CHAPTER XXVI.
AN UNWELCOME COMRADE.
"He's in a bad way, that's certain," was Dick's comment, as he surveyedthe prostrate form. Even though Jasper Grinder was an enemy, he couldnot help but feel sorry for the man.
"We must get him up to our shelter as soon as possible," replied JohnBarrow. "It is easy to see he is half frozen--and maybe starved."
"Shall we carry him?"
"We'll have to; there is no other way."
Slinging their guns across their backs, they raised up the form of theunconscious man. He was a dead weight, and to carry him through thatdeep snow was no light task. Less than half the distance to the shelterwas covered when Dick called a halt.
"I'll have to rest up!" he gasped. "He weighs a ton."
But in a few minutes he resumed the journey, and now they did not stopwith their load until the shelter was reached. Tom and Sam were watchingfor them.
"Jasper Grinder, by all that's wonderful!" burst out Tom.
"Was he alone?" questioned Sam.
"He was, so far as we could see," answered Dick. "I can tell you, he'salmost a case for an undertaker."
This remark made everyone feel sober, and while the two younger Roversstirred up the fire, Dick and the guide did all in their power to bringthe unconscious man to his senses. Some hot coffee was poured down histhroat, and his hands and back were vigorously rubbed.
"Oh!" came faintly, at last, and Jasper Grinder slowly opened his eyes,"Oh!"
"Take it easy, Mr. Grinder," said Dick kindly. "You are safe now."
"But the bear! Where is the bear?" murmured the dazed man.
"There is no bear here."
"He is after me! He wants to chew me up!"
With this Jasper Grinder relapsed into unconsciousness once more.
"I reckon a b'ar chased him and he lost his reckonin'," was JohnBarrow's comment. "Bring him up to the fire. He wants warmin'."
Yet, with all the care they were able to bestow, it was a good hourbefore Jasper Grinder was able to sit up and relate what had occurred tohim. He was very hungry, and eagerly disposed of every scrap of foodthey had to offer him.
"I have been lost in the timber since yesterday," he said. "Oh, it wasawful, the wind and the snow, and the intense cold. Sometimes I couldnot feel my feet, and I knew I was freezing to death. And I hadn't amouthful to eat!"
"But where are the others?" questioned Dick.
"I don't know--back to that cave, I suppose. We were out looking forsome trace of--ahem--of Tom and Sam, when I became separated from theothers. Then, in trying to find my way back to the cave, I fell in witha big black bear. The ugly creature came after me, and I ran for mylife, through the brushwood and the snow, until I came to a cliff. Ifell over this, landed on an icy slope, and rolled and rolled until Istruck the river. Then I got up and tried to get back to the cave, butit was out of the question. I found an opening in the cliff, on goingback, and remained there until morning, when that bear, or another likehim, roused me and caused me another roll down to the river."
"Didn't the bear follow you?" asked Tom.
"He followed as far as the river. But I ran with all my might throughthe deep snow, and presently he gave up the pursuit. Then I went on andon until I happened to catch a glimpse of your camp-fire, and set up acry for help. I slipped on a rock and hit my cheek, and the loss ofblood and the shock made me dizzy. The next I knew I was here."
"You may be thankful that we found you and brought you in," was theremark made by John Barrow. "If you had remained out there this night,you'd 'a' been a corpse by mornin', sure!"
"I suppose that's true," said Jasper Grinder, with a thoughtful look.His experience had humbled him greatly. He was so exhausted that he soonfell asleep, breathing heavily. The boys and John Barrow gazed at himcuriously.
"His being with us presents a problem," said Dick. "What are we to dowith him?"
"I'm sure I don't want him along," answered Sam promptly. He had hotforgotten the treatment received at Putnam Hall.
"None of us want him, I take it, Sam. But we can't leave him behind tostarve. And I doubt if he can find his way back to the Baxter campalone."
"No, he can't do that," put in the guide. "It is easy to see he knowsnothing of the woods and mountains. He was a fool to come here."
"If we take him along, we ought to make him do his share of the work,"said Tom. "But I don't like it. He'll be forever spying on us, and if wefind that treasure he'll try to get it away, mark my words."
"The only thing we can do is to watch him, and not let him have any gunor pistol," said Dick. "He won't dare to leave us, unarmed, especiallyif we tell him of all the wild animals that are around."
The subject was discussed for fully an hour, but no satisfactoryconclusion was reached, and presently one after another dropped off tosleep; the guide being the last to lie down, after fixing the camp-firefor the night, so that a share of the warmth might drift into theshelter.
On the following day the sun came up bright and clear. It was stillbitterly cold, and they were loath to leave the vicinity of thecamp-fire. But John Barrow urged that they make good use of the clearweather, and so they started up the river as soon as they had disposedof their breakfast of fish and birds.
"To be sure I'll go along, if I can walk," was what Jasper Grinder saidon being questioned, "I wouldn't remain behind alone for a fortune, andI am sure I can't find the Baxter party now. Please don't cast me off!It wouldn't be human!"
"I believe you'd cast us off, if we were in a similar situation," wasTom's comment. "The way you treated Sam at the Hall shows that you don'tcare how some folks suffer. But you can go along, for we are not brutes.But you've got to be careful how you behave, or otherwise out you go,to shift for yourself, no matter how cold it is or how many wild animalsare around."
"I will do nothing that does not meet with the approval of all of you,"answered the former teacher humbly. "And remember, Thomas, I was willingto aid you when you were a prisoner in the cave in the gully."
"You were--for a big consideration," returned Tom dryly. "Let me tellyou flatly, I don't take much stock in your so-called generosity."
They were soon on the way, straight down to the river and then up thatstream. John Barrow was in the lead, with Sam following. Jasper camenext, and Tom and Dick brought up the rear. As far as possible the guidesought out a trail along the timber, where the snow was not so deep.Here and there were bare spots, but at other places were deep drifts,where they frequently got in up to their armpits.
"This is no joke!" gasped Sam, after floundering through an extra deepdrift. "I thought I was going out of sight that time."
"I trust we haven't much further to go," was Jasper Grinder's comment."I would give a hundred dollars to be back at Timber Run."
"It's your own fault you are here," retorted Sam.
"I might say the same of you," returned the former teacher sharply.
By noon John Barrow calculated they had covered half the distance toBear Pond. A sheltered nook was found between some rocks and trees, andhere they set fire to a mass of brushwood, that they might get warmwhile they rested, and ate the last of the food on hand. There was nowind, and the sun, shining as brightly as ever, made the surface of thesnow glitter like diamonds.
"I hope we find our stores at the cache undisturbed," said Dick, whileresting. "I am hungry for a change of diet. As soon as we get there I'mgoing to make some biscuits and boil some beans."
"Gosh, but a plateful of beans would be fine!" cried Tom. "I can tellyou what," he added reflectively; "you want to do without things tolearn their real value."
On they went once more, this time slower than before, because both Samand Jasper Grinder showed great signs of weariness. They had to movearound a long bend of the stream, and for fear of getting into a deepdrift the guide did not dare to make a short cut. They passed the poleset up by John Barrow and Dick at the forks of the stream, and thenheaded directly for where the cache was located.
"W
hen we get settled we can put up a regular hut," said John Barrow."Then we can be as comfortable, almost, as at home."
"I'm anxious to locate the treasure," said Tom, "We can--Gracious me!Look there!"
They had come in sight of the cache, and now beheld two great blackbears standing over the loose stones, doing their best to scratch themaway and get at the party's stores!