diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'old/54887-h/54887-h.htm')
| -rw-r--r-- | old/54887-h/54887-h.htm | 11618 |
1 files changed, 0 insertions, 11618 deletions
diff --git a/old/54887-h/54887-h.htm b/old/54887-h/54887-h.htm deleted file mode 100644 index d69d164..0000000 --- a/old/54887-h/54887-h.htm +++ /dev/null @@ -1,11618 +0,0 @@ -<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" - "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> -<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> - <head> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" /> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> - <title> - The Project Gutenberg eBook of Beaufort Chums, by Edwin L. Sabin. - </title> - <style type="text/css"> - -/*headings and blocks*/ -body { - margin-left: 10%; - margin-right: 10%; -} - - h1,h2{ - text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ - clear: both; -} - -h2 {font-weight: normal; - text-align: center; - padding-bottom: 0.7em; - line-height: 1.5em; - font-size: 1.2em; -} - -.htitle {font-weight: bold; - text-align: center; - padding-bottom: 1em; - font-size: 2em; - page-break-after: avoid; -} - -@media handheld { - htitle { padding-bottom: 0.2em; - } -} - -.cont {font-weight: bold; - text-align: center; - padding-top: 2em; - font-size: 1.5em; -} - -.end {text-align: center; - padding-top: 2em; - font-size: 0.8em; -} - -p { - margin-top: .51em; - text-align: justify; - margin-bottom: .49em; -} - -p.cap:first-letter { - float: left; clear: left; - margin: 0 0.1em 0 0; - padding:0; - line-height: 0.7em; font-size: 250%; -} - -div.brace { - float: left; - font-size: 2em; -} - -@media handheld { - div.brace { - float: left; -} -} - -hr { - width: 33%; - margin-top: 2em; - margin-bottom: 2em; - margin-left: auto; - margin-right: auto; - clear: both; -} - -hr.chap {width: 65%} - -@media handheld { - hr { - visibility: hidden; - display: none; -} -} - -.toc { - max-width: 30em; -} - -table { - margin-bottom: 1em; - margin-left: auto; - margin-right: auto; - width: 96%; -} - -.pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ - /* visibility: hidden; */ - position: absolute; - left: 92%; - font-size: smaller; - text-align: right; -} /* page numbers */ - -.linenum { - position: absolute; - top: auto; - left: 4%; -} /* poetry number */ - - -/*variants*/ -.center {text-align: center;} - -.right {text-align: right;} - -.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} - -.upcase {text-transform: uppercase;} - -.small {font-size: 0.7em;} - -.pad {padding-left: 1.2em;} - -abbr { - text-decoration: none; - border-bottom: none; -} - -@media handheld { - abbr { - text-decoration: none; - border-bottom: none; - } -} - -.chapref {text-decoration: none; - color: black; -} - -/* Images */ -.figcenter { - margin: auto; - text-align: center; -} - -.cover { - margin-top: 1.5em; - margin-bottom: 1.5em; - text-align: center; -} - -.caption {page-break-before: avoid; - text-align: center; - text-indent: 0em; - margin-bottom: 1.0em; -} - - -/* Poetry */ -.poetry-container - { - text-align: center; - margin: -1em 0; - } - -.poetry - { - display: inline-block; - text-align: left; - } - -.poetry .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} - -.poetry .verse - { - text-indent: -3em; - padding-left: 3em; - } - -/*title page*/ - -.title1 { - font-size: 2.5em; - text-align: center; - padding-top: 0.5em; - padding-bottom: 0em; - font-weight: normal; -} - -.title2 { - font-size: 1em; - text-align: center; -} - -.title3 { - font-size: 1.5em; - text-align: center; -} - -.title4 { - font-size: 1.2em; - text-align: center; -} - -.title5 { - font-size: 0.8em; - text-align: center; - padding-top: 4em; - padding-bottom: 0em; -} - - -/* Transcriber’s notes */ -.tnote {page-break-before: avoid; - font-size:0.9em; -} - -.transnote {background-color: #E6E6FA; - color: black; - font-size:smaller; - padding:0.5em; - margin-bottom:5em; - } - </style> - </head> -<body> - - -<pre> - -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Beaufort Chums, by Edwin L. (Legrand) Sabin - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license - - -Title: Beaufort Chums - -Author: Edwin L. (Legrand) Sabin - -Illustrator: Charles Copeland - -Release Date: June 11, 2017 [EBook #54887] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BEAUFORT CHUMS *** - - - - -Produced by Mhairi Hindle and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - - - - - - -</pre> - - -<div class = "transnote"> -<h2 class = "tnote">Transcriber's Note</h2> -<p>Illustrations have been moved near to the text they illustrate.</p> - -<p>All variant spellings, including variant hyphenenation, have been retained. -However, obvious printer’s errors have been corrected and punctuation errors have been repaired.</p> -</div> - -<div class = "cover"> -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> -<img src="images/cover.jpg" width="500" height="800" alt="Cover" /> -</div> -</div> -<hr class = "chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i" id="Page_i">[i]</a></span></p> - -<div class = "chapter"> -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<img src="images/i002.jpg" width="400" height="600" alt="" /> -<div class ="caption"><p class = "caption"><span class="smcap">He lined a Course straight for the Boat.</span></p></div> -</div> -</div> -<hr class = "chap" /> - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii" id="Page_ii">[ii]</a></span></p> - -<div class = "chapter"> -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<img src="images/i003.jpg" width="400" height="600" alt="Title Page" /> -</div> -</div> -<hr class = "chap" /> - -<h1 class = "title1">BEAUFORT<br /> -CHUMS</h1> - -<p class= "title2">BY</p> - -<p class="title3">EDWIN L. SABIN</p> - -<p class="title2">ILLUSTRATED BY</p> - -<p class="title4">CHARLES COPELAND</p> - - - - -<p class="title5">NEW YORK</p> -<p class = "title4">THOMAS Y. CROWELL & CO.</p> -<p class = "title2">PUBLISHERS</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p class="title5"><span class="smcap">Copyright, 1905, -By THOMAS Y. CROWELL & COMPANY</span> -</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_iii" id="Page_iii">[iii]</a></span></p> - - -<div class = "chapter"> -<a name = "Contents" id = "Contents"></a> -<h2 class = "cont">Contents</h2> -<table class = "toc" summary="Contents"> -<tr> -<td align="right"><abbr title="1">I.</abbr></td> -<td align="left"><span class="smcap">The June Rise</span></td> -<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_1" title="Go to chapter 1">1</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td align="right"><abbr title="2">II.</abbr></td> -<td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Great Lumber Fire</span></td> -<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_2" title="Go to chapter 2">21</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td align="right"><abbr title="3">III.</abbr></td> -<td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Break-Water Accident</span></td> -<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_3" title="Go to chapter 3">35</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td align="right"><abbr title="4">IV.</abbr></td> -<td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Camp at Deep Creek</span></td> -<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_4" title="Go to chapter 4">49</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td align="right"><abbr title="5">V.</abbr></td> -<td align="left"><span class="smcap">Turtles, Fish, Frogs and Snakes</span></td> -<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_5" title="Go to chapter 5">65</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td align="right"><abbr title="6">VI.</abbr></td> -<td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Ghost of the Indian Mounds</span></td> -<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_6" title="Go to chapter 6">86</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td align="right"><abbr title="7">VII.</abbr></td> -<td align="left"><span class="smcap">The County Fair</span></td> -<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_7" title="Go to chapter 7">106</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td align="right"><abbr title="8">VIII.</abbr></td> -<td align="left"><span class="smcap">Ned the Nimrod</span></td> -<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_8" title="Go to chapter 8">117</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td align="right"><abbr title="9">IX.</abbr></td> -<td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Campaign Parade</span></td> -<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_9" title="Go to chapter 9">136</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td align="right"><abbr title="10">X.</abbr></td> -<td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Trouble at Breede’s Hill</span></td> -<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_10" title="Go to chapter 10">151</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td align="right"><abbr title="11">XI.</abbr></td> -<td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Routing of Big Mike</span></td> -<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_11" title="Go to chapter 11">168</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td align="right"><abbr title="12">XII.</abbr></td> -<td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Long Skate</span></td> -<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_12" title="Go to chapter 12">181</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td align="right"><abbr title="13">XIII.</abbr></td> -<td align="left"><span class="smcap">An Unexpected Bag</span></td> -<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_13" title="Go to chapter 13">202</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td align="right"><abbr title="14">XIV.</abbr></td> -<td align="left"><span class="smcap">Big Mike Again</span></td> -<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_14" title="Go to chapter 14">218</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td align="right"><abbr title="15">XV.</abbr></td> -<td align="left"><span class="smcap">Just About Bob</span></td> -<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_15" title="Go to chapter 15">237</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td align="right"><abbr title="16">XVI.</abbr></td> -<td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Last of Bob</span></td> -<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_16" title="Go to chapter 16">248</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td align="right"><abbr title="17">XVII.</abbr></td> -<td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Raid That Failed</span></td> -<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_17" title="Go to chapter 17">261</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td align="right"><abbr title="18">XVIII.</abbr></td> -<td align="left"><span class="smcap">Changes</span></td> -<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_18" title="Go to chapter 18">274</a></td> -</tr> -</table> -<hr class = "chap" /> -</div> - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[1]</a></span></p> - -<div class = "chapter"> -<p class ="htitle">Beaufort Chums</p> - - -<h2> -<a name = "Chapter_1" id = "Chapter_1"></a> -<a href = "#Contents" class = "chapref" title = "Return to Table of Contents.">CHAPTER <abbr title="1">I</abbr></a><br /> - -<span class = "small">THE JUNE RISE</span></h2> - - -<p class = "cap"><span class = "upcase">"The</span> river is coming up at the rate of an -inch an hour!” announced Mr. Miller, -reading from the evening paper. “At one -o’clock it was eighteen feet, and reports from the -north indicate the highest water ever known on the -Upper Mississippi.”</p> - -<p>“Hurrah!” cheered Ned, who was sitting on the -porch steps, waiting for supper, and had heard -through the open window.</p> - -<p>“Why, Ned!” rebuked his mother. “Think of -all the suffering this means!”</p> - -<p>“Well, anyway, the river’s booming,” ventured -Ned, abashed. “It’s even with the railroad tracks. -I was down looking at it after school.”</p> - -<p>“I’m sorry for the poor people on the flats—the -lowlands must be flooded,” continued Mrs. Miller.</p> - -<p>“But they tie their houses to trees with ropes, -and move into the second stories, and go about on -rafts,” explained Ned, to whom such a plight was not -without fun.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[2]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Still, I fancy that these people don’t find their fix -very amusing, Ned,” commented his father. “Nor is -it humorous to the merchants to have their cellars -swamped and their goods damaged.”</p> - -<p>Ned temporarily subsided—meekly convinced of -the serious phase of a freshet, but nevertheless seeing -sport in prospect.</p> - -<p>“Say, father,” he blurted out, in the midst of supper, -“Hal——”</p> - -<p>“Neddie! How often have I told you not to address -anybody with ‘say’?” interrupted his mother, -severely.</p> - -<p>“Oh!” admitted Ned, guilt in his tones. Rallying -from the setback he resumed:</p> - -<p>“I only wanted to ask if I couldn’t go over on -Eagle Island to-morrow with Hal, in our boat. It’s -all under water, and every one has moved off.”</p> - -<p>“<em>I</em> have no special objection,” answered his father, -“if you’ll promise to be careful.”</p> - -<p>“Neddie, <em>do</em> be careful,” implored his mother. -“You surely will, won’t you?”</p> - -<p>“Of course,” assured Ned. “But, pshaw, there -isn’t any danger. You couldn’t tip over the boat if -you tried!”</p> - -<p>“However, I wouldn’t try, if I were you,” remarked -his father. Then he added, teasingly:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</a></span></p> - -<p>“We’ll let him have this Saturday for his fun, -Helen, and next Saturday he’ll have some wood to -pile! I’ve ordered eleven loads, and it will be hauled -during the week.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, father! Eleven loads!” exclaimed Ned, in -dismay.</p> - -<p>The next day, Saturday, dawned clear and soft, a -typical June morning. Ned turned out early, and -had most of his chores done before breakfast, despite -the fact that a double supply of wood was necessary -for the kitchen stove, in order to last over Sunday.</p> - -<p>When, at eight o’clock, Hal Lucas whistled for -him, in front, he was ready to start. Stuffing his -lunch, wrapped in two packages, into his side coat-pockets, -he rushed through the house, kissing his -mother on his way, and out of the gate.</p> - -<p>“Now, be careful, Ned!” called his mother, after -him.</p> - -<p>“I will,” he shouted. “Good-bye.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Miller stood on the porch, watching the two -boys as they merrily trudged off. Ned had many a -time asserted, with truth, that although he might go -upon the river every day for fifty years, each time -his mother would be worried about him until he -came home again. A mother’s heart is a very anxious -heart.</p> - -<p>Ned and Hal hastened down the street. Ahead -of them they could see the river sparkling under the -rays of the sun. Ordinarily it was not visible from -this distance; but at present, far out of its bed, it was -right on a level with the railroad skirting it.</p> - -<p>“My! She’s on a tear, isn’t she!” said Hal, enthusiastically.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span></p> - -<p>“If ever she gets over the tracks she’ll come -whooping, my father says,” responded Ned. “She’s -higher than the street, now!”</p> - -<p>Without question the river was, to use Hal’s expression, -“on a tear.” People along the Mississippi -expect, as a matter of course, high water in the spring -and early summer. Moderate high water is welcomed. -It enables the logging companies to float -their stranded logs; it washes clean the banks and -the lowlands, carrying away tons of stuff that otherwise -might breed illness; it is one of nature’s -thorough purifiers.</p> - -<p>But here was a “June rise” with a vengeance. -Up in the northern pineries the heavy snows of the -past winter were melting all at once beneath long-continued -rains. Every stream was a torrent, pouring -its swollen tide into the Mississippi. As a -consequence of this hearty diet, the old Father of -Waters had increased his girth enormously. Never -was a prize grunter fattened so rapidly.</p> - -<p>His bulk began to take up more room than was -comfortable for his neighbors. Some persons were -forced to flee for their lives; others were prepared to -leave their homes at a moment’s notice. Whole -towns were in danger of being flooded.</p> - -<p>At Beaufort the sewers were being filled and the -water, creeping through them, flowed out far inland. -Cellars were being invaded; and seeping up, the -crafty flood inundated great tracts of street and yard -in the lower-lying resident portions of the town.</p> - -<p>When, after school on the previous afternoon, Ned<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span> -had gone down to look at the river, there had been -hardly any water inside the tracks at the foot of -Maple Street. But this morning the boys found -quite a pond had gathered during the night. In -places the board walks on either hand were afloat, -and children were running back and forth over them, -shouting with delight as the water spurted up between -the cracks.</p> - -<p>“She’s soaking through,” commented Hal.</p> - -<p>Ned nodded, and saying, “Come on,” deliberately -continued on the route, over the wavy, unsteady -walk. Hal followed. Both boys disdained to hurry -their pace one bit, even to avoid wet feet. They -deemed that a show of dignity was necessary, to impress -the scampering, screaming youngsters who were -spectators.</p> - -<p>With a spring they leaped the open space between -the end of the walk and the railroad embankment. -Their feet sank deep into the mushy cinders as they -scrambled to the top.</p> - -<p>This was four tracks wide, and usually was a good -stone’s throw from the river’s edge. To-day the -water was lapping at the rails. North and south -were scattered gangs of men with shovels, watching -to patch the slightest break. Seemingly the embankment -was all that kept the water from rushing -into the principal streets.</p> - -<p>Ned and Hal stood and gazed in silent wonder at -the scene before them. The river was not that -friendly river to which they were accustomed. It<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span> -was a sullen, menacing monster, without a single familiar -aspect. The water was an opaque, ugly yellow, -and was thickly charged with sediment. Extending -as far as eye could reach it swept past, bearing on -its mighty breast trunks of trees, pieces of lumber, -fragments of buildings, and not infrequently an entire -shed or small house.</p> - -<p>There was no levee, no shore, no anything—save -water. The big Diamond Jo warehouse, with its -basement story completely submerged, was secured -by a hawser encircling it.</p> - -<p>Commodore Jones’ little fish-market and boats-to-hire -establishment, a few rods below, also was anchored -by a rope. The water was within a couple -of inches of its platform; but nevertheless, river -threatening each moment to carry him away, here -sat the commodore, smoking his pipe.</p> - -<p>The boys strolled to a point on the embankment -opposite him.</p> - -<p>“Good-morning, commodore,” they called.</p> - -<p>“Mornin’, young fellers,” responded the commodore. -“Better not come crost them planks,” he -admonished, indicating the narrow bridge which connected -his quarters with the land.</p> - -<p>“We don’t want to,” replied Ned. “How’s the -water? Still rising?”</p> - -<p>“No,” answered the commodore. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span>“She ain’t -raised any since midnight. I look for her to begin -to go down pretty soon, now. She’s fallin’ up -north.”</p> - -<p>“Do you think the embankment will hold?” -asked Hal, anxiously.</p> - -<p>“Certain, ’less we have an east wind,” assured the -commodore, between his puffs. “East wind would -pile up the waves an’ no knowin’ what would -happen.”</p> - -<p>“I guess we’ll go out in our boat,” announced Ned.</p> - -<p>“Well, it’s there with them others under the lee -of the warehouse,” said the commodore, with a jerk -of his pipe toward the cluster of skiffs tied along the -embankment, in the angle formed by the end of the -steamboat building, and thus shielded from the current. -“Reckon I wouldn’t take no chances though, -if I was you. River’s full of drift-wood.”</p> - -<p>The commodore was a stoical, gruff old veteran of -the Mississippi—whereby his title—and this advice -was no small concession.</p> - -<p>“We’ll be careful,” cried Hal.</p> - -<p>“Oh, it’s safe enough,” grunted the commodore, -lapsing into the apparent surliness which covered a -really kind heart.</p> - -<p>The boys proceeded to their boat, and unlocked -its painter from the larger chain to which all the -boats were fastened.</p> - -<p>The craft of which they were joint owners was of -that type known on the Mississippi as scull-boat or -sink-boat. It was low and flat, with a smooth, dish-shaped -keel, sharp prow, and overhanging stern. -Its bows were decked, and a combing ran along the -gunwale.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span></p> - -<p>It was a very convenient, reliable boat. Under the -decked bows could be stowed a surprising amount -of stuff. Being made from thin strips of cedar, it -was exceedingly buoyant and light; and in consequence -of its width and “flatness,” sitting as it did so -low in the water, capsizing was almost impossible. -As an extra precaution, however, Mr. Miller and Mr. -Lucas had caused air-cylinders of copper to be inserted, -inside the bows.</p> - -<p>There were no seats or thwarts. The boys sprawled -about on the straw in the bottom. The one who -rowed sat on a soap-box; the one who sculled—for -in the stern was a hole for a sculling-oar—perched -on the gunwale.</p> - -<p>You see, the boat was so steady that it did not -much matter how the persons in it acted.</p> - -<p>Sometimes the boys rowed, sometimes they sculled, -and sometimes, if in a hurry or fought by a strong -current, they both rowed and sculled. When not -in use the boat was quartered with Commodore -Jones.</p> - -<p>Hal jumped in, shipped the single pair of oars, and -then plumped into the stern; Ned shoved off, and -squatting on the soap-box applied himself to navigating, -for it happened to be his turn.</p> - -<p>“Watch out for the lath!” cautioned Hal.</p> - -<p>“Say—I bet you it’s from the Beaufort Lumber -Company’s yards!” exclaimed Ned, twisting his -head to look over the bows.</p> - -<p>Countless bunches of lath, extending up the river<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span> -as far as the boys could see, were passing down in a -long, straight string. A few vigorous strokes with -the oars shot the boat out of the eddy formed by the -warehouse, and into the current, and carried them -through the line of lath. Now the craft was clear of -obstructions.</p> - -<p>Eagle Island was a large tract of heavily wooded -land, reaching down river from off the lower end of -town. It was four miles in length, and half a mile or -more in breadth. Paper-mill Slough separated it -from the mainland. Quite a settlement of wood-choppers, -small farmers, and mill employees lived -upon it; and with its nuts, its fishing, and its other -attractions, it was a favorite resort for the Beaufort -youth.</p> - -<p>The powerful current of the freshet swept the voyagers -rapidly onward. In a moment they had passed -under the bridge, against the piers of which the -water boiled and swirled. On the nearer shore they -caught a glimpse, here and there, of shanties held in -place by ropes, and of their tenants paddling about -the thresholds in skiffs. The river appeared to be -among the lumber piles of the Mosher Lumber Company, -even!</p> - -<p>Of the farther shore nothing was to be seen. The -water stretched in this direction for miles and miles, -only a fringe of willows marking its ordinary -bounds.</p> - -<p>And now they were beyond the lumber yards, and -had entered Paper-mill Slough.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span></p> - -<p>The head of Eagle Island was still high and dry, -above the reach of the flood. The current, split by -the promontory, was not so swift in the slough as in -the river proper.</p> - -<p>The boys kept close to the island, and presently -the ground had so descended that the water was -rushing in among the trees.</p> - -<p>“Where will we go in?” asked Ned.</p> - -<p>“Oh, anywhere,” replied Hal; adding: “Let’s go -in here.”</p> - -<p>“Well, then, you scull,” said Ned, dealing the boat -a sudden twist with the left-hand oar, and sending it -obliquely into the woods.</p> - -<p>With a quick motion he unshipped the oars from -their locks and himself from the soap-box, and sitting -comfortably on the straw, his back against the half-deck -of the bows, he took it easy.</p> - -<p>Between the hickories and the oaks glided the -nimble craft, the screw-like movement of the sculling -oar, deftly managed by Hal, giving it an agreeable -wriggling, rocking motion.</p> - -<p>The water varied in depth. In some places the -oar-blade touched bottom; again no bottom was to -be found. Above the surface in the shallows the -tops of weeds and bushes swayed with the current. -Not a sound of human life was heard. The only -noises to break the silence were the twitterings of -uneasy birds amidst the branches of the trees, and -once in a while a slight scrape from the boat’s -prow as Hal steered through a narrow channel.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span></p> - -<p>It was an enchanted island, spellbound by the -freshet.</p> - -<p>“Doesn’t it seem queer, though!” commented -Ned, after they had gone a short distance, upon a -zigzag course.</p> - -<p>“I should say!” agreed Hal, letting the boat drift, -and with eyes and ears drinking in the novelty of it -all. “Where will we make for?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t care,” responded Ned. “See! there’s a -barn.”</p> - -<p>Sure enough, directly ahead was a small, unpainted, -weather-beaten barn just visible between the -tree-trunks. Hal began to scull gently, and as they -drew nearer they saw a house, also, not far from it.</p> - -<p>The scene was rather pathetic—this home, lonely -and deserted, standing waist-deep in the midst of the -waters, its only companions the silent forest trees.</p> - -<p>“The folks who lived here must have skipped in a -big hurry,” observed Ned. “They didn’t even stop -to close their up-stairs windows.”</p> - -<p>“Perhaps that’s the way they got out,” suggested -Hal.</p> - -<p>“I hear a dog!” suddenly Ned exclaimed.</p> - -<p>“He’s shut in the house,” said Hal, poising his -oar and listening.</p> - -<p>“Poor fellow! He’s around somewhere, that’s -sure,” agreed Ned. “Let’s go nearer and see about -him.”</p> - -<p>With the howling of the dog to urge them, -they sculled forward. First in their path was the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span> -barn; and with a change in their angle of view Ned -cried:</p> - -<p>“There he is! He’s in the loft!”</p> - -<p>True enough. In the square doorway of the barn-loft -was a medium size brown dog, peering out to -catch their coming. Evidently he had heard their -voices, and had howled for help.</p> - -<p>“Now, I call that a shame!” declared Ned.</p> - -<p>The dog howled back that indeed it was.</p> - -<p>“Let’s rescue him,” proposed Hal, laying hold of -a sapling, to keep the boat where the dog might see -them, while they discussed him. “Why, he must be -half starved!”</p> - -<p>“Unless the family left him on purpose, and put -some stuff in there for him to eat,” hazarded Ned.</p> - -<p>“Then he ate it all up at once—dogs never save, -like a cat,” rejoined Hal, sagely. “Besides, I don’t -believe his folks did that—they simply deserted him, -because they were scared.”</p> - -<p>“But how can we get at him?” queried Ned.</p> - -<p>Hal released his hold on the sapling, and sculled -across to the barn. The dog, seeing them move -toward him, whined frantically, and craned his neck -to watch them.</p> - -<p>They rasped along the gray boards of the barn -until they came to a door, the upper half of which -was out of water.</p> - -<p>“See if you can open it,” said Hal. “Perhaps we -can go in with the boat, to the stairs.”</p> - -<p>“Padlocked,” informed Ned, briefly, and in disgust.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span> -“That proves it! They left him here on -purpose.”</p> - -<p>“No, sir-ee!” Hal insisted. “They never thought -of the barn—they skipped after it had been locked -for the night.”</p> - -<p>They made a circuit of the barn, but there was no -other door; and although within easy reach there -was a window, of dirty panes, it was quite too narrow -for entrance. Besides, the water hereabouts was five -feet deep, as Ned found by sounding with an oar, -and there was no knowing what disagreeable surprise -the inside of the barn might offer to a person dropping -through the window.</p> - -<p>He peered through the dingy glass, and as well as -he could scanned the dim, shadowy interior, faintly -shown by the light which penetrated between the -boards.</p> - -<p>“Anyway, I’m glad a horse or cow isn’t in there,” -he said.</p> - -<p>They had passed out of the dog’s sight, and he was -howling piteously, thinking that he had lost them.</p> - -<p>“We’re coming,” shouted Ned; and they hastened -to station themselves again at the sapling where the -dog could see them.</p> - -<p>This comforted him, and his howling changed to -whines of greeting.</p> - -<p>“Poor doggie,” spoke Hal to him. “I wish we -could help you out of your fix.”</p> - -<p>“Jump,” called Ned.</p> - -<p>The two boys tried in vain by coaxing and commanding<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span> -to make the dog jump from the window. -It was only about eight feet to the surface of the -water, and although he seemed to know just what -they wanted, he could not muster spunk for the -leap. He barked and whined, and crouched and -stretched, one end willing but the other end afraid; -and on the very brink he always balked.</p> - -<p>“Well,” remarked Hal, finally, “I don’t see what -we can do—we can’t get up there, and you won’t -come down here. So we’ll have to leave you. I -hope somebody will come after you pretty soon.”</p> - -<p>“It’s a great big shame, that’s what it is!” declared -Ned. “We’ll bring you over some meat, -won’t we, Hal!”</p> - -<p>“Yes, indeed,” answered Hal, seizing upon the -idea.</p> - -<p>“One thing is sure—he won’t die from thirst!” -said Ned, looking back regretfully, as they slowly -sculled off.</p> - -<p>The dog, seeing them go, lifted his nose and -howled as if his heart was breaking.</p> - -<p>“Pshaw!” exclaimed Hal. “He thinks we’re -leaving him for good.”</p> - -<p>“He’s going to jump! He’s going to jump!” -cried Ned, suddenly. “Whistle!”</p> - -<p>Yes, the dog was nerving himself to the feat. In -desperation he fidgeted from side to side of the doorway, -craning, running back and forth, and acting like -a dog possessed.</p> - -<p>The combined whistle of the boys was too much!</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Look!” shouted both at once.</p> - -<p>With a last howl he was in mid-air, his legs outspread; -and in a twinkling he had disappeared, amid -a mighty splash, beneath the water.</p> - -<p>“My—that must have hurt his stomach like -sixty!” laughed Hal.</p> - -<p>But the dog seemed not hurt a particle. In a moment, -above the surface popped his head, and shaking -it vigorously to clear his eyes and ears of water, -yapping with eagerness and excitement he lined a -course straight for the boat.</p> - -<p>“Come on, come on, old fellow!” urged the boys.</p> - -<p>“Yap, yap, yap, yap, yap!” said the dog.</p> - -<p>And come he did, as fast as his legs and paws -could send him, his chest cleaving the ripples, and a -bubbly wake extending far behind him.</p> - -<p>Speedily he had gained the boat, and Ned had -pulled him in. Convinced that now he was saved, -the dog went into perfect transports of happiness. -He barked, he yelped, he whined, he snickered, he -twisted his body into knots; he talked to one boy, -and then to the other, and then to the two at once, -telling them all about it; he flicked water over them -with his whipping tail, and shaking himself doused -them again until they were well-nigh as wet as he. -And how he grinned!</p> - -<p>“He’s laughing!” cried Hal.</p> - -<p>Indeed, this was true. The pendant upper lip of -the dog was wrinkled back, so that he was showing -his white teeth in a ridiculous grin!</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Well!” remarked Ned, staring at him. “It -doesn’t make him look very pretty, anyway.”</p> - -<p>Which, also, was true, for the grin was like a -snarl.</p> - -<p>The dog, having paid his respects, cuddled himself -on the straw of the bows, in the sun, and there -blinked, now and then expressing his ecstasy by a -contented little sigh.</p> - -<p>“He knows we’ve got to keep him,” declared Hal. -“We can’t throw him up into the loft again, and -there’s no other place for him, except the boat.”</p> - -<p>“I’m glad of it, too,” asserted Ned. “Those people -don’t deserve a dog, after the way they’ve treated -him! Do they, pup?”</p> - -<p>The dog, hearing himself addressed, whimpered as -if in memory of a dark past, and at the same time -thumped his tail in celebration of a bright present.</p> - -<p>“But maybe we’ll have to return him,” prophesied -Hal, mechanically working the sculling oar. “He’s -a pointer, and perhaps he’s valuable.”</p> - -<p>“Do you suppose we can find the house again?” -mused Ned.</p> - -<p>“Our folks might make us try,” replied Hal. -“Let’s scull away as hard as we can, without looking -where we’re going. Then we’ll lose it.”</p> - -<p>Acting upon his own suggestion Hall sculled -stoutly, skimming aimlessly between the trees, and -soon the house and barn were nowhere to be seen.</p> - -<p>“There!” he panted, ceasing his exertions, and -letting the boat drift. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span>“Now where are we?”</p> - -<p>“I give it up,” candidly confessed Ned. “The -water changes everything so. But what’s the matter -with eating? Aren’t you hungry?”</p> - -<p>“Hungry!” exclaimed Hal. “You watch me.”</p> - -<p>As the boys untied their packages of lunch the -dog sat up in expectation. He was all eyes and -mouth.</p> - -<p>“He’s hungry, too,” declared Hal. “He heard us -say ‘eat.’ Here—catch!”</p> - -<p>He tossed a slice of bread at their canine charge, -and down it went, apparently swallowed whole.</p> - -<p>The lunch which had been intended for two did -for three; the boys munched and the dog gobbled, -and presently scarcely a crumb remained.</p> - -<p>During this time the boat had been carried by the -current, bumping into tree-trunks, and swinging to -right and to left, with weeds and bushes scraping -along its bottom and against its sides.</p> - -<p>The boys lolled on the warm straw, and the dog, -no doubt exhausted by his vigils in the barn-loft, -went to sleep.</p> - -<p>It was very pleasant, thus to float through the -green woods, over ground which they so often had -traversed afoot. Occasionally they saw other houses -and barns, flooded and lifeless, and in all respects -appearing much the same as the place at which the -pointer had been discovered.</p> - -<p>“Well, if the dog can go there again, all right,” -murmured Hal. “<em>I</em> can’t.”</p> - -<p>“I either,” declared Ned, drowsily.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span></p> - -<p>At length the boat emerged into an open area, -with only pond-lily pads and buds breaking the -ripples.</p> - -<p>“Hello!” spoke Hal. “This must be Beaver -Lake, Ned.”</p> - -<p>“So it is,” agreed Ned. “I believe we ought to -turn back and strike for home, if we want to take -things easy. If we go any farther we’ll have an -awful job getting back.”</p> - -<p>He seized the sculling oar, and swinging the craft -around headed into the trees again.</p> - -<p>“I’ll scull,” he said, “and when we reach the -slough you can row.”</p> - -<p>The return progress was slower, for the current -was against them. Whenever Hal could help with -the oars, he did, but at many points there was not -room to use them. However, the current, while -hindering, also served as a guide.</p> - -<p>“The river’s falling!” suddenly cried Hal, pointing -to a tree-trunk close at hand. “See there!”</p> - -<p>A narrow margin of wet, marking where the water -must have been, was visible on the bark, above the -smooth tide.</p> - -<p>“And there’s some mud!” he triumphantly -added, at a strip of ooze from which the water had -receded.</p> - -<p>“Humph!” commented Ned; whether from pleasure -or disappointment, was not clear.</p> - -<p>Yes, the crest of the freshet had passed. Upon -every tree within sight was the unmistakable sign.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span></p> - -<p>But the dog in the bows of the boat slept on. He -was not interested; for all he cared the flood might -last forever. He was beyond its clutches.</p> - -<p>The trip home was achieved by dint of incessant -tugging and pulling. The boys crossed the slough, -and then worked their way along the shore, where -the current was not so fierce. Finally, with blistered -hands and numb wrists they glided in behind the -warehouse, whence they had started.</p> - -<p>The dog, overjoyed, jumped out first; with a grunt -of relief, they followed.</p> - -<p>“Back, are you?” greeted Commodore Jones (who -sat just as they had left him) when they approached -with the oars.</p> - -<p>“See what we found,” bade Ned, nodding toward -the dog.</p> - -<p>“Pointer pup, eh?” said the commodore. -“Where’d you get him?”</p> - -<p>“Somebody had left him in a barn half under -water,” informed Hal; “on Eagle.”</p> - -<p>“You don’t say!” responded the commodore, -pityingly. “Sech a man ain’t fit to have a dog. -You’d better keep him.”</p> - -<p>“We’re going to,” answered the boys, in unison.</p> - -<p>“What will we do about him?” asked Ned, as -they were walking homeward. “Shall we draw lots -to see which’ll take him?”</p> - -<p>“N-n-no,” responded Hal, reluctantly. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span>“You can -have him. My mother says she won’t allow a dog -about, or else I’d have had one long ago.”</p> - -<p>“That’s too bad,” sympathized Ned. “At our -house we all like dogs—at least, mother does if they -don’t dig up her flowers.”</p> - -<p>“You ought to call him Robinson Crusoe—Crusoe -was wrecked on an island, you know,” suggested -Hal.</p> - -<p>“Or ‘Bob’ for short,” cried Ned, the idea appealing -to him. “All right—you name him and I’ll have -him.”</p> - -<p>“I suppose so,” admitted Hal, ruefully.</p> - -<p>When they parted at the street corner, the dog -hesitated, uncertain which to accompany.</p> - -<p>“Come on, Bob,” called Ned.</p> - -<p>And Bob, quickly deciding, followed him.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> -</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span></p> - - - -<div class = "chapter"> -<a name = "Chapter_2" id = "Chapter_2"></a> -<h2> -<a href = "#Contents" class = "chapref" title = "Return to Table of Contents."> -CHAPTER <abbr title="2">II</abbr></a> <br /> - -<span class = "small">THE GREAT LUMBER FIRE</span></h2> - - -<p class = "cap"><span class = "upcase">The</span> river went down as rapidly as it had -come up, but left upon the clap-boards of the -Diamond Jo warehouse a line of mud in -token of its visit. People in the low-lying portions -of the city hastened to move back into their accustomed -quarters, now soaked by the flood. Many a -cellar was pumped out. And at the levee Commodore -Jones’ flock of skiffs was once more tethered in -its usual place before the little boat-house.</p> - -<p>Much to Ned’s disgust the eleven loads of wood -arrived promptly at the Miller premises—eleven great -loads of wet slabs, making a mountain higher than -the alley fence, and filling all the space between the -wood-shed and the next back-yard!</p> - -<p>These slabs were to be loosely laid, one upon another, -in long, parallel piles, so that the air could -circulate freely between them. When the wood had -dried, it was to be split, and put in the shed, for use.</p> - -<p>It seemed to Ned an endless task, to dispose of -such a mass, stick by stick. However, he had -accomplished it in previous summers, and although -each June it loomed into sight afresh, yet somehow -by pegging away he managed to struggle through it.</p> - -<p>Having for several days dolefully eyed the mountain,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span> -on the morning of the Saturday succeeding the -Bob rescue he began, with a groan, the base of his -first pile. But he knew that groaning was of no use; -he was expected to devote this Saturday morning, -and the next Saturday morning, and two hours a day -during the coming long vacation, to the work until it -was finished.</p> - -<p>Bob, having industriously trotted hither and thither -through the yard, and having gazed right and left -along the street, in search for amusement, came and -sat on his haunches near Ned, and with a puzzled, -wondering expression, surveyed his movements.</p> - -<p>A week had effected quite a change in Bob’s appearance. -The warm welcome which he had -received at the Miller home, and the food and petting -which he was being accorded, already had slicked his -coat, and covered his ribs. That confidence in -humanity which he had lost while confined in the -barn on Eagle Island, now had returned to him. He -was a very happy dog.</p> - -<p>For a few moments he watched Ned intently. -Presently, getting no encouragement to frolic, and -doubtless disgusted that upon such a bright morning -his master should be given to so stupid an employment, -he curled up in the sun, against the wood-shed, -and fitfully dozed—one eye at a time, in order that -he might be on the alert, should something happen.</p> - -<p>And something did happen!</p> - -<p>Bob had been napping for but half an hour when -suddenly the unearthly shriek of the fire-whistle<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span> -pierced the still air. The Beaufort fire-whistle was a -most appalling sound—running up and down the -scales, at one instant a shrill tremulo, at another a -deep bass. Under favorable conditions it could be -heard, folks claimed, fifteen miles!</p> - -<p>With the first note Ned poised in his hands the -slab which he was transferring from heap to pile, and -waited, breathless, to see whether it was the water-works’ -alarm, or only a steamboat. With the second -he dropped his slab, and straightened. Yes, indeed, -it was the fire-whistle! Bob lifted his nose, and -howled vigorously. This was the influence of the -whistle upon all dogs within ear-shot: it made them -howl and howl, but nobody knew why.</p> - -<p>Ned scanned the horizon. In the southeast, topping -the maples which bordered either side of the -street, he caught a glimpse of a huge cloud of black -smoke, sluggishly unfolding and spreading.</p> - -<p>The spectacle electrified him. In a second he and -Bob were rushing wildly through the yard, and out -of the front gate.</p> - -<p>“It’s the lumber yards—it’s Mosher’s lumber -yards!” he cried, to his mother, who was standing, -anxious-faced, on the porch.</p> - -<p>“Oh, Ned!” she exclaimed.</p> - -<p>No more wood piling on <em>that</em> day!</p> - -<p>The pretty, modest resident street was all astir. -Heads popped from windows, voices called and -answered, and young and old hastened upon walk or -horse-block, or into the road.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span></p> - -<p>“It’s Mosher’s lumber yards!” was repeated, from -lot to lot, and from corner to corner.</p> - -<p>The bell of the Congregational church pealed forth -its clamorous warning.</p> - -<p>Two streams of people were set in motion—the one -flowing tumultuously toward the cloud of smoke, the -other speeding frantically for the nearest hose house, -headquarters of the Pole Star Volunteers.</p> - -<p>Ned, with Bob barking and leaping about him, fell -in with the latter current. Very soon, you may be -sure, he arrived at the hose house. He found a -large throng of men and boys collected before the -door.</p> - -<p>“Where’s the key? They can’t find the key!” he -heard announced from every side.</p> - -<p>The town marshal mounted the steps of the outside -stairs, so that he could look over the crowd.</p> - -<p>“Does any one know where the key is?” he bellowed, -searching the faces of the jostling mob which, -brimming with excitement, was constantly increasing.</p> - -<p>“Where’s the key? Who knows where the key -is?” echoed the people, to each other, screaming the -query as loud as they could.</p> - -<p>“I know—it’s hanging behind the door in Fleischmann’s -grocery!” volunteered a youngster of ten -years, barefooted, in faded blue overalls and dingy -checked waist. And off he scurried, importance -showing in every flap of his overalls against his bare -ankles.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span></p> - -<p>“It’s in Fleischmann’s grocery—the boy’s gone to -get it,” volleyed a chorus, to the marshal.</p> - -<p>“Here it comes!” was shouted, in a moment. -“Let the lad through—you fellows out there!”</p> - -<p>A dozen hands reached to grasp the urchin by the -shirt and pull him ahead.</p> - -<p>“Pass up the key,” ordered the marshal.</p> - -<p>“But I ain’t got it—it wasn’t there,” explained the -boy, as rapidly as he could. “They said they didn’t -have it any more!”</p> - -<p>“Sold it for old iron, I bet you,” remarked a joker. -His hearers laughed, and as this hit at Fleischmann -went from mouth to mouth guffaws went, too.</p> - -<p>“Break in the door! Bust the padlock!” suggested -a stout, white-aproned man—Schmidt, the -butcher.</p> - -<p>“Smash a window and climb in,” suggested somebody -else.</p> - -<p>“What good would <em>that</em> do?” inquired Mr. -Schmidt, scornfully.</p> - -<p>“Here’s the key—here’s the key!” arose the cry, -and the throng eddied and swirled as a man elbowed -his path through to the door, and applied a key to -the lock.</p> - -<p>The crowd pressed forward when, with an impatient -motion, the man jerked open the padlock, and -hurled aside the sliding door. So many zealous helpers -offered themselves that much confusion resulted.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Keep out! Keep out! Hang it all, give us -room!”</p> - -<p>The mass upon the threshold separated violently to -right and left, and out from the dim, cool interior -(smelling strongly of damp rubber) was rolled the -cart, guided by every person who could lay finger -upon it.</p> - -<p>Ere it had fairly emerged additional hands fought -for the privilege of grasping the ropes attached to it. -Shoved and buffeted and trod upon, Ned squirmed -into the thick of the struggle, and was rewarded by -feeling his fingers close upon a rope. But what was -his position he did not know.</p> - -<p>Now the cart burst away from the mob, and into -the street. With a whoop and a hurrah, clangor of -gong and tooting of trumpet, up the thoroughfare it -trundled, drawn by two long lines of people—youth -and age yoked in a common cause. Those unlucky -and envious people who, owing to lack of space, were -denied a place in the team, valiantly formed a running -escort.</p> - -<p>As it happened, Ned had been particularly favored -when he had grabbed the rope, for his place was just -behind the leader. This leader was “Sandy” Baxter, -Beaufort’s foot-racer. He headed the two lines, -and set the pace; next came Ned, on the right, and -Tom Walker, the attorney, on the left. Who followed, -Ned did not have time to see. He had all he -could do to hold his own, and not prove a drag. -However, hold it he did, for he was the best runner -among all the boys of his neighborhood, and he had -a reputation to sustain.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span></p> - -<p>Furthermore, plain in view, straight down the -street, was that ominous volume of smoke, ever swelling, -like the terrible breath of a volcano. Wasn’t -that enough to spur <em>any</em> boy’s legs? Certainly!</p> - -<p>“Sandy” seemed not to care whether or not his -team-mates could keep up with him. He started in -at a tremendous gait, and he did not abate it in the -slightest. He had no mercy. The lumber yards -were burning!</p> - -<p>Along the ropes short-winded persons began to -fall out; some, grown clumsy through their exertions, -stumbled on the heels of their file-leaders, thus -promoting disorder and profanity.</p> - -<p>“Spurt her up! All together!” urged the marshal, -amid the lines.</p> - -<p>“Hurroo! Hurroo!” responded his associates, -with failing, husky voices.</p> - -<p>A loosened tire of the cart rattled loudly.</p> - -<p>“Clang!” sounded the rusty, cracked gong, at -every turn of the wheels.</p> - -<p>“Bow wow! Wow, wow, wow!” yelped Bob and -several other canine enthusiasts, outstripping, now -and then, the whole crew, and halting, with lolling -tongue, for it to catch up.</p> - -<p>The cart had been hauled, in this manner, three -blocks, when on a sudden an empty lumber-wagon -dashed athwart its course, and came sharply to a -standstill.</p> - -<p>“Pass the ropes aboard, boys,” commanded the -marshal. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span>“Quick!”</p> - -<p>The ropes were thrown into the wagon-box, were -rudely fastened, the marshal and “Sandy” Baxter -clambered in to watch them. “All right!” called a -score of voices; the driver leaned forward from his -seat and lashed his steeds, and very nearly before the -cart had stopped it was once more upon its way, this -time attached to the jolting, swaying wagon drawn -at a gallop by the heavy horses.</p> - -<p>The folk whose occupation had thus been taken -from them pursued as best they might.</p> - -<p>Ned, panting but determined, lustily labored on in -the wake of the cart, Bob loping beside him. The -smoke cloud waxed larger and larger. They could -see an immense swarm of people collected apparently -beneath it, and could hear a medley, now faint, now -quite distinct, of shouts and cries.</p> - -<p>The Congregational church bell was ringing without -stop—just as if by this time all Beaufort was not -thoroughly aroused and bound, helter-skelter, for the -scene!</p> - -<p>Five minutes more, and—</p> - -<p>“Gee-<em>whiz!</em>” gasped Ned, transfixed with amazement.</p> - -<p>He had reached his goal. Immediately before -him lay the lumber yards. Over them rested that -black canopy which had been visible from afar, and -which, from a-near, was seen to be licked by leaping -flames. The air was pungent with the odor of -scorched pine. On this side of the railroad tracks -which skirted the yards, at the north, were the onlookers;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span> -men, women and children—packing every -vacant spot, occupying every point of vantage. Beyond -the tracks, among the very piles, were the fire-fighters, -like groups of pigmies attacking a blaze-vomiting -giant.</p> - -<p>Above the feverish cries of the spectators, above -the hoarse shouts of the firemen, sounded the crackle -and roar of the conflagration.</p> - -<p>The entire district south of the tracks seemed -doomed to be wiped out. Here, in the Mosher -yards, were thousands upon thousands of feet of dry -lumber. The fire fairly flew from pile to pile, and so -intense was the heat that the pitchy material appeared -to break into flames all at once, from within.</p> - -<p>East of the yards was the river; but west was that -section of the town known as South Beaufort, made -up, mostly, of the homes of mill men and railroad -men. Fine opportunity did these houses, close together -and lightly constructed, offer to the fire!</p> - -<p>At the outset little wind had been blowing; but -the fire was creating a draft, forming a vortex into -which poured the cool air in a regular gale. Enormous -cinders whirled high aloft, to stream down -everywhere. The whole town was endangered by -them.</p> - -<p>“Here comes Hal,” knocked Bob with his tail -against his master’s leg.</p> - -<p>“Hello, Bob,” called Hal, who was making for -them through the crowd.</p> - -<p>“Oh, Hal, isn’t this awful!” greeted Ned.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span></p> - -<p>“I should say so!” replied Hal. “Let’s climb -up on top of those box-cars, where we can see -better.”</p> - -<p>So they dodged over to some box-cars standing -on the tracks which branched northward, along the -river, and secured seats from which they had a view -unobstructed by irritating heads and hats. Other -persons had preceded them, but there was plenty of -room, and dangling their feet down the end of a -car they proceeded to watch and wait. Bob, after a -number of fruitless efforts to scale the side of the car, -sat on the ground and watched and waited, too. -However, he was interested in the two boys, more -than in the fire.