the five chums continued on their way around the edge of the forest. all were in a sober frame of mind, for each realized that, for all they knew, they might be hopelessly lost on the mountainside. presently the sharp decline came to an end, and then all of them leaped once more into the saddle.
“look!” exclaimed dave presently. “am i right? is that a light ahead?”
all gazed in the direction he indicated, and presently made out a small light which was swinging to and fro as it seemed to draw closer.
“i believe that’s some one with a hand lantern!” cried roger. “maybe it’s a man on horseback with a lantern to light his way.”
the five chums noted in what direction the light was headed, and then turned the horses toward the same point. soon they came so close that they could call to the other party, and they set up a shout.
“hello, porter! hello, morr! is that 163you?” came an answering hail. and then the light seemed to come to a halt.
“it must be one of the fellows from our camp!” exclaimed dave. “and if that is so, we can’t be very far from one of the regular trails.”
he urged his steed forward with the others following, and soon they came face to face with a man named dan morrison, who had charge of one of the section gangs at the camp. to this individual our friends explained the situation, and received the information that they were on a side trail which, half a mile farther on, ran into the regular trail leading to the construction camp.
“this trail is one of several that leads to the railroad station,” explained dan morrison. “it’s something of a short cut, but it isn’t quite as good as any of the others. but i’m used to it, so i don’t mind it, even in the darkness. i carry the lantern more for company than for anything else.”
mr. morrison was much surprised to hear about the shooting of the two bears, but the youths did not wait to go into details, being anxious to get back to the construction camp, where they hoped a good hot supper would be awaiting them.
“and if they haven’t got anything cooked for us, we’ll make jeff broil some of these bear steaks,” announced dave.
“they’ll certainly be something in the way of a 164novelty,” said phil. “although, as a matter of fact, i never yet ate a bear steak that could compare to a beefsteak. the meat is usually coarser and tougher.”
it was not long after this when they discerned the welcome lights of the construction camp in the distance. then they set off on something of a race, and rode into camp in great style.
“well, lads, what kind of a day did you have?” questioned frank andrews, as he came out to greet them.
“fine!”
“the best ever! we shot two bears.”
“shot two bears!” repeated frank andrews incredulously. “you can’t string me that way. why don’t you say you brought down half a dozen elephants while you’re at it?”
“we certainly did bring down two bears,” announced roger with pardonable pride. “and one of them might have killed me if it hadn’t been for dave.”
“what’s this i hear about shooting two bears?” demanded another voice, and mr. obray stepped into view from the semi-darkness.
“it’s true, mr. obray,” answered dave. “just wait, and we’ll show you the skins and the heads. we cut them both off to bring along. and we’ve got some fine bear steaks in our saddle-bags too.”
165“and anybody who wants to, can go back and get the rest of the carcasses,” added roger. “we hung them up in a tree to protect them.”
“it doesn’t seem possible!” exclaimed the construction camp manager. “one bear would be something worth talking about. but two! are you sure you’re not fooling?”
“it’s the plain truth,” answered phil.
“but i never want to go out to shoot any more bears,” vouchsafed shadow. “one bear hunt in a lifetime is enough for me.”
the news soon spread throughout the construction camp that two bears had been killed, and it was not long before every man in the place came up to view what the hunting party had brought in. old john hixon seemed to be particularly interested.
“pretty big critters—both of ’em,” was his comment. “of course, i’ve seen ’em bigger, but these fellows were large enough for anybody to wrassle with.”
of course the youths had to tell their story in detail—not only about the fight with the two bears, but also how shadow had fallen into the opening on the mountain summit and had been rescued.
“you’ve certainly had a strenuous day of it,” was ralph obray’s comment. “i’m glad to know that all of you got back in safety. after this i 166guess i had better keep my eyes on you,” and he smiled faintly.
“i hope we are in time for supper, jeff!” cried roger to the cook. “i’m altogether too hungry to miss that.”
“you all ain’t goin’ to miss nothin’,” answered the cook, with a good-natured showing of his ivories. “come right down to the dinin’-room and git all you wants. if you wants me to broil some of dem dar bear steaks, i’ll do it fo’ you.”
“well, i’m mighty glad we’re not going to miss anything in the way of supper,” remarked ben.
