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FILLED WITH MAD RAGE, HE WAS GALLOPING STRAIGHT TOWARD THEM!--_Frontispiece_.--_Page 66_]
THE OUTDOOR CHUMS AFTER BIG GAME
OR
Perilous Adventures in the Wilderness
BY
CAPTAIN QUINCY ALLEN
AUTHOR OF "THE OUTDOOR CHUMS,""THE OUTDOOR CHUMS ON THE LAKE," ETC.
_ILLUSTRATED_
NEW YORKGROSSET & DUNLAPPUBLISHERS
THE OUTDOOR CHUMS SERIES
BY CAPTAIN QUINCY ALLEN
THE OUTDOOR CHUMS Or The First Tour of the Rod, Gun and Camera Club
THE OUTDOOR CHUMS ON THE LAKE Or Lively Adventures on Wildcat Island
THE OUTDOOR CHUMS IN THE FOREST Or Laying the Ghost of Oak Ridge
THE OUTDOOR CHUMS ON THE GULF Or Rescuing the Lost Balloonists
THE OUTDOOR CHUMS AFTER BIG GAME Or Perilous Adventures in the Wilderness
_12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. Price, per volume, 50 cents postpaid._
GROSSET & DUNLAP PUBLISHERS NEW YORK
COPYRIGHT, 1911, BY GROSSET & DUNLAP _The Outdoor Chums After Big Game_
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE I GLORIOUS NEWS 1 II THE MOTORCYCLE THIEVES 14 III HOMEWARD BOUND BY MOONLIGHT 22 IV STARTING HANK RIGHT 31 V WESTWARD BOUND 40 VI AT THE VALLEY RANCH 49 VII THE GRIZZLY AT BAY 60 VIII BLUFF MISSES SOMETHING 67 IX FRANK HAS HIS TURN 76 X THE YOUNG HUNTER AND THE ELK 87 XI THE ELK AND THE YOUNG HUNTER 96 XII HARD LUCK 105 XIII AN INVADER IN CAMP 116 XIV THE COWBOY GUIDE 125 XV IN THE RAPIDS 134 XVI THE NEW CAMP 143 XVII AT THE CAMPFIRE OF THE CREES 153 XVIII AN INVITATION TO COME OUT 162 XIX A STRANGE DISCLOSURE 173 XX "WE MUST CUT AND RUN FOR IT!" 182 XXI NEVER GIVE UP 191 XXII THE WAR OF THE ELEMENTS 198 XXIII THE STAMPEDE 206 XXIV A MYSTERY SOLVED 215 XXV HOME AGAIN--CONCLUSION 225
THE OUTDOOR CHUMS AFTER BIG GAME
CHAPTER I
GLORIOUS NEWS
"Hello, there, _Red Rover_! Come alongside!"
"What's the row, fellows? This dandy breeze is too good to be wastedloafing."
"Frank's coming in the _Jupiter_, and coming like a streak!"
"Yes, and more than that, Bluff, he waves his hat as though he had greatnews!"
Will Milton and Jerry Wallington sat in the double canoe, that withflapping sails pointed its stem into the wind; while their chum, RichardMasters, known among all his schoolmates as Bluff, manipulated thedainty fifteen-foot cedar craft in which he had been speeding over thesurface of Camalot Lake.
Another midget boat, constructed on the same lines as that in whichBluff was seated, came flying down before the wind, and presentlybrought up alongside the other craft.
It contained a single young fellow, upon whose frank and open facerested a broad smile that seemed to prophesy pleasing news.
"What makes you look so happy, Frank? Evidently you've heard that yourexamination papers were up to the standard, and it's college next yearfor yours," remarked Bluff with eagerness, and, it must be confessed, atinge of envy in his quivering voice.
"Right for you! But that is only the beginning of my news!" cried FrankLangdon as he reached out and caught Jerry by the arm.
"Am I in it?" demanded that worthy, seeming to catch his breath.
"Well, I should say you were, and with even better honors than poor me.Now, the rest of you fellows, don't look that way. It's all right, Itell you," went on the bearer of news, trying to control his own voice,but succeeding only a little better than Jerry.
"Say! do you mean it? Did Bluff and I get through, after all?" exclaimedWill.
Frank nodded his head enthusiastically.
"Careful, now, you wild Indians! Just remember that you're in canoesthat can be upset easily, and unless you want a ducking out in themiddle of the lake, restrain your enthusiasm a bit, please. It isn't theeasiest thing in the world, climbing over the stern of a canoe with allyour clothes on," he warned them.
"But is it really true?" pleaded Will. "Have I crawled through decently?Well, I'm glad; not only because it will keep four chums together awhile longer, in college, but my mother has set her heart on this thing.Yes, I'm mighty well pleased."
Will's mother was a rich widow, and as he had only a twin sister,Violet, for whom Frank entertained a pronounced liking, the two weremore than ordinarily dear to Mrs. Milton.