</p> - -<p>“There’s just dray-load after dray-load of goods -being hauled out of South Beaufort,” said Hal. “I -was over a while. The people are scared, I tell -you!”</p> - -<p>“Let’s go and help,” suggested Ned, stung by the -idea.</p> - -<p>“No use,” responded Hal. “They can’t get -wagons enough, for love or money, to take what -stuff is scattered round, already.”</p> - -<p>“Say—if the fire ever gets into South Beaufort, it -will cross the tracks, sure, and then—um-m-m!” exclaimed -Ned, shaking his head.</p> - -<p>“Then the whole town will burn!” faltered Hal, -his face paling.</p> - -<p>At this instant they perceived among the throng -which they had just left a bustle of excitement.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span> -Then came to their ears a cheer, and another, and -another; then a continuous uproar.</p> - -<p>Everybody upon the box-cars stood up to peer -and wonder.</p> - -<p>“It’s the fire department from Sundale! See! -Hurrah! Hurrah!” shouted Hal, swinging his hat.</p> - -<p>“Hurrah!” chimed in Ned, and all the others.</p> - -<p>Sundale was the neighboring village—a rival save -in time of need like this—two miles northward. -Down the street, nearer and nearer, welcomed by -cheer after cheer, came the two carts, their plunging -horses, foam-flecked by their long run, exerting their -last energy in one final spurt; down, down, “clang! -clang! clang!” straight through the living lane and -across the tracks. Hurrah!</p> - -<p>“Bully for Sundale!” cried Ned.</p> - -<p>“You bet!” agreed Hal; and none disputed.</p> - -<p>“I hope they’ll do some good,” he added. “But, -oh, look at it now, will you!”</p> - -<p>The sight was superb, but it was frightful. Even -during the short time that the boys had been on the -car the fire had increased shockingly. It did not -seem to jump from the top of one pile to another, -but it seemed to devour entire piles at a gulp. -Piles fifty, seventy, ninety feet high disappeared -in a twinkling. Their boards curled and withered -like leaves, as the fury of the fiery blast sucked -them in.</p> - -<p>“What’s the use of standing off and squirting at -it!” grumbled Ned. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span>“They aren’t stopping it!”</p> - -<p>“And they can’t get close enough to reach it—and -if they could the water would turn to steam before -it struck!” said Hal. “I—I guess I ought to -go home, Ned.”</p> - -<p>He was almost crying, and his voice ended in a -despairing little wail. Ned, too, felt a queer thrill of -helplessness; but he answered, stoutly:</p> - -<p>“Pshaw, Hal; they’ll stop it some way. They -must, you know.”</p> - -<p>“But Chicago burned up, Ned,” quavered Hal. -“<em>You</em> needn’t go—your house wouldn’t burn until -after ours. So you can stay, if you want to. My -mother is scared to death——”</p> - -<p>“Boom!”</p> - -<p>“Listen! What is that?” interrupted Ned.</p> - -<p>“Boom!”</p> - -<p>“They’re blowing up the piles with dynamite!” -asserted Ned, exultantly. “There’s another!”</p> - -<p>“Do you think that will help?” queried Hal, -doubtfully.</p> - -<p>“Of course,” assured Ned. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span>“It’s the only way. -It will keep the fire from spreading, and make it -burn down low where they can put it out with -the hose. See? They’re blowing up the piles on -the South Beaufort side. Then if they stop the -fire from getting past the open space they’ve got -it! Who cares for the lumber, so long as the houses -don’t catch! And it can’t come this way, for the -tracks are too wide, here, and south of it they can -blow up more piles and stop it.”</p> - -<p>Ned’s tones were so confident that Hal brightened, -and said nothing farther about leaving.</p> - -<p>Besides, new distractions occurred. Over the railroad -bridge thundered a locomotive, twitching behind -it a single flat car, and whistling long and shrill.</p> - -<p>“Hartville! It’s from Hartville!” flew the report.</p> - -<p>“Hurrah for Hartville!” cheered the spectators, -the thousand voices drowning the shrieks of the -proud engine.</p> - -<p>“Well,” remarked Ned. “People in the other -towns must think we’re all burned.”</p> - -<p>“But isn’t it fine in them to send help!” exclaimed -Hal.</p> - -<p>“We’d do as much for them,” responded Ned.</p> - -<p>Scarcely had the Hartville men arrived, when from -up the river echoed the deep, excited whistle of a -steamboat. The crowd turned its faces that way.</p> - -<p>“It’s the ferry <em>Lady Rose</em>. She’s bringing the -Lynnton department!” exclaimed Hal.</p> - -<p>Down swept the ferry, the black smoke streaming -from her stacks and trailing behind her in two tossing, -ever-expanding plumes; her side-wheels turning at a -prodigious rate; and her deck alive with people who -answered cheer with cheer.</p> - -<p>The <cite>Lady Rose</cite> effected a hasty landing just above -the bridge, and her passengers, fire-laddies and spectators, -tumbled ashore. Then followed two hose-carts; -and right on the heels of the men from Hartville -followed the men from Lynnton, to help save -the town.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span></p> - -<p>But although the assistance was welcome, now, at -last, the tide had been stemmed. A wide line of -lumber piles had been leveled, cutting off the flames -in their mad career. A little wind set in from the -west, driving the fire back toward the river. With -hope renewed the firemen stubbornly stood their -ground, arrayed between the angry blaze and the -homes cowering just beyond.</p> - -<p>And now the gallons of water being poured into -the fire commenced to have an effect. Coals sizzled -and blackened. Embers smouldered and died. -Aided by the good wind, step by step the firemen -advanced.</p> - -<p>The day was won.</p> - -<p>The fire lessened in volume; and seeing that the -danger was past, the people who had watched began -to slip away.</p> - -<p>“Come on,” said Ned, at last. “We might as -well go. It’s about over.”</p> - -<p>They dropped off the car, and Bob, who had -deemed the fire a very dull affair (for a dog) welcomed -them loudly.</p> - -<p>“My, I’m hungry!” declared Hal. “I wonder -what time it is.”</p> - -<p>Whereupon they found that it was half-past one; -much after dinner time.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> -</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span></p> - - - -<div class = "chapter"> -<a name = "Chapter_3" id = "Chapter_3"></a> -<h2> -<a href = "#Contents" class = "chapref" title = "Return to Table of Contents."> -CHAPTER <abbr title="3">III</abbr></a><br /> - -<span class = "small">THE BREAK-WATER ACCIDENT</span></h2> - - -<p class = "cap"><span class = "upcase">Although</span> it had been subdued, and was -deprived of its fangs, the fire continued to -burn for several days. It burrowed deep into -the sawdust, and lurked amid the great masses of -black rubbish where once had been lumber and lath, -as if loth to leave its mangled prey.</p> - -<p>The out-of-town firemen returned home that -evening, but all that night, and up to the middle of -the next week, the Beaufort department kept streams -playing upon the smoking ruins.</p> - -<p>For a time these sorry-looking yards were regarded -by Bob and Ned and other Beaufort youth as -a very entertaining place. It was fun to explore the -desolate area, and conjecture what had been on this -spot, and what on that. No small spice of danger, -too, was offered by the tempting, swaying run-ways -and crumbling piles. But at length the sport palled, -and the Beaufort boys sought elsewhere for amusement -and occupation.</p> - -<p>In regard to occupation, Ned did not have to seek -far. At his back door-step were those eleven loads -of wood. One Saturday had come and gone, and -scarcely an impression had been made upon the grim -mountain of slabs. This was the last week of school;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span> -another Saturday, and then he must pile every day -until he had performed his duty. That done he -would be free to do about as he pleased.</p> - -<p>Could wishing have availed, those slabs would have -been in Halifax very soon, consigned there by Ned. -But of course Mr. Miller would have promptly ordered -eleven more loads, and since in Beaufort were -several lumber yards to draw upon, Ned’s case, even -were Halifax to aid him, was hopeless.</p> - -<p>He did what any sensible boy would have done; -he pitched into the wood, working after school and -all day Saturday, and by the opening of the vacation -he had dug a great cave in the flank of the mountain. -Like the majority of tasks, this one, when stoutly -tackled, was not so big as it had appeared.</p> - -<p>In regard to the amusement, this never could be -lacking while the river flowed past the town. The -warm rains and sun of the spring had taken the chill -from the water, and had made it almost comfortable -for swimming, when down had rushed the freshet, -with its icy flood of melted snow, and had spoiled -matters. Now the Mississippi was again at its ordinary -level, and under the influence of the summer -weather was rapidly assuming an agreeable temperature.</p> - -<p>By the wireless telegraphy of boyhood the news -that there was “good swimming” traversed Beaufort -from end to end.</p> - -<p>Ned, who had been fuming all the spring because -his father had refused to let him go in until the water<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span> -was warmer, and thus had deprived him of the glory -of being among the first, received the tidings with rejoicing. -Surely, June was not too early for bathing!</p> - -<p>Bob was more callous about the news. You see, -already he had indulged in a number of plunges, not -to speak of the dive from the barn window; therefore -his enthusiasm had cooled.</p> - -<p>“Can’t I go swimming now, father?” begged -Ned, immediately upon hearing the reports. “All the -fellows have been in and they say the water is just as -warm as milk! If you’d only stick your hand in it -you’d see, yourself.”</p> - -<p>“I haven’t had much of a chance to ‘stick my -hand in it,’ yet, considering that my arm isn’t four -blocks long—and that is the nearest I have been to -the river, lately,” replied Mr. Miller, laughing. -“But if ‘all the fellows’ say so, it must be true.”</p> - -<p>“Hal’s father has let <em>him</em> go,” argued Ned, -eagerly.</p> - -<p>“I’ve nothing to do with Mr. Lucas’s notions—nor -have they anything to do with me, Ned,” responded -Mr. Miller. “The Miller affairs give me all -that I can attend to. However, I guess, if you’ll be -careful and not stay in too long, you can go ahead.”</p> - -<p>“And don’t get in where it’s deep,” cautioned -Mrs. Miller.</p> - -<p>“Oh, pshaw, mother!” replied Ned. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span>“Six feet is -as bad as a mile—and it’s easier swimming where it’s -real deep, too.”</p> - -<p>“Well, I hate to have you go,” said his mother, -stroking his hair. “You promise to be very careful, -won’t you, and not bathe so often or stay in so long -that it makes you weak, or——”</p> - -<p>“Yes, mother. Don’t you be afraid,” he answered, -giving her a hearty hug.</p> - -<p>“And don’t neglect that wood,” suggested his -father, with a twinkle in his eye.</p> - -<p>“That’s for mornings; I have my afternoons ‘off,’” -called back Ned, capering out of the house. In a -second he stuck his head in through a window and -cried: “I nearly forgot to say ‘thank you,’ father, -didn’t I?”</p> - -<p>“I believe you did, Ned,” assured his father; and -Ned vanished.</p> - -<p>“I really don’t see how it is possible that the -water should be warm, so soon,” declared Mrs. Miller, -anxiously, to her husband.</p> - -<p>“I, either,” he replied, smiling. “But Ned can -stand it if the other boys can. It won’t hurt him -any.”</p> - -<p>“I suppose not,” assented Mrs. Miller, doubtfully.</p> - -<p>Well, to tell the fact, the water was <em>not</em> especially -warm, in spite of what “all the fellows” had declared. -It was as warm as milk—but that must have -referred to old milk, not fresh; perhaps milk which -had been in an ice-box.</p> - -<p>At least, so Ned thought, when gingerly he started -to wade out, for the first swim of the season. He -stepped in, ankle-deep—and his toes curled, and his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span> -knees shook, and with a hasty exclamation he sprang -back.</p> - -<p>“Oh, jump in all at once!” urged Hal. “’Tisn’t -cold; it’s fine,” and he paddled around to show his -perfect satisfaction.</p> - -<p>Ned was disappointed. When, on the way over in -the boat, they had dabbled with their fingers, to test, -the water had seemed just right; but now—ugh!</p> - -<p>He tried again, and waded manfully until in above -his knees; here he faltered. The other boys, who -had been through the ordeal and were happy, began -to splash him with chilling drops, so that his naked -body shrank, and he shivered and begged.</p> - -<p>“I’m coming! I’m coming!” he chattered. -“Only let me be, a minute.”</p> - -<p>“Then wet over or we’ll douse you!” threatened -his persecutors, menacing him, in a half-circle.</p> - -<p>“I will! I will! Quit! Don’t you see I am?” -implored Ned, wading a little farther. “Gimme a -chance to wet my head so I won’t have cramp, can’t -you?”</p> - -<p>He stopped, and raising water in his hands dabbled -it upon his chest and back and hair, trying to -get used by degrees to the change. To his fingers -the goose-flesh on him felt like stubble!</p> - -<p>Bob, joining forces with the other scoffing spectators, -raced along the shallows of the beach, barking -his derision. Great cats! what a silly boy! <em>He</em> had -been in and out of the water a dozen times.</p> - -<p>Suddenly Ned drew a big breath, shut his eyes,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span> -and ducked under, sousing himself completely. He -emerged choking, staggering, gasping, while his companions, -tickled into spasms of merriment, wallowed -and shrieked.</p> - -<p>But Ned minded not; the worst was past. He -boldly lunged ahead for a swim, and the water was -not a bit cold.</p> - -<p>Beaufort bathers had choice of three favorite resorts. -First, there were the rafts, brought down by -the steamboats for the mills, and laid up against the -shore, waiting their turn to be sawed into lumber—and -slabs for Ned to pile! Sometimes their outer -edge extended clear to the channel, and to dive from -here into the swift, dusky current thirty feet in depth -was tremendously exhilarating. When you came to -the surface you were fifteen or twenty yards below -the point whence you had started.</p> - -<p>At the lower end of the rafts was slack water, -where you could swim with no fear of being carried -away. An especially good feature about the rafts -lay in the fact that the logs were nice and clean, and -when you dressed you did not get sand in your -stockings.</p> - -<p>Second, there was the large sand-bar opposite the -upper part of town. In low water this bar was -enormous, comprising several acres. Its foot shelved -rapidly, so that you could dive from the firm brink -into six feet of beautiful, still water. The bar reached -up-river, it seemed forever; and over the dry, fine -sand, or splattering madly, with the water only to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span> -your ankles (keeping, of course, a sharp lookout for -step-offs) and your flat soles sending the sparkling -drops far and wide, you could run around until tired. -The sand-bar was the best resort of the three.</p> - -<p>In very low water, it was possible to wade from it -to the mainland on the Beaufort side; and to swim -to the other mainland was no trick at all, if you knew -the shortest route.</p> - -<p>Third, there was the sandy beach across the river. -This was the place most popular; for although the -water here was not so sweet and fresh as that of the -rafts and bar, the beach was convenient, safe, and -available throughout the season.</p> - -<p>The rafts were not safe for the weak swimmer, because -of the current; at a normal stage of water the -bar was a mere uncertain patch; but the beach was -always good-natured and ready.</p> - -<p>At present it was to the beach that Ned and his -chums went. Off the rafts the water was decidedly -frigid; the sand-bar was just beginning to show its -face, covered with a thin coating of mud left by the -receding freshet—and how cold this water in the -middle of the river was! The beach now held open -house for Beauforters, young and old.</p> - -<p>The boys went over every afternoon in Ned and -Hal’s scull-boat and in skiffs. The entertainment -afforded by the beach was endless. A quarter of a -mile above, a point of land jutted out, thus throwing -the current from the shore. In some places the beach -sloped gently; in others it pitched abruptly into the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span> -water. You could wade or you could dive, or you -could bravely launch yourself, paddle a short distance, -and if you had aimed exactly right you could then -let yourself down upon a shoal, with the water up to -your neck, and the undertow tugging at your feet. -Or you could swim straight out until into the current, -and turning upon your back could deliciously float -along as far as you deemed prudent, with the sky over -your face, and the shore passing in review in the -corner of an eye, and the saucy waves slapping at -your nose.</p> - -<p>Between times, here was the soft, hot sand in which -to roll and bask.</p> - -<p>Not to be omitted from the program were those -times when a rafter, or a stern-wheeler packet, -ploughed up stream (the up-boats raised the biggest -swells), spreading in-shore long rollers and breakers -whose oncoming was rapturously awaited by the -bevy of bathers.</p> - -<p>The beach resort was so well rummaged and understood, -that rarely did a tragedy occur at it, and -had Ned and his crowd stayed strictly within bounds -they would not have met with this experience which -is about to be related.</p> - -<p>On an afternoon toward the last of June they were -swimming at the beach; two boat-loads of them—Ned -and Hal and Bob, Frank Dalby, Sam Dalrymple, -Orrie Lukes, Tom Pearce, Phil Ruthers, Les Porter, -and others. They had been skylarking to their -hearts’ content; playing tag, leap-frogging into the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span> -water, or diving slily and catching an unsuspecting -friend around the ankles. The scull-boat had been -capsized, and much sport was found in coming up -under it, where was air-space for breathing, and hooting -for the benefit of the outsiders. The packet <cite>Pittsburg</cite>, -which had the reputation of making the highest -waves of any of the steamers save the rafter <cite>Reindeer</cite>, -even had surged by, leaving behind her swells and -joy.</p> - -<p>All was peace and good humor, when a skiff was -descried approaching.</p> - -<p>The boys glanced only carelessly at it, until Ned -exclaimed:</p> - -<p>“Say! There comes the South Beaufort gang!”</p> - -<p>His words put a damper upon the frolicking. All -gazed uneasily, and fidgeted. The rough boys forming -what was styled the “South Beaufort gang” were -their regular enemies.</p> - -<p>“Well, who cares?” demanded Tom Pearce, defiantly.</p> - -<p>“That’s what I say,” chimed in Les Porter. “They -don’t own the beach.”</p> - -<p>“No; but they’ll try to run us off,” asserted Hal. -“Those Sullivans are always spoiling for a fight, and -they don’t fight fair, either.”</p> - -<p>“They chaw raw beef on you, and paste mud at -you,” complained Orrie Lukes, the smallest of the -party.</p> - -<p>“Eight of them,” remarked Sam Dalrymple, who -had been counting. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span>“The two Sullivans, and the -Conners, and Big Mike Farr, and I don’t know who -else.”</p> - -<p>“I tell you, fellows,” suggested Ned; “we don’t -want any trouble—let’s go down to the breakwater -and fool.”</p> - -<p>The plan met with some grumbling from Tom and -Les and other stubborn spirits; but it won, and -dumping their clothes into their skiff they made a -change of base, wading and swimming and towing -their boats, the scull-boat bottom up.</p> - -<p>The South Beaufort gang did not follow them, but, -disembarking upon the beach, went in swimming.</p> - -<p>The breakwater was a few rods down stream. It -was a long, stout parapet of heavy, square timbers -laid end to end, bolted and braced. It extended up -from the bridge, parallel with the shore, for two hundred -yards, and was designed to aid the rafters in -sliding their rafts through; it held the rafts off from -the shore.</p> - -<p>Behind it was water more or less shallow, and lukewarm -from the sun. In front of it was deep water, -and considerable current.</p> - -<p>At the risk of getting numerous splinters some of -the boys scaled the breakwater by running up the -braces planted against it in the rear, the others -amused themselves among the tiny bays and inlets -formed between it and the shore line. Bob, after -vainly trying to follow Ned to the top, decided that -he would take a turn through the near-by woods.</p> - -<p>The breakwater was amply broad enough to give<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span> -secure footing. The boys lolled about upon it, the -sunshine soaking them through and through, and the -novelty of their high position adding to the fun.</p> - -<p>“Come on; let’s dive, all together,” proposed Ned, -briskly rousing to action.</p> - -<p>“That’s right—all together,” seconded Tom.</p> - -<p>Nobody opposed, and the six of them stood in a -row.</p> - -<p>“I’ll count, and at ‘three’ down we go,” said Ned. -“Make ready——”</p> - -<p>“Sam and I are going to jump; because when we -dive head-first we get water up our nose,” explained -Phil Ruthers.</p> - -<p>“Aw, it’s only eight or ten feet!” protested Hal.</p> - -<p>“Just the same, I’m not going to get water up <em>my</em> -nose,” declared Sam, irritated.</p> - -<p>“Make ready,” warned Ned, again; and the boys -poised for the plunge.</p> - -<p>“One—two—three!” cried Ned.</p> - -<p>With six splashes, almost like one, they struck the -water and disappeared, the four divers entering in -regulation style, but Sam and Phil upright, each with -one hand closing tight his precious nose.</p> - -<p>In a moment heads bobbed, one after another, -above the surface, their owners shaking them vigorously -and snorting and blowing, while lustily swimming, -hand over hand, for the breakwater.</p> - -<p>This the boys climbed from in front by sticking -their toes into the wide cracks between the lines of -timbers, and by clinging to protruding bolts. Once<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span> -more on the top, they were resting, and chaffing -when, in a startled tone, Hal exclaimed:</p> - -<p>“Why—where’s Tom?”</p> - -<p>Quite so; where was Tom? Six figures had left -the breakwater, but only five were upon it now! -The boys looked at each other inquiringly.</p> - -<p>“Maybe he’s with the other crowd,” volunteered -Sam, and peering over he called down to ask. Tom -wasn’t there.</p> - -<p>“Perhaps he’s hiding, to scare us,” guessed Frank -Dalby, weakly.</p> - -<p>“No—Tom wouldn’t do that,” asserted Ned; and -the faces of the boys grew pale. “He must be down -there still!” leaning over and scanning the placid -current. “I bet he never came up! Where was he -standing?”</p> - -<p>“He was right between Hal and me,” excitedly -said Phil. “Wasn’t he, Hal? And I stood here—just -exactly, because I remember it by the broken -nut on this bolt.”</p> - -<p>“Tom! Oh, Tom!” shouted Frank, hopelessly.</p> - -<p>No answer. The news had passed to the remainder -of the bathers, below, and a buzz of frightened -talk arose.</p> - -<p>“I’m going after him,” hurriedly announced Ned. -“You fellows watch close. I reached bottom easy before.”</p> - -<p>“So did I, so did I! Let <em>me</em> go! I’ll go!” came -an eager chorus.</p> - -<p>“I’m first,” replied Ned, with dogged firmness.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span> -“Get out of the way, Hal! If I find him you fellows -can come down and help.”</p> - -<p>Placing himself a little above where Tom had -stood, he dived with all his might.</p> - -<p>In a few kicks he brought up against the muddy -bottom. Groping around about him in the cold, rayless -regions, he suffered the current to bear him -slowly along, now and then paddling enough to keep -himself from rising.</p> - -<p>He felt beneath him mud; nothing but mud; -slimy, oozy, freezing mud with clam-shells and sticks -and rocks embedded in it. Then, on a sudden, his -hands felt something else—a smooth, not unfamiliar -object—it was a leg—it was Tom! Yes, Tom!</p> - -<p>Ned’s heart made a great leap of joy. With Tom -in his arms he shot upward—it seemed an endless -journey—and bursting, exhausted, but exulting, -reached the surface.</p> - -<p>The instant that he came in sight the boys—by -this time the breakwater held them all—who had -been watching and waiting, saw at once his burden, -and swarmed to his rescue. They towed the unconscious -Tom through a gap in the timbers, and -stretched him in the sun upon the hot sand, and -rubbed him, and rolled him, and worked so fiercely -that in fifteen minutes he showed signs of life, again.</p> - -<p>Another fifteen, and he moaned; at which Bob, -who was much moved by the proceedings, howled in -sympathy.</p> - -<p>When he was able to sit up they bound his head,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span> -which was severely cut, dressed him, after a fashion, -and hurried him in the skiff to town, Ned, as was -fitting, happily nestling beside him, and the scull-boat -desperately following in their wake.</p> - -<p>A doctor sewed up Tom’s scalp, and it is a question -who was the prouder—the boys of Ned, or Tom -of his ten stitches.</p> - -<p>As for Ned, himself—he was not proud, precisely; -rather, he was thankful and satisfied.</p> - -<p>The only thing that occurred to mar his pleasure -was the action of Zulette—called Zu-zu—Tom’s little -sister. She found him sitting by Tom’s chair, that -evening, on the Pearce front porch; and with an -“Oh, Ned! Aren’t you brave!” she ran up to him, -and left on his face two tears and a kiss. Then she -ran into the house, crying as hard as she could cry.</p> - -<p>Ned wiped his cheek, and wished that she wouldn’t -behave so silly. To be kissed by a girl—that was -too much! And why was she crying, when Tom -was safe!</p> - -<p>After the merits of the various theories had been -well argued, it was generally accepted that Tom had -received his cut by striking a sunken pile. However, -no one went down into the water to see. The accident -put an end to diving off the breakwater.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> -</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span></p> - - - -<div class = "chapter"> -<a name = "Chapter_4" id = "Chapter_4"></a> -<h2> -<a href = "#Contents" class = "chapref" title = "Return to Table of Contents."> -CHAPTER <abbr title="4">IV</abbr></a><br /> - -<span class = "small">THE CAMP AT DEEP CREEK</span></h2> - - -<p class = "cap"><span class = "upcase">When</span>, of the eleven loads of wood, about -three were still unpiled, Ned began to feel -need of a change of air. It seemed to -him that the climate of Deep Creek, sixteen miles -down the river, would be just the thing for him.</p> - -<p>In short, he was stricken by his annual violent attack -of the camping-out-fever—a malady very popular -during the summer, in Beaufort.</p> - -<p>Hal, too, was taken at the same time. The symptoms -were a burning desire to get away from town, -and into the woods; to lie around in old clothes, regardless -of time, and free from all fuss; to amuse -oneself as one pleased; to be lazy; to be uncivilized -and unwashed; to row a boat, which is fun, instead -of to pile wood, which is work.</p> - -<p>The two boys compared notes, and agreed, Bob -voting “yea,” that the sooner they left, the better. -Deep Creek appealed to both as the proper locality; -and Bob, it goes without comment, stood ready to -follow them any place.</p> - -<p>Hal, whose father was less strict as to chores than -was Ned’s, was used to dropping into the Miller back -yard, once in a while, mornings, and giving Ned the -comfort of company at the wood-pile. This lightened -Ned’s labors, but it did not hasten them, for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span> -there were moments when the talk grew so interesting -that he forgot to keep the slabs moving.</p> - -<p>The camping-out fever now interfered seriously -with the progress of the piling. To make matters -worse, these three remaining loads were the most -stubborn, closely packed loads conceivable. So -stubborn were they, that it was as if they grew each -night, and thus made up what they had lost during -the day!</p> - -<p>Camping details all had been discussed and settled, -and finally Hal, who had been impatiently awaiting -the last hour of the heap, said boldly:</p> - -<p>“Why don’t you ask your father to let you go -anyway, Ned, and tell him you’ll pile the rest when -you come home? It will have lots of time to dry -before winter!”</p> - -<p>“He won’t, I know,” replied Ned, sadly.</p> - -<p>“Oh, I bet he will,” insisted Hal. “He doesn’t -care when the wood’s piled, if it’s only dry in time.”</p> - -<p>“Well, I’ll ask him,” sighed Ned. “But he won’t, -I know.”</p> - -<p>He mustered his courage, and at the table that -noon he hinted:</p> - -<p>“Tom Pearce and Joe Cluny and a lot of other -fellows went camping this morning.”</p> - -<p>“Yes?” responded his father, politely.</p> - -<p>“I wish Hal and I could go,” continued Ned.</p> - -<p>“But I thought you were going,” remarked Mr. -Miller. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span>“I thought you had arranged to go to Deep -Creek.”</p> - -<p>“I mean, I wish we could go right away, when fishing’s -good,” explained Ned, squirming in his chair.</p> - -<p>“What is hindering?” inquired his father, looking -wondrous ignorant.</p> - -<p>“The wood,” faltered Ned. Then he blurted: -“Say—can’t I finish it when I come back? It’s just -a little bit.”</p> - -<p>“Neddie!” reproved his mother. “The idea of -addressing your father with ‘say’!”</p> - -<p>“Oh! The wood still hangs on, does it?” asked -his father, innocently. “Well, Ned, since it is ‘just -a little bit’ you can finish it up to-morrow, I should -think, and have it off your hands. Besides, don’t -you remember that I told you the wood must be -piled, first, and the camping could follow?”</p> - -<p>“Y-y-yes,” admitted Ned.</p> - -<p>“If Hal is in such a hurry,” added his mother, -“why don’t you suggest to him that he might help -you out by piling, instead of hindering you by -talking?”</p> - -<p>Ned lapsed into silence. It was no use; the conversation -had ended as he had expected. He had -only proved that he knew his father much better than -Hal did.</p> - -<p>Yet, although Hal had failed on one tack, it was -he who really brought the rescue, after all. When, -within an hour, Ned reported to him the failure of -plans for a truce, Hal thought an instant, and suddenly -said:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span></p> - -<p>“I tell you! I’ll come down early to-morrow -morning, and we’ll jump into that wood and not stop -’til it’s finished!”</p> - -<p>And to their great relief and no doubt to the surprise -of the wood, the last slab had been laid in place -before noon of the next day!</p> - -<p>They spent that afternoon collecting their camping -outfit.</p> - -<p>This consisted of blankets and provisions, mainly, -although Mrs. Miller made Ned, to his disgust, take -a few extra articles of clothes. Mothers seem unable -to grasp how little a boy needs, in that line, when -camping in summer!</p> - -<p>They gaily trundled a full wheelbarrow-load of -stuff down to the Diamond Jo warehouse; then -they returned up-town to buy a lot of canned goods, -and coffee and sugar, with which to eke out the -bread and potatoes and onions, etc., furnished by the -home larders.</p> - -<p>These store things also having been wheeled to the -warehouse, nothing now was left to do but to wait -until morning.</p> - -<p>“Why, Ned—aren’t you going to have a tent?” -exclaimed his mother, shocked.</p> - -<p>“Of course not!” snorted Ned, in disdain. -“There’s a shed we can go under if it rains.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Miller, in dismay, broke the news to her husband, -but he merely laughed, and said, patting her -shoulder:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span></p> - -<p>“It won’t hurt them any. When they get enough -they can come home.”</p> - -<p>“It won’t hurt them any,” was a favorite remark -of Mr. Miller’s. He had great faith in the happy-go-lucky -ways of the average healthy boy, and his -theory rarely was at fault.</p> - -<p>But Mrs. Miller, not yet at ease, continued to -hover around Ned, and ask him other anxious questions -which seemed to him very foolish, but which to -her seemed quite natural.</p> - -<p>“Neddie, I really don’t believe you’re going to -have plenty to eat!” she asserted.</p> - -<p>“With two trot-lines? My, yes!” assured Ned. -“Why, we can live on just fish!”</p> - -<p>His words had such a ring of confidence that his -mother—although “trot-lines” was a complete mystery -to her—accepted them, and tried not to worry.</p> - -<p>At half-past six the next morning Ned and Hal -and Bob were at the warehouse, waiting for the -steamer <cite>Harriett</cite>. The <cite>Harriett</cite> was a daily packet -between Beaufort and Rapids City, forty miles below, -and not only stopped at the towns between, but also -would take on and put off passengers at points, -wherever requested, along the shores.</p> - -<p>At seven the <cite>Harriett</cite> came down from North -Beaufort, where she was tied up at night, and thrust -her nose upon the levee beside the warehouse. The -two boys and Bob gladly scampered aboard, over -the gangplank; the roustabouts carried on the two -boxes containing the camp stuff, and while its owners -nervously watched, hauled the scull-boat from the -water, and stowed it, too, below deck. All the other<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span> -freight having been cleaned up, the <cite>Harriett</cite> whistled -for the bridge to open, and at the same time backed -out.</p> - -<p>At last the boys were off.</p> - -<p>Commodore Jones had just settled himself on his -little platform, for a morning smoke, and running up -on the hurricane deck, they leaned out, toward him, -as they passed, and called:</p> - -<p>“Good-bye, Mr. Jones. Want any fish?”</p> - -<p>“Good-bye,” he shouted, waving his pipe. “Yes; -bring ’em—when you get ’em!”</p> - -<p>Through the draw sped the <cite>Harriett</cite>, and on past -the Mosher Lumber Mill (disfigured but busy), past -Eagle Island (Bob not deigning a glance at his old -homeplace), and on, with a stop or so, until soon the -Deep Creek landing was right ahead.</p> - -<p>This landing was at a government light upon a -small peninsular. A few rods above, the Monga, a -shallow but wide and swift stream, emptied into the -Mississippi, and to reach the Deep Creek grounds it -was necessary to cross. People who had no skiff -with them signaled to Joe and Sam, fishermen who -lived beside the creek, to come and ferry them over. -Ned and Hal and Bob, however, had the scull-boat; -and when they and their traps and their craft had -been dumped ashore, all at once, and the <cite>Harriett</cite> -was fussily hurrying away, they lost no time in loading -up and pushing off.</p> - -<p>Now, Deep Creek was not truly a creek. It was a -narrow slough, extending parallel with the Mississippi,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span> -between an island and the shore. It was a -popular resort for fishing parties, and a number of -Beaufort men had erected a little cabin beside it, for -use as a club-house.</p> - -<p>Having passed the mouth of the Monga the boys -entered the slough. Sam and Joe, always upon the -outlook for a job when the <cite>Harriett</cite> was due, were -standing in front of their shanty, and opposite them -Hal and Ned rested on their oars, to ask:</p> - -<p>“How’s fishing?”</p> - -<p>“Good,” replied the brothers, together.</p> - -<p>“Anybody else down here?” queried Ned.</p> - -<p>Sam and Joe shook their heads, again together. -They had this peculiarity, possibly from being so -much in each other’s company, night and day. One -thought appeared to do for both, and when they -spoke, or laughed, or wagged their heads, they did -so as one man! Considering that they lived by -themselves, summer and winter, in their shanty on -the bank of the slough, the wonder is, not that they -grew to think alike, but that they did not grow to -<em>look</em> alike, as well!</p> - -<p>Sam had red hair and red whiskers and a red, -freckled skin; Joe had iron-gray hair and whiskers, -and a skin tanned deep as mahogany. Sam was -quick-tempered; Joe was easy-going. Both were -reserved in manner and chary of words.</p> - -<p>The boys proceeded up the slough a quarter of a -mile, and landed. Here they pitched their camp by -tucking their boxes under a wild-grape arbor at the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span> -water’s edge, and sitting upon them. The sun was -high, and the thick shade of the arbor was an agreeable -relief from the hot row along the glassy bayou.</p> - -<p>“This is better than any tent,” declared Ned. -“Isn’t it!”</p> - -<p>“Lots!” responded Hal, with enthusiasm. “Now -let’s set our trot-lines.”</p> - -<p>“All right,” agreed Ned.</p> - -<p>Bob took no part in this conversation. While yet -the scull-boat had been six feet from the bank he had -leaped over the bows, and half-swimming, half-wading, -had scrambled ashore, to disappear in the woods. -Probably his doggy mind was bent upon discovering -a nice camping spot, in advance of his chums. But -he must have missed the grape-arbor and his chance, -for here was the camp—and no Bob!</p> - -<p>Fumbling in one of the boxes Ned pulled out the -trot-lines, rolled in two big balls, and the bunch of -hooks to be attached, and a large slab of liver for -bait. Then he and Hal started off again in the scull-boat.</p> - -<p>“Trot-lines” are long lines to which fish-hooks are -hung, at near intervals, by pieces of cord. Some -trot-lines are strung with a hundred or two hundred -hooks. The boys’ lines were only three hundred -feet in length, and they counted on hanging fifty -hooks to each. The trot-lines were the size of window-cord, -or braided clothes-line, and had been -tarred so that they should not rot.</p> - -<p>Ned and Hal slowly sculled up the slough, keeping<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span> -their eyes open for good places at which to set out -their lines. Presently they came to an old raft—or, -rather, but a portion of a raft—lying along the island -side of the bayou. It must have been in Deep Creek -for years, because the logs were green with mossy -growth. It was a peaceful old raft, dozing here, forgotten, -with one edge high and dry among the island -brush, and the other edge well out into the slough.</p> - -<p>“Say—we can tie the lines to the raft!” proposed -Ned, struck with the idea.</p> - -<p>“I should smile!” assented Hal, slangily.</p> - -<p>“One above and one below,” continued Ned. -“Let’s fix the upper one first.”</p> - -<p>As they skirted the outer logs, on ahead of them -turtles, sunning themselves, slid hastily into the water, -and the route of the boat was thus marked by a succession -of splashes.</p> - -<p>The boys were nearing the head of the raft, when -Ned stopped sculling, and asked:</p> - -<p>“What’s the matter with this?”</p> - -<p>“It’s about right, I guess,” replied Hal. “We -can tie to that pin.”</p> - -<p>“Well,” said Ned, “I’ll hold the boat steady, and -you fix the line.”</p> - -<p>He turned the boat in hard against a log from -which jutted a stout wooden pin almost touching the -water. Hal, reaching over the bow, securely tied -the end of his line. Then with a shove he sent the -boat away, toward the middle of the slough, and -Ned gently sculled until they had gone at right<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span> -angles about twenty yards, with the line trailing between -the boat and the raft.</p> - -<p>Now Hal deftly attached the first hook by its two -feet of cord, baited it with a bit of liver, and let it -slide overboard. Three feet farther along the line -he fastened another hook; and in this manner they -went edging across the slough, until the fifty hooks -had been tied on and baited.</p> - -<p>The next step was to sink the line. Hal tied -upon the free end two heavy coupling links which -had been stored in under the bows. Ned sculled -ahead, slightly up stream, to make allowance for the -sluggish current, until the line, with its dangling -hooks and liver, was fairly taut.</p> - -<p>“There she goes!” remarked Hal; with a clink -the coupling links disappeared beneath the surface, -and the line followed.</p> - -<p>They were on their way to the foot of the raft, to -set out their second line, when a piercing howl from -the main shore startled them. It was Bob, lonesome, -disgusted and impatient, demanding that they -return to land and to him. Where he had been, -they did not know. But now he was sitting at the -water’s brink, directly opposite them, and accusing -them of deserting him.</p> - -<p>“Bob, be quiet!” ordered Ned.</p> - -<p>However, Bob, hearing the voice, and judging that -his howling was to be in vain, decided that since -they would not come to him he would go to them; -whereupon with a yelp of defiance he plunged into<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span> -the slough, and yapping at intervals laid a course for -the boat.</p> - -<p>“Go back, Bob! Go back, sir!” cried Ned.</p> - -<p>“Let him come, Ned,” pleaded Hal. “He won’t -do any harm.”</p> - -<p>“He’ll only eat the liver, if he has half a chance, -and hang himself on a hook!” exclaimed Ned. -“Help me make him go back.”</p> - -<p>Thus appealed to, Hal, understanding the situation, -took sides with Ned against Bob, and the two -boys yelled commands, and splashed with the oars.</p> - -<p>Bob, wavering in the face of such a hostile reception, -hesitated, swam in a circle, and finally -sought the shore again. Here he contented himself -with parading up and down, and venting his feelings -by short, indignant barks.</p> - -<p>The second trot-line was put out, from a point -near the foot of the raft, by a method similar to that -already told. Slanting athwart the depths of the -slough the two lines now extended, ready for business. -Satisfied, and also very hungry, the boys made -for shore and the grape arbor, where they were -joyously welcomed by Bob.</p> - -<p>According to the height of the sun, as well as to -their stomachs, it was ripe noon, and time for dinner. -By common consent, in their outings, Hal, who had -a knack in that direction, was the cook. It was -Ned’s duty to provide the wood, and to attend to -camp affairs generally outside of the meals.</p> - -<p>Bob was watchman and sergeant-at-arms.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span></p> - -<p>“What will we have?” inquired Hal.</p> - -<p>“Oh, anything,” answered Ned; “just so we have -it quick!”</p> - -<p>“Bacon and potatoes, fried together,” proffered -the cook.</p> - -<p>And bacon and thin slices of potatoes, fried together -in a skillet over a brisk little fire of branches -and driftwood, it was!</p> - -<p>“I tell you there’s nothing like bacon!” sighed -Ned, scraping his tin plate.</p> - -<p>“And potatoes!” sighed Hal, also scraping. (Who -says that cooking spoils the appetite!)</p> - -<p>Bob, having gobbled his share, was trying to lick -the hot skillet!</p> - -<p>“Do you know what we forgot?” exclaimed Ned, -thunder-struck. “Coffee!”</p> - -<p>“But if I’d had to make coffee you’d have had -to wait a lot longer for dinner. It takes an age -to boil water over a fire like that one,” explained -Hal.</p> - -<p>“Well, bacon and potatoes and slough water are -good enough—in a hurry,” admitted Ned.</p> - -<p>Bob cleaned the skillet and Ned the plates—the -grease yielding before a liberal rubbing with wet -mud—and Hal, digging a hole at the water’s edge, -buried the fruit-jar containing their supply of butter, -so that it should not melt too much.</p> - -<p>This precaution having been taken, and the camp -tidied, Hal mused, looking up toward the raft:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span></p> - -<p>“I wonder if we’ve caught any fish, yet.”</p> - -<p>“It’s too soon to go and see,” replied Ned, wistfully. -“About four o’clock will be time enough to -try. Let’s visit Sam and Joe.”</p> - -<p>“Come on,” agreed Hal.</p> - -<p>They found the Morgan brothers at home, and apparently -glad to receive company. A large brindle -dog was much less hospitable, and during the boys’ stay -he and Bob kept up a constant exchange of sneers and -threats. In fact, a pitched battle was only narrowly -avoided—partly through the efforts of the Morgans, -and partly because Bob would not stir from between -Ned’s legs.</p> - -<p>The atmosphere about the shanty was quite fishy, -and fish scales were scattered everywhere. There -also was another, much stronger odor, at which the -three newcomers wrinkled their noses in disgust.</p> - -<p>Joe was occupying a bench, puffing at his pipe; -and sitting on a second bench, with a board across -his lap, Sam, likewise puffing, was cutting into -small square cakes what seemed to be a mass of -dough.</p> - -<p>“Howdy,” said the boys—Ned holding Bob by -the collar.</p> - -<p>The two men nodded gravely, and Joe, removing -his pipe to knock out the ashes, remarked:</p> - -<p>“Got your lines set all right? See you fussin’ -’long the logs a bit ago.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, we thought we’d try a couple, just for fun,” -responded Ned. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span>“Do you think the raft is a good -place?”</p> - -<p>“W-w-well, I shouldn’t wonder but what it is, for -a short line,” said Joe, filling his pipe.</p> - -<p>“Will we get any fish, Joe?” queried Hal.</p> - -<p>“Mebbe,” said Joe. “A few cats, like as not.”</p> - -<p>“Say—what’s Sam doing?” questioned Ned, sniffing -and frowning.</p> - -<p>“He’s—makin’—dough—balls,” said Joe, between -puffs of his freshly lighted pipe.</p> - -<p>“Dough-balls!” repeated Hal, quite in the dark.</p> - -<p>“Yep,” said Joe. “We take a lot o’ cheese and -let it lay outdoors ’til it’s real old an’ then we mix it -with flour, into a paste, an’ when it’s good an’ stiff -we cut it into the right size for bait—like Sam’s -doin’ now. Them’s dough-balls. Smell ’em?”</p> - -<p>“Smell ’em!” cried both boys together.</p> - -<p>“Well, the fish smell ’em, too,” said Joe, tersely.</p> - -<p>“What you boys usin’?” inquired Sam, speaking -for the first time since their appearance.</p> - -<p>“Liver,” stated Hal.</p> - -<p>“That’s better ’n dough-balls, I reckon,” grunted -Sam. “But if you had four or five hunderd hooks -to keep baited, you’d right soon run out o’ liver, I -bet.”</p> - -<p>“You see, we’ve only fifty hooks on each line,” explained -Ned, modestly. “When we haven’t any -liver we’re going to use frogs, and crawfish and -things.”</p> - -<p>“How often ought we to run the lines?” asked -Hal. “Every four or five hours?”</p> - -<p>“If you’re a might to,” replied Joe. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span>“O’ course, -we run ours only mornin’ an’ night, but it’s kinder -more of a job than <em>yours</em> be! If I was you I’d run -’em ’bout five o’clock, an’ then ’long ’bout ten, again, -to bait ’em for the night, an’ again arly in the -mornin’, an’ mebbe at noon.”</p> - -<p>“That’ll keep ’em baited in good shape,” put in -Sam, “an’ you ought to get fish if there’s any -’round.”</p> - -<p>“All right; much obliged,” responded the boys.</p> - -<p>“In case you get more’n you can eat at one haul,” -offered Joe, kindly, “there’s a fish-box, down in -the water near that stake, that we ain’t using, and -you can have it so’s to keep ’em alive, if you -want to.”</p> - -<p>“Sure; take it along,” urged Sam.</p> - -<p>“I should say we <em>would</em> like it! It’s just the -thing!” exclaimed the boys, delighted. “Much -obliged.”</p> - -<p>They hung around for a short time, and then, -haunted by that fish-box, hastened back to camp—Bob -growing braver and braver as they put distance -between them and the brindled dog—to bring down -their boat and get their prize.</p> - -<p>Upon their return, with Joe’s help they loaded the -water-soaked box, dripping from every slat, into their -craft, and gleefully made off with it.</p> - -<p>Soon they had it sunk and anchored in front of -their grape arbor.</p> - -<p>“I don’t suppose it’s more than three, yet,” hinted -Hal, when, uncertain as to what to do next, to make<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span> -time fly, they paused and wiped their hands on their -trousers-legs.</p> - -<p>“I suppose not,” agreed Ned, noting the height of -the sun. “But don’t let’s wait till five, this time,” he -proposed. “Let’s run the lines now, just for the fun -of it.”</p> - -<p>Hal needed no persuasion. Leaving Bob to be -watchman over the camp, they pushed out again -from shore.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> -</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span></p> - - - -<div class = "chapter"> -<a name = "Chapter_5" id = "Chapter_5"></a> -<h2> -<a href = "#Contents" class = "chapref" title = "Return to Table of Contents."> -CHAPTER <abbr title="5">V</abbr></a><br /> - -<span class = "small">TURTLES, FISH, FROGS AND SNAKES</span></h2> - - -<p class = "cap"><span class = "upcase">Aiming</span> for the foot of the old raft, from -which the first of their two trot-lines had been -set out, Hal and Ned cut diagonally across -the bayou.</p> - -<p>Not a waft of air riffled the water; the sun was reflected -from it as from a looking-glass, right into their -faces, and proceeded to turn their complexions redder -and redder. All around, the heads of curious turtles -dotted the surface, disappearing as the boat drew -near, and popping out again when it had passed. -Here and there a hungry gar or dog-fish leaped into -sight for an instant, while numerous king-fishers, -brave in their blue and white, plumped down, with -mighty splashes, for minnows.</p> - -<p>The perspiration rolled from the face of Hal, who -was at the sculling-oar; dripped into his eyes, and -dropped off the end of his crimsoning nose. Yet -doubtless he felt cooler than did Ned, who, idle -in the bows, simply was baking instead of boiling.</p> - -<p>However, neither cared. The weather figured little, -and they were more concerned over the immediate -future than over the present.</p> - -<p>“I bet you we don’t get a thing except dog-fish!” -commented Hal, discouragingly.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Oh, yes, we will,” returned Ned, with more hope. -“That is,” he added, “unless the turtles and gars rob -the hooks as fast as we bait up.”</p> - -<p>“Well, may be; Sam and Joe seemed to think we -would, anyway,” admitted Hal, blowing the beads -from the tip of his nose.</p> - -<p>They glided in against the raft, and Ned, reaching -over, grasped the line.</p> - -<p>“Feel anything?” queried Hal, eagerly, as Ned -paused a moment.</p> - -<p>“Seems kind of like it,” said Ned, fingering the -line. “But perhaps it’s only the current jerking.”</p> - -<p>He lifted the line and laid it across the bows; and -squatting on the combing, beside it, gently pulled the -boat, hand over hand, toward the first hook.</p> - -<p>“Nothing on that hook,” remarked Hal, as presently -the bit of cord by which it was suspended rose, -slack and lifeless, out from the water. Then the -hook itself dangled into view. No, it had nothing on -it—not even bait.</p> - -<p>As it came in-board Ned stuck a piece of liver on -it and let it slide out again.</p> - -<p>“Something’s coming!” he cried, jubilantly, his -hands pausing upon the line. “I can feel it now, -easy! See him jerk?”</p> - -<p>“Hurrah!” shouted Hal, excitedly, edging forward, -to be ready to help.</p> - -<p>Hook two also was quite empty.</p> - -<p>“Looks as though the slough’s having a good big -feast of liver, anyway!” commented Ned, baiting.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Hurry,” urged Hal; for now the line just beyond -was dipping and surging, under the struggles of something -on hook three.</p> - -<p>“Say—it’s a turtle! A big soft-shell—I saw him!” -exclaimed Ned.</p> - -<p>“Oh, shucks!” responded Hal, disgusted. “Yes, -there he is!” as a stout flapper darted up into sight -and vanished again with a swirl.</p> - -<p>Soon the line bent sharply over the side of -the boat, and in the water under their eyes the -boys could descry the sprawling disk of Mr. -Turtle.</p> - -<p>“How will I get him <em>in?</em>” asked Ned, perplexed.