Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 162 — page 6: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

WW quickly raised his ; but immedia low- ered te Tagan There mh Tims use to sone bei and shot. “It would serve the hound rightif I gave him a reminder,” he angrily exclaimed, *‘ yet the creature has good bl e stands those bushes like a@ statue. A little experience may break him in to his work. Come here, Sport! You will have to be more wide-awake, if you want to keep company with The dog hung his ears, and slunk back. The in- stinct of generations of breeding told him that he had done wrong. It is utterly surprising how muck a blooded animal owes to birth end how litte, in comparison, to training. The habits of ancestors = themselves, as it were, in the egg. ve minutes elapsed, when a gun-shot sounded from the left. Ben was atit. A minute more and the partridzges swept back, directly toward Will. Half hid behind a tree, he waited with eager impa- tience, his gun at the shoulder and his eye fixed keenly on the coming birds. **Down! Down, Sport!’’ he cautioned, as the dog manifested signs of uneasiness. But it was too late. The birds had seen the mov- ing animal. A quick whirl, and they were away at a wide angle, followed by a snap shot from Will, at a most unpromising distance. % Hang the uneasy dog, and my impatience!’’ he cried. “That's a sheer waste of powder and shot. It was impossible to touch a feather at that distance; and I should not blame the dog, when I cannot con- trol myself.’’ He dged on, in an ill-humor with himself and his cog; making slowly toward the point to which the birds had directed their flight. Meanwhile, in the creek, which lay a half-mile to the right, the boats swung at anchor just out of the channel, ina most attractive reach of the beautiful stream. Here the wood, which, just above, clasped the current in its shady embrace, stood somewhat back, leaving a narrow green opening, covered with thick clusters of blooming golden-rod, while luxuri- ant ferns fringed the edge of the liquid current, Through this opening a flood of warm sunlight pour- ed upon the stream, glinting from its ruffled surface, and producing a condition most likely to be attrac- tive to fish. In this sunny reach the two boats were moored, their inmates engaged in that laziest of all sports, rod and cork angling. ‘By Jove, I thought we would haul up fish here in a steady stream!’’ exclaimed Pierce Browning, extending heavy weight in the bow of one of the a ee And here’s a good half-hour without a e,”’ “The fish take pity on you. They are too polite to disturb you,’’ said Harry Waters, as he drew up a large sunfish, “Throw it overboard again, my boy. We don’t want to rob the river of such gameas that. What luck are you having down there?’ _ “Not worth shucks,’? came from the other boat. “There are no fish here. I move we hoist anchor and float lower down-stream.”’ “What's the use?’’ returned Pierce, lazily. ‘‘ We wouldn’t be away from here five minutes before it would swarm with fish, and all the rest of the creek be deserted. They are too confounded cunning. 4 go the boys, they have got the start ef us exclamation was called forth by two success- ive gun-shots, which sounded from a di the forest. “They have both got a shot in,’’ remarked Harry. “You can notice the difference in the bark of their ns. Wake up there, Pierce! You've got a famous ite! Your cork’s gone, and he’s running away with the line!”’ Pierce, at this admonition, onex! straightened himself, and eemne his rod, which come near following the line overboard. “Play him, lad! Play him!” cried Harry, eagerly. “Tenderly, tenderly. That's no fool of a fish, and won't stand rough treatment.”’ “Is that all you know about perch-fishing?”’ re- torted Pierce, as he swept the line around the bow of the boat, the fish having gone under. “* We can’t se BA hop these yellow beauties as though they were u 9 “How do you know it is a perch?” “T have felt their tug before,’ returned Pierce, brin the line from the water with a powerful swing, though the slender rod bent half double. “It’s a regular shiner! A beauty of the first water!’’ exclaimed Harry, enthusiastically, as the fish hung tt was landed into the boat. “ Less noise there!’’ came the growling Jack Hasard, from the other boat. of them, and they're beginning to bite like grass- hoppers. Just cork up your bluster, or we won't land a “ And I don’t think you will hold the fish by mak- ing them set speeches,”’ retorted a A “ There's none of them running for Congress. He’s pretty as a peers, Pierce. Ha! It’s my turn now! cork was tripping on the ruffled water, there —_ just enough wind to raise a slight wave. “Ti’s the ripple,’’ said Pierce, as Harry skillfully played his line. Not abit of it.. Ah! there it dips! That’s no ripple, at any rate.”’ ' “Don’t let up on him, or he'll slide from the hook,” Pierce. “ Bring him up ona ruv.” ith a quick jerk Harry brought his line from the peer, with a4 fish litle smaller than that. which had just landed. The figh seemed to have come in a shoal, for the Will Wildfire in t — ee ee ¢ - inmates of the other boat were now on the alert, and had already caught a couple of smaller perch. For the next half-hour the sport coutinued active There was no longer any idle asi but all the anglers were wide-awake, playing tieu lines, and 1 td fish from the water with encouraging ra- pidity. ‘** Tf we don’t have a glorizus feast on fried perch to-night, there’s no “se ” remarked 4 ““Why, they bite as if they’ en on hadf rations for a month.” ‘Site? Where?” asked Jack Hasard. ‘I haven’t had a nibble for five minutes. Have they slid agen?’ ‘I’ve a notion they have,’’ answered Pierce. ‘* My cork is as steady as a bumboat in a ealm Ha! There drops another partridge!” as a shes broke the silence of the forest to their right. In a minute more an extraordinary thrashing and weve | came from a clump of underbrush, which 1e@ | lined t <= sl sss she left following up their covey of | | ' ' ' | ' istant part of | banks of the creek about a hundred yards below them. It sounded as if some large creature was forcibly tearing his way through it. It was followed by the sudden appearance, on the edge of the creek, of a most unexpected object. There was a’clear vista in this direction, which was, at that instant, filled by the gracefulform of a large buck, with broad-branching antlers. The animal stood sharply outlined against the western sky, drawn up in a heap, as it were, at sight of this unlooked-for obstacle, and presenting a magnificent profile. But the next instant it plunged into the flowing waters, with a nimble spring, that took it half across the creek. ‘‘Up with the anchor! Let us go for it!” cried Harry Waters, eagerly. “Go for it? You might as well go for the wind!” returned Pierce, with lazy contemptuousness. ‘He will be ashore before we could make ten strokes. See! there, he has touched the shallows now! A noble deer, 'll swear. Hang me, if I won’t havea stalk for him to-morrow!’ The flight of the deer was followed by a slichter wrestling in the bushes, and Will’s youn nter broke into sight on the creek bank, loudly giving tongue. “Listen to that!’’ exclaimed Jack Hasard, in his owling tone. ‘*There’s your Wildfire pointer! unning a deer, with his nose in the air, and yelping like a mongrel pup! I doubtif Will has had muc good out of that thoroughbred.” But we must return to our gunners, whom we quail. Ben had already a brace of the birds in his game bag, but Will, as we are aware, had not brought down a feather. He had now got round the upper end of the swamp. The undergrowth was somewhat thicker here, and it was necessary to proceed slowly and cautiously. The dog, also, seemed to have learned a lesson from previous experience, and coursed in advance of his master with watchful diligence, ‘‘Ware, Sport! ‘Ware, lad! There goes Ben’s op-cun again! Look out, lovely! There’s quail in his bit of blue grass, I'll .bet high on it.” As Will thus, in a low tone, encouraged the dog, the latter suddenly halted on the edge of the grass reach. His body stiffened, his neck craned out, his tail straight and stiff as an iron bar, one fore-foot raised from the ground, the only sign of life being a slight quivering motion, he presented the beau ideal of a pointer. He had caught from sheer nature the duty demanded of him. A few cautious steps, with gun at shoulder, from | the huntsman, and the covey suddenly flushed. But | | | | | tones of | ty of the noise. It was followed by a ‘** Don’t fiatter | and the same thrashing sound tha yourself you've got allthe game. There’s a school | by the fishermen. Will was ready this time. “Crack! crack! went bis two barrels in succession; and two of the noble | birds, with a wild whirl, came crashing down to the | ground. - “Bravo! Bravo, Sport!’ exclaimed Will, patting the dog’s neck. ‘*Come! do as well as that eve time, and we'll beat Ben Huntly’s trained dog hol- low. Never tell me there’s nothing in blood!” During the next half-hourshe got in several more shots, and his game-bag or acre to grow heavy with its feathered and speckled freight. For ten minutes now they went onward cauttously, without a shot, when Sport again pointed game. Will crept up and glanced between the animal's ears into the dense thicket ahead. He caught sight of the bird which Sport had spot- ted, and brought bis gun to his shoulder just as the quail took the alarm. The shot was at point-blank range, and almost along the ground, yet it failed to hit the bird. For at that instant a sudden commo- dangling in the sunlight for an instant, ere | tion in the center of the thicket disconcerted the hunter’s aim. The shot flew wild, toward the locali- culiar cry been heard m the An instant after a stately buck broke tly for thicket, tossing his antlers, and heading the creek, followed by Sport in full cry. CHAPTER VI. THE HAUNTS OF THE DHER. ““Myhound! Yes, there's not his match *twixt river and river, if ldo say it. Put him on the trail of the best’buck that ever jumped, and it’s all day with that buck. There’s no discount on that.” The Sgr was a lank, raw-boned, athletic fel- low, with a skin like parchment, and dressed in leather breeches, which were stuffed into the tops of his slouching boots. A skull-cap, with an apology for a visor, covered his straggling hair, while a blue shirt, open at the throat, completed his attire. **Come here, Tiger!’’ he ca in a tone of com- mand. ‘“ Now, there’s a dorg as is a dorg,” he con- tin as a huge bnt trim-built and -flanked he Woods. hound walked gravely up and inserted his nose into his master’s 0 ; m. ‘*As I said afore the deer that flings him has got to be as lively as a cricket in harvest time, and just you lay your bets on ¢hai !”’ ‘*We want him then,”’ said Harry Wate these remarks had been addressed Veter athe long tend ete schabae “*'Yes; on the lon nd of the Car ” replied Joe om individual above mentioned ae he to whom **“You know leaned his back against the public p of the vil- lage of Goalville. ‘*‘And so you fushed a buck there yesterday?” “s Yes “Just about where, say?’’ ““A couple of miles below camp. There’s a piece of swamp to the left that you may know it by.’ **Know it? I know it as well as I know beefsteak from mutton chops. And the critter swum the creek?” therm He made for the hilly ground to the ‘Ah! Hum. That's good. Yes; I hope you may get him.” ** When can we look for you over?” ‘““Me? Well, mebbe you'd best not look for me.” “But we want you,I say. You and your dog, Hang it, you'll be well paid for your trouble,” “ Look here, young man,” drawled the gaunt woodsman. ‘There etn n+ be other things in your life that you'll want without getting. You on’t spose that a chap of my inches is to be had at every crook of your finger?’ ‘‘Isn’t this your business?” asked Harry. ‘* Reckon it is.”’ ‘““Then whatis wrong? You have nothing against our party, I hope?’ ‘Your party mought be sugar and butter, for all I know to the opposite.”’ ““Why do you object to hunting with us, then?” ‘***Cause we follow in this country the barber-shop rule, first come first served. I’m engaged a’ready for that very buck. You’re not the first as has seen ines trottin’ reund these mountings; mind you a Ney ‘“ There’s a party out for him?” **I was bespoke an hour ago.” “Who are they?” “Oh! a pack of city enhorns; first cousins to our crowd. The man that hired me called himself ark Preston.”’ ‘The devil!” broke from Harry’s lips. ** Don’t look much like him; so fur as I’ve seen picters of that there individual,” was the phlegmatic reply of the woodsman. ‘No, no; I don’t mean that. But—then we can’t oC aie 3 dog?” ‘ ‘This dorg’s engaged,” returned Smith, pin the ears of his favorite. 2 aye “Then, as you’ve pumped me to find where the deer lay, maybe you can recommend me to a dog?” A pum smile curled the lips of the woodsman. ‘*] allers pump where I think water "ll come easy,” he rejoined. ‘As fura dorg, you ain’t gota ghost of a chance if Tiger once gits on the scent of that beast. There's Jerry Prime, though, who hangs out inthe frame shanty, to the left of the road, about half a mile toward your wows He's got a consid’ble fair hound, which you mought go fur.”’ There were some odd thoughts in Harry’s mind, as he trudged along the mountain road, toward Jerry Prime’s shanty. ‘Mark Preston, eh?’ he said to himself. ‘* What brings him here? There's a blind somewhere in this deer-hunt. Couldn’t he find room, in the United States, without settling down on the edge of ou camp? Sure as shooting he has followed us; and tl.ere’s deviltry afoot somewhere in that chap’s game bag. Tll have to t Will Wildfire, for he’s the buck that our jail-bird is on the scent of.” Jerry Prime was engaged without difficul Hig dog was a young animal, and was not likely to have the experience of Joe Smith’s veteran, but it was clean-limbed, alert, and intelligent, and Jerry swore that its equal did not exist between the two oceans. In this he had rather the best of Joe, who had limited himself to the two rivers. Jerry had lost one eye; but the other was like acorkscrew. He walked with a long, loose-jointed stride that forced Harry into a half trot to keep up with it. And the whole way to the camp was enlivened with stories of the hunting experience of the woodsman, in which he certainly drew heavily on the long bow. ‘Yes, [fotched that b’ar a-standin’. It were in the old times, you know; ‘fore folks got thick ‘round here. My nighest nei hbor were on the West Branch, "bout twenty mile, or thereaway. But if we hadn't folks, we had b’ar and catamount fur com- pany. And, as I were sayin’, when I drawed a bead on that critter— Drat my eyes! what in the saint's name’s that?” This exclamation was accompanied by a loud barking from the dog, who retreated between his master’s legs, asif he had seen a specter, Harry looked quickly around at this interruption, to the bear story, and burst into a loud laugh as he observed the cause of it. They were now near the camp, and were following & Rarrow path, fringed by a th ck tangle of bushes. And in the center of these bushes, like an ebony picture in an emerald frame, had suddenly appeared a small face of midnight blackness. There was no rtion of the body visible; only the sable coun- nance, whose rollin gogele eyes, thick lips, the — teeth add the effectiveness of the pictvre. “Tt’s a devil’s imp, sure,” exclaimed Je f raising his rifle. “I’ve half a mind to probe them — with a bullet, to see if thar’s er.”’ © Oe) com S (S (E(O)] al .