THE RANCHERS 



289 



"He's charging," shouted Heldar, 

 snapping down his lever ; and I sprang 

 to my feet with the intention of heading 

 for the bush. 



"Stop him! Stop him!" roared Jack. 



Up went the rifle, flashed, came down 

 again, flashed again, and I gasped when 

 a great shadowy form collapsed a few 

 yards from the grass. Heldar appeared 

 quietly contented, while I felt divided 

 between 'consternation and a great de- 

 sire to laugh. 



"I had no idea that any of your deer 

 would charge man, and the thing- 

 seemed very big," he said. 



"This," said Jack, "is not a deer." 



"Not a deer?" said Heldar, and I 

 could not repress a chuckle. 



"No," said Jack, in a curiously muf- 

 fled voice. "At least I'm horribly 

 afraid it isn't." 



Heldar sprang forward and when we 

 followed him I heard him gasp. There 

 was neither bay nor tine upon this 

 quarry, and the officer stood staring 

 aghast at the huge, quivering form of 

 Appleby's bull. 



"Good Lord!" he said. "The Major 

 will never forgive me." 



"No," said Jack, quietly. "If he 

 hears of it, I don' t think he will. He is 

 an especially obstinate and unforgiving 

 old — as he is a friend of yours we will 

 put it — gentleman." 



Heldar laughed mirthlessly, and I 

 felt sorry for him as remembering 

 what we had seen upon the lake, I no- 

 ticed the grimness of his face. He w T as 

 not a man to show a weakness, 'but it 

 was an honest face, and Miss Appleby 

 had been gracious to us. 



"I'm afraid I can't deny it," he said. 

 "Now, -this affair may be especially un- 

 fortunate for me, and I feel that I can 

 trust you. It will be a very great favor 

 if you can get me out of it." 



Jack touched his shoulder. "It's all 

 our faults, and I was forgetting some- 

 thing," he said. "I think there had bet- 

 ter be a funeral." 



I turned upon my heel. "Then 

 there's not much time to lose, and he'll 

 take a lot of burying," I said. "I'm 



off for the shovel and the grub hoe." 



Jack's voice followed me, though I 

 did not understand him then : "Bring 

 an axe and the biggest cross-cut, too." 



Bringing them was somewhat diffi- 

 cult, especially across the swamp, but 

 it was accomplished and we worked fe- 

 verishly, flinging out the sod and mud 

 while the water drained into the pit we 

 floundered in. Then there arose a dif- 

 ficulty. "I might have brought the 

 oxen, too," I said ; "we can't move him." 



It was then Jack's far-sightedness 

 became apparent. "We might — in 

 pieces," said he. "Get hold of the 

 cross-cut." 



Heldar took one handle of the saw, 

 and I was glad to let him. 



"Nasty, but it must be done !" he 

 said. 



The term he used was a mild one, 

 and I was not pleased when Jack left 

 me to hew the vertebra through while 

 he cut levers in the bush. Heldar was 

 spattered all over, and once or twice ap- 

 peared somewhat sick, but he did not 

 flinch, and I remembered • his quiet, 

 splashed face when I heard afterwards 

 of certain more distinguished exploits 

 of his. At last it was finished, and 

 gasping and panting we rolled the quar- 

 tered carcass into the hole, and would 

 have rested if Heldar, who seized a 

 shovel, had not objected. 



"Let's get it done," he said. "If I'd 

 committed a murder I couldn't feel 

 more anxious to hide the condemned 

 thing." 



We were a trifle anxious ourselves, 

 and w r orked hastily, for Appleby's bull 

 required a good deal of covering, but 

 the task was accomplished and Jack 

 strewed the mound wkh grass. 



"It is fortunately seldom that any- 

 body comes fooling round this swamp," 

 said he. 



The sun had cleared the tall firs and 

 the scented shade was pierced by ar- 

 rows of golden light, when we met 

 Charlie Tomson striding axe in hand 

 along the trail. He stopped and stared 

 at us in bewildered astonishment, and 

 there was some excuse for him. 



