Such was the question which several of the boys put to each other simultaneously.
"Why didn"t somebody shoot at the ghost?" asked Snap.
"Why didn"t you, Shep?" queried Giant.
"I---er---I forgot about it."
"The ghost vanished too quickly," said Snap. "But keep on guard---it may come back."
"If it does it will get something from me sure," murmured the doctor"s son, and raised his shotgun.
"What do you think it was?" asked Whopper, after a painful pause of several minutes.
"A man," answered Snap, promptly.
"A man!" cried Giant.
"Yes, a man---and I don"t know whether we ought to shoot at him or not," continued the leader of the gun club. "We certainly don"t want to commit murder."
"But if it"s a man what is he playing ghost for?" queried the doctor"s son.
"That remains to be found out."
"Your theory is all well enough," said Whopper, "but it doesn"t account for the ghostlike voice."
"I know that. Nevertheless, I think that ghost is a man."
The young hunters continued to discuss the situation from all possible points of view. Snap"s positive declaration that the ghost was a man made all feel less frightened, and they were anxious to get better acquainted with the apparition.
"If it"s a man I"d like to capture him and give him a piece of my mind," said Whopper. "What right has he to roam around like this, frightening everybody he meets?"
"He ordered us away from the mountain. Most likely, if it is a man, he wants this territory to himself," answered Giant.
"That"s the way I figure it," said Snap. "He may be crazy and may think he owns the mountains and the lake."
"It couldn"t be that old hermit, Peter Peterson, could it?" queried Shep, suddenly.
"That"s who it is!" almost shouted Whopper. "It"s a trick of his to keep folks away from here."
"But why should he come to us with that story of his?" questioned Giant.
"He told us that just to scare us. He thought we might go away from the lake at once."
Again there was a lively discussion, and the young hunters agreed that, if the ghost was indeed a man, more than likely it was Peterson.
"A fellow who would play such a trick ought to be tarred and feathered,"
was Whopper"s comment.
"If it proves to be Peterson we"ll have him driven out of this neighborhood fast enough," said Snap.
Another hour went by, and as the ghost did not reappear the young hunters grew heavy eyed, and one after another took a short nap.
Thus the night pa.s.sed, and at last the sun showed itself over the mountain top to the eastward, heralding another day.
With the coming of sunlight the boys were inclined to treat the coming of the ghost as a joke. They could not explain the ghostly voice, however, although Snap said he imagined the man playing ghost might be a ventriloquist.
"Some of those ventriloquists are very clever," he a.s.serted, "and they can throw their voices almost anywhere."
The sun soon dried the gra.s.s and bushes, and after eating what was left of the quail, and the lunch brought from the camp, the young hunters struck off in the direction whence the bear they had shot had disappeared. They traveled with extreme care, for none of them wished to risk a tumble down the mountainside.
"Look! look!" yelled Snap, presently, and pointed some distance ahead.
"Wolves, and they are at some game," returned Whopper. "I do believe it is our bear!
"That"s just what it is," put in Giant. "What gall! Let us open fire on "em!"
The wolves were at least a dozen in number, all big and powerful fellows. They had just come on the bear, that was dead, and were quarreling among themselves over the carca.s.s.
With great care the four boy hunters took, aim at the wolves, and at a command from Snap, let drive. As the reports died away two of the beasts were seen to be dead and two others were wounded.
The other wolves turned and retreated a few paces, then paused and glared at those who had molested them.
"They are coming for us!" shouted Whopper, and the statement proved true. With wild yelps and snarls the wolves leaped forward.
It was a moment of great peril and the young hunters fully realized their critical condition.
"Shoot and jump for the nearest trees!" yelled Snap, and then let drive again. The others discharged the remaining loads in their shotguns, and three more of the wolves were hit, and one killed.
Then one after another the young hunters scrambled up into the nearest trees.
The boys thought they would have a hard fight with the remaining wolves, but evidently the pack had had enough of the encounter, for those that were wounded limped off growling savagely and the others followed, leaving the dead where they had fallen.
"We came up in the nick of time," said Snap, as he reloaded and leaped to the ground, followed by his chums. "A few minutes later and those beasts would have torn this bear limb from limb. I suppose they thought they were going to have the feast of their lives."
The body of the bear was cold and stiff, showing that it had died shortly after being shot. It was a good-sized creature, and the young hunters felt justly proud of their quarry.
"I knew we"d get plenty of small game, but I was afraid we wouldn"t get a bear," said Whopper.
"A bear always tops off a hunt," said Snap. "That or a moose," put in Giant. "I"d like to get a crack at a good, big moose."
"I am afraid you want too much in this life," answered Snap, with a laugh.
The problem of how to get the carca.s.s down to their camp was a serious one. They did not want to cut the bear up just yet, nor did they want to spoil the skin by dragging it over the rocks.
"Let us make a good, strong drag of tree limbs," suggested Whopper.
"We can bind the limbs together closely, so the skin of the beast won"t touch the ground after we have tied the bear on top. Then we can all haul it down between the trees."
"Maybe the bear will go down quicker than we antic.i.p.ate," said Snap. "But I reckon your suggestion is as good as anything."
It took the best part of the morning to make a drag that was satisfactory and pry the big bear on it then the carca.s.s was bound down with vines and cords.
"Now, everybody be careful," cautioned Snap. "Some of these rocks are very loose, and it will be the easiest thing in the world to take a tumble and break an ankle or your neck."