62CHAPTER VIII
WHEN THE CAT RULED THE ROOST
“I’ve heard foxes bark before, Jack,” said Steve, with a trace of excitement in his manner, “but never like that. I reckon now those bowwows were plain dog!”
“Sure thing,” remarked his companion, nodding his head at the same time, while a pleased look flashed athwart his face.
“It wasn’t so far away, either, was it?” continued Steve, meditatively. “We have the air in our favor, that’s true, but the sound was pretty strong. Huh! seems as if we may not be the only campers in this stretch of the Pontico Hills. Other folks have taken a notion to come up here. I wonder if they can be Chester fellows, or from some other place.”
“It doesn’t matter much to us who they are, since we don’t intend to mix with them,” said Jack, drily.
“That was a pretty husky bark, Jack, and I should say on a venture the beast might be a fair-sized dog. I think I’ll look around for a nice club as we saunter along. Never did fancy being jumped on by a mastiff, or a vicious collie. Been bitten twice already, and the third time might be fatal to poor little Stephen.”
63“That isn’t a bad idea,” his mate told him; “and I’ll copy your example. Then if we are unlucky enough to run smack into the beast, we can keep him at bay anyhow until his owners come up and rescue us. But I’d a heap rather not have it happen. As you say, the air is coming toward us, which is a good thing; for in that case even a dog with a good nose wouldn’t be apt to get our scent in a hurry.”
Jack now evinced a disposition to move on. It was as if that series of gruff barks from the unseen dog had acted as a sort of challenge; and having a duty to perform he meant to carry it out grimly.
They accordingly walked on, not making any kind of haste. Indeed, Jack showed a disposition to act cautiously. He was continually keeping a careful vigil, and, as a rule, his eyes were directed ahead. There seemed to be no longer a disposition to look for beautiful vistas that might draw forth exclamations of delight; and as for snapping off a picture, why, Jack had slung his camera back of his shoulder with a final air that told he had put such an idea completely out of his head.
As the minutes passed and they heard no further indications of the dog’s presence near by, they concluded that he must have gone back to his day dreams. Steve found himself more than ever puzzled by the actions of his companion. He wished harder than before that Jack would lift the veil a little, and tell him what it all meant, who 64 that man might be, and what he was doing up there among the hills that would bear watching.