With a sudden motion the wildcat bounded backward, landed on his feet in the underbrush and scurried away through the trees. The boys waited, weapons still raised, half expecting a return, but as the moments passed and the woodland was still save for the excited chattering of birds in the branches over their heads, they began to realize that what they had hoped for was true, the enemy had been finally and completely routed.
They turned and stared at each other with eyes in which laughter could not completely hide the shock of their experience.
“Well, what do you know about that?” asked Bob, regarding the stick which he still grasped. “Scared him off with a bit of stick. I bet if I’d tried to hit him the stick would have broken in two on his sleek back. Say, fellows, can you beat it?”
Then he began to laugh and the others joined him. They laughed till tears rolled down their cheeks, and when at last they sobered down they felt a good deal better.
“That was some great idea of yours, Bob,” said Joe admiringly, as he threw away his stick and stooped to pick up the day’s catch. “I suppose the rest of us would just have sat tight like a bunch of boobs and let that bobcat tackle us.”
“It was the craziest idea I ever had,” returned Bob. “It was a long chance, but I guess it was about the only chance we had, at that.”
“Whew,” said Herb, as he thoughtfully wound up his line. “That was enough excitement to last me for a good long while.”
“I didn’t know there were bobcats around here,” said Jimmy, wiping the perspiration from his round face.
“I guess there are all sorts of wild animals in the forest,” replied Joe, adding with a grin: “I guess maybe we’d better get down one of those guns from the wall of the lodge and load it with buckshot. Looks as if we might need it.”
“Well, I guess we’ll not want to do any more fishing to-day, shall we?” asked Jimmy, looking around him rather anxiously. “We’ve got a pretty good haul anyway.”