The Project Gutenberg eBook of Two Ways of Becoming A Hunter, by Harry Castlemon This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook. Title: Two Ways of Becoming A Hunter Author: Harry Castlemon Release Date: January 13, 2021 [eBook #64280] Language: English Character set encoding: UTF-8 Produced by: David Edwards, Martin Pettit and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive) *** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TWO WAYS OF BECOMING A HUNTER *** Transcriber's Note: Obvious typographic errors have been corrected. THE COLLEGE PRESIDENT AND THE YOUNG TAXIDERMIST. TWO WAYS OF BECOMING A HUNTER BY HARRY CASTLEMON AUTHOR OF "GUNBOAT SERIES," "ROCKY MOUNTAIN SERIES," [Pg i] "WAR SERIES," ETC., ETC. PHILADELPHIA PORTER & COATES Copyright, 1892, BY PORTER & COATES. CONTENTS. CHAPTER PAGE I. Playing Truant, 1 II. The Bushwhackers, 16 III. Oscar and his Troubles, 34 IV. The Young Taxidermist, 50 V. Oscar Receives a Letter, 66 VI. The Amateur Detective, 79 VII. Off for the River, 94 VIII. A Fortunate Duck-Hunt, 109 IX. The Camp on the Island, 129 X. An Astounding Offer, 140 XI. Mr. Smith Makes Amends, 156 XII. An Evening with the Principal, 172 XIII. The Black Fox, 187 XIV. Who Destroyed the Snares? 202 XV. Bugle Seeks Revenge, 218 XVI. Good and Bad News, 234 XVII. Paying the Fiddler, 247 XVIII. Leon Makes Up his Mind, 261 XIX. Plans and Arrangements, 271 XX. Leon Draws his Money, 282 XXI. The Runaways, 290 XXII. The Prairie Hotel, 300 XXIII. A Friendly Hunter, 312 XXIV. On the Trail, 325 XXV. Frank Starts for Home, 335 XXVI. Eben Shows his Colors, 346 XXVII. Alone and Friendless, 357 XXVIII. A Familiar Face, 371 XXIX. A Voice from the Snow-drift, 384 TWO WAYS OF BECOMING A HUNTER. [Pg ii] [Pg iii] [Pg iv] [Pg 1] CHAPTER I. PLAYING TRUANT. "I declare, Frank, it is time we were off. It is almost nine o'clock. I wish to goodness there were no such things as school-houses and school-books in the world." "I am not going to school to-day." "You're not?" "No, sir. I'm going to take French leave." "Do you mean that you are going to run away?" "I suppose that is what you country fellows call it." "Well, now, you had better take a friend's advice, and think twice before you do that. You'll get yourself into trouble, sure. The rule of our school is that you must bring a written excuse every time you are absent." "That was the rule of our school in Boston, too; but it didn't keep the fellows from staying away whenever they felt like it." "Where did you get your excuses?" "We wrote them ourselves, and signed our father's name to them; that's the way we got them." "You can't fool our teacher that way. He knows our hand-writing too well. He knows yours, too, by this time." "I can disguise it so that he'll not recognize it, I bet you! Don't let's go, Leon. I am heartily sick of school, and everything connected with it." "So am I." "Then suppose we spend the day in the woods." The conversation above recorded took place, one gloomy autumn morning, between Leon Parker and his city cousin, Frank Fuller. They were about sixteen years of age, and were bright, honest-looking boys; but one of them, at least, was just the opposite of what he appeared to be. Leon Parker lived in the little town of Eaton, in one of our Northern States. His father was a practising lawyer, and the boy was given every opportunity to prepare himself for usefulness in after-life. But Leon was too indolent to study, and the consequence was that he always stood at the foot of his class, and saw boys younger than himself carry off the honors he might have won if he had been willing to work for them. Leon was not such a boy as you would have chosen for a companion. He was cross and overbearing, and his father was often obliged to take him to task for some of his misdeeds. This always made him very angry. Other boys seemed to get on without having the least trouble with their parents or anybody else, and Leon finally came to the conclusion that his father was a tyrant, and that he would be much happier if he could go so far away from him that he would never see him again. And yet there were a good many boys in Eaton who would have been glad to change places with him. While his father insisted that he should behave himself, he was, at the same time, very indulgent, and he had supplied Leon with a good many things which the majority of the boys in Eaton regarded as necessary to their happiness. He owned a beautiful little skiff, a jointed bass rod, and a light fowling-piece. He had ample opportunity to use them, too. The country about the village was hilly, almost mountainous; the woods and thickets were dense, and grouse, quails, and gray and black squirrels could be bagged any day without the slightest trouble. Foxes were more abundant than the neighboring farmers wished they were, deer were shot within sight of the court house every winter, and now and then a bear or wildcat was seen among the hills. In summer, the river which flowed in front of the village offered black and rock bass, pike and perch. In the fall it was visited by thousands of wild ducks, which stopped there to rest during their migrations, and some of them were so well satisfied with the feeding-grounds they found there that they remained all winter. The most of the boys in Eaton thought it was a nice place to live, but Leon, as we have said, was very discontented; and matters were made worse by the arrival of his cousin, Frank Fuller, who was sent to Eaton because he could not be managed at home. It was understood among the boys to whom he had been introduced that he had come there for the purpose of attending the high school of which the village boasted, and, indeed, his father's instructions were that he was not to miss a single day. He had been there just two weeks, and now he was talking of playing truant. [Pg 2] [Pg 3] [Pg 4] [Pg 5] Mr. Parker already regretted that he had consented to receive his nephew into his house. He began to fear that his influence over Leon would be anything but beneficial. He had already detected him in numberless falsehoods, and had discovered that, in