LUB, AND THE MOTHER BOBCAT

"Keep still, everybody!" said Phil, grasping the perilous situationrninstantly.rnrn"Gee whiz! look at its eyes staring, will you?" gasped X-Ray, appalledrnby the ferocious aspect of the crouching beast, which was squatted on arnlog just a few paces beyond poor kneeling and terrorized Lub.rnrn"Phil, oh! Phil, tell me what I ought to do!" they heard the fat chumrnsaying in rather a faint voice; all the while doubtless keeping hisrnstrained eyes glued on that dreadful apparition.rnrn"It's a mother wildcat, and she's got kits somewhere near by," Phil wasrnsaying steadily. "That's what makes her so fierce in the daytime. Lub,rncan you hear me plainly?"rnrnHe did not elevate his voice in the least, not wishing to do anythingrnout of the ordinary so as to excite the angry beast further, and causernit to jump.rnrn"Yes, sure I can; go on and tell me, Phil," whined the other,rnappealingly, and remaining on his hands and knees as though absolutelyrnincapable of moving.rnrn"Don't be alarmed," Phil went on to say. "I've got my revolver in myrnhand, and if it comes to the worst I'll shoot. The other boys will yellrnlike everything, too, and that might make her sheer off. But first tryrnand back up, just as you are. Careful now, and do it as easy as you can,rnLub."rnrnThey saw the fat boy begin to cautiously extend one foot backwards. Whenrnthere came a warning snarl he instantly stiffened out as though he hadrnbeen turned into stone.rnrn"Try it some more," Phil told him, "go carefully, but never mind therngrowls. When she sees you're retreating she'll be satisfied, let'srnhope."rnrnSo Lub did as he was told, for his nature was rather docile. It could bernseen that he was holding himself in readiness to flatten out on hisrnstomach in case of hostile demonstrations on the part of the wildcat. Norndoubt he expected that he could in this way manage to protect his facernfrom her claws; while the pack on his back would serve him in good steadrnthere.rnrnPhil, however, had rightly gauged the intention of the mother beast.rnShe was only standing up for her whelps, and so long as they were notrnplaced in peril she did not mean to attack that crowd of two-leggedrnenemies.rnrnThe further Lub got away from the danger zone the more rapidly he beganrnto move his plump legs. Presently he felt Ethan lay hold of his foot, atrnwhich he gave a gasping cry, under the impression that it must be thernmate of the enraged bobcat which had attacked him from the rear.rnrn"It's all right, Lub," Ethan hastened to say, reassuringly, for he hadrnnot intended to frighten the other; "you're among friends now; and seernthere how the old cat slinks away, still growling and looking daggers atrnus with those yellow eyes of hers. Wow! she would have given us a warmrntime of it, I'm telling you!"rnrn"Did you get her photo, Phil?" demanded X-Ray; "because I heard thernclick, after you'd swung your little camera around."rnrn"Yes, when I saw that she didn't mean to tackle us," replied the other,"I remembered that I ought to have something to show for Lub'srnadventure. Guess you'll be glad to have a print of your friend, Lub;rnit'll be a nice thing to look at on a hot summer day; because you'llrnalways have a chill chase up and down your spinal column, when yournthink what would have happened if you'd come to close quarters with thatrncat."rnrn"And talk about the map of Ireland on your face," added Ethan; "more'nrnlikely you'd call it one of Europe, with every river plainly marked."rnrnLub was mopping his face with his red bandanna. All the color had fled,rnleaving him as white as a ghost; but under the manipulation of hisrnhandkerchief that was being speedily rectified.rnrn"I think I'll drop back a bit, and let some of the rest of you fellowsrntake the lead from now on," Lub told them, contritely, "I ought to havernknown better than to try and show off when I'm such a greeny aboutrnfollowing a trail."rnrn"You were doing all right," Phil told him, "and making a good job of itrnup to that time. Who'd ever expect that we'd run across a bobcat in thernmiddle of the afternoon; and one that had kits at that? I'd have hadrnjust as bad a shock as you got, Lub, if it was me in the lead. No needrnof feeling ashamed; the sight of that thing was enough to give anyrnhunter a bad scare, especially if he had no gun along."rnrnThis sort of consolation served to make poor Lub better satisfied;rnthough doubtless he would continue to