"I know what you can do," she told them, when they had settled themselves about the room in their usual manner. "You can make wreaths for the churches in the city. They will need them for Christmas decorations."
"Make wreaths!" was the surprised exclamation of all.
"Yes. Don"t you understand? You have them in the church here every Christmas, don"t you?"
"Certainly," Rod replied. "We make them out of hemlock, and club-moss.
But I didn"t know you could sell them."
"You can in the city," Whyn explained, "for mamma told me so. They will bring from four to five cents a yard. Wouldn"t it be great for us to make up a whole lot, say five hundred yards? Let me see, that would be twenty or twenty-five dollars. Just think of that!" and the girl"s eyes danced with excitement.
Then followed an animated discussion as to the kind of wreaths they should make, and the best time to do the work. All this was settled by the entrance of Captain Josh. He entered heartily into the plan, much pleased at the interest of the scouts in raising more money.
"Guess we"d better begin upon the club-moss first," was his decision.
"The snow"ll be here soon, so while the ground is bare we kin gather as much as we"ll need. We kin git the hemlock any old time. We kin work at nights, and on Sat.u.r.day afternoons, and Betsey"ll be glad to give a hand. I"m afraid I don"t know much about sich things. If there is any splicin" to do, or special knots to tie, jist call on me. If it had anything to do with sailin" vessels I could help considerable. But riggin" up churches is not in my line. Howsomever, I"ll help all I kin."
The very next Sat.u.r.day Captain Josh led his scouts into the woods to gather their first supply of club-moss. He carried his rifle with him.
There was a black fox in the neighbourhood, which had been seen by several, and the captain longed to get sight on it "jist fer one little instant," as he had remarked.
Phil had his small dog with him, which annoyed the captain.
"I wish ye"d left that critter home," he growled. "It"ll scare away everything fer miles around. What"s the use of bringin" my gun when that thing"s along?"
"Gyp wouldn"t stay," Phil explained. "I tied him up, but he chewed through the rope."
"H"m," the captain grunted, "I guess he"d eat through a chain by the looks of him. He"s about the toughest brute I ever set my eyes on.
Does he ever eat people?"
A hearty laugh from the boys was the only reply to the captain"s sarcastic remark. They were in great spirits, and the tramp through the woods filled them with joy. It was merely a winter-road they followed, used by farmers for bringing out their logs and fire-wood.
It was very crooked, too, and rough, but in a short time the deep snow would cover up the latter defect, and the jingle of bells would echo among the trees. Now it was the talk and laughter of the boys which alone disturbed the peaceful silence.
After having walked a little over half an hour, they came to a place, somewhat open, and here they found club-moss in abundance lining the ground. To their left, the rippling of the brook could be heard flowing on its way to the river. Ahead of them stood the thick forest of pine, fir, and spruce. It was a cool November day, and when the boys started from home their warm mittens had felt good. But the brisk tramp had set their blood in rapid circulation, and with bare hands they now gathered the moss and stuffed it into bags which they had brought with them. They worked with a hearty good-will, vying with one another, each striving to have his bag full first.
Their task was almost finished, when Gyp"s savage barking up among the thick trees arrested their attention.
"Let"s go and see what he"s got," Rod suggested.
"Oh, it"s only a squirrel he"s treed," the captain contemptuously replied, straightening himself up for an instant from his bent position. "It"s all that critter"s good fer. If he"d something big it"d be worth while."
For a few moments longer the boys worked in silence. But they could not keep their attention away from Gyp, whose barks were now becoming more savage and insistent than ever. That he was in a great state of excitement was quite evident. Even the captain was at last forced to take notice.
"It does seem that he has something more"n a squirrel," he remarked.
"Maybe it"s a c.o.o.n he"s got up a tree. They"re thick over there along that bank. Guess we might as well go and see what"s up, anyway."
At this the boys were delighted. They wanted to explore the deep recesses of that forest, and now that there was some excitement there made the longing all the greater. They followed in Indian fashion after the captain, who strode rapidly forward, with his rifle in his right hand.
Gyp"s barking sounded louder the nearer they approached. The boys as well as the captain strained their eyes ahead, anxious to find out what was the matter with the dog. For awhile they could see nothing through the net-work of trees and branches. But as they came close to the high steep bank overhanging the brook, they peered forward and caught their first glimpse of the excited dog. In front of him was a huge fallen spruce tree, with its roots projecting outward, like spokes in a great wheel. This tree had been lying there for years, and across it had fallen numerous small saplings and dead branches, until from a distance it a.s.sumed the appearance of a native African hut.
The roots of this tree were only a few feet from the edge of the steep gravelly bank, and this, together with a furious gale, had been the cause of the spruce"s fall. Between two of the perpendicular roots, which were partly embedded in the ground, was a large hole, before which Gyp was making all the fuss. The stiff hairs on his back stood straight on end, and he kept leaping constantly forward and backward, wild with excitement.
With considerable difficulty the captain thrust the dog aside, and with the rifle firmly clutched in his hands, he stooped in order to obtain a view of what was within. Scarcely had he done so, ere a deep growl and roar startled him, while at the same time a large black bear hurled itself like a catapult from among the roots.
Taken by complete surprise, the captain reeled backward, dropping the rifle as he did so in an effort to maintain his balance. Before he could do this, however, he had gone over the edge of the bank, and after him went the bear. Down that steep incline man and beast rapidly ploughed their way, taking with them a small avalanche of stones and gravel. At the bottom of the bank was a pool of water about two feet deep, and into this they plunged, the captain in a sitting position, and the bear upon its back. Then followed a wild scramble as each endeavoured to get out first. The bear succeeded better than the man, for the captain had injured his knee, which made it difficult for him to move quickly.