spite of his apparent frankness, he was as sneaking and sly as a boy could possibly be. And Frank, too, was sorry that he had ever come to Eaton. He was disgusted with the quiet life he led at his uncle's house, and heartily wished himself back in Boston. "Let's go up on the hill and look at these snares you told me about the other day," continued Frank. "We may find a partridge or two in them." "That's so," exclaimed Leon. "I never should have thought of them again. But it will be awful slow walking about the woods all day without our guns." "Oh, we'll take them with us!" "But how can we carry them downstairs, and out of the house, without being seen by somebody?" "We'll do it—you may depend upon that," answered Frank, as he disappeared in a closet opening off the room in which he and his cousin slept. When he came out again, he carried a light, silver-mounted rifle in one hand and a game-bag and powder-horn in the other. "We must have something to eat, too. It gives one a fearful appetite to climb over these hills. You go and get the lunch just as if we were going to school, and then come out to the barn, and you will find me there with the guns." To this Leon silently assented, and went into the closet after his hunting accoutrements, which he handed over to Frank. While the latter was slinging the game-bag and the powder- and shot-flasks over his shoulders, Leon opened the door and ran downstairs. In the hall he met his mother. "I was just coming to call you," said she. "You boys will be late at school if you do not make haste. Your lunch is all ready." "We're just going to start," said Leon. "But not for school. We have had quite enough of that," he added to himself, as he hurried through the hall and turned into the kitchen. Cramming the lunch into his pocket, he slipped out of the back door and ran toward the barn. When Leon reached the barn, he found Frank waiting for him. He had watched his opportunity, and, as soon as his aunt went out of the hall, he descended the stairs, opened the front door, and made his way around the house to the place of meeting. "Give me my game-bag, and I will put the lunch into it. We are all right so far," he said, with a look of relief. "Oh, there's nothing to be alarmed about," answered Frank, as he unslung the game-bag from his shoulder and handed it to his cousin. "If you had been in such scrapes as often as I have, you would think nothing of it." "Perhaps not; but I almost wish I had gone to school," said Leon honestly. "What will become of us when father finds out that we have played hookey? That's what bothers me." "It needn't bother you, for he's not going to find it out," was Frank's encouraging reply. "We'll enjoy ourselves in the woods for a day or two, and then we'll go back to our Latin and geometry again. I'll write the excuse. Don't spoil a good day's sport by worrying over that." Having put the lunch in his game-bag Leon slung it over his shoulder, picked up his gun, and opening a back door struck out across a wide field that lay between the barn and the nearest piece of woods, closely followed by his cousin. They walked rapidly, looking back now and then to make sure that they were keeping the barn between themselves and the house, and it was not until they had climbed the fence and plunged into the woods that Leon felt safe from discovery. Then he drew a long breath of satisfaction and slackened his pace. "If I stood as much in fear of my father as you do of yours, I wouldn't stay with him," said Frank, who seemed to be perfectly at his ease. "I'd run away from him." It was right on the point of Leon's tongue to tell his cousin that he had long ago resolved to do that very thing; but he didn't say it, for he was not sure that it would be quite safe to trust Frank with his secret. "I have often thought I should like to go out West and live as those hunters and trappers do," continued Frank. "Wouldn't it be jolly to have a snug cabin somewhere in the mountains, and nothing to do but attend to your traps every day and hunt the big game that is so abundant out there?" This very thought had often suggested itself to Leon's lively imagination, and he had made up his mind that some day he [Pg 6] [Pg 7] [Pg 8] [Pg 9] [Pg 10] would live in just that way. "I shall see that country before long," Frank went on. "Father is going to California on business next year, and he has promised that if I will behave myself while I am here in Eaton, he will take me with him. If I like the looks of things as well as I think I shall, you'll never see me among civilized people again." "Will you stay out there and become a hunter?" asked Leon. "Yes, sir!" "But what would you say to your father?" "I shouldn't say anything to him. When I found a place that suited me, I would slip away from him, and let him come home without me." "But you have lived in the city all your life, and what do you know about the Western country?" "I could learn all about it, couldn't I? I am a pretty good shot with a rifle, and I should try to work myself in somewhere as post-hunter. Others have done it, and I don't see why I couldn't." "What is a post-hunter?" asked Leon. "Why, he is a man whose business it is to keep the garrison supplied with fresh meat. If the soldiers go out on an expedition to explore the country or hunt Indians, he goes with them and shoots all the game they want to eat. He is regularly employed and paid by the government. If I couldn't get a position like that, I'd hunt buffaloes for their hides. Why, only the other day I read in the paper that one old hunter out there had killed twelve hundred buffaloes in a single season. He sold their skins for a dollar apiece, too." "Twelve hundred dollars a year!" exclaimed Leon. "Oh, some of them make more than that. And then just think of the fun they have!" Leon had often thought of that very thing; and he had thought of it in school, when his mind ought to have been fully occupied with his books. Nothing suited him better than to ramble all day over the hills, with his double-barrel in his hands, making double shots at the game-birds with which the woods