Johnny saw it as in a dream. He woke from the dream with a start when the grizzly, at a pace not exceeded by the fastest horse, charged straight up the hill.
For this the hunchback was prepared. He had lain five of his best arrows, tipped with points of volcanic glass, side by side in the snow. Now, as if shot from some new form of repeating blowgun, one by one these arrows went crashing into the charging monster.
As for Johnny, his usually alert mind seemed frozen. Only after the hunchback’s third arrow had found its mark with the beast still plowing forward did he get into action. Then, realizing that his arrow, a good broadhead with razor edge, was in place, he wondered where to aim.
There was no time to be lost. Instinctively he picked the beast’s lolling red mouth. Twang! The arrow sped. The next instant, to his vast astonishment, he saw the beast rear high, utter one wild roar and drop backward dead.
Three shots from the hunchback’s bow silenced the two younger bears forever. Then it was time for investigation. The arrow that Johnny shot had entered the bear’s mouth, had pierced the thin bone at the top and had entered the brain.
As the hunchback realized this, he turned and looked at Johnny. A smile overspread his face and he patted the boy clumsily on the shoulder.
After that, leaving the old bear where she lay, he partially skinned one of the cubs and, after slinging a good hundred pounds of meat across his shoulder, beckoned the boy to follow.
CHAPTER XXII
THE HUNCHBACK LEADS ON
Someone else saw the light of Faye’s fire against the sky. Sitting crosslegged on their deerskins, the two Indians squinted at it for a time in stolid silence. After that a few guttural exclamations passed between them. Then, having drawn their moccasins on, they hurried away down the river, leaving Gordon Duncan asleep by the fire.
What words had they spoken? Had they judged the girl too long gone from camp? Did they fear for her safety? Or did they suspect a hostile encampment?