a more astounding surprise than before awaited the lad. his hair almost lifted itself as he found himself staring at vacancy, with no sign of a living person in sight. whatever had been the cause of this mysterious performance, it was very apparent that the solution rested not with the young fugitive.
“i'm tired of this,” he exclaimed, impatiently, after he had waited several minutes, “and it is n't going to be played on me again.”
with this, he began clambering up out of the ravine, with the resolve to reach some place where no shadowy horseman could ride over him.
the climbing was difficult at first, but he soon reached a point where the inclination was not so steep, and where he could progress with much more ease and facility. in this way he in time reached the upper level, and, believing himself out of range of his phantom pursuer, had time to look about for some sleeping-place for the night.
he frequently paused and listened, but could not see or hear anything of man or beast, and, confident that no danger was to be apprehended from either, he devoted himself to hunting for some refuge, that he could consider secure against molestation. his first inclination was to seek out a place among the rocks, as he was likely to gain room where he could stretch out at his ease and enjoy a few hours' slumber, but, on reflection, there were several objections to this.
in that part of the world were an abundance of poisonous serpents, and he had a natural dread of disturbing some of them.
“if i can find the right kind of tree, i think that will be the best sort of a place, for nothing could get at me there, and there may be all the limbs i want to make a bed. i guess there's the location now.”
he was walking along all the time that he had been thinking and talking, and, at this juncture, he approached a straggling group of trees, which seemed likely to offer the very refuge he was seeking. he made his way toward them with quickened steps.
fred found himself upon a sort of plateau, broken here and there by rocks, boulders, and irregularities of surface, but in the main easy to be traversed, and he lost no time in making a survey of the grove which had caught his eye. there were some twenty in all, and several of them offered the very shelter. the limbs were no more than six or eight feet above the ground, and the largest trees were fifty feet in height, the branches appearing dense, and capable, apparently, of affording as firm a support as anyone could need while asleep.
“i guess that will do,” he concluded, after surveying the largest, which happened to stand on the outer edge of the grove. “if i can get the bed, there ain't any danger of being bothered by snakes and wild animals.”
fred naturally pondered a moment as to the best means of climbing into the tree with his gun. it was full size, and of such weight that he had been considerably wearied in carrying it such a distance, but it contained a precious charge, to be used in some emergency that was likely to arise, and no man was wealthy enough to buy it from him. the way that he decided upon was to leave the gun against the trunk of the tree, and then climb in the way that comes natural to a boy. the barrel of course, would bother him a little, but he could pull through very well, and he immediately set about doing so.
as he expected, the gun got in his way, but he managed it very well, without knocking it down, and in a few minutes had climbed high enough to grasp the first limb with one hand, which was all that he desired, as he could easily draw himself up in that fashion.
fred had just made his grasp certain, when he heard a peculiar yelp, and a rush of something by him.
not knowing what it meant, but apprehending some new danger, he drew himself upon the limb with a spasmodic effort, and then turned to see what it meant. to his amazement and terror, he discovered that it was an immense wolf, which had made a snap at and narrowly missed his heels. it had come like a shadow, making no announcement of its presence, and a second or two sooner would have brought the two into collision.
as fred looked downward the wolf looked upward, and the two glared at each other for a minute or so, as if they meant to stare each other out of countenance. the wolf was unusually large, belonging to what is known as the mountain species, and he seemed capable of leaping up among the limbs without any extra effort; but wolves are not addicted to climbing trees, and the one in question seemed to content himself with looking up and meditating upon the situation. it seemed to the lad that he was saying:
“well, young man, you're up there out of my reach, but i can afford to wait; you'll have to come down pretty soon.”
“if i only had some powder and ball,” reflected fred, “i'd soon wipe you out.”
the temptation was very strong to spend the last bullet upon him, but he could not fail to see the absurdity of the thing; besides which, his gun was seated upon the ground, with the muzzle pointed upward at him. he could reach it from his perch on the lowermost limb, but it was hardly safe to attempt it while his enemy was seated there upon his haunches, as if debating whether he should go up or not.
the boy was in terror lest the brute should strike the piece and knock it down, in which case it was likely to be discharged and to be placed altogether beyond his reach. but the dreaded creature sat as motionless as if he were a carved statue in front of some gentleman's residence, his eyes fixed upon his supper, which had escaped him by such a narrow chance. the situation was about as interesting as it could well be, and, in fact, it was rather too interesting for fred, who was alarmed at the prospect of being besieged by a mountain wolf.
after the lapse of a minute or two, the brute quietly rose from his haunches, trotted a few paces, and then gave utterance to the dismal wail peculiar to his species. it had a baying, howling tone, which made the chills creep over the boy from head to foot. he had heard the barking and howling of wolves when crossing the prairies, but there was deep, thunderous bass to the one which now struck upon his ear such as he had never before heard, and which gave it a significance that was like a voice from the tomb.
the instant the brute left his station, fred reached down, seized the muzzle of his gun, and drew it up. then he made his way some twenty feet above, where he could feel secure against any daring leap from his foe. he had scarcely perched himself in this position, when the bay of the wolf was answered from fully a dozen different directions.
he had called to his comrades, and their replies came from every point of the compass—the same rumbling, hoarse, wailing howls that had notified them where a prize awaited them. a minute later, the brute trotted back to his place, where he sat down until the arrival of reinforcements.
“it isn't one wolf, but a hundred, that going to besiege me!” gasped the terrified boy.
he spoke the truth.
