Teddy Saw His Chum Paddle Away

CAMP MATES
IN MICHIGAN

or

WITH PACK AND PADDLE
IN THE PINE WOODS

by

ST. GEORGE RATHBORNE

CHICAGO

M. A. DONOHUE & COMPANY

CANOE AND CAMPFIRE SERIES

Four Books of Woodcraft and Adventure in the Forest
and on the Water that every Boy Scout should
have in his Library

By ST. GEORGE RATHBORNE

CANOEMATES IN CANADA; or, Three Boys Afloat on the Saskatchewan.

THE YOUNG FUR-TAKERS; or, Traps and Trails in the Wilderness.

THE HOUSE-BOAT BOYS; or, Drifting Down to the Sunny South.

CHUMS IN DIXIE; or, The Strange Cruise of a Motor Boat.

CAMP MATES IN MICHIGAN; or, With Pack and Paddle in the Pine Woods.

ROCKY MOUNTAIN BOYS; or, Camping in the Big Game Country.

In these four delightful volumes the author has drawn bountifully from his thirty-five years experience as a true sportsman and lover of nature, to reveal many of the secrets of the woods, such as all Boys Scouts strive to know. And, besides, each book is replete with stirring adventures among the four-footed denizens of the wilderness; so that a feast of useful knowledge is served up, with just that class of stirring incidents so eagerly welcomed by all boys with red blood in their veins. For sale wherever books are sold, or sent prepaid for 50 cents each by the publishers.

Copyright, 1913, M. A. Donohue & Co.

CONTENTS

Camp Mates in Michigan

or

With Pack and Paddle in the Pine Woods

CHAPTER I

THE UNWELCOME VISITOR IN CAMP

“Wake up everybody! Boarders ahoy! Hey! something’s after our grub! Hurry up, or we’ll be cleaned out!”

There was an upheaval of blankets in the lone tent that stood on the bank of a Michigan stream; then three boys came crawling every-which-way out, without more than a hazy idea as to what they were doing.

But at any rate, all of them seemed to know where their guns lay, for every fellow gripped one in his hands as he emerged in this manner from the interior of the khaki colored tent, made so by some waterproofing tanning process.

“What is it, Dolph?” demanded the first to arrive on the heels of the boy who had shouted the alarm, and whose name was Dolph Bradley.

“It jumped back, Teddy, when I poked my head out; and I think made up in that pine yonder,” came the quick response, as the aforesaid Dolph pointed with his gun.

“And was it getting away with some of our fine stuff?” asked Teddy, in evident dismay, as his eyes roamed toward a little pile of duffle at the foot of another tree close to the tent.

“It sure was. That’s the ham lying right out there, now, where I guess he dropped it at seeing me. After this we’ve got to take that into the tent with us, if we want to save the same.”

“But are we going to let the scamp get off scot free, after nearly wrecking the expedition; because if we lost our ham I’d feel like our best friend was gone? For one, I’d like to let this thief know what we think of him. I think I could put a charge of Number Sevens under his jacket, from my little Marlin here, that would do the business in double-quick style,” and Teddy Overton patted the repeating twelve-bore modern gun he held, with the air of one who knew he could depend on its hard hitting qualities.

“Let’s spread out a little, so as to cover more ground,” suggested Dolph; and with that the three boys moved apart, each with his weapon half raised, so as to be ready for quick work, if the necessity arose.

The one who as yet had not spoken a single word, gave the fire a kick in passing, and this caused it to blaze up afresh, just as he knew it would.

“Good for you, Amos!” exclaimed Dolph. “That makes it better to aim by. Does anybody glimpse him yet?”

“Not I; but see here, Dolph,” Teddy went on to say, “you haven’t told us what sort of a beast it was. Must be along the cat order, or it wouldn’t try to steal a whole ham, and then take to a tree, when you poked your head out to see what was doing.”

“It sure was a cat, and the biggest I ever ran across,” Dolph hurriedly declared. “You see, the fire was burning kind of low, and it jumped so quick I didn’t get more’n a glimpse of the thing; but there was something queer about it. If you asked me right off the shoulder now, I’d be apt to say it had little bells hanging from its ears!”

Teddy burst out into a laugh.

“Hear that, Amos?” he cried. “Rings on her fingers, and bells on her toes; she shall have music wherever she goes, eh? Sounds like that, doesn’t it? Now, I guess from what you say, Dolph, our bold visitor, that likes smoked ham so much, belongs to the lynx class of bob-cats.”

“What, a real Canada lynx?” exploded Dolph. “That excites me a whole lot, let me tell you; for if there’s one animal in this country I’ve always wanted to run across it’s a genuine lynx. Heard a lot about the sly things, too. Shot cats in Florida, Louisiana, Virginia, and up in Maine, but never saw a lynx. I hope you’re not mistaken, Teddy, and that I get a chance to clap my eyes on him.”

“Then look sharp; I know the beast’s habits pretty well,” ventured the other; whose father being a rich lumber merchant, it was only natural that the boy should be acquainted with these Michigan pine woods, and their furry inhabitants, “and the chances are that, having got a taste of our fine ham, he won’t want to clear out without trying to carry it with him.”

“Wait! I think I see something that looks like a big knob on one of his limbs!” exclaimed Dolph, eagerly.

“Hi! there, go slow!” cautioned Teddy, fearing an attack, if any blunder were committed; “a lynx only wounded can upset a whole camp like a twister of a cyclone had struck it, ain’t that so, Amos?”

“It sure is,” answered the third member of the party of campers, a stocky boy, who was not apparently as well to do as the others, if one could judge from the old gun he carried, and his general make-up; for while Teddy and Dolph had donned pajamas when they retired for the night, Amos had simply removed part of his day clothes, and crawled under his blanket that way; but from the manner in which he handled his weapon, he evidently felt pretty much at home in the wilderness.

“Does it seem to move, Dolph?” asked Teddy, when the other continued to bend his head forward, and stare at a certain point among the rather thick branches of the marked pine.

“Don’t seem to, and that’s what bothers me,” came the ready reply. “I rather think it can’t be much, either, because, if it was the lynx, I’d almost surely see his yellow eyes staring at me, wouldn’t I?”

“That’s what you would,” answered Amos.

“And that’s been what I’ve had my eye peeled for all the time,” declared Teddy. “But I wish somebody’d hurry up and glimpse the old thief. This night air ain’t as salubrious as it might be. Fact is, I’m beginning to get the shakes; and give you my word, it ain’t the excitement at all that’s making my hands tremble. Think that if I moved over this way a little, perhaps I might stir him up. Watch now, everybody; and shoot at the drop of a hat!”

As he said this, Teddy slowly started to walk farther away, so as to be able to investigate parts of the suspected tree that, up to then, had not come fully under observation. The revived fire was doing pretty well, for the flames had seized on portions of wood only partly burned, and were crackling merrily. And the light revealed the presence of two up-to-date canoes partly hauled up on the shore not thirty feet away from the tent, thus disclosing the fact that the trio of lads had used the water way in order to reach their present camp in the Michigan pines.

A sudden exclamation from Teddy announced that his latest move had met with at least some measure of success.

