“It doesn’t seem to bother the bear one bit,” Allan added. “I’ve known them to just clean out a hive; and when we shot the varmint just afterward, he didn’t seem to have a swollen head from any stings. But if we should be lucky enough to find a bee tree, perhaps we’ll coax our friend, the bear that was in this cabin, to come around; and then some of you can get a crack at him. His hide would make a rug to be proud of, especially if you had killed the beast yourself.”
“Count me in on that game,” said Giraffe, earnestly. “I boasted to the boys at home that I was goin’ to bag a big bear; and if I don’t make good they’ll give me the laugh, you see. And then we’ll find out whether this heavy old rifle that belonged to my uncle, ain’t equal to a new-fangled little popgun that shoots spreader bullets.”
The boys had begun to show new signs of quieting down. Some were yawning again, and the chances were the signal to crawl under the blankets would presently have been given by Thad.
It was Bumpus who suddenly aroused the whole party. He sat upright on the floor, and pointed directly at the window that was opposite to where he had last thrown his blanket down. Thad saw that the face of the fat boy really expressed surprise, not to mention consternation, as he cried out:
“Oh! I wonder who that was I saw peek in at the window just then, and draw back when he caught me lookin’ at him. A white man, too, fellers, it was, believe me; I ain’t foolin’!”
Everybody jumped up, the three guides as well as the boys, when Bumpus made this astonishing declaration. But although their eyes instantly sought the window indicated, the cob-webbed glass betrayed no sign of the presence of any one.
CHAPTER XIII.
THE MARKED SHOE AGAIN.
“He’s got ’em again, boys!” exclaimed Giraffe, in utter disgust. “You know, time was when our friend Bumpus was always seein’ things? He used to get us up in the middle of the night huntin’ around for all sorts of crazy wild beasts; and then, after we’d been nearly frozen, he’d yawn, say he guessed he must a been dreamin’ again, and turn over to go to sleep. Now he’s beginnin’ to see things with his eyes open.”
Everybody looked severely at Bumpus. Thad knew the ways of the fat boy as well as any one could. And he understood that the other could not keep a straight face when attempting anything like a practical joke. A whimsical little grin would always betray Bumpus to shrewd and searching eyes.
But just then he had a solemn look. Bumpus even seemed to be aggrieved that his word should be so lightly taken.