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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: Snagged and Sunk - Adventures of a Canvas Canoe - -Author: Harry Castlemon - -Release Date: October 28, 2017 [EBook #55843] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SNAGGED AND SUNK *** - - - - -Produced by KD Weeks, David Edwards and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -book was produced from scanned images of public domain -material from the Google Books project.) - - - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - Transcriber’s Note: - -This version of the text cannot represent certain typographical effects. -Italics are delimited with the ‘_’ character as _italic_. - -Minor errors, attributable to the printer, have been corrected. Please -see the transcriber’s note at the end of this text for details regarding -the handling of any textual issues encountered during its preparation. - -[Illustration: RALPH FINDS THE STOLEN GUNS.] - - _FOREST AND STREAM SERIES._ - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - SNAGGED AND SUNK; - OR, THE - ADVENTURES OF A CANVAS CANOE. - - - - - BY - HARRY CASTLEMON, - - AUTHOR OF “GUNBOAT SERIES,” “ROCKY MOUNTAIN - SERIES,” “SPORTSMAN CLUB SERIES,” ETC. - - - - - PHILADELPHIA - HENRY T. COATES & CO. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - FAMOUS CASTLEMON BOOKS. - - --------------------- - -=GUNBOAT SERIES.= By HARRY CASTLEMON. 6 vols. 12mo. - - FRANK THE YOUNG NATURALIST. FRANK ON A GUNBOAT. - FRANK IN THE WOODS. FRANK BEFORE VICKSBURG. - FRANK ON THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI. FRANK ON THE PRAIRIE. - - -=ROCKY MOUNTAIN SERIES.= By HARRY CASTLEMON. 3 vols. 12mo. Cloth. - - FRANK AMONG THE RANCHEROS. FRANK AT DON CARLOS’ RANCH. - FRANK IN THE MOUNTAINS. - - -=SPORTSMAN’S CLUB SERIES.= By HARRY CASTLEMON. 3 vols. 12mo. Cloth. - - THE SPORTSMAN’S CLUB IN THE SADDLE. THE SPORTSMAN’S CLUB AMONG THE - TRAPPERS. - - THE SPORTSMAN’S CLUB AFLOAT. - - -=FRANK NELSON SERIES.= By HARRY CASTLEMON. 3 vols. 12mo. Cloth. - - SNOWED UP. THE BOY TRADERS. FRANK IN THE FORECASTLE. - - -=BOY TRAPPER SERIES.= By HARRY CASTLEMON. 3 vols. 12mo. Cloth. - - THE BURIED TREASURE. THE BOY TRAPPER. THE MAIL-CARRIER. - - -=ROUGHING IT SERIES.= By HARRY CASTLEMON. 3 vols. 12mo. Cloth. - - GEORGE IN CAMP. GEORGE AT THE WHEEL. GEORGE AT THE FORT. - - -=ROD AND GUN SERIES.= By HARRY CASTLEMON. 3 vols. 12mo. Cloth. - - DON GORDON’S SHOOTING BOX. ROD AND GUN CLUB. - THE YOUNG WILD FOWLERS. - - -=GO-AHEAD SERIES.= By HARRY CASTLEMON. 3 vols. l2mo. Cloth. - - TOM NEWCOMBE. GO-AHEAD. NO MOSS. - - -=FOREST AND STREAM SERIES.= By HARRY CASTLEMON. 3 vols. 12mo. Cloth. - - JOE WAYRING. SNAGGED AND SUNK. STEEL HORSE. - - -=WAR SERIES.= By HARRY CASTLEMON. 5 vols. 12mo. Cloth. - - TRUE TO HIS COLORS. RODNEY THE PARTISAN. - RODNEY THE OVERSEER. MARCY THE BLOCKADE-RUNNER. - MARCY THE REFUGEE. - - - _Other Volumes in Preparation._ - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - COPYRIGHT, 1888, BY PORTER & COATES. - - CONTENTS. - - CHAPTER PAGE - I. IN WHICH I BEGIN MY STORY, 5 - II. CAPTURED AGAIN, 28 - III. IN THE WATCHMAN’S CABIN, 52 - IV. A NIGHT ADVENTURE, 74 - V. JAKE COYLE’S SILVER MINE, 98 - VI. JAKE WORKS HIS MINE, 120 - VII. AMONG FRIENDS AGAIN, 142 - VIII. JOE WAYRING IN TROUBLE, 166 - IX. TOM VISITS THE HATCHERY, 192 - X. MORE TROUBLE FOR TOM BIGDEN, 217 - XI. SAM ON THE TRAIL, 242 - XII. ABOUT VARIOUS THINGS, 265 - XIII. JOE WAYRING’S PLUCK, 289 - XIV. THE GUIDE “SURROUNDS” MATT’S CAMP, 314 - XV. ON THE RIGHT TRACK AT LAST, 338 - XVI. AT THE BOTTOM OF THE RIVER, 363 - XVII. THE EXPERT COLUMBIA, 381 - XVIII. CONCLUSION, 398 - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - SNAGGED AND SUNK; - OR, - THE ADVENTURES OF A CANVAS CANOE. - - - - - CHAPTER I. - IN WHICH I BEGIN MY STORY. - - “Beneath a hemlock grim and dark, - Where shrub and vine are intertwining, - Our shanty stands, well roofed with bark, - On which the cheerful blaze is shining. - The smoke ascends in spiral wreath; - With upward curve the sparks are trending; - The coffee kettle sings beneath - Where sparks and smoke with leaves are blending.” - - - Joe Wayring’s voice rang out loud and clear, and the words of his song - were repeated by the echoes from a dozen different points among the - hills by which the camp was surrounded on every side. Joe was putting - the finishing touches to the roof of a bark shanty; Roy Sheldon, with - the aid of a double-bladed camp ax, was cutting a supply of hard wood - to cook the trout he had just cleaned; and Arthur Hastings was sitting - close by picking browse for the beds. The scene of their camp was a - spring-hole, located deep in the forest twelve miles from Indian Lake. - Although it was a noted place for trout, it was seldom visited by the - guests of the hotels for the simple reason that they did not know that - there was such a spring-hole in existence, and the guides were much - too sharp to tell them of it. - - Hotel guides, as a class, are not fond of work, and neither will they - take a guest very far beyond the sound of their employer’s dinner - horn. The landlords hire them by the month and the guides get just so - much money, no matter whether their services are called into - requisition or not. If business is dull and the guests few in number, - the guides loaf around the hotel in idleness, and of course the less - they do the less they are inclined to do. If they are sent out with a - guest, they take him over grounds that have been hunted and fished - until there is neither fur, fin, nor feather left, cling closely to - the water-ways, avoiding even the shortest “carries,” their sole - object being to earn their wages with the least possible exertion. - They don’t care whether the guest catches any fish or not. But our - three friends, Joe Wayring, Roy Sheldon, and Arthur Hastings, were not - dependent upon the hotel guides for sport during their summer outings. - Being perfectly familiar with the country for miles around Indian - Lake, they went wherever their fancy led them, and with no fear of - getting lost. - - “And on the stream a light canoe - Floats like a freshly fallen feather— - A fairy thing that will not do - For broader seas and stormy weather. - Her sides no thicker than the shell - Of Ole Bull’s Cremona fiddle; - The man who rides her will do well - To part his scalp-lock in the middle,” - - sang Joe, backing off and looking approvingly at his work. “There, - fellows, that roof is tight, and now it can rain as soon as it - pleases. With two acres of trout right in front of the door, and a - camp located so far from the lake that we are not likely to be - disturbed by any interlopers—what more could three boys who want to be - lazy ask for?” - - “There’s one thing I would like to ask for,” replied Roy, “and that is - the assurance that Tom Bigden and his cousins will go back to Mount - Airy without trying to come any tricks on us. I wonder what brought - them up here any way?” - - “Why, they came after their rods, of course,” answered Arthur. “You - know I sent them a despatch stating that their rods were in Mr. - Hanson’s possession, and that they could get them by refunding the - money that Hanson had paid Jake Coyle for them.” - - “But they have been loafing around the lake for a whole week, doing - nothing but holding stolen interviews with Matt Coyle and his boys,” - said Roy. “I tell you I don’t like the way those worthies put their - heads together. I believe they are in ca-hoots. If they are not, how - does it come that Tom and his cousins can see Matt as often as they - want to, while the guides and landlords, who are so very anxious to - have him arrested, can not find him or obtain any satisfactory news of - him?” - - “That’s the very reason they can’t find him—because they want to have - him arrested, and Matt knows it,” observed Joe. “But why Tom doesn’t - reveal Matt’s hiding-place to the constable is more than I can - understand. Did it ever occur to you that perhaps Matt has some sort - of a hold on those boys, and that they are afraid to go against him?” - - “I have thought of it,” replied Arthur. “I have never been able to get - it out of my head that Tom acted suspiciously on the day your canvas - canoe was stolen. He played his part pretty well, but I believed then, - and I believe now, that he knew that canoe was gone before he came - back to the beach.” - - “I know Tom didn’t show much enthusiasm when we started after that - bear, and that he did not go very far from the pond,” assented Joe. - “It is possible that he saw Matt steal my canoe, and that he made no - effort to stop him; but I think you are mistaken when you say that - they are in ca-hoots. I don’t believe they have any thing in common. - Tom is much too high-toned for that. I know that he has been seen in - Matt’s company a time or two, but I am of the opinion that they met by - accident and not by appointment.” - - “But Tom knew the officers were looking for Matt, and what was the - reason he didn’t tell them that he had seen him?” demanded Arthur. - - “He probably would if he hadn’t thought that we were the ones that - wanted him arrested,” replied Joe. “Tom and his cousins do not like - us, and Matt Coyle might steal us poor, and they would never lift a - hand or say a word to prevent it. But we are safe from them now. Even - if they knew where to find us, Matt and his boys are much too lazy to - walk twelve miles through the thick woods just to get into a fight - with us.” - - Perhaps they were, and perhaps they were not. Time will show. - - If you have read the first volume of the “Forest and Stream Series,” - you will recollect that the story it contained was told by “Old - Durability,” Joe Wayring’s Fly-rod. In concluding his interesting - narrative, Fly-rod said that he would step aside and give place to his - “accommodating friend,” the Canvas Canoe, who, in the second volume of - the series, would describe some of the incidents that came under his - notice while he was a prisoner in the bands of the Indian Lake - vagabonds, Matt Coyle and his two worthless boys, Jake and Sam. I am - the Canvas Canoe, at your service, and I am now ready to redeem that - promise. - - You will remember that the last duty I performed for my master, Joe - Wayring, was to take him and Fly-rod up to the “little perch hole,” - leaving Arthur Hastings and Roy Sheldon in the pond to angle for black - bass. Joe preferred to fish for perch, because he was afraid to trust - his light tackle in a struggle with so gamey a foe as a bass; but, as - luck would have it, he struck one the very first cast he made, and got - into a fight that was enough to make any angler’s nerves thrill with - excitement. - - The battle lasted half an hour; and when it was over and the fish - safely landed, Joe discovered that it was growing dark. While he was - putting Fly-rod away in his case I happened to look up the creek, and - what should I see there but the most disreputable looking scow I ever - laid my eyes on? I had never seen him before, but I knew the crew he - carried, for I had had considerable experience with them. They were - the squatter and his boys, who, as you know, had sworn vengeance - against Joe Wayring and his friends, because Joe’s father would not - permit them to live on his land. - - Matt and his young allies discovered Joe before the latter saw them, - and made an effort to steal alongside and capture him before he knew - that there was any danger near; but one of the impatient boys - carelessly allowed his paddle to rub against the side of the scow, and - the sound alarmed Joe, who at once took to the water and struck out - for shore, leaving me to my fate. But I never blamed Joe for that, - because I knew he could not have done any thing else. He had paid out - a good deal of rope in order to place himself in the best position for - casting, and he could not haul it in and raise the anchor before his - enemies would be upon him. - - “So that’s your game, is it?” shouted the squatter, when he saw Joe - pulling for the shore with long lusty strokes. “Wal, it suits us I - reckon. Never mind the boat, Jakey. She’s fast anchored and will stay - there till we want her. Take after the ’ristocrat whose dad won’t let - honest folks live onto his land less’n they’ve got a pocketful of - money to pay him for it. Jest let me get a good whack at him with my - paddle, an’ he’ll stop, I bet you.” - - Now we know that Matt didn’t tell the truth when he said that Joe - Wayring’s father would not let any one live on his land except those - who had money to pay for the privilege. Mr. Wayring was one of the - most liberal citizens in Mount Airy. Nearly all the men who were - employed as guides and boatmen by the summer visitors lived in neat - little cottages that he had built on purpose for them, and for which - he never charged them a cent of rent; and when Matt Coyle and his - family came into the lake with a punt load of goods, and took - possession of one of his lots, and proceeded to erect a shanty upon it - without asking his permission, Mr. Wayring did not utter one word of - protest. It is true that he was not very favorably impressed with the - appearance of the new-comers, but he thought he would give them an - opportunity to show what they were before he ordered them off his - grounds. If they proved to be honest, hard-working people they might - stay and welcome, and he would treat them as well as he treated the - other inhabitants of “Stumptown.” - - But it turned out that Matt Coyle was neither honest nor hard-working. - He had once been a hanger-on about the hotels at Indian Lake. He - called himself an independent guide (neither of the hotels would have - any thing to do with him), but, truth to tell, he did not do much - guiding. He gained a precarious subsistence by hunting, trapping, - fishing, and stealing. It was easier to steal a living than it was to - earn it by hunting and trapping, and Matt’s depredations finally - became so numerous and daring that the guides hunted him down as they - would a bear or a wolf that had preyed upon their sheep-folds, and - when they caught him ordered him out of the country. To make sure of - his going they destroyed every article of his property that they could - get their hands on, thus forcing him, as one of the guides remarked, - to go off somewhere and steal a new outfit. - - Where Matt and his enterprising family went after that no one knew. - They disappeared, and for a few weeks were neither seen nor heard of; - but in due time they rowed their punt into Mirror Lake, as I have - recorded, and Matt and his boys at once sought employment as guides - and boatmen. But here again they were doomed to disappointment. The - managers of the different hotels saw at a glance that they were not - proper persons to be trusted on the lake with a boatload of women and - children, and told them very decidedly that their services were not - needed. The truth was they drank more whisky than water, and guides of - that sort were not wanted in Mount Airy. - - Matt and his boys next tried fishing as a means of earning a - livelihood; but no one could have made his salt at that, because the - guests sojourning at the hotels and boarding houses, with the - assistance of the regular guides, kept all the tables abundantly - supplied. This second failure made the squatters angry, and they - concluded that affairs about Mount Airy were not properly managed, and - they would “run the town” to suit themselves. But they could not do - that either, for they were promptly arrested and thrust into the - calaboose. - - After they had been put in there twice, the trustees concluded that - they were of no use in Mount Airy, and that they had better go - somewhere else. Accordingly Matt received a notice to pull down his - shanty and clear out. The officer who was intrusted with the writ had - considerable trouble in serving it, but he had more in compelling the - squatter to vacate the lot of which he had taken unauthorized - possession. Matt and his boys showed fight, while the old woman, who, - to quote from Frank Noble, “proved to be the best man in the party,” - threw hot water about in the most reckless fashion. After a spirited - battle the representatives of law and order came off victoriously, and - Matt and his belongings were tumbled unceremoniously into the punt and - shoved out into the lake. This made them almost frantic; and before - they pulled away they uttered the most direful threats against those - who had been instrumental in driving them out of Mount Airy “because - they were poor and didn’t have no good clothes to wear,” and they even - went so far as to threaten to burn Mr. Wayring’s house. But you will - remember that it was Tom Bigden, a boy who hated Joe for just nothing - at all, who put that idea into Matt’s head. - - Being once more adrift in the world, the squatter made the best of his - way to Sherwin’s pond to carry out certain other plans that had been - suggested to him by that same Tom Bigden, who never could be easy - unless he was getting himself or somebody else into trouble. Between - the lake and the pond there were twelve miles of rapids. Having run - them scores of times under the skillful guidance of my master, I may - be supposed to be tolerably familiar with them, and to this day I can - not understand how Matt ever succeeded in getting his clumsy old punt - to the bottom of them in safety. He must have had a hard time of it, - for the bow of his craft was so badly battered by the rocks that it - was a mystery how he ever took it across the pond and up the creek to - the place where he made his temporary camp. With his usual caution he - concealed his shanty in a grove of evergreens, and waited as patiently - as he could for something to “turn up.” Tom Bigden had assured him - that he could make plenty of money by simply keeping his eyes open, - but Matt did not find it so. - - “I don’t b’lieve that ’ristocrat knew what he was talkin’ about when - he said that some of them sailboats up there in the lake would be sure - to break loose, an’ that I could make money by ketchin’ ’em as they - come through the rapids, an’ givin’ ’em up to their owners,” said the - squatter one day, when his supply of corn meal and potatoes began to - show signs of giving out. “There ain’t nary one of ’em broke loose - yet, an’ if any one of them p’inters an’ hound dogs that we’ve heared - givin’ tongue in the woods ever lost their bearin’s I don’ know it, - fur they never come nigh me.” - - “He said that if the things he was talkin’ about didn’t happen of - theirselves, he’d make ’em happen,“ suggested Jake. - - “What do you reckon he meant by that?” - - “Why, it was a hint to you to go up to the lake some dark night, an’ - turn the boats loose,” replied Jake. “Then they’d come down, an’ we - could ketch ’em an’ hold fast to ’em till we was offered a reward fur - givin’ ’em up. But, pap, since I’ve seed them rapids, I don’t b’lieve - that no livin’ boat could ever come through ’em without smashin’ - herself all to pieces, less’n there was somebody aboard of her to keep - her off’n the rocks.” - - “No more do I,” answered Matt, “an’ I shan’t bother with ’em, nuther. - I ain’t forgot that they’ve got a calaboose up there to Mount Airy, - an’ that they’d jest as soon shove a feller into it as not. But - something has got to be done, or else we’ll go hungry for want of grub - to eat.” - - So saying, Matt shouldered his rifle, and set out to hunt up his - dinner, and on the same day Joe Wayring and his two chums, accompanied - by Tom Bigden, and his cousins, Ralph and Loren Farnsworth, ran the - rapids into Sherwin’s Pond, to fish for bass. They caught a fine - string, as every one did who went there, and were talking about going - ashore to cook their breakfast, when they discovered a half-grown bear - on the shore of the pond. Of course they made haste to start in - pursuit of him—all except Tom Bigden. The latter told himself that the - bear did not belong to him, that it was no concern of his whether he - were killed or not, and sat down on a log and fought musquitoes while - waiting for Joe and the rest to tire themselves out in the chase and - come back. - - Now Matt Coyle had his eye on that bear, and wanted to shoot him too, - for, as I have said, his larder was nearly empty. He was ready to do - something desperate when he saw Joe and his companions paddle ashore - and frighten the game, but presently it occurred to him that he might - profit by it. He knew that the boys would never have come so far from - home without bringing a substantial lunch with them, and as they had - left their canoes unguarded on the beach, what was there to hinder him - from sneaking up through the bushes and stealing that lunch? Turn - about was fair play. And, while he was about it, what was there to - prevent him from taking his pick of the canoes? Then he would have - something to work with. He could go up to Indian Lake and make another - effort to establish himself there as independent guide; and, if he - failed to accomplish his object, he could paddle about in his canoe, - rob every unguarded camp he could find, and make the sportsmen who - came there for recreation so sick of those woods that they would never - visit them again. In that way he could ruin the hotels as well as the - guides who were so hostile to him. It was a glorious plan, Matt told - himself, and while he was turning it over in his mind he suddenly - found himself face to face with Tom Bigden. - - You know the conversation that passed between these two worthies, and - remember how artfully Tom went to work to increase the unreasonable - enmity which Matt Coyle cherished against Joe Wayring. After taking - leave of Tom, the squatter plundered all the canoes that were drawn up - beside me on the beach, first making sure of the baskets and bundles - that contained the lunches, gave them all into my keeping, and shoved - out into the pond with me. If I had possessed the power wouldn’t I - have turned him overboard in short order? Matt was so clumsy and - awkward that I was in hopes he would capsize me and spill himself out; - but, although he could not make me ride on an even keel, he managed to - keep me right side up, and, much to my disgust, I carried him safely - across the pond and up the creek to his shanty. - - As the squatter was impatient to begin the business of guiding so that - he could make some money before the season was over, and anxious to - get beyond reach of the officers of the law who would soon be on his - track, he lost no time in breaking camp and setting out for Indian - Lake. Before he went he burned his shanty and punt, so that the Mount - Airy sportsmen could not find shelter in the one or use the other in - fishing in the pond. He spent half an hour in trying to take me to - pieces, so that he could carry me in his hand as if I were a valise, - and finally giving it up as a task beyond his powers, he raised me to - his shoulder and fell in behind his wife and boys, who led the way - toward Indian Lake. - - During the short time I remained in Matt Coyle’s possession I fared - well enough, for I was too valuable an article to be maltreated; but I - despised the company I was obliged to keep and the work I was expected - to do. Matt’s first care was to lay in a supply of provisions for the - use of his family; and as he had no money at his command and no - immediate prospect of earning any, of course he expected to steal - every thing he wanted. This was not a difficult task, for long - experience had made him and his boys expert in the line of foraging. - Nearly all the guides cultivated little patches of ground and raised a - few pigs and chickens, and when their duties called them away from - home there was no one left to guard their property except their wives - and children. The latter could not stand watch day and night, and - consequently it was no trouble at all for Matt and his hopeful sons to - rob a hen-roost or a smokehouse as often as they felt like it. But, as - it happened, the very first foraging expedition he sent out, after he - made his new camp about two miles from Indian Lake, resulted most - disastrously for Matt Coyle. He ordered Jake and me to forage on Mr. - Swan, the genial, big-hearted guide of whom you may have heard - something in “The Story of a Fly-rod;” or, rather, Jake was to do the - stealing, and I was to bring back the plunder he secured. - - The young scapegrace had no difficulty in getting hold of a side of - bacon and filling a bag with potatoes, which he dug from the soil with - his hands, but there his good fortune ended. While he was making his - way up the creek toward home, he was discovered by Joe Wayring and his - two friends, Roy and Arthur, who were going to Indian Lake for their - usual summer’s outing. Of course they at once made a determined effort - to recapture me, and Jake in his mad struggle to escape ran me upon a - snag and sunk me, thus putting it out of his father’s power to go into - the business of independent guiding. The fights that grew out of that - night’s work were numerous and desperate, and Matt declared that he - would “even up” with the boys if he had to wait ten years for a chance - to do it. - - It was the work of but a few moments for my master, with the aid of - his friends, to bring me back to the surface of the water where I - belonged. He took me home with him when his outing was over, and there - I lived during the winter in comparative quiet, while Joe and his - chums were made the victims of so many petty annoyances that it was a - wonder to me how they kept their temper as well as they did. Matt - Coyle and his boys could not do any thing to trouble them, because - they were afraid to show themselves about the village; but Tom Bigden - and his cousins were alert and active. They bothered Joe in every - conceivable way. They made a lifelong enemy of Mars by sending him - home through the streets with a tin can tied to his tail; they shot at - Roy Sheldon’s tame pigeons as often as the birds ventured within range - of their long bows; they overturned Joe’s sailboat after he had hauled - it out on the beach and housed it for the winter; and one night I - heard them talk seriously of setting fire to the boathouse. Loren and - Ralph Farnsworth, however, were not willing to go as far as that, - knowing, as they did, that arson was a State’s prison offense, but - they agreed to Tom’s proposition to break into the boathouse and carry - off “that old canvas canoe that Joe seemed to think so much of,” - because they could do as much mischief of that sort as they pleased, - and no blame would be attached to them. It would all be laid at Matt - Coyle’s door. - - If I had been able to speak to him I would have told Tom that he was - mistaken when he said this, for Joe Wayring knew well enough whom he - had to thank for every thing that happened to him that winter. Tom and - his allies forgot that their foot prints in the snow and the marks of - their skates on the ice were, as Roy expressed it, “a dead give away.” - - Joe, however, did not say or do any thing to show that he suspected - Tom, for he was a boy who liked to live in peace with every body; but - when he came down to the boathouse the next morning and found that - some one had been tampering with the fastenings of the door, he took - me on his shoulder and carried me to his room, where I remained until - the winter was passed and the boating season opened. - - In the meantime I made the acquaintance of Fly-rod, who has told you a - portion of my history, and who was as green a specimen as I ever met; - but what else could you expect of a fellow who had never seen any - thing of the world or caught a fish! A few Saturdays spent at the - spring-holes and along the banks of the trout streams proved him to be - a strong, reliable rod, and by the time the summer vacation came Joe - had learned to put a good deal of confidence in him. One of the most - noteworthy exploits Fly-rod ever performed was capturing that big bass - at the perch-hole. That was on the day that Matt Coyle and his boys - came down the creek in their scow and made a captive of me and chased - my master through the woods; and this brings me back to my story. - - - - - CHAPTER II. - CAPTURED AGAIN. - - - I need not assure you that I was deeply interested in the exciting - scene that was enacted before me. I rode helplessly at my moorings and - watched Joe Wayring as he swam down the stream with his sturdiest - strokes to get clear of the lily-pads before attempting a landing, and - then I turned my attention to Matt Coyle and his boys, who had come to - grief in their efforts to force their way to the shore. - - “Back out!” shouted Matt, when he found that his scow could neither - ride over or break through the strong, tangled stems of the lily-pads. - “Be in a hurry, or he’ll get sich a start on us that we can’t never - ketch him.” And then he swung his heavy paddle around his head and - threw it at Joe, just as the latter crawled out upon the bank. - - Joe saw the missile coming toward him, and when it struck the ground - he caught it up and threw it back. He didn’t hit Matt, as he meant to - do, but he struck Jake such a stunning blow in the face that the boy - could take no part in the pursuit that followed. It came pretty near - knocking him overboard. I would have laughed if I could, but I did not - feel so jubilant when I heard Matt say: - - “Sam, you an’ Jakey get into the canoe an’ paddle down the pond so’s - to cut him off when he tries to swim off to the skiff.” - - In obedience to these instructions the two boys took possession of me, - hauled up the anchor, and paddled swiftly down the creek, while Matt - kept on after Joe, who was running through the woods like a frightened - deer. When we came out into the pond I saw him standing on the bank - beckoning to Arthur and Roy, who lost no time in bringing the skiff to - his relief. I saw Joe run into the water and strike out to meet them, - and I also heard him say: - - “Boys, never mind me. I’ve got my second wind now and can swim for an - hour. Go up there and capture my canoe, or else run over him and send - him to the bottom. Don’t let those villains take him away from me - again.” - - But Arthur and Roy did not think it best to act upon this suggestion - until they had taken care of Joe; and by the time they had got him - into the skiff it was too late for them to do any thing for me; for - Jake and his brother had put themselves out of harm’s way by pulling - for the shore, where Matt was waiting for them. When they reached it - they lifted me from the water and carried me so far into the bushes - that they knew Joe and his friends would not dare follow them, and - then each of them sheltered himself behind a tree. Matt and his boys - were afraid of Roy Sheldon, who was a swift and accurate thrower, and - when the latter rose to his feet to see what they had done with me - they thought he was about to open fire on them with potatoes, as he - had done once or twice before. - - “I’m onto your little game,” shouted the squatter, peeping out from - behind his tree and shaking his fist at the boys in the skiff. “You - don’t fire no more taters at me if I know it. Your boat is here, an’ - if you want it wusser’n we do, come an’ get it. ’Tain’t much account - nohow. Now then,” added Matt, as he saw the boys turn their skiff - about and pull back toward the other side of the pond, “ketch hold of - this canoe, all of us, an’ we’ll tote him up to the creek.” - - “Say, pap,” Sam interposed, “why don’t we foller ’em over there an’ - gobble up their other boat an’ bust up their things?” - - “That’s what I say,” groaned Jake, who wanted revenge for the stinging - blow that Joe had given him with Matt’s paddle. “We’re better men than - they ever dare be. I shan’t rest easy till I larrup that Joe Wayring.” - - “Now jest listen at the two fules!” exclaimed the squatter, in a tone - of disgust. “Have you forgot the peltin’ they give us with our own - taters last summer? ’Pears to me that you hadn’t oughter forget it, - Jakey, ’cause when you got that whack in the stummik you raised sich a - hollerin’ that you could have been heared clear up to Injun Lake. - Seems as though I could feel that bump yet,” added Matt, passing a - brawny fist over his cheek where a potato, thrown by Arthur Hastings’ - hand, had left a black and blue spot as large as a hen’s egg. “We’ll - wait till they get camped for the night, an’ then we’ll go over there - an’ steal ourselves rich.” - - If Matt had taken another look at the boys instead of being in such - haste to carry me up to the creek, he never would have thought - seriously of making a night attack upon their camp. Joe and his - friends had received a reinforcement in the person of Mr. Swan, a - hotel guide whom Matt Coyle had good reason to remember. The guide had - taken an active part in driving him and his vagabond crew out of the - Indian Lake country, and he was looking for him when he met Joe and - his chums. But Matt, believing that the boys had no one to depend on - but themselves, was sure that by a stealthy approach and quick assault - he could wipe out all old scores and enrich himself without incurring - the smallest risk, and he and his allies grew enthusiastic while they - talked about the great things they meant to do that night. - - During the progress of their conversation I learned, for the first - time, what had become of the rods and reels that Matt stole from Joe - and his party in Sherwin’s pond. Jake, who acted as his father’s - agent, had sold them to Mr. Hanson, the landlord of the Sportsman’s - Home, for four dollars apiece—all except the one belonging to Arthur - Hastings, which Jake affirmed had been broken by a black bass. For - that he received two dollars. I learned, further, that Matt had failed - again in his efforts to find employment as guide for the Indian Lake - country. The hotels would not hire him, and neither would the guests - to whom he offered his services. This left Matt but one resource, and - that was to carry out his oft-repeated threat that if he couldn’t act - as guide about that lake nobody should. He had already robbed three - camps, and he had the satisfaction of knowing that by doing it he had - created great consternation among the summer visitors. The ladies - protested that they could never think of going into the woods again as - long as that horrid man was about, and the sportsmen who had suffered - at his hands told their landlords very plainly that they would not - come near Indian Lake again until they were assured that Matt Coyle - had been arrested and lodged in jail. - - “They’re afeared of me, them folks up there to the lake be,” chuckled - the squatter, who was highly elated over the success of the plan he - had adopted for ruining the hotels and breaking up the business of - guiding. “I would have worked hard an’ faithful for ’em if they had - give me a chance to make an honest livin’; but they wouldn’t do it, - ’cause I didn’t have no good clothes to wear, an’ now they see what - they have gained by their meanness. I won’t be starved to death, an’ - that’s jest all there is about it.” - - “Say, pap, what be you goin’ to do with them two fine guns that’s hid - up there in the bresh?” inquired Sam. - - “I ain’t a-goin’ to do nothin’ with ’em,” was the reply. - - “Then why can’t me an’ Jake have ’em?” - - “Now jest listen at the blockhead!” Matt almost shouted. “Ain’t you - got sense enough to know that if a guide should happen to ketch you - runnin’ about the woods with one of them guns in your hands you would - be ’rested an’ locked up for a thief? I didn’t take them guns ’cause I - wanted ’em, but jest to drive them city sportsmen away from here. They - ain’t goin’ to bring fine things into these woods when they know that - they stand a chance of losin’ ’em. An’ if there ain’t no guests to - come here, what’s the guides an’ landlords goin’ to do to make a - livin’?” - - “I’ve made a heap of money for you, pap, by sellin’ them fish-poles - an’ takin’ back the scatter-gun you hooked outen one of them camps, - an’ you ain’t never give me nothin’ for it,” said Jake. “I reckon it’s - about time you was settlin’ up.” - - “All right, I’ll settle up with you this very minute,” answered his - father, cheerfully. “You can have this here canvas canoe for your own. - Does that squar’ accounts betwixt us?” - - It wouldn’t if I had had a voice in the matter, or possessed the power - to protect myself; but I was helpless, and from that moment Jake - claimed me as his property. He agreed, however, to lend me to his - father as often as the latter thought it safe to go prospecting for - unguarded camps. Half an hour later I was floating in the creek - alongside the scow, and Matt and his boys were building a fire and - preparing to regale themselves upon the big bass which Fly-rod had - unwittingly caught for their supper. While they were thus engaged they - talked over their plans for the night, and decided what they would do - with the valuable things they expected to capture in Joe Wayring’s - camp. - - “This here is the great p’int, an’ it bothers me a heap, I tell you,” - said Matt, flourishing the sharpened stick that he was using as a - fork. “Joe an’ his friends are purty well known in this part of the - country, an’ so’s their outfit; an’ if we steal all they’ve got, as I - mean to do afore I am many hours older, about the only things we can - use will be the grub.” - - “Don’t you reckon they’ve got new fish-poles to take the place of them - you hooked from ’em up in Sherwin’s pond?” inquired Sam. - - “I know they have, ’cause they wouldn’t come here without nothing to - fish with, would they? But ’twon’t be safe to try to sell ’em right - away, ’cause if we do folks will suspicion something.” - - “I’ll bet you I won’t take’em up to the lake to sell ’em,” said Jake - very decidedly. “The folks up there know that you stole them fine guns - we’ve got hid in the bresh, an’ they’d ’rest me for helpin’ of you. - But there’s one thing I want, an’ I’m goin’ to have it too, when we - get Joe’s property into our hands, an’ that’s some new clothes,” added - Jake, pulling his coat-sleeve around so that he could have a fair view - of the gaping rent in the elbow. “These duds I’ve got on ain’t fitten - to go among white folks with.” - - “I don’t see what’s to hender you gettin ’em, Jakey,” said his father, - encouragingly. “If we get the skiff an’ everything what’s into it, in - course we shall get the extry clothes they brung with ’em, an’ you an’ - Sam can take your pick.” - - “An’ I’m goin’ to give that Joe Wayring the best kind of a poundin’ to - pay him for hittin’ me in the face with your paddle,” continued Jake. - - “You can do that, too, an’ I won’t never say a word agin it. All them - fellers need bringin’ down, an’ I’d like the best way to see you boys - do it. Now there’s that skiff of their’n,” added Matt, reflectively. - “She’s better’n the scow, ’cause she’s got oars instead of paddles, - an’ can get around faster.” - - “An’ she’s big enough to carry us an’ our plunder, an’ she’s got a - tent, so’t we wouldn’t have to go ashore to camp when we wanted to - stop for the night,” said Sam. “But we’d have to steer clear of the - guides, ’cause they all know her,” - - “We’ve got to steer clear of them anyhow, ain’t we?” demanded Matt. “I - reckon we’d best take her for a house-boat, an’ use the canvas canoe - to go a prospectin’ for camps.” - - Matt and his boys continued to talk in this way until darkness came to - conceal their movements, and then they stepped into the scow and - paddled toward the pond, leaving me tied fast to a tree on the bank. I - knew they were going on a fool’s errand. They seemed to forget that - Joe and his friends never went into the woods without taking a - body-guard and sentinel with them; and, knowing how vigilant Arthur - Hastings’ little spaniel was in looking out for the safety of the - camp, I did not think it would be possible for the squatter, cunning - as he was, to steal a march upon the boys he intended to rob. If Jim - aroused the camp there would be the liveliest kind of a fight, and I - was as certain as I wanted to be that the attacking party would come - off second best. - - The squatter was gone so long that I began to grow impatient; but - presently I heard loud and excited voices coming from the direction of - the pond, mingled with cries of distress, the clashing of sticks, and - other sounds to indicate that there was a battle going on out there. - Although it seemed to be desperately contested, it did not last long, - for in less than ten minutes afterwards I saw the scow coming into the - creek. The very first words I heard convinced me that, although Matt - and his boys had failed to surprise and rob Joe’s camp, they had - inflicted considerable damage upon him and his companions. To my great - satisfaction I also learned that my confidence in Jim, the spaniel, - had not been misplaced. - - “If I ever get the chance I’ll fill that little black fice of their’n - so full of bullet holes that he won’t never be of no more use as a - watchdog I bet you,” said Sam, in savage tones. “We could have done - jest what we liked with that there camp, an’ every thing an’ every - body what’s into it, if it hadn’t been for his yelpin’ an’ goin’ on.” - - “Now, listen at you!” exclaimed his father, impatiently. “I’m right - glad the dog was there an’ set up that yelpin’, ’cause if we’d went - ashore, like we meant to do, we’d a had that man Swan onto us.” - - “Well, what of it?” retorted Sam. “Ain’t you a bigger man than he is?” - - “That ain’t nuther here nor there,” answered Matt, who knew that he - could not have held his own in an encounter with the stalwart guide. - “Fightin’ ain’t what we’re after. We want to do all the damage we can - without bein’ ketched at it.” - - “All I’ve made by this night’s work is a prod in the ribs that will - stay with me for a month,” groaned Jake, who, as I afterwards learned, - had received several sharp thrusts from the blade of Roy Sheldon’s - oar. “Pap, you spiled our chances of gettin’ that skiff for a - house-boat when you told us to run into her. She’s at the bottom of - the pond by this time. Didn’t you hear the planks rippin’ and crackin’ - when we struck her?” - - “Wal, then, what did they put theirselves in our way for!” demanded - Matt, angrily. “Didn’t you hear me tell ’em not to come nigh us, - ’cause it would be wuss for’em if they did? I seen through their - little game in a minute. They wanted to keep us there till Swan could - come up an’ help ’em. What else could we do but run into ’em?” - - This made it plain to me that the squatter had not acted entirely on - the defensive—that he had made a desperate effort to send the skiff - and her crew to the bottom of the pond; but, being better posted in - natural philosophy than he was, I did not believe that he had - succeeded in doing it. An unloaded skiff will not sink, even if her - whole side is stove in, and I was positive that Matt Coyle would see - more of that boat and of the boys who owned it before the doors of the - penitentiary closed upon him. - - In spite of Jake’s protest and Sam’s, Matt decided to camp on the bank - of the creek that night, and go home in the morning. The boys were - afraid that the guide might assume the offensive and attack them while - they were asleep; but their father quieted their fears by assuring - them that he would not attempt any thing of the sort, ’cause why, he - couldn’t. The skiff was sunk, Swan’s canoe wasn’t large enough to - carry more than one man at a load, and the guide, brave as he was - supposed to be, would not think of coming up there alone. More than - that, he did not know where to find them. - - Knowing that Matt’s home was wherever he happened to be when night - overtook him, I felt some curiosity to see the place he had chosen for - his temporary abode. I was ushered into it early on the afternoon of - the following day. It was located about twenty miles from the pond, - and Matt reached it by turning the scow out of the creek, and forcing - him through a little stream whose channel was so thickly filled with - bushes and weeds that a stranger would not have suspected that there - was any water-way there. The stream, which was not more than twenty - feet long, ended in a little bay, and there the scow had to be left, - because his crew could not take him any farther. He was too broad of - beam to be carried through the thick woods, and besides he was too - heavy. - - I forgot to say that my new owner, Jake Coyle, navigated me up the - creek. He was very awkward with the double paddle at first, but skill - came with practice, and before we had gone half a dozen miles I was - carrying him along as steadily and evenly as I ever carried Joe - Wayring. When we reached the little bay of which I have spoken, Jake - ran me upon the beach alongside the scow, and set to work to take me - to pieces. Having more mechanical skill and patience than his father, - he succeeded after awhile, and then he put me on his shoulder and - carried me along the well-beaten path that led to the camp. But before - this happened I was witness to a little proceeding on the part of Matt - Coyle which showed what a cunning old fox he was. Catching up a long - pole that had probably been used for the same purpose before, the - squatter went back to the stream through which we had just passed, and - carefully straightened up all the bushes that had been bent down by - the weight of the scow. - - “There!” said Matt, when he had finished his task, “Swan an’ some more - of them guides will be along this way directly, but I bet they won’t - see nothin’ from the creek to tell ’em that we are in here. Of course - the bresh don’t stand up squar’, like it oughter, an’ the bark’s - rubbed off in places; but mebbe Swan an’ the rest of ’em won’t take - notice of that.” - - I afterward learned, however, that Matt knew his enemies too well to - trust any thing to luck. Some member of his family stood guard at the - mouth of the stream day and night. The old woman was on watch when we - came up the creek but I did not see her, for as soon as she discovered - Matt’s scow approaching she hastened to camp to get dinner ready. - - The camp was pleasantly located in a thicket of evergreens, and with a - little care and attention might have been made a very cheerful and - inviting spot; but it was just the reverse of that. Matt and his tribe - were too lazy to keep their camps in order or to provide themselves - with any comforts. I never knew them to have such a thing as a camp - broom, which any of them could have made in ten minutes, and I doubt - if their dishes ever received a thorough washing. They could not - muster up energy enough to pick browse for their beds, but were - content to sleep on the bare ground. All they cared for was a camp - that was so effectually concealed that the Indian Lake guides would - not be likely to stumble upon it, a lean-to that would keep off the - thickest of the rain, and plenty to eat. Of course they would have - been glad to have money in their pockets, but they did not want to put - themselves to any trouble to earn it. Matt contended that he and his - family had as good a right to live without work as some other folks - had. - - “So you got your canvas canoe back, did you, Jakey?” said the old - woman, as her hopeful son came in at one side of the camp and went out - at the other. “Where did you find him agin?” - - “Up there to the pond,” replied Jake. “That Joe Wayring, he was - fishin’, an’ we crep’ up clost to him afore he knew we was there, an’ - then it would a made you laugh to see him take to the water an’ streak - it through the woods with pap arter him. Don’t I wish he had ketched - him, though? Do you see any thing onto my face?” - - The old woman replied that one of his cheeks was slightly discolored. - - “Joe Wayring done that with pap’s paddle,” continued Jake, “an’ I’m - goin’ to larrup him for it the first good chance I get. I’ll l’arn him - who he’s hittin’. Yes, this canoe is mine now, sure enough, for pap - give him to me to keep. I’m goin’ to hide him out here in the bresh - till I want to use him.” - - This piece of strategy on the part of my new master made it impossible - for me to take note of all that happened in and around the squatter’s - camp during the next two days, for the evergreens partially concealed - it from my view, and Matt and his allies talked in tones so low that I - could not distinctly hear what they said; but on the afternoon of the - third day I saw and heard a good deal. About three o’clock, while Sam - Coyle was dozing on the bank of the creek and pretending to stand - guard over the camp, he was suddenly aroused to a sense of his - responsibility by seeing a light skiff come slowly around the bend - below. Mr. Swan, the guide, handled the oars, and the man who sat in - the stern was the owner of the Lefever hammerless that Matt Coyle had - stolen and concealed in the bushes. They kept their eyes fastened upon - the bank as they moved along, and Sam knew that they were looking for - “signs.” - - “An’ I’m powerful ’feared that they will find some when they get up - here,” thought the young vagabond, trembling all over with excitement - and apprehension, “’cause didn’t pap say that he couldn’t make the - bresh stand up straight like it had oughter do, an’ that the bark was - rubbed off in places? I reckon I’d best be a lumberin’.” - - Sam turned upon his face and crawled off through the bushes, but not - until he had seen Mr. Swan’s boat reinforced by four others, whose - occupants were looking so closely at the shores as they advanced that - it did not seem possible that a single bush, or even a twig on them, - could escape their scrutiny. Sam lost no time in putting himself out - of sight among the evergreens, and then he jumped to his feet and made - for camp at the top of his speed. The pale face he brought with him - told his father that he had a startling report to make. - - “Be they comin’?” said Matt, in an anxious whisper. - - “Yes,” replied Sam, “they’re comin’—a hul passel of boats, an’ two or - three fellers into each one of ’em. The man you hooked that - scatter-gun from is into Swan’s boat, an’ he looks like he was jest - ready to b’ile over with madness.” - - “Grab something an’ run with it,” exclaimed the squatter; and as he - spoke he snatched up the frying-pan and dumped the half-cooked slices - of bacon upon the ground. - - For a few minutes there was a great commotion in the camp. Matt and - his family caught up whatever came first to their hands, and presently - emerged from the thicket, one after the other. They all carried - bundles of something on their backs, and at once proceeded to “scatter - like so many quails,” and scurry away in different directions. This - was one of their favorite tricks—the one to which they invariably - resorted when danger threatened them; but before they separated they - always agreed upon a place of meeting, toward which they bent their - steps as soon as they thought it safe to do so. It was no trouble at - all for them to elude the officers of the law in this way, and even - the guides, experienced as they were in woodcraft, could not always - follow them. - - Jake Coyle was so heavily loaded down with other plunder that he could - not carry me away with him. That was something upon which I - congratulated myself, for I was sure that the guides and their - companions would not leave until they had made a thorough examination - of the woods surrounding the squatter’s camp; but in this I was - disappointed. - - They set fire to every thing that Matt had left behind in his hurried - flight, and went back to the bay to find that the enemy had been - operating in their rear. While they were waiting for the fire they had - kindled to burn itself out, Matt and his family “circled around” to - the bay in which they had left their scow, and went to work to pay Mr. - Swan back in his own coin. Every thing that would sink was thrown into - the water, and every thing that wouldn’t was sent whirling through the - air toward the woods on the opposite side of the bay. That was the way - my friend Fly-rod got crippled. He brought up against a tree with such - force that his second joint was broken close to the ferrule. After - doing all the damage they could without alarming the guides, Matt and - his family took two of the best boats and made their escape in them. - - I judged that Mr. Swan and his party were a pretty mad lot of men when - they returned to the bay and saw what had been done there during their - absence. They were so far away that I could not catch all they said, - but I could hear Joe Wayring’s voice, and longed for the power to do - something that would lead him to my place of concealment. I also heard - the owner of the stolen Winchester say: - - “We will give a hundred dollars apiece to the man who will find our - weapons, capture the thief, and hold him so that we can come and - testify against him. Or, we will give fifty dollars apiece for the - guns without the thief and the same amount for the thief without the - guns. Boys, you are included in that offer.” - - I knew that the last words were addressed to Joe Wayring and his - chums, for I heard Arthur thank him, and say that it would afford him - and his friends great satisfaction if they could find and restore the - stolen guns. I did not suppose that the boys would ever think of the - matter again, having so many other things to occupy their minds; but - subsequent events proved that I was mistaken. - - - - - CHAPTER III. - IN THE WATCHMAN’S CABIN. - - - Mr. Swan and his party started for Indian Lake at an early hour the - next morning, and I was left alone in the bushes. I stayed there all - that night and until noon the next day, and then Jake Coyle and his - brother suddenly appeared in front of my hiding-place. They came up so - silently that I did not know they were anywhere in the neighborhood - until they were close upon me; but I was not much surprised at that, - for I had become well enough acquainted with them during my previous - captivity to know that that was their usual way of doing. They could - not have taken more pains to conceal their movements if they had been - hostile Indians on the hunt for scalps. - - They always had the fear of the law before their eyes, and lived in a - state of anxiety and apprehension that could hardly have been endured - by any one else. - - “Here he is, all right an’ tight,” said Jake, laying hold of the rope - with which he had tied me together and hauling me out of the thicket. - “Ole Swan didn’t go to pokin’ around through the bresh like I was - afeared he would. Come out here. You’ve got to help me steal some more - bacon an’ ’taters to-night.” - - “Don’t you let Joe Wayring an’ the rest of them fellers sneak up an’ - take him away from you, like they done the last time you went out with - him to steal bacon an’ ’taters,” cautioned Sam. “Them boys ain’t gone - home yet, an’ I shan’t rest easy till they do. As long as they stay - snoopin’ around in these woods where they ain’t wanted they’re liable - to drop down on us at any minute.” - - “I don’t want ’em to go home till I get a chance to squar’ up with Joe - for hittin’ me in the face with pap’s paddle,” said Jake, who seemed - to think that a greater insult could not have been put upon him. “I - shall allers remember that agin him. Now le’s go back to our ole camp - an’ see what Swan an’ his crowd done there arter we left.” - - So saying Jake led the way into the evergreens, carrying me on his - shoulder. A single glance at the place where the camp had been was - enough to show that the guides had done their work well. There was - nothing left of the lean-to, the bedding, and the small supply of - provisions that Matt and his family had abandoned, except a little - pile of ashes. - - “This