CHAPTER XV
A HUNTING EXPEDITION
The boys remained at the cabin all the next day stirring out onlyfor wood and game. Without going, more than a dozen yards from thehabitation, the boys shot three rabbits and half a dozen squirrels.
These were taken about noon, and the boys immediately began thepreparation of a stew. There were a few potatoes left, and thesethey pared and sliced into the savory dish when it was nearingcompletion.
They expected, every one of them, to receive another visit from themysterious persons who had appeared at the cabin on the previousnight, yet they did not talk of what was in their thoughts. Theydiscussed the sad plight of Antoine, wandering about in the forestwith a broken wrist, and wondered if the cached provisions werestill intact.
The following night was a quiet one. Snow fell heavily, and thesmall streams of that section took on icy blankets.
When they awoke the following morning, the sun was shiningbrightly, and there were many signs of a pleasant week.
"After breakfast," Tommy declared, as he sent his plate over forthe third helping of the rejuvenated stew, I'm going out and get aspecimen of every wild animal in the woods. Then I'm going to putthem all into this stew!"
"You might put a wolverine into it!" suggested Thede.
"Are they good to eat?" demanded Tommy.
"They're good to eat game out of the traps, I understand," repliedthe boy. "Or, just for a change," Thede continued, "how'd you likean owl in your stew? I guess that wouldn't put you wise oranything!"
"You seem to know quite a lot about this country," Will suggested.
"Poor Pierre taught me quite a lot during our rambles," Thedeanswered sorrowfully.
"Then perhaps you'd better come along with Tommy and me and show uswhere to get these different kinds of animals the kid wants to putinto his stew. That will help some."
After breakfast the three boys started out with their automatics.
They crossed the morass to the higher ground beyond and passedalong in the direction of the camp. There might be duck over Mooseriver, Thede suggested, and Tommy certainly would want a duck forhis stew. Also there might be wild geese there.
When they came to the place where the provisions had been cached,they found the surface of the ground broken and the provisionsgone. Not a single can remained.
"Now, we'll have to shoot all the more game," declared Tommy. "Wehaven't got many beans or tomatoes left, so we'll have to forage onthe country."
The loss was not considered a serious one, for the boys had plentyof provisions at the cabin and game was very plentiful.
As they passed through the country signs of the wild creatures ofthe woods were numerous. There were few spaces of a length oftwenty-five feet in which the track of some wild beast or bird didnot cross their path.
Thede read this writing in the snow so understandingly that theboys actually paid more attention to his explanations than to thediscovery of the game he was talking about.
"What crossed there?" Will would ask.
"That must have been a red deer!"
"And this track, here?" asked Tommy.
"Probably a fox."
"Well, what do you make of this?" Will demanded with a wink atTommy.
"That must have been a moose, but he passed here some time beforethe last fall of snow!" replied Thede.
"Well, what's this wobbly little mark here?" Tommy asked.
"Partridge!" replied Thede readily.
"Well, here's another odd little mark. Looks like some one hadbeen dragging a rail fence. What's that?"
"You ought to know that!" answered Thede.
"I ought to know lots of things that I don't know!" commented theboy.
"Well," Thede said with a laugh, "the wild animal that passed alongthere was a Beaver!"
"I wonder if he belongs to our patrol!" chuckled Tommy.
"I should think the little fellow would freeze to death," Willobjected.
"Pierre said it was pretty cold for them to be out when he sawtracks two or three days ago!" replied Thede. "They're building adam over on the river some place, and I suppose they think they'vegot to finish the job before real winter sets in."
After a long ramble through the forest, the boys came to the siteof the old camp. The snow which covered the ground here had beenwell trodden down, and many tracks led in the direction of Mooseriver.
"I suppose they've been hunting for deserted provisions," Willsuggested. "I'd like to know who it was that made the search!"
"It might have been your Hindu friend," suggested Tommy.
"Look here, kid," Will said in a moment. "Now that this Hindudiscussion has broken out again, I'd like to know what you thinkthe chances are for locating that little brown man."
"Well," Tommy answered, "I believe you were right when you saidthat the Little Brass God meant something more than intrinsic valueto at least one of the men who are chasing it up. Now," the boywent on, "if this brass-faced fellow has the sacred idol nut in hishead, he won't leave this section of the country until he finds it."
