Part 29 (2/2)

_In the Hands of the Enemy_

Weary as they were with their over-energetic day's work, the boys went to bed early that night--all of them but Tom. That tireless Nimrod had found a bear's den the day before and was minded to go out and watch for the bear that inhabited it. ”Your bear is a night prowler,” he said, ”and if I can catch this one going out of his den or into it to-night, I'll bring home a supply of meat. We're a trifle short of that commodity just now.”

Several of the boys wanted to go with Tom, and the lieutenant, who had dined with them that evening, wanted to send two soldiers as his a.s.sistants.

”No,” said Tom, ”I don't want anybody with me. We'd inevitably talk, and then we'd never see a bear. I'll go alone.”

With that he took his rifle and went out into the darkness, while the rest of the boys went to bed and to sleep.

As he neared the bear den which he had discovered during the day and identified by tracks, Tom moved very cautiously, making no noise, and, secreting himself between two rock ma.s.ses, lay down to await developments.

Hour after hour pa.s.sed, and there were none. Still Tom maintained an att.i.tude of alert attention.

Presently a great light appeared over a spur of the mountain, in the direction of Camp Venture.

”There's something the matter over there,” said Tom to himself, ”but with all those soldiers there they don't need me half as much as they need a bear.”

Just at that moment--it was about three o'clock in the morning--Tom heard a crackling of sticks near at hand, and a moment later a great black bear came waddling and lumbering along on his way to the den.

With that instinct of humorous perception which was strong in Tom, he could not help likening the belated beast to a convivial gentleman returning from his club in the small hours.

Then it occurred to him that convivial gentlemen under such circ.u.mstances are sometimes ”held up” at their own door ways, a fact which still further heightened the resemblance between the two cases. It next occurred to Tom that should his shot prove ineffective or imperfectly effective, the bear might get the better of him, as convivial gentlemen sometimes do with footpads. For, from the point at which Tom was lying, there was no avenue of escape except directly in the path of the bear, and a wounded bear is about as ugly an enemy to encounter as it is possible to find anywhere.

”Moral:” said Tom to himself, ”Don't shoot till you've got a bead on a vital point. Fortunately this rifle has an 'initial velocity' as they call it, which will send a bullet through the thickest skull that any animal in the world wears as a breastwork to his brains.”

Of course Tom would have preferred to shoot at the animal's heart, but there was no chance to do that, for at that moment the great beast discovered his huntsman and presented his full front to him at a distance of less than ten feet. Another second and the bear would make mince meat of the boy. So Tom taking a hasty aim fired at the animal's forehead, and the bullet did its work so well that the beast fell instantly dead.

After waiting for a minute or so to see if any scratching capacity remained in his game, Tom went to the bear and after inspecting it muttered: ”I've shot Ursa Major himself,” for the bear was of unusual bulk, greatly the largest Tom had ever seen. ”I wonder what the stars will look like now that the constellation of the Great Bear is done for.”

The beast was much too heavy for Tom to carry or even drag to the camp.

So he instantly set out in search of a.s.sistance. His plan was to go to the camp and secure three or four soldiers to a.s.sist him in transporting his game. But he had not gone far on his campward journey before he was ”held up” by three mountaineers. Fortunately one of the party--apparently its leader--was his own particular mountaineer, the one whom he had set free and who had so generously repaid his favor with gifts of corn and rye meal.

”Now set down, little Tom,” said the man; ”we wants a little talk with you.”

”All right,” said Tom, ”I'm ready.”

”Well you see, you done tole me an' I done tole the other folks as how you boys had nothin' whatsomever to do with the revenue officers or the soldiers.”

”That's all right,” said Tom. ”We haven't had anything to do with them, we haven't spied upon you fellows or molested you in any way.”

”But there's a big gang o' soldiers an' revenue officers in your camp.”

”Yes, I know that,” said Tom. ”But are we talking fair and square as we did before?”

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