is a purty way for them rich folks to treat poor chaps like us, - ain’t it?” said Sam, bitterly. “What business did they have to go an’ - do it? We’ve just as much right to be guides here as Swan has.” - - “Well, I don’t reckon him an’ his crowd hurt us any wuss than we hurt - them,” observed Jake. “Them fish-poles an’ other things that we flung - into the bresh an’ sunk in the bay must have cost a good many dollars, - an’ we’ve got two of their best boats besides.” - - “But them boats won’t do us anymore good than the two guns we’ve got - hid in the bresh,” answered Sam. “Le’s go an’ take a look at them guns - an’ see if they are all right.” - - The hollow log in which the stolen weapons had been stowed away for - safe keeping was at least a quarter of a mile from the thicket that - had furnished me with a hiding-place, but Jake and his brother went - straight to it; and after removing a few bushes and chunks of wood - that had been scattered carelessly around the end of the log to - conceal the opening, the former put in his hand and pulled out a - Victoria case which contained the Lefever hammerless. Passing it over - to his brother, Jake again thrust his arm into the hollow and brought - to light the stolen Winchester, wrapped in a tattered blanket. When - their coverings were removed I took a good look at them. They were the - handsomest things in the shape of guns I ever saw, and I did not - wonder that their rightful owners were so anxious to get them back. - - “If we had a few ca’tridges to fit ’em, we’d take a shot or two jest - for luck,” said Sam, raising the double-barrel to his shoulder and - running his eye along the clean brown tubes. “But they ain’t no more - use to us than so many chunks of ole iron. We dassent sell ’em, an’ - pap’ won’t let us have ’em for fear that we will be took up for - thieves.” - - “Didn’t you hear pap say that he didn’t hook the guns ’cause he wanted - ’em, but jest to break up guidin’ an’ ruin them hotels up to the - lake?” Jake inquired. “It’s the only way we’ve got to even up with the - folks that are tryin’ to starve us out, ain’t it? I’ll go furder’n - that, if I ever get a good chance. I’ll burn every camp I find, like - Swan done with our’n.” - - “I reckon that if me an’ you had the money these guns cost we could - wear good clothes an’ live on good grub all the rest of the year, - couldn’t we?” said Sam, as he returned the Lefever hammerless to his - case and handed it to his brother. “They must have cost as much as - forty or fifty dollars apiece, don’t you reckon?” - - This showed that Sam had about as clear an idea of the price of fine - guns as his father had of the value of split bamboo fishing-rods and - German-silver reels. The Winchester was worth fifty dollars, but the - list price of the Lefever hammerless was three hundred. - - Having put the guns back into the log again, Jake once more raised me - to his shoulder, and started off through the woods. But he and Sam - moved with long, noiseless steps, stopping frequently to reconnoiter - the ground before them, and if they conversed at all it was in low and - guarded tones. At the end of half an hour they struck a “carry”—a dim - path leading from the pond to another body of water that lay deeper in - the forest—and here they became doubly cautious in their movements. - - “Now you toddle on ahead,” said Jake to his brother, “an’ if you see - one of them city chaps an’ his guide comin’ along the carry, fetch a - little whistle so’t I can hide in the bresh afore they see me.” - - But, as it happened, this precaution was unnecessary. The carry was - deserted by all save themselves, and at the end of another half hour - Jake took me through a little clearing and into a dilapidated log - shanty, where we found the squatter and his wife waiting for us. - - “Well, Jakey, you found your boat whar you left him, didn’t you?” said - Matt Coyle, as the boy deposited me in a corner of the shanty near the - wide fire-place. “I didn’t know but mebbe Swan an’ the rest of ’em had - nosed him out an’ took him off.” - - “Well, they didn’t,” answered Jake. “We found him all right, an’ the - guns, too. We hauled ’em out an’ took a good look at ’em, me an’ Sam - did. It’s a mean shame that we can’t keep ’em out an’ use ’em like - they b’longed to us.” - - The squatter made no reply, and I had leisure to look about me before - any one spoke again. I was surprised to see how much furniture there - was in the shanty, for I knew that Matt had lost the bulk of his - property when the guides burned his camp. Of course, it was of the - rudest description, but it would answer very well when nothing better - could be had. I have seen many a well-appointed camp whose owners were - not any better supplied with needful things than Matt Coyle was. There - were two comfortable looking shake-downs on the floor; three-legged - stools and chairs without any backs were abundant; the home-made table - supported more dishes than Matt and his family were ever likely to - fill with provender, and under it were piled a lot of miscellaneous - articles, including a frying-pan, camp-kettle, and coffee-pot. To - complete the picture, three of the stools and broken chairs were - occupied by Matt Coyle, his wife, and a roughly dressed man whom I had - never seen before. They were all smoking, and sat with their elbows - resting on their knees. Taken as a group, they were the laziest - looking lot I ever happened to meet. The stranger was the first to - speak. - - “What guns is them you’re talkin’ about?” said he, in a drawling tone. - - “Oh, they’re some that I picked up while I was a roamin’ around,” - replied Matt, with a knowing wink. - - “An’ you got that there canvas canoe in the same way, I reckon,” - continued the stranger, nodding toward the corner in which I lay, - listening to the conversation. - - “Well, p’raps I did,” answered Matt. “It’s jest like I told you, Rube. - I would be willin’ to work hard an’ faithful if they would only give - me a chance to be a guide, but they won’t do it, an’ me an’ the boys - have set ourselves the job of bustin’ up the hul business. We’ve done - right smart of damage already, but we ain’t through yet. I’ll bet you - there won’t be as many guests up to them hotels at Injun Lake next - summer as there was this.” - - “I heared all about it, an’ about them guns, too,” drawled Rube. “Do - you know that there’s been a big reward offered fur ’em? Well, there - has. The man who ketches you an’ finds the guns will get two hundred - dollars for it; an’ if he finds the guns without ketchin’ you he’ll - get half as much.” - - “That’s enough to turn every man in the woods agin me,” said Matt, - anxiously. - - “All except your friends,” Rube hastened to assure him. “They won’t go - agin you for no money.” - - “Well, I’ll bet you they don’t ketch me agin,” said the squatter, - confidently. “They done it once, but I’m onto their little games now. - They thought they had us all in their grip, Swan an’ his crowd did, - when they burned our camp up there in the cove; but we knowed they was - comin’ long afore they got there. I ain’t afeared of their ketchin’ - me.” - - “An’ I ain’t afeared of their findin’ the guns nuther,” chimed in - Jake. “They’re hid where nobody wouldn’t never think of lookin’ for - ’em.” - - “Whereabouts is that?” asked Rube, carelessly. - - The boys grinned, while Matt and the old woman looked down at the - floor and said nothing. They were perfectly willing that Rube should - know how the guns came into their possession, but they were not so - ready to tell him where the stolen weapons were concealed. How did - they know but that Rube, tempted by the promise of so large a reward, - would hunt up the guns, restore them to their lawful owners, and hold - fast to all the money he received for it? Perhaps we shall see that - that was just what Rube wanted to do. He was by no means as good a - friend to the squatter as he pretended to be, and Matt suspected it - all the while. - - “What made you turn agin them folks up there to the lake?” said the - latter, suddenly. “The last time I seen you, you told me that you had - a good job at guidin’, an’ that you was gettin’ two an’ a half a day.” - - “So I did, an’ it was the truth,” replied Rube. “But he didn’t stick - to his bargain, Hanson didn’t. The last feller I went out with told - him that I was a powerful lazy chap, an’ that I wouldn’t do nothin’ - but jest roll around on the grass an’ leave him to pick the browse for - the beds an’ cook his own bacon an’ slapjacks. He told him, furder, - that I wouldn’t take him to the best troutin’ places, ’cause there was - too many ‘carries’ in the way. Well, that was a fact,“ added Rube, - reflectively. “He had so much duffle with him, my employer did, that I - had to make two trips to tote it all over the carries, an’ two an’ a - half a day is too little money for doin’ sich work as that. I hired - myself out to the hotel for a guide, an’ not for a pack-horse. So - Hanson, he allowed he didn’t want me no longer, an’ that made me down - on him an’ all the rest, same as you are. If that ain’t a fact, an’ if - I ain’t a friend of your’n, what made me tell you to come into my - shanty an’ make yourselves to home, an’ use my things till you could - get some furnitur’ of your own?” - - So that was the way Matt came to be so well fixed, was it? The shanty - and every thing in it belonged to Rube, and he had told Matt to step - in and make himself at home there. I thought that looked like a - friendly act on Rube’s part. - - “It was mighty good-natur’d an’ free-hearted in you, an’ if it ever - comes handy, you’ll see that I don’t forget sich things,” said Matt, - after a little pause. “I’m free to say that I didn’t look fur no sich - favors from you, for I thought you was down on me, like all the rest - of the guides.” - - “Well, you see that I ain’t, don’t you? I’ve been mistreated same as - you have, an’ have jest as good a reason to be mad about it. Now I’ll - tell you what I’ll do with you consarnin’ them guns that you’ve got - hid in the bresh,” continued Rube. “You dassent sell ’em or give ’em - back to the men you stole ’em from, ’cause if you try it you will be - took up; but I can do it for you, an’ they won’t never suspicion any - thing agin me. I can take ’em up to Hanson to-day an’ get the hunderd - dollars cash money that has been promised for ’em. Say the word an’ - I’ll do it, an’ go halves with you. Fifty dollars is better than - leavin’ ’em out there in the woods to rust till they ain’t good for - nothing.” - - This seemed to be a fair offer, and I expected to hear Matt close with - it at once; but instead of that he fastened his eyes on the floor once - again, and drew his shaggy brows together as if he were thinking - deeply. Even Jake went off into a brown study. - - “If you want to make any thing out of them guns, I don’t see any other - way for you to do it,” said Rube, knocking the ashes from his pipe and - getting upon his feet. “I’ll make the same bargain with you consarnin’ - them two boats you hooked from Swan an’ his crowd on the day they - burned your camp. You can’t use them any more’n you can use the guns, - an’ what’s the use of leavin’ ’em in the bresh to rot away to - nothin’?” - - “An’ what’s the use of my robbin’ camps if I’m goin’ to give back all - the things I hook?” asked Matt, in reply. - - “You needn’t give ’em all back—only jest them that you can get a - reward for. Take time to study on it, an’ then tell me if you don’t - think I have made you a good offer. Now I must step down to the - hatchery an’ go on watch; an’ I warn you, fair an’ squar’, don’t none - of you come prowlin’ round like you was waitin’ for a chance to set - fire to the buildin’s or cut the nets, ’cause if you do I shall have - to tell on you. I shouldn’t like to do that, bein’ as me an’ you is - friends, an’ nuther do I want to lose my place as watchman at the - hatchery, since I’ve been stopped from guidin’. I must have some way - to make a livin’.” - - So saying Rube put on his hat and left the shanty. Matt and his family - remained silent and motionless for a few minutes, and then, in - obedience to a sign from his father, Jake jumped up and followed Rube. - After a brief absence he returned with the report: - - “He ain’t hangin’ around the back of the shanty to listen to our talk, - Rube ain’t. He’s gone on down the carry t’wards the hatchery. Be you - goin’ to let him have them boats an’ guns, pap? Seems like it would be - better to have the money than the things, ’cause we could use the - money an’ we can’t use the boats an’ guns.” - - “Now jest listen at the blockhead!” exclaimed Matt. “Do you reckon - that if we give the things up to Rube we’d ever see a cent of the - money? Do you think that ’cause he opened this shanty to us, an’ told - us to use his dishes to cook our grub with, that it’s safe to trust - him too fur? I don’t. Them boats an’ guns can stay where they be till - they sp’ile afore I will let Rube or any body else make any money out - of ’em. Nobody but me run any risk in hookin’ them guns, an’ I’m the - one that oughter have the money for givin’ of ’em back.” - - “I don’t b’lieve Rube’s goin’ agin us,” said the old woman. “If that - is his idee, what’s the reason he don’t bring the constable here an’ - have you took up? He could do it in a minute.” - - “Now jest listen at you!” said Matt, again. “Of course he could have - me took up if he wanted to, Rube could, but he would make only a - hundred dollars by it, ’cause he wouldn’t have the guns. See? But if - we give him the guns, then he’ll bring the constable here arter me, - an’ he’ll get two hundred dollars fur it. Understand? I don’t b’lieve - that every body up to the lake is down on him like they be on me. If - he was stopped from guidin’, how does it come that he got to be - watchman at the State hatchery? They wouldn’t have no lazy, - good-for-nothing feller there, I bet you. There’s something mighty - jubus about Rube, an’ you want to be careful what you say an’ do afore - him, the hul on you. It won’t do to trust nobody ’ceptin’ ourselves. - Now, Sam, you start up the fire, an’, ole woman, you put what’s left - of them bacon an’ ’taters over. We’ll have more to-morrer, if Jakey - has good luck to-night.” - - While the preparations for supper were in progress, Matt filled his - pipe for a fresh smoke, Sam sat on his stool and meditated, and Jake - disappeared down the carry with his fish-pole on his shoulder. Rube’s - proposition had suggested an idea to him and he, too, was thinking - deeply. He went straight to the hatchery, and after watching the carry - for a few minutes to make sure that he had not been followed by any - member of the family Jake peeped around the corner of one of the - buildings and saw Rube in conversation with the superintendent. The - latter went away after a little while, and then Jake presented himself - before the watchman. - - “Didn’t I warn you, fair an’ squar’, that you mustn’t none of you come - prowlin’ about here?” demanded Rube, angrily. “Now clear yourself or - I’ll tell on you, sure.” - - “You ain’t got nothing to tell, ’cause I ain’t done no damage of no - sort,” answered Jake, with a grin. - - “But I wouldn’t be afeared to bet that you’re goin’ to. I wouldn’t - trust none of you as fur as I could sling a meetin’ house. No, I - wouldn’t.” - - “Well, pap said he wouldn’t trust you nuther, so I reckon we’re about - even on that p’int,” said Jake with another grin. - - “What for wouldn’t he trust me?” asked Rube, in an astonished tone. - - “’Cause he says you think you are mighty smart, tryin’ to get them - fine guns into your own hands so’t you can pocket the hul of the - reward an’ never give us none of it. That’s what you’re up to, Rube, - an’ we know it.” - - “Tain’t nuther,” said the man, indignantly. - - “Well, you can’t never make nothing by coaxin’ pap to give up them - guns; I can tell you that much. Say,” added Jake, drawing a step or - two nearer to Rube and speaking in low and confidential tones, “you - won’t never tell nobody if I say something to you, will you?” - - “No, I won’t,” replied Rube, lowering his own voice almost to a - whisper. - - “You won’t never tell pap nor mam nor Sam, nor none of ’em, honor - bright an’ sure hope to die?” - - “No, I won’t,” repeated Rube. - - “Say honor bright; ’cause if you ever let on to Sam what I say to you, - he’ll tell pap, an’ pap, he’ll wear a hickory out on me.” - - “Honor bright I won’t tell,” said Rube. - - “Say,” whispered Jake. “I’ve done a heap fur pap fust an’ last, an’ he - ain’t never give me nothin’ fur it, ’ceptin’ that ole canvas canoe I - brung home to-day. I sold them poles that he stole from Joe Wayring - an’ his crowd down on Sherwin’s pond, an’ he never once said to me: - ’Jakey, here’s a couple of dollars to buy you a pair of shoes agin - winter comes.’ Now I say that was mighty stingy in pap. He says them - guns may stay where they be till they sp’ile, afore you or any body - ’ceptin’ himself shall make any money outen ’em.” - - Jake could see by the way Rube hung his head that he was sorry to hear - this. After a long pause he looked up and said: - - “Well, what of it?” - - “Well,” continued Jake, “I can’t see the use of them guns layin’ there - doin’ nobody no good, when I might jest as well have the reward that’s - been offered fur ’em.” - - “No more do I,” assented Rube. - - “Say,” Jake went on, in a still lower whisper, “I’ll tell you where - the guns be if you will give me half the money an’ never let on to - none of ’em that I told you.” - - “It’s a bargain,” said Rube, extending his hand. - - “An’ you’ll give me the fifty dollars, right into my own fingers, an’ - keep still about it afterwards?” - - “I will.” - - “Say. ’Twouldn’t be safe fur me to show you where the guns is hid, - ’cause the old man is like Joe Wayring an’ the rest of them fellers. - He’s got a habit of snoopin’ around where he ain’t wanted, an’ jest as - like’s not he’d see me while I was a showin’ you; so I’ll have to tell - you. Say! You know where the creek is that leads—Wait a minute.” - - When Jake had said this much it suddenly occurred to him that perhaps - his father was at that very moment “snoopin’ around” where he was not - wanted, and he thought it best to satisfy himself on that point. He - was pretty certain that he would see trouble if any member of his - family caught him in close conversation with the watchman. It was well - for Jake that he took this precaution, for when he looked cautiously - around the corner of the building he discovered a familiar figure - coming down the carry with long and rapid strides. It was plain that - he was fearful of being seen and followed, for he stopped every few - rods to look behind him. - - “There comes that Sam of our’n,” said Jake, in an excited whisper. - “Now, Rube, you watch an’ see which end of the buildin’ he’s p’inting - fur, an’ I’ll slip around t’other end an’ make a break fur home - through the bresh. Say, Rube, don’t let on, an’ I’ll see you some - other day.” - - Jake caught up his fish-pole, which he had leaned against the side of - the hatchery, and stood ready to run in either direction, while Rube - moved slowly along the bank of the outlet until he could see the - carry. - - “Now, then!” he exclaimed, as soon as Sam came within speaking - distance, “you ain’t wanted here, nor none of your tribe. So toddle - right back where you come from.” At the same time he made a quick - motion with his hand, which Jake saw and understood. He darted around - the upper end of the building and was out of sight in an instant. - - “You heared me, I reckon,” continued Rube, seeing that Sam quickened - his pace instead of turning about and retracing his steps. - - “You can’t fish here, ’cause it’s agin the law, an’ you might as well - understand it first as last. Want to speak to me? Hurry up, then, for - I ain’t got no time to fool away.” - - Imagine the watchman’s surprise when he learned that Sam had come - there with the same proposition that his brother had made him a few - minutes before. He gave the very same reasons for it, made the same - stipulations regarding the division of the reward, and exacted the - same promise of secrecy; but he did not tell Rube where the guns were - concealed. Just as he got to that point a step sounded within the - superintendent’s room, and a hand was laid upon the latch. Before the - door opened Sam, who had reasons of his own for not wishing to meet - the superintendent face to face, had vanished in the fast-gathering - twilight. - - - - - CHAPTER IV. - A NIGHT ADVENTURE. - - - “I don’t see no trout to go with the bacon an’ ’taters that your ma is - cookin’ fur supper,” observed Matt Coyle, who was sitting in the - doorway of the shanty smoking his pipe. “You don’t often come back - without something to show fur your time an’ trampin’.” - - “No, ’cause I don’t often have a watchman to tell me that I shan’t - fish where I please,” replied Jake, as he leaned his pole against one - end of the cabin and disappeared through the door. “Rube’s down there - to the hatchery, an’ he’s mighty pertic’lar fur a man who says he’s - down on every body, same as we be.” - - “Don’t you b’lieve a word of that story,” said Matt, earnestly. - “’Cause if you do, you will get into trouble, sure’s you’re a foot - high. There ain’t a word of truth in it.” - - “Then what made him tell it?” asked Jake. - - “I don’t know, less’n he’s been sent out by Hanson or some of the - summer boarders to keep an eye on us,” answered Matt. “I b’lieve that - if he could find them guns he’d have the hul kit an’ bilin’ of us - ’rested before mornin’. See Sam anywhere?” - - Jake replied that he had not. - - “Well, he’s went up there too, I reckon, ’cause I saw him goin’ off - with his pole onto his shoulder. He’ll come pokin’ back directly.” - - “I know he went up to the hatchery,” said Jake, to himself. “An’ - that’s what bothers me. He knows well enough that Rube wouldn’t let - him drop a line into the water, so what did he go up there fur? I do - think in my soul that Sam will bear a little watchin’.” - - “There’s something mighty strange an’ curious ’bout them two boys of - our’n goin’ up to the outlet to fish when they know’d that the - watchman was there,” thought Matt. “’Tain’t like them at all, that way - of doin’ ain’t, an’ it’s my opinion that they are up to something. - Well, if they can get the start of their pap they’re smarter than I - think they be.” - - Up to this time Matt and his family had had perfect confidence in one - another. What one knew the others knew. If their domestic life had not - been altogether harmonious, they had at least managed to get on very - well together, and had stood shoulder to shoulder against the common - foe—the landlords and guides, who were determined to drive them out of - the country. But Rube’s offer to return the stolen property Matt had - in his possession and divide the reward had changed all that. The - rogues had not yet fallen out with one another, but they were in a - fair way to do so, and when that happened honest men were likely to - get their dues. It was not long before a series of incidents occurred - which brought about an open rupture. - - By the time Sam made his appearance, supper was ready. The boys, who - were usually talkative, had nothing to say while the meal was in - progress, and that was enough to confirm Matt’s suspicions. - - “They’ve got something on their minds, both of ’em, an’ I know it,” - said he, to himself. “Jakey, have you made up your decision where - you’re goin’ to get some grub fur us?” he added, aloud. - - Jake replied that he had not given the matter a moment’s thought. He - intended to do as he had always done—stop at the first house he came - too, and if he found dogs there, or the smokehouse too strongly - fastened, he would go on to the next. - - “I don’t reckon I shall be back much afore mornin’,” said he. “We’re a - mighty fur ways from where any guides live, an’ I may have to go cl’ar - to Injun Lake afore I can get any grub.” - - “Then you’ll get ketched sure,” said the old woman. - - “Hadn’t you better take Sam along to help?” inquired Matt. - - “No, I won’t,” answered Jake, promptly. “He’d be that skeared that he - wouldn’t dare leave the boat; so what help would he be to me, I’d like - to know. I don’t want him along.” - - Jake had always refused to permit his brother to accompany him on his - numerous foraging expeditions, and Matt had never thought any thing of - it until this particular night; but now his refusal made him distrust - Jake. He believed that the boy had private reasons for wishing to go - on his dangerous errand alone, and told himself that it might be a - good plan to follow him and see where he went and what he did while he - was gone. So when Jake, after eating his share of the bacon and - potatoes, hauled me out of the corner and left the cabin without - saying a word to any body his father got upon his feet, paused long - enough to fill his pipe, and also went out into the darkness. He did - not follow Jake very far, however, because his inherent laziness - proved stronger than his lack of confidence in the boy, and, besides, - the latter did not do any thing out of the way. He held straight for - Deer Lake outlet, but instead of following the trail he struck off - through the woods, avoiding the hatchery and the watchman who kept - guard over it. Then Matt turned about and went back to the shanty, - while Jake launched the canvas canoe and boldly set out on his - dangerous mission. I have often wondered at the nerve the young - reprobate displayed in going off alone on these midnight plundering - expeditions. He seemed to think no more of it than you would of going - fishing. On this particular night Jake was not lonesome, for he had - some very agreeable thoughts for company; and as he communed aloud - with them I learned, somewhat to my surprise, that he had hopes and - aspirations as well as some other boys of my acquaintance. - - “I tell you I have lived this way about long enough,” soliloquized - Jake, as he headed me across the outlet and paddled slowly along close - to the shore and in the shadow of the overhanging trees. “If I’m ever - goin’ to be any body an’ make any money, now’s my time to begin. So - long as I stay with pap, jest so long will I be hounded an’ drove - about from pillar to post by them guides an’ landlords, who won’t let - me stay nowhere. I jest know that pap’s goin’ to see trouble all along - of them guns that he’s got hid in the bresh, but I can’t see why I - should be ’rested too. I didn’t hook the guns, an’ that’s what made me - talk to Rube the way I did. If he will go halvers with me on the - reward, I’ll get fifty dollars, an’ that will be enough so’t I can - start out on my own hook. If Rube wants to earn the extra hundred by - havin’ pap ’rested arterwards—why, that’s something I can’t help. I’ve - got a good boat, one that I can tote anywhere through the woods, an’ - what’s to hender me from strikin’ out fur myself this winter? I know - where to go to find good trappin’ grounds, an’ I’ll bet that when - spring comes I’ll have more money than I will if I stay hangin’ round - here with pap. I ain’t goin’ to be shut up in jail for something I - didn’t do, an’ that’s all there is about _that_.” - - Jake continued to talk to himself in this way during the whole of the - hour and a half that it took him to paddle from the mouth of the - outlet to the landing in front of the first house above the hatchery. - I could not see that there was any dwelling there, for the night was - pitch dark; but Jake knew where he was, and I learned from some - snatches of his soliloquy which I overheard that the guide to whom the - premises belonged was a thrifty man and a good provider for his - family. If he could only get into his smokehouse or effect an entrance - into his cellar, Jake was sure that he could load his canoe without - the least trouble. As the guide was neither a “cruster” nor a - “skin-butcher,” he did not keep dogs, but he had a stalwart son who - took care of the little farm during his father’s absence, and Jake - knew that he would see fun if that boy heard him prowling around. - - Jake did not make the painter fast to any thing, for he did not want - to lose time in casting it off in case he were called upon to make a - hasty retreat. He simply drew me part way out of the water, so that I - would not float off with the current, and after that threw a couple of - bags over his shoulder and disappeared in the bushes. Then began that - series of incidents to which I referred a little while ago, and which - not only brought about an open rupture in Matt Coyle’s family, but - broke it up as completely as the guides and landlords could have - wished. I heard all about them before I was stowed away in Joe - Wayring’s bedroom to await the coming of the next boating season, and - consequently I am able to describe them to you in the order in which - they occurred. - - Jake’s first care, when he reached the clearing, was to give the house - a good looking over in order to make sure that all the inmates had - gone to bed. He could not see a light in any of the windows, and - neither could he hear any one moving about on the inside. He did not - look for enemies outside the house, and consequently he did not see - the two dark figures that sprang quickly behind a corner of the cellar - the moment he came into view. But the figures were there, and they saw - every thing Jake did. - - Having satisfied himself that the family had all retired, Jake made - his way to the cellar, which was not built under the house, but fifty - yards in the rear of it. It was a square hole in the ground, walled up - with logs instead of stone, and covered with a peaked roof to shed the - rain. Four steps led down to the door, which Jake found to be fastened - with a padlock. But he expected to find it so, and had come prepared - for it. He drew from one of the bags a long iron strap, like those - that sometimes are used for hanging heavy doors, thrust one end of it - under the hasp and, with a sudden jerk, pulled out the nearest staple. - This being done, the door swung open of its own accord, and Jake went - into the cellar. - - Not a single ray of light came in at the door, and Jake, having - neglected to bring with him a supply of matches, was obliged to grope - about in the dark. He wasn’t searching for any thing in particular. He - did not care what he found, so long as it was something that was good - to eat, and with such articles the cellar appeared to be abundantly - stocked. He found a generous piece of bacon, half a bushel of - potatoes, as many turnips, a small crock of butter, and several jars - of pickles, all of which he bundled into his bag without the least - regard for order or neatness. His sole duty was to forage for - provisions; it was no concern of his how the things looked when he got - them home. - - “I reckon I’ve got about all I can tote down to the boat at one load, - an’ so I’ll quit,” said Jake, moving his hand along the hanging-shelf - to make sure that he had found all the things that had been placed - upon it. “If them folks of our’n want any more grub they can steal it - theirselves, fur I am getting tired of the—Well, I do think in my - soul. What’s that?” - - As Jake shouldered his well-filled bags he turned toward the door, - only to find it blocked by the two figures who had sought concealment - behind the cellar. They had come down the steps so cautiously that - Jake did not know there was any one near him. Of course he was greatly - alarmed, and visions of the New London penitentiary rose up before - him; for Jake knew very well that nocturnal house-breaking, with the - intent to commit a felony, constitutes burglary, and burglary is a - State’s prison offense. The light was so dim that he could not see the - features of the men who blocked the doorway and cut off his escape, - but beyond a doubt one of them must be the son of the guide he had - robbed. - - “I couldn’t help it, Ike, sure’s I live an’ breathe I couldn’t help - it” stammered Jake, as soon as he could speak. “We ain’t got a bite to - eat in the shanty, an’ no way to earn any, seein’ that the folks about - here won’t let us be guides and make an honest livin’, like we want to - do. I’ll give up every thing I’ve got into the bags if—” - - “Keep your plunder, friend,” said a voice that Jake did not remember - to have heard before. “We don’t own it, and neither are we officers. - We don’t care how much you steal. Where’s your boat?” - - “Down to the beach,” replied Jake, who thought this a little ahead of - any thing he had ever heard of before. - - “Well, do you want to earn five dollars?” asked the man, in hurried - tones. “Then shoulder your bags again and come on. We want you to set - us across the lake.” - - Jake obeyed the order to “come on,” but he did it with fear and - trembling. How did he know but this was a ruse on the part of the two - men to get him out of the cellar so that they could both pounce upon - him? He followed them up the steps because he was afraid to hang back; - but when he got to the top he watched for an opportunity to throw down - his bags and take to his heels. But first he took as good a look at - the men as he could in the darkness. They both wore slouch hats and - long dark-colored ulsters, and each carried a small traveling bag in - his hand. In appearance, they were not unlike the sportsmen and - tourists who patronized the Indian Lake hotels in summer. They tried - to make Jake believe that that was what they were; but the boy was - sharp enough to discover a flaw in their story at once. - - “We’ve been spending a month up at the hotel hunting and fishing,” - said the one who had thus far done all the talking. “This afternoon we - received a telegram urging our immediate return to New London, and we - are trying to get there now.” - - “There ain’t no huntin’ up to Injun Lake this time of the year, ’cause - it’s agin the law,” said Jake, to himself. “An’ this ain’t the best - way to get to New London nuther, if they’re in sich a hurry as they - make out. Why didn’t they hire a wagon to take ’em to the railroad? - It’s a mighty fur ways through the woods,” he added, aloud, “an’ you - won’t get there half so quick as the cars could take you.” - - “It is too late to think about that now,” was the rather impatient - reply. “We’ve got started, and we can’t waste time in going back. Can - you set us across the lake?” - - “I reckon,” answered Jake. “But I shall have to carry you one at a - time, ’cause my boat is small, an’ won’t hold up three fellers at a - load.” - - While this conversation was going on Jake, who did not believe a word - of the story to which he had listened, was watching for a chance to - slip away in the darkness; but the men, as if divining his intention, - walked one on each side of him, and even took hold of his arms to help - him over the rough places. When they reached the woods one went on - ahead and the other brought up the rear; so there was no opportunity - for escape. - - “There’s the boat.” said Jake, at length. “Now which one of you shall - I take over first? An’ where’s that five dollars you promised me fur - settin’ you across?” - - The men did not reply immediately. They struck matches on the sleeves - of their ulsters and examined me closely, all the while keeping up an - animated conversation in tones so low that I did not think Jake could - hear it; but subsequent events proved that he heard every word of it, - and knew how to profit by the information he gained from it. The - course of action he instantly marked out for himself, and which he - successfully carried into execution, astonished me beyond measure. - - “Say, Jim,” said one of the men, fumbling in his pocket for another - match. “This is a cranky looking craft, and I am afraid to trust - myself in her. We couldn’t swim ten feet to save our lives, and both - these gripsacks have specie enough in them to sink them to the bottom, - if she should happen to capsize with us. Say, friend, how wide is the - lake at this point?” - - “About a mile—mebbe more,” answered Jake. - - “Is the water very deep?” - - “Well, middlin’ deep. On the day pap ketched a salmon trout here he - let out seventy foot of line an’ never teched bottom. I reckon that’s - water enough to drown a feller, less’n he’s a tolerable fine swimmer.” - - The men evidently thought so too. They held another consultation, and - had almost made up their minds that the safest thing they could do - would be to stay ashore and walk around the lake, when Jake broke in - with— - - “I’ll tell you what I’ve heard pap say more’n once. If you are afeared - that a boat is too cranky fur you, an’ that she’ll spill you out, all - you’ve got to do is to load her down most to the water’s edge, an’ - then she’ll go along as stiddy as a rockin’ cheer. The water ain’t - over your heads right here, an’ if you don’t like the look of things - arter we all get in, why I can bring you back to shore mighty easy.” - - One of the men protested that the plan wouldn’t work at all, but his - more venturesome companion declared that it was worth trying, adding— - - “We can’t manage the canoe, and the boy will have to go. If he takes - us over one at a time, we shall lose valuable moments. Jump in, Jim. - Where did you want to sit, boy? In the middle, I suppose?” - - “I reckon,” replied Jake. “But afore we start, I want to see the color - of them five dollars you promised me for takin’ you over.” - - The man who had been called Jim uttered an exclamation of impatience - and opened his traveling bag, while his companion struck another - match. By the aid of the light it threw out Jake caught a glimpse of - the contents of the valise. It was a very brief one, but the sight on - which his gaze rested during the instant that the match blazed up and - then went out almost took his breath away. The little bag was filled - to the very top with glittering silver pieces. Never but once in his - life before had Jake Coyle seen so much money, and that was in the - front window of a New London broker’s office. - - Jim caught up several of the coins, and as the light emitted by the - match died away just then he counted out Jake’s five dollars in the - dark. But the boy knew they were all there, for he felt them as they - were dropped into his eager palm. He shut his fingers tightly upon - them, and instead of putting them into his pocket he thrust them into - the mouth of the sack that contained the bacon and potatoes he had - stolen in the cellar. - - “They might slip outen my pocket if we should happen to get capsized, - but they’ll be safe there,” chuckled Jake. “T’other side of the lake - is a mighty jubus place to land a canoe on a dark night like this one - is, ’cause there’s so many snags there to pester a feller.” - - “Now, then, what’s keeping you?” demanded Jim, impatiently. “We’ve - wasted too much time already.” - - “Well, why don’t you pile in?” asked Jake, in reply. “I’ll shove the - canoe out till she floats, an’ then I’ll step in myself. I ain’t - afeared of gettin’ my stockin’s wet.” - - In accordance with these instructions Jim took possession of the bow, - his companion seated himself in the stern, and Jake shoved me from the - shore. When the water was a little more than knee-deep, he stepped - aboard and took up his paddle. His added weight made me settle down - until the water came within two or three inches of the top of my - gunwale, and I expected that Jake would stop and ask his passengers - how they “liked the look of things” now that they were afloat; but he - did nothing of the kind, for it was not on his programme to take them - back to shore after he had got fairly started with them. He dipped his - paddle into the water and with a few quick, strong strokes left the - trees on the bank out of sight. If I could have spoken to them I could - have quieted the fears of Jake’s timid passengers in very few words. I - did not believe that the three of them weighed much more than half my - floating capacity, which was eight hundred pounds. - - The lake wasn’t an inch over five hundred yards wide at this point, - and neither was the water more than fifteen or twenty feet deep. Jake - was not more than ten minutes in coming within sight of the opposite - shore, and then he began twisting about, looking first one side of his - bow passenger and then the other, as if he were searching for - something. The beach was, as he had said, a bad place to make a - landing on a dark night. In fact there was no beach there; nothing but - a low, muddy shore, which was thickly lined with gnarled and twisted - roots and sharp-pointed snags. It was a fine place for an accident, - even in broad daylight; but Jake could have passed through in perfect - safety if he had been so minded. Instead of that, he picked out the - wickedest looking sawyer in the lot and headed me straight for it, - with longer and stronger strokes. Jim, who was seated in the bow, - could not see what he was doing, and the attention of the man who - occupied the stern was so fully taken up with other matters (keeping - his balance, for one) that he could not think of any thing else. While - I was wondering what Jake was going to do, he ran my bow high and dry - upon the leaning sawyer; and in less time than it takes to tell it I - rolled completely over, and came right side up, turning Jake and his - passengers out into the cold waters of the lake. - - “Human natur’!” sputtered Jake, who was the first to rise to the - surface. “What’s the matter with you feller in the bow? Why didn’t you - tell me that the snag was there, so’t I could have kept cl’ar of it?” - - I knew now what Jake Coyle’s plan was, and felt the keenest anxiety - for the two men who had been so unexpectedly dumped over-board, for I - had heard them say that they could not swim ten feet to save their - lives. But fortunately they could swim a little. Their heads bobbed up - almost as quick as Jake’s did, and as soon as they had taken in the - situation, they struck out for the snag. They were greatly alarmed, - although, as I afterward learned, there was not the slightest reason - for it. If they had allowed their feet to sink toward the bottom, they - would have found that the water at that place was not more than - shoulder-deep. - - “How could I be expected to act as lookout when I was sitting with my - back to the front end of the boat?” demanded Jim, as soon as he could - speak. “Where’s my grip-sack?” - - “And mine?” exclaimed his companion. “Boy, have you got ’em?” - - “I ain’t got nothin’,” answered Jake. “Didn’t you hold fast to ’em - when the boat capsized? Then they went to the bottom of the lake, most - likely, an’ you won’t never see ’em agin, ’cause the water’s more’n - four hundred feet deep right here, an’ the mud goes down a hundred - feet furder.” - - I had floated off the sawyer the instant I was relieved of the weight - of my three passengers, and the current, which at this point set - pretty strongly toward the outlet, carried me within reach of Jake - Coyle’s arm. As he spoke, he gave me a sly but vigorous push, which - sent me out of sight of the two men who were clinging to the sawyer, - but not so far away but that I could hear every word they said. When - they found that their valises had gone to the bottom, their fear gave - place to rage, and they fell to abusing Jake and each other. - - “I knew we would come to grief if we got into that canoe, but you - insisted on it, and now you see what we have made by it,” said one of - the men after he had sworn himself out of breath. “How are we going to - get to Canada when we haven’t got five dollars between us? We’ve put - ourselves in a fair way of going to prison, and we haven’t a thing to - show for it.” - - “Hold your tongue!” exclaimed the other, fiercely. “Do you want to - give yourself away to this boy? Say, Tommy, or Julius, or whatever - your name is, are you good at diving?” - - “Never could dive wuth a cent,” declared Jake, who often boasted that - he could bring up bottom at a greater depth than any other boy in the - State. “What do you reckon you want me to do—try to get them - grip-sacks fur you? There ain’t a livin’ man can go down to the bottom - of the mud where them things is by this time. Was there much into - ’em?” - - “_Was_ there? Well, I should—” - - “Hold on!” interrupted Jim. “We’ll not give the money up until we have - made an effort to recover it. We’ll keep this boy with us until - morning, and then we’ll fix up some sort of a drag and see what we can - do with it. I don’t believe that the water is as deep—Here, you - villain, what sort of a game have you been playing on us? The water - isn’t over five feet deep. I’m standing on bottom now.” - - “Wal, stand there long’s you like,” replied Jake, who all this while - had been holding fast to another snag a little distance away. “I won’t - charge you no rent fur it. You stole that there money somewheres, an’ - I know right where the constable lives. ’Twon’t take me long—” - - A vivid light shot out into the darkness, a water-proof cartridge - cracked spitefully, and a bullet from Jim’s revolver whistled - dangerously near to Jake Coyle’s head. - - - - - CHAPTER V. - JAKE COYLE’S SILVER MINE. - - - “Human natur’!” yelled Jake, when the ball sung through the air close - to his ear. “I’m shot! Whoop! I’m killed.” - - He let go his hold upon the snag and fell back into the water with a - sounding splash; but rising with the buoyancy of a cork, and finding, - to his astonishment, that he was not at all injured, he swam rapidly - in my direction, but so silently that I could not hear the slightest - ripple. The robbers, if such they were, were struck dumb by the - alarming sounds that had been called forth by their random shot; but - at length one of them broke the silence. - - “I hope you’re satisfied,” said he, in savage tones. “You have added - murder to burglary, and now we are in for it, sure. I’m off this very - minute.” - - “Where are you going, Tony?” asked his companion, in pleading tones. - - “I’m going to get ashore and strike out through the woods the best I - know how. I don’t care where I bring up, so long as I put a safe - distance between myself and the guides who will be on our trail at - daylight. They’ll track a fellow down as a hound would.” - - “Are you going to desert me? I can’t swim ashore.” - - “Then walk. The water isn’t up to your neck.” - - “But the mud! What if it should be a quicksand?” - - “The mud isn’t an inch deep. That boy told us a pack of lies from - beginning to end. He capsized us on purpose; but I am sorry you shot - him. Come on, if you are going with me.” - - “Must we leave the money behind after all the risk we ran to get it?” - - “The money can stay where it is till the rust eats it up for all I - care,” replied Tony, who was very much alarmed. “I wouldn’t stay here - a minute longer after what you have done for all the money there is in - America.” - - “But there are six thousand dollars in those grip-sacks,” protested - Jim, “and that amount of cash don’t grow on every bush.” - - “I know it; but there’s no help for it that I can see. You have - knocked us out of a fortune by being so quick with your revolver.” - - Here the speaker broke out into a volley of the heaviest kind of - oaths, and Jake Coyle sat composedly in the canvas canoe listening to - him. The boy’s courage came back to him the instant he found himself - in the boat with the double paddle in his hand, and instead of making - haste to return to the other shore, as I thought he would, he kept - still and waited to see what his late passengers were going to do. - Although he was not more than twenty yards from them they could not - see him, for, as I have said, the night was pitch dark. - - “I knowed by the way them fellers went snoopin’ around that suller, - an’ by the funny story they tried to cram down my throat, that they - wasn’t sportsmen like they pertended to be,” soliloquized Jake, giving - himself an approving slap on the knee. “An’ I knowed the minute I seed - that money that it wasn’t their’n, an’ that’s why I upsot ’em into the - lake. Whoop-pee! I’ve got a silver mind up there by that snag, an’ - to-morrer night I’ll slip up an’ work it.” - - Hardly able to control himself, so great was his delight over the - success of his hastily conceived plans, Jake sat and listened while - the robbers floundered through the water toward the shore; and when a - crashing in the bushes told him that they had taken to the woods, he - headed me for the place where he had left the stolen provisions. Six - thousand dollars! Jake could hardly believe it. It was a princely - fortune in his estimation, and it was all his own; for no one except - himself and the robbers knew where it was, and the latter would not - dare come after it, believing, as they did, that their chance shot had - proved fatal to Jake. It would be an easy matter for the boy to bring - the two grip-sacks to the surface by diving for them, but what should - he do with the money after he got hold of it? Unless he went to some - place where he was not known, it would be of no more use to him than - those fine guns were to his father. There was but one store within a - radius of fifty miles at which he could spend any of it, and Jake knew - it would not be safe to go there. The store was located at Indian - Lake, and that was the headquarters of the guides who were so hostile - to his father’s family. - - “It’s a p’int that will need a heap of studyin’ to straighten it out,” - thought Jake, putting a little more energy into his strokes with the - double paddle. “But I’m rich, an’ I needn’t stop with pap no longer’n - I’ve a mind to. That’s a comfortin’ idee. Wouldn’t him an’ Sam be - hoppin’ if they knowed what had happened to-night? I don’t reckon I’d - best have any thing more to say to Rube about them guns. I don’t care - for fifty dollars long’s I got six thousand waitin’ for me.” - - Jake found the bags where he had left them, and also the five dollars - which the robbers had paid him for ferrying them across the lake. He - loaded the bags into the canoe, after putting the money into his - pocket, and set out for home, which he reached without any further - adventure. He took a good deal of pains to avoid the watchman at the - hatchery, although there was really no need of it. Rube knew well - enough that the food Matt’s wife served up to him three times a day - had never been paid for. The first words he uttered when he presented - himself at the breakfast table the next morning proved as much. - - “Beats the world how you folks keep yourselves in grub so easy,” said - he, as he drew one of the stools up to the well-filled board. “I never - see you do no work, an’ yet you never go hungry. Well, I don’t know’s - it’s any of my business; but I’d like mighty well to make it my - business to ’rest them two robbers that’s prowlin’ about in these - woods.” - - “What robbers?” inquired Matt; while Jake, taken by surprise, bent his - head lower over his cracked plate and trembled in every limb. - - “I don’t know’s I can give you any better idee of it than by readin’ a - little scrap in a paper that Swan give me early this morning,” - answered Rube, pushing back his stool and pulling the paper in - question from his pocket. - - “Swan!” ejaculated Matt, his face betraying the utmost consternation. - “Has he been round here?” - - Rube replied very calmly that the guide had been around there, adding— - - “Him an’ a whole passel of other guides an’ constables come to see me - this morning at the hatchery afore sun-up. They told me all about it - an’ give me this paper. They was a lookin’ for the robbers.” - - “An’ don’t you know that they’re lookin’ for me too?” exclaimed Matt, - reproachfully. “An you never come to wake me up so’t I could take to - the bresh an’ hide? Spos’n I’d been ketched all along of your not - bringin’ me word?” - - “But you see I knowed you wasn’t in no danger,” replied the watchman. - “They wouldn’t be likely to look for you in my house, an’ me holdin’ - the position of watchman at the State hatchery, would they? Besides, - they don’t care for you now. They’re after a bigger reward than has - been offered for you. There’s six hundred dollars to be made by - ’restin’ them robbers, an’ that’s what brung Swan an’ his crowd up - here so early. They tracked the robbers through the woods as far as - Haskinses’, Swan and the rest of the guides did, an’ there they found - a steeple pulled outen the suller door an’—Hallo! What’s the matter of - you, Jake?” - - “There ain’t nothin’ the matter of me as I knows on,” said the boy, - faintly. - - “I thought you sorter acted like you was chokin’. Well, they routed up - Haskinses’ folks, an’ when Miss Haskins come to go into the suller she - said she had lost some ’taters, turnups, bacon, butter, and pickles,” - continued Rube; and as he said this he ran his eyes over the table and - saw before him every one of the articles he had enumerated. “Miss - Haskins allowed that the robbers must a bust open the door to get grub - to eat while they was layin’ around in the bresh. Mebbe they did an’ - mebbe they didn’t; but that’s nothin’ to me. They couldn’t track the - robbers no furder’n the suller; but they’re bound to come up with ’em, - sooner or later. Townies ain’t as good at hidin’ in the woods as you - be, Matt.” - - The squatter grinned his appreciation of the complaint, and Rube - proceeded to unfold his paper. When he found the dispatch of which he - was in search, he read it in a low monotone, without any rising or - falling inflection or the least regard for pauses. It ran as follows: - - “BANK THIEVES GET $6,000. - - “Irvington, Aug. 3.