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diff --git a/old/54915-0.txt b/old/54915-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index e742b2e..0000000 --- a/old/54915-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,5139 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Bears of Blue River, by Charles Major - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - -Title: The Bears of Blue River - -Author: Charles Major - -Release Date: June 15, 2017 [EBook #54915] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BEARS OF BLUE RIVER *** - - - - -Produced by Richard Tonsing, Larry B. Harrison and the -Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net -(This file was produced from images generously made -available by The Internet Archive) - - - - - - - - - - THE BEARS OF BLUE RIVER - - -[Illustration: The MM Co.] - -[Illustration: “Balser was more fortunate in his aim, and gave the bear -a mortal wound.”] - - - - - The - Bears of Blue River - - - BY - - CHARLES MAJOR - - AUTHOR OF “WHEN KNIGHTHOOD WAS IN FLOWER,” ETC. - - - _WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY A. B. FROST AND OTHERS_ - - - New York - THE MACMILLAN COMPANY - LONDON: MACMILLAN & CO., LTD. - - 1908 - - _All rights reserved_ - - - - - COPYRIGHT, 1900, 1901, - BY CURTIS PUBLISHING CO. BY JOHN WANAMAKER. - - COPYRIGHT, 1901, - BY CHARLES MAJOR. - - - First published elsewhere. Reprinted November, 1902; - March, 1904; October, 1908. - New edition September, 1906. - - - Norwood Press - J. S. Cushing & Co.—Berwick & Smith - Norwood Mass. U.S.A. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CONTENTS. - - - CHAPTER I. - - PAGE - - The Big Bear 3 - - - CHAPTER II. - - How Balser got a Gun 31 - - - CHAPTER III. - - Lost in a Forest 53 - - - CHAPTER IV. - - The One-eared Bear 79 - - - CHAPTER V. - - The Wolf Hunt 104 - - - CHAPTER VI. - - Borrowed Fire 140 - - - CHAPTER VII. - - The Fire Bear 171 - - - CHAPTER VIII. - - The Black Gully 190 - - - CHAPTER IX. - - On the Stroke of Nine 217 - - - CHAPTER X. - - A Castle on Brandywine 238 - - - - - ILLUSTRATIONS. - - - “Balser was more fortunate in his aim, and gave the bear - a mortal wound” _Frontispiece_ - - PAGE - - Bass and sunfish and big-mouthed redeye 4 - - “A wildcat almost as big as a cow” 14 - - “Little Balser noticed fresh bear tracks, and his breath - began to come quickly” 15 - - “Fresh bear tracks” 17 - - “Imagine ... his consternation when he saw upon the - bank, quietly watching him, a huge black bear” 19 - - “The bear had a peculiar, determined expression about - him” 21 - - “When the bear got within a few feet of Balser ... the - boy grew desperate with fear, and struck at the beast - with the only weapon he had—his string of fish” 25 - - “The bear had caught the fish, and again had climbed - upon the log” 29 - - “He could hear the bear growling right at his heels, and - it made him just fly” _facing_ 44 - - “Tige was told to go into the cave” _facing_ 48 - - “Each with a saucy little bear cub” _facing_ 52 - - “Down came Tom and Jerry from the roof” _facing_ 60 - - Tige and Prince swimming about the canoe _facing_ 74 - - “’Lordy, Balser! It’s the one-eared bear’” _facing_ 88 - - “’Let’s get out of here’” _facing_ 94 - - “Balser rushed into the fight” _facing_ 102 - - “Mischief! they never thought of anything else” 108 - - “Balser turned in time to see a great, lank, gray wolf - emerge from the water, carrying a gander by the neck” 109 - - “Bang! went Balser’s gun, and the wolf ... paid for his - feast with his life” 117 - - “Caught them by the back of the neck” 123 - - “The boys tied together the legs of the old wolves and - swung them over the pole ... and started home leading - the pups” 127 - - “These hives were called ‘gums’” 135 - - “The cubs went every way but the right way” _facing_ 146 - - “The bear rose to climb after the boy” _facing_ 160 - - “Liney thrust the burning torch into the bear’s face and - held it there despite its rage and growls” _facing_ 168 - - “’Help! help!’ came the cry” _facing_ 176 - - “’Now, hold up the torch, Polly’” _facing_ 204 - - “Polly continued slowly toward the bear” _facing_ 212 - - “Imagine his consternation when he recognized the forms - of Liney Fox and her brother Tom” 229 - - “He fell a distance of ten or twelve feet, ... and lay - half stunned” 233 - - En route for the castle 244 - - The castle on the Brandywine 252 - - “Balser hesitated to fire, fearing that he might kill - Tom or one of the dogs” 263 - - “Espied a doe and a fawn, standing upon the opposite - side of the creek” 273 - - - - - I. - - THE BIG BEAR. - - - - - THE BEARS OF BLUE RIVER. - - - - - CHAPTER I. - THE BIG BEAR. - - -Away back in the “twenties,” when Indiana was a baby state, and great -forests of tall trees and tangled underbrush darkened what are now her -bright plains and sunny hills, there stood upon the east bank of Big -Blue River, a mile or two north of the point where that stream crosses -the Michigan road, a cozy log cabin of two rooms—one front and one back. - -The house faced the west, and stretching off toward the river for a -distance equal to twice the width of an ordinary street, was a -blue-grass lawn, upon which stood a dozen or more elm and sycamore -trees, with a few honey-locusts scattered here and there. Immediately at -the water’s edge was a steep slope of ten or twelve feet. Back of the -house, mile upon mile, stretched the deep dark forest, inhabited by deer -and bears, wolves and wildcats, squirrels and birds, without number. - -[Illustration: BASS AND SUNFISH AND THE BIG-MOUTHED REDEYE.] - -In the river the fish were so numerous that they seemed to entreat the -boys to catch them, and to take them out of their crowded quarters. -There were bass and black suckers, sunfish and catfish, to say nothing -of the sweetest of all, the big-mouthed redeye. - -[Illustration] - -South of the house stood a log barn, with room in it for three horses -and two cows; and enclosing this barn, together with a piece of ground, -five or six acres in extent, was a palisade fence, eight or ten feet -high, made by driving poles into the ground close together. In this -enclosure the farmer kept his stock, consisting of a few sheep and -cattle, and here also the chickens, geese, and ducks were driven at -nightfall to save them from “varmints,” as all prowling animals were -called by the settlers. - -The man who had built this log hut, and who lived in it and owned the -adjoining land at the time of which I write, bore the name of Balser -Brent. “Balser” is probably a corruption of Baltzer, but, however that -may be, Balser was his name, and Balser was also the name of his boy, -who was the hero of the bear stories which I am about to tell you. - -Mr. Brent and his young wife had moved to the Blue River settlement from -North Carolina, when young Balser was a little boy five or six years of -age. They had purchased the “eighty” upon which they lived, from the -United States, at a sale of public land held in the town of Brookville -on Whitewater, and had paid for it what was then considered a good round -sum—one dollar per acre. They had received a deed for their “eighty” -from no less a person than James Monroe, then President of the United -States. This deed, which is called a patent, was written on sheepskin, -signed by the President’s own hand, and is still preserved by the -descendants of Mr. Brent as one of the title-deeds to the land it -conveyed. The house, as I have told you, consisted of two large rooms, -or buildings, separated by a passageway six or eight feet broad which -was roofed over, but open at both ends—on the north and south. The back -room was the kitchen, and the front room was parlour, bedroom, sitting -room and library all in one. - -At the time when my story opens Little Balser, as he was called to -distinguish him from his father, was thirteen or fourteen years of age, -and was the happy possessor of a younger brother, Jim, aged nine, and a -little sister one year old, of whom he was very proud indeed. - -On the south side of the front room was a large fireplace. The chimney -was built of sticks, thickly covered with clay. The fireplace was almost -as large as a small room in one of our cramped modern houses, and was -broad and deep enough to take in backlogs which were so large and heavy -that they could not be lifted, but were drawn in at the door and rolled -over the floor to the fireplace. - -The prudent father usually kept two extra backlogs, one on each side of -the fireplace, ready to be rolled in as the blaze died down; and on -these logs the children would sit at night, with a rough slate made from -a flat stone, and do their “ciphering,” as the study of arithmetic was -then called. The fire usually furnished all the light they had, for -candles and “dips,” being expensive luxuries, were used only when -company was present. - -The fire, however, gave sufficient light, and its blaze upon a cold -night extended half-way up the chimney, sending a ruddy, cozy glow to -every nook and corner of the room. - -The back room was the storehouse and kitchen; and from the beams and -along the walls hung rich hams and juicy side-meat, jerked venison, -dried apples, onions, and other provisions for the winter. There was a -glorious fireplace in this room also, and a crane upon which to hang -pots and cooking utensils. - -The floor of the front room was made of logs split in halves with the -flat, hewn side up; but the floor of the kitchen was of clay, packed -hard and smooth. - -The settlers had no stoves, but did their cooking in round pots called -Dutch ovens. They roasted their meats on a spit or steel bar like the -ramrod of a gun. The spit was kept turning before the fire, presenting -first one side of the meat and then the other, until it was thoroughly -cooked. Turning the spit was the children’s work. - -South of the palisade enclosing the barn was the clearing—a tract of -twenty or thirty acres of land, from which Mr. Brent had cut and burned -the trees. On this clearing the stumps stood thick as the hair on an -angry dog’s back; but the hard-working farmer ploughed between and -around them, and each year raised upon the fertile soil enough wheat and -corn to supply the wants of his family and his stock, and still had a -little grain left to take to Brookville, sixty miles away, where he had -bought his land, there to exchange for such necessities of life as could -not be grown upon the farm or found in the forests. - -The daily food of the family all came from the farm, the forest, or the -creek. Their sugar was obtained from the sap of the sugar-trees; their -meat was supplied in the greatest abundance by a few hogs, and by the -inexhaustible game of which the forests were full. In the woods were -found deer just for the shooting; and squirrels, rabbits, wild turkeys, -pheasants, and quails, so numerous that a few hours’ hunting would -supply the table for days. The fish in the river, as I told you, fairly -longed to be caught. - -One day Mrs. Brent took down the dinner horn and blew upon it two strong -blasts. This was a signal that Little Balser, who was helping his father -down in the clearing, should come to the house. Balser was glad enough -to drop his hoe and to run home. When he reached the house his mother -said:— - -“Balser, go up to the drift and catch a mess of fish for dinner. Your -father is tired of deer meat three times a day, and I know he would like -a nice dish of fried redeyes at noon.” - -“All right, mother,” said Balser. And he immediately took down his -fishing-pole and line, and got the spade to dig bait. When he had -collected a small gourdful of angleworms, his mother called to him:— - -“You had better take a gun. You may meet a bear; your father loaded the -gun this morning, and you must be careful in handling it.” - -Balser took the gun, which was a heavy rifle considerably longer than -himself, and started up the river toward the drift, about a quarter of a -mile away. - -There had been rain during the night and the ground near the drift was -soft. - -Here, Little Balser noticed fresh bear tracks, and his breath began to -come quickly. You may be sure he peered closely into every dark thicket, -and looked behind all the large trees and logs, and had his eyes wide -open lest perchance “Mr. Bear” should step out and surprise him with an -affectionate hug, and thereby put an end to Little Balser forever. - -So he walked on cautiously, and, if the truth must be told, somewhat -tremblingly, until he reached the drift. - -Balser was but a little fellow, yet the stern necessities of a settler’s -life had compelled his father to teach him the use of a gun; and -although Balser had never killed a bear, he had shot several deer, and -upon one occasion had killed a wildcat, “almost as big as a cow,” he -said. - -I have no doubt the wildcat seemed “almost as big as a cow” to Balser -when he killed it, for it must have frightened him greatly, as wildcats -were sometimes dangerous animals for children to encounter. Although -Balser had never met a bear face to face and alone, yet he felt, and -many a time had said, that there wasn’t a bear in the world big enough -to frighten him, if he but had his gun. - -[Illustration: “A WILDCAT ALMOST AS BIG AS A COW.”] - -He had often imagined and minutely detailed to his parents and little -brother just what he would do if he should meet a bear. He would wait -calmly and quietly until his bearship should come within a few yards of -him, and then he would slowly lift his gun. Bang! and Mr. Bear would be -dead with a bullet in his heart. - -[Illustration: “LITTLE BALSER NOTICED FRESH BEAR TRACKS, AND HIS BREATH -BEGAN TO COME QUICKLY.”] - -[Illustration: “FRESH BEAR TRACKS.”] - -But when he saw the fresh bear tracks, and began to realize that he -would probably have an opportunity to put his theories about bear -killing into practice, he began to wonder if, after all, he would become -frightened and miss his aim. Then he thought of how the bear, in that -case, would be calm and deliberate, and would put _his_ theories into -practice by walking very politely up to him, and making a very -satisfactory dinner of a certain boy whom he could name. But as he -walked on and no bear appeared, his courage grew stronger as the -prospect of meeting the enemy grew less, and he again began saying to -himself that no bear could frighten him, because he had his gun and he -could and would kill it. - -So Balser reached the drift; and having looked carefully about him, -leaned his gun against a tree, unwound his fishing-line from the pole, -and walked out to the end of a log which extended into the river some -twenty or thirty feet. - -Here he threw in his line, and soon was so busily engaged drawing out -sun fish and redeyes, and now and then a bass, which was hungry enough -to bite at a worm, that all thought of the bear went out of his mind. - -After he had caught enough fish for a sumptuous dinner he bethought him -of going home, and as he turned toward the shore, imagine, if you can, -his consternation when he saw upon the bank, quietly watching him, a -huge black bear. - -If the wildcat had seemed as large as a cow to Balser, of what size do -you suppose that bear appeared? A cow! An elephant, surely, was small -compared with the huge black fellow standing upon the bank. - -[Illustration: “IMAGINE ... HIS CONSTERNATION WHEN HE SAW UPON THE BANK, -QUIETLY WATCHING HIM, A HUGE BLACK BEAR.”] - -It is true Balser had never seen an elephant, but his father had, and so -had his friend Tom Fox, who lived down the river; and they all agreed -that an elephant was “purt nigh as big as all outdoors.” - -The bear had a peculiar, determined expression about him that seemed to -say:— - -[Illustration: “THE BEAR HAD A PECULIAR, DETERMINED EXPRESSION ABOUT -HIM.”] - -“That boy can’t get away; he’s out on the log where the water is deep, -and if he jumps into the river I can easily jump in after him and catch -him before he can swim a dozen strokes. He’ll _have_ to come off the log -in a short time, and then I’ll proceed to devour him.” - -About the same train of thought had also been rapidly passing through -Balser’s mind. His gun was on the bank where he had left it, and in -order to reach it he would have to pass the bear. He dared not jump into -the water, for any attempt to escape on his part would bring the bear -upon him instantly. He was very much frightened, but, after all, was a -cool-headed little fellow for his age; so he concluded that he would not -press matters, as the bear did not seem inclined to do so, but so long -as the bear remained watching him on the bank would stay upon the log -where he was, and allow the enemy to eye him to his heart’s content. - -There they stood, the boy and the bear, each eying the other as though -they were the best of friends, and would like to eat each other, which, -in fact, was literally true. - -Time sped very slowly for one of them, you may be sure; and it seemed to -Balser that he had been standing almost an age in the middle of Blue -River on that wretched shaking log, when he heard his mother’s dinner -horn, reminding him that it was time to go home. - -Balser quite agreed with his mother, and gladly would he have gone, I -need not tell you; but there stood the bear, patient, determined, and -fierce; and Little Balser soon was convinced in his own mind that his -time had come to die. - -He hoped that when his father should go home to dinner and find him -still absent, he would come up the river in search of him, and frighten -away the bear. Hardly had this hope sprung up in his mind, when it -seemed that the same thought had also occurred to the bear, for he began -to move down toward the shore end of the log upon which Balser was -standing. - -Slowly came the bear until he reached the end of the log, which for a -moment he examined suspiciously, and then, to Balser’s great alarm, -cautiously stepped out upon it and began to walk toward him. - -Balser thought of the folks at home, and, above all, of his baby sister; -and when he felt that he should never see them again, and that they -would in all probability never know of his fate, he began to grow -heavy-hearted and was almost paralyzed with fear. - -On came the bear, putting one great paw in front of the other, and -watching Balser intently with his little black eyes. His tongue hung -out, and his great red mouth was open to its widest, showing the sharp, -long, glittering teeth that would soon be feasting on a first-class boy -dinner. - -When the bear got within a few feet of Balser—so close he could almost -feel the animal’s hot breath as it slowly approached—the boy grew -desperate with fear, and struck at the bear with the only weapon he -had—his string of fish. - -Now, bears love fish and blackberries above all other food; so when -Balser’s string of fish struck the bear in the mouth, he grabbed at -them, and in doing so lost his foothold on the slippery log and fell -into the water with a great splash and plunge. - -This was Balser’s chance for life, so he flung the fish to the bear, and -ran for the bank with a speed worthy of the cause. - -[Illustration: “WHEN THE BEAR GOT WITHIN A FEW FEET OF BALSER ... THE -BOY GREW DESPERATE WITH FEAR, AND STRUCK AT THE BEAST WITH THE ONLY -WEAPON HE HAD—HIS STRING OF FISH.”] - -When he reached the bank his self-confidence returned, and he remembered -all the things he had said he would do if he should meet a bear. - -The bear had caught the fish, and again had climbed upon the log, where -he was deliberately devouring them. - -This was Little Balser’s chance for death—to the bear. Quickly snatching -up the gun, he rested it in the fork of a small tree near by, took -deliberate aim at the bear, which was not five yards away, and shot him -through the heart. The bear dropped into the water dead, and floated -down-stream a little way, where he lodged at a ripple a short distance -below. - -Balser, after he had killed the bear, became more frightened than he had -been at any time during the adventure, and ran home screaming. That -afternoon his father went to the scene of battle and took the bear out -of the water. It was very fat and large, and weighed, so Mr. Brent said, -over six hundred pounds. - -Balser was firmly of the opinion that he himself was also very fat and -large, and weighed at least as much as the bear. He was certainly -entitled to feel “big”; for he had got himself out of an ugly scrape in -a brave, manly, and cool-headed manner, and had achieved a victory of -which a man might have been proud. - -The news of Balser’s adventure soon spread among the neighbours and he -became quite a hero; for the bear he had killed was one of the largest -that had ever been seen in that neighbourhood, and, besides the gallons -of rich bear oil it yielded, there were three or four hundred pounds of -bear meat; and no other food is more strengthening for winter diet. - -There was also the soft, furry skin, which Balser’s mother tanned, and -with it made a coverlid for Balser’s bed, under which he and his little -brother lay many a cold night, cozy and “snug as a bug in a rug.” - -[Illustration: “THE BEAR HAD CAUGHT THE FISH AND AGAIN HAD CLIMBED UPON -THE LOG.”] - - - - - CHAPTER II. - HOW BALSER GOT A GUN. - - -For many years after the killing of the big bear, as told in the -preceding chapter, time was reckoned by Balser as beginning with that -event. It was, if I may say it, his “Anno Domini.” In speaking of -occurrences, events, and dates, he always fixed them in a general way by -saying, “That happened before I killed the big bear;” or, “That took -place after I killed the big bear.” The great immeasurable eternity of -time was divided into two parts: that large unoccupied portion preceding -the death of the big bear, and the part, full to overflowing with -satisfaction and pride, after that momentous event. - -Balser’s adventure had raised him vastly in the estimation of his -friends and neighbours, and, what was quite as good, had increased his -respect for himself, and had given him confidence, which is one of the -most valuable qualities for boy or man. Frequently when Balser met -strangers, and the story of the big bear was told, they would pat the -boy on the shoulder and call him a little man, and would sometimes ask -him if he owned a gun. Much to Balser’s sorrow, he was compelled to -admit that he did not. The questions as to whether or not he owned a gun -had put into his mind the thought of how delightful life would be if he -but possessed one; and his favourite visions by day and his sweetest -dreams by night were all about a gun; one not so long nor so heavy as -his father’s, but of the shorter, lighter pattern known as a smooth-bore -carbine. He had heard his father speak of this gun, and of its -effectiveness at short range; and although at long distances it was not -so true of aim as his father’s gun, still he felt confident that, if he -but possessed the coveted carbine he could, single-handed and alone, -exterminate all the races of bears, wolves and wildcats that inhabited -the forests round about, and “pestered” the farmers with their -depredations. - -But how to get the gun! That was the question. Balser’s father had -received a gun as a present from _his_ father when Balser Sr. had -reached the advanced age of twenty-one, and it was considered a rich -gift. The cost of a gun for Balser would equal half of the sum total -that his father could make during an entire year; and, although Little -Balser looked forward in fond expectation to the time when he should be -twenty-one and should receive a gun from his father, yet he did not even -hope that he would have one before then, however much he might dream -about it. Dreams cost nothing, and guns were expensive; too expensive -even to be hoped for. So Balser contented himself with inexpensive -dreams, and was willing, though not content, to wait. - -But the unexpected usually happens, at an unexpected time, and in an -unexpected manner. - -About the beginning of the summer after the killing of the big bear, -when Balser’s father had “laid by” his corn, and the little patch of -wheat had just begun to take on a golden brown as due notice that it was -nearly ready to be harvested, there came a few days of idleness for the -busy farmer. Upon one of those rare idle days Mr. Brent and Balser went -down the river on a fishing and hunting expedition. There was but one -gun in the family, therefore Balser could not hunt when his father was -with him, so he took his fishing-rod, and did great execution among the -finny tribe, while his father watched along the river for game, as it -came down to drink. - -Upon the day mentioned Balser and his father had wandered down the river -as far as the Michigan road, and Mr. Brent had left the boy near the -road fishing, after telling him to go home in an hour or two, and that -he, Mr. Brent, would go by another route and be home in time for supper. - -So Balser was left by himself, fishing at a deep hole perhaps a hundred -yards north of the road. This was at a time when the river was in flood, -and the ford where travellers usually crossed was too deep for passage. - -Balser had been fishing for an hour or more, and had concluded to go -home, when he saw approaching along the road from the east a man and -woman on horseback. They soon reached the ford and stopped, believing it -to be impassable. They were mud-stained and travel-worn, and their -horses, covered with froth, were panting as if they had been urged to -their greatest speed. After a little time the gentleman saw Balser, and -called to him. The boy immediately went to the travellers, and the -gentleman said:— - -“My little man, can you tell me if it is safe to attempt the ford at -this time?” - -“It will swim your horses,” answered Balser. - -“I knew it would,” said the lady, in evident distress. She was young and -pretty, and seemed to be greatly fatigued and frightened. The gentleman -was very attentive, and tried to soothe her, but in a moment or two she -began to weep, and said:— - -“They will catch us, I know. They will catch us. They cannot be more -than a mile behind us now, and we have no place to turn.” - -“Is some one trying to catch you?” asked Balser. - -The gentleman looked down at the little fellow for a moment, and was -struck by his bright, manly air. The thought occurred to him that Balser -might suspect them of being fugitives from justice, so he explained:— - -“Yes, my little fellow, a gentleman is trying to catch us. He is this -lady’s father. He has with him a dozen men, and if they overtake us they -will certainly kill me and take this lady home. Do you know of any place -where we may hide?” - -“Yes, sir,” answered Balser, quickly; “help me on behind you, and I’ll -take you to my father’s house. There’s no path up the river, and if they -attempt to follow they’ll get lost in the woods.” - -Balser climbed on the horse behind the gentleman, and soon they plunged -into the deep forest, and rode up the river toward Balser’s home. The -boy knew the forest well, and in a short time the little party of three -was standing at the hospitable cabin door. Matters were soon explained -to Balser’s mother, and she, with true hospitality, welcomed the -travellers to her home. During the conversation Balser learned that the -gentleman and lady were running away that they might be married, and, -hoping to finish a good job, the boy volunteered the advice that they -should be married that same evening under his father’s roof. He also -offered to go in quest of a preacher who made his home some two miles to -the east. - -The advice and the offer of services were eagerly accepted, and the lady -and gentleman were married that night, and remained a few days at the -home of Mr. Brent until the river was low enough to cross. - -The strangers felt grateful to the boy who had given them such timely -help, and asked him what they could do for him in return. - -Balser hesitated a moment, and said, “There’s only one thing I want very -bad, but that would cost so much there’s no use to speak of it.” - -“What is it, Balser? Speak up, and if it is anything I can buy, you -shall have it.” - -“A gun! A gun! A smooth-bore carbine. I’d rather have it than anything -else in the world.” - -“You shall have it if there’s one to be bought in Indianapolis. We are -going there, and will return within a week or ten days, and you shall -have your carbine if I can find one.” - -Within two weeks after this conversation Balser was the happiest boy in -Indiana, for he owned a carbine, ten pounds of fine powder, and lead -enough to kill every living creature within a radius of five miles. - -Of course the carbine had to be tested at once. So the day after he -received it Balser started out with his father on a hunting expedition, -fully determined in his own mind to kill a bear twice as large as his -first one. They took with them corn-bread and dried venison for dinner, -and started east toward Conn’s Creek, where the houses of the settlers -were thinly scattered and game plentiful. - -They had with them two faithful dogs, “Tige” and “Prince.” Balser -considered these dogs the most intelligent animals that walked on four -feet. They were deerhounds with a cross of bulldog, and were swift of -foot and very strong. - -Our hunters had travelled perhaps three or four miles into the forest -when they started a deer, in pursuit of which the dogs bounded off with -their peculiar bark, and soon deer and dogs were lost to sight. Balser -and his father listened carefully for the voices of the dogs, for should -the deer turn at bay, the dogs, instead of the quick bark, to which they -gave voice in the chase, would utter a long-drawn-out note—half howl, -half yelp. - -The bay of the hounds had died away in the distance, and Balser and his -father had heard nothing of them for two or three hours. - -The hunters had seen other deer as they walked along, but they had been -unable to obtain a shot. Smaller game was plentiful, but Balser and his -father did not care to frighten away large game by shooting at squirrels -or birds. So they continued their walk until they reached the bank of -Conn’s Creek, near the hour of noon; by that time Balser’s appetite was -beginning to call loudly for dinner, and he could not resist the -temptation to shoot a squirrel, which he saw upon a limb of a -neighbouring tree. The squirrel fell to the ground and was soon skinned -and cleaned. Balser then kindled a fire, and cutting several green -twigs, sharpened the ends and fastened small pieces of the squirrel upon -them. He next stuck the twigs in the ground so that they leaned toward -the fire, with the meat hanging directly over the blaze. Soon the -squirrel was roasted to a delicious brown, and then Balser served dinner -to his father, who was sitting on a rock near by. The squirrel, the -corn-bread, and the venison quickly disappeared, and Balser, if -permitted to do so, would have found another squirrel and would have -cooked it. Just as dinner was finished, there came from a long way -up-stream the howling bark of Tige and Prince, telling, plainly as if -they had spoken English, that the deer was at bay. - -Thereupon Balser quickly loaded his gun, and he and his father looked -carefully to their primings. Then Mr. Brent directed Balser to climb -down the cliff and move toward the dogs through the thicket in the -bottom, while he went by another route, along the bluff. Should the -hunters be separated, they were to meet at an agreed place in the -forest. Balser climbed cautiously down the cliff and was soon deep in a -dark thicket of tangled underbrush near the creek. - -Now and then the deep bay of the dogs reached his ears from the -direction whence he had first heard it, and he walked as rapidly as the -tangled briers and undergrowth would permit toward his faithful -fellow-hunters. - -He was so intent on the game which he knew the dogs held at bay, that he -did not look about him with his accustomed caution, and the result of -his unwatchfulness was that he found himself within ten feet of two huge -bears before he was at all aware of their presence. They were evidently -male and female, and upon seeing him the great he-bear gave forth a -growl that frightened Balser to the depths of his soul. Retreat seemed -almost impossible; and should he fire at one of the bears, his gun would -be empty and he would be at the mercy of the other. To attempt to outrun -a bear, even on level ground, would be almost a hopeless undertaking; -for the bear, though an awkward-looking creature, is capable of great -speed when it comes to a foot-race. But there, where the tangled -underbrush was so dense that even walking through it was a matter of -great difficulty, running was out of the question, for the thicket which -would greatly impede Balser would be but small hindrance to the bears. - -After Balser had killed the big bear at the drift, he felt that he never -again would suffer from what hunters call “buck ager”; but when he found -himself confronted by those black monsters, he began to tremble in every -limb, and for the life of him could not at first lift his gun. The -he-bear was the first to move. He raised himself on his haunches, and -with a deep growl started for poor Balser. Balser should have shot the -bear as he came toward him, but acting solely from an instinct of -self-preservation he started to run. He made better headway than he had -thought possible, and soon came to a small open space of ground where -the undergrowth was not so thick, and where the bright light of the sun -dispelled the darkness. The light restored Balser’s confidence, and the -few moments of retreat gave him time to think and to pull himself -together. So, turning quickly, he lifted his gun to his shoulder and -fired at the bear, which was not two yards behind him. Unfortunately, -his aim was unsteady, and his shot wounded the bear in the neck, but did -not kill him. - -Balser saw the disastrous failure he had made, and felt that the bear -would be much surer in his attack upon him than he had been in his -attack upon the bear. The boy then threw away his gun, and again began a -hasty retreat. - -He called for his father, and cried, “Tige! Prince! Tige! Tige!” not so -much with a hope that either the dogs or his father would hear, but -because he knew not what else to do. Balser ran as fast as he could, -still the bear was at his heels, and the frightened boy expected every -moment to feel a stroke from the brute’s huge rough paw. Soon it came, -with a stunning force that threw Balser to the ground, upon his back. -The bear was over him in an instant, and caught his left arm between his -mighty jaws. It seemed then that the light of the world went out for a -moment, and he remembered nothing but the huge, blood-red mouth of the -bear, his hot breath almost burning his cheeks, and his deep, terrible -growls nearly deafening his ears. Balser’s whole past life came up -before him like a picture, and he remembered everything that had ever -happened to him. He thought of how deeply his dear father and mother -would grieve, and for the only time in his life regretted having -received the carbine, for it was the gun, after all, that had got him -into this trouble. All this happened in less time than it takes you to -read ten lines of this page, but it seemed very, very long to Balser, -lying there with the huge body of the bear over him. - -[Illustration: “He could hear the bear growling right at his heels, and -it made him just fly.”] - -Suddenly a note of hope struck his ear—the sweetest sound he had ever -heard. It was the yelp of dear old Tige, who had heard his call and had -come to the rescue. If there is any creature on earth that a bear -thoroughly hates, it is a dog. Tige wasted not a moment’s time, but was -soon biting and pulling at the bear’s hind legs. The bear immediately -turned upon the dog, and gave Balser an opportunity to rise. Of this -opportunity he quickly took advantage, you may be sure. Soon Prince came -up also, and in these two strong dogs the bear had foemen worthy of his -steel. - -Balser’s great danger and narrow escape had quickened all his faculties, -so he at once ran back to the place where he had dropped his gun, and -although his left arm had been terribly bitten, he succeeded in loading, -and soon came back to the help of the dogs, who had given him such -timely assistance. - -The fight between the dogs and the bear was going on at a merry rate, -when Balser returned to the scene of action. With Prince on one side and -Tige on the other, both so strong and savage, and each quick and nimble -as a cat, the bear had all he could do to defend himself, and -continually turned first one way and then another in his effort to keep -their fangs away from his legs or throat. This enabled Balser to -approach within a short distance of the bear, which he cautiously did. -Taking care not to wound either of his faithful friends, he was more -fortunate in his aim than he had been the first time, and gave the bear -a mortal wound. - -The wounded animal made a hasty retreat back into the thicket, followed -closely by the dogs; but Balser had seen more than enough of bear -society in the thicket, and prudently concluded not to follow. He then -loaded his gun with a heavy charge of powder only, and fired it to -attract his father’s attention. This he repeated several times, until at -last he saw the welcome form of his father hurrying toward him from the -bluff. When his father reached him and saw that he had been wounded, Mr. -Brent was naturally greatly troubled; but Balser said: “I’ll tell you -all about it soon. Let’s go in after the bears. Two of them are in the -thicket up there next to the cliff, and the dogs have followed them. If -Tige had not come up just in time, one of the bears would have killed -me; but I think the shot I gave him must have killed him by this time.” - -So without another word, Balser having loaded his gun, they started into -the dark thicket toward the cliff, in the direction whence came the -voices of the dogs. - -They had not proceeded farther than a hundred yards when they found the -bear which Balser had shot, lying dead in the path over which Balser had -so recently made his desperate retreat. The dogs were farther in, toward -the cliff, where the vines, trees, and brush grew so thick that it was -almost dark. - -The two hunters, however, did not stop, but hurried on to the help of -their dogs. Soon they saw through the gloom of the thicket the she-bear, -and about her the dogs were prancing, barking, and snapping most -furiously. - -Carefully Balser and his father took their position within a few yards -of the bear, and Balser, upon a signal from his father, called off the -dogs so that a shot might be made at the bear without danger of killing -either Tige or Prince. - -[Illustration: “Tige was told to go into the cave.”] - -Soon the report of two guns echoed through the forest, almost at the -same instant, and the great she-bear fell over on her side, quivered for -a moment, and died. This last battle took place close by the stone -cliff, which rose from the bottom-land to a height of fifty or sixty -feet. - -Balser and his father soon worked their way through the underbrush to -where the she-bear lay dead. After having examined the bear, Balser’s -attention was attracted to a small opening in the cliff, evidently the -mouth of a cave which had probably been the home of the bear family that -he and his father had just exterminated. The she-bear had taken her -stand at the door of her home, and in defending it had lost her life. -Balser examined the opening in the cliff, and concluded to enter; but -his father said:— - -“You don’t know what’s in there. Let’s first send in one of the dogs.” - -So Tige was called and told to go into the cave. Immediately after he -had entered he gave forth a series of sharp yelps which told plainly -enough that he had found something worth barking at. Then Balser called -the dog out, and Mr. Brent collected pieces of dry wood, and made a fire -in front of the cave, hoping to drive out any animal that might be on -the inside. - -He more than suspected that he would find a pair of cubs. - -As the smoke brought nothing forth, he concluded to enter the cave -himself and learn what was there. - -Dropping upon his knees, he began to crawl in at the narrow opening, and -the boy and the two dogs followed closely. Mr. Brent had taken with him -a lighted torch, and when he had gone but a short distance into the cave -he saw in a remote corner a pair of gray-black, frowzy little cubs, as -fat and round as a roll of butter. They were lying upon a soft bed of -leaves and grass, which had been collected by their father and mother. - -Balser’s delight knew no bounds, for, next to his gun, what he wanted -above all things was a bear cub, and here were two of them. Quickly he -and his father each picked up a cub and made their way out of the cave. - -The cubs, not more than one-half larger than a cat, were round and very -fat, and wore a coat of fur, soft and sleek as the finest silk. Young -bears usually are gray until after they are a year old, but these were -an exception to the rule, for they were almost black. - -Leaving the old bears dead upon the ground, Balser and his father -hurried down to the creek, where Mr. Brent washed and dressed his son’s -wounded arm. They then marked several trees upon the bank of the creek -by breaking twigs, so that they might be able to find the bears when -they returned that evening with the horses to take home the meat and -skins. - -All this, which has taken so long to tell, occurred within the space of -a few minutes; but the work while it lasted was hard and tiresome, and, -although it was but a short time past noon, Balser and his father were -only too glad to turn their faces homeward, each with a saucy little -bear cub under his arm. - -“As we have killed their mother,” said Balser, referring to the cubs, -“we must take care of her children and give them plenty of milk, and -bring them up to be good, honest bears.” - -The evening of the same day Mr. Brent and a few of his neighbours -brought home the bear meat and skins. Balser did not go with his father -because his arm was too sore. He was, however, very proud of his wound, -and thought that the glory of the day and the two bear cubs were -purchased cheaply enough after all. - -[Illustration: “Each with a saucy little cub.”] - - - - - CHAPTER III. - LOST IN THE FOREST. - - -Balser’s arm mended slowly, for it had been terribly bitten by the bear. -The heavy sleeve of his buckskin jacket had saved him from a wound which -might have crippled him for life; but the hurt was bad enough as it was, -and Balser passed through many days and nights of pain before it was -healed. He bore the suffering like a little man, however, and felt very -“big” as he walked about with his arm in a buckskin sling. - -Balser was impatient that he could not hunt; but he spent his time more -or less satisfactorily in cleaning and polishing his gun and playing -with the bear cubs, which his little brother Jim had named “Tom” and -“Jerry.” The cubs soon became wonderfully tame, and drank eagerly from a -pan of milk. They were too small to know how to lap, so the boys put -their hands in the pan and held up a finger, at which the cubs sucked -lustily. It was very laughable to see the little round black fellows -nosing in the milk for the finger. And sometimes they would bite, too, -until the boys would snatch away their hands and soundly box the cubs on -the ears. A large panful of milk would disappear before you could say -“Christmas,” and the bears’ silky sides would stand out as big and round -as a pippin. The boys were always playing pranks upon the cubs, and the -cubs soon learned to retaliate. They would climb everywhere about the -premises, up the trees, on the roofs of the barn and house, and over the -fence. Their great delight was the milk-house and kitchen, where they -had their noses into everything, and made life miserable for Mrs. Brent. -She would run after them with her broomstick if they but showed their -sharp little snouts in the doorway. Then off they would scamper, yelping -as though they were nearly killed, and ponder upon new mischief. They -made themselves perfectly at home, and would play with each other like a -pair of frisky kittens, rolling over and over on the sod, pretending to -fight, and whining and growling as if they were angry in real earnest. -One day Balser and his little brother Jim were sitting on a log, which -answered the purpose of a settee, under the eaves in front of the house. -The boys were wondering what had become of Tom and Jerry, as they had -not seen them for an hour or more, and their quietness looked -suspicious. - -“I wonder if those cubs have run away,” said Balser. - -“No,” said Jim, “bet they won’t run away; they’ve got things too -comfortable here to run away. Like as not they’re off some place -plannin’ to get even with us because we ducked them in the water trough -awhile ago. They looked awful sheepish when they got out, and as they -went off together I jus’ thought to myself they were goin’ away to think -up some trick on us.” - -Balser and Jim were each busily engaged eating the half of a blackberry -pie. The eave of the house was not very high, perhaps seven or eight -feet from the ground, and Balser and Jim were sitting under it, holding -the baby and eating their pie. - -Hardly had Jim spoken when the boys heard a scraping sound from above, -then a couple of sharp little yelps; and down came Tom and Jerry from -the roof, striking the boys squarely on the head. - -To say that the boys were frightened does not half tell it. They did not -know what had happened. They fell over, and the baby dropped to the -ground with a cry that brought her mother to the scene of action in a -moment. The blackberry pie had in some way managed to spread itself all -over the baby’s face, and she was a very comical sight when her mother -picked her up. - -The bears _had_ retaliated upon the boys sooner than even Jim had -anticipated, and they all had a great laugh over it; the bears seeming -to enjoy it more than anybody else. The boys were ready to admit that -the joke was on them, so they took the cubs back to the milk-house, and -gave them a pan of rich milk as a peace-offering. - -The scrapes these cubs got themselves and the boys into would fill a -large volume; but I cannot tell you any more about them now, as I want -to relate an adventure having no fun in it, which befell Balser and some -of his friends soon after his arm was well. - -It was blackberry time, and several children had come to Balser’s home -for the purpose of making a raid upon a large patch of wild blackberries -that grew on the other side of the river, a half-hour’s walk from Mr. -Brent’s cabin. - -Soon after daybreak one morning, the little party, consisting of Balser -and Jim, Tom Fox and his sister Liney (which is “short” for -Pau-_li_-ne), and three children from the family of Mr. Neigh, paddled -across the river in a canoe which Balser and his father had made from a -large gum log, and started westward for the blackberry patch. - -Tom and Jerry had noticed the preparations for the journey with -considerable curiosity, and felt very much hurt that they were not to be -taken along. But they were left behind, imprisoned in a pen which the -boys had built for them, and their whines and howls of complaint at such -base treatment could be heard until the children were well out of sight -of the house. - -The party hurried along merrily, little thinking that their journey home -would be one of sadness; and soon they were in the midst of the -blackberries, picking as rapidly as possible, and filling their gourds -with the delicious fruit. - -They worked hard all the morning, and the deerskin sacks which they had -brought with them were nearly full. - -Toward noon the children became hungry, and without a dissenting voice -agreed to eat dinner. - -They had taken with them for lunch a loaf of bread and a piece of cold -venison, but Balser suggested that he should go into the woods and find -a squirrel or two to help out their meal. In the meantime Tom Fox had -started out upon a voyage of discovery, hoping that he, too, might -contribute to the larder. - -In a few minutes Balser’s gun was heard at a distance, and then again -and again, and soon he was back in camp with three fat squirrels. - -Almost immediately after him came Tom Fox carrying something in his -coonskin cap. - -“What have you there, Limpy?” cried Liney. - -The children called Tom “Limpy” because he always had a sore toe or a -stone bruise on his heel. - -“You’ll never guess,” answered Tom. All the children took a turn at -guessing, and then gave it up. - -“Turkey eggs,” said Tom. “We’ll have eggs as well as squirrel for dinner -to-day.” - -“How will you cook them?” asked one of the Neigh children. - -“I’ll show you,” answered Tom. - -So now they were guessing how Limpy would cook the eggs, but he would -not tell them, and they had to give it up. - -The boys then lighted a fire from the flint-lock on the gun, and Balser, -having dressed the squirrel, cut twigs as he had done when he and his -father dined on Conn’s Creek, and soon pieces of tender squirrel were -roasting near the flame, giving forth a most tempting odour. - -In the meantime Limpy had gone away, and none of the children knew where -he was, or what he was doing. - -[Illustration: “Down came Tom and Jerry from the roof.”] - -Soon, however, he returned bearing a large flat rock eight or ten inches -in diameter, and two or three inches thick. This rock he carefully -washed and scrubbed in a spring, until it was perfectly clean. He then -took coals from the fire which Balser had kindled, and soon had a great -fire of his own, in the midst of which was the stone. After the blaze -had died down, he made a bed of hot coals on which, by means of a couple -of sticks, he placed the rock, and then dusted away the ashes. - -“Now do you know how I’m going to cook the eggs?” he asked. - -They, of course, all knew; and the girls greased the rock with the fat -of the squirrel, broke the eggs, and allowed them to fall upon the hot -stone, where they were soon thoroughly roasted, and the children had a -delicious meal. After dinner they sat in the cool shade of the tree -under which they dined, and told stories and asked riddles for an hour -or two before they again began berry-picking. Then they worked until -about six o’clock, and stopped to have another play before returning -home. - -They played “Ring around a rosey,” “Squat where ye be,” “Wolf,” “Dirty -dog,” and then wound up with the only never-grow-old, “Hide-and-seek.” - -The children hid behind logs and trees, and in dense clumps of bushes. -The boys would often climb trees, when, if “caught,” the one who was -“it” was sure to run “home” before the hider could slide half-way down -his tree. Now and then a hollow tree was found, and that, of course, was -the best hiding-place of all. - -Beautiful little Liney Fox found one hollow tree too many; and as long -as they lived all the children of the party remembered it and the -terrible events that followed her discovery. She was seeking a place to -hide, and had hurried across a small open space to conceal herself -behind a huge sycamore tree. When she reached the tree and went around -it to hide upon the opposite side, she found it was hollow at the root. - -Balser was “it,” and with his eyes “hid” was counting one hundred as -rapidly and loudly as he could. He had got to sixty, he afterward said, -when a shriek reached his ears. This was when Liney found the hollow -tree. Balser at once knew that it was Liney’s voice; for, although he -was but a little fellow, he was quite old enough to have admired Liney’s -exquisite beauty, and to have observed that she was as kind and gentle -and good as she was pretty. - -So what wonder that Balser, whom she openly claimed as her best friend, -should share not only in the general praise, but should have a boy’s -admiration for her all his own? - -In persons accustomed to exercise the alertness which is necessary for a -good hunter, the sense of locating the direction and position from which -a sound proceeds becomes highly developed, and as Balser had been -hunting almost ever since he was large enough to walk, he knew instantly -where Liney was. - -He hurriedly pushed his way through the bushes, and in a moment reached -the open space of ground, perhaps one hundred yards across, on the -opposite side of which stood the tree that Liney had found. Some twenty -or thirty yards beyond the tree stood Liney. She was so frightened that -she could not move, and apparently had become powerless to scream. - -Balser hastened toward her at his utmost speed, and when he reached a -point from which he could see the hollow side of the tree, imagine his -horror and fright upon beholding an enormous bear emerging from the -opening. The bear started slowly toward the girl, who seemed unable to -move. - -“Run, Liney! run for your life!” screamed Balser, who fearlessly rushed -toward the bear to attract its attention from the girl, and if possible -to bring it in pursuit of himself. - -“I just felt,” said Balser afterward, “that I wanted to lie down and let -the bear eat me at once if I could only keep it away from Liney. I -shouted and threw clods and sticks at it, but on it went toward her. I -reckon it thought she was the nicest and preferred her to me. It was -right, too, for she was a heap the nicest, and I didn’t blame the bear -for wanting her. - -“Again I shouted, ‘Run, Liney! run!’ My voice seemed to waken her, and -she started to run as fast as she could go, with the bear after her, and -I after the bear as fast as I could go. I was shouting and doing my best -to make the bear run after me instead of Liney; but it kept right on -after her, and she kept on running faster and faster into the dark -woods. In a short time I caught up with the bear, and kicked it on the -side as hard as I could kick. That made it mad, and it turned upon me -with a furious growl, as much as to say that it would settle with me -pretty quick and then get Liney. After I had kicked it I started to run -toward my gun, which was over by the blackberry patch. For a while I -could hear the bear growling and puffing right at my heels, and it made -me just fly, you may be sure. I never ran so fast in all my life, for I -knew that I could not hold out long against the bear, and that if I -didn’t get my gun quick he would surely get me. I did not care as much -as you might think, nor was I very badly frightened, for I was so glad I -had saved Liney. But naturally I wanted to save myself too, if possible, -so, as I have said, I ran as I never ran before—or since, for that -matter. - -“Soon the growls of the bear began to grow indistinct, and presently -they ceased and I thought I had left it behind. So I kept on running -toward my gun, and never stopped to look back until I heard another -scream from Liney. Then I looked behind me, and saw that the bear had -turned and was again after her, although she was quite a distance ahead -of it. - -“I thought at first that I should turn back and kick the bear again, and -just lie down and let it eat me if nothing else would satisfy it; but I -was so near my gun that I concluded to get it and then hurry back and -shoot the bear instead of kicking it. - -“I heard Liney scream again and heard her call ‘B-a-l-s-e-r,’ and that -made me run even faster than the bear had made me go. It was but a few -seconds until I had my gun and had started back to help Liney. - -“Soon I was at the hollow sycamore, but the bushes into which Liney had -run were so thick and dark that I could see neither her nor the bear. I -quickly ran into the woods where I thought Liney had gone, and when I -was a little way into the thicket I called to her, but she did not -answer. I then went on, following the track of the bear as well as I -could. Bears, you know, have long flat feet that do not sink into the -ground and leave a distinct track like a deer’s foot does, so I soon -lost the bear tracks and did not know which way to go. - -“I kept going, however, calling loudly for Liney every now and then, and -soon I was so deep into the forest that it seemed almost night. I could -not see far in any direction on account of the thick underbrush, and at -a little distance objects appeared indistinct. On I went, knowing not -where, calling ‘Liney! Liney!’ at nearly every step; but I heard no -answer, and it seemed that I liked Liney Fox better than anybody in all -the world, and would have given my life to save her.” - -After Balser had gone into the woods to help Liney the other children -gathered in a frightened group about the tree under which they had eaten -dinner. There they waited in the greatest anxiety and fear until the sun -had almost sunk below the horizon, but Balser and Liney did not return. -Shortly before dark the children started homeward, very heavy-hearted -and sorrowful, you may be sure. When they reached the river they paddled -across and told Mr. Brent that Balser and Liney were lost in the woods, -and that when last seen a huge bear was in pursuit of Liney. Balser’s -father lost not a moment, but ran to a hill near the house, upon the top -of which stood a large stack of dry grass, leaves, and wood, placed -there for the purpose of signalling the neighbours in case of distress. -He at once put fire to the dry grass, and soon there was a blaze, the -light from which could be seen for miles around. - -Mr. Brent immediately crossed the river, and leaving Tom Fox behind to -guide the neighbours, walked rapidly in the direction of the place where -Balser and Liney had last been seen. He took with him the dogs, and a -number of torches which he intended to light from a tinder-box if he -should need them. - -The neighbours soon hurried to the Brent home in response to the fire -signal, and several of them started out to rescue the children, if -possible. If help were to be given, it must be done at once. A night in -the woods meant almost certain death to the boy and girl; for, besides -bears and wolves, there had been for several weeks a strolling band of -Indians in the neighbourhood. - -Although the Indians were not brave enough to attack a settlement, they -would be only too ready to steal the children, did they but have the -opportunity. - -These Indians slept all day in dark, secluded spots, and roamed about at -night, visiting the houses of the settlers under cover of darkness, for -the purpose of carrying off anything of value upon which they could lay -their hands. Recently several houses had been burned, and some twenty -miles up the river a woman had been found murdered near the bank. Two -children were missing from another house, and a man while out hunting -had been shot by an unseen enemy. - -These outrages were all justly attributed to the Indians; and if they -should meet Balser and Liney in the lonely forest, Heaven itself only -knew what might become of the children,—a bear would be a more merciful -enemy. - -All night Mr. Brent and the neighbours searched the forest far and near. - -Afterward Balser told the story of that terrible night, and I will let -him speak:— - -“I think it was after six o’clock when I went into the woods in pursuit -of Liney and the bear. It was almost dark at that time in the forest, -and a little later, when the sun had gone down and a fine drizzle of -rain had begun to fall, the forest was so black that once I ran against -a small tree because I did not see it. - -“I wandered about for what seemed a very long time, calling for Liney; -then I grew hopeless and began to realize that I was lost. I could not -tell from which direction I had come, nor where I was going. Everything -looked alike all about me—a deep, black bank of nothing, and a nameless -fear stole over me. I had my gun, but of what use was it, when I could -not see my hand before me? Now and then I heard wolves howling, and it -seemed that their voices came from every direction. Once a black shadow -ran by me with a snarl and a snap, and I expected every moment to have -the hungry pack upon me, and to be torn into pieces. What if they should -attack Liney? The thought almost drove me wild. - -“I do not know how long I had wandered through the forest, but it must -have been eight or nine hours, when I came to the river. I went to the -water’s edge and put my hand in the stream to learn which way the -current ran, for I was so confused and so entirely lost that I did not -know which direction was down-stream. I found that the water was running -toward my right, and then I climbed back to the bank and stood in -helpless confusion for a few minutes. - -“Nothing could be gained by standing there watching the water, like a -fish-hawk, so I walked slowly down the river. I had been going -down-stream for perhaps twenty minutes, when I saw a tall man come out -of the woods, a few yards ahead of me, and walk rapidly toward the river -bank. He carried something on his shoulder, as a man would carry a sack -of wheat, and when he had reached the river bank, where there was more -light, I could see from his dress that he was an Indian. I could not -tell what it was he carried, but in a moment I thought of Liney and ran -toward him. I reached the place where he had gone down the bank just in -time to see him place his burden in a canoe. He himself was on the point -of stepping in when I called to him to stop, and told him I would shoot -him if he did not. My fright was gone in an instant, and I would not -have feared all the lions, bears, and Indians that roamed the -wilderness. I had but one thought—to save Liney, and something told me -that she lay at the other end of the canoe. - -“The open space of the river made it light enough for me to see the -Indian, and I was so close to him that even in the darkness I could not -miss my aim. In place of answering my call, he glanced hurriedly at me, -in surprise, and quickly lifted his gun to shoot me. But I was quicker -than he, and I fired first. The Indian dropped his gun and plunged into -the river. I did not know whether he had jumped or fallen in, but he -immediately sank. I thought I saw his head a moment afterward above the -surface of the water near the opposite bank, and I do not know to this -day whether or not I killed him. At the time I did not care, for the one -thing on my mind was to rescue Liney. - -“I did not take long to climb into the canoe, and sure enough there she -was at the other end. I had not taken the precaution to tie the boat to -the bank, and I was so overjoyed at finding Liney, and was so eager in -my effort to lift her, and to learn if she were dead or alive, that I -upset the unsteady thing. I thought we should both drown before we could -get out, for Liney was as helpless as if she were dead, which I thought -was really the case. - -“After a hard struggle I reached shallow water and carried Liney to the -top of the bank. I laid her on the ground, and took away the piece of -wood which the Indian had tied between her teeth to keep her from crying -out. Then I rubbed her hands and face and rolled her over and over until -she came to. After a while she raised her head and opened her eyes, and -looked about her as if she were in a dream. - -[Illustration: Tige and Prince swimming about the Canoe.] - -‘Oh, Balser!’ she cried, and then fainted away again. I thought she was -dead this time sure, and was in such agony that I could not even feel. -Hardly knowing what I was doing, I picked her up to carry her home, -dead—as I supposed. I had carried her for perhaps half an hour, when, -becoming very tired, I stopped to rest. Then Liney wakened up again, and -I put her down. But she could not stand, and, of course, could not walk. - -“She told me that after she had run into the woods away from the bear, -she became frightened and was soon lost. She had wandered aimlessly -about for a long time, how long she did not know, but it seemed ages. -She had been so terrified by the wolves and by the darkness, that she -was almost unconscious, and hardly knew what she was doing. She said -that every now and then she had called my name, for she knew that I -would try to follow her. Her calling for me had evidently attracted the -Indian, whom she had met after she had been in the woods a very long -time. - -“The Indian seized her, and placed the piece of wood between her teeth -to keep her from screaming. He then threw her over his shoulder, and she -remembered very little of what happened after that until she was -awakened in the canoe by the flash and the report of my gun. She said -that she knew at once I had come, and then she knew nothing more until -she awakened on the bank. She did not know of the upsetting of the -canoe, nor of my struggle in the water, but when I told her about it, -she said:— - -“’Balser, you’ve saved my life three times in one night.’ - -“Then I told her that I would carry her home. She did not want me to, -though, and tried to walk, but could not; so I picked her up and started -homeward. - -“Just then I happened to look toward the river and saw the Indian’s -canoe floating down-stream, bottom upward. I saw at once that here was -an opportunity for us to ride home, so I put Liney down, took off my wet -jacket and moccasins, and swam out to the canoe. After I had drawn it to -the bank and had turned out the water, I laid Liney at the bow, found a -pole with which to guide the canoe, climbed in myself, and pushed off. -We floated very slowly, but, slow as it was, it was a great deal better -than having to walk. - -“It was just beginning to be daylight when I heard the barking of dogs. -I would have known their voices among ten thousand, for they were as -familiar to me as the voice of my mother. It was dear old Tige and -Prince, and never in my life was any voice more welcome to my ears than -that sweet sound. I whistled shrilly between my fingers, and soon the -faithful animals came rushing out of the woods and plunged into the -water, swimming about us as if they knew as well as a man could have -known what they and their master had been looking for all night.” -Balser’s father had followed closely upon the dogs, and within an hour -the children were home amid the wildest rejoicing you ever heard. - -When Liney became stronger she told how she had seen the hollow in the -sycamore tree, and had hurried toward it to hide; and how, just as she -was about to enter the hollow tree, a huge bear raised upon its haunches -and thrust its nose almost in her face. She said that the bear had -followed her for a short distance, and then for some reason had given up -the chase. Her recollection of everything that had happened was confused -and indistinct, but one little fact she remembered with a clearness that -was very curious: the bear, she said, had but one ear. - -When Balser heard this, he arose to his feet, and gave notice to all -persons present that there would soon be a bear funeral, and that a -one-eared bear would be at the head of the procession. He would have the -other ear of that bear if he had to roam the forest until he was an old -man to find it. - -How he got it, and how it got him, I will tell you in the next chapter. - - - - - CHAPTER IV. - THE ONE-EARED BEAR. - - -“You, Tom! You, Jerry! come here!” called Balser one morning, while he -and Jim were sitting in the shade near the river in front of the house, -overseeing the baby. - -“You, Tom! You, Jerry!” called Balser a second time with emphasis. The -cubs, snoozing in the sun a couple of paces away, rolled lazily over two -or three times in an effort to get upon their feet, and then trotted to -their masters with a comical, waddling gait that always set the boys -laughing,—it was such a swagger. - -When they had come, Balser said, “Stop right there!” and the cubs, being -always tired, gladly enough sat upon their haunches, and blinked -sleepily into Balser’s face, with a greedy expression upon their own, as -if to say, “Well, where’s the milk?” - -“Milk, is it?” asked Balser. “You’re always hungry. You’re nothing but a -pair of gluttons. Eat, eat, from morning until night. Well, this time -you’ll get nothing. There’s no milk for you.” - -The cubs looked disgusted, so Jim said, and no doubt he was right, for -Jim and the cubs were great friends and understood each other -thoroughly. - -“Now, I’ve been a good father to you,” said Balser. “I’ve always given -you as much milk as you could hold, without bursting, and have tried to -bring you up to be good respectable bears, and to do my duty by you. I -have whipped you whenever you needed it, although it often hurt me worse -than it did you.” - -The bears grunted, as if to say: “But not in the same place.” - -“Now what I want,” continued Balser, regardless of the interruption, -“is, that you tell me what you know, if anything, concerning a big -one-eared bear that lives hereabouts. Have you ever heard of him?” - -Tom gave a grunt, and Jim, who had been studying bear language, said he -meant “Yes.” - -Jerry then put his nose to Tom’s ear, and whined something in a low -voice. - -“What does he say, Jim?” asked Balser. - -“He says for Tom not to tell you anything until you promise to give them -milk,” answered Jim, seriously. - -“Jerry, you’re the greatest glutton alive, I do believe,” said Balser; -“but if you’ll tell me anything worth knowing about the one-eared bear, -I’ll give you the biggest pan of milk you ever saw.” - -Jerry in his glee took two or three fancy steps, awkwardly fell over -himself a couple of times, got up, and grunted to Tom to go ahead. Jim -was the interpreter, and Tom grunted and whined away, in a mighty effort -to earn the milk. - -“The one-eared bear,” said he, “is my uncle. Used to hear dad and mother -talk about him. Dad bit his ear off. That’s how he came to have only -one. Dad and he fought about mother, and when dad bit uncle’s ear off -mother went with dad and wouldn’t have anything to do with the other -fellow. Couldn’t abide a one-eared husband, she said.” - -“That’s interesting,” answered Balser. “Where does he live?” - -Tom pointed his nose toward the northwest, and opened his mouth very -wide. - -“Up that way in a cave,” interpreted Jim, pointing as the cub had -indicated. - -“How far is it?” asked Balser. - -Jerry lay down and rolled over twice. - -“Two hours’ walk,” said Jim. - -“How shall I find the place?” asked Balser. - -Tom stood upon his hind legs, and scratched the bark of a tree with his -fore paws as high as he could reach. - -“Of course,” said Balser, “by the bear scratches on the trees. I -understand.” - -Jerry grunted “milk,” so Jim said, and the whole party, boys, bears, and -baby, moved off to the milk-house, where the cubs had a great feast. - -After the milk had disappeared, Jerry grew talkative, and grunted away -like the satisfied little pig that he was. - -Again Jim, with a serious face, acted as interpreter. - -“Mighty bad bear,” said Jerry. “Soured on the world since mother threw -him over. Won’t have anything to do with anybody. He’s as big and strong -as a horse, fierce as a lion, and meaner than an Injun. He’s bewitched, -too, with an evil spirit, and nobody can ever kill him.” - -“That’s the name he has among white folks,” remarked Balser. - -“Better be careful when you hunt him, for he’s killed more men and boys -than you have fingers and toes,” said Tom. Then the cubs, being full of -milk and drowsy, stretched themselves out in the sun, and no amount of -persuasion could induce them to utter another grunt. - -The bears had told the truth—that is, if they had told anything; for -since it had been learned throughout the settlement that it was a -one-eared bear which had pursued Liney, many stories had been told of -hairbreadth escapes and thrilling adventures with that same fierce -prowler of the woods. - -One hunter said that he had shot at him as many as twenty times, at -short range, but for all he knew, had never even wounded him. - -The one-eared bear could not be caught by any means whatsoever. He had -broken many traps, and had stolen bait so frequently from others, that -he was considered altogether too knowing for a natural bear; and it was -thought that he was inhabited by an evil spirit which gave him -supernatural powers. - -He certainly was a very shrewd old fellow, and very strong and fierce; -and even among those of the settlers who were not superstitious enough -to believe that he was inhabited by an evil spirit, he was looked upon -as a “rogue” bear; that is, a sullen, morose old fellow, who lived by -himself, as old bachelors live. The bachelors, though, being men, should -know better and act more wisely. - -Notwithstanding all these evil reports concerning the one-eared bear, -Balser clung to his resolution to hunt the bear, to kill him if -possible, and to give Liney the remaining ear as a keepsake. - -Balser’s father knew that it was a perilous undertaking, and tried to -persuade the boy to hunt some less dangerous game; but he would not -listen to any of the warnings, and day by day longed more ardently for -the blood of the one-eared bear. - -So one morning shortly after the conversation with the cubs, Balser -shouldered his gun and set out toward the northwest, accompanied by -Limpy Fox and the dogs. - -In truth, the expedition had been delayed that Limpy’s sore _toe_ might -_heal_. That was one of Liney’s jokes. - -Limpy had no gun, but he fairly bristled with knives and a hatchet, -which for several days he had been grinding and whetting until they were -almost as sharp as a razor. - -The boys roamed through the forest all day long, but found no trace of -the one-eared bear, nor of any other, for that matter. So toward evening -they turned their faces homeward, where they arrived soon after sunset, -very tired and hungry. - -Liney had walked over to Balser’s house to learn the fate of the -one-eared bear, and fully expected to hear that he had been slaughtered, -for she looked upon Balser as a second Saint Hubert, who, as you know, -is the patron saint of hunters. - -One failure, however, did not shake her faith in Balser, nor did it -affect his resolution to kill the one-eared bear. - -Next day the boys again went hunting, and again failed to find the bear -they sought. They then rested for a few days, and tried again, with -still another failure. - -After several days of fruitless tramping through the forests, their -friends began to laugh at them. - -“If he ever catches sight of Tom,” said Liney, “he’ll certainly die, for -Tom’s knives and hatchet would frighten any bear to death.” - -Balser also made sport of Tom’s armament, but Tom, a little “miffed,” -said:— - -“You needn’t be so smart; it hasn’t been long since you had nothing but -a hatchet. You think because you’ve got a gun you’re very big and cute. -I’ll bet the time will come when you’ll be glad enough that I have a -hatchet.” - -Tom was a truer prophet than he thought, for the day soon came when the -hatchet proved itself true steel. - -The boys had started out before sun-up one morning, and were deep into -the forest when daylight was fairly abroad. Tige and Prince were with -them, and were trotting lazily along at the boys’ heels, for the day was -very warm, and there was no breeze in the forest. They had been walking -for several hours, and had almost lost hope, when suddenly a deep growl -seemed to come from the ground almost at their feet. The boys sprang -back in a hurry, for right in their path stood an enormous bear, where a -moment before there had been nothing. - -“Lordy! it’s the one-eared bear,” cried Tom, and the hairs on his head -fairly stood on end. - -My! what a monster of fierceness the bear was. His head, throat, and -paws, were covered with blood, evidently from some animal that he had -been eating, and his great red mouth, sharp white teeth, and cropped ear -gave him a most ferocious and terrifying appearance. - -Balser’s first impulse, now that he had found the long-sought one-eared -bear, I am sorry to say, was to retreat. That was Tom’s first impulse -also, and, notwithstanding his knives and hatchet, he acted upon it -quicker than a circus clown can turn a somersault. - -Balser also started to run, but thought better of it, and turned to give -battle to the bear, fully determined to act slowly and deliberately, and -to make no mistake about his aim. - -[Illustration: “’Lordy, Balser! It’s the one-eared bear.’”] - -He knew that a false aim would end his own days, and would add one more -victim to the already long list of the one-eared bear. - -The dogs barked furiously at the bear, and did not give Balser an -opportunity to shoot. The bear and dogs were gradually moving farther -away from Balser, and almost before he knew it the three had disappeared -in the thicket. Balser was loath to follow until Tom should return, so -he called in an undertone:— - -“Tom! Limpy!” - -Soon Tom cautiously came back, peering fearfully about him, hatchet in -hand, ready to do great execution upon the bear—he afterward said. - -“You’re a pretty hunter, you are. You’d better go home and get an ax. -The bear has got away just because I had to wait for you,” said Balser, -only too glad to have some one to blame for the bear’s escape. - -The boys still heard the dogs barking, and hurried on after them as -rapidly as the tangle of undergrowth would permit. Now and then they -caught a glimpse of the bear, only to lose it again as he ran down a -ravine or through a dense thicket. The dogs, however, kept in close -pursuit, and loudly called to their master to notify him of their -whereabouts. - -The boys and bears played at this exciting game of hide-and-seek for two -or three hours, but Balser had no opportunity for a good shot, and Tom -found no chance to use his deadly hatchet. - -When the bear showed a disposition to run away rather than to fight, -Limpy grew brave, and talked himself into a high state of heroism. - -It was an hour past noon and the boys were laboriously climbing a steep -ascent in pursuit of the bear and dogs, which they could distinctly see -a few yards ahead of them, at the top of a hill. The underbrush had -become thinner, although the shadow of the trees was deep and dark, and -Balser thought that at last the bear was his. He repeated over and over -to himself his father’s advice: “When you attack a bear, be slow and -deliberate. Do nothing in a hurry. Don’t shoot until you’re sure of your -aim.” - -He remembered vividly his hasty shot when he wounded the bear on Conn’s -Creek, and his narrow escape from death at that time had so impressed -upon him the soundness of his father’s advice, that he repeated it night -and morning with his prayers. - -When he saw the bear at the top of the hill, so close to him, he raised -his gun to his shoulder and held it there for a moment, awaiting a -chance for a sure shot. But disappointment, instead of the bear, was -his, for while he held his gun ready to fire, the bear suddenly -disappeared, as if the earth had opened and swallowed him. - -It all happened so quickly that even the dogs looked astonished. Surely, -this _was_ a demon bear. - -The boys hurried to the spot where they had last seen the animal, and, -although they carefully searched for the mouth of a cave, or burrow, -through which the bear might have escaped, they saw none, but found the -earth everywhere solid and firm. They extended their search for a -hundred feet or more about them, but still with the same result. They -could find no hole or opening into which the bear could possibly have -entered. His mysterious disappearance right before their eyes seemed -terribly uncanny. - -There was certainly something wrong with the one-eared bear. He had -sprung from the ground, just at their feet, where a moment before there -had been nothing; and now he had as mysteriously disappeared into the -solid earth, and had left no trace behind him. - -Balser and Tom stood for a moment in the greatest amazement, and all -they had heard about the evil spirit which inhabited the one-eared bear -quickly flashed through their minds. - -“We’d better let him go, Balser,” said Tom, “for we’ll never kill him, -that’s sure. He’s been leading us a wild-goose chase all the morning -only to get us up here to kill us. I never saw such an awful place for -darkness. The bushes and trees don’t seem natural. They all have thorns -and great knots on them, and their limbs and twigs look like huge bony -arms and fingers reaching out after us. I tell you this ain’t a natural -place, and that bear is an evil spirit, as sure as you live. Lordy! -let’s get out of here, for I never was so scared in my life.” - -Balser was also afraid, but Tom’s words had made him wish to appear -brave, and he said:— - -“Shucks! Limpy; I hope you ain’t afraid when you have your hatchet.” - -“For goodness’ sake, don’t joke in such a place as this, Balser,” said -Tom, with chattering teeth. “I’m not afraid of any natural bear when I -have my hatchet, but a bewitched bear is too much for me, and I’m not -ashamed to own it.” - -“How do you know he’s bewitched?” asked Balser, trying to talk himself -out of his own fears. - -“Bewitched? Didn’t he come right out of the ground just at our very -feet, and didn’t he sink into the solid earth right here before our -eyes? What more do you want, I’d like to know? Just you try to sink into -the ground and see if you can. Nobody can, unless he’s bewitched.” - -Balser felt in his heart that Tom told the truth, and, as even the dogs -seemed anxious to get away from the dark, mysterious place, they all -descended the hill on the side opposite to that by which they had -ascended. When they reached the bottom of the hill they unexpectedly -found that they were at the river’s edge, and after taking a drink they -turned their faces toward home. They thought of dinner, but their -appetite had been frightened away by the mysterious disappearance of the -bear, and they did not care to eat. So they fed the dogs and again -started homeward down the river. - -After a few minutes’ walking they came to a bluff several hundred feet -long, and perhaps fifty feet high, which at that time, the water being -low, was separated from the river by a narrow strip of rocky, muddy -ground. - -[Illustration: “’Let’s get out of here.’”] - -This strip of ground was overgrown with reeds and willows, and the bluff -was covered with vines and bushes which clung in green masses to its -steep sides and completely hid the rocks and earth. Tom was in front, -Balser came next, and the dogs, dead tired, were trailing along some -distance behind. Suddenly Tom threw up his hands and jumped frantically -backward, exclaiming in terrified tones:— - -“Oh, Lord! the one-eared bear again.” - -When Tom jumped backward his foot caught in a vine, and he fell -violently against Balser, throwing them both to the ground. In falling, -Tom dropped his hatchet, which he had snatched from his belt, and Balser -dropped his gun, the lock of which struck a stone and caused the charge -to explode. Thus the boys were on their backs and weaponless, while the -one-eared bear stood almost within arm’s length, growling in a voice -like distant thunder, and looking so horrid and fierce that he seemed a -very demon in a bear’s skin. - -Tom and Balser were so frightened that for a moment they could not move; -but the deep growls which terrified them also brought the dogs, who came -quickly to the rescue, barking furiously. - -The bear sprang upon the boys just as the dogs came up, and Balser -received the full force of a great flat horny paw upon his back, and was -almost stunned. The long sharp claws of the bear tore through the -buckskin jacket as if it were paper, and cut deep gashes in Balser’s -flesh. The pain seemed to revive him from the benumbing effect of the -stroke, and when the bears attention was attracted by the dogs, Balser -crawled out from beneath the monster and arose to his feet, wounded, -bloody, and dizzy. - -Tom also felt the force of the bear’s great paw, and was lying a few -feet from Balser, with his head in a tangle of vines and reeds. - -Balser, having escaped from under the bear, the brute turned upon Tom, -who was lying prostrate in the bushes. - -The dogs were still vigorously fighting the bear, and every second or -two a stroke from the powerful paw brought a sharp yelp of pain from -either Tige or Prince, and left its mark in deep, red gashes upon their -bodies. The pain, however, did not deter the faithful animals from their -efforts to rescue the boys; and while the bear was making for Tom it was -kept busy in defending itself from the dogs. - -In an instant the bear reached Tom, who would have been torn in pieces -at once, had not Balser quickly unsheathed his long hunting knife and -rushed into the fight. He sprang for the bear and landed on his back, -clinging to him with one arm about his neck, while with the other he -thrust his sharp hunting knife almost to the hilt into the brute’s side. - -This turned the attack from Tom, and brought it upon Balser, who soon -had his hands full again. - -The bear rose upon his hind feet, and before Balser could take a step in -retreat, caught him in his mighty arms for the purpose of hugging him to -death, which is a bear’s favourite method of doing battle. - -The hunting knife was still sticking in the rough black side of the -bear, where Balser had thrust it, and blood flowed from the wound in a -great stream. - -The dogs were biting at the bear’s hind legs, but so intent was the -infuriated monster upon killing Balser that he paid no attention to -them, but permitted them to work their pleasure upon him, while he was -having the satisfaction of squeezing the life out of the boy. - -In the meantime Tom recovered and rose to his feet. He at once realized -that Balser would be a dead boy if something were not done immediately. -Luckily, Tom saw his hatchet, lying a few feet away, and snatching it up -he attacked the bear, chopping away at his great back as if it were a -tree. - -At the third or fourth stroke from Tom’s hatchet, the bear loosened his -grip upon Balser and fell in a great black heap to the ground, growling -and clawing in all directions as if he were frantic with rage and pain. -He bit at the rocks and bushes, gnashed his teeth, and dug into the -ground with his claws. - -Balser, when released from the bear, fell in a half conscious condition, -close to the river’s edge. Tom ran to him, and, hardly knowing what he -did, dashed water in his face to remove the blood-stains and to wash the -wounds. The water soon revived Balser, who rose to his feet; and, Tom -helping his friend, the boys started to run, or rather to walk away as -fast as their wounds and bruises would permit, while the dogs continued -to bark and the bear to growl. - -As the boys were retreating, Tom, turned his head to see if the bear was -following, but as it was still lying on the ground, growling and biting -at the rocks and scratching the earth, he thought perhaps that the -danger was over, and that the bear was so badly wounded that he could -not rise, or he certainly would have been on his feet fighting Tige and -Prince, who gave him not one moment’s peace. Balser and Tom paused for -an instant, and were soon convinced that the bear was helpless. - -“I believe he can’t get up,” said Balser. - -“Of course he can’t,” answered Tom, pompously. “I cut his old backbone -in two with my hatchet. When he was hugging you I chopped away at him -hard enough to cut down a hickory sapling.” - -The boys limped back to the scene of conflict, and found that they were -right. The bear could not rise to his feet, but lay in a huge struggling -black heap on the ground. - -Balser then cautiously went over to where his gun lay, picked it up, and -ran back to Tom. He tried to load the gun, but his arms were so bruised -and torn that he could not; so he handed it to Tom, who loaded it with a -large bullet and a heavy charge of powder. - -Balser then called off the dogs, and Tom, as proud as the President of -the United States, held the gun within a yard of the bear’s head and -pulled the trigger. The great brute rolled over on his side, his mighty -limbs quivered, he uttered a last despairing growl which was piteous—for -it was almost a groan—and his fierce, turbulent spirit fled forever. -Balser then drew his hunting knife from the bear’s body, cut off the -remaining ear, and put it in the pocket of his buckskin coat. - -The boys were sorely wounded, and Balser said that the bear had squeezed -his “insides” out of place. This proved to be true to a certain extent, -for when he got home it was found that two of his ribs were broken. - -The young hunters were only too glad to start homeward, for they had -seen quite enough of the one-eared bear for one day. - -After walking in silence a short distance down the river, Balser said to -Tom:— - -“I’ll never again say anything bad about your hatchet. It saved my life -to-day, and was worth all the guns in the world in such a fight as we -have just gone through.” - -Tom laughed, but was kind-hearted enough not to say, “I told you so.” - -You may imagine the fright the boys gave their parents when they arrived -home wounded, limping, and blood-stained; but soon all was told, and -Balser and Tom were the heroes of the settlement. - -They had killed the most dangerous animal that had ever lived on Blue -River, and had conquered where old and experienced hunters had failed. - -The huge carcass of the bear was brought home that evening, and when the -skin was removed, his backbone was found to have been cut almost through -by Tom’s hatchet. - -When they cut the bear open somebody said he had two galls, and that -fact, it was claimed, accounted for his fierceness. - -Where the bear had sprung from when the boys first saw him in the -forest, or how he had managed to disappear into the ground at the top of -the hill was never satisfactorily explained. Some settlers insisted that -he had not been inhabited by an evil spirit, else the boys could not -have killed him, but others clung to the belief with even greater faith -and persistency. - -[Illustration: “Balser rushed into the fight.”] - -Liney went every