"That's the way I figure it out!" Will answered.
"And this adds another interesting feature to the case," Tommycontinued. "When we started out we were alone in pursuit of theLittle Brass God. Then we came upon Pierre, and we were justbeginning to believe that he also was in search of the merry littlejigger when Antoine murdered him. Now, here comes a thirdinterest, and, if you are anywhere near correct in yourconclusions, he comes all the way from India."
"You don't know where he comes from!" Will interrupted. "Thequestion we want to ask ourselves now is this:
"Have we any chance of recovering the article we were sent after ifwe remain in this district? In other words, ought we to settledown here and wait for things to quiet, or ought we to make aneffort to discover the whereabouts of the two men who haveexpressed such decided opinions regarding the value of the LittleBrass God?"
"Meaning Antoine and the alleged Hindu?" asked Tommy.
"Exactly," was the reply. "You see," Will went on, "there's no useof our remaining in camp here if the person who has the stolenarticle in his possession has taken it away."
"I believe Antoine has it!" declared Tommy.
"If Antoine has it, if that was Antoine sitting before the firethat night, why did he take the Little Brass God there instead ofconcealing it in his own cavern?"
"The more we talk about it, the less we know," grinned Tommy.
"Night before last," Will began, "the Little Brass God was in acave only a few miles from this spot. I don't believe it has beentaken out of the district! If you boys leave it to me, we'll stayin the cabin for a few days, and take quiet trips about thecountry, particularly the hilly country to the south, in search ofAntoine and the Hindu."
"That suits me!" Tommy declared, "and I know it'll suit George andSandy, too! There'll be a lot of fun in tramping about."
"Then why not make a trip to the range of hills right now?" askedWill. "We can be back long before night."
"I don't know about that," replied Thede who had been listening tothe conversation without speaking. "It's a long way over to thehills and the snow's deep."
"Then I'll tell you what we'll do!" Tommy exclaimed excitedly."We'll get a lot of game and send you back with it, and you tellthe boys that if we don't return tonight, we'll be camping in someof those caverns in the hills."
"I thought you'd be ready for another runaway night excursion!"laughed Will.
"I suppose I don't run away when I'm with you!" commented Tommy.
Will only laughed, and the boys began the collection of rabbits andsquirrels and ducks until Thede was pretty well loaded down. Theyall walked along together until they came to where it would benecessary to part company because of the different directions to betaken.
There Will and Tommy turned toward the south while Thede keptstraight on toward the cottage on the island in the swamp.
"There's one thing we forgot," Tommy sugg
ested as the boys trampedlaboriously through the snow. "We forgot to bring along anythingto eat!"
"Yes, we did!" laughed Will. "Don't you think I'll ever start outon a tramp with you without plenty of provisions."
The boy opened his heavy coat and revealed inside pockets packedwith sandwiches made of venison steak and bread, with now and thena sandwich composed of stewed meat and griddle cakes, for variety.
"We won't have to go home tonight, now, will we?" laughed Tommy.
"In Chicago," Will began, "we had a boy in our office we used tocall The-Young-Man-Afraid-Of-His-Bed. You must be related to him,for I have never known you to go to bed without objecting, or toget up without thinking how much time you had wasted!"
"Never you mind me!" replied Tommy. "You wait till you get intosome of those caverns in the hills and build a roaring fire, andI'll show you that you're not the only boy that can provideprovisions."
"You mustn't do any shooting over there!" warned Will. "We mightas well go in quest of the Little Brass God with a band!"
"That's a fact!" agreed Tommy in a discouraged tone.
The boys first visited the cave where George had seen the LittleBrass God grinning down from the wall. There seemed to be no onewithin miles of them.
While they talked, however, a shadow fell on the oblong bit oflight which marked the entrance, and a tall figure with onebandaged wrist, leaning on the barrel of a rifle, stood gazing downupon them with hatred flashing from his eyes.
"It's Antoine!" whispered Will.
"Yes, and he won't do a thing to us now!" whispered Tommy.
CHAPTER XVI
ANTOINE ON THE RUN
Antoine regarded the boys steadily for a moment without moving amuscle. Will and Tommy believed that the fellow meant mischief,and were wondering if they would be able to get their automaticsfrom their pockets before he could bring his rifle to a shootinglevel.
