"And there he is!" added the other, quickly, "just at the foot of that fir tree!"
They made a spurt, and were soon bending over the deer, which they found quite dead, though life had evidently just departed. Lil Artha could hardly contain himself. He insisted on shaking hands several times with Elmer, and then did the same thing with himself, bubbling over with delight.
"Oh! tell me I"m not dreaming, Elmer, and that I have really and truly shot a fine deer, just when we needed it the worst kind?"
"There"s no mistake about it, old fellow, because here"s your deer as plain as anything," Elmer a.s.sured him, not a little pleased himself at the great success that had accompanied their hunt.
"Think how the other fellows will yell when they see it!" Lil Artha continued, "and Toby needn"t be afraid he"s going to starve yet a while, need he?"
"I should think not," the scout master admitted; "when there"s all this fresh venison to be cooked. The country is saved, Lil Artha, and you"re the lucky one to be our George Washington. The boys will be wanting to kneel down and kiss the back of your hand."
"If they try any of that softy business they"ll take a back seat in a hurry, let me tell you," was what the matter-of-fact scout remarked.
"But, Elmer, ain"t it queer that somehow the snow woods don"t look quite so dreary to me now? Fact is, I kind of think this is as pretty a sight as I"ve seen for a long time."
Elmer laughed at hearing that.
"They always say circ.u.mstances alter cases, Lil Artha, and when I hear you talking that way I know it"s true. When a man"s as hungry as he can be and yet live, the world looks different to him from what it does an hour later after some kind friend has filled him up. This deer gives you the magic spectacles through which you view things in an altogether different light."
"I guess you"re right, Elmer," admitted the other; "I was feeling blue, and so I looked at everything through blue gla.s.ses. Now I"m seeing rosy.
But say, however will we manage?"
"You mean about getting the game back to camp, I reckon, Lil Artha?"
"That"s what I"m striking at, Elmer. We must be some distance off, and I should think the deer would weigh between a hundred-and-fifty and two hundred pounds; a pretty hefty load for two boys, with all this snow around. And yet to have to stop so as to cut the deer up would delay us like fun."
"Wait, and let"s look around for a strong pole," suggested Elmer, who had seen heavier game than this carried for miles by two husky cow punchers or hunters. "I have some good stout cord along, which we"ll use to tie his forelegs together, and then the hind ones ditto. The pole will pa.s.s through, and is carried on a shoulder of each. That"s the way hunters always get their shoot to camp, if there are a pair of them."
The necessary pole was soon discovered, and they managed by means of jumping on the same to reduce it to the required length. Then the scout master made good use of his cord in order to secure the legs of the deer in such a way as to afford a hold when the pole was shoved through.
Nothing now remained but to lift the game, and start over the back trail.
As long as the light held they would find no difficulty whatever in keeping on the track; and should twilight rapidly change into darkness Elmer had his bearings so that he could lead aright.
Lil Artha had considered that he was "dog-tired" up to the time he started that deer from where it had been lying in some brush; but this was forgotten in the excitement of the hour. When glorious success rewards the efforts of the hunter he seems to have been granted a new lease of life; and weariness is forgotten.
All the same the load was no light one, and the going very bad. Many times they staggered, and once both of them fell down. But the snow prevented any injury, and they were in too satisfied a frame of mind to complain.
"We"ll have our revenge all right later on, Lil Artha!" the scout master told his comrade as they got up and dug the snow out of their ears, as well as shook another acc.u.mulation free from their collars.
"That"s right, we will," a.s.sented the other, "and for every tumble like that I promise myself an additional chunk of deer meat for supper.
Another thing, Elmer, we ought to remember; the heavier the game the more grub we"ll have."
"You know how to see the bright side of things, Lil Artha," Elmer told him.
"Oh! anybody can when success comes along. It takes fellows like you to keep smiling when things are going wrong all around. But I"ve learned a lesson, Elmer, and after this I won"t despair, no matter how dark the clouds look."
"If one deer can reform a scout, what would big game like an elephant do?" asked Elmer, "but then again I"m a little sorry too, Lil Artha."
"What for?" demanded the panting hunter who held up the other end of the pole that bent under the weight of the suspended game.
"We won"t have that chance to settle whether the Indians knew a good thing when they said musquash was better than "c.o.o.n or "possum, or even rabbit stew!"
"Gosh! don"t waste a tear over that, Elmer. Besides, while we"re up here with Uncle Caleb, like as not we"ll have plenty of chances to give that dish a try. But honest to goodness, it doesn"t seem to strike me just as much as it did before I cracked over this bully young buck for you said it was a fairly young one, and ought to eat tender enough."
