“Now, Bayard, if you will listen to me a moment I will tell you something,” answered Perk. “I won’t budge an inch.”
Bayard hesitated a moment as if undecided how to act, and then made a sign to his men, who unslung their guns, and after hanging them upon the horns of their saddles, pulled off their coats and came up around their leader, while the Club moved up to support Perk. A collision seemed imminent, and Walter, who did not believe in fighting, tried to reason with his rival.
“Look here, Bayard,” said he; “when you first came up you told us that you had followed the trail of these two panthers for more than an hour, and that you found it on the bank of the bayou.”
“So I did, and I’ll stick to it.”
“And a moment ago you declared that you discovered it at daylight, somewhere near your house.”
“Eh!” exclaimed Bayard, who could not help seeing that he had contradicted himself. “I mean—you see—that’s the truth, too.”
“Your stories don’t agree,” continued Walter. “The facts of the case are that these two animals did not come together until this morning. The larger one was prowling about our house until midnight, and our dogs treed him. We cut the tree down, but he escaped; and at the first peep of day we put our hounds on his track, and followed him up and killed him. You struck the trail behind us, and consequently are not entitled to a share of the reward.”
This proved to Bayard’s satisfaction that the Club understood the matter quite as well as he did. He and his men had been out coon-hunting, most likely (their reputation as hunters did not warrant the supposition that they were in search of larger game), and having stumbled upon the trail of the panthers they had followed it up out of curiosity, and not with any intention of attacking the animals if they had overtaken them. When they found the Club alone with their prizes, they thought it would be a good plan to pay off some of their old scores by robbing them of a portion of their game. They were noted bullies and fighting characters, and they thought the knowledge of this fact would awe the young hunters into submission to any demands they might make upon them; but they had reckoned without their host. Walter saw that what he had said made Bayard and his friends very angry, and he was glad that he was not alone.
“I see just how it is!” exclaimed Seth Bell, in a voice choked with passion. “You have beaten us at so many things that you have got it into your heads that you can ride over us rough-shod at any time you please; but you will find that you can’t do it. We’ve got things fixed for one of you, if you only knew it, and in less than two days—”
“Hold on, Seth,” interrupted Bayard; “you’re talking too much. Get away from there, Perkins.”