they trudged slowly on again until they thought they must be close to the farther end of the island, when they found progress interrupted by a low headland of rocks partly covered by the brush of a fallen tree-top. in trying to get past it they became entangled in the branches, and tug said he "'lowed they'd have to light the lantern."
with great care, therefore—for matches were precious—this was done, and its rays at once showed them that they were not the first persons who had been there that night. branches were freshly broken, and the snow was trampled. they set up a combined shout (and bark) as soon as this was perceived, but nothing came back except the dull echo of their voices and the rustle of the sleet and snow among the leafless and dripping branches.
"well," said tug, when he realized this, "our cue is to follow the tracks anyhow."
crushing through the branches, they saw that the tracks, which had approached from the other side of the rocks and brush, led them to the trunk of the tree, and that then aleck (if, indeed, it were he who had made them) had walked along the trunk towards its roots. of course they followed, tug going ahead with the lantern; but when they arrived at the great base of upturned roots they could not see where aleck had leaped off, or that he had leaped off at all. on one side the snow lay smooth and untouched; on the other, close under and around the mass of dead roots, was a little thicket of low bushes and a shoulder of black rock. beyond these the snow had not been disturbed.
this was very mysterious, and chilled their hearts with a nameless fear. they came close together on the high log, and talked almost in whispers. jim held tug's arm with both hands, and trembled so that his teeth chattered, and the tears rolled down his cheeks; while tug himself, old and brave and strong as he was, was so scared (as he often said afterwards) that every creak and moan of the laboring, ice-coated trees seemed a frightful voice, and all the flitting lights and shadows cast by their lantern among the dark trunks and swaying hemlock branches took on shapes that it chilled his blood to look at. even rex seemed to catch the panic, and cowered at their feet with bristling hair.
there had been only a moment of this helpless, causeless terror—and no doubt they would quickly have thrown it off—when they were roused by a real danger, which they knew in an instant. all ghosts and goblins, forms and voices, vanished at once, for they heard the wolfish howl of the dreaded dogs.
"only mastiffs or hounds," you may exclaim, "such as we pass on the street every day, and babies play with, rolling over and on them unharmed!"
very true; but these dogs had become savage again by their wild life; and no traveller in his sledge on the steppes of siberia, or postman belated in the black forest at new year, was ever in more danger from wolves than were these two lads from the dogs, if the animals chose to attack them. perhaps they had not yet been quite long enough in the wilderness to have overcome their once well-learned fear of men, and so would hesitate to attack, in open fight, the beings that heretofore had been their masters; but this was all the hope the boys could have.
"the dogs!" cried jim, in a hoarse whisper.
"yes," said tug, through his teeth. "here! give me the lantern, quick: we must have a fire."
the tangle of dead roots was quite dry, and kindled easily when the lantern-candle was held against it, so that it was scarcely a minute before a bright blaze was crackling.
that moment had been enough, however, for the near approach of the dogs, as they knew by the increasing loudness of their cries, to which rex bravely responded; and it was not long before they heard them crashing through the underbrush, and saw their eyes—fiery pairs of dots which reflected the firelight in flashes of green or red—though the forms of the savage animals were hidden in the gloom.
tug had hastily lopped off a young sapling and trimmed it into a long, rough club, which he now held in the fire, in hope that the green wood would get hardened, or perhaps even ablaze. jimmy clutched the hatchet tightly in his right hand, and his open jackknife in his left, while rex bristled and barked. all the goblin fright had vanished, and the boys no longer trembled because sleet and wind made uncanny noises, or the firelight seemed to summon eldritch forms from the aisles of darkness between the hemlocks.
there seemed to be three of the fierce brutes, and they stopped as they came in sight of the fire and the group ready to receive them; but after a short pause the largest dog, with a tremendous bark, rushed forward, the others following savagely at his heels. rex was crouching and ready, so that before either of the boys could seize his collar he had sprung to meet his foes, and had gone down under their combined weight.
it was one of the strangest dog-fights known to history, and had the strangest end. in his broad collar, his long hair, and his greater health the newfoundland had the advantage; but he was one and his foes were three, and they had no chivalrous ideas of fairness or mercy in a fight, but were savages, bent not only upon the death of their victim, but upon tearing him in pieces and devouring him afterwards.
no sooner did tug see rex leap, and perceive the charge upon him, than he shouted "give it to 'em!" and sprang into the snow, punching the nearest brute, bayonet fashion, with the hot tip of his sapling spear, while jim got in at least one good blow with his hatchet. it sank almost to the haft in the neck of one of the youngest dogs, and he dropped dead with scarcely a shudder.
meeting this unexpected resistance, so determined, fiery (tug's sapling bore a little streamer of flame, like the banner on the head of a cossack's lance), and so fatal to one of their number, the two remaining dogs were abashed, and let go of rex, intending to fight with their human assailants. but they had no time to make the change. seeing that he must follow up his advantage, tug charged again, and fairly put the startled brutes to flight by the combined force of his yells and his blazing bayonet, backed by jim and his terrible hatchet.
when the boys saw that the dogs had really run away, they turned to look after their own brave ally, but he was nowhere to be seen, though the blazing stump lit up the whole scene of the battle.
"why, where's rex?" they asked one another, and called and whistled. could he have fled into the forest? impossible. hark! was not that a faint whine?—and another?
"do you think he can be dying, and has hid himself in the brush?" asked jim. "they say wounded animals do do that."
"looks like it," tug admitted. "here, rex!"
a more distinct yelp, as though the dog was in pain, came to their ears, and they began to search in all the shadowy places.
"poke up the fire a bit, jimmy—let's have a little more light."
jim hastened to follow out this suggestion, and in doing so entered the little thicket which i have mentioned between the shoulder of rock and the log. suddenly he pitched almost headlong into a dark hollow. he drew back hastily, but as he did so, parting the bushes, he heard rex's yelping come plainly up, as though from beneath the sod.
"hello! rex has fallen down a hole," he exclaimed. "come here, tug!"
sure enough, there was the mouth of a pit, how deep they could not tell, though they could see the newfoundland's eyes shining at what did not seem so very great a distance.
"why, rex, old fellow, are you hurt?" they called out; and the dog answered by a short bark, which ended in a pitiful whine of pain.
"get the lantern, jim; we must try to see what kind of a place this is; and look out where you step. this is a cave country, as i told you awhile ago. you may fall through 'most anywhere in this darkness."
the lantern was brought, and tied on the end of a pole, with a handkerchief. rex began to utter a series of peculiarly short, sharp barks when he saw the light descending, and they knew he was dancing about by the way his eyes moved.
when about twelve feet of the pole had been lowered the lantern rested, and they knew the bottom had been reached. by its faint glow rex could be seen standing on his legs, apparently not much hurt.
"there's something else down there that rex seems to bother himself about a good deal," reported jim, who was lying down and peering over the edge. "move the lantern this way a little. it looks—oh, tug, it's a man!—it's aleck, and he's dead!"
