CHAPTER II

THE HOLLOW TREE REFUGE

"ALL my fault, Dick!" said Roger, as they hastened to pull in their lines, and then get the rude anchor up, for their position was an exposed one, with that furious wind sweeping all the way from the other shore of the wide river.

"Don't say anything about it, Roger; what we want to do now is to get to work, and use the paddles. Quick! or we'll be blown over, with the side of our boat exposed to that rush of wind!"

They worked with all their power to get the rough dugout headed for the shore in time to have the wind behind them, for they had been fishing some distance from the wooded bank. The boat had been fashioned from a selected log by the boys themselves, and was as good a specimen of its kind as any of the settlers owned; but at the best such a craft is apt to prove clumsy at a time when quick action is required.

As a result the wind struck them before they were quite prepared, and for a moment it looked as though the frail craft would be capsized, so violently was it tossed by the gusts, as well as by the turbulent waters.

"Dip deep, Roger!" shouted Dick, compelled to raise his voice on account of the roar of the wind, which sounded as though a million bumblebees had swarmed around their heads.

They bent themselves to the task, and put all their energies into keeping the dugout from upsetting. Perhaps the wind was merciful, too, and relaxed its violence a trifle, but, be that as it may, the two lads succeeded in accomplishing the feat of turning the boat head on toward the shore, and with only a few strokes of the paddles they found themselves driven violently against the high bank, against which the waves were already breaking.

"Just below, there's a little bight, where the boat can hold out against it, if only we can get her there!" Dick called aloud; for he had noticed all these things while fishing, perhaps with an eye to future use should necessity compel them to seek a haven of refuge.

"Together, then, Dick, fend off, and let her float down a little!" cried Roger, ready to jump overboard if necessary in order to save the boat, together with the fine catch of fish, from being turned over by the waves.

But the distance was very short, and so sturdily did the two boys labor that in the end they were able to push their craft around a high point of rock that jutted out from the shore, and find a haven just behind, in which the boat might weather the storm in safety.

But, from the appearance of the darkened sky across the river, it was evident that they might expect a heavy downpour of rain shortly; and, if they hoped to escape getting soaked, they had better go ashore without delay, and seek some sort of shelter.

"Will our fish be safe here, do you think?" asked Roger, loth to leave their prizes unguarded in the boat.

"Oh! I guess so; but come along, we can't stay here. Pick up your gun and let's look for a couple of hollow trees, or a fallen one that will shelter us beneath its roots. Hurry, Roger, it'll soon be on us!"

They had quickly tied the painter of the dugout canoe and, with one last anxious look at the fish, Roger scrambled up the bank at the heels of his cousin.

The guns the boys carried were, of course, the long-barreled rifles of the times, equipped with a flint lock and powder-pan. Although such weapons may excite more or less amusement in these days of the repeating rifle, and the hammerless shotgun, still those men of the old border, with their steady hands and hawk-like vision, were capable of doing marvelous execution with them. And as boys learned how to shoot before they were as tall as the guns owned by their sires, it can be readily understood that both the Armstrong lads were splendid marksmen.

The woods along the banks of the Missouri in those days were untouched by the axe of the backwoodsman, and must have been a sight, indeed, with many of the trees three or more feet through the butt.

Here and there one of these forest monarchs had been felled by some hurricane that had swept through the region in years that were past; and it was in the direction of these that the boys cast eager glances in the hope of finding a shelter from the downpour that threatened.

Right and left they glanced, missing nothing with those keen eyes, now put to their best efforts, since a necessity for a haven had arisen, if they hoped to avoid being soaked to the skin. And, as they both were dressed in tanned buckskin garments, fashioned after the manner customary with the hunters of that early day, with fringe and colored porcupine quills adorning both trousers and tunic, the task of drying their clothes was one that would take more or less time.

It seemed but a few minutes before a shout from Roger announced a happy discovery.

"Oh! look, there's the very place for us, if we can climb the tree and crawl in at that opening, Dick! On my word I believe that's the biggest hollow tree I ever ran across, and I've seen a few. Shall we try it?"

Cautious Dick glanced once more around him; but apparently could see no other opportunity to get away from the threatening deluge.

"All right, then, we'll have to chance it!" he replied, as he started for the big tree.

Roger did not understand what these words meant until they had come to the wide trunk of the oak and he discovered many scratches there, indicating that some wild animal must have its sleeping quarters in the hollow above.

"A bear's den, Dick!" he ejaculated, looking at his companion doubtfully.

"Yes, I guessed as much," answered the other, "when I saw tracks over yonder. But let's hope the old fellow happens to be away just now. I wouldn't take the risk did not those black clouds look so threatening."

"Shall we climb up, then?" asked the other, ready to accept any risk, in his headstrong way.

"Yes, come on, Roger; but keep your gun ready for business," replied Dick.

It was always a matter of some concern to the early pioneers, this keeping their rifles or muskets in condition for immediate use. The powder was apt to be shaken from the pan, or the flint in the hammer dislodged just enough to keep it from striking fairly, and sending out the important spark, which was absolutely necessary in order that the weapon be discharged. And hence, under the most intense excitement, hunters were wont to keep a watchful eye upon their guns in order that they might not fail.

