WHY THE GIBSON BOYS HID OUT 



353 



markable manoeuvre and was greeted 

 with another shot, which missed en- 

 tirely. 



"Six!" shouted the man on the stairs, 

 as he bounded up to the second floor, 

 and immediately there was tumult in 

 the house. There was the sound of 

 blows mingled with growls and curses, 

 and Gibson grinned and shouted cheer- 

 ily: "Jim's got ye now, Dick!" while 

 Bud sneered : "Dick's a bum shot, as I 

 allers 'lowed he was." 



Presently the disturbance subsided, 

 and Dick and Jim came down stairs, 

 the former wiping blood off his face and 

 looking considerably mussed up. 



"You all found out which on ye owns 

 that hound pup?" growled Gibson. 



"It's Jim's dawg all right," mumbled 

 the subdued Dick. 



"Then don't ye have no more argify- 

 in' over it. If ye are goin' down to the 

 drink to wash up, Dick, ye'd better take 

 the stranger's horse and water him." 



The incident was treated as closed 

 by all hands, and the only explanation 

 Gibson deemed necessary was the aside 

 remark : "Boys will git peevish, ye 

 know." 



Some six weeks after my first ac- 

 quaintance with the interesting Gibson 

 family, the three boys turned up at 

 my camp in the mountains, hungry and 

 dishevelled, and made themselves at 

 home for the night in the matter-of- 

 course fashion of woods rovers every- 

 where. And of course they were wel- 

 come to whatever they needed. 



After supper, Bud, with a very poor 

 assumption of indifference, asked if I 

 had seen or heard anything of the old 

 man in that region, and all three were 

 evidently relieved when I assured them 

 that Mr. Gibson was not in that part of 

 the mountains. There was a long si- 

 lence, which I refrained from breaking 

 with the questions that naturally came 

 to my mind. I guessed that the boys 

 would explain in time and would talk 

 when they were ready. 



Presently Dick announced, without 

 any preliminary: "We're hiding out," 

 and relapsed again into silence. 



In view of the prevalent belief that 

 the Gibsons couldn't tell the difference 

 between a branded yearling and a buck 

 deer, when they were hunting for the 

 market, it might have been indelicate 

 to ask why they were hiding out or 

 who was looking for them. If the 

 Sheriff was after them, I preferred to 

 know as little of their affairs as they 

 might volunteer to tell, or even less, 

 and I did nothing to encourage confi- 

 dences. 



But soon Bud began to chuckle, and 

 something like a grin appeared on the 

 freckled face of Jim. "It was sure 

 funny, anyhow," said Bud, and then 

 the story came out over pipes. All 

 three joined in the telling, and it was 

 a loose- jointed, jerky tale, impossible 

 to reproduce as it was told. 



A week before they turned up at my 

 camp, the Gibsons came into the moun- 

 tains on their customary fall hunt for 

 deer and bears, bringing their hounds 

 along. They killed a small bear the 

 first day and found the tracks of a large 

 one, and that night in camp they 

 planned the next day's hunt for the big 

 bear. 



Two of the hounds were inexpe- 

 rienced puppies, old enough to help in 

 a bear fight but uneducated in the game, 

 and Gibson was concerned for their 

 safety in a mix-up with a full-grown 

 grizzly. Some dogs have a natural 

 aptitude for taking care of themselves 

 and keeping out of reach of a bear's 

 paws, but green hounds, if they have 

 courage, are likely to fly at a bear's 

 throat or ears, which is the very worst 

 strategy or tactics conceivable. 



Old man Gibson therefore announced 

 his intention to give the pups a rudi- 

 mentary lesson in bear-fighting before 

 setting them on the trail of the grizzly, 

 and gave minute directions to the boys, 

 who were to assist him. 



"I'll sneak off into the brush," he 

 said, "and put on this fresh bear pelt, 

 and when I come growling around 

 camp you boys turn loose the pups and 

 sic 'em on to me. Tie up the old dogs 

 tight and keep 'em out of the game. 



