CHAPTER VI
SOMETHING ABOUT A CHIMPANZEE
It was well that that honeysuckle vine was growing there and that it gave way slowly after Snap grasped it, for otherwise the two boys might have suffered some broken bones. As it was, Snap bumped his shoulder severely and scraped his ear on the sand of the path that ran around the side of the house.
Poor Giant was unconscious, and even in that perilous moment Snap realized that his little chum had been hit by some of the shot from the gun. Whether the lad was dangerously wounded or not remained to be seen.
The two boys had fallen inside the dooryard, which was separated from the street by a low fence. Hardly did they land when Snap scrambled up, dragging Giant with him.
"The front door! The front door!" yelled Shep from above. "We'll let you in!" And then he leaped through the window and tore down the stairs four steps at a time, with Whopper at his heels.
As Snap turned and looked out into the street he saw a sight calculated to daunt the stoutest heart. The lion was there, standing erect, with bristling mane, glaring fiercely at him.
"Get away!" the boy yelled, not knowing what else to do. "Get away!" And then he picked up a whitewashed stone, one of a number bordering the garden path. With all his might he threw it at the lion and caught the beast in the head. The animal turned, slunk along the fence, and disappeared behind a tree in front of the next house.
The moment the animal turned away, Snap moved toward the piazza. He had Giant in one of his arms, and in his excitement did not notice the weight of his burden. As he ascended the steps the door was flung open and Shep appeared. Then Whopper showed himself, armed with an umbrella he had snatched from the hall rack.
"Where's the lion?" asked the doctor's son.
"Behind the tree!" gasped Snap, and then he literally fell into the hallway with Giant still in his arm. At once the door was closed and locked again.
"Was Giant shot?" queried Whopper, as he threw down the umbrella.
"Yes," answered Snap. "Make a light," he added, for the hallway was in total darkness.
Mrs. Carson was still upstairs, while the hired girl in her fright had fled to the garret, so the boys had to stumble around until Shep found a match and lit the lamp. Whopper and Snap carried Giant into the sitting-room and placed him on a sofa. As they did this the small youth opened his eyes and stared around wildly.
"The lion! Don't let him eat me!" he muttered.
"You're safe, Giant," answered the doctor's son.
"I—-I got shot!"
"We know it. Let us see if you are badly hurt." On several occasions, in cases of accident, Shep had aided his father in caring for patients, and the knowledge thus gained now stood him in good stead. He made a close examination and found that several buckshot had grazed the small youth's temple, while one had gone through the tip of the ear. Giant's face was covered with blood, and this was washed off, and then his wounds were bathed with witch hazel and bound up.
"You had a narrow escape," was the comment of the doctor's son. "A little closer and you might have been killed, or might have lost your eyesight."
"That fellow with the gun was mighty careless," said Whopper.
"He was excited," added Snap. "He didn't want to hit Giant."
Snap said nothing about his hurt shoulder, although the bump he had received made him stiff and sore. He was thankful that the honeysuckle vine had broken the fall from the piazza roof, and that he and Giant had escaped from the clutches of the lion.
The hunters of the animal had gone past the house, and now those inside heard firing in the distance. The shots gradually grew fainter and fainter, at last dying out altogether.
"I guess his lionship has left town," said Shep.
"Or else he is dead," added Snap.
Mrs. Carson was much worried over the wounds Giant had received and insisted upon putting on them some salve. The boy declared he felt all right again and that the wounds would soon heal.
"I'm used to little things like that," he said. "When we went hunting we had all sorts of things happen to us."
"Mercy on us! Then you ought never to go hunting again!" declared the lady of the house.
"It was a narrow escape," said Snap gravely. "You can be thankful that man didn't blow your head off.
"I am thankful, Snap; and I am also thankful for what you did for me," murmured Giant, and looked at his chum in a manner that spoke volumes.
It was now too late to think of going to Fairview, for the last train had already departed. And as it was, Mrs. Carson insisted upon it that the boys remain all night.
"If you leave the house I'll be worried to death, thinking the lion caught you," she said.
So the boys stayed over another night. Late in the evening they stopped two men who were passing the house and from them learned that the lion had been chased to the edge of a big woods north of Railings. He had been wounded, of that the men were certain, and a regular hunting party was going out in the morning to either kill or capture the beast.
"The circus owner has offered a hundred dollars reward for his capture," said one of the men "So they'll get him alive if they can."
"Did any other lions escape?" asked the doctor's son.
"No; but one of the big monkeys is missing—-the educated one."
"Do you mean Abe, the educated chimpanzee?" queried Snap.
"That's the fellow—-the one who eats, drinks, smokes and does all sorts of stunts. He's missing, and the circus men are more worried over him than over the lion. One man said the chim—-what-do-you-call-him was worth a thousand dollars."
"I believe that—-being educated to do so many things," said Whopper.