Both boys scrambled up the tree. The limbs were low, and fashioned just right for a quick ascent, and, as the hole which had caught the eye of Roger was not more than twenty feet from the ground, they were beside it in an exceedingly short space of time.

But it might be noticed that neither seemed in any great haste to enter the gaping aperture that frowned so darkly before them. They could easily tell that it was a bear's den from the odor that greeted them, such as may always be detected where wild animals have their lodging; but even stout-hearted Roger would have braved the wrath of the coming deluge rather than drop down upon a savage bear.

"Do you think he's in, right now, Dick?" he questioned.

"I don't know. You see there was no time to examine the tracks below, and see whether the last ones headed in, or out. But we'll soon learn that. Fire your gun as straight down into the stump as you can, Roger; while I keep mine ready to give him a shot if he comes out."

"A good idea, Dick; and here goes!"

Roger pushed his long rifle into the hole as well as he could, and, aiming downward, pulled the trigger. The roar that followed was terrific in that confined space, and Roger hastily dragged his gun out, preparing to reload. He had in his early years been taught the first principle among hunters, that an empty gun is worse than none at all.

Dick was waiting, ready to send a bullet into the head of Bruin, did he but make his appearance; but, as nothing followed the report of his cousin's rifle, he bent forward to look once more into the black aperture.

"Not at home, is he, Dick; or do you think I could have been lucky enough to have killed him by a chance shot?" demanded Roger, hopefully.

"Oh! no danger of that," replied the other, laughingly. "It's an empty den that we've run across, and the sooner we crawl inside the better."

"Yes," said Roger, "I felt a big splash of rain on my face then. But how far down do you think the hole goes, Dick? I hope not all the way to the roots of the old tree. How could we climb up again; and what a tumble it would be if we let go and dropped."

For answer Dick dropped a piece of heavy bark into the opening, and bent his ear in an endeavor to tell from the sound just about how far it had to fall.

"I think it's all right, Roger," he said; "but to make sure I'm going to tie to this branch this piece of rope that I brought with me, and lower it inside. Then we can always have something to pull ourselves up with."

"It takes you to think up such things," was the comment of the other boy, who greatly admired his cousin's thoughtfulness, though seldom able to shine in that same respect himself.

Giving his gun in charge of Roger while he worked, the older lad quickly tied one end of his piece of rope to the limb alongside the opening.

"Now we can climb in, and none too soon, for there comes the rain with a whoop that sounds like an Indian attack!" he remarked.

Dick would have gone first, but it would never do for headstrong Roger to allow any one to precede him, when there was an atom of danger to face. So he swung in, and blocked the passage of the other, though with a good-natured laugh.

He had shifted his rifle to his back by means of the strap that was attached to it for that very purpose. This allowed him to have both hands free. Having dropped down so that he was hanging from the rim of the opening, Roger failed to touch the bottom with his dangling feet.

"I don't seem to make it, Dick," he called out; "but now I'm going to try the rope. Hurrah! here's the bottom at last; and I judge that it's only about eight feet or so below the opening. Coming down, now?"

"Yes, because here's the rain pouring down; keep out of the way, Roger," with which remark the older boy started down.

He found no difficulty in landing beside his cousin. The big tree was hollow half-way down to its roots, so that hardly more than a mere shell of the outside remained.

"Listen to it come down, Dick!" exclaimed the younger lad, presently. "Sounds as if the clouds had broken above, and meant to put the river up to the flood stage again, after it had started to go down. And the wind blows pretty hard, too. I hope, now, it doesn't knock this old oak over, and give us heaps of trouble. Wasn't that thunder I heard? What if lightning should strike here? Perhaps we were foolish to try so hard to escape a ducking, Dick. There may be some things worse than a wet jacket, it seems to me."

"That's right, Roger, and I'm glad you look at it that way; but we're in here now, and perhaps we'd better stay, and take our chances. Such a storm will soon be over; and, when the wind goes down some, we can paddle across the Missouri without running the risk of a bad spill. We promised mother not to take too many chances, because she dreads the water, after losing her brother the way she did in the drifting ice three years ago this spring."

The wind howled dismally around them, and the rain beat heavily against the thin shell of the tree, so that at times it creaked and groaned in a way that excited the fears of Roger anew, for he thought it might be about to give up its long fight, and yield to the storm's fury.

But Dick kept his courage up by words of good cheer.

"Already I think the worst is over," he returned. "It seems to me the noise does not come quite so heavily; and yes, when you look up, Roger, you can even see light at the opening, something that I couldn't do before. We'll have to wait here a little while, and then we can crawl out to hunt up our boat, and start for the settlement on the other shore."

Roger naturally twisted his neck in order to see the glad sight of daylight above; but immediately gave expression to a cry.

"What is it?" asked Dick, knowing from the tone of his cousin's exclamation that he had seen something that meant new trouble for them.

"The bear, Dick!" gasped the other boy.

"What about him?" demanded Dick; but doubtless he was able to make a pretty good guess concerning the nature of the discovery.

"He just stuck his snout into the hole as if he smelled us; and look there, will you? All the light is shut out! Dick, what shall we do? For I believe the bear is starting to back down inside the tree!"