feel unusually nervous for somernlittle time. If a chipmunk stirred in the trash under a dead tree Lubrnwas apt to draw a long breath, and involuntarily shrink back behind onernof his companions.rnrn"Guess we'd better make a detour around that bunch of scrub, eh, Phil?"rnremarked Ethan, sagely.rnrn"Well, it would be a wise thing to do," chuckled the other; "becausernjust now we haven't lost any bobcat that we know about. The trail seemsrnto be heading pretty straight right here; and chances are we'll havernlittle trouble running across the same some little ways on."rnrnBoth he and Ethan took a good survey of their surroundings, butrnevidently the wildcat was still hiding amidst that scrub, for they sawrnnothing of her again while making the half circuit.rnrn"Now keep your eyes peeled for the trail again, Ethan," advised Phil,rnwhen they were well around on the other side of the danger spot.rnrnLub managed to push along until he could find himself in the midst ofrnthe bunch. He cast numerous side glances in the direction of thatrndisputed ground, as though half anticipating seeing a whole army ofrnferocious bobcats come leaping forth, all with blazing yellow eyes andrnstubby tails.rnrnNothing of the kind happened, however, and presently Ethan was heardrncalling:rnrn"Here's your old trail, Phil, as plain as print. And d'ye know, there'srnonly one thing I'm sorry about, which is that you didn't think to snaprnoff a picture with our chum on his hands and knees backing off, and therncat on the log."rnrn"Well, I'm glad myself there wasn't any chance to keep that accidentalrntumble of mine as a perpetual joke," said Lub, indignantly.rnrn"Nothing to be ashamed about at all, Lub," remarked X-Ray; "and I reckonrnnow if it had been Ethan himself who stumbled when he caught his foot inrna vine, and then found himself face to face with a mad cat he'd havernbeen near paralyzed too."rnrnThis seemed to mollify Lub somewhat, though he hardly liked thatrnreference to his having been paralyzed very much.rnrnThey pushed on resolutely and the minutes passed. Phil on hearing Lubrnpuffing and seeing that X-Ray lagged a little, cheered both of them uprnby declaring that the time was now short.rnrn"It wouldn't surprise me a whit," he said, cheerily, "to get a glimpsernof the lake any time now, through the trees. Unless all my calculationsrnare faulty we must be on my land right now."rnrn"That sounds good to me, Phil," asserted X-Ray, joyously, as he took arnfresh spurt, and no longer limped as though he had a stone bruise on hisrnheel.rnrnEven Lub grinned until his red face looked like a newly risen sun.rnrn"We'll all be mighty glad to get there, believe me!" he declared; "andrnthink of the jolly time we'll have preparing our first supper in thernwoods. This big aluminum frying pan of Phil's has kept digging me in thernribs right along, until I'm afraid there's a black and blue spot there;rnbut I mean to take my revenge good and plenty when we fill it full ofrnonions and potatoes and such fine things. Take another squint ahead,rnPhil, and see if you can't give us real good news."rnrn"Well, just as sure as anything I see what looks like water!" called outrnPhil, with an eager tremor in his voice.rnrn"Whereabouts, Phil? Oh! I hope now, you're not joshing us?" Lubrndemanded.rnrn"Stop just where you are, everybody," the pilot of the expedition toldrnthem, "and watch where I'm pointing. If you follow my finger you can seernif I've made a mistake or not. How about it, X-Ray? You've got the bestrneyes of the crowd, I guess."rnrn"It's water, all right, Phil," replied the other, glad that he could bernaccounted as best in something.rnrn"And that means Lake Surprise, doesn't it?" questioned Ethan Allan.rnrn"Yes, because it's the only body of water for miles around here," Philrncontinued. "That's one reason they let it alone so much. Other lakes liernin bunches, and a canoe can be taken over a carry from one to another inrnthe chain; but Surprise is an awful lonely sheet of water."rnrn"And that's how it must have got its name," added Ethan. "All the whilernnobody dreamed there was any such lake up here; and then all at once arnwandering guide must have run headlong on the same, to his surprise."rnrn"Wish we were there on the bank right now," grunted Lub.rnrn"Another mile, perhaps half of that, ought to take us to the water," hernwas assured by Phil; "and you see we are coming in from the west, whichrnis all right, too, because