CHAPTER VIII
THE FIRST NIGHT IN CAMP
Whopper was not much frightened. He had met wolves before and he did not think that the pack on the ice would dare to attack him and his friends. Nevertheless, to be on the safe side, he watched the beasts closely, and when they came still nearer he rushed into the shelter and grabbed up his shotgun.
"What's the row?" asked Shep sleepily, disturbed by the unusual bustle.
"Four wolves are on the ice in front of the shelter," explained
Whopper. "Reckon I'll give them a shot."
"I'll go along," and the doctor's son sprang up and reached for his own firearm.
When Whopper got outside again, followed by Shep, he saw the wolves had approached still closer. There were now seven of them, and they stood in a semi-circle, sniffing the air suspiciously. The man-smell was strong, and this they did not like, for to them it betokened only danger. Yet mingled with the man-smell was the smell of chicken and rabbit meat, and this pleased them, for they were hungry.
"Let us both fire together," suggested Shep. "Each of us ought to bring down at least one. You can fire to the right and I'll fire to the left of the line."
"All right."
They took careful aim, and at the word from Whopper each pulled the trigger of his shotgun.
Bang! Bang!
The two guns spoke up in rapid succession, and as the smoke cleared away it was seen that two of the wolves lay on the ice, twisting and turning in their death agonies. The others were scuttling away, one limping painfully.
"Hullo, what's up?" came from Snap, as he rushed from the shelter, followed by Giant. "What are you firing at?"
"We just brought down a couple of wolves," answered Whopper, with considerable satisfaction in his tone.
"Wolves!" ejaculated Giant. "I didn't think they'd find us as early as this."
Taking a brand from the fire, Whopper led the party out on the ice to where the two wolves lay. One was already dead and the other quickly breathed its last. They were large and gaunt looking creatures, with cruel teeth, and Shep shivered as he looked them over.
"I am glad they didn't get into the shelter," he observed. "If they had, we should have had the fight of our lives."
"I doubt if they would have attacked us," answered Snap. "They were after those rabbits and that chicken. They must have followed the sled trail from Lake Cameron."
As the young hunters did not want the wolves, they were left where they had fallen. The other beasts did not show themselves again.
The remainder of the night passed without anything unusual happening. Once the wind veered around a little, threatening to suffocate them with smoke from the camp-fire, but by the time they prepared to vacate the shelter the wind veered back to where it had first come from and gave them no more trouble.
"I saw a beautiful owl," said Giant, when they were preparing breakfast. "I'd like to get him and have him stuffed."
"To eat, I presume," said Whopper, innocently.
"Eat? What do you take me for!" cried the smaller member of the Gun Club, and picking up a chunk of snow he shied it at Whopper, taking the latter in the ear.
Whopper could not stand that and threw some snow in return. Then ensued a regular snowball fight all around, which came to a sudden termination when Shep hit the coffee pot and spilled half of the hot beverage in the snow.
"Hi! that's going too far!" cried Snap. "Don't waste good coffee like that!"
"I move we fine Shep one cent for a bad throw," murmured Giant.
"He can make another pot of coffee, that's what he can do," grumbled
Whopper.
"All right, I will, but no more snowballing for the present," answered
Shep, and set to work without delay.
For breakfast they had some chicken, some bread and butter and hot coffee. The bread was pretty dry, but nobody minded it, for hunger and a clear, cold atmosphere are wonderful appetite builders.
"The first thing to do to-day is to finish building our shelter," said
Snap.
"Oh, gosh! can't we go hunting?" demanded Whopper, who was itching to get out after big game.
"He wants to bring in a few of those bears he has been talking about," said Giant, with a wink of his eye.
"No hunting until the shelter is good enough to use in all kinds of weather," answered Snap.
The bracing air kept the boys moving lively, and directly after breakfast they set to work in earnest. A large quantity of tree branches were cut down, and with these they made the sides and top of the hut or cabin as tight as possible. Around the bottom of the shelter they heaped up all the snow that was close at hand.
The building of the chimney bothered them a great deal. Fortunately they found some stones which were fairly flat, and these they managed to pile up into something of a square, with an opening in the center and another at the bottom, next to the shelter. On the outside they heaped up some dirt and above this plastered the cracks with mud. When tried, the chimney drew very well, and there seemed to be little danger of it setting fire to the shelter proper.