day to see Balser, who was confined to his bed for a -fortnight. - -One day, while she was sitting by him, and no one else was in the room, -he asked her to hand him his buckskin jacket; the one he had worn on the -day of the bear fight. The jacket was almost in shreds from the -frightful claws of the bear, and tears came to the girl’s eyes as she -placed it on the bed. - -Balser put his hand into one of the deep pockets, and, drawing out the -bear’s ear, handed it to Liney, saying:— - -“I cut this off for you because I like you.” - -The girl took the bear’s ear, blushed a deep red, thanked him, and -murmured:— - -“And I will keep it, ugly as it is, because I—because—I—like you.” - - - - - CHAPTER V. - THE WOLF HUNT. - - -It was a bright day in August. The whispering rustle of the leaves as -they turned their white sides to the soft breath of the southwest wind, -the buzzing of the ostentatiously busy bees, the lapping of the river as -it gurgled happily along on its everlasting travels, the half-drowsy -note of a thrush, and the peevish cry of a catbird seemed only to -accentuate the Sabbath hush that was upon all nature. - -The day was very warm, but the deep shade of the elms in front of the -cabin afforded a delightful retreat, almost as cool as a cellar. - -Tom and Liney Fox had walked over to visit Balser and Jim; and Sukey -Yates, with her two brothers, had dropped in to stay a moment or two, -but finding such good company, had remained for the day. - -[Illustration] - -The children were seated at the top of the slope that descended to the -river, and the weather being too warm to play any game more vigorous -than “thumbs up,” they were occupying the time with drowsy yawns and -still more drowsy conversation, the burden of which was borne by Tom. - -Balser often said that he didn’t mind “talking parties,” if he could -only keep Tom Fox from telling the story of the time when he went to -Cincinnati with his father and saw a live elephant. But that could never -be done; and Tom had told it twice upon the afternoon in question, and -there is no knowing how often he would have inflicted it upon his small -audience, had it not been for an interruption which effectually disposed -of “Cincinnati” and the live elephant for that day. - -A bustling old hen with her brood of downy chicks was peevishly clucking -about, now and then lazily scratching the earth, and calling up her -ever-hungry family whenever she was lucky enough to find a delicious -worm or racy bug. - -[Illustration: “MISCHIEF! THEY NEVER THOUGHT OF ANYTHING ELSE.”] - -The cubs were stretched at full length in the bright blaze of the sun, -snoring away like a pair of grampuses, their black silky sides rising -and falling with every breath. They looked so pretty and so innocent -that you would have supposed a thought of mischief could never have -entered their heads. (Mischief! They never thought of anything else. -From morning until night, and from night until morning, they studied, -planned, and executed deeds of mischief that would have done credit to -the most freckle-faced boy in the settlement. Will you tell me why it is -that the boy most plentifully supplied with freckles and warts is the -most fruitful in schemes of mischief?) A flock of gray geese and snowy -ganders were floating on the placid surface of the river, opposite the -children, where a projection of the bank had caused the water to back, -making a little pool of listless eddies. - -[Illustration: “BALSER TURNED IN TIME TO SEE A GREAT, LANK, GRAY WOLF -EMERGE FROM THE WATER, CARRYING A GANDER BY THE NECK.”] - -Suddenly from among the noiseless flock of geese came a mighty squawking -and a sound of flapping wings, and the flock, half flying, half -swimming, came struggling at their utmost speed toward home. - -“Look, Balser! Look!” said Liney in a whisper. “A wolf!” - -Balser turned in time to see a great, lank, gray wolf emerge from the -water, carrying a gander by the neck. - -The bird could not squawk, but he flapped his wings violently, thereby -retarding somewhat the speed of Mr. Wolf. - -[Illustration] - -Balser hurried to the house for his gun, and with Tom Fox quickly -paddled across the river in pursuit of the wolf. The boys entered the -forest at the place the wolf had chosen. White feathers from the gander -furnished a distinct spoor, and Balser had no difficulty in keeping on -the wolf’s track. The boys had been walking rapidly for thirty or forty -minutes, when they found that the tracks left by the wolf and the -scattered feathers of the gander led toward a thick clump of pawpaw -bushes and vines, which grew at the foot of a small rocky hill. Into -this thicket the boys cautiously worked their way, and, after careful -examination, they found, ingeniously concealed by dense foliage, a small -hole or cleft in the rocks at the base of the hill, and they at once -knew that the wolf had gone to earth, and that this was his den. - -Foxes make for themselves and their families the snuggest, most -ingenious home in the ground you can possibly imagine. They seek a place -at the base of a hill or bluff, and dig what we would call in our houses -a narrow hallway, straight into the hill. They loosen the dirt with -their front feet, and throw it back of them; then with their hind feet -they keep pushing it farther toward the opening of the hole, until they -have cast it all out. When they have removed the loose dirt, they at -once scatter it over the ground and carefully cover it with leaves and -vines, to avoid attracting unwelcome visitors to their home. - -When the hallway is finished, the fox digs upward into the hill, and -there he makes his real home. His reason for doing this is to prevent -water from flowing through his hall into his living apartment. The -latter is often quite a cave in the earth, and furnishes as roomy and -cozy a home for Mr. and Mrs. Fox and their children as you could find in -the world. It is cool in summer and warm in winter. It is softly -carpeted with leaves, grass, and feathers, and the foxes lie there -snugly enough when the winter comes on, with its freezing and snowing -and blowing. - -When the fox gets hungry he slips out of his cozy home, and briskly -trots to some well-known chicken roost; or perhaps he finds a covey of -quails huddled under a bunch of straw. In either case he carries home -with him a dainty dinner, and after he has feasted, he cares not how the -wind blows, nor how the river freezes, nor how the snow falls, for he is -housed like a king, and is as warm and comfortable and happy as if he -owned the earth and lived in a palace. - -Wolves also make their dens in the earth, but they usually hunt for a -place where the hallway, at least, is already made for them. They seek a -hill with a rocky base, and find a cave partially made, the entrance to -which is a small opening between the rocks. With this for a -commencement, they dig out the interior and make their home, somewhat -upon the plan of the fox. - -The old wolf which Balser and Tom had chased to earth had found a fine -dinner for his youngsters, and while the boys were watching the hole, no -doubt the wolf family was having a glorious feast upon the gander. - -The boys, of course, were at their rope’s end. The dogs were not with -them, and, even had they been, they were too large to enter the hole -leading to the wolf’s den. So the boys seated themselves upon a rock a -short distance from the opening, and after a little time adopted the -following plan of action. - -Balser was to lie upon his breast on the hillside, a few yards above the -opening of the wolf den, while Tom was to conceal himself in the dense -foliage, close to the mouth of the cave, and they took their positions -accordingly. Both were entirely hidden by vines and bushes, and remained -silent as the tomb. They had agreed that they should lie entirely -motionless until the shadow of a certain tree should fall across Tom’s -face, which they thought would occur within an hour. Then Tom, who could -mimic the calls and cries of many birds and beasts, was to squawk like a -goose, and tempt the wolf from his den so that Balser could shoot him. - -It was a harder task than you may imagine to lie on the ground amid the -bushes and leaves; for it seemed, at least so Tom said, that all the -ants and bugs and worms in the woods had met at that particular place, -and at that exact time, for the sole purpose of “drilling” up and down, -and over and around, his body, and to bite him at every step. He dared -not move to frighten away the torments, nor to scratch. He could not -even grumble, which to Tom was the sorest trial of all. - -[Illustration: “BANG! WENT BALSER’S GUN, AND THE WOLF ... PAID FOR HIS -FEAST WITH HIS LIFE.”] - -The moment the shadow of the tree fell upon his face Tom squawked like a -goose, so naturally, that Balser could hardly believe it was Tom, and -not a real goose. Soon he uttered another squawk, and almost at the same -instant Mr. Wolf came out of his hall door, doubtless thinking to -himself that that was his lucky day, for he would have two ganders, one -for dinner and one for supper, and plenty of cold goose for breakfast -and dinner the next day. But he was mistaken, for it was the unluckiest -day of the poor wolf’s life. Bang! went Balser’s gun, and the wolf, who -had simply done his duty as a father, by providing a dinner for his -family, paid for his feast with his life. - -“We’ll drag the body a short distance away from the den,” said Balser, -“and you lie down again, and this time whine like a wolf. Then the old -she-wolf will come out and we’ll get her too.” - -Tom objected. - -“I wouldn’t lie there another hour and let them ants and bugs chaw over -me as they did, for all the wolves in the state.” - -“But just think, Tom,” answered Balser, “when the wagons go to -Brookville this fall we can get a shilling apiece for the wolfskins! -Think of it! A shilling! One for you and one for me. I’ll furnish the -powder and shot if you’ll squawk and whine. Squawks and whines don’t -cost anything, but powder and lead does. Now that’s a good fellow, just -lie down and whine a little. She’ll come out pretty quick.” - -Tom still refused, and Balser still insisted. Soon Balser grew angry and -called Tom a fool, Tom answered in kind, and in a moment the boys -clinched for a fight. They scuffled and fought awhile, and soon stumbled -over the dead wolf and fell to the ground. Balser was lucky enough to -fall on top, and proceeded to pound Tom at a great rate. - -“Now will you whine?” demanded Balser. - -“No,” answered Tom. - -“Then take that, and that, and that. Now will you whine?” - -“No,” cried Tom, determined not to yield. - -So Balser went at it again, but there was no give up to stubborn Tom, -even if he was on the under side. - -At last Balser wiped the perspiration from his face, and, sitting -astride of his stubborn foe, said:— - -“Tom, if you’ll whine I’ll lend you my gun for a whole day.” - -“And powder and bullets?” asked Tom. - -“Well, I guess not,” answered Balser. “I’ll lick you twenty times -first.” - -“If you’ll lend me your gun and give me ten full loads, I’ll whine till -I fetch every wolf in the woods, if the bugs do eat me up.” - -“That’s a go,” said Balser, glad enough to compromise with a boy who -didn’t know when he was whipped. - -Then they got up, and were as good friends as if no trouble had occurred -between them. - -Balser at once lay down upon the hillside above the wolf den, and Tom -took his place to whine. - -The boys understood their job thoroughly, and Tom’s whines soon brought -out the old she-wolf. She looked cautiously about her for a moment, -stole softly over to her dead mate, and dropped by his side with a -bullet through her heart. - -Tom was about to rise, but Balser said:— - -“Whine again; whine again, and the young ones will come out.” - -Tom whined, and sure enough, out came two scrawny, long-legged wolf -whelps. - -The boys rushed upon them, and caught them by the back of the neck, to -avoid being bitten, for the little teeth of the pups were as sharp as -needles and could inflict an ugly wound. Balser handed the whelp he had -caught to Tom, and proceeded to cut two forked sticks from a tough bush, -which the children called “Indian arrow.” These forked branches the boys -tied about the necks of the pups, with which to lead them home. - -[Illustration: “CAUGHT THEM BY THE BACK OF THE NECK.”] - -Tom then cut a strong limb from a tree with his pocket-knife. This was -quite an undertaking, but in time he cut it through, and trimmed off the -smaller branches. The boys tied together the legs of the old wolves and -swung them over the pole, which they took upon their shoulders, and -started home leading the pups. They arrived home an hour or two before -sunset, and found that Liney and Sukey had arranged supper under the -elms. - -The boys scoured their faces and hands with soft soap, for that was the -only soap they had, and sat down to supper with cheeks shining, and hair -pasted to their heads slick and tight. - -“When a fellow gets washed up this way, and has his hair combed so -slick, it makes him feel like it was Sunday,” said Tom, who was uneasily -clean. - -“Tom, I wouldn’t let people know how seldom I washed my face if I were -you,” said Liney, with a slight blush. “They’ll think you clean up only -on Sunday.” - -Tom, however, did not allow Liney’s remarks to interrupt his supper, but -continued to make sad havoc among the good things on the log. - -There was white bread made from wheat flour, so snowy and light that it -beat cake “all holler!” the boys “allowed.” Wheat bread was a luxury to -the settler folks in those days, for the mill nearest to the Blue River -settlement was over on Whitewater, at Brookville, fifty miles away. -Wheat and the skins of wild animals were the only products that the -farmers could easily turn into cash, so the small crops were too -precious to be used daily, and wheat flour bread was used only for -special occasions, such as Christmas, or New Year’s, or company dinner. - -Usually three or four of the farmers joined in a little caravan, and -went in their wagons to Brookville twice a year. They would go in the -spring with the hides of animals killed during the winter, that being -the hunting season, and the hides then taken being of superior quality -to those taken at any other time. - -[Illustration: “THE BOYS TIED TOGETHER THE LEGS OF THE OLD WOLVES AND -SWUNG THEM OVER THE POLE ... AND STARTED HOME LEADING THE PUPS.”] - -Early in the fall they would go again to Brookville, to market their -summer crop of wheat. - -Mr. Fox and a few neighbours had returned from an early trip to market -only a day or two before the children’s party at Balser’s home, and had -brought with them a few packages of a fine new drink called coffee. That -is, it was new to the Western settler, at the time of which I write, -milk sweetened with “tree sugar” being the usual table drink. - -Liney had brought over a small gourdful of coffee as a present to Mrs. -Brent, and a pot of the brown beverage had been prepared for the supper -under the elms. - -The Yates children and Tom were frank enough to admit that the coffee -was bitter, and not fit to drink; but Liney had made it, and Balser -drank it, declaring it was very good indeed. Liney knew he told a story, -but she thanked him for it, nevertheless, and said that the Yates -children and Tom were so thoroughly “country” and green that she -couldn’t expect them to like a civilized drink. - -This would have made trouble with Tom, but Balser, who saw it coming, -said:— - -“Now you shut up, Tom Fox.” And Balser had so recently whipped Tom that -his word bore the weight of authority. - -Besides the coffee and the white bread there was a great gourd full of -milk with the cream mixed in, just from the springhouse, delicious and -cold. There was a cold loin of venison, which had been spitted and -roasted over a bed of hot coals in the kitchen fireplace that morning. -There was a gourd full of quail eggs, which had been boiled hard and -then cooled in the springhouse. There were heaping plates of fried -chicken, and rolls of glorious yellow butter just from the churn, rich -with the genuine butter taste, that makes one long to eat it by the -spoonful; then there was a delicious apple pie, sweet and crusty, -floating in cream almost as thick as molasses in winter. - -They were backwoods, homely children; but the supper to which they sat -down under the elms was fit for a king, and the appetite with which they -ate it was too good for any king. - -During the supper the bear cubs had been nosing about the log table, -begging each one by turns for a bite to eat. They were so troublesome -that Jim got a long stick, and whenever they came within reach he gave -them a sharp rap upon the head, and soon they waddled away in a pet of -indignant disgust. - -For quite a while after Jim had driven them off there had been a season -of suspicious quietude on the part of the cubs. - -Suddenly a chorus of yelps, howls, growls, and whines came from the -direction of the wolf pups. The attention of all at the table was, of -course, at once attracted by the noise, and those who looked beheld -probably the most comical battle ever fought. Tom and Jerry, with their -everlasting desire to have their noses into everything that did not -concern them, had gone to investigate the wolf pups, and in the course -of the investigation a fight ensued, whereby the wolves were liberated. -The cubs were the stronger, but the wolves were more active, thus the -battle was quite even. The bears, being awkward, of course, were in each -other’s way most of the time, and would fall over themselves and roll -upon the ground for a second or two, before they could again get upon -their clumsy feet. The consequence was that the wolves soon had the best -of the fight, and, being once free from the cubs, scampered off to the -woods and were never seen again. - -When the wolves had gone the cubs turned round and round, looking for -their late antagonists; but, failing to find them, sat down upon their -haunches, grinned at each other in a very silly manner, and then began -to growl and grumble in the worst bear language any one had ever heard. - -Balser scolded the cubs roundly, and told them he had taught them better -than to swear, even in bear talk. He then switched them for having -liberated the wolves, and went back to supper. - -The switching quieted the bears for a short time, but soon their spirit -of mischief again asserted itself. - -After another period of suspicious silence on the part of the cubs, Jim -put a general inquiry to the company:— - -“What do you s’pose they’re up to this time?” - -“Goodness only knows,” responded Balser. “But if I hear another grunt -out of them, I’ll take a stick to them that’ll hurt, and off they’ll go -to their pen for the night.” - -The settlers frequently caught swarms of bees in the woods, and Balser’s -father had several hives near the house. These hives were called “gums,” -because they were made from sections of a hollow gum tree, that being -the best wood for the home of the bees. These hollow gums were placed on -end upon small slanting platforms, and were covered with clapboards, -which were held tightly in their places by heavy stones. There was a -small hole, perhaps as large as the end of your finger, cut in the wood -at the base, through which the bees entered, and upon the inside of the -hive they constructed their comb and stored their honey. - -I told you once before how bears delight to eat fish and blackberries. -They are also very fond of honey. In fact, bears seem to have a general -appetite and enjoy everything, from boys to blackberries. - -Hardly had Balser spoken his threat when another duet of howls and yelps -reached his ears. - -“Now what on earth is it?” he asked, and immediately started around the -house in the direction whence the howls had come. - -“Geminy! I believe they’ve upset the bee-gum,” said Jim. - -“Don’t you know they have?” asked Balser. By that time the boys were in -sight of the bears. - -[Illustration: “THESE HIVES WERE CALLED ‘GUMS.’”] - -“Well, I know now they have, if that suits you any better. Golly! Look -at them paw and scratch, and rub their eyes when the bees sting. Good -enough for you. Give it to ‘em, bees!” And Jim threw back his head and -almost split his sides with laughter. - -Sure enough, the bears had got to nosing about the bee-gums, and in -their ever hungry greediness had upset one. This, of course, made the -bees very angry, and they attacked the cubs in a buzzing, stinging swarm -that set them yelping, growling, and snapping, in a most desperate and -comical manner. All their snapping and growling, however, did no good, -for the bees continued to buzz and sting without any indication of being -merciful. A little of this sort of thing went a long way with the black -mischief-makers, and they soon ran to Balser and Jim for help. The bees, -of course, followed, and when the boys and girls saw the bees coming -toward them they broke helter-skelter in all directions, and ran as fast -as they could go. The bears then ran to the river, and plunged in to -escape their tormentors. - -When the gum had been placed in position again and the bees had become -quiet, the cubs, thinking the field clear, came out of the water -dripping wet. Then they waddled up close to the girls, and out of pure -mischief shook themselves and sprinkled the dainty clean frocks with a -shower from their frowzy hides. - -That sealed the fate of the cubs for the day, and when Balser marched -them off to their pen they looked so meek and innocent that one would -have thought that they had been attending bear Sunday-school all their -lives, and were entirely lacking in all unwarrantable and facetious -instincts. - -They went to bed supperless that evening, but had their revenge, for -their yelps and whines kept the whole family awake most of the night. - -By the time the bears had been put to bed, darkness was near at hand, so -the supper dishes and gourds were washed and carried to the kitchen. -Then the visitors said good night and left for home. - -[Illustration] - - - - - CHAPTER VI. - BORROWED FIRE. - - -One day Tom Fox was told by his mother to kindle the fire, which had -been allowed to grow so dim that only a smouldering bed of embers was -left upon the hearth. Hanging from the crane was a large kettle, almost -full of water. Now, in addition to his reputation for freckles, Tom was -also believed to be the awkwardest boy in the Blue River settlement. -Upon the day above referred to, he did all in his power to live up to -his reputation, by upsetting the kettle of water upon the fire, thereby -extinguishing the last spark of that necessary element in the Fox -household. - -Of course there was not a lucifer match on all Blue River, from its -source to its mouth; and as Mr. Fox had taken the tinder-box with him on -a hunting expedition, and would not return till night, Limpy received a -sound thrashing, and was sent to the house loft, there to ponder for the -rest of the day over his misdeeds. - -Mrs. Fox then sent Liney over to Mrs. Brent’s to borrow fire. Limpy -would have been glad to go, had his mother seen fit to send him, but the -task would have been a reward rather than a punishment. Liney was -delighted to have an opportunity to visit the Brent cabin, so away she -went, very willingly indeed. Before the day was finished she was doubly -glad she had gone, and the help she was able to give to a friend in need -made her devoutly thankful to the kind fate which, operating through -Mrs. Fox, had sent her on her errand. The terrible adventure, which -befell her, and the frightful—but I am telling my story before I come to -it. - -When Balser was a boy, each season brought its separate work and -recreation on the farm, as it does now. But especially was this true in -the time of the early settlers. - -The winter was the hunting season. The occupation of hunting, which was -looked upon as sport and recreation combined, was also a business with -the men who cleared the land and felled the forests of Indiana; for a -wagon-load of good pelts, taken during the winter season when the fur is -at its best, was no inconsiderable matter, and brought at market more -money than the same wagon filled with wheat would have been worth. So -the settler of Balser’s time worked quite as hard in the winter with his -rifle, as he did with his hoe and plough in the fields during the months -of summer. - -Spring, of course, was the time for breaking up and ploughing. Summer -was the wheat harvest. Then, also, the various kinds of wild berries -were gathered, and dried or preserved. In the summer casks of rich -blackberry wine were made, to warm the cold hunter upon his return from -the chase during the cold days to come, or to regale company upon long -winter evenings before the blazing fire. Blackberries could be had by -the bushel for the mere gathering, and the wine could be made so cheaply -that almost every house was well stocked with the delicious beverage. - -Then came the corn gathering, and bringing in the fodder. The latter was -brought in by wagon-loads, and was stacked against the sides of the barn -and of the cow shed. It answered a double purpose: it made the barn and -sheds warm and cozy homes for the stock during the cold bleak winter, -and furnished food for the cattle and the horses, so that by spring they -had eaten part of their houses. The wheat straw was stacked in the -barnyard; and into this the sheep and calves burrowed little caves, -wherein they would lie so snug and warm that it made no difference to -them how much the wind blew, or the snow and rain fell, or how hard it -froze outside; for the bad weather made their cozy shelter seem all the -more comfortable by contrast. - -The fall also had its duties, part task, and part play. The woods -abounded in hickory nuts, walnuts, and hazelnuts, and a supply of all -these had to be gathered, for they furnished no small part of the winter -food. Preparation was always made for this work by the boys of Mr. -Brent’s family long before a hickory nut had thought of falling. Shortly -after the wolf hunt which I described to you in the last chapter, Balser -and Jim began to make ready for the nut campaign. Their first task was -to build a small wagon, for the purpose of carrying home the nuts. They -found a tree twelve or fourteen inches in diameter, which they felled. -They then sawed off four round sections of the tree, each about one inch -thick, to serve as wheels. From the outer edge of these wheels they -removed the bark, and bound them with tires made from the iron hoops of -a barrel. They then cut round holes in the centre in which to insert the -axles of the wagon. With their hatchets they split clapboards, which -they made smooth, and of the clapboards they made the bottom, sides, and -ends. The boys worked pretty hard for ten or twelve days, and completed -as perfect a two-horse wagon, in miniature, as any one ever beheld. -There were the tongue, the axletree, the sideboard, the headboard, and -the tail-gate and floor, all fitted so tightly together that you would -have declared a wagon maker had made them. The wheels, bound with -barrel-hoop tires, were marvels of their kind. The wagon bed would hold -as much as could be contained in two large flour sacks, and when filled -with nuts would prove quite a load to draw, consequently the boys must -have a team of some sort. The team which they eventually rigged up was -probably the most absurd and curious combination that ever drew a load. - -The boys selected strong pieces of deer-hide, and made four sets of -harness. For what purpose, do you suppose? You never could guess. Two -for the dogs, Tige and Prince, and two for the bear cubs, Tom and Jerry, -who they proposed should do something to earn their bread and milk, for -they were growing to be great awkward, big-footed, long-legged fellows, -and were very strong. - -So the four sets of harness were finished, and one day the odd team was -hitched up for trial. The little wagon was loaded with rocks, and the -boys tried to start the team. The dogs seemed willing enough to obey, -but the cubs, which were hitched in front, went every way but the right -one, and showed a disposition to rebel against the indignity of work. - -The bears were then taken from the lead, the dogs were put in their -places, and the bears were put next to the wagon. The team was started -again, but the cubs lay down flat upon the ground and refused to move. -After trying in vain to induce the cubs to do their duty, Balser spoke -to Jim, who was standing at the dogs’ heads, and Jim started forward, -leading the dogs, and Jim and the dogs dragged after them the cubs and -the wagon. At almost every step the heavily loaded wagon would roll upon -the hind feet of the cubs, and Balser threw thorns upon the ground, -which pricked the bears as they were dragged along, until the black -sluggards came to the conclusion that it was easier to work than to be -dragged over thorns; so they arose to their feet, and followed the dogs, -without, however, drawing an ounce of the load. - -[Illustration: The cubs went every way but the right way.] - -The boys kept patiently at this sort of training for three weeks; and at -the end of that time, between bribes in the way of milk and honey, and -beatings with a thick stick, the cubs little by little submitted to -their task, and eventually proved to be real little oxen at drawing a -load. The dogs, of course, had been broken in easily. - -By the time the cubs were ready for work, the hickory nuts, walnuts, and -hazelnuts were ready to be gathered; and the boys only waited for a -heavy black frost to loosen the nuts from their shells, and a strong -wind to shake them from the branches. - -During the summer of which I told you in the preceding chapters, Mr. -Brent had raised the roof of his house, so as to make a room in the loft -for the boys. This room was floored with rough boards, between which -large cracks were left, so that heat from the