the camp-fire was kept burning unremittingly until morning, and the wolverines as unceasingly continued their clamor, so that none of the parties secured a moment's sleep. the boys were signaled several times by shasta to lie down, but they were too unaccustomed to such sights and sounds to permit them to do so with anything like peace; so they used their rifles upon the savage animals until prudence advised them to husband their ammunition until they had better use for it.
tim o'rooney was fully as restless as they. he was in continual dread that some of the treacherous animals would steal up behind him and fasten their teeth so securely in him that they could not be shaken off. this uneasiness caused him ever to be shifting his position, now on one side the fire, now on the other—springing suddenly upward as though he already felt the nip of their fangs.
the pah utah, at this time, displayed a grim humor, so exceptional with his people, as to be almost incredible, except to the boys who were witnesses to it. believing such traits should be encouraged among all aborigines as an antidote for their melancholy dispositions, it gives us great pleasure to record it, and it will afford us far greater enjoyment to testify regarding any other such performances that may come under our notice.
tim was standing with his back toward the fire, and his hands, carelessly crossed behind him. he was intently watching the quarrelsome animals, and all thoughts of attack in the rear had for the time departed. shasta leaned silently forward and lifted a small brand to relight his pipe, which had gone out some time before. as he was passing it back to the embers the red coal just grazed one of tim's fingers, while at the same instant the indian imitated the snarl of the wolverine so exactly that the follow was sure he was seized, and he made the most agile leap of his life.
"murther! murther! pull him off, mr. shasta, catch hold of him!" exclaimed the affrighted irishman, springing wildly on every side of the fire, and striking with blind fierceness at the imaginary brute in his rear.
howard and elwood laughed till the tears rolled down their cheeks. they had seen shasta's trick and they could therefore appreciate it. never a smile lit up the grim face of the pah utah. he continued leisurely smoking, his keen black eyes looking dreamily into the fire, as if lost in some pleasant reverie.
but what of that? who can doubt, that he laughed internally full as heartily as the youngsters? who can tell what surges, and waves, and ripples of laughter went through and through him, until his whole being was absorbed in merriment?
finally tim's terror passed away and he became comparatively quiet.
"worrah! worrah!" he exclaimed, panting from his severe exertions. "what a narra 'scape i had."
"did he really bite you?"
"bite me! didn't ye see him fasten his teeth in me and hang on till i shuk him off?"
"no; i didn't observe him."
"git out wid ye nonsense. but i felt him sure and it was meself that thought once he'd pull me off into the darkness and make me a prey to the beasts there—that i did think, did i."
"no danger," remarked howard, as he and his cousin were unable to restrain their laughter.
"what be ye spalpeens laughing at?" indignantly demanded the irishman.
"but, tim, are you sure you were not mistaken? we saw nothing of the kind," pursued howard.
the fellow looked too full of indignation to speak.
"what is getting into your heads? ye saam to be losing your sinses intirely."
"and i can say i saw none of them touch you."
"then you was blind," was the indignant retort. "ye harrd him sing out at me heels, didn't you?"
"of course, we heard them all the time, as we do now; but the one you imagined so close may have been a dozen feet distant."
"but he bit me!" was the triumphant reply to this.
"where?"
"on the hand."
"let us see the mark!"
the boys arose and walked up to their friend, who bent over the fire, held his hand close to his face, turning it over and over and scrutinizing it with the closest attention. concluding he was mistaken, he exchanged it for its fellow, which was subjected to an equally severe cross-examination. still nothing confirmatory of his words could be found.
the amazed irishman now held up both his hands, turning them over and over and pressing them close to his face.
"do yees saa anything?" he abruptly asked, thrusting them toward the boys.
they went through the form of a search for a scratch or a bite, but declared themselves unable to discover any.
"don't you feel any pain?" asked howard.
"i thought i did," replied tim, with a serious, puzzled look upon his countenance.
"in what part of your body?"
"whisht!"
he motioned to them to maintain silence, while he closed his eyes and waited for some evidence of the pain he had so sharply felt a few minutes before. as he stood thus, he stealthily brought each hand around in front of his face and subjected them to the same examination.
suddenly his eye sparkled, and he held out his left:
"that's the hand!" he exclaimed exultingly.
"let's see?" asked the boys, stepping up to him.
"yees'll find it somewhere there, if yees'll take the throuble to examine it closely."
they did so, but declared themselves unable to find the wound.
tim finally showed a small red spot upon one of the fingers, which he affirmed was where the cruel tooth did bite him.
"that cannot be, for the skin is not broken."
"but it faals as if the same had been bit off."
"it looks more like a burn," added elwood.
tim now turned around and looked at the pah utah. the latter was smoking his pipe, as if unconscious of the presence of any being or animal near him. perhaps they were mistaken, but howard and elwood always affirmed that they detected a twitching at the corners of his mouth, as if he were ready to explode with laughter.
but if it was that, it was nothing more, and it manifested itself in no other manner. tim gazed fixedly at him a moment, and then turning to the boys, asked in a whisper:
"but didn't ye hear it snarrl at meself?"