One question had at least been answered. The boys had beenwondering ever since settling at the cabin whether Antoine had nottaken his departure from that country. His presence there at thattime answered this question in the most uncomfortable manner. Theman was evidently there on a mission not to be interfered with byso simple a thing as a broken wrist.
"Well, boys," Antoine said in a moment, his face relaxing into asmile which was far more terrifying than the previous look ofhatred, "it seems that we have come together again!"
"Welcome to our midst!" grinned Tommy.
Antoine eyed the lad keenly for an instant and then turned his eyestoward Will.
"What are you doing in this country?" he asked.
"Fishing and bunting!" was the reply.
"Hunting for what?"
"Do you think we're looking for a forty story skyscraper?" demandedTommy.
Again Antoine glanced sharply at the boy, but seemed determined notto give the slightest attention to his irrelevant observation.
"Who sent you here?" he asked of Will.
"Gee-whiz!" exclaimed Tommy angrily. "Is this the third degree?"
"How long are you going to remain here?" asked Antoine, withoutpaying any attention to the boy's question.
"Gee!" exclaimed Tommy. "You make me think of the stories oflittle Clarence in the newspapers! You're the original littleinterrogation point."
"You'd better answer my questions!" thundered Antoine, losing histemper at last.
Now this was exactly what Tommy had been hoping for. Antoine angrymight prove to be more communicative than Antoine in a pleasanttemper.
"Will you answer a few of my questions?" asked Will, wondering ifit would be possible for him to spring upon the trapper and bringhim down before his rifle could be brought into use.
"If you'll keep that impertinent little gutter-snipe still,"Antoine snarled, "I'll answer such questions as seem to me to beworth answering."
"Are you the man who was seen sitting half-asleep before a fire ina cavern three nights ago?" asked the boy.
The man hesitated for a moment, as if in deep thought, and thenanswered with an exclamation of impatience.
"Were you in the cave that night?"
"No, but my chums were," Will replied.
"What did they see there?"
"A man asleep by the fire!"
"Perhaps the man wasn't asleep at all. What else did they see?"
It was Will's turn to hesitate now. He was wondering if he oughtto mention the fact of the presence in that cavern of the LittleBrass God.
At first it seemed to him that he ought to do so, that he might beable to secure information as to the exact situation from Antoineby facing him with the fact of the discovery of the ugly littleidol.
Then he reasoned that an acknowledgment that they knew anythingwhatever of the Little Brass God would be likely to get them intodeeper trouble, if possible, than that which they now faced.
So the boy decided to say nothing whatever of what George and Thedehad seen shining in the light of the fire.
During this brief time of silence Antoine brought his rifle into amore menacing position and began stirring about angrily.
"Are you going to answer my question?" the man finally demanded.
"That's about all so far as I know!" replied the boy.
Of course Will was not telling the exact truth, but he believedthat, under the circumstances, he was privileged to shade the exactfacts a trifle in the interest of his own safety.
"What was it you put in the tea you gave George?" asked Tommy witha mischievous grin on his freckled face.
"I put nothing whatever in it!" replied Antoine, "that is, I putnothing in it calculated to do the boy any harm."
It seemed to the boys that Antoine's manner was becoming moreconciliatory every moment.
"The lad was worn out, weak from loss of blood, and sadly in needof attention," the man went on, "and so, after caring for his woundand giving him a good breakfast, I gave him a mild sleeping potion,which, as you already know, affected him only a short time."
"You say it well!" grinned Tommy.
Antoine threw an angry glance at the provoking youngster, but soonturned to Will once more.
"I didn't quite understand the sudden attack the boys made on me,"he said. "I was astonished when I received the blow which broke mywrist."
"Who set your wrist?" asked Will.
"There was only one bone broken, and I set it myself!" was thereply.
"Perhaps we did wrong in taking it for granted that George hadbeen drugged to get him out of the way, and that we would sharethe same fate," Will admitted after a moment. "But, under thecircumstances, I don't see how we could have done any differently."
"I'm sorry you were so precipitous," Antoine said with what wasintended for a suave smile. "You boys, I understand," he went on,"are now occupying the cabin on the island in the marsh."