—The cashier of the First National Bank went to - dinner about noon yesterday, after closing and locking the vault and - doors of the building. Thieves entered the bank by a back door and - secured about $6,000, mostly in specie, which had been left in trays - just inside the iron railings. Two strangers wearing long dark coats - and black felt hats were seen coming out of the alley about the time - the money was supposed to have been stolen, and suspicion rests upon - them. The sheriff is in hot pursuit, and the thieves have already been - traced as far as Indian Lake. That is bad news. The Indian Lake - vagabonds will give them aid and comfort as long as their money holds - out, and the officers will have an all-winter’s job to run them to - earth. A reward of six hundred dollars has been offered for the - apprehension of the robbers.” - - Rube folded the paper again and said, as he winked knowingly at Matt - Coyle— - - “You see that Swan and the rest of the guides have got bigger game - than you to look after, an’ if they’ve got an all-winter’s job onto - their hands, you’re safe, so fur as bein’ took up is concerned; I mean - that they won’t go out of their way to hunt you up.” - - Having finished his breakfast Rube took possession of one of the - shake-downs, while Matt and his family adjourned to the open air to - give him a chance to sleep. - - “The Injun Lake vagabones will give ’em aid an’ comfort as long’s - their money holds out,” quoted Matt, seating himself on a convenient - log and knitting his shaggy brows as if he were revolving some deep - problem in his mind. “That means us, I reckon; don’t you? I’d give ’em - all the aid an’ comfort they wanted if I could only find ’em, I bet - you. I wish we were livin’ in the woods now like we used to. We’d - stand enough sight better chance of meetin’ ’em than we do here so - nigh the hatchery.” - - “An’ what’s the reason we ain’t livin’ in the woods, quiet and - peaceable?” exclaimed Sam. “It’s all along of Joe Wayring an’ the rest - of them Mt. Airy fellers who burned us outen house an’ home, so’t - we’ve got to stay around the settlements whether we want to or not.” - - The mention of Joe Wayring’s name seemed to set Matt Coyle beside - himself with rage. He jumped to his feet and strode back and forth in - front of his log, flourishing his arms in the air and uttering threats - that were enough to make even a canvas canoe tremble with - apprehension. Why Matt should feel so spiteful against my master I - could not understand. Joe had no hand in driving him out of Mount - Airy, neither did he lend the least assistance in destroying Matt’s - property. The trustees and the guides were the responsible parties, - but Matt did not give a thought to them. The innocent Joe was the - object of his wrath, and he promised to visit all sorts of terrible - punishments upon him at no very distant day. - - “We’ll tie him to a tree an’ larrup him till he’ll wish him an’ his - crowd had left us alone,” said Matt, in savage tones. “We’ll larn him - that honest folks ain’t to be drove about like sheep jest ’cause they - ain’t got no good clothes to w’ar. But six thousand dollars!” added - Matt, coming back to the point from which he started. “That’s a power - of money, ain’t it?” - - “Six hundred you mean,” suggested Sam. - - “That’s the reward that’s been offered for them robbers.” - - “Who said any thing about the reward,” exclaimed Matt, almost - fiercely. “I wasn’t thinkin’ of the reward. I was thinkin’ of the six - thousand.” - - “Wouldn’t you try to ’rest ’em, pap, if you should find ’em?” inquired - Sam. - - “Not if I could make more by givin’ ’em aid an’ comfort, I wouldn’t. - Say,” added Matt, giving Sam a poke in the ribs with his finger. “Six - hundred dollars is nothin’ alongside of six thousand, is it? Them - fellers will have to camp somewhere, if they stay in the woods, won’t - they? An’ is there a man in the Injun Lake country that’s better’n I - be at findin’ camps an’ sneakin’ up on ’em? Jakey, go into the shanty - an’ bring out that canvas canoe of your’n. Go easy, ’cause Rube wants - to sleep after bein’ up all night. More’n that, I want him to sleep; - for I don’t care to have him know what I am up to. I suspicion that - he’s watchin’ me.” - - “Where be you goin’, pap?” asked Jake, in some alarm. - - “Up to Haskinses’ to take a look around his landin’,” replied Matt. - “You didn’t see any thing of them robbers while you was workin’ about - that suller, did you, Jakey?” - - “Didn’t see hide nor hair of nobody,” was the answer. “If I’d seen ’em - I’d been that scared that I never would quit a runnin’.” - - “Well, they was up there somewheres, ’cause Swan an’ his crowd tracked - ’em that fur. But they couldn’t foller ’em no furder, an’ that proves - that the robbers must have crossed the lake right there.” - - “I don’t reckon they did, pap,” replied Jake, whose uneasiness and - anxiety were so apparent that it was a wonder his father’s suspicions - were not aroused. “’Cause where did they get a boat to take ’em over? - Haskins don’t own but one, an’ he’s got that up to Injun Lake.” - - “I don’t know nothin’ about that,” answered Matt, doggedly. “Them - robbers got across the lake somehow, an’ I am sure of it. Leastwise it - won’t do any harm to slip up there, easy like, an’ look around a bit. - Go an’ bring out the canoe, Jakey.” - - I did not wonder at the white face the boy brought with him when he - came into the cabin and took me out of the chimney corner, and neither - was I much surprised to hear him mutter under his breath— - - “I do wish in my soul that I’d busted a hole into you when I run you - onto that snag last night. Then pap couldn’t have used you this - mornin’. I’ll bet he don’t never go out in you no more.” - - “Now, then,” said Matt, “put him together, ready for business—you can - do it better’n I can—while I go in after my pipe an’ rifle.” - - “Say, Jakey,” said Sam, in a delighted whisper, as Matt tip-toed into - the cabin, “if pap finds the camp of them robbers won’t we be rich - folks, though? He ain’t goin’ in fur the reward, pap ain’t. Looks to - me as though he had got his eye on them six thousand.” - - That was the way it looked to Jake too; and although he knew that his - father could not find the money, hidden as it was under five feet and - more of muddy water, he was afraid that he would see something at - Haskins’ landing that would make him open his eyes. And Jake’s fears - were realized. In less than an hour after he and his brother put me - into the water at the head of the outlet, Matt had paddled up to - Haskins’ landing and was taking in all the signs he found there with - the eye of an Indian trailer. Nothing escaped his scrutiny. He saw the - impress of Jake’s bare feet in the mud, the prints of boots, the marks - of the canvas canoe on the beach, and noted the place where the bags - had been left while the robbers were being ferried across the lake. - Then he sat down on a log, smoked a pipe, and thought about it. - - “What was that boy’s notion for tellin’ me that them robbers couldn’t - have crossed the lake ’cause they didn’t have no boat, do you reckon?” - said he, to himself. “Come to think of it, he did look kinder queer - when I said I was goin’ to look about Haskinses’ landin’ jest to see - what I could find here, and I’ll bet that that boy knows more about - them robbers than any body else in these woods. He took ’em over, - Jakey did—all the signs show that. Course he didn’t do it for nothin’, - so he must have money. Now what’s to be done about it?” - - This was a question upon which the squatter pondered long and deeply. - If Jake had earned some money the night before, of course Matt ought - to have the handling of it, for he was the head of the family; but how - was he going to get it? He knew the boy too well to indulge in the - hope that he would surrender it on demand, and as for whipping it out - of him—well, that wouldn’t be so easy, either; for Jake was light of - foot, and quite as much at home in the woods as his father was. It - wouldn’t do for Matt to come to an open rupture with his hopeful son, - for if he did who would steal the bacon and potatoes the next time the - larder ran low? Sam was too timid to forage in the dark, running the - risk of encounters with vicious dogs and settlers who might be on the - watch, and even Matt had no heart for such work. He must bide his time - and pick Jake’s pocket after he had gone to bed, unless—here the - squatter got upon his feet, knocked the ashes from his pipe, and - shoved the canvas canoe out into the lake. - - “Them robbers must have made pretty considerable of a trail, lumberin’ - through the bresh in the dark, an’ what’s to hender me from follerin’ - ’em?” he soliloquized, as he plied the double paddle. “Havin’ been up - all night they oughter sleep to-day, an’ if I can only find their - camp—eh?” - - Matt Coyle began building air-castles as these thoughts passed through - his mind. He paddled directly across the lake, avoiding the snag on - which I had been overturned the night before, passing over Jake’s - silver mine, which he might have seen if he had looked into the water, - and presently he was standing on the spot where the robbers made their - landing when they waded ashore. Here another surprise awaited him. - There were no signs to indicate that the canvas canoe had been there - before, and neither were there any prints of bare feet to be seen. - Boot-marks were plenty, however, and the ground about them was wet. - - “Now what’s the meanin’ of this yer?” exclaimed Matt, who was greatly - astonished and bewildered. “What’s the reason Jakey didn’t land his - passengers on shore ’stead of dumpin’ them in the water? Do you reckon - he tipped ’em over an’ spilled that money out into the lake? If he - did, ’taint no use for me to foller the trail any furder.” - - Little dreaming how shrewd a guess he had made, Matt filled his pipe - and sat down for another smoke. While he was trying to find some - satisfactory answers to the questions he had propounded to himself, he - was aroused by a slight splashing in the water, and looked up to see a - light canoe close upon him. It had rounded the point unseen, and was - now so near that any attempt at flight or concealment would have been - useless. So Matt put on a bold face. He arose to his feet with great - deliberation, picked up his rifle, and rested it in the hollow of his - arm. - - “No one man in the Injun Lake country can ’rest me,” I heard him say, - in determined tones, “an’ if that feller knows when he’s well off he - won’t try it. Well, I do think in my soul! If that ain’t the boy that - told me to steal Joe Wayring’s boat, I’m a sinner. He’s the very chap - I want to see, for I’ve got use for him. Hello, there!” he added, - aloud. “Powerful glad to see you agin, so onexpected like. Come - ashore.” - - Tom Bigden (for it was he) paused when he heard himself addressed so - familiarly, and sat in his canoe with his double paddle suspended in - the air. He gave a quick glance at the tattered, unkempt figure on the - beach, and with an exclamation of disgust went on his way again. - - “Say,” shouted Matt, in peremptory tones. “Hold on a minute. I want to - talk to you.” - - “Well, I don’t want to talk to you,” was Tom’s reply. “Mind your own - business and let your betters alone.” - - If Tom had tried for a week he could not have said any thing that was - better calculated to make Matt Coyle angry. The latter never - acknowledged that there was any body in the world better than himself. - Lazy, shiftless vagabond and thief that he was, he considered himself - the equal of any industrious, saving and honest guide in the country. - - “Who’s my betters?” Matt almost yelled. “Not you, I’d have you know. I - can have you ’rested before this time to-morrer, if I feel like it, - an’ I will, too, if you throw on any more of your ’ristocratic airs - with me. Mind that, while you’re talkin’ about bein’ ‘my betters.’” - - “Why, you—you villain,” exclaimed Tom, who could not find words strong - enough to express his surprise and indignation. “How dare you talk to - me in that way?” - - “No more villain than yourself,” retorted Matt, hotly, “an’ I dare - talk to you in any way I please. You don’t like it ’cause a man who - ain’t got no good clothes to wear has the upper hand of you an’ can - send you to jail any day he feels in the humor for it, do you? Well, - that’s the way the thing stands, an’ if you want to keep friends with - me, you had better do as I tell you.” - - Tom Bigden was utterly confounded. Never in his life before had he - been so shamefully insulted. Do as that blear-eyed ragamuffin told - him! He would cut off his right hand first. Almost ready to boil over - with rage, Tom dipped his paddle into the water and set his canoe in - motion again. - - “Well, go on if you want to,” yelled Matt. “But bear one thing in - mind: I’ll leave word at the hatchery this very night, an’ to-morrer - there’ll be a constable lookin’ for you. You forget that you told me - to steal Joe Wayring’s boat down there to Sherwin’s Pond last summer, - don’t you? You knowed I was goin’ to take it, you never said or done a - thing to hender me, an’ that makes you a ’cessory before the fact,” - added Matt glibly, and with a ring of triumph in his voice. “Now, will - you stop an’ talk to me, or go to jail?” - - Tom was frightened as well as astonished. He _had_ forgotten all about - that little episode at Sherwin’s Pond, but the squatter’s threatening - words recalled it very vividly to mind. He knew enough about law to be - aware that an accessory before the fact is one who advises or commands - another to commit a felony, and Tom had done just that very thing, and - thereby rendered himself liable to punishment. It is true that there - were no witnesses present when he urged Matt to steal the canvas - canoe, but there were plenty of them around, when he advised him to - steal the hunting dogs belonging to the guests of the hotels, and to - turn the sail boats in Mirror Lake adrift so that they would go - through the rapids into Sherwin’s Pond. - - “Great Scott!” ejaculated Tom, as these reflections came thronging - upon him thick and fast. “What have I done? I have put my foot in it, - and this low fellow has the upper hand of me as sure as the world.” - - I am of opinion that Tom would have given something just then if he - had not been in such haste to take vengeance upon a boy who never did - the first thing to incur his enmity. - - - - - CHAPTER VI. - JAKE WORKS HIS MINE. - - - “I allowed you’d stop after you took time to think the matter over,” - chuckled Matt, when he saw the boy lift his paddle from the water and - rest it across his knee. “I ain’t forgot that you spoke kind words to - me an’ my family down there to Mount Airy when every body else was - jawin’ at us an’ tryin’ to kick us outen house an’ home, an’ I’d be - glad to be friends with you,” he added, in a more conciliatory tone. - “But I ain’t goin’ to stand no airs of no sort. Now, come ashore so’t - I can talk to you.” - - “What do you want to say to me?” asked Tom, who could hardly refrain - from yelling in the ecstasy of his rage. The man talked as though he - had a perfect right to command him. “Speak out, if you have any thing - on your mind. I can hear it from my canoe as well as I could ashore.” - - “Well, I shan’t speak out, nuther,” answered Matt, decidedly. “I ain’t - goin’ to talk so’t they can hear me clear up to Injun Lake. Come - ashore.” - - Tom reluctantly obeyed; that is, he ran the bow of his canoe upon the - beach, but that was as far as he would go. - - “I am as near shore as I am going to get,” said he, with a little show - of spirit. “Now what have you to say to me? Be in a hurry, for my - friends are waiting for me.” - - “Well, you needn’t get huffy about it,” replied Matt, backing toward - his log and pulling his pipe from his pocket. “I can tell you in a few - words what I want you to do for me, an’ as for your friends, they can - wait till their hurry’s over. Say,” added the squatter, sinking his - voice to a confidential whisper, “you know I told you when I stole - this here canvas canoe that I was comin’ to Injun Lake to go into the - business of independent guidin’. You remember that, don’t you?” - - “Well, what of it?” was the only response Tom deigned to make. “No - matter what I remember. Go on with what you have to say to me.” - - “Don’t get in a persp’ration,” continued Matt, with the most - exasperating deliberation. “Yes; that’s one thing that made me take - the canvas canoe—so’t I could go into the business of guidin’ on my - own hook; but when I got here I found that the landlords wouldn’t have - nuthin’ to do with me, an’ the guests wouldn’t, nuther. So I took to - visitin’ all the camps I could hear of, an’ helpin’ myself to what I - could find in ’em in the way of grub, we’pons an’ sich. I told you - that was what I was goin’ to do. You remember it, don’t you?” - - Tom made a gesture of impatience but said nothing. - - “Yes; that’s what I done, an’ it wasn’t long before I kicked up the - biggest kind of a row up there to Injun Lake,” said the squatter, - pounding his knees with his clenched hands and shaking all over with - suppressed merriment. “The women-folks dassent go into the woods for - fear that they would run foul of me when they wasn’t lookin’ for it, - an’ some of the guests told Hanson—he’s the new landlord, you - know—that if he didn’t have me took up an’ put in jail they’d never - come nigh him agin. Oh, I tell you I’ve done a heap since me an’ you - had that little talk up there to Sherwin’s Pond, an’ I’m goin’ to do a - heap more before the season’s over. I said I’d bust up guidin’ an’ the - hotels along with it, an’ I’m goin’ to keep my word. I’ll l’arn them - ’ristocrats that I’m jest as good as they ever dare be, even if I - ain’t got no good clothes to wear.” - - Tom Bigden was intensely disgusted. Matt talked to him as unreservedly - as he might have talked to an accomplice. When he paused to light his - pipe Tom managed to say— - - “You hinted last summer that you intended to kidnap little children if - you got a good chance. Have you tried it?” - - “Not yet I ain’t, but there’s no tellin’ what I may do if they don’t - quit crowdin’ on me,” replied Matt, with a grin. “That is one of the - tricks I still hold in my hand. I must have money to buy grub an’ - things, an’ since I ain’t allowed to earn it honest, as I would like - to do, I must get it any way I can. An’ this brings me to what I want - to say to you.” - - “I am very glad to hear it,” answered Tom. “Now I hope you will hurry - up. I am getting tired of listening to your senseless gabble. I am in - no way interested in what you have done or what you intend to do. What - do you want of me? That’s all I care to know.” - - “Don’t get in a persp’ration,” said the squatter again. “Yes; I - visited all the camps I could hear of, like I told you, an’ among - other things I took outen them camps were two scatter-guns an’ a - rifle. One of the scatter-guns I give up agin, an’ I got ten dollars - for doin’ it, too.” - - “Well, what do I care about that?” said Tom, when Matt paused and - looked at him. “I tell you I am not interested in these things. Come - to the point at once.” - - “I’m comin’ to it,” answered the squatter. “I give up one of the - scatter-guns, like I told you, but t’other one an’ the rifle I’ve got - yet. There’s been a reward of a hundred dollars offered for them two - guns—fifty dollars apiece—an’ I want it.” - - “Then why don’t you give up the guns and claim it?” - - “Now, jest listen at the fule!” exclaimed Matt. “I dassent, ’cause - there’s been a reward of a hundred more dollars offered for the man - that stole them guns. That’s me. I can’t go up to Injun Lake to take - them guns back to the men that owns ’em, an’ I’m afeared to send the - boys, ’cause they would be took up the same as I would. See?” - - “Yes, I see; but I don’t know what you are going to do about it. - You’ve got the guns, and if you are afraid to give them up you will - have to keep them. I don’t see any other way for you to do.” - - “I do,” said Matt; and there was something in the tone of his voice - that made Tom uneasy. “I don’t want the guns, ’cause I can’t use ’em; - but I do want the money, an’ that’s what I am goin’ to talk to you - about. I want you to buy them guns—” - - “Well, I shan’t do it,” exclaimed Tom, who was fairly staggered by - this proposition. “I’ve got one gun, and that’s all I need. Besides, I - am not going to become a receiver of stolen property.” - - “I’ll give ’em to you for twenty-five dollars apiece,” continued Matt, - paying no heed to the interruption, “an’ you can take ’em up to Injun - Lake an’ claim the whole of the reward. You’ll make fifty dollars by - it.” - - “I tell you I won’t do it,” repeated Tom. “I’ll not have any thing to - do with it. I’m not going to get myself into trouble for the sake of - putting money into your pocket.” - - “There ain’t no need of your gettin’ yourself into trouble less’n you - want to. When you take the guns up to Hanson you can tell him that you - found ’em in the bresh—that you didn’t know who they belonged to, an’ - so you made up your decision that you had better take ’em to him. See? - That’ll be all fair an’ squar’, an’ nobody will ever suspicion that I - give ’em to you. Come to think on it, I won’t give ’em to you,” added - Matt. “You hand me the twenty-five dollars apiece, an’ I will tell you - right where the guns is hid, an’ you can go up there an’ get ’em. Then - when you tell Hanson that you found ’em in the bresh you will tell him - nothing but the truth. What do you say?” - - “I say I haven’t got fifty dollars to spend in any such way,” answered - Tom. He wished from the bottom of his heart that he had pluck enough - to defy the squatter, but he hadn’t. It cut him to the quick to be - obliged to sit there and hear himself addressed so familiarly by such - a fellow as Matt Coyle, but he could not see any way of escape. The - man had it in his power to make serious trouble for him. - - “Ain’t you got that much money about your good clothes?” asked Matt, - incredulously. - - “I haven’t fifty cents to my name.” - - “You can’t make me b’lieve that. You wouldn’t come to Injun Lake - without no money to pay your expenses. Don’t stand to reason, that - don’t.” - - “My cousin Ralph carries the purse and foots all our bills; but he - hasn’t half that amount left. We are pretty near strapped and almost - ready to go home.” - - “Well, I won’t be hard on you,” said Matt. “I am the accommodatin’est - feller you ever see. Go home, ask your pap for the money, an’ come - back an’ hand it to me. That’s fair, ain’t it? Mount Airy is a hundred - miles from Injun Lake. You oughter go an’ come back in ten days. I’ll - give you that long. What do you say?” - - “I’ll think about it,” replied Tom, whose sole object just then was to - get out of hearing of Matt Coyle’s voice. As he spoke he placed one - blade of his paddle against the bottom and shoved his canoe out into - deep water. - - “That won’t do, that won’t,” exclaimed Matt. “I want to know whether - or not you are goin’ to bring me that money.” - - “That depends upon whether I can get it or not.” - - “’Cause you needn’t think you can get away from me by jest goin’ up to - Mount Airy,” continued Matt. “There’s constables up there same’s there - is at Injun Lake, an’ a word dropped at the hatchery will reach ’em - mighty easy. If you want me to be friends with you, you won’t sleep - sound till you bring me that fifty dollars.” - - “I wonder if any other living boy ever submitted so tamely to such an - insult,” soliloquized Tom, as he headed his canoe up the lake and - paddled back toward the point. “That villain holds me completely in - his power. He can disgrace me before the whole village of Mount Airy - any time he sees fit to do so. The minute he is arrested and brought - to trial, just that minute I am done for. If I give him fifty dollars - for those guns, how much better off will I be? He will have a still - firmer hold upon me. He’ll rob other camps, compel me to buy his - plunder by threats of exposure, and the first thing I know I shall be - a professional ‘fence’—receiver of stolen goods. By gracious!” - exclaimed Tom, redoubling his efforts at the paddle as if he hoped to - run away from the gloomy thoughts that pressed so thickly upon him. - “What am I coming to? What _have_ I come to?” - - “There, now,” I heard Matt mutter, as he stood with his hands on his - hips, watching Tom Bigden’s receding figure. “I’ve done two good - strokes of business this morning. I’ve brought that feller down a peg - or two, an’ I have pervided for gettin’ shet of them guns in a way I - didn’t look for. I thought for one spell that they wasn’t goin’ to be - of no use to me, but now I shall make fifty dollars clean cash outen - ’em. He’ll bring it to me, for if he don’t I’ll tell on him sure, an’ - then he’ll be in a pretty fix with all them people up there to Mount - Airy knowin’ to his meanness. It hurts these ’ristocrats to have a - feller like me to talk to ’em as I talked to that Bigden boy; I can - see that plain enough. Well, they ain’t got no business to have so - much money an’ so many fine things, while me an’ my family is so poor - that we don’t know where our next pair of shoes is comin’ from.” - - Highly pleased with the result of his interview with Tom Bigden, Matt - shoved the canvas canoe into the water and pulled slowly toward the - outlet, once more passing directly over Jake’s silver mine. Perhaps - the sunken treasure had some occult influence upon him, for he - straightway dismissed Tom from his mind, and thought about Jake and - the robbers and the six thousand dollars. - - “Don’t stand to reason that Jakey would a told me that he hadn’t seen - them robbers less’n he had some excuse for it,” said Matt, to himself. - “He did see ’em, an’ I know it. He took ’em across the lake, too. He - didn’t do it for nothing, so he’s got money. I’ll speak to him about - it when I get home, an’ then I’ll make it my business to keep an eye - on him.” - - Having come to this determination Matt dismissed Jake as well as Tom - from his thoughts, and made all haste to reach the outlet, not - forgetting as he paddled swiftly along to keep a close watch of the - woods on shore. Mr. Swan and a large squad of guides and constables - were in there somewhere, and Matt Coyle had a wholesome fear of them. - When I ran upon the beach at the head of the outlet, I was not very - much surprised to see Jake step out of the bushes and come forward to - meet his father. The boy must have been in great suspense all the - morning, and although he was almost bursting with impatience to know - whether or not his father had discovered any thing during his absence - he could not muster up courage enough to ask any questions. But Matt - began the conversation himself. - - “Jakey,” said he, reproachfully. “I didn’t think you would get so low - down in the world as to go an’ fool your pap the way you done this - mornin’. You told me you hadn’t seen hide nor hair of them robbers, - an’ that wasn’t so. You did see ’em, an’ you took ’em across the lake, - too. But you didn’t land ’em on this side; you dumped ’em out into the - water. Now how much did you get for it?” - - Jake was not so much taken aback as I thought he would be. He had been - expecting something of this kind and was prepared for it. He knew that - his father was an adept at reading “sign,” and he was as well - satisfied as he wanted to be that his five dollars ferry money would - never do him any good. The question was: How much more had his father - learned? Did he know any thing about the silver mine? Jake didn’t - believe he did, else he would have been more jubilant. A man who knew - where he could put his hand on six thousand dollars at any moment - would not look as sober as Matt Coyle did. - - “I didn’t get nothin’ for dumpin’ on ’em out, pap,” replied Jake, - after a little pause. “That was somethin’ I couldn’t help. The night - was dark, an’ I didn’t see the snag till I was clost onto it.” - - “Well, what become of the six thousand dollars they had with ’em?” - inquired Matt, looking sharply at the boy, who met his gaze without - flinching. “Did you see any thing of it?” - - “I seen a couple of grip-sacks into their hands, but I didn’t ask ’em - what was in ’em,” answered Jake. He looked very innocent and truthful - when he said it, but his father was not deceived. He had known Jake to - tell lies before. - - “What become of the grip-sacks when you run onto the snag an’ spilled - ’em out?” asked Matt. - - “They hung fast to ’em an’ took ’em ashore an’ into the woods where I - didn’t see ’em no more.” - - “How much did you get for takin’ the robbers over the lake?” - - “Jest five dollars; an’ there it is,” said Jake, who knew that the - money would have to be produced sooner or later. - - “Now jest look at the fule!” shouted Matt, going off into a sudden - paroxysm of rage. “Five dollars, an’ them with six thousand stolen - dollars into their grip-sacks! Jake, I’ve the best notion in the world - to cut me a hickory an’ wear it out over your back.” - - Jake began to look wild. When his father talked that way things were - getting serious. - - “Hold on a minute, pap,” he protested, as Matt pulled his knife from - his pocket and started toward the bushes. “How was I goin’ to know - that they had all that money an’ that it was stole from the bank? If I - had knowed it, I would a taxed ’em a hundred dollars, sure; but I - thought they had clothes an’ things in them grip-sacks.” - - Matt paused, reflected a moment, and then shut up his knife and put it - into his pocket. - - “Why didn’t you tell me that you had made five dollars by takin’ ’em - over ’stead of sayin’ that you hadn’t never seed ’em?” he demanded. - - “’Cause I wanted to keep the money to get me some shoes,” answered - Jake, telling the truth this time. “Winter’s comin’ on, an’ I don’t - want to go around with my feet in the snow, like I done last year. - I’ll give you half, pap, an’ then you can get some shoes for - yourself.” - - To Jake’s great amazement his father replied— - - “No, sonny, you keep it. You earned it, fair and squar’, an’ I won’t - take it from you. I shall make fifty dollars hard cash outen them guns - we’ve got hid in the bresh, an’ that will be enough to run me for a - little while. Now take your boat to pieces an’ bring him up to the - house.” - - So saying, Matt Coyle walked off, leaving Jake lost in wonder. - - “Well, this beats me,” said the boy, after he had taken a minute or - two to collect his wits. “Pap wouldn’t take half my five dollars, an’ - he’s found a way to make fifty dollars outen them guns! I don’t - b’lieve it,” added Jake, his face growing white with excitement and - alarm. “He’s found my silver mind; that’s what’s the matter of him.” - - The contortions Jake went through when this unwelcome conviction - forced itself upon him were wonderful. He strode along the beach, - pulling his hair one minute and clapping his hands and jumping up and - down in his tracks the next, and acting altogether as if he had taken - leave of his senses. I had never before witnessed such a performance, - having always been accustomed to the companionship of those who were - able to control themselves, under any and all circumstances. After a - little while he ceased his demonstrations, and picking me up bodily, - carried me into the bushes and left me there. - - “I won’t take him to pieces, nuther,” said Jake, aloud. “I’ll leave - him here so’t I can get him without pap’s bein’ knowin’ to it, an’ - when night comes I’ll go up an’ see after my silver mind. If pap has - found it, he’ll have to give me half of it, cash in hand, or I’ll tell - on him.” - - Although Jake really believed that his “claim” had been “jumped,” he - did not neglect to make preparations for working it in case he found - his fears were groundless. He came back to me about the middle of the - afternoon, and as he approached I saw him take a long, stout line out - of his pocket. What he intended to do with it I could not tell; but I - found out an hour or two afterward, for then I had a second visitor in - the person of Matt Coyle, who came stealing through the bushes without - causing a leaf to rustle. He stopped beside me and picked up the line. - - “He didn’t take the canoe to pieces an’ carry him up to the house, - like I told him to, an’ he’s stole his mam’s clothes-line and brung it - down here,” said Matt to himself. “Now, what did he do that for? He’s - goin’ to use ’em both to-night, Jakey is, an’ what’s he goin’ to do - with ’em? He’s a mighty smart boy, but he’ll find that he can’t fool - his pap.” - - The hours passed slowly away, and finally the woods were shrouded in - almost impenetrable darkness. The time for action was drawing near. I - waited for it impatiently, because I was sure that the temporary - ownership of those six thousand dollars would be decided before - morning, and I felt some curiosity to know who was going to get them. - While I was thinking about it, Jake Coyle glided up and laid hold of - me. In two minutes more I was in the water and making good time up the - lake towards the sunken silver mine; but before I had left the woods - at the head of the outlet very far behind I became aware that we were - followed. I distinctly saw a light Indian Lake skiff put out from the - shadow of the trees and follow silently in our wake. The boat was one - of the two that had been stolen by Matt and his family on the day that - Mr. Swan and his party burned their camp; and, although the night was - dark, I was as certain as I could be that its solitary occupant was - Matt Coyle himself. He held close in to the trees on the left hand - side of the lake, and as often as Jake stopped and looked back the - pursuer stopped also; and, as he took care to keep in the shadow, of - course he could not be seen. - - “Pap thinks he’s smart,” muttered Jake, after he had made a long halt - and looked up and down the lake to satisfy himself that there was no - one observing his movements, “an’ p’raps he is, but not smart enough - to get away with the whole of them six thousand. If I don’t find them - grip-sacks, I shall know sure enough that he’s been here before me; - an’ if he don’t hand over half of it the minute I get home I’ll tell - on him afore sun-up. Here I am, an’ it won’t take me long to see how - the thing stands.” - - As Jake said this, he drew up alongside the snag and dropped the - anchor overboard. He must have been in a fearful state of suspense, - for I could feel that he was trembling in every limb. When he came to - divest himself of his clothes, preparatory to going down after the - money, his hands shook so violently that he could scarcely find the - few buttons that held them together. He didn’t dive, for the splash - could have been heard a long distance in the stillness of the night, - and might have attracted somebody’s attention. He made one end of the - clothes-line fast to a brace, took the other in his hand, and, - lowering himself gently over the stern of the canoe, drew in a long - breath and sank out of sight. He was gone a full minute; but before he - came to the surface I knew he had been successful in his search, for I - could tell by the way the line sawed back and forth over the gunwale - that he was tying it to something. An instant later his head bobbed up - close alongside, and then Jake essayed the somewhat difficult task of - clambering back into the canoe. Being a remarkably active young - fellow, he accomplished it with much more ease than I expected; and no - sooner had he gained his feet than he began hauling in on the line - with almost frantic haste. - - “I’ve got one of ’em! I’ve got one of ’em!” he kept on saying over and - over again; and a second afterward one of the little valises was - whipped out of the water and deposited on the bottom of the canoe. - “Pap didn’t find my silver mind, like I was afeard of, an’ it’s mine, - all mine. I’m rich.” - - Forgetting where he was in the excess of his glee, Jake jumped up and - knocked his heels together; but when he came down I wasn’t there to - meet him. He gave me a shove that sent me to one side, and Jake - disappeared in the water. He was greatly alarmed by the noise he made, - and during the next five minutes remained perfectly motionless. - Supporting himself by holding fast to the anchor rope, he waited and - listened. He was so quiet that he scarcely seemed to breathe; and all - this while an equally motionless and silent figure sat in the skiff, - not more than fifty yards away, taking note of every thing that - happened in the vicinity of the snag. - - The deep silence that brooded over the lake deceived Jake, and he made - ready to go down after the rest of the money. He was not out of sight - more than half a minute, and again the sawing of the line told me that - he had found the object of his search. There was another short, - frantic struggle to get into the canoe, a hasty pull at the rope, and - the second valise was jerked out of the water and placed safely beside - its companion. Jake Coyle had worked his silver mine to some purpose. - - - - - CHAPTER VII. - AMONG FRIENDS AGAIN. - - - I cannot give you even a faint idea of the extravagant demonstrations - of delight to which Jake Coyle gave way when he saw the two valises - deposited side by side on the bottom of the canoe. He had been - tormented by the fear that his father had found and appropriated the - money, and he could not convince himself that those fears were - groundless, until he had opened both the valises and plunged his hands - among the glittering silver pieces with which they were filled almost - to the top. Then he threw himself back in the stern of the canoe and - panted as if he were utterly exhausted with his exertions. - - “I do think in my soul that I’ve got it,” said he, in an excited - whisper. “Now what’ll I do with it to keep it safe? If pap or that Sam - of our’n——” - - For some reason or other Jake became frightened when he thought of his - father and brother. The idea of sharing his ill-gotten gains with them - never once entered his head. He scrambled to his feet and hastily - pulled on his clothes, after which he raised the anchor and paddled up - the lake. As soon as I got under way the pursuing skiff was set in - motion also; but I lost sight of it after we rounded the first point - and entered the mouth of the creek which had been the scene of Joe - Wayring’s exciting encounter with Matt Coyle and his boys a few weeks - before. - - Up this creek Jake paddled as swiftly as he could, his object being to - find a hiding-place for the money so remote from the hatchery that no - one who lived about there would be likely to stumble upon it. For two - hours he never slackened his pace, and by that time I became aware - that we were drawing near to the site of Matt’s old camp—the one that - had been destroyed by Mr. Swan and his party. A few minutes later I - passed through the little water-way that connected the creek with the - cove, and there Jake made a landing and got out. - - “I’ve heared them say that lightning don’t strike two times in the - same place,” said he, as he drew me higher upon the beach and took - hold of the valises, “an’ that’s what made me come up here. Swan has - been here once an’ done all the damage he could, an’ ’tain’t no ways - likely that he’ll come agin. Pap dassent come so fur from home, ’cause - he’s that scared of the constables that he sticks clost to the shanty - all the time, an’ don’t even go huntin’ for squirrels; so I reckon the - woods about here are the best place I can find to hide my money. I’ll - leave my canoe, too, an’ then, when I get ready to strike out for - myself, I’ll have him an’ the money an’ both them fine guns right - where I can lay my hands onto ’em.” - - So saying Jake disappeared in the bushes, taking the valises with him. - He was gone half an hour, and when he returned he proceeded to fold me - up and tie me together with a piece of rope. This done he found a - hiding-place for me under a pile of brush about twenty feet from the - spot where the lean-to stood before it was burned, and, after covering - me up as well as he could in the dark, glided away with noiseless - footsteps. It was a long time before I saw him again, but he had not - been gone more than five minutes when I heard a slight rustling among - the leaves and a snapping of twigs as if some one was walking - cautiously over them. Then I knew I was not alone in the woods. Who my - invisible companion was I could not tell for certain, but I believed - it was the occupant of the skiff that had followed us from the outlet. - He revealed his identity when he came near my place of concealment, - for I recognized his voice. It was Matt Coyle. He had kept Jake in - sight until he saw him paddle into the creek, and then he landed and - took to the woods. Something told him where the boy was going with the - money he had fished out of the lake, and by going afoot and taking a - short cut he gained on Jake so much that he arrived in the vicinity of - his old camp at least ten minutes ahead of him. But he could not see - where the valises had been hidden—the woods were too dark for that—and - now he was trying his best to find them, as I learned from his - soliloquy. - - “He’s a pretty smart boy, Jakey is, but not smart enough to fool his - pap,” I heard him say. “The ondutiful scamp! I had oughter wear a - hickory out on him the minute I get home; but here’s the diffikilty; - if I do that he’ll tell Rube where them fine guns is hid, an’ the - minute they are give up to their owners then Rube’11 turn squar’ - around an’ have me took up for the sake of gettin’ the reward. See? If - I can find the money all unbeknownst to Jakey, an’ take it off an’ - hide it somewhere else, so’t I can find it every time I want to use a - dollar or two, then Jakey’11 think that the constables have stumbled - on it, an’ he won’t never say a word; but if I try to force him to - give it up there’ll be a furse, sure. He’s like his pap, Jakey is. It - won’t do to crowd him too fur. Mebbe it’s in yer.” - - Matt bent over my hiding-place and thrust his hand into the pile of - brush. He felt all over and around me, and uttered many an exclamation - of anger and disgust when he found that the valises were not there - with me. He spent the whole of the night in tramping about the woods - in my neighborhood, and how he missed the objects of his search I - don’t know to this day. He rested a little while before daylight—at - least I thought he did, for the sound of his footsteps ceased for an - hour or two—but as soon as he could see where he was going he was up - and at it again; but this time he was interrupted. Deeply interested - as he was in his search, he did not neglect to keep his eyes and ears - open, and consequently he did not fail to hear the threatening sounds - that came to him on the morning breeze. I heard them a few minutes - afterward, and would have shouted with delight if I had possessed the - power. Mr. Swan and his party were approaching. Although I could not - see them I was certain of it, for I had been in the guide’s company so - often that I could have recognized his voice among a thousand. - Presently they came close to my hiding-place and I heard one of the - party say— - - “Here’s where Matt’s lean-to stood. We came pretty near catching the - sly old coon that day, but he must have had some member of his family - on the watch. We found the fire burning and the dinner under way, but - Matt was nowhere to be seen.” - - “They have been back here since then, and within a few hours, too,” - said Mr. Swan. “See how the leaves are kicked up. Let’s look around, - boys, and perhaps we shall find something.” - - I was delighted to hear this order. The “boys” began to look about at - once, and one of them followed Matt’s trail straight to my place of - concealment. The constable who accompanied him kicked the pile of - brush to pieces, caught hold of the rope with which I was bound, and - dragged me into view. The first words he spoke seemed to indicate that - he had never seen any thing like me before. - - “What in the name of common sense is this?” said he. - - “That?” replied Mr. Swan, who stood close by. “Oh, that is Joe - Wayring’s canvas canoe—an old thing that saw his best days years ago. - But Joe thinks a heap of him and will be mighty glad to get him again. - I haven’t got any thing to do just now, and so I will make it my - business to take the canoe up to him. Joe is a good fellow, and I - shall be glad to do that much for him.” - - Thank goodness, I was in a fair way to see Joe Wayring once more! I - was as happy as I wanted to be after that. I hoped Mr. Swan would take - me home at once, for I was impatient to see Fly-rod and the long bows - and the toboggan and all the rest of my friends in Mount Airy. I - looked around at the members of the squad and saw many familiar faces - among them. In fact, I had seen them all at one time or another, with - the exception—could I believe my eyes? I looked again, and told myself - that there could be no mistake about it. There were two strangers - among them, and they were dressed in slouch hats and long dark coats. - They were neither hand-cuffed nor bound, but they were closely watched - by two armed officers who took no part in beating the bushes. They - were the bank robbers—the very men I had tumbled out into the lake. If - I had had the slightest doubt of their identity it would have been - dispelled when the deputy sheriff said—“Now, boys, we’ve got some - evidence. Who can stretch this canvas canoe?” - - Mr. Swan replied that he could, and he did. Under his skillful hands I - quickly assumed my usual symmetrical proportions; but before he was - through with me one of the robbers called out— - - “That’s the boat. That’s the very boat that we started to cross the - lake in.” - - “How do you know?” asked the sheriff. - - “Because, as we told you, we examined him with the aid of a lighted - match before we would trust ourselves to him,” replied one of the - prisoners. “I believe that boy tipped us over on purpose.” - - “I haven’t the least doubt of it,” assented the sheriff. “You let him - see the inside of one of the valises, and of course the sight of so - much money excited his cupidity.” - - “I hope Jim didn’t hit him when he shot at him,” said the other - robber, in an anxious tone. - - “Haven’t I told you more than a dozen times that you need not borrow - trouble on that score?” asked the officer. “If the boy had been hurt - we should probably have heard of it when we crossed the outlet at the - hatchery the next morning. Robbing the bank is all you will have to - answer for.” - - And wasn’t that enough? I wondered. I did not know just what the - penalty was for the offense of which they were guilty, but I did know - that they were destined to pass some of the best years of their lives - in prison. I was surprised to hear the sheriff talk so familiarly with - the robbers, but really there was nothing surprising in it. Having - captured them, as he was in duty bound to do, he showed them as much - consideration as he showed the guides he had summoned to his - assistance, but he kept a sharp eye on them to see that they did not - escape. - - “Put him together again, Swan, and we will go on and pay our respects - to Jake Coyle,” continued the officer. “It is possible that he intends - to return the money and claim the reward. If he does—” - - “Don’t fool yourself,” said Mr. Swan, with a laugh. “If Jake ran into - that snag on purpose, he did it with the intention of fishing up that - money and keeping it. He can’t claim the reward, for there is a - warrant out for him. He helped to steal this canvas canoe.” - - Having tied me together with the rope, Mr. Swan raised me to his - shoulder, ordered the guides to stop talking, and the entire posse set - off through the woods in the direction of the hatchery. As they drew - near to it they spread out right and left, forming a sort of skirmish - line which was so long that those on the flanks were out of sight of - one another, and in this order moved forward with increased caution. - The sheriff and Mr. Swan remained in the center with the two - prisoners, the latter holding me in one hand and a revolver in the - other. The officer consulted his watch very frequently, and at the end - of ten minutes moved out of the bushes to the “carry,” followed by Mr. - Swan and the captives. Then I understood the meaning of this maneuver. - The sheriff’s object was to surround Rube’s cabin and capture the - inmates. - - As soon as he reached the “carry” the sheriff gave a shrill whistle - and ran forward at the top of his speed, leaving the guide to follow - with the prisoners. When we came within sight of the cabin a few - minutes later I saw the entire posse gathered around it, and the - sheriff and Rube standing in the doorway, the latter rubbing his eyes - as if he had just been aroused from a sound sleep. - - “Sold again,” said the officer, as Mr. Swan came up. - - “There, now!” exclaimed the guide, who was profoundly astonished. - “Well, I told you that Matt was a sly old fox, and that you’d have to - be mighty sly yourself if you caught him. The young ones are chips of - the old block, and can dodge about in the woods like so many - partridges. How did he find out that we were coming, do you reckon?” - - “That’s a mystery,” answered the sheriff. - - I could have told him that it was no mystery to me. The officer and - his posse had made a good deal of noise in coming through the woods, - and of course Matt Coyle heard them long before they came in sight. - Knowing that they would have to go to the hatchery in order to procure - boats to cross the outlet, he took to his heels in short order, made - the best of his way to the cabin, and started his family off into the - woods. That was all there was of it, but it proved the truth of the - remark Mr. Swan once made in Joe Wayring’s hearing—that Matt Coyle - always had luck on his side. The fugitives did not awaken Rube, for - they knew that he had nothing to fear from the officers of the law. I - had often wondered what sort of a game the watchman was up to (I was - as sure that he was playing a part as Matt was), and now I was given - some insight into it. - - “You would ’a’ ruined Hanson if you’d arrested Matt Coyle,” said Rube, - when the guide ceased speaking. “If you take him up afore them guns is - found he’ll lose a dozen good customers next season, Hanson will, - ’cause they say they’ll never come back to his hotel till their - property is given up to ’em. You don’t want to be in too big a hurry. - Both the boys has offered to give me the guns for half the reward, an’ - as soon as they tell me where they are hid I’ll bring ’em up to the - lake. Then you can ’rest Matt, as soon as you please.” - - “I wasn’t after Matt, although I should have taken him in if I had - found him here,” answered the sheriff. “I was looking for Jake.” - - “What’s he been a doin’ of?” - - “We think he knows something about the money that was stolen from the - Irvington bank.” - - “I know he does,” said Rube, earnestly. “I thought so yesterday - morning, when I was readin’ about it in the paper that Swan give me, - an’ I thought so last night when I stood at the head of the outlet an’ - saw him go up the lake in the canvas canoe. Say,” he added, in a lower - tone, “is them two fellers the robbers?” - - The officer nodded. - - “An’ do you reckon Jake knows where they hid the money?” - - “We don’t think they hid it. Jake capsized them, and turned the money - out into the lake.” - - “Well, I’ll bet you it ain’t there now,” said Rube. “Jake got it up - last night, less’n Matt stopped him.” - - “Was Matt with him?” - - “He follered him in one of the boats that he stole from you fellers up - the creek on the day you burned his camp.” - - “Where are those boats now?” inquired Mr. Swan. - - “Up to the head of the outlet, hid in the bresh. I can show ’em to you - any time.” - - “Come on and do it then,” said the Sheriff. “There’s no use wasting - time here. It won’t take us long to row up to that snag and see if the - money is there. Four of us are enough. We will take one of the - prisoners with us to show us right where the snag is, and the other - can stay here.” - - Having designated by name the guides whom he wished to accompany him, - the sheriff followed Rube through the woods toward the place where the - skiffs were concealed, Mr. Swan bringing up the rear with me on his - shoulder. The skiffs were quickly hauled out of their hiding-places - and launched, and at the end of an hour we were all anchored alongside - the snag, and two of the guides were searching the bottom of the lake - for the valises, which I knew to be all of ten miles from there in a - straight line, and twenty by water. At last the guides came up and - reported that there was no use of looking any longer. The grip-sacks - were not there. - - “Are you sure that this is the snag on which that boy capsized you?” - inquired the sheriff. - - “As sure as I can be,” replied the prisoner, to whom the question was - addressed. “It was the first one he came to, and it was directly - opposite the house whose cellar he robbed. Are you going to give up - looking?” he added, as the guides climbed back into their skiff. “I - hate to think that that villain will remain at liberty to enjoy that - six thousand, after all the risk Tony and I ran to get it.” - - “He’ll not remain at liberty very long,” answered the sheriff, with - some asperity. “I’d have you know that I understand my business. I - pledge you my word that you will see him in New London jail in less - than a week after you get there.” - - This assurance seemed to satisfy the robber that justice would be - done, and he had no more to say. - - In obedience to the sheriff’s order the guides pulled back to the - outlet and landed in front of the hatchery. The rest of the posse were - ferried over to the opposite side and set out on foot for Indian Lake, - all except the other prisoner, who was taken into the canvas canoe - with Mr. Swan. - - When we reached the lake I learned that there had been a regular - exodus from the woods during the last two days. As soon as the women - and children who were in camp heard that there were a couple of bank - robbers hiding somewhere in the wilderness, they made all haste to get - back to the hotels, where they knew they would be safe. Both the - landlords were in a state of mind that can hardly be described. The - season was not half over, and yet some of their guests were leaving - every day, bound for other places of resort where thieves were not - quite so plenty. Matt Coyle would have hugged himself with delight if - he could have heard what I did. I arrived at the lake about nine - o’clock in the morning, and at nine o’clock that night Mr. Swan and I - were well on our way toward Mount Airy, which we reached without any - mishap. We found Joe and his two chums, Roy and Arthur, enjoying a - sail on the lake in the Young Republic. - - “I kinder thought you would like to have your canoe back again, and so - I brought him up,” said Mr. Swan, when he had shaken hands with the - boys. “No, I won’t take nothing for it, and I can’t go up to your - house and stay over night, neither. I’ve got to get back as soon as I - can, for there’s plenty of work to be done at Indian Lake. The - Irvington bank robbers have been captured, but Matt Coyle and his boys - are still at large, and they’ll ruinate our business and the hotels’ - business, too, if we don’t tend to ’em right along.” - - While the guide was telling the boys how the robbers had been hunted - down and captured, he took hold of the rope with which I was tied and - lifted me out of his skiff into the sail-boat, and then he said - good-by and pulled away, while the Young Republic came about and - scudded back toward Mr. Wayring’s wharf. - - Fly-rod told you, at the conclusion of his narrative, that when Joe - Wayring returned from his trip to Indian Lake he expected to meet his - uncle, who was to take him and his chums on an extended canoe trip to - some distant part of the country, “either east or west, they didn’t - know which;” but in this he was disappointed. Uncle Joe had been - called away on important business, and the probabilities were that if - they took their proposed trip at all it would not be until near the - end of the vacation, and then it would be a very short one. So, for - want of something better to do, Joe Wayring proposed an immediate - return to Indian Lake. - - “The time is our own until the first Monday in September,” said he, - “and what’s the use of staying around the village and doing nothing? - We know we can enjoy ourselves at the lake, but this time we’ll give - Matt Coyle and his boys a wide berth. We’ll leave the regular routes - of travel, and visit the famous spring-hole that Mr. Swan has so often - described to us.” - - Arthur and Roy readily agreed to the proposition, and on the day I was - restored to my lawful master the arrangements for the return trip had - all been completed. They were only waiting for Fly-rod, whose broken - joint was being repaired by a skilled mechanic. He came the day after - I got home, and you may be sure I was glad to see him once more. We - passed the night in relating our adventures and exploits, and daylight - the next morning found us on the wharf, waiting for Arthur Hastings to - bring up the skiff. - - The trip down the river, through the pond where the “battle in the - dark” took place, and thence to Indian lake, was made without the - occurrence of any incident worthy of note, and in due time the skiff - was run upon the beach in front of the Sportman’s Home. We did not see - Matt Coyle or any of his family on the way, but we heard of them in - less than ten minutes after we arrived at the lake. While Joe and his - chums were overhauling the stern locker, in search of the letters they - had written the night before, Mr. Swan came up. - - “You’re here, ain’t you?” said he, in his cheery way. “Now you are off - for that spring-hole, I suppose. Well, if you will go into the