Blubber

“ Toes are scarce among veteran blubber-room men. ”

“ They did it before, you remember, fellows," protested Bluff.
"I hope you don't think of cracking away at human beings the way you did at that big yellow dog, Bluff. Please don't get the habit; it's hard to break."
"Kindly refrain, Frank; or, as Pet would say, 'Aw, come off your perch!' I'm always willing to give any one of those fellows a good scare at any time, but you know I wouldn't want to hurt even Pet himself, unless he forced me," returned Bluff, quickly dropping the gun he had been fondling so affectionately. ”

“ When it’s tanned right, it makes a tough article for footwear. But suppose we did take the hide and horns, how in the dickens would we ever get them to camp?”
“If we could make some sort of sledge now,” Bluff went on to say reflectively, “with our hatchet, no matter how clumsy it was, we could manage to draw home what we wanted.”
“If we left anything behind that was worthwhile, we’d have to hang it up high, I should think, Bluff. You remember that we heard a wolf howling one night, even if we haven’t come across any of them since.” ”

“ Had So Too plunged a two-edged knife into my vitals I could not have felt a more agonizing hurt.
“Bulger? My beloved—Arrested? Witchcraft? Chains; Prison?” I stammered out.
“I have so decreed!” calmly replied So Too. “Oh! no! no! no! I cried, it cannot—it must not be! He is no evil spirit—no evil dwells in him. He is but a simple, loving, intelligent dog! I crave suspension of this terrible decree! What hath he done? O beloved Bulger, is this thy reward for saving fourteen human lives? Is this the way in which thou art to be repaid for all thy courage, thy love, thy devotion? ”

“ If he has just eaten and his body is rounded out like a well-filled balloon, his voice is deep and rumbling; if, on the other hand, he has not taken food for a day or so and his skin hangs in folds and wrinkles on his framework of bones, he speaks with a soft, flute-like tone.
As I stepped to the front, followed by Bulger, and took my place beside the heap of oysters, a deafening outcry went up, in which the deep roars of the inflated Wind Eaters were mingled with the soft flute-like tones of the fasting ones. ”

“ Looking ahead, a night in the Big Woods did not appall him; being fond of adventure, Bluff might even welcome the experience for a change.
Being thrown on their own resources would bring out their ability to take care of themselves. Bluff was vain enough to want to show Frank he could be trusted when off in the timber, and get out of any tangle that might envelop them.
Perhaps when Jerry happened to feel the little package of food thrust into one of his pockets by thoughtful Frank, he no longer had that inclination to laugh. ”

“ Jerry was as eager as ever to examine things. He could not wait until morning came, now that a bear had actually issued forth from the crevice in the rocks.
"There may be another in there," suggested Bluff meaningly.
"All right, then. Something is due to fall to my gun, I guess. Don't you think for a minute that everything is going to come your way. Better save your wind for blowing up your bed a little later. You'll probably need it all," remarked Jerry, who had been sore ever since the preceding night, when his rival had come in just a trifle ahead in the great wind act.
Frank hesitated. ”

“ Oh! it makes me so mad just to think one of that crowd may be handling it," cried Bluff, shaking his fist.
"I just fancy I can hear the squirrels laughing, and the little chippies singing for joy," declared Jerry. "Now they'll have a chance to live. What's hard on you, Bluff, is just happiness to them."
"You always did envy me the possession of that gun, and I know it, in spite of your sneers. You just thought I'd beat you out in making a record. Wait! I'm going to get that crackerjack gun back again, some fine day," remarked Bluff, grimly. ”

“ The trouble was, as a rule, his object proved to be a vindictive one, rather than worthy of praise.
"Oh, I don't pretend to be a hero," said Bluff, as he gave the other boy look for look, "and I'll put you wise to that right here. But when it comes to a pinch, and some mighty mean fellows are trying to play tricks on me and my chums, I can hold my own, all right. This gun may be unlucky about getting out of order too often, but she can scatter the shot, and is all to the good. You want to fight shy of her, Pet, that's all." ”

