The Go Ahead Boys in the Island Camp Part 10

"I can't resist trying to get rises out of Fred," said George. "He's so easy."

"Leave him alone," said Grant. "I wonder where the people are who own this tent. There doesn't seem to be a soul around."

"Let's go up to the tent and peek in," suggested John.

"Do you think we ought to do that?" Fred protested.

"Why not? We're not going to steal anything are we?"

"I'm not," laughed Fred. "Of course I don't know about you."

"Come ahead," urged George. "We'll just take one look."

They made their way up from the dock towards the tent. Still no sign of life appeared and when John had stolen one hasty glance inside the tent he reported that no one was in there either.

"Let's go back," exclaimed Fred. "There's no use in staying around here any longer."

"Come on," said Grant. "It's time to eat too."

"We might eat our luncheon over on that point," suggested George, indicating a spot about a mile or so distant from the place where they were.

"Eating suits me all right," exclaimed John. "I must say I'm hungry."

"And I'd like to get my clothes dry," added Fred. "I'm sort of cold."

Once more they set sail on the Balsam without having caught sight of a single occupant of the camp they had just visited. The sun was now shining brightly and the sky was as blue as ever. No trace of the recent storm remained to mar the beautiful day. It was not long before all four boys were in excellent spirits again and their appet.i.tes became keener with each pa.s.sing moment.

Landing on the point where they had decided to eat their luncheon, they quickly set about making preparations for the meal. A fire was soon started and with every one a.s.sisting, the meal was quickly under way.

"How soon will it be ready, Grant?" asked George of the cook.

"Oh, in half an hour."

"Come on then, String," exclaimed George. "Let's go back into the woods here and see if we can't find some berries or something."

"Don't get lost," warned Grant. "Fred and I are too hungry to spend a lot of time looking for you, you know."

"Don't worry about us," laughed John. "We'll be gone only a few minutes."

Leaving Grant and Fred busy with the cooking the two boys plunged into the woods and disappeared from view. The trees were still dripping from the heavy rain, but the fragrant odor of spruce and balsam was stronger than ever. The thick carpet of pine needles under their feet was wet, so that their advance was noiseless.

Suddenly, up from its hiding place almost under their feet, a grouse arose with a roar and whirr of wings. Booming off through the trees it quickly disappeared from view leaving the forest as silent as before.

The spell of it was on the two young campers as they stood still and gazed all about them. The green leafy aisles of the woods stretched in all directions around them most beautiful and inviting to the eye. A catbird whined from a nearby tree, but otherwise all was still.

"Did you ever see anything more beautiful?" asked John in a low voice.

"I never did," replied George solemnly. The beauty and the grandeur of it all made them feel as though they really should not speak above a whisper.

"I don't see any berries though," continued John.

"Nor I," said George. "There's an open s.p.a.ce ahead of us though; perhaps we'll find some there."

"Some blueberries wouldn't taste bad just now."

In silence they continued their walk, even taking care to step softly so as not to disturb the solemnity of the woods. Ahead of them appeared a break in the trees and an open s.p.a.ce showed. Here was the place to find blueberries if any grew in that neighborhood at all. A moment later the two boys came to the edge of the clearing which was perhaps a hundred yards square.

As they were about to step out from the shelter of the trees George suddenly clutched his companion by the arm.

"Look there," he whispered.

Following George's directions John saw something that caused his face to grow white and his heart to jump. In the center of the clearing and busily engaged in eating the blueberries which grew in abundance all about was a large black bear.

He seemed entirely oblivious to his surroundings and as the wind blew from him towards the two boys he was not aware of their presence. With one great paw he stripped the berries from the low-lying bushes and with his long, eager tongue he licked them up greedily. That his ancient enemy, man, might be lurking nearby apparently did not occur to him. The two boys stood and watched him, fascinated, not knowing whether to run or whether to hold their ground. The bear was scarcely a hundred feet distant from the spot where they were standing.

"What shall we do?" whispered George.

"Wait."

"Suppose he comes after us."

"If he does we'll run."

All at once the bear looked up. Perhaps some eddying current of wind had betrayed the presence of the two boys to his sensitive nostrils. It is a well known fact that the eyesight of most wild animals is comparatively poor; their sense of smell, however, is correspondingly sharp and it is on this that they must rely to a large extent for safety.

All around him old bruin gazed while the hearts of the two young campers almost stood still. There they were standing within plain sight, right at the edge of the forest and they could not possibly escape being seen.

Anxiety as to what the bear would do made the next few moments very nervous ones.

Suddenly he saw them. George and John held their breath and waited. He looked at them steadily for a moment, one paw held poised in the air.

Then he turned and with that clumsy lumbering gait common to his kind ambled off across the clearing. Arriving at the opposite side he turned his head and glanced back at the two boys, still standing in the shadow of the trees. Then he continued his way once more and quickly disappeared from sight.

"Well," exclaimed George. "What do you think about that?"

"Suppose he'd chased us."

"He'd never have caught me," said George grimly. "With a bear after me I know I could at least equal the world's record for the half-mile."

"Even so, you'd have finished second," laughed John.

"What do you mean?"

"Why, I'd have beaten you out, of course."

"Maybe so," said George laughingly. "At any rate I guess it would have been a pretty close finish. Imagine what Grant and Fred would have thought if they'd seen us coming, tearing out of the woods with a big black bear after us."

"I'd have gone right on across the lake too," said John.

"Do you want some berries?"

"It's pretty late now I'm afraid. I think perhaps we'd better go back."