“See anything?” called out Dolph, eagerly, for he had been hoping that the opportunity to blaze away might come to him.

“Looks like it, but I’ll soon know,” replied the other, as he stooped to pick up some object. “I’m going to toss this piece of wood up there. Be ready now; for if it’s our visitor he’ll be apt to change his position. Here goes!”

With that he gave the object a quick twirl, and they could distinctly hear it stirring the outer branches of the pines, to fall to the ground again with a soft thud.

Teddy was heard to utter a sharp ejaculation, and from this the others understood that in all probability his little scheme had met with success. They glanced that way and saw him bend his head down to glance along the repeating gun’s matted barrel.

Then came a sudden report, and with it a shrill screech, that sounded very much as though Teddy could have made no mistake when he believed he was aiming at the hairy thief.

Loud outcries arose with the opening of hostilities.

“Did you nail him?” demanded Dolph, greatly excited.

“No, I guess not,” replied Teddy, in a chagrined tone. “The beast gave a jump just as I pulled trigger, and I must have cut the air where he sat. But he hasn’t left that tree yet, fellows. We command every side of the same; and unless he can fly, we ought to get another crack at him. Be lively, now, and try to do better than I did. I must still be in the greenhorn class, though I thought I’d graduated three years ago.”

“Oh! don’t worry about that!” sang out Dolph, cheerily: “mistakes will happen you know, even in the best regulated families. I’ve done worse than that more’n a few times; and I’ve hunted in a good many countries with my dad, you know. Wow! I wonder now, can that be the sly cat? Yes, looks like I can see twin glow-worms up there in that dark pocket. Had I better give him a try, Teddy?”

“If you feel pretty sure it’s the ham thief, why, go ahead and pot him; but as quick as you shoot, leap to one side; because I’ve always heard these lynx are just chain lightning on the jump, even when they’ve got their death wound.”

“Reckon I will then, because I ain’t hankering after feeling his claws rake me fore and aft,” replied Dolph, who came from Cincinnati, and was the son of a well known millionaire of that city.

“Steady, boy; make sure!” cautioned Teddy, as he saw that the other was aiming upward with his expensive gun, the finest that a celebrated firm in England could put together for any amount of money; but which even then Teddy would not have accepted for his own tried and true weapon.

Hardly had he spoken than Dolph fired. Remembering the warning given by his campmate the Cincinnati boy jumped backward as soon as he had fairly pulled the trigger. His heels catching in a root, the presence of which he knew nothing about, as a consequence he was tripped up, and went headlong to the ground.

Dolph was conscious of a shrill scream, this time not of anger but pain; and that some heavy body flew through space in the very spot which his form had occupied. That fall was the finest thing that could have happened to him, after all, because, in spite of his movement, the leaping lynx must have landed on him only for his sprawling on his back.

Realizing the desperate nature of his position Dolph rolled over once or twice before he even attempted to regain an erect position. Then, on his knees he worked at the mechanism of his expensive imported shotgun, only to find that somehow his fall must have jammed it; or else in his excitement he failed to do exactly the thing that was necessary, for he could not get another shell in the firing chamber.

“This way, quick; I can’t get my gun to work!” he shrilled, half believing that in another instant he would have the unfuriated and wounded lynx on top of him.

He could hear a dreadful threshing about only a few yards away from him; and the awful thought flashed through his head that perhaps the beast was clawing one of his chums. But as he immediately after saw Teddy coming on the jump from one direction, while the Michigan boy showed up from the other Dolph’s mind became easier.

“It’s over there—I must have hit it hard, from the racket the thing keeps up! Be ready to cover him, Teddy, Amos; because my plaguey old gun’s jammed, and I can’t get it to work!”

“Don’t bother,” said Teddy, with a short, nervous laugh; “I guess you potted your first lynx all right, old fellow. He’s sure kicking his last, if I’m any judge of things. But don’t get too close, mind you; they’re nasty, treacherous beasts at the best. And he might give some of us a streaking with his last effort.”

“Oh!” shouted Dolph, with such an odd inflection of alarm in his voice that the others were naturally startled.

“What’s the matter now?” cried Teddy, whirling around toward the other.

“There’s another cat crawling along on the ground—by ginger! two of ’em! Why, the woods must be full of them! We’re going to be swamped with lynxes, boys; and this gun just won’t behave half-way decent,” and Dolph ended with a groan as he kept working away excitedly at the mechanism of his repeating weapon.

“Where? I see one!” cried Teddy, as he swung his gun around swiftly.

“Bang!”

“That’s the end of him; now show me the other cat, will you, Dolph? Bring ’em on as fast as you like; as long as my little Marlin’s got a single shell left, I’m good for any amount of game. Where’s the next victim?”

“Over yonder, crouching at the foot of that tree; don’t you see its eyes now, Teddy?” whooped the boy from Cincinnati.

“Shure I do; and that means I’m due for another victim. Watch me rool his hoop for him, will you, fellows?”

“Bang!” went the repeating shotgun again.

“You did it that time too, Teddy! Oh! if only this old gun hadn’t got stuck just when I needed it most, I might have made a clean sweep of the lot!” cried Dolph. “I’ve got a good notion to smash the old thing against a tree, and do without the rest of the trip, that’s what!”

“Don’t think of it,” called out the lumberman’s son, steadily. “Perhaps after all you’re more to blame than the gun, Dolph. I’ve been that excited myself when in a bad hole, that I hardly knew how I was clawing at the right part of my gun to work a new shell in. Do you see any sign of my cats coming out of their trance again?”

“No, they seem as dead as doornails; that gun is a hard hitter, Teddy,” remarked Amos Simmons, as he handled his own rather old fashioned single shot weapon with something approaching a sigh, as of envy, though he never voiced such a feeling.

CHAPTER II

PADDLING AGAINST THE CURRENT

“Any more around that you can see?” Teddy went on to call out, hilariously. “If there are, let ’em step right up to the pursers’ office, and settle. But I rather think the pair I potted look sort of small for the lynx tribe. I guess they must be half-grown cubs, after all; and you got the mother, Dolph.”

“Just what they are,” announced Amos, who had strode forward, and was bending over the last victim of Teddy’s snap shots. “But pretty tough lookin’ customers at that, I tell you, boys. I kinder guess they’d put up a rushin’ fight, if cornered. But you wound ’em up one, two, three, Teddy, with that gun of yours.”

Amos was a real Michigan boy. He had been in logging camps ever since he was “knee high to a grasshopper,” as he always said; and was as tough as a pine-knot, so far as physical endurance went. Teddy had known him several years; and once before they had hunted in company around this very region. While the lumberman’s son and his friend from Cincinnati laid out this summer trip with pack and paddle through the pine woods of the upper reaches of the Wolverine State, Teddy had suggested hiring Amos to go along, not exactly in the nature of a guide, nor yet as a cook, but simply for company. And knowing that when far away from civilization two boys are apt to find it a bit lonely, Dolph had readily agreed.

