His pulses thrilled, while Joe, who had taken up a position alongside him after the adventure with the panther, put out a hand and nudged Jerry several times.
"Bear!" he said, in the lowest of whispers.
Again and again came the grunting and the swishing of bushes. Bruin was sniffing the delightful aroma of honey. It was so strong that his usual caution was apparently thrown to the winds, and he pushed forward straight toward the spot where the broken tree hive had scattered much of its delicious contents over the ground.
Now Jerry could see his bulky figure as he shuffled forward with eager mien. The repeating rifle began to come up, though Jerry was in no hurry to fire. He wanted to get a fair view of the animal"s side, so that he could bring Bruin down with a single shot.
They could hear the beast grunting in delight as he started in to devour some of the bees" rich treasure. Perhaps he had long cast an envious eye on that same tree hive, and hoped for the time to come when a storm might lay it low.
Frank held his fire generously. He could have shot the bear several times, and with the buckshot sh.e.l.ls that were in his gun had no fear about killing his game with ease; but it was really Jerry"s turn.
Finally came the sharp report. They saw the bear roll over, try to stagger up again, struggle vehemently, and then gradually grow weaker.
"Hurrah, Jerry! He"s your bag!" shouted Frank, as genuinely happy as though it had been his own shot that did the business; perhaps more so.
"Oh! what a night! Bring on your bears and panthers, your crocodiles and tomcats!" cried Jerry. "We can take care of a whole menagerie. Talk to me about your hunting preserves! Did you ever meet up with anything that equals this?"
Realizing that the boys on board the motorboat must be consumed with eagerness to know what the result of these two shots might be, Frank now proposed that they go aboard.
"We want some sleep, you see. In the morning we"ll be able to attend to these fellows. I guess nothing will bother them until then," he said.
He and Joe entered the little dinghy, and it was ferried across the water to the anch.o.r.ed boat. There they were met by both Will and Bluff, who, being aroused by the first shot, had sat there, swathed in blankets, watching for the return of the mighty Nimrods.
"What luck?" called Bluff, evidently repenting that he had not accompanied them.
"Oh, Jerry got his bear, all right," sang out Frank indifferently, while he kept on pushing the smaller boat closer to the other.
"But didn"t you shoot? Will declared it was your shotgun that awoke us first--it must have been hours ago," went on Bluff curiously.
"Why, yes. I had a shot at a gray visitor who threatened to jump down on me from the tree." And Frank began climbing aboard so that Joe could go back after the other chum.
"What! Do you mean a panther?" burst out Bluff.
"Sure! Wait till you see the chap, in the morning. Looks like a dandy,"
replied Frank, trying to appear unconcerned.
"Then you got him?"
"It was a case of getting him before he got me." And then, taking pity on the boys, who were fairly burning with eagerness to hear, he told how he had happened to discover the crouching beast that had crept into the tree without their knowledge.
Presently Jerry came aboard. Both of the hunters, as well as young Joe, were too sleepy for further conversation.
"You"ll see it all in the morning. And Will, we can hang up the game so that you"ll have a fine shot at the scene, bee tree and all. Every time we look at it our mouths will water at the thought of all that fine honey going to waste," and with this parting remark Frank crawled under his blanket.
Nothing happened to disturb the outdoor chums during the balance of the night. With the coming of morning they were astir. Breakfast was a hurried meal. Then they went ash.o.r.e in detachments, Joe remaining behind to look after the boat.
Will managed to get a good picture of the trophies, with the two gallant hunters standing beside the defunct bear and panther. Then, after the former had been washed, being sticky with the honey, Frank a.s.sisted Jerry to get the skin off. It was here the boys profited by the advice given by the old trapper, Jesse Wilc.o.x, when they visited him in his camp above Rocky Creek, which was a feeder to the lake upon which their home town was located.
Before noon they were all aboard again. Both skins had been secured, besides the choice portions of the bear meat. Bluff even managed to fill another kettle with the honey, though stung unmercifully by the angry bees that were so busily working to transfer their stores to a new home.
After a bite of lunch they started out again on the gulf, since the conditions invited an afternoon cruise. Frank knew they would find a good holding place not more than twenty miles further along the sh.o.r.e, and he aimed to reach it before the coming of night.
It was just four o"clock when they pushed in behind another key and made their way to the mainland, for here the water was quite deep.
"I move for a camp ash.o.r.e, for a change," suggested Jerry.
"Second that motion. My back"s nearly broken from these hard boards,"
grunted Bluff. "Oh, dear! If we only had our air mattresses along, Frank!"
"Yes, if we only had!" exclaimed Jerry. "Then you"d soon quit claiming that you had bigger lungs than I"ve got. You know I beat you in blowing up my bag."
"Yes, just once more than I came in winner. Isn"t that so, Frank?"
Frank poured oil on the troubled waters, but he and Will winked at each other, for the joke always amused them.
They erected the tent, and had their jolly campfire, which reminded them of many in the past. It was, of course, thought a good thing to secure the boat with chain and padlock, so that no prowling scamp could make off with it while they slept, for they meant to keep no watch.
Joe found a place on board, as there was no room in the tent. Besides, he had not a temperament that delighted in such things, and would only too gladly have always felt sure of having a good roof over him at night.
The four boys were a bit crowded. Still, they joked over the thing as they settled down, and after a time only the glow of the still burning fire told that human beings were somewhere near by.
They slept soundly, despite the close quarters, since the air was cool, and, for a wonder, no mosquitoes worried them. Those who were dreaming must have imagined the end of the world had suddenly arrived, for the tent was, without the least warning, knocked down, leaving the four amazed boys scrambling and shouting under the canvas, and trying to crawl out from the wreckage.
CHAPTER XXII
THE MESSAGE FROM THE AIR
"What struck us?" And Bluff poked his head out from under the canvas, looking for all the world like a tortoise, Frank thought, as he followed suit.
"Tell me about that, will you! Where"s the villain who cut the ropes? I can whip him with one hand!" panted Jerry, struggling in a mess of camp necessities, and kicking around among the aluminum ware that Frank prized so highly.
"Where"s my camera? Some fellow has run off with my camera!" wailed Will.
By this time Frank had extricated himself from the wreckage and began to a.s.sist the others to regain their feet. No one seemed to be seriously injured, and the mystery was great. What had happened to smash down their tent in that strange way?
"The ropes were never cut, fellows!" announced Bluff, after a hasty examination.
"Something _fell_ on us, that"s what!" observed Jerry, shaking that wise head of his in his obstinate fashion as he surveyed the ruins of the tent.
Frank seized upon the idea quickly.
"I believe you"ve struck the truth, Jerry!" he exclaimed.
"Then it must have been a shooting-star or a piece off a comet," said Will.