room below might arise and -warm the boys’ room. The upper room was reached by the most primitive of -stairways. It was nothing more than a small log, or thick pole, with -notches cut on each side for footholds, or steps. In going up this -stairway the boys climbed hand over hand, and foot over foot, as a bear -climbs a tree; and to come down without falling was a task of no small -proportions to one inexperienced in the art. - -One morning Jim awakened, and looked out from under the warm bearskin -which served for a blanket, comforter, and sheet. He listened for a -moment to the wind, which was blowing a gale, and then awakened Balser. - -“Balser! Balser!” said Jim. “Wake up! There’s frost enough to freeze a -brass monkey, and the wind is blowing hard enough to blow down the -trees, to say nothing of the nuts. Let’s get up and have an early -start.” Balser was willing, and soon the boys had climbed out from under -the warm bearskin, and were downstairs preparing to kindle the fires. - -The fire-kindling was no hard task; for the backlog which had been put -in the fireplace the evening before was a great roll of red coals, and -all that the boys had to do to kindle the fire was to “poke” the -backlog, and it fell in chunks of half-charred, burning hickory, that -hissed and popped and flamed, and made the room warm before you could -say “Jack Robinson.” Then the boys threw on a large armful of cut wood, -and soon the blaze was crackling cozily, and the kettle singing merrily -on the flames. - -The morning was cold, and the boys sat upon the great hearth, with their -palms to the fire, getting “good and warm for the day,” while the gray, -frosty dawn was slowly frightening the shadows of night away from the -forest, to which they seemed to cling. - -Then came the mother, who made the breakfast of sweet fried venison, -buckwheat-cakes floating in maple syrup and butter, hoe-cake, and eggs. -Instead of coffee they drank warm milk, sweetened with maple sugar, and -I can tell you it was a breakfast to wax fat on. - -The sun was hardly above the horizon, when breakfast was finished, and -the dogs and cubs were fed. Then they were harnessed to the wagon, and -boys, bears, dogs, and wagon, all started on their way to the woods. -Hickory trees did not grow plentifully in the bottom-lands, so the boys -made for the hills, perhaps a mile away. - -Shortly after they had reached the hills, Jim cried out:— - -“Oh, here’s a great big shellbark! I’ll bet the ground’s covered with -nuts.” - -Sure enough, the ground was covered with them, and the boys filled their -wagon in a very short time. Then they started home. The trip home was -marred by an upset, owing to the perversity of the cubs; but the boys -righted the wagon, loaded it with nuts again, and after considerable -trouble deposited them safely at home, and went back for another load. - -The dog-bear team worked admirably, barring a general tendency to run -over logs and stones, and two great loads of hickory nuts were safely -brought to the house before dinner. - -After the boys, bears, and dogs had eaten a hurried meal, they again -went forth in quest of nuts; but they took a different course this time, -toward the south—that is, in the direction of the house of Mr. Fox—for -the purpose of visiting a hazel thicket, which was a mile from home. -Soon the hazel patch was reached, and about five o’clock the wagon was -full of beautiful, brown little nuts, than which there is none sweeter. - -When the wagon was loaded the boys hitched up the team, much to the -delight of the latter, for by that time the dogs and cubs had come to -think it great sport, and the caravan moved homeward. - -Soon after leaving the hazel patch, the boys entered a dark strip of -woods and undergrowth, through which it was very hard work to draw the -wagon. So they attached a long piece of tanned deerskin to the tongue of -the wagon, and gave the team a helping hand. - -There was but one path through this dark strip of forest over which the -wagon could be drawn, and it led through a low piece of ground that was -wet and marshy. Upon the soft earth of the path Balser soon noticed the -long, broad tracks of a bear, and the dogs at once began to bark and -plunge in their harness. The tracks appeared to Balser to be an hour -old, so he quieted the dogs, but did not release them from the wagon as -he should have done. The boys went forward, regardless of the warning -bear tracks, and the dogs and bears, drawing the wagon, followed closely -at their heels. As they proceeded the bear tracks became fresher, and -Balser began to grow somewhat fearful. Jim had become frightened, and -had taken a position at the rear of the wagon to give a helping hand by -pushing at the load. He said he could push better than he could pull -anyway. - -After the little party had got well into the darkest part of the forest, -the dogs began to show such evident signs of uneasiness that Balser -grasped his gun, and held it in readiness, prepared for a fight, should -one become necessary. - -The ground had been frozen earlier in the day, but it had thawed, and -the path was slippery. Balser, who was walking a short distance ahead of -the train, as a sort of advance guard, suddenly stopped and held up his -hand warningly to Jim; for right ahead of him in the path stood a huge -bear, with its head turned backward, looking inquiringly in the -direction of the boys, Jim at once stopped the team. The dogs, of -course, were dancing with impatience to be released from the harness, -and even the dull-witted bears seemed to realize that something was -wrong. - -“It’s running away,” said Balser. “It’s not safe to shoot at it from -behind. I might wound it, and then we should be the ones to run. What -shall we do?” - -“Let it run,” answered Jim, quickly. “I don’t like to run with a bear -after me, anyway. If you’re going to shoot, I’ll run now so as to get a -good start.” - -“No, you don’t! You stand right where you are, and take care of the -team. If you move a foot, I’ll lick you,” answered Balser, as he moved -cautiously ahead in the direction of the retreating bear. - -Jim was frozen by fear to the spot upon which he stood, as Balser walked -out of sight. In a moment he again heard Balser speak, and then he heard -a loud, deep growl. - -The dogs barked and plunged; the cubs whined and gave forth savage -little baby-bear growls, half whines, for they were only learning to -growl. Jim began to weep and to scream. Balser, who had disappeared from -sight around a curve in the path, cried out:— - -“Let the dogs loose, for goodness’ sake, Jim! It’s after me.” - -The dogs seemed to understand Balser’s cry better than Jim did; for they -barked and plunged more violently than ever in their harness. Jim seemed -dazed, and could not, or at least did not, unharness the dogs. Then it -was that the good dog sense of old Prince showed itself. Instead of -waiting for help from Jim, who he saw had lost his wits, the good dog -began to gnaw at the leather harness which held him and Tige to the -wagon, and in a short time the dogs were freed from the wagon, though -still tied to each other. - -Tige caught inspiration from Prince, and the dogs backed away from each -other and pulled with all their strength, until the harness slipped over -the head of Prince and left the dogs free. Then Prince plunged rapidly -into the thicket to the rescue of his master, followed closely by Tige, -dragging the broken harness. - -“Help! help!” cried Balser. “Why don’t you send the dogs?” And his voice -seemed to be going farther and farther away. - -“Where are you?” cried Jim, in despair. His terror was so strong upon -him that he could not move, and could not have helped Balser, had he -been able to go to him. Jim was a little fellow, you must remember. - -“Help! help!” cried Balser again, his voice sounding from a still -greater distance. “I’ve wounded it, and it’s about to kill me. Help! -help!” but the cries came fainter and fainter. - -Jim stood his ground and screamed manfully. Soon after Balser had left -Jim and the wagon, the bear turned toward its pursuer and presented to -Balser its broadside. This gave the boy a good chance for a shot. For -the moment, Balser forgot his father’s admonition to be deliberate and -to act slowly, and his forgetfulness almost cost him his life. Balser -shot, and wounded the bear in the neck, but did not kill it. Then it -turned, and Balser, fearing to run back upon the path lest he should -bring the bear upon Jim, started into the thicket, toward the river, -with the bear in hot pursuit. Balser gained rapidly upon the bear at -first, but he knew that his advantage could not last, for the bear was -sure to catch him soon. What should he do? He hastily went over in his -mind the possibilities in the case, and soon determined to put forth his -utmost speed to gain as much upon the bear as possible, and then to -climb the first tree, of the proper size, to which he should come. With -this intent he flung his carbine over his back, by a strap attached to -the gun for that purpose, and ran for dear life. - -Soon the boy reached a small beech tree, the branches of which were ten -or twelve feet from the ground. Up this tree he climbed with the agility -of a squirrel. He afterward said:— - -“I was so badly scared that it seemed as if my hands and feet had claws -like a wildcat.” - -The bear had followed so closely upon his track, that, just as the boy -was about to draw himself up among the branches of the tree, the bear -rose upon its hind legs and caught the boy’s toes between his teeth. -Balser screamed with pain, and tried to draw his foot away; but the -harder he pulled the harder pulled the bear, and the pain was so great -that he thought he could not stand it. While he clung to the limb with -one hand, he reached toward the bear with the other, and caught it by -the nose. He twisted the bear’s nose until the brute let loose of his -foot. Then he quickly drew himself into the tree, and seated himself -none too soon astride of a limb. - -[Illustration: “The bear rose to climb after the boy.”] - -When Balser had fixed himself firmly on the limb he proceeded at once to -load his gun. This was no slight matter under the circumstances; for, -aside from the fact that his position in the tree was an uneasy one, the -branches were in his way when he began to use his ramrod. Balser had -hardly poured the powder into his gun, when the bear again rose on its -hind legs, and put its front paws upon the body of the tree, with -evident intent to climb after the boy who had wounded it and had so -insultingly twisted its nose. Bears like to scratch the bark of trees, -and seem to take the same pride in placing their marks high upon the -tree-trunks that a young man does in making a long jump or a good shot. -Vanity, in this case, proved to be the bear’s undoing, as it has often -been with men and boys. When it was reaching upward to make a high -scratch, that it thought would be the envy of every bear that would see -it, it should have been climbing; for while it was scratching Balser was -loading. Not hurriedly, as he had shot, but slowly and deliberately, -counting one, two, three with every movement; for when he had shot so -hurriedly a few minutes before and had only wounded the bear, he had -again learned the great lesson to make haste slowly. The lesson was to -be impressed upon Balser’s mind more firmly than ever before he was -through with the wounded bear; for to the day of his death he never -forgot the events which befell him after he came down from the tree. -Although Balser was deliberate, he had no time to waste, for soon the -bear began climbing the tree, aided by a few small branches upon the -lower part of the trunk, which had given help to Balser. Up the bear -went, slowly and surely. Its great red tongue hung out at one side of -its mouth, and its black, woolly coat was red and gory with blood from -the wound that Balser had inflicted upon its huge neck. Its sharp little -eyes were fixed upon Balser, and seemed to blaze with fury and rage, and -its long bright teeth gleamed as its lips were drawn back in anger when -it growled. Still the bear climbed, and still Balser was loading his -gun. Would he have it loaded before the bear reached him? Now the powder -was all in—a double charge. Now the first patch was in, and Balser was -trying to ram it home. The branches of the trees were in his way, and -the ramrod would not go into the gun. Inanimate things are often -stubborn just when docility is most needed. Ah! At last the ramrod is -in, and the first patch goes home, hard and fast upon the powder. On -comes the bear, paw over paw, foot over foot, taking its time with -painful deliberation, and, bearlike, carefully choosing its way; for it -thinks full sure the boy cannot escape. Hurriedly Balser reaches into -his pouch for a bullet. He finds one and puts it to the muzzle of his -gun. Ah! worse luck! The bullet will not go in. It is too large. Balser -feels with his finger a little ridge extending around the bullet, left -there because he had not held the bullet moulds tightly together when he -had cast the bullet. The boy impatiently throws the worthless bullet at -the bear and puts his hand into the pouch for another. This time the -bullet goes in, and the ramrod drives it home. Still there is the last -patch to drive down,—the one which holds the bullet,—and still the bear -climbs toward its intended victim. Its growls seem to shake the tree and -its eyes look like burning embers. The patches and the bullets Balser -kept in the same pouch, so, when the bullet has been driven home, the -boy’s hand again goes into the pouch for the last patch. He can find -nothing but bullets. Down goes his hand to each corner of the pouch in -search of a patch; but alas! the patch, like a false friend, is wanting -when most needed. On comes the bear. Not a moment is to be lost. A patch -must be found; so the boy snatches off his cap of squirrel skin, and -with his teeth bites out a piece of the skin which will answer his -purpose. Then he dashes the mutilated cap in the bear’s face, only a -foot or two below him. Quickly is the squirrel-skin patch driven home, -but none too quickly, for the bear is at Balser’s feet, reaching for him -with his great, rough, horny paw, as a cat reaches for a mouse. Balser -quickly lifts himself to the limb above him, and hurriedly turning the -muzzle of his gun right into the great red mouth, pulls the trigger. -Bang! And the bear falls to the ground, where it lies apparently dead. -It was only apparently dead, though, as you will presently see. Balser -breathed a sigh of relief as the bear fell backward, for he was sure -that he had killed it. No bear, thought he, could survive a bullet -driven by the heavy charge of powder behind the one which had sped so -truly into the bear’s mouth. Again Balser failed to make haste slowly. -He should have remained in his secure position until he was sure that -the bear was really dead; for a badly wounded bear, although at the -point of death, is more dangerous than one without a scar. Without -looking at the bear Balser called Jim to come to him, and began climbing -down the tree, with his carbine slung over his shoulder, and his back to -the bear. All this happened in a very short space of time. In fact, the -time during which Balser was loading his gun, and while the bear was -climbing the tree, was the same time in which the dogs were freeing -themselves from the wagon; and Balser’s second shot was heard by Jim -just as the dogs went bounding off to Balser’s relief. When the boy -jumped to the ground, lo! the bear was alive again, and was on its feet, -more ferocious than ever, and more eager for fight. Like our American -soldiers, the bear did not know when it was whipped. - -At the time the dogs bounded away from Jim, there came down the path -toward him a young girl. Who do you think it was? Liney Fox. She was -carrying in her hand a lighted torch, and was swinging it gently from -side to side that she might keep it ablaze. This was the fire which -Liney had been sent to borrow. She had heard Balser’s cry and had heard -both the shots that Balser had fired. She ran quickly to Jim, and with -some difficulty drew from him an explanation of the situation. Then, as -the dogs bounded away, she followed them, feeling sure that their -instinct would lead them to Balser. The girl’s strength seemed to be -increased a thousand fold, and she ran after the dogs in the hope that -she might help the boy who had saved her life upon the night when she -was lost in the forest. How could she help him? She did not know; but -she would at least go to him and do her best. - -Just as Balser reached the ground, the bear raised itself upon its hind -feet and struck at the boy, but missed him. Then Balser ran to the side -of the tree opposite the bear, and bear and boy for a few moments played -at a desperate game of hide-and-seek around the tree. It seemed a very -long time to Balser. He soon learned that the bear could easily beat him -at the game, and in desperation he started to run toward the river, -perhaps two hundred yards away. He cried for help as he ran, and at that -moment the dogs came up, and Liney followed in frantic, eager haste -after them. Balser had thrown away his gun, and was leading the bear in -the race perhaps six or eight feet. Close upon the heels of the bear -were the dogs, and closer than you would think upon the heels of the -dogs came Liney. Her bonnet had fallen back and her hair was flying -behind her, and the torch was all ablaze by reason of its rapid movement -through the air. - -At the point upon the river’s bank toward which Balser ran was a little -stone cliff, almost perpendicular, the top of which was eight or ten -feet from the water. Balser had made up his mind that if he could reach -this cliff he would jump into the river, and perhaps save himself in -that manner. Just as the boy reached the edge of the cliff Liney -unfortunately called out “Balser!” - -Her voice stopped him for a moment, and he looked back toward her. In -that moment the bear overtook him and felled him to the ground with a -stroke of its paw. Balser felt benumbed and was almost senseless. -Instantly the bear was standing over him, and the boy was blinded by the -stream of blood which flowed into his eyes and over his face from the -wound in the bear’s great mouth. He felt the bear shake him, as a cat -shakes a mouse, and then for a moment the sun seemed to go out, and all -was dark. He could see nothing. He heard the dogs bark, as they clung to -the bear’s ears and neck close to his face, and he heard Liney scream; -but it all seemed like a far-away dream. Then he felt something burn his -face, and sparks and hot ashes fell upon his skin and blistered him. He -could not see what was happening, but the pain of the burns seemed to -revive him, and he was conscious that he was relieved from the terrible -weight of the bear upon his breast. This is what happened: after Balser -had fallen, the dogs had held the bear’s attention for a brief moment or -two, and had given Liney time to reach the scene of conflict. The bear -had caught Balser’s leather coat between its jaws, and was shaking him -just as Liney came up. It is said that the shake which a cat gives a -mouse produces unconsciousness; and so it is true that the shake which -the larger animals give to their prey before killing it has a benumbing -effect, such as Balser felt. When Liney reached Balser and the bear, she -had no weapon but her torch, but with true feminine intuition she did, -without stopping to think, the only thing she could do, and for that -matter the best thing that any one could have done. She thrust the -burning torch into the bear’s face and held it there, despite its rage -and growls. Then it was that Balser felt the heat and sparks, and then -it was that the bear, blinded by the fire, left Balser. The bear was -frantic with pain, and began to rub its eyes and face with its paws, -just as a man would do under the same circumstances. It staggered about -in rage and blindness, making the forest echo with its frightful growls, -until it was upon the edge of the little precipice of which I have -spoken. Then Liney struck it again with her burning torch, and gave it a -push, which, although her strength was slight, sent the bear rolling -over the cliff into the river. After that she ran back to Balser, who -was still lying upon the ground, covered with blood. She thought he was -terribly wounded, so she tore off her muslin petticoat, and wiped the -blood from Balser’s face and hands. Her joy was great when she learned -that it was the bear’s blood and not Balser’s that she saw. The boy soon -rose to his feet, dazed and half blinded. - -[Illustration: “Liney thrust the burning torch into the bear’s face and -held it there despite its rage and growls.”] - -“Where’s the bear?” he asked. - -“We pushed him into the river,” said Jim, who had come in at the last -moment. - -“Yes, ‘we pushed him in,’” said Balser, in derision. “Liney, did you—” - -“Yes,” answered Liney. “I don’t know how I did it; but after I had put -my torch in the bear’s face, when he was over you, I—I pushed him into -the river.” And she cast down her sweet, modest eyes, as if ashamed of -what she had done. - -“Liney, Liney—” began Balser; but his voice was choked by a great lump -of sobs in his throat. “Liney, Liney—” he began again; but his gratitude -was so great he could not speak. He tried again, and the tears came in a -flood. - -“Cry-baby!” said Jim. - -“Jim, you’re a little fool,” said Liney, turning upon the youngster with -a blaze of anger in her eyes. - -“Jim’s right,” sobbed Balser. “I—I am a c-c-cry-baby.” - -“No, no! Balser,” said Liney, soothingly, as she took his hand. “I know. -I understand without you telling me.” - -“Yes,” sobbed Balser, “I—I—c-c-cry—because—I—thank you so much.” - -“Don’t say that, Balser,” answered Liney. “Think of the night in the -forest, and think of what you did for me.” - -“Oh! But I’m a boy.” - -Balser was badly bruised, but was not wounded, except in the foot where -the bear had caught him as he climbed the tree. That wound, however, was -slight, and would heal quickly. The cubs had broken away from the loaded -wagon, and Jim, Liney, Balser, dogs, and cubs all marched back to Mr. -Brent’s in a slow and silent procession, leaving the load of nuts upon -the path, and the bear dead upon a ripple in the river. - - - - - CHAPTER VII. - THE FIRE BEAR. - - -One evening in December, a few weeks after Liney had saved Balser’s life -by means of the borrowed fire, Balser’s father and mother and Mr. and -Mrs. Fox, went to Marion, a town of two houses and a church, three miles -away, to attend “Protracted Meeting.” Liney and Tom and the Fox baby -remained with Balser and Jim and the Brent baby, at the Brent cabin. - -When the children were alone Liney proceeded to put the babies to sleep, -and when those small heads of their respective households were dead to -the world in slumber, rocked to that happy condition in a cradle made -from the half of a round, smooth log, hollowed out with an adze, the -other children huddled together in the fireplace to talk and to play -games. Chief among the games was that never failing source of delight, -“Simon says thumbs up.” - -Outside the house the wind, blowing through the trees of the forest, -rose and sank in piteous wails and moans, by turns, and the snow fell in -angry, fitful blasts, and whirled and turned, eddied and drifted, as if -it were a thing of life. The weather was bitter cold; but the fire on -the great hearth in front of the children seemed to feel that while the -grown folks were away it was its duty to be careful of the children, and -to be gentle, tender, and comforting to them; so it spluttered, popped, -and cracked like the sociable, amiable, and tender-hearted fire that it -was. It invited the children to go near it and to take its warmth, and -told, as plainly as a fire could,—and a fire can talk, not English -perhaps, but a very understandable language of its own,—that it would -not burn them for worlds. So, as I said, the children sat inside the -huge fireplace, and cared little whether or not the cold north wind -blew. - -After “Simon” had grown tiresome, Liney told riddles, all of which Tom, -who had heard them before, spoiled by giving the answer before the -others had a chance to guess. Then Limpy propounded a few riddles, but -Liney, who had often heard them, would not disappoint her brother by -telling the answers. Balser noticed this, and said, “Limpy, you ought to -take a few lessons in good manners from your sister.” - -“Why ought I?” asked Tom, somewhat indignantly. - -“Because she doesn’t tell your riddles as you told hers,” answered -Balser. - -“He wants to show off,” said Jim. - -“No, he doesn’t,” said Liney. But she cast a grateful glance at Balser, -which said, “Thank you” as plainly as if she had spoken the words. Tom -hung his head, and said he didn’t like riddles anyway. - -“Let’s crack some nuts,” proposed Jim, who was always hungry. - -This proposition seemed agreeable to all, so Balser brought in a large -gourd filled with nuts, and soon they were all busy cracking and -picking. - -Then Liney told stories from “The Pilgrim’s Progress” and the Bible. She -was at the most thrilling part of the story of Daniel in the lions’ den, -and her listeners were eager, nervous, and somewhat fearful, when the -faint cry of “Help!” seemed to come right down through the mouth of the -chimney. - -“Listen!” whispered Balser, holding up his hands for silence. In a -moment came again the cry, “Help!” The second cry was still faint, but -louder than the first; and the children sprang together with a common -impulse, and clung to Balser in unspoken fear. - -“Help! help!” came the cry, still nearer and louder. - -“Some one wants help,” whispered Balser. “I—must—go—to—him.” The latter -clause was spoken rather hesitatingly. - -“No, no!” cried Liney. “You must not go. It may be Indians trying to get -you out there to kill you, or it may be a ghost. You’ll surely be killed -if you go.” - -Liney’s remark somewhat frightened Balser, and completely frightened the -other children; but it made Balser feel all the more that he must not be -a coward before her. However much he feared to go in response to the cry -for help, he must not let Liney see that he was afraid. Besides, the boy -knew that it was his duty to go; and although with Balser the sense of -duty moved more slowly than the sense of fear, yet it moved more surely. -So he quickly grasped his gun, and carefully examined the load and -priming. Then he took a torch, lighted it at the fire, and out he rushed -into the blinding, freezing storm. - -“Who’s there?” cried Balser, holding his torch on high. - -“Help! help!” came the cry from a short distance down the river, -evidently in the forest back of the barn. Balser hurried in the -direction whence the cry had come, and when he had proceeded one hundred -yards or so, he met a man running toward him, almost out of breath from -fright and exhaustion. Balser’s torch had been extinguished by the wind, -snow, and sleet, and he could not see the man’s face. - -“Who are you, and what’s the matter with you?” asked brave little -Balser, meanwhile keeping his gun ready to shoot, if need be. - -“Don’t you know me, Balser?” gasped the other. - -“Is it you, Polly?” asked Balser. “What on earth’s the matter?” - -“The Fire Bear! The Fire Bear!” cried Poll. “He’s been chasin’ me fur -Lord knows how long. There he goes! There! Don’t you see him? He’s -movin’ down to the river. He’s crossin’ the river on the ice now. There! -There!” And he pointed in the direction he wished Balser to look. Sure -enough, crossing on the ice below the barn, was the sharply defined form -of a large bear, glowing in the darkness of the night as if it were on -fire. This was more than even Balser’s courage could withstand; so he -started for the house as fast as his legs could carry him, and Polly -came panting and screaming at his heels. - -[Illustration: “’Help! help!’ came the cry.”] - -Polly’s name, I may say, was Samuel Parrott. He was a harmless, simple -fellow, a sort of hanger-on of the settlement, and his surname, which -few persons remembered, had suggested the nickname of Poll, or Polly, by -which he was known far and wide. - -By the time Balser had reached the house he was ashamed of his -precipitate retreat, and proposed that he and Polly should go out and -further investigate the Fire Bear. - -This proposition met with such a decided negative from Polly, and such a -vehement chorus of protests from Liney and the other children, that -Balser, with reluctance in his manner, but gladness in his heart, -consented to remain indoors, and to let the Fire Bear take his way -unmolested. - -“When did you first see him?” asked Balser of Polly Parrot. - -“’Bout a mile down the river, by Fox’s Bluff,” responded Polly. “I’ve -been runnin’ every step of the way, jist as hard as I could run, and -that there Fire Bear not more’n ten feet behind me, growlin’ like -thunder, and blazin’ and smokin’ away like a bonfire.” - -“Nonsense,” said Balser. “He wasn’t blazing when I saw him.” - -“Of course he wasn’t,” responded Poll. “He’d about burned out. D’ye -think a bear could blaze away forever like a volcano?” Poll’s logical -statement seemed to be convincing to the children. - -“And he blazed up, did he?” asked Liney, her bright eyes large with -wonder and fear. - -“Blazed up!” ejaculated Polly. “Bless your soul, Liney, don’t you see -how hot I am? Would a man be sweatin’ like I am on such a night as this, -unless he’s been powerful nigh to a mighty hot fire?” - -Poll’s corroborative evidence was too strong for doubt to contend -against, and a depressing conviction fell upon the entire company, -including Balser, that it was really the Fire Bear which Polly and -Balser had seen. Although Balser, in common with most of the settlers, -had laughed at the stories of the Fire Bear which had been told in the -settlement, yet now he was