abounded. He generally spent every Saturday during the hunting season in this way, and he had finally come to believe that he would rather do that than anything else. The only drawback to his enjoyment was that when the day drew to a close the hunt came to an end, and he was obliged to go home. That was a place where he never saw any pleasure, especially in the evening. His father was always deeply engrossed with his paper, his mother was busy with her needle, and, until Frank came, Leon had no one to whom he could safely confide his secret hopes and longings. When he became a hunter, with a nice little cabin of his own, in some secluded valley where game of all kinds was abundant, things would be very different, he often told himself. After he had spent the day in attending to his traps and fighting with the grizzlies, he would return to his snug harbor, well loaded with the spoils of the chase; and while his venison steaks and corn bread were turning to a crisp brown under the influence of a cheerful fire, he would recline at his ease upon a pile of soft buffalo robes, and think over the events of the day, while he listened to the howling of the wolves and the sifting of the snow upon the roof of his cabin. Leon always grew excited when this agreeable picture arose before his mental vision, and he longed for the day when the dream would become a reality. Frank, as may be supposed, had a good deal to say about the joys of a hunter's life, and while he talked and Leon listened, they pushed their way rapidly through the woods, and finally, after crossing several deep ravines and climbing two or three fences, they found themselves on Mr. Parker's hill-farm, where Leon had set his snares. The latter led the way toward the thicket in which the snares had been placed, and when he reached it he stopped suddenly, dropped the butt of his gun to the ground, and uttered an exclamation indicative of great rage and astonishment. "What's the matter?" asked Frank. "Why, just look at that, and tell me if you ever heard of a more contemptible trick!" exclaimed Leon. Frank looked, but could discover nothing to excite his cousin's anger. All he saw was a low fence, built of twigs, which stretched away on each side of him as far as his eyes could reach. At intervals of a dozen feet or more were little openings about six inches wide, and it was in these openings that the snares had been set. The last time Leon was there the snares were all in perfect order, and ready to catch any luckless grouse or hare which might attempt to pass through the openings before spoken of. But now there was not a single snare to be seen. The strings of which they were made had all been removed. [Pg 11] [Pg 12] [Pg 13] [Pg 14] "It's the meanest piece of business I ever heard of!" continued Leon, backing toward a fallen log and seating himself upon it. "That meddlesome Oscar Preston has been up here and destroyed all my work. I wish I could get within reach of him for about two minutes. I'd teach him to mind his own business!" Leon struck his open palm with his clenched hand, and looked very savage indeed. CHAPTER II. THE BUSHWHACKERS. "Who is Oscar Preston?" asked Frank, as he seated himself on the log beside his cousin. "Oh, he's the village pot-hunter!" Leon answered, throwing as much contempt into his tones as he could. "Pot-hunter?" repeated Frank. "Yes. He's a market-shooter. He doesn't hunt game for the fun of it, as you and I, and all other decent fellows do, but he does it to make money out of it. He is too lazy to earn a living in any respectable way; and, besides, as he comes of a dishonest family, no one in town will employ him. You see, he and his brother used to work in Smith & Anderson's grocery store. Oscar was one of the clerks, and his brother was book-keeper and cashier. Just before you came here, his brother disappeared all of a sudden, and has never been heard of since. After he was gone his books were examined, and it was found that he was a defaulter to the amount of three thousand dollars. Smith & Anderson didn't like that very well, and believing that if there was one thief in the Preston family there might be another, they thought it was best to give Oscar his walking-papers." "Does he make any money by shooting for the market?" asked Frank. "I should say he did. There is a mortgage of five hundred dollars on his mother's place (his father is dead, you know), and Oscar has paid off a hundred dollars of it since he left the store. He's got a leaky old scow, a double-barrel blunderbuss that you and I wouldn't pick up in the street, and a half starved hound. The scow he uses for hunting ducks on the river, and with the hound he runs foxes and rabbits. When summer comes, I suppose he will fish all the time. He can catch black bass where nobody else would ever think of looking for them, and he can sell every one of them for ten cents a pound." "But what right had he to destroy your snares?" "He had no right to do it, for he is not game-constable." "What sort of a constable is that!" asked Frank. "Why, you know there is a law in this State which says that game shall not be shot except at certain seasons of the year, and a game-constable is a man whose business it is to see that the law is obeyed. It is against the law to trap partridges and quails, and if we had a game-constable in town I shouldn't have set these snares, for I should have rendered myself liable to prosecution; but the office is vacant now, for there was no one elected to fill it last year." "I think Oscar was taking a good deal upon himself," said Frank. "So do I; and the reason he did it was because every partridge or rabbit that I catch leaves just one less for him to shoot for market. But these are my father's grounds, and I shall give him to understand, the first time I meet him, that I want him to keep away from here. You and I can shoot all the birds there are in these woods." "I wouldn't take the trouble to say a word to him," replied Frank. "I'd pay him back in his own coin. If he wouldn't let me snare birds, I wouldn't let him hunt foxes. Do you ever see that hound of his