CHAPTER XFINDING A SUNBEAM
At first Phil found it hard to believe he heard aright.
"I've known cats to make sounds like a baby crying, when they were facing each other, and ready to scrap," he told himself.
The more he listened the stronger grew his conviction.
"Even if it turns out to be a pair of spitting young bobcats," he concluded, "I'd like to snap 'em off. As to a child, what would one be doing away up here in this wilderness, unless—by George, now, that might be it."
He had suddenly remembered how they found the little cap, yes, and a baby silver thimble in the cabin.
It was no trouble at all to locate the source of the sounds. The sobs continued as he advanced. In a few minutes Phil was gazing with considerable surprise upon a figure outstretched on the ground.
He could see it was a little girl, possibly four years old. She had golden curls, and when she looked up suddenly at hearing his footsteps Phil discovered that she was as pretty as a fairy.
Just then she looked a little forlorn, since her face was soiled from the dirt, and tears had made furrows down her cheeks.
She scrambled to her feet, and seemed hardly to know whether to try and run away, or put her childish trust in this strange boy.
Now Phil was always a favorite with younger children. They all loved him because he had such a pleasant face, engaging laugh, and seemed to know just how to appeal to a child's heart.
Few boys care to bother with little tots; they only appear as a nuisance in their eyes. Phil, however, was different.
"Hello! here, little girl, what's all the trouble about?" he asked, cheerily; and somehow there must have been magic in his voice, for the look of fear left the child's face immediately.
She recognized a friend in need. As a rule children, just the same as most dogs do, have an instinct that tells them who to trust.
"I'se losted!" she said, simply, with a little sob in her voice.
Phil had now reached her side. She did not shrink from him as he bent down and put his hand gently on her curly head. Something that she saw in his kind eyes, perhaps the vein of sympathy so pronounced in his tones, told her this strange boy could be safely trusted.
"Now, that's too bad," Phil went on to say, just as if he himself had been "losted" and hence knew how it felt. "But who are you lost from?"
"Daddy," she said, simply, as though taking it for granted that every one must know who was implied by that term; because to her mind there was only one "daddy" on earth.
Phil believed he saw it all now. The man who had occupied the cabin, had this child with him. For some unknown reason he had taken alarm, perhaps because of their coming to the lonely lake, and made a hurried change of base.
Why he had prowled around on that first night it was of course impossible for the boy to say, unless he simply meant to satisfy himself with regard to their intentions.
And now the little girl had managed to lose herself in the woods. No doubt the father would be searching everywhere for her.
Phil thought it all over, even while he wassoothing the child and telling her he would see to it that she found "daddy" again.
He could not leave her there in the open pine woods, that was sure, and since there could be no immediate way of learning the present abode of the mysterious man, the only thing left for Phil to do was to take the little girl to camp with him.
In due time no doubt the father was sure to turn up there to claim the child. They would try to convince him that it was none of their business what made him hide away from his fellows as he was doing.
So Phil made up his mind.
He had by this time managed to distract the child's thoughts from her troubles. Indeed, this was no difficult task for Phil Bradley. Already she had laughed at something he had said. When Phil heard what a sweet laugh that was he immediately told himself:
"I warrant that there's a man chasing wild through the woods right now, trying to find this little sunbeam. I know I'd be, if I missed a merry laugh like that at my fireside."
"My name is Phil," he told her, "and won't you tell me yours?"
"Why, it's Mazie," she quickly answered.
"Mazie what?" he continued.
"No, just only Mazie," the little girl told him positively.
Phil was baffled, for he had hoped to learn "daddy's" name. He did not attempt anything further along that line.
"Now, Mazie," he went on to say, "you'll come with me, won't you? You must be hungry, and want some lunch. We'll find daddy pretty soon, you know, and you wouldn't want to stay out here in the woods all by yourself?"
She looked alarmed at the mere suggestion of such a thing. It pleased the boy to notice how eagerly she seized his outstretched hand, to which she clung confidingly.
"Oh! no, 'cause I'm afraid. I saw a bear, a big bear once. Daddy shooed it away from our house. And oh! it whiffed and whiffed just awful. Please take me with you—Phil."
"Just what I'll do, Mazie. You see I have three friends, all boys who will be glad to see you. And when daddy comes he can take you back home."
"Home!"
The child repeated the word after him. Therewas a bewildered look on her face. Phil judged from this that some memory was awakening.
"Home—daddy—muzzer!" he heard her say almost in a whisper.
"Oh! you didn't tell me that your mother was up here, too; is she with daddy, Mazie?" Phil asked her, as they walked slowly along.
She looked up. The wistful glow in her eyes gave the boy a strange feeling.
"Oh! no. Muzzer gone far away. She never come to her little girl now," he heard her say; and somehow the thought that she meant her mother was dead kept Phil from questioning her any further.
The little thing had evidently already recovered from her recent grief. She trusted in Phil, and believed that it would only be a matter of a short time before he would bring "daddy."
In her eyes Phil was a magician. Nothing could be beyond his power to accomplish. That is what the faith of a child means.
She prattled all the way along, and yet it was pretty much about the woods, the flowers she liked to pick, the noisy scolding squirrels, and how daddy had always watched over her so carefully since they came up here, ever and ever so long ago.
Not once did she refer to any former life. It seemed to be in the nature of a closed book with the child.
