CHAPTER VIII.

A SCOUT SHOULD ALWAYS BE ON THE ALERT.

When the young scoutmaster chose to, he could put a world of meaning in his voice. And those two timber cruisers, upon seeing both guns covering them so steadily, doubtless realized that firearms are no respecter of persons; since a weapon fired by a lad is just as sure to make good, if held correctly, as though a mature man looked along the barrel.

And so they complied with the order, although grumblingly, and evidently loth to admit that a couple of boys had gotten the better of them.

"This hyars a nice how-d'ye-do, treatin' yer guide like he was pizen mean. What d'ye mean by it, younker?" growled the man who had claimed to be Toby Smathers, the forest ranger.

"Oh! it only means that we've guessed who you are," remarked Thad, calmly. "We were warned down at the post to look out for a couple of unscrupulous timber cruisers by the name of Hank Dodge and Pierre Laporte. And we don't want to have anything to do with you, that's all."

"Take keer, young feller, who yer insultin'," growled Hank, ominously.

"Oh!" said Giraffe, airily, who made sure to have his own gun ready in his hands at the time he spoke in such boasting tones, "we don't scare so easy, Mister Hank Dodge, if that's your name. Fact is, the boys of the Silver Fox Patrol have helped gather in a few men even more dangerous than you and your pal ever dared to be."

"Be still, Giraffe," ordered Thad, who knew it was unwise to add to the anger of the ruffians. "Now, we don't mean to bother you at all, Hank Dodge. Our business up here has nothing to do with timber cruisers; and we're not hired by the Government to watch for any steels of lumber, or land frauds. We came here to camp out, and to hunt. And just now we're busy looking up the comrade who has lost himself in these big woods. Do you understand what I say?"

"Reckon as how ye put it plain enuff, younker," replied the other, wondering if Thad noticed that he was gradually lowering his arms; but the very next words uttered by the boy told him this.

"Hold 'em up high again, Hank! I don't want to have to shoot you through the shoulder or the legs, but I will, if you try to grab up that rifle."

With a string of hard words the man elevated his hands once more; but if black looks could kill, Thad must have expired on the spot.

"Step Hen," said the patrol leader.

"Yes, what is it, Thad?"

"Go forward, and recover your gun," the other went on, severely. "I'm surprised at you letting it get out of your hands at all. A wide-awake scout should be smarter than that. And Step Hen!"

"Yes."

"Be sure you don't for even a second get between the muzzle of my gun and our friend Hank, there; because I'm going to shoot the very second he makes the first move looking to grabbing either you, or the gun. Hear that, Step Hen?"

"Sure I do, Thad, and I'll be careful, just as you say," came the reply.

The boy crept up on one side, and lying down flat on his chest, reached out an arm, thus starting to draw his own highly-prized little repeater toward him.

Hank could see it going, and ground his teeth in helpless rage, for he could also watch the determined gleam in those convincing eyes of Thad Brewster, and only too well did he know what sort of hard luck would be apt to overtake him, if he but allowed himself to be tempted too far.

When Step Hen gripped his little gun once more, he made haste to draw back the hammer. And thus a fourth weapon was brought to bear upon the persons of the two notorious timber thieves.

Hank Dodge laughed.

It was not a mirthful sound at all, but rather caused a shiver to pass through the forms of those who heard it.

"We throws up ther sponge, me an' Pierre, don't we, ole hoss?" said Hank.

"Four against two--zat ees too mooch odds. We cave; we gif in; we cry out, enough!" exclaimed the ferret-eyed French Canadian _voyageur_, who, they said, had once been the factor at a Hudson Bay Fur Company's post until he betrayed his trust, and fled to the States with a bunch of money belonging to his employers.

"Well, we want to say good-night then, to both of you," said Thad.

"We ain't agoin' ter forget this, let me tell yer," replied Hank.

"I don't see why there need be any hard feelings between us," Thad went on. "It's only tit for tat. You held us up first, and now we've returned the favor. And we haven't taken anything from you, Hank Dodge."

"But--held up by a pack o' kids; we'll never be able ter look each other in the face agin till it's wiped out, sum way," the man went on to say, angrily.

Thad knew that further argument would be useless. There was only one thing men of their calibre could appreciate, and that was force.

