It was some animal!
CHAPTER XV
THE LONELY CABIN
Teddy Martin was as brave as any boy of his age could be. But he was like nearly all other boys. When he heard or saw something about which he did not know he became alarmed.
Perhaps if he had seen an elephant or a tiger really coming toward him in the woods, he might not have been half as frightened as he was at that strange cry from some unknown animal. For seeing a lion, a tiger, or an elephant lets you know at once what you have to expect. And it may be that by running, dodging and hiding you can get away from the beasts.
“What is it that’s howling at me?” thought Ted.
He did not know, and there was none present to tell him.
That was the worst of it—not knowing what animal was trailing after him—stalking him up in the trees, maybe—following him!
Teddy had stopped after calling out that he was there, thinking it was some person who had been sent to rescue him. But after a moment, when he knew that it was some animal, the boy prepared to run on again. Though where he would go in the darkness, and how he could save himself from the beast, he did not know.
“But I’m not going to stay here to be jumped on and clawed and bitten!” thought the Curlytop lad.
There flashed through his mind all the stories he had ever read or heard about wild beasts in the woods at night. For a few seconds Ted thought the worst—that it might be a lion or a tiger.