a banquet begun, but suddenly interrupted.—the far-off boar.—off in search of it.—keeping watch at the old french orchard.—another boar, and another chase.—soliloquies of solomon.—sudden, amazing, paralyzing, and utterly confounding discovery.—one deep, dark, dread mystery stands revealed in a familiar but absurd form.
the boys now began a very pleasant repast in their camp. solomon had, as usual, done justice to the occasion. he had chickens, turkeys, mince pies, and other articles too numerous to mention. the boys had enough to talk about; for bart had to narrate again the story of his captivity, and bruce had to give an account of their wanderings through the valley of the gas-pereaux.
the departure of the invading host was viewed by the boys without any demonstrations of excitement whatever. they tried to act as though they were perfectly indifferent to their movements; and having gained the solid results of a victory, they did not care to heighten its brilliancy by any vain display of triumph. the triumph that was in their hearts was enough. they knew also that the gas-pereaugians would feel an additional mortification when they reached home; for then they would there learn that bruce and his party had penetrated to the very centre of their territory, and had virtually done defiance by lingering so long by the bridge.
by that memorable exploit the camp in the woods had now become hallowed. henceforth it was to bear in their eyes the charm of historic associations. they felt that their labor in building it had not been in vain. in truth it was a pleasant spot; and apart from any other associations, its own quiet beauty was sufficient to give it strong attractions. its walls arose above them, surmounted by its roof, all interwoven with the fragrant, balsamic branches of fir trees. they had chosen fir in preference to others for the reason that the spines of the fir branches will cling for months before drooping; whereas the hemlock, the spruce, the pine, and most other trees of that kind, are of such a nature that their spines will not cling to the severed branch for much more than a week. and here were the dark green walls, cool, and shadowy, and fragrant. over the floor was a thick, deep carpeting of soft moss, suitable for a seat, or for a couch. outside, all the scene was shut in by the lofty trees which bordered the little dell. just behind them the brook bubbled and babbled over rocks and pebbles, till it fell into ‘the pool. the pool itself, their handiwork, was not the least of the attractions. its waters were deep enough to bathe in, and made a pleasant contrast to those surrounding trees which it reflected in its mirrorlike surface. farther down, the brook passed on, bordered on one side with trees, and on the other by that grassy knoll where late the beleaguering gaspereaugians had stood. on it went, past the trees, past the knoll, through underbrush and mosses, until at length it was lost to view in the forest. but amid all these beauties, the one object which was dearest to the “b. o. w. c.” was that which they had fixed over the door as at once a memorial of the past and a stimulus to adventurous deeds in the future. it was the jaw of the big fish. they had for a while been undecided as to its destination, and were on the point of giving it to the museum, but at last decided on placing it there. there it accordingly was, grinning pleasantly with its triangular teeth, and inviting every one to enter.
thus they were seated at their lunch, with solomon a little apart, looking at them like a father, engaged in pleasing conversation upon all the topics which their recent varied adventures might suggest, recounting the past, enjoying the present, and speculating on the future, when suddenly there came an interruption, which in a moment put a full stop to everything.
it was a distant sound.
now a distant sound must have been very peculiar to have caused such excitement as this.
very well—this was very peculiar.
it was a harsh, dissonant roar, a noise, in fact, that could not be called a roar exactly, but something half way between a roar and a howl, repeating itself over and over, and pealing from afar upon their startled ears in tremendous echoes. there was no mistaking that sound. it was the same as the one that had so startled them on the memorable night of the money-digging, and had sent them flying in confusion from the spot.
the boys all looked at one another with glances of deep meaning. not one of them was frightened now. solomon was only curious; in him the broad day destroyed any superstitious feeling. had it been dark, he would have been as terrified as he was before.
the noise was repeated over and over as they listened, and at last it ceased. it sounded like the conglomeration of the bellow of a bull, the roar of a lion, the yell of a madman, and the shriek of a steam-whistle, intermixed with other harsh and discordant noises that can scarcely be defined; and the whole result was one which can certainly not be likened to anything at all.
“that settles it!” said bart at last.
“what?” asked tom.
“well, i’ve been giving the gaspereaugians the credit of that row at the money-hole, and when they came to-day i was certain of it; but this shows that they could have had nothing to do with it. it’s over there, between us and the academy, and sounds now in the direction of the money-hole.”
“now’s the time to find it out,” said bruce. “i was going to propose a watch to-night, to see if we could get at the bottom of it. this is lucky, for we can examine it by daylight.”
“it’s the very same noise,” said arthur.
“o, there’s no doubt about it,” said phil, “only it’s farther off. that night the roar seemed to burst forth just behind me. it’s the same in kind, only less in degree, as mr. simmons says.”
“come along then, boys,” said bart, “don’t let’s lose any time. it must be somewhere about the old french orchard. hurry up!” and with these words they all started off.
