CHAPTER XXIX
THE HUNTERS' FEAST
"HEAD him off!" Roger called from the rear, while he made all haste tocome up, even though he had an empty and useless gun, and could not beof any assistance to his comrades.
The others had gauged the situation, and realized that their best movewas to follow directly after the animal, thus causing him to pushdeeper into the trap. The heavy fall of snow, that they had grumbled atso many times when struggling along knee-deep, now promised to be theirbest ally.
In this fashion they presently found themselves close upon thestruggling bull. Floundering there he could not make much headway, andat last in desperation the animal started to turn upon his pursuers.
They knew well what the result might be if they allowed the charge tobe carried out. One of them would be struck down by those wicked blackhorns that adorned the shaggy head; and, worst of all, the animal waslikely to escape, since Roger could do little or nothing to stay hisflight over the back trail.
"THE BUFFALO WAS JUST IN THE ACT OF TURNING WHEN THEFRONTIERSMAN FIRED"]
It had been arranged that Mayhew was to take the first shot, and theyhoped one would be sufficient, with the backing of knife and hatchet.The buffalo was just in the act of turning when the frontiersman fired,and in consequence Mayhew could hardly have asked for a better showing,since one flank was wholly exposed.
At the time the marksman could not have been more than fifteen feetaway, and a miss was out of the question. Mayhew had hunted these hugebison on numerous occasions, since he was one of those upon whom theexploring party depended for a regular supply of fresh meat.
This being the case, he knew exactly where to place his bullet in orderto get the best results. As a consequence no sooner had he dischargedhis gun, and drawn his hatchet in order to be prepared for the worst,than he saw the animal stagger and fall in his tracks.
A vital spot must have been reached by the missile that was driven bythat heavy charge of powder; for the long-barreled guns of the pioneerswere powerful in their execution.
When Roger saw the quarry struggling in the snow-drift hisexcitement became so great that he could not even shout, much as hefelt like so doing. Hurrying toward the spot, he fastened his hungryeyes upon the animal whose efforts to rise were becoming more and morefeeble.
Presently Mayhew, watching his chance, stepped briskly forward and withone well-aimed blow from the back of his hatchet finished the business.
"Hurrah!" gasped Roger, carried away by the importance of theirwell-earned victory.
No doubt delightful visions immediately began to flit through hisbrain, as in imagination he saw himself seated by a fire, and devouringration upon ration of savory buffalo meat.
"Remember your part of the transaction, Roger!" warned Dick, as, knifein hand, he prepared to cut up the game.
"That means a fire!" answered the other, excitedly. "Hand me over thefine stuff you said you had packed up, Dick. Oh! you can depend on meto get things going in a hurry. There's a spot close by where I sawplenty of wood. The snow was blown away somehow or other. Give me alittle time, and you will see smoke rising!"
Doubtless Roger had started scores, even hundreds, of fires in histime; but it is certain that he never entered into the task with alighter heart than on this particular occasion. His very soul seemedto be singing with joy as he hastily gathered up some of the wood mosteasily obtained, and then, picking a good spot, proceeded to use flintand steel with hopes of speedy results.
Finding that his very eagerness was delaying him, Roger called ahalt, took himself to task, and after that settled down grimly toaccomplishing his part of the proceedings without a hitch.
In a short time smoke began to curl upwards from his small beginning.Blowing the feeble blaze he quickly had it taking hold in earnest.The crackle and snap of the burning wood was music to the ears of thealmost delirious boy.
"The fire is ready, Dick!" he called out.
"Then come for some of the meat, and commence business," was thewelcome answer.
As there was nothing that Mayhew could do to assist in carving the deadbuffalo, he also was given various "hunks" of the meat, and presentlythe two sat there by the fire, attending to a dozen or more sticks, onthe ends of which their long-delayed meal was being slowly browned.
Never in all his life had Roger felt so frantic upon smelling theodor of cooking meat. It would have been just the same had their fareconsisted of venison, bear meat, or wild turkey; all he wanted wassomething to satisfy that terrible craving which was overpowering him.
It must be confessed that Roger, unable to stand the suspense andtemptation longer, snatched the first piece from its stick before itwas half-cooked, and commenced to devour it like a savage.
He seemed to enjoy it, too, which fact caused the guide to speedilyfollow his example and appropriate one of the sections for himself.
Dick, coming up just then with a further supply, first of all filledthe empty sticks with fresh portions, and then--well, Dick was justas hungry as either of his comrades, and there was really no sense inwaiting any longer, so he made it unanimous!