Had this been a young bear he would have taken to his heels at once, and disappeared among the trees. But being an old-timer, and not a bit cowardly, he had no intention of running away. He was very angry at being disturbed when he had his house all ready for his long winter sleep. Then that tumble down the bank into the water was more than his bearish nature could stand, and he was ready for fight. He scrambled out of the water, and rushed toward the captain. The latter had no chance at all with his injured knee, and with nothing to defend himself. It was a critical moment, but he braced himself up, fumbled in his pocket for his clasp-knife, and then faced Bruin, who was now standing, on his hind legs ready for the attack.
When Captain Josh and the bear disappeared over the bank the boys stared in amazement, which soon changed to fear when they saw what the animal really was. They crowded together, and it needed but a word to cause most of them to rush panic-stricken from the place.
It was Rod who saved the situation. No sooner had the captain and the bear reached the water, than he sprang forward, seized the rifle, and leaped down the bank. He had much difficulty in keeping his feet, and several times he thought that he would lose his balance and tumble head-long into the pool below. He managed, however, to keep from falling by digging his feet into the gravel, and thus step by step moved quickly downward.
Rod knew something about the captain"s rifle, as on several occasions he had been shown how it worked, and once, which was a red-letter day to him, he had been allowed to fire it off. It was quite fortunate that the boy had this slight knowledge, which now served him in good stead. Rod saw the bear rise on its hind legs, and he knew from stories he had read that this was the ordinary method of attack. He could not afford to lose a moment, he was well aware, if the captain was to be saved.
Creeping close to where the bear was standing, he drew back the hammer, took steady aim at the brute"s body, and pulled the trigger. At once there was a loud report, and Rod was sent reeling backward as if hit on the shoulder by a huge rock. For an instant he imagined that the bear had struck him with its paw, but a shout from the captain caused him to scramble to his feet. Then his eyes rested upon the black form of the bear lying upon the ground but a short distance away.
"Is it dead?" he asked, hurrying over to where the captain was standing.
"Dead! Doesn"t he look like it?" was the reply, as the old man laid a heavy hand affectionately upon the boy"s shoulder. "That was a great shot, lad, and jist in the nick of time. My! I was sure he was goin"
to have me fer dinner. That would have been a slower and more painful death fer the brute, ha, ha!"
CHAPTER XXIII
FIRST AID
By this time the rest of the scouts had scrambled down the bank, much ashamed of themselves for their recent fear. They were now most anxious to do all they could to a.s.sist the captain. They soon learned that he was unable to walk, for in addition to his injured knee he had sprained his ankle. He tried to take a few steps in order to show the boys that he was not much hurt. But this was more than he could endure, and he gave a deep groan of pain as he sank down upon the ground.
"It"s nothin", lads," he growled, somewhat annoyed at the accident.
"Yez better go home and git a team to take the bear out. I"ll stay and keep him company till yez come back. He might be jist fooling and will sneak off into the woods. We can"t afford to run any risk."
"We"ll not leave you, captain," Rod stoutly protested. "You"re soaked with water, and you"ll get a bad cold if you stay here. We"ll carry you home."
"Carry me!" the captain exclaimed in surprise. "Yez couldn"t tote a heavy log like me all that distance."
"We"re going to try, anyway. We"re scouts, remember, and you have often told us what to do in a case like this. I guess the bear will be all right. He looks quiet enough now."
There was nothing for the captain to do but to submit, and though he growled somewhat at what he called their foolishness, yet he was pleased at their interest on his behalf.
The boys at once set to work to prepare a stretcher for their wounded scoutmaster. With a scout axe, Rod cut down several small maples, trimmed off the leaves, and cut them the necessary length. He then asked the captain for his coat, as it was the largest they could get.
Through the sleeves of this they ran two of the poles, which thus formed one end of the stretcher. Then taking off their own coats they did the same to the other end. It took five of theirs to equal the captain"s, and even then they were afraid that all combined would not bear the man"s weight. In addition to the coats, the scouts fastened their leather belts together, and stretched these between the poles for greater support.
The captain was greatly pleased at the speedy way in which the boys did this work. But he had his doubts about their being able to carry him home. He weighed about one hundred and seventy pounds, which would mean over forty pounds to each of the four scouts who would take their turn at the stretcher. Rod thought of this and a new idea came suddenly into his mind. Picking up two of the other maple saplings he had cut, he placed them crosswise beneath the stretcher, and stationed a scout at each end. When all was ready, the captain rolled himself upon the rude contrivance which had been made, and told the boys to go ahead. At once the eight scouts stooped and without any difficulty lifted him from the ground. They were delighted to find that not a sleeve ripped, and not a belt gave way.
It was decided that they should follow the brook down-stream for a distance until they came to the old winter-road. By doing this they would escape the thick woods, as well as the climb up the steep bank.
It was a rough trip, and the captain was jolted a great deal.
"Don"t make me sea-sick," he warned, when he swayed more than usual.
"Ugh!" he groaned, as one of the boys slipped upon a rock, and dropped the end of his pole. "I"ve been over many rough seas in my life, but nothin" to equal this. Steady, there," he cried, as the swaying motion increased. "Ah, that"s better," he encouraged, when they at length reached the winter-road.