convinced, because he had seen it with his -own eyes. It was true that the bear was not ablaze when he saw him, but -certainly he looked like a great glowing ember, and, with Polly’s -testimony, Balser was ready to believe all he had heard concerning this -most frightful spectre of Blue River, the Fire Bear. - -One of the stories concerning the Fire Bear was to the effect that when -he was angry he blazed forth into a great flame, and that when he was -not angry he was simply aglow. At times, when the forests were burned, -or when barns or straw-stacks were destroyed by fire, many persons, -especially of the ignorant class, attributed the incendiarism to the -Fire Bear. Others, who pretended to more wisdom, charged the Indians -with the crimes. Of the latter class had been Balser. But to see is to -believe. - -Another superstition about the Fire Bear was, that any person who should -be so unfortunate as to behold him would die within three months after -seeing him, unless perchance he could kill the Fire Bear,—a task which -would necessitate the use of a potent charm, for the Fire Bear bore a -charmed life. The Fire Bear had been seen, within the memory of the -oldest inhabitant, by eight or ten persons, always after night. Each one -who had seen the bear had died within the three months following. He had -been stalked by many hunters, and although several opportunities to kill -him had occurred, yet no one had accomplished that much-desired event. - -You may be sure there were no more games, riddles, or nut-cracking that -evening in the Brent cabin. The children stood for a few moments in a -frightened group, and then took their old places on the logs inside the -fireplace. Polly, who was stupid with fright, stood for a short time -silently facing the fire, and then said mournfully: “Balser, you and me -had better jine the church. We’re goners inside the next three -months,—goners, just as sure as my name’s Polly.” Then meditatively, “A -durned sight surer than that; for my name ain’t Polly at all; but -Samuel, or Thomas, or Bill, or something like that, I furgit which; but -we’re goners, Balser, and we might as well git ready. No livin’ bein’ -ever seed that bear and was alive three months afterwards.” - -Then Liney, who was sitting next to Balser, touched his arm gently, and -said:— - -“I saw him too. I followed you a short way when you went out, and I saw -something bright crossing the river on the ice just below the barn. Was -that the bear?” - -“Yes, yes,” cried Balser. “For goodness’ sake, Liney, why didn’t you -stay in the house?” - -“You bet I stayed in,” said Jim. - -“And so did I,” said Tom. - -No one paid any attention to what Jim and Limpy said, and in a moment -Liney was weeping gently with her face in her hands. - -Jim and Limpy then began to cry, and soon Polly was boohooing as if he -were already at the point of death. It required all of Balser’s courage -and strength to keep back the tears, but in a moment he rose to his feet -and said: “Stop your crying, everybody. I’ll kill that bear before the -three months is half gone; yes, before a month has passed. If Liney saw -him, the bear dies; that settles it.” - -Liney looked up to Balser gratefully, and then, turning to Polly, said:— - -“He’ll save us, Polly; he killed the one-eared bear, and it was enough -sight worse to fight than the Fire Bear. The one-eared bear was a—was a -devil.” - -Polly did not share Liney’s confidence; so he sat down upon the hearth, -and gazed sadly at the fire awhile. Then, taking his elbow for his -pillow, he lay upon the floor and moaned himself to sleep. - -The children sat in silence for a short time; and Jim lay down beside -Polly, and closed his eyes in slumber. Then Limpy’s head began to nod, -and soon Limpy was in the land of dreams. Balser and Liney sat upon the -spare backlog for perhaps half an hour, without speaking. - -The deep bed of live coals cast a rosy glow upon their faces, and the -shadows back in the room grew darker, as the flame of the neglected fire -died out. Now and then a fitful blaze would start from a broken ember, -and the shadows danced for a moment over the floor and ceiling like -sombre spectres, but Balser and Liney saw them not. - -Despite their disbelief in the existence of the Fire Bear, the -overwhelming evidence of the last two hours had brought to them a -frightful conviction of the truth of all they had heard about the -uncanny, fatal monster. Three short months of life was all that was left -to them. Such had been the fate of all who had beheld the Fire Bear. -Such certainly would be their fate unless Balser could kill him—an event -upon which Liney built much greater hope than did Balser. - -After a long time Balser spoke, in a low tone, that he might not disturb -the others:— - -“Liney, if I only had a charm, I might kill the Fire Bear; but a gun by -itself can do nothing against a monster that bears a charmed life. We -must have a charm. You’ve read so many books and you know so much; can’t -you think of a charm that would help me?” - -“No, no, Balser,” sighed Liney, “you know more than I, a thousand -times.” - -“Nonsense, Liney. Didn’t you spell down everybody—even the grown -folks—over at Caster’s bee?” - -“Yes, I know I did; but spelling isn’t everything, Balser. It’s mighty -little, and don’t teach us anything about charms. You might know how to -spell every word in a big book, and still know nothing about charms.” - -“I guess you’re right,” responded Balser, dolefully. “I wonder how we -can learn to make a charm.” - -“Maybe the Bible would teach us,” said Liney. “They say it teaches us -nearly everything.” - -“I expect it would,” responded Balser. “Suppose you try it.” - -“I will,” answered Liney. Silence ensued once more, broken only by the -moaning wind and the occasional popping of the backlog. - -After a few minutes Liney said in a whisper:— - -“Balser, I’ve been thinking, and I’m going to tell you about something I -have. It’s a great secret. No one knows of it but mother and father and -I. I believe it’s the very thing we want for a charm. It looks like it, -and it has strange words engraved upon it.” - -Balser was alive with interest. - -“Do you promise never to tell any one about it?” asked Liney. - -“Yes, yes, indeed. Cross my heart, ’pon honour, hope to die.” - -Balser’s plain, unadorned promise was enough to bind him to secrecy -under ordinary circumstances, for he was a truthful boy; but when his -lips were sealed by such oaths as “Cross my heart,” and “Hope to die,” -death had no terrors which would have forced him to divulge. - -“What is it? Quick, quick, Liney!” - -“You’ll never tell?” - -“No, cross my—” - -“Well, I’ll tell you. I’ve a thing at home that’s almost like a cross, -only the pieces cross each other in the middle and are broad at each -end. It’s a little larger than a big button. It’s gold on the back and -has a lot of pieces of glass, each the size of a small pea, on the front -side. Only I don’t believe they’re glass at all. They are too bright for -glass. You can see them in the dark, where there’s no light at all. They -shine and glitter and sparkle, so that it almost makes you blink your -eyes. Now you never saw glass like that, did you?” - -“No,” answered Balser, positively. - -Liney continued; “That’s what makes me think it’s a charm; for you -couldn’t see it in the dark unless it was a charm, could you, Balser?” - -“I should think not.” - -“There’s a great big piece of glass, or whatever it is, in the centre of -it—as big as a large pea, and around this big piece are four words in -some strange language that nobody can make out,—at least, mother says -that nobody in this country can make them out. Mother told me that the -charm was given to her for me by a gypsy man, when I was a baby. Mother -says there’s something more to tell me about it when I become a woman. -Maybe that’s the charm of it; I’m sure it is.” And she looked up to -Balser with her soft, bright eyes full of inquiry and hope. - -“I do believe that thing is a charm,” said Balser. Then meditatively: “I -know it’s a charm. Don’t tell me, Liney, that you don’t know a lot of -things.” - -Liney’s sad face wore a dim smile of satisfaction at Balser’s -compliments, and again they both became silent. Balser remained in a -brown study for a few moments, and then asked:— - -“Where does your mother keep the—the charm?” - -“She keeps it in a box under my bed.” - -“Good! good!” responded Balser. “Now I’ll tell you what to do to make it -a sure enough charm.” - -“Yes, yes,” eagerly interrupted Liney. - -“You take the charm and hold it on your lips while you pray seven times -that I may kill the bear. Do that seven times for seven nights, and on -the last night I’ll get the charm, and Polly, Limpey, and I will go out -and kill the bear, just as sure as you’re alive.” - -The plan brought comfort to the boy and girl. - -Soon Liney’s eyes became heavy, and she fell asleep; and as Balser -looked upon her innocent beauty, he felt in his heart that if seven -times seven prayers from Liney’s lips could not make a charm which would -give him strength from on high to kill the bear, there was no strength -sufficient for that task to be had any place. - -Late in the night—nine o’clock—the parents of the children came home. -The sleepers were aroused, and all of them tried to tell the story of -the Fire Bear at one and the same time. - -“Tell me about it, Balser,” said Mr. Fox, seriously; for he, too, was -beginning to believe in the story of the Fire Bear. Then Balser told the -story, assisted by Polly, and the strange event was discussed until late -into the night, without, however, the slightest reference to the charm -by either Balser or Liney. That was to remain their secret. - -Mr. and Mrs. Fox remained with the Brents all night, and before they -left next morning, Liney whispered to Balser:— - -“I’ll begin to-night, as you told me to do, with the charm. Seven nights -from this the charm will be ready—if I can make it.” - -“And so will I be ready,” answered Balser, and both felt that the fate -of the Fire Bear was sealed. - - - - - CHAPTER VIII. - THE BLACK GULLY. - - NOTE.—The author, fearing that the account of fire springing from - the earth, given in the following story, may be considered by the - reader too improbable for any book but one of Arabian fables, - wishes to say that the fire and the explosion occurred in the - place and manner described. - - -The Fire Bear had never before been seen in the Blue River -neighbourhood. His former appearances had been at or near the mouth of -Conn’s Creek, where that stream flows into Flatrock, five or six miles -southeast of Balser’s home. - -Flatrock River takes its name from the fact that it flows over layers of -broad flat rocks. The soil in its vicinity is underlaid at a depth of a -few feet by a formation of stratified limestone, which crops out on the -hillsides and precipices, and in many places forms deep, cañon-like -crevasses, through which the river flows. In these cliffs and miniature -cañons are many caves, and branching off from the river’s course are -many small side-cañons, or gullies, which at night are black and -repellent, and in many instances are quite difficult to explore. - -One of these side-cañons was so dark and forbidding that it was called -by the settlers “The Black Gully.” The conformation of the rocks -composing its precipitous sides was grotesque in the extreme; and the -overhanging trees, thickly covered with vines, cast so deep a shadow -upon the ravine that even at midday its dark recesses bore a cast of -gloom like that of night untimely fallen. How Balser happened to visit -the Black Gully, and the circumstances under which he saw -it—sufficiently terrible and awe-inspiring to cause the bravest man to -tremble—I shall soon tell you. - -The country in the vicinity of Flatrock was full of hiding-places, and -that was supposed to be the home of the Fire Bear. - -The morning after Polly and Balser had seen the Fire Bear, they went -forth bright and early to follow the tracks of their fiery enemy, and if -possible to learn where he had gone after his unwelcome visit. - -They took up the spoor at the point where the bear had crossed the river -the night before, and easily followed his path three or four miles down -the stream. There they found the place where he had crossed the river to -the east bank. The tracks, which were plainly visible in the new-fallen -snow, there turned southeast toward his reputed home among the caves and -gullies of Flatrock and Conn’s Creek. - -The trackers hurried forward so eagerly in their pursuit that they felt -no fatigue. They found several deer, and at one time they saw at a great -distance a bear; but they did not pursue either, for their minds were -too full of the hope that they might discover the haunts of the monster -upon whose death depended, as they believed, their lives and that of -Liney Fox. When Balser and Polly reached the stony ground of Flatrock -the bear tracks began to grow indistinct, and soon they were lost -entirely among the smooth rocks from which the snow had been blown away. -The boys had, however, accomplished their purpose, for they were -convinced that they had discovered the haunts of the bear. They -carefully noticed the surrounding country, and spoke to each other of -the peculiar cliffs and trees in the neighbourhood, so that they might -remember the place when they should return. Then they found a dry little -cave wherein they kindled a fire and roasted a piece of venison which -they had taken with them. When their roast was cooked, they ate their -dinner of cold hoe-cake and venison, and then sat by the fire for an -hour to warm and rest before beginning their long, hard journey home -through the snow. Polly smoked his after-dinner pipe,—the pipe was a -hollow corn-cob with the tip of a buck’s horn for a stem,—and the two -bear hunters talked over the events of the day and discussed the coming -campaign against the Fire Bear. - -“I s’pose we’ll have to hunt him by night,” said Polly. “He’s never seen -at any other time, they say.” - -“Yes, we’ll have to hunt him by night,” said Balser; “but darkness will -help us in the hunt, for we can see him better at night than at any -other time, and he can’t see us as well as he could in daylight.” - -“Balser, you surprise me,” answered Polly. “Have you hunted bears all -this time and don’t know that a bear can see as well after night as in -the daytime—better, maybe?” - -“Maybe that’s so,” responded Balser. “I know that cats and owls can see -better by night, but I didn’t know about bears. How do you know it’s -true?” - -“How do I know? Why, didn’t that there bear make a bee-line for this -place last night, and wasn’t last night as dark as the inside of a -whale, and don’t they go about at night more than in the daytime? Tell -me that. When do they steal sheep and shoats? In daytime? Tell me that. -Ain’t it always at night? Did you ever hear of a bear stealing a shoat -in the daytime? No, sirree; but they can see the littlest shoat that -ever grunted, on the darkest night,—see him and snatch him out of the -pen and get away with him quicker than you or I could, a durned sight.” - -“I never tried; did you, Polly?” asked Balser. - -Polly wasn’t above suspicion among those who knew him, and Balser’s -question slightly disconcerted him. - -“Well, I—I—durned if that ain’t the worst fool question I ever heerd a -boy ask,” answered Polly. Then, somewhat anxious to change the -conversation, he continued:— - -“What night do you propose to come down here? To-morrow night?” - -“No, not for a week. Not till seven nights after to-night,” answered -Balser, mindful of the charm which he hoped Liney’s prayers would make -for him. - -“Seven nights? Geminy! I’m afraid I’ll get scared of this place by that -time. I’ll bet this is an awful place at night; nothing but great chunks -of blackness in these here gullies, so thick you could cut it with a -knife. I’m not afraid now because I’m desperate. I’m so afraid of dyin’ -because I saw the Fire Bear that I don’t seem to be afraid of nothin’ -else.” - -Polly was right. There is nothing like a counter-fear to keep a coward’s -courage up. - -After they were warm and had rested, Balser and Polly went out of the -cave and took another survey of the surrounding country from the top of -the hill. They started homeward, and reached the cozy cabin on Blue -River soon after sunset, tired, hungry, and cold. A good warm supper -soon revived them, and as it had been agreed that Polly should remain at -Mr. Brent’s until after the Fire Bear hunt, they went to bed in the loft -and slept soundly till morning. - -After Balser announced his determination to hunt the Fire Bear, many -persons asked him when he intended to undertake the perilous task, but -the invariable answer he gave was, that he would begin after the seventh -night from the one upon which the Fire Bear had visited Blue River. “Why -after the seventh night?” was frequently asked; but the boy would give -no other answer. - -Balser had invited Tom Fox to go with him; and Tom, in addition to his -redoubtable hatchet, intended to carry his father’s gun. Polly would -take Mr. Brent’s rifle, and of course Balser would carry the greatest of -all armaments, his smooth-bore carbine. Great were the preparations made -in selecting bullets and in drying powder. Knives and hatchets were -sharpened until they were almost as keen as a razor. Many of the men and -boys of the neighbourhood volunteered to accompany Balser, but he would -take with him no one but Tom and Polly. - -“Too many hunters spoil the chase,” said Balser, borrowing his thought -from the cooks and the broth maxim. - -Upon the morning of the eighth day Balser went over to see Liney, and to -receive from her the precious charm redolent with forty-nine prayers -from her pure heart. When she gave it to him he said:— - -“It’s a charm; I know it is.” And he held it in his hand and looked at -it affectionately. “It looks like a charm, and it feels like a charm. -Liney, I seem to feel your prayers upon it.” - -“Ah! Balser, don’t say that. It sounds almost wicked. It has seemed -wicked all the time for me to try to make a charm.” - -“Don’t feel that way, Liney. You didn’t try to make it. You only prayed -to God to make it, and God is good and loves to hear you pray. If He -don’t love to hear you pray, Liney, He don’t love to hear any one.” - -“No, no, Balser, I’m so wicked. The night we saw the Fire Bear father -read in the Bible where it says, ‘The prayers of the wicked availeth -not.’ Oh, Balser, do you think it’s wicked to try to make a charm—that -is, to pray to God to make one?” - -“No, indeed, Liney, God makes them of His own accord. He made you.” But -Liney only half understood. - -The charm worked at least one spell. It made the boy braver and gave him -self-confidence. - -Balser, Tom, and Polly had determined to ride down to Flatrock on -horseback, and for that purpose one of Mr. Fox’s horses and two of Mr. -Brent’s were brought into service. At three o’clock upon the famous -eighth day the three hunters started for Flatrock, and spent the night -in the vicinity of the mouth of Conn’s Creek; but they did not see the -Fire Bear. Four other expeditions were made, for Balser had no notion of -giving up the hunt, and each expedition was a failure. But the -fifth—well, I will tell you about it. - -Upon the fifth expedition the boys reached Flatrock River just after -sunset. A cold drizzling rain had begun to fall, and as it fell it froze -upon the surface of the rocks. The wind blew and moaned through the -tree-tops, and the darkness was so dense it seemed heavy. The boys had -tied their horses in a cave, which they had used for the same purpose -upon former visits, and were discussing the advisability of giving up -the hunt for that night and returning home. Tom had suggested that the -rain might extinguish the Fire Bear’s fire so he could not be seen. The -theory seemed plausible. Polly thought that a bear with any sense at all -would remain at home in his cave upon such a night as that, and all -these arguments, together with the slippery condition of the earth, -which made walking among the rocks and cliffs very dangerous, induced -Balser to conclude that it was best to return to Blue River without -pursuing the hunt that night. He announced his decision, and had given -up all hope of seeing the Fire Bear upon that expedition. But they were -not to be disappointed after all, for, just as the boys were untying -their horses to return home, a terrific growl greeted their ears, -coming, it seemed, right from the mouth of the cave in which they stood. - -“That’s him,” cried Polly. “I know his voice. I heerd it for one mortal -hour that night when he was a chasin’ me, and I’ll never furgit it. I’d -know it among a thousand bears. It’s him. Oh, Balser, let’s go home! For -the Lord’s sake, Balser, let’s go home! I’d rather die three months from -now than now. Three months is a long time to live, after all.” - -“Polly, what on earth are you talking about? Are you crazy? Tie up your -horse at once,” said Balser. “If the bear gets away from us this time, -we’ll never have another chance at him. Quick! Quick!” - -Polly’s courage was soon restored, and the horses were quickly tied -again. - -Upon entering the cave a torch had been lighted, and by the light of the -torch, which Polly held, the primings of the guns were examined, knives -and hatchets were made ready for immediate use, and out the hunters -sallied in pursuit of the Fire Bear. - -On account of the ice upon the rocks it was determined that Polly should -carry the torch with him. Aside from the dangers of the slippery path, -there was another reason for carrying the torch. Fire attracts the -attention of wild animals, and often prevents them from running away -from the hunter. This is especially true of deer. So Polly carried the -torch, and a fatal burden it proved to be for him. After the hunters had -emerged from the cave, they at once started toward the river, and upon -passing a little spur of the hill they beheld at a distance of two or -three hundred yards the Fire Bear, glowing like a fiery heap against the -black bank of night. He was running rapidly up the stream toward Black -Gully, which came down to the river’s edge between high cliffs. This was -the place I described to you a few pages back. Balser and Polly had seen -Black Gully before, and had noticed how dark, deep, and forbidding it -was. It had seemed to them to be a fitting place for the revels of -witches, demons, snakes, and monsters of all sorts, and they thought -surely it was haunted, if any place ever was. They feared the spot even -in the daytime. - -Polly, who was ingenious with a pocket-knife, had carved out three -whistles, and in the bowl of each was a pea. These whistles produced a -shrill noise when blown upon, which could be heard at a great distance, -and each hunter carried one fastened to a string about his neck. In case -the boys should be separated, one long whistle was to be sounded for the -purpose of bringing them together; three whistles should mean that the -bear had been seen, and one short one was to be the cry for help. When -Balser saw the bear he blew a shrill blast upon his whistle to attract -the brute’s attention. The ruse produced the desired effect, for the -bear stopped. His curiosity evidently was aroused by the noise and by -the sight of the fire, and he remained standing for a moment or two -while the boys ran forward as rapidly as the slippery rocks would -permit. Soon they were within a hundred yards of the bear; then fifty, -forty, thirty, twenty. Still the Fire Bear did not move. His glowing -form stood before them like a pillar of fire, the only object that could -be seen in the darkness that surrounded him. He seemed to be the -incarnation of all that was brave and demoniac. When within twenty yards -of the bear Balser said hurriedly to his companions:— - -“Halt! I’ll shoot first, and you fellows hold your fire and shoot one at -a time, after me. Don’t shoot till I tell you, and take good aim. Polly, -I’ll hold your torch when I want you to shoot.” Polly held the torch in -one hand and his gun in the other, and fear was working great havoc with -his usefulness. Balser continued: “It’s so dark we can’t see the sights -of our guns, and if we’re not careful we may all miss the bear, or still -worse, we may only wound him. Hold up the torch, Polly, so I can see the -sights of my gun.” - -[Illustration: “’Now, hold up the torch, Polly.’”] - -Balser’s voice seemed to attract the bear’s attention more even than did -the torch, and he pricked up his short fiery ears as if to ask, “What -are you talking about?” When Balser spoke next it was with a tongue of -fire, and the words came from his gun. The bear seemed to understand the -gun’s language better than that of Balser, for he gave forth in answer a -terrific growl of rage, and bit savagely at the wound which Balser had -inflicted. Alas! It was only a wound; for Balser’s bullet, instead of -piercing the bear’s heart, had hit him upon the hind quarters. - -“I’ve only wounded him,” cried Balser, and the note of terror in his -voice seemed to create a panic in the breasts of Tom and Polly, who at -once raised their guns and fired. Of course they both missed the bear, -and before they could lower their guns the monster was upon them. - -Balser was in front, and received the full force of the brute’s -ferocious charge. The boy went down under the bear’s mighty rush, and -before he had time to draw his knife, or to disengage his hatchet from -his belt, the infuriated animal was standing over him. As Balser fell -his hand caught a rough piece of soft wood which was lying upon the -ground, and with this he tried to beat the bear upon the head. The bear, -of course, hardly felt the blows which Balser dealt with the piece of -wood, and it seemed that another terrible proof was about to be given of -the fatal consequences of looking upon the Fire Bear. Tom and Polly had -both run when the bear charged, but Tom quickly came to Balser’s relief, -while Polly remained at a safe distance. The bear was reaching for -Balser’s throat, but by some fortunate chance he caught between his jaws -the piece of wood with which Balser had been vainly striking him; and -doubtless thinking that the wood was a part of Balser, the bear bit it -and shook it ferociously. When Tom came up to the scene of conflict he -struck the bear upon the head with the sharp edge of his hatchet, and -chopped out one of his eyes. The pain of the wound seemed to double the -bear’s fury, and he sprang over Balser’s prostrate form toward Tom. The -bear rose upon his haunches and faced Tom, who manfully struck at him -with his hatchet, and never thought of running. Ah! Tom was a brave one -when the necessity for bravery arose. But Tom’s courage was better than -his judgment, for in a moment he was felled to the ground by a stroke -from the bear’s paw, and the bear was standing over him, growling and -bleeding terribly. Polly had come nearer and his torch threw a ghastly -glamour over the terrible scene. As in the fight with Balser, the bear -tried to catch Tom’s throat between his jaws; but here the soft piece of -wood which Balser had grasped when he fell proved a friend indeed, for -the bear had bitten it so savagely that his teeth had been embedded in -its soft fibre, and it acted as a gag in his mouth. He could neither -open nor close his jaws. After a few frantic efforts to bite Tom, the -bear seemed to discover where the trouble was, and tried to push the -wood out of his mouth with his paws. This gave Tom a longed-for -opportunity, of which he was not slow to take advantage, and he quickly -drew himself from under the bear, rose to his feet, and ran away. In the -meantime Balser rose from the ground and reached the bear just as Tom -started to run. Balser knew by that time that he had no chance of -success in a hand-to-hand conflict with the brute. So he struck the bear -a blow upon the head with his hatchet as he passed, and followed Tom at -a very rapid speed. Balser at once determined that he and Tom and Polly -should reach a place of safety, quickly load their guns, and return to -the attack. In a moment he looked back, and saw the bear still -struggling to free his mouth from the piece of wood which had saved two -lives that night. As the bear was not pursuing them, Balser concluded to -halt; and he and Tom loaded their guns, while Polly held the torch on -high to furnish light. Polly’s feeble wits had almost fled, and he -seemed unconscious of what was going on about him. He did mechanically -whatever Balser told him to do, but his eyes had a far-away look, and it -was evident that the events of the night had paralyzed his poor, weak -brain. When the guns were loaded Balser and Tom hurried forward toward -the bear, and poor Polly followed, bearing his torch. Bang! went -Balser’s gun, and the bear rose upon his hind feet, making the cliffs -and ravines echo with his terrible growls. - -“Take good aim, Tom; hold up the torch, Polly,” said Balser. “Fire!” and -the bear fell over on his back and seemed to be dead. Polly and Tom -started toward the bear, but Balser cried out: “Stop! He may not be dead -yet. We’ll give him another volley. We’ve got him now, sure, if we’re -careful.” Tom and Polly stopped, and it was fortunate for them that they -did so; for in an instant the bear was on his feet, apparently none the -worse for the ill-usage the boys had given him. The Fire Bear stood for -a little time undetermined whether to attack the boys again or to run. -After halting for a moment between two opinions, he concluded to -retreat, and with the piece of wood still in his mouth, he started at a -rapid gait toward Black Gully, a hundred yards away. - -“Load, Tom; load quick. Hold the torch, Polly,” cried Balser. And again -the guns were loaded, while poor demented Polly held the torch. - -The bear moved away rapidly, and in a moment the boys were following him -with loaded guns. When the brute reached the mouth of Black Gully he -entered