woods - without a guide to take care of you, No-Man’s Pond is the safest place - for you. But you want to watch out for Matt Coyle, no matter where you - go. He’s down on all you Mount Airy folks, and Rube Royall heard him - say that he was intending to tie you to a tree and larrup you.” - - “Does Matt carry an insurance on his life?” inquired Roy. “If not, - he’ll think twice before he tries that.” - - “Who is Rube Royall?” asked Arthur. - - “He is acting as watchman at the State hatchery, but he is really in - Hanson’s employ,” replied Mr. Swan. “Of course Rube keeps poachers - away from the outlet of nights, but he was hired to watch Matt Coyle. - He’s too lazy to be a guide, Rube is; but he’s honest, and hates Matt - as bad as I do.” - - “Why does Mr. Hanson want to have Matt watched?” asked Joe. - - “You remember about the Winchester rifle and Lefever hammerless that - were stolen a while back, don’t you?” asked the guide. “Well, the men - who own them guns are worth anywhere from twenty-five to fifty dollars - a day to the hotel they put up at, because they always bring a big - crowd with them. They went home madder’n a couple of wet hens, saying - that they would never come to this lake again till their guns had been - found and Matt put in jail. We could have arrested Matt long ago, for - he’s been living with Rube ever since we burned him out; but if we’d - done it we should have lost the guns, for Matt would stay in jail till - he died there before he would tell where the guns were hidden. He’s - just that obstinate. However, Rube don’t need to watch him any more. - Hanson’s got the guns, and who do you think brought them to him. It - was Tom Bigden and his cousins.” - - Although I was closely packed in my case I caught every word of the - conversation I have recorded, and I assure you I was surprised to hear - this. Had Tom complied with Matt’s demands and paid him fifty dollars - for the guns? Why didn’t Joe ask the guide to go into details? - Probably he didn’t think it worth while, for all he said was— - - “I wish those fellows had stayed at home.” - - “They wouldn’t look at the reward, but told Hanson that it was to be - give to me and Morris,” continued the guide. “Morris has got his - share, but I ain’t seen mine, for this is the first time I have been - here since the guns were recovered. Now all we’ve got to do is to - arrest Matt and hunt up Jake. That boy’s got six thousand dollars - hidden somewhere in the woods.” - - “Why, hasn’t that money been found yet?” exclaimed Roy. - - “Not yet, and somehow we don’t make out to get on Jake’s trail. He - hasn’t been to Rube’s house since the day we found your canvas canoe - hidden under that pile of brush. He’s hiding in the woods, living on - what he can shoot and steal. I tell you the outlook is mighty dark for - us guides. There’s more than two hundred guests gone away since the - Irvington bank was robbed, and half of us are idle. Of course our pay - goes on, but no honest man wants to take money that he doesn’t earn.” - - “Well, I must say that things have come to a pretty pass when a few - vagabonds can shut up two hotels and throw fifty men like Mr. Swan out - of employment,” said Joe, as the guide went down the beach toward the - place where he had left his canoe. “Now that the guns have been - recovered, Matt Coyle ought to be arrested without an hour’s delay. I - hope he and Jake will be looking through iron bars when we return.” - - Joe would have put his wish into stronger language than that if he had - known what was to happen to him before he saw Indian Lake again. - - - - - CHAPTER VIII. - JOE WAYRING IN TROUBLE. - - - Mr. Swan, who had come to Indian Lake to purchase some supplies for - his family, took a couple of baskets from his canoe and walked back to - the place where Joe Wayring and his friends were standing. - - “There’s one thing I ’most forgot to tell you,” said he, as he came - up. “Them three cronies of yours, Tom Bigden and his cousins, are - spending their vacation in visiting with Matt Coyle and his family.” - - “Great Scott!” exclaimed Roy and Arthur, in concert. - - “Leastwise we think they are,” continued the guide, “for they have - more to do with Matt than they do with any body else. The boys have - often seen them together, and they seem to be as thick as so many - thieves.” - - “That’s what we get by sending them word that if they wanted their - fishing-rods they could come and get them,” said Joe, after a little - pause. “If we had redeemed their property at the time we redeemed - ours, Tom and his cousins wouldn’t have come here.” - - “Well, the woods are big enough for all of you, ain’t they?” said the - guide. “You needn’t have any thing to do with ’em if you don’t want - to.” - - “We are not sure of that,” answered Roy. “We shall not trouble them, - but that’s no sign that they will keep away and let us alone.” - - “Why are they having so much to do with Matt Coyle?” said Arthur. - “That looks suspicious.” - - “It does indeed,” said Joe, seriously. “I am afraid it means business - for us.” - - “I don’t see why it should,” replied Mr. Swan. “You stay on this side - the lake and let them stay on the other, and you needn’t come together - at all. They ain’t going to tramp twelve miles through the woods to - that spring-hole just for the sake of getting into a fuss with you.” - - “Don’t they know that Matt and his boys are in danger of arrest?” - asked Arthur. - - “Course they know it. They couldn’t help it, seeing that they come - here every few days after supplies and mail,” said the guide. “The - guides who saw them talking together didn’t know what to make of it, - and I don’t either.” - - “There’s something between Tom and Matt, and you may depend upon it,” - said Joe. “It has leaked out in Mount Airy that Tom tried to put Matt - up to lots of mischief before he went away. He told the squatter that - it would be a good plan for him to burn my father’s house, and turn - our sailboats adrift so that they would go into the rapids and be - smashed to pieces.” - - “Well, he’s a bright feller!” exclaimed the guide. “Don’t he know that - he will get himself into trouble by that sort of work? There they come - now.” - - The boys turned about and saw three canoes coming toward the landing. - The crews who were handling the paddles must have been surprised to - see Joe and his chums there, for as soon as they recognized them they - stopped and held a short consultation. - - Now, although the two opposing factions to which Tom and Joe belonged - felt very bitter toward each other, they had never come to open - warfare. They played ball together, always spoke when they met, and - tried to be civil; but there was scarcely a boy on either side who - would not have been glad to see Tom Bigden neatly thrashed. Prime, - Noble, Scott, and the rest of the fellows who made their head-quarters - at the Mount Airy drug store disliked him because he had tried to set - himself up for a leader among them; and Joe and his friends had no - friendship for him because they knew how persistently Tom, aided by - his cousins, had tried to injure them ever since he came to the - village to live. - - “If Tom could point to a single mean thing we ever did to him, I - shouldn’t be so much surprised at his hostility,” Joe often said. “But - for him to attempt to ride over us rough shod just because he is - jealous of us—that’s something we won’t put up with. If he had the - least spark of manliness in him, he would quit his under-handed work, - come out open and above-board, and settle the matter with a fair - stand-up fight. But he is too big a coward to do that, so he tries to - sick Matt Coyle onto us.” - - Having brought their consultation to a close, Tom and his cousins - dipped their paddles in the water again and drew up alongside the - skiff. If you had been there you would have thought, from the cordial - manner in which they greeted Joe and his companions, that they were - the best friends in the world. - - “Much obliged to you for telegraphing to us about our rods,” said Tom. - “We’ve got ’em now, and it will be a cold day when Matt Coyle gets his - hands on them again.” - - “I shouldn’t think you would like to associate with that man as freely - as you do,” said Roy, who could not forget that Tom had tried his best - to make one of their canoe meets a failure. “He will spring something - on you sure, and I wouldn’t have any thing to do with him.” - - Tom Bigden’s amazing assurance was not proof against an assault like - this. He turned all sorts of colors, but managed at last to say, in - reply— - - “You must think I am hard up for associates. My interviews with Coyle - have been purely accidental. I couldn’t help speaking to him when he - spoke to me. Where are you fellows going?” - - “We intend to hunt up some trout-fishing before we go home,” answered - Arthur. - - “Then you’ll have to go back to some of the spring-holes,” said Loren. - “I’ll bet there isn’t a legal trout in any of the waters about here. - They’ve been fished to death.” - - Arthur had nothing more to say, for it was no part of his plan to tell - Tom just where he and his companions were going. The three boys - loitered about for a minute or two, trying to think of something else - to talk about, and then they said good-by and walked toward the - Sportsman’s Home. - - “I don’t see what there is betwixt you boys,” said Mr. Swan, as soon - as Tom was out of hearing. “Those fellows seem friendly enough.” - - “Yes; but we know that they are not to be trusted,” replied Joe. - “Ralph and Loren are not so very bad, but Tom will do us a mean turn - the first good chance he gets.” - - “He didn’t tell the truth when he said that he had met Matt Coyle only - by accident,” added the guide. “Some of the boys told me that one day - last week he waited for Matt Coyle about two miles this side of the - hatchery for more than an hour. That looked as though he had made an - appointment.” - - “I wish I had thought to speak to Tom about those guns,” observed Roy. - “Do you know how he came to get hold of them, Mr. Swan? He must have - told some sort of a story when he turned them over to the landlord of - the Sportsman’s Home.” - - “I guess you don’t believe he come by ’em in a legitimate way,” - laughed Mr. Swan. “Well, mebbe he didn’t; I don’t know. He said he - found ’em while he and his cousins were roaming about in the woods, - hunting squirrels. The place to hunt for them is around cornfields, - and not in thick woods.” - - Having at last found their letters, Joe and his chums slung their - camp-baskets over their shoulders, and started for the hotel, talking - with the guide as they went, and listening attentively to his - instructions regarding the route they would have to follow in order to - reach the spring-hole. They engaged him to look out for their skiff - while they were gone, after which they hunted up the storekeeper, from - whom they purchased supplies enough to last them a week. - - “Going up to No-Man’s Pond, be you?” said Morris, the guide who had - patched up the hole that Matt Coyle’s scow knocked in the skiff on the - night the “battle in the dark” took place. “Well, you’ll catch plenty - of fish, but you will have a hard time getting there. You see, some - lazy lout of a guide went to work and filled the carry full of trees - and bushes, for fear that he might be called upon to show a guest over - there. You will have to pick your way through the thickest woods you - ever saw; so you want to go as light as possible.” - - “We shall take nothing but my canvas canoe, these three camp-baskets, - and our rods and guns,” replied Joe. “We have a good compass—” - - “Well, whatever you do, don’t quarrel with it,” said Morris. “If you - get turned around and see the sun go down in the north, when he ought - to set in the west, don’t get frightened and run yourself to death, - the way Billy Sawyer done two years ago. Billy had been guide for this - country, man and boy, for more than twenty years. The last time I saw - him, he was just starting out for the swamp about three miles the - other side of No-Man’s Pond, intending to spend a month or so in - trapping; but we don’t think he ever saw the swamp or the pond, - either. First he lost his bearings, then he lost his head, then he - went tearing through the woods, till he dropped and died of exhaustion - within half a mile of the hotel.” - - “And he was an old guide, you say?” exclaimed Roy. - - “Sartin. Guides ain’t no more infallible than other folks. I have been - lost myself; but my employer didn’t know it, I bet you. I kept my head - about me, and worked my way out all right. Well, good-by. You can eat - supper on the shore of that pond if you hold the direct course; but if - you lose it don’t grumble at the compass.” - - The boys knew just how hard it was for a bewildered person to place - implicit faith in the needle, for they had been lost scores of times - in the woods in the immediate vicinity of Mount Airy; but they did not - get lost this time. Joe Wayring went in advance, carrying me in one - hand and the little brass box in the other, and brought his companions - to No-Man’s Pond, as the spring-hole was called, in ample time to - catch and cook a supper of trout and make all the necessary - preparations for the night. Twice while we were on the way we came in - sight of the portage that led from Indian Lake to the spring-hole, but - we could not see any signs of a path. It was completely concealed by - the huge trees that that lazy guide had cut across it. - - “I wonder if this is the place we’re looking for,” said Joe, - depositing me at the roots of a spreading balsam and taking the camp - basket from his back. “It must be. Here are the mountains on three - sides of us and the hills on the other, and over there is the golden - bathing beach that Mr. Swan told us of. Hi yi! Did you see that?” he - added, as a monster trout showed himself above the water within easy - casting distance of the edge of the lily-pads. - - “I should say so,” replied Arthur. “I don’t care whether this is - No-Man’s Pond or not; there are big trout in it, and this is a - splendid place to build a shanty. Now let’s get to work. Who will put - the canvas canoe together and catch supper for us? who will cut the - wood and pick browse for the beds? and who will throw up a roof of - some sort for us to sleep under to-night? Most any thing will do, as - there are no signs of rain. To-morrow we will pitch in, all hands, and - put up a good house. - - “I’ll pick the browse,” said Roy, who was lying prone upon the leaves - fanning himself with his hat. “I’m just tired enough to do such lazy - work. I’ll tell you what’s a fact, fellows: If I were Mr. Hanson, and - could find out what guide it was who choked up that portage, I’d never - give him another day’s employment as long as he and I lived. I am - tired to death and roasted besides.” - - The others said they were too, but they did not waste time in - grumbling over it. They set to work at once, Arthur clearing the - leaves from the ground on which he intended to erect the lean-to, - while Joe took me from my case and made me ready for business. After - that he put Fly-rod together, fastened a couple of flies to his - leader, and shoved through the lily-pads to catch that big trout, or - others like him, for supper. By that time Roy Sheldon had mustered up - energy enough to take his double-bladed ax from his basket and go in - search of firewood. They worked to such good purpose, one and all, - that, by the time the sun went down and darkness settled over the - spring-hole, they were ready for the night. The browse lay a foot deep - all over the floor of the lean-to; the beds were made up side by side, - with a pillow (a little bag of unbleached muslin, left open at both - ends and stuffed with browse) at the head of each; the fire had burned - down to a glowing bed of coals, over which the trout and coffee-pot - were simmering and sputtering; and the whole was lighted up by the - Ferguson jack-lamp which hung suspended from a clipped bough close at - hand. A tramp of twelve miles on an August day, through a wilderness - so dense that not the faintest breath of air can reach you is no joke; - and it was little wonder that the boys were too tired to talk. They - ate their trout and johnny-cake and sipped their weak coffee in - silence, and then crawled to their beds under the lean-to without - thinking to wash the dishes; although that was a disagreeable duty - they seldom neglected. They slept soundly, too, in blissful ignorance - of the fact that there was another camp within less than three miles - of the spring-hole, and that the owners of that camp were looking for - them. - - Nine hours’ sleep has a wonderfully rejuvenating effect upon a healthy - boy; and when our three friends left their blankets at five o’clock - the next morning, and started on a keen run toward the “golden bathing - beach” before spoken of, they were their own jolly, uneasy selves - again. A hasty dip in the water, which was so cold that they could not - long remain in it, two or three hotly contested races along the beach - to get up a reaction, followed by a vigorous rubbing with coarse - towels, put them in the right trim for more trout and johnny-cake; and - the trout and johnny-cake put them in the humor for the work that must - be done if their sojourn at the spring-hole was to be a pleasant one. - The Indian Lake wilderness was noted for its sudden and violent - storms, and when they came the boys meant to be ready for them. They - did not forget to wash the dishes this time, and then Arthur and Joe - went to work to build the shanty, while Roy busied himself in - collecting a supply of fuel and building a range. - - If you have never passed a vacation in the woods, you probably do not - know that a camp fire and a camp range are two different things. The - first is made directly in front of the open part of the shanty, and is - intended for warmth and comfort, and for light, also, when you have no - lantern or jack-lamp. The range is built off on one side, a little out - of the way, and is made by placing two green logs, five or six feet - long, and eight inches in diameter, side by side on the ground, about - a foot apart at one end, and nearly touching at the other. The open - end of the range is placed to windward—that is in the direction from - which the wind blows—to create a draft, and the upper sides of the - logs are hewn off square with an ax, so that the pots, pans, and - kettles will stay where they are put, and not slip off into the fire. - You build a hard-wood fire between these logs, and when it has stopped - blazing and burned a thick bed of coals you are ready to begin your - cooking. To facilitate the handling of hot dishes on the range, Joe - Wayring had a pair of light blacksmith’s tongs, with the jaws curved - instead of straight. This was the handiest little tool I ever saw. - With its aid Joe could pour out coffee, dish up soup, and remove the - frying-pan from the range; and, as the tongs were always cold, no one - ever saw him dancing about the fire with burned fingers. - - The boys worked until three o’clock without even stopping for lunch, - and then Roy got into the canvas canoe and pushed out to catch trout - enough for supper, while Arthur cut down evergreens to furnish fresh - browse for the beds. It was about this time that I introduced them to - you in the first chapter. Joe Wayring had just put the finishing - touches upon the shanty (I didn’t wonder that he was satisfied with - it, for Mr. Swan himself could not have put up a neater little house) - and started the conversation with which I commenced my story. He gave - it as his opinion that their camp was well out of Tom Bigden’s reach, - and that Matt Coyle and his boys were much too indolent to walk twelve - miles through a thick wood just to get into a fight with them; and at - the very moment he said it some of those whose names he had mentioned - were trying their best to find him. - - Having disposed of their late dinner and cleaned up the camp, the boys - were at liberty to lie around under the trees and rest. This, for a - wonder, Joe Wayring was quite willing to do; but Roy and Arthur - suddenly took it into their heads that they would like to explore the - spring-hole and see how big it was and what it looked like. - - “Well, go on,” said Joe, “and I will stay here and keep up the fire - and rest. Two are enough to ride in that canoe. Take your rods and - catch some trout for breakfast. You ought to have fine sport, for they - are jumping up in every direction.” - - Roy and Arthur thought it best to act upon this suggestion, and from - force of habit they also put their guns into the canoe before shoving - out into the spring-hole. That was one of the luckiest things those - two boys ever did. - - By the time they had made two hundred yards from shore, the voyagers - discovered that No-Man’s Pond was not a circular basin, as it appeared - to be when viewed from the beach in front of their camp. Its shape was - very irregular. Numerous long points jutted into the water from both - sides, and behind these points were secluded bays in which numberless - flocks of wood duck lived unmolested by any enemy save the bald eagles - that now and then swooped down and carried off one of their number for - dinner. - - The boys paddled up on one side of the spring-hole and down the other, - going entirely around it and exploring all the little bays and inlets - in their course, seeing nothing in the shape of game except the ducks, - which quickly sought concealment under the broad leaves of the - lily-pads, and finally they dropped anchor in the mouth of a little - brook that emptied into the pond, and jointed their rods. It did not - take them more than twenty minutes to catch their next morning’s - breakfast. In fact, the trout were so eager to take their flies, - sometimes jumping clear out of the water to meet them, that the sport - was robbed of all excitement. - - “I would as soon fish in an aquarium,” said Roy, as he pulled his rod - apart and shoved it into its case. “I like to angle for trout, but - this suits me too well. What would some of Mr. Hanson’s guests, who - haven’t caught a legal fish this season, give to be here with us? - Let’s go to camp and see what friend Joe is doing.” - - For some reason or other the boys did not sing and shout, as they - usually did on occasions like this. Arthur lay at full length in the - bow, his chin resting on his arms, which were crossed over the - gunwales, and Roy plied the paddle with so much skill that it scarcely - made a ripple in the water. As we came noiselessly around the point - that obstructed our view of the upper end of the spring-hole, Arthur - uttered an ejaculation of astonishment and alarm, raised himself to a - sitting posture with so much haste that he came within a hair’s - breadth of capsizing me, and reached for his gun, while Roy sat with - open mouth and staring eyes, holding his paddle suspended in the air, - and looking in the direction of the camp. I looked too, and if I had - possessed a heart the scene that met my gaze would have set it to - beating like a trip-hammer. - - Joe Wayring was no longer lying at his ease under the shade of the - evergreens. He was standing with his face to a tree, which he seemed - to be clasping with his white, sinewy arms; his back was bared, and he - was looking over his shoulder at Matt Coyle, who stood behind and a - little to one side of him, rolling up his sleeves. Near by stood Sam, - and Jake, each holding a heavy switch in his hand. - - In an instant I comprehended the situation—or thought I did. I had - heard Matt declare, in savage tones, that some day he and his boys - would tie Joe Wayring to a tree and larrup him till he’d wish that he - and his crowd had minded their own business; and now Matt was about to - carry his threat into execution. He meant to do his work well, when he - got at it; for, in addition to the switches that Jake and Sam held in - their hands, I saw several others lying on the ground beside them. I - had never dreamed that the enmity Matt cherished toward my master was - so intense and bitter that it would lead him to go twelve miles out of - his way to wreak vengeance upon him, and it was a mystery to me how he - ever found out that Joe and his two chums were camping in this - particular spot. I did not believe that Matt had come there by - accident, and he hadn’t, either, as I afterward learned. He and his - boys were on Joe’s trail within three hours after he left Indian Lake, - and they had been looking for him ever since, being urged on by - something besides a desire for revenge, as I gained from the very - first words I heard the squatter utter. - - When we rounded the point we were within less than thirty yards of our - camp, and in plain sight of it; but its occupants were so deeply - interested in their own affairs that they did not see us. I felt a - thrill of indignation run all through me when I caught a glimpse of my - master’s pale face, and was proud of him when I saw that there were no - signs of cringing in him. Matt bared his brawny arm clear to the - shoulder, caught up a switch, gave it a flourish or two to make sure - that it would stand the work to which he intended to put it, and then - said in a loud voice, as if he were addressing some one on the other - side of the spring-hole: - - “Now, then, where is it? You see that we are in dead ’arnest, I - reckon, don’t you? What have you done with it?” - - “I tell you I don’t know any thing about it,” said Joe’s clear, - ringing voice in reply. “I never saw it.” - - For some reason or other these words seemed to set Jake Coyle beside - himself. He yelled like a wild Indian, leaped from the ground, and - made his heavy switch whistle as it cut the air in close proximity to - the prisoner’s unprotected back. As soon as he could speak plainly he - shouted— - - “You have seed it too, an’ you do know somethin’ about it. Whoop! Put - it onto him, pap, or else stand away from there an’ let me get at him. - Don’t you mind how he slapped me in the face with that paddle of - your’n? An’ now he’s gone an’ stole—” - - “Don’t be in a hurry, Jakey,” interrupted Matt. “Your turn’ll come - after I get through with him. I’ll let you at him directly. Look - here,” he went on, once more addressing himself to Joe. “You won’t get - no help from your friends, an’ you needn’t look for it. When we was - comin’ through the woods, we seen ’em puttin’ for Injun Lake tight as - they could go. Didn’t we, Jakey? Now if you will ax our parding for - your meanness to us, an’ tell us where it is, we’ll let you off easy. - What do you say?” - - “I say I won’t do it,” answered Joe, in undaunted tones. “I shan’t ask - your pardon, and you can’t make me. I haven’t done any thing to you.” - - “You ain’t?” roared Matt, drawing back the switch as if he were about - to let it fall on Joe’s back. “Don’t you call drivin’ honest folks - outen Mount Airy ’cause they ain’t got no good clothes to w’ar, an’ - keepin’ ’em from earnin’ a livin’ that they’ve got jest as good a - right to as you rich ones have—don’t you call that doin’ somethin’?” - - “And furthermore,” continued Joe, “I tell you, for the last time, that - I don’t know any thing about that money. I never saw it.” - - “Whoop!” shouted Jake, going off into another war-dance. “You have - seed it, an’ you know all about it. You had them two grip-sacks into - your baskets, you an’ your friends did, when you left Injun Lake to - come up yer. Tom Bigden said so.” - - “Whoop!” yelled Matt, in his turn. “Now you’ve done it, you fule! - Didn’t that Bigden boy say plain enough that he didn’t want you to - speak his name at all? See if that won’t put some gumption into your - thick head; an’ that, an’ that! I’ll learn you to find six thousand - dollars, an’ go an’ hide it from your pap, an’ then let fellers like - Joe Wayring steal it from you, you ongrateful scamp.” - -[Illustration: ARTHUR HASTINGS’ FORTUNATE ARRIVAL.] - - Jake was generally on the lookout for sudden bursts of fury on the - part of his sire, but this time he was taken by surprise. Before he - could dodge or stir an inch from his tracks, he received a most - unmerciful beating, one that gave me a faint idea of what was in store - for Joe Wayring. When he turned to run, the face he presented to our - view was bleeding in half a dozen places. - - “There, now,” exclaimed Matt, who was almost frantic. “Go an’ hide - some more money from your pap, an’ blab when you was told to hold your - jaw, won’t you? Now that I have got my hand in, I reckon I might as - well finish with you,” he continued, turning back and taking his stand - behind the prisoner. “Once more I ax you: Will you tell me where you - have hid that money?” - - “I have nothing more to say,” replied Joe, in an unfaltering voice. - - The answer added fuel to the fire of Matt’s rage. He moistened his - hand and seized the switch with a firmer hold, while Joe turned his - face to the tree and nerved himself to receive the expected blow. That - was more than Arthur Hasting could endure; but it brought his - scattered wits back to him. In an instant his double barrel was at his - shoulder, and his flashing eye was looking along the rib. - - “Hold on there!” he shouted. “If you touch that boy I will put more - holes through you than you ever saw in a skimmer. Throw down that gad - and stand where you are.” - - The effect of these words was magical. Jake Coyle, whose doleful howls - of anguish had awakened a thousand echoes among the surrounding hills, - suddenly ceased his lamentations; the white face of Joe Wayring turned - toward us lighted up with hope; and Matt and Sam looked at Arthur and - his threatening gun with eyes that seemed to have grown to the size of - saucers. For a second or two no one moved or spoke; then one of the - three marauders gave a perfect imitation of the cry of alarm the - mother grouse utters when her brood is menaced with danger, whereupon - Matt and his boys disappeared in the most bewildering way. They were - seen to drop where they stood, and that was the last of them. Although - Arthur rose to his feet as quickly as he could and Roy plied the - paddle with all his strength, they did not catch another glimpse of - the squatter, nor was there the slightest rustling in the bushes to - tell which way he and his allies had gone. - - - - - CHAPTER IX. - TOM VISITS THE HATCHERY. - - - Let us now return to Tom Bigden, whom we last saw paddling - disconsolately toward the camp where he had left his cousins, Ralph - and Loren Farnsworth, a short half hour before. Tom had expected to - spend a pleasant forenoon at the hatchery, taking lessons in - fish-culture; but his interview with Matt Coyle had knocked that in - the head. The squatter’s astounding proposition, taken in connection - with the dreadful things he had threatened to do in case his victim - failed to comply with his demands, had opened Tom’s eyes to the - disagreeable fact that he had over-reached himself by yielding to his - insane desire to take vengeance on Joe Waring. He knew he could not - enjoy himself at the hatchery with the fear of exposure and disgrace - hanging over him, so he started for camp at his best paddling pace to - ask Ralph and Loren what he should do about it. - - “When a fellow like Matt Coyle can lay commands upon me and threaten - me with punishment if I do not obey them—by gracious! Is it possible - for me to get any lower down in the world? I wish I had never heard of - that Joe Wayring. Every thing seems to go smoothly with him without an - effort on his part, but, no matter how hard I try, every thing goes - wrong with me. Did any body ever hear of such luck?” - - Tom was angry now as well as frightened, and, what seemed strange to - me when I heard of it, he blamed Joe Wayring, and not himself, for the - troubles he had got into. He must have brought a very black face into - camp with him, for when he ran the bow of his canoe upon the beach in - front of the grove where Loren and Ralph were idling away the time in - their hammocks the former called out: - - “Hallo! who are you mad at now?” - - “Everybody,” snarled Tom. “Say, Ralph, you remember that after our - interview with the squatter, on the day the constable drove him out of - Mount Airy, you declared that you wouldn’t have had it happen for any - thing, don’t you?” - - “I remember it perfectly,” replied Ralph. “I was afraid that trouble - of some sort would grow out of it, and judging from the looks of your - face my fears have been realized. What’s up?” - - “That was the first interview I held with Matt Coyle, but I am sorry - to say it wasn’t the last,” continued Tom. - - “Have you seen him to-day?” exclaimed Loren. - - “I have, and I tell you he’s got me in a box. But hold on a minute. I - want to let you into a secret. It was I who put it into his head to - steal Joe Wayring’s canvas canoe.” - - “There,” said Ralph, shaking his finger at his brother. “What did I - tell you?” - - “That’s no secret at all,” answered Loren. “We were satisfied from the - first that you knew all about it. You looked very surprised and - innocent, and I know you were mad when you discovered that Matt had - robbed you as well as the rest of us; but you didn’t play your part - well enough to ward off all suspicion.” - - These words added to Tom’s fears. “Do you think Joe suspected me?” he - inquired. - - “If he did, he made no sign,” replied Loren. “Perhaps one reason why - Ralph and I suspected you was because we could read you better than - Joe could. Well, what of it?” - - “Well,” said Tom, desperately, “Matt Coyle tells me that, as an - accessory before the fact, I am liable to punishment at the hands of - the law. That is what he is working on. You have heard that he stole a - couple of valuable guns from an unguarded camp a few weeks ago. There - has been a reward of one hundred dollars offered for the recovery of - those guns, and, as Matt dare not take them up to the Sportsman’s Home - himself, he demands that I shall act as his agent, and share the - reward with him.” - - “Demands?” repeated Loren. - - “But before he will give the guns into my possession, I must pay him - fifty dollars, cash in hand,” added Tom. “Yes, sir; he _demands_ that - I shall do this under penalty of being denounced to the officers of - the law.” - - “Whew!” whistled Ralph. “Here _is_ a go!” - - “That Matt Coyle has more cheek than you showed on the day of the - canoe meet, when you purposely capsized Prank Noble and claimed foul - on it,” said Loren. “Are you going to give him the money?” - - “He’ll have to; he can’t get out of it. But here’s where the trouble - is going to come in,” said Ralph, who was by no means thick-headed if - he did hate books. “The minute Tom gives him fifty dollars for those - guns, that minute he puts himself completely in the villain’s power.” - - “That was the way I looked at it,” said Tom. “But what can I do? What - would you do if you were in my place?” - - “The sight of those fifty dollars will show that lazy Matt how he can - make a very nice income without doing a stroke of work,” continued - Ralph. “He’ll go on stealing, and as fast as he accumulates property - he will make Tom buy it of him, no matter whether there is a reward - offered for it or not. There is only one thing you can do. You had - better start for home bright and early to-morrow morning, get fifty - dollars of your father, if he will give it to you, hand it over to - Matt as soon as you can find him, and then shake the dust of the - Indian Lake country from your feet forever, or at least until that - squatter has been placed behind prison bars.” - - “But Matt says I need not hope to escape him by going home,” said Tom. - “He reminded me that a constable can catch me in Mount Airy as easily - as he can here.” - - “That’s so,” assented Ralph, “but what other show have you? When you - give him the money you will put him in good humor, and I don’t think - he will denounce you until he has had some sort of a row with you. You - must keep him good-natured.” - - “And the only way I can do that is by keeping his pockets full,” said - Tom, with a groan. “I won’t do it. I’ll give him the fifty dollars, - because I can’t help myself; and when I part from him he will never - see me again. My supply of spending money is not as generous as it - might be, and Matt shall not see a dollar of it.” - - “Here’s another point,” said Loren, swinging himself from his hammock. - “Matt is going to be arrested some day, and what assurance have we - that he won’t tell all he knows?” - - “We haven’t any,” said Tom, fiercely; and then, to the surprise of - both his cousins, he broke out into the wildest kind of a tirade - against Joe Wayring and every body who was a friend to him. Knowing - that they could not stop him, they let him go on and talk himself out - of breath. - - “I’d like to see something happen to that boy, for if it hadn’t been - for him and his chums I never would have been in this fix,” said Tom, - at last. “Because we wouldn’t toady to them, they slammed the door of - the archery club in our faces, and went against us in every way they - knew how. Well, it is a long lane that has no turning, and we may come - out at the top of the heap yet. Will you fellows stand by me? I mean - will you go home with me, and come back when I get the money?” - - Ralph and Loren gave it as their opinion that their cousin Tom ought - to know better than to ask such a question. Hadn’t they always stood - by him, through thick and thin, and made common cause with him against - every one he did not like? Of course they would stay with him until - his trouble with Matt Coyle was settled, and do all they could to help - him. - - “I’m glad to hear it, for I should dreadfully hate to be left to - myself in an emergency like this,” said Tom. “But we haven’t a single - hour to lose. Matt said he would give me ten days to go to Mount Airy - and return, and we ought to start to-morrow. Which one of you will go - to the hotel with me after a supply of grub?” - - “Let Ralph go,” said Loren. “He’s treasurer. I will stay here and look - out for things about the camp, and perhaps I shall be able to think up - some way for you to wriggle out of Matt Coyle’s clutches.” - - Ralph, weary of loafing about the camp and glad of an opportunity to - stretch his arms, readily agreed to accompany his cousin to the - Sportsman’s Home and buy the provisions they would need while on their - way to Mount Airy. The two set out at once, and when they came back at - dark they had a startling story to tell the camp-keeper. The Irvington - bank had been robbed of six thousand dollars, and the thieves had been - traced to Indian Lake. - - “I should think there were rascals enough here already,” said Loren, - after he had listened to all the particulars. - - “They keep coming in all the while,” replied Ralph, “and the landlords - don’t like it very well. It’s hurting their business. The sportsmen, - especially those who have women and children with them, are leaving as - fast as they can pack up. We’ll be off to-morrow, and I hope we shall - never come here for another outing. Tom, are you sure you can take us - straight to the creek that leads from the pond to the Indian river? - You know we told you that, in the absence of a guide, we should depend - on you to show us the way home.” - - “Don’t be uneasy,” was Tom’s confident answer. “I have a good many - landmarks to go by, and I’ll not take you an inch out of a direct - line.” - - Of course there was but one thing talked about around that camp fire - between supper time and the hour for retiring, and that was the - attempt on the part of Matt Coyle to make a receiver of stolen - property out of Tom Bigden. The longer they dwelt upon it the darker - Tom’s prospects seemed to become. The fear of what the squatter could - do, if he made up his mind to be ugly, effectually banished sleep from - their eyes for the greater part of the night; and the consequence was - that when they arose from their beds of browse the next morning they - were too cross and snappish to be civil to one another. During the - time that was consumed in cooking and eating breakfast, packing the - canoes, and getting under way, they did not speak half a dozen words - aloud; but they all kept up a good deal of thinking, and no doubt it - was while Tom was in a fit of abstraction that he lost his way. At any - rate, he left the lake at least two miles below the point at which he - ought to have left it. He turned into the creek up which Matt Coyle - and his boys fled on the morning following their encounter with Joe - Wayring and his chums, and Ralph and Loren blindly followed his lead. - Not until they made a landing, about two o’clock in the afternoon, to - eat their lunch, did Tom begin to suspect that he was a little out of - his reckoning. If they had come there a few hours sooner, they would - have seen Mr. Swan and his party; for, as luck would have it, they had - landed within a short distance of Matt Coyle’s old camp. - - “I am obliged to confess that I am any thing but a trustworthy guide - for this neck of the woods,” said Tom, after he had looked in vain for - some of the landmarks of which he had spoken the day before. “I don’t - think I ever saw this place until this moment.” - - “Well, I am sure I have,” said Loren. “On our way down we camped - within sight of that leaning tree over there. Didn’t we, Ralph?” - - “I think so. I am quite sure I shot at an eagle on that same leaning - tree. You fellows fix the lunch, and I will very soon find out whether - I am right or wrong,” said Ralph, getting upon his feet and shoving a - cartridge into each barrel of his gun. “If this is the place I think - it is, I shall find a little clearing back here about a hundred yards, - grown up to briers. Don’t you remember we picked a few berries there - on the way down?” - - “I haven’t forgotten about the berries, but I don’t think you will - find that or any other clearing in these thick woods,” answered Tom. - “But go ahead and look, and we will have the lunch ready by the time - you get back.” - - Ralph shouldered his gun and disappeared among the evergreens. He was - gone about ten minutes, and then Tom and Loren heard him calling to - them in an excited voice. - - “Oh, fellows! Oh, fellows!” shouted Ralph. “Come here. Come as quick - as you know how.” - - Tom and his cousin were in no hurry to obey this peremptory summons. - They did not know what they might find back there in the bushes. Their - faces turned white, and the hands with which they pushed the - cartridges into their guns trembled visibly. - - “Are you coming?” cried Ralph, impatiently. - - “What have you found?” Loren managed to ask, in reply. - - “Something that will make you open your eyes,” was the answer. “But it - won’t hurt you. Why don’t you come on?” - - These reassuring words brought Tom and Loren to their feet and took - them into the evergreens; but it was not without fear and trembling - that they slowly worked their way toward the place from which Ralph’s - voice sounded, nor did they neglect to hold themselves in readiness to - take to their heels the instant they saw any thing alarming. They - reached Ralph’s side at last, and were astonished beyond measure to - find him holding a Victoria gun-case in one hand and an elegant - double-barrel hammerless in the other. As they came up he raised the - hand that held the case, directing their attention to a finely - finished Winchester rifle that rested against a log near by. - - “What’s the meaning of this? Where did you find them?” exclaimed Tom, - as soon as he had found his tongue. - - Before speaking Ralph stepped to the end of the log and pointed to the - hollow in it. Then he picked up a bush that appeared to have been - lately cut, and laid it across the opening. - - “That’s the way it was when I came along here a few minutes ago,” said - he. “I stumbled against something, and when I looked to see what it - was I found that I had kicked this bush away and exposed the opening. - As I was searching for that blackberry-patch, and nothing else, I was - about to pass on, when something glittering caught my eye. It was the - buckle on this gun-case. That’s my answer to your second question, - Tom. In reply to your first, I say: It means that you need have no - further trouble with Matt Coyle, and you needn’t ask your father for - that money.” - - “Do—do you think these are the stolen guns?” stammered Tom. - - “Of course they are,” said Loren, confidently. “That one by the log is - a Winchester, and I see the name Lefever on this. I tell you, old - fellow, you are in luck.” - - “For once in my life I believe I am,” said Tom, taking the - double-barrel from his cousin’s hand and giving it a good looking - over. “Seen any signs of the berry-patch, Ralph?” - - “Never a sign.” - - “And you won’t see any in this part of the country, either,” answered - Tom. “We missed our way, and that was a very fortunate thing for me. - I’ve got the weather-gauge of Matt Coyle now. Let’s eat our lunch and - start back for our old camp.” - - So saying Tom shouldered the Lefever hammerless and turned his face - toward the creek, Loren following with the Victoria case in his hand, - and Ralph bringing up the rear with the Winchester. They had many a - hearty laugh at Matt Coyle’s expense, but when they sat down to lunch - they began to look at the matter seriously. - - “You’ve got the upper hand of him now, and you want to keep it,” said - Ralph. “I don’t think it would be quite safe for you to defy him.” - - “By no means,” replied Tom. “I have no intention of doing any thing of - the sort. I shall have an interview with him at the earliest possible - moment, and tell him when he produces the guns I will give him his - money. I can’t be expected to fill my part of the contract until he - fills his; and that’s something he can’t do, thanks to Ralph. Why, - boys, I feel as if I had got rid of an awful load.” - - For the first time since he came to Mount Airy to live Tom Bigden was - perfectly happy. According to his way of looking at it, he had turned - the tables on the squatter very neatly, and any sensible boy would - have said that the best thing he could do was to keep clear of that - low fellow in future. But he did not do it. Scarcely a week passed - away before his hatred for Joe Wayring led him into a worse scrape - than the one from which he had just been extricated by his cousin’s - lucky discovery. - - I must not forget to say that while the boys were lounging about on - the bank of the creek, eating their bacon and cracker, there was - something going on in the woods behind them. Every thing they did - while they were standing beside that hollow log, examining the guns - that had been found in it, was seen, and every word they uttered had - been overheard by a young ragamuffin who was concealed within less - than a stone’s throw of them. Ralph Farnsworth had come upon him so - suddenly that he did not have time to run far. He shook both his fists - in the air and gnashed his teeth with rage when he saw Tom and his - cousins walk away with the guns in their possession, and as soon as - they were out of sight he came from his place of concealment and crept - toward the log on all-fours. But he did not stop there. He simply - glanced at the hollow as he passed and presently disappeared in a - thicket on the opposite side. When he came into view again he was - closely hugging two small valises, one under each arm. The angry scowl - was gone from his face, and he was grinning broadly and going through - a variety of uncouth antics, expressive, no doubt, of great - satisfaction and delight. He stopped and listened, and the sounds that - came to his ears told him that Tom Bigden and his companions were - shoving off in their canoes and heading down the creek toward the - lake. When their voices died away in the distance he bent himself - almost double, and moved off with long, noiseless strides. - - The three canoeists reached their camp in the grove long before dark, - for the swift current in the creek helped them along at the rate of - three miles an hour. Tom’s first care was to make sure of the guns; - and these he at once proceeded to hide in the thick branches of an - evergreen, while his cousins cut wood, made the fire, and cooked the - supper. They had brought very light hearts back with them, but one of - their number, at least, did not sleep any the better for it. It was - Tom, who grew uneasy every time he thought of the coming interview - with the squatter, which he hoped to bring about on the following day. - How was it going to end? That was the question Tom kept asking - himself, and when he saw the day breaking, after an almost sleepless - night, he had not found a satisfactory answer to it. - - “I suppose we ought to go to the Sportsman’s Home at once and give - those guns up,” said Loren, as he raked the coals together and threw - on an armful of fresh fuel. “We’ll not touch the reward, of course.” - - “Certainly not,” replied Ralph. “But I would freely give a hundred - dollars, if I had it, to see Matt Coyle shut up for a long term of - years.” - - “But he will have a trial before he is shut up, and there is no - knowing what secrets he may tell while that trial is in progress,” - said Loren. - - “You don’t know how that thought worries me,” said Tom. “It is on my - mind continually. I wish you fellows wouldn’t give up the guns until I - have seen Matt.” - - “What good will it do to keep them?” asked Loren. - - “I don’t know that it will do any good; but I should like to be with - you when you hand them over to Mr. Hanson. I can’t go up to the - Sportsman’s Home to-day, for I have a most disagreeable piece of work - to do first. The sooner I get that off my hands, the sooner I shall - feel easy.” - - Tom ate but little breakfast, for he seemed to have lost all desire - for food. He drank a cup of coffee, and then arose to his feet and - said good-by, adding, as he pushed his canoe from the beach and - stepped into it— - - “I shall have something to tell you when I come back. I don’t know - whether it will be good or bad, but when I see you again I shall know - more than I do now.” - - “Where are you going?” - - “Down to the hatchery. It was while I was on my way there day before - yesterday that I met Matt. I have an idea that he hangs out somewhere - in that neighborhood.” - - Tom passed a very pleasant hour with the superintendent, who showed - him every thing of interest there was to be seen about the hatchery, - and took much pains to make all the little details of the science - clear to him, even going back to the time of the Romans, among whom, - it is stated by several writers, the art approached a remarkable - degree of perfection; but it is doubtful if Tom knew any more about - fishes when he went away than he did when he came. He was thinking of - Matt Coyle, to whom the superintendent incidentally referred daring - the progress of the conversation. - - “When we first came here, of course we were empty-handed,” said he. - “We set the traps in the outlet to catch fish so that we could get - their eggs; but a few vagabonds of the Coyle stamp made it their - business to cut our nets almost as fast as we could put them in. When - we threatened to have them arrested, they replied that we had better - let them alone or they would set fire to the hatchery. They said they - would fish where they pleased, and nobody should stop them; but they - have thought better of it, and don’t bother us any now. Matt Coyle and - his boys are the worst of the lot. They steal every thing they eat and - wear, but so far they have not interfered with us. When they do, we - shall have them arrested, Hanson or no Hanson.” - - “What has he to do with it?” inquired Tom. “Doesn’t he want them to be - arrested?” - - “Not just yet; not until he has recovered two stolen guns Matt has in - his possession,” answered the superintendent. “That is a matter of - dollars and cents to both the hotels at the lake, for if those guns - are not restored to their owners the landlords will be ruined.” - - “Perhaps if he were shut up for a while he would lose heart, and tell - where the guns could be found,” suggested Tom. - - “Swan and the other guides who know him think differently. That was my - idea, and I urged it upon the guides, for I wanted that villain and - all his tribe out of my way. But Swan says Matt is a man who can’t be - driven. However, Rube has his eye on him, and perhaps he will discover - something one of these days.” - - “Who is Rube?” asked Tom. - - “Our watchman. He used to be one of Hanson’s guides; but he proved too - lazy for the business, so Hanson induced us to bring him down here to - watch the hatchery and act as spy upon Matt’s movements at the same - time. When Swan and his friends destroyed Matt’s camp Rube took him - into his house. He and his family are there now, and Rube is trying - the best he knows how to get into their confidence so that they will - tell him where these guns are concealed. I ought, perhaps, to say that - three members of the family are at Rube’s house now. Where the other - is no one seems to know. Yesterday morning the sheriff made an attempt - to arrest Jake, but the family got warning in time, took to the woods, - and Jake hasn’t come back yet.” - - “What had he been doing?” inquired Tom, who was much more interested - in this than he was in the science of fish-culture. - - “You heard about the Irvington bank robbery, didn’t you? Well, every - thing goes to prove that the six thousand dollars the thieves secured - is now in Jake Coyle’s hands.” - - This was the most astounding piece of news that Tom Bigden had ever - listened to. “How did Jake get hold of it?” he asked. - - “Well, the sheriff summoned a posse, caught the robbers after a short - chase, and they told him that the boy they hired to ferry them over - the lake, and who was robbing a cellar when they first spoke to him, - capsized them on purpose and spilled the money out into the water. You - see Jake caught a glimpse of the money when one of the robbers opened - his valise to pay him the five dollars he demanded for ferrying them - over, and made up his mind to have it for his own.” - - “I had no idea Jake Coyle was smart enough to do a thing like that,” - said Tom, who could scarcely credit his ears. “Do you believe the - story?” - - “Why, the guides tell me that the whole family are sharper than steel - traps. Of course I believe the story. On the way home the sheriff ran - upon a canvas canoe that Matt stole from Joe Wayring up in Sherwin’s - Pond, and the robbers recognized it the minute it was put together as - the one in which they had started to cross the lake. When the sheriff - heard this he knew at once that the ferryman was Jake Coyle, and - nobody else, for he is the one who steals all the grub for the family. - When they came here to be set across the outlet they surrounded Rube’s - house with the intention of arresting Jake, but he and the rest had - been warned, as I told you, and could not be found. After that the - sheriff took one of the robbers up the lake to point out the snag on - which Jake capsized the canvas canoe, but the money wasn’t there.” - - “Have you any idea what had become of it?” - - “I haven’t the least doubt that Jake went up there night before last, - dived for the valises and took them off in the woods and hid them. - That is what the sheriff thinks, and it is the plan he is working on.” - - “I am glad I went to the hatchery this morning,” thought Tom, as he - pulled slowly toward camp after thanking the accommodating official - for the pains he had taken to teach him something. “I have had a good - time, and I have heard one or two things that may be of use to me.” - - - - - CHAPTER X. - MORE TROUBLE FOR TOM BIGDEN. - - - While on his way from his camp to the hatchery Tom Bigden had kept as - close to the beach