He had heard his friend tell more or less about the natural ability Amos possessed as a doctor; and that it was the ambition of his life to later on take a regular course in some medical school. And Teddy had also confided to Dolph the fact that he meant to coax his father to see that the woods boy had his chance, when he reached an age to allow of such a thing; because he would make a fine doctor some day, as his whole heart was set on curing ailments, binding up wounds, and alleviating pain.

So it came that there were three of them in the party, with two canoes instead of just one overcrowded boat. Most of the duffle, such as the tent and the blankets, they usually stored in this one canoe, with a single occupant to ply the paddle, while the other two campers took charge of the second craft.

They had laid out a regular course, which would take them through the wildest part of the country of the peninsula, starting in at Manistique on the southern shore, where the waves of Lake Michigan beat the sandy strand, and following the winding, picturesque river up to the lakes that were said to be its source. At this point they expected to find some man who had a team capable of taking their light canvas canoes across country, until beyond the railroad they could be launched in the waters of the Tahquamanon river; following which to its mouth would bring the adventurous cruisers into the celebrated White Fish Bay of Lake Superior; and here they could skirt the shore until finally they arrived at Saulte Ste. Marie, where the waters of Superior rush down the mighty rapids into St. Mary’s river, thence through Lakes Huron, Erie and Ontario, and afterwards being carried along the mighty St. Lawrence river to the sea.

It was a noble trip to lay out, and the three boys had already spent some time making their way to the point where we find them passing a night on the bank of the river, at the time the wildcats invaded their camp, and produced such consternation, although paying dearly for their fun.

“Now come and take a look at your prize, Dolph!” Teddy called out, “and then it’s back to my downy for me; because I’m shaking all over, like a jelly-fish.”

He dragged the now defunct lynx out nearer the still blazing fire, so that the others could look it over.

“Ugh! I’m right glad now that root tripped me up,” remarked Dolph. “Only for that, those claws might have ripped me considerably before the beast keeled over.”

“I should say, yes,” chuckled Teddy. “And now excuse me, please, but I’m in for the grand disappearing act. I’ll chuck that fine ham inside the tent as I go. Better follow my example, Dolph, if you don’t want to catch cold. Get your gun to work yet?”

“Why, yes, it seems to; but I’m rather discouraged about the thing,” the other remarked. “Guess these repeating guns are a bit unreliable in a pinch.”

“H’m! not if you keep your wits about you, and do the right thing; but for any one apt to get rattled, the old style might be best. Not that I’m blaming you, this time, Dolph, because you had an ugly tumble, you see. Well, so-long.”

As neither of the other lads chanced to be feeling any too warm about then, they waited not upon the order of their going, but ducked into the tent soon after Teddy vanished. Amos, however, with the instinct of one who had spent pretty much all of his young life in the forest, waited long enough to throw several more large pieces of wood on the fire, meaning to find something warm when morning came along, for the air was sure to be cool up to the time the sun rose part way up in the eastern heavens.

There was no further alarm; and when dawn came peeping through the pines the campers were soon astir. However, no one seemed anxious to take the customary morning dip in the stream, so sharp was the air. Dolph had his fishing-rod jointed, it being a steel affair calculated to resist the rush of even a furious muscallonge. So, being an enthusiast in this sport, he was out the first thing, having a try to see whether he could not pick up a mess of trout for breakfast.

Fortune smiled on his efforts too, for he made several fairly decent captures, which Amos cleaned in the most approved style as fast as the fisherman threw them to him.

And in the end, just as the first rays of the sun found them out, from the delicate odors that were going up from that fire, such as coffee and trout, it was evident that the boys were in for a treat they never tired of.

While Dolph was doing the fishing, and Amos looking after breakfast, the third member of the expedition had another sort of job laid out for his amusement. This consisted in taking off the furry coats of the three dead lynx. They were all in a fair condition, though the shot holes would have to be hidden by the man who eventually made them into a rug; and for the summer season, when furs are generally pretty “skimp,” Teddy said they passed muster.

Amos knew how to cook trout so as to brown them in a crisp manner. He first of all “tried out” several slices of fat salt pork; and after the resulting liquid had become furiously hot, he dropped in the fish, that had first been dipped in cracker crumbs. It was very much after the manner in which the New England cook manages with her crullers, only no lard was used.

Each of the boys was gifted with a hearty appetite; and when breakfast was declared closed there were precious few crumbs to throw away, outside of the fish-bones. Yet Amos had seen to it that enough had been provided to satisfy all.

Afterwards came the duty of taking down the tent, and packing things away in the canoe that was used partly for their transportation, being paddled by Amos himself, the huskiest of the lot.

They had this thing reduced to a science, from long practice. Everything went in a particular place, and thus they economized in the matter of space, which counted for much on a trip of this sort.

“All ready?” sang out Dolph, as he balanced his paddle, sitting in the front of the canoe which he and Teddy managed.

“Just a minute more, while I throw some water on what’s left of the fire,” said Teddy. “You see, I’m a lumberman’s son, and I never like to think of taking chances of having the wind scatter the red-hot embers of a deserted camp fire, to start a forest blaze that might burn up millions and millions of feet of fine timber.”

“Yes’m you’re right, I believe in the same thing!” declared Dolph, “though I look at it from the view of a true sportsman, who will never, never leave a fire burning after him, when he breaks up camp. I was in one woods’ fire up in the Adirondacks two years back, and came mighty near having my crop of hair singed off; and they said it started just in that way, on a windy day. Why, in Maine, they won’t let hunters go into the woods without a licensed guide along, who is supposed to see to it that no chances are taken with fires left by careless city sportsmen; or rather men who like to call themselves by that name, though they are often a disgrace to the cloth.”

“Yes, I’ve run across a-plenty of that kind up here in Michigan, and over in Wisconsin,” remarked Amos. “We call ’em fish hogs up here, because, when they strike a lake where the trout bite free-like, they keep on throwing bushels out on the bank to die and rot. I hate the breed, and I think they just ought to be tarred and feathered, that’s what.”

“Same here,” remarked Teddy. “In my opinion every fellow who wants to call himself a true sportsman should give the animals and fish a chance to breed. When he’s caught all he can use, he ought to stop fishing, unless he happens to be using artificial flies, when he can put all the rest he takes back again, because they won’t be hurt that way. I’ve stopped many a time when using live minnow, because I knew that when bass gorge the bait, they’re sure to die, even if you do throw them overboard again. The hook tears them more or less. Well, everybody ready now?”

“O. K. here!” sang out Amos.

“Then let’s be off, for we’ve got a strong bit of work before us today, with all this water coming down the old Manistique,” and as he spoke, Teddy thrust his paddle deep in the running water of the river, and gave a thrust that started the canoe on its farther journey northward.

As they labored with regular movements the boys often indulged in laughter, and even broke out at times in bits of song; for they were light-hearted, and seemed to have few cares or troubles sitting on their broad shoulders. Indeed, the millionaire’s son, and the heir of the wealthy lumberman, certainly knew nothing at all of anxiety with regard to their well-being. Amos, being a poor boy, often doubtless tried to lift the veil of the future, eager to ascertain what lay in store for him there; but he was still young, and care does not weigh down youth very often. Besides, he enjoyed the company of his camp mates so much, that for the time being the woods boy felt supremely happy.