running about the woods?" "Oh, yes, I often see him!" "Well, the next time you put eyes on him just bushwhack him and send a charge of shot into him." "I can do that, can't I?" exclaimed Leon, growing excited at once. "But what if Oscar should find it out?" he added, after he had taken a second thought. "Very likely he will find it out. He will know that somebody has shot his hound when he finds him dead, won't he?" "But I mean—suppose he should find out that I did it?" "I don't see how he can do it. The hound, if he is following a trail, will probably be some distance in advance of his master, and all you've got to do is to knock him over and dig out. It isn't at all probable that Oscar will ever find out who did the shooting; but if he does, you can tell him that you did it to square accounts with him for destroying your snares." "I'd like to do it, but it would be sure to raise a storm in the village," said Leon, shaking his head in a very significant [Pg 15] [Pg 16] [Pg 17] [Pg 18] [Pg 19] [Pg 20] manner. "All the folks used to like that boy, and he's got a good many friends yet." "Then show me the hound, and I'll shoot him!" said Frank impatiently. "I thought you had more pluck. I am not afraid of that fellow, or his friends either. Now, let's set these snares again, and go on and see if we can find some birds. But in the first place, explain one thing to me: What did you build that fence for?" "To stop any rabbit or partridge who might come this way," answered Leon. "I shouldn't think it would stop them. They could easily jump over it, for it isn't much more than a foot high." "But they won't do it," said Leon. "Whenever they come to an obstruction of this kind they never attempt to cross it— that is, they are not alarmed, but run along by the side of it to find some way to get through or around it. When they reach one of these openings they try to squeeze through it, and that is the time they get caught. Now I'll show you how the snares are set." Leon placed his gun against the log on which he was sitting, and producing a piece of fine, strong twine from one of the pockets of his game-bag, he made a running noose in one end of it. The other he fastened securely to a small hickory sapling which grew near one of the openings in the fence. This done, he bent the sapling over and placed the noose in the opening, and confined it there with a short notched stick which he cut from a neighboring bush. Then, in order to show his cousin how the snare operated, he pushed the notched stick out of its place by giving it a gentle tap with his finger, whereupon the sapling straightened itself up with a jerk, and the running noose was fastened firmly about his wrist. "Oh, I see!" exclaimed Frank. "When a bird or rabbit tries to pass through one of these little gates, he knocks out the stick, and is pulled up by the neck before he knows what is the matter with him." "That is just the way the thing works," replied Leon; "and the noose is drawn together so quickly, when the sapling flies back to its place, that nothing can get out of the way of it. Nine times in ten, when you find one of your snares sprung, you will find game in it." "Give me some of that string and I'll help you set them," said Frank, leaning his rifle against the log beside his cousin's double-barrel. "I know how it is done now." The boys had a good hour's work before them. The fence was nearly a hundred yards long; there were a good many openings in it, and the person who destroyed the snares, whoever he was, had made sure work of it. He had not only carried off all the strings and thrown away the notched sticks, but in some places he had broken down the saplings to which the strings were tied. Leon had a good many hard things to say about Oscar while he was engaged in repairing damages, and when he found how completely all his care and patient labor had been undone by the despised market-shooter, he grew angrier than ever. "All the foxes he catches with that hound this winter he can carry in one of his vest pockets!" declared Leon, as he trimmed the branches off a sapling with his knife. "The very first time I get within range of him, I'll fill him so full of holes that he will answer for a window! I don't care if Oscar sees me when I do it, either." At length the repairs were all completed, and the snares were set in readiness to snatch up anything in the way of small game that might chance to come within their reach. The work had given Frank an appetite, and he proposed that they should go further back in the woods, shoot a couple of squirrels, if they could not find any birds, roast them over a fire, and eat them with their lunch. His cousin readily falling in with the idea, they shouldered their guns, and before setting out, turned to take a survey of their work and make sure that nothing had been left undone. At that moment the bugle-like notes of a hound rang through the woods. "There he is now!" exclaimed Leon, in great excitement. "Isn't it lucky? Keep perfectly quiet until we find out which way he is going." "Are you sure that is the dog you want to see?" asked Frank. "Of course I am! There's not another hound about the village. If he comes in sight of us, you will see that he is a large, tan-colored animal, with ears like an elephant's. Everybody says he is just splendid. He has brought his owner many a dollar to go toward paying off that mortgage, but I'll bet he'll not bring him many more if I get a fair chance at him!" Again the deep-toned bay rang out on the frosty air, awakening a thousand echoes among the hills: and this time it sounded nearer than before. The hound had evidently struck a warm trail, and Leon told his cousin, in a suppressed whisper, that the trail led directly toward them. A few seconds, and even the inexperienced Frank became satisfied of this fact. The hound now gave tongue almost continuously; the melodious notes grew louder every moment, and presently a rustling in the bushes told the boys that he was close at hand, and coming nearer with every bound. [Pg 21] [Pg 22] [Pg 23] [Pg 24] [Pg 25] Leon cocked one barrel of his gun, planted