when rand arrived at the great oak, which stood at the fork of the road on the outskirts of creston, on the following morning, he found pepper impatiently awaiting his arrival.
"i thought you were never coming," grumbled pepper, when rand made his appearance. "i expected to be half way there by this time."
"plenty of time," said rand. "how long do you think it will take you to get there and back?"
"how far is it?"
"five miles, as the crow flies," returned rand, "and near six by the road."
"that's an hour and a half on the road each way and an hour to stop. i ought to do it in four hours and a half."
"then you should be back by dinner time," concluded rand. "we will meet you here at 1 o'clock. which road are you going to take?"
"the upper road," decided pepper, "it runs through the woods, but it's by far the shortest way."
with a whistle the boy started off along the thoroughfare at a good pace. "look for me at 1 sharp," he called back as he went off.
he had gone perhaps a quarter of a mile on his way when, as he was passing a small clump of bushes by the side of the road, there was a rustle behind the bushes, and a voice cried:
"halt!"
pepper, however, broke into a run which carried him past the clump, when again came the command:
"halt, or i'll shoot!"
the boy hesitated for a moment as to whether he should stop or run, and as he did so gerald and jack came out upon the scene.
"did we scare you?" asked gerald.
"no," replied pepper stoutly, "i thought it was a joke."
"we just wanted to test your courage," said jack.
"that reminds me--" began dick, who had now joined the others.
"that it is time for me to be getting along," broke in pepper. "good-by, fellows," starting off again.
"good luck," called the boys after him.
the road which he was following ran through the woods along the top of the mountain and was comparatively little traveled, most persons preferring the lower road which, although longer, was not near so rough or hilly.
pepper met but few people on the way, and had gone rather more than half the distance when, as he was descending the slope of a small hill, he observed coming down the opposite slope a horse and wagon, about which there was something familiar.
"that looks like the rig that monkey rae was driving the other day," he thought, as he looked at it again. "if he is in it, i think i had better do the disappearance act until he goes by."
stepping from the road he waited behind a small thicket until the wagon came nearer, when he saw that it was being driven by the man who had been with monkey when they had taken the boat, and that, following the wagon was a big, ugly-looking, mongrel dog, that was dashing from one side of the road to the other, interspersed with little excursions into the woods.
"gee!" thought pepper, "i wouldn't want to fall into their hands. i think it's to the woods for mine," at the same time making his way as quickly as possible deeper into the underbrush.
"i didn't get out of the way any too soon," he continued to himself, for on coming to the place where pepper had left the road the dog stopped, sniffed at the ground and gave vent to a gruff bark.
"what is it, tige, old boy?" called the man, stopping his horse. "sic 'em!"
with a deep growl the dog started on the boy's trail. pepper could hear him crashing his way through the underbrush and ran as fast as he could, looking about him, as he ran, for a stick or a stone with which to defend himself, but could see none, and all the time the dog was coming closer and closer, his growl becoming more and more menacing. it was nearly upon him, and he imagined that he could feel its hot breath and expected every moment to feel the snap of its jaws, when he saw, a little way ahead of him, what looked like a stout black stick lying upon the ground. "gee! that's lucky," thought pepper, running to where the stick lay and, stooping to pick it up when, to his astonishment and terror, the supposed stick glided from under his hand and he saw that he had been about to grasp a large-sized snake. springing to his feet he made a wild jump upward and, as luck would have it, caught at the branch of a tree above his head, and, getting a firm grasp, drew himself up just as the dog, with its teeth snapping, sprang at him.
"crickets!" said the boy to himself, "but that was a close shave," meantime climbing up into the tree to a more comfortable perch. "i don't know which of them i like the least. it looks as though there was going to be something doing now."
so intent had been the dog in its pursuit of pepper that he did not see the snake until he had run onto it as it lay coiled upon the ground when, with a cry of alarm, the dog bounded into the air, clearing the snake by half a dozen feet. apparently forgetting the quarry which it had been so eagerly pursuing, the dog now turned its attention to the snake, which was the largest that pepper had ever seen.
for a few moments pepper was too fascinated to move, as he watched the strangest combat that he had ever seen going on beneath him. a combat in which neither of the combatants seemed desirous of assuming the aggressive. lying in a close coil, with its head rising from the center, its forked tongue darting in and out, and emitting every now and then an angry hiss, the snake, swaying its head from side to side, closely followed in its movements those of the dog, which circled about it barking furiously, and apparently watching for an opportunity to seize it back of the head, but which the snake was too wary to permit.
"this beats the circus," thought pepper, after he had watched the fight for a little time, "but this isn't getting the message to highpoint. i don't believe i have time to wait for the finale. i wonder how i am going to get out of this. if i drop down there they will be making a show of me. looks as though i might get over into that next tree. i'll try it, anyhow."
the trees here had grown so close together that many of the branches were in-lacing, and it seemed possible to pepper that he could get from the one tree into the other.
"it looks kind of thin," thought pepper, when he had picked out a limb which extended into the adjoining tree, "but, perhaps, it will do."
crawling out upon the branch until it bent and swayed dangerously under his weight, he caught a branch of the other tree and swung himself over, narrowly missing a fall.
"so far, so good," soliloquized pepper, working his way toward the trunk. "i rather like this way of going. now for the next one."
the next tree was a little farther away, but by climbing out on a bough that extended into the other tree he crept on until he could just touch one of the opposite branches, but could not get a hold.
"looks as if i would have to go back," he decided, after he had tried and failed to get a hold on the other tree. but this, he found, was more easily said than done, for when he attempted to turn around he slipped and only his quick clutch of the swaying branch saved him from a tumble.
"this is a nice scrape i have got into," he thought, when he tried to climb back onto the limb from which he had slipped, but found it impossible. "i can't get back, and i don't see how i am to go on. i hope it will let me down easy."