</p> - -<p>“Why, lift him right out,” answered Hal.</p> - -<p>Ned gingerly drew the prisoner to the surface, and -then cried:</p> - -<p>“The hook’s in his flapper! How do you suppose -he ever got caught that way?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know,” replied Hal. “I guess he started -to eat with his fingers.”</p> - -<p>“Or else he put his foot in his mouth, and got -hooked that way,” added Ned. “Did you say to lift -him right out?”</p> - -<p>“Sure,” said Hal.</p> - -<p>“Supposing you do it,” suggested Ned, eyeing the -turtle, whose flappers, armed with long claws, were -striking in all directions as their owner strove to get -away.</p> - -<p>Hal thoughtfully surveyed the situation.</p> - -<p>“We ought to have a landing-net,” he declared.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span> -“But put your hands under the edge of his shell, and -throw him in. He won’t hurt you.”</p> - -<p>“I’m not afraid of his biting me, but he scratches -like fury. His claws are about a mile long!” observed -Ned, dubiously preparing to follow Hal’s advice.</p> - -<p>The turtle, for the moment, was quiet, possibly -waiting for his embarrassed captors to do something. -Ned suddenly grabbed him by the shell, and before -he realized what was taking place had heaved him -over the gunwale, into the boat.</p> - -<p>The shock released the hook, which fell from the -flapper, and now a very angry turtle was at large in -quarters altogether too restricted to suit himself and -two bare-legged youths.</p> - -<p>The turtle was about the size of a wash pan. He -was of the common sharp-nose, fresh-water variety, -of a drabbish-gray, with a smooth shell flexible like -cartilage. His legs were tremendously powerful, and -with his long, snaky neck far extended, his eyes -sparkling, and his mouth wide open, hissing with all -his might he made straight toward the stern and at -Hal.</p> - -<p>“Look out!” warned Ned.</p> - -<p>Narrowly escaping going overboard, Hal scrambled -upon the combing, and ran along it until he had -joined the laughing Ned, in the bows. Here, perched -upon the decking which extended over this portion -of the craft, they were out of harm’s way—that is, -the turtle’s.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span></p> - -<p>This individual, balked of a bite out of one of Hal’s -browned legs, endeavored to climb up the side of the -boat, but tumbled back time and again.</p> - -<p>“I wish he’d go,” complained Ned. “We aren’t -after turtles, to-day.”</p> - -<p>“So do I,” agreed Hal, ruefully wiggling a big toe, -which he had stubbed in his rapid flight. “We don’t -need him.”</p> - -<p>“I got him in—you get him out,” proposed Ned, -shrewdly.</p> - -<p>“Well, either he gets out, or we do,” declared Hal. -And he tried to assist the unwelcome captive by putting -an oar-blade under him. Every time, however, -the turtle slid off, and meanwhile grew madder and -madder—if such a condition were possible.</p> - -<p>Hissing and clawing, he scurried over the bottom -of the boat.</p> - -<p>Finally his turtle cunning led him to settle upon -the stern as the easiest point for escape; and never -giving up he attacked the sloping board again and -again, only to fall back. Each time that the boys -would have boosted him with an oar-blade he -turned and snapped, and appeared so ungrateful -that they were fain to leave him to his own -efforts.</p> - -<p>At last he managed to insert the claws of a -hind flapper into the little space left by the oar -in the sculling-hole, and then was enabled to thrust -one of his fore flappers over the edge of the -stern.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span></p> - -<p>Up he went. For an instant he balanced on the -stern, his four legs and his stiff little tail, and his waving -head all outstretched in air.</p> - -<p>“Scat!” called Ned.</p> - -<p>At the word Mr. Turtle disappeared with a fine -splash.</p> - -<p>“Good!” exclaimed Hal, much relieved.</p> - -<p>“No more turtles come in <em>this</em> boat, do they, -Hal!” vowed Ned. “Better to cut the line, and be -rid of them.”</p> - -<p>The boys now proceeded with their business—that -of finding out what else their hooks had in store for -them. Although the turtle was off, still the line -swayed and sagged, denoting another catch a short -distance ahead.</p> - -<p>This proved to be on hook six.</p> - -<p>“It’s nothing but a gar!” announced Ned, peering -down as he neared the spot.</p> - -<p>“Big one?” queried Hal, anxious for at least some -consolation.</p> - -<p>“No—just ordinary size,” said Ned, disdainfully. -“What will we do with him?”</p> - -<p>The gar was now lying on the surface of the water, -beside the bows, only occasionally giving a slight -squirm. Maybe he was tired; or maybe, as in the -case of the turtle, he was waiting for an opportunity -to do a little damage. He was about three feet long, -and with his slim, round body, his wicked eyes, -and his bill-like mouth armed with sharp teeth, he -looked fully capable of taking care of himself. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span> -hook was firmly embedded in the lower half of his -long, bony snout.</p> - -<p>Ned cautiously extended his hand, to try to release -the barb—and the gar snapped viciously.</p> - -<p>“I don’t believe we can get the hook out unless we -kill him, and there’s no use doing that,” asserted Ned. -“He’s too coarse to eat.”</p> - -<p>“Fishermen break their bills, and throw them back -again,” informed Hal.</p> - -<p>“But that’s torture; it makes them starve to -death,” replied Ned.</p> - -<p>“Can’t you jerk out the hook?” asked Hal.</p> - -<p>Ned attempted this, by towing the gar back and -forth, and pulling on the hook at all angles. The -fish submitted passively, and suddenly appealed to -Ned as so helpless and so unhappy that with a quick -impulse he severed the cord. With a flop of his tail -the gar darted from sight.</p> - -<p>“Get!” advised Ned.</p> - -<p>He substituted another cord and hook, and both he -and Hal felt relieved.</p> - -<p>Their mercy was rewarded, for when they had run -the line a few yards farther, they met with opposition -in the shape of a dead weight which caused Ned to -exert considerable strength to lift.</p> - -<p>“Snag?” inquired Hal, anxiously, watching Ned -raising the line inch by inch.</p> - -<p>“Don’t know,” grunted Ned.</p> - -<p>“Just our luck!” groaned Hal.</p> - -<p>However, Hal was to be agreeably disappointed.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span> -The knot fastening the cord to which was suspended -the hook came into view—and on the instant the -water underneath it swirled violently.</p> - -<p>“It’s a big cat! Come on, Hal, and grab him, or -he’ll tear out the hook!” shouted Ned, wildly excited.</p> - -<p>Carefully he seized the cord, and gently, so as not -to frighten the fish, drew him alongside.</p> - -<p>“He’s caught just through the edge of his lip! -Watch out!” warned Ned.</p> - -<p>Hal, regardless of any peril to himself, leaned far -over. The victim, sluggish but far from sleepy, -looked like a young whale. Hal boldly thrust his -fingers in behind the cat’s gills, to haul him bodily -over the gunwale; there was a sudden gigantic -flurry, a splash, and presto, change! Instead of it -being the cat in the boat, it was Hal in the slough!</p> - -<p>Ned gazed in alarm; but before he could move to -the rescue Hal’s head broke the surface a few yards -off.</p> - -<p>“Here’s an oar, Hal!” called Ned.</p> - -<p>“Uh-uh!” protested Hal, shaking his head while -he blew the water from his nostrils. “I’m all right. -Did the fish get away?”</p> - -<p>“I guess so—no, he didn’t, either!” announced -Ned gladly.</p> - -<p>“I’ll swim around to the other side of the boat, and -you can be seeing if you can’t lift him in,” declared -Hal. “Don’t <em>you</em> tumble over, too,” he added, as a -caution.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span></p> - -<p>The catfish seemed to be satisfied with what he -had accomplished; and still about in the same spot, -made no sign of farther trickiness.</p> - -<p>However, Ned was very careful in approaching -him. A moment, and the cat came over the one -gunwale as Hal came over the other.</p> - -<p>The hook, which had caught merely in one of the -lips, where it had worn quite a hole, dropped while -Ned was lifting, and there lay the victim in the bottom -of the boat, free too late.</p> - -<p>“A regular ‘yaller’ mud-cat,” laughed Ned. -“Say—but we were lucky not to lose him. If he’d -only had sense enough he might have got loose long -ago.”</p> - -<p>“I bet he weighs twenty pounds,” declared the -dripping Hal.</p> - -<p>“He’s all mouth!” returned Ned.</p> - -<p>The boys gazed and gloated. The catfish, gasping -in the sudden change from water to air, lay, after -the fashion of his kind, inert and emotionless.</p> - -<p>He was a very ugly animal, of a dirty yellow, and -while he was not large for his species, he was the -largest that the boys had ever caught. Indeed, he -was quite a chunk of a fish. He was shaped somewhat -like a flatiron; and, as Ned had remarked, he -was about all mouth.</p> - -<p>This mouth, which in appearance was a split severing -his enormous head from side to side, was -fringed with long feelers. His eyes, almost white, -were small and piggish.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Cut off his head, and there’s nothing left but his -tail,” commented Ned, ruefully awakening to the fact -that perhaps they had not made much of a catch, -after all.</p> - -<p>“Well, he’s better than turtles and gars,” replied -Hal.</p> - -<p>For the time being the capture of the prize had -quite overshadowed Hal’s mishap; but now Ned -eyed him, and snickered.</p> - -<p>“Did you touch bottom?” he queried.</p> - -<p>“No, sir-ee; I came up as quick as I could,” -avowed Hal. “Do I look wet?” and he slapped his -oozing thighs.</p> - -<p>“Sort of,” admitted Ned. “Where’s your hat?”</p> - -<p>“It must have kept on going down,” answered -Hal. “But I don’t care. No—there it is. I feel -fine,” he added, having rescued his hat with an oar. -“You ought to go in—it’s great.”</p> - -<p>“Guess I’ll wait a while,” smiled Ned.</p> - -<p>“Well, in half an hour I’ll be as dry as you,” asserted -Hal.</p> - -<p>And he was.</p> - -<p>The catfish was too unwieldy to be put in the -soap-box seat (which they had upturned on bottom -for a temporary hold-all), and stowing him under the -decking of the bows, out of the sun, they investigated -the remaining hooks upon the line. A large -majority were stripped and empty, but two channel-cat -and one blue-cat were taken. None of these -weighed over six pounds; still, they were not seven-ninths<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span> -head! No more turtles or gars were encountered.</p> - -<p>The upper line yielded five catfish; another soft-shell -turtle, caught, as had been his partner in distress, -by the flapper; and a dogfish. The turtle -released himself, much to the boys’ pleasure; but the -dogfish did not. He had swallowed the hook, so -that the cord passed through his cruel jaws, armed -with their wicked teeth, into his stomach.</p> - -<p>Unwilling to lose another hook, Ned solved the -difficulty by quickly dispatching Mr. Dogfish by a -smart blow over the spinal cord at the juncture of -head and body, and made use of the otherwise worthless -fellow by baiting hooks with his flesh.</p> - -<p>Running the two lines had occupied at least two -hours. As they turned campward Hal and Ned were -conscious that nature’s dinner bell was sounding in -their interiors.</p> - -<p>Bob saw them coming. At first he was undecided -whether to regard them as friends, or enemies. -When Ned shouted to him, however, his canine -sense told him that this was indeed the scull-boat, -bearing his master; and breaking from his puzzled -stare into a volley of whines and barks, he shortened -the distance by venturing up to his back out into the -water.</p> - -<p>Then, when the boys sprang to land, he spattered -them well for not having invited him. But who -cared? They were about as wet and dirty as they -could be, anyway!</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span></p> - -<p>As they disembarked, Sam and Joe pulled out, -below, with their short, choppy fisherman strokes, -bound for their own lines, which were not set in the -bayou, but in the deep water, toward the main -channel.</p> - -<p>The boys waved at the pair, and Joe languidly -waved back.</p> - -<p>Now it remained to place in the fish-box the -haul from the trot-lines, and to get supper. Hal -volunteered to cook a fish if Ned would clean one, -but Ned decided that this would make a painful -delay.</p> - -<p>He hastily started a fire of driftwood and branches, -and until there should be coals upon which to put the -frying-pan, he strolled with Bob back into the timber -to look for more fuel.</p> - -<p>Presently, unable to stay long away from the base -of supplies, he returned to the camp. He had some -news.</p> - -<p>“You just ought to see!” he reported to Hal, who -was squatting before the fire, frying potatoes and -bacon together. “There’s a sort of dried swamp a -little ways back in the woods, and it’s simply alive -with young frogs. They’ll make splendid bait.”</p> - -<p>“Let’s go and get a lot, after supper,” said Hal. -“I don’t suppose the liver will be any good by morning. -And, besides, it’s about all gone.”</p> - -<p>Ned seated himself on the ground, and sniffed the -air. Bob did the same.</p> - -<p>“Nearly ready?” they asked—the one with his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span> -voice, the other with his dripping tongue, and glistening -eyes, and nervous tail.</p> - -<p>“Hold your plate,” commanded Hal. Ned eagerly -obeyed; Bob, having no plate, gazed covetously. -Hal shoveled out a generous portion from the hissing -frying-pan, and saying: “Here, Bob,” laid another -portion upon a slab of bark. The rest he kept.</p> - -<p>Each boy poured for himself, from the tin pail, a -pint cup of coffee, and all fell to. Bob went coffee-less—which -no doubt was just as well, considering -that at home neither he nor his master drank any -coffee, let alone a pint cup full!</p> - -<p>Still, out camping one does many things which -would not agree with one at home.</p> - -<p>The coffee was very hot. The bacon and potatoes -were very hot. Bob circled his bark plate, with -mingled anticipation and disgust; hunger urged him -on, while the memory of a certain burning mouthful -held him back. He suspected a trick.</p> - -<p>At last, valor overcoming discretion, he plunged -ahead, and gobbled as fast as he could, while his -companions jeered.</p> - -<p>The supper having been cleared away—and save -rinsing the utensils there was no “clearing” to be -done, after two hungry boys and a dog had scraped -and licked—a frog hunt was inaugurated. Protected -now by shoes and stockings, the boys, taking the -willing Bob, proceeded to Ned’s swamp.</p> - -<p>The sun was setting, a ball of dull red in the -golden west, and as the three chums traversed the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span> -short patch lying between the dried marsh and their -arbor upon the bank of the slough, already the -wild-wood was growing dusky and subdued. Birds -were darting to their homes, and were twittering -their good-nights. A whippoorwill began to pipe -in the island across the bayou. Mosquitoes rose -from the under side of leaves, and here and there -moths flitted aimlessly. The mooing of cows, as -they were driven to the milking-place, floated in -from distant pastures.</p> - -<p>“Here we are,” announced Ned, pausing on the -edge of a narrow open strip.</p> - -<p>“Listen! What’s that funny noise?” exclaimed -Hal, stopping stock still. Bob who had been -soberly following at the boys’ heels, also stopped.</p> - -<p>On the quiet atmosphere, almost from beneath -their feet, rose a series of shrill little squeaks—somehow -the oddest sounds that the trio ever had heard.</p> - -<p>“Isn’t that funny!” whispered Ned. “What is it, -do you think?”</p> - -<p>Hal didn’t know. Bob didn’t know.</p> - -<p>Carefully they peered about, through the vicinity, -and found out.</p> - -<p>“Oh, Ned—it’s a frog!” on a sudden called Hal. -“Come quick, and see! Two garter snakes have -got hold of him!”</p> - -<p>Ned hastened over, and sure enough, there was a -small frog in as tight a fix as ever a small frog could -be! Each hind leg was deep in the maw of a garter -snake; and now the two snakes, forced to suspend<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span> -their swallowing operations, were lustily pulling in -opposite directions, while his frogship, stretched between -them, was shrieking for help.</p> - -<p>“Oh, pshaw! Let’s rescue the poor thing,” cried -Ned; and suiting his action to his word he struck -one of the snakes a blow with a switch that he had -in his hand. Startled, the snake dropped the frog—whereupon -the other would have fled with the booty, -had not Hal halted him and made him disgorge.</p> - -<p>The frog, nothing daunted, hopped away. Bob -turned himself his avenger. Wrinkling back his -lips, with utmost disgust he seized the first snake, in -its retreat, and gingerly clutching it between his -teeth, while the saliva dripped from his unwilling -jaws, shook it frantically until it fairly flew to pieces. -The other snake, having for a moment bravely faced -Hal and menaced him with its tongue, disappeared.</p> - -<p>“Snakes?” spoke Ned, pointing. “Why, just -look at them, will you!”</p> - -<p>That swamp was fairly swarming with them, all, -like the boys, out after frogs. A garter snake considers -a young frog a dainty morsel, and some of the -snakes were quite lumpy, from the unlucky victims -that they had engulfed.</p> - -<p>“Well, if this doesn’t beat the dickens!” declared -Hal.</p> - -<p>Bob could not bring himself to mouthing another -of the snakes. He would pretend to pounce upon -one, and would quickly spring away, his curling lips -indicating his disgust.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span></p> - -<p>Undaunted by the competition, the boys, urged on -by the gathering darkness, hastened to collect their -frogs and put them in the coffee pail! Bob was of -not the slightest assistance. He loathed frogs as -much as he did snakes, and actually frothed at them, -so intense were his feelings.</p> - -<p>“What do you think!” exclaimed Hal, presently. -“Here’s a snake that had swallowed a frog, and -when I came up he was so scared that he opened his -mouth, and the frog scooted out again!”</p> - -<p>“Don’t catch him,” cried Ned, referring to the -frog. “He’s been dead once, and now he’s earned -his life.”</p> - -<p>So Hal allowed the resurrected frog to go his way, -and it is to be hoped that the garter snakes were as -obliging.</p> - -<p>By the time the boys had secured some twenty-five -or thirty of the tiny green frogs, each about -half an inch in length, twilight had deepened into -dusk, and trees and bushes were merged in shadows.</p> - -<p>With a few stumbles over vines and roots they retraced -their steps to the arbor. Then arose the -question, where to keep the frogs, considering that -the pail would be needed for the breakfast coffee!</p> - -<p>The voices of men talking, and the snappy sound -of oars shifting between thole pins drifted from the -mouth of the bayou.</p> - -<p>“Sam and Joe are just coming back. Let’s go -down and report, and see if they haven’t something -we can borrow, to put the frogs in,” proposed Ned.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span></p> - -<p>So the three of them trudged along the bank, -where a faint path had been worn. It was presumed -that Bob, of course, knew what was up. But after -they had gone far enough to indicate their goal, he -suddenly awakened to the fact that the route was -leading to the brindled dog, and refused to proceed -farther. He sat on his tail, and pleaded with his -two comrades not to expose themselves to insults -from that vulgar fellow. As they refused to yield to -him, he watched them until they were out of sight, -and followed them with his mournful howls. Then, -having done his duty, he returned to the grape arbor -camp, and curled to sleep on Ned’s coat.</p> - -<p>Soon, even had they been blind to the flickering -light, and deaf to the muffled voices, by their noses -alone the boys would have known that they were -near the fishermen’s cabin. Sam and Joe were busy, -with aid of a lantern, at their landing. Evidently -they had just disembarked.</p> - -<p>“Hullo, there!” hailed the boys.</p> - -<p>“Hey!” cheerily answered Joe.</p> - -<p>“Bow wow wow wow!” challenged the brindled -dog—exactly as Bob had predicted!</p> - -<p>Sam said nothing. Sam was not much of a -talker.</p> - -<p>The boys scrambled down to the landing. Joe -was in the stern of the boat, handing out things to -Sam, who was in the water beside it. Both men -had on their hip rubber boots.</p> - -<p>“What luck?” asked Hal.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Not much,” replied Joe, without pausing in his -operations. “What did you boys get?”</p> - -<p>“Seven catfish,” informed Ned, trying to make -his tone matter-of-fact.</p> - -<p>“And two turtles and a gar and a dogfish,” added -Hal.</p> - -<p>“And two turtles, and a gar, and a dogfish, eh?” -laughed Joe. “Well, I reckon that without ’em you -beat us. Fish out where we be are gettin’ ’bout -tired o’ dough-balls; ain’t that so, Sam?”</p> - -<p>Sam grunted; giving the fish-box in front of him -a kick into deeper water, he plashed to shore, and -stumped up the slope to the cabin. Joe followed.</p> - -<p>“Come in,” he invited, over his shoulder.</p> - -<p>The boys entered. Sam was lighting a lamp in a -bracket against the wall. The cabin was small and -close, with its two bunks, its stove for cooking, and -its walls hung with clothing and cooking and fishing -utensils and decorated with prints. The room -was bedchamber, kitchen and parlor, in one.</p> - -<p>“We can’t stay, thank you,” spoke Ned, fancying -that the two fishermen would want to attend to their -own affairs. “Only, we caught a lot of frogs for -bait, and haven’t anything to keep them in. Have -you got an old bucket, or some tin cans, we can -have?”</p> - -<p>“Lot’s of ’em,” responded Joe. “Paw over that -heap back of the shanty, and take what you want.”</p> - -<p>“Better have the lantern,” advised Sam—speaking -for the first time.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span></p> - -<p>With the brindled dog continuing to eye them as -if suspecting that they were stealing, Hal and Ned -looked over the pile of refuse, and came upon an old -tin pail which suited their purpose.</p> - -<p>Having achieved this, and said good-night, they -went back to camp, through the darkness; and they -tripped so often, and stepped on so many rolling -sticks, and stones, that they wished they had their -own lantern along.</p> - -<p>Upon hearing them approaching, the faithful Bob -was in arms at once, resolved to save the camp, or -die; but upon being reassured by Ned’s whistle and -call, he advanced and greeted them with his usual -wordiness, while he sniffed for traces of his down creek -enemy.</p> - -<p>With nothing especial to do, immediately, the -boys sat on the bank, to wait. Now the woods behind -and the water in front were black, and the trees -across on the other side were but a vague mass. A -whole colony of whippoorwills whistled from point -to point incessantly, and two owls, one distant, one -quite near, hooted a responsive duet. Bob whined -and shivered, for the air was damp with the falling -dew and the mist rising from the water. Beyond, in -the channel of the river, sounded the soft exhaust of -an ascending rafter.</p> - -<p>Despite the attentions of numerous mosquitoes, -Ned felt himself growing sleepy.</p> - -<p>“Wonder what time it is,” he hazarded.</p> - -<p>“Must be nearly nine,” said Hal.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Sam said to run the lines again about ten, didn’t -he?” inquired Ned.</p> - -<p>“Yes, about ten, and early in the morning,” responded -Hal, drowsily.</p> - -<p>Conversation languished; and after an interval of -silence, punctuated only by the spasmodic complaints -of Bob, who was acting very babyish, Ned -spoke up:</p> - -<p>“Say—what’s the matter with running the lines -now, and not waiting till ten. I’m pretty near -asleep.”</p> - -<p>“Let’s. So am I,” agreed Hal.</p> - -<p>They lighted their lantern, and taking the liver, -the frogs and the remains of the dogfish, tumbled -into the scull-boat and pushed out. Behind them, -upon shore, stayed Bob, the disconsolate, who was -growing tired of always being “left.” He was positive -that he was missing much fun.</p> - -<p>The Deep Creek of night was decidedly different -from the Deep Creek of day, just as the most open -woods, in the light, are transformed into regular -labyrinths, in the dark.</p> - -<p>It was Ned’s turn to scull. It seemed to both -boys that they never would reach the raft, so fast -they appeared to glide, and yet so slow they were in -arriving. And all was so eerie—black slough, black -woods, black sky, and queer noises.</p> - -<p>“There’s the raft, right ahead!” exclaimed Hal.</p> - -<p>Whereupon they bumped into it.</p> - -<p>The water, which was so playful as under the rays<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span> -of the sun it lapped the mossy old logs, now was -sullen and chill. Hal swung the lantern over, and -speedily found the end of the trot-line.</p> - -<p>They were forced to run the lines by feeling rather -than by sight, for at best the beams of the lantern -were shifty and uncertain. Either they had come -again too soon, or the fish had gone to sleep, or -were gorged with liver, for two medium-size catfish, -one from each line, was the total yield.</p> - -<p>The boys were a little disappointed. Out of the -assortment of dainties at hand having baited afresh -the empty hooks, they sculled back to camp, and -Bob.</p> - -<p>With most of their clothing on, and their coats for -pillows, they rolled in their blankets, in the arbor, -(Bob contentedly between them), and not even the -over-sociable mosquitoes could hold them awake for -more than five minutes and a quarter.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> -</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span></p> - - - -<div class = "chapter"> -<a name = "Chapter_6" id = "Chapter_6"></a> -<h2> -<a href = "#Contents" class = "chapref" title = "Return to Table of Contents."> -CHAPTER <abbr title="6">VI</abbr></a><br /> - -<span class = "small">THE GHOST OF THE INDIAN MOUNDS</span></h2> - - -<p class = "cap"><span class = "upcase">The</span> sun, from his station a little north of -east, stared full into the grape arbor sleeping -room, and shone on Hal’s still face. A -fly hustled in, and buzzed about Hal’s nose. Hal -frowned, and impatiently shook his head; but unable -to rid himself of sun or fly, opened his eyes. -At the same instant Ned, beside him, stirred and -turned over, disturbing Bob, who had been very -comfortable.</p> - -<p>Both boys sat up and blinked. Bob stretched, -shook himself, and strolled out.</p> - -<p>“Say—we’d better get out and run those trot-lines!” -yawned Ned. “We’ve overslept.”</p> - -<p>“I should think so!” yawned back Hal.</p> - -<p>“Do you know, when I woke, Bob was on my -stomach. He must have been there all night!” -announced Ned.</p> - -<p>“He was keeping warm,” explained Hal.</p> - -<p>“Well, he weighed about a ton,” responded Ned, -unwilling to make light of it. “But then,” he added, -“he kept me warm, too.”</p> - -<p>The boys yawningly staggered to the water’s edge -and made their toilet in a tin basin, with the scull-boat -for a wash-stand. Already the sun was climbing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span> -high, and the gnats and flies and all the world of -insect and bird were awake. Sam and Joe could be -descried at work on their lines, far outside the mouth -of the bayou.</p> - -<p>Only the three tenants of Camp Grape Arbor were -sluggards!</p> - -<p>Of these Bob was the friskiest. Ned and Hal, -while trying to be good natured, still were very irritable. -They were stiff and lame, and spotted with -mosquito bites. Their hands were painfully cracked -from water and dirt and the oar, and their faces, -burned by the sun, felt strangely leathery. Hal’s -nose was peeling, and Ned, who foolishly had rolled -up his sleeves, was the owner of a huge water blister -half way between left wrist and elbow.</p> - -<p>However, when they once more were in the boat, -and had started for the lines—Bob again remaining -alone in camp, a state at which he never failed to -protest strongly—their spirits really rose, and they -were happy.</p> - -<p>“There’s the <em>Harriett!</em>” said Ned, as the mellow -whistle of a steamboat signaling for a landing chimed -in the distance, over the water.</p> - -<p>“Then it must be about eight o’clock!” cried Hal, -scandalized. “My! but we’re lazy!”</p> - -<p>And to atone for their late rising he dug valiantly -with the sculling oar.</p> - -<p>Their morning’s haul consisted of five catfish, and, -amid great rejoicing, a fine pickerel, for their fish-box; -a soft shell turtle, who so easily released his own<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span> -flapper, and swam off, that Ned declared he was one -of the two they had caught yesterday, and was -simply making his regular rounds; and a black bass, -a mere minnow, whose greediness had led him to -take into his mouth more than he could swallow. -Him the boys let go, to grow.</p> - -<p>As on previous occasions, all the other hooks were -as bare of bait as of anything else, and Ned had to -scrape together every scrap at hand to rebait them.</p> - -<p>Upon their return to camp the hungry boys, with -the ever-hungry Bob as assistant, had breakfast. -Breakfast consisted of—bacon and potatoes and coffee. -The critical Hal insisted that the coffee tasted -“froggy”; just the same, he drank it!</p> - -<p>For dinner they planned a much grander menu. -But for the present, bacon and potatoes filled a crying -need.</p> - -<p>It was necessary to get more bait; and refreshed -by their breakfast, the boys, having tidied camp to -the extent of hanging their blankets upon some -bushes in the sun to dry, went with Bob on another -frog hunt. They found frogs, but no snakes; evidently -the evening was the snakes’ special hour for -foraging.</p> - -<p>In their search they followed adown the little -swamp which slanted in toward the river. It grew -wetter as they proceeded, and they were about to -leave it, when they heard a tremendous outburst of -barks and growls from Bob.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Here, Bob! We’re coming, Bob, old fellow!” -they called, running helter-skelter to back him up, or -scold him, whichever was proper.</p> - -<p>Bob was in a great dilemma. He had run across -an immense snapping-turtle, and did not know what -to do with it. He was afraid to close with it, and -yet he was unwilling to flee from it, therefore he had -adopted the middle course of circling it at a respectful -distance, and abusing it in dog language.</p> - -<p>The turtle was a patriarch. His shell was thick -and black and knobby, and the skin of his neck and -legs was thick and black and warty. His claws were -long and curving, and as with his head he slowly followed -Bob’s antics, his deep-set eyes fairly flashed -sparks, while he held his formidable mouth half open, -as if hankering for a bite out of one of Bob’s -legs. How he hissed, with a hoarse, gaspy hiss! He -was so enraged that he filled the air with a musky -odor.</p> - -<p>“Isn’t he a whopper, though!” exclaimed Ned, -grasping Bob, who, at the arrival of reinforcements, -had waxed altogether too fierce for safety.</p> - -<p>“I’d hate to have him get hold of <em>me!</em>” asserted -Hal, poking at the monster with a stick. The turtle -seized the stick with such a grip that he jerked it out -of Hal’s hands, and Mr. Hal involuntarily jumped back -a pace.</p> - -<p>“Well, I guess we aren’t wanted here,” remarked -Ned, laughing. “Come on, Bob.”</p> - -<p>“Keep the stick,” called back Hal, as, dragging -the reluctant Bob, they moved off, leaving the turtle,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span> -his jaws firmly clamped upon the piece of wood, in -possession of the field of battle.</p> - -<p>Having secured a supply of the hapless frogs, the -boys took a short cut to pay their respects to Sam -and Joe. Bob, after pretending that he was going -back to have it out with the turtle, finally cooled -down and trotted along with them. But he could -not be induced to approach the shanty, and with an -eye out for the brindled dog sat at a distance and -sorrowfully waited.</p> - -<p>Sam was on the muddy beach, mending the seine; -Joe was moulding dough-balls, on the bench in front -of the cabin.</p> - -<p>“Good-morning,” said the boys.</p> - -<p>“Mornin’,” replied Joe.</p> - -<p>From the shady side of the shanty the brindled -dog growled; from the beach Sam nodded.</p> - -<p>“How’s fishin’?” asked Joe.</p> - -<p>“Pretty good,” answered Ned. “Only, we overslept.”</p> - -<p>“Thought you did. Seen you weren’t up when -we went out, ’bout five o’clock,” said Joe.</p> - -<p>“Going to try the net?” inquired Hal, looking at -Sam and his task.</p> - -<p>“Yes, thought we’d make a haul or two ‘crost the -river this afternoon,” informed Joe. “Ever see a big -seine laid?”</p> - -<p>“I have,” said Ned.</p> - -<p>“I haven’t,” said Hal.</p> - -<p>“Better come along, then,” invited Joe.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span></p> - -<p>“All right—much obliged,” responded Ned and -Hal. “What time?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, some’ers after dinner toward the shank o’ the -afternoon,” replied Joe. “You watch, an’ when you -see us gettin’ ready, you come down.”</p> - -<p>With this in prospect the boys gleefully returned -to camp, to run their trot-lines and to have an early -dinner. The running of the lines was not especially -a success, the haul being only two catfish; but the -dinner was a great success, being baked potatoes and -fried pickerel, pressed beef and coffee, and with -dessert of toasted bread dipped in canned blueberries.</p> - -<p>Before Sam and Joe showed signs of starting out, -the boys had time to fit up a stove, by digging a hole -in the top of the bank, covering it with a piece of -sheet iron, and making an entrance at right angles, -for fuel and draft.</p> - -<p>It was quite a luxury to loll back, Ned against the -mass of net heaped upon the fish-box built into the -broad stern, and Hal in the narrowing bows, while -Sam and Joe sped the boat across the ripply, sparkling -river. Soon the wordy, left-handed compliments -being exchanged between Bob, on guard at -the grape arbor, and the brindled dog, on guard at -the shanty, died away in the distance, and the -eastern shore of the Mississippi came into plain -view.</p> - -<p>The boat landed on a wide, shelving, sandy beach, -over which rose a line of bluffs. Hal piled ashore,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span> -followed by Sam, but Ned stayed in the stern and -offered to “pay out” the net.</p> - -<p>One end of the seine was passed to Sam, on shore; -and then Joe slowly pulled away in a great circle, the -seine dropping, fold after fold, into the water behind. -Ned held himself ready to loosen any tangle; but -there were no tangles. The net had been coiled just -right, and he was not needed.</p> - -<p>It did not take long to lay the thousand foot net, -and Joe managed so well that when the circle, -marked by its slender line of round corks, was complete, -the boat was at the shore just below its former -landing place. Weighted by lead at the bottom, and -buoyed by corks at the top, the net now hung -straight down from the surface, and formed a meshy -wall.</p> - -<p>Sam and Joe began to haul in, evenly and swiftly, -from one end. Yard after yard the wet weave piled -on the beach, and the circle gradually, but none the -less surely, lessened.</p> - -<p>“Looks like a water-haul,” commented Joe to -Sam, scanning the water inside the circle for signs of -prisoners.</p> - -<p>“Humph!” replied Sam.</p> - -<p>The line of corks was now short and near, and still -there had been not a single struggle to pass them. -The surface stayed placid and smiling.</p> - -<p>“Humph!” again said Sam.</p> - -<p>The boys did not give up, but continued to gaze<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span> -hopefully. It did not seem possible that there was -nothing in the net.</p> - -<p>However, such was the case.</p> - -<p>“Water-haul!” declared Joe, finally.</p> - -<p>“Humph,” repeated Sam.</p> - -<p>“Pshaw!” exclaimed the boys, with disappointment, -eyeing the empty seine as it lay on the sand.</p> - -<p>“What do you mean by ‘water-haul’?” queried -Hal.</p> - -<p>“Water’s all we got, ain’t it, sonny?” responded -Sam, sourly, throwing the net by armfuls into the -boat.</p> - -<p>“I reckon we don’t try again till the moon -changes,” hinted Joe, with a sly wink at Ned. But -as Hal refused to be hoaxed into asking more questions, -after a slight pause he continued:</p> - -<p>“Sam an’ me have got to go up to Newton for -provisions an’ stuff. You boys can go or you can -stay an’ we’ll take you in comin’ back.”</p> - -<p>Newton was a river hamlet about two miles above.</p> - -<p>“Better let ’em stay,” advised Sam, whom the -“water-haul” appeared to have made very grumpy. -“We’ve got enough to pull against the current, without -them in too.”</p> - -<p>“We’ll stay, of course,” spoke Ned.</p> - -<p>“How long will you be gone?” inquired Hal.</p> - -<p>“Oh, jest for a spell,” replied Joe.</p> - -<p>“Don’t you forget us,” said Ned.</p> - -<p>“Do you think they will?” asked Hal, growing -nervous as he watched the two fishermen row away.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Of course not!” assured Ned. “Say—I tell -you what we’ll do. Let’s climb the bluffs, and while -we’re exploring we can see Sam and Joe when -they’re coming back.”</p> - -<p>The river side of the bluffs had been cut away by -running water until in many places the bare limestone -was exposed, to form perpendicular cliffs. Between -these cliffs were little gullies, thickly matted -with the wild strawberry, the wild morning glory, the -violet, and a thousand other woodland plants, all -growing independent of man. Graceful and stately, -against the gray walls rose and drooped the rock -honeysuckle.</p> - -<p>Eager to reach the crest, the boys scaled from foothold -to foothold, and hot and breathless, speedily -emerged upon the top. Here they stood and looked -down upon the bird’s-eye view of land and water.</p> - -<p>At their feet was the beach, much reduced in size, -where they had witnessed the “water-haul.” North -and south stretched the river, a broad ribbon of blue -emblazoned with silver, and rent here and there by -islands. Beyond, directly opposite them, was the -mouth of the Monga, just above which, they knew, -was the shanty and the brindled dog, and still farther -above, the grape arbor and Bob.</p> - -<p>On the hither side of the river Sam and Joe were -plainly visible, making their way, in their skiff, along -the shore line, where the shallows reduced the force -of the current.</p> - -<p>“My, but this is pretty, isn’t it!” sighed Hal.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span></p> - -<p>“I should say so!” agreed Ned. “I don’t blame -the Indians any for hating the white men who made -them give it up.”</p> - -<p>The two boys strolled along the crest, sparsely -wooded with sentinel oaks, and covered with short -turf which furnished forage for a few horses.</p> - -<p>They had not gone far when they came upon quite -a hole or pit, extending down through the black forest -loam into the yellow clay beneath.</p> - -<p>“Why was this dug, do you suppose?” remarked -Hal.</p> - -<p>“I don’t know,” said Ned, gazing into it, and pondering.</p> - -<p>“There’s another,” cried Hal, pointing ahead.</p> - -<p>So there was, and still another was visible, farther -on.</p> - -<p>“I tell you—these are Indian mounds, and people -have been opening them to see what’s inside,” exclaimed -Ned, positively.</p> - -<p>“But I don’t see much ‘mound’ about them,” objected -Hal.</p> - -<p>However, a series of gentle little rises could be -made out, each with its blunt top laid open, and its -sides disfigured by heaps of dirt.</p> - -<p>“What do they find in them?” asked Hal.</p> - -<p>“Oh, skeletons, and arrow-heads, and things,” informed -Ned. “But you have to dig good and deep; -twenty feet, I guess.”</p> - -<p>The boys scanned with a thrill of awe these relics -of a passed people who loved thus to inter their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span> -chiefs on some lofty outlook, commanding wood and -stream.</p> - -<p>“It must have been mighty long ago,” mused Hal. -“Here’s a stump of a tree that grew right out of the -middle of one.”</p> - -<p>He fell to work counting the rings.</p> - -<p>“Two hundred and sixty!” he announced.</p> - -<p>“Gee!” blurted Ned. “Come on,” he proposed, -after a moment which both required in order fully to -grasp the message of the stump. “Let’s poke around -inside of one, and perhaps we’ll find some arrow-heads -and stuff.”</p> - -<p>He picked up a stout piece of branch, with a sharp -end, and slid down into the first pit; Hal, similarly -equipped, slid after.</p> - -<p>The boys wielded their sticks well, but no trophies -resulted. Evidently the mound had been well cleaned -out, and nothing missed. They proceeded to the -next, and the next. Time sped more rapidly than -they were aware of. Suddenly Ned straightened up, -in the third mound, and exclaimed:</p> - -<p>“Say, Hal, do you know it’s getting dark?”</p> - -<p>They hastily scrambled out of the hole. Not only -was the sun low, but it was cloaked by a mass of -dense, black cloud unfolding swiftly toward the zenith. -An ominous growl of thunder rolled up the sky. -Birds were twittering uneasily, and the slight breeze -had died entirely away.</p> - -<p>“Great Cæsar!” cried Hal. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span>“I bet Sam and Joe -have gone by, and we haven’t seen them!”</p> - -<p>“No, they wouldn’t do that. They’d look for us, -and yell!” assured Ned, stanchly. “But we’re going -to have a big thunder-storm, that’s sure.”</p> - -<p>“I wish they’d come,” murmured Hal, plaintively.</p> - -<p>“Maybe they’ll wait until after the storm,” responded -Ned. “Anyway, we’ve got to find some -place where we can keep kind of dry, and watch the -river, too.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t you remember that cave we saw when we -were climbing up?” asked Hal, struck with an idea. -“What’s the matter with that?”</p> - -<p>Nothing was the matter with it. It was a cavity -worn out under a jutting slab of limestone—much as -though the sloping ground had fallen away at this -point. There was plenty of room to sit upright, for -some distance back in it.</p> - -<p>A short time the boys sat on their roof, so to -speak, and hung their legs over the edge of the slab, -while they noted the approach of the storm. Swiftly -the cloud marched onward, foot by foot blotting out -the blue. Vivid lightning played through the billows -of heavy vapor, and the thunder pealed and mumbled.</p> - -<p>Nearer came the devouring line of black. Birds -were flying for shelter. A fresh breeze sprang up, -blowing toward the advancing giant, as if he were -sucking in the air. The river, upon which appeared -not a sign of Sam and Joe, changed from silver to -dull lead frosted by a multitude of white-caps.</p> - -<p>“It’s pretty grand, isn’t it!” commented Ned,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span> -struck with the majesty of the storm, and with the -novelty of their plight.</p> - -<p>“Y-yes,” replied Hal; who, nevertheless, preferred -to look upon the scene, however grand, from the -neighborhood of some convenient house.</p> - -<p>Until the very last moment they sat here; then, -with the first spattering drops of rain, they dived for -shelter. With flare of lightning, and crackle of -thunder, and roar of wind, the rain descended in -torrents; but only a whiff of spray now and then -reached the boys, tucked in the farthermost recess -of their cave.</p> - -<p>It seemed as though the rain never would abate, -for as often as it slackened, and the boys took hope, -so often it was sure to be swelled by a gust of reinforcements. -But finally it died to a drizzle, and -Ned made bold to slip out and take a survey.</p> - -<p>The storm was over, practically, but the dusk of -evening was settling down in earnest.</p> - -<p>“Who-oo-oo-oo-ee-ee!” shouted Ned, thinking -that perhaps Sam and Joe might be within hearing, -although he did not see any skiff.</p> - -<p>No answer.</p> - -<p>Hal came out, and joined him in another call, -which brought no response but the echoes. Oppressed -by the dampness and the rapidly waxing -gloom, the boys felt a strange desolation.</p> - -<p>“I wonder how Bob liked the storm,” spoke Ned, -trying to be cheerful. “He must have been scared!”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span></p> - -<p>“And all our things are just sopping! We left -our blankets out to dry, you know,” mourned -Hal.</p> - -<p>“Say!” on the instant exclaimed Ned, fumbling -in his pockets. “Do you know, I left my knife up -there by one of those holes!”</p> - -<p>“Oh, you can’t find it, now,” objected Hal, who -somehow did not fancy being deserted, even for a -moment, in this weird spot.</p> - -<p>“Yes, I can,” flung back Ned, scrambling up the -wet slope, and anon slipping and stumbling. “It’s -by the second hole, where I sharpened my -stick.”</p> - -<p>Ned gained the crest at the same point where he -and Hal had come out when they had climbed before. -It was very still, up here; only the drip, drip, -from the trees, and the soughing of the wind, breaking -the quiet. It also was much darker and lonesomer -than he had expected it would be, but he -bravely trudged forward along the edge of the bluff -toward the old mounds.</p> - -<p>He started to whistle, but his “Marching Through -Georgia” came to an abrupt stop right in the middle -of the first chorus. What uncanny, harrowing sound -was that? He halted, with one foot upraised, and -peered ahead.</p> - -<p>He was nearing the first of the opened mounds, -when rising apparently out of the second he descried -a dim, white Thing, spectral, wavering, menacing him -with a series of ghastly noises.</p> - -<p>The goose-flesh sprang out all over Ned’s body,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span> -as if he had been in swimming too long, a weakness -seized on his knees, and he imagined that his hair -was rising under his battered felt hat.</p> - -<p>It occurred to him that, rightfully enough, the -Indians did not approve of having their remains, -which had slumbered through two centuries and a -half, exposed by means of spades and crooked sticks -in the hands of the pale-face. And having cautiously -retreated backward, step by step, suddenly -he turned and bolted as hard as he could run! He -didn’t want his jack-knife.</p> - -<p>Guided through the blackness more by guesswork -than by sight, over the edge of the bluff he plunged, -and fell, rather than ran, to the cave and the arms -of Hal.</p> - -<p>Hal had heard him coming, and received him with -concern.</p> - -<p>“What’s the matter, what’s the matter?” he demanded.</p> - -<p>“There—there’s something white and funny in -one of the mounds!” panted Ned. “When it saw -me coming it made a noise at me—a regular ghost-noise—and—and -I lit out.”</p> - -<p>“Aw, shucks!” scoffed Hal.</p> - -<p>“Well, you go up with me, and I’ll show you,” -declared Ned, indignant. “Those mounds are graves, -you know.”</p> - -<p>Up he went, again, Hal readily accompanying.</p> - -<p>“Listen!” whispered Ned, clutching him by the -coat sleeve, when they had reached the top.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span></p> - -<p>Those same dreadful sounds were being borne to -them, amid the wailing of the night wind.</p> - -<p>Hal caught him by the hand.</p> - -<p>“Sh!” cautioned Ned; and they softly stole forward, -their heart in their mouth.</p> - -<p>Yes, the white Thing was there, just as Ned had -predicted. They didn’t go very near.</p> - -<p>Hal gave back a yard, and so did Ned. They -were poised, all prepared to run like deer if a hostile -movement was made against them, when from the -beach below arose to them a strenuous yodling:</p> - -<p>“Oooo-dle—loo-dle—loo-dle—loo-dle!”</p> - -<p>Sam and Joe! The call broke the spell.</p> - -<p>“Oooo-dle—loo-dle—loo-dle—loo-dle!” yodled -the boys, fleeing as they shouted. Never had signal -been so welcome.</p> - -<p>“Thought we’d left you here for good, didn’t -you?” queried Joe, when, having been piloted by -shouts and a waving lantern the boys, stumbling, -slipping, leaping, brought up beside the skiff, at the -water’s edge.</p> - -<p>“Say——” hailed Ned, with scant ceremony, -“there’s some Indian graves up on the bluff, dug -open, and now it’s dark there’s a big white thing in -one of them, and we don’t know what it is.”</p> - -<p>“It made an awful noise at us, and we think it’s a -ghost,” added Hal.</p> - -<p>“Wa-al, I’d like to look at it,” drawled Joe. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span>“I -never seen a ghost. Want to take a squint at it, -Sam?”</p> - -<p>“Naw,” replied Sam. “I wouldn’t climb them -bluffs for ten thousand ghosts!”</p> - -<p>Joe, lantern in hand, strode to the foot of the bluff.</p> - -<p>“If it’s the genu-ine article, throw it down, an’ I’ll -pass jedgment on it,” called Sam, after him. “A -hundred foot drop won’t hurt a real ghost any, I -reckon.”</p> - -<p>With Hal and Ned close at his heels Joe ascended -the steep slope, and at the top, warned by the two -boys, paused to listen.</p> - -<p>“There,” whispered his companions, breathlessly, -as upon the thick air floated the mysterious sounds.</p> - -<p>“By gorry, the <em>noises</em> are genu-ine, all right,” muttered -Joe, astonished, and making in the direction -whence they seemed to come.</p> - -<p>“Perhaps the lantern will put it out, so he won’t -see it,” whispered Hal to Ned, vaguely suspicious that -ghosts cannot stand the light.</p> - -<p>“Sh!” bade Ned.</p> - -<p>However, the white thing was in the same position -as when they last had seen it. Joe never paused, but -walked right ahead, and boldly swung his lantern -forward, reckless of consequences.</p> - -<p>The boys, hard behind him, fully expected to behold -some unearthly, awesome shape exposed to -view.</p> - -<p>With a shock, partly of relief, partly of disappointment, -they found themselves gazing upon the protruding -eyes, inquiring ears, kindly face, and flowing -main and forelock, of a white horse, while<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span> -from his nostrils issued strange snorts of appeal and -alarm.</p> - -<p>Only his head was visible above the mound. The -remainder of him was inside.</p> - -<p>“Oh, gee!” exclaimed both boys, in chagrin, wishing -that they, instead of the horse, were in the hole—and -out of sight.</p> - -<p>Joe doubled over in a fit of laughter that caused -him fairly to shake and wobble on his feet.</p> - -<p>“Whoopee! Whoopee!” he gasped. “Nothin’ but -an old white hoss, got stuck in a hole. Or mebbe -it’s the hoss the Injun used to ride, and had buried -with him, and it’s his night to come out. P’raps to-morrer -night’ll be the Injun’s turn.”</p> - -<p>“It—it looked like a ghost,” faltered Hal. Ned -was tongue-tied in his shame.</p> - -<p>“Git out o’ here!” urged Joe, circling the animal, -and smiting him suddenly on the flank.</p> - -<p>Under this sudden spur, with a grunt, a heave, -and a volley of loud snorts, the horse, awakening -from his silly lapse into helplessness, all at once -plunged and reared, and was at last again on hard -ground. Forthwith he began to graze.</p> - -<p>“Now there’s room for the Injun to pop out, when -he wants to,” chuckled Joe. “Come on, you ghost-finders, -so he won’t be afraid.”</p> - -<p>And, followed meekly by Hal and Ned, he returned -to the boat.</p> - -<p>Oh, how Sam jeered!</p> - -<p>He and Joe never forgot. And thereafter, whenever<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span> -they chanced upon Hal or Ned they would be -sure to ask, slyly:</p> - -<p>“Seen any ghosts lately?”</p> - -<p>As if to atone for his past ill-nature, as they pulled -in at the shanty landing, Sam—who really had a very -kind heart—said, gruffly:</p> - -<p>“You kids had better stop for a snack with us. -Steak an’ taters is all we got, but that grape-arbor -camp o’ yourn must be nigh drowned.”</p> - -<p>The boys, with some misgivings lest Bob should -find out, and feel hurt, accepted the invitation; and -Hal frankly yielded the palm to Sam as a cook.</p> - -<p>This seemed to tickle Sam more than anything -else.</p> - -<p>“Wa-al, I do know how to cook, a bit,” he granted, -“seein’ as I’ve cooked for Joe an’ me for twenty odd -year.”