"Well, fellows, let's give one mighty cheer because of our goodfortune," said Jerry, his face beaming with delight; for the chums werevery fond of each other, and had a single one been left behind on thefollowing year, when the college term opened, there would have been manya keen regret.
"Hip, hip, hurrah! Hurrah! hurrah! Tiger!"
No doubt, many persons ashore, who heard that lusty shout come ringingover the clear water of the beautiful little lake on which the town ofCenterville was located, wondered what the burst of enthusiasm meant.
But then they knew these four boys were built along the right lines,and that while they loved the whole outdoors, with its attendantexciting times, never had they been known to indulge in mean pranks.
After the cheer had died away there was a shaking of hands all around.
"Fellows, it begins to look as though our great trip to the Gulf ofMexico last winter might not be our last grand outing, after all. Youknow what our parents promised us if we went through all right?"
"Hear! hear! Frank has the floor!" cried Jerry.
"We were to have our choice of an extended tour through Yellowstone Parkto California, and return by way of the Canadian Rockies; or a grandhunt in the wilderness, wherever we chose to take it. That was the idea,wasn't it?" went on the happy occupant of the _Jupiter_.
"Talk to me about your personally conducted tours all you please,nothing appeals to me like a real old hunt in the Great West," saidJerry ecstatically. "Haven't I just longed for a chance to look at a bigelk in his native wilds, for years? And the thought of a grizzly bearsends a thrill of pleasure through me."
"And as for me, haven't I lain awake nights without number thinkingabout what bliss it would be to actually snap off a few pictures ofthose same animals right where they live? How tame to go to a menagerieand get a photo of a poor old bear behind the bars, when a fellow has achance to take him in the open!"
Of course it was Will who made this remark. He was the officialphotographer of the Rod, Gun and Camera Club, as our four boy friendscalled themselves, and his ambition to secure striking scenes, with wildgame in the center of the stage, had already led him into quite a fewscrapes, just as it would again when the opportunity presented itself.
"But what I have told you isn't quite all," remarked Frank presently,when the chatter of voices allowed him a chance to get in a few wordsedgewise.
"What else have you got up your sleeve?" demanded Bluff.
"Yes, confess everything, and perhaps we'll forgive you," came fromWill.
"Well, I've had a letter." And Frank held something up.
"From that old side partner of Jesse Wilcox, the trapper whose camp weused to visit during our fall hunt?" cried Jerry.
> Frank nodded his head.
"And what does he say? Hurry up, and tell. Can't you see that Bluff,here, will be overboard? He's leaning so far over the side that thewater is ready to pour in over the gunwale. Will Martin Mabie take usout?" asked Jerry.
"He says he will be glad to do so, for old friendship's sake. I'm towire when to expect us, and leave the rest to him," Frank explained.
"I hope he has told you what we are to fetch along. We've done somehunting, fellows, in our time, but that sort of thing, with big game inprospect, calls for heavier gear. None of your repeating shotguns needapply this trip, Bluff, you understand?"
Jerry could never become wholly reconciled to the modern gun Bluffowned. He professed to be such a clean sportsman that he always believedin giving the game a chance, and declared it to be next door to murderto have six shots in hand when hunting birds. With big game, it was allright, because then a fellow's life might often be in danger.
"Oh, Martin Mabie has written quite a long letter. He seems to be aneducated man, and not at all the brand we figured out from hearing Jessetalk about him. Boys, we can now lay our plans, and make a start insideof a week," declared Frank.
"Isn't it just great? Did ever a set of grads get such a chance for funas this?"
"I don't believe they ever did, or ever will, Bluff. And our folks havebeen mighty good to give us this glorious opportunity to enjoy an outingsuch as we've hankered after for a year, remember that, fellows,"remarked Frank seriously.
"You can just wager that I make it a point to let the pater know mysentiments. He's the best dad going, and I mean to make him proud of mesome day. But tell us more about it, Frank. Where is Martin Mabie tomeet us, and what does he tell us to fetch along?"
"I'm not going to say another word, Jerry, until we get to theclubhouse, when every one of you can have a chance to read his letter,"remarked Frank as he prepared to cast off and throw his sails to thebreeze again.
"A week, did you say? Oh! what a long time to wait!" groaned Bluff.
"Still, there are lots of things to be done. I think it may be necessaryfor one of us to run down to the city to lay in some things in the wayof ammunition, and a few articles of clothing for mountain wear."
"Then we'll appoint you as a committee of one to see to such traps,Frank," called Jerry as the other shot away with the wind, his canoegliding over the little wavelets like a phantom craft.
Frank smiled. It was certainly nice to know that his chums felt suchsincere confidence in him at all times. There was nothing he would notdo to give them pleasure.
So the three cedar boats were soon heading for the clubhouse, and whilethey are thus employed it might be well for us to understand just whothese chums were, and what they had been doing in the past to make themsuch firm friends.