as the depth of the water would permit, looking - everywhere for Matt Coyle, but without seeing any thing of him. Better - luck, however, awaited him on his return, for when he came opposite to - a lonely part of the beach, near the spot on which their former - interview was held, he saw the squatter step cautiously out the bushes - and beckon to him. No doubt the man was surprised at the readiness - with which Tom brought his canoe around and headed it for the shore. - - “Say,” exclaimed Matt, when Tom had come within speaking distance. - “I’m powerful glad to see you, ’cause I want to let you know that I - can’t wait no ten days for them fifty dollars. I must have it to - onct.” - - “What’s your hurry?” asked Tom. He did not exhibit any signs of anger, - although the man was even more peremptory and domineering than he had - been before. Tom knew that the squatter’s triumph would be of short - duration, and he could afford to let him be as insolent as he pleased. - - “I’m goin’ to buy some furnitur’ of Rube, an’ he won’t let it go - less’n he gets the cash in his hands first,” answered Matt. - - “What do you want of furniture while you are living in Rube’s house? - Why can’t you use his?” - - “How do you happen to know that I am livin’ into Rube’s house?” - demanded the squatter, opening his eyes. - - “Why, every body knows it,” replied Tom, carelessly. “It is pretty - well known, too, that you narrowly escaped capture when the sheriff’s - posse surrounded that house the other morning. Where are you living - now, and what has become of Jake?” - - “Say,” replied Matt, speaking in the confidential tone that had so - exasperated Tom on a former occasion. “I don’t mind telling you all - about it. Things is gettin’ too public around Rube’s house to suit us, - an’, besides, we don’t think he’s the friend to us that he pertends to - be; so we’re goin’ to take to the bresh, an’ there we’re goin’ to - stay. I want some chairs an’ bed fixin’s to furnish my shanty, when I - get it built. Rube’s got ’em, but he wants the ready money for ’em. I - seen you when you was down there to the hatchery, an’ that’s the - reason I come up here to ketch you.” - - “All right,” said Tom. “How soon can you produce those guns?” - - “I can have ’em here to-morrer mornin’ by sun-up.” - - “That’s too early for me,” replied Tom. “We have breakfast about six, - and I can get here by seven; I will be here.” - - “Not to-morrer?” exclaimed Matt. - - “Yes, to-morrow.” - - “But you said you would have to go to Mount Airy after the money.” - - “I have seen my cousins since then, and I find that it will not be - necessary for me to go home.” - - “Have you got the money?” said Matt, eagerly. - - Tom winked first one eye and then the other. - - “There, now. I knowed you had it all the time; but you kind of thought - you could beat me in some way or other, an’ that you could get out of - buyin’ them guns. But you know better now, don’t you? I want to be - friends with you, but I tell you, pine-plank, that I won’t stand no - nonsense. I’ll tell on you sure, if you—” - - “Now, don’t switch off on that track, for if you do I’ll not listen to - another word,” said Tom, angrily; and to show that he was in earnest - he pushed his canoe away from the beach and turned the bow up the - lake. - - Then there was a short pause, during which Matt stood with his hands - on his hips and his eyes fastened searchingly upon the boy’s face. It - was beginning to dawn upon him that Tom was a trifle more independent - than he had been. - - “Say,” he growled at last. “What trick are you up to?” - - “Why, what makes you think I am up to any trick?” asked Tom, - innocently. “You said you wanted me to buy those guns for fifty - dollars; and I say I will be ready to do it to-morrow morning. Is - there any trick about that?” - - “You’re goin’ to bring a constable with you,” Matt almost shouted. The - thought popped into his head suddenly, and made him dance with rage. - - “I shall come alone,” was the quiet reply. - - “There ain’t no one constable in the Injun Lake country that can take - me up,” Matt went on, furiously. “But if you do bring one on ’em with - you, I’ll tell him that you was knowin’ to my stealin’ of that canvas - canoe.” - - “What’s the use of lashing yourself into a tempest for nothing?” said - Tom, coolly. “You can hide in the bushes, and if you see any one with - me you need not come out. I’ll be here at seven o’clock, and when you - put those two guns into my canoe I will put fifty dollars in - greenbacks into your hand. Is that the understanding?” - - “Don’t you want me to hide ’em a piece back in the bresh so’t you can - say that you found ’em?” inquired Matt, in rather more civil tones. - - “No; I want you to put them into my canoe. I will find them there, - won’t I? Is it a bargain or not?” - - “It’s a bargain. I’ll be here; an’ if you ain’t—” - - The squatter did not say what he would do if Tom failed to appear at - the appointed hour, for the latter did not linger to listen to him. He - put his canoe in motion again and pulled toward the point above, while - Matt backed up to a log and took his pipe from his pocket. - - “Something’s wrong somewheres,” he told himself, as he filled up for a - smoke. “He didn’t act that-a-way t’other day, but was as humble as a - hound purp that had jest been licked. Now, what’s in the wind, do you - reckon? Has he been snoopin’ round in the woods an’ found them - six—whoop!” - - The bare thought that perhaps Tom had stumbled upon the valises, and - intended paying him for the stolen guns out of the money that Matt - regarded as his own, was enough to drive the man frantic. He sprang to - his feet, jammed his pipe into his pocket, caught up his rifle, which - he had placed behind a convenient tree, and dashed into the bushes. - - “I wonder how Mr. Coyle feels by this time,” chuckled Tom, as he - rounded the point and left the place of meeting out of sight. “My face - must be an awful tell-tale, for Matt knew there was something up as - soon as he looked at me. I expect to have a time with him to-morrow.” - - With this reflection Tom dismissed Matt Coyle from his mind, and - thought of Jake and the extraordinary trick to which he had resorted - to gain possession of those valises and their contents. He certainly - did know more when he arrived at camp than he did when he went away in - the morning, and he had so much to tell that it was almost supper time - before the dinner was served. Another sleepless night, a single cup of - coffee in the morning, and Tom was ready for what he fondly hoped - would be his last interview with Matt Coyle. - - “I am afraid you are going into danger,” said Ralph, anxiously. “I - shall not draw an easy breath until I see you coming back. Be very - careful, and don’t let him get the slightest advantage of you.” - - Although Tom was in no very enviable frame of mind, he made reply to - the effect that he knew just what he was going to do, for he had - thought it all over while his cousins were wrapped in slumber, and - then he sat down in his canoe and paddled away. His heart beat a - little faster than usual when he came within sight of the place where - he was to meet the squatter. The latter was not to be seen; but as Tom - backed water with his paddle, and brought his canoe to a stand-still a - few feet from shore, he came out of the bushes and showed himself. - Acting upon the hint Tom had given him the day before, Matt kept - concealed long enough to make sure that the boy had not brought an - officer with him for company. Tom was really amazed when he looked at - him. Instead of the angry, half-crazy man he expected to meet, he saw - before him (if there were any faith to be put in appearances) one of - the jolliest, happiest mortals in existence. His face was one broad - smile, and he rubbed his soiled and begrimed palms together as if he - already held between them the greenbacks which he thought Tom carried - in his pocket. - - “That’s all gammon. He has laid a trap for me,” soliloquized the boy; - and, alarmed by the thought, he gave a quick, strong stroke with the - double paddle that sent the canoe ten feet farther away from the - beach. Matt saw and understood, and for a brief moment a savage scowl - took the place of the smile he had put on for the occasion. But it - cleared away as quickly as it came, and then Matt smiled again. - - “Have you got it?” said he, in insinuating tones. “Have you brung the - money with you?” - - For an answer Tom winked his left eye. - - “I’m powerful glad to hear it,” said Matt. “Come ashore an’ we’ll soon - settle this business.” - - “Where are the guns?” - - “Back in the woods a piece. I hid ’em in the bresh, ’cause I thought - that mebbe you would rather take ’em out yourself, so’t you could say - you found ’em without tellin’ no lie about it. See?” - - “That isn’t according to the agreement we made yesterday,” replied - Tom. “I told you, as plainly as I could speak it, that you must put - the guns into my canoe and I would find them there.” - - “Well, how be I goin’ to put ’em in your canoe while you keep it - twenty feet from shore?” demanded Matt. “You come up closter.” - - “You go and get the guns. It will be time enough for me to get in - closer when I see that you have got them.” - - “An’ it will be time enough for me to get the guns when I see that you - have brung the money with you,” retorted Matt, who was getting so - angry that he could with difficulty control himself. - - Tom laid his paddle across his knee and took a purse from his pocket, - all the while keeping a sharp watch upon Matt Coyle, who had moved - down the beach, inch by inch, until he was now standing in the edge of - the water. Taking from the purse a small roll of bills, Tom held it up - before his right eye and winked at the squatter with the other. - - “There’s money; now where are the guns?” said he. “I thought you were - in a great hurry to have the business settled.” - - “I don’t believe there’s any fifty dollars in that there little wad of - greenbacks,” replied Matt. “Lemme see you count ’em out on your knee.” - - Instead of complying with this request, Tom shut up the purse and put - it into his pocket. When Matt saw that, he could no longer restrain - himself. With a sound that was more like a roar than a shout, he - jumped into the water, his arms extended and his fingers spread out - like the claws of some wild beast, and made a long plunge in the hope - of seizing upon the gunwale of Tom’s canoe. But the boy was on the - alert. With one stroke of the paddle he sent the canoe far out of - reach, and in a second more Matt was floundering in water that was - over his head. Knowing that he could not overtake Tom by swimming, he - gave vent to his fury in a volley of oaths, and went back to the - beach; whereupon Tom also returned, and took up his old position. - - “It seems that you are the one that is up to tricks,” said he, smiling - in spite of himself at the ludicrous figure Matt Coyle presented in - his dripping garments. “Now, when you get ready, I should like to have - you tell me what you meant by trying to get hold of my canoe?” - - “Why didn’t you count out the money on your knee, like I told you, - so’t I could be sure you had brung the fifty dollars?” roared Matt, - shaking both his clenched hands at Tom. - - “Didn’t I take your word for it when you told me that you had the - guns? Very well; you will have to take mine when I say that I am ready - to carry out my part of the agreement when you carry out yours. Show - me the guns; that’s all I ask of you. Look here; do you know where - those guns are at this moment?” - - “No, I don’t,” answered Matt, blurting out the truth before he - thought. - - “So I supposed. Well, I do. When the sheriff and his posse were coming - home, after capturing those bank robbers, they found Joe Wayring’s - canvas canoe, and likewise the Lefever hammerless and Winchester - rifle.” - -[Illustration: TOM BIGDEN BLOCKS MATT COYLE’S GAME.] - - “Whoop!” yelled the squatter. “’Tain’t so, nuther. They wasn’t all hid - in the same place.” - - “I know it,” replied Tom, who knew just nothing at all about it. The - canvas canoe might have been concealed in that hollow log and Tom and - his cousins would have been none the wiser for it; because after the - guns had been brought to light they did not look for any thing else. - “You must remember that there were several men in that posse, and that - they could cover a good deal of ground in an hour’s time. They - searched every inch of those woods, and found—” - - Matt opened his mouth and gasped for breath. - - “Did they—did they find—” - - “No,” answered Tom, who knew what Matt would have said if he could. - “They did not find any money. Your Jake is the only one who knows - where that is.” - - “I know where it is, too,” said the squatter, whose lip quivered as if - he had half a mind to cry about it. “But the trouble is that I can’t - find it.” - - “Then if you can’t find it you don’t know where it is.” - - “I tell you I do too. It’s up there in the same woods that the canoe - an’ guns was hid in,” cried Matt, once more speaking a little too - hastily. - - It was now Tom’s turn to open his eyes. After a little reflection he - said— - - “If you think the money is in that particular part of the woods, why - don’t you go there and stay till you find it? Or else make Jake show - you where it is.” - - “But Jakey won’t do it. He ain’t that sort of a boy.” - - “Then denounce him to the sheriff.” - - “What’s that?” - - “Why, expose him; tell on him. I’ll bet you he will be quite willing - to reveal the hiding-place of those valises when he feels an officer’s - grip on his collar.” - - “But what good will that do me? The constable who takes Jakey up will - get the reward that’s been offered, an’ I shan’t see none of it. - Whoop!” shouted Matt, going off into another paroxysm of rage. “Every - thing an’ every body seems to be goin’ agin me this mornin’.” - - “Well, then,” said Tom, who had the strongest of reasons for hoping - that the squatter might never fall into the clutches of the law, “if I - were in your place, I would have a serious talk with Jake. I’d tell - him that he is sure to be arrested, sooner or later, that it is - preposterous for him to think he can keep the money, and urge him to - give it up and claim a portion of the reward. Some of it will have to - go to the officers who found the robbers, you know. If you will do - that, I will promise that Joe Wayring will not prosecute you for - stealing his canoe.” - - “’Taint no ways likely that Joe would do a favor for you,” said Matt, - in a discouraged tone, “’cause you an’ him don’t hitch.” - - “I know we don’t like each other any too well, but I can say a word - for you, all the same. I don’t know that I can do any good here, so I - will go back to camp. I came down according to agreement, but I knew I - shouldn’t make any thing by it. You held fast to those guns too long. - They have been found, and your hundred dollars are up stump.” - - “If you knowed it, why did you pester me that-a-way for?” demanded the - squatter, growing angry again. - - “Why did you tell me you had the guns hidden a little way back in the - woods when you hadn’t?” asked Tom, in reply. “I saw through your game - at once. Your object was to get me ashore and rob me. You would have - committed a State’s prison offense; but I shall not say any thing - about it unless you wag your tongue too freely about me. If you do - that, look out for yourself.” - - So saying, Tom turned his canoe about and started for camp, well - satisfied with the result of his interview with the squatter. He had - kept his temper in spite of strong provocation, and made Matt believe - that he was in no way responsible for the loss of the guns. More than - that, he had given him good honest advice, and kept up a show of - friendship by making a promise he did not mean to fulfill. - - “I’d like to see myself asking a favor of that Joe Wayring,” said he, - with a sneer. “It would please him too well, and I wouldn’t do it - under any circumstances. My object was to leave Matt in good humor, if - I could. Of course he was mad because he did not get the money, but - not as mad as he would have been if he had succeeded in getting hold - of the canoe. If he had done that, I calculated to give him such a rap - over the head with my paddle that he wouldn’t get over it for a month. - I don’t think I shall have any more trouble with him this season. Next - vacation I shall steer clear of Indian Lake, and take my outing - somewhere else.” - - Ralph Farnsworth and his brother were so very much concerned about Tom - that they did not do any camp work after he went away. As soon as he - was out of sight, they sat down on the bank close to the water’s edge, - and there they remained for four long, anxious hours before Tom came - around the point and showed himself to them. When he saw them waiting - for him he took off his cap and waved it in triumph over his head. - - “He was awful mad, and, after trying in vain to get me out on shore so - that he could take my money away from me, he rushed into the water and - made a grab at the canoe,” said Tom, as he ran the bow of his little - craft upon the beach. “But, after all, I didn’t have as much of a time - with him as I thought I should. There’s your purse, Ralph. Now, if one - of you will dish up a good dinner, I think I can do justice to it. I - haven’t had much appetite for a day or two past, but I am ravenously - hungry now.” - - With these preliminary remarks Tom Bigden took possession of one of - the hammocks and told his story from beginning to end, saying, in - conclusion— - - “That part of the woods seems to be a repository for Matt Coyle’s - stolen goods. If we had looked a little farther we might have found - that money.” - - “I wish we had,” said Loren. “Of course we should have laid no claim - to a share of the reward. We would have given our portion to the - guides, and perhaps gained their good will by it. Every time we go to - the hotel after supplies or mail I notice that they look at us - cross-eyed, as if they thought we were good fellows to let alone.” - - “And what makes them do it?” Tom almost shouted. “It is because Joe - Wayring and his friends have gained Swan’s ears, and stuffed him full - of lies about us. Ugh! How I should like to see that boy taken - down—clear down; as far as any body can go by land. Say,” he added, - after cooling off a little, “I am ready to give up the guns now. Matt - Coyle may believe that Swan and his party found them at the time they - found Wayring’s canoe, and he may not. At any rate, I do not like to - take the risk of his jumping down on our camp some dark night and - finding them here. So I propose that we get rid of them this very - afternoon.” - - The others agreeing, and a bountiful dinner having been disposed of, - the three boys stepped into their canoes and set out for Indian Lake, - taking the guns with them. A more astonished and delighted man than - Mr. Hanson was when they walked into his office and laid the cases - upon his desk Tom and his cousins had seldom seen; but the language in - which he expressed his gratitude for the service they had rendered him - almost made Tom wish that he had held fast to the guns a little - longer. After asking when, and where, and how they had found them, and - listening with the liveliest interest to their story, Mr. Hanson said— - - “That villain Coyle shall be arrested to-morrow, if I have unemployed - guides enough in my pay to find him. I should have been after him two - weeks ago, if it hadn’t been for these guns; and now that I’ve got - them I shall not fool with him a day longer. You have fairly earned - the reward,” he added, opening his money drawer, “and I am - authorized—” - - “We don’t need money, Mr. Hanson, and we’ll not touch a cent of it,” - interrupted Ralph. “Give it to the guides who lost their situations - when the guns were stolen.” - - “Swan and Bob Martin?” said Mr. Hanson. “Well, they are deserving men, - and, although they did not lose their situations on account of the - loss of the guns, because they were working for me and not for the - sportsmen with whom they went into the woods, still I know they would - be glad to have the money. I’ll hand it to them, if you say so, and - tell them I do it at your request.” - - “Thank you,” answered Ralph. “We shall be much obliged.” - - “Hold on a minute,” said Mr. Hanson, as the boys turned away from the - desk. “The gentlemen who own these guns are not the only ones - benefited by your lucky find. You have saved me the loss of a good - deal of patronage, and I wish to make you some return for it. Whenever - you want any supplies, go to the store-house and get them. They shan’t - cost you a cent.” - - Thanking the landlord for his liberality, Tom and his companions left - the hotel and walked slowly through the grounds toward the beach. - - “The place is almost deserted,” observed Tom. “There are not half as - many guests here as there were the first time we saw the Sportsman’s - Home.” - - “Probably they have gone into the woods,” said Loren. - - “Then how does it come that there are so many guides lying around - doing nothing?” asked Tom. “I don’t believe there are many guests in - the woods. They have gone home, or to other fishing grounds where - their camps will not be robbed the minute they turn their backs. Matt - said he would ruinate the hotels, if they didn’t give him work, and he - seems in a fair way to do it.” - - “Say,” whispered Ralph. “I didn’t like what Hanson said about having - Matt Coyle arrested.” - - Tom was about to answer that he didn’t like it either, when he heard - footsteps behind him and a voice calling out: “Just another word - before you go, boys,” and upon turning around he saw Mr. Hanson in - pursuit. - - “I forgot one thing,” said he, when he came up. “Can you make it - convenient to come here day after to-morrow morning? By that time - we’ll have Matt hard and fast, most likely. The sheriff says he will - have to take him to Irvington, that being the nearest place at which - we can have him bound over to appear before the circuit court. I can - prove by Rube Royall, the watchman at the hatchery, that Matt - acknowledged stealing and concealing the guns, and I shall need you to - testify to the finding of them. You will be around, won’t you?” - - The boys said they would, but their voices were almost inaudible, and - the faces they turned toward one another when Mr. Hanson had left them - were very white indeed. - - “Now we _are_ in a scrape,” said Loren, who was the first to break the - silence. “Tom Bigden, that fellow will tell all he knows about you - just so sure as you get up in court to bear witness against him. You - told him that the guides found and returned the guns.” - - “So I did,” groaned Tom. “So I did; but he won’t be long in finding - out that I lied to him, will he? What shall I do? What can I do? - There’s one thing about it,” added Tom, who, although badly - frightened, tried to put a bold face on the matter. “Matt Coyle has - not yet been arrested, and I’ve got so much at stake that I don’t want - him to be. I shall seek another interview with him in the morning, - and, if I can bring it about, I will tell him just what Hanson said - about him. It is all that Joe Wayring’s fault. If he had treated us - decently I wouldn’t have been in this scrape. I’ll do that boy some - injury the first good chance I get.” - - On their way to camp the boys kept within talking distance of one - another and discussed the situation. Loren was of opinion that his - cousin Tom had better draw a bee-line for Mount Airy bright and early - the next morning; but Tom and Ralph agreed in saying that that would - be the very worst thing that could be done under the circumstances. - Mr. Hanson had plainly told them that he would need them for - witnesses, and if Tom was foolish enough to run away he had better - make a long run while he was about it and get out of the State, or the - authorities would catch him sure. - - “I shall not run an inch. I’ve got to stay and face it down,” said - Tom, quietly; and his cousins knew, by the way the words came out, - that he had decided upon his course. “There were no witnesses present - when I told Matt to steal Joe Wayring’s canoe, and the matter will - simply resolve itself into a question of veracity; and when it comes - to that I think my word will have about as much weight as a tramp’s. - All the same, I don’t want Matt arrested if it can possibly be - avoided.” - - Tom slept the sleep of the exhausted that night, and at seven o’clock - the next morning shoved his canoe away from the beach and pulled - toward the hatchery. - - - - - CHAPTER XI. - SAM ON THE TRAIL. - - - “There, now,” soliloquized Jake Coyle, as he wended his way through - the gloomy woods after concealing the canvas canoe and the two valises - he had fished up from the bottom of the lake. “I’m a rich man, an’ - nobody but me knows the first thing about it. As soon as it gets - daylight, I’ll come back an’ hide the guns an’ the money an’ the canoe - all together, in a better place, so’t if pap gets a hint of what is - goin’ on, an’ I have to dig out from home in the middle of the night, - I shall know right where to find ’em without runnin’ through the woods - to hunt ’em up. Now, as soon as I can get Rube to buy me some shoes - an’ clothes an’ powder an’ lead, I’ll go back to some of them swamps - that I’ve heared pap tell about, an’ trap on my own hook. I’ll sell my - skins in New London, ’cause nobody don’t know me there. I’ll be - ’rested if I stay around where pap is.” - - In blissful ignorance of the fact that his father, following close - behind him, had seen almost every move he made that night, Jake - lumbered on through the darkness, and at last found himself on the - “carry” that ran close by the door of Rube Royall’s humble abode. - Cautiously approaching the door, Jake pushed it open and looked in. He - could see nothing, for the fire on the hearth had gone out, and the - interior of the cabin was pitch dark. But he heard the heavy breathing - of the sleepers, and, believing that his father was among them, he - entered on tiptoe, stretched himself out on one of the beds beside his - slumbering brother, and drew a long breath of relief. The night had - been full of excitement, and the day was destined to bring more. - - About eight o’clock the next morning, after breakfast had been eaten - and Rube had gone to sleep, the old woman and her boys gathered in the - wood yard in front of the house, and talked and wondered at the - prolonged absence of the head of the family. Jake appeared to be very - much concerned about him. - - “Say, mam, when did you see him last?” he anxiously inquired. - - “Not sence you left hum last night,” was the reply. “I didn’t think - nothin’ of your bein’ gone, ’cause I thought mebbe you had went after - more grab; but I don’t see what took the ole man away so permiscus. I - couldn’t make head or tail of the way he went snoopin’ around - yisterday, first in the house, then in the woods, an’ the next thing - you knowed you didn’t know where he was. ’Taint like him to be gone - all night in this way. Why, Jakey, what makes your face so white?” - - “Dunno; less’n it’s ’cause I’m afeared the constables have got a hold - of him,” answered the boy. - - “Oh, shucks!” exclaimed the old woman. “You needn’t——” - - She was going to say something else but didn’t have time. Just then - hasty steps sounded on the hard path, and the three looked up to see - the missing man approaching at a rapid run. He was angry about - something, Jake could see that with half an eye, and frightened as - well. - - “Git outen here!” said Matt, as soon as he could make himself heard. - “Scatter! They’re comin’!” - - “Who’s comin’?” asked the old woman, who was the only one who could - speak. - - “Swan, an’ all the rest of them fellers that went out to ’rest them - robbers.” - - “Did they ketch ’em?” - - “Now jest listen at you! Do you reckon I stopped to talk to ’em, - dog-gone ye? I dug out soon as I heard ’em comin’ through the woods.” - - “Where was they?” - - “Up there by the cove where our camp was burned, an’ headin’ straight - for it.” - - “The cove?” gasped Jake. - - “Yes, the cove, you ongrateful scamp, an’ goin’ as straight t’wards it - as they could go. They’re bound to nose out something there,” said - Matt, remembering that he must have made a good many wide and plain - trails while he was roaming around looking for Jake’s treasure, “an’ - if they find them two grip-sacks that you left there last night I - wouldn’t be in them ragged clothes of your’n, Jakey, for no money in - this broad world. You are a purty chap to go an’ find six thousand - dollars an’ hide it from your pap, I do think. Now scatter out an’ - make for that there cove as quick as it is safe. Then we’ll be on - their trail, ’stead of havin’ them on our’n. Jakey, stay where I can - put my hands on you when I want you.” - - These words recalled the boy’s senses and brought his power of action - back to him. He did not know which he stood the most in fear of—his - father’s wrath, the probable loss of his money, or the sheriff and his - posse; but he _did_ know that he was not safe where he was, so he - caught up his rifle, which rested against a log close at hand, and - took to his heels. Sam was frightened, too, but not to the same degree - that Matt and Jake were, because he was not as guilty. He kept his - wits about him, and proved by his subsequent movements that he could - act as promptly and intelligently in a crisis as his brother could. - When Jake disappeared, and Matt and his wife ran into the cabin to - collect the few articles of value they possessed, previous to seeking - safety in flight, Sam stood and communed thus with himself: - - “Beats the world, an’ I don’t begin to see through it; but how did - that Jake of our’n get them six thousand dollars that was stole outen - the Irvin’ton bank? He’s got ’em, ’cause pap said so; an’ they’re hid - somewheres near the place where our old camp used to be. Wonder if - Jakey is goin’ there now? I reckon I’d best keep an eye on him an’ - find out. Why didn’t he go halvers with the rest of us, like he’d - oughter done? If I can get my hands on that money he won’t never see - it agin, I tell you.” - - Jake Coyle’s brain was in such a whirl that he never once thought to - look behind him as he hurried through the woods toward the head of the - outlet; and even if he had he might not have seen Sam, who was a short - distance in his rear and keeping him constantly in sight; for Sam took - pains to cover himself with every tree and bush that came in his way. - Once he came near being caught; for Jake, recalling his angry sire’s - parting words, and apprehensive of being followed, suddenly threw - himself behind a log and watched the trail over which he had just - passed. But, fortunately for Sam, he saw the movement, rapid as it - was, and stopped in time to escape detection. A less skillful woodsman - would have lost Jake then and there, or else he would have run upon - him before he knew it. - - After spending a quarter of an hour in patient waiting Jake must have - become satisfied that his fears of pursuit were groundless, for he - jumped up and again took to his heels. He kept on past the outlet, - skirted the shore of the lake until he came within a short distance of - the place where Tom Bigden and the squatter held their consultations, - and there he took to the woods and struck a straight course for the - cove, Sam following close behind. - - It was ten miles to the cove by land, and all the way through timber - that had never echoed to the woodman’s ax. It was a distance that few - city-bred boys could have covered at a trot, but it was nothing to the - squatter’s sons, who would have done it any day for a dollar. Twice - while on the way did Jake try his “dropping” dodge, but Sam was too - sharp to be caught. The last time he tried it was when he was within a - stone’s throw of the cove; and then he dived into a thicket, and - waited and watched for half an hour before he made a move. Sam, - patient and tireless as an Indian, did not move, either, until he saw - Jake come out of the thicket and make his way toward the log in which - the stolen guns were concealed. He saw him take out the cases, one - after the other, and hide them in another log nearer the cove; and - while he was wondering what his brother’s object could be in doing - that the sound of voices in conversation came from the direction of - the creek, whereupon Jake fled with the greatest precipitation, hardly - daring to stop long enough to cover the end of the log with a bush - which he cut with a knife. He threw himself behind the first fallen - tree he came to, and looked cautiously over it to see what was going - to happen. - - Jake thought, and so did Sam, that the voices belonged to the members - of the sheriff’s posse, who were still loitering about in the vicinity - of the cove to see what else they could find there; consequently their - surprise was great when they saw Ralph Farnsworth step out of the - evergreens with his gun on his shoulder. He stopped and looked around - when he stumbled over the bush that concealed the end of the log, - stooped over for a minute, and when he straightened up again he held - in his hands the Victoria case in which reposed the Lefever - hammerless. Then it was that Ralph sent up those excited calls to - attract the attention of his companions, who presently joined him. - - If Jake and Sam had been working in harmony, they never would have - remained inactive in their places of concealment and let Tom and his - cousins carry off those guns. Jake, especially, was hopping mad. He - got upon his knees, exposing so much of his ragged clothing above the - log that he certainly would have been seen if Tom and the rest had - glanced in his direction, and shook his fists over his head. - - “They’re thieves theirselves if they take them guns away,” muttered - Jake, between his clenched teeth. “I was goin’ to give ’em to Rube, - an’ tell him to buy me some shoes an’ clothes outen my shar’ of the - reward; but now I can’t have ’em. I wisht they would go off; for if - they tech them grip-sacks—” - - Jake finished the sentence by pushing up his sleeves and looking - around for a club. The money was hidden but a short distance from that - very log, and if Tom and his cousins had found it Jake would have - rushed out and fought them single-handed before he would have given up - his claim to it. But things did not come to that pass. Ralph had come - upon the guns by the merest accident, and he and his friends did not - think to search for any other stolen property. They took the guns away - with them, and the minute they were out of sight Jake began to bestir - himself. He came out on his hands and knees, crawled past the empty - log, and disappeared among the bushes on the other side of it. While - Sam was trying to decide whether or not it would be quite safe to - follow him, Jake glided into view again, holding a valise under each - arm. - - “There they are! Sure’s you’re born, there they are!” cried Sam, in - great excitement; and if he had uttered the words a little louder Jake - would have heard him. “Now, all I’ve got to do is to keep my eyes on - them things an’ never lose track of ’em agin.” - - And Sam didn’t lose track of them, either, although Jake spent nearly - an hour in hunting up a safe hiding-place for them. He ran swiftly - from point to point, closely scrutinizing every log and thicket he - came to and stopping now and then to listen, and Sam followed him - wherever he went and saw all he did. At last Jake found a place to - suit him. A gigantic poplar had been overturned by the wind, and in - falling had pulled up a good portion of the earth in which its - far-reaching roots were embedded, thus forming a cavity so deep and - wide that Rube Royall’s cabin could have been buried in it, chimney - and all. Into this cavity Jake recklessly plunged, and when he came - out again fifteen minutes later his arms were empty. He had left the - valises behind. - - “An’ he won’t never see ’em agin, nuther,” said Sam, gleefully. - “They’re mine now, an’ so is the money that’s into ’em.” - - During the long hours he had spent in dogging his brother’s steps, Sam - Coyle had not been so highly excited as he was at this moment. When - Jake disappeared, apparently holding a direct course for Rube’s cabin, - Sam did not move. Impatient as he was to see the color of that money, - he was too wary to imperil his chances by doing any thing hasty. - - “I can stay right yer till I get so hungry I can’t stay no longer,” - was his mental reflection; “but Jake’s got to show up purty soon, - ’cause if he don’t, him an’ pap’ll have a furse. He told Jake, pap - did, that he wanted him to stay where he could get his hands onto him; - an’ when pap talks that-a-way, he means business. So I reckon Jake - will go a lumberin’ towards hum till he meets pap, an’ then he’ll - pertend that he’s been a-lookin for him.” - - When this thought passed through Sam’s mind it occurred to him that he - had better not remain too long inactive, for this might be the last - opportunity he would ever have to remove the money from Jake’s - hiding-place to another of his own selection; so, after half an hour’s - waiting, Sam set himself in motion. He did not get upon his feet, nor - did he go directly toward the fallen poplar. He crawled along on his - stomach and made a wide detour, so as to approach the cavity on the - side opposite to that on which Jake had entered and left it. Of course - this took him a long time, but he made up for it by the readiness with - which he found the money when he arrived at the end of his toilsome - journey. A little prodding among the leaves at the foot of the poplar - brought the valises to light, and in ten minutes more they were hidden - in another place where Jake, when he discovered his loss, would never - think of looking for them. They were not shoved into a hollow log nor - covered up in the leaves. They were placed high among the thick - branches of an evergreen and tied fast there, so that the wind would - not shake them out. - - “There,” said Sam, after he had made a circuit of the tree and viewed - it from all sides. “Nobody can’t find ’em now. They are mine, sure. I - reckon I’d best go to the cove an’ set down, ’cause pap’ll be along - directly.” - - Sam had barely time to reach the cove and compose himself when Matt - put in an appearance. His first words explained why he had been so - long in getting there, and quieted the fear that suddenly sprang up in - Sam’s mind, that his father had been following him as he himself had - followed Jake. - - “Haven’t I said all along that Rube wasn’t by no means the friend to - us that he pertends to be?” said the squatter, fiercely. “I didn’t run - as fur into the bresh as you boys an’ the ole woman did, but got - behind a log where I could see every thing that was done at the - shanty. I seen the sheriff’s men when they come outen the woods an’ - surrounded the house, an’ purty quick along come Swan, watchin’ over - the two robbers an’ carryin’ a pistol in one hand an’ Jake’s canvas - canoe in the other. They waked Rube up, an’ he stood in the door an’ - talked to ’em as friendly as you please. He showed ’em where we hid - the two skiffs we stole from Swan’s party on the day they burned our - camp at this here cove; an’ then one of the robbers an’ sheriff an’ - five or six guides an’ constables got into ’em an’ pulled up to that - snag opposite Haskinses’ landin’, in the hope of findin’ them six - thousand dollars. But they had their trouble for their pains. Jakey - brought ’em up with your mam’s clothes-line last night, an’ hid ’em - somewheres around here. Seen any thing of Jake since you been here?” - - “Nary thing,” replied Sam. “I was a wonderin’ why he didn’t come. You - told him to stay where you could get your hands onto him.” - - “So I did, an’ this is the way he minds his pap, the ongrateful scamp. - I wanted him to meet me here an’ show me where that money is. He - needn’t think he’s goin’ to keep it all, even if he did capsize them - robbers. I’m the one who oughter have the care of it, bein’ as I’m the - head man of the house. Ain’t that so, Sammy?” - - “Course it is. If I’d found it, I would have gone halvers with you. - How do you know Jake brung it up here an’ hid it?” - - “’Cause I follered him. That’s what kept me out all night. I was - lookin’ for it when I heard Swan an’ the rest of the guides comin’. I - wisht Jakey would hurry up an’ come.” - - “Say, pap,” exclaimed Sam. “Let’s me an’ you hunt for the money all by - ourselves. If we find it, we’ll hold fast to it an’ never give Jake a - cent to pay him for bein’ so stingy.” - - “I’d like mighty well if we could do it,” answered Matt. “But I looked - high an’ low for it all last night, an’ not a thing that was shaped - like a grip-sack could I find. I’m jest done out with tiredness. You - look for it, Sammy, an’ I’ll lay down here an’ take a little sleep.” - - Without waiting to hear whether or not this proposition was agreeable - to Sam, the squatter stretched his heavy frame upon the leaves, pulled - his remnant of a hat over his face and prepared for rest. Sam looked - curiously at him for a moment, then arose to his feet and disappeared. - He went straight to the log behind which Jake had concealed himself - when alarmed by Ralph Farnsworth’s approach, scraped a few leaves - together for a bed, and laid himself down upon it. But before he went - to sleep he made up his mind that he would not say a word to his - father about the loss of the guns; it would hardly be safe. Sam knew - that his father expected to make some money out of those guns, and - when he found that he could not do it, he would be apt to lose his - temper and try to take satisfaction out of somebody. - - “That would be me,” soliloquized Sam, “’cause I am the nighest to his - hand. I guess I’d best pertend that I don’t know nothin’ about them - guns. Let pap find out for himself that they are gone, an’ then he’ll - think that Swan found ’em when he found the canoe.” - - Having come to this decision Sam settled himself for a comfortable - nap, from which he was aroused an hour before dark by his father’s - stentorian voice. He got upon his feet and brushed the leaves from his - clothing before he answered. - - “Well, what’s the use of yellin’ that-a-way an’ tellin’ Swan an’ all - the rest of the guides where you be?” shouted Sam. “Here I am.” - - “Have you found the money?” asked Matt, in lower tones. - - “Course not. If I had, I should ’a’ waked you up. ’Tain’t in these - here woods, pap, ’cause if there’s an inch of ’em that I ain’t peeped - into sence you’ve been asleep I don’t know where it is.” - - “I tell you it is hid in these woods too,” said the squatter, angrily. - “Didn’t I foller Jake up here an’ hang around while he was hidin’ the - grip-sacks an’ the canoe?” - - “Well, then was the time that you oughter jumped out an’ took it away - from him,” said Sam. “I’ll bet you the guides found it same’s they did - the canoe.” - - “Now, jest listen at you! Wasn’t I hid in plain sight of them when - they was ferried acrost the outlet at the hatchery, an’ didn’t I take - pains to see that they didn’t have no grip-sacks with ’em? If I had - took it away from him by force he would have got mad an’ went an’ told - on me; don’t you see? I knowed that the only chance I had was to steal - the money unbeknownst to Jakey, an’ make him think the guides got it. - Looked in every place without findin’ it, did you? Well, there’s one - thing about it. If Jakey don’t come up here to-morrer an’ give me them - six thousand dollars, I’ll tell on him, an’ he shan’t live in my - family no longer. It’s most dark, Sammy, an’ time for me an’ you to be - a-lumberin’.” - - “Where to?” inquired Sam. - - “Why, to Rube’s, in course. We ain’t got no place else to go, have - we?” - - “But what’s the sense in goin’ there when you know Rube ain’t friendly - to you?” - - “Me an’ your mam talked it all over, an’ we know jest what we’re goin’ - to do,” replied the squatter. “We’ve got to take to the woods now, an’ - live like we done before Rube opened his shanty to us. We’re in danger - long’s we stay there, an’ this night will be the last one we shall - ever spend under his roof. But we’ve got to have some furnitur’ to put - into our shanty after we get it built, an’ we’ll try to get it of - Rube. I shall make enough outen them guns to buy the furnitur’, an’ - then if Jake will come to his senses an’ give me the handlin’ of that - money we’ll live like fightin’ fowls; won’t we, Sammy?” - - Aloud Sam said he thought they would; but to himself he said it would - be a long time before his father would have the handling of that - money. He intended to keep every dollar of it, although, for the life - of him, he could not make up his mind what he would do with it. - - It was dark long before Sam and his father reached the cabin, and the - only member of the family they found there was the old woman, Rube - being at the hatchery on watch, and Jake having failed to “show up.” - That made Matt furious. - - “Looks as if he meant to keep outen our way, find that money when he - gets a good ready, an’ take himself off,” exclaimed the squatter. “It - won’t work, that plan won’t. I ain’t fooled the sheriff an’ all his - constables for years an’ years to let myself be beat by one of my own - boys at last, I bet you. We’ll stay here to-night, ’cause we ain’t - nowhere else to go, an’ to-morrer we’ll buy some bed-furnitur’ an’ - cookin’-dishes of Rube, an’ go to hidin’ in the woods agin. If Jakey - wants to live with us, he’d best bring them six thousand dollars with - him when he comes hum.” - - The squatter went to sleep fully expecting to find the missing boy - occupying his shake-down when he awoke in the morning; but he was - disappointed. His absence alarmed Matt, who began to fear that Jake - had fallen into the hands of the constables; but a few cautious - questions propounded to Rube, when the latter came to breakfast, set - his fears on that score at rest. - - “No; the sheriff didn’t ketch Jakey,” said the watchman, “but he was - clost after him, ’cause he knowed that Jakey was the chap who took the - robbers over the lake and spilled the grip-sacks into the water. How - did the sheriff find that out? The robbers told him, an’ described - Jake an’ his canoe so well that all the guides knew in a minute who - they would have to arrest. Where did Jake hide the money after he - fished it outen the lake?” - - “How do you ’spose I know!” growled Matt. - - “Who should know if you don’t?” replied Rube. “I seen you follerin’ - him in a skiff.” - - “Well,” said Matt, who saw it would be useless for him to deny it, “I - don’t know where he put the money, an’ I’m mighty sorry for it. Seen - any thing of Jake lately?” - - “No, I ain’t, an’ what’s more I don’t expect to see him again very - soon, either. He’ll keep clear of me, for he knows that if I could - find him it would be my bounden dooty to take him up an’ lay claim to - part of the six hundred dollars reward. All you’ve got to do is to - make yourselves comfortable here in my house—” - - “Well, we ain’t goin’ to make ourselves comfortable in your house no - longer,” interrupted Matt. “We’re thinkin’ of takin’ to the woods.” - - “What for?” - - “’Cause we don’t think it safe here so nigh the place the constables - come every time they go into the woods. We’d feel better if we was a - piece furder off from ’em.” - - Rube carelessly inquired where his guest thought of going; but Matt - did not give him any satisfaction on that point. He thought he might - as well send word to the sheriff and be done with it. Then he broached - the subject of furniture, and found that, although Rube was quite - willing to sell what he did not need for his own use, he had one hard - condition to impose. Cash up and no trust had been his motto through - life, and he was too old to depart from it now. He wanted to see the - color of Matt’s money before he let a single thing go. - - “That’s the way I’m workin’ it to keep him here till I can find them - guns,” thought the watchman, as he threw himself upon his shakedown. - “Matt ain’t got ten cents to his name; an’ where’s he goin’ to get it? - Winter’s comin’ on, an’ it would be the death of him an’ all his - family to take to the woods without something to wrap themselves up in - of nights, an’ so I reckon they’ll stay here with me for a while - longer. But I don’t know what to think about Jakey.” - - Rube Royall was not the only one who did not know what to think of - him. - - - - - CHAPTER XII. - ABOUT VARIOUS THINGS. - - - When the watchman took possession of his shake-down Matt Coyle and his - family, following their usual custom, adjourned to the open air and - sat on the logs in the wood-yard, smoking their pipes, talking over - their troubles, and consulting as to the means they ought to employ to - “get even” with the guides and other well-to-do people who were so - relentlessly persecuting them. On this particular morning they talked - about Jake and his unaccountable absence; that is, Matt and his wife - did the talking, and Sam sat and listened, all the while looking as - innocent as though he had never heard of the Irvington bank robbery, - or felt the weight of the two valises that contained the six thousand - stolen dollars. His brother Jake would have betrayed himself a dozen - times in as many minutes; but Sam did nothing to arouse suspicion - against him. Matt at last gave it as his opinion that Jake intended to - run away with the money, and repeated what he had said the night - before—that a man who had spent years of his life in dodging - constables was not to be beaten by one of his own boys. Then he filled - a fresh pipe and strolled off toward the hatchery. He thought that was - the safest place for him, for if the sheriff came back after Jake Matt - would see him when he signaled for a boat to take him across the - outlet, and have plenty of time to run to the cabin and warn his - family. - - Of course the squatter did not show himself openly. He took up a - position from which he could see every thing that went on about the - hatchery, and smoked several pipes while he waited for something to - “turn up.” If the sheriff was looking for Jake, he certainly did not - come near the outlet; but somebody else did. It was Tom Bigden. Matt, - of course, was not aware that the boy had come there seeking an - interview with him; but when he saw him loitering about the hatchery - with no apparent object an idea suddenly popped into the squatter’s - head. - - “I jest know that Bigden boy didn’t tell me the truth when he said - that him an’ his cousins was strapped for money, an’ that they would - have to go to Mount Airy before they could buy them guns of me,” - soliloquized Matt. “I’ll watch my chance to ketch him while he is on - his way to camp, an’ tell him that I can’t wait no ten days for my - money. I must have it to onct, ’cause I want to buy that furnitur’ of - Rube.” - - While he was talking to himself in this way Matt got up and started - for the lake; and, as we have seen, he got there in time to intercept - Tom Bigden. So far as Matt was concerned, the interview was a most - unsatisfactory one. Tom was so very haughty and independent that the - squatter knew, before he had exchanged half a dozen words with him, - that there was “something wrong somewheres.” - - When Tom paddled away, after promising to meet Matt the next morning - at seven o’clock, he left the man revolving some deep problems in his - mind. Matt never once suspected that Tom had found the guns, but he - did fear that he had found the valises that contained the bank’s - money, and the thought was enough to drive him almost frantic. As soon - as Tom was out of sight he caught up his rifle and posted off to the - cabin to see if Jake had been there during his absence; but neither - Sam nor the old woman could tell anything about him. - - “I’d give every thing I’ve got in the world if I could get my hand on - that boy’s collar, for jest one minute,” cried Matt, as he stormed - about the wood-yard shaking his fists in the air. “He kalkerlates to - ruinate the whole of us by runnin’ off with them six thousand. I’ll - tell you what we’ll do, ole woman. To-morrer mornin’ at seven o’clock - I shall have money enough to buy the furnitur’ we need, an’ soon’s we - get it we’ll go up to the cove an’ camp there agin. Jake hid that - money somewheres around there, an’ if he don’t take it away to-day he - won’t never get it, for we shall be there to stop him. Don’t you - reckon that’s the best thing we can do?” - - Too highly excited to remain long in one place, Matt did not stop to - hear his wife’s answer, but posted off to the cove after the guns. He - might never see a cent of the six thousand dollars, he told himself, - but the guns he was sure of. - - “That Bigden boy didn’t say, in so many words, that he had fifty - dollars to pay for them, but he winked, an’ that’s as good an answer - as I want. He wouldn’t dare fool me, knowin’ as he does that I can - have him ’rested any time I feel like it. Here is where we left ’em,” - said Matt, stooping down in front of the log in which he and his boys - had concealed the property he wanted to find. “But I do think in my - soul that somebody has been here. The chunks is all scattered around - an’—yes, sir; the guns is gone.” - - Matt dropped upon his hands and knees and peered into the hollow, - which he saw at a glance was empty. Then he seated himself upon the - log and took his pipe from his pocket. He did not whoop and yell, as - he usually did when things went wrong with him, for this new - misfortune fairly stunned him. His knowledge of the English language - was so limited that he could not do justice to his feelings; but by - the time he had smoked his pipe out he had made up his mind what he - would do. - - “In course that Bigden boy will have the fifty dollars in his pocket - when he comes after the guns to-morrer,” said he. “So all I’ve got to - do is to get him ashore an’ take it away from him. I reckon I’ve lost - them six thousand, but I ain’t goin’ to be cheated on all sides, I bet - you. Then if he blabs, I’ll tell about his bein’ in ca-hoots with me - when I stole Joe Wayring’s canvas canoe. I reckon that’s the best - thing I can do.” - - I have already told you how hard Matt tried to carry out this - programme when he met Tom Bigden on the following morning and how - signally he failed. Tom could not be induced to approach very close to - the beach, and was so wide-awake and so quick with his paddle that - Matt could not seize his canoe. The squatter’s proverbial luck seemed - to have forsaken him at last. He was being worsted at every point. - - I pass over the next few days, during which little occurred that was - worthy of note. Jake Coyle kept aloof from his kindred, who had not - the faintest idea where he was or how he lived. Matt and the rest of - his family again established their camp at the cove, and they did not - go there a single day too soon; for when it became known among the - guides that the stolen guns had been found and given into Mr. Hanson’s - keeping a dozen of them plunged into the woods, intent on earning the - hundred dollars that had been offered for the squatter’s apprehension, - and ridding the country of a dangerous man at the same time. Tom - Bigden and his cousins fished a little and lounged in their hammocks a - good deal, and, having had time to become thoroughly disgusted with - camp life, were talking seriously of going home. - - As bad luck would have it, the three boys went up to the Sportsman’s - Home after their mail on the same day that Mr. Swan returned from his - trip to Mount Airy. They heard him say that he had restored the canvas - canoe to his owner, that Joe Wayring