CHAPTER XXVII.
BRINGING DOWN TWO BEARS.
"Bears!" burst out Sam, and started back in alarm.
"Bears!" shrieked Jasper Grinder, and turned as pale as death. "Oh,somebody save me!" He wanted to run, but he was in such a tremble hecould not, and sank on his knees in the snow in terror.
Crack! It was the report of John Barrow's rifle, and one of the bearswas hit full in the left eye. Crack! went the piece Dick carried, andthe other bear was hit in the neck. Then Tom fired the shotgun which hadbeen found on Jasper Grinder, and the bear Dick had hit was wounded inthe side.
Of course there followed a terrible uproar, and in a twinkle both bearsleft the pile of rocks and came toward those who had wounded them. Theone that had been wounded in the eye was mortally hit, however, andstaggered in a heap before he had gone ten paces.
But the second bear was full of fight, and his course was directly forTom. Before the lad could run the beast was almost on top of him.
"Dodge him!" called out Dick. "Dodge him, Tom!"
"Shoot him, somebody!" yelled back Tom. "Shoot him, quick!"
And then he dodged behind some nearby brush. But the bear was almost asquick, and ran directly into the brushwood, to face him on the oppositeside.
By this time John Barrow had the rifle reloaded, and now he skirted thebrushwood, followed by Dick. Crack! went the rifle again, just as bruinwas about to pounce upon Tom. But the bullet merely clipped the hair onthe bear's back, and in a twinkle the beast was on Tom and had the laddown.
With his heart in his throat, Dick made a leap with the shotgun. Bang!went the piece, when he was not over three yards from the bear. Thecharge entered the beast's ear, and with a snort he rolled over and overin the snow, sending it flying in every direction.
Freed of the bear, Tom lost no time in scrambling to his feet. Soon thestruggles of the beast ceased, and they knew he was either dying ordead. To make sure, John Barrow stepped in, hunting knife in hand, andplunged the blade into his throat. Then the other bear was served in thesame fashion.
The fight had been of short duration, yet the peril had been extreme,and after it was over poor Tom found he could scarcely stand. Dick ledhim to a rock and set him down, asking him if he was hurt.
"I got a scratch on the arm, but I reckon it's not much," was the faintanswer. "But it was a close call, wasn't it?"
"Those bears must have been awfully hungry, or they wouldn't have put upsuch a fight," said the guide. "Their being at the cache proves theywanted food."
"Well, we've got the food now," returned Dick grimly. "We'll have allthe bear steaks and roasts anybody wants."
"Yes, and I can tell you a juicy steak will just be boss!" put in Samenthusiastically.
It was seen that Tom was hurt more than he cared to admit, and theothers lost no time in building a big camp-fire, that they might warmthemselves, while Dick took off his brother's coat, rolled up hisshirt-sleeves, and bandaged an ugly scratch with a bit of linen.
"You can help here," said John Barrow to Jasper Grinder. "I'll fix it asyour duty to keep the fire a-goin'. There is a hatchet and there is thebrushwood. Don't let the fire go down, or I'm afraid there won't beenough heat for cooking your supper." And the guide smiled grimly.
At this indirect threat Jasper Grinder scowled. But he did not dare tocomplain, and was soon at work cutting brushwood and dragging it to thespot.
"Gosh, but he's not used to hard work," was Sam's whispered comment."I'll wager he doesn't like that for a cent."
"It's time he was set to work doing something," answered Dick. "It willkeep him from getting into mischief."
As late as it was, and although all were tired out from their long walkthrough the deep snow, they found it necessary to construct some shelterfor the night. The guide located a number of cedars growing closetogether, and this spot was cleaned out and made as comfortable ascircumstances permitted. The fire was shoved over to the new location,and then John Barrow cut up one of the bears and procured a big juicysteak for supper. It is needless to say that all enjoyed the treat setbefore them, even Jasper Grinder eating his full share.
"We'll hang the meat up on a tree," said John Barrow. "If we don't somehungry foxes or other wild animals will surely be after it." Andprocuring the necessary ropes, he flung them over some limbs and allhauled the carcasses up, Tom, of course, being excused from the task,because of his wounded arm.
The wind had gone down, and when all retired within the shelter not asound but the merry crackling of the fire broke the stillness aroundthem. In front of the camp was a long stretch of the pond, now thicklycovered with snow; in the rear a slope of a mountain, rock-ribbed andcovered with cedars and hemlock. To the left was located one of thebranches of the river and a hundred yards distant was a second branch.
At first John Barrow had thought to set a guard for the night, but asthe spot seemed free from danger for the time being, this was dispensedwith, and all went to bed, to sleep soundly until sunrise.
"And now for the treasure hunt!" cried Sam, who was among the first toawaken. "It's just a perfect day, and we ought to accomplish a gooddeal, if we set to work right after breakfast."
He talked freely, for Jasper Grinder was still asleep--snoring lustilyin a corner of the shelter. John Barrow was already outside, boilingcoffee, broiling another bear steak, and preparing a pot of beans forcooking. He had likewise set some bread for raising.
"Goin' to give you a breakfast as is a breakfast," said the guide; witha broad smile. "Reckon all of you are ready for it, eh?"
"I am," said Dick. "Phew! but this mountain air does give one atremendous appetite!"
While Jasper Grinder still slept Dick brought forth the precious mapand studied the description, and also the translation of the French textinto English, which Randolph Rover had made for them.
"'To find the box of silver and gold, go to where Bear Pond empties intoPerch River,'" he read. "Well, we are at this spot, or, at least, at oneof the spots. It may mean this branch, and it may mean one of severalothers."
"We can try one branch after another," put in Sam. "Go on with thedescription."
"'Ten paces to the west is a large pine tree which was once struck bylightning,'" continued Dick. He looked around. "I don't see any treelike that around here."
"You must remember, my lad, that that writin' was put down years ago,"said John Barrow. "More'n likely if the tree was struck an' blasted,it's fallen long ago, and the spring freshets carried it down theriver."
"That's true," said Sam, with a falling look. "But, anyway, we ought tobe able to locate the stump."
"Yes, we ought to be able to do that."
"I'm going to locate it now," cried Sam, and stalked off to where thepond emptied into the stream. From this spot he stalked ten paceswestward, and of a sudden disappeared from view.
"Help!" he cried.
"Hullo, Sam's disappeared!" cried Dick, and ran toward the spot.
"Look out!" sang out John Barrow. "There may be a nasty hole there!"
Nevertheless, he too went forward, and they soon beheld Sam flounderingin snow up to his neck. He had stepped into a hollow between the rocks,and it took him some time to extricate himself from the unpleasantposition.
"Oh, my, what a bath!" he exclaimed ruefully, as he tried to get thesnow from out of his collar and his coat-sleeves. "I--I didn't think ofa pitfall like that!"
"You want to be careful how you journey around here," cautioned JohnBarrow. "If that hollow had been twice as deep the snow might havesmothered you to death."
"I will be careful," answered Sam. "I don't want any more snow down myback and up my coat-sleeves," and he hurried back to the camp-fire towarm himself.
By this time Tom was outside, and he was followed by Jasper Grinder, andpresently all sat down close to the blaze to enjoy the generousbreakfast the guide had provided. Tom said that his arm was a littlestiff, but that otherwise he felt as well as ever.