This sort of work continued until the sun had reached a position so near the zenith that they knew it must be close to the noon hour. And as their muscles had for some little time now, been feeling more or less sore, because of the constant labor, it was decided as usual to take a rest.

They would not let a chance pass by to have a fire going, even though the day had turned out quite warm. With such vast quantities of easy burning pine all around them, and Amos just wild to always take care of the fire, which he dearly loved, of course, they could not resist the temptation; and soon a crackling blaze was sending up its cheery song, such as has bolstered up the spirits of many a lonely camper all over the known world; for the fire is certainly one of man’s finest servants; but like some other things, a very bad master, once it is allowed to have its own head.

About an hour and a half afterwards, the voyage was resumed, though none of the boys paddled with just the same vim that had marked the start. It was now more in the nature of pure grit that carried them steadily along; the pleasure had mostly petered out during that hard dash of the morning.

And as the afternoon shadows began to lengthen perceptibly, it might be noticed that they were more frequently mentioning the fact that this place or that seemed to offer pretty fine prospects for a night’s lodging, though thus far no one openly advocated bringing the day’s run to a close.

There were parts of this section of country where the great Overton Lumber Company had its numerous squads of men busy in the winter season, cutting timber, which, however was getting more and more scarce in the peninsula of Michigan every year.

It chanced that there was a rival company, also a big corporation, which, being exceedingly jealous of the success attending the work of the Overton, never tired of trying all sorts of games calculated to run the other out of the district. Teddy amused his camp mates many times, when sitting around the fire of nights, by relating how his father managed to outwit the owners of this rival concern on more than a few occasions, when they came to loggerheads.

And the men were almost as bitter toward each other as their employers; so that each, winter there were one or more regular battles when the Overton loggers chanced to be cutting within a few miles of the rival camp.

“We’ve all got to clear out of this before a great while,” Teddy would remark, doubtless echoing the words he had heard his father say; “because the available timber is getting less and less every year. That’s what makes things so warm between the two companies, you see. Amos, here, used to work for the Combine once, and he knows what underhanded tricks they keep on trying to play, with the idea of forcing us out of the State, so as to leave things to them. But it don’t work. My dad is some fighter himself; and with the law back of him, he just laughs at threats. But sometimes it makes mother afraid that they may do something desperate. Once a shot was fired at him, and the bullet clipped a piece out of his hat. Never learned who did it; but dad always believed it was a thug hired by the other company to scare him a little. But we’re still here on deck, and this year expect to cut more timber than ever. Might as well get our share of it while the stuff lasts.”

The three paddlers kept up their steady work, as the sun headed down into the western sky.

“How about those clouds over yonder, Teddy?” asked Dolph, when the afternoon was possibly two-thirds gone. “Looks a little like rain, don’t you think?”

“Where?” ejaculated the other, eagerly, as though he just welcomed a chance to call a halt upon the day’s doings. “Well, yes, to be sure they have got a sort of ugly look. P’raps we’d just as well draw in at that point ahead, and make things snug for the night. Because we’ve been favored with good weather up to now, mustn’t make us think we’re always going to have the same. You never know what’s going to come up in a night; and for that reason I always make it a point, even when things look as peaceful as they could, to secure the canvas of a tent, just as if I knew a terrible storm was going to break on me. Got left once, with my canvas carried high up in the branches of a tree, just through pure carelessness; and it served as a lesson I’ll never forget. Head in, Amos; we’re going to land there under that leaning tree. Looks like a dandy camp site, with all those extra big trees around. And honest, fellows, I must say I’m pretty near played out with fighting that pesky current all the live-long day. Here’s where we find rest. Hurrah for the next camp! for every new one is the best, you know!”

CHAPTER III

THE JOY OF CAMPING OUT

To tell the truth, none of them showed any signs of disappointment because the labor of the day was done. It was no child’s play, urging the canoes against the volume of water the flowed down the Manistique on the occasion of their voyage. And as they had come out for fun, and not to earn a living with the paddle, the boys knew when they had enough.

So, after bringing the two boats ashore, they drew them partly out of the water at a place that seemed to have been just designed for that very purpose by a kind Nature, as the beach was shelving, and sandy too, for a wonder.

It was quickly decided just where the tent should be erected. There were a few general rules governing this part of the daily programme, which all of them knew by heart. First of all, it was necessary to select ground that was not on the dead level, so that in case of a rain during the night, the inmates of the tent would not find themselves knee-deep in a flood. And with those clouds hovering in the southwest, they felt it wise to make assurance in this respect doubly sure on this particular night.

Then the camp must be pitched away from any sort of swampy patch, which could not only breed mosquitoes by myriads, but prove malarial as well. And having an eye to the picturesque, the boys always saw to it that they could arrange the front of the tent toward the water. It was so pleasant to look out, and see the little waves dancing in the moonlight, as well as hear the musical gurgle so dear to the hearts of all those who love the great Outdoors.

And last, but not least, the tent must be within a reasonable distance of the two canoes. There was no particular reason to suspect that any damage might happen to the craft, either from accident, or the malicious designs of evil-minded persons; but since they must depend solely on the mosquito boats, as they are often called, to carry them over the course they had charted out, and the walking was not at all to their liking, it behooved Teddy and his camp mates to keep an eye on them during the periods of their resting, between sunset and dawn.

Each one of the three had his regular duties to perform. While these were sometimes changed around, so that things might not become too monotonous, still, as a rule, Teddy and Dolph saw to erecting the tent, while Amos lugged the plunder from the canoes, packing it into camp, and after that started a fire.

Amos dearly loved a fire. He seemed to be one of those boys who can sit for perhaps a solid hour, staring into the snapping blaze, with a rapt look on his face; just as though he saw pictures there that gave him infinite satisfaction. Who has not enjoyed this pleasure to some extent, while surrounded by the primitive forest; unless you have, you do not know one half the joy of living?

And after the fire was burning briskly, Amos was ready to attend to almost any thing that chanced to come along. If either of the other boys happened to be fishing he wanted to prepare the catch as it was brought in; so that sometimes Dolph used to declare that the trout flopped right from the water into the frying-pan; the span of their existence between the two was so brief.

But tonight they did not think of fishing, though Dolph cast a wistful eye along the brink of the river, and mentally noted several likely spots which he meant to try in the morning, if the fates allowed. But with those threatening clouds spurring them on, it was decided that they had better get supper over with as soon as possible.

“No telling,” Teddy had remarked, with a grin, “but what we’re in for a stormy night. I wouldn’t be surprised to find the lot of us holding on to the guy ropes of this tent around midnight, like all get-out, to keep the bally thing from kiting up in the trees. Then again, there may be no wind, no rain, nothing at all. You never can tell. A fellow has just got to be always prepared when he’s camping out; or sometime he’ll get caught napping, and have a healthy old time hustling to save his chattels.”

Amos knew how to cook, for he had filled that position, or rather as an assistant, in a logging camp one winter. But of course, the rough fare the husky timber choppers need, differs vastly from such food as the sons of rich men would be apt to take with them into the woods; and Amos had to learn a few new wrinkles, under the tutelage of the others, who were experienced hands at such things.