his feet firmly upon the ground, and just then a hound, which answered to the description he had given to his cousin, except in one particular, emerged from the thicket. He ran along with his nose close to the ground, wagging his tail vigorously, and so intent was he upon his work that he did not immediately discover the boys. When he did become aware of their presence, however, he merely lifted his head long enough to give one look at them, and then took up his trail again. He was not at all afraid of them. Bugle—that was the name of the hound—knew everybody in the village; and everybody knew him, and liked him, too. "That is the last trail you will ever follow, my four-footed friend!" Leon exclaimed, as he raised his gun to his shoulder and waited for the animal to come out from behind a fallen log, which just at that moment concealed him from view. "Mind what you are doing," Frank whispered, laying his hand upon his cousin's arm, "That isn't the dog you want." "Yes, it is," was Leon's reply. "Why, you said Oscar's hound was half starved, and this one is as plump as a quail," protested Frank. "I guess I know what I am about!" answered Leon impatiently. He shook off his cousin's hand, drew his gun closer to his face, and just then the hound came in sight around the end of the log. Leon took a quick aim at his head and pulled the trigger. There was a commotion among the leaves, a howl of anguish, and when the smoke cleared away, the boys saw Bugle running at full speed through the woods, yelping loudly at every jump. He was out of sight in an instant. "There!" exclaimed Leon. "Go and hunt up your master, and tell him to keep his hands off my snares in future." "Let's dig out," said Frank hastily. "Oscar can't be far away, and you don't want him to find you here." No, Leon had not the slightest desire to meet Bugle's master after what he had done. He had talked very glibly about teaching Oscar to mind his own business if he could only get within reach of him for a few minutes, but he knew very well that that was something he could not do. Oscar was a young athlete, even if he was nothing but a market-shooter. Although he was a few months younger than Leon, he was a good deal larger and stronger, and it would have been no trouble at all for him to take Leon by the collar with one hand and Frank with the other, and give them both a hearty shaking. Probably Leon was afraid he would do it if he caught them, for he lost no time in acting upon his cousin's suggestion to "dig out." He ran so swiftly that he very soon left Frank behind, and the latter, who was quickly out of breath, begged him to hold up. "What makes you take to this rough ground?" panted Frank, as he toiled up a high hill which his cousin had climbed in his rapid flight. "Because the woods are thicker up here, and afford us better hiding-places," was Leon's answer. "Well, there's no need that we should run ourselves to death," said Frank, as he seated himself on a huge bowlder and drew his handkerchief across his forehead, "and I'll not go another step." "There's no need of it, for we are safe now. It is lucky there is no snow on the ground, for if there was, Oscar could follow us all day. We'll have a few minutes' rest, and then we'll see if we can shoot something for our dinner." Leon took his seat upon another bowlder a short distance away, and during the ten minutes he remained there he never said a word to his cousin. The latter did not speak to him either. Frank had no breath to waste in words, and Leon was busy with his own thoughts. He was by no means proud of the act he had just performed. He was a bad boy, but he was not wholly depraved, and his conscience smote him when he reflected that he had, in a moment of anger, deprived an industrious, hard-working youth of almost the only means he had of earning a livelihood and keeping a roof over the head of his widowed mother. He knew very well that the ambitious and high-spirited Oscar was not a market-shooter from choice. He followed the business for the same reason that a good many others follow a business they do not like —because he could find nothing else to do, and he was not the one to stand idly by and see his mother suffer for the want of the necessaries of life. "Father says he deserves a good deal of credit, and that there isn't one boy in a thousand who would do as well as he has done," thought Leon; and then he grew angry again. "What do I care for what father says?" he added mentally. "He is always ready to praise other boys, while for me he has nothing but scowls and cross words. I am glad I killed that old hound, and I am only sorry that Oscar hadn't got a dozen, so that I could shoot them all. He needn't think he owns all the birds in the country, simply because he makes a living by shooting them for market. Are you rested now, Frank? If you are, we'll go on." The young hunters did not have far to look to find the dinner of which they were in search. The squirrels were busy gathering their winter's supply of nuts, and on almost the first hickory tree they saw, they found three plump little fellows, [Pg 26] [Pg 27] [Pg 28] [Pg 29] [Pg 30] and bagged them all; two falling to Leon's double-barrel, and the other coming down with one of Frank's bullets through his head. As soon as they had secured their game Leon led the way to the bottom of the deep ravine, where they found a stream of water, beside which they built their fire. The squirrels were roasted on forked sticks over the flames; and when the bones had all been picked clean, and the last morsel of the lunch had disappeared, the truants stretched themselves at full length beside the fire, and listened to the howling of the wind which shook the leafless branches of the trees on the summit of the hills above them, and watched the little flakes of snow that now and then found their way into the ravine. The snow-storm, that all the weather-wise people in the village had been predicting for several days past, was now raging above their heads; but it did not reach them in their sheltered camp, for the thick screen of evergreens, which lined the foot