“ Now, Bluff did not make any pretence at being a skilful sportsman. In fact, until a year or so back he had been the bungler of the party when it came to a knowledge of woodcraft; but since then he had studied up on various subjects, and was now anxious to air his knowledge.
When he caught sight of a large animal with towering antlers, feeding in a little glade, he knew it must, of necessity, be an elk, for a moose was built along different lines entirely.
It might have amused Jerry to see the way in which Bluff crawled closer and closer to the expected quarry. ”

“ Mine do!
’Tis Bulger’s bark and I am saved! Faster and faster the Wind Eaters ply their clubs.
I do not heed them. I do not feel them now, for nearer and nearer comes that joyous music.
’Tis here!
I’m strong again. I rise half up—my lips move—I speak—I cry out: “Quick, good Bulger, or all is lost!” A single glance at the terrible plight of his little master tells him all. With a howl of rage, his dark eyes shooting flame, he throws himself upon the heels of the Wind Eaters. ”

“ The fire was speedily made, and, taking off his clothes, Bluff hugged close to the blaze while Will busied himself in hanging up the wet garments, though he had more or less difficulty in tearing his eyes away from the spot where his camera lay close by.
"Sometimes we get too much fire; then again we want more and more," remarked Bluff, as he kept turning around like a roast on the spit; for as fast as one side felt warm the other grew chilled.
"And I guess that we'd better be beating it back to camp as soon as your duds are decently dry. ”

“ Bulger was the first to catch a glimpse of the shadow on my brow. He turned his dark lustrous eyes full upon me so pleadingly as if to say: “Oh, little master, what aileth thee? May I not do aught to drive the dark melancholy from thy face? Thou knowest how I love thee. Teach me to help thee. My life is thine. Thy grief weighs like lead on my heart. ”

“ Bluff was for dropping his gun and rushing out in the water to the assistance of his imperilled chum. It did his heart credit, this impulsiveness, but just then, no doubt, it was well that he had a comrade near by possessed of a cooler head, or there might soon have been a pair of them in the quicksand.
"Stop! None of that, Bluff!" said Frank, clutching him by the arm.
"But, look! The poor fellow will be drowned if we don't help him mighty fast!" expostulated the rash boy, struggling to break away. ”

“ Their huge limbs, moved like walking oaks. Their arms seemed the sturdy branches ending in hands which, in the dim morning light, took the shape of gnarled and knotted knobs; terrific strength was shadowed forth by their broad and heavy shoulders. One blow from a hand of such sledge hammer weight would lay a frail creature like me helpless in the dust!
Bulger, brave as he was, quailed at the sight. In an instant I collected my thoughts and breathed a last goodbye to the elder baron and to the gentle baroness, my mother, in their far-away home beneath the northern skies. ”

“ Indeed, Bluff even laughed again.
"In that case, they must be feeling pretty stiff by now," he remarked carelessly.
"But I hardly believe the bull would stay this long at his post. The farmer knew that when he told Pet to just keep still and wait. When the beast grew hungry he would be apt to wander away in search of grass, or perhaps go for a drink. Oh, I guess they got down all right," observed Frank.
"All good things come to an end, they say. Those fellows couldn't expect to keep up at the top all the time. But I'd like to have seen it, Jerry," said Bluff. ”

“ Bluff was swinging his blanket vigorously, and thrashing the fire with it effectively; though he might later on have some difficulty in getting rid of the smudges that this process necessarily produced.
"Victory!" shouted Jerry, when the last vestige of the fire had gone under.
Bluff threw his blanket around his shoulders and strutted about with the air of a conqueror.
"They have to get up early in the morning if they expect to beat us," he said, proudly. ”

“ My men, ashamed of their cowardice, crawl from their hiding-places and set to work with a will.
Already they have fastened a line to the end of the twine and it is moving briskly over the rail.
There can be no doubt now.
Bulger has saved us!
Springing into the main-shrouds and shielding my mouth from the gale with my hands, I called out to my men:
“Stand by the hawser! Make fast the line! Now heave, O! Let go all!”
With an angry splash the hawser fell into the sea and was soon on its way shorewards.
And this was the way Bulger saved the life of master, mate and twelve seamen! ”

