Elmer had spoken to Lil Artha and Toby, who were delegated to be the attacking squad. George and the scout master accompanied Uncle Caleb, the latter holding his gun in readiness.
"Remember," said Elmer, in a tone that every one could easily hear, "there is to be no shooting unless it becomes necessary. If the cat attacks us we"ll have to defend ourselves. If it chooses to go about its business we don"t expect to bother it any. Get that, Lil Artha?"
The tall scout replied that he did, though he looked disappointed, as though this thing of sparing so ferocious a varmint as a wildcat just because some one wanted to catch a few pictures of the beast from time to time, did not appeal very much to his sense of the fitness of things.
To Lil Artha the cat was without the pale of the law, because it destroyed all sorts of useful things, from young partridges, rabbits and squirrels to domestic fowls; and he knew there never was a time that any State in the Union ever attempted to bar its hunters from killing every bobcat they could find, the more the merrier.
"Then start your racket!" Elmer told the two who were standing close to the cabin door.
Upon thus getting orders Lil Artha and Toby began to immediately make all the noise they could. They pounded on the door with their fists, together with the b.u.t.t end of Lil Artha"s gun; and the jargon of talk they put up was enough to drive any ordinary cat distracted.
Toby even partly opened the door--just a few inches for he did not want to make the acquaintance of that cat at close quarters--and banged it shut again, meanwhile sending a whoop through the slit. It must have been a brave animal that could have stood out against all that combination of sounds.
Through the small opening Toby had glimpsed something that made him have a chilly sensation along the region of his spine. He had caught sight of the intruder. The cat was an exceptionally large one, and it stood there in the middle of the floor, its hair bristling with fury, and its eyes glaring like yellow b.a.l.l.s. No wonder Toby slammed that door so speedily, while his whoop ended in a yell. He almost thought he could hear the heavy thud as the springing cat landed against the door close to his head.
That may have only been his imagination working overtime, and inspired by the one glimpse he had obtained of the fierce beast. He fancied as much himself later on, when in a condition to survey the sequence of events calmly.
While Toby and Lil Artha continued to whoop things up another shrill outcry, this time from George, stilled their clamor.
"Oh! there he is coming out of the chimney, Elmer!" was what George shrieked in his excitement, and afterwards the others laughed when they made mention of the fact that for once George did not seem to doubt the evidence of his eyes, or say that he thought it might be the cat he saw.
"I"ve got him!" added Uncle Caleb, who doubtless must have managed to work his snapshot camera instantly, though no one heard the "click" of the flying shutter on account of all the other sounds that were arising.
The wildcat had indeed appeared on top of the chimney, having remembered the route it had taken when entering. This alone proved that it was a clever beast, because in the midst of such excitement many another animal would have lost its head, and gone plunging around the interior, trying to push through the window perhaps, and utterly forgetting that there was such a thing as a vent in that slab and hard mud "smoke chaser," as Lil Artha always called the chimney.
"Look out, Elmer, he"s going to jump at you!" warned the tall scout, in a frenzied tone.
A wildcat is possibly one of the most vicious of small beasts of prey to be found in American forests. It will often attack a hunter without any seeming provocation, although doubtless there is some reason for the reckless act, such as hidden kittens near by, or consuming hunger.
In this particular case neither of these reasons would apply, but the animal was enraged on account of being disturbed while eating, and then badgered by those yells on the part of the two scouts, as well as their banging of the cabin door. George afterwards told them that they could hardly blame the poor cat for getting its back up when abused and shouted at in such a way; he also said that if he happened to be a wild beast he would certainly be "mad clear through, and ready to fight at the drop of the hat."
Elmer was on the alert, not that he had really antic.i.p.ated such a thing as having the wildcat spring at him, but he knew enough about such animals to be aware of their fickle temper, and that one is never to be trusted within leaping range. An old hunter had once told him never under any possibility to lower his gun when a bobcat was facing him, because their spring is like a flash of lightning. And as we happen to know, Elmer was a boy who always believed in the efficiency of the scout"s motto, "Be Prepared!"
The cat crouched there on the top of the chimney for just three seconds.
That was the time when Uncle Caleb managed to press the b.u.t.ton, and get his picture. It was also when Lil Artha sent out his shrill warning, and at the same time swung his Marlin gun around so that the stock rested against his shoulder.
Then the wildcat sprang, with every powerful muscle in play--sprang straight toward the little group of three--George, Elmer and Uncle Caleb!
George was unarmed and being a cautious fellow he knew that the best thing for him to do was to get out of range as speedily as possible.
Accordingly his movement was exactly timed with that of the leaping cat; for just as the animal quitted the apex of the short chimney, and launched its agile body into the air, George fell flat on his face on the ground and made himself as small as possible.
There sounded a double report. Both Elmer and Lil Artha had fired so near the same time that until told differently later on, George supposed that the scout master alone had made use of his ready gun.
Uncle Caleb knew considerable about these savage cats, and he jumped aside even as the roar of the guns sounded. Elmer, too, had no sooner pulled the trigger than he took a quick step to the right, and then held his gun ready to make use of the other barrel if necessary.
It turned out that such a thing was not needed. Halted in midair by the double charge of shot, which at such close range must have had the same tearing effect as so many bullets, the wildcat fell with a heavy thud to the ground, some five feet away from where Elmer stood. He instantly covered the beast with his gun.
"No need of another shot, my boy!" cried the owner of the cabin, hastily; "you"ve already settled him handsomely."
