CHAPTER VIII.
PLANNING WOE TO THE BIG HORNS.
"If we get along in this way," Giraffe was saying, as he sat therewatching the young Indian eat what had been set before him; "two at apop, not that they're just as welcome as the showers in April, though,we'll have to hustle some lively so's to provide grub."
"Keepin' open house, Giraffe!" sang out Davy Jones, looking up fromhis job of placing another new film in his snapshot camera.
"Well, we've got our sign out to the Foxes; that's right," grinned theother, as he glanced proudly at the head that had been painted inreally a clever fashion on the canvas of each tent.
They sat up a while longer, and canvassed the situation; but the hourgetting late, and several of the boys showing signs of being sleepy,it was finally decided that they had better turn in.
So Bumpus had to pretend to blow "taps," with his fist for a bugle;and as usual he acquitted himself splendidly. The young Indian's eyessparkled when he heard that imitation of the real thing; and Thadimagined the Fox must at some time or other have rubbed up againstthe regular cavalry of the United States Army, so that he understoodwhat Bumpus was doing.
Thad and Allan had arranged matters with the guide, so that therewould be some one on guard at all hours of the night. With those threemen hovering near, there could be no telling what might happen. Whilethey were not outlaws, or anything of that sort; still, after learninghow they had treated poor Aleck, just because he very rightly refusedto give up the secret of the mine that was his mother's property, andon which Kracker did not have the slightest claim, Thad could give apretty good guess as to the character of the men.
The guide had told him more than enough to stamp Kracker in his mindas a very unprincipled man. Thad believed the prospector was sodetermined to discover the hidden silver mine that there was almostnothing he would not attempt in order to carry out his designs. Andsince their camp now sheltered the boy against whom all his animosityseemed to be aroused, it was at least possible that he might pay thema visit, backed by his followers, men quite as reckless as himself.
So it would seem to be the part of wisdom to keep on the watch fordanger. It is the principle of scouts to avoid trouble, rather thanseek it; and Thad believed in the old saying that "an ounce ofprevention is always better than a pound of cure."
But the night passed, and nothing happened.
None of the others were called upon to take a turn as sentries; indeedmore than one of the boys slept like a log all that night, and neverdreamed there was any watch being kept. Still, when in the morningthey ascertained this fact, they reproached the scoutmaster for nothaving called upon them to share the vigil; since they always wishedto do their share of the work.
Thad knew that the coming of Aleck Rawson was bound to add to theexcitement of their stay in the mountains; but he had already taken agreat liking for the boy, and admired his sturdy independence, as wellas his grim determination to once more locate the long hidden mine forthe benefit of his mother and sisters.
Come what might, Thad was not sorry the Silver Foxes had determined,individually and collectively that they would back up Aleck to thelimit; and even give over some of the time they had expected to put inhunting, in order to help him take possession of his father's silverlode.
That meant then, sooner or later, a visit from the bully of themountains, this arrogant Colonel Kracker, whom so many men seemed tofear as a terror; though Thad had already conceived the idea that theother must be a coward at heart. He fancied that no really brave manwould war on a widow like he was doing; and torture a mere boy, inorder to force him to betray his mother's secret.
"Let him come, then, if he wants to," Thad had said to Allan, whenthey discussed the subject for the tenth time, while breakfast wasbeing made ready. "We're able to take care of ourselves, I shouldthink--eight husky fellows, a brave man for a guide, who will stand upfor us; then Aleck, and the Fox besides. It would be mighty queer,now, if we couldn't hold our own against three men, no matter if theyare tough characters."
"Oh! I guess we've seen just as bad before," replied Allan, with aconfident smile. "How about some of those moonshiners down in NorthCarolina? And tell me about that Charlie Barnes and his crowd, thehobo yeggs we ran across up in Maine. Then, remember Si Kedge and EdHarkness the game poachers we met later on; and how they were sorrythey'd ever bothered with the Silver Foxes? And to wind up the list,Thad, there were Hank Dodge and his French Canadian half breed pard,Pierre Laporte, the hard-shelled timber cruisers, who gave us all thatbother when Bumpus lost himself down in the big timber. How's that fora crowd, tell me; and didn't we come out on top every time?"