Frank was from Maine, but his father, a banker, had come to Centervillea few years back; and among all the boys attending the Academy Frank hadsoon picked out as his especial friends these three, Will Milton, JerryWallingford and Bluff Masters.
After the Rod, Gun and Camera Club had been formed they had taken theirfirst outing, using their motorcycles to reach the woods beyond the headof the lake. What befell them on this occasion has been told in thefirst volume of this series, called "The Outdoor Chums; or, The FirstTour of the Rod, Gun and Camera Club."
Later on, a storm having done considerable damage at the school, theywere given an unexpected fall vacation, and the chums decided to spendit on Wildcat Island, situated at the foot of the lake. There wereseveral strange things connected with this island, such as a mysteriouswild man who had been seen there; and besides, it was shunned because ofthe fierce bobcats that had possession. How our boys camped on thisisland, and what wonderful adventures they met with there, can belearned by reading the second volume, entitled "The Outdoor Chums on theLake; or, Lively Adventures on Wildcat Island."
When the Easter holidays came around they had laid out another charmingcampaign. This was nothing more nor less than an expedition to OakRidge, that lay some ten miles back from the lake, amid the SunsetMountains. Report had it that there was a real ghost to be seen there,and the boys were bent on discovering the truth of this weird story. Itcan be easily understood that they must have had a glorious time on thattrip, viewed from the standpoint of an eager, adventure-loving boy. Butthe story is set down in full in the third volume, and you can read itfor yourselves in "The Outdoor Chums in the Forest; or, Laying the Ghostof Oak Ridge."
No further long jaunts came the way of the quartet during the schoolterm, up to the Christmas holidays, when they received permission toundertake a trip to the Sunny South. Just how this came about, and whatwonders they saw and experienced on a Florida river, as well as uponthe great Mexican Gulf, have been told in the fourth book of the series,called "The Outdoor Chums on the Gulf; or, Rescuing the LostBalloonists."
And now it seemed as though, less than six months later, they were readyto embark on what promised to be the most exciting trip of all, a visitto the wilderness of the great Northwest, in search of big game.
Reaching the clubhouse, they quickly stowed their boats away. From thistime on there would probably be scant time for aquatic sports. Thetremendous undertaking they had in view would, very likely, occupy alltheir spare moments.
"Now let's have that letter, Frank. We want to con it so that every wordwill be photographed on our brains from this time on. Didn't old Jessesay that Martin Mabie was a big stockman now, and had really quit beinga guide and hunter? Then it's mighty kind of him to undertake to convoya raft of tenderfeet into the wilderness. Money didn't enter into it,that's sure," said Bluff.
"He mentions having had a long letter from Jesse," remarked Frank.
"That settles it, then. Our good old friend has been telling himeverything we ever did, and got him interested. We must make it a pointto run up and see Jesse before we go, and thank him."
"You're right about that, Jerry," said Frank warmly. "I was thinking thesame, myself. But here's the letter. Read it for yourselves."
Various were the comments after this had been done.
"Talk to me about your good fellows! That Martin Mabie stands in a classof his own," observed Jerry. "Think of him offering to take us into themountains for weeks, and see that we have the time of our lives! And hewarns us not to mention the word money to him unless we want to break upthe game. I sure am anxious to shake hands with that same friend of oldJesse."
"I move we start up there right now and see Jesse. The day is fine, andwhen can we spare the time better?" suggested Will, who secretly wantedjust another chance to try a snapshot of the queer cabin which thetrapper occupied.
"Second the motion!" cried Bluff eagerly.
"I'm some cramped, myself, from sitting so long in that canoe. Perhaps arun on our motorcycles might give me relief. So I say go," came fromJerry.
Frank himself believed it would be a good idea. He knew that once theystarted making preparations for their Western trip nothing was apt totear them away.
"All right, boys. It's going to be a full moon to-night. Suppose we stopover and have a parting supper with Jesse? He'd be dreadfully tickled atthe notion. Tell your folks at home, and meet me at the Forks in notmore than half an hour."
Frank hustled the others out of the boathouse, locked the door, and thenthe four chums hastened to their various homes.
Ere the half hour was up they came together at the forks of the road,just out of Centerville. Frank was first on hand, as usual, but evenlaggard Will showed up on time, camera and all.
In single file, and with a little space separating them, they startedoff, the motors soon popping merrily as the boys entered into the spiritof the occasion.
The air was fresh as they sped along the dusty road. The leader was everready to signal a slow-down in case they met a farmer with a load ofhay, going to market, or any other vehicle. This was rendered necessarybecause the cloud of dust might blind the eyes of those who came after,and a collision be the result.
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sp; In this fashion they arrived at the lumber camp, which was deserted atthis time of year. From there on the pace had to be slowed down, for theroad was only used by logging teams, and hardly suitable formotorcycles.
They were plugging along, each keeping his eyes open for obstacles aptto present themselves, such as roots cropping up above the surface, whenthe leader gave a sudden toot upon the little horn attached to hismachine that warned the others a stop was imperative.