Dave Porter in the Far North/Chapter 21
CHAPTER XXI
CAUGHT IN A WINDSTORM
It was an anxious moment for all, and the others expected to see poor Roger almost torn to pieces. The wolf was big and strong, and hunger and the wounds it had received made it a formidable antagonist. Its eyes gleamed like those of a tiger.
"Help! help!" cried Roger, and then his words were drowned in the crack of Dave's pistol. Taking the best aim he could, the youth fired three times, and the wolf was hit in the side and the rump. It fell to the . ground, whirled over and over in the snow, and started for Dave. Then Granbury Lapham fired, and the wolf fell over on its side. A moment later the mountaineer rushed in, and with a club he had picked up at the sheepfold dashed out the brains of the creature; and thus the strange and unexpected encounter came to an end.
Roger had suffered little more than a few scratches, yet he was so weak that the others had to support him back to the hut.
"I—I felt it was my last minute on earth!" he gasped. "If that wolf had been left alone another ten seconds he would have bitten me in the throat!"
"He was certainly a savage beast," replied Dave. He, too, was trembling, in spite of all he could do to control himself.
Several lights were now lit; and leaving Roger at the hut, the others went around to view the damage done. The mountaineer mourned the loss of his sheep, but was rejoiced to know so many wolves were dead.
"I know that big wolf," he told the Englishman. "He had given me a great deal of trouble. He was the leader of the pack. Now he is gone, perhaps I shall have peace for the rest of the winter."
The sleigh driver had returned with the runaway horse. The animal was highly excited and the driver had all he could do to quiet the steed.
"I could tell a long story about this horse," said the sleigh driver. "Once we were caught near Stamo in a great snow. The wolves came after us and this horse was bitten in the flank. That is what made him so afraid. The other horses do not know what wolves really are, and they did not mind them any more than they would so many dogs."
"This is a Christmas night to remember," said Dave, when they finally turned in again. "Roger, if this sort of thing keeps up, we are in for a trip full of excitement."
"Thank you, I don't want to meet any more wolves," replied the senator's son.
All were worn out by what had happened and glad to sleep late the following day. When they arose they found the storm had cleared away and it was as bright as could be expected at this time of year. Once more the sleigh was brought forth and the double team harnessed up. From the mountaineer they obtained a few extra provisions, including a portion of the mutton that had been killed. For this the man would take no pay, but the boys made his wife a present of some silver that pleased the family very much.
"And now to catch the exploring party!" cried Dave. "I don't think they traveled any further than we did in that awful snowstorm."
"It all depends upon what road they were on, so Hendrik tells me," answered Granbury Lapham. Hendrik was the sleigh driver, a good-natured man, although rather silent.
"Does he mean that they could travel on some of the roads, even if it did storm?" asked Dave.
"Yes."
"Well, all we can do is to follow them the best we know how," said Roger.
The new fall of snow had made traveling very heavy, and by noon they had covered only nine miles. Not a hut was in sight, and they made a temporary camp at the edge of a pine forest, where the trees sheltered them from the wind. A fire was built and they broiled a piece of mutton and made a large pot of coffee.
"What a sparsely settled country this is!" remarked the senator's son. "I declare, it looks like some spots in the far West of the United States."
"Norway Is the most thinly settled country of Europe," answered Granbury Lapham. "And instead of growing better it seems to grow worse. Many of the peasants emigrate to Canada and the United States, where they can get productive farms without much trouble."
It was necessary to let the horses rest for an hour, and during that time the two boys strolled around the vicinity. There was, however, not much to see, and once off the road they found walking uncertain and dangerous.
"I can now understand why the driver didn't want to go on In that storm," was Dave's comment, when he pulled himself out of a gully several feet deep. "A little more and I'd have gone heels over head, and what would happen to the turnout in such a place I don't know."
"If the sleigh breaks down, or we lose a horse, it will be very bad," answered the Englishman, gravely. "The further north we go the more careful we must be, or we may not get back in safety. I think that exploring expedition was rather a foolhardy undertaking—at this season of the year."
"I believe I know what prompted my father to undertake it," said Dave. "It was the spirit of adventure. My Uncle Dunston says my father loves an adventure of any kind."
"Do you take after him?" asked the Englishman, with a twinkle in his eyes.
"I think I must—otherwise I shouldn't be here," and Dave smiled broadly.
The sleigh driver said that if they made good time during the afternoon they would reach the village of Bojowak by five or six o'clock. Here he was certain they would hear further of the exploring party.
"Then let us hurry all we can," said Dave. "If it is too much of a pull for the horses, I, for one, am willing to walk part of the way."
"So am I," added the senator's son, and the Englishman also agreed to this, although he declared that trudging in the deep snow generally winded him greatly.