Thad laughed.
"I see you've got it all down pretty pat, Allan," he remarked. "Andsure enough, just as you say, after getting the better of so many badmen in all our travels, we hadn't ought to feel worried right nowbecause three more bob up, and think to throw a scare into us. On thewhole, this Kracker had better keep his hands off, or he'll be sorry."
"But how about our hunting?" Allan went on to say. "Some of the boysare getting anxious to make a try for a big-horn. Why, there's Smithy,a fellow we never expected would ever take the least interest inshooting, because his nature has seemed so mild, and sissy-like--Ieven heard him declare he wanted to make a try and see what he coulddo. Owned up that his father used to be a great hunter years ago; butthat he guessed he'd inherited his mother's gentle disposition; whilehis hobble-dehoy sister she wants to play baseball, hockey, tennis,and those kinds of games all the while. And Thad, I think we ought toencourage that idea in Smithy. It may be the making of him, if once hegets waked up."
Thad thought the same way. He knew the boy possessed amiable traits;but he had always been given too much to dress, and the little thingsof life, at which most fellows look with scorn and contempt. He musthave the edges roughened a little, if he was ever going to hold hisown when he went to college, or out in the wide world, where "sissy"boys are held up to derision.
"Nothing to hinder our hanging over here a bit, and seeing what thenext move of this cannon cracker is going to be," he remarked.
"And the hunting?" asked Allan.
"Why, a party could start out right from camp here, leaving enoughbehind to defend the place, of course, and keep Kracker from takingAleck away by sheer force, if he did have the nerve enough to comehere," the scoutmaster replied, after thinking over the matter for abrief time.
"Of course we ought to let the guide go along with the boys; for Iwouldn't like to trust them alone in the mountains," Allan suggested.
"That's right," added Thad. "Some of them seem to have a weakness forgetting into all sorts of trouble from the word go. We can let oneparty start out, and after they come back, if they've had any luck,and the air's cleared some around here, why, another might take adifferent direction. You said Step Hen was wild to get a big horn,didn't you, Allan?"
"Never saw him so set on anything; but then that's his way always. Whenhe gets a notion in that brain box of his, you can't knock it out with asledge hammer. And just now it seems that a real Rocky Mountain sheepwith the big horns beats any old grizzly all hollow, with Step Hen."
"All right, we'll have to let him be one of the first party. He did sosplendidly when he jumped on the back of the Fox, and captured him,he thinks, that some reward ought to be coming his way. And there'sSmithy, I'll see that he has his chance to try a shot. Giraffe couldlend him his gun; or Bob White's would do because it's a much lighterweapon than the other."
"And how about Davy Jones; he says he's just bound to get some picturesof big-horns on their native rocks, or making some of those famous leapshe's heard so much about; can he be one of the bunch, Thad?"
"Yes, but that is the limit. Three frisky scouts will be about allthat any one guide can keep tabs on, I rather think," replied theother, smiling as he tried to picture Toby Smathers endeavoring tohold the ambitious photographer, and the pair of would-be big-hornhunters, in check; for he imagined the task might resemble a circ
usfeat of trying to drive half a dozen steeds at the same time.
When the plan of campaign for the day was made known, there wasconsiderable rejoicing, and a little grumbling. Of course the formercame from those who had been lucky enough to draw prizes; while thediscontent sprang from Giraffe, who had also cherished certainaspirations, looking to a pair of elegant big-horns, to decorate hisden at home in Cranford.