Phil was waiting to see how she acted when they came in sight of the cabin, for he felt sure she must recognize it. She pointed to several things, even telling him that the tree with the dead top was where "bushy-tail" lived and had a family, so daddy said, and daddy knew everything.
All at once the child gave a cry. She had discovered the cabin.
"Oh! I live here!" she burst out, and disengaging her hand from that of her champion she flew to the open door and burst in, shrilly crying:
"Daddy! Daddy!"
Imagine the astonishment of Lub. He happened to be sitting tailor fashion on the floor sewing a button on that he had burst off, Ethan told him when he gorged so much the evening before.
Hearing a flutter, and then that cry in a childish voice, Lub turned to see what he thought at first must be a specter.
The little girl was abashed to find only a stranger there. Her sudden hopes being sosuddenly dissolved brought the tears again into her eyes.
But Phil quickly managed to brighten her up. And Lub was ready to do almost anything to please the little miss, even to trying to stand on his head had she demanded it.
Then along came the other fellows. Of course both of them were as much astonished as Lub had been, but at the same time showed that they were not sorry to have such a little sunbeam around.
Among themselves, of course, they talked it all over, and knew that Mazie must be the child who had been the sole companion of the lonely occupant of the cabin.
"Too bad if it turns out he's a scoundrel, and a law breaker, with such a bully little girl belonging to him."
X-Ray Tyson said this, looking as he spoke at the suspiciously new coin he had picked out of a crack in the floor, and which he fully believed had been molded right there in that isolated cabin.
"Don't count too much on that," remarked Phil; "you can tell that she loves daddy above everything on earth. He can't be soverywicked, I guess."
As the day wore on all of them took turns in amusing the little girl. She proudly showed them a number of things that she had been in the habit of playing with when she "lived here."
Not once did she speak of a former life. Everything seemed to be associated with "daddy." And as the other boys had been told by Phil what he thought in connection with her mother being dead, of course they were careful not to mention the word, for fear it might cause her sudden grief.
During the afternoon her merry laugh was heard frequently. Childish troubles soon fade away. And surely a little girl could not wish for a better lot of "big brothers" than these four boys seemed to be. They anticipated her every wish, and after a while Mazie even seemed to look upon them in the light of old and tried friends.
Phil had arranged it that while their little guest honored them with her company she was to have his bunk. He could make himself fairly comfortable on the floor, somehow. A bunch of hemlock browse would do for a mattress, and if the fire was kept up a blanket was hardly necessary.
Phil felt a little fearful that at night she mightmiss a familiar figure, and cry herself to sleep wanting "daddy." He was agreeably disappointed, however. Mazie ate supper with her protectors, and cuddled down in the arms of Lub, to whom she had taken a great fancy. Perhaps it was because he had so much to do with the getting of meals, although it was hardly a fair thing to say that, because Lub was kindness itself.
There she was finally discovered fast asleep. Lub insisted on them leaving her with her head on his shoulder for a long time.
Finally, Ethan and Phil having come back, after setting the flashlight arrangement in a new place, they managed to carry the sleeping child to the bunk provided, without arousing her.
The night passed quietly.
Phil would not have been surprised had a heavy summons on the door brought them all to their feet, and upon opening up to find an almost distracted man anxiously inquiring as to whether they had seen anything of a lost child.
Nothing of the kind occurred.
Wherever "daddy" could be searching for the missing one as yet he failed to turn his attentionto the cabin where until recently he had lived in retirement, a hermit, as X-Ray Tyson called him.
Another dawn came.
Breakfast was prepared in almost abject silence. The little girl was still sleeping. All of the boys had tiptoed up and taken a peep at her lying there, as though hardly able to believe it could be so.
Phil had washed her face and hands the first thing, and with her rosy cheeks and lips, with the masses of golden, natural curls she certainly looked, as Lub expressed it, "pretty enough to eat."
So breakfast was prepared almost in silence. When any of them found occasion to speak it was laughable to see how they got their heads together and whispered.
Just before Lub had breakfast ready to serve, Mazie called out to Phil, and was soon ready to sit down at the table with two of her newfound friends, there not being room for all.
X-Ray, thinking to pick up some information, called the child's attention to the scorched places on the heavy board, apparently done with molten metal.
"See what daddy did!" he went on to say;and immediately the others, guessing his game, waited to see the result.
The little girl looked from X-Ray down to the scarred surface of the table. She shook her head vigorously in the negative, and looked indignant.
"Daddy didn't!" she exclaimed, with a vigor that settled that question.
"These marks were here when you came, were they, Mazie?" asked Phil.
This time she nodded her little curly head in the affirmative.
No more was said. X-Ray took out his new fifty cent piece and looked hard at it—but if he half intended asking the child whether she had ever seen any like it he changed his mind. Perhaps he did not fancy looking into those clear blue eyes, and coaxing the child to unconsciously betray her "daddy."
After breakfast the boys started to do various things. Ethan and X-Ray Tyson were more than ever bent upon fishing. They counted exactly even now, and the excitement was running high.
"But after this," said Ethan, who had the soul of a true sportsman, "we mean to put back all the ordinary trout that are uninjured.We're no fish hogs, you must know. We'll carry the little scales, and the foot rule along, so as to measure what we take."
