So the fully aroused Perk managed to curb his warlike spirit a bit and shut off the flow of deadly missiles.
“Gosh amighty Jack, did you see me knock the ole hippopotamus silly when I opened on him right smart? Some ruction while she lasted, I’ll tell the cockeyed world! Gee whiz! he’s kicked his last an’ there he lies as quiet as a lamb.”
“He’s your meat okay, buddy,” Jack assured him after which he turned to explain the meaning of the frantic outburst of firing for both Dr. Reeves and Suzanne were in the doorway of the shack, demanding to know what it was all about and if anybody were hurt.
“Huh! on’y one that’s hurt real bad lies over yonder with his toes pointin’ up to the skies!” laughed the proud marksman. “Reg’lar he-grizzly, with a bellow like a range bull. Tried to rush me, don’t you know, but it turned out he couldn’t chaw lead an’ so he quit cold. An’ me, I’m figgerin’ on having the smartest rug you ever set eyes on made from his hairy hide if I c’n trim it from his carcass come mornin’. Some stunt for little Perk to put on the boards, if I do say it myself, as oughtn’t.”
“Queer how I have managed to keep the peace with that scamp for so long,” observed the doctor with a whimsical laugh, “and then he chooses to go on the warpath just when I happen to have company for the first time in years. But that was the proper caper, Perk, and you deserve to have a beautiful rug to show when telling this thrilling exploit to your grandchildren.”
“Wow! go easy on a feller, please, Doc,” expostulated the embarrassed Perk, “why, I ain’t even got a girl yet. You see, they gimme the razzberry, mebbe ’cause I’m so handsome. But I’m meanin’ to get that rug fixed up, if the pelt c’n be dragged off the big varmint in the mornin’ an’ that’s that.”
Examination showed that although a number of the bullets sprayed forth so promiscuously by the ardent sportsman had punctured the hide of the bear, these small holes would not prevent its being repaired and made useful, if one chose to spend a little time and cash for the desired result. So while Perk absolutely refused to call his vigil off and get some sleep, he had the comforting assurance that his work had not gone for naught.
“Yeah! don’t try to cramp my style, partner,” he told Jack who was trying to argue that lightning seldom struck twice in the same place, “course I understand how that grizzly ain’t goin’ to gimme another scare, but how do we know that he ain’t got a mate an’ if she comes prowlin’ around this roost an’ runs across her big boy lyin’ there all bloody and cashed in, why she might go on a tear an’ smash things into kindlin’ wood. Yep, I’ll finish the night on my post. Time to pick up any lost sleep when we’re back in old Cheyenne jest loafin’ an’ waitin’ for orders to start out on a fresh job.”
Knowing how stubborn Perk could be when he took a notion, Jack made no further attempt to persuade him and the last he saw of the bear-killer, Perk was sitting there, his back against a stump, with the formidable machine gun across his knees, all set for business at the old stand. Let all the silvertips in the entire Rocky Mountain section step up and give him a dare, with that wonderful gun that reminded him of old days in France when he was with the La Fayette Escadrille, flying for France and her allies, he felt equal to a full dozen of the shaggy beasts.
So the balance of the night passed and finally came the dawn of a new day that would thrill the nation with the startling news covering the finding of the missing air-mail pilot.