But if Giraffe did occasionally show a spirit like this, the bestthing about him was the rapidity with which he got over the"grumbles," as Step Hen called his little fits of the sulks. In fiveminutes he had apparently forgotten his disappointment, and wasoffering to loan Smithy his rifle, even before the scoutmaster hadmentioned anything about it.
However, it was judged too heavy for a greenhorn to pack around allday; and in order that Giraffe might not feel offended, Thad smoothedmatters down, as usual, by administering a little dose of flattery.
"He's only a new beginner, Giraffe, and not used to toting a gun. Why,his shoulder would be sore from carrying it all day. With an old handlike you, it's a different matter; and I rather think that gun justseems to fit into a notch on your shoulder, like it grew there. Now,Bob's gun is much lighter; and with those mushroom bullets, the smallbore doesn't matter a bit. So we'll let him take that. Besides, ifanything happened here that spelled trouble, you'd feel pretty sore ifyou didn't have your faithful old shooting-iron at hand."
"That's so, Thad; reckon you're just about right," said the tallscout, instantly, quite mollified.
"And Bob's gun'll seem more like a playtoy to Smithy, too. I alwayssaid mine was a man's gun; and when you pull the trigger there's boundto be something doing."
In this clever way then, did Thad frequently stave off trouble and illfeeling among his followers. It requires much tact to successfullymanage a pack of boys, representing all manner of dispositions. Andthe scoutmaster who is the most successful in his line of business, isthe one who knows boys best, and has the happy faculty of enteringinto their ways of looking at things, heart and soul.
During the progress of eating breakfast the talk was of course prettymuch all about hunting the big horn. The guide was called upon tonarrate all he knew concerning the famous Rocky Mountain sheep, oftencalled goats by the hunters; and which combine many of the traits ofthe noted chamois of the Alps and the Appenines, with others that arepeculiar to themselves.
Any one who has seen them leap boldly from a ledge, and strike upontheir great rounded horns far below, is ready to declare that there isnot a remarkable spectacle in all the world of wild sport that canequal the sight.
Possibly the Fox knew something concerning these queer mountain sheep;but as Giraffe said aside to Step Hen, "it would needs be a monstrouslemon squeezer that could ever hope to extract any information from anIndian." Aleck, on his part, had often heard stories told about theanimals now occupying so prominent a part in the conversation of thescouts; and he did not hesitate to hand over any information he had itin his power to divulge, hoping that it might serve a useful purposeto the intended hunters.
Davy was thrusting several more rolls of films in his haversack.
"No telling what a feller may run up against, once you start out," heremarked.
"The only trouble is, Davy," commented Giraffe, "you can't make a mealoff'n the things, if you're hungry, and game shy. I think Step Hen dida wise thing when he stuffed all he could get of eatables in his bag.And Smithy too carries a lot. Oh! you'll do, now. Thad says you'dbetter wait about half an hour, till the mists clear off'n themountains. It's real early, anyhow, and the sheep ain't agoin' to runaway; don't you worry about that."
There is nothing that bothers a boy more than having to wait, whenhe's all ready to do something. The minutes seem to drag as thoughthey were leaden weighted. If Davy unfastened that knapsack of hisonce to examine its contents, and make sure he had neglected nothing,he did it half a dozen times, until Giraffe declared he wouldcertainly wear the straps out if he kept that up.
Those who expected to remain in camp were going about their usualvocations, as for instance the cleaning up of the breakfast tin pans,and cooking utensils. When a company of eleven souls has been having ameal, these amount to considerable; and it took Bob White, Allan andBumpus some little time to accomplish the task of setting things torights.
Bumpus had gone to get some more water from the stream, and when hecame back he was grinning broadly.
"Why, you see," he explained, "there's an old rattlesnake coiled upover there, and I've been making him as mad as hops, poking at himwith a pole. You just ought to come and see him strike, though!"
"I heard him rattle!" declared Thad, "but somehow I just thought itwas a locust waking up. Come on, boys, and let's put such a dangerouscustomer out of the way!"