"That's a sensible arrangement," Phil told them; "but then it's only what I would have expected of you, Ethan."
They were still gathering bait close by the cabin when there broke out a terrible din.
"It must be Lub!" exclaimed Ethan.
"Yes, I saw him wandering off in that direction a bit ago," added X-Ray.
"What can have happened to him?" exclaimed Phil, his mind running to panthers, ferocious bobcats, hungry bears, and even an excited father, wild with searching for his lost child.
"There he comes now!" cried Ethan.
"How funny he acts," X-Ray went on to say.
Indeed, Lub was carrying on as though he had gone suddenly crazy, leaping up into the air, threshing with his arms, and prancing madly to and fro. All the while they could hear him letting out hoarse yells.
CHAPTER XIAN ENCOUNTER IN THE PINE WOODS
"Help! Chase 'em off, somebody! Help a fellow, won't you? Ouch! they're murdering me by inches. Oh! my stars, what can I do?"
"It's hornets!" shrieked X-Ray, always as quick as a flash.
"Mebbe a swarm of yellow jackets!" suggested Ethan. "I can see something whirling around over his head. Gee! what if he runs here and gives us a dose? The cabin for mine."
"Hold on," called out Phil, taking in the situation, and then raising his voice he shouted to the terrified Lub: "Throw off your hat as you run. There, that'll attract some. Now your coat. Never mind a sting or two, but do as I say."
Lub, accustomed in matters of this kind to letting some one else do his thinking for him, hastened to obey.
Immediately afterward he was heard calling piteously:
"There's some after me yet, Phil, and oh!how they do hit you! I'm beginning to swell up right now. How'll I get away from the swarm, Phil? You tell me what to do, and quick!"
"Run for the lake and jump in!" called out Phil. "Duck under, and keep there as long as you can stand it."
Without thinking twice, and only too willing to blindly obey, Lub galloped straight to the shore of the lake. He happened to strike a little bank, where the water was quite deep.
"Here I go!" they heard him shout, and then came a tremendous splash.
"Oh! my!" gasped X-Ray, "that settles our fishing for this morning! He'll scare every trout in the lake with his threshing around!"
Ethan was bubbling over with laughter, and even Phil had hard work to keep from giving a shout when upon reaching the shore they saw what was going on.
Lub stood in water up to his chin. He kept bobbing his head in an anxious effort to locate any determined insect that still hovered near by. Occasionally he would duck entirely out of sight, and move along a dozen feet, as though in hopes of eluding the enemy in this way.
Taking pity on the poor fellow Phil assuredhim the coast was clear, and that he was safe in coming out.
Such a woe begone figure he presented.
It seemed like a shame to laugh, but the boys could not have helped it had their lives depended on keeping sober faces.
Besides looking like a drowned rat, poor Lub found that his face was already swelling up. His jaws looked as they may have done when he had the mumps. One eye threatened to be lost altogether, on account of the puffiness all around it. His nose had received due attention, and even his hands had failed to come through the scorching fire unscathed.
Despite all this Lub tried to grin, although the effort was, as X-Ray said pretty much of a "ghastly failure."
"I know I'm a sight to behold, fellows," whimpered Lub. "I guess I deserve all I got, too, for being such a fool. But how was I to know that old hornets' nest almost lying on the ground under the bush wasloaded!"
"What did you take it for?" asked Phil.
"Why," replied Lub, "I supposed it was a regular giant puff-ball, one of the toad-stool kind that go off with a crack and a puff of smoke when you kick 'em."
"Then you actually kicked it?" cried Phil.
"Just what I did—oh! murder!" gasped Lub, feeling of his enlarged head in dismay.
"And it went off, all right, I bet you?" asserted Ethan, uproariously.
"A million of 'em came hustling out and started to eating me up," Lub went on to explain, plaintively. "I killed 'em in droves, but there was always a fresh lot. Then I ran—you saw how I had to carry on. Guess it wasn't any laughing matter tome! And it isn't right now. If I keep on swelling like I am I'll bust. Talk to me about having the big head—bein' President of the United States wouldn't make my cranium swell any more. Phil, ain't you going to do something for a chum that's had trouble?"
"Sure, I am," announced Phil, readily. "Ethan, find some mud, and let it be clay if you can. Hurry and get it here. While you're doing it I'll take the sting out with ammonia. It's lucky I thought to fetch some along."
Lub only too willingly put himself wholly in the hands of his friends. The ammonia smarted at first, but by degrees the pain began to disappear, as the poison was neutralized by the remedy.
"I have to be careful not to let a drop of it get in your eyes, because it would smart terribly," Phil told the patient.
"Yes, I know even now how a dog feels when you squirt some of this stuff in his eyes with those little ammonia pistols," Lub remarked.
The process was continued until Ethan arrived with the clay.
This was fastened on the best way possible by the use of Lub's big red bandanna handkerchief.
Phil had insisted on taking a snap shot of the victim of the hornets before he had his face bound up. He also got another view after this operation had been completed.
"I'm doing this partly for your own good, Lub," he explained. "Perhaps it'll make you feel bad to see how pride always swells before a fall. But then it's going to be a valuable lesson to you."
"And you'll never kick again before you're dead certain what kind of a puff-ball it is, because some happen to be inhabited," X-Ray told him.
As Lub would very likely not be fit for anything during the rest of that day, Phil tookcharge, while the rival fishermen were out in the canoe.
