Beadle's Dime Library No. 327 — page 12: what you’re looking at

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

12 me out of trouble, young chap,” remarked Ter- rapin Dick. ‘Il owed you a good a while ago, and now I owe you another. I don’t know how lam going to get out of your debt, and I would like to do something for you.” ‘““You don’t owe me nothin’,” replied Abner. ‘(Tt was the best kind of fun for me, and the way those fellers scattered suited me to a dot.” “Tt would have been no sort of fun to me, though, if you had not come to my help. You not only ot me out of trouble, but saved my money an my watch and my rifle. By rights the money belongs to you now, as much as to me, and I wish you would let me give you some of it, as you have fairly earned it.” After some persuasion Abner consented to ac- —_+> «eo | Terrapin Dick. $$ ee ee _ ———— ee ee eo So he dashed in at the entrance of the basin, and only stopped there long enough to unchain Boney and give him an order which the bear | seemed to understand. Then he ran on, shoutin voice as he approached the house, ‘Dad! Dave! Hello! Hello-o-o! — are arter me, and they are comin’ in ere!’ at the top of his es CHAPTER XVIL. JULIUS MULDROW’S FIRE HUNT. THE detective made his way without any fur- ther difficulty from the lake to the camp, cept ten dollars, which was a large amount of | where he found Hemlock Hank worrying about wealth in his eyes, his absence, and more than half-inclined to go in ‘*How are you going to find your way back | search of him. to your camp, or wherever you belong?’ uired, ‘‘T don’t know, unless I can induce you to | ject; but he too. I have not the | help me out of this scrape faintest idea what course I shall take to reach my Saas ” ‘Kinder lost, hey?” ‘** Decidedly lost. be in- | ' ! Julius Muldrow had also been somewhat ex- 8 capable of as a hunter. Besides, they needed meat, ““T think I can 4 ~ up a deer for you without any trouble,” said he. ‘‘ But we will have to start as soon as night falls, so as to do what we can before the moon rises.” The Ka- | ercised in his mind concerning the same sub- | greeted Risden with a sneer, and insolently asked him if he had been losing him- self in the woods. ‘* Worsé than that,” answered Terrapin Dick. ‘*T have been in not only one bad scrape, but _ But, if I could find my way | two of them, and you would not have seen me | to the lake where we met the wildcats, I am , here to-night, unless I had received unexpected | quite sure that I could get on from there.” * Allright, Cap. Ill take you there.” The lad, whose knowledge of the ways of the woods seemed to be instinctive, struck a bee- line through the forest, and guided Risden to the exact spot where they had the encounter with the wildcats. ‘Do you think you can guide yourself the rest of the way?” he asked. ‘‘Yes. The moonis up, and I will have no more trouble.” ‘*Well, Mr. Risden, you may go your way now, and I will go mine.” The detective looked at the lad curiously. “So you do know me,” said he. ‘I wish that I knew who you were. But you are too deep for me, and I need not try to find out anything about you that you don’t choose to tell me.” ‘* That’s so,” answered Abner. ‘‘ Good-night.” The two strange companions separated, and each went his own way. As Abner boasted of being able to find his way home through the forest on the darkest night, he would naturally be able to find it eas- ily enough when the moon was shining bright- ly, and he struck out with confidence, walking rapidly, in the hope of reaching his oc gy be- | say that he was ut him fore they should become uneasy a The course he took led him near the ravine from which he had scared the Kanucks, and there he was destined to meet with another ad- venture. When Terrapin Dick was held asa prisoner by those vagabonds, he had noticed that no one of them seemed to have been recently wounded. Therefore he concluded that the man who had been shot in the arm by Ben Lawson was not among them, and that led him to the further conclusion that his captors were only st we of the band that were prowling about that vicinity, or ae F there was another band of similar scoun- Both suppositions were partly correct. There had been one band, which was tempo- rarily divided into two parts, each section keep- ing itself advised of the location and doings of the other. When Abner Sanders had routed the party in 37 glen they did not have to go far to find their Reinforced by them they returned to the ra- vine for the purpose of recapturing their cam and taking vengeance on