They were now approaching a dangerous part of the road, which ran around the western slope of two fair-sized mountains. They progressed with care, and frequently the driver would go in advance, to make sure that the footing was good.
"If only the fellows of Oak Hall could see us now!" declared Dave, "Wonder what they would say?"
"I must take another snapshot or two," answered Roger.
He had brought a folding pocket camera with him and had already taken several rolls of pictures. None of the films had been developed, so he could not as yet tell how the snapshots would turn out. Now he took a picture of Dave knee-deep in snow, with the turnout and the others in the background.
"I ought to have a picture of that fight with the wolves," said Roger, when he put his camera away. "When we tell about it at the Hall some of the fellows will be sure to say it's a fish-story."
"Nat Poole won't believe it for one, Roger; and I don't think Merwell will believe it either."
At the mention of Merwell's name Dave's face clouded for an instant.
"I wish Merwell would leave Oak Hall, Roger," he said. "Somehow, I like that chap less than I do Nat Poole or anybody else—even Jasniff."
"So do I. Poole is a fool, and Jasniff is a hot-headed scamp, but this Merwell" The senator's son could not finish.
"I believe Merwell has the making of a thoroughly bad fellow in him," finished Dave. "I don't see how Doctor Clay allowed him to join the school."
On and on went the sleigh. The road was uphill, and all hands walked. Once they passed a man on horseback, wrapped up in furs. He stared at them curiously.
"Stop, please!" called out Granbury Lapham, in Norwegian, and the traveler came to a halt. When questioned he said he had heard about the strange party of six men who had come into that part of Norway, and he had also heard that the authorities were watching them.
"But where did they go to?" asked the Englishman.
That the man could not tell, but said they might possible find out at Bojowak, from a man named Quicklabokjav.
"What a name!" cried Dave.
"It's bad enough—but I have heard worse," answered Granbury Lapham. "Some of the Norwegian names are such that a person speaking the English tongue cannot pronounce them correctly."
They were now more anxious than ever to reach Bojowak, which Hendrik said was a village of about sixty or seventy inhabitants. The people were mostly wood-choppers, working for a lumber company that had located in that territory two years before.
The wind was beginning to rise again. This blew the snow down from the mountain side, and occasionally the landscape was all but blotted out thereby. They struggled along as best they could, the driver cracking his whip with the loudness of a pistol. They passed around one edge of the mountain, only to view with consternation a still more dangerous stretch of road ahead.
"Dave, this is getting interesting," remarked Roger, as the horses stopped for a needed rest.
"I don't like the looks of that road, Roger. There is too much snow on the upper side and too deep a hollow on the lower."
"Right you are." The senator's son turned to the Englishman. "Mr. Lapham, will you ask Hendrik if he thinks it is safe to go on?"
When appealed to, the burly sleigh driver merely shrugged his shoulders. Then he looked up the mountain side speculatively.
"He says he thinks we can get through if the wind doesn't blow too strongly," said Granbury Lapham, presently.
"But the wind is blowing strong enough now," answered Roger.
"And it is gradually getting worse," added Dave.
Once again they went forward, but now with added caution. Ahead of them was a point where the firs stood in a large patch with the road cut through the center. As they entered the forest the wind whistled shrilly through the tree branches.
"I'd give a good bit to be safe in that village," remarked Roger, after listening to the wind. "After we leave this patch of timber we are going to have our own troubles on the road."
They looked at the sleigh driver and saw that he, too, was disturbed. He stopped the team and gazed upward between the firs to the dull and heavy sky. Then he shook his head slowly.
"He says another storm is coming," said Granbury Lapham. "It is a great pity that it can't keep off until we reach Bojowak."
They were in the very center of the patch of firs when the wind increased as if by magic. It caught up the loose snow and sent it whirling this way and that, almost blinding the travelers. The horses, too, could not see, and they stopped short, refusing to go another step. The driver looked around again, and now his face showed that he was frightened.
"He says we must gain shelter of some kind," said the Englishman, after a few hurried words had passed. "He thinks it will be dangerous to remain here among the trees."
"The shelter of the trees is better than nothing," answered Roger. "If we were in the open and this wind Gracious! listen to that!"
A sudden rush of wind swept through the forest, causing the trees to sway and creak. The loose snow was blown in all directions, and they had to be careful that they did not get their eyes and mouths full of the stuff.
"It's almost as bad as a—a blizzard!" panted Dave. "And I really think it is growing worse every minute!"
"The question is, where shall we go?" said Granbury Lapham.
"Perhaps the driver knows of some shelter," suggested Dave.
"If he does"
The Englishman got no further, for at that moment came another rush of air. It bore down upon the forest with terrific force, and a second later they heard several trees go down with crashes that terrified them to the heart. It was a most alarming situation, and what to do to protect themselves nobody seemed to know.