All the while he enjoyed having the little girl around. She seemed like a real ray of sunshine.
"Whatever will we do without her, Phil, if her father blows in here any time and carries her off?"
Lub said this in a muffled tone, for he was tied up good and fast, but he meant every word of it.
"Perhaps we might get him to let her stay with us," said Phil, showing that he, too, had been thinking along those lines; "if one of you fellows agreed to give up your bunk to 'daddy' and sleep on the floor with me."
"I'd do that, and more, for the sake of keeping her here," declared Lub.
The fishermen reported at noon.
X-Ray seemed in high spirits, and Ethan correspondingly depressed. It was easy to see which way luck had gone that morning.
"Well, there's another day coming," said Phil, hopefully.
"Yes, and I mean to start in and show him a few wrinkles from now on," Ethan declared;at which the other laughed scoffingly as he remarked:
"Oh! so you've just been playing off all this time, have you? Seemed to me you put in your best licks right along. I'll have to think up a few dodges myself, if that's the game."
"Everything square and above board, boys," warned Phil.
"As fair as can be, Phil. Neither of us would want to play a mean trick," said Ethan, and his rival echoed his words.
After lunch Phil told them it was their turn to look after the camp while he took a stroll.
"Be careful about letting Mazie stray off," was what he told them the last thing, ere starting away, camera in hand.
He had managed to develop his two flashlight pictures, and so far as he could tell from the films they appeared to be clean-cut good ones. Ethan after inspecting the negatives had expressed the opinion that they looked "fine."
From various indications Phil began to believe he had the other interested in the work, and that it would not be long before Ethan might be counted as one of those who call it fascinating.
Phil was thinking of all this as he walked along. Numerous other things came into his mind also. He even wondered whether some accident might not cause him to come upon Mazie's father, and what "daddy" would prove to be.
Somehow the boy had come to believe the man could not be bad, or he would never have held the affection of that dear little heart; and he knew from many signs that Mazie certainly fairly worshiped her father.
Altogether the trip up to Lake Surprise was turning out delightfully all around.
There might be a few things associated with it that would not always be a happy memory with some of his chums. For instance, there was the episode of the hornets' nest which poor Lub had kicked on the impulse of the moment, thinking it only a harmless "puff-ball." He would shiver every time some buzzing sound reminded him of his wild flight; but even then Lub had learned a lesson he could never forget.
Phil kept his camera ready for instantaneous use. He knew that if by any great good luck he "jumped" a deer that had been lying down, and sleeping in the heat of the day, it wouldrequire considerable presence of mind and a quick action in order to snapshot the animal at close quarters.
Being somewhat of an experienced hunter, Phil had been careful when starting out to head into the wind. This was done so that a deer would not discover his presence through any sense of smell, until he was close up.
Once given a fair chance, and he believed he was capable of handling the situation.
As luck would have it his course took him through the very same neck of the woods where on the previous day he had found Mazie, only now he had gone half a mile and more beyond that spot.
All at once as Phil carefully pushed through a screen of bushes he heard a scrambling sound. Some animal jumped to its feet, and Phil, as he took note of the dun color, the immense size, the mule-like ears, the square muzzle and the two-thirds grown horns knew that he was face to face with the king of the Adirondack woods—a bull moose!
CHAPTER XIIWHEN TWO PLAYED THE GAME
The moose looked at Phil, and Phil stared at the moose. Both of them seemed to be equally surprised at the unexpected meeting.
Apparently Phil was the first to recover, for the sharp little "click" of his camera shutter acting, after he had quickly drawn a head on the bulky animal, told that he was true to his instinct as a Nature photographer.
It may be that even that little snapping sound angered the moose; or possibly he was just in a mood for trouble. The rutting season was well over by this time of year, and his horns had grown fairly stout, so that they could be trusted to do good service in battle.
Phil never knew. In fact he had no opportunity to make inquiries, or conduct any sort of an investigation. All he became aware of suddenly was that the bull moose had lowered his head, and started toward him at a full gallop.
Now Phil may at times have been called a bold sort of a boy, but he also had a pretty welldefined streak of caution in his make-up. Those towering horns had an ugly look to him. He could easily imagine how inconvenient it would seem to feel them brought into personal contact with some part of his body, with all that muscular power of the big animal butting them on.
There was only one thing left for Phil to do, and that was to make himself scarce around that neighborhood as quickly as possible.
Although the boy had never in all his life witnessed such a thing as a genuine bull fight, he understood that the first thing to be done was to dodge. The moose was so close to him that he knew he had very little chance of outstripping those long legs in fair flight.
With this partly formed plan in his head Phil ducked to the left, and started to run. He could have no real motive in choosing this side, because there was no time to take even a quick observation, and form a plan of action.
As it turned out luck favored him in making this hasty choice on the spur of the moment. Had he turned to the right he would have been compelled to cover such an extensive strip of open ground that his fleet-footed enemy must have easily overtaken him. That would have forced Phil to make another side movement, orelse be caught up in those branching horns.
He knew what this latter must mean, and that once he found himself knocked down and rendered helpless, he would be rolled along, prodded wickedly, and even jumped upon in the endeavor to disable him.