their assailants, an arrived in that vicinity just as Abner was pass- atc sight of him, they set up a yell, and immediately started to pursue him. rng 6 eat deal dur- ing the day; but he sta off at a gait that kept him well ahead of his pursuers, and he took advantage of the intricacies of the forest And the broken ground, with which he was well .. acquainted, to foil them and throw them off the “ track But they quickly picked up the trail, and - followed it like hounds on the track of a deer. It was a grief to him just then that his blood- less victory in the ravine had deprived him of all his ammunition except one cartridge, which was in his rifle. He was not at all inclined to kill any of the Kanucks, however much they might deserve silting; but he could not help wishing that he was tter supplied with food for his rifle, so that he might tench them to keep their distance if they should come too close. Not being so supplied, he could only trust to his legs for his liberty, and he had good reason to fear that they would not last him much lon- , While there seemed to be no break-down to ‘sd tireless lope of his enemies. Therefore he was glad enough when he came in sight of the gap that led to his home. He could not hope to avoid his pursuers, or to revent them from following him; but he would d help there, and he believed that his father and his brother Dave and his cousin Nick, with himself, woul be a match for all the Kanucks. | assistance. I will tell you all about it after a | while; but just now I am too hungry to talk.” ay Hemlock Hank started the smudge into a fire, and helped his friend cook some food, which Risden ate with a relish. ‘‘ Now I will have a square smoke,” he said, ‘and will fp Ho a queer story.” It was indeed a queer story which the detec- tive told with great particularity, omitting no detail, and especially repeating with great ex- actness every word of the conversation between himself and the lad who had come to his rescue. ‘Those Kanucks,” said he, ‘‘are a set of and sneakingest thieves I ever came across.” ‘*'We must ketch a couple of ’em,” observed Hemlock Hank, ‘‘ and tie ’em up, and give ‘ema ood larrupin as a lesson to the others.” ‘That will help them some, if we can get hold of them. But the queerest part of the whole business was that boy. He knew me, and called me by name; but I could no more get any information from him than I could squeeze blood from a turnip.” ‘* Mebbe I can give you a little wartish, wizen-faced, sorter humpbacked, and can run like a deer. There's i | ' Julius Muldrow p ed himself for the still hunt by putting his rifle in order, to which pro- cedure he devoted considerable time, with no small show of science. Hemlock Hank made the skiff ready, and at nightfall he set out with his amateur hunter, Terrapin Dick watching them with interest from the shore. A lighted torch was set in the bow of the boat, behind which Muldrow was stationed, and the guide seated himself in the stern, wielding a paddle instead of the oars, as he could thus look out —— and at the same time propel the skiff uietly. Silently the boat moved through the dark and tranquil water, slowly making the circuit of the lake, and keeping near the shore to watch for the expected game. They had scarcely got out of sight of the camp-fire when they came upon a noble buck that had walked into the lake under the shade of the tall trees, where it was cooling its legs and drinking at leisure. Hemlock Hank, by a dextrous stroke of his dle, sent the skiff ahead, and then stopped it in front of the game. The deer, as if fascinated by the light, stood motionless, and stared right ahead at the strange phenomenon of fire. There could not be a fairer chance for a shot, and the guide waited impatiently for his sports- man to get his work in. But the young man fiddled and fooled with his rifle, as if he did not know what to do with it and was too nervous to take aim if he coul scoundrels that we will have to look out for as have made up his mind to fire. long as we stay about here. They are the slyest | It was a clear case of buck fever. ‘‘ Why don’t you shoot?” demanded the dis- gusted guide. ‘‘T was just going to when you spoke. Had I better fire at his eye?” ‘*T wish you would fire at something, and be quick about it. There! he’s off!” Sure enough, the buck took the alarm at that moment, turned quickly, and bounded off into the forest. Muldrow fired at him at last; but the shot Dick. You | was wasted, and the splendid creature escaped unharmed. ‘‘ That's too bad!” exclaimed Hemlock Han‘, a boy like that in that Sanders family. I’ve | who succeeded in suppressing his indignation, never seen him, but have heerd tell of him, and ess that this must be the same chap.” ‘* (Quite likely. If they are all as smart as he is, they will worry us some before we are thro with them. — supposed,” said Julius Muldrow, with i sneer, ‘* that you were smart enough to keep out of such scrapes. I don’t pretend to know as much about the woods as you do; but I have got into no difficulty yet.” ‘* Not even with a bear?