CHAPTER XIII.
UNSEEN PERILS THAT HOVERED NEAR.
Once Max had crept softly up to the side of the cabin and listened, withall his senses on the alert. If the unknown were asleep within, hesurely must have betrayed the fact by his labored breathing.
No sound, however slight, came to the alert ears of the boy from insidethe strange cabin; and from this fact he felt pretty positive that itmust be entirely empty at the time.
After that he moved back again and took up his old station, where theundergrowth would shelter him. He had picked out the place in thedaylight, and made sure it was not in the path one would naturally takewhen coming from the lower end of the island. When settling this matterMax had in mind the unpleasant nature of the meeting should the otherstumble upon him as he hid there waiting.
How slowly the minutes passed! To kill the time he began counting, asthough in imagination he could see the great pendulum of the grandfatherclock that stood in the hall at home, why even a minute seemedenormously long, and five of them an eternity.
Then he allowed his mind to roam back again to the camp, where his fourchums were at that minute. He was trying to picture the coming of theescaped convict in his striped suit, creeping up like a stealthy tiger,and quickly discovering the food that had been left there as a bait.
How eagerly would he pounce upon it, and then head back to the vicinityof the lonely cabin, around which clung such sad memories of thattragedy of the long ago, when the waters came up in the night, and tookthe whole Coombs family off to their death.
Once Max felt his nerves thrill with expectancy, as he caught a movementclose by. His hands involuntarily tightened on the stock of the gun hecarried, not to use upon the convict, but as a measure of precaution.
Listening intently, he felt sure that he could detect a slight creepingsound, as if some one, or some _thing_, were stealthily approaching thespot where he crouched, and held his very breath with suspense.
Surely this could not be a man making his way along. Such a burly figuremust make more noise than now reached him. Only a sleek animal couldpass from log to log with but a faint pat of feet; or it might be thebrushing of the bushes in its progress toward him.
But it was no small raccoon or mink that was slowly approaching, asthough bent upon finding out what manner of intruder lay in concealmentthere.
Facing the slight sounds Max waited, and watched, and listened. If hispulses were bounding much faster than their wont it was not surprising,for as yet he had not the slightest idea as to what might happen.
Should this, for instance, be one of the ferocious wild-cats for whichthe island had been famous long before Wesley Coombs ever dreamed ofsettling there, Max felt that he would hardly find himself in anenviable position; since the gloom under the trees must prevent him fromseeing how to aim with certainty.
Given daylight, and that faithful little gun, the boy would not havethought it anything terrible to face at close quarters the biggest andmost savage wild-cat ever known; for his charge of birdshot might becounted on to serve the purpose of a large bullet, and tear a hole inthe side of the beast.
It was far different at dead of night, and such a dark night at that.And Max, while he could hardly be said to have had very much experiencein that line, knew from hearing old Trapper Jim up in the North Woodstell stories that a wounded bobcat was one of the meanest things to runup against known to hunters.
The sounds kept on, and even became slightly plainer. This would surelyindicate that the animal must be drawing nearer in his cautious way.Perhaps it was only curiosity that urged him on. Max hoped so from thebottom of his boyish heart. He did not have any desire to find a savagedenizen of the wilds fastened on his back, clawing and tearing with thefury of a demon, while he himself would be almost helpless to get at hisenemy.
Max was determined on one thing. No matter about the escaped convict andtheir desire to capture him, self-preservation must stand first on thecalendar; and if he really found himself in a position where heanticipated an attack from the big cat, he meant to pour in the contentsof both barrels, and then take chances.
As he continued to watch, always in the one quarter, where the slightnoise indicated the presence of the creeping beast, Max saw somethingthat riveted his attention immediately. At first he thought it was aglowworm, or possibly a firefly that had not yet arisen from the lushgrass in which it lay concealed during the daytime.
Then, with a sudden shock, he realized what it was, for now there weretwo of the glowing spots, and close together. The cat had turned itshead slightly, exposing both eyes. Like the orbs of all creatures of thefeline species its eyes in the darkness glowed as though they were madeof phosphorus.
It was far from a pleasant sight. Small wonder that the boy's handstrembled a little as he raised his gun, so as to cover those twin spotsof yellow fire. He did not want to shoot, and only meant to do so as avery last resort; but since there was no telling what the treacherousbrute might attempt to do, Max felt that he must keep himself inreadiness every second of the time.
One thing brought him a little reassurance; so far as he could ascertainnow, the bobcat was no longer advancing. Doubtless it lay there,stretched out upon a convenient log, and intently watching the crouchingfigure among the bushes, which it undoubtedly recognized as belonging tothe hated, and also feared, human family.
Max stared as hard as he could straight back. He wanted it to understandthat he was not in the least afraid, for that was what would count mostwhen facing a wild beast.
A woman had been known to set a tiger in flight by opening her redparasol and rushing straight at him; while a bugler, about to bedevoured by a lion, frightened the animal away by waving his arms andblowing all sorts of weird notes on his instrument.
Another man Max had heard of, upon finding himself at the mercy of atiger, being utterly unarmed, was inspired to throw himself over, sothat he stood upon his hands, waving both feet in the air, and in thisposture advancing, finally dropping upon all fours, and still runningtoward the beast. Unable to understand what manner of creature this wasthe tiger slunk away.
