Rocky Mountain Boys Part 20

"Yes," Tom replied; "when he heard us talking, that other time, he must have walked over to this spot, where he could poke out his head, and look down."

"You don't see anything of him around, do you, Tom."

"Never a sign," came the answer. "Chances are, he's fast asleep inside."

"And now, do we pick out our trees, and squat in them waiting, for him to show up?"

"We'll see if a little music will coax the old gentleman to show his nose. Which tree do you want, Felix?"

"Don't see much choice between them; but I suppose I might as well take this, because it seems to be a trifle closer to the den than the other,"

replied the boy from the East, indicating his selection.

"But it's smaller in the bargain," complained Tom; "don't you think you'd better let me have that one?"

For answer the other commenced to climb; and as there was nothing else to be done Tom followed suit. He knew that Felix had a stubborn streak in his make-up; and in fact he liked him all the better for it, because, without such spice, in Tom's mind, a fellow would be like cake without the ginger in it, flat and commonplace.

"Well, here we are," commented Felix, after he had fixed himself comfortably, and raised his rifle to his shoulder several times, as though wishing to make certain that he could cover any advancing enemy without difficulty.

"How does it suit you?" asked Tom, grinning.

"Oh! I've sat on worse seats, one of 'em a wasps' nest," replied Felix.

"All right. Now, what'll we sing?" continued the other.

"Sing?" echoed Felix.

"Yes, to coax our grizzly to look out. Strike up any old song you like, and if I happen to know it, I'll join in; I can do that anyhow, because our audience ain't going to be particular. Fact is, the worst noise we make, the more chance of his coming out in a bad temper."

"All right, just as you say, Tom," laughed Felix, falling in with the humor of the idea.

Accordingly, Felix began to sing some school song, at the top of his voice, and his chum joined in with a pretty good ba.s.s. They went clean through with a verse, and roared out the chorus in good style, although Felix was laughing so hard at the end that the effect was terrific.

"If he can stand that howl, he's equal to anything," the latter remarked, as they finished; "see any signs of our friend yet, Tom?"

"Sorry to say I don't," replied the other; "though that ought to have fetched him hurrying out, to see what lunatic asylum had broken loose.

Hit up another verse, my boy, and give him all the variations you can."

So they went through with it, yet there was not the first sign of the grizzly.

"That's queer," remarked Tom, when after they had completed their duet, not a single thing occurred; only the gaping mouth of the den mocked them, with vacancy behind it.

"Don't fancy the tune, perhaps?" suggested Felix, humorously.

"That might be so. The old fellow might have his favorites. Can you give him a change, Felix, something more solemn like. He must have a weak spot, if only we could hit on it. Strike up 'Plunged in a Gulf of Deep Despair,' or something that thrills you the same way."

Accordingly, as he liked to be obliging, and the situation appealed to his fine sense of humor, Felix did start a song that sounded very much like the "Dead March of Saul." Tom added all the touches possible; and had anybody chanced to be in the vicinity he must have thought he had struck a camp meeting.

"How's that?" asked Felix, when they had finished.

"Simply elegant, take it from me. Queer that we haven't thought to sing a little while we sat around the blazing fire nights," declared Tom.

"Well, if we did much of that sort of thing, we'd soon go hungry, Tom."

"Think so?" chuckled the other.

"Every animal would take to its heels, and never come within miles of our shack again," a.s.serted Felix.

"Strikes me it don't seem to have any effect on _one_ animal I know of, and that's our big friend in the hole yonder," Tom declared.

"Perhaps after all he isn't at home," his chum remarked.

"I'm dead sure he is, in spite of the fact that he doesn't show up,"

said Tom.

"Then grizzlies must be lacking in a musical education, that's all I can say," Felix observed.

"Sorry our efforts to amuse don't seem to be appreciated," Tom went on to observe with a grin. "Shall we try one more? Do you know, I think something inspiring, like 'Dixie' for example, might stir him up.

Suppose we give him that, and follow with the 'Star Spangled Banner.' If one of those don't bring results, why something else has got to be done, that's flat."

Felix, entering into the spirit of the occasion, held his gun as though it were a guitar which he was picking; and presently, after a few extravagant motions, broke out in the invigorating strains of the well known Southern song, that in times of old, when the armies of the blue and the gray faced each other in battle array, did so much to inspire the latter to plunge into the fray.

But then, this was not a Southern bear; and at any rate, the music produced no result save to amuse the singers.

"Well, I must say he's a hard customer to please," laughed Tom.

"Or to make mad either," remarked Felix. "Why, after hearing how we murdered that n.o.ble tune, I should think any self respecting bear would rush out, foaming at the mouth, and proceed to rub the a.s.sa.s.sins in the dust. He just goes on snoozing, and paying not the least attention.

Shall we give it up, Tom?"

"Well, let's try if he's got any patriotism about him. Give him one stanza of the other song. If that doesn't make him look out, then we'd better put our horns away, and quit singing. We're dead failures as a drawing card, seems to me."

"You were right," observed Felix, a few minutes later, when, after they had done their level best rolling out the chorus, "And the Star Spangled Banner in triumph shall wave, o'er the land of the free and the home of the brave," not a single sign of an encore did they receive.

"He don't seem to mind it in the least," remarked Tom, grimly. "Perhaps now the old fellow may be stone deaf. I should think he must be, to stand for all that stuff, and never whimper once."

"But that couldn't be," declared Felix, "because he must have heard us talking that other time, when you saw him peeking over at us. I'm not so sure as you are that he's in just now."

"Well, here goes to prove it," said Tom, as he made a move as though intending to leave his tree; but when Felix also started to vacate, the other called out: "No, I want you to stay just where you are, and keep tabs on the opening. If you see the first sign of anything moving, you want to give me the tip right away, so I can run back to my tree."

"But what are you going to do?" asked Felix anxiously, for if there was anything dangerous to be accomplished, he did not see why Tom should not let him share in the enterprise.

"Just wait and see," was all the satisfaction he received. "And don't forget you gave me your solemn word to obey. I'm the captain of the ship just now, and the crew has got to do what the skipper says."

"But if you're going to take chances, I'd like to be along, Tom."

"Only one of us can do the little job; the other's business is to stay there, on guard, and give the alarm if anything shows up. And I've detailed you for that part of the programme, Felix."

So, unwilling though he was, the other had to sit there, rifle in hand, and try to figure out just what Tom meant to do, in order to bring the inmate of the den to his front door, in case he was at home.