Part 15 (1/2)

”Will you leave it out there after this, Uncle Jim?” asked Max.

”On the whole,” replied the other, ”I guess not. It'll keep all right indoors. And if that hungry cat should come back, the dogs'll smell him and keep up a tarnal barkin' that'll knock our sleep galley-west.”

So he proceeded to lower what was left of the venison, which was thereupon carried inside the house and hung up from the rafters, along with numerous other things--packages of dried herbs, stalks of tobacco which Jim had had sent up from Kentucky, where a friend grew the weed, and some dried venison that he called ”pemmican” or jerked meat.

As they were all tired and in need of a good night's rest, the boys were just as well pleased with this a.s.surance that their sleep should not be broken.

”I guess that pesky skunk didn't have time to crawl in my bunk,”

announced Bandy-legs, in a satisfied tone, after sniffing the blankets carefully.

”Oh, you're always seeing ghosts where there ain't none!” declared Steve.

The night pa.s.sed away without any serious disturbance. Once or twice there was an outbreak of barking on the part of the dogs, still haunted by memories of the bold bobcat that had dared come so close to the cabin.

Trapper Jim had to go out once to quiet Ajax, whose deep-toned baying seemed to annoy him.

Morning arrived, and the boys, as usual, were up at the first peep of day. There was so much to be done they could not waste time in trying to sleep after the darkness had gone.

On this particular day quite a number of things awaited their attention.

First of all they meant to seek the spot where the big bear trap had been set in the hopes that they would find Bruin caught.

This was only a beginning.

Next in order, Steve and Max had decided to start out, taking Toby along, and fetch in the balance of the venison, Toby had expressed a desire to see the arena where Steve and the five-p.r.o.nged buck held their little circus. He also wished to try how fast he could hurry around that tree, so as to be prepared in case the time ever came when necessity would compel him to adopt the same tactics.

Finally, Trapper Jim, and possibly the ether two boys, would have to make the rounds of the traps to take out any catch, and set them again.

On the whole it promised to be a rather energetic day.

Breakfast having been disposed of the boys all got ready to move on. This time the dogs were taken, because they might prove valuable in case a bear was caught. But Trapper Jim made sure to hold them in leash. He valued the dogs too much to think of taking any more chances of having them injured than he could help. There was no need of risking their lives with a trapped and furious bear when a single bullet would do the business.

”Close that window, boys,” said the trapper when they were ready to go.

”You bet we will,” declared Steve.

”No more unwelcome guests--whew!” ventured Bandy-legs, as he started to accomplish the duty mentioned by the trapper.

They made quite a large party as they sallied forth--five boys, the trapper, and the two dogs. Each of the boys had a gun of some sort, for they had provided themselves with weapons against this trip to the North Woods and two weeks or so with Trapper Jim.

”I pity the poor bear,” said Max, as he looked around at the a.s.sortment of weapons and the eager faces back of them.

”He'll sure die of fright when he sees this bunch all in their war paint,” Steve observed. ”'Specially when he gets sight of Bandy-legs there with that silly old pump gun he bought and is afraid to use.”

”Who's afraid?” sang out the injured party. ”I ain't used it just because there ain't been no chance yet, see? If I'd been along with Max when that buck showed up, guess I'd 'a' give him as good as you did.”

”Listen, would you, fellers!” exclaimed Steve, and then he laughed. ”Say, wouldn't it have been a circus if that deer got to chasing Bandy-legs around a tree! Run? Well, he'd have to stir those stumps of his faster than he ever did before in all his life, or he'd be hangin' on the ends of them horns. I guess you're lucky not to have been there, my boy!”

”We're getting near the place where we set that trap, I reckon,” remarked Bandy-legs, partly to change the course of the conversation, for it sometimes made him feel uncomfortable when Steve got to joking upon the subject of his short lower limbs.

”Correct, son,” replied the trapper. ”I'm glad to see you noticed the lay of things when we was here yesterday.”