"Oh! well," he said, as if carelessly, "you can do just as you please about it. But I want to tell you this plainly, right on the start. We're all armed, and can shoot as well as the next one. We're no tenderfeet, like our chum who is lost. And if in spite of this plain warning you choose to molest us, look out you don't get something you won't like. That's all I'm going to say; but you can put it in your pipe and smoke it. Back off, fellows, but keep 'em both covered, and shoot if they try to grab up a gun!"

So the four scouts backed out of the hostile camp, the air of which did not seem to agree with them. Those avaricious eyes belonging to Hank Dodge did not create a favorable impression on any of the young campers.

"I sure believe he meant to keep my dandy little gun," Step Hen was muttering, as, having passed out of sight of the two timber cruisers, the scouts walked along in couples, on the alert for any signs of further trouble.

"Just what he expected to do," replied Thad. "And another time we happen on any unknown men in this part of the country, see to it that you keep your gun in your own possession, Step Hen."

"I sure will," replied the other, humbly enough; "I had my lesson, all right."

"What if they're coming after us?" suggested Giraffe; and the very possibility of such a thing caused Step Hen to utter a little cry of alarm, and turn in several directions, as though expecting to discover crouching foes, or see the flash that would accompany the discharge of a hostile gun.

But nothing happened; and presently Allan, who had been looking back over his shoulder many times, announced that there was no danger.

"They haven't left the camp up to now," he said, positively. "I can see their figures moving in front of the fire. It's all right, boys. We can go, and settle down after a little for the night."

Presently Thad called a halt.

"Here, we can make a stop," he announced. "There's a little swale at the base of this rocky hill. If we wanted we could make a small fire, and finish our supper. I don't think they'd see it; and besides, Allan and myself will stand guard up on the ridge here."

This plan was carried out, since they had not wholly satisfied their appetites at the time Allan discovered the camp-fire which they supposed had been kindled by the lost tenderfoot, Bumpus.

Afterwards Thad and Allan came in, the fire having been extinguished, and ate a little. Then they talked in low tones.

"It makes me feel uneasy," remarked Giraffe, "to think of that poor innocent thing of a Bumpus, who wouldn't lift a finger to hurt even a fly, wanderin' around all alone in these big woods."

"Yes," added Step Hen, seriously enough, "and with a couple of hard cases like that Hank Dodge and Pierre Laporte around. What if he was unlucky enough to run across 'em? wouldn't they just take revenge on our poor fat chum. I hope that don't happen."

Thad was not saying anything, but it struck him that the fellow who could show enough ingenuity to get himself out of a quicksand, or a muck bed, the way Bumpus had done, might be far from the ignoramus some of his comrades still chose to believe him.

"I'm getting sleepy, and I move we turn in," suggested Giraffe after more time had elapsed.

"Well, hold on then, because we've got to make a move out of this basin," said the shrewd patrol leader.

"Seems a good enough place to bunk in," grumbled the sleepy Giraffe.

"But dangerous at that," Thad remarked. "Those men may have glimpsed our fire, and give us a call. We'll not be at home to them. I've been told that a hunted man never sleeps where he eats. Come along; it won't be far, I promise you."

After a short walk, Thad announced that in his opinion, as well as that of Allan, it was now safe for them to lie down, and get what sleep they could.

"I hope Bumpus is as well off, and got plenty to eat still," were the last words Giraffe spoke; "I remember the time we got twisted in our bearings up in Maine, and nary a match between us, with a cold night at hand. But I got fire all right with my little apparatus. Besides, there was two of us, and it don't seem near so lonely when you've got company along, even if it is only a tenderfoot scout."

Soon all of them had made themselves as comfortable as possible. The absence of blankets was going to be severely felt. Without a camp-fire to cheer them, Thad feared they would be shivering before morning, even if it was the good old summer time. The atmosphere close to the foothills of the great Rockies is quite rarefied, and the nights are apt to seem even cold.

The four scouts were pretty tired, and they not only went to sleep quickly, but they slumbered heavily--it might have been hours for all any one of them could say, when they were suddenly awakened by a series of heavy crashes and detonations that sounded very much as though an earthquake had shaken the Rockies to their foundation.