On the left, though, there were trees close to him that offered some sort of refuge. Phil, hearing the moose putting after him at full speed, hastened to swing his body around the first of the trunks he came to. It would offer a barrier against the attacks of the animal until he could get his wits about him, and figure out some plan.
A minute later and the moose was chasing him around the tree in a merry way. All the games Phil had ever played with his schoolmates in days gone by were not a circumstance to the one he found himself engaged in with that determined animal. The more he was disappointed at reaching his supposed enemy the greater became the fury of the moose. He stamped, and whistled, and butted his head against the tree; after which he would start on another fast trot around it, the performance consisting of perhaps a dozen or a score of circles.
Phil had the inner ring, and could of coursemove much faster around than the enemy. Still, it was not long before he became heartily tired of that continual and useless work. It began to make him dizzy, too. He found himself wondering whether the moose meant to keep going in these spirals until he had exhausted the boy; and how long it was possible to keep this sort of thing up before he fell over.
It was in vain that he shouted in the face of the animal; the sound of a human voice did not seem to have any effect, unless it was to make the beast show fresh animation, as though spurred on to renewed vigor.
"However am I to get the better of the old fool?" Phil asked himself between his puffs; for this happened after he had been chased another dozen times around the well-worn path.
There was a breathing spell, as the moose halted for a brief time. Phil did not cherish any hope or expectation that the beast meant to retire, and leave him to himself. In fact he began to believe the big animal was having the time of his life, and enjoying it immensely.
"Which is more than I can say I'm doing," Phil grumbled; "this ring-around-the-rosy business is played out, and I've just got to find some way to stop it."
Taking advantage of the breathing spell he cast a hurried look back of him. Of course he did not dream that such a thing as help could come; on the contrary his only expectation was that he might find some way by means of which he could extricate himself from his dilemma.
"Bully! if I can only make that clump of small trees I ought to manage it!" was what Phil exclaimed.
There was no time for more just then. Mr. Bull Moose was ready for another frolic, having freshened up. So again they chased madly around that tree, the hoofs of the animal tearing up the ground until it looked as though he had made a regular race-track there.
When finally the new inning came to a close Phil was fairly panting for breath, and more dizzy than ever.
"A few more turns like that would do me up!" he gasped; and then gritted his teeth with a determination to make the break he had figured on.
Fortunately the moose always seemed to come to a stand at about the same spot. This brought the little clump of trees exactly behind Phil, which fact would give him a chance to get fairly started before the moose became aware of his intention.
Taking in a long breath the boy suddenly darted away.
He instantly heard the moose rushing after him. The distance was short, and so Phil managed to swing around his new shelter, with those ugly horns not more than five feet behind him.
Well, that was all the margin he needed for safety. The new barrier would cause him to cover much more ground with every revolution; but then it was not his purpose to keep this up any longer than was absolutely necessary.
A great wave of relief swept over the boy when he managed to slip in between two of the small trees, and found that he was well protected on all sides from the enraged animal's horns.
In vain did the moose attempt to insert his head between the trees. Phil kicked at him, and continued his shouts. By now he was beginning to feel that the advantage was swinging over to his side. He had done nothing to incur this hostility on the part of the animal, and was surely entitled to the privilege of defending himself as best he could, even to the extent of inflicting injury on his four-footed enemy.
Perhaps at some time in the past a monster tree had been cut down on this spot, and thesesecond-growth saplings had sprung up in a circle that was wide enough to afford a nimble boy shelter. The towering horns of the moose, more than anything else, rendered it difficult for him to reach Phil.
This second stage of the affair was a decided improvement on the first, Phil assured himself. At the same time he was not satisfied. He failed to see the fun of being kept a prisoner, cooped up in that limited space for perhaps hours. It was no fault of his that the moose chanced to be in an ugly humor; and just then, if Phil Bradley had had any sort of firearm along he would have felt justified in dispatching that furious animal. Game laws are good things, but even they must be broken when one's life is placed in jeopardy.
Besides his pocket knife Phil had nothing on his person that could be called a weapon. For once he had even left his hunting knife at the cabin, and bitterly he repented of his unusual thoughtlessness. It would never happen again he told himself, when he realized how helpless he was.
When the moose again started trying to get at him Phil conceived a new hope. It was in the shape of an inspiration, and he watchedeagerly in the expectation that such a thing might come to pass.
What if the moose did find a way to crowd his head between two of the trees, by slanting it sideways; what if in his stupidity he was unable to extricate it again, and could only tug frantically backwards becoming excited and helpless?
That would be turning the tables in great shape. Phil had seen cows confined in stall yokes somewhat after that fashion. He also knew how green turtles are captured in large mesh nets down along the Florida coast streams like Indian River; for the stupid creature, having passed its flippers through the net, and being unable to continue the forward movement on account of the bulging shell, simply keeps trying to urge itself on, and never dreaming that it could back out by reversing its flippers.
There was one particular place where Phil thought the chances seemed fairly good that the horns of the moose might pass through, provided he turned his head the proper way.
In order to try out his scheme he did all in his power to coax the animal to begin operations in that section. For a while it seemed as though the moose persistently avoided the larger opening. Everywhere else he struggled the best heknew how to reach the prisoner of the saplings, even pawing viciously at him with his hoofs.
"I must make a big bluff of meaning to slip out through that hole," Phil told himself; "and when he gets around there perhaps he'll fall into the trap."