it. Evidently his home was in that uncanny place. - -“Quick, quick, Polly!” cried Balser; and within a moment after the bear -had entered Black Gully his pursuers were at the mouth of the ravine, -making ready for another attack, Balser gave a shrill blast upon his -whistle, and the bear turned for a moment, and deliberately sat down -upon his haunches not fifty yards away. The place looked so black and -dismal that the boys at first feared to enter, but soon their courage -came to their rescue, and they marched in, with Polly in the lead. The -bear moved farther up the gully toward an overhanging cliff, whose dark, -rugged outlines were faintly illumined by the light of Polly’s torch. -The jutting rocks seemed like monster faces, and the bare roots of the -trees were like the horny fingers and the bony arms of fiends. The boys -followed the bear, and when he came to a halt near the cliff and again -sat upon his haunches, it was evident that the Fire Bear’s end was near -at hand. How frightful it all appeared! There sat the Fire Bear, like a -burning demon, sullen and motionless, giving forth, every few seconds, -deep guttural growls that reverberated through the dark cavernous place. -Not a star was seen, nor a gleam of light did the overcast sky afford. -There stood poor, piteous Polly, all his senses fled and gone, -unconsciously holding his torch above his head. The light of the torch -seemed to give life to the shadows of the place, and a sense of fear -stole over Balser that he could not resist. - -“Let’s shoot him again, and get out of this awful place,” said Balser. - -“You bet I’m willing to get out,” said Tom, his teeth chattering, -notwithstanding his wonted courage. - -“Hold the torch, Polly,” cried Balser, and Polly raised the torch. The -boys were within fifteen yards of the bear, and each took deliberate aim -and fired. The bear moaned and fell forward. Then Balser and Tom started -rapidly toward the mouth of the gully. When they had almost reached the -opening they looked back for Polly, who they thought was following them, -but there he stood where they had left him, a hundred yards behind them. - -Balser called, “Polly! Polly!” but Polly did not move. Then Tom blew his -whistle, and Polly started, not toward them, alas! but toward the bear. - -“Don’t go to him, Polly,” cried Balser. “He may not be dead. We’ve had -enough of him to-night, for goodness’ sake! We’ll come back to-morrow -and find him dead.” But Polly continued walking slowly toward the bear. - -[Illustration: “Polly continued slowly toward the bear.”] - -“Polly! Polly! Come back!” cried both the boys. But Polly by that time -was within ten feet of the bear, holding his torch and moving with the -step of one unconscious of what he was doing. A few steps more and Polly -was by the side of the terrible Fire Bear. The bear revived for a -moment, and seemed conscious that an enemy was near him. With a last -mighty effort he rose to his feet and struck Polly a blow with his paw -which felled him to the ground. When Polly fell, the Fire Bear fell upon -him, and Balser and Tom started to rescue their unfortunate friend. Then -it was that a terrible thing happened. When Polly’s torch dropped from -his hand a blue flame three or four feet in height sprang from the -ground just beyond the bear. The fire ran upon the ground for a short -distance like a serpent of flame, and shot like a flash of chain -lightning half-way up the side of the cliff. The dark, jutting -rocks—huge demon faces covered with ice—glistened in the light of the -blaze, and the place seemed to have been transformed into a veritable -genii’s cavern. The flames sank away for a moment with a low, moaning -sound, and then came up again the colour of roses and of blood. A great -rumbling noise was heard coming from the bowels of the earth, and a -tongue of fire shot twenty feet into the air. This was more than flesh -and blood could endure, and Balser and Tom ran for their lives, leaving -their poor, demented friend behind them to perish. Out the boys went -through the mouth of the gully, and across the river they sped upon the -ice. They felt the earth tremble beneath their feet, and they heard the -frightful rumbling again; then a loud explosion, like the boom of a -hundred cannons, and the country for miles around was lighted as if by -the midday sun. Then they looked back and beheld a sight which no man -could forget to the day of his death. They saw a bright red flame a -hundred yards in diameter and two hundred feet high leap from the Black -Gully above the top of the cliffs. After a moment great rocks, and -pieces of earth half as large as a house, began to fall upon every side -of them, as if a mighty volcano had burst forth; and the boys clung to -each other in fear and trembling, and felt sure that judgment day had -come. - -After the rocks had ceased to fall, the boys, almost dead with fright, -walked a short distance down the river and crossed upon the ice. The -fire was still burning in the Black Gully, and there was no need of -Polly’s torch to help them see the slippery path among the rocks. - -The boys soon found the cave in which the horses were stabled. They lost -no time in mounting, and quickly started home, leading between them the -horse which had been ridden by Polly. Poor Polly was never seen again. -Even after the fire in the Black Gully had receded into the bowels of -the earth whence it had come, nothing was found of his body nor that of -the Fire Bear. They had each been burned to cinder. - -Many of the Blue River people did not believe that the Fire Bear derived -its fiery appearance from supernatural causes. They suggested that the -bear probably had made its bed of decayed wood containing foxfire, and -that its fur was covered with phosphorus which glowed like the light of -the firefly after night. The explosion was caused by a “pocket” of -natural gas which became ignited when Polly’s torch fell to the ground -by the side of the Fire Bear. - - - - - CHAPTER IX. - ON THE STROKE OF NINE. - - -Late one afternoon—it was the day before Christmas—Balser and Jim were -seated upon the extra backlog in the fireplace, ciphering. Mrs. Brent -was sitting in front of the fire in a rude home-made rocking-chair, -busily knitting, while she rocked the baby’s cradle with her foot and -softly sang the refrain of “Annie Laurie” for a lullaby. Snow had begun -to fall at noon, and as the sun sank westward the north wind came in -fitful gusts at first, and then in stronger blasts, till near the hour -of four, when Boreas burst forth in the biting breath of the storm. How -he howled and screamed down the chimney at his enemy, the fire! And how -the fire crackled and spluttered and laughed in the face of his wrath, -and burned all the brighter because of his raging! Don’t tell me that a -fire can’t talk! A fire upon a happy hearth is the sweetest -conversationalist on earth, and Boreas might blow his lungs out ere he -could stop the words of cheer and health and love and happiness which -the fire spoke to Jim and Balser and their mother in the gloaming of -that cold and stormy day. - -“Put on more wood,” said the mother, in a whisper, wishing not to awaken -the baby. “Your father will soon be home from Brookville, and we must -make the house good and warm for him. I hope he will come early. It -would be dreadful for him to be caught far away from home in such a -storm as we shall have to-night.” - -Mr. Brent had gone to Brookville several days before with wheat and -pelts for market, and was expected home that evening. Balser had wanted -to go with his father, but the manly little fellow had given up his wish -and had remained at home that he might take care of his mother, Jim, and -the baby. - -Balser quietly placed a few large hickory sticks upon the fire, and then -whispered to Jim:— - -“Let’s go out and feed the stock and fix them for the night.” - -So the boys went to the barnyard and fed the horses and cows, and drove -the sheep into the shed, and carried fodder from the huge stack and -placed it against the north sides of the barn and shed to keep the wind -from blowing through the cracks and to exclude the snow. When the stock -was comfortable, cozy, and warm, the boys milked the cows, and brought -to the house four bucketfuls of steaming milk, which they strained and -left in the kitchen, rather than in the milk-house, that it might not -freeze over night. - -Darkness came on rapidly, and Mrs. Brent grew more and more anxious for -her husband’s return. Fearing that he might be late, she postponed -supper until Jim’s ever ready appetite began to cry aloud for -satisfaction, and Balser intimated that he, too, might be induced to -eat. So their mother leisurely went to work to get supper, while the -baby was left sleeping before the cheery, talkative fire in the front -room. - -A fat wild turkey roasted to a delicious brown upon the spit, eggs fried -in the sweetest of lard, milk warm from the cows, corn-cakes floating in -maple syrup and yellow butter, sweet potatoes roasted in hot ashes, and -a great slice of mince pie furnished a supper that makes one hungry but -to think about it. The boys, however, were hungry without thinking, and -it would have done your heart good to see that supper disappear. - -As they sat at supper they would pause in their eating and listen -attentively to every noise made by the creaking of the trees or the -falling of a broken twig, hoping that it was the step of the father. But -the supper was finished all too soon, and the storm continued to -increase in its fury; the snow fell thicker and the cold grew fiercer, -still Mr. Brent did not come. - -Mrs. Brent said nothing, but as the hours flew by her anxious heart -imparted its trouble to Balser, and he began to fear for his father’s -safety. The little clock upon the rude shelf above the fireplace -hoarsely and slowly drawled out the hour of seven, then eight, and then -nine. That was very late for the Brent family to be out of bed, and -nothing short of the anxiety they felt could have kept them awake. Jim, -of course, had long since fallen asleep, and he lay upon a soft bearskin -in front of the fire, wholly unconscious of storms or troubles of any -sort. Mrs. Brent sat watching and waiting while Jim and the baby slept, -and to her anxious heart it seemed that the seconds lengthened into -minutes, and the minutes into hours, by reason of her loneliness. While -she rocked beside the baby’s cradle, Balser was sitting in his favourite -place upon the backlog next to the fire. He had been reading, or trying -to read, “The Pilgrim’s Progress,” but visions of his father and of the -team lost in the trackless forest, facing death by freezing, to say -nothing of wolves that prowled the woods in packs of hundreds upon such -a night as that, continually came between his eyes and the page, and -blurred the words until they held no meaning. Gradually drowsiness stole -over him, too, and just as the slow-going clock began deliberately to -strike the hour of nine his head fell back into a little corner made by -projecting logs in the wall of the fireplace, and, like Jim, he forgot -his troubles as he slept. - -Balser did not know how long he had been sleeping when the neighing of a -horse was heard. Mrs. Brent hastened to the door, but when she opened -it, instead of her husband she found one of the horses, an intelligent, -raw-boned animal named Buck, standing near the house. Balser had heard -her call, and he quickly ran out of doors and went to the horse. The -harness was broken, and dragging upon the ground behind the horse were -small portions of the wreck of the wagon. Poor Buck’s flank was red with -blood, and his legs showed all too plainly the marks of deadly conflict -with a savage, hungry foe. The wreck of the wagon, the broken harness, -and the wounds upon the horse told eloquently, as if spoken in words, -the story of the night. Wolves had attacked Balser’s father, and Buck -had come home to give the alarm. - -[Illustration] - -Balser ran quickly to the fire pile upon the hill and kindled it for the -purpose of calling help from the neighbours. Then he went back to the -house and took down his gun. He tied a bundle of torches over his -shoulder, lighted one, and started out in the blinding, freezing storm -to help his father, if possible. - -He followed the tracks of the horse, which with the aid of his torch -were easily discernible in the deep snow, and soon he was far into the -forest, intent upon his mission of rescue. - -After the boy had travelled for an hour he heard the howling of wolves, -and hastened in the direction whence the sound came, feeling in his -heart that he would find his father surrounded by a ferocious pack. He -hurried forward as rapidly as he could run, and his worst fears were -realized. - -Soon he reached the top of a hill overlooking a narrow ravine which lay -to the eastward. The moon had risen and the snow had ceased to fall. The -wind was blowing a fiercer gale than ever, and had broken rifts in the -black bank of snow-cloud, so that gleams of the moon now and then -enabled Balser’s vision to penetrate the darkness. Upon looking down -into the ravine he beheld his father standing in the wagon, holding in -his hand a singletree which he used as a weapon of defence. The wolves -jumped upon the wagon in twos and threes, and when beaten off by Mr. -Brent would crowd around the wheels and howl to get their courage up, -and renew the attack. - -[Illustration] - -Mr. Brent saw the boy starting down the hill toward the wagon and -motioned to him to go back. Balser quickly perceived that it would be -worse than madness to go to his father. The wolves would at once turn -their attack upon him, and his father would be compelled to abandon his -advantageous position in the wagon and go to his relief, in which case -both father and son would be lost. Should Balser fire into the pack of -wolves from where he stood, he would bring upon himself and his father -the same disaster. He felt his helplessness grievously, but his quick -wit came to his assistance. He looked about him for a tree which he -could climb, and soon found one. At first he hesitated to make use of -the tree, for it was dead and apparently rotten; but there was none -other at hand, so he hastily climbed up and seated himself firmly upon a -limb which seemed strong enough to sustain his weight. - -Balser was now safe from the wolves, and at a distance of not more than -twenty yards from his father. There he waited until the clouds for a -moment permitted the full light of the moon to rest upon the scene, and -then he took deliberate aim and fired into the pack of howling wolves. A -sharp yelp answered his shot, and then a black, seething mass of -growling, fighting, snapping beasts fell upon the carcass of the wolf -that Balser’s shot had killed, and almost instantly they devoured their -unfortunate companion. - -Balser felt that if he could kill enough wolves to satisfy the hunger of -the living ones they would abandon their attack upon his father, for -wolves, like cowardly men, are brave only in desperation. They will -attack neither man nor animal except when driven to do so by hunger. - -After Balser had killed the wolf, clouds obscured the moon before he -could make another shot. He feared to fire in the dark lest he might -kill his father, so he waited impatiently for the light which did not -come. - -Meanwhile, the dead wolf having been devoured, the pack again turned -upon Mr. Brent, and Balser could hear his father’s voice and the -clanking of the iron upon the singletree as he struck at the wolves to -ward them off. - -It seemed to Balser that the moon had gone under the clouds never to -appear again. Mr. Brent continually called loudly to the wolves, for the -human voice is an awesome sound even to the fiercest animals. To Balser -the tone of his father’s voice, mingled with the howling of wolves, was -a note of desperation that almost drove him frantic. The wind increased -in fury every moment, and Balser felt the cold piercing to the marrow of -his bones. He had waited it seemed to him hours for the light of the -moon again to shine, but the clouds appeared to grow deeper and the -darkness more dense. - -While Balser was vainly endeavouring to watch the conflict at the wagon, -he heard a noise at the root of the tree in which he had taken refuge, -and, looking down, he discovered a black monster standing quietly -beneath him. It was a bear that had been attracted to the scene of -battle by the noise. Balser at once thought, “Could I kill this huge -bear, his great carcass certainly would satisfy the hunger of the wolves -that surround my father.” Accordingly he lowered the point of his gun, -and, taking as good aim as the darkness would permit, he fired upon the -bear. The bear gave forth a frightful growl of rage and pain, and as it -did so its companion, a beast of enormous size, came running up, -apparently for the purpose of rendering assistance. - -[Illustration: “... IMAGINE HIS CONSTERNATION WHEN HE RECOGNIZED THE -FORMS OF LINEY FOX AND HER BROTHER TOM.”] - -Balser hastily reloaded his gun and prepared to shoot the other bear. -This he soon did, and while the wolves howled about his father the two -wounded bears at the foot of the tree made night hideous with their -ravings. - -Such a frightful bedlam of noises had never before been heard. - -Balser was again loading his gun, hoping to finish the bears, when he -saw two lighted torches approaching along the path over which he had -just come, and as they came into view imagine his consternation when he -recognized the forms of Liney Fox and her brother Tom. Tom carried his -father’s gun, for Mr. Fox had gone to Brookville, and Liney, in addition -to her torch, carried Tom’s hatchet. Liney and Tom were approaching -rapidly, and Balser called out to them to stop. They did not hear him, -or did not heed him, but continued to go forward to their death. The -bears at the foot of the tree were wounded, and would be more dangerous -than even the pack of wolves howling at the wagon. - -“Go back! Go back!” cried Balser desperately, “or you’ll be killed. Two -wounded bears are at the root of the tree I’m in, and a hundred wolves -are howling in the hollow just below me. Run for your lives! Run! You’ll -be torn in pieces if you come here.” - -The boy and girl did not stop, but continued to walk rapidly toward the -spot from which they had heard Balser call. The clouds had drifted away -from the moon, and now that the light was of little use to Balser—for he -was intent upon saving Liney and Tom—there was plenty of it. - -[Illustration: “... HE FELL A DISTANCE OF TEN OR TWELVE FEET, ... AND -LAY HALF STUNNED.”] - -The sound of his voice and the growling of the bears had attracted the -attention of the wolves. They were wavering in their attack upon Mr. -Brent, and evidently had half a notion to fall upon the bears that -Balser had wounded. Meantime Liney and Tom continued to approach, and -their torches, which under ordinary circumstances would have frightened -the animals away, attracted the attention of the bears and the wolves, -and drew the beasts upon them. They were now within a few yards of -certain death, and again Balser in agony cried out: “Go back, Liney! Go -back! Run for your lives!” In his eagerness he rose to his feet, and -took a step or two out upon the rotten limb on which he had been seated. -As he called to Liney and Tom, and motioned to them frantically to go -back, the limb upon which he was standing broke, and he fell a distance -of ten or twelve feet to the ground, and lay half stunned between the -two wounded bears. Just as Balser fell, Liney and Tom came up to the -rotten tree, and at the same time the pack of wolves abandoned their -attack upon Mr. Brent and rushed like a herd of howling demons upon the -three helpless children. - -One of the bears immediately seized Balser, and the other one struck -Liney to the ground. By the light of the torches Mr. Brent saw all that -had happened, and when the wolves abandoned their attack upon him he -hurried forward to rescue Balser, Liney, and Tom, although in so doing -he was going to meet his death. In a few seconds Mr. Brent was in the -midst of the terrible fight, and a dozen wolves sprang upon him. Tom’s -gun was useless, so he snatched the hatchet from Liney, who was lying -prostrate under one of the bears, and tried to rescue her from its jaws. -Had he done so, however, it would have been only to save her for the -wolves. But his attempt to rescue Liney was quickly brought to an end. -The wolves sprang upon Tom, and soon he, too, was upon the ground. The -resinous torches which had fallen from the hands of Tom and Liney -continued to burn, and cast a lurid light upon the terrible scene. - -Consciousness soon returned to Balser, and he saw with horror the fate -that was in store for his father, his friends, and himself. Despair took -possession of his soul, and he knew that the lamp of life would soon be -black in all of them forever. While his father and Tom lay upon the -ground at the mercy of the wolves, and while Liney was lying within -arm’s reach of him in the jaws of the wounded bear, and he utterly -helpless to save the girl of whom he was so fond, Balser’s mother shook -him by the shoulder and said, “Balser, your father is coming.” Balser -sprang to his feet, looked dazed for a moment, and then ran, half -weeping, half laughing, into his father’s arms ... just as the sleepy -little clock had finished striking nine. - - - - - CHAPTER X. - A CASTLE ON THE BRANDYWINE. - - -Christmas morning the boys awakened early and crept from beneath their -warm bearskins in eager anticipation of gifts from Santa Claus. Of -course they had long before learned who Santa Claus was, but they loved -the story, and in the wisdom of their innocence clung to an illusion -which brought them happiness. - -The sun had risen upon a scene such as winter only can produce. Surely -Aladdin had come to Blue River upon the wings of the Christmas storm, -had rubbed his lamp, and lo! the humble cabin was in the heart of a -fairyland such as was never conceived by the mind of a genie. Snow lay -upon the ground like a soft carpet of white velvet ten inches thick. The -boughs of the trees were festooned with a foliage that spring cannot -rival. Even the locust trees, which in their pride of blossom cry out in -June time for our admiration, seemed to say, “See what we can do in -winter;” and the sycamore and beech drooped their branches, as if to -call attention to their winter flowers given by that rarest of artists, -Jack Frost. - -The boys quickly donned their heavy buckskin clothing and moccasins, and -climbed down the pole to the room where their father and mother were -sleeping. Jim awakened his parents with a cry of “Christmas Gift,” but -Balser’s attention was attracted to a barrel standing by the fireplace, -which his father had brought from Brookville, and into which the boys -had not been permitted to look the night before. Balser had a shrewd -suspicion of what the barrel contained, and his delight knew no bounds -when he found, as he had hoped, that it was filled with steel traps of -the size used to catch beavers, coons, and foxes. - -Since he had owned a gun, Balser’s great desire had been to possess a -number of traps. As I have already told you, the pelts of animals taken -in winter are of great value, and our little hero longed to begin life -on his own account as a hunter and trapper. - -I might tell you of the joyous Christmas morning in the humble cabin -when the gifts which Mr. Brent had brought from Brookville were -distributed. I might tell you of the new gown for mother, of the bright, -red mufflers, of the shoes for Sunday wear and the “store” caps for the -boys, to be used upon holiday occasions. I might tell you of the candies -and nuts, and of the rarest of all the gifts, an orange for each member -of the family, for that fruit had never before been seen upon Blue -River. But I must take you to the castle on Brandywine. - -You may wonder how there came to be a castle in the wilderness on -Brandywine, but I am sure, when you learn about it, you will declare -that it was fairer than any castle ever built of mortar and stone, and -that the adventures which befell our little heroes were as glorious as -ever fell to the lot of spurred and belted knight. - -Immediately after breakfast, when the chores had all been finished, -Balser and Jim started down the river to visit Liney and Tom. Balser -carried with him two Christmas presents for his friends—a steel trap for -Tom, and the orange which his father had brought him from Brookville for -Liney. - -I might also tell you of Tom’s delight when he received the trap, and of -Liney’s smile of pleasure, worth all the oranges in the world, when she -received her present; and I might fell you how she divided the orange -into pieces, and gave one to each of the family; and how, after it had -all been eaten, tears came to her bright eyes when she learned that -Balser had not tasted the fruit. I might tell you much more that would -be interesting, and show you how good and true and gentle were these -honest, simple folk, but I must drop it all and begin my story. - -Balser told Tom about the traps, and a trapping expedition was quickly -agreed upon between the boys. - -The next day Tom went to visit Balser, and for three or four days the -boys were busily engaged in making two sleds upon which to carry -provisions for their campaign. The sleds when finished were each about -two feet broad and six feet long. They were made of elm, and were very -strong, and were so light that when loaded the boys could easily draw -them over the snow. By the time the sleds were finished the snow was -hard, and everything was ready for the moving of the expedition. - -First, the traps were packed. Then provisions, consisting of sweet -potatoes, a great lump of maple sugar, a dozen loaves of white bread, -two or three gourds full of butter, a side of bacon, a bag of meal, a -large piece of bear meat for the dogs, and a number of other articles -and simple utensils such as the boys would need in cooking, were loaded -upon the sleds. They took with them no meat other than bacon and the -bear meat for the dogs, for they knew they could make traps from the -boughs of trees in which they could catch quail and pheasants, and were -sure to be able, in an hour’s hunting, to provide enough venison to -supply their wants for a much longer time than they would remain in -camp. There were also wild turkeys to be killed, and fish to be caught -through openings which the boys would make in the ice of the creek. - -Over the loaded sleds they spread woolly bearskins to be used for beds -and covering during the cold nights, and they also took with them a -number of tanned deerskins, with which to carpet the floor of their -castle and to close its doors and windows. Tom took with him his -wonderful hatchet, an axe, and his father’s rifle. Axe, hatchets, and -knives had been sharpened, and bullets had been moulded in such vast -numbers that one would have thought the boys were going to war. Powder -horns were filled, and a can of that precious article was placed -carefully upon each of the sleds. - -Bright and early one morning Balser, Tom, and Jim, and last, but by no -means least, Tige and Prince, crossed Blue River, and started in a -northwestern direction toward a point on Brandywine where a number of -beaver dams were known to exist, ten miles distant from the Brent cabin. - -[Illustration: EN ROUTE FOR THE CASTLE.] - -Tom and Tige drew one of the sleds, and Balser and Prince drew the -other. During the first part of the trip, Jim would now and then lend a -helping hand, but toward the latter end of the journey he said he -thought it would be better for him to ride upon one of the sleds to keep -the load from falling off. Balser and Tom, however, did not agree with -him, nor did the dogs; so Jim walked behind and grumbled, and had his -grumbling for his pains, as usually is the case with grumblers. - -[Illustration] - -Two or three hours before sunset the boys reached Brandywine, a babbling -little creek in springtime, winding its crooked rippling way through -overhanging boughs of water elm, sycamore, and willows, but, at the time -of our heroes’ expedition, frozen over with the mail of winter. It is in -small creeks, such as Brandywine, that beavers love to make their dams. - -Our little caravan, upon reaching Brandywine, at once took to the ice -and started up-stream along its winding course. - -Jim had grown tired. “I don’t believe you fellows know where you’re -going,” said he. “I don’t see any place to camp.” - -“You’ll see it pretty quickly,” said Balser; and when they turned a bend -in the creek they beheld a huge sycamore springing from a little valley -that led down to the water’s edge. - -“There’s our home,” said Balser. - -The sycamore was hollow, and at its roots was an opening for a doorway. - -Upon beholding the tree Jim gave a cry of delight, and was for entering -their new home at once, but Balser held him back and sent in the dogs as -an exploring advance guard. Soon the dogs came out and informed the boys -that everything within the tree was all right, and Balser and Tom and -Jim stooped low and entered upon the possession of their castle on -Brandywine. - -The first task was to sweep out the dust and dry leaves. This the boys -did with bundles of twigs rudely fashioned into brooms. The dry leaves -and small tufts of black hair gave evidence all too strongly that the -castle which the boys had captured was the home of some baron bear who -had incautiously left his stronghold unguarded. Jim spoke of this fact -with unpleasant emphasis, and was ready to “bet” that the bear would -come back when they were all asleep, and would take possession of his -castle and devour the intruders. - -“_What_ will you bet?” said Tom. - -“I didn’t say I would bet anything. I just said I’d bet, and you’ll see -I’m right,” returned Jim. - -Balser and Tom well knew that Jim’s prophecy might easily come