CHAPTER XI
THE CHIMNEY JUMPER
"HOLD on, Lil Artha, don't rush things so fast!" called out Toby.
"Because this isn't our cabin, and before you knock over the uninvitedguest it might be just as well to ask permission from the owner," addedElmer.
All eyes were of course turned on Uncle Caleb, although, according tothe mind of the impulsive Lil Artha, there was only one thing that couldbe done, which was to suddenly open the door, and when the wildcatrushed out give him a shot.
"I've been trying to get a picture of that cat so long," Uncle Calebtold them, "that I'd really be very much disappointed now if he met withhis fate, and I had to go without a snapshot, even though a distant one,to remember him by."
"It might be arranged," suggested Elmer, quietly.
"Put your trust in our scout master, sir, and you won't bedisappointed," Lil Artha went on to say, meanwhile looking curiouslytoward Elmer, as though wondering what sort of plan he could haveconceived on the spur of the moment.
"Tell us how, Elmer?" George demanded, at the same time eying the cabinwith a dubious manner, as though he half believed the boys who said theyhad seen _something_ through the small window must have deceivedthemselves.
"Why, if the beast came down through the chimney, it strikes me he oughtto know enough to go out the same way if alarmed enough," was what Elmertold them.
"A good idea, my boy!" declared Uncle Caleb, "and if I had everythingready, with my little pocket camera focussed on the chimney, I suppose Icould snap him off as he climbed out. Now I'll fix that up right away,and when I'm ready I'll sing out. After that some of you can bang on thedoor, and start shouting, which should be enough to alarm the cat andmake it think of scampering out the way it came in."
He was as good as his word. Pushing forward until he was within thirtyfeet of the cabin, with a good view of the rude chimney-top, and thelight in the right quarter to promise a good picture, Uncle Caleb wavedhis hand to the others.
"All ready here, boys!" he exclaimed after he had fixed himself.
Elmer had spoken to Lil Artha and Toby, who were delegated to be theattacking squad. George and the scout master accompanied Uncle Caleb,the latter holding his gun in readiness.
"Remember," said Elmer, in a tone that every one could easily hear,"there is to be no shooting unless it becomes necessary. If the catattacks us we'll have to defend ourselves. If it chooses to go aboutits business we don't expect to bother it any. Get that, Lil Artha?"
The tall scout replied that he did, though he looked disappointed, asthough this thing of sparing so ferocious a varmint as a wildcat justbecause some one wanted to catch a few pictures of the beast from timeto time, did not appeal very much to his sense of the fitness of things.To Lil Artha the cat was without the pale of the law, because itdestroyed all sorts of useful things, from young partridges, rabbits andsquirrels to domestic fowls; and he knew there never was a time that anyState in the Union ever attempted to bar its hunters from killing everybobcat they could find, the more the merrier.
"Then start your racket!" Elmer told the two who were standing close tothe cabin door.
Upon thus getting orders Lil Artha and Toby began to immediately makeall the noise they could. They pounded on the door with their fists,together with the butt end of Lil Artha's gun; and the jargon of talkthey put up was enough to drive any ordinary cat distracted.
Toby even partly opened the door--just a few inches for he did not wantto make the acquaintance of that cat at close quarters--and banged itshut again, meanwhile sending a whoop through the slit. It must havebeen a brave animal that could have stood out against all thatcombination of sounds.
Through the small opening Toby had glimpsed something that made him havea chilly sensation along the region of his spine. He had caught sightof the intruder. The cat was an exceptionally large one, and it stoodthere in the middle of the floor, its hair bristling with fury, and itseyes glaring like yellow balls. No wonder Toby slammed that door sospeedily, while his whoop ended in a yell. He almost thought he couldhear the heavy thud as the springing cat landed against the door closeto his head.
That may have only been his imagination working overtime, and inspiredby the one glimpse he had obtained of the fierce beast. He fancied asmuch himself later on, when in a condition to survey the sequence ofevents calmly.
While Toby and Lil Artha continued to whoop things up another shrilloutcry, this time from George, stilled their clamor.