This he immediately started to carry out. It worked like a charm, too, for he had barely time to dodge back into his asylum when his captor came up against the tree next the wider opening with a bang.
After that Phil easily led him into making a fresh effort to insert his horned head through that opening. Eagerly the boy watched every move on the part of the determined animal. Twice it looked as though success was about to crown the effort of the moose.
"Keep going!" Phil told him, encouragingly, as he tapped the animal's nose with the toe of his shoe, just to keep his temper up, so he might not get weary of his task; "one good turn deserves another. The third time takes the cake. Just manage to get your old horns through first, and then you can push that big head after, as easy as pie. That's the way. Whoop! he's really done it!"
Of course the moose could not understand theexplicit directions which Phil was only too willingly handing him; but by some chance he did manage to get his obstructive horns through, and then follow with his head; though his shoulders would prevent him from going only so far. Phil thought he had been neatly trapped, and his next move was of course to slip out of the circle by another exit.
"Wonder now if I dare skip out, and leave him there?"
Phil asked himself this as he saw that the moose had already taken the alarm over his condition, and was acting wildly, twisting his head in every direction, and straining to drag it out.
"What if his horns gave way, or broke off? Oh! that time he came within an ace of getting free! He may be smarter than a turtle, and remember how he pushed in. I'd be in a bad box if he did get free, and chased after me again lickety-split!"
Phil believed it was his best policy to stay there, and watch a while longer, just to see what the animal would do. If some time passed, and the moose did not seem able to extricate himself from his sad dilemma, then Phil believed he could take his hurried departure; though he meant to snap off a picture of the animal first.
"Might as well do that same now, while I have the chance," he went on to say; and stepping well back to where he could get a fine view of the imprisoned moose, he again made use of his camera to advantage.
Hardly had he done so than he saw the animal twisting his head again in a way that threatened to bring about the catastrophe which Phil dreaded. In fact the boy had only time to once more hurriedly gain the shelter of the clump of trees when he saw the moose withdraw his head from its yoke.
"Well, it looks like you might be a smart one," muttered Phil, as he found himself once more fast in the trap, with the enraged animal striking at him with his hoofs, and making all sorts of queer noises that might be taken for threats.
When this had gone on for nearly half an hour, and there was no sign of a cessation, Phil started to exercise his wits again. First he began an investigation of his pockets to see if there might not be some means for bringing this ridiculous and uncomfortable situation to an end.
"What's this?" he exclaimed, as he drew forth a small package and stared at it, as if unable onthe spur of the moment to understand what it was or how it came to be there; then it flashed upon him, and he gave a wild shout of joy.
"Why, would you believe it, this must be the little paper of black pepper I had in my pack. Lub was asking for some this morning, while cooking breakfast; and when he handed it back to me I must have dropped it in my pocket without thinking what I was doing, meaning to put it on the shelf when I stood up. Hurrah! if ever a pinch of pepper was worth its weight in gold that time is now. It seems mighty cruel to do such a thing, but what else is left to me?"
Of course it was an easy thing to get close enough to the moose to scatter some of the pepper over his head. It did seem a cruel thing to do, and Phil would never tell the story without a feeling of shame; but he considered that his life was at stake, and hence he was justified in going to such extreme measures.
The actions of the bull moose immediately told that the siege was going to be called off without delay. He shook his head, snorted furiously, and then turning galloped away. Phil saw him collide with a tree before he passed from view, and the sight caused him to utter an exclamation of pity.
"But he'll pull through it in time," the boy was saying, as he came out of his place of refuge; "by to-morrow it'll be pretty nearly over. I wonder if he's learned a lesson, and will give two-legged strangers a wide berth after this. Well, it was all his own fault. He had no need to get into such a tearing rage because I took his picture. But let me tell you I'm as tired as if I'd been running a ten mile race. Every muscle in my body aches from the sudden jumps I had to give."
Phil felt that on the whole he had come out of the scrape with honors. And whenever he looked at that picture of the moose with his head fast among the saplings, it would be apt to remind him forcibly of the adventure.
"No more tramping for me to-day," he continued, shaking his head; "I've had good and plenty of it. The rest can wait for another time. Even if I didn't snap off another view all the time I was up here I'd feel it paid me to come; but I've got a few more cards up my sleeve to play. That flashlight business is going to pan out just great, I can see. Now to head for home. I can imagine how the boys' eyes will stare when I tell them what I've been up against, and prove it with that picture."
CHAPTER XIIIHOW "DADDY" CAME BACK
In order to see more of the country Phil took a notion to change his course while heading for the home camp. This turned out to be another of those little things that occasionally happen by accident, but which afterwards seem to have been inspired.
He had not been walking along more than ten or twelve minutes before he came to a sudden pause.
"What under the sun could that have been," he asked himself, listening intently; "sounded as near like a regular groan as anything could be."
Ridiculous as it might seem, Phil even thought of the suffering moose, and wondered whether the distressed animal could have taken shelter in that thick copse, to moan with pain. Then again he heard the strange sound.
"It must be some one's lying there, and inpain!" Phil observed, though the idea gave him a thrill of apprehension.
He stepped closer, and when for the third time the same type of noise welled out of the bushes he made bold to call:
"Who's there? Do you need any help?"