"Who told you that?" asked Will.
"No one!" was the reply. "I have been near the place twice sinceyou took possession.
"Why didn't you call?" demanded Tommy.
Again the boy's question was ignored.
"Did you see any one loitering about the cottage when you werethere?" asked Will. "You were there in the daytime, I suppose."
"Why do you ask that question?" demanded Antoine, giving a quickstart. "Have you been annoyed by people hanging about the cabin?"
Will didn't know whether to relate the story of the midnight visitor not. He finally decided that the least he said to Antoine thebetter it would be for him, so he replied that they had passed twovery restful nights in the deserted log house on the island.
"Did you find it deserted?" asked Antoine.
"It had the appearance of having been recently occupied," repliedWill. "I understand from one of the boys that Pierre formerlylived there."
"So I understand!" Antoine replied grimly. "The point now is,whether it was occupied by any one after Pierre left it."
Not caring to tell the exact facts. Will said nothing whatever,and for a moment there was a rather
embarrassed silence.
"What do you say about that?" demanded Antoine.
"Why, I think there was a little fire left when we went into theplace," Will replied, "but that might have been a left-over fromthe day before. Those large fires burn a long time."
"And you say that you have not been disturbed at all during youroccupancy of the place?" Antoine continued.
"Now I wonder how much this fellow knows," Will asked himself whileAntoine stood gazing curiously down upon him. "I wonder if heknows about the people who came there that night? He seems to havea suspicion that some person is wandering about the country, andkeeping pretty well out of sight. I wish I knew how much he knows."
"Oh, we have slept all right," he finally said, in reply to theman's question. "A mess of healthy boys will sleep under the noiseof battle!"
"I ask these questions," Antoine said directly, "because I haveseen strange foot-prints in the snow at different times, and itseems to me that some person or persons are skulking through thewoods and, for some reason known only to themselves, keeping out ofsight of honest men."
"He knows all about that affair at the cabin," Will concluded."Now," he went on, "I wonder why he's so very much interested inthese strangers, whoever they are?"
"Oh, come on!" Tommy exclaimed. "Don't stand here all day! We'vegot to get back to the cabin before it gets too dark to make ourway through the woods."
The two boys took a couple of steps forward at a venture, withoutknowing whether Antoine would oppose their leaving the cavern.
"Well," he said, as he stepped to one side, "if you boys see anystrangers loitering about, I wish you'd let me know."
The two lads amazed departed without making any promise, but theydid not at once turn in the direction of the cabin. Instead, theyplunged through the snow in a southerly direction, after seeingthat Antoine had gone the other way.
"Where are you headed for now?" asked Tommy.
"Just wandering about on general principles," replied Will, at thesame time turning into one of the eaves belonging to the system ofunderground passages. "Thought I'd look in here first!"
The lads entered the cavern as noiselessly as possible and lookedguardedly about. A great heap of furs lay on the floor, and twofigures rested upon them apparently lost in slumber.
Tommy pointed to the modern shoes on the feet of one of thesleepers. Then he silently called attention to the bloody bandagewrapped about the man's head. He looked at Will inquiringly.
"Do you suppose," he whispered, "that these, fellows are here afterthe Little Brass God, too?"
The men seemed willing to answer the question for themselves, forthey sprang to their feet and glared at the intruders angrily.
One of the men was dressed as a trapper, although he did not lookthe part. He was tall and angular, with sharp features and keenblack eyes.
His companion was shorter, but equally slender. His eye orbitswere small and oval in shape, his face was a dusky brown, and therewas, somehow, about the man an atmosphere of the Orient.
While the four people glared at each other a step was heard in thenarrow entrance, and in a moment Antoine's face was clearlyoutlined against the narrow slit of light.
The trapper took in the group at one quick glance, and, turning inhis tracks, fled precipitately down the slope. Without speaking aword, the two men who had been found in the cavern, turned andfollowed him.
"Now what do you think of that?" demanded Tommy.
CHAPTER XVII
"BOYS UP A TREE!"
When Thede returned to the cabin with numerous squirrels, rabbitsand ducks, Sandy greeted him with a shout of joy.