"I guess that"s only natural," the scout master told him. "While we were facing starvation, why stewed musquash sounded right good to us; but with a whole carca.s.s of venison on our hands it"s plain muskrat again; and there you are, Lil Artha."
"How d"ye think we"re getting along by now?" asked the tall scout with a little vein of entreaty in his voice.
"Oh! perhaps half-way there, more or less," came the reply.
"Whew! think we can make the riffle with this mountain of a deer, Elmer?"
"Seems to weigh about three hundred now, don"t it? That"s because we"re getting more tired all the time. But since we"ve started it would be a shame to stop. And think of the joy we"ll be bringing Toby, and poor hungry George."
"That does seem to help out some," admitted Lil Artha, taking occasion to change his end of the pole from the right shoulder to the left.
"Keep in step with me as much as you can," advised the leader; "that does more than you"d think to make the going easier. It"s a point everybody learns who has to carry heavy burdens this way. Coolies over in China know it. Horses running together pull easier if they happen to go in step. You"ve watched a pair trying to start, with a stalled wagonload of freight. When first one bucks hard, and then the other, there"s nothing doing; but once get them to combine, and away she goes on the jump."
There was little that escaped the observation of Elmer Chenowith; and he never failed to try and impart some of the information he picked up to those of his chums who did not happen to be so keen-eyed.
"It"s getting dark; and I can hardly see our old tracks now!" announced the tall scout, presently.
"Well, we"re near enough to camp to have them hear us if we chose to give out a yell," he was told, rea.s.suringly, "but for my part I think we"d better keep right along as we have been doing, and surprise the boys."
"Oh! I thought I glimpsed a star through the trees ahead just then, Elmer, but that couldn"t be so."
"It"s the fire, and I"ve seen it several times, but didn"t want to say anything until you had a chance to make the discovery for yourself!"
Elmer declared.
"Bully for that!" exclaimed Lil Artha, "and now we"ve just got to buckle down to our load, for I"d be ashamed to have to call for help when we"re on the home stretch."
He watched for that welcome glow all the while, and whenever it came it seemed to give Lil Artha renewed strength. In this manner, then, did they finally approach the camp under the pine tree. Presently they could see the moving figures of their comrades, and then Elmer announced:
"They must be getting a little worried about us, because there"s Toby standing up and looking this way as hard as he can. I think you"d better give a whoop, so as to let them know we"re coming."
That was just like Elmer; he wanted Lil Artha to have the first say, because the honors should be fitted to his brow. And when the lucky hunter did give a shout no doubt there was enough of joy in it to tell those in camp their comrades were not returning quite empty handed.
When they saw what the two Nimrods were carrying slung on that bending pole that rested on their sore shoulders Toby and George gave a series of shouts themselves:
"Lo! the conquering hero comes; get the laurel wreath ready," cried the dancing Toby, and then adding: "A deer! Tell me about that, would you?
Oh! what great luck. Who shot it? Elmer, was it you? What, Lil Artha got his buck after all, did he? Well, well, well, if that doesn"t beat anything I"ve heard this long while. And won"t we have the grandest feast to-night ever heard of? Oh! say, I"m just trembling all over, I"m so crazy with joy, and p"raps weak, too, because I haven"t had enough to eat. Lil Artha, shake hands with me, won"t you; and later on you"ve got to tell us just however you managed to knock such n.o.ble game over."
Meanwhile George, who had not said a single word, went over to where the tired hunters had dropped their burden. He was seen to bend down and feel of the animal, first about its antlered head, and then even down its hind quarters to its pretty little hoofs. After that he turned to Lil Artha, and said in a relieved tone:
"Why, it is a deer, sure enough! I was beginning to think hunger had made us see things that didn"t have any foundation. But after I"ve proved my sight by my sense of feeling I can believe it. And you shot him, did you, Lil Artha? Well, I want to congratulate you, old fellow."
It was just like Lil Artha, bubbling over with mischief, and feeling ever so happy because good fortune had come his way, to look meaningly at George, poke him suggestively in the ribs as he had done once before, and with a wink say:
"That"s all right, George, and I"m sure I thank you; but between us don"t you think after all you"re the one to be congratulated? Consider what you"ve p"raps escaped by my lucky shot. But it"s all right, George, and no reason for you to lie awake nights after this, worrying. You can keep on getting fatter and fatter, now, because the danger is past," and then he watched Elmer getting ready to exercise his skill in cutting up the deer, so they could have a supply of meat for supper.