“de gracious!” cried solomon. “where you gwine to? you won’t find nuffin. dem sorts ob tings don’t ’low derselves to be caught, mind, i tell you! come back, chil’en, an finish yer dinna, an don’t go actin. an me’s been a cookin for you like all possessed. what’s to become ob an ole darky ef you won’t eat? dis heah ain’t de proppa conduc fur de bee see double. i’ll frow up my office. i won’t be a granpander any longer.”
but the boys hurried away, and solomon’s voice sounded upon the empty air. thereupon he began collecting the dishes and eatables, and replacing them in his basket.
leaving solomon thus, the boys hurried on in a state of great excitement. the mystery had thus far weighed heavily on all their spirits. in bruce it may have been superstitious feeling which made it oppressive to him; but in the others it was the mortification of their retreat and panic, and the unpleasantness of not being able to account for the cause. the sounds, as far as they could judge, seemed to come from the old french orchard; but bruce insisted that it issued from the woods. this formed the subject of loud debate among them as they went on. the majority, however, were against bruce, and thought that it was farther away than the limit of the woods.
“can it be any of the boys, after all?” said bart, as they went along the path. “can pat have in his possession any very remarkable kind of fish-horn or fog-horn?”
“pat? nonsense!” said arthur. “do you think that any power of pat’s could produce such a noise?”
“o, i don’t know. he may have a private pocket steam engine, and occasionally let off steam to amuse himself.”
“you’ll have to hunt farther than pat,” said bruce, seriously.
“why, man alive!” cried bart; “you don’t think now that there’s anything in it—do you?”
bruce said nothing.
they all hurried along the path, peering into the woods as they went on, and listening for a renewal of the sound.
but there was none.
at length they reached the gully, and, crossing it, they ascended the steep slope on the other side. this brought them to the old french orchard, and to the very cellar which had been the scene of their memorable midnight operations. looking down into the cellar, they could see the traces of their work very plainly. they had filled in the hole as well as they could, but the ground bore visible marks of having been turned up.
“if any of the fellows have been up here,” said bart, “they must have noticed this.”
“i don’t think that follows,” said phil. “they wouldn’t notice it, in my opinion.”
“o, don’t you believe that. the marks of digging there are enough to make any fellow notice them.”
“well, what if they do?” said bruce. “they’ll never think that we had anything to do with it. so we needn’t bother our heads about that.”
“the fact is,” said arthur, “none of them have been up here since they got back. bogud and billymack have been studying; pat has been occupied on the hill; and the others have taken to the dikes. we’re the only fellows that have been here at all.”
“for my part,” said bart, “i should like to try that hole again. i don’t believe there’s anything there, but at the same time i don’t like to leave a thing unfinished, especially where it’s been broken off the way this was. and what’s more, i’m bound to have another turn at it.”
“and so am i,” said phil.
“and i,” said arthur.
“i’ll be there,” said tom.
“well, boys, i’ll be there, too,” said bruce, “and we’ll omit solomon this time, and captain corbet. we may as well do it by daylight.”
“of course,” said bart, “it’s all humbug to dig at night. it’s ten times as much trouble, and then we lose our sleep. we can come up early some morning and do it. at the same time, i’m glad we had that night. it’s something to look back upon.”
“that’s all very well,” said phil; “but i’d like to know why we can’t hear that noise again. if it came from this hole, or from the old french orchard, now’s the time for it. here we are all ready. so roar away, somebody!”
they all sat down now on the grass, and listened for a while in silence. they could look over the gully on one side, and part of the play-ground on the other. on three sides the woods encircled them. running along the play-ground on one side, where the woods ended was a pasture field belonging to dr. porter. this pasture field could not be seen from the place where they were.
they sat here for some time, waiting for the sound to arise again; and as they sat here, solomon emerged from the woods, climbed the slope, and advanced towards them. he had replaced all the dishes and all the provisions in the basket, and was now carrying it back. “dar,” he said, as he put it down. “it beats me. don’t see de use, no how, fur an ole darky to go an broil his ole brack head off cookin and roastin all sorts ob tings if dey won’t be eaten. an tings, too, what got captured by de gasperojums! an what we skewered safe back out ob dere plunderin bans! besides,—blubbed bruddren, if you don’t eat my tings i feel kind o’ slighted—i feel it a pusnul insult. dat’s so.”