</p> - -<p>Carrying a bone which Sam sent, with his compliments, -to “the dog,” finally they arrived at their -camp. Bob wanted to know where on earth they -had been so long—but was hushed, in the midst of -his noisy remarks, by the bone.</p> - -<p>The camp, as Sam had predicted, was “drowned.” -Nevertheless, the sun would repair all damage, inasmuch -as the bread, the tenderest article of food in -their cupboard, fortunately had escaped the wetting.</p> - -<p>Before a huge bonfire the boys partially dried -their blankets, and then retired to the near-by horse-shed -to sleep.</p> - -<p>Ere the mosquitoes had fully found them they -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span> -were beyond annoyance, and roundly snoring, while -about their heads the little wood mice rustled through -the straw.</p> - -<p>Not until morning did it occur to them that they -had not found the missing knife!</p> - -<div class = "chapter"> -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<img src="images/i111.jpg" width="400" height="600" alt="" /> -<div class="caption"><p class = "caption"><span class="smcap">The Ghost of the Indian Mounds.</span></p></div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> -</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span></p> - - - -<div class = "chapter"> -<a name = "Chapter_7" id = "Chapter_7"></a> -<h2> -<a href = "#Contents" class = "chapref" title = "Return to Table of Contents."> -CHAPTER <abbr title="7">VII</abbr></a><br /> - -<span class = "small">THE COUNTY FAIR</span></h2> - - -<p class = "cap"><span class = "upcase">The</span> boys stayed at Rock Creek ten days. -At last they were completely out of bait; -the little marsh had been scoured clean of -frogs, and even the snakes had deserted it; every -stone and log had been overturned, for crawfish; -they had been driven to bacon-rind, which was too -hard, and to dogfish flesh, pressed beef, and bits of -bread tied in mosquito netting, all of which were too -soft. Their provisions were reduced to a few beans -and a can of peaches, and the fish in the fish-box. -Their clothing was much the worse for hard service; -so were their faces and hands.</p> - -<p>They decided, suddenly, to go home.</p> - -<p>Thereupon, one morning they ran their faithful -trot-lines for the last time; took them up, not -without regrets; ate an early dinner, principally -of beans and canned peaches; and by noon had -their camp broken, which was an easy matter, considering -that their blankets and their cooking utensils -were about all the outfit that had survived. They -cleaned for market the forty fish, mostly cats, imprisoned -in their fish-box, and packed them in an old -cask, with a chunk of ice, donated by Sam and Joe,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span> -on the top under a piece of canvas. At half-past six -they were sculling to the government light on the -peninsula, with Sam and Joe waving farewell from -in front of the shanty, and with Bob, in the stern of -the boat, defiantly barking back across the water at -the brindled dog, and telling him what he (Bob) -would have done had he (Bob) remained only a day -longer.</p> - -<p>Soon the <cite>Harriett</cite> hove in sight around the bend -below, and swinging in at their bandanna handkerchief -signal, stopped for them to hustle aboard.</p> - -<p>By eight o’clock they were at Beaufort, and had -astonished Commodore Jones by lugging their cask -of fish upon his quarter-deck—that is, his fish-market -platform—and demanding payment.</p> - -<p>As a result of the bargain, they came out gainers -fifty cents each, over and above their passage money -both ways on the <em>Harriett!</em></p> - -<p>The first half of the long vacation was now gone, -and what with swimming and baseball and short -jaunts after sunfish and croppies, and other amusements -furnished by field and river, the last half also -quickly passed.</p> - -<p>As a glorious wind-up to the Beaufort youths’ -summer of fun, with the closing week of vacation -came the county fair. This was an annual event, -and was held on grounds maintained for the purpose -upon the outskirts of the town; and year to year -Beaufort people, old as well as young, looked forward -to it with much interest.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span></p> - -<p>Ned went, of course. And this year Bob went, -too. It was his burning ambition to go everywhere -that Ned did; and in the case of school and church, -this created some embarrassment.</p> - -<p>Considering that probably it was his first fair, and -that there were numerous temptations in the shape -of fat pigs with ears delicious to bite, and cows and -sheep just prime to be chased, and countless farmers’ -dogs ripe to be taught town manners, he behaved -very well indeed.</p> - -<p>He and Ned covered the entire exhibition. They -did not miss a single item, although there were a -number of things for which they did not care a bit. -They inspected the live-stock pens (where the pigs -and cattle nearly drove Bob to distraction); they -traversed machinery hall, and poultry hall, and all -the other halls; and in particular they explored the -hall of arts. Here, worming their way through the -crowd they gazed with watering mouth—at least, -Ned’s mouth watered, and Bob’s still dripped in -memory of the porkine ears elsewhere—upon -strained honey, and rich cheeses, and jellies and -preserves and cakes and doughnuts and cookies -and other marvels into which ambitious good-wives -had put their whole hearts. Ned sought -this building several times; he had vague hopes -that in some way he might encounter the judging -committee, and be invited to help “taste.”</p> - -<p>A close second in interest to this display was that -of floral hall, where the flowers themselves were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span> -rivaled in hues by apples and peaches and plums -and cherries and pears and grapes, in luscious -pyramids.</p> - -<p>These two halls were extraordinary places for getting -up an appetite!</p> - -<p>However, one did not need to depend upon the -stock pens and the various “halls” for one’s entertainment. -Outside there was endless variety, and -the air was constantly athrill with excitement. All -day a throng of shows in tents did a loud and urgent -business, inviting the people far and near by -banjo and gong and word of mouth to come in and -see snakes and wild men and bearded women and -giants and dwarfs, and the like, whose wondrous -figures were outlined in gay colors upon the canvas -without. These shows formed a long street, lined -with the pictured marvels, and alive with shouts of:</p> - -<p>“Hi yi yi yi! Walk in, walk in! Great free -show, only ten cents, half a dime!”</p> - -<p>“Right this way! Everybody! Come everybody! -Biggest show for the money in the world!”</p> - -<p>“Stop! Stop! Stop! Don’t miss it! We are -the people! A whole circus for only ten cents!”</p> - -<p>Every morning there was a parade around the race -track of prize-winning animals, where horses pranced, -bulls roared defiantly, and donkeys brayed and -kicked.</p> - -<p>Every afternoon at one o’clock there was a balloon -ascension; and at two o’clock began trotting and -running races.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span></p> - -<p>Not to miss anything on the fair grounds kept a -boy and dog hustling, although they went every day—which -they didn’t. Still, by virtue of the addition -to his funds of that fifty cents fish money, Ned managed -to go oftener than in any previous year.</p> - -<p>Most fascinating was the balloon ascension. All -through the morning the balloon lay, a mass of inert, -dirty, rubbery cloth, on the ground at the spot -whence the ascent was to be made. It always was -surrounded by curious people, who looked upon it -with awe, but who were kept from fingering it by a -rope staked about it.</p> - -<p>A little after twelve the program of filling it with -gas began. Slowly the dull heap inflated, until no -longer was it inert; it swayed and struggled, instinct -with life.</p> - -<p>The aeronaut, arrayed in tights of pink, with a -spangled sash about his waist, came out from a little -tent, and while all eyes scanned him admiringly, inspected -the progress of the work. He was a slender, -alert man, with a tawny moustache, and keen glance. -Finally the balloon towered like a gigantic pear over -the heads of the throng, and strained to be free. It -was held by a single rope, passing over the top, one -end tied to a stout stick and the other held by sturdy -assistants. The rope made a crease in the bulging, -puffy dome.</p> - -<p>Suddenly the aeronaut, having tested certain fastenings -and knots, commanded sharply:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Let go!”</p> - -<p>The persons holding the rope released it. It -slipped over the top. Amid shrill cheers and the -hum of voices the balloon darted upward, dragging -after it a trapeze, and there, below the trapeze, was -the aeronaut, hanging by a slender cord. Up the -cord he nimbly climbed, like a monkey, and sitting -upon the bar of the trapeze, while the balloon continued -its dizzy flight, kissed his hand to the gazing -multitude beneath. Then he performed a number of -acrobatic feats, and later lit somewhere, balloon and -all, to appear and repeat the program the next day.</p> - -<p>Ned wondered how it felt. He was soon to find -out.</p> - -<p>From the first he had simply burned to catch hold -of the rope, and help keep the balloon down. But -other boys who had volunteered had been roughly -rejected by the aeronaut, so Ned could only push as -near as possible, and be all ready.</p> - -<p>It was the closing day of the fair, and the last of -the ascensions was about to occur. The balloon was -filled and buoyant, and a fresh breeze was causing it -to tug unusually at the one rope. The men holding -the rope down were almost lifted, at times, off their -feet. It was a tug of war between the balloon and -them, and the balloon seemed likely to have the best -of it.</p> - -<p>“Here, you people; some of you give us a hand -on that rope, will you?” appealed the aeronaut.</p> - -<p>At least half a score—many more than were -needed—sprang over into the enclosure; among<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span> -them were Ned and Bob. Only three or four could -find room on the rope—and among these was Ned. -Thus, at length, he was where he had wanted to be.</p> - -<p>The aeronaut was too busy to pay any attention.</p> - -<p>“Now—let go!” he ordered, suddenly.</p> - -<p>As the words were leaving his mouth, this is what -happened: Wrenched by a sudden fierce gust of wind -the stake to which the balloon was anchored was torn -from the earth; the people who had been braced at -the other end of the rope sat down hard. The balloon -jumped, and the heavy stake, swinging inward, -caught in the netting; the rope, quickly kinking, -knotted under Ned’s shoulders as he sprawled, for a -moment, on the ground; and like lightning he was -jerked into space.</p> - -<p>The accident took only a second. Now Ned was -valiantly set, prepared to hold the balloon all by himself, -if necessary; next, he was lifted irresistibly, helplessly, -into the air, and out of a great uproar of voices -he was conscious only of Bob’s despairing, high-pitched -yelps, quickly fading away, beneath; and -above, the aeronaut’s imperative, tense voice:</p> - -<p>“Hang tight! Grab the rope!”</p> - -<p>With both hands Ned had at once gripped the -rope as high as he could reach. It was wound about -his chest, and the free end dangled below. He -raised his eyes, and there, over head on the trapeze, -was the aeronaut.</p> - -<p>“Get that end between your legs—that’s right,” -bade the aeronaut. “Can you hold on?”</p> - -<div class = "chapter"> -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<img src="images/i121.jpg" width="400" height="600" alt="" /> -<div class="caption"><p class ="caption">“<span class="smcap">Hang Tight! Grab the Rope!</span>”</p></div> -</div> -</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Y-y-yes,” quavered Ned, for he was badly frightened, -and between the queer sensation of the bottom -dropping out of everything, and the pressure of the -rope about him, he was nearly breathless.</p> - -<p>“You’re all hunky, then,” said the aeronaut, -cheerily. “In a jiffy we’ll be back. You can’t fall; -just hang on and wait.”</p> - -<p>“Y-y-yes,” quavered Ned, feeling like a spider on -a thread.</p> - -<p>It was very still where they were. He heard a -faint hissing, and he wondered what it was. The -aeronaut had opened the escape valve in the balloon. -Ned did not know it, but they were descending.</p> - -<p>“How do you like your free ride?” queried the -aeronaut, noting Ned’s drawn face, and trying to -divert him from thinking on the peril of the situation.</p> - -<p>“P-pretty w-well,” replied Ned.</p> - -<p>“Don’t look down! Look at me!” commanded -the aeronaut, sternly. “Look at me or I’ll drop on -top of you,” he repeated.</p> - -<p>Ned, alarmed, kept his eyes glued on those pink-clad -legs twenty feet above him.</p> - -<p>Yet he could no more help glancing hurriedly beneath -him, than after a tooth has come out can you -help putting your tongue into the hole.</p> - -<p>He looked down for just a fraction of a second—and -it was enough. He had seen the world, laid flat; -a patch of green, and a patch of yellow, and a thread-like -streak of silver; and the gulf that yawned under -him made his flesh creep.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span></p> - -<p>Supposing the aeronaut should drop on him! -Wouldn’t that be awful! The rope might break, and -together they would whirl like stones down through -space. He watched the aeronaut anxiously.</p> - -<p>“That’s right—watch me,” said the aeronaut. “If -you don’t——” And he shook his head meaningly.</p> - -<p>All this had required but a few moments, yet to -Ned they had seemed hours.</p> - -<p>“Where would you like to land?” asked the aeronaut, -in a chatty voice. “Back at the fair grounds, -or in a corn-field?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t care,” faltered Ned. He was getting tired -of his strained position.</p> - -<p>“Well, I guess we’ll choose the corn-field this trip,” -decided the aeronaut—speaking as if they were used -to taking such hazardous rides together. “Now, listen -here,” he continued, sharply. “We’re getting -close to the ground. Hear the leaves rustling? -Look down if you want to, and see. Didn’t I tell -you? Pretty soon you’ll be touching the top of the -corn. Then I’m going to cut your rope with my -knife. It won’t hurt you to drop—you’ve often -jumped out of trees and things higher than we’ll be—of -course you have.”</p> - -<p>How near the ground was! Ned could scarcely -believe his eyes. It seemed to be rushing up at -them. Below was a large corn-field, the stiff stalks -bending in the breeze.</p> - -<p>“When I say ‘three,’ I’ll cut,” warned the aeronaut.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span></p> - -<p>“All right,” responded Ned.</p> - -<p>The corn stalks just scraped his toes. The aeronaut -put his knife against the rope.</p> - -<p>“One—two—three!” he cried.</p> - -<p>Ned dropped. Crash, crash, thump! He ploughed -through the corn, and brought up with his hands -buried to the wrists in dirt. But he was safe on -earth! Rather, he was safe <em>in</em> earth! It didn’t matter; -he was thankful.</p> - -<p>Without delaying to unwind the rope, he started -to stand up to look for the balloon and the aeronaut. -He caught just a glimpse of them, already careening -onward, far adown the field, where they had darted -when relieved of his weight—and then he sank back -with an “Ouch!”</p> - -<p>He had sprained his ankle.</p> - -<p>He unwrapped the rope, and carrying it in his -hand hobbled toward the road. The aeronaut, who -had made a better landing a quarter of a mile away, -came rattling up, balloon and all, in a farmer’s wagon, -to meet him.</p> - -<p>Then they made triumphal entry into town, and -Mrs. Miller, astonished at seeing the turn-out stop -before her door, learned what a thrilling ride aloft -Ned had just made.</p> - -<p>First she hugged him, and then she bound his -ankle, and then she hugged him again, and then she -went off to cry. But she couldn’t stay, and came -back with tears still in her eyes.</p> - -<p>Next Mr. Miller arrived in haste, and after patting<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span> -Ned softly on the head, and saying: “Why, Neddie!” -coughed violently, and had to turn his back -and blow his nose.</p> - -<p>Last came Bob, trotting home in great chagrin -over having lost track of his master. He stood on -his hind legs, and licked Ned all over the face.</p> - -<p>Ned was considered very lucky—by older folks -because he had escaped with his life; by the boys -because he had been up in a balloon; and by himself -because the sprain had come at the end of vacation, -instead of at the beginning or middle.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> -</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span></p> - - - -<div class = "chapter"> -<a name = "Chapter_8" id = "Chapter_8"></a> -<h2> -<a href = "#Contents" class = "chapref" title = "Return to Table of Contents."> -CHAPTER <abbr title="8">VIII</abbr></a><br /> - -<span class = "small">NED THE NIMROD</span></h2> - - -<p class = "cap"><span class = "upcase">Ned’s</span> ankle healed all too rapidly, for <em>him;</em> -he was out of school only three days. However, -it remained weak for a much longer -time, affording him the fun of limping about with a -cane. The boys quite envied him, and the girls gazed -on him with mingled symptoms of awe and pity.</p> - -<p>Little Zu-zu Pearce, who, since his rescue of Tom, -had adopted him as her own especial hero, came up -to him, as he was standing by the schoolhouse steps, -and looking at him gravely, said:</p> - -<p>“Does it hurt you awful, Ned?”</p> - -<p>“Naw,” scoffed Ned. “It’s nothing but just a -common sprain, and it’s about well, now.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t believe you’d say, even if it was killing -you,” asserted Zu-zu, admiringly. “And you were -awful brave not to let go of that rope and be -killed!”</p> - -<p>“Aw, I couldn’t have let go if I’d tried,” asserted -Ned, wriggling uneasily. “I was tied on.”</p> - -<p>“Well, I don’t care—you <em>didn’t</em> let go, anyway,” -returned Zu-zu; and she skipped back to the other -girls, leaving Ned red and embarrassed, but nevertheless -gazing after her with a pleased expression in his -eyes and a kindly warmth in his heart.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span></p> - -<p>But, as in the case of many a badge of honor, the -cane presently became irksome. Ned wanted a gun, -and he knew that it was no use to aspire to be a -hunter if he couldn’t walk and run. So he dropped -the cane, now unnecessary, and fell to teasing his -father for a shotgun.</p> - -<p>Living as they did beside the Mississippi, which is -a great thoroughfare for wild fowl in their flights -from north to south, and from south to north, each -fall and spring the Beauforters were given splendid -duck-shooting.</p> - -<p>All the men who liked hunting, and nearly all the -older boys, and some of the younger whose folks -did not care, had guns. Hunting played as important -a part in a Beaufort boy’s program as did swimming -and rowing.</p> - -<p>Although Ned had mastered the two sports last -mentioned, it did not seem to his mother that she -ever could consent to his taking up the first—hunting -with a gun.</p> - -<p>Time had proved to her that there were plenty of -dangers to which Ned was exposed, without adding to -the list powder and lead.</p> - -<p>Ned argued for; his mother pleaded against; -Mr. Miller listened and smiled, and was strictly non-committal. -Down deep in his mind he knew that in -the end Ned would win the day.</p> - -<p>“Well, Helen, I don’t see but what we’ll have to -give the boy the gun,” he remarked to his wife, when -they were alone, one evening.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Oh, Will!” groaned Mrs. Miller, in piteous -tones.</p> - -<p>“But you see, my dear, it will be very hard to -keep him from being with other boys who have -guns,” explained her husband, “and it would be -better to let him have a gun of his own, and understand -how to use it, than to leave him to pick up -what he can, and maybe get injured through his -ignorance.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, Will!” again appealed Mrs. Miller. “It -doesn’t seem as though I <em>could</em> agree to it.”</p> - -<p>Then mother-like, that her boy might live his -strong, sturdy life, she consented.</p> - -<p>“Ned,” spoke Mr. Miller, the next noon, “supposing -we let you have a gun, will you promise to -do exactly as we say?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, sir,” agreed Ned, promptly.</p> - -<p>“And you’ll be careful?” implored his mother, -anxiously gazing at him.</p> - -<p>“Of course,” assured Ned.</p> - -<p>He half-way expected that his father would take -him straight down town and buy a gun; but he was -disappointed. There were farther preliminaries.</p> - -<p>“All right,” said his father. “But before you get -the gun, I want to be sure that you know how to -handle it. I don’t want you shooting yourself, or -shooting anybody else, which would be about as bad. -So I’ve arranged with Mr. Russell to take you out -and show you a few things.”</p> - -<p>Mr. Russell lived across the street. He was a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span> -great hunter, and had all manner of shooting stuff. -He was known as a very steady, prudent man, and -Mr. and Mrs. Miller felt that they could safely trust -Ned to him.</p> - -<p>As for Ned, his disappointment was not keen, -after all. Going out with Mr. Russell, whom he regarded -as the finest hunter in town, was next best -thing to having a gun, oneself.</p> - -<p>“Say——” he began, his face aglow.</p> - -<p>“Ned!” rebuked his mother.</p> - -<p>“I mean—when are we going?” resumed Ned, -too excited to offer other apology. “And will he -help me train Bob to be a hunting dog?”</p> - -<p>“He’ll let you know when he’s ready,” stated Mr. -Miller. “And until then you must wait, and not -bother either him or us, about gun or dog.”</p> - -<p>Ned strove to walk his paths with patience, and -soon was rewarded. The twentieth of September, -and the first frost had just passed, and hazelnuts -and hickory-nuts were ripe for gathering, when Mr. -Russell sent over word for Ned to be ready that -night after school, and they would go out for a little -while.</p> - -<p>“Hurrah!” shouted Ned, capering through the -sitting-room. “Did he say to take a lunch, father? -Will you put it up, mother? How long are we to -stay? Where are we going? Can I stay as long as -he does?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, Neddie!” protested his mother, placing her -hands over her ears.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Ned, be still!” ordered his father. “I don’t -think you’ll need a lunch—although, judging from -your appetite, you ought to carry one with you all -the time. No, Mr. Russell said that he was merely -going out on the flats for an hour, to shoot off some -old shells, and that you could help him, if you -liked.”</p> - -<p>“Oh!” responded Ned, a bit crestfallen. “Shall -I take Bob?”</p> - -<p>“If neither Mr. Russell nor Bob objects, I’m sure -I don’t,” laughed Mr. Miller.</p> - -<p>As soon as school was out Ned scurried to Mr. -Russell’s, and found him sorting over shells, and -stuffing some into his coat pockets. Ned was a -little surprised to note that he was dressed just as -usual, and evidently did not intend to wear his business-like -hunting coat, with its stains from game and -weather, and its pockets with here and there a mysterious -feather; or his boots; or even his brown cap -with slanting visor.</p> - -<p>“Hello, young man,” greeted Mr. Russell.</p> - -<p>“Hello,” replied Ned. “Are we going to kill -anything?”</p> - -<p>“Nothing except some cans and chunks of wood, -I guess,” responded Mr. Russell.</p> - -<p>“Do you want Bob?” queried Ned, hopefully.</p> - -<p>“Why, yes; take him along, if you wish to,” answered -Mr. Russell, surveying Bob, who was wagging -his tail near by. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span>“He’s pretty old to train, now, -but we can see if there’s any good in him, maybe.”</p> - -<p>Bob, who, at the stroke of the bell for the close -of school always hied out upon the front walk to -wait for his master, and thus, this afternoon, had -caught him ere he entered the Russell gate, had -been uneasily sniffing at the gun case, and eyeing -Mr. Russell’s preparations. He whined, vaguely -and uncertainly. There was something that he didn’t -like.</p> - -<p>In spite of Mr. Russell’s ordinary garb Ned was -as proud as a peacock when they started up the -street together, while Bob, with worried air, trotted -behind.</p> - -<p>The flats for which they were bound lay just west -of the town; they were a wide stretch of low, level -land, pasture and shallow marsh, given over to cows -and frogs.</p> - -<p>Ned and Mr. Russell scrambled over a fence, and -stopped in a field where there were no cattle or persons -within range.</p> - -<p>Mr. Russell took the gun from its case, and -snapped it together.</p> - -<p>“Say—is that your gun?” demanded Ned, surprised. -“I thought you had a double-barrel!”</p> - -<p>“This is a new one,” replied Mr. Russell. “See, -how it comes apart?” and he unsnapped the fore-end, -and took off the barrel. “Now you try,” he -bade, passing the parts to Ned.</p> - -<p>Without hesitation Ned fitted them together. -Then he handled the piece fondly.</p> - -<p>It was a compact little single-barrel, twelve-bore,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span> -with low, rebounding hammer, pistol grip, barrel of -bronzed twist, stock of polished walnut, and all the -metal trimmings blued, to prevent rust, and avoid -alarming game by flashes of sun; in fact, from the -sight bead to the rubber butt plate it seemed a perfect -little gun.</p> - -<p>“My!” sighed Ned, boldly putting it to his -shoulder, and aiming into space. “It is choke-bore, -Mr. Russell?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, siree,” assured Mr. Russell, who had been -watching him with a twinkle in his eyes. “Shall I -show you?” and he extended his hand.</p> - -<p>With a final loving pat of the breech Ned regretfully -turned the gun over to him, and awaited the -next number on the program.</p> - -<p>Mr. Russell inserted a shell, and said:</p> - -<p>“Now go off from me about thirty yards, and -throw up this tin can, and let’s see what I can do to it.”</p> - -<p>Ned obeyed. He ran out, close followed by Bob, -until Mr. Russell told him to stop.</p> - -<p>“Throw it high, and away from you,” called Mr. -Russell.</p> - -<p>Up sailed the can. “Bang!” went the gun. -“Clink!” sounded the shot cutting the tin. The -can jumped in its arc, and striking the ground -rolled over and over as though it had been mortally -wounded.</p> - -<p>Ned raced to pick it up. It was now a sorry looking -can; and he brought it to Mr. Russell, counting -the shot holes as he did so.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Sixteen!” he announced, triumphantly, giving it -over for inspection.</p> - -<p>“That’s very fair,” commented Mr. Russell, carelessly -glancing at it. “There goes your dog,” he -added, pointing across the field.</p> - -<p>Sure enough; there was Bob, two hundred yards -away, and making a bee-line for home. He never -looked back. His tail was between his legs and his -back was humped, and even at that distance his -whole mien told of outraged feelings.</p> - -<p>“Here, Bob! Here, Bob!” called Ned; but he -called and whistled in vain.</p> - -<p>“No use, Ned,” remarked Mr. Russell, laughing. -“He’s gun-shy. Somebody must have shot at him, -once; or fired off a gun close to his ears; and now, -you see, he’s afraid when he hears a report.”</p> - -<p>“Won’t he get over it?” asked Ned, astonished -and puzzled.</p> - -<p>“No, I don’t think he will,” answered Mr. Russell. -“He’s spoiled for hunting.”</p> - -<p>“Well,” said Ned, gazing after poor Bob, now a -speck townward. “It isn’t his fault, anyway. He -can’t help it.”</p> - -<p>“Supposing you try a shot,” proposed Mr. Russell, -handing the gun and a shell to him.</p> - -<p>Bob’s failure to toe the scratch, in this, the only -particular, vanished from Ned’s mind. He gladly -seized gun and shell.</p> - -<p>“No, that’s not the right way to put in a cartridge,” -corrected Mr. Russell, kindly. “You have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span> -the muzzle pointed exactly at my stomach! And -when you close the breech, that will bring the muzzle -about at my mouth! Let me show you a better -way.”</p> - -<p>“There!” he continued, returning the weapon to -Ned. “When you load, always be sure that nobody -is in line with the piece. The chances are that the -shell won’t explode, but if it should, even once in a -thousand times, or in ten thousand, and there be an -accident, you’d never forgive yourself. It’s impossible -to be too cautious, and it’s very easy not to be -cautious enough, Ned.”</p> - -<p>Ned, somewhat abashed, but impressed by the -earnestness of Mr. Russell’s voice, this time loaded -more carefully, and Mr. Russell had him repeat -the operation to make certain that the lesson was -learned.</p> - -<p>“One small mistake might ruin your whole life, -Ned,” warned Mr. Russell. “So start right. And -now for a mark,” he proceeded. “I’ll set a can on -that fence post, yonder, and I’ll wager that you can’t -put as many shot in it as I did in that other can on -the fly. Did you ever shoot a gun?”</p> - -<p>“Once,” confessed Ned, reluctantly. “A long -time ago. And it kicked me over, and made my lip -bleed, and when I came home, and father found out -he said it served me right. It was Chuck Donahue’s; -his big muzzle loader.”</p> - -<p>“Did you hit anything?” queried Mr. Russell, -smiling as he walked away.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span></p> - -<p>“N-n-no,” admitted Ned. “At least, there was -only one shot-hole, and Chuck said he made it. But -I’ve aimed lots of times,” he added, to prove that he -was not lacking in experience.</p> - -<p>“Here!” called Mr. Russell, looking back. “Keep -that gun pointed toward the ground until you’re taking -aim! I don’t want to be speckled all over with -lead.”</p> - -<p>“It isn’t cocked,” explained Ned.</p> - -<p>“That makes no difference,” retorted Mr. Russell. -“Always handle a gun, empty or loaded, cocked or -not, as though you expected that it would go off at -any moment. That should become a fixed habit. -Will you remember—or shall we stop?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, I’ll remember,” pledged Ned.</p> - -<p>And, barring a few slight lapses, he did.</p> - -<p>Mr. Russell balanced the smooth round can on the -fence post, and walked to one side.</p> - -<p>“All ready,” he announced.</p> - -<p>Ned leveled the piece, and pulled on the trigger. -He couldn’t budge it.</p> - -<p>“Why not cock your gun?” inquired Mr. Russell, -quizzically.</p> - -<p>Ned blushed. What a number of blunders he had -made! Mr. Russell would think him very stupid.</p> - -<p>He aimed again.</p> - -<p>“Bang!”</p> - -<p>The stock of the gun flew up and jarred his head, -but he didn’t mind. He peered through the thin -smoke. The can had disappeared.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span></p> - -<p>“I hit it! I hit it! I know I hit it!” he cried, -setting out on the dead run.</p> - -<p>“I should say you did!” assured Mr. Russell, delighted, -picking up the can and examining it. -“Bravo! Fifteen—sixteen, seventeen! You beat -me by one!”</p> - -<p>Ned clutched the can, and delivered the gun into -cooler keeping. He scanned his trophy inch by -inch, and gloated over the many holes. Mr. Russell -noted his puffed lip, and smiled.</p> - -<p>“If you hadn’t taken in me, too, when you swung -your gun, to aim,” he commented, “you might not -have been punished by that lip.”</p> - -<p>“Oh!” uttered Ned, a little taken aback, and becoming -conscious of his bump.</p> - -<p>“Next time you’ll hold the gun tighter against -your shoulder—and be more careful in that other respect, -too,” said Mr. Russell, simply.</p> - -<p>They stayed on the flats for an hour and a half, -and used up all of Mr. Russell’s cartridges; and when -Ned went home he fairly was bursting with information. -He carried with him that riddled tin can, and -with no small degree of pride showed it to the family -and to the boys of the neighborhood. He had hit -other cans, during the lesson, but this was the result -of his first shot!</p> - -<p>Bob was waiting for him, at the front gate. He -greeted his master with a sheepish, apologetic manner, -as though to say:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span></p> - -<p>“I didn’t mean to act so silly; but you know, I -can’t help it.”</p> - -<p>“That’s all right, Bob,” comforted Ned. “I understand. -You shan’t go again.”</p> - -<p>Whereupon Bob whined wistfully, as much as to say:</p> - -<p>“Well, I don’t think you ought to go, then, either.”</p> - -<p>Bob, you see, was just a mite selfish in regard to -Ned.</p> - -<p>During the next week Ned went out several times -with Mr. Russell, and began to feel like quite a veteran. -He not only could hit stationary cans, but he -learned to hit things tossed into the air. To tell the -truth, he was a fine pupil.</p> - -<p>“Ned, Mr. Russell thinks that the public won’t -suffer if we go ahead now and trust you alone with a -gun,” observed Mr. Miller, one evening, at the supper -table. “He says you’re learning well, and that all -you need do is remember.”</p> - -<p>“I can hit a little piece of bark thrown up forty -yards away,” asserted Ned, confidently.</p> - -<p>“Very good,” responded his father, pushing back -from the table. “But I didn’t get Mr. Russell to -teach you that, so much as to teach you <em>not</em> to hit -some objects more important!”</p> - -<p>He went into the bedroom, and came back, bearing -a gun case.</p> - -<p>“How do you like it?” he said, giving it to Ned.</p> - -<p>With feverish fingers Ned unbuckled the straps. -The case had looked familiar; the gun was still -more familiar.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Say——” he burst out. “Is it mine? Did Mr. -Russell give it to me? Did you buy it of him? -It’s the very same gun!”</p> - -<p>“So it is,” replied his father, pleased to see <em>him</em> so -pleased. “I had Mr. Russell pick it out for me the -day after you and your mother and I talked together; -so you’ve been using it all this time, and -now you’re acquainted with it. It’s yours.”</p> - -<p>“Not yet,” interrupted Mrs. Miller. “Wait a moment. -Give the gun to me, Ned.”</p> - -<p>Ned wonderingly surrendered the treasure.</p> - -<p>“Neddie,” she declared, holding it behind her -back, and trying not to laugh, “you can’t have it -unless you promise not to use that dreadful ‘say’ any -more!”</p> - -<p>“I won’t, I won’t!” vowed Ned, in alarm.</p> - -<p>“Won’t what?” insisted his mother.</p> - -<p>“Won’t say ‘say’ any more,” cried Ned.</p> - -<p>“Or as much,” restricted his mother, firmly.</p> - -<p>“I won’t say it at all,” promised Ned.</p> - -<p>With a kiss his mother restored the gun to his -eager grasp.</p> - -<p>The only personage within Ned’s circle of relatives -and friends who did not rejoice with him in his new -gun was Bob. Poor Bob! The weapon was an -eye-sore to him. When his master brought it out -Bob gazed at him reproachfully, and slunk off, dejected, -woebegone. No coaxing could lift his -spirits, or induce him to come outside the yard, -when the gun was in sight.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span></p> - -<p>The gun was the only break that ever occurred in -the relationship between Ned and his dog.</p> - -<p>Ned speedily waxed to be a crack shot among his fellows. -He practiced incessantly, to the death of countless -tin cans, and the disappearance of his savings.</p> - -<p>Mr. Miller did not object, but he outlined his -views in a little lecture on shooting in general.</p> - -<p>“Destroy all the cans you want to, Ned,” he -laughed. “They’re fair game.” Then he grew -graver: “That’s right. I want you to learn to -shoot straight, so as to kill when you intend to. -But don’t shoot for practice at innocent birds. They -love to live, as well as you. Don’t risk shots at -game when the chances are that you can merely -wound. Shoot straight, and kill outright. Better -let a duck go, than maim it, so that it is liable to -linger and suffer for hours or days. That is why I -gave you a single-barrel, and had it heavily choked. -You will be more careful than if you had a second -barrel to fall back upon, and when the load hits a -bird, it will hit to kill.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, Neddie! I do wish that you would be content -to shoot at cans and such things, like you are -doing now,” pleaded his mother.</p> - -<p>“Why, mother!” exclaimed Ned, horrified. “We -can’t eat <em>cans!</em>”</p> - -<p>“So far as eating is concerned, Ned,” spoke his -father, drily, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span>“we shan’t go back on our butcher -just yet, even though you <em>have</em> got a gun! We -might need him.”</p> - -<p>Of all the boys who accompanied Ned, to throw -cans and blocks about at his bidding, Tom Pearce -was the most faithful, although Hal likewise went -quite often, and was trying to have his father get -him a gun, also.</p> - -<p>The frosty nights and the soft, delicious days of -Indian summer arrived; with them arrived the ducks, -who well knew that winter was near at hand, in ambush -on the borders of autumn.</p> - -<p>Ned’s neck was stiff from perpetually searching -the heavens to discover scurrying flocks. He talked -ducks from morn to eve, and dreamed ducks from -eve to morn, and the family assured him that he -certainly would turn into one, if he didn’t let up.</p> - -<p>And so far, despite his hunting excursions, and -his tales of “big mallards” that he “almost” got, -the family table was still innocent of game.</p> - -<p>The tenth of November, and behold Ned, and -Tom, his squire, across the river, trudging among -the winding sloughs that formed a popular Beaufort -hunting-ground. They had started from home at -four in the morning—as was their custom; and had -been tramping ever since—as, again, was their -custom; and had not shot a single duck—which, -alas, also was their custom. Ducks were much more -crafty than tin cans.</p> - -<p>Yet the boys thought that tramping all a long day, -laden with gun and shells and boots, through swamp -and over fields; with a few mouthfuls of cold breakfast, -and a cold lunch hastily gobbled; and at the</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span></p> - -<p>last not a feather to reward them, was much less -work than piling wood, for instance, or going down -town for a yeast-cake!</p> - -<p>Perseverance has its reward. On this tenth of -November Ned and Tom had stopped in a fence -corner to eat their lunch, which consisted mainly -of bread and butter and sugar, hard boiled eggs, and -cookies. They had stiffly arisen, and had walked -forward not twenty paces, when up from under the -high bank of a narrow inlet just in front of them, -jumped straight into the air, with a quack and a -sputter, a panic-stricken something, and was off like -a bullet.</p> - -<p>“Ned!” blurted Tom.</p> - -<p>“Bang!” spoke the gun.</p> - -<p>Down to turf upon the other side of the inlet -plumped the something, magically stopped in mid-flight.</p> - -<p>“You got him! You got him! Hurrah!” -howled Tom, dashing through the water, up over -his knees—and boots.</p> - -<p>“Hurrah!” cheered Ned, in his wake.</p> - -<p>It had happened so quickly that he was quite beside -himself. He had no recollection of taking aim. -He had no recollection of anything save a feathered -blurr in the air, his gun banging—and the feathered -blurr had disappeared.</p> - -<p>Through the shallow inlet they plashed, reckless -of consequences. On the way Ned ejected the -empty shell and inserted, with trembling fingers, a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span> -new one, to be ready in case the victim should suddenly -make off!</p> - -<p>The precaution was unnecessary. The victim was -past all “making off.” Tom reached it first, where -it lay, a shapeless, pathetic little lump of down and -quill, twenty yards from the water’s edge, and grabbed -it with the zeal of a retriever.</p> - -<p>“It’s a wood-duck!” he cried, joyfully.</p> - -<p>Ned panted up, and with scant courtesy snatched -it from him.</p> - -<p>“’Tain’t, either,” he said, scornfully. “It’s a green-wing -teal. See there.”</p> - -<p>Tom meekly granted the correction as coming -from one who owned a new gun and must know.</p> - -<p>The boys turned the limp bunch—no larger than -a pigeon, but, nevertheless, their first prize—over and -over in their hands, marking its every feature.</p> - -<p>Unlucky duckling; its life, begun only that summer, -had quickly ended.</p> - -<p>At last Ned tucked it in the pocket of his hunting-coat, -and on they strode, feeling now on the -highway to slaughter.</p> - -<p>Every few minutes Ned caressingly fingered the -warm, soft ball hanging against his left hip. He -hoped that it would make a bloody spot on the -canvas of the pocket. Although he had done his -best, the coat was still altogether too fresh.</p> - -<p>No more game fell to his gun that day; but -neither he nor Tom cared. They were not to go -home empty-handed.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span></p> - -<p>All the way through the streets Ned wondered if -people suspected what he was carrying concealed in -that pocket; and he bore, without caring, the gibes of -sundry hateful urchins:</p> - -<p>“Aw, didn’t get nothin’! Didn’t get nothin’! -Ain’t he a big hunter, though!”</p> - -<p>Tom stayed and helped him clean the teal. They -sat in the barn door, and scattered the feathers into -the alley, while Bob sniffed and sniffed at their operations. -The smell of the duck seemed to revive in his -blood old instincts, inherited from his parents, and he -was unhappy and puzzled.</p> - -<p>“You didn’t kill that all at once, did you?” -laughed a man, driving past.</p> - -<p>Well, it had not been very big, with the feathers -on, and it was very much smaller, with the feathers -off. But it was a duck!</p> - -<p>The boys counted the shot-holes, and traced where -each pellet had gone in and come out. They agreed -that Ned’s aim had been exactly right and that the -gun was a wonder.</p> - -<p>Into the midst of their pleasure crept an undercurrent -of pity which stopped just short of regret.</p> - -<p>“Seems kind of too bad, to kill it, doesn’t it,” -commented Tom, weighing the wee, cold, bare -morsel in his palm.</p> - -<p>“Y-y-yes,” admitted Ned. “But I guess he never -knew what struck him.”</p> - -<p>The wings, with their band of shiny emerald, had -been put aside, to keep.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Here,” said Ned, holding them out to Tom, as -that stanch follower was on the point of going home. -“Take ’em.”</p> - -<p>“No, you keep ’em,” insisted Tom.</p> - -<p>“Give ’em to Zu-zu, then,” blushed Ned, as if that -was a second thought. “She can wear ’em in a -hat.”</p> - -<p>Ned was duly congratulated on his success by the -family. The duck went to the ice-box, and was -roasted and served to him for dinner the next day.</p> - -<p>“Oh, Neddie!” exclaimed his mother, as the teal, -now, after cooking, was smaller than ever. “Do you -mean to say that it took two boys and a gun and -nearly a whole day to kill a poor little bird like -that?”</p> - -<p>“It’s good, anyway,” excused Ned, his mouth -full.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> -</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span></p> - - - -<div class = "chapter"> -<a name = "Chapter_9" id = "Chapter_9"></a> -<h2> -<a href = "#Contents" class = "chapref" title = "Return to Table of Contents."> -CHAPTER <abbr title="9">IX</abbr></a><br /> - -<span class = "small">THE CAMPAIGN PARADE</span></h2> - - -<p class = "cap"><span class = "upcase">But</span> this fall, gun and duck did not stand as the -only excitement for Ned and the other Beaufort -youth. Politics were red hot. A president -and vice-president of the United States were to -be elected, and the town was in a perfect ferment day -and night.</p> - -<p>There were caucuses and parades and “rallies” -and sidewalk discussions and even fights, in all -of which the boys, and the girls, too, took lively -interest.</p> - -<p>At school the recesses were given over, for the -most part, to debate. Ned’s father was a Republican, -Ned was what his father was, and Bob was what Ned -was; Mr. Lucas was a Democrat, therefore Hal was -a Democrat; Tom had no father living, and so he -sided with neither cause, but said that he “didn’t -care.”</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class = "brace"> -{ -</div> -<div class="verse"><span class = "pad">“Democrats</span></div> -<div class="verse"><span class = "pad">Eat old dead rats!”</span></div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>sang Ned and his crowd.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class = "brace"> -{ -</div> -<div class="verse"><span class = "pad">“Republicans</span></div> -<div class="verse"><span class = "pad">Lick old tin pans!”</span></div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>retorted Hal and his fellow partisans.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span></p> - -<p>Whereupon the Republicans claimed the best of -the argument.</p> - -<p>Nobody in Beaufort was more faithful in attending -the various political meetings than was Ned. -With eyes and ears alert he sedately accompanied -his father; or else, doing as he pleased, tagged the -band about through the streets until it brought up -at hall or opera house. He sat or stood, squeezed -in, the whole evening through, listening to orators -declare what great and wise things their party had -done, and what mean and foolish things the other -parties had done. In case it was a Republican meeting -he cheered in triumph; in case it was the opposition -(for he did not limit himself to the one) he -cheered “just for fun.” Thus he was able to do lots -of shouting, and went home hot, hoarse, and full of -enthusiasm.</p> - -<p>Of all the meetings in the town during the campaign, -the crowning one occurred as follows:</p> - -<p>“Hello!” exclaimed Mr. Miller, glancing over -<cite>The Evening Clarion</cite>.</p> - -<p>“What is it?” inquired his wife, while Ned, hovering -near, was at once all ears.</p> - -<p>“Why, I see by <cite>The Clarion</cite> that Senator Lipp is -to be here on the twenty-ninth, and we’re going to -have the biggest Republican rally ever held in the -county,” explained her husband.</p> - -<p>“Say——” cried Ned, agog, and forgetful of his -recent promise.</p> - -<p>“Gun!” said his mother.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Oh, I didn’t mean to. It slipped out before I -thought,” excused Ned.</p> - -<p>“Well, don’t let it slip in again,” laughed his -mother.</p> - -<p>“There’ll be a big parade around the town, winding -up at the opera house,” continued Mr. Miller, -skimming through the article. “All the outside -places are to be invited to send marching clubs. It’s -the last rally before election, and it will be a -whooper.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, father! I want to march! Can I?” begged -Ned.</p> - -<p>“Certainly,” replied his father, unexpectedly. -“Go ahead.”</p> - -<p>“But I mean march in the parade,” persisted Ned.</p> - -<p>“We’ll see,” responded his father.</p> - -<p>“But I’m sure they don’t want boys fussing round -them,” objected Mrs. Miller.</p> - -<p>“Yes, they do, mother,” quickly corrected Ned. -“Lots of boys march.”</p> - -<p>“I’m afraid that they’ll gladly take anybody large -enough to carry a torch,” confessed Mr. Miller.</p> - -<p>“The idea!” exclaimed his wife, shocked by this -give-away of political methods.</p> - -<p>As time wore on, the approaching rally grew to -mammoth proportions, and kept Ned busy talking -about its numerous phases.</p> - -<p><cite>The Clarion</cite> devoted columns of space to it, and -the town was well plastered with posters bristling -with exclamation points and heavy type.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span></p> - -<p>As to his marching, Ned now had not the slightest -doubt. His father said nothing more upon the subject, -and silence gave consent.</p> - -<p>“My father says <em>we</em>’re going to have a monster -rally, too; the night before election,” at last Hal declared, -in retort to Ned’s vauntings.</p> - -<p>“’Twon’t be as big as ours,” asserted Ned.</p> - -<p>“’Twill, I bet,” stoutly returned Hal, sticking up -for the honor of the Democratic party. “And I’m -going to march!”</p> - -<p>“Are you?” queried Ned, feeling as though some -of the polish had been taken off his own future.</p> - -<p>Of course, there was the remote chance that rain -would interfere with the Republicans, or that in some -other way the Democrats would be led to outdo -them.</p> - -<p>“Say—no, I didn’t mean that; but I tell you -what,” he proposed, suddenly: “you march with -me in our parade, and I’ll march with you in yours!”</p> - -<p>“All right,” agreed Hal. “You don’t suppose -they’ll care, do you?”</p> - -<p>By “they” he referred to Republicans and Democrats -in general, who might be disposed to resent -such an exchange.</p> - -<p>“I guess not,” hazarded Ned. “It evens up, you -know. And then, we’re only kids.”</p> - -<p>The day of the parade came, and dawned upon a -town already gay with bunting and banners. As -the sun rose higher, and peeped into the streets, -seemingly at the touch of his rays other bunting and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a></span> -banners unfolded. By noon Republican Beaufort was -in gala attire. Democratic Beaufort stolidly gazed, -and resolved:</p> - -<p>“Just wait until our turn, next week.”</p> - -<p>Lithographs of the Republican candidates were -displayed on all sides, in windows and attached to -flags drooping from upper stories; cheese-cloth, -bearing mottoes and portraits, spanned the downtown -streets and stretched across corners; through -the ordinary channels of business and private -affairs ran a current of excitement.</p> - -<p>“So you’re going to march, are you, Ned?” remarked -his father, that noon, at dinner.</p> - -<p>“Don’t, Neddie,” begged his mother. “You’ll -get all covered with dirt and grease; and I’m sure -the sight of you in the ranks won’t influence <em>many</em> -voters.”</p> - -<p>“But I’ve promised Hal to march in his parade -if he’ll march in mine,” explained Ned. “And -he’ll be mad if I back out. I’ll wear my old -clothes.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Miller sighed and looked, for support, at her -husband. However, not having Ned’s garments to -clean, he was filled only with amusement.</p> - -<p>As the afternoon wore on, the delegations from -outside points began to arrive. In the shape of -marching clubs, with wild cheers they tumbled off -from incoming trains, and forming at the depot -paraded up town, bands playing and people shouting. -Or as farmers’ families they rattled in by wagon-loads,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span> -and tying the horses around the court-house -square wandered through the streets.</p> - -<p>In the schoolroom Ned and his fellow prisoners -could hear the cries and music and sound of heavy -wheels, and chafed to be free. With the welcome -four o’clock bell they poured abroad, quite certain -that there were a thousand new things to see.</p> - -<p>This afternoon Bob sat at the front gate and waited -in vain. He was cut out by politics.</p> - -<p>His master, who had found much to do in watching -the depots, and not missing what the streets also -had to offer, did not appear until nearly supper time.</p> - -<p>“Here you are, Ned,” called Mr. Miller, <cite>Clarion</cite> in -hand. “This means you: ‘Marchers not attached to -any organization may obtain their uniforms at Room -6, Shinn Block. It is requested that the uniforms be -returned here, either immediately after the meeting, -or to-morrow.’”</p> - -<p>“Good!” cried Ned. “What kind of uniform?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, nothing very extra, you’ll find,” replied his -father, destroying Ned’s visions of epaulets and a -cocked hat.</p> - -<p>“But it will serve to keep your clothes from the -oil and soot, I hope,” voiced the thrifty mother.</p> - -<p>Ned galloped through his chores, and bolted a -hasty supper. Hal whistled for him, and ruthlessly -shutting in the barn the luckless Bob—who would -have been unhappy, anyway, with so many bands -playing in his ears, and so many feet to dodge—he -scooted off.