CHAPTER II.
HOW POOR TOBY WAS "RESCUED."
Of course the greatest excitement followed this announcement on the partof the old trapper.
Steve darted this way and that, fairly wild to do something; andBandy-legs, too, showed himself anxious to help. But, as usual, it wascool Max, assisted by Owen, who managed to light the two lanterns.
Steve pounced on the first one that was ready, true to his word.
"Come on, you slow pokes!" he exclaimed, making for the door; "why, ourpoor chum might be drowning for all we know, and us wasting time here."
"Oh, I reckon it ain't so bad as that," remarked Trapper Jim. "Hard todrown a tall boy in a three-foot deep crick. Besides, he's _up_ the windfrom here, while the water lies the other way. That's one reason none ofus heard him before."
They were all hurrying along by now. Bandy-legs, being a little timid,and not altogether liking the looks of the dark woods, had picked up thegun belonging to Max.
"My goodness!" he called out after the others, being in the rear of thelittle procession, "there's no telling how long poor old Toby might 'a'been letting out his whoops, and with that door shut we didn't hear him."
"Well, we can right now, all right!" called back Steve, who was runningneck and neck with the trapper, swinging his lighted lantern in such areckless, haphazard fashion that he was in momentary danger of smashingthe useful article against some tree.
They could all hear Toby calling very clearly now.
"Help! Oh, h-h-help!"
"One thing sure," Max remarked; "Toby hasn't tumbled down into a hollowtree stump! His yells sound too plain for that."
"Oh, shucks; forget it!" said Bandy-legs.
Some time before, while the boys were hunting for Bandy-legs, who hadbecome lost in a large swamp not twenty miles away from Carson, they hadfinally found him, caged fast inside a large hollow stump. He had climbedto the top of this to take an observation, when the rotten wood, givingway, had allowed him to fall inside.
It had been a bitter experience for Bandy-legs, and his chums nevermentioned it without him shivering, as memory again carried him back tothe hours of suffering he had spent in his woody prison.
As they advanced the cries grew louder:
"H-h-help! Boys, oh, b-b-boys, come q-q-quick! I can't h-h-hold on muchlonger!"
"Say, he must be away up in a tree!" exclaimed Steve.
"No, his voice sounds closer to the ground than that," declared Max.
"Tell you what," panted Bandy-legs from behind, "he's just gone and fellover some old cliff, that's what. You know how clumsy Toby is."
That sounded rather queer, since it was the speaker himself who hadalways been getting into scrapes because of this trait.
"Cliff!" snorted Steve, "like to know how anybody could ever fall up acliff. You mean a precipice, silly."
"Guess I do," admitted Bandy-legs, "but it's all the same. If you're ontop it's a precipice, and if you're down below--"
"Listen to him holler, would you?" interrupted Steve. "Hold on, Toby,we're coming as fast as we c'n sprint! Keep up a little longer! It's allright! Your pards are on the job!"
Max thought he saw Trapper Jim laughing about this time. From this heimagined the other must have guessed the true state of affairs, and thatpoor Toby could not be in such desperate straits as they believed.
The darkness was intense there under the trees.
Several times did impulsive Steve stumble over obstacles which in hiseagerness he had failed to notice.
Trapper Jim was doubtless sizing the various boys up by degrees, and longbefore now he had read most of their leading characteristics. But anyonewould be able to know the headstrong nature of Steve Dowdy, after beingin his company for an hour.
"Where are you, Toby, old fellow?" called Steve.
"H-h-here! L-l-lookout, or you'll f-f-fall over, too," came weakly from apoint just ahead of them.
"Oh, didn't I tell you?" shouted Bandy-legs. "It is a _precipice_ afterall, and p'r'aps an awful high one! Hold on, Toby, don't you dare letloose when we're right at hand."
Max had felt a thrill again at the prospect of such a peril threateningToby. But another look at Trapper Jim reassured him.
"Yes," said Jim, "be mighty careful how you step, boys. Get down on yourhands and knees and creep up here to the edge of the awful chasm. Now,hold the lanterns down, so we can all of us see."
Cautiously did the alarmed Steve do as he was told. Four pairs of eagereyes took in the situation. Amazement staggered the boys for the space often seconds. Then they burst out into loud laughter.
And no wonder.
Toby was hanging there all right, red of face from his long-continuedexertion, and looking appealingly up to his chums. He had caught hold ofa friendly stout root as he found himself going over, and to this heclung, digging his toes from time to time into the face of the"precipice," and in this way managing to sustain himself, though almostcompletely exhausted by the alarm and strain combined.
"Ain't you g-g-goin' to h-h-help me?" he gasped, amazed no doubt to hearhis heartless chums laughing at his misfortune.
"Let go, Toby!" cried Max.
"Yes, drop down and take a rest!" added Steve, who could enjoy a joke tothe utmost when it was on Toby, with whom he often had words; though allthe same they were quite fond of each other.
"W-w-want me to get s-s-smashed, d-d-don't you?" answered back theindignant boy, as he continued to clutch that root, as though he believedit to be the only thing between himself and destruction.