of the high hills on both sides of the stream, effectually protected them from its fury. "It is of no use to think of hunting as long as it snows and blows like this," said Leon; "so we may as well stay here." "I was just thinking of something," said Frank. "Suppose we had found your snares all in order, and a partridge or rabbit in each one of them? What would we have done with the game? It wouldn't have been safe to take it home with us." "Of course it wouldn't," answered Leon. "We should have exposed ourselves at once. What could we have done with it? I never thought of that before, but there's one thing I have been thinking about all day: What are we going to say to father when we go home to-night?" "We'll not say anything to him. We'll hide our guns in the barn, and walk into the house as we do every night when we come from school." "I wish I needn't go home at all," said Leon spitefully. "I could have enjoyed myself to-day if I hadn't been continually haunted by the fear that something is going to happen. I declare, it is growing dark already. What time is it?" "Three o'clock," replied Frank, consulting his watch. "Is it as late as that?" cried Leon, jumping to his feet. "Where has the day gone? We mustn't stay here a minute longer. We have four miles to go, and if we are not at home within fifteen minutes after school is dismissed, we shall hear of it, I tell you!" Leon noticed that Frank did not appear to be quite so indifferent to the consequences of playing truant as he did when they started out in the morning. He sprang to his feet with all haste, and, after throwing his game-bag and powder-horn over his shoulder, assisted his cousin to put out the fire. When this had been done, the two boys clambered up the hill and struck out at a rapid walk for the village, where a great surprise awaited them. CHAPTER III. OSCAR AND HIS TROUBLES. "Preston, as soon as you get those goods tied up, Mr. Smith wants to see you in the office." The speaker was Mr. Anderson, junior partner of the firm of Smith & Anderson, the leading grocery and dry goods merchants of Eaton, and the person addressed was one of the clerks, who was engaged in putting up some groceries that had just been ordered by a customer. He was a sturdy, handsome boy of sixteen years of age, and until within a few days had been one of the most cheerful, light-hearted fellows about the store; but he had changed wonderfully of late, and the expression of melancholy his face always wore deepened as the junior partner leaned over the counter and whispered these words into his ear. "Very good, sir," he replied. "It has come at last," he added to himself, as the junior partner walked away. "I can't say I am surprised, for I have been expecting it. It is all up with me now. I don't care for myself, but what will become of mother?" The clerk's hands trembled as he went on tying up the groceries; and when the last article the order-book called for had been weighed out, and all the bundles had been placed on one end of the counter and marked with the owner's name, so that the man who drove the delivery wagon would know where to take them, he called all his courage to his aid and walked into the office, the door of which was open. As he entered, a gray-headed, hard-featured man, who was sitting on a high stool in front of the desk, turned and looked at him over his spectacles. "Mr. Anderson says you want to see me, sir," said the clerk. "Yes; I sent for you," replied the gray-headed man. "There is the money we owe you—fifteen dollars. We shall not need your services any longer." "Am I discharged, sir?" asked the boy, as he took the bills that were handed him. [Pg 31] [Pg 32] [Pg 33] [Pg 34] [Pg 35] [Pg 36] "Yes. Times are hard and trade dull, as you know, and we must begin to cut down our expenses. You are the youngest clerk in the store, and so you must go first." "May I ask you for a letter of recommendation, to assist me in obtaining another situation?" asked the clerk. "I am sorry you ask me for it, Oscar, for I can't consistently give it to you," replied Mr. Smith. The boy seemed to be utterly confounded. His face grew pale and red by turns, and as soon as he could speak, he said, with more spirit than his employer had ever seen him exhibit before: "Then you may as well acknowledge that your plan of cutting down expenses is merely a subterfuge. I know why I am dismissed, and I think you ought not to hold me responsible for my brother's rascality nor punish me for it. I regret it more than you possibly can, but I am in no way to blame for it." "We'll not argue the matter," answered Mr. Smith, turning to his desk and picking up his pen. "All I have to say to you, is that we do not need you any longer." "And all I have to say to you, sir, is good-day!" returned the clerk. He took his cap from the rack behind the door, walked out of the store like one in a dream, and turned down the street. He went on by the hotel, crossed the long bridge that spanned the creek, and hurried along the road as if he were trying to leave behind him all recollection of the scene through which he had just passed. "I can't go home yet," he kept saying to himself. "I haven't the heart to tell mother that I have lost my situation, for she has had so much trouble already that it is a wonder how she bears up under it as well as she does." For two hours Oscar tore along the road as if he were walking a match against time, but, fast as he went, his gloomy thoughts kept pace with him. The wind came down keen and strong from the hills, stripping the withered leaves in showers from the shade-trees on either side of the road, and causing the boy's hands and face to turn to a deep purple; but he never knew it. He was so completely wrapped up in his troubles that he did not see any of the teams that passed him, nor did he hear a single one of the invitations to ride that were shouted at him by the kind-hearted farmers. He could think of nothing but Mr. Smith's refusal to assist him in obtaining another situation, and he was only brought to his senses at last by the measured strokes of the town clock, which came