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span></p> - -<p>“We’ll watch for you, when the parade comes past -the corner,” cried his mother, after him; for the line -of march led within a block of the house.</p> - -<p>Already streams of people, mostly men and boys, -some even now in uniform, were flowing toward the -business centre of town; and that business centre -itself was a fascinating scene of bustle, as the marchers, -in a variety of costumes, strode the walks, or -loitered at their points of assembly.</p> - -<p>For Ned and Hal, the first thing to do was to get -uniforms. Until they had some trappings they could -not feel as though they amounted to much.</p> - -<p>Room 6, Shinn Block, fairly was swarming with -persons after uniforms. In one corner was a pile of -capes, near by was a stack of caps, and in another -corner were sheaves of torches. Evidently all that -was necessary to do was to walk up, pick out an outfit, -and leave.</p> - -<p>The two boys sidled in, and had just seized upon a -cape apiece when they were interrupted by a man -who from beside the door was overseeing things.</p> - -<p>“Hey, you kids! What are you doing with those -capes?” he demanded, gruffly.</p> - -<p>Ned and Hal, startled and abashed, dropped their -spoils.</p> - -<p>“We’re going to march,” stammered Ned.</p> - -<p>“Oh, that’s all right. It’s Will Miller’s boy,” explained -somebody in the room, coming to the rescue. -“Let him march.”</p> - -<p>“And isn’t that young Lucas?” queried somebody<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span> -else. “Is your father going to march with us -to-night, too, sonny?”</p> - -<p>“No, he isn’t!” retorted Hal, hotly. “He’s going -to be in a lots bigger parade than this, next week!”</p> - -<p>Amid the teasing laughter which greeted this sally -the boys snatched cape and cap and torch, and fled -lest yet they might be stopped.</p> - -<p>The capes were of blue oilcloth, and buckled at the -throat. The caps also were of oilcloth, but red, and -were round, with a flat top and heavy visor. The -torches consisted of a long staff, at the end of which -swung a can containing kerosene and a wick.</p> - -<p>As soon as they were clear of the room the boys -donned their rigs. The capes came down to their -knees; and since in their haste they had not taken -account of size, their caps were far too large, and -spun about on their crowns. Paper, a tremendous -quantity, having been stuffed under the bands inside, -then, with their caps still wobbly, but with their -capes rustling and their torches proudly held aloft, -the two brave marchers descended to the street.</p> - -<p>Even during their brief stay while getting their -outfit, a change had taken place in the aspect of the -world without. Darkness had fallen, and torches -were being called into life, right and left.</p> - -<p>“Let’s light up!” proposed Hal.</p> - -<p>“Let’s,” seconded Ned.</p> - -<p>This was as easily done as said; they simply applied -their wicks to the lighted wick of the next good-natured -man whom they met—and good nature was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</a></span> -everywhere to-night—and now, with torches blazing, -they were fully in trim for the parade.</p> - -<p>The procession was forming. On horseback marshals, -distinguished by a sash passing from one -shoulder diagonally across the chest and under the -opposite arm, dashed up, and wheeled and dashed -down again. Horns gave preliminary, erratic toots, -and drums broke in with sudden rolls. Flambeaux -flamed forth, and died out. Transparencies bobbed -hither and thither, upon invisible legs. Marching -clubs stood at ease, while their members jested and -waited. The air was filled with kerosene smoke and -echoing voices.</p> - -<p>Ned and Hal, holding their heads stiffly lest their -caps should tumble off, and wrapped in their blue -capes like a cattle-man in his poncho, sped to the -corner mentioned by <cite>The Clarion</cite> as the meeting -place of the “unattached.” Here had gathered -about fifty other blue capes and red caps, and the -number was slowly being swelled.</p> - -<p>“Hi there!” hailed a marshal, spurring to them. -“You men close in, in column of fours, on the rear -of the procession, as it passes by.”</p> - -<p>Off he tore again, while Ned and Hal felt not a -little elated at having been classed among the “men.”</p> - -<p>The parade started. Drums commenced to beat -time, bands commenced to play, and forth into the -surrounding darkness flowed a little stream of lights -as if the sea of torches had sprung a-leak, and was -trickling down the street.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</a></span></p> - -<p>Hal and Ned had a good view of the make-up of -the procession; but they were impatient to become, -themselves, a part of it, and fretted at the delay.</p> - -<p>“There comes the last!” exclaimed a self-appointed -leader. “Get ready, four abreast!”</p> - -<p>In the confusion caused by forming some semblance -of ranks, the two boys found themselves -elbowed aside by tall men who didn’t want to be -made to look ridiculous, and by short men who -didn’t wish to be classed with “kids,” and by medium -sized men who evidently never had been boys—and -finally, when the whole had been divided by four, -Ned and Hal found themselves sifted back to the -rear, as remainders!</p> - -<p>Nobody seemed to notice them or their plight. -For a moment they were dismayed.</p> - -<p>“Aw, don’t let’s care,” said Ned, bluffly. “We -can march, just the same.”</p> - -<p>“Of course,” responded Hal. “And it’s more fun -to be two,” he added, defiantly.</p> - -<p>The column moved jerkily past, “hitching” along, -after the manner of all processions in starting, as -though it was learning to walk. When the tail came -opposite, the blue capes joined themselves to it, and -now the parade moved off, complete—a whip lash -of bobbing lights, with the blue capes forming the -snapper, and Ned and Hal being the frayed tip.</p> - -<p>Bands played conflicting tunes; <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">flambeaux</span> flared -and red fire glared; transparencies curtsied and -turned themselves about for approval; the people<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span> -lined up along the curb upon either side of the route -hooted and cheered.</p> - -<p>Away at the end Ned and Hal proudly held their -torches as high as they could, and tried to keep step -with the men in front of them. Theirs was the most -uncomfortable station in the line. All the dust, and -the soot and reek from the kerosene drifted back to -enfold them; the red fire was burned out before they -arrived, and likewise the spectators had done their -cheering and were taking short cuts to other points. -Worse than all this, as the rear of the procession filed -by the onlookers crowded in behind it, and fairly -stepped on the heels of the two boys.</p> - -<p>The parade was now about to traverse a section of -South Beaufort—and Ned and Hal, realizing that -they were nearing the enemy’s country, grew a little -nervous. It was at no little risk that a boy from -Beaufort proper crossed the dead-line into South -Beaufort—the lurking place of the Conners, and -“Slim” and “Fat” Sullivan, and Luke McCoy, and -“Big” Mike Farr and “Loppy” Lynch, and the rest -of the “gang”!</p> - -<p>However, it was too late to back out. The rear -guard must hold its post.</p> - -<p>Hardly had the tail of the procession passed over -the South Beaufort threshold, when rose the jeering -cry:</p> - -<p>“The kids! Say, catch on to the kids hangin’ on -behind!”</p> - -<p>A lump of dirt slapped against Ned’s oilcloth<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</a></span> -cape. Another knocked Hal’s cap askew. Small -lads and girls pressed close upon them and threatened -and mocked, while big brothers and sisters in the -background encouraged.</p> - -<p>The two boys pretended not to notice, but looked -straight ahead while earnestly wishing that they were -again in their own district.</p> - -<p>But the worst was coming.</p> - -<p>The nagging urchins, urged on from all sides, -waxed bolder, and began to jerk at the boys’ capes, -so that both were being compelled to struggle along -like engines towing a line of cars.</p> - -<p>This was getting to be too much.</p> - -<p>“Oh, let go, will you!” growled Ned, crossly, turning -and giving his foremost tormentor a sharp push.</p> - -<p>“Hi, Mike, he hit your brother!” delightedly rose -a chorus of voices.</p> - -<p>“Sock it to him, Patsy! Don’t you stand it!” advised -others.</p> - -<p>“Aw, Patsy! To let a feller like him hit yer!” -jeered still others.</p> - -<p>Thus egged on, Patsy, who was not even up to -Ned’s shoulders, doubled his scrawny, dirty fists, and -scowled fiercely.</p> - -<p>“What did you hit me fer? I wasn’t doin’ nothin’,” -he demanded.</p> - -<p>“I didn’t hit you. You were too!” replied -Ned, seeking to go on. But too late. He was -hemmed about, as through magic, by a circle which cut -him off from Hal and from the procession.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</a></span></p> - -<p>The parade with the blue cape snapper went its -way, unaware that it had lost its frayed tip, for Hal, -too, was having his troubles.</p> - -<p>“G’wan!” sneered Ned’s mite of a foe, hunching -himself forward, brave in his knowledge that the majority -was with him.</p> - -<p>“Soak it to him, Patsy,” howled the ring of spectators.</p> - -<p>They took up the playful practice of shoving one -another against Ned, who, like a baited bear, was assailed -from all sides.</p> - -<p>“G’wan!” piped Patsy, again, trampling on Ned’s -toes.</p> - -<p>Somebody smartly knocked Ned’s cap off. Somebody -reached over and wrenched at his torch, and -while he was striving to keep it his cape was neatly -turned over his head just as Patsy struck him a stinging -blow on the mouth.</p> - -<p>Blinded in his cape, poor Ned floundered here and -there, jostled, kicked, and beaten, until he thought -that his last hour had come. He lost his cap, and -he lost his torch, and finally the fastenings of his -cape gave way and he lost it, too. This proved -lucky, for with a plunge he broke the ring hemming -him in, and in the mix-up escaped.</p> - -<p>He was discovered.</p> - -<p>“Here he is!”</p> - -<p>“Stop him!”</p> - -<p>“Head him off!”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Kill him!”</p> - -<p>Ned, never doubting that they would “kill him” if -they caught him, darted down the street, and into an -alley, his laughing, whooping pursuers full tilt after -him. Over fences, through yards, breathless, desperate, -hunted, dodged Ned, and the hue and cry died -in the distance. He ventured out upon a street, and -slackened to a walk.</p> - -<p>Bareheaded, bruised and aching, his trappings in -the hands of the enemy, he cared no more for the -parade. He went straight home.</p> - -<p>As he neared the gate, he saw a figure sitting on -the horse-block before it.</p> - -<p>“Is that you, Hal?” he asked.</p> - -<p>“Yes,” said Hal. “Did they hurt you?”</p> - -<p>“No—not much,” asserted Ned, going to the -horse-block. “Did they jump on you, too?”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” said Hal, with a little sob in his voice. -“They grabbed me from behind, and held me, and -then somebody hit me, and then they all piled on -me—the dirty cowards.”</p> - -<p>“So they did on me,” announced Ned, knowing -that misery loves company.</p> - -<p>“They don’t fight fair!” sobbed Hal. “And they -took my cap and cape and torch.”</p> - -<p>“Mine, too,” said Ned. “But I’ll get my father to -explain so the men won’t think we stole them. And -we’ll get even with that South Beaufort gang, some -day.”</p> - -<p>“You bet we will,” vowed Hal, pulling himself together.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[150]</a></span> -“They didn’t hurt me much, only they -didn’t give me any chance.”</p> - -<p>The boys compared notes, and found that neither -was damaged beyond a few bruises, and their -wounded spirits. They spent an hour going over -plans to get even; the best seemed to be to enlist -all their friends for the Democratic parade, and -march through South Beaufort, and when the moment -came, to turn on the “gang” and simply -annihilate it.</p> - -<p>However, this plan did not ripen, mainly because -the Democratic parade was prevented by rain.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> -</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</a></span></p> - - - -<div class = "chapter"> -<a name = "Chapter_10" id = "Chapter_10"></a> -<h2> -<a href = "#Contents" class = "chapref" title = "Return to Table of Contents."> -CHAPTER <abbr title="10">X</abbr></a><br /> - -<span class = "small">THE TROUBLE AT BREEDE’S HILL</span></h2> - - -<p class = "cap"><span class = "upcase">“Ned</span>—oh, Ned! It’s snowing!” called -Mr. Miller, up the stairs.</p> - -<p>“Bully!” called back Ned, bouncing -out of that bed which only a moment before he had -been loth to leave.</p> - -<p>He jumped to the window, and gazed out. The -big flakes swirled against the pane at the end of his -nose. Air and earth were white.</p> - -<p>“Bully!” again exclaimed Ned, hustling on his -clothes.</p> - -<p>The affair of the campaign parade was now only -an irritating memory; a president and vice-president -had been elected; processions were a thing of the -past, with the Republican county central committee -short two torches, two caps, and two capes; winter -had arrived with a swoop, sending the wild fowl -scurrying for the gulf; Thanksgiving—a snapping -cold Thanksgiving of skating and appetites—was -over; and still upon the frozen ground no snow had -fallen.</p> - -<p>But here it was, at last, with a vengeance.</p> - -<p>“Walks to clean, Neddie,” teased his mother.</p> - -<p>“I don’t care,” retorted Ned, from his room.</p> - -<p>“There! Don’t forget that you’ve said it,” -laughed his mother.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</a></span></p> - -<p>Now at the beginning of the winter it seemed to -Ned that he would as soon as not shovel walks. -Anything that had to do with snow was fun.</p> - -<p>All day the snow fell. At first it was in the shape -of big, feathery flakes which clung to everything -that they touched. Then, when a good thick coating -had been given the world, down came the gritty, -small flakes, sifting upon their larger predecessors, -and piling up for two feet.</p> - -<p>Thus, at the bottom was the layer of damp “packing” -snow, and at the top was the colder, freezing -layer. Conditions for coasting could not have been -better had the Beaufort young people planned and -carried out to suit themselves.</p> - -<p>Moreover, to-day was Thursday. By Saturday -Breede’s Hill would be in prime condition.</p> - -<p>With the approach of night the downfall slackened. -Through all the town sounded the scrape, -scrape of the snow-shovel. Ned added his note to -the harmony, for he had a front walk, and a walk -around the house, and a path to the barn, and one -to the wood-shed to clean, besides a few trimmings -such as the horse-block, and the steps and porches.</p> - -<p>Bob welcomed the snow with great zest. He -frolicked and barked, and scooped up mouthfuls in -defiance of the theory that eating snow gives one the -sore throat. No doubt he barked so much that his -throat did not have time to get sore.</p> - -<p>Dogs have their own rules of hygiene, anyway.</p> - -<p>Ned’s sled had been brought out from summer<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[153]</a></span> -quarters in the attic, and had been waiting on the -back porch for quite a month. Although, on account -of his extra chores, he could not use it at -once, during his labors between school and supper -he could not resist giving it a moment of exercise—just -to limber it up. It left a red trail of rust; but -he knew that the rust would soon wear off.</p> - -<p>This sled of Ned’s was a novelty, and the joy of -his heart. It was of clipper pattern, but very low—not -more than four inches from the ground. It had -sharp points, longer than its body; when Ned -flopped upon it the points stuck far out before, and -his legs stuck far out behind. The runners were -round steel, and well sprung. How that sled did go! -It was no good for ruts, or for deep snow, but given -a smooth track it could beat any sled in Beaufort. -No matter how icy the hill, when other sleds had a -tendency to veer and drift sideways this little sled -darted straight as an arrow beyond the mark of all.</p> - -<p>Sighing because now was night instead of morning -Ned restored the sled, with a fond pat of promise, to -its corner, and went in to supper, whither he had -been drawn for some time by the delicious sizzling -of fried mush.</p> - -<p>Friday broke bright as a new dollar, with sunshine -that proved just warm enough to soften the snow and -settle it. Around school passed the word among -Ned and Hal and Tom and kindred spirits to “come -to Breede’s Hill and help break it.”</p> - -<p>Breede’s Hill—ah, but that was a hill for you!<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[154]</a></span> -Two blocks of slope and two blocks more of slide, -and all, in the height of the season, as smooth as -oil! Here were four blocks of street practically -given over to the coasters. For a driver to try the -slippery incline, either on wheels or on runners, was -foolhardy; while to cross at the base was to invite a -sudden attack from catapult bob or sled.</p> - -<p>A bob had been known to scoot right between the -wheels of a wagon, and not hurt a thing, so swift -was it going; and Ned himself, horrified, unable to -stop, had taken the legs from under a stupid cow; -but when she had reached the snow with a thump he -had been far away.</p> - -<p>Breede’s Hill had been so dubbed by some history -enthusiast; on the next street south was Bunker -Hill, in like manner named. It was not a proper -hill for coasting, being rocky, and having a sharp -curve.</p> - -<p>On this Friday afternoon after school Ned, accompanied -by Bob, gaily dragged his snake-like sled -to Breede’s Hill. Here he and a dozen others toiled -lustily for an hour and a half, breaking a track. One -or two sleighs had been along the road, but the -snow lay deep and white, with its possibilities still -undeveloped.</p> - -<p>It was necessary to tramp the snow down, and -drag sleds through it, sideways, and even to roll in -it, in order to clear a path which, under the friction -of the runners, should become hard and “slick.”</p> - -<p>To the tramping and scraping, and frolicsome rolling<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[155]</a></span> -Bob lent nothing but his noisy good-will and applause. -One would have thought, noting his hilarity, -that the snow and the boys had come together simply -for his entertainment!</p> - -<p>Finally a track deemed worthy of being tested -had been leveled, and the first coast of the season -was made, with a whoop of joy, by the other bob in -the party—the bob-sled.</p> - -<p>Farther and farther, each time, went the bob, with -the single sleds—all but that of Ned—in the party, -bringing up behind. Ned rode on the bob, until the -moment when the track should be hard and fit for -his low clipper.</p> - -<p>This was the only drawback to that pride of his -heart: it was useless in loose snow, or in ruts.</p> - -<p>At dark, by dint of much play which seemed like -work, Breede’s Hill was fit for the final polishing, by -a hundred and more runners, on the morrow. Ned -went home, and Bob went home, and the other boys -went home, hungry and well satisfied; and none was -more hungry or more satisfied than Bob, who had -done the least and fussed the most.</p> - -<p>“Say—but the hill is getting dandy!” exclaimed -Ned, at dinner, Saturday, to which he had come -panting and damp and perfectly empty.</p> - -<p>“So you’re tired of that gun, already, are you, -Neddie?” remarked his mother, quietly.</p> - -<p>“My, no!” denied Ned, in alarm. “But the hill’s -splendid, anyway. It’s almost slick as glass.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</a></span></p> - -<p>“The whole town will be there, this afternoon,” -he added, poising a generous mouthful of apple -pie.</p> - -<p>“I won’t be there,” said his mother.</p> - -<p>“Nor I,” said his father.</p> - -<p>“Well, all the kids and girls will,” explained Ned; -and the chunk of pie disappeared, to fill some mysterious -crevice inside. “Shoveling in fuel,” his -father termed Ned’s eating during the cold weather; -but whether the statement was true or a joke, the -reader must judge according to his own experience.</p> - -<p>That afternoon it really did seem that Ned had -not exaggerated. Breede’s Hill was in its glory, and -“the whole town” was on hand, with sleds of all -descriptions.</p> - -<p>The track had been packed solid, and glistened in -the glancing rays of the sun. Downward sped, with -shrill shrieks from the girls and wild halloos of warning -from the boys, a torrent of figures showing black -against the white background; and upward toiled, -along either side of the torrent, a swarm of other -black figures, to halt, and gather, and turn at the -crest.</p> - -<p>Bob was there, a privileged character. Not a dog -in Beaufort was so widely or favorably known. -What fun he found here at a place where he -was almost the only one whose legs had to take -him down hill as well as up, is a problem. Like -a flash Ned on his clipper shot from top to bottom—and -skirting the track, with tongue out and with -excited yelps, falling farther and farther behind, after<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</a></span> -him raced Bob, not to catch him until the sled had -stopped. Up trudged Ned, hauling his sled, with -Bob at last by his heels; and the performance was -repeated.</p> - -<p>At the hill all now was gaiety and glee. The only -thing to mar, ever so slightly, the sport, was the -presence of a party from South Beaufort. Eight -strong they had arrived, with their bob; and discoloring -the snow with tobacco, and swearing freely, -they had proceeded to impress the others with their -importance.</p> - -<p>However, beyond elbowing their way about freely, -and profaning snow and air, and acting just as they -pleased, they had made no especial trouble, and Ned -and the other boys tried to pay no attention to them.</p> - -<p>By this time two grooves had been worn in the -track, and along them rushed, with no steering -needed, the sleds great and small. The street -crossings were hair-raising bumps, which caused -each sled to leap like a frightened colt. Highest -of all bounced Ned on his light clipper, and farthest -of all he went, setting a mark which none could -touch. Still firm in his faith that some time he -would catch him was Bob, racing madly down, and -panting sedately up.</p> - -<p>At last merely sliding down hill ceased to prove of -much interest to the South Beauforters. Trouble -was what they wanted; trouble they would have; -and the meaner the brand the better it would suit -them.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[158]</a></span></p> - -<p>They began to bully the smaller boys, and to -blockade, as though by accident, but really with sly -malice, the steps of the larger. They sent girls’ -sleds careening down the slope, and in a hundred -ways made themselves a dread and an annoyance.</p> - -<p>“Come on, Ned, let’s go home,” pleaded little -Tennie Loders, who lived near Ned, plucking him -by the sleeve. “I’m cold.”</p> - -<p>“He’s afraid,” scoffed Sam Higgs. “That’s what’s -the matter with him.”</p> - -<p>“You run along, Tennie,” said Ned. “But I’m -not going to leave till I get good and ready. Nobody’s -going to drive <em>me</em> off, you bet.”</p> - -<p>“Who’s tryin’ to drive you off? Say, kid, who’s -tryin’ to drive you off?” sneered Big Mike Farr, who -overheard.</p> - -<p>“I didn’t say anybody was, did I?” returned Ned, -stoutly.</p> - -<p>“Well, don’t go shootin’ off your lip ’round here, -then,” grumbled Big Mike, in an ugly tone. He -waited to see if Ned wouldn’t answer back and -give him a better chance to force a fight; but Ned -never spoke a word, and the South Beauforter slouched -back among his fellows, while they laughed loudly.</p> - -<p>For a brief space the coasting continued without -especial incident. However, this was only a lull, -during which the South Beauforters were but biding -their chance. Presently it came.</p> - -<p>As they artfully lingered around their bob-sled, at -the end of the track, they saw Ned, head on, sweeping<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[159]</a></span> -toward them upon his clipper. Just as he reached -them they neatly jerked their heavy bob square across -his path. There was no time for him to swerve. -With a thud he struck broadside the rearmost of the -two sleds. The clipper stopped short, as though -killed; but Ned himself went plunging on, clear -over the bob, to plough the snow and slush with -face and hands and stomach.</p> - -<p>He scrambled up wet, furious, yet willing, if -allowed, to accept the mishap as a bit of rude -joking. He felt that discretion was here the -better part of valor.</p> - -<p>However, he was not given any choice in the -matter.</p> - -<p>“Say,” accosted Big Mike, again, as Ned walked -forward, while brushing himself off, to get his sled, -“what do you mean by runnin’ into us? Ain’t you -got eyes?”</p> - -<p>“I couldn’t help it,” said Ned. “I didn’t have -time to turn out.”</p> - -<p>“You did, too,” snarled a Conner, giving Ned’s -innocent clipper a vicious kick into the ditch.</p> - -<p>“I didn’t. You pulled your bob across the track -on purpose—you know you did,” accused Ned, -goaded beyond bearing.</p> - -<p>The words were attracting a little knot of spectators -and listeners, and as Ned started to rescue his -beloved sled from the ditch Bob nosed into the circle, -seeking him. Whereupon a South Beauforter planted -his toe in Bob’s astonished ribs.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[160]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Ki yi! yi, yi, yi!” yelped Bob, and the sound -was to Ned a bugle call to action.</p> - -<p>“Here—you’d better not do that again!” he -warned, returning with a spring.</p> - -<p>“Do what again?” demanded Big Mike, threateningly.</p> - -<p>“Hurt that dog. He’s never done anything to -you,” asserted Ned, his blood up in defense of his -faithful partner.</p> - -<p>“Aw, who’s hurtin’ yer dog?” scoffed Big Mike—at -the same instant aiming another blow at Bob, -shivering close against his master’s legs.</p> - -<p>Ned responded with a violent shove that nearly -took the South Beauforter off his feet.</p> - -<p>“Hit him, Mike!”</p> - -<p>“Smash him one in the jaw!”</p> - -<p>“Aw, I wouldn’t stan’ that from nobody!”</p> - -<p>“Paste it to him!”</p> - -<p>“He’s the cully what struck Patsy!”</p> - -<p>Amid this clamor from his backers Big Mike -doubled his fists and stuck his face close up to -Ned’s.</p> - -<p>“Who you shovin’, anyway?” he snarled, treading -on Ned’s toes, at the same time shouldering him violently -backward.</p> - -<p>“You!” answered Ned, boldly, recovering his balance.</p> - -<p>“Don’t take any of his lip!”</p> - -<p>“Punch him in the nose!”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[161]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Aw, Mike! ’Feared of a kid like that!”</p> - -<p>Thus urged, and with his gang pressing closer and -closer about them, Big Mike swung his clenched -hands back and forth, menacingly, and growled:</p> - -<p>“Tryin’ to pick a fight, ain’t ye? I’ve a notion to -lam the tar out o’ you!”</p> - -<p>“You can’t do it, alone,” challenged Ned. “You -know your gang will pitch in and help, if you’re getting -licked.”</p> - -<p>“Naw, we won’t. Of course we won’t,” cried the -South Beauforters, in a chorus. “It’ll be fair play; -sure it will!”</p> - -<p>Ned knew that this was a lie. The South Beauforters -never fought fair. They were wolves, attacking -from both front and rear, and five to one. Besides, -they bit and kicked and gouged, and had no -mercy. Fair? Not much!</p> - -<p>Ned gazed hastily around the circle, seeking some -one who might second him, and protect his back. -But of Hal or Tom or others of his chums he saw -not a sign. They must be at the top of the hill, or -climbing, and ignorant of his fix.</p> - -<p>His heart sank a little.</p> - -<p>However, he was not afraid of Big Mike, in a fair -fight. “Big Mike” had been thus nicknamed because -he had been overgrown; but now, stunted as -he was by tobacco and by evil habits, flat-footed and -with hulking shoulders, no longer was he large for -his age. Ned, on his own part, had been leaping -ahead by inches, until now he equaled Mike in -height, although considerably outweighed. But<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[162]</a></span> -whatever advantage came to the one from weight -was more than balanced by the other’s wiriness and -strength of limb gained on river and in wood and -field.</p> - -<p>Ned was not given much time in which to look -about or debate over his situation. Shoved by a -member of the gang, after the fashion of the kind, -Big Mike came jamming into him, and swinging at -the same time cuffed him a blow on the ear. At this -Ned poked stiffly upward with his right fist, and his -knuckles met Big Mike’s teeth.</p> - -<p>Big Mike backed away a step, and dabbled at his -mouth with his fingers.</p> - -<p>“Say—did you go to do that?” he roared.</p> - -<p>“You hit me first,” replied Ned, angrily.</p> - -<p>With a volley of oaths, and a kick and a blow delivered -together, Big Mike charged at him—a regular -wildcat.</p> - -<p>A little murmur of “Oh’s” and “Ah’s” went up -from Ned’s sympathizers.</p> - -<p>“Give it to him, Mike! Give it to him!” cheered -the South Beauforters, crazy with delight.</p> - -<p>The blow took Ned on the top of the head; but the -kick fell short. Ned grabbed the leg and heaved up -on it, until Big Mike tottered and took a heavy fall.</p> - -<p>He was on his feet in an instant, and with head -down butted for Ned’s stomach. Hindered by the -crafty gang Ned could do nothing but accept the attack, -and bump his opponent’s nose with his lifted -knee; and now Big Mike, head into his stomach, had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[163]</a></span> -him tightly about the waist and was striving to bend -him backward. Ned doubled forward and while trying -to keep his balance reached under and punched -Big Mike’s face.</p> - -<p>It was a deadlock, Big Mike straining, and Ned -poking, and neither much the worse off.</p> - -<p>But the South Beauforters could not hold back any -longer. Weaving in and out so as always to be back -of Ned as the fighters shifted and struggled in a circle, -they aimed treacherous blows at him; and at this -crisis little Patsy, keen to aid his brother, darting in -seized Ned by the ankles and enabled Big Mike to -bring him to the ground.</p> - -<p>“Shame! No fair!” cried indignant boys and girls.</p> - -<p>Even at this juncture Ned was by no means defeated. -His blood was roused, and he felt that he -was battling for his life. Big Mike tried to sit astride -of him, but he might as well have tried to sit on an -eel. Ned wriggled and twisted, and out of the rough-and-tumble -behold the picture of Ned on the top; -with Big Mike’s hands clenched in his hair, it is true; -but nevertheless, Ned on top!</p> - -<p>To off-set the hair-grip, his thumb was against the -side of Big Mike’s nose, pressing that individual’s -head sidewise until his cheek was in the slush.</p> - -<p>It was not a picture of beauty. Big Mike’s lips -were bleeding, and Ned’s left eye was inflamed where -Big Mike had brutally stuck a thumb, to gouge. -The faces of both were red, and Ned’s necktie was -streaming over his shoulder.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[164]</a></span></p> - -<p>Nor was the picture pleasing to Big Mike’s cronies. -Their champion was in the worse position of the two. -So the Conners, with a curt command: “Aw, get off -of him, will you!” jumped in and obligingly turned -the pair over.</p> - -<p>This was the South Beaufort way of winning -fights.</p> - -<p>In the meantime little Zu-zu Pearce, leaving the -other girls, who, with awe-stricken faces and throbbing -hearts, unable to tear themselves away, lingered -on the outskirts, ran with all her might for the hill. -Up the slope she labored, slipping and puffing, until -near the top she overtook her brother, and Hal and -a half dozen others, trudging with their bob for the -crest and a coast.</p> - -<p>“Tom!” screamed Zu-zu, frantically. “Oh, Tom—the -South Beaufort fellows have got Ned Miller at -the bottom of the hill, and are beating him awful! -They won’t let him fight Big Mike fair.”</p> - -<p>“Gee! Come on, fellows!” exclaimed Tom; and -in a jiffy the bob was jerked about, and with the boys -recklessly piling on was speeding down the track, for -the fight.</p> - -<p>Close in their wake sped also a following of single -sleds—for the news had spread like lightning.</p> - -<p>“Goody! Here they come!” cried the anxious -girls, dancing in joy. “Oh, hurry, hurry!”</p> - -<p>Slim Conner heard, and glimpsed the reinforcements -dashing down the slope for the scene. He -heard the shouts, and his mind acted quickly:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[165]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Cheese it, lads! Here’s the hull crowd!” he -warned, hoarsely.</p> - -<p>“Come away, Mike!” warned Patsy, tugging at -his brother.</p> - -<p>Mike wrenched himself loose from the grip of the -prostrate Ned, and with a final kick at his victim’s -head ducked through the circle; and off, up the -road, ran the South Beauforters, dragging their bob.</p> - -<p>Hal and Tom and the rest of the rescuers arrived -too late, although they had ditched their bob, without -waiting for it to stop, and had rolled into the -midst of the ring.</p> - -<p>A few of the boys chased the South Beauforters a -block or two, just as a threat; but Hal and Tom -stayed to attend to Ned.</p> - -<p>“Shucks, he didn’t hurt me a bit,” vowed Ned, -scorning assistance as he scrambled to his feet.</p> - -<p>“You’re going to have a black eye, all right -enough, though,” assured Tom.</p> - -<p>“Am I?” asked Ned, cautiously feeling of his injured -face.</p> - -<p>“Well, just the same he was licking Big Mike, if -they hadn’t all pitched on to him!” declared Tennie -Loders, stanchly.</p> - -<p>“Look at my knuckles, where I hit him in the -mouth, will you!” said Ned, proudly.</p> - -<p>“Here’s your necktie, Ned,” proffered Harriett -Taylor, holding it out to the hero of the hour.</p> - -<p>Ned tied it on in a crooked knot, while the crowd -watched him admiringly.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[166]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Where were you fellows? Who told you about -it?” he queried.</p> - -<p>“Why, we were going ahead coasting,” explained -Hal. “Zu-zu was the one who told us, and then we -came lickity-split.”</p> - -<p>“Bully for Zu-zu!” exclaimed Ned. “She’s a -dandy!”</p> - -<p>“I had to run all the way up hill,” said Zu-zu, -modestly, just arriving.</p> - -<p>“Well, I’ll remember you, all right, for it,” promised -Ned. “I’ll give you ducks’ wings till you can’t -rest.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, I didn’t do it for that!” cried Zu-zu, skipping -off.</p> - -<p>“Do you want to go home, Ned?” inquired Hal, -tenderly.</p> - -<p>“No, of course not,” declared Ned. “I’m going -to slide some more. It’ll take more than a black -eye to get me off this hill!”</p> - -<p>And during this recent fracas, what of Bob—Bob, -who brought on the fray? The rule of romance demands -that he should have launched himself to Ned’s -aid, and put the enemy to flight with his teeth. But -no; this history must take a different course. Twice -kicked by heavy boots, to which he had done no -wrong; trampled upon by many feet, and thrust -aside by many legs, quite regardless of the plight into -which he had forced his master, he had turned tail -and had trotted for home.</p> - -<p>In his own mind, he had been sorely abused; and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[167]</a></span> -with the spirits taken out of him by the ill-treatment, -he made straight for shelter.</p> - -<p>When his master appeared, with eye now surrounded -by a blue-black mat, Bob, never considering -it, seemed to think that himself, and not Ned, had -been the sufferer.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> -</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[168]</a></span></p> - - - -<div class = "chapter"> -<a name = "Chapter_11" id = "Chapter_11"></a> -<h2> -<a href = "#Contents" class = "chapref" title = "Return to Table of Contents."> -CHAPTER <abbr title="11">XI</abbr></a><br /> - -<span class = "small">THE ROUTING OF BIG MIKE</span></h2> - - -<p class = "cap"><span class = "upcase">Although</span> Bob was, as it seemed, so callous -to Ned’s black eye, not so with the other -members of the household.</p> - -<p>Filled with recipes from his friends, for changing a -black eye to normal white, Ned returned home, and -unseen save by Bob, gained his room. He put in an -anxious half hour experimenting; but at the end his -eye seemed blacker than ever—a dense, deep, wicked -black. It seemed to Ned that there was nothing to -his face but that black eye; and assuming a manner -of unconcern he descended the stairs and went about -his chores.</p> - -<p>“N-Ned!” gasped his mother, meeting him in -the kitchen. Maggie, the girl, giggled. Ned dropped -his armful of wood into the wood-box with the usual -crash, and answered, mildly, keeping his head down -while he pretended to arrange some of the sticks.</p> - -<p>“Yes, ma’am?”</p> - -<p>“Look up here.”</p> - -<p>Ned obeyed, trying to present only his white side.</p> - -<p>“Why, what in the world have you been doing? -Is that a bruise around your eye, or is it dirt?”</p> - -<p>“Bruise, I guess,” responded Ned, shuffling his feet -uneasily.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[169]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Where did you get it?”</p> - -<p>“Fight. Fellow stuck his thumb in it.”</p> - -<p>Ned wished that his mother would let him alone; -but she would not.</p> - -<p>“The very idea! Whom did you have a fight -with?”</p> - -<p>“Big Mike Farr—and I’d have licked him only -they all jumped onto me.”</p> - -<p>“Come here and let me look at it,” bade his -mother, aghast.</p> - -<p>Ned approached, sheepish in mien, yet determined -to stick up for himself in case she took him to task.</p> - -<p>But she did not. She stood him by the sink, and -while she treated his wound with homely remedies, -applied by soft touch, she let him tell his battle-story. -And when his story and his treatment had -been finished together, and he had emerged with a -huge bandage encircling his crown like a turban, she -only sighed:</p> - -<p>“Oh, Neddie! Why <em>will</em> boys fight!”</p> - -<p>“Indeed, ma’am, an’ I for one am mighty glad that -he wor havin’ the best of that Mike Farr,” blurted -Maggie, who had been listening with approval. -“Sure, Mike Farr is nothin’ but a coward an’ a blow. -<em>I</em> know him; I know him well, bad cess to him.”</p> - -<p>“He’s mean, <em>isn’t</em> he, Maggie?” appealed Ned.</p> - -<p>“That he is. He’ll come to the gallows; he will. -An’ all that South Beaufort gang, too. Yes, I know -’em,” declared Maggie, wagging her head. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[170]</a></span>“They’re -regular little divils.”</p> - -<p>“Maggie!” exclaimed Mrs. Miller, somewhat -shocked.</p> - -<p>“Well, they’d better not tackle us fellows again,” -asserted Ned, swaggering out for another armful of -wood.</p> - -<p>Maggie gazed after him admiringly.</p> - -<p>“Sure, an’ I bet he’s a fighter when he gets -started,” she mused. “Look at them legs an’ arms! -An’ Big Mike twice his size, too.”</p> - -<p>“Maggie,” reproved Mrs. Miller, “I don’t want -you to encourage Ned in fighting. I don’t like it.”</p> - -<p>And she withdrew in dignity to the sitting-room, -where, safe in privacy, she did not know whether to -laugh or be provoked. At any rate, she did not -relish the idea of her Neddie going about with a -chip on his shoulder, challenging boys “twice his -size,” according to Maggie.</p> - -<p>Mr. Miller, coming home, from afar descried -Ned’s turban as it bobbed around in the back -yard.</p> - -<p>“Hello,” he hailed. “That’s a new kind of cap, -isn’t it?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, sir,” smiled Ned. “And I’ve got a new -eye, too. Want to see it?” and advancing toward -the front to meet his father he obligingly lifted the -bandage.</p> - -<p>“Phew!” said Mr. Miller, gravely. “I think I -prefer the old eye. Was this a present?”</p> - -<p>“I traded for it,” laughed Ned.</p> - -<p>His father put a hand on his shoulder, and together<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[171]</a></span> -they entered the house. Here Ned, helped -out by his mother, again made his explanations. -At the close his father simply said:</p> - -<p>“Well, Ned, I don’t see how you could have acted -any differently—but I don’t approve of fighting, any -more than does your mother. Fighting is not always -a fair test of your side of a question, you -know. It is better to avoid a fight by every honorable -means in your power. Sometimes it is more -cowardly to fight than to keep from fighting. But -if you can’t avoid it,” he added, quizzically; “if -there’s nothing left to do, to save honor, but fight, -then fight for all there is in you!”</p> - -<p>“Will!” protested Mrs. Miller, horrified.</p> - -<p>“But if I had to fight—just <em>had</em> to fight—you’d -want me to lick, wouldn’t you, mother?” appealed -Ned.</p> - -<p>“I can’t bear to think of your fighting at all, -Neddie,” declared his mother, firmly.</p> - -<p>Ned’s black eye went away rapidly—although not -so rapidly as it had come—and he was made to -wear the bandage only a short time. For this he -was thankful, since warm weather arrived, and with -it “good packing”—and what boy can throw -straight with but one eye.</p> - -<p>At first the thaw improved the coasting, but in -the end it spoiled it. So long as the coasting lasted -the South Beaufort gang continued to use the hill, -but no more fights occurred.</p> - -<p>The two crowds let each other alone, carefully<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[172]</a></span> -ignoring each other’s presence, the only exception -being when Bob dropped his tail between his legs, -reminded of past insults, and raised the bristles on -his back, and when Ned and Big Mike exchanged -scowls of mutual defiance. In this by-play of looks -Ned came off rather the worse, his eye still showing -up, while Big Mike was apparently as good—or as -bad—as ever.</p> - -<p>The careful truce, however, was merely the calm -before the storm. Big Mike and his companions -were biding their time.</p> - -<p>Much to Ned’s disappointment, the thaw merged -into a Saturday of foggy drizzle, under which the -snow silently ran away in water, instead of as -silently, but more slowly, vanishing as vapor into -the air.</p> - -<p>Bound to have what few coasts might yet be found -on the hill, Ned and Bob hastened there the moment -that they had finished their early morning chores—“their” -chores, for Bob, although of no real help in -a manual way, always faithfully “stood by.”</p> - -<p>At the same time with Ned and Bob, arrived on -the hill Hal and Tom. Les’ Porter, Orrie Lukes, and -three or four other boys already were there, and -several more came within a few moments.</p> - -<p>The coasting was miserable. The track was slush -down to bare road, and from top to bottom the sled-runners -tore through with a “squshy” sound. -Ned’s clipper loyally set out to carry him as far -and as swiftly as ever, but after a few trials he was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[173]</a></span> -obliged to retire it to one side, and take a seat on -Hal’s bob.</p> - -<p>So poor was the going, that when a party of South -Beauforters appeared at the crest, they looked on for -a minute, sneeringly, and then slouched away, bobs, -and all, in the direction whence they had come.</p> - -<p>“Good riddance!” scoffed Ned.</p> - -<p>“Good riddance!” congratulated the crowd generally, -following his example.</p> - -<p>Bob flaunted his tail at the retreating backs.</p> - -<p>Half an hour passed. The coasters, now about -twenty—including girls and small boys—were, as it -happened, for the most part at the top, preparing to -plough down again along the soft course, when -“thud!” “slap!” “biff!” into their midst tore a -hail of snowballs, smashing on face and body and -sled.</p> - -<p>“Ki!” yapped Bob, startled by a stinging missile.</p> - -<p>“Ouch!” exclaimed Jeff Patting, clapping his -hand to his cheek.</p> - -<p>Before the astounded coasters could look around, -hurtled upon them another volley, escorted by a -slogan of shrill, triumphant, vengeful yells.</p> - -<p>South Beauforters!</p> - -<p>That riddance had not been so “good,” after all. -Reinforced, the party was returning, and pouring -from the mouth of a convenient alley, down swept -the enemy, to profit by his sudden approach.</p> - -<p>Big Mike was there, and the Conners were there, -and Patsy, as fierce as any of them, was there.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[174]</a></span> -South Beaufort had been wily enough to use the hill -while the hill was usable; but at last, in this day of -slush, it was free to throw off its mask and declare -war.</p> - -<p>The coasters scattered. The small boys, some of -them frightened or hurt into crying, ran for home; -the girls, with scornful looks, disdaining to hurry, -withdrew in fair order to a safe distance; and the -larger boys, diverging to different points of the compass -as they essayed to reply yet bring off their sleds -safely, sought here and there for refuge.</p> - -<p>With taunting cries the South Beauforters attacked -them viciously, worrying their every step.</p> - -<p>“Watch out! They’re throwing ‘soakers’!” -warned Ned, as, keeping together, he and Hal and -Tom, dragging their bob, answering snowball with -snowball and taunt with taunt, stubbornly gave -ground up the opposite alley.</p> - -<p>“Oh, Ned! You left your sled!” suddenly exclaimed -Hal, stopping short.</p> - -<p>“Say——!” uttered Ned, taking a hasty step toward -the crest again.</p> - -<p>But too late. The crest was in possession of the -South Beauforters, and at the moment they had discovered -the clipper, deserted and lying in the ditch! -Big Mike it was who hauled it forth, Big Mike it was -who gleefully waggled its rope, Big Mike it was who -whooped the loudest and the most maddening.</p> - -<p>“Hey! You leave that sled alone!” yelled Ned, -shaking his fist.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[175]</a></span></p> - -<p>“You come and get it!” retorted Big Mike.</p> - -<p>“I would if you were alone,” asserted Ned.</p> - -<p>“Aw, I’ll give you another black eye,” gibed -Mike, while Ned dodged one well-aimed shot, and -caught a second on the leg.</p> - -<p>“Just you wait till we put up this bob,” threatened -Hal.</p> - -<p>“Yes, ‘just wait,’” mocked Big Mike and his -gang.</p> - -<p>The bob was put up in short order by chucking it -over the alley fence of Hal’s home; then back rushed -the boys, to re-engage the foe.</p> - -<p>They resolved that Ned must have his sled, at all -hazard. It was awful, to think of it in the hands -of that Mike. True little sled, the best sled in town.</p> - -<p>As for Bob the dog, for all the aid he was to them, -they might as well have chucked him, too, over the -fence and left him. He was no good when it came -to this fighting at long range, and with his tail tightly -reefed, and his ears down, and an expression of intense -discomfort, he clung close to Ned’s calves.</p> - -<p>Bob was no coward, but what dog likes to have -things thrown at him; and Bob was under the delusion -that every ball was aimed at him alone. He -couldn’t understand.</p> - -<p>So for the rest of this fight he must be content not -to understand, and to play but a minor part.</p> - -<p>The South Beauforters, now having in mind no -more worlds to conquer, decided to return to their -haunts. Laughing and swearing, they started to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[176]</a></span> -tramp up the road; and freest of all in mouth and -actions was Big Mike, twitching behind him the unwilling -clipper sled.</p> - -<p>From the alley the three boys delivered a round -of snowballs as a token that the combat was on once -more.</p> - -<p>“Head ’em off! Cut through the yards!” cried -Ned; over fences and through the yards scurried the -boys, and came out at the front of the retreating -foe.</p> - -<p>“Give ’em ‘soakers’!” urged Hal, squeezing a -snowball between his knees.</p> - -<p>“Soakers,” as the name shows, are snowballs which -have been soaked and wrung out, so to speak. They -are heavy, and hard, and when they hit, hurt.</p> - -<p>They are not lawful snowballs, but in a warfare of -this kind they prove very useful.</p> - -<p>By this time other boys had put away their bobs -and sleds, also, and had hastened to wage battle. By -this time, moreover, comrades far and wide were -getting the news, and dropping chore and game -were rallying to the scene.</p> - -<p>Through yards, around corners, they sped; in ambush -behind tree-box and fence they waited; into -the ranks of the South Beauforters rained the -missiles.</p> - -<p>“Soakers” was the watchword—and with the -slush so handy there was no danger of ammunition -running out.</p> - -<p>On a small scale it was like that memorable retreat<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[177]</a></span> -of the British from Concord to Lexington. -The South Beauforters were the British, and the -others were the minutemen.</p> - -<p>Big Mike and his gang tried to reply to the constant -fire; one of their balls, thrown by Slim Conner, -took Tom square on the nose as he incautiously -poked his head above the fence. A yell of triumph -arose from Slim and Co.</p> - -<p>“Great Scott!” appealed Tom, ducking hastily, and -touching his finger-tips gingerly to the wound.</p> - -<p>“Let’s see, Tom,” said Hal.</p> - -<p>Tom uncovered his nose. The left side of it was -skinned!</p> - -<p>“They’re putting rocks in their snowballs!” declared -Ned. “Isn’t that just dirty mean, though!”</p> - -<p>Tom, while somewhat disfigured, was by no means -disabled, and now and then feeling of his nose, continued -the pursuit.</p> - -<p>Peppered from every quarter, the South Beauforters -began to waver, and showed a tendency to hop, -skip and jump along, and to turn corners on the -double quick. Presently, as by common consent, -all broke into a run, and the retreat became a -flight.</p> - -<p>The “soakers” were waxing altogether too deadly.</p> - -<p>Up the middle of the street, elbows raised to protect -heads, bolted the South Beaufort gang, and after -them, into the open, scuttled their attackers, whooping -like Indians. Even Bob mustered courage to -wave his tail, and bark.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[178]</a></span></p> - -<p>From the outset the three boys, and Ned in particular, -had selected Big Mike as their especial target. -Had “soakers” been bullets they would have landed -him long before; but the most they had done was -to make him curse them heartily when some telling -ball reached the mark. And still he had the -clipper in tow.</p> - -<p>“Drop that sled, you thief!” Ned kept calling, -fiercely.</p> - -<p>“Thief! Robber!” chimed in Ned’s companions.</p> - -<p>Closer the attackers drew their lines. Matters -looked promising for a general fight. The boys’ -blood was up, and Ned was bound to get that -sled. “Soakers” seemed not to do it, and there -was nothing left but fists.</p> - -<p>At this crisis, just as the pursuers were closing in -on the pursued, and “soakers” at short range were -on the point of giving way, unless something unexpected -occurred, to fisticuffs—then the unexpected -<em>did</em> occur!</p> - -<p>Out of a cross-street whirled an empty lumber -wagon, mounted on runners and whisked behind -two horses, from the South Beaufort mills. The -South Beauforters hailed it as sent by a special -providence.</p> - -<p>At any rate, the rescue was planned exactly right, -and in nick of time.</p> - -<p>Just as the bob turned into their path, they met it. -Without causing it to slacken its speed, and without -themselves slackening, into the high box they tumbled,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[179]</a></span> -Patsy, and the Conners, and Red Sullivan, and -all—all except Big Mike!</p> - -<p>Gleefully looking behind, to place thumb on nose -and wiggle his fingers at Ned and crowd, he proved -his own undoing. He slipped, and sprawled—and -away without him was borne his gang, with the -driver, a South Beauforter, laying lash on steeds.</p> - -<p>But Big Mike did not sprawl long. Like a cat -he sprang to his feet, and dropping the clipper -now sought only to save himself from his deserts.