Doubtless the woods boy had never in all his life sniffed coffee that had the delicious aroma of that high-grade Java; and when it came to tea, Amos, who had up to this time believed that to be a concoction only meant for old maids, discovered that a cup of fragrant Ceylon, made in the only proper way, was simply unequalled as “refresher,” after a hard day’s work.

This is the way he went about making it; and any boy who cares to get the best out of things, would do well to remember the simple directions.

It would have been better if the campers had possessed a teapot made of crockery but since that could never be thought of, since it was apt to be broken, and would weigh too much, they had to use the next best thing, which was one made of pure aluminum.

Taking this, when the water had come to a boil Amos poured a little in the tea pot, to heat it, and then dashed it out. Then he put in the right quantity of tea, which in their case for three was a heaping teaspoonful; after which he poured a small quantity of the boiling water over it, and set the pot near the fire, where the tea could “steep” or “draw.”

Not more than seven to ten minutes later, he filled it with the hot water, and the tea was ready to use. A very simple formula, but essential if the best results are wanted.

Of course, some readers might scoff at paying so much attention to small things; but nearly every lad who has camped out, as so many thousands of Boy Scouts are now doing for the first time every summer, discovers that half the pleasure of the outing springs from such little things being properly done. No efficient and painstaking scout master will think of allowing his boys to do things in a careless, happy-go-lucky way. And once they learn the pleasure of knowing the right methods, there is no fear of them doing anything else. A boy who knows better will turn up his nose at coffee improperly made, and shame the careless cook into decent methods.

Besides the tea, the three camp mates had what Teddy called a “canoeist’s delight.” It was really a stew or “hodge-podge,” being a mixture of several “left-overs” from previous meals. There was some corned beef hashed up, some Boston baked beans, a little canned corn, and a few pieces of bacon, with the balance of the drippings that had not been thrown away, but preserved in the can the corn had come in. And with healthy appetites backing them up, the three boys were ready to agree that never did any dish at the family table satisfy them one-half so well as this wonderful concoction.

The chances are, that had it been placed before either Teddy or Dolph when at home, with a snowy tablecloth on the table, and silver and cut glass around, they would have sniffed at it suspiciously, and ordered it taken away at once. But it was different here. Their looks were more than a few times directed toward the largest sized kettle in the outfit, which had been used to cook the mess, as though their one fear was whether there would be enough for a third helping all around.

Teddy took considerable pride in that aluminum outfit. He had paid a round sum for it, too. It was intended for six people, because Teddy said that there was never any knowing how many might sit around the campfire on occasion; and being a big-hearted generous fellow, he was bent on all having enough.

The several kettles all nested in one another, as did the cups; and with the numerous other things comprising the complete outfit, it made an appearance to quite take the eye of a camper.

Amos kept them well shined too. He did not like to see the aluminum discolored, and was forever polishing the kettles and coffee and tea pots with a preparation that came with the outfit.

“The biggest mistake we made,” declared Teddy, as, having finished supper, they sat around, helping Amos clean up, “was about Amos here.”

Dolph looked up quickly, a puzzled expression on his face; and even the woods boy smiled as he waited to hear the other explain; though he knew only too well that Teddy Overton was too fond of him to say anything mean.

“How was that?” Dolph asked.

“Why, I should never have thought of allowing Amos to come along without his fiddle, as he calls his violin,” the lumberman’s son said. “He thought it might be in the way in the canoe; but I know he misses it terribly. I’ve seen him sigh when he sits there, looking into the fire; and every time I’ve known what was on his mind. He found his fingers just fairly itching to hold that bow of his, and work it across the strings.”

“Why, I didn’t know Amos played the violin,” remarked Dolph, looking interested.

“Well, he doesn’t—only the fiddle. They’d laugh to have a fit if you called it anything but that in a logging camp. And Amos used to be the most popular boy all through the winter, when the men were out in the snow woods cutting timber. He had to play for them every single night. They never seemed to get tired of hearing Money Musk, Arkansaw Traveler, and all those old pieces. And I tell you, Amos can just make his fiddle talk. He had it along when we spent several weeks in these pine woods before; and night after night we used to have a regular musicale by the light of the fire. Why, I’ve seen the little chipmunks come stealing along, with their ears cocked up, as though they were taking it all in; and one night a raccoon fell off the branch of a tree, nearly on top of Amos. I always said that the music had made him dizzy, it was so sweet. But there, let’s drop that subject. It makes Amos homesick, I guess, to remember how he won’t be able to touch a fiddle again for a whole month.”

An hour later, and the three boys were taking things easy. The storm clouds did not seem to have crept up any farther that they could see, and as yet it was a question no one could decide, as to whether they would be visited by a storm during the night, or not.

Amos has been getting another armful of wood to throw down near the fire, so they would have plenty, if it was thought advisable to keep the blaze going, for frequently these Michigan summer nights feel pretty cool around about two o’clock; and it is nice, if one comes out to take a look at the weather, to see a cheery fire going.

With the wood still in his arms, the lumber camp boy bent his head in passing the others; and in a low but very distinct voice uttered a few sentences that gave both Teddy and Dolph a thrill:

“Don’t jump, or show any signs of excitement, either of you,” was what Amos said in a whisper, “but there’s a man hiding behind those bushes just above our boats; I saw him duck down as I came nearer; but I never let on the least bit that I’d glimpsed him. Better just change your sets a little, so as to be nearer your guns, boys. And when you’re ready, Teddy, give the word, so I c’n grab up mine. I don’t like the looks of things, that’s what.”

All of this Amos muttered while he was rustling the wood, and laying it down piece by piece, in a heap near the fire.

CHAPTER IV

AMOS GIVES WARNING

“Wonder if he’s alone?” Teddy remarked, in a low voice to Dolph, as he hitched himself along a few inches nearer the spot where his Marlin shotgun rested against a tree.

“But what under the sun can he want, spying on us this way?” asked the other, who was in the Michigan pine woods for the first time, and not so well acquainted with things as the lumberman’s son.

“We’ll soon find that out,” remarked the other, in a louder voice, as he saw that Dolph could easily reach his own foreign made weapon. “Are you all ready, boys? Then catch on!”

Each of them snatched up a gun. There was not a sign from the vicinity of the bushes mentioned by Amos. Could it be that the other had made a blunder, after all? Had his eyes been blinded with so much looking into the fire, that he mistook some stump, or the remains of a log, for a man?

Teddy gained his feet, the others following his example. Three guns were brought to bear, covering the suspected spot.

“Come out! Show a leg; or we might take a notion to send a shot in there!” called Teddy, in a belligerant tone, making a threatening motion with his gun at the same time.

Immediately the bushes stirred. Then a tall and brawny figure came into view, that of a red-bearded man, clad in rough attire, as became a woods nomad. In one hand he gripped an old-fashioned gun, something like that of Amos’. But just then he was busily engaged in holding it up, as he tried to make the Indian “peace sign,” by exposing the palms of both hands as well as he was able.