"This will seem like living in the north woods!" he cried. "We'llhave all kinds of game from this time on!"
"You bet we will!" replied Thede. "I'm some hungry myself, when itcomes to that! I guess I can get a few!"
"You never shot all these!" Sandy doubted, poking the squirrels andrabbits about with a finger. "You never got them all by yourself!"
"How do you know I didn't?" asked Thede, with a provoking grin.
"Because you couldn't," Sandy answered.
"All right, then," admitted the boy. "We all had a share in theshooting, and Will and Tommy sent me back with the game."
"Where have they gone?" asked Sandy, a look of indignationover-spreading his face. "They're always running away and leavingme to watch the camp! I wish they'd give me a chance sometime."
Thede sat down in one of the clumsy chairs which the cabin affordedand laughed until his sides shook.
"I don't think any of you boys are famishing for fresh air andadventure," he said in a moment. "You seem to me to be kept prettybusy."
"Well," Sandy exclaimed, "they might let me go with them when theystart off on a tour like that. Where have they gone, anyway?"
"They said they were going out in search of the Little Brass God!"laughed Thede.
"Honest?" demanded Sandy.
"That's what they said!"
"I hope they don't find it!" Sandy exclaimed.
The boys cooked a liberal supply of game for dinner and then beganrestlessly walking to and fro over the cabin floor.
"What's the matter with you fellows?" asked George in a moment,speaking from the bunk.
"Hello, you've woke up, have you?" demanded Sandy. "I thoughtperhaps you'd sleep all day! How's your head feel?"
"Rotten, thank you!" answered George.
Sandy took a couple more turns about the room and then sat down bythe side of the bunk where George lay.
"I know what's the matter with you!" George said, directly.
"What's the answer!" asked Sandy, rather sourly.
"You need exercise!" replied George. "You've been ramming aboutthe cabin all the morning, and I've been wishing for the last threehours that you'd take to the tall timber."
"Is that so?" shouted Sandy springing to his feet.
"Yes, that's so!" answered George. "I wish you and Thede would goout for a ramble. If you don't know what else to do, walk over tothe river and catch a fish. That'll go all right for supper."
"You're on!" cried Sandy.
The boys were ready for the trip in a very few moments. It was notnecessary now to provide against mosquitoes and "bull-dogs," forthe sudden cold spell had effectually silenced them for the winter.
"Now don't you fellows come home unless you bring about twentypounds of trout," George directed as the two lads opened the doorand disappeared from sight.
The boys had proceeded but a short distance when Sandy called hiscompanion's attention to a peculiar foot-print in the snow.
"I guess we must be approaching the corner of State and Madisonagain!" he laughed. "We come out into the woods to commune withnature, and find some new party butting in every time we turnaround."
"That's an Indian's foot-print!" declared Thede.
"How do you know that?" demanded Sandy. "You haven't seen anyIndian, have you? How can you tell an Indian's foot-print from anyone else's? That may be a white man's step, for all we know!"
"Nay, nay, me son!" laughed Thede. "I know by the shape of themoccasin and by the way the fellow walks."
"You know a whole lot of things!" laughed Sandy. "If you keep onaccumulating knowledge, you'll beat Tommy out of his job as theSherlock Holmes of the party!"
"Well, if you don't believe he's an Indian, you'd better go and askhim!" Thede argued. "He's right over there in the thicket!"
Sandy gave a quick start of alarm and put his hand back to hisautomatic. Thede motioned him to leave his gun where it was.
"This is a friendly Indian," the boy explained. "I've often heardPierre refer to him. He's called Oje, but I don't know whetherthat's his name or not. He's said to be the champion fisherman ofthis section, and if you really want to get fish for supper, we'dbetter get him interested."
Oje was not a very romantic looking Indian, his general appearancebeing that of a bear fitted out with about three hides. The boysnoticed, how
ever, that none of the clothing he wore was fastenedclosely about his waist or throat. In fact, as he joined them witha grunt, they saw that the roughly-made garments were nearly allopen.
The Indian knows better than to bring his clothing where it willcome in contact with either his breath or with perspiration.Should he do this in very severe weather, he would soon findeverything about him frozen stiff. He is sure, however, to carryenough clothing with him to keep him warm in repose and during thelong nights.