“ When night came, this living tissue was changed into a robe of sparkling, shimmering glow, mantling the heavens like a garment of burnished gold spangles, upon which a burst of soft light, as if from ten times ten thousand waxen tapers, fell in dazzling effulgence. It was something to see and die for. Bulger’s poor startled mind made him look up, half in dread, half in wonder at this mysterious fire, which enveloped everything in its flame, and yet consumed nothing. ”

“ Quicker than thought I swung myself down from the platform, and, encircling Bulger with my left arm, made my way back again.
The good dog was delighted to be with me again, although he was trembling like an aspen leaf at the distant sound of the winds.
He well knew what was coming.
285But look! The sunlight is gone!
The very air seems affrighted.
A terrifying tremor of the ground beneath us causes the soles of our feet to tingle and prickle.
“Tôô-tôô-lō! Tôô-tôô-lō!”
It was Rōlâ-Bōlâ calling her lover away from the impending death with which the storm-cloud was fraught. ”

“ He answered me with a look of most tender affection, and then we both tripped, staggered, stumbled, fell headlong, side by side, while seemingly ten thousand living boulders, with awful shrieks, groans, and gurgling sounds, hung like a shadow over us for an instant, and all was black as night.
I felt my protuberant brow ground into the earth and the last bit of life crushed out of me.
My last though was:
“Bulger! O, Bulger! What a terrible death! But O, what a kind Providence to let us die together!” ”

“ Hang this old fog! Why did it want to come up on our very first day, and before we had become used to our strange surroundings?"
"Well, we've got to just take things as we meet 'em, as Frank does. You notice that he seldom finds fault with the way things happen; just puts his shoulder to the wheel and lifts it out of the rut," remarked Bluff.
"Yes, I know that; but every fellow doesn't happen to be built just the same way. I wish I could take things as cool as he does; but I never even snap off a picture without feeling more or less excitement quivering my nerves." ”

“ Every fleeting moment became more precious than its predecessor.
Making a superhuman effort, I caught the end of a reel of twine, and, having fastened it to Bulger’s collar, bade him leap into the bubbling, boiling, seething, swirling, madly-rolling waters, storm-lashed, whipped into foam, till billow broke on billow and all seemed but one mingled mass of fury, rage and fright. ”

“ My heart sank within me at sight of that wall of living boulders encircling us, with their fierce visages turned, half in wonder, half in rage, upon the, to them, two funny beings as utterly unlike themselves as each other.
But love is always stronger than fear.
Stretching out my arms and drawing Bulger close to my breast, I cried out:
“O, Bulger! do I really live? Am I not still the object of some demon’s sportive malice?”
At sound of my voice the round-bodied monsters broke out into a hideous chorus of deep, rumbling laughter, during which their bodies rolled from side to side. ”

“ When he had allowed it to gain what headway he deemed sufficient, Bluff began to cover the fire with the green weeds brought for the purpose.
“Wow!” shouted Jerry, as a wavering breeze carried some of the dense smoke over to his station. “That’s the limit! Ought to be a State’s prison offense for any one to make such a smudge as that. You’ll suffocate the poor guys—that’s what!”
But Bluff only grinned, and labored on. He had a long pole in his hands, with which he was shoving the smoldering mass over so that it would pass under a certain part of the cabin. ”

“ Bulger seemed to have gotten over his strange presentiment of evil and romped about the deck with all his old-time love of mirth and jollity. But upon me, however, after our good vessel was a few days out, there came a strange feeling never experienced before.
In my dreams, light and darkness alternately oppressed me; the one more dazzling than the electric flash, the other deeper than earthly night. ”

“ It's hardly fair, that's what. Now I'm as wide-awake as a hawk after that row, and couldn't go to sleep if I tried. The rest of you scuttle back to your blankets and leave me alone," declared Bluff.
"Wake me about three, then," admonished Jerry.
"That's all right. I'll see that you do your little stunt, don't worry. Now skip out. Frank, did you see anything?"
"Nothing except a flare that came and went several times up on the side of the mountain," replied the other, in a low tone, meant only for Bluff's ear.
"A flare? Do you mean by that a waving lantern or a torch?" asked his chum. ”