“Hold on, boys; I wouldn’t do nawthin’ rash, if I was you. I’m only too willin’ ter kim into camp. Jest snuck up ter find out who an’ what ye war. Happens that thar be lots o’ hard characters aroamin’ those woods hyarabouts; an’ a decent respectable man hes to be putty keerful who he makes up with. I jest seen ye was all ter ther good, when ye called me.”

He kept on advancing as he spoke in this strain.

Teddy had seen many just such rough looking men among the scores of husky loggers employed by his father. He knew it was never safe to judge a man by either the clothes he wore, or his general appearance. Some of the hardest looking of them, upon closer acquaintance, would turn out to be big-hearted fellows, and as honest as the day was long. Then again, there was just as strong a chance that the same fellow would prove to be a scoundrel.

In the woods, men have to know each other before they become friends. Looks go for little, and words less. A man is what he proves himself to be.

Teddy was only a boy, and he had not rubbed up against a hard world after the fashion of Amos Simmons. And yet he certainly did not like the looks of this big man any too well. There was that in the other’s face to tell only too plainly his love for strong drink; and being a strictly temperance boy himself, Teddy had little use for any one who was addicted to liquor.

Besides, he could not help but think there was something mighty suspicious about the manner in which the man was sneaking about their camp. Why should he crawl up, and lie there in those bushes, just as though anxious to listen to what the boys were talking about? If, as he said, he wished to make sure that they were decent campers, and not lawless persons, why, a single look at their canoes, and the boys themselves, must have told him that. There would be no need of all this caution; unless possibly the man might be a fugitive from justice, and suspicious of every party he met, thinking it might represent a sheriff’s posse come to hunt for him.

The thought was not particularly pleasant to Teddy. He determined to keep his Marlin within each reach while the giant was in camp; and he sincerely hoped the stranger might not take a notion to remain with them over night.

Perhaps he had had evil designs on some of their property—the beautiful green canoes that must look particularly inviting to any one tired of tramping through the endless pine woods; or could it be that lovely aluminum set of cooking utensils that was piled up in plain sight?

Teddy noticed that the man had his eyes fastened almost greedily on the gun which he himself was holding; why, he did not even seem to waste a glance upon the more expensive weapon which Dolph sported. And that would seem to prove that he knew a good thing when he saw it. Indeed, since he himself carried an old-fashioned gun, no doubt a substantial up-to-date weapon must appeal to him, as a hunter.

The fellow saw that they no longer made any threatening motions. He showed his cool assurance by dropping down on the ground, not a great distance away from the fire; and sniffing the air in a way that could have but one meaning. He was hungry, and would like to have something to eat.

Woods hospitality is no respecter of persons. If a hungry man comes into camp and asks for a bite, common decency compels one to feed him, even though later you expect to order him on, at the muzzle of your gun.

So Teddy made a motion to Amos, which the latter easily understood. He started to make a pot of coffee, knowing that the man would never drink tea. Besides, Amos deliberately opened another can of corned beef, which he expected the giant would entirely devour, since he must be possessed of a tremendous appetite.

There were crackers, and some left-over biscuits which Amos had cooked on the preceding day in a little make-shift oven. All these he began to set out before the man, before another word had been said.

It was not considered polite to ask any questions before the edge of the stranger’s appetite had been taken off. The first thing Teddy inquired was very naturally in connection with his identity.

“Would you mind introducing yourself to us?” he asked, as he watched the terrific inroads being made on their stock provisions; while Dolph was figuring on just how many days their larder could stand such an onslaught.

“Me? I’m Gabe Hackett,” remarked the giant, with a quick glance toward Amos. “Used to be logger onct; knowed Amos Simmons, too, when I worked fur ther Woodstock Company a cupple o’ years back. I been about everything thar is—trapper in winter time, takin’ nigh a thousand muskrat pelts one season; timber cruiser, a skirmishing through, new fields lookin’ fur wood that cud be bought up by my company; trader; spruce gum collector; honey harvester, whar the bees they lays up a store o’ the sweet stuff in holler trees. Reckon I ’bout near been all thar is for a honest man ter make a livin, at, up hyar in the Michigan woods.”

“And what are you doing now?” asked Teddy.

The man started slightly, and gave the other a quick look; but evidently he was reassured by the manner of his questioner, who appeared to be solely seeking knowledge, for the inquiry was made in good faith.

“Right now I’m tackling a new dodge,” he chuckled. “I wouldn’t tell everybody, ’cause thar be some fellers as’d take advantage o’ me; but I kin see that you ain’t built that way. Why, I’m hunting roots jest now.”

“Roots!” echoed Dolph, greatly interested because it happened that he was himself more or less interested in botany, and had even gone out on an expedition in search of medicinal roots with a professor of a Cincinnati college, whom his rich father thought a good bit of, and patronized to the extent of sending him to Europe each summer to study.

“That’s it, younker; wild ginseng, golden seal, an’ all them kinder things ye know, that brings good money, if on ’y ye happen on whar they grows. Swamps ain’t too planty up this aways; down in Indiana, now, whar I kim from, why they used to be jest heaps o’ them weeds, but in them days nobody ever thort they was wuth picking up. I hed an ijee o’ hiking back thar; but a letter tole me the place was jest cleaned out o’ every root, and that farmers was aplantin’ ginseng by the acre.”

At least the information was interesting. It might be true, or on the other hand, Gabe Hackett was possibly inventing this plausible excuse for his presence in that neck of the land. Teddy went on to ask a few more questions.

“And have you met with any success at all; p’raps you might show us some of these same roots. I’ve heard a heap about them, but wouldn’t know one from another, though my chum here, Dolph Bradley, from Cincinnati, knows something about—what is it, botany, or rootology or what?”

Gabe shrugged his shoulders, as he replied, with his mouth half full of beef:

“Reckons ye’d never know what they was like, if so be ye had ter depend on the amount I’ve been able ter pick up, this far. Why, I ain’t never set eyes on a thing wuth takin’, and that’s the truth. But I got an agreement ter meet up wid a feller by the name o’ Crawley, as sez he kin pilot me ter whar we kin git jest piles o’ that wild ginseng. Hopes as how he ain’t mistook it fur somethin’ else; ’cause I needs ther money right bad. I gotter try an’ show up at his shack afore mornin’ too, wuss luck, else I’d like ter stay with ye, an’ heve another shake at that prime coffee in ther mornin’.”

Teddy and Dolph could not help exchanging a sly look; they were so glad to hear this last bit of news. It would have been very unpleasant having such a guest all night long; and his presence must have necessitated a constant vigil being kept. Indeed, so far as that went, Teddy was already of a mind that they would be wise to stand guard; for the very fact of his being somewhere in the vicinity, possibly with a boon companion of the same stamp, was enough to make one uneasy with regard to the safety of their belongings.

Happening to glance toward Amos, who had not been saying a word all this while, Teddy caught him winking one eye, and making a suggestive motion with his head. He guessed instinctively that the woods boy wished to find a chance to speak with him aside, where the visitor might not hear.

