_ CHAPTER XXVIII. HUNTING MOUNTAIN LIONS
"Wow! Wow! Wow!" yelled the cowboys, in desperation.
To the noise John added his Indian warwhoop, and again the men began firing revolvers, which had been rapidly reloaded. It was a critical moment. It was the turning point of the stampede. Back, back, back the rushing cattle forced the men, who still kept circling. Now the canyon was but two hundred feet away.
And then, almost as suddenly as it had been started, the stampede was over. The foremost cattle slowed up. They raised their heads, and bellowed. For a few seconds the front line was pushed ahead by those behind. Then all through the herd seemed to go a message that the run was over.
Plowing the dirt up with their feet, as they vainly tried to stop, but could not because of the push that still was exerted behind them, the foremost cattle advanced nearly to the knot of horsemen. But the cowboys did not budge, knowing it was ended now. Then, with loud shouts and waving hats they turned the herd so that it circled around and was started back toward the range.
So close were the rear men to the canyon, when this had been done that they could have tossed a stone down into the depths.
"Narrow squeak, that!" observed Rattlesnake Jim, as he wiped the sweat from his forehead with a big red handkerchief. "'Bout as close as I want 'em," observed Mr. Kent. "I wonder what started 'em off this way."
"Maybe it was mountain lions," said Jim. "I heard there was quite a few around lately, looking for nice juicy young calves."
"It wasn't lions that started 'em this time," said the man who had brought word of the stampede, and who had ridden with the others from the ranch.
"What was it then?" asked Mr. Kent.
"It was done by two men, so some of the boys told me, just before I started out," replied the messenger. "They said they saw a couple of strangers hanging about the range the other night, but didn't think anything of it. We were all in the range house this morning, getting breakfast, when, all of a sudden, the steers started off."
"But what made 'em &o?" asked Mr. Kent.
"Some of the boys saw these strange men starting a fire close to some of the cows," explained the messenger. "The grass was dry, and, in one place it burned quite hard. Some of the steers got scorched before they knew what was happening, and they went off on the dead run. The two men trampled out the fire, and ran away. The boys started after the cattle, and sent me on to tell you."
"This will have to be looked into," murmured Mr. Kent. "But now let's get the cattle back on the range."
It was nearly dusk when this had been accomplished, and it was a tired and weary throng of men and boys that started for the ranch house in the gathering twilight. The horses could only amble along, for the strain had been hard on them as well as on the men.
The next few days the boys spent in going about the ranch, close to the house. They were much in company with Rattlesnake Jim, who took pleasure in telling them things all good cowboys should know. He showed them how to make a lariat, and even instructed them a bit in its use, though John needed but few lessons to become almost as expert as his teacher. Jim told them the best way to camp out on the plains at night, how to make their fires, and warned them to be careful not to set the grass ablaze in dry weather. He also showed them how to tether their horses, the best way of adjusting a saddle, and instructed them in the art of finding their way at night by the stars.
In short the boys learned more in a few days from Jim than they could have picked up alone in a month. They were so enthusiastic that they would have sat up all night listening to their new teacher.
As for riding, the lads improved very much as Jim showed them how to mount, how to sit, how to guide the horse by the mere pressure of the knees, and other tricks of which a "tenderfoot" never dreams.
After supper, one evening, when the boys, Mr. Kent and Rattlesnake Jim were in the sitting room, a common resting place for all on the ranch, Jack asked:
"Are there really mountain lions around here?"
"There used to be," said Mr. Kent, "but I haven't seen any lately."
"I heard some of the boys from the upper range say they heard 'em, a few nights ago," spoke Jim.
"That ought to be looked into," said Mr. Kent. "They're nasty customers to get among a herd."
"Can't we go hunting 'em?" asked Nat.
"What do you know about hunting mountain lions?" asked his uncle. "They'd eat you up."
"Not if we took Jim along," put in Jack.
"I shot a lynx once," said John.
"That's nothing like a mountain lion," Mr. Kent remarked.
"Can't we go?" pleaded Nat.
"I'll see about it," his uncle answered.
He did see about it, with such good effect that, a few days later he called the boys in and showed them three fine rifles.
"Can you shoot?" he asked.
"A little," they replied, wondering what was coming.
"Then take these and see if you and Jim can bag a few lions," Mr, Kent went on. "I hear they got a couple of calves last night. Now-- now--never mind thanking me," as the boys fairly stuttered their expressions of surprise and happiness. "Better see Jim and get ready."
The boys lost no time in doing this. They found Jim almost as pleased as they were. The cowboy at once began preparing a camping outfit, and that night he announced they would start in the morning.
"For how long?" asked Mr. Kent.
"We'll make it four days, if the boys can stand it," Jim replied.
The haunt of the lions was in a range of low foothills to the north of the range from which the herd had stampeded. It was planned to ride to the house where the cowboys in charge of that bunch of cattle lived, and there leave the horses. They would proceed on foot up into the hills, where the trails were so rough that horses were of little use.
They camped that night at the ranch house, and the boys hardly wanted to go to bed when Jim and some of his acquaintances began to swap stories around the fire.
"Better turn in," advised Jim, about ten o'clock. "Have to be up before sunrise, you know."
The next morning they tramped for several miles, the country getting wilder and wilder as they proceeded. The trail was up now, for they had entered the region of the foothills. Beyond them lay the beginning of the Golden Glow mountain range.
"That's where my father is," Jack thought "I hope I can soon find him."
It was almost noon when they reached a spot that Jim decided would be a good place to camp. It was under a sort of overhanging ledge, and well screened by trees.
"We'll leave our stuff here," he said, "and, after dinner, the real hunting will begin."
Little time was lost over the meal, and, having seen to their rifles and knives, the four hunters started along the trail, making their way through low brush and over big boulders. Jack who had forged ahead, with Jim close behind him, was suddenly pulled back by the cowboy's hand,
"Look there!" exclaimed Jim.
In a soft place in the ground, just where he was about to set his foot, Jack saw some peculiar marks.
"The tracks of a mountain lion!" Jim exclaimed in a whisper. "He's been here only a short time ago, for the marks are fresh. Look out, now, boys!"
The three lads needed no other caution. They got ready with their rifles, while Jim advanced a bit to see in which direction the beast had gone.
"Follow me," he said in a whisper as he came back. "He must be just ahead of us, and the wind is blowing from him to us. We ought to get him!"
Stepping as cautiously as possible, and taking care not to tread on loose stones, or sticks, that would break and betray their presence, the four began stalking the lion. That they were coming closer to the beast was evidenced by the increasing plainness of the tracks.
"He's heading for his den," whispered Jim. "We must get him before he reaches it or we'll lose him."
There was a sort of path along which the hunters were traveling, and which seemed to be one regularly used by the lion. It made a sudden turn, to get past a big boulder that jutted out from the side of the hill. As Jim and the boys rounded this, they came to an abrupt halt, and each one gazed with startled eyes at a ledge of rock, just beyond and ahead of them.
There, in full view, with the sun streaming down on him, was an immense mountain lion. He was facing away from the hunters, and this, with the fact that the wind was blowing from him to them, had enabled them to get within a hundred yards.
Slowly Jim leveled his rifle. Then he seemed to think of something, and stopped.
"You boys try, all together," he said in such a faint whisper that it sounded like the breeze. "If you miss I'll bowl him over." _