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[172] 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.
then his better sense came to his aid.
“how silly i am!” he exclaimed to himself, as he started off again in the darkness. “of course there aren’t any lions or tigers here. they live only in hot countries in the jungle. the only wild animals around here that might hurt me are bears, foxes and—bobcats!”
teddy almost forgot about this last-named beast. but he had heard the lumbermen[173] talking about it only the other day. bears, the wood-choppers had said, were very scarce and hard even for a hunter to find, so ted knew he need not worry about them. he, himself, had seen a fox, and had noted how the brown creature with the big tail had so quickly run away.
“a fox won’t fight unless you corner him,” thought teddy; “and i’m not going to corner this one! besides, a fox doesn’t climb a tree, and this animal is up in the trees overhead.”
he knew this, because he had heard the branches rustling as the animal sent out its strange cry.
there was only one thing left that the beast could be.
“it’s a bobcat!” whispered ted to himself.
and as he heard again the strange, wailing cry of the beast, he felt sure he had guessed right.
“they claw terrible, and bite!” thought ted, with a shiver of fear, for he had heard the lumbermen talking about the bobcat, or lynx, which is another name for it. “but maybe it can’t find me,” thought the curlytop boy hopefully.
[174]he wished that it was daylight, and then he wished that he had his electric pocket flash lamp with him, so that he might see which way to go. but he had to make the best of it, and so he slipped along as well as he could, gliding amid the trees and bushes of the dark forest.
he bumped into stumps and the trunks of trees. his feet became entangled in vines and, tripping, he fell. he stepped into mud puddles of cold water. all in all, poor ted was quite miserable.
now and then he heard a rustling in the tree branches overhead, and he felt sure the bobcat was following him, waiting for a chance to drop down on him and bite or scratch.
“i’m going to yell!” decided teddy. “maybe that will scare that bobcat.”
and yell he did as loudly as he could. he not only wanted to scare away the bobcat, if one was really chasing him in the tree tops, but ted also wanted to let those who might be searching for him, know where he was.
again and again ted cried, sending his ringing voice out in the darkness of the forest.
[175]had those who were searching for him only been near enough they would surely have heard him and come to his rescue. there were two rescue parties out, as i have told you. mr. martin led one and tod everett, the foreman of the lumber gang, led the other.
mrs. martin remained at home in the bungalow with janet, trouble and lucy. they were much frightened and worried, and more than once janet would listen for any sound outside the cabin and then she would ask:
“do you think they’ll find teddy, mother?”
“of course they will,” would be the answer.
“when?” janet would ask.
“oh, soon now,” mrs. martin would reply. but as the hours passed and the rescuers did not come back with the missing little boy, mrs. martin became more and more worried, though she did not say so.
“po’ honey lamb!” mused lucy, as she rocked trouble to and fro to keep him asleep, for he was restless. “i done wisht he’d come!”
“so do i,” murmured janet. and then[176] her mother said she had better go to bed and rest.
“but i’ll not sleep,” janet answered. “i’m going to stay awake all night—or until teddy comes home.”
however, even worry about her beloved brother could not long keep janet awake, and soon her eyes were closed, as were trouble’s. then mrs. martin and lucy sat up, listening and hoping.
mr. martin had been very sure he or the other searchers would soon find teddy. he thought the boy had merely taken the wrong path through the woods and was wandering about, not far from the bungalow.
but the truth of it was that teddy had gone farther than even he realized, and much farther than his father thought a small boy could walk in the time he was gone.
“another thing that’s against us,” said one of the lumbermen, “is that it’s so dark. there’s any number of little hollows and ravines that the boy could be in and we’d miss him even in daylight. and after dark it’s harder yet.”
“i know it is,” said mr. martin. “but i think he’ll hear us shouting and answer[177] us. besides the moon will be up pretty soon, and it won’t be so dark.”
but as for the shouts, ted did not hear those of the rescuers, and they did not hear his cries as he yelled to drive away the bobcat, if such it was that was trailing him. so the search was kept up.
as for ted, he wandered on and on, really going farther away from the bungalow and his friends instead of toward them.
the boy listened after he had shouted to drive away, as he hoped, the strange wailing beast. then, as he did not hear any sound in the tree tops and that strange cry did not again make him shiver, he took heart.
“i guess i’ve scared him away,” thought teddy.
he started off again in the darkness as best he could. but he had not taken many steps before that same cry welled forth again, sending the shivers up and down poor ted’s back.