</p> - -<p>Ned, who was fleeter than the others, was the -nearest to him. On clumped Big Mike, spurred by -fear, in the trail of the faithless bob. After him -struggled Ned, spurred by wrath and only a few -yards from his heels. Behind them strung out the -other pursuers.</p> - -<p>Of the two, hare and hound, the latter, Ned, because -he had been scaling so many fences and making -so many circuits, was the more exhausted. -However, he grimly hung on, and at the last -Fortune rewarded him.</p> - -<p>The first limits of South Beaufort had been -reached; Big Mike was on familiar ground. The -hare had been run to its hole. With a sudden -movement Big Mike changed his course at right -angles, and darted for a friendly alley.</p> - -<p>Ned dug his heel into the slush, and drew back his -arm, at the same time. Awaiting opportunity, during -all the chase he had been carrying a pet <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[180]</a></span>“soaker.” -It had grown harder and harder, and now opportunity -bade “Ready!” Just as Big Mike, presenting the -broadside of his face, entered the alley, Ned, without -halting, sped his snowball. The “soaker,” whizzing -like a grape-shot, burst with an icy “smack” on Big -Mike’s ear!</p> - -<p>“Ow-w-w-w!” screeched Big Mike, the last bit of -spunk taken out of him by that sudden blow.</p> - -<p>Ned, puffing, turned and rejoined his comrades, to -receive congratulations—and his clipper.</p> - -<p>The next Monday it was rumored at school, on -good authority, that Big Mike had an ear on him -looking like an over-ripe pear. Ned, hearing, was -pleased. He felt that his black eye had been -avenged.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> -</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[181]</a></span></p> - - - -<div class = "chapter"> -<a name = "Chapter_12" id = "Chapter_12"></a> -<h2> -<a href = "#Contents" class = "chapref" title = "Return to Table of Contents."> -CHAPTER <abbr title="12">XII</abbr></a><br /> - -<span class = "small">THE LONG SKATE</span></h2> - - -<p class = "cap"><span class = "upcase">Like</span> the ill wind that nevertheless blows some -good, the thaw, although spoiling the coasting, -opened the way for two weeks of the -finest skating that Beaufort had ever known. The -snow had become water, but the water now became -ice.</p> - -<p>For in the north Winter heard how his sovereignty -was thus being intruded upon by an o’er-anxious -Spring, and in haste dispatched to the scene General -Bitter-Cold. With his force General Bitter-Cold arrived, -amid a flourish of trumpets, late one night. -So well did he work that by morning Beaufort and -the country round-about was Winter’s again.</p> - -<p>He sealed each pond and stream with the seal of -empire, and then proceeded to fetter anew the mighty -river.</p> - -<p>Beaufort had a system of weather flags; and when, -for some hours preceding General Bitter-Cold’s arrival, -the cold-wave signal was flown from the staff -upon the town hall cupola, it was received by Ned -and his cronies, save Bob, with much delight. Bob, -being rather thin-skinned, much preferred spring, no -matter how early it might come.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[182]</a></span></p> - -<p>But with no snow left, and with the streets mud and -water, Ned decided that almost anything would be -welcome.</p> - -<p>“The paper says that the temperature will fall -forty degrees by morning,” announced Mr. Miller, at -supper.</p> - -<p>“Won’t that be fine, though!” asserted Ned.</p> - -<p>“It won’t be very fine for the poor people, however,” -suggested Mrs. Miller.</p> - -<p>Ned tried to look solemn, but the picture of the -skating quite blotted out that of the poor.</p> - -<p>That night, as he sunk his cheek into his pillow, -about to go to sleep, he heard old Boreas sound a -fanfare down the flue; and he chuckled and blissfully -cuddled into a ball.</p> - -<p>In the barn loft Bob, at the end of his burrow amid -the hay, raised his head for a moment, inquiringly; -then, with a shiver instead of a chuckle, he, also, cuddled -closer.</p> - -<p>The next morning Ned was detailed to sprinkle -ashes and sawdust upon the various walks and paths -belonging to the premises, so that the other members -of the household might venture out with safety. For -himself he left a narrow strip, leading from back stoop -to barn, unsprinkled; it was his private slide, and was -a constant peril to other back-yard visitors, notably -Maggie and Bob.</p> - -<p>There was now excellent skating on the flats, where -several large ponds had been formed and had readily -frozen over. But the river yielded more slowly.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[183]</a></span> -However, the zero weather was genuine, and had -come to stay a while. Grimly General Bitter-Cold -did his work, day by day and night by night building -from either bank out toward midstream, until finally -a juncture had been made and over the channel itself -had been spread a crust of crystal.</p> - -<p>So quickly this crust deepened and toughened, -that soon an ice bridge had been staked out, and -teams were crossing from shore to shore.</p> - -<p>The work of freezing had been done very quietly. -On this account the Mississippi was now like glass. -All Beaufort went skating. The field was unlimited, -save as in the swiftest parts of the current the water -continued to show, sullen and black.</p> - -<p>“We’re going to skate down to Newton next -Saturday,” declared Ned, confidently.</p> - -<p>“It’s good of you to tell us,” remarked his father, -mildly.</p> - -<p>Ned was puzzled. He was not exactly sure what -the tone of voice meant.</p> - -<p>“Well, can’t I?” he inquired.</p> - -<p>“That is a problem,” replied his father, bent upon -teasing. “But I should think that a boy who not -an hour ago declared himself unequal to the task of -filling up two coal stoves might find considerable difficulty.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, pshaw!” pouted Ned, the hit telling. “I -mean, <em>may</em> I?”</p> - -<p>“Just as your mother says,” answered his father. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[184]</a></span>“We’ll leave it to her.”</p> - -<p>Ned’s face did not express any great joy over this -condition upon his going. He knew so well what an -amount of convincing his mother, always timid, winter -or summer, about the river, would take. Nevertheless, -he went boldly at his task.</p> - -<p>“May I, mother?” he appealed to Mrs. Miller, -who had been listening with a smile on her face.</p> - -<p>“Oh, Neddie! I don’t believe the ice is safe!” she -said.</p> - -<p>“Pooh!” scoffed Ned. “It’s more than two feet -thick, right in the channel. You just ought to see -the big chunks they’re cutting out for next summer.”</p> - -<p>“But Newton’s so far,” objected his mother. “You -wouldn’t get back until long after dark.”</p> - -<p>“Why, mother!” exclaimed Ned, quite out of patience. -“It’s only fourteen miles and we can skate -that in an hour and a half easy.”</p> - -<p>“I’m so afraid you’ll run into an air-hole, or something, -Neddie,” pleaded his mother, unwilling to pull -down her flag.</p> - -<p>“There isn’t a bit of danger,” assured Ned, eagerly. -“Lots of the fellows have been down and back, and -there’s a regular path.”</p> - -<p>“Who, for instance?” suddenly chipped in his -father. “‘Lots of fellows,’ I find, is sometimes -rather indefinite.”</p> - -<p>“Lou Ravens and ‘Duke’ Burke did it just the -other afternoon,” promptly responded Ned.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[185]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Still, since they are not centipedes it takes more -than two boys to make a path, you know, Ned,” said -his father, drily.</p> - -<p>“But we could follow their skate marks—really we -could, father,” cried Ned. “May I go, mother?”</p> - -<p>“What do <em>you</em> say, Will?” asked Mrs. Miller, seeking -refuge in her husband.</p> - -<p>“Now that isn’t fair,” cried Ned. “Father said -he’d leave it to you. May I? It’s just as safe as our -back yard.”</p> - -<p>“You’ll be very, very careful, and watch out for -air-holes?” asked his mother.</p> - -<p>“Yes, I will,” promised Ned.</p> - -<p>“And be home before dark?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, ma’am.”</p> - -<p>“And not take any risks?”</p> - -<p>“No, ma’am.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Miller looked doubtfully at her husband. -Ned foresaw surrender, and with a hug and a kiss he -won her over.</p> - -<p>“Then I may! May I? I may—may I? Mother, -you’re just as good as you can be! And if you’ll -give me a quarter I can get some oyster soup at -Newton. Hal and Tom will. You see, we ought to -have something warm, and oyster soup is dandy -when a fellow’s empty.”</p> - -<p>“Ask your father,” bade his mother, roguishly. -“I’ve furnished the permission, and he’ll have to -furnish the quarter.”</p> - -<p>And it seemed to Ned that his mother had come -out rather ahead, in the bargain.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[186]</a></span></p> - -<p>It was not such a tremendously long skate upon -which the boys started Saturday morning. In a -straight line it would be only twelve miles, but by -the bending river, and by the extra strokes that they -would make in picking out the best patches of ice, -it would be nearer fifteen. So down and back, it -must be figured as thirty miles—only, the “back” -was to seem twenty times longer than the “down”!</p> - -<p>Hal called for Ned, and together they made for -the levee, where they were to meet Tom. Ned -thought that he had done the feat of slipping off -without Bob’s seeing him. Bob was a very able dog, -<em>in</em> the water; but <em>on</em> the water he was of very little -use whatsoever. If in a boat, he became seasick; -and if on ice, he slipped and slid.</p> - -<p>When the boys arrived at the levee they found -there not only Tom but also Zu-zu and a girl friend -of hers.</p> - -<p>“Why, <em>you</em> aren’t going, are you, Zu-zu?” asked -Ned, in surprise.</p> - -<p>“No—but I would if mamma’d let me,” replied -Zu-zu, tossing her head. “I could skate that far as -easy as not.”</p> - -<p>“I bet you couldn’t,” said Hal.</p> - -<p>“I could, too,” insisted Zu-zu. “You needn’t think -that just because we’re girls we can’t do anything.”</p> - -<p>“What made you bring Bob?” queried Tom.</p> - -<p>“I didn’t,” said Ned.</p> - -<p>Yet, at the moment Bob came sidling up from behind; -grinning, begging pardon, hopeful that he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[187]</a></span> -would be forgiven and taken. It was very, very -rarely that he stole such a march upon his master, -for when he wasn’t wanted he usually had strength -of mind enough to stay away. But to-day had entered -into his head the idea that, willy-nilly, he -would make one of the party; and keeping out of -sight he had slyly sneaked along upon the opposite -side of the street from the two boys, until farther -dodging had been impossible.</p> - -<p>“Bob! What are you doing here?” scolded Ned. -“Aren’t you ’shamed of yourself!”</p> - -<p>Bob was. He hugged the snow, and with his -nervous tail confessed his hopes and fears.</p> - -<p>“Go home!” thundered Ned.</p> - -<p>Bob flattened himself still more, willing to be -whipped, but unwilling to go home.</p> - -<p>“Oh, Ned, don’t hurt him,” begged Zu-zu. -“We’ll take him back, won’t we, Bess? Poor -Bobbie!”</p> - -<p>“All right,” responded Ned. “Only, he’s a bad -dog, just the same. He knew he’d no business to -come.”</p> - -<p>Zu-zu gave Bob a friendly little pat.</p> - -<p>“You’d like to go, the same as us, wouldn’t you, -Bob?” she said. “And we <em>would</em> go, too, if we -were only boys.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, I wouldn’t be a boy,” asserted Bessie.</p> - -<p>“I would,” averred Zu-zu.</p> - -<p>Bob said nothing upon the subject. As a rule, he -was quite satisfied with being a dog. Zu-zu’s touch<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[188]</a></span> -and voice, and the fact that the threshing did not descend, -filled him with sudden energy. Up he sprang, -thinking the crisis over; bounding and barking he -rejoiced mightily, and bade his master rejoice with -him. But on the contrary Ned paid him not the -slightest attention. Bob was a dog in disgrace.</p> - -<p>Off the six went, the girls proudly keeping abreast -just to show what they could do, and Bob clawing -behind, trying to prove that he was as good as any -one on the ice, but nevertheless making poor work -of it when it came to turning corners.</p> - -<p>They passed the Diamond Jo warehouse, and -Commodore Jones’ “boats-to-hire” establishment, -where wintered under cover the scull-boat; and still -skirting the shore sped under the bridge, between -the first pier and the high stone base.</p> - -<p>Here the girls must stop.</p> - -<p>Here Bob must stop.</p> - -<p>“Mother said this was as far as you could go, -Zu-zu,” reminded Tom.</p> - -<p>“Bob, go home!” ordered Ned.</p> - -<p>“Come on, Bob,” cried Zu-zu.</p> - -<p>“Good-bye,” said the boys, gliding on.</p> - -<p>Bob was astounded, disappointed, hurt. He had -not been taken. All his apologies had been for -nothing. He was to be left with the girls!</p> - -<p>He stood stock still, as if stunned, watching -the receding figures of the three boys. Then he -lifted his nose, and voiced his feelings in a piercing -howl.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[189]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Good-bye,” again called Ned, turning and waving -his hand.</p> - -<p>“Good-bye, Ned,” called Zu-zu, waving back at -him.</p> - -<p>“Wow-ow-ow-ow-u-u-u-u!” lamented Bob.</p> - -<p>“When a dog howls it means somebody’s going -to die,” croaked Hal.</p> - -<p>“Well, I guess it’s none of us, anyway,” spoke -Ned, quickly.</p> - -<p>“How do you know?” argued Hal. “Maybe -we’ll skate into a hole.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, pish!” said Tom. “Shut up.”</p> - -<p>“Wow-ow-ow-ow-u-u-u-u!” still mourned Bob.</p> - -<p>“Yes, I know; it’s a shame, Bob,” said Zu-zu, -patting him. “We could go just as well as they, -couldn’t we? Only they’re boys, and we aren’t.”</p> - -<p>Bob never gave her a glance. He turned his back -on her, and looking neither to one side nor the other, -with his tail curved downward and inward he climbed -the bank, and headed for home.</p> - -<p>“He’s disgusted. Come on, Bess,” laughed Zu-zu. -So they skated up to the levee again.</p> - -<p>The morning was glorious, with the sunbeams -glistening over the ice, and the air full of little -crystals. The river stretched broad and flat; here -and there a hummock, and here and there a change -from dark to light or from light to dark.</p> - -<p>The steady rasp of the saws in the ice fields -mingled with the angry shriek of the circular steam -saws in the lumber-mills. All sounds were carried<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[190]</a></span> -far, through this crisp atmosphere, over the level -plain where once had been rippling water.</p> - -<p>The boys felt like Mercuries, with winged heels, -so swiftly their skate-blades bore them onward. Before -they had uttered another word they were at the -head of Eagle Island. Here they had the choice of -taking Paper-mill Slough, or continuing upon the -river proper.</p> - -<p>“Let’s go outside the island,” suggested Ned. -“They say the water that comes from the paper-mill -is so warm it eats away the ice, and that the slough’s -chuck-full of air-holes.”</p> - -<p>Ned’s picture was enough to remove any question -as to routes, and down along the outside of the -island they dashed, their skates clinking a merry -tune.</p> - -<p>At first they followed, as Ned had assured his -father they could, a “regular path,” made by the -skate-blades of numerous others. They met nobody -save three or four Hollanders from the island settlement; -odd-looking people on wooden skates, bound, -with easy, graceful motion, for town.</p> - -<p>The tracks dwindled and dwindled, and presently -there were none at all. Not a person was in sight. -Before the three lay the vast expanse of ice, waiting -to be explored.</p> - -<p>What had become of those reputed marks of Lou -Ravens and “Duke” Burke, the frozen river said -not, and the boys spent no time in searching.</p> - -<p>Stillness reigned, broken only by the wood<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[191]</a></span> -chopper’s ax echoing from the island, the cawing -of the black crows crossing overhead, the metallic -rhythm of the skate-blades, and the rumbling groans -of the ice as it cracked for miles under the grip of -the cold.</p> - -<p>“My—isn’t this fine!” cried Hal, spurting to relieve -his spirits.</p> - -<p>“I should say so!” agreed both his comrades, -spurting also.</p> - -<p>For a quarter of a mile they fairly flew.</p> - -<p>In spots the ice was so smooth that they flitted -over it with a velvety, rocking sensation; in others -it was of coarser grain, through which their steel -“zipped” only slightly less easily. In others it was -rough enough to make the blades clatter.</p> - -<p>But all the time the trees and bushes of the shore -spun by as when viewed from the windows of a railroad -train.</p> - -<p>Now the ice was black and clear so that in shoal -spots one could descry the sand beneath. Now it -was dense and milky. To glide suddenly from the -white ice upon the black was apt to give one a shock, -for the black looked like water.</p> - -<p>Zigzagging upon their course, trying to select the -better ice, and ever keeping their eyes fixed before -them in order to avoid air-holes, the boys, at times -in close file and at times considerably separated, skated -at full speed.</p> - -<p>Gradually they cut away from the island side, and -when they had reached the foot of Eagle they were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[192]</a></span> -far out, toward the shore of the mainland, opposite. -Such a thing as slackening to rest never occurred to -them. The miles fell behind with no effort; in fact, -the pace was so blissful that the boys hardly cared to -break the charm by talking, and only risked an occasional, -“Isn’t <em>this</em> bully, though!” when they -skimmed across a particularly glossy patch.</p> - -<p>With the island out of the road, here the river was -again a mile wide—a vast sheet of ice, with a few -narrow strips of sparkling blue which denoted areas -that never froze over.</p> - -<p>The shore line bent inward, slightly, and looking -down the mighty curve the boys could already see -Newton, the clustered houses forming the background -to a sandy sprit.</p> - -<p>“I’ll stump you not to stop once till we get there,” -challenged Hal to his companions.</p> - -<p>“All right,” agreed Tom. “I could keep this up -all day.”</p> - -<p>“So could I,” asserted Ned, although his ankle, -not so strong as it was before the sprain, protested -that <em>it</em> couldn’t.</p> - -<p>Ned ought to have supported it by a strap; but he -claimed that only girls and molly-coddles wore -straps.</p> - -<p>Aiming straight for the village spire the three -dashed on as though they were dispatch bearers. -“Clink, clink, clink,” and the yellow dunes of the -shore danced past, and Newton steadily drew -nearer.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[193]</a></span></p> - -<p>A last glorious burst of speed, to prove how fresh -they were, and up to the Newton levee, fringed with -skaters, they dashed. Panting, running perspiration, -with a flourish and a scrape they halted.</p> - -<p>“There!” they congratulated themselves, all together.</p> - -<p>Thus they might go back home, and boast that -they had come those miles without a stop—for -although Tom had caught his toe in a crack and had -pitched headlong, even while sliding the fastest he -had regained his feet and continued his way.</p> - -<p>They took off their skates, and went up town. -As they climbed the levee their feet felt very flat -and awkward, as is only natural when one has -changed from flying to walking. Ned’s ankle pained -him like sixty, but he minded it not.</p> - -<p>There was not much to see in Newton. It had -only the single business street. However, they -sauntered here and there for an hour, feeling like -distinguished visitors.</p> - -<p>“Let’s eat,” at length spoke Ned.</p> - -<p>His proposal was instantly adopted. They recalled -a sign which stated “Oysters in All Styles”; -and presently they had clumped into a little back -room, and seated about a small round table were -waiting impatiently for “three stews.”</p> - -<p>“Say—but this tastes good!” sighed Ned, when -they had drawn up their chairs, and the first spoonfuls -had gone down.</p> - -<p>“Um-m-m-m-m!” mumbled his two companions.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[194]</a></span></p> - -<p>The stews disappeared; also, disappeared crackers -and butter and pickles and celery. None of the boys -ate pickles at home, but everything tastes good after -a fifteen mile skate!</p> - -<p>They pushed back their chairs, and sat a moment -in silent contentment.</p> - -<p>“Well, what do you say to starting?” yawned -Hal, whom the warm soup and the close room were -making sleepy. “Then we can take it easy.”</p> - -<p>So they arose, and stiffly passed out.</p> - -<p>“You boys come down from Beaufort, didn’t ye?” -inquired the storekeeper, as each, with the air of a -millionaire, planked his quarter down upon the glass -cigar-case near the street door.</p> - -<p>“Yes, sir,” responded Tom and Ned together.</p> - -<p>“Wa-al, if you’re calculatin’ on skatin’ back I’d advise -ye to be settin’ off,” drawled the storekeeper. -“It’s gettin’ ready fer a big storm.”</p> - -<p>“Do you think it will storm right away?” asked -Hal, anxiously.</p> - -<p>“Can’t say; but she’s a comin’, all right enough,” -assured the storekeeper.</p> - -<p>As soon as they were in the open air the boys -could perceive a great change in the atmosphere. The -sun no longer shone. Everything was gray, and the -wind was wailing.</p> - -<p>It blew full from the north. When they had left -the levee, and were headed for home, it was exactly -in their teeth.</p> - -<p>It was a gusty, mean wind; sweeping upon them,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[195]</a></span> -with naught to interrupt it for miles and miles of ice, -it at times almost took them off their feet.</p> - -<p>With heads down, and coats closely buttoned, they -stanchly pushed on.</p> - -<p>Very different was this from the trip out.</p> - -<p>“Whew!” gasped Tom, when they paused, after -having covered about a mile.</p> - -<p>“We’ll do like the geese, when they fly,” proposed -Ned. “I’ll go first for fifteen minutes, and break the -wind, and then you fellows can take your turns.”</p> - -<p>They started, this time in single file, with Ned -leading, and Tom next and Hal at the rear, all taking -short, choppy strokes together. At the end of fifteen -minutes, according to Hal’s watch—which his -father had given him instead of a gun—Ned dropped -back and Tom came to the front. Hal succeeded to -Tom, until it was Ned’s turn again.</p> - -<p>This plan worked very well; in the unity of action, -the regular, unvarying stroke for stroke, was a certain -force that carried them forward famously.</p> - -<p>At the end of an hour and a half Hal suddenly -called, from his place at the rear:</p> - -<p>“Oh, fellows, stop a minute.”</p> - -<p>Tom and Ned looked behind. There was Hal, -lying flat on the ice!</p> - -<p>“I’ve got to rest,” he explained, as the wind -drifted them back upon him. Evidently he was the -weak one in the party.</p> - -<p>“Get up,” commanded Ned. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[196]</a></span>“You’ll get all -stiff.”</p> - -<p>“I should say! You’ll feel worse than you did -before,” chimed in Tom.</p> - -<p>But Hal only lay and puffed.</p> - -<p>“It’s snowing!” exclaimed Ned. “Come on, Hal; -we’ve got to get home.”</p> - -<p>Hard particles of snow were rushing with the wind, -cutting through the air and scudding along over the -ice.</p> - -<p>Hal clambered to his feet, and the three lamely -started again. The stop had stiffened not only Hal, -but also the other two, and it required some effort to -limber up once more.</p> - -<p>The snow increased, coming in blinding squalls. -The wind was keen and raw. The boys kept on as -before, now swinging their arms, now skating with -arms behind the back, and in other ways trying to -ease their labor by variety, until soon they were appealed -to by Hal to stop again.</p> - -<p>“You needn’t lead any more, Hal,” said Ned. -“Need he, Tom? We can break the wind, and he -can keep behind.”</p> - -<p>“Of course,” agreed Tom, stoutly.</p> - -<p>But even then poor Hal needed frequent halts; he -was doing his best, only his best was not so good as -the best of the two others. Tom, also, began to be -in distress. As for Ned, his weak ankle burned like -fire.</p> - -<p>The snow grew thicker, whirling out of the north, -and with a wall of white resisting their advance. The -ice was covered, so that their skate blades threw up<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[197]</a></span> -little furrows. Now black ice and milk ice, rough -and smooth, looked alike, and over the air-holes was -spread a treacherous curtain.</p> - -<p>“Come on, Hal! Don’t lie down!” urged Ned.</p> - -<p>“I can’t. I’m tuckered!” gasped Hal. “You -fellows go ahead, and let me freeze.”</p> - -<p>“No, we won’t do any such thing,” declared Ned. -“I tell you—we’ll land on Eagle and walk up it as -far as we can. Walking will be a change.”</p> - -<p>Tom said nothing, but his lips were white.</p> - -<p>The foot of Eagle was still over a mile beyond; -how far they did not know, because they could not -see the shore on either hand. They were alone in a -trackless desert.</p> - -<p>“You <em>must</em> come, Hal,” bade Ned, stooping and -raising him. “Tom and I’ll push you.”</p> - -<p>“No, I’m going to freeze. That’s what Bob’s -howling meant!” moaned Hal, dismally.</p> - -<p>But Ned and Tom each took an arm, and with -him between them valiantly struggled on. And it -<em>was</em> a struggle, with Ned doing most of the pushing, -and Tom having hard work to stand up for himself, -and Hal a dead weight.</p> - -<p>After they had floundered on, in this way, with -pauses to catch breath, for seemingly a thousand -miles, the wooded end of Eagle showed darkly -through the driving storm.</p> - -<p>“Hurrah. There it is, Hal!” cheered Ned.</p> - -<p>His ankle had ceased to pain him; it had lapsed -from fire to an icy numbness. Now it kept turning<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[198]</a></span> -under him and his strokes were irregular and lacked -force. Tom, still thinking that he was helping Hal, -was walking on his skates, rather than skating. Ned -was the only one who talked. Hal was heart-sick, -and Tom was one of those chaps who simply press -their lips the tighter, and plod on until they drop.</p> - -<p>Eagle approached, oh, so slowly. Risking the -danger of possibly thin ice close in shore, Ned, -pushing Hal, and with Tom stubbornly stumbling -along on the other side, strove for the point.</p> - -<p>“There!” breathed Ned, as all three had done -before, at the Newton levee. This time, however, -he was the only one to say it.</p> - -<p>They flopped down among the brittle bushes, for a -rest. It seemed good to be on land—bleak as the -spot was.</p> - -<p>Presently Ned, arousing himself, kicked off his -skates, and while Tom was fumbling with his, removed -those of the passive Hal, also.</p> - -<p>Ned stood up. Tom stood up. Hal tried, and -fell back.</p> - -<p>“Hal, you must!” again ordered Ned. “Don’t -be a baby!”</p> - -<p>“I’m <em>not</em> a baby!” sobbed Hal, stung to the quick, -and staggering to his feet.</p> - -<p>Tom looked on, saying nothing.</p> - -<p>Off they went. As they warmed to their work, -they found that walking was an agreeable change. -The wind was broken by the trees, and although it -wailed and roared, and the snow sifted in their faces,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[199]</a></span> -still they were far more comfortable than they had -been upon the river.</p> - -<p>Hal pluckily braced up, and would take no more -help. Tom made no sign either way. Ned sang -and whistled and joked, all by himself, and ever one -leg from the knee down was only a dead weight. -Sometimes he stole a glance at it to make sure that it -was there.</p> - -<p>Eagle Island seemed deserted. In all their long, -dreary march, slipping, tripping, faint with hunger -and wet with snow and perspiration, they saw not -a house, nor heard, save Ned’s, a human voice.</p> - -<p>When they reached the edge of the woods, they -found that they had cut across the island, and were -at the Paper-mill Slough.</p> - -<p>Here Hal broke down again.</p> - -<p>“You aren’t going to walk the slough, are you?” -he whimpered, seeing that Tom and Ned were hobbling -on, without swerving.</p> - -<p>“Sure. Why not?” answered Ned. “We want -to get home, and that’s the quickest way, isn’t -it?”</p> - -<p>“I’m afraid. The slough’s all full of air-holes!” -faltered Hal, beginning to cry afresh from weariness -and fear.</p> - -<p>“We’ll go first, Hal,” comforted Ned. “You -aren’t afraid to follow in our tracks, are you? See—Tom’s -half way across already.”</p> - -<p>For Tom had never paused, but had trudged ahead -like a machine.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[200]</a></span></p> - -<p>“N-no,” said Hal, trying to be brave, and not -think of Bob’s howling.</p> - -<p>It was dark. The slough was ghostly, and the -farther shore was but a dim line. Here and there a -light glimmered; northward were more lights, and -Beaufort.</p> - -<p>A couple of miles, and they would be home.</p> - -<p>Over the slough stumped Ned; behind him -trailed Hal, sobbing and moaning, but coming -on, just the same. It was no use for them to -pick their way. Air-hole and solid crust looked -alike. And while the ice cracked under them, -sending their hearts into their mouths, and the -wind lashed them and the snow blinded them, -they pushed forward and arrived in safety at the -mainland. Tom was waiting for them, like a statue.</p> - -<p>South Beaufort did not interfere with them as they -toiled through it. Big Mike and the Conners and all -were housed from the blasts. As they gained their -own more familiar territory Hal blurted, suddenly:</p> - -<p>“I’m sorry I was scared, fellows. But Bob -howled so like the dickens that I thought something -was going to happen.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, pish!” muttered Tom—the first time in -hours that he had spoken a word.</p> - -<p>“That’s all right,” said Ned. “Hal had more grit -than <em>any</em> of us, because he came ahead even though -he <em>was</em> scared.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Miller was half frantic, and even Mr. Miller, -sure as he was that Ned would “turn up,” was getting<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[201]</a></span> -restive, when Ned tramped upon the front porch -and in through the welcoming door.</p> - -<p>“Oh, Neddie!” cried his mother.</p> - -<p>“Don’t scold me. I’m so tired!” pleaded Ned, -now feeling free to give in.</p> - -<p>He pitched into a chair before the sitting-room -stove, and they removed his cap and scarf and mittens, -and pulled off his boots. After he had swallowed -some warm supper, and had stammered his -tale, he stumbled to bed; and his ankle throbbed, -throbbed, throbbed, through all the night.</p> - -<p>The next day he was on crutches again. Hal reported -as well as ever. It was Tom, the silent, -dogged Tom, who fared the worst, just as he had -said the least. For a month he was sick from the -strain and the exposure.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> -</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[202]</a></span></p> - - - -<div class = "chapter"> -<a name = "Chapter_13" id = "Chapter_13"></a> -<h2> -<a href = "#Contents" class = "chapref" title = "Return to Table of Contents."> -CHAPTER <abbr title="13">XIII</abbr></a><br /> - -<span class ="small">AN UNEXPECTED BAG</span></h2> - - -<p class = "cap"><span class = "upcase">Spring</span> came early, but none too early for the -majority of Beaufort people. In particular, -none too early for Ned, whose ankle was -proving a check on his farther winter sports; and -none too early for Tom, to whom Christmas had -brought a gun which he had hardly been able to use -even on rabbits; and none too early for Bob, who, as -has been said, was not a cold-weather dog.</p> - -<p>With the advent of the south winds and the steady -dripping thaw, Ned’s ankle and Tom’s cough—keepsakes -from that memorable Newton trip—rapidly -disappeared; and the nearer ventured the ducks, the -stronger felt the two boys. Together—Tom no -longer Ned’s squire, but now, by virtue of that -Christmas present, become his brother-at-arms—they -haunted the levee, watching for the flight to set -in and the ice to go out.</p> - -<p>Bob accompanied them. But he was not especially -interested in ducks. Dread of gun forbade -him to hunt them, alive; and instinct forbade him to -gnaw the bones of them, dead. Summer really was -Bob’s only unclouded season, for then he could share -in all Ned’s excursions. Still, even a dog cannot go -through life without trials.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[203]</a></span></p> - -<p>All through the spring vacation that ice which had -made such good skating on the Mississippi hung and -hung, regardless of the fact that its mission had been -fulfilled, and that it ought to leave the field to the -hunters. Meanwhile the wild fowl had been making -use of the Missouri waterway; and when, at last, the -blockade in the Mississippi was lifted, and in the -shape of enormous floes of slush swept down the -channel, mashing against the piers of the Beaufort -bridge and piling up on the shores, the relief was too -late.</p> - -<p>Most of the ducks had passed by, on another -route, and Ned and Tom had killed never a -one.</p> - -<p>Tom was disappointed beyond measure. His new -gun yearned for its first duck, and but illy submitted -to the superior blood-record of Ned’s gun. Probably -this is why, in its mistaken zeal, it brought to bag -what it did.</p> - -<p>The duck crop being a failure, the boys had to -content themselves with the snipe crop. After the -ducks, save now and then a wood-duck or a blue-winged -teal which had decided to stay all summer, -were beyond reach of even a thirteen-inch cannon, -not to speak of a twelve gauge single-barrel, jack -snipe and plover still lingered in the marshes and -along the edges of the streams.</p> - -<p>It was the second Saturday in April, and Ned and -Tom were among the sloughs across the river, raking -the country for whatever might be so unlucky as to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[204]</a></span> -offer itself as an acceptable target. The withdrawal -of the ice from the Mississippi had given release to -that in the sloughs, and everything was springlike -and green and watery.</p> - -<p>Now it was afternoon. As to what the boys had -thus far secured, the less said, the better. Of course, -one cannot have good luck on every trip. But there -was a chance, yet, to round out the day well, had not -Tom’s gun, impatient and unruly, sailed in without -waiting, and on its own hook.</p> - -<p>The slough was on the boys’ right. They were -walking single file—Ned carelessly a few paces ahead, -or Tom carelessly a few paces behind, just as critics -choose—on the alert for game. It might be a pair -of plover winging overhead, or a jack snipe whisking -from under their feet, or, possibly, a belated duck -squawking from its covert, or—something else.</p> - -<p>“Boom!” And Ned was on his knees, and, -astonished, was trying not to fall farther.</p> - -<p>It had happened so very suddenly. The first thing -that he knew, his ears had been deafened by a tremendous -crash, and at the same instant he had been -struck a violent blow on the back, and thrown forward. -The next thing that he knew, he was tottering -on his knees, and Tom was bending over him, -wailing:</p> - -<p>“I’ve killed him, I’ve killed him! Oh, dear, what -shall I do!”</p> - -<p>“I know you didn’t mean to, Tom,” comforted -Ned, still rather hazy as to just what had taken place.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[205]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Are you dying, Ned? Don’t die! Oh, don’t -die!” pleaded Tom.</p> - -<p>Ned examined himself, inwardly, a moment, to determine -what his exact state might be. He could -place no pain; but this was what seemed awful: -that he might be dreadfully wounded somewhere, -and yet not know it!</p> - -<p>“Where did it hit me, Tom?” he asked, faintly, -and not daring to stir.</p> - -<p>“I shot your shoulder all to pieces!” cried Tom, -wildly. “And my gun wasn’t even cocked!”</p> - -<p>Ned fearfully looked over at his left shoulder. He -beheld his coat at that spot in tatters, and his whole -left sleeve torn so that it hung in only threads.</p> - -<p>With such havoc made, surely there ought to be -pain; but on the contrary the sole sensation was a -curious numbness in his left side and extending to -his left elbow.</p> - -<p>He wondered if it could be true that he was about -to die. He found himself not afraid, although it was -hard to die away off there, in the open country, beside -a slough. He was sorry for himself, and for his -father and mother, and for Tom. What would Bob -think? What would the boys and girls say? Poor -little Zu-zu would cry and cry, and keep his duck -wings forever.</p> - -<p>“Can you move your arm? Try!” implored -Tom.</p> - -<p>Ned cautiously tried, and found that he could -swing his arm and wiggle his fingers. But it was as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[206]</a></span> -though he was experimenting with the arm of somebody -else.</p> - -<p>Both were now becoming somewhat more hopeful. -Of the two, Tom, as was natural, was the more -excited and frightened, because upon his head rested -the accident, and because it was he who could view -the full extent of the damage.</p> - -<p>Ned could only imagine; Tom could both see and -imagine.</p> - -<p>“I don’t believe I’m shot so bad, after all,” mused -Ned, easing himself by settling back upon his heels. -“It doesn’t hurt a bit.”</p> - -<p>“But you are! I’m afraid you are!” moaned -Tom, pitifully. “And it’s all my fault, though I -don’t see how it ever happened.”</p> - -<p>From the appearance of that back it seemed to -Tom that the whole load must have entered Ned’s -shoulder.</p> - -<p>“Isn’t any one in sight to help us?” queried Ned.</p> - -<p>“Not a soul,” said Tom, with a quaver of despair -in his voice. “Shall I fix you as good as I can, and -then run like lightning and get a wagon, or something?”</p> - -<p>“I bet I could walk as far as the road,” asserted -Ned, pondering. “That would be a better place to -leave me, for people are more apt to come along -there, you know.”</p> - -<p>“But I hate to have you walk, Ned,” said Tom. -“It might not be right for you.”</p> - -<p>Nevertheless he took Ned’s hand and helped him<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[207]</a></span> -get on his feet—which was done with no apparent -harm.</p> - -<p>“I don’t need to be held up,” objected Ned, as -Tom started to put an arm around his waist, and lead -him off. “You carry the guns. You weren’t going -to forget them, were you?”</p> - -<p>Tom raised Ned’s gun from the spot where it had -dropped when Ned himself had dropped, and then -gave his own, lying where he had flung it, a kick.</p> - -<p>“It can stay here and rust, for all of me,” he declared. -“I’ll never touch it again; never.”</p> - -<p>“Shucks, you will, too,” scolded Ned. “Now you -pick it up.”</p> - -<p>So Tom roughly picked it up. Together the two -boys—the injured and the sound—slowly walked -across the field, with Tom watching Ned askance, as -if expecting him to keel over at any instant.</p> - -<p>Ned, however, while keeping himself well in hand, -and on the lookout for any new and warning symptoms, -did not feel the least discomfort from the -motion.</p> - -<p>His shoulder was numb, and only numb.</p> - -<p>To reach the road they had to cross a railway -track; and as they neared it Tom halted and cried, -joyfully:</p> - -<p>“Listen!”</p> - -<p>A clattering rumble, around the curve, fell upon -their ears.</p> - -<p>“A train—it’s a train!” cried Tom. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[208]</a></span>“You stay -here and I’ll go ahead and stop it.”</p> - -<p>“Maybe it won’t stop,” said Ned.</p> - -<p>“Yes, it will. I’ll make it,” assured Tom, running -forward. “They wouldn’t go on and leave you here -to die!”</p> - -<p>Uncertain as to how he would do it, but determined -to stop the train at all hazard, Tom flew for -the track.</p> - -<p>Around the long curve swept the Pacific Coast -Limited, due in Beaufort at 3:21. The engineer, -peering ahead, was startled to see, planted between -the rails in the rapidly nearing distance, a boy with a -gun in each hand, threatening the advance of the -train.</p> - -<p>The engineer opened the whistle valve, and the -engine sounded its angry, impatient command: “Out -of the way!”</p> - -<p>Tom saw the white flare of steam, and a second -later heard the quick shriek of warning. But he -never budged. He only waved his arms and guns.</p> - -<p>He tried to make the engineer know; now he -flourished the guns, and now he patted his left shoulder, -and now he pointed off toward Ned, and wept -aloud in his fear that he was not being understood.</p> - -<p>The engineer and the fireman noted the gestures, -and saw that the boy stubbornly stood and budged -not.</p> - -<p>It seemed to be a question of either slowing down -or running over him.</p> - -<p>To Tom it was a question of either saving Ned or -being run over.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[209]</a></span></p> - -<p>The engineer’s hand tightened on the air-brake -lever. The other hand grudgingly jerked the throttle.</p> - -<p>Tom saw the engine still closing in upon him at -relentless speed—and he only gestured the more.</p> - -<p>Then, on a sudden, with grinding of wheels, and a -disgusted wheeze, the train stopped; the pilot of the -engine just touched his boot-legs.</p> - -<p>“What’s the matter with you, eh?” demanded the -engineer, savagely, leaning out of his window.</p> - -<p>“A boy’s been shot! He’s got to be taken to -town right away,” explained Tom, hastening around -beside the cab, and looking up at the grimy face far -above him.</p> - -<p>He clutched the cab steps imploringly, resolved -that the train should not start without him.</p> - -<p>The fireman had jumped to the cab door and was -listening.</p> - -<p>“Well, where is he?” demanded the engineer.</p> - -<p>“There——” began Tom, but he was interrupted -by a brakeman, who, followed by the conductor, -came running up from the foremost coach.</p> - -<p>“What’s the matter here?” asked the brakeman.</p> - -<p>“A boy’s shot, and you’ve got to take him to -Beaufort,” announced Tom, again.</p> - -<p>“Where is he?” snapped the conductor, now -taking hold of affairs.</p> - -<p>“He’s coming. All right, Ned,” encouraged -Tom, beckoning to Ned, who was walking as fast as -he could, through the field, toward them.</p> - -<p>“That him?” demanded the conductor, shortly.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[210]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Yes, sir,” replied Tom. “He’s——”</p> - -<p>“Go ahead,” ordered the conductor, turning on his -heel, to the engineer. “Young man, this is a dangerous -business you’re in—stopping limited trains -just for the fun of it. I’ve a mind to take you to -town and turn you over to the officers.”</p> - -<p>He glared at Tom, and the brakeman glared at -Tom, and the fireman and engineer glared at Tom, -and all the faces stuck out of the windows of the line -of coaches glared at Tom.</p> - -<p>The engineer reached for the throttle, and Tom -reached for the conductor’s coat-tail.</p> - -<p>“Oh, but it’s true, it’s true!” cried Tom. “He <em>is</em> -shot. I shot him myself. You look at his shoulder -and you’ll see. Please wait! Please wait, just a second. -If it isn’t so, you can do anything to me you -like. See—how his left sleeve is all torn.”</p> - -<p>“Have him hurry up, then,” said the conductor, -moved by Tom’s appeal, and able to see for himself -that evidently something was wrong with Ned.</p> - -<p>Tom dropped his guns, and jumping down the -slight embankment sped to Ned, to help him pass a -barbed wire fence, and climb the gravelly slope.</p> - -<p>“By Jinks—the boy <em>is</em> hurt!” observed the brakeman.</p> - -<p>The conductor tapped with his foot impatiently.</p> - -<p>“At any rate, he’s making us lose lots of time,” he -remarked.</p> - -<p>“All aboard!” he called, as Tom and Ned toiled up -to the track. And he added, kindly, as the sight of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[211]</a></span> -Ned’s pale face and tattered back impressed him: -“Get in the first coach, lad. Help him in, Jack.”</p> - -<p>With a boost from the brakeman Ned safely landed -upon the vestibuled platform. At the same instant, -as though he had touched a concealed lever, the train -started, so eager was it to be again under way.</p> - -<p>Ned, with Tom steadying him, entered the coach, -and sat meekly in the seat next to the door. The -conductor came to interview them, and curious passengers -crowded around; the news that “a boy has -been shot” had spread adown the long line of aisles.</p> - -<p>Tom answered a multitude of questions; and Ned, -too, had his share. He told everybody, in reply to -their queries, that he felt all right, but in truth his -shoulder was beginning to throb and sting.</p> - -<p>Presently a physician came through, and after a -keen look into Ned’s face, and a light fingering of -the arm and shoulder, pronounced no bones broken; -and being told that the victim was going only to -Beaufort gave it as his opinion that the wound should -wait, rather than be examined on the train.</p> - -<p>Over the bridge rumbled the train; and in a moment -Ned and Tom, two forlorn figures, descended -at the depot.</p> - -<p>Their car had stopped beyond the depot crowd, -and nobody noticed them emerge from the vestibule, -upon the bricks below. Tom, who had halted a -limited train, was equal to this next crisis.</p> - -<p>The hacks and ’buses were at the other end of the -depot, but across the wide brick walk he saw Luke<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[212]</a></span> -Denee’s white horse and veteran express and transfer -wagon, with Luke himself standing by it, waiting for -whatever hauling the train might have brought him.</p> - -<p>“Oh, Mr. Denee! Mr. Denee!” called Tom, running -forward. “Won’t you carry Ned Miller up -town—he’s been shot!”</p> - -<p>“What’s that?” inquired Luke, bustling forward. -“Ned Miller? Where is he—why, bless my soul!” -catching sight of Ned himself. “Who shot him?”</p> - -<p>“I did. My gun went off by accident,” explained -Tom, wearily; he was growing tired of confessing it -so often. “He ought to be got to a doctor right -away.”</p> - -<p>“You bet I’ll take him, and we’ll get him there in -a jiffy,” assured Luke. “Golly the grog and the -great horn spoon, Ned boy—did Tom take you for -a goose, or a snipe, or what?”</p> - -<p>“A what, I guess,” replied Ned, as Luke helped -him into the rear of the wagon, and settled him upon -a trunk. The train was pulling out, and from every -window the passengers’ faces stared out upon them.</p> - -<p>Barely waiting for Tom, with the two guns, to leap -into the wagon, Luke plumped upon the seat and lifting -the lines clucked vigorously to his white horse. -The report of Ned’s plight was now being repeated -from mouth to mouth through the depot and vicinity, -and as the wagon rolled away and turned down the -street it was followed by a murmur and many eyes.</p> - -<p>With Ned sitting upon the trunk, and Tom standing -beside him to steady him, and Luke laying the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[213]</a></span> -whip on his astonished steed, the wagon rattled down -the thoroughfare. Scenting something wrong, the -people whom it passed gazed after it in wonder.</p> - -<p>“Where to? Which doctor?” asked Luke, over -his shoulder.</p> - -<p>“Dr. Mathews—he’s the one the Millers use,” directed -Tom. “Is that all right, Ned?”</p> - -<p>Ned nodded.</p> - -<p>Dr. Mathews’ office was at his house, and luckily -they caught him in. Ned was wearing a hunting -coat, and an ordinary coat under it. The doctor put -him in a chair, and not saying “by your leave” -swiftly and skilfully cut away the layers of cloth, and -ripping up the shirt underneath laid bare the shoulder.</p> - -<p>Tom, gazing, beheld a group of little round, blue -holes, and some smears of blood.</p> - -<p>“Oh, dear!” he groaned. “Isn’t that awful!”</p> - -<p>The doctor was delicately inserting a slender steel -probe into one of the holes. Ned, hunched over, -holding his breath and clenching his teeth, feared a -sorry time.</p> - -<p>“Does it hurt you much?” asked the doctor, -gently exploring with the probe.</p> - -<p>“N-n-no, it doesn’t,” replied Ned, relieved. He -could not feel the probe at all.</p> - -<p>“Numb, eh?” remarked the doctor. “Well, that’s -good.”</p> - -<p>“Is it very bad, doctor?” asked Ned.</p> - -<p>“Not a bit of it!” assured the doctor, cheerfully. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[214]</a></span>“Just a flesh wound, and in a week or so you’ll be as -well as ever! You’ve been struck by only—let’s see—ten, -eleven, thirteen—by thirteen shot, and they’re -on top of the shoulder-blade, every one of them, so -far as I can tell.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, I’m so glad!” sighed Tom, bursting into -tears. Now that the worst was over, he collapsed.</p> - -<p>“Don’t cry, Tom, old fellow,” begged Ned. -“Everything’s all right, now.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, indeed,” assured the doctor. “But you had -a very, very narrow escape. The load must have -passed between your shoulder and neck—and if it -had swerved a fraction of an inch to the right, or so -as to enter lower, you’d have bled to death long before -this.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, Ned!” exclaimed Tom, aghast at what might -have been.</p> - -<p>“But it <em>didn’t</em> swerve, you know,” prompted Ned.</p> - -<p>Here Mr. Miller, frightened as he never had been -frightened before, rushed in. Bad news travels fast.</p> - -<p>“Ned!” he cried, at the sight of his son under the -probe.</p> - -<p>“Now that will do, Mr. Miller,” cautioned the doctor, -smiling to quiet his fear. “Ned is right side up, -and almost ready for another hunt. He’s pretty -tough, you must understand.”</p> - -<p>“Nothing serious?” questioned Mr. Miller.</p> - -<p>“Not in the slightest,” asserted the doctor, with a -belittling shake of his head, and withdrawing the -probe from the last hole. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[215]</a></span>“I’ll simply dress this -place with antiseptic, and you can take him home in -my carriage. Just have him keep quiet for a few -days, and I think that he’ll soon be as fit as a fiddle.”</p> - -<p>So Ned was carried home in Doctor Mathews’ -carriage, his father driving. Tom was left to bring -the guns, and answer queries along the way.</p> - -<p>One would suppose that Mrs. Miller, by this time, -would have been so used to having Ned return after -having figured in some hair-breadth escape, that she -would take no especial notice of such a little thing as -thirteen shot in his left shoulder.</p> - -<p>But when she witnessed him gingerly clamber -down upon the horse-block, his arm in a sling, she -acted as though this was his first, instead of maybe -his hundredth, accident.</p> - -<p>Yet the thirteen shot in his shoulder did not -concern her so much as did the rest of the load, -that had passed so near, just missing his neck and -his lungs.</p> - -<p>Bob followed Ned in from the gate, and sniffing -the antiseptic, and wondering why his master did -not respond, as usual, to his energetic greetings, remained -upon the front porch, to consider the new -smell, and ponder over what was up.</p> - -<p>Ned’s wound did not trouble him much. He got -his hurts easily, as a rule, and just as easily he was -rid of them. Young blood is good blood for healing -purposes, as well as for purposes in general.</p> - -<p>Tom was constant in his attentions, as were Zu-zu -and Mrs. Pearce. They sent or brought fruit and -books and everything that might benefit or amuse.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[216]</a></span></p> - -<p>Neither of the boys could understand why Tom’s -gun had exploded, when it wasn’t cocked. However, -upon examining the cartridge it was found that -the cap bore a faint dot, where the plunger of the -gun had rested upon it. The cap had been too -sensitive, and a light jar had sent it off.