Out with Gun and Camera Part 29

It was well on toward the middle of the afternoon when they came upon the trail of a deer. It looked to be quite fresh, and this filled them with the hope of catching up to the game.

"We want to be mighty quiet," cautioned Snap, who was in the lead.

"The wind is uncertain and may carry the slightest sound to the deer."

"It will carry our scent, too," answered Whopper.

"That we can't help and will have to chance."

They followed the trail for fully half a mile, through something of a hollow between the mountains. Here they came on quite a pond, much to their surprise. The pond was filled with lilies and other flowers, and on one side was a series of rocks leading to quite a cliff.

"What a beautiful spot for a cabin!" cried Shep, forgetting all about the deer, for a moment.

"Why not take some pictures?" suggested Snap. "We may not come this way again."

The doctor's son was willing, and they took several views, one of Whopper with his hand full of water lilies.

The trail of the deer led around the rocky elevation, and the three young hunters were moving through some low brushwood when of a sudden they heard a noise ahead of them.

"What's that?" asked Whopper.

"Bless me if I know," whispered the doctor's son. "Get your guns ready."

"Here comes a deer!" shouted Snap, and an instant later a magnificent buck burst into view, rushing around the other end of the cliff.

It appeared and disappeared so quickly that to get a shot was all but impossible.

"Well, of all the chumps!" cried Snap in disgust. "Why didn't somebody let drive?"

"Why didn't you?" asked Shep.

"I couldn't---the rocks were in the way."

"Well, the rocks were in my way, too."

"How can a fellow shoot at a streak of greased lightning?" asked Whopper. "That buck was making a hundred miles a minute!"

"Well, that's the end of that game," muttered Snap, much crestfallen.

"Boys, it looks as if we were going to be skunked to-day."

"Oh, we've got a couple of hours yet," said the doctor's son. "But I guess we had better turn back toward camp. We don't want to miss our way in the dark."

"Let us go on a little," said Whopper. "I imagine that buck got scared at something, and I'd like to know what it was."

"Maybe a bear," said Snap. "And if it is, you can be sure Mr.

Bruin will walk right away from us while we are thinking about a shot," he added bitterly. He was disgusted to think they had allowed both the rabbits and the deer to get away from them.

All of the boys were curious to know if anything had really frightened the buck, and they went forward, but this time more cautiously than ever. Pa.s.sing the cliff, they came to a hillside, overgrown with cedars and brushwood, with many loose stones between. Here they had to progress even more slowly, for walking was treacherous and none of them had a desire to twist an ankle or break a leg.

"I don't see a thing," said the doctor's son presently. "It's a mighty lonely place, isn't it?"

"I fancied I saw something move, just beyond yonder clump of cedars,"

said Whopper, pointing with his hand.

"Whopper is seeing things," said Snap, laughing. "I guess the wildcats and the deer got on his nerves."

"Well, don't believe me if you don't want to," answered Whopper rather testily.

"We'll see if there is anything in it, anyway," answered the doctor's son. "But I am not going any farther than those cedars. I am getting tired---and it is high time we turned back, unless we want to remain away from camp all night."

"No, I want to get back, too," answered Snap. "Sleeping out of doors is all well enough once in a while, but I prefer to be under some kind of a roof, even if it's only canvas."

The three boys moved forward once again, each with his gun ready for use, should anything worth shooting appear. They came up to the cedars and were then able to look beyond, where the mountain side was full of rocks, with numerous holes between.

"Oh!" yelled Snap at the top of his lungs. "Look!"

All gazed in the direction indicated, and for once they were fairly rooted to the spot. Before them, on a flat rock, stood a large and magnificent lion, gazing boldly at them.

CHAPTER XX

ON THE MOUNTAIN SIDE

For fully ten seconds the lion did not move, and during that time the young hunters stood spellbound. Then the foreign monarch of the forest turned and like a flash disappeared into a hole on the mountain side.

"Did---did---was it really a lion?" gasped Whopper when he could speak.

"It certainly was---and a big one, too," answered the doctor's son.

"But here?" began Snap. "We don't have lions in America."

"It must be the one that got away from the circus!" cried Shep.

"To be sure! Why didn't I think of that?" came from Whopper. "Sure as you're a foot high that is the circus lion. But how did he get away out here?"

"That's easy to explain," answered the doctor's son. "He left town and took to the woods, and his quest for food brought him here."

"And it was the lion that scared the buck," said Snap.

"More than likely. And he scared us, too. Why didn't you shoot at him?"

"Why didn't you?"

"I guess we were all about paralyzed; I know I was," declared Whopper.

"I didn't come out to hunt lions! Ugh! Maybe we had better get away from here. You can't kill a lion with a shotgun---you need a rifle, and a heavy one at that."

"Three heavy charges of buckshot would discourage any lion, I think,"