“Say, I’d give something to see those two run up against each other, and have it out. The free show would beat the old one you hear about, when
“‘There once were two cats in Kilkenny,
And each thought there was one cat too many.
So they quarreled and fit; and they gouged and they bit,
Till save the tips of their nails and the ends of their tails,
There was naught left of the two cats of Kilkenny.’”
“It looks to me as if this Mr. Bodman might be a bad hater,” mused Phil; “and all I hope is he doesn’t get a chance to give us trouble while we’re up here.”
“Why, how could he do that, Phil; the woods are free to every one; and I’m sure we paid for our hunting licenses as he did, if he is worth his millions. In what way could he injure us?”
“Mind, I don’t say he will try to do anything,” urged Phil. “Fact is, I hope on second thought the man may come to the conclusion he made a fool of himself. Perhaps he’ll hide until we go away, and then return to get his share of the meat. He may even keep it secret that he met his match in two American boys. That would end the matter, so far as we are concerned.”
“I suppose he’s got a pretty hard crowd over with him in his camp; that lumber-jack gave us to understand as much. They might take a notion to make it unpleasant for us up here, so we’d want to clear out. But they’d better go slow. The Mountain Boys can stand up for their rights.”
“Let’s forget all about the unpleasant experience, and talk of other things,” was Phil’s wise suggestion.
Later on, when he had secured all the meat they would care to carry, at least a fair half of the carcass remained untouched.
“If he cares to come back and cut it up he’s welcome,” said Phil, as they prepared to leave the scene of the killing; “if not, I warrant you there will be only clean-picked bones here by to-morrow morning.”
“Yes, with so many hungry wolves hanging around,” added X-Ray; “if they’re all like that one we bagged at our camp they could clean up a mess like this in half a jiffy.”