"We ought to have a name for this camp," observed Snap. "Every really first-class camp has a name."
"This is such a very high-toned camp let us call it Hotel
Millionaire," suggested Giant.
"The Lakehouse," came from Whopper.
"I've got something better than that," said Shep. "Half of these trees are birch trees, and we used birch bark on the roof. What's the matter with calling the place Birch Tree Inn?"
"That's all right!" cried Snap. "Hurrah for Birch Tree Inn!"
"Good enough," assented Whopper. "Let's run up a napkin for a flag, for here is where we feed."
"Not much!" came from Giant. "What's the matter with this?" And from an inner pocket he produced a small silken flag. "I brought this along for our camp."
"Hurrah for the stars and stripes!" came from Snap. "We'll raise the flag by all means."
This was an easy matter, for directly in front of the camp, on the lake front, grew a tall and slender sapling. From this they cut the extreme top and the branches, and then ran up a thin rope, to which they attached the flag. Floating in the breeze it looked very pretty, and taking off their caps, the members of the Gun Club saluted the national emblem. Then Whopper and Shep began to whistle the Star Spangled Banner and the others joined in.
The making ready of the camp had taken longer than they had expected, and it was nightfall before they had everything as they wished it. In addition to making the shelter weather tight and warm, they had cut a good sized pile of wood for the fire. All were tired out, and Shep admitted that his back felt pretty stiff and lame.
"I don't think we'd want to work so hard around home," said Giant frankly, and the others admitted that this was so.
They were too tired to do more than prepare an ordinary supper, but this included the beans previously put in soak and then baked and these went very well. Then they brought in some wood, and closed up the doorway of the Inn.
"No need to remain on guard," said Snap. "The fire and the sides of this shelter will keep away all wild animals."
"That's true."
During the afternoon it had begun to snow again, and this made it all the more cozy in the shelter. After supper the boys piled wood on the fire and lounged around, telling stories and talking over the prospects of getting game. All were enthusiastic, and determined not to return home until they had brought down "something worth while," as Snap expressed it.
When the lads came out in the morning, they found that the snowstorm had cleared away completely. The air was clear and cold, with scarcely any wind.
Whopper could hardly wait to get his breakfast, so anxious was he to go after game. Giant suggested that they go on their snowshoes, but Snap demurred.
"Not the right kind of snow yet," he said. "Let us skirt the lake this morning and see what we can pick up near camp."
Before they left the Inn they saw to it that every spark of the fire was extinguished, for the dreadful conflagration of the summer season had taught them a useful lesson. They also placed their matches in a tin can, so that they might remain dry and also to keep them from being lit by some prowling wild beast.
"I once heard of a place being burnt down by a fox," said Giant. "The animal knocked the match box from a shelf on which some rabbits were hanging."
"Well, I've often heard of rats setting fire to buildings by igniting matches," answered Snap.
"Millions of times," came from Whopper. "Rats sometimes do that for a regular business. They make a deal with people who want to get a fat insurance; you know, and then—Oh!" And the remarkable story came to a sudden end as Shep shied a snowball at the youth who loved to exaggerate.
They were soon on the way, Snap, Shep and Giant with their shotguns and Whopper with the rifle. They headed directly along the shore of Firefly Lake, intending to make the complete circuit of that sheet of ice.
They had proceeded only a short distance when Snap held up his hand.
"Rabbits," he whispered. "We are in luck!"
"Humph! I wanted to see a bear," grunted Whopper.
"Now, dolt you spoil this for us," remonstrated Snap.
"Let us fire together," whispered Giant. "I see at least a dozen."
The bunch of rabbits were close to the lake front, nibbling the bark from some young shoots growing in that vicinity. Without delay Snap, Shep and Giant brought their shotguns around in position to fire.
"I'll give the signal," said Shep. "Shep, you fire to the left. I can fire to the right, and Giant can blaze away at the middle of the bunch."
"There they go!" screamed Whopper just then, and he spoke the truth, the rabbits had discovered the hunters and were making mighty bounds to gain the thickets beyond lake shore.
All the boys with shotguns blazed away, and four of the rabbits dropped in their tracks. Another went limping along painfully and Snap caught it with case. But there was no time for a second shot.
"Well, that's not so bad, for a start," observed Giant, as they took up their game.
"If I hadn't yelled you'd have lost the bunch," said Whopper. "Why, I was most tempted to bring one down with the rifle."