Dolph had taken what the man had said about the roots as Gospel truth. He was trying to squeeze some information out of Gabe; and the other on his part seemed endeavoring to dodge the same by cautious replies, so as not to expose his blank ignorance in the matter too much.

So Teddy found an opportunity to stretch himself, and get up from his seat, as if tired of sitting. He had noticed that Amos was no longer near the fire; and on glancing toward the twin canoes, saw him bending over one of the small, dandy craft, as though examining some scratch that he had noticed before.

Teddy walked in that direction. He knew that he was followed by the eyes of the visitor, who must have considered it a little odd that the boy persisted in carrying his gun along with him on such an occasion. But however that might be, Hackett did not see fit to express his disgust in words, though he may have frowned some, and gritted those strong yellow teeth of his in an ugly manner.

Reaching the vicinity of the canoes, Teddy pretended to be as deeply interested in the supposed scratch made by a snag as Amos was. But when their heads came close together Amos took advantage of the opportunity to say softly:

“A bad egg, that Gabe Hackett, Teddy, believe me! Tell you about him after he’s shook the roost, and gone about his way. Wouldn’t set anything past him. Watch your gun, and everything else while he’s around. Why, he’d steal a coffee-pot if he had half a chance. Used to be the cock of the walk once at the lumber camp; but since then he’s slid down the ladder some, I’m telling you. Hunting ginseng, he says; but I’d rather believe he’s bein’ paid by that Woodstock Company to foller you, and find out what the son of the president of the Overton Lumber Company is doing up in the pine forests; and that’s what!”

CHAPTER V

THE ROOT HUNTER

“Well,” remarked Teddy, softly, “what you’re telling me doesn’t flabbergast me one little bit. I just guessed that much from looking at the fellow, and hearing him talk. We’ll keep an eye on him, all right; and if he steals anything from our camp this night, why, he’s welcome to it, that’s all. But we’d better act like we had only come over here to examine this boat, and see how bad a mark that snag made in the varnished side. He’s got his eye on us all the while; I can feel it.”

“Righto!” replied the woods boy, cheerfully, his mind relieved, since he had given his friend and employer proper warning, so that the burden was no longer on his shoulders.

A few minutes later they walked back to the fire, engaged in discussing whether the snag “bite” would prove serious at some future time; and if so, should they cover the spot with a piece of canvas, brought along for mending purposes.

Hackett watched them suspiciously, and seemed to strain his hearing in the endeavor to make out what they were saying. He seemed relieved upon catching the burden of their talk, as though it proved that they had not been discussing him while away.

By the time he finished eating, there was nothing more in sight. Dolph was of the opinion that the giant’s capacity was of such an unlimited nature, that if given an opportunity he could have lessened their stock of provisions alarmingly, before calling a halt.

“Must say that I never seed such a dandy outfit as ye boys kerry,” Gabe was pleased to remark, as he looked enviously around him; “canoes that jest take me eye; guns sech as I never handled in all my life; and ther cutest cookin’ things as was ever got up. Must take a heap o’ hard cash ter buy sech things. An’ thet coffee, say, will I ever forgit it? Like as not the taste’ll stick with me forever. Ain’t nawthin’ hardly I wouldn’t do, if so be I could aim the money ter buy sich coffee. P’raps ye wouldn’t mind leavin’ me the name, an’ fust dollar I find rollin’ up hill, hang me if I don’t invest the same in it. I could do with little else, if I got a drink like that. It beats any old pizen whiskey I ever swallered.”

“That’s where you’re right, Gabe!” remarked Teddy, quickly; “and if a lot of our men only thought the same, and carried it out, they’d be better off for it. Perhaps you’ve guessed it before, but I might as well tell you that I’m Teddy Overton, the only son of the president of the lumber company that’s a rival of the one you used to work for.”

“Yep, I guessed it, an’ why—’cause in the fust place ye’re the image o’ yer daddy; and then agin, I see ye onct at the store,” the visitor went on to say.

Then, although he had known this fact from the start, was there some hidden reason why Gabe had not said a word about it?

They went on talking for a while, the man evidently in no hurry to leave his comfortable seat in order to once more take up his walking through the pine forest.

Teddy could not but notice how often those greedy eyes rested on his gun; or it might be something else belonging to the outfit. Plainly Gabe Hackett was wishing some great good fortune might throw a chance in his way to gain possession of some of these things.

And Amos thought he saw more than that, as he continued to watch the burly former logger out of the tail of his eye. He had just mentioned to Teddy a suspicion that was creeping through his mind; and sitting there, the boy kept following it up, trying to make ends meet, yet never seeming quite able to do so.

He wondered why Gabe should look toward Dolph so many times, and always with a sudden little tightening of the lips. If it had been Teddy now, Amos could understand, and believe that the unprincipled man might be plotting some harm to the son of the lumberman who defied the Trust; but Dolph was a stranger in these Michigan woods, his home being in faraway Cincinnati.

Could it be barely possible, Amos wondered, that this rough man knew about the father of Dolph being a man of almost unlimited money, one of the big millionaire manufacturers of the thriving city on the bank of the Ohio; and was he even daring to lay some bold plan, looking to kidnaping the boy, to hold him for a ransom?

Lots of people would say that such things, while being done frequently in Italy, Greece, and such Old World countries, were just impossible in up-to-date free America. Why even Amos knew it was just to the contrary. He read the papers every chance he could get; and many a time had he discovered where Italians, or others, had taken to these methods, with the idea of forcing people with money to divide with them.

There was that case of the Cudahy boy, for instance; and numerous others of like boldness. Oh! no, such things are not at all confined to Europe. They are being planned and executed right in our own country, every week. The only question that staggered Amos was how such a small-minded fellow as this giant, could ever engineer a scheme like this. But perhaps he may have backing they knew nothing of; and that there were wheels within wheels. Dolph might be made to disappear, just to make it look as though Teddy Overton’s abduction were in the ordinary nature of things; when in truth it was all being done to force the lumber company to seek new fields, and leave this region to the opposition.

So Amos was wrestling with a pretty big proposition as he sat there by the fire, listening to the man talk, and hoping to pick up a few little clues from what he said, that might lead to disclosures.

It all came back to Amos later on, under entirely different conditions; to give him new chances for anxiety.

The hour was getting rather late, and still Hackett lingered on, loth to once more continue his lonely tramp. He said he was waiting for the moon to rise; but even after the battered remnant of the heavenly luminary put in an appearance over the trees across the river, he made no movement looking to immediate departure.

“Why do you suppose he keeps hanging on so?” Teddy managed to ask Amos, aside, as they chanced to enter the tent together for some purpose.

“P’raps he wants you to ask him to have another little snack?” suggested the woods boy, with a chuckle.

“Well, he’ll wait a long time, then, I tell you,” complained Teddy. “Why, that fellow could eat us out of house and home in three days, and then not half try. Did you ever see such a mouth? He takes a bite that would be three to me.”

“Huh! I cooked for him one winter,” remarked Amos, as though that circumstance ought to tell how much he knew concerning the capacity of Big Gabe to stow away provisions. “Kept us busy, right along, too, I’m promising you. But we’d better get outside again; he’s that slick he might pull the wool over Dolph’s eyes, and make away with a package of our coffee.”

