During the first night Angel was restless, as usual in the woods at the merest sound, and George tried to find out the cause of the uneasiness.
"Wasn"t it near here that the wildcat attacked us?" asked George.
"I believe you are right. Possibly he has scented another one."
"Suppose we take a peep out," Ralph whispered; and taking their guns, they stole down from the wagon.
They silently stood by the wagon, peering around in the darkness.
"They will be up in the trees," said Harry. "Wait--I see something; look up to the right, a little to the left of the opening through to the sky."
"Two b.a.l.l.s of fire could be distinctly noticed.
"That is one of them, if it isn"t something larger. What shall we do?"
"Ralph, you and I will aim and fire at it, and if it makes a dive for us George and Tom can take the next shot. Get in the wagon quietly, and prepare."
"Now, ready, aim, fire!" Something came down from the tree faster than an ordinary descent.
"Get into the wagon, quickly," and suiting the action to the word, they leaped up quickly.
"Don"t shoot, George, until you see something definite to shoot at."
Something went crashing through the underbrush, and Angel, who was their monitor, increased his alarm.
"I believe it is making for us."
The boys who had shot were now prepared with the newly loaded guns and awaited the attack, but beyond the plain movement of the leaves, and what appeared to be breaking twigs, nothing could be discerned, until George almost screamed, as he saw the object above them, high in the branches.
"Here is a chance for a shot?" And Harry and Ralph both aimed and fired at the same moment, and the animal came down with a crash and landed near the wagon, but was up in an instant, and appeared to spring out through the forest.
Angel quieted down, and this gave George a.s.surance that they were rid of the animal.
The second day was not filled with stirring events, and they went along with considerable speed, and judging from their former estimates the distance traveled during the two days must have brought them fully forty or fifty miles from home, so they counted on being able to reach the location of the boat some time during the following day.
Before noon of the day they sighted the West River, but they reached it at an unfamiliar point.
George and Harry looked at each other in surprise. "It does seem to me,"
said Harry, "that we must have made some miscalculation in coming from the woods. If I am not mistaken we are miles south of the place we ought to have aimed for."
Beyond question the direction was to the north, and the team was headed for that direction, their route being near the river, as the ground was much smoother, and speed was thus made.
"What is this?" asked Ralph in consternation. "Here are tracks."
The trails were examined, and Harry solved the question by the a.s.sertion that it was the tracks made by their own wagon when they escaped from the savages on the other side of the river.
"What idiots we have been to expose ourselves to the savages."
"We must leave the river bed now, or we may be discovered," was George"s answer, and the yaks were guided to a higher elevation, and urged forward at a higher speed.
Selecting a secluded spot the noonday halt was made, and a hurried luncheon provided, but before they were ready for a start, Angel, who was in the branches of a tree, began his chatter, which caused George to spring toward the direction of the tree.
"Come down, Angel; come down!" This was always heeded by the animal, and it was plain that the direction of the approaching danger was from the north.
Springing to a small, low-branching tree, he crawled up, and Angel followed and looked to the north, and the sight that greeted him was sufficient to cause a hasty descent, and he ran toward the wagon and met the boys, who were coming toward him.
"What is it?" asked all in excitement.
"Savages."
"And if I am not mistaken, they are the same tribe that had Ralph and Tom."
The two boys almost paled at the words. Ralph made his way back to the wagon on a run. "If they attempt to take me again, I will never surrender."
"Are they coming this way?"
"Yes; and they are not a quarter of a mile away."
The yaks were unyoked, and had not been hitched up, so they were led behind the wagon, following out the plan previously adopted, as it would have been useless to attempt to avoid them.
"Shall we attack them the moment they approach?"
"I believe," answered Ralph "that is our only hope."
"How many could you see in the party?"
"About a dozen."
The wagon had been camped behind a clump of shrubbery, not over twenty feet from the small rivulet, and to the north of them the stream made a slight turn, so that the party appeared in view to the watchers as soon as they reached the wagon, and Ralph was the first to recognize their late enemies.
To the surprise of the boys, the savages stopped, not a thousand feet away, but on the opposite side of the stream, and built a fire preparatory to cooking some game which had fallen into their hands.
"Well, this is interesting. They are going to have some luncheon, too.
Wouldn"t this be a good time to slip away?"
"I am afraid," answered Tom, "that it would be a dangerous business. The creaking of that rear wheel would put them on our track at once.
Couldn"t we grease the wheel?" Tom was very much in earnest now.
As quietly as possible the wheel was removed, and some very good b.u.t.ter, the only thing available, was used to ease it up, and the wheel was gotten back in quick time.
Unfortunately the wagon tongue pointed toward the river, the very direction which they dared not go, for fear of exposing their presence, so they had to push the wagon back, by their combined energy, and as noiselessly as it could be done the team was yoked on and slowly moved south, and after traveling a quarter of a mile or more, directed toward the river, and then northwardly, thus making a wide circle in the effort to avoid their camp.
"I"d much rather shoot them than to run away," was Tom"s opinion of the situation. "The dirty rascals; they are known to be the meanest set on the island, and we oughtn"t show them any mercy."
By this time the boys were worked up into a fighting fever.
"I think we can lick the whole lot of them, and for my part, I am willing to wait here and take a shot at them; what do you say?" Ralph was really mad at the demons, as he called them.
The boys looked at each other. Harry was the only one who seemed to have the situation well in hand from a true hunter"s standpoint. "If we stay here you will certainly get an opportunity, or I am very much mistaken."