CHAPTER XII

JO ANN’S TROPHY

When Jo Ann and Peggy reached the house, Florence met them at the door. “My, I’m glad to see you!” she exclaimed. “Ever since we heard those shots, Mother and I’ve been worried. Did you kill the bear?”

“I’m not sure. I know I wounded him, because I saw the blood on the ground,” Jo Ann replied, “and I kind of believe I killed him. We heard him shamble off up the ravine, but I don’t believe he went very far.”

“Judging by that stream of blood, I feel sure he couldn’t have lasted long,” Peggy added.

“That’s fine!” praised Florence. “Now Juan won’t lose any more of his pigs.”

“As soon as it’s daylight, I want to follow his trail and see if I can find him,” Jo Ann said. “Peggy wants to go, too.”

“You’re not going to leave me behind this time,” Florence put in, smiling. “I’m going with you.”

“O. K.,” Peggy and Jo Ann agreed together, and Jo Ann added, “Whoever wakes up first in the morning calls the other two.”

Shortly after the first faint rays of dawn had appeared the three girls set off down to the enclosure, Jo Ann carrying the gun as before. On reaching it they picked up the bloodstained trail and followed it up the ravine.

After they had gone a short distance, the trail led to the bank of the stream.

“Look here!” Jo Ann exclaimed. “Here’s a great big spot of blood. This must be the place where we heard him stop last night.”

Florence pointed down to the prints made by the bear’s paw. “Poor thing! He was trying to stop his wound with mud.”

Jo Ann’s and Peggy’s eyes widened in surprise. “I never heard of such a thing!” declared Peggy.

“I never did either,” said Jo Ann. “I didn’t know bears had that much sense.”

“Daddy told me they did it, and he’s had a good deal of experience hunting. You can see for yourself how the bear scraped up the mud here.”

“He succeeded pretty well in stopping the flow of blood,” observed Jo Ann. “The trail isn’t nearly as plain now.”

They followed the faint marks upward a short distance. Suddenly they heard something moving just ahead of them. They stopped instantly. Jo Ann threw the gun to her shoulder, then cautiously crept around a boulder so she could get a better view.

Just at that moment she saw Juan rise up to his feet.

“Oh, Juan!” she cried. “I thought you were the bear! I nearly shot you.”

Juan did not understand a word of what Jo Ann had said, but he pointed excitedly, “Look! Here is the bear! You killed him!”

The three girls hurriedly climbed up beside Juan. Their eyes widened in amazement as they saw the size of the shaggy black animal lying on the ground before them.

“My, isn’t he immense!” gasped Florence.

“No wonder he could tear down those poles so easily,” Jo Ann remarked.

“If I’d known he was that big I’d have been scared to death!” exclaimed Peggy.

Hunter-like, Jo Ann stooped down and pointed to the bullet wound in the animal’s left side. “See! Here’s where my bullet came out. I hit him in the right shoulder when he was reaching for that other pole.”

“I can breathe much more freely now that he’s actually dead,” put in Peggy.

“Isn’t he a beauty,” Jo Ann admired. “It’s too bad I had to kill him, but we just couldn’t have him prowling around here. I’m going to have a bearskin rug to take home with me now, to show what a good hunter I am. Florence, I wish you’d tell Juan to skin him for me. Tell him to be careful about skinning the feet and to be sure to leave on the claws.”

Florence quickly relayed Jo Ann’s request to Juan, and he nodded assent, “_Bien_, señoritas,” and went on in a rapid flow of Spanish.

“He wants to know if we want some of the meat,” Florence translated to the girls.

Peggy tilted her nose disdainfully. “Bear meat! That doesn’t sound good to me.”

“I never have tasted bear steak,” Jo Ann put in. “I’d like to try it, wouldn’t you, Florence?”

“We might try a little. I’ll tell him to cut us off a small piece.”

“Oh, tell him to take a great big piece to the cave family.”

“That’s a fine idea!” Florence praised. “They’ll have a feast. That’ll probably be the first meat they’ve had in many a day.”

After Florence had delivered this message to Juan and they had exclaimed over the size of the bear again, they turned around and set off for the house.

When they came near they saw Mrs. Blackwell waiting for them on the porch.

“Oh, Mother!” Florence called. “Jo got the bear all right! You just ought to see him. He’s huge!”

“He must’ve been the old granddaddy of all the bears in this part of the country,” Peggy added impressively.

Mrs. Blackwell smiled. “Well, I’m relieved to hear that. I’ve been worried every time you girls’ve been out of sight.”

Every now and then the rest of the day the girls’ conversation would drift back to the subject of the bear.

The next morning, when they were eating breakfast, Jo Ann suggested that they go down to the cave and see how the family was getting along.

“That’s a good idea,” agreed Florence. “I hope they haven’t let Pepito eat too much of that bear meat.”

“We’ll get to see Carlitos again, and the father, José,” Jo Ann added. “I have lots of questions that I want to ask José. I believe he can tell us more about Carlitos than María could. I want to find out more about that big mean man that she kept referring to.”