was all ready to pay another - visit to Indian Lake, and that he and his two chums might be expected - to arrive at any hour. Ralph and his brother did not pay much - attention to this, for they didn’t like Joe well enough to be - interested in his movements; but Tom paid a good deal of attention to - it. He spent an hour or two the next morning in loafing about the - hatchery, and another hour on the beach waiting for Matt Coyle. That - was the time he was seen by a couple of guides and their employers, - who were camping on the opposite side of the Lake, and who had a good - deal to say about the incident when they went back to their hotel. - They saw Matt plainly when he came out of the bushes and accosted Tom, - and if they had been near enough they might have overheard the - following conversation: - - “I seen you hangin’ around the hatchery, an’ thought that mebbe you - had something to say to me; so I come up yer,” said Matt, who, for - some reason, was in exceedingly good humor. - - “You have been a long time coming,” was Tom’s reply. “I began to get - tired of waiting and was about to start for camp. What has come over - you all of a sudden? You are not quite as ugly as you were the last - time I saw you.” - - “An’ you ain’t quite so skittish, nuther,” retorted Matt. “I couldn’t - get you to come ashore last time you was here.” - - “Of course not. You meant to rob me, and I knew it. What good fortune - has befallen you now?” - - “You may well ask that,” replied the squatter, sitting down on the log - and producing his never failing pipe. “I did think one spell that luck - was agin me, but now I know it ain’t. The reason I kept you waitin’ so - long for me was ’cause I run foul of Jake as I was comin’ here.” - - As soon as Tom had time to recover from the surprise that these words - occasioned, he told himself that he wouldn’t be in Jake’s place for - any money. - - “I ain’t sot eyes on that there boy for better’n a week, an’ you can’t - begin to think how tickled I was to see him,” continued Matt. “He’s - been livin’ tol’able hard since he’s been away from hum, an’ I reckon - it’ll do him good to get a jolly tuck-out onct more.” - - The squatter might have added that he and his family had also lived - tolerable hard during Jake’s absence. They had put themselves on half - rations, trying to make their bacon and potatoes last as long as - possible, for when their larder was empty they did not know where the - next supply was coming from. - - “What did you do to Jake when you ran foul of him?” inquired Tom. - - “What did I do to him? Why should I want to do any thing to him, - seein’ that he has come hum to show me where them six thousand is hid? - I jest tied him hard an’ fast, so’t I could easy find him agin, an’ - left him in the bresh behind Rube’s cabin with the ole woman watchin’ - over him to see that he don’t get loose,” replied Matt, with a grin. - “Did you want to say any thing to me?” - - “I thought it might interest you to know that your friend Joe Wayring - is coming back to Indian Lake, and that he will probably bring Jake’s - canoe with him,” answered Tom. - - “Is _that_ all?” exclaimed Matt, knocking the ashes from his pipe and - glaring fiercely at the boy. “Have you made me tramp three or four - miles through the woods jest to tell me that? I don’t care for Joe - Wayring an’ his ole boat now. They can go where they please an’ do - what they have a mind to, so long’s they keep clear of me. I wisht I - hadn’t come. Jakey an’ me might have been most up to the cove where - the money is hid by this time.” - - Seeing that Matt was disposed to get angry at him for the time he had - wasted and the long tramp he had taken for nothing, Tom stepped into - his canoe and shoved off, while the squatter disappeared in the woods, - grumbling as he went. He took the shortest course for the outlet, and - in the thickest part of the woods, a short distance in the rear of the - watchman’s cabin, found his wife keeping guard over the helpless Jake, - who was so tightly wrapped in ropes that he could scarcely move a - finger. The woman had accompanied Matt to the hatchery with the - intention of begging a few eatables of Rube; but, finding him fast - asleep, she helped herself to every thing she could find in the house, - without taking the trouble to awaken him. When Matt came suddenly upon - Jake in the woods and made a prisoner of him before he had time to - think twice, his mother was on hand to stand sentry over him. - - “That Bigden boy made me go miles outen my way an’ lose two or three - hours besides, jest ’cause he wanted to tell me that Joe Wayring is - comin’ back to Injun Lake directly,” said the squatter, in response to - his wife’s inquiring look. “Jest as if I cared for him when there’s - six thousand dollars waitin’ for me. Now, Jakey, what brung you to the - hatchery? I ain’t had a chance to ask you before.” - - “I come to git some grub, for I’m nigh starved to death,” said Jake, - and his pinched face and sunken eyes bore testimony to the truth of - his words. “I allowed to take one of the skiffs that we stole from - Swan and his crowd, an’ go up to the lake an’ rob another suller.” - - “Well, you wouldn’t have found the skiffs, even if I hadn’t collared - you before you knowed I was within a mile of you,” answered Matt. - “Rube told the guides where we hid ’em, an’ they took ’em off the same - day they carried away your canvas canoe. But I’m glad you come after - one of ’em, for it brung you plump into the arms of your pap, who has - been waitin’ for more’n a week for you to came an’ show him where you - hid them six thousand dollars. Be you ready to do it now, Jakey?” - - “I allers kalkerlated to do it,” replied Jake. “Sure hope to die, I - did.” - - “I’m glad to hear it; but I’d been gladder if you had brung the money - to me the minute you found it. Untie his feet, ole woman, an’ we’ll go - back to camp.” - - “An’ my hands, too,” added Jake. - - “You don’t need your hands to walk with,” said Matt. - - “But I need ’em to keep the bresh from hittin’ me in the face while we - are goin’ through the woods, don’t I?” - - “Oh, shucks! The lickin’ you’ll get from the bresh won’t be a patchin’ - to the one you’ll get from me if we don’t find them grip-sacks - tol’able easy,” replied Matt in significant tones. “Now, you go on - ahead, takin’ the shortest cut, an’ me an’ yer mam’ll foller.” - - Having helped the boy to his feet, Matt waved his hand toward the - cove, as if he were urging a hound to take up a trail, and Jake - staggered off. I say staggered, because he was too weak to move with - his usual springy step. When his strength failed through long fasting, - his courage also left him, and Jake had at last determined that if he - could secure one of the skiffs he would take the money to Indian Lake - and give it up to the sheriff. He was afraid to surrender it to his - father, because he knew that Matt would thrash him for not giving it - up before. His father came upon him suddenly while he was making his - way around the hatchery toward the place where the skiffs had been - concealed, and Jake, too weak to run and too spiritless to resist, was - easily made captive. He was very hungry, and repeatedly begged his - father to untie his hands and give him a slice off the loaf of bread - that he could see in the bundle the old woman carried on her arm; but - Matt would not listen to him. - - “Show us the money first, Jakey,” was his invariable reply, “an’ then - you shall have all you want. But not a bite do you get till I feel the - heft of them grip-sacks. ’Tain’t likely that I’ll go outen my way to - please a ongrateful scamp of a boy who finds six thousand dollars an’ - hides it from his pap.” - - The long ten-mile tramp through the woods exhausted the last particle - of Jake Coyle’s strength, and when he led his father to the brink of - the cavity at the foot of the poplar he wilted like a blade of grass - that had been struck by the frost. - - “Is it in there?” cried Matt, excitedly. - - “Yes; clear down to the bottom, clost up under the roots of the tree,” - said Jake, faintly. “Now, mam, untie my hands an’ give me a blink of - that bread, can’t ye?” - - The woman, who was not quite so heartless as her husband, thought she - might safely comply with the request. Jake could not have got up a - trot to save his life; but he had strength enough to eat, and the way - Rube’s bread and cold fried bacon disappeared before his attacks was - astonishing. He ate until his mother called a halt and reminded him - that if he kept on there wouldn’t be anything left over for supper. - - Meanwhile Matt was working industriously, almost frantically, - expecting every moment that the stick with which he was making the - leaves fly in all directions would strike one of the valises. In a - very short space of time the ground about the roots of the tree was as - bare as the back of his hand, but nothing was to be seen of the money. - Having taken the sharp edge off his appetite, Jake began showing some - interest in the proceedings, and the longer his father worked, the - wider his eyes opened. - - “You don’t seem to throw out nothing, pap,” said he, at last. - - “I know I don’t,” answered Matt. “But you will seem to feel something - if I don’t find it directly, for I’ll lick ye good fashion.” - - “As sure’s you live an’ breathe, pap, I hid it there, clost under the - roots of that tree,” said Jake, who was almost overwhelmed with - astonishment. “I can’t for the life of me think what’s went with it.” - - “Mebbe you can after you’ve had a hickory laid over your back a few - times,” replied Matt. “I’ve heard tell that a good lickin’ goes a long - ways in stirrin’ up a boy’s ideas.” - - Just then a new actor appeared upon the scene. It was Sam Coyle, who - had been left in camp to watch over things during the absence of his - father and mother. While dozing over the fire he heard and recognized - his father’s voice, and came out to see what he was doing. He took - care to pass the tree in which the valises were hidden, and to look - among the branches to make sure that they were still there. - - “Hallo, Jakey,” said he, in a surprised tone. “Where did you drop down - from? What be you lookin’ for, pap?” - - “Jakey allowed that he come hum to show me where them six thousand was - hid; but it’s my idee that he come a purpose to get his jacket dusted, - ’cause the money ain’t here,” replied Matt. “Jakey oughter know better - than to try to fool his pap that a-way.” - - “I ain’t tryin’ to fool you,” protested Jake. “I put the grip-sacks - into that hole, an’ I don’t see where they be now.” - - “If he is tryin’ to make a fule of his pap, he deserves a lickin’,” - continued Matt, paying no sort of attention to Jake. “An’ if he hid - the money here, an’ somebody come along an’ found it, he had oughter - have a lickin’ for that, too, to pay him for not givin’ it up to me - the minute he got it.” - - As the squatter said this he threw down the stick with which he had - been turning over the leaves, climbed out of the hole and began - looking for a switch. Jake saw that things were getting serious, and - so did Sam. It is doubtful if the latter would have revealed the - hiding-place of the money to save his brother from punishment, but - still he did not want to see him whipped. - - “Look a here, pap,” said Jake, desperately. “I told you honest when I - said I put the grip-sacks at the root of that there tree. You can - pound me if you want to, but it’ll be wuss for you if you do.” - - There was something in the tone of his voice that made Matt pause and - look at him. “What do you reckon you’re goin’ to do?” said he. - - “In the first place, I shan’t steal no grub to feed a pap who pounds - me for jest nothin’,” replied the boy. - - “I ain’t a-goin’ to pound you for nothin’. I’m goin’ to pay you for - not givin’ me the money.” - - “An’ in the next place I shan’t stay with you no longer,” continued - Jake. “I’ll go down to one of them hotels an’ tell every thing I - know.” - - “Whoop!” yelled Matt, jumping up and knocking his heels together. - “Then you’ll be took up for a thief.” - - “I don’t care. I’ll be took up some time, most likely, an’ it might as - well be this week as next. I ain’t to blame ’cause the money ain’t - where I left it, an’ I won’t be larruped for it nuther.” - - Matt was in a quandary, and he could not see any way to get out of it - without lowering his dignity. According to his way of thinking Jake - deserved punishment for the course he had pursued, but Matt dared not - administer it for fear that the boy would take revenge on him in the - manner he had threatened. At this juncture Sam came to his assistance. - - “Look a yer, pap,” said he. “You was hid in the bresh where you could - see the sheriff an’ his crowd when they crossed the outlet on the - mornin’ they stole Jake’s canoe, wasn’t you? Well, couldn’t you have - seen the gun-cases if they had ’em in their hands?” - - Matt said he thought he could. - - “You didn’t see ’em, did you? Then don’t that go to prove that the - guides didn’t find the guns when they found the canoe? Somebody else - took ’em, an’ the money, too.” - - “Who do you reckon it was?” - - “I’ll bet it was that Bigden crowd.” - - “I’ll bet it was too,” exclaimed Jake, catching at the suggestion as - drowning men catch at straws. Of course he knew that Tom and his - cousins carried off the guns, for he had seen them do it; but he dared - not say so, for fear that his father would punish him for permitting - it. Where the money went was a question that was altogether too deep - for him. Matt was so impressed by Sam’s answer that he found it - necessary to sit down and fill and light his pipe. - - “I’ll bet it was, too,” said he, when he had taken a few long whiffs. - “I thought that Bigden boy was mighty sot up an’ independent the - second time I seen him, an’ he could afford to be, knowin’, as he did, - that I couldn’t perduce the guns. Now what’s to be done about it?” - - “Why can’t we take a run down to their camp to-morrer an’ see what - they’ve got in it?” said Jake. “Of course we’ll have to swim to get on - their side of the creek—” - - “An’ jest for the reason that we ain’t got no boat,” snarled Matt. - “That’s what comes of my givin’ that canoe to you ’stead of keepin’ it - for my own. You hid it where they could find it, but I would have took - better care of it. Now, le’s go to camp an’ eat some of the grub that - the ole woman helped herself to in Rube’s cabin. Jake, I’ll let you - off till to-morrer, an’ I won’t tech you at all if we find the money - an’ guns in Bigden’s camp; but if we don’t find ’em I’ll have to do a - pap’s dooty by you.” - - Jake, glad to have even a short respite, made no reply, but he did - some rapid thinking. - - Now it so happened that Tom and his cousins were not at home when Matt - Coyle and his young allies visited their camp on the following day. - They had gone to Indian Lake after their mail. Contrary to their usual - custom they all went, each one of the party declaring, with some - emphasis, that he was sick and tired of acting as camp-keeper, while - his companions were off somewhere enjoying themselves, and wouldn’t do - it any more because it was not necessary. They could take their most - valuable things with them in their canoes and the rest could be - concealed. The result of this arrangement was that when the squatter - and his boys found the camp they found nothing else. - - This was the day that Joe Wayring and his chums arrived at Indian - Lake, and Tom and his friends found them standing on the beach, - talking with Mr. Swan, as I have recorded. After exchanging a few - common-place remarks with the new-comers, Tom kept on toward the - hotel. - - “I see Joe has brought his canvas canoe back with him,” observed Tom. - “If Matt Coyle knew it how long do you think it would be before he - would manage to steal it again?” - - “I hope you won’t put him up to it,” said Loren. “You once got - yourself into a bad scrape by doing that, and it was more by good luck - than good management that you wriggled out of it.” - - “I haven’t forgotten it,” replied Tom, with a light laugh. “I assure - you that I shall have no more suggestions to make to Matt Coyle; but I - do wish he could make things so hot for Wayring and his party that - they couldn’t stay here. They haven’t forgotten how to be mean, have - they? They wouldn’t tell us where they were going to find - trout-fishing, so we will watch and find out for ourselves.” - - When Tom’s letters, which came addressed to the care of the - Sportsman’s Home, were handed out he found that one of them contained - a request for his immediate return to Mount Airy. Some of his New - London friends were at his father’s house, and if Tom and his cousins - wished to see them they had better come home without delay. - - “Well, I’d as soon go to-morrow as next day, for I am tired of life in - the woods,” said Tom. “If we had only brought our blankets and - provisions along, we could have made a start from here; but as we - didn’t do it some one will have to go to camp for them. It won’t be - necessary for all to go, so I propose that we draw lots to see who - goes and who stays.” - - Without waiting to hear from the others on the subject, Tom arranged - three sticks of different lengths in his closed hands, saying, as he - held them out to Loren, - - “The one who gets the shortest stick is elected.” - - Loren and Ralph made selection, and Tom was left with the shortest - stick in his hand. Of course he was mad about it. He always was when - he was beaten. - - - - - CHAPTER XIII. - JOE WAYRING’S PLUCK. - - - Sometimes there is more in drawing lots than those who take part in it - imagine, and so it proved in this instance. If Ralph or Loren had - drawn the shortest stick, some things that I have yet to tell of never - would have happened. - - “I’m elected,” said Tom, spitefully, “but I’ll stand by the agreement. - I have plenty of time to go down to camp and return before dark, so I - will wait and see what Wayring is going to do.” - - “Do you want to go with him?” inquired Ralph. - - “How can I when we are going home in the morning?” - - “Then what difference does it make to you where Wayring goes?” - - “I don’t know that it makes any difference. I simply wish to satisfy - my curiosity.” - - It did not take many minutes to do that. After a little more - conversation with Mr. Swan Joe came toward the storehouse, in front of - whose open door Tom and his cousins were standing. There they met - Morris, the guide, who cautioned them against quarreling with their - compass in case they found themselves bewildered in the unbroken - wilderness through which they must pass in order to reach No-Man’s - Pond. When Joe and his chums came out of the store with their loaded - camp-baskets on their back, Morris also came out and accosted Tom. - - “This is the first chance I have had to thank you young gentlemen for - your generosity,” said he. “Mr. Hanson has given me half the reward - you earned by restoring those guns and which you did not claim.” - - “You are very welcome, I am sure,” answered Tom. “Were you with the - party that found Wayring’s canoe? If you had looked a little further - you might have found the guns, too. How about that money? Heard any - thing of it lately?” - - “Not so very,” replied the guide. “All we know is, that Jake Coyle - cheated the robbers out of it very neatly, hid it somewhere, and then - took himself off. It is over on your side of the lake; we are sure of - that. You seem to be lucky, so why don’t you hunt it up and claim the - six hundred?” - - “If you men who know every foot of the woods can’t find it, we - wouldn’t stand much of a show,” said Ralph. “Do you know where Wayring - and his cronies have started for? I see that they have left their - skiff behind and that Mr. Swan is taking care of it.” - - “They’re bound to catch some legal trout before they go home, and are - going to No-Man’s Pond after them. That’s twelve miles from here, and - through the thickest woods any body ever heard of. They’ll catch fish, - but, as I told them, they will have a time getting there.” - - Tom’s curiosity was satisfied now, and, as there was nothing more to - detain him at the lake, he was ready to undertake the disagreeable - duty to which he had been “elected.” The trip to and from the camp was - disagreeable only because Tom did not want to make it just then. He - would have preferred to stay and seek an introduction to some of the - pretty girls who had been registered at the hotel since his last - visit, and who were now in full possession of the lawn tennis court. - - When Tom reached the grove in which he and his cousins had spent their - two weeks outing, an unpleasant surprise awaited him. He saw nothing - suspicious about the camp; indeed he did not look for it; but in less - than half a minute after he beached his canoe and disembarked he was - surrounded by Matt Coyle and his boys, who glared savagely at him and - brandished switches over his head. - - “Well, sir, we’ve ketched one of ye,” said Matt, laying hold of Tom’s - collar. “Now will you own up or won’t you?” - - With a quick jerk Tom freed himself from the squatter’s grasp and - turned and faced him. He was so bold and defiant that Matt quailed - before him. - - “What have you to say to me?” demanded Tom, with flashing eyes. “Keep - your distance if you expect me to talk to you. I was in hopes I had - seen the last of you.” - - “Well, you see you ain’t, don’t you?” answered the squatter, calling - all his courage to his aid. “You stole them two guns of me an’ them - six thousand dollars besides. We’ve come after ’em, an’ we’re goin’ to - have ’em, too.” - - “I haven’t seen your guns or your money, either,” replied Tom. “Who - told you I had?” - - “Nobody,” said Matt, who never could take time to think when he was - excited or angry. “We jest suspicion you.” - - “Then go and ‘suspicion’ somebody else. You are wide of the mark. I - know you have lost the guns, for Swan found them when he found the - canoe. Morris told me a little while ago that Hanson had paid him part - of the reward. But I didn’t know about the money. Here’s Jake; Why - don’t you make him tell where it is? Every body knows that he hid it—” - - “Yes; but it ain’t there now,” shouted Matt. “It’s been took outen the - place where he left it, an’ none of us don’t know nothin’ about it.” - - What evil genius put it into Tom’s head to say, “I know where it is?” - - “That’s what we suspicioned all along, an’ that’s what brung us here,” - exclaimed the squatter, shaking his switch at the boy, while Sam’s - face grew as white as a sheet. He recoiled a step or two and looked - anxiously at Tom. - - “But I haven’t got it and never had,” continued the latter. “Do you - know where No-Man’s Pond is? Well, if you will go there, you will find - your old friend Wayring and his party; and they’ve got your money.” - - “Why—why, how did they come by it?” stammered Matt. - - “How do you suppose I know? They probably found it where Jake hid it. - I don’t know of any other way they could get it.” - - “But they ain’t been here long enough to do much runnin’ around,” Matt - reminded him. - - “They have been here three days, and that’s long enough for them to - cover a good many miles in that fast-going skiff of theirs.” - - “But we’ve been right there at the cove all the time, an’ they - couldn’t have come snoopin’ around without us hearin’ them,” said - Matt, who hardly knew whether he stood on his head or his feet. “What - took ’em so far up the creek, an’ how did they know where the money - was hid?” - - “I don’t know any thing about that. I simply tell you that I saw those - two valises in Joe Wayring’s camp-basket to-day, and that you will - never handle a dollar of it.” - - “Why, they’re wusser’n thieves theirselves. Do you reckon they took it - to No-Man’s Pond with ’em?” - - “They certainly did not leave it at the hotel,” replied Tom. “Perhaps - they don’t mean to go to No-Man’s Pond at all. They may be striking - for Irvington, for all I know, intending to claim the reward when they - give up the money.” - - “They shan’t never get there,” yelled Matt, who believed every word of - this ridiculous story. “I wish we was on t’other side of the lake.” - - “The only way you can get there is to go down to the outlet and ask - some of your friends living there to set you across,” replied Tom; and - as he spoke he stepped up to an evergreen, pressed the thick branches - down with both hands, and took from its place of concealment a roll of - blankets. From other trees he took more blankets, a lot of tin dishes, - and provisions enough to last a small party of moderate eaters a week - or more. Matt and his hungry family could, no doubt, have made way - with them in a single day. They watched the boy’s movements with the - keenest interest. They had ransacked every hole and corner of the - grove before Tom came, overturning logs and throwing leaves aside, but - their hour’s work had not been rewarded by so much as a can of beans. - They were as surprised as children are the first time they see a - magician take money out of a borrowed hat. - - “That bangs me,” said Matt. - - “I don’t suppose I should have found any of these things if you had - thought to look up instead of down,” replied Tom. - - “I’d like mighty well to have the grub,” was the squatter’s answer. - “We don’t see nothin’ good to eat from one year’s end to another’s.” - - To Matt’s great surprise and joy Tom said— - - “You may have the grub. I can get more at the hotel. There is an old - blanket that you can have to wrap it up in. Now look here: Are you - going to follow Wayring to No-Man’s Pond?” - - “You’re mighty right, I am,” said Matt, emphatically. - - “I don’t know whether or not you will find him there,” Tom went on. - “But if you do don’t mention my name. Don’t let him even suspect that - you have seen me this vacation. Don’t refer to me in any way; do you - hear?” - - “Do you reckon I’ve got a pair of ears?” - - “I reckon you have; and I can see for myself that they are big enough - for two men. If I were in your place, I would dig out of this country - and never come back.” - - “I’ve been thinkin’ of doin’ it,” said Matt. - - “The whole region is in arms against you, and it is a mystery to me - how you have kept out of the clutches of the law as long as you have. - But if they don’t catch you before they will surely catch you when the - first snow comes. Mark that. They will track you down as they would a - mink.” - - “Don’t I know that?” exclaimed Matt, growing red in the face with - anger. “When the snow comes we’ll have to stick clost to camp, for if - we go out we shall leave a trail that can be easy follered. But - what’ll we do when our grub is all gone?” - - “That’s your lookout and not mine,” said Tom, shrugging his shoulders. - “Go off somewhere. Find a strange place where you are not known, and - then you can go and come without fear of being tracked down.” - - So saying Tom tossed the blankets into his canoe, stepped in himself - and shoved away from the beach, leaving three astonished, alarmed, and - angry persons behind. If Sam Coyle had been alone there would have - been strange scenes enacted in the grove, for Sam was pretty near - frantic. Like his father, he believed the story that Tom Bigden had - cooked up on the spur of the moment, and from that time forward he was - one of Joe Wayring’s most implacable foes. As for Matt, he was utterly - bewildered—stunned. Once again he told himself that there was - something wrong somewhere. Cunning as he had showed himself to be in - outwitting the guides and officers of the law, he never parted with - Tom Bigden without feeling that the boy had got the better of him in - some way. Jake Coyle was the frightened one of the party. His father - had promised him a terrible beating, which, upon reflection, he had - decided to postpone until he could learn whether or not the six - thousand dollars were concealed in Tom Bigden’s camp. Would the - whipping be forthcoming now that the money had not been found? Having - had a good night’s sleep and something nourishing to eat, Jake was - stronger and more courageous than he had been the day before, and he - made up his mind that he wouldn’t be whipped at all. He had outrun his - clumsy father more than once, and was sure he could do it again. Matt - must have been thinking about this very thing, for he said, as he - spread the blanket upon the ground and began tossing the provisions - into it— - - “If I done a pap’s dooty by you, Jakey, I’d larrup you good fashion to - pay you for hidin’ that there money where Joe Wayring an’ his friends - could find it; but I’ll let you off agin for a little while. We’ll put - as straight for No-Man’s Pond as we can go, an’ if I find that Joe’s - got the money I won’t do nothin’ to you; me an’ you will be friends - like we’ve always been. But if he ain’t got it, or if he’s hid it - where we can’t find it, then there’ll be such a row betwixt me an’ you - that the folks up to Injun Lake will think there’s a harrycane got - loose in the woods.” - - Jake drew a long breath of relief, but Sam wanted to yell. The latter - was strongly opposed to going to No-Man’s Pond. His great desire was - to return to camp, separate himself from the rest of the family as - soon as he could, and look into the tree in which he had concealed the - money. Somehow he could not bring himself to believe that it had been - found and carried off. - - “Say, pap, I wouldn’t go acrost the lake if I was you,” Sam ventured - to say. “So long’s we stay over yer we’re safe, ’cause the guides - can’t get to us without our bein’ knowin’ to it; but if we go to - trampin’ through woods that we are liable to get lost in they may jump - down on us afore we can wink twice.” - - “No they won’t,” said Matt, confidently. “I’m too ole a coon to be - ketched that a-way. Leastwise I ain’t a-goin’ to let them six thousand - go without makin’ the best kind of a fight for ’em.” - - “But somebody oughter go to camp an’ tell mam where we’re goin’,” Sam - insisted. “She’ll be scared if we don’t show up by the time it comes - dark. I’d jest as soon go as not, and I’ll jine you agin at the - outlet.” - - “Sam, what’s the matter of you?” exclaimed Matt. “You always was sich - a coward you would go hungry before you would sneak out of nights an’ - steal grub for us to eat; but you’ve got to stand up to the rack this - time, I bet you. I need your help; an’ if I see you makin’ the least - sign of holdin’ back I’ll give you the twin brother to the lickin’ I - promised Jake.” - - That was what Sam was afraid of, and it was the only thing that kept - him from running off and making the best of his way to the tree in - which he had hidden the money. Until he had satisfied himself that it - was safe he could neither eat nor sleep. - - Having tied the provisions up in as small a compass as possible, Matt - raised the bundle to his shoulder, picked up his rifle, and set out at - a rapid pace for the outlet, Jake and Sam following close behind. They - were ferried across by one of the vagabonds who had given the - superintendent of the hatchery so much trouble, and who expressed the - greatest surprise and pleasure at meeting them. But Matt was not - deceived by his friendly speech. He knew that the man would have made - a prisoner of him in a minute if he had possessed the power. - - “I never thought to set eyes on you again,” was the way in which he - welcomed Matt and his boys. “You’ve kept yourselves tol’able close - since Swan burned your camp, ain’t you? An’ they do say that Jakey has - made six thousand dollars clean cash outen that Irvin’ton bank - robbery. Course I’ll set you acrost. Goin’ to change your quarters, be - you? Where do you reckon you’ll bring up?” - - “New London,” replied Matt, readily. “From there we’ll take a boat to - some place on the Sound where they want wood-choppers, an’ then we’ll - settle down an’ go to work.” - - “But the ole woman ain’t with you.” - - “She’s goin’ cross lots, ’cause she didn’t think she could stand the - long tramp that me and the boys are goin’ to take. Yes; we’re goin’ to - hide ourselves durin’ the winter, an’ when spring comes mebbe we’ll - come too. They’ll forget all about us by that time.” - - “Well, I hope the constables won’t foller you through the woods.” - - “It wouldn’t be healthy for any body to do that,” replied Matt, - looking sharply at the man with his little black eyes. “A feller who - can hit a squirrel’s head at every shot can throw a bullet middlin’ - clost to a mark the bigness of a constable.” - - This was a threat, and the man who ferried them across the outlet took - it as such. As he was too timid as well as too indolent to take any - steps that would lead to the squatter’s apprehension, he contented - himself by going back to his cabin, smoking a pipe, and wishing he had - the reward that had been put upon Matt’s head. - - The pursuers had lost a good deal of time in going from Tom Bigden’s - camp to the outlet, but they made up for it by the fast traveling they - did after they were set across. If Matt had not missed his way, he - might have come up with Joe that night. As it was, he and his boys - went into camp about three miles from the spring-hole. During their - journey they came near showing themselves to a couple of individuals - who passed through the woods a hundred yards in advance, heading - toward Indian Lake; but Matt, always on the watch, dropped in time to - avoid discovery, and the boys touched the ground almost as soon as he - did. - - “Who be they?” whispered the squatter, peering through the bushes in - the vain effort to obtain a view of the strangers’ faces. - - “They’re them two fellers that always runs with Joe Wayring,” answered - Jake. - - “Sure?” asked Matt. - - “Sure’s I can be without seein’ ’em closter.” - - “That’s who they be, pap,” said Sam. “I know, ’cause they’ve got the - same kind of clothes and the same kind of hats on ’em.” - - Sam and Jake were deceived by the hunting suits worn by the strangers. - The latter were a couple of sportsmen who had made a short excursion - into the woods without a guide, and were now on their way to their - hotel. Matt took a minute or two in which to think over the situation. - - “Look sharp,” said he, in an excited whisper, “an’ see if they have - got camp-baskets onto their backs or grip-sacks in their hands. If - they have, we’ll bounce ’em quicker.” - - “They ain’t got nary thing in their hands but jest fish-poles,” - answered Sam. “I can see ’em plain. The things they’ve got on their - backs is knapsacks.” - - “Then they must have left Joe Wayring an’ the money alone at the - spring-hole,” chuckled Matt. “They can’t go to Injun Lake an’ turn - around and come back before the middle of forenoon to-morrer, an’ by - the time they see No-Man’s Pond again we’ll be through with our - business. I tell you things is beginnin’ to run my way onct more. - Ain’t you sorry you come, Sammy? We shall find Joe alone at the pond, - and it’ll be the easiest thing in the world to make him trot out that - money or tell where he’s hid it.” - - “But supposin’ he won’t do it?” said Jake. “What’ll you do to him, - pap?” - - “We’ll tie him to a tree an’ thrash him so’t he won’t never get over - it,” said the squatter, through his teeth. “That boy has put me to a - sight of trouble ever sense I first heard of him, an’ now I’m goin’ to - take my satisfaction outen him. We’ll make him ax our parding an’ - acknowledge that we’re just as good as he is, even if we ain’t got no - good clothes to wear.” - - “An’ when you get through I’ll take a hand, an’ pay him for the whack - he give me in the face with your paddle,” chimed in Jake. - - “An’ I’ll pay him for—for—bein’ so mean to all of us,” said Sam. - - He came near betraying himself that time. What he was about to say was - that he would pay Joe Wayring for stealing the money. - - “You can do jest what you please with him, an’ I won’t say a word agin - it,” answered the squatter. “The way them rich folks has always run - over us ain’t to be put up with no longer.” - - Pursuers and pursued slept soundly within three miles of one another - that night, but the morning’s sun found them all astir. While Joe and - his companions were working like beavers on their bark shanty, Matt - Coyle was wasting his time in searching for the portage that led from - Indian Lake to No-Man’s Pond. He passed the best part of the day in - recovering his bearings, and the afternoon was far spent when Jake - laid his hand on his arm and pointed silently through the bushes ahead - of him. Matt looked, and saw the smoke of a camp-fire curling up - toward the tree-tops. He listened, but no sound came to his ears to - indicate that the camp was occupied. Arthur and Roy had gone in the - canvas canoe to explore the spring-hole and Joe was resting after his - work, thinking the while of almost every thing and every body except - Matt Coyle. - - “I don’t reckon he’s there, pap,” said Jake in a cautious whisper. - - “He’s there or thereabouts,” was Matt’s reply. “Mebbe he’s went out on - the pond to ketch some trout for his supper. If he has, we’ll be in - time to help him eat ’em, won’t we? Jakey, you crawl up, careful like, - an’ take a peep at things. Me an’ Sam’ll stay here till you come - back.” - - Matt never went into danger himself if he could help it, but always - sent Jake; and the boy had become so accustomed to it that he obeyed - this order without the least hesitation. He crept away on his hands - and knees, and at the end of a quarter of an hour returned with a most - gratifying report. - - “Joe’s there, an’ he’s all alone,” whispered Jake. “He’s layin’ under - a tree an’ acts like he’s asleep.” - - “So much the better for us,” replied Matt, gleefully rubbing his hands - together. “That money is our’n. Now, Jakey, you go that-a-way; Sam, - you go this way; an’ I’ll keep in the middle. In that way we shall - have him surrounded an’ he can’t give us the slip. When you hear me - whistle like a quail, jump up an’ grab him.” - - “But, pap, he’s got a gun,” said Jake, apprehensively. “I seen it - layin’ on the ground clost to him.” - - “What of it?” Matt demanded, in angry tones. “That’s the very reason I - want you to grab him; so’s he won’t have time to use his gun. Now, - then, here we go, quiet like, an’ still.” - - The three moved off so silently that Joe Wayring would not have heard - them if he had been awake and listening for their approach. They came - up on each side of the camp, cutting off every avenue of escape, and - at the signal agreed upon made a simultaneous rush. Before Joe could - open his eyes he was powerless, for Matt Coyle had seized both his - hands, crossed them upon his breast, and pinned them there with a - vise-like grasp. - - “It’s come our turn to boss things,” said the squatter, returning - Joe’s astonished look with an angry scowl. “We’ll learn you to drive - us outen Mount Airy an’ tear our house down jest’ cause we’re poor - folks an’ ain’t got no good clothes to wear. Jakey, you an’ Sam look - around an’ find a rope or something to tie him with.” - - “What are you going to do?” asked Joe, when he found his tongue. - - “That depends on yourself,” answered Matt. “You can get off without a - scratch if you will do jest what I tell you; but if you don’t it will - be wuss for you. Where is it?” - - “Where’s what?” said Joe, innocently. - - “Now jest listen at the blockhead!” exclaimed Matt. “You don’t know - what I mean, don’t you? I mean the money you stole from us. The money, - you varmint.” And whenever he said “money” he jammed Joe’s hands down - upon his breast with terrific force. “The money, I say. Where is it?” - - “All the money I have is in my pocket,” replied Joe. “If you want it, - I can’t hinder you from taking it.” He spoke with difficulty, for - Matt’s furious lunges had nearly knocked the breath out of his body. - - “Whoop!” yelled the squatter. “Listen at you! I don’t want the money - that’s into your pocket. I want what was stole from the bank. It - b’longs to me, an’ I’m goin’ to have it. Where is it, I tell you.” - - “I don’t know the first thing about it. I never saw it.” - - “Mebbe you’ll think different before we get through with you,” said - Matt; “found the rope, have you, Jakey? All right. Stand by to tie his - hands when I tell you; an’, Sam, you pull off his blue shirt. We won’t - fool with him no longer.” - - So saying the squatter arose to his feet, pulling Joe up with him. In - a few minutes more the boy was standing with his face to a tree, and - his hands and feet were fastened to it. But the work was not - accomplished without a terrific struggle, I assure you. Joe Wayring - fought desperately, and during the _melee_ Jake was floored by a neat - left-hander in the jaw, and Sam received a kick that doubled him up in - short order. Of course this vigorous treatment added to their fury, - but Matt was disposed to be hilarious over it. - - “Well, then, what made you hide the money where he could find it, if - you didn’t want to get a whack from his fist?” said he. “If you had - brung it straight to me, like you oughter done, Joe never would a hit - you.” - - “That makes another thing that I’ve got to pay him for,” groaned Jake. - “Hurry up an’ get through with him, pap, ’cause I want to get at him.” - - “Then go an’ cut some good tough hickories, both of you. They’ll be - back in a few minutes,” said Matt, as the boys took their knives from - their pockets and disappeared from view, “an’ before they come, you - had better make up your mind to tell me what you have done with that - money. I’ve got all the proof I want that it was seed in your - camp-basket yesterday.” - - “Who told you so?” inquired Joe. - - “I ain’t namin’ no names,” replied Matt; and then, for the first time, - it occurred to him that if the valises were in Joe’s camp-basket - yesterday they might be there yet, and he at once proceeded to satisfy - himself on that point. The contents of all the baskets were quickly - thrown out upon the ground, but the valises were not brought to light. - - “I done that jest ’cause I happened to think of it, an’ not ’cause I - expected to find the money,” Matt exclaimed. “I knowed you would hide - it as soon as you got here. The boys is comin’. They’d like amazin’ - well to larrup you on your bare back, an’ they will do it too; we’ll - all do it, if you don’t quit bein’ so pig-headed an’ tell us right - where we can go an’ find that money. Speak quick. Will you do it?” - - “I tell you I don’t know any thing about it,” replied Joe, “and you - can’t make me say any thing else. If any body told you a different - story, which I don’t believe, he fooled you. That’s all I’ve got to - say.” - - Just then Jake and Sam came out of the bushes with their hands full of - switches. - - - - - CHAPTER XIV. - THE GUIDE “SURROUNDS” MATT‘S CAMP. - - - “How do you like the looks of _them_?” said Matt Coyle, picking up one - of the switches and flourishing it before Joe’s face. “It’s hickory - an’ it’ll cut. Whew! I don’t like to think how it will cut when it’s - laid on good and strong. Now, then, where is it? You see that we are - in dead ’arnest, I reckon, don’t you? What have you done with it?” - - It was at this juncture that the canvas canoe carrying Roy Sheldon and - Arthur Hastings came around the point in full view of the camp. The - boys were so surprised at what they saw before them that for a minute - or two they were incapable of action. They were as motionless as so - many sticks of wood; and, although their blood boiled with indignation - when they saw Jake so unmercifully beaten, they never said a word. - But, when Matt drew back as if he were about to strike Joe with the - switch he held in his hand, they had life enough in them. - - “Hold on there! If you touch that boy I will put more holes through - you than you ever saw in a skimmer,” shouted Arthur, as he raised his - gun to his shoulder; and the squatter’s triumph was cut short. - - “This is an outrage that shall not be over-looked,” said Roy, plunging - his paddle into the water and sending the canvas canoe rapidly toward - the beach. “Keep him covered, Art, so that he can’t escape, and we’ll - march the whole caboodle of them to Indian Lake.” - - Before the words had fairly left Roy’s lips Arthur found, to his - intense amazement, that he was pointing his gun at the bushes, instead - of covering Matt Coyle’s head. The squatter and his boys had dropped - to the ground, and that was the last that was seen of them. If three - trap-doors had opened beneath their feet, they could not have - disappeared with more astonishing and bewildering celerity. The boys - did not wait to beach the canoe but jumped overboard, as soon as they - could see bottom, and rushed to Joe’s relief. - - “Who, what—how—what’s the meaning of this?” stammered Roy, drawing his - knife across the rope that held the prisoner’s hands, while Arthur - severed the one with which his feet were confined. “How came those - vagabonds up here, and what was it that Tom Bigden told them about - money?” - - Joe Wayring stretched his arms and briefly explained. - - “You came just in time, boys,” said he, in conclusion. “Did you see - Jake’s face when Matt got through beating him? That was a contemptible - thing for Matt to do, and he ought to be punished for it.” - - “Your back would have looked worse than that if we had delayed our - coming a few minutes longer,” said Roy. “How did you feel when Matt - told you that he had seen Art and me putting for the lake as fast as - we could go?” - - “I didn’t pay the least attention to it, for I thought he said it to - frighten me. It seems that Jake has lost track of the money that was - stolen from the Irvington bank; but if Tom Bigden said he had seen it - in my camp-basket, I don’t see what induced him to do it.” - - “What was it that induced him to tell Matt to steal your canoe?” asked - Arthur. - - “I don’t know that he did. I only think so from what I have heard. - Now, fellows,” said Joe calmly, but with determination, “my fishing is - ended for a while, and I am going on the war-path. I’ll see whether or - not I am to be tormented in this way by people who can not truthfully - say that I ever did the first thing to injure them.” - - “Count us in,” said Arthur. “I wish the portage was clear so that we - could start for the lake at once; but I am afraid to try it in the - dark.” - - “We mustn’t try it in the dark. We’d get lost before we had gone a - hundred yards,” said Roy. “We’ll make an early start in the morning. I - would give something handsome if I knew just how this thing stands, - and how Matt Coyle found out that we were camping here. I wonder what - Tom will have to say for himself when the matter is brought into - court.” - - “I can’t believe that he had any thing to do with it,” answered Joe. - “If he has half the sense I give him credit for, he must see that he - would sooner or later bring himself into trouble by acting as Matt - Coyle’s counselor.” - - “He’s got sense enough; no one disputes that,” said Roy. “But I tell - you he is at the bottom of this trouble. Matt and his boys knew what - they were doing when they crossed to this side of the lake and came - straight to No-Man’s Pond.” - - “That’s what I say,” chimed in Arthur. - - “Well,” replied Joe, “I shall need better evidence than a vagabond’s - unsupported word before I will believe that Tom Bigden is to blame for - any thing that has happened to me to-day. I don’t doubt that his will - is good enough; but he would be afraid to put himself into the power - of such a fellow as Matt Coyle. At any rate I’ll not make trouble for - him if I can help it; but I’ll never rest easy till Matt’s whole tribe - has been arrested or driven so far out of the country that they can’t - get back in a hurry.” - - “This is what we get by coming into the woods without our body-guard,” - said Arthur. “If Jim had been here Matt could not have stolen a march - on you as easily as he did.” - - I believe I forgot to tell you that Jim, Arthur Hastings’s little - spaniel, was not with the boys this trip. A few days prior to his - master’s departure for Indian Lake he managed to get run over by a - loaded wagon, and Arthur had left him at home under the doctor’s care. - Jim hated the squatter and his kind most cordially, and would - certainly have given the alarm the moment they came within scenting - distance of the camp. - - That night the boys did not sleep a great while at a time. Not an hour - passed that I did not see one of them punching up the fire or walking - around the shanty with his gun in his hands. But they were not - disturbed. Matt Coyle had seen enough of Arthur Hastings and his - double-barrel for one while, and if he was anywhere in the - neighborhood he did not show himself. When day broke Joe Wayring and - his friends did not linger to take a dip in the pond or run races - along the beach, but ate a hastily prepared breakfast, packed their - camp-baskets, and set out for the lake. They held a straight course - for it, but the traveling was so difficult that it was high noon - before they got there. The first man they saw was Mr. Swan, who was - just pushing away from the landing in front of the Sportsman’s Home. - His canoe was loaded, and that proved that he was going somewhere. - - “Hallo!” was his cheery greeting. “Did you get lost or run out of grub - or what? I did not expect to see you again for two or three weeks.” - - “We didn’t get lost, and we’ve lots of grub left,” replied Arthur. - “Where have you started for, if it is a fair question?” - - “I am going where the rest of the boys are going, or gone; into the - woods to find Matt Coyle’s trail and Jake’s,” answered the guide. “If - I can’t find but one I’d a little rather have Jake, because there’s a - bigger reward offered for him. There are a dozen or fifteen men in the - woods now, and there’ll be as many more by this time to-morrow. Them - vagabonds can’t run loose any longer, for the boys are in dead earnest - now, and have broken up into little parties instead of going in a - body. In that way they can cover more ground, and stand a better - chance of getting a big slice of the reward. Of course you haven’t - seen Coyle lately?” - - “Haven’t we, though?” exclaimed Roy. “There’s where you are mistaken. - Are you in a very great hurry? Then come ashore and I will tell you a - little story.” - - The guide smiled as he turned his canoe toward the beach, but before - Roy Sheldon had talked to him five minutes the smile gave place to a - frown. He listened in the greatest amazement to the boy’s brief and - rapid narration of the exciting incidents that had happened at the - spring-hole, said “I swan to man!” a good many times, and when Roy - ceased speaking sat down on the ground right where he stood, there - being no log handy, to think the matter over. - - “Well, well! So Matt broke up your fishing picnic and frightened you - away from the pond, did he?” said the guide, after a long pause. “I - don’t know as I blame you for wanting to get back among folks. I’d be - scared too, if some fellers should tie me to a tree and threaten to - wallop me.” - - “Matt broke up our fishing for the present, but we want you to - understand that he didn’t scare us away from the pond,” said Arthur, - earnestly. “We are going to Irvington to lodge a complaint against - him, and as soon as that has been done we intend to take a hand in - hunting him up.” - - “You? You boys alone?” exclaimed the guide. - - “Yes; we three fellows alone, unless you will go with us. But you - mustn’t think we are afraid of him. If he is such a terrible man, - what’s the reason he took to his heels the minute he saw the muzzle of - Art’s gun looking him in the face?” - - “Most any body would run under them circumstances if he thought he had - the ghost of a chance,” replied Mr. Swan. “You had the drop on him.” - - “But we didn’t have the drop on him last night when we were asleep, - did we? If he was so sure that money was in our camp, what’s the - reason he didn’t come and get it after dark? He was afraid to try it.” - - “Most likely he was,” answered the guide. “Well, if you’re bound to - go, I’d like to have you with me so’t I can sorter keep an eye on you. - Let’s go and get your skiff. I put it in one of the boathouses under - cover.” - - “But we want to make complaint against Matt,” said Joe. - - “Why not wait till he has been arrested for stealing them guns and - that canoe, and then make it? You will save at least four days by it, - and by that time Matt may be took up and you and me have no hand in - it. We kinder thought him and his crowd had skipped the country, - because we ain’t seen none of ’em lately; but the boys _will_ be - surprised, and mad too, when they hear what he done in your camp.” - - While the guide was talking in this way he led the boys along the - beach toward the boathouse in which he had placed their skiff for - safekeeping. To put it into the water, take the provisions out of the - camp-baskets and stow them in the lockers, ship the oars and return to - the place where Mr. Swan had left his canoe, was but a few minutes’ - work. When the latter shoved off from the beach the two boats moved - side by side, I occupying my usual place on the stern locker. - - “There’s one question that has been running in my mind ever since I - heard your story, and which I ain’t been able to answer yet,” observed - the guide, as the boys slackened their pace so that the canoe could - keep up. “What made Matt Coyle think that you boys had the money in - your possession, and how did he know where to find you? It looks to me - as though somebody had posted him in regard to your movements, and if - Tom Bigden had been in your company since you came here I should say - that he was the chap. Do you suspicion him?” - - Arthur and Roy looked at Joe as if to say: “What do you think of it - now?” and the latter replied: - - “I don’t know whether to suspect him or not.” - - “Well, if Tom’s mixed up in it, it won’t take long to find it out,” - said the guide, indifferently. “The minute Matt is brought before the - justice he’ll blab every thing he knows.” - - When Joe heard this he almost wished that he had not been in such - haste to declare that he would never rest easy until Matt and his - family had been arrested or driven so far out of the country that they - wouldn’t get back in a hurry. Joe was indignant, as he had reason to - be, but he was not vindictive. - - “I’d rather Matt would get off scott free than be the means of - bringing Tom Bigden into disgrace,” was his mental reflection. “If I - could help him out of the country I would do it. But then, there’s the - money. What’s to be done about that? Do you suppose Jake has really - lost track of those six thousand dollars?” he added, aloud. - - “I am sure of it,” answered Roy, “What put that thought into your - head?” - - “If he intended to share it with the members of his family, what’s the - reason he did not take it to his father the minute he found it?” asked - Joe, in reply. “Every thing goes to prove that Jake wants all the - money, and if he can make his father believe that he has lost it of - course he will not be expected to divide.” - - “Oh, you’re off the track,” said Arthur, confidently. “If Jake had - told Matt any funny story like that, don’t you think the beating he - got up there at the spring-hole would have brought the truth out of - him? What do you think about it, Mr. Swan?” - - “I haven’t yet made up my mind,” replied the guide. “This much I know. - That money is hidden somewhere in the woods, and it’s going to be no - fool of a job to find it.” - - “Have you decided upon any plan of action?” - - “Well, yes. We might as well hunt for a needle in a hay-stack as to go - wandering about through the timber looking for a couple of grip-sacks, - for I have been told that these woods cover almost two thousand square - miles of ground. There must be some sort of system about