"Oh! there he is coming out of the chimney, Elmer!" was what Georgeshrieked in his excitement, and afterwards the others laughed when theymade mention of the fact that for once George did not seem to doubt theevidence of his eyes, or say that he thought it might be the cat he saw.
"I've got him!" added Uncle Caleb, who doubtless must have managed towork his snapshot camera instantly, though no one heard the "click" ofthe flying shutter on account of all the other sounds that were arising.
The wildcat had indeed appeared on top of the chimney, having rememberedthe route it had taken when entering. This alone proved that it was aclever beast, because in the midst of such excitement many anotheranimal would have lost its head, and gone plunging around the interior,trying to push through the window perhaps, and utterly forgetting thatthere was such a thing as a vent in that slab and hard mud "smokechaser," as Lil Artha always called the chimney.
"Look out, Elmer, he's going to jump at you!" warned the tall scout, ina frenzied tone.
A wildcat is possibly one of the most vicious of small beasts of prey tobe found in American forests. It will often attack a hunter without anyseeming provocation, although doubtless there is some reason for thereckless act, such as hidden kittens near by, or consuming hunger.
In this particular case neither of these reasons would apply, but theanimal was enraged on account of being disturbed while eating, and thenbadgered by those yells on the part of the two scouts, as well as theirbanging of the cabin door. George afterwards told them that they couldhardly blame the poor cat for getting its back up when abused andshouted at in such a way; he also said that if he happened to be a wildbeast he would certainly be "mad clear through, and ready to fight atthe drop of the hat."
Elmer was on the alert, not that he had really anticipated such a thingas having the wildcat spring at him, but he knew enough about suchanimals to be aware of their fickle temper, and that one is never to betrusted within leaping range. An old hunter had once told him neverunder any possibility to lower his gun when a bobcat was facing him,because their spring is like a flash of lightning. And as we happen toknow, Elmer was a boy who always believed in the efficiency of thescout's motto, "Be Prepared!"
The cat crouched there on the top of the chimney for just three seconds.That was the time when Uncle Caleb managed to press the button, and gethis picture. It was also when Lil Artha sent out his shrill warning, andat the same time swung his Marlin gun around so that the stock restedagainst his shoulder.
Then the wildcat sprang, with every powerful muscle in play--sprangstraight toward the little group of three--George, Elmer and UncleCaleb!
George was unarmed and being a cautious fellow he knew that the bestthing for him to do was to get out of range as speedily as possible.
Accordingly his movement was exactly timed with that of the leaping cat;for just as the animal quitted the apex of the short chimney, andlaunched its agile body into the air, George fell flat on his face onthe ground and made himself as small as possible.
There sounded a double report. Both Elmer and Lil Artha had fired sonear the same time that until told differently later on, George supposedthat the scout master alone had made use of his ready gun.
Uncle Caleb knew considerable about these savage cats, and he jumpedaside even as the roar of the guns sounded. Elmer, too, had no soonerpulled the trigger than he took a quick step to the right, and then heldhis gun ready to make use of the other barrel if necessary.
It turned out that such a thing was not needed. Halted in
midair by thedouble charge of shot, which at such close range must have had the sametearing effect as so many bullets, the wildcat fell with a heavy thud tothe ground, some five feet away from where Elmer stood. He instantlycovered the beast with his gun.
"No need of another shot, my boy!" cried the owner of the cabin,hastily; "you've already settled him handsomely."
The wretched invader had indeed paid the penalty for his crimes, and allbecause he possessed such a terrible temper. Had he been willing to jumpin the other direction the chances were nothing would have been done toprevent his escape, so that he might furnish Uncle Caleb with otheropportunities to snap him off when in the act perhaps of devouring apartridge he had captured in the snow forest. When he allowed his furyto get the better of his discretion he made the one mistake of his life.
All of them gathered around the now dead wildcat to admire his size, andcomment on his recklessness in daring to attack a party of human beings.
"Did you ever hear of such nerve in all your life?" remarked Lil Artha,who was grinning all over with the satisfaction it gave him to beinstrumental in disposing of such a pest of the woods. "Why, if therehad been a regiment I reckon he'd have jumped at 'em just the same.Mebbe cats go mad sometimes, and just don't know what they're doing."