The wretched invader had indeed paid the penalty for his crimes, and all because he possessed such a terrible temper. Had he been willing to jump in the other direction the chances were nothing would have been done to prevent his escape, so that he might furnish Uncle Caleb with other opportunities to snap him off when in the act perhaps of devouring a partridge he had captured in the snow forest. When he allowed his fury to get the better of his discretion he made the one mistake of his life.
All of them gathered around the now dead wildcat to admire his size, and comment on his recklessness in daring to attack a party of human beings.
"Did you ever hear of such nerve in all your life?" remarked Lil Artha, who was grinning all over with the satisfaction it gave him to be instrumental in disposing of such a pest of the woods. "Why, if there had been a regiment I reckon he"d have jumped at "em just the same.
Mebbe cats go mad sometimes, and just don"t know what they"re doing."
"I"ve known of similar cases before," remarked Uncle Caleb, who was looking at the wretched beast rather sadly, Elmer thought, "and a hunter who has had experience never trusts a cat further than he can see it.
They get those crazy freaks once in a while, and fear seems to be driven out of their system. When a Malay or a Chinaman loses his head, and starts to wipe out the whole town, they say he is "running amuck," and they always shoot him down as they would a mad dog. This cat species when rendered furious does the same thing, and hesitates at nothing. But I"m sorry it had to be done. He was a splendid specimen of a wildcat.
Look at those powerful muscles, and see what a square head he has. I"d have given considerable to have had him a little more sociable, so that I might have snapped off several pictures showing how he secured his food, and crept up on game. But it couldn"t be helped, apparently; he just had to go and commit suicide as it seemed. And, Elmer, you certainly pulled a quick trigger."
"Half the credit goes to Lil Artha, for he fired at the same time,"
Elmer quickly admitted. "I"m sure both of us. .h.i.t him, because you can see how badly the pelt is cut up. It would never bring ten cents in the market after that riddling."
"Is it possible that there were two shots, and I never suspected it?"
Uncle Caleb observed, turning on the tall scout with a smile. "Well, I can easily see that you boys have long ago learned how to take care of yourselves, which is one of the best things any lad can know. All of which increases my desire to hear more about this organization that is doing such wonders for our American lads."
"Do you think you got your picture of the cat, Uncle?" asked Toby. "I heard you call out something or other about it."
"I pressed the b.u.t.ton while he was squatting on the top of the chimney,"
the owner of the cabin went on to say, "and that should be a fine picture. Then almost mechanically I turned the screw that brought another section of film into play, and my recollection is that I snapped off another shot even as the beast was in the air. I"m curious to know if I got anything worth while with that one. It would be a great triumph if I should develop the film and find that I"d caught the cat just as it received your shots and crumpled up in midair."
"That would be something worth seeing, sir," Lil Artha told him, "and we"ll hope it turns out that way."
George had scrambled to his feet as soon as he realized that the danger was over. He looked a little ashamed, but there was no occasion for feeling that way. When any one is unarmed, and sees such a fury as that wildcat certainly was coming in his direction, he would be foolish indeed not to dodge, and even hug the ground in an effort to escape contact with those cruel poisonous claws.
"Gee whiz! look at the sharp teeth, would you; and then those open claws," Lil Artha continued, as he bent down and took one of the dead cat"s feet in his fingers; "excuse me from meeting up with such a crazy customer when walking through the woods at sundown. I might manage to get the best of the beast, but my bully khaki suit would be in ribbons, and mebbe my face clawed into a map of Ireland."
"As for me," spoke up Toby, "I"d never feel easy if I knew such a terror was always hanging around, watching for a chance to grab me when my back was turned. And say what you will, Uncle Caleb, I"m tickled half to death because we bagged your pet cat before he had a chance to mark any of us. I tell you I"ll enjoy my tramps around this section better after this. If he"d got away you wouldn"t have caught Tobias Ellsworth Jones wandering fifty feet away from home base without carrying a club or a gun along. His room is going to be a whole sight better than his company."
Uncle Caleb smiled at hearing what his nephew thought.
"Perhaps you"re right in saying that, Toby," he remarked, "and it may be that in pursuing my pet hobby I"m going too much to extremes in wanting to preserve the life of such a savage animal. Possibly your ending his career of piracy may be the means of saving me from a very unpleasant experience; for I was planning to push my campaign against this same cat, and follow him into his den, to get a good flashlight picture of what he looked like at home. It would have been a foolhardy experiment, I begin to realize. I suppose it"s all for the best, and I"ll cure the skin just to remember the adventure by."
Lil Artha, who had pushed up close to Elmer, managed to say in a low tone:
"I reckon that it was you knocked the stuffing out of the beast, Elmer, because I"m afraid I fired too low." But the scout master immediately hushed him up, and told him never to mention it again, for he felt sure both of them had made a hit.
CHAPTER XII
SCOUTS IN CLOVER
"THERE used to be a time," Uncle Caleb went on to remark, as he lifted the heavy wildcat, and started toward the door of his cabin, "when I was considered quite a sportsman. I took every opportunity I could to be in the woods and on the water, shooting deer, quail, partridge, snipe, ducks, geese, brant and all such things, for my fancy seemed to run more in the line of small game than grizzly bears or lions, tigers, elephants and the like. But years ago I began to notice a change gradually taking place in my feelings. I suppose many men find the same thing working when they grow older, and the fires of youth are spent. I began to dislike taking life of any sort, and recently I have allowed many a fine chance to make a bag slip by, because I would sooner snap off a picture, and live on canned goods supplied from the store."
Of course none of the boys could fully understand this sentiment. They viewed it from the standpoint of youth, and would never know any different until they too grew old, and their hunting instincts became mellowed.