“oh, say, speaking about missing something puts me in mind of a story!” burst out shadow eagerly, as the chums made their way toward the dining-room of the camp. “once there was a miserly old man who was inveigled into buying a ticket for a charity concert. he found it impossible to get there on time, and so found the concert in full blast when he arrived. ‘say, what are they playing?’ he asked of an usher as he came in. ‘why, they just started the twelfth symphony,’ was the reply. ‘you don’t say!’ groaned the miserly old man. ‘it’s too bad i’ve missed so much of the concert, after paying for that ticket!’”
it might go without saying that all of the youths enjoyed the repast which jeff and his assistant provided. at first they thought to have some of the 167bear steaks; but then concluded to leave those until the morning, when every man in the camp who cared to do so might have his share of the meat.
on the following morning all of the visitors, as well as roger, were so tired that they decided to remain in camp and take it easy. dave, however, after consulting with mr. obray, took two of the men with him and went back to where the carcasses of the bears had been left, and brought the meat back to camp. here the steaks and the other portions fit to cook were enjoyed by all, and served to put dave and his chums on better terms than ever with the others.
phil, ben, and shadow remained at the construction camp two days longer, and during that time the chums went fishing, as well as riding, and enjoyed every moment of the time. ben was particularly pleased, and in private confided to dave and roger that had he not promised to go on to star ranch with phil he would willingly have put in the rest of his vacation with them.
“oh, you’ll like it at star ranch just as well as you like it here,” announced dave. “it’s a splendid place, and the endicotts will be sure to give you the time of your life.”
the days passed all too quickly for all of the young men. even shadow complained of the shortness of the time, he stating that he had not 168had an opportunity to tell one half of his best stories.
“never mind, shadow, you’ll have to come back some day and tell us the rest of them,” said roger consolingly.
at last came the hour when the visitors had to depart, and dave and roger saw them off at the railroad station.
“give our best regards to the endicotts!” cried dave, when the long train rolled into the station and phil and the others climbed on board.
“and don’t forget to remember us to sid todd!” added roger, mentioning the foreman of star ranch, a man who had proved to be a good friend.
“don’t go after any more bears!” sang out ben.
“oh, say, that puts me in mind of a story!” cried shadow. “once three men went out to hunt, and——” but what the story was about, dave and roger never heard, for the vestibule door to the car was closed, and in a moment more the long train rumbled on its way.
“a nice bunch, all right,” was roger’s comment, as he and dave turned their horses back in the direction of the camp.
“no better fellows anywhere, roger. i’ll tell you, when we went to oak hall we made some friends that are worth while.”
169“right you are!” the senator’s son drew a deep breath. “well, now that they have gone, i suppose we have got to pitch into work again.”
“sure thing, roger! it doesn’t do to be idle too long.”
“oh, i’m not complaining, dave. i love my work too much.”
“that’s exactly the way i feel about it. the more i see of civil engineering, the deeper it grips me. i’m hoping some day we’ll be able to get together and put over some piece of work that is really worth while,” answered dave earnestly.
two weeks slipped by without anything unusual happening. their brief vacation at an end, dave and roger plunged into their work with vigor, just to show mr. obray and frank andrews that they appreciated all that had been done for them. during that time the weather was far from fair, and the young civil engineers were more than once drenched to the skin while at work on the mountainside. then the numerous storms brought on a small landslide, and some of the results of what had been accomplished were swept away.
“that’s too bad!” cried dave.
“oh, it’s all in the day’s work, porter,” answered frank andrews philosophically. “mr. obray is mighty thankful that none of our men was caught in that landslide.”
two days after this the storms cleared away, 170and the sky became as bright as ever. as soon as things had dried out a little, the engineering gangs went forth once more, and dave and roger became as busy as ever. they worked their full number of hours, as did the others, and in addition spent one or two hours every evening over their textbooks. frank andrews continued to aid them, and often explained matters which puzzled them.
the two youths had received letters from home on the day after their former oak hall chums had left. but since that time no other communications had arrived.
“it’s queer we don’t get some more letters,” grumbled the senator’s son one day.
“were you looking for a letter from your folks?” questioned dave slyly.
“you know well enough what i was looking for,” answered roger, his face growing a bit red. “you didn’t get any letter from jessie, did you?”
“not since the day you got one from laura, and the day that one came from your mother.”
“what do you make of it, dave? they must have gotten our letters.”
“maybe not, roger. just the same, i think the girls would have written even if they didn’t get our letters.”
“do you suppose anything has gone wrong?”
171“i don’t know what to suppose.”
“maybe we ought to send a telegram,” suggested the senator’s son, after a pause.
“oh, there’s no use of scaring them with a telegram, roger. let us wait a few days longer. we may get some letters to-morrow.”
but the morrow passed, and so did several more days, including sunday, and still no letters were received from crumville. roger got a letter from his folks in washington, and dave received a brief communication from phil, stating that he and the others had arrived safely at star ranch. but all of these did not satisfy the young civil engineers.
“something must be wrong somewhere,” announced dave at last. “i guess after all, roger, we had better send a telegram to crumville and find out what it means.”