faintly to his ears, followed almost immediately by the shrill whistle of the lock-shop. Then the boy stopped, and looked about him. He was standing on the summit of one of the highest hills, and the village of Eaton could be dimly seen in the distance. "It's twelve o'clock," said he to himself. "I had no idea it was so late. Now I'll go home. I must go some time, and I might as well go now as an hour later. Besides, mother will be uneasy if I am not there in time for dinner. Let's look this matter squarely in the face, and see what is to be done about it." Oscar had just found out that he was completely chilled through. He buttoned his coat, pulled his collar up around his ears, thrust his hands deep into his pockets, and set out to retrace his steps to the village. Oscar Preston could remember the day when he was as popular among the boys of his native town as his father, during his life-time, had been among them. Mr. Preston had been a contractor and builder, and was at one time thought to be well off in the world. He owned the house in which he lived, and had a small balance at the banker's; but one day he fell off the very church whose bell had just aroused Oscar from his reverie, receiving injuries which confined him to his bed for more than a year, and finally resulted in his death. During his long illness his savings rapidly dwindled away, and at last he found it necessary to mortgage his home in order to obtain money to support his family and pay his heavy doctors' bills. At the time this happened, Oscar was a student at the high school, and his older brother, Tom, was cashier and book- keeper in Smith & Anderson's store. His salary was small, but still he might have saved something to assist his father in his extremity if he had been so inclined. Tom, however, was wholly devoted to himself, and cared for nothing but his own pleasure. He thought more of horses and good clothes than he did of anything else, and his money, as fast as he earned it, went into the pockets of the tailor and the proprietor of the livery stable. Oscar was the only one who could be depended on, and he was prompt to do what he could. He left school, and, through the influence of friends, obtained a situation as clerk in the same store in which his brother was employed. He worked faithfully, and every dollar of the pittance he earned was placed in his mother's hands; he never spent a cent of it for himself. Mr. Preston's death was a severe blow to Oscar's mother; but she had another hard trial in store for her. In less than six months after he died Tom suddenly disappeared, taking with him three thousand dollars that did not belong to him. He had now been gone two weeks, and his employers had just completed the work of examining his accounts. During these two weeks a great change had taken place in Oscar. He noticed that a good many of the village people, [Pg 37] [Pg 38] [Pg 39] [Pg 40] [Pg 41] who had had a smile or a nod for him in happier days, never noticed him now. One or two of the clerks in the store would hardly speak to him, and at last his employers had discharged him because they were unwilling to allow any of their money to pass through his hands. This was the worst part of the whole miserable business. Oscar had never told his mother how he was shunned by some of his former friends, for she had trouble enough of her own to bear; but this was something he could not keep from her. "Mr. Smith has been down on me ever since Tom ran away," said Oscar to himself, after he had thought the matter over. "I have seen it plainly enough; and, if I could only step into another situation somewhere, I should be glad to leave him. But when I ask a man for work, and he wants to know why I was discharged, what shall I say? That's what hurts me." "Here you are, Oscar!" exclaimed a cheery voice, breaking in upon his meditations. "It is easier riding than walking. Jump in." An elegant top-buggy, drawn by a stylish, high-stepping horse, dashed up beside the boy, and the gentleman who was driving drew his reins with one hand, while with the other he threw back the heavy lap-robe so that the boy could get in. It was Mr. Parker—Leon's father. "I am obliged to you, but I believe I would rather walk," was Oscar's reply. "But I am not going to let you walk," said the gentleman, almost sternly. "Jump in here." Oscar was forced to smile in spite of himself; but it was a sickly smile, that did not fail to attract the lawyer's attention. "Now, then," he continued, after the boy had seated himself by his side and tucked the lap-robe about him, "what brought you so far into the country this cold day, without your overcoat? and what is the matter with you? You look as though you had lost your best friend." "And so I have, Mr. Parker," replied Oscar sadly. "Mr. Smith gave me my walking-papers this morning." "He did?" exclaimed the lawyer, opening his eyes. "What reason did he give?" "He says he is going to reduce expenses because times are so hard," answered Oscar. "But I know that there is something back of that, for he wouldn't give me a letter of recommendation." "He wouldn't?" "No, sir; he wouldn't. I asked him for one, and he said he couldn't give it to me. He has looked crossways at me ever since Tom has been gone. He thinks that because my brother abused the confidence the firm placed in him, I may abuse it, too." "Whew!" whistled the lawyer. "My discharge could not have come at a worse time," said Oscar. "I shall have to make a payment on that mortgage before long, and how am I going to do it now that I am thrown out of employment? If there were a dozen storekeepers in town who wanted a clerk, they would not hire me under the circumstances." Mr. Parker fastened his eyes upon the little gilt ball on the top of one of the church-spires in the distance, and made no reply. "I have been told more than once that old Simpson is a sharper, and that I had better look out for him," continued Oscar. "He is always ready to lend money on mortgages to people who, he thinks, will never be able to repay it, and as soon as it becomes due, he forecloses and sells them out of