Without pausing to think, Walter had discharged both barrels of his shotgun at the huddled animals.
The effect was not what he had antic.i.p.ated. The shot glanced harmlessly off their thick hides, and with grunts of rage, the whole drove charged for the smoke and sound.
"Get up a tree," shouted Charley, as he noted the effects of the shot.
Walter did not wait for a second bidding but swung himself up the nearest tree which happened to be a huge spreading live oak. Charley swarmed up after him in such haste that he dropped his rifle at the foot of the tree. He was not a moment too soon for a large boar made a lunge for his legs just as he drew them up.
"Now we are in for it," he exclaimed in disgust as he found a comfortable seat in the fork of a limb.
"Oh, I guess they"ll soon get tired and go away," Walter said cheerfully.
But the boars seemed to have no such intention. They ranged themselves around the foot of the tree as they had around the venison and sat looking longingly up among the branches.
"I am going to try a shot at that big fellow that seems to be the boss of the gang," said Walter after an hour had dragged away without the animals showing any signs of leaving.
"Don"t do it," Charley advised, "you can"t kill him with that small calibered revolver, and it will only make them madder than ever."
Walter put back his revolver with a sigh. "I guess you"re right," he admitted, "but, I declare, it makes me mad the way that big brute is leering up at me."
Wearily the hours dragged away, the boys getting cramped and weary in the tree, and the besiegers showing no sign of abatement in their interest.
The darkness found two, very tired, hungry boys seated in the tree while the boars still grunted in a circle around them.
With the rising of the moon came the distant tolling of the chapel bell and the boys looked worriedly at each other.
"The captain and Chris will be frightened to death with that thing tolling and we absent," Walter said.
"Yes, the captain will be sure to believe that we are all dead,"
Charley agreed. "There is something unearthly about that ringing, but of course there is a natural cause for it if we could only discover it."
"After our experience last night I am almost ready to agree with the captain and Chris," said Walter.
"Except for its worrying those two, I would not mind it in the least,"
Charley declared. "I am more upset by our position here. I guess we will have to stay all night, those fellows below show no signs of leaving."
"What"s that?" cried Walter, excitedly.
CHAPTER XXVII.
A TERRIBLE NIGHT.
A shrill piercing scream, like the cry of a tortured soul, rang out of the forest, rising clear and trembling above the tolling of the bell and the noises of the night.
The boys looked at each other with white, frightened faces.
"A panther," Charley cried, "a panther, and we penned up here helpless as babes."
"Look," said Walter, eagerly, "look at the boars."
The great animals were stirring uneasily and their hoa.r.s.e, threatening grunts had dropped to a kind of frightened whine. Again the scream rose shrill and clear, and, with a grunt of fear, the big leader charged into the forest followed by the rest.
"They are afraid of the panther, and I don"t blame them," Charley exclaimed. "Come, we must get out of here in a hurry."
The boys slid to the ground as fast as their stiffened limbs would permit, picked up Charley"s rifle, and hastily cutting down the venison, plunged out of the forest onto the prairie.
The screams, rapidly drawing nearer, hastened their footsteps, but, fast as they traveled, the sound continued to draw closer.
"It has got a sniff of the venison and is following us up," Charley declared. "We can never get away from it, and there is small chance of our being able to kill it in the dark. We may as well stop right here where there is a little wood and build a fire, that is our only chance."
Charley had chosen this halting place wisely, for a large dead tree lay on the ground, where he had stopped.
Hastily the boys tore up a heap of dry gra.s.s and piling broken limbs on it, lit the pile with a match.
The dry stuff roared up with a flame not a minute too soon, the flickering light revealed a crouching form not thirty feet away. With a snarl of rage the creature retreated from the blaze and began circling the fire from a distance. The soft pattering footfalls could be easily heard.
The boys crouched close to the fire filled with apprehension that gradually decreased as they saw the panther feared to approach. Thrice Charley fired at the dim skulking form, but, in the darkness, his bullets went wide of the mark, and he stopped wasting more ammunition.
"Let"s set fire to the tree itself," Walter suggested, "it will make a bigger fire, last a long time, and save us the trouble of gathering wood."
"Good," exclaimed Charley, and seizing a couple of blazing brands he thrust them under the tree"s trunk. The dry wood caught like tinder and soon the whole tree was aflame.
"I hope they will see it at the camp," Walter said. "If they do, they will know we are still alive."
As their fear of the panther decreased, the boys began to feel hungry and tired. The venison was unwrapped and some thick steaks were cut off and broiled over the fire, and from them the lads made a hearty meal.
They felt greatly refreshed after their hearty repast but they were still very tired and sleepy. They strove to converse together and keep awake but the fatigue of the day, the heavy meal, and the warmth of the fire proved too much for them and every now and then one would catch the other nodding.
"There"s no use of both of us sitting up all night, when one is all that is necessary to keep an eye on the fire," said Charley, sleepily.
"Let"s make up a bed of the prairie gra.s.s and take turn about sleeping and keeping watch."
Walter heartily agreed to the suggestion and they proceeded to make up their couch without loss of time. They did not have to go outside the circle of firelight for their mattress, for the wild rice grew all around the blazing tree. All they had to do was to pull it up in great handfuls and stack it before the fire.
Suddenly Charley gave an exclamation and leaped back out of the gra.s.s.
"Come out of that gra.s.s, Walt," he cried, "I have been bitten by a puff adder. I heard it hiss."
"Oh, Charley," cried his chum in terror, "what can we do?"
"Quick," commanded Charley, "open one of your shotgun sh.e.l.ls and take out the shot." While he had been speaking the lad had slipped one leg out of his pants and exposed the wound to view. It was only a tiny red puncture of the skin midway between knee and hip, but the bitten one knew that tiny place was more dangerous than a rifle ball. Like a flash, he drew his hunting-knife and cut out a chunk of flesh as big as a hen egg where the wound had been. "Give me that cartridge," he commanded, his teeth gritting with pain.
Walter pa.s.sed over the open sh.e.l.l and Charley emptied its contents of powder into the open cut. Quickly, he applied a match to the black grains and they caught with a hiss, there was a tiny cloud of black smoke and a whiff of burning flesh.
Walter sprang to his chum"s side and caught him, as he staggered and reeled under the awful pain.
"Gee, but that was a plucky thing to do," he cried.
"I guess I got it done in time," murmured Charley, through pale lips.