David ran across the garden to join the
brothers, and found that they were all ready to start on the hunt
they had planned the day before. A well-filled basket, which David
knew contained a substantial lunch, stood on the wharf, and near it
lay the General's heavy double-barrel gun, which Bert had borrowed
for the occasion, knowing that it would throw buck-shot with more
force than his light bird gun. Bert was unfastening the canoe, and
Don stood close by, with his trusty rifle in one hand and an axe in
the other. Two other axes lay near the lunch basket, and a couple of
Don's best hounds stood as close to the edge of the wharf as they
could get, wagging their tails vigorously and whining with
impatience.
These hounds were large and powerful animals, and their courage
had been tested in more than one desperate bear fight. If they had
been with their master when he visited the island the day before,
something disagreeable might have happened. Godfrey Evans could not
have driven them away by imitating the growl of a wild animal. They
welcomed the newcomer with their bugle-like notes, and were answered
by a chorus of angry yelps from the rest of the pack, which had been
shut up in the barn and were to be left behind.
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