CHAPTER XXI
RAINY DAY--THE KITCHEN AND FIRE--HUNTING THE OPOSSUM
It was fortunate for the young adventurers that they had executed sopromptly their intended work upon the tent, for though they had no heavywind, the rain poured down during the whole night; and when they arosenext morning, the sky was full of low scudding clouds, which promisedplenty of rain for all that day, and perhaps for days to come. But,though the tent was dry as a hay loft, there were several deficiencies.They had but a meagre supply of wood, and their kitchen fire was withouta shelter. The wind and rain were both chilly; and, it was plain, thatwithout somebody's getting wet they must content themselves with a coldbreakfast, and a shivering day.
"Why did we not think of this before?" Robert querulously asked.
"Simply because we had other things to think of," replied Harold. "Formy part, I am thankful that we have a dry tent."
"So am I," rejoined Robert, changing his tone. "But I should be stillmore thankful if we had a place where we could sit by the fire."
"Very likely, _now_ since we know from experience, how uncomfortable itis to be without. But I doubt if any of us would be half so thankful,were it not for being put to inconvenience. I recollect a case inpoint. My mother was once taken sick while we were travelling throughthe Indian nation. At that time the Indians were becoming hostile, andwe were every day expecting them to declare war. O, how troubled we allwere! I remember that every morning we made it a point to say howthankful we were for spending another night, without being scalped. Butafterwards, when we had returned home, and could spend our days andnights in peace, we forgot to be thankful at all."
Robert smiled at the naturalness of the description, and remarked,"Well, I think we shall be thankful now for a fire and shelter. Can wenot devise some way to have them?"
The result of this conference was, that in the course of an hour theyset up the boat-awning as a sort of kitchen, enclosed on three sides bythe remaining bed-sheets, and having a fire at the windward gable, nearwhich they sat very cosily on boxes and trunks brought from the tent.
Contrary to their expectation, the rain began to abate about noon, andlong before sunset the surface of the earth was so much dried, and thedrops left upon the trees and bushes so thoroughly exhaled or shaken offby a brisk wind, that the boys used the opportunity to bring in a supplyof wood and lightwood. The light-wood was very rich, and split intosuch beautiful torch pieces, that Harold was tempted to think of a kindof sport in which he had often engaged, and in which he was very fond."We have been pent up all day," said he to Robert; "suppose we changethe scene by taking a fire-hunt tonight."
"With all my heart," was the reply; "and I think no one will object toour having a fat roast pig for our Sunday's dinner."
"Probably not," Harold rejoined, "and I am still more in favour of theidea, for the reason that, as we take such game alive, we can keep it aslong as we will."
Their preparation for the excursion consisted simply in splitting anarmful of lightwood, which Harold tied into a bundle, to be readilyslung over the shoulders by a strap. In the midst of their preparationsFrank came up, and on learning their purpose, almost shouted for joy.He had so often heard Sam and William speak of the pleasure of their'possum hunts, that it had long been the height of his ambition, as asportsman, to engage in one; but for various reasons the convenient timehad never yet come.
"O, I am so glad!" he exclaimed, with a face lighted with pleasure; "youwill let me go, won't you?"
Here now was a dilemma. How could they refuse him? and yet how couldthey with propriety leave Mary with no other companion than poorbed-ridden Sam? The boys saw no alternative but to give up the hunt,until Robert proposed himself to stay with Mary, on condition that Frankshould carry the torch and light-wood, while Harold bore the ax and gun.But to their gratification, Frank, perceiving the difficulties of thecase, and ashamed to rob his brother of a place which he himself wasincompetent to fill, set the matter at rest, by saying:
"No, brother, I will not go tonight; I will wait and go with CousinHarold some time when Sam gets well. But you must give me the pigs whenyou come back, and let me feed them every day."
They praised him sincerely for his act of self-denial, and promised thathe should be no loser on account of it. Soon as it was dark they bidhim good-night, and departed. He stood in the tent door, happy in thethought of their pleasure, and watched the animated motions of boys anddogs, as the red light flashed upon the trees, and the whole partybecame gradually lost from sight in the forest.
The boys had not proceeded a half mile, before the quick sharp bark,first of Mum, then of Fidelle, gave indications of their having "treed"some kind of game. Hastening to the spot, they saw the dogs lookingeagerly up a slender, tall persimmon, and barking incessantly. For atime they could discover nothing in its branches, or on its body; andhad begun almost to conclude that (in hunter's phrase) their dogs had_lied_, when Harold took the torch, waved it to and fro behind him,walking thus around the tree, and keeping his eyes fixed on those placeswhere he supposed the opossum to be. Presently he cried out, "We havehim! I see his eyes! Mum, poor fellow," patting his head, "you neverlie, do you?" Mum wagged his expressive tail with great emphasis, asmuch as to say that he perfectly understood both the slander and therecantation, and that he now desired nothing but the privilege of givingthat 'possum a good shake. Robert also took the light, and holding itbehind him, saw amid a bunch of moss two small eyes glistening in thedark. The aim was so fair that the gun might have been used withcertainty, were it not against all hunting rule; an opossum must be_caught_, not killed. The boys plied their ax upon the yielding wood,the eyes of the now silent dogs being fixed alternately upon the gameabove and the work below. The tree cracked and toppled. Mum's earsstood perfectly erect; and ere the branches had time to sway back, fromtheir crash upon the ground, he was among them, growling at somethingupon which he had pounced. It was the opossum; and like all the rest ofits tribe when in the presence of an enemy, it seemed to be stone dead.They took it up by its scaly, rat-like tail, and again went on.
In the course of a short walk they took a second, and on their way back,a third. These were quite as many as they could conveniently carry; andtaking their captives home, they made them secure, by tying a forkedstick around the neck of each, on the plan of a pig-yoke. From themoment that these singular animals found themselves in the power oftheir enemies, they put on all the usual appearances of death; not amuscle twitched, nothing stirred or trembled; each limb was stiff, andeach eye closed; not even the growl or grip of the dogs was sufficientto disturb their perfect repose. Robert could scarcely persuade himselfthat they were not really dead. Harold laughed.
"They can stand the crash of a tree and the worrying of dogs," he said,after they were made secure; "but there is one thing which they cannotstand. See here!" and he poured a cupful of cold water on each. Theshock seemed to be electric. Each dead opossum was galvanized intolife, and pulled stoutly to break away from its wooden fetters. "Nowlet us to bed."