A desire for immediate vengeance possessed his whole being, and a plan of action flashed into his mind. Laying down his gun, and softly pushing aside the curtain, he made one wild bound directly at the two men, striking each of them in the middle of the back with his outstretched hands.
So sudden and tremendous was the unexpected push, that each of the fellows bent forward, tripped over the gunwale, and went head-foremost into the river, the boat being now in about four feet of water.
“Crouch down there, you varlets!”
Chap sprang instantly for his gun, and by the time the two dripping and astounded faces arose from the water, he was standing on the stern with his double-barrelled weapon cocked and pointed at them.
“Aha!” he cried; “now you know where that long-legged fellow is! And now perhaps you know how it feels to be chucked into the water. Crouch down there, you varlets!” he shouted, as one of them began to move toward the shore. “If you stir from where you are, or lift your chins out of water, I’ll fire into you.”
The two fellows, pale, frightened, and trembling, crouched down, with their mouths just above the surface of the water, while the fiery Chap told them what he thought of them.
“You’re a pretty couple of sneaks to come along, two to one, and pitch into a fellow who treated you as if you were decent human beings, and then steal everything he has, and leave him alone to starve or,”—he was going to add, “or freeze to death,” but remembering that this would not be possible in that climate, he said,—“or perish in any way he thought best. You didn’t care what became of him. I’m not going to tell you the trouble you caused the rest of the party, but if ever two wild beasts deserve to be shot, you do.”
Chap’s face now glowed with such righteous indignation that one of the young men piteously begged him not to point that cocked gun at them, for it might go off.
“Go off!” cried Chap, without moving the weapon. “It would serve you right if it did go off, and put an end to your lives of crime. Such creatures as you are not needed in this world any more than snakes or alligators.”