the search, - or it won’t amount to any thing. The rest of the boys are trying to - catch Matt and all his family, believing that if they can do that they - will get the money. Perhaps they will, and perhaps they won’t. I - wasn’t going to do business that way. I intended to find their camp - the first thing I did, and hang around it night and day till I got a - clew. If Jake knows where the money is, he’ll have to go to it every - little while to make sure it is safe, won’t he?” - - The boys all thought he would, and Joe said: - - “If I were in Jake’s place I would go to it just once, and when I - found it I’d take it and leave the country. A brute of a father who - pounded me as Matt pounded Jake should not see a cent of the money.” - - “Mebbe that’s what Jake means to do,” answered the guide. “I hope it - is, and that we will be in sight when he tries it; for it will be no - trouble at all for us to slip up and gobble him and the money at the - same time. That would scare Matt, who would lose no time in getting - away from these woods.” - - “That’s just what I hope he will do,” said Joe, to himself. “Somehow I - can’t bear the thought of seeing him come into court to get a Mount - Airy boy into trouble.” - - “I’ve often thought of it as a curious thing that the stolen guns and - your canvas canoe should have been found in the same place, and that - place the cove where Matt’s camp used to be,” said Mr. Swan, after a - little pause. “By putting this and that together, I have come to the - conclusion that Matt and his family hang out near that cove, believing - it to be the safest place for them. I thought I would go up there - after dark and skirmish around a bit. What do you think?” - - “If that is what you have decided upon, why, go ahead,” replied - Arthur. “We shall at least have the satisfaction of knowing that we - are busy, even if we don’t accomplish any thing.” - - “We don’t want to go near the cove until after dark,” the guide went - on. “We tried that once, you know, but Matt got wind of our coming and - took himself safely off.” - - A plan of operations having been decided upon, the boys took Mr. - Swan’s canoe in tow and pulled for the lake with long and lusty - strokes. Shortly after twelve o’clock they landed in a little grove to - cook their dinner; but, after they had taken a look at the heap of - ashes, potato skins, charred chunks, withered hemlock boughs, - fish-heads, bones, and empty fruit and bean cans that were scattered - about, they told one another that they would go farther and find a - neater place. - - “This is the worst camp on the lake, isn’t it?” said Roy. “The fellows - who lived here were either new hands at the business or else they were - a lazy lot.” - - They were both. The grove was the site of Tom Bigden’s old camp, and a - nice looking spot he and his cousins had made of it. But such groves - were plenty along the beach. Another was quickly found, an excellent - dinner was prepared and leisurely eaten, and after Mr. Swan had taken - time to smoke a pipe the party shoved off and headed toward the creek - that led to Matt Coyle’s old camp. - - “Now, then,” said the guide, who thought it time to assume direction - of affairs, “we don’t want any more loud talking. And be careful how - you let them oars rattle in the rowlocks. A slight noise can be heard - a long distance in a quiet place like this, and Matt is always - listening.” - - Having cast off the painter of his canoe, Mr. Swan went on ahead, and - the skiff followed slowly in his wake. Mile after mile they passed - over in silence, all unconscious of the fact that almost every thing - they did was observed by one who threaded his way cautiously through - the bushes abreast of them, and who would have given a large sum of - money if he could have had one of their boats at his disposal for a - few minutes. - - So well did Mr. Swan regulate his pace that it was just dark when he - and his young companions arrived at the mouth of the little stream - which connected the creek with the cove in which Matt enacted that - neat piece of strategy described by Fly-rod in his story. Here he - stopped and listened for a long time. No sounds came from the woods to - indicate that the squatter and his family were occupying their old - camp; but that was no sign that they were not there, and the guide - proceeded very cautiously. He did not attempt to force his canoe into - the stream, but made a landing below it, and the skiff drew up - alongside of him. - - “What’s the next thing on the programme?” whispered Joe, lifting his - oar out of the rowlock and laying it carefully on the thwarts. “Shall - we all go in?” - - “I reckon we might as well,” replied the guide. “Why not?” - - “You remember what happened the last time we were here, do you not?” - replied Joe. “How Matt came around in our rear and threw away our - things and stole two of our boats?” - - “It ain’t likely that I’ll ever forget it,” said Mr. Swan, “nor how - mad we all were to see how completely he had outwitted us. But he - can’t do that this time, for we are not going into the cove. We’ll - leave the boats here.” - - “Matt Coyle isn’t within a dozen miles of this place,” said Roy, - decidedly. “He’s on the other side of the lake.” - - “That don’t signify,” answered Mr. Swan. “There are plenty of - vagabones at the outlet who would set him across for the asking, and - it ain’t a very fur ways from there to this cove. Now, if he is here, - we’ll not give him a chance to slip away from us like he did last - time. Yon know right where the camp was, don’t you? Well, I’ll go off - by myself and surround it. At the end of twenty minutes, as near as - you can guess at it, creep up toward the place you think I am, no - matter whether you hear from me or not. Spread out from the center as - you go, so as to come upon the camp from all sides. If he isn’t there, - we’ll find out whether or not he has been there very lately, and that - will be something learned.” - - Mr. Swan lingered a minute or two to give a few additional - instructions, and then moved silently away through the darkness. The - first thing the boys did, when they found themselves alone, was to - secure their guns and cartridge belts, and the second to draw the bows - of the skiff and canoe upon the bank so that the current would not - carry them away. After that they struck a match to see what time it - was, and sat down to wait as patiently as they could for the twenty - minutes to pass away. - - “I hope Matt Coyle isn’t here,” said Joe, suddenly. “Or if he is, I - hope he will take the alarm and make off before Mr. Swan gets a sight - of him.” - - “Well, you are a pretty fellow,” said Roy, with a slight accent of - disgust in his tones. “After what he has done to you, do you want him - to get off?” - - “Yes, I do; and I can’t help it,” answered Joe. “But it is not on his - own account, I assure you. To me there is something repugnant in the - thought that such a fellow as Matt Coyle can get any body into - trouble, especially such a boy as Tom Bigden might be if he only - would. If Tom put it into his head to steal my canoe, or if he told - him that we had taken the six thousand dollars with us to No-Man’s - Pond—why, fellows, just think what a story that would be for him to - tell in court?” - - “Well, could Tom blame any body but himself if he did tell it?” - demanded Arthur. “He had no business to have so much to do with that - squatter. Where do you suppose the money is, any way?” - - “Did it never occur to you that some of the vagabonds who live at the - outlet might have stumbled upon it?” asked Roy. - - “Or that some other member of Matt’s family, Sam for instance, might - have found it where Jake hid it?” chimed in Joe. - - “That’s so,” exclaimed Arthur. “But if Sam’s got it what is he going - to do with it? It would be little satisfaction to me to have so much - money in my possession unless I could use some of it.” - - “The twenty minutes are up,” said Joe, examining the face of his watch - by the light of a match. “Mr. Swan has had time to ‘surround’ the - camp, and we must be moving. We must be careful, also, and not get out - of supporting distance of one another, for there is no telling what we - may run onto in the dark.” - - It was not without fear and trembling that the boys began their - advance upon the squatter’s camp. They had given Mr. Swan to - understand that they were not afraid of Matt, and they would have made - their words good if it had been daylight and they had been standing on - the defensive; but advancing upon his supposed hiding-place in the - dark was something they had not bargained for. Matt might be standing - guard with a club in his hand, ready to brain the first one who showed - himself. - - “I declare, that’s just what he is doing. There he is, standing by - that fire.” - - So thought Joe Wayring, who by good luck happened to strike the well - beaten path that led through the evergreens from the cove to the spot - whereon the squatter’s miserable lean-to had once stood. Having no - bushes to impede his progress, Joe crept rapidly forward on his hands - and knees without making the slightest sound, and in a few moments - came within sight of a glowing bed of coals, with a clearly defined - pair of legs in front of it. A second glance showed Joe that the legs - belonged to a man who loomed up wonderfully tall and stout in the - darkness, and that he held across his breast something that looked - like a bludgeon. He was gazing in Joe’s direction, too, and that was - the way he would undoubtedly run when he became aware that his enemies - were closing in upon him. What was to be done now, and where were Mr. - Swan and the other boys? - - “If he makes a charge he’ll run over me and never know there was any - thing in his path. I’ll give him all the room he wants,” soliloquized - Joe; and, suiting the action to the word, he got upon his feet and - backed softly into the bushes. - - After standing a second or two in a listening attitude, the man kicked - the coals together with his heavy boot, and threw upon them a dry - hemlock branch, which instantly blazed up, revealing the guide’s - honest face. Joe was greatly relieved. “How you frightened me,” said - he, as he came down the path. “You looked as big as a tree, and I - thought you were Matt Coyle, sure.” - - “You can see for yourself that he or somebody else has been here - within a few hours,” replied Mr. Swan, tossing another branch upon the - coals. - - “Do the signs tell you any thing?” - - “Haven’t seen any sign yet except this smouldering fire. Call up the - rest of the fellows and we will go into camp back there at the creek. - In the morning we’ll take a look around and see what we can see.” - - Guided by an occasional word from Joe the other two presently came up. - By this time the fire was burning brightly, and by the aid of the - light it gave they were enabled to examine the ground about it. They - found the charred remains of the squatter’s lean-to, but could not - discover the first thing to give them a clew to the identity of the - person or persons who built the fire. The guide was almost sure it was - not Matt Coyle, for Matt invariably left some sort of rubbish behind - him. Whoever he was, he had not been gone more than half an hour, for - the coals had hardly ceased blazing when Mr. Swan found them. They - lingered long enough to see the fire burn itself out and then started - for the creek, where a great surprise awaited them. - - - - - CHAPTER XV. - ON THE RIGHT TRACK AT LAST. - - - A more astonished trio than Matt Coyle and his boys were when they - heard Arthur Hastings’s voice, and looked up to find the muzzle of his - double-barrel pointed straight at their heads, had never been seen on - the shores of No-Man’s Pond. They really believed that they had seen - Arthur and Roy in the woods going toward Indian Lake, and when they - made a prisoner of Joe Wayring they thought they held him at their - mercy. But, although Matt was surprised at the interruption, he was - not to be easily beaten. He uttered a faint cry, which had more than - once sent his whole family scurrying into the bushes, and in less time - than it takes to write it he and his boys were out of sight. They - wormed their way through the bushes with astonishing celerity, and by - the time Roy and Arthur reached the shore and released the captive - from his bonds Matt and his allies were lying prone behind a log a - short distance away, with their rifles pointed over it, waiting to be - attacked. - - “Jakey, you an’ Sam was certainly mistaken when you said that the - fellers we seen goin’ through the woods was the same ones that always - went with Joe Wayring,” whispered Matt. “If it was them, how did they - happen to come up in that there canvas canoe the way they did? My luck - has turned agin me onct more, ain’t it?” - - “That Bigden boy played a trick on you,” said Jake. He passed his hand - over his battered face and could hardly repress a howl when he saw - that it was covered with blood. - - “I told you I’d lick ye if we didn’t find the money in Joe’s camp, - didn’t I?” said his father, fiercely. “Now I reckon you see that I was - in earnest, don’t you? If you had brung me the money the minute you - got hold of it, I would have went halvers with you, an’ you wouldn’t - have had that lookin’ face, an’ I wouldn’t have been put to so much - trouble. Next time bear in mind that your pap is boss of this here - house. You say that Bigden boy played a trick onto me. I begin to - suspicion so myself; but, if he did, where’s the money? Jakey, did you - hide them grip-sacks in that hole where you said you did?” - - “Sure’s I live an’ breathe I did,” replied Jake, edging away from his - father when he saw how savagely the latter scowled at him. “It was - there the last time I seen it; but I don’t know where it is now.” - - “What be we waitin’ here for?” interrupted Sam. “Joe ain’t got the - money, an’ why don’t we go somewheres else an’ look for it? Mam’ll be - scared if we don’t come home purty quick.” - - “Where else shall we go an’ look for it?” demanded the squatter. - - “Why, down to—anywheres,” said Sam, with some confusion. - - “You had some place in your mind when you spoke,” Matt insisted. “Down - where?” - - “Anywheres on the other side of the lake. It ain’t never been brung - over here, an’ I didn’t think so none of the time.” - - Very gradually it began to creep into Matt’s head that Sam had not - acted at all like himself since their party left Tom Bigden’s camp to - go in pursuit of Joe Wayring. The boy had been opposed to it from the - first, and showed great anxiety and impatience to return to camp and - relieve his mother’s suspense. How did she know but that they had - fallen into the clutches of the law; and how was she going to find out - unless one of their number went home to assure her that they were all - safe and sound? It wasn’t at all like Sam to express so much concern - for his mother’s comfort and peace of mind, and why should he do it - now, Matt asked himself, unless he had some reason for desiring to go - back to the cove? - - “An’ what should Sammy want to go back there for, less’n it’s to look - after something he’s left behind?” soliloquized the squatter. “An’ - what’s he left there if it ain’t them two—Whoop! That’s it, sure’s - you’re born.” - - “What’s the matter of you, pap?” exclaimed Sam. - - Almost involuntarily Matt uttered the last words aloud, and of course - his boys heard them and desired an explanation. Sam looked frightened; - but Jake’s face was so badly wounded that no one could tell what its - expression was. Matt looked surprised, then thoughtful, and finally - replied: - - “Yes, sir; that’s it. That Bigden boy done sent us up here on a wild - goose chase jest to draw suspicion from himself. He is the one that’s - got the money, and he’s had it all the time.” - - “You’ve hit center, pap, sure’s you’re a foot high,” exclaimed Sam. “I - wondered why that Bigden boy was so ready to tell us where the money - was, an’ now I know. Will we go home now, pap?” - - “We’ll start at onct, an’ by this time to-morrer we’ll have the money - an’ the Bigden boy too. If he don’t tell us what he’s done with it, - we’ll tie him to a tree like we done with Joe Wayring. He ain’t got - Joe’s pluck, Tom ain’t, sassy as he lets on to be, an’ when he sees a - hickory whistlin’ before his eyes he’ll tell us all we want to know. I - didn’t think Tom would have the cheek to fool me that a-way when he - knows well enough that I’ve got the upper hand of him.” - - The squatter said this as if he was in earnest, and as if he really - thought he had got upon the track of the money at last; but while he - talked he kept close watch of Sam’s face, and saw enough there to - satisfy him that his own boy, and not Tom Bigden, was the one who - could tell him right where to look to find the lost treasure. - - “Well, what be we waitin’ here for?” repeated Sam, who was impatient - to be off. - - “I kinder thought that mebbe them fellers would make a rush on us - soon’s they turned Joe Wayring loose,” answered Matt, “an’ I wanted to - be ready for ’em. But I don’t reckon they’re comin’, so we’ll go - along. Jakey, I didn’t lick you ’cause we didn’t find the money in - Joe’s camp, but to pay you for not turnin’ it over to me when you - found it.” - - “Be you goin’ to look in Tom Bigden’s camp for it?” inquired Jake. - - “I be,” replied Matt, who had already determined upon a very different - course of action. - - “Well, you remember that Tom took away his blankets an’ every thing - else when we was there, don’t you?” continued Jake. “That looked to me - as though he was goin’ somewheres else to camp, or goin’ home. If you - don’t find him nor the money nuther, then who you goin’ to lick?” - - “Yon needn’t worry about that,” said the squatter slowly, and in a - tone which he meant to be very impressive. “If I don’t find the money - the very first time tryin’, I’ll tumble onto the feller who knows - where it is; you may be sure of that.” - - Sam grew frightened again, while Jake shut his teeth hard and said to - himself: - - “That means me. But he won’t tumble onto me agin, I bet you, ’cause - when he gets on t’other side the lake I won’t be within reach of him. - I’m goin’ to do something that’ll make pap’s eyes bung out as big as - your fist when he hears of it. I ain’t goin’ to be pounded for - nothing, an’ that’s all about it.” - - “Yes,” continued Matt, who felt more confident of success now than at - any other time during his search for the money. “I shall make a go of - it by this hour to-morrer; you hear me? Jakey, you remember the old - blanket Tom Bigden give us that I used fur a knapsack to carry our - grub in, don’t you? Well, I dropped it when we was getting’ ready to - make our rush on Joe’s camp. It’s up there in the woods about two - hundred yards from here. Mind the place, don’t you? Well, go an’ get - it.” - - “I’ll go,” said Jake to himself, “an’ it’ll be the last arrant I go on - for one while, I bet you. What’s the use of me goin’ over on t’other - side of the lake, when the men I want to see is on this side? I’ll go, - but I won’t never come back. Pap ain’t goin’ to find that money, an’ - he ain’t goin’ to give me another lickin’ like he done to-day, - nuther.” - - If Matt could have seen and interpreted the expression that Jake’s - face wore as he crawled away in obedience to this order, he might have - called him back and gone himself or sent Sam; but he was too busy - filling his pipe to notice the boy, and besides it had never occurred - to him that he could drive any of his family to rebellion. But he had - done it, for Jake never came back to him. He seized the blanket when - he found it, threw it over his shoulder, and struck out for Indian - Lake. - - “He can go hungry for all I care,” muttered Jake, halting now and then - and looking back to make sure he was not pursued. “He’ll go hungry - many a time this winter, if the law don’t catch him, for that lazy Sam - of our’n wouldn’t dare show his head out of camp after dark; so who’s - goin’ to steal grub for him to eat?” - - Having determined upon this course, Jake held to it with surprising - resolution, and his father and his brother waited long for his coming. - At last Matt became angry at his unaccountable absence, but he never - once suspected Jake’s fidelity. - - “Mebbe he’s gone an’ got himself ketched by them fellers,” suggested - Sam. - - “More likely he’s gone an’ lost himself or missed the place where I - left the blanket,” growled the squatter. “I do think we’d best be - lookin’ into the matter.” - - “Well, go on, an’ I’ll stay here till you come back,” said Sam, with - suppressed eagerness. - - “I don’t reckon that would be the best plan in the world,” answered - Matt, who was not to be taken in by any such artifice. “Do you, - Sammy?” - - “Then you stay an’ let me go.” - - “I don’t think that would be the best thing either, ’cause if you went - alone them fellers might jump outen their camp an’ ketch you. We’ll - both go, an’ then they can’t harm us, an’ we won’t get lost, nuther.” - - Sam was well enough acquainted with his father to know that the latter - had had his suspicions aroused in some mysterious way, and he had - suddenly hit upon a plan to outwit him. If he could separate himself - from Matt for just five minutes he would put for the outlet at his - best pace, induce one of the resident vagabonds to set him across, and - then he would secure his treasure and go somewhere—anywhere—so long as - he could hold fast to the money and be out of his father’s reach. - Perhaps, on reflection, he might decide to give it up and claim the - reward; but that was a matter that could be settled at some future - time. Did the squatter suspect this little game? Whether he did or not - he nipped it in the bud by giving Sam to understand that wherever one - went the other would go also, and that there was to be no separation. - - “You see, Sammy,” said Matt, as he led the way toward the place where - he had left the blanket, “if me an’ you stick together we won’t nuther - get lost nor ketched, one or t’other of which has most likely happened - to Jakey. ’Tain’t like him to stay away less’n he’s got some excuse - for it.” - - “Aw! Jake ain’t ketched,” said Sam, who knew that the only thing he - could do was to put a good face on the matter and bide his time. “If - he was, wouldn’t we have heard him whoopin’? He’s lost; that’s what’s - went with Jake.” - - “Well, if he is, he’s lost the grub as well as himself, ’cause there’s - right where I left the blanket,” said Matt, pointing out the exact - spot. “He won’t stay lost, for Jakey’s a master hand to find his way - around in the woods. He’ll put for the outlet, most likely, an’ - there’s where we will go, too. You toddle on ahead an’ I’ll foller.” - - This meant that the squatter was resolved to keep Sam where he could - see him, and the latter was careful to do nothing out of the ordinary. - When it became too dark for them to continue their journey they - lighted a fire and went supperless to bed, with nothing but the leaves - for a mattress and the spreading branches of an evergreen for a - covering. They slept, too, for Sam thought it wasn’t worth while to - escape from his father’s control while they were so near the outlet. - He could not get across before daylight, for the boats were all on the - other side, and, more than that, Sam was too much of a coward to - deliberately undertake a two-mile tramp through a piece of dark woods. - It would be time enough for him to make a move when he was on the same - side of the lake that the money was. - - Father and son resumed their journey at the first peep of day, and at - breakfast time were standing on the bank of the outlet below the - hatchery, signaling for a boat. The same accommodating vagabond who - had ferried them across two days before responded to their hail, and - showed a desire to pry deeper into their private affairs than Matt was - willing he should go. - - “Jake’s gone off about his business, and if the old woman ain’t left - camp she’s there yet,” growled the squatter, in reply to the - ferryman’s eager questions. “I’ve got some things to tend to that I - forgot about, an’ that’s why I come back. No; we won’t go into your - house an’ get breakfast, but you can give us a bite to eat as we go - along if you’re a mind to.” - - “Did you—you didn’t see any body lookin’ for you, I reckon?” said the - ferryman at a venture. “Well, that’s queer. I’ve heard that there’s as - many as a dozen or fifteen constables an’ guides follerin’ of you an - Jakey.” - - “Which side the lake?” inquired Matt, anxiously. - - “This side—the one you’re jest leavin’.” - - This was something that was in Matt’s favor, but he little thought he - had his friend the ferryman to thank for it. The latter had hung - around the hatchery all the previous day, and made it his business to - put every party of officers and guides who crossed the outlet on - Matt’s trail, first stipulating for a small share of the reward in - case the information he gave them led to the squatter’s arrest. But he - had played squarely into Matt’s hands. The road that led to his camp - was clear, and all he had to do was to keep a close watch upon Sam, - who, for some reason or other, showed an almost uncontrollable desire - to take to his heels. At last Matt became satisfied that that was just - what the boy meant to do; and after they had left the hatchery out of - sight, and were walking along the carry Indian file, munching the - bread and meat the ferryman had given them, he came to the conclusion - that it was time for him to put into operation the plan he had - determined upon the day before. Suddenly thrusting what was left of - his breakfast into his pocket, Matt took one long step forward and - laid hold of Sam’s collar. As quick as thought the boy threw both arms - behind him and jumped. His object was to leave his coat in his - father’s grasp, and the only thing that prevented him from doing it - was the fact that one of Matt’s long, muscular fingers had, by the - merest accident, caught under the collar of Sam’s shirt. The collar - stood the strain, Matt’s finger was too strong to be straightened out, - and Sam was a prisoner. - - “Aha!” said the squatter, looking into the boy’s astonished face with - grim good-humor. “You didn’t look for your old pap to be so cute, did - you? Didn’t I give you fair warnin’ that a man who had spent the best - years of his life in dodgin’ guides an’ constables wasn’t to be beat - by his own boys? You’ve been mighty cunnin’, you an’ Jakey have, but - I’m to the top of the heap now. See it, don’t you?” - - “What be you goin’ to do, pap?” inquired Sam, when he saw his sire put - his disengaged hand into his pocket and draw forth the same stout cord - that had once been used to confine Jake’s hands and feet. “I won’t run - from you, an’ I’ll show you where it is, sure.” - - “Where what is?” demanded the squatter, who wanted to be sure that he - had got upon the right track at last. - - “Where the valises is—the money.” - - “There now, you little snipe!” cried Matt, drawing back his heavy hand - as if he had half a mind to let it fall with fall force upon the boy’s - unprotected face. “Oughtn’t I to lick ye for makin’ me tramp - twenty-four miles on a wild goose chase after that money, when you - knowed where it was all the while? Dog-gone it! I’ve a good notion—” - - “What’s the use of r’arin’, pap?” interrupted Sam. “You never offered - to go halvers with me, did you? That’s all I was waitin’ for. You’ll - get it now, so what’s the use of gettin’ mad about it?” - - “You’re right I’ll have it now,” said Matt, as he proceeded to tie - Sam’s hands behind his back. “You was kalkerlatin’ to show me where - the money was soon’s I offered to go halvers with you, was you? Then - what did you try to jump outen your jacket for when I grabbed you?” - - “’Cause I was afeared you’d lick me like you did Jake before I got a - chance to talk to you. Don’t draw them ropes so tight. What you tyin’ - me for, anyway?” - - “So’t you can’t run away an’ leave me,” replied Matt. “I’ve seed the - day when I could ketch you before you’d went ten foot, but I ain’t as - young as I was then. You ain’t done fair by me. You’ve fooled me all - along, you an’ Jakey have, ’an you might take it into your head to - show me the wrong place. If you do, I won’t have to go fur to find - you. Now tell me true: Did Jake hide the money in that there hole - where he said he did?” - - Sam replied that Jake had told a straight story. He did hide the - valises under the roots of the fallen poplar, but he (Sam) had taken - them out and concealed them in another place. - - “There you be, tied hard an’ fast with one end of the rope, an’ I’ll - jest hold the other end in my hand an’ be ready to jerk you flat if - you try to run,” said Matt, when he had finished his task of confining - Sam’s hands behind his back. “Now put out at your best licks, and go - straight to the place where you hid them grip-sacks. What had you made - up your decision to do with them six thousand?” - - “I was goin’ halvers with you an’ mam an’ Jake,” began Sam. - - “Aw! Shucks!” exclaimed Matt. - - “An’ then I was goin’ to buy some good clothes an’ things for myself. - Now, pap, you’re goin’ to go halvers with me, ain’t you? An’ after you - get it, you won’t lick me like you done Jake, will you?” - - “That’s a p’int that will take a heap of studyin’ before I can say - what I’m goin’ to do,” replied Matt cautiously. “I ain’t seen the - money yet. Show me that first, an’ then I’ll talk to you. I don’t - reckon that you’ve disremembered where you put it, have you? ’Cause if - you have—” - - The squatter did not think it necessary to finish the sentence. He - stopped, took his ready knife from his pocket and looked around for a - switch. This alarmed Sam, who made haste to assure his father that he - had the bearings of the hiding-place of the valises firmly fixed in - his memory, and that he could go to it without the least difficulty. - - “If you do that, you won’t get into no trouble with your pap,” - answered Matt, winking at Sam, and then cutting down a hickory which - he proceeded to trim very carefully. “But you an’ Jakey do have sich - short memories sometimes that I’m afeared to trust you; so I’ll be on - the safe side. If I find the money where you say you left it, I won’t - say a word about the twenty-four mile tramp you made me take for - nothing; but I’ll l’arn you that the next time you find six thousand - dollars you had better bring it to me without no foolin’, instead of - keepin’ it for your own use.” - - These words frightened Sam, who saw very plainly that he need not hope - to escape without a whipping, even if his father found the money. And - if he didn’t find it, if some one had been there during his absence - and stolen the valises from him, as he had stolen them from Jake, then - what would happen? Sam thought of his brother’s battered countenance - and shuddered. Keeping his gaze fixed upon his father’s face, he moved - his arms up and down, and discovered that they were not as tightly - bound as he had supposed. In fact, Sam told himself that if his father - would go away and leave him alone for two minutes he would not find - him when he returned. - - “How do you like the looks of that, Sammy?” said Matt, shutting up his - knife and giving the switch a vicious cut in the air. “It’s mighty - onhandy an’ disagreeable to be a pap sometimes, leastwise when you’ve - got two sich ongrateful boys for sons as you an’ Jakey be. This is all - your own doin’s an’ not mine.” - - “I’ll never do it ag’in,” whined Sam, who wasn’t half as badly - frightened now as he was before he found that he could move his hands. - “The next time I find six thousand dollars layin’ around loose in the - woods I’ll bring it to you; the very minute I find it, too.” - - “Then you’ll be doin’ jest right an’ I won’t switch you. Now we’re all - ready an’ you can toddle on agin. I hope them valises ain’t a very fur - ways from here, ’cause I’m in a monstrous hurry to handle the money - that’s into ’em.” - - So saying the squatter picked up the free end of the rope and followed - Sam as if he were a blind man, and Sam the dog that was leading him. - He must have been pretty near blind, or else he did not make the good - use of his eyes he generally did, for he surely ought to have seen - that the cord that encircled the boy’s wrists was very slack, and that - it would have fallen to the ground if Sam had not kept his arms spread - out to hold it in place. After two miles had been passed over in this - way, Sam stopped in front of the evergreen in which he had placed the - valises. The big drops of perspiration that stood on his forehead had - not been brought out by the heat, but by the mental strain to which he - was subjected. From the bottom of his heart Sam wished he knew what - was going to happen during the next two minutes. - - “Why don’t you go on?” Matt demanded. - - “Here we be,” answered Sam, faintly. “Look in that tree an’ you’ll - find ’em if somebody ain’t took ’em out.” - - “Whoop!” yelled Matt, knocking his heels together and making the - switch whistle around his head. “Took ’em out? Sam, do you know what - them few words mean to you? If any body has took ’em out I’m sorry for - you. Did you say the valises was in the tree?” - - “Yes. I tied ’em fast among the branches so’t the wind wouldn’t shake - ’em out. Go round on t’other side, stick your head into the tree an’ - you’ll find ’em.” - - Trembling in every limb with excitement, the squatter dropped the - rope, placed his rifle and Sam’s carefully against a neighboring tree, - and disappeared behind the evergreen. The instant he was out of sight - Sam brought his wrists close together, and the rope with which he was - confined fell to the ground. - - “I’ll show pap whether or not I am goin’ to stay here an’ take sich a - lickin’ as he give Jakey,” thought Sam, as he wheeled about and - reached for his rifle. “I wish I dast p’int this we’pon at his head - an’ make him go halvers with me if he finds it. But shucks! What’s the - use? He’d steal it from me the first good chance he got, an’ then I - wouldn’t have none an’ he would have it all. I’ll do wusser’n that for - him,” muttered Sam, as he moved away from the evergreen with long, - noiseless strides. “I’ll hunt up old man Swan an’ tell him that if - he’ll go snucks with me on the reward I’ll show him where pap is. - There, sir! I do think in my soul he’s found it.” - - These words were called forth by a dismal noise, something between a - howl and a wail, that arose behind him. Sam had often heard it and he - knew the meaning of it. Sure enough his father had found one of the - valises. He seized it with eager hands, tore it loose from its - fastenings, and dropped it to the ground. It was broken open by the - fall, and gold and silver pieces were scattered over the leaves in - great profusion. For a moment Matt gazed as if he were fascinated; - then he fell upon his knees among them and began throwing them back - into the valise, at the same time setting up a yelp that could have - been heard a mile away. - - “Luck has come my way at last,” said he, gleefully. “Sam, I won’t lick - you, but I must do a pap’s dooty by you an’ punish you in some way for - not bringin’ it to me the minute you got hold of it, so I’ll keep it - all an’ you shan’t have none of it. Sam, why don’t you come around - here an’ listen to your pap?” - - But Matt didn’t care much whether Sam showed himself or not, he was so - deeply interested in the contents of the valise. After carefully - picking up every coin that had fallen out of it, he gathered the - shining pieces up by handfuls and let them run back, all the while - gloating over them as a miser gloats over his hoard. When he had - somewhat recovered himself he jumped to his feet and dived into the - tree after the other valise. He found it after a short search, and - placed it on the ground beside its fellow. - - “Whew!” panted Matt, pulling off his hat and wiping his dripping - forehead with his shirt-sleeve. “It’s mine at last, an’ I’m as rich as - Adam was (I disremember his other name), but I have heard that he had - the whole ’arth an’ all the money an’ watches an’ good clothes an’ - every thing else in it for his own. I ain’t got that much, but I’ve - got enough so’t I won’t have to work so hard nor go ragged no more. - Say, Sam, come around an’ take a peep at it an’ see what you might - have had if you’d only been a good an’ dutiful son. Sam! Where’s that - Sam of our’n gone, I wonder.” - - And Matt’s wonder increased when he walked around the tree and found - that the boy was nowhere in sight. There lay the cord with which his - arms had been bound, but Sam was missing and so was his rifle. That - made the whole thing clear to Matt’s comprehension. - - “The ongrateful an’ ondutiful scamp!” cried the squatter, angrily. - “This is another thing that I owe him a lickin’ for—runnin’ away from - his pap. He’ll get it good an’ strong when he comes home, I bet you, - an’ so will Jakey. Whoop! I’m boss of this house, an’ I don’t want - none on you to disremember it. Now, what shall I do with my money so’t - I can keep it safe? I reckon I’d best hunt up the ole woman an’ ask - her what she thinks about it.” - - So saying the squatter took his rifle under his arm, seized a valise - in each hand, and set out for the cove. - -[Illustration: MATT DISCOVERS THE LOST MONEY AT LAST.] - - - - - CHAPTER XVI. - AT THE BOTTOM OF THE RIVER. - - - Matt Coyle would have been utterly confounded if he had known, or even - suspected, how completely his family had been broken up by the events - of the last few days. He labored under the delusion that Jake and Sam - had run away simply to escape the punishment they so richly deserved; - but they had only made a bad matter worse, Matt told himself, for they - would be obliged to return sooner or later, and then they might rest - assured the promised whipping would be administered with added - severity. But Jake and Sam had gone away with the intention of staying - away. They were afraid of their brute of a father, and the cold chills - crept all over them whenever they thought of the New London jail. They - could not see the justice of being beaten or locked up for something - they did not do, and the only recourse they had was to go to those - whom they had been taught to regard as their enemies—the guides and - the officers of the law. With the exception of his wife, the - squatter’s family had all turned against him. Her he found dozing over - a fire on the bank of a cove. Without saying a word Matt walked up and - showed her the valises. - - “What’s them, an’ where’s the boys?” she drowsily asked. - - “Now listen at the fule!” shouted Matt. “Ain’t you got a pair of eyes? - Them’s the six thousand dollars that’s been a-botherin’ of us so long, - an’ the boys have run off to get outen the lickin’ I promised ’em. But - they’ll come back when they get good an’ hungry, an’ then I’ll have my - satisfaction on ’em. You’ve got a little bacon an’ a few taters left, - I reckon, ain’t you? Well, dish ’em up, an’ I’ll tell you where I’ve - been an’ what a-doin’ since I seen you last.” - - The dinner his wife was able to place before him did not by any means - satisfy the cravings of Matt’s hunger, and when it had been disposed - of there was not a morsel of any thing eatable left in the camp; and, - worse than that, Jake was missing, and there was nobody to steal - another supply. Matt talked as he ate, and by the time he was ready - for his pipe he had given his wife a pretty full history of his - movements during the last two days. - - “This ain’t a safe country no longer after me tyin’ Joe Wayring fast - to a tree an’ promisin’ to lick him if he didn’t tell me where the - money was,” said the squatter in conclusion. “He never had the money, - Joe didn’t; Sam knew where it was all the while an’ never told me. But - Joe won’t be nonetheless mad at me, an’ I reckon I’d best be lookin’ - for new quarters for a while. I’m goin’ to take the money an’ skip - out. I do wish in my soul I had a boat. I’d run a’most any risk to get - one.” - - “Where would you go?” - - “I’ll tell you,” replied Matt confidentially. “I’ve been studyin’ it - over as I come along, an’ have made up my decision that I’d be safer - if I was onto their trail ’stead of havin’ them on mine; so I’ll put - as straight for Sherwin’s Pond as I can go an’ stay there till the - thing has kinder blowed over.” - - “An’ what’ll I do?” inquired the old woman. - - “You? Oh, you ain’t done nothin’ that the law can tech you for, an’ - you had better hang around Rube’s an’ get your grub of him. You can - pay him for it by slickin’ up his house an’ washin’ dishes for him, - you know.” - - “What’s the reason I can’t have some of the six thousand to pay him - with?” - - “Now listen at you!” vociferated Matt. “Don’t you know that if you - should offer him money he would know in a minute that you had seen the - six thousand an’ have you took up for it? I tell you, ole woman,” - added the squatter, who was resolved to hold fast to every dollar of - his ill-gotten gains as long as he could, “my way is the best; an’ if - you ain’t willin’ to it, you can jest look out for yourself. Now I’m - off. I’ll be back directly the thing has kinder died down, like I told - you, an’ then we’ll put out for some place where we can spend our - money an’ live like folks. Jakey an’ Sam’ll be back in a day or two, - to-night, mebbe, an’ they’ll look out for you.” - - The old woman did not say anything more, for she knew that it would be - useless. She lazily smoked her pipe while Matt fastened the valises - together and slung them over his shoulder as he would a knapsack, said - “so-long” in a drawling, indifferent tone, and saw him disappear in - the bushes. - - “For the first time in my life I feel like I was a free man,” - soliloquized the squatter, as he lumbered away through the woods. “I - ain’t a-goin’ to be bothered any more wonderin’ where Jakey is to get - a new pair of shoes ag’in snow comes, or how I’m to wiggle an’ twist - to find Sam a new coat, or ask myself whether or not the old woman’s - got bacon an’ taters enough for breakfast. Rube’ll take care of her, - ’cause he’ll suspicion right away that I’ve got the money an’ that - I’ll be sure to come back to her some day. I’ll take care of myself; - an’ as for the boys—I won’t think two times about them ongrateful - scamps. They tried their best to cheat me outen my shar’ of this - money, an’ now I’ll see how much they’ll get.” - - The squatter continued to talk to himself in this style during the - three hours he consumed in reaching the “old perch hole” at the mouth - of the creek, which must be crossed in some way before Matt could - fairly begin his journey to Sherwin’s Pond. What he was going to do or - how he was going to live after he got there, seeing that there were no - farmers in the immediate neighborhood upon whom he could forage, Matt - had not yet decided; but when he found his progress stopped by the - creek he told himself that he might as well rest a bit and smoke a - pipe or two while he thought about it. He hunted up a log and seated - himself upon it, but almost instantly jumped to his feet and dived - into the bushes. It was at that very moment that our party came into - the creek. By “our party” I mean Joe Wayring, Arthur Hastings, and Roy - Sheldon in the skiff, and Mr. Swan, whose canoe was towing behind. As - I have before stated, I occupied my usual place on the skiff’s stern - locker, where I could see every thing that went on and hear all that - was said. On this occasion I saw more than any one else did. I had a - fair view of the valises on Matt’s back as they were disappearing in - the thicket, but I can’t imagine how they escaped the observation of - the sharp-eyed guide who sat facing the direction in which the boats - were moving. I afterward learned that Matt heard Mr. Swan’s voice when - he cautioned the boys to speak in a low tone, and be careful how they - allowed their oars to rattle in the rowlocks, and I know that when he - cast off from the skiff and led the way up the creak the squatter - stole silently through the woods and kept pace with him. - - “That was a close shave, wasn’t it?” chuckled Matt, peeping through - the leaves to mark the position of the boats in the creek and then - dodging back again. “A little more an’ they’d have ketched me, - wouldn’t they? Now, what did they come in here for, an’ where be they - goin’, do you reckon? I’d most be willin’ to say that I’d give a - hundred dollars of this money if I had one of them boats of their’n. - Then I could go all the way to the pond without walkin’ a step. I’ll - jest toddle along with ’em an’ see what they’re up to; an’ if they - leave them boats alone for a minute they won’t find ’em ag’in in a - hurry.” - - The boats moved so slowly and the creek was so crooked that the - squatter had no difficulty in keeping up with us. Indeed, he often - gained half a mile or more by running across the points while we went - around them. I have already told you what Mr. Swan and the boys did - when they reached the mouth of the little stream that led from the - creek to the cove. They found the camp deserted, as I have recorded, - the old woman having set out for Rube’s house very shortly after Matt - left her alone; and when they came back to the creek, intending to go - into camp there, they found their boats gone. - - I thought all along that Matt was following us up the creek, for if I - had not caught two distinct views of his evil face peering through the - bushes I had certainly seen something that looked very much like it. - All doubts on this point were dispelled from my mind before Joe - Wayring and his companions had been gone five minutes. While they were - moving through the evergreens to surround the camp, as the guide had - directed, Matt Coyle came out and showed himself. The celerity with - which that vagabond worked surprised me. He had made up his mind what - he would do, and he did it without the loss of a second. He made the - painter of Mr. Swan’s canoe fast to a ringbolt in the stern of the - skiff and shoved it away from the bank. Then he pushed off the skiff, - stepped in as soon as it was fairly afloat, and headed it down the - stream, using one of the oars as a paddle. Presently the current took - us in its grasp and hurried us along at such a rate that we were - around the first point before I fairly comprehended the situation. - This was the second time, to my knowledge, that the cunning squatter - had executed a very neat flank movement upon Mr. Swan and his party. - Matt must have thought of it, for I heard him say, - - “That’s two times I’ve got the better of you when you reckoned you had - me cornered, ain’t it? Whoop-pee! Luck’s comin’ my way ag’in, sure - enough. Now I’m all right. I’ll take Jake’s old canvas canoe, if I can - make out to put him together, ’cause he’s light to handle an’ won’t - bother me none if I have to take to the bresh. The other boats I’ll - hide so’t nobody won’t never find ’em ag’in. But first I’ll hunt me a - good quiet place an’ have a tuck-out. There’s grub an’ coffee an’ - sugar an’ sich in the lockers of this skiff, an’ I’m hungry for some - of it.” - - The country about was full of little waterways, and Matt, being - perfectly familiar with every one of them, had no trouble in finding - the “quiet place” he sought. He paddled over to the farther side of - the creek, kept along close to the bank for a mile or so, and then - pushed the skiff into the bushes. The overhanging branches shut out - every ray of light, and it was so dark that I could not see what sort - of a place we had got into even when we stopped; but I heard the - squatter moving around on the bank, and saw by the aid of a match - which he struck on his coat-sleeve that he was lighting a fire. When - the dry leaves and sticks he had gathered in the dark blazed up, I - could see nothing but a solid mass of hemlock boughs above, and other - masses, equally impervious to light, on all sides of me. It was a - better hiding-place than the cove, and the squatter went on building a - roaring fire, knowing full well that the blaze could not be seen from - the other side of the creek where the discomfited guide and his - puzzled young allies were standing, wondering what had become of their - boats. - - Having gathered wood enough to keep the fire going as long as he had - use for it, Matt drew the bow of the skiff high upon the bank and - proceeded to overhaul the lockers. With a contemptuous grunt he caught - up Fly-rod, who was lying on the locker beside me, and tossed him into - the bushes. A second later he sent Arthur’s rod and Roy’s to keep him - company. The cartridges, which were intended for the boys’ - double-barrel shot-guns, and which he could not use in his old - muzzle-loader, Matt incontinently dumped overboard; also the lemons, - three gun cases, and as many portfolios filled with writing materials; - but the pocket hunting knives and one double-bladed camp ax he laid - aside for his own use. At last he came to the articles he was looking - for—half a side of bacon, a whole johnny-cake, two canisters - containing tea and coffee, another filled with sugar, and about half a - peck of potatoes. He felt in every corner of the lockers in the hope - of finding a supply of smoking tobacco; but that was something that - never found a place in Joe Wayring’s outfit. - - Having provided himself with an excellent supper, Matt went ashore to - cook it. First he opened the valises and placed them where he could - feast his eyes upon their contents, and then he cut off several slices - of bacon which he proceeded to broil with the aid of a forked stick. - For a platter he used a piece of bark; and every time he put a slice - of the meat upon it he would grab a handful of coins from one of the - valises and allow them to run slowly through his fingers, laughing the - while and shaking his head as if he were thinking about something that - afforded him the greatest gratification. He spent an hour over the - meal, then replenished the fire and laid down for a nap, covering - himself with Roy Sheldon’s warm blankets. When he awoke he cooked and - ate another hearty supper, shook himself together, and declared that - he felt better and in just the right humor to begin his lonely journey - to Sherwin’s Pond. - - His first task was to put me together; and to my surprise and disgust - he accomplished it with very little trouble. Then, in order to make - sure that he had not overlooked any thing that he could use, he gave - the skiff a second examination, and took possession of all Mr. Swan’s - provisions. Every other article belonging to the rightful owners of - the boats he dropped overboard or flung into the bushes. - - “Mebbe they’ll find ’em ag’in some day an’ mebbe they won’t,” muttered - the squatter, as he extinguished the fire preparatory to shoving off - in the canvas canoe. “But if they do it will be long after I am safe - outen their reach. They’ll never think of lookin’ for me so nigh Mount - Airy as Sherwin’s Pond is, an’ there I’ll hide as snug as a bug in a - rug till my grub’s gone, an’ then—why, then I’ll have to steal more, - that’s all.” - - In a few minutes Matt had pushed the canvas canoe through the bushes - into the creek, and was plying the double paddle with sturdy strokes. - He could travel in the dark as well as by the light of the sun, and he - did not go a furlong out of his course during the whole of the - journey. Neither did he have a pleasant time of it. From the hour we - started to the time we arrived within sight of Sherwin’s Pond the rain - fell in torrents. This was a point in Matt’s favor, for it was not - likely that sportsmen or tourists would venture abroad in such weather - unless necessity compelled them; but the unusually high water that - came with the rain was to his disadvantage. Indian River ran like a - mill-sluice, and the current, strong at all times, became so turbulent - and powerful, and its surface was so thickly covered with driftwood - and trees that had been floated out of the lowlands, that canoe - voyaging was not only difficult but dangerous as well. On one occasion - I barely escaped being stove all to pieces. This frightened the - squatter so that he gave up traveling by night, and took to the water - only when he could see where he was going and what obstacles he had to - encounter. More than that, he converted the stolen blankets into bags, - put the cargo as well as the valises into them, and lashed them fast - so that they would not spill out in case I were overturned by any of - the floating _débris_. But that was a bad thing for Matt to do, as I - shall presently show you. - - The sight that met my gaze when we came where we could see Sherwin’s - Pond was one I never shall forget. That little body of water had a way - of getting ugly upon the slightest provocation, but I never saw it in - so angry a mood as it was on this particular day. It was filled with - currents which were running in every direction; at least that was what - I thought after I had watched the erratic movements of the logs and - stumps that were swimming on its surface. Its numerous inlets had - filled the pond more rapidly than its single outlet could relieve it; - consequently the pond looked higher than the river, and going into it - was like going up hill. Joe Wayring, fearless and skillful canoeist - that he was, would have thought twice before attempting to go any - farther; but Matt had grown reckless, having journeyed nearly a - hundred miles without a ducking, and all he did was to hug the bank a - little closer and put more strength into his strokes with the double - paddle. He got along well enough until he came to the place where the - mouth of the river widened into the pond, and then came the very - disaster I had been looking for. Before Matt could tell what his name - was, the current seized me and whirled me out into the middle of the - stream as if I had been a feather, sending me there, too, just in time - to receive the full force of a terrific blow from the roots of a heavy - tree which came rushing along with the torrent. Nothing that was ever - made of water-proof canvas could remain afloat after a collision like - that. I rolled over and began filling on the instant; and while the - eddies were whirling me about, and the gnarled and ragged roots of the - tree were enlarging the hole that had been torn in my side, and I was - sinking deeper and deeper into the water, I heard Matt Coyle utter one - feeble, despairing cry for help, saw him make a frantic grasp at the - slippery trunk of the tree as it swept by, and then I settled quietly - down to the bottom of the river, taking the blanket-bags and their - contents with me. This, thought I, is the end of every thing with me. - I had expected and hoped to go to pieces in the service, but not in - the service of such a fellow as Matt Coyle, who had undoubtedly made - way with himself as well as me, while trying to do a most foolhardy - thing. There was not one chance in a thousand that I would ever be - found, or that the Irvington bank would ever learn what had become of - its money. When Joe Wayring and his friends went home they might pass - directly over me, and I would have no power to attract their - attention. I knew Joe would miss me sometimes, but I wasn’t so - conceited as to think that he could not get another canoe that would - more than fill my place. I thought of these things, and then I asked - myself what had become of Matt Coyle. If he were a strong swimmer he - might succeed in making a landing after the current had carried him a - mile or so down the river, provided he could keep out of the way of - the driftwood. One thing I was sure of. He would never find me or the - money, either. Neither would any body