“you old beast!” he cried. “why don’t you jump down and be done with it! i’ll hit you with a club if you do!”
ted firmly grasped the piece of tree branch he had picked up and waited. he stood under a tree, and he thought if the[178] bobcat did leap down the tree would be a good thing to dodge behind.
then, just as mr. martin had told those in his party would happen, the moon rose. or, rather, it came out from behind some clouds that, earlier in the evening, had hidden the silver disk. the woods were now much lighter, and for this ted was glad, even though the moon did cast strange shadows.
suddenly, as he looked up into the tree from which the strange animal seemed last to have cried, ted saw two green and gleaming eyes. the moon shone on them.
and then a voice seemed to call:
“who! who! whoo-oo-oo!”
instantly ted burst into a laugh.
“why, it’s only an owl!” he told himself. “it was an owl that was following me through the woods. but i didn’t know owls cried like a bobcat. i thought they only made a sound like just now—‘who!’ i’m glad it’s only an owl!”
the owl, for such it was, flew away. ted saw it go, but he could not hear the flapping wings, for an owl flies on silent pinions, its wings being covered with such soft feathers as to make scarcely a sound. in this way[179] an owl can fly close to the creature it wishes to catch without being heard.
ted laughed again as the owl hooted and vanished in the night. the boy felt better now, and he was beginning to wonder if he would have to spend the night alone in the forest when, suddenly, that same strange cry sounded again. this time so near at hand—in a tree directly over teddy’s head—that the boy jumped.
“it wasn’t the owl after all!” he thought. “it must be the bobcat still after me!”
there was a rustling in the leaves of the tree, and ted dodged behind the trunk of the one he had picked out as a refuge. then as the moon became a bit brighter, for more clouds passed from it, the boy caught sight of two other eyes, gleaming red and green as they reflected the shine of the moon.
“he’s looking right at me!” thought ted, for, indeed, the eyes seemed to stare at him. “come on down here and i’ll hit you with this club!” cried the boy boldly.
however the bobcat—and by a glimpse he had of the beast ted was sure it was a lynx—did not accept the invitation to come down and be clubbed. the animal snarled again and moved out on the limb over ted’s[180] head so the boy had a good view of it. then he saw more clearly what it was—an animal like a cat, only three times as large, and with curious tufts of fur on its ears. the lynx is about the only animal that has ear tassels.
suddenly ted decided on a bold move. if the bobcat would not come down to be clubbed, the boy would not exactly climb up the tree to hit it—that would be dangerous indeed—but ted could throw his club at the beast.
“that’s what i’ll do!” decided the boy.
ted was a good ball player for a boy of his age, and could throw straight. he had often gone after chestnuts in the woods, and had thrown clubs up into the trees to bring down a shower of brown nuts.
now he stepped back until he saw that he had a clear aim for the bobcat on a limb out over his head. ted began to swing his club back and forth.
“i’ve thrown a club farther than this!” thought ted.
he drew back his arm and let fly the heavy piece of wood. it went straight for the bobcat, and, somewhat to ted’s surprise,[181] it struck the animal on the nose, its most tender spot.
instantly it felt the blow of the club on its nose, the lynx sent out a loud howl. then it snarled and began tearing at the branch with its sharp claws, so that it sent down a shower of bark on ted.
then, with another howl, as it rubbed its sore nose between its paws, the lynx turned as if to run down the tree trunk.
“he’s coming after me!” thought ted. “i’ve made him good and mad and he’s coming after me. i’d better run!”
before this the boy had “invited” the lynx to come down and be clubbed. but now that he actually saw the beast coming after him, as he thought, ted could not stand it. turning, he ran away.
the moon now gave better light than at first, and ted could see to keep out of the way of trees and bushes. thus he made better speed.
on and on he ran, not stopping to listen to learn if the lynx were coming after him. he stepped into puddles, but his feet were wet anyhow, and he no longer minded this. suddenly he saw before him a well made[182] path through the trees—a path that seemed to have been often used.
“maybe this is the way home!” thought ted. “i hope it is!”
he paused for a moment before turning into this path. he listened. no longer did he hear the rustling in the tree branches overhead, showing that the lynx was following him. nor did he hear that strange, wailing cry.
“maybe i drove him away when i hit him on the nose!” thought ted.
he started down the path, running as fast as he could. then, a little later, he saw that it did not lead to the bungalow at mount major. instead it led to a little clearing, and in the midst of this place, where the trees were cut down, stood a lonely cabin.
who lived there? did anyone? would it be best for ted to knock and ask to be taken in for the night?
