Out with Gun and Camera Part 34

CHAPTER XXIII

A BEAR AND A LION

Giant and Tommy listened with interest to what the others had to tell about the wildcats, the deer and the lion, and also about the stop at the Spink camp. The story about the lion interested Tommy deeply.

"Ca.s.so will be glad to get that lion back," he said. "And if you capture him alive he ought to be willing to pay well for it."

Giant and Tommy had had a rather quiet time in camp. They had hunted and fished a little, and Giant had taken some photos and developed some films and plates and printed a few pictures. The photographs had turned out well, and the young hunters were correspondingly proud of them.

"I think my father will be much pleased," said the doctor's son. "I am sure they are right in line with what he wanted. But we must get a good many more."

"How about your watch, Shep?" asked Whopper.

"I declare, I forgot about it---thinking of that lion," answered the doctor's son. "We'll have to go to that lonely cabin and see if I can't get it back from that crazy hermit---if he is around."

A day's rest seemed to make Snap and Shep feel as lively as ever, but Whopper declared that he was still tired out, and, besides, he had sc.r.a.ped an ankle on the rocks and this was quite sore. He said that he was willing to take it quiet for at least a day or two more.

"We'll have to see about that lion, and about that hermit," declared Shep. "Supposing we leave you and Tommy in camp this time, and take Giant along?"

"All right," said Whopper.

"Do you think you can manage---if the Spink tribe come to bother you?" asked Snap.

"I think so---unless they come at night."

"You'll have to risk that."

"Wags will watch out at night," said Tommy. "He's better as a watch dog at night than he is in the daytime."

It was decided that the boys should try first to find out if the lion had been trapped. Then they were to journey to the lonely cabin in the woods. Not knowing how long they would be away. They took with them a fair stock of provisions and also a good supply of matches. They also took new films and plates for their cameras.

Fortunately, in spite of the rather rough experiences of the boys, none of the picture-taking machines had been damaged, beyond having the leather covers scratched, and this did not matter.

"They don't look so well," said Shep. "But they'll do the work, and that's what we want."

The doctor's son, with Snap and Giant, started early on the following morning. Giant was glad to get away from the camp once more, and whistled a merry tune as they hurried along. They cut around the Spink camp, not wishing to meet their enemies.

"No use of letting them know we are gone," said Snap. "If they did, they'd be sure to go and bother Whopper and Tommy at once---and two couldn't do much against that whole crowd."

Snap and Shep had fixed the direction well in their mind and studied the position of the sun, so that they might not go astray. Having left the Spink camp behind them, the three boys struck out in a bee line for the spot where they had left the pit with the dead wildcats as bait. They made good progress, and stopped less than half an hour for lunch at midday.

"We ought to reach there before nightfall," said the doctor's son.

"That is, unless we get turned around again."

"I think we are going straight," answered Snap. "But it may be farther than you think."

While tramping along they scared up several rabbits, and Giant brought down one of these. But game appeared to be scarce and nothing else came to view.

It was just five o'clock when they reached a clearing that looked familiar to Snap and Shep.

"That pit is just beyond here," said the doctor's son. "We'd better go slow---in case that lion hasn't been caught and is at large."

The others took the advice and advanced with caution. A fringe of brushwood hid the pit from view. On the other side of the clearing was a dense forest of pines and hemlocks.

"Well, I never!"

It was the doctor's son who uttered the exclamation. He was slightly in advance and had peered over the bushes.

"What is it?" asked Snap in a low tone.

"Look, but don't make any noise."

Snap and Whopper pressed forward and looked. What they saw thrilled them greatly.

On the edge of the pit was a fair-sized black bear. He was sniffing at the carca.s.s of the wildcat that rested on the tree branches laid over the mouth of the opening.

"A chance for a fine shot!" whispered Giant a bit nervously.

"Wait---we'll get a picture first!" said the doctor's son. "But keep quiet!"

The others understood, and, hardly daring to breathe, the three lads swung their cameras into position, got them ready for use, and spread out among the bushes to take some snapshots.

The bear was a cautious animal and slowly he circled the pit, sniffing longingly at the carca.s.s so close at hand. Evidently he desired a meat diet for a change and wanted to get the wildcat very much, but did not quite trust the tree branches and what might be underneath.

Each of the lads got what he thought was a good picture, and then Snap and Giant looked at Shep and touched their guns. But the doctor's son did not see them, for he was looking wildly at something between the trees on the other side of the clearing.

"What do you see?" whispered Snap.

"Hush!" answered the doctor's son. "Look for yourself."

Snap and Giant gazed in the direction pointed out, and it must be confessed that the hair of the smaller youth literally rose on end.

There, between two trees, crouched the lion that had escaped from the circus. The eyes of the monarch of the forest were fastened on the bear, and his tail was swaying from side to side, showing that he was getting ready for a leap.

"Shall we---we shoot?" asked Snap. He was so agitated he could hardly speak.

"Why not take a picture?" asked Shep, who had his camera still in his hand.

"All right---but we don't want that lion to---to come this way."

"Not much!" put in Giant, and it must be confessed that his voice trembled a good deal. To face a deer or even a bear was one thing; to face a powerful lion was quite another.

Slowly the lion came out from between the two trees. The bear now had his head turned the other way, so he was not aware of the approach of the enemy.

It made a magnificent picture, and for the moment the boys forgot their own peril and each took two snapshots, one with the lion almost on top of the bear.

Scarcely had they clicked the shutters of the cameras the second time when a blood-curdling roar rent the air, and the lion made one grand leap for the bear. But as this happened bruin chanced to turn slightly, and with a movement wonderful in such a bulky animal the bear sprang to one side. The lion missed his would-be prey and slid forward, directly into the ma.s.s of tree limbs covering the pit.