There was a rustling sound. Then the bushes parted, and he saw a man's face peering at him. Phil could not remember ever having seen that face before, and yet it struck him that he ought to be able to give a good guess who the other was going to turn out to be. He had Mazie in his mind just then; her "daddy" was the only man known to be around that neighborhood.
The other beckoned to him, and as Phil approached he went on to say, in a voice that was half muffled, both with pain and anxiety:
"Oh! I'm glad that you've come, boy. My leg is broken, and I've got to the point where I can't seem to drag myself another yard. I'm hungry too, and crazy for a drink of water. But I was just making up my mind I might as well give up, and be done with it; because if she's dead there's no use of my living!"
That settled one thing in Phil's mind. The man was Mazie's father. Already the boy could see that he did not have the look of a villain.Pain and want had made deep lines on his face, but somehow Phil believed the other was all right.
He could easily imagine what the father must have suffered both in body and mind, with his little daughter lost in that big wilderness, and a broken leg preventing him from searching for her, as he would have wanted to.
Evidently he must be relieved in his mind as speedily as possible.
"Do you mean Mazie?" Phil asked.
The man stared hard at him. Then, as hope struggled into his almost broken heart he burst out with:
"Why do you ask me that? How do you know her name? Oh! boy, boy, tell me she is safe—that you or some of your friends have found my darling child!"
At that Phil nodded quickly in the affirmative, and the man fell backwards as though about to faint from sheer joy. But it was not so, for he struggled up once more to his former sitting posture, as Phil bent over him.
"Safe, Mazie safe after all! Oh! it seems that I must be dreaming, it is too good to be true! Tell me in plain words, I beg of you, boy!"
"She is at the cabin with us, and perfectlywell," Phil went on to say, plainly. "I found her crying in the woods. Are you her 'daddy'?"
"Yes, and I have been trying to crawl all the way to the cabin, dragging this wretched leg after me," the man told him; "it seemed as if it would kill me with the pain, but as long as I was able I kept it up, for something seemed to tell me my only hope was there. I meant to beg you to scour the woods, and call her name everywhere. Oh! it is a wonder my hair hasn't turned white with what I have suffered, mostly in mind, for I could stand the rest without whimpering. Mazie is safe! Oh! I see now what a fearful wrong I have done. I vow to repair it as soon as I can travel."
"Will you let me take a look at your leg?" asked the boy.
"Only too gladly, if you think you can do me any good," he was instantly told. "My one longing now is to get to where the child is. To have her in my arms I would endure any torture there could be."
"I happen to know a little about such things, and perhaps could do you some good," Phil went on to tell him. "Then there happens to be a little spring back a short distance for I had a drinkthere, and the water's icy cold. I'll fetch you some before I hurry to the cabin to get help."
"You are kind, boy; what shall I call you?" asked the man; and evidently from his looks, speech, and manners he was a gentleman, Phil realized.
"My name is Phil Bradley," he said, as he bent down to see what he could do for the injured limb; "there are four of us up here for a little outing. I happen to own a patch of ground bordering on Lake Surprise, and that birch bark lodge is on it."
The man muttered something to himself, and Phil thought he caught the one word "fool." Perhaps he was taking himself to task for acting so on impulse when first discovering the coming of the strangers, whom he must have believed were persons whom he had reason to distrust.
All that could be left until later for discussion among himself and his three chums; Phil felt that his present business was to succor the wounded man.
He found that there was a compound fracture of the bones of the lower limb, not far from the ankle. The man must have caught his foot somehow, and pitched forward heavily.
"Once we get you to the cabin, sir, and I'msure I can set the bones, and ease your pain greatly," he told the other, presently.
"That satisfies me," the man remarked, closing his lips as though he felt that he could stand anything, now that Mazie was safe. "Please make all the haste you possibly can. Minutes will seem like hours to me until I feel her dear little arms around my neck."
"First I must get you a drink," Phil told him; and without waiting to see or hear anything more he darted off, all his own weariness utterly forgotten in this one desire to render first aid to the wounded.
He had no trouble doubling on his own trail, and thus finding the spring. Since there was no other means for carrying water Phil dipped his hat in, and was soon back alongside the injured man, who drank greedily of the cold fluid, and seemed greatly refreshed in consequence.
"Now I'll run in the direction of the cabin," Phil observed, after he had in this fashion relieved the pressing needs of the other.
"Are you sure you can find me again?" asked the man, anxiously. "If you are in doubt call out, and I'll try to answer. I heard shouts a little while back, but my throat was too dry for me to make a sound above a groan."
"You heard me having a little circus with an angry bull moose that had me backed up behind a tree," Phil told him; "but never fear about my being able to come straight here. I'm woodsman enough for that, and take my bearings as I go. Look for us to come inside of an hour, sir."
With that he was off on a run. Just as he had said with such assurance, he had his bearings, and knew just which way to go in order to reach home. Before twenty minutes had elapsed Phil burst upon those comrades who were clustered in front of the cabin, watching the little girl do some cunning dance steps which she could hardly have learned up there in that wilderness.
Judging from his excited condition that Phil had met with an adventure of some sort, the boys began to ask numerous questions.
"Never mind what it's all about, fellows," he told them. "I want Ethan and X-Ray to come with me right away. Lub, you look after the cabin, and Mazie. Ethan, fetch your camp hatchet; and we will need some ends of rope. Hurry, both of you! I'll explain after we're on the run!"