"Look down, you loon!" cried Steve. "Call that a big drop? Why, I declarethe ground ain't more'n six inches down below your feet! Shucks; did Iever hear the like!"
Toby did twist his neck the best he could and look. Then with a glad cryhe released his hold on the friendly root to fall in a heap.
"Let's get down to him," said Trapper Jim, "he must be pretty well usedup, I reckon. Perhaps he's been hangin' thar half an hour'n more."
"But whatever made him do such a silly thing?" asked Steve, as theyproceeded to go around the edge of the little "sink," led by the trapper,who knew every foot of ground.
"Well, I don't know that it was so queer after all," declared Jim; "yousee, when he fell over here in the dark, how was Toby to know whether hewas hanging over a precipice ten feet deep or a hundred? All he could dowas to keep hold of that root and holler for help."
"And he did that to beat the band," declared Owen.
"I guess it was all real to him," the trapper went on to say; "andchances are, when he heard the trickling of this little brook that runsthrough the sink here, he thought it was a river away below him. Oh, Ican feel for Toby all right. I once had an experience myself somethinglike his. But here we are down. How're you feeling, son?"
"P-p-pretty r-r-rocky," declared Toby, who was sitting up when theyreached him, and seemed to be trembling all over, as the result of thenervous strain to which he had been subjected.
"Don't blame you a bit," declared Max, who saw that the poor chap had intruth suffered considerably. "Lots of fellows would have thought the sameas you did, Toby. I might myself, if I'd slipped down that way in thedark. Here, grab hold with me, Steve, and we'll help Toby home."
"Anyhow," admitted Toby, as they put their arms about him, "I'm g-g-gladyou did c-c-come. R-r-reckon I'd f-f-fainted if I just had to letg-g-go."
"Rats! I don't believe it," scoffed the unbelieving Steve.
Once they reached the trapper's cabin, and came under the cheerfulinfluence of that crackling fire, even Toby's spirits rose again. He hadby this time recovered some of his usual grit, and could afford to laughwith the rest at his recent experience.
It was about as Trapper Jim suspected.
Toby had been tempted to follow the lame rabbit for some little distanceinto the woods. Finally, finding that he had gone pretty far, and withnight closing in rapidly all around him, the boy had started to return.
Becoming a little confused, he had stumbled one way and a
nother, and inthe end fallen over the edge of the shallow sink.
Throwing out his hands even as he felt himself falling, he had caughthold of the projecting root. Here he had hung, trying again and again toclimb up, but in vain; and quite sure that a terrible void lay beyond hisdangling legs.
At first Toby had been too alarmed to even think of calling for help. Butas time went by, and he realized the desperate nature of his predicament,he tried to shout.
This was never an easy task to the stuttering boy, and doubtless he madea sorry mess out of it.
But all's well that ends well. Toby had been gallantly rescued, and nowthe five chums were doing their level best to assist Trapper Jim preparesupper.
Would they ever forget the delights of that first meal under the roof ofthe forest cabin? Often had they partaken of a camp dinner, but neverbefore had it seemed to have the same flavor as this one did, surroundedas they were with those bunches of suggestive steel traps, the furs thattold of Jim's prowess in other days, and above all having the presenceof the grizzled trapper himself, a veritable storehouse of wonderfulinformation and thrilling experiences.
And after the meal was finished they made themselves as comfortable aseach could arrange it, using all Jim's furs in the bargain.
"Now, let's lay out the programme for to-morrow," suggested Max.
"Me to try for the first deer," spoke up Steve, quickly. "Squirrel stew,like we had for supper to-night, is all very well, but it ain't in thesame class with fresh venison. Yum, yum, my mouth fairly waters for it,boys!"
"Some like venison and some say gray nut-fed squirrels," remarked TrapperJim. "As for me, give me squirrel every time."
"But we ought to try and get one deer anyway, hadn't we?" Steve pleaded.
"Sure we will," replied the owner of the cabin, heartily, "and I hope itfalls to your gun, Steve, seeing you dote on venison so. But it might beto-morrow I'd like to set a few of my traps, and reckoned that some ofyou boys'd want to watch me do the job."
"That's right," cried Owen and Max together, their eyes fairly sparklingwith delight at the anticipated treat.
So they talked on, and Trapper Jim told lots of mighty interesting thingsas he smoked his old black pipe and sent curling wreaths of blue smoke upthe broad throat of the chimney.
"Wonder if the moon ain't up long before now?" remarked Steve, finally.
"Go and find out," suggested Bandy-legs.
Whereupon Steve arose, stretched his cramped legs, and, going over to thedoor, opened it. They saw him pass out, and as the trapper had started torelate another of his deeply interesting experiences the boys devotedtheir attention to him. But it was not three minutes later when Stevecame rushing into the cabin, his eyes filled with excitement, and hisvoice raised to almost a shout as he cried out:
"Wolves; a whole pack of 'em comin' tearin' mad this way!"