There was really no sense of him leaving his snug retreat until dawn came, for he could not make his way in the storm-wrecked timber with any hope of success.

Again he poked his way out to take an observation. Perhaps he was wondering if his shot could have killed the bear; but no sign of such met his strained eyesight when the next flash of lightning came.

But while he was thus trying to pierce the gloom around him, he heard a sound that thrilled him through and through--the sound of a human voice calling.

"Help, oh! help!" it came wailing through the night.

CHAPTER XVI

HEAPING COALS OF FIRE ON HIS HEAD

"What's that?" exclaimed Jerry, startled by the cry.

It came again.

"Help! Oh! help, somebody!"

The boy was now convinced that he had not heard the hoot of an owl, and that some one was certainly in need of succor.

He remembered the crash of the trees that had gone down in the tempest.

Could it be possible that the unfortunate one had been caught under one of these falling forest monarchs, and pinned to the ground?

If so, no wonder that he cried at the top of his voice for a.s.sistance.

Unable to escape he must starve to death, or become the prey of wild beasts unless help came.

Jerry immediately crawled out of his hole. He no longer remembered the fact that a bear had recently been sniffing at the entrance to the hollow tree. All he had in mind was that he might be of a.s.sistance to a fellow human being in distress.

It was pitch dark in the woods, though now and then a flash of distant lightning came to momentarily relieve the gloom.

Jerry started in the direction he believed the sounds came from. Now and then he paused to listen, and in this way managed to keep going straight.

"h.e.l.lo! where are you?" he cried, finally, as a dreadful silence fell upon the forest ahead, a silence that made him very anxious indeed.

Immediately a voice called out wildly:

"Oh, here I am, under this fallen tree! Please come and help me! I can't hardly move, and I think my arm is broken. Don't leave me to die!"

"It's all right. Don't worry, for I'm not going to run away. Speak again so I can get to you. It's awful dark under here."

The other took him at his word, and commenced to rattle on, saying all manner of things, simply to direct his rescuer to the spot.

"It's Andy Lasher, as sure as I live," said Jerry to himself, as he recognized the other's voice, despite the agony in it.

So making his way forward he finally came to the tree under which the other was pinioned by some of the branches.

"I can't see you, it's so dark here. Wait!" he said aloud.

"Oh! please don't leave me now; I'll go out of my mind, sure!"

"I don't mean to; but I must have some light. Now, I happen to have the stub of a candle in my pocket, and the wind has died out, so I think it will burn if I stick it down low. I'll get you out somehow, Andy," said Jerry, cheerily.

He struck a match.

"Why, is it you, Jerry?"

"Sure thing. See there, that burns all right, I guess. Now, I'll put it here in the shelter of this stump, while I look into things."

"You won't leave me here, Jerry? You ain't that kind of a feller, I know?"

Andy was evidently alarmed. He could not but remember that there had been bad blood between this lad and himself for a long time. Indeed, some recent events that were not at all to his credit, must have cropped up to make him anxious.

"Not much. Say, you just had the escape of your life, I tell you. This heavy limb almost hit you in falling. If it had, then it would have been one, two three for you. You seem to be held down mostly by small branches," observed Jerry, after he had made a critical examination.

"Do you think you can get me out, Jerry?" asked the other, very humbly.

"Easy. Just you wait, and when I tell you what to do, go ahead."

With that he started operations. By breaking off the smaller branches one at a time, he gradually weakened the network that was binding the prisoner. Every obstacle, however small, that was removed, made things easier. And finally Jerry gave a pull at the imprisoned boy.

Andy let out a howl of pain, but all the same he came free.

"My arm!"

"I'm going to look at that now, right away. If it is broken the sooner you get back to Centerville and see a doctor the better; but, somehow, I've got a notion it's only badly bruised. Here, bend it back, so I can slip it out of the sleeve."

With much misgiving and many exclamations of agony, Andy did as he was told. The other then examined it from one end to the other.

"Talk to me about luck, you've got cause to be mighty thankful, Andy.

There are a lot of bruises here, but no bones broken," declared Jerry.

"Sure you ain't mistaken, Jerry--'cause it's awful sore?" groaned the other, and yet there was a trace of grat.i.tude in his voice.

"Make up your mind it's so. Now, the question is what are we going to do the rest of the night? I was in a hollow tree, but there isn't room for two. Might manage to make a fire somehow, and stand it out. Think you can walk now, Andy?"

Jerry unconsciously thrust a supporting arm around the waist of the other, and steadied his steps as they moved slowly off. In so doing he was heaping coals of fire upon the head of his adversary. Andy grunted now and then as some jolt gave him new pain; but on the whole he was very quiet. Perhaps his mind was busy and his conscience working overtime.

So they reached the hollow stump.

"Here's where I was camped all through the storm, and mighty lucky for you that I lost my way when out hunting. Now wait till I dig out some of that dry wood from the inside. It will make a capital start for a fire."

Jerry set to work with a vim. In five minutes he had a cheery little blaze going, and more wood drying out close beside it. From time to time other fuel was added to the fire until it reached such proportions that it eagerly devoured any sort of stuff they chose to feed it.

"This ain't half bad, because it's getting mighty cold after that storm, and if you happened to be lying drenched through under that tree I reckon you'd be shivering some by now, eh?" laughed Jerry.