After they had taken the sharp edge off their ravenous hunger the pacewas not quite so swift. They were willing to wait until the meat wasfairly well cooked; and by degrees it was noticed that they even beganto slacken in their attack.
At length Dick laughed as he remarked:
"I think I have reached my limit, and, as I hardly want to be called aglutton, I mean to quit."
"One more piece will satisfy me--for a while at least," Roger confessed.
The guide also admitted that he believed he could contain no more.Although possibly at another time Roger might have complained about thefresh meat being tough, no one heard him utter a single word againstit on that occasion. It would be adding insult to injury to find faultwith something that had really been the means of saving their lives.
"While we have this fire," suggested Dick, "it would be a good idea tocook some more of the meat. We may not be able to start another blazelater on; the danger of being discovered and attacked might be toogreat. What do you think about it, Mayhew?"
"It is a sensible idea, I must say," came the immediate reply.
As that settled it, Dick went over and proceeded to do some more workwith his keen-edged blade. They meant to take considerable of themeat along with them at any rate; that much had been decided on longbefore. With but another shot left between starvation and themselves,they could not afford to be wasteful when good luck had thrown a chancelike this in their way.
Roger was quite a different sort of fellow, now that he no longerexperienced the tortures of an unappeased appetite. He could even lookhopefully into the future, and see glorious opportunities for carryingout their plan of campaign. As Dick had truly said, what they had doneonce could be accomplished again. Favored by the protecting hand ofProvidence, they must surely be able to get the better of that crueland scheming French trader.
The big lake where the river had its source could not be many milesaway from where they now stood. They would push steadily on, and, uponstriking its shores, ascertain where the Frenchmen had their camp.
"They must have a fire in such cold weather," Roger argued, and theothers agreed with him, glad to find that he was looking at matters socheerfully. "And fire makes some kind of smoke, so we ought to be ableto tell where it is. Then, when the night comes, we can creep up andset Jasper free."
How simple the program seemed now! The rocks heretofore appearingalmost unsurmountable diminished in size, and no longer stood as abarrier that could not be scaled. A full stomach nearly always makesone see things in a rosy light.
Finally it was decided they had cooked a sufficient supply of meat.The balance that they expected to carry with them was made up in smallpackages enclosed in portions of the buffalo hide and tied securelywith thongs.
As they were burdened with little save their guns, now almost uselessto them, these packages would not prove troublesome. Roger was
willingto load himself down with twice the amount, and bravely stagger underit all, rather than risk the chance of suffering again the misery hehad endured.
"You feel sure the lake lies to the east of us, Mayhew, do you not?"Roger asked the guide when they were ready to start, feeling ever somuch stronger, and able to push through the drifts where they could notbe skirted.
"Yes, everything points that way," he was assured by Mayhew. "Fromthe way that Frenchman pointed when he was talking to you both, Dickfigured that the lake was off in that direction. And then the crowsfly that way in the morning, and return again in the evening. That is apretty good sign, I take it."
Roger became interested at once. Here was something he had not thoughtof noticing, and consequently he wished for more information.
"Tell me why that should be so," he asked, as they started.
"These crows do not drift south in the winter time," explained thefrontiersman. "They stay up here, and, as they must find feed when theearth is covered under many feet of snow, they have learned that alongthe shore of the big lake they can get what they need--dead fish andall sorts of other things cast up by the waves."
"But what if the lake freezes over, as it may do in very hard winters?"Roger questioned.
"Oh, they would still find things to eat on the ice," returned Mayhew."Being an open stretch, the wind would keep the snow from settlingthere. But no matter, that is where they fly each morning; and you knowwhat hunters say about a direct line being as 'straight as the crowflies.'"
"Mayhew is right, Roger," said Dick, "and the chances are as ten to onethat we are heading straight for the big lake right now."
For some time they made steady progress. Possibly they covered as muchas two miles when the guide was suddenly observed to come to a fullstop. Both of the boys followed suit. They were not ten feet behindMayhew, so it was possible for them to exchange words with him in lowtones. Dick it was who found his voice first, for Roger grew so excitedhe became dumb for the time being.
"What is it, Mayhew?" asked Dick, half-elevating his gun, whichcontained the only charge of powder and lead they possessed, and undersuch conditions might be looked on as their sole means of defense incase of threatening peril.
"There are Injuns near by," came the answer. "I saw a feathered headrise above yonder bush; and, as I live, there are others on either sideof us. It looks as though we were surrounded!"