"He sat up to a table to eat just like a man."
"Did you hear how the lion and the chimpanzee happened to get away?" asked Giant.
"Why, there was a report it was the fault of four rascals who used to work for the circus—-three men who were discharged for getting drunk, and a boy who did stunts on the trapeze and ran away."
"That boy!" cried Snap. "Oh, I don't think he had anything to do with it."
"Well, that's what the circus men say. If they catch the men and the boy they'll have the whole crowd locked up."
"I am sure the boy is innocent," said the doctor's son.
"I got shot by somebody hunting that lion," said Giant. "Do you know who fired his shotgun out yonder?"
"Oh, that was Hank Donaldson. He's always blowing about what he can do with a gun, and he was so worked up and nervous he killed Mack's dog and smashed the plate-glass window in the new five-and-ten-cent store. He got scared to death when somebody told him a boy over here fell from the roof and got hit. Is it bad?"
"No, but it might have been."
"You ought to pitch into Hank. He ought to know better than to fire so promiscuous-like in the city streets. He meant well, but if he had killed you, what then?" And the man passed on, shaking his head earnestly.
In the morning Giant felt quite like himself and insisted upon leaving off the bandage that had been placed over his forehead.
"I don't want to become an object of curiosity," he explained. "Even as it is, I suppose lots of folks will want to know all about it."
While the boys were eating the door bell rang, and the hired girl announced a man to see the lad who had been shot. The visitor proved to be Hank Donaldson, a big, burly fellow, now nervous to the degree of collapsing.
"I—-I hope yer don't think I did it a-purpose," said Donaldson. "'Cos I didn't—-I only wanted to shoot that 'ere lion, 'fore he ate sombuddy up."
"I understand," answered Giant. "But you were very careless.
After this you had better give up lion hunting."
"I sure will. I am very sorry—-yes, I am. Hope you'll forgive it."
"I will—-if you didn't mean it," answered Giant.
"I've got a heap o' troubles, I have," went on Hank Donaldson. "Got to pay 'bout a hundred dollars fer a plate-glass winder I smashed, an' got to pay fer a dorg, too. Ye don't catch me huntin' lions no more." And he heaved a mountainous sigh. A few minutes later he departed, saying he hoped Giant would soon get over his hurts.
"I guess he will be punished enough when he pays for the glass and the dog," said the small youth, and smiled in spite of his wounds.
Getting a ladder, the boys fixed up the brokendown honeysuckle vine, and then bid good-by to Mrs. Carson. She was still a bit timid about letting them go.
"You keep your eyes open for that lion," she said. "And if you see him, run into the first house or store that's handy. Don't think you can shoo him off again with a stone, because it isn't likely you'll be able to."
"We'll be on our guard, aunty," answered Shep.
The circus had left town, as it was billed to perform in another city forty miles away. But several employees had been left behind, and these men, aided by a number of others, went on a long hunt for the lion and the chimpanzee. The lion had been seen making for the woods, but what had become of the chimpanzee nobody knew.
"The loss of that chimpanzee is a big one for the circus," said Snap, while on the way home. "Just see how they feature him on the bills. They have other lions, but Abe was their only man-monkey."
What the youth said about the chimpanzee was true. Abe, as he had been named, was a wonderful drawing-card. At first a reward of fifty dollars was offered for his return, and later this sum was increased. It may be as well to state here that the owner of the circus suspected that the men who had been discharged by him had the chimpanzee and would have it returned to him when the reward was large enough. What had become of the men nobody knew, and the boy acrobat had likewise disappeared.
"That boy interested me," said Snap. "I'd like to meet him again and have a talk with him."
"Maybe we will meet him again some time," answered the doctor's son.
"Oh, it's not likely. There won't be anything to keep him in these parts. If he is a regular acrobat, more than likely he'll join some other circus or some vaudeville show."
"He didn't look as if he liked the life," said Whopper.
"That's the way it struck me," came from Giant.
When the boys got home they had quite a story to tell. Mrs. Caslette was much alarmed over the injuries her son had received and insisted upon it that Giant let Dr. Reed attend him, which the physician did willingly.
"Not much damaged," said the doctor. "But he had what folks call a close shave."
The boys told the doctor about what they had learned from Mr. Jally, and in turn he gave them instructions concerning the photographs he desired them to obtain during their outing in the Windy Mountains. As there might be a little delay in getting the new cameras and in getting some other supplies the start of the trip was postponed until Tuesday.
"And how do you propose to go?" asked Snap of the doctor's son.
"Father thinks it would be wise for us to row to Firefly Lake.
Then we can hide our boat and tote our supplies over to the mountains."
"That suits me, Shep."
"Did Ham Spink and his crowd go that way?" asked Whopper.
"I think they did, but I am not sure."
"Well, I don't want to meet them if they did," came from Giant.
"They can keep their distance and we'll keep ours."