else. If the squatter got ashore - I did not see how he was going to live, for the rifle on which he - depended principally to supply his larder during the winter was tied - fast to my ribs. If he succeeded in evading the officers of the law, - he would have to go to work. I didn’t see any other way for him to do. - - While I was lying peacefully in my bed at the bottom of the river, - wondering how long it would be before the never-ceasing friction of - the current would annihilate me utterly, some events that have a - slight bearing upon my story were happening in the world above. - - - - - CHAPTER XVII. - THE EXPERT COLUMBIA. - - - “Stand perfectly still, boys,” said Mr. Swan, when he and his young - friends halted on the bank of the creek and discovered that their - boats had vanished during their brief absence. “Stand still, or you’ll - muss the ground up so that I can’t see the villain’s tracks.” - - “You don’t think they have been stolen, do you?” exclaimed Arthur - Hastings. - - “I don’t think nothing else,” answered the guide. “I’ve handled a boat - too long to go away and leave it without pulling it so far out on the - bank that the current can’t carry it off. I’ve noticed that you are - middling particular about that, too. Of course our boats were stolen. - It’s one of Matt Coyle’s tricks.” - - “Well, I _am_ beat!” cried Joe. - - “And under our very noses, too,” exclaimed Roy. - - “It isn’t quite as bad as that, but it’s bad enough,” said Mr. Swan, - who was angry as well as surprised. “This is the second time he has - played this game on us, and I don’t see why I didn’t tell one of you - to stay here.” - - While the guide talked he scraped a few dry leaves and twigs together - and touched them off with a match. When they blazed up more fuel was - thrown on, and presently Roy pointed out something. It was the print - of a big foot in the mud close to the water’s edge. - - “What better evidence do you want than that?” said Mr. Swan. “Matt - Coyle is the only man about Indian Lake who wears such a shabby - foot-gear and the only one who lugs a hoof of that size around with - him. I know, for I have followed his trail plenty of times.” - - “Then he must have been the one who kindled that fire.” - - “It’s very likely.” - - “He may have been intending to camp there for the night when we - frightened him away,” added Arthur. - - “He may have been in camp,” assented the guide, “but we never - frightened him. He had wind of our coming long before we got here. Of - course I don’t know how he got it, but that’s the way the thing - stands.” - - “Well, what’s to be done?” - - “Nothing at all to-night. We’ll camp right where we are, and at - daylight we’ll go back to the hatchery.” - - “Camp right here,” repeated Joe, dolefully. “No blankets, no supper to - eat, and no nothing.” - - “Go back to the hatchery,” murmured Roy, “and confess ourselves beaten - again by that villain, Matt Coyle. Oh, we’re the best kind of fellows - to go on a hunt after so cunning a criminal as Matt, ain’t we?” - - Arthur Hastings was too angry to say any thing except that he was glad - the squatter had not run away with his gun as well as his skiff. Mr. - Swan was equally glad to have his beloved brier-root and a plentiful - supply of smoking tobacco in his pocket. If he had left them in his - canoe, as he usually did, he would have had the prospect of a - miserable night before him. As it was, he smoked and told stories, and - in listening to them the boys forgot that they had no blankets to - cover them, and that they would not find a bite to eat till they - reached the hatchery the next day. - - When morning came Joe and his friends had nothing to do but brush the - leaves from their clothes, smooth their hair with their hands, perform - their ablutions in the creek, and then they were ready for their - ten-mile walk. Mr. Swan spent a few minutes in looking about Matt’s - old camp, but did not find any thing to tell him how long it had been - deserted or which way the squatter and his family had gone. They - arrived at the hatchery tired and hungry, and the bountiful breakfast - the superintendent placed before them was a tempting sight. That - official laughed when he heard how Matt had stolen up behind them and - run off with their boats, and scowled when Roy told him what he and - his boys had done in their camp at No-Man’s Pond. - - “Why, what in the world could have put it into Matt’s head that you - had the money?” inquired the superintendent; and without waiting for - an answer he continued: “It beats the world where that money has gone, - but I think we’ll soon get on the track of it. Did you see the - watchman as you came by his shanty? Then perhaps you don’t know that - the old woman was taken into custody last night?” - - “No,” replied Joe. “We hadn’t heard of that. What’s the charge?” - - “Oh, she was taken in on general principles. I don’t suppose she can - be held as an accessory, for she hasn’t gumption enough to suggest or - plan the robberies that her worthy husband has committed; but she knew - all about them and can give the officers more help than any body else. - You see, ever since Matt and his family left Rube’s cabin, the deputy - sheriff has taken to sleeping there; and last night who should come - poking along but the old woman! When she found that she was a - prisoner, she lost heart and answered all the questions the sheriff - asked her. She didn’t have the pluck to stand out, and I don’t wonder - at it. She looked as though she was almost starved. She ate more grub - than you four are going to eat, judging by the way Joe is backing away - from the table already.” - - “That’s good news,” said Mr. Swan. “Where’s Matt now?” - - “On his way to Sherwin’s Pond.” - - “I wonder if that’s so, or whether the old woman just made it up.” - - “I am not sure about that, and neither was the sheriff. I loaned him a - boat and a couple of my men, and he’s gone up to Indian Lake with the - woman. From there he will take her to Irvington. He says she will have - to stand her trial with the rest of the family.” - - “I don’t believe that Matt went to Sherwin’s Pond,” said Joe, after - thinking the matter over. “He would be in more danger there than he - would if he stayed here. The old woman told that story to throw the - sheriff off the track.” - - “Mebbe not,” replied the guide. “Don’t we know by experience that the - squatter is a master hand to slip around and operate in the rear of - his pursuers? What more natural than he should run up to the pond to - get behind us, thinking he would be safer there than in the Indian - Lake country? At any rate, there’s where I am going as soon as I can - get a boat.” - - “All right,” said Joe. “Any thing to keep busy.” - - “But if I was in your place I wouldn’t go there just yet,” added the - guide. “You want your boat and the other things Matt stole, don’t you? - Well, then, hire a boat of Hanson, go up the creek, explore every - little stream that runs into it on the right hand side as you go up, - and you will find some of them. You won’t find all, of course, for - Matt kept one of the boats, all the provisions, and every thing else - that would be of use to him. After you have done that, you can come up - to the pond, and you’ll be sure to find me and some of the boys there. - That would be my plan.” - - A very good plan it was, too, the boys told one another, and they - decided to adopt it. After the superintendent had set them across the - outlet, they made the best of their way toward Indian Lake, where Mr. - Swan said they would sleep that night. The first persons they saw, - when they entered the hotel and approached the clerk’s desk to ask if - they could hire a skiff for a few days, were Jake and Sam Coyle. But - they were not as ragged and dirty as usual. Their faces had been - washed, their hair combed, and somebody had given them whole suits of - clothes. - - “Where did you catch them?” inquired Roy. - - “Right here in front of the house,” answered the clerk. “They came in - and gave themselves up.” And then he went on to tell their story - pretty nearly as I have told it. For once in their lives Jake and Sam - had told the truth, and the sheriff knew whom he must find in order to - recover the money. Of course the boys did not know where their father - had gone, but the officer put implicit faith in the old woman’s story. - - “There’s where we’ve got to go, Swan,” said the sheriff, “and there’s - where we shall find our man, if we find him at all. I have engaged - four unemployed guides to go with me, and you will be a big addition - to our party. Joe and his friends—” - - “They ain’t going,” said Mr. Swan; and then he told _his_ story, - whereat the sheriff laughed uproariously. - - “But you are not to blame,” said he, consolingly. “Matt would have - played the same game on any body else. But he’s got to the end of his - rope now, for I know just what I have to work on. Don’t neglect to lay - in a good supply of provisions, for it may take us two or three weeks - to catch him, and I am not coming back without him.” - - Bright and early the next morning two parties left the Sportsman’s - Home and started away in different directions, the sheriff and his - posse heading for Indian River, and Joe and his friends striking for - the “old perch-hole.” They followed Mr. Swan’s advice to the letter, - and slept that night in the same camp that the squatter had occupied - two nights before. They found the most of their things, too, some in - the bushes, some floating in the creek, and the heavy articles, like - the two extra camp-axes and superfluous dishes, at the bottom of it. - - “Joe’s unlucky canoe is gone again, and so are our blankets and all - our grub,” said Roy, - - “The possession of the six thousand dollars must have made Matt - good-natured, or he would have smashed our boats before he left.” - - “Perhaps he didn’t think it best to waste time on them,” said Arthur. - “He might have broken them up in a few minutes with the axes, but we - might have heard him. The cove isn’t so very far from here.” - - Having recovered the most of their property the boys became impatient - to join the sheriff’s posse; but they were not well enough acquainted - with the country to make the journey to Indian Lake in the dark. So - they built a cheerful fire, cooked a good supper and finally went to - sleep wrapped in the new blankets they had purchased to take the place - of those Matt Coyle had carried off. Two days later they had returned - Mr. Hanson’s boat in good order, settled their bills at the hotel, - placed Mr. Swan’s canoe under cover, and were on the way to the pond - in their own skiff. They grumbled at the rain, as the squatter had - done when he passed that way a few hours in advance of them, and did - most of the rowing with the awning up and their rubber coats and hats - on. After they had made about fifty miles up the river they began - telling one another that if the sheriff had gone on to Sherwin’s Pond - he had made a mistake. - - “Just see how the current runs,” said Joe, as he tugged at his oar. - “Matt, strong as he is, never could have forced the canvas canoe - against it. He’s camped somewhere, waiting for better weather, and we - are getting ahead of him.” - - The other boys thought so, too, but as they could not tell what else - they ought to do they kept on; but they did not attempt to run out of - the river into the pond. As Arthur said, “it looked too pokerish.” The - rain had ceased, but the water was still high, the driftwood was - coming down in great rafts, and the current was so strong that they - could not stem it with their three oars. There was nothing for it but - to tie up to the bank in some sheltered spot, set the tent, get their - stove going to drive the dampness out of it, and make themselves - miserable until the water fell. As for hunting up Mr. Swan and his - party, that was out of the question. The boys knew by experience that - there was no fun in traveling through a piece of thick woods when - every thing was dripping wet. Their quarters, although a little - cramped, were dry, warm, and comfortable; they had an abundance of - provisions in the lockers, and if it had not been for their impatience - to be doing something to aid in the search they might have enjoyed - themselves. On the morning of the third day of their forced - inactivity, they were surprised to hear a hail close at hand. They - looked out and saw a boat with two Mount Airy constables just coming - out of the pond into the river. - - “Well, well,” said one of them, as they came alongside the skiff and - laid hold of the gunwale to keep themselves stationary while they - talked to the boys. “You have had a time of it, haven’t you?” - - “Seen any thing of Mr. Swan and the sheriff and the rest of them?” - asked Arthur, in reply. - - “No. Are they in this part of the country?” - - “Here’s where they started for. But if you haven’t seen them how do - you know that we have had a time of it? You have not been to Indian - Lake this summer, have you?” - - “No; but we’ve read the papers.” - - “The papers?” echoed Joe. - - “Yes. The New London _Times_ is full of it. It told how Matt Coyle - tied Joe to a tree and threatened him if he—” - - “I wouldn’t have had my mother hear of it for any thing,” interrupted - Joe. “Of course it worried her.” - - “Well, rather; but your father’s mad and so is your uncle Joe. They’ve - offered a thousand dollars apiece for Matt Coyle’s apprehension, and - that’s what brought us out here in the rain.” - - “What brought the sheriff up here, any way?” said the other officer. - “Where is he now?” - - Roy Sheldon, who generally acted as spokesman, replied by relating a - long and interesting story, saying in conclusion that he didn’t know - where the sheriff was, but he and a posse had come to Sherwin’s Pond - because Matt had come there, believing it to be the safest place for - him. His wife said so. - - “Mebbe she did, but that was a blind,” replied the officer. “Three - boat-loads of us have been out in all the rain, scouring the country - high and low, and not the first sign of any body did we see. Swan and - his crowd must have gone way up some of the creeks, or else we should - have met them.” - - “Didn’t the papers say that my friends rescued me from the squatter’s - clutches?” inquired Joe. - - “Of course they did, but that didn’t make your folks feel any easier - about you. They’ll worry till they see you among them safe and sound.” - - “Boys,” said Joe, decidedly, “I’m going home; but you needn’t go. You - want to see Matt caught, and I’d like to; but I must go to mother as - soon as I can. If you will set me on the other side of the creek I - will start without a moment’s delay.” - - “Not much we won’t put you on the other side of the creek and leave - you to walk twenty-five miles through the wet woods alone,” answered - Arthur. “You ought to go; I can see that plain enough; so we’ll all - go.” - - “I think you ought,” said the constable. “Your folks will all be - uneasy till they see you. They think you and Matt are still in the - Indian Lake country, and are afraid he will do some harm to you.” - - That settled the matter. After a little more conversation the officers - went back into the pond to see if they could find any signs of the - sheriff and his posse, while the boys cast off the lines that held the - skiff to the bank and headed her down the creek. They must make a - journey of seventy-five miles in order to get above the rapids that - lay between Mirror Lake and Sherwin’s Pond. The narrow streams they - followed were so difficult of navigation, and the various currents - they encountered were so strong, that it took them four days to - accomplish it; but the sight of Mirror Lake, with all its familiar - surroundings, amply repaid them for their toil. - - Of course they went to Joe’s home first, for he was the one who had - been tied to the tree and for whose safety the Mount Airy people were - mostly concerned. If they had been fresh from a battle-field they - could scarcely have met a warmer greeting than that which was extended - to them when they walked into Mrs. Wayring’s presence and Uncle Joe’s. - The former, in spite of their protests, insisted on making heroes of - them. - - “Well,” said Uncle Joe, when he had listened to a hurried description - of their various adventures, “I don’t suppose you were at all - disappointed when you found that I could not take you on that trip - that we had been talking about for a year or more?” - - “Oh, yes, we were,” exclaimed Joe. “But we couldn’t think of spending - more than half the vacation in doing nothing, and that was the reason - we went back to Indian Lake.” - - Leaving Roy and Arthur in conversation with his relatives, Joe - Wayring, who had been taught to take care of his things as soon as he - was done using them, took his gun under one arm and Fly-rod under the - other and went up to his room. A few minutes afterward the boys heard - him calling to them from the head of the stairs to “come up” and “come - quick.” They went, and found Joe walking about his room in great glee, - trundling an elegant nickel-plated bicycle beside him. On the table - lay a card to which he directed their attention. Roy picked it up and - read: - - “I am a present for Joe Wayring, and hope in some degree to recompense - him for the disappointment he must have felt when he found that his - uncle could not take him on a trip this summer. Use me regularly and - judiciously, and if you do not say that life has suddenly doubled its - charm—if you do not, before the end of the year, notice a thousand and - one improvements in yourself, both physically and mentally, then I - shall have failed of my mission. There are two others like me in town, - and one of my relations, ridden by Thomas Stevens, the - trans-continental cyclist, is now on his way around the world. - - “AN EXPERT COLUMBIA.” - - - - - CHAPTER XVIII. - CONCLUSION. - - - “Now isn’t he a daisy?” exclaimed Roy, who could scarcely have been - more pleased if the wheel had belonged to himself. “Full nickeled, - ball bearings, adjustable saddle, safety bar, Buffalo tool bag and - lamp. Every thing complete, of course, for your Uncle Joe doesn’t do - things by halves. Now, Joe, you can ride and Art and I will go afoot.” - - “Say,” cried Arthur, who had taken the card from Roy’s hand. “What - does this mean? ‘There are two others like me in town?’ There wasn’t a - bike in Mount Airy when we left.” - - “That’s so. I wonder who have the others. I wish you had, for I don’t - want to be the only one of our crowd to get my head broke.” - - “Thank you for being so disinterested,” said Roy. “But if it is all - the same to you I prefer to have my head as it is. But really, I must - go home now. Bring him out this afternoon and let us see him throw - you.” - - When the boys went down stairs Joe stepped into the sitting-room to - thank Uncle Joe for his beautiful gift. He came out looking more - surprised and delighted than ever. - - “Now that’s an uncle for a fellow to have,” said he. “I shouldn’t - wonder if you fellows would find mates to my machine when you get - home. I am going with you to see.” - - “What makes you think that?” exclaimed Roy and Arthur in a breath. - - “Why, I told Uncle Joe that you two had kindly invited me to come out - where you could see me thrown, and he said you had better look out or - you might be thrown yourselves. Now what did he mean by that?” - - The eager boys did not stop to decide, but hurried back to the skiff - and pulled for Roy’s home at the top of their speed. There another - warm reception awaited them, and sure enough a mate to Joe Wayring’s - wheel was found in Roy’s room; and tied to the brake was a card - stating that it was a present from his mother. Of course the other - wheel was found at Arthur’s home. The three were so nearly alike that - if it had not been for the names and numbers engraved upon them it - would have been difficult to tell them apart. - - You may be sure that canoeing, boat-sailing, and every other sport - connected with the water, was at a discount now. During the next two - weeks the three friends were rarely seen upon the streets. They were - practicing behind the evergreens on Mr. Wayring’s lawn, and every time - the clanging of one of the gates gave notice of the approach of a - visitor they would seize their wheels and run them around the corner - of the house out of sight. - - “No; we are not ashamed of them,” said Joe, in reply to a question his - uncle propounded to him one day. “We are ashamed of our awkwardness, - and don’t mean to give any of the fellows a chance to laugh at us. - Wait until we can ride them ten feet without falling off, and then we - will go outside the gate.” - - It did not take the boys very long to attain to that degree of - proficiency, for I am told that riding a wheel is easy enough after - you learn to put a little confidence in yourself; but the boys had - promised one another that they would not go upon the street until they - could “get on pedal-mount,” and then they would appear in style, “I - bet you.” - - The satisfaction they experienced, and the good time they enjoyed - during their first run about town, amply repaid them for all the - trouble they had taken to learn to ride. One bright afternoon, when - the pleasant drive-ways of Mount Airy were thronged with stylish - coupés and road-wagons drawn by high-stepping horses, Miss Arden and - two of her girl friends, all handsomely mounted, suddenly appeared - among them. By the side of each rode a uniformed wheelman who managed - his steel horse with as much grace and skill as any of the girls - managed hers. Such sights are common enough now, but it was a new - thing in Mount Airy, and the riders attracted a good deal of attention - from admiring friends and excited the ire of the drug-store crowd. - - “Didn’t we say we would come out in style when we got a good ready?” - said Arthur, as he and his companions dismounted at the post-office - after seeing the girls home. “I felt a little nervous at first, but I - am all right for the future. Of course I expect to get some falls, but - this day’s experience has satisfied me that I can stay in the saddle - if I only keep my wits about me.” - - The ice having been broken, so to speak, the boys no longer kept - behind the evergreens, but appeared upon the streets every day and - enjoyed many a pleasant run. Their wheels proved to be so very - accommodating and so easily managed that they wondered they had ever - been afraid of them. Of course they began to try tricks. They wouldn’t - have been live boys if they had not. First, they practiced at making - their wheels stand perfectly still; and when they could do that they - tried something else. Of course they subscribed for wheelmen’s - journals, and in one of them read of a rider who could bring his wheel - to a stop, get out of his saddle, open his lamp which he had - previously lighted, ignite his cigar, close the lamp and mount again - without ever touching the ground or tipping his machine over. They had - any number of such examples which they regarded as well worthy of - emulation, and Uncle Joe was heard to declare that it was as good as a - circus to stand at one of the windows and watch the performances that - went on in his brother’s back yard. - - You may be sure that these three boys did not long remain alone in - their glory. Other wheels of different patterns began making their - appearance, and one day Tom Bigden and his cousins rode gaily through - the village, clad in a uniform of their own invention, and which, it - is needless to say, was entirely different from the one adopted by Joe - Wayring and his chums. Did this mean that there were to be other rival - organizations in town? It looked like it. Every body talked wheel; and - the boy who didn’t have one was going to get it just as soon as he - could make up his mind which was the best. Canoe literature went out - of fashion. The _Amateur Athlete_ and _L. A. W. Bulletin_ were the - only papers that were worth reading, and songs of the wheel were the - only songs that were worth singing. Even on the school-ground, or when - the players were taking their positions in a game of ball, it was no - uncommon thing to hear some fellow strike up: - - “Away we go on our wheels, boys, - As free as the morning breeze; - And over our pathway steals, boys, - The music of wind-swept trees. - And ’round by the woods and over the hill, - Where the ground so gently swells, - From a dozen throats in echoing notes - The wheelman’s melody wells.” - - Although Joe Wayring and his friends had so many agreeable things to - occupy their minds the events of the summer were not wholly forgotten. - When Joe saw a canoeist shooting up the lake, with his arms bared to - the shoulder and his dripping paddle flashing in the sunlight, he - longed to launch his “old canvas-back” and try conclusions with him. - And when Indian summer came, and a school-fellow showed him a string - of muscalonge or pickerel he had caught in some isolated pond to which - he had penetrated with the aid of his light draft canoe, Joe wished - most heartily that Matt Coyle had not been such an adept at stealing - things. - - “I’ll never see my canoe again,” said he, with a sigh of resignation. - “I can’t say that I hope he will drown Matt, but I _do_ hope he will - duck him so many times and in such dangerous places that the next time - he sees a canvas canoe he will run from it. What’s become of him any - way?” - - That was the question that had been in every body’s mouth ever since - the day when the two constables returned and reported that Matt Coyle - and the six thousand dollars and Joe Wayring’s canoe must have sunk - into the ground or gone up in a balloon, for no traces of them could - be found, although every thicket in the Indian Lake country had been - looked into. The squatter’s wife and boys were luxuriating in New - London jail, awaiting the result of the search. As soon as Mr. Wayring - and Uncle Joe read the startling article in the _Times_ they offered a - large reward for Matt’s apprehension, and the former wrote to Joe to - start for home without the loss of an hour. But it took a letter a - long time to go to Indian Lake by the way of New London, and Joe never - received it. - - Tom Bigden was in great suspense, and it was a wonder to his cousins - how he ever lived through it. He was utterly astounded when he read - the papers and saw what his last interview with Matt Coyle had led to. - His secret weighed so heavily on his mind that he could not carry it - alone, and so he made a clean breast of it to Loren and Ralph, who - could not have been more amazed if Tom had knocked them down. Of - course they wanted to help him in his extremity, and the advice they - gave was enough to drive him frantic. One day they were both clearly - of opinion that he had better leave the State for a while and let the - trouble blow over. Again, they thought it would be a good plan for him - to take his father into his confidence; and perhaps half an hour - afterward they would declare that the only thing he could do was to go - to a lawyer about it. Tom listened and trembled, but did nothing. How - would he have felt had he known that the boy he had tried to get into - trouble was the one who was destined to help him out of his? - - “Rumor says that the old woman and both the boys have told all they - know; and I have sometimes thought, by the way folks look at me now - and then, that there is more afloat than we have heard of,” Tom often - said, rubbing his hands nervously together the while. “Don’t I wish I - knew whether or not they have mentioned my name in connection with - this miserable business?” - - “I don’t see what possessed you to tell Matt that you had seen the - valise in Joe Wayring’s basket,” said Ralph. “If you had had the first - glimmering of common sense you would have known better.” - - “So I would,” assented Tom, who was so frightened and dejected that he - could not get angry at any thing that was said to him. “But I didn’t - suppose he would blunder right off after Joe and do something to get - himself into the papers. I am glad he didn’t tell Joe Wayring that I - put the idea into his head, for it would have been just like Joe and - his crowd to spread it far and wide. They are jealous of me, and will - go to any lengths to injure me.” - - The short Indian summer passed away all too quickly for the Mount Airy - boys, the autumnal rains put a stop to wheeling, and finally Old - Winter spread his mantle over the village and surrounding hills and - took the lake and all the streams in his icy grasp. When the boys came - out of their snug retreats they brought with them their sleds, skates, - and toboggans. Tom Bigden was around as usual, but every one noticed - that he did not take as deep an interest in things as he formerly did, - or “shoot off his chin” quite so frequently. He permitted Joe’s - sailboat to rest in peace, and Joe was very glad of that, and often - congratulated himself and companions on the fact that they had not - once mentioned Tom’s name in connection with the events that had - happened at the spring-hole. - - The holidays drew near, and Roy Sheldon proposed something that had - not been thought of for two or three years—a three days’ camp in the - woods between Christmas and New Year’s, and pickerel fishing through - the ice. Sherwin’s Pond would be a good camping ground, and the mouth - of Indian River was the place to go for pickerel. The idea was no - sooner suggested than it was adopted; and on the 27th of December the - three boys set off down the twelve-mile carry, walking in Indian file, - and dragging behind them a toboggan which was loaded to its utmost - capacity with extra clothing, blankets, provisions, cartridges, and - every thing else they were likely to need during their stay in the - woods. By two o’ clock that afternoon they were snugly housed in a - commodious lean-to, whose whole front was open to a roaring fire, and - debating some knotty points while they rested from their labors. Who - would put on his skates, cut a hole through the ice, and catch a fish - for dinner? who would cook the fish after it was caught? and who would - cut the night’s supply of firewood? - - “I wouldn’t mind catching the fish, but I don’t much like the job of - cutting through ice that must be all of ten inches or a foot thick,” - yawned Roy. “But somebody must do it, I suppose, so I’ll make a try at - it. Nothing short of a sight of Matt Coyle coming around the point - could put much energy into me.” - - “I was thinking about him,” said Joe, as he picked up an ax and - whet-stone. “We thought we were safely out of his reach when we made - our camp at No-Man’s Pond, and yet he found us easily enough. I wonder - if we shall have a visit from him to-day.” - - “Hardly,” replied Arthur. “Tom Bigden isn’t around to tell him that - we’ve six thousand dollars stowed away among our luggage.” - - Having mustered up energy enough to get upon his feet, Roy fastened on - his skates, took a “water-scope” under his arm, put an ice-chisel on - his shoulder, and disappeared behind the point of which he had spoken, - leaving his companions to cut wood for the night. The mouth of Indian - River, so turbulent and furious the last time Roy saw it, was now a - sheet of glaring ice, over which he moved with long, graceful strokes. - He stopped a hundred yards or so below the pond, and went to work with - his chisel. It was a twenty minutes’ task to cut a hole through the - ice and bail out the pieces, and when that had been done Roy pulled - the cape of his heavy coat over his head to shut out all the light, - and brought the water-scope into play. It was a wooden box two feet - long and six inches square at one end, while the other widened out - sufficiently to admit a boy’s face. In the smaller end was a piece of - window glass, which Roy was careful to wipe with his glove before he - put it into the water. These contrivances, made of heavy tin and - japanned, are kept on sale now at most gun stores, and you can buy one - for a dollar and a quarter; but this one, which Roy made himself, - answered every purpose. With its aid he could locate a bright button - at the bottom of a stream that was twenty feet deep, provided, of - course, that the water was tolerably clear. - - Throwing himself flat upon the ice, and drawing the cape of his coat - over his head as I have described, Roy thrust the small end of the box - into the water and buried his face in the other. There was a deep hole - somewhere along that bank in which muscalonge were known to - congregate, and Roy wanted to see if he had hit it. He looked at the - bottom for about five seconds, and then threw back the cape, jerked - the water-scope out of the hole, raised himself upon his knees, and - sent up a yell that was so loud and unearthly that it brought Joe and - Arthur around the point in great haste. They probably thought that Roy - had been attacked by some wild animal, for they held their guns in - their hands and were pushing the cartridges into them. - - “Whoop-la!” shouted Roy. “I’ve struck it rich. Joe, I’ve found your - canoe. Don’t believe it, do you? Well, look through that box and tell - me what you see.” - - Joe complied without saying a word, and one look was quite enough to - excite him too. Then Arthur took a peep and said: - - “Yes, sir; that’s the canoe, and there’s a rifle lashed fast to one of - the thwarts. That’s my blanket—the red one with a blue stripe on the - end. Now what’s to be done?” - - “There’s something in that blanket, boys,” said Joe, after he had - taken a second look, “and it is also tied to the canoe. How came those - things at the bottom of the river, and where’s Matt Coyle?” - - “And the money,” added Roy. - - “We can talk about it while we go back to camp and bring another - chisel, and an ax to enlarge the hole so that we can get the canoe - out, and a rope to haul him up with,” said Arthur. “The sooner we get - to work the sooner we may be able to settle some things. I think that - with three of our largest and strongest fish-hooks fastened into him - we can pull him up so that we can get hold of him.” - - The others thought so too, and lost no time in putting the matter to a - test. By their united efforts the hole was quickly enlarged to four - times its original size, the ice was baled out, and in a few minutes - more the campers were angling for a bigger prize than they thought. - Not only three, but half a dozen hooks, two in the hands of each boy, - were fastened somewhere, either in the sides of the canvas canoe or in - the thick blankets that were tied to it, and by careful handling the - whole was brought so near the surface of the water that Roy seized it - and held it fast. Then with a “pull all together” and a “heave-yo!” - the canvas canoe and its valuable cargo, which for four long, dreary - months had lain at the bottom of the river, were hauled upon the ice. - - “Now, let’s see what we’ve got,” said Joe, drawing his knife from his - pocket. “Here’s Matt’s rifle to begin with.” As he spoke he cut the - weapon loose and flung it behind him. - - “And here’s my blanket,” said Arthur. “And as I shall never use it - again I’ll just—” - - Arthur made a vicious cut with his knife as he said this, and the - result was so astounding that the boys were struck dumb and - motionless. A small leather valise slipped out of the rent he made, - and falling upon the ice with considerable force flew open, scattering - a shower of money before their astonished gaze. Roy Sheldon, being the - first to recover himself, danced about like a crazy boy; Arthur thrust - his wet hands into his pockets and whistled softly to himself; and Joe - leaned against the canoe and looked. Then he wheeled about, made the - hole in the blanket larger, and found the other valise. While he was - doing that he discovered and pointed out a gaping wound in my side - which neither he nor his friends had noticed before. - - “To my mind that explains every thing,” said Roy, bringing his wild - war-dance to a close and acting more like his sensible self again. - “Matt Coyle braved something that we were afraid to tackle, and got - himself snagged and sunk by it. He tried to get into the pond and went - to the bottom instead. You can see that he expected a capsize, for - he’s got every thing tied fast.” - - “Did Matt go to the bottom with the canoe?” inquired Joe. - - “That depends upon whether or not he was a good swimmer,” answered - Roy. - - “I should say it depended more on whether or not the river was as ugly - on the day he came along here as it was when we saw it,” replied - Arthur. “If it was, the chances are that he was drowned; for not one - swimmer in ten could get away from that current after it got a good - grip on him. Now, let’s pick up the money, unload the canoe, and get - him to the fire before he freezes stiff.” - - “This is the second time our fishing has been broken up,” said Joe. - “Well, the winter isn’t half over yet, and it will be easy enough for - us to come back at some future time. But we’ll never catch another - prize like this in Indian River.” - - This made it plain to me that my master, whose honest, cheerful face I - was glad to see once more, intended to start for home as soon as he - could get ready. I was glad of it, for if I had been in his place I - should not have cared to camp in so wild a region with six thousand - dollars of another man’s money in my keeping. It made the boys a - trifle nervous, and during the night one of them kept watch while the - others slept. They broke camp after eating breakfast by firelight, and - hardly stopped to rest until the money had been handed over to the - officers of the Mount Airy bank, who straightway telegraphed to the - Irvington people the gratifying intelligence that their missing funds, - which they had given up for lost, had been fished out of the river. - Every one said it was a “lucky find,” and Tom Bigden wondered if any - thing would come of it. If he had been in the bank a day or two - afterward, he might have heard something to astonish him. A messenger - came from Irvington to claim the money, and Joe and his two friends - were invited to meet him. They were able to give him a very accurate - description of the adventures through which the valises had passed - since they left his bank on the third of August filled with stolen - coin, and answered a question or two that was asked them. - - “I don’t know what kind of a case we shall be able to make out against - Sam Coyle and the old woman,” said the messenger, “but it’s my opinion - that Jake will have a hard time of it. Are you going to prosecute any - body for stealing your canoe?” - - “No, sir,” answered Joe. “Matt was to blame for that, and he is dead; - got drowned when the canoe was snagged and sunk.” - - “The boys and the old woman all contend that they wouldn’t be half as - guilty as they are if one Tom Bigden had not advised and urged them on - to commit crime,” continued the messenger. “Do you believe it? We mean - to sift the matter to the bottom, and want to know how to go about - it.” - - “If I were in your place I’d let all such talk go in one ear and out - at the other,” replied Joe, earnestly. “Tom Bigden has too much sense - to do any thing of the sort.” - - “But I have heard it from more than one source.” - - “That may be. So have I; but I don’t believe it.” - - And this was the boy who was “jealous” of Tom Bigden and his cousins, - and who was ready to “go any lengths to injure” them, was it? You know - how close Tom was to the truth when he made that assertion. - - I can not begin to tell you how glad I was to find myself in my old - familiar quarters once more, or give you even an idea of the interest - and curiosity with which I regarded the handsome stranger, the Expert - Columbia, who occupied the recess with me. He wasn’t a bit stuck up - because he had on more nickel than the rest of us could boast of, and - during my time I have found that those who have done great things, or - who are capable of them, seldom are stuck up. This new-comer was as - common as an old shoe, and as ready to talk to me as I was to talk to - him. 1 wasn’t jealous of him for crowding me out of Joe’s affections - for a while, for I knew that Joe would come back to me when he wanted - to run the rapids into Sherwin’s Pond or go a-fishing. - - Under my master’s skillful care my wound healed rapidly, and in a few - days I was ready for service again; but of course I was not called - upon. Even when spring opened I was not in demand, but the bicycle - was. He began running the very minute the roads would admit of it, and - kept it up during the entire season, covering an astonishing number of - miles, and saving valuable lives. He met some adventures, too; and - what they were and how he came out of them he will tell you in the - concluding volume of this series, which will be entitled: “The Steel - Horse; or, The Rambles of a Bicycle.” - - THE END. - - FAMOUS STANDARD - JUVENILE LIBRARIES. - - ANY VOLUME SOLD SEPARATELY AT $1.00 PER VOLUME - - (Except the Sportsman’s Club Series, Frank Nelson Series and - Jack Hazard Series.). - - Each Volume Illustrated. 12mo. Cloth. - - ------- - - HORATIO ALGER, JR. - - The enormous sales of the books of Horatio Alger, Jr., show the - greatness of his popularity among the boys, and prove that he is one - of their most favored writers. I am told that more than half a million - copies altogether have been sold, and that all the large circulating - libraries in the country have several complete sets, of which only two - or three volumes are ever on the shelves at one time. If this is true, - what thousands and thousands of boys have read and are reading Mr. - Alger’s books! His peculiar style of stories, often imitated but never - equaled, have taken a hold upon the young people, and, despite their - similarity, are eagerly read as soon as they appear. - - Mr. Alger became famous with the publication of that undying book, - “Ragged Dick, or Street Life in New York.” It was his first book for - young people, and its success was so great that he immediately devoted - himself to that kind of writing. It was a new and fertile field for a - writer then, and Mr. Alger’s treatment of it at once caught the fancy - of the boys. “Ragged Dick” first appeared in 1868, and ever since then - it has been selling steadily, until now it is estimated that about - 200,000 copies of the series have been sold. - - —_Pleasant Hours for Boys and Girls._ - - A writer for boys should have an abundant sympathy with them. He - should be able to enter into their plans, hopes, and aspirations. He - should learn to look upon life as they do. Boys object to be written - down to. A boy’s heart opens to the man or writer who understands him. - - —From _Writing Stories for Boys_, by Horatio Alger, Jr. - - ------- - - =RAGGED DICK SERIES.= - - 6 vols. BY HORATIO ALGER, JR. $6.00 - - Ragged Dick. Rough and Ready. - Fame and Fortune. Ben the Luggage Boy. - Mark the Match Boy. Rufus and Rose. - - =TATTERED TOM SERIES—First Series.= - - 4 vols. BY HORATIO ALGER, JR. $4.00 - - Tattered Tom. Phil the Fiddler. - Paul the Peddler. Slow and Sure. - - =TATTERED TOM SERIES—Second Series.= - - 4 vols. $4.00 - - Julius. Sam’s Chance. - The Young Outlaw. The Telegraph Boy. - - =CAMPAIGN SERIES.= - - 3 vols. BY HORATIO ALGER, JR. $3.00 - - Frank’s Campaign. Charlie Codman’s Cruise. - Paul Prescott’s Charge. - - =LUCK AND PLUCK SERIES—First Series.= - - 4 vols. BY HORATIO ALGER, JR. $4.00 - - Luck and Pluck. Strong and Steady. - Sink or Swim. Strive and Succeed. - - =LUCK AND PLUCK SERIES—Second Series.= - - 4 vols. $4.00 - - Try and Trust. Risen from the Ranks. - Bound to Rise. Herbert Carter’s, Legacy. - - =BRAVE AND BOLD SERIES.= - - 4 vols. BY HORATIO ALGER, JR. $4.00 - - Brave and Bold. Shifting for Himself. - Jack’s Ward. Wait and Hope. - - - =NEW WORLD SERIES.= - - 3 vols. BY HORATIO ALGER, JR. $3.00 - - Digging for Gold. Facing the World. In a New World. - - - =VICTORY SERIES.= - - 3 vols. BY HORATIO ALGER, JR. $3.00 - - Only an Irish Boy. Adrift in the City. - Victor Vane, or the Young Secretary. - - =FRANK AND FEARLESS SERIES.= - - 3 vols. BY HORATIO ALGER, JR. $3.00 - - Frank Hunter’s Peril. Frank and Fearless. - The Young Salesman. - - =GOOD FORTUNE LIBRARY.= - - 3 vols. BY HORATIO ALGER, JR. $3.00 - - Walter Sherwood’s Probation. A Boy’s Fortune. - The Young Bank Messenger. - - =RUPERT’S AMBITION.= - - 1 vol. BY HORATIO ALGER, JR. $1.00 - - =JED, THE POOR-HOUSE BOY.= - - 1 vol. BY HORATIO ALGER, JR. $1.00 - - - - - HARRY CASTLEMON. - - -------------- - - HOW I CAME TO WRITE MY FIRST BOOK. - - When I was sixteen years old I belonged to a composition class. It was - our custom to go on the recitation seat every day with clean slates, - and we were allowed ten minutes to write seventy words on any subject - the teacher thought suited to our capacity. One day he gave out “What - a Man Would See if He Went to Greenland.” My heart was in the matter, - and before the ten minutes were up I had one side of my slate filled. - The teacher listened to the reading of our compositions, and when they - were all over he simply said: “Some of you will make your living by - writing one of these days.” That gave me something to ponder upon, I - did not say so out loud, but I knew that my composition was as good as - the best of them. By the way, there was another thing that came in my - way just then. I was reading at that time one of Mayne Reid’s works - which I had drawn from the library, and I pondered upon it as much as - I did upon what the teacher said to me. In introducing Swartboy to his - readers he made use of this expression: “No visible change was - observable in Swartboy’s countenance.” Now, it occurred to me that if - a man of his education could make such a blunder as that and still - write a book, I ought to be able to do it, too. I went home that very - day and began a story, “The Old Guide’s Narrative,” which was sent to - the _New York Weekly_, and came back, respectfully declined. It was - written on both sides of the sheets but I didn’t know that this was - against the rules. Nothing abashed, I began another, and receiving - some instruction, from a friend of mine who was a clerk in a book - store, I wrote it on only one side of the paper. But mind you, he - didn’t know what I was doing. Nobody knew it; but one day, after a - hard Saturday’s work—the other boys had been out skating on the - brick-pond—I shyly broached the subject to my mother. I felt the need - of some sympathy. She listened in amazement, and then said: “Why, do - you think you could write a book like that?” That settled the matter, - and from that day no one knew what I was up to until I sent the first - four volumes of Gunboat Series to my father. Was it work? Well, yes; - it was hard work, but each week I had the satisfaction of seeing the - manuscript grow until the “Young Naturalist” was all complete. - - —_Harry Castlemon in the Writer._ - - ------- - - =GUNBOAT SERIES.= - - 6 vols. BY HARRY CASTLEMON. $6.00 - - Frank the Young Naturalist. Frank before Vicksburg. - Frank on a Gunboat. Frank on the Lower Mississippi. - Frank in the Woods. Frank on the Prairie. - - =ROCKY MOUNTAIN SERIES.= - - 3 vols. BY HARRY CASTLEMON. $3.00 - - Frank Among the Rancheros. Frank in the Mountains. - Frank at Don Carlos’ Rancho. - - =SPORTSMAN’S CLUB SERIES.= - - 3 vols. BY HARRY CASTLEMON. $3.75 - - The Sportsman’s Club in the Saddle. The Sportsman’s Club - The Sportsman’s Club Afloat. Among the Trappers. - - =FRANK NELSON SERIES.= - - 3 vols. BY HARRY CASTLEMON. $3.75 - - Snowed up. Frank in the The Boy Traders. - Forecastle. - - =BOY TRAPPER SERIES.= - - 3 vols. BY HARRY CASTLEMON. $3.00 - - The Buried Treasure. The Boy Trapper. The Mail Carrier. - - =ROUGHING IT SERIES.= - - 3 vols. BY HARRY CASTLEMON. $3.00 - - George in Camp. George at the Fort. George at the Wheel. - - =ROD AND GUN SERIES.= - - 3 vols. BY HARRY CASTLEMON. $3.00 - - Don Gordon’s Shooting The Young Wild Fowlers. Rod and Gun Club. - Box. - - =GO-AHEAD SERIES.= - - 3 vols. BY HARRY CASTLEMON. $3.00 - - Tom Newcombe. Go-Ahead. No Moss. - - =WAR SERIES.= - - 6 vols. BY HARRY CASTLEMON. $6.00 - - True to His Colors. Marcy the Blockade-Runner. - Rodney the Partisan. Marcy the Refugee. - Rodney the Overseer. Sailor Jack the Trader. - - =HOUSEBOAT SERIES.= - - 3 vols. BY HARRY CASTLEMON. $3.00 - - The Houseboat Boys. The Mystery of Lost River Canon. - The Young Game Warden. - - =AFLOAT AND ASHORE SERIES.= - - 3 vols. BY HARRY CASTLEMON. $3.00 - - Rebellion in Dixie. - A Sailor in Spite of Himself. - The Ten-Ton Cutter. - - =THE PONY EXPRESS SERIES.= - - 3 vol. BY HARRY CASTLEMON. $3.00 - - The Pony Express Rider. The White Beaver. - Carl, The Trailer. - - EDWARD S. ELLIS. - - Edward S. Ellis, the popular writer of boys’ books, is a native of - Ohio, where he was born somewhat more than a half-century ago. His - father was a famous hunter and rifle shot, and it was doubtless his - exploits and those of his associates, with their tales of adventure - which gave the son his taste for the breezy backwoods and for - depicting the stirring life of the early settlers on the frontier. - - Mr. Ellis began writing at an early age and his work was acceptable - from the first. His parents removed to New Jersey while he was a boy - and he was graduated from the State Normal School and became a member - of the faculty while still in his teens. He was afterward principal of - the Trenton High School, a trustee and then superintendent of schools. - By that time his services as a writer had become so pronounced that he - gave his entire attention to literature. He was an exceptionally - successful teacher and wrote a number of text-books for schools, all - of which met with high favor. For these and his historical - productions, Princeton College conferred upon him the degree of Master - of Arts. - - The high moral character, the clean, manly tendencies and the - admirable literary style of Mr. Ellis’ stories have made him as - popular on the other side of the Atlantic as in this country. A - leading paper remarked some time since, that no mother need hesitate - to place in the hands of her boy any book written by Mr. Ellis. They - are found in the leading Sunday-school libraries, where, as may well - be believed, they are in wide demand and do much good by their sound, - wholesome lessons which render them as acceptable to parents as to - their children. All of his books published by Henry T. Coates & Co. - are re-issued in London, and many have been translated into other - languages. Mr. Ellis is a writer of varied accomplishments, and, in - addition to his stories, is the author of historical works, of a - number of pieces of popular music and has made several valuable - inventions. Mr. Ellis is in the prime of his mental and physical - powers, and great as have been the merits of his past achievements, - there is reason to look for more brilliant productions from his pen in - the near future. - - =DEERFOOT SERIES.= - - 3 vols. BY EDWARD S. ELLIS. $3.00 - - Hunters of the Ozark. The Last War Trail. - Camp in the Mountains. - - =LOG CABIN SERIES.= - - 3 vols. BY EDWARD S. ELLIS. $3.00 - - Lost Trail. Footprints in the Forest. - Camp-Fire and Wigwam. - - =BOY PIONEER SERIES.= - - 3 vols. BY EDWARD S. ELLIS. $3.00 - - Ned in the Block-House. Ned on the River. - Ned in the Woods. - - =THE NORTHWEST SERIES.= - - 3 vols. BY EDWARD S. ELLIS. $3.00 - - Two Boys in Wyoming. Cowmen and Rustlers. - A Strange Craft and its Wonderful Voyage. - - =BOONE AND KENTON SERIES.= - - 3 vols. BY EDWARD S. ELLIS. $3.00 - - Shod with Silence. In the Days of the Pioneers. - Phantom of the River. - - =IRON HEART, WAR CHIEF OF THE IROQUOIS.= - - 1 vol. BY EDWARD S. ELLIS. $1.00 - - =THE SECRET OF COFFIN ISLAND.= - - 1 vol. BY EDWARD S. ELLIS. $1.00 - - =THE BLAZING ARROW.= - - 1 vol. BY EDWARD S. ELLIS. $1.00 - - - J. T. TROWBRIDGE. - - Neither as a writer does he stand apart from the great currents of - life and select some exceptional phase or odd combination of - circumstances. He stands on the common level and appeals to the - universal heart, and all that he suggests or achieves is on the plane - and in the line of march of the great body of humanity. - - The Jack Hazard series of stories, published in the late _Our Young - Folks_, and continued in the first volume of _St. Nicholas_, under the - title of “Fast Friends,” is no doubt destined to hold a high place in - this class of literature. The delight of the boys in them (and of - their seniors, too) is well founded. They go to the right spot every - time. Trowbridge knows the heart of a boy like a book, and the heart - of a man, too, and he has laid them both open in these books in a most - successful manner. Apart from the qualities that render the series so - attractive to all young readers, they have great value on account of - their portraitures of American country life and character. The drawing - is wonderfully accurate, and as spirited as it is true. The constable, - Sellick, is an original character, and as minor figures where will we - find anything better than Miss Wansey, and Mr. P. Pipkin, Esq. The - picture of Mr. Dink’s school, too, is capital, and where else in - fiction is there a better nick-name than that the boys gave to poor - little Stephen Treadwell, “Step Hen,” as he himself pronounced his - name in an unfortunate moment when he saw it in print for the first - time in his lesson in school. - - On the whole, these books are very satisfactory, and afford the - critical reader the rare pleasure of the works that are just adequate, - that easily fulfill themselves and accomplish all they set out to - do.—_Scribner’s Monthly._ - - =JACK HAZARD SERIES.= - - 6 vols. BY J. T. TROWBRIDGE. $7.35 - - Jack Hazard and His Fortunes. Doing His Best. - The Young Surveyor. A Chance for Himself. - Fast Friends. Lawrence’s Adventures. - - ------- - - ROUNDABOUT LIBRARY. - - For Boys and Girls. - - (97 Volumes.) 75c. per Volume. - - The attention of Librarians and Bookbuyers generally is called to - HENRY T. COATES & CO.’S ROUNDABOUT LIBRARY, by the popular authors. - - EDWARD S. ELLIS, MARGARET VANDEGRIFT, - HORATIO ALGER, JR., HARRY CASTLEMON, - C. A. STEPHENS, C. A. HENTY, - LUCY C. LILLIE and others. - - No authors of the present day are greater favorites with boys and - girls. - - Every book is sure to meet with a hearty reception by young readers. - - Librarians will find them to be among the most popular books on their - lists. - - _Complete lists and net prices furnished on application._ - - ------- - - HENRY T. COATES & CO. - - PHILADELPHIA. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - Transcriber’s Note - - Errors deemed most likely to be the printer’s have been corrected, and - are noted here. The references are to the page and line in the - original. The following issues should be noted, along with the - resolutions. - - 77.11 he would go on to the next.[”] Removed. - - 84.25 I couldn’t help it,[”] stammered Jake, Added. - - 139.8 it won[’]t take me long to see Inserted. - - 161.23 Now you are off for that spring-hole, I Added. - suppose[.] - - 237.2 “We shall be much obliged.[”] Added. - - 309.10 listening for their app[r]oach. Inserted. - - 344.14 But he [’]won’t tumble onto me agin Removed. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Snagged and Sunk, by Harry Castlemon - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SNAGGED AND SUNK *** - -***** This file should be named 55843-0.txt or 55843-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/5/8/4/55843/ - -Produced by KD Weeks, David Edwards and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -book was produced from scanned images of public domain -material from the Google Books project.) - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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