Just as the prospector had started to draw the curtain of vines back, there came a most dreadful growl that made Aleck jump, under the belief that the she wolf he had been dragging after him, might have come back to life, and was about to pounce on the destroyers of her lair.
Then all at once it struck him that Thad must have been the cause of this savage growl; that was no doubt what he meant when he spoke so confidently of knowing a way to frighten the man off.
Indeed, Waffles did spring back instantly, uttering a cry of terror. He fully expected to see the beast that had uttered that ferocious growl come flying through the vine screen, leaping at his throat.
"What is it?" shouted Kracker, himself scrambling to his feet clumsily, owing to the girth of his waist.
He seemed to be dragging something out of a rear pocket, and no doubt this was the single weapon which the Boy Scouts had allowed the men to carry off with them, at the time Kracker and his companions found it necessary to confess themselves beaten in the game of wits.
"A wolf is layin' behind them vines; didn't you hear her give tongue like sixty? Ketch me aliftin' anything thar, I tell you. Ugh! I ain't lost no wolf. Chances are it's the mother of that cub, too; an' she'll be that mad when she knows we killed it, nawthin' won't stop her rushin' the camp. Let's clear out of here?"
"But we got our fire started, an' all of us feel dead tired, too," complained Dickey Bird, who was evidently struggling between two opinions, and did not know which was the lesser evil—remain where they were, with that savage beast hovering around; or once more pursue their weary way elsewhere.
Kracker had approached close to the vines, and Thad thought it a good time to give another growls which he did with new emphasis. And Aleck, not wanting to be left out of the game entirely, tried his hand also.
"Look out, Kunnel, thar's two of the critters!" shouted Waffles, turning and edging further away from the rock wall.
"A hull den of 'em, I reckons!" added Dickey Bird, who no longer cared to stay in such a dangerous vicinity.