XIV
A MAN'S GAME
By the short cut over the marsh it was not far to the tilt. At the endof a half hour's steady running Andy reached the woods that borderedthe western side of the marsh. It was here, at the edge of the forest,that he and David had parted the previous morning.
The storm had obliterated every trace of their snowshoe tracks, butAndy stooped to hastily search, in the dim starlight, for some recentsign of David's passing. There was no sign, and in feverish anxiety toreach the tilt he tried to run, but in the shadows of the trees hecollided with overhanging limbs, and was compelled to pick his waymore slowly. Presently his sharp eyes made out, through an opening,the stovepipe, rising above the drift which marked the position of thetilt.
It was now that silent, dark hour just before dawn. Andy was sure thatif David was there he would be up, preparing to set out with the firsthint of light. If he were up he would have a fire in the stove, andsmoke would be issuing from the pipe. Between hope and fear Andy'sheart almost stopped beating. He peered intently, but could see nosmoke. He hurried on, and a few steps farther the stovepipe was thrownout in silhouette against the sky, and rising from it was a thin curl.There was fire in the stove! David was there!
"Davy! Davy! Davy!" Andy shouted, half sobbing, with the break of thenervous strain.
The door of the tilt opened, and David, bareheaded and wildly excited,came rushing out.
"Oh, Andy! Andy! Is you safe?" he cried, passing his arm around Andy'sshoulder in a depth of affection and passionate relief, and drawingAndy into the warm tilt, while Andy made a brave effort to restrainhis tears.
"Oh, Davy!" broke in Andy, half crying with joy. "I were fearin' foryou so! I were thinkin' of you out there--in th' mesh--dead! And oh,Davy, I were--afraid--afraid for you!"
"And I were afraid for you, Andy!" choked David. "I were neverdoubtin' you were lost and perished! I couldn't sleep for thinkin' ofun, and I couldn't go to look for you with th' drift and darkness! Ijust had t' 'bide here till day broke! I tries and tries t' go, butth' drift drove me back, and I knows I'll have t' wait for day."
While Andy removed his outer garments and David prepared breakfast,Andy described his experiences, and how he had made his shelter.
"Doctor Joe's song helped me a wonderful lot," said he. "It's turnedout t' be a true song, too. We were both safe, and there wasn'tanything for either of us t' worry about after all. And, Davy, I keptmy grit, now, didn't I?"
"That you did!" declared David admiringly. "Even Indian Jake or Popcouldn't have fixed out a better place t' 'bide till th' stormpassed."
"Davy," said Andy reverently, "I'm thinkin' th' Lard were lookin' outfor us, now, weren't he, Davy? And--Davy--maybe Mother was lookin' outfor us, too!"
"Aye," said David, "th' Lard _were_ lookin' out for us, and I'm notdoubtin' Mother was near, and helpin' us, too."
While they ate their breakfast David told of his own experiences.
"After I runs on th' deer footin' crossin' th' path," he explained, "Isets right out t' get you, Andy. But all at once I thinks that, th'footin' being fresh, th' deer is like as not 'bidin' right handy, andif I loses time goin' for you I might miss un. So I turns back andgoes after un."
"I sees where they makes a turn and gets scared, but I weren'tthinkin' o' wolves, and I keeps hurryin' on. I must have been righthandy to un when I hears a wolf howl, and right after that I comes t'th' place where th' deer turned down toward th' mesh again and th'wolf tracks came in. Then I knows they're gone, and there's no usekeepin' after un.
"I turns down then by a short cut t' th' next trap beyond where Ileaves th' trail t' turn into th' green woods. Snow were justbeginnin' t' spit as I comes out on th' mesh."
"It were just beginnin' t' spit," broke in Andy, "as I goes in th'woods."
"You must have turned into th' woods t' th' westward of where I comesout, and that's why I didn't see you," suggested David.
"When I gets t' our trail I sees your footin' comin' this way. Th'snow wasn't enough yet t' cover un, so I could tell 'twas freshfootin'. I says t' myself, 'Andy's got hungry and tired waitin' forme, and he's gone back t' th' tilt. He's tended th' traps t' th'east'ard, and I'll take a short cut."
"I didn't hurry, and before I gets out of th' mesh snow was comin'thick and th' wind was rising, and it was gettin' pretty nasty on th'mesh.
"When I gets t' th' tilt and finds you're not here I'm thinkin' you'vejust been a bit slow, and that you'll be along soon.
"So I puts a fire on and boils th' kettle. When th' kettle boils andyou don't come, I puts on my 'diky and goes out t' th' mesh t' look. Inever saw th' wind rise th' way she had in that little while. It tookme off my feet and sent me flat when I tries t' face un. Then I knowsI can't go on th' mesh t' look for you, and I knows you can't staythere and live.
"I was scared! I tries four or five times t' get out t' look for you,Andy, but I has t' give un up."
"I'm thinkin' you couldn't go far in _that_ drift!" exclaimed Andy. "Itried un too, and she knocked me flat."
"Well," concluded David, "that was all I could do, except t' pray th'Lard t' spare your life, Andy. I had t' 'bide here, and 'twas th'hardest night I ever spent, waitin' here alone for day t' come so's Icould look for you, and sore afraid for you, Andy. 'Twas your grit,b'y, that pulled you through."
"And I tries," said Andy, "t' keep a stout heart like a man's, but atth' end, when I was most t' th' tilt, I had t'--give in."
"You kept a wonderful stout heart, Andy," David declared admiringly."I'd have given up before you did, I knows. I'm doubtin' I ever couldhave made th' fine shelter you made, too."
While the storm had probably not covered the marten traps, perched asthey were upon high stumps, and under cover of the woods, the exposedfox traps on the marsh were doubtless all clogged by drift, and wouldbe ineffective unless cleared. The cross fox, too, which Andy hadkilled and left in the trap, must be secured. It was deemed advisable,therefore, to attend to these duties at once.
It was full daylight when the boys set out upon their day's work. Thewind had settled now into a cold, cutting breeze, which wasdisagreeable enough but which did not interfere with rapid walking.They scanned the marsh for signs of the caribou but no evidences werefound. With wolves on their trail the caribou had doubtless fled thecountry, and with them, immediate prospects of fresh venison.
"'Twere too bad we missed un," David deplored. "I was almost to un, Iknows, when th' wolves started in. I wish we could get some deer'smeat."
With every day the wilderness was becoming more naked and stern andrepellant. In the forest the snow had risen until it reached andenveloped the lower limbs of the trees. Ravines were nearly filledwith snow. Willow brush, forming barriers around the marshes, were nowquite hidden by great drifts, and rose in mighty ramparts of snow. Thebusiness of following the fur trails was growing more difficult withevery round of the traps. But the depths of winter had not yet beenreached. In the weeks to come the grip of Arctic cold was to tightenstill harder and harder upon the bleak wilderness and the livingthings that occupied it. The two lads had a man's game to play, andthey were to have need enough of all the grit they possessed.