said Fred, "I would propose that we swim thestream."
Terry shivered and shook his head.
"We must go over on a raft; it is not only cowld, but is gittin'cowlder."
"There's a storm brewing; it looks as black as ink off yonder."
At this moment the boys made a discovery which both pleased and alarmedthem. Such a float as they needed was at their call. There lay a halfdozen logs and trees fastened together by several withes, and withenough buoyancy to bear them to the other side. Even the pole to be usedin propulsion lay upon the heavy timbers that were pulled just farenough against the bank to prevent them floating off with the current.
While it was pleasant to know that they would not have to go through thelabor of constructing any thing of the kind, yet there was a cause forfear in the presence of the structure which led them to hesitate severalminutes before using it.
It proved that some one had crossed from the other side upon it, whilethe withes were so white and fresh at the angles, where they weretwisted open, as to show that the raft had been made but a short time.
The natural question was as to who could have been coming from the otherway.
"I know," said Terry, compressing his lips and shaking his head.
"Who?"
"Winnebagos; they're so plintiful that it couldn't have been any oneilse, for they wouldn't have had a chance."
"I suppose you are right," remarked Fred thoughtfully, "for they do seemto be almost everywhere, though I can't understand why they should becoming this way."
"Suppose there was but one of the spalpeens, and he'd been out on ascout, and was on his way back to the rist of the spalpeens with thenews, would it be onraisonable to think he would take a little pains tokaap his leggins and moccasins from gittin' damp enough to give himcowld?"
"Well, I can think of no better reason than that, and am willing tobelieve it is correct, but don't you see, Terry, that all this goes toprove that we have lost a dangerous amount of time? We ought to havebeen many miles further on the road than we are."
"The buffalo bull had a good deal to do with our impolite tarryin', andas he is slaapin' with his four mithers, I maan his forefathers, let himrist in pace."
The boys did not allow their words to delay their hands. The raft wasshoved clear, and the two took their positions upon it, Fred holding thepole, while his companion looked after the guns. They were astonished tofind, directly after leaving land, that the pole, which was nearlytwenty feet in length, would not reach bottom.
This compelled them to use it as a paddle. The progress was slow, butthe distance was so slight that it did not take them long to reach theother bank, where they set the structure adrift, so that it could not beused by any one else.
Looking directly up stream, where the sky was in plain sight, itsblackness startled even the boys, who were used to seeing the mostviolent changes of temperature. The hue was not of the dark blue whichoften gives warning of the coming tempest, but there was a greenishtinge to the blackness that would have awed any one.
While they looked, a zigzag ribbon of flame fluttered across thedarkened portion, accompanied by a crash that seemed to shiver theearth. Fred Linden, who happened to be staring straight at the fieryburst, saw the upper part of a large cypress that leaned over the water,leap from the trunk as though it
had been sawn short off and flung intothe water.
It was all ablaze, and, falling upright into the current, kept itsequilibrium, that is, it did not fall to any side, but swept slowlydownward as upright as when on the tree, and suggested that some giantas big as the Statue of Liberty was walking beneath, with an enormoustorch held above his head to light his path.
"Did ye iver see the like?" asked Terry.
"No; it is wonderful."
"Did ye iver see the like?" asked Terry.]
Although it was about mid-day, the heavens were so overcast that thegloom was like night itself. At the same time the darkness had a ghastlytinge which made the faces of the boys, when they looked at each other,livid and unearthly.
The scene was so impressive that they stood motionless, watching theflaming tree and the inky heavens beyond. Suddenly in the sky they saw afigure that resembled a vast balloon slightly inclined to one side, andspinning on its axis with inconceivable swiftness.
At the bottom the snout-like appendage wavered off to one side as thoughthe amazing velocity of the upper part was twisting it loose. A similarformation appeared a few minutes after a short distance behind.
And now began the most extraordinary exhibition of all. Imagine twowhirling balloons, a hundred feet in height, and so black that theystood out from the surrounding gloom, showing like pitch against thedimly lit sky behind. They began a witches' waltz in the firmament,sometimes leaning far backward, then dancing forward, as if salutingeach other, then "balancing," then dancing up and down, then so far awayfrom each other that one would pass out of the field of vision, soon toreappear, however. At times they seemed as if about to rush into eachother's arms, and then they coquetted away again and resumed the weirddance in the skies.
You understand that I am trying to describe one of those terriblevisitations of the west known as a cyclone. Little was heard of them acentury ago, and the balloon to which I have compared the form of theghostly dancers, was unknown to the lads, who watched the exhibitionwith an interest that was not turned into terror, as it would have beento-day, by the knowledge of the awful power for death and destructionthat lies within that concentration of electricity in its most fatefulform.
It seemed a long time that this strange scene lasted, though it couldnot have been many seconds. Suddenly, while the balloon-like forms weresaluting each other, they rushed together. There was no shockperceivable when they met, but there were vivid flashes from within themurky folds, as the heat lightning sometimes plays among the clouds atthe close of a warm day.
Having met, the forms engaged in a wrestling bout. Round and round theyspun with the same bewildering swiftness, leaning far to one side, asthough about to fall, and all the time whirling with such speed on theone spiral leg that it seemed unable to keep pace with the bulkier partabove.