jack gedney walked down the slight descent, and stepping upon the fallen tree, moved to the other bank. as he came up again to the general level, he still looked around for some game, but nothing met his eye.
"there's one thing certain," he added: "i'm not going any farther without shooting off this gun."
a hundred yards ahead he saw the whitish trunk of a spreading beech which grew near the path. a patch of the bark about as big as his hand was stained a darker colour than the rest, as though some object had rubbed against and soiled it. the target was a good one, and he took a quick aim and fired.
"that makes three times that i have tried her," he said, with a glow of pleasure, as he examined the tree and saw the bullet embedded in the centre of the spot, "and she hit the eye every time."
he now walked at a more rapid pace than before, and it was not long before he reached the log cabin of the burton family. the two or three acres of natural and artificial clearing had been well cultivated, and mr. burton and his two boys were busy gathering corn and the produce that yet were left out of doors. mrs. burton and ruth were busy within.
as soon as jack appeared, mr. burton and his boys gathered around him to examine and praise the present, which, it may be said, they saw the moment the owner came in sight.
"to-morrow," said mr. burton, "you must come over and go with the boys on a hunt: that will be the best test for your gun."
"i had hopes that will and george could go with me to-day," remarked jack, reading aright the wistful looks of his friends.
"no," was the kind but decisive reply of the father; "there is enough work to keep them busy until dark."
the boys knew better than to plead with their father after he had once given his decision, so, like the manly fellow that he was, jack leaned his rifle against a tree, and fell to work with the boys to help in the task.
the work was finished just as the sun was setting, and jack, declining to stay to supper, once more slung his gun over his shoulder and set out for home, promising his young friends that he would be ready at daylight the next morning to join them in a big hunt.
"it's a pity i didn't get a chance to use her to-day," thought jack, as he turned his face homeward, little dreaming how soon he would be forced to call upon the weapon to help him out of a peril that threatened his very life.
it was the season of the year when the days were quite short, and jack knew that the night would be fully come before he could reach his home. he cared nothing, however, for that. he had gone over the trail (or path) many a time when the hour was much later, and it may be said that he knew it so well that he could have walked the entire length with his eyes shut.
the youth had advanced only a little way when he noticed that the darkness had closed in, and, though the moon was shining above the thick branches, the gloom was so deep in most portions of the forest that he could see only a short distance along the path, even when it took a straight course: which was not often the case.
you must not think that our young friend had any such emotion as fear. most boys who have spent their lives in the city would shrink from such a journey after nightfall, for it was a fact that jack gedney was walking through a stretch of woods in which not only wild animals abounded, but through which the fierce red men hunted, and he was liable to meet both the former and the latter; but he had no more hesitation than he would have felt in climbing from the lower floor of his cabin home to the loft where he slept every night.
you must not forget, too, that he carried his new rifle, and that made him feel secure.
a youngster in the situation of jack may do a good deal of thinking as he walks briskly along, but, if he has been rightly trained he always keeps his wits about him. so it was that his eyes and ears were always open. he stepped as lightly as an indian, peering as far ahead as he could in the gloom, glancing from side to side and behind him, and now and then halting for a moment to catch any sound that might fall on his ear.
in this manner he had gone a third of the distance when he became sure that something was following him. he stopped several times and looked back, but could see nothing. his quick ear, however, had caught the soft footfall in the trail, which left no doubt that either a man or an animal was dogging his footsteps.
it is hard to think of a more trying situation than that of jack gedney, for, aware as he was that some danger threatened, he did not know its nature.
his first belief was that it was an indian who was trying to steal upon him. the stealth which marked its movements led him to think so, for few would have been as quick as the lad to learn its presence.
but, whatever it might be, the young hunter determined that it should not find him unprepared. he brought his gun around in front, where he could grasp it with both hands, softly raised the hammer, and then stood for a full minute as rigid as the trunk of one of the trees beside him. his head was turned sideways, so that he could look in both directions. he neither saw nor heard anything.
then he ran lightly and rapidly for full a hundred feet, stopping short again, and using his eyes and ears to the utmost. this time he not only heard, but saw something.
the same soft "pit-a-pat" struck his ear, but to his amazement it came from a point in front. while he was looking he caught the shadowy glimpse of some animal as it whisked over a part of the trail where a few rays of moonlight struck its body.
it was as large as a big dog, with a longer body and a sweeping tail. it was trotting not towards, but away from jack, who decided at once that it was the wild beast known in the american forests as a panther, but called on the frontier a "painter."
there could be no doubt that he meant to make a supper off the young kentuckian, for there are not many meals more tempting to such a creature than a plump boy about a dozen years old.
"if you capture me you've got to have a fight," muttered sturdy jack gedney, pressing his lips together and shaking his head; "but i wish the sun was shining, so that i could have a fair chance at you."
the panther was circling around the lad, gradually drawing nearer, and on the watch to leap upon him as soon as he dared to approach close enough to make the spring. the boy knew all about the treacherous animals, for he had been with his father when they were killed, and he had shot one within the preceding three months. but on all those occasions they had the daylight to help make their aim certain.
"he may get pretty close to me before i know it," thought jack, "though he will have hard work to do it; but i don't think he can land on my shoulders at the first jump."
the boy now walked as lightly and as fast as he could. he varied his gait, for if he advanced at a regular pace the panther would have less trouble in securing his intended victim. jack therefore advanced slowly, then stopped, and then ran with all the speed he could for fifty or sixty steps.
when he paused the third time after such a spurt, he had reached the log lying across the stream in the little hollow of which i have already spoken. here the trees were so scant that the whole space was lit up by the moonlight, and a small object could be seen quite clearly.
you may be sure that before stepping upon the rude bridge jack peered long and earnestly in every direction. the tall columns of trees rose to view on each side of the stream, whose soft murmur mingled with the deep moaning of the woods, which comes to us in the night like the hollow roar of the distant ocean.
"well, i don't mean to wait here all night," concluded jack, stepping on the smaller end of the trunk, and beginning to pick his way to the other side; "i am ready to meet the painter whenever he wants to see me, but----"
the boy had advanced only three steps when the beast trotted rapidly from the gloom on the other shore, sprang upon the trunk of the tree which supported jack gedney, and lashing his tail and growling savagely, came straight towards him.
the panther did not trot after landing on the trunk, but crouched low, and moved slowly like a cat when about to spring on its prey.
instead of retreating, as jack was inclined at first to do, in order to get a more secure footing, he brought his gun to his shoulder, and aiming at a point midway between the glaring eye-balls, let fly at the instant the panther gathered his muscles for the leap meant to land him on the shoulders of the lad.
as it was, the beast did leave the log, but instead of bounding forward, he went straight up in the air, to a height as it seemed of six or eight feet, with a resounding screech, falling across the trunk, from which, after scratching, and clawing, and snarling for a few seconds, he rolled with a splash into the water, still struggling furiously, and scattering the spray upon both shores.
"i don't think you'll try to stop any more peaceable kentucky boys on their way home at night----"
the lad had no more than spoken these words when a warning growl caused him to turn his head. there, no more than a dozen feet distant, and stealthily approaching, was a second panther--no doubt the mate of the first. and poor jack gedney's new rifle was empty!