“Well, I’m going without fail this time,” put in Peggy. “I want to see that wonderful blue-eyed boy.”

“We’ll hardly have time to go this morning—we got up so late. Let’s have lunch a little earlier so we’ll have a long time this afternoon to stay with the cave family,” suggested Florence.

Mrs. Blackwell spoke up, smiling: “I’m as curious as Peggy is to see the blue-eyed boy. I wonder if you couldn’t bring him up here and let me take a look at him. I’d like to see Pepito too.”

“All right, we’ll do that very thing,” Jo Ann replied.

“Pepito’ll probably not be strong enough to come yet,” Florence said quickly. “We’ll see how he is today, and maybe he’ll be able to make the trip up here in a few more days.”

Jo Ann’s eyes began to shine. “I know what let’s do! As soon as Pepito’s well enough to come, let’s have a little party for the cave children and the ones at the goat ranch.” She asked hastily, “Would that disturb you too much, Mrs. Blackwell?”

Mrs. Blackwell shook her head. “No; I’d love to have a party for them. I doubt if they’ve ever had one in all their lives.”

“I feel sure they haven’t,” agreed Florence, “and it’ll be almost as much fun for us as it will be for them. Don’t you think so, Peggy?”

“Indeed I do. I’m strong for the party.”

Just after they had sat down to eat their lunch, a few hours later, they heard the clattering sound of hoofbeats coming down the road. “Listen! That isn’t a burro—sounds like a horse!” exclaimed Florence. “Who in the world would be riding a horse around here? I’m going to see who’s coming.”

She sprang up and started to the door, the other two quickly following her example. They had not watched long before they saw a horse and rider appear over the edge of the mesa.

A few minutes later Florence suddenly cried excitedly, “Why, it’s Daddy!” Off she flew down the trail, fleet as a deer, to meet him. Peggy turned to Mrs. Blackwell and passed on the good news of Dr. Blackwell’s coming.

“Oh, I’m so glad!” ejaculated Mrs. Blackwell, her eyes sparkling. She hurried out on the porch and waited eagerly for him and Florence.

As soon as the first greetings had been exchanged, Dr. Blackwell gazed down at his wife appraisingly and remarked, “How well you look! You’re recuperating much more rapidly than I’d thought possible.”

“With this invigorating mountain air and such good nurses I couldn’t help but get well in a hurry,” Mrs. Blackwell replied, with a smile that included all three girls.

In a little break in the conversation Florence spoke up, “You’re just in time for lunch, Daddy. We had just sat down to the table. Come on before everything gets cold.”

“I won’t need a second invitation. I’m terribly hungry after that long hot ride,” Dr. Blackwell replied as he escorted his wife to the table.

No sooner were they all seated than Jo Ann asked Dr. Blackwell, “Did you send that telegram to that Mr. Eldridge?”

He nodded. “Yes, I sent it, but I got word there was no one by that name at that address.”

“Oh, that’s terrible!” exclaimed Jo Ann. “I was so in hopes we could find some of Carlitos’ relatives. What’ll we do now?”

“I’ve already written to the chief of police to see if he can trace this Mr. Eldridge,” Dr. Blackwell replied. He smiled over at Florence. “I couldn’t make much out of part of your letter—I couldn’t get the connection between a blue-eyed boy in the poor Indian family and the man in New York. Suppose you girls start at the beginning and tell me all you know about them.”

Florence nodded over at Jo Ann. “It’s your story. You tell it. You’re the one who discovered the blue-eyed boy and became interested in him.”

“All right.” Jo Ann plunged into an account of seeing Carlitos and Pepito the first time, then on till she came to the trip up the mountain. She stopped and smiled over at Florence. “It’s your turn now. You were the star actor and doctor in this part of the story.”

Florence obediently took up the account where Jo Ann had broken off.

Dr. Blackwell listened attentively to their every word, and when they had finished he praised both girls highly, Jo Ann for her detective ability, and Florence for her first-aid skill in saving the boy’s life. “I’d like to see this sick boy while I’m up here and give him a thorough examination. And I certainly want to see the blue-eyed boy. I’m as interested in his story as you are. All the time you’ve been talking about this mysterious boy I’ve been racking my brain to recall a rumor I heard some time ago about an American who was down here searching for a brother whom he had not heard from for several years. I was wondering if there could possibly be any connection between him and your story. When I go back to the city, I’ll see if I can find out anything more about this man.”

“We’d already planned to go down to see the cave family this afternoon, and so we’ll take you with us,” spoke up Florence. “It’s not very far to the cave.”

Dr. Blackwell looked over questioningly at his wife, saying, “I don’t like to go off and leave you.”

“That’ll be all right,” Mrs. Blackwell replied. “I always take a nap right after lunch.” She smiled and added, “Your orders, you know.”

Dr. Blackwell turned to Florence again. “I’ll go with you girls while your mother’s taking her nap, but I won’t stay long.”