true, but -they had faith in the watchfulness of their sentinels, Tige and Prince, -and the moon being at its full, they hoped rather than feared that his -bearship might return, and were confident that, in case he did, his -danger would be greater than theirs. - -After the castle floor had been carefully swept, the boys carried in the -deerskins and spread them on the ground for a carpet. The bearskins were -then taken in, and the beds were made; traps, guns, and provisions were -stored away, and the sleds were drawn around to one side of the door, -and placed leaning against the tree. - -The boys were hungry, and Jim insisted that supper should be prepared at -once; but Tom, having made several trips around the tree, remarked -mysteriously that he had a plan of his own. He said there was a great -deal of work to be done before sundown, and that supper could be eaten -after dark when they could not work. Tom was right, for the night gave -promise of bitter cold. - -Limpy did not tell his plans at once, but soon they were developed. - -The hollow in the tree in which the boys had made their home was almost -circular in form. It was at least ten or eleven feet in diameter, and -extended up into the tree twenty or thirty feet. Springing from the same -root, and a part of the parent tree, grew two large sprouts or branches, -which at a little distance looked like separate trees. They were, -however, each connected with the larger tree, and the three formed one. - -“What on earth are you pounding at that tree for?” asked Jim, while Tom -was striking one of the smaller trees with the butt end of the hatchet, -and listening intently as if he expected to hear a response. - -Tom did not reply to Jim, but in a moment entered the main tree with axe -in hand, and soon Balser and Jim heard him chopping. - -The two boys at once followed Tom, to learn what their eccentric -companion was doing. Tom did not respond to their questions, but after -he had chopped vigorously for a few minutes the result of his work gave -them an answer, for he soon cut an opening into the smaller tree, which -was also hollow. Tom had discovered the hollow by striking the tree with -his hatchet. In fact, Tom was a genius after his own peculiar pattern. - -The newly discovered hollow proved to be three or four feet in diameter, -and, like that in the larger tree, extended to a considerable height. -After Tom had made the opening between the trees, he sat upon the -ground, and with his hatchet hewed it to an oval shape, two feet high -and two feet broad. - -Jim could not imagine why Tom had taken so much trouble to add another -room to their house, which was already large enough. But when Tom, -having finished the opening upon the inside, went out and began to climb -the smaller tree with the help of a few low-growing branches, the -youngest member of the expedition became fully convinced in his own mind -that the second in command was out of his head entirely. When Tom, -having climbed to a height of twelve or fifteen feet, began to chop with -his hatchet, Jim remarked, in most emphatic language, that he thought “a -fellow who would chop at a sycamore tree just for the sake of making -chips, when he might be eating his supper, was too big a fool to live.” - -Tom did not respond to Jim’s sarcasm, but persevered in his chopping -until he had made an opening at the point to which he had climbed. -Balser had quickly guessed the object of Tom’s mighty labors, but he did -not enlighten Jim. He had gone to other work, and by the time Tom had -made the opening from the outside of the smaller tree, had collected a -pile of firewood, and had carried several loads of it into the castle. -Then Tom came down, and Jim quickly followed him into the large tree, -for by that time his mysterious movements were full of interest to the -little fellow. - -Now what do you suppose was Tom’s object in wasting so much time and -energy with his axe and hatchet? - -A fireplace. - -You will at once understand that the opening which Tom had cut in the -tree at the height of twelve or fifteen feet was for the purpose of -making a chimney through which the smoke might escape. - -The boys kindled a fire, and in a few minutes there was a cheery blaze -in their fireplace that lighted up the room and made “everything look -just like home,” Jim said. - -Then Jim went outside and gave a great hurrah of delight when he saw the -smoke issuing from the chimney that ingenious Tom had made with his -hatchet. - -[Illustration: THE CASTLE ON THE BRANDYWINE.] - -Jim watched the smoke for a few moments, and then walked around the tree -to survey the premises. The result of his survey was the discovery of a -hollow in the third tree of their castle, and when he informed Balser -and Tom of the important fact, it was agreed that the room which Jim had -found should be prepared for Tige and Prince. The dogs were not -fastidious, and a sleeping-place was soon made for them entirely to -their satisfaction. - -Meantime the fire was blazing and crackling in the fireplace, and the -boys began to prepare supper. They had not had time to kill game, so -they fried a few pieces of bacon and a dozen eggs, of which they had -brought a good supply, and roasted a few sweet potatoes in the ashes. -Then they made an opening in the ice, from which they drew a bucketful -of sparkling ice water, and when all was ready they sat down to supper, -served with the rarest of all dressings, appetite sauce, and at least -one of the party, Jim, was happy as a boy could be. - -The dogs then received their supper of bear meat. - -The members of the expedition, from the commanding officer Balser to the -high privates Tige and Prince, were very tired after their hard day’s -work, and when Tom and Balser showed the dogs their sleeping-place, they -curled up close to each other and soon were in the land of dog dreams. - -By the time supper was finished night had fallen, and while Tom and -Balser were engaged in stretching a deerskin across the door to exclude -the cold air, Jim crept between the bearskins and soon was sound asleep, -dreaming no doubt of suppers and dinners and breakfasts, and scolding in -his dreams like the veritable little grumbler that he was. A great bed -of embers had accumulated in the fireplace, and upon them Balser placed -a hickory knot for the purpose of retaining fire till morning, and then -he covered the fire with ashes. - -After all was ready Balser and Tom crept in between the bearskins, and -lying spoon-fashion, one on each side of Jim, lost no time in making a -rapid, happy journey to the land of Nod. - -Tom slept next to the wall, next to Tom lay Jim, and next to Jim was -Balser. The boys were lying with their feet to the fire, and upon the -opposite side of the room was the doorway closed by the deerskin, of -which I have already told you. - -Of course they went to bed “all standing,” as sailors say when they lie -down to sleep with their clothing on, for the weather was cold, and the -buckskin clothing and moccasins were soft and pleasant to sleep in, and -would materially assist the bearskins in keeping the boys warm. - -It must have been a pretty sight in the last flickering light of the -smouldering fire to see the three boys huddled closely together, covered -by the bearskins. I have no doubt had you seen them upon that night they -would have appeared to you like a sleeping bear. In fact, before the -night was over they did appear to—but I must not go ahead of my story. - -The swift-winged hours of darkness sped like moments to the sleeping -boys. The smouldering coals in the fireplace were black and lustreless. -The night wind softly moaned through the branches of the sycamore, and -sighed as it swept the bare limbs of the willows and the rustling tops -of the underbrush. Jack Frost was silently at work, and the cold, clear -air seemed to glitter in the moonlight. It was an hour past midnight. -Had the boys been awake and listening, or had Tige and Prince been -attending to their duties as sentinels, they would have heard a crisp -noise of footsteps, as the icy surface of the snow cracked, and as dead -twigs broke beneath a heavy weight. Ah, could the boys but awaken! Could -the dogs be aroused but for one instant from their deep lethargy of -slumber! - -Balser! Tom! Jim! Tige! Prince! Awaken! Awaken! - -On comes the heavy footfall, cautiously. As it approaches the castle a -few hurried steps are taken, and the black, awkward form lifts his head -and sniffs the air for signs of danger. - -The baron has returned to claim his own, and Jim’s prophecy, at least in -part, has come true. The tracks upon the snow left by the boys and dogs, -and the sleds leaning against the tree, excite the bear’s suspicion, and -he stands like a statue for five minutes, trying to make up his mind -whether or not he shall enter his old domain. The memory of his cozy -home tempts him, and he cautiously walks to the doorway of his house. -The deerskin stretched across the opening surprises him, and he -carefully examines it with the aid of his chief counsellor, his nose. -Then he thrusts it aside with his head and enters. - -He sees the boys on the opposite side of the tree, and doubtless fancies -that his mate has gotten home before him, so he complacently lies down -beside the bearskins, and soon, he, too, is in the land of bear dreams. - -When a bear sleeps he snores, and the first loud snort from the baron’s -nostrils aroused Balser. At first Balser’s mind was in confusion, and he -thought that he was at home. In a moment, however, he remembered where -he was, and waited in the darkness for a repetition of the sound that -had awakened him. Soon it came again, and Balser in his drowsiness -fancied that Tom had changed his place and was lying beside him, though -never in all his life had he heard such sounds proceed from Limpy’s -nose. So he reached out his hand, and at once was undeceived, for he -touched the bear, and at last Balser was awake. The boy’s hair seemed to -stand erect upon his head, and his blood grew cold in his veins, as he -realized the terrible situation. All was darkness. The guns, hatchets, -and knives were upon the opposite side of the tree, and to reach them or -to reach the doorway Balser would have to climb over the bear. Cold as -the night was, perspiration sprang from every pore of his skin, and -terror took possession of him such as he had never before known. It -seemed a long time that he lay there, but it could not have been more -than a few seconds until the bear gave forth another snort, and Tom -raised up from his side of the bed, and said: “Balser, for goodness’ -sake stop snoring. The noise you make would bring a dead man to life.” - -Tom’s voice aroused the bear, and it immediately rose upon its haunches -with a deep growl that seemed to shake the tree. Then Jim awakened and -began to scream. At the same instant Tige and Prince entered the tree, -and a fight at once ensued between the bear and dogs. The bear was as -badly frightened as the boys, and when it and the dogs ran about the -room the boys were thrown to the ground and trampled upon. - -The beast, in his desperate effort to escape, ran into the fireplace and -scattered the coals and ashes. As he could not escape through the -fireplace, he backed into the room, and again made the rounds of the -tree with the dogs at his heels. Again the boys were knocked about as if -they were ninepins. They made an effort to reach the door, but all I -have told you about took place so quickly, and the darkness was so -intense, that they failed to escape. Meantime the fight between the dogs -and the bear went on furiously, and the barking, yelping, growling, and -snarling made a noise that was deafening. Balser lifted Jim to his arms -and tried to save him from injury, but his efforts were of small avail, -for with each plunge of the bear the boys were thrown to the ground or -dashed against the tree, until it seemed that there was not a spot upon -their bodies that was not bruised and scratched. At last, after a minute -or two of awful struggle and turmoil—a minute or two that seemed hours -to the boys—the bear made his exit through the door followed closely by -Tige and Prince, who clung to him with a persistency not to be shaken -off. - -You may be sure that the boys lost no time in making their exit also. -Their first thoughts, of course, were of each other, and when Balser -learned that Jim and Tom had received no serious injury, he quickly -turned his head in the direction whence the bear and dogs had gone, and -saw them at a point in the bend of the creek not fifty yards away. The -bear had come to bay, and the dogs were in front of him, at a safe -distance, barking furiously. Then Balser’s courage returned, and he -hastily went into the tree, brought out his carbine, and hurried toward -the scene of conflict. The moon was at its full, and the snow upon the -trees and upon the ground helped to make the night almost as light as -day. The bear was sitting erect upon his haunches, hurling defiant -growls at the dogs, and when Balser approached him, the brute presented -his breast as a fair mark. Tom also fetched his gun and followed closely -at Balser’s heels. The attention of the bear was so occupied with the -dogs that he gave no heed to the boys, and they easily approached him to -within a distance of five or six yards. Tom and Balser stood for a -moment or two with their guns ready to fire, and Balser said: “Tom, you -shoot first. I’ll watch carefully, and hold my fire until the bear makes -a rush, should you fail to kill him.” - -Much to Balser’s surprise, Tom quickly and fearlessly took three or four -steps toward the bear, and when he lifted his father’s long gun to fire, -the end of it was within three yards of the bear’s breast. - -[Illustration: “BALSER HESITATED TO FIRE, FEARING THAT HE MIGHT KILL TOM -OR ONE OF THE DOGS.”] - -Balser held his ground, much frightened at Tom’s reckless bravery, but -did not dare to speak. When Tom fired, the bear gave forth a fearful -growl, and sprang like a wildcat right upon the boy. Tom fell to the -ground upon his back, and the bear stood over him. The dogs quickly made -an attack, and Balser hesitated to fire, fearing that he might kill Tom -or one of the dogs. Then came Jim, who rushed past Balser toward Tom and -the bear, and if Jim’s courage had ever before been doubted, all such -doubts were upon that night removed forever. The little fellow carried -in his hand Tom’s hatchet, and without fear or hesitancy he ran to the -bear and began to strike him with all his little might. Meantime poor, -prostrate Tom was crying piteously for help, and, now that Jim was added -to the group, it seemed impossible for Balser to fire at the bear. But -no time was to be lost. If Balser did not shoot, Tom certainly would be -killed in less than ten seconds. So, without stopping to take thought, -and upon the impulse of one of those rare intuitions under the influence -of which persons move so accurately, Balser lifted his gun to his -shoulder. He could see the bear’s head plainly as it swayed from side to -side, just over Tom’s throat, and it seemed that he could not miss his -aim. Almost without looking, he pulled the trigger. He felt the rebound -of the gun and heard the report breaking the heavy silence of the night. -Then he dropped the gun upon the snow and covered his face with his -hands, fearing to see the result of his shot. He stood for a moment -trembling. The dogs had stopped barking; the bear had stopped growling; -Jim had ceased to cry out; Tom had ceased his call for help, and the -deep silence rested upon Balser’s heart like a load of lead. He could -not take his hands from his face. After a moment he felt Jim’s little -hand upon his arm, and Tom said, as he drew himself from beneath the -bear, “Balser, there’s no man or boy living but you that could have made -that shot in the moonlight.” - -Then Balser knew that he had killed the bear, and he sank upon the snow -and wept as if his heart would break. - -Notwithstanding the intense cold, the excitement of battle had made the -boys unconscious of it, and Tom and Jim stood by Balser’s side as he sat -upon the snow, and they did not feel the sting of the night. - -Poor little Jim, who was so given to grumbling, much to the surprise of -his companions fell upon his knees, and said, “Don’t cry, Balser, don’t -cry,” although the tears were falling over the little fellow’s own -cheeks. “Don’t cry any more, Balser, the bear is dead all over. I heard -the bullet whiz past my ears, and I heard it strike the bear’s head just -as plain as you can hear that owl hoot; and then I knew that you had -saved Tom and me, because nobody can shoot as well as you can.” - -The little fellow’s tenderness and his pride in Balser seemed all the -sweeter, because it sprang from his childish gruffness. - -Tom and Jim helped Balser to his feet, and they went over to the spot -where the bear was lying stone dead with Balser’s bullet in his brain. -The dogs were sniffing at the dead bear, and the monster brute lay upon -the snow in the moonlight, and looked like a huge incarnate fiend. - -After examining him for a moment the boys slowly walked back to the -tree. When they had entered they raked the coals together, put on an -armful of wood, called in the dogs to share their comfort, hung up the -deerskin at the door, drew the bearskins in front of the fire, and sat -down to talk and think, since there was no sleep left in their eyes for -the rest of that night. - -After a long silence Jim said, “I told you he’d come back.” - -“But he didn’t eat us,” replied Tom, determined that Jim should not be -right in everything. - -“He’d have eaten you, Limpy Fox, if Balser hadn’t been the best shot in -the world.” - -“That’s what he would,” answered Tom, half inclined to cry. - -“Nonsense,” said Balser, “anybody could have done it.” - -“Well, I reckon not” said Jim. “Me and Tom and the dogs and the bear was -as thick as six in a bed; and honest, Balser, I think you had to shoot -around a curve to miss us all but the bear.” - -After a few minutes Jim said: “Golly! wasn’t that an awful fight we had -in here before the bear got out?” - -“Yes, it was,” returned Balser, seriously. - -“Well, I rather think it was,” continued Jim. “Honestly, fellows, I ran -around this here room so fast for a while, that—that I could see my own -back most of the time.” - -Balser and Tom laughed, and Tom said: “Jim, if you keep on improving, -you’ll be a bigger liar than that fellow in the Bible before you’re half -his age.” - -Then the boys lapsed into silence, and the dogs lay stretched before the -fire till the welcome sun began to climb the hill of the sky and spread -his blessed tints of gray and blue and pink and red, followed by the -glorious flood of day. - -After breakfast the boys skinned the bear and cut his carcass into small -pieces—that is, such portions of it as they cared to keep. They hung the -bearskin and meat upon the branches of their castle beyond the reach of -wolves and foxes, and they gave to Tige and Prince each a piece of meat -that made their sides stand out with fulness. - -The saving of the bear meat and skin consumed most of the morning, and -at noon the boys took a loin steak from the bear and broiled it upon the -coals for dinner. After dinner they began the real work of the -expedition by preparing to set the traps. - -When all was ready they started up the creek, each boy carrying a load -of traps over his shoulder. At a distance of a little more than half a -mile from the castle they found a beaver dam stretching across the -creek, and at the water’s edge near each end of the dam they saw -numberless tracks made by the little animals whose precious pelts they -were so anxious to obtain. - -I should like to tell you of the marvellous home of that wonderful -little animal the beaver, and of his curious habits and instincts; how -he chops wood and digs into the ground and plasters his home, under the -water, with mud, using his tail for shovel and trowel. But all that you -may learn from any book on natural history, and I assure you it will be -found interesting reading. - -The boys placed five or six traps upon the beaver paths on each side of -the creek, and then continued their journey up stream until they found a -little opening in the ice down to which, from the bank above, ran a -well-beaten path, telling plainly of the many kinds of animals that had -been going there to drink. There they set a few traps and baited them -with small pieces of bear meat, and then they returned home, intending -to visit the traps next morning at an early hour, and hoping to reap a -rich harvest of pelts. - -When the boys reached home it lacked little more than an hour of sunset, -but the young fellows had recovered from the excitement of the night -before, which had somewhat destroyed their appetites for breakfast and -dinner, and by the time they had returned from setting their traps those -same appetites were asserting themselves with a vigour that showed -plainly enough a fixed determination to make up for lost time. - -“How would a wild turkey or a venison steak taste for supper?” asked -Balser. - -Jim simply looked up at him with a greedy, hungry expression, and -exclaimed the one word—“Taste?” - -“Well, I’ll go down the creek a little way and see what I can find. You -fellows stay here and build a fire, so that we can have a fine bed of -coals when I return.” - -Balser shouldered his gun and went down the creek to find his supper. He -did not take the dogs, for he hoped to kill a wild turkey, and dogs are -apt to bark in the pursuit of squirrels and rabbits, thereby frightening -the turkey, which is a shy and wary bird. - -[Illustration] - -When the boy had travelled quite a long distance down stream, he began -to fear that, after all, he should be compelled to content himself with -a rabbit or two for supper. So he turned homeward and scanned the woods -carefully for the humble game, that he might not go home entirely -empty-handed. - -Upon his journey down the creek rabbits had sprung up on every side of -him, but now that he wanted a pair for supper they all had mysteriously -disappeared, and he feared that he and the boys and the dogs would be -compelled to content themselves with bear meat. - -[Illustration: “ESPIED A DOE AND A FAWN, STANDING UPON THE OPPOSITE SIDE -OF THE CREEK.”] - -When the boy was within a few hundred yards of home, and had almost -despaired of obtaining even a rabbit, he espied a doe and a fawn, -standing upon the opposite side of the creek at a distance of sixty or -seventy yards, watching him intently with their great brown eyes, so -full of fatal curiosity. Balser imitated the cry of the fawn, and held -the attention of the doe until he was enabled to lessen the distance by -fifteen or twenty yards. Then he shot the fawn, knowing that if he did -so, its mother, the doe, would run for a short distance and would return -to the fawn. In the meantime Balser would load his gun and would kill -the doe when she returned. And so it happened that the doe and the fawn -each fell a victim to our hunter’s skill. Balser threw the fawn over his -shoulder and carried it to the castle; then the boys took one of the -sleds and fetched home the doe. - -They hung the doe high upon the branches of the sycamore, and cut the -fawn into small pieces, which they put upon the ice of the creek and -covered with snow, that the meat might quickly cool. The bed of coals -was ready, and the boys were ready too, you may be sure. - -Soon the fawn meat cooled, and soon each boy was devouring a savoury -piece that had been broiled upon the coals. - -After supper the boys again built a fine fire, and sat before it talking -of the events of the day, and wondering how many beavers, foxes, coons, -and muskrats they would find in their traps next morning. - -As the fire died down drowsiness stole over our trappers, who were in -the habit of going to bed soon after sunset, and they again crept in -between the bearskins with Jim in the middle. They, however, took the -precaution to keep Tige and Prince in the same room with them, and the -boys slept that night without fear of an intrusion such as had disturbed -them the night before. - -Next morning, bright and early, the boys hurried up the creek to examine -their traps, and greatly to their joy found five beavers and several -minks, coons, and muskrats safely captured. Near one of the traps was -the foot of a fox, which its possessor had bitten off in the night when -he learned that he could not free it from the cruel steel. - -The boys killed the animals they had caught by striking them on the head -with a heavy club, which method of inflicting death did not damage the -pelts as a sharp instrument or bullet would have done. After resetting -the traps, our hunters placed the game upon the sled and hurried home to -their castle, where the pelts were carefully removed, stretched upon -forked sticks, and hung up to dry. - -Our heroes remained in camp for ten or twelve days, and each morning -brought them a fine supply of fur. They met with no other adventure -worthy to be related, and one day was like another. They awakened each -morning with the sun, and ate their breakfast of broiled venison, fish, -or quail, with now and then a rabbit. Upon one occasion they had the -breast of a wild turkey. They sought the traps, took the game, prepared -the pelts, ate their dinners and suppers of broiled meats and baked -sweet potatoes, and slumbered cozily beneath their warm bearskins till -morning. - -One day Balser noticed that the snow was melting and was falling from -the trees. He and his companions had taken enough pelts to make a heavy -load upon each of the sleds. They feared that the weather might suddenly -grow warm and that the snow might disappear. So they leisurely packed -the pelts and their belongings, and next morning started for home on -Blue River, the richest, happiest boys in the settlement. - -They were glad to go home, but it was with a touch of sadness, when they -passed around the bend in the creek, that they said “Good-by” to their -“Castle on Brandywine.” - -[Illustration] - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - Dorothy Vernon of Haddon Hall - - - By CHARLES MAJOR - - _Author of “When Knighthood Was in Flower,” etc._ - - With eight full-page illustrations by HOWARD CHANDLER CHRISTY - - Cloth 12mo $1.50 - - -“Dorothy Vernon is an Elizabethan maid, but a living, loving, lovable -girl.... The lover of accuracy of history in fiction may rest contented, -with the story; but he will probably care little for that once he has -been caught by the spirit and freshness of the romance.”—_The Mail and -Express._ - -“Dorothy is a splendid creation, a superb creature of brains, beauty, -force, capacity, and passion, a riot of energy, love, and red blood. She -is the fairest, fiercest, strongest, tenderest heroine that ever woke up -a jaded novel reader and made him realize that life will be worth living -so long as the writers of fiction create her like.... The story has -brains, ‘go,’ virility, gumption, and originality.”—_The Boston -Transcript._ - -“Dorothy is a fascinating character, whose womanly whims and cunning -ways in dealing with her manly, honest lover and her wrathful father are -cleverly portrayed. The interest is maintained to the end. Some might -call Dorothy a vixen, but she is of that rare and ravishing kind who -have tried (and satisfied) men’s souls from the days of Mother Eve to -the present time.”—_The New York Herald._ - -“A romance of much delicacy, variety, strength, and grace, in which are -revealed the history of four lovers who by their purely human attributes -are distinct types.”—_Evening Journal News_, Evansville. - -“As a study of woman, the incomprehensible, yet thoroughly lovable, -Dorothy Vernon clearly leads all recent attempts in fiction. Dorothy is -a wonderful creature.”—_Columbus Evening Dispatch._ - -“Dorothy is a feminine whirlwind, very attractive to her audience if -somewhat disconcerting to her victims, and the story, even in these days -when romance has become a drug, makes good reading.”—_New York Life._ - - - - - Tommy-Anne and the Three Hearts - - - By MABEL OSGOOD WRIGHT - - Author of “Dogtown,” “Citizen Bird,” etc. - - With illustrations by ALBERT BLASHFIELD - - Cloth 12mo $1.50 - - -“The more of such books as these, the better for the children. One -Tommy-Anne is worth a whole shelf of the average juvenile -literature.”—_The Critic._ - -“A better gift book for the little folks there could not be than this -charming work.... Genius of this rare order is decidedly one of Mrs. -Wright’s gifts, and this is proven by the fascinated interest that -gray-haired readers cannot help feeling in the book.”—_The American_, -Philadelphia. - -“The child who reads will be charmed while he is instructed, and led on -to make new discoveries for himself.”—_The Nation._ - - - - - Wabeno, the Magician - - - The sequel to “Tommy-Anne and the Three Hearts” - - By MABEL OSGOOD WRIGHT - - Author of “Four-footed Americans,” etc. - - With illustrations by JOSEPH M. GLEESON - - Cloth 12mo $1.50 - - -“Only positive genius could weave such subtle webs of fancy, poetical in -warp and woof, yet practical in knowledge. The book is interestingly -illustrated.”—_The Chautauquan._ - - - THE MACMILLAN COMPANY - - 64–66 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES - - - 1. Changed “CHAPTER IX. A CASTLE ON THE BRANDYWINE” to “CHAPTER X. A - CASTLE ON THE BRANDYWINE” on p. 238. - 2. Silently corrected typographical errors. - 3. Retained anachronistic and non-standard spellings as printed. - 4. Enclosed italics font in _underscores_. - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's The Bears of Blue River, by Charles Major - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BEARS OF BLUE RIVER *** - -***** This file should be named 54915-0.txt or 54915-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/4/9/1/54915/ - -Produced by Richard Tonsing, Larry B. 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