CHAPTER VI.
ALONG THE TRAIL.
When they left the main body of the party behind, Ralph, Harry Ware,and young Simmons had kicked their ponies into a brisk “lope,” whichspeedily carried them some distance ahead. As they rode along, theygazed admiringly about them at the beauties of the rugged trail. Therough way soon left the tunnel-like formation of spruce and tamarack,and emerged on a muskeg, or patch of swampy ground, where rank, greenreeds and flowers of gorgeous red, yellow and blue grew in the wetterplaces.
As they cantered into the midst of this pretty bit of scenery, astriped animal sprang from behind a patch of brush with a snort, anddashed off into the timber on the hillside beyond.
With a whoop and yell the boys, headed by Ralph, were after it.
“A wild cat!” shouted Ralph. “After him, boys!”
Their lively little ponies appeared quite to enter into the spirit ofthe chase. At any rate, they needed no urging, but darted off as nimblyas mountain goats among the trees. The gray and reddish form of thewild cat was speedily lost sight of; but Ralph, who had slipped hisrifle from its holster, still kept on under the shadows of the forest,followed by the others.
Suddenly he thought he saw an elusive form slipping among the timbersahead of him. Flinging the reins of his pony over the creature’s head,in Western fashion, he dismounted. Hardware and Persimmons followed hisexample. The eyes of all three boys were shining with the excitement ofthis, their first adventure in the Canadian wilds.
“Cantering cayuses, boys, but we’ll have a fine skin to take homebefore we’ve been on the trail ten minutes!” exclaimed Persimmons underhis breath, as they crept along behind Ralph.
“Don’t count your skins before you get ’em,” was Hardware’s advice.
At this moment there was a sudden commotion among the ponies. Theysnorted and sniffed as if in terror of something, and Ralph rightlyguessed that they had just scented the wild cat.
“You fellows go back and quiet ’em; I’ll keep on,” he said.
Dearly as his two companions would have liked to continue on the trailof the wild cat, there was nothing for them to do but to obey; for ifthe ponies stampeded they knew that Mountain Jim would have somethingto say that might not sound pleasant.
“Be careful now, Ralph,” warned Hardware, as their comrade kept onalone. “Wild cats are pretty ugly customers sometimes.”
But Ralph did not reply. With a grim look on his face and with hisrifle clutched tightly, he slipped from trunk to trunk, his feet hardlymaking any noise on the soft woodland carpet of pine needles.
Suddenly, from a patch of brush right ahead of him, came a sort ofyelping cry, not unlike that of a dog in pain or excitement.
“What on earth is up now?” he wondered to himself, coming to a halt andsearching the scene in front of him with eager eyes.
Then came sounds of a furious commotion. The brush was agitated andthere were noises as if two animals were in mortal combat in front ofhim. But still he could see nothing. All at once came distinctly thecrunching of bones.
“It’s that wild cat and she’s made a kill of some sort, a rabbitprobably,” mused Ralph. “Well, I’ll catch her red-handed and revengepoor Molly Cottontail.”
He cautiously tiptoed forward, making as little noise as possible.He was well aware that a cornered wild cat can make a formidableopponent, and he did not mean to risk wounding the animal slightly andinfuriating it. He was raising his rifle with a view to having it readythe instant he should sight the savage wood’s creature, when he steppedon a dead branch.
It emitted a sharp crack, almost like a pistol shot, and Ralph bit hislip with vexation.
“That cat’s going to run now, taking its prey along, and I’ll not getwithin a mile of it,” was his thought.
But no such thing happened. Instead, from the bushes, there came anangry, snarling growl as the crunching of bones abruptly ceased.Ralph’s heart began to beat a little quicker. It appeared that the cat,far from fleeing, was going to show fight. But Ralph, after his firstsurprise, did not worry: He knew his automatic would be more than amatch for the wild cat if it came down to a fight.
With this thought in his mind he pressed boldly forward, parting thebushes as he went. He had not advanced more than a few yards when hecame upon a curious sight. A lithe, tawny creature of reddish color,with oddly tufted ears, was crouched over the dead and torn body of arabbit. It had been savagely rending the smaller animal, and as Ralphtook all this in he realized, too, another fact. It was no wild catthat he had disturbed, but another and a far more formidable animal.
“Great juniper! A Canadian lynx, and a whumper, too!” gasped the boy tohimself as he gazed at the creature which was almost as large as a goodsized dog.
For a moment the realization that he was face to face with an animalthat some hunters have described as being more formidable than amountain lion, made Ralph pause, while his heart thumped in livelyfashion. The great yellow eyes of the lynx, whose tufted ears lay flatagainst its head, regarded him with blazing hatred. Its teeth werebared under its reddened fangs, and Ralph saw that it was ready tospring at him. It was only waiting to measure its distance accurately.
“I’ll give her all I’ve got in the gun,” thought Ralph, bringing theweapon to bear; “my only chance is to finish her quick.”
His finger pressed the trigger, but, to his amazement, no reportfollowed.
“Great guns! The mechanism has stuck and I’ve not got an instant tofuss with it,” was the thought that flashed through his mind as therifle failed to go off.
He had no time for more. With a growl and snarl the tawny body waslaunched into the air, as if propelled toward him by chilled steelsprings. Ralph gave a hasty, almost involuntary step backward. His footcaught in an out-cropping root and the next instant he measured hislength on the ground.
As he fell he was conscious of a flash passing before his face andcaught a glimpse of two yellow eyes blazing with deadly hate and anger.The next instant there was a crash in the brush just beyond where helay, and the boy realized that his fall had been the luckiest thing inthe world for him. The lynx had overleaped him; but he knew that therespite would not last the fraction of a minute. He was in as greatperil as before unless he acted and that quickly.