{” suggested Risden. ‘‘Confound the bear! I would have killed the beast if I could have got at my rifle.” ‘“‘That was what was the matter with me. They’ took me unawares, as the bear came up on ou. ‘* But you missed a fine chance, Risden. That boy was a suspicious character—a very sus- icious character. If I had been in your place, would have tied him, and brought him into the camp, and made him tell who he was and where he belonged.” ‘Would you? After he had pulled you out of two bad holes? I have not got to be quite so mean as that—not yet.” The next day it was decided to remove the uarters of the party to a lake that was distant about a mile from present camp—the same lake, in fact, on the shore of which Terrapin ween had hater “eee -' ~~ is change involved a heavy portage, it be- ing necessary to carry the ski? and all their neegeg f through the woods to the new loca- on. The detective and the guide did the heaviest of the work, anil hone e skiff on their shoulders, and reaching the point for which they had aimed in good time, in spite of numerous sg rm a for rest. us Muldrow grumbled at the light load that was allotted to him, and was always ready to stop to rest. , Leaving him in charge of the new camp, the others made two trips for the rest of their epee and had everything in place before e middle of the afternoon. When they had finished their late dinner, Julius Muldrow was seized by a new idea, upon which, as upon all his ideas, he insisted strongly. ‘* There must be deer about this lake,” said he. “It is a fine place for deer, and a splendid chance for night-hunting. If I bad somebody to e the boat for me, I would go out to- a and bring in some bi e,” ood-natured Hemlock offered to take his employer out on the lake. He was willing to do the young man a favor for the sake of ‘‘ keeping peace in the family,” and he wanted to see what Julius was really but could not help betraying his disgust. ‘It’s too darned bad! A fairer chance fora eh. I never saw. Why didn’t you shoot that uck?” - **T don’t know,” sheepishly answered Julius. *“ A queer feeling came over me, and took all the nerve out of me.” ‘* Buck fever, I guess. Greenies allus gits it. pas ad might have shot him when you did e.” “] thought I might, too; but I didn’t. Per- haps there was no bullet in my rifle.” ‘Thunderation! You don’t mean to say that after all the fuss you made over that ou could have forgot to put a bullet in it? You had better be careful how you load now, as we are likely to find another deer afore we git back to camp.” J wins loaded his rifle carefully, and Hemlock Hank — paddled slowly onward; but it was not until they had nearly circumnavigated the lake that they found some more game. Then the find was worth looking at. A noble buck was in the water near the shore, and with him were a doe and a fawn. Again the guide made the skiff shoot silently ahead, and halted it where his sportsman could have a sure and easy shot. The three beautiful creatures stood and stared steadily at the light, as if not knowing what to make of it, and a fairer chance to kill the buck mre et apa parently no lo fflicted ius Ow, & y no longer afflic with buck fever raha his rifle and fired. The fawn tumbled over in the water; but the buck and\the doe tossed their heads and ran away. Hemlock Hank dr the paddle across his lap, and stared b at the young man. e was utterly unable to do justice to the subject. “Why don’t you pull inand get my e?” demanded Julius, as the skiff slowly drifted » tt What game?” inquired the guide ‘‘ The deer I killed.” “Do you call that a deer—that baby? So you missed that splendid buck, and shot that poor little fawn!” ‘TI did not miss!” angrily replied Julius. “I fired at the fawn.” “You did?” | ‘Yes; [ wanted it.” ‘“Heavens above us! This is too much. If He had said that you missed the big one, and it the little one by accident, I might have for- given you. But to think that you did it a-pur- pose! Oh, Moses in the bullrushes!” ‘‘Are you not going to get my game and (a oXoyoy Eom cS (eXo) / F ~ ~~»