For a space of perhaps five minutes, which to Max were like so manyhours, the curious bobcat remained there, watching him as a cat might amouse at play. Then the boy plainly heard the animal give a snarl as ofutter disgust, and the glowing orbs vanished; while he could hear thepat of velvet-shod feet as they landed on another log.
At any rate, the beast had withdrawn, much to the relief of the lad. Andagain he was free to take up his own business of watching for the returnof the occupant of the strange cabin on Catamount Island.
Another period of waiting, and Max again caught a slight sound. At firsthe feared that his former visitor, the bobcat, had returned with theintention of making a closer investigation; but, after listening, hebecame convinced that this was not the case.
Now it was a peculiar rustling among the dead leaves that lay under thetrees, no fire having ever swept across the island, at least for manyyears. The sound was really continuous, and could hardly be made by thepassage of any animal--mink, skunk, weasel, 'coon, 'possum or evenmuskrat.
Then it must be some sort of snake that was gliding along close by him.Again did the boy feel a sense of repulsion. He knew that it had longbeen said the island up the Big Sunflower was a nest of rattlesnakes,though so far none of them had seen even one of the scaly reptiles. Whatif this were one of the deadly species that was being attracted towardhis crouching form?
He could not refrain from making some movement, with the intention offrightening it away; and was immediately gratified by hearing the slightrustling pass off to one side, as though his ruse had been successful.
This was really getting monotonous, and he found himself wondering whenit might come to an end. What could be delaying the man? Had he, Max,miscalculated, so that the unknown party would not be apt to try toenter the camp until away toward morning? Or could it be that the boyswere sitting up unusually late?
Max hardly bel
ieved this latter was the case, since he had asked them toretire shortly after he left; and supposed that they would heed hiswishes in the matter, knowing how important it was to start thingsgoing.
So he finally concluded that the man himself was unduly cautious. Well,he had reason to be, if, as they now believed, he chanced to be anescaped prisoner, who had broken out from the penitentiary, and wastrying to elude recapture by hiding in this remote and unusual haunt.
But surely it could not be much longer. Why, it seemed to Max that hoursmust have elapsed since he parted from his chums, and started on thislittle private enterprise of his own. Much had happened to him in thattime, and he marveled to think how events could crowd upon each other'sheels, once they started.
There was that little adventure with Ted Shafter and his followers,whereby he had, by a clever ruse, sent the fellows hurrying back downthe river, and given them such a good scare that they would never againbother the campers on Catamount Island.
Then came the affair with the prowling bobcat; and Max would certainlynot soon forget the chilly sensation that held possession of him all thetime he could see those twin glowing yellow orbs fastened upon him.
And last, though far from least, had been that fear when he found reasonto believe a passing rattler was within half a dozen feet of him.
Could there be any further danger to be met? He knew of none, and hopednothing might occur to give him another thrill such as those that hadpassed. For while Max Hastings might be said to be a resolute lad, aboutas fearless as the ordinary boy of his years, perhaps more so, still hedid not yearn for excitement.
There was Steve now, who was quite another proposition; he just dearlyloved a racket, and was never so happy as when he felt that there was afight of some sort in prospect, he cared very little what its nature.
How much longer could he stand it? And was midnight far past? Max wouldhave given something for a chance to glance at the little nickel watchhe carried; but the flash of a lighted match might come just at a timeto ruin his carefully laid plans, and he declined to take the risk.
There was no striking clock in a church tower to tell him of the night,such as he was accustomed to at home; and Max was hardly woodsman enoughto be able to read the stars and know by that means.
The thought came to him with great force, however, as he lay therelooking up at the few stars he could see through the leafy canopyoverhead; and Max determined that henceforth he would place himself inposition to know just when certain bright stars might be expected torise above the eastern horizon each succeeding night or others set inthe west.
His long vigil was fated to come to an end at last, however. When theboy was almost ready to give up, and confess that sleep was masteringhis desire to accomplish things, he heard a sound again.
Ah, this time it could be neither the rustle of a cat's body through thefoliage nor the sinuous movements of a gliding snake along the ground.Closer it drew, and again did Max hold his breath with suspense; for nowhe knew beyond a doubt that a human being was approaching with hurriedsteps, and that the unknown headed toward the cabin, coming from downthe island, too!
Once Max allowed himself to suspect that it might be one of his chumstrying to find his place of concealment, and that something dreadfulmight have happened in camp that required his immediate presence. Thisthought, however, he immediately put aside as nonsense. It must be theinmate of the strange cabin who, having stolen the provisions, just asMax had expected he would, was now making a bee line for his retreatwith the intention of devouring the same!
Closer came the rushing sound, as of the passage of some large form. Maxhad, it seemed, been wise to choose his hiding place in a thicket, whereno one would think of going, for in this way he avoided contact with thestranger.
Directly past him Max saw a moving bulk go, and all he could make outwas that the other was a man of unusual proportions, a giant in fact.
Then he heard him come up against the wall of the cabin, give a grunt,grope around for the door, and pass within.
After which the sound of the door closing came agreeably to the ears ofthe boy.