my land lies on the western shore; and thatrncabin must be somewhere just ahead of us."rnrn"Hurrah!" shouted Ethan, unable to keep from giving expression to hisrndelight any longer.rnrnThe others felt pretty much the same way, and joined in a series ofrnjoyous whoops.rnrn"Now, everybody put his best foot forward, and we'll soon be there,"rnurged Phil; "the worst is behind us, you know."rnrn"That's a heap better than having it yet to come!" declared X-Ray,rnfeeling that with the goal in sight he should be able to hold out.rnrnThey plodded along for some eight minutes or more, frequently catchingrnglimpses of the lake beyond, and knowing that they were rapidlyrnapproaching its border. All at once X-Ray gave a cry.rnrn"Tell me, what is that I can see over there, Phil; looks for all thernworld like a shack made of silver birches! See how the sun shines on itsrnside, will you? Is that your cabin, do you think, Phil?"rnrn"Just what it must be, X-Ray," the other told him; "they've nailed birchrnbark all over the sides of the log hut, you see, just to make it lookrnrustic."rnrn"Then we'll have to call it Birch Bark Lodge!" burst out Lub, who had arnlittle vein of the romantic in his disposition.rnrn"That sounds good to me!" declared Ethan.rnrn"It goes, then, does it?" asked the delighted Lub, beginning to believernhe must be waking up, to have any suggestion of his so quickly andrnfavorably seized upon.rnrn"Sure thing," said X-Ray Tyson. "Hurrah for Birch Bark Lodge, the homernin the wilderness of the Mountain Boys."rnrn"Don't be too quick to settle that sort of thing," advised the morerncautious Phil. "For all we know there may be somebody ahead of us in thernshack; and you know we couldn't well chase 'em out."rnrn"But see here, Phil, if the cabin stands on your ground of course it'srnyour property by right of law, no matter whoever built the shack in thernstart. He was only a squatter at the best," and Lub looked wise when hernlaid down this principle in common law which is often so exceedinglyrndifficult to practice in the backwoods, where right of possession isrnnine points of the law.rnrn"Yes," Phil told him, "but there's always a rule in the woods thatrngoverns cases like this, no matter who owns the land. First come, firstrnserved. If we find that shack occupied by some sportsmen and theirrnguides, why, we'll have to chase along and put up one for ourselvesrnsomewhere else."rnrn"Huh! I don't like to hear you say that," remarked Lub, who wouldrnpossibly have liked to enter into a discussion along the line of rightrnof property, only none of the others cared to bother with such arnquestion, particularly after what Phil had said.rnrnThey pushed on and approached the cabin. One and all were lookingrneagerly to discover any signs of occupancy, and greatly to theirrnsatisfaction no dog came barking toward them, nor was there even arnsmudge of smoke oozing out of the mud-and-slab chimney that had beenrnbuilt up alongside the back of the shack.rnrn"I guess it's all hunk," admitted Ethan, with a sigh of relief, as theyrndrew near the partly open door. "See that gray squirrel running alongrnthe roof, would you? He wouldn't be doing that same if folks werernaround."rnrn"Oh! that depends on what kind of folks," remarked Phil. "For my part Irnnever yet would shoot little animals around camp. I like to see themrnfrisking about too much to want to eat them up. But as you say, it looksrnas if we had the cabin to ourselves, after all, for which I'm glad."rnrn"Tell me about that, will you?" muttered Lub, also showing positivernsigns of satisfaction.rnrnAll of them pushed into the cabin.rnrn"Why, this is _just_ the thing!" cried Ethan Allan; "see the bunks alongrnone side of the wall, boys,--two, three, four of them, if you please."rnrn"Just one apiece for us, and I choose this because it looks more roomy,rnand better fitted for a fellow of my heft than any of the rest!" Lub wasrnheard to say.rnrnThey immediately began to unfasten the straps that held their packs inrnplace.rnrn"Hey! what're you doing, starting a fire already, Phil?" called outrnEthan, noticing that the other was bending over the hearth.rnrnFor answer Phil beckoned to the others to approach closer.rnrn"There's something queer happened," he told them, with a frown on hisrnface; "just bend down here, Ethan, and put your hand in these ashes,rnwill you?"rnrn"Why!" exclaimed Ethan, immediately, "they're warm right now, would yournbelieve it?"