"How do you know that's Oje?" whispered Sandy, as the Indian stoodlooking questioningly at the two boys.
"Because he answers to the description."
"Howdy!" the Indian exclaimed in a moment.
The boys returned the greeting, and then followed a conversationwhich was almost entirely expressed by signs.
Oje was invited to proceed with the boys on a fishing trip, and,later, to accept of their hospitality at the cabin. The Indiangave a grunt of assent, and at once turned toward the river.
As they passed the spot where the cache had been, Sandy glancedcuriously toward the Indian, as though wondering whether he had notbeen the one to dig out the provisions. The Indian, however,walked on without appearing to notice either the rifled cache orthe suspicious glances of the boy. Arrived at the river, theIndian, after carefully testing the ice, walked to a small islandnear the shore.
The boys looked on while he began his preparations for fishing. Hewent about the work quietly, yet seemed to be remarkably exact inall his motions. First he cut about twenty feet of fish-line intwo in the middle of the piece and tied one end of each part to oneend of a stick which he cut from the shore.
The knots he made in the fastening seemed primitive, but it wasdiscovered later that they held very firmly. After a time he tieda bass hook to each fish-line, and on each hook he speared a littlecube of fat pork which he drew from his pocket, and which hadevidently done service through a long series of fishing expeditions.
Next he cut two holes in the ice, which was not very thick at thatpoint, and over these the boys were invited to stand, sticks inhand, lines dangling from the poles.
Hardly had Sandy lowered his line which had a bullet flattenedaround it for a sinker, when he felt it jerk to one side, andalmost immediately drew up a three-pound trout.
"Now, what do you think of that for catching fish?" demanded theboy.
Oje gave a satisfied grunt at this evident appreciation of hisservices, and motioned the lads to continue their sport.
Next Thede caught a gray trout somewhat smaller than the fishlanded by Sandy, and then another three-pound speckled trout waslanded.
"I guess if some of these fellows with hundred dollar fishingoutfits could see us hauling beauties out of the water like this,they'd begin to understand what real fishing means!" Sandyexclaimed.
It was a glorious day for fishing, although a trifle cold. The sunshone down with a brilliance unequaled in more tropical climates,and there was little wind to send the chill through the clothing.After the boys had caught plenty of fish they started back towardthe cabin.
Oje walked through the wilderness with a different manner from thatwith which he had accompanied the boys in the journey toward theriver. He glanced sharply about, and frequently stopped to examinetrifling marks in the snow. After a time he pointed to the trackof a rabbit which had apparently departed from the faint trail inextreme terror, judging from the speed which had been made.
"Strange man!" he said significantly. "Find track soon!"
"Do you mean," asked Sandy, "that there's some one chasing us up?"
"Find track soon," was all the explanation the Indian would make.
"Of course!" Sandy declared. "We couldn't think of going back tothe cabin without butting into some new combination!"
In a short time the Indian discovered the footprints he was lookingfor, and pointed them out to the boys. Two persons had passed thatway not long before. The tracks in the snow showed that one hadworn moccasins and the other ordinary shoes.
"I should think that fellow's feet would freeze!" Sandy observed."He don't seem to have any overshoes on!"
"How do you know?" asked Thede. "He may have a small foot and wearovershoes shaped like a shoe itself."
"I wish we could follow the trail and find out where they'regoing!" Sandy observed.
"I'm game for it!" declared Thede.
The two boys pointed to the foot-prints and started to follow them.
The Indian seemed pleased at the idea, and soon led the way towardthe range of hills whither the foot-prints pointed.
"The first thing we know," Thede suggested, "we'll be running intoa nest of black bears. They're thick as bees up in this country,and they'll be hungry, too, with all this snow on the ground."
The words were hardly out of his mouth before a succession of low,angry growls came to the ears of the boys, and the next moment theysaw Oje springing into the lower branches of a great fir tree.
"I guess he knows what's good for his health!" shouted Sandy. "Mefor a tree, too!"
The boys probably never made quicker motions in their lives.
"Have you got a searchlight with you?" asked Thede.
Sandy shook his head sadly.
"Then we can't see to shoot the beasts," wailed Thede, "and itlooks to me like one of those long, cold nights in a tree!"