Magpie wiped his mustache and glared at Bantie.
“Where’s my bear?”
“And also that wolf uh mine!” snapped Tellurium.
“Do yuh want ’em sudden like or jist natural?” inquired Bantie.
“Sudden like suits me!” stated Magpie. “If I could git away from this place goin’ uh thousand feet uh second I’d feel that I was sort a loiterin’.”
“Watch m’ root-house door,” said Bantie, as he shoved the kitten back into the cabin and shut the door.
The root-house was simply a dug-out under the cabin, with a rough hinged door opening on a slant from the ground. The door was closed but not fastened. Magpie started to walk over and open it but he moved too late.
Came a yelp and a grunt of fear and the door heaved up, nearly tearing the hinges off, and the bear sailed out of the cellar and streaked for the nearest tree.
The wolf hit only the highest points of the scenery until it came to a high point across the creek, where it stopped long enough to elevate its nose and voice its displeasure to the world.
Inside the cabin Bantie was down on his hands and knees, peering down into the cellar through a hole made by removing some of the rough flooring. He pulled on a short rope and called softly and a full-grown wildcat climbed out of the hole and rubbed affectionately against his leg. Bantie tied the leash to the bunk leg and the cat crawled under the bunk.