"We might have sneaked away while they were eating that fine supper!" Sandy said, in a tone of disgust. "I think we ought to have medals made out of a cow"s ear! That would be a good medal, wouldn"t it, for boys who showed such courage in the face of the enemy?"
"Never you mind!" Thede answered. "I guess the bears are next to their job. We wouldn"t have gone far before they"d been after us."
As the bears appeared in the light of the fire, now blazing fiercely and fast climbing from one dry limb to another, the lads saw the Indian raise his rifle to his shoulder and fire.
Instead of taking to their legs, the bears grouped themselves around their fallen mate and snarled savagely up into the tree.
"Oje will get another one in a minute," Thede ventured, overjoyed at the success of the first shot, "and then we can open fire with our automatics."
"Holy Moses!" cried Sandy. "Here we"ve been sitting here watching the panorama with our guns in our pockets! I guess we don"t know much about hunting bears, when it comes down to cases."
"Well, it isn"t too late to shoot yet," Thede declared.
"It"s getting pretty hot here, anyhow," said Sandy, "and we"ll have to drop in a minute, whether we shoot or not. This old tree seems to be as dry as tinder!"
"Yes," Thede agreed, "I guess you started something when you made such good use of that one match."
The boys moved about on the limb in order to get at their automatics. They noted then, for the first time, that the perch upon which they rested was burning close to the trunk. They called out to each other, almost simultaneously, to shift to the trunk of the tree.
But it was too late. They felt themselves swinging through, the air, and the next moment there was such a mixture of boy and bear at the bottom of the tree as has rarely been seen in the British Territories.
Both boys landed squarely on the back of one of the animals. Of course, they rolled to the ground instantly and grabbed for their automatics, but their movements were no quicker than those of the astonished bear.
"Woof!" he said. "Woof!"
Translated into boy-talk, this read "Good-night!" and a second later they heard both bears tramping through the forest as if pursued by a pack of hounds.
"What do you know about that?" demanded Tommy.
Without replying, Thede scrambled to his feet and dashed into the thicket where he had left the fish. He returned in a moment with a woeful face which set his chum into roars of laughter.
"They ate our fish!" he said,
"What"d you think they"d do with them?" demanded Sandy. "Did you think they"d put "em in cold storage and keep "em for next summer?"
"What I"m sobbing about," Thede went on, "is that the bears certainly made a monkey of me. They weren"t after us. They were after the fish!"
"Well, they got the fish, didn"t they?" asked Sandy.
"And we might have been on our way while they were devouring them!"
wailed Thede.
The tree was now virtually a pillar of fire, and the boys moved out from under it. They found the Indian standing, stolid and indifferent, just out of the circle of light.
"Just think of all that funny thing happening and he never seeing any humor in it!" exclaimed Sandy.
The Indian lifted his hand for silence, and pointed off toward the hills. Then, motioning the boys to follow him, he led the way into a thicket and crouched down.
Directly the panting and puffing of a man exhausted from a long run, was heard, and the familiar figure of Antoine dashed into the circle of light! He glared about for a moment and then dropped down on the snow, evidently completely exhausted.
CHAPTER XIX
THE SIGNAL FROM THE HILLS
"That"s a funny proposition, too!" whispered Sandy.
"That"s the gink who tried to feed us poisoned tea," Thede whispered back. "I wonder what he"s running for."
The Indian drew at the boys" sleeves to enforce silence, and all three sat perfectly still for some moments. Then Antoine lifted himself to his feet and looked cautiously about.
They saw him examine the bear tracks and heard him muttering to himself as he followed with trained eyes the trail leading into the thicket where the boys and the Indian were hiding.
He drew quite close to the bushes where the three lay; so close, indeed, that they could hear him muttering as he lost the trail because of the darkness. Presently, he turned back.
"I think I understand," he said hoa.r.s.ely. "Two of the boys were treed by bears and Oje rescued them. I presume they are half way to the cabin before this."
He started along the trail by which the boys had reached the tree but presently turned back. He stood in the light of the fire for a moment and then set off in the direction of the hills.
"Safer there than here!" they heard him growl as he pa.s.sed them by.
Oje waited until the sound of the fellow"s footsteps were heard no more, and then arose to his feet, Without speaking a word, he, too, faced toward the hills, pa.s.sing through the snow at a swinging gait.
"What"s he going to do now?" queried Sandy.
"I wish I knew!" replied Thede. "Say, look here!" the boy continued, "hadn"t we better make a break for the cabin? I don"t see any sustenance in wandering around in the snow all night!"
"Oje has something on his mind!" Sandy declared. "And I think we"d better find out where he"s going."
"All right!" answered Thede. "I"m game, only I"m wondering what George is thinking about all this time."
It was cold and dark in the forest, and the snow was deep, but the boys trudged bravely on in the direction of the hills. At least they supposed that they were going in the direction of the hills.
They could scarcely see a yard in advance of their noses under the thick foliage and so trusted entirely to the Indian, who led them along at a pace which was exhausting to say the least.
There would be a moon shortly after eight, but soon after that time they hoped to be snugly tucked in their blankets in the cottage.
For a time they could see the dry tree which they had fired blazing in the distance, but at length it dropped out of sight.
"How long do you think that blooming savage will keep this up?"
asked Sandy of Thede, as the two boys struggled along through snow nearly up to their knees. "I"m about all in!"
"He"s capable of keeping it up all night!" Thede answered in a dejected tone, "but I hope he"ll stop when we come to the hills."
"He does seem to be heading for the hills," Sandy replied. "If he"ll only stop when he gets there, I may be able to catch my breath again!"
"Cheer up!" laughed Thede. "The worst is yet to come!"