Starting over level roads, they were now in a rolling, hilly country, thickly clothed with trees. Sometimes the road ran for miles through dense woods, where the sun could penetrate only in scattered patches through the heavy foliage and where the cool shade was most welcome after the scorching sun that had beaten down upon them along the stretches of open country. Soon they began to feel hungry, and Jimmy was not long in proposing a halt for lunch.
“I suppose you fellows were so scared by that big rock that you won’t be able to eat for a week,” he remarked. “To a brave gink like me, though, danger only gives a keener edge to his appetite.”
“Fortune help us, then!” exclaimed Herb. “If your appetite is much keener than usual, Jimmy, all our grub will be gone before we ever reach Spruce Mountain.”
“Oh, well, if it is, I’ll go out and kill a bear or two every morning, so don’t let that worry you,” replied Jimmy, airily. “Mr. Bentley said there were quite a few bears around that part of the country, and they seem to be my natural prey. When I can’t find any lions to kill, I like to keep in practice on bears.”
“Huh! why didn’t you give us a demonstration when Tony’s dancing bear chased us up on to the roof of Buck Looker’s bungalow?” inquired Joe.
“From what I remember of that scrape, Jimmy seemed rather anxious to avoid the bear,” remarked Bob. “The way he shinned up the front porch you might almost have thought he was afraid of the poor animal.”
“Aw, he was a tame bear!” protested Jimmy. “I like the wild ones; the wilder the better. I wouldn’t hurt a tame one like Tony’s. I only bother with the real fierce ones.”
“Well, when we get to the lodge, we’ll see if we can’t borrow a trap and catch a bear,” said Bob. “Then you can go and let him out of the trap, Jimmy, and kill him with your bare hands, or by whatever method it is that you use. The rest of us will climb the nearest tree and get an idea of how it’s done.”
“What do you do, anyway, Doughnuts? Strangle the poor brutes, or bite them to death?” inquired Herb, with every appearance of an earnest seeker after knowledge.
“Never you mind; just wait until the bear comes along, that’s all,” said Jimmy, with reprehensible vagueness. “I’m hungry enough to eat one raw right now, hide and all. Here’s some chicken sandwiches my mother put up, and if you Indians want any of them you’d better act quickly.”