When they came out, greatly to their delight they found that Gabe was on his feet, stretching his six feet three.

“Hate ter do hit the wust kind, boys,” he was remarking. “You all hev been so kind to me, I’d like ter stop over jest till mawnin’, so’ds ter hev another drink o’ that fine coffee. Don’t s’pose now, he could spare a feller one leetle cupful o’ the same? I’d take it handsome now, sure I would. An’ it’d help me git over the miles I gotter go afore mawnin’; jest ter smell it every little while’d help right sum.”

Teddy jumped over to the mess chest. There was a can full of the ground coffee in this; and besides, he calculated that they had an abundance, and to spare. Even if they had to go on short rations, if the giving of a cup of the pulverized berry from the South Seas could help hurry Gabe off, he was willing to endure the privation.

And so he found a paper bag to pour the fragrant stuff in. When he handed this over to Gabe the big ex-logger sniffed at it with what was intended to be an expression of bliss on his bearded face, rolling his eyes at the same time heavenward to signify his thanks.

“That’s the stuff, young fellers! Never seed the like, give ye my word for hit. I’m glad ye writ me the name o’ the brand, an’ tells me whar I kin git the same. I’m a-goin’ ter hev that coffee arter this, or know the reason why.”

He folded the paper bag, and thrust it in the outer pocket of his coat; though Amos afterwards remembered seeing the corner of the packet sticking out.

Shortly afterwards Gabe took his departure. He gave one last look around ere doing so. It might be to impress the appearance of all those fine outing arrangements in his memory, so that he could recall them at some future time, when sitting at his lone camp fire; or on the other hand, possibly he wanted to know just how the camp was laid out, for some other purpose, not so honorable.

But the boys were glad to be rid of him.

“Hope we never set eyes on Gabe again,” remarked Teddy, after they had seen him pass out of sight, up the river.

“Well, since he seems to be heading in the same direction we’re bound, we might run across the man again,” remarked Dolph. “But honest now, between us, Teddy, I couldn’t swallow all he said about hunting roots. You see, the man doesn’t even have an idea what wild ginseng looks like; and as for golden seal, he would pass it by every time, judging from some remarks he made. Now, what would such an ignorant man want, hunting valuable medicinal roots up here?”

“But if not that, what is he after then?” queried Teddy with a frown on his young face, as though a faint suspicion had even begun to trouble him.

“He knows you are the son of Mr. Overton, the president of the lumber company; and he admits that he used to work for the opposition. Perhaps he’s still in their employ, Teddy; perhaps he means to do something to you, something that will give his company the whiphand over your father.”

It was Amos who said this; but Teddy laughed at such an idea. He declared that the most they had to fear from Big Gabe was his thievish propensity. Possibly he might be sorely tempted to come back, and try to loot the camp. His actions had shown them that he was envious of the fine guns they carried, as well as all those other things, the like of which the man had never seen before.

“I’m going to put in a couple of shells of the finest bird shot I’ve got,” he went on to say, grimly; “and whichever one is on duty must carry my Marlin. Then, if our friend does come creeping around, we’ll pretend that we think it a bear or a cat, and blaze away. He’ll get his jacket dusted, and limp a little, maybe; but he won’t try that dodge again, I reckon.”

“A good idea,” declared Dolph; and even Amos grinned; for in imagination he could see that ill-natured giant, who had always been the bully of the logging camp, going limping away, grunting with the pain of the fine shot that Teddy kept for summer woodcock shooting in the brush, where close shots were the rule.

They sat down to talk a little before making arrangements for the night; because both Teddy and Dolph were curious to hear what the woods boy knew concerning the past tempestuous life of Big Gabe.

And Amos, on his part, was quite willing to tell. His recollections of the giant were not at all pleasing, for doubtless the boy must have more than a few times felt the heavy hand of the man who, for some years, had been reckoned the biggest bully among the Woodstock loggers.

As they chatted, they kept their eyes constantly on the alert; just as though Hackett would ever think of creeping back while the camp mates were on the alert, rather than wait until they had entered the tent to rest.

CHAPTER VI

EVIDENCE THAT TALKED

“Now tell us about Gabe, and how he came to be run out of the Woodstock camp?” asked Teddy.

“Why, it was this way,” began Amos, without the slightest hesitation; “he’d been known as the bully for years and years. Many’s the man he knocked down, and beat up terrible like, just for crossing him. They were that afraid of Gabe, that when he told a silly story everybody just roared. And I take it there ain’t anything to beat that, to show how one man lords it over twenty. But his time came,” and Amos snickered, as though even the recollection of what he had witnessed gave him the greatest pleasure.

“I suppose a bigger man than Gabe came to camp; and when set on, just up and took him unawares?” suggested Dolph.

“Took him unawares goes,” replied the other, “but as for the rest, just listen. You saw how Gabe, he looked at me lots of times uneasy like. Guess he knew I’d be telling you all about his fall, after he went away. Mebbe that helped to hurry him off, too, because I guess he ain’t never gotten over being touchy on that sore spot. Notice that he’d had his nose broke, didn’t you?”

“Why, yes, now that you mention it, there was a crook to it. Did the new bully do that when he hit Gabe?” asked Teddy.

“It was like this,” continued Amos, soberly. “We had a little Swede named Larz, the quietest and most peaceful man you ever saw. Nobody had ever seen him lift a hand to hit anything. He used to do whatever he was told by the rest, and since they took him to be just a good-natured fellow, why I guess they imposed on him a heap.”

“Well, one night Gabe, who had been drinking, and was just wild for a row with somebody, after trying all he could to get some of the men to fight, picks on Larz. I think he struck him, and said something that the Swede didn’t like one little bit. Just how he did it, nobody ever knew. They heard the sound, and saw Big Gabe measure his length on the floor, his head striking so hard that it must have made him see stars. He started to get up, and was knocked flat again. And before Larz was done, he’d made the big coward, who turned out to be only a bag of wind, apologize to him before the whole shouting crowd.”

“And after that, of course, Gabe never dared stay in camp a day. And he quit the company too. They called Larz the Terrible Swede after that; but the man became just as quiet as ever, and refused to take the place vacated by the bully. That was about two years ago; and I haven’t set eyes on Gabe till tonight. But I did hear he was doing all sorts of things, from shooting game out of season, to netting bass when the game and fish warden was far away and selling ’em in the towns. And now you know all about him, as far as I can tell you.”

Of course, both the other boys laughed heartily at the idea of that husky logger being whipped by a mild-mannered, inoffensive man half his size.

“These Swedes can go the limit when they get their mad up,” Teddy remarked. “We have a number working for us; and such dare-devil fellows you never saw. Why, they think nothing of risking their lives in a log jam; and hardly a year passes but what a number of serious accidents do occur to them at one time or another. Sometimes it’s a tree falls on a man; then again a slip of the ax cuts his foot terribly; and in spring, when the freshet comes, and the logs start down, you just ought to see what goes on. They’re a hard lot, it’s true, but a braver batch of men it’d be impossible to find.”