</p> - -<p>“Still, I’d no business to have it pointed toward -you,” asserted Tom, when Ned tried to excuse him.</p> - -<p>“Tom says he guesses you’ll never want to go -hunting with him again,” said Zu-zu, one day, on -paying a visit to Ned. “He says <em>he’s</em> never going -again, either.”</p> - -<p>“That’s all nonsense,” vowed Ned. “You tell -him so, Zu-zu. He’s the safest fellow in the world -to go with, now, he’ll be so mighty careful. My -folks think that way, too.”</p> - -<p>When Zu-zu went home she carried in a little pill -box six shot that the doctor had cut out from just -beneath the skin of Ned’s back, where they had -come to the surface; and right and left she proudly -showed them among her friends.</p> - -<p>Only one thing remains to note. Ten days after -the shooting, Mrs. Miller finally succeeded in tracing -to its source an unsavory odor that had been bothering -her, about the house, for some time. She -searched Ned’s ill-fated hunting coat, and with a -cry of disgust bore it, at arm’s length, into the -room where Ned, with the contented Bob beside -him, was sitting.</p> - -<p>“What do you think I found?” she asked, thrusting<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[217]</a></span> -in her hand, and drawing out, between her finger -tips, a mass of feathers.</p> - -<p>“It’s a plover!” fairly shouted Ned, with a howl -of laughter. “That’s what I shot the day I was -hurt. I’d forgotten all about it. Ugh! Take it -away!”</p> - -<p>“And Tom was so jealous that he shot <em>you</em>!” -retorted Mrs. Miller, hurrying out. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[218]</a></span>“Well, his bag -was the biggest, I think.”</p> -<hr class="chap" /> -</div> - - -<div class = "chapter"> -<a name = "Chapter_14" id = "Chapter_14"></a> -<h2> -<a href = "#Contents" class = "chapref" title = "Return to Table of Contents."> -CHAPTER <abbr title="14">XIV</abbr></a><br /> - -<span class = "small">BIG MIKE AGAIN</span></h2> - - -<p class = "cap"><span class = "upcase">"Mrs.</span> Miller, can’t I take Ned fishing?” -asked Tom, through the open -door.</p> - -<p>He and Ned and Bob were sitting on the front -porch. It was two weeks after the shooting accident, -and Ned, aside from the arm still carried, for safety, -in a sling, was apparently as hale as ever. Never a -day passed that Tom was not in to see him at least -once, and often more frequently, and visits from -Hal and other friends swelled the calling list.</p> - -<p>Ned had told so many times just “how it felt” to -be shot, that now it was an old story, and he was -getting tired of being the fashion.</p> - -<p>“Why——I hardly think it would be wise, -Tom,” responded Mrs. Miller, from within.</p> - -<p>“But fishing’ll soon be over—that is, the best of -it,” pressed Tom. “Perch are running thick as -flies, so you can catch them as fast as you can throw -in and pull out. Hen Swiggert brought home a -hundred and four yesterday, and he was gone just -part of a day. It’s too bad Ned has got to miss the -fun.”</p> - -<p>“’Twouldn’t hurt me a bit, mother,” urged Ned. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[219]</a></span>“’Twould do me good.”</p> - -<p>“I think you ought to keep quiet,” declared his -mother.</p> - -<p>“He can be just as quiet as he is here,” argued -Tom. “We’ll go over on Eagle. I’ll row him, and -we’ll get up in Catfish Slough, and all he’ll need do -will be sit in the shade and fish. He can fish with -one hand, easy.”</p> - -<p>“Of course I can,” agreed Ned.</p> - -<p>“Well, we’ll see what the doctor says about it,” -promised Mrs. Miller; and that was the best word -that the boys could squeeze out of her.</p> - -<p>The doctor said: “Go ahead, but don’t get -heated.”</p> - -<p>“Isn’t he a dandy doctor, though!” exclaimed -Ned, reporting to Tom.</p> - -<p>“When I’m sick he’s the doctor <em>I</em> want! I’ll tell -my mother so,” answered Tom. “When a fellow’s -ready to go out he doesn’t keep him in!”</p> - -<p>The boys had planned to use the scull-boat; but -unluckily it turned out that Hal wanted the craft -upon the same day as they, and Ned said, “All -right.”</p> - -<p>“I should think Hal could let you have the boat, -considering you’re hurt,” hinted Tom. “Why can’t -he?”</p> - -<p>“He and Orrie Lukes are going up the river and -stay all night,” explained Ned; <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[220]</a></span>“and they haven’t -any other boat they can sleep in very well. The -scull-boat’s dandy for sleeping in because it hasn’t -any seats.”</p> - -<p>Which was true.</p> - -<p>“We can hire a skiff from Commodore Jones, I -suppose, then,” said Tom, but in a tone not wholly -satisfied.</p> - -<p>“I suppose we’ll have to,” replied Ned. “We’ll get -the No. 19—she pulls the easiest of any. But I’d -rather have the scull-boat.”</p> - -<p>“I tell you what!” exclaimed Tom, struck with an -idea which had popped into his brain. “We’ll get a -boat down at the Paper-mill Slough and then all we’ll -have to do will be to row across.”</p> - -<p>“Whose boat?” queried Ned.</p> - -<p>“Oh, I don’t know,” answered Tom. “Anybody’s’ll -do. There are always a lot of skiffs tied -along shore there—old leaky things, but good -enough for us to fool with.”</p> - -<p>“It wouldn’t be stealing, would it?” asked Ned, -anxiously.</p> - -<p>“No; I wouldn’t call that ‘stealing,’” asserted -Tom. “Some of them don’t belong to anybody, -’special. They’re just used by the South Beaufort -fellows to monkey in, and aren’t even locked. Nobody’ll -care a bit if we take one for a day, and bring -it back. It’ll save us a big row up against the current, -too.”</p> - -<p>“Save <em>you</em>, you mean,” corrected Ned. “I can’t -row, except with one hand.”</p> - -<p>“You shan’t row a stroke!” decided Tom, alarmed -lest Ned might be going to try. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[221]</a></span>“I’m running -this shooting-match!” Then he added, doubtfully: -“Zu-zu wants to go.”</p> - -<p>“Let’s take her,” urged Ned. “Of course! She -wouldn’t be in the way a bit.”</p> - -<p>“Girls are a kind of bother, usually, out fishing, -but Zu-zu’s different from most of them,” said Tom, -highly pleased.</p> - -<p>“Zu-zu’s got sense. She doesn’t just stand round -and squeal,” observed Ned, sagely.</p> - -<p>“That’s right. I’ll say it, if she <em>is</em> my sister,” -agreed Tom.</p> - -<p>Half-past five o’clock Saturday morning found the -four of them—Ned and Tom and Zu-zu and Bob—at -the Paper-mill Slough. Ned had under his sound -arm his and Tom’s jointed rods, while Zu-zu proudly -bore a slender little pole purchased for her by Tom, -on the previous evening. Tom was in charge of a -basket of lunch.</p> - -<p>This basket vexed Zu-zu, who would have preferred -that each one carry a few slices of bread and -butter and sugar done up in a paper bag, just as the -boys did when they went alone. But her mother had -insisted upon the basket, with lunch in it for three. -Ned was to furnish nothing; he was guest of honor.</p> - -<p>Bob carried himself.</p> - -<p>The morning was ideal—dewy and balmy and -clear. Zu-zu, who rarely had been up so early -before, and who looked on this outing as the -greatest event of her life, was in the seventh<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[222]</a></span> -heaven of delight over everything; even Bob -could not keep back a few yelps; but Ned and -Tom, as befitted old hunters and fishers, used to -all hours and to all sights, were very matter-of-fact -and stoical.</p> - -<p>Indeed, Ned had thought it quite out of keeping -with his dignity to have his mother arise before him, -and hover over him while he ate his early breakfast, -to make sure that he was well provided for and that -his shoulder was not troubling him!</p> - -<p>The sun was half an hour high, and, peeping over -the trees of Eagle, opposite, was shining across the -smooth waterway. Fish were jumping, birds were -twittering, and the air was deliciously fresh.</p> - -<p>With their noses resting upon the shore, and the -little ripples lapping against their sides, just below the -paper-mill there were, as Tom had predicted, quite a -number of skiffs, of various shapes and in various -stages of ruin. But, contrary to that which he had -predicted, all seemed to be padlocked, with chains, -to rings and staples.</p> - -<p>“That’s a pretty idea!” grumbled Tom, prying -along the line. “You’d think the old shebangs were -worth something!”</p> - -<p>“Isn’t it almost stealing, Ned?” inquired Zu-zu. -“Tom says it isn’t.”</p> - -<p>“N-no,” replied Ned, weighing the pros and cons -of the matter. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[223]</a></span>“You see, if we find a boat that’s unlocked -it’s a pretty sure sign that either it hasn’t an -owner, or else the owner doesn’t care if people -borrow it. We’re just going across the slough -in it.”</p> - -<p>Zu-zu accepted the decision as final; Tom and -Ned ought to know. She looked on anxiously as -Tom examined the various fastenings. What if the -trip had to be given up!</p> - -<p>Bob sat down near Ned, and whined. He wondered -why this fussing and delay. It was only a -short swim.</p> - -<p>“Hurrah—here’s one that’s only tied,” announced -Tom.</p> - -<p>“Goodie!” exclaimed Zu-zu, jumping up and -down.</p> - -<p>Ned heaved a sigh of relief, and Bob pricked up -his ears.</p> - -<p>“Come on, Zu-zu,” said Ned, descending to the -boat, at the bows of which Tom was fumbling.</p> - -<p>The boat proved to be the worst of the lot. It -was a clumsy-looking, flat-bottomed affair, with -square ends, and unpainted.</p> - -<p>“What are you going to row with?” asked Zu-zu, -stopping short.</p> - -<p>Ned stared at Tom, and Tom stared at Ned. Somehow, -oars had not occurred to them, although had -they thought, they would have known that whatever -the boat, the oars would not be left in it.</p> - -<p>“I’ll paddle with a board,” declared Tom. “You -get in while I’m hunting one.”</p> - -<p>“Sit in the other end, Zu-zu,” bade Ned, holding -out his hand to help her as she sprang from seat to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[224]</a></span> -seat. Bob was less polite. He rushed rudely past -her, as if afraid of being left, and planted himself in -the stern.</p> - -<p>“Bob! Shame on you,” reproved Ned. “Don’t -you know that the rule is ‘ladies first’?”</p> - -<p>“But that’s meant for men, not dogs, isn’t it, Bob?” -comforted Zu-zu, perching herself beside him, and -sitting on her feet to keep them out of the water -that swished about in the leaky craft.</p> - -<p>Tom, with a piece of board in his hands, hurried -back, and when Ned had securely squatted upon a -seat in the middle, with a lusty heave he slowly -started the heavy boat from its mooring-place, and -tumbled in.</p> - -<p>He stood up, and with a long, sweeping motion -paddled first on the one side and then on the other. -The craft, with its load, gradually crept toward the -shore of Eagle, a stone’s throw away. Zu-zu, fixed -in the spot assigned her, longed to trail her hand in -the water, but refrained. She did not dare so much -as move, lest she should become a “bother.”</p> - -<p>Under Tom’s efforts they floated into the narrow -mouth of a little bayou, called Catfish Slough, which -wound through the island and emptied into Beaver -Lake, in the centre of the island.</p> - -<p>“Gracious, but this is hard work!” spoke Tom, -after they had run aground several times in rounding -corners. “The old thing won’t answer her -helm.”</p> - -<p>“Poor Tom,” cooed Zu-zu.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[225]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Let’s get out and walk,” proposed Ned. “It’ll -be quicker, and easier, too.”</p> - -<p>Bob already was walking—or, rather, scampering. -According to his custom, as the boat approached the -land he had deserted.</p> - -<p>“Let’s,” chimed in Zu-zu.</p> - -<p>Tom swung the unwieldly craft in broadside -against the bank, where trees and bushes came clear -to the water’s edge, and all disembarked—although -by different methods. That is, Zu-zu skipped out, -Ned leaped out, and Tom merely stepped out, -so that he could stoop and tie the chain painter -to a root. Bob was present to welcome -them.</p> - -<p>“There!” Tom said. “We’ve got here, anyway.”</p> - -<p>“Nobody’ll take it, I guess,” remarked Ned.</p> - -<p>“Not if they have to row it,” asserted Tom.</p> - -<p>“It’s the <em>Black Swan!</em>” cried Zu-zu, gazing back -upon it. “See? It has the name on the—the—well, -I don’t know whether you say stern or bow, -but it’s right under where I was sitting.”</p> - -<p>“Huh! <em>Black Swan!</em>” commented Tom, in -scorn. “They ought to name it <em>Mud Turtle</em>.”</p> - -<p>“You ought not to complain, Tom,” lectured -Zu-zu. “You might have had no boat at all.”</p> - -<p>Then she suddenly closed her lips, and grew red, -for fear lest she might have said too much.</p> - -<p>But Ned and Tom only laughed good-naturedly.</p> - -<p>They walked ahead for a short distance, following<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[226]</a></span> -a path along the little bayou, until they came upon a -place where the bank was rather high, and the water -before it was unusually wide and deep.</p> - -<p>“This will do, won’t it?” spoke Ned, who was in -advance, halting.</p> - -<p>“I guess so,” replied Tom, also halting.</p> - -<p>Zu-zu said nothing; she had faith in the two boys. -Bob dashed up and pausing an instant to catch the -drift of things, dashed off again. When he was in -the woods he was always very, very busy.</p> - -<p>The bothersome basket, which nevertheless was -soon to make itself exceedingly agreeable, was -dropped at the foot of a tree; the boys fitted together -the joints of their rods, and Ned baited Zu-zu’s -hook for her, that she might be first to throw in. -Although he was limited to one arm, he could use -the fingers of both hands.</p> - -<p>Presently Zu-zu was staring at her cork, bobbing -upon the ripples.</p> - -<p>“Oh, it’s under—it’s under!” she cried. “What -shall I do?”</p> - -<p>“Pull it out, quick!” commanded Tom.</p> - -<p>Thereupon Zu-zu gave a tremendous jerk, twitching -high into the air an astonished perch, which fell -back with a splash. The empty hook landed among -the bushes far behind.</p> - -<p>“Oh, dear! It got away!” complained Zu-zu.</p> - -<p>“You mustn’t jerk so hard, Zu-zu,” advised Ned. -“Watch how we do it.”</p> - -<p>At that instant his bobber, too, wavered, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[227]</a></span> -ducked, and he cleverly lifted to land a fat yellow -perch.</p> - -<p>“I’ve got one, too!” exclaimed Tom.</p> - -<p>“Hurrah!” laughed Ned, joyfully. “They’re -biting fine, aren’t they?”</p> - -<p>“Poor things—just see how they flop,” said -Zu-zu, watching Ned string his spoil. “Do you -suppose it hurts them so very much?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t believe fish feel as much as we do, or they -wouldn’t have been made to be caught,” replied Ned.</p> - -<p>“Well, please don’t handle them any rougher than -you can help,” begged Zu-zu; and plunged in -thought, she freed her line from the bushes, and -dropped it in the water again.</p> - -<p>Nothing more happened to her cork, and after -guarding it for some time, while her companions -were pulling out fish right along, she hopped up, -and saying: “I shan’t fish any more; I’m going to -find Bob and look for flowers,” she tripped back into -the woods.</p> - -<p>Ned lifted her hook and glanced at it.</p> - -<p>“Why, your hook isn’t baited!” he called after -her. “No wonder you didn’t catch anything.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t care,” answered Zu-zu. “I hate to see -them flop so.”</p> - -<p>Ned baited it and let it down again.</p> - -<p>“We’ll give you all that are caught on it, anyway,” -he said.</p> - -<p>Each of the boys was fishing with three hooks -on a line; and the perch bit so boldly that often<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[228]</a></span> -three were hauled out at a time, with others chasing -them clear to the surface, trying to take the worm -from their mouths.</p> - -<p>Sometimes a round sunfish elbowed a perch out -of the road, and grabbed the bait, only to meet a -sudden fate.</p> - -<p>Zu-zu’s pole and hook and line, attended to now -by Tom and now by Ned, added to the general collection—and -very nearly did more!</p> - -<p>“Tom! Grab Zu’s pole—quick! I can’t!” -warned Ned, abruptly, himself engaged in safely -landing two large perch.</p> - -<p>It was high time, indeed, that somebody came to -the rescue, for behold, Zu-zu’s cork was completely -out of sight, and her pole, pulled by an invisible -force, was sliding into the water!</p> - -<p>“It’s a pickerel—it’s a big pickerel!” cried Tom. -“I saw his tail!”</p> - -<p>He sprang for the pole—and at the very moment, -with a bound and a splash, that blundersome Bob -bolted into the water, from the other side, and made -for their spot, laying a course that would cut exactly -across Zu-zu’s line.</p> - -<p>“Go back, Bob! Bob, go back!” ordered Ned, -furiously.</p> - -<p>But Bob swerved not. He merely flirted the water -out of his ears, as if to say: “I don’t hear you,” and -ploughed on, barking his defiance.</p> - -<p>Mr. Pickerel took alarm. Any fish might, with -Bob’s legs, working like the flappers of an immense<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[229]</a></span> -turtle, bearing down upon him. He darted for cover. -The line grew taut—and then relaxed, limp and lifeless, -while the thrill all went out of the pole in Tom’s -eager hands.</p> - -<p>“He broke the hook!” mourned Tom, hauling in.</p> - -<p>“Oh, Bob!” accused Ned.</p> - -<p>Bob clambered up, shook himself, and hied into -the woods once more. The bayou was free for all, -and he saw no reason why he should not swim in it. -He certainly had to cross, some way.</p> - -<p>“He was longer than my arm!” asserted Tom, -grieved, and gazing with regretful eyes at the worthless -shank dangling where the pickerel ought to have -been.</p> - -<p>“Shucks!” muttered Ned; and his tone held a -world of vexation and disappointment.</p> - -<p>Zu-zu came upon the scene. She heard the sad -tale without being in the least vexed.</p> - -<p>“I don’t care a bit,” she said. “I’m glad the fish -got away. He didn’t want to die, I’m sure. And -we have lots of other fish, you know.”</p> - -<p>It was plain to the boys that Zu-zu, being a girl, -could not understand what a truly great loss had been -suffered. So they did not argue the case.</p> - -<p>As suddenly as they had commenced, the perch -stopped biting. The corks lay idly upon the surface. -The sun was high o’erhead. The dragon-flies shot -here and there over the water, and the gnats buzzed -around the fishermen’s ears, and the ears of Mistress -Zu-zu.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[230]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Let’s eat,” suggested Tom.</p> - -<p>“Yes, let’s eat,” wagged Bob, appearing as if by -magic.</p> - -<p>The rest of the company being of the same mind, -the napkiny depths of the basket were laid bare—and -the way that basket heaped coals of fire upon the -heads of those who had despised it was a caution!</p> - -<p>Fish bit only slowly during the remainder of the -day. One might have thought that they had worn -themselves out with their greedy efforts of the early -morning. Zu-zu and the two boys idled in the shade -on the turf, and Bob, tireless, roamed east, west, north -and south. If the island, formerly his home, recalled -any memories to his doggish mind, he showed no -will to sit and dream over them.</p> - -<p>The shadows of the trees were long and pointed, -bridging the bayou, when the boys drew in the lines, -and unjointed the poles, and counted their fish.</p> - -<p>“How many?” asked Ned.</p> - -<p>“Fifty-three,” proclaimed Tom. “How many you -got?”</p> - -<p>“Forty-two,” answered Ned. “You beat me.”</p> - -<p>“But you had only one arm,” reminded Tom.</p> - -<p>“Let’s see—fifty-three plus forty-two—that makes -ninety-five; and then there’s the big fish that got -away, which makes ninety-six!” exclaimed Zu-zu. -“My, what a lot! You ought to put some of them -back.”</p> - -<p>“We’ve put the big pickerel back; that’s all we -can spare,” asserted Tom, ruefully.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[231]</a></span></p> - -<p>They retraced their steps of the morning, along -the path, until——</p> - -<p>“Say—where’s our boat?” cried Ned, astounded.</p> - -<p>They had arrived at the spot where they had left -the <cite>Black Swan</cite>, but the craft had disappeared.</p> - -<p>“Certain this is the place?” asked Tom. “Yes, it -must be,” he continued. “There’s the root I tied to.”</p> - -<p>“Somebody came along and helped himself, that’s -all there is to it,” declared Ned.</p> - -<p>“Maybe it just floated off,” guessed Zu-zu.</p> - -<p>“No, it couldn’t; or else it would have come our -way, with the current, you know, Zu-zu,” corrected -Tom. “I call that a downright mean trick, to take -our boat like this.”</p> - -<p>“But we did the very same thing, ourselves. The -boat wasn’t ours in the first place,” retorted Zu-zu, -daringly.</p> - -<p>“Well, the only thing to do is to follow on up the -slough, and if we don’t come across the boat we’ll -have to wait for somebody to take us over to the -paper-mill,” spoke Ned.</p> - -<p>They followed Catfish until they reached its head, -where it branched off from Paper-mill Slough. They -caught not a glimpse of the <cite>Black Swan</cite>. As they -reached the shore the Beaufort whistles were blowing -six o’clock. The sun was slipping behind a heavy -bank of clouds, and dusk was at hand. The three -could not make out a single person anywhere near -them, to succor them, and standing there upon the -muddy strand, with darkness closing in, and with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[232]</a></span> -nothing to eat and no place to sleep, they felt like -forlorn, shipwrecked sailors.</p> - -<p>Bob, however, curled himself in a ball, and went -into a shivery doze.</p> - -<p>“Here come some people,” announced Tom.</p> - -<p>Through the mist now rising out of the water a -boat approached from the town side of the slough. -It carried a dozen Eagle Islanders who worked at the -sawmills, and were returning home for the night.</p> - -<p>“I’ll go and ask them to take us over,” volunteered -Tom.</p> - -<p>“No, I’ll go,” cried Ned. “They’ll listen quicker to -a fellow with one arm.”</p> - -<p>The islanders landed some distance above the little -party, and tumbled out so quickly that by the time -Ned had arrived all but one had trudged into the -woods. This one was bending over, fastening the -boat.</p> - -<p>“Hello,” hailed Ned. “Can’t you please take us -over the slough? We’ve lost our boat.”</p> - -<p>But the man only grunted, and shook his head; -and picking up his dinner bucket and coat, and the -oars, stolidly tramped away.</p> - -<p>Ned, indignant, examined the boat’s chain, with -the hot idea of using the craft, anyway; but he -found that it was padlocked.</p> - -<p>He went back to his companions, who had been -eagerly watching, and reported.</p> - -<p>“Oh, dear, what shall we do?” wailed Zu-zu, beginning -to be dismal from the mist and the shadows,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[233]</a></span> -and the suspicion that everybody but them was going -to supper.</p> - -<p>“We’ll yell like everything, and attract some one’s -attention on the other side,” proposed Ned.</p> - -<p>“I’d swim and get a boat, if the water wasn’t so -cold,” said Tom.</p> - -<p>“Don’t try, Tom. You’d get a cramp,” begged -Zu-zu.</p> - -<p>The boys shouted, and Zu-zu screamed, and all -waved their handkerchiefs, while Bob raised his head -in astonishment. Presently Tom panted:</p> - -<p>“Somebody’s putting out in a boat, all right -enough. Keep it up.”</p> - -<p>From the mainland opposite, where lights were beginning -to twinkle, a boat, barely seen against the -dark shore-line, was starting out into the slough. -They heard the rattle of the oars dropping into the -oar-locks.</p> - -<p>“Keep yelling,” gasped Ned.</p> - -<p>And they did, until it was plain that the boat was -making for them.</p> - -<p>“It’s the <em>Black Swan</em>!” whispered Zu-zu, excitedly, -as the craft neared.</p> - -<p>“Oh, no,” scoffed Tom.</p> - -<p>“But it is, it is!” insisted Zu-zu. “I know it is!”</p> - -<p>And as it glided up through the muddy shallows -at their feet they saw that the <cite>Black Swan</cite> it was. -The rower stood up, and turned to face them. He -was Big Mike!</p> - -<p>Bob growled.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[234]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Want to go across?” asked Big Mike, with a -grin.</p> - -<p>“Yes—that is, we’ve lost our boat,” stammered -Ned, awkwardly.</p> - -<p>“Get in; I’ll take you,” offered the South Beauforter.</p> - -<p>“Will you? Good for you!” exclaimed Ned.</p> - -<p>“I should say so!” spoke Tom.</p> - -<p>Zu-zu was too flabber-gasted by the sudden presence -of this arch ogre to say a word.</p> - -<p>They marched in. Bob followed, with a dash to -get past his enemy in safety.</p> - -<p>“Was it you folks that took this boat? I found -her up Catfish a little ways,” queried Big Mike, pushing -off.</p> - -<p>“Well—yes. You see, it was unlocked, and we -didn’t know it belonged to anybody especial, and we -wanted to get across,” explained Ned.</p> - -<p>“It didn’t make no difference,” said Big Mike. -“If I’d knowed who had it I wouldn’t have cared. -Only, I thought some of them Dutch on the island -had got it. They’re all the time doin’ that.”</p> - -<p>“Let me row,” urged Tom.</p> - -<p>“Naw; she rows easy after she gets started,” -grunted Big Mike.</p> - -<p>“It’s an awful nice boat. Did you name it?” -piped Zu-zu, timidly, hoping to please their dreadful -host. Who knows—he might be planning to dump -them in the slough, and drown them!</p> - -<p>Big Mike wriggled uneasily, evidently flattered.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[235]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Naw; she was named before I got her,” he answered. -“She ain’t very pretty, but she’s good -enough for ’round here.”</p> - -<p>“How’s your shoulder?” he asked, gruffly, of -Ned.</p> - -<p>“It’s about well. It wasn’t much, anyway,” responded -Ned.</p> - -<p>They were half-way across, and the rest of the distance -was covered in silence, save when once Big -Mike remarked again gruffly: “Perch runnin’ thick, -ain’t they?” to which both boys assented.</p> - -<p>“We’re much obliged, Mike,” spoke Ned, as they -rose to step out. “Aren’t we, Tom?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, sir-ee!” exclaimed Tom.</p> - -<p>“Oh, ’twasn’t nothin’,” growled Big Mike, tying -the boat. “I jest heared somebody yellin’, an’ -thought I’d go over an’ get ’em. I seen there was a -girl, and a feller with one arm done up.”</p> - -<p>Ned whispered to Tom, and Tom nodded, and -with a gesture passed a string of fish to Zu-zu.</p> - -<p>“Here,” said Zu-zu, holding out the string to Big -Mike.</p> - -<p>“<em>I</em> don’t want ’em,” declared Big Mike, straightening -after his task.</p> - -<p>“But we ought to pay you for the use of the boat,” -said Zu-zu. “And for coming after us, too; and -we’ve got more fish than we can eat. There—you’ll -have to take them,” and she dropped them in a scaly -heap at his feet. Then the three of them hastened -up the bank, with Bob, glad to be free from the presence<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[236]</a></span> -of his foe, frisking ahead. Looking back, they -saw Big Mike slowly lift the fish, and, shouldering his -oars, start off, no doubt homeward.</p> - -<p>“Big Mike’s not so bad, after all; is he?” asserted -Zu-zu.</p> - -<p>“No,” agreed Tom and Ned.</p> - -<p>Bob did not join in this opinion. Nothing that -Big Mike would do could make up, in the mind of -Bob, for past offenses.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> -</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[237]</a></span></p> - - - -<div class = "chapter"> -<a name = "Chapter_15" id = "Chapter_15"></a> -<h2> -<a href = "#Contents" class = "chapref" title = "Return to Table of Contents."> -CHAPTER <abbr title="15">XV</abbr></a><br /> - -<span class = "small">JUST ABOUT BOB</span></h2> - - -<p class = "cap"><span class = "upcase">Bob</span> had now rounded into a fine, strong dog, -pleasing in manners and respectable in appearance. -At the time of his rescue from -the barn by Ned and Hal he was in his hobbledehoy -period—in dogs, as in boys, that awkward, sappy -state betwixt puppyhood and eye-teethhood. Out -of this he had grown up, under the good food and -kind treatment of the Miller household, into a dog -who was a credit to the family.</p> - -<p>He was rather larger than a pointer should be, -with a head unusually wide and full, a sign of great -intelligence. His nose was a bit blunt; and this, and -his head, and his stubbornness, caused critics to hold -that somewhere in his ancestry was a strain of bulldog -blood.</p> - -<p>His ears were thin and long and velvety, drooping -below his chops; his lips were loose and swaying, -and the skin of his neck was loose and wrinkly. -His eyes were a beautiful, faithful brown. His coat -was a rich mahogany, and was even and glossy. He -had a magnificent chest—broad, massive, with a bone -that jutted out like that of a turkey gobbler. Behind -it was a barrel of a body, which all of Mrs. -Miller’s stuffing never could make else but lean;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[238]</a></span> -while his ribs narrowed away until at his flanks they -ended in a sad hollow.</p> - -<p>In truth, Bob’s front half was much superior to his -rear half, which ran off into a short, stubby tail -tipped with a warty knob. Whether some accident -had happened, to blight this tail in Bob’s infancy, or -whether his mother’s family had been so unexpectedly -large that there had not been material enough -for finishing Bob completely, no one could say. At -any rate, he was not fitted with a tail such as a dog -of his size and breed should have, and he was always -more or less conscious of the fact.</p> - -<p>Reference has been made to Bob’s grin. When -he was tickled over anything his whole upper lip -curled back, exposing a row of shining white teeth -and brilliant red gums. Thus, grinning at one end -and wagging at the other, he tried to show his -pleasure. However, it was not a becoming face that -he made when he grinned, and many people, not -used to his oddity, mistook it for a snarl, and were -afraid. As soon as they came to know him, they -understood what a good-natured fellow he was.</p> - -<p>Indeed, a more good-natured dog never lived. -Also, never lived a dog queerer and more human. -No one made his acquaintance but to like him, and -he was suffered to do things that would have earned -rebuke for any dog but him.</p> - -<p>When Ned was absent at school, sometimes Bob -would become lonely, and would start out to find his -master. In manner unknown—but through his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[239]</a></span> -nose, or ears, or eyes—he had discovered the room -in which Ned was caged during school hours, and -there, in his quest, he would betake himself.</p> - -<p>If the door was open, in he would saunter, and -sniff down the aisle; and perhaps the first hint to -Ned of Bob’s presence would be that sturdy head -laid, amid titters, upon his knee.</p> - -<p>As a rule Ned was asked by the teacher to escort -Bob to the door again. But occasionally Mr. Bob -would choose, rather, to climb into an empty seat, -and there, by quietly curling for sleep, make amends -for his intrusion. In this case he was allowed to -remain, and the room speedily forgot that he was -there.</p> - -<p>At the stroke of the bell, Bob always promptly -arose and trotted out.</p> - -<p>Whether or not he learned anything of mathematics -or physiology or grammar during his snooze may -be a mooted question; but Ned and friends claimed -that he did.</p> - -<p>When it happened that Bob did not find Ned’s -seat occupied, he hopped into it, and there sat bolt -upright, as if to fill the vacancy, until Ned returned. -Once in a while he would refuse to get out—and -then would be hauled down by the collar, and led in -disgrace to the door.</p> - -<p>With all the wisdom got in school, nevertheless -Bob did many foolish tricks. For instance, he -should have known better than to bury pancakes in -the fall, expecting to dig them up and eat them in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[240]</a></span> -the winter! When the pancakes were buried, they -and the ground were soft together; but when they -were sought again, a month or so later, they came -up—if at all—in flinty shreds scarcely to be told -from the dirt. Yet Bob seemed not to foresee this; -and even during winter thaws he persisted in scratching -small holes and placing in them buckwheat -cakes, for use in the future!</p> - -<p>He so loved to bury things that his nose was -nearly always crowned with a little ridge of soil. -Once he brought home a five-pound roast of beef, -which a neighbor had got at the butcher’s with intent -to have it for dinner. Bob buried it in the garden, -and for a week and more regularly uncovered it, took -a few delicious gnaws, and covered it up again.</p> - -<p>Ned was obliged to find the neighbor another -roast.</p> - -<p>Bob was a dog not easily convinced. This is a -polite way of putting it, for the trait was neither -more nor less than downright stubbornness. When -he would not do a thing, he wouldn’t, until at last -persuaded by kind words, or hope of reward, or fear -of punishment.</p> - -<p>Ned found that patience and gentle argument -were better than blows, to make Bob yield, so -threshings were dropped from the list of “persuaders.” -Bob had a keen sense of shame, and the tone of the -voice could make him feel worse than the hardest -licking.</p> - -<p>His stubbornness was twice very nearly his death.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[241]</a></span> -The first time, he was simply bound not to budge -one inch from the way of a heavy farm wagon. He -lay flat in the road, and waited for the wagon to -turn out for <em>him</em>. But the wagon kept upon its -route, and Bob, still sticking to his position, did -nothing but howl his protests as the wheels passed -over his back.</p> - -<p>His bones being soft, he arose unhurt, and stalked -off in the sulks.</p> - -<p>The second time had as a scene the approach to -the high trestle bridging a slough just beyond the -farther end of the river bridge. Ned and Bob had -been for a walk, and upon the return Bob had refused -to walk the trestle. According to his custom he -flopped down, like a spoiled child, on the spot.</p> - -<p>Ned went ahead, hoping that at last Bob would -arise and follow. He had gone a short distance, -leaving Bob sprawled on the gravel in the middle -of the railroad track, when suddenly he heard the -rumble of a train, nearing from behind.</p> - -<p>“Bob! Here, Bob! Here, Bob!” he called, running -back.</p> - -<p>But Bob dumbly declined.</p> - -<p>“Get up! Bob! Get up!” cried Ned.</p> - -<p>Bob, with his master coming from one way and the -train coming from the other, stayed on his spot, deaf -to the appeals of the former and the warnings of the -latter.</p> - -<p>The engine reached him first. Ned, horrified, saw -him hurled into the air, up, up, twenty feet, his legs<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[242]</a></span> -dangling and his ears flopping. Turning slow somersaults -down he came, clear of the trestle, into the -depths below. Ned caught a glimpse of the engineer -and fireman looking back from the cab and laughing, -which made him mad.</p> - -<p>The first freeze of the fall had covered the slough -with an inch of ice. Down dropped Bob, as swiftly -as though he were from the dog-star, and lit squarely, -in a sitting position, on a shallow place.</p> - -<p>The sound of a shrill yelp floated up to Ned, leaning -over to gaze. Bob bounced to his feet, and -leaving the outlines of his hind parts, with a hole -marking where his tail had bored, across the slough -he fled, his ki-yi’s drifting behind him, fainter and -fainter.</p> - -<p>After much whistling Ned found him again, hiding -in the woods. In body Bob was uninjured, but -his feelings had been hurt; and for some time he -could not be made to believe but that a mean trick -had been played upon him by Ned and the train.</p> - -<p>Finally he allowed himself to be coaxed upon the -trestle, and with whimper and trembling, with tail between -his legs and with many a backward glance, he -made the journey across.</p> - -<p>Thereafter he took the trestle in a hurry, without -a sign of hesitation. He had learned a lesson.</p> - -<p>Bob’s stubbornness was not always of mischief to -him. Sometimes it stood him in good stead, and -above all in his fights. Now, Bob was not willingly -a fighter. There were times when he would run<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[243]</a></span> -from a dog not half his size. This lack of spirit was -a cause of great vexation to Ned, who, while he -would not have Bob a bully like some dogs, upon -the other hand would not have him a craven and a -coward.</p> - -<p>But when cornered, or when once started, Bob -was a perfect demon at a fight. The dog that -picked upon him, thinking to be able to nag him -without return, was likely to have a sudden rush of -trouble.</p> - -<p>Bob’s great jaws closed on him with a grip that -no struggles could break. When Bob bit, he bit for -keeps.</p> - -<p>He had, in Beaufort, two particular enemies—almost -the sole enemies that he knew. Both were -white bulldogs; one lived down town in a drug -store, and the other lived behind a picket fence, out -toward the flats.</p> - -<p>Up and down before this picket fence would race -Bob, and up and down behind it would race his -enemy, and between the pickets sped a thousand -names and epithets, the most stinging in dog language.</p> - -<p>These were Bob’s moments of bravery; but let the -bulldog dart out at him, around a corner or through -a hole, and Bob would flee for dear life, with his foe -bellowing at his heels.</p> - -<p>This state of affairs lasted for several months, until, -one day, Bob was surprised and crowded against a -high sidewalk, and obliged to make a stand. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[244]</a></span> -bulldog, after worrying him for a short space, on a -sudden found himself matched against a very angry -lion. Bob’s temper was roused. He outweighed -the bulldog, he outdid him in strength and agility, -and that canine had a sorry time before the people -who gathered could force Bob’s teeth to unclose -from a certain white fore-leg. As for Bob, the loose -skin about his throat had been all that the bulldog -could seize.</p> - -<p>This bulldog’s day as an ogre was over. Henceforth -he was a wiser and more humble animal.</p> - -<p>The drug store dog learned a like lesson in a like -way. One evening he cornered Bob in between some -dry goods boxes, and set about to have fun out of him. -The “fun” ended with Ned dancing around in dismay, -while a policeman, by the aid of lighted matches -and the handle of his club, induced Bob to let go! -Then the bulldog’s owner, crestfallen and wrathful, -carried his fallen champion home in his arms.</p> - -<p>Bob proudly trotted on his way, licking his bloody -chops. His enemy was retired for a week, and -came forth again more discreet, and smelling of -arnica.</p> - -<p>Yet, with all his victories, Bob never went around -with a chip on his shoulder. He much preferred -peace to war.</p> - -<p>Bob’s greatest gift was swimming. The pointer -family is supposed not to like the water, especially, -save as a relief from the heat; but be it hot or cold, -Bob was ever ready for a plunge. His favorite fun<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[245]</a></span> -was to get out in the middle of the river, where the -current was deepest and swiftest, and swim up stream. -He would do this with no object, it seemed, except -showing off his powers in the water.</p> - -<p>Ah, what a grand swimmer Bob was! With his -splendid fore-shoulders high and dry above the surface, -and his mighty chest throwing the waters aside -in a rolling wave, he would plough his path, regardless -of the distance, to the goal. If permitted, he -would swim for hours at a time—aimlessly paddling -hither and thither, chasing stray bits of wood and -even bubbles.</p> - -<p>He would make a pretense at diving, but this consisted -simply in sticking his head under, and withdraw -it in a instant, coughing, and shaking the water -out of his ears.</p> - -<p>Had he not been gun-shy he would have been an -ideal retriever for ducks. Indeed, Ned taught him to -retrieve sticks and balls, and other things thrown for -the purpose; and whether or not Bob had seen them -drop, by ranging in circles he always found them and -laid them at his master’s feet.</p> - -<p>Ned also taught him to “charge.” Bob would -stay crouched against the walk or road until Ned or -Mr. Miller had gone on for a block, perhaps; his eyes -would be shining with eagerness, and his body fairly -quivering with excitement.</p> - -<p>“Come on, Bob,” would sound the whistle.</p> - -<p>One note was enough. Up would he leap, and -like a cannon-ball down would he streak, yapping<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[246]</a></span> -with glee at every jump. He never grew tired of this -game.</p> - -<p>He would mind Ned or Mr. Miller—but upon Mrs. -Miller or Maggie, the girl, he used to impose dreadfully. -Let them try to stir him from the space that -he had chosen before the kitchen or dining-room -stove, and he would give a growl so gruff as to -frighten them into the distance again. They would -not catch the chuckle under the growl. However, -he never tried to fool Ned or Ned’s father. When -they said “Get up,” Bob got!</p> - -<p>If he decided to accompany Mrs. Miller or Maggie, -he always managed to do it. They might send him -back, as they supposed, a dozen times; he only made -a short circuit, and sneaking along behind fences and -sidewalks would come out upon them, and grin. In -spite of their scolding, and the stones and sticks that -they tried to throw at him, he persevered, and had -his way.</p> - -<p>He did not bamboozle the two other members of -the family. It was only the women upon whom he -played tricks. He knew that, with all their threats, -they could not bear to hurt him.</p> - -<p>His bedroom was the barn loft, save when, in the -hottest weather, he moved down-stairs. His favorite -bed was a burrow in the hay; when a fresh load arrived, -Bob would dig and nose into it, until he had -made a long hole extending so far back that, in his -nest at the end of it, he was quite out of reach.</p> - -<p>To Bob, Ned was the whole world. It offered no<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[247]</a></span> -bliss that could equal the touch of Ned’s hand, and -no music that might equal the sound of Ned’s voice. -Just to be near Ned was joy enough for Bob, and if -allowed to snuggle at his master’s side he was in -ecstasy. A kind pat and an encouraging word was -all the reward that he wanted, no matter how hard -had been his task. Ned was at once his playmate -and his king, and life held nothing more.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> -</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[248]</a></span></p> - - - -<div class = "chapter"> -<a name = "Chapter_16" id = "Chapter_16"></a> -<h2> -<a href = "#Contents" class = "chapref" title = "Return to Table of Contents."> -CHAPTER <abbr title="16">XVI</abbr></a><br /> - -<span class = "small">THE LAST OF BOB</span></h2> - - -<p class = "cap"><span class = "upcase">One</span> o’clock in a morning of the last of May, -and the Miller household, all unconscious -of disaster, was soundly slumbering. Then -in amidst Ned’s dreams crept a dull series of noises, -which became a persistent pounding. Ned imagined -that he had dived under his scull-boat, and that the -other boys were hammering upon the hull, outside, -to bother him. He struggled to escape, but somehow -he seemed unable to get to the top again. This -is the way with dreams.</p> - -<p>Mr. Miller, too, heard a pounding; only, he awakened -enough to know that it was a real pounding, -upon the front door, and was no dream.</p> - -<p>He sprang from bed, and sticking his head out of -the window over the porch called:</p> - -<p>“What’s the matter down there?”</p> - -<p>“Are you folks all dead?” called back a man. -“Get up! Your barn’s afire!”</p> - -<p>And Mr. Miller suddenly saw that the night around-about -was strangely lighted.</p> - -<p>Ned was still striving to escape from under the -scull-boat, when he was brought to the surface in a -flash by his father’s commanding voice:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[249]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Ned! Ned! The barn’s on fire!”</p> - -<p>“Oh, dear!” wailed Ned, striking the floor in a -heap.</p> - -<p>“Keep cool, Ned,” encouraged his father. “And -dress as fast as you can.”</p> - -<p>Trying to force his eyes open, and collect his -senses, Ned fumbled for his clothes. Now the night -in his room was turned to day by a glare of red light, -and he could see flames reflected in the mirror of his -bureau. In through the window floated a sharp -crackling.</p> - -<p>“Oh, dear!” he groaned, again, his too-eager -hands making sad work of his dressing.</p> - -<p>He heard his mother’s exclamations of alarm, and -his father’s replies to calm her; and without, echoed -the feet of running men, the cries: “Fire! Fire! -Fire!” and the doleful rise and fall of the water-works -whistle.</p> - -<p>His father rushed heavily down the front stairs, -and the door slammed behind him.</p> - -<p>Ned, his clothing only half fixed, instantly followed. -As he flew through the back hall he glimpsed Maggie, -wringing her hands, quite beside herself with -grief and fright.</p> - -<p>“Oh, Neddie!” said his mother, whom he passed -at the head of the stairs, her hands filled with valuables.</p> - -<p>He did not reply, but dashed down, and out of the -back door.</p> - -<p>The whole west end of the barn, joining the wood-shed, -was blazing. His father was already attacking<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[250]</a></span> -the sliding carriage-door (fastened from within), with -an ax, while a little group of spectators, anxious to -help, stood about him.</p> - -<p>“Where’s the key to this?” demanded a man, who -was tugging at the padlock of the smaller single door.</p> - -<p>“Under the step—I’ll find it!” gasped Ned, stooping -and groping in front of the sill.</p> - -<p>The key had slipped into a crack, but he drew it -out, and put it to the padlock.</p> - -<p>“Bob! Here, Bob! Here, Bob!” opening the -door, he shouted, up the loft stairs just before him.</p> - -<p>At his words the flames and smoke sucked down -upon him, nearly stifling him.</p> - -<p>“Bob! Here, Bob! Here, Bob!” he hallooed -again.</p> - -<p>But no Bob. With a sob in his throat Ned sprang -across the threshold, only to be seized from behind -and dragged back, while the flames, disappointed, -licked after him into the outer air.</p> - -<p>“You little fool—are you trying to kill yourself?” -roughly asked the man, holding him tight.</p> - -<p>“But my dog’s in there!” cried Ned, straining to -break away. “Here, Bob! Here, Bob!” he called.</p> - -<p>“He’s a goner, then,” declared the man. “Don’t -you see? The whole loft’s ablaze!”</p> - -<p>“Y-y-yes, I see,” quavered Ned, growing limp with -a sense of the awful thing that had happened. Oh, -Bob, Bob, Bob!</p> - -<p>He ceased his efforts to be free, and the man released -him.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[251]</a></span></p> - -<p>In the meantime Mr. Miller’s blows had splintered -a hole so that he was enabled to reach in and lift the -hook. The sliding door crashed open, and in -through the smoke he dashed, seized the buggy by -the rear axles, and dragged it into the yard. Its varnish -was blistering from the heat.</p> - -<p>Time for rescuing anything else was not given. In -a fierce tide a torrent of blaze from the burning hay -above poured out between the warping boards, and -bending inward with the draft filled the doorway. -Through the barn, top to bottom, ravaged the fire-giant -with his flaming sword.</p> - -<p>Still the water-works whistle was tooting and yodling, -but not a hose cart had arrived. The crowd -was growing rapidly, for the fire, fed by a ton of hay, -and a quantity of grain, was lighting up the vicinity -for blocks. There was a constant volley of queries -about the hose-companies, and a constant gazing -down street for some sign of their coming; Mr. Miller -was in despair; but no cart was yet on hand.</p> - -<p>The kitchen gable was beginning to smoke. Ned -hurriedly coupled the garden hose to the faucet set -in the foundation of the house, and turned the nozzle -upon the scorching paint. The stream appeared -ridiculously small, and was bent and shattered by the -storm of inrushing air.</p> - -<p>Mr. Miller crawled through a second-story window -above the kitchen roof, and hung a coverlet, hastily -jerked from a bed and soaked with water, over the -gable where the heat seemed worst. A line of men<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[252]</a></span> -was formed from the pump and from the kitchen -sink, up the back stairs, and passed buckets of water -out to him. These he emptied over the coverlet, and -here and there over the shingles.</p> - -<p>Below, inside, were Maggie and Mrs. Miller, the -one naturally as strong as any man, the other nerved, -by the crisis, to unusual strength, standing at the -faucets of the sink and filling pails, pitchers, wash -pans, anything that might serve to supply the line of -men.</p> - -<p>Outside, with the fire baking him, behind, and the -spray from the nozzle drenching him, in front, Ned -valiantly plied his stream. On a sudden it died -away to a mere trickle. The hose, under the increased -pressure put on by the water-works, had -burst.</p> - -<p>Ned dropped the nozzle. At the same instant a -chorus of shouts arose, and a score of hands were upstretched, -pointing at a spot where, eight feet above -the kitchen roof, under the exposed gable-peak of -the main portion of the house a flicker of flame was -licking along.</p> - -<p>Mr. Miller, bareheaded, his eyebrows and hair -singed by the waves of heat, from his position upon -the sloping roof of the kitchen, heard the cries of -warning, and saw the blaze which had passed his defenses, -and was in his rear. But in vain he dashed -water at it. Protected as it was by the overhanging -eaves, and occupying a place awkward for him to -reach, it resisted all his efforts.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[253]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Climb up with a rope!” yelled some voices.</p> - -<p>“Get a ladder! A ladder’s the thing!” yelled -others.</p> - -<p>But nobody seemed able to find rope or ladder, and -the flame continued to grow.</p> - -<p>Ned shot through the kitchen and up the front -stairs. He bolted into his room—it was hot as a -furnace, poor little room!—and snatching his ball of -trot-line from the drawer where it had lain nearly a -year, bolted out again. He scrambled through the -open window of Mr. and Mrs. Miller’s bedchamber, -and running along the roof of the front porch shinned -up the water-spout and was upon the house-top. He -scaled the steep slant, and now, balanced astride the -peak, shuffled toward the farther end. The crowd -saw him, and cheered.</p> - -<p>In a moment his astonished father beheld him -perched on the burning gable.</p> - -<p>“Ned! Go down,” exclaimed Mr. Miller.</p> - -<p>Ned wasted no time in arguing.</p> - -<p>“Tie a bucket or something on this,” he called, -lowering his trot-line as he unwound it.</p> - -<p>Mr. Miller grabbed a small tin pail which was just -being passed out to him, and fastened it to the -dangling cord. With the water splashing from it -Ned hauled it up, and the crowd of spectators -watched, breathless.</p> - -<p>All he could do was to lean over as far as he dared -and dash its contents up under the eaves; a groan -from the watchers told him that he had done no<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[254]</a></span> -good. Although attacked from above and below, -the tiny blaze lived on.</p> - -<p>The fire had spread from the Miller barn westward, -and by means of the on-stretching sheds was eating -its way, rod by rod. The Millers’ next door neighbors, -on the west, were battling stoutly, with garden -hose and buckets, and the structures across the alley -had caught.</p> - -<div class = "chapter"> -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<img src="images/i263.jpg" width="400" height="600" alt="" /> -<div class="caption"><p class ="caption"><span class="smcap">All He could do was to lean over and dash the Water -under the Eaves.