“o, well, solomon, you know why we cleared out. so you’ve brought the basket. well, why can’t we go to work here? come, boys, let’s rise superior to circumstances, and finish our lunch.” bart’s proposal was greeted with a shout of joy, and once more solomon, grinning with pride and delight, spread out before them his dishes and eatables.
they had just begun; they had just lifted to their still hungry and unsatisfied mouths a morsel or two, selected from among the dainties spread out by solomon; they had just become familiar once more with the delicious flavor of some of his pet dishes,—when suddenly, without warning, and altogether unexpectedly, there burst forth again that roar for which they had been waiting so long. harsh, dissonant, ferocious, resonant in its bellowing intonations, it burst upon their ears, now much nearer than when they had heard it at the camp, and seeming very nearly as loud as it had been on that eventful night. the sound also seemed to come from dr. porter’s pasture field. one moment they listened—that moment assured them of the true direction. the next moment they flung down their plates, and knives, and forks; and away they went, like madmen, over the field towards the pasture.
solomon slowly rose to his feet and looked after them, with his head bent a little forward, and his hands clasped before him.
“well, well, well!” he ejaculated, while an expression of unutterable disgust came over his dark face. “well, well, well! ob all de contrairy chil’en dat i ebber did see! nebber in de gracious sakes does dey know when dere well off. heah’s de second time dey pitch dere dinnas away. an what dat dinna cost me—ob trouble and hard work! but, o, dear, down it goes—o, yes—jes so—flung it all away—an leab dis ole nigga to pick all it up agen. pity de gasperojums didn’t keep de basket. dey’d ’preciate de dinna, any how—dat’s so. ’tain’t de trouble,” he grumbled on, as he picked up the things again, and put them in the basket,—“’tain’t dat—no, sir. it’s de want ob ’preciation. collud folks likes to be ’preciated. so does white folks. dar’s de doctor. me an him likes to be ’preciated,—but dis sort ob ting’s not ’greeble. de day’ll come when dey’ll like to hab one ob ole solomon’s dinnas.”
so he went on, picking up the things, growling and grumbling to himself all the time, until at length he had filled the basket again, and went off in the direction where the boys had gone, to see what had become of them, and with a vague idea that the “dinna” would be resumed somewhere farther on.
he found the boys over in the pasture field, looking a little mystified.
the noises had ceased. a few cows were quietly grazing; and among them was an animal which was very familiar by name, but which none of them had ever before seen in the flesh. it was a simple, domestic animal, in some countries the most common of all; but to these boys it was a novelty. how it had got here was also a wonder; for they had no idea that it was here, and in their surprise they forget about the noises.
and what kind of an animal might this have been?
a quiet, a domestic, agreeable animal; in fact, only a little donkey.
“solomon,” said bart, as he came up, “who owns the donkey?”
“de doctor,” said solomon.
“why, how in the world did he happen to get one?”
“he bought him.”
“yes, but what did he want of it?”
“o, for de chil’en to play with.”
“that’s queer. i didn’t know there was one.”
“o, you see de doctor got him de time you was off on de scursium. ole scissa grinda come long, an de doctor bought de donkey. ole scissa grinda beat de donkey so, dat de doctor got him, an means to keep him for de chil’en. dat’s all.”
“poor old neddy,” said bart. “he’s pretty lean. but he’s all right now. this will be a paradise for him. but i say, boys—i wonder how he rides. i’ve never been on a donkey’s back in my life. have you?”
“and i never saw one before,” said bruce. “i can’t say i admire him much.”
“well, neither did i, for that matter,” said bart; “and for that very reason i want to have a ride on him.”
saying this, bart went up to the donkey. the patient animal did not move, but calmly went on eating a delicious thistle that was under his nose. bart got on his back. the donkey ate on, apparently unconscious of the weight. bart caught hold of his long ears, and tried to pull up his head.
but the donkey ate on!
then bart slapped his flanks with his hands.
but the donkey ate on!
then bart kicked him vigorously with his heels.
but the donkey ate on!
then he whistled, and shouted, and pulled his ears, and kicked at him, and mixed all sorts of encouraging words with acts of the most violent kind.
but the donkey ate on!
that donkey seemed to be about the most phlegmatic animal that they had ever met with. bart was in despair. he looked over the field to see if there was a stick lying about anywhere. he asked the boys if they could see one. he now sat still, for a short time, on the donkey’s back, waiting till he should find a stick.
while he was seated thus the donkey slowly lifted his head.
he had finished that thistle, and felt refreshed.
slowly he elevated his head; slowly he threw back his ears; slowly also he elevated his tail; until at last his nose was directed towards a point about twelve degrees above the northern horizon, and his tail to another point about eleven degrees above the southern.
then he spread all his legs apart.
then he opened his mouth.
then:—
hee haw! hee haw!! hee haw!!!
haw haw 1 hawwwww! heee!
hee haw! heee! haaaaw!
hee-haw! hee-haw! haw!
hee! haw! hee! haw!
hee! haw! hee! haw!
h-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e i h-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-w!
bart sprang from his back.
the other boys started and looked at one another in utter amazement.
one mystery was at last revealed!
