CHAPTER XI

THE BEAR RETURNS

When the girls reached the house, almost breathless from their rapid climb, Jo Ann immediately burst out, “I was right! There is a mystery—about the blue-eyed boy!”

“Wait a minute, Jo,” put in Florence. “Let’s get that address down first of all.” She grabbed up a piece of paper and scribbled down the address, then showed it to Jo Ann. “Is this right?”

Jo Ann studied it carefully. “Yes, I’m sure it is.” She turned back to Peggy and Mrs. Blackwell. “That boy’s an American! He’s an orphan.”

“Why, I thought you said he couldn’t speak English!” exclaimed Peggy.

“I did—and he can’t. He was left with this family when he was a baby, and so naturally doesn’t know anything but Spanish. This Indian woman, María, was his mother’s servant while she was up at the mine.”

“That sounds as if the boy must have come from a well-to-do family.”

“I’m sure he did,” Jo Ann replied, and Florence added, “I gathered from what María said that his father was either the owner of the mine or had an interest in it.”

“Suppose you tell us the whole story from beginning to end, Florence,” suggested Peggy. “It sounds so unlikely that an American boy of good family would be left with poor ignorant Indians like this.”

“I haven’t got it straight in my mind either. It’s a mystery all right—a mystery that’s far from being solved. I’ll tell you all we found out.” Florence recounted all that María had told her and showed both her mother and Peggy the piece of paper with the address which they had seen on the envelope at the cave.

“Jo and I think we ought to write to Daddy at once and ask him to telegraph to this Mr. Eldridge,” she ended. “What do you think of that plan, Mother?”

“I believe it’d be a wise thing,” Mrs. Blackwell answered thoughtfully. “It’d save a great deal of time, I’m sure.”

“I know it would. Fortunately today’s the day we get our mail. I’ll write my letter right away and when the man comes, I’ll give it to him to take back. We won’t get our mail again till next Tuesday—four whole days to wait before we can hear from Daddy!”

“He ought to have some interesting information for us by that time,” put in Jo Ann.

While Florence busied herself with writing the letter to her father, Jo Ann kept up a steady chatter about the mystery of the blue-eyed boy. “I’d certainly like to find out more about that man that María kept calling the ‘mean man.’ What reason could he have had for having been so hateful to Carlitos’ mother? From what María said everybody else liked her. Another thing I want to know is why his father disappeared so suddenly and where he went. A mystery within a mystery.”

Peggy smiled. “You ought to be satisfied this time, Jo. It’ll keep you busy for a long time if you untangle all this mix-up.”

About a half hour later, Jo Ann caught sight of a man with a big sombrero riding a burro leisurely up the cart road toward the house.

“Somebody’s coming,” she called to Florence. “Is it the man that brings the mail?”

Florence came running out on the porch. “Yes—that’s the one. He’s bringing us some groceries, too.”

“Let’s run down and meet him. I can’t wait to see if I have any letters.”

The three girls tore off down the road.

“Got any mail for us?” Florence asked on nearing the rider.

The man nodded his head. “Ah, many letters!”

“Give them to me,” Florence cried in Spanish, then added to Peggy and Jo Ann, “I know Mother and I’ll have one from Dad.”

“And I ought to have two or three!” exclaimed Peggy.

“Here too,” added Jo Ann.

The Indian slipped off the back of his burro and slowly began untying one of the bundles.

“I wish he’d hurry,” grumbled Jo Ann. “He’s the slowest thing I ever saw.”

“Just have patience. You can’t hurry him.”

“One thing’s certain, none of the mail could’ve been lost out of that bundle—it’s tied so tightly,” smiled Peggy.

Finally the man handed a bunch of letters and papers to Florence, and she sorted them out quickly and gave Peggy and Jo Ann their share; then all three hurried back to the house. Several minutes later the man brought in the groceries and other articles that they had ordered sent out from the city.

Florence gave him the letter she had just written to her father, saying, “Be very careful—don’t lose this letter. It’s _very_ important.”

“_Sí_, señorita, I _sabe_! I’ll be careful.” The man nodded, then went back to his burro.

As soon as the girls had finished reading their mail, they picked up their groceries and carried them out to the kitchen.

When Jo Ann unwrapped the butter and the bacon, she remarked, “What’ll we do with these things? We won’t dare put them in our refrigerator box down at the spring. That old bear would be sure to find them again. We’ve just got to get him. I was too excited over saving Pepito yesterday to think about anything else. But we must watch again tonight for that bear. He’ll be getting hungry by this time and’ll come back for another pig. Your mother’ll let us go, won’t she, Florence?”

“I imagine so.”

“Well, if we go, I’m going to take a sweater and a cushion,” spoke up Peggy. “I got cold the other night, and it was so uncomfortable sitting on that rough hard ledge.”

The other two began to laugh, and Jo Ann added, “Whoever heard of taking a cushion on a bear hunt?”

“If you get too comfortable, you’ll go to sleep and tumble off the ledge,” put in Florence. “Then the bear won’t have to break into the pen for his supper.”

“Not with Jo around,” Peggy laughed teasingly. “Why, she’s such a good shot she’d have the bear killed before he could take a step toward me!”

Jo Ann grinned. “You just wait till I get a chance to demonstrate my marksmanship, Peg. I’ll show you that I am a good shot.”

“Changing the subject—what’re we going to do with this butter and bacon?” Florence queried, looking at the two packages on the table.

“Let’s don’t leave the bacon in the kitchen,” Peggy cut in. “The bear might smell it and come snooping around here.”

