The Pioneer Boys on the Mississippi

her near by was sufficient reason for his alertness, because no animal that roamed the woods was mor

n the time came for firing. A wounded panther was a thing to be dreaded by even the stoutest-hearted hunter. He had heard many stories told around the family hearth at home about these animals, by such men as P

he hold of the fox trap, that seemed to grip his ankle with a stubborn determination to

, since he would then be compelled to defend himself with his knife or hatchet. And, as it turned out, he showed considerable wisdom in repressing his boyi

new discovery that added a ne

y to scare them off without shooting, if you can! Oh! if I could onl

e were, indeed, a pair of the animals, eager to pounce upon the bo

ly days, long before matches of any kind had come to be known, the only way to get fire was by the use of flint and ste

or, at least, make the brutes hesitate long enough for him to have a chance to hand to his brother the gun that was so tant

as thought of, and there remained to Bob only the one thought

beasts, he gathered himself for a spring, and then, with a shri

he, by the same motion, tossed it to his eager brother, and the two lads, back t

y a sharp, cracking sound, followed by a mighty crash, as a huge dead tree toppled down, it

light rustling sound and

eir tense attitude and then, with a sigh o

f that dead tree scared the b

his voice; "I do believe the cowards are slinking off over there,

I was afraid that they would spring at any second, and we might have missed, or o

up here like this, and with the teeth of that old trap biting in deeper every time I pulled, or tr

might stand on the double spring, and thus throw back the two jaws. "There, does that fix it, Sandy? Looks like those teet

try his left leg. He certainly did limp cons

support of that stout deerskin legging. And even they would have been nothing like the teeth of a panther. I honestly believe the savage bea

to speak of your lame ankle, it seems to get darker all the while; and, with the river before us, we

the confident younger boy; "but, then, with this pain in my leg, I don't see how I could manage to get over

his head r

dropped, if, indeed, those hungry woods cats have not already found it. It loo

t he had planned. "This seemed to be our lucky day, Bob; and the chances are we'd have found somethin

r, and offered to assist Sandy in walking. The other, however, scorned to appear like a cripple, and managed unaided to limp

pped when Bob heard the shouts of the trapped boy, and, as soon as this had been

again," Bob remarked, leading the way at as fast a pace as

me on worse than ever. Ouch! that hurt like everything then. I didn't see that root sticking up in the trail. Don't I wish I was over home

ke the boat," called out Bob, encouragi

Sandy. "With the river booming bank-full, and the current as fierce as a

when you come to it. Besides, I happen to know that the boat is still there, for I just had a glimpse

ry morning, and wondering whether those French trappers could be around on this side of the river. If they saw

m firing on us as we pass through the forest is their fear of the vengeance of Boone and Kenton, not to speak of Pontiac, whose wampum

give up further idea of staying on the further shore. Indeed, with the gathering darkness

and or water, they seldom hesitated, or allowed anything like alarm to influence them, when duty called. And both

ther boy had had very much experience in boats; but, after the dugout was built, they spent much of their time on the water, shooting ducks for the family lard

k to the southern side of the river, than it had been in coming across. The current added to their troubles, for it carried them along faster than eith

ed to get about half-way over, though both of them were somewhat winded by their efforts, when they noticed that heavy cloud

laces, and logs seemed plentiful. Altogether, it was an entirely new sight to both Bob and his brother, f

e saw a particularly ugly snag, with broken branches sticki

sibly, in his eagerness, Sandy may have bent too heavily on his paddle, for, just as the

b, alarmed more than he w

his catastrophe was sure to delay their passage, and doubtless cause them to be swept some miles down-stream before they could land;

ress when yet another peril came booming along, this time in the

ugout seemed but a plaything, and the log, driving three times as fast as they were going, bore straight dow

you can, and climb aboard the log as they come togethe