CHAPTER XX.
BEAR POND AT LAST.
It was indeed a moment of supreme peril, and Dick felt very much as ifhis last moment on earth had come. He put out his hands mechanically andgrabbed the wildcat by the throat, but his grip was poor and the beastshook itself clear with ease.
It was now that John Barrow showed himself to be a master of quickresources. To fire his rifle at the wildcat would have meant taking therisk of hitting Dick, and this the guide thought too perilous. Leapingto the fire, he caught up a long, burning brand and rushed at the beastwith this.
To have a part of the fire thrust directly into its eyes was more thanthe beast had bargained for, and as soon as it felt the flame it gave acry of alarm and fell back. As it did this Dick leaped to his feet andsprang several feet away.
DICK AND THE WILDCAT._Rover Boys and the Mountains_.]
John Barrow was now free to shoot, and hurling the firebrand at thewildcat, he caught up his rifle and blazed away in short order. Thewildcat had turned to retreat, but the guide was too quick for it, anddown went the beast with a shot through its head. It gave a shudder ortwo, and then stretched out, dead.
"Is he--he dead?" panted Dick, when he felt able to speak.
"Reckon so," responded John Barrow. "But I'll make sure." And catchingup a club, he aimed a blow which crushed the animal's skull.
"That was a narrow escape," went on Dick. "If you hadn't come to my aid,I'm afraid he would have done me up." And he shivered from head to foot.
"You want to be careful how you attack wildcats around here, lad. Itaint likely they'll tech you, if you don't tech them. But if you do,why, look out, that's all."
"Do you think he would have sneaked off with the turkey? I was thinkingfirst he would attack you."
"Reckon he was after the game, and nuthin' more, Dick. He must have beenpowerful hungry, or he wouldn't have come so close to us. He's a puttybig fellow," went on the guide, as he dragged the carcass closer to thefirelight.
The fire was burning low, and Dick lost no time in heaping on some ofthe newly cut brushwood, and then he reloaded and the guide did thesame.
"Might have a mate around," suggested John Barrow. "We had better keepour eyes peeled, or we may be surprised. Wonder what time it is?"
By consulting a watch they found it was just midnight. After theexcitement Dick felt quite sleepy, and inside of half an hour hefollowed the guide's advice and laid down to rest--not under the tree,however, but as close to the camp-fire as safety permitted.
Dick had requested John Barrow to call him in three hours, so that theguide might get a little more sleep, but the youth was allowed toslumber until he aroused of his own accord, just as day was breaking.
"Hullo, I've slept all night!" he exclaimed, leaping up with somethingof a hurt look. "Why didn't you call me?"
"I thought as how you needed the rest," was the answer from the guide.
"Aren't you sleepy?"
"Not very. A sleep early in the night generally does me more good norhours o' it later on."
"You haven't seen or heard anything of Tom or Sam?"
"Nary sight or sound, lad. It's too bad, but don't worry too much."
"They couldn't have seen the firelight," returned Dick, with a sorryshake of his head. "It beats all where they went to, doesn't it?"
"I've been a-thinking that maybe they went on ahead, Dick."
"Ahead? That they somehow passed us?"
"Yes; while we were lookin' for 'em. They may be up at B'ar Pond now,waitin' for us."
"Do you advise going up there?"
"We might as well. We can put up a post here, with a message for 'em--incase they do come this way."
"That's an idea, and we can put up other posts, too. Then, if theystrike our trail, they'll be sure to go straight in following us." AndDick's face brightened a bit.
John Barrow was already preparing breakfast, and he agreed with Dick toleave some cooked meat in a cloth tied to the top of the pole the youtherected not far from the fire. On the cloth they pinned a note, tellingof the direction to Bear Pond, and asking Tom and Sam to follow and firetwo shots, a minute apart, as a signal.
It was a clear day and the sun, shining over the mountain tops, made thesnow and ice glitter like pearls and diamonds. There was no wind, so thejourney toward Bear Pond was far from unpleasant. They moved slowly,dragging the sled behind them, and searching to the right and the leftfor some trace of the missing Rovers.
"I don't believe they came up here," said Dick after half the distanceto the pond had been covered, "I don't see the least trace of any humanbeing, although I've seen the footprints of several wild animals."
"The wind might have covered the tracks during the night," was JohnBarrow's hopeful response.
"I'd rather lose the treasure, even if it is worth thousands, than haveanything happen to Sam and Tom."
Just before noon they came to a point in the river where it divided intoseveral branches.
"We'll stop here and put up another sign pole," said the guide."Remember what I said? All these streams run into the pond and intoPerch River. Now, which one you want, at tudder end, I don't know."
"Which is the largest branch?"
"Can't say, exactly. This one an' the one yonder are about the samesize, and that one aint much smaller."
"Well, which do you suppose was the largest years ago?"
"Can't say that neither, although that one yonder might have been, bythe looks o' the banks."
"Then let us start on that one. And if that fails us, we can then trythe others."
They skated to the stream in question and erected a pole in the middleof the ice, upon which a second note was posted. Having gone to thetrouble of chopping a hole for the pole, John Barrow suggested theymight try their hand at fishing.
"Might as well stay here a while," he said. "If they are behind us, theymay catch up."
Dick was willing, and soon a line was baited and let down into the hole.It was in the water only a few seconds when the guide felt a bite anddrew up a fine fish, weighing at least half a pound.
Dick was anxious to try it, and took the line from John Barrow's hands.He was equally successful, and in a short while they had seven fish totheir credit, weighing from a quarter to three-quarters of a poundapiece.
"I'm going to tie a fish to the top of the pole," said Dick. "They maybe hungry when they get here, especially if they miss the pole at ourlast camping place."
"They won't want to eat raw fish, lad."
"No, and I'm going to put a few matches in a paper and tie it to thefish, so they can cook it, if they wish."
Dick's idea was followed out, and once more they went on, up a narrowstream which had many a turn among the cedar brakes and hemlocks whichlined either side. Rocks were likewise numerous, and the lad came to theconclusion that locating the treasure was going to be no easy task.
"It's rather desolate," he remarked. "I wonder what ever possessed thatold Goupert to come here?"
"It's not so desolate in the summer time, Dick. But I reckon Goupert wasa mighty odd stick, as it was."
At last they rounded a turn in the stream and came in sight of BearPond, a long and wide stretch of water located in the very midst of twotall mountains. The pond was covered with thick ice, and the snow layupon it in long drifts and ridges. The ice was blackish and almost ashard as flint.
"We may as well go into camp near the mouth of this stream," said Dick."For from this spot we'll make our first hunt for the treasure."
"I hope with all my heart that you find it, lad. But if you don't, don'tbe too disappointed."
"I want to find Sam and Tom first. I shan't hunt for the treasure untilI know of them."
"That's right. We'll go on a hunt this afternoon, jest as soon as we'vehad some of these fish broiled for dinner."
If there was one thing which John Barrow could do to perfection, it wasto broil fish, and the meal he set before Dick half an hour later was soappetizing the lad could not help enjoy
it, in spite of his anxiety overhis brothers' prolonged absence. The fish was as sweet as a nut, andboth lingered some time over the meal, until all that had been broiledwere gone.
"And now to find Tom and Sam," said Dick, at last, as he leaped up fromthe log upon which he had been sitting. "What shall we do with ourthings?"
"Here is a hole in the rocks," answered the guide. "We'll hide themthere and cover them with stones. I don't think anything will disturbthe things between now and nightfall."
The stores were placed in the cache and carefully covered, so that thewild animals might not get at them, and then they saw to it that theirfirearms were ready for use. A minute later they were off, on the huntfor Tom and Sam.