“How about putting both the bacon and butter in jars and hiding them down in the water under a rock?” suggested Jo Ann. “That way he could neither smell nor see the food.”

“Good plan,” approved Florence.

“She does get a brilliant idea once in a blue moon,” laughed Peggy.

They set to work at once to carry out Jo Ann’s plan and soon had the bacon and butter safely hidden down in the stream just below the spring.

After the girls had eaten their midday meal and washed the dishes, they stretched out on their cots for a siesta.

Jo Ann called over to Peggy teasingly, “Be sure to take a long nap today. I don’t want you to go to sleep and tumble off the ledge tonight. You’d make so much noise that you’d scare the bear away, and I want to get him tonight sure.”

“You’ll need plenty of sleep yourself to keep your eyes open to watch for him.”

Florence called over, “You both’d better stop talking and go on to sleep, or you’ll both tumble off the ledge.”

Shortly after dark that evening Peggy and Jo Ann started off toward the enclosure where the pigs were kept.

“We certainly need the flashlight tonight,” Peggy remarked. “It’s dark, isn’t it? The moon isn’t up nearly so high as it was the other night.”

They had not gone far till they spied the white-clad figure of Juan coming toward them.

“I certainly am glad to see him,” exclaimed Peggy. “I’ve been dreading crossing that ravine. It’s so dark and spooky down there.”

“I’m not sorry to see him myself,” admitted Jo Ann.

When Juan drew near, he motioned to them to be quiet. In a low voice he said to Jo Ann, “I think the bear come tonight.”

“What’d he say?” asked Peggy curiously.

“I don’t know for sure, but it was something about the bear.”

Juan turned and led the way to the enclosure. As he drew near he pointed over to it, saying something about the pigs and the bear.

“I believe he’s saying something about the pigs being restless,” Jo Ann told Peggy in a low voice. “Don’t you hear them? They didn’t do that way the other night. Sometimes animals know instinctively when danger’s near, and I believe those pigs do.”

“Well, let’s hurry and get up on that ledge before the bear comes,” Peggy whispered.

They climbed up the notched pole as rapidly as they could and settled themselves on the ledge, Jo Ann with her gun cocked, lying across her lap. Juan remained below at the foot of the pole, as he had before.

For what seemed an interminable time to them they sat perfectly still waiting for the coming of the bear. Every now and then Jo Ann would fancy that she saw a dark shadow moving below and would raise her gun, only to discover that it was merely the shadow of a tree swaying in the breeze. She noticed, too, that the pigs were growing more restless. “That old bear must be prowling around near here,” she thought. She leaned over and strained her eyes to peer into the darkness of the ravine beyond the moonlit space directly below her.

Not long afterwards she heard a slight cracking sound. She peered instantly in the direction from which it had come. Her eyes widened as she saw a black shaggy head rear up above the enclosure, one paw tearing at the poles.

Simultaneously she heard Peggy gasp in fright.

Jo Ann raised her gun, waiting to get a good aim before pulling the trigger. “I mustn’t miss him. I’ve got to kill him the first shot,” she told herself. “If I miss, he’ll get back in those dark shadows, and I can’t see him then.”

Just then there was a loud crashing noise. The bear’s head dropped out of sight as he pulled out one of the poles.

A few seconds later the bear reared up again and Jo Ann saw a long black arm reach through the narrow opening. Just as he was jerking out another pole she pulled the trigger.

Almost simultaneously with the report of the gun Jo Ann heard a deep growl, then the thud of a heavy body falling. A few moments later she was amazed to see a dark hulk shamble off toward the darkness.

Instantly she pulled the trigger again. “Oh, shucks! I’ve missed him!” she thought.

After the reverberations had died away she turned to Peggy. “I’m sure I hit him. He must be wounded or he wouldn’t have fallen so hard.”

“I heard him make a queer choking noise, above the squealing of the pigs!” Peggy declared excitedly.

Just then Juan called up, “You hit him! You hit him!”

“_Sí, sí._ I think so too,” Jo Ann replied.

The three listened intently to the snapping of branches and the clatter of loosened stones as the bear made his way up the ravine. When the sounds finally died away, Peggy started climbing down the pole. When she was about halfway down there sounded a loud crashing, and she hurriedly scrambled back up the pole to the ledge.

“I believe the bear’s coming back again,” she cried.

After listening intently for a few moments, Jo Ann said, “No, I don’t think he’s coming back. I believe he’s wounded—badly wounded.” She called down to Juan. “Is it all right for us to come down now?”

“_Sí_, señoritas,” he called back. “The bear gone.” He waved his hand in the direction of the ravine.

The girls cautiously climbed down the pole.

Jo Ann reloaded her gun and, holding it in readiness, she made her way with Juan and Peggy to the hole the bear had torn in the enclosure.

“Shine your flashlight down here, Peg,” she ordered. The next moment she exclaimed, “Oh, look, here’s some blood! I knew I hit him!”

“You certainly did!” Peggy cried.

“_Sí_, señorita, you much good!” Juan ejaculated, then began jabbering so fast that Jo Ann could not understand a single word. He kept gesturing toward the trickle of blood leading toward the ravine.

Jo Ann shook her head. “Not tonight, Juan. _Mañana_ we go.”

“_Sí, mañana_,” he agreed and then set to work repairing the hole the bear had torn in the enclosure, while Peggy held the flashlight for him.

“I believe it’ll be a long time before Mr. Bear comes back here,” Jo Ann declared in a satisfied tone.

As soon as Juan had finished, the girls, with a “_Buenas noches_,” to him, started off toward the house.