CHAPTER XXXVI
_A Start Down the Mountain_
Just a week later the boys were ready to quit Camp Venture and proceeddown the mountain, or as Tom, quoting the mountaineers, put it, theyprepared to "git down out'n the mountings."
They had fully accomplished their mission. They had done a greatwinter's work. They had sent down the mountain every tie they werepermitted by their contract to furnish; they had sent down many noblebridge timbers and greatly more cordwood than they had expected to cut.Their work was done, except that before going home they must go to theheadquarters of the railroad contractors, at the foot of the mountain,adjust their accounts and collect the money due them.
As the best mountain climber among them, the one who had met andovercome more mountain difficulties in his time than any other, and theone who best knew how to "look straight at things and use commonsense," Tom was chosen to direct the perilous descent over the cliffs.
The boys were all heavily loaded, of course. Each had his axe, hisblanket, his extra clothing and four days' rations to carry. Each alsohad his gun and there was one extra gun--the rifle that Tom had capturedfrom the mountaineer--to be carried. "For," said Tom, "while we have nouse for the gun, I've agreed to deliver it to its owner whenever hechooses to call for it at my mother's house, and I tell you, boys, aman's first obligation in this world is to keep every promise that hemakes no matter what it costs. I'd take that fellow's rifle down themountain if I had to leave my own behind in order to do it."
"You are right, Tom," said the Doctor, "and boys, I propose that we takecharge of that gun and carry it turn and turn about for Tom, for he isotherwise the worst over-loaded fellow in the party."
For Tom had his skins to carry--the panther's hide, three big bearskins, several deer hides, and a large number of pelts from raccoons,opossums, hares, squirrels and other small game.
"In fact," said the Doctor, "I move that we throw Tom down, take awayhis load, and divide it equally among the entire party."
"That's it. That's the way to manage it!" cried the boys in chorus. ButTom would hear of nothing of the kind. "You fellows may help me with themountaineer's rifle, if you choose, but I'll manage my bundle of skinsfor myself. Thank you, all the same. After all, our luggage isn't goingto bother us half so much, going down the mountain this way as it wouldif we went down by the regular trail."
"Why not, Tom?" asked Jack.
"Well, I'll show you after awhile," said Tom. "And in the meantime,Doctor, I'm going to take all your delicate and expensive scientificinstruments, and myself pack them so that they will endure the journeywithout injury. If carried as you have them, there wouldn't be one ofthem that wouldn't lie like a moonshiner by the time we 'git out'n themountings.' Let me have them, please."
The Doctor, curious to see what the boy was going to do, turned hisinstruments over to him and carefully observed his proceedings. Tombegan by selecting a number of the smaller skins, which, instead ofdrying, he had "tanned" with brains, corn meal-rubbing and other devicesknown to him as a hunter. These were as limp and soft as so many piecesof muslin, but greatly tougher. With them Tom carefully wrapped eachinstrument separately, securely tying up each with string, which theboy seemed always to have hidden somewhere about his person in unlimitedquantity and variety of sizes and kinds.
"That's a trick I learned in hunting," he said, when questioned. "Youcan never have too much string with you."
Next he packed these bundles together, interposing dried and stiff hidesbetween the several parcels, and again securely tied them together. Thenhe took the hide of his "Ursa Major," which was still "green" and limp,and which, as the boys suggested, "smelt uncommonly bad," and rolled thewhole bundle in that, "skinny side out," binding it securely with stouttwine. Finally he wrapped the stiff dried hide of the first bear he hadkilled, and the equally stiff panther's hide over all, as a sort of"goods box," he said, and, with a piece of red keel, he playfully markedon the panther's skin, "Glass! Handle with care."
"But now who is going to carry all this load?" asked Jack.
"Tom and I," said the Doctor, quickly. "The skins are Tom's and theinstruments are mine. So we'll take some more of Tom's string and rig upsome handles by which he and I can carry the bundle."
"You see," said Tom, "we may possibly have to drop it over a cliff nowand then, and I've tried to do it up so as to stand that withoutbreaking the instruments. But I think we can manage to avoid that. Atany rate, we'll try. Now, come on, boys."
They had already taken leave of the lieutenant, and with four days'rations in their haversacks--for the lieutenant had supplied them withthose military conveniences--haversacks--they began the descent of themountain by that difficult way that Tom had followed on the night whenhe inspected the stills.
It was nine o'clock when they started. They made their way withcomparative ease for nearly an hour. Then they came upon a bluff offormidable proportions and difficulty. Here Tom's experience andgeneralship came into play for the first time.
"All lay off your loads," he said. "Now, Harry, you are a discreetfellow and a good climber. Strip yourself of everything that canpossibly embarrass you, and go down over the bluff. Remember what I havetold you about bushes. Some of them cling tenaciously, while some ofthem give way in their roots at the first serious pull. Never trust oneof them, but hold on by two always, and support yourself by your feet onevery projection of rock you can find, so as not to overtax the bushes.When you are holding by two bushes, never let go of one to catchanother lower down till you have satisfied yourself of the security ofthe other one by which you are holding on, and then grab the new one asquickly as you can. Make your way to the foot of the cliff, and we'llthen let all our baggage and arms down to you with twine. You are toreceive it all, untie the twine and let us pull it up again for the nextbundle. When all our luggage is down, we'll climb down ourselves. Thereisn't any serious difficulty about it if we're careful. As I told youboys awhile ago, there isn't any such thing as accident. It is all aquestion of carefulness."
Harry did his part well in making the descent of this first precipiceand the work of lowering the arms and luggage, including every boy'shaversack--for it was imperative that in the bush climb down the cliff,no boy should carry a single ounce of unnecessary weight--occupied fulltwo hours' time.
The Doctor was the last to go over the edge of the precipice, and healone met with mishap. Jack, with his heavy weight, had preceded him,and the bushes, already weakened by the strain the other boys had giventhem, were some of them almost torn out by the roots from the rockcrevices in which they grew. So when the Doctor was about half waydown, one of them gave way suddenly, leaving the Doctor's right handwith no support and swinging him around in very perilous fashion. Butthe Doctor had by this time become a good deal of an athlete, andinstantly realizing his danger, he swung himself around on his toes,which rested in a crevice of the cliff, and grasped with his right handa sharp edge of rock which protruded some inches from the face of thecliff. It was a perilous hold, as the boys, looking on from below,clearly saw, and one that obviously could not be long maintained. Butthe Doctor had his wits about him, and after a moment's pause, hegrasped another bush which held securely, and five minutes later he wason the ledge below.
Here it was decided to halt for the midday meal. A fire was built; thegame which had been brought--or at least so much of it as was needed forthis meal--was broiled upon live coals, and a pot of coffee wasmade--for of that sustaining article the original supply had not yetbeen quite exhausted.