</span></p></div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>These were low sheds, and not barns, so that the -houses were not apt to catch. The Miller house was -the only one that seemed doomed. Try as they -might, neither Ned nor his father nor other eager -helpers could put out that steady flame under the -eaves; and now the kitchen eaves, also, were smoking -and smouldering in a dozen places. The kitchen -roof was getting so slippery that Mr. Miller could -hardly move about on it.</p> - -<p>“Clang! Clang! Clang!” The approach of -succor faintly fell on Ned’s ears. The hose-carts, -at last!</p> - -<p>“The hose-carts! They’re coming now!” he -shouted to his father.</p> - -<p>“The hose-carts! There come the hose-carts!” -murmured the crowd in swiftly increasing tones.</p> - -<p>“Hurrah!” cheered Ned, scrambling back over -the roof to the porch.</p> - -<p>“Thank God!” sighed Mr. Miller; and then he -could not refrain from adding, as he had a right to -do, the mild criticism: <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[255]</a></span>“And it’s about <em>time</em> they -came, too.”</p> - -<p>Indeed it was. Down the dark street, shaded by -the trees, appeared four spots of light. “Clang! -Clang! Clang!” louder sounded the gongs—never -a more welcome sound. With tramp of feet and -hoarse shouts up raced the rival carts of the Pole -Star and Defiance companies, drawn by their -volunteers, and unreeling their hose as they came.</p> - -<p>With a crash and a shower of sparks the loft of -the barn fell in, but there still was plenty of work for -the two floods that presently gushed from the fire -nozzles. Mr. Miller hastily ducked through the -window, and above his head spattered a heavy -stream before which the impudent blaze beneath -the main gable was blotted from existence. A driving -deluge swept against the kitchen, and all those -little flames that had been taxing the bucket brigade -vanished in a twinkling.</p> - -<p>The house was saved; but seldom house had -more narrow escape!</p> - -<p>Ned, climbing in again from the porch, had proceeded -to do something that long had been on his -mind. His loaded shotgun cartridges! Supposing -the house should burn and they should explode and -injure people! He had a vague notion that he -would be liable to arrest for having kept powder -around. Besides, he did not want anybody to be -hurt. So he groped his way into the attic, and -piling the shells in his arms carried them down and -laid them under the front steps. Then he breathed -easier.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[256]</a></span></p> - -<p>He found that his care had been needless. The -house was out of danger, and already the fire, in its -march from shed to shed, had been met by the -nozzle-men and stayed in its tracks. Two streams -were playing on the barn, their water hissing among -the red-hot embers. Other hose companies had -arrived, and under the efforts the glare of a few -moments before had sunk to a fitful glimmer.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Miller and Maggie turned from their labors -at the sink to the gasoline stove and made a huge -bucket of coffee. This they served to the chilled, -tired members of the bucket brigade, who were wet -with perspiration as well as with splashes from the -pails.</p> - -<p>Ned now found time to recognize in the throng -of helpers and onlookers people from far and near. -The whole town was there—and had come, as the -funny costumes proved, in a great hurry.</p> - -<p>Hal and Tom appeared in breathless haste, and -sought him out, and condoled with him.</p> - -<p>“It’s too bad, Ned,” said Hal. “But I don’t believe -that even if the hose companies had got here -sooner they could have saved the barn. That hay -made an awful blaze.”</p> - -<p>“Why didn’t they come sooner?” demanded -Ned.</p> - -<p>“Why, they had the wrong signal,” explained -Tom. “They went ’way off in North Beaufort, -and then they saw the flames and turned ’round.”</p> - -<p>“Didn’t you save a thing?” asked Hal.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[257]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Just the buggy,” answered Ned, with a gulp as -heart-sickness rose in his throat.</p> - -<p>“Oh, pshaw!” exclaimed the two boys, their -tones expressing much more of sympathy than the -mere words tell. Ned walked away, and they -kindly let him alone.</p> - -<p>By twos and threes the crowd thinned out. There -was nothing now to see. Gradually, as the need for -their streams ceased, the lines of hose were wound on -their reels.</p> - -<p>Darkness settled over the scene.</p> - -<p>Before going to bed again the Millers had much to -do. While they themselves, with other fire-fighters, -had been busy in the rear of the house, a swarm of -eager townsmen had been invading the front part, -and lugging out everything movable upon which -they might lay hands. Chairs, books, sofa, pictures, -rugs,—all had been hurriedly borne across the street -and piled in a heap.</p> - -<p>Even carpets had been pulled from the floors, and -bundled into the outer air.</p> - -<p>On the top of the pile sat, as if on his own -quarter-deck, Commodore Jones. The commodore -might be styled as in undress uniform; slippers, -trousers, and a red bandanna to keep the night -damp from creeping down the neck of his nightshirt -forming his outer costume.</p> - -<p>“Who is it?” asked Mr. Miller, peering up at -him, through the dusk.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[258]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Oh, it’s only Jones. I was kinder keepin’ an -eye on these things o’ yourn,” wheezed the commodore, -carefully descending.</p> - -<p>“Well, I’m sure we’re much obliged, commodore,” -said Mr. Miller, knowing the voice.</p> - -<p>“You see,” exclaimed the commodore, “I looked -out o’ my winder, and I thought this whole end of -town must be burnin’. An’ after I’d got started, I -heared it was your barn an’ house, an’ I reckoned I’d -come on an’ lend a hand. An’ bein’ as I can’t stand -a wettin’ I thought I’d mount guard over your -truck, here. I’ve been burned out, myself, an’ I -know how more things are lost by bein’ stole an’ -damaged than by the fire itself.”</p> - -<p>“It wasn’t necessary, quite, to carry out so much,” -observed Mr. Miller, surveying, as best he could, the -heap of goods.</p> - -<p>“They was a leetle premature, that’s a fact,” agreed -the commodore. “It’s a pity you ain’t goin’ to -move; you’ve got a fine start at it.”</p> - -<p>With the aid of the commodore and a few neighbors -the Millers placed their household furnishings -back under cover. Ned carried his cartridges indoors, -again. Mrs. Miller declared that she could -not sleep with her kitchen in such shape—the floor -one big puddle and streaked with mud—and she and -Maggie went at it with mop and broom. They not -only cleaned the floor, but also the porch and the -back stairs, which were wet from top to bottom with -the overflow from the pails and pans.</p> - -<p>This done, the Miller household retired to resume<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[259]</a></span> -its broken slumbers. But during the rest of the -night Ned, for his part, slumbered only by snatches, -now thinking that he smelled smoke from some fire -anew, and now thinking that he heard Bob appealing -to him. Several times he found his pillow wet with -tears, despite his efforts to shut them back.</p> - -<p>At last he gave way, and blubbered well in -the dark, while he moaned: “Bob! Dear old -Bob!”</p> - -<p>Nevertheless, all the time in his breast was a faint -hope that perhaps, by hook or crook, Bob was living. -It did not seem possible that he should be -dead—gone forever.</p> - -<p>However, in the morning the insurance men, -poking among the ruins, found him. He was in the -midst of the charred hay. The flames had scarcely -touched him, and Mr. Miller said that a painless death -by the thick smoke had come upon him in his burrow -without his ever waking.</p> - -<p>Ned was glad to believe it, and was happier. He -took only one look at the still body of his faithful, -loyal chum, and walked away across the desolated -yard, scarred and marred by the midnight events. -He noted naught of this desolation without, for his -eyes were brimming, and within, around his heart, -reigned a greater desolation.</p> - -<p>Later, where the horse’s stall had been, were found -four horseshoes—these, and nothing more. Yet the -fate of Fanny appeared to Ned as nothing, beside -the fate of Bob.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[260]</a></span></p> - -<p>He went to school, as usual. Zu-zu came running -up to him.</p> - -<p>“Oh, Ned! Is Bob really dead?”</p> - -<p>Ned nodded. Whereupon Zu-zu burst into tears -and fled up the school steps, into the shelter of the -hall.</p> - -<p>Ned wished that for the moment he, too, were a -girl, so that <em>he</em> might act as he felt.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> -</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[261]</a></span></p> - - - -<div class = "chapter"> -<a name = "Chapter_17" id = "Chapter_17"></a> -<h2> -<a href = "#Contents" class = "chapref" title = "Return to Table of Contents."> -CHAPTER <abbr title = "17">XVII</abbr></a><br /> - -<span class = "small">THE RAID THAT FAILED</span></h2> - - -<p class = "cap"><span class = "upcase">Wood-piling</span> time had come again. It -found a new barn and a new shed already -standing, in place of the old ones, upon -the Miller premises. The scorched house had been -repainted and the blistered buggy had been revarnished. -Thus far the damage by the fire had -been made good. But here the work must stop, for -no new Bob could fill the place of the old Bob.</p> - -<p>Bob had long been put away; still Ned often -dreamed of him, and while knowing that such a -thing was impossible, was always expecting to meet -him, suddenly, around some corner. No other dog -would Ned have, although his father told him to get -whatever kind he chose. To Bob—faithful, human -Bob,—there could be no second.</p> - -<p>The long vacation had begun, and Ned was making -his morning attack upon his eleven loads of slabs—that -annual visitation to which he was subjected—when -he heard a familiar whistle, answered it according -to the code, and presently saw Hal climb over -the alley fence.</p> - -<p>“Hello,” greeted Hal. “Got to work?”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” replied Ned, gloomily. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[262]</a></span>“Just look at the -wood, will you!”</p> - -<p>“Want to know something?” queried Hal—news -fairly sticking out all over him. “Well, listen here. -What do you suppose old Belton has got planted -’way off behind his house! Watermelons!”</p> - -<p>He paused in order to give his audience time to -swallow the startling fact.</p> - -<p>“Whereabouts?” asked Ned, delight in his tone.</p> - -<p>“Near the ravine, beyond the grapes,” answered -Hal. “He thinks he has them hid, I guess; but I -ran slap into them yesterday when I was taking a -short cut to the creek. Come on, and I’ll show -you.”</p> - -<p>“I can’t come now,” said Ned, slowly. “I’ve got -to pile wood till noon. But I’ll go with you right -away after dinner.”</p> - -<p>“Well, you come around, then,” agreed Hal.</p> - -<p>Squire Belton’s “place,” at the outskirts of the -town, was a standing challenge, for half the year, at -least, to the Beaufort youth. Of course, the squire -was only prudent in guarding his fruit as he did. -He grew fruit to sell, not to donate to greedy boys. -But they regarded him as a cantankerous, mean old -codger, and perfectly lawful prey.</p> - -<p>It was very tantalizing to trudge along the dusty -road, on a day of late August, and to gaze helplessly -at those trees laden with their delicious, beckoning -apples! However, the squire’s big white house commanded -this orchard, and its windows were ever -staring, and the squire himself or some of his family -never failed to catch the least wavering from the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[263]</a></span> -straight path of honesty—in this case the path outside -the orchard fence.</p> - -<p>In addition, the barbed wires of the fence were -close together, and as tight as fiddle-strings—ugly -things to scale when the squire’s vigorous yellow dog -was coming full tilt.</p> - -<p>There were grapes, too; and these were on the -slope, facing the house, and in plain sight from the -porch and sitting-room.</p> - -<p>Orchard and vineyard stayed proof against nearly -all plots and attacks. But now, thanks to Hal’s -“short cut,” for two Beauforters, anyway, a new -field of action was opened.</p> - -<p>Hurrah for the melon-patch!</p> - -<p>His mind filled with the bright prospect, Ned gobbled -a hasty dinner, and made a bee-line for Hal’s -house.</p> - -<p>Together they took their way to the limits of -town, and cunningly made a circuit of the Belton -premises until safe from those prying, alert windows -and the ever watchful yellow dog. Then Hal led his -companion into the ravine that pierced the squire’s -lands. Amidst a jungle of undergrowth they worked -a course, and when Hal gave the word warily mounted -the flank.</p> - -<p>“There!” said Hal, when they had gained the crest.</p> - -<p>In front of them lay a small, secluded area of low -vines, with every few feet a smooth, green oval -showing itself—peaceful promise of a fine feast to -come.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[264]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Isn’t this luck!” whispered Hal.</p> - -<p>“Say!” sighed Ned, overcome by his feelings.</p> - -<p>Having surveyed, they beat a crafty retreat. So -very cautious were they, that on their way home -they scarce even dared discuss the find. It seemed -too good to be true, and might vanish.</p> - -<p>That evening, when at supper Mr. Miller remarked -that an extraordinary crop of melons was in view, -Ned was so startled that he dropped his knife. Yet -his father’s words had no reference at all to Squire -Belton!</p> - -<p>As the days passed Ned and Hal made regular visits -to the melon-patch. When speaking of the patch, so -careful were they that they always said “it,” and -by “it” each knew what the other meant. Thirty -yards was the nearest that they ventured to “it,” -since this was the space separating “it” from the -ravine. They kept their secret to themselves, deeming -that they could manage the raid—and the melons—without -help. Ned wanted to let Tom in, but Hal -thought that two was enough, and inasmuch as the -patch was his by reason of discovery, Ned could only -yield.</p> - -<p>Week by week the melons swelled. The exact -time for making closer acquaintance with them -was hard to decide upon. The raid must not be -too early, and on the other hand there was danger -that it might be too late. Finally, Ned and Hal -could no longer stand it. Melons were beginning -to appear in market. The moment for action had come.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[265]</a></span></p> - -<p>The boys chose a Tuesday night as the date for -the attack. Ned invited Hal over to spend the evening -at his house, and to sleep there. As this was -nothing out of the way, it drew no suspicion.</p> - -<p>They retired early up-stairs, the better to talk. -They simply <em>had</em> to talk, or they would have exploded. -About ten o’clock, when the household -was quiet and abed, they climbed out of the window -of Ned’s room, scampered softly in their stockinged -feet across the sloping roof of the little side porch, -lowered themselves to the ground, hurriedly put on -their shoes, scurried for the back fence, vaulted it, -and at last were safely in the protecting alley.</p> - -<p>There was no moon, and, old woodsmen though -they were, their way seemed to get all mixed up, full -of sticks and cans and holes and hillocks. Even in -the most open road they were continually stepping -on things that snapped or clattered, and they imagined -that the whole country around-about must be aroused -by the noise!</p> - -<p>Faint in the distance, or near at hand, barked -dogs of farmyard and town-yard. An owl hooted -in an accusing tone, and Pete, Deacon Rogers’ venerable -clay-colored horse, from his pasture wheezed at -them through the misty blackness.</p> - -<p>“What’s that!” exclaimed Hal, huskily, startled; -and Ned, too, jumped at the sound.</p> - -<p>Had they not been setting out to “hook” melons, -they might have been braver. A nagging conscience -is a bad escort, especially on a dark night!</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[266]</a></span></p> - -<p>They entered the ravine. What a ravine that -was! Not very kindly by day, by night it was -downright wicked! Every twig thrust up a finger -to trap their feet; every branch shot out a hand to -slap them in the face. And there was not a single -guide-post. Darkness had swallowed all landmarks, -and the boys could only guess.</p> - -<p>When it seemed that they surely ought to be opposite -the proper spot, they climbed the steep -slope.</p> - -<p>“Hurrah!” cheered Hal, beneath his breath, when -they reached the top. “We’ve just struck it! Here’s -the poplar we go by!”</p> - -<p>“Sh!” hissed Ned.</p> - -<p>As they crossed the thirty yards that lay between -them and the patch, how the weeds crackled under -their tread! At length they arrived at the fence -bordering the little field; formerly a fence with sagging, -swaying barbed wires betwixt which even the -most awkward person ought to slip without touching, -but just at present a demon of a fence which left a -stinging scratch along Ned’s back, and with a tearing -sound clutched Hal by the trousers.</p> - -<p>“Jiminy!” exclaimed Hal.</p> - -<p>“Shut up!” cautioned Ned.</p> - -<p>And they were among the vines!</p> - -<p>The only thing they could do was, carry off as -many melons as they were able—one under each arm—and -eat them. The chief reward would be the -glory of having got ahead of Squire Belton. How<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[267]</a></span> -mad he would be when he found, in the morning, -that he had been outwitted!</p> - -<p>The boys groped about on the ground, with hands -and feet as happened to be most convenient. What -is apt to be the case, the fruit which they felt now -here, now there, did not quite suit them. They -fancied that a bit farther on they would come across -some better in quality. Since they could take only -a small quantity, they wanted it to be high in -quality.</p> - -<p>So they proceeded, step by step, always in the -hope that they would light upon <em>the</em> melon, a melon -worth while.</p> - -<p>“Cr-rash!”</p> - -<p>“Oh, thunder!”</p> - -<p>Hal had tripped on a vine, and had been sent -sprawling.</p> - -<p>“Bow-wow-wow! Bow-wow-wow-wow! Bow!”</p> - -<p>The Belton yellow dog! Nothing was left for -them but speedy flight. What a watchful animal -that was!</p> - -<p>“Leg it!” ordered Ned.</p> - -<p>At the instant of the accident to Hal, Ned had -been fingering a sphere of unusual fatness. Now -with a jerk he wrenched it from its stem, and hugging -it in his arms put his command into practice. -He “legged it.” So did Hal.</p> - -<p>All sense of direction was lost to them; they remembered -not which was north or which was west; -their sole thought was to escape the attack of the yellow<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[268]</a></span> -dog. Off to the left they dashed, dimly believing -that they were heading for the ravine.</p> - -<p>“Look out for the barbed wire!” gasped Hal.</p> - -<p>But they met with no fence, where they expected. -Crunch, crash, stumble and plunge, through the vines, -out from the vines, and into a clump of raspberry -bushes! Cracky! How those bushes punished -them! Yet on they ploughed, each for himself, -Ned clasping his melon, and the yellow dog yelping -in their wake.</p> - -<p>Out from amidst the raspberries—and suddenly -Ned was hurled backward for a complete somersault! -A wire fence, fortunately not barbed, had caught -him fiercely, raising a huge welt across his chest and -another across his knees.</p> - -<p>“Hurt you?” panted Hal, alarmed, bringing up -just in time.</p> - -<p>“Not much,” panted Ned.</p> - -<p>With a rush they overcame the fence. Their hope -lay in motion on and on, until that dog was safely -behind.</p> - -<p>“Bow-wow-wow-wow! Wow! Wow-wow-wow!”</p> - -<p>He was hard at their heels. Gallant old fellow, no -doubt he enjoyed many a hearty laugh over it all.</p> - -<p>Hello! The vineyard! They had actually been -running <em>toward</em> the house, instead of away from it. -No wonder the dog was so excited.</p> - -<p>Ned was a few feet in advance—a credit to his -fleetness, but not to his courage—and in trying to -tack and veer in a new direction he slipped, fell, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[269]</a></span> -rolled down the slope, staying not for stalk nor trellis, -clear to the bottom.</p> - -<p>“And Jill (or Hal) came tumbling after!”</p> - -<p>Still Ned clung to his precious melon, which by a -succession of miracles was yet unbroken!</p> - -<p>With a thump they landed in the dry ditch that -cut along the foot of the vineyard. They vaulted the -board fence just beyond, noting, at the same moment, -that a light was glimmering in the upper story of the -Belton house. Evidently the dog’s clamor had been -heard.</p> - -<p>The house was too close for comfort, but it gave them -their bearings. Only a stretch of level pasture now -remained between them and the road.</p> - -<p>“Almost there! Keep going!” urged Ned.</p> - -<p>“Bow-wow-wow! Bow-wow! Wow-wow! Wow!” -bellowed their pursuer.</p> - -<p>They imagined that they could feel his hot breath -through the holes in their trousers. Hit or miss, -they scaled the final fence—this time a vicious barbed -wire thing which took tribute in the shape of both -cloth and flesh—and for dear life pattered down the -welcome road.</p> - -<p>Towser’s voice became subdued by distance. -Looking over their shoulders they saw the flicker of -a lantern upon the squire’s front porch. They slackened -their pace to a rapid walk.</p> - -<p>“Jiminy!” puffed Hal. “Didn’t we track it, -though! The dog couldn’t catch us!”</p> - -<p>“I’ve got a melon!” wheezed Ned.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[270]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Bully for you!” praised Hal. “Let’s feel.”</p> - -<p>“It’s awful rough—it must be a musk-melon,” he -said, caressing it with eager fingers. “Smell it.”</p> - -<p>Ned obeyed.</p> - -<p>“Well, it doesn’t <em>smell</em> very musky,” he muttered, -doubtfully.</p> - -<p>“I guess perhaps it’s a watermelon,” declared Hal. -“But either way it’s all right. What’s the matter -with eating it now? Nobody’ll follow us this -far.”</p> - -<p>“That’s a go,” agreed Ned. “I’m dead tired,” -and at once turning aside, with a grunt of relief he -threw himself upon the grass by the hedge that -skirted the road.</p> - -<p>Hal lost no time in copying his example.</p> - -<p>Mellowed by the damp night air, from the scene -of the late hostilities floated to them the fitful voice -of the yellow dog, as he continued to tell his family -all about it. Of course he made out to them that -the boys were a band of determined robbers, whom -he had surprised and put to flight.</p> - -<p>The moon, just rising, was shedding an uncertain -light over the landscape.</p> - -<p>“Slice her open,” suggested Hal—referring to the -melon, not to the moon.</p> - -<p>Already Ned was fumbling with a battered jack-knife, -trying to divide the prize in a scientific fashion, -so as to give each some of the heart.</p> - -<p>It was a mighty tough rind. Could the melon be -green, after all! He worked as rapidly as he could,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[271]</a></span> -considering the poor light, and the impatient remarks -of Hal, who was getting thirstier and thirstier.</p> - -<p>Victory! He managed to stick his fingers in a -crack, and with a tug pulled the stubborn mass apart.</p> - -<p>“Here,” he said, passing Hal a chunk.</p> - -<p>He himself took the mate to it, and carried to his -mouth a handful of the spongy, stringy stuff.</p> - -<p>The melon had not <em>felt</em> precisely right—and certainly -it did not <em>taste</em> precisely right!</p> - -<p>“Faugh!” exclaimed Hal.</p> - -<p>“Wa-a-a-a!” exclaimed Ned.</p> - -<p>How they sputtered! Their melon was a squash!</p> - -<p>Words cannot express their disgust. They had -missed the melon-patch entirely. All that trouble -for only a squash! And now their chances had been -ruined. The squire would be on his guard.</p> - -<p>“Come on—let’s go home,” blurted Ned; and the -two stiffly stood up. Stiffly it was, indeed, for their -spirits had been most effectually “squashed,” and -they began to be conscious of tokens of their recent -flight. They were drenched with dew. Every inch -of their bodies and faces and hands smarted and -ached from the briars and collisions with posts, wires, -sticks and stones. Their heads throbbed. They -were cold, hungry, and completely fagged. They -wished they were in bed.</p> - -<p>Speaking scarcely another syllable they dragged -their heavy feet along the well-nigh endless mile of -homeward journey. As they entered the alley the -town clock chimed twelve.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[272]</a></span></p> - -<p>They scrambled over the fence, shinned up the -porch—so tuckered that they did not care whether -or not they made any noise—and tumbled across the -bed. Such a soft, soothing bed as that was! Feebly -they started to undress as they lay, but they did no -more than kick off their shoes, and were asleep.</p> - -<p>They slept like logs, until awakened by the rising-bell. -Quite in vain would they make themselves -respectable, although they tried their level best. All -their scrubbings and brushings and pinnings really -seemed to improve their appearance not one whit. -The raspberry bushes and the barbed wire had been -too thorough. Court-plaster, rather than pins, was -needed.</p> - -<p>They were late to breakfast; and this enabled them -to escape the keen eyes of Ned’s father, who, having -been a boy, would <em>know</em>!</p> - -<p>However, Mrs. Miller—thoughtful mother—was -waiting for them.</p> - -<p>“Goodness, boys! What <em>have</em> you been up to?” -she cried, as they neared the table.</p> - -<p>It might have been the scratches; it might have -been the clothes; probably it was both.</p> - -<p>“Oh, we fell down,” answered Ned, sheepishly.</p> - -<p>His mother scanned him sharply, but made no -farther remark; nevertheless, Ned suspected that the -end was not yet.</p> - -<p>Squire Belton, or his yellow dog, must have talked -around town, so that certain fathers heard; and certain -mothers, having patched and darned some sadly-abused<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[273]</a></span> -garments, must have exchanged notes, as -mothers will: at any rate, in a day or two the Miller -family—save Ned—had watermelon for dessert, but -Ned’s dessert was a huge piece of raw squash!</p> - -<p>And Hal reported exactly the same treatment.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> -</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[274]</a></span></p> - - - -<div class = "chapter"> -<a name = "Chapter_18" id = "Chapter_18"></a> -<h2> -<a href = "#Contents" class = "chapref" title = "Return to Table of Contents."> -CHAPTER <abbr title="18">XVIII</abbr></a><br /> - -<span class ="small">CHANGES</span></h2> - - -<p class = "cap"><span class = "upcase">Thus</span> passed the days in Beaufort; very good -days they were, too, taking them all in all. -But they could not go on forever; in human -experience nothing—not even eleven loads of wood—lasts -forever, and suddenly Ned found himself on the -brink of a change greater than his other greatest -one: the loss of Bob, now a year back.</p> - -<p>For some time it had seemed to him that his father -and mother were sharing a secret between them, and -keeping him out in the cold. They would be talking, -and when he drew near they would stop, with a -glance from one to the other that said: “Look out!” -If he hung around for quite a while after he had made -them do this, he would be sent off on an errand; and -once his father had even said, frankly: “Ned, boy, -run away. Your mother and I want to talk about -something.”</p> - -<p>The idea!</p> - -<p>It could not be about Christmas, for Christmas -was eight months ahead. And it could not be about -his birthday, for his birthday had just been. And it -could not be about another dog, for he would not -have another dog—ever! Then what <em>was</em> it about? -He felt abused, as well as excited.</p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[275]</a></span> - -<p>“Ned, how would you like to leave Beaufort?” -asked his father, abruptly, one evening, at the supper-table.</p> - -<p>“Leave Beaufort!” repeated Ned, astonished.</p> - -<p>“Yes,” said his mother. “Move away, you know.”</p> - -<p>“For good? Where to?” demanded Ned, eagerly.</p> - -<p>“Yes, probably for good; not for bad, let us -hope,” replied his father, answering his first.</p> - -<p>“To Chicago,” replied his mother, answering his -second.</p> - -<p>“Will we take Maggie?” stammered Ned, with an -eye to the pantry supplies.</p> - -<p>“I suppose so, but that isn’t the point,” said his -father—although Ned thought it a very important -point, indeed. “The point is, would you like -to go?”</p> - -<p>“I’d hate to leave the river, and—and everything,” -faltered Ned.</p> - -<p>“But you’ll have Lake Michigan, instead,” spoke -his mother.</p> - -<p>“Tom and Hal and the other fellows won’t be -there,” objected Ned.</p> - -<p>“They can come to see you,” explained his mother. -“And you’ll pick up lots of new friends. Why, the -parks are full of boys!”</p> - -<p>“Having fun?” asked Ned.</p> - -<p>“Yes; baseball and all kinds of games, some that -you never saw,” assured his mother.</p> - -<p>“But there isn’t any hunting, is there?” objected -Ned. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[276]</a></span>“I want to hunt.”</p> - -<p>“You can do your hunting when you come back -to Beaufort to visit,” proposed his father.</p> - -<p>“Can I take the scull-boat?” queried Ned.</p> - -<p>“No, I believe you had better leave that here,” -decided his father. “The lake has yachts, and steamers -running across, you know——”</p> - -<p>“Out of sight of land?” asked Ned, hopefully. -“Do they get wrecked?”</p> - -<p>“W-well, not often,” said his father. “But they -<em>do</em> get out of sight of land, that’s sure.”</p> - -<p>“When are we going to move?” demanded Ned, -now all ready to pack up.</p> - -<p>“About the middle of next month,” replied his -father.</p> - -<p>“Then I won’t have any wood to pile!” cried -Ned, overjoyed.</p> - -<p>“No,” said his father, laughing. “I guess we -have enough to last us through.”</p> - -<p>So they were really to move away from Beaufort! -This was the secret. Ned found out a lot of things -before supper was finished, and as soon as he could -he rushed out to tell. He went up to Hal’s—and -Hal was tremendously astounded. Hal and he went -over to Tom’s—and Tom was astounded tremendously. -And all three talked at once.</p> - -<p>“My folks say I can have you up to visit me, -right away as soon as we get settled,” announced -Ned.</p> - -<p>“I’ll come if I can,” agreed Hal.</p> - -<p>“So will I, you bet,” agreed Tom. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[277]</a></span>“I’ve never -been in Chicago—at least, since I was big enough to -remember.”</p> - -<p>“You can have the whole scull-boat, now, Hal,” -said Ned.</p> - -<p>“I don’t want the whole of it. That wouldn’t -be fair. You can take it with you,” proposed -Hal.</p> - -<p>“But I can’t take it—and that wouldn’t be fair, -either,” declared Ned.</p> - -<p>“I’ll tell you! You give your half to Tom!” -cried Hal.</p> - -<p>“That’s so!” exclaimed Ned. “Good idea, Hal! -You can have my share, Tom. I’ll make you a -present of it.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, you’re fooling!” asserted Tom, staggered -at the thought of owning part of the famous -craft.</p> - -<p>“No, I’m not,” retorted Ned. “You can have it, -truly you can.”</p> - -<p>“Sa-a-ay!” gasped Tom. “I don’t know how I -can ever pay you back——”</p> - -<p>“Oh, shucks!” scoffed Ned. “’Tisn’t anything. -Besides, Hal thought of it first. He’s the fellow to -thank.”</p> - -<p>“Well,” said Tom, “anyhow, whenever you come -around and want it you can have it again. I’ll just -keep it for you.”</p> - -<p>The scull-boat being settled, the boys chattered -and planned about other things; and they talked as -fast and as excitedly as though Ned was leaving the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[278]</a></span> -next day, instead of the next month. So much had -to be discussed and arranged.</p> - -<p>That night, Ned dreamed that he came down to -breakfast and lo, his father told him to hurry, because -they were all packed and ready to start; and -there in the front yard was the scull-boat, heaped -with household goods, and waiting. His mother -and father and Maggie got in, and then when he followed -he had scarcely any room. Off moved the -scull-boat, down the street, with him trying to stick -on; and into the river it glided—and just across the -river, where the swimming-beach used to be, was -Chicago. Faster sped the boat, and now one of his -legs dangled in the water, and next both, and next -he was slipping, slipping, slipping, and with one last -despairing clutch he was left behind! He swam -after the boat as hard as he could, but his clothes -pulled him down, and nobody noticed him—until -suddenly dear old Bob was there in the water beside -him, and catching hold of Bob’s stiff tail he was -towed, at the rate of a mile a minute, back to Commodore -Jones’ fish-market.</p> - -<p>But when he woke up, it wasn’t so!</p> - -<p>The remaining weeks were busy ones for Ned. -He had so many things to do, as farewells. Strange -to say, all his friends envied him because he was -going, and he envied them because they were staying! -Only, he did not let on how he felt; it is -rather nice to be envied, you see! Yet deep in his -heart he wished that he might have a while longer<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[279]</a></span> -in Beaufort, where he knew everybody and where -there was so much fun.</p> - -<p>At last his final trips down the river, and up the -river, and across the river, and to the flats, and -everywhere else, had been made. He had shaken -hands with Commodore Jones—who took pipe from -mouth long enough to say: “Well, good luck to -you, boy!”—and had patted the scull-boat—who -said nothing—good-bye for a space. At last all the -chores and errands of “moving” had been done. -The furniture had been stored, to be shipped later, -the house was bare and empty, and it was high -time they got out, for another family was waiting to -get in.</p> - -<p>The Millers slept, that night, at a neighbor’s; and -in the morning they left.</p> - -<p>Ah, how limp Ned felt, at going. Chicago could -not hold a candle, he was sure, to Beaufort—even -South Beaufort, where lurked Big Mike and Big -Mike’s “gang.”</p> - -<p>Hal and Tom and Zu-zu were at the station to see -him off. Hal brought as a parting gift a knife with -six blades (better than even the knife which had been -lost among the Indian mounds), Tom a flaming red -silk handkerchief (a thing of beauty), and Zu-zu six -No. 8 shot (once they had been in Ned’s shoulder) -set in a watch-charm!</p> - -<p>“You’ve all got to come and see me as quick -as we’re fixed; don’t you forget!” reminded -Ned.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[280]</a></span></p> - -<p>“We will—and you’ve got to come and see us, -too!” they reminded, back.</p> - -<p>Ned was hoping that something might be wrong -with the engine, so that the train could not start. -But alas!</p> - -<p>“All abo-o-oard!” sang the conductor, watch in -hand.</p> - -<p>“Clang, clang! Clang, clang!” warned the bell. -“Choo! Choo! Choo!” warned the exhaust. The -train began to move.</p> - -<p>“Good-bye!” called the friends—Mr. and Mrs. -Miller’s friends, as well as Ned’s, were on the platform—waving.</p> - -<p>“Good-bye!” called Ned, through the window, -waving in answer. “Good-bye, Hal! Good-bye, -Tom! Good-bye, Zu-zu!”</p> - -<p>Across the bridge, over the river, rolled the train; -past the breakwater, where he had rescued Tom, and -above which was the swimming-beach; past the -slough, where he had been shot, and over which was -the trestle from which Bob had taken his amazing -flight; and on and on, into the country. Beaufort -and Beaufort people, Eagle Island, Deep Creek, and -all, were far behind.</p> - -<p>“Just the same, I’m coming back every chance I -get!” vowed Ned, stoutly fighting to keep down the -tears.</p> - -<p>“Of course you are!” said his mother, putting her -arm around him.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[281]</a></span></p> - -<p>Whereupon Ned proceeded to make the most -gorgeous plans that ever were; and the best thing -about them is—that some of them came true!</p> - - -<p class = "end">THE END</p> -<hr class = "chap" /> -</div> - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's Beaufort Chums, by Edwin L. (Legrand) Sabin - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BEAUFORT CHUMS *** - -***** This file should be named 54887-h.htm or 54887-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/4/8/8/54887/ - -Produced by Mhairi Hindle and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, -set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to -copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to -protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project -Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you -charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you -do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the -rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose -such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and -research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do -practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is -subject to the trademark license, especially commercial -redistribution. - - - -*** START: FULL LICENSE *** - -THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE -PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK - -To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free -distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work -(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project -Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at -http://gutenberg.org/license). - - -Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works - -1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to -and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property -(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all -the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy -all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. -If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the -terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or -entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. - -1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be -used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who -agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few -things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See -paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement -and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic -works. See paragraph 1.E below. - -1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" -or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the -collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an -individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are -located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from -copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative -works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg -are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project -Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by -freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of -this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with -the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by -keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project -Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. - -1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern -what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in -a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check -the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement -before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or -creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project -Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning -the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United -States. - -1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: - -1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate -access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently -whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the -phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project -Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, -copied or distributed: - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license - -1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived -from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is -posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied -and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees -or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work -with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the -work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 -through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the -Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or -1.E.9. - -1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted -with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution -must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional -terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked -to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the -permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. - -1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm -License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this -work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. - -1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this -electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without -prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with -active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project -Gutenberg-tm License. - -1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, -compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any -word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or -distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than -"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version -posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), -you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a -copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon -request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other -form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm -License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. - -1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, -performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works -unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing -access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided -that - -- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from - the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method - you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is - owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he - has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the - Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments - must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you - prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax - returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and - sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the - address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to - the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." - -- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies - you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he - does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm - License. You must require such a user to return or - destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium - and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of - Project Gutenberg-tm works. - -- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any - money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the - electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days - of receipt of the work. - -- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free - distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. - -1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set -forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from -both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael -Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the -Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. - -1.F. - -1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable -effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread -public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm -collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic -works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain -"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or -corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual -property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a -computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by -your equipment. - -1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right -of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project -Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all -liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal -fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT -LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE -PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE -TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE -LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR -INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH -DAMAGE. - -1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a -defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can -receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a -written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you -received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with -your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with -the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a -refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity -providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to -receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy -is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further -opportunities to fix the problem. - -1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth -in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER -WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO -WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. - -1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied -warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. -If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the -law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be -interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by -the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any -provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. - -1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the -trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone -providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance -with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, -promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, -harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, -that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do -or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm -work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any -Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. - - -Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm - -Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of -electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers -including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists -because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from -people in all walks of life. - -Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the -assistance they need, are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's -goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will -remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure -and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. -To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation -and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 -and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. - - -Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive -Foundation - -The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit -501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the -state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal -Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification -number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at -http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg -Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent -permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. - -The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. -Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered -throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at -809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email -business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact -information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official -page at http://pglaf.org - -For additional contact information: - Dr. Gregory B. Newby - Chief Executive and Director - gbnewby@pglaf.org - - -Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg -Literary Archive Foundation - -Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide -spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of -increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be -freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest -array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations -($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt -status with the IRS. - -The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating -charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United -States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a -considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up -with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations -where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To -SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any -particular state visit http://pglaf.org - -While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we -have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition -against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who -approach us with offers to donate. - -International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make -any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from -outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. - -Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation -methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other -ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. -To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate - - -Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic -works. - -Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm -concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared -with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project -Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. - - -Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed -editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. -unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily -keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. - - -Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: - - http://www.gutenberg.org - -This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, -including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to -subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. - - -</pre> - -</body> -</html> |