Out with Gun and Camera Part 31

ADRIFT IN THE WOODS

"Stop Whopper, or he'll go over the cliff!"

It was the doctor's son who uttered the words. He was high up on the rocks and could do nothing to save his chum.

Snap heard and understood, for he saw Whopper rolling rapidly toward the cliff. If the youth went over, a sheer drop of twenty or thirty feet awaited him---with more rocks below.

In this moment of peril, for Snap to think was to Whopper was very dear to him, and he resolved to do all he could to save his chum, even at the risk of his own life.

He let his gun drop and ran over the rocks to where Whopper was rolling over and over. Then he caught him by the foot and threw himself flat, clutching tenaciously at a single stone that arose sharply above those around it. Snap's grip was good, and for the moment Whopper's progress was stayed.

"Don't move!" called out Snap as soon as he could catch his breath.

"Press down on the rocks for all you are worth!"

Whopper understood and pressed down, and thus both boys lay quiet for several seconds. Whopper was but three feet from the edge of the cliff and Snap was just above him. The doctor's son was to the right, in a spot that was a comparatively safe one.

"The---the gun kicked!" gasped Whopper when he could speak.

"Yes, I know," answered Snap. "But be careful, or you'll go over the cliff yet!"

Whopper screwed his head around and gazed in the direction of the yawning gulf below him, and his face changed color.

"Gosh! We'll have to get out of this," he murmured.

"Crawl toward Shep; but take it slowly and be careful," directed Snap. "Shall I help you?"

"No, I can do it alone," was the answer.

Both boys crawled like snails over the smooth rocks until they gained the spot where the doctor's son rested. Whopper drew a long breath of relief.

"I'm glad I didn't take that tumble," he whispered hoa.r.s.ely. He could hardly speak, and his limbs trembled slightly.

"It was a good thing Snap stopped you," said Shep.

"That's what---and I am mighty thankful, Snap," replied Whopper gratefully.

"Well, we'll have to go back, that is all there is to it," remarked the doctor's son after a pause, during which they looked across the rocks in perplexity. "I thought sure we could go this way, but it seems as if we can't."

To climb down the rocks was as great a task as it had been to climb up, and by the time they reached the bottom all were thoroughly hungry. It now lacked but an hour and a half of noon.

"We'll never get to camp by dinner-time," declared Snap. "And I'm not going to do without breakfast and dinner, too. I move we light a fire and cook those rabbits. I've got a little coffee left, enough for three weak cups, I guess."

The others agreed, and reaching a comfortable spot, they cut a little wood and made a fire. Then they sat down to rest while the skinned and cleaned rabbits were broiling. Snap made the coffee and, though rather weak and without milk and sugar, they drank it eagerly. They had a little salt for the rabbits, but that was all.

But hunger and fresh air are great appetizers.

The scant meal at an end, they resumed their journey, the doctor's son taking the lead. They moved in a semicircle around the base of one small mountain and then reached a rather broad mountain torrent.

"h.e.l.lo, here's a surprise!" cried Snap. "I had no idea such a big brook flowed through these parts."

"Nor I," added Shep. "Looks as if there might be good fishing here."

The boys noted the location of the brook, so that they might visit it another day, and then pushed on as before. They reached a slight rise and all concluded that their camp was directly to the west.

"In that case all we'll have to do is to follow the sun," declared Whopper.

"Right you are," responded the doctor's son.

"How far do you calculate it is?"

"Not more than two miles."

"It may be a little more," said Snap. "But not much."

They plunged into the woods once more, and had hardly proceeded a hundred yards when they heard some partridges drumming. It was a chance for another shot, and they hurried forward with guns ready for use.

"I see them!" cried Snap, and blazed away, and the others followed suit. They were unusually lucky, for five of the birds fell, either dead or fatally wounded. Soon they had the game in their bags.

"There! that is something like!" cried Snap. "They'll make fine eating." And he smacked his lips. He loved partridge meat very much.

They seemed to be getting deeper and deeper into the woods. The trees around them were so dense that it was almost impossible to see the direction of the sun. Several times they came to a halt to look around.

"What do you make of it?" asked Snap.

"I don't like it," answered the doctor's son emphatically. "First thing we know we'll be lost."

"Just what I was thinking."

"We were to follow the sun," came from Whopper.

"Can you see it?"

"Once in a while, and not very clearly at that."

"Tell you what we might do," suggested Shep. "Climb a big tree and take a look around."

This was considered a wise suggestion, and they started to carry it out. A tree was selected, and the others gave Snap a boost to the lower branches. Then up went the youth to the top, slowly but surely.

"Well, what do you see?" demanded the doctor's son, after having given his chum a chance to look around.

"Nothing."

"Nothing?" echoed Whopper blankly.

"Nothing but woods and mountains, and a brook or two. I don't see a thing that looks like a camp anywhere."

"Oh, it must be ahead of us," insisted the doctor's son.