"I've known of similar cases before," remarked Uncle Caleb, who waslooking at the wretched beast rather sadly, Elmer thought, "and a hunterwho has had experience never trusts a cat further than he can see it.They get those crazy freaks once in a while, and fear seems to be drivenout of their system. When a Malay or a Chinaman loses his head, andstarts to wipe out the whole town, they say he is 'running amuck,' andthey always shoot him down as they would a mad dog. This cat specieswhen rendered furious does the same thing, and hesitates at nothing. ButI'm sorry it had to be done. He was a splendid specimen of a wildcat.Look at those powerful muscles, and see what a square head he has. I'dhave given considerable to have had him a little more sociable, so thatI might have snapped off several pictures showing how he secured hisfood, and crept up on game. But it couldn't be helped, apparently; hejust had to go and commit suicide as it seemed. And, Elmer, youcertainly pulled a quick trigger."
"Half the credit goes to Lil Artha, for he fired at the same time,"Elmer quickly admitted. "I'm sure both of us hit him, because you cansee how badly the pelt is cut up. It would never bring ten cents in themarket after that riddling."
"Is it possible that there were two shots, and I never suspected it?"Uncle Caleb observed, turning on the tall scout with a smile. "Well, Ican easily see that you boys have long ago learned how to take care ofyourselves, which is one of the best things any lad can know. All ofwhich increases my desire to hear more about this organization that isdoing such wonders for our American lads."
"Do you think you got your picture of the cat, Uncle?" asked Toby. "Iheard you call out something or other about it."
"I pressed the button while he was squatting on the top of the chimney,"the owner of the cabin went on to say, "and that should be a finepicture. Then almost mechanically I turned the screw that broughtanother section of film into play, and my recollection is that I snappedoff another shot even as the beast was in the air. I'm curious to knowif I got anything worth while with that one. It would be a great triumphif I should develop the film and find that I'd caught the cat just as itreceived your shots and crumpled up in midair."
"That would be something worth seeing, sir," Lil Artha told him, "andwe'll hope it turns out that way."
George had scrambled to his feet as soon as he realized that the dangerwas over. He looked a little ashamed, but there was no occasion forfeeling that way. When any one is unarmed, and sees such a fury as thatwildcat certainly was coming in his direction, he would be foolishindeed not to dodge, and even hug the ground in an effort to escapecontact with those cruel poisonous claws.
"Gee whiz! look at the sharp teeth, would you; and then those openclaws," Lil Artha continued, as he bent down and took one of the deadcat's feet in his fingers; "excuse me from meeting up with such a crazycustomer when walking through the woods at sundown. I might manage toget the best of the beast, but my bully khaki suit would be in ribbons,and mebbe my face clawed into a map of Ireland."
"As for me," spoke up Toby, "I'd never feel easy if I knew such a terrorwas always hanging around, watching for a chance to grab me when my backwas turned. And say what you will, Uncle Caleb, I'm tickled half todeath because we bagged your pet cat before he had a chance to mark anyof us. I tell you I'll enjoy my tramps around this section better afterthis. If he'd got away you wouldn't have caught Tobias Ellsworth Joneswandering fifty feet away from home base without carrying a club or agun along. His room is going to be a whole sight better than hiscompany."
Uncle Caleb smiled at hearing what his nephew thought.
"Perhaps you're right in saying that, Toby," he remarked, "and it may bethat in pursuing my pet hobby I'm going too much to extremes in wantingto preserve the life of such a savage animal. Possibly your ending hiscareer of piracy may be the means of saving me from a very unpleasantexperience; for I was planning to push my campaign against this samecat, and follow him into his den, to get a good flashlight picture ofwhat he looked like at home. It would have been a foolhardy experiment,I begin to realize. I suppose it's all for the best, and I'll cure theskin just to remember the adventure by."
Lil Artha, who had pushed up close to Elmer, managed to say in a lowtone:
"I reckon that it was you knocked the stuffing out of the beast, Elmer,because I'm afraid I fired too low." But the scout master immediatelyhushed him up, and told him never to mention it again, for he felt sureboth of them had made a hit.