“Pretty soft, I’d call it,” chuckled Jack, again dropping back to catch a “few more winks” of sleep before the coming of dawn; “but say, what’s the use of having a chum who calls himself an old woods guide along, to look after you, if he doesn’t give you all the service he’s supposed to supply for his wages? We’ll have many a good laugh over this delightful arrangement in other days and nights.”
Three of the horses were lying down, the fourth trying to find a few more stray wisps of green stuff by reaching out to the extent of his tethering rope. All seemed well with the world, and Jack judged it the part of wisdom to fight off dull cares until the time really arrived for action.
Then for the third time he opened his eyes and began to stretch his limbs, by that time feeling a bit cramped from his lying in a certain position so long.
“Must be getting daylight,” he told himself, noting how he could see objects at some little distance beyond the smouldering campfire; but as it was not the proper caper for a supposed young millionaire sportsman to be the first on stirring in camp, Jack concluded to just lie there and do a little calculating, having in mind the stirring drama they were likely to run into ere another day had come to an end.
“Huh! now, what in thunder does all that distant racket mean?”
Of course that was Perk muttering to himself, and turning his head Jack could see the other rising to a sitting position, with his head set on one side, as though he were straining his hearing.
This caused Jack to suddenly realize for the first time that it was not only the gurgling of the nearby running brook he had been hearing—somewhere within half a mile other sounds were rising, and even gradually drawing closer right along—yapping, for all the world like dogs chasing a rabbit, or a sly fox caught out with dawn coloring the sky.
Jack hastened to sit up.
“Yes, what can it be, do you think, Perk?” he asked, quietly.
“Awake are you, ol’ hoss?” the other went on to say though without turning his head. “Sounds like wolves, or I’d say kiotes only I happen to know they ain’t any sech animals ’way up here—leastways I never did run across sech all the time I rode ’round this section o’ country.”