house and home. He owns a dozen farms about the village, and he has got them all in that way. When father died, he told two or three men in town that he would own our house some day. It is worth four thousand dollars, with the lot on which it stands, and the mortgage is only five hundred." The lawyer kept his gaze directed toward the distant spire, and said not a word until he drove into the village and reached the street in which Oscar lived. Then he drew up beside the curbstone, and as the boy was about to get out of the carriage, he laid his hand upon his shoulder and said impressively: "Remember this, Oscar: Heaven always helps those who help themselves. Don't give up." "Oh, I'll never give up!" was the quick reply. "There must be something in this town for me to do, and if there is, I'll find it before I sleep soundly. I hope you will believe me, Mr. Parker, when I assure you that I have not done one single thing since I have been in that store that I am unwilling my mother should know." "I do believe you, Oscar," said the lawyer encouragingly. "I have all faith in you. Mr. Smith may find out one of these days that he has made a great mistake. Keep up a good heart, and you will come out all right in the end." The accents of kindness touched the boy's heart. His eyes filled with tears, and, without stopping to thank the lawyer for his words of cheer, he turned about and hurried toward home, while Mr. Parker reined his horse away from the curbstone and drove on down the street. [Pg 42] [Pg 43] [Pg 44] [Pg 45] [Pg 46] He stopped in front of Smith & Anderson's store, and made his way into the office, where he found the senior partner seated on his high stool, busy with his books. The two men exchanged greetings, made a few remarks concerning the weather, and then Mr. Parker told the grocer why he had come there. "I understand that you paid Oscar Preston off this morning," said he. "Now, I am somewhat interested in that boy, for it was through my influence that he obtained a place in your store, and I'd like to know what is the matter with him. What is he guilty of?" "We haven't been able to fasten any guilt upon him," answered Mr. Smith. "We only suspect him." "Of what?" asked the visitor. "Now see here, Mr. Parker," exclaimed the grocer, "suppose you had a clerk working for you for twenty dollars a month, out of which he was obliged to support his mother and pay taxes on a property worth four or five thousand dollars, and that clerk should come to your office every day dressed in better clothes than you wear, and looking as though he had just come out of some lady's band-box, what would you think?" "Oho!" cried the lawyer. "Because Oscar takes pains to keep himself as neat as a new pin, you suspect him of till- tapping, do you? I can set your fears on that score at rest. In the first place, his mother makes all his clothes, and the boy has no tailor's bills to pay. In the next place, I have known him to make more money in a single week, in a little work-shop he's got at home, than you paid him for a month's services. He is the most expert taxidermist I ever saw. I have a case of birds in my house now for which I paid him forty dollars." "If he is making money as fast as that, why can't he keep his hands out of my drawer?" demanded the grocer. "Do you mean to tell me that he has been stealing?" exclaimed Mr. Parker. "I mean to tell you that somebody has been stealing!" was the reply. "Perhaps it was Tom. A young man who will make false entries in his books would not be above taking money out of the drawer." "No, it wasn't Tom. We have missed money since he went away." "I don't see how you can look into Oscar's face and think him dishonest," said Mr. Parker, who was very much surprised. "I would suspect any of your clerks before I would suspect him." "Well, I wouldn't. They have all been with me for a number of years, and I have never seen anything wrong with them. I watch my clerks pretty closely, too." "Then I don't suppose it would be of any use for me to ask you to take Oscar back," said the lawyer, as he rose and drew on his gloves. "It would be of no use whatever," was the prompt and decided reply. "I can't trust him, and I don't want him to touch any more of my money. I am certain that some of it has stuck to his fingers." "That settles the matter. But mark my words. You will one day discover that you have done that boy very great injustice. Good-day, sir!" "If I do, I shall make him all the reparation in my power," said the grocer. "Good-day, Mr. Parker!" The lawyer was disappointed, but he was not discouraged. He did not get into his carriage again immediately, but walked the whole length of the business portion of the street, entering several stores and calling upon some of his professional friends. He had a good word to say for the discharged clerk wherever he stopped, and the result was made apparent that very afternoon. Meanwhile, Oscar, all unconscious of the efforts that were being put forth in his behalf, was making all haste to reach home. It was long past the dinner hour, and he knew that his mother would wonder at his absence. She opened the door for him as he stepped upon the porch, and although he tried to smile and look as cheerful and happy as usual, she saw in a moment that there was something the matter with him. CHAPTER IV. THE YOUNG TAXIDERMIST. "What is it, Oscar?" said Mrs. Preston, while an expression of anxiety settled on her pale face. "Oscar, what has happened?" "Nothing much, mother," replied the boy. "I am discharged. That's all. Is dinner ready?" "O Oscar!" exclaimed his mother. [Pg 47] [Pg 48] [Pg 49] [Pg 50] "It's a fact. Mr. Smith wants to bring down his expenses, and, as I was the youngest clerk, of course I had to go." He said nothing about the grocer's refusal to give him the letter of recommendation for which he had applied. That was his own trouble, and he would not burden his mother with it. "Don't look so sober. We have funds enough in the bank to support us for a few months, and there are fifteen dollars more," he added, handing out the money he had received from Mr. Smith. "But...