Part 11 (1/2)

The two men exchanged looks, and actually grinned, as though with pleasure; after which Cozzins advanced with extended hand, at the same time talking volubly, evidently with the intention of taking the boy off his guard, though Felix did not suspect such a thing.

”Say, that's purty white in yuh, stranger. 'Taint many fellers as'd do sech a nice job as thet, arter the dawgs'd broke loose on 'em. Me an' my pal is much obliged, and yuh bet we'll never furgit sech kindness.

'Taint often we sees a tenner these hard times. Now, if so be we kin do anything in return, why--take thet, ye young cub!” and of a sudden, catching Felix off his guard, he struck him a vicious blow in the face, and at the same instant s.n.a.t.c.hed the rifle out of his hands.

The boy staggered back, and would have fallen, only for the support of a tree. For half a dozen seconds he stood there, staring at the brutal ruffian, now laughing, and examining the captured repeating rifle; while the blood trickled down his cheek, where the heavy and hard knuckles of the man had bruised and broken the skin.

Then, as if realizing the dastardly and cowardly nature of the attack upon him, even while he was in the act of generously compensating them for having killed their dogs, Felix became wild with anger. Uttering a scream he started to leap at Cozzins, reckless as to the consequences, and only desirous of returning that foul blow.

The man swung the rifle up so as to cover the advancing lad; though it may be deemed doubtful whether he would have fired under any provocation, since they were already two against one; and then there was always a possibility that the boy might be connected with those grim guardians of the Park, whose advent on the scene Abe and his comrade dreaded more than they would be willing to confess.

Perley Kline, however, sprang in between, throwing aside the barrel of the gun, and giving Felix a push that sent him headlong to the grim ground, his head striking with such force that for a brief time he actually lost all consciousness of what was going on.

He felt hands searching his person, and knew that the rascals were actually turning to downright robbery in their extremity; though truth to tell, possibly this was not the first time they had had their hands in the pockets of others who happened to be asleep.

Then they seemed to consult in low tones, after which each of them gave the lad a contemptuous kick, as if to vent their spleen further, in order to cancel the debt they thought he owed them on account of the slaughter of their trained dogs.

As Felix lay there in a half conscious condition, smarting from his wounds, he realized that they had gone off, after stripping him of everything of value he possessed, and even taking the pack of venison he had ”toted” over such a weary distance, up to that time.

Felix, still full of grit, attempted to follow them, after staggering to his feet; but really he found himself so weak from his injuries that his head began to fairly swim, and he had to drop down on a friendly log before going twenty paces.

He heard a derisive laugh that made him groan with disgust over his inability to do anything; then the sound of footsteps grew fainter, and he knew that he had been left alone in the heart of the wilderness, with no weapon for self defense, or to be used in an effort to procure the means of continued existence, in case he could not find the camp.

This, however, sank into insignificance beside the ignominy of those kicks; and his proud young soul writhed under the memory of the insult; while he mentally registered a vow to make those two ruffians pay dearly for the experience, sooner or later, as the chance arose.

By slow degrees he began to get back his strength, and could think seriously concerning his next step. At first he burned with the desire to try and follow after those scoundrels, and in some way manage to recover all they had taken from him; but second thought convinced him that such a task was far beyond his capacity in his present helpless condition; even supposing he could follow successfully, which was extremely doubtful, how could he hold two armed men up, and make them disgorge?

No, it would surely be better for him to conserve his powers in every way possible, and try to effect a junction with his chum; when they could talk it over, and decide what ought to be done in order to turn the tables on Cozzins and Kline.

The fact that he was now without food seemed to give Felix more cause for concern than anything else. The thieves had confiscated the contents of the little knapsack he had carried with him, or rather ditty bag; all he found of any value was a lone match that seemed to have escaped the hasty search of the men; and in his eyes this a.s.sumed an importance all out of proportion to its size.

Felix believed that if only he could follow his back trail, and reach the tree where his desperate encounter with the wounded buck had taken place, he would find plenty of meat to last him many days; and with that last precious match he could start a fire that he would not allow to go out; so that here he might camp until such time as Tom came hunting for him.

This, then, was the sensible programme that finally took possession of the boy; although it was with considerable disappointment he gave up all idea of following after the two men, seeking revenge because of their cowardly conduct.

Every time Felix put a hand up to his bruised cheek he gritted his teeth, and in imagination saw the rogues brought to account through his instrumentality; and it was surprising how much satisfaction such a pleasing prospect gave him.

Quitting the vicinity of the three dead dogs that had been left where they lay by their late masters, he started to follow his back trail, with all the skill he was capable of calling to his a.s.sistance.

This was, of course, something he had never dreamed of doing half an hour previously; but all the same, he was glad to see he had somehow managed to leave such a plain series of tracks, burdened with the meat pack as he had been, that there promised to be little trouble in following the trail, if only the snow held off.

That began to worry him now; what if a bitterly cold storm should break while he was wandering about in the wilderness, with only a single match between himself and freezing to death?

The idea proved so very unpleasant that it urged him to make better time in following his back trail; and yet when he remembered how long he had been walking since starting forth after breakfast; and that it must take him at least the same length of time to again cover the ground, Felix began to fear he was in for the worst experience of all.

However, the lad was full of grit, and could not be made to easily lie down when trouble threatened; he would meet it face to face.

When almost an hour had pa.s.sed, and he reckoned that he was possibly half way back to the tree that had been a haven of refuge to him in that fight with the wounded buck, he took heart of grace, and hope began to rise stronger in his breast; but only for a brief s.p.a.ce of time.