CHAPTER XIII
THE "PAINTER"
A few days later the promised trip up Porcupine Hill was taken. An earlystart was made, the forty-four boys of the school, clad in semi-warlikeuniforms, looking like a company of young soldiers as they marched overthe hills to the south and west toward the mountains on the right ofMummy Canyon.
Meanwhile Hal, by his frank and straightforward manner, establishedhimself in the confidence of Miles so well as to remove all doubt as tohis innocence regarding the disappearance of the nuggets. The mysteryremained still unsolved, but it seemed certain that any suspiciondirected toward Hal was entirely unjust.
Porcupine Hill was four miles from Lakefarm. The easiest ascent was onthe southern side, but to reach this it would be necessary to travel anadditional two miles around the base. On that side it was more than twomiles to the peak, and this was the course generally used by thosedwelling on the peak and the side of the mountain. On the opposite sidethe ascent was shorter and much steeper, and this was the route taken bythe boys whenever they went up to see Aunt Sarah Jane.
Mr. and Mrs. Turman were real uncle and aunt of two of the boys of theschool, Byron and Frank Bowler. The aged couple were always glad toreceive their two nephews and their friends, and took pains to make themfeel welcome. Fifteen years before, while prospecting, they haddiscovered a vein of gold near the peak and had staked out claims. Butfinding gold on a mountain peak and mining it profitably are twodifferent propositions, and they found it necessary to do some sharpengineering of various sorts.
A company was formed and incorporation papers taken out. Then followednegotiations with various moneyed interests and an entanglement thattied matters up. Since then nothing of importance had been done.
When he found that he was not going to make his fortune in the mine,"Uncle Sam," as Mr. Turman was familiarly known for miles around,desired to move to Jimtown or some other settlement in the valley; butAunt Sarah Jane had been cured of rheumatism in this high and dryaltitude, and she was afraid it would come back if they moved below. Sothey continued to live on the mountain peak in their cabin of slabs andrude timbers made warmer in winter with banks of sod and straw heapedclose and high around the foundation.
It was a picturesque place, with everything crude but neat, clean, andcomfortable. The boys always enjoyed going up there. The view was wideand magnificent. Several towns were visible, nestled here and there inthe valleys or on the hillsides. At night their lights shone prettily inthe deep-down distance. On one occasion while some of the boys were onthe peak, they witnessed a storm several hundred feet below them andmarveled at the novelty of looking down upon banks of clouds withlightning flashing among them.
So the Boy Scouts had much of interest before them when one fine morningearly in September they set out in a body to climb Porcupine Hill. Theascent began over a slowly rising ridge of ground that ran along thebase of the mountain, then led directly up the steep incline for somedistance, and finally lost itself in a winding trail that curved amongand about rocks and bushes and projecting cliffs. The climb, because ofits winding nature, was much longer than a straight course would havebeen, so that nearly two hours were spent between the base and peak.
The boys were equipped with luncheons, water canteens, hike-sticks, afew cameras and field-glasses. For climbing footgear, they wore heavySwiss hob-nailed shoes and gaiters. Their clothes were of strong, coarsematerial that would stand much wear and resist the tearing pulls ofshrubbery and briars.
Aunt Sarah Jane was delighted to see them. It was the first time all theScouts of the school had been up there together. At noon she brought outsome tablecloths and spread them on the grass and invited the boys toprepare their dinner picnic style. Hal and Byron took the burrobelonging to Mr. and Mrs. Turman and rode halfway down the southern sideto a neighbor's well and filled two large canvas bottles with water.These they hung over the burro's shoulders by a strap connecting themand then began their journey back up to the peak.
The mountain was thickly wooded on this side, but the surface was rough,and the trail consequently very winding. Only one of the boys rode at atime on the return trip; when one became tired, the one on the burrodismounted and permitted the other to ride.
In this manner they had gone half of the return distance, when suddenlysomething happened that added a new sensation to their mountainexperiences. Just as they were rounding a bluff in a sparsely woodedspot, a dark object darted across their path, causing the burro to givea jump so sudden as to throw Byron from its back.
Like an arrow from a bow, the slow and sleepy beast shot up the side ofthe mountain, leaving the boys to the tender mercies of the cause of itsfright. At first the two Scouts were only astonished, for they could notimagine any more dangerous animal in that locality than a wildcat. Therewere said to be a few of these in the mountains, but they were shy andfled at the sight of man.
This beast, however, was larger than a wildcat and did not seem to bedisposed to run at the sight of the boys. It was a slender long-limbed,cat-like animal, with reddish-gray fur. After springing across the path,the beast turned and seemed to hesitate, as if not knowing whether topursue the burro or to direct its attention toward the boys.
"What is it?" Byron asked as he clung tremblingly to his companion. Hehad been severely shaken by his fall, but not seriously injured.
"It's a mountain lion," replied Hal with all the steadiness of voice hecould command. Being older and larger than Byron, he felt that theresponsibility of the situation rested on him.
"Let's run," proposed the smaller boy, tugging at Hal's sleeve.
"No, we mustn't do that," replied the latter. "If we stand still anddon't seem to be afraid, he may go away and leave us alone."
Hal now had good reason to congratulate himself on his industry duringhis three years at Lakefarm. He had found much of interest in thedoctor's library, reading everything that appealed to his taste. Amongthe books that he most enjoyed were illustrated natural histories, andit is little wonder that he recognized now the kind of beast before him,although he had never before seen one. He remembered also that thesebooks had informed him that mountain lions are not so fierce as commonlythought, that they usually hunt at night and are cowardly and little tobe feared unless cornered.
The puma was only a few rods away from Hal and Byron, who stood close tothe bluff that formed a turning point in the path. For more than aminute boys and beast stood facing each other, neither moving. Byronwished to run and continued to pull at his companion's coat-sleeve, butHal, relying on his book information, stood firm. Presently the beastbacked away.
"See? What did I tell you?" exclaimed the older boy gleefully. But hisexultation was somewhat hysterical, indicating the strain he hadundergone.
The puma backed slowly at first, but presently his retreat became morerapid. Then suddenly he turned and, with a few bounds, disappeared amongthe pine trees.
Hal was now willing to run, and both boys started out at their best paceup the trail. The ascent was not very steep here, so they ran somedistance before they were too tired to go farther. Then they stopped andlooked back, and, seeing no sign of the lion, they rested a while.
Then they took things a little easier, but they went faster than theywould have under ordinary circumstances. A short distance from the topof the mountain, they were met by all the other boys, Dr. Byrd, Mr.Frankland, Mr. Porter, and Mr. and Mrs. Turman, who were much excited.The burro had returned alone and with more speed than it had ever beenknown to make before. Naturally this caused alarm, and a general rushwas made to investigate.
Hal and Byron excitedly explained what had happened. Then followed arapid succession of questions and answers until all the details of theadventure were told. Finally Aunt Sarah Jane added a new element ofinterest by saying:
"Maybe it was the painter I saw over on Flathead one day. It was earlyin the morning and I saw some kind of animal moving about over there.But it was so far awa
y I couldn't make out what it was. I thought atfirst it was a man."