The blank expression on poor Lub's face told better than words what he thought of being leftout in the cold that way. Still, he was so accustomed to doing what he was told that such a thing as rebellion never once entered his head. Besides, he must have realized that some one had to stay with the child. And when it came to sprinting, as Phil seemed to think was going to be necessary, Lub was not built for quick action or long continued running.
Phil had hardly time to draw a dozen long breaths before the other boys announced that they were ready to accompany him.
Wonder was written in big letters all over their faces. The little Phil had said must certainly have aroused their curiosity until it reached fever heat.
"Now, for goodness' sake open up, and tell what all this is about, please, Phil!" begged X-Ray Tyson, as they ran along in company.
It was no time to even mention anything concerning the stirring adventure with that stubborn and combative moose bull. Later on he could relate the story, and perhaps show them the pictures he had taken, to prove his marvelous tale.
"Man up in the woods here a ways, with a broken leg!" he started to say.
"Whee! is that so?" exclaimed Ethan.
"Mazie's 'daddy' for a cookey!" cried X-Ray, always the first to alight on a solution to a puzzling question.
"Yes, that's who he is," Phil went on, jerking out his words somewhat, because he was using up his wind in running. "He broke it while hunting for the child; and has been nigh crazy ever since. Struck him he might get help from us. Started to actually drag himself all the way there. Petered out in the end. Bad shape, too, but think I can pull him through all right!"
"You want us to help get him home; is that it, Phil?" demanded Ethan.
"Yes, we've just got to do it. Poor fellow needs lots of attention. He'd likely die if left much longer. I think gangrene would set in, and finish him. Glad I fetched along my little medicine case, with bandages and such things. Thought one of us might get into trouble, and need it. Handy thing to have around in the woods."
"It sure is," agreed X-Ray Tyson; "but how can we carry a man all the way to the cabin, Phil? If he's that bad hurt it's going to be a hard job."
"Huh! see this hatchet?" demanded Ethan,flourishing the article in question before the eyes of the other. "Well, with that sharp edge it won't be a hard thing to tinker up some kind of stretcher. That's what Phil had in mind when he told you to fetch some rope ends along."
"Just what I did," Phil assured them; "but hold on now, and save your breath for running; you'll need it all. We'll get there in ten minutes more, I think."
About that time had elapsed when Phil sighted the spot where he had left the wounded man. He knew it from the land marks he had impressed on his mind. And both going and coming the boy had maintained a constant watch, so as to make sure that he continued in the direct line he had laid out.
"There he is!" he suddenly exclaimed, as he saw a hand feebly waving from the covert of bushes.
"Oh! I'm glad you've gotten back again!" the wounded man told Phil. "It has seemed ages since you left; but I watched the sun, and knew that the hour had not passed that you said it might take. These are your friends, are they?"
"Yes, Ethan Allan and Raymond Tyson. We mean to get busy, and make some sort of alitter that will do to carry you on. Let's see, you begin and cut some poles, Ethan."
As the boy with the camp hatchet knew just what sort to select, he was soon busily engaged in chopping down small saplings. As these were trimmed of branches, and cut in proper lengths the other boys began to splice them together.
After all it was not a hard task. Although possibly none of them had ever built such a thing as a stretcher, they knew in a general way how it must be done in order to accommodate a wounded man. There were four handles by means of which it could be gripped and carried. These two main braces of course were extra strong, and made of hickory. Then the others were shorter and not so thick, so that the body of the stretcher might bend somewhat.
When the thing was completed the boys found some hemlock browse, with which they made as soft a bed as possible.
"Now, if you can stand for it to let us lift you, we'll soon be on our way," Phil went on to say to the injured man.
"I can stand anything but continued suspense," the other declared, bravely.
They could see that he had to shut his teethtightly together in order to keep back his groans while they were lifting him as gently as they could. But despite his white face the man tried to smile at Phil when he saw the look of pity on the boy's face.
"Don't mind me—I'm all right—you're doing famously—I'll never, never forget it, either!" he said, between breaths.
Phil took one end, that nearer the patient's feet, while the other boys managed the second pair of handles between them. The stretcher had been made purposely narrow at the foot, so that one bearer could handle it.
"If you get tired, sing out, Phil, and we'll change all around," X-Ray remarked.
It was not hard work after all. The man happened to be of medium weight, and not unusually tall, so with only two short resting spells they carried their burden all the way to the shore of the lake.
How eagerly he leaned over one side of the stretcher, and strove to catch a first glimpse of his child, over whose fate he had been almost losing his mind while lying there, wounded so grievously in the pine woods.
Lub heard them coming. He stared almost stupidly at first, hardly understanding what itwas they were carrying. Perhaps Lub even thought it might be that pugnacious half-grown bear cub, which had attacked Phil in the forest and suffered in consequence.
He quickly understood differently, however. There was a flutter near him, a swift patter of childish feet flying over the ground, a gasping cry, and then little Mazie was clasped in the eager arms of the man on the litter. Regardless of the pain his exertions were causing him the father pressed his darling to his heart, while a look of supreme joy came upon his white face.
Then Phil had to bend over and unwind the arms of Mazie from